Man why you even got to do a thing

Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner 2 Raidou Kuzunoha Vs. King Abaddon King Mode Guide

By S.A. Renegade on May 20, 2009 in Guides

This is a guide detailing my run through Devil Summoner 2’s King Mode. It is now finished in its entirety. Enjoy!

 
 
 

Table of Contents
Introduction
General Tips
Prologue
Chapter 1: An Enigmatic Woman
Chapter 2: Assassin’s Bloodline
Chapter 3: The Defiled Gods
Chapter 4: Prelude To Abaddon
Chapter 5: The Day Of Misfortune
Chapter 6: The Way Of The Kuzunoha
Chapter 7: Vow From The Abyss
Case Files
Case File 1
Case File 2
Case File 3
Case File 4
Case File 5
Case File 6
Case File 7
Case File 8
Case File 9
Case File 10
The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse and Kageboushi
Conclusion

Introduction

Hey! What is all kinds of up my peoples! Welcome to my King Mode guide. First of all, just to be clear, King Mode is Devil Summoner 2’s hard mode. To unlock it you must beat the game once on normal mode. With that out of the way, you may be wondering “Why a King Mode guide?” To which I’d respond by saying fuck you, I’ll be whatever I wanna do! But secondly, because I believe that the only way to truly appreciate Devil Summoner is to play its hard mode.

If you’re anything like me, you’re disappointed by how ridiculously easy Devil Summoner is. It’s enough to discourage a man from even trying. After all, why bother putting in any real effort when nothing poses a challenge? You can win just by throwing yourself at stuff with your eyes closed so things you do feel somewhat meaningless. And if you’re anything like me, you’re also slightly sore at Atlus for catering to the casual market by making SMT games after Nocturne increasingly friendly and accessible. Devil Summoner happens to be by far the friendliest SMT of all, and I think that hurts the game. Fortunately, hard mode is there to appease us. To be quite honest, I’d prefer if you didn’t have to beat the game to unlock it. Having to go through the game on pussy mode first is a bit of a chore because it’s just something you want to get out of the way so you can finally get to play the real game. That and you already know the story by the time you’re playing King Mode. But oh well. I suppose you can’t have it all.

Devil Summoner 1’s hard mode was beautiful and made the game a lot more enjoyable. I zerg rushed through Devil Summoner 2 hoping that its hard mode would be just as fun as its predecessor’s. As I write this, I haven’t started my second playthrough yet. I am a huge fan of SMT. It’s my favorite series and I was very excited to get Devil Summoner 2. Now that I’ve beaten it once and unlocked King Mode, I get to finally play the game I wanted. I figured, hey, I love these games so much, why not write a King Mode guide as I play through it? That way it’ll be even more fun! And if, by writing it, I can get at least one person to try out King Mode and see how much more fun it is, it’ll be worth it. I don’t believe SMT is a series that should be played mainly for its story like a lot of RPGs. No. That’s not the full extent of its beauty by a long shot.

So anyway, that’s the theory behind this guide. This guide is written assuming you’re playing on King Mode, however, it’ll also be written in such a way that you can also use it as a general walkthrough. My suggestions throughout may be a bit of overkill for normal mode, but it should work out. Anyway, without further ado, welcome to my King Mode guide. I would like it so very much if you joined me on this journey. Come on, I’m sure it’ll be fun!

General Tips

Alright, so before you start, here are some tips you doggs and catts should keep in mind throughout the game to make everything easier/better.

-If there’s one thing I’d stress above all else, it’s patience. Just chill. Take it easy. There’s no reason to rush. We rushed through the first playthrough but now we’re playing what we want, so take your time, explore thoroughly, and welcome every battle. I know some people who get annoyed when they get into a battle every few steps. Come on! If you can’t take that then why are you even playing RPGs?

-Talk to everyone. You get case files from people off the street, and sometimes it’s not at all obvious who will give you a case. If you’re using this guide, there’s no need to worry about that because I tell you who to talk to to get the cases throughout, but there are tons of other people with interesting dialogue that should be read!

-If you have an excuse to backtrack, do it. More exp is good. The more battles you get into, the better. You should never have to grind for levels throughout the game. Rather, let the exp simply come to you naturally as you do other things.

-Never spend money unless you absolutely have to! The only things you should be using your money for is to create better swords (which is ridiculously expensive). But never buy items (with maybe the exception of birdlime). Trust me, you will have 99 medicines and max of pretty much every other item just with what you find throughout the game. There is no need to waste your hard earned money.

-Never sell anything! That includes items whose only apparent purpose is to be sold for cash. There are many cases that require you to hand over a certain amount of these items, and if you sell them it can be a real hassle to get more. This rule can be overlooked once you’re at the end of the game and have completed all the case files.

-From the beginning of the game, you should be striving towards maxing out your stats. I’m talking having 40 in St, Ma, Vi and Lu. And not without stat boosters and luck locusts. Naturally. Obviously, you can’t do this just leveling up normally. You will need to get and use the most valuable items in the game: incenses. But getting these items is not easy. You will need to work a little for them. And you should, because having maxed stats is cool. In fact, striving towards this goal can be a game in and of itself.

-Because you plan to use incenses, I recommend having balanced stats. You don’t want to have, say, St maxed out and have Lu lagging far behind it, because then if you find an St Incense, it will go to waste.

-There are several ways to get incense. A few of them can be found normally throughout the game, and I will point out their locations in this guide like all items. However, they are rare, and this will not be enough. The main way that you will be getting incense is from Red Crystals, which I will talk about in my next point. Other than that, I’ve confirmed a few more ways to get them, so listen up because this is what I’d call monumental discoveries: First, there’s an extremely low chance that whenever you kill a luck locust in battle, it will drop a Lu Incense as a spoil after you win. Second, there’s an extremely low chance that the Inari Statue will give you an incense when you’re sampling its “cooking” after you’ve completed the Ukemochi quest. Thirdly, you can actually pick up incenses with the Finders Keepers skill in the cardinal direction training halls! No lie.

-Still, the best way to get them is from Red Crystals. Red crystals are interesting in that, unlike blue crystals, their contents aren’t fixed. What you get from a red crystal depends on the personality of the demon you use to open it, and on chance. The awesome thing about red crystals is that you can actually get incenses from them though! Since incense is by FAR the best item you could ever hope to find, you should make sure you get one from every single red crystal you come across. If you don’t get an incense from a red crystal, you might as well not even open it. Remember that there is only a finite amount of them in the game.

So how to get incense from red crystals? I’ll tell you how, but be warned that it’s not that easy. First of all, you’ll need a demon with a calm elegant female personality. A sexy female personality can also work, but in my experience calm and elegant give you a higher chance of getting an incense, so go with that. I’m talking about the ones that go “I hope my skin doesn’t dry” and “Ahh, a nice after-dinner workout.” or “This case is making me sleepy.” That’s what you need. A few examples are Selket, or Leanan Sidhe or Parvati. Get one of these demons and keep it in your party forever solely for this purpose. Now, even if you have the correct demon, the item you get is still chosen at random, and the chances of getting an incense are extremely low. I’m talking somewhere around a 5% chance. So what you have to do is go save at the nearest save point. After you’ve saved, take your Leanan Sidhe or whatever and get the red crystal. Then pray. Most of the time you’ll get a Jin Dan, and sometimes a Balm of Life. If you get either of these two items, load your saved game and do it again. And again. And again. And AGAIN. Keep reloading and doing it as many times as it takes until you get the incense. Once you do, go back and save your game. Then do the same thing for the next red crystal until you get an incense from every single one. Yes, it’s kind of tedious. But this is the only way to max out your stats, and we all know maxing out stats is awesome. So just go for it, move forward and COMMIT TO IT.

To make this process a little bit easier, sprinkle some Repel Water on yourself to avoid battles, or send out the demon solo, since unlike Devil Summoner 1, you don’t go into battles when you send out your demon (unless you get targeted by a fiend).

Prologue

Ritual of Battle

So let’s get this shit started! Load your completed save file and choose yes when it asks you if you’re strong enough to take on King Mode.

Looks like Raidou’s just come back from his grueling training in Kuzunoha Village. Judging by his body, it didn’t involve any weight lifting. But who needs muscle mass when you’ve got those killer sideburns? But anyway, the game’ll prompt you to enter your name. Don’t choose a stupid name like buttface ok?! Be serious! You’re the protector of the capital! Speaking of which, I like the drawing of Raidou in the name entry screen. Pretty badass.

After being reintroduced to Gouto, it’s time for the Ritual of Battle! We also get to hear the old battle music here, which is nice. Walk forward to trigger the first tutorial battle. If you’re playing on King Mode you already know how to play so this tutorial is worthless to you. Interestingly, if you try to leave the training hall, the elder voice tells you to stop being a pussy and get back in there. Ha!

Uh, ok. These first demons aren’t even fighting back so just beat them up until they die. Kind of disappointing for a first fight huh?

For the next fight, this Pixie likes to teleport all over the place, so just kill her with your gun instead of chasing her. Easy. This fight will also cause you to level up. Isn’t it great to be level 1? I know it is. In any case, allocate your first stat point. Generally speaking, I’d recommend having balanced stats. However, if King Mode is anything like Devil Summoner 1’s Devil Mode, you should probably be extra generous with Vi and Ma. Wouldn’t wanna get one-shotted now would we?

For the next fight the enemy will keep using an attack that leaves him wide open. The game tells you to block the attack, but there’s no need to take the block damage. Just run circles around the enemy to avoid his Wind Cutter, then combo him while he’s doing it. You shouldn’t get hit at all for this fight.

Next you get a Tam Lin to help you in this battle. Apparently we’re fighting an Oumitsunu. Isn’t that kind of a high level demon? Let’s check and see what skills Tam Lin has. Hmm, just Fire Slash huh? Oh well. Let’s just use that. Strikes don’t work against this enemy anyway. Just use two Fire Slashes to end this.

Now for this next fight we’re up against some Jack Frosts. How convenient considering we have Fire Slash. Should be a piece of cake. Well, you’d think that, but this battle actually happens to be the first mildly challenging one! Fire Slash causes the Jack Frosts to be pushed back which means you have to run at them to hit them when they’re stunned, wasting time and absorbing less MAG. Be very careful with your MAG in this fight, as it can be completely drained before you know it. Let’s try fighting a bit more conservatively with our gun and sword, shall we? Stun one Jack Frost with your gun and then combo him. Make sure to keep an eye on the other ones though because you do not want to get hit by their Bufu and Mabufu. A solid hit from that will take off half of your HP! Very scary. Remember to guard if you can’t avoid it! And keep Tam Lin hidden most of the time since he tends to get right in the heat of things and get a bufu to the face. Also remember that you have 4 medicines in your pocket. Theoretically you shouldn’t have to use them if your careful, but it’s nice to know they’re there. Finally, again, remember to use Fire Slash when you have enough MAG and to get close to the Jack Frosts before you do.

Tam Lin learns Zio now. Excellent. Now let’s head on over to the end of the hallway and confront the boss! Gouto seems to have arranged for another to come help you. He says it’s a female demon and says you’re about the age where you’d prefer having a female demon. What? Are you trying to say I just hit puberty? Fuck you man. Anyway just answer whatever you want. Frankly I don’t give a shit what gender my demons are. If you answer this, Tam Lin thinks you’re just being considerate of his feelings. Um, no? Now Jorougumo appears. This is the boss you have to fight. She uses some cheap seduction tactics that weren’t going to fool anyone. Come on, sister! If you’re going to try that at least first stop looking like a complete abomination!

After some banter, your new demon, Alraune, appears and says not to be fooled. Um. I do believe I just said no one was being fooled? Well, she’s an improvement over the giant spider demon, but still a little too strange looking for my tastes. Anyways! Let’s start this boss battle!

—Boss: Pagan Jorougumo—

This battle is too easy. Disappointing, I know. But ah well. Have Tam Lin set to using Zio, as that’s what Jorougumo is frail to, and have Alraune set to using Dia. Unfortunately, Zio seems to have a lot of difficulty stunning Jorougumo, so you probably won’t be relying too much on comboing her while she’s weak. Have Tam Lin exhaust your MAG reserves using Zio nevertheless, and remember to hide them when she’s about to strike. The cue is pretty big so this shouldn’t be much of a problem. Her only other attack is Mazan, and this has a huge cue so it’s very easy to just roll backwards to avoid it when you see it coming. Other than that, a good strategy is to get somewhat close to her, unload your gun’s entire clip to stun her, then combo her once and reload while she’s recovering, dodge back to avoid her counter, and then repeat. If you see her attacking one of your demons, go ahead and combo her while she does that and don’t hide your demons. If you’re hitting her while Tam Lin casts Zio, this makes it more likely that she’ll get stunned by it. Hitting her a lot also makes her fall down which is useful. Once your MAG is all used up, just rely on the gun stun + combo tactic and keep your demons hidden. No need to get them in harms way and have to waste medicines. She should go down easily.

Being cheated out of getting any badges at Nameless Shrine Shinoda

Blah blah, Herald of Yatagarasu telling you what to do. Unlike our first playthrough, this time the Yatagarasu doesn’t help us by giving us badges to sell for big cash! Well FINE! We don’t need your shitty help, Yatagarasu. We’ll earn money the hard way. The Kuzunoha way.

After all this we finally get to save our game for the first time. Yay! Prologue completed. Let us proceed to the next chapter.

Chapter 1

Akane busts into the Narumi Detective Agency

Ahh, the capital. Feels like home. And the Narumi Detective Agency. Feels even more like home. Cut the Gordian knot! We get treated to a nice FMV of Narumi making some toast. I love that guy. we need more FMVs of Narumi doing everyday things. And Raidou, as always, stands by with his arms crossed being a total badass. “Break time is whenever you feel like it.” Could there possibly be a better boss than Narumi? I don’t think so. It’s a joy to work for the guy.

After a while Akane busts into the office and begs to you take her missing person case. I love the expressions Narumi makes. He asks you whether we should take the case or not. Just answer whatever you want. Narumi thinks we shouldn’t take it but as soon as Akane shows him how much she’s willing to pay, he gets all excited. Haha, I love it. You receive Dahn’s photo and it’s your job to find him. It’s time to do some good old detective legwork!

Before going out, let’s save our game. Now, remember this is King Mode! So let’s take it easy and enjoy this, shall we? You can go up to the roof of the building before heading out if you want, and talk to Gouto there. Let’s check out our inventory as well! Hmm, seems we have 2500 yen, 4 medicines, and 2 Jin Dan. Not bad, not bad. Check Gouto’s notebook while you’re at it and read the entry he made on Dahn. The notebook is useful to know more or less where you are in the story and to understand what’s going on, but it’s also fun to read because of Gouto’s informal style.

First time at Tsukudo-Cho

Items:
-Ox Bezoar
-Medicine
-Jin Dan
-Four Wind Tiles
-Anti-Mind x2

Now it’s time to start the game proper! Remember to explore thoroughly and talk to every single person you can. It’s not necessarily useful to do so, but it’s fun.

Right as you go out the door, you’ll see an item lying on the floor. Pick it up to obtain an Ox Bezoar. If you try to leave Tsukudo-Cho Gouto doesn’t let you, so let’s take care of everything here. You can also visit the Konnou-Ya shop, but the prices are pretty outrageous for our budget right now, so don’t buy anything.

Head west from the Narumi Detective Agency through the alleyway and then turn south to find to find another item on the ground. This one’s a Medicine. Once you have that head on over to the big street Kamishiro-Zaka. Make sure to talk to the suspicious maid near the south end of the street. Give her directions to the detective agency. Turns out she’s actually a demon. Specifically an Ippon-Datara. He gives you your first sidequest. It’s a pretty important one too. Let’s go back to the detective agency and accept it. Even though it’s a sidequest, this is one you’re forced to complete. And really, this is King Mode, so it’s best that we complete ALL of the sidequests, ok?

Once you accept that quest, you can leave for Shinoda! Excellent. But before we do that, let’s get the items we missed. Go back to where you met the Ippon-Datara. Head west from there towards the dock. There’s an item on the floor there slightly concealed by the tree. It’s a Jin Dan. Next, head east from there past the assembly hall. Hug the side of the wall where the river is and you’ll find an item completely hidden by the tree. It’s a Four Wind Tiles! Hmm, I wonder what that’s for. Keep going till you get to the dead end. There’s an Anti-Mind x2 there.

Well that about covers it. The only place we haven’t gone to is the Tamonten Shrine. But let’s leave that for later. First let’s head over to Shinoda and complete our first sidequest! You can try to exit towards the north and go to the Daidouji Mansion but unfortunately the gate is closed. Sucks. I liked that house. Go out through any of the other exits and take the streetcar to Shinoda.

First time at Dark Tsukudo-Cho to fulfill Victor’s Lab Rats request

Items:
-Medicine x2
-Life Stone x3
-Anti-Poison x2
-Jin Dan
-Onyx
-Ox Bezoar

Demons:
-Pyro Onmoraki
-Skill Pixie
-Frost Preta
-Volt Koropokkur
-Fury Slime

Alright! Our first dungeon! About time. We don’t have any demons yet, so remember to negotiate with a demon whenever you find a new one. I suggest getting all of demons in this area. Except the ones you can’t negotiate with, obviously.

First though, head up to the save point. When you get near you’ll get a cutscene with Victor. When Victor asks you if you’ll help him test the Tesseract Box, answer that you will. After a few more words, Victor will leave and you’ll receive the Smoked Salmon. Case closed! Damn, that was easy! You can now also teleport to the Gouma-Den from a save point at will.

Anyway, a noob would just leave now that that’s over with. But you’re not a noob are you?! Good. Let’s explore this entire dungeon and see what we can find. Remember to save your game first!

These enemies take about half your HP with one spell if you don’t block so be careful. Remember to heal at the Gouma-Den after every battle if your health is low. It doesn’t matter if you have to backtrack. In fact, it’s good if you have to! Means more exp! Remember that this is King Mode. The more excuses we have to backtrack and get extra exp, the better. However, we also don’t want to waste money if we don’t have to. So as soon as you are able, recruit a Pixie and have her heal you with Dia.

In any case, move west from the save point into a small alleyway to find a blue crystal. It’s Medicine x2. Next head to the dock to find another crystal. This one has Life Stone x3. Now walk north from the save point. You’ll find a dragon’s jaw that doesn’t let you through, so you’ll have to take the long way around. You should run into a second save point. Use it, then walk out into the main street. You’ll see Nakisawame in front of the Tamonten Shrine and two blue crystals beside her. Grab ’em both. They contain Anti-Poison x2 and a Jin Dan. Nakisawame here can heal you and restore your MAG, but frankly 600 yen and 6 yen per MAG point is highway robbery so I’d say fuck her. You’re better off just going back to the detective agency and taking a nap, or better yet, get into some more fights and fight intelligently to restore your MAG by absorbing it from enemies.

If, like me, you’ve already hit level 8, pay a visit to the Gouma-Den and fuse an Onmoraki with a Preta to create a Wind Angel. You’ll need her to finish exploring the rest of this place. Go back to the start of the dungeon, and move east from the Ushigome-Gaeri bride all the way to the dead end to find a current of wind. Summon your Angel and use her Kamikaze skill on the wind. You’ll be blown elsewhere.

Right off the bat you’ll see a blue crystal in front of you. Open if to get an Onyx. Then you’ll see another one nearby. This one has an Ox Bezoar. That’s about it for this dungeon. Run back to the second save point.

Once your MAG and health is looking good, go save and then go back and talk to the Inugami. He’ll talk so crap and then challenge you to a fight.

—Boss: Pagan Inugami—
My level: 8

This guy isn’t a threat. He’s frail to fire, so have an Onmoraki ready and spam him with Agi. Better yet, have two demons with Agi and have them both spam him. His strike has pretty much no cue, so stand him front of him and hold block, and let your demons damage him with fire. He’s not that strong though so if he does hit you it’s not the end of the world. Just keep blocking and only attack once the Agi puts him into frail stun. Make sure to watch out for his Pulinpa. Whenever you see the cue for it, just keep blocking but also hide your demons so they don’t get confused. Then resume the attack once the Pulinpa effect is off the arena. Don’t jump the gun though. It can hit your demons if you stop hiding them too soon. Don’t bother using Fire Bullet. It doesn’t really do enough damage to be worth it. Other than that he shouldn’t pose any problems.

Afterwards, Inugami begs you to let him be your demon. It’s a good deal, and it’s good to be merciful, so accept. Anyway, we’re done with this dungeon now! Let’s get back to Tsukudo-Cho and continue with the main adventure.

Meeting the mysterious young blonde man at the Tamonten Shrine

Did you know that Devil Summoner 1 had a perpetual typo here in that the Tamonten Shrine was always spelled as Tamonten Srhine? Just something interesting to note. Looks like they fixed it though. Could you imagine if they hadn’t? Anyways. Go into the shrine to meet the young blonde man for the first time. Show him Dahn’s photo. He tells you he’s seen Dahn over at Fukagawa-Cho, so that’s where we’re heading. Onward!

First time at Fukagawa-Cho

Items:
-Ox Bezoar
-Scoring Sticks
-Wood Ornament
-Anti-Mute
-Fubuki Sake
-Old Underwear

Before you enter Fukagawa-Cho proper, check out the right side of the map. There’s an item lying there. It’s an Ox Bezoar.

You’re supposed to go talk to Satake at the Daikoku-Yu bathhouse, but before we do that, let’s explore this entire place and talk to all the people. Cross the Daikoku Bridge and take a turn north. Check out the corner here. There’s an item concealed by some flags. It’s a, uh, Scoring Sticks? I guess? Some Mahjong shit I dunno. If you try to exit north and go to the Red Light District, some asshole doesn’t let you through because of some harmless quake that happened. Oh well.

Keep going east past the showroom. There’s a Wood Ornament on the ground here. Go through the door to the south. Down here you’ll find an Anti-Mute on the right hand side. Take note of the fence on the left side. There’s a hole here. Unfortunately it would seem that we aren’t able to go through there yet. So let’s keep going. Walk into the empty lot and grab the item in the corner. It’s a Fubuki Sake. Keep going west past the empty lot and then north at the first opportunity to find an Old Underwear!

And that’s it for Fukagawa-Cho. Head back to the entrance and into the bathhouse. Talk to Satake. Show him Dahn’s Photo. He can help you but wants the Smoked Salmon Victor gave you in exchange. Whatever, who cares. Give it to him. He says to go over to Mannen-Cho and ask this Tatsumi character about Dahn. So we’re back out into the streets. Get out of Fukagawa-Cho and go to Mannen-Cho over on the left side of the district.

First time at Mannen-Cho

Items:
-Jin Dan
-Muscle Drink
-Twig
-Frost Steel
-Number Tiles
-Tatsumi’s Hair
-Mansaku Sake
-Ox Bezoar
-St Incense
-Dainty Snack (hidden!)

Alright this place is pretty damn big. And it’s full of crossdressers offending my senses! Gah! If you try to go into the first house on the left side, the lady asks you for a password. We don’t have it yet, so we’ll come back later. Instead, go into the house on the right side. Inside you’ll find a Jin Dan lying on the floor. Go back out, go north, west when you get to the fork, then north when you get to the next fork. You can go into the house on the left side here but there ain’t nothing in it! What a waste of space. If you keep going north, you can go into two houses on either side, but in both you’ll be driven out by a timid woman and an uptight man. Bah.

Go back south all the way and keep going through the place. There are some cops blocking the way to the east here. Across from them there’s a house. You can go in, but this one’s empty too! What the hell! Directly north of this house there’s another one though, and this one does have something inside it, so go in and grab it. It’s a Muscle Drink. Go back out. If you keep walking north you’ll get a cutscene with Osamu Kogure and his son Kenta. After the cutscene, talk to them a second time, and show them Dahn’s photo. He’ll give you the password to the gambling parlor so you can go kick the shit out of that Tatsumi! The password’s super-chilled cider. But we’re not done exploring, so we’ll leave the gambling parlor for last.

Go to the well above the violent chicken. There’s something inside it but only a frost order demon can get it. You should have a Preta. Summon it and make him climb down the well. He’ll come back with a twig. Now, south across from the well there’s another house you can go into. Here you’ll find a Frost Steel. Go back out. If you try to go further north Gouto won’t let you. So it’s time to go back to the entrance of Mannen-Cho. Before we go into the gambling parlor, go north and then west at the fork. Keep going. Along the way you’ll find a house you can’t get into because the door’s jammed on the left side, and another one on the right side where you’ll get driven out by a hypocrite. Across from the hypocrite’s house there’s a house you can go into though. But, uh, it’s empty aside from some homo crossdresser. So you might just want to skip that particular house.

Keep going north and you’ll find some more asshole cops blocking the way. You can get into the abandoned temple here though. Check out the bottom right hand side of it. There’s an item here almost completely hidden by the hedge. It’s a Number Tiles.

That about covers it for now! Head on over to the gamblin’ parlor and give the lady the password. It’s super-chilled cider, but if you’re anything like me, you can’t resist saying giga-sweet pie and getting thrown out. Ahem, anyways. Now you can get through. The gamblin’ parlor’s the house on the bottom, but before that let’s pay a visit to the top house. What? There’s nothing here? What IS it with all these bullshit empty houses? Whatever, let’s get into that parlor.

There’ll be 4 people here. Goro Tatsumi’s the one you’re after. He’s the one who looks like the biggest prick in the house. Yeah, that one. Show ‘im the photo. He says he won’t tell you shit unless you play a coin toss game with him. You can choose heads or tails, but it doesn’t matter what you choose, you can’t win. He’s got too much luck. Just give up. He’ll look at the photo again and recognize Dahn. Then immediately deny everything. He won’t tell you the truth willingly, so we’ll have to use a pagan order demon to read his mind. If you’ve been following this guide you should have Inugami from back in Dark Tsukudo-Cho. Summon him and use Mind Read on Tatsumi. Looks like he’s thinking about some insect. Talk to him again and ask about it. He’ll get all scared and run away. What a pussy. Chase after him!

But no, we can take our sweet time. If you’ll notice, you can now use Mind Read on people! That’ll be fun. Try it out on the meaningful smile man over there. In fact, try it out on everyone. After that go out. You’ll see Tatsumi run into the hypocrite’s house. If you go in, the hypocrite will just drive you out. Seriously? Come on! Raidou Kuzunoha defeated by some fat good for nothing loser? Couldn’t he just shove him out of the way and go through? Jesus. Apparently not. Looks like you’ll have to do this the convoluted way. Transform into Tatsumi with a skill order demon’s transform ability. Gouto will do the work for you by bringing you a lock of Tatsumi’s hair, so you don’t have to do anything. You should have a Pixie. Transform into Tatsumi with L1. Now you can go through unhindered.

Go through the houses and over to the place with the violent chicken. Go south from there, and you’ll notice the cops have left their old post and you can now check out that part of town you couldn’t before. Go east through the path, then north the first chance you get into a house. Go all the way in and through the door. Inside you’ll find a Mansaku Sake. Go back out into the street again, and go south into the foreground when you see some doors in front of the screen. There’s nothing in this house, but you can actually keep walking south and out into a backyard. There’s an Ox Bezoar on the ground here. More importantly, check out the well. Send your Preta or whatever frost order demon you have into it. He’ll come back with an St Incense! Excellent! Don’t give incenses to your demons. Eat them all yourself. Yeah that’s right. EAT IT!

Get back out into the street. There are two other houses to the north. The middle one doesn’t have anything, but the third one you can go inside. Seems there’s nothing here, right? Yeah, you might think that. But wait! Bust out a Volt order demon like Koropokkur and use its inspect ability. You’ll find a hidden item! Nifty huh? It’s a Dainty Snack. Go back out and keep heading east to the dock. You’ll find that bitch Tatsumi trapped like a rat. Raidou moves in to kick his ass but WHAT? Slips on a banana peel? You have GOT to be kidding me. Damn that Tatsumi’s luck! He’ll run away again. Go back to the place with the violent chicken and you’ll see him run into a crossdresser’s house. Go inside, but it’s too dark to see anything. You have the option of going left, right or straight but it doesn’t really matter what you do. Tatsumi has too much luck and will escape again.

Give chase once more. You’ll see him run, and go up a ladder up onto a house’s roof. You’ll corner him for the third time. Honestly, at this point I thought the roof was going to crumble beneath Raidou’s feet. But nah, instead some masked men show up to save his bacon. They ask you if you’re searching for someone. There’s no reason to lie to them. After all, you’re Raidou Kuzunoha. These red necks don’t scare you! Well, they’ll cast an illusion spell on you. The Fukorutsubo.

Trapped in the Fukorutsubo

Items:
-Life Stone
-Anti-Mind

Demons:
-Wind Poltergeist
-Skill Pixie
-Fury Slime
-Frost Preta
-Fury Obariyon
-Pyro Onmoraki
-Volt Koropokkur

Looks like we’re in our second dungeon now! Fun. And it even uses the music from Devil Summoner 1’s final dungeon. Nice. Right in front of you you’ll see the save point. Walk over there and save before doing anything else. To the right you’ll see a soul. Talk to him and he gives you the tip about this place. Basically, depending on which side you enter a room from, barriers appear to block you or not. For example, if you keep going north from that soul, you’ll get to a room/intersection and you’ll see there are 3 barriers blocking your way, so you can’t advance any further. What you have to do is go back to the save point and take the left path on the fork, and enter that same room but from the left side.

Once you do that, you’ll see that the north barrier is gone (as well as the west one, obviously. That’s where you came in from). So head north. You’ll see Nakisawame here. But who needs her. Wait a second though. Instead of going forward, go back south to the previous intersection you just went in from. If you do this, you’ll see that the east barrier that was previously there is now gone. Awesome. Let’s check out what’s there. Oh, just a blue crystal with a Life Stone. Oh well. Go back, and you’ll find that now there are barriers to the north and west. You’ll have to go back all the way and enter this same room from the left side again. Go north to Nakisawame and this time keep going.

You’ll enter another one of those intersections from the right side. There’s a barrier to the north, but that’s it. Don’t go south as we’ve already been there. Just keep going west. Here you’ll find a dead end with a blue crystal containing an Anti-Mind. Go back to the previous room. Now the north barrier is gone and you can save at the dragon cave there. Up next is the boss. Do what you gotta do to restore your HP and MAG. I like to use dia and hitting enemy weaknesses to restore MAG but that’s just me.

—Boss: Soldier Bug Jiromaru—
My level: 11

This guy can easily kill you if you’re not careful. His tackle takes off over 100 HP and can stun you, and his hopper attack is even more dangerous. Fortunately all of his attacks have cues. The trick here is to play it safe. He’s frail to fire, so bring in an Onmoraki or any other demon who knows Agi. If you have Maragi by now, that’s even better since it stuns him for longer. You can fuse a Pyro Enku and level him up once to learn that. It’s not strictly necessary though. In any case, set both of your demons to spam Agi or Maragi at him. You, on the other hand, will not be attacking quite as much. You’ll mostly be on the lookout for the cues that indicate when Jiromaru will use an attack. Stay right on Jiromaru’s face (so he’ll attack you rather than your demons, who can’t block). You can slash him a few times if you’re feeling risky, but mostly the only time you’ll go into combos is when one of your demons’ Agi puts him into frail stun. Keep your finger on the block button when he’s not stunned and be ready to hide your demons when you see a cue that he’ll attack. He has three attacks. Scratch is the least dangerous one and only hits what is in front of Jiromaru, so if your demons happen to be behind him when he uses this, there is no need to hide them. Just keep blocking. His tackle is far more dangerous though and seems to have somewhat unpredictable area of effect, so just to be safe I’d say always hide your demons when you see this coming. Again, you should also block. It has a much longer cue than scratch, but it’s too hard to dodge and there’s no need to make the gamble when blocking decreases the damage to about 15. Finally, when you see him jump into the air, hide your demons and run away. Just make sure you keep running, don’t get snagged in the arena boundaries, and you’ll avoid his hopper attack. He seems to come down much faster than he used to in normal mode. But yeah, that’s all. If you play it safe like I say, you shouldn’t have to heal.

After the battle the damn rednecks will steal your luck. Sucks, but that’s the way it goes. The cowards will split, the Fukorutsubo will fade away, and you’ll be back in Mannen-Cho. Unfortunately your bad luck will cause the fiend Binbou-gami to appear. You’ll be pulled into battle. And even more unfortunately, you can’t win because your luck is so bad that all your attacks will whiff. We have no choice but to sit down and wait for the battle to end automatically. After that you’ll get the first mysterious cutscene and then you’ll be back at the Narumi Detective Agency.

First investigational meeting at the Narumi Detective Agency

Narumi will ask you to have an investigational meeting. Sounds fun. If you choose to postpone it, you get to save your game, which is nifty but Narumi won’t let you out of the office until you get the meeting over with. So save, and once you’re ready get the meeting started. Narumi’ll ask you some easy questions throughout. The answers are obvious, and sadly, giving the wrong answers doesn’t give you any funny dialogue. So just get it over with. Your next order of business is to pay Akane a visit at Narita’s mansion in Kasumidai.

Take the train to Kasumidai and enter the Narita mansion. Talk to the butler and say you’re looking for Akane. You’ll get a cutscene with Narita and Akane. After that, talk to Akane again and interrogate the shit out of her. Once that’s done go back to the detective agency. Before you go in, Kenta will stop you. He’ll beg you to look for his dad who disappeared and gives you a croquette as payment? Not good enough, kid. Anyway, go into the detective agency, and Narumi tells you Tae wants to talk to you. She’s hanging out over at the Shin Sekai soda joint in Ginza-Cho so now we’ll have to beat feet over there.

