Lia's BK tweets archive - 2021-09-05: Heughes, Cujam, Naos tragedy

Lia @liareplaysbk · 10:13 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

Today we go kick Heughes’ ass, hopefully?
I did a quick round around the islands and there’s nothing new, so, onwards.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:08 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

The entrance to the Boss Arena is a new passage to the side that we couldn’t access before. I think? I’ll have to check.

Nunki Valley, Sagi standing by an opening in the rockface on the left.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:10 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

Heughes is a VILLAIN with a VILLAIN HAIRCUT and a BADASS VILLAIN SCAR and a DEEP VILLAIN VOICE and a lot of VILLAIN LINES.

Sagi: “Heughes!! What do you think you’re doing?!”

Heughes: “What does it look like? I’m removing what’s in the way. Makes for a good show, doesn’t it?”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:13 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

Obviously he calls for his turboweapon, which comes airlifted but is way more compact than the ones we’ve seen so far. Couldn’t we rush him BEFORE he got the thing?
“Think your dying thoughts” is a terrible line. Back to Villain School for you, Heughes.

Heughes: “You. Bring me my machina arma.”

Heughes standing there as a weird ship hovers around the map.

Heughes, now with winglets and a giant arm-mounted gun: “Now! Get ready to think your dying thoughts!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:20 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

After quite a few rounds of getting near-one-hit-KO’d, and doing single-digit damage, we are once more forced to lose the fight.
Sagi’s getting way more upset - and dangerously reckless! - than usual. Seems that the burning forest is a step too far?

Sagi crashing on the ground after getting hit by a blast.

Guillo, looking down: “He’s too powerful...”

Sagi: “Don’t you get it?! That’s why we have to stop him!”

Sagi: “Save the whining for another time! Get up Guillo, and FIGHT!”
Dialog choice: “Sagi, enough!” and “This time we’ll get him!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:23 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

Drama drama drama oh hi Shanath it’s been a minute, you’re still a jerk I see

Sagi: “If we let him go, the damage won’t stop with this valley!”

Heughes: “Have you said your fill? I’d like to get this over with.”

Shanath: “What’s taking so long? Lord Baelheit is waiting for your report!”

Shanath: “Hm? ...Ah, what have we here? If it isn’t Sagi.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:31 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

He’s so... the French word is “mielleux”, which the dictionary tells me translates to “dulcet” and “unctuous” but that doesn’t carry nearly as much contempt. He’s TOO polite and you can tell it’s an insult.

Shanath: “Have you been pestering Heughes?”

Shanath: “Hmph, your timing couldn’t be better. As it happens, I’ve brought something fun for you to play with.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:34 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

Some really good writing and VO in few lines there.
He gets on the phone and goes from polite to angry screaming (the caps) back to polite, which is... chilling.
Heughes is clearly not in the know. There’s a lot there.

Shanath: “It’s me. Be a dear and drop the cargo over Nunki Valley.”

Shanath: “No, that’s all right. I’M giving you clearance. JUST... DO IT... if you would.”

Shanath: “Stand back and see for yourself. Mm hm hm!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:36 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

Special delivery of a second, actual boss battle! It looks different, Shanath promptly explains why, convenient. I was wondering how they were going to get one of those in this time.
Again Heughes isn’t in on the plan...

A large monster being carried in by an airship.

Heughes: “An afterling?! What are you thinking, Shanath?”

Shanath: “This one’s an unexpected acquisition—a mongrel! Its host was a wild animal.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:39 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

... and neither is Baelheit. INTERESTING. How rogue is Shanath really?
Also, what logic? Heughes could clearly wipe us out?
Anyhow, fight time!

Shanath: “Why send the precious creature off when we could use it to take care of Sagi first?”

Heughes: “Does Lord Baelheit know about this?”

Shanath: “No. Why trouble him? We’re killing two birds with one stone.”

Guillo: “It seems this gremlin wants a little attention!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:44 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

Either I’m over-leveled or the fight isn’t especially tough. The thing goes splat, Sagi’s head starts hurting, Guillo boots up Murdermode, and... runs out of battery? Unclear, but bad news for Milly.

Guillo: “Sagi, hang on! It’s almost over!”

