[Let's Play] Touhou Gensoumaroku: The Devil of Decline~Matsuri Expansion!

[Validon98]

We're back in business with Devil of Decline! It's been a while since we last delved into the World of Chaos, and now we're going to continue on with the expansion. If you're new or old to this LP and want to see the first thread, it's here. I am setting up a new thread because the old one's locked, and I'm not going to bother with administrator contacting and whatnot. Considering this is the expansion, I might as well have it in a separate thread anyways to separate it from the main game.

Fourth Stratum- Part 3: Familiar Faces, Unfamiliar Places

For those who might not remember, we were about to enter a place known as the Institute of Magic. Why we need to go through it to find Mima, I don't know, but let's get it over with.



The puzzle of this place is these fans. It's less of a puzzle and more of a "unlock shortcuts and such so you can navigate the place better" sort of thing.



Who's in charge of this place, Lezard Valeth? Well, when I see homoculus-like things in jars, he's the first person to come to mind.



That weird plant thing (which ChefMKT endearing called a phallic plant, for... reasons) is a Titan Arum. It uses some dangerous Earth attacks, but is weak to Fire and I think Slash. It's recruitable, and you WANT it.



Okay, the thing in front is a Mahakora, which uses Slash and Pierce attacks which all hurt. In the back we have Demon Sorcerers (although that could be translated as Magic Sorcerers as well). They use debuffs on you like it was the only thing they know how to do. I don't know what they're weak to, I could guess it is Dark.



Up on top is a Death Ghost. It seems to not like getting hit, and in addition to that it likes using Blind. Of course, it's weak to Light. Maybe Fire too.



Those are Gaias. They're weak to Electric. Very weak. Otoha, do your thing.



The Vanguard Demons use those Demon skills and are dangerously annoying. They are weak to Light, as is the norm.



The Gnome King is EXTREMELY dangerous. It's weak to Electric, but it has powerful Earth attacks. Be careful or just plain out run.



Why...



Hey, it's Moonbitch! Or Yorihime. Whichever one works for you.



Well, she recognizes us. That's a start, I guess.



Why are you here, though? The same reason as Toyohime, I assume?



Angra is, of course, confused of the whole Lunarian thing.




Whoa whoa whoa, what the hell are you doing?



The hell!? Hey, we're not the ones who caused this incident, damn it! Don't pull your cheaty shit from Silent Sinner in Blue. We should have won those fights, damn it! You're not allowed to call on the power of the gods like that!



Look, I know we might have the one here who caused the previous incident, we have nothing to do with this!



What the hell is your problem? Are you really going to burn us alive!?



Help us, Eirin!



There's that exclamation point I missed earlier!



It's exactly who you think it is, Yorihime.



Yup, it's Eirin.



You haven't seen each other in 1300 years? Wow, that's a long time...



I guess she's glad to see Eirin again.



Yeah, why the hell did you attack us?



And they all comment on how much of a nag Eirin is. Uh...



You pissed her off, Meiling.



Holy shit, Eirin!



I guess we need to find a replacement for our main party member...
Also, Yorihime is confused by the nature of this incident.



Eirin thankfully explains that it isn't our fault. Well, it's partially Angra's fault, but I'm letting that slide because Mima's the one who carried out the actual plan.



Could you let us out, please?



Thank you.



She asks if Eirin will return to the moon with her after this.



Sorry, no can do.



However, Yorihime offers her assistance, which we accept! In terms of her skills, she has Poison Zapper (Medium power column attack that inflicts poison) and Skewer (Medium power penetrating attack). She also increases PATK by 5. I'm not going to use her yet, but I will eventually due to her self-buff Advent God which she gets at level 16.



This arrow points left. So, there's a bookshelf to the left that lets me out, right?



What? Then how do I get out?



Through a secret passage that starts here. The first time I played this, I couldn't find this. I did after a while, but that was annoying...



Back to the surface!



Whoa, this door is big. It also looks like the entrance to the Sinister Castle of Chaos. Strange...



Look familiar, Angra?




Apparently this is a part of the Sinister Castle of Chaos that she never made. So, Mima made this?



I guess if we go in here, we might find Mima.



Angra is pissed, however, that Mima was able to do this. Calm down, Angra! She might have taken your ideas, but that's nothing to be upset about, demon pride or not.



We can't get in, however. It's sealed shut. Well, there's only one last place to go: That boss icon from earlier.



Aha, so it did lead to one of the Clock Towers!



Yeah, it seems to extend down here. If we go in, we might find something to do with Mima.



Who's there?



Sara!? What the hell are you doing here?




Of course, she needs to tell everyone else who she is and what the hell she's doing. Apparently she's guarding this Clock Tower.



So, what's going on here?



Sara explained that she was guarding it for someone related to the incident, or something like that.



Oops, you weren't supposed to reveal that to us,



Reimu called Sara a useless guard or something like that, which pisses off Meiling. Really, we should lay off the fighting!



However, we need to get past, Sara, so let us through!



I guess not.



Sara is our first boss for the expansion, and she's tough if you don't know how she works. When you use an element, she will use...



Gatekeeper. It causes the element you used to be weakened and the opposite to be strengthened. Using the Oshirasawa's effect that blocks field effects can stop this, which is a good thing. She can also use Jammer, but the Oshirasawa's effect will block that too. The idea is to inflict an elemental weakness effect on her, such as with Special Missile or Tongue if you have either. Since I don't have the G-3, Rumia's Tongue will have to do. After that, you can blow her out of the water.



Or we can die. Yeah, make sure that the Oshirasawa's field effect goes first with Fast Strike.



There's that weakness effect!



And here is what Suika+Ice Sword+Tongue+Knockout in Three Steps can do to Sara.



Well, that went better than expected. I thought it would be harder than that...



Apparently she's about to pass out.



And she disappears like the other guardians.



Alright, we have access to the Clock Tower!



Whoa, that's a big picture of Mima. But can we get through the Clock Tower of the End and it's extremely tough enemies? Will we find Mima at the top? How bad could things possibly get? That's for next time.

Summary:

Treasure: Crystal Skull, Gold, Mercury Drop, Ancient Disk, Thunder Crystal, Quo Vadis (drop, Angra), Rivalry Staff, Magic Light Stone, Staff of Heaven and Earth (Patchouli), Keystone (drop), Emerald, Genie Stone

Skills: Bandit Pursuit (Suika), Pole Swing (Angra), Leg Sweep (Angra), Cosmic Liner (240 power Mystic spell, PC-98 Marisa), Shockwave (Suika), Colosseo (field effect that prevents all healing, Oshirasama)

Passives: -25% Shield Skill costs (Alice), +5 Blind success rate (Rumia)

Recipes: Keen, Ultimate Ying-Yang Orb, Trapezohedron, Ostracon, Orichalcum Shard, Adamantite Shard

TPKs: 2 this update, 3 overall
Frustration: Not too bad, but the Clock Tower is painful, if memory serves me right.

[Validon98]

Clock Tower of the End EX- Part 1: Just Passing By

So, apparently I misread Sara's dialogue when she was talking about what was in the tower. She said the mechanism to open that door at the Sinister Castle of Chaos was here. So, let's find that mechanism so we can reenter the Sinister Castle of Chaos!



This is the shortcut to the end, but of course we can't access that yet.



As for this statue here...



Pushing it turns the whole area red. If you try to leave the way you entered...



You end up here instead. The gimmick is to find the statues and push them in order to change the rooms. It's less complicated than it sounds.



I told you back in GoS the Unseelie Courts would return! This time they're actually not really dangerous. Mokou can shield the others from their attacks. They're weak to Light. They're also recruitable, to my own surprise, and they have some pretty good skills. If I get one of them, they're replacing Suwako, because they have Power Increase and still have Refresh and add Elixir on top of it. The Hell Tower in the front is weak to Water and uses stuff like Benevolence Wall and Professional Vacation to attract your attacks. It's like a turtle, in other words. It can also debuff you if it feels like it.



Okay, what the hell?



And now for the most annoying enemy here, the Scarlet Peris! They are technically birds, so Electric and Pierce work, but they use Fire Chase and can also inflict Berserk. Not fun. The Red Water Flea at the bottom is weak to nothing as far as I know and  I think it inflicts Blind.



That thing in the middle is a Taromati. It can inflict Silence, but otherwise its not that bad.



Now the Furesuberugu, I remember! It's weak to Pierce, it's a giant for whatever reason, and it can inflict Control on your party members. Besides that, it acts like a bird would.



Finally we have a Master Maid. Weak to Dark, and it uses physical attacks that matter nothing when you have Mokou spamming Shield Wall.



Not too bad of an area, in hindsight, besides the Scarlet Peris and the bird things with the long katakana names.



Hey, it's the mechanism Sara mentioned! We're in business now!



Yeah, Angra, it's what she was talking about. So let's pull it!



Not a mysterious voice from nowhere!



Louise! I know it's supposed to be "Luize," but really, is that what you think it would be?
Anyways, Angra is wondering if she is a demon.



Yeah, uh, what are you doing here?



I don't know what she's asking here, but I believe at some point she says she's just a passerby. Huh. Also, I think she wants to fight us, for some reason.



You really want to take her up on that? Okay then. Demons are weird like that, I suppose.



So, uh, let's fight, I guess!



I think we can beat you. Maybe.



Oh boy, Louise. She has no weaknesses, but you want to be careful. If you have Shihuza, then you'll be doing well because you'll be able to get Foreign Blast on your party. You can try the same tactic as with Sara, but whenever you hit with an element, Louise will make herself more resistant to that element. Essentially, you have to be spamming Tongue in order to keep it on. Louise has Breathless Strikes and also uses the same elemental spells that Kaguya has (like Disintegrate and Mega Stroke). She also has...




That thing. I don't know what the hell it's called, but it HURTS. It's entirely random and it's a party wipe when she uses it. So, essentially, this fight boils down to the RNG being nice to you. Fun!



It wasn't nice that time.



It was this time, though!



She didn't tell them her name is Louise before, so she's doing it now.



So, uh, can we flip the switch?
She actually lets us do that! Why, thank you, Louise! Very kind of you.



So, uh, what about Mima? Do you know her? Is she why you're here?



Apparently Mima isn't her master! That's strange... if this is her tower, then why be here if she wasn't your master? Something strange is afoot...



Looks like she's about to tell us who her master is!



