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Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey


Galerians is what happens when you throw Resident Evil, Scanners and System Shock into a blender. Released in 1999 for the original Playstation, Galerians is one of a number of games that attempted to capitalise on the growing popularity of the survival horror genre. While derivative, it was successful enough to warrant a sequel, Galerians: Ash, which was released for the Playstation 2 in 2003.

The story takes place in the cyberpunk future of 2522. The main character, teenager Rion Steiner, wakes up strapped to an operating table with no memory of who he is or how he got there. After hearing a voice inside his mind pleading for help, Rion uses his newfound telekinetic powers to free himself and embarks on a journey to find some answers.

In terms of gameplay Galerians is a survival horror title released in the late nineties. This means pre-rendered backgrounds, lots of CG cutscenes, god-awful voice acting, weird and frequently unnecessary puzzles and, joy of joys, tank controls. What sets it apart from other games in the genre is the use of psychic powers. Rion can use psychometry to ‘read’ certain parts of the environment for information and clues on how to solve puzzles. He can also inject himself with a number of drugs that give him access to pyrokinesis and other offensive abilities. These powers come at a cost however, and can result in a catastrophic meltdown if not managed carefully.

My own feelings about this title are mixed. The game starts out strongly and has a wonderfully bleak, noir-style atmosphere that few survival horror titles manage. The gameplay has a few niggles, but the mechanics around the psychic abilities are far more interesting than the gunplay found in most survival horror titles. On the negative side the game is very short and rapidly goes downhill after the second stage. The plot is porous in places and often dissonant with the gameplay, and it feels like some of the later areas were rushed. It’s a mixed bag, but if you enjoy games like Resident Evil and Parasite Eve then Galerians is a title that might appeal to you.

Updates:


01 - Playing with Syringes
02 - Shorting Out
03 - Blood, Brains and Body Bits
04 - Mouths of Babes
05 - Down the Rabbit Hole
06 - Lines in the Sand
07 - Flesh and Steel


08 - Homecoming
09 - A Crooked House
10 - Cruel Inheritance
11 - The Bird Man


12 - Booking In
13 - Black Market
14 - One By One
15 - Rainfall


16 - Tower of the Goddess
17 - Deicide

Scintilla fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Dec 12, 2016

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Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey
Update 01: Playing with Syringes



The pre-menu video is chock full of spoilers, so we’ll go right to the title screen.



New Game and Load Game are self-explanatory. Options lets you change the controls. Movie Preview lets you replay any cutscenes you’ve already seen. It’s all fairly standard stuff, so let’s cut to the chase and start a new game. Click here to watch the intro and marvel at the terrible amazing voice work.



The camera starts at street level and slowly pans forwards and up.





: I sometimes have a frightening dream.



Chaotic images flash across the screen.











: Heart rate normal. Administer the Nalcon.



: Won’t that destroy his brain cells and prove fatal?



: It might. But we must follow the Clinic Chief’s orders.

: Okay then.



The perspective shifts to inside the room, where a teenage boy is strapped to an operating table.

: Rion!



: Uhhh…



: Rion!



: Who are you…?



: They’re coming!



: They’re coming to get me!



Robotic arms tipped with hypodermic needles slide down towards Rion.

: Why are you calling me…?

: I’m scared!



The arms descend…







: Ah!



…and inject him with some rather nasty-looking chemicals!





The two scientists meet up to confer, but little do they know…





Rion is psychically unscrewing his restraints right under their noses.



: I’ve never heard of such a quick dosage cycle.



: Me too. I’m afraid it may have destroyed the patient’s memory. I’m surprised he’s even still alive.



: I’ll go check the data.

One of the scientists leaves, allowing the camera to focus on the central monitor.





The security footage reveals that Rion has fully freed himself, and the cutscene gives way to gameplay.



We begin in some kind of operating room / isolation chamber.



Pressing the circle button brings up the map, which will prove very helpful for the first half of the game. Rooms that we have visited will be highlighted in blue, and the room we are currently in will flash periodically.



The X button lets us examine things. Examining the operating table reveals that Rion has come down with a nasty case of jRPG protagonist syndrome.



In any case, getting out of here is probably a good idea. Let’s try the door.



Hmm. Not to worry - the map shows that there’s another door nearby.





Dang. Well, I guess we better look around for something that might help us.



This desk with an ominous glowing red light seems like a good start.



Aha! Scattered documents - that old survival horror standby. Let’s give them a read.

























…Well. That’s quite a lot of information. The medical staff notes provide details on the various PPECs, or Psychic Power Enhancing Chemicals, that we’ll be coming across in the future. From the previous cutscene we know that Rion has been injected with Nalcon and Red, but these notes also indicate that he’s received Melatropin - and that one of its effects is psychometry.



Psychometry is triggered by pressing the triangle button. Rion will raise his right hand, and if the object in question can be affected you’ll either read the object for a brief scene or perform a minor act of telekinesis.



Reading the operating table gives us a creepy image, but there are other things we can examine for more useful information.



A locked drugs cabinet can be found near the northern door. It’s locked, but if we use psychometry…



We get a quick visual clue as to where the key might be.



Anyway, let’s put our newfound power to the test and crack open this door. Click here to watch the scene.



Rion raises his hand and focuses.







Unable to withstand the invisible forces acting on it, the door unlocks and snaps open.





: Where did I get such power?

Come on, Rion. The medical papers told you it’s from all the weird drugs they’ve been pumping you full of.



