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This game is awesome. I heard about it while trolling Kickstarter a few years ago and immediately purchased it after hearing the title and premise. Glad I did. You will be too. Hope Zeboyd does something equally masterful eventually. The most entertaining parts of the game for me include the monster descriptions (many hilarious ones coming up) and insane animations (some of them had me LMAO, hope Leave can endure the rear end-kicking tougher-when-insane monsters will bring just to show them off). There's also the high level of Lovecraft research the writers did and how it shows. For those not in the know, HP Lovecraft was a prolific horror writer in the early 20th century. His significant works (short stories mostly, a few novel length) include Call of Cthulhu, Color Out of Space, At the Mountains of Madness, The Dunwich Horror, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Lovecraft lacked confidence and suffered from severe depression, so he never really found success with his work while alive. Yet he corresponded with many significant people (including Conan the Adventurer creator Robert E Howard and magician Harry Houdini) enough to be published in pulp magazines a lot and influence many horror writers after his death of cancer in his mid-forties. I don't want to say too much because of spoiler policies, but if you've ever heard of Cthulhu, Deep Ones, Shoggoths, the Necronomicon, doorways between dimensions, or any story with the themes of forbidden knowledge, humanity trying in vain to rise above their insignificance, people doomed to dire inescapable fate, superstition vs. primitive ignorance... chances are this guy has influenced what you've heard. Stephen King has called Lovecraft the greatest inspiration for his own horror stories and other more recent writers have obviously drawn from him too. Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, HR Giger- the list is long. I myself have enjoyed Lovecraft's work enough that I feel I can crib from Wikipedia and other Internet sources to voice the lore as Leave asks. If another goon with more Lovecraft nerd cred wants to step in though, I will gladly let them. Leave can also shut me up or ask me to edit my posts should I get out of control. Some things from the first post- Cthulhu is, as has been said, an ancient being with phenomenal cosmic powers and serious potential for causing insanity in humans. This is not the first video game based on him. Lovecraft started the mythos, others continued it, and today Cthulhu is all over horror literature, TV shows ranging from South Park to Supernatural, and gaming of both tabletop and electronic variety. TV Tropes has a whole list of pages using his name as an abbreviation for conceived beings of unimaginably alien power and personality. Popular culture has Cthulhu depicted in T-shirts, plush toys, and mugs. I first heard of him in the following cartoon by John Kovalic-  After that I read his story and learned one really shouldn't laugh about this guy. Basically the story tells of a young Rhode Island scholar who finds a sculpture of Cthulhu and various notes about his legend among his dead great uncle's personal effects. He investigates out of curiosity and pieces together that Cthulhu is an ancient mythological being worshipped by various deranged cultists and researched by scholars fascinated with obscure literature (like the dead great uncle and now the narrator). A lot of chaos and insanity seem to linger among those who have heard of his image or name. Cthulhu is the high priest (or king according to some) of a horrifying godlike race called the Great Old Ones who died out long ago but are still worshipped by modern day cults. Other tales of his majesty and power are spread via dreams and forgotten lore. Some day, the legends say, Cthulhu will awaken from his present death-like slumber and either conquer or destroy the world depending on who you ask. Cthulhu clearly has an alien morality- most consider him evil, but he holds himself above such primitive ideals. The protagonist of his tale learns that the cult of Cthulhu believes that Cthulhu's home city Ryleh is sunk beneath the ocean somewhere in the uncharted South Pacific and a group of innocent New Zealand sailors discovered its upper reaches on an island only to be baffled by the odd geometry. Then they awakened Cthulhu through exploration and barely escaped after fleeing on their ship, then ramming the monster head on when he gave chase- didn't kill him of course, Cthulhu started regenerating immediately after the ship clipped him. Then he presumably returned to Ryleh and went back to sleep. The sailors were later all killed by Cthulhu cultists and now the scholar-narrator is a target too. Is Cthulhu really alive and out there waiting for his time to come round again? Many sources, including one Austin TX researcher who recently started babbling incoherently on the Internet after looking into the issue say- YES!  In this game, Cthulhu's time has obviously arrived but he has been thwarted by whoever sealed away his power. I think most of his insanity aura has been sealed away too, as not everyone who meets Cthulhu goes nuts (unless he deliberately causes it with Insane Strike). He is still quite the rear end-kicker though, proficient with both sword and spell (we'll see more of the magic later). He also has the ability to attract fanatical devoted followers of questionable wisdom- like Umi. Umi is both my first and second favorite female characters in the game by the way. You'll learn later what I mean by that. She is Japanese, giving a nod to Lovecraft's many fans in that country and his influence on manga. She's a dim groupie who likes strange animals, like most Cthulhu followers. Umi has a lot of powers Leave will be showing off in the future. I'll post more regarding those after the next update. I like to think Umi was trying to befriend those Gooez monsters and they were too dim to realize it so they attacked her and she was too ditzy to realize they weren't hugging her... hopefully our hero Cthulhu will teach his groupie to smarten up a bit regarding strange monsters! I can't really say much about Umi yet but in the meantime think of her as a less annoying Sara like Leave said. If you missed Leave's last LP (shame on you!), well, she's a fanatical ocean enthusiast and devoted to Cthulhu despite the risks of being around him (to which she has obviously fallen victim- I especially love her fashion sense.  ) We may or may not get the opportunity to romance Umi- Cthulhu probably has an odd concept of such things and who knows if he's even into humans? Lovecraft was famously not a fan of romance in literature either, his earliest letters to pulp magazine editors showed great disdain for that genre and it's pretty absent from his own work. Pity IMO- lots of opportunity to show off Lovecraft's themes in stories regarding love. Maybe the man was too love-starved personally to explore such ideas?  I'll post more Lovecraft related-info after each post, subject to my own schedule. Leave may update faster than I can read and research- he has before. We'll see. For now enjoy a quote from Lovecraft himself- "All my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large. To me there is nothing but puerility in a tale in which the human form—and the local human passions and conditions and standards—are depicted as native to other worlds or other universes. To achieve the essence of real externality, whether of time or space or dimension, one must forget that such things as organic life, good and evil, love and hate, and all such local attributes of a negligible and temporary race called mankind, have any existence at all. Only the human scenes and characters must have human qualities. These must be handled with unsparing realism, (not catch-penny romanticism) but when we cross the line to the boundless and hideous unknown—the shadow-haunted Outside—we must remember to leave our humanity and terrestrialism at the threshold." — H. P. Lovecraft, in note to the editor of Weird Tales, on resubmission of "The Call of Cthulhu". This quote sums up his writings well. Let's just say human interactions are largely absent from most of them. Most works based on their mythos likewise have this quality. Such interactions may or may not pop up in this game- you'll have to wait for the LP to find out. My opinion- with such an alien protagonist, who can really know? 
achtungnight fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Jun 16, 2016 |
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Jun 16, 2016 18:24
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Good call on the trailer, Leave. I'll try to keep people blind with the vague concepts I bring up too. The many different versions of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's work that are out there should help. As Leave mentioned, he gave people license to use his concepts and many different stories resulted. The most prolific author who took Lovecraft's concepts and ran with them was August Derleth, another name Leave has aired. Derleth coined the term "Cthulhu Mythos" and created many of the core traits that concept now covers by expanding on Lovecraft's work. Fans remain divided over how much of Derleth's ideas can be considered canonical to the Cthulhu stories or what's of better quality. There's also argument over whether Lovecraft meant to create a mythos or just wanted to use it as story background- both things happened, I think. Reality ran with things no matter what Lovecraft intended. It's kinda like the Lee vs. Quesada Spiderman debate, Kirk vs. Picard on Star Trek, Lucas's vs. Zahn's vs. Disney's takes on Star Wars, and similar fandom fracases. The expansion continues today as well. There's no really rigid or coherent system to categorize the Cthulhu Mythos- nor should there be, according to most. Lovecraft himself referred to his mythos as "Yog Sothothery" and at times had to remind readers his mythos creations were entirely fictional. Derleth mainly brought in the idea that the Mythos was at its core about good vs. evil, based on the four classic elements (he had to create Old Ones to espouse some of these), brought in the ideas of Christian morality and hope triumphing over Elder Gods, and incorporated lots of other stuff you see in the popular fantasy genre. Lovecraft would probably have disagreed with much of this, but he was dead by the time Derleth did the majority of his work. Derleth was also Lovecraft's earliest and biggest publisher outside pulp magazines (he started the company Arkham House, which published all Lovecraft's stories after Lovecraft died), and did a lot to bring foreign horror stories to American shores and influence all the writers Lovecraft inspired. So it's hard to argue with his influence. If you're interested in Derleth, I hear he wrote stories in many genres, mostly detective, science fiction, and a variety of historical period pieces set in Wisconsin. I haven't read any of it myself, but Derleth's work is as influential as Lovecraft's in its own way. The heirs of Arthur Conan Doyle tried unsuccessfully to stop Derleth from profiting off Sherlock Holmes fanfiction, per Wikipedia, which gives one an idea of the sort of man Derleth was. Other authors, including Brian Lumley and Ray Bradbury, owe Derleth their success. He's probably the most well-known writer from the Midwestern United States of his time (Lovecraft was a New England writer, like Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King).
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Jun 16, 2016 22:17
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Rigel IV is also mentioned on the Simpsons as the home planet of Kang and Kodos, recurring green aliens with tentacles who resemble Cthulhu. The Simpsons has also used evil dolphins in at least one episode, although I don't think Lovecraft started that particular horror meme. I regret that Leave forgot to show off the game's first chat. It also mentions Umi's pet starfish, which she keeps in her hair if you can't already tell. Weird but fun, I know. I have met a few groupies like her in real life and always enjoyed the experience. Maybe we can still see the chat later on- I hope so! Leave may also have forgotten to show off Cthulhu and Umi's Unite Tech, or maybe we don't get those till later in the game. I can't recall. Die, pathetic clichéd heroes! At least the Cleric was cute. Bring your wizard friend next time, we'll kick his rear end too!  Looking forward to the first town.