The hell!? Louise!? That Rainbow Ray came out of nowhere!



Who's there?



Show yourself, damn it!




Mima! What the hell did you Rainbow Ray Louise for?



She's surprised that Angra's okay. Well, she has friends in high places in Gensokyo, namely Byakuren, but Reimu as well.



Let's settle this, then!
Mima lists off who we all are, except...



She doesn't know who Meiling is.



Poor Meiling. It's okay, I still like you.



Isohime!?



Mima was the one who put you in the box? So she's essentially been observing the original incident, then!



Holy shit!?



Well, uh, that happened...



Mima then decides not to fight us, and teleports away by... blowing herself up? Okay then...



Angra, of course, is furious that she couldn't get revenge here. Well, it's better this way, because we need to recover from that last fight.



Now we can access the Sinister Castle of Chaos! But what surprises does Mima have in store for us there? Who is Louise's master? How frustrated can I get? Find out next time when we experience some of the toughest boss fights in the game in order to progress with the plot.

Summary:

Treasure: Orichalcum, Night Veil, Crystal Skull (drop x2), Gold, Mercury Drop, Beautiful Bracelet, Light Crystal, Electric Crystal, Magic Illusion Stone, Earth Crystal

Skills: Dark Web (90 power all-targeting Dark spell, Rumia), Advent God (raises all stats on self by a large amount, Yorihime), Stun Grenade (Area attack that blinds enemies, Yorihime)

Passives: -25% cost of Fire, Water, Earth, and Electric skills (Kaguya), 25% resistance to Blunt (Mining Village)

Recipes: Large Mage Ribbon, Master Sheath, Oversoul Ring, Death Holder, Dark Blue Ribbon, Shangri-la Crown, Vampire Lord Ring, Ring of the Twelve Winged Angels, Prince Demon Heart, Rare Platinum Jewel

TPKs: 1 this update, 4 overall
Frustration: If you thought that was bad, just wait for the next area. Ahahahahaha...

[Serela]

Yorihime is so terrible. Advent God is barely any better then all the other All Up buffs and her other moves are boring, her stat growths are rock bottom, and her atk bonus never gets very good to offset the low normal stats. If you want an All-Up buff more powerful then Dragon Power (dragon maid has somewhat better stats but also carries nice passives and it can target anyone instead of one person) then you can input the Lemon-chan+Melon-chan code. Granted, Lemon-chan doesn't learn Brave Soul until lv80...

Toyohime has an alright moveset though, I suppose. Still rock bottom stats which is disappointing, but...

[Validon98]

I must have been thinking of the wrong all-up buff... excuse me while I kick myself in the face repeatedly.
Also, THIS BOSS WILL NOT DIE!!!

Spoiler:

The second one, for those who know. Mima will be a cakewalk in comparison, I swear...

EDIT: Yeah, this is going to take some SERIOUS grinding. As in ChefMKT levels of grinding, which worries me because I hate overgrinding. It takes way too long, and it's all for what? One fight? *sigh*
So, basically, don't expect the next update for some time.

SECOND EDIT: Never mind, I didn't have to do as much grinding as I expected. Oh well! Time for updating~!

[Validon98]

Fourth Stratum- Part 4: Truths, Lies, and Violence

This is the point where the expansion gets good, in my opinion. Some tough bosses, some good areas, and some actual story progression! Hell yeah! Before that, though, let's grind!



The Unseelie Court is a shikigami I didn't get the first time, but is good regardless. It starts out with Refresh and Elixir. As in the two best healing spells in the game. Yeah, and that's just the beginning. It also offers 25% resistance to Permanents to start with. Angra, she's going on you.



I missed enemy encounters here! The Fallen Ace is weak to Dark but packs a serious punch. Be careful. Also, the Red Water Flea is actually weak to Electric. I didn't know that before.



The Titan Arum here is the ultimate Earth shikigami, which isn't saying much. However, it is the first of the ultimate elemental shikigami we get, so we take what we can get. It starts with Supergravity and Poison Hand, so it's good for physical and magical attackers. It also offers 75% resistance to Earth, 25% weakness to Electric, 50 Earth land regen, and a 25% boost to Earth elemental attacks. Patchy, it's all yours.



So, inside that door we opened earlier is a healing circle and a closed door. This looks bad.



This is a very dark room.



What the hell!? We're locked in!



So, what the hell do we do now? We're trapped!



What the hell? An audience of demons? This can't be good...



Demons are everywhere! We couldn't run even if we tried!



Who's there?



Yumeko!? It's been one Mystic Square character after another... damn it!



She says this place is the "Demon Arena." Okay, sure. You made an arena and threw it under Angra's castle. I don't think she likes that.



Apparently this was rumored about in Angra's part of Makai, but she never knew it actually existed. Well, where else would demons enjoy bloodsport? Though that raises disturbing thoughts about what's about to happen to us...



So what do you want?



Okay, you can tell us your name. Though I already know it.



Are you related to Mima in any way? Though I assume since that tower had the mechanism to open this, I would assume so.



Wait, you're not related to her? Apparently there's some bad blood between them.



Wait, Mima's not the real culprit?! That lying bitch! She also says that of course Mima's not really a demon either. Well, I for one knew that just from knowing Touhou in general. >.>



She's about to tell us the true culprit's name!



Shinki!? What the hell? Why would Shinki want to destroy Gensokyo? I thought she just wanted it to act as a tourist destination!



This comes as a massive surprise to Angra.



Angra knows exactly who Shinki is. The creator of Makai. The whole reason Angra exists in the first place. Well, I hope beating up your creator isn't sacrilegious or something, because I'm pretty sure we're going to have to.



Now that we have our true enemy known, let's go!



Of course, Yumeko wants us to fight until we fall from exhaustion. Fun!



Bring it on, then! We do stuff like this all the time!



And it's Sara and Louise to start with!



Let's do this!



I really don't have to say much about them. They work the exact same way as they did the first time you fought them. Just use Tongue on them and the Oshirasawa's blocking field and you'll be fine. Not too bad.



That was not bad. You guys were pathetic.



And away they go! Next fighter!



You!? I forget your name, but your were the guardian of Otoha's tower! What are you doing here?



Angra's just as surprised.



Apparently he was never on Angra's side to begin with. Damn it! A traitor!



This pisses Angra off. I thought demons were a little more loyal than that! He explains how he was a spy the entire time, observing Angra and the Three Demonic Pillars and gathering information on the incident. Damn it!



Yumeko wants him to fight us, but he refuses. What?



He says that he's not Yumeko's servant. He's Mima's! So, does that mean we're allies if Mima is against Yumeko and Shinki? I hope so, because the more allies the better!



Then Yumeko takes control of him and forces him to fight us! Come on, snap out of it! We'll help you fight Yumeko, just don't hurt us!



This is a very difficult fight. The reason?



He summons his Earth elemental friend from before. The two of them pack extremely dangerous attacks, and the Electric guy will use Jammer if he's hit with Earth attacks. Again, the Oshirasawa is a must. Just buff up your magic as much as possible and go all out. Have Mokou defend as necessary, and maybe pray a little. This fight is hard!



This was expected. Thankfully, you don't have to fight Sara and Louise again, so you can prepare for this fight specifically.



Of course, random powerful Electric attacks put a damper on that. Back to grinding!



I missed another enemy. The Black Dragon uses debuffs and dangerous breath attacks. Wear down on as much as you can and you'll succeed.



Piece of advice: KILL THE EARTH GUY FIRST, NOT THE ELECTRIC GUY, BECAUSE THE EARTH GUY GOES BATSHIT INSANE WHEN THE ELECTRIC GUY DIES!!!



Grinding sucks!
Eventually, though, I succeed!



Sorry, man, but Yumeko forced you to fight us. We had no choice.



Yumeko is not pleased.



Holy shit, Yumeko! You don't fool around, do you?



Poor guy, crying for Mima in his last breath. I feel sorry for him, despite him being a traitor.



Cosmic Liner from nowhere! But, we didn't cast that, even though we have it...



Oh, mystery voice is pissed~!




It's Mima!



Surprised to see her? I'm not, considering you just offed her underling.



Mima does not like Yumeko or Shinki. At all. This is a good thing to hear!



So, uh, why'd you do that, hmm Yumeko?



I don't know, but I sense a battle! Count me in, I'm out for Yumeko's blood now!



Then they stop. *sigh* Just beat her and get it over with, Mima.



I find it weird that Yumeko calls us the "soldiers of Gensokyo." We aren't soldiers, damn it!



And Yumeko disappears. Wonderful.



Despite her not being related to the incident, Mima wants to fight us anyways! Might as well get revenge!



We'll show you our power, Mima!



And she'll show her's in return. Ooh, scary!



We have a new boss theme. It's The Grimoire of Alice. Or at least, a very creepy remix of it that still fits as a boss theme. Okay then.
Mima is all about Mystic attacks. She spams Energy Hand like it was no thing. Have Mokou use Professional Vacation and spam Physical Defense to soak up the damage. Mima will occasionally use Mystic magic as well, which is bad for you. Other than that, Tongue works on her, so use it and whatever elemental stuff you have!



I needed to rearrange my setup anyways.



Getting her down to half health will switch her to a more dangerous form. She'll start using... correct me if I'm wrong, but Stardust Blade? Stratford Blade? Strafford Blade? Whatever it's called, it's essentially a stronger version of Energy Hand. She'll also probably use stuff like Nova Destruction, which hurts. Last but not least, she'll use her Spell Card...



So that's what that other spell portrait in the data was!





Twilight Takedown. Guess what? Benevolence Wall+Aegis Defense=Nope, doesn't matter.



Mima, you weren't nearly as hard as your underling. I'm disappointed, honestly.



Now we have our revenge!



The only problem, of course, is that you're not the real culprit, so that means we're not done here.



Wait a minute, whoa whoa whoa...



Did you just ask us if you could join our group? What the hell, Mima! You lied about being the culprit, got us all riled up, tried to beat us up, and now you want to join our party?



Well, she wants revenge against Yumeko, so I guess there's that...



She also states that perhaps she won't be as useful if she doesn't join us. In other words, she has information about Shinki.



Of course, the idea of Mima joining is flustering Angra quite a bit. Well, it makes sense.
However, we accept! So, Mima's with us, eh? That should be interesting.



Anyways, you said you knew something?



She notes that Shinki is not here in the World of Chaos. Well, that sucks. How do we find her?



