We ask Paulina if she can take us to Cinder. She responds that she can't, but we have no other options. Crisbell wonders if Paulina is sure, and it turns out Paulina can! As before, we take the Statue of Liberty across the ocean to the volcanic nation of Cinder. En route, we can speak to our team. Wilhelm is dealing with the fallout of his former students and doesn't want to talk. We can ask Cristopher and K if we did the right thing, and K states that what is right means nothing. Rightness is based off of view. From our point of view, we stopped a revived matriarch from reclaiming her hard work. But from her's, we killed someone who just wanted to live again. She had the right to exist, so in a way, we're the bad guys.
Paulina needs a nap because of the long journey, but we're here. Cinder looks rough now, and it's totally gone in the future. The forge, which this nation is known for, has been shut down, but the air is still dirty. As we enter, a girl named Fira gives us a lantern. Her mother, Firega, explains that Cinder does the Chinese Lantern Festival. Fira is excited and lets her lantern go early, and we see she wasn't alone. Crisbell asks why there are also so many, and Firega says this year has been bad. Glass Lung is killing a lot of people. Further down the road, we see the Volcano Sisters. But they're helping a sick Cinderain? They give a very ill man, or goblin, some medicine, and he gets better. And then he calls them "princesses"? Who are our long term rivals? They teleport away, and K senses they may have gone to the west.
A meeting is taking place here. Everyone is waiting for First Citizen Azufra. He's a hero from the revolution a few years ago. What was this revolution against if the royalty still walks around with power or reverence? He talks about the woes but is still hopeful. When he's done, everyone lets their lantern fly. Like so many things in the game, it's very picturesque. And then they explode. The lanterns descend, and more explosions rock the area. Feral goblins, Cinderains who've gone mad, join us to make everything worse. In the back, near the house, we see Kari teleport in. She does some stuff, and a bomb pedestal appears in the middle of the patio. The party notices it, but they can't defuse it. Everyone will die! Crisbell, being a benevolent mage with time powers, turns super saiyan. Her powers act on their own, and she's brought the area into a time bubble. Everything is still except for her. We can either regress or progress the bomb with her localized powers. I figured blowing it would be bad, so I returned the metal parts to scraps. But the arial bombs aren't gone. What's worse is the smoke is toxic. And Cristopher inhaled all of it. Wilhelm guides us to higher ground.
We're in a cemetery now, and a girl who likes green says she can save our friend, "or comrade, or whatever." Her manner of speaking is rather roundabout. Anyway, meet Zas! We follow her into her house, and she gives Topher some cough medicine. It eases the symptoms, but Topher has Glass Lung. We ask Zas if there's any cure for Glass Lung, but there isn't. However, Zas knows that someone in the former capital of Cinder, Ceneza, is rumored to be testing some. She joins us, and Wilhelm stays back to take care of Cristopher. You can switch K with Wilhelm if you don't like K's skills, but I decided to test him out. I shouldn't have...
Cenisa is to the west. As we enter, Zas tells us her dad once worked out of these ruins before he died. She's always wanted to look for his lab, but the monsters make this a problem. There are sick Cinderains here, so I think there's some oversight going on. Speaking of the sick, two feral goblins are attacking one! This is a tutorial battle where we learn that Zas uses a roulette wheel for her skills. You'd think it would be a random chance, but the pointer always ended where I pressed the button to trigger it. She has access to elemental magic and healing but is painfully slow. She has half the speed Crisbell and K have.
Ceniza has us opening doors to make shortcuts. There are also lava rivers going through. We can make stasis bridges, but be careful when you do. Getting too close will result in everyone dying. There are also a few pillars we can alter for treasures. Along the way, we fight goblins, their mages, literal firebirds, and fire slimes. K and Zas aren't great, so these are harder than they should be, but the marbel rewards are amazing! Before talking to the two people in the courtyard at the end, I went back to Cinder and upgraded some weapons. I don't think it helped?
Two people are at the end of the road. We meet the healer, Orola. Zas asks if Orola has medicine, but she's all out, and it can't be easily restocked. Zas also knows the other woman and calls her Lau. Lau gets mad and demands to be referred to as Mother Superior. I haven't seen a cathedral yet... Before we can get any deeper into this, Azufra and his retinue show up. They're here to arrest Orola for being a rebel. Mother Superior tries to tell them that every one is innocent, but the first citizen doesn't listen. And he plans to take us in, too. A burst of fire sparks between us. The Volcano Sisters are here. We have a meeting with the Empress, so Azufra can't take us. But we defend ourselves!
I don't understand what happened. This was a battle that felt impossible, and the internet tells me I'm not the only one who felt this. It took me three tries, and the sisters split apart their second turn on two of them. Their first act was to nullify Cris' time crystals. Splitting up gives them two attacks per round, and they both love to spam AoE attacks. I couldn't figure out any tricks. The third time I tried, the Sisters didn't split for several rounds. I was able to dish out a lot of damage to both of them at the same time and make their eventual split quicker to make moot. I don't feel like I won...
The princesses are mad and want to know where their third is. Kari answers and tells Azufra he'll get nothing. The sisters teleport away, and Kari summons a shadow to kidnap Orola and Mother Superior. But we're still wanting answers. Fortunately, Azufra is willing to listen. Zas manages to make a deal with him. We'll save the two girls, and he lets us go. I think there was more to it than that, but it all works! We're taken to the entrance, head to the world's map, save, and we'll fix Cristopher...
...tomorrow!
Hopefully... My team needs him!
No comments:
Post a Comment