This game is beautiful. Let's Play Odin Sphere

Bonus Art

True.

Seriously, yes. I live JRPGs. No hate on western ones

Props for actually managing screen grabs during real time fighting. Eeeesh.

This is not the next chapter sadly, just a note on some edits.
I've added music links to the previous updates, so feel free to check that out if you want to.
I've also added spoiler tags to the Bonus Art, as the images are rather large.

The Next Chapter should be up some time tomorrow.

Thanks. It does make me more likely to die/get a lower grade in some stages, but so far it's working.

And we're back in the castle.
The people you can talk to in the hub world changes between chapters, so it's always worth talking to everyone.
Let's see what these dwarves are talking about.

"That technology is so advanced,
we can't make it work."

Ah, the Cauldron.
"That Witch from the forest must have put the Cauldron's fire out."
"How did the Witch stop the Cauldron?"

(That was the Forest Witch?)
(If I'd known, I wouldn't have let her go.)

Gwendolyn, you didn't “let her go.” She ran away.
Moving on.



Let's hear what Brigan's got to say this time.

"That Witch is a refuge from a fallen enemy nation."
"It's the King's fault she's still alive."

"Lord Brigan..."
"Please refrain from making such critical remarks in front of the soldiers."

"I cannot still my tongue in the face of weakness."

Yep, still don't like you.

There's also a couple of new Valkyries to talk to.



"May I ask that the king retract the marriage he arranged for me?"
"I can still fight."
"I would rather die fighting than be subservient..."

(I would like to help...)
(But, this is the law.)

Talking to the other Valkyrie gives us some more information about Valkyries and marriage.



"They are stripped off their pride and honor,
and forced to live under a man's thumb..."

So yeah, as soon as a Valkyrie can't fight anymore, she's married off. This is supposed to be a punishment for the Valkyrie, as fighting is what most Valkyries believe are their purpose in life.
Like the opening text for this book said, the Valkyries also believe that dying in battle is the preferred way to die. If you get seriously injured, but doesn't die...
Meh, you're useless and off with you to breed babies.



Hi, Myris.

"If that horrible Cauldron never existed,
then this bloodshed would not happen."

"Hold you tongue."
"My father is never wrong in his tactics."

Don't get angry with Myris.
She's got a point.

There's also two vikings we can eavesdrop on.

"Was the Shadow Knight there?"

"He killed many of our troops."

"I heard that he pledged his soul to Death and traded his life for demonic powers."

"All I know is that I hope I never meet him on the battlefield."

The vendor's got a few new things.



The antidote is crucial for where we're going next, and it does what it always does in games. Heals poison. The shield ring will prevent a small amount of damage.
I'm sticking with my bangle for now.

Time to move out.



We'll be going to the forest this time. As you can see the world map is a little bigger this time and we can see the big castle in the clouds, which is the castle from our hubworld.



We start with a scene of Odin and a couple of Valkyries.

The screen pans out to show Brigan walking towards the King.



"If it was all for some hunk of scrap-iron, it is a disgrace to the dead!"

You barely fought in this battle at all, shut up.

"I'll catch that Witch and make her spill her guts about that Cauldron."
"If she plays dumb, her head will fly."

Brigan leaves as Gwendolyn enter the room.



"Someone, stop that fool before he leaves."

The Valkyries run away.

"No, he cannot be serious about opposing me."

Odin moves towards the exit.

"I shall find the Witch."
"Gwendolyn, I leave the rest to you."

He starts to leave.



"A king cannot idly abandon his castle."
"If I had not let the Witch go, this would not have happened."

For the last time, you did not let her go.

"Allow me to redeem myself."
"I shall capture the Witch."

Gwendolyn starts to leave.

"Yes, father?"

"Heed my words. Do not cause undue harm to the Witch. She's..."

"Well, she's..."
"She is special. Be respectful."



"As you wish, Your Majesty..."

The screen turns dark.


Music for this area:


Now, let's talk about Alchemy.
Alchemy in this game involves you mixing different items with a clear liquid caller Material to get different potions. The bottle on the ground in front of Gwendolyn is called Material 0.
The number on the bottle of Material is one of the factors that determines what potion you get.
In order to actually create a potion we need a recipe.

This is our first one.