Apparently she's in a place known as the "Black Sanctuary." So, if we can find this "Black Sanctuary," we find Shinki?



This place is sealed, though. How do we get through?



Apparently the entrance is sealed due to some sort of power in the other two Clock Towers of the End. So, we need to visit those Clock Towers and unseal the entrance!



Crap, 9 hours have passed. How long does that give us?



Well, here's the seal. There's also a statue of Yuki and Mai here... suspicious.



After a little more exploring, we find... a mine? Well, it's not a sewer dungeon, so I guess it's new...



Well, we got that much explored. But can we make it to the Clock Towers of the End to unseal the entrance to the Black Sanctuary? Is Mima one of the best party members ever? Actually, she's pretty good. I'll go over her in the next update. And don't worry, we don't get any more masters. Mima's the last one.

Summary:

Treasure: Magic Light Stone, Adamantite, Dark Crystal, Mythril Plate Mail (Mokou), Fire Crystal, Large Mirror, Mystery Bamboo, Beautiful Braclet, Ostracon (drop), Broken Treasure (drop)

Skills: Flashing Pierce (Angra), Jackpot (field that increases chance of getting more multi-hit attacks, Tewi), Final Blow of the Law of the Jungle (Parallel power attack that has Slayer against those with Permanents on, Chloe), Poison Cloud (all-targeting Poison attack, Titan Arum), Mysterious Song (reduces the RES of all enemies, Mystia), Gale Sword (Medium power all-targeting attack, Yorihime), Stun Blow (Angra), Vortex (removes all Variety effects on everyone in combat, Xia), Shock Burst (Angra), Power Increase (highly increases one of the six base stats, Unseelie Court), Dragon Power (increases all stats on one person, Dragon Maid), Bottomless Swamp (reduces ACC, EVA, and SPD, Titan Arum), Haste (Increases ACC, EVA, and SPD, Otoha), Ikaros Cannon (300 power all-targeting Mystic spell whose power is affected by the number of enemies on the field, Garubangoru), Condition of Protection (prevents the next status effect of any type from hitting, Unseelie Court), Shockwave (Meiling)

Passives: +5% Status Effect Casting Speed (Mystia), 3% Magic Nullification (Kanako), 25% resistance to Variety effects (Unseelie Court), +10% power of fields (Oshirasawa), 25% Breath Reduction (Dragon Maid), +10% Breath power (Dragon Maid), +2 shield activations (Momiji), +10% casting speed of field effects (Murasa), 50% resistance to Variety effects (Dekurabia), +20 Defense (Yuugi), +5 Variety success rate (Star)

TPKs: 4 this update, 8 overall
Frustration: I'm glad THAT'S over with. Now for the easier sections. Or at least semi-easier sections.

EDIT: Just to let you guys know, "best" is a relative term when talking about masters in this game. There is no "best." So please ignore that question wherein I asked if Mima was the "best" party member, because that's erroneous.

[Serela]

Tongue Lick and the like are ridiculously abusable against almost every boss in expansion. :T Since STR boosts weakness damage you deal a lot more then you might expect from inflicting a stage one weakness. Like... a -lot- more. It's insane!

And, uhm, Mima brings up Shinki's spellcard cutout? Ahahah, whoops on them. (Assuming you're up to date on version, at least) I think most people managed to kill her so fast they never even saw it >_> <_<

[Validon98]

That's Shinki's? I thought it was a strange recolor of Mima... wow, I'm dumb. That's what I get for fighting every non-bonus boss in the expansion EXCEPT for Shinki the first time. ^^;
I'm on version 2.10. And I just checked the site and the most recent version is 2.11... whoops, time to update! I know it's just a performance update, but still. I might as well update Phantasmal Summoners in the process. >.>
And yeah, Tongue's ridiculous. It sucks that the Electric demon can't be inflicted with it. It would have made that fight a LOT easier than it was. Oh well.

[Validon98]

Fourth Stratum- Finale: Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work We Go!

The finale of the fourth stratum already? Well, besides the mines all that's left are the two other Clock Towers of the End. The expansion moves along a lot faster than Genius of Sappheiros's expansion. Trust me on that one. >.>

Before we move on the the mines, let's talk about Mima. She's a spellcaster, with the second highest INT in the game (falling only behind Patchouli) and an average MP pool. Unlike Patchouli, however, her HP, VIT, and DEX are average, though she has a low STR. Her biggest boons besides her high INT, though, are having the best AGI in the game as well as a high POT stat. In other words, she's a Lightning Bruiser with emphasis on magic. Patchouli, you've been faithful to me throughout the game, but now you must go. Sorry. Although I forget to put Mima into my party for a few battles, but not too many.

As for the music for the first two mine areas (there are four), we have a Witching Dream remix. It sounds extremely creepy. This song should not sound like that. It's supposed to be a happy song!



New enemies, of course! The High Orc in the back is pretty much like the Orcs from way back on the First Stratum. Weak to Light, if I remember correctly, and uses Blunt attacks. The Aqueducts are essentially Water versions of the Backfires. Weak to Fire and Dark, I think.



Up in front is the Silver Mining Town, which is weak to Earth and essentially is a more powerful version of the Mining Village. The Ocean in the back is the second tier of Water elemental and is about as hard as the other ones. In other words, it's no problem.



Vorpal Bunnies are weak to Fire, use Behead (which inflicts Instant Death), and look cute yet psycho. It's that combination of traits that will forever prevent me from watching anything related to When They Cry. Sorry to disappoint you, Higarashi fans.



Crap, a Queen Undine. As if it wasn't annoying enough before, now it is even more powerful! For those who don't remember, it uses powerful Water attacks, packs some crazy high regeneration, and are weak to Fire.



Pharaohs are weak to Light and Fire and are not a problem, and the AD1s are weak to Water and would be annoying if Suika didn't one-shot them with Quick Break.



Hey, we're finally out of Mine 1! So, uh, where to next?



A Clock Tower already? And why are there statues of Yuki here?



No just no.



This is actually Mine 4, which has Romantic Children as a theme. I like this remix more than the one for Witching Dream. >.>



However, I can't get through this crystal without a pickax. Those only show up (besides the one over on the other side) in Mine 3. So we'll have to come back later.



Crap, Uruvuhejins. They are weak to Fire, but like those Lycanthropes from back in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, they can use Hellclaw Assassination and can inflict Berserk on you. That's pretty damn dangerous.



That's a Rintovurumu (too many katakana names that I can't translate...). It's a dragon, so it has no weaknesses. Just bring it down by beating on it. Be careful of its attacks, though, even if I forget what they are...



Err, that Silver Mining Town should be dead. It used Sacrifice Bomb on me. Why isn't it gone?



That's a weird glitch. It's dead but it's sprite is still onscreen. Weird.



At the beginning I took the lower path, which leads to the rest of Mine 1 (and Yuki's Clock Tower). This path leads to Mine 2.



It still has Witching Dream for music, but the visual theme is a bit different. Plus, unlike Mine 1, it has a puzzle.



It's a Harpy Queen! It's weak to Electric and Pierce and acts as any bird would. Not a problem. I think it can use Charm, though.



I'm starting to think these types of enemies are a reference to something, but to what I don't know. Regardless, this is a Dark Deyuminasu. It uses some of the same annoying arrow-like skills that Eirin used on us earlier, like Chaos Shooting and Starlight Arrow. Weak to Dark, funnily enough.



Those things are Oannesus. They are use weak Water attacks and are weak to Electric. No problem.



This is a nice dining area. But who the hell was mining here? Honestly, first sewers, then a magical research facility, then a demonic arena, and now this? This is just too random...



There's an Ent in the back. It's weak to Fire and uses attacks that sort of hurt but I ignore because I can't remember what every single enemy does.



The theme of Mine 2 are these minecarts. They can carry you to other places, and you'll need to solve some simple puzzles where you have to alter the tracks to get places. Not too bad.



Whee!



Here's another one of those areas we can't get through without a pickax. Oh well.



These are Adamant Hawksbills (or Adamant Turtles, if you want a more general translation). They act like previous turtles we've seen. Nothing new.



That's a Ururikumumi in the back. It's weak to Earth and Slash like other giants and it uses Blunt skills. Again, not too troublesome.



Someone translate this, because Atlas and JParser just sort of made a mess of it.



I believe those spider things are Fatal Spinners, if I can translate katakana properly (which I can only partially do, depending on how close the words are to the actual English equivalents). They use Blade Net, which inflicts Paralysis. They're weak to Water. Get 'em, Xia.



And eventually we find an exit!



Did I go over the Elite Sunflower Fairy before? Weak to Dark, uses magic that's weak, not a problem.



Mine 3 also has Romantic Children! Time to find those pickaxes.



More of these stupid crystals!



Great, more new enemies. The Red Ghoul uses some dangerous Fire attacks like Conflagration and is weak to Water, if memory serves correctly. I have no idea what the Earth Medusa is weak to, but it uses Minus and can petrify you. Swell. Lithos needs to get her brethren in check. >.>



Hellfires. Weak to Water. Are weak in general. Moving on.



And a pickax! You can use them to break two crystals and then they break, forcing you to find another one. Thankfully, they respawn when you leave the room.



That in the back is a Demonbane. I don't know what it does, mainly because Slash and Fire attacks cut through them like a hot knife through butter.



Hellhounds are dangerous because they too have Conflagration. They have the normal Fire Breath as well, but that's weak at this point (only 30 base power). They're weak to Water.



Seriously? Stay here and let me kill you for once!



It's a weirdly designed treasure chest. Hmm...



Genji!? What the hell are you doing here?



Hey, she remembers who he is this time!



I think he's saying something about being shove in by Mima or something that pisses her off.



Uh-oh...



Mima, you killed him! It literally says his spirit ascended to heaven after that...



Never mind, he made it to the ying-yang orb in time. That was close. He brings Resist Shield Wall, Earth Wall, Armor Breath, and Water Recovery to the table to start with, along with a +10 Defense bonus. I'm not sure whether to put him on Mokou or not, but I haven't done anything yet. I mean, he would nicely replace Alice (she's not as useful as she was before, sadly...). But still...



And Mai's tower. I didn't look inside, but I remember that it looks like Xia's tower (considering it IS Xia's tower), except it's all frozen over. Not quite yet. We still have to explore Mine 4.



