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. 

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. 

Zone of the Enders HD: Day 2

Oh god thankfully I remember the controls cause it's been roughly 2 weeks since I last played.  So starting off with an SOS mission.  I'm starting to hate these.  Cause I'm doing my best to keep civilians out of harms way but it feels completely useless.  

This guy is just stuck behind the bridge. It can't destroy it for some reason...In reality it plotted a trap for me. 

So on with the main game. Fly to the mountains and get shot down...to the point that ADA our smart mouthed talking AI gets infected with a virus.  So here's what I feel is a joke to this game.  Cause of that shot and ADA being infected with a virus.  I'm down to literally 1 HP.  Leo and Celvice suggest we run away.  But uh... I'm combat right?  At least I think I am??? Either way before I try to get some distance another long range lock-on beam says die and well I die. Apparently I can run away and I'm supposed to get out of dodge ASAP.  This reminds me of MGS moments. Like MGS3 where you're supposed to die but instead of loading your game you pick an item that revives you.  Or MGS where the game says hey if you die here you can't continue.  Anyway time to book.

Ah crap...

ADA's infected with a virus and the only thing that can restore her is an anti-virus software but at the same time...THERE'S ANOTHER S.O.S.  This is a cruel joke. So taking the S.O.S. thankfully every enemy is LVL 1 so I don't risk getting damaged...but this is obviously a trap to encourage me to be reckless. I luckily take them out and WTF A C rating?  How fast does this game want me to take out enemies?  This is getting annoying. 

I thought I had to be out of combat to leave an area? Nope time for me to die again.

Back to the main game.  Gotta avoid combat at all cost.  I probably could take these guys on but uh no damage runs aren't my thing.  So we restore ADA back to normal.  But the boss that shot us.  We need things to take it down. Many  LPers of today would be like this is uneccessary padding. But lets see them find a way to dodge a lock-on laser.  Well that would be easy except one of the passcodes to this weapon is held by an enemy using stealth camo.  While I'm all for taking down these enemies ADA says no but suggest if we find the enemy we took control to help break down the satellites we can detect the enemy.  So backtrack.

JEHUTY IS STUCK AT 1 HP, VERY LITTLE WAS DESTROYED AND YOU GIVE ME A C RANK?!

After dealing with that. We can take on the stealth camo enemies.  I noticed that the enemies have got tougher. But not so much that I don't know how to deal with.  In fact maybe I'm learning ways to deal with them.  As long as I can keep them blocking I'm okay.  But I did notice these guys are whipping out new attacks.  Homing Shots. Charged Sword attacks.  Oh geez.  

I did come across an SOS mission where one of the enemies decided to hide behind a bridge. Or really I should say they were stuck there. It couldn't even destroy the bridge. So I tried to take advantage of it but the guy turned it's cannons towards me and fired killing me.  X_X 

You have to be incredibly lucky for these guys not to get an attack off on the satellite. 

Another S.O.S. mission that just made me cringe and express some hatred. Oh no the enemies are attacking the space port and it could cause some serious harm to the colony. Alright lets save it.  The very moment I get in there.  DAMAGE TO THE COLONY AND CIVILIANS!  WTF GAME! I had maybe 2 seconds to respond before that message showed up.  Again how fast do you want me to go?! Does Jehuty come with a Time Stop function or something?!  So another C rating cause they got 1 pot shot off in the right place.  

So back to the main game and I collect some new subweapons. Ones I actually like.  So the first one is Comet.  It's a homing shot.  Finally something that's actually has a decent bit of accuracy and damage.  Some of the enemies do dodge it but have to make an actual effort to dodge.  Then there's gauntlet which I guess throws an air fist or something. It's pretty strong and it's not as useless as say the Javelin or Halbred or whatever.  I did start finding a use for Geyser and Phalnax to keep some enemies at bay while I deal with one enemy or keep them blocking while I approach.  So that's good.

