Koudelka - Shadow Hearts 0 - The Something Awful Forums

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Bufuman: Jun 15, 2013; Sleep in the briefing room.
At your own peril.

IIRC Hand of Glory also came up in the Harry Potter books, where it was a magic (naturally) item that, when used as a candleholder, only showed the candle's light to the person holding the hand. It's explicitly referred to as "the best friend of thieves and bandits," so yeah, continuing on with the evil left hand theme!

# ? Mar 31, 2018 01:01

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# ? Apr 26, 2024 08:33

Skanker: Mar 21, 2013

The secret items were always such a goofy thing. They don't add anything, and only two of them are any good!

Anyway I finished this game today after inspiration from this LP. Apparently the japanese version had no temporary saves! So the first proper save point is when you meet James. Whack.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 01:14

Glazius: Jul 22, 2007; Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.; Clapping Larry

I wonder if magic is so weak because they're expecting you to back it up with all these magic-buffing items?

At least they let you swap weapons in combat.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 02:24

Pesky Splinter: Feb 16, 2011; A worried pug.

IIRC I believe each individual secret item is also gated until the player is past a certain point. I'm not certain of that though - mostly because the time it takes for you to get the better items, you could have easily completed the game twice over - and, as TDI has demonstrated, it's a colossal pain in the rear end.

Nice to see some of the more interesting enemy designs.
The Headless Corpse is just great for how kinda horrifying it is. It's so grotesque :allears:

And the Seeker enemies have runic inscriptions on them :eng101:

...which don't appear to actually mean anything and just be decorative. :pseudo:

Some minor things; the "Tabar" is renamed "Iron Axe" in the PAL region version, for some reason. The same with the potion, "Listel", which was changed to "Telis", for some reason. Listel shares its name with a brand of French wines (dunno if intentional), and telis is a near anagram, for what that's worth (maybe it's to do with licensing of that name associated with the wines in the PAL region). :shrug:

TDI's already brought up the most annoying loving difference between versions; only the Japanese one has subtitles.

There's some other minor differences later, including a very unusal one, given the setting.

And finally the Byron poem quoted is:

Euthanasia posted:

When Time, or soon or late, shall bring
The dreamless sleep that lulls the dead,
Oblivion! may thy languid wing
Wave gently o�er my dying bed!

No band of friends or heirs be there,
To weep, or wish, the coming blow:
No maiden, with dishevell�d hair,
To feel, or feign, decorous woe.

But silent let me sink to earth,
With no officious mourners near:
I would not mar one hour of mirth,
Nor startle friendship with a fear.

Yet Love, if Love in such an hour
Could nobly check its useless sighs,
Might then exert its latest power
In her who lives and him who dies.

�Twere sweet, my Psyche! to the last
Thy features still serene to see:
Forgetful of its struggles past,
E�en Pain itself should smile on thee.

But vain the wish�for Beauty still
Will shrink, as shrinks the ebbing breath;
And woman�s tears, produced at will,
Deceive in life, unman in death.

Then lonely be my latest hour,
Without regret, without a groan;
For thousands Death hath ceased to lower,
And pain been transient or unknown.

�Ay, but to die, and go,� alas!
Where all have gone, and all must go!
To be the nothing that I was
Ere born to life and living woe!�

Count o�er the joys thine hours have seen,
Count o�er thy days from anguish free,
And know, whatever thou hast been,
�Tis something better not to be.

And the other mentioned poets (favoured by James), are Alexander Pope, and George Herbert.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 02:33

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

quote:

Old European beliefs attribute great powers to a Hand of Glory combined with a candle made from fat from the corpse of the same malefactor who died on the gallows. The candle so made, lighted, and placed (as if in a candlestick) in the Hand of Glory, would have rendered motionless all persons to whom it was presented. The process for preparing the hand and the candle are described in 18th century documents, with certain steps disputed due to difficulty in properly translating phrases from that era. The concept inspired short stories and poems in the 19th century.