Though finding this area means we've explored pretty much everywhere in the Fourth Stratum with the exception of Mine 4!



Looks dark and also like a giant pit.



The Dark Basilisk is weak to nothing if I remember correctly, and it uses dangerous Instant Death and Poison inflicting attacks. No just no. The Gold Mining City up top (which has characters from Defiant of Shrine Maiden on it, if I remember correctly) is another Mining Village upgrade. It's annoying when it uses Benevolence Wall, though...



There's a Killer Rafureshia there. Weak to Fire and Slash, and just as dangerous as its long gone cousin from the Third Stratum.



Rinnosuke! What the hell are you doing here?



Apparently he's muscle training. Okay then...



I guess he wants to be fit so that he'll be able to survive this incident.



Meiling praises his hard work! Well, it's good to keep healthy, I guess...



I guess he found this stuff when he was spirited away, but he hasn't gone shikigami yet. That's good, I guess. Workng out must have toughened your body against the effect, huh?



Mima explains the incident to Rinnosuke, who of course now knows that Shinki is essentially repeating Angra's incident. We still don't know why, though...



After telling Kourin his stuff is still at the shrine, he at first is fine, but then he realizes he won't be able to sell it.



What the!?



He overworked himself so much he's now in shikigami form! This surprises everybody there. Kourin, sadly, is useless. He starts with Sword Chase, Axe Chase, and Lance Chase, as well as giving +5 RES. Chasers suck in this game. See you later, Kourin.



On the way out, I encounter the Tsuviringu Angel, which I know is a reference to something. It packs various different attacks and such, but isn't too bad. It's also recruitable, and it's a good shikigami to get.
I also check out that place I couldn't access from Mine 2. It's just another one of those weird areas with the Kedamas and the Bakebakes and fairies. In other words, I don't care. Now that the mines are completely out of the way, can we get through the Clock Towers of the End, defeat those holding the power that seals the Black Sanctuary, and make it to Shinki? We'll find out in the next two updates.

Summary:

Treasure: Keystone (x2 treasure, x1 drop), Gold x3, Damascus Steel x4, Broken Treasure (drop x2), Orichalcum Shard x9, Adamantite Shard (treasure x9, drop x1), Mystery Bamboo x2, Makai Lodestone, Large Mirror x3, Demon Slayer (Angra), Impegrenable Nyusensu, Liquid Iron x3, Kishin's Magic Spear, (some sort of armor, Angra), Magic Light Stone x4, Beautiful Bracelet, Rukorudon Darujan, Flail of Wickedness, Emerald, Adamantite, Orichalcum

Skills: Bone Crush (Angra), Power Decrease (Kasen), Falcon Slash (Angra), Razor Wind/Whirlwind (Angra), Seal Spell (Unseelie Court)

Passives: -25% cost of Subterranean Rose (Koishi), +10 Variety success rate (Kasen), 66% chance of reraising after Instant Death is inflicted (Komachi)

Recipes: Material Sets D and E, Ancient Disk, Night Veil, Magic Light Stone, Crystal Skull, Emerald, Diamond, Wise Man Shard

TPKs: 0 this update, 8 overall
Frustration: An all-time low. This feeling won't last forever, though.

[Serela]

Genji learns a skill that gives your whole party All Up in exchange for the caster's life. I'm not sure if you can resurrect them after, but if you can it might be interesting for an opening move on bosses.

Rinnosuke learns Banzai Attack, which actually -is- an interesting chaser, despite being, well... a chaser. The interesting part is that it grants an All-Chaser effect to your -entire party-. It's only one activation normally, and 5 attacks still isn't all too exciting at this point... but, if you equip Peri, you get another chase on EVERYONE. 10 hits starts to sound not too shabby. And then Peri's passive increases at lv59 or somewhere around there, so you get 15 hits... and I -think- there's a certain DEX threshold where you get another activation as well. I haven't seen it in action, but 15 hits makes it sound pretty viable.

Tsuru-Engel or whatnot, isn't super exciting but is alright, with a really late selling point that makes it pretty good; at lv99 it learns Physical Cooldown -1. Buuuut, that's lv99, so.

[Validon98]

Clock Tower of the End EX- Part 2: Stone Shouldn't Burn

Well, let's go into Yuki's tower first, because why not?



I see Yuki replaced the purple liquid of death with lava. Falling in either way would probably kill you.



Also, Yuki, your tower is on fire. I'd thought you might want to know.



Wow, most of the new enemies here in one fell swoop! The Keiten's of Darkness up front are still weak to Slash and Earth, if I remember correctly, and use stuff like Meteor Zapper. The Underworld Petal is weak to Slash and Fire and uses Sleep based attacks. The Metal Turtle is simply another annoying turtle. And the Dark Stalker is another assassin-like enemy with Hellclaw Assassination. Fun times.



Here's a fountain, but we need a bucket to get some water to douse the fires.



Oh look, familiar enemies! The Death Beholder is simply a more powerful version of the Beholder from the lower levels of the Sinister Castle of Chaos, and the Gashadokuro is a familiar face from Genius of Sappheiros that's weak to Light and Fire and uses Blunt attacks and Dark Breath. Not too hard.



This opens up a path to a new part of the tower.



And after some exploring we find the bucket. The bucket can only douse one fire before it needs to be refilled with water, but fires will respawn when you leave the room, so be careful. The puzzle involving the bucket is extremely simple. Not too much of a problem.



Another sprite recolor! It's an Ooguzu, which is weak to Electric and is not that difficult.



Come on now...



And there's a fire out!



A King Yukkuri? Here? Seriously? Despite my terrible luck with killing the Stray Yukkuris, I actually manage to defeat this one without getting TPKed, even after it used Face Smash!



Wow, this was a short place.



Of course, unlocking the path back to the start would be a good idea.



Hello there! How's it going, Yuki?



She seems excited to see us, for whatever reason.



Of course, she's Yuki. She's guarding this magic seal. Right then.



Byakuren can tell this is one of the two seals we need to stop in order to unlock the Black Sanctuary. So, uh, Yuki, can we unlock this? Please?



Apparently she's confused as to how we know this. Satori pops up for a second to say something, but I didn't quite get what it meant.



And now she's noticed Mima. Wonderful.



Apparently Mima betrayed Shinki. She just says it was a "change in occupation." Uh... huh?



Of course, Yuki is not happy with this betrayal. Oh well, you seemed nice enough...



But now we're going to have to kick your ass!



Man, I remembered Yuki being MUCH easier than this...



On turn one, she'll use this, which is called Forbidden Lore. It's Dark elemental, it hits everyone, and it HURTS. Mokou can't tank it without Aegis Defense or Magic Defense. And it inflicts Stun. Great. And it shows up randomly after that. Great.



Occasionally she'll also use War Cry, which inflicts INSTANT DEATH!!! As if that weren't enough, she'll usually use Vortex the turn after you inflict some sort of Variety effect on her, especially Tongue. She's resistant to not only Fire and Dark, but also LIGHT. How the hell is she resistant to Light? On top of all of that, her skills are massively powerful, and not even Mokou's tanking powers can save you from them.



I hate you so much, Yuki.




Twilight Takedown is surprisingly less useful than I thought. Screw you too, game. I might very well switch back to Patchouli...
Nevertheless, Yuki goes down. RNG based bosses suck.



Well, that's it!



She's kind of upset that her own kind and a traitor beat her. Well, too bad!



Damn it, I forget what Mima said here. She's amused, though.



Oh man, we made her cry. Uh, I'm sorry?



Then the seal disappears.





Alright, that's one down!



Let's deal with the other Clock Tower, then! And after that, we can enter the Black Sanctuary! That's for next time, though.
Before I summarize, though, I need to say that I missed an enemy here. It's called a Garuda, and the main reason I'm pointing that out now is because it's recruitable, and you want it. It's the ultimate Electric shikigami. I'll grab it before I head into Mai's tower.

Summary:

Treasure: Water Crystal, Launch Goggles IV, Beautiful Bracelet, Adamantite Shard (x1 drop, x1 treasure), Evasion Muffler IV, Necklace of Strength IV (Suika), Crystal Skull, Barrier Earrings IV (Angra), Electric Crystal, Orichalcum Shard

Skills: Summon Phoenix (grants Reraise to one ally, Kasen)

Passives: +10 Activation Chance to Shields (Alice)

Recipes:Large Shoulder Straps of Kagutsuchu, Varna, Atlas, India, Irudana, and Baroru

TPKs: 1 this update, 9 overall
Frustration: Wow, Yuki was brutal. Here's hoping Mai isn't as brutal.

[Serela]

Twilight Takedown is a physical attack. It's strong, but if you don't make it so Mima's physical power is alright, then it won't be very exciting.

[Validon98]

Well that makes sense.
Also, what the hell affects run away rates? Because I just died because the game wouldn't let me run away 14 TURNS IN A ROW!!! Does it decrease every time you run? Is it dependent on level? On AGI? Is it just random? Seriously, I have to know why it won't let me run, because dying on turn 14 after attempting to run each turn is ridiculous.

EDIT: IT DID IT AGAIN! ON TURN 7! ARRGGGGGGGZDRNMRSTERZVSARRMVAVBDSABVSBRAVSBHTRAV!!!
That's Angrish for "Screw this game!"

SECOND EDIT: I give up on finding the Garuda. It hasn't even shown up once. I'm not going to keep getting into those situations where I can't run away several turns in a row just to find a damn shikigami that hasn't even shown up yet. No matter how useful Rapid Stream and the 350 power Electric attack could be, it isn't worth it. It just isn't.

[Serela]

Are you sure you're in the right part of the map? But, it's only one shikigami anyway.

Run away rates are based on your level. Tewi eventually learns a passive to boost the Run rate, but it might not be till lv70 or something.

[Validon98]

Clock Tower of the End EX- Finale: Hell Freezes Over

I need to say two things. First of all, I brought Patchy back into the party. Sorry, Mima. Secondly, I tried looking for the Garuda. And guess what?



I found the Lightning Baron instead. It's another demon-type enemy. And it's pretty damn tough to fight, as it packs every single Demon skill and then some. It's weak to Light, but good luck beating it.



Yeah, 14 freaking turns without running. That's just bullshit.



Seven turns!



Another seven turns! Yeah, screw the Garuda. Let's go to Mai's tower.



So, uh, yeah. Mai apparently froze Xia's place. Wonderful.



