With the last of the obstacles out of the way it’s time for the event that we’ve been building up to ever since the Beldr battle: the summoning of Babel. The entire party, Akira, Atsuro, Yuzu, Midori, Keisuke, Mari, and Amane have gathered on the Shomonkai’s stage on the top floor of the Hills, and Amane says that the time has finally come to awaken the power of Bel. After everyone expresses their resolve to see this through and wonderment that they’ve actually gotten this far in the lockdown Akira I guess thinks very hard, emitting an aura of golden light. Outside, something’s shown shooting out of the portal in the sky to the demon world like a missile, slamming into the roof of the skyscraper.
The crew then makes their way on to the roof of the Mori Tower to find that Babel has taken the form of a large, golden cylinder that is bedecked with a halo. The Shomonkai seem to have given the roof a makeover as well, for there are Tron Lines and other esoteric, golden doodads spread all over the place. In the center is another organ/console, and there’s a smaller one in one of the corners. For this playthrough though, we won’t have to worry about them. After everyone marvels at the sight the face of a child emerges from Babel and begins to speak, presumably in a Voice of the Legion going by the Voice Grunting, announcing that the final trial will be a battle against it. Well, what else could it be? Demons are summoned to the map, and the pseudo-final battle begins.
Amane Mission 7
- Babel must be defeated
- The whole party cannot die
The map consists of a central circular area (where that main console thing is) and a curved, semi-circular piece of flooring that connects to it. That piece is broken into two halves, so we have to start with our party split into two teams on either side. There aren’t really any gimmicks here: the demons are the same endgame ones we’ve been fighting these past few updates, and Babel itself does not have any Field Skills with which to attack us with while in-transit.
Babel (Lv. 70)
HP/MP
- ???/???
- Resists Physical, Fire, Ice, Elec, and Force; Nulls Mystic
- Mazandyne - Deals heavy Force damage to entire enemy party.
- Megido - Deals moderate Almighty damage to entire enemy party.
- Anti-All - Grants resistance to all elements other than Almighty.
- Life Aid - Recovers 10% max HP at the end of battle.
- Attack All - Normal Physical attacks hit the entire enemy party.
- King’s Gate - Has an attack range of 3 panels and cannot move.
The energy ramp that leads up to Babel is conveniently three panels long, so you can just wait for your guys to queue up at its base before heading up without having to worry about unrestrained counterattacks. Now, Babel doesn’t have much in the way of fancy resistances, but don’t be fooled. Its base stats are high enough to reduce all but the most heavily-buffed attacks to double-digit damage figures, and even a piercing Deathbound isn’t quite as effective as it is normally. Babel doesn’t have any Eye skills, but it seems to always start with an extra turn. You need to have Physical and Force protection spread around to keep healing to a minimum, because this is only the first phase of three, and we’re going to need all the MP we can get for what’s to come.
And what’s to come is, once we beat Babel...we’re not done yet! Like most good video game final bosses, he has another form! The face disappears, the sky goes from blue (wait, wasn’t everything supposed to be all red and stuff?) to dark red, and the gold exterior of the cylinder flakes off, revealing its true self to be a twisted mass of eyes and tendrils. This is the King’s Gate, says Amane. Once more Babel begins to speak, saying that we must learn how to control the power of Bel. So to that end it summons Beldr and Belial to the field, and tells us to have at it.
Yeah, that’s right. We just got thrown a Boss Rush in the middle of the final boss battle. We’re going to have to beat all five Bels all over again. Right then, let’s buckle down and do it...
Beldr (Lv. 60)
HP/MP
- ???/???
- Nulls Physical, Fire, Ice, Elec, Force, Mystic, and Almighty
- Weak Kill - Deals Physical damage to one target, heavy if they’re suffering from an ailment.
- Power Hit - Deals heavy Physical damage to one target.
- Life Surge - HP raised by 30%.
- Mana Surge - MP raised by 30%.
- + Stone - Physical attacks may petrify enemies.
- Immortal - Immune to all attacks and can ignore obstacles when moving.
- Vampiric Mist - Hits all enemy teams with Mystic damage and recovers HP equal to total damage dealt.
Belial (Lv. 60)
HP/MP
- ???/???
- Weak to Ice; Resists Physical, Elec, and Force; Nulls Fire and Mystic
- Maragidyne - Deals heavy Fire damage to entire enemy party.
- Power Hit - Deals heavy Physical damage to one target.
- Gigajama - Attempts to seal one target.
- Dragon Eye - Allows three actions per turn during battle.
- Pierce - Physical attacks bypass Physical resistance, nullification, and absorption.
- Life Aid - Recovers 10% max HP at the end of battle.
- Evil Flame - Grants usage of Fire of Sodom.
- Fire of Sodom - Deals heavy Fire damage to all enemy parties.
