Previously, Eryk breaks out
of his prison and kills Monsters looming around. Then he arrives at Oxnevylle’s
Manor where he meets Mark. He tells Eryk to seek Dr. Hermann to cure Eryk’s
illness. Also, he gives Eryk a pistol and key that open path to City of
Mythringal. In the city’s cemetery, Eryk meet a mourning lady that asks him to
get some special flower for her dead husband. Can Eryk find said flower or Dr.
Hermann?
There’s enemy on higher spot so I use the whip’s special attack that can generate rain of nail. However, it doesn’t hit the mug! Spy_sf12_badmagic07.wav
Fine! I just use the Corrupted Star magic which is pretty much Castlevania’s throwing axe because it travels in diagonal trajectory then gradually falls. But in addition, it inflicts dark element damage over time. Perhaps, it’s nightmare debuff?
I try to use the gun on him. It deals okay-ish damage of 77 points but pretty useful to hit enemies from afar.
Here’s new enemy: gravedigger. He will scoop out soil as ranged attack. I remember in demo his ranged attack deals pretty dangerous damage but now it only deals 10 points of damage which is quite ignorable. However, that’s not the real threat from him. The real threat comes from poisonous blood goop that he drops while running away when you approach him. It’s the same goop as the crazy maid drops!
Suddenly I heard someone pleas for my help from this window. She said she has wings. I hope she has angelic feature and not demonic or gargoyle-ish.
Then I’m trapped in this room. Both doors on each corner is locked as soon as I enter this door. They can only open if I kill all of enemies that spawn here, including that humanoid bat there.
The humanoid bat behaves like Charging Knell in Blasphemous. He’s protected from attack from his front with his oversized wing and like to charge forward. You can jump over him. Also, you must attack him from behind. You can also attack him while stunned after charging against the wall. When I fought him in demo, my mind immediately asks “Is this game made by same developer as Blasphemous?”. Turns out no but the similarity on this enemy is uncanny.
I fought another vicious monster and I accidentally whip wall behinds me that reveals a secret room! Spy_positivevocalization02.wav
On that newly secret room, I find this blade which is the very first weapon in demo. I like that you can see the special attack description below the lore of the weapon. Although there’s no animated demonstration on it. But the description is still functional though.
Following the path on previous spot, I unlock shortcut to checkpoint altar. After saving on the altar, I backtrack to the higher place and I end up meeting this old man with Scottish accent. At first, he sees me as suspicious but he accepts my offer of safe haven at Oxnevylle’s Manor.
After some more walking on high place…
*gasp* Elsa Bloodstone, is that you? Suddenly the screen blacks out and she disappear without trace! But she lefts some item behind her previous spot where I can’t reach it. Thanks, Elsa! [Small-sized Sarcasm]
I find another altar! I made quite good progress. Truth be told, I have easier time getting here from demo because I can level up in full version of the game and also thanks to this awesome whip.
I find this giant gate. I need to remove those 3 slot locks on it to unlock.
Somehow, destroying this chained statue will remove one of the slot locks. There’s no mechanical explanation of it. It just happens that way. Unlike in Jondo in Blasphemous where I destroyed 3 statues holding chain will get rid of chains on giant bell. In that case, There’s simple mechanic explanation on that.
I decide to visit the Scotsman in Oxnevylle’s manor. Remember the room where I demonstrated flying papers? He’s in there now. Mariano can upgrade my weapon that requires moonsilver stone. Fortunately (for me and him), he also sell said upgrade stone. I have zero reason to upgrade other weapon than this whip “Nighttide’s Rout” which said that it’s designed as torture instrument to bring pain beyond victim’s mind. Horrible backstory but I love this whip.
Mariano also sells this climbing glove. It’s kind of cruel to put very high price on exploring ability like this. Maybe, the climbing ability is not as mandatory as I think? Regardless mandatory or not, I will save up necessary amount of Nycrux to buy this from greedy Scotsman. I don’t think I need Nycrux to level or but anything else, except for upgrading the whip further. Not even Blunderblade (which I think is combination of Blunderbuss and sword) that he sells, can tempt me to spend my Nycrux.