As you can see, this teaches us how to make an Antidote.
Now the question is, what's an Onionne or a Cubsbane.
These are so called mandragoras that you have to catch during a stage.

Mandragoras are little creatures that like to hide underground. As soon as you run over their hiding place however, they make a squeaking sound. This is a sign for you to jump on the spot, in order to make the mandragora appear.



As soon as the mandragora shows up it starts to run away, and you then need to hunt it down and hit it. This will transform it into a dead mandragora plant, which you can use in your potions.
Every Mandragora has it's own area where it's most likely to appear.
This particular Mandragora is an Onionne and it's really common in the forest.



When you have collected all the ingredients you need, you just use the item ring to choose the material and Mandragora. Make sure not to pick the Mandragora first. You will eat it.



And voila! We have an antidote.


When creating potions, some phozons will also be created. The number of phozons depend on the number for your material. All materials below ten will give you a few phozons, while material 10 gives you ten phozons. 20 gives twenty phozons, and so on.
The second number in these materials is the only one that counts when it comes to the recipe.
So material 10, 20 and 40 will all count as material 0.
In order for a material's number to rise, you have to mix it with items. Different items will raise it a different amount, depending on the value of the item. Mandragoras usually raises it one level, while some food items will raise it 5 or more.

Here's a note about alchemy I picked up.





So even if someone tells you that this and that will make a painkiller, you can't actually make it until you find the recipe.

Enough of this alchemy-stuff for now.



Our goal for this area is to capture Velvet.



And the first thing I do is get poisoned by this Goblin.
Goblins are rather weak, but they have one really annoying feature.
Whenever they are hit hard enough, they will drop their knife, sending it flying in the air. If you don't move out of the way, this will hit you and you will get poisoned.



The other enemy for this area is these frogs. They're really annoying, seeing as they always travel in groups and they can knock you down with their tongue relatively easy.



This message will happen to you a lot if you play this game.
That's why getting more bags always stays a priority.

More notes.





We also find a new Alchemy Recipe.



Eeeexcellent. I will be using this a lot.

These bears may look somewhat adorable, but they are complete assholes.
They love to attack by rolling around you and attacking from behind, and they can survive way too long even with a completely red health-bar. They can also take a nap to regenerate if you leave them alone.



Like so.
If left alone, they may also choose to drink/eat some honey that they carry in their bags. I'm not sure if this does anything other than making them look cute.



The last common enemy in these stages are bees and beehives. I didn't get a good screen-shot of them, but it's the yellow things on the minimap. The more you attack the beehive, the more bees come outside. These will poison you immediately, so if you're starting to get surrounded, run away for awhile and the bees will go back into the hive.



And the mini-boss for this area is called a Manticore. As you can see, it's ugly as hell.
Your best strategy for attacking this one is by napalm or other similiar potions. The Manticore is too fast for you to be able to attack from behind and if you stay in front it will extend it's three rows of teeth, knocking you to the ground.



This will also make you dizzy. Dizziness will last a few seconds, during which you can't do anything but watch the stars going around your characters head.
During this screenshot you also see the Manticores favorite attack. Spewing out missiles from it's tail. Try to avoid those. The Manticore can also jump up and land on you.

But it goes down in the end.



And as a reward, we get this! And yes, you're reading that correctly. This plant will grow sheep.
We get a note to explain it a bit.





So, seeing as we have a Rosemile to release 12 phozons, and the Sheep-plant requires 12 phozons, let's try it out.



Awww, aren't they cute. :)
When a sheep is full-grown, it will drop to the ground and run away.



Sadly, we must now hunt it down and kill it. Unlike the mandragoras however, sheeps require a few more hits.



After being struck a few times the sheep turn into this delicious lamb chop. As you can see, it's the best healing item yet.



On a different stage we get this as a reward. Yogurt is rather useless at the moment.
But it will be incredibly useful once we have recipes that includes it.


Music for shop-stages in this area:


The shop-stage now sells Material.



And we get yet another new potion. This one is mostly useful for crowds. It won't work on any boss or mini-boss.
But just to show what it looks like, I'll use it against the next Manticore.



As you can see it causes a blizzard to appear. The mini-boss remains unaffected. However...