With the door open we can escape, but I think we can save that for the next update. Join me next time, where we’ll be fighting our first enemies and exploring more of Michaelangelo Memorial Hospital.

Huzzah!
Sep 15, 2007

Malnutrition is scarier than any beastie.
Little disappointed you didn't go with the Drugs tag instead of the Horror one. This game is full of mind steroids.

FeyerbrandX
Oct 9, 2012

Glad to see another Scintilla LP, too bad its not BoF but glad to see something more than the Retsuprae of this.

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey

FeyerbrandX posted:

Glad to see another Scintilla LP, too bad its not BoF but glad to see something more than the Retsuprae of this.

Dragon Quarter is still in the pipeline. I'm doing this first because I haven't LP'd anything in years and I need something less complicated to help me get back into the swing of things. Plus Galerians is a pretty fun obscure game despite its flaws and I'd like to bring a bit more attention to it.

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey
Update 02: Shorting Out

Welcome back. Last time our protagonist escaped from his restraints and figured out a way to open the door to his isolation room. What trials and terrors await us outside? Let’s find out.





The scientist hears the door open and looks around.

: Rion!



: W-what am I doing here?

: How did you get out of your restraints?!

: What was in that shot you gave me?



: Rion! Return to your bed now!



: How did I get this power? Why can I do this?





The scientist clutches his head and falls to his knees as Rion psychically compels him to answer.

: Grrh! I-I don’t know anything! I just administer the PPECs!

: What? It’s all because of the Psychic Power Enhancement Chemicals?



: Ask Clinic Chief Lem! He knows all about it!

: Clinic Chief Lem…

Music: Galerians - Hospital Battle



After the cutscene ends we’re thrown into the game’s first combat section, because the scientist from before has decided the best thing to do right now is to attack the confused and angry child he’s just finished injecting with superpower-inducing chemicals.



As this is the first real battle it’s not too challenging. The scientist walks toward Rion at a snail’s pace and can be easily outmanoeuvred even with the game’s clunky tank controls.



His one attack is a jab with a handheld taser that deals negligible damage. I’m showing it here, but there’s really no excuse for getting hit by it.



Taking the guy down is simple enough. Holding R1 will cause the charge wheel in the upper right to overlay the other stats.



Charging the wheel up to full power at level one takes just slightly under a second. When the wheel is fully charged tapping the X button will blast whatever is in front of you with whichever psychic ability you have selected.



In this case the ability is Nalcon, which is essentially a telekinetic shockwave. Nalcon is not a particularly damaging power, but it can hit multiple enemies at once if they’re clustered together. It’s also very reliable since no enemy in the game is immune to it. When in doubt, use Nalcon.



The scientist is a chump, so he goes down in one hit. With him out of the picture we’re free to check around and see what we can find.



The topmost computer terminal yields a Recovery Capsule. Unlike what the medical documents imply these drugs refill your entire HP bar no matter how injured you are.



Using an item requires pressing Select. This will bring up the menu. The menu is divided into three layers. The top layer lets you switch your active psychic ability.



The second layer holds your key items, like the medical notes we found last update. Some key items are only held for a chapter, while others stay with you the entire game.



The third layer is for consumables such as the Recovery Capsule we just picked up. Rion starts the game with a Recovery Capsule already in his inventory, as well as two of another kind of drug.



Delmetor is an important item and I’ll be explaining more about it in a minute. For now let’s continue our search.



There is clearly something on the second monitor, so let’s snag it.





A security card. No doubt this will come in handy soon.







Flavour text aside, there’s nothing more for us to do here, so let’s leave through the only other door.



This corridor is patrolled by three scientists, all three of whom will aggro us almost immediately. This gives me a chance to show off the other power we’ve been granted.



Red lets us set enemies on fire. It’s more damaging than Nalcon, but it’s much more difficult to hit multiple enemies with it. Certain foes are also immune to it, so you need to be careful when you have it equipped.





After immolating the scientists I bring up the map to give everyone a sense of where we are. The map is a feature that I really appreciate, and I wish other early survival horror titles had a map system as good as this one.







Turning the corner we come across a strange statue, but more importantly the bar marked ‘AP’ has filled up and begun to flash. This has no immediate effect, but will be very important fairly soon.









Through the next door we come to a security checkpoint.



Reading the card reader will show you where the security card is if you somehow didn’t manage to find it.







The big security door unlocks, and we’re free to proceed. Doing so triggers another cutscene.





An alarm blares in the security office, alerting the guards.



: What the hell are those doctors up to?!





: Well, it looks like the rabbit’s out of his cage.



: Return to your room, and you won’t get hurt!





Unfortunately for the guard, stun batons aren’t that scary to someone who can set people on fire with his mind.

Music: Galerians - Hospital Battle



The guard is a little close, but there should be enough time to charge up a full dose of Red. Let’s-



Oh. That can’t be good. I think something might have gone-



Jesus Christ! :stare:



Welcome to one of Galerians’ more interesting game mechanics - Shorting. When your AP bar completely fills up, the next time you press R1 Rion’s powers will overload and go haywire, detonating the brains of any nearby enemies. In this state Rion’s movement is slowed to a crawl and his HP will rapidly decrease until he keels over and dies.



Shorting does not wear off naturally. You need a specific drug in order to cure it. However, the status can actually be very beneficial if you utilise it correctly.



Enemies will panic when they see that Rion is shorting.



They will run away, trip over, and generally do their best to get the hell out of dodge.



Some will even break down and cower in a corner.



Not that any of that helps them in the end.