Milly, grabbed by the afterling and dangling upside-down from its maw: “Aaaaaaah!!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:47 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

Those “combat” cutscenes try to actually do camera work and action scenes, but with clunky animations and coarse models it has... not aged well. The puppet theater of regular chats holds up better, IMO.
Anyhow, Sagi somehow stabs the thing dead.

Guillo: “Kill it, Sagi! You’re the only one who can do it now!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:50 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

Milly’s fine so that was gratuitous, and heeeeere we go again.
There’s a weird black halo around Sagi - which we don’t usually see, because exploration camera - that looks awful similar to the one of the afterlings turning. HMMMM.

Sagi, holding Milly up: “Milly... wake up!”

Milly: “Nngh... I’m all right. What about you? You look so pale...”

Sagi: “My head hurts a little... that’s all. Uh, urrrg...”

Sagi: “Uahh, uhh... Yehhh, ah, yeaaaaaargh!!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:52 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

Right, where were w- getting blasted by a magic beam? HOW ARE WE NOT MEGA-DEAD

Pieda: “We’re no match for Wiseman’s power... are we.”

Thoran: “What now, Seph? Do we back down?”

Seph: “Let’s go back to Naos. We’ll have to think of something else.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:53 PM · Sep 04, 2021 Permalink

We can even reenter the ominous mansion! What did Wiseman do then, just zap until we said “No more, fine, we’ll let your do a cult”?

Sagi standing in dark purple fog at the top of a stairwell.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:10 AM · Sep 05, 2021 Permalink

Back to Naos, then. Oh... oh no that’s not good

Thoran: “Ho hum, I am beat. There’s no place like home, even a dingy home like this.”

Ven: “It’s weird, though. No one’s around. They must be down below.”

Pieda: “That’s strange. Let’s go down and look.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:13 AM · Sep 05, 2021 Permalink

[cw: death, technically there are corpses on-screen, cartoon as they are]
Quis and Seph were about to marry so I wrongly called that Seph wouldn’t make it back from Cujam. Instead we get a Standard Fridging. Bleh.
Healing magic does nothing.

Pieda: “It’s no use... Her heart’s strength is slowly giving out.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:15 AM · Sep 05, 2021 Permalink

[cw: death]
Of course it was Wiseman, let’s not even ask how the timing worked here. RIP Quis, we hardly knew ye.

Quis: “We all fought the best we could. But it was useless... He killed anyone who resisted.”

Quis: “Seph... I held on for you... I held on... but I, but I....”

Seph: “It’s all right. You don’t have to fight anymore. We’ll use our magic and fix you right up.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:18 AM · Sep 05, 2021 Permalink

It had to come to this because we’re approaching the end of act 1 of a JRPG and that means things have to hit rock bottom, that’s why.
Thoran has to be talked down from fiery anger, and we have a new place to go to.

Pieda: “Why... Why did it have to come to this...”

Thoran: “I’m going back. I don’t care if it KILLS me, I’m taking Wiseman down!”

Seph: “We’re going to Zaurak. Do what you have to do to get ready.”

Pieda: “Zaurak? But that’s... Seph, you can’t be serious!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:21 AM · Sep 05, 2021 Permalink

It’s very This Game to shine a spotlight on exactly what it’s not telling you, and then STILL NOT TELL YOU. We’ll excuse Seph because he’s grieving I guess

Seph: “Oh, I am. We can’t contend with Wiseman unless we have their help.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:23 AM · Sep 05, 2021 Permalink

[cw: death]
This is GRIM. Literally everyone. Even the kids.
The girl perched there had a sidequest for us, I guess that’s why she gets to stick around as a ghost.

Disembodied Man: “Everyone... They’re all dead.”

Inspecting one of the bodies on the floor: “No response...”

Little Girl, now a ghost: “My clothes don’t smell funny anymore. Thank you!”

Little Girl: “But wait, that’s odd... I don’t smell anything at all now. Did I mess up my nose after all?”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:25 AM · Sep 05, 2021 Permalink

We catch up with Seph upstairs, and the clouds part to reveal a new dot on the map, Zaurak Keep. We’ll see about that next time, then.

Area map for the Unknown Lands, showing Zaurak Keep being added.