This frog got completely surrounded by ice.
If you attack a frozen enemy, you will do a lot more damage then normal.

We get a new note about Alchemy.

Goddammit, bear!



Yeah, I got killed by a bunch of overgrown teddybears.

When you die you return to the beginning of the stage you died in. So the punishment for death isn't that bad.
I manage to brutally murder them the next time though, and as a reward we get more texts.



The Recipe for Painkiller.







And an Ancient Manuscript that goes in the Phrophecy part of the archive.
The prophecy-texts we find will eventually have some relevance to the plot, so feel free to speculate about them whenever they show up.

We also find a new Mandragora.



This angry-looking fellow is a Cubsbane.

Onto the bossfight!



We begin with a cut-scene of Velvet running.
Suddenly Gwendolyn swoops down in front of her.



"You'll never get your wish, Valkyrie."
"Confront me all you want, but you cannot change my resolve."

"Go back and inform the Demon Lord."
"I will not listen to your pleas."

"You have no choice in the matter."

"If you insist that you will not repair the cauldron..."

Gwendolyn attacks Velvet, but Velvet manages to dodge it by jumping over Gwendolyn.



"That evil spear and my chain are both Psyphers."
"If we battle, it will be a serious affair."



Velvet strikes Gwendolyn’s spear with her chain.

"You ignorant fool. You cut short your own life by meddling in my affairs. "

"Using the Crystallization Cauldron will doom the entire world."

"The accursed Cauldron served as a trigger...
...to the horror that befell my native country of Valentine..."

"It is cataclysm’s womb..."
"And it should not exist."

"The great magical country of Valentine is said to have been destroyed overnight."
"I am aware of the story you describe."

"The Valentine Prophecies say the world will be destroyed by five disasters."

"One of those five involve a furnace that spews despair."

"You say that line refers to the Crystallization Cauldron?"



"War will spread across the world..."
"The winning country will rule over the entire land."

"Your country's ambition is merely a convenient lie for the Demon Lord."

Uh oh, she insulted Odin. Gwendolyn won't like that.



Knew it.

"Stop this nonsense."
"I shall take your life, if I must..."

The battle begins.



And the first thing I do is die. Dammit.



Velvet is a much harder boss then Belial. She's really skilled with her chain, so any close attacks are dangerous. Attacking from far away is still dangerous though, because she's got an unlimited supply of Napalm and other potions that she will throw at you.
As you can see on this mini-map, occasionally she will jump up in tree and send out her chain around her. Quick gliding attacks work well for dealing with this.



We've also leveled up our Psypher enough to get a new skill, so I decide to show it off.



I'm now only visible as a shadow and a health-bar. And as you can see, no attacks will harm me.
You can't attack anything in this form, but you can use items. Which means this is excellent if you really need time to heal.



Velvet goes down as soon as Gwendolyn turns visible again.



Apparently they've entered a stalemate.

Suddenly a voice calls out.



The screen pans out to show...


Music:


Odin!

"Why are you here?"

"I had a premonition of something like this, so I came here."

"Odin..."

"I cannot allow you to hurt one another."



Odin walks towards Velvet.

"Velvet..."
"You look so much like your mother..."

"…"



(...Daughter!?)

"Do not call me your daughter."
"Do you think I am a fool?"

"While the nations of Valentine and Ragnanival where at war,
you disguised yourself and seduced my mother, the princess, with sweet words."

"And you were quick to flee when she became pregnant."

"Because my mother gave birth to an enemy's child, she was executed for loving you."



"That is not true, my child..."
"We did not know each others real names, nor our ranks."

"I did not run away from her. "
"We were torn apart."
"I truly loved the princess."



This has to be so uncomfortable for Gwendolyn...

"Lies!"
"If you loved my mother, who is this other daughter here?"

"…"

"I do not think of you as my father, and I have no desire to help you."

The conversation is broken by laughing, coming from behind.





Goddammit, Brigan!
Go away!

Of course he ignores me and moves closer to the group.

"Well, well..."
"I followed the King and stumbled into a royal spat."

"Fraternizing with the enemy... "
"Who could have guessed...?"

"Lord Brigan..."

"Although their demise was sudden, Valentine was still our enemy."

"And while the battle raged, the King had an affair with their princess and even had a child."



