War of the Netherworld, Part 1

An explosion is seen somewhere, and Laharl and crew all seem to take notice. They ponder about what it could have been after they're done being surprised that a natural disaster happened nearby in the first place. A Prinny tells them billions of stuff has appeared back in the Stellar Graveyard. Gordon assumes it's the EDF, finally here to save him, but Jennifer seems less thrilled than him. Regardless, everyone heads to Stellar Graveyard II.

Stage One proves that Gordon is half correct. Humans are definitely in the Netherworld, but they're acting strange. They're breathing heavily and not responding to the hero, Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth! Gordon remains resolute they're here to save them, but Jennifer tells him he's wrong. Gordon, saying Jennifer isn't fit to be a hero because she lacks faith, fires her. One of the nearby astronauts reveals that they've come to kill Gordon. The fight is against a few humans with guns. As long as you don't let them shoot you in the back, you should be fine. Avoid the lower, green areas as they have an Ally Damage 20% Effect on them. After the battle, a message from General Carter reveals the whole story. Gordon was sent to open a gateway to the Netherworld. Rather than use Gordon as a forward deploy troop, Carter has decided to kill the group. Laharl and Etna think about recruiting Carter while Flonne rebukes them. Jenn is mopey for several reasons. Gordon tries to dismiss the dismal, but she's dealing with other stuff.
Stage Two happens after we meet the new Defender of Earth, Kurtis! He's the rival of Gordon, and Flonne seems pretty stocked to meet such a character. After Kurtis is embarrassed that Gordon would become a slave to the Overlord, he leaves, and we fight more Americans. Most of the map has a Silence Effect, which is mostly bad for us. The green squares have the Effect Ally Damage 100%, so avoid them! Have a big group do battle with the mobs near the spawn point while a smaller group takes out the Silence Crystal. I'd rather the ability to heal and do AoE damage. Gun users don't seem to use Special Attacks, anyway, which is why I didn't just muster through.
Stage Three has Vulcanus talking to himself in the background. He reveals he's using the humans to kill both Flonne and Laharl. Flonne senses someone evil nearby. Meanwhile, we take on more Americans in a strange battle. Most of the zone, the elevated points, have the Invincible Effect. It also has the Ally Damage 20%, so guess what takes priority? The lower bits have an Enemy Boost +50%. Stay on the red squares, even though you'll be taking damage. A healer can heal off that, and it's going to be FAR less damage than what the mobs can do. Have Laharl and a Thief, for throwing purposes, head to the end of the map. Toss the Enemy Boost onto the red squares. We're still invincible, so that boost is a moot point. Then throw the Ally Damage onto the green and never go into the frozen river. We're still Invincible, so toss your opponents into the green bits (why I put that Geo Crystal onto the red). We can hurt them, but they can't harm us. It'll take a while, but it's perfectly safe! If you make the mistake of making the entire field red, giving the whole map the invincible state, throw a mob on the Geo Crystal to destroy it, even while Invincible.
Stage Four has Flonne wondering about Jennifer's mental state. Jenn reveals she's had a sinking suspicion that Earth was going to try to off them. Laharl notices Kurtis is nearby, and the two congratulate each other for honor reasons, I guess. The two decide to fight!

This sucks again! I couldn't manage to win, but I'm not giving up. But I am taking a break. There're too many Americans in Hell, and I hate it. Not to mention, Kurtis' basis attack puts people to sleep, and curing that is a pain. I can see a victory, so it's not a stupid as last night, but I need to do some stuff first!

And I did it! I Transmigrated Drew and Tryton into their tier four class and from incompetent to skilled. This translates into a massive stat boost, and it's one of the unique mechanics that makes Disgaea shine. I had forgotten how significant the increase was. I don't fully understand it, but I know my numbers are bigger, even at lower levels, so it's a great thing. I should (but probably won't) make more use of it later to Laharl and Etna. But on with the final battle!

I spent two turns letting my enemies come to me. A good three or four characters can take out the first one to step up. From there, I tried to protect my spawn point with Laharl and Thursday, keeping the narrow flanks closed. Laharl takes a lot of damage here, so keep him alive at all cost. If they give you a free turn, heal off the status effects they inflict on your characters. Kurtis does sleep a lot, while the gunners can confuse or paralyze. The hour or so of grinding I did last night allowed me to keep all ten of my characters alive for the first time since, probably, the first few levels.

When the battle is over, Laharl asks Kurtis why he isn't going all out. Kurt says he's trying to protect the VIP. Flonne thinks he fell in love with her, and Etna wonders how she came to that conclusion. It's eventually revealed that the VIP is Jennifer, and she's General Carter's adopted daughter. However, he only raised her so he could use her. The plot is kinda going off the rails now, and it doesn't make sense. Kurtis takes Jennifer to the battleship Gargantuan, home of the two million strong armada about to attack the Netherworld, and we lose one of our important characters.

To Be Continued...

There is no next episode skit tonight.

Etna's Diary is about the irony of her promise o protect the Prince only for it to quickly turn into killing the Prince.

Hero's Will, Overlord's Way

Things went really bad tonight, and I don't know what's going to happen.
 
But that's the future! Right now, we see Gordon lamenting his predicament and how it's "not good." He realizes that the Earth Defense Force will come to save him soon once they notice he didn't check in with them. Jennifer gets the feeling that isn't likely. We then cut to General Carter discussing more of his plans with Gordon snd the Earth's attack on the Netherworld. We don't gain much information, but Vulcanus teleports in, and the cogs in my brain begin to turn. Vulcanus is pulling strings to make the EDF attack Hell.

When we cut back to said Hell where Flonne and Etna tell Laharl he has a challenge from The Defender of Earth. Gordan doesn't remember writing such a letter, so no one is sure what's going on. The party heads off to the Forest of the Dead!

Stage One has the humans wondering who this Defender is. It can only mean that Kurtis, a phony defender who's still really good at the job description. The battle is a cinch. There is a line of mages in front of a line of mandrakes. Large AoE effects like magic, Winged Slayer, Cosmic Arrow, and that Thursday move do wonders. Make use of the additional EXP Geo squares if you can. I plan to make use of the bonus EXP in future grind sessions.
Stage Two is where we meet the challenger. A translucent human named Don Joaquin, the first Defender of the Earth, appears. The Earth sent him here ages ago, so everyone assumes his will to fulfill his duty is the only thing keeping his spirit alive. Gordon and Flonne are enthralled with this, and the angel suggests we throw the fight to give him rest. Don attacks Gordon after wondering why one of his "descendants" would team with the Overlord. Thursday intercepts the swordsman and takes heavy damage. The fight is straightforward and against several mobs. The knight is probably the scariest but won't get into the fray until you've taken out most of the early enemies.
Stage Three is where we learn robots have hearts. The damage Thursday took is taking its toll. It's causing his core to overheat and may result in total memory loss. Gordon tells him he's sitting on the sidelines, but Thursday refuses. He'd rather lose his memory than be useless and see his comrades get hurt. This encourages Gordon and Flonne, the latter of who allows Thursday to keep fighting. The fight itself isn't again Don, but several Imps. They don't move off their ultra buffed Geo Squares, though. Guide Laharl through the maze of Mega Wind spam, and use Defend just before you end your turn. Defend works against magic, so I need to use it more often. Destroy the No Lifting Geo Crystal, and any other if you want to, then begin the attack in force. Throw an imp off its square and into your awaiting mob. I managed to kill one a turn, so it's a long, tedious slough, but I did manage to get the bonus gauge pretty high. And, with the exception of Etna, who I used to help Laharl along, I barely took any damage.
The Final Stage sucks. We get right into a battlefield filled with an Enemy Boost x6 effect across two Geo Crystals on the far side of the map. You can't lure anyone into the "safe"l zone where there is no Geo Effect. Nor can you can't leave that space either without being hit by Mega Wind Spam, one of which will do 1000 damage to Laharl. This is absolute garbage! Even throwing a few characters to the Geo Crystals doesn't help that much. You can take out one of them, but the remaining one means enemies are still three times stronger than they should be. And there are so many mobs! Fifteen, not including the boss, and I have no idea what he does! Weaker characters are one shotted, and stronger teammates are ganged up on. I'm not having fun anymore, and I hate this game. All the guides I found say to be around level 50, which is twenty levels higher than most of my team, and I'm not grinding that far just for one fight. This sucks! I don't want to play...

But I returned.

Double Braveheart Laharl and use a thief and a gunner to throw him towards the GeoCrystals. I got lucky, and one Ovelords Wraith took care of one Crystal and left the other at thirteen HP. Use another people stack of four or five and kill the other if need be. Even if you don't, it may be worth doing. Otherwise, Laharl will take the full force of everyone in range. He'll be in a corner, so there's only so much the scarecrows can do but still. Regroup/fight your way back together on the bridge. Try not to stop too close to the scarecrows near the imps, but I did manage to take them out with magic from afar. Bring a few SP healing items for your healer since you're gonna need her to survive the imp onslaught. The zombies aren't dangerous, and Don is, oddly enough, not strong at all.

If you manage to win, Flonne gets mad that we didn't lose. Trust me, kiddo, we did. Just as Flonne is about to call Laharl "The worst...", Don says that it doesn't matter. He challenged us because that's what heroes do. His spirit lived on long after he died just for the fight itself. Thursday begins to shut down as the damage he's suffered reached critical mass. As an apology for everything, Don does some hero mumbo-jumbo to restore the robot, and we see his soul disappear. Everyone begins to grill Flonne on what word would have come after "The Worst," and most think it's something dirty. Etna calls her a wicked angel, and Thursday calculates the likelihood of what word is. Just before he does, Flonne hits him, and he begins to break down again.

The next chapter skit isn't so much a next chapter thing, but Jennifer and Etna have started a home shopping channel. They're selling Thursday for the low, low price of 29999 HL. It also comes with two free knives!

Etna's diary reveals what the promise was: to protect the Prince.

Angels, Demons, and Humans

Captain Gordon, the Defender of Earth, is the vassal of the demon Overlord, Laharl. You're a smart cookie, so I'm sure you can figure out how this is going. The Prince is commanding Gordon with reckless abandon, making him do laundry and other menial tasks. Gordon is, as you'd expect, upset and wants to apologize to the other 36 Defenders. He knows that heroes don't break promises, so there's nothing he can do. However, he suddenly thinks up an escape plan. Laharl sees him filled with hope and questions him. Suddenly, Jennifer comes in and calls the Prince "Harlie" because it's cute. He doesn't like it, but she tells the guys that the girls are going for a picnic. It's Sunday, a day off, so why not. Even Thursday joins in.

Etna and Flonne discuss the plans. It's a picnic today and a shopping trip tomorrow. Clearly, only Gordon is the vassal here. Laharl decides to join in because of thinly veiled sexism, and Gordon manages to talk his way in. He plans to use this distraction as a way to escape. It's off to the Sea of Gehenna!

