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In honor of 25 years of Demon Summoning, GAF Plays: The (Shin) Megami Tensei series

Playing Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei 1. I'm gonna do that thing where we post screenshots and talk about it (eventually), but first we need to look at this:
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The most depressing fusion table. :/
 
Ok, so I got quite a few hours into P2, great game so far I took a bunch of screen caps so I'll be logging my progress that way. I missed the first few hours because the PSP screen cap thing wasn't set up right. But I have everything from after Michel joins:

If anyone wants to see some of the earlier stuff check out another of the P2 posts.

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Ah, back to the Seven Sisters. Seems like the rumors are really going out of control. Michel doesn't quite buy it though, even though he just saw a dude pop out of a phone and steal people's souls not 5 minutes ago.

Either way, TIME TO INVESTIGATE!!

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And kill demons.

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A lot of demons, fortunately fusion spells are broken powerful and make this a breeze. This might have the easiest difficulty curve of any SMT series game I have played. I may switch to hard eventually.

Another random question, in the P2 games can no one else see these demons, because the halls are packed with them, and if others can't to Tatsuya and co look like a bunch of crazy people screaming PERSONA!!! and firing guns at thin air?

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Hey a walking statue of the principal. Probably the most normal odd event you will see in a persona game.

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Oh, NOW you believe us, the facial deformation, demons running amok, stand summoning, soul stealing and the like didn't do it, but this does. Bravo Michel, Bravo.

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Oh Michel, never change.

We made it to principals office, and he wasn't there, but lo and behold:

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It would be so cool if she did a Maya Flash before transforming into a Nurse outfit. Just sayin'.

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Plus her theme song rocks. Having played EP years ago, it is really really odd hearing her speak. And Maya talks a LOT. Her personality is interesting almost bipolar, but I'm getting ahead of myself. And her theme song is catchy as all get out.

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Yukki! I wanted her in my party when I played Revelations:persona, but she left. She never joined in EP, and I have yet to try the Snow Queen in P1, so it is great to finally have her in the group. She rocks.

Demons attack and to everyone's surprise Maya can use Personas. And to no one's surprise Yuki can as well.

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OK, that's a weird persona. More like Vespa.

After the introductions and initial summonings we run around the school, vandalize private property, (clocks) and finally make it into the Teacher's lounge.

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Hey, it's Ms. Saeko "Smith" from the first game. Now her and Yuki's forbidden love can continue... in my fantasies.

Anyhow we smash the remaining clocks in the lounge, and then the Principal orders everyone to stop. We say hell no, find the key and make it to the final clock, the clock tower.

Hanya is waiting:

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I prepare myself, Persona is know for brutally difficult boss battles that test your wits and endurance.

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And he's dead. That was fast.

Eventually he jumps out of the clock tower, and I start a rumor that he's still alive in hopes of being able to kill him again.

One last image of the greatest character ever before I end this post:

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SMT2 had Steven Hawking, we get Steven Segal!

Anyone else think his personae include John Matrix, John McClane, and Walker, Texas Ranger?
 
Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei: Daedalus floors 8 and 7

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Although it's technically based on some cruddy novels, Megami Tensei (DDS here after) has very little in common with the source material. NakajimaAnderson developed an App that can summon demons, Loki and other assorted demons pop out and then a giant labyrinth rises up over Izanami's grave, so he teams up with Yumiko Rachel to go bust some heads.

They're rather unceremoniously dumped into Micon, a settlement of benign circus freaks and renfaire types living at the top/entrance of Daedalus. Anderson and Rachel have no weapons, no armor, no items and no money. They only have each other, Anderson's demon summoning iPhone and Rachel's uncanny mental GPS system.

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Before the game proper begins, you're asked to name the characters. I went with Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow (or a reasonable approximation that would fit into the 8 space limit). After you name them, you're asked to divide up a generous 15 bonus points across their stats.

The stats in this game are, in order:
Constitution
Intelligence
Strength
Agility
Luck

I don't know why the positions of Strength and Constitution are flipped from how they normally are. Anyway, here's how it broke down: Anderson got lots of Constitution, Strength, and Agility, while Rachel got loads of Intelligence, Agility and some Constitution.

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This is literally the first screenshot in the game. I told you it was unceremonious.

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Again, no weapons or items or demons or anything. The only thing these jokers have is Rachel's Mapara spell. Casting it causes a minimap to appear in the corner of the screen until the next new moon. This was back before developers realized that onscreen minimaps should be a standard feature and not something you have to consume in game resources to view.

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Walking straight forward down the hallway, they eventually come to a room with a treasure chest. Inside is 500 Macca (SMT's Fantasy Demon Bucks) and a Bead. Beads are consumable items that fully restore the target's HP and cure poison.

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And wouldn't you know it? Right next door to that chest are some shops where we can spend some of our loot! With only 500 D-Bucks, there's not much we can buy (not that there's much we'd want, anyway). At the weapon shop, Rachel gets a Jack Knife (80 Macca, Unisex, 1 power, only hits once) and Anderson got Nunchucks (130 Macca, Male only, 2 power, can hit twice).

There's also a Short Sword (190 Macca, Male only, 4 power, hits once), but I prefer the nunchucks because they're cheaper. The Scorpion Whip (280 Macca, Female only, 3 power, can hit twice) is a fantastic weapon, but we still need to buy armor.

At the armor store, Rachel gets a Combat Suit (140 Macca, Unisex, 3 Def), while Anderson gets a Wood Shield (150 Macca, Male only, 2 Def). All shields are male only (Rachel doesn't even have an arm equipment slot!), and with that they're all tapped out of money.

The armor also sells a Chain Mail (800 Macca, Male only, 5 Def), which Anderson wants eventually, and a Helmet (130 Macca, Female only, 3 Def). For whatever reason, most of the headgear in this game is exclusively for women.

Across the hall from the armor shop is an old man who saves the game. There's a Healer up here and a Cathedral of Shadows too, as well as townspeople who have some unhelpful advice about the game's fundamentals ("Buy equipment!").

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In the center of town there's this fella guarding the entrance to the labyrinth. He warns Anderson and Rachel that there are ~random encounters~ up ahead.

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On the seventh floor, they come across an inscription the wall: "On the brightest nights, the demons are on the hunt"

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...and then they encounter their first battle: A single Foul Green Slime! What followed was an intense, dramatic battle for survival... haha j/k. Green Slimes are pretty much bottom of the barrel enemies in this game. They only have 8 HP, no skills, and are weak to fire and ice. There's literally only one enemy that's weaker than them. They can come in groups of up to three, but even that wouldn't have been a challenge for our newbie adventurers.

The battle system is pretty standard. When you first encounter a battle, you're given four options:
Fight, Escape, Talk and Auto. Talk lets you attempt to negotiate with the enemies, as you SMT Superfans might expect.

Selecting Fight lets you input commands, as is customary for JRPGs of this vintage. Everyone gets Attack and Defend on their command menus. Anderson and Rachel get the Item command while demons get the option to return to Anderson's iPhone. Rachel and demons get the Magic command to cast spells, while Anderson can summon demons with his Comp command.

Anyway. When you win a battle you receive experience points, D-bucks and either MAG (if you killed an Evil-aligned demon) or an item (if you killed a Neutral-aligned demon).

Realizing that hey, demons aren't so scary after all, Anderson and Rachel decide to do some level grinding (this is an eighties RPG after all)

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And that's when they happen across three Spirit Zombies.

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Have you ever heard of the phrase "Out of depth encounter"? That's what Zombies are here.

Zombies are Evil demons that drain Lightning and have a weakness to Expel, but since we don't have abilities of either variety that doesn't matter much. They can appear in groups of up to four and only have 10 HP a piece (Green Slimes had 8 HP). They also have an ability called Poison Bite that's... relatively weak compared to other abilities, but it can inflict Poison.

What makes them dangerous to a level 1 part is how hard they hit. One Zombie hits about three times as hard as a Green Slime, and now we're fighting three Zombies at once...

Anderson didn't even make it through the first round of combat and Rachel is forced to run.

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And so she runs. All the way back to the safety of the 8F's Micon Town. Unfortunately, after dragging Anderson's rotting body all the way to the Healer, she finds that she doesn't have enough money to raise him. Good thing Beads sell for exactly 50 D-Bucks, right?

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SIGH.

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On their next trip to the 7F, they finally encounter a friendly face!

...well, maybe not friendly, exactly. Jirae Gnome is a Level 3 Neutral demon. Unlike in other games, in DDS you can never have Evil-aligned demons in your party. Ever. Not through fusion. Not through a crazy conversation during the full moon. It ain't happening. But Gnome here is a Neutral-aligned demon, and that means that Anderson can chat him up and maybe convince him to join the party. Let's try it! C'mon Silver Fox, lay some of that charm on 'em!

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...well then.

Gnomes are actually deceptively powerful little fellas. They hit harder than even Zombies, and on top of that they have access to Zan. Zan is a force-elemental spell and hits really, really hard compared to the other basic elemental spells.

Anderson and Rachel managed to escape and return to Micon to get him patched up.

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Next new pal: Yoma Heqet
Heqet is the lowest level Neutral demon in the game. They're not very powerful, but does come with Di (2 MP, a weak healing spell) and Posumudi (4 MP, heals Poison), which can be useful at this stage of the game.

Unfortunately, Anderson is still at level 1 and thus can't recruit her just yet, so he just kills it.

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And because irony is A Thing, he and Rachel level up from this battle. Rachel learns some new spells (the game is annoying so instead of saying "Rachel learned Di" it just says that she learned new spells and you have to open her status screen to check.

Rachel doesn't learn spells at specific levels, rather, she picks them up based on a formula that involves her level, her intelligence stat, her luck stat. She always learns her spells in a set order, but she can learn multiple spells on each level up.