Seeing someone wave about a candle made from a dead man's hand and fat would leave any sane man motionless. Mainly in the hope that the candle-wielder doesn't notice them and goes somewhere else with their burning corpse fat.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 02:38

EagerSleeper: Feb 3, 2010; by R. Guyovich

James O'Flaherty?

More like James O'FARTy. Amirite?

...Okay fine, here's a post from Tumblr instead.

x
"Just real KOUDELKA fans will understand."

# ? Mar 31, 2018 03:33

Ubiquitous_: Nov 20, 2013; by Reene

Didn't even know this game got full page ads in game magazines.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 04:23

Malachite_Dragon: Mar 31, 2010; Weaving Merry Christmas magic

It was the 90's/00's, you could get full page adverts for a song.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 04:30

EagerSleeper: Feb 3, 2010; by R. Guyovich

I don't know if that's an advertisement, the guide itself, or a picture that someone printed out.

But for sure if you want a full page advertisement, then here ya go!

(from VGJunk's tumblr.)

That's about as much Koudelka stuff I have off hand though. :v:

edit: I lied. Have some more Koudelka en Espa�ol, in particular this update's cutscene.

EagerSleeper fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Mar 31, 2018

# ? Mar 31, 2018 04:38

Siegkrow: Oct 11, 2013; Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting

Oh, Koudelka was dubbed in European Spanish. Fancy.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 04:58

RandomMagus: May 3, 2017

The Wind Crystal in the secret boss battle in Super Mario RPG was also Green like this Wind Seeker. Maybe green for wind is a thing in Japan?

# ? Mar 31, 2018 09:01

Malachite_Dragon: Mar 31, 2010; Weaving Merry Christmas magic

It's not like Yellow = Wind makes much more sense. Wind doesn't have a color, it's the drat wind.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 09:47

EzEight: Jan 21, 2014

According to Final Fantasy
Green=Wind, Brown=Earth

# ? Mar 31, 2018 10:14

Kanfy: Jan 9, 2012; Just gotta keep walking down that road.

RandomMagus posted:

The Wind Crystal in the secret boss battle in Super Mario RPG was also Green like this Wind Seeker. Maybe green for wind is a thing in Japan?

It's not strictly a Japanese thing, I'm under the impression that it originates from the heart chakra Anahata which is depicted as green and is (amongst other things) associated with the element of air.

Kanfy fucked around with this message at 10:37 on Mar 31, 2018

# ? Mar 31, 2018 10:33

Neddy Seagoon: Oct 12, 2012; "Hi Everybody!"

RandomMagus posted:

The Wind Crystal in the secret boss battle in Super Mario RPG was also Green like this Wind Seeker. Maybe green for wind is a thing in Japan?

Wind is green magic in a lot of JRPG's, it's not really a rare thing. Shin Megami Tensei and Persona games are good examples.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 11:22

chiasaur11: Oct 22, 2012

Uh, Jimmy? You... you ever read the book of Job? Or almost anything Jesus said on the topic of suffering? And how deserve's got nothing to do with it?

Because it really feels like you need to do a refresher there.

Really, he strikes me as most coming from the religious tradition that produced Rev. Samuel Horner, thirty eight years later. The main problem with that link is that he was Church of England, whereas James O'Flaherty is from the church of Rome.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 13:27

Malachite_Dragon: Mar 31, 2010; Weaving Merry Christmas magic

chiasaur11 posted:

Uh, Jimmy? You... you ever read the book of Job? Or almost anything Jesus said on the topic of suffering? And how deserve's got nothing to do with it?

Because it really feels like you need to do a refresher there.

rear end in a top hat priest cherrypicks, fish swim, birds fly

# ? Mar 31, 2018 13:53

Pesky Splinter: Feb 16, 2011; A worried pug.

EagerSleeper posted:

I don't know if that's an advertisement, the guide itself, or a picture that someone printed out.

But for sure if you want a full page advertisement, then here ya go!

(from VGJunk's tumblr.)

