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

Eventually, Level 38 comes and BandyAid continues.


At the end, BandyAid finds Shingo on a staircase, holding a bleeding doll. He's apologizing to his big sister, saying he's sorry and he didn't mean to hurt her.

What.

He says it was an accident.

Then the doll starts talking.

It seems that Six accidentally killed his older sister when he was a kid by knocking her down the stairs. It traumatized him so much that he blocked it out of his memory. This all seems very familiar.

When BandyAid tries to help Shingo, the voice of the little girl sends him back to the first floor. BandyAid scoffs and leaves the Horror House. He's about to ascend to godhood. To the Goumaden!

Reichou Thunderbird is Metamorph'd into the Thunder God Sword (雷神剣):

The Thunder God Sword has the same attack area of effect as Mahazio, and also has a chance of inflicting "Shock" status on the targets. This sword? The entire reason behind raising BandyAid's Agility and Intelligence so much. Once he's strong enough, he'll be able to "Shock" most enemies, including super bosses, before they get a chance to act. It's great. Real great.


Akurou Poltergeist and Jashin Mishaguji-sama are fused to become Shinigami (Reaper) Persephone, a stoic demon with the abilities Mudora, Bufula, Mahazio, Marinkarin, and Petra Eye. She's immune to Expel, Curses, Mind and Bewitchment abilities, and resists all physical.


Seijuu Airavata, Youma Apsaras and Tenshi Principality are fused to create Hakaishin (Destroyer) Tonatiuh. Tonathiuh is a stoic demon with the abilities Untainted Will ( 汚れ無き威光), Tarukaja (タル・カジャ), and Venom Zapper (ベノンザッパー). He's inherited Bufu, Diarama, and Me-Patra. He reflects Ice, is weak to Fire, and voids Curses. He also has 20 Strength.

At the Pet Shop, Mister DNA wants a demon with 20 Strength. The reward is Majin Lugh and the secrets of Kyoushin fusions.


Majin (Magic God) Lugh is a ferocious God with the abilities Lightning Pierce (イナズマ突き), Deathbound (デスバウンド), Maharagion (マハ・ラギオン), and Tetraja (テトラジャ). Deathbound deals major physical damage to all enemies, Tetraja protects against instant death (Expel/Curse) attacks for one round. His resistances aren't really great, he simply voids Expel and Curses. But look! Look at those stats!

With a new team and a new weapon, BandyAid prepares for his final assault into the Horror House.


He climbs the stairs to the upper floors. The second through fifth floors are identical, each contains four rooms in the corners and one chest per floor. The second floor's northeast room is a chest that contains one of the sacred mountain items that TAS got at Algon NS earlier this update. So does the chest on the third floor (now located in the SE room) and the chest on the fourth floor (in the SW room). Sure, BandyAid could have waited and picked them up here, but they made the rest of this dungeon so much easier.

The fifth floor's chest, located in the NW room, contains a MIAB (Tenshi Virtue) guarding a Chakra Pot. BandyAid keeps picking up Chakra Pots even though he's reasonably certain he hasn't ever used one.

The last piece of the sacred mountain equipment is located on the far west side of the 6th floor. It's pretty easy to miss, although TAS doesn't really need it.


Immediately in front of the door of the 6th floor is a mirror with an image of Six in it. BandyAid inspects it, causing the wall to raise up to reveal a secret passage into the center room. In the middle of the center room there's a rail that prevents anyone from falling into the pit. Upon inspecting the rail, it lowers into the ground and the pit rises to create a walkway to the far end of the room.


Six is there with the little girl, who identifies herself as Erika, the spirit of Six's dead sister. She's upset that he forgot about her, but now they can be together forever!


She freezes him in ice and prepares to attack TAS by summoning three allies: Lugae the Bug, Goggy the white thing and Bugz the Teddybear. The Teddybear that appears to have blood running down it's mouth. God. BandyAid knows that if there's one way to calm a restless spirit, it's to beat the ever loving shit out of it.


Lugh's Maharagion will work wonders in this battle, because both Bugz and Goggy are weak to fire. Lugae is fairly resistant to everything, but nothing BandyAid can't fix with a few cuts of his sword.

Erika herself has the abilities Mahabufula (マハ・ブフーラ), Megidola (メギドラ), Marinkarin (マリンカリン), Laser Scope (ガン・ビーム), Gotcha! Box (ハテナ・ボックス), and Mudora (ムドラ).

Gotcha! Box, pictured above, will force any demons who are not "Stoic" back into the COMP. Yes, the mighty god Lugh isn't stoic, so he's terrified of what amounts to a jack-in-the-box. Great. Erika doesn't have any notable resistances except she's immune to bullets. She has the standard boss stuff (no instant death, no Mind/Bewitchment/Nerve attacks), but other than that she's vulnerable to whatever works.

Her subordinates have a lot of varying skills, and this is the first multiple demon boss fight BandyAid's been in where the demons can actually hurt.

The battle takes 6 turns, afterwards BandyAid gains 2 levels and Nemissa gains one.

