Weretiger?

There tiger!

Ryu and Garr are heading back to the Angel Tower, but something is stopping us as we reach western Wyndia: A royal blockade. Soldiers are investigating the town for black market food deals, so they have the area under lockdown. The citizens of McNeil don't seem to mind, so I wish real people could be as understanding in 2022! So, since we can't travel east, we might as well head into town. Nothing has changed much there in the [insert number] years since we've left, but Garr manages to get us a discount at the inn. A wounded tiger came through the village not too long ago, and now the townsfolk are spooked to go into the woods. Garr promises to get rid of it, and we can use the discount if we want.

But that means we'll need to head to where this (gameplay) began. Cedar Woods has the same enemies as before, and Bunyin has no new dialogue, which is a huge bummer. I was hoping he'd be a bit more important than "named NPC," but nope. Return to our first home that Balio and Sunder burnt down all those years ago. In the distance, we'll hear an animal howl. Ryu will ask Garr to remain back, and our guardian understands that he has a relationship with the weretiger. Ryu knows what's up. As we begin to walk the path around our fallen treehouse, we can see Rei sitting there in the corner. He's shocked and glad to see us, and it seems our fight in the Ogre Woods knocked some sense into him. Ever since the night the evilcorns threw him into the stream around the tree, he's been out for revenge. He changed into a weretiger, a power hinted at when Bunyin had him attack the Nue alone, and has been attacking people in Sin City. Despite us being here, Rei doesn't think he can end his siege. He transforms again and leaps away.

Return to the town, and we can see Loki is knocked down. Why is Loki here, and why does he add nothing to this? Everyone tells us that the tiger went off to McNeil Manor. An old man wonders if that was Rei? Using that as a clue, we head to the manor again. As we approach, though, a group of soldiers come down the road with the unmistakable figure of McNeil. The mayor is bound and in the middle of them. What's really odd is there's a blonde woman in a pink outfit with a wing like cape beside them. As Garr steps forward, they greet each other. It's Nina! She's arresting McNeil because he's been working with the mob from Sin City, finally putting that plot thread to an end. Garr fills her in on Ryu's past and what we've done since he woke up, and she gets down to business. If we know about the mob leader, it's her job to continue the investigation. She joins the team, and we need to go to Sin City! Plus, she wants to arrest the leader and not let Rei kill him.

As we enter the gate, Garr smells blood. Everyone we pass is either terrified or knocked out, and the shops are unmanned and useless. I was hoping to get 10000 zenni, but that'll have to wait. Follow the path all the way to the back. Past the bridge will be a dead guy, and everyone on this side is working with the mob. Inside the HQ is a man who tells us the leader ran away, and he should be at the northern checkpoint by now. There's a picture in the chest, but I didn't look into it. Keep going north (westish), and we'll reach the end of the known world. A man in purple is carrying a rucksack and approaching the gate. As he does, the weretigered Rei jumps behind him. He transforms back into his humanoid form, and the two start a conversation. Ryu catches up, and he and Rei start talking about revenge. As they do, Mikba transforms into a giant ogre and one shots Rei. We have to form a party, with the dead Rei in it, and I'm sure you already figured out who my third was.

Revive Rei, and he'll go into weretiger form automatically. This acts like the berserk status, so you can't control him. He does 200 damage a turn, so it's pretty worth it. The best strategy is to cast slow on Mikba. He's already sluggish, but that's the additional trick we need to make sure all three of us get an EXtra turn, doubling our DPS. But be careful with attacking. Mikba can counter, and it's usually with the Lucky Strike move. This hit Rei twice, killing him both times. Even stealing can trigger a counter... My strat was to use Focus with Ryu and attack with Combo Attack. I did over 700 damage with this, but he still lived. Nina and Rei can supplement/heal the DPS. Because our opponent is so slow and lacks any teamwide moves, it's a pretty easy battle, albeit a bit daunting.

Afterwards, Makba makes the assertion that revenge has already been gotten. He knows that Ryu killed Balio and Sunder years ago. This shocks Rei. He wonders what he's been doing all these years and further questions himself. He knew he could never take a life and expected a one-on-one fight between himself and Makba to end in failure. Mikba mentions that the powers he and Rei share are a gift from God, and should be embraced. As he finishes, he teleports away. Garr joins us and talks about God and Dragon War. If Dragons used their power for the sake of using their power, then Garr wouldn't have any regrets about killing them, even if Ryu was like that. Nina gets annoyed, reminding Garr that Ryu isn't an evil dragon. Rei, meanwhile, decides that he wants to meet God to ask why he was given these powers. We're asked to make a team of three, and we head back to Wyndia!

As we get to the path outside the city, Nina informs us that we'll need a pass to reach the Angel Tower, just as before. The King kinda hates Ryu, though, so she doesn't think he'll be as welcoming. The King blames Ryu for Nina's going missing again, you see. However, if we save the country for the second time in as many days, he'll surely have to let us pass! And to do that, we'll need to fix the mutant plants and the Plant again... But we'll do that...

...tomorrow!

The village of McNeil is pretty fine with their mayor-for-life going away. They're mostly wondering if their name will change once the Kingdom stops running it. We can also meet the kids we played hide-n-seek with long ago, but they'll go hiding throughout the entire Kingdom this time. Sure seems like a good choice for adults to do... I wonder if we'll see Momo or Pico tomorrow. And does this mean Teepo is alive somewhere?