Naturally, there’s the small problem that Shorting will eventually kill us. This can be solved by taking the drug Delmetor.



Taking Delmetor empties your AP bar and stops the Short. The AP bar basically represents Rion’s mental stress. It ticks up gradually all the time, and using powers such as Nalcon or Red cause it to fill up faster. Thankfully it’s not nearly as annoying to manage as it sounds, since Delmetor is reasonably common and you can’t actually Short until you press R1 to charge your powers.



There are several things to do in this room.





Searching here gives us a key that will be useful down the line.







Hitting this button on the control panel opens a door we need to progress.



Examining the mirror triggers a brief scene.





: This is my face?



: Who am I?





Images of a strange manor house flash through Rion’s mind.



: How long have I been here…?



All very good questions. Unfortunately Rion is going to have to wait for answers, because this is the end of this update. Join me next time as we venture deeper into the Hospital and muddle our way through some good old fashioned puzzles.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

So you can save ammo by having your powers go out of control so you explode peoples' heads while they scream in ineffectual terror.

That's a little dark.

Delirare
Sep 27, 2015
Oh man, this game. I don't think I ever made it past the first boss. Now I'm really interested to see the rest of the story.

Digital Jello
Nov 2, 2012

Now I have a machine gun. Ho! Ho! Ho!
I've never even heard of this game until this LP, it looks pretty...decent, for a PS1 title.

Is "Rion" pronounced like the name "Ryan"? If so, that's a pretty badass way of spelling it.

Leave
Feb 7, 2012

Taking the term "Koopaling" to a whole new level since 2016.
I've heard of this game before, but forgot it existed until this LP. I'm intrigued already and can't wait to see where it goes.

When you press Select to bring up that menu, does it pause the game, or will the game continue to play?

Maigius
Jun 29, 2013


Man, Rion's outfit is kinda of silly looking. Why would you dress your lab experiment like that?

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey

Digital Jello posted:

I've never even heard of this game until this LP, it looks pretty...decent, for a PS1 title.

Is "Rion" pronounced like the name "Ryan"? If so, that's a pretty badass way of spelling it.

It's pronounced 'Ree-on', which is significantly lamer.



Leavemywife posted:

I've heard of this game before, but forgot it existed until this LP. I'm intrigued already and can't wait to see where it goes.

When you press Select to bring up that menu, does it pause the game, or will the game continue to play?

Pressing Select does indeed pause the game. Bringing up the map does not, which can catch you out.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Maigius posted:

Man, Rion's outfit is kinda of silly looking. Why would you dress your lab experiment like that?

Malfunctioning shock collar turned into silly fashion statement, maybe?

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey
Update 03 - Blood, Brains and Body Bits

Welcome back. Last time we punched and burned people to death with our minds, then lost control and went into head-popping meltdown mode.



We unlocked the door that will let us progress last update, but there’s a storage room located through here that contains an item we need.





There are a few goodies in here. The metal table in the first screenshot contains some Delmetor, while the shelves in the second hold a vial of Nalcon and a Recovery Capsule.



However, the really important item is up here, in the orange box.



Despite its name the Beeject is not a tool for injecting tiny bees into yourself. Observant viewers will have noticed that the coloured bars for Nalcon and Red decrease whenever they are used. When they empty out Rion becomes unable to use those abilities. However, having the Beeject allows Rion to replenish his supply by injecting more of the chemicals into himself - such as the vial of Nalcon we just found.



We have everything we need from this area, so let’s make some progress.





There is a guard outside the door. He is promptly burninated.



The map reveals that we are in a long and fairly serpentine corridor.





The door to our left is locked, but our psychometry gives us a hint as to where the key is.



It appears to be on a tray somewhere, and… Uh. Are those fetuses floating in those tanks? Just what the hell is up with this hospital?



Following the corridor brings us face to face with another guard, who promptly goes the same way as his companions.











The door at the top leads to a save room. Useful if you aren’t using savestates.





Beyond the T-junction lies another door.



It’s a bathroom!



There is literally nothing of interest in here.



A guard walks off-screen just as we leave.







He suffers the standard fate.





The next corridor contains a sleeping guard. He wakes up four or five seconds after you enter, so you can’t just sneak by him.







This door leads down to a lower level, but it’s locked down too tightly for us to get through. Reading it reveals that we’ll need a chemical, perhaps some kind of acid that can burn through the lock.







Dispatching the guard around the corner depletes the last of my Red, forcing me to switch back to Nalcon in order to get rid of the final guard around the next corner.





It takes two shots of Nalcon to put a guard down, as opposed to one shot of Red.



Looking at the map reveals that we’ve made almost a full circle, with the door on Rion’s right leading back into the isolation chamber.





The door won’t open because of a blown fuse, but our psychometry indicates a spare is somewhere in the building. The surroundings look kind of icy…



Two doors stand at the end of the corridor. The left one is unlocked and leads onwards.





The other is locked, and clearly leads to the freezer.





The freezer is naturally very cold, and Rion’s breath mists in the air as he moves through it. Thread young’uns might not know it, but this was actually kind of a neat touch sixteen years ago.



The open cabinet yields a vial of Nalcon, and Delmetor and a Recovery Capsule can be found shelves scattered around the area. The real prize lies at the back of the room, however.









Unfortunately taking the fuse triggers some kind of malfunction.


The cold air prevents us from leaving. Thankfully the solution is fairly straightforward.





Fiddling with this device turns off the fans. Not sure why this puzzle was included, to be honest.