Back to East District of Mythringal city. I manage to execute this flying critter. Eryk punch the critter twice and then rips it wings. Engineer_goodjob01.wav
I find a coffin in some outdoor balcony. It contains Old Ashes magic that deal hefty fire damage but also cost hefty focus. I’m curious what it looks like in action.
It’s fire punch magic! Now, I become generic anime protagonist. Fantastic!
Eventually, I remove all the slot locks on the gate that leads me to main entrance of “Federal Inquisition” complete with checkpoint altar if I feel like to do fast travel.
There’s the same zombie like in prison but they have ability to puke purple spirits now. But I can grab chair in the background to use it as projectile against them. I know that walking on table and throwing chair are certainly bad manner but we’re in chaotic setting right now. Give me a break. Besides there’s poisonous glass shards on the floor between tables. No one clean that mess because all of the maids went crazy and roaming the city with meat cleaver. It’s truly chaotic time.
I don’t remember this in demo. There are some puddles of electrified water. The electricity runs in certain time, so I can get passed the puddles if I timing it right.
Oh, I find the living version of the decoration monster! They can spit black fireball and claw hardly. They can inflict big damage but their attack can be easily avoided. However, things get hairier when there’s zombie on upper platform who ready to bombard you with their mean projectiles.
Oh, look! Crushers just like in Castlevania 3. But these ones move exceptionally fast. One thing I learn from Dark Soul 2 is: “if the obstacles look difficult to get through, there’s must be better way”. So, I try search for other way.
Suddenly, I’m trapped within this orphanage section where bunch of murderous kids along with their baby sitter want to kill me. But it’s them that trapped with me. As you can see the whip not only can hit enemies from afar but also hit bunch of them at once. Heavy_specialcompleted08.wav
I find another execution move. This time against that demon with bat head where Eryk..Stop! Stop punching them, man! They’re already bloody dead!
I find another corridor full of crushers but these ones are significantly slower. With careful dodge roll, I manage to pass them safely.
But I got hit by Electrocuted debuff because I don’t go through the pool in correct timing. I prefer getting electrocuted than become human red paste by the crusher. By consuming static pastilles, I can get rid of the electric debuff in a jiff. There’s also middlemist pastilles to get rid of burning debuff. But I rarely get burning debuff.
I found another corridor with bunch of crushers. At the end of the corridor, I find this giant generator that power the crushers. Finally, I can secure all of those passage from the evil crushers by destroying this damned machine. It begs question though. What’s the purpose of these crushers? To guard the corridor from intruder like me? It will be lots nicer if the crusher only target monsters.
Another disembodied female voice! But this time, she sounds like praying instead of asking for my help. The right door where the voice come from is locked, though. So, I move to the left door. See if I can get key to open that door.
Inside the door I entered is a small corridor with checkpoint altar. And beyond that corridor is this stereo boss room. Demoman_battlecry04.wav
The boss fight is like Belfry Gargoyles from Dark Soul 2 but only 2 of them. Again, whip proves its worth in this boss fight.
The boss fight is pretty easy but I get greedy thus I failed. I shouldn’t rush to finish the big fight and biding my time more patiently. Although I can dodge their attack relatively easy, they can inflict large damage when I get hit by their attack.
This time, I’m doing much better than previous fight. Now that the boss is alone, I can be more reckless by using the fire punch magic! Heavy_meleeing03.wav
After venturing beyond the boss fight’s room, I obtain Hermann’s office key! Finally, I get to meet Dr. Hermann. That’s my objective!
There’s Dr. Hermann and he doesn’t look...well or sane. He says “Stay back!” but Eryk ignores the word and walking forward. Then the doctor jabs a syringe on his own chest and falls over. Good job, Eryk! [Large sized Sarcasm]
Then he turns into this grotesque and vicious monster. I’m shocked! Not because he turns into 3rd boss so shortly after the 2nd boss. But more because I forget the boss’ name in demo was Hermann! Theoretically, if I played demo, I should know what happen to Hermann upon meeting him. But I don’t because I forget his name in demo. Back then I picked Brawler class and wielded great sword. This time I’m under different circumstance. Let’s see if this whip (that I upgrade to level 2) is sufficient for this third boss fight.