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Jun 17, 2016 16:13
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Leave has already mentioned the history of Miskatonic somewhat. It's an Ivy League university specializing in the paranormal that appears in a lot of Lovecraft's writings, most prominently referenced in "Herbert West, Reanimator" and "The Dunwich Horror". Arkham, Massachusetts is the hometown of Miskatonic. The university is referenced in most Cthulhu Mythos adaptation stories and it depends on the writer whether the occult studies that go on there are overt or secret. It's a good location for the game's first town and training area. Other Lovecraft locations were mentioned this update, but I'll cover their lore when we get there to avoid spoilers. The innkeepers in this game are generally too scared of Cthulhu to charge you for a room, if I recall correctly. Hope Leave remembers to get a screenshot next time. Also still eager for the chat dialogue screens. Hooray, we can open chests in houses this game! Oh, and Leave, check every bookshelf and dresser for bonus dialogue. There's many funny bits you're missing. Sadly my memory's fuzzy on most of them. I'll look back at my game and relive the experience one of these days... drat, those insane Molly Dollys are creepy! I liked the ninja ghost too. Can't recall if there's any good treasure in the Ninja Burial Ground (that's the name of the bonus dungeon btw. Beltman is in there though- you missed him. I think he's also in the Hero Shrine, so we can see him there.
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Jun 19, 2016 14:42
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Chatting with Sharpe at a certain point says he still hovers- it just looks like he walks on his blade because he does it so close to the ground. It's also noted that actually walking on his blade would probably dull him. Hmm. I like Sharpe as a character. I can recall getting many sentient weapons in RPGs, but this is the only time I've seen one join the party as its own character instead of merely a tool of its wielder. achtungnight fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Jun 21, 2016 |
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Jun 21, 2016 21:22
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What's wrong with My Little Pony? It's a good show! Never mind, this game is better and more fun. Besides, Cthulhu has yet to be seen on MLP and I doubt even if he was that they'd do him right. South Park did though. If you haven't seen it, there's an episode where Cartman teams up with Cthulhu and does a My Neighbor Tortoro spoof. It has to be seen to be believed. Sadly, YouTube seems to have removed the video. 
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Jun 21, 2016 23:06
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If I recall, you get different level up powers sometimes based on if you went attack or magic. But equipment doesn't change on playstyle preference unfortunately.
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Jun 24, 2016 02:39
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Nylarthotep is probably the best known Lovecraft monster other than Cthulhu. He's one of the few Old Ones that is regularly active in the world, seeking to corrupt and destroy mankind. I can't recall any Lovecraft stories of him creating zombies or opposing Cthulhu, but I suppose the game is allowed some artistic license. Nylar has many forms, usually appearing as an Egyptian pharaoh or strange lecturer. Some think he was inspired by Nikolai Tesla. I won't say more about him for now. Dunwich was only used as a setting in one story by Lovecraft, but a lot of other writers have adapted or mentioned it in their works as tribute. The videogames Fallout and Bard's Tale both feature towns named Dunwich. Lovecraft's original story- "The Dunwich Horror"- tells of a dark family worshipping the Old Ones and keeping a giant invisible monster in their barn. This monster and the scion of the cult family both are part human and part demon. They ravage the countryside around Dunwich and scare many locals until a professor from Miskatonic University and his assistants learn about them and kill the monster while the family scion dies in an earlier mishap. The tale is noted as one of the few Lovecraft stories where good actually triumphs over evil. I'll let you read the story to find out the exact details. The story has seen numerous film, theater, and comic adaptations, not all of them true to the original plot. I personally think the original story is better than all of them and highly recommend it. Looking forward to the next update and more of Dunwich. The Deathleaders and Zombie Cops killed me many times in this town but it was still fun kicking their undead asses.