I'm guessing they didn't really know how to market this game:

The SEXIEST Gothic Horror Roleplaying Game! :bigtran:

Two of those review quotes are something too;

quote:

Even if you don't like survival horror, or RPGs, you should try to use an FMV ripper to watch the movies.

quote:

Graphically speaking, Koudelka is wonderful. The introductory FMV features a fabulously realised foggy landscape and the most realistic clouds ever seen in a game.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 14:01

OutofSight: May 4, 2017

Pesky Splinter posted:

The SEXIEST Gothic Horror Roleplaying Game! :bigtran:

I blame that strange miniskirt and boots combo, that got some guys confused.

Wasn't there some prequel comic (manga), that explained Koudelka's odd choice of adventure clothes? Someone in Niggurath's VLP posted something, i think.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 14:29

FisheyStix: Jul 2, 2008; This avatar was paid for by the Silent Majority.

Pesky Splinter posted:

Two of those review quotes are something too;

If it's one thing I want in my sexy gothic horror videogames, it's good-rear end clouds.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 19:58

Valiantman: Jun 25, 2011; Ways to circumvent the Compact #6: Find a dreaming god and affect his dreams so that they become reality. Hey, it's not like it's you who's affecting the world. Blame the other guy for irresponsibly falling asleep.

FisheyStix posted:

If it's one thing I want in my sexy gothic horror videogames, it's good rear end-clouds.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 20:42

Accordion Man: Nov 7, 2012; Buglord

OutofSight posted:

I blame that strange miniskirt and boots combo, that got some guys confused.

Wasn't there some prequel comic (manga), that explained Koudelka's odd choice of adventure clothes? Someone in Niggurath's VLP posted something, i think.

There is a manga, but its a sequel that Shadow Hearts ended up retconning, not a prequel. It's a solid read, and its interesting to see some of the elements that Shadow Hearts 1 most likely took inspiration from, like the main villain.

# ? Mar 31, 2018 20:53

OutofSight: May 4, 2017

OutofSight posted:

I blame that strange miniskirt and boots combo, that got some guys confused.

Wasn't there some prequel comic (manga), that explained Koudelka's odd choice of adventure clothes? Someone in Niggurath's VLP posted something, i think.

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3827760&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=2#post475439563
These were the pages i was thinking of. Apparently it was a manga released along the game.

OutofSight fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Apr 2, 2018

# ? Mar 31, 2018 21:17

MarquiseMindfang: Jan 6, 2013; vriska (vriska)

EzEight posted:

According to Final Fantasy
Green=Wind, Brown=Earth

Earth is yellow in most of the newer ones? The ones where it's a "real" element anyways.

Like, in XI and XIV at least everything to do with earth is yellow. Thunder gets relegated to purple for whatever reason.

Just about the only game I can think of offhand that has anything other than green for wind is Golden Sun, which used purple.

# ? Apr 1, 2018 03:32

GirlCalledBob: Jul 17, 2013

The version of the Hand of Glory legend I heard was that if you light it before entering a house, everyone inside will stay asleep for as long as the candle burns. Useful for thieves who didn't mind carrying around a gross hand candle.

I've seen one in a museum, it was pretty gnarly. Well preserved, though, with the pickling and all.

Edit: A quick googling for curiosity's sake informs me the one I saw is the same one TDI used a picture of in the update, which might actually be the last one still around. Neat.
The museum at Whitby, by the way, is amazing. At least when I went (5-7 years ago) it was just a huge room filled with weird stuff. Like a pickled hand.

GirlCalledBob fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Apr 1, 2018

# ? Apr 1, 2018 05:41

EagerSleeper: Feb 3, 2010; by R. Guyovich

One thing I really appreciate about Koudelka is how much old, obscure, and sometimes messed up historical European stuff it brings up. :allears:

Never would've heard of a hand of glory until now.

# ? Apr 1, 2018 07:49

chiasaur11: Oct 22, 2012

EagerSleeper posted:

One thing I really appreciate about Koudelka is how much old, obscure, and sometimes messed up historical European stuff it brings up. Never would've heard of a hand of glory until now.

