The park seemed to be the only area in the entire town that did not remain unscathed when the Light Chaser had saved this world. Trees were knocked over and uprooted and there was a crater near the center of the park but nothing in it except more dirt. The feeling of a dark presence was there however even though one could not be seen. The ground shook. Then there was silence. It shook again. The shadows of Aria and Chrys were stretching thin along the ground and, if they turned to look, they would have seen the figures of their shadows continue to elongate and grow closer together until they merged and became totally black. A large hand came forth from the shadow and then another followed by a head covered in tangled black locks of what can only be loosely described as hair. Its huge form blocked out the sunlight casting the two wielders in the shadow of its form. Its yellow eyes bore down onto the two. This was a Darkside. A BOSS BATTLE COMMENCES Darkside: 160/160 HP [In Boss Battles, the amount of AP you use in your turn is how much damage is dealt to the boss. Saving AP will reduce damage taken when the boss attacks.] The Waterfalls "Y-yes. Of course." The guard was visibly taken aback that this young girl had asked him such a question but the King was not one to make mistakes when it came to judgments of character. If this girl wielded the power to fend off the darkness then it was in his own interest to help her. He refrained from making any comments about her age, fearing not just sounding ignorant but also the wrath of his King should this be considered mistreatment of the very guests they were meant to assist. "The waters have grown dangerous, so be prepared." In a few minutes they had traveled across the outlying waters and towards the sounds of the waterfalls that surrounded the city. The ride on the simple wooden vessel was a calm one. The ship itself was quite small but the deck itself was large enough to walk around in without losing ones balance. And large enough for Heartless to jump from the waters to land on the boat right in front of Tinarah. And they did just that. Enemies Remaining: 3 Screwdrivers Screwdrivers require 10 AP to defeat. The Ruins "Ah!" "Help!" The shouts of a man and woman could be heard from a distance. The same white-haired girl from earlier, Princess Kida, was waving a broken spear at a large green Heartless while a tall bespectacled lanky male was behind her trying to get her to run from the monster she clearly had no business fighting. The Heartless struck at the wooden shaft, knocking it out of her hand and was preparing to finish the job. Other Heartless began to appear seemingly intent on hunting down Kida specifically. Enemies Remaining: 7 (5 Shadows. 2 Screwdrivers.) Shadows require 2 AP to defeat. Screwdrivers require 10 AP to defeat. The Cave Torrin was still sitting against the rock on the opposite side Atmos had been propped up against. The magical field protecting her was gone and Torrin had changed out of his cloak into a different outfit. The thought 'Isn't it funny that my normal clothes are nearly the same as when I was wearing the protective coat?' once crossed his mind but it really wasn't that funny. It was just a stupid coincidence, nothing more. Besides, the cloak barely fit and his normal clothes were good enough for use. "Say...mind sharing your take on the situation? Master to Master." Of course, there was no response from the woman but he could hear her stir and mumble something as if she tried to respond in her half-asleep state. "Of course. Get your rest." Footsteps. Torrin immediately forced himself to stand with some difficulty by using his keyblade to help him up, ready to get on the defensive, but his guard lowered when he saw that it was just one of the students approaching. He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Figured one of you would be back to check up on her. She took a heavy beating back there. It'll be a little longer before she wakes up and rejoins you guys. Any progress with the natives of this world?" The Alleys Dark figures began to crawl along the ground trailing slowly behind Illiana as she walked towards the alley before blending in to the shade the alley provided. There were no signs of guards around and everything had gone eerily silent. Just then, a Shadow burst out of the ground and swiped at Illiana's legs from behind. Several Heartless materialized as other Shadows began to emerge from the ground and surround the girl. Illiana was hit for 4 Damage (21/25HP) Enemies Remaining: 8 (3 Shadows. 3 Soldiers. 2 Pirates.) Shadows require 2 AP each to defeat. Soldiers require 4 AP each to defeat. Pirates require 8 AP each to defeat.
The park seemed to be the only area in the entire town that did not remain unscathed when the Light Chaser had saved this world. Trees were knocked over and uprooted and there was a crater near the center of the park but nothing in it except more dirt. The feeling of a dark presence was there however even though one could not be seen. The ground shook. Then there was silence. It shook again. The shadows of Aria and Chrys were stretching thin along the ground and, if they turned to look, they would have seen the figures of their shadows continue to elongate and grow closer together until they merged and became totally black. A large hand came forth from the shadow and then another followed by a head covered in tangled black locks of what can only be loosely described as hair. Its huge form blocked out the sunlight casting the two wielders in the shadow of its form. Its yellow eyes bore down onto the two. This was a Darkside.
