Flynn: I'm probably going to regret this, but... speak, Hsing-Hsing.
Hsing-Hsing: Well, whenever IIIIIIII feel ssssshaddd... I want shoooomeone to talk to... I likesssshhh to go to a baaaar...
Sui-ki: Vat? Zat's so stupid!
Loki: Your idea was just to go drown our sorrows? I think you misunderstand the enormity of the situation, good sir!
Dionysus: No... I actually think he's on to something. Think back to all the things you've learned, my good fellow. You came into this world, the world you knew as "Unclean,"knowing nothing of its story. I think you shall agree with me that barside gossip was a valuable resource, no?
Flynn: Huh. That actually makes sense. Come, we go to a bar!
Frost Ace: Why is it always the silly demons that save the day in these liveblogs-ho?
Caladrius: ME NOT KNOW WHAT YOU TALKING ABOUT.
Head to the nearest Hunter Association and speak to the Bartender. In turns out that in this, Tokyo's Darkest Hour, the Hunters' Association has decided to reorganize its Hunter rankings. While before there were several different areas hunters could compete in, now there is only one: a competition to become Champion of Tokyo by helping as many people in their problems (read: Challenge Quests) as possible. Anyone who could reach the top of the charts... well, they'd be quite the hero, wouldn't they?
Flynn: I see. I think I know what we have to do. To reawaken Tokyo's hope, we simply have to help all of Tokyo. A hero. Huh.
To successfully become the Champion, you'll have to complete almost every quest offered in Tokyo. Fortunately, I have already done most of them, apart from the ones that offer lots of Alignment points which, of course, I wanted to balance.
Futotama: You, young one. I have a proposition for you.
Flynn: Speak, Futotama. You have been very quiet until now.
Futotama: Quite. Admittedly I have an ulterior motive, as well: I believe that as you strive to become the hope of this country's people, you may become so for its gods as well. To that end I have enlisted the service of that most ancient of deities, the Enigma Kinmamon. His computer-like mind is attuned to this land - he should be able to tell you of those who need help.
Undine: No credit, as usual...
Salamamder: Yeshp, we Elementals set this up, but no thanks for us...
Kinmamon is the fusion of the four higher Elementals: Gnome, Sylph, Undine, and Salamander, as thus he has many Combo Platter Powers.
Kinmamon: SCANNING... DISTRESSED CITIZEN FOUND. NAME: NOZOMI. MEET AT SHINJUKU WEST ENTRANCE BUILDINGS.
Flynn: Nozomi! It is a relief she still survives. My Gauntlet says this quest is rather easy, as well. Might as well start here.
This quest is "Serial Kidnapping + Arson," and is petitioned by Nozomi to stop the Wicker Men, who have begun capturing Shinjuku's citizens and burning them alive. Meet Nozomi at the West Entrance Buildings area of Shinjuku, then head to the West Entrance and fight the red "blob"-form demons. When you attack them, they will capture Nozomi!
Samyaza: Egad! Anyone who would hurt a lady that lovely is no friend to me!
=MINI-BOSS: WICKER MAN HORDE x4=
Level 44. Weak Fire, Weak Force
Yeah, you can probably tell this quest was meant to be done earlier in the game. You have to fight four of these Hordes (and yes, each one captures Nozomi), and each will go down in a handful of blasts of Maragidyne. Once they are defeated, though, the real threat appears!
=MINI-BOSS: CERNUNNOS=
Level 50. Repel Elec, Weak Force
Cernunnos, god of life and death to the Druids, is behind the attacks, as the more people are sacrificed by the Druids' methods, the stronger he gets, and soon he'll be able to challenge the Angels' authority. He might even be able to do some damage at this point in the game, as he's packing Megidola, Mudoon, and debuffs to weaken you. In general, though, stick to the Zandyne and he should fall.
Kinmamon: SCANNING... DISTRESSED CITIZEN IN IMMEDIATE VICINITY.