In a truly strange scene, after Erika is defeated, her ghost, complete with a scream, is flung back at Six's ice prison, shattering it. Six comes around, and thanks BandyAid and Hitomi for saving him. He disappears like Tomoko did. TAS is sent back to the Hideout, where Nemissa decides they should visit Six. Hitomi's acting a little strange, saying she's tired and needs to rest. BandyAid makes two save files before leaving.

To Six's apartment!

...but first, a pitstop at the Goumaden.


Majuu Katakirauwa is fused with Yousei Leprechaun to create Seijuu (Sacred Beast) Byakko, a clever demon that absorbs Ice but is weak to Fire. Byakko has the abilities Ice Breath (アイスブレス), Wall of Water (水の壁), Scratch (引っかき), Petra-Di (ペトラディ), and has inherited Makarakarn and Recarmudora. Recarmudora is sort of unfortunate, but Leprechaun's Makarakarn is great. You see, Byakko is incredibly quick, allowing him to cast Makarakarn before the enemies get a chance to attack (thus maximizing Makarakarn effectiveness).

Shinjuu Narcissus is Metamorph'd into the Narcissus Blossom (すいせんの花), which makes negotiating with female demons easier.


Lunch and Spooky are at Six's apartment. Six seems to be back to his old self, and thanks Hitomi and BandyAid for saving him again. He vows that he's going to honor the memory of his sister. Spooky suggests that they head back to the Hideout. TAS is automatically transported to the Hideout.

Spooky and the rest talk about how Paradigm-X is clearly very, very evil because it's attacked two people already. Lunch mentions that the disease that's been spreading around the city seems to be linked to Paradigm-X. They discuss how to go about dismantling it, but then Spooky hears something outside.


There's a woman, dressed very Europeanly, who introduces herself as Mayone, which is most commonly written in English as "Flea." She's a Dark Summoner, and she's here to kick BandyAid's ass:

• Kaii Murasaki-Kagami, a mirror-demon that reflects magic but is weak to physical attacks.
• Two Majuu Kazos, which are weak to Ice and drain Fire.
• Yuki Vetara, which is weak to Force.
• Ryuuou Mizuchi, which is weak to Fire.

Mayone herself has no specific weaknesses, although she does have some spells: Zionga (ジオンガ), Mahazio (マハ・ジオ), Mudora (ムドラ) and Diarama (ディアラマ). Man, why does everyone else get to have cool spells except BandyAid? Lugh uses Deathbound until he's out of HP and then Vetara kills him. The rest of the team hits with whatever they can, Scatach heals when it's needed. This battle is actually a sorry way to close out Disc 1.

After the battle, BandyAid levels up once and Nemissa levels up twice. She learns the spell "Diarahan," which fully heals one character's HP.

Mayone runs off after the battle, saying she was only a distraction: The whole parking complex has been rigged with explosives. Spooky tells Lunch, Hitomi and BandyAid to get clear, while he and Six move the Hideout.



Lunch, BandyAid and Hitomissa stand down the street and wait on Six and Spooky. BandyAid wonders if maybe they should be standing just a little bit farther away. The Hideout comes flying out of the garage as the bombs go off.


Both Spooky and Six are a little bruised up, but generally no worse for the wear. Looks like the Phantom Society's through shitting around, doesn't it?

And that concludes disc one of Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers.

I wonder what's going to happen on Disc 2? What new and exciting adventures will the Spookies get into next time? Will we ever hear from Redman again? Will Six ever deal with his sister's death? And what about Mayone? She appeared at the very end of Disc 1, so does that mean she's going to be a major reoccuring villain on the next? Or will we never see her again? It's the latter

Update 15: A relaxing trip to the supermarket


Disc two opens with the Spookies (sans Yu-ichi) outside the new Hideout, which is located in Yurajima. Tomoko calls, apparently BandyAid's father flipped out and went to the Akanedai Mall.

The new location of the Hideout is sort of a pain in the ass, because it's no longer right down the street from Shibahama Core and the Goumaden.


BandyAid drops in to speak with Mary about various existential subjects, nailing the third part of her "sidequest."

Over at Shibahama Core to pick up at Totenkopf (トーテンコップ, a helmet with an emblem used to intimidate enemy soldiers), a Tiger's Eye Gauntlet (虎目石の小手, increases Strength by 2), and Rollerblades (ローラーブレード, increases Agility by 3) for him and Nemissa. Since her equipment no longer matches, Nemissa puts her G Radas back on (-2 Strength, + 3 Magic).

Re-armored, TAS heads to Akanedai Mall, located in the heart of Akanedai.


They're greeted by a woman who's either crazy from the disease that's going around, or crazy because of a moonlight madness sale. A few steps later, BandyAid realizes this is one of those times Japanese people use the term "mall" to describe a supermarket. The door he needs to get through is located right near the entrance, but it's locked.

I don't know how much you guys know about Japanese culture (I'm an expert), but in Japan, the key to the door isn't going to be in an administrative office, or on the key ring of the managerial staff, or anything like that. It's going to be hidden somewhere in the supermarket.


