Dragon Quest XI part 2

Love the artwork!

Well I got it after waiting some time for the mail to arrive. Apparently the reason for the cut-off is that at that very moment the hero is approached by one of the "spirit" creatures that tells them of a problem at their home which the party is transported to... in a 2D world. Looks beautiful. Apparently some mischief have happened and the library of the spirits have been disrupted and spirits have been sent to search for the "pastwords" that will give the hero entry to different worlds within books. Books that leads to the other games in the main series. So nostalgia trip. There you have to solve different quests to set them right. I gather it was something special for either the 3DS or just the Switch version. Although, this isn't part of the main quest, just a side one. Find more of those "spirits" to get more pastwords and visits more places in each book.

The real adventure quest continues in Gallapolis, the sultanate of knights. This is the usual Dragon Quest cliché with a spoiled prince that begs you to do task to cover for him. Think they done this since V. He's not as irritating as Charmless from VIII, basically he feels he have been pushed by his parents to do more and more and since he early began getting his servants do the work he was trapped in a negative spiral where everyone expected more of him, which forced him to get others to do them for him. Now it was winning a horse race which the player gets roped in too since they need the branch that Gallapolis sultan have. So you partake in the race (and I won) so that the prince can give a word to his father so that you can get the rainbough, a branch of Yggdrasil (which appeared in I and III to get to Dragonlords Castle). Sadly a monster appears and the prince, since he appears so capable is sent out to slay it, and you follow, togheter with the flamboyant jester Sylvando that seems to be very knowledgable in the way of knights. Defeat the monster and as the prince drag the corpse back to the cheering crowds it awakens again, but Sylvando slays it and this gives the prince the courage to tell his father the truth. Alls well that ends well, except that the sultan sld the rainbough to a travelling merchant in order to pay for the races... and it was a national heirloom.

Next stop is Gondolia, a merchant town that is preparing a mr universe contest. The mayor don't want anything with you since you are the Darkspawn, but his kid have been cursed so you get out and get an ingrediant that Serena can make holy water out of and dispel the curse. Turns out that Jasper, one of the two mighty knights of Heliodor talked with a monster, the kid saw it and was cursed for it. Something is rotten in the state of Heliodor. Still, Sylvando has a ship ready, but Jasper appears, taking Erik hostage. You save him and escape on the ship while sailing right into a Kraken, which Gondolias fleet under the mayor kills since you helped his son and therefore showed the darkness of Jasper. The kraken is probably a callback to VIII since you had to fight one to get toward the second continent. Here the games open up a bit. Travel to Zvaardrust and on to Octagonia where you take part in an MMA tournament, but the fighters are kidnapped as you try to win the rainbough which is the number one price. Only randomly chosen fighter pairs so you get teamed up with last years winner, a fighter who runs an orphanage which he himself grew up on. There is two mysterious fighters, an old merchant man that just looks on and a swift feet kicking woman. You fight them and win, but after the match the former champ disappears as well as the young woman fighter. You run into cave below the orphanage together with the old merchant that is named Rabb. There you find that the champion have been kidnapping the fighters to give to a monster spider that use them to heal up after its fight with Sir Hendrick, the other knight of Heliodor. In exchange the champion is given some monster juice that enables him to win his matches so he can sell the prizes to pay for the orphanage. Trash them both and rescue al the fighters. Now, this one was one of the most emotional segments since the champion didn't do this for anything evil, he just wanted to protect the children who had no one else to protect them. And he even started to cry. Once again, the small stories have a really heavy punch. The next day you both do the final battle and win, but to redeem himself he challenge you one on one, which you win easily when he isn't doped up with monster juice. Sadly, Rabb and Jade (the kicking woman) have stolen the rainbough and urged you to get them in the ruined kingdom of Dundrasil.

I hate spiders

Turns out that Dundrasil was the kingdom which you hailed from and was destroyed around your birth which you saw in the opening cutscene. Rabb is actually Lord Robert, your grandfather and former king of Dundrasil and Jade is the lost princess of Heliodor. Both have been on a mission since that faithful day in order to find the one behind it, a person named Mordegon. You are attacked by Hendrick that have tracked ypou down, but you escape and head toward Pouerto Valor so you can leave the inner sea. Leaving you end up on a small island where a mermaid is waiting for her beloved Kai, and if you help her she will give you access to the underwater city of Nautica. Turns out that she waited for 50 years and that Kai had to stay at his fishing village after being ostraciced for breaking up his former engagment with the chiefs daughter and therefore stranded when they burned his boat. The chiefs daughter married someone else, but when her husband and father both died in a storm said to be sent by the mermaids for taking revenge on the people for holding Kai, she took her life leaving her daughter which Kai felt responsibility for. The daughters son told the story and as the party returns with Michelle the mermaid (short name Shell... HaHa), she turn into a human as she walk toward the grave of Kai, and then turns into foam as she finally have found her beloved again...man, no disneyfication of old stories here.