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Jun 26, 2016 14:26
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As far as I can tell, the form Nylarthotep (I can't spell it either) takes in the game is a new one. It has the tentacles he sports in Lovecraft's "The Haunter in the Dark" (in which a young cult researcher inadvertently summons the monster and is killed by it), but that form also has bat wings. He has other forms with tentacles also, but all are different in some way- color, additional features, and so forth. So I can't say why this form has multiple mouths, nor can I speculate on why it was selected. Some additional details on the villain cribbed from Wikipedia- "Nyarlathotep differs from the other Great Old Ones in a number of ways. Most of them are exiled to stars, like Yog-Sothoth and Hastur, or sleeping and dreaming like Cthulhu; Nyarlathotep, however, is active and frequently walks the Earth in the guise of a human being, usually a tall, slim, joyous man. He has a thousand other forms, most of these reputed to be maddeningly horrific. Most of the Outer Gods have their own cults serving them; Nyarlathotep seems to serve these cults and take care of the deities' affairs in their absence. Most of the gods use strange alien languages, but Nyarlathotep uses human languages and can be mistaken for a human being. The other Outer Gods and Great Old Ones are often described as mindless or unfathomable rather than truly malevolent, but Nyarlathotep delights in cruelty, is deceptive and manipulative, and even cultivates followers and uses propaganda to achieve his goals. He serves as a messenger for various Old Ones, working their goals on Earth. Driving people to insanity seems the most important of these." Many writers besides Lovecraft have depicted Nylarthotep in various ways. The game's version is yet another new one. I think it's more of a spoof than a serious threat, yet that probably fits the tone of the game better than depicting Nylar as a creepy professor corrupting cultists and driving them to madness, then assuming a new horrific shape when it comes time to battle him. Though that version would fit Lovecraft stories better if we were going for their original tone instead of the game's fun. In retrospect, I probably prefer the game. Some other Nylar forms that would have been fun to see include the Bloated Maiden (a beautiful woman with a fan but that illusion that hides a giant tentacle monster that eats brains), L'ro'gg the Bat God (a giant two-headed bat), and the Shadowman (the aforementioned evil Pharoah professor type). Not all these stories were by Lovecraft. Nylar is frequently used by other horror writers as an alternate identity for their monsters (recurring Stephen King villain Randall Flagg is an alias of Nylar's, Brian Lumley and Alan Moore have used him also in the modern day). As Leave may have mentioned, he has also been a boss in other video games- Bloodborne, Persona, and even Call of Duty's Zombies spinoff. He may have been defeated here, but I doubt he has been beaten forever. Of course, the game's hero party will be around to beat him down again should he return- if Cthulhu doesn't destroy the world himself first. Wonder how many hero points he'll need before he can do that. Keep playing, Leave, and let us find out soon!
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Jun 29, 2016 23:50
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I haven't read the Lovecraft story that mentions the Bloody Tongue form for Nylar. Glad somebody is able to mention the things I don't know and Wikipedia left out. The ape princess also falls into this category. I hated her too- Umi was on serious healing duty for that fight. So busy healing she never got to attack the boss- which probably made her extra mad. The mist wolf probably has my favorite blurb of the game monsters. I never had issues fighting it but it stuck around in my memories and dreams for years after I played this game. Maybe I really was driven mad. 
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Jun 30, 2016 09:03
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The Ape Princess is a monstrous ancestry thing, huh? That figures. Lovecraft used such tropes in many of his stories. This Arthur Jermyn got lucky, too. I've already mentioned "The Dunwich Horror", whose villains had a Great Old One (possibly Yog-Sothoth) in their bloodline and as a result had serious inhuman qualities in both physical and psychological makeup. This included fast maturation, high metabolism, poor body odor, automatic distrust by most humans not involved with GOOs, a tendency to drive animals mad by their very presence, and a generally ugly horrific appearance. I'm not sure if Mr. Jermyn had such issues thanks to his ancestors or not- maybe the suicidal tendencies were another form of horror passed down through the genes? Not having read the story, I guess I'll go with that. "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" is another famous Lovecraft story with monstrous ancestry as a theme. I'm not going to discuss it right now, though. That Uzimaki snail manga that keeps getting referenced by the monsters has similar inspirations. Not that Lovecraft was the first to use monstrous ancestry as horror, of course. That stuff is all over Greek mythology (the Minotaur being one famous example), and many other fantasy tales too. Regarding the game's story, I hope Leave will show off the Chat mechanic at some point. The conversations are usually bleah, but there have been a few recent ones that help the plot make more sense. The Conversation you get with Chat changes as you progress through the game, and I think the most recent has October talking about the town of Providence just behind the Ghost Forest and how it should be the party's next destination. We don't really get a reason to go to Providence without that conversation- not that conquering that creepy wood isn't worth Hero Points... What, it's not?! Narrator!  The conversation before that tells you how October became a necromancer (family history, and she thought it made sense because of her name). Character development is good.BTW, I recently looked up on GameFAQs about the Ape Princess and discovered most players think there are two keys to beating her- First, don't make her insane. Two, use attacks that provide constant end-of-turn damage effects like Poison and Cthulhu & Umi's Call Kraken ability (usually the Unite Techniques in this game aren't worth wasting two characters' turns, but this is an exception, as is the Furious Charge ability as a final blow). The boss's Protection spell isn't effective against those and they will wear her down- so even if you had to spend a turn healing she still gets hurt. That's a good thing what with the unfair "monsters get stronger in long battles" game mechanic. I'm still scared of Mist Wolves. Their blurb reads "Before the world began, the Mist Wolf was here." You just know the next line is "After the world ends, the Mist Wolf will still be here." Plus it's a freaky wolf made of mist. That's scary as heck.
