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Episode VIII: The Anti-Cat Maneuver Music: Destruction - Noise of Fangs .jpg) Now that Zhuzhen has joined the party, perhaps we can make some headway in the troublesome cat lady issue at hand. Let’s return to the last spot we saw her appear and try that again. Cat Lady ninja smoke bombs onto the scene. She immediately recoils backwards. .jpg) .jpg)  Is she bothered? She isn’t acting the same as before… Is it because of pops? I bet that dirty old man hasn’t bathed in days... <ponders time since last bath>  ...You know maybe I shouldn’t call others on that one..jpg) .jpg) Now that we have a full party and we’re (slowly) approaching the conclusion of this chapter, I think we can drop some cash buying a couple extra Leather Belts for Alice and Zhuzhen and an extra bandana for protection on our new Taoist sorcerer. It’s not too much of a dent in our wallet. With our new accessories equipped and good to go, let’s head to the other place we last saw the Cat Lady. Cat Lady warps in next to the well. She recoils again.   <hops back and teleports away>.jpg) You’d think we’d now return to the Shrine where we saw her first in this sequence. But nope! We now want to return to her home where we murdered her .jpg) You’ll never leave. That is the Yamaraja’s decision. <steps forward and looks the Cat Lady over> What you mean, granny, is it’s the decision of whoever’s controlling Yamaraja behind the scenes. Hey, could we establish what the hell a Yamaraja is before we start jumping to the next level in management...? Wh-Who are you? Heh heh heh… I’m the adept hired to exorcise this village. So, are you ready to say uncle? Ha ha ha! You couldn’t even catch me. Why would I be afraid of you? Poof!.jpg) .jpg) You suck at this. No, I can still feel her presence. She’s still hiding somewhere in this house. I guess it’s time to apply the secret formula for smoking out cat people. ...... ...We’re gonna get it high? <incredulous look> No... Do you have any idea what we should do? That I do. I suppose you know how cats take to catnip? I thought you just said you weren’t gonna get it high! May I finish speaking before you start your outbursts, kid? <holds up bag> I made it by mixing catnip with a special dye! Well, this here is something called “Anti-Cat Powder.”Yuri jumps back from Zhuzhen. .jpg) Like... all the time? Just in case? I was hired to exorcise malevolent spirits from this village. I’m not sure if you’re aware, kid. But there’s a LOT of different varieties of ghouls and ghosts out there. I like to come prepared. Whatever. You’re batty, man. <nods> So that’s what that funny smell was... Now I get it! That’s why Granny hid herself!! <laughs> Right, she probably couldn’t stand the thought of running into me and having to smell this odor again. It’s actually an herbal remedy for stomach aches, but its smoke has a powerful effect on cat people. Simply carrying it is effective, but burn it and the power multiplies. Let’s smoke her out. Couldn’t we just... I dunno... set this house on fire? This seems like a lot of work. She’d likely just flee again and we’d get nowhere. But why wouldn’t she flee from the anti-cat whatchamacallit? ...That is a good point. <sigh> Just trust me on this. I AM an expert on these things. We’ll smoke her out and she’ll reveal her true form. Oh, but to do that, we’ll need a metal vessel and a torch. You need to go find those two things. When you bring them back, I’ll burn the incense in this house. <nods> A metal vessel and a torch. Right..jpg) There’s nothing worse than cat troubles. Unfortunately, there is no torch nor bowl nearby. We’ll need to go track those down in the village while ignoring the fact that Zhuzhen is literally a Fire Bender. To do that, let’s try asking the only other human in the village that didn’t just arrive. .jpg) > I’m looking for something. You seen a bowl or a tor— Metal vessel! Excuse me METAL bowl or a torch? Hmm? A “metal vessel” and “torch”? The “metal vessel” you can get from any street shop. And there are some “torches” near the gate... That’s if I remember correctly. .jpg) Look, they went to the trouble of rendering the hell version screens of this town and DAMMIT they’re gonna get their money worth out of it! We need to once more travel across town hitting event flag hotspots again. The first is one of the shop stalls in the main street. .jpg) .jpg) A quick Normal Ring mini-game and the Metal Vessel is ours. I’m sure burning the rotten flesh flecks alongside the stinky catnip will really add to the aroma. .jpg) .jpg) A torch is just sitting on the ground over by Wander Meiyuan. No mini-game necessary to collect it. I feel like gathering this specific bundle of sticks is rather egregious considering we’re in a village full of wood huts and again, a pyromancer is in our party. But what do I know