Torrin was still sitting against the rock on the opposite side Atmos had been propped up against. The magical field protecting her was gone and Torrin had changed out of his cloak into a different outfit. The thought 'Isn't it funny that my normal clothes are nearly the same as when I was wearing the protective coat?' once crossed his mind but it really wasn't that funny. It was just a stupid coincidence, nothing more. Besides, the cloak barely fit and his normal clothes were good enough for use. "Say...mind sharing your take on the situation? Master to Master." Of course, there was no response from the woman but he could hear her stir and mumble something as if she tried to respond in her half-asleep state. "Of course. Get your rest." Footsteps. Torrin immediately forced himself to stand with some difficulty by using his keyblade to help him up, ready to get on the defensive, but his guard lowered when he saw that it was just one of the students approaching. He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Figured one of you would be back to check up on her. She took a heavy beating back there. It'll be a little longer before she wakes up and rejoins you guys. Any progress with the natives of this world?"
And now for a short clip from PAX showing that game is prettier in action:
The scent of darkness was the only thing that allowed him to look up in time to watch as Ria, in a new form, came down at him. He casually swatted away the attacks that came his way, though one clipped his should causing his cloak to tear at the force from the attack making the Light Chaser wince. He raised his blades preparing for the downward slash from Ria. His muscles tensed as darkness swirled around them from the aftershock of the attack, the Light Chaser's blades shifting under the force of Ria's attack. "Fire." Rather from his keyblade the magical bursts of flame sprung forth from his fists which were still clenched tight on the grips of his keyblade to fly upwards towards Ria.
Light Chaser* OH YOU, FEARLESS.
Somewhere under his hood, the Light Chaser raised an eyebrow under the creature's drastic shift in tone and appearance. An interesting ability that was to be sur-Then the blade went through straight through the hooded man's chest with no resistance. The Light Chaser shattered into thousands of fragments of lights. "Fast little devil, aren't you?" The Light Chaser stood several feet away clearly unharmed with amusement clear in his tone. "Alright, gloves are off so to speak." A second keyblade was summoned in the Light Chaser's free hand to match Ria's own. "You're not the special butterfly you think you are." He leaped back to make some distance between the two and began to swing his blades at the open air. With every swing came an arc of radiant light speeding towards Ria and as the Light Chaser kept swinging the bursts of light only came out faster and faster. THERE COULD ONLY BE ONE BEST ANTAGONIST.
"Nine pure lights? Funny. Purity says nothing about strength. In fact, I can name seven pure lights off the top of my head that wouldn't even be able to beat a lowly Shadow." The Light Chaser summoned a single blade. A chuckle came from under his hood. "And honestly, I'll bet I cast a shadow bigger than you." With no warning he vanished in a flash of light, as the name would imply, and reappeared behind Ria to strike at the dark creature's torso with a lightning fast horizontal swing of his blade.
"Begone creature of the dark. The Realm of Light is no place for garbage like you." Out from a brilliant column of light came a tall figure robed in black. An air of absolute confidence came from the man as he crossed his arms and spoke simply towards the would be 'Best Antagonist'. "Leave before I smite you right where you stand, shadow."
I feel like I should share in the victory of this when Lux wins.
Our brotherhood has transcended the polls of mortals.
I'll vote for the one thing I dominated at.
Coming to PS4, Vita, and Steam on February 15, 2018. HYPE. Secret of Mana holds a special place in my heart and it makes me extremely happy that it'll be getting some love on its 25th Anniversary. The game's getting a limited edition in Japan but nothing of the sort has been announced for anywhere else:
Enok looked at the sorry excuse for a crew left on the ship, as well meaning as they might be, they were not enough to engage in ship-to-ship combat but just enough to steer the ship and ram it into something. Though he would not mention this plan to the others as that would guarantee them wishing to jump off the ship. The slightest hint of guilt pressed on his conscience, the Hym's doing no doubt but as long as its bloodlust was sated it was not going to push him to change his mind. "Raise the anchor and man the sails, we're going in." Feeling as if he was frozen to the side of the ship Kord released his grip temporarily from his hatchet to make sure his fingers hadn't become useless. The hatchet was buried into the soaked wood of the side of a raider ship and Kord's other hand was hanging on to the damn thing to keep him from falling back into the water. He was a decent swimmer but the water was cold and he was getting tired of the cold. When was summer coming again? He shook his head, refocusing his attention on climbing up to sneak on board. A difficult task when one was soaking wet and did not have a good view of what was going on with the deck. Maybe he could just climb to the top and ask to dropped off at the next port...because raiders were so well known for their generosity of course.