Here she learned... Di and Posumudi, rendering Heqet obsolete before we even recruited one. Rachel's gonna get a lot of use out of her Di spell. Most of her spells are situational status healing stuff that won't see too much use, but that Di is gonna be our lifeblood. Just having it now means we can grind much more efficiently.

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...it doesn't take long to hit level 3. Anderson already has twice as many HP as he did at the beginning!

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Zombies are no longer a terrifying force to be reckoned with!

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Incidentally, that group of zombies was enough to push the duo up to level 4, netting Rachel the spell Patra (2 MP, heals Sleep, Bind, Panic, Close and Happy status).

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"You can fuse demons at the Cathedral of Shadows!"
This helpful lady is in a room on the 7F, and while that's certainly true, it'll be some time before we can actually fuse something worthwhile.

While wondering around, Anderson and Rachel hit level 5, it's barely worth noting.

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It is, however, worth noting that DDS features Monster Closets. A Monster Closet is a one tile room that always contains a specific enemy all by its lonesome. They can be used to replenish your MAG (if it contains an Evil demon) or recruitment or Bead grinding (if it contains a Neutral demon). There are two such closets on the way to the stairs down to the 6F. The first contains Kaiju Bathin. There isn't much to say about it. It's an Evil-aligned demon thing from Ars Goetia. It has no skills and hits about as hard as Gnomes do.

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Next door is another Monster Closet that contains Jirae Gnome. Anderson manages to recruit it and we have our first minion.

Outside the party ran into some Heqet and recruited one. Two minions y'all! We got two minions!

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And then right near these two Monster Closets are the stairs down the sixth floor.
 
Hey guys, Im about to restart SMT Devil Survivor 2. Last time I got two hours in but for some reason dropped it for something else (I think Gravity Daze). Anyways, any tips on developing my MC or what particular skills I should look out for?
 
^^^ That game looks fantastic. I need to play it one of these days especially since it's setting on my shelf for ages now...

I really dig the graphics and the music, but as a game, MT1 is kinda... not great. Luckily, Kyuuyaku comes with MT2 as well, and you can just play that instead.

Hey guys, Im about to restart SMT Devil Survivor 2. Last time I got two hours in but for some reason dropped it for something else (I think Gravity Daze). Anyways, any tips on developing my MC or what particular skills I should look out for?

Have you played Devil Survivor 1 or Overclocked? If so, just do what you did there. I think I went with a focus on Magic. Good skills to look out for: Assassinate, Multihit and Multistrike.
 

Aeana

Member
I'm glad someone will end up doing at least MT1. I had intended to do both 1 and 2 but I just didn't get around to it.
 
Ok, next P2:IS post, Cuss High!

But first I visit the local casino!

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Of course it isn't up and running yet, but I love Yukki's remembering how much time the MC of P1 spent in there. Hehehe.

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The gang follows some leads that sends them to Club Zodiac, and once we arrive, Michel runs off on his own to beat the crap out of the new boss. The dungeon itself is pretty straightforward, although it definitely does have some odd things about it, like floors that damage you. You think they'd clean up the acid lying around.

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This conversation, outside of being a pretty neat call back to P1 again, opens up a combo conversation option between Tatsuya and Yukki.

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And made it through, no boss fight even I let Michel take care of it himself, and he did it like a champ (and opened up a later Persona upgrade.) The new boss basically pins the blame on the head of the student council at Cuss High. So we're headed there.

(I forgot to boot the CFW for a lot of cuss high, so I don't have any pics until this next one)

Basically everyone love the Pres at cuss high and they are getting ready for the school festival. We chase down info and eventually end up in the basement where we hear him crying out for help. Of course it's a setup and we're stuck in a bomb shelter that rumor has it cannot be escaped from. Well, the exact words are you can't find the exit.

This dungeon sucks.

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A lot. After running through it a few times we rest and Tatsuya has a flashback.

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At this point I thought it was going to get molesty. But seriously Tatsuya and this boy talk about what great friends they are and trade mementos from their fathers. And watch this drunk guy some more.

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Weird.

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Anyways, we make it out of the shelter with a whole lot of arguing and LET'S POSITIVE THINKING-ing and find out that the festival is over, all that's left is the masquerade dance.

So we head there.

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Just before half of them get turned into shadows. Yuki spots Anna, and we head for the roof. Demons keep attacking, but Michel shuts them up.

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You tell 'em dude.

We make it to the roof, and the Pres is using the old walkie talkie trick again to fool us.

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Which is pointless because he's like 20 feet away.

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Hello.

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I think the president needs to get laid. Seriously.

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Ok, now he's ripping off Vader, can we just beat the crap out of him?

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Much better. What a wimp.

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This game loves this line, demons spout it sometimes too, generally after they have tried to eat your entrails. Not gonna work buddy.

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The Masked Circle? Do they have any brochures?

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Yuki doesn't like them. Does she like anyone?

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And who might you be? Masks are a lot less useful when everyone has such distinctive hair.

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But enough small talk the Big boss makes his appearance and he decides to fucking kill President Dorkington. Didn't even leave a body.

He also looks like the Cowardly Lion's gangsta uncle.

He tells Anna she done messed up and leaves ominously.

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Well, that sucks. They turned everyone who was in the gym into shadows.

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Maybe. But shouldn't we focus more on the fact that she just erased the existence of like 30 kids for no good reason?

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But that's it, it's personal now!

Anyways, tune in next time for:
Gambling fun!
What, Lisa becomes an idol?
And other P2 craziness.
 

Yuterald

Member
Thanks for all of the Strange Journey info, everyone! VIT is really important, eh? I'll take note of it.

Current Progress:

Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne: Got to the final dungeon yesterday and I arrived at Ahriman. I had a really good fight going on with him until the VERY end where I got wiped at the last second with his Apocalypse spell. I was Tarunda-ing him to death, but he kept cancelling his debuffs and I couldn't keep up with it. I had him in his near death state though so I'll get him next time. I'm 42 hours in on Normal, but I broke a save file off so I can fully complete the Labyrinth (since it's something I've never done before).

Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey: I'm in the second sector now and I'm still enjoying it for the most part. I really need to find a demon with Liftoma (or is that a visor app now?)! I still can't get into any of the music. Even though the tracks do get better the further they play I'm still generally not a fan of it. I get how it fits in with the whole unit/military vibe, but it's doing nothing for me and it's definitely demotivating for me at times. Music is REALLY important to me when it comes to games.
 

Soulhouf

Member
Even though the tracks do get better the further they play

True but since they reset all the time, it's difficult to enjoy them unless you sit still and do nothing.
Such a bad design...

I really dig the graphics and the music, but as a game, MT1 is kinda... not great. Luckily, Kyuuyaku comes with MT2 as well, and you can just play that instead.

By all means please continue to play it and report your progress. At least I can enjoy it by reading you talking about it, and perhaps that will motivate me to play the game.
 
I really need to find a demon with Liftoma (or is that a visor app now?)!

Haha, that's the first thing I said to myself when I started that sector too. As far as I know there's no demon with that spell, but you eventually get a couple of sub apps that will reduce (not eliminate) damage and the chance of negative status effects from trap floors. Those apps don't show up till later in the game, though. The good news is that there are very few times you actually *have* to walk through trap floors, OCD mapping purposes aside.
 
Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei: Daedalus Con't

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I don't know if I mentioned it, but Neutral demons can drop Beads. I think you can only carry 10 at a time though.

Back to the 6F!

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On the north end of the floor, there's a room with a treasure chest.

...well, first we're gonna have to bust some Foul Mad Slugs. They are literally the weakest enemy in the game with only 4 HP. Otherwise they're mostly the same as Green Slimes except they're only weak to fire (you will never need to waste MP to take them down) and can appear in larger groups.

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But after that Anderson and Rachel are free to loot the chest! Inside is another Mad Slug. Sigh.

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Writing on the wall: "To use the Elevator, you need the Orb of Tranquility."
There's an elevator that runs through every floor of Daedalus, but naturally we won't be able to make it work until we get down to the first floor.

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Rachel and Anderson meet a new Neutral demon on the sixth floor: Yoma Solas. Solas is an alternate spelling of Stolas, a demon from the Ars Goetia. They're a pretty big step up from what we've been fighting. They're Level 7, can cast Di and resist Expel magic, and on top of that they hit hard with their regular attacks. They can appear in groups of up to four, but Anderson got "lucky" and only ran into three of them.

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They're rewarded with a level up each (reaching level 7 because this game loves irony), but Gnome didn't survive the encounter. This is one of the old school games, so Neutral allies are kind of... not useful.

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But seeing as how he's dead, Rachel and Anderson head back up to Micon to revive him. I don't remember how much his resurrection cost, but it doesn't look like it was very much. They had enough DBucks to buy a Combat Suit for Anderson and a Helmet for Rachel.

Back to the 6F! ...again.

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After quite a bit of running around and hunting for Solas, Anderson eventually manages to find one and convince it to join.

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...ruhroh! A few steps later and they bump into a sole Yoma Lemurian, a level 8 Neutral demon with 35 HP. I believe it's supposed to be an inhabitant from the fabled continent of Lemuria, mythologically-speaking, but I dunno. They hit a little bit harder than Stolas, and with their HP pool things could get hairy if Anderson had run into a full group of them.

The stairs down to the fifth floor are in the southwest corner, but first Anderson and Rachel are heading to the east side first.

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The floor's only Monster Closet contains a Foul Blob. Blobs are comparable to Solases, except they have fewer HP and can't cast Di. They're weak to Fire and Ice, but, again, by the time you reliably have access to Agi an Bufu spells, you won't need to waste the MP.

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Directly below the Monster Closet is this little fella who says that there are four races of demons that you can recruit. He doesn't know the names, but I do and I will tell them to you: Beast, Yoma, Jirae and Fairy. These are the only four Neutral demon races in the game, and the only demons you can recruit via negotiation. There are six Good races that we can access via fusion, but we'll get to those when we can actually make them.