Stage One begins after a scene in a strange place. It's not the Netherworld, Celestia, or Laharl's Palace, but somewhere on the futuristic, megacity Earth! General Carter, Gordon's former boss, is talking to a man with sharp green hair named Kurtis, who seems to be Gordon's rival. They discuss the plan that sent Gordon to Hell, which is obviously a massive ruse. There's still something fishy going on, even in all this sea of smelly...uh...fish. Meanwhile, Gordon is romping through the Netherworld going, "la la la," and laughing while feigning pleasure. Laharl questions whether or not he's an idiot, but Flonne defends him because she's into justice or something. Jennifer, kinda, agrees with her. Etna isn't moved. We then cut to Celestia, where Lamington and the voice discuss something secretive. The battle is one of the easiest in the game. Most of the field is overlayed with an Invincible Geo Crystal. The only place without it is the middle section. Try to get the guardians there by either using weak characters as bait or a monk's special attacks. It's a bit tedious, but I didn't take any damage here!
Stage Two has the characters discussing their age. Laharl is the youngest at 1300 years old, followed by Etna at 1400. Flonne, though, is a surprising 1500 years old. "Mental Age" is a strange thing, it seems. Jennifer is amazed because, as Laharl put it, humans only judge by appearance, but Jennifer says a sexy joke. From out of nowhere, Mid-boss shows up! He makes off with the picnic basket because he's a widower with no one to make him lunch. Laharl and Etna are annoyed, Flonne feels pity, and Gordon goes into Defender of Earth mode until Mid-boss calls him out. The fight has us up against a horde of Pucks and a few Dragons. I tried to use the terrain to my advantage, but the Demon's Breath made it a moot point. Fortunately, my strong characters can overpower them, and Laharl seems immune to sleep. if you're lucky, the mobs will take each other out!
Stage Three is just a battle. I went around the map and defeated the four, two at a time, Pucks. There's a Cyclops in the very middle, but he won't interact with us until we're close. You can either destroy the six Geo Crystals affecting his spot or use a monk's Triple Strike to move him and use the effects for yourself.
Stage Four happens after the demons want to give up. Everyone else wants to keep giving chase because of all the effort they put into making it (and escape). Jennifer suggests having Thursday use his olfactory tracking ability, which works! Before they return to the chase, Gordon reveals that Jennifer is the creator of Thursday. Not only that, but she's a genius! Jennifer created the robot at age five and gained a Ph.D. "in every subject" by age ten. She also solved the case of Jack the Tripper. This time, Laharl is shocked as he just thought of her as a dumb blonde. Jenn tells him that he shouldn't judge based on appearances. The battle is another where I tried to use the terrain to my advantage against the pumpkins. I think it worked, though, as no one died. The pumpkins are a lot easier, and they like to stay lines up for multi targeting moves. There are also several EXP bonus tiles that I didn't make much use of.
The Final Stage is where we finally meet Mid-boss. Captain Gordon and crew make a poetic speech about being a hero fighting against evil, and they all begin to shine. This encourages Flonne, who doesn't want to be upstaged by the humans, to try something similar. Laharl and Etna play along in the most apathetic way, but they both regret it, and Flonne can't match the glow of Gordon. She's disappointed/"pissed" that Mid-boss is laughing at them. Laharl ends the charade, and a fight breaks out.

There's a million Pucks, three dragons, and a Mid-boss. Mid-boss has no new moves and tends to use his single target attack more than not. The enemies took themselves out while I tried to help. Comradery is a very strange move. The dragons are the hardest mobs here, but they don't use their breath attacks if you get close. I split my characters into two groups to, once again, fail to use the terrain to my advantage after I lured them close to the spawn point. It did line up the enemies to kill themselves, though. I kept my healer back until round three when I was on the ropes and managed to keep her alive when I surrounded Mid-boss and pummeled him down.

After Mid-boss loses, again, he hands over the basket. Alas, he already ate everything and flees... Jennifer remains optimistic that they can just make a new lunch again. Gordon tries to use this as an excuse to head back home for some teriyaki pizza until Etna poses a good question. How was Gordon going to leave? And then it hits him that his spaceship was destroyed when they crashed landed here. Laharl reminds him that he'll always be a vassal, and Gordon wonders about his job. Flonne suggests he should just become the Defender of the Netherworld, and, oddly enough, Jennifer encourages him. Laharl gives him a new title, "Slayer of the Netherworld"! Gordon doesn't like it, but Jenn seems cool with it, and Laharl says, "I'll try to tolerate that sexy body of yours." Flonne and Etna discuss how the Overlord could tolerate things, and Etna thinks he's just gotten into sexy bodies. Thursday says, "Alls well that ends well," but Gordon isn't well. Flonne ends it with a soliloquy about the potential friendship of angels, demons, and humans.

Tonight's skit has Etna talking about her role in defending the Netherworld against General Carter. She promotes her advanced weaponry, including Love-Freak Flonne, and her ability to annoy people into submission. Carter is flummoxed!

Etna's diary reveals more about the King. It turns out the Black Petzel story was a cover. An Alternate Overlord tried to invade the Netherworld, so King K stopped him. However, that drained a lot of his health. Etna wished to sacrifice herself to save the King, but he wouldn't let her. Etna made a promise to him but can no longer remember what it was.

Captain Gordon, Defender of the Earth!

In the space around Planet Earth is the world renowned Defender of the Earth, Captain Gordon! Alongside him is his young, supple, scantly clad side-kick, Jennifer. The two of them are having one last cup of tea before they set off to hyperspace. Their destination? The Netherworld! The chief reminds them that they have intel saying the Overlord is planning an attack on Earth. Only Captain Gordan, Defender of the Earth, Jennifer, and their all-purpose super robot, Thursday, can save the world!  

We return to the Netherworld, and a Prinny tells Laharl about a disturbance in the area known as the Stellar Graveyard. The graveyard is where all kinds of random space junk land, but Flonne wonders if the disturbance is an angel here to bring her back. Etna tells her it's probably an alien, a brain sucker, or "a midget with glowing fingertips." Laharl thinks it's a waste of time, but Flonne gets him to go anyway.

Stage One tells us that Captain Gordon, Defender of the Earth, crash landed. He landed elsewhere, but Jenn and Thursday are together. The robot assumes Gordon died, but the law of "always listen to a hot babe" makes Thursday begin scanning for him at Jennifer's orders. Meanwhile, Flonne is saying how beautiful the area is. Etna informs her that she could just choke the hopeless romantic. And by could, Etna begins to choke the poor girl, and Laharl gets her to stop. The battle consists of eight catgirls protecting one dullahan. I had some issues here as the catgirls have learned a new move from last we fought that functions like last night's pumpkins. I'd tell you my strategy, but I only had Laharl and Etna alive at the end. I may need to do some grinding soon.
Stage Two starts off with the two parties meeting. But first, Jennifer assumes all the potential horrible that could happen to her: hentai tentacles, vore, or even worse. Thursday asks her to keep her imagination under control. Laharl and crew enter, and Jennifer assumes he's a human who has been abducted by demons. Laharl is stunned because, again, Jennifer is a scantly clad, supple woman, which is still one of the "cute little boy's" weaknesses. She starts to assume all the horrible stuff the demons may have done to Laharl: amputation, brain sucking, and anal probing, and the Prince wants her to leave. Jennifer assumes it's a puberty thing and tries to tell him about sexual reproduction. Flonne ends up being the voice of reason and explains everything to the human. She's shocked, of course, as her and Thursday's brains figure out that their HQ is a bunch of liars. She spills the beans that they came here to kill the Overlord with Captain Gordon, Defender of the Earth. Laharl then plays the good guy and tries to find him because it is the Overlord's duty to find heroes. He begins to shine like a Super Saiyan! The battle has us surrounded by more catgirls, but there's an optional Geo Field around us that we can, and should, use to prevent them from attacking us. Defeat the ones near to us before purging the geo squares. This was a lot easier than the last battle.
Stage Three has us finding Gordon...sorta. We see he's alright, and he then begins to wonder about his comrades. He leaves to the north just as the team enters from the south. We're fighting a horde of pixies who aren't too terrible. The easiest, albeit longer, strategy is to throw the Silence Geo Crystal onto the field. The mobs are only dangerous if they're using their magic. That makes it hard for us to heal, should the need arise, but our basic attacks should out DPS them easily.
Stage Four has Jennifer talking to "Harlie" about his plans to invade Earth. Laharl has none as he knows the planet is polluted because humans suck. Jenn then has some conflicts of interest toward human nature and references "that man's eyes." I wonder who that is? Flonne wonders about a war between Earth and Hell and becomes worried. Etna is excited. The battle has several red Geo Squares with positive benefits for whoever is on them. Be the one to use them. Watch out for the sword guy in the back.
The Final Stage has us catching up to Captain Gordon, Defender of the Earth. He does his overacting and gets Thursday to aid him in the coming fight. Jennifer stays back because, it turns out, she's smart enough to know we're not the enemy. The two bicker for a moment before Laharl summons lighting and sets the human straight. Before the fight, Laharl and Captain Gordon, Defender of the Earth, make a deal. If the human wins, Laharl won't invade. But Laharl wins, Captain Gordon, Defender of the Earth, and his crew becomes vassals. Gordon insults Flonne, calling her a villainess, and she gets fighty.

The actual battle here is us vs. Captain Gordon, Defender of the Earth, and Thursday. Thursday seems to be the only real threat, so focus him first. It took two rounds, as the guy has 2000 HP. He also an attack that hits everyone around him that can lay waste to a team surrounding him. Gordon's only actions were a few basic shots with his gun. He has more HP, though, so he's no pushover. He might be able to out tank you.

The laugh of Laharl echos as we remain victorious. "Heroes don't always win!!" Flonne then realizes she just harmed a human and begins to panic. Etna is glad she's acting like a demon, but we see a scene in Celestia. Vulcanus is telling Lamington that Flonne killed a human and has a melodramatic tirade. Lamington seems more concerned about why a human would be in the Netherworld, though. As Vulcanus goes off to capture Flonne, the Seraph wonders what a human can do here? Flonne hopes to be able to talk to her boss one day, positive that he'll understand!

The next chapter skit has Etna constantly being interrupted by Captain Gordon, Defender of the Earth, who talks about his resume of being the 37th Defender of Earth. He remains his chipper and parodic self until we hear sounds of violence. Do I look forward to Angels, Demons, and Humans?

Etna's journal is about how she's not mad at Mama K anymore, but she can't figure out the exact reason why.

Reincarnation

Things get deep tonight. It's not all fun and games in the Netherworld.