Get to Nautica to meet the queen of mermaids that hands you one of the orbs you need to get to Yggdrasil. Now, able to go into secluded inland seas you get to Phnom Nhom, a tourist trap village with some Ankhor Wat ruins where a mural is said to give luck to anyone looking. Turns out that the mural is trapping people to feast on. Defeat it to get the magic key. Get to the north and enter Snifelheim, which have been magically frozen by the witch Krystalinda. You defeat the beast said to be guarding her, but turns out it was guarding her magical powers, so she have been powered up. You get to the great library where you find the grimoire that sealed Krystalinda before, but where the Queen of Snifleheim is trapped, the same queen that gave you the mission to defeat the beast. Shenanigans, fight and defeat Krystalinda, twice since she was able to trick me both times. But the real queen, who only recently took to the throne after her father King Gustav died (and yes, they sound and looks like some medieval Scandinavian city) stepped in the way before we could seal her in the book again. I suspect Stockholm Syndrome, but she feels bad for her after being trapped in the book for some millenia. Turns out she was freed by some handsome man... gut feeling is Jasper that already have been making deals with monsters and such. Anyway, continue to Arboria where Veronica and Serena hails from and learn more about Erdwin and his companions as they defeated the dark one and you begin the climb up Yggdrasil and uses the 6 orbs you gathered on your travels. Your rewards is the fabled sword of light and...

You get hit in the back by Jasper

You get pretty much trounced by him since he is guarded by some dark force. You are beaten and then Henrick and King Cornelian shows up. Hendrick rushes at Jasper for joining the dark one, but is in turn stabed in the back by Cornelian which is revealed to be possessed by Mordegon who now takes the sword of light, turns it into the swords of shadows and destroys the world tree and pretty much destroying the world... Think this is the first time Dragon Quest have done this. One could argue VII, but that's before the game starts. Final Fantasy VI did this, but Dragon Quest never before. 

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch)

I have plundered time itself, put the world inside it
I'm the mysteries, day and night, divide it
A plague of wonders, on your knees beside me
Know the secrets, you shall not deride us

So instead of doing it like everyone else and play the game first released in the series in wait for the main game I played it afterwards. Or I rather started and didn't finish it until afterwards when I just went for it. Basically an alternative reality from the main game since you play as Zangetsu fighting his way toward he castle. On the way he meets up with Miriam, Alfred and Gebel, allowing Zangetsu to choose if he will let them live or die. I went with letting them live for this playthrough. Which, to the credit of the game made it a lot easier when you could spam homing magic on the final boss, killing it instantly. Always loved a legit method to cheese the final boss. 

Basically it plays like Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, although better I gotta say. Casual allows me to play with infinite lives, you don't start at the beginning of the stage if everyone dies, and each character have their own life bar. And you can go back to earlier parts of the game if you missed something and play from there, although I assume you can't wind it forward. Funny enough, Miriam plays like a Belmont with a whip, but with a high jump. Alfred is Sylhpa, and Gebel is Alucard. Zangetsu is the one that stands out since he isn't Grant, but Zangetsu, sword wielding demon slayer. 

Rather fun playing it and the 8-bit graphics speaks to me more than the 3d of the main game. Fun to see all monsters in 8-bit that appeared in 3d in the main game, bosses and all. Game is set up so that the first playthrough leads to Zangetsu sacrificing himself to protect the others as the final boss does it's last strike. Which in like Dawn of Sorrow leads to the other heroes needing to get to him, by doing the game all over. Thanks game! There is one thing I'm a bit miffed over and that is the bosses last desperate attack as they are dying. Some of them are rather easy to avoid, but others don't miss... or rather I'm not good enough to avoid them, but as of yet the characters haven't died of it, but I would be mighty pissed if that would be the case. 

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Switch) part 2

I have plundered time itself, put the world inside it
I'm the mysteries, day and night, divide it
A plague of wonders, on your knees beside me
Know the secrets, you shall not deride us

So after a couple of days I was finally able to boot up the game again and could continue it. Like proper Castlevania the easy way isn't the right way. No, here you needed to traverse the castle in order to find Zangetsu and fight him for a second time after your first meeting. Proving your worth he gives you his blade that can cut the moon in half. And that is your clue that when the full moon behind Gebel turns red, slice it with that sword sewering the demon Gremory from Gebel, releasing him from her possession and giving him peace before the crystal overtakes him and turn him into a red crystal. Meanwhile he drops the Liber Logaeth that Alfred is able to catch with Gremory following him and you hunt for away to enter the other dimension to find them. Find another blood moon and cut it to enter it. There you find Alfred mortally wounded and the plot is revealed.

Gremory worked on the orders of Dominique to get Gebel so that Miriam, the strongest shardbinder of them all would follow and become corrupted by the demons in the castle and then use her powers to unleash Bael. Alfred tried to get the book back to stop it and Dominique set Zangetsu to stop him, but got suspicious when Miriam arrived instead of letting them team up to hunt Gebel. Zangetsu and Alfred talked it over and Zangetsu gave his sword to Miriam since Gremory feared him more than her. Zangetsu arrives with Jonathan that talks to Alfred before he begs forgivness for what he did to Miriam and Gebel, but it was also he who put her to sleep to make the guilds plan fail, thinking it was better to do something and give the world a chance of survival than let the world get destroyed by inaction. And then he passes away.

