Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner HD Part 6 - Ending

The last part.  So I left at the worst part of the game.  This is honestly the worst part of the game for me. Not cause it's hard but it's just incredibly annoying.  So all the troops Dingo has rallied together.  He has to help them make it to Aumaan.  Would be easy but again these guys are pathetic and shouldn't be here at all.  So the entire battlefield turns into a literal warzone. I have to protect these guys from dying as best as I can.  Nothing ADA suggests makes it easier.  Especially since there's tons of guys and the only way to help them is to switch to Geyser and throw it on them.  The other problem is that these soldiers beg Dingo for help worse than the StarFox crew.  You get no breathing room as the requests for help pop up one after another enough to make me wanna break my speakers.

I managed to scrape by with an S rank????  Only 3 of the 40 dudes died.  Dingo still feels bad cause 3 people died.  Uh...dude...this actually isn't bad.  I thought I did much worse.  Once the mission is over.  Jehuty finally gets it Microsoft Update and has to reboot.  The reboot has granted us the use of 0 Shift.  Making pretty much every other subweapon useless.  

We have the power of Anime now.  Everything I'm fighting just feels like an exercise of catharsis.  Everything just falls to Jehuty's power.  Especially since what wasn't noted is that Jehuty upgraded as well.  So everything just dies easily.  

Well we reached the end...at least we think.  My memories of this point are fuzzy cause I remember next to nothing of this part.  So one last Vector Cannon blast and it's to the final bosses.  Oh hey Anubis...you look...different???

Fake Anubis

How is this even a boss fight?  It's not really fighting back.  

After beating the crap out of it we see the truth.  GASP....Ken's inside!!!  Yeah we were tricked. After an incredibly long speech by Nohman Leo goes on a rampage only to get his butt kicked and due to all the destruction around us Jehuty gets heavily damaged and we lose most of our weapons.   So much for being all powerful.  We ride what I guess is a wave of Metatron energy chasing after Nohman.  We only have what is neccessary to beat up Anubis.

Anubis

This is rough.  It's pretty much a waiting game for him to warp then attack. I dodge, 0 Shift then attempt an attack back. Just a few hits from Anubis and I'm toast.  So much for an even playing field.  

After managing to scrape another victory.  We land on is this the moon? no...a meteor...whatever this is where Aumaan truly is.  I honestly have no recollection of this part.  Elena tells us to do whatever it takes to stop Aumaan.  Dingo brings up how the Earth shouldn't tell Mars how to run things and to let Mars be free.  Before heading in I need to find these EX Missions lying around they're hard to see while I'm being assaulted by multiple Nephtis clones.  Pretty much every Nephtis clone I kill gives me a Metatron recovery so no worries there. Also Jehuty seems to be powered up??? I have unlimited Sub Energy which to me doesn't mean much as I don't have any subweapons outside of 0 Shift.  Once I collect the EX Mission data.  I head in to the final boss.

Aumaan Anubis

So the battlefield looks like it's a space of constant creation and destruction.  It seems Aumaan fused with Anubis or Aumaan is using Anubis as an avatar to fight me.  I like how the strategy guide was all like don't worry about it attacking with certain attacks as it never uses them...How would they know if they noted those attacks? The stategy guide also fails to mention that this boss can recover life!!!  The main thing is to stay on top of this guy and continue bashing it's head in till it's dead. 

 When it tries to recover HP I got a bit confused cause it looked like I could grab the panels it was surrounding itself with. I mean each had a huge word saying "Grab" on it.  Eventually it's just me switching from Lock-on lasers to smashing Anubis's head in with my blade.  Eventually the fight's over and I can relax to watch the ending.

Ending

Yeah I only remember part of the ending so good to watch it again.  Aumaan is ready to fire and basically destroy everything.  We're pretty much out of time.  Nohman is pretty much dead and making comments about Dingo's deceased comrades.  While Aumaan is going off Leo tries to help but is in no shape to help.  ADA's ready to blow up.  Dingo's not ready to give up and goes anime. Saying not to give up yet.  When all seems lost Dingo see's the remains of Anubis lying around and tosses it into Aumaan.  Aumaan is successfully destroyed. Yay!!!

We head home ADA questions if she did the right thing by disobeying orders.  Leo says not to worry about it.  Ken had Dingo removed from Jehuty. Dingo asks if he can have a normal body next time.  End credits roll.  

My overall rating is a C.  Too many continues and 5 saves.  Yeah expected.

Extra Stuff

Ah the extras unlocked.  Apparently I need to beat the game at least twice to unlock everything.  It doesn't look like ranking matters either.  So there's a vs mode like the older game that lets you use the other Frames in combat.  To unlock the others I need to find them in normal play or play the EX missions. Even replay boss fights.  The bonus is I can use whatever Jehuty version I have. So it's kind of cheat.

Imagine whooping Nephtis in a few seconds lol.  Definitely something to do. 

The Metal Gear Rising Demo

I think this is the only reason a lot of people bought ZOE HD.  It is a pretty hype game.  So here's a quick rundown of my experience with the demo.

Pretty much watched the important sections of the game from streams and playthroughs.  Never saw the full story.  There are some parts that completely piss me off not cause of gameplay or writing but cause of what it's implying.  The training children's brains to be killing machines bit or Jack's (Raiden's) sealed away persona.  Or the speech of "ism's" .  Yeah Metal Gear series is one of those games that takes a lot of real world events and conspiracy theories. Then pushes them in our faces. So much so that people tend to ignore it cause of all the cool shit going on. 

Anyway I'm playing the demo for my first time.  Oh god how did anyone play this?  This is definitely not my style of action platformers.  I have issues mainly with controls.  I feel like it's trying to be a 3rd Person shooter but with a sword instead.  Which doesn't describe this very well.  My main problem is that there's no block button.  I think this game would heavily benefit from that.  But instead we have a "Ninja Run" button???  There is a parry option but...I can really follow it.  And I know this game will essentially demand that I master parrying. 

