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Back in 2010, there was a lot of excitement about Team ICO's follow-up to Shadow of the Colossus, now scheduled to be released shortly on the PS3 and XBox 360. It was to be an epic tale of a boy guiding a giant creature with magical powers through a ruined kingdom, fighting creatures of darkness and learning about the past through beautifully rendered stylistic cutscenes. So when I saw that game at the local Wal-Mart, I bought it, confused as to why so many people seemed convinced that the game was still in development. Needless to say, this was not the Team ICO game that eventually finally saw the light of day on the PS4 six years later, but I enjoyed it just the same. The story isn't very deep, from what I remember, but the gameplay makes up for it. If you played Game Republic's earlier title Folklore or watched my shamelessly-plugged LP of it, you'll know what to expect in terms of pacing and plot. Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom focuses on the journey of a young thief and a magical creature? golem? spirit? as they try to save the world from encroaching darkness, each for his own reason. They have to work together in combat and to solve puzzles - without the Majin's help, our character will have to resort to stealth rather than fighting most of the enemies in his path. There are lots of hidden upgrades and shortcuts to be found or ignored, and it's just a fun romp all around. Also, there's actual talking. Quite a bit of talking, if you like. Please keep spoilers in tags, if you must post them. I haven't played this game since beating it when it came out, as will be evident, and I don't remember much of it being worth spoiling, but I'd prefer we discuss only what's happened in the videos. I'll try to keep them short and sweet, and as frequent as I can. Part 1: The Thief and the Majin Polsy Youtube Part 2: The Tree of Life Polsy Youtube Part 3: Hurling Tepeu at a Variety of Things Polsy Youtube Part 4: The Majin Grows Stronger Polsy Youtube Part 5: The Majin's First Power Polsy Youtube Part 6: Caprakan, the First Dark General Polsy Youtube Part 7: Night Terrors Polsy Youtube Part 8: Moving Bridges Polsy Youtube Part 9: The Majin is Thirsty Polsy Youtube Part 10: Zap! Polsy Youtube April Fools' bonus video Polsy Youtube Part 11: B'alam, the Dark Prime Minister Polsy Youtube Part 12: Jump on my Back Polsy Youtube Part 13: Royal Darkness Navy Headquarters Polsy Youtube Part 14: Water That Burns Polsy Youtube Part 15: The Majin is on Fire Polsy Youtube Part 16: Tlaloc, the Dark Admiral Polsy Youtube Part 17: Humans Love Sparkles Polsy Youtube Part 18: The Majin is Having Fun Polsy Youtube Part 19: The Majin Makes Things Sparkle Polsy Youtube Part 20: Ixtab, the Dark Queen Polsy Youtube DLC Bonus 1: Easy Missions Polsy Youtube DLC Bonus 2: Stealth Challenge Polsy Youtube DLC Bonus 3: Puzzle Challenge Polsy Youtube Part 21: The Laboratory and the Bridge Polsy Youtube Part 22: The Final Memory Shard Polsy Youtube DLC Bonus 4: A Notable Improvement Polsy Youtube Part 23: Return to the Castle Polsy Youtube DLC Bonus 5: Too Many Monkeys Polsy Youtube Part 24: Princess Toci Polsy Youtube Finale: The Majin is Not Strong Enough Polsy Youtube Nidoking fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Oct 7, 2017 |
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Jan 2, 2017 21:48
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Character profiles: Tepeu: A nameless thief who lives on his own in the forest. He has the ability to talk to animals, including the Majin. The Majin calls him "Tepeu", but doesn't seem to know why. He wields the key that sealed the Majin, now infused with the Majin's power, making it a formidable weapon against the Warriors of Darkness.  Teotl: A.k.a. The Majin, a.k.a. the protector god, a.k.a. angel, demon, guardian, any number of other titles. He's been imprisoned for a century, since the fall of the kingdom, but doesn't seem to remember much from before that. All he remembers is the girl he once protected and now needs to save. His once-great magical powers have been sealed inside fruit. Nidoking fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Jan 5, 2017 |
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Jan 2, 2017 21:48
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 The tutorial section of the game concludes with a demonstration of environmental features that we can use against enemies, and my utter failure to use any of them properly when it matters. The enemies get tougher, but with the Majin's power, we're nearly unstoppable. Then it's time to catch our breath with a fairly tender moment beside the Tree of Life, which will be our Tree of Exposition for the duration of the game. Here, we learn our characters' names, as well as their general goals in this quest. The Majin's memory seems to have faded over the century of his imprisonment, but we'll sort that out as the game goes. For now, we've got a new quest - to get into the castle we just escaped from. Also, to find the Majin's lost power so we can do something in there this time. That's important too. Part 2: The Tree of Life Polsy Youtube
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Jan 5, 2017 03:42
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Mraagvpeine posted:I feel you could have gotten the Majin into position to push the wall by either going to the center of the wall first and then using the act command or telling the Majin to wait/not follow you to the edge of the platform before telling him to act on the wall. Yeah, I know I did a lot of things wrong there. But the Majin was pretty confused, because he clearly jumped down and then tried to push the wall from below. I think the best course is to tell him to push the wall, jump down myself, lure the enemies into position, and have him push, then hurl barrels at whatever's left. But then people might think I'm good at a video game, and that would ruin my reputation. I'm sure I'll have more chances to do things properly with regard to environmental features.