There's a couple more sickies hanging around. The key is in the booze freezer on the east side of the mall. BandyAid also takes a bottle of sake that makes demons ferocious (純米からじし), but contemplates the usefulness of not only getting a demon drunk, but making it into a mean, fighting drunk.

Scatach returns to the COMP, because her Lawful alignment will cause some problems down the line.


The door leads to a walkway outside the mall that leads to a small building to the west. A small hallway to the right leads to a Mandala Melon (まんだらメロン, a Gift item that raises loyalty. BandyAid already has like 8 of these from just picking them up after battles) and a hallway to the left leads to a... another Chakra Drop. The building has a series of red, blue, and yellow-colored doors separating rooms arranged in a grid. A small room in the front of the building contains three switches, each one operating a different color door. Only two switches can be active at once. BandyAid throws the Blue and Yellow switches, leaving the Red doors locked.

And he walks. And walks. And walks. There's only real path to follow because of the locked Red doors. At the end, he comes to a door that leads to the next area, and one that warps back to the entrance. BandyAid guesses that's for a hasty retreat, but no enemies here are particularly dangerous. He does sweet talk another Majuu Kazo to join TAS, though.



More crazy people await him in the second area, but so does a Heal Spot. This area is more of the same, except the switches aren't located in the same tiny room: Instead, they're spread across the floor. Oh goodie. He recruits a rather ominous looking lady-demon named Jahi.


Kijo (She-Devil) Jahi is a stoic demon that is weak to magic but reflects physical attacks. She has the abilities Zanma, Marinkarin, and Me-Patra. Thank god she's just fusion fodder.

BandyAid flips the Yellow Switch at the far end of the floor, then heads into the labyrinth of colored doors until he comes across the red switch, which opens up yet more new passages. Eventually he comes to an elevator. There's a Teomettle (テオメトル) across from the elevator, which is nice even if he can afford to stock up on them at the Casino. The elevator goes down to the basement.


In the basement, BandyAid meets a Scientist (you can tell because she has a labcoat and a clipboard), who says this is Kuzunoha territory.

He also runs into... Papa? Is that you? Papa? While are you so angry looking?

He seems to recognize BandyAid, but is also in a lot of pain. And halfway to crazyville. Nemissa knocks him out (she doesn't hurt him, despite being an incarnation of magical death), and TAS continues forward.


BandyAid works his way around to the next elevator, which goes down to B2. (There's also, sigh, another Chakra Pot in front of this elevator) B2 has two paths: The one on the right leads to another elevator that takes BandyAid back to part of B1 where two chests await him: One contains a Monster-in-a-Box (Yousei Troll, absorbs physical but is weak to magic, dies with one shot of Zionga) guarding a Constitution Incense (耐力の香). The other chest contains Happy Sandals (ハッピーサンダル, increases Agility by 3), which are like crappier Rollerblades. I can't imagine why they exist, or why they're located in this dungeon.

On the way, a Datenshi Halphas begs for BandyAid to spare it. As compensation, it joins TAS.


Awww look how cute! Datenshi (Fallen Angel) Halphas is a stoic demon, with the abilities Laser Scope, Mahazan, Makarakarn, and De-kaja. He reflects Force magic and is weak to Gunfire. And he's so cute! The cutest Earl of Hell I've ever seen! Look at those pantaloons and that little sword, and that's to say nothing of that stylish hat!

Lugh looks awesome. He also just happens to be Cu Chulainn's dad.

Youchou (Phantom Bird) Tangata Manu also joins the team. It's a clever demon that drains Lightning, voids Curses and is weak to Gunfire. It has the abilities Smelly Breath (臭い息, inflicts poison), Dynamite Breath (マイトブレス, inflicts "Bomb" status), Dekunda and Mapper.


Back down on B2, BandyAid takes the left path, which leads to a strange room filled with capsules. BandyAid and Hitomissa try to check the computers, but are stopped by a man's voice. Who could it be?


It's Sukeroku! Also known as Kuzunoha Kyouji! He explains that this is a Cold Sleep room, where Kuzunoha is keeping people who are infected with the disease. He says they've traced the disease to the Krypto chips inside the Paradigm-X monitors. If BandyAid is really interested in figuring this mystery out, the Algon Manufacturing Plant, where they produce the Krypto chips, is where he should start looking.

BandyAid returns home, and tells Tomoko that Papa's going to be visiting the countryside for a little while, and not to worry.

He heads back to the Akanedai Mall to recruit one last demon.


Youma (Trickster) Sywanna is a stoic demon that reflects Expel but is weak to Curses. It has the abilities Maharagi (マハ・ラギ), Banishing Flash (破魔の雷光, Expel-based), and Mark-Di (マークディ).

At the Goumaden, Majuu Kazo, Kijo Jahi and Youma Sywanna are fused to create Genma Cuchulainn.