So, a Snow Maiden and Snipers to start with. The Snow Maidens have an upgrade to Benumbed Snowstorm that I can't translate well, so to reference the DS translation of the Dragon Quest games I'll just call it C-C-Cold Breath. The Snipers are like their earlier cousins. They're weak to Dark and use those unique arrow skills like Chaos Shooting.



The Moon Resident is weak to Dark, uses Mystic attacks like Cosmic Liner and Nova Destruction, and is recruitable. Get it if you want it.



Or get it now! It starts with Cosmic Liner and Nova Destruction (150 power all-targeting Mystic spell), and reduces Mystic cooldowns by one. Not bad. Angra, you can have it.



Hey, at least it's water this time.



This is an Ofanimu. Weak to Dark and uses Light attacks, like other angels. Amazingly, Mokou can almost negate Starlight Whip.



These are Enrirus They're weak to Earth and I don't remember what they do. They're not too bad.



There's a Kuaru. It can inflict Instant Death which is completely annoying. It's weak to Fire.



The Iron Golem here is weak to Earth, is tough to take down, and tries to hurt you with some powerful Slash attacks.



There's actually a gimmick to this place. Guess what this one is? IT FREEZES YOU IN PLACE RANDOMLY! It loves to do that especially when enemies are near, so it means that even if you dodge an enemy here, you could very well be frozen and end up getting into an encounter anyways. Why must you torture me more, Strawberry Bose?



The water puzzles return, but they're not too bad.



Okay, I recruited the Kuara. It has some Instant Death attacks and other stuff, but the amount I care is none. So I'm not going to really talk about it.



Okay then!



And here we have the Death Bahamut. Weak to Fire and Light and it does... stuff. I don't exactly remember. It wasn't too bad, though.



It's boss time!



Mai!



Are you seriously applauding me?



Excuse me, but we need to get rid of that magic circle.



I thought she's introducing herself, but I'm not sure.



Whoops, she sees Mima! Yeah, I already know, she betrayed Shinki, blah blah blah...



Mima is just amused as usual.



That's... a weird emote. I think she's talking about Yuki. I'm not sure.



She does it again another time. I think she likes Yuki, but also views her as just someone dragging her down? Translation, I can't understand you...

Although, Deranged is working on it, and he finished off Reimu's story. I finally understand what Angra meant at the end of the main game by "natural selection." It was... kind of strange, and it would have been pretty bad if she went through with it. I'll talk about it if you want to hear. Enough off-topic, though.



Look, we have no time to waste. You are going down now!



I'm not afraid of you!



Mai, just like Yuki before, is a lot more tough than I remember. Much like Yuki, she's strong against Light and Dark, uses Vortex after being hit with Tongue, and is also slightly resistant to Water. She also has...



Judas Betrayal. It's much, much worse than Forbidden Lore. Even Aegis Defense and Dark resistance can't protect Mokou from getting killed by it. You WANT to use Foreign Blast to protect you, or you will die. It's basically a damage race from there. She has some dangerous Water attacks like Absolute Zero and C-C-Cold Breath, which is pretty much instant death.



Damn it!



Damn it!!!



Really?



That's four now...



Finally! About damn time...



Well, you failed.



I think she said she wanted to see Yuki, or something. I don't know.



And she teleports. Great.



And there goes that thing.




Alright, the way is clear!



Those two sure were annoying, weren't they Reimu?



Well, it's time to go to the Black Sanctuary!



Did all of those demons really leave? Huh. I wonder where they went.



That's a pretty dark portal. Well, better step inside! What's the worst that can happen?



Of course, Mima confirms this is the portal. I guess it could have led to Dark Space... but that's another game.





Off we go!



Whoa, this place looks dark. It also has Reincarnation as a theme. Hey, another PoDD song! And it's Mima's theme to boot! Very fitting for what's basically one of the last areas of the game.



So this is the Black Sanctuary? Very dark.



So is Shinki here?



Apparently, this place is Makai. We're talking the actual Makai here. Welcome back home I guess, Angra.



This isn't just any part of Makai, this is one of the oldest areas of it. Essentially its origin point.



Well, Meiling is certainly excited to end this. Hopefully things won't be too bad here.



Reimu's going to tear Shinki to pieces!



12 hours. I guess we had 24 all along.



We're here, but we're not going to do anything here yet.



You can warp right to the Black Sanctuary by clicking on the Demon Arena. But now that we're in the depths of Makai, will we be able to find Shinki and put an end to this? Or will some old foes return to make things difficult? That's for next time.

Summary:

Treasure: Anklet of Protection IV, Ostracon (drop), Keen Pendant IV (Patchouli), Gale Boots IV, Crystal Skull, Rosary of Fortitude IV, Gomugurasu (drop, Meiling), Pure White Robe, Orichalcum Shard, Light Crystal, Adamantite Shard, Dark Crystal, Beautiful Bracelet

Skills: Sonic Blade (Angra)

Passives: 50% resistance to Dark (Rumia)

Recipes: Large Shoulder Straps of Paracelsus, Musashi, Matabee, and Dwarf

Synthesis Done: Great Sage's Robe (Patchouli)

TPKs: 8 this update, 17 overall
Frustration: Did I really almost double the amount of TPKs I had going into this place? This sucks. And we still have quite a bit left to do...

[Validon98]

Okay, just letting you know there's not going to be an update this week. I haven't worked at all on a term paper, and I just found out it's due this Friday. Procrastination, I hate you so much.

[Validon98]

After taking a pretty long break from this, I'm back!

Black Sanctuary- Part 1: Another World

This is it. We've gone through so much, and now we're approaching the end. Too bad it's going to take a while to get through this whole place. Oh well.



We've got our final battle theme, a remix of Vessel of Stars~Casket of Star. Pretty damn fitting for the last dungeon of the game.
As for these guys, we have a... I'm just going to call that a Corpse Worm. It's weak to Water, I think, and it really isn't too threatening. The Great Tengu, however, can use Haste, uses some Electric attacks, and it's weak to Electric. Haste could potentially be annoying for you to deal with, considering it buffs so many things.



Okay, we've got two Ultra Stars and a... Abaoakuu. The Ultra Stars are weak to Electric and can use both Bug and HDD Crash. Be very careful when dealing with them. The Abaoakuu is weak to Electric and I really don't find him a threat.



On the other hand, we have the Full Solid Metals and the Master Ninja. The Full Solid Metals are like the Solid Metals from earlier, except even more hardy. Not even hitting it with Cosmic Liner with Angra can finish them off in one sot despite them being weak to Mystic. And of course, they use shield skills like Mighty Shield Wall and Benevolence Wall. The Master Ninja can act twice per turn and will most likely spend both of those turns using Behead. Fun times. They're weak to Light, I think.



Why is there a glowing tree here? Makai is one screwed up place in terms of its biology.



And we have Death Avengers here. They're weak to Fire and Light and I believe they can use Meteor Zapper or something similar. I forget. They are some of the enemies here that can drop Devil Shards, which we need to forge the next tier of equipment. Many enemies here can do that, so you should fight a lot of them in the hope you can get them. The shards by themselves are useless, but soon enough we'll get a recipe that allows you to use them to make the Devil Statues, which is the highest-level material in the game, if I recall correctly.



In the back we have a Marido. It has no weakness that I know of, it tends to cast buffs on itself or others, and it also has regen. That's annoying.



In the front is the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which is weak to Water and tends to use stuff like Fang Crush. It has a good chance of dropping Devil Shards, if I remember correctly.



Oooo, a Rikotte! She's a reference to some visual novel called... Rikotte (thank you, TheNewGuy, for saying that a few months earlier). She has a lot of status-inflicting spells and she can also use Rapid Stream, which is a very interesting spell. She's also recruitable, and she knows Rapid Stream as a shikigami, so you might want to grab her. Definitely more useful than the Garuda.



And of course, the Mind Flayers return as Lord Mind Flayers. Honestly, I don't even know why I should talk about it because it's not really any different than any other Mind Flayer except, you know, stronger.



Hey, a Golden Baum! Weak to Fire and Water, has regen, uses Electric attacks, and is generally not that tough, though like most enemies here it has a lot of HP.



Off the cliff we goooooooooooooooooooooooo...
Don't worry, we survive the fall. We're RPG protagonists, so falls from large heights that would kill us in real life mean nothing here. That and everyone in Gensokyo can FLY.



We have a midpoint in this dungeon here, so you don't have to slog through the first half all over again to get to the second half of this area. The recipe box contains upgrades to most of the items that we got from Akyu (which were called the "Arms of History," actually. Thanks for getting that part translated, Deranged!). So that means we can now upgrade the Kusanagi no Tsurugi (or Kusanagi) into... the Ama-no-Murakamo no Tsurugi! I did that sometime later, though.



The midpoint is accessed from the same menu. It's nice that they hide the exact length of the dungeon instead of spoilering it with the things like earlier.



That's a Kerubu, which is weak to Dark but it more trouble than its worth to fight because it has some pretty dangerous Light attacks.



The Shisa Guardian works like the Shisas from earlier, including being weak to Fire if I remember correctly. They buff and don't do much else.



Oh crap, a Red Dragon. It uses some dangerous Fire attacks and has 10000 HP. That's more than most bosses in the main game. Yeah. Run.



Looks like this is the path to the boss. I don't want to fight the boss yet. There's an enemy I forgot to screenshot, so I'll just check it out in the bestiary.



The Ibaraki-Douji! Yes, she's back and pretty much works the same way as she did in GoS. Weak to Light and uses some very dangerous Blunt skills like Planet Breaker.
Well, that about does it for this area. However, I'm not going to go fight the boss just yet. After getting Rikotte and grinding a little more, I'll be heading after the first boss fight of this area. And trust me, it's VERY difficult. I can't wait...