Dr. Hermann strike twice when you least expected it. You can dodge/crouch under his first attack but next he will swing his sharp arm in 180o arc, hoping to catch you off guard. My advice is: start attacking him after 2nd attack. Do it after dodging his first attack is inadvisable.
After receiving heavy beating, Dr Hermann is open for execution. It doesn’t kill him right away. But inflicting heavy damage is quite helpful. That 25 points of damage is the last hit before the execution move. The real damage inflicted from it is 400 points!
Once his health bar is depleted, you don’t win yet. Surprise! Surprise! He has second phase. He now moves faster and like to either cling on ceiling or submerge on the floor while shooting blood projectiles. Once in a while, he appears from the floor and pause for short moment before submerging into the floor again. That moment is golden opportunity to hit him the most frequently. Thankfully, there’s no stamina that limit the number you can attack.
Suddenly, bloody tendrils come out from floor and finish me off. I need to get used to the tendrils pattern again. Plus, I’m out of healing injection. I need to perform better on next try.
Wow! The game is very generous to put the lost Nycrux very near of the checkpoint altar! Perhaps this token of mercy is here to balance the fact that Dr Hermann is the first boss with multiple phases. I’m also amazed with how this “Federal Inquisition” area is expanded from the demo. In my memory, it was the main entrance, 2 or 3 corridors, and then Dr. Hermann’s room. There’s no long corridor with crushers or the generator and the Winged Pale Lament’s room. Medic_sf12_badmagic02.wav
I’m doing pretty better as you can see that I have more healing injection in my pocket. Then I forgot that there also tendrils come out from ceiling. Demoman_negativevocalization04.wav
Finally, I kill Dr Hermann. I fancy this dramatic slow motion whenever I land finishing hit on bosses. Dr Hermann fades into blood goop and die. But that doesn’t help either my quest or Eryk’s. Dr. Hermann went crazy and turned into carnage monster so he doesn’t help Eryk’s illness at all. I didn’t mean to refer Carnage, the red symbiote nemesis of Spiderman and Venom. But Dr Hermann’s attack pattern kind of something that Carnage can do. So, my gibberish probably has some solid logic on it.
Anyway, I don’t where I have to go. Probably Mark know where or who else should I go.
Mark, my friend. Dr Hermann is already FREAKING DIE! It’s no use. He just repeats his dialogue from when we first met. At least I unlock more topic from him.
The old merchant has found his daughter in cemetery! Knowing that his daughter lies lifeless, he resent the religious group that make his daughter ends like this. My condolence, Old Wymond.
So, Mark doesn’t give me clue where to go. But at least, I get tons of Nycrux from slain Dr Hermann. Thus, I bought the glove! I though it enables ability to climb. Turns out, it’s for wall jump akin to Shinobi 3 or Megaman X. It’s useful nonetheless as I can reach this part of “Federal Inquisition” now. The item there is “Magnetic Powder” which is one-time-use item that imbues my weapon with electric element. While the door over there can be unlocked with Dr Hermann’s key.
Inside of the room, I find technological lens that allow me to see specters and open mysterious white door. This googles probably made for Ghostbusters but I need it too.
There was ghostly door below this section. But with technological lens at my disposal, it’s dispersed. Now I can loot the room beyond the door and I find new electric magic: Explosive Candle. The game getting more and more interesting, I should stop writing here. As for do I find the flower for the mourning lady? Not yet. At least I met Dr Hermann (and killed him). I say, the lady should move on for her own sake. Seriously.