And that's all well in good, but what we want on this side of the floor are the stairs north of the Monster Closet. They lead back up to a section of the 7F that we couldn't access before.

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Back on the 7F:
Fey Folk: "The Tyrant Minotaur is waiting on the first floor of the Daedalus. In fact, he's directly below this very room."

She's right, if you look at the maps, the Minotaur's room is located in approximately the same spot on the 1F.

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But that hot tip isn't why we came here. What we want is down on the south end: A Monster Closet containing Fairy Dryad. Dryad is the lowest level Fairy demon, and a little light in the HP department. Apparently they're weak to Expel and I guess that could be helpful if you run into a full pack of four. Drayds don't hit as hard as Solas, but they can cast Zan. Remember Zan? It hurts. They also have Posumidi and Patra, both of which are less interesting.

This is technically the first time Anderson can pick up a Dryad, and it's worth it. Since it's right near the Cathedral of Shadows, you know, you can always come back here if you ever need a Dryad for fusion. (This is a hilarious joke for reasons we'll see when we finally get to fusing stuff)

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Anderson and Rachel level up again.

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The stairs down to the 5F are in the southeast of the 6F, just below the room with the inscription about the Orb of Tranquility.

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I forgot to mention, I think, this handy dandy "world" map that you can kind of use to gauge your progress. As you can see, the bottom four floors of Daedalus are quite a bit larger than the upper four, and we'll soon be doing some horizontal travelin' rather than just vertical.

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Anderson and Rachel happen across another Yoma Lemurian outside a Monster Closet. They managed to convince it to join by giving it a ton of DBucks. (The Monster Closet itself, located in the central part of the floor, contains a Foul Green Slime. How dull).

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Tucked away In the southeast corner is some more writing on the wall: "The Darkness is the Time of Man, The Light is the Time of Demons." This is like the third tip about lunar phases.

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For some reason (I think I went back up to save?), Anderson went back up to Micon. Solas was summoned into the active party to help end battles faster on the way back to the fifth floor.
...and then Solas dies horribly against a pack of Gnomes.

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Back on 5F
In the northwest corner is a Monster Closet with a new enemy: Spirit Ghost. They're the hardest hitting enemies we've seen so far, they're fast, but they have a paltry 23 HP. I'm pretty sure they only appear in Monster Closets, so there's not much to worry about. They're weak to Expel and apparently drain Lightning.

I didn't get a picture of it, but this group of Lemurians gave enough experience to push Anderson and Rachel up to level 9, and level 9 means they can fuse something they haven't encountered yet! (They will encounter it on the 4F but, you know, might as well).

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Rachel picked up Paraladi (6 MP, heals "Palyze" status) at Level 9, and back in Micon she lays down the DBucks for that Scorpion Whip.

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The Cathedral of Shadows! Finally!
In DDS, you can only perform two demon fusions, what with the general lack of available demons in the game.

Oh and you can't fuse dead demons. Whoops!

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200 DBucks?! Good lord Solas, you are so not worth this.

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Anyway. Let's look at this screen. The grey circles are fusions for demons that Anderson isn't high enough level to control, white circles indicate fusions that are ok to perform, and yellow circles are for fusions where the resulting demon is already in the party. As you can see, Dryad can be fused with any of our minions, but pretty much everything else is a no-go.

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So let's go ahead and fuse Dryad and... Heqet. Since Solas, Heqet and Lemurian would all yield the same result here and Heqet is the demon that's least likely to see any combat.

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Beast Cancer isn't interesting in the slightest. He's reflect lightning and is weak to ice. It does hit like a truck and has ok-ish HP. There isn't much else to say about it, but hey, fusion! In a Megami Tensei game! Whoo.

Next Time: We'll finish off Daedalus and move on to the next dungeon.
 
Ok, when last we left our intrepid heroes Michel had just declared that he would get revenge for all the students killed, even Yasuo, the murdering douchebag. After we exit the school we now have a new found sense of of purpose.

To get some great loot.

In order to do this I entered the magazine sweepstakes, a lot. At this point in the game however I more often than not got this as my reply.

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But hey's it's an excuse to visit Steven Segal right?

After that I head to the park to check on new rumors when I notice that we are being swarmed by kids asking for an autograph. Michel is happy as hell, and plays it up.

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Of course they weren't looking for him.

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It seems Lisa is the new third secret member of a new idol group. She of course knows nothing about it. And yes that is Michel knocked out in the corner.

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After asking around we met some new people, some were able to help us, like this creepy fortune teller. She's also a rumormonger, which is useful in and of itself.

I also decided to check out the Police Station, maybe report some supernatural crimes.

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Hey, it's Katsuya from EP, that grudge against arsonists I'm guessing won't be touched on much here, here's hoping it will in EP (I honestly don't remember.)

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You have to give this dog 10,000 yen to get a full set of incense (permanent stat increases), it's well worth it, but pretty annoying as you can only do it 100 yen at a time. I just imagine Tatsuya standing there, every pocket stuffed with 100 yen coins glaring at this annoying dog as he keeps feeding it.

2 sets of incense later I am off.

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To gamble. I started with about 100 coins, I had spread the rumor that it was easy to win at slots, and it still takes FOREVER to make any money. After a full Sunday of watching football while sitting at the casino I made about 5,000 coins.

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Yukki was not amused.

The rumors are one of the cooler things in this game, and they allow for some great random dialog, like from this new guy on the side of the road who now sells weapons to passers-by.

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Comedy gold. Though what race is that guy supposed to be? Muppet?

Also, is there a rumor floating around that guns have infinite ammo, and are now legal withing the confines of Sumaru city? Just wondering.

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After spending nearly all my cash on weapons upgrades, armor, and magazines (for the sweepstakes) I head back to the detective agency to drop off my entries and get more info on the idol thing. Turns out that the girls will be broadcasting live from Mu. Yukki is not amused.

Lisa is also pretty pissed that her friends went behind her back and is out to bust some heads.

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The excitement around the set is palpable, though why you would need dancers for a radio broadcast is beyond me.

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Lisa is suddenly apprehensive, but we have demons to slay. Lots of em, so into the maze kile hell that is the Mu amusement center.

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The dungeon isn't too tough though there is a bit of up and down through the floors to get to the goal. None of the dungeons in the game are that impressive, and honestly the layouts I think would have worked better in first person than overhead, but that might just be me.

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Michel, no one knows what you say.

As I'm going through the dungeon I'm a little lower than I would like on SP, so I stop by Trish's fountain for the first time. In P1 she was pricy but affordable considering the situation, I figure that it might be like 5000 yen or something like that.

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Screw you! Seriously. That's half my savings, I'll have everyone level before I earn enough to make that back.

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Just go to hell.

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No Yukki, these prices are on a whole new level.

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Conversations with Death arcana demons are just... wow. Bravo on the translation.

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So we make it to the top and meet the mastermind behind operation idol. Lisa's friends are happy to see her and apologize for not asking her. They say that they want to feature her in the song and even wrote a verse in english just for her. Lisa is a bit uncomfortable at the mention of that, but heads off with them to try and find out what is wrong.

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Before we follow her I stop in at //slash to check out any new rumors. Seems like Baofu is around. Cool, looks like they are at least name dropping all of the mains from EP in this game.

Afterwards we follow the Muses (Lisa's group) to the park where they will be performing. There is a dungeon, it is very samey. I have no pictures of it. You aren't missing much. We eventually make it to the stage and worm out way inside. Ginji is dressing down Lisa, who is a bit ashamed of being a white girl who was raised purely Japanese.

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What a dick.

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Before the concert Michel and Tatsuya are stationed as ushers. Michel wants to jump in on the action and help Lisa with her decision, but I think she can handle it.

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The concert is going well, so well that no one notices the bombs beneath their seats.

I'm not kidding. Thankfully we're able to warn the crowd. Prince Taurus (Ginji) monologues about his scheme.

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Admit it, you're just making those names up.

And Leo shows up again.

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And a boss fight.

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After we beat Taurus down, he changes Sheeba and Mee-ho into shadows, cause he's a dick like that.

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but seriously this scene sucks. Unlike the others who were using the Joker power to screw with people, the girls just wanted to live out their dream with their best friend. It's pretty grim actually.

Sadly there is little time to mourn as there is a times escape on account of the bombs. We find a clue to the next bombing target and run like mad for the exit.

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To be continued...

Hope you all are enjoying these. I'm a decent bit further ahead than this, but it takes a while to do up these posts.

I also still have no clue who that glasses drunk guy from my last post is. Any hints?
 
The glasses drunk guy is

-Minor hint
someone from Eternal Punishment.

-Reveal
Kaoru Saga.

'Baofu'.


I was thinking that after I made my post actually, but since it had so little to do with anything else I dismissed it.

Actually just finished the game, yeah I'm behind on my posts, but IS was really addicting. I'll keep on em, lotta thoughts and it's fun to go back over everything. I get better at taking relevant pics, I swear.
 

Laekon

Member
I'm looking at trying Persona 3P or Persona 4 since I've never played any game in this series. I own a PSP and can borrow a PS2. Is one more fun than the other? I'm only worried about having to grind or frustrating gameplay.
 

Koroviev

Member
I'm looking at trying Persona 3P or Persona 4 since I've never played any game in this series. I own a PSP and can borrow a PS2. Is one more fun than the other? I'm only worried about having to grind or frustrating gameplay.

I would play P3P on easy if you don't want to grind. As for Persona 4, I would wait to pick up the Vita version in November.
 

Laekon

Member
I would play P3P on easy if you don't want to grind. As for Persona 4, I would wait to pick up the Vita version in November.

I haven't read anything about the new Persona 4 so why do you think it is worth waiting for? As for 3 vs 4 do they both only have 1 dungeon that you return to over and over? The reviews for P3P all make that seem like a big issue.
 