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Jun 30, 2016 20:59
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Forgot to say earlier, but I too like it when Leave admits mistakes. Also, I took Paws, Umi, and October. I like the group attacks (Sharpe doesn't have many right now, though that can change if you build up his wind spells) and had to keep the healing. Good thing characters not in your immediate party still make story comments and such at appropriate times. And they still get EXP too. Strange beings stealing cattle is not a meme Lovecraft created. He has used it a few times however. In Dunwich Horror, the Whatley family needs a lot of cattle to feed their monstrous member and sacrifice to Yog-Sothoth. They acquire cattle accordingly. I can't recall offhand any other Lovecraft stories with the meme, can anyone else? There are many stories of aliens stealing cattle also. I myself once created a MUD text adventure RPG level with the theme, I'm not sure if it can still be found though. That was a long time ago. It was on a place called the Universe, and I called myself Uwaine back then. That's all I recall. My life has since gone in other directions.  Paws is an awesome party member, like all the others in this game. I am sometimes convinced my cats are part of his race. Then I'm relieved they don't have tentacles. Or guns. Or spaceships. They are as murderous though. The one time a mouse appeared in my house, he didn't last very long. Wait to try Chat, Leave. It will get good again. You just have to check it frequently or know the right times to get the funny conversations. After Paws joins the party is one such time. So is after you exit the spaceship dungeon. Not square dancing is easy, but you miss out on some fun. Being a Texan, I know. Favorite books- Ready Player One, Adventures of Huck Finn, and the Calvin & Hobbes and Order of the Stick collections. Many more I don't want to list right now.
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Jul 1, 2016 12:42
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The spaceship is one of my favorite dungeons in the game for its atmosphere alone. Leave didn't point it out, but the upper floors have lounges with comfy chairs, scratching posts, and balls of yarn for recreation, befitting feline aliens. The enemies mostly have a clear appropriate origin also- cat aliens, cow soldiers, alien tech, etc, and many are homage to other videogames. The Mech is not an official miniboss, but he's rare and tough enough to count as one, like the War Mech from Final Fantasy 1 that inspired him. Invaders are a nod to a videogame my uncle used to play on his Atari in the early 1980s whose enemies also sped up as their comrades died. Space Invaders! Too bad the ship crashed. It's usually around this time in my playthrus of the game that I banish Umi from the party a while to punish her stupidity. Paws has Healing and Flood also, and I've never had too much luck with status inflicting. Since Umi still gets Level Ups and dialogue even though she doesn't fight, it's like she's still around. I like Paws' Meow ability. Crying at high volume and driving people insane is something my real life cat can do too. High approval to Leave getting Wild Arms 3, particularly if he LPs it one day. All the WA games were awesome but I remember 3's heroes the best. achtungnight fucked around with this message at 12:53 on Jul 6, 2016 |
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Jul 6, 2016 12:49
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Cure a plague? That sounds heroic! Let's do it, Cthulhu! Cthulhu: drat it, AN, I'm not a doctor! I'm a dark overlord trying to be a hero so I can make the world insane! drat it, now you got me stumped. Thanks for using the Chat option, Leave. And not showing off too many boring tombstones.
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Jul 7, 2016 12:21
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I missed that chest too. Augh!
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Jul 8, 2016 02:02
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Here's a Lovecraft Lore update for you folks! Kingsport is another town featured in Lovecraft's writings, particularly "The Terrible Old Man", which is about a strange old man whose past life nobody can remember. Three miscreants decide to rob his house and end up horribly killed and mutilated after they try to interrogate the old man about his hidden treasure. This man later shows up again in "The Strange High House in the Mist" as a mysterious wizard collecting ancient lore and spirits in the aforementioned dwelling. Clearly he is the inspiration for Dacre, but probably not the same character since Lovecraft's Old Man was more of a necromancer slash sorcerer than a healer. Kingsport was later used by Lovecraft and writers who followed his inspiration. "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" had its conclusion in Kingsport, while other stories explored the town's past or placed haunted locations there. The game "Call of Cthulhu" gives the town fully fleshed-out maps. Kingsport in the game bears little resemblance to the original Lovecraft depiction. We get an interesting quest there nonetheless. Mother Hydra is also from Lovecraft, a Great Old One if I'm not mistaken. We can talk more about her at a later time. My vote for the Water Shrine- Sharpe, October, and Paws. Keep Dacre in the party long enough to show him off, then swap him for someone more offensive. Or keep him in the party if Leave's having trouble with the monsters in the Shrine and needs the healing. I'm not going to say which route I went. Umi has Water magic, but this being a Water Shrine, I kinda doubt the monsters will have that weakness. And no, there's not a Lovecraft story that features a Water Shrine and curing a plague as far as I know.
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Jul 9, 2016 15:21
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You can visit the port area before the Water Shrine but since the sailors are sick it won't get you anywhere. Lovecraft Lore- Shoggoths are one of the better known Lovecraft monsters. Most prominently featured in "At the Mountains of Madness", they are a race of gigantic intelligent super strong amoebas created by the Great Old Ones to be servants and builders of their cities. You'd expect them to have a bigger role in a Lovecraft inspired game than a one off boss encounter (and an easy boss at that) but whatever, I didn't write the game. I just continue to enjoy Leave's play thru.