The other thing I can't get a grasp on is the slow-motion slice thing.  It's cool but I don't feel like I could ever perform one correctly.  And I know the end game absolutely requires you master this mechanic.  You're supposed to slice the opponent up as many times as possible into many pieces but you're also supposed to be precise for many reasons.  WTF.  This is definitely something you have to experience for yourself to understand.  

I'm not entirely sure you can be stealthy in this game.  I tried but it looks like stealth is only good for one kill before you're in full combat mode.  Hard to judge from a demo.  I was also trying to be stealthy to save a guy's life but I guess I acted too slowly.  I don't even know when they killed him but they did.  

I do like the music.  This is one of those games where the music direction is spot on.  I can get behind having an insturmental theme that transitions to a full vocal theme as things ramp up. 

The boss fight.  I need practice and much like Devil May Cry I can't combo bosses or enemies how I want to.  And obviously I need to learn how to parry.  My only issue with playing a game like this on Youtube is the knowledge that obvious comments will roll in talking about how I'm not playing the game optimally. I also only really like this game for it's music. I think if the game was more like Ninja Gaiden gameplay in terms of combat I'd love it more. It's really just me wanting to block everything as my defense.  

That's about it.  These videos should finish out the time slot for the year so.  See you all later.

Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner HD Part 5

Oh boy this is honestly where the fun stuff is.  

So we're joined up with Ken who's giving us directions to Lloyd.  I'm pretty sure many other LPers would say this is unneccessary padding cause you have to follow Ken's directions exactly and she guides you like she's looking for a certain address on the wrong street.  If you go the wrong way you risk hitting a mine that pretty much does 50% damage.  So yeah you gotta listen to her.  It only gets annoying cause you have move exactly as she says and you encounter enemies that can throw you off course.  

Funny thing I remember happening when I streamed this a decade ago.  I wanted to use the Vector Cannon so bad and there was a group of enemies right in front me.  So why not.  The moment I tried to use it. I died. Cause I wanted to see this thing fire.  So I didn't quit. LMAO.

Once you make it to Lloyd's place.  The old man wants to play with you.  Show him your skills.  My memory is rather vague of this part.  I dunno if I sped through this a decade ago or what.  But I have to go down EVERY elevator it seems. It's honestly a feel good section cause of the previous parts.  I can cut loose a bit.  What's funny to note is that Ken starts making remarks about Dingo's comments.  She honestly sounds like most Youtube comments.  

"You yell too much."

"Who are you talking to?"

You are as good as people say."

Once I get through all the elevators I find I need to go down deeper.  This parts kinda scary but also funny.  There's multiple crushers in the rooms.  A lot of times if I wait the enemies get caught and destroy themselves.  

Inhert

Once I get towards the end.  Lloyd finally shows up to play.  In his Inhert.  Pretty sure this design is some obvious symbolism of some kind but I'm not paying attention enough to care at the moment.  Basically this guy likes using illusions and it's a game of find the real one.  Least for the first half of the fight.  Then he makes the entire area go black and I have to chase him down with ADA's help.  By the time she says block I'm too slow to react.  Especially when many of the attacks had me dodging right.  

So Lloyd talks about a certain program to bring Jehuty to it's full performance to make it even with Anubis. Ken gets off Jehuty to go get the program and she uploads it to Jehuty.  We get it but it takes time for it install.  Then Lloyd goes on talking about what Aumaan really is but we get interrupted by none other than Nohman himself. Can't divulge too much info.

Anubis AGAIN

Yeah Nohman's back to flex on us again. Nohman is also developing this attitude that Metatron energy is God and he's just a humble servant.  He keeps spamming attacks and doesn't want to fight close range. After doing everything to hit him a few times.  Lloyd helps Dingo escape from Nohman with a Heroic Sacrifice.  

Ken pops in giving a speech for Dingo to stop Aumaan.  And we stop hearing from her.  Before we can make our next move...Leo pops in.  He mentions that Space Force is assembling at one area.  Before head there we get one interuption of epic proportions.  A space armada is flying in to destroy the Space Force.  Dingo says he'll take care of them.  

THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART OF THE GAME! EVERYTHING ELSE DOESN'T EVEN COMPARE! 

So that Vector Cannon that we got. FINALLY HAS A USE! We're gonna take this thing and blow up 5 Warships.  We're also doing an epic warship battle.  So the part of firing the Vector Cannon. You gotta get to the engine of each Warship and fire it.  They eventually start getting smart and closing off the way to the engine.  Apparently there hull is strong enough to block the Vector Cannon.  Eventually the fun has to end. 

Zakat

So this giant waste of space challenges us.  He does realize that I just dropped 5. COUNT EM 5!!! Warships and barely broke a sweat right?  Honestly this feels like the easiest boss of the game.  He shoots giant lasers and rotates them like this is a shump.  Then tries to protect himself with shields you can yank off the guy.  He goes down with pure ease. We watch him eject and I guess to be bit of a reference to ZOE1 we watch him go without being shot down. 

So now we join the Space Force LEVs on the ground.  They don't like Dingo.  Dingo used to be with BAHRAM so nobody likes him.  And we get a call from Elena.  Remember her?  She wants us surrender Jehuty.  At this stage of the game? Okay first off I like how Dingo never brings up that he leaves Jehuty he dies.  Also considering the Space Force's track record of utterly sucking not just this game but also ZOE1.  Who exactly do you have that can pilot Jehuty and not get there asses handed to them by Nohman and Anubis?  

Back to the story.  Dingo brings up that Ken is with the Space Force.