Enok looked at the sorry excuse for a crew left on the ship, as well meaning as they might be, they were not enough to engage in ship-to-ship combat but just enough to steer the ship and ram it into something. Though he would not mention this plan to the others as that would guarantee them wishing to jump off the ship. The slightest hint of guilt pressed on his conscience, the Hym's doing no doubt but as long as its bloodlust was sated it was not going to push him to change his mind. "Raise the anchor and man the sails, we're going in."
King Nedakh, ignoring Chrono's question and appearing to not believe his words about their weapons, turned his head to look directly at the one girl who had knelt before him. The gesture was appreciated but did nothing to change his opinion of the group of children. They looked so young and naive that he could hardly even consider that they had the strength to vanquish the darkness. The child who stepped back in fear only made it more apparent that these were mere children. "Some believe that those who arrived before you brought the monsters here. They claimed to be explorers but their journey here awakened the Leviathan which has always served as our guardian." Their guide whispered to the group in response to Chrono's question. "There are no tests that would change my mind. Children have no place on the battlefield." He spoke sternly towards them, so intent on having them leave that he hardly noticed that a boy amongst them began to speak and summoned his weapons. The guards tensed up for a moment but relaxed once the blade was gone. It was not just any blade. In his many years of life Nedakh had seen this kind of weapon before and the word fell upon his lips before the boy declared what it was. "Keyblade." How long had it been since he had last seen one? Not since the end of that terrible war that left his own world in shambles. The only wielder of it he could remember, however, was of a much greater stature than the children who stood before him. Still, this explained why it looked like they did not belong to this world. Was the traveler who sought and audience with him a year ago also a wielder? It would have explained his sudden appearance and disappearance and his interest in Nedakh's own daughter. "I had believed your kind to have died out in the War. Clearly I was mistaken." He shifted slow to sit upright ignoring the pain that his aged back gave him. "Very well then. It is clear to me that you children wish to help but I caution you not to find yourselves getting too comfortable. Once the darkness is clear you will have the thanks of me and my people but you will be expected to leave." His words were spoken calmly with no malice behind them but, rather, with a calm acceptance that this was necessary. "Seek out the darkness, destroy it, and return here once you have completed your task." King Nedakh offers the party a reward for destroying the Heartless infesting Atlantis. Guards will make way for you and not impede your progress in exploring the city and its outskirts. You are given a map of the area to help you on your task. Points of Interest: The Encampment - Heartless have not been spotted here. Yet. This is where the outsiders who arrived before you are nestled. They are resupplying for their journey back to the surface but their encampment lies just outside the city where old military jeeps, trucks, and a large drilling vehicle are parked. Soldiers and those contracted to work with them on their expedition are camped out here. Perhaps they might have insight into the current events the King has not shared. The Ruins - Princess Kida has been spotted with one of the outsiders heading here. The Ruins are an abandoned and flooded part of Atlantis filled with decrepit buildings and sunken monuments to long forgotten history and is overrun with vegetation. No one visits the ruins anymore so the Heartless threat here is unknown. The Waterfalls - Nedakh has instructed the guards to take those willing past the shores of the outer city on a boat. Outside of getting a good view of the city from a distance, there is not much else to see but the waterfalls surrounding Atlantis. Heartless have been spotted swimming the waters by fishers. The Marketplace - A large open place of commerce lined with shops. All of them are closed now due to the attacks Atlantis has seen recently leaving vacant stands filled with fruit, trinkets, hardware, artwork, and hundreds of other items. Heartless have been recently spotted here. The Alleys - The darker corners of the city, collectively called the Alleys, between buildings. Normally used for shortcuts to get from one part of the city to another now are left empty where even guards dare not tread. The threat of being attacked by Heartless in the alleys is extremely high. The Cave - The area you came from before reaching Atlantis. Master Atmos was supposed to be being watched over by the stranger Torrin. Now that you have the time, going back to check up on them is a possibility though the area is clear of Heartless.
