[No Commentary] Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic! -- #7. Chapter 7 (Lina)
0Wait, I thought I was going to be merciful and only subject people to the ONE extra-long uncanny valley theater?!
There is another:
https://youtu.be/qbHFlMw8g-U
If you have a problem with being mistreated in this particular fashion, you should probably complain to:
twitch.tv/yuugijoou
twitter.com/yuugijoou
discord.gg/bKT9pRW
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Well, we've made it. All the way to the final chapter. If perhaps you played this in its Western-friendly format and wondered why they decided to cheap out on the last stretch, the reason why there's only two stages here is because the twins who were fighting over the book containing this world tore out the final pages! The pages containing the big baddie's ultimate defeat would've contained an entire extra stage, duh!
BUT... if you thought that there only being two stages meant that this would be at all easier, you'd be sadly mistaken. If you thought the concept of making players realize that they needed to ride a Birdo egg across an impressively lengthy chasm to be sufficiently "out there," this chapter's ready to pull out all the stops just to stop you.
The first stage is seemingly standard, if a bit fantastical in its set dressing, but any all-too-trusting players who remain in the game at this point will perhaps find themselves at a loss for where to go.
If Super Mario Bros. set a precedent about being all about simple and straightforward stage design that easily communicates intent to coax a response from users along a coherent exchange of ideas between designer and player... Doki Doki Panic is more than willing to show that it's keen to color outside even the lines it's been misleading you into thinking it was drawing the whole time.
The whole thing culminates in a surprisingly sprawling fortress "maze"... which is really more like a divergent set of paths that eventually meet up and provide ample opportunity to meander and get lost along the way.
Oh, and the enemies have gotten decidedly meaner even than the previous set, seeing as how this is the last chance they'll have to stop you and all!
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Speaking of last chances, it finally happens... all that mistrust in the abject weirdness of it all finally pays off. The bizarre and downright creepy "mask" the game was made to use as the between-stages transitional shorthand will at long last validate the deep-seated fears that everything with a face is out to hurt you.
Sure, this version is weirder, but somehow the bird-themed new version Mario and friends have to contend with freaks me out all the more. Probably in a sort of feverish nightmare fuel, animated Secret of NIMH kind of fashion... just one of the many "upgrades" to the original that made the later renditions all the more worthy of attention! (They weren't satisfied with merely making Phanto more menacing, were they?!)
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Anyway, at the end of our winding journey, we're finally face to face with the evildoer who would wreak such awful nightmares upon this otherwise peaceful realm! It's... a giant frog? With serious acid reflux. And a painful aversion to eating his veggies! THAT's the whole reason why we've weaponized them all game long! It makes perfect sense!
Wait... does it?
This is Mamu, the evil fiend laying siege to this idyllic dream world with his dastardly monster-making machine! ...and, despite his sole weakness being the ingestion of produce, he's decided to take up residence in the very same room as a machine that endlessly dispenses veggies!
Unlike every single other enemy in the game, you'll HAVE to pluck them from their aerial arcs before you can toss them at the big boss. But you can't just throw them willy-nilly! You'll have to land them in his mouth BEFORE he attacks, because his bubble breath is incredibly caustic and will vaporize them on contact instead of letting them pass by and give your foe a royal bellyache.
The range and nature of his attack also means that you'll have to be careful when and where you attempt to pluck your armaments, because doing so carelessly will end up with you getting hit regardless of your efforts, and your staying power is much lower than his even at the theoretical top of your game.
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Your reward for winning and saving the... fairly unusual citizenry of Muu is... a heartfelt, personalized thank-you and swift kick back to the title screen.
...or is it?
You'll note that you get to keep your progress, as the game has made meticulous note of your exploits... ... ... but only as the individual character you made said progress with, in marked deviation from what many of you might know of Super Mario Bros. 2 USA.
... ... ...if you want the REAL ending, you'll have to do it again. And again. And again! Everyone needs to beat the game!
(So much for being in it shoulder-to-shoulder and family togetherness!)