Dominion of Hate

Ya know what I hate? Football. 

We've arrived at the final chapter. We can select one of the eight characters we've already played as, but there are only two pathways regardless. Oersted gets his own separate thing, but it's wildly different. The true ending is from the other seven. I'm a basic boy and chose the guy everyone else on YouTube picked, which was disappointing. But I can't go back, so let's see what the Sundown Kid does at the end. 

We start with him leaving Success, having just beaten Mad Dog. A voice calls out through time, telling him, "It's time." Those who still "embrace the delusion of humanity" are invited to "learn the truth." Sundown is warped away, with his horse still riding on. Something similar happens to everyone else. 

But Sundown appears outside Hash's hut all alone. Never one to linger, Sundown starts to figure out what's happened. From here, the game goes one of three more ways. Find the other six characters, if you want, and then fight Odio/Oersted. Each character is located in an area we visited during Oersted's chapter. Some are on the mountain, others in the forest, and two are in towns or the castle. Each character also has a unique dungeon, which houses their ultimate weapons and some powerful armor. And the experience is great! If you run through everyone's area, you'll have no problem getting at least five characters to level sixteen, or Cube a considerable amount of HP upgrades. 

There's no story here, but you can see the king, Straybow, and Alicia in Akira's dungeon. Cube's is a puzzle that confused me, and the others were based on their chapter's unique mechanics. It's all pretty fun, though the lack of story can feel like busy work. 
Eventually, though, you're gonna need to go back through the demon's castle. It's the same as before, filled with the same (empty) chests/skeletons, and scenery. Your team, Sundown, Akira, Yuan, and Massau (sorry, Pogo), for me, enter the statue room. They recognize that they've seen this O/Dio before. Beyond that is the secret passage, the long hallway, and the cliff statue. 

Nothing happens when we arrive or inspect the statue, but leaving triggers the voice who summoned us here to yell at us. Oersted steps forth, and we begin battle! 

Why is it a mole? Oersted has a mole on his forehead, apparently, because we're up against floating lips, eyes, and a mole. Take out pieces one by one. Nothing is scary, but I hope you brought a healer anyway. It's a long battle! Attacking the mole does one damage, and it counters with a heal to all Dio forms on the field. You can kill it with proper debuffs and a strong enough attack (like the Parasite Sword) can take him out. It might be wise to suffer the long way, because leaving the mole last brings the true final boss. 

Pure Odio is no joke. He moves so fast, hits hard, hits wide, and frequently stuns people. Ariel gear prevents stuns, so spread that around. I'm glad I brought three people with heals, even if only one can be used on someone else. Cancel Ray is terrifying. I learned that the Parasite Sword deals 999 damage in this battle! 

Regardless of how you win, Oersted drops before us and pleads for us to end him. This path has two endings, but only one is called the true ending. Don't kill him. The team will walk away, and the rest of the playable cast catches up to us in the statue room. Oersted does too, adamant that this isn't over. He yells that "from the distant past to the distant future. In times of peace or war. No matter the place, no matter the time, no matter the reason, hate will always be there. Each character then has a one-on-one fight against their O/Dio. Dio hasn't grown any, but we have. All these are jokes, but they make for a great epilogue. 

Oersted loses again, not understanding how. Your chosen main character will say something pertaining to why they fight and haven't given up hope. This makes Oersted realize all his follies. He tells us that everyone will return to their own times, but warns us that he will always be there. Hate will always be there. Odio means hate in Romance languages... His words are correct, and we all return home. 

We see each character get a run ending. It's been a rough night, and I can't enjoy anything, but Gori having five kids with his monkey harem was funny. Sundown didn't appear to change much. Masaru went on a trip. Odoro is still running through fields, although this can change depending on how you answered Ryojo's question. Ruan has a whole school. I don't remember Akira. 

The ending scenes have our cast running towards the setting Sun with past battles superseding between them. The final look is all seven of them standing over Oersted's forest somehow. Whatever, it's the end. It doesn't need to make sense. Live a Live was fun, and I see why it got a remaster. Details tomorrow!