Elena: No she's not.

Gasp!

We kinda already figured that.  Leo shows up and vouches for Dingo.  And then Elena gives a speech about how the Space Force LEVs are gonna make one last stand against BAHRAM despite how much they suck. Dingo says a final few words to convince the Space Force that he's on there side.  Good thing those words worked.  I would've had a few choice words to say myself. Something like;

You guys have 0 chance to stop Aumaan with this force. You'll be lucky escape. If you're gonna shoot me just cause I was since your enemy go ahead but I won't be responsible for what happens next.

Anyway after that speech the Space Force join up with Dingo.  And we come to what's I feel is the worst part of ZOE2.  I'll save that for next time.  

Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner HD - Part 4

Video releases in a few hours (Sunday 7PM EST)  as it's still private 

 So this session.  I just feel frustrated.  But better than last weekend.  I do wish that there was specific spots to save at instead of right in the middle of something.  

So this SOS mission...I gotta save the civilians cause the Space Force is a bunch of scaredy bigots that have guns.  They don't care about any civilian casualties as they shoot at the minor spider enemies.  This wouldn't be so bad but not only are the Space Force guys shooting like crazy but I'm trying my best to be precise with my attacks.  I feel like I was doing better than the other day.  I end up with 75% saved.  So that's good I guess.  

Dingo gets pissed off at the Space Force and tells em off. Then we move on...I kinda wish I picked up that Metaron to fully restore my energy before moving to the next mission.  I thought I was heading to it.  But the cutscene triggered.  So now it's destroy this train.  Don't know why but it feels harder than it should be? I can't believe I died the way I did.  I really shouldn't have died here.  Anyway managed to stop the train. 

More cutscenes.  Apparently our old scaredy cat friend and his crew are in trouble.  By the time Dingo gets there everyone's dead.  And it was caused by none other than Viola in Nephtis.  While I understood what I had to do.  Sometimes things were just not cooperating.  Especially Viola's AI.  She would generally try to ram me then run away giving me time to find an enemy to throw at her.  But other times she would stay or even double back and keep attacking.  I was going to beat just by throwing enemies at her but it seemed better to just stun her than go in for a few quick attacks.

Now that she's down...Ken's back and before Dingo and Ken go at each other's throats.  Hey our friend found out our little secret.  But before we have that obvious bombshell.  Viola's AI hasn't quit yet.  And she possess Ken's Frame.  I remember dreading this battle.  It went by okay but...Something happened I don't remember could happen or ever seen happen. 

So if I stay away from Ken's suit for too long Viola's AI does this energy drain thing to Ken's Frame.  WHAT?  And I thought I had to like Instant block her attacks not clash with hers?  Did I remember this fight wrong?  Either way...How did I get through that?  

Doesn't mean much though considering the next phase.  Well Dingo teases Ken but we got ANOTHER ESCORT MISSION!  Worse than before.  Ken can't move cause she doesn't know how to pilot without an AI.  Sigh....but she can move enough to give us the next subweapon. Actually kinda useful in a way even if much later it'll be useless cause of "THAT ONE SUBWEAPON" I gotta pick her up and drag her outside.  Worse enemies will show and attack her.  I can't ignore these enemies either.  Some of them have keys to access the next area.  

So uh...because she had like no HP when I deleted that Viola AI....Yeah Ken died right away.  LOL. Although Taper makes a comment at the Game Over screen feels kinda awkward. I wonder if there's a video of all the game over quotes? (I Mean we have videos of literally everything else so it's possible). So the second time I did it.  I just dragged Ken as high as I could go and set her somewhere far away while I take care of the enemies.  She did eventually start falling...How??? The platform I left her on was no where near the battle.  Sigh....eventually I get her out.  And we move to the next phase.  But we gotta have a long talk about Dingo's past. 

I have no idea who's in the right here.  I mean the conversation is literally pot calling the kettle black tbh.  Ken calling out Dingo about deserting BAHRAM while Dingo roast Ken about how she should've done all this herself. I'm not sure if the game mentions it at all. But Anubis's AI might have something to do with Nohman's personality and killing everyone as well?  I remember skimming over the wiki and it mentioned Anubis's AI was designed to be the opposite of ADA and wanting only destruction.  I don't know how much of it is true cause it sounds like a lot of speculation or maybe that info is in the game somewhere. 

So the next mission...I wish I still had that JTV clip.  I remember did something hilarious there and well like JTV it's no longer on my Youtube channel as well.  I also thought that I played this for an hour. No roughly 45 minutes.  It's weird to have that feeling.  I want to keep parts timely sometimes for many reasons. But maybe next time I'll shoot for making the next part an hour.  

Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner HD - Part 3

Part 2

Part 3

Sorry I didn't make a post last time.  It's that time of the year where my stress levels reach an all time high and I'm still going through burnout.  So ZOE2 To explain the last part isn't much just some of things I'm reminded of what I didn't like in the game.  I feel like I omitted this from my brain although the last time I played ZOE2 was well over a decade ago so yeah I would forget. 

During my escape I have to rescue a dude who's hiding in a container.  He gives you incredibly vague descriptions as to his whereabouts. In fact so vague that you end up overthinking it and even suspect that he's lying.  Every time you get it wrong the containers move to a different room and he throws another clue at you.  The Walkthroughs narrowed it down to 1 of 3 containers.  Oh joy.  Anyway you free him and he talks about how he's scared but needs to get to his comrades.  But this conversation leads to an escort mission. 

So while the escort mission is simple...our new friend here makes it complicated.  While the best idea would be to leave sitting in a spot where the enemy won't touch him.  He decides to walk out into the open and the enemy can't help but take advantage of a free meal. UGH...What's worse is that locking on in this situation the game will make you target him first before the enemy sometimes.  So I can't go crazy.  After dropping him off he gives us Geyser.  A weapon that didn't get much use in the first game but will get a ton of use in this game. That much I remember.  But it's not the kind of use that I would desire. 