When you go into Shin Sekai, remember to talk to the owner. He’ll forward case files he’s received to the Narumi Detective Agency, which means now you can solve some sidequests. Well, no time like the present! Forget Tae. We gots some sidequests to do! Check out the case files section, complete the quests you’ve unlocked, and then come back here. Most of them you just have to give a specific item. For now there’s only one that’s an actual quest. And that’s what we’re doing next!

Ghost Driver

According to the case information, the ghost car is over at Dark Tsukudo-Cho. So head on over there.

Before we keep going, let’s talk. You’ve probably encountered the four horsemen of the apocalypse several times by now. Considering that the horsemen are around level 60, you’re not supposed to defeat them at this point. And for ones such as the White Rider, whose unavoidable attack does more damage than your max HP even while blocking, you literally cannot defeat them. However, there is an exception. The Black Rider’s unavoidable attack does not instantly kill you if you block it. This makes him beatable even though you’re very low level. Of course, he’s only technically beatable. You’re still obviously not supposed to beat him so early on. But if you wanna be a renegade like me and you’re willing to fight a battle you’re not supposed to win, read on and good luck.

—Boss: Fiend Black Rider—
My level: 11

You’re not supposed to win this fight at such a low level, and it shows. The damage you do to Black Rider with your sword is pitiful. On the other hand, one solid hit from him and it’s over for you. This is going to be a very long battle. It took me 45 minutes. Furthermore, Black Rider isn’t frail to any of the elements, so that’s out of the question. The consequence of this is that you WILL run out of MAG in this battle, and once you do, the only way to replenish it will be to rely solely on strikes while you let it naturally regenerate excruciatingly slowly.

Stock up on medicines before the fight. 10 should do it, but make it 20 just to be safe. And even more than that never hurt anyone.

Bring in the demon with the highest Ma you have. Have him set to attack Black Rider with any of the four basic elemental spells. This is the best way to damage him, because each spell should do around 50 damage. That’s a lot compared to your sword and gun, which do like 1 damage.

So this demon’s spell will be your big guns. However, don’t just leave your demon unattended and let it do its own thing. Not only because it can easily set it up to get one-shotted by Black Rider, but also because MAG consumption is a serious problem throughout this fight, and you don’t want your demon to miss. You have to make every spell count. This is why you should only have the demon with the highest Ma using a spell. Set the other demon to strike. You’re going to be doing some serious babysitting throughout this fight when it comes to your demons. You should keep them hidden at all times and ONLY bring them out when it’s absolutely 100% safe to attack.

That goes for you as well. Only attack Black Rider when it’s 100% safe to do so. This only happens during two situations. First of all, when you see him cast Mudo. When you see that, that’s your cue that Black Rider is about to go into a loop where he casts Mudo, teleports, casts it again, and does this about 5 times or so. This is one of the two situations where you and your demons can safely attack him. While he’s readying the Mudo spell, run to his side with your demons, unhide them, and start slashing at him and let your main demon hit him with a spell ONCE (twice is too risky. It’s likely to miss and that’s wasted MAG. If you have your demon set to spamming the spell, hide them after it uses it so that it won’t use it a second time). The Mudo should NEVER hit you if you’re at Black Rider’s side when he casts it. Also, if you’re lucky, your sword strikes will cause him to flinch and you can get a second, sometimes even a third combo on him.

The second situation in which you can attack him safely is when he uses Begin Starvation. This move leaves him vulnerable for a long time if he misses with it, and he should. Every time. Unless you seriously screw up. No, really, you shouldn’t get hit with this move even once. It’s the easiest one to avoid, and getting hit by it is too devastating since it halves your MAG. The cue is pretty easy to see. Black Rider will teleport, and then not do anything at all for a second. Then he’ll use Begin Starvation. But even if you don’t see it, it’s still very hard to get hit by it if you just keep moving at all time. In any case, when you see him doing that attack, that’s the cue that tells you he’s about to go into a loop where he uses Begin Starvation, teleports, then does it again and repeats this about 5 times or so. What you’re supposed to do is avoid it by running, and while he’s in the middle of the move, run up to his side, or preferably his backside, unhide your demons, and start slashing him before he finishes using the move and keep on attacking him during the recovery (though, again, only permit your main demon to use its spell once). Make sure your demons are very close to Black Rider before you unhide them if you’re going to attack him while Begin Starvation is still onscreen, because if they’re not, there’s a small chance that the demon set to strike will stupidly waltz right in front of Black Rider and get killed.

Anyway, those are the two situations which are most beneficial to you. However, Black Rider has some other attacks. Attacks which are not as beneficial to you. His two physical attacks are extremely dangerous. His strike has a VERY short cue and is quite deadly. However, you should never be close to him if he’s not using Mudo or Begin Starvation, so you should never get hit by this. If you see him teleport near you, roll away immediately just in case he’s about to use his strike. The other physical attack he has is Mad Rush, and this one is even more deadly. It has a longer cue than the strike. You shouldn’t be near him when he’s readying it. To avoid Mad Rush, simply run to the side or roll to the side before he uses it. Remember that when you see him use either of these two physical attacks, that’s your cue that he’s about to go into a loop where he keeps doing physical attacks about 10 times or so. Just something to keep in mind. Slashing him during this process is NOT safe. Don’t try it. And keep your demons hidden. If you want to damage him a little during this, you can shoot him with your gun after he whiffs every strike and Mad Rush. You should get about 7 damage per clip. If you do it right. But be careful.

Finally, Black Rider’s arena-encompassing attack is Soul Balance. This attack has a very long and obvious cue in that you get a message saying “Black Rider is preparing for something.” Soul Balance takes off half your HP if you block it. However, you can also get off scot free from it! When you see the message that Black Rider is preparing for something, don’t stay grounded in place. Rather run just a little bit in any direction and THEN go into block stance. There’s a good chance that Soul Balance will miss you completely. There’s also a chance that it’ll hit you anyway though, but don’t worry. Just heal yourself afterwards.

Speaking of healing, use medicines for your healing purposes. Never use Dia unless you absolutely have to. Remember that MAG is a serious problem in this fight, and you want to use as much of that MAG as possible to damage Black Rider.

Also, Black Rider uses Luck Roulette of the Dragon regularly throughout the fight to confer a variety of bad luck effects on you. These can range from pretty bad (Raidou’s attacks will whiff, and cannot use items), to somewhat bad (Enemies hate you, demons may get lost), to virtually inconsequential (order sealed). Just deal with it. There’s nothing you can do about it anyway. Remember that when Black Rider is angry at you, he won’t flinch, and his attacks will do more damage so be careful. Also, don’t summon a demon when demons may get lost is in effect. When cannot use items in effect, you’ll have to rely on Dia. Which brings me to my next point:

You WILL run out of MAG in this fight. When you do, set both your demons to strike and switch to damaging Black Rider with only physical attacks while your MAG very slowly recuperates. However, just in case cannot use items comes up on the luck roulette of the dragon, stop using magic attacks when you’re down to about 20 MAG or so. This gives you the opportunity to be able to use Dia a couple times if you have to heal when you can’t use items.

Well, that’s about it. It’ll be a long and arduous fight, but if you follow this strategy you’ll wittle him down eventually. After the battle, he gives you so much exp that I went from level 11 to level 17. I really didn’t want that much exp, but oh well.

Anyway, now that we’ve kicked Black Rider’s ass, let’s take care of that ghost car. Head over to the place where you fought Inugami. You remember where that is, don’t you? ‘course you do. Head north from there until you hear an engine sound. Then you’ll be thrust into combat.

—Boss: Volt Rumored Oboroguruma—
My level: 17

This guy isn’t too strong, but you’re on a 3 minute timer, so you have to do a lot of damage to him and kill him before time runs out. He’s frail to wind, so what you want to do is have two demons who know Zan (or even better, Mazan) constantly using it on him. If you want to have even more chances to frail stun him, throw Wind Sword into the mix. Remember, Poltergeist learns that if you level it up once. If you’re at least level 13, you can fuse an Obariyon and a Sandman to form a Wind Moh Shuvuu. This is a pretty nice demon to have for this fight because not only does she have Zan, but she absorbs Oboroguruma’s electric attacks, giving you extra MAG with which to unleash your attacks!

Oboroguruma only has two attacks: Mazio, and a rush attack. If you have Moh Shuvuu, just block the Mazio when you see the cue, but don’t hide your demons so that she can drain it and give you extra MAG. Don’t worry about the other demon dying. Getting MAG is more important. If you don’t have a demon who can absorb Mazio, then go ahead and hide them.

Stay on Oboroguruma’s face so that he’s more inclined to attack you and leaves your demons free to spam him with Zan. Keep your finger on the block button and combo him once immediately after he uses an attack during his recovery. This will usually cause him to go into frail stun and you can get some more hits on him and replenish your MAG. Once he recovers from stun, go back to blocking because he’s about to attack.

Keep doing this and he should go down before the 3 minutes are up.

Welp, now that that’s taken care of, it’s time to get back to the main adventure. Go back to Shin Sekai and see what Tae has to say. Ask her about Tatsumi. She says she has questions too, and “ladies first”. Wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to be all about sexual equality and all that shit? Haha, feminists advocating equality only when it benefits them, just like in real life! Well played, Atlus. Anyway, looks like people are being spirited away at Mannen-Cho. Ask her about it. She says Tatsumi’s disappeared but hasn’t left Mannen-Cho. We know why. Leave Shin Sekai. You will encounter the blonde young man. Just in case Tae’s clues weren’t obvious enough for you, he comes and spells it out that Tatsumi’s in Dark Mannen-Cho. Thanks man, we totally didn’t know that. If you walk back into Shin Sekai you’ll find the blonde man there. He doesn’t say anything special but it’s interesting that he decided to go hang out there rather than just disappear. In any case, we’re going to the dark realm now.

Searching for Tatsumi at Dark Mannen-Cho

Items:
-Arashi Sake (hidden!)
-Balm of Life
-Jin Dan
-Amethyst
-Medicine
-Anti-Mind
-Turquoise
-Asuka Mirror
-Bead

Demons:
-Wind Poltergeist
-Pyro Enku
-Fury Slime
-Volt Agathion
-Wind Angel
-Skill Pixie
-Pyro Onmoraki
-Volt Koropokkur
-Fury Obariyon
-Fury Nezha
-Pagan Sandman

Right off the bat you’ll see a save point. Use it. Walk west and you’ll immediately encounter Tatsumi. Well that was easy. Except he’ll use his luck to summon some gimp Pretas and throw them at you. The Preta Forms are stronger than regular ones, but they’re still Pretas. Use either fire skills or electric skills and you should have no problem at all dispatching them.

Afterwards Tatsumi runs away. What a pussy. Anyway, walk north from right where you’re standing after this and you’ll go into a house. At first there seems to be nothing here, but call out a volt order demon and use its inspect ability! You’ll find a hidden item in the same place where you found one in Mannen-Cho. It’s an Arashi Sake. Get back out into the street and continue walking west. The next house to the north has nothing in it, but the one to the south does. Go in, and go through it out into the backyard with a well. Send a frost order demon into the well, and you’ll obtain a Balm of Life. Nice.

Go back out into the street. The next house to the north has a dude in it, but if you keep going past him and go through the door north of him, you’ll find a blue crystal inside. It has a Jin Dan. Get out and keep going west. You’ll find yet another dude and a blue crystal nearby. But the crystal’s behind a dragon’s jaw so you can’t get it right now. We’ll get there later. You can get inside the house right beside the man, but there’s nothing there. Same goes for the one directly above that. Keep walking north and you’ll run into Tatsumi again. He’ll summon his Preta Forms and you’ll have to fight again. Take care of them the same way you did last time. This time he also brings out an Enku Form. Use ice attacks against it. After you’ve dealt with these easy enemies Tatsumi will run away again. What a pussy.

Moving on, dragon’s jaws don’t let you progress either north or west through the northermost house. To the east you’ll see a well. Send a frost order demon down it and it’ll come back with an Amethyst. You’ll see an Angel and a wind current. You’ll need to use a Wind order demon’s kamikaze skill on the wind current in order to advance. Don’t worry about the house south of the angel. There’s nothing there. Anyway, you’ll be blown away to the gambling parlor. What I’d like to know is how you went through the fucking roof. There’s another sap here. Talk to him and read his mind. Go out east and you’ll find another save point. Go ahead and use it, then keep moving east out into the street. Go into the house on the right side and you’ll find a blue crystal with a medicine inside it.

Head back out and go north, then left at the fork. An Enku Form and Preta Forms will appear. They’re still as weak as ever, so just end their misery. Technically there’s also a Nezha in there, but it’s weak too.

During your stay in this dungeon, you’re likely to run into the next horseman of the apocalypse. If you defeated Black Rider earlier, then you are probably strong enough to take on the next one. Mind you, you’re not supposed to, but you can win if you really want to. I ran into Red Rider here and defeated him, netting myself 2 levels. If you want to see the strategy for defeating him, check out the 4 horsemen section.

In any case, keep going past the place where you fought those Preta/Enku Forms and you’ll see a save point in the distance. You can’t get to it yet though since there’s a dragon’s jaw blocking the way. Go east past the hypocrite’s house. You’ll find a lone Onmoraki here. He’s in possession of an issue of Demon’s Digest! Ask him for permission to read a few articles. There’s nothing there we don’t already know but it’s fun to read. Keep walking east past the next house and you’ll find a wind current. Before using it, though, head south to find the blue crystal we couldn’t get to earlier because of the dragon’s jaw. It has an Anti-Mind. Go back to the wind current and use kamikaze on it to get blown elsewhere.

Head north and go up the ladder to the roof where you once cornered Tatsumi in the real world. Jump to the other house’s roof to get a blue crystal with a Turquoise in it, then go back. West of where you ended up after jumping into this area is a wind current that takes you back to the start of the dungeon. We don’t really need it. Go back and this time go south. Past a poltergeist is a strength wall. You’ll need a fury order demon to destroy it. If you don’t have one just walk around this area and get into battles, you should eventually get into a fight with an Obariyon and you can recruit it for this purpose.

Past the rock wall is a save point and Victor’s fake maid. He’s here to tell you that Victor now has Sword Alchemy available at the Gouma-Den! Excellent! Visit the Gouma-Den right now and make the strongest weapon you can. Generally speaking I’d recommend going with sword types since sword type skills are the most common, but it’s up to you. Spears don’t seem all that great, and axes are the strongest type if you don’t count skills. Chances are you’ll only be able to make a Bizen-Osafune. The costs for sword alchemy are obscene. This is why you shouldn’t waste money on stuff like Nakisawame or items.

Once you’re done keep going. You’ll run into a hungry Preta Form. It’ll ask you if you don’t care about a stranger like him starving. Let’s be honest here, people. Regarding this guy starving my care meter is: | That’s right, it’s just a line. Anyway right before you can kick this guy’s ass you slip on a banana peel. Bullshit man. But nah, turns out this Preta Form is Osamu. The croquette he steals from you reminds him of his son and he returns to human form.

Anyway, after the cutscene keep walking north and-… what is this shit?! I just killed Red Rider and already the next one wants a piece of me? Jesus. Take it easy you guys. There’s enough of me to go around. But yeah. If you’ve defeated Black Rider and Red Rider like me, you might be able to take on White Rider. Check out the four horsemen section if you want to kill him now.

Anyway, like I was saying before I was RUDELY interrupted… keep walking north, then take a left and you’ll find another wind current. Kamikaze on it to get blown even nearer to Tatsumi’s location. There’s a dragon’s jaw blocking our way south, so head the opposite way to find the last blue crystal which houses an Asuka Mirror. You’ll see a ladder nearby. Before going up it, though, go past the blue crystal to find another one o’ those wells. Send a frost order demon down it to get a Bead. Not bad. Go up the ladder I mentioned earlier, walk down the roof and go down the ladder at the south end. To the right is Nakisawame, who we don’t need, and to the right is a dragon cave and just past it Tatsumi. Save your game.

After coming out of the closet and admitting to being a flaming homosexual, Tatsumi gives himself up. Except then you slip on a banana peel. NEW AND ORIGINAL. But then Binbou-Gami appears. He is weakened by Tatsumi’s ungodly luck and becomes beatable. Let’s do this.

—Boss: Fiend Binbou-Gami—
My level: 22

After dealing with 3 of the 4 horsemen, this guy isn’t much of a challenge. He’s frail to fire so bring in demons who know Agi, or better yet, Maragi. Ukobach is an easy choice as he comes with Maragi so you can deploy him into this battle immediately after creating him. No need to worry so much though. Seriously, Binbou-Gami is a complete pussy compared to real fiends. Even getting hit by his attacks cleanly without blocking isn’t anything worth talking about. Still, no reason to take his attacks. Stand close to him and block while letting both of your demons spam him with Agi/Maragi. You can go ahead and combo him after blocking one of his physical attacks, and this will increase the chances of him going into frail stun.

He also has an annoy tactic (I told you this guy was a pussy) wherein he keeps teleporting all over the place laughing it up. Really not much you can do here other than wait for it to end or let your demons keep using their skills and hope he teleports near you just as one of your demons casts Maragi. Every once in a blue moon he’ll cast Mabufu, but I dunno what he hopes to accomplish with it, as the casting time is far too big. Just hide your demons and roll out of the way, or just block it. MAG also isn’t a problem since this guy is like a fuckin’ MAG factory.

After you get his HP down to half he’ll start using his special attack. First off he’ll summon a bunch of clouds that throw coins at you. As long as you’re not beneath a shadow you shouldn’t get hit. There are a lot of good spots to stand in so you don’t get hit. I chose the south part border of the arena and just slightly to the right. After that he’ll summon some razor wheels. Actually I dunno what they are. They might not have any razors. They’re probably some japanese… things. Anyway! These wheels will barrel horizontally through the arena and also go from north to south. Wait until the one closest to you goes past, then immediately roll up to avoid the next one just like I do in the video. Finally a huge coin will fall on top of the arena and smash everything. You have to run to the very center of the arena before it falls and stand in the lit up square to avoid it. Easy.

Lastly, as a last ditch effort he’ll try to use Pulinpa. Again, I dunno what he’s trying to accomplish with this. The cue is huge, so getting hit with it is pretty hard. As soon as you see him casting it, hide your demons and get away or they’ll get confused.

Afterwards the dark aura around Mannen-Cho disappears. Confront Tatsumi and ask him about the insect. Tell him who you are and he’ll get all scared. Ask him about the masked men and he’ll explain that they gave him an insect that can steal people’s luck. He’ll also mention that “he” was there when they gave him the insect. Show him Dahn’s photograph and he’ll admit it was Dahn. Then he’ll get even more scared because he wasn’t supposed to blab and beg you to protect him. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Help this assmonger? Fuck ‘im. And I agree. Unfortunately you’re forced to help him. If you choose not to help him he’ll just ask the question again. Just before he’s about to completely spill the beans on Dahn’s identity though, he dies/disappears. Oh well. At least now we ain’t gotta help him.

Second Investigational Meeting at the Narumi Detective Agency

Narumi somehow manages to put together the insect cage with his super powers. Then he calls for the next investigational meeting! Remember that you can decline and save your game before you do it. Which is, uh, marginally useful. Also, remember that if you negotiated with a lot of demons during your foray into Dark Mannen-Cho, you likely got at least one new sidequest. So you can also check your case files during this interlude and see what up dog.

So after you’re done with your thangs, get that meeting started. What I love about this second meeting is that unlike the last one, you can get some funny dialogue if you choose the obviously wrong answers. Like if you choose croquette on the first one Narumi goes “Man alive, now you’re making me hungry.” Haha, so go ahead and choose the two wrong answers. After that the meeting comes to a close. Shortest meeting ever! Afterwards Narumi drops the Tsukigata name. Looks like we’re goin’ places.

That concludes the first chapter. Fin!

Chapter 2

Wherein Gouto ruins a perfectly good shortcake

Akane comes to the detective agency and brings shortcake! Homemade so it doesn’t look perfect, she says. Pfft. That shit’s so perfect it looks fake. But augh, Gouto tries some! Now I ain’t putting my mouth ANYWHERE near that cake. After a while Tae calls. Seems she’s found Tsukigata Village, so that’s where we’re going next.

Welcome to Tsukigata Village

Items:
-Foxtail
-Anti-Poison
-Ox Bezoar
-Mansaku Sake
-Anti-Mind
-Twig
-Takumi Sake

Man, this place is a fricken jungle. You can try to go back to the capital by checking the bus stop, but Gouto won’t let you. What a stick in the mud! Anyways, head out into the world map, then walk north over to the resort environs.

Woo, a new town. Let’s check this place out. Bring out a pagan order demon ’cause the people in here aren’t talking to you. Most of their minds can be read though. Go up the stairs and take the first left you see. Go down the path and you’ll find a man who thinks he can “wax” you “lickedy split”. Funny guy. Anyway, head south down the stairs to find a woman at a dead end. Check the corner behind her to find an item completely hidden by a tree. It’s the return of the mighty foxtail! Go into the menu and use it on Gouto. Head back up the stairs and keep heading north to find an old lady and an item on the ground. It’s an Anti-Poison. That’s it for this part. Go back out into the main street.

Keep walking up the stairs and you’ll run into the very mysterious peddler. We’re in King Mode though so it’s probably not a good idea to waste any money for now. Take a right when you get to Tae, and you’ll find a little girl with a fertile chicken. Next to her is an Ox Bezoar. You can read the fertile chicken’s mind. Looks like it knows the little girl’s only feeding him to eat him afterward. Then why don’t you run away you dumbass? I don’t see you chained to a fencepost! Geez. Man, speaking of chickens I could sure go for some KFC right about now. But where were we? Oh right. Go south down the stairs and keep walking all the way to a dead end with a Mansaku Sake.

Go back to the main street and move all the way up to the fire tower, then take a left. If you try to leave this area, again Gouto won’t let you. What a party pooper! Head south from the exit to find a dead end with an old lady and an Anti-Mind. We’re almost done with this village. Go back to the fire tower and this time go right all the way until you get to another exit Gouto won’t let you past. What a wet blanket! Go south from there to find a twig! That’s about it. Time to get to the Fukuroku Inn. After an entertaining chat you’ll go to sleep and it’ll be the next day. Now you can finally save! ’bout time.

Like Narumi says, it’s time to hit the streets and search for Dahn’s house. Before that though, take the east exit out of resort environs and go to the residential area. Take the north exit out into the world map to find a Takumi Sake. The other exit takes you to the Tento Springs, but there’s absolutely nothing there right now, so don’t bother. Go back to the resort environs.

Bring out a pagan order demon and talk to the dude blocking the north exit. Show him Dahn’s photo and the tento crest and he denies everything. What a lying asshole. Read his mind to learn that you need the chief’s permission to go through the north exit to Tsukigata Mansion. Then ask him about said chief. He’ll be surprised you know about him. Dude, I would murder for the ability to read minds in real life. Uh, er, anyway. Read his mind again after asking him about the chief. He’ll start chanting that song we already know too well. ‘cept Raidou doesn’t know what he’s talking. Come on Raidou! Anyway, walk back south to where the two little girls are and talk to ’em. Ask the girl with the tied hair, and she’ll ask if you want to sing with them. Singing songs with little girls is stupid but we got a job to do, so choose yes. Raidou will memorize the song. Now go back to the man and read his mind again. This time Raidou will sing the song and the main will let you through. So let’s get going!

First time at Tento Woods

Items:
-Bead
-Kagura Flute
-Bead
-Pagan Bronze
-Aquamarine
-Turquoise
-Bead
-Repulse Water
-Ox Bezoar
-Amethyst

Demons:
-Fury Slime
-Pagan Mokoi
-Frost Jack Frost
-Pagan Sandman
-Fury Turdak
-Volt Koropokkur
-Volt Makami
-Pyro Onmoraki
-Skill Selket
-Wind Poltergeist
-Wind Angel
-Wind Moh Shuvuu
-Fury Nezha
-Pyro Orthrus
-Volt Agathion
-Pyro Ukobach
-Frost Preta
-Skill Pixie

Man I like this place. It has a nice song. Right up you’ll see a shack, but it’s locked for now. As you walk up you’ll run into a girl with pretty eyes. It’s Nagi! Narumi tries to talk to her but it takes a bit to get her to start talking ’cause she’s shy. Anyway, she doesn’t really tell us anything we didn’t already know or cared about.

During this dungeon you’ll probably run into the final horseman. Unfortunately Pale Rider is nothing like the other horsemen. He is in a completely different league and a veritable monster. He’s almost tailor made to not be beatable at low levels like his brethren. He has no weakness, ANY of his attacks will end you if they connect, and he summons clones of himself with full HP to work in tandem. Now, one Pale Rider is doable. But three at the same time? Get out. Add to that the fact that it’s almost impossible to kill his clone because they all keep teleporting all over the place and area of effect type skills are the only ones that can reliably hit him, but those also hit the real him and thus bring down his HP before the clone’s, making him summon a third one. And to put the rape cherry on top, once there are 3 Pale Riders, the behavior of their summon undead changes to “ignore demons and go straight for Raidou for the one-hit kill”. Well. It’s certainly not pretty. Regrettably, I will have to suggest that you beg him for mercy. It MIGHT be possible to beat him, but it’s far too difficult and would take way too long. Not fun. Fighting him right now is just not worth it. But in due time… he will regret ever thinking of opposing us.

Walk north and you’ll find a save point and a wind current. Let’s bring out a wind order demon and see where it takes us! Turns out it’s a glade with a single blue crystal. Go ahead and open it to get a bead, then take the wind current back. Go back to the save point and walk north past it to reach an intersection. To the left is Centipede Road, but you can’t do anything there right now… up north is Tsukigata Mansion, but before that, let’s take the right path. You’ll reach another area of the woods. Keep going and take a right at the fork and keep going south. Eventually you’ll reach a fire wall. Take out your frost order demon and use its skill on it to break it down. Past that is a wind current. Bust out your Wind order demon and ride the wind. You’ll reach a place with like a jillion wind currents. Looks like it’s time to comb this place over. There are 7 items scattered in the different rooms in this area. Since I’m such a nice guy I’ll draw a diagram telling you exactly where everything is and which currents take you where. I’ve labeled each room with a big number, and each wind current with a small number. The small number on a wind current indicates which room it will take you to. For example, if you use a wind current labeled 3, it will take you to the room labeled with the big 3.

After you’ve grabbed all of the items in that place, go back out. If you go north from here you’ll find a save point at a dead end. Hmm, kind of close to the last one isn’t it? Oh well! No complaints here. Go back to the previous fork and this time take the other side. Keep going north and then take a left to find a frost wall blocking your path. Call out one of your Pyro order demons and have it use ignite to kill it. With fire. If you keep going you’ll eventually reach a dead end with a suspicious animal trail. It seems a mysterious power won’t let you investigate further. Hmm… we’ll keep this place in mind. Go back and this time take the other path. You’ll reach a stupid Obariyon talking about it being dark. Except it’s not, dumbass! Stupid Obariyon… Take a left here and you’ll see what looks to be an item. ‘cept it’s not. Seems to be some overgrown grass, but if you check it, you find nothing. Yet another mysterious thing! What IS it with this place? Keep going and eventually the place will get all dark. Ohh, so this is what that Obariyon was talkin’ ’bout. Pull out a volt order demon and use its ability to light up the area. Keep going and you’ll reach a dead end glade with a Jubokko and a blue crystal. This one has an Ox Bezoar. Go back and this time go down the other path to the Obariyon to find another blue crystal with an Amethyst in it.

Welp, looks like we’re about done with this neck o’ the woods! Go allll the way back out of here to where Narumi is. Save at the dragon cave and this time go north to Tsukigata Mansion. As you try to leave someone stops you. “Danger lies that way.” Nigga, please. Me, and danger? We close. We like this ||. So gtfo. Aaaand bullshit, she teleports us all the way to where the Jubokko is. Ah well. No sweat. We already know our way around these here parts. Just run all the way back again. As you exit the area the High Pixie will send you back again, except this time you’ll be at the save point, way closer. It’s just a stone’s throw away from the exit. This time Ms. Fancy Pants Faerie understands that we mean business, so she gives up. Head north to finally get to Tsukigata Mansion.

The servant guarding the door isn’t being very cooperative, surprise surprise. If you bring out your Pagan Order demon, you can read her mind. Afterwards talk to her and show her Dahn’s Photo and the Tento crest. Then read her mind again. Looks like she was the one who took the Dahn photo. Talk to her again and tell her she betta break herself. But just as she’s about to, the chief of Tsukigata appears and kicks you out of there. Not before telling us that this is indeed Dahn’s house, though. Narumi decides to head back to Tsukigata Village and soak in the hot springs. Haha, what a laid back guy. Follow him back to the resort environs.

When you get there you’ll notice that the village is more deserted than a ghost town. You can even hear the wind blowing! The hell’s goin’ on here. Head over to the springs on the east side of the inn and chat it up with Narumi. Apparently these springs are mixed, he says. Shyeah, probably ’cause there are like NO girls at Tsukigata Village? Seriously check that shit out dog, there are only old people and children in this place. But anyway. He wants to talk about the situation up at the inn so go ahead and accept.

This is why you don’t eat at the heart of enemy territory

Items:
-Ox Bezoar
-Smoke Ball
-Insect Cage x3
-Birdlime x3

Bullshit man! Turns out the food was poisoned. Come on Raidou! How could you be so careless? At least they were just sleeping pills and not like, real poison. But now we’re trapped in a cell. Looks like it’s the chief’s doing and he wants us to end our investigation. I’ll end your FACE if you want. Fortunately, when he leaves Narumi busts out a lockpick and manages to pick the lock. “Hah, knew I still had it in me.” You used to be thief, Narumi?! Get out of the cell and you’ll find an Ox Bezoar near some junk. Before you talk to Narumi and go out the door, go behind the cell and walk down the stairs to find a save point and a smoke ball on the right. Save your game, then go back and talk to Narumi to get out. Looks like we were in the little shack at Tento Woods. Walk out and… turns out you’ll walk right into a trap. Looks like it’s another Fukorutsubo. This time cast by the chief’s Fukoshi. They ask you if you’re here to punish them for what the Fukoshi at Mannen-Cho did. Well, not exactly, right? I mean we’re just here to investigate at this stage. But answer whatever you want. Doesn’t really matter because they’ll try to kill you anyway. You’ll get into a fight and they’ll summon Jiromaru. You already fought this guy, so he’s absolutely no threat. Check the last Jiromaru fight if you’re interested, but really, you already know how to beat this guy. Take his HP down to half and he’ll use his hopper kick. The Fokoshi spread some paralyzing poison around, and you won’t be able to move, but don’t worry, this marks the end of the battle. You’ll faint and get another one of those Shinado cutscenes.

Looks like we were saved by Geirin. Nagi also shows up to say you’re “not as impressive as the rumors preceding you.” Oh dat is IT. Anyway, after a few words Geirin will take you to the Tsukigata Mansion and you’ll have a chat with the chief, Akijiro. Throughout this long conversation you’ll get a shitload of plot exposition and answers. Apparently Atlus thinks we’re idiots, so every few seconds you get a choice of whether you want the last bit repeated. There’s no need though. We got it all fine the first time. By the end, Akijiro will ask you to bring Dahn to him. Accept. If we’ve got the chief’s support we can get around the area without being blocked by pesky guards, and we all know snooping around is what we live for. He’ll give you 3 insect cages and birdlime. Wooooo. Afterwards you’ll head back home. Le Capital. You’ll visit the Herald at Shinoda and she’ll purify us of our bad luck. Finally! It took years but we’ve finally gotten rid of that weakass shit up in this humpy bumpy!

Third Investigational Meeting!

Ahhhh, home. ’bout time. I’m ready to kick back and relax just like Narumi too, how ’bout choo? Forget Dahn and the luck locusts! We gotsta hit up summa dem pwawty cloughbs! But before that, we gotta get the third meeting over with. Feel free to get all the questions wrong to get extra dialogue. I liked the one in the last meeting better, but this one’s not too bad.

Anyway, since Dahn’s after Akane, we gotta head over to the Narita Mansion! Buuuut fuck ’em. They can wait. Let’s take it easy and take a stroll around town eh? Like we used to. Like a family.

A quiet stroll through the capital while we let Narita get his ass kicked

Items:
-Antoine’s Fur
-Emerald
-Yamiyo Sake
-Wood Ornament
-Kamanari’s Hair
-Shrine Photo

First thing we should do is go buy some Birdlime. Yeah, generally you shouldn’t waste money but we’ll make an exception for this. I’d say about 5 is a good number for now. Also, people all over the capital’ve got new dialogue for you, so there’s that if you’re the kind that likes getting new dialogue.

Ok so. Take the train over to Fukagawa-Cho and run all the way to the empty lot. You’ll see a dog sitting on the north side. Bust out a Skill order demon and check him to obtain Antoine’s Fur! Now we can transform into a dog!! HEYLL YEYUH! Compton and Long Beach togethuh on this muthaFUCKA! This opens up a lot of possibilities. Remember all those small places an animal could go through? Now we can check them out! Woo! Let’s test it on the small hole to the right of Antoine. Transform and pass through it to obtain an Emerald. Also, don’t forget to talk to everyone! You can get a sidequest about umbrellas from one of the Kantou-Haguro Gumi punks in front of the bathhouse.

Now head on over to Mannen-Cho. Go to the house opposite of the hypocrite’s house. Y’know, the one you can’t get into because it’s locked. Check the side of it to find a hole. Turn into Antoine and now you can go through! You’ll obtain a Yamiyo Sake inside the house. Now go to the gambling parlor. You’ll find Osamu there. Talk to him to obtain a brand new side quest. We’ll deal with it a little later. Right now we gotta explore Mannen-Cho some more now that the fuzz isn’t blocking every street. Go to the old abandoned temple and head east, go up the alleyway and then take a left when you see a guy to find another well. Bring out a Frost Order demon and send him down to obtain a Wood Ornament.