Summary:

Treasure: Mystic Shard x2, Ultimate Ying-Yang Orb, Critical Guarder, Large Mirror (x1 drop, x1 treasure), Damascus Steel x3, Earth Shard, Magic Piercings IV, Liquid Iron, Keystone, Crystal Skull, Mage Ribbon, Muscle Belt IV, Water Shard, Fire Shard, Antinomy Staff, Devil Shard (drop x2, treasure x1), Trapezohedron, Demon's Shield, Light Shard, Adamantite, Rapid Fire Lance, Electric Shard, Mystery Bamboo, Wise Man Shard, Devil Statue, Hercules Club

Skills: None

Passives: -50% MP Cost of Subterranean Rose (Koishi), +5 Critical (Kanako), +15% XP to party (Tewi)

Recipes: Dozen Shadow Child's Braided Belt, Juwayuzu, Ama-no-Murakamo no Tsurugi, Geigesshuborugu, Vajuranda, Keen Dragonfly Knife, Goliath, Aufheben, Anti-Tenma Spear, Gambeteinn, Compound Armor Version 2.0, Destruction God's Shield, Great Barrier Shield, Sankutamuijisu, Force Field, Inbinshiburusorideti, Gravity Robe, Karutikeya, God Robe, A. Muslce Suit bis, Obsidian Armor, Tier IV+ Accessories, Nouvelle Ice Sword, Scarlet Gungnir, Mjolnir, Eldrick's Shield, Hyper Mirror Shield, Helmet Streamer, Solomon Article, Asumegingyoruzu, Seydlitz, Odin Surplice

Synthesis Done: Ama-no-Murakamo no Tsurugi (Meiling), Necklace of Strength IV+ (Meiling), Keen Pendant IV+ (Patchouli)

TPKs: 0 this update, 17 overall
Frustration: I'm not going to enjoy this. At all.

Also, I'll be alternating between GoS and DoD while I'm working on both games. So we'll be working on GoS next.

[Zengar Zombolt]

Hmm. I think Dark Deyuminasu would be Dark Duminuss? I was doubtful of a straight Super Robot Wars reference, but the Abaoakuus are a blatant reference to A Baoa Qu from Gundam fame, at least in name. Oh, and that angel mech with a wheel on his back seems to be named after Seraphimon, fromseveral Digimon series.

Strawberry Bose's references to pretty much everything still amaze me.

[Validon98]

Black Sanctuary- Part 2: What's Black and White and Hard All Over?

The next boss, that's who! Before that, I tried finding myself a Rikotte to recruit. That really didn't work. Instead...



We find a Great Malboro. It can use Strong Breath, which inflicts random status effects. Lovely. Weak to Electric.



We also find an Arch-Cockatrice. Weak to Electric and can inflict Petrify. Not as bad as you'd think. Also, I'd like to point out the Ibaraki-Douji is actually recruitable. I could try to get it, but with a D recruitment rank (which is equal to 1/32), I'm not going to go crazy trying to get it. Let's focus on the boss instead.



Apparently trees are a big deal in Touhou RPGs these days. Speaking of which, I can't wait for Labyrinth of Touhou 2!



Yukari is not exactly sure where this leads.



Neither does Mima, apparently. Even she doesn't know anything about what's going to happen.



Of course, then Yukari called her useless. Gee, thanks, Yukari! It's nice having you around for sure!



Let's not waste our time. Shinki's waiting!



Huh?



On the other side too!?



Yuki and Mai!? We beat you... oh right, they both ran away. Of course.



I guess we can't get through, huh?



And Reimu doesn't remember who they are. Wonderful.
Although she says five seconds later it was a joke. Reimu, I don't get you.



I think Mai's in love with Yuki or something. Okay...



I don't know what your saying!



That heart thing is getting creepy now...



Look, let's just take care of you two, okay?



I'm really getting tired of all the pointless battles...



I'm surprised Mai said something!



Like with the Sara and Louise fight from earlier, these two are a bit weaker than when on their own. Of course, they still hit hard, although now they actually have to charge up before using Forbidden Lore or Judas Betrayal. Kill one, however, and the other boosts up. Kill them both quickly if you want to beat them.



I needed to die in order to actually activate the warp point.



As you can see, I finally got Stinking Toxic Cloud for the Titan Arum! With Thunderclap Gale from Aya and both of them having been inflicted with Tongue, you can murder their faces. Hurray for cheaping out the game! Of course, what you don't see is all of the resets I have to get through in order to actually bring about the required results.



I really don't want to fight you guys ever again, you know that?



We're all done messing around, so give up!



I honestly think these two are in love or something. It's kind of creepy.



And they explode. Like all good bosses after dying.



Now we can go into... the tree. Okay then.



Grab the treasure hidden here first.



The final area is so bright! How can I see?



Just kidding. The final area is... Pandemonium? Well, that's where Shinki was in Mystic Square...
Now, two things about this place. One, it has The Last Judgment as a theme, which fits considering this is the same as Stage 5 from Mystic Square. Two, the area is technically called the Black Sanctuary Depths (or the Deep Black Sanctuary), but I prefer Pandemonium after its canon name. Next time, we'll be heading through Pandemonium in search of Shinki. That is, if a certain knife-loving maid doesn't find us first...

Summary:

Treasure: Devil Shard (x1 treasure, x1 drop), Emerald (drop), Orichalcum

Skills: Dead Blind (Medium power attack that inflicts Blind, Angra), Spell Enhance (Moon Resident), Stinking Toxic Cloud (350 power Earth spell that hits all enemies and inflicts Sleep (?), Titan Arum)

Passives: +15 Evasion (Otoha), 2 Meditation (Xia)

TPKs: 1 this update, 18 overall
Frustration: I'm getting awfully close to the point I was at in my original game. This worries me a bit.

[Serela]

Titan Arum's earth nuke inflicts Poison, not Sleep. Uh, if I remember right, at least.

Real life Titan Arum (also known as the Corpse Flower) is creepy looking. :C

[homing curvy laser]

Does that final dungeon music also overwrite the normal battle music, ? la GoS? :V
Reading all of this makes me ashamed of myself for just... kind of forgetting about the expansion, as soon as I got to the first EX tower. It's been so long since then that I want to wait until the translation is done (and maybe enjoy mu masochism by replaying through the entire thing once again, and most likely grinding every possible shikigami once again as well. AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH). Still, it looks like a lot more effort went into it than in GoS's expansion.

[Validon98]

Sorry, it doesn't. We still have Casket of Star playing. Of course, all of the battle themes in this game are great, and even the Last Judgement can't compare to any of those battle songs (not that it's not a bad song...). I mean, what do we have again? Oh right...

Bell of Avici~Infinite Nightmare, Sleepless Night in the Eastern Country, Bad Apple!!, The Devil Bares His Fangs (the guy actually changed the title to it from the Japanese thanks to my comment!), Fighting Fantasy Moonlight, Magus Night, Vessel of Stars~Casket of Star, Decisive Magical Battle!~Fight it out!, Demystify Feast, Shanghai Teahouse~Chinese Tea, OUT~Devil of Chaos (OUT NEEDS MORE LOVE), The Final, Decisive Battle (as I translate the name of the final battle theme), and The Grimoire of Alice.

And we haven't even gotten to the theme for the final expansion boss yet... This game has such awesome music. I really, REALLY want to know who the composer for this game and Genius of Sappheiros were.

[Think Komachi with a Rifle]

Titan Arum's earth nuke inflicts Poison, not Sleep. Uh, if I remember right, at least.

Real life Titan Arum (also known as the Corpse Flower) is creepy looking. :C

One was in flower when I was at university and I didn't know to go and see, haven't had another flower for 3 years
I'd love another excuse to visit Kew Gardens.

[Validon98]

This is not an update, per say. I'm just writing this to let you guys know I haven't given up on this. I've just been really, really busy. I'll try to get an update for both games up within the next week. It's hard to LP two frustrating RPGs when you've got a lot of other things to do, especially when I'm at very difficult and tedious points in both games.
On that note, have a good Easter, I guess.

EDIT: As a bonus, I found out a little bit about skill learning and element leveling. Here's the link to the website I got this information from: http://blog.livedoor.jp/maroku/

Code: [Select]

Learning Skills

Character Types-
1 (Good-1, Neutral-2,3, Bad-4)- Reimu, Yukari, Byakuren, Meiling, Kogasa, Angra
2 (Good-2, Neutral-4, Bad-1,3)- Remilia、Youmu、Nitori、Suika
3 (Good-3, Neutral-4, Bad-1,2)- Yuyuko、Mokou、Yuuka、Eiki
4 (Good-4, Neutral-2,3, Bad-1)- Marisa、Patchouli、Sanae、Utsuho、Sunny、Mima

If Good, Needed Level is the same
If Neutral, Needed Level is Base Level + 2
If Bad, Needed Level is Base Level + 5

Final Chance=(Basic Probability+LV Correction)*Type
LV Correction = LV of Target-(Necessary Enemy LV+4)*a

If Base Chance = 1, a=0.4
If Base Chance = 10, a=1
If Base Chance = 20-40, a=2.5
If Base Chance = 50-100, a=5

If Good, Type = 1
If Neutral, Type = .5
If Bad, Type = .2
This is the information for skill learning. If you want to have a list of skills with all of their chances, just use the website and find the link that says "Inspiration" when Google Translated.

Code: [Select]

Element Leveling

Each monster has a base element XP value. Each successive copy of a monster in a battle has only a fraction of the XP of a singular monster:

1st Monster: 100%
2nd Monster: 50%
3rd Monster: 33%
4th Monster: 20%
5th Monster: 20%
6th and Beyond: 10%

I do not know if targeting any specific monster will change the amount of experience gained from it, or if it counts from the sum of all of the XP values of that monster type in the battle.

You will gain experience for every time that element is used in battle, but the amount of experience you get is reduced with each successive use.

1st Use: 100%
2nd use: 66%
3rd use: 50%
4th use: 40%
5th use and beyond: 33%

In addition to that, elements added due to the effects of a weapon in addition to a skill that already has that element gets bonus experience 9like Fire Hand with a weapon that adds Fire), but it is divided (if I am reading the translation correctly) by 100, and there is a bonus to the amount of times the element is used (though I don't know what this bonus is). In other words, added elements don't get that much more experience, but having multiple elements makes it easier to level them.

Lastly, there is a modifier to the amount of experience obtained based on the difference between the level of the element that is highest in your party and the level of the element of the character gaining experience. If the difference is 0-3, the modifier is 0.75. If it is 4-6 the modifier is 1.5. For 7-12 it is 2.25. For 13+ it is 3. This modifier is multiplicative. This is why lower leveled characters gain element levels extremely quickly, especially when up against monsters with high elemental XP.
And there's the stuff for element leveling. That, along with some other useful information (like the chances for what Remilia's Last Word turns monsters into based on her level) can be found under the Miscellaneous section. A table containing the element XP values for all monsters can be found here.
Some good enemies to grind element experience off of are the Frost Giants and the G-3s from the Sinister Castle of Chaos (600 and 800 XP respectively). Obviously, very tough enemies give lots of elemental XP (Dragons and Demiurges, which we won't run across until later, give 2500 apiece, which is much higher than most enemies), but it's obviously better to grind element levels against enemies that aren't too tough at this point, like the ones at the top floor of the Sinister Castle of Chaos. I'm planning on going back there for shikigami recruitment, drops, and element leveling. There are some skills I REALLY want to get, and higher element levels mean getting more of them.