GO AWAY!

"But as I am a loyal servant of my King."
"I will carry this secret to my grave."

Somehow I don't believe you...

Brigan jumps over to Velvet.



"Now come, winsome little witch."
"You will help us gain it's might."

Brigan laughs again as the screen fades out.





"Speak, witch, if you value your life."

"Even if I told you, there is nothing you can do."

"The Cauldron may only be controlled by a ring named Titrel."

"A terrible dragon holds the ring presently..."

"Wagner, feared by all, keeps the ring within his stomach."

You mean he ate it.

"Wagner, of all things..."

"My lord, what do you plan for the girl who has harmed our country so?"

"If we cannot use the Cauldron's magic..."

"The inevitable, final battle shall be a recreation of the awful war against Valentine."

"How are we to inform the soldiers and citizens?"

"I know..."

Odin turns his back to Brigan.



...What?!

"Command me to sacrifice the Witch!"
"Suppress everyone's anger with blood!"

How would that help anything?!

"…"

"Hm... I sense my King is not content."
"Is there any reason to protect this witch?"



Go jump in a lake. Preferably a bottomless one.

"Brigan..."
"You..."

"Ah, Sire. I hear your command."
"The witch shall be sacrificied."

He didn't say anything!



Goddammit, Brigan!

End of Chapter 2.

Bonus Art.

Ragnanival is an incredibly sexist society for being supported primarily by the combat strength of a bunch of badass valkyries.

Also, Odin is a terrible, terrible father.

And what's really sad is that I'm not sure he even makes it into the Top Three Worst Fathers In The World for this game.

...maybe at #3.

This is a sign people, a sign of all the feels to come. Nothing in this game is happy. At least, not for long.

The music in this game is gorgeous, too. Thanks for posting it.

Just like in the previous chapters we can talk to various people in the castle.



“Wagner is a terrifying dragon that King Odin once fought but could not kill.”

“If even the King could not defeat it, what can we do?”



This time we can eavesdrop on a couple of Valkyries.

“That witch...”
“The King let her live, yet she repays his kindness with evil...”

“Princess Griselda died to gain the Cauldron, and now her death is meaningless!”

“Lord Brigan shall surely administer punishment.”

“Just a short time ago, he took the witch and headed to Horn Mountain.”

Thanks for the information.



“War is coming to Erion...”
“The war the King predicted.”

“The Cauldron is essential in order to stand victorious and help us conquer the entire continent...”

Myris is here as usual.



No, she just found out that she has a half-sister that's about to be executed. And her father may love her half-sister more then her. No big deal...



We can now buy grape-seeds from the vendor. Grapes won't give you much health, but they'll help you level up faster.
We can also finally buy more bags. (I forgot to take a screenshot, but It's further down on the list).
Bags come in 4 different sizes.
The large ones we already have, normal bags, small bags and pouchettes.
All holds an increasingly smaller amount of items. I like to buy the maximum amount of bags in pouchettes first, and then slowly upgrade when possible.



We have also picked up a couple of new coins. The Ariel Coin, which is worth 5g, and the Valentinian Gold, which is worth 10g.



Seems we'll be following Brigan and Velvet.

As you can see it's always possible to revisit previous areas. This is sometimes necessary in order to farm different Mandragoras.

We join Gwendolyn and Odin in the Throne room.



“Father...”

“That girl... Velvet...”
“Is she someone special to you, Father?”

“She resembles the princess I once loved...”
“To lose her again, now...”

“Gwendolyn... please leave me.”
“I do not wish you to see me like this.”

Gwendolyn bows and starts to leave, but stops just before the exit.



“I've never heard him devote so many words of affection to me... ever.”

The blue bird appears once again.



“That will make you the King's only surviving daughter.”
“You will no longer have to compete for his love.”

That's not exactly a healthy thought, bluebird.

“True...”
“If only she were gone...”

“...”

“But if she dies...”
“Father will suffer even more.”

“Are you saying that you will save her?”
“This girl who cares nothing for you?”

Gwendolyn turns her back to the bird.

“If you do, you are committing treason.”
“You will no longer be welcome here.”
“Will you persist in this folly?”

Gwendolyn takes a deep breath and leaves.

“There will be no way to redeem yourself...”