Oh by the way… there’s something I forgot to tell you. I’m sorry! Come on, cut me some slack. But here’s the deal. You remember the room you went in while you were chasing Tatsumi that was all dark? Go there and check out the dude on the opposite side. He’s the owner of the house. Take out a skill order demon and examine him to obtain Kamanari’s Hair. Now you can transform into… a crossdresser? Hmm, maybe we shouldn’t have done this after all. If you transform into Kamanari and hit on some people, your MAG will be replenished. But oh god, the price you have to pay! Sometimes it’s better to just have low MAG. Urk. Anyways let’s get the hell outta here mang.

Let’s go to Shinoda now. If you’ve obtained the old camera from Victor, and you check the left side you can take a Shrine Photo. Now check the well on the right side. You can into the training hall now!

Training Hall B1

Items:
-Anti-Poison
-Medicine
-Red Crystal x2

Demons:
-Frost Preta
-Fury Obariyon
-Volt Koropokkur
-Pyro Onmoraki
-Skill Pixie

The training hall’s a small and simple place. It houses demons from all over your journey so you can get them easily, as well as a few items here and there. Poke around here and you’ll find two blue crystals and 2 red ones in a cross formation. The blue crystal at the bottom has an Anti- Poison, and the one at the top has a Medicine. Now for the red crystals, STOP. Listen up. Red crystals are awesome in that their contents differ based on the personality of the demon you use to open it with. Now here’s the awesome part: red crystals have a chance of giving you incense! Incense is by FAR and AWAY the best possible item you can get from these crystals. Now, since we’re playing King Mode here, we want to be as strong as possible right? This is where these red crystals come in. I recommend that you make sure you get an incense from EVERY red crystal you come across.

How to do this? Well. First of all, you’ll need a demon with a calm elegant female personality. In my experience these give you a higher chance of getting an incense. I’m talking about the ones that go “I hope my skin doesn’t dry” and “Ahh, a nice after-dinner workout.” or “This case is making me sleepy.” That’s what you need. A few examples are Selket, or Leanan Sidhe . Get one of these demons and keep it in your party forever solely for this purpose. Now, even if you have the correct demon, the item you get is still chosen at random. So what you have to do is go save at the nearest save point (for the training hall, this is the one near the nameless shrine). After you’ve saved, take your Leanan Sidhe or whatever and get the red crystal. Now, the chances of getting an incense are very low. Most of the time you’ll get a Jin Dan, and sometimes a Balm of Life. If you get either of these two items, load your saved game and do it again. And again. And again. And AGAIN. Keep reloading and doing it as many times as it takes until you get the incense. Once you do, go back and save your game. Then do the same thing for the next red crystal until you get an incense from every single one. Yes, it’s kind of tedious. But this is the only way to max out your stats, and we all know maxing out stats is awesome. So just go for it, move forward and COMMIT TO IT.

As a final suggestion, do note that it seems the chances of getting an Incense are higher the closer you are to a full moon, and lower the closer you are to a new moon. So if you want your chances to be highest, make sure you make it so that you end up checking the red crystal when there’s a full moon. Oh, and also, the chances of you getting an incense are also higher if you send out Leanan Sidhe SOLO to get the crystal, rather than examining it as Raidou and ordering her to grab the contents.

Once you have both incenses, move on to B2.

Training Hall B2

Items:
-Ox Bezoar
-Amethyst
-Frost Bronze
-Red Crystal

Demons:
-Fury Nezha
-Volt Agathion
-Wind Angel
-Pyro Enku
-Pagan Sandman
-Wind Poltergeist

Right, here you’ll find another 4 crystals. 3 blue and 1 red, to be precise. The red one is the one on the bottom left corner. Remember to make sure you get an incense from it just like in the previous floor. The crystal on the bottom right corner has an Ox Bezoar. The one on the top right corner houses an Amethyst, and the other one has a Frost Bronze. After you’ve yoinked all that, go back out and save your game so you can start abusing the system for the incense in that red crystal.

Once you’re done, that’ll be it for now. You can’t access the third basement yet, so it’s time for us to move to the next order of business. Before leaving Shinoda, don’t forget to summon the herald and talk to her to receive a sidequest from the Yatagarasu.

Head over to Shin Sekai and talk to the owner to get the next batch of sidequests. Complete the ones you can/are willing to. Check the case files section if you’re unsure of something. First off let’s take care of the cursed house business. So let’s go to Mannen-Cho.

Cursed House

Items:
-Beetle
-Stag Beetle

Get over to the gambling parlor to get the skinny from Osamu. He directs you to the house in front of the violent chicken. Go into the house and you’ll find the umbrella maker. It seems his illness may be caused by a demon. Gouto says to follow the demon’s scent to its source. Hmm… not much to go by. Either way, go to the back door of that same house and take out your volt order demon. Use its inspect ability and you’ll find a demonic footprint. Now go back to the violent chicken, and bring out a frost order demon. Use cool down on it. Looks like this chicken’s turned out to be a demon. Let’s go!

—Boss: Frost Rumored Basilisk—
My level: 25

This guy can be dangerous if you don’t defend properly. He’s weak to electricity so bring in demons who know Mazio or Ziorati. I suppose Zio could also do, but come on! You can do better. Set both demons to spam their electric skills. Now, you have to be careful. While Basilisk won’t outright kill you with an attack, he still hits for a lot and can cause both poison and stone. When the battle starts, hide your demons and watch what he does. If he uses an attack right away, it’s a good thing you had your demons hidden huh? But if instead he just starts walking, unhide your demons and let them hit him with their zio skills. Basilisk goes into frail stun very easily. When he does, get two combos on him (if you’re using mazio and ziorati. If you’re using vanilla zio, you’ll only be able to get off one combo). As soon as he comes out of frail stun, hide your demons and roll away and to one side because he will retaliate with one of his attacks.

I said away and to the side because he might use Glacial Blast, which has big range in a straight line. If he uses this and misses (which he should if you rolled away) run up to his backside and unhide your demons and unleash those zio skills while he’s locked into the move. If you’re lucky he’ll even go into frail stun again if zio hits him after he finishes the move.

He also might use Venomstrike. This move is very powerful and also poisons. It’s also fast and somewhat difficult to see coming. But if you rolled away as soon as he went out of frail stun like I told you, it shouldn’t be a problem, he’ll just whiff it. I will note, however, that even though it’s fast, it still has a visible cue and avoiding it on reaction like I did in my video is possible. You’ll see white beams surround him as he’s preparing it. If you see that and your demons are near him, very quickly hide them like I do in my video to avoid it.

Finally he can also use Petra. This move is hell of dangerous, since it turns you to stone and leaves you completely vulnerable to a one hit kill for a while. Do not get hit by this. Fortunately, the cue is somewhat long and obvious. Hell, you even get a big fat message on the screen telling you when Petra is coming. It affects an area all around Basilisk, but rather than try dodging and risking it, it’s best to just hide your demons and block whenever you see the cue. Remember not to jump the gun and unhide your demons too soon though, because Petra can still hit them a little bit after it’s over.

In any case, have your demons attack him right after he uses one of his attacks, but keep your guard up in case he doesn’t get frail stunned immediately and uses another attack.

After the fight, Basilisk says he’s sorry and says he’ll let you choose between two treasure boxes if you forgive him. You can demand both boxes but it won’t do anything. And you can choose not to forgive him but he’ll just keep asking the question again. Ah phooew. Anyways. You’ll get the choice of either the heavy treasure box with a lot inside or the light treasure box with not much inside. I know common sense tells us that the light one obviously has something amazing in it, but alas, this time it ain’t so. The light one only has like. 200 yen or some shit. The heavy one on the other hand has a beetle and a Stag Beetle! MUCH better! Incidentally, the beetle is the item you need to complete the Bug Collector (1) case, and the other way to get one is through luck with the item find skill, so I strongly urge you to choose the heavy box. Anyways! We’re done with this quest. On to the next one!

Stare from the Cracks

You get this one from either talking to the herald or the owner of Shin Sekai. Damned if I remember which. But whatever, whaddya think I am, some kinda machine? Take the case and head over to the exhibition at Fukagawa-Cho. Check the lattice door on the side to the right of the buffoon who keeps telling you stories for no charge. Looks like the one who was staring from the cracks was just a regular vanilla Makami. He’s pissed off at people being dicks and challenges you to a fight! Except wait, now dere’s TREE off dem? Well, Makami…dere’s ONE of me.

—Boss: Volt Rumored Makami—
My level: 25

Just kidding. There are actually a jillion of ’em. Thing is, uh. These guys are absolute pussies. They pose approximately ZERO threat. In fact, don’t even bother trying to avoid their attacks, they don’t do that much damage! The entire strategy here is to just bring in two demons who know Mazan and spam it constantly to kill them. That’s it. Seriously this is such an easy battle. It’s just very long since there are so many of them. Other than that, it helps to command your demon to keep using mazan instead of striking at the Makamis while they’re stunned. That’ll make it go faster. And if you want to rape them even harder, use Wind Sword. This is far from necessary though.

You’ll get a dragon tiles for your trouble. That’s it for this quest. Moving on! Notice that after you complete the Stare from the Cracks case, a new case will appear. Missing Tiles. It’s from Narumi. Ha. Looks like he’s lost his mahjong set. If you’ve been following my guide, you should already have all the pieces. Turn them all in for a hefty 10000 yen reward! Woo! We’ve got some real dough now! Can this day possibly get any better? I mean, we’ve won 10000 fucking yen plus nobody I know got killed in South Central L.A! If you haven’t been following my guide, then I’m hurt. But I can forgive you… I guess. Use the search function and search for Dragon Tiles, Number Tiles, Scoring Sticks, and Four Wind Tiles to find out where you can get them. Come on, don’t be lazy.

Fear of Betobeto and first time at Kasumidai

Items:
-Anti-Stone
-Ox Bezoar
-Lu Incense
-Gouriki Sake
-Kagura Flute
-Rakuyou Chalice
-Repulse Water
-Kagura Flute
-Anti-Poison x2

Check out this case file. I’m pretty sure the Herald of Yatagarasu is the one who gives it to you. Looks like some schmuck called Betobeto (what?) is roaming around Kasumidai. Take the case and head over. This case is especially awesome because it grants us access to Kasumidai! Fuck yeah. Let’s explore the shit outta this place. Head up to Colonel Adachi’s statue and you’ll see our old friend Sadakichi! Talk to him and he’ll say something about some top secret work he’s…working on. Take out a Pagan Order demon and read his mind to get even more case files! Oh snapola. Anyway, take a right. You’ll see an Anti-Stone. Head up and check the bushes behind Adachi’s statue to find a completely hidden Ox Bezoar. Head west from the Adachi statue past the cannon. take a left when you get to the diet building and go up the stairs and all the way to the statue of the mythical god whose name I totally know but forget. Check beside him to obtain a Lu Incense!! Now we’re talkin’.

Go back and this time walk up the path north of the Adachi statue. Take a left when you get to the Army HQ and keep going to find a Gouriki Sake. Now go back and past the guard post. You’ll be stopped on the way by our famous Betobeto. Who happens to be just a plain Obariyon. Well, except he seems to be on crack, and there are a jillion of them. Psh. Still no match for us. Let’s do dis thang!

—Boss: Fury Rumored Obariyon—
My level: 25

This fight’s gonna take a while. There are tons of these little hoes. And they have a shitload of HP. Hell, ten shitloads. Plus, they’re a lot more dangerous than the Makamis since they use very powerful physical attacks that don’t have much startup. These guys are frail to wind and death and like to surround you, so they’re just begging to be pummeled by a demon’s Mazan. However, the true trick to winning this battle without a hitch is to use either Wind Sword or Pagan Sword (your pick). Just use Pagan Sword at the beginning of the battle, and keep reapplying it every time it wears off. Then just go crazy and spam your combos endlessly. This makes you nigh untouchable! The spinning slash at the end of your bread and butter combo is especially useful for frail stunning Obariyons all around you. That’s all there is to this fight. Just keep doing this and you’ll win easily.

After the battle you’ve receive a 32 Gunto. What is this I don’t even. Looks like it’s a crappy axe. Oh well, I’m sure it’s SOMEHOW useful right? Anyway, we’re done with the case but we ain’t done with Kasumidai quite yet. Keep going and hit the wall on the other end to find a Kagura Flute on the ground near the tree. Walk south and you’ll see a car. Latest model, I believe? West of it search the bushes to find not one, and not two, but THREE holes small enough for an animal to fit. Transform into Antoine and go into each one. You will find a Rakuyou Chalice, a Repulse Water (boo!) and… wait, there’s nothing in the third hole? Bullshit mang. Welp. We’re done here. But before we go back to the agency, exit out from this part and you’ll go out to the world map where you’ll be able to pick up a Kagura Flute and an Anti-Poison x2.

Narita’s probably dead and buried by now but let’s check up on him anyway

Items:
-Kagura Flute
-Ox Bezoar
-Balm of Life
-Attract Water

Demons:
-Volt Koropokkur
-Fury Lamia
-Fury Slime
-Wind Moh Shuvuu
-Pyro Ukobach
-Fury Gozuki
-Fury Mezuki
-Skill Blob
-Fury Nezha
-Skill Selket
-Frost Azumi
-Pyro Pyro Jack
-Wind Archangel
-Pagan Mokoi
-Skill Pixie

When you reach the Narita mansion you’ll see some Fukoshi there. Looks like Dahn’s inside with Narita and Akane. But you can’t go through the door because it’s sealed with the Fukorutsubo spell. Ha, another dungeon? Sign me up! Let’s do this baby!

Head north to reach a fork. To the right you’ll see a save point and to the left you’ll see the Fukoshi waaay off in the distance. Hwell. Obviously if we go left we won’t reach them. That’s obvious! And sure enough, if you take the left path you’ll be transported back. So take the right one and save when you reach the dragon cave. There’ll be another fork. To the right you’ll see a blue crystal. Well that’s just an obvious way of telling us we can’t go there, and sure enough, you can’t. So take the left path. You’ll reach yet another fork. The right side is completely blocked off so take a left to reach the Fukoshi. They’ll summon Jiromaru AGAIN to fight you. Didn’t they learn the first time?

—Boss: Soldier Bug Jiromaru—

I’m not even gonna bother with a video here, this fight is practically the same as the first Jiromaru fight, so if you want to see a video go there. Just like last time, he’s weak to fire so bring in demons who know Maragi. Unlike the first time, now you’re much stronger so he shouldn’t pose any problem. Even his hopper kick doesn’t do that much damage to you anymore. The only new things he has is a weakass wing flap and an unavoidable attack with a large cue. Like all unavoidable attacks, simply hide your demons and block when you see the message that he’s preparing for something. But whatever, annihilate this mofo!

Keep going north to reach another fork. If you take the north path you’ll just get transported back, so take the right one to reach a room. Only one way to go and it’s up. You’ll see Nakisawame. Again, there’s only one path and it’s to the right. Go south to get the blue crystal you couldn’t get before. It has a Kagura Flute. Go back to the room with Nakisawame. Go in from the right. You’ll be able to keep walking west. When you hit the wall go north all the way to find a blue crystal with an Ox Bezoar. Take a right and keep going all the way to find two blue crystals. They gots a Balm of Life and an Attract Water. Go south and get teleported. Enter Nakisawame’s room from the right side and keep going all the way west till you hit the wall, then go north to the blue crystal you already opened. Walk east from there to the room just below the save point. Then walk south to Nakisawame’s room and then back up again to open the way to the dragon cave. Save your game and move forward to meet up with the two Fukoshi. It’s battle time!

—Boss: Fukoshi Black Mask—
My level: 27

These guys aren’t that strong. They’re frail to ice so bring in demons who know Mabufu, or better yet, bring one who knows Glacial Blast like I did. It’s learned by Jubokko. Glacial Blast checks their shit and then WRECKS it. MAG isn’t a problem in this fight so go balls out. Hit one of them with Glacial Blast (or whatever ice attack you’re using) when the battle starts and hopefully he’ll go into frail stun. Make sure to not have your demon cast glacial blast while they’re teleporting around since that’ll usually be a waste. The best time to hit them with it is when they’re slowly creeping around. They will always get stunned if you hit them during this period. To kill them ultra quick, once they’re stunned from glacial blast, instead of having your demon come in to strike them, command it to use a SECOND glacial blast on them while they’re stunned. The damage is immense.

As for their attacks, they’re not much to worry about. If you see one being engulfed in orange light, get out of the way because they’re about to use Disturbance or Sneak Attack. When you see both of them teleport to the far end of the arena and get the “preparing for something” message, hide your demons and block because they’re about to use their unavoidable attack, Jiraiya.

That takes care of the Fukorutsubo. Now you can go through the door and face Dahn. But before we do that, might as well go back to the agency and save just in case. Then enter the room.

Oh, looks like Narita’s still not dead. Oh well. Also, looks like Dahn thinks we can’t beat him. Feh. He’s got another thing comin’.

—Boss: Fukoshi Dahn and Soldier Bug Taromaru—
My level: 28

Dahn is good but he’s still no match for us. He’s frail to electricity so bring in demons who know Mazio. I suppose Zio could also work but eh. It’s a good idea to bring in Anti-Poisons for this fight since Dahn’s attacks inflict it, and it can be hard to avoid his attacks since they have no cue. That’s why I said he was good. His attacks are fast, cause poison and stun. Because of this, I’d suggest not using volt sword, since comboing in his face leaves you very vulnerable to all this. It’s better if you just hang back and let your demons try to stun him with Mazio. Try to hide them whenever you think he’s going to attack, but this is mostly anticipation since his attacks are so fast and your demons are probably still going to get hit at least a little bit. That’s where the anti-poisons come in, but having some form of dia doesn’t hurt either.

The best opportunity to frail stun him is just when he reappears from his teleport. Mazio is especially good for this. If you hide your demons when he uses an attack, and then unhide them after he whiffs, there’s a good chance he’ll teleport as your demons are starting to cast mazio but then reappear just behind them like a dumbass and get hit with it. Once he’s stunned get in there and combo the shit out of him. If you want to get in even more damage, command your demons to both cast mazio again instead of striking him. After he comes out of stun, hide them and get out of the way though because he’s about to retaliate. Probably with Poison Smash which is nasty and has a very high chance of poisoning.

Remember that if he manages to catch your demons with his Poison Smash or Demon Hunt, you can still hide them and save them from having to take the full flurry of hits. Obviously you can only do this if you don’t also get caught yourself, hence why you should be hanging back.

Once you get Dahn’s HP to half, he’ll take a time out and summon Taromaru to fight for him. Taromaru’s a pussy compared to Dahn though. He shouldn’t be much of a problem. He’s frail to ice just like the Fukoshi you fought before, so if you have Glacial Blast, it’ll make short and laughable work of him. Stay in Taromaru’s face and block the entire time so that he’s compelled to attack you and not your demons. Meanwhile they’ll be casting glacial blast on him (or mabufu if you must). When he goes into frail stun, combo him and command your demon to cast glacial blast on him a second time instead of striking for big damage.

When you see Taromaru bracing himself and hear some electric type sounds, it means he’s about to use Overdrive. Basically a tackling move. Block. Don’t bother hiding your demons if they’re behind him since he’ll go for you. Once he hits you with it though, don’t let go of block! Keep blocking because he repeats Overdrive 3 times! If your demons were behind him during this time, glacial blast is sure to be causing some pretty severe damage.

As always, when you see the “is preparing for something” message, hide your demons and block because his unavoidable attack Sonic Wave is coming. His Hopper Kick is somewhat different from Jiromaru’s in that he spends WAY more time in the air before coming down. Run to the edge of the arena and keep running along the border in ONE direction. Don’t go back the other direction or he’ll get you. If you just run either clockwise or counter-clockwise he shouldn’t hit you. He also has a wing flap attack but it’s weaksauce. Anyway, keep raping him with glacial blast and he’ll go down like a little ho. Once he does, Dahn’ll come back for round 2. This time with a new attack. It’s an unavoidable one called Burning Resolve. Hide your demons and block when you see the message, you know the drill. It’s actually decently powerful, hitting you for around 100 block damage. You might want to cast dia on yourself afterwards. Not much else to say. Everything’s otherwise just like it was during the first half, so fight him the same way with mazio.

Alternatively, you can also try to use elec bullet and frail stun him from a distance with it. This is the safer course of action, but the damage isn’t too hot.

Throughout these scenes and more you’ll really get to see how much Dahn cares about his sister. I like him. He’s a really nice guy.

Afterwards you’ll go back to the detective agency with Akane. She wants Narumi to call off the search for Dahn, and he accepts but now we’ll go back to Tsukigata Village with her to make sure the marriage ritual goes according to plan.

And that concludes the second chapter! Fin! But we just gettin’ started, foo. On to chapter 3!

Chapter 3

Slip out the back to the capital

So we’re back at Tsukigata Village! Diggin’ dirt on Lord Tento. Or at least that’s what we’re supposed to be doing, but we’re renegades right? Let’s take it easy and take a nice relaxing stroll around town. Tsukigata Village’s got a nice new tune, even. Perfect for taking a walk, wouldn’t you agree? And Narumi’s even coming along with you! What a swell guy.

Before we do anything here at Tsukigata though, let’s take the streetcar back to the Capital. We’ve got business there to take care of. First let’s head to Kasumidai. If you go to the Narita Mansion you can talk to Narita and get some extra explanations on his relationship with the Tsukigatas.

Go to Kasumidai proper and talk to Sadakichi. Well, actually read his mind. He’ll give you a new case file! Before leaving this area, make sure to go to the east side and talk to Tsunatsugu. He’s the guy in the navy uniform standing by the car. He’ll talk about a curse and says he might submit a case file for you if he can’t undo it. That’s two new case files we got! And they both happen to be actual quests. But before we take care of that, let’s finish our stroll through the capital.

Go to Shin Sekai. Talk to the owner to get a boatload of new case files. Limits of the Macabre, Looking for fickle dew, photog needed (2), low on stock (2), Leanan Sidhe in the sky, stocking up (2) and Zombie Highlander. Also talk to the blonde young man and he’ll tell you something about going to the catholic church. Hmm… we’ll have to keep that in mind!

Let’s visit Fukagawa-Cho next. Enter the Daikoku-Yu and talk to Satake to get another case file!

Next, hit up Mannen-Cho and talk to the crossdresser in front of the house you went in when you were chasing Tatsumi. You know the homo I’m talking about. The one you swiped hair off to be able to transform into him. Kamanari.

Finally, go to the nameless shrine in Shinoda and talk to the herald to receive another case file. We’re almost done, but we’ve got one last thing to do. Let’s hit up the training hall ’cause more of it’s opened up!

Training Hall B3

Items-
-Bead
-Sapphire
-Red Crystal x2

Demons-
-Pagan Mokoi
-Fury Turdak
-Frost Azumi
-Volt Makami
-Skill Selket
-Wind Archangel
-Frost Jack Frost
-Pyro Ukobach
-Wind Moh Shuvuu
-Fury Lamia
-Pyro Pyro Jack

Straight up, this area has 2 blue crystals and 2 red ones in a cross formation. The blue crystal on the right has a Bead. The one down below has a Sapphire. Once you got those, head back out and save your game, then commence the process of abusing the system to make sure you get an incense from each of the two red crystals. Once that’s done, it’s time to head back to the detective agency and take care of all our new case files because B4 isn’t open yet.

It Came From The Sewer!

-Items:
-Flute of Rhone

Ohhh snap, this case is great. Why? Because as a reward you get the large tarrasque and can finally traverse the ocean! You’re actually obligated to complete this quest later on, but let’s do it right now. The sooner we can show that ocean who’s boss the better. Besides, you do remember the mysterious blonde man telling us to check out the catholic church don’t you? And the only way to get there is by sea. You’re just as curious as I am about that aren’t you? Of course you are! So let’s do this.

Take the case and go to the manhole in front of Ushigome Gaeri Bridge. Talk to the dude there and say you’re here for le sewer case. You’ll get the chance to say what exactly the large tarrasque is. Obviously the coolest answer is a white alligator! But let’s move on. The dude’s actually a demon and he wants you to find his G, the Large Tarrasque. Apparently he got hammered and drifted out west? I dunno. Well, we know Tsukigata Village’s out west, and that’s where he is. I’d rather not pay the 1000 yen to make the trip, I mean seriously 1000 fucking yen? Are you fuckin’ loco? But them’s the breaks. So get back over to Tsukigata Village. Once there, head straight for the residential area east of the resort environs. You’ll find some brats picking on the tiny tarrasque. One of them even says to smash it and kick its shell! The fuck? That’s kind of unnecessary. Let’s rough these little hoes up. Well, that’s what I’d wish you could do but unfortunately the only two options you get is to either bribe them or give up. COME ON! I’ve killed fiends, I can take these three little bitches easy! Uh, anyway, yeah, choose to bribe them. You’ll have to hand over 3 Jin Dans. Well that’s easy. You should already have this many, easy.

The kids leave and the Large Tarrasque will now take you on a ride whenever you want! Woooo! You got any idea how many possibilities that opens up for us? It’s crazy. The Large Tarrasque will also give you a box that keeps you young forever as long as you don’t open it, but the jackass drops it and its ill effects hit you, bringing you down to 1 HP and MAG. You get the option of forgiving him or giving him hell. Normally I’d be mad but I’m too stoked about being able to travel over water so I’ma let this slide, let me ride. Just another homicide. You also get a Bead of Life as a reward. Pretty awesome. Alright, so! Now that that’s done with, head back to the detective agency. We’ve still got waaaay more stuff to do at the capital. Don’t forget to rest and replenish your health.

Catchin’ some waves at the capital

Items:
-Bead x2
-Birdline x3
-Diamond
-Ma Incense
-Bead of Life
-Yamiyo Sake
-Balm of Life
-Twig

Alright! So let’s take this Tarrasque on a test drive! There are plenty of things to check out now that you can travel over water. East of Ginza-Cho there’s a dock with a Bead x2! Just below that on an island that looks like a ship, there’s a Birdlime x3. If you go up to Fukagawa-Cho and get off at the dock there you’ll find a Diamond. If you get off at the southernmost dock below Harumi-Cho and walk all the way to a dead end you’ll find a Ma Incense!! Hell to the yes. That is what I am talking about. Unfortunately you can’t actually get into Harumi-Cho since a navy policeman is patrolling. If you ride to the center of the capital you’ll find a dock there with a Bead of Life.

Now I personally can’t wait to see what’s in the catholic church the mysterious blonde man sent us to, so let’s head over there. Get off at the northernmost dock in Harumi-Cho. Go into the catholic church.

Oh snap, he’s here? How in the? Well, let’s talk to him. Turns out he gives us a brand new case file! Woah. This must be big. We’ll definitely have to check that out when we get back to the agency. But we’re not done exploring quite yet. Amazingly, there are no tightass cops keeping you from going into Sakuradayama. So head there. You know where that is don’t you? Of course you do. It’s slightly to the left of Harumi-Cho, right below the gigantic radio tower that looks like a wang. Walk up the stairs to find a Yamiyo Sake. Unfortunately there’s nothing inside Waden One. Head to the Oumitsunu Shrine though, and keep going past it to find two items in the bushes at a dead end. It’s a Balm of Life and a Twig. That’s all we’ll find in Sakuradayama. Go back out. There are two places left to check out. The north and south training halls! Let’s arbitrarily start with the south one. It’s located at the southwest corner of the world map.

Training Hall South

Items:
-Red Crystal x8 (!)

Demons:
-Element Flaemis (ultra high chance)
-Element Sylph
-Element Aquans
-Element Erthys
-Element Aeros
-Wind Kurama
-Fury Yoshitsune

Really dog. This place is a dream come true. There are EIGHT fricken red crystals here. You know the drill. Abuse the system and make sure you get an incense from every single red crystal. I’ll paste the instructions here again: Red crystals are awesome in that their contents differ based on the personality of the demon you use to open it with. Now here’s the awesome part: red crystals have a chance of giving you incense! Incense is by FAR and AWAY the best possible item you can get from these crystals. Now, since we’re playing King Mode here, we want to be as strong as possible right? This is where these red crystals come in. I recommend that you make sure you get an incense from EVERY red crystal you come across.

How to do this? Well. First of all, you’ll need a demon with a calm elegant female personality. In my experience these give you a higher chance of getting an incense. I’m talking about the ones that go “I hope my skin doesn’t dry” and “Ahh, a nice after-dinner workout.” or “This case is making me sleepy.” That’s what you need. A few examples are Selket, or Leanan Sidhe . Get one of these demons and keep it in your party forever solely for this purpose. Now, even if you have the correct demon, the item you get is still chosen at random. So what you have to do is go save at the nearest save point (for the training hall, this is the one near the nameless shrine). After you’ve saved, take your Leanan Sidhe or whatever and get the red crystal. Now, the chances of getting an incense are very low. Most of the time you’ll get a Jin Dan, and sometimes a Balm of Life. If you get either of these two items, load your saved game and do it again. And again. And again. And AGAIN. Keep reloading and doing it as many times as it takes until you get the incense. Once you do, go back and save your game. Then do the same thing for the next red crystal until you get an incense from every single one. Yes, it’s kind of tedious. But this is the only way to max out your stats, and we all know maxing out stats is awesome. So just go for it, move forward and COMMIT TO IT.

This ones a little bit harder since the save point is kinda far away. But a man’s gotta make some sacrifices if he wants maxed out stats, so get to it. Didn’t you know? Chicks only dig devil summoners with maxed out stats. Remember to be patient. The chances of getting incense are very low. Around 5% or so, I’d say. So don’t get frustrated if you’re having trouble getting them. Don’t give up! Trust me, I know how hard this is.

Now, before we move on to the north training hall, let’s kill two birds with one stone. Check your case file 2 and take The Curse Reborn from old Tsunagatsu. The demon you gotta kill for this case is up there.

The Curse Reborn

Items:
-Red Crystal x8

Demons:
-Element Aquans (ultra high chance)
-Element Undine
-Element Erthys
-Element Aeros
-Element Flaemis
-Wind Kurama
-Fury Yoshitsune

Note that to reach the North Training Hall you have to take the streetcar to Fukagawa-Cho and then walk all the way to the north part and then use the Large Tarrasque just to swim over the tiny pond to the island in the middle. Here you’ll find another 8 red crystals. You know what you have to do. Make sure you get an incense from every one. Yeah, I know you just did that in the previous training hall and you’re tired but hang in there! You can do it.

Once you’re done with the red crystals, you’ll have already noticed there’s an Oni standing on the north side. This guy probably has something to do with Tsunagatsu’s curse. After saving, go talk to him. Looks like he is the one responsible for the curse. He’ll summon his brothers (and he has tons of them) and you’ll go into battle. Pfft. This guy actually thinks he’s got a chance?

—Boss: Fury Oni—
My level: 30

There are tons of these guys and you’ll have to kill them all. As per usual with these types of fights, the best way to go about things is to continually imbue your sword with the element they’re frail to. These Onis are frail to both electricity and death, so you have a choice of either going with Volt Sword or Pagan Sword. It’s up to you. Next, have two demons who know either Mazio or Mudoon. Set them to use these skills repeatedly. As soon as the fight starts cast Pagan (or volt) sword on yourself, and recast it every time it runs out. In this way you’re almost untouchable because every hit from your sword will stun them. The spin at the end of your bread and butter combo is especially effective at stunning any dudes that try to surround you.

This fight’ll be similar to the Obariyon fight in the Betobeto quest, but unlike the Obariyons, these Onis are quite a bit more dangerous. Even with Pagan Sword they’re still likely to get a few hits in on you and your demons so it’s a good idea to have some form of Dia handy. Finally, these whores can also use Luck Roulette of the Beast. If you get a particularly nasty bad luck effect like I did in my video (Raidou’s attacks will whiff), it’s a good idea to just use a luck locust and negate the effect. It’s not worth fighting the entire battle whiffing your attacks when luck locusts are so easy to get.

Apparently, murdering this Oni won’t undo the curse on Tsunagatsu. It will, however, give us a case closed, and the reward is Bizen-Osafune. Next up, let’s take a look at Guard Mission.

Guard Mission

You get this case from reading Sadakichi’s mind over at Kasumidai. Take the case and head over there. Take a left from the colonel Adachi statue and go past the cannon to trigger a battle with the Hyakki-Yakou!

—Boss: Hyakki-Yakou—
My level: 31

This fight is too long, clanky. You’ve got 100 demons here and you have to kill them all. That’s a lot of work, but oh well.

The first third of this fight is a complete joke. You’ll fight Pretas and Enkus for christ sake. Those guys are like, what, level 3? I dunno. Point is, the damage they do to you at this point is pitiful, and they go down real easy-like. Remember the Pretas are weak to fire and elec, and Enkus are weak to ice. Might want to keep that in mind. To make this fight even easier, use Volt sword and stun those pesky Pretas. I’d recommend not going with fire or ice, since that can heal Enku and Preta, respectively. But anyway, this first half should pose no problem at all! Hell, in fact, these guys are so weak that you might as well just use brute force to kill them faster instead of bothering with weaknesses.

Afterwards though, you’ll start facing Nekomatas and Okiku-Mushis. These whores are pretty damn annoying since they love to spam Marin-Karin and Pulinpa, confusing and charming your demons. If avoiding these things is proving too much of a hassle, I recommend bringing in demons who are immune to mind. There are many demons that have this characteristic, bring in whichever you prefer. I went with an Oshichi and a Nigi Mitama. Of course, make sure these two demons know some fire and electric skills because Nekomata is frail to electricity, and Okiku-Mushi is frail to fire. Volt Sword also helps if you want to stun those Nekomatas easily, although I’d recommend going with Pyro Blade since Volt Sword heals Okiku-Mushi.