A bright, moon filled sky lights our screen as children's voices sing a song about a Red Moon. It's hauntingly beautiful. When the song is done, Flonne wakes up to general singing and wonders who could be singing at this hour. She encounters the red Prinny, Big Sis Prinny, who reminds her of the Prinny life cycle. It's also implied that she was the one who gave Flonne the medicine when she lost her pendant. I have no idea how Flonne couldn't pick her out of a lineup as she's red and doesn't say "Dood" until Flonne points it out. Through forced doods, Big Sis Prinny reveals that Prinny atonement is at hand, and the Prinnies who have done their work are free to reincarnate. In the morning, Laharl is upset that his vassals are missing. Etna assumes they left because of the Prince's mistreatment, and he admits that 20 hours workdays with no days off may be harsh. Flonne becomes annoyed because she hates Jeff Bezos, and Laharl wonders if she knows something. Regardless, the team sets out to bring back the missing vessels because, otherwise, it'll make Laharl look bad.

The Lunar Snowfield has the best battle music in the games. I've often mentioned how much I love slow, melancholic melodies, and this piece fits that bill perfectly. Sorrowful Angels is the least battleest battle them ever, but I dig it!

Stage One sets the battle theme of everything being pretty tricky. We're on a fully affected Geo Field, and everything is an Enemy Boost X3 tile. The pumpkins guarding the way have a move similar to Zombie Twister, except they return to their starting location. It's deadlier but easier to prepare for in some ways. Ignore them, though, and definitely ignore the Cyclopes (which is not how you properly pluralize Latin, Google). The first thing we need to do is kill the Geo Crystal. It took me two turns and left my best characters away from the battle, so maybe use slightly weaker guys. The Cyclopes don't bother moving much, so just don't go near them. Hope your leftovers can handle a few rounds until you get your strong party back and Laharl and Etna can do work. Once it's down to the two Cyclopes, work on them one at a time in a long grind. They have high HP and even higher defense (700). Some of your characters may not be able to do damage, but Laharl and Maderas were! Save space for a healer; you're gonna need her! Do this twice, and you win. If you want to, throw the Defense -50% on to the field. It'll probably help you more than it'll hurt you. ..probably.
Stage Two takes place after Laharl yells at Flonne to ask if she knows anything. Flonne gets mad because he's a jerk who doesn't even use her name. She continues by saying he should let the Prinnies continue on and not chase them. Laharl turns into a drama-queen. This battle is the easiest of the night. There are three groups of enemies, and each group has six mobs whose levels range from 1-32. One will be higher level than you, one will be about the same, and the rest will die fast.
Stage Three has a similar mob focus, except with humanoid units. The first group uses swords and axes. The second group are spear welders who guard the Mages and Archers at the back. The first two groups aren't affected by the Geo Crystals, so don't worry about them yet. I had some issues because I'm starting to realize how terrible Flonne is, but I want to keep using her. Several times, a good character would have easily killed the enemy, but she failed every time. It caused a lot of pain for me. Suffer through the first two groups and change the Geo Crystals to have the Attack -50% effect. The remaining mobs are mild speed bumps to victory. Before the battle, Flonne asked Etna why Laharl is like that. Etna reveals he was raised to be a kind and loving boy by his human mother. Being a witch, she came to Hell to study something, and King K fell in love with her. Unfortunately, she died. Laharl became sick with an illness that could only be cured with the death of a loved one. Mama K sacrificed herself to save her son, and the Prince has been resentful towards love and all that jazz ever since. Etna guesses that Flonne reminds Laharl of his mom.
The Final Stage is lit up by Prinnies returning to the Red Moon. Laharl demands that they return to the palace, but Flonne and Big Sis Prinny rebuke him, but in different ways. They both say this is for the Prinnies best, but the Prince remains resolute, and a fight breaks out.

The battle consists of a Grim Reaper lookalike who's guiding the Prinnies, along with several Nightmare variants. Most of their attacks are Ice based, which aren't a big deal. My fragile backline, who gets hit, has good resistances. The guy in charge can use a Light Storm move, which is still deadly, and they all have physical attacks to worry about, too. It's oddly easy, and it's been a long time since I had this many survivors.

After the battle, Death (named Minerva for me) asks why we're interfering. Big Sis says that if Laharl cares about his vassals, he'll let them reincarnate. The combo of her and Flonne manage to buy the Prinnies time and convince Laharl, or at least stun him for a moment, and Flonne asks what BSP did to end up in Hell. She says she killed herself, but only to save the life of her son. The cogs start turning in everyone's head. Flonne wishes she could stay around longer to help her son, but that's just not possible. As her spirit exits her penguin body, we all see her human form, which Etna and Laharl know very well. She says the Prince has met a wonderful person and reincarnates. Laharl's demeanor softens, and says to Flonne, using her name, that they're all heading home.
 
The next chapter skit references Gordon, Jennifer, and their robot friend, Thursday. Etna has an English accent for some reason. If I recall correctly, it's oddly specific! Let's see if Captain Gordon is actually invincible?

Etna's diary goes into detail about her feelings toward Mama K. She hated her. She wanted the King's attention but didn't get it because of the apparent love the King had for his wife. Hate is a strong word, but jealousy is more apropos. There was also another scene where Lamington and the voice talk to each other about what's going on. Since I don't take notes as I go, I've forgotten when and the details. They seemed mildly concerned, though. Was it about the fight between Laharl and Flonne?

Of being an Overlord

Laharl is still celebrating his new promotion and laughing constantly. Apparently, laughing is a big part of being Overlord. Flonne doesn't understand. Since Prince...ahem, King Laharl still hasn't done anything as ruler, Etna decides to give him his first task. She brings in a boy named Aramis. He wants us to find his pets. Laharl calls this beneath him, and Etna becomes stern and a bit scary. She will never recognize Laharl as Overlord unless he helps Aramis. As we make our way to the gate, we learn the Alternate Overlord from last night wasn't actually an Overlord but a regular guy from wherever he's from. ...totally normal. Also, Salamander's Breath has a lot of zombies.

Stage One has a lot of zombies. Etna infers Aramis' pets are zombies. She says that they might as well kill the zombies, seeing as they're already dead. This battlefield is one of the best in the game! The entire map gives a plus to both EXP and gold earned, so we'll be back here quite often to train once I get to some reincarnating. Some of your weaker characters will die, but the handful you care about can wipe up the zombies easily. Good luck, regardless, because the zombies have a painfully annoying move called Zombie Twister that does a lot of damage to everyone in a line. And it moves them, so you can't surround anyone.
Stage Two has more zombies. It also has an Enemy Defense +50% Crystal behind a group of zombies. Throw a few characters, and it's gonna take a few, or toss some zombies to clear a path and focus that down first. Once you do, I hope you have a good zombie killing strategy down because you're gonna need it! Before the fight starts, Etna scolds Laharl for being bored, and then she reveals some of her backstory with the King to Flonne. She was a lowly commoner in the Palace, and everyone would bully her. She had a pet once that the demons killed. As she sat there sobbing, King K helped her bury the pet and took her on a vassal. Etna has been loyal ever since, and that's why she wants Laharl to live up to his father's standards.
Stage Three has even more zombies! It also sucks. Half the field, where we start, has a Damage 20% and a Silence effect. Between the two halves is a green line that has a No Entry and Throwing effect. I sacrificed my ranged units to kill the nearest green crystal and then used Laharl as a martyr to kill the Damage one. Then I went weird. Once that's gone, the zombies will split up and come at us from either side. One side is further away, so make quick work of the ones closest. I killed most of the zombies but left a few alive because I wanted the big bonus. If you put a No Entry on a large area, characters can't move, giving a character time to set up the Geoboard. Eventually, I cleared the Geo Crystal board (by making everyth8ng green) and got easy free stuff. Regardless of how much time you waste, enjoy the affordable (by American standards) healthcare at the Netherworld Hospital.
Stage Four has, you guessed it, even more zombies! The team finally asked Aramis if it was okay to kill his pets to reassemble them later, and he said he's been doing it all along. This reminds Etna of her childhood, and Flonne asks if every demon does that. Laharl confirms that it's just those two. The spawn point is surrounded by two Geo Colors. One color boosts Attack and Defense, while the other debuffs them. Use the good ones to your advantage, and don't let the zombies use them. This is as straightforward as it gets today.
The Final Stage is opps all zombies and has Aramis pointing out his piece de resistance. Standing in the back is the ultimate zombie! It has the legs of the fastest runner in the Netherworld, the Body of Hercules, and the Brain of the Great Sage, Mahogany. And to top it all off, it has a Horse Wiener...
...
...
...
Make use of the green Defense Boosting Titles and hope the unique zombie with over 1000 HP doesn't lay waste to your backline. He will, but try to avoid that. After the battle, Aramis, who has been disrespectful this whole time, refers to Laharl as "Your Highness" and becomes like a typical vassal. Etna begins to see him a the rightful heir, but he's not there yet. Flonne is shocked by how much Laharl, and herself, have changed since she's been in Hell. It reaffirms her hope that demons and angels can be friends. You can try to steal the Horse Weiner (and the rest of the stuff) if you want to.
 
The next chapter skit has Etna hyping up the evil Prinnies. They don't know why until Etna reveals that the Prinnies can merge into a giant robot named Super Pringer X! The Prinnies can do that, obviously, but Etna decides she'll...something. Episode eight, Fairwell Pringer X, is tomorrow, though. And after that, it's reincarnation Pringer Z!

Laharl's Challege

"Dear Sir or Madam..."

After all that's happened, Laharl decides to invite everyone in the Netherworld to compete for Overlord. Anyone who takes the deed of Overlord from his hand before Lahral reaches the Heart of Evil shall be declared ruler. Should Laharl approach it, of course, the title stays on him. This is a trick as there is no deed. He's using this as a way to get rid of all the pretenders.

As we walk through the palace, we notice all the usual vassals are gone. I'm sure it's fine. The gatekeeper says everyone is waiting to ambush us near the Heart of Darkness. I'm sure it's fine.