Alciel: SIR! News from the underground!
Flynn: Aah!
Peri: Eeeeeep! A giant head!
Flynn: Is this the distressed citizen?
Abaddon:' HARDLY. THIS IS MY BROTHER - OR RATHER, MY BABYLONIAN COUNTERPART, ALCIEL. HE IS HERE TO HELP YOU.
Alciel is an... odd demon. He's one of only two demons in the game weak to Phys, the other being the humble Slime, but makes up for it by nulling every single type of magic. In this sense he's the opposite of Taotie, and speaking of which...
Taowu: THIS BEAST HAS FULLY MATURED! THE CALAMITIES THAT SHALL BEFALL MANKIND GROW EVER-INCREASINGLY!
Yup, at high enough levels Taotie turns into Taowu, and gains some nasty Elec moves as well as heavy Phys moves.
Chupacabra: You are no longer goat, yes? You disgust me, yes?
As well, I made a few other demons at this point...
Beiji-Weng: BROTHER NANDOU! HOW GOOD TO SEE YOU ARE WELL IN THIS LAND!
Lord Nandou: BROTHER BEIJI! YOU TO HAVE COME TO HELP THIS CITY SEE ITS STARS AGAIN?
Beiji-Weng: HOW COULD I NOT?
Anat: I couldn't give a rip about this city myself; I'm looking for my troglodyte brother. He supposedly ended up here after some sort of summoning, and is undoubtedly in trouble again. I suppose I could tag along.
Flynn: The more the merrier. Wow, that fellow is... large...
Yggdrasil: GREETINGS MORTAL! I DO NOT KNOW IF YOU CAN HEAR ME DOWN THERE, BUT YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF HE WHO ANCHORS THE WORLD! HELLO? HELLOOOOOO?
Flynn: Can here you just fine. I thing, however, it would be better if you were to ride in my gauntlet.
Heck yes. All three are very useful demons. Anat has powerful Phys moves, Beiji-Weing, the other Bonus Boss from the original Devil Summoner, comes equipped with the epic Glacial Blast, the next-to-best Ice move in the game, and Yggdrasil upon leveling up learns Drain Gun. Very, very epic.
The next quest is "R x W Smacktacular," which can be started in this area by going to the room in the northeast corner. You'll find an Ashura-Kai-aligned TV director in here, host of the titular "Smacktacular," a television program wherein Hunters (Team White) and demons (Team Red) fight to the death in the streets of Shinjuku!
Flynn: That sounds... umm... rather morally-ambiguous...
Regardless, we have to do it. This quest is actually a very Lost in Translation reference to a Japanese American Idol-esque show, I'm told. Anyway, the first demon to fight is in the West Entrance, and it's "The Apsaras Project," a Horde of... demonic popstars, apparently... Maragidyne will shut them down in an instant.
Apsaras: ''I understand that you wish to restore hope to the people, but certainly there must be a better way than... this.
Head to Kabuki-cho. On the west side of the area is your next target, Lorelei. She has some annoying status ailment stuff going for her, but a few blasts of Agidyne should be enough to take her out.
Lorelei: Her tunes were faulty... I feel no pity that she did not manage to survive...
Head to Golden Gai. Snoop around the back alleys here to find Persephone. Unlike the first two, Thunder is her weakness.
Persephone: There is more than one of me? How interesting...
Take the underground pass to Nicho to find Silky. As with the first two, Agidyne will down her in one round, but she has some -dyne spells of her own, so tread cautiously.
Huoniao: Demonesses burn easily, don't they...?
However, the fight isn't over yet, as the demon in charge of Team Red appears: the Mother Tiamat! She tells her sad story: unlike the others, who were apparently willing participants, she was shanghaied by the Ashura-kai into participating in this "show." Nevertheless, she attacks.