Afterwards they’ll go back to throwing Pretas and Enkus at you, and this works the same way as the first third of the battle. For the final 2 demons, you’ll face two Gashadokuros. These guys are pretty tough, but there’s only two of them so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. They’re frail to wind so have your demons hit them with Mazan and the like.

This fight is too long, so I decided to just show it starting from the second third.

After all that you get Renki x2. Not too bad. Movin’ on. Get back to the detective agency. The next case we gotta take is the one we got from the blonde young man at the catholic church.

The Crown of Victory

Wait a minute, didn’t we already murder this jackass? Oh well, looks like blondie wants to see it with his own eyes. If we killed White Rider back when we were level 20, we should have significantly less trouble now.

Like I said, you get this from the blonde young man at the catholic church. Ride the Large Tarrasque back over there and walk towards the church altar. You’ll be asked if you want to wait there. Do so, and you’ll fight White Rider! Again.

—Boss: White Rider—
My level: 31

The main twist this time around, is that you need to kill White Rider before 5 minutes are up! That means you’ll need to do major damage to him, and fast! If you fought him back at level 20 like I did, you already know more or less how it goes. Check the horsemen section for the strategy I used back then. However, since we now have to kill him ASAP, our strategy is going to slightly change.

The main thing I recommend is that you get a Jubokko. As you well know, White Rider is frail to ice, and Jubokko happens to learn the strongest ice attack we have access to at this stage, Glacial Blast. This will be your main means of damage. On top of that, Jubokko is immune to White Rider’s Mamudo, which we already know he loves to use. Just an added bonus to having this demon.

Secondly, it wouldn’t hurt to bring in a demon who knows Makakaja, just to make those Glacial Blasts even more powerful. The demons who can learn Makakaja include Skill Thoth, Wind Anzu, and Fury Lamia.

Thirdly, it would help if one or preferably both of the demons you use in battle can drain death, so you can capitalize on White Rider’s abuse of Mamudo. Demons who drain death include Pagan Ghoul, Pagan Lilim, Skill Ippon-datara, Pagan Sandman, and Skill Legion.

Once you have this, it’s time to punish some suckahs Compton style! When the fight starts, have one of your demons cast Makakaja immediately, and set Jubokko (or both of them) to spam Mabufu. As you already know, the best time to frail stun White Rider is right when he reappears from his teleport, and Mabufu does this best. Read my horsemen section if you don’t know what I’m talking about or if you want to understand White Rider a little better.

Now, every single time you frail stun him with Mabufu, command Jubokko to use Glacial Blast instead of striking White Rider while he’s stunned.Then, command him to use glacial blast AGAIN while White Rider is casting Mamudo for even more damage! The reason I recommend not using Glacial Blast to stun him is because it uses up a lot of MAG, and since White Rider loves teleporting all over the place, it can easily miss and go to waste.

Combo him while he’s weak and steal his MAG. As soon as you see him come out of stun, roll away because he’s about to use Mamudo. Now this is very important: EVERY time White Rider comes out of frail stun, he will counter with Mamudo. EVERY. Single. Time. No exceptions. This is a blessing to you. Roll away (you’re not immune to death), but don’t hide your demons! Let them keep punishing him with their Bufus while he’s casting Mamudo, and then drain it for extra MAG on top of all that!

Now listen carefully, this is very important: wait for your demon to absorb the Mamudo, but IMMEDIATELY after you see the draining animation HIDE YOUR DEMONS. This is because right after Mamudo there’s a chance that White Rider will use his strike attack that has almost no cue. Now that you’re higher level though, this isn’t as much of a threat. If you’re feeling risky, go ahead and leave your demons unattended. But if you want to avoid damage, you will hide them right after Mamudo to prevent this. If he doesn’t use his strike then just unhide them and let them use their Bufus on him while he runs around, hopefully frail stunning him again.

That’s more or less the extent of the strategy. If you do things correctly you should beat him in less than 5 minutes without much problem.

As a reward, you obtain White Rider’s Victory Crown. I wonder what this is for! Welp, let’s get back to the agency and check out the last quest!

7th Trumpet, Eternal King

Check case file 8, and you’ll find this one tucked in there. Looks like another one from our good friend. According to the blonde young man, he’s giving me this case because I’ve once lived my life keepin’ it real. This leads me to believe that you can only get this case once you’re on your second playthrough.

In any case, take the case and head over to Mannen-Cho. The place he’s waiting for us is obvious if you think about it. It’s the abandoned temple. Talk to him.

… He wants to do battle with us?! This is getting good! He teleports you to the final dungeon of Devil Summoner 1, and shows his true form to us. Hmm. So it’s you. I had a feeling.

Lucifer takes us to a place reminiscent of where we fought him in Nocturne, and it’s on. Now, at first you might be thinking “How the HELL am I supposed to beat Lucifer himself this early in the game?” But don’t worry, it’s not like that. As always, Lucifer is a nice guy. He knows we’re not yet at our full potential, so he’s gonna go real easy on us. He’s only testing the waters. This fight is entirely doable, so cast those doubts away! Still, you’re going to be fighting 4 enemies back to back, with no healing in between, so don’t let your guard down. If you want to get out of this fight without using too many items, it’s gonna take a tiny bit of preparation.

First off, I recommend you fuse a Thoth who knows at least a fire skill such as Maragi or Agirati. The cool thing about Thoth is that he absorbs all of the elements except death and phys. This makes him very valuable for this string of fights, since your MAG won’t get healed at all. If you can get Diarama on this Thoth, it would be nice as well. Also, if you can level him twice and learn Makakaja, that’d help tremendously. If you have Makakaja on another demon, that works too.

Next, have a demon who knows Mazio or Ziorati but isn’t instantly killed by physical attacks like Thoth. Preferably this demon also drains ice. I went with Alraune. If you can get diarama on this demon too, that’s nice.

As soon as the fight starts, cast makakaja on your party, then remove one of your demons and leave only Thoth in your party.

—Boss: Pagan Mara—
My level: 32

This is the first demon Lucifer will pit you against. Mara only has three attacks: Rush, Marin-Karin, and Cursed Emission. I don’t even know what Cursed Emission does since I’ve never been hit by it, and neither should you. If it’s anything like Mikazuchi’s cursed emission in Devil Summoner 1, it paralyzes you. But it’s way too slow to pose a threat. Just run away or roll away a couple times and it won’t get to you.

Mara’s most dangerous attack by far is his rush. This can actually instantly kill you if you’re not careful. And Thoth? It’ll kill his dogs and his babies. Fortunately, Mara ONLY concentrates on you. And this is what we will be exploiting throughout the fight. Always position yourself away from Thoth so that Mara can rush you without hitting him. You should ALWAYS be blocking right before he hits you with the rush. It’ll do about 50 damage to you, which isn’t anything to scoff at, but it’s fine. The good thing is that while Mara is hitting you, he leaves Thoth free to continually pelt him with Agirati, which he is frail to. And whenever he decides to use Marin-Karin? Thoth drains that.

So that’s the extent of the strategy for this guy. Keep away from Thoth, let Mara rush you while you block, and let Thoth hit him with Agirati while he does so, hopefully frail stunning him. If he does, make sure to combo him to get back some MAG because this fight will really drain you. Otherwise though, I don’t really recommend trying to hit him when he’s not stunned since his rush is so dangerous. Overall, Mara seems to be quite resistant to frail stun, but he should still fall into it every now and then.

Theoretically, you shouldn’t have to heal at all in this fight, EVEN taking the block damage from Mara’s rush every time.

After you’ve killed him, immediately switch to your demon who knows Mazio or Ziorati and hopefully drains ice. Like I said, I chose Alraune for this.

—Boss: Frost Arioch—

This guy is pretty strong, and is gonna take a while to kill, but thankfully he doesn’t have any attacks that instantly kill you. If you do things right, he’ll be a blessing to you in that you can completely refill your MAG draining from him. Set Alraune to using Mazio/Ziorati, but in this fight, you’ll be doing a lot more babysitting to keep her from getting killed compared to the last fight.

Arioch is frail to elec, but normally he is really resistant to being frail stunned. But there’s a way to get him into stun every time. Read on.

Arioch has 4 attacks. He has Winged Fury, in which he’ll throw your sword at you like a boomerang. While this attack won’t kill you in one shot even if you don’t block it, it’s still not a good idea to get hit by it. Whenever you hear Arioch do his little groan, hide your demon and block, just in case it’s this attack that’s coming. Remember how I said there’s a way to frail stun him every time? Well, this is your best chance at doing so. RIGHT after you block Winged Fury (and it’s not coming back to hit you in the back of the head), immediately unhide Alraune so that she begins casting Mazio or Ziorati, and while she’s in the middle of casting, run up to Arioch and combo him with your sword. He’s VERY vulnerable right after his Winged Fury, and if you do it correctly, your sword strikes should cause him to flinch for a second. This flinch causes him to be 100% likely to go into stun if Mazio hits him, and conveniently enough, Alraune should be about done casting it by this time. Combo him and steal his MAG.

Once he comes out of stun though, watch out. He’s likely to counter with his 2 hit strike combo. Hide your demon and roll away or just block it. The good news is that the cue for this strike is fairly obvious. What I recommend doing here is to run behind him, while letting your demon keep hitting him with Mazio from the front. As soon as you see him about to initiate his strike, quickly press L2 to call your demon. If done correctly, the demon should now be behind him, safe from damage, and free to cast Mazio again while Arioch finishes his combo animation. As soon as he does, run around back to the other side, and if he uses the strike on your demon again, repeat the same process.

Arioch also uses Tetrakarn to render your physical attacks completely ineffective. This is a really annoying move since it keeps you from being able to use the 100% foolproof way of frail stunning him until Tetrakarn runs out. Not much you can do though. When he casts it, you’ll just have to wait it out and let your demon keep using Mazio, hopefully frail stunning him without your help at least a few times.

Finally, Arioch may also use Glacial Blast. The cue is also his groan, but the difference seems to be that he’ll take longer to initiate Glacial Blast compared to Winged Fury. Remember that Glacial Blast travels in a straight line, so to avoid it just run circles around him. If your demon drains ice, don’t hide it! Let it get hit by Glacial Blast and replenish some MAG, not to mention hit Arioch with some Mazios while he’s finishing the glacial blast animation. For added effect, if you managed to avoid it by running circles around him, go in and start comboing him yourself while he’s still using Glacial Blast. There are some chances that he’ll be stunned by Mazio if you do this.

By the time you kill him your MAG should be looking pretty good! But we’re not quite done yet. In the next interlude, Lucifer will say he’s got a present for you. He’s being sarcastic. His present is Evil Gleam, an unavoidable attack. Block to minimize its damage. Next, you’ll be fighting the famous Beelzebub. Switch back to Thoth for this fight.

—Boss: Pagan Beelzebub—

Beelzebub has no weaknesses, but he takes pretty good damage from Agirati anyway. This will be your main mode of damage. This also means that the only way to get MAG in this fight is to drain his moves. Beelzebub has 4 attacks: Thunderbolt, Megido, Mamudoon and strike. Thoth can only absorb thunderbolt. All the other attacks kill him. Theoretically, you could also use a demon who absorbs death to absorb his Mamudoon and get MAG that way. But absorbing his Thunderbolt is better. Why? For one thing, he uses Thunderbolt FAR more often than Mamudoon. Secondly, the start up on Mamudoon is huge, making it easily avoidable, while Thunderbolt can damage you from the moment it appears on screen.

In any case, throughout this fight, you will not touch Beelzebub at all. That’s right. I recommend you just hang back, blocking, and concentrate ONLY on babysitting Thoth to make sure he doesn’t die and kill Beelzebub solely with Agirati. So here’s what you have to do: set Thoth to using Agirati. He will likely teleport right in front of Beelzebub to cast it every time. This is fine, but you have to be on your toes and watch carefully what Beelzebub does. You must NOT let Thoth get hit by Beelzebub’s strike, as it will end him in one shot. Fortunately, the startup for Beelzebub’s strike is fairly obvious. If he starts moving as if beginning an animation and makes no sound, that means he’s about to strike. Immediately call Thoth back to your side to avoid it. On the other hand, if he starts an animation but you hear his little groan that means he’s about to use any of his other attacks. Leave Thoth where he is and let him finish casting Agirati. If Beelzebub casts Thunderbolt (which has a VERY tiny startup), that’s great! It gets absorbed and that’s more MAG for you. If he uses Megido or Mamudoon, that’s also fine because these moves have such a huge startup that you can safely let Thoth finish casting Agirati and call him back to your side and avoid damage every time.

That’s the entire strategy. If you do this, you should never be in any danger yourself and thus there’ll be no need to heal. By the time Beelzebub is dead, you’ll have used up most of your MAG, but that’s fine.

—Boss: Prince of Darkness Lucifer—

Now you’ll go up against Lucifer himself. But don’t worry. Like I said, Lucifer is a good guy. He knows we’re not yet at our full potential, so he’ll be going really easy on us. He will only use two attacks, alternating between them with no variation at all, and we’ll only have to take his HP down to 3/4. Easy. He will first use Maragidyne. This is great, because Thoth will drain it for some much-needed MAG. You will have to block it though, because it’s unavoidable. Then, he will use Roughhouse. This is an unblockable attack that causes a blue sphere to appear near you for a few seconds, and then damages you. Just roll away from the sphere before it bursts and you won’t take damage. Easy. if he uses it on your demon, hide it.

He has no weaknesses. What did you expect?! This is Lucifer we’re dealing with! Anyway, fire doesn’t work against him, so set Thoth to strike and spend a little time using strikes on him. This isn’t too effective, but the main thing we’re doing is replenishing MAG with those Maragidynes. Remember that it’ll hit you for 50 block damage every time though, so if you have to heal, do so.

Once you’re up to 150 MAG or so, switch Thoth out for a demon who knows a big-damage skill such as Glacial Blast, and command it to use it in between Maragidynes and Roughhouses. By the time your MAG runs out you should have Lucifer down to 3/4s health or at least close to it.

Well that was fun. As a reward for showing him your strength, Lucifer lets you choose from two items in his bag of temptation. The Nous or the Healing Bell. Get it? Knowledge or life? The Nous lets you create a strong weapon (according to him), and the Healing Bell gives you and your demons permanent HP regeneration in battle. Choose whichever you want. The Healing Bell is actually really awesome, but I chose the Nous because we already know what the Healing Bell does, but we don’t really KNOW what weapon will result from the Nous. So in the interest of discovering new things I went with the Nous.

Anyway, wow! Feels like we did a lot outside of the main plot just now but we’re pretty much done for the time being! Time to return to Tsukigata Village and start exploring that place.

Return to Tsukigata

Items:
-Birdlime x3
-Wind Silver

Aright! Straight up as soon as you get to Tsukigata, it’s time to show that river we mean business. When you get out to the world map, you’ll see a dock just above the crazy lady talking about bugs. Get on your Large Tarrasque and we gawn. Just to the left you’ll find a Birdlime x3 lying on the ground. Further to the west of that, you’ll see another dock that leads us to the Three Cedars. No harm in checking it out, but unfortunately there’s really nothing we can do there at the moment. Instead, go upstream all the way to the top and you’ll find another dock. Get out and you’ll find a Wind Silver beneath the forest canopy.

Bah, looks like that’s all we’ll get with Tarrasque here. What a letdown! But let’s keep exploring. Remember that now that you’ve got the chief’s blessing, the villagers won’t block your way. Just talk to them to get them to move. You can check the Fire Tower at resort environs and take a picture of Tsukigata from there. Furthermore, you remember the patch of grass in Tento Woods that didn’t seem to have anything growing on it? North of the stupid Obariyon? Well, if you check that patch during a full moon you’ll get the moonlight herbs. With that, you’ve completed Photog Needed (2) and World of Plants (1) respectively.

Right well, it’s time to head over to Centipede Road. Old man Akijiro told us not to go there, so of COURSE that’s where we’re supposed to go. You know how it works. You remember where it is right? ‘course you do. It’s to the left at the Tento Woods intersection.

You’ll find Nagi there doing her pointless patrols. Apparently you need a Tento Talisman to get through the woods but she’s not just going to hand her spare over without something in exchange. Oh come on. Who does this girl think she is? She ain’t no thang mang. We could pry the thing off her dead hands if we wanted to. But this ain’t Mass Effect so we can’t do that. Accept her request. She’ll take you all the way to the nameless shrine of Tsukigata. Well at least she’s grateful. I guess it’s not so bad.

Apparently she needs Raidou’s blood to open the Great Summoner’s Hall and train there, since Geirin thinks she’s still too much of a noob. Well, maybe it’s because you ARE? Come on sister. You gotta know where you stand. Gotta know your limits. Know what I’m sayin’? Chances are he’s right when he says you can’t take the heat.

But we gotta do this anyway. So check the door and Raidou’s use his blood to open it. Well! At least we get to do a dungeon so it’s all gewd.

Great Summoner’s Hall

Items:
-Red Crystal
-Sapphire

Demons:
-Wind Poltergeist
-Frost Pabilsag
-Fury Slime
-Frost Preta
-Wind Anzu
-Pyro Ukobach
-Skill Leanan Sidhe
-Skill Selket
-Wind Archangel
-Skill Blob
-Pagan Jorougumo

Go past the stairway to slaughter and you’ll find Nagi has beaten a Tsuchigumo. Apparently her cute eyes did ‘im in. RIP, Tsuchigumo. But now we’re in the dungeon proper! Let’s do dis thang. You’ll see a save point right in front of you, so make use of it. You can’t go north because there’s a mysterious force blocking the way, and you can’t go east either because there’s a dragon’s jaw. So that leaves only west, which is blocked by a firewall. Take out one of your Frost Order demons and take it down. Past it you’ll find a wind current. Use Kamikaze on it to get blown to the east side past the dragon jaw.

Here you’ll find Nakisawame and a red crystal. You know the drill. Abuse the system and make sure you get an incense from it. Before trying, take the wind current back to the save point and save. I don’t mean to rub it in, but I got an incense from this one on my first try. Heehee. Once you’re satisfied, go through the door to the east. Walk up to the Onmyo Mirror and prepare for an easy fight. It’s some Enkus and an Oshichi. All very weak to ice attacks, so hit ’em with stuff like Mabufu and Glacial Blast to end their pointless existence. After that you’ll face some equally weak Ippon-Dataras. They’re frail to electricity, so get some Mazios up ins. Then after that, you’ll get a few Pretas and Nekomatas. Guess what? These are all weak to electricity as well, so don’t change anything. Finally, you’ll get some level 2 Onorakis and Gashadokuro. The Onmorakis are no threat in the slightest, but Gashadokuro is at least closer to your level. He’s frail to fire and wind, so get some Maragis or Mazans on his face.

Winning the battle causes the first barrier to go down. Nagi also asks you why you fight. As always, answer whatever you want. Though personally, I would’ve appreciated if they’d included an all of the above option. Come on people! Options! …moving on. Get back to the save point. Head up to the next barrier. To the right is a Strength Wall. Bring out a Fury Order demon and take it down. Past it you’ll find a Blue Crystal with a Sapphire. Go back west, and you’ll find a barrier only demons can pass through. This particular one requires a demon who is above level 15… BAHAHAHA! Are you joking? Considering we’re in our 30’s there may as well not even BE a barrier. Go past the wall with any of your demons and immediately take a right to find the crystal keeping it active. Check it and follow the instructions to destroy it. Frankly, I’m disappointed that they wasted the Soulless Battleship song on this. The should’ve really used it for like, an actual battle. Oh and by the way, I don’t mean to brag, but I destroyed that crystal with only ONE demon. Heehee.

Ahead you’ll see a door. Go back and save if you want to, then go through it and check the mirror at the end, and get ready for another piss easy fight with common run of the mill demons. First you’ll fight Obariyons. You know the drill. They’re weak to both wind and death, so get some Mazans or Wind Swords or Pagan Swords up ins. Then at the end you’ll fight an enormous Obariyon. This guy is basically similar to the small ones, with the exception that he’s stronger and doesn’t go into frail stun quite as easily. Try to stay away from his front where his combo hits and stay behind him. Hit him with Wind Sword or Pagan Sword right after he completes a combo to stun him with 100% likelihood. But seriously. He’s still a weaksauce and this fight should really pose no problem.

After you win, the second barrier will disappear. Then Nagi asks you yet another alignment question. I like how cute she looks when she’s not sure about asking you. Question is whether you treat your demons as tools or as friends, sharing sorrow, joy etc with them. Answer whatever you want, but let’s be honest here people. Demons are really tools. You’re not going to keep a demon for long. Once it’s outlived its usefulness it’s fusion fodder. That’s just the way it is. Go back and save. Once you’re ready go through the door on the north side of the map.

You’ll find that Nagi’s gotten her ass kicked by the major demon. Hwell. We can’t just sit back and let a cute girl get killed now can we? That would just be a waste. So gear for battle ’cause we’re about to rip shit up.

—Boss: Fury Atavaka—
My level: 35

This guy is all about physical attacks. He uses Warcry to increase his attack power, and then uses Rush and Frenzy with a few strikes thrown every now and then. And if he gets angry, he gets even stronger. But even with all this, he still doesn’t do enough damage to one-shot us. He’s moderately hard, but nothing extreme.

If you wanna annihilate this guy, and I mean completely humiliate him, might I suggest getting a Chernobog and leveling him twice until he learns Null Phys? This will make anything Atavaka tries absolutely futile, and make the whole fight laughable. If you don’t feel like doing that though, Atavaka isn’t really dangerous enough that he warrants it.

If you wanna fight him the normal way, first of all, note that he’s frail to fire, so bring in demons who know Maragi or Agirati. Second, it wouldn’t hurt to boost your defenses with Rakukaja. Thirdly, note that Atavaka is very resistant to physical attacks, so trying to combo him won’t accomplish much. He’s very susceptible to magic attacks though. So if you can, use Makakaja and hit him with those Agis, and when you manage to frail stun him, don’t bother trying to combo him and instead command your demons to pelt him with magic some more.

Now, as for the fight itself. Be careful that you and your demons don’t get hit by Frenzy. The cue is pretty obvious but it can still sometimes be hard to see it coming. Whenever you see light beams gather on Atavaka, that means he’s about to use Frenzy. Hide your demons and roll out of his vicinity. If you can’t roll in time, block. Be careful though, because Frenzy works independently from Atavaka. This means that when he uses it, he’s protected from all side by it, but can move around freely while the attack is still on the screen. As a consequence, he can follow up Frenzy with a Rush, so stay on your toes. To avoid the Rush, just run or roll away and to the side of him. In a pinch, block it. Once he’s finished his Rush though, is when he’s most vulnerable because of its long recovery, so as soon as he finishes it, unhide your demons and strike him yourself. Hopefully he’ll go into frail stun, but sometimes he may not so be careful and be ready to block a Frenzy or Rush.

As I said before, physical attacks don’t really do much damage to him so concentrate on commanding your demons to use agi on him when he’s stunned. If you used Makakaja and used magic attacks a lot, he should fall surprisingly fast.

After the battle Nagi’s High Pixie dies from the wounds. Good. She was really annoying. But Nagi still cries about it. Come on! Just use a Jin Dan and it’s all good, what’s the big deal. But anyways, afterwards Geirin shows up and man is he pissed. “You’ve done nothing here but create foolish drama.” Ohhhh snap. But man I feel sorry for Nagi. She almost died when Geirin said he was disappointed. But whatever. We’ve got the Tento Talisman. Save back at the dragon cave, then exit the great summoner hall. When you get out, Nagi asks you yet ANOTHER question. Whether to go apologize to her master or not. I dunno about you, but Geirin doesn’t seem like the kinda guy that’d go “Oh it’s fine, c’mere and gimme a hug”.

Anyways! Now that we’ve got le talisman, it’s time to get back to Centipede Road.

Centipede Road

Items:
-Shishiou Sake
-Ruby

Demons:
-Frost Jubokko
-Pyro Orthrus
-Wind Moh Shuvuu
-Fury Turdak
-Skill Blob
-Frost Jack Frost
-Fury Slime
-Volt Makami

Nagi will be waiting for you here. Talk to her to get the “theory behind this area”. It’s all about the moon phase and the stone tablets tell you during which phase you should advance.

Aright, so. The first one’s easy. You just have to wait until the full moon to advance. The moon phase changes FAST in this place so don’t stray too far from the exit.

In this next area you’ll be at a fork. You need to take a right and proceed during a 3/8 moon.

Next, you need to exit back from where you just entered during a 1/8 moon.

Now you’ll be at a place with three roads forward. You need to take the leftmost road during a 5/8 moon.

According to the tablet in this area, there’s a hidden treasure up around here. To get at it, take the rightmost path during a 2/8 moon. You’ll arrive at a glade with 2 blue crystals. They contain a Shishiou Sake (don’t drink this. You need it for Kamanari’s quest, remember?) and a Ruby (very nice)! Head back. To advance forward exit through the center road during a 7/8 mon.

That was the last one. We’re out of Centipede Road now. You’ll see a dragon cave. Use it! Or don’t, I mean, I ain’t forcin’ you or nuthin’. Exit out north. You’ll be back on the world map. Keep walking north to reach the infamous Tento-Kagura.

You’ll find a Fukoshi Black Mask guarding it. Looks like Dahn’s beaten us to this place. Walk up the stairs to the shrine to find Dahn. He’s not fighting us though. In fact, he gives us a personal invitation to check out Tento Sanctuary. Sounds good to me! Let’s take him up on that offer. Go into the Tento Entrance.

Tento Sanctuary

Items:
-Anti-Poison x2
-Kagura Flute
-Amethyst
-Javanese Figure
-Balm of Life
-Attract Water
-Renki
-Foxtail
-Birdlime
-Ox Bezoar
-Red Crystal
-Aquamarine
-Homura Sake
-Jin Dan
-Bead
-Red Crystal
-Vi Incense!
-Bead
-Life Stone
-Soma!

Demons:
-Pagan Jorougumo
-Skill Nekomata
-Pagan Mokoi
-Pyro Enku
-Fury Mezuki
-Fury Gozuki
-Pagan Sandman
-Pagan Okiku-mushi
-Pyro Oshichi
-Skill Blob
-Volt Tsuchigumo
-Fury Obariyon
-Frost Pabilsag
-Frost Azumi
-Frost Jubokko
-Wind Anzu
-Wind Feng Huang
-Wind Angel
-Skill Leanan Sidhe
-Fury Lamia
-Skill Ippon-datara
-Volt Nandi
-Volt Koropokkur

Hell yeah, full blown dungeon baby. Let’s explore the shit outta this place. From the entrance, go all the way south to reach a dead end with a blue crystal containing Anti-Poison x2. Go back to the entrance and take the other path. You’ll be stopped by Nagi. Looks like she decided to come even though Dahn didn’t invite her.

Suddenly a hat-wearing figure will appear! Apparently he doesn’t like the fact that you’re a man. Yeah? Well I don’t like the fact that you’re a fugly piece of shit. Anyway, it’s battle time!

—Boss: Freak Hat-Wearing Figure—
My level: 35

He’ll come with 3 Blobs but they ain’t no thang. They’re frail to everything except wind, so destroy them. If this fight was a contest on being ugly, you’d be screwed. But since it’s not… Freako is actually a raging pussy. I’m not even joking. This isn’t even a fight. It’s a massacre. Just hit him with whatever and he’ll be dead before you even know what’s going on.

After the fight, freakm’n will run away. Nagi also decides to come with you. Also I wanna make a note here. Nekomatas appear in this place. They drop the much sought-after Foxtail. So if you want Foxtails, you can farm them here. They’re worth getting for Gouto’s funny responses. And if it’s anything like Devil Summoner 1, he’ll give us some bitchin’ items if we bother him enough.

Keep going to find an astral body. He was killed by the Tsukigatas for finding out the truth about Lord Tento. Keep walking past him and exit out to the world map. Go south and enter the next part of the sanctuary. The Silkworm Road. Here you’ll find a dragon cave. Use it! Take the path east from it to reach a dead end with a blue crystal. It has a Kagura Flute. Go back to the save point and go south from it to find Dahn and his Fukoshis with Freakmotron.

Dahn will ask you if you’d be willing to kiss and make up with these abominations. An obvious alignment choice. Answer whatever you want, but let’s be honest people. Those things are ugg to the lee. Everyone likes beautiful things, and everyone dislikes ugly things. That’s just the way we are, and no one can change that. Oh and these dudes’ god complex? Not helpin’.

If you answer this, Dahn gives us a very wise life lesson: honesty ain’t always the best policy. Very true. The world can’t function without hypocrisy. But we’re Raidou Kuzunoha. We can AFFORD to be honest.

Then the big reveal, these monsters are Lord Tento. Except it’s not big because we already knew that. Anyways. After the cutscene keep heading south to reach what seems to be a sprawling network of tunnels. Right away you’ll catch a glimpse of a blue crystal in the north part. If you try to get to it, a dragon’s jaw will block you. You’ll have to take the long way around. It contains an Amethyst.

Now, if you go all the way south you’ll find an exit. But before that, go to the dead end directly to the right of that south exit, and walk right to go through a hidden passageway and find a blue crystal with a Javanese Figure. Now take the east exit to go out into the world map where you’ll find a Balm of Life. Go back into the sanctuary and take the south exit to get to the Nest of the Old Ones.

Walk south to find a save point. Just a bit below and to the left of the save point you’ll find a small room with a blue crystal. It has an Attract Water. Get back out, go all the way south, then down the bridge to the right to get to the bottom floor. Then go north all the way and take a right once you hit the wall to find another blue crystal. This one has a Renki! Not too shabby.

Go back to the save point and cross the other bridge to get to the other side of the chasm. Head south to find another bridge that takes you to the bottom floor. Before you go down it though, check the room opposite of it to find a blue crystal with a Foxtail. Go down the aformentioned bridge and walk to the north part of the bottom floor to find yet another room with yet another blue crystal. This one houses a birdlime. Get back to the top floor, then keep going south past the Fukoshi Black Mask to get to Butterfly Road.

When you reach a fork, take the west path to find an exit. Unlock it. You’ll be out in the West Tento Shrine Annex. This’ll let you get into the sanctuary from the west exit of Tento Woods. Mildly convenient. Get back into butterfly road though, and this time take the other path to find Dahn with the Tentos again. After the cutscene’s done, keep going down the path to get to Spider Road. Another sprawling network of tunnels. You’ll find another save point. Go straight east from it to go through a secret passage and get the blue crystal on the other side. It has an Ox Bezoar. If you walk straight down from the entrance you’ll go through a secret passage to a red crystal. You know what to do, soldier. Go save at the VERY conveniently placed save point and send out your Selket or equivalent demon and make sure you get an incense from it.

Once you do that, from the save point go all the way to the end of the west side. From there you can go up or down through two secret passages to find two blue crystals containing an Aquamarine and a Homura Sake. After you get those two items, go the east side to find two Fukoshi black masks. They tell you Dahn’s waiting for you past the exit to the north, so head there. You’ll get another scene where Dahn explains to you the fate of the brides given to the Tento. Welp. Them being so ugly was already bad enough, but now this? Now we’re definitely exterminating these whores.

Anyway, go past the part where the Fukoshi were guarding, and go south as soon as you can. Take the path all the way to find a wind current. Before we check that, open the door below to unlock the Tento Shrine Annex South. Now we can get in from the resort environs. Hoho, at this rate the tento sanctuary will be a fricken’ tourist attraction. Anyway, go back. The aforementioned wind current just sends you back to the save point. Waste of a current if you ask me. I mean it’s just a few feet away. What’s the big deal. In any case, keep heading east and you’ll find two north exits. Beside the left one is a blue crystal containing a Jin Dan. If you take the exit that’s right beside that, you’ll go out into the world map and find a Bead lying on the ground under some trees. Go back. Farthest to the east you’ll find Nakisawame, and below her another red crystal! This one’s quite a ways away from the save point compared to the other, but hang in there. If you send Selket out solo you won’t have to worry about getting into any fights. Try to get an incense from this one too. Once you have, take the second north exit to go out into the world map. If you pay careful attention, you’ll see that there’s actually a fork in the road hidden by the trees. You can go either north or east. Take the east path and enter into Bee Road.

Keep walking and you’ll reach a fork. The path to the south has an astral body who tells you the way past him leads to the Mushibito lair. Too bad the door’s sealed tight though. It’s a dead end. So take the other path and unlock the door to Tento Shrine Annex East. Our defilin’ tour’s almost complete now! Go back to Bee Road and all the way back to where you originally entered from. This time go into the northern entrance into Fly Road. To the right, you’ll see a blue crystal. It seems to be blocked by a Dragon’s Jaw, but you can actually go through the wall just below the Dragon’s Jaw to get at it. It has a Vi Incense! Heyll yeyuh! That is the kind shiznit I am talkin’ ’bout!

You can also go through the wall opposite of the aforementioned dragon’s jaw to get a blue crystal there! It has a Bead. You’ll also see yet another blue crystal beneath that one but we can’t reach it from here. Get back on the main path again and head north. You’ll find a blue crystal with a useless Life Stone. Head west from there to reach a small room. You can go into a secret passageway in the bottom left corner to reach the crystal we couldn’t get before. It has a fricken Soma and that ain’t no joke! This baby COMPLETELY refills your MAG and you can only carry one of ’em so you better take some real damn good care of it. Very valuable. Once you have that go back to where you got the life stone and take the north exit. In the distance you’ll see Tentomaru past a save point. Save your game first. Now, before we approach Mr. Tentomaru, head east from the save point and past a wind current. Unlock the door to the shrine annex north. Now you can get right into the heart of the Tento Sanctuary from the world map. Very convenient. Don’t use the wind current because that’ll just take you way back to the nest of the old ones! There’s not much to do there, unless you want to hear what Nagi has to say about the Tento brides. Anyways, save at the dragon cave. Once you’re ready approach Tentomaru and get ready to fight!