Well, I imagine her father's probably got something to do with it...


Music for this area:


So, Winterhorn ridge.
Because of the extreme cold in this area, you will constantly take damage during fighting. There are two ways to stop this. One is an amulet that you can buy from vendors that makes you immune to ice-damage. Sadly, this is really expensive, and I didn't have the funds to buy it this time.
The other method is a potion that we'll receive at the end of the first stage.



The first enemies we meet are these snowflakes. They don't really attack, and instead just sorta float towards you. If you ignore them long enough, they'll reach the ground and melt.
If you accidentally run into one, however...



You get completely frozen. Pressing buttons and trying to move will get you out faster, but it's still annoying.

And like I said, here's the potion I need to keep from taking damage. One potion will usually last for one stage.
The Turny is the Mandragora most common in this area.



It looks like this.



The next enemies are these ice-trolls. They like to bounce around and try to punch you.
They aren't really that dangerous as long as you don't do what I did and get frozen in the middle of a group.



The flying enemy for this area is the griffin. The griffin will sometimes swoop down and attack you, but it's favorite attack is sending out it's feathers as arrows. They've got lousy health, so they're easy to kill.



And seeing as we're currently going against our kingdom's wishes, our mini-boss is a bear/boar dude. Or a Berserker, as they're actually called.



The Berserker can be annoying as hell. He hits really hard, so staying close for long is not a good option. Attacking from behind is a good strategy, but sadly he tends to turn around a bit to much for this to work completely. I like to use gliding attacks, as they're too fast for him to have time to retaliate.
If you keep your distance, he will eventually do what the unicorn knight did, and start to run towards you for a bodyslam. Avoid this, it will take off a big part of your health.
And like most bosses in this game, he can jump and land on you. But it's still easy to avoid.


Killing the Berserker gives us this pendant. A rather useful thing to have if you want more health.
I'm sticking with my bangle.


Music for Shop-stage:


This vendor has a new health-item for us, milk.



I hate these things. They're the big versions of the Ice-trolls. Unlike the small ones, these can freeze you. And one punch takes off a third of my health.
Attacking from behind is almost impossible, because they will turn around, and they will freeze you.
If that's not enough, they can go down under the snow and reappear wherever they want on the map, so don't stand still for too long.



They can also throw giant Snowman-heads at you. Hate these things.

Killing the ice-trolls gives us a new note about the various coins in the game.







We also get a new Potion Recipe.



This is a strange potion. I suppose it's for helping you get a higher grade, but I've never used it.



This area is also one of the few with two different kinds of mini-bosses.



This shadow is a Revenant. Unlike Revenants in other games however, this Revenant is kind of a pushover. All it really does is float around, occasionally giving up a roar and knocking you back a bit. The most annoying thing about it is that it will sometimes disappear and reappear, prompting you to run around a bit before finding it again.

Onto the boss. You're going down, Brigan.





“Is Wagner really here as this girl says he is?”

“Go find him!”
“All of you, go!”

The vikings run away.
Brigan turns towards Velvet.

“I don't mind that he isn't here.”
"I never wanted to meet the dragon, anyway."

“Even if you are sacrificed, there's no guarantee it will give me the ring.”
“I'd be needlessly putting my life in jeopardy.”

And that would be such a shame...

“What are you planning to do?”



Brigan raises his hammer to kill Velvet, but before he can strike, Gwendolyn swoops down and deflects the blow.



Take that, Brigan!

“You...?”
“Why are you doing this?”

Gwendolyn bends down and unties Velvet.

“Hurry, run away!”
“If you still wish to live, go!”

Velvet runs away, leaving Gwendolyn alone with Brigan.



“You've done a very foolish thing.”

“This isn't about using the Cauldron, is it?”

“Why do you seek her death so fervently?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“After she is dead, I will inform the nation that the witch was the King's daughter.”

“And after having a child with the enemy,
he was such a monster that he killed her.”

Brigan laughs.

“The people will wonder if such a man is fit to be King...”



“After I deal with you, I'll recapture that girl and offer her to the dragon.”

Provided you actually could capture her.

“Why don't you try begging for mercy?”
“Perhaps you could be the new king's mistress, hm?”

Brigan laughs again.