Koroviev

Member
I haven't read anything about the new Persona 4 so why do you think it is worth waiting for? As for 3 vs 4 do they both only have 1 dungeon that you return to over and over? The reviews for P3P all make that seem like a big issue.

Based on impressions from the JP crowd, Persona 4 Golden is the definitive version of Persona 4.

I don't know too much about P4, but I've played more than 30 hours of P3P and haven't had an issue with the tower dungeon. Yes, it is a randomized series of very similar dungeons. However, that doesn't make the combat or the persona fusion any less entertaining.
 
Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei: Anderson and Rachel mess with the bull, do not get the horns

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Last time, Anderson had just fused a cool crab and was preparing to head down to conquer the lower floors of the Daedalus. Here's the thing though: There are two sets of stairs leading down on the fifth floor, one in the northeastern corner, and one in the southcentral region. Anderson and Rachel take the southern set.

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In a room directly below the stairs that requires a little bit of walking to enter, there's this lady. Let's pretend she's Big Mama Nyx from that one bar in SMT3 instead of just some random human lady hanging around down here.

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"The Labyrinth is separated into six areas, each ruled by a Tyrant. However, it's Lucifer that stands above them all. Even though there's a number of demons seeking to overthrow him and claim his position for themselves, there's no way you'd be able to befriend them."

So they're still laying out the rules of the game. DDS has six levels and each level boss is a Tyrant-class demon, and Lucifer is the very last boss. (Spoilers: Lucifer is the final boss)

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Also down here are Foul Will o' Wisps. They reflect fire and tend to come in large groups. They aren't very strong, but I imagine if you came down here at a really low level, six of them could give you trouble. As long as someone in your party can cast Di though, there's nothing to worry about.

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There's another Fey folk hanging out on the west side: "The Lord of the Daedalus holds the Orb of Tranquility." Like we couldn't have figured that out.

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hey look who it is

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Southeast of the Fey is a room containing Femme Harpy. This room acts as sort of a Miniboss Closet, since it blocks the stairs to the next floor. Harpy is at level 11 and is weak to lightning, not that it matters to us. She's the toughest thing we've come across, knocking 8 HP off Cancer per hit and 6 HP off Rachel.

Luckily only one Harpy spawns here, more than one would be a death sentence at this part of the game.

Since Rachel was running low on MP, they hoof it back up to Healer instead of continuing, and naturally they both level up on the way.

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At this point I decided to fill in the maps completely so y'all can see 'em, and while doing so they both hit level 11.

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Level is 11 is a special level because it means we can fuse a new ally! Yoma Heqet and Jirae Gnome come together to create...

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Jirae Yomotsu Shikome! YoShi is a good addition to the team at this point: She comes with Agi (2 MP, low fire damage, can hit twice), Dorminar (5 MP, attempts to put all enemies to sleep), and Patra. Sure, Patra and Dorminar kinda suck, but Agi is welcome (ahem) fire power, and she can hit pretty hard with her physical attacks.

YoShi is weak to Expel, but I'm not sure she'll have to worry about it on our team.

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She gets summoned into the active party on the walk back down to the 3F. With both Cancer and YoShi active, Anderson is losing MAG with each step.

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Harpy ain't no big thang, not with four targets that can take a few hits. The stairs dump Anderson out on north section of the 3F.

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Fairy Bogle is running around down here. He's a level 9 neutral demon and definitely worth recruiting. His physical attacks don't do much, but he has access to Agi, Zanma (4 MP, medium Force damage, can hit two times) and Hanma (3 MP, low Expel damage, hits once). Hanma is the most powerful base-elemental spell and Zanma is the first second tier spell we've seen. We (A) want these for ourselves, and (B) do not want to be on the receiving end of such spells because OUCH.

Anderson tries to persuade Bogle to team Cable News Hosts, but Bogle just ends up taking about 300 DBucks and running off. Bummer. Spoiler: Anderson never manages to con a Bogle onto the team. :(

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There's... not much up in the northern section of 3F, just these two folks in the northeast corner. The first talks about how Bien, the next labyrinth level we'll be tackling, has changed.

The bald fella warns Anderson about a prank-playing Goblin hanging out on the southern part of the floor.

...and that's all we can do on this branch of Daedalus. To actually continue, we'll have to walk back up to the 5F and take the stairs in the northeast.

The eastern side of the 4F is just a small, linear path to the next set of stairs that'll put Anderson down on the southern part of the 3F. Oh yeah, Dryads start spawning as regular encounters around here here, in case you ever need one.

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The southern half of this floor is mostly a linear path too, but there's a few points of interest that'll we'll get to.

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But first, new enemy: Jaki Orc. There's... not much to say about them. They're level 5 Evil demons, only have 20 HP, and always come in parties of at least 2. Their attacks don't hurt very much, and they're easily dispatched. I think they're weak to fire.

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Actual point of interest: The room in the bottom left. It contains Wilder Tiamat:
"I am the mighty Tiamat. If you wish to live, give me 100 Macca!"

Two options are presented to Anderson: Give the money to Tiamat, or fight it.

...

First of all, we're given an option outside of combat and if that wasn't a big enough tipoff, that bald dude a couple of paragraphs ago was like "Ayo a Goblin plays pranks on the south side of this floor."

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Anderson smacks the scales off "Tiamat" to reveal the Goblin underneath.
"What the heck is your problem?! Why would you do something like that?! Wait, did Garu send you? Well you can tell him it's too late, I already ditched his shield someplace you'll never get to as long as the Minotaur is around! Smell ya later!"

The Goblin runs off. If you look up at the map of the 3F, you'll notice a four tile square down towards the southeast. If you were to look at the rest of the Daedalus maps, you'd see that that section is where the elevator stops on 3F, and to work the elevator we need the Orb of Tranquility, which is held by the Minotaur. That was pretty easy to put together, but it just leaves one question: Who the heck is Garu?

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Anderson and Rachel hit level 12.

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The other point of interest on the 3F is the Junk Shop. the DDS name for "item shop." You know, it's great that they put this four floors down in the dungeon instead of town ain't it? The Junk Shop has these items for sale:
Poison-Non (400 DBucks, heals Poison)
Parala-Non (450 DBucks, heals Palyze)
Petra-Non (1000 DBucks, heals Stone)
Muscle Milk (1500 DBucks, restores HP and temporarily raises max HP)
Magic Source (2000 DBucks, restores MP and temporarily raises max MP)

The status recovery items are... less useful since they're expensive and there are so many demons with status recovery spells. The Muscle Milk and Magic Sources are expensive, but you can see how they'd have their uses. This early in the game, however, they cost way too much to even think about getting.

From the Junk Shop, the stairs down to the 2F are just a short, linear walk away.

Whole lotta doors going on here, but nothing too confusing if you've got Maparala active.

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The most important thing: There's a Monster Closer in the northeast containing Beast Nekomata, and we definitely want to pick one up for the team. She's fast, has decent Intelligence and the Di spell, and her regular attacks are nothing to laugh at either. Her other spells, Makajam (3 MP, attempts to mute enemy party) and Marin Karin (6 MP, inflicts Panic on 2-3 enemies) are pretty lackluster though. That's ok, she's got enough MP to cast Di eleven times, and that's good enough.

It takes nearly 1400 DBucks to recruit her, but it is worth it.

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Plus there's a treasure chest on the west side that contains some DBucks, so that helps take the edge off. From the chest room, Anderson has to walk all the way around the perimeter of the floor to get to the stairs down to 1F.

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On the way, he passes through a room with this fella.
Man with an oddly incongruous sprite compared to everything else in this game: "It's here! We're right under it!"

If you check the map of the 3F, you'll see that this fella is standing right under that inaccessible area we need the elevator to get to. I wonder what the game is trying to tell us.

Despite all the one tile rooms on this floor, Nekomata was the only Monster Closet.

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Back in Micon, Anderson buys that suit of Chain Mail. He's gonna need the extra defense.

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Down to the 1F!

As you might have guessed from the word map, the 1F is considerably larger than the previous floors. It's about three times as large 4F, 3F and 2F plus it introduces some MegaTen Classixs: Dark Zones and One-way doors!

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Let's get started. In the top left corner of the map is this fella, who relates the story of a snake-eating being known as Tabatha. Tabatha's epicurean habits earned the wrath of Medusa.

...Medusa? We haven't even taken on the Minotaur yet, y'all are getting ahead of yourselves! For whatever reason, pretty much all the NPCs on this floor are setting the stage for the next level.

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Anderson and Rachel hit level 13 while walking around. Rachel picks up her first offensive spell, Agirama. Agirama is a fire-elemental spell that costs 4 MP and can hit up to three times. With Rachel's Intelligence stat, it's quite powerful. Too bad literally every Tyrant in the game is immune to fire magic!

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More importantly, this guy is running around down here. This is Beast Cerberus, a fixture of the series, and that affords him a certain level of prestige compared to other demons. Look at those stats. The next demon we'll see that has over a hundred HP is at level 22. His other stats, while not as great as his constitution, are nothing to sneeze at, and he comes with the Recarm spell, which costs 8 MP and allows him to revive a fallen comrade. (Sometimes it fails, you know, like Zing in Dragon Quest ((There is no Samrecarm/Kazing in this game)) Dude's got a lot going for him.

On top of that, Cerberus is our first ally with Extra skills. Extra skills are randomly used when you choose the attack command, but don't cost any resources when used. Cerberus has Burninate and Howl. Burninate deals fire damage to the enemy party and is generally a pretty useful skill for hitting all enemies. Howl is quite a bit weaker, but has a chance to inflict Bind.

Cerberus drains fire and is weak to ice.

His extra skills will severely crimp his damage output in the upcoming boss fight, but his HP and Recarm spell are gonna be super useful, so it's really important to recruit him. (The other, probably more important reason to recruit him is because you do not want to have to whittle down his 104 HP while taking Burninates to the face).