King Nedakh, ignoring Chrono's question and appearing to not believe his words about their weapons, turned his head to look directly at the one girl who had knelt before him. The gesture was appreciated but did nothing to change his opinion of the group of children. They looked so young and naive that he could hardly even consider that they had the strength to vanquish the darkness. The child who stepped back in fear only made it more apparent that these were mere children. "Some believe that those who arrived before you brought the monsters here. They claimed to be explorers but their journey here awakened the Leviathan which has always served as our guardian." Their guide whispered to the group in response to Chrono's question. "There are no tests that would change my mind. Children have no place on the battlefield." He spoke sternly towards them, so intent on having them leave that he hardly noticed that a boy amongst them began to speak and summoned his weapons. The guards tensed up for a moment but relaxed once the blade was gone. It was not just any blade. In his many years of life Nedakh had seen this kind of weapon before and the word fell upon his lips before the boy declared what it was. "Keyblade." How long had it been since he had last seen one? Not since the end of that terrible war that left his own world in shambles. The only wielder of it he could remember, however, was of a much greater stature than the children who stood before him. Still, this explained why it looked like they did not belong to this world. Was the traveler who sought and audience with him a year ago also a wielder? It would have explained his sudden appearance and disappearance and his interest in Nedakh's own daughter. "I had believed your kind to have died out in the War. Clearly I was mistaken." He shifted slow to sit upright ignoring the pain that his aged back gave him. "Very well then. It is clear to me that you children wish to help but I caution you not to find yourselves getting too comfortable. Once the darkness is clear you will have the thanks of me and my people but you will be expected to leave." His words were spoken calmly with no malice behind them but, rather, with a calm acceptance that this was necessary. "Seek out the darkness, destroy it, and return here once you have completed your task."
Square The Mana Beast - It'll never happen but considering it's from one of the greatest RPGs (and one of the first ARPGs) ever...well it'd be great seeing it around. Plus, Secret of Mana's 25th anniversary is coming up in 2018. So maybe it's not completely impossible to see something from Secret of Mana on consoles again. Gilgamesh - For obvious reasons. Nomura - If Final Fantasy XV can go crazy with its extra bosses then why not Kingdom Hearts? Disney Mickey, Donald, and Goofy - One trio against another. That'd be neat, right? Powerline - 'Nuff said.
A little late with the news but the game has a worldwide release of January 30, 2018.
So uh...this is a thing:
Alder's blade reappeared in hand the instant they were topside, him wishing to avoid any unpleasant surprises from Ria. There wasn't anything waiting for them but that only made him more uncomfortable. At this point he was expecting more sudden appearances from their deadly foe. After a quick look around to make sure there wasn't anything lurking in the shadows he followed closely after Mora along with the others until they arrived at the village. Any kind of disappointment he might have felt from not getting another chance to face Ria melted away upon seeing what was present at the village. "Oh. That's...gonna take some effort to get through." He spoke, eyeing the Darkside towering over the Shadows surrounding the warded house. "Alright then. Cut down the small ones and we can focus on the Darkside once it's on its own." Alder directed towards the others hoping that they, particularly Cerdic, wouldn't stubbornly do whatever they wanted and follow some modicum of strategy. "Keep your distance and find a place to hide until it's over." Alder looked at Mora before charging forth towards the Heartless to cut down the first that came within striking distance as he engaged in a flurry of cuts with the intent to destroy a Shadow with every strike and take their numbers down as quickly as possible so they could turn their attention on the Darkside.