It comes up once in Hellboy.

Then again, pretty much everything comes up in Hellboy sometime or other.

# ? Apr 1, 2018 09:12

Kanfy: Jan 9, 2012; Just gotta keep walking down that road.

On the video game front Garrett from Thief had a lucky Hand of Glory which you had to retrieve from a beggar who'd been thrown in prison in the first game.

The objective description also noted that how it's best not to think about how the beggar got the hand past the prison guards' body checks.

# ? Apr 1, 2018 09:50

Who What Now: Sep 10, 2006; by Azathoth

chiasaur11 posted:

It comes up once in Hellboy.

Then again, pretty much everything comes up in Hellboy sometime or other.

It's also a Wonderous Item in Dungeons and Dragons. I think undead can't enter the light of a candle held in it?

E: Nope, I was thinking of another candle-themed item! The Hand of Glory is worn around your neck and let's you wear a third magic ring.

# ? Apr 1, 2018 22:11

Siegkrow: Oct 11, 2013; Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting

Who What Now posted:

It's also a Wonderous Item in Dungeons and Dragons. I think undead can't enter the light of a candle held in it?

E: Nope, I was thinking of another candle-themed item! The Hand of Glory is worn around your neck and let's you wear a third magic ring.

Uhhh....
Don't people in DND have ten fingers and ten toes? Shouldn't you be able to equip 20 magic rings?

# ? Apr 1, 2018 23:13

Malachite_Dragon: Mar 31, 2010; Weaving Merry Christmas magic

NO. ONLY TWO ACCESSORY SLOTS. THE PERFECTION OF GYGAX IS NOT TO BE ALTERED :arghfist:

# ? Apr 1, 2018 23:18

CVE: Jan 27, 2012

Malachite_Dragon posted:

NO. ONLY TWO ACCESSORY SLOTS. THE PERFECTION OF GYGAX IS NOT TO BE ALTERED

Indeed. Though to be fair you can wear as many non magical bling as you want.

# ? Apr 1, 2018 23:21

Who What Now: Sep 10, 2006; by Azathoth

Siegkrow posted:

Uhhh....
Don't people in DND have ten fingers and ten toes? Shouldn't you be able to equip 20 magic rings?

Wearing multiple magical rings on the same hand would create interference between the discreet magical fields resulting in a loss of usable effects from all of them.
:goonsay:

# ? Apr 1, 2018 23:27

Keeshhound: Jan 14, 2010; Mad Duck Swagger

Who What Now posted:

Wearing multiple magical rings on the same hand would create interference between the discreet magical fields resulting in an ~~loss of usable effects from all of them.~~ explosion that tears your hand apart.

Magic is a fickle rear end in a top hat.

# ? Apr 1, 2018 23:29

Kavak: Aug 23, 2009

The ring finger is special and linked to the soul or something.

# ? Apr 2, 2018 00:06

Siegkrow: Oct 11, 2013; Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting

Man I'd just do it so you can wear one per finger (and toe) but each extra (per hand) gives a -1 to the effect.

# ? Apr 2, 2018 00:46

Andyzero: May 22, 2009; I used to spoil, I'm sorry.

I remember a Hand of Glory being used in the novel "The House With the Clock in its Walls" by the villain. Published in 1973. There was an entire series written by John Bellairs, filled to the brim with Christian Occultism and Mysticism.

They were in the libraries of my elementary school; junior high, high school, etc. And I moved around a lot, so I think it was required school libraries had them in the 80's.

Made me laugh myself silly how people got worked up over the "witchcraft" in Harry Potter. The Bellairs books would kill them.

....huh. I just looked it up, and apparently there's going to be a movie adaptation in September. Dammit! I wanted to be hipster about this! :arghfist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeF_5qo00Uw

They'll probably cut the Christianity mysticism stuff from the movie though. Heh. It wasn't AS apparently in the first book as the sequels, but it was there.