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Jul 12, 2016 08:01
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I second Randalor's motion- Umi, Paws, and Dacre, swapping Sharpe in for the boss if you like . Hopefully Umi will get enough gold from the dragon horde to buy that Heroine Dress we saw back in Miskatonia. Lovecraft Lore- Abdul Alhazred in Arabic means the "Servant of The Forbidden". It is also not a gramatically proper Arabic name. According to Wikipedia, Lovecraft used it as an early pen name after reading the Arabian Nights stories as a child. Alhazred may be a play on words- All Has Read- referring to the many books young Lovecraft read and enjoyed. It is not clear. I personally think it's one of those names that just came to its author out of the collective unconscious and has a lot of meanings he was not aware of when he first started using it. Many on the Internet should know that feeling. My own Net name was originally a reference to a U2 album and yet it also means "hail and farewell", for example. The Lovecraft story of the Mad Arab has him visiting the legendary lost city of Irem (which may be familiar to players of Uncharted 3), discovering all sorts of lost and sanctioned lore, and writing it down in his Necronomicon. Then he comes to a bad end, and readers of his book usually follow suit. The Mad Arab is referenced in many Lovecraft-inspired stories, as is the tome he penned. I am not aware of any Lovecraft stories involving dragons, demonic or otherwise. Volcanos are mentioned in several of his stories- they are popular settings for writers of all genres. Looking forward to this level- it was one of my favorites in the game.
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Jul 13, 2016 14:37
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Sweet, we got a demon dragon as the airship and a party member! I still played a few random encounters for the hell of it at this point but it has now become optional. Sucks that we're close to the end of the game. It seems barely longer than BoD was. Oh well at least there's still many fun rides ahead. I'll see if I can craft a Lore post on Innsmouth for when we eventually go there. Don't want to talk about it too soon. Can you give us a hint what bonus dungeon you're doing first, Leave? Several are accessible once you get Ember. If it's the one you could have raided before picking him up by taking a long walk from Alhazed, I vote Paws & Sharpe. Heck, I vote them regardless. Nonhuman heroes forever!
achtungnight fucked around with this message at 14:19 on Jul 19, 2016 |
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Jul 19, 2016 08:56
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Sorry you had to die so much, glad the rewards were worth it. There's at least three more bonus dungeons you can do anytime now, I think. The one that's a long walk from Alhazed I mentioned before, and two with really tough bonus bosses. One of those may be the swamp with the special Easter egg battle, I can't recall. Leave's choice which order to do them in of course, I just hope we see them all. Party vote- October, Dacre, and Umi in a new Heroine Dress if we can afford it. I won't blame Leave for wanting to save $ for the Innsmouth shops though. Speaking of Innsmouth, the Lovecraft novella concerning it is "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" and it's probably the Lovecraft story which this game follows most closely. I won't spoil the tale too much, but Innsmouth was founded by a wealthy merchant sea captain named Obed Marsh. He had close dealings with an undersea civilization of fish people known as the Deep Ones and as a result many of his town's residents have a very frog- or fish-faced look about them. They are also very hostile towards outsiders and strong in the Old One cult beliefs. As mentioned previously, two powerful but lesser Old Ones- Father Dagon and Mother Hydra- rule the Deep Ones. The names are cribbed from classical myth- Dagon was a Phillistine fish-man deity and Hydras were Greek sea monsters with multiple heads. I can't say more without spoiling an awesome story and the game, but this should give you some idea what we'll be dealing with in Innsmouth. Cue the creepy music. And by close relations with the Deep Ones, I mean Marsh slept with the fishes. And not in a Mafia way.