about Eastern medicine? .jpg) .jpg) As a side note, the party is still obviously regularly coming up against random battles and has been picking up a few levels along the way. On the way back to the Cat Lady mayor’s home, Alice managed to hit Level 7 and learned Holy Edge. All characters, except for Yuri, have an “Edge” ability which can be cast on allies to add their elemental alignment to that character’s physical attacks. So Alice’s Holy Edge can turn Yuri or Zhuzhen’s physical attacks into Light Elemental strikes. It’s a real useful ability in certain situations. It’s almost universally one of the first additional techniques a character will learn if they don’t come with it unlocked already. That aside, back to the Mayor’s house we go... .jpg) Well, I guess I’ll give it a go! <turns to the fire pit> Let’s see, put the Anti-Cat Powder into the metal vessel… And light it with the torch... Yuri tosses all of that junk into the fire pit. He immediately runs back as soon as it ignites. .jpg) Maybe we should have gone outside as soon as we lit this thing. I’m not eager to stink like blue anus musk the rest of my life. <cat howl> <scan the area>The Cat Lady rockets out of the fire pit. .jpg)  Yikes! Oh my goodness! Hah! Did we accidentally set her on fire? That’s great!.jpg) I’ve got you now, old hag! You ready to be skinned, cat? H-How dare you! I’ll show you all! You’re all in big trouble now!.jpg) Music: Brain Hopper .jpg) .jpg) Time for another mini-boss. Cat Lady has shown her true form of Felinus, a 250 HP sporting cousin of the Hellcats from earlier. This fight is overall only marginally more difficult than the battle again those brats from earlier. As a quick aside, Felinus’s Japanese title is Nekomata Wikipedia on Nekomata posted:
.jpg) Felinus also just means “cat” in Latin. Hey, we’ve got a cat of our own here!  .jpg) It just so happens Raging Tiger is an Earth elemental Fusion while Felinus is a Wind elemental foe. Now seems a choice time to employ some of Raging Tiger’s Special Attacks. Specifically: Flying Stones. This is one of the more costly special attacks we’ve got at our disposal MP wise, so Yuri can only perform this three times this battle unless we want to blow a consumable. .jpg) .jpg) Flying Stones is... err... well... literally exactly what it says on the box. Raging Tiger uses telekinesis to pull up a bunch of stones and then sends ‘em flying right at its target’s everything. Look, sometimes just throwing a rock at a dude is an effective technique. Particularly here when it’s doing 60-70 HP of damage a shot. .jpg) .jpg) Meanwhile, Zhuzhen can add offensive support by setting that cat on fire with Ogre Flamedance. While not quite as effective as Yuri’s rock lobbing at only around 40-50 HP of damage, it’s still nothing to sneeze out. Alice meanwhile kinda has nothing to do this fight. She could heal, I guess, if the boys got really sloppy with their Judgment Ring usage and whiffed a bunch of attacks. That didn’t not occur. .jpg) .jpg) Offensively, Felinus’s primary ability is Wind Fang which will slice into the entire party for around 15 HP worth of damage. Nothing to worry about at all. .jpg) It can also just run up and scratch our characters for minimal damage. It is a cat after all. We’re just lucky it doesn’t hack up a gross hairball to poison anyone during this fight. .jpg) .jpg) All in all it is needless to say that things do not go well for the Cat Lady... Music: Results .jpg) .jpg) For our troubles we receive a small amount of EXP and a new item – the Lottery Ticket. This is part of a mechanic in Shadow Hearts that we’ll be encountering in the next location. We’ll just keep in mind we’re carrying one of these for now. Music: Destruction - Noise of Fangs .jpg) You’ll never understand the pain of giving birth, only to have them devoured… My vengeance was in vain… Suck it, cat! I feel for you… But I suggest you let it go and give yourself some peace. I’ll ask my employers to pray for the souls here. I won’t accept pity from you! Yamaraja! I leave everything in your hands….jpg) BARF! <dies> Why do they keep saying "barf"? Hmm? ...Nothing..jpg) Perhaps the cat-demons. I find it doubtful the villagers were raising snails. Also the straight-up zombies. Well, those could be vengeful animal spirits inhabiting human corpses. It’s a debatable fringe case as to the nature of such creatures. At least it’s over now. Now, now, Alice. We’re not done yet. Next comes that so-called “shrine” over there! <looks at door and laughs> Heh, now for Yamaraja!.jpg) Indeed. Time to return to the village shrine and see what the hell a Yamaraja is anyway. Tune in next time as we finish our adventures in Zhaoyang Village and conclude the Midnight Plains Arc as Shadow Hearts continues!    Video: Felinus Boss Battle The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Jul 1, 2018 |