Stage One is an overcrowded battlefield. Laharl expected a lot of competition, but he didn't expect thirty mobs on a battlefield with only thirty five squares! As for strategy...AoE? Try to kill the Imps first. Those two got more kills than the rest of them combined.
Stage Two is the exact opposite. Sardia, the Demonslayer, is standing alone in the center of the massive field. She says her blade has killed over 2000 demons...or was it under 2000? A swing of her sword can rend the earth asunder...perhaps? When she asks what Laharl thinks, he says he's gonna make her moan in pain, which causes Etna to correct him. This is another one where strategy is odd. She has all the moves a high ranking sword user would have, so you have to get close. But you can't get too close, or else she'll Blade Rush an entire line of teammates. She's much higher level than you, so a lot of your attacks may not do damage. Maderas is a great pick-up here. In hindsight, maybe I should have had my weaker characters to the sides and not behind. I wonder what she would have done then?
Stage Three is the Prinnies trying to be Overlord, dood! Etna gets mad because she thinks this is a coup against her as well, and it's her goal to kill Laharl. The Prince seems unphased by the potential sudden but inevitable mutiny. The Prinnies know they can't win in a head-to-head fight, so they challenge us to a different game! Baseball! I guess Laharl doesn't like baseball. Remember, though, Prinnies can explode, so see if he likes playing catch. You get better rewards if you fight normally, but who has the time these days?
Stage Four, which is no the final today, consists of a giant dragon so tall we can only see its foot. The Alternative Universes Overlord wants to the Supreme Overlord and reign here, as well. To appease our sensibilities, he doppelgangers himself into ten smaller versions of himself. Flonne believes that means he split his love ten ways, so we'll have the advantage. She was wrong. Ten level 75 mobs lay quick waste to us. I assume New Game+ has a way to win this, but for now, it's impossible. During the first mid-scene cutscene, all the vassal from the castle come to our aid. They're fighting for King K, not Laharl, but they make quick work of the ten-split Alternate Overlord. After they win, the party wonders why they won't help more often, while Laharl wishes he had better luck with his vassals.
Stage Five, which still isn't the end, is a tribute to the Power Rangers. Red, Yellow, and Blue come out like a fireball and declare their intentions to be Overlord. Why would good guys want such a title? To make friends, of course! At the very least, they want to make enough colors of the rainbow, but no one likes them. Just as they begin to transform, Etna shoots Yellow and Blue dead...or at least Red thinks they're dead. Etna didn't hit anything vital, but a fight breaks out anyway because of her unethical not-allowing-people-to-transform actions. There's no strategy here since there's a Geo Crystal that causes every tile on the field to randomly warp people around. Hope you get lucky, I guess.
The Final Stage is a re-re-match with Mid-boss. I figured we'd see him here. It's the typical affair, I'm sure you understand. It's also a terrible battle. We're surrounded by ten pucks, who exist solely to inflict status effects on us. I hope you like Sleep and Paralysis. They take your characters out of the battle until they die, which is so much fun! My terrible strategy was to hope Laharl didn't get affected and have him go all out on the small fries. When Mid-boss gets close, don't be afraid to use items. I managed to keep a healer alive, so Lucy shielded him and got a few heals off before butt-face killed her in cold blood. It's a terrible fight, and it's the first major knock against the game!

When the dust settles, Laharl realizes he's officially Overlord and begins to run around chanting Overlord as loud as he can. Flonne thinks it's adorable until Etna says that she just helped Laharl, the son her assassination target, become the ruler of Hell. Apparently, this does make her a traitor. We cut to Celestia, and Volcanus is yelling at Lamington. The Seraph says he'll think about what he'll do the angel-trainee/traitor but doesn't seem to give it much thought. Volcanus, though, says he'll take care of it, and Lamington becomes slightly concerned. Flonne is seen being significantly more concerned, and Etna tries to convince her to get a new job as a demon. Flonne says no, and the screen fades as the former Prince keeps yelling, "Overlord"!

The next chapter skit has Flonne narrating it. She speaks of the evil Etna, and only the power of love can save the world today! Etna walks it, and we hear gunfire in the background. Is Episode seven of Guardian Flonne: Warrior of Love "Drop Dead, Etna" canceled?

Etna's diary is about her memories being returned and other stuff I forgot. They're very not important.

Etna's Secret

We start off tonight with Etna telling Flonne a story the angel doesn't fully understand. Etna said she kicked someone "right there," but the innocent Flonne doesn't know what that means. Eventually, though, the two notice a picture, an embarrassing picture. It's an embarrassing picture of Laharl! The girls (women? They're over 1000 years old, but they don't seem adult to me) burst out laughing as they didn't know he was into that. The Prince comes in and gets immediately humiliated. On the back of the picture is a message telling him to come to Jotenheim to participate in an Overlord challenge. We make off to another frozen landscape!

Stage one has us fighting nine imps. It wouldn't be hard, except every square has three Geo Crystals affecting it. One is defense up 50%, and a second is attack down 50%. I don't think poison is affected by either of those, so don't expect to win a long, drawn out, boring battle. To further ruin that plan, the third Geo Crystal has the effect Ally Damage 20%, so all of our characters will lose 20% of their HP every turn. Destroy the 20% one first by throwing a character or two over to it. Head for the next closest Crystal to it (Attack), and take out any imps you can along the way. Everyone will come at you here, regardless of proximity.

Stage Two happens after a strange ambush. Several hobbits show up and say kind words of encouragement. It turns out, this is one of Laharl's weaknesses. Every time they speak, Laharl shudders in pain. Flonne almost takes him out when she says her favorite word, "Eternal Love," as though she didn't just see the boy cry. Laharl's stats are, apparently, lower for the next set of battles, but I hardly saw anything. If they were, it's unfortunate as this battle was pretty hard. The hobbits around the spawn point aren't hard, but those gunners in the back will kill ya. There's also a ninja who has high evasion, so good luck. Bring range, Prinny Barrage, and Etna. That's all I know. Afterwards, we see a scene with Lamington speaking to the unknown voice again. The two discuss, presumably, what's happening to Laharl and co., and the unknown voice doesn't think this event will hinder their plan. He will aid in some way, though.
Stage Three is an odd one. To set the scene, we're beset upon by gigantically busted women (succubus) and catgirls whose attire makes Etna look like someone you'd introduce to your grandma. As luck would have it, gigantic boobs are another weakness for Laharl. "Coincidentally, flat-chested women like [Etna and Flonne] have no effect." The two sarcastically apologize for being flat but are, as you should guess, upset at the slight. Rage subsides as a vampire, complete with a Transylvanian accent, teleports into the scene. After some back and forth, it's revealed that this is the voice Etna was talking to in chapter one, Maderas. Maderas was an old vessel of the King, but he was exiled when he stole Black Pretzels, the King's favorite snack. He's been using Etna as a spy and was the reason Laharl slept for two years. She tried to kill him and has been gaining intel about the Prince ever since. All of this is so Maderas can become Overlord. To do so, he stole Etna's memories and has been using them as a carrot to manipulate her. However, because he's evil, he says the game is up and tells his sexy bodied assassins to kill Etna as well. The battle here makes no sense. The entire battlefield is affected by an Invincible Geo Crystal. To remove the effect, throw it onto the green square. While you throw a character over to it, the mobs will attack your character. But we're still invincible. Try to set up your characters so that three tanks guard your weaker characters near the spawn point. There's a three pronged fork nearby that's perfect for this. Throw the mobs out of the way to gather again and hope your furthest character (Laharl) can survive. Once everything was set up, I only lost one character because Xander is so, so, very fragile. The succubi can drain health, so focus them if you can. Alternatively, get two characters to the Crystal and have one throw the Crystal off the red squares when your team attacks. The other can throw it back on when you're done.
The Final Stage happens after Maderas uses all of the Prince's weaknesses at once. Suddenly, Mid-boss shows up and gives an over poetic strategy to overcome them. To make it short, close you're eyes and ears. I don't know he'd fight under those conditions, but it works. While he's deafened, Etna reveals she's been using the Prince as bait to get her memories back and revenge on the vampire! Laharl hears this somehow and quips in. She promises Maderas he'll pee his pants whenever he thinks of her after this, and the battle begins.

The battle music is great, but it's way too short! Anyway, take out the scantly clad women, who should be pretty easy to deal with. Because the battlefield is so narrow, Maderas, at the back, has to go a long way to reach us. That gives us time to kill the Ice Golem. Try not to stand in a line near him, or else you'll get Golem Cannoned. Ultimately, Maderas himself is pretty simple. Try not to get your healer killed, and she should be able to heal off any of his physical damage. His special move can be a problem, and I didn't get the attack targeters because the battlefield is so odd. I know it's ranged, though, so get as close to him as you can.

When the snow stops flying, Maderas begs for his life. He pathetically gives Etna her memories back and flatters his way to forgiveness. He then joins the party. Just as Laharl goes to tell off Etna for all the things she did to him, he suddenly says how great she is! That go-getter attitude is really welcome in Hell, it seems. He promises to make her Overlord if he can't fulfill his duties or dies, and Etna says she will. Flonne is slightly confused but decides that this must be how demons show love.

And that's how the chapter ends...Mid-boss totally doesn't say anything else, and no one totally forgot about him. Was he even there?

The next chapter skit has baby 1st grader Etna talking about her future career options. At least until she says all the boys will be her slaves! I wonder what episode six of Evolutionary Magical Girl Etna, "Curse you, Flonne!," will be about?

There's another ending here. If we killed 100 allies, we get the option to kill Maderas too. Etna becomes the hero, apparently. Also, is Mid-boss a friend of Lamington? What's the connection between the two, or is there something more here? How does the artist formerly known as Dark Adonis keep being in places he shouldn't?

Gift From an Angel

Tonight's slightly delayed episode starts with Archangel Vulcanus acting very un-angelic.

He has come down from Celestia to check in on Flonne. Check-in may be the wrong word, but he's suspicious of everything. He knows King K died two years ago, and he wants to know why Flonne is still in the Netherworld. He sneaks through the castle, bemoaning the conditions, until he finds a book. I assume it's smut. I'll assume more and say it's Prinny Porn, dood! For reasons I won't understand, he gets it into his head that Flonne has become evil. Not that she's dead, or taken prisoner, or is subjugated to demonic what-have-ya, no. The ditzy, timid, flower loving Flonne is evil. After tracking her because of her unique snoring patterns, he makes off with her special pendent and leaves.

The next morning, a tired looking Floone asks Laharl if he's seen her pendent. He says he didn't steal it, which Flonne believes as he wouldn't sneak around for something like that. She then explains that the pendant is, essentially, the only thing keeping her alive down here. Without it, an angel trainee such as herself will wither and die. Laharl and Etna say, "Well, that sucks," and carry on because they're demons and not very helpful. Flonne, desperate to not die, promises Laharl a "something good" if he helps her. After some consideration, silent treatment, and good-old-fashioned greed, we set out!

A few of the vessels around the palace say they saw a man head to the Blazing Core. It's a volcano, so Ice Mage Cid is finally going to shine!
Stage One takes place after Etna complains about the heat. Despite being a nearly naked demon, she's not fond of sweating. The team finds an angel feather, but it isn't Flonne's. She says it from someone much more powerful, and Etna believes this unknown angel must have stolen the pendent. Flonne doesn't think an angel would do such a thing and wonders why another Celestian would even be in the Netherworld. The battle consists of several pumpkin headed mobs guarding a headless knight. The Geo Squares give bonus exp, so try to make use of them when possible.
Stage Two starts with Etna, once again, complaining about the heat. Flonne, however, is handling it just fine. A Prinny gave her medicine to make her withstand Hell, even without her pendent. When asked who gave it to her, she can't remember because all the Prinnies look alike. The combat rounds here are similar to the last map but with more mobs and fewer Geo Squares.
State Three takes place on a map that's predominantly bad for us. Enemies have a 50% boost. There's an inactive crystal that will damage everyone by 20% of their max HP nearby. The five pumpkins blocking our path forward are easy to defeat with an OP Laharl and his multiple target moves. Swords are so much better than axes, by the way! Things can get dicey if you're low on HP near the end and you get ganged up on by the two dullahans and the nightmare. Before the fight, Laharl asks about Seraph Lamington. Knowing what's up, Etna tries to dissuade her, but Flonne says he's a good man who likes flowers and poems. Laharl wanted to know about his weaknesses than his personality traits since he thinks he may end up fighting Lamington at some point. Flonne asks Etna if there's anyone she looks up to, and Etna responds with the King. Laharl, not getting the respect he thinks is his, gets upset.
The Final Stage begins with Volcanus' hand beginning to burn. He drops the pendent, thinking it's the cause, and it lands on Mid-boss, taking a stroll through a volcano. He thanks the heavens for the wondrous gift, and Laharl overhears him and reprimands the demon who's thanking god. Flonne sees her pendant and asks for it back, but Mr. Mid-boss won't hand it over. She says the pendent harms evildoers, but Mid-boss is still unharmed. After an awkward silence, Laharl says he's just gonna take it by force then.