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Jul 20, 2016 09:19
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The Ice Cave is the dungeon you can walk to from Alhazed I mentioned if it wasn't obvious. I was disappointed at the lack of ice themed enemies in there, but I too am glad there were no sliding or puzzles. I had more issues with Gold Wisps in there but I was much lower level than Leave last time I did it. The Fallen Angel is a boss you want to make insane- when sane she uses way more damaging and varied attacks. I found that out the hard way. Dem is one of the tough bonus bosses I mentioned last post. You have to do him some serious damage quick as Leave showed us. That Siren's Call move is key to winning. Dem has his ultimate equipment from the previous Zeboyd game featuring him which Leave has LPed and many of his best abilities too. I hope Leave will show them off next update. Wink wink. Incidentally the line on Dem's tombstone is a famous Lovecraft quote. My favorite games with dragons as party members are the Drakan series and Breath of Fire 1- the sequels to that game have better stories but it sucks to only have a dragon in the party for limited turns. achtungnight fucked around with this message at 03:34 on Jul 22, 2016 |
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Jul 22, 2016 03:22
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The Soulcaster is the other bonus boss I mentioned. He's pretty tough but there are two secrets to beating him. One is to be very high level, even higher than Leave is now. The other will be revealed at the proper time- I am hoping Leave will be back to conquer the boss one day and already knows the secret- maybe he will even reveal it for me. Incidentally, there was another small-press indie RPG called Soulcaster that came out around the same time as CStW on which the bonus boss is based. I have not played it- has anyone here? As for Leave's request last post, I think everyone missed an earlier post I made regarding Innsmouth. So I encourage you all to go back and look. If you're not willing, here are relevant details, some expanded from my previous post- - Innsmouth is a small seaside town where the majority of the residents have frog or fishlike features coupled with deep-set Old One Cult beliefs and extreme hostility toward outsiders. - These tendencies come from the town's founders- wealthy merchant sea captain Obed Marsh and his crew. They got freaky with some fish people known as the Deep Ones and their descendants now populate Innsmouth. - In the Lovecraft novella "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" the narrator is a Miskatonic professor investigating Innsmouth because he has heard of the residents' hostility towards outsiders and figures it's worth checking out. Later we learn his uncle was from the town and committed suicide for some reason. The narrator learns during his visit about Innsmouth's fishman heritage and... if this sounds similar to Lovecraft's earlier mentioned story about the apes and humans mixing, yes, it is. But this story is in my opinion better written. It was also far more popular. - The Old Ones introduced in the story are the god-rulers of the Deep Ones- Father Dagon and Mother Hydra. Dagon, whom our party is after now, is molded after a Phillistine fish-man god in appearance and name. Hydra, his consort, is named after the Greek snake monster with multiple heads. - The key horror element in the story is not the physical mutations the humans of Innsmouth suffer because of their Deep One genes. The psychological issues are worse. If you have Deep One heritage you slowly turn into a Deep One in both body and mind. And you _want_ to be one. You do not regard the change as a bad thing. The transformation takes decades to complete but you will gladly retreat into your Innsmouth home and wait for it to happen, letting the less physically but just as mentally transformed residents defend you. And when you are fully a Deep One you will return to the sea and embrace the civilization there, leaving your humanity behind and forgotten. This is what happens to the narrator of Lovecraft's story. Innsmouth remains one of Lovecraft's most well-remembered tales. The Deep Ones were featured again and expanded upon in many stories that continued the Lovecraft tradition. They are the main bad guys in "Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth". They also inspired the Kuo-toa and Sahuagin monsters in Dungeons & Dragons and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Comic book heroes including The Shadow and The Avengers have fought the Deep Ones. In some stories their civilization makes comic book Atlantis look backwards and they are a serious threat to human life. In others they are backward and stagnant and only the previously described psychological issues of turning into one is an issue. That and the mind control they use to seduce you (because really, why would anyone want to hook up with a fish monster?). How threatening will the Deep Ones' factory and God-King Dagon be in the game? I nominate Ember, October, and Dacre to help Cthulhu find out! achtungnight fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Jul 22, 2016 |
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Jul 22, 2016 23:12
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Motion on not carpeting one's bathroom approved here. Oh wait, it wasn't a motion? Never mind. I reread "Shadow Over Innsmouth" last night and saw the stuff about Deep One gold. There was a bit about how Deep One art is unusual on the surface but if you're turning into a Deep One you prefer it in your house- felt I should mention that. Also noted a bit about Deep Ones possibly having ability to mind-dominate fish and that leads to an agreement that in exchange for Innsmouth citizens mating with Deep Ones the waters around Innsmouth will always be full of fish. So human greed is playing a role in the relationship too.  If anyone hasn't noticed yet, the dialogue portraits for Innsmouth citizens were different than for other towns in the game. They all have the look- which fits the story in that the town drunk is the only Innsmouth citizen not turning into a Deep One there. Yet he still knows everything enough to inform the narrator who is horrified and then... I already said. The factory features my favorite enemy in the game btw. No, I'm not saying what it is. Just a little foreshadowing. 
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Jul 23, 2016 10:54
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Concerning the many differences between normal human and fish anatomy and reproduction practices (look up how sturgeon, salmon, and seahorses reproduce for a few disturbing examples I won't go into) I'm personally unsure if I should be attracted to mermaids. Futu-rama addressed this very issue in Season 2, Episode 12 "The Deep South" where Fry is briefly engaged to a hillbilly mermaid- I recommend the episode highly. Deep Ones probably are closer to dolphins than fish in such things if they can mate with humans and produce offspring- at least dolphin and humans both give birth to live young and their genitalia are as compatible as any two mammalian species' according to science (not sure how they know). But even that, considering Lovecraft created Deep Ones... I'd be more comfortable not exploring the possibilities. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with those who feel otherwise. I remember one character from another Matt Groening show who might be okay with it. He was in quite a lot of movies, including my favorite version of Planet of the Apes.
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Jul 24, 2016 01:09
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Mea Culpa. As an Austinite Texan I should know the difference in such terms.