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With Cerberus in the party, we're ready to take on the Minotaur. The Fey up on the 7F told us that the Minotaur's room is straight down from the room she was in, so if you compare the maps you'll know he has to be near the northern part of the floor, one tile from the top of the map. The Fey's room was five tiles from the western edge of the map, but the larger floors of Daedalus has two tiles to the western edge, meaning he's gonna be seven tiles from the west. There are actually two ways to approach it: Through the dark zone in the north, or from the southeast. It doesn't really matter either way which you pick.

Anderson Cooper summons Cerberus, Cancer, Nekomata and YoShi. Cancer won't be doing much, but he will be an additional target and that's about the best thing we can get out of non-Nekomata/Cerberus demons at this point.

Also, because he's dumb, he doesn't let Cerberus take point.

Let's do this.

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Tyrant Minotaur: "I've been waiting for you, whelps!"

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So. Tyrant Minotaur is pretty fearsome. He can cast Zanma and has Howl and Paralysis extra abilities. Howl is probably the least bad trick he has up his sleeves, although I was lucky in that he never managed to proc Bind from it. Paralysis can hurt, but it'd be even worse if managed to proc Palyze from it (Uh, Paralysis deals damage and attempts to inflict Palyze status). Zanma is the worst, and his regular attacks sting something terrible too.

Cerberus and Nekomata take about 17 HP from Zanma, Roar was hitting on the low end (~2 HP to the whole party), and YoShi was taking 20+ HP from physical attacks. Nekomata and Rachel are on constant healing duty, and the party is only hitting Minotaur for about 3 HP per hit.

It's a rough, slow battle.

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Anderson even died at one point (good thing we brought Cerberus along). Cancer also went down, but who cares.

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Eventually Minotaur is defeated. He drops a ton of EXP.

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Enough to bump Anderson and Rachel up three levels.

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And more importantly, they obtain the Orb of Tranquility!

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So now the elevator works, and we can travel back up to Micon easily. (There's also a warp in the room directly southwest of the Minotaur's room that'll instantly warp you back to Micon. You can't access it until you beat the Minotaur, so I think it's supposed to be a blessing from the developers rather than a nasty trick)

We still need to finish up exploring the 1F of Daedalus so we can move on to the next area.

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A little ways east of the Minotaur's room is a Skeleton: "Up ahead is the floating city Bien. You can probably guess from the name, but the city used to fly up in the sky, but now..."

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There's a Monster Closet directly south of the Skeleton's room, but it takes some winding to get to it. Inside is a Foul Sand Looper. It might have been scary before Anderson and Rachel slew the Minotaur, but not it's absolutely trivial. They actually do have a ton of Strength, and the Stone Touch extra ability (guess what it does), so theoretically they could do some real damage. On the other hand, they're weak to fire and ice and Rachel has access to Agirama and even if she didn't Cerberus has Burninate so.

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This lady is hanging out in a room a little ways to the west of the Monster Closet, in an area only accessibly via a Dark Zone. She just says that the floating city can't fly anymore because Medusa turned it to stone.

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East of the Monster Closet:
"The people living in the floating city don't want Medusa running things, so they hid the Statue of Tabatha to keep it safe. But..."

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Rachel and Anderson hit level 17, Rachel learns Mediama (6 MP, heals the whole active party moderately). Mediama is great. It's not as important as Di, but it's certainly gonna come in handy.

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This dude is located a little ways northwest of the previous person we chatted with, kind of in a little nook in the middle of the floor. He pretty much spells out that the Statue of Tabatha is not so much a statue that Tabatha created or owned, but Tabatha, who had been turned to stone by Medusa.

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Rachel's Agirama deals ~70 HP to Orcs. I think they're weak to fire.

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"There's a man west of here. If you find the Statue of Tabatha, you should go see him." This woman is located on the edge of the map, directly east of the guy who just told us Tabatha was turned to stone by Medusa.

That concludes all the points of interest on the 1F of Daedalus. Next time we'll move on to a new location, complete with new wall textures and carpet, but first let's do a little fusin'

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First up: Yoma Lemurian x Yoma Solas = Holy Tapir. Tapir is the second Good aligned demon we have access to (we'll fuse the first in a second), and he is a fearsome one at that. His Strength stat is higher than any demon we've seen thus far, he can cast Zan and Mediama, and a decent pool of HP. I'm surprised they didn't give him Patra or something to cure Sleep (in Japan, Tapirs have a connection with dreams, hence them being a Holy-class creature here).

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Next: Beast Cancer x Fairy Dryad = Elemental Trent. Trent is less impressive in comparison, but I'm not saying no to Zanma and Hanma.

Next Time: Gee I wonder if the next area will involve getting the Statue of Tabatha and battling Medusa?
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Found something very fascinating at the Atlus MB. It's kind of an urban legend that Atlus USA in the Persona 1 era had big plans for the 'Revelations' moniker; Soul Hackers, Devil Summoner, Demon Slayer/Last Bible, etc. It just never really worked out because SCEA hated fun.

Take a gander at this, thanks to Jessicat from the Atlus MB, from the Devil Summoner World Guidance book:

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Screams promo US marketing to me.
 

Seda

Member
I just now beat SMT: Nocturne. I went for the true demon ending. After playing Persona 3 and 4, I wanted to step into the other SMT games, and many recommended I start with Nocturne.

The first thing to say is that this game has rock solid mechanics and a very unique mood. It plays really well, and the gameplay aspects of the game just click. My MVP demon was Daijousou, I pretty much kept him around until the end as a primary healer. After around the midpoint of the game, I really had a well built team with buffs and debuffs spread pretty evenly. I made it a priority that these skills transferred when I fused, and that really made many of the fights not bad at all. Once I got debiliate on a few demons and dekaja/dekunda, it was pretty much an unstoppable team. Sometimes I got tripped up when elements didn't go my way, but that was easily avoided on subsequent attempts.

I got a bit of help on twitter when I was playing through the game. A TON from Shinogu throughout, some from Aeana, Zerokku and Koroviev early on, plus several non-gaffers. I almost wish I wasn't told about Freikugel, because the pierce-focus-Freikugel combination made the last several bosses really pretty easy.

I'm gonna hit up the Digital Devil Saga games, but I'm gonna take a break before I tackle those. What can I expect from those, in comparison to Persona and Nocturne?
 

Herla

Member
Well, I don't know how but I've beaten Digital Devil Saga 1.

I was in the middle of a Raidou 2 playthrough but I decided to take a break (as much as I like it, it's not the most exciting game I can think of)...then I started listening to some of the DDS music and told myself: I really should play it so that I can see where all this awesome tracks fit.

The game is fairly short, although I avoided most of the side stuff...22 hours.
Some random thoughts:

- I really don't like the Mantra system. Being able to switch skills as much as you want is nice, but the need to grind just to get the one skill you need is a pain and, if you're like me, you'll end up with characters without Ma-dynes just because of the time required to get to them. People said to get Dekunda as soon as possible, but I managed to obtain it in the final dungeon...

- The lack of fusing is a bummer. I think fusing is the best part of any Megaten game, and at least if you have to grind for a new demon you get more than just one skill that maybe you'll only use against one boss.

- The random encounters are THE WORST. I thought Raidou was bad, but this is just terrible. They may not be as frequent as in Raidou, but if you can die before even being able to press a button you'd like some moments of peace here and there. And yeah, every time I died it was because of a random encounter that decided to wipe out my party in the first turn, and with defensive passives so hard to obtain there's not much you can do about it.

- The music is probably some of the best stuff Meguro has ever done. The crescendo in the final dungeon is something on the level of "World Map (Last Area)", just fantastic.

- The story and characters are really good (or, at least, interesting), but I can't decide if this game has the best or worst cliffhanger I've ever seen. When was the sequel announced? I can see a lot of people screaming "what the fuck" at the screen.

- I don't like Serph. I usually like silent protagonists in Atlus games, but the lack of dialogue options and "uniqueness" made him pretty dull. It's obvious the other guys are the real focus. It's not necessarily bad, but it made some scenes not as "impactful" as they probably should've been. The fact that I only had ~20 hours to know the characters might be a problem too.

- I have "Pray" suck in my head and I feel the urge to say "I do not comprehend" as much as I can. I need help, fast.

- I thought Heat was the worst, and then Cielo started speaking more and more.

- Holy shit Steven Blum voiced Gale? Now I feel stupid for calling him Akihiko in my head.

- Seriously, Cielo is terrible.

...in the end, I liked it a lot. Listing the stuff I didn't like is easier, but the story, music and atmosphere make up for everything else. Also, I don't like "classic" jrpgs that much, so most of my complaints are probably worthless anyway.

Now it's time for part 2!
 

cj_iwakura

Member
Well, I don't know how but I've beaten Digital Devil Saga 1.

I was in the middle of a Raidou 2 playthrough but I decided to take a break (as much as I like it, it's not the most exciting game I can think of)...then I started listening to some of the DDS music and told myself: I really should play it so that I can see where all this awesome tracks fit.

The game is fairly short, although I avoided most of the side stuff...22 hours.
Some random thoughts:

- I really don't like the Mantra system. Being able to switch skills as much as you want is nice, but the need to grind just to get the one skill you need is a pain and, if you're like me, you'll end up with characters without Ma-dynes just because of the time required to get to them. People said to get Dekunda as soon as possible, but I managed to obtain it in the final dungeon...

- The lack of fusing is a bummer. I think fusing is the best part of any Megaten game, and at least if you have to grind for a new demon you get more than just one skill that maybe you'll only use against one boss.

- The random encounters are THE WORST. I thought Raidou was bad, but this is just terrible. They may not be as frequent as in Raidou, but if you can die before even being able to press a button you'd like some moments of peace here and there. And yeah, every time I died it was because of a random encounter that decided to wipe out my party in the first turn, and with defensive passives so hard to obtain there's not much you can do about it.