Is Kumi Souls Games’ The
Last Faith (2023) worth my first wage? The answer is big yes! I love it so
much! But there’s some flaw on it like the Mark’s dialogue that doesn’t change
after killing Dr Hermann because it doesn’t make sense that he keep asking me
to find the doctor although I already killed him. I blame Eryk for making the
jumpy doctor did some desperate horrible action. I think Eryk shouldn’t be
hostage negotiator. He makes both hostage taker and hostage killed in an
instant. On to next flaw: healing injection is refilled to max (7) at
checkpoint altar. This one probably makes the game too easy. In demo,
checkpoint altar doesn’t do that. So you have to buy from merchant, or get one
from breaking enemies and crates which the chance is relatively high. Once you
can get free healing injection from checkpoint altar in full version, you don’t
need to buy it from merchant. Unless you use it recklessly. My solution to this
problem is: adapt from Nioh where you can stock healing items on saving point
but only allowed to carry limited amount of it. Correction: healing items only replenished if i have stock of them in storage so the item inventory is balanced. It's like Nioh. My bad.
Here’s another broken flaw: the whip. Unlike in Dark Soul 2 where spellcasting type character must rely on magic. Stargazer can just rely on the whip because its power scales with mind stats. Magic casting still feels pretty limited because of relatively low focus pool even though Stargazer has the highest mind stats. But I think that’s just me. The dodge mechanism perhaps needs to get used to because pressing dodge button (default: space bar) alone make Eryk dodge backward unlike in -say- Cuphead where Cuphead will dash forward if I press dash button. Although it’s similar dodge mechanism like in Dark Soul 2, I feel like it’s fairly unintuitive. Then there’s the high price to unlock ability to wall jump. Although Dr Hermann drops tons of Nycrux and you can get 1,000 points Nycrux by destroying box of apples. Apple yields plenty of Nycrux for unknown reason! Go figure!
Other than those issues, I can’t complaint anything else about the game. I deeply appreciate the exclusion of stamina system. Instead, you got focus bar that can be used for either magic or special attack. You can also dodge how many times you want although there’s slight cooldown before you can dodge again. The non-boss combat is pretty easy so far. Most enemies attack slowly or have big telegraph move before actually attacking you. Although they can inflict big damage. So, you still need to focus on combat. The boss fight so far is reasonably challenging. Perhaps fighting against Dr Hermann has huge spike difficulty because he has second phase. Unlike in Blasphemous where player’s moveset is quite limited, Eryk’s moveset is well varied depends on weapon and magic spell. New weapons and magic spells are fairly easy to come by especially if you search every nook and cranny. Then there’s throwing object ability. I’m bloody love it! It feels like feature in beat em up game and I’m avid liker of beat em up genre. So, it tracks with my taste. There's also execution move. I also love that. However the opportunity to execute the enemy is rarer than in Blasphemous. I should mention the bomb throwing. But I don’t get the chance to demonstrate it because I’m too busy with throwing magic and chairs. I’m sorry. I think the more instinct stats you have the more damage that bomb can inflict. But I do test the pistol. The bullet comes from it travels across the screen. So, it’s very useful against enemy in long distance. Whereas magic spell that I found so far, has limited projectile range. Some important items have limit that you can carry such as Healing Injection (maximum 7), and Demioxide bullets (maximum 10),
The stats system is very neat. Every stat other than vitality, corresponds with particular weapon’s power, elemental and debuff resistance. Kind of like in Nioh. The class determines starting stat distribution and weapon. I think it also affects weapon find in the map. Because I remember in demo where I picked Brawler class, I found great sword and shotgun. No such luck when I play the full version as Stargazer. The music kind of weak but set the mood accordingly. The sound effect is fairly good. The presentation is fantastic. The graphic looks like oil painting but appropriate with the atmosphere.
I thought The Last Faith (2023) is supposed to be game with frustrating level of difficulty like Blasphemous or Dark Soul 2. Turns out, it’s game that I very enjoy without feeling frustrated although there’s some difficulty on it. Maybe the accurate comparison is with Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (which is the spiritual base of Bloodstained – Ritual of The Night). I enjoy it but recently people tell me that it’s one of difficult non-classic Castlevania. Long story short this game gets my S+ recommendation. I maybe exaggerating but you catch my mean, right? You should play it. At least try the demo.
If you're curious with my opinion about Blasphemous, you can see small review about it in 2023 review. I can't make full review of it.
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