|
Post by toei on Feb 5, 2022 23:36:16 GMT -5
Xeogred Ex IIRC that's the hardest mandatory puzzle in the game. The solution does make sense, though. Make sure you look everywhere you can go in Neo Ark for applicable hints.
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on Feb 6, 2022 0:26:15 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Ex on Feb 6, 2022 0:29:18 GMT -5
XeogredYep, that's definitely the one. I remember the stone engraving.
|
|
|
Post by toei on Feb 6, 2022 0:36:27 GMT -5
There's another stone engraving with those symbols around Neo Ark.
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on Feb 6, 2022 11:20:21 GMT -5
I love how Neo Ark is basically Jurassic Park. FF8 has Jurassic Park in there too... you've maybe seen that area by now toei ?
I did figure out the stone stepping puzzle at least, by brute force memorization (reminded me of the DKC3 Simon Says bird cave collectibles). But yeah I definitely wonder if there's more puzzles in this Neo Ark area that I'll still have to figure out.
I think I can confidently say at this point, I definitely like PE2 a smudge more than PE1. I think purely because the combat is a little better and more consistent. I have to utilize more guns/spells here than I ever did in PE1, so it seems a little more balanced. PE1 was still a blast and I'm glad to finally play these though. That one still might have better music and some cooler characters. It's definitely fascinating to play PE2 knowing the RE1 writer had a key role here though. This Kyle guy who keeps popping up around even comes off like a Wesker type that can't fully be trusted. It's a lonelier game than the first one, character wise, but that's another thing I think I dig more about it too. If we want to call PE2 another RE clone from that era, it's definitely one of the best. Probably even better than RE3 in ways too.
|
|
|
Post by toei on Feb 6, 2022 12:18:16 GMT -5
I love how Neo Ark is basically Jurassic Park. FF8 has Jurassic Park in there too... you've maybe seen that area by now toei ?
I did figure out the stone stepping puzzle at least, by brute force memorization (reminded me of the DKC3 Simon Says bird cave collectibles). But yeah I definitely wonder if there's more puzzles in this Neo Ark area that I'll still have to figure out.
I think I can confidently say at this point, I definitely like PE2 a smudge more than PE1. I think purely because the combat is a little better and more consistent. I have to utilize more guns/spells here than I ever did in PE1, so it seems a little more balanced. PE1 was still a blast and I'm glad to finally play these though. That one still might have better music and some cooler characters. It's definitely fascinating to play PE2 knowing the RE1 writer had a key role here though. This Kyle guy who keeps popping up around even comes off like a Wesker type that can't fully be trusted. It's a lonelier game than the first one, character wise, but that's another thing I think I dig more about it too. If we want to call PE2 another RE clone from that era, it's definitely one of the best. Probably even better than RE3 in ways too.
Yeah, you could do that. Basically, the other engraving told you what to step on in what order. IIRC there's a small engraving past the underwater bridge and a larger panel on the other side of Neo Ark, near the garbage chute that's locked. The bars on the engraving represents a certain number, and then the dots are obvious. So when you get past whatever the max number of dots you see, they start adding a bar as a unit. So let's say the most dots is 5 (I don't remember), then one bar and three dots = 8 So the engravings are either lists of steps or an actual numerical code. There are two engravings because there are two things you can do there. The other is optional and opens a small little area that's pretty cool nonetheless if you want to kill all the NMCs like me. BTW, I'm guessing you killed that, huh... generator, right? If you mean the Training Center back at Balam, yep, I was there briefly. If you mean something else, not yet.
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on Feb 6, 2022 12:37:23 GMT -5
The Training Center in Balam, yeah haha.
I did kill that "generator". Think I'm in the middle of trying to find a back way into that room again since there was one side of it I couldn't seem to reach. All the big monsters in this like that thing seem like something straight out of DOOM. The boss battle with one of them in that huge garbage disposal crusher area was pretty awesome.