# ? Apr 2, 2018 02:03

Siegkrow: Oct 11, 2013; Arguing about Lore for 5 years and counting

It.is because Christian's mysticism isn't "witchcraft", it is "divine"

# ? Apr 2, 2018 02:09

The Dark Id: Aug 13, 2005; Why
you
know
I
LOVE
THIS SHIT !!!!
[citation needed]

Episode VI: Have You Seen My Mummy?

Now where were we...? Ah yes, the medieval dungeon tower just pass the caretakers� mansion. Every good church monastery must have a decent dungeon on the grounds. Everyone knows that.

We find ourselves in a rather long corridor, but we�re going to duck into the first door we come across for reasons that�ll become apparent later. So what�s behind door number one?

Why the rotting corpse room, of course. You want easy access to the dumping ground for bodies if you�re going to be poisoning or shooting everyone who wanders onto your property. You wouldn�t want to just cast them into the sea. That�d be environmentally irresponsible! Keep Wales ~~A Foreboding Eternally Overcast Wasteland~~ Green.

Music: Waterfall

The dungeons of Nemeton Monastery are host to a few new enemy encounters. Fittingly, the corpse pile room is home to Skeletons. Whoever is doing all the necromancy on these hallow grounds has a real vendetta against legs.

Skeletons� primary means of attack is just kind of flopping over on people. It�d be another age before skeleton technology advanced to bolder forms such as giant skeleton balls or tying skeletons to wheels. The science just wasn�t there yet in the 1890s. A sad state of affairs.

As you already know, skeletons hate being set on fire and will quickly burn to ash. What�s that about bones being extremely resistant to burning? Nah. Look at that four digits of damage. The numbers don�t lie!

Also new to the dungeon we have Beads, which are some manner of demonic cosmic horror bouncy ball that makes adorable bloop sounds when knocked on the ground or hit. Beads are all about magical attacks and the like. What they�re not about?

Being kicked. You�d think kicking something with some sort of chitin blades and anti-gravity capabilities would be an ill-advised task. But nobody told that to Edward J. Plunkett.

Music: ENDS

It seems the Bead was also carrying a sword... somewhere. It lamented its cruel lot in life being born without arms. Now that we�ve gotten a variety of weapons, I suppose I should mention all the classes available in Koudelka. Since it�s not entire clear at a glance. There are:

Knuckles - Also includes bare-fist. Does not chuckle. Very hard to break.
Knives � Dagger and Dirk. Fairly durable. Usually provide Mage oriented stat boosts.
Swords � There�s actually two subcategories of this. Regular swords which are middling damage and durability. And two-handed swords, which have damage output but break extremely easily. There's even a super special sword that can be obtained. It breaks in three hits...
Clubs � Includes pipes, maces and hammers. High damage but fairly fragile.
Axes � Pretty much the same as clubs, honestly. Usually reduce agility because axes are heavy...? Don�t ask me.

< Medium Range Weapons >
Spears � There�s a special denouement for medium class weapons but... it�s just spears. They can attack an extra space away. But as a trade-off, they�re some of the most fragile weapons.

< Long Range >
Guns � There�s actually three different types of guns that all use different ammo types � pistols, shotgun and rifles. On the plus side, they never break and just use ammo.
Crossbows � There are two crossbows in the game that are random drops and they have their own ammo type and weapon proficiency upgrade. As such, we�re never using a crossbow.

And now you know!

Tons more skeletons litter the edges of the far side of the dungeon cells. But what we�re really interested in is that box on the bottom left. It wants a four digit code we lack at the moment. We�ll just have to remember it is here for later. For now, let�s step into the door next to it for...

My goodness... this building is full of dead bodies and skeletons...

It's full of ghosts and spirits.

And the undead... monster plants... whatever in the blue hell that floating bladed eye thing was we just fought... And the warlwolf.

<grabs head and walks to nearby bed> Ahh. I can feel them. Oh... my head hurts...

I got a bad feelings about this.

<prays> Horrible... Dear Lord, please save these lost souls.

This must have happened a long time ago.

<clutches chest> Ugh... and the power is so strong...