Ugh, No. I'd much rather just kill you.



Brigan is not a fun bossfight. This is mostly because of his health-bar. His attacks are not that hard to avoid. One of these is the fire-breathing you see above.



Surprisingly, those small shields on his chest actually protect him. As long as they're all still on him, you barely do any damage. You can get them off by attacking, but this can take a long time.
As long as you stay in the middle of Brigan's sprite however, most of his attacks will miss you.



Sometimes, Valkyries show up to help Brigan. For instance, whenever you've knocked off a few shields, Valkyries will show up with spares. I advice you to kill these before they can outfit Brigan with new shields. Otherwise this fight will take even longer.
The Valkyrie above will fill up Brigan's horn with some kind of drink.



When the horn is full, he'll do this. This is especially dangerous because he usually won't stop until you're dead/almost dead. Again, if you stay in the middle, this will miss you.



During the fight he'll also drink from the horn himself, and after a certain amount of time this will make him go berserk. During this time he'll keep jumping around. Keep gliding until he's calmed down again.
The last special attack Brigan will use is a bodyslam. Because of his size, this is usually easy to see and therefore avoid.



Yes! Finally.

The scene opens in the throne room where Gwendolyn has now returned.

Edit: The following scene now has a video.

*Click here to watch*



“You have disobeyed me and killed my chief vassal.”

Said “Vassal” was also an evil traitor.

“The fact that you are my daughter cannot save you from punishment...”
“The citizens of the nation will never stand for it.”

You could probably turn this around to Gwendolyn being a hero for uncovering a plot to overthrow the king, you know...

The screens pans over to Gwendolyn, as the bird appears once more.



Gwendolyn shakes her head.

“There is no excuse for what I did...”
“I am prepared to face the consequences.”

How about the fact that Brigan was evil? Doesn't that count as an excuse?

“I shall endure any form of punishment.”

Never mind...

The crowd behind Gwendolyn starts to whisper as Odin rises from his throne.



“You will undergo the customary punishment.”

“A sleeping spell will be cast upon you.”

“When you awaken, your heart will belong to a stranger.”

“Your pride and honor will be stripped away.”

“You will devote your life to him, bear his children, and grow old.”

I suppose growing old may also seem like a failure among Valkyries, seeing as that means you didn't die in battle.



“Oh, my dear...”
“What have I done..?”
It's a bit too late to be sorry now, isn't it?

“You do not doubt yourself, my precious daughter...”
“I have longed to hear you say those words.”

“Oh, father...”

A yellow glow envelopes Gwendolyn as she falls asleep in Odin's hands, and the screen fades out.



We return some time later, with Gwendolyn starting to wake up in unfamiliar place.
She opens her eyes and sits up in bed.



She remains seated for awhile, looking around, but ultimately finds herself alone.

“...So that's it...”
“I am no longer a Valkyrie.”

“It's as if it was all a dream...”

End of Chapter 3

And as we can see in the story archive, Gwendolyn has been sleeping for some time.


From number 44...



All the way to number 73.

We'll be revisiting this later with other characters, in order to find out more about what's happened during this time.

Bonus Art.

Gwendolyn dress is so beautiful when she awakes in the castle :°

Also, do you think I'm weird if I say that I find Brigan somehow attractive? XD

Having never seen the picture it was from I always thought the stuff coming from Brigan's mouth in the sprite you use for him was like, a piece of meat he'd torn off a drumstick or something.

Faust Nah. He's not my type, but I can see some of the appeal.

Is Brigan supposed to be based on Thor? That's the feeling I kinda get.

No, I pretty much agree with Jaakusan on that point.

That would have been equally in character.
Sidenote: It amuses me how Brigan's the only character in the game with official art that makes him look like an asshole.

Most people seems to agree on this, yes. You'd think he'd have some kind of lightning attack.
Although I've heard from people that seems to think he resembles Eggman on steriods. (Dr. Eggman is from the Sonic games, he usually looks like this.)

...Dammit Alice. I don't play the Sonic games so that didn't occur to me, but he does. Oh my god he's Eggman. I haven't played through the full game yet, but if he ever pops up and starts talking about turning people into automatons or something I am done. Just. Right out the door, game still on. And of course he's an asshole, he's like all the bad stereotypes (or the bad parts of those stereotypes) about Vikings rolled into one antagonist.