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Jul 24, 2016 02:56
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I work in a factory. It has its ups and downs. Horror Writers are my favorite enemy in the game. Foreshadowing is one of their stronger attacks, it takes two rounds and hurts badly most of the time. I've seen the Innsmouthians physically attack but nothing else. They're basic cannon fodder at best.
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Jul 24, 2016 22:50
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Leave's decision, but I hope he will not forget to: 1. Go back and challenge the Soulcaster again, beating him if possible (I'll explain the secret if he doesn't). 2. Fight in a swamp on the world map for another BoD Easter Egg- I remembered how to get that Easter Egg last night. Party vote- Paws, October, Umi. Good balance of fighting and magic here. Here is a chat Leave missed. You get it while inside the factory but it changes after you beat Dagon: Umi: You can tell a lot about a person based on their blood type. For example, I have B Positive blood, so I'm a really energetic person! What kind of blood do you have, Cthulhu? Cthulhu: Ink. Umi: Ink? I'm not sure what personality ink goes with. Paws: Uranium blood here. Ember: Acid. Umi: Is there anyone here with normal blood? Dacre: I forgot! October: Pain. What I feel when I bleed in the dark recessess in my soul. I linger for the light but yearn for the darkness. Umi: Agh! That chat is somewhat amusing to me. If anyone cares, I'm an O+ with some special antigen that makes my blood compatible with infants as well as adults. No, I'm not sure what personality that goes with. I'll let Leave post the final chat. It has spoilers. Looking forward to the final dungeon and Cthulhu's Angels mode.
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Jul 25, 2016 14:12
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Leave- you kinda have me on the spot here, so I feel I should set things straight. I was looking forward to you doing the LP of Angels mode and happy to do the lore updates for Lovecraft stuff but at no time did I say I'd take over the LP for you. If a statement I made was misconstrued I apologize. I am sorry now but I lack the time and skills to do the LP right, so I do not feel comfortable taking it over. I am disappointed you don't want to finish things as you said you would but I do understand why. Reading between the lines, I think you are burned out and want to spend time with your new family- on which I need to congratulate you and will do so now. Best of luck to you with them. I hope you will at least finish the normal run through of the game by showing off the final dungeon and bosses. I am willing to post a summary and review of Angels mode with spoilers after that, if not a full LP. If someone else wants to do a full LP they of course have my blessing. For now I have other obligations. Good luck to you and thx but sorry. -AN
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Jul 27, 2016 14:12
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Oh boy, I know what's coming next! That boss kicks rear end on so many levels! Death Reel all over again! I totally agree about the level design and the story, though I didn't think about either much at the time I was playing. It's especially evident with Ry'leh. They put the biggest most repetitive dungeon (with the most backtracking required for treasures too!) at the end of the game. Admissions that they're trying to hide the repetitiveness makes things worse, as do how many of the enemies are palette swapped upgrades. At least most of the treasure is kick-rear end. The Tcho enemy is another obscure Lovecraft reference btw. The Tcho-Tcho people are a Burmese tribe of degenerate cannibals who worship the Old Ones- they appear in a number of Lovecraft stories. August Derleth wrote of them first and Lovecraft picked up on the thread, as did many other Cthulhu Mythos writers. Some Lovecraft fanfics I've read have the group hiding in modern society as just another ethnicity with odd customs. Others have the USA seeking their aid in the Vietnam War. Naturally they didn't get much of a presence in this game.
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Jul 28, 2016 08:55
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Thanks for the LP Leave! Great job. Sorry you couldn't do Angels Mode, but maybe someday. The Bonus Options are now unlocked on the Main Menu after you beat the game. All are fun in their own way. I could describe them, but first I want to check if Leave is planning to do so himself. Not stealing anyone's thunder here. I am also still willing to post a spoiler review of Angels Mode if you want, but not without permission. And um, it won't have any screenshots, just a link to someone else's LP with screenshots followed by a longass summary full of spoilers. Taking good screenshots is one of the skills I lack as far as LP-writing, patience is another. If my half measures aren't enough, never mind. If they are, say the word and they will be contributed.Regardless of your answer, thanks again. Also, enjoy this fanart of Cthulhu and Umi's future life-  
achtungnight fucked around with this message at 11:48 on Jul 29, 2016 |
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Jul 29, 2016 11:42
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In response to any potential curiosity about the Bonus Modes of the game, especially Cthulhu's Angels Mode, I was given permission to post this link to a full LP of the game including that mode. https://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,11482.0.html Angels Mode has quite a different storyline, more coherent in some ways, that fills in many plot holes in Normal Mode (including just who cursed Cthulhu). I like its characters and ending better. That said, there's only one new dungeon and lots of the others are stripped bare or changed in bad ways. So it's a toss-up whether it's preferable or not. Still, I recommend it. The LP does a better job than I could laying it out. If you're curious, give Page 2 a look. (Page 1 mainly details the Normal Mode.) See y'all on other threads!
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Jul 31, 2016 14:11
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