Lia's BK tweets archive - 2020-11-11: Coccolith boss

Lia @liareplaysbk · 09:38 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Let’s go find out whether the other mirror rooms break the emulator, loot a bunch of things, and hopefully defeat the fourth Guardian, assuming this doesn’t turn into Tech Evening.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 10:30 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Apart from the borked aspect ratio, it works fine!
The other room is some mirror weirdness that’s not too hard to navigate.

A zigzag mirror corridor, looking confusing.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 10:30 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

And in things that don’t show on screenshots, there’s a background wobble effect in combat which I think is vertex displacement?
Look at the waviness where the floor meets the wall.

Combat screen in the mirror labyrinth, showing the undulating floor.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 10:46 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Giacomo got there before us (... by walking? Even though he can teleport?) and obviously breaks the seal, which does not require the pendant this time since it isn’t the real thing anymore.

Giacomo: “You’re here. Faster than I thought.”

Giacomo: “Quite clever, wouldn’t you say? Using mirrors to reinforce the seal.”

Calbren: “Stop! You mustn’t break the seal!”

Giacomo with his scythe out, having broken the mirrors in the room.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 10:51 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

The Guardian insults us as always.
It’s not a hard boss: doesn’t hit hard, gets hit hard, has a creepy face when it opens the coffin and some mildly annoying paralysis but that’s it.
It goes down and calls us woe-laden child, so far so classic.

Phantasm, a large, ornate floating coffin surrounded by stained glass butterflies: “Prepare yourselves, pathetic fools!”

Combat turn result screen, showing 600 damage from a rather simple combo.

Combat screen, showing the boss using the “Eyes of Terror” move. The coffin opens, revealing an ornate face with tired eyes.

Phantasm, down on the ground: “Take it now, woe-laden child... Behold the Enlightenment of Malpercio...”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:19 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

The End Magnus starts to unseal itself, which is Bad.
Luckily, Mizuti is INVINCIBLE, according to Mizuti.

Kalas: “I have a real bad feeling about this.”

Great Mizuti: “Leave this to the Great Mizuti!”

Great Mizuti: “No need worry. The Great Mizuti is invicible. Tee hee hee.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:22 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Mizuti starts to... absorb the extra power or something? And instructs us to use the Shadow Magnus we got back in Détourne.
It works! The End Magnus is stable again! Giacomo snatches it and teleports away before the party can react.
HOW IS TELEPORTATION A THING

Great Mizuti: “Kalas, use the Shadow!! Use the Shadow Magnus, Kalas!! Quickly!!”

Gibari, looking at the normally-glowing End Magnus: “Phew, looks like it worked.”

Giacomo, having snatched the thing: “I appreciate your help. And your gift.”

Giacomo teleporting away in a beam of light.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:24 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Ayme teleports in, snatches the pendant from Xelha, teleports out.
Mizuti, reasonably, passes out cold.
The teleportation things annoys me so much, especially when it’s established that the Trio can and will kick our ass? That’d be more coherent.

Xelha, Ayme in front of her: “Oh no!! The pendant!”

Gibari, as everyone gathers around a collapsed Mizuti: “Hey, Mizuti? You all right? Hey!”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:40 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Oh right this is when we first here what the End Magnus actually are. God body parts. Ew.
The naming is one of those things that probably works better in the original Japanese.

Calbren: “They claim that the five End Magnus are the remains of a dead god, taken apart and buried [cont]”

Gibari: “Now it all makes sense. The names of the End Magnus, Ar, Le, Che, Bo...”

Gibari: “They must be named according to each body part. Arms, Legs, Chest, Body...”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:41 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Next stop: the Empire itself, because REVEEEEENGE, and also maybe stopping the Emperor’s ploy to destroy the world.

Kalas: “Giacomo must have headed back to the Empire.”

Gibari: “We need to stomp out Geldoblame’s ambitions.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:48 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Kalas rightfully asks Mizuti who the heck Mizuti is.
Mizuti answers, clearly and truthfully but MAYBE not in a way that’s very believable.

Kalas: “Tell me, Great Mizuti. Who are you anyway?”

Great Mizuti: “Hm? You wish to know who the Great Mizuti be? The Great Mizuti be...”

Great Mizuti: “... Great. Simple. The Great Mizuti also happens to be a Child of the Earth, [cont]”

Great Mizuti: “[cont] here to defeat the wicked god.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:50 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Mizuti’s writing is legitimately funny, except when this isn’t your first playthrough and Kalas’ answer makes the exchange painful instead.

Great Mizuti: “The Great Mizuti sometimes needs to tell lies. But you should never lie to the Great Mizuti. Never.”

Kalas: “Okay, okay, Great Mizuti. We won’t lie to you.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:54 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Mélodia’s good friends with Geldoblame so can infiltrate us without trouble. She’ll “pass the time somehow”, by being the arch-villain I GUESS

Gibari: “So, how are we gonna get inside the Empire?”

Mélodia: “I’ve made quite a number of visits to the Empire. They know my ship and should let us into port easily [enough.]”