We can leave now, but this central unit is pretty noticeable. Perhaps we should examine it for clues.





The unit hisses open, revealing…





:stonk:



: Ah!





Rion falls to the ground, and the unit closes up again.



...Let's get out of here.



Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 5



Moving swiftly on from the freezer full of disembodied brains and eyeballs, we come to some kind of testing area. The two scientists in here are busy working and won’t notice us unless we get right up in their faces. Unfortunately for them we have to since there’s an item near them we need to progress.







Remember that locked cabinet right at the beginning of the game? This key unlocks it. We’ll be heading back there shortly, but there are still things to do here.



Reading this machine gives us a brief scene.



The camera zooms in on a child strapped into the chair, who looks like he’s having some kind of seizure.





Yeah, he’s not having a good time.



There is also a door by the opposite wall.





Inside is a small room containing a chair and strange writing on the wall.





Reading the wall gives us an image of a computer terminal. Hmm…



This chair had some Nalcon on it, but we can also read it for another brief scene.





The same child in the previous scene sits in the chair, levitating a number of toys.



He loses control and crushes one of them, and the scene ends.





Anyway, let’s put some of the key items we’ve just collected to use.





Use the fuse on the door and presto, we’re back in the isolation chamber.





With the PPEC Storage key we can open up the cabinet in here.



For some reason it contains liquid explosives. Perhaps they were meant to be injected into Rion as some kind of failsafe? Regardless, we need this item to progress.



The cabinet also has some Delmetor, which is nice.



With the liquid explosives in hand our next destination is the red shutter leading downstairs.



As we backtrack down the corridor we find a new enemy waiting in ambush. It’s no big deal though, we can just-



Well, that escalated quickly! Meet the riot guard, one of the toughest regular enemies in the stage. Their guns give them a powerful ranged attack that always knocks Rion over and is nearly impossible to evade in tight corridors. Once Rion is floored they run over and try to club him to death. They can shoot faster than you can charge your powers and take three shots of fully powered Nalcon to take down.





I’m not going to lie, this guy kicked my rear end. I had to pop two Recovery Capsules and run around like a maniac before I finally got an opening to take him down.



After the riot guard finally bites it it’s time to get rid of this security shutter.







Slap a bit of liquid explosive on the door, then press Triangle and watch the fireworks fly.







The explosive gel begins to glow with heat.







With the shutter down we’re free to climb into the lower levels. This update has got a little long, so we’ll see what’s down there next time.

Scintilla fucked around with this message at 07:02 on Sep 18, 2016

Cathode Raymond
Dec 30, 2015

My antenna is telling me that you're probably wrong about this.
Soiled Meat
I'm sure this is a pain to play with the RE tank controls and whatever but this is a pretty interesting take on survival horror for 1999.

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey
There's a small degree of auto-aiming, so the tank controls aren't as awful as they could have been. On the other hand Rion has a huge turning circle that makes it really hard to evade faster enemies like riot guards.

Also, I apologise for the dearth of music links. Most of the rooms don't have any music, only ambient noise, and the only OST files I've been able to find are huge composite files with all the tunes from each stage played sequentially, including cutscene sounds. I've basically had to hacksaw all the themes out via Audacity, so if they sound a bit weird then that's why.

Keldulas
Mar 18, 2009
At least for the start here, this game is doing a pretty good job of the survival horror thing with me. The enemies are humans. Humans involved in something very morally wrong, true, but still people. And yet you can kind of at least see some kind of purpose behind what they're doing, what with Rion serving as a strong example case that they're actually onto something. Actually being the escaped experiment is a nice turn on the genre really.

There's also the unsettling moments, like when Rion starts shorting or with that other experiment child. The shorting in particularly sells the danger of the powers to me.

EponymousMrYar
Jan 4, 2015

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.
I'm getting some serious Parasite Eve 2 vibes from this.

Pity about the Tank controls though.

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey

Keldulas posted:

At least for the start here, this game is doing a pretty good job of the survival horror thing with me. The enemies are humans. Humans involved in something very morally wrong, true, but still people. And yet you can kind of at least see some kind of purpose behind what they're doing, what with Rion serving as a strong example case that they're actually onto something. Actually being the escaped experiment is a nice turn on the genre really.

There's also the unsettling moments, like when Rion starts shorting or with that other experiment child. The shorting in particularly sells the danger of the powers to me.

Galerians definitely starts out strongly, and it's clear that the developers spent a lot of time on the opening sequence. In many ways it's the final stage of a classic survival horror game played in reverse - instead of breaking into the secret lab you've got to escape it, and you don't fight the secret prototype super-being - you are that super-being.

Digital Jello
Nov 2, 2012

Now I have a machine gun. Ho! Ho! Ho!
I would think that if I were a medical provider or overseer in a morally-questionable hospital that experiments on children's telekinetic abilities, I would have some type of *decent* security protocol instead of just a generic guard or two patrolling the corridors (said protocols would probably be futuristic, too). I have to admit, I'm kind of antsy to see you reach a "story point" so maybe we can find out a little more of what all these bizarre happenings are.

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


I was curious about this game after seeing the last LP of it. Though one of the crowning moments of it was how that OP took down the first boss :allears:

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey

SSNeoman posted:

I was curious about this game after seeing the last LP of it. Though one of the crowning moments of it was how that OP took down the first boss :allears:

Ahaha, I know exactly what you're talking about even though I haven't read the LP in question. The first boss is pretty infamous both for being a tremendous rear end in a top hat and the thing you're talking about. I've just finished recording the fight with him, and I'll be sure to show everything off in a couple of updates.