Genma (Illusion) Cuchulaiin is a stoic demon with the abilities Mahazanma (マハ・ザンマ), Tarukaja (タル・カジャ), and Deathbound (デスバウンド). He's inherited Mark-Di, Diarama, and Petra-Di. Diarama's ok, but the other two inherited skills are trash. Cuchulainn resists Force and Martial Arts-based attacks.


BandyAid ponders fusing Daitensehi (Seraph) Israfel, who resists all magic and is weak to Martial Arts and Gunfire, but his lack of useful skills prevent BandyAid from going through with it. He'd be practically unkillable, but BandyAid passes.

BandyAid also checks out Byakko's Armor (ビャッコの鎧), which drains Ice but is weak to Fire. It's another Nemissa-only pieces that's part of a set. The Four Gods Set will also give her stat boosts when all the piece are equipped, but the downside is that they all come with weaknesses and Nemissa has to have certain stats to equip them. Byakko's Armor requires Nemissa to have 12 Constitution. I don't think so. The Four Gods Set can be obtained by Metamorphing the Four Gods, or by purchasing at the Casino.

Next time: Bondage Gear!

*fist pump*

Now Lugh, CuChulainn and Scatach can all be one big, happy, creepy family together. Also you never explained your Cu-fetish.

I might get on explaining that today, actually. Reading your Let's Play last night in one go (I refrain from reading them because image heavy pages freeze my shitty computer and I didn't want to risk; luckily, your images aren't very big) has influenced me to a format that would work in telling the whole story.

We're all eagerly awaiting for some insight into your fixation.

Update 16: A Dungeon in which Nemissa can't kill everything


Back at the Hideout, BandyAid and Hitomissa relay what they learned about Krypto. Spooky tells Lunch to check out the Krypto Chip that the group has. Yu-ichi shows up, it looks like he's back to normal. Well, as normal as he can be after being molested by Finnegan. He begins to take it apart, and then... a weird, glowing bug thing flies out of it. Nemissa says what's on everyone's mind: What the fuck?

The group decides that glowing bugs in computer chips are cause for investigation, so they head to Algon's Manufacturing Plant.


It's located right down the road from the Hideout. The plant's locked down, but Lunch comes through and manages to get it open. Lunch: The only worthwhile member of Spookies, since 1997.

The entrance is a large, empty room with 2 doors on the west wall, and three on the east. The door in the middle of the east wall is the only one that BandyAid can get anywhere with: It leads to a winding hallway and some stairs. As he makes his way to the stairs, Byakko recruits Chirei Dwerger.


Chirei (Earth Spirit) Dwerger is a ferocious demon with... the same resistances as Israfel. It has the abilities Maharagi, Bufula, Drunksmile, and Petra-Di. BandyAid takes note that Dwerger has 11 Intelligence, then dashes back to the Sea Ark to recruit a Knocker. He fuses the two to create Seirei Gnome (again), then fuses Gnome with Megami Scatach to produce Megami Fortuna.


Megami (Goddess) Fortuna is a friendly demon that reflects Force and voids Expel. She has the abilities Diarama (ディアラマ), Poisom-Di (ポズムディ), and Recarm (リカーム). Fortuna has inherited the abilities Mediarama (メ・ディアラマ), Bomb-Di (ボムディ), and Petra-Di (ペトラディ).

But... why would BandyAid rank Scatach down to Fortuna? He rubs his hands together and runs to the Pet Shop.


He gives Mrs. Ryouko the Fortuna he just fused, and she gives him the Copernicus (コペルニクス) Install Software. Copernicus makes the accident rate when fusing on the GUMP like, 95%, which is going to be very useful next update.

There's a new trader at the Pet Shop who appears at the beginning of Disc 2: Hazama. Hazama is antagonist of Shin Megami Tensei if..., and is wants certain races of demons and is willing to pay money for them. At this point in the game, money isn't really a problem, and it's not like TAS is going to be buying a whole lot of equipment from now on, so I don't see what the point of having him as a Trader is.

Back at the Algon Plant, Nemissa levels up and learns Petra-Di herself. Yay, an utterly unspectacular spell. This dungeon is actually pretty annoying because the Yuki Greymen repel physical attacks, meaning BandyAid can't really do anything against them, and a ton of enemies reflect Lightning spells, leaving Nemissa with nothing to do.

BandyAid climbs the stairs up to the second floor, and heads to a room in the northeastern corner. Inside is a chest containing the Hagoromo of Deneb (首星の羽衣, a beautiful hagoromo of Deneb), that grants immunity to Electricity and a weakness to Force.

BandyAid turns around and heads back to the stairs up to the third floor, following the path to another set of stairs that leads back down to the second floor. He recruits another Chirei Dwerger, and collects a Magic Incense (魔力の香) from a room to the east. Beside the room with the Magic Incense is a room with a switch in it. The switch disables the "A" Locks on the second floor, but activates the "B" Locks. You see, many of the doors on the second floor have one of those two locks on them. If the "A" locks are locked, then the "B" locks will be unlocked, and this all seems like it would make working here terribly tedious. Well, that and all the demons running around.