Zangetsu tells Miriam to follow him as quickly she can since he will trap Gremory now that she thinks him harmless. Traversing the icy domain of the castle you find Zagetsu trapping Gremory in a room with those paper charms before Gremory drags him into a dark dimension. Killing Gremory gives Miriam a teleporting ability and access to the last part of the castle where Dominique awaits. First for she just jumps around whipping you and defeating that form leads her to summon Bael, but before he enters our dimension Miriam jumped in and destroyed him as well as Dominique. Back at the castle Jonathan arrives. Miriam gives him the Liber Logaeth she took from Dominique and using a spell from the book together with explosives  set around the structural weaknesses that Alfred put in place, the castle is destroyed and drawn into its own dimension. Jonathan reveals that Alfreds last words where how he could stop the crystal spreading in Miriam permanently. Miriam puts Zangetsu's sword in the ground and they walk away. Cut back to the sword and it's gone leaving the opening that Zangetsu survived.

It was a fun game, the nods here and there to the Castlevania-series where fun, but also how they distanced themselves from it by doing many things the opposite way. Instead of Gebel throwing fireballs like Count Dracula he throws ice spears, instead of a burning hell, there is an ice hell pretty much. It's pretty much Castlevania in all but name and I like those games. Zangetsu is pretty much a Belmont, but with a sword and until the reveal I though Dominique was akin to Belnandes in the Sorrow-games.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (Switch)

Stranger than the comet as it streaks across the sky
Stranger than the truth I know before my open eyes
I have dealt in mysteries and trickery of light to entertain
Looked into the abyss, called it by its name

Being a fan of the Castlevania-series, and especially the action-rpg games for the Nintendo handhelds it was just a matter of time before getting this game made by the same people for those other games after IGA left Konami. This game was apparently delayed, they released a short 8-bit game in the style of the first Castlevania games, which I got but never finished. This game stars the Shardbinder Miriam, a girl that have been asleep during the last 10 years as the Alchemy guild unleashed demons upon the world by sacrificing the other shardbinders. Sharbinders are somehow fused with a crystal that gives them tremendous power and the ability to absorb demonic powers and use them for themselves. Problem is that the crystals will devour them. The alchemist tried to use them to summon  the king of demons Bael, but since Miriam fell asleep they didn't have enough power. They still went through with it, but it failed and instead unleashed lesser demons upon the world wrecking havoc and killing innocents. All but two shardbinders where killed, one being Miriam and the other Gebel, her best friend. Gebel seems to go insane and starts killing alchemist and disappears... and then Miriam wakes up.

Together with Jonathan, an alchemist apprentice that tried to stop the ritual they set out to stop Gebel, and are helped by Dominique, an exorcist from the church. They travel to the Alchemist Guild location where a demonic castle have appeared and fused with the guild base. Miriam rescues a couple of villagers just outside the village and heads into the castle to find Gebel. From here it plays like any other Metroidvania game. Miriam is very much like Soma Cruz from Aria of Sorrow (GBA) and Dawn of Sorrow (DS) that takes the souls from the monsters and can use their abilities as weapons, abilities, summons or stat boosts. Dominique acts as a shopkeeper where you can buy stuff or sell things you don't need or even shards. Jonathan can use his alchemist skills to create weapons, items, shards or food or just enhance the shards you got. That one is new for me and is one of the more fun things in the game since you gather ingredients and such making it a bit more justifiable to carry those 20 rings. There's also a couple of quest giving villagers. One gives you a couple of bounty hunters quest in order to avenge the killed villagers. The other is a nun that want to give the dead one a proper burial so you gather different things and bury with the dead. The third one is some old lady that wants some food.

You're not alone in searching the castle for Gebel. Skulking around is also Zangetsu, a demon hunter from Japan that have been asked by Dominique to find Gebel and Alfred, Jonathan's master that ensured that the corruption of Gebel and Miriam from the crystal didn't kill them but now looks for the Liber Logaeth, the book that was used to summon the demons in the first place. Other denizens are the cursed barber Todd and O.D., the vampire librarian. Good time to mention that the game is voice acted and you got David Hayter, the voice of Solid Snake, as Zangetzu and O.D. is voiced by the same voice actor that did Alucard in the original Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Cool.

It's a fun game if you like the Metroidvania games. Music is great and it looks good as well, but I don't know if I'm all that into the 3d character models and such. I assume also that is the reason why the game gets seriously sluggish when too much is going on, especially in rooms that are gigantic, like the Twin Towers that sometimes feared the game would crash. Of course, the reason why it might not was due to me waiting until they released a patch at the beginning of November that solved the most egreroius parts, with another patch supposed to follow afterwards. Apparently the Switch version was almost unplayable before they fixed some bugs and stuff. Still, I got to Gebel began slashing away and after some time I gets out victorious, Miriam stands outside the castle and... Game Over? I beat the boss what more do you demand of me?.... What do you mean I only finished 60 % of the map? Great, now the game crashed and didn't allow me to finish it... guess I have to wait a bit before continuing.

To be continued...