[Validon98]

Again, not an update. Instead, I'm here to let you guys know that I will be updating this within the week. I have  the screenshots all ready to go for two updates, actually. If I had actually beaten Shinki instead of failing at the last phase (curse you Makai Creation!), I probably would be able to throw up updates for everything for the rest of the game that I'm planning on doing.
Am I doing any of the bonus bosses? No. Am I recruiting any of the super powerful shikigami like the Demiurge? No. The last thing I will do before I consider this LP complete is beat Shinki. After that, all bets are off, and Valkyrie Profile will begin. The bullshit from the Black Sanctuary is getting to me. I love this game, but it's getting ridiculous now. So, expect the end of this LP somewhat soon. It'll definitely be done by the end of April.

[Hinacle]

Nightmares of the 567942394 attempts of Shinki's fight are returning ;~; I always lost to Makai Creation.

Take your tiiiime~ Black Sanctuary can be a total bitch sometimes.

[Validon98]

For some reason, I've been playing way ahead in both games without actually updating (weird, I know). But you know how I said I wasn't going to recruit a Demiurge? I said that because at the time, I was unable to kill Demiurges, due to their insane power.
I killed two and recruited it on the second shot. No joke. You want evidence?



There you go. I have a Demiurge. A Demiurge.  :getdown:
Also, I'll try to get an actual update up tonight.

[Validon98]

I will not be refering to the second half of the Black Sanctuary as the Deep Black Sanctuary or Black Sanctuary Depths. I will refer to it as Pandemonium, considering that's the canon name of the place from Mystic Square (you can even check on the wiki).

Black Sanctuary- Part 3: Pandemonium

So we go. Into Pandemonium. The capital of Makai. This is where things really get serious.



We can warp right to Pandemonium from here if we wanted to, but getting here takes a little too much time.



We have two portals. This red one...



And this blue one. The blue one is the one you want to start with.



New enemies, as always in these places. Anmuruzesus are birds. Weak to Pierce and Electric. They have Benumbed Snowstorm for whatever reason, so watch out for that.



Activate this...



And this water fall will appear. This is necessary to progress back on the red path.



As you can see, this place is on fire. Take a wild guess as to why we needed to activate the waterfall.



The Rumoahazu here is weak to Water and Blunt and is not really powerful. Alright then.



Good lord, these bastards. These are Fueriduns. They're weak to Dark, but have crazy powerful Slash attacks we can't even get yet until we grind our element levels like crazy, such as Stellar Wind. They're recruitable, but they're not worth the trouble.



If you guessed to get water into that bucket, then you're a winner. What do you win? Nothing. Sorry.



What does this thing do?



Oh, it summons a staircase. Right.



These are High Priests. Weak to Dark, but they pack some serious Light spells and can use Elixir for no apparent reason. Wonderful.



Two enemies here, one of which is more powerful than the other. The Water Elemental in the back is not a joke. It's weak to Fire, but it carries brutal Water attacks. Beware it. The Dourujinasu up front is weak to Earth, I think, and it's not too powerful. It can inflict Zombie on your dead party members, though, so watch out for that.



Those are... Trees of High Extremeties? Bodhi Trees? I'm not exactly sure. Whatever the case, they use Benevolence Wall and are weak to Slash and Earth.



Oh boy, I remember this... this was that really stupid maze.



Essentially, you have to go back and forth between the red and blue paths and activate each half of the staircases so that you can reach the teleporter that leads to the boss.



This is one staircase. There are lots to find. This is frustrating.



A Fire Elemental. Take a wild guess about how it works.



Like I said, Fueriduns suck. At this point, I went to go do some element grinding. Was this a good idea? Well...



Suika?



That was Iai Strike. It's a Wide Piercing attack with Slayer against Transcendents and Giants. Alright then.



And Meiling gets Invest Malice, which hits everyone and increases the chance of inflicting weapon effects on the enemy.



And Cyclonic Zapper! It hits everyone, but it isn't really that great.



I really needed that TPK. I relearn Cyclonic Zapper anyways later, so nothing is lost.



Wow, Dimension Slash. It's a small AoE attack that's pretty powerful, and does more damage if you're hitting a Slayer. The skill learning doesn't end there, however.




And Dragon Strike! It has Slayer against Dragons, Lizards, and Aquans. Alright then! I didn't get this attack the first time through.



Wow, Super Dimension Crushing Strike! It's like Dimension Slash, except it has a large AoE, hits for more damage, and I think it either has Slayer against monsters with Varieties or it boosts the effects of Slayers. I'm not sure, though. Okay, that's enough skill grinding. I can't handle all the awesome.



The Manticore here has no weakness I can remember, and it spews Earth attacks like no ones business. It's pretty damn dangerous.



Damn ninjas...



Whoa, a Tiamat! That has a lot of Electric attacks and it has no weakness. Good luck fighting it. Dragon Strike will come in handy here.



These are... Disappearances, I think? Like Voids, they are weak to physicals and regen a little health each turn. Not threatening.



Whew, finally, the boss! Now, the strategy I will be using for this fight is going to be a bit tough to pull off. It's really luck based. So don't try it unless you feel lucky.



Who's there?



Yumeko! I assume you're here to protect Shinki?



Mima is pissed. So am I. I'm getting really tired of this nonsense. Bring out your master so we can get this over with!



That doesn't look healthy.




Byakuren is saying something about Yumeko being faithful to Shinki, which is good and bad. Good because faith and whatnot, bad because Shinki's cause is bad for Gensokyo. Something like that.



Uh, I don't remember what this means.



No matter, it looks like fighting isn't far behind!



...Okay, Mima's saying something about being an evil spirit. Sure?
Then Yumeko calls to Angra.



Who, her?




Oh right, Yumeko is pissed that Angra is willing to go against Shinki, her own creator.



Angra shrugs it off. She wants to prove herself stronger than Shinki. Sure?




Let's just blow through you! We've got a home to save!



Yumeko, Yumeko, Yumeko...
She has a LOT of Pierce elemental attacks. Make sure your tank has Pierce resistance, or you're screwed on that department. Also of note is the fact that she can use Marionette, which is party-wide Control. That's pretty hard to recover from.




Oh yeah, she also has Makai Killer Doll. It's Pierce elemental, so that might be good to know. It hits five times, I believe. Benevolence Wall+Pierce resistance+Aegis Defense=nope.
However, I fail to beat her even after many, many resets. So, back to grinding!



...I won this fight, but Meiling, the last one left alive, died to poison on the last turn. It still counts as a victory, not a TPK. What.



Well that certainly counted!



I decided to go back to Muenzuka to pick this guy up. He's the SHINZO. It starts out with Psychic Field (which is a field which increases resistance to physical attacks), Barrier Release (which reduces the resistance of all enemies to status effects), and Dispel. It also grants 5 resistance. Of course, it will later learn Weak Maker, which reduces the resistance of all enemies to either Fire, Water, Earth, or Electric by one level. Overall, it's a pretty good shikigami.
So, how useful can Weak Maker be?



Yup. It has a better chance of landing than Tongue does. With Thunderclap Gale on Patchy using Stinking Toxic Cloud (which DOES inflicts Sleep, Serela, not Poison)...



We can do that. Almost there...



Yes! That's over with. Whew.



Damn, Yumeko. You're tough. Then again, you were tough in Mystic Square.



Reimu of course brushes the whole thing off like it was nothing.



She actually looks kind of cute sitting there like that.



DAWWWWWWWWWWW...



Whoops, she's gone. She was saying something about how she could have lost despite being a very powerful demon. Well, you're fighting a shrine maiden. A shrine maiden who doubles as an exorcist. There you go, Yumeko.



So, all that's left is Shinki. Right.



Three new portals appear now at the beginning. The green and yellow ones lead to treasure and special spots that will reduce Shinki's power when activated, much like with Angra way back in the main game. The dark one will lead to the rest of Pandemonium and to Shinki herself. Next time, we finish up what's left of Pandemonium and prepare for the battle with Shinki.

Summary:

Treasure: Kaiser Robe (Meiling), Devil Shard (x3, drop x1), Giant's Shield (drop, Meiling), Anti Releaser (Angra), Duel Master Suit (Meiling), Fire Crystal, Netherworld Armor (drop), Broken Treasure (drop), Damascus Steel, Emerald, Meditation Trance Ring (drop), Staff of Despair (drop)

Skills: Saint's Cross (Mokou) Missile Weapon (Angra), Meteor Zapper (Suika, Angra), Counter Aim (Angra), Wolf Fang (Suika), Impale Charge (Angra), Iai Strike (Suika), Invest Malice (Meiling), Dimension Slash (Meiling), Dragon Strike (Meiling), Brandish (Angra), Mirage Blade (Angra), Cyclone Zapper (Meiling), Super Dimension Crushing Strike (Meiling), Hard Hit (Angra), Explosion (Angra), Dark Web (Koakuma), Weak Maker (Reduces resistance to a chosen element by one level, SHINZO), Queer Voice (Inflicts Blind on all enemies, Mystia)

Passives: +20% strength of criticals (Yuugi), 25% resistance to Quick effects (Unseelie Court), 25% resistance to Instant Death (Nishiki), -50% MP cost of revival magic (Kaguya), 25% resistance to Slash (SHINZO)

Synthesis Done: Control Medal II, Poison Bottle II (Angra), Death Jewel II (Mokou)

TPKs: 4 this update, 22 overall
Frustration: You think this is bad? Hahahahaha... it gets worse.

EDIT: Well, I finally beat the game. I'll try to get the rest of the updates up sometime within the next week or two.
I can't believe it. It's finally over...

[Validon98]

Preparing updates in advance by typing them up in Notepad and then just copying them over to here is wonderful. It allows me to set up multiple updates without having to post them all at once, as well as allowing me to get multiple updates worth of screenshots done.