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Jan 5, 2017 23:31
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In this video, we finally start exploring the world outside the castle. At this point, it's pretty linear, and we'll be moving through a succession of rooms with set-piece puzzles that lead to various rewards as well as progress, connected by corridors that are always at right angles. It makes the map simpler, but does make the world feel considerably more built and less organic. Today's set piece is a catapult that I'm sure has more applications than we see here. We also see a bit more of the plot mechanism that will prevent our progress until we achieve specific objectives. We'll learn about those objectives soon, but for now, it's time for more open spaces with exactly the same amount of freedom we had in the tutorial, so far. Things will be opening up soon. Part 3: Hurling Tepeu at a Variety of Things Polsy Youtube
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Jan 11, 2017 02:54
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We're still just setting out, and the world remains pretty linear for the moment, with paths that are blocked off and only one way to progress. That's going to change shortly, as we learn the secret of the shadow-covered doors and how to open them. We'll also get our first few powerups for the Majin - he doesn't grow the way Tepeu does, through experience, but by eating various fruits that can be found throughout the kingdom. I'm going to cover a lot of ground in this video, so let's get right to it. Part 4: The Majin Grows Stronger Polsy Youtube
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Jan 17, 2017 00:29
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I think they were just trying to make the mechanism for opening the door seem a bit more organic - a bit less "When you destroy this thing, the door will open" and a bit more "There's a scary scarecrow with a mask, maybe you should do something about it, oh hey look the door is open." They won't harp nearly as much on this sort of thing going forward, since we'll be familiar with how destroying masks opens doors. The animals will be delivering more backstory and less hand-holding in the future.
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Jan 18, 2017 03:25
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A while back, we learned about the amazing powers that the Majin once had, which were sealed away inside fruit. We've been led to a giant fruit that's heavily guarded, and with it, the Majin's power will increase dramatically. The only snag in the road is getting to it, but we've gained a lot of levels and upgrade fruits, so none of that should be any problem. If anything gets in our way, we'll just have to blow it away. Part 5: The Majin's First Power Polsy Youtube
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Jan 23, 2017 01:33
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Surprisingly, the game isn't very heavy-handed about the efficacy of wind power in combat or puzzle-solving, so I keep forgetting that I have it. We do get a pretty big hint about the boss, though, which means it's time to see how boss fights in this game work. It takes a fair bit of what you already know about combat and adds a unique environmental element, which always requires the Majin's newest power to activate. What I think is special about this fight, though, is not the fight itself but what we learn about the history of the Kingdom and the Majin. Like collecting powers, defeating bosses will be one of our major story beats, and we get some revelations that almost seem like endgame material in any other story, although it probably won't be a surprise to most viewers. Part 6: Caprakan, the First Dark General Polsy Youtube
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Feb 4, 2017 20:13
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Naturally, after defeating the boss, we have to backtrack to the waterfall area we passed a few videos ago to continue to the next area. Backtracking isn't such a bad thing, since we can generally use our new abilities to collect things that were inaccessible before, and the fights should be a bit easier. There will be other things that will help us get around more easily later on, and I'll be condensing as much of the future backtracking as possible into montages of interesting moments and perhaps even Indiana Jones-style lines traversing a map. This time, however, there are some new things to see along the way, and a lot of things I didn't get my first time through. Don't worry; I'll get into new territory in this video as well. Part 7: Night Terrors Polsy Youtube
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Feb 15, 2017 03:21
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This time, I'm actually going to get somewhere in the forest. The first time I played through the game, I got very lost around this point because I thought I needed the next power to get through the moving bridge room. As you'll see, it's the other way around, but I wandered for a while and probably leveled up much more than I should have before finally making any progress. That won't be a problem this time, although there are always new annoyances to be found everywhere we go. Part 8: Moving Bridges Polsy Youtube
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Feb 25, 2017 17:22
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I made this video and then got so busy that I forgot to upload it. Whoops! So, a bit late but none the worse for wear, we have a brand new puzzle mechanic and the return of one that we haven't seen for a long time. I'm embarrassingly bad at figuring out some of these puzzles, but that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone by now. Part 9: The Majin is Thirsty Polsy Youtube
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Mar 14, 2017 01:52
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Nuramor posted:Was there anything to do behind the wall over the waterfall? The one you broke first with the catapult? Indeed there was! I forgot about it, but I'll be back during a collectible round-up in a few videos to get it.