=MINI-BOSS: TIAMAT=
Level 43. Null Fire, Drain Ice, Weak Elec, Resist Dark
Yet another boss that was supposed to be fought prior to the alternate Tokyos. You know the drill: spam Ziodyne and she'll get maybe one attack in. What's interesting here, though, is that she actually has different dialogue if you fight her after the lock, where she claims she's heard of Flynn and thanks him for taking down her cruel masters at the Ashura-kai, before leaving voluntarily.
Flynn: I can even inspire hope in demons? Perhaps there is something to this hero business after all... Kinmamon, next target please.
Kinmamon: Scanning... distressed citizen detected in St. Nicholas Cathedral in Kasumigaseki. Name: Nozomi.
Throne: That one certainly goes looking for trouble, doesn't she...
Head to Kasumigaseki to begin "Rebirth of the Lady." There you'll find Nozomi surrounded by demons of the "Fairy" race. She explains that they want her to summon a demon known as Black Maria. A Silky elaborates: Black Maria was once Lady Danu, the Celtic queen of the fairies, but when the Christians began converting the Celts she became an aspect of Mary to shield her children from persecution by the Angels. Now with the Angels returning, the Fairies want Nozomi to summon her back, which, of course, will not sit well with the Angels. The Fairies want Flynn to defend Nozomi while she performs the Summoning.
Yatagarasu: Greetings. I must say the you have the makings of a future emperor about you. You do not mind if myself and my companion intrude here, do you? As I understand, angels generally have an aversion to being shot...
Nidhoggr: YOU! YEAH, YOU! FEED ME NOW!
These two are Gun specialists (Yatagarasu having the High Gun Pleroma) which will come in handy for...
=MINI-BOSS: LOWER 3RD COMPANY=
Level 80. Weak Gun, Weak Elec, Null Light, Null Dark
Level 80? Really? Even with demons in the '60s I found this Horde pathetically easy. They absolutely cannot stand being hit with Gun moves, so use whatever you have with that. You do, however, have to watch out for them attacking Nozomi, who can't fight here since she's performing the Summoning. They have Berserker God, which can definitely hurt.
Yatagarsu: I detected no future emperors amongst them.
When you win, Black Maria is summoned, but regretfully informs the Fairies that she cannot return to her old position, as she still has a duty to her Christian followers. She does, however, transfer her powers to Nozomi, so she can lead the fairies. She also grants Flynn the power to call her up at any time. So, let's do that now!
Flynn: You go, Nozomi. We'll make a future for you and your new charges, I promise.
Black Maria: Take good care of my flock, my dear young lady.
Black Maria is awesome because she comes with Mediarahan, the long-awaited total-party full-heal spell.
Frost Ace: And yet you still can't heal MP with magic. No justice.
Kinmamon: SCANNING... MULTIPLE DISTRESED HUMANS LOCATED. LOCATION: UENO, RYOUGOKU KYOUGIKAN STADIUM
Flynn: My Gauntlet has a quest corresponding to this location. The "Hunter Tournament?"
This is an interesting quest because it is, as implied, structured like a Tournament. Head to the Stadium in Ueno to participate. This is, yet again, a quest that was supposed to have been done earlier in the game, but there's a reason I held off on it which I'll get into in a bit. The opponents are all Hunters with their own teams of demons, which is kinda cool, but they're all in the 30s-40s range and will go down to a few good Megidoplasmas and Ma- -dyne spells. As such, I'm not even going to dignify them with a miniboss header.
What's interesting, though, is that for all four opponents you're given the opportunity to either spare or kill them at the end of the match. Sparing adds one Law point and killing adds one Chaos point. This is an awful lot of Alignment points at once, which is why I held off on it until now.
Flynn: Yeesh, these Unc- Tokyo citizens do love their blood sports. They booed me every time I chose to let an opponent go. Nevertheless, I do not kill for entertainment, and I have the ticket to the finals anyway. This place is... creepy.
Kazfiel: Makes you almost wonder if this place is worth saving, eh?
Flynn: No, it never made me wonder that.