Once again, Akira is the only one who can damage Beldr. The Norse light god’s level has doubled from when we fought him on Day 3, but thankfully his stats and HP are still balanced so that Akira can take him down all by himself. His skills remain the same, he’s even lost Lost Flame, so he’s fallen behind damage-wise. Belial, on the other hand, is still up to snuff, though I lucked out as his AI decided to try mostly spamming Gigajama instead of something that could actually hurt. A concentrated Ice Dance assault from Mari’s team put him down in short order. Next up Babel summons Jezebel.
Jezebel (Lv. 64)
HP/MP
- ???/???
- Resists Fire; Reflects Ice and Elec; Nulls Mystic
- Judgement - A Mystic-based attack that halves the entire enemy party’s HP.
- Maragidyne - Deals heavy Fire damage to entire enemy party.
- Holy Dance - Deals several random hits of Almighty damage to multiple targets.
- Dragon Eye - Allows three actions per turn during battle.
- Mana Aid - Recovers 10% max MP at the end of battle.
- Ice Repel - Grants reflection of Ice attacks.
- Hot Flower - Has an attack range of 3 panels and does not move.
She’s still a tough cookie what with reflecting the main elements of two of my most potent damage-dealers. Moving on down the line, next is Belzaboul.
Belzaboul (Lv. 65)
HP/MP
- ???/???
- Resists Fire, Ice, Force and Elec; Absorbs Physical; Nulls Mystic
- Mazandyne - Deals heavy Force damage to entire enemy party.
- Judgement - A Mystic-based attack that halves the entire enemy party’s HP.
- Spawn - Deals moderate Almighty damage to one target and may inflict the Egg status.
- Physical Drain - Grants absorption of Physical attacks.
- Life Aid - Recovers 10% max HP at the end of battle.
- Extra One - Guarantees the user one extra turn.
- Dark Hand - Has an attack range of 6 panels and does not move.
Luckily he shouldn’t last long enough for any laid eggs to hatch, and the status will fade once he’s beaten. Finally...
Belberith (Lv. 67)
HP/MP
- ???/???
- Weak to Force; Resists Physical, Fire, and Ice; Absorbs Elec; Nulls Mystic
- Ziodyne - Deals heavy Elec damage to one target.
- Maziodyne - Deals heavy Elec damage to entire enemy party.
- Mighty Hit - Deals a critical Physical attack to one target.
- Monstrous Cry - Recovers some HP and MP at the end of battle.
- Beast Eye - Allows two actions per turn during battle.
- Attack All - Normal Physical attacks hit the entire enemy party.
- Violent God - Has an infinite attack range and does not move.
Ah, finally a weakness to exploit! And they actually gave his moveset a minute tweak. Once he goes down Babel tries to convince Akira that he is a sinner and it splits in two like a gate, revealing a starry void. According to Amane this is apparently Babel’s final, final form, and we can start fighting it again.
Babel (Lv. 77)
HP/MP
- ???/???
- Weak to Elec; Resists Physical; Reflects Fire, Ice, and Force; Nulls Mystic
- Holy Dance - Deals several random hits of Almighty damage to multiple targets.
- Megidolaon - Deals heavy Almighty damage to entire enemy party.
- Attack All - Normal Physical attacks hit the entire enemy party.
- Dual Shadow - 25% chance of repeating last action.
- Physical Amp - Physical attacks powered up by 50%.
- King’s Gate - Has an infinite attack range and cannot move.
Specifying the whole “cannot move” thing is kinda silly with something that has such a large sprite. Babel’s affinities leave you with only three avenues of attack: Physical, Elec, and Almighty. Unfortunately even Almighty is unlikely to produce anything other than Scratch Damage and Atsuro is the only Physical specialist who’ll be able to produce anything approaching actual damage, leaving us with only Elec. Didn’t think to have multiple good Elec Dance users in the party? Too bad, sucker, you’re boned! Babel’s Almighty attacks, however, will most certainly not be as underpowered as yours are likely to be - even Holy Dance can dish out around 200 damage per hit on average. If Dual Shadow triggers on that and it has an extra turn waiting in the wings it might just wipe out the defending party like a stain. Really, there’s no special finesse in this phase’s strategy, just go all out and hope your healers and/or whoever’s got Samarecarm doesn’t bite it.
Babel actually has another trick in ending paths where it doesn’t make you fight all the Bels again, but those’re for another time. So when we finally do manage to deplete its HP it closes its portal and recognizes Akira’s strength as its master. Instead of resting inside of him like all the other Bels, it instead descends to the Shomonkai’s swanky chapel downstairs and its tendrils spread out and propagate throughout the room. At long last, it’s mission complete.
Atsuro nervously asks if they won but he quickly gets more excited when he realizes that yes, they did actually win, and that their long, seven-day (technically eight when you include the very first day before the lockdown) struggle has finally come to an end. He quickly asks Amane if the lockdown will really be lifted and she assures him that yes, Remiel has promised to do so immediately. Yuzu ponders over how Akira looks the same as always, he isn’t really human anymore, is he? I don’t think she has to worry, since you can have him assure her that he’s not going to change, and while it’s an easy detail to miss, now that he’s become a Messiah his standard “smiling” character portrait has changed to have a slightly softer and warmer expression. Keisuke says that they’re about to witness the birth of a truly just world, while Amane says that it will be a world of order, free of sin and chaos. Hmm, that’s kind of uncomfortable rhetoric given the franchise’s track record...