- The music is probably some of the best stuff Meguro has ever done. The crescendo in the final dungeon is something on the level of "World Map (Last Area)", just fantastic.

- The story and characters are really good (or, at least, interesting), but I can't decide if this game has the best or worst cliffhanger I've ever seen. When was the sequel announced? I can see a lot of people screaming "what the fuck" at the screen.

- I don't like Serph. I usually like silent protagonists in Atlus games, but the lack of dialogue options and "uniqueness" made him pretty dull. It's obvious the other guys are the real focus. It's not necessarily bad, but it made some scenes not as "impactful" as they probably should've been. The fact that I only had ~20 hours to know the characters might be a problem too.

- I have "Pray" suck in my head and I feel the urge to say "I do not comprehend" as much as I can. I need help, fast.

- I thought Heat was the worst, and then Cielo started speaking more and more.

- Holy shit Steven Blum voiced Gale? Now I feel stupid for calling him Akihiko in my head.

- Seriously, Cielo is terrible.

...in the end, I liked it a lot. Listing the stuff I didn't like is easier, but the story, music and atmosphere make up for everything else. Also, I don't like "classic" jrpgs that much, so most of my complaints are probably worthless anyway.

Now it's time for part 2!

DDS2 was always confirmed, so it wasn't too big a deal.


And Serph is one of the few instances where his being a silent protagonist works. You'll see.
 

Jawmuncher

Member
Im on Day 7 Amane's Path in Devil Survivor.
It's been one hell of a battle to get this far even on easy but im so close to beating it I can taste it.
 

Soulhouf

Member
Started Strange Journey in NG+ and I'm currently at the 3rd sector.
I already saw some new things (new equipments, new items, new quests).
I turned off the combats thanks to the new sub app so that I can progress more quickly.

The weird thing is after bitching about the story elements during my first runthrough, now I appreciate it much better.
But the UI still sucks and will remains my biggest issue in this game.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more new stuff and especially the new bosses.
 
Well, I don't know how but I've beaten Digital Devil Saga 1.

I was in the middle of a Raidou 2 playthrough but I decided to take a break (as much as I like it, it's not the most exciting game I can think of)...then I started listening to some of the DDS music and told myself: I really should play it so that I can see where all this awesome tracks fit.

The game is fairly short, although I avoided most of the side stuff...22 hours.
Some random thoughts:

- I really don't like the Mantra system. Being able to switch skills as much as you want is nice, but the need to grind just to get the one skill you need is a pain and, if you're like me, you'll end up with characters without Ma-dynes just because of the time required to get to them. People said to get Dekunda as soon as possible, but I managed to obtain it in the final dungeon...

- The lack of fusing is a bummer. I think fusing is the best part of any Megaten game, and at least if you have to grind for a new demon you get more than just one skill that maybe you'll only use against one boss.

- The random encounters are THE WORST. I thought Raidou was bad, but this is just terrible. They may not be as frequent as in Raidou, but if you can die before even being able to press a button you'd like some moments of peace here and there. And yeah, every time I died it was because of a random encounter that decided to wipe out my party in the first turn, and with defensive passives so hard to obtain there's not much you can do about it.

- The music is probably some of the best stuff Meguro has ever done. The crescendo in the final dungeon is something on the level of "World Map (Last Area)", just fantastic.

- The story and characters are really good (or, at least, interesting), but I can't decide if this game has the best or worst cliffhanger I've ever seen. When was the sequel announced? I can see a lot of people screaming "what the fuck" at the screen.

- I don't like Serph. I usually like silent protagonists in Atlus games, but the lack of dialogue options and "uniqueness" made him pretty dull. It's obvious the other guys are the real focus. It's not necessarily bad, but it made some scenes not as "impactful" as they probably should've been. The fact that I only had ~20 hours to know the characters might be a problem too.

- I have "Pray" suck in my head and I feel the urge to say "I do not comprehend" as much as I can. I need help, fast.

- I thought Heat was the worst, and then Cielo started speaking more and more.

- Holy shit Steven Blum voiced Gale? Now I feel stupid for calling him Akihiko in my head.

- Seriously, Cielo is terrible.

...in the end, I liked it a lot. Listing the stuff I didn't like is easier, but the story, music and atmosphere make up for everything else. Also, I don't like "classic" jrpgs that much, so most of my complaints are probably worthless anyway.

Now it's time for part 2!

Those characterization questions will be answered beyond your WILDEST dreams. Trust me. :D
 

cj_iwakura

Member
So I went and took some initiative.

I have to say, the PersonaSP fonts look a lot better in Japanese.

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Maya's glad to see us.

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The UI.

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Options! I went with purple for Maya.

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Full body art, Ulala nice as ever.

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Katsuya swag.

Slime is happy to see us!

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So Maya unleashes the whoop-ass time!

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I miss the dub. :(
 

AniHawk

Member
i had a nocturne game i was about 10 hours into, somehow. never got back to it. i think i know how to play it, after persona 4.

maybe i should get back to it.
 
Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei: "N-no! You're not me!!"

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Alright, when we left off last time, Anderson and Rachel had defeated the Minotaur and finished mapping the 1F of the Daedalus, ready to move on to the next area. There are two entrances to the next area on the 1F, they take the northern one.

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They find themselves in a new area, with new graphics and new music, and are confronted with writing on the wall: "The Halls of Vahalla." The Halls of Vahalla are the third section of the labyrinth, and we need to pass through this little piece to get to the second section.

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Right around the corner from the north entrance is this fella, who tells us of a guy named Rick, who was captured. The man suspects that Rick is downstairs in the dungeon with the rats. He does not offer any speculation about just who Rick is, who he was caught by, or why Anderson should care, but believe you me: Anderson should care. Rick is one of the most important NPCs in the game. I'm not sure why this random dude is so important, but you know, whatever.

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But relevant to our immediate situation: Across the hall are some new shops. This section of Valhalla is actually a town area, like Micon, except without the perks of a Healer, Cathedral of Shadows or a Save Point.
The armor shop has:
Chainmail (The same one in Micon)
Breastplate (1600 DBucks, 7 Defense, Male only)
Steel Shield (500 DBucks, 3 Defense, Male only)
Kevlar Helmet (500 DBucks, 3 Defense, Unisex)

Anderson picks up a Breastplate, while both he and Rachel get Kevlar Helmets (although, apparently, they have the same defense stat as the regular ol' Helmet we picked up for Rachel back in Micon so that was probably a waste of money to buy her one?)

The weapon shop offers:
Scorpion Whip (Same as the one in Micon)
Chain Sickle (400 DBucks, 6 Attack, can hit twice, Male only)
Blank Katana (600 DBucks, 8 Attack, hits once, Male only)
Platinum Dagger (990 DBucks, 10 Attack, hits once, Female only)

Meh. Anderson picks up the Chain Sickle (I'll take multiple hits over a few points to attack any day).

There's nothing stopping you from coming to this town before fighting the Minotaur, so if you're really, really having trouble beating it you can pop over here and see if that improves your odds.

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A few winding rooms lead down to the southern section of this little town and a new facility: The Hypnotist ("Saimin" is Japanese for "Hypnotism").

Hypnotist: "Oh, my children, do you seek my assistance?"
If you answer "Yes" he'll teleport you back to Micon on the 8F of the Daedalus. Specifically, he'll plop you down in the exact same spot that you start the game from. This isn't a jerk move: Remember, there's no save point, Cathedral of Shadows, or healer here, and defeating the Minotaur means we can use the Elevator to get back to the 1F rather quickly (although we'd still have to traverse it back to the Halls of Valhalla). In any case, we're gonna be making use of the Hypnotist quite a bit.

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In the room southeast of the Hypnotist, Anderson and Rachel are stopped by this guy.
"Halt! I am Garu, the Guardian of this Gate, brother to Doru, Guardian of the Main Gate. Doru didn't let you through, did he? We take our duties seriously, and I won't let you pass either. Unless..."

Anderson wants through the Gate, so he's willing to do an~y~thing~ to get through.

"A Goblin that likes to cause trouble stole my Shield! I want it back. I've heard that it's been seen in the Daedalus, but I don't know where. If you get it back for me, I'll let you pass through!"

I guess that answers a few questions from earlier: Garu is the gate keeper for Bien, the prank-playing Goblin stole his shield, and Garu wants it back. So if we want to get into Bien, we're gonna have to get the shield for him.

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His elder brother, Doru, guards the gate at the north end of the town. He says nothing, just stares with his beady little eyes. He won't let us through and that's gonna be pretty annoying because it's gonna make us take the long way around in the next dungeon.

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In the interest of speeding things along, Anderson and Rachel use the Hypnotist to warp back to Micon so they can take the elevator down to the 3F. Remember, the 3F was the one with the area we couldn't reach without the elevator.

There's a 2 x 2 block of rooms here. One is the elevator, one is the room directly outside the elevator, one is gonna have Garu's Shield and one...

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...contains a minboss: Kaijuu Bug.

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Bug (it's a play on "Baku" the Japanese word for Tapir) is a level 23 evil demon with the Extra ability Roar. It's not too dangerous, but it does have a ton of HP that can take a while to grind down. Like, more than the Minotaur. His defense is a lower and he doesn't hit a hard, so it's not that big of a deal. Anderson and Rachel level up after defeating it.

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"There are piles of old weapons and armor strewn about.
...
You found Garu's Shield!"

I actually don't know if you can find the shield without first speaking to Garu and meeting the Prank-playing Goblin.

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Take the elevator back up to heal and save, then back down to the 1F and hoof it to the Halls of Valhalla.
Garu: "Aha! You found it! Thank you! Just like I promised, I'll let you pass into Bien. Even if Doru won't let you by, you're always free to use this gate."

And with that, Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow enter the next dungeon.

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Dungeon 2: The Floating City of Bien

Hrm. This is... aggressively grey, isn't it? I kind of miss the red carpet from the Daedalus. It always struck me as really iconic, but maybe that's because when I first tried playing this game I never got very far.

