Tagged: chapter

Instead of immediately heading into World 3, I’ve decided to play around with the password screen today. I don’t know what results I’ll get (if any).

password

It’s the same creepy music playing, but the password input has been altered. “LEFT”, “RIGHT”, and “END” characters are gone, B and A move the 2nd selector around while Start inputs the code. There’s a new icon in their place, which is in some language I haven’t seen before.

First I’ll try world names from Zach’s playthrough:

Pathos: Didn’t work
Trance: Also didn’t work
Dementia: Nada
Entropy: Screen turned white for a second, but then went back like nothing happened. I entered the code again and it was rejected.
Extus: Nope
Zenith: Didn’t work (but I’m not sure I wanted to go there anyway)

So I can’t access any of the worlds that Zach did. Not only that, I can’t even get to the worlds that I’ve already played – “Gelid” didn’t do anything either. That leaves trying passwords from the original game and guessing. I’ll have to google search to see what those were…

*5 minutes later*

The sound test and “Destroy all monsters” codes both worked.

soundtest

The CD player guys don’t do anything (as far as I can tell). The Sound Test is only playing songs that I’ve heard in the game so far. It probably updates the song library as the player progresses.

destroyallmonsters

The “destroy all monsters” code sends me to this area where I’m a robot that uses a club to kill little monsters. There’s no health, time limit, or anything. The password music plays in the background.

This made me feel uneasy so I didn’t play it for long.

Now that I’ve gone through all my other options, I’m going to see what that new language icon does.

letters

Woah.

I don’t understand this at all. I’m glad I still have the option of going back to English. But first I’ll input a password using this and see what happens.

inject

To my surprise, that random input got a result. Another odd game, the only objective is to get blood samples from each of these monsters to put in the beakers. Don’t know what the 120 means, it was there the whole time.

After doing so, it goes back to the password screen.

Tried another combination, and got yet another little game.How many games are in this thing?

boatmouse

This time I’m a little yellow mouse in a rowboat on the ocean. Just swimming along. Row row your boa-

boatmouse2
why did everything go dark?

 

 

boatmouse3

Damn!

How was I supposed to avoid that?

I input the same code, trying to start over, but it didn’t work this time. So much for that one. I’ll try one more;

tricycle

I have no clue what’s going on here. Maybe it’s a race, but I don’t seem to be getting closer to anything? When I back-pedal, the flying thing follows me.
I rode around for a few more minutes but nothing else happened.

These password games are interesting, but fruitless. There’s still one word I want to try out though, but I’ll need to go back to the English screen:

password2

 

 

And it had a result!

 

 

project
Now I’m intrigued. It looks as if this might give me some answers as to what this game is about. What really caught my attention is the blood red text stating “DO NOT REDISTRIBUTE THIS CARTRIDGE”. Clearly someone did not want this game being passed around.

It’s a bit too late for that, but as the current owner, I really want to know why shouldn’t it be redistributed.

youdidntsaythemagicword

Goddamnit! Just when I think I’m getting somewhere, it wants ANOTHER password. What does this thing need authorization for? What the hell is a “Transcendence Project”?

I guess I won’t be finding out, at least not right now. Maybe another creature will give me the authorization code.

Today we go into World 5. The Gate has 7 slots on it, so this is the halfway point.

tempest

tempboard1

The board is a dark bluish color, 3 level types;

TOP

SWAMP

FOG

top1

“TOP” takes place on the top of a mountain range. You can’t see in the screencaps, but this area has very strong winds. I’m going to need to pay attention so I don’t plummet while moving.

top2

There’s an eerie feeling to this place. Rather low-tone music, but it’s hard to hear over the sounds of howling wind.

There are 2 kinds of gross bug enemies, they seem to be related. Both of them try to stab me with the face spikes. I’m starting to see body parts flying across the screen when the wind picks up…

top3

I’m running into these odd lump-things with holes all over them. The bugs hover around it, sticking their spikes into the holes, and they attack me whenever I get close. So I have to destroy all of them before I can get across. It’s getting difficult to avoid these things.

top4

I can see the bodies that had been flying past earlier – they’re covered in circular holes, likely stabbed to death by the bugs. There are also pink eggs bound to the mountains by a sticky web-like substance. Small larval bugs leap from the eggs and drain health, but I’ve also seen them emerge on their own to feed on the bodies.

top5

I’ve gotten to a clearing that seems mostly free of bugs. And look who shows up – Usol!

sadusol

Oh god. That’s terrible to hear.