With the "A" Locks disabled, BandyAid enters a new passageway that leads to another switch. This switch unlocks the First Assembly Line down on the first floor, which just so happens to be where BandyAid needs to go.

There's also a Magic Reflect Mirror across the bridge on the second floor, which would be useful if BandyAid didn't have Byakko with him.

Nemissa, due to the way experience is scaled, manages to come out a level ahead of BandyAid. BandyAid decides he should go take care of some administrative stuff, so he leaves the Algon Plant again.

At the Pet Shop, he trades Dwerger for another Scatach, then reports to the Goumaden to clean out his COMP:


ELVIS is fused with Genma Hachidaioh, Youchou Tangata Manu, and Datenshi Halphas. He picks up a couple of skills, the only notable ones are Makarakarn, Dekaja and Dekunda. He also takes up the name of MASO.


BandyAid returns to the Plant, and heads to the Northwest room on the first floor. Inside is the first manufacturing line. The Spookies watch as a Kryto Chip is assembled via grainy FMV. In the center of each chip is a pulsing, vaguely fetal-like... thing. BandyAid finds the whole thing unsettling.

Lunch's father shows up and interrupts him. You see, he works here. There's some back and forth between him and Lunch, the topic of Lunch's mother comes up, but eventually his Dad comes around. He explains that the fetal-core-things aren't produced at the plant, but are shipped from Algon Headquarters. He says he's been investigating it himself, and that the chip schematics are kept in the 3rd Floor's Center Room for security purposes. He's kind enough to unlock the door for the Spookies, though.

The Center Room is located behind the wall with the green "No Entry" sign. It lowers when BandyAid approaches it, revealing a new hallway. BandyAid, for no reason whatsoever, summons Cuchulainn, Lugh, Byakko and Persephone.


Spooky hacks into the computer to try and find the chip schematics. Apparently most of the security comes from an extremely obtuse GUI.


A grainy FMV that's too long for it's own good follows, involving a lengthy "fly through" of the computer's interior. It's kind of goofy.

Eventually, the group finds the file they need. Apparently, the fetal-bugs are actually Spores, used to infect people, turning them into "Carriers." The Carriers slowly lose their mind and sink into depravity, at which point the Spores burst forth, taking Carrier's Soul with them. The Spores are apparently the most efficient way the Phantom Society can go about collecting souls.


While the everyone is having the whole "What the fuck?" conversation, a man interrupts them. It's the Algon Manufacturing Plant's Manager. Nemissa recognizes that he's, y'know, NOT human, and tells the Spookies to escape. Spooky makes a copy of the files, and they run away. The Manger reveals himself to be Shemhaza, transforms into a be-bondaged fellow with a goofy strap-on nose, and attacks TAS.

In my first playthough, Shemhaza was a wall. He has a ton of powerful magic: Maharagion (マハ・ラギオン), Mahabufula (マハ・ブフーラ), Mahazionga (マハ・ジオンガ) Megidola (メギドラ); and an ability called Delta Pupula (デルタ・プープラ), which inflicts "High" status on party members. He reflects Fire and Ice, and resists everything else.

Basically, he's a fast asshole that will blow up the party if he gets the chance.

But this time, BandyAid came prepared. BandyAid has the Thunder God Sword, Lugh has Lightning Pierce, Persephone has Mahazio, Nemissa has Zionga, Cuchulainn has Tarukaja, and Byakko has Makarakarn. That's four characters with the potential to "Shock" him so he doesn't get to take a turn, one to boost the damage that Lugh and BandyAid are doing, and one to protect the party by reflecting Shemhaza's magic should he get a chance to attack.

Lugh doesn't get to use Lightning Pierce too much since it takes so many of his HP, and BandyAid forgot to put Cuchulainn in the front row so he could use physical attacks after he finished buffing with Tarukaja, so it took a little bit longer than it should have. Shemhaza never got a chance to attack. Say, didn't Carol J try to summon something called Kokabiel way back at the Planetarium? Hmm...

After the battle, BandyAid and Nemissa got 13,300 experience points, netting two levels up for both of them. Nemissa learns Sabbatma (サバトマ), which allows her to summon demons into the party without using MAG. It... really isn't that great. At this point, MP are a more precious commodity than MAG.

Shemhaza notes that he understands who Nemissa really is, and says that Azazel and Satanail will avenge him. She wants to know what he means by that, but he dies before she can get any answers. Geez Nemissa, it's like, if you REALLY wanted answers, you wouldn't keep incinerating these nice demons, y'know?


Back at the Hideout, Yu-ichi's come up with the idea to highjack the airwaves to expose the Phantom Society and Algon Soft. Just as the team begins to plan, a news report comes on. A news report that identifies Lunch, Six, Yu-ichi and BandyAid as internet terrorists in the hacking group Spookies.

Fuck.


A coded email arrive. It turns out to be from Kadokura, the leader of Algon Soft, to Spooky, thanking him for all his hard work.