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First encounter: Three Kaijuu Tarantulas. This is one of the worst encounter to run into. They're fast and they hit hard (~14 HP to Cerberus, ~23 HP to Nekomata), and have the Poison Stinger extra ability (Surprise, it deals damage and can inflict poison!). Spamming Agirama helps immensely, but Rachel only has so many MP. They do give tons of experience, cash and MAG though.

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The second encounter was with another group of Tarantulas, and luckily they gave enough experience to bump Anderson and Rachel up yet another level.

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In the southeast corner of the 1F there a treasure chest with a Bead in it. In other news, Nekomatas appear as random encounters up here, in case you need one.

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Also: Jirae Dwarves. Anderson recruits one. Dwarves don't have much going for them. Ok-ish stats and decent strength, but no spells or extra abilities. They are top-tier Jirae fusion fodder, but there's no reason to carry one around that long.

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Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes? Because this level is Medusa-themed, ergo snakes

Kaijuu Apep exists to be annoying. They spawn in groups of three at minimum and seven at maximum, and have the Paralysis extra ability. They're weaker than everything else we've seen in Bien so far, but they can be a huge drain on resources, especially if they proc paralysis.

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Little Boy: "There's a weird old man northeast of here. I think he said something about fighting Medusa, but I don't care about that kinda stuff. Huh? You wanna meet him? You'll have to go up to the second floor to get there."

There isn't much to do on the 1F. We only have access to about half of it, and there are only three points of interest: The Bead chest, this kid and the stairs up to the second floor. At least the kid pointed us in the direction of the next waypoint.

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Although the second floor is larger than the rest, the stairs from the 1F only lead to a tiny section that contains (A)writing on the wall and (B)stairs up to the 3F.

Writing on the wall: "The Statue of Tabatha is somewhere on the second floor."

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Up to the third floor! The third floor has tons of empty, open space, as well as our first look at Bien's Elevator. Surprise: We won't be able to use it until we beat Medusa.

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This writing on the wall is located in the little nook on the opposite side of the stairs we just came up: "Lucifer's magic is coursing through the entire Labyrinth. Sometimes the truth can't be seen with just your eyes."

Boy that's not ominous or anything. Don't worry, what this is hinting at isn't nearly as annoying as it sounds.

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New enemies: Foul Mega Planaria. There's nothing to say about them. They're like, level 5 enemies, they spawn in groups of 3-7 and they're really, really, really weak to fire. You see that 459? That's how many HP one lost from Rachel's Agirama spell.

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Yomotsu Shikomes start showing up as random encounters in Bien, in case you want one. You don't want one at this point in the game. In fact, I'm pretty sure by this point I had deleted the one that was in the party.

Spirit Ghoul can show up in groups of 2-6. They're pretty easy to kill.

Anyway, in spite of all the open space up here, the 3F is fairly linear. In fact, you always have to pass through this particular doorway...

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"There's something here!"
I bet it's a miniboss!!!

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It is! Meet Foul Medusa's Shadow, our second miniboss of the update. Her attacks hurt, she absolutely rips Nekomata and Cerberus apart. Potentially worse: She has the Paralysis and Petrification extra abilities, so things can get out of hand real quick.

Really, the difficulty of this fight depends on how many MP Rachel has. If she can just spam Agirama, it'll go pretty smoothly. If you have to chip away at Medusa's Shadow with physical attacks, then, well, that's gonna be rougher on you.

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Medusa's Shadow leaves behind enough experience that Anderson and Rachel level up again. Rachel learns Petradi (10 MP, cures petrification). That's a... pretty steep MP cost. Petra-Nons cost, what, 1000 DBucks? I guess the moral of the story is "Don't get petrified."

...that might be a problem since we're righting a Mythology whose entire Thing is "petrification" ...

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There are two sets of stairs (and more writing on the wall that just repeats that the Statue of Tabatha is down on the 2F): One leading up to the 4F and one back down to the 2F. Tyrant Medusa is waiting on the 4F, and I'm pretty sure there's nothing stopping Anderson and Rachel from walking up those steps and fighting her. Well, there's nothing stopping Anderson and Rachel from walking up those steps and trying to fight her but dying horribly in the process.

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So let's head downstairs to the 2F proper. Femme Harpy spawns as a random encounter. They apparently always spawn in groups of three, but they aren't too hard to take down.

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There's a Hypnotist just a little ways north (just go north the first chance you get) from the stairs, and since Rachel's about tapped out of MP and not close enough to a new level to justify sticking it out, the party warps back to Micon for some healing and saving. I think I also wanted to check and see if I could fuse anything interesting, but i couldn't, so.

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Back in Bien!
Cool story: Just like that Harpy back in the Daedalus, Medusa's Shadow respawns when you come back. Yaaaaay. Liberal application of Agirama is recommended.

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Spirit Skeleton. They're basically the exact same as Ghouls except they hit a little bit harder and have less HP.

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In the very southwestern-most room on the 2F is a chest that contains some DBucks. For whatever reason, there was a ton of Nekomata encounters down in the southern hallway of this floor. Their constant Marin Karin spamming got a little bit old. It's not particularly dangerous, it just drags the battles out

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There's another Medusa's Shadow lurking four tiles north of that treasure chest, down a deadend hallway. Yep, there are multiple Medusa's Shadows hanging around Bien. The one on 3F is the only one you have to fight, the rest are tucked away like this.

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Bien's Control Room is located at the very center of the 2F. There's nothing to do here right now because the Captain has been turned to stone.

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Anderson recruits Jirae Fungus for the heck of it. Fungus has decent agility, but literally nothing else worth commenting on. I guess it looks kinda neat?

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Anyway. We actually only have access to the southwestern and northeastern quadrants of the 2F. The northwestern and southeastern quadrants are locked up tight, and we'll need to get some keys if we want to explore them. We'll pick up next time with exploring the northeastern section and hopefully finish off the rest of Bien.
 
Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei: Heh, Snake Tits.

I kinda feel bad for double posting, but it's been a week so...

We're exploring the northeast section of the 2F, remember?

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Anderson encounters and recruits a Yoma Siren. They have the Paralysis extra ability, Dorminar and Tetraja (6 MP, protects the whole party from Energy Drain). I, um, don't really remember how often Energy Drain comes up, but apparently it will only affects Anderson and Rachel and it lowers their Constitution by 1. Just casually looking through the enemy tables, it doesn't look like you'd ever have Siren in the party when fighting enemies that can actually Energy Drain you, so.

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Also here: Fairy Elf. Elves are decent spell casters and have access to Bufurama (6 MP, medium ice damage, can hit up to three times, has a chance to inflict Freeze), Marin Karin and Recarm. Marin Karin is worthless, but Bufurama and Recarm and definitely worth having.

I actually wanted to recruit one, but Anderson's iPhone was full so the Elves had to die. On the bright side, they provided enough experience to bump Anderson and Rachel up a level.

After the fight, Anderson summoned Nekomata to the party so she could patch up the demons with her Di spell, then he deleted her.

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There's not much up in this quadrant, just empty hallways and a staircase leading down to the 1F... which is good, because the kid from the beginning of the dungeon told Anderson about a weird old dude on the northern part of the 1F.

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Hey look it's Doru. The gate he was guarding back in Valhalla connects to the northern part of Bien's 1F. In other words, if he wasn't a jerkface then we could have skipped, like, everything we've done in Bien so far. He won't let us pass back into Valhalla, either.

Incidentally, there's a douchebag move here: In the very center of the floor, there's a oneway door leading back down to the southern half of the floor.

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The old man the kid spoke of is hanging out in a room on the eastern wall. He asks:
"Excuse me, but are you hunting Medusa? I thought so. Take this. It's a key that'll help you seal her power."
He gives Anderson a Small Key.

Ok. So. Here we are at Megami Tensei 1's major gimmick, as it were: The Minotaur was the only boss we get to fight on it's own terms. All of the others require us to find some sort of key item to weaken them first. It's a... slightly more elegant than just requiring the player to find a key to unlock the boss door, or whatever. It also implies that the Tyrants themselves are on a whole 'nother level than our party, which I like.

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The room directly south of the old man contains another gate keeper, but he says nothing and won't let Anderson pass.

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And to the west of him is the elevator, and in the room north of the elevator are stairs leading down to B1.

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B1 is small. Ok, it's not that small. What we currently have access to is small.

Jirae Viy (? I don't know what this is, mythologically speaking. Help a brother out) is... less than stellar. I guess if you meet one early in Bien it might be worth recruiting (but probably not), but we're almost finished. They can cast Zanma and Dorminar, but they lack the MP that our other options have, and, like, they're level 11, and I think at this point Anderson and Rachel are pushing 20.

There's really no reason to go down to B1 (or should I say... B1en???) at this point in the game. We'll be back much later though (surprise, there will be backtracking!)

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What we're supposed to do is go back up to the 2F and use the Small Key on the door to the northwest section.

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And it leads to this large, open room. Damage tiles line the walls, and from what I tested they were hitting for about 9 HP per step, but I think the damage is supposed to be proportional? Please see the pictured map for the safe route to the next room.

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And in that room lies the Statue of Tabatha. Tabatha was apparently a tiny little centaur...thing...
Anderson and Rachel take the Statue of Tabatha.

Using the nearby Hypnotist (there's one on the 2F, remember, right near the door the small key unlocks), they return to Micon for a little R & R.

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On the way back to Valhalla, they stop by this little fellar. Remember, waaaay back when they were mapping the Daedalus, that one lady told them to stop and speak with this dude if we ever picked up the Statue of Tabatha?

He says: "That's the Statue of Tabatha! As long as you have that with you, you can fight Medusa without being turned to stone!"

Ok, sure. I don't how that works when the statue is literally a creature that was petrified by Medusa, but whatever.