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Jul 1, 2018 01:10
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The nekomata stories sound like stuff told by people who didn't really like cats. "The mountains are full of jerkface cats that'll eat you. Don't got there. Also, maybe Snuffles cuddles with you now, but when he's old he'll definitely turn into a jerkface and try to eat you and run off." The Dark Id posted:Offensively, Felinus’s primary ability is Wind Fang which while slice into the entire party
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Jul 1, 2018 02:03
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Covenant and FTNW are mostly better in their treatment of gay characters compared to SH1. There's still some questionable things in Covenant, but the gay characters in 2 and FTNW are more actual characters instead of gay panic style rapists like Meiyuan.
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Jul 1, 2018 02:10
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Yuri is just so jazzed to find out what Yamaraja is so he can punch it.
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Jul 1, 2018 02:42
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Yuri reminds me of the kid from Digimon Data Squad, who digivolves his Agumon by punching the opposing digimon in the face himself. If, like in some cases, it doesn't have a face to punch, he gives it a face and punches that.
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Jul 1, 2018 05:58
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BioEnchanted posted:Yuri reminds me of the kid from Digimon Data Squad, who digivolves his Agumon by punching the opposing digimon in the face himself. If, like in some cases, it doesn't have a face to punch, he gives it a face and punches that. Marcus is the best Digimon protagonist. This can actually be a problem in late game; the enemy has to survive his punch for the digivolution to start, and his damage scales with Agumon's level. So he can end up doing a very passable One Punch Man impression 
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Jul 1, 2018 06:32
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Malachite_Dragon posted:Marcus is the best Digimon protagonist. This can actually be a problem in late game; the enemy has to survive his punch for the digivolution to start, and his damage scales with Agumon's level. So he can end up doing a very passable One Punch Man impression Most protagonists support their Digimon. Marcus fights alongside his Digimon. If Davis had been more like him he'd have earned the digiegg of friendship no problem.
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Jul 1, 2018 07:07
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They carried it to the MMO as well; if your Tamer level is high enough and you're getting a big enough Atk boost from your digimon you can one-shot Mega/Super-Ultimate level mobs with Marcus' Punch ability, and it never stops being satisfying.
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Jul 1, 2018 07:37
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An odd way to look at the Meiyuan thing is that he can be seen as an equality thing of sorts! Yuri doesn't exactly come off well with his early perviness either.....
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Jul 1, 2018 07:49
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Keldulas posted:An odd way to look at the Meiyuan thing is that he can be seen as an equality thing of sorts! Yuri doesn't exactly come off well with his early perviness either..... Thatd be a passable thought. If said creepy gay man wasnt the only gay person in the game. And if it wasnt his sole defining trait. And wasnt a stereotype that has been repeatedly used this way. At least 2 (sort of?) Adresses this problem. Though some elements remained, sadly. Rigged Death Trap fucked around with this message at 08:54 on Jul 1, 2018 |
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Jul 1, 2018 08:39
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-PHONE!-
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Jul 1, 2018 08:43
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RIP Cannibal Cat. Died as she lived Being punched by a hobo
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Jul 1, 2018 08:47
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Apropos of nothing, I went to a used electronics store in my city centre today and in a range of used PS2 games ranging between 50p and £2, they had a copy of Drakengard 1 going for twelve loving pound, presumably as a deterrent
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Jul 1, 2018 13:05
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That forced me to check eBay. The REAL outrage is Drakengard 2 is selling for more. Drakengard is $18-35, D2 $30-45.
