Secret of Evermore - Self-Imposed Challenge Run Part 28: The Black Castle of Diligence

Channel:

Master Knight DH

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Published on June 18, 2020 1:47:09 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGFDxUq94qY

Game:

Secret of Evermore (1995)

Duration: 57:37

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Rules so far:
-No switching to the Dog in an active combat area unless absolutely necessary
-Dog must not be dropped to 0 HPs
-Pixie Dust, Wings, and Call Beads are not allowed
-Alchemy restrictions to be determined
-Bone Crusher banned after Thraxx; all other Swords banned
-Horn Spear only allowed for a case of Verminator or for demonstration purposes; all other Spears banned other than Bronze Spear for throwing puzzle switches
-Bazooka is banned
-All Collars other than Leather Collar banned
-Jade Disc, Moxa Stick, and Chocobo Egg banned for Antiqua and Gothica
-Armor Polish banned for Antiqua until Oglin Caves
-Most rules disabled for convenience in non-threatening areas

4:06 for Verminator fight at L30/L29 with only relevant available Charms being Sun Stone and Wizard's Coin. 19:50 for the Panes In The Glass bit to show them being rejects. 41:30 displays Ivor Tower's bridge being raised, complete with tiling errors involved.


So this part has the Verminator fight. And the summary is that you have to use range attacks to even hurt him, while he can shell you with his attacks and can potentially double-cast you into a quick death which I was lucky he didn't here. He is going to need his own Comment because I need to cover other aspects.

The Panes In The Glass bit is really me showing how much of rejects the involved enemies have become, including the Dancin' Fools who had been bordering on Demonic Spiders back in Antiqua. Now that none of them deal worthwhile damage other than the Mad Monk maybe being able to inflict Plague if he doesn't take the guaranteed 1HKO against him first, I can just allow myself to use the Gladiator Sword to sneak some Weapon EXP into it real quick and save myself a bit of grinding, although I imagine I'd have to do grinding with it anyway if I want to demonstrate Swords' charged attacks other than the Bone Crusher's.

So now that the story is developing, I can talk more openly about why Gothica is my favorite of the Evermore regions for more than the medieval theming, and surprisingly, it's because of the story--the gameplay is bog standard in general more than anything really, Verminator not negatively impacting that point by that much. As we can see, the Gothica arc involves a case of Light Is Not Good and Dark Is Not Evil from a mid 90s game. We go to Ivor Tower and things seem fine there (hence my parody of the Bystander Syndrome in that part), but we soon learn how Disproportionate Retribution from White Queen Sigrid is a very real issue to worry about.

Of course, White Queen Sigrid goes into Shedog In Sheep's Clothing mode despite being unconvincing about it and provides the only directions we can work with until we get better options. Her intent? Send a boy down through a dangerous forest filled with hostile dragons. And if the boy survives and then opens the Ebon Keep drawbridge as he gets instructed to do? He would still be open to White Queen Sigrid's troops. And by the way, part of me wants to propose White Queen Sigrid as a Complete Monster, since she also shows her intent to "deal with those cretins" when handling the search for the energy source, which would no doubt be the one under the Chessboard, and "kill the hero" over the assigned suicide mission wouldn't be a problem when an earlier scene with the Horace twin would provide evidence that she would not have known/cared when managing as much. However, I'm worried that she doesn't manage to have her crimes, attempted and otherwise, be visible enough to have her pass the heinous standard when the Fire Eyes twin exists.

The Chess Motif also showcases some interesting truths with the symbolism. On the surface, Ebon Keep is a mess that even has freaking Verminator around, while Ivor Tower is squeaky clean. In reality, Ebon Keep has sewers be bone dry and even possible to leisurely stroll through, but Ivor Tower's sewers are full of fast running contaminated water that pours down to places below below without sign of an attempt at a filter; and it reflects off of the souls of the respective Queens, with Camellia being friendly enough while White Queen Sigrid will be quick to indulge in myopia. This would already be interesting on its own and the music makes the most of it, but this is also conveniently in Secret of Evermore, which had thrown about plenty of ambiance and also has a consistent theme of being a survivor in a strange world after having been use to modern conveniences as the Boy certainly was from being a B-movies fan. And oh boy, THAT theme is going to be at its climax in the next part.

Oh, and yes, Secret of Evermore didn't add another N to the name "Shining Armor." YES, I'M LOOKING AT YOU, CASTLEVANIA: CIRCLE OF THE MOON!

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