By the way the FULL MOON GATE solution I did look up and it was "15". So that led me back to the desert motel, but I guess there's a huge rescuing Pierce scenario for the good ending, that I messed up at some point. I saw his car there but couldn't find him. It was worth going back there to talk with the weaponsmith though. I bought an MP5 to replace my burst pistol with finally. I still wonder if it's worth it though since it tears through ammo. But it's fun to have something different. I'm still rocking some mid game armor and have used several slot expansions on it. So I usually have like three guns in my pouches at all times.
|
|
|
Post by toei on Feb 6, 2022 14:22:14 GMT -5
I found and rescued him purely because I saw an NMC there on the map and went to kill it. Still didn't get that ending, though. I don't think you're supposed to get that ending in normal first play, though, there are too many specifics. I'd call it a Bonus Ending more than "the Good ending", cause the ending I got was fine.
Did you try checking the generator after it dies? You can hear its thoughts, it basically says that it was happy living this way because it was useful to everyone and doesn't understand why it has to die. That's one aspect of the scenario I found interesting - most of those NMCs in the lab and Neo Ark were volunteers who knew fully well what they would become. I know that's nothing knew, but they had a rationale beyond just "we're crazy lol".
|
|
|
Post by Xeogred on Feb 6, 2022 23:04:10 GMT -5
Finally knocked out PE2. My IGT for the last save was 8:13... but uh yeah, I definitely think I spent more like 12+ hours on this one.
The first phase of the last boss was ridiculous because it felt like it took forever. But it was probably my fault for not equipping my new armor with ammo properly, so I had to rely on a shotgun for half the battle and dance around its big mouth beam attack. Rinse and repeat what felt like 50 times, lol. Prior to that I used Inferno which did huge AOE damage. Glad I maxed out the fire spells to unlock that one, I didn't predict that each element (I'm guessing) would have a third powerful spell if you max out the first two. That's the only one I got of those though. I used Antibody a lot (DEF up basically) and EnergyShot was pretty useful on some of the tougher enemies.
I loved all the levels in this game. But I guess if I have one bigger nitpick, I'm not sure if they needed to bleed those areas dry. As in you go back and forth through the same like ~4 levels dozens and dozens of times. I could have done with a little less backtracking and another new area or two. Some of this might have been my playstyle though, I did like to clear out the areas repeatedly for Exp/BP. And sometimes you'd get very rare items that boost HP permanently, so I was always wondering if backtracking far off the grid would reward stuff like that. But it was extremely rare. My max HP at the end was 160. Not sure if that was high or low.
Looked up the endings on YT afterward... yeah the "True Ending" is kind of just an extra Epilogue and "Where are they now?" kind of blurb.
Guess there's several NPC scenarios. Like you can actually save the dog I think? Saving Pierce and finding him around the Shelter/Labs a few times. Bringing Flint to that downed soldier near the end, which unlocks another round of new equipment to buy. Guess there was some decent replay value here and excuses to get a strategy guide.
Overall very cool stuff. Glad I finally clicked with the Parasite Eve games. I'll give the PSP one a look sometime.
|
|
|
Post by toei on Feb 7, 2022 1:25:25 GMT -5
Glad you enjoyed it.
Did you ever get a flamethrower? It comes as an extension to another gun, IIRC. It runs out very quickly, but it's insanely powerful against bosses as the damage just accumulates as long as you keep it going. I think it might be THE best way to do a ton of damage to a single target rapidly. I found it especially useful in the first part of the final boss, and against that giant right before you find the little girl. Did you ever find the way to open the bridge to that tiny island in Neo Ark, the one right after the underwater passage? There's a mini-boss there. Personally I did save Pierce, let the dog die (I think to save it you have to beat that boss pretty fast), and I don't think I saved that soldier, but I could be wrong. What, so what happens when you don't save Pierce back at the motel tower? In my game he met up with me, explained some stuff about Neo Ark, communicated via radio while I was in the lab, etc. Does none of that happen?
I felt the same as you about the backtracking, and also partly blamed my playstyle. I could have avoided maybe half of the backtracking if I didn't feel the need to go back and kill all the new enemies when they appeared.
|
|