This fight is rough. It consists of four dullahans, two nightmares, and a next level pumpkin, as well as a Mid-boss. Everyone has upwards of 200 HP, so don't go rushing in. I brought out Laharl and hung around the spawn point until most of the mobs were around us. Unlike previous battles, everyone will rush forward to meet us. Laharl's Blash Rush and Mega Ice Spell from Cid took out two of the three lined up knights, and a final basic attack took out the other. We managed to dwindle down the other one later. The nightmares look beefy but aren't. Because they have range, they tend to hang back and give you time to kill the others. Mid-boss has a new move: Adonis Blast. It's a multi targeting move that can deal over 200 HP, but I don't know the exact targeting parameters. Fortunately, he only has enough SP to use it twice. His basic attacks did 50 damage, which a good healer can, mostly, heal through. The trick is just getting to him, as despite have over 700 HP, he lacks the DPS to make it stand up. Our new teammate, Hoggmeister, put in some good work here.

Once we win, the heavily bandaged Mid-boss walks away and trips, with the pendant falling into the lava. Laharl immediately jumps in after it. Time passes, and the team is waiting for the return of their boss. When Laharl makes it back, unscathed, he hands Flonne the necklace. She thanks him, and the Prince gets upset because he doesn't like such honeyed words. When he asks for the "something good" that was promised, Flonne says she already gave it to him. It's the gift that the heart feels when they do something kind for another person. Laharl becomes enraged at such a stupid gift and storms off. Etna congratulates Flonne for playing Laharl so well, and Flonne is thrilled because she knows that demons can feel love. She promises to lead the way to making demons and angels be friends. The last scene of this chapter is Volcanus talking to himself. He says Flonne, the weak, timid, and flower loving, is trying to gain power and rule the Netherworld, so she can take over Celestia. He walks away but promises he'll be back in a long time. It's probably a fourth wall breaking thing...

The next chapter skit has Prinnies playing baseball. The Rotten Peaches are the worst team in the league, and they're going up against the champions from last year. Everything is going terribly for them until a fiery spirit of victory appears as a pinch hitter! Will Etna be the deciding factor? Find out tomorrow on The Miracle Full Base Hat Trick! Why did she leave off with e football reference? Why is the title a hockey thing? I'm glad the guess star, Mid-boss, was also confused.

Etna's diary is about how broken her memories are of the King. To look up to someone you barely remember must be a trip. She ends it by saying she'll get them back soon.

A Hint of Kimdness

First of all, it's Lamington, Lamegeton. No idea why I defaulted to a Xenosaga noun, but what can ya do? Secondly, I split this into two. Due to the aforementioned weird stuff, I could only get the prep work done for tonight. To advance, you need an item at level ten. Getting an item to level ten is fairly simple but time consuming. Simply enter the Item World and descend ten floors. Kill if you can, Geo your way away, or throw people to the portals: the choice is yours! So most of the plot is from night two, so let's get to it!

The preamble for tonight's plot is simple: It's Prinny Payday, dood! Etna could pay them, but her vessels are Laharl's vessels, so it falls on him to do so. The fact he follows through on his stuff means he's a tough but fair ruler. I'd vote for him to be Overlord. However, our Prince doesn't want to spend a dime from his own allowance and goes off to find the richest person nearby. And that person lives in Dinero Palace!

Once we dig through the Item World and get a level ten item, we can EQUIP, head to the Gatekeeper. The keyword is EQUIP as it needs to be something Laharl can use. So don't waste time with consumables. The Gatekeeper gives us a Mr. Gencey's Exit if we run into trouble, but we have the option to leave once we reach level ten. Once, in my case, the Short Sword filled with garbage is equipped, we reach our destination.

Stage One has a few humanoid mobs in the way. This acts like most battles, and I'm beginning to see a theme. The ones in the back only advance when we get close. What's odd is a few of them have ranged weapons, so you'd think they'd be more aggressive.
Stage Two happens after our characters realize most of this stuff used to belong in Laharl's Palace. He tells the Prinny Squad to loot everything! Flonne wonders about the difference in the Prinnys between the two worlds. In Celestia, they're maids, but in the Netherworld, they're borderline slave labor. Etna informs our angel that Prinnys contain the souls of useless humans who've died and are now waiting for reincarnation. In Heaven, they work towards redemption. In Hell, though, they have to buy it. Truly, capitalism is great! Since Flonne doesn't know anything about Prinnies, Etna calls her a flower head, and Flonne takes this as a compliment! As for the battle, There's a blue Geo Crystal line preventing us from advancing until we destroy it. It's not really a problem as we outnumber the enemies near the start. There is a new Manticore in the back, along with a healer, but neither should scare you.
Stage Three has us taking on a small army. Most of them are terribly weak, but their numbers can overwhelm. Bring some AoE. There are a few elite guards around you'll need to be wary of, so gang up on them after the level four mobs are dead. The archers in the back are fragile and pose little threat. Before the fight, Etna finds a painting of the King, and Larharl lets her take it. When Flonne asks how he died, Etna says he George Bushed himself and choked on a pretzel. Laharl shows no sympathy at his own father's death, even saying he was about to off him himself, and Flonne begins to plot against him in the name of love.
The Final Stage is where we meet the former vessel, Hoggmeister, reciting Shakespeare to his money. As his name would suggest, he's a pig demon. As Laharl introduces himself, Hoggy has no idea who he is. When the Prince reminds him he's the King's son, he suddenly remembers and compares him to a fishbone in his throat. As the fight starts, the Prince says he's going to take everything Hoggy has, including his life. Flonne says to herself that she'll stop that from happening.
The battle has the same properties as every other fight. Take out the row of monks, and worry about the elite guards after. I'd say to surround Hoggmeister, but he has a move that attacks everything around him, and it does a lot of damage. He's got a lot of HP, but nothing a round or two of targeted attacks can't dwindle down.

After the fight, Laharl remains resolute to kill Hoggmeister until a smaller pig gets in the way. It seems it physically holds back the Prince, giving Flonne time to say her peace. She brings up that the little pig demon was willing to sacrifice himself to save his family as proof that even demons know love. This causes Laharl to remember a conversation with the King when King Krichevskoy asked his son if he loved him. Laharl said he hated him, which would be the default answer for a demon. This causes Laharl to proclaim that this is taking too long and orders the Prinnies to get the money. But to leave a little for the family. Flonne is glad the situation settled peacefully, and we flashback to a scene with Lamington and Flonne. The Seraph told his protege that neither angels nor demons believe demons know love, but he thinks that isn't true. Flonne prays for forgiveness to Lamington as she's going to stay around longer and bring that "hint of kindness" in Laharl into full bloom. The chapter ends, and Hoggmeister joins us. We also get 5000 HL.

The skit for the next chapter has Etna participating in a Food Wars! spoof (eight years before the manga was released). The Prinny Squad is confused, and Etna says they're the ingredients.

Etna 120% takes place tomorrow!

If we had killed fifty of our allies before this, we could have gotten a secret ending. Laharl will go to kill Hoggy, but Flonne dies instead. I'm going for the Good Endings, so I'm hoping I haven't killed anyone yet.

Finally, Etna's diary details her feelings towards Flonne. She's useless, but if she needs to, Etna will kill her. Are all the diaries recaps?

Enter Flonne

The narrator tells us about the three universes: The Netherworld, Earth, and Celestia. We’re at a terminus built by ancient angels.

A “Cute Angel” enters the screen to speak to a distinguished looking man she calls Master Lemegaton. It's odd to name an angel after a book about demons, but what have ya? The two converse about the flowers, and the angel trainee, Flonne, wishes she could be just like them. Eventually, Lemegaton/Seraph brings up the task he has for Flonne: Kill King Krichevskoy.

NANI!!!

Next we see Flonne, she’s sneaking through Laharl’s palace, onomatopoeiaing the whole time. She wonders why Lemegaton assigned her to this task and not Master Volcanus. The scene switches to Celestia, where a man wearing a ramen bowl on his head and a mustache that connects to his ears complains. Lemegaton says this is a task only Flonne can do, and Volcanus expositions his feelings.

Back to Flonne, when she reaches the Prince’s room, she suggests she would be a great ninja. She then considers the morality of an assassin. Is it more okay to kill someone you know than a stranger? Laharl quickly interrupts her, which scares her, and she attacks. The two then talk for a bit as Flonne says she’s an assassin. It’s an odd thing to tell someone! Eventually, she says her target is the ruler of the Netherworld. Laharl says that's him, and Flonne assumes she can’t win like this and flees. Etna walks in and wonders what’s up before saying the Prinny guards partied themselves to sleep, and the chapter begins.

Before doing anything, I messed around with the Dark Assembly, an easily bribed Senate that we have to use to advance our shops. I get Eyewear, Belts, and eventually, Shows passed. I also make my last two friend characters. Xander is a thief, and our fifth for Smash, Mr. Funk, shoots things.

The GateKeeper says Flonne went to a place called the Frozen River. No one bothered to stop her because who wants to work these days?
Stage one a wide open battlefield covered in snow and zombies.
Stage two has our characters catching up to Flonne. We can’t do anything as she uses angelic magic to summon more zombies, which just makes sense. Flonne flees after telling the two of them to run if things get dangerous. There’s another scene on Celestia where Lemegaton talks to an unknown voice about a secret plan.
Stage three has Etna trying to burn Flonne with demon magic, but Flonne manages to reflect it. In hilarious fashion, it hits Laharl, who complains about his hair. There are more zombies here, but the real threat are the imps. They have a move that attacks the three squares in front of them and the two on the sides of that. Fortunately, they’re at the back and won’t come forward until you get close.
The last stage has Flonne summoning a dragon. Obviously, it’s big and scary, but once again, worry abound the imps. The dragon can only attack one character at a time, so get some combos with your party. Flonne is also a combatant, but all I saw her do was heal. Power of Love heals every target, friend or foe two squares around her in all directions.

Once we win, Laharl says Flonne could never kill him. She then asks why she would because he’s not King Krichevskoy. After Etna insults the news networks in Heaven, Laharl then says his dad, the actual target, is dead. Flonne begins to cry as this family will never see each other again. Since the Prince is so nonplussed by this, she begins to wonder if demons have emotions. She then wants to know if demons know love and wants to stay in Hell to find out. Laharl complains she sounds like his mother with all this talk of love before promising to make the angel rue her decision as the chapter ends.