—Boss: Soldier Bug Tentomaru and Freak Lord Tento—
My level: 40

This fight isn’t very hard. Tentomaru is all hype. He’ll come with two Freak Lord Tentos, and at the start of the fight will be immune to all damage. To get him to open up, you’ll first have to defeat the freaks. They’re frail to wind so bring in some demons who know Mazan or Zanrati. Wind Sword can probably be helpful as well, but be careful with it since Tentomaru himself drains wind type attacks. If you’re fast with those Zans and combos you can kill off both freaks before they get a chance to use any attacks on you, but if you don’t, don’t worry. They’re not really that dangerous. Just pay attention and when you see one stand in one spot for a suspicious amount of time, and scream with his dumb voice, it means he’s about to use 99 needles or his dumb cry.

Also keep an eye on Tentomaru while you fight the freaks. If you see that he suddenly moves and starts tracking you with his head, that means he’s about to use Wind Cutter. That’s right, a not so impressive move that we’ve been using since back when we were level 20. But no need to get hit by such an obviously telegraphed move, so when you see him tracking you, hide your demons and start running from one side of the arena to the other to avoid it.

Anyway, once the freaks are dead, Tentomaru’s mask will open up and you’ll be able to damage him. Set your demons to use their hardest hittin’ moves such as piercing spells and dynes, and you combo him yourself as well. Tentomaru isn’t frail to anything, but he still takes good damage from anything that isn’t wind, which he absorbs. While you’re damaging him he will use Wing Flap to hit you. This move has like NO cue so there’s really no way to avoid it other than to anticipate it. But truth is the damage is so pitiful that you should just not worry about it and take the full damage. It will knock you back a bit though so after it hits you quickly roll back into Tentomaru’s face and keep up the pressure. Tentomaru may also use scratch here, but again, the damage is so small that you’re better off not even worrying about it. Since he’s only open for a limited time, I’d recommend just damaging him as much as possible and not think about whatever attacks he might use on you during this phase. If your health gets too low you can just use media or whatever you have later. Because after a while he’ll close up again and 2 freaks will reappear, resetting the situation. You’ll have to repeat the same process.

When the freaks appear though, watch out! They’re likely to use their attacks immediately upon spawning, so instead of running at them immediately like an idiot the way I do in my video, run to a side in case they do open with 99 needles. Then just switch to Zan skills and kill them like you did before to get Tentomaru to open up again.

After the fight, Dahn will invite you to see the last thing he wanted to show you. Let’s save back at the dragon cave before that though.

Now hey. Let’s talk. I think it’s about time Pale Rider was shown who is the boss. OH, don’t think I forgot. Let you slide, let me ride. Just another homicide. We’re at a high enough level now that his attacks at least won’t instantly kill us, not to mention we can do enough damage and have enough MAG that we won’t run out halfway through and be screwed. And last but not least, if you’re at least level 40 like me (actually not that likely but whatever), you can now create Pagan Nebiros. Pale Rider’s worst nightmare. Nebiros not only drains death but also nulls phys, making ANYTHING Pale Rider tries against him completely futile. If you want to kill him now like I did, check out the 4 horsemen section.

Once you’ve pissed on Pale Rider’s corpse, walk into the Pojitrawn Chamber where Dahn is waiting for you. After some words, Dahn asks you if you can look the other way while steals the capital’s luck for Tsukigata and Akane. I’m sympathetic to Dahn’s cause and all, but stealing the capital’s luck is causing way too many disasters and fiends to pop up. If I have to choose I’ll take the capital, so I’m going with no.

Afterwards Dahn escapes, and Nagi can’t decide what to do about the situation. I dunno about you, but what I’D do is stop the ritual, kill off the Tento lords and tell the Tsukigata clan to stop being such pussies and try to survive with their OWN power rather than depend on their stupid gods. But that’s just me. Here, chapter 3 comes to a close. Fin!

Chapter 4

Fourth Investigational Meeting! Fukuroku edition!

Narumi will ask you to have a meeting in order to discuss all we’ve discovered. Since you just saved like a few seconds ago, no need to postpone it. Sadly, getting all the questions wrong doesn’t yield particularly funny dialogue this time around. Afterwards, Narumi asks you a particularly obvious question to see whether you lean more towards order or chaos. Then he says Akijiro wants to talk to us over at Tsukigata Mansion. So we’re supposed to head there next. But wait! There are things to do in the capital. The fate of Tsukigata Village can wait. Let’s go!

Screw the marriage ritual, I’m going home

Items:
-St Incense!
-Muscle Drink

Aright, there are a few cases to pick up ’round here. First off, go to the Shinoda shrine and talk to the herald to receive a shitload of new cases. Ghost customer, Wise Demon Required, Demon wanted (1), and gift from uranus.

Next, go to Kasumidai and read Sadakichi’s mind to get the new case Collection Warrant (2).

After that, head to Fukagawa-Cho. Walk into the bathhouse and talk to Satake to get his next missing person case. Now guess what? The Red-Light District is now OPEN baby! So take the north exit from Fukagawa-Cho and go in. First of all, as soon as you go through the arch, take a left to go into a small alleyway. Here you’ll find Kuroi. He’s the guy from Satake’s first Manhuntin’ case. Talk to him, then take a picture of him for Satake. Don’t forget to check behind the All Night Lamp to find a completely hidden muthafuckin’ St Incense! I told you coming here was worth it! Once you’ve picked that up exit out north into the world map to find a Muscle Drink. That’s about all we’re doing here. Go back to the detective agency and hand in Kuroi’s photo if you want. Interestingly enough, when I checked the case files at this point, Tsunatsugu had filed the next case towards getting rid of his case: The Shichinin Dougyou! Very interesting. Before we start taking care of all these cases though, we have one more place to go. Head over to Shin Sekai and talk to the owner to receive a fresh batch of case files from him. The World of plants (2), need a funny demon, Don’t try this at home (2), photog needed (3), sword collecting (2), and stocking up (3).

Finally, go to the catholic church and talk to Lucifer to receive a new case file from him. The Sword of War. Also, take out a Skill Order demon and steal a hair from him! Now we can transform into… Louise Cyphre? Lol. I WONDER where they stole that from. But unfortunately, it seems for the moment we can’t transform because Lucifer’s power is preventing it. Oh well. Gonna have to wait or something I guess? Alright! So we’ve now got ourselves quite a few new cases, but before we dive into ’em, I’m pretty sure some new floors have opened up in the training hall. So let’s check that out first.

Training Hall B4

Items:
-Red Crystal x2
-Foxtail
-Garnet

Demons:
-Frost Jubokko
-Wind Anzu
-Frost Pabilsag
-Pyro Orthrus
-Fury Mezuki
-Skill Leanan Sidhe
-Fury Gozuki

In this floor you’ll find 4 crystals. One in every corner. Two are red, two are blue. The one in the bottom left corner has a Foxtail, while the one in the top right corner has a garnet. As always, go back and save at the shrine and then make sure you get two incenses from the red crystals. Once you’re done here, take the elevator down to B5, as it’s open now too.

Training Hall B5

Items:
-Topaz
-Shishiou Sake
-Red Crystal x2

Demons:
-Wind Feng Huang
-Volt Tsuchigumo
-Pyro Oshichi
-Pagan Okiku-mushi
-Skill Nekomata
-Volt Nandi

The layout of the crystals is identical here to the last floor. The blue crystal in the bottom left corner has a topaz. The one in the top right corner has a Shishiou Sake. When you have those two, go back and save, and start the process of trying to get two incenses from the red crystals. Here’s an interesting story: The red crystal in the top left corner absolutely REFUSED to cough up an incense for me. I spent HOURS opening it and it was just the most stubborn crystal I had ever seen. Then I tried the one in the south corner and it gave me a Ma Incense on the first try. So I loaded, then I tried that same south crystal, and it gave me an incense on the first try AGAIN. So I saved, then I went back to trying on the north one and it STILL wouldn’t give me an incense. I decided to leave it there and come back later. Sad face. But anyways. When you’re done here return to the agency and let’s start taking care of the case files.

The Shichinin Dougyou!

Halright. Time to help Tsunatsugu (worst name to type ever. I always end up typing Tsunagatsu for some reason and have to double check every time.) some more. Swenyways. For this one we have to head back to Tsukigata Village, so take the case and go there. To find the Shichinin Dougyou, walk up to the Fire Tower and then take a left from there.

—Boss: Evil Yomi-Kugutsu—
My level: 42

You’ll be fighting seven Yomi-Kugutsu in two waves, first three, then four. These dudes have a LOT of HP, and their attacks can both take a substantial amount of HP and be disruptive. Further, you’re going to have to kill them before 5 minutes are up. The Yomi-Kugutsu are frail to ice. I really recommend bringing in a demon who knows Frost Sword. It helps tremendously. Just imbue your sword with ice and reapply it every time it runs out and you’ll lock down whoever you’re attacking until they’re dead. To round things up make sure your demons know ice skills as well. Mabufu works wonderfully, but so does Bufurati and Bufudyne.

The Yomi-Kugutsu come in two flavors, sword-wielder and machine-gunner. They’re both dangerous, but the gunner can hit you from off-screen which is annoying so I’m gonna suggest going for the gunners first and let your demons handle the others while you kill it. Try to concentrate on a single Yomi-kugutsu until it’s dead before moving on to the next one. You can usually leave your demons to their own devices as long as they’re set to using their ice skills. Though it helps a lot if you use Null Phys or bring in a demon like Nebiros who is immune to physical attacks. If one of the sword kugutsu sneaks up behind you while you’re attacking another, watch out. While you can usually hope that your demon casts a spell on it while it’s attacking you, it’s safer to turn around and frail stun it to buy yourself time if you can.

Once you kill the first three (should only take about a minute), you’ll have to face four at the same time. It works more or less the same except it’s a bit harder since you’re outnumbered. You’ll be facing 2 sword guys and 2 gunners. Just go for one gunner and try to kill it as fast as you can. However, if you can get two Yomi-kugutsu near each other where you can frail stun them both with one combo, go for that.

Throughout the fight keep an eye on your health as well as your demons. If the enemies seem to be overwhelming you, don’t be afraid to hide your demons and run to a safer place to regroup. 5 minutes is a generous amount of time to win. Now if it were 3 minutes? I’d be worried.

After the fight you’ll get a Kogitsune and find out the zombie guards were actually humans at some point. Hmm. Movin’ on! What we got next on our plate? Ah right, Ghost Customer.

Ghost Customer

You get this case from the Herald of Yatagarasu. This case is great because you win the Streetcar Pass if you do it. No longer will you have to pay those obscene prices to get around! I mean come on. 1000 yen to go to Tsukigata and back? ‘s ridankalus. The case calls for you to go to a shrine in the south part of the capital. Now WHERE could this be. Any sensible person will assume it’s the Oumitsu shrine over at Sakuradayama. But nope. Turns out it’s the Training Hall South. COME ON! That ain’ even got shrine in the name!

But anyway, head over there. You’ll find Raiho standing on the north part. Talk to him. It seems he’s the ghost customer! And is looking for a fight, even! As much as we love Raiho, we’ll have to kick his ass.

—Boss: Frost Raiho—
My level: 42

Raiho is a complete joke compared to what he was in Devil Summoner 1. Even though he says he’s stronger. Unlike Devil Summoner 1 in which he has 4 friends, in this one he only has one Pyro Jack. Not impressive. Don’t worry about him, if you kill him Raiho will just summon a different demon. So just concentrate your attacks on Raiho.

Raiho is frail to fire, so bring in demons who know Agi skills, but don’t bring in Pyro order demons unless you want trouble. He only has two attacks, a physical Combo and Samurai Frost which does multi-hit ice damage. Because of this I recommend using demons who are strong against phys (or better yet, null it), and who null ice (or even better, drain it). Fury Triglav is a nice choice, he’s resistant to phys so he can take a hit, and he drains ice so he laughs at Raiho’s Samurai Frost. Meanwhile unlike Frost order demons he can actually learn Agi.

Generally speaking, whether you use Agirati/Agidyne or Maragi each has its pros and cons in this fight. The nice thing about Agidyne is that your demon can cast it at Raiho from a distance and be less likely to get hit by his combo. With Maragi the demon has to walk right up to Raiho’s face. This means he’ll likely take damage from combo if he doesn’t null phys, but if he drains ice like Triglav, it means that when Raiho calls down Samurai Frost, it will fall right on top of him for some nice absorption. ‘s your choice.

It’s worth noting that Samurai Frost always goes straight for you, ignoring your demons. So you can kind of lead him into your ice draining demon if you want. Usually though, you’ll just want to block it. You can avoid it by running/rolling away, but that’ll make you run too far away from Raiho, and the block damage from Samurai Frost is pitiful. If you don’t block it, the damage becomes substantial, although it won’t kill you outright.

Raiho doesn’t go into frail stun very frequently, but when he does, take advantage as always. He’s more likely to be stunned if you’re comboing him before he gets hit by Agi, but that leaves you vulnerable to his attacks so in general I’d recommend doing most of the damage with your demons’ spells.

Like I said just ignore the Pyro Jack throughout the entire fight. For the most part he’s harmless. The only annoying thing he can do is use Dormina and sleep one of your demons with a lucky shot. It’s a good idea to bring a couple Anti-Minds for that. You can technically wait for someone to smack him out of sleep but that can take a while.

After the fight Raiho gives you an Aquamarine (useless). And you also receive the Streetcar Pass (not useless). Once you’re done riding street cars over and over for no reason (wooooo!), it’s time to do the next case!

The Sword of War

Lucifer be’s wantin’ us to kill Red Rider again. Well that’s no problem, I mean, I’ve never been one to turn down the possibility of wanton violence. Take the case and head to the catholic church again. Walk towards the altar and you’ll encounter Red Rider again.

—Boss: Fiend Red Rider—
My level: 43

Red Rider works the same way as the last time we fought him, except this time you need to defeat him in under 5 minutes. Since we’re MUCH stronger than we were 20 levels ago, this shouldn’t be a problem. First of all, Red Rider is frail to electricity so make sure you get a demon with a high damage electric skill such as Shockwave or Ziodyne. Just as an example, Volt Nue learns Shockwave. Next, get the same demon or another one with Mazio. Preferably, these two demons will be immune to death. Lastly, get these same demons or a third one with Makakaja to boost your damage even further. Demons who learn Makakaja include Skill Thoth and Wind Anzu.

The fight itself works in a very similar way to last time, so go read the horsemen section if you don’t remember Red Rider’s details.

Start with your demon who knows Makakaja and the one who knows the high damage electric skill. Make it cast Makakaja immediately, and once he does, return him to the tube and replace him with your demon who knows Mazio. Set this demon to use Mazio repeatedly, and set the other demon to strike. The reason I recommend this is because Shockwave is way too costly MAG-wise, and since it travels in a straight line, it’s likely to miss Red Rider if your demon just uses it haphazardly. So we’re going to use it manually.

Like I said in the fiends section, the best way to frail stun Red Rider is to catch him with Mazio the moment he’s reappearing from his teleport. I’ll paste that part with the relevant changes:

So how will you go about damaging Red Rider? While his physical attacks may be very dangerous, they also happen to be the best moment to attack him. Here’s the deal: Red Rider is very, VERY likely to go into frail stun if he’s hit by an electric attack just as he’s teleporting in. And this is exactly why you need Mazio. Whenever you see Red Rider going into his physical loop, keep your demons hidden and very close to you, wait until after he uses his physical attack and he teleports out. Immediately unhide your demons, and depending on your timing and how close you were to Red Rider before he teleported out, your demon should begin casting Mazio immediately after coming out of hiding despite the fact that Red Rider is currently in the fourth dimension. By the time Red Rider teleports back in, (and he’s very likely to teleport near to you), the demon will have already finished casting Mazio, and hit Red Rider with it just as he’s teleporting in, making him go into frail stun. This is your chance to combo him with your sword and get some MAG. As soon as he’s about to get out of stun though, hide your demons again and quickly roll away. The fact that your demon needs to start casting before Red Rider appears is why Zio will not work. Because a demon with Zio will shoot it where Red Rider USED to be, and not where he WILL be. Mazio doesn’t have this problem since it shoots all around you.

The main difference for this fight is that since we want to deal big damage fast, every time you manage to frail stun Red Rider, immediately command your demon to use Shockwave on him. Of course while he’s doing that, hit him with your sword as well. Once Red Rider shakes off stun, he can counter with a number of things. The first one, and most beneficial to you, is Mamudo. If you got demons who are immune to death like I told you to, simply leave them there and command your main demon to cast Shockwave again for even more damage and the possibility of another stun. If Red Rider starts casting Makajam, you can command your demon to cast Shockwave again and still manage to pull them out before they get hit by Makajam. It takes a bit of timing though. Finally, Red Rider may simply counter with a physical attack. If your demons aren’t immune to phys this is a problem since they may well get one-shotted. Fortunately Red Rider’s physical attack has a longer startup compared to White and Black, so if you see that he’s about to counter with a strike, immediately hide your demons.

Once he manages to get back to teleporting around, just go back to trying to stun him with Mazio. If at some point you see Red Rider just walking around instead of teleporting nonstop, command your demon to use Shockwave on him, and it’s very likely to hit him if you’re fast.

If you do things properly and don’t miss with Shockwave too much, you should kill Red Rider long before the 5 minutes are up and before your MAG runs out.

After the fight, you get a case closed and the Strife Blade. Welp! Seems that was the last case file for now! We’re done with the capital for now, so use your nifty Streetcar Pass to go back to Tsukigata Village for free!

Return to Tsukigata Village for the Marriage Ritual

Items:
-Scholar’s Photo

While you’re here, make sure to talk to Yanagita near the south end of resort environs and take his photo for the Manhuntin’ (2) case. You’ll get 10000 yen for it, so it’s well worth it.

Next, go take a dip in the Shirahige Hot Springs. You think there’s nothing there because we’ve already been checking it the entire game and no one’s even showed up? Wrong! This time if you walk down to the springs you’ll find a man bathing there. Talk to him and he’ll ask you if you’re the detective from the Capital. Answer that you are, and he will give you a brand new case file! Good thing we kept checking that good for nothing spring huh? Go back to the Fukuroku Inn and look at the case files. It’s called Off The Map and it’s a bona fide quest. So let’s take care of it right now!

Off The Map

Items:
-Faerie Photo
-Fickle Dew

Oho! Looks like this case calls for us to check the Tento Woods for signs of a mysterious village. Sounds fun! Hwell, remember the spot in Tento Woods with the animal trail? The one where a mysterious power prevented you from checking further? Come on, you know the one! The one that’s been keeping us up at night this entire time because we just. couldn’t. figure. out what its deal was. That one. Well finally, after all this time we get to rest easy. Walk up to the animal trail and you’ll be engulfed by gas. Sleep gas to be exact. Dude. If we made a drinking game where we had to take a shot every time Raidou faints in this game we would NOT be afraid of the fucking POLICE right now!

You’ll be woken up by a Titania. Apparently we’re in Faerie Land now. And woah there, Titania wants to keep us trapped here because Raidou’s so handsome? I mean I agree and everything but come on, you know I ain’t wit dat shit, lieutenant.

Man, did I mention I like the music in this place? Anyway, walk south a little and you’ll run into an Oberon. Aren’t you supposed to be Titania’s husband? And you’re fine with all this? That’s pretty damn liberal. If you continue going south then go west, you’ll find a Pixie. She says Titania and Oberon are always mad at each other and that maybe marriage isn’t what she thought it was. Ha! Welcome to the real world. If you check the bushes nearby you’ll be able to take a photo for Tae’s next case! Make sure you do. Next, walk east to find a Sylph. Talk to her to receive some more information. Now if you try to exit down south you’ll just be teleported back.

Go talk to Oberon again. He’ll try to help you. He’ll mention the Fickle Dew, a love potion that according to him also works as a cure for homosexuality! He will give it to you. You have to sprinkle that on Titania. Go talk to her, and sprinkle the Fickle Dew on her. She’ll fall in love with Oberon again. That was easy.

Except the son of a bitch set us up. Now he wants to keep Raidou as a slave. Feh. We’ll have to kill them. Wait, couldn’t we have done this in the FIRST place? Oh well.

—Boss: Skill Titania and Skill Oberon—
My level: 43

These two aren’t particularly strong, but they have a very dangerous combo you need to watch out for. Dormina followed by Eternal Rest will instantly kill you so make absolutely sure you don’t get slept. There’s a chance that even if you get hit by Dormina the sleep won’t stick, or that even if it does, Eternal Rest might miss. But of course it’s best not to rely on this. If your demons get slept, you can just throw an Anti-Mind at them, so that’s no problem. But if you get slept, no one will help you. Not even a demon who knows Patra. So watch out and stay away from Dormina.

Titania is frail to ice, while Oberon is frail to electricity. So bring in the appropriate demons. Bufudyne/Glacial Blast and Ziodyne/Shockwave work well. I’d recommend killing Titania first since she likes casting Media a lot. You can lay on the spells if you want to kill her fast, but you may also want to stick to strikes while she’s frail stunned so that you don’t end up without MAG by the end like I did. It’s not too much of a problem though, since they both take a lot of damage from strikes. Don’t be afraid to get in their face and combo them. Outside of their Dormina + Eternal Rest combination they’re not particularly dangerous. Oberon likes to use a phys Combo and Titania likes to use Bufurati, but the damage isn’t anything to worry about.

Case closed! And guess what, now we have the Fickle Dew. Go back to the Fukuroku Inn, take a nap, save, and check the case files. First off, now that you’ve got the Fickle Dew, you can complete the Looking for Fickle Dew case in Case File 4. As a reward you will obtain the Hiranya. And now that you have THAT, you can complete My Wish (1). Lastly, open Case File 6 and hand over the picture you just took to complete Photog Needed (3) for some more Tae Stickers. Welp. I think we’ve postponed the marriage ritual long enough. Let’s get over to Tsukigata Mansion and see what Akijiro’s got for us.

…oh. Right. We pissed him off by going to Centipede Road way back when. I completely forgot about that. And now he’s threatening us by taking Tae hostage? Come on, Akijiro! I didn’t think you were the type to be a coward. He’ll make you a deal, you for Tae. Let’s accept. I mean, not because we care a lot about Tae, but because if it’s us, at least we can kill them all. Tae can’t do anything. If you do this, Akijiro commends you for acting like a real man. Um. I don’t think you’re in a very good position to be talking about that, you hostage-taking jackass.

Then Akane shows up and knocks some sense into him. She’s all “Raidou saved me from Dahn, aren’t you ashamed to take his friend hostage and threaten him?” Wait. What does me saving you have to do with anything? Aren’t you ashamed to be taking hostages PERIOD? DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE NO HONOR?!

Anyway, you talk it all over at the mansion. Apparently Akane has a martyr complex. Well fine, if that’s your decision I ain’t gonna stop you. Akijiro and Akane want your help to make sure the Marriage Ritual goes off successfully.

That night at the Fukuroku Inn, Narumi will tell you a story about a village and some immigrants who were different. The villagers started to hate them so the chief decided to send them out into the mountains to live away from the village. Narumi asks you whether you would have done the same. I’ll have to go with yes. Humans will always tend to hate that which differs from them. It’s sad and ugly, but that’s just the way it is. You can’t be a white guy living in an all black neighborhood and expect to be treated the same as everyone else. You can’t be a Chinese guy living in an all French neighborhood and expect to be treated the same as everyone else. You can’t be a millionaire CEO in a suit hanging out in an abandoned warehouse with all the hobos and expect to be treated the same. Everyone has a place where they belong. If you try to get along with xenophobic people hoping they’ll defeat their prejudiced nature, you might end up killed just for being what you are. That’s humanity.

The day of the Marriage Ritual

Items:
-Akane’s Letter
-Insect Cage
-Renki
-Metal Fixtures
-Theban Jar
-Ruby
-Kanesada
-Foxtail
-Shishiou Sake
-Bead of Life (Hidden!)
-Birdlime
-Pearl!
-Anti-Stone
-Diamond
-Red Crystal

After some pointless ceremonial bullshit, Dahn crashes the wedding as planned. Ha, he overslept ’cause it was taking place so early. I can sympathize with the guy. He then challenges us to another fight, and we have no say in it! We’ll just have to tan his hide again!

—Boss: Fukoshi Dahn and Soldier Bug Taromaru—

What the hell have these guys been doing this entire time?! They haven’t improved at ALL since the last time we fought them! It’s seriously the exact same battle except now you’re like 20 levels higher! I can’t believe these two have just been twiddling their thumbs instead of training. What. A disappointment. Go read the previous Dahn battle if you don’t remember how it’s supposed to go. At this point though, you don’t even have to worry about his attacks anymore. Just assault him with Shockwave/Ziodyne and he’ll go down before you even know what’s happening. Same with Taromaru. I have to say though, I did feel bad about beating him. You really get to see how much of a good guy Dahn is. His heart’s in the right place. He’s the real hero in this whole debacle. It’s just a shame that courage and determination are nothing without the power to back it up. If only you had more power, you could have saved her, Dahn. I completely understand his desire to become King Abaddon.

It ain’t over yet though. Even if the ritual’s completed, there’s still a little time before Akane’s turned into a monster, and Dahn can still become King Abaddon.

Back at the mansion, a servant hands you a letter. It’s from Akane to Dahn, and you’re supposed to deliver it over at his cell. You know where the cells are right? The shack at Tento Woods? Where you got imprisoned once upon a time? Yeah. Let’s go. Walk down the stairs to the basement and you’ll run into Geirin. After exchanging some words head down, save at the dragon cave and check out the cells. What’s that? The dragon cave disappeared? Dang. Oh well. Walk into the first south cell to find an Insect Cage lying on the ground. VERY nice. If you keep walking towards Dahn’s cell you’ll get a cutscene where you can hand over Akane’s letter. In exchange he’ll give you a Renki and drip some of his blood onto the Tento Talisman, not to mention direct you to the Mushibito’s lair. If you talk to Dahn again you can ask him some more about various things. Apparently the one who told him about King Abaddon was Lucifer. So this entire thing with the locusts and the disasters at the capital was in a way started by Lucifer? Hmm… what is he planning? A very mysterious guy, to be sure. I have to say I’m intrigued.

Go back out and head for the Tento Springs past the residential area. Oh, but first! Make a side trip to the Shirahige Springs to catch Narumi loafing around there! Hahaha! He didn’t think we’d bother to check if he was slacking off.

Let’s save at the dragon cave and then start checking those wells. Remember Dahn told us to use the Tento Talisman on the #3 well? Yeah, then of COURSE that’s going to be the last one we check. If you use the talisman on the #1 well, it’ll just reveal a hidden passageway to a dead end. The #2 well, however, will take us to a cliff above with two more wells. The one in the middle, #5, is just another dead end. The one on the right will take us to another cliff. Here you’ll find some metal fixtures lying on the ground. Pick them up and go back to the save point. Check the broken bridge to the right and you’ll be able to use those to fix it. Go to the other side and you’ll find three more wells. Take the #7 one to reach the place past the locked gate on the ground level. There’s nothing there but you can unlock the gate in case anyone wants to go in. Go back. Take #8 to reach a cliff with a Theban Jar. Then go back and take the last well. It’ll take you to a place with a Ruby! Very awesome. That’s about all there is here. Go back and save at the dragon cave.

Now wait a minute. Wait one damn minute. Don’t these wells remind you of something? Of course! There’s a well just like these at the nest of the Old Ones in Tento Sanctuary! Where one of Dahn’s Fukoshi was wetting his whistle! Now that we have the bloodied Tento Talisman, we can see what lies beyond it. Yeah, I know it’s a long trip, but exactly because of that, there MUST be something good there right? Let’s go!

Go into the North Tento Shrine Annex. You’ll find a wind current there. Use Kamikaze on it to immediately get to the nest of the old ones. Easy! Save at the Dragon Cave. Talk to all the old ones ’cause they’ve got new and interesting things to say now that the marriage ritual’s over with. You can also find Akane in her cell and talk to her. Interestingly enough, in here you can actually transform into Louise Cyphre! Fun. Looks like Lucifer’s been here before, because the Old Ones will call you Bellzeboo if you talk to them. Anyway, press the Tento Talisman into the well.

You’ll end up on the other side of the fence at the bus stop. So THAT’S how you get here. Now we can finally sleep at night. You’ll find a Kanesada lying on the ground. Meh. I guess that wasn’t really as great as I thought it would be. Anywho. Return to the Tento Springs and insert the talisman into the third well to go into the Mushibito lair.

Save, and as soon as you go out of the well walk down the first bridge you see down to the lower level. Keep walking east to find a room with two blue crystals. They have a Foxtail and a Shishiou Sake. Walk north and then take the low bridge to the other side of the chasm. Walk south from there to what looks like a cell. If you check inside it you’ll find nothing useful. But wait! Take out a volt order demon and use Inspect. You will find a Bead of Life! Extremely nice. Go back to the save point. Before we go to the other side of the high chasm where Lucifer is waiting, head north from the left side of the high chasm, past a wind current (don’t use kamikaz on it. It’ll just send you all the way to the nest of the old ones), and exit north out into the world map. Keep walking north and enter Bee Road. When you get to a fork, take the left path to reach a blue crystal with a Birdlime in it. Go back and this time take the other path. Keep going east through another secret passage to reach another blue crystal. This one has a motherfucking PEARL. VERY important. Don’t lose this. You need it to complete the My Wish (2) case. Go back and this time take the north path to find a crystal with an Anti-Stone. There’s nothing more here, although you can unlock the door to the nest of the old ones. Go back to the Mushibito nest though.

Now take the bridge to the other side we haven’t explored yet. Before you do anything on this side, walk south and exit out to the world map to find a Diamond! Woo! These Mushibito sure have a lot of valuable gems. Go back in. Next, go all the way north and into a cell to find a Red Crystal. Well! At least there’s a save point somewhat nearby, and no random encounters. Go back and save, and do what we’ve always done to make sure you get an incense from this. Once that’s done, you see the Mushibito in the middle wearing the dumb hat? Transform into Louis Cyphre and talk to him and he will reverentially give you 14000 yen! Hot damn. Walk into the room behind him to get a cutscene with the real Lucifer.

Afterwards you’ll return to the Fukuroku Inn and get a call from Tae that the capital’s in trouble. So that’s where we’re going next!

The Capital beset by earthquakes

As soon as you get back to the agency, rest, save, and check case file 6 for My Wish (2). Now that you got a Pearl back in Bee Road, you can complete it for TWO Ma Incenses! One of the better rewards you’ll get.

If you make a sidetrip to the Red Light District at this point, you’ll find Shizu there. Still whorin’ it up. Talk to her and read her mind to learn a few extra things about Narita. You can also steal a hair from her with a skill order demon so you can transform into her, though I’m not entirely sure what the purpose of her form is.

Before you go to Shin Sekai and search for Tae, go to the catholic church and speak to Lucifer to receive yet another case file from him! Ok, let’s do this first.

One Girl’s Happiness

Take the case and then go to Tamonten Shrine. You’ll see two schoolgirls in front of it. Talk to them. They’ll say Raidou hasn’t showed at school recently. Ha! That’s Raidou for you. A complete renegade. Too cool for school. All that good stuff. They’ll mention a ghost who haunts the school. Say you definitely want to hear about it. After she tells you the story (I love the part about it being the last stall in the bathroom. Something about that makes it creepier), Alice appears. Complete with music that I thought was only used for important plot situations.

—Boss: Fiend Alice—
My level: 44

Wait, Alice is a fiend? That’s pretty damn cool. Anyway, this can be a hard battle if you try to approach it the usual way. Alice is frail to electric attacks but that doesn’t really help us all that much because she only takes 1 damage from magic attacks. That’s why for this battle, I’m going to recommend forgetting about her weakness and just fight her with nothing but physical attacks. Bring in a demon who has very high strength and access to strong phys skills. Preferably, make it one who is immune to gun attacks.

The problem is that Alice comes with 5 annoying Zombie Officers who keep shooting at you. Their gun attacks are actually pretty strong and disruptive, and if you kill them, more will just spawn immediately so it’s useless to try and deal with them. The zombies only have 1 HP, so they’re easy to kill, but I think they’re fuckin’ terrorists or something because they have the tendency to explode for big damage when you kill them. So in general I suggest you leave them alone and rely on a demon’s immunity to gun.

It’ll also be nice if you can stack on abilities that help your physical attacks. You know. Power Chakra, Hero’s Might, Moonlight Rage, Warcry, Tarukaja, all that good shit.

Set your demon to use his best phys skill repeatedly on Alice. This is by far the best way to damage her. There is absolutely no need to frail stun her. You can also get in there and help out with your own combos, but watch out for Mamudoon, as this can instantly kill you. In fact, Mamudoon alone is a compelling argument for staying away and letting your demons do the work, as it goes of surprisingly fast and can catch you if you’re in the middle of a combo and not on the ball. Other less lethal stuff to watch out for include Marin-karin and Petra. More importantly, if Alice decides to stay near her Zombies, this can be very problematic. Since it can be easy to kill them and then get hit by their explosion. If Alice is far away from them, you can go balls out on her, but if she’s near, it might be a better idea to hang back a bit and let your demon attack her but hide it when you see a zombie is about to explode.