Black Sanctuary- Part 4: The End is Nigh

Now that we've beaten Yumeko, let's check out the green and yellow paths! Yellow first, for no reason!



And we have a High Lich. Much like the Lich from earlier, it has some pretty dangerous all-targeting magic attacks, but now that we have an okay defense (and because Mokou has the Aegis Shield, which can block all elements) they're not as hard.



So, the yellow part contains a maze where there are platforms that are above others in such a way that it is difficult to tell what's on top and what's on the bottom. Still not as bad as GoS's puzzle in Bhava-agra.



And there's a Kraken in the back. Weak to Fire, I think, but it has C-C-Cold Breath, so it's kind of hard to kill. Yeah. Having a Fueridun doesn't help matters either.



Upon finding a small spark and activating it, it says that Shinki's power has been sealed. Well, that's good.



Activating it again will release Shinki's power. Let's keep it sealed. I want to fight the easier form of Shinki, not the hardest.



Okay, so we have Tamamomaes here. I honestly don't remember what they do. I thikn they can inflict Charm or something. Plus they're nine-tailed Kitsunes. Okay then.



The "puzzle" of this place is that you can only have one of the bridges at the bottom active at a time, but any of the bridges that connect different paths can be active at once. Okay then.



Hey, a Marisa Medulla! Or, as more people would know, a Darkonium Marisa. No weaknesses, will not run away like other Yukkuri, and I believe it has some dangerous Mystic attacks. Okay then.



Ah, Thunder Elemental! Run!



And that seals Shinki's power over here. Now she'll be at her easiest. Let's head up the actual final path.



Darkness again? Really?



At least we have points around here that will restore our light (although you can't see it in the picture, because it twinkles and sometimes doesn't show up).



Really? Oh well, at least I didn't go too far into this path.



Okay, pay attention to the minimap down there. You see how certain tiles are white?



Those white tiles correspond to the warps you have to use in this room to make it to the last part of this area. I completely missed that the first time, so I had to trial and error my way to the end. It was horrible. At least I get it this time.



In the final area, all of the enemies here are minibosses in their own right, which you'll need to set your party up properly for. This guy here, despite not being the weakest, is one of the easiest. He is a Yami. He has some annoying attacks, and can charge up (which most if not all enemies here can do) to unleash a devastating attack. However, he's completely weak to Earth. If you can buff up Patchy and use Thunderclap Gale on him, he'll fall over. Easy experience.



This guy, however is tough. This is the Royal Duke. By now you should know these guys, being Demon-type enemies, are brutal. Weak to Light, but insanely powerful. Yep. It's recruitable and is actually the strongest Dark elemental shikigami in the game, but at this point I won't really be needing much in the way of powerful elemental shikigami.



Here we get the Second Release Formula. This will let us open up those green seals in the Clock Towers of the End and face the bonus bosses there. I won't really be fighting all of them. In fact, I won't really be fighting them at all.



This lets us know how much power Shinki has. Her power is currently sealed, which means she's at her weakest. Good.
I went to investigate that sealed area at the beginning of Pandemonium. It turns out its another one of those grinding areas. Okay then.



I missed these guys earlier. They're Platinum Stars. Supposedly they're good for recruiting, but I don't really care.
Back at one of the Clock Towers...



We run into this guy. He's a Walpurgisnacht (or Walpurgis Night). I have no idea how that's supposed to be related to what Walpurgisnacht is supposed to be. Regardless, he has some dangerous Blunt attacks, can charge up to kill you, and is weak to Electric. I can't deal with these guys... yet. They're recruitable, but the amount I care is little.



Yeah...



Yikes. I guess I didn't fight hard enough.



Oh boy, a J-Type Expulsion Combat Soldier. Or, as TheNewGuy has pointed out earlier, the Jagd Mirage. It's a warrior with no weaknesses and powerful Slash attacks. It's also recruitable, but... run.



This is a Zuruwan. It's another angel, but it's hard and isn't even recruitable. What a waste of an encounter. Of course, it's very powerful, so run.



I went back in search of the Garuda, and found it! It doesn't have weaknesses, but it's not hard to kill. It's the ultimate Electric shikigami. Of course, I fail to recruit it, and then I gave up.



In the sealed area, I find a Taotie. I don't know what this guy's deal is. Okay then.



OWW.



That happened. By the way, you can't run from battles in the sealed areas. Fun.



Seriously?
At this point, I return back to Pandemonium. Let's see how badly fighting Shinki can go!



Meiling can sense some sort of power... oh boy...



It's completely dark here. We're pretty much in the center of Makai.



Come out, Shinki! We know you're here!



Whoa. Is this supposed to be like Magus in Chrono Trigger, or something?



Shinki!



At last we meet! I've had it, dealing with your flunkies. I want to deal with you now!



Blah blah blah, creator of Makai, blah blah blah... I've heard it already.



Angra, of course, is all ready and roaring to go for this fight. Go thing, too. You're actually in my party this time.



Apparently Meiling tried to say something, but the others shut her up. Okay?



Shinki, you sort of caused some serious problems in Gensokyo. I think it's time you stop.



Shinki, of course, is not really pleased with us.



So, why can you do this?





Essentially, something about being the creator of Makai, thus being able to use the same abilities, or something like that.



Angra doesn't like that, of course.



She also I think is going to tell us about why she's doing this.



I forget what Yukari's saying here, but okay.



I think it has to do with the whole "shaming Makai and demons as a whole" thing. Essentially, that's Shinki's plan. To get revenge.



Yep, pretty much.



Looks like fighting isn't far behind!



Whoa, it's the Chaos thing from earlier!



It's your thing from before, Angra!



Shinki's practically saying the same thing as before... how much are you going to copy Angra's incident?



What?



It's the final area from Mystic Square. This is the real final area!



I honestly have no idea what she's saying here. Something about 1000 years, maybe?



Regardless, Byakuren Hijiri is a Buddhist priest. She may have had ties to Makai in the past, but she won't let you destroy her new home!



Mima is tired of your antics, Shinki! She won't let you get away with anything!



Yukari Yakumo, despite her laziness and personality, has always kept Gensokyo's safety in mind. She won't let all of her work go to waste!



Hong Meiling has already gone on an incredible journey to stop one demon of Makai from destroying Gensokyo. She can do it again!



Angra Mainyu may have caused the original incident that is the cause of all of this, but Gensokyo is her new home. Creator or not, she will take you out!



Reimu Hakurei is the shrine maiden of Gensokyo, and its greatest protector. Any time Gensokyo's safety is threatened, she WILL go out and end the threat.



We've come too far to stop now! We'll save Gensokyo and put an end to the Spiriting Away Incident once and for all!



Now THAT doesn't look healthy. Nevertheless, let's do this!



For the final battle, we have a remix of Legendary Illusion~Infinite Being. Alright then!
As for Shinki, she has several forms that she'll switch between once you get her HP to certain points. Sadly, damage won't carry over between forms, so you can't "skip" forms. In her first form, she'll use physical elemental attacks, Mystic attacks, and Slash attacks. She has no weaknesses. I start up by getting Professional Vacation going on Mokou, following by buffing the party with Emerald Pentagram. Patchy then should be buffed by Dragon Power from the Dragon Maid and Spell Enhance from whoever. She'll be doing most if not all of the damage.



She's got Spell Cards! Crap!



What the hell?
Okay, that was Fantasy Barrage (Fantasy Danmaku?). It reduces the HP of everyone to one. Just let Mokou absorb it all with Benevolence Wall, and then you'll just be able to use Refresh on her next turn. Not a problem.



Okay, now she has her Fire and Water wings. She's weak to Earth and Electric at this point and immune to Fire and Water, so Patchy should be able to defeat this phase with one Stinking Toxic Cloud. It's a waste to use Thunderclap Gale. She'll also use some Fire and Water attacks, but nothing we can't handle.



The same deal with her Earth and Electric wings. Weak to Fire and Water, immune to Earth and Electric. Just use whatever you have to get through this.



Light and Dark wings means now she's weak to the four basic elements yet immune to Light and Dark. Simple to deal with, but you'll want to save up your Thunderclap Gale and Stinking Toxic Cloud.



The final phase. Shinki will try buffing and debuffing along with some dangerous physical attacks. The greatest danger, however, is when she charges up. She'll use First Strike to go first, Mass Dispel to dispel all of your buffs, and then...



Makai Creation. It deals more damage the closer the land is to neutral.



It's also a total party killer.



This is an entirely separate run. I died both times. Well, that happened.
I guess I have to grind now, huh?



I don't even know why I came here. The Clock Towers of the End will contain copies of the Three Demonic Pillars for you to fight. So, if I go into this room, I'll fight a stronger version of Xia. But I'm going to not do that. Next time, I'll grind up for real in preparation for fight Shinki.

Summary:

Treasure: Large Mirror, Earth Crystal, Liquid Iron, Damascus Steel, Electric Crystal, Mystery Bamboo, Keystone, Diamond, Devil Shard, Dark Crystal, Super Aja, Second Release Formula

Recipes: Stat Boosting Accessories V, Super Aja, Devil Statue

Synthesis Done: Devil's Statue (x2), Juwayuzu (Mokou), Sankutamu Aegis (Mokou)

TPKs: 7 this update, 29 overall
Frustration: I don't like grinding. I really don't.

[Serela]

The Walpurgisnacht is a reference to Madoka Magica.

I think using the Rapid Strike move or whatever it is (Garuda and Rikotte both have it) still makes your team go before Makai Creation. As well, bringing along the Fairy Maid to spam land manipulation (And Shou's double-powered Light Land boost skill) can keep it's damage fairly tame.

[Validon98]

The Walpurgisnacht is a reference to Madoka Magica.

I think using the Rapid Strike move or whatever it is (Garuda and Rikotte both have it) still makes your team go before Makai Creation. As well, bringing along the Fairy Maid to spam land manipulation (And Shou's double-powered Light Land boost skill) can keep it's damage fairly tame.

Note I've already beaten Shinki, but my update for it hasn't been put up yet. You're right, Rapid Stream works, although sometimes it doesn't. I think it's still an RNG thing. That and I happened to put it on Suika, because no one else really had any room for my Rikotte.

EDIT: By the way, I only happened to win because Shinki didn't even USE Makai Creation that time. The RNG was being nice, for once. Makes up for all of the damn TPKs to Terminators. I hate those things so much...