 

So I'm finally on Mars.  And well...it's another boss fight.  

Vic-Viper

I'd go fan nostalgia over this but uh... I never played Gradius.  I'm questioning myself if I played this before in easy setting.  Cause geez he hits hard.  Also dodging is rough.  I felt like I was getting whooped especially at close range.  It felt like nothing I had was working for awhile. I somehow get lucky and the fight ends.

The pilot of Vic Viper. It's Leo.  You know Leo Stenbuck.  The kid from the first game now grown up.  I guess he's a teenage Super Robot pilot now.  So Leo kindly reminds us that ADA is gonna self-destruct Jehuty on Aumaan.  Dingo raises hell about this far louder than Leo ever did.  I would too, I mean I'm stuck in this machine that's basically keeping me alive.  Ken Marinaris basically set Dingo up as a suicide bomber.  She's not slick.  

Leo leaves saying he's gotta go rescue his comrades.  And then Dingo orders the required exposition dump. Well not so much an exposition dump cause we needed this bit of story.  Dingo's been asking about what's going and no one's answered him until now.  We kinda know the story at this point.  I mean the trailer/opening movie mentions it.  BAHRAM starts a war with Earth. BAHRAM got there hands on Anubis and got some serious firepower.  Nohman wants Jehuty whether to keep people from using it against him or to just use it for his own purposes.  

After that cutscene our next mission.  Breakthrough the gate.  But not before I get attacked first.  Saving in this game is not very friendly.  It saves you in the spot you left it.  Thankfully this save is right before I pick up some Metatron to heal myself. It could be worse. In Ninja Gaiden Black there's a save point where if I load my game from there Black Spider Ninjas immediately ambush me. The minute I pick it up.  I'm attacked. 

So dealing with enemies I'm eventually let known about Commander type enemies.  I can only write that I'm stressed out to my bad playing but still this is rough to try and single out enemies.  Eventually I get the Phalnax subweapon. Guess what it doesn't such like in the first game.  It actually does damage and quick too.  To get through the gate I have to take care of the 2 gate locks.  After slogging my way through I make it to another boss fight.  It's Viola's AI again. 

 

Viola AI/Nephtis

One thing that annoys me here.  I'm trying to grab objects to use as a shield. and I can't.  First time it was cause I wasn't near any to grab. Then the other time I get interupted by ADA via cutscene to grab it.  ARGH...

After losing half my health to this fiasco I beat her down.  Then she drags me to a different arena where the walls are eletrified.  Great.  I die trying to dodge her attacks. Then in the 2nd round I manage to beat her by essentially Looney Tunes Bullfighting style of avoiding her charges while she runs face first into the electric wall.  Get another subweapon.  Comet.  yay.

Dingo talks a bit about Viola but is interupted by our cowardly friend.  I forgot to mention that he keeps asking Dingo what his mission is but gets interupted every time before Dingo can come up with an answer. This time more of our quote unquote "friends" are in trouble.  So much so that they don't care that they're shooting at civilians to save there own necks.  X_X

So the mission here is to stop them from going crazy and take out the enemies and keep damage and casualties to civilians to a minimum.  Oh joy...Not today.  My stress levels are way too high for this.  Save.  Quit.  It's honestly the only thing I don't like about ZOE2.  The "rescue" missions.  While this isn't the one that I remember totally making me want to scream.  The game at least tells you what to do during these moments but ugh it definitely makes me want to go back to fighting regularly.  

Most I remember about this game is that there's 2 sections that I hate doing.  They haven't come up yet. But I know they're coming.  

Zone Of the Enders: The Second Runner - Day 1

You know part of me doesn't want to upload this right away.  I kinda wanna set this up in one go.  But I need a video for that time slot. lol

I truly miss instruction Manuals.  Cause the well done ones would contain art like this in it.  Now the most we get these days is just a slip of paper that either has some sort of offer, a DLC code, or lists some legal warnings along with the usual epilepsy disclaimer.

So first off I forgot that the instruction manual was digitized.  Yay.  Least it's easily accessible. I honestly rather have instruction manuals than some long tutorial. But we got a story to explain things. It finally explains what an "Ender" is.  

An "Ender" is basically people that live in the colonies and are essentially bullied by Earth.  Cause Earth still has jurisdiction over the space colonies. 

The reason we have Orbital Frames (or Super Robots).  Is cause when Metatron was discovered as new superior source of energy some people sought to make use of it for military purposes.  

Good, Glad I finally know that tidbit of info. 

I'm not sure if anyone else can read this. I can upload this somewhere else for other people to read if you want. You should be able to Right-Click and Save them though. I just thought this was important for those that want the story.

To explain bits of ZOE1. BAHRAM was an anti-Earth military unit that sought for war against Earth. They tried to take over steal the 2 orbital Frames, Jehuty and Anubis that were secretly being developed. But Earth caught on to this plan and confiscated the Orbital Frames. 

Then Zone of the Enders Happened. You know all that happened there if you saw my playthrough or anyone elses.  

So to Start of ZOE2 that wasn't really explained or shown.  Since BAHRAM managed to obtain Anubis. They began development of more Orbital Frames based on Anubis's design. They begun there conquest of Mars and subsequently Earth.  The Earth forces AKA the UNSF crumbled against BAHRAM's power. BAHRAM uses the military Fortress Aumann as there cornerstone for there reign of terror to make one final attack against the UNSF.  But the only problem was that BAHRAM didn't have Jehuty and focused it's efforts on finding it.  

And now we begin Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner.

