I would only recommend doing this quest if you want the following: paralysis weapons/Volvidon's armor, to complete your quest log, or if you're farming crowns. Volvidon's stuff just isn't that valuable for melding or anything in the long run, so I don't go out of my way to face them other than when I'm fishing for a crown. Anyway, I mow them down with my late game set and they bite the dust like everything that came before them. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wIgxH-OZzU
Here we have the final game. I do not talk much about it, because it did not make sense, and part of the reason for that is that this is not a game that can be won. There is no mathematical route for the vampires to win, and regardless of what you choose, everything ends. Should you choose to play and lose, the oxygen gets cut. Should you choose not to play, the oxygen gets cut. Oh well.
Onto other routes:
The question I have for you guys is if you want me to add a letter onto each video number so you can tell the routes apart (this is Yoshiki), or if you want me to just keep numbering them. I am inclined to the former as it will allow people to differentiate the videos more easily. Anyone else have any thoughts?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7_yEQckmDo
A somewhat lengthy chapter that is front loaded with exposition. It falls into the exact same narrative trap that all of Hikari's chapters fall into, and I think this one is going to be what pushes me to make a special Octopath video at the end where I dissect the stories.
As for here, somehow Mugen is able to exert influence on Clan Mei despite them being on a different continent in a different biome, and we need to go speak to Rai Mei. While doing so, we learn about what happened to Hikari's mother and see his bloodline curse take effect for the first time.
Afterward, we get to navigate the fortress and come against Rai Mei before bringing her and her clan into the fold of Hikari's resistance.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5PcZo4hyrk
With the two gems in hand, we set out to awaken the golem. Unfortunately, we alone are not enough to wake it up, so we need to get some help from someone with a bit of golem experience. With her help, we get the means to cross the shallow waters, allowing us to reach new lands. These new lands even have a tower that we will have to climb...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC__KIy5fHU
The Snorlax games are ranked, the Zeraora ones aren't. Due to my voice going out, I may take a break from this for a couple days or upload some without commentary.
Otherwise, I had to do a ranked game for my daily and opted to do a second to see if I could rank up. I think I'm already high enough for the max reward of the season, but we'll keep going forward just to see how far we go.
Afterward, to finish up my quests, I do a pair of Zeraora games where you can see the electric primate at his apex of annoyance.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0a3uA98mIM
There are a few remaining side quests that we can knock out for a combination of completion's sake and looking for a few extra nuts we can use to boost our stats for the upcoming battle. Most of our gear is pretty much what we will use for the remainder of the game. The only thing we will have left to do is round up the skills we want for Hikari to have.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuT1H32-5aA
Once we rode a Sunrider, now we must become it...
The Prototypes want to seize the opportunity to secure Shields, so we have our final battle of the game where we must fend them off. A maxed offensive Phoenix can make short work of the drones, meaning you only have to worry about the Widow. Even without shenanigans like you see here, at this stage, you should have the firepower to smash them when they get close, so you only have to worry about the Widow.
Drawing from Kojima, the Widow is immortal via nanomachines, and has the ability to restore itself every turn. This means we cannot rely on the disable shutdown like we have been for most of the game, which is why I have been building up Asaga's pulse on the disruption route. Even if Chigara restores her status, she cannot do anything for her missing energy, so you are forcing her to idle while the story plays out around her. Widow is extremely dangerous, so I recommend this route so you don't have to burn resources on a resurrection...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcy-JpIJhq0
The final battle against Tiamat has arrived, and we are almost at the end of the Cauldron. This time, you have to go against a single high HP target with some scales you can pop for additional actions. For some reason, I opted to whip out Pyre, and you can see the (lack of) fireworks.
This version of Cricket is the "damage" variant, which leaves a lot to be desired. She can boost her power on the following turn and smack someone. With the right one-shot, you can deal a little extra, but it is still going to be pretty niche.
This version of Impact can protect his ongoings, but there are villains that can still destroy it regardless, making me not very impressed. If you can get set up, then you can activate some of his combos for quite a bit of damage, but it is fairly hard to do when you can't find the cards when you need them.
This version of Stranger is very high in damage. You just need to make sure you keep pulling Runes, which is not as hard as you may think. With the Glyphs out to block self damage, you have cards that allow you to pull Runes from your trash so you can keep up the onslaught. Setup is not necessary for this variant, but you can prepare for the long haul as you nuke crap.
And on the topic of nuking crap, Pyre is here. I don't think the Cherenkov Drive ever works like it is supposed to. To make things worse, his power is supposed to protect you from self-damage, but it comes back to bite me. Still not a fan of him as even when his cards actually work, the risk seems to eclipse the reward.
Finally, you've seen the Knight and Squire repeatedly. Squire hit herself to hurt enemies, and Knight can deal damage at the cost of your setup. Ideally, you want her to have the shield to block some self-damage, and the Knight has the sword so you have a power to use when you need to deal damage. Squire is really important here as the anchor of the team. She can pop the scales and give us some actions right before they would get revived, setting us up for the next turn.
Anyway, now that I've shown Pyre one last time, we never have to see him again. There is one villain left, then I may return for some requested games or possibly some other Cauldron related content. As things currently stand, I do not have a desire to do the other mods, so don't expect to see them anytime soon.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaRm6MATyxs
In order to prove Aria's innocence, we must go through the deaths one by one to find the exact causes. There will be a lot of back and forth as we do so, as there seem to be quite a bit of details that are being obscured. Perhaps upon completion, we will discover the motive to this web of intrigue as not everything is as it initially seemed...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwBMje4Dglk
Knowing the truth behind what is going on at the border, Nowa and crew decide to sneak around and see just how large the invading forces are. While there, we run into another familiar face that is not as receptive as the ones before.
Also, I don't know why it is, but having to do these stealth segments is still something that pops up in JRPGs. The mechanisms are not really here to support it, but for some reason they still get shoehorned in. I wish these went the way of the QTE.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdrarj96MQg