Eggman on steroid? Now that you make me think about it XDDDD

Well, if the shoe fits... :D

The short-handled hammer is what tipped me off. But now that you mention it, he DOES suspiciously resemble Dr. Eggman. I wonder if that was a coincidence or deliberate, now, like maybe if Brigan's designer played the Sonic games or even was the one who also designed Dr. Eggman. :D

Hub Music has been changed to this:


So, our hub has now been changed to this castle.
Let's see if the dwarf has anything to say about this whole thing.



”Brom...”

In case you're confused. Brom has not been introduced before, but we will see more of him in another character's book.
In any case, Gwendolyn appears to know him.

Gwendolyn notices the spear.

”That's my spear. What is it doing here?”

”Hmm... He said that Odin gave him that spear.”

”Princess, you are the King's daughter, correct?”

(… To give away the spear my sister handed me as she lay dying...)

Well presumably he gave it away, so you could still have it?

It seems like Myris has followed us to this place. Let's see what she has to say.



“Are you alright?”
“I shall bring you some tea.”

“I feel a bit better, knowing that you're here.”

“I will attend to you, even if I wasn't ordered to.”

“Myris, thank you so much...”

There's also another bunny in our new home.



Pooka is the official name for the bunny-people. We'll learn more about them in another book.
Sadly, this Pooka doesn't have anything interesting at the moment.



This place has a nice view.

Time to move on and find out who woke up Gwendolyn.



Hello, Shadow Knight. I had a feeling it would be you.

“There you are, Gwendolyn...”

(Oswald... The Shadow Knight...)
(I've been forced to accept the enemy's elite soldier as my husband...)

(It seems I am destined to suffer...)

So, this has always confused me. Apparently when a Valkyrie's put under a sleeping spell she automatically gets married to whoever manages to wake her up. Not sure how that works.

“But before I go,”
“I would like to give you something.”

“Your hand, please...”

Oswald gives Gwendolyn a ring.

“This ring...”

“I'm sorry. I have nothing else worthy of being presented to you...”

“This is a beautiful ring that I obtained from a dragon named Wagner.”

Oh, I know that one.



And so does Gwendolyn.

“...The ring Titrel...?”

“Will you accept it?”

“Why are you giving me something so precious?”

“Hmmm... How can I say it...?”

“Well... It's because...”
“I want to see you smile... To see you happy...”

Gwendolyn becomes flustered.

“I-I am a warrior.”
“My only happiness stems from battle.”

Gwendolyn turns her back to Oswald and looks out over the balcony.
As Oswald leaves, the blue bird returns.



“Do you fancy him?”

Gwendolyn shakes her head.

“No.”
“That man is my enemy.”

“When I think about all the warriors he has slain...”

“I cannot forgive him, no matter how kind he is to me.”

“My father's spell is making me feel this way.”

“'Tis not love.”
“It simply cannot be...”

“There is no reason for you to remain loyal to a king who has abandoned you.”


“I...”
“I just want to do what will make my father happy.”

This line just makes me sad...

“That is what Oswald just said to you.”

“...”

“He yearns for your love in the same way you yearn for your father's.”

Maybe not quite in the same way...
Also, A bit pushy, aren't you, bird.

“It matters not.”

“For now, I am simply a prisoner being manipulated by my captor.”

The screen fades out and we return to the castle some time later, with Oswald getting ready to leave.



“Are you leaving so soon?”

“Yes...”
“I have an oath to keep.”

Gwendolyn enters the room.

“Gwendolyn... Will you wait for me?”



Her expression pretty much says it all.

“You are not an object.”

“...And I will not allow anyone to treat you thus.”

“Never...”

Oswald moves towards the exit.

“I take my leave”
“I shall be back soon.”

Oswald leaves.



“This will allow the Cauldron to be activated.”

“I must take it to my father...”

Gwendolyn runs away as the screen fades out.

We return to Gwendolyn approaching Odin's castle.



A Berserker appears.

“I come with a message for the king...”

The Berserker silently approaches Gwendolyn and raises his axe.



Gwendolyn get's knocked down.

Hey!

“What are you doing!?”

“I may have been banished,
but I will not tolerate such treatment.”