Since your demon is so much stronger than you, it’s really not too bad an idea to play it safe and just let it do all the work. Call it to your side every time you see Alice using Mamudoo, Petra or Marin-karin if they’re not immune to death and mind. I killed her in about 2 minutes and I was only using one demon. I imagine with two it’d be a complete massacre. Overall a tricky fight that isn’t much of a problem once you know what to do.

I like how after the fight if you have Nebiros in your team you get a message saying it forces itself out of its tube. As a reward, you obtain the Staff of Death which allows you to fuse Alice.

Right. Well. Moving on. Go to Shin Sekai and talk with the drunk there. Ask him about Tae’s whereabouts. Order him a Midas Pop. Wait a minute, how can you get drunk on Soda anyway? He tells you that Tae is in Ishigami-Cho. A brand new place. That’s where we’re going next! Take the streetcars to the previously useless Hongo-Ku.

Keep walking down the street to find Tae. She’ll give you a Pagan Silver if you handed yourself over to save her in Tsukigata Village. After the conversation back up a bit and go talk to the little girl near the Inari statue. Ask her about Lord Ishigami, then read her mind with a pagan order demon. Answer that you’re indeed Raidou and she’ll tell you to go inside the tower. Looks like a full-fledged dungeon! Aright, we doin’ dis thang!

Ishigami Tunnel

Items:
-Anti-Poison
-Bead
-Red Crystal x2
-Topaz
-Red Crystal

Demons:
-Skill Oberon
-Frost Jack Frost
-Frost Black Ooze
-Fury Chernobog
-Frost Jubokko
-Pagan Utai-Gaikotsu
-Pyro Ukobach
-Wind Feng Huang
-Frost Preta
-Wind Dominion
-Volt Makami
-Pyro Pyro Jack
-Volt Tsuchigumo
-Frost Raja Naga
-Fury Nezha
-Fury Lamia
-Wind Archangel

As soon as you go in, walk all the way north to find a save point. From there, take the path to the left all the way to find a blue crystal with a useless Anti-Poison. Nakisawame is over to the northwest of the save point, but we don’t need her. Nobody likes her style.

Hokay. The light south of the save point doesn’t take us anywhere useful, so take the one to the east of the save point above the Azumi. This’ll take you to 2F. From where you appear, you’ll see another light right above you to the north. Use it to go back down to 1F and find a blue crystal with a Bead. Go back to 2F. Head all the way west from the light you originally came in from to find TWO red crystals. Uh oh. Well, you know what we gotta do. Go back to the save point in the first floor and begin the process of making sure you get an incense from both. Use a repulse water to avoid encounters while you’re doing this. I don’t mean to be a prick, but I was lucky enough that I got both incenses here in a mere 5 minutes!

Once you’re done with that, go back to the light you originally came from and take the light southwest from there to go to 3F. This next floor is just a straight line. Take the other light up to 4F.

From here, if you try to go northeast you’ll just fall off, so take the north path to take the long way around to the next light. Along the way you’ll find the mysterious peddler. I have no idea what he’s doing here or what his point even is, considering the exit for this dungeon is nearby. I mean this isn’t like the Obelisk in Nocturne where the dungeon was so ridiculously long that they had to put in a cathedral of shadows. The dungeons in this game are short! Anyway, take the light south of him to get up to 5F. Here, you’ll get ambushed by some chumps. It’s an Utai-Gaikotsu and 3 Turdaks. Weaksauce. The catch is that you have to kill them in 1 minute, but these guys are seriously so weak that I killed them in just 10 seconds. The Turdaks are frail to wind and fire, and Utai Gaikotsu is frail to wind. This is a good place to use all-hitting super moves like Cross Slash or Scorch Slash. If you have a wind type move like Cyclone Stab? It’ll probably destroy them in 5 seconds.

Moving on. Take the next light up to 6F. Here you’ll find a save point to the north. Use it. Head down the other path and past the next light to find a blue crystal with a Topaz. Go back to the previous light and use it to go up to 7F. Here, if you try to go up you’ll just fall, so take the south path to the next light. Here in 8F, if you try to take the northeast path you’ll just fall. So take the other one, and in the next platform to the north you’ll see yet another red crystal. You can’t make a beeline for it here though or you’ll fall. Use the other path to take the long way around. You’ll run smack into a demon wall though. This one requires a female demon with elegant speech. If you’ve been doing what I told you so far, you should already have this demon! Because it’s the one you’ve been using to get incense from red crystals this entire time. Other than Selket and Leanan Sidhe, Parvati also works here. Anyway, go through it and keep going all the way east until you find the crystal that’s keeping the wall up. Destroy it. Now you can pass. There’s a red crystal below the next light, although the previous save point is far away. Fortunately though, if you use the light to go up to 9F you’ll find a the next one! How convenient! This’ll make getting that incense easier.

Aright listen up. During your time here you’re very likely to run into the next fiend. Kageboushi. He’s a very tough guy to kill, but with the right preparation you can do it. Still, at this point it’s not that easy and I wouldn’t worry too much about it because even if you do kill him, he’ll just appear again the next new moon, so really there’s not much incentive to go out of your way to defeat him. If you really want to beat him now I suppose you can go look at the fiends section, but seriously, not all that worth it.

Anyway, if you take the path northeast, you’ll run into Binbou-Gami again!

—Boss: Fiend Binbou-Gami—
My level: 46

Binbou-Gami’s actually very similar to the last time you fought him, only he’s slightly stronger in that his physical attacks do about 300 damage to you now. Ha. Nothing to worry about. He also seems to teleport less, so he’s less annoying than he was before. As always, he’s frail to fire. Now that we have such high level demons, we’re going to absolutely rapinate him. Use your strongest fire attacks on him. I recommend Fire Breath (learned by Pyro Gdon) but Agidyne and Maragidyne also work well. Don’t even worry about getting hit by his moves, as the damage isn’t at all dangerous. If you use Makakaja on top of Fire Breath you’ll be surprised at how fast his HP disappears. Just watch my video and you’ll see.

I’m not really gonna say much of anything since this is such a ridiculously easy fight. Except maybe watch out for Pulinpa once his HP is low, and when he has less than 1/4 left he’ll use his special move. Except… now that we’re so high level you can just get hit by every single thing he throws at you and not worry. If you want to avoid the first coin showers, just stand in the middle of the arena on the circle. And for the last coin press, the shadow won’t appear this time but it’s all good. Just stand below the circle in the middle of the arena and it won’t hit you.

After the fight, keep going forward and use the light to get up to the top floor. Approach the little girl to get a scene. Looks like now we have to go allll the way to the bottom, defeat a fiend and restore the sacred stone. Let’s get to it. But before we do that, search the south part of this small area near the center to find a spot where you can take an Inari Photo. This will come in handy. You’ll also see a spirit that can take you back to the entrance of this dungeon. We don’t need him though. Save, and then enter back into Ishigami through the opening to the left of the Inari Statue. Not the one you came in through. You’ll be back in 9F, except in a different place. You’ll be using wind currents a lot now so bring out your wind order demon of choice. First off you’ll see two wind currents in this platform. Take the south one to reach a blue crystal with a foxtail. Take the single wind current back to the previous platform, then use the one to the north. Here you’ll find a light that takes you down to 8F. Use it.

In this next place you’ll encounter two Nekomatas. You have to kill them both in under a minute but the catch is they have to die at the same time or they’ll ressurect. This isn’t really that hard if you remember that when an enemy is frail stunned, it will remain stunned for the entire duration before dying even if it has no HP left. So what you have to do is get two demons who know strong electric skills (a single demon with a strong electric skill and one with a weak one will also work) and have each one use it on a separate Nekomata. For example. Say you have one demon with Shockwave and one with Zio. Command the one with Shockwave to use it on one Nekomata, and the one with Zio to use it on the other. They should both frail stun them at the same time. Since shockwave is so strong, it will kill one Nekomata outright. While it’s doing that, combo the other one that got hit by Zio to finish it off. By the time their stun wears off they’ll both die at the same time.

After that fight, keep going to the next platform. You’ll see a light. Don’t use it. Go past it to the wind current in the back and kamikaze to get to another platform. Here you’ll find yet another light that takes you up. Before you use it though, check behind it for a blue crystal with an Ox Bezoar. Go back up to 9F to reach a blue crystal you couldn’t before. This one has an Emerald. Then use the wind current behind it to get back to where you fought the Nekomatas. Take the light down to 7F.

Here you’ll find another dragon cave. Can’t complain. Head east from the save point past a Feng Huang and use kamikaze on the wind current there. This will take us to a place we couldn’t get to before. It’s actually 7F of the previous trek through this dungeon, so we’re gonna have to walk allll the way back, but hey, there are two blue crystals here so it’s all good. And they contain a Bead of Life and a Plastic, so trust me, it’s quite worth it. Anyways, once you have that go back to the Feng Huang. Nope, I ain’t walkin’ you through it twice. Anyway, take the light on the platform northwest of the Feng Huang to 6F. From where you appear, head all the way west to find a blue crystal with a Kagura Flute, then head back. To the north you’ll see Nakisawame. Doing what she does best. Being useless. You’ll see a wind current beside her though. Use it to reach a platform with a Frost Silver in a blue crystal, then take the wind current back. Walk all the way east and take the light down to 5F.

Here you’ll find two wind currents. The top one is actually useless, so take the bottom one. You’ll be in another platform with two more currents. Take the right one to reach a blue crystal with a Balm of Life. Kamikaze on back. Take the bottom wind current again, and this time when you get to the second platform with two currents take the left one. It’ll take you to another one with a single current, use this one, and you’ll be at the next light. Go down to 4F.

Here you’ll find yet another save point. Use it, then keep going east and you’ll get into another scripted fight. You’ll fight 4 Okiku-mushis and have to win in under a minute, but the trick is only one of them is real, and you have to defeat the right one. How do you know which is the right one? That’s actually really easy. Just use analyze. Three of the Okiku-mushis will be grayed out and you won’t be able to analyze them, but one of them will be white. That’s the right one. Assault her with your best flame attacks and kill her, then mop up the rest. Easy peasy. Keep going east to find the next light and a blue crystal with a birdlime behind it. Go down to 3F. This part is linear, walk down and use the next light to 2F. Here you’ll find a layabout Thoth, and the next light to the northwest. Take it back up to 3F.

Here you’ll find a blue light. Before you check it though, use kamikaze on the wind current beside it. You’ll reach a platform with two blue crystals you couldn’t get to before. They contain an Aquamarine and a Smoke Ball. After you’ve picked those up, return to the previously mentioned blue light. Enter it to get up to 4F, then walk down to the next platform and you’ll fall down a hole. Hwell. More like 5 holes. You’ll fall down all the way to below the ground floor.

This place is on FIRE, so bring out a Frost Order demon and use cool down to avoid taking damage while you run around. Walk down the only path to the next light which will take you up to 0F. Here you’ll find another save point. Keep walking and you’ll come across a wind current. Before you keep going, use kamikaze on it. You’ll reach another platform with a Feng Huang on it. Walk north, past a wind current you see (don’t use it, it’ll just take you back to 9F), and use the light up north to get back down to the fiery B1. Use cool down again and walk south to find two blue crystals. They contain a Pyro Silver (hell yeah!) and a Life Stone (boo!). Go back up and walk to the platform beneath the Feng Huang. Step on the center to fall back down to B1 and make your way back to the save point. Use it, then keep going past the wind current to finally encounter the fiend you’re supposed to kill.

—Boss: Fiend Yakubyou-gami—
My level: 48

This guy isn’t horribly dangerous but he has a shitload of HP and can take a lot of punishment. To make matters worse, he’s not frail to anything, so you’re just gonna have to use your hardest hitting attacks on him. I recommend going with strong phys skills coupled with Tarukaja. The problem is Yakubyou-gami has so much HP that you’re sure to run out of MAG before he’s dead. Even if you do, though, chances are he’ll be close to death by the time and you can probably go the last mile with strikes.

Alternatively, you can also make use of his zombie officers to get a little MAG. They’re frail to wind, so hit ’em with some Zan type skills and combo them to recover a little MAG. This is actually a pretty good way to go about it since those zombies can be really annoying with their disruptive strikes and Dorminas. So what I recommend is having one strong demon set to using its best phys skill on Yakubyou-gami, while the other one is set to using such as Mazan or whatever on the zombies. By hitting the frail stunned zombies every now and then you can ensure that your MAG never runs out throughout the entire battle.

Yakubyou-gami doesn’t really have any extreme attacks. One he’ll do often is a tongue lash. But it’s so weak and inaccurate that you shouldn’t even pay attention to it. The other one is Mighty Blow. This one has a pretty big cue. When you see him grab his umbrella, quickly hide your demons and block. The attack affects a very wide area. The only way to avoid it for sure is to be far back on the other side of the arena, and there’s no reason to do that when you can easily block it. His third physical attack is Rush, which is also highly telegraphed. When you see him hang back on his cloud, it means he’s about to rush. He will also use Luck Roulette of the Beast. This usually isn’t much of a problem, though if you get a particularly nasty effect such as whiffed attacks, go ahead and override it with a luck locust.

Once you get him down to half HP, you should start hiding your demons and blocking whenever you get the message that he’s preparing for something. It could be Luck Roulette, but it could also be his unavoidable attack, Judgement. Well, the way to know is that if he’s twirling his umbrella really fast it will be Judgement. He will also use Diarama to heal himself for 1000 once you get him down to half, which is annoying but not much you can do about it.

Once the fight’s over, it wouldn’t hurt to walk a few feet back and save. Then take the light past where you encountered Yakubyou-gami down to B1. Here you’ll find the system that takes you down to the lowest level.

The lowest level is super relaxing for some reason. No encounters, no flaming pit of hell, no upbeat music. Walk down and realign the sacred stone. The Ishigami will go back underground.

After some scenes we’ll be back at the agency. Ahh, after a hard day’s work we get to relax some. And with that, chapter 4 comes to a close. Fin!

Chapter 5

Investigating the serial murders

The chapter’ll start with the familiar fainted scene. You’ll get asked some questions on whether it’s best to accept misfortune or resist it. As always, just answer truthfully. That’s the best way, right? Later on you’ll wake up and after a few words with Tae Narumi will invite you to go chill on the roof.

It’s cloudy as all hell and Narumi says it’s enough to ruin a guy’s day. Are you kidding me?! I love this kind of cloudy day! It’s so relaxing. I wish every day was like this! Hwell… except without that big red eye in the sky. Another calamity.

Just when you think things are going to start getting heavy, Narumi saves the day! Time to go eat some curry! I mean, King Abaddon? The capital’s destruction? That can wait.

After eating the curry and Narumi’s tab being called in, Detective Kazama shows up and asks you to take a case for him. And without paying! Hey man, we ain’t running a charity here! COME ON! Sigh. We have to ask the cops around Tsukudo-Cho for the skinny. First off, head to Konnou-Ya and talk to the pig nearby. He’s the only one out of the 3 in Tsukudo-Cho that Kazama actually talked to. Apparently it’s a serial murder and there are fragments of the Fukoshi insect cages at every scene of the crime. Narumi pieces the fragments together and the cop is so impressed that he passes the word on to the others.

Head to Kamishiro-Zaka and talk to the cop stationed there. Ask him the details about the case and also about the insect cages to learn that they found one in Mannen-Cho, Ginza-Cho and Harumi-Cho. Next, talk to the one stationed in front of the detective agency and ask him about the crime scene to learn that there have been sightings of some flying monster in each crime scene. Run back to the previous officer in Kamishiro-Zaka and ask him about the monster. Once you do that you’ll have enough leads. Return to the detective agency to talk it over with Narumi.

Fifth Investigational Meeting!

Well, no reason to refuse having a meeting, so let’s get down to it. Hahaha, Narumi’s out of coffee. Looks like those luck locusts have gone too damn far. This particular meeting is great because you can get some pretty awesome dialogue by choosing all the wrong answers! From Narumi saying he sounds like a teacher, to him joking about wanting Satake to disappear, to wanting croquettes, and even reminiscing about Devil Summoner 1 with the Soulless Battleship and when he gave you Fatal Bullets! Best meeting ever. After the meetin is adjourned, Narumi says we should investigate the three crime scenes.

Ahright boys and girls, it’s time ta hit the streets!

Items:
-Anti-Mute
-Skill Bronze
-Actress Photo
-Volt Silver
-Kagura Flute
-Topaz
-Garnet
-Rakuyou Chalice
-Lu Incense (Hidden!)
-Repulse Water
-Merchant’s Hair (Hidden!)
-Muscle Drink
-Sapphire
-Lu Incense (Hidden!)
-Lu Incense (Hidden!)
-Anti-Mind
-Roman Coin

Guess what? If you return to Tsukigata and go into the Mushibito Nest, then transform into Louis Cyphre and talk to the Mushibito in the room where you talked with Lucifer, he will reverentially hand over 12000 yen. That’s a pretty considerable amount. Worth the trip, I’d say. But other than that, there’s not much else to do in Tsukigata right now.

First let’s go to Kasumidai. Talk to Sadakichi to receive another case file from him. If you check your case files now you’ll have Scars of Recession and National Secrets. Next, take a trip over to the catholic church to get another 2 case files from Lucifer. Scales of Famine and Fallen Dragon!

After that, go to Fukagawa-Cho and talk to Satake in the bathhouse for the next missing person case. Also, go to the Red Light District and talk to Narumi to get some funny dialogue about visiting it during the job! Shizu’s also here but she says the same thing as last time about Narita and Makiko. I speculate that Narita lost Makiko to the marriage ritual, and that’s why he doesn’t like talking about it. But anyways…

Go to Shin Sekai and talk to the owner to receive the newest batch of case files. The world of plants (3), Burning Reinforcements, Don’t try this at home (3), Photog needed (4), An Uneasy Alliance, Looking for a Rare Book and Missing a Few Screws.

Also, now Ginza-Cho is finally open! So let’s head there and explore some. There are a few items to nab. Between the two shrubs above Narumi, you’ll find an Anti-Mute. Head north from there into an alley to find a Skill Bronze. Here you’ll also find Chieko Kujo standing in front of one of her posters. She’s the actress Satake wants a photo of for Manhuntin’ (3). So snap a pic of her. Exit out the east side into the world map to find a Volt Silver. Head south from where Narumi is to find a Kagura Flute. Also, keep going past this and out to the world map to find a Topaz. Go up the stairs to the temporary overpass to find a Garnet there, then go under it to find a Rakuyou Chalice.

Next, go to the place where Kaya betrayed you in Devil Summoner 1, near the window shopper, and use a Volt order demon’s inspect ability. You’ll find a Lu Incense! From there, exit out from Kurizu-Zaka and go to Restaurant Ryugu. Talk to the owner to get a case file from her. Low on Stock (3). She’ll also give you 6000 yen! You ain’t gonna see me refusing that!

Ok, next we’re heading to Harumi-Cho! Another brand new area that’s opened up for us! First, go to the dock and grab a Repulse Water sitting beside a sailor. Now, walk down the steps into the ACTUAL dock, and use a volt order demon’s inspect ability to find a Merchant’s Hair! FINALLY my rampant inspect spam pays off big time! With this, you’ll be able to transform into the Owner of Konnou-Ya. Fuck all of you haters, who’s the one laughing now huh? HUH?! Ahrem. With this you’ll be able to buy goods just about anywhere. If you walk around as him, you’ll also periodically find cash as if you had the money getter ability. Afterwards, walk into the foreign residential district to find a Muscle Drink.

Once you have that, go back and take the path up to the Navy headquarters. Take the ladder down to the reservoir to find a Sapphire there. Go back up and keep going. Use a volt order demon’s inspect ability in front of the couple to find yet another Lu Incense! Hehe. I like all of these hidden things we’re finding lately! HEY WAIT A MINUTE!! I’m starting to see a pattern here. In both the exact places where the murders happened in Ginza-Cho and Harumi-Cho we found a hidden Lu Incense. This can only mean one thing! Let’s go back to the crime scene in Mannen-Cho and use inspect there…

…ohoho! Just as I thought! Another Lu Incense! Bitch, I’m on fire. Ace detective right here. Anyway, uh, let’s get back to where we were. In front of the couple in Harumi-Cho. Go down the steps to the dock to find an Anti-Mind. Go up to the Navy HQ gate, and check near the bush in front of the tall seaman to find an almost completely hidden Roman Coin. We’re done here now. Don’t go into Sakuradayama ’cause that’s where we’re supposed to go. We’re going to Shinoda now. Talk to the Herald to receive new case files from the Yatagarasu. Tons of ’em. Streetcar Ghost, Haunted Mansion, Demon Wanted (2) and (3). Next, we’re gonna check out the new floors that opened up in the training hall.

Training Hall B6

Items:
-Opal
-Balm of Life
-Red Crystal x2

Demons:
-Fury Chernobog
-Pyro Gdon
-Wind Dominion
-Pagan Jorougumo
-Fury Ikusa
-Pagan Utai-Gaikotsu
-Skill Oberon
-Volt Nue

Aright, as usual, we gots 2 blue crystals and 2 red ones. The one on the west side has an Opal. The other one has a Balm of Life. You know what to do with the 2 red crystals. Hopefully it won’t be too hard to extract the incense from them! Well, for me it wasn’t. In fact, I also took the time to get the incense from the one in B5 that I had left for later and I also got it pretty easy there too. See, sometimes taking a break and coming back later pays off! Anyways, B7 seems to still be closed off, so we’re done here for now. Let’s head back to the detective agency and start taking care of those case files.

Streetcar Ghost

Haright, this case calls for us to take a trip to Ginza-Cho. Talk to the suspicious dude standing between the bushes near the east exit. He’ll tell you about the ghost. Afterwards Gouto will ask you questions about how to catch it. It really doesn’t matter what you answer as he’ll just correct you if you choose the wrong one. After some scenes you’ll find that the ghost was just a hoax. Aaaand then you’ll get 3 fricken Lu Incenses! Case closed! Wait, that’s IT? That was way too easy for such a good reward!

Haunted Mansion

Hm! We gotta go to the Daidouji Mansion for this case! I thought that place was closed off. Well if you take this case it magically opens up. Go there and you’ll find the source of the disturbance. It’s the Jack-san 5! Hahahaha I love how one of them is white and the rest are black. Awesome. Unfortunately we gotta kill them. That makes me sad.

—Boss: Jack-san 5—
My level: 50

The only difficult part of this fight is that you have to win in under 50 seconds. Still, these guys aren’t very strong at all. Since there’s so little time, I would recommend not even bothering with their weaknesses. Just use your hardest hitting attacks to put them down. Their moves include Frenzy and Mamudo, so a demon like Nebiros which renders both those things null can be especially useful. Still, it’s hardly necessary since these guys are so weak. You might also want to watch out for the Jack Frost’s unavoidable attack, Terror Blizzard. In fact, these dudes are SO weaksauce, that I killed them in 5 seconds with two cross slashes. I’d show you a video of that, but I accidentally deleted it. Oh well, I guess it’s not too big of a loss.

As a reward you’ll obtain 2 Fury Silvers. Unfortunately, you can’t explore the Daidouji Residence. Boooo!! Hiss!

The Scales of Famine

Next up, we gotsta go kill Black Rider for Lucifer. So as always, go to the Catholic Church and walk up to the altar to trigger the fight.

—Boss: Fiend Black Rider—
My level: 51

Been a while since we’ve seen this guy. He’s harder than the other riders so far because he has no weaknesses, but now we’re strong enough that we can kill him with brute force before those 5 minutes are up. Since these horsemen are very resistant to physical attacks, we’ll be assaulting him with magic. Bring in your hardest hitting elemental magic, doesn’t matter what kind. I’m talkin’ Tempest, Glacial Blast, Fire Breath, Shockwave, that kinda stuff. Makakaja is also a good idea. Unlike the previous riders you’ll be cutting it close with your MAG but you should still be able to kill him before it completely runs dry.

Black Rider still works the same way he did way back when, so if you don’t remember go read the horsemen section.

Still, since he loves teleporting so much, you’re not going to go balls out with your attacks. At least not immediately. When the fight starts, cast Makakaja. Then set both your demons to use their strongest magic but hide them so they don’t use it. Black Rider will begin by teleporting around and using strikes and Mad Rushes. This is not a good moment to attack him if you’re not immune to phys since not only will you take a lot of damage if you stand in front of him, but it also doesn’t leave him vulnerable for very long until his next teleport, so you’ll just end up wasting a lot of MAG. So what you want to do at this point is simply run around with your demons hidden and bide your time. Let him use his dumb physical attacks all he wants.

After a few seconds of that though, he’s bound to begin his Mudo loop, and that’s when you’ll begin your offensive. Not only is his Mudo very inaccurate, but it also leaves him vulnerable for a very long time. So when you see him begin his Mudo loop, unhide your demons and let them unleash their magic attacks on him while he casts it. You should combo him yourself while you’re at it, as this can sometimes cause him to flinch. Don’t forget to quickly hide your demons again after the attack though. You don’t want them to waste MAG casting a second time because chances are Black Rider will already have teleported away.

Another, probably even better, opportunity to unleash your attacks on him is when he’s using Begin Starvation. Just wait for him to cast it, then run around to his side and show him what for.

If you only attack during these moments, your MAG shouldn’t run completely dry before he’s dead and you’ll still win before the time limit’s up.

As a reward you get the scales of famine.

Scars of Recession

Oh? Looks like some people are losing their will to work and staying at home. What? That sounds like me EVERY day. I mean me and work? We’re not on speaking terms. Ever. Anyway so this case calls for us to go to the “north area” of the capital. Way to be vague. Well, don’t worry. I got yo back, dogg. Turns out you gotta head over to Mannen-Cho, the north part past the flamboyantly gay crossdresser fantasizing about Satake and Kazama naked. Here you’ll find a factory worker. Talk to him to get a speech about how it’s pointless to live honestly because the lucky will always be on top and the poor will always be at the bottom. Hwell. I may be selfish, a dick, an asshole, and basically a monster, but if there’s one thing I value it’s honesty.

Anyways, after some more complaining the cause of this guy’s apathy will appear. It’s Belphegor! You’ll have a fight on your hands.

—Boss: Skill Belphegor—
My level: 52

Man I love this guy. He’s like the embodiment of laziness. If this guy is the one who tempts people into being lazy then he must basically live in my fucking room. Anyway. This fight is pretty interesting because Belphegor is pretty strong, but you need to kill him in under 2 minutes or else he’ll leave. He’s frail to wind, so bring in demons with the strongest wind skills you can muster. I personally recommend Tempest. That shiz is hell of all kinds of basically such as good. Skill Mikaboshi comes with it. Good stuff. But stuff like Wind Cutter and Mazandyne will still work as well. Makakaja is also a good idea. 2 minutes isn’t a lot, so you want to deal as much damage as possible.

Belphegor is a fun boss since he doesn’t teleport all over the place like others because of how lazy he is. He just stays near the center of the arena and uses powerful skills like Mamudoon and Megido. Cast Makakaja, set your demons to use their strongest wind skills, and let loose. Remember that Belphegor is more likely to go into frail stun if you’ve made him flinch with your sword combos directly prior to him getting hit by a wind skill. Once he does, command your demons to keep using their spells rather than striking him so you can deal more damage.

Stay on your toes when Belphegor’s stun wears off because he’ll counter with Mamudoon or Megido, so make sure to hide your demons and quickly roll away to avoid damage. Then go back in and keep the pressure up. Remember that he will also cast Dekaja from time to time so you may have to reapply Makakaja periodically.

As a reward you get a Babylon Tablet? Meh.

Ukemochi

You get this case through demon negotiation. Personally I got it from a Fury Ikusa at the Training Hall B6. This case is one of those “what?” cases. All you have to do is take it, then go to the Ishigami Inari shrine and talk to the Inari there. It’ll give you the Uka Talisman and the case will be closed. What indeed. With the Uka Talisman, if you talk to the Inari Statue and give it 300 yen it will let you sample some of its “cooking” which is actually just a random item. Among the ones I’ve gotten from it include

-Life Stones (common as all shit. I’m talkin’ like 80% here)
-Frost Steels (too damn common)
-Pagan Gold (pretty rare)
-Dainty Snack (uncommon)
-Ma Incense (too fucking rare)

But seriously this thing is a scam. Don’t waste your hard-earned dough here.

Fallen Dragon

Alright, this is the big one. Lucifer is waiting for you at Ishigami-Cho. The case file says he’s giving it to me because I’ve already lived my life once while keepin’ it real. Which leads me to believe you can only get this case during your second playthrough. In any case, let’s go.

Lucifer likes honesty. Heh. Just like me. He wants to fight us again. According to him, we may serve as a spark for his own reason. I wonder what that reason is…

—Boss: Prince of Darkness Lucifer—
My level: 52

This time around Lucifer will be playing slightly more seriously. But only slightly. The fight still feels like he’s going easy on us. Unlike the last time, you will only be fighting him, and you’ll have to completely deplete his HP. Lucifer doesn’t have any weaknesses but he seems to take the most damage from ice attacks, so bring in demons with the strongest ice skills you have. Glacial Blast is really nice as it does over 100 damage to him. So is Bufudyne since it does about 70 damage to him for less MAG than glacial blast. I imagine Mabufudyne would also be great. Also make sure you bring in Makakaja and Tarukaja. Rakukaja isn’t necessary. If you can bring in demons who drain fire and mind that would also help.

This time around Lucifer will use a wider variety of attacks. As soon as the fight starts cast both Makakaja and Tarukaja. Set both your demons to use their strongest ice attacks, run towards Lucifer and begin using your sword combos on him. He will invariably start the fight by casting his crack version of Maragidyne. The start up is very long, he has to very slowly lean forward before he casts it so you can get in 2 full combos before you have to block. If you have demons who drain fire, don’t hide them and let them them absorb it for a little MAG.

After every Maragidyne, stay on your toes because there’s a good chance that he’ll use Evil Gleam as a follow up. This attack is VERY fast, will hit you for over 300 damage and has a chance of charming. If you’re in the middle of a combo when he uses it chances are you won’t be able to block in time since it’s so fast. So after every Maragidyne don’t go balls out on the combos. You can hit him a little bit but leave some room to block in case he uses Evil Gleam.

After he’s used Maragidyne, the second time he leans forward will be to use King’s Yell, a very powerful attack that can also confuse you. You do NOT want to get hit by this, so when you see him lean forward the second time, hide your demons and roll backwards away from him. After he uses it, stay away because King’s Yell remains on the arena for a long time, and if you approach the area where it fell you’ll take the attack even if you had avoided it previously. In fact, even after it’s disappeared don’t jump the gun. Wait a second before going back in because I’ve still gotten hit by it for being too fast.

While you’re waiting for King’s Yell to disappear, Lucifer may use one of two attacks: Evil Gleam, or Roughhouse. If you see that he’s using Evil Gleam (you’ll know because it’ll show up as a message a split second before it appears), block. If he uses Roughhouse you need to roll away from the blue ball that appears before it bursts. Roughhouse is unblockable so the only way to avoid damage is to get away. Be careful with your demons because even when you’re completely out of the bubble, your demons may lag behind and still get hit by it.

After King’s Yell disappears Lucifer may continue using Roughhouse a few times. During this time you should keep damaging him. I recommend going from one side to the other. For example, stay on the right side while damaging him, then when Roughhouse appears, roll all the way to the left side and keep damaging him there, then when the next Roughhouse appears, roll back to the right side, etc. If you see him lean forward a third time, that means Maragidyne is coming.

After you’ve dealt some damage and some time has passed, Lucifer will transform into his Morning Star version. Otherwise known as his Pyro version. Otherwise known as his Helel version. In this form he’s ridiculously weak and vulnerable and will just let you beat up on him without retaliating. Make your demons assault him with their strongest ice attacks while you combo him. Not only will you cause an absurd amount of damage, but you’ll also gain a lot of MAG. After about 10 seconds or so, he’ll transform back into his badass version and the fight will continue normally. Throughout the fight after some intervals he’ll keep transforming to a fro from these two versions. I can only assume so as to give you more of a chance since he’s such a nice guy.

Keep attacking him with your strongest attacks, if your MAG runs out, don’t worry. Just keep damaging him with strikes and you’ll have a chance to replenish some when he transforms into Helel.

Once he’s down to about half HP, his behavior will slightly change. For one, he will stop casting Maragidyne outright and just use King’s Yell every time. So once you’ve brought him down to half, make sure to hide your demons and roll away EVERY single time he leans forward. Secondly, he’ll start using Petra Eye. A very fast and dangerous attack that can turn you to stone. Lucifer’s movement when he uses Petra Eye is similar to Roughhouse, so you need to stay on your toes. When you see him move his hand and laugh, QUICKLY roll away and hide your demons. Petra Eye is unblockable and unlike Roughhouse basically hits on the first frame when it appears, so you need to be fast.

It’s important that you constantly deal a lot of damage to him, because after he’s down to 1/3 HP, if you’re being too slow he’ll start healing himself for 1500 with Diarama, and this will make the fight much longer and harder than it has to be.

After the fight, Lucifer will reward you with the second item from his bag of temptation. AW HEYLL NAW. If I had known he’d give us both eventually I would’ve chosen the healing bell first. Bah. Grumblecakes.

Getting your ass kicked at Sakuradayama

Items:
-Mottled Skin

Well dogg it’s about time we got back to the main times. Head to Sakuradayama to find Kazama’s sting op. After some conversation you’ll hear a scream. Go to the Oumitsu Shrine to meet the Apollyon. Then you’ll faint and get another Shinado cutscene. He’ll tell you that you can’t defeat the Apollyon right now. Which is basically true. The game won’t let you. “Picking a fight you can’t win is a waste of time.” Very wise words. Words to live by. He also gave me an St Incense though I suspect that’s tied to your answers in the previous Shinado scene.