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Mar 14, 2017 11:39
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In this video, we unlock the Majin's second power, and it's hardly a secret because we've already been told what it is. It's a fun power to use in combat, though, particularly because it powers up Tepeu's weapon as well as attacking enemies directly. It's also probably the solution to the most annoying type of puzzle - the jumping puzzles are only difficult because I'm bad at jumping. Fortunately, we'll get a few of them early on, and then they'll mostly go away. Part 10: Zap! Polsy Youtube
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Mar 25, 2017 00:09
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It's time for one of the most intense fights we've had so far! Our buddy will be rather incapacitated for a significant portion of this video, which is a deviation from the rest of the game, but we'll find ways to accomplish things anyway. Eventually. I'm frankly embarrassed by how long it took me to figure out most of the things I needed to do, and the amount of backtracking I did in the meantime. But don't worry. I carefully edited out the most boring parts and left you with only the slightly boring parts. The fight is pretty good, though. Short, but good. April Fools' bonus video: Polsy Youtube Nidoking fucked around with this message at 12:16 on Apr 2, 2017 |
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Apr 1, 2017 03:04
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Thanks for leaving space for other people to enjoy it.
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Apr 1, 2017 11:07
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Well, I had fun making it anyway. I hope some of the rest of you enjoyed a return to my April Fools' tradition, and if not, it was only an extra day to wait. Here's the real video with the B'alam boss fight and the item collection roundup, plus our first use of the Room of Transport. Part 11: B'alam, the Dark Prime Minister Polsy Youtube
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Apr 2, 2017 12:15
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Today, we set out into the third region of the game, the desert. Here, we'll find a few tougher types of enemies, new mechanics, and ultimately, another new power. We'll also learn a bit more about the Majin and the Kingdom's past. Part 12: Jump on my Back Polsy Youtube
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Apr 12, 2017 01:36
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Fwoderwick posted:So, was that a Usain Bolt celebration they slipped in there? That was what came to mind but I guess it could have just been a classic bit of air fist. The celebrations put me in mind of Jak & Daxter more than anything else. It wouldn't be impossible for some of them to be specific references to other media, but I don't expect that's what they were going for. This isn't really a humorous game.
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Apr 15, 2017 14:55
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I tend to move slowly in new areas because there are huge rooms with lots of stuff to find, but there is progress in this video eventually. Just give it time. We're still bulking up and preparing for the tough battles to come. We'll even get a glimpse of the lair of the next boss, although it's going to be a while before we get to fight him. Part 13: Royal Darkness Navy Headquarters Polsy Youtube
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Apr 19, 2017 00:30
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I pick up the pace in this video a bit and complete the entire volcanic area. Admittedly, there's only one scarecrow left, but we'll be ready to infiltrate the Chibirias once we've broken it. Also it occurs to me that I should have called the last video "Navy of Darkness" and I'm sad that I didn't think of it sooner. Part 14: Water That Burns Polsy Youtube
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May 2, 2017 01:12
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berryjon posted:I could have sworn this was explained already. Spoilers in case it hasn't. It's coming up in two more videos. I'm sorry I'm not posting three a day, but there's lack of patience and then there's this sort of thing. Thanks for keeping it the spoiler tags, at least. Nidoking fucked around with this message at 23:53 on May 2, 2017 |
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May 2, 2017 23:50
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It's entirely possible that all of the pieces have been stated or heavily implied by this point, but I just did the commentary for the cutscene where it's all spelled out. I just get a bit annoyed in general at the usual "Oh, this tiny detail popped up on the screen for a second, I bet nobody noticed it, but how could it possibly relate to this other detail that I certainly don't know from some other playthrough, could this perhaps be foreshadowing, nudge nudge wink wink" that goes on in situations like this. To put things back in a lighter vein, I recorded the fourth Dark General fight this weekend and chose to embark on a run of the DLC missions afterward. I'm bad at them. Aside from wearing a helmet that I haven't gotten in the game just yet, I don't think there's anything in the first set that we haven't seen, so I'm thinking I might try to edit that footage into something and post it soon, maybe after the third boss fight, just so there aren't a bunch of videos in a row of nothing but DLC. I'll probably have an informal poll at that point to judge interest in seeing more of it, particularly since I'm still trying to figure out how to complete a couple of the missions, and there are no online guides that I can find that cover it. Maybe someone here will spot something that I didn't.