Lunch and Six are pissed, because it appears that Spooky has sold out the others. They convince Yu-ichi to leave with them, then ask BandyAid and Hitomi what they're going to do.

Tyrants, what should BandyAid do?
1) There's no way Spooky could have done it, this is obviously a set-up. We're staying.
2) Then again, it's entirely possible that they just wanted us to think it was a set-up, and it's all part of a nefarious plan by Spooky. Let's blow this joint.

This is quite a conundrum. It's certainly all very suspicious, but I vote to stick with Spooky.

So on another note, is the ugly demon dog ever useful?

I was under the impression we were all hating on the non-Lunch members of the group. So, you know, either way, let's just be angry at him. I mean, most problems can be solved with lighting, right? And if we are mad at someone, lighting is more likely to solve any problems we might have involving them.

I say stick around. If it is a trap, you can always zap him up good.

Is there a "kill both sides" option? Because I'm for that. Otherwise let's stick with Spooky, I mean he seems nice enough and all.

Update 17: A very brief stroll deep beneath the city

"Stand by me Bandy."
"I'm not going anywhere, Spooky."

This is actually one of those choices where the menu is only up for a couple of seconds, and you have to input before it goes away. BandyAid quickly tells Lunch and Six that he's staying with Spooky. The other three leave in a huff.


Nemissa's irritated by their behavior, but Spooky thanks them for staying. He seems sad. Almost like he's defeated. Hitomi notices something on the computer screen. It's the VR Theater in Paradigm-X. And a Condor. Naturally, the Condor is Red Man. Nemissa wants to go right away, to the point that she won't even let BandyAid leave the Hideout. Yay.

Hitomi's worried about entering Paradigm-X while Spooky's there, but Nemissa says it'll be fine.


At the Theater, Redman thanks BandyAid and Nemissa for coming. Nemissa asks him about who she is, but he doesn't answer. Of course. Instead, he sends BandyAid on another vision quest.

Vision Quest 3: The Land Where Karma Sleeps

A grainy FMV takes BandyAid to a seemingly deserted Chinese Restaurant. Two people, Nishi and a woman, are the only customers. The woman is a female summoner named Naomi.


It would seem that Naomi is a mercenary that Nishi wants to hire. Nishi brings up Manitou, yet again, saying that there's something standing in their way. He needs Naomi to take care of it.


There are two very powerful demons... nay, gods, lurking deep beneath the district Nikamimon (which I have been referring to as "Nijomon" this entire time. Whoops!). Primordial gods known as Tiamat and Apsu. Naomi's job is to exterminate them.


Naomi is dumped into the Nikamimon Underground Ruins, which, as far as caves go in first person dungeons, doesn't look that bad. Let's take a look at Team Naomi! I'm sure there's a bunch of strong demons at this part in the game.


Uh.

There's not even a COMP option. What.

Let's at least check out Naomi's stats.


Naomi is a beast. She's equipped with Ursa Major Bow (おおぐま星の弓, a large bow with a golden shine; same area of effect as Mahazio); Earl's Lock Gun (アールズ・ロック) with Shark Killer bullets (シャークキラー); Iron Bunnyears (百七拾八式鉄耳, increases luck by 4); Maximilian (マクシミリアン, armor with ripple marks across the surface?); Laurin's Ring (ラウリンの指輪, - 2 Strength, + 2 Magic, Curse Immunity); and Mirage Boots (ミラージュブーツ, increases agility by 2).

BandyAid had fully intended to grab some Iron Bunnyears for himself and Nemissa before he started this Vision Quest, but he didn't realize he had no choice but to come here.

Naomi also has a special class of magic, called Summoning Magic. Oh god, does she have magic. Let's take a look:

• Kanzeon's Redemption (観世音の済度): Invokes the power of Jiboshin Kanzeon-Bosatsu. Increases max HP of one human by half.
• Incarnation of Lord Soma (ソーマ神権現): Invokes the power of Hishin Soma. Fully restores the HP and MP of one target.
• Demon King of War (戦の魔王): Invokes the power of Maou Chi You. Deals Force damage to front line, hits 4 times.
• Kurikara's Black Dragon (くりからの黒龍): Invokes the power of Majin Fudou Myouou. Deals Fire damage to front line, hits 4 times.
• Evil of 240,000,000 (二億四千万の悪): Invokes the power of Maou Angra Mainyu. Deals Almighty damage to all enemies, damages Neutral-aligned enemies more.
• Queen of the Full Moon (満月の女王): Invokes the power of Maou Hecate. Deals almigty damage to all enemies, deals greater damage during the Full Moon.

Basically, Naomi is the most broken character in a Megaten game ever, what with her ability to use a Soma for 6 MP. She's a one woman army.


Naomi is, unfortunately, not blessed with an automap, what with her lack of computer. So she has no choice but to blindly move forward, hoping she finds the path down.

As Naomi makes her descent, she thinks about her life.

Storytime: Naomi

Once upon a time, there was a little orphan in Hong Kong. She was taken in by a martial arts instructor, and trained in both the ways of magic and combat. They lived in a secluded village, where there not many other children her age.