Shinado tells you to give Apollyon the win this time. Like I said, you can’t win, so do it. He’ll stand there for a few seconds and null your attacks, then use Death Cutter for some pathetic 100 points of damage. Then Raidou will pretend to die from it.

You’ll be saved by Lucifer. After some words he’ll leave. When you regain control, check the dead cop’s body to retrieve the Mottled Skin. If you show it to Narumi he’ll say we need someone with real knowledge about demons to examine it. Well that’s obvious who it is. Get to the Gouma-Den and show it to Victor.

Victor will ask you to find the Shukukon-Seki so he can construct a sword that will nullify the Apollyon’s healing ability.

Go to the east side of Ginza-Cho to find Tae and Rasputin. Aw yeah, did we miss this guy? We definitely did! Talk to him again and say you need his help. He knows the location of the Shukukon-Seki but in exchange he wants you to direct a fun conversation between himself and Tae. So talk to Tae. She’ll begin a conversation where you have to tell her how to act and what to say. It doesn’t matter what you choose, if you choose the wrong option you’ll just get some potentially funny dialogue and then get prompted again. After that’s done, he’ll divulge the location and also tell you to go talk to the herald.

Do so, and the herald will tell us it’s in the hands of Mikaboshi. Oh, that guy? Psh. I’ve been using him for a while now. He’s old news. But to open up the seal to his pad, you’ll have complete the ritual of unsealing. We’ll have to kill a boss in each of the 5 places of the Dark Realm. First up, we’re going to Dark Harumi-Cho!

Dark Harumi-Cho

Items:
-Lu Incense
-Wind Silver
-Birdlime

Demons:
-Wind Poltergeist
-Wind Ichimokuren
-Frost Jubokko
-Skill Titania
-Skill Oberon
-Wind Anzu
-Wind Feng Huang
-Frost Black Ooze
-Wind Kurama Tengu
-Pagan Jorougumo
-Wind Dominion
-Pyro Orthrus

From where you appear, head south to find a save point. Use it. Nearby, you’ll see a soul. He can take you back to the real world when you need it. Keep heading down the steps towards the dock to find a blue crystal with a Lu Incense! Oho, I’m already starting to like this place more! Now head past the ladder to the reservoir, and past the Makami you see all the way to the other dock. Here you’ll find a blue crystal with a Wind Silver. You’ll also see Nakisawame here. Go into the foreign residential district next to find a third blue crystal. This one has a birdlime.

Once you have that we’re about done with this place. Head all the way back to the save point, use it, then go down the ladder to the reservoir. Bring out a frost order demon and use cool down on the water to freeze it. Walk on it and up the ladder to find a wind current. Use Kamikaze on it to fly to the catholic church area where the boss is waiting.

—Boss: Wind Baek Yong—
My level: 56

MAN but this guy is weaksauce. He basically ain’t no thang. He appears with some Poltergeist reinforcements but you can safely ignore them since their damage is pitiful. Baek Yong is frail to fire so bring in demons with the best fire skills you can muster. I’m talkin’ Hellfire, Fire Breath, Maragidyne. Y’know. The good stuff. If you combine this with Makakaja he’ll go down like nobody’s business.

He does like to teleport around a little so your demons may miss some attacks but it’s not really a big deal considering how fast this fight will be over. Baek Yong likes to use Wind Cutter but let’s face it. That move is so 30 levels ago. Even if you take full damage from it, it’s still nothing worth writing home about. Other than that he’ll use a weak Rush, and if you take a bit longer he may use his unavoidable attack, Evil Hurricane for some pathetic 100 block damage. Overall this guy is not anything remotely close to a threat.

With that, we get an FMV of the first line being traced over the capital, and get teleported to the next trial.

Dark Tsukudo-Cho

Demons:
-Pagan Sandman
-Fury Triglav
-Fury Chernobog
-Pyro Oshichi
-Fury Ikusa
-Pagan Gashadokuro
-Volt Nue
-Fury Mezuki
-Fury Gozuki
-Fury Rakshasa

Well we’ve already explored this place a long time ago, so there’s not much to do. There are a bunch of new high level demons roaming around though so you should recruit a few of the good ones like Rakshasa. The demons out on the field also have new things so you could talk to them just for fun.

But anyways. Head east from the save point past the Poltergeist and go to the wind current in the alleyway. Use Kamikaze on it to get blown near the Ginroukaku building, then walk towards it to trigger the battle with Shouten.

—Boss: Fury Shouten—
My level: 57

Shouten’s in a different league than Baek Yong. This guy can actually take a punch. Actually jillions of ’em. I’m gonna have to attribute it to that beer belly. But seriously this guy is surprisingly resilient. He’s frail to fire but even with the strongest fire skills at your disposal he’ll still take a bit of work to put down.

Anyways, like the previous battle, bring in demons with the strongest fire attacks you can. Hellfire’s pretty bomb. Maragidyne works well too. Fire Breath is also pretty dope. Do note that even though Shouten is frail to fire, he doesn’t actually take that much damage from it. So spamming him with it isn’t a strategy I particularly endorse. Most of our damage is actually going to come from physical attacks while he’s frail stunned. So having Tarukajaon like I did isn’t too bad an idea.

Shouten also has some Turdak goons but for the most part you can ignore them unless they get too close and try to poison you.

The most important part is probably what you’ll be doing during the fight. As soon as it starts, set both your demons to use their respective fire attacks on Shouten, and cast their buffs. What you’re going to do is this: hide your demons and get some distance away from Shouten. Let him use his Maragidynes and Pulinpas and wait for him to use Mad Rush on you. Once he does, block it, and as soon as his attack ends, unhide your demons and begin comboing him. He’s particularly vulnerable after a Mad Rush so it’s very likely that your sword strikes will cause him to flinch, and this flinch makes him VERY likely to go into frail stun if he’s hit by a fire attack immediately afterwards, which he should be if you’re not longer hiding your demons.

Once he does go into stun, don’t bother casting more spells and just get as much damage in with strikes as you can. As soon as he comes out of stun though, hide your demons and roll away because he’s about to counter with Pulinpa or Maragidyne. Then simply wait for him to Mad Rush you again and repeat the process. If he doesn’t flinch when you strike him after a Mad Rush (can happen), be ready to block an attack.

Shouten may also use Tetrakarn to make your life a little harder. If he does you’ll just have to abstain from strikes for a while until it wears off and hope he goes into frail stun naturally. If he does, don’t be afraid to combo him since Tetrakarn doesn’t work while he’s stunned.

After the fight you’ll create the second line in the pentagram and then get sent to Ginza-Cho for the next trial.

Dark Ginza-Cho

Items:
-Aquamarine
-Ox Bezoar
-Kagura Flute
-Ma Incense
-Kotetsu Sake
-Frost Silver

Demons:
-Skill Ippon-datara
-Frost Raja Naga
-Pagan Gashadokuro
-Frost Pabilsag
-Skill Titania
-Frost Jubokko
-Wind Kurama
-Frost Basilisk
-Frost Azumi
-Wind Ichimokuren
-Frost Black Ooze
-Frost Jack Frost
-Volt Nandi

Alright, you start out on the temporary overpass. If you go down the stairs to the right (west), you’ll just hit a dead end, so head the other way. Check the top left corner of the temporary overpass to find 2 blue crystals. They have an Aquamarine and an Ox Bezoar. Nothing to write home about but hey. Walk down the stairs and keep going straight to find the save point.

Check between the shrubs below it to find another blue crystal. This one has a Kagura Flute. From there, head north into the alleyway to find Nakisawame and another blue crystal. This one has a Ma Incense! Good. I was starting to think everything in this place was going to suck. You’re redeemed, Dark Ginza-Cho. Now, keep heading all the way west till you hit the end, then go south from there to find two more blue crystals. They contain a Kotetsu Sake and a Frost Silver.

Anyway, once you have that go back to the save point and head south from Nakisawame’s alley to find a demon wall. This one requires a demon who knows Recarm. A bit of a hassle, but what can ya do. Among the demons who can learn Recarm there’s Skill Selket, Volt Makami, and Wind Feng Huang. I’d say get a Selket and level it twice to get Recarm if you don’t already have it. Since Selket is such a low level demon it shouldn’t take too long for her to level. In fact, about 4 or 5 fights should do it. Easy!

Go past the wall with your recarm demon and go under the overpass to find the crystal supplying power to the wall. Destroy it. God DAMMIT did I mention how I hate they used the soulless battleship music for this trivial thing? Anyway, once it’s broken, the way to the boss will be open. Go back and save just in case, then run up to it.

—Boss: Frost Long—
My level: 59

What? After Shouten being a decently powerful boss, Long goes back to the Baek Yong club. The club of pussies. He comes with Preta reinforcements but come on, what level are Pretas? 3? Bahaha. They can be ignored with no consequence.

Long is frail to electricity, and he takes huge damage from it to boot, so if you bring in stuff like Shockwave and Thunderbolt, you’ll send him packing before you even know what’s going on. His favorite attack is Frenzy, which isn’t dangerous at all. The wind up is considerable, so you can usually block on reaction when you see the message pop up. If you combo him immediately after he’s used Frenzy, he’s likely to flinch and then go into frail stun if he’s hit by an elec skill afterwards.

But seriously, this guy is laughably easy.

After the fight, you’ll trace the third line in the pentagram, then get teleported to dark kasumidai.

Dark Kasumidai

Items:
-Pagan Silver
-32 Gunto
-Persian Vase
-Anti-Stone
-Bead
-Mugshot Herbs

Demons:
-Pyro Onmoraki
-Fury Rakshasa
-Wind Moh Shuvuu
-Pyro Cerberus
-Pyro Gdon
-Pyro Orthrus
-Wind Kurama
-Skill Oberon
-Pyro Throne
-Frost Basilisk
-Fury Triglav
-Pagan Gashadokuro
-Pagan Okiku-mushi

From where you appear, you’ll see the dragon cave directly above you. Go save there. West from it is nothing other than that scam artist Nakisawame, so let’s head to the east side of dark Kasumidai. Here you’ll find 3 small holes along the greenery to the left. Bring out a skill order demon and transform into Antoine to fit inside them. You will find a Pagan Silver, a 32 Gunto, and a Persian Vase.

Once you’ve yoinked all that, go back to the save point and head south from there. Take a left and head east to find a lone blue crystal with an Anti-Stone. Then go back, but walk behind the Colonel Adachi statue because the boss is in front of it. Keep heading west past the cannon and all the way to the diet building to find a blue crystal containing a Bead. Take a left and go south from there. Then up the stairs when you hit the wall. You’ll find a firewall here. Bring out a Frost order demon and use cool down to destroy it. Go up to the Oukuninushi statue and search the light beside it to obtain the Mugshot Herbs. You need these to complete the world of plants (2) case.

Go back to the dragon cave and save. When you’re ready, go south and confront the boss.

—Boss: Pyro Vritra—
My level: 61

Vritra is slightly stronger than his two other brothers but still not much of a challenge. He’s frail to ice, so if you can manage to catch a Frost Basilisk from this place, who not only comes with Glacial Blast but is immune to fire, you are basically set. Round it out with another demon who knows a good ice skill such as Cocytus or Bufudyne, maybe a Makakaja, and the challenge level plummets even further.

Vritra’s favorite attack seems to be Marin-Karin. It’s a pretty dangerous move if your demons aren’t immune to mind, but the wind up is huge so you have plenty of time to hide them and block or roll away. Wouldn’t hurt to have a few Anti-Minds handy in case you screw up though. Like his brethren, Vritra comes with some reinforcements in the form of Enkus. As always, you can safely ignore these pussies and concentrate all your attacks on the main dude. Other than that, Vritra will also use Fire Breath, which would be bad news except Basilisk is completely immune to it. He does also know Ziodyne though, which will stun Basilisk, so watch out for that. Or don’t. It doesn’t really do all that much damage even with Basilisk’s weakness to it.

Vritra takes big damage from ice attacks, so that’s where most of your damage will come from. Just keep pressuring him with glacial blast and recast it even when he’s frail stunned and you’ll win decently quickly.

After the fight we get the penultimate line in the pentagram (did I mention the last part of that music right before the FMV ends is pretty cool?) and you’ll be teleported to the final trial at Fukagawa-Cho.

Dark Fukagawa-Cho

Items:
-Renki
-Red Crystal x2
-Volt Steel

Demons:
-Volt Makami
-Volt Parvati
-Fury Rakshasa
-Wind Dominion
-Frost Black Ooze
-Volt Nandi
-Pagan Jorougumo
-Volt Koropokkur
-Pagan Gashadokuro
-Frost Azumi
-Volt Tsuchigumo
-Fury Turdak
-Volt Nue
-Wind Kurama
-Pyro Throne
-Pyro Cerberus
-Fury Triglav

The boss of this area will introduce himself as Great Kohryu. He says he expected you to get killed at the second or third trial. What? The third one is easier than the second! Why would you include it? Hell, you look similar to Baek Yong and Long. I bet you’re weaker the Shouten too.

Hrenyways, you’ll appear conveniently close to the save point, so use it. Check the right side of the empty lot to find a small hole. Transform into a doge to be able to go through it. You’ll find a Renki inside.

On the other side of the tunnel you’ll find Nakisawame whorin’ it up. Ignore her and head north past the gate. You’ll find not one, but TWO red crystals. Dang they’re a bit far from the save point aren’t they. Well, tell you what we’ll do. Since we’re so close to maxing out our stats, let’s grab both those red crystals and settle for just getting one incense out of the deal. After all, I’m sure we’ll find way more red crystals than we need throughout the rest of the game. You might also want to use a repulse water to avoid encounters while you’re getting the incenses since the trek is kind of long. Once you’re satisfied, use the wind current beside them to get back to the empty parking lot. Save, then head out. When you’re out of the lot, go all the way east, then when you hit the wall turn south. Go past the gate there and then use Kamikaze on the wind current you find. This’ll take you to a place with a blue crystal containing a… Volt Steel? Are you serious? What. A disappointment. Take the wind back to the empty lot.

It’s also interesting to note that you can transform into Louis Cyphre here in the dark realm. If you talk to demons as him, they may fork over some tribute cash. It seems to be random though. I’ve gotten money from a specific demon, but then if I load and try it again with that same demon, it won’t give me any money that time.

The two wind currents in the middle are useless and just take you back to the lot. Head all the way west and take the leftmost one. From where you appear, go north to find the second save point. Convenient. You’ll also spot 2 wind currents. One one each side of the save point. Use the one on the left side to get blown over to the Daikoku-Yu bridge. Here you’ll see two more wind currents and an Aquans. Take the left one and you’ll be blown to the bathhouse. Approach it to trigger the boss battle.

—Boss: Volt Great Kohryu—
My level: 61

Yep. Just as I suspected this guy is a pussy. He comes with Koropokkur reinforcements which as per usual you can completely ignore. Kohryu is frail to wind and takes huge damage from it, so if you can bring in demons with hard hitting wind skills like Tempest or Wind Cutter, he should be no challenge at all. Tempest is particularly nice since it’s very strong and the stun it causes is extreme.

Kohryu’s favorite attack is Megido, which is an awful move since the start up is obscenely long. In fact, you can usually safely let your demons cast their own spells on him before you call them back and avoid damage from it. He also knows Rush and Agidyne, but I’ll be honest with you, he’s so weak the damage from these attacks is downright pathetic. Finally, he will also occasionally use Shockwave, which is a pretty strong move, but as long as you don’t have any demons who are frail to it, it shouldn’t be a problem.

If you can combo him with your sword right after he completes an attack, there’s a good chance he’ll flinch, and if he gets hit by a wind attack immediately afterwards, he will go into frail stun. Once he does, instead of hitting him with strikes, command your demons to cast their respective wind attacks on him again for huge damage. If you’re using Tempest, the stun is so long that you can even have them cast it twice before he shakes it off. Suffice it to say, the damage you can cause like this is so absurd that he’ll be dead in less than a minute. Seriously.

After the battle, the ritual of unsealing will be complete. You’ll trace the final line to form the pentagram and be sent back to Harumi-Cho. The herald will speak to you. It’s worth noting that this time, the cool pentagram-drawing music stays on while she does, so we can listen to all of it. Heh. Then you’ll be back at the nameless shrine. The dark realms you just visited will also now be open to you just in case you wanna go back. Nice. The herald also tells us that the path to the confinement chamber is through the waterways, and asks if we can travel through water. You kiddin’? We had the large tarrasque since like chapter 2 or some shit. Who you think you’re dealing with here. (if you don’t have it, check the It Came from the Sewer! case file) Anyway, you need to go to Kasumidai and take the large tarrasque from the dock there. Before we do that though, swing by Narita’s pad for a second. Transform into Shizu and go into Narita’s room. When he asks you who you are, tell him Makiko, and he’ll open up a case file over at the detective agency. Hokay, let’s take care of that first then.

Job From Narita

Take the case and go back to his house to get the details. Narita wants you to go to the bridal chamber at Tento Sanctuary and see how the woman there is doing. So that’s what happened to Makiko. Exactly as I speculated. He wants you to give Makiko a pill so she can commit suicide. Ok, sounds like a good job.

Take the streetcars to Tsukigata, go into resort environs, then exit out west. Enter the Tento Shrine Annex South and you’ll be very close to the Bridal Chamber. Go in. Makiko will ask who you are. Tell her you’re Tasuke Narita, and she will bring out her hand. Put the pill into her hands. Death is better than the life she’s having. Besides, you heard the old ones. Once Akane takes her place, they’ll just feed her to Tentomaru. She’s going to die anyway. Might as well be like this.

Afterwards, Gouto asks you if you think Narita did this out of concern for her future or just because it would hurt his political career if someone found out. Just answer truthfully. As far as I can tell, Narita really did care about her. And besides, if no one’s found out by now, I’m pretty sure they weren’t going to.

The case will be closed and you’ll obtain a Masamune.

The Star of Death

Items:
-Shukukon-Seki
-Thunder Taiko

Anyway we’re about ready. Drive (hehehe…drive) the Large Tarrasque from the dock in Kasumidai over to the center of the capital. Get off at the dock just slightly to the left of the Ginza-Cho train station and enter the confinement chambers. Save at the dragon cave. When you’re ready, use the elevator and descend down to the 666th floor to meet Mikaboshi.

—Boss: Rebel God Mikaboshi—
My level: 63

This guy would be more impressive if we hadn’t been using him like 10 levels ago already. He’s old news. Even still though, he’s actually pretty strong compared to the bosses from the ritual of unsealing!

Mikaboshi is frail to ice, so make sure to bring in demons with good ice skills. Preferably Cocytus, but Glacial Blast and Bufudyne also work well. Secondly, since he loves to teleport around so much, an undodgeable attack like Freeze Slash is nice to have, although not strictly necessary. If you want it, Basilisk learns it and you can capture one from most of the dark realms you just visited.

Mikaboshi will start the fight by teleporting around the arena repeatedly in an effort to annoy you. He does it so fast that trying to attack him during this period is a futile effort. Use this time to cast your buffs if you have them. After about 3 teleports or so, he will teleport (usually to the bottom part of the arena during this early phase) and move around for a split second. This is your cue that he’s now attackable. Set both your demons to use their strongest ice attacks on him and combo him with your sword. He will use an attack such as Ziodyne or Hellfire, but don’t worry about dodging it. It doesn’t do very much damage and it’s important that you keep hitting him at this point because he won’t stick around for very long before going back to teleporting. If you keep hitting him immediately after he attacks, there’s a chance that he’ll flinch, and if he gets hit by an ice attack immediately afterwards, he will go into frail stun. Once he does, command your demons to keep casting their ice spells at him rather than striking him so you can deal more damage. If he was stunned by Cocytus or Bufudyne you can probably get in 2 rounds of spells before he shakes it off.

If you have Freeze Slash or a variant of it, you don’t even have to wait for him to attack. You can unleash it as soon as you see that he’s done with his rounds of teleportation and he will very likely be stunned. Unfortunately the damage from Freeze Slash is nothing to write home about so it’s important that you follow it up with some more ice attacks while he’s stunned. Also keep in mind that it uses up a lot of MAG so you might want to save it for later when he starts using his more dangerous attacks and just use Cocytus or Bufudyne for now.

Once you get his HP down to half, he’ll start using those dangerous attacks I’m talking about, so you’ll have to be a bit more careful. By far his most dangerous (and favorite) is Mute Beam. If you get hit by this, it’s no big deal, but you do NOT want your demons to get hit by it, because it will send them back to their tube and seal them for the rest of the fight. If Mikaboshi seals your demons you’re basically fucked so don’t let this happen.

But don’t worry, because this attack isn’t particularly accurate. It’s reminiscent of Black Rider’s Begin Starvation, and just like it, it leaves Mikaboshi vulnerable to attacks while he’s using it. Remember that he will start using this attack instead of just Ziodyne/Hellfire/etc at this point so you can no longer afford to get hit. Keep your demons hidden when he ends his rounds of teleportation, and try to run up to his side or back. If you can do this, and he uses Mute Beam, you can unhide your demons and let them use their ice attacks on him while he’s still stuck using it. In fact, sometimes you can even make him flinch with sword strikes right after he finishes and then frail stun him. Only sometimes though.

If Mikaboshi ends his teleportation rounds in the middle of the arena, be careful because he might use Star’s Funeral, an unblockable attack. It’s actually not THAT strong, though it will stun you so might as well not risk it. To avoid this attack just move to the bottom or top part of the arena.

He may also use his unavoidable attack (though he didn’t when I was fighting him. Probably ’cause I was raping him too hard) so when you see the message that he’s preparing for something, hide your demons and block.

Like I said, if you have Freeze Slash you can use it before he even uses Mute Beam or any attack and frail stun him. This is arguably the safest way to fight him at this point since it’s not dependent on making him flinch, or positioning and so you don’t have to get yourself in any danger as long as you remember to watch out once he shakes off the stun.

After the fight, Mikaboshi muses that Raidou is strong enough to beat even the Yatagarasu. You may tell him that you still serve them regardless, or that you don’t. It’s up to you. Personally I ain’t serve nobody. Seriously if it were up to me I’d probably be a dark summoner. Not the evil kind but rather the kind that doesn’t put up with the Yatagarasu’s rules and does things his own way. But anyways. He will give you the Shukukon-Seki. Take the elevator back up. Here the great Kohryu will give you the Thunder Taiko. With this we can fly him around the world map and get to some new places! Hells yeah. Now we can get around with MUCH style. If you go to the Gouma Den at this point, you’ll hand over the Shukukon-Seki and Victor will be able to use it to forge the Youmetsutou from a Renki. He says to talk to the dudes at Shin-Sekai if you don’t have a Renki but come on. You JUST got one from Dark Fukagawa-Cho and frankly you should have like 6 by now. But before we do that, come on! We gots places to be! The Great Kohryu has opened up a lot of possibilities and we’re gonna check it out right NOW.

To the skies!

Items:
-St Incense
-Uranus Stone
-Persian Vase
-Insect Cage
-Bead of Life
-Soma

Ok! First off, get off the Kohryu in the place just east of Tsukudo-Cho where you see a shining item. Pick it up because it’s an St Incense! Next, get off on the island east of Ginza-Cho where you see another shining item to get a Uranus Stone. Oh, well more money for us if we turn it in for the Gift From Uranus quest. Next, get off in the place west of Tsukudo-Cho where you can see two items. It’s a Persian Vase and an Insect Cage! Good stuff.

Now go to Tsukigata. Get off in the northeastern part of the map to get a Bead of Life. Daaaamn this is gettin’ to be a pretty lucrative trip. Now, if you look slightly north of the nameless shrine you’ll see another item. If you get off on the road just north of it, you can then head south from there and walk under the forest to get this item. But WAIT! It’s a Soma. This is a RIDICULOUSLY rare and valuable item, and you can only carry one of them at a time. If you still haven’t used the one you got way back at the Tento Sanctuary, I suggest you leave this one where it is. If you pick it up and you still have the other one you’ll just lose it! So let’s leave it there and make a mental note about it shall we? If we ever have need of it we’ll just come back.

Finally, now you can access the east and west training halls. With these two you now have immediate access to 16 ripe red crystals just begging to be opened.

Training Hall – West

Items:
-Red Crystal x8 (!)

Demons:
-Element Erthys (ultra high chance)
-Element Aeros
-Element Undine
-Wind Kurama
-Element Flaemis
-Element Aquans

Yokay, we got 8 red crystals here just like in the other training halls. You know what to do. Bring out your Selket or similar demon and start abusing the system so you can get incenses from every one. Yeah, I know it’s tough but we’re in the home stretch of maxing out our stats here! Once we get all of these we won’t have to do any more, so hang in there! At least the trip from the detective agency to the training hall doesn’t take too long with Great Kohryu.

Training Hall – East

Items:
-Red Crystal x8 (!)

Demons:
-Element Aeros (Ultra high chance)
-Fury Yoshitsune
-Element Sylph
-Element Aquans
-Element Erthys
-Element Flaemis

Come on, chin up! I know it’s tough but this is the last set of crystals we have to abuse. Once you’ve gotten the incense from these you’ll be dangerously close to maxed out stats and can just get the rest of the points through normal level ups. In any case, once your satisfied with what you got, it’s about time we took care of that Apollyon.

Time the Apollyon was shown who is the boss

Items:
-Insect Cage

Aright, get over to Victor’s and make the Youmetsutou from a Renki. You only need a couple of the hundreds of steels you should have by now. The Youmetsutou is actually weaker than the sword we have by now, but ah well. We’ll have to use it anyway, but only for this fight. There’s no need to equip it though, the game will do it automatically when you fight the Apollyon.

Once you have it, drive the Great Kohryu over to Sakuradayama. You’ll meet up with detective Kazama and Narumi. It seems the army’s getting in on this action. Well we know they ain’t got no chance. After the conversation, get over to the Oumitsunu shrine to encounter Apollyon yet again. Raidou will equip the Youmetsutou if you haven’t already, and it’s on.

—Boss: Destroyer Apollyon—
My level: 64

Bwahahaha! What is this shit? This guy has got to be the weakest boss in the entire game. He’s frail to electricity but does it even matter? No. Just use your strongest attacks on him and he’ll be history in seconds. At the start of the fight he’ll jump to the back of the arena and just stand there for a while which is good opportunity to bring the smack down.

He will use Death Cutter, a pretty weak attack with a huge cue. When you see the message, just hide your demons and roll away. It’s better to roll since it’s faster than running.

He might also use Stone Needle. This attack is only dangerous because it can turn you to stone. As long as you’re in front of Apollyon, you have enough time to block though, because the attack will start from his right, to center, and then to his left.

But whatever. Seriously this fight is a joke. If you want to see just how much of a joke it is, you can watch my video of it:

After the fight you’ll yoink a guy’s insect cage. Then you’ll hear a familiar whistle. It’s Dahn! Wait, how’d he get out of the prison? What a rascal! It seems he’s set on becoming King Abaddon and runs towards Waden One. Then we get a long FMV of the destroyer insects descending from the hole in the sky. Feh. It looks like Dahn can’t actually control them, and they go on a rampage all over the capital.

Meanwhile Lucifer seems to be happy about this. He asks you whether you think the Apollyons are an action by god meant as punishment to unbelievers or as a show of strength meant to enhance faith. As always, answer whatever you want. If you ask me, a show of strength meant merely to bring faith back to the people wouldn’t have to be a disaster like this. It’s pretty obvious this is a punishment. Divine anger incarnate.

After you answer, Lucifer will make an assessment of your alignment based on your decisions throughout the game. He also gave me a Soma. AW MAN. I already had one so I just lost it! Dammit, couldn’t you have given me like a Soma Drop or something like that?

I have to wonder. Was Dahn deceived by Lucifer, or is he just dumb? Further, what is Lucifer’s purpose in bringing the destroyer insects? He leaves with the words “Do not let your future be one shrouded in despair.” A mysterious guy indeed. And with that, chapter 5 is concluded. Ping!

Chapter 6

Lots of cutscenes up ins. Raidou faints AGAIN, and now Shinado shows his aspect of anger. After some dialogue you wake up at the detective agency. It seems Tae’s figured out what everyone already knew: the children’s song’s lyrics detail what’s been happening.

Tae butts in for the sixth Investigational Meeting

Well, we saved just a bit ago so no need to postpone this meeting. Make sure to get all the questions wrong because this meeting rivals the previous one in cool dialogue for wrong answers! We even get some nostalgia about the Tai-itsu satellite.

After the meeting, everyone comes to the conclusion that we’ll have to scour Tsukigata for clues on how to close up that hole. Narumi also says he wants to have a chat up on the roof so let’s go there first.

Narumi will ask you if you think Dahn is a good guy or a bad guy. Answer whatever you want, but I think it’s pretty clear that Dahn is a good man.

After that scene, you’ll automatically be taken to Tsukigata Village, and another one of those weakass Apollyons will be there to greet you. After killing it, Geirin will meet up with you. Looks like Tsukigata is under attack by the Apollyons and it’ll be your job to save the stranglers from the village. But you know what? Fuck ’em. We’ve got more important things to do. So let the villagers fend for themselves and get back to the capital.

Tsukigata attacked by locust monsters? We ain’t even care!

Yokay! We got stuff to do here. First off, let’s go to Kasumidai. Read Sadakichi’s mind to get what he claims is a very important case file. Assassination Job. Then, go east to the supreme court and talk to Tsunatsugu to get another case from him, Prince of Darkness.

Next, go to Shin Sekai and receive the new case files from the owner: Golden UFO, Heartbeat of the Dragon, Demons for Science! (3), and In Search of the Truth.

Once you have those, go to restaurant Ryugu and talk to the owner to receive another case file from her too. Low on Stock (4). She’ll also give you 10000 yen. Hehe, this is the kinda client I like.

Don’t forget to go to the catholic church and talk to Lucifer to obtain his latest case file: The Seal of Death.

In a related note, don’t forget to go to the Oumitsu Shrine in Sakuradayama and talk to Dahn there to see an important cutscene where he recounts his dealings with Lucifer back in Tsukigata. It seems Lucifer never told him he’d be able to control the Apollyons in the same way he controlled his other bugs. Dahn only assumed that, but the Apollyons’ directive was already detailed in the volume of god’s word to man given to him: “And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree: but only the men who have not the sign of God on their foreheads.” Hmm… the Apollyons seek out people who have luck locusts. Is relying on luck locusts not having the sign of god on your forehead? Maybe. But who knows. In the end, Dahn did act as King Abaddon, “The angel holding the key to the eternal abyss”. “And I saw a star fall from heaven upon the earth. And there was given to him the key of the bottomless pit.” The key was given to the angel, not to the fallen star. The angel can be seen as Dahn. And the star fallen from heaven? Who do you think that is?

It seems Lucifer is trying to make the scripture’s prophecy come true. Everything he’s doing points to that. Including the breaking of the seven seals, which are 1) Conquest, white horse, 2) War Red Horse, 3) Famine, black horse, 4) Death, Pale Horse. That’s obvious, the 4 horsemen themselves talked about breaking the seals. The fifth seal is visions of martyrs, the sixth one is earthquakes (that’s already happened!), and the seventh is the trumpets of angels (7th trumpet, Eternal King anyone?).

The opening of the first four seals is marked by the appearance of the four horsemen. The one who made them appear is Lucifer. But according to scripture, the one opening the seals is the lamb, which is a symbol for the messiah. Does that mean Lucifer is the messiah? Now that you mention it, that’s exactly what the Mushibito called him.

But enough o’ THAT! Let’s keep playing. Go to the shrine in Shinoda and talk to the herald to get the new case files from Yatagarasu: The Possessed Capital, I can’t contain it, Fake Raidou Sighted!, and Just Gimme a Demon. While we’re here, we might as well check out the new floors opened up in the training hall.

Training Hall B7

Items:
-Theban Jar
-Pearl
-Red Crystal
-Ruby

Demons:
-Fury Rakshasa
-Fury Triglav
-Pyro Throne
-Skill Titania
-Frost Raja Naga
-Volt Parvati
-Pyro Cerberus
-Wind Ichimokuren
-Wind Kurama

Ok, unlike other floors, you’ll find 3 blue crystals and 1 red crystal. We ain’t need to get any more incense from red crystals at this point (unless you do), so I’d say just leave them there for now in case we need something specific in the future. Or get whatever you want from them. ‘sup to you.

The blue crystal in the bottom left corner has a Theban Jar, and the one in the top left corner has a Pearl! And the one in the bottom right corner has a Ruby. Dang. Good stuff in this floor. Anyways, since B8 still hasn’t opened up, I think we should start taking care of those case file eh?

Golden UFO

A shrine in the center of the capital? Well that can’t be anything other than the confinement chamber. I mean there ain’t nothing in the center but that. So take the case and head on over there. Oh, the Great Kohryu is gold. Well. I guess that solves this case! Great Kohryu will also grant you access to the 333rd floor. Intriguing. Let’s go there right now!

Confinement Chamber B333

Demons:
-Skill Abihiko
-Skill Nagasunehiko
-Volt Mishaguji
-Wind Hitokotonusi
-Volt Nue
-Frost Jubokko
-Pagan Gashadokuro
-Skill Ippon-datara

This place is empty of items, but it has some nice demons from Devil Summoner 1 you can recruit. A lot of them can’t be made by fusion prior to coming here. Mishaguji’s interesting because he has Cursed Bolt, a heavy damage Mind attack, which isn’t particularly common. But anyway, when you’re done here go back to the detective agency, ’cause we still got case files to look into!