The next quest to do is, obviously, the Finals. These are located at the Tokyo Dome in Kasumigaseki. There are once again four opponents here, and despite being the finals, they're not much stronger that the opponents in the prelims. Do watch out for the last guy, though, as his demons have some pretty nasty multi-target moves including Blight. Yet again, Flynn is offered the opportunity to kill or spare his opponents, once again for Law or Chaos points.
Flynn: They're still booing... I will not participate in cold-blooded murder. I sure hoped this worked in providing hope... umm, let's get out of here!
Before we embark on the last four quests, though, there's one more thing we can do that'll make them quite a bit easier. And that is gaining the ability to fly. Yes, really. If you've been talking to demons since getting back you may well have picked up a quest called "Resurrection of the Kousoushin," which charges Flynn with reviving the goddess Amaterasu to bring fertility back to Japan. Her essence is sealed in the three great treasures of Japan, which are each being guarded at a different shrine by a boss demon. The first two of these shrines are in Shinjuku. Head to the Yoroi Shrine first to retrieve the Yata no Kagami.
=MINI-BOSS: ERLKONIG=
Level 75. Repel Gun, Weak Fire
This dude is high-leveled and has some nasty Gun moves, but does not have much MP for this point in the game. Agidyne should shut him down in two rounds.
The Kiou Shrine is right next door, but you have to cross a poison swamp to get there. Enter to claim the Yasakani no Magatama from...
=MINI-BOSS: HRESVELGR=
Level 75. Weak Gun, Weak Fire, Repel Ice, Repel Force.
Hresvelgr can be trouble if you come in with demons weak to Ice, which, unfortunately, many Fire specialists are, due to the fact that he has Glacial Blast. In general, though, keep up the Agidyne and Grand Tack and he'll be gone before you know it.
Flynn: These artifacts feel familiar to me somehow...
Yatagarasu: You truly have the makings of an emperor...
Take the Terminal to Ginza; the last shrine is north of here. Here, you have to retrieve the Kusanagi no Tsurugi from...
=MINI-BOSS: ALCIEL=
Level 75. Weak Phys, Weak Gun, Null Fire, Null Ice, Null Elec, Null Force, Null Light, Null Dark
OW. I went over the particulars of Alciel earlier, when he joined, but this guy can be pretty dadblamed tough. Pile on the Grand Tack and Berserker God on your first turn to shave off as much health as possible, because at the beginning of his turn he will immediately put up a Tetrakarn. This will, of course, render him only vulnerable to Almighty. Adding to that, he has debuffs, status ailments, and Titanomachia. Your strategy depends entirely on doing as much damage as possible in as short a time as possible.
Flynn: Very nice sword. I seem to be doing an awful lot of goddess-reviving these days, I've noticed...
Black Maria: There have been many others like you throughout the Multiverse, Young Chosen. This seems to come naturally to most of them...
Poltergeist: Title Drop!
The artifacts are to be taken to the Meiji Shrine at the southern part of Shinjuku and given to the Futotama there; then, for some reason, we're required to go to the temple north of Kasumigaseki (as is, it's literally just a few tiles north of the entrance to Kasumigaseki) to perform the ritual. Amaterasu appears and thanks Flynn for reviving her, and she and Futotama leave to make plans to rebuild Japan. Before she does, however, she leaves Flynn with the right to fuse her and the epic Torifune's Shawl, probably the best Challenge Quest prize in the game. What does it do? Well, when used at the right spots around Tokyo (you'll know these when you see them), it summons Torifune's Ark, effectively giving Flynn the power to fly! For moving within Tokyo, even Terminals can't beet this.
FLYNN learned FLY
Rukh: Y'know, you could've just asked me. I'm big enough to carry you...
Nadja: Shut up, chirpy-bird; you fly me and only me!
Kinmamon: SCANNING... DISTRESSED HUMANS LOCATED. LOCATION: IKEBUKURO HIGH-RISE BUILDING
Flynn: On we go!
To be continued...
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