Alder's blade reappeared in hand the instant they were topside, him wishing to avoid any unpleasant surprises from Ria. There wasn't anything waiting for them but that only made him more uncomfortable. At this point he was expecting more sudden appearances from their deadly foe. After a quick look around to make sure there wasn't anything lurking in the shadows he followed closely after Mora along with the others until they arrived at the village. Any kind of disappointment he might have felt from not getting another chance to face Ria melted away upon seeing what was present at the village. "Oh. That's...gonna take some effort to get through." He spoke, eyeing the Darkside towering over the Shadows surrounding the warded house. "Alright then. Cut down the small ones and we can focus on the Darkside once it's on its own." Alder directed towards the others hoping that they, particularly Cerdic, wouldn't stubbornly do whatever they wanted and follow some modicum of strategy. "Keep your distance and find a place to hide until it's over." Alder looked at Mora before charging forth towards the Heartless to cut down the first that came within striking distance as he engaged in a flurry of cuts with the intent to destroy a Shadow with every strike and take their numbers down as quickly as possible so they could turn their attention on the Darkside.
Arctus raised an eyebrow at the scene finding that it could not be more cartoonish. How many times were they going to see someone who was clearly "the bad guy" in the situation? Or perhaps this was a trap? No, how could it be? No one knew they would be there. And weren't keyblade wielders supposed to be good guys? No, of course not. Arctus reminded himself, thinking back to the tales of old he had heard. Starting a fight when they did not know how strong their opponent was wouldn't be the smartest idea but he some sense of morals he held onto, enough to tell him that this was wrong. "Look, why don't you put your magic key away and this won't have to get messy. There's four of us and one of you. If you don't want to spend the rest of the day with your face in the ground I suggest you play nice and ease up on that girl you're threatening." This was not how he pictured his day going though...he didn't have much of an idea how it would have gone otherwise. He just didn't want to go around playing "white knight" and he was certain that the others, particularly the angsty angry-looking girl hiding her real name, might have felt the same. Actus drew his black sword, brandishing it with both his hands and aimed the point at the muscular man.
Arctus raised an eyebrow at the scene finding that it could not be more cartoonish. How many times were they going to see someone who was clearly "the bad guy" in the situation? Or perhaps this was a trap? No, how could it be? No one knew they would be there. And weren't keyblade wielders supposed to be good guys? No, of course not. Arctus reminded himself, thinking back to the tales of old he had heard. Starting a fight when they did not know how strong their opponent was wouldn't be the smartest idea but he some sense of morals he held onto, enough to tell him that this was wrong. "Look, why don't you put your magic key away and this won't have to get messy. There's four of us and one of you. If you don't want to spend the rest of the day with your face in the ground I suggest you play nice and ease up on that girl you're threatening." This was not how he pictured his day going though...he didn't have much of an idea how it would have gone otherwise. He just didn't want to go around playing "white knight" and he was certain that the others, particularly the angsty angry-looking girl hiding her real name, might have felt the same. Actus drew his black sword, brandishing it with both his hands and aimed the point at the muscular man.
The students were led forth by the Atlanteans once they were ready (or ready enough) to head out. A long rope bridge connected the cave's exit and if one looked down they would see a constant flow of lava slowly running along at the bottom of the expanse between the cave and the city. "Best not to look down. It's a long way to fall." One of the men said jokingly as he kept walking. The distance was several minutes worth of walking and as they began to enter the grand city there was an air of emptiness about the place. Distant whispers in alleyways, a passing shadow as a figure rounded a corner, the sounds of doors closing as the group approached, and vacant marketplaces. The only other signs of life in the city were the Atlantean guards stationed sparsely through the streets. The Atlanteans leading them grew visibly more somber as they walked through the empty streets of their home until at last the group approached two large stone doors. Upon them being pushed open by two guards a beautiful chamber room could be seen. Just at that moment a white-haired young woman, clearly upset, passed by the group without a single word or glance. "Princess Kida." One of the Atlanteans uttered as the woman left the chamber. At the far back of the chamber was an elderly man with long flowing white hair complete with a beard about just as long. "Your Highness." The Atlanteans knelt upon approaching the man. "This is King Kashekim Nedakh." "More outsiders?" King Nedakh's tone was clearly full of frustration. "Your Highness, these children have weapons to vanquish the beasts if we allow them to help-" "Weapons? No weapons on this world have the power to fend off the darkness. Outsiders have only ever brought us trouble. Did you not remember about those who arrived earlier? They will be sent back to where they came from just as these children will be." The Light Chaser watched as Chrys and Aria got their chance to interact and, as expected, they started off on amicable terms. "Chrys, our guest seems capable enough to join you on your first assignment." The man spoke, tilting his head up to stare into the sky as if he was searching for something or...even possibly sniffing the air? Somehow, his hood stayed on with no signs of falling back like it was held up with some kind of magical force. The dark void under his hood faced the two again as his tone became more serious. "It seems we have a stowaway on this world." There was a brief pause in his tone. "Stowaways." He corrected himself. "When I pulled this world from being swallowed it seems some of those Heartless followed it here. The two of you should be more than enough to handle the situation." The Light Chaser pointed out in the direction of the park, where the attack had first began before the other group had escaped and he had saved this world. He could have handled it himself but more good would come from having the two girls bond during combat. It worked for him in the past.