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Back up in Bien, Anderson starts to map the 4F. He recruits a Fairy Troll. Trolls are decently strong and can cast Paraladi, but not really something you'd go out of your way to recruit.

The 4F, or what Anderson can access right now, is about the size of what we can access of B1. Medusa's room is in the northeast corner, in the room right next to the stairs from the 3F, but we'll get there in a second.

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"You can sense something..."

Down in the southwestern corner there's this empty room. But it's not just any old empty room, it's an empty room with a message. We can't do anything with it right now, just make a mental note and move on.

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There's another Medusa's Shadow lurking in the southeastern corner. You don't have to fight it if you don't want to.

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"No Entry!"
You'll have to try harder than that Medusa, although it was mighty polite of her to put a warning sign outside the boss room.

...

Anderson and Rachel aren't quite ready to take her on. They have the Statue of Tabatha, sure, but they're also gonna need some stronger allies. It's time to head down to the Halls of Valhalla.

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On the way down they bump into Night Caim. Caim is the first Night demon we've met. In this game they're evil-aligned. Caims can spawn in up to four person parties, are more spell-caster than fighter and can cast Zio and Shibabu (2 MP, attempts to inflict Bind, can hit twice). Caim is not a problem.

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Down in B1 of the Halls of Valhalla...

Funny story: There's technically nothing stopping us from tackling the Halls of Valhalla before fighting the Minotaur or Medusa (technically, the only boss you have to fight is the final one). We wouldn't be able to beat the Tyrant, but I'm pretty sure we could even reach the fourth dungeon if we were so inclined. It'd be difficult, and annoying, but it could be done.

Anyway, B1 is home to all sorts of new enemies for Anderson and Rachel to fight and befriend. (To make room in his iPhone, Anderson deletes Jirae Fungus. Sorry dawg, you kinda sucked)

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First up: Recruiting Yoma Werecat. She's fast and has some spells we're interested in: Zanma, Marin Karin (still crap) and Tarukaja (4 MP, raises party's attack power, can be stacked). Tarukaja is the only buff spell in DDS, and I'm pretty sure Werecat is the lowest level ally that has access to it. Surely it'll come in handy against Medusa.

As a side note: In the NES version, the Yoma clan was named Jujin: Beastman or Demihuman. The name was changed for the remake, and hopefully that explains why the demons seem so... out of place, compared to what you usually see in the Yoma clan.

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Andy buys a Steel Shield upstairs and uses the Hypnotist because...

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It's time to do some fusin'! Yoma Siren x Yoma Werecat = Holy Lagoon. Lagoon is essentially Treant + 1: It can cast Zanma, Hanma and Patra and on top of that it has nearly 100 more HP and hits over twice as hard. Treant no longer has a place on my roster.

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There are two more demons we need for fusin' times, but we'll have to venture back into the Daedalus to find them. First, down to the 4F, where Anderson and Rachel level up while hunting their mark..

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Which they finally find: Fairy Boggle.

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Then it's up to the 7F to recruit Jirae Gnome from the Monster Closet.

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Fuse them together and we get Elemental Kutam (I do not know the mythology for this thing). Kutam isn't particularly great, but we do need another Mediama caster, and Zan is just an extra cherry on top. Apparently he's weak to ice?

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Then back to Valhalla B1 to recruit another Werecat. I told you we wanted Tarukaja. With the team fully assembled, Anderson and Rachel use the Hypnotist to return back to Micon to save, heal and rally themselves for the next boss.

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On the walk back across Daedalus 1F, they level up yet again and Rachel learns a new spell: Trastart (6 MP, warps you back to the last save point you used). This will be moderately useful, I guess, in case Anderson dies and Rachel lacks a way to revive him.

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Moving right along...
This is how the party is set up outside Medusa's room: Anderson, Lagoon, Tapir, Kutam, Werecat, Rachel. Rachel is technically sturdier than Werecat, but she's also much more important and thus needs to stay in the very, very back.

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Heh, snake tits.

Medusa: "The people of Bien refused to submit to me, and now they have been turned to stone. Such is the fate of any who oppose my will!"

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You hold the The Statue of Tabatha above your head! A holy light surrounds the party! Medusa's Petrifying curse is sealed!

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Tyrant Medusa stands before you!
Let's get it on!

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So, let's rap about Medusa. She reflects fire, but I've already said that fire doesn't work on any of the Tyrants. She can cast Tentarafoo (6 MP, deals medium damage and attempts to inflict Panic, can hit up to eight times) and Agirama. She has the extra ability Glare, but I think that's the Petrification ability that gets sealed by the Statue of Tabatha. Her physical attacks can hit up to three times and she has nearly 300 HP.

Her physical attacks are where the danger lies. Tapir is taking nearly 40 HP of damage per attack, while Anderson is only taking around 15. Agirama is nothing (~15 HP at most), and I don't think I saw her cast Tentarafoo at all.

I had Lagoon spamming Hanma and Zanma, but after he ran out of MP I realized that his physical attacks were much more useful. Well, not much more. Marginally more useful. Tapir mixed it up between casting Mediama and using physical attacks. Kutam was pretty busy casting Mediama, and Werecat spammed Tarukaja.

...Tarukaja did not provide an appreciable difference is the amount of damage the party did. Like the Minotaur fight, this ended up mostly being hammered by the boss while we chipped away at their HP, 3~5 HP at a time.

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Rachel did start popping Beads towards the end of the fight after all the demons were tapped out of MP. Really this battle is just a war of attrition. Either you've got enough healing to survive or you don't.

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Medusa only provides enough experience to raise Anderson and Rachel up a single level. Well, whatever. Now that Medusa's dead, her curse should be lifted. Maybe now that Tabatha is free, it will join our party?

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...or the Statue of Tabatha could shatter in our hands. Uh. Sorry dude.

Medusa drops the Bull Key, and if you'll recall there's another section of Bien that's behind locked doors...

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Well. This is very... brown. Bien itself was turned to stone by Medusa, and now like everything that wasn't Tabatha it has returned to its former glory. Its brown former glory. I dunno. The grey kinda gave it a classical vibe while this is more... it kinda reminds me of the Human World stages from the first Disgaea.

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The elevator works now, so Anderson and Rachel can hitch a ride down to the 2F. The locked doors in the southeast are labeled "Bien Midway." Anderson uses the Bull Key to unlock the doors and...

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It's a town! A real town with all the facilities!

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Elder: "Thank you, young ones. I am the Elder of Bien. Our town has finally been returned to its former glory, thanks to you! Please accept this as a token of our gratitude."
(He gives Anderson a Ticket and 5072 DBucks. The amount of money you receive is random, I think? We'll see exactly what that Ticket does next update)

Then he becomes a Save Point. Finally, we don't have to go all the way back to Micon to save our game.

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The Bien Midway has casino games. Right across the hall from the Save Point are the Slots. You pay 100 DBucks per try. You stop a reel by pressing the corresponding button on your controller (Y, B, and A). If the all three reels stop on matching icons, you win a prize. I mean, y'all know how slot machines work.

Different icons give you different prizes. The worst are the blue orbs (pictured), which reward you with 200 DBucks. The best are the pentagrams, which'll net you 10,000 DBucks. Three sixes will get you 5,000 DBucks and a Bead.

...the slots kind of suck.

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Luckily right next door is a Big & Small parlor. Rules are simple: You guess whether or not the next number will be Big (Red numbers 5-9) or Small (Blue numbers 0-4). The numbers displayed at the top are the most recent numbers drawn, but they don't seem to matter in the slightest, probability-wise, because you can get the same number several times in a row.

If you guess correctly, your 100 DBuck wager is doubled, and you can play another round, double or nothing, until you hit the cap of 25,600 DBucks. Along the way, you'll receive various spell-casting items, a Magic Source and finally a Segaki Elixir (repels low-level enemies) along with your cash prizes.

The Magic Source is the only thing you can actually buy, and even then it costs a ton of money, so all of these prizes are welcome.

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Weapon and Armor Shops with new merchandise:
  • Breastplate
  • Fiber Suit (4600 DBucks, 8 Def, unisex)
  • Ceramic Shield (1000 DBucks, 4 Def, Male only)
  • Warding Headpiece (1000 DBucls. 6 Def, Female only)

  • Platinum Dagger
  • Morningstar (1400 DBucks, 10 Attack, hits 2-3 times, Male only)
  • Kotetsu (2600 DBucks, 18 Attack, hits once, Male only)
  • Water Mirror Blade (3000 DBucks, 23 Attack, hits once, Female only)

Thanks to their Big & Small winnings, they can afford everything they want: Fiber Suits for both, a Ceramic Shield and Morning Star for Anderson, and a Water Mirror Blade and Warding Headpiece for Rachel.

There's a Junk Shop here, so with their leftover cash they pick up four Poison-Nons, four Parala-Nons and six Magic Sources. Magic Sources are probably the most important, because boss fights really do come down to whether or not you have enough MP to outlast the enemy.

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And finally, there's this. The Poison Bar.

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Anderson is greeted by a waitress and given three options: Talk to the other patrons, order a drink, or leave. Ordering a drink doesn't do anything, but the patrons have some important things to say.

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Bald Man: "You're the ones that killed Medusa? You know, I heard that the Great Magus Lor set out to defeat the Tyrant Loki, but he lost."

Young Woman: "Garu used to be one of Lor's friends. Maybe he can help you?"

Alrighty, with that, we've activated the next plot flag and sort of defined our next goal: We need to chat with Garu the Gatekeeper to see if he has any hot tips for defeating Tyrant Loki.
 

Heropon

Member
I've finally beaten Persona 3 Portable. It was a pretty solid game and now I want more, but I think P4 is much more difficult to get right now... :(
I maxed 15 social links. I suppose that was decent for the first time. The graphic adventure design was pretty interesting and integrated with the "battle" part of the game.
With this game out of my backlog, I can continue playing FFX-2, I suppose.
 
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