The joke preview has Etna telling a story about Flonne being a killing machine. She then turns into a spaceship, so Etna must destroy her to save the world. Flonne now wants to be a space detective, but Etna puts the kibosh on that.

Space Detective Etna tomorrow!

The secret in Etna’s room is a demon has stolen her memories. It's mostly a reminder of that glimpse we tot in chapter one.

Chapter One: Prince of the Netherworld

The party teleports into Vyer's Castle. Who's Vyers? Who cares? We're looting his stuff. Etna begins to suggest being picky about what to take until Laharl tells her that makes them basic thieves. Instead, he says they're taking everything. Etna and the Prinny Squad then tell them how great and evil the Prince is until he gets mildly embarrassed, and the first battle happens. Upon further review, that happens after battle one. There is no story when we reach this place, which makes sense.

Fight one is outside the palace. Destroy the two Geo Crystals, and you'll take several of the weaker mobs with you. One should be destroyed as it makes mobs stronger, but the other one gives more EXP, so it may be worth keeping around.
Battle two is a kinda T-shaped map. There are four Geo squares that could be affected. At the start, the effects only buff the enemies, so do what you will. You'll probably gonna spend a turn wasting a few attacks regardless.
Battle three is in a large room with a balcony to one side. Characters can go down to the room or stay on the balcony above. The Geo Crystals give 40 percent recovery, which can go either way. I blew them up because I just want to destroy something beautiful. This fight introduces us to enemy mages and archers. We don't have archers/gunners, so they can be pretty rough. They're fragile, though, especially if you spent an hour last night grinding Etna and Laharl.
As we go to the fourth and final room, we hear a snarky man who feels insulted that we broke into his house without even knowing who owns it. The man/demon shows up and calls himself Vyers, The Dark Adonis. He's a flamboyant pretty boy with an ego issue. Etna knows him as someone who has taken out a good share of would-be Overlords, indicating he's quite strong. When Laharl says he has no idea who he is, and doesn't even remotely care, he gives Vyers a new name: Mid-boss. Mid-boss becomes angry at both the insult and the sheer ignorance of his beauty and strength and attacks.
There's a bit of a three fold fight here. In the first stage, focus on the three Geo Crystals far to the left and the closest enemies to the starting square. Pick up Laharl and have someone pick up THAT person to throw them to the crystals. Laharl can destroy all three crystals with Blade Rush. While this is going on, only the first group of mobs will attack us. They're not too terrible but be wary of the mage and archer. Once those are gone, the two "bodyguards" will come forward. They're strong, but there are only two of them. If you get close enough, Vyers himself will come forward, and he's a boss true-and-true. I only got to see a few attacks of him, but one if a long-range blast, Adonic Shot. It's single target but can one shot a character. He can also counter a counter, which will make sense once you see it.
When the dust settles, Mid-boss says he underestimated us, and Laharl says that Mid-boss is lying. The Prince thinks he went all-out. They bicker for a moment before Mid-boss leaves in disgrace. As the party plans to loot the joint, Etna says she needs to use the bathroom and leaves. This causesLaharl to demand that the Prinnies do all the heavy lifting as Etha's vassals are his vessels. A pink female Prinny comes and tells the Squad that this is only until the next Red Moon.

We see Etna in a dark room talking to someone with a Transylvanian accent. She says that the Prince has awoken. The voice wonders how the potion he drank didn't kill him, and Etna promises that this is a mild speed bump. The voice will get the throne, and Etna will get the mysterious item he stole from her.

As we return to the game, a mock preview of the next chapter happens. Etna talks over Laharl about how the Prince died and left the throne to her. To honor him, she promises to become the greatest ruler the Netherworld has ever seen! Chapter 2: The Great Queen Etna...

...tomorrow!

If you lose the Mid-boss here, you gain the first secret ending of the game. Also, turns out there are only, like, five endings, so ignore what I said about Chrono Trigger last night. It's been a while, man. A part of me is glad there's no day one plot dumps, which makes sense here. The plot is more of a framing device in Disgaea and is more about the battle mechanics and humor. I remember it getting pretty deep at the end, so let's look forward to that! Finally, if you check the back of the throne, the skull on the item counter, and the downstairs corner of the room with Longinus in it, you'll find a secret room of Etna's. In it, a diary that reveals her memories are gone. I wonder if this has something to do with that Transylvanian guy...

Disgaea takes more than an hour to beat...

I've been going through some weird stuff lately, so I kinda needed some extra time. I'm probably still gonna take some extra time, but I want to play something fun. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is something I remember being quite fun. A tactical RPG with a humorous plot, tons of extras, and more secret endings than Chrono Trigger? Sign me up! Due to that "weird stuff," I don't know if there will be an update every day, but I'll try to do something. I'm also gonna go a bit slower than usual.

As we start up a new game, a deep voiced narrator introduces us to the backstory. King Krichevskoy, the ruler of the Netherworld, has died. This created a chaotic time in Hell. A woman, Etna, tries her best to wake a boy up, and we see flashes of light and sounds of explosions as she gives it another go. Suddenly, Prince Laharl wakes up! He questions Etna before asking why she woke him up. Etna responds that King Krichevskoy died...two years ago. Laharl is shocked that he's been asleep for so long but says nothing of his father's demise. He then makes a promise to remind all of the pretenders who he is, and our game begins as Etna joins him!

We walk through the castle and talk to vassals of various loyalty. We gain glimmers of mechanics to come, but our goal is the Dimension Gateway behind the cleric. To warm up, Etna takes the two to a beautiful field of flowers. The subsequent few segments introduces the battle mechanics. It's like Final Fantasy Tactics, but rather than every character's turn being based on their speed, the whole team goes as one. I'm kinda not into that, but it has its strategic value and has its fair share of intended downsides to make it interesting. Laharl ends us being used as a guinea pig and gets killed before the battle, which ends up in comedy.
The second battle introduces us to the Prinnies, dood, who are Etna's hired help. They don't really work well and quickly go gallivanting off to do their own thing before Etna sets them straight.
Battle three teaches us about the ability to throw characters. Etna reminds us not the throw Prinnies as they act like grenades if you do.
The fourth and final battle teaches us about Geo Squares. Geo Crystals can alter the characteristics of colored squares on the field, but we can destroy them if we want to. We also gain some advanced rewards if you do so.

After this fight, we return to the Palace to gain access to the rest of the mechanics. Character Creation and the item world are the big things for now. I grind up the last tutorial fight to make a few friends of mine, who you may recall from my Final Fantasy I playthrough. We're not important to the story, but we're here and in Hell... Male Red mages aren't a thing in Disgaea, so I'll be an Ice Skull for a while. Tryton is a warrior, and Drew is a Monk. No clue what the C-Men leader, Xander, will be. I also begin to wonder how I'll afford everyone's equipment!

As we approach the Dimension Gate again, the attendant tells us she loaded up Vyer's Castle in the gate. She doesn't know what's there, as it's new, but I assume it'll be fun.

But we'll do this tomorrow! No need to rush becoming the Overlord, eh?

The humor is this game's main drawing point, as well as the ability to get to level 9999 and get your stats to 99999! I won't be doing that, obviously, but the option is there. I'm planning on getting through a chapter an update, although I've split chapter one into two nights, so go me! As I said, I'm dealing with "weird stuff." So weird I don't know if I'm actually dealing with it or it's all in my head. Either way, it's distracting me, so who knows how often I'll be playing? Disgaea's short, monster of the week style story and chapter system may be perfect for this, now that I think about it. I remember this game fondly from fifteen years ago, and I even had to freshen up the disk in 2008/9, so let's hope it 1.) remains really good, and 2.) doesn't crash! Let's see what ending I'll get!

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation sure was revealing

This is such a strange game! I started out really liking it, and, honestly, I didn't hate the ending. But the middle bits were so, so terrible.

What sucked?
The middle part. The whole second and third act after the fall of Mudo. By which, I'm meaning Arcbolt to Durren. The team walks around, almost aimlessly, doing things with no rhyme or reason. You fund out a few of those chapters tie in at the end, but even those have some flaws. Jamerias was introduced and immediately lost all plot relevance. I found two random NPCs that gave us a hint about a Sleeping Sickness, and then there's no mention of anything past Calcado. Glacias had even less of an introduction, and it could have been less had I not followed a walkthrough to find Poseidon. Durren, somehow, had an even poorer impact than Glacias. Including Mudo, all four of those guys are high ranking commanders for Deathtamoor. Why give an entire section of story to Mudo but not the others? I would have loved it if all of them had the same strength. Have a soldier from Arcbolt ask Reidock for aid in their problem with Jamiras. Holsten/Foan could be a big seafaring nation having trouble with the seas because of Glacias. Have Durren be the last King of Grandino! Tie everything together WHILE in progress. I'm glad it all came around towards the end, but I felt so lost for a week. But that's the major plot points.
Why did we baptize that kid? I don't know if anyone could tell, but that whole section was when I began to sour on the game. The kid ran away five times, and we had to go find him. It was so terrible. Tedium shouldn't be a game mechanic, and it damn sure shouldn't be a plot mechanic. For that matter, what was the point of Foan, other than because they have the Watergate Key? World building is cool, but not at the expense of your actual characters.
Everyone's boring. Muriel had a lot going for her, but it all stopped once you get her. When and how did she reunite with her physical body? Why can't we do anything about her past in Grandino? Based on the intro scene, she's supposed to be one of three important characters, but I felt that Chamaro was more relevant than her. Barbara didn't get much of a spotlight either. With her backstory, I'm not sure how she could have, admittedly. Have her give random outlooks on things? "I don't remember this being here." Or have her be a voice of reason. Hell, who's Barbarella? Give her some lore and tie them together. Make us think, even if it's clearly obvious there's a connection. Hassan is a strong guy for the sake of being strong, Rek is a silent protag, and the other people are just there. Draggy doesn't even get ending scenes!
The secondary characters felt flat too. The Mountain Spirit (who lives in the water) has nothing to do aside from one scene. The translation team didn't help this as returning to old towns gives empty text boxes. Maybe there's more to be said, but NoProgress is a terribly apt name. I'd say I'd love to play the DS remake, but the rest of the game has soiled me on that thought. I just went to know why my horse gets more of a shine than most others?
Why were there were so many secondary plots that were never touched upon? The San Marino mayor debacle, for example. The mayor imprisons the wrong girl, who later joins a traveling merchant. We never see this merchant. When she's back in San Marino, the mayor is gone. We never see the mayor again. And the real culprit is never punished! In Clear Veil, there was talk of an entertainer everyone liked. We never see this guy at all. What happened to Rob and Denae? I didn't even get blank text boxes explaining them if you return to their towns. And don't even get me started on Grandino's confusing rulership that goes nowhere!
Also, the ending wasn't that great, either. An evil guy is evil, so he wants to take over the world by splitting one world into two and creating a third world for himself? How memorable.