2174 and we're living in space colonies. Discovering new forms of energy. The future actually looks promising.

I honestly forgot how excited I was when I first played this back in 2008 when I last played this as a Livestream.  Twitch was called JustinTV back then. Video Quality was also questionable back then (You had to pay money for the really good quality and I'm talking like hundreds of dollars). So while I can't possibly be as hype as I was back then. I'm still pretty hype. And honestly I'm paying a bit more attention to the game cause it's not being streamed.

Yeah good old justin.tv  Things were great back in 2008

*I could stream but I don't think my Desktop could handle it anymore and I think streaming it now would give me an experience I don't want. It's more of a me thing.*

Starting the game watching Dingo talk about his favorite sport.  I wonder if it's Baseball he's talking about or some futuristic sports game.  Also 22nd Century and we're out living in space.  I very likely wouldn't be alive at that time.  But if our future is to live in space. I'm down for it.  Come to think of it the time that Batman Beyond is supposed to take place is apparently 2029.  Considering the technology from that series.  Future looks great tbh. 

Wonder what sport he's talking about. Can't be baseball. Racing? I mean IGPX sounds possible here. Or maybe it's something like FFX Blitzball. 

Sorry for the tangent but honestly Batman Beyond is supposed to take place 9 years from now.  And in that we have floating cars, better technology, and we seem to have experiments on the human body that would never happen today. The future is awesome and scary at the same time.

Anyway we begin in a crappy worker frame that obviously was only selected cause it stressed safety features.  It's kinda hilarious hearing this thing speak. "Going Back" "Please Remember to wear your space helmet"  After that beginning.  We find a weird orbital Frame. Then we get attacked. Dingo's LEV gets damaged so why not jump into this Orbital Frame?  

So whatever company made these machines probably got the safety award. A machine that tells you that you're going backwards and reminds you to wear a helmet. Yeah that would get a safety award.

I can't really think of a Super Robot pilot that immediately jumps in and demands it to move. Especially with little to no fear.

Jehuty awakens. Time to go crazy. After learning the controls.  One thing that I will say is true blessing is that we have lock-on homing lasers.  The previous game stressed more Close-Range Combat than long-range.  But now we have our first boss. 

Okay I should let you know. One of things I love about Super Robots is when you see tons of enemies on the screen and you lock on to all of them. It's such an epic animation and just lets everyone know how much of a badass you are.

Honestly though what was that scream before the fight started?

Ardjet

You know if these weren't Super Robots this could be taken another way. Also it's like 4AM I'm sorry.

She's honestly rather easy and I'm just being reckless. I do appreciate that ADA comments on what you should do to fight various enemies.  Yep ADA is useful.  

So after that skirmish we got Ken Marinaris on the ground and this would be really suggestive if we weren't in super robots. Especially the conversation. The conversations are kinda awkward.  Also one thing I picked up on.  During cutscenes you can zoom in or look around a bit.  I'll be honest I did not expect to be able to do that and then see Ken's boobs.  I kinda forget what game I'm playing and who was involved in it's development.

Kojima...nuff said. 

Anyway Dingo boards the ship that attacked him and his crew.  And we basically go on an assault. I did notice one slight problem I had when it came to destroying the enemy generators. I need to stay locked on to it at all times. If I change my target or remove the lock-on I'm never gonna be able to target it again.  Cause so many enemies pop out.

Travel along and another fight...

It's hard to screenshot. But one of the things you can do with grabbed enemies is mash O and you'll spin them around faster than Goku before throwing them. 

Viola's AI or well Neith

She's back and angry...And she's an AI.

So honestly if she was this tough in the first game she'd be unbeatable.  The only way to beat her is pretty much the Traditional Zelda style. Use the new ability you just got and beat her with it. It's also nice to hear ADA go on and tell me to "Grab the Stick and throw it." 

I'm sorry. Are you uh...gonna be okay? I better go.

And with that Viola's been impaled and is sitting on a wall.  Sorry....kinda.  Dingo has regrets about it but finds out that she actually died years ago. We move on. Things are moving at a faster pace it seems. Cause not even 5 minutes later ANOTHER BOSS FIGHT!  Yep he's back.

That Sexy Orbital Frame Anubis

I want it. I want it. I want it.

So unlike ZOE1 where I was just surviving. I actually have to try and hit this guy.  Kinda hard when he still outclasses me in every category.  After that exercise in futility Neith comes back. Oh hey you're okay. Sorry about pinning you to all with that pipe. No hard feelings right? Right? Wait, what are you doing with that metal pole?!  NO NO NO NO NO NO OW.....

This is gonna hurt. A lot...This also makes me think Viola was rather sadistic in battle.

Don't you just love unwinnable boss fights that end in a cutscene where you get your ass handed to you?

Nohman clearly looks like the bad guy. Also...that is easily taken out of context. I'm Sorry 4:30AM I'm tired.

So Dingo and Anubis's pilot Nohman have a bit of a chat. It kinda sounds awkward but not just yet. 

IIRC the Japanese translation apparently Nohman says "I Love You."

So anime cutscene. And here's where things get really awkward. So first Ken is all pissed off and punches Dingo for no reason. Well there is a reason but at this point it makes no sense and you can write it off that she's salty she lost that fight.  Then Nohman steps in. And the conversation gets really awkward.  Apparently Dingo and Nohman were allies once and then Dingo disappears presumed dead.  Nohman insists that Dingo rejoin them although the word choice here is weird. Dingo refuses and like an anime protagonist builds his character right there yelling about how his friends died back then.  After some more yelling and refusal Nohman straight up shoots Dingo multiple times.  No head shot though.  And with the effect of low gravity Dingo's body and blood just float in midair. Ken says that she could save him if he'll help her. Although she was ordered to dispose of the body.