Anyway, the scene quickly shifts to a crowd gathered at the Shibuya barricade where the SDF is announcing the lifting of the lockdown. The red sky has vanished, the death clocks are gone, and we quickly check in with some of the other characters. Haru realizes that the crew must have finally succeeded in their quest, Izuna and Fushimi prepare to deal with the logistical issues of lifting the lockdown, while Kaido grumbles that it looks like things are back to dullsville. We’re treated to a bird’s-eye view of Tokyo while the narration says that the weary people were relieved to be free finally.
Then it goes on to say that a new world order came about; in his new role as God’s advocate Akira became the “absolute judge” of mankind’s sins, and we’re treated to a picture of his Messiah self, which looks utterly ridiculous what with him in a faux-dramatic pose while wearing a white cloak, a stoned “where am I and what am I doing?” expression, and those goddamn headphones still. Well despite this rather unfortunate getup people are said to lead pure lives in this new world, likely because they all went “oh crap, God and Hell really do exist?!” much like Keisuke claimed would happen earlier in the game. Alongside our unfortunate-looking hero are images of Amane, Yuzu, and Atsuro, and the latter two don’t exactly look happy...
Whenever we see one of the five ending paths we receive a special message from that ominous voice at the start of the game, revealed by silhouette to be Metatron, leaving us with a few final words of wisdom/condemnation depending on what the outcome was. He does it in email format (complete with the handle of “M”; the idea of the Voice of God having his own personal email address is one I find endlessly amusing) and here’s what he has to say this time:
So basically, keep up the good work kid. Following that the credits roll (for both Overclocked and the original game) to the tune of the instrumental version of Reset, and following that is a final message:
Conquer your demon; Break your barricade; Let’s Survive
As a reward for completing Amane’s ending, we’re told that we can now fuse Metatron, the strongest Divine. He’s the second special fusion demon, created by fusing together Kazfiel and Remiel, the only instance in the game where combining two demons of the same race does not result in an Element. I can’t get him just yet because he’s Lv. 89 and Remiel has to be unlocked as well, but he’s quite a good demon. His affinities grant him either immunity to or reflection of all elements but Ice and Elec, but it’s very easy to get Ice Repel and Elec Repel on to him by way of Kazfiel, effectively making him invulnerable to everything save Almighty. He’s also the only usable demon to naturally know the automatic HP/MP restoring Passive Skill Victory Cry, so it’s important to get that skill onto a Mitama as soon as you can in order to start spreading it around.
After that notification we’re given the opportunity to save the game to create clear data. Like the Megaman games I liveblogged, Devil Survivor keeps track of postgame completion on the save screen by displaying artwork of Akira and silhouettes of the other characters on the top screen when each file is highlighted. Since we completed Amane’s path her silhouette is filled in, but it’s slightly translucent.
That’s because we’re not done with Amane yet. Found that ending a bit incomplete or unsatisfyingly brief? Well no worries, Amane’s is one of three paths that had a bonus 8th day added to it for Overclocked that supplants the original ending from the DS game. Next time we select the file we’re given the option of either starting a New Game+ or continuing on to the 8th day if available, and that is where we will pick up next time.
Soundtrack
- Garuda
- The map theme for the second and third phases of the Babel battle. Unlike a lot of the other guitar-riff-laden tracks on this OST I do like this one given the context, and it is mixed up a bit.
- Last Decision
- And the Babel battle theme, a faster arrangement of the above track. Again, it's a shame that that opening bit isn't in the game itself, that would've been cool.
- Eternal Life
- The epilogue music, I suppose is what this is.
Compendium
- Babel
- The story of the Tower of Babel comes from Genesis. The people of the time, united as one, decided to build an immense tower that would reach all the way up to Heaven in order to demonstrate the greatness of mankind. The height of the tower varies according to source, from seven-hundred feet to a mile and a half, but construction was abandoned when God divided the workers' languages, rendering them unable to understand each other. Thus the tower was labeled the "Tower of Babel" from which the English word "babble" gets its roots. It's possible that the historical inspiration for the tale was the Etemenanki ziggurat built by the Babylonians in the 7th century BC, and later destroyed by Alexander the Great.
- Metatron◊
- In Jewish and Christian apocrypha Metatron was originally an ancestor of Noah named Enoch, transformed into an angel by God. As an angel, Metatron's role is to serve as the Voice of God, relaying His words to mankind and acting as mediator. Among the angels he has an enormous body, covered in a million different eyes and mouths. The angel Sandalphon is often identified as his twin brother, who is of similar gargantuan proportions.