The students were led forth by the Atlanteans once they were ready (or ready enough) to head out. A long rope bridge connected the cave's exit and if one looked down they would see a constant flow of lava slowly running along at the bottom of the expanse between the cave and the city. "Best not to look down. It's a long way to fall." One of the men said jokingly as he kept walking. The distance was several minutes worth of walking and as they began to enter the grand city there was an air of emptiness about the place. Distant whispers in alleyways, a passing shadow as a figure rounded a corner, the sounds of doors closing as the group approached, and vacant marketplaces. The only other signs of life in the city were the Atlantean guards stationed sparsely through the streets. The Atlanteans leading them grew visibly more somber as they walked through the empty streets of their home until at last the group approached two large stone doors. Upon them being pushed open by two guards a beautiful chamber room could be seen. Just at that moment a white-haired young woman, clearly upset, passed by the group without a single word or glance. "Princess Kida." One of the Atlanteans uttered as the woman left the chamber. At the far back of the chamber was an elderly man with long flowing white hair complete with a beard about just as long. "Your Highness." The Atlanteans knelt upon approaching the man. "This is King Kashekim Nedakh." "More outsiders?" King Nedakh's tone was clearly full of frustration. "Your Highness, these children have weapons to vanquish the beasts if we allow them to help-" "Weapons? No weapons on this world have the power to fend off the darkness. Outsiders have only ever brought us trouble. Did you not remember about those who arrived earlier? They will be sent back to where they came from just as these children will be."
The Light Chaser watched as Chrys and Aria got their chance to interact and, as expected, they started off on amicable terms. "Chrys, our guest seems capable enough to join you on your first assignment." The man spoke, tilting his head up to stare into the sky as if he was searching for something or...even possibly sniffing the air? Somehow, his hood stayed on with no signs of falling back like it was held up with some kind of magical force. The dark void under his hood faced the two again as his tone became more serious. "It seems we have a stowaway on this world." There was a brief pause in his tone. "Stowaways." He corrected himself. "When I pulled this world from being swallowed it seems some of those Heartless followed it here. The two of you should be more than enough to handle the situation." The Light Chaser pointed out in the direction of the park, where the attack had first began before the other group had escaped and he had saved this world. He could have handled it himself but more good would come from having the two girls bond during combat. It worked for him in the past.
Alder folded his arms and scratched his chin as he wondered if the Extractor could be completed. It's purpose was obvious now. It extracted darkness. So if they could use that on Ria...would Ria get sucked up into the machine? It seemed like that's what one would be getting at if they wanted to use it to destroy Ria. It was not exactly as glorious as destroying Ria in one epic battle but given how many had already died what did it matter with how they destroyed Ria? In any case, they needed a safe place to regroup and make their battle plan. "Even if we can't bring that Extractor back into action, I'm sure the scientist who designed it would have kept notes that could be useful to us." And maybe that scientist was still alive. Or perhaps Alder was hoping for too much. "Just lead the way. I don't like waiting here like a sitting duck." A sitting talking duck. What a silly thought.
Alder folded his arms and scratched his chin as he wondered if the Extractor could be completed. It's purpose was obvious now. It extracted darkness. So if they could use that on Ria...would Ria get sucked up into the machine? It seemed like that's what one would be getting at if they wanted to use it to destroy Ria. It was not exactly as glorious as destroying Ria in one epic battle but given how many had already died what did it matter with how they destroyed Ria? In any case, they needed a safe place to regroup and make their battle plan. "Even if we can't bring that Extractor back into action, I'm sure the scientist who designed it would have kept notes that could be useful to us." And maybe that scientist was still alive. Or perhaps Alder was hoping for too much. "Just lead the way. I don't like waiting here like a sitting duck." A sitting talking duck. What a silly thought.