TWO MONTHS?! How did you keep Dingo's body alive for 2 months?! You were ordered to dispose of it. Dingo was shot 3 times.

2 Months later... the time frame gives us. Ken takes Dingo's body to the lab where he's operated on.  He's essentially setup to part of some life support equipment and then thrown inside Jehuty.  Ken and Dingo yell at each other and Ken explains that she's not with BAHRAM but a spy. She also explains that Dingo can't get out of Jehuty or he'll die.  Dingo tries it anyway and nearly dies. Then Dingo asks Ken a sports question but we don't have time for that we gotta save the world.  

Who told you to shave my beard?

So if you're wondering why I find this awkward it's honestly the word choice.  Instead of Nohman saying things like, "You work for me now. We'll be comrades in arms again." He's saying things like "Come back to me." "I like you." "It'll be like old times." I could write this off as simple old war buddy talk. But then I recall some of the Japanese dialogue translated Nohman saying, "I like you." instead as "I love you."  Hmmmm....Well either way Dingo wasn't having any of it.  And I feel like I'm overthinking things here. 

**I could be wrong these are memories from almost 20 years ago.**

Yeah pressing R2 during these scenes switches camera control and well...Yeah...I remember that this is from Konami. Also Kojima had some involvement in this. I don't completely blame Kojima but I do notice a lot that when it's Konami you get these awkward moments at times. The Metal Gear Solid series is a prime example.

End Day 1

Well I had to stop here cause I wanted to have something to upload. I originally wanted to upload this as just the full game but I got other games to work on and I'm pretty sure this game runs roughly 4 - 6 hours. I don't remember too well.  I know when I streamed the full game it did take awhile.  Also imagine me having to write my experience down of the full game. I've done that. So probably the next part will be longer I don't know. There's honestly no real breaks in the game. So finding a stopping point is rough. 

Also bonus while looking up info on this game. I found out that apparently ZOE1 does have a bad ending.  If all the buildings get destroyed you apparently get a bad ending instead.  I'm kinda curious to see that. 

Slight Update

I found videos on it. 

video recorded by lumlane (https://www.youtube.com/user/lumlane)

HOLY CRAP! So if you destroy all the buildings, screw up every SOS mission (I mean no one survives) and totally bomb the last SOS mission. You get the bad ending. ADA scolds you for it and the game ends. Honestly I haven't seen Endings where you screw yourself for the entire game since Sierra's Quest series. 

Videos Unfairly Age-Restricted (And then magically fine???)

Youtube did a thing again. Time to complain about it.

We already know all about the Content ID Claims which if I was complaining about that I'd be here forever cause that is just an endless rabbit hole of how unfair that content goes. Instead I'm here cause someone or something is "Age-Restricting" my videos. 

Someone Tell me how this is against community guidelines please.

In the recent 2 - 3 days (at the time of this post). Someone or something has been flagging my Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle videos as age-innapropriate. I would expect this for Ninja Gaiden (Xbox), Devil May Cry, etc. But not for a mobile game that has no blood, or sexually suggestive content. And I'm not using a mod or showing anime cutscenes. So why? 

I wonder who reviewed it. 

I don't mean to complain but uh....Youtube approved this game. You know one that has suggestive themes, gore, blood, etc. I mean Ryu just finished cutting off some soldiers heads before this scene occurs. I marked it appropriately but Youtube's like "nah it's fine."

I can think of tons of reasons as why these videos would be flagged but each reason is more petty than the last one.

A few being:

• Someone didn't like whatever ad that played in the video or ads in general
• Anime-Flaggers hating anything anime
• Someone hating my content
• Someone hating me.
• Someone doesn't like that there favorite character is being beaten up in a game.
• Someone doesn't like Anthromorphic characters/furries

The problem is I have nothing to go one as to why it's age-restricted.  And Youtube isn't willing to help me cause I'm too small of a Youtuber.  I'm not one of the big guys. After desperately getting the attention of there ever acclaimed help service on Twitter by the name of " Team Youtube" (@TeamYoutube).  They're clearly not willing to help and instead do the same as the stereotype helpline of any company. Giving out textbook answers.  Rather than answer my problem directly they dodge the response and throw links at me explaining why this happened. So yeah they're not willing to help.

Team Youtube basically the stereotype customer service call-in line. I forgot to mention that these guys don't really respond to people. You have to nag them a bit to get there attention.  

The only answer I have that makes any lick of sense to go on. Is that they're using an algorhythm. Yep a bot to do all the work.  On September 22nd, 2020 Youtube released a video stating that "expanding the use of its automated systems to apply age-restrictions to videos that aren’t appropriate for all viewers. "

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gTNFJhSHok)

Yeah the same bots that police our videos and throw Yellow Dollar Signs at them. The Same Bots that identify supposed Content ID Claims. The same bots that supposedly mark content as meant for kids. Yeah those bots.  I could go into how well these bots have fared but I think we all know where that's going and likely have our own personal experience.

What's concerning to me as well as confusing. Is why would I get 7 E-Mails saying that my video was suddenly age-restricted...ON THE SAME VIDEO?!  That has me thinking it's not a bot and someone with multiple accounts that just hates me for whatever reason.  But no Youtube doesn't answer and says just appeal it and wait.  

Multiple emails saying the same thing. AT THE SAME TIME! This makes me think so many other things are at work here than a bot. 

I already clicked appeal and I'm waiting for an answer. But given my experience with this and other things. I don't expect too much positive coming from this.  I pretty much marked the videos private. For the time being.

Weird Update

While recording and writing this out.  I went to make public the 2 videos and now...that those 2 are public again. They're magically fine.  What?  Was I in some alternate timeline where all my videos are age inappropriate or something?  I didn't imagine this happening.  I have emails proving my videos were age-restricted.  And usually when you try to appeal something you get an email saying whether or not your appeal was approved and that didn't happen.  WHAT'S GOING ON?! A glitch in the system?