You sure that ain�t just hunger pains? Starting to get them after that poison soup fiasco...
Really? Now...? Ugh...

If I can channel some of these spirits, maybe I can find out what happened here.

Channel the spirits?

That sounds like... not the greatest of ideas. Never was big on lore. Just happy throwing up my hands and saying a place is just plain crazy messed up. No explanation needed.

<stops praying> Shame on you! You two should be praying for their souls.

The spirits are filling in this room... I can let them possess my body so they can talk.

...I really don�t wanna talk to a ghost, Koudelka. That�s creepy!

The reason I came here is that I heard the call of one particular female voice. If she was... <starts breathing heavily in pain>

I will not stand for this! Not only do you not believe in God, but now you are going to disturb the spirits?

Shut up! Would you stop bothering me?! Oh... ahh...

<grabs chest> Ugh... ohh... ahh... Chains and darkness... Ohh... Ah... Ah... Death! Oh... Oh no... Ah... Oh... There were so many of them... This... is... hell!

What!? What�s going on...?

No good can come of disturbing the spirits like this.
Aww... geez. I thought there�d be like... more ceremony to speaking to ghosts. This is too quick. It�s gonna get creepy!

There were... imprisoned... and... tortured... and... oh... Thousands of them...

<Koudelka suddenly jumps from the bed and starts talking in a deep demonic voice>

Kill them! They cut off my fingers. They crushed my legs! They smashed my head and cut out my guts! They took everything from me... and locked me up and chopped my body!

I told you this was going to be creepy!
As is all blasphemy.

<bends over in pain> AHH! My eyes! Argh my ears! Ahh! Arhhh they�re burned! Help! Help! Ahhh... <collapses back on bed>

Ugh... How horrible... This place... used to be a prison. For... hundreds of years, kept in secret. Whoever went against the authority or misconducted themselves in any way were locked up here and killed...

NO! Don�t touch me!

<to James> You! Piss off! Go to hell!

Your mother is sucking cocks there right now!
How dare you! My mother was a�
Pfft... Heh.
And your mother is right there next to him doing the same!
My... mother is still alive, though...
Yeah... well... You piss off too!

Gaaah! AAHHH!

Koudelka collapses to the floor and shrieks in pain for a bit while as the scene draws to a close. And so...

We just won�t discuss that vengeful spirit that possessed one of our party members briefly. It�s fine. It happens. We�re over it. Koudelka is tough. Anyway, we now find ourselves in a less than tidy bedroom. There�s only one piece of furniture in this room we can interact with. But first, we�re going to do a tiny bit of prep work.

Namely, we�re going to scoot everyone up to the front row for a little bit and equip Edward with the Tabar we got from that earlier boss fight. Just in case, ya know?

The only thing in this bedroom that can be clicked on is the closet in the top right corner of the room. Inside, we find...

As you look at it, it opens its eyes and suddenly attacks!

Music: Incantation Again

Time for yet another boss fight. This time it is against the fearsome Mummy Bride of the corpse pit adjacent guest bedroom closet. Note: Mummy Bride may not actually be particularly fearsome with her 1225 HP and extremely low speed of attack.

This is one fight where Edward is kind of worthless. Even with an axe or any other weapon equipped, the Mummy Bride is extremely resilient to physical attacks. I mean, Xenogears taught us long ago that a wedding dress is remarkably durable piece of armor.

The reason we put Koudelka and James in the front row for this fight is due to this being an undead enemy and it having that old RPG trait of being weak to curative spells. Note that this is not true of all undead looking enemies. That skeleton early? Heal spells will, in fact, heal it. Ditto with that very zombie looking headless dude with the glass shards sticking out of it. It must be a proper rear end plain zombie with no special adjectives attached to get damaged by curative spells.

Fire is also extremely effective against the undead. It is common knowledge that wedding dresses can defend against axes, swords or kung-fu. But if someone goes at it with some pyromancy, it�s going to go up like a dry match.