Wait, what is that thing?

ranigan speak

top6

top7

top8

That hairy asshole grabbed Usol and disappeared!  And I liked the little guy, so this pisses me off. I hope I can get him back.

tempboard2

Huh? There’s a new monster on the board. I didn’t unlock one in the level. I guess it’s just the game being weird, who knows. I’ll try him out in the swamp level.

swamp1

The name is “King Caesar”. He’s some sort of dog monster, might be made of rock. The swamp is like a combination of the forest and ruin levels. Don’t know about the water but I’m staying it out of it. I’d rather not take my chances, and I don’t think a rock dog is going to be a good swimmer.

The music has a primordial sound, it’s like a slow knocking on wood. Lot of background noise, gurgling and whistling sounds.

swamp2

The lump things are here, but the other enemies are different. One is a long necked creature with spikes that tries to stab me from the water, the others are toads that jump everywhere. They aren’t strong and they give health when defeated, but they show up frequently.

King Caesar is fairly conventional for a playable monster, though jumping is weird. He falls slower than Godzilla, and seems light on his feet. But that’s a not big issue. One thing I really like is that he can aim his beam up and down, which should come in handy.

swamp3

A tree with syringe needles coming out of the branches? I’m just going to jump over it.

warp

What the hell?

I got hit by one of the needles, and  it looks like it’s injected Caesar with psychedelic drugs. Everything’s wobbling rapidly and changing colors, and the music has messed up. I can’t play the game like this, have to wait for this to wear off.

warp2

Ugh, this is making me dizzy.

Alright, 2 minutes and it wears off. Definitely avoiding these trees.

Going through the swamp, encountering more of the same.

swamp4

I think we’re at a boss.

swamp5

toad1

toad2

Definitely a boss.

toad3

The Giant Toad is trying to eat Caesar, and his tongue is both his primary weapon and his weak point. Striking it just gets me stuck to it, so I have to use the beam. Though it’s arsenal is limited, the toad can birth many smaller toads out of the holes in it’s back.

toad4

After taking enough damage, the Giant Toad retreats momentarily to let it’s spawn wail on me. They come at a constant rate, but by unrelentingly beating the hell out of them, it’s a good way to gain health before the big one resurfaces. After doing this about 3 times..

toad5

And the Giant Toad goes kaboom. Look at those fireworks!

King Caesar is quite effective, though these levels seem a bit easy. I was expecting things to get harder by this point.

megag1

“Megaguirus” is a monster dragonfly. You might notice it starts out with an empty power meter, which had me confused at first.

megag2

megag3

It turns out that Megaguirus gains energy by draining yours, and then uses your own beam against you.

megag4

An annoying trick, but Megaguirus lacks in real strength. So it’s just a matter of getting enough hits in.

fog1

“FOG” is another ruined temple. This one is somehow floating in the sky, along with several large rocks. This area has less gravity than normal. There’s music playing that sounds like a whistle, but it’s hard to hear over the wind.

Having some trouble with these lizard-esque enemies. They stab with their tongues and will chase me around until I get rid of them.

And here’s where the level gets it’s name from; every now and then the fog rises up from the bottom to obscure the view. Which is the last thing I need when I’m trying to jump across flying rocks. I have to fend off enemies while waiting for the fog to go back down. And some of the lizard things can fly.

fog4

Thankfully this level is rather short. At the end there is this thing, which blocks me from getting through. It’s not much of a mini-boss, all it can do is wave it’s tentacles and call other enemies.

fog5

I met another denizen here and- wait what is he doing

goaway

Huh? Well, whatever.

Anyway, time for the boss…?

tempboard3

What the hell? The world boss icon has moved to another part of the screen? How does that happen?

Going back through some of the levels again, not taking more screencaps because it’s the same stuff. I got through to where the icon had moved and…

tempboard4

It moved again.

Something is wrong here.

*break*

Alright, I thought it over for a while. I think the cause of this is King Caesar. He wasn’t unlocked like the others, he just showed up. It could be that his inclusion was a trick.

I’m going to try getting rid of him and seeing if that solves the problem. I’m going to feel like a real dumbass if I’m wrong, but I don’t know what else to do. Here goes…

bye

tempboard5

That did it! I knew something was off about him. I’ll use Rodan to go up against the boss now.

It resembles one of the lizard creatures from the fog level, except much larger. The first thing I notice is that it moves very fast, faster than any of the previous bosses.