I finally obtain to subweapon to deal with the upcoming boss...but uh...I need ammo for it.  I had to spend some time gathering ammo for it.  That wasn't fun cause I came to another conclusion.  I want to see someone play this game with no damage at all to the colony or civilian casualties.  The 2nd one is likely possible. But the first one.  I feel it's impossible.  While you're battling other enemies supposedly on patrol take pot shots at buildings for no reason what so ever.  But the game will gladly nag you that it happened.  Honestly with an attack from an enemy force inside a colony. You should expect some damage heck probably the entire area flatened. I'm just getting annoyed every time ADA goes "Damage to Colony due to battle is increasing." ESPECIALLY WHEN I HAVE TO SHOOT THESE PORTER THINGS!

You have to manually aim at these small things. And the cursor isn't reliable.

Yeah I'm not sure if I explained Porters in the previous post.  So in some areas there's these things that you absolutely cannot lock on to.  You have manually target them and shoot them each 2 or 3 times.  Problem with this? Even with the targetting cursor, your aim isn't accurate.  Good luck hitting these small porters.  Especially without damaging a random building.  Why you want to shoot these down? Well shooting down all of these will reveal a hidden item Zelda style.  You need these...and in one of these porter bits...hides the Decoy Subweapon ammo.  Sigh...

Boss Tyrant

So on to the boss.  He taunts us saying if we kill him then all the smaller enemies in the area will go down.  It took me a bit to figure out the first phase cause it seems like he's not gonna use that lock-on laser bit right away.  About half health he shifts to a chase me down mode.  I tried using a walkthrough's method of dealing with this phase. Apparently if you throw geyser down under it. You'll get a lot of damage....guess what...it didn't work.  Cause the boss has a small weakpoint. Okay I'll say it didn't work as intended.  Geyser is too random to actually hit a lot of the time.  I just have to dodge and hit it's small weakpoint.  This is also one of those bosses where the most dangerous stuff comes straight from the weakpoint while every other spot is impervious to damage.  I also can't get in it's face and slash it which I developed a habit of doing to EVERY enemy now at this point.  I mean the normal lock-on attacks and most of my other moves don't really work that well.  But I did kill it later thankfully.

I need to stop trusting strategy guides completely. This method got me killed.

So once the fight is over. Collect my spoils, leave, and move on. But before that I collect Mummy!  A good Subweapon that heals me over time and guards.  Yay...but something's off...The walkthrough I used mentioned I could get this much earlier.  But it didn't show.  I kept searching at every opportunity.  Nothing until now. Anyway...

  Cutscene time  

I think this is the first and only mention of BAHRAM in this game. I know it's a big thing in the 2nd game but uh...no explanation on them here?

Elena the woman at the beginning contacts Leo with a change to the mission plan.  Oh great this should be good.  We're to give Jehuty to a man named Rock Thunderheart.  Thunderheart notes that due to the attack the space ports have all been locked down and we'll have to take a harder route. He casually mentions there will be more fighting.  Leo goes back to his not wanting to kill schitck. Thunderheart basically tells him to shut up and just do it backing up his reasoning with that he's inside Jehuty a killing machine so he has no right to talk.  Honestly I question myself in this argument thinking up reasons like, "Well how about I get out of Jehuty and you guys come get it yourselves." Or something like that.  Everyone calms down with Leo saying he'll do it.  And we leave for the moutain only to be shot at again. But this time we avoid it.  Seems the next set of missions will have to be on the ground cause someone can snipe us from afar.  

The "You're in the giant killing robot, so why are you complaining?" argument

Zone of the Enders HD Collection - ZOE 1 HD Day 1

Zone of the Enders HD Collection 

ZOE 1 HD Day 1

Part 1

Part 2 Next Sunday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjcvuKO1KzI

So against all my plans to upload something else that I worked hard on. I ended up having to default to this game.  After all I had the openings uploaded might as well keep going.  Also the original videos I had planned got deleted somehow and I can't seem to recover them :(.  (It was Elder Scrolls III btw). Anyway might as well get up and record this. 

I still want this. Maybe as a model.

So I had somewhat an idea what to expect. I was expecting ZOE2 but not as good cause this is the first game. This is also the game that no one really talks about.  Besides the GBA one (yeah there's a GBA one).  Heck even the opening to this HD collection barely highlights ZOE1. Not even MGS: The Twin Snakes makes note of it. Weird...Anyway lets start.