Alaan fucked around with this message at 15:17 on Jul 1, 2018 |
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Jul 1, 2018 15:10
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Alaan posted:That forced me to check eBay. The REAL outrage is Drakengard 2 is selling for more. Drakengard is $18-35, D2 $30-45. Higher cost, higher deterrent.
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Jul 1, 2018 15:50
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I'd assume the reason why momma cat doesn't flee when you smoke her out is mostly because the ultra-potent cat-nip is disorienting her enough she can't really pull off a teleport. I really liked the story of this village, it's one of those nice little messed up horror stories that sounds like genuine folklore.
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Jul 1, 2018 16:17
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Alaan posted:That forced me to check eBay. The REAL outrage is Drakengard 2 is selling for more. Drakengard is $18-35, D2 $30-45. Ebay hasn't been a good measure of market price in years. Keldulas posted:he can be seen as an equality thing of sorts! Not even remotely.
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Jul 1, 2018 16:24
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I'm seriously wondering what these cats were using as their litter pan. You think it would be a bonus item or something you'd be able to find amongst all the blood and gore, ala the goofy consumables you'd find in Earthbound like the stinky socks. We already have a guy who hears a voice in his head and Meiyuan's weirdness.The Dark Id posted:But what do I know about eastern medicine? 1. Eastern here should be capitalized since it's referring Eastern culture or something related to it specifically. 2. The, or those. Your choice really. Shitenshi fucked around with this message at 16:29 on Jul 1, 2018 |
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Jul 1, 2018 16:26
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Woake up from hernia surgery today and legit thought I was Yuri Hyuga for a sec
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Jul 1, 2018 17:49
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Rigged Death Trap posted:At least 2 (sort of?) Adresses this problem. Pretty much my thoughts exactly. 2 tried to add some character to what is normally a gag, but it also doubles down entirely on the gay gag thing in other parts. More wacky, more better??? Eh, not really imo. At least here in this game I could forget about Meiyuan. Rabbi Raccoon posted:Woake up from hernia surgery today and legit thought I was Yuri Hyuga for a sec Was it the overwhelming sense of malice surrounding you despite being in a hospital, or did you just want to punch and kick everybody?
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Jul 1, 2018 18:24
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EagerSleeper posted:Pretty much my thoughts exactly. 2 tried to add some character to what is normally a gag, but it also doubles down entirely on the gay gag thing in other parts. More wacky, more better??? Eh, not really imo. At least here in this game I could forget about Meiyuan. The Shadow Hearts trilogy isn't a shining example of gay representation but it does get better as it goes along.
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Jul 1, 2018 18:49
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I really lost interest in this game because of the gay stuff, it came at a sensitive part of my life and it was hard to forgive it. Koudelka at least holds a lot of fond memories, it'll be fun to see how SH1 unfolds.
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Jul 1, 2018 19:52
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Rigged Death Trap posted:At least 2 (sort of?) Adresses this problem. And lets not even get into what 3 brings to the table for "problematic" additions to the series. Anime was a mistake. 
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Jul 1, 2018 20:14
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Re: torch, Zhuzhen's thing looks like it's something that affects a big area at high intensity. Not really good for precision stuff, like lighting a torch.
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Jul 1, 2018 21:23
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This whole chapter would be a weapon story in a Yoko Taro joint.
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Jul 1, 2018 22:38
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I honestly do like this part of the story. A town where the animals have taken their revenge on humans seems like a classic horror idea.
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Jul 1, 2018 23:06
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"It’s actually an herbal remedy for stomach aches, but its smoke has a powerful effect on cat people." A lot of evil spirits in cultures throughout history and world are associated with sickness. That's why cleanliness and medicine repel them. Garlic repels vampires, soybeans repel oni, etc. Silver is a sign of purity and repels werewolves. A rather nice metaphor, but then you get silliness like people getting rid of cats; and you end up with rats and the black plague.
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Jul 2, 2018 01:36
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So does the King of All Monsters that Yuri apparently ate or something just kind of unconsciously pull him toward concentrations of monsters? You'd figure the easiest way to keep that sucker sealed would be a solid dose of the redoubtable and perilous Joestar Family Ultimate Technique.