Either way the part about using the bots concerns me greatly. 

Literally as I wrote this out. My videos magically are cleared of any age-restrictions. And I got no notification of the approval.  Are they trying to make me look like I have dementia? 

Zone of the Enders HD: Day 2 Part 4 - The Finale

Apparently this is endgame territory.  As soon as I enter the mountains I'm given probably the most linear path this game has directed me. Everything's also narrow.  Which means a lot of my weapons are actually useful.  No where for enemies...or myself to really dodge.  But one more weapon for the road.  The Bounder which does like this bouncing shot thing once it hits a wall it bounces towards it target.  I noticed that the path is pretty much just full of ammo.  So no need to worry about backtracking to restock. It's rather obvious we're in endgame territory.  Videogames don't really do well in hiding that we're reaching the end.  

I feel like stocking up all that subweapon ammo was a waste of time. There stocking me up to full here.

Boss Fight Nebula

Proceeding through the path. It ends with a boss obviously.  It's the guy that shot at us.  He's actually kinda tough.  The first phase wasn't really anything notable.  He just flew around did very little damage.  It's the 2nd phase where I was like WHAT DO I DO?!  It just makes me miss ZOE2 where ADA would make a suggestion when I'm in trouble. 

This actually took me a while to figure out an effective strategy. Especially when I'm being shot at leaving me little room to try things.

Apparently I'm supposed to break it's barrier.  Kinda hard when it's big attacks are the only time I can attempt to break said barrier. He also flies away and circles around.  The guide said land a burst attack on him.  Easier said than done. Even when trying to pre-emptively hit the guy with one as he lands is near impossible cause there's so many lasers to interupt me. Ugh. But it's made up of what I think is the funniest moment of this game.

"Do you think that affects me?!"

He kept repeating this line as I unloaded Phalnax at his face.  And it was doing quite a bit of damage to him.  I guess it does affect you. LOL

Well it's killing you so I guess the answer is yes. 

So once he's defeated and gone. Another not kill and pass through a tunnel. Save Game Prompt. Yeah we're in endgame. Uh...Viola is having an inferioty complex and challenges us.  

Boss Fight Viola

If you wanna dock this game for it's English voice acting go ahead. But the lines are pretty much Super Robot Anime tropes.

So the funny thing is...I was doing well the first round till the 2nd phase kicked in.  She's really tough and the guide's tips got this boss fight completely wrong.  But explain that later.

I'm glad Viola is kind enough to let Leo have his anime argument with ADA and let him go anime to break out of this cutscene trap.

So the first part of the fight she's kinda toying with us but not.  We end up in a cutscene attack that we can't avoid and the game did well enough to make the enemy invincible for the phase change so I can't get any more hits.  Oh no Viola's got us and is ready to kill us classic evil villian style.  Which means she's gonna take her sweet time while we can converse everything that's going on. 

Leo argues with ADA who's about to hit the eject button and self-destruct Jehuty. Leo values ADA's life. But uh what about Celvice who's in the cockpit with you?  Doesn't matter in classic anime/videogame fashion everyone's lives matter.  No arguing. So we break out of cutscene attack and it's a full on match with Viola and her Nieth (which is pronounced Neet? weird) 

So the guide says get in close range combat with her. I think this is the last time I'll listen to a Walkthrough's advice on combat. She utterly destroyed me.

OH GOD THIS IS TOUGH!! Not only fast she's incredibly aggressive.  So here's the funny thing. The guide I was reading said Oh you're better off fighting her up close.  The guide got me killed multiple times.  I kid you not every time I got in to close range combat any hits I made were lucky swipes.  Thanks guide for getting me killed AGAIN!  So what I ended up doing.  Keeping away from her and shooting everything I got at her.  She was completely open when doing a charge attack and the walls kept me somewhat safe to prep another move.  

She goes down and it's time for revenge....or not.  As angry as Leo is he can't bring himself to kill Viola.  I mean she is the woman that killed your friends. Oh well. Leave her be.  We finally make it to Mr. Demanding Thunderheart.  Alright here's the keys we can go now right?  Wrong. Time for a lengthy cutscene that I'll attempt to sum up.

Long Cutscene time.

So Thunderheart is waiting in a taxi? He says that Leo's not done yet. Apparently BAHRAM (whom I think is the first time having the groups named dropped in this game) planted bombs in the colony. If they go off the colony will fall out of orbit and drop into Jupiter killing everyone on the colony.  Apparently they want Jehuty that badly that it's a "If I can't have it, No one will" scenario. Thunderheart wants Leo to get back into Jehuty and stop the bombs. Leo breaks down which is rather expected considering how many people he's likely killed up till now. (Which...leaves me to question.  Did he really kill anyone at this point?)  

OH COME ON SHE WASN'T EVEN ANNOYING! 

Celvice encourages Leo saying they can do it together. A nice heart to heart. But that heart to heart gets ruined by a gunshot. Celvice falls over and the person who shot her is none other than, Taa...daah Viola.  Still on her inferioty complex she says she did it to make Leo mad. Well congrats it worked.  Viola leaves and then Leo chases after.  

Viola literally just created a Super Robot Anime Protagonist.

Leo has a heart to heart with ADA.  ADA tries to figure out why Leo he made the choices he did. Leo explains his backstory.  Which apparently none of his parents wanted him and all his so called friends and teachers besides Celvice didn't want him either. Apparently for the first time he's actually needed and that's why he's doing all this now.  Meanwhile Viola flaunts her inferiority complex saying that her machine is immortal. Her frame is heavily damaged but it seems to be some sort of design feature as Neith's arms are now just floating debris.