These are my only options??? Okay

So options there's nothing there. You have captions for the demo and the game itself. Which I assume is subtitles.  Nothing else.  Okay? Difficulty Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard.  Well I'm going with Normal cause I'm not insane. I know that some that still live in that age it's considered "baby mode" but I got games to play and I don't wanna get stuck cause the AI decides to kill me for breathing.

 

AD 2172 and we're as far as Jupiter in Space Colonies. So 150+ years from the time of this blog.  That's hopeful...I think. 

Well either this character has some morals against killing or maybe she's one of those I want to fight all the time types?  Or maybe this line is misplaced?

I wish cars would do this when you get in.  Also nice way to introduce the tutorial for the game. And it's optional.

So we start out with a 6 minute opening. Sounds about right. I don't mind. This definitely starts out like a Super Robot anime. Some group is about to attack a space colony to acquire 2 Frames or Super Robots. Then we shift to our main character Leo who's picked on I guess cause he's an Ender?  What's an Ender?  I guess I'll find out as I progress.  Man bullying sure is different in 2172.  I would never expect to see my so called friends tied up begging for help from bullies?  Are they Leo's friends? Anyway the bully session gets interupted by an attack from an opposing force.  Leo acts...I want to say pretty natural for a sudden threat appearing right in his face. His friends yell for help and Leo just stands there scared stiff as a giant robot falls and crushes them. Leo runs away to what looks like a robot hangar.  After a stroke of luck he finds himself in the cockpit of Jehuty where ADA begins talking to him. I kill a few guys then cutscene.

I'm clearly evil and I'll let you live this time. 

Well like another Super Robot trope ADA points out that Leo isn't supposed to be the pilot of Jehuty. Well wherever that pilot is. He clearly wasn't good enough to be here. After a good tutorial. I guess the training wheels are off. I have what I guess is my training mode boss fight with Viola and her Frame. She doesn't do much and gets an order to retreat.  Viola does the typical villain dialogue saying she'll be back for round 2. And not too soon after that we get another Super Robot trope.  Everyone is dead and ADA being an AI doesn't feel any remorse. We then get what's the main goal of this game. Some group calling themselves Atlantis calls Leo and asks him to deliver Jehuty to them. They apparently need it to save the world. Leo gets angry that he's going to have to kill more people and argues but eventually he agrees to it. Honestly they must be desperate if they're offering what could be considered a Blank Check. Well if all we have to do is deliver Jehuty to them...simple.  

Thanks for describing my Depression ADA

Yeah right...Not simple at all.  ADA brings out how there's issues with doing just that. The first being that Jehuty just got overhauled and has no weapons. So we need to collect programs to use these before moving on. After being shown another basic of the game I finally get the option to save. I'm also advised to avoid combat. Cause Leo is just a kid and inexperienced.  This is where I worry. Considering that this is a Kojima game and how MGS games go. I feel like the game is gonna somehow scold me for getting into fights or not getting into fights.  I really don't know what to do here about that. I feel like I need to fight to understand how to play this game when the time comes. There's also a LV.1 next to my health bar.  While enemies are LV.2 sometimes LV.5 Good god.  I feel this is significant somehow and will somehow bite me if I'm not careful.  Also if I don't fight these guys will take random potshots at the colony and ADA gives remarks that the colony is damaged or people died. Really giving my moral compass a run for it's money aren't you. 

I feel like this is how most arguments or debates go these days.

