I did it! I finished Chapter VI last night! I forced myself to finish the Chapter and boy did I regret it in the end. But there was some fun gameplay to be had and one really odd boss fight, but we’ll get to that.
Let’s start with the Castle Hall. This area has vampires that spawn out of holes similar to the ghouls in the cemetery. Same mechanic applies; you have to find a way to prevent them from coming out of the hole. It really is a fun mechanic and it creates a nice hustle to the combat. You need to rip boards off of the wall so Gabriel can open a curtain. But you can only do that while the vampires are dead. But you only have a limited time before they respawn. There are also other curtains in the area that can be opened to damage vampires during combat. This makes the combat feel more versatile too me. I found it to be fun and enjoyable.
Well, I found the first room to be fun and enjoyable, I hated the second room. Sure there’s an Animated Armor in their but those guys aren’t tough. Vampires are tougher. No, what got to me in the second room is the camera. Not the normal shake that I nag on about, but the fixed camera. I would be fighting vampires when my combo would carry Gabriel too far to the right (or any other direction) and suddenly the camera angle would change and I couldn’t see Gabriel or the enemy he was fighting. Yeah, this sort of thing tends to cause death.
Then there was a simple puzzle to solve. I do find these magic plate puzzles to be very simple. I just have to worry about getting it wrong. Every time you screw up you take damage. That’s a mean little trick they like to pull.
Once the puzzle is over the sun sets and vampires start pouring out of the hole again. This area is awesome! I gained so much xp here just slaying vampires endlessly. I don’t know if they constantly spawn or if there’s an end, but I had a ton of fun killing them off for a while. Seems like a good place to grind xp.
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| Laura and her hair |
This area also introduces Laura, a little vampire girl who can take a human form. She has a massive head of hair and she’s desperate to play a game with Gabriel. Now, I only know that her name is Laura from the narrative Patrick Stewart provides. I also know that she’s a vampire because Patrick Stewart told me. Sure I would have expected her to be a vampire the entire time but can this not be revealed during gameplay? Is there some mysterious reason that the narratives have to be an info dump? I would like to have characters introduce themselves. I would like to be surprised during gameplay.
The game Laura wants to play is some odd combination of Chess and Heroclix. I love Heroclix. I managed to beat her, but I have to be honest, I had no idea what I was doing. I just kept ganging up on her pieces until I won. And I would summon in zombies. It appears that she will go out of her way to kill a zombie.
Onto the next area. This area is all about the boss fight with the Butcher. But first you have to get to him. It’s not really complicated, you have to lure out some ghouls from their holes and once they exit you can use your hookshot to enter. The hole leads to the Butcher.
Oh how I hate the Butcher, but he makes me laugh all at the same time. I would call this an abusive relationship. The Butcher requires tons of dodging. He doesn’t seem to hit hard, but he suffers very little knockback so Gabriel needs to be on his toes. He doesn’t seem to be weak against anything in particular so I just kept pounding away at him. I got my combo meter filled up a few times and that is always a help. The Butcher will eat drumsticks occasionally to regain his health. If you catch him doing this you actually have a few moments for some free hits and that can negate his health regen. I recommend going for it.
The Butcher is just a bizarre guy to fight though. He likes to runaway and grab things. Like butcher knives (that he throws), drumsticks (that he eats), and alcohol jugs (that he uses to breath fire). Yes, he can breathe fire. Once he’s nearly dead he will run to the oven and grab a boiling pot. He will drink the rancid looking contents and then put the pot on his head. This signals the start of round two.
I don’t really know what I did right here, but boy did it make me laugh. I guess I hit him while in the air, but I saw his sword begin to shine so I pressed the R2 button to begin the killing. There’s this great tug-o-war scene between Gabriel and the Butcher. Gabriel lets go of his cross and causes the Butcher’s blade to land right in his own head. Maybe it’s a little morbid of me, or maybe it was the smug look on Gabriel’s face when he let go of his cross, but I couldn’t stop laughing. This scene was just too much. It was nearly cartoony in its’ execution. It’s nice to know that there’s some personality under all the gothic trappings.
The level ends with another magic plate puzzle. First you have to get through an Animated Armor and some Skeletons. Lovely. I made it through the first time, but I got the plate puzzle wrong (by one plate!) and I died. So when I came back to the room I just pulled out my tit demon to kill everything. Man this is one stupid looking summon. I would rather have the biker chicks from Final Fantasy XIII then this stupid thing. Maybe I can upgrade it later…
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