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May 3, 2017 01:44
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Today, we board the Chibirias and gain the power of fire. Combat-wise, there's not much difference between fire and lightning, aside from how they interact with Tepeu himself. But fire power will open new paths and let us get some new upgrades. The third Dark General is right around the corner as well, but let's not try to do too much in one video. Part 15: The Majin is on Fire Polsy Youtube
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May 13, 2017 23:36
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At last, it's time to take on the third Dark General. This one's tricky, because there's no way to recover magic power during the fight unless you manage to expose his weak point, which is much easier if you already have enough magic. Fortunately, unlike Wind and Lightning, we've found substitutes for Fire that don't require magic to use. It still takes me quite a while to figure out how to use the tools at my disposal effectively. We'll also get to see more of the Majin's memories, of course. Part 16: Tlaloc, the Dark Admiral Polsy Youtube
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May 25, 2017 01:11
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People are really good at hating things they don't understand, or don't want to try to understand. There are a lot of complex reasons and motivations behind it, but ultimately, I think it always comes back to greed in some form or fashion. Some people are just more obvious about it than others. In this video, we move into a new area and get some backstory about the characters we've yet to meet, which will help to tie the story we've heard so far with the revelations that will be coming later. Part 17: Humans love sparkles Polsy Youtube
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Jun 4, 2017 15:42
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We're still trying to open the next door, so there's not much adventure going on right now, but there are puzzles to solve, lots of enemies to fight, and most importantly, new moves to learn. Part 18: The Majin is Having Fun Polsy Youtube
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Jun 18, 2017 00:49
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We've been steadily gaining power over the past few episodes, but now it's time for the Majin to really shine. Or perhaps "sparkle" would be a better word. His final power is the most devastating, so it's quite a relief that he only hits enemies with it. But there's a bit more story behind this power than some of the others we've seen. Part 19: The Majin Makes Things Sparkle Polsy Youtube
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Jul 4, 2017 19:33
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I haven't gone anywhere - things have just been a bit slow behind the scenes because I don't have a lot of free time, and I'm currently editing videos of the DLC missions down to something I can potentially comment over. This was the point at which I took a fairly long break from recording the game, so I came back to do part 20 having forgotten most of the controls, which will make the next video just a bit awkward.