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Jul 2, 2018 02:43
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Rabbi Raccoon posted:Woake up from hernia surgery today and legit thought I was Yuri Hyuga for a sec Did you punch your own bandaged wound or the doctor? 
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Jul 2, 2018 02:51
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I don't think... would Yuri punch a doctor in the face the moment he saw one?
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Jul 2, 2018 07:23
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bman in 2288 posted:I don't think... would Yuri punch a doctor in the face the moment he saw one? He didn't punch Zhuzhen, so I think not.
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Jul 2, 2018 07:36
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Episode IX: A Single Thread Music: Destruction - Noise of Fangs The Cat Lady is now dead. Which means we can now approach the Zhaoyang Village Shrine and go see what the deal is with this Yamaraja chap. We’ll go ahead and blow a Tent before heading out to restore all our HP/MP. It’s best to be in top shape going forward. I also perhaps got the whole gang to around Level 8ish since everyone was just at the cusp of leveling up after the Felinus fight.  As an added note, we hit exactly one random battle running from the save point to the town shrine. It was over a few seconds later but it resulted in the Soul Energy for Wind leveling up. We’ll address that sometime in the near future. Just keep it in mind. .jpg) You know, I don’t think anyone bothered to check to see if the Cat Lady actually was making any barrier. Everyone just kind of took her word on it and started chasing after her. Oh well. I guess it doesn’t make a difference now. Yuri is gonna violate the poo poo out of that shrine! .jpg) <nods> Yamaraja is the Lord of Hell. He’s quite different from those cat people from before. Be on guard. Piece of cake! Now let’s blow this joint. Time for the punchy part!Yuri fiddles with the Shrine and is immediately met with a thunder crash leading to... .jpg) New Music: China Ogre (It’s a major boss battle theme. You should probably listen to it.) .jpg) .jpg) Well... that’s quite the large boy. Meet Yamaraja: Earth -- the first proper boss battle in Shadow Hearts. As in this guy is the first winnable boss enemy that could potentially actually wipe out the party. Despite towering over humans, Yamaraja: Earth only comes packing 300 HP. But to offset that he’s way more durable defense wise than the trash mobs and minor cat demons we’ve been tangoing with. A Yama (the raja part is an honorific denoting a king/lord) is a deity from Buddhist mythology that judges the dead. His Japanese title is Enma-O: Sui Gaku which is the Japanese take on the original Hindu concept for a creature we're fighting in China... Sui Gaku part means “harvest” not “earth” that’s just a straight up translation gently caress-up as you’ll see shortly. Wikipedia on Yama posted:
King Yemma in Dragon Ball Z, that giant bureaucrat devil guy in the afterlife that Goku has to talk to before getting let on Snake Way after he dies? Same dude. .jpg) .jpg) Anyway, our first order of business is to immediately turn Yuri into a cat dude and immediately have him start chucking rocks at Yamaraja. You’d think using an Earth elemental Fusion and throwing an Earth element attack at a monster named Yamaraja: EARTH would be a poor idea. But nah. This attack still does around 50-60 damage to the big boy just like it did to Felinus. Why is that? .jpg) Like I said earlier, this guy’s Japanese name was Enma-O: Sui Gaku or Judge-King of Hell: Harvest. “Harvest” being a marginally more abstract a conceptual title than literally “Earth” -- an actual gameplay mechanic element present in combat. What I’m getting at is this dude is NOT an Earth element creature. He’s a Water elemental. Whoops! .jpg) Yamaraja Earth’s most devastating attack is Large Whirlpool, which hits Yuri and Alice for around 25-35 HP of damage while Zhuzhen, the Fire Element guy, takes it on the chin for 35-45 damage. .jpg) Even more pressingly, Large Whirlpool has the potential to inflict the first Judgment Ring status effect we’ve encountered in Shadow Hearts: Tight Ring. As the prompt says, for three turns the afflicted has the Hit Area on the Judgment Ring reduced in size. That’s the only abnormality that this Yamaraja can inflict. But other fun abnormalities for the Judgment Ring include:
.jpg) We need everyone to be on point during this battle so negating the Judgment Ring Abnormality with a Phoenix Tail right away is probably a good call. We’ll need to stock up on more of those in the future. .jpg) .jpg) Yamaraja: Earth also has the Flash Flood ability we saw from that undead wolf reskin enemy from earlier. It’s a real problem if he decides to target Zhuzhen with it. The old man does NOT do well against Water based attacks. A hit from Flash Flood will do 40-50 HP of damage and considering Zhuzhen only has 93 total right now... that’s a decent chunk of health gone down the drain. .jpg) Unlike in the Felinus fight, where Alice didn’t really need to contribute, this time around she is working overtime in the medic position making sure herself, Yuri and especially Zhuzhen have their health topped off as soon as possible. Optimally we don’t want anyone falling beneath 40 HP if we want to keep them alive. We also need to be mindful that Alice only has five turns before she'll run out of Sanity and go Berserk so we need to keep an eye on her quickly dwindling SP. The first time I played this I definitely had Alice lose all Sanity and was very confused as to what happened because hell if there's directly a tutorial about Sanity Points outside diving deep into the FAQ section of the menu. .jpg) .jpg) Even though he is taking a beating, Zhuzhen is probably our MVP in dealing damage during this fight since that whole elemental weakness thing works both ways. Ogre Flamedance will nail Yamaraja: Earth for nearly 60 HP. He should be belting a cast of that out every single turn. It’s better to let Yuri chip in with healing items to support Alice topping off everyone’s health than letting Zhuzhen stop burning this idiot. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) So in summary: Yuri turns into a catman and throw rocks at him, Zhuzhen set him on fire a bunch and Alice scrambles to keep everyone alive doing just that. Yamaraja: Earth will be slain in no time and with his death, the curse on Zhaoyang Village is finally broken. Music: Results .jpg) .jpg) In addition to a frankly underwhelming amount of experience points, we are reward with a Star Brooch for defeating the Yamaraja. This is actually a returning item from Koudelka... in name only. In that game, it actually was a brooch shaped like a star. It was a unique accessory only obtained by loving up a sidequest to properly exorcise a vengeful nine year old ghost. She proceeded to turn into a giant rotting end of Akira-esque bloated mutant and was murdered by the party... again. This version just gives +1 to Physical/Special Defense and allows us to bail on a battle if I somehow gently caress-up enough to get the entire party in the Berserk status...? Err... I don’t think that hypothetical situation is going to come up often... Music: Sea - Highnoon Fish .jpg) Thanks to you, too, girl. I guess my work here is pretty much done now. That was quite the journey for a job that took all of a half hour. I’ll need to kill time until morning before returning for payment or they’ll think I skimped on the job. But, wait, something’s been bothering me… Just who is this “person” that’s supposed to be controlling Yamaraja? He probably thought that if the Black Tortoise was here, it would stand in the way of his evil plans. So he used the cat people to steal the Black Tortoise seal, actually just a small votive picture. It’s quite sad. He took advantage not only of the villagers but of the local, sleeping spirits. Music: Wind Which Blows From the Dark II   Roger Bacon? Little early for having breakfast... He’s the warlock who tried to carry me off on that train. Oh that old dick. You two know Roger Bacon?! Is he that famous? Hmm… If Roger Bacon has reappeared… Then probably… There can be no doubt… You gonna elaborate on that? Or just do the trailing off ominously thing geezers who know more than they’re letting on always do? Hm? No. I cannot say with certainty... So the latter. I was captured by the Japanese in Changchun, and was being escorted to Fengtian on a special train. Bacon showed up on that train, killed the Japanese soldiers, and tried to abduct me. <laughs> But of course, I came in gallantly, and picked him off like a helpless rabbit! Picked who off? Roger Bacon! Ah hah hah hah hah. Roger Bacon? You actually think you killed him? Sorry young man, but that’s impossible. I punched a hole in his stupid smug face! I am PRETTY SURE I got him! Oh I’m sure you think you did. He’s not likely to succumb to you, no matter how hard you may fight. <clenches and shakes fist> Hmph! Well, thanks a lot, Zhuzhen! Now, now, don’t get all hot under the collar. I know you’re strong, kid. Anyway, here’s what I think. It wasn’t Roger Bacon who used the local spirits, but I don’t doubt that he’s involved somehow. Someone else behind the scenes? I wonder if this has to do with the army trying to take me to Japan? But the waves coming off this shrine seem to be a more deeply-rooted, purer kind of malice. It’s filled with hatred and lust… And vengeance. Just smells like skulls and dead cats to me. In my