So, I'm done being mad. What did the game do well?
It sure is pretty. I love good background artwork. Lifecod, alone, filled that for me several times. Battle scenes aren't just pixels in the back, but they give us a good reminder of where we are. Towns and castles feel alive. Square has always been the bar with graphics in RPGs, retro especially, but Dragon Quest VI hangs with the best of them. Sprite work went up several notches from DQV. There's even animations and emotion that might be better than Final Fantasy VI.
I'm digging the music. All of the overworld themes would go on Spotify playlist if they were there. A few dungeon themes, emotional tunes, even town songs have a uniqueness to them. Not every place gets the same melody as its precursor did.
Every dungeon had its own thing, and I'd like to point out The Mirror's Tower gimmick, especially. I don't recall too many functional mirrors in older video games, so don't let anyone say how advanced modern games are because of Raytracing. I doubt DQVI did Rarytracing, but I only care about reflections, not how they're implemented.
The first quarter of the game is great! I'm grasping at straws now, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first few nights of Dragon Quest VI. Everything seemed tight and properly, carefully strewn together, but once the big evil died, it all fell apart. Was I a mercenary for hire or someone looking for the truth? What would have happened if I didn't continue on? Probably bad things, but I'm sure Terry could have handled it. I need a conflict to get invested, or at least some good hook or clue, but DQVI just tossed me out into the cold, unforgiving world of seemingly random events. Why did we need to baptize that kid?!

As you can see, that's all I enjoyed about Dragon Quest VI: The Realms of Revelations. It starts absolutely amazingly but comes undone pretty fast. And once it's undone, it takes even longer to get back together. I don't think I would have minded being directionless for so long if it wasn't for so long! It might come back around, but by then, the soul is gone, and I'm deep into the doldrums. It was a very long winter, you see. I loved me some Dragon Quest V, but its sequel proves they can't all be zingers. I'm gonna try another game in the franchise at some point, but not for a while. I'm moving on to something else. I'm not ready to get hurt again. Maybe in the fall. If not, March of 2022. Ready for fourth lockdown!?

 

Why did we baptize the goddamn kid!

Deathtamed! ...sorta

We're ready to assail the castle of the Demon Emperor, So guess what we did tonight?!

The first few floors are fancy foyers providing no real threat or puzzles than steps to walk in a game with random encounters. The next floor is a Sylph Co. Floor Puzzle. On the second of these puzzles are three chasms of interest. The left side is a treasure, a Demon Spear. The middle staircase leads to a heal spot, and the third place is the way forward. There is a switch that turns off the floors. Up those stairs takes us to a jumping puzzle. If you hit the wrong springboard, you're either turned the wrong way or sent to a floor below. Explore around. There are only a few boards, and it's obvious as to where they lead, so it should be a quick walkthrough. Eventually, you come to a staircase down. Follow them, and you'll come to another pressure plate-a-ma-jig. Step on it, and the room will begin to move forward. Go to the top of the screen until you reach a door and enter a black smoke filled room. I didn't explore around here, but the way out is straight north. Grab the Book of Dragons if you want to explore the post-game dungeon. Through the doors out is a white smoke filled room. Navigating through here is significantly more annoying. The easiest way to do so is to wait for lightning to strike, which will temporarily reveal the invisible walls. By this point, I was ready to finish this game, so I didn't walk around looking for treasures. The exit is from the left side of the room, so hug there until things light up. From here, walk the castle byways, go down when you enter the red smoke filled room, and follow the only path you can take. You'll stand before an old man, Deathtamoor himself. I'm glad this dungeon was quick and straightforward because this fight isn't.

Deathtamoor offers no motivation for his actions beyond being evil for the sake of evil, so there's not much dialogue. This is a three round fight with no breaks, and your buffs get removed between them. Round one is, arguably, the hardest. While the old man form has the lowest HP, he seems to have the highest attack. He loves his teamwide stuff that can do over 100 HP to everyone. I think it's fire based, though, so Magiguard and Barrier can help. Despite being an old man, the dudes got speed and WILL go before you pretty much every time. Despite the frequency of buff removal, you're gonna need to be buffing. Sadly, I couldn't find a predictable pattern like DQV.
Round Two takes place when the orbs the old man was using merge. A dragon comes out of them, and things pick up. He is slower, so you get some advantage here. Increase will help more than Magiguard, but you should still use Barrier to prevent the Fire Breath from ending you. Annoyingly, he can buff himself, but we can't remove those buffs. If he gets to the point where your attacks are doing single digit damage, switch Rek and Hassan to either Discharge, Wind Slash, Vacuum Blade, or Grand Cross.
After he says he's done playing, Round Three will commence! I'm not having fun anymore. I mean, I haven't been having fun for a while, but this is infuriating. He gets FOUR attacks a round! At least one of them will be teamwide attacks, and two will be massive magic blasts that can be teamwide. The other can be a physical attack or a remove all buffs spell from time to time too. It gets easier as you progress, though. Take out the Left Hand and then the Right Hand. Lefty has the least HP, and Righto can revive, I'm told. Once you're down to just the disembodied head, things ease up. All of the attacks are still possible, but there are only two of them a round. I had Muriel using Hustle Dance, which is a skill I wish I knew she learned sooner. Barbara used Mandante just to see if it's good. At 107 MP, it did 250 damage, so it was pretty alright. At around 150  MP, it was over 400. If you max out her MP, she can one shot DT. Unfortunately, Mandante spent all her MP, so she was useless to me now. I had MP healing items on characters, but hat awful Style Competition unequipped them. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! I swamped in Chamaro because he is the designated White Mage. He performed admirably, but his attacks here terrible. Even him truing into a dragon did no damage. He has the Medal King Sword!

Now, keep in mind, I save scummed so hard for this. I didn't want to redo the dungeon, and I really didn't want to keep playing. Had I lost, I would have quit and looked up the ending on Youtube. I don't care! I got other stuff I want to do, and I really don't want this fight to ruin any future Dragon Quest games I want to play. IX actually works okayidly on my computer. Regardless of my terrible ethics...

After the dust settles, the platform we're on begins to collapse. Masarl and Kermit telepathically talk to us to say this world is falling apart. They'll get the citizens of the three towns out of there, but we're on our own. We have Pegasus, so getting out is a simple task. We return to the Dream World and talk to King Zenith in Zenithia. Zenith tells us that it was DT that split the two worlds into two, tangible, places, and, with him gone, the two will now become one...or something. Physical bodies won't be allowed to stay in the Dream World is what he was getting at. He tells us to say our goodbyes. Terry runs off to the wagon, and Muriel chases after him.

First up are Rek and Hassan in Reidock. Soldi thanks us, as neither the King nor Queen are around, for all we've done. The Royals left a note saying they're looking forward to seeing them in the other world.
Barbara, and her long named city, is up next. The old couple who made our Magic Capet think she should become Elder since it's her bloodline's tradition, but she believes it isn't time. They agree and ask her to get stronger, perhaps with King Zenith.
We go to the Dream Lifecod to say farewell to Tania and Rand. The whole town is at the bar, celebrating, but Tanis is alone with Rand creeping outside her window. She wants us to promise we'll never forget her before she becomes translucent. She says, "I love you," and we leave. The rest of the town appears similar now, with several people saying they're tired.
We then come to the real world! Muriel and Terry spend time with Grandmaz. Muriel wants to become s fortune teller. Grandmaz makes dinner, and we continue on.
In San Marino, Hassan joins his family's carpentry business.
In Gent, Cham and his grandpa discuss the Sacred Ship magically returning to the dry dock because it's magical. He then stays there to help the sick.
It's another Muriel and Terry scene, this time in Grandino. The old man we stalked a while back ends up being their father. He sold Muriel years ago, but the whole family joins back in an enjoyable reunion.
With only Rek and Barbara left, we return to Lifecod. Everyone is gone. Does this have something to do with the see-through villagers of Dream World? No. The mayor is still around and tells us everyone went to the party in Reidock.
Once there, the Royals say how proud they are of their son before the King thinks Rek and Barb are together. Shera quickly throws to the party. In the courtyard, there's dancing. Tania, unsure of what to call Rek, and Rand are together while Muriel is with a random soldier. Chamaro is with a child, and everyone else is throughout the castle. Hassan is looking over how to improve the worn down stone and woodwork. Terry is hanging out in the war room. Barbara, though, is looking sad and pale in the throne room. When we talk to her, she says she can't be here. She never got a real body, and her time has come. The worlds merge, she says goodbye, and she disappears. Her last words are, "I'll never forget you." I'm curious if she had feelings that game, surprisingly, never touched on towards Rek.

Castle Zenthia raises to the sky, and the credits begin to roll as we see the last scenes of our characters!
Chamaro is healing people and cats in Gent.
Hassan is hammering stuff in his family home.
Muriel is telling the fortunes of various surprised people in Grandmaz' house.
Terrance is exploring Amoru Cave.
Prince Rek is hanging out in the castle on the verge of a gathering of old friends. They meet up at Grandmaz' house, and Muriel brings up Barbara on her magic orb. We see her in Zenithia Castle, alongside the King, some dude, and an egg. We've heard of the egg in the castle a few times, and it's finally about to hatch. The inside of the egg is supposed to be the future of the world. I don't know what that means, but it sounds mystical and exciting! Everyone is pumped as it starts shaking. When it bursts open, outcomes...fireworks. The metaphor is lost on me.

The End

The Highly Populated Dark World

I finished up in the worlds of the living, and Pegasus took us to Demon World. All of our modes of travel have broken, so I guess I'll hoof it!

Just to the north is a village. The citizens call it Despair Town because everyone suffers from depression. Most of the populace have given up on ever returning home, while others are nearing that horizon, as well. The ones who have given up refuse to do anything, and some can't even speak. I've been there, so this hits home for me. Several people tell us about a spring to the west that is rumored to be a gateway between the worlds. But who we need to speak to is in the basement of one of the "houses." It's a man named Clark Ende from Zaxon Village, a small place north of Lifecod in the real world. He's one of the depressed and doesn't think there's a way out of this world. He gives us a rusty pipe and asks us to bring it to this his wife, who will, in return, give us Ende's Blacksmith Tools. Doing this will change his outlook on the current predicament. Before I left for the Real World, I found a watchman (monster) in the only second story house in town. I tried to fight it, but it turns out I only have one HP! Apparently, he is beatable, but I failed to do so.

Go to the spring in the west. It'll try to take us around a rock in the middle but fight against it. Stay close to the rock on the eastern side, and you'll enter a door. Go down the well, and we'll return to the Real World. Take Pegasus to Zaxon, talk to the dog, Silver, and get the tools from Mrs. Ende. Go back to Hell and give Ende his tools. This encourages him, and he offers to make an armor piece for us. I choose the body armor. In the morning, the entire town will be buzzing! It turns out smiles are contagious as Edne's hope has infected the others. Shop keepers open their wares, and the people are excited again. Our next location is that of Greed Town, to the northeast.