She met another little girl, who was being trained by another instructor in the area. The two quickly became the best of friends, despite being raised in rival schools. Naomi was happy.

But then, one day, Naomi's friend challenged Naomi's master to a duel as a rite of passage. Naomi's master was killed in the battle. Her best friend had murdered the only family she ever had ever known. Naomi swore that she would have her vengeance, and left the village to train.

Naomi traveled the world, picking up new combat techniques, as well as the knowledge of how to perform summoning magic. She became a mercenary Devil Summoner to further her skills. She slayed demons numerous demons, leaving only a trail of broken corpses behind her, all for the sake of her revenge.

She knows the day is coming. The day she'll have her revenge against her former friend. Yes, one day, she will kill Rei Reihou.

Yeah, way to assassinate Rei's character there, Atlus!


Continuing downward, Naomi meets increasingly bizarre enemies before coming to a giant, open cavern where the path splits in two. In the center is a cave that contains Redman, who will heal and save her game.

Each path will lead to a different enemy, designated as "Target A" and "Target B." She only needs to take out one.

Which way should Naomi go? Left or Right?

He will be. He's a lot more useful in New Game + when fusion restrictions are lifted. Since summoning him is free and he has no CP, he's a way to circumvent the whole "Having Shiva in your party in the Planetarium will be nearly impossible because of how much MAG he consumes" thing.

I'm going to say left, since I'm a lefty.

I'm pretty sure there's a clear-cut answer to this, and I'm pretty sure that answer is left, but the fact that I'm not completely sure means it's been far too long since I played Earthbound.

I'm saying right, just to be contrary.

He who conquers the left side conquers the world.

My favorite devil designs so far: Leprechaun, Halphas, Fortuna. Does Jack Ripper show up in any of these games, or did they just make him up for Jack Bros.?


Also, what's that text on Judah's turban-thing?

POLICE LINE - DO NOT CROSS

I guess that's no more racist than calling the other black guy "Boy" and the spirit animal guy "Redman."

(excellent Let's Play, just finished catching up!)

I'm going to vote right, because you always go right in games! Actually I have no idea, and I hope I haven't doomed the mission.

Update 18: To the Left, to the Left, to the Left


Naomi heads down the left path. The cave becomes noticeably more mazelike, which would annoy BandyAid, but since Naomi kills everything, she has no problem with a few deadends.

She eventually comes to a strange door, one that leads into a large, empty... ruin? I swear, if the real world were like Megaten, every single city ever rests atop a giant, cavernous ancient temple/castle/whatever.

At the other end of the empty room is another door, one that leads to (EDIT: I use ABP, so I didn't realize that this website has all the ads it does. It's not work safe, so, uh, don't look at it)Shinrei Tiamat.


Naomi has the option of backing out and heading to the other target if she so chooses, but the will of the Tyrants has sent her here, so she must continue on.

Tiamat resists Fire, Ice, Lightning and Force, but is weak to Physical attacks. She has a number of magical-type attacks: Agi (アギ), Agilao (アギラオ), Bufu (ブフ), Zio (ジオ), Megido (メギド), Necro Dogma (ネクロ・ドグマ) and Thunderbolt (サンダーボルト). She won't start using Agilao, Necro Dogma or Thunderbolt until her HP get down to the yellow. Tiamat has 8 boobs, a vagina and tentacles.

Naomi needs to cast Kanzeon's Redemption in this battle, or else she'll have to heal after every attack. With Kanzeon's Redemption in effect, she can take about 4 hits from Tiamat before needing to heal during her initial phase, and three after she starts bringing out her stronger attacks. Since Tiamat is weak to physical, Naomi casts Demon King of War, which deals Strike damage, not Force as I previously indicated.

This battle is actually really tedious because Naomi isn't going to die, obviously, and Tiamat has a lot of HP.


After the battle, Naomi begins to suffocate. Apparently, killing Tiamat sucked all the air out of the underground ruins. And that's how Naomi dies, alone and filled with hate all alone deep beneath the city. Redman hands out some cryptic warnings, and BandyAid is suddenly awakened by Nemissa. Not Hitomi. Um.

By the way, one of the implications in these Vision Quests is that BandyAid is actually experiencing the deaths of those characters. That's why he always ends up in Redman's weird little vortex (as he does whenever he dies in real life), and he always passes out after they're over. So he's died three times now. Redman's kind of a dick, isn't he?

At least he gives BandyAid two levels up, which both go to BandyAid's Strength.


Spooky's amazed by what just happened, and the trio (quartet, if you count Hitomi) decide that they're going to upload a virus onto Algon's server to stop them. Because, y'know, they're Hackers. BandyAid rolls his eyes, because honestly? This should have been the solution in the first place.


They upload the virus, only to have an error message pop up. Then Kadokura appears on the screen. He says he expected as much, and took preventative measures. He does some typical villain taunting, then the connection begins to break up on his end. BandyAid swears that he hears Kadokura say "Finnegan?!" just before he goes out completely.