profession, people with powers of perception like yours are called “Demon Eyes”. That’s rad. ..... Of course, in this country, anyone who has powers that others don’t understand will be tagged a demon. But your powers seem to be special. You can see things others can’t see, and hear what others can’t hear… Best not flaunt those powers. You’ll soon be the target of those who would use you, and then kill you. <gets frightened> …… Hey, old man! Keep your ominous fortune-telling to yourself! We just kicked some ogre’s rear end. Stop bringin’ down the mood! <points at Yuri> You too, kid. The art of fusion is a forbidden art lost in ancient Japan. It’s a double-edged sword. A forbidden art from the Age of the Gods?! What ARE you talking about? I didn’t say that second part, but OK... If your heart becomes enclosed in darkness and your powers run wild, you’ll be a danger to everyone. <laughs> Give me a break! I can cover my own rear end, thank you! Just don’t be fusing with anything way out of your league, eh kid? What are you my dad now!? I suppose your father taught you how? <turns away> Forget it. But I want you to know that the furor you’ve just been through is most likely only the beginning. Now, then, let’s be going. I expect we can open the gate now.Music: Sea - Highnoon Fish .jpg) Killing Yamaraja has restored Zhaoyang Village to a decidedly less caked in gore and viscera motif. That’s not going to do much for the local tourism. Who wants to see yet another generic countryside watering hole? .jpg) Our only objective now is to return to the front gate and get the hell out of town. Before we venture too far, let’s do a slight touch of inventory management... You know, since the threat in town is over and all the demons are gone, I don’t think Zhuzhen needs that Bandana or Leather Belt anymore. He’s old, that stuff is just going to weigh him down. With that done, we can continue out of town. There is one single person to chat up on the way out... .jpg) Ah, is that so? That’s good to hear. Now it’s possible to leave the village. Allow me to show you my gratitude. This might come in handy in the future. Please take it. <You’ve received Guild Card!> Thanks for everything. The Lost Peddler gives us the Snake Card which is used in a shop discount mechanic we cannot yet dive into since the Peddler has ceased being an actual shop vendor. We’ll have to check it out once we reach the next area. Now about that gate... .jpg)  Well, I’m off. Hope to see you again sometime. <nods> Yeah. So long.Meiyuan dashes out of town. .jpg) ...But who’d want to be touched by him? Isn’t he a nice man? <nods> I’m sure he’s perfectly safe for you, missy.I think that’s the last time anyone actually actively discusses anything about Meiyuan outside of talking to him directly. So that’s probably for the best. That aside, last call for doing anything in Zhaoyang Village. We won’t be ever returning here. Music: ENDS .jpg) Well then, see ya. We’ll probably never meet again, but I hope your business doesn’t fail, pops. <laughs> <shakes head> Whatever will I do without a smartass kid heckling my work? <nods> Thanks for all your help! Take care of yourself. <nods and begins walking away>.jpg) New Music: Much Hatred Still Rankles .jpg) <looks the pair over> You two meeting up, then me, and then the events in this village… Somehow I can’t help feeling like all this is connected by a single thread that somebody has spun. And if it is, it means we’ll be meeting again somewhere. Hey, pops! I’m gonna want a cut of your pay if you start showing up on jobs in places I’m punching demons! Heh heh heh. Well, until then, take care!  Zhuzhen laughs and wanders off down the road, exiting the party. .jpg) Shoot! If only he were more generous about teaching me his secrets… The jerk! I bet you money right now if we see that guy again he’s gonna be “ho ho... actually I knew a half hour long monologue of backstory I just chose not to tell you for dramatic effect!” Guys like that tick me off. It’s always some kinda kung fu doctor too. I swear! Hee hee hee. Well, if we’re going to be seeing him again, we can ask him then. <shakes head and waves her off> That’s true. A single thread spun by somebody… huh? Now that’s interesting! <looks to the sky>.jpg) And that concludes Chapter 2 of Shadow Hearts! Yuri Hyuga and Alice Elliot’s adventures will continue in Chapter 3: Fengtian Tragedy. ...I’m sure it’ll be fine.  