I honestly thought it was cause he was an Ender or whatever.  I did hear the beginning of the game right didn't I?  Didn't they call Leo an Ender?  What is that? The heart to heart ends and what starts is probably THE HARDEST MISSION IN THIS GAME!!!

Back to game

Okay not as hard as I originally thought but god it's freaking hard.  So remember when they mentioned bombs in the colony. What I have to do is find the bombs, which thankfully ADA points out. And then grab them for like 10 seconds.  This sound easy on paper but if I drop the bomb or if I'm attacked while holding a bomb I'm taking significant damage. And it's not easy with tons of enemies around taking advantage of a stationary target.  

I'm just praying no enemy is nearby or no random projectile hits me.

When ADA points out a bomb I got 60 seconds to get to it and disarm it properly.  But there's waves of enemies about that will love to interupt me.  This is not easy.  Especially when I can't move. I have to pray that the enemy is far enough away that they won't take a shot at me while I hold the bomb. 

After I finally struggled through that. Viola shows up again. Ready for the final round.  In her damaged. She's a lot easier than last time or I'm just in the moment that this is the end. Or I'm just pissed that she shot Celvice like that. 

How can you make your arms like that?!

Leo basically finishes her off via Cutscene and sends Viola on a one way trip into Jupiter.  Leo contemplates saving her life but Viola interupts saying if he does he'll kill him, everyone he loves, and other people too.  Well we can't anime this one.  She tells us her life story which apparently she lost everything.  I don't know why but I feel like like she's similar to MGS1's Sniper Wolf. I really don't know why.  Well Leo's no Goku so there's no saving her as she explodes in Jupiter's gravity. 

So we get Viola's backstory before death.  

Well our victory is short lived as the awesome machine piloted by a guy I don't like shows up.  ANUBIS!!!! He pops in out of nowhere and Nohman who talks about how he's gonna kill Leo as a gift to Viola.  The fight starts and he gets a free shot at me.  Oh god he's gonna kill me.  He toys with me while I try EVERYTHING I CAN to damage him.  I get a message saying that they're gonna blast open a way for us to escape just survive for 15 seconds....Okay.  

OMG IT'S THE SEXY SUPER ROBOT!!! Yeah I have a biased love for Anubis.  I mean seriously that thing is sexy. 

All Anubis does is teleport around then right in front of me about to slap me.  I dare not try close range cause I think he's gonna win in that game.  All the weapons I tried....nothing.  I was about to try the Sniper Rifle but time ran out. The game ends. 

Final Cutscene

Yeah rather ironic the A.I. that was all against self-sacrifice has a program directive to sacrifice itself. 

We make our escape to the ship and before Leo can leave.  Leo asks ADA a question. What does she intendo to do with Jehuty once on Mars?  ADA explains that Jehuty is to infiltrate Aumaan Fortress and self-destruct.  Leo complains which honestly is rather ironic since ADA was complaining about ilogical actions to Leo then suddenly wanting to understand Leo and human emotions.  We last see a disappointed Leo but a happy and alive Celvice and the other guys.  Then the credits roll.  

Ranking

That ranking is just telling me I shouldn't have bothered with a lot of stuff. Also 6 hours more like 4. I was paused for at least 2 hours. 

My ranking is a D rank. Saved 8 times. Died like 18 times. And SOS missions were subpar at best. Game took 6 hours. Sounds about right.

Last thoughts

Well I'm certainly glad that ZOE2 exists.  While it's understandable that Jehuty's combat abilities rather suck in ZOE1. I was struggling. This game definitely has the Metroidvania feel (I hope I used the right term) where you go to one spot to get one thing then progress with said thing or go back and see what the new thing you got can open up.  The game is rather cruel in rankings. One destroyed building, A few civilians die. C rank at best. I also feel like the block function in the game is completely useless.  Things I want to block I can't. I may as well attempt to dodge out the way.  Only a few parts hung me up and honestly I think I could've done better without a strategy guide.  I hate how generally useless a lot of sub-weapons are.  The AI either knows how to avoid them or they just plain suck.  It's sad.  

The game has great music. There's not much to say there. If we're gonna argue voice acting. I honestly don't care in that department. It's hard enough to read your lines properly. Only time I expect great voice acting is for anime based games where you could grab the voice actors from the anime to play there in-game versions. 

Story? Well it's what I expected. If you're expecting me to hate on Leo cause he complained about everything. I'm not. I don't see a problem with complaining about the job thrusted upon you by circumstances. It's really a typical Super Robot Anime/Manga story. What I will complain about. The unexplained stuff. Unless I heard wrong throughout the story. 

• The game mentions Enders at the start of the game when Leo is getting bullied.  What is an Ender? I figure it's something important to the game and it's one of those things that make you special like with Gundam and Newtypes, (or Innovators, or Coordinators, etc).  But it's not explained. Or revisited. Maybe it's a typo in the script? Or maybe it's in some other form of media?
• While I know what BAHRAM is. They're the enemy force in the 2nd game. They only brought them up once. So I imagine anyone being introduced to the game that's paying attention at this point would wonder who or what is BAHRAM.  
• Did Leo actually kill anyone throughout the game? Excusing Viola and my subpar piloting skills that led civilians to there deaths.  Did anyone actually get killed?  Unless I'm mistaken all the enemies besides bosses were remote controlled?  Which if so why didn't ADA or anyone else try using that plane of reasoning. I guess cause of war mentality?  Either way.  I don't think Leo actually killed anyone?

It does make me curious about the GBA game.  But I doubt I'll play that it's pretty rare and looks to be a time consuming strategy RPG. I'm moving on to the 2nd game. 

I do kinda see why no one really talks about the first Zone of the Enders game that much, if at all.