Spooky says that the virus will have to be uploaded at the main office if they want it to work. Nemissa happily volunteers to do it. BandyAid tells her to have fun, but she decides that he simply MUST come with her. Man. Do all RPG protagonists wear a sign on their backs that says they're errand boys?

BandyAid heads to the Sea Ark to recruit another Jack Frost, then to the Goumaden.

Megami Scathach, Yousei Jack Frost and Youchou Tangata Manu are fused to create Majin Mahamayuri:


Majin (Magic God) Mahamayuri is a stoic God with the abilities Mahabufula (マハ・ブフーラ), Banishing Flash (破魔の雷光), Twister Kick (ツイスターキック), Poisum-Di (ポズムディ), and has inherited Mahazan and Mediarama. Poisum-Di is useless, but the rest are really awesome. Mahamayuri voids Expel, Force, Mind and Bewitchment.

The Algon Main Office is located in Nikamimon, right beside the NS building.


...and it's covered in some sort of weird barrier. A police officer stops TAS from entering, saying that the barrier is dangerous. Great. Nemissa and BandyAid automatically return to the Hideout to conference with Spooky.

Then Nemissa has an idea. The Algon Main Office is linked to Paradigm-X, right? If Spooky can get access to a computer over there, she'll be able to take BandyAid there through the intertubes. Spooky hooks them up, and it's away they go!

Thankfully, this is not going to be like the Fire Wall in Star Ocean 3.


At the user's counter in Paradigm-X, there's a new option: Server Access. Selecting it starts another stupid grainy FMV, that... really, I can't even begin to explain. Apparently the network in Amami City really is a series of tubes, because that's what BandyAid and Nemissa fly through. There's a lot of weird mechanical shit going on too, that apparently only exists soley for the visual benefit of someone flying through the network illegally. It's all painfully stupid.


But the operation is a success! BandyAid and Nemissa arrive in a relatively normal looking room, then step outside into a hallway. A hallway covered in fog, glowing floors, and walls that dissolve into the darkness. At least this building has an excuse to be all fucked up in design. BandyAid goes on a recruitment drive.



Yama (Night Stalker) Incubus: Reflects Curses, weak to Expel. Mahazio (マハ・ジオ), Marking (マーキング), and Necro Dogma (ネクロ・ドグマ). Marking inflicts "Mark" status, and Necro Dogma is a nifty Almighty spell. Not that it really matters.

Tenshi (Heavenly Host) Virtue is next. Virtue resists Magic but is weak to physical attacks and particularly guns. It has the abilities Mahazio (マハ・ジオ), Zionga (ジオンガ), Hanma (ハンマ), and Sukukaja (スク・カジャ). That's actually a pretty decent skill set. Virtue is, bizarrely, a ferocious demon despite being magically inclined.


Majuu (Demonic Beast) Orthrus drains Fire and is weak to Ice. He has the abilities Dynamite Breath (マイトブレス), Wall of Fire (炎の壁, protects from Ice for one round), Ram (体当たり), and Mapper (マッパー). He's a clever demon, despite being physically oriented.

Yama Incubus and Majuu Orthrus are fused to create Youchou Roc.


Youchou (Phantom Bird) Roc drains Lightning, voids Expel and is weak to Gunfire. It is a clever demon with the abilities Thunderbolt (サンダーボルト), Ram (体当たり), Petrifying Bite (石化かみつき), and has inherited Mahazio.

All of these demons are just fusion fodder.


At the end of the hallway, BandyAid and Nemissa come face-to-face with Finnegan. He's says the whole thing's gone to hell. Kadokura has apparently betrayed the Phantom Society. But that's not important right now, but the fact that they're trapped in a hellish otherworld filled with demons does. He says they can settle their score later, but right now they need to work together to escape.

Tyrants, what should BandyAid do?

1) Work with Finnegan. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and Kadokura seems to be the bigger fish to fry.
2) Fuck that, Finnegan already kind of killed BandyAid once, kidnapped and maybe molested Yu-ichi, and has generally been a pain in the ass. How can we trust him?

There are no right or wrong answers, but Right would have been a lot better for me.

He was in SMT 2 and if...
Actually, I'm glad you mentioned this, because I need to recruit an Orthros again so I can trade it for the Ripper Panel software.

Well, all the other Vision Quests resulted in complete success, so surely this one will too!

What would have been the benefit of heading right?

And I say trust him, I mean, no one really liked Yu-ichi anyway. Besides if he betrays you, you've already proven that you can kick his ass.

Naomi fights a different boss, one that's weak to magic. The final boss takes on the properties of whichever boss Naomi kills, and I'd rather face the final boss that's weak to magic so Nemissa can Zionga it to death.

I just want to go on record here (again, technically) that I voted for the right.

>:1

My personal site server thingamajig to the rescue! Here's the picture again. Hurray for breasts! Huzzah for vaginas! Etc, etc!~

Feel free to change the higher link to that too, if you want, Turnip. It'll, you know, exist as long as my Let's Play does, cause it's all on the same thingamajig.