Nyeehg
Jul 14, 2013

Grimey Drawer
Was always curious about this game but never got round to it. LP is looking good so far, look forward to seeing how this turns out.

On a side note, this game got adapted into a really lovely looking CGI anime in the early 2000's. Don't know if it's any good but the CGI has aged very poorly. I remember seeing a clip years ago and being convinced they just ripped the ps1 cutscenes and strung them into a movie.

Section Z
Oct 1, 2008

Wait, this is the Moon.
How did I even get here?

Pillbug
While on paper anything like the Short mechanic sounds like complete bullshit to deal with, the fact it also comes alongside with you going on a psychic rampage that everyone recognizes as a big deal is a nice touch. Even without you mentioning how you will have plenty of drugs to handle it.

It's funny how usually nobody gives a poo poo when you go into super modes in games, unless you do it in a cutscene.

Section Z fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Sep 20, 2016

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey
Shorting isn't the only time enemies freak out. Scientists and occasionally security guards will sometimes cringe or flinch away if you kill one of their companions in front of them. It's a really neat touch.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Scintilla posted:

Shorting isn't the only time enemies freak out. Scientists and occasionally security guards will sometimes cringe or flinch away if you kill one of their companions in front of them. It's a really neat touch.

That seems like a really good way to get across that you're murdering, you know, people.

Kaboom Dragoon
May 7, 2010

The greatest of feasts

Scintilla posted:

Galerians definitely starts out strongly, and it's clear that the developers spent a lot of time on the opening sequence.

I felt the opposite, myself, oddly enough. The intro is good, but the following areas are where things get really good.

Nyeehg posted:

Was always curious about this game but never got round to it. LP is looking good so far, look forward to seeing how this turns out.

On a side note, this game got adapted into a really lovely looking CGI anime in the early 2000's. Don't know if it's any good but the CGI has aged very poorly. I remember seeing a clip years ago and being convinced they just ripped the ps1 cutscenes and strung them into a movie.

I actually own it. It was released around the time of the PS2 sequel, ASH, and it's not bad as tie-ins go. You could probably complete this game in the same amount of time it takes to watch the film. Interestingly, the movie has two music scores: the original Japanese one, and one made up of nu-metal and industrial bands like Skinny Puppy and Adema. I guess that was the only way to help it sell, since the game vanished without a trace in the West, and the sequel is basically unknown.

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey
Update 04: Mouths of Babes

Welcome back. Last time we blew open the security door to the floor below and took one step closer to freedom. Our protagonist has yet to uncover exactly who he is, but with a whole new floor to explore we’re sure to find a few clues.





Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 1



A security guard walks by as we reach the bottom, but he has no peripheral vision and just wanders off.





There’s another right around the corner, but he’s not nearly as tough as the riot guard.





Looks like our security card isn’t going to help us here.







Nalcon has a pretty long effective range. That and the knockdown effect means you can stunlock an enemy to death if you get your timings right.





We can enter this room, but as soon as we take a single step a cutscene triggers.







Rion walks forwards, then suddenly the monitors burst to life.



: Rion! Where are you going? Do you really think you can escape?

: Who are you?



: I am Lem, Clinic Chief of this facility. You are the most promising subject so far. Return to the isolation ward! Your brain will Short if you continue to overdo it!



:…



: You refuse to listen, eh? You leave me no choice but to terminate you! Secure the entire isolation ward, and lock all security card slots!



: You have nowhere to run now, do you? You’ve deeply disappointed me, Rion.

Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 4



So, we finally get to meet Clinic Chief Lem. As expected, he’s kind of a dick. He also has questionable taste in interior design, if the weird monitor tree is anything to go by.







Several rooms lead off from the computer suite. This one is a save room.





This one is another bathroom. Unlike the first one however this one actually has something interesting in it.



Someone left a newspaper by the sink that we can take a look at.







This newspaper is easy to miss. The article is rather ominous and raises more questions than answers. At least we now know Rion’s last name, and that he has a family.





The only other door in the computer suite is locked.







For some reason the button to open it is in this very room, right over by the door we originally came in through. Hurrah for pointless distractions!



Around this time I notice that A) my AP bar is full and B) I’m running dangerously low on Nalcon.



I do nothing about problem A for reasons that will become clear very soon. I do, however, decide to shoot up some more Nalcon.



Rion presses the muzzle of the Beeject against his neck.







The injection seems painful, but Rion now has a full bar of Nalcon. You always get a little cutscene like this when you inject a particular drug for the first time. Every time after that it’s just a quick in-game animation.



The next room contains three scientists. Despite how weak they are individually, facing down three enemies in such close quarters is still fairly tough.







Or it would be, if we didn’t have a full AP bar. :psyboom:





After taking our brain meds we can examine this little pillar for our first Red pickup. Red is slightly rarer than Nalcon, although not as rare as another drug we won’t be coming across until the third stage.



I inject the stuff immediately and move on to examining the huge monitor at the back of the room.



Alright, let’s turn that sucker on and see what comes up.













Well now, this is interesting. This report indicates that Michelangelo Memorial Hospital is a test site for producing genetically modified workers. It is also the first mention of ‘Galerians’, which is definitely significant given that it’s the title of the game.



There’s nothing else in here, so let’s mosey on into the next area.







We briefly caught a glimpse of this room via psychometry earlier on, and yep, it’s full of pickled fetuses.