This boss has numerous tricks up it’s (her?) sleeve; lashing out a tongue that drains health, tornado blasts form the wings, and heading offscreen to let the kids have a turn.  It’s proving to be a hard battle.

Salaac hits Rodan with the tongue again and health is going into critical lows. But now we’re close enough that I can lay on the damage and prevent it from flying off.

It’s a very close match, but I succeed.

And I thought it would end there, but it doesn’t. It takes me back to the map again.

tempboard6

King Caesar is back, where the Boss Icon was. I think he’s mad about that “dropping him into an abyss” thing.

caesar1

Fortunately he only has as much life as he did when I got rid of him. This should be easy.

caesar2

caesar3

“That’s what you get for working for that grey bastard!”

reveal1

reveal2

reveal3

Uh-oh.

warlockspeak1

warlock1

Shit, I didn’t even think I’d be fighting him now, I wasn’t prepared for this! This might be as far as I get, but I’m going down fighting.

warlock2

warlock3

This guy is tough. Very tough. Godzilla is the strongest monster I have, and I’m just barely holding him off.

warlock4

warlock5

We’re both getting low on health, and he’s getting serious – now he’s destroying the mountaintops so I have less places to stand!

warlock6

He absorbed my heat beam! He’s gaining a lot of power, better duck!

warlock7

This is it! Gonna blast him with all I have left-

warlock8

warlock9

warlockspeak2

And “Warlock” floats away again. So he can regain his health and prepare for another attack, no doubt. And he knows about the journal? What exactly is he?

Do I even want to know?

Guh. Well, I’m physically and mentally exhausted now. This game threw a lot at me that I wasn’t ready for. I don’t think it’s going to get any easier from here, but I can’t quit now. Not until I find Usol.

I’m still having trouble getting to sleep. Ever since starting the game I’ve had this weird anxious feeling, like I needed to be ready for something. I’m not entirely pleased with what I’ve seen, that grey creature gives off a very bad vibe. But I’m not ready to quit just yet.

World 4, Amorphis.

amorphis

amorphisboard

Green board with 4 level types;

RUIN
FALLS
REEF
DEPTH
“RUIN” is a level of flooded temple ruins. It has a dismal atmosphere to it. Some of the platforms sink into the water after being stepped on. I don’t know if the water is harmful or not, but I won’t chance it.

ruined

I’ve noticed a pattern: creatures that stand still when you walk up to them are usually okay to talk to. The things that are constantly moving around either don’t respond, or they attack. Right here is a something that’s standing still so I’ll say hello:

ruins2

strong
He seems bitter. Since I’m conversing with one of these, I’m going to ask it something I’ve wanted to find out. Which is how exactly these creatures can hear what I’m saying.

ears

He’s a little smartass, apparently. I doubt he’ll be saying anything useful so I’m moving on.

ruins3

The level is sparsely populated by creatures, most of them are these things that leap and bite. I’m glad I’m going through here with Rodan because I can fly over them.

After browsing through the level for a minute I found Usol! Let’s see how he’s doing.

ruins4

usol1

He’s not doing too well. The poor guy’s lost his home from the sound of it. I don’t know what to do other than say I feel bad for him. It’s a really strange feeling trying to comfort something that lives in a video game.

Then I ask him if he knows anything about a password.

usol2

I feel conflicted by Usol’s response. While I’m happy that I got a password, I’m also worried by this “They” that he mentions. Who are “they”, and why would they come after him? I try to ask him to explain, but he starts to fly away.

ruins5

Might as well see what this password does. Heading back to the Transcendence Project and…
We’re in!

It’s rather strange that Usol got a code that works for this. I was under the impression that his “world” was separate from this game menu stuff. Makes me curious as to how he got it, but anyway, let’s see this “Project”.

proj1

It appears to be some kind of journal, with separate entries as readable text scrolls..

This…makes no sense. Why is there a written document about the cartridge IN the cartridge? How did it get there? Did this doctor disassemble it and encode his own journal into the game? Why would he do that?

Nothing to do but start reading.

proj2

proj3

Seems as if someone donated this game to a lab and some scientists ran tests on it. The journal doesn’t say who the donor was or how they knew where to send the game. Nor does it say what exactly the problem with the game is, it’s only referred to as an “Anomaly”.