Everyone tries to swindle us. I don't know what a good deal or a bad deal, so I just assumed it was all terrible. The rumors about this place indicate that the Famed Sage, Masarl, has left his treasure in the cave system behind the town. There's a large graveyard on the east side of town filled with people who failed to find the treasure. And there will be more in the caves lamenting a loved one's attempts too. Explore throughout, and at the bottom, you'll find a chest with a note in it. The note will say that the richest person in town, Morgan, knows where the treasure is. Go to his house, and he'll tell you the secret...for 5000 gold. I was saving up for a Blizzard Sword, Game, but okay! The real treasure is buried at the bottom of the lake to the northwest. If we go there, it turns out a lot of people got the same message. After we talk to everyone/tell someone we're willing to sell our soul for the treasure, the lake drains. Everyone rushes in to be the first to get the treasure, fighting each other along the way. Avoid the conflicts, and get to the chest. As we open it, we'll see it empty. Everyone around us comes to their senses and knows that Morgan lied to them. If we return to the town, Morgan will be unconscious in his bed, crying out for the Demon King. Like in Despair Town, the greed of the inhabitants will be absolved. Our reward here will be the Dragon Robe, which I give to Barbara because she's become my healer.

Continue north past the lake. The well you'll find along the way is a resting point. We can heal and save down here. North of that is a large castle. As we approach, a giant fights us because we're not supposed to be here. When we win, he'll ask us to talk to his brother behind him. He'll say we're the ones he's looking for. These are the last two of the Giant Clan, a once proud race enslaved by the Demon Emperor. He'll give us a Prison Key and ask us to kill the guy in charge, Akstar. As we enter the castle, we're immediately thrown in jail. But they don't take our Prison Key...or our weapons. Leave the cell and walk across the lave floors. We'll meet a guard who ends up being General Soldi! After he tells us how he got here, he'll tell us Masarl is locked behind him. He also gives us four Soldier's Outfits, which we use to sneak around the guards. Talk to all the guards until you reach the top, who'll ask for a beer. One of the guards will tell us about one of the prisoners, Sister Anna, and the terrifying fate that awaits her. Return to the prison town, remove your outfits, and talk to the woman at the bar. Then talk to the guy at the bar above her. Go around and talk to Gon below them, and he'll open the passage behind him. Talk to the guy at the bar again, and walk out.

Soldiers will descend from the above floors and bring up a man from the cells below. He's to be executed, but we step in. Round One isn't too hard, but Round Two is a staged loss. You can win, but all you get is 1500 EXP, and the game continues as if you lost anyway. We'll be jailed, and the key will be removed. Hangout for a while until our little rebellion caused a much larger revolution. The bartender poisoned the beers with a sleeping drug, so most of the guards are out cold. They free us and ask us, the only people strong enough, to finish the job. Make your way up to Akstar, and the fight begins.

Akstar is flanked by two minions. They're weak to Lightning, it seems, so have Rek use Zap for a few rounds. Once it's down to one-on-four, the battle becomes simple. Akstar uses a lot of Fire Magic, so Magiguard and Barrier up before trying to BiKill. It's all about attrition early on. Akstar will yell about how the prophecy can't be real and die. As Mudo and the rest did before, all his lackeys will disappear with him. The citizens of this place will come and welcome us before they tell us to free Masarl. Head down with Soldi, and learn that this isn't Masarl. It is his brother, Kermit, though. Kermit will give us an Orb of Truth, which I'd have thought the demons would have taken from him. It allows us to get closer to the Demon Emperor's Castle if we use it on the peninsula up north. We all celebrate that night, but it doesn't last long. The Deathtamor causes half the population to turn to stone, and the other half is turned into animals. Masarl defended himself from the attacks, somehow, and tells us to go find his brother.

Use the Orb and find the shrine just to the north. There are no mobs in here, so enjoy walking over the spike traps to reach Masarl. We'll get a glimpse into the torture that the demons have been using on him before we leave and backtrack to Kermit. Kermit will join the party as we go back to Masarl because everyone loves backtracking! After a long cutscene where the brothers reunite, we fight Masarl's torturers.

Keep in mind, you didn't heal up during the night. Fortunately, this fight is simple. Kill the guy on your right, as he's oddly fragile. He can defend his friend, so he's just asking for it. Buff up, use you're preferred battle commands, cast Healus every two or three rounds. I managed to Bikill everyone, max out my defense, and even Sapped the right guy's defense to zero. The guy on the left can heal and does the most damage, so I took him out first. And because I can speedhack my way through this tedium.

Masarl, now freed, will team up with Kermit to blow up the Emperor's mountain and bring it down to earth. They open the gateway, telling us it's a one way trip, so get ready because I'm ending this game...
 
...tomorrow!

So, the Emperor created this world? Why did he build an exit? Why let people build a castle before he invaded it? Why did he create a race or giants just to slay them? Maybe it's because I'm not evil, but I don't get it. Anyway, any side plot with secondary characters will be null and void because the translation team gave up. Tania and Reidock have dialog if we return to their worlds, but I have no idea what it is. There's also a lot of open side stories, still so rad!

OMG PLOT!

Last we left off, we were told to repair the legendary sword in the bandit and outlaw town of Longadeseo. The epithet makes it seems sketchy, but it's not that bad.

It is an annoying maze, though. To get to where we need to go, walk through the weapons and armor seller, then through the bar. Go around the flashing bunny house but don't go too far. Near the top of the building, east of the bunny house, is a secret entrance. Run past the bunny girl who wants to make Rek prettier and go up the stairs. We'll meet the man named Hawk, an information dealer. We'll tell him we're looking for the legendary blacksmith. No one else in town is talking, so he's out last hope. As payment for this deal, he'll ask for 50000 gold. And then he says that's too much and lowers it to 2000 if we play a game. We're now playing hide-and-seek with Hawk. He'll be dressed up in three outfits through the town, and we have to sus him out.
He'll first be in the church.
He'll next be in the ladies' room in the bunny house.
Finally, go around the town and past the style smith and talk to the bartender. Answer no, no, and yes, and that'll be him. Return to his house in the well. He'll say the legendary blacksmith moved away one day long ago. He left behind his wife and child. His daughter, Sally, lives in the house to the northeast. She frequents the resting place of her mother in the northern shrine, though. Sally won't be home, so head to the shrine.
She'll refuse to temper the sword because of how much she hates her father. Return to town and keep pestering her. She'll eventually agree to do it because we're a kind soul. Normally, we would have to find the rest of the legendary armor before she finishes, but we already have them on Rek. She then fixes the sword in record time. She'll ask us to find her dad to tell him his daughter is waiting. I don't know if we will, but I set off. Before going anywhere, go to the Style Smith. They can make the Sword of Raminas more powerful when they make it better. I don't know how, but I had the 35000 gold to spend, so what else was I gonna buy? Medical Herbs!?
 
Northwest of Gandino is a temple. West of Grandino is a shrine with a scholar, giving us a clue about how to use the floor puzzle in said temple. Step on the four plates until a symbol that corresponds with the legendary gear. In a clockwise form, head, shield, armor, and sword. Using the item on the field reveals most of the symbols, but the helm is a total mystery. It's supposed to be Sun, Cross, Heart, and Lightening, but the translation team got lazy again. Finishing this puzzle causes a giant castle to descend from the heavens and a light to transport us up to it. We then fight the castle.

I don't know what happened here, but it was pretty easy. Bikill, Increase, Magiward, Barrier. It doesn't have high DPS, but why are we fighting a floating castle?

The first thing we see are two monsters who want to kill us. They're stopped by a distant voice that wants to see us, so we make our way to that voice. This castle sure looks a lot like Zenenthia from DQV!. In fact, it is Zenenthia from DQV! A ghost tells us Durren, the boss, kicked all the humans out before capturing it from the Dream World King. In the throne room is Durren, who's glad to see the Legendary Equipment. So glad that he sends him minions after us.
 
First up is the combo of Killer Machine and Land Armor. Land Armor poses no threat, but he will defend his friend often. Killer Machine often gets two attacks in a round. As long as one of those isn't a one-shot to the mages, you should be fine.
The next opponent is Terry! Remember Terry? He's easy and poses less a threat than Land Armor. Has more HP, though. Watch out for his thunder magic.
Finally is Durren himself. His getting two attacks a round can be tricky, but he lacks any real KO power. Annoyingly, he often uses a spell that nullifies all buffs. I had Muri casting Increase and Barb casting Healus every round, but if we were near max HP, feel free to BiKill someone. Unbuffed fighters can use Swordline but use basic attacks if buffed. It'll take two or three rounds for him to kill anyone, even the mages, so just keep your HP up. Durren will die, and give us some plot for the first time in a week! Mudo was just the public display of evil. He's not the great evil we built him up to be, but just a pawn. Him, Glacis, Jamiras, and Durren are merely table setters. When he fades away, Terry will get our attention. He's upset he sucks, but then Muriel will remember something. Tarry is her brother! He'll join the party, and the family will be reunited. Terry's bad, so I'm not using him. The castle will now be empty. Make your way down, and we'll see the castle fill in the gap on the other world's map. For once, it's pretty obvious that's where we're going.

When we enter, we see people roam the halls. Head straight to the King, and he'll give us our next location. More importantly, more plot, too. Everything that was sealed away by those table setters was done so for a reason: to make sure humans can't interfere with the Great Evil's plan. That Great Evil is named Deathtammor. "Death tamer"? Who named this guy? DT lives in the Demon World, a location separate from the Real World and the Dream World. The only way to reach that world is with Pegasus! Fortunately, Pegasus can be found on its own tower only accessible from the well in Zenethia!

I've been wondering what this tower north of the South Gate has been all game! We're heading up a straightforward enough tower with no puzzles. Just don't fall off the unsecured pathways. There's a man in the basement who tells us he's been trying to cure Pegasus but has been unable to. Pegasus has been turned to stone, you see. How have the monster not killed him? There's no way to avoid the lava floors, but there is a secret entrance to the right of the screen, past the pitfalls area. Reach the top of the place, and our horse will begin to glow just as Hassan and Rek did. Before Falshion can merge, three mobs show up to stop us.

This can be quite tough. The genie in the middle loves teamwide ice spells, and the two on either side of him are wildcards. Fragile, but unknown. The guy on the left dies in two rounds, as does the right one. Bikill Hassan, Barrier, and Healus spam solves everything! Afterwards, the horses will merge, and we'll have a proper airship that follows us across both (three) worlds! Return to Zenthia, and the King will give us the ability to go to the demon world. Which I'll do...

...tomorrow!

Even with Terry in the party, there's no new plot in Glandino. You can recruit a monster in Arcbolt if you want. In the prisons is the dinosaur that Terry "slew" and is willing to join us with the Blue Swordsman in tow. Once again, I don't know if I'll be using him, but it's good to have a friend, I guess. I think there may be two more nights of this. I wonder if actual plot can re-sway my opinion that this isn't a very good game? I hope so!