It’s the proper end of the chapter so let’s have a rundown of all the folks we met along the way. MONSTER: .jpg) Wow, who knew undead kittens were such assholes? I’m glad we murdered those kids. .jpg) Zombie gonna zombie. .jpg) Pictured: The very face of sadness. .jpg) Perhaps it was a mistake to found Zhaoyang Village on a sacred Wolf Burial Ground. Or any burial ground in general. Did no one watch Poltergeist? It’s a bad idea every time! It’s up there with bringing a loved one back with alchemy. Just don’t do it! .jpg) Huh... That’s it? You’d think what was essentially the villain of the day for this small story arc would have a more grandiose backstory. But nope. Just an old cat lapped up some blood where a guy nicked himself shaving and whoops! Cursed into being a demon cat! .jpg) Much like it is not an Earth elemental despite the name, it also doesn’t have a kick attack of any sort... I have no idea what that description is talking about. Perhaps Yamaraja can cast some low-key anti-localization spell. .jpg) If you’re thinking Shadow Hearts has a small pool of enemies it’s going to repeat frequently with different colors and textures like Final Fantasy X loved to do... Nah. It’s just wolves. They frikkin’ loved wolves early on. Every other enemy at the game has at MOST maybe one doppelganger palette swap cousin. Wolves have like five. Couldn’t tell you why. NPC: .jpg) Wanderer Meiyuan is the type of guy who uses 15+ year old photos for all of his online profiles. *****  Video: Yamaraja Earth Boss Battle (You should check out the big boss.) The Dark Id fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Jul 3, 2018 |
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Jul 2, 2018 16:24
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Yeah, that guy took me off guard due to the faulty translation.
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Jul 2, 2018 17:19
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The mistranslation here and the subsequent gameplay related confusion is bad enough, but add to that the boss's durability, and this fight can last long. Which is aggravating as this is probably the first time most people will see the berserk status in question, courtesy of Alice. It's very easy to neglect or outright not notice her dwindling SP since most first timers probably won't think it's a big deal, likely from not having read the tutorial or just plain ignorance from not experiencing it firsthand. On another note, Yamaraja is still a drat weird translation. Despite the Japanese text clearly calling this guy Enma-Ou, they went ahead and used an Indian term, which denotes a Hindu deity bearing the same name but later changed into a different god as it migrated over into East Asia. Even though we're in China. The Dark Id posted:It’s a real problem he decides to target Zhuzhen with it. The first should have an "if" after problem.
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Jul 2, 2018 17:37
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Harvest of the Yama King. Not sure if I should be flashing back to Shadowrun or V:TM.The Dark Id posted:Nah. It’s just wolves. The frikkin’ loved wolves early on.
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Jul 2, 2018 20:31
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The boss battle music in China is so good.
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Jul 2, 2018 20:36
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On another note, you gotta wonder how those demons managed to maintain that illusion so effectively. As soon as the village reveals it's true self, every step Yuri makes is accompanied by the squelching of the corpses under his feet. So did all the bloody residue on his shoes immediately turn back into dirt after killing Yamaraja?
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Jul 2, 2018 20:52
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Shitenshi posted:On another note, you gotta wonder how those demons managed to maintain that illusion so effectively. As soon as the village reveals it's true self, every step Yuri makes is accompanied by the squelching of the corpses under his feet. So did all the bloody residue on his shoes immediately turn back into dirt after killing Yamaraja? Yeah, I was wondering about that. I think we weren't necessarily in the real world when everything turned to Hellsville, China. The cat lady said morning would never come.
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Jul 2, 2018 21:09
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Speedball posted:Yeah, I was wondering about that. I think we weren't necessarily in the real world when everything turned to Hellsville, China. The cat lady said morning would never come. Zhuzhen said as much, really: Episode VII-The Quack Oracle posted:
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Jul 2, 2018 21:18
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You know, I can't help but get a FF12 vibe from the whole "Wolves Palate Swap" thing. God there were so loving many wolves in FF12 it hurt.
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Jul 2, 2018 22:57
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