One of the tanks is slightly brighter than the others. Let’s have a closer look





Yep, that sure is a dead baby alright.







:stare: Or maybe not so dead!



Jesus. This place is like the final area of a Resident Evil title.







The key we need is right here. Now, who’s up for some backtracking?





Guards have spawned in the room where we met Lem. We aren’t coming back here again, so I conserve my powers and just run past them.





The room we’re looking for is back upstairs. See the unfilled room in the left hand corner of the map? That’s our destination.







Unfortunately a riot guard spawns in the second hallway. His footsteps are pretty loud, so you’ll know he’s there, but as our last encounter with one proved they’re not to be underestimated.



As such, I choose not to take chances. First I knock him down.



Then I set him on fire.



Then I knock him down while he’s on fire. Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t get back up again.



With the key in hand we can finally unlock this door.

Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 4



The PPEC Office contains three scientists, two near the entrance and one offscreen to Rion’s left.





None of them last long.







As expected from the room’s name, the place is stuffed with drugs and brain meds.



This monitor will let us rewrite our security card in order to bypass Lem’s lockdown.



Psychometry reveals part of the number we’ll need to reprogram the card. Good thing we’ve already seen the rest of it!





All we have to do is enter the number we found last update.







Presto! Now we can explore the rest of the fourteenth floor. Thank you, nameless psychic guinea pig child! This update is getting a little long though, so we’ll leave venturing deeper into the hospital for another day.

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


I take it you can't do any puzzle solving while shorting?

Section Z
Oct 1, 2008

Wait, this is the Moon.
How did I even get here?

Pillbug

SSNeoman posted:

I take it you can't do any puzzle solving while shorting?

Well, your health drains while you are shorting. So now I'm wondering if you could, but your health doesn't stop draining while you are puzzling.

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey
You can't run or attack normally while you're Shorting, but you can go through doors and interact with objects. The game pauses when you're fiddling with stuff, but if you're at the point where you're having to solve puzzles while Shorting you've got bigger things to worry about.

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey
Update 05 - Down the Rabbit Hole

Welcome back. Last time we met Clinic Chief Lem, who tried to impede our progress by locking down the hospital. We’ve managed to rewrite our security card, so we should be able to continue our escape.



I’ve skipped out backtracking down to the fourteenth floor, since nothing interesting happens on the way. A security guard spawns near the bottom of the stairs, but he’s easily dealt with.





The red light on the door turns blue, and we’re cleared for entry.



We find ourselves in another winding corridor.



The door to Rion’s left leads into a large storage room. There are a lot of goodies in here, but we’ll have to wait to pick them up because walking forwards a bit triggers a scene.



: Rion…? Where are you…? Please help me! Hurry!

: Who are you? Why do I hear your voice in my mind?

: Rion? Where are you?



It seems as if Rion can hear the voice in his head, but the voice cannot hear his replies. Anyway, this room is full of supplies. Checking the various shelves yields vials of Red and Nalcon, some Delmetor and two Recovery Capsules.



The real prize is this, however. Skip is a very rare drug that can only be found in a handful of places throughout the game.



Taking it causes you to level up. See the level indicator next to the charge wheel? You’ll notice it’s at Lv. 2 now. We’ll be seeing the results of that change very shortly.







I exit back to the corridor, run around the corner, then immediately get a face full of buckshot from the riot guard patrolling the section.



After some tactical flailing I manage to retreat far enough to charge up a blast of Red.



Notice how the charge wheel fills up twice over, with the second charge highlighted in green. This boosts our attack power significantly, with the downside being the increased charge time and the fact that it burns through our supply of drugs twice as quickly.



The exchange is usually worth it though. A riot guard normally takes either three blasts of Nalcon or two of Red, but a fully charged Lv. 2 flame blast will kill them in one hit.







There’s another riot guard around the next corner. This time we’re the ones who take him by surprise.



The next room looks like some kind of factory.



Recovery Capsules are always nice. Walking forwards from this screen results in a brief scene.





The camera pans over the dingy room.









Oh snap, it’s a Scopedog!



Meet the armoured trooper. Armoured troopers are tough sons of bitches.



They’re the first enemy type in the game that are totally immune to Red. Using it on them just makes their armour smoke.



They’re armed with a powerful rifle, but it fires slowly and is far easier to dodge than the riot guard’s shotguns. It also has a very obvious targeting laser so you know exactly when you’re in danger.



If you get too close they can grab you, choke you for a while, then slam you into the ground.



They’re also sturdy enough to take a fully charged blast of Nalcon without falling over.



I mess up and wind up letting the trooper beat me around until my HP falls below half. This is a problem, as one of the disadvantages of Skip is that you lose the extra level if your health drops too low.









It takes five or so full blasts of Nalcon before the armoured trooper finally bites the dust. These guys are some of the toughest enemies in the game, and I’m glad they don’t show up more often.





After dosing up on drugs it’s time to head downstairs. We’re getting closer to freedom, but there are still a few trials ahead.





A guard walks out of sight as soon as the room loads. A brief look at the map reveals that there’s a lot for us to explore on this floor.



I get rid of the guard so he won’t be a problem later.





Another guard around the corner suffers the same fate.



The door at the end leads into some kind of futuristic conference room.





There are four strange devices lined up in one of the corners. All four can be read via psychometry.









The images seem to show blocky, rectangular objects in various different places.





A conspicuous picture of a two-headed eagle hangs on the far wall.



Reading it reveals a strange image that resembles the famous Peruvian Nazca Lines.