The rest of the entries describe tests done with the game. I’ll post screencaps of some of the more interesting ones.

proj4

proj5

proj6

proj7

proj8
The last two entries are alarming.

proj9

proj10

To be honest I didn’t really believe a lot of Zachary’s testimony about his game ended, with the paralysis. I figured he was playing some weird modded game and was getting caught up in his own imagination. But this bit about “Jeremy” having a seizure is making me rethink it. And judging from this, Zach is the only person to have completed the game in it’s “anomaly” form.

“Group Test Day 13”, dated September 21, 1997, is the last entry in the journal. Either the project was abruptly ended at this point, or the rest of the journal has not been recorded on this. While this does give a bit of insight about the game, it raises more questions than it answers. Assuming that this is even legitimate, that is. These entries are very short for what’s supposed to be a professional experiment.

But real or not, I still don’t understand how it’s even in the game. The journal itself isn’t lending me any answers, and I don’t see anything else to look at on this page except the journal entries. So I’m going back to Amorphis to complete it.

waterf1

“FALLS” is a waterfall level. Mostly the same as RUINS, just walking through and jumping over pits. Enemies here are the 1998 Godzilla, a giant lobster, and some more of those jumping creatures. The music is faster in pace and sounds more threatening.

waterf2

waterf3

The end of the level has you right at the waterfall, having to jump across blocks that come down the falls. Very much like those parts in Mario Bros 2, except it’s a little harder because Godzilla’s jumping is awkward. Jumping creatures come down from the top of the screen every few minutes.

waterf4

Time for another boss!

dag1

“Dagahra” is an aquatic reptile that alternates between crawling and flying around. When he flies, he releases starfish that attach to Godzilla and then explode.

dag2

dag3

His last trick is to spin around rapidly, creating a whirlwind that blocks the heat beam, and makes it hard to attack him. The only thing that works against this is the tail whip.

dag4

From there, it’s onto the Reef.
reef1

In this underwater stage, Godzilla can actually swim! I don’t recall him doing that in the game before. I’m very glad to see more health boosters, that bastard Dagahra nearly took out Godzilla.

Godzilla actually handles better underwater than he does on land, although there are some drawbacks. He can’t kick or tail-whip, unless you go to a surface and stand on it.

The fish are peaceful but the octopus will try to grab Godzilla if he gets too close, and there’s more lobsters. They also move faster underwater.

reef2

An unsettling sight- a creature tied to a rock. He must have gotten on someone’s bad side and they decided to drown him.

reef3

At the end of REEF is a mini-boss, a long necked aquatic dinosaur. He fights a lot like Godzilla, but doesn’t have a heat beam. Instead he opens up his tail and knocks back with a blast of air/water/something. Lack of ranged weapons makes him easier to deal with than Dagahra.

reef4

“DEPTH” is another swimming stage, this time at the ocean floor. Very eerie music, and it’s hard to see. Not a good sign.

depth1

I don’t know what this is, but I don’t like it.

depth2

Uh-oh. Looks like the drowning wasn’t an isolated incident..

depth3

At least there’s spare health laying around(These enemies doesn’t give any after being destroyed). God only knows what I might run into down here.

depth4

Like this dragon. I thought this was going to be a problem at first, but when I went to cross, he just stood there. Which is nice.

depth5

Maybe if I keep going left I’ll find the exit.
depth6

NOPE.
Alright, after about 10 minutes of swimming around, I seem to be getting somewhere. I figure I’m at the ocean floor, nowhere lower to be, so the direction to go is up. Freakish mermaids have started swarming on me, so I must be close.

depth7
Going up led me out of the depths and into a waterfall stage, this one is set at night. I ran into this green character and then this happened:

greenguytext

conf1

conf2

conf3

I think I know who Usol’s afraid of.

toldyou

Let’s see how he likes getting blasted.

conf4

conf5

lastwarning

 

I wonder why he left after being attacked. Too cowardly to stay and fight? I doubt it.

 

odia1

odia2

This fight was fairly easy until “Odia” gave me a surprise-

odia3

Turns out it can shapeshift. What’s worse is not only it’s heat beam is as powerful as mine, now it moves even faster.

odia4

It switches between Godzilla and it’s true form every few seconds. After losing a lot of life, it dives downward towards some underwater caves.

Odia hides inside them and sticks it’s head out to spew green spheres, which stick and make it hard to move. Then Odia rushes forward to ram Godzilla into spiked walls.

odia5

odia6

It’s an interesting tactic, in fact I’m going to use it myself.

odia7

Another one bites the dust.

3rdsymbol

And there’s another world completed. I wonder what happened to those people who were part of the project…