Shape of Many Sides

The salt flats of Sleyheim are our destination. You know what it is, so I won’t try to spell it.

It’s kinda bad. It’s one of the most labyrinthine dungeons I’ve ever been in, and you will get lost. You walk across see through floors, which open up more see through floors, leading to more see through floors. You can tell where you have and have not been by the healing crystals scattered near junctions, but when you’ve gone several layers deep, they’re not gonna help ya. The only random encounters I had were with mobs that can cause instadeath, so consider using Kanon instead of Brad. They have very low HP, so your goal should be to hit first, not hard.

Eventually, we do reach the goal. And what’s there is a boss named Larva. This dude tries to kill you with status effects instead of damage. They’re random and not too accurate, so don’t worry that much. Do be ready to aid Lillia, who, in turn, should cast the game’s Esuna when needed. All in all, a very easy fight.

Larva meant nothing, though, as .0025% isn’t a critical mass of the evil world. The party, somehow, leaves the dungeon as our first real failure. Reconvening at the Chateau, Valeria tries to think of something new. He is unable to at the moment, so he gives everyone time off. That night, he figures it out. If we need a body to trap the world in, then we can find one. If Lord Blazer can be trapped in a body eons ago, and then again in Ashley now, then Irving Valeria knows what to do! He then has a really creepy scene with his sister that, and maybe it’s my dirty mind here, gives me incest vibes. He pushes Altaecia closer and closer to his bed while talking about his body and blood. When the screen goes black, she says that she’s never felt closer to her brother. The gist is, Valeria will use his body as the prison for the encroachment.

The next morning, he tasks ARMS with finding the whereabouts of a horde of demons east of Helmholtz. Landing at the location reveals the Fiery Wreckage. It’s the remains of the Heimdal Gazzo. We need to turn on all the monitors on the ship, which reveals a shocking secret. Valeria was the financial backer of Odessa. This upsets everyone, Brad especially, and we plan to confront our commander over this. As we go to do so, Amy and Kate tells us that both Valerias are gone. They left a note talking about sacrifice and heroes and the plan they came up with before Alabamaing out. Ya know, the same shtick our characters have been fighting against the whole game. With no one else to lead, Ashley makes the first move. He tells everyone to take the day off and find what they’re fighting for. It’s just like the pre final dungeon bit in FFVII.

Brad spends his time in T’Bok with Billy, Millie, and Rassyu. He says how everyone in ARMS doesn’t need a hero because "hero" is just a word synonymous with courage, which everyone has.

Lillia spends her time feuding with Terry, not Teddy. He’s going to take the hardest mage test the school offers and convinces Lillia to take it, as well. She questions why he frustrates her, but he doesn’t give a good answer. In the end, she begins to walk in her sister’s footsteps again, but of her own accord this time. ...I hope.

Tim is spending his day with Colette. They awkwardly confess their love and desire to fight for one another.

Kanon is standing on the water tower in Damzen, talking to herself about blood, body, heroes, etc.

Marivel is talking to Tony, who has a crush on her, it seems. He wants to be a vampire to be her friend, seeing as Marivel is the last Crimson Noble. She tells him no but suggests asking again when he’s pudgy and middle aged.

Ashley gets laid. I’d go into details, but that’s all either of us would take from this scene. He and Marina love each other, and it’s very nice.

Back together, we now head to the Spiral Tower, the penultimate dungeon of Wild Arms 2. I was hoping it would be the last since I like to make the final dungeon the final entry, but what can ya do? We’ll see how I end this blog...

...tomorrow!

I did several side quests tonight, too, that I suddenly wish I had delayed. You can get the final Guardians now, which I did. The Good Luck Zone was a quick walk through once you Pickpocket the key from a mob. You get the last three by talking to certain people.

Brad can talk to Billy, and they’ll talk about their past and courage.
Tim can talk to Colette about love.
Ashley can talk about p Marina again about hope. I feel like these scenes could have happened before.
There was also the Promised Catacombs, a dungeon for Marivel. Inside is her second tool and some backstory. I tried my hand at three other optional bosses, but that ended poorly. The ghost of Vinsfeld messed me up, Liz and Ard’s dungeon wreaked me, and I can’t get into the Pirate's Warren yet. I don’t know how much more optional stuff I’ll be doing, but the space lizards get to live.