There’s not much more we can do in this room right now. The other door is locked, so let’s head back outside.





Another locked door. Lem’s doing, no doubt.





This door leads to another save room.





This room seems nice and peaceful. Perhaps-



drat. The power cuts out as soon as you take more than a couple of steps.





Fortunately we are still free to explore and the lights going off doesn’t stop us from snagging an important item sitting on one of the desks.





Unfortunately the power cut also trips some kind of failsafe, locking the door and disabling the power switch. We’ll need to reboot the system if we want to escape.



Three computers are still active, as indicated by their glowing red lights.



Rion can turn each of them on, but has to do so in a certain order.



Failure causes the puzzle to reset.



A clue to the correct order can be found at the back of the room.





The projector is inert, but reading it gives us this picture. The rightmost blue light is higher than the others, indicating the right hand computer should be turned on first. The one on the left is the second highest, so the leftmost computer must be turned on second. The middle one goes last.





All the lamps turn blue and hey, the projector also turns on. Let’s have a look.











Very interesting. There’s no text, but we now have pictures of Rion’s family and the two others who were mentioned to have vanished, Dr. Pascalle and his daughter Lilia.



Anyway, let’s continue onwards.



The only other place to go is through this door right here, but as soon as we push through we’re hit by a short scene.



Hey, it’s the statue of the goddess we keep seeing.



Wait, is that something on her shoulder?





Oh. Uh…





Well, this can’t be good!



Meet the Rabbit, previously mentioned in the G-Project report we found earlier. There are three in this room, with the other two temporarily offscreen at the moment.



Rabbits are pests. They move quickly and erratically, occasionally dodge away from your attacks and nearly always show up in groups.



Their only attack is to stab Rion with a small knife, but it’s hard not to get hurt when three of them are rushing you.



Being genetically modified for hazardous environments also makes them pretty durable, able to take three charged shots of Nalcon before going down.





It’s a pretty intense encounter, and I blow through a good amount of Nalcon, Red and HP dealing with them.



Luckily I have plenty of brain ‘roids to spare.



The lobby is a big place with lots of doors and exits, but we’ve run out of time to explore them this update. Join me next time as we make a start on the Hospital’s final puzzle and inch closer to the world outside.

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


Is it worth hoarding Skip for bosses or is it better to just use it ASAP?

VagueRant
May 24, 2012
I literally said "YESSSS" at my monitor (tragic, I know) when I saw this was a screenshot LP. I've been wanting one of these since I found out LPs were a thing. And video LPs of it were SUPER boring. Also it's a good SSLP - clear information for those of us who haven't played it, not padded out with memes and in-jokes or whatever. Much appreciated.

I remember pouring over details of the game in magazines when I was a kid, but I never got to play it, and trawling GameFAQs scripts to try and find out the ingriguing story. There's definitely some really neat ideas, despite the samey rooms and iffy gameplay.

Couple of thoughts:
  • Really curious what happens if you just leave the cowering/fleeing enemies. I guess they'd just attack you again next time you came through the door?
  • Weird how there's a little CG clip for nearly everything you interact with. Wondering how short this disc will be.
  • Wondering if the dodge and charged attack system would work better in full 3D without tank controls.

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey

SSNeoman posted:

Is it worth hoarding Skip for bosses or is it better to just use it ASAP?

I usually use it immediately. The power boost is significant enough to trivialise most encounters, and you only have so much inventory space. That said, the first boss can be a horrible pain so holding onto some is a good idea.

Scintilla fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Sep 29, 2016

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

In general if your thought is 'Would a system requiring action game inputs be better without tank controls' the answer is yes.

Tank Controls were basically an uncomfortable compromise forced by the fact that the Dualshock was only introduced part way through the PS1's lifetime, I think.

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey

VagueRant posted:

I literally said "YESSSS" at my monitor (tragic, I know) when I saw this was a screenshot LP. I've been wanting one of these since I found out LPs were a thing. And video LPs of it were SUPER boring. Also it's a good SSLP - clear information for those of us who haven't played it, not padded out with memes and in-jokes or whatever. Much appreciated.

I remember pouring over details of the game in magazines when I was a kid, but I never got to play it, and trawling GameFAQs scripts to try and find out the ingriguing story. There's definitely some really neat ideas, despite the samey rooms and iffy gameplay.

Couple of thoughts:
  • Really curious what happens if you just leave the cowering/fleeing enemies. I guess they'd just attack you again next time you came through the door?
  • Weird how there's a little CG clip for nearly everything you interact with. Wondering how short this disc will be.
  • Wondering if the dodge and charged attack system would work better in full 3D without tank controls.

1. If an enemy is cowering you're probably Shorting. What usually happens is an enemy will walk towards you, realise what's going on, then either scramble back or freeze in place. Re-entering the room resets them.
2. Galerians has a lot of CG cutscenes, which is probably why it's split over three disks. The first disk actually has the most content, covering stages one and two.
3. Tank controls suck and make everything twice as hard as it needs to be.

Scintilla
Aug 24, 2010

I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey
Update 06: Lines in the Sand

Welcome back. Last time we fought our way down to the thirteenth floor, encountering a couple of new enemy types along the way.



With the Rabbits dead we can explore the large lobby at our leisure.



Interesting, but it appears to be purely decorative.



As the map shows there are plenty of doors leading off from this area.















Unfortunately nearly all of them are locked, though our drug-fuelled superpowers give us some hints as to where the keys are.