“The king has ordered us to kill you on sight.”

...What?

A group of Valkyries come flying in as the screen darkens.



So, now we have to fight our way through our previous allies in order to reach Odin.



And we start out with a mini-boss fight against a Berserker. This is identical to the Berserker we fought in the previous area.



As a reward for beating him we get this potion recipe.


Music for this area :


A new enemy for this area are the bombdwarfs. These are really easy to defeat. The only thing you have to be careful of is the fact that they drop a bomb whenever they die, so stay away as soon as their health drops to zero.



Another enemy are these gargoyles. They sit completely still on their pillars until your character runs past. They attack by shooting fireballs at you.



Fighting gargoyles gives us a recipe for the Caf'é.



This is the Mandragora most common in this area. The Carroteer.



The last new enemy for this area is the Viking. They are generally the most dangerous ones, as being hit by their axes really hurt.


Music for shop-stages in this area:


The vendor has a couple of new things.
This egg, which will give us a chicken.
Cacao, which is the best healing item so far with 250 hp and 50 exp.
And a Adversity ring, which gives you more attack power as your health decreases.



Now let's talk chickens and eggs. Whenever you use an egg, your character will put it down and it will hatch into this cute baby-chick.



After feeding the chick three seeds, it turns into this massive chicken.
Now, you can either kill the chicken to get some meat, worth 15 hp and 200 exp. Or you can feed the chicken some more seeds to make it lay eggs.
There's no limit to how many eggs you can get, so it all depends on how many seeds you have.

Another really useful potion. One bottle will give you three drinks. So it's currently one of the best ways to replenish health.
We also get a note about chickens.





The next vendor also carries some new stuff.



This bangle, which I will buy, and a pendant that will increase your health with 10 %.



In the next mini-boss stage, I get to fight two Berserkers at the same time. This is not fun.
Whenever you fight two boss-characters at once, the yellow healthbar gets divided into two. One half for each boss.

As a reward, we get a strange potion.



As you can see, this is a very high risk potion. I've never used it, but if you're all out of options, it could be useful.

Now the last stage before the boss is a bit different this time.



Namely, this happens.



Netherworld creatures include these skeletons with disturbing tongues...



Tentacles...



And ghosts. (The blue lady in the right corner)
As these are enemies that will appear later in their rightful area, I'll talk more about them then.



Fighting creatures from the Netherworld gives us a recipe for an omelet. Sure..?

Now, let's go see why Odin's trying to kill us.


Music:


Gwendolyn spots Odin off screen, and runs towards him.



Hmm, I forgot Odin had his helmet on in this part.

Odin tries to hit her, but Gwendolyn dodges the blow.

“Father!”

“Not quite...”

“Don't you recognize me?”



Are you serious?! Just die, already.

“The Queen of the Underworld thinks highly of me.”

It didn't feel right to use Odin's or Brigan's portrait for this part, so you get a somewhat crappy mixture of both.

“I have been delegated to discipline King Odin, who steals jewels from her realm.”

“Observe!”
“The pitiful king is merely a puppet to my will.”
“This country is finally mine.”

“So you're behind the chaos in this land.”

“You disgust me!”
“Leave the King at once!”

“I'll tear off those wings of yours and remove my shame for having known you.”

“Your soul shall become my plaything.”

Why do you have to be so creepy. Why?



So, Odin. Despite the fact that we're really fighting Brigan again, this is all Odin's attacks.
A good tip for this fight is to use gliding attacks and to stay behind him whenever possible.
Odin uses mostly punches. He has a normal charged up punch, a combo punch and a punch where he jumps up and strikes the ground.



Sometimes he will pull out his giant Psypher-ball, Balor and throw it through the room.
Do not get hit by this. As you can see, it will most likely kill you.



He can also shoot lasers with his eyes. I do not know why.



Just try to avoid most of his attacks and he'll go down eventually.



Brigan's ghost/spirit fades away, leaving Odin on his knees.



“You've returned.”

“Gwendolyn...”
“You made it back safely...”

You expected her?

Odin walks towards Gwendolyn.

“I have violated your edict, but I have important information for you.”

“Please take this.”

Gwendolyn stretches out her hand.

“This ring... is Titrel.”