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Jul 4, 2017 21:46
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Like I said a bit earlier, I recorded up to part 19 a long time ago, then returned to the game after a long break to do this part and the DLC. Naturally, I'd forgotten most of the controls in the meantime, which made this a rather awkward video. But that's okay, because I was just as awkward trying to talk about what I was doing, so it all kind of balances out. On the bright side, it's the fourth boss fight! Most of the controls don't really matter here, and it's just a question of whether you can figure out the pattern before you die. It's a close one in my case. Part 20: Ixtab, the Dark Queen Polsy Youtube
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Jul 22, 2017 02:35
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As always, I make an effort to pack all of the extras in right before the finale, so anyone who's anxious to see how the story ends will have several weeks of waiting. But it also means you can skip the extra parts if you don't want to see them. The next few videos will be exploring the game's DLC, which contains several unique costume items, some of which have abilities that I don't think you can get from other items of the same type. This video has the first level of each of the three challenges - Stealth, Battle, and Puzzle. The later levels of each challenge will get their own videos, so you can skip any that you don't find interesting. I've tried to edit to just the essential elements, so hopefully, none of them will be too inherently boring. DLC Bonus 1: Easy Missions Polsy Youtube
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Aug 6, 2017 18:31
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The DLC journey continues with a more in-depth playthrough of the remaining three levels of Stealth Challenge. There are definitely puzzle elements, in terms of figuring out the order in which to do everything, as well as the skill to pull it off in the time limit. I've got, at best, a bare minimum of each, so it should be an interesting experience. DLC Bonus 2: Stealth Challenge Polsy Youtube
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Aug 12, 2017 18:26
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Concluding our tour of the DLC for the moment, I take on the Puzzle Challenge, and fail to understand how the difficulty is intended to correspond to the increasing numbers. The times are pretty generous, as long as you can complete the puzzles with the resources you have. This is, as I've stated previously, a real weakness for me. But don't worry; I'll return to finish the challenges eventually, having learned from watching my embarrassing mistakes again and again while editing the videos. You can probably figure out where I went wrong yourself. DLC Bonus 3: Puzzle Challenge Polsy Youtube
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Aug 19, 2017 16:16
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Behind the scenes, I've finished the game, so I thought I had all the footage I needed. Then I realized that I'd need to play through the entire game again to capture one more thing, so I've been doing that this weekend. Yesterday, I started from scratch and made it through beating Tlaloc. This is a really short game, all things considered, but there's a lot you can spend time doing if you feel like it. Case in point, most of this video is backtracking to the places I've already been to pick up the treasures I missed and the Memory Shards I couldn't get when I passed through the rooms because it was daytime, or I just didn't find them. However, there's one room I skipped because I didn't have what I needed to complete it the first time I passed, and another that I didn't even know existed until I stumbled into it. So there's plenty of fun this time around. I can't really make that promise for the next video, but at least it should go by pretty quickly. Part 21: The Laboratory and the Bridge Polsy Youtube
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Aug 27, 2017 16:25
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Today, much to my future regret, I finish collecting everything I missed or couldn't get while traversing the portions of the kingdom outside the castle. This obviously involves a lot of waiting, but thanks to video editing, only I needed to suffer that. There's only one thing left to do before we storm the castle. Part 22: The Final Memory Shard Polsy Youtube
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Sep 4, 2017 18:55
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This is a short update, but I've got a few nagging things to wrap up before jumping into new, more difficult territory. My performance in the DLC so far has been pretty bad, but with the benefit of hindsight, I figured out where I went wrong and how to fix it. Most LPs just leave that sort of thing in the comments and post some sort of half-hearted apology, or describe what they did somewhere and leave the rest to your imagination, but I don't like to do things by halves, so here's the right way to do the parts of the DLC where I didn't before. DLC Bonus 4: A Notable Improvement Polsy Youtube
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Sep 9, 2017 22:46
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Sormus posted:Have fun storming the castle! Oh, I did. Probably more so the second time, when I was a bit less powerful and had some clue what I was doing, but the first run was entertaining.
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Sep 10, 2017 11:49
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It's time to enter the final area of the game. We've got all of our powers, we've gained a lot of strength from fighting tough enemies, and we've got a cool wrench that tears the souls out of everything. So let's storm the castle, defeat the King of Darkness, and rescue Toci! (Note: Some of these activities may not be depicted in this video.) The challenges ahead are the most difficult, including new enemies, old enemies, tricky puzzles, and the fountains that all of these enemies have been coming from all along. Part 23: Return to the Castle Polsy Youtube
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Sep 20, 2017 02:39
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Before we finish the game, there's one more round of DLC that I couldn't complete earlier because we had one new type of enemy to meet. Having accomplished that, it's time to try my hand at the Combat Challenge. Contrary to the other challenges, this one becomes significantly easier as you progress through the game and gradually become stronger compared to the enemies. Since the last level isn't even available until the very end, however, the difficulty is pretty high to start with. I even considered going back and grinding before attempting to finish the challenge. How much of that did I really need to do? I'll let the picture speak for itself. DLC Bonus 5: Too Many Monkeys Polsy Youtube
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Sep 24, 2017 15:54
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BioEnchanted posted:In the DLC vid I hought "I BLOW CRYSTALS! If I remember that moment correctly, I was a bit too busy dying to laugh.
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Sep 24, 2017 20:40
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" then immediately tripping over his own feet was hilarious.