So after making it to the world map and landing somewhere else. More story. We meet another character Celvice. She's running to the church to look for survivors. Leo argues with her that she's stupid and there's probably no survivors there. Rather convenient that we forget we have a Super AI computer that can scan for vital signs. Anyway we come across my 2nd boss of the game.  He's pretty simple and starts employing tactics to drag out the fight. After the fight Leo argues with ADA about killing him. ADA has 17 reasons why we should kill him. Leo tells her to shut up and he gets away. ADA has good arguments but forgets she's arguing with a kid. After Celvice fails to find anyone at the church we pick her up. Celvice and Leo make up.  ADA reminds them that there's a game to play and brings up another problem of the mission. While getting to our destination should be a straight shot. It's not.  Apparently the oppossing force took over a satellite system that employs microwave energy and they're using it as a barrier. Quite a cruel one at that. Basically Jehuty says anyone caught in that barrier will pretty much be cooked alive. And Jehuty's weapons don't work inside the barrier.  Hmmmm...Well there's a way to disable it an incredibly convoluted way but it's a method. But before that.  I'm introduced to side missions.  While on the world map you come across areas sending out an SOS. ADA insists that we ignore them but Leo says we should go help. My moral compass is being tested again.  Out of the 2 or 3 times I've done these I feel like the game or any anime character would tell me that I'm doing more harm than good by trying to help.  Every time I've done one of these a building gets destroyed or a person dies. Just makes me think of Gundam SEED Destiny where the main character grows up and blames me for the death of his sister, vowing revenge.  In my defense I'm doing everything I can to help. I'm trying to drag the battle away from populated areas (Keyword "trying"). I'm trying not use my energy weapons cause I could miss and hit a building.  But it's not really working.  Honestly I feel like I'm better off just going buck wild on these guys and hoping for the best. The health pickups are fairly generous and the enemies so far only prove to be nuisances. They basically teach me that I should take these kind of guys out first like the ones that like to fire large laser rounds. 

An Incredibly Annoying Mission 

Well my thoughts on the difficulty change a little bit after.  But first subweapons. These subweapons feel rather mediocre.  I have a Javelin that doesn't go very far and it's accuracy is questionable. Phalnax that apparently fires in a spread but I wonder if it's hitting anything at all. Geyser works like a trap but only on the ground and for a very short time. To make it more useless most if not all my fights are in the air. And Halbred which isn't a halbred but a concentrated laser. I kinda like this but it fires continously, is slow, and the enemy AI is smart enough to get out the way.  There's also a sniper rifle but it's really a joke. It's really there for certain "specific" purposes.  I'm also very much getting a Metal Gear Solid feel. While I've never played a MGS game you might ask how can I say that. Well watching playthroughs of it give me that feel. In particular there's some backtracking involved to solve one problem or more. Going back to our microwave satellite problem. We have to disable or destroy the satellites. Problem is that they're protected. I need a passcode to shut them off or gain access to shutting them off.  Which to get the passcode I need to travel to a different area I've already visited. So a lot of back and forth involved. This isn't to say Metal Gear Solid is the first game to do this, cause I can think of many games that have done this. Castlevania, Wonder Boy, various RPGs. It's not unique to this game. It's slightly annoying but it makes sense in a way.  

So the enemy difficulty spikes up.  ADA gives me warning that there's enemies with enhanced AI. They look like just any old enemy but they're competent. Honestly too competent. These guys send me to scrap heap easily if I approach them the wrong way.  I don't really like my special weapons but I have to make use of them. I also have a problem with using weapons outside of combat. I'm generally trying to get the jump on enemies for a pre-emptive strike or to fire at some other targets that I just can't lock-on to (which ADA explains I should destroy).  I can't aim properly outside of combat.  Even with a crosshair my aim still feels off. Also I can't really make any adjustments to my aim when I do a Burst Attack.  

Aiming At anything Outside Combat is annoying

Before I call it a day here there was one more problem added to disabling the satellite.  It's protected by the same energy field that the big one stops us from.  ADA brings up that you can remote control one of the enemies if it's unmanned. So after some searching we find one. ADA then tells us not to die. Not cause we'd have to find another one. But instead if the robot we're controlling remotely dies then Jehuty's AI will be severely damage....so ADA dies...and we need ADA.  I have no idea how survived the combat sessions I did. I just mashed.  And we managed to disable the satellites.  

Seriously for this part I just mashed and prayed

Well so far I've only been hung up twice. And it's generally falls on where do I go or what exactly do I do in spots.  Combat requires me to step up my game at times but it's still rather simple.  I'm still looking for a reason as to why no one really talks about this game.  Maybe I'll find it. But likely I won't Just like with Sly 4, Crash of the Titans, Sonic 06. My brain just isn't good enough to see what everyone else sees.  But that's day one for you. 

I feel like certain Anime characters would be breathing down my neck right now cause people died.