Assassination Job

Items:
-Akane’s Letter
-Wind Silver
-Pearl
-Old Underwear
-Persian Vase
-Kotetsu Sake
-Plastic
-Soma

Demons:
-Skill Selket
-Pagan Okiku-mushi
-Frost Pabilsag
-Volt Tsuchigumo
-Pagan Jorougumo
-Pagan Arachne

Hmm… looks like we’ll have to go back to Tsukigata Village for this case. Isn’t it being annihilated by destroyer insects right about now? Oh well. Let’s go anyway. Ride your Kohryu over to the region, and get off in the Tento Woods. You’ll see that the door to the shack Dahn was imprisoned in has been busted open. Go save at the nearby dragon cave, and then go in. Take the stairs down to the cells and you’ll see a dead guy on the floor. Talk to him, and agree to help him. He will give you Akane’s Letter.

Keep heading down the hall to meet a Gold Masked Fukoshi. He seems to be scared of you, and, this was a complete surprise to me, actually sends you to a brand new Fukorutsubo! And it has a pretty bluish color. Very awesome. Let’s do this.

At the first fork, you’ll spot the dragon cave to the right, so head there first and save. The left path only leads to a dead end, so forget it. If you head north from the save point, you’ll just get teleported back, so head west. Keep going west all the way until you find a blue crystal. It has a Wind Silver. Keep going forward to get teleported back to the save point. Go west from it again, and this time head north from the intersection. When you get to the next fork, take a right. You’ll get to another intersection right above the save point. The north and east exits are sealed, leaving only the south one to the save point open. Go south until the camera angle changes, then turn back and return. The north exit will now be open. Go north to the next intersection, and then instead of continuing forward return to the previous one. The east exit will now be open. Walk down that path until you get teleported. You’ll now be in the west part of the map. Pick up that blue crystal to obtain a Pearl, then head north until you get teleported again.

If you go north from where you appear, you’ll reach a room with Nakisawame, so instead of that, head west to reach an intersection. The west exit will be sealed, and we’ve already been south, so take the north path. At the next fork you’ll spot the renegade Fukoshi to the left and a blue crystal to the right, so of course we’re taking the right path. At the end of it you’ll find two blue crystals with an Old Underwear and a Persian Vase. Return to the fork and this time take the left path to find the second dragon cave. Use it. The Fukoshi gold mask is just ahead to the north, but before we confront him, let’s finish exploring this place. Take the south path until you reach another fork. You’ll see a blue crystal at the end of the northwest path, so go there. You’ll get a Kotetsu Sake.

Return to the previous fork. Go south from there to reach an intersection room. You’ll see that the west exit is sealed. Take the south exit just slightly until the camera angle changes, then go back to find the west exit opened. Go through it to find the last two blue crystals. One has a plastic but unfortunately the left one has a Soma. Dammit. Since you’re likely to already have one, you won’t be able to pick this one up. Blagh.

Anyway, get back to the second dragon cave, and when you’re ready, approach the Fukoshi Gold Mask.

—Boss: Fukoshi Gold Mask and Taromaru—
My level: 66

This guy is basically like Dahn, except stronger. But since we’re MUCH stronger too, there’s no need to worry. He’s frail to electricity so bring in demons who know Thunderbolt and Shockwave.

His attacks have really big cues. When you see him engulfed in orange light, that means he’s preparing to use an attack. Sneak Attack seems to be his favorite, which is a relatively strong attack, but with poor reach, so as long as you’re not right in front of him, you’re safe. He also has a fast strike which can stun you, but the damage from that isn’t a big deal, and since the only way to avoid it is to anticipate it, it’s best not to worry about it.

Generally he’s quite resistant to frail stun, but the best time to stun him is when he’s slowly walking around and not doing anything. Once he is, command your demons to keep pressuring him with electric skills to lay on more damage. Don’t worry about MAG, it’ll decrease a lot but that’ll be solved soon because when you get Gold Mask down to half health, he’ll summon a Taromaru.

Taromaru here works similar to the other times you’ve fought him, except now he’s stronger and takes a lot more damage before he dies. He’s frail to ice so hit him with Cocytus and Glacial Blast. Since Cocytus has longer stun, but glacial blast does more damage, I recommend using Cocytus until he’s stunned and then using glacial blast repeatedly until he shakes it off.

Taromaru has all the attacks you’re already familiar with. If you hear an electric sound and see him brace himself, that means Overdrive is coming, so block and even hide your demons if you want to be safe, though this isn’t necessary. Remember to keep blocking because Overdrive hits up to 3 times. If you see the message that he’s preparing for something, as usual block and hide your demons because Sonic Wave is coming. At this point, it’s actually pretty weak though, hitting for only about 30 block damage. If he jumps high away from the arena, run around the border (or roll, which is faster), in one direction nonstop to avoid his Hopper Kick.

When he’s close to death he’ll also go into a loop where he’ll just do Sonic Wave, followed immediately by Hopper Kick followed immediately by Overdrive and repeat. When he does this, the only way to damage him is during the time when he’s using Overdrive. To do this, you need to keep your demons out and move to a position where overdrive won’t hit them (since Taromaru tends to go after you), so they can cast their spells while you’re blocking it.

Go all out on him with your strongest ice attacks and don’t let up even when he’s stunned. Don’t worry at all about MAG, by the time you’ve killed him your MAG will be almost completely depleted but his death will completely refill you.

When Gold Mask returns he’ll start using Tarukaja and Burning Resolve, so watch out for that. Otherwise though he’s still the same so the same strategy applies. And now that you’ve got full MAG again, you can end it easily.

After the battle, the Fukorutsubo will recede and you’ll find yourself back at the cell. You get the option of finishing the guy off or not. It’s up to you, but if you leave him alive you can then read his mind to get two nice cutscenes.

With that, you get the case closed and an extra insect cage. Before we go back to the capital though, make a sidetrip to the faerie kingdom. Turns out it’s under attack by Apollyons!

Faerie Kingdom under attack

Items:
-Luna Blade

Go to the animal trail and search deeper to find a Sylph. She’ll tell you the situation and ask for your help. Agree to help and you’ll be transported to the faerie kingdom and immediately get into a fight with an Apollyon. After wrecking his shit, Titania will award you with a Luna Blade! A very strong spear type sword.

The Possessed Capital

Hokay, looks like we have to go kill another god. This one’s holed up in the east training hall, so ride your Great Kohryu over there. Once inside, walk up to the north part until you feel a presence. Feh! Turns out it’s Yakubyou-gami again. Guess he didn’t learn his lesson the first time.

—Boss: Fiend Yakubyou-gami—
My level: 67

Nope, he hasn’t learned anything new since the last time we saw him. This fight is identical to the last one, with the only difference that you have a 5 minute timer. But since we’re so much stronger now, it’s not a problem.

Same strategy as last time applies: have one demon set to using its best phys skill (or magic if they have a passive boost corresponding to it) on Yakubyou-gami (who has no weaknesses), and the other demon set to using Mazandyne on his zombie reinforcements to keep them from using their disruptive attacks and Dormina, and replenish your MAG. By hitting the frail stunned zombies every now and then you can ensure that your MAG never runs out throughout the entire battle.

Yakubyou-gami doesn’t really have any extreme attacks. One he’ll do often is a tongue lash. But it’s so weak and inaccurate that you shouldn’t even pay attention to it. The other one is Mighty Blow. This one has a pretty big cue. When you see him grab his umbrella, quickly hide your demons and block. The attack affects a very wide area. The only way to avoid it for sure is to be far back on the other side of the arena, and there’s no reason to do that when you can easily block it. His third physical attack is Rush, which is also highly telegraphed. When you see him hang back on his cloud, it means he’s about to rush. He will also use Luck Roulette of the Beast. This usually isn’t much of a problem, though if you get a particularly nasty effect such as whiffed attacks, go ahead and override it with a luck locust.

Once you get him down to half HP, you should start hiding your demons and blocking whenever you get the message that he’s preparing for something. It could be Luck Roulette, but it could also be his unavoidable attack, Judgement. Well, the way to know is that if he’s twirling his umbrella really fast it will be Judgement. He will also use Diarama to heal himself for 1000 once you get him down to half, which is annoying but not much you can do about it.

I’m too lazy to video this fight again. Go watch the previous one, it’s the same except now you do more damage.

After the fight and some shameless self praising by Gouto, it’s case closed and you receive 5 pyro golds.

The Seal of Death

Alright, time to fight the final horseman for Lucifer. He was tough the last time we fought him, but now we should be powerful enough to dispatch him without much trouble right? Go to the catholic church as usual and approach the altar to trigger the battle.

—Boss: Fiend Pale Rider—
My level: 67

Actually he’s still pretty damn tough if you don’t bring in proper demons. First and foremost you want a demon who is immune to phys, and preferably also to death. The best one you can bring in at this point is probably Pagan Lilith. However Mada will also work, and Nebiros as well. Note that if you decide to use a demon like Mada who is only immune to phys but not to death, you’ll need to heal it throughout the fight with items whenever he gets hit by Summon Undead. In which case you will have to hope he doesn’t get Can’t Use Items on Luck Roulette of the Dragon.

You need to beat Pale Rider in under 5 minutes this time, but since we’re so powerful now and basically dealing 500 damager Hellfire, this won’t be a problem. What will still be a problem is MAG. I actually don’t recommend using your strongest spells for this fight (Hellfire, Thunderbolt, Cocytus, Tempest) because, although they deal the most damage, they’re not the most cost efficient. If you use these spells, you WILL run out of MAG before the last Pale Rider is dead. Therefore, I’m going to recommend using dyne tier spells. These deal very good damage, though not on par with the strongest spells, but cost significantly less MAG. Oh and by the way, Makakaja is NECESSARY.

The fight will be similar to the last time you fought Pale Rider, except now his attacks aren’t particularly dangerous anymore. Honestly, the only threat in this fight is running out of MAG. This is why having a demon who can absorb death is so nice. But even if you don’t, here are some tips to avoid running out: if you’re using single target dyne spells, it’s best to set your demon to strike and use the spell manually to make sure it doesn’t miss. Demons are pretty stupid so they will constantly stay one step behind Pale Rider if you leave them to their own devices. If you’re using area of effect dyne spells, you can set them to repeat, but you’ll have to hide them to keep them from using them, and unhide them with good timing right before Pale Rider teleports in so that they can finish casting it before Pale Rider teleports back out.

Further, remember that at 3/4 and at 1/2 health Pale Rider will give you a lot of MAG. By the time you get him down to 3/4, chances are your MAG will be at 4/5 but it will go back up to full. Be careful once he summons his first clone though, because getting him to 1/2 health will only take one or two spells. What this means is that your MAG will barely have been used and he will give you a huge amount for nothing. To avoid this, make sure you attack his CLONE a little bit instead of the original so that the MAG he gives you once you get him down to 1/2 doesn’t go to waste.

Once there are 3 Pale Riders running around, their dynamics change a little. For one, Summon Undead will go straight for you instead of your demon (though they will still hit him if he’s in their path). More importantly, every once in a while, you’ll see that one Pale Rider will just stand in one place for a long time not doing anything at all. If you catch one doing this, immediately make your demon assault him with his spells repeatedly. You can rack up damage fast this way.

You won’t be attacking at all throughout this. Just let your demon do the killing and babysit him. Since we’re so high level now, you can just block Pale Rider’s attacks all day without worrying about the block damage, unlike the last time we fought him. If a Pale Rider corners you, he will start striking you repeatedly up to like 20 times. This used to be a problem, but now it actually works to your advantage because the block damage isn’t anything special, and it keeps him in place for a long time, perfectly setting him up to get owned by your demon from behind.

If you’re careful with your MAG usage, you should be able to kill all 3 Pale Riders before it completely runs dry.

As a reward, you obtain the Mortal Seal.

The Prince of Darkness

Ok, this case doesn’t tell us where to go at all! If you talk to Tsunatsugu though, he says the entire military hasn’t found the place. It’s supposed to be a sacred place not connected to the Yatagarasu. Oh. Well that’s easy then. The Catholic Church. If you go there and talk to Lucifer, he will confirm that that is the correct place.

Walk up to the altar, and use a volt order demon’s inspect ability. Check the spot that comes up to find the basement, and get attacked by the “dark prince” and his posse.

—Boss: Pagan Mot-
My level: 68

Mot is actually pretty weak. But before you get to fight him you’ll have to kill off his army. It’ll start by sending out waves of 2 zombie ladies and 1 Ukobach. All of these guys are easily dispatched with area dyne spells, but try to hit them with the one they’re frail to and combo them before they die so you don’t run out of MAG before Mot appears. Zombie Ladies are frail to fire and Ukobachs are frail to both ice and elec.

After a few of those you’ll get waves of Gozuki, Mezuki and Selket. Gozuki and Mezuki are only frail to death, so ideally you should use Pagan Killer on them, if not, Mudo. If you don’t have any death attacks just kill them and get your mag by using wind attacks on Selket.

After a few of those you’ll get a group of 5 Ikusa. These guys are pretty annoying with their highly disruptive attacks, so use Maziodyne to stun most of them, then get the stranglers.

Before they’re all dead though, Mot will finally appear. Once he does, you can either go after him or finish off the remaining Ikusa. It’s up to you. Mot is frail to electricity, so hit him with Thunderbolt or Shockwave. He takes huge damage from these so he won’t last long. He likes to use Megido, but the move takes so long to go off it’s too easy to avoid. And even if it does hit you, it won’t deal much damage. Other than that he’ll also use a Rush and a strike, which aren’t dangerous either. Just kill him!

Case closed! As a reward you get a Raikiri.

Fake Raidou Sighted!

Woah, 3 Beads o’ Life for this? Damn good reward. Let’s do it. Get over to Waden One at Sakuradayama.

Oh, turns out it’s Raido. Well, I guess we’ll be returning the favor from Devil Summoner 1 and sending him back to his own dimension. But before we can do that, Mara appears. Again. Pfft. We owned his face 35 levels ago and he thinks he has a chance now? Don’t make me laugh. Gouto makes a big deal out of it anyway though.

—Boss: Pagan Mara—
My level: 68

Actually Mara can still kill you if you’re not careful. Plus, this time he comes with reinforcements and not the type you can ignore. They include a strong Lamia who knows Tempest, an Arachne who uses Ziodyne and Rakukajaon, and a Lilith.

Mara is frail to fire and his most dangerous attacks are physical so Pyro Mada is almost tailor made to fight him, and Lilith would be even better if you can get some fire attacks on her since she’s less susceptible to Mara’s Marin-Karin.

Since Mara will always try to go after you, try to position yourself so that his rush hits Lilith/Mada instead of the other demon (unless the other demon is also immune to phys!). Have the phys immune demon pelt him with Hellfire or Fire Breath repeatedly, and meanwhile have the other demon use the spell the minion is weak to to keep it locked down and out of action. Lamia is frail to wind, and both Lilith and Arachne are frail to ice. As long as you stay near your phys immune demon and block Mara’s rushes, the constant Hellfires should kill him in no time flat before the timer’s up.

After the fight, you’ll need to go to the Shinoda shrine to get the Amatsu Kanagi and perform the ritual of sending. Once the herald has given you the item, go to Dark Tsukudo-Cho and approach the Ushigome-Gaeri bridge to trigger the cutscene and send Raido back to his dimension. Before he leaves he says he’ll have tea cakes ready for you if you ever go to his dimension (…tea cakes?). You can tell him you’ve had enough, but I told him it was cool.

Case closed and 3 beads of Life! But wait! The doorway to Raido’s dimension stayed open! Holy shit nice! Let’s check that out!!

Akarana Corridor

Items:
-Pyro Gold
-Frost Gold
-Fury Gold
-Plastic
-Senju Herbs

Demons:
-Pyro Mada
-Fury Triglav
-Wind Dominion
-Wind Sandalphon
-Volt Barong
-Wind Decarabia
-Pagan Rangda
-Skill Kudan
-Frost Tarrasque
-Volt Thor
-Fury Shouten
-Frost Arahabaki
-Pagan Gashadokuro
-Frost Orochi
-Skill Fusunushi
-Pagan Mot
-Fury Mahakala
-Pagan Lilith

Fuck me, is this for real? The Devil Summoner 1 final dungeon. How exciting! Let’s do this. Walk up the stairs from where you appear to get to the 1940s. Here you’ll find Raido chilling. Apparently he’s training here, and tells you the demons here are serious. business. The awesome part about the fights here is that you get new battle music! Well, it’s from Devil Summoner 1, the one that plays during the alternate intro, but we hadn’t heard it in this game yet. The fights here have a timer, but don’t worry, it’s not particularly strict.

Raido ain’t joking when he says this is a good place to train. The exp the enemies give in this place is DELICIOUS. But they’re not really as strong as he says, especially because at this point you should already have your stats maxed out, or at least close to it. And I don’t mean with luck locusts and bonuses or any of that weakass shit. This is how your stats should look at this point more or less:

This is also a nice place to get drops, including golds and even Cretan Goddesses. And that’s not all. You can get some ridankalus shizzle with finders keepers too. I’m talking Somas.

Anyways. Take the right path and walk into the teleporter beside the hour glass. You’ll now be in the 1950s. To the right you’ll see a blue crystal. Open it to get a Pyro Gold. Now go back to the 1940s and this time go down the path where Raido is. Step into the teleporter there.

Take the stairs up from where you appear. You’ll reach the 1960s, but there’s a demon wall blocking your way. This one requires a demon with Charisma conversation skill. Damn. Chances are you won’t have the right demon and will have to fuse a little. Let’s go back out to the shinoda shrine and get the demon we want. As far as I’m aware right now, the only demon I’ve seen who has that is Mikaboshi. A relatively simple way to create one is to recruit an Abihiko in B333 of the confinement chamber, and then fuse it with a flaemis to rank it up to a Mikaboshi.

Return to the demon wall and pass through with Mikaboshi. Walk towards the left to find the crystal generating power for it and destroy it. Brace your finger ’cause it’s a hardy one! Once you’re back in control of Raidou, head up the stairs to the right and save at the dragon cave. Go back down and this time go straight north up to another hourglass. You’ll see a blue crystal beside it. Open it to get a Frost Gold. Next, take the teleporter across from there to the 1970s. Take the stairs up to another blue crystal. This one has a Fury Gold. Then backtrack to the save point. Keep going up the stairs and down the path to the next teleporter. Ignore Nakisawame.

You’ll now be in the 1980s. Up ahead is a spirit that’ll take you back to the start of the dungeon if you so choose. But for now, take a right from there and keep pressing ahead. You’ll see stairs going up, but keep going right to find a blue crystal with a Plastic. Once you’ve picked that up, take the previously mentioned stairs up to the 1990s. Up ahead you’ll see a space-time rift that will kick you back if you try to go through it, so take the teleporter to the right. You’ll now be at the 2000s. Take the east path to find the next save point and Nakisawame. Use it, then take the teleporter you see to the north. You’ll now be in the 2020s and see a light nearby. Touch it to enter the dimensional rift. If you’ll notice, in the bottom-left corner of this room there’s another light. Check it to obtain the Senju Herbs! Dayum, I was wondering where these things were. Load off my mind.

Anyway, we’re basically done here. Get back out by either talking to the wayback spirit or just walking.

Ok fine, maybe we should check up on that baby being killed by Apollyon

Items:
-Ancient Scripture

Demons:
-Frost Arahabaki
-Volt Nue
-Frost Tarrasque
-Skill Ippon-datara
-Volt Oumitsunu
-Fury Ikusa
-Fury Chernobog
-Frost Jubokko
-Pagan Incubus
-Pyro Ukobach
-Wind Ichimokuren

Welp, now that we’ve got all the cases so far solved, it’s time to get back to the main job. So head on back to Tsukigata. We need to kill 3 of those pussy Apollyons. No sweat. First, ride your Great Kohryu to the 3 Cedars on the west side of the map. Check the trees to find one of the stranglers. You’ll also have to kill one of the Apollyons here.

Next, get off at the east residential area. You’ll find the old man here. Problem is, he won’t come with you if you don’t save his cow. So we’ll have to go pick it up. It’s chillin’ out back by the Tento Springs, past the gate we already opened up several chapters ago. Talk to the cow to get the Apollyon to come out and kill it. That takes care of that.

One straggler left to go. Get to resort environs and check the western part to find the lady. Talk to her to trigger the fight with the last Apollyon. Kill it, and that will be the last of ’em. Return to the Fukuroku Inn and walk away from it to trigger a cutscene where a villager tells you Geirin went to the Tento Kagura. Lulz. Looks like he cares about the villagers less than us. That’s an achievement! Anyway, get over there. You’ll find Akijiro, Akane, and 2 Apollyons killing a Sakibito. Just before they kill the other two, Raidou and Geirin show up. You’ll have to dispatch one more Apollyon.

After the fight Geirin seems really tired. Man, that guy seriously needs to retire. Later at the Fukuroku Inn, Geirin is about to tell us something but Nagi interrupts. Looks like Akijiro is being a dick. Again. Well not really, he’s just insulting the Tento Lords. We all do that. It’s a good thing the Apollyons took care of ’em, those guys were just stinkin’ the place up.

After some conversation, Tae reminds you why we came here in the first place. It’s time to dig up some info on how to take care of the bottomless pit. When Tae asks you who she should interrogate, tell her to talk to Akijiro. Then go talk to them again, and send her to Akane. When Tae leaves, talk to Akijiro again by yourself. Ask him about the children’s song to learn that it’s based on a legend. Asking him about the legend doesn’t yield anything so go talk to Tae and fill her in on that.

Talk to her again and send her off to question Nagi. Once she’s left, talk to Akane by yourself and ask about the legend to learn the details on it. Then, go talk to Tae again and send her off to question Geirin. Talk to Nagi by yourself and ask about the legend. She’ll tell you about some scriptures hidden in the 3 cedar grove. Geirin hears this and gets pissed, and even warns you to stay away. That’s basically telling us to go there right now. Ride the Great Kohryu to the 3 cedars, take out a Volt Order demon and use its inspect ability to discover a small door in the back of the shrine. Open it to obtain the Ancient Scripture. Too bad Geirin shows up and yoinks it though. Hey man, we were planning on reading that! He leaves, and tells you to meet him at the Pojitrawn Chamber.

So go to the Tento Shrine Annex North. Head up the path to the Pojitrawn and don’t forget to save in the dragon cave. When you’re ready, enter the chamber. After some conversation with Geirin, he challenges you to a duel for possession of the scripture. Looks like he wants the glory for himself. Look man, you’re too old for this shit. You can’t handle it. Anyway, after the cutscene you can go back and save again so you don’t have to see it again. When you’re ready, approach him.

—Boss: Summoner Geirin Kuzunoha—
My level: 76

Man, this battle is sad. Geirin is old, weak, and terminally ill. As such he is no challenge. This fight feels more like bullying than a duel. And to make things worse, he says he has more summoning experience than you but none of his demons come even close to the monsters we have at this point.

He’s not frail to anything but he doesn’t need to be, as all your attacks will deal absurd damage to him. Just set your demons to use their most powerful attacks on Geirin (Tempest, Hellfire, Thunderbolt, Cocytus), while you combo him for extra damage. He will summon a Basilisk (lol) who will use Glacial Blast but Geirin will fall so fast that you can just ignore it. In fact, he will die so fast that you can pretty much ignore ALL of his attacks, which don’t deal much damage, and just overwhelm him like I did. Seriously the only way you could lose this fight is you held back and let him kill you.

To see that I ain’t kidding, watch my video of this fight:

After the fight, Geirin will hand you the scripture. He will also ask you an alignment question. Just answer truthfully like always. Me, I think people should know their limits. To push for greatness at all costs when you’re too weak to achieve it is just foolish. Foolish, like Geirin, who refuses to acknowledge his weakness. He will soon be taught a harsh lesson in reality.

Anyway, head back to the Fukuroku Inn. You’ll get a cutscene where Raidou explains the situation to everyone. Akijiro is grateful to Geirin, but some villagers starts some belly achin’. Then both Tae and Nagi say they want to swing by your room that night. Woah, woah, take it easy ladies! Hate to sound sleazy but tease me, I don’t want it if it’s that easy!

Kidding, they just want to read the scripture. After some dialogue, Tae decides to go back to the capital and Nagi takes the scripture to study it some more.

The next day, Tae asks you to find Nagi, who seems to have disappeared. If you talk to the old lady in front of the inn, and the Nagi groupie out in the world map, they both point you to the nameless shrine so go there.

At the nameless shrine you’ll find the Tsukigata servant. She’ll tell you that Nagi and Geirin are at the Great Summoner’s Hall. Go in, and all the way back to where you fought Atavaka a long time ago. You’ll get a cutscene where Geirin will go into the room that was previously sealed, but will close it behind him, and only a strike from him can open it. Check the seal and investigate further to find Geirin’s blood. Touch it (ack!), to obtain the final form. Bring out a skill order demon and transform into Geirin. Check the seal as him to destroy. Now we’re able to go after him!

Towards Taotie

Items:
-Smoke Ball
-Ruby
-Pearl
-Balm of Life
-Opal

Demons:
-Pyro Muspell
-Volt Parvati
-Wind Feng Huang
-Frost Ouyamatsumi
-Frost Raja Naga
-Fury Shouten
-Skill Nekomata
-Pyro Throne
-Pagan Arachne
-Fury Rakshasa
-Frost Arahabaki
-Pagan Incubus
-Volt Oumitsunu
-Wind Kurama
-Fury Lamia
-Frost Tarrasque
-Pyro Cerberus

Immediately upon entering, take a left to find the dragon cave. Use it, then head east and keep going until you reach the first puzzle. It’s a plane divided into 5×5 tiles. You need to take the correct path through it, or else you’ll fall through a pit trap. This first one is real easy. You need to move in the direction the hour hand of a clock would point. So Midnight twice, three o’ clock twice, midnight twice, nine o’clock twice and midnight once would translate to up, up, right, right, up, up, left, left, up. Easy.

However, take a wrong path on purpose, because there’s an item in the basement. Fall down to the Kiridoguchi 1, and walk down south all the way, past the light that takes you back up to find a blue crystal with a Smoke Ball. Go back up and this time take the correct path.

If you go east in the next part you’ll find Nakisawame and a second dragon cave. To reach the save point though, you’ll need to use a Fury order demon’s ability on the strength wall in the middle. Save, then approach the next puzzle.

Great, Nagi forgot the way. She says we have to go up, left, left, up, up… up, up, left, left. Which doesn’t even make any SENSE since it can’t possibly end in anything other than up. Bah, girl what am I gonna do with you. I better get a hug or something after this is over.

Regardless though, it’s in your best interest to fall down, because the Kiridoguchi 2 has an item. Once you’ve fallen, bring out a frost order demon and use cool down because this place is on fire. Walk down south all the way past the blue light to find a blue crystal with a Ruby. Well! That’s definitely a lot better than a smoke ball. Anyway, go back up to the puzzle and this time take the correct route, which is: up, left, left, up, up, right, right, right, right, up, up, left, left, up. A far cry from what Nagi tried to feed us. Proceed to the platform of light.

For the third puzzle, Nagi will walk the path and you have to memorize it and do it afterwards. Would be easy, except she makes it way harder than it has to be by running all over the fucking place and trying to confuse us. Jesus. Anyway, the correct path is: up, right, up, up, left, left, up, up, right, up. But before that, take the wrong path and fall down to the Kiridoguchi 3. Bring out a pyro order demon and use ignite on yourself because this place has a raging blizzard going on. Walk all the way south past the light to find a blue crystal with a Pearl! Nice. Once you’ve picked that up, go back up and take the path I mentioned above.

Up ahead you’ll find another save point and the last puzzle. South from the puzzle is a blue crystal with a Balm of Life. After you get that, approach the platform. Nagi will try to just go straight but will fall down on the last tile. The clue for this last puzzle is “As the sun rises from the east, its light casts a shadow to the west. The path to the future will reveal itself where shadow and light converge.”

Ok, this puzzle is hell of retarded. It’s vague as all shit, like the devs were saying “hey, the game is almost over, we gotta stump these mother fuckers!” I’ve gotten a lot of emails requesting the solution for this puzzle before the guide was written up to this point, so this is definitely the one place most people get stumped on. Here’s the deal: if you’ll notice, Onmyo symbols appear in a straight line vertically through the middle of the 5×5 platform up until the last one. However, Onmyo symbols also appear in a straight line horizontally through the middle all the way from left to right. Once you’ve uncovered them all, it looks like a cross. That horizontal line of onmyo symbols is important. What you have to do is go stand on the rightmost tile. This symbolizes the sun in the east. From there, send a demon out solo and make him walk all the way to the leftmost tile. This symbolizes the shadow cast to the west. This will solve the puzzle.

Before you proceed, though, fall down a pit trap to Kiridoguchi 4. Bring out a volt order demon and use light up because this place is engulfed in a black mist. Head south all the way past the light to find another blue crystal. This one has… an opal?! Aw man. I was expecting a Diamond. Oh well. Go back up, save at the dragon cave, and follow Nagi into the hall of confinement.

You’ll catch up with Geirin. How did he manage to kill 14 Geirins?! Those shades must be REALLY weak. And even in the brink of death he refuses to retreat. “To retreat now would be to accept that my life was a failure”? What a fool. To measure the success of your life by your accomplishments. That’s not it at all. What will be the point of all your sacrifices if you’re dead? To be remembered? That’s worthless.

It looks like Geirin’s time is up. What a shame. Nagi manages to kill off the penultimate shade, but we’ll have to clean up by killing the last one.

—Boss: General Predecessor Geirin—
My level: 79

This boss works very similarly to Kageboushi. Except of course, not even close to as hard. He’s not frail to anything but takes high damage from all attacks except death. Just set both your demons to use their strongest spells on him.

His attacks generally hit in front of him, so if you can run around him, you will avoid all the attacks. Alternatively, position yourself across from your demons and block his attacks while they assault him with their spells from behind. Don’t worry about wasting MAG, since halfway through the fight Geirin will use his Soma on you.

When you get him down to 1/2 he might summon 2 little clones of himself. An easy way to get rid of them is to use an unavoidable attack like Megidolaon at this point. Since you have full MAG now, the high cost shouldn’t be a problem. In fact, the Soma Geirin uses on you makes it so that it’s a viable strategy to use high damage unavoidabale attacks like Megidolaon throughout the entire fight like I did.

Finally, once you get him down to 1/4 health you’ve basically won because Geirin’s sigil will bind him for the remainder of the battle.

This is another too easy fight, but hey, I’m thorough, so here’s the vid:

Man, it’s scary how much stronger than everyone else we are, isn’t it? After the fight, Geirin dies, and the seal to Taotie will be opened. You can talk to Gouto at this point to hear something interesting. Apparently he committed a terrible sin as Raidou and that’s why he’s now paying as a Gouto-Douji. Hmm, wonder what that sin was. Maybe it’ll be elucidated in a future game? A future game where we get to topple the tyranny of the Yatagarasu?

Uh, baseless speculation aside, open the door and meet Taotie. Gouto acts all surprised but come on man! We’ve been able to fuse him for a while now! Only reason we didn’t is ’cause of how gay he looks! He old news! Anyways, you’ll go to Tsukigata Manor with Taotie and get an FMV where you’ll use him to bring the gate to the abysmal realm to Tsukigata and combine it with the Pojitrawn. Afterwards you’ll get another cutscene with Shinado. Looks like he’s still pissed.

And with that, chapter 6 comes to a close. Fween!

Chapter 7

Save at the Fukuroku Inn. When you leave, you’ll automatically go to the Tsukigata Mansion site. The combination of the bottomless pit and the pojitrawn left a black sphere. After Taotie leaves, you’ll faint AGAIN, and get another cutscene with the severely pissed off Shinado. Y’know, that twinkling sound during his dialogue reminds me of something. Someplace in Nocturne, I think, but can’t quite put my finger on it at the moment.

Shinado tells you that the black sphere is Abaddon, the Infinite Abyss. He tries to deter us by showing us people’s “true character”. Basically Akane saying she doesn’t want a future. Uh, yeah, there’s just one tiny little thing you forgot, Shinado: I don’t give a shit what other people want.

Later at the Fukuroku Inn, Akijiro will tell you that Narumi and the others will arrive around noon, and you’re supposed to go meet them at the bus stop. You can’t go anywhere else at the moment, so might as well.

Afterwards you’ll talk some with Narumi, but Tae will burst in and interrupt. Looks like Dahn’s in trouble over at Tento Woods. But guess what! At this point we can finally go back to the capital. So let’s forget about Dahn for a bit and go do some stuff! I mean, come on. He can take care of himself.

Heavy stuff going on at Tsukigata. Care meter: ||

Alright! Let’s get these chapter’s case files. First off, go to Kasumidai and read Sadakichi’s mind to get another couple of case files from him. Collection Warrant (3), and Hifumi’s Medicine. Also, go talk to Tsunatsugu in front of the supreme court to get one from him as well. Return of the Dead.

Next, swing by Shin Sekai to receive the last batch of case files from the owner. Photog Needed (5) and Sword Collecting (3).

Finally, go to the Catholic Church and talk to Lucifer to receive his last case: By The Coast of Time… Before we start taking care of these cases though, let’s go to the Shinoda Shrine and explore the next floor of the training hall.

Training Hall B8

Items:
-Bead of Life
-Red Crystal
-Emerald
-Diamond

Demons:
-Pagan Arachne
-Frost Tarrasque
-Fury Shouten
-Frost Ouyamatsumi
-Pagan Incubus
-Volt Oumitsunu
-Pyro Muspell

There are 3 blue crystals and a red one here. The south crystal has a Bead of Life. The one to the east has an Emerald