The Mummy Bride is lucky to even get a single attack out. Its primary means of offense is to use telekinesis to just dump a bunch of boxes and assorted garbage around the room on one of our party members heads. This is somehow considered a magical attack. As such, Koudelka basically no-sells it, James takes very little damage from it and Edward gets completely rocked for 200+ HP of damage if it connects with him. Again, Edward really isn�t contributing to this boss battle.

But that�s OK as Koudelka can pretty much solo this entire battle if she wanted with just her Flare. Which happened to level up in this fight. Now it goes 16 MP up from the previous 8 MP. It can also hit two targets if they happen to be on the grid next to each other by one square. So that�s spiffy!

Music: Level Up!

All of our party gained a level here as well. Those rings we gave Koudelka has buffed her magic stats quite a bit and there�s no need to unequip them anytime soon. While we�ll keep improving her magic skills, we�ll also start pumping Vitality and Agility a bit more to make her less squish and quicker on the draw.

James is never going to stop pumping Strength, Vitality, Dexterity and Agility every level. His lack of defenses against magic is starting to be an issue. But we�ve got a remedy to that coming soon.

Lastly, James is also improving his Intelligence, Mind, PIE and Agility to better serve his support unit role he�s been tossed into. There�s never going to be a time where Stat Fortify spells or healing won�t be useful.

Lastly, we gained the Megalith (Earth elemental) spell alongside an Air Ring accessory. Don�t ask me why a mummy that popped out of a closet would let you start an earthquake. I�m not well versed in Welsh bridal customs.

The Air Ring has the exact same description and function as Bessy�s Ring -- +3 Intelligence, +7 PIE and +4 Mind. Since Koudelka is already covered with an identical accessory, we�ll toss this one on one of James�s fingers to buff his stats a touch more.

So here�s a thing: We... didn�t actually get the important key item directly from that boss fight. Before we go, we need to go check out that closet the Mummy Bride was stashed in again. Here we find...

A Rope Ladder. You can never be too prepared for when you might need a good, easily transported ladder. I definitely didn�t miss picking this up and get real confused as to how to progress next the first time I played the game. No sir...

We�re now done with that side room with its mummified closet ladies and skeleton piles for now. We�ll need to come back later to sort out that locked chest. For now, let�s continue down the hall where a FMV might be waiting for us...

CGI James has a shockingly square head. Like you could shave his head and measure out a 90 degree angle with that skull. Aside from that, our party seems to be fixated on something down the hall. And that is...

A creepy little girl that is definitely not some kind of ghost, demon or malevolent spirit. Just a nice young, slightly glowing lass loitering about on Halloween night a room over from the murdered body depository of the Nemeton Dungeon.

Edward J. Plunkett, being an exceptional moron at random intervals, decides to stride forward and check out what the little girl�s deal is... James has mild concerns. Koudelka is internally going �for gently caress sake, this idiot...�

Hey...

Hey! <runs after girl around corner>

Wait a minute! Hey!

Hey! Hey...? HEY!

Just gonna mosey on over to the sneering albino glowing girl. Edward really values conversations that are face to face, you see.

What�s the worst that could happen? I mean other than tumbling off a cliff to your death because you were too fixated on talking to a creepy child.

<grabs arm> Edward!

Oh... Where�d that come from...?
It was there the entire time.
No, but that little girl...
Edward, it is clearly a ghost.
No... That can�t be right. She�s just... <looks up>

...O-oh. That�s a ghost, huh?
Mhm.

You should have just died before. I wanted you to lay down and die!

A ghost?

Y-Yeah...

......
I�m gonna... I�m going to punch it next time. <nods sagely>
......
......

Werewolves, giant killer plants, elemental eyes and mummies are one thing. Ghost children? That�s a whole �nother bag of worms. But we�ll worry about that another day. If only we had a rope ladder to bypass that drop Edward almost tumbled down like a dingus.

Oh right... We totally do. Tune in next time as we explore the depths of the first floor of the Nemeton Dungeon and perhaps do battle with the Disc 1 End Boss. Yeah, we�re nearly at the end of Disc 1 of 4. I told you this was kind of a short game!