We have the control room key, but we won’t be using it just yet.



This door here is the only one we don’t need a key to open.



It leads us into a very short hallway with two doors.

Music: Galerians - Hospital Animal Room







Entering the door on Rion’s left brings us to a strange chamber full of Nazca-style wall carvings. These pictures will be relevant to the Hospital’s final puzzle.



Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 1



The door at the end leads into some kind of futuristic cocktail bar.



There are three scientists in here. Spoilers - Rion Shorts and kills them all.



This place showed up in one of our psychometric readings.





Sure enough, there’s a key here.





We can also snag some other goodies before we head back to the lobby.

Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 3



Annoyingly, three armoured troopers have moved in while we were away. You can take them on, but it’s not worth wasting Nalcon when you can run past them fairly easily.





Our next destination is up these stairs.

Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 1





We emerge into a corridor with two Rabbits.





The narrow confines of the hall make it hard to dodge their knives. Rabbits are similar to riot guards in that they are most dangerous in confined spaces.



In the end though they both go down.







The big room here is locked, but reading it reveals a strange room with what looks like an elevator in the top left. Could it be a way out?





The southern door is open and leads into an operating room similar to the one Rion woke up in.







This gurney holds another key. Don’t worry, it won’t be long before we start unlocking things.



The back half of the room has some rather prominent computer monitors.





Turning them on gives us some more background information.











There’s not much we didn’t know before, although it’s interesting that the researchers were apparently continuing taking notes even after he broke free. It also reveals that Rion has been experimented on for more than a week.



Now that we’ve collected everything we need it’s time to start opening some doors.





We’ll start with the Control Room since it’s got some important stuff in it.



There are two security guards inside, but they’re nothing we can’t handle at this point.



Dispatching the guards gives us access to these monitors, through which we can unlock two more doors.













The Clinic Chief’s Room and Armoury sound exciting, but we aren’t done here quite yet.





What do you know, we just found the key to here! Let’s head in and check it out.





The Research Lab contains three scientists, two in the open with a third lurking in an alcove to Rion’s right.







There are some nice items in here, but the real reason for coming here is in the alcove where the third scientist was hiding.







Inside is a stone tablet with a two-headed monkey on it.



I take the Skip we picked up before leaving. More attack power is never a bad thing.





Evading the armoured troopers, our next stop is the Armoury.



It’s a shame, but the Armoury does not contain a flamethrower, grenade launcher or other heavy weapon.



Examining the armour confirms that they aren’t robots, but exoskeletons worn by the guards.



The room itself is kind of tight but there’s still enough room to evade the armoured troopers inside.





Another tablet, this time with a two-headed wolf. Viewers familiar with Resident Evil should be starting to twitch right about now.



There’s also some Skip in here. Using it now would boost Rion’s attack power up to its maximum of Lv. 3, but I choose to hold back for the time being.



Another quick dash outside brings us to the Test Lab door.



Music: Galerians - Hospital Theme 6



The Test Lab is a tiny room with three scientists and another creepy chair.



Here’s another one of the cool things you can do after levelling up. If you charge the wheel up beyond the red bar but stop before it’s full, then tap ‘X’ repeatedly, Rion will unleash a rapid barrage of lesser strikes. This is very helpful if you’re fighting Rabbits or other fast enemies.





A two-headed snake. There’s just one more left, and getting it means checking out the one place we haven’t been to yet - the Clinic Chief’s Office.



Backtracking to the now open office is fairly simple, aside from one new obstacle that requires careful tactics to overcome.





What you want to do is edge along the wall until you’re about here, then switch to Red and charge up a full blast.





From there you can just about hit the riot guard lying in wait around the corner. A full charge of Lv. 2 Red will kill the obnoxious fucker stone dead in one hit.





The Clinic Chief’s office is about as gaudy as you’d expect.



Examining the incredibly overdesigned clock tells us the time, although it doesn’t really relate to anything.



Also - windows to the world outside! We’re almost out of this horrible place.





Anyway, let’s snag the last tablet before doing anything else.



Great. There are just a few more things we need to do here, then we can put these four blocks to use.



Being a mad scientist in a survival horror game means Lem has penned some insane ramblings for us to read.







Master of Creation? Wasn’t the statue in the lobby called that? Hmm…



We can also examine Lem’s protrait.



What a handsome gentleman.





Lastly, we can go out onto the balcony. There’s a Recovery Capsule on the small table to the north, and a small in-game scene triggers when you try to go south.



: Rion…! Rion…!

: Argh! That voice again!

:…

:…Lilia? Is it…Lilia?



: They’re coming to get me!

: Lilia, where are you?

: Help me, Rion. Please hurry!



So, Rion recognises the voice as belonging to a girl named Lilia. Lilia has been mentioned before, in a newspaper we found in a previous update. According to that article she was the daughter of Dr. Pascalle, a friend and work colleague of Rion’s father, and is implied to have vanished shortly before Rion did.

All very intriguing, but more explanations will have to wait. Join me next time when we complete the animal puzzle and finally, finally escape from this godforsaken hospital.

Section Z
Oct 1, 2008

Wait, this is the Moon.
How did I even get here?

Pillbug
LPing this game really helps with the theme of "Psychic knowledge super loving useful"

"He''ll never see me coming, the camera angles will make sure of-:supaburn:"

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Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


I know it's old hat to mock solving soup cans in these games, but seriously.

"No Dave you need the double-headed eagle block, not the wolf block"

"Are you loving serious Tim? Goddamn it this poo poo's heavy!"

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