Xelha: “Wouldn’t that be dangerous for you, Lady Mélodia?”

Mélodia: “No need to worry. I’ll pass the time somehow, and head back alone.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:55 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

Groan. Those two interacting directly lands very differently when you know what they’re up to.

Mélodia: “There’s nothing dangerous about it.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 11:58 PM · Nov 11, 2020 Permalink

We then get a bunch of standalone scenes, since this is the end of disc 1 and when things are about to get bad very fast.
First, Kalas and Xelha have a... conversation? Ish? She seems to want to say something, then doesn’t.

Xelha: “I’ve been thinking about the prophecy that the old lady told us the other day...”

Xelha: “The white-winged darkness... The long-lost ocean...”

Xelha: “Never mind. It’s not important...”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:03 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

It’s primarily an Obvious Character Relationship Moment.
But reading between the lines with the twist in mind, it also hints at some amount of uncertainty on Kalas’ part, and Xelha’s (misguided but not necessarily foolish per se) hope that he’ll do the right thing.

Xelha: “What will become of us? I... I mean us all, the entire world, of course...”

Kalas: “I don’t even know what’ll happen to me...”

Xelha: “Kalas, let’s do our best... for everyone’s sake... Okay?”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:05 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

But then Kalas goes right back to bullshitting the Spirit / the player / us, so how much is an act, really?

Kalas: “Is there really a traitor among us? Is someone lying?”

Player choice between “I don’t want to believe it, but...” and “No, of course not.”

Kalas: “You think so? Kind of sad, isn’t it.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:08 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

The other Obvious Character Relationship Moment is Savyna and Gibari, primarily discussing strategy.
We’ll manage to stay hidden for about two hours at most, because Lyude’s a tragic doof that the plot has a grudge with, so Gibari needn’t be so concerned, but that’s LATER

Gibari: “Say we manage to sneak into the Empire. ...Then what?”

Savyna: “We need to track down Geldoblame and Giacomo.”

Gibari: “We’ll be on enemy turf, chasing them down while trying to stay hidden.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:10 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

File under “painfully obvious ship but with some legit interesting potential dynamics”

Gibari: “That’ll be tough to pull off. What are the odds of us winning?”

Savyna: “No idea. We’ll just have to try and see.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:14 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

Savyna’s a really interesting version of the Ice Queen archetype IMO (not to be confused with the literal Ice Queen, that’s Xelha, keep track).
She doesn’t talk much, always straight to the point, a bit distant, but mostly she’s pragmatism incarnate at this point. It works well.

Gibari: “By the way, about the lost End Magnus. You think it was one of us that...”

Savyna: “Don’t know. It could be Lyude. Or it could be me. Or it could be you.”

Savyna: “We’ll find out when we get to the Empire.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:20 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

Lyude was still short a few squares in the Tragic Character Bingo, you may now cross off “talking to himself in an empty room” and “ANGST”.
He’s not wrong to be concerned. We’ll be meeting his siblings soon and it won’t go well.

Lyude: “The time has come to return to Alfard...”

Lyude: “Will I be able to confront my own people, the friends and family I grew up with?”

Lyude: “Would I be able to face them in battle, if I had to?”

Lyude, on his knees and holding his head: “Why did it have to come to this?”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:22 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

The Duke’s also pondering. I wonder if BKO answers that particular question.

Calbren: “Does he truly intend to unleash the power of Malpercio in this world?”

Calbren: “That pendant... That must be the one my ancestor left behind with his records...”

Calbren: “How did it come to be in Geldoblame’s possession?”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:23 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

Mizuti is, er, meditating in a dark void somewhere. Sure. It’s Mizuti. Whatever.

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:25 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

Falling rock, ominous voice, definitely not Mélodia, yet another new element called Cor Hydrae, bastion of evil.

“The gate to Bo has been opened. Now, only one door remains...”

“To this world, he will summon the Cor Hydrae, bastion of evil, banished to another dimension.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:28 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

In happier news, the King of Diadem and the Queen of Anuénué are now talking! She wants to wait, he’s concerned they’ll move too late.

Corellia: “War must be avoided at all costs...”

Ladekahn: “But once all the End Magnus are unsealed, [cont]”

Ladekahn: “[cont] and the power of the wicked god is unleashed, it would be too late.”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:31 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

For someone who can kind of see the future, Corellia will be proven painfully wrong, here. And our track record isn’t great thus far.

Corellia: “I suggest we wait just a little longer. If they succeed in recovering the End Magnus, [cont]”

Corellia: “and in stopping Geldoblame’s scheme, it may be unnecessary to act.”

Ladekahn: “But you think they can take care of it alone?”

Corellia: “I have faith in that young man, bonded with the Guardian Spirit...”

Lia @liareplaysbk · 12:33 AM · Nov 12, 2020 Permalink

After all that talking, we get the pointer to Next Island (Mélodia, in her room).
I’ll go back through everything on Mira and possibly do a couple more battles before heading off, so that’ll all be: NEXT TIME.

Calbren: “Mélodia must be waiting for you in her room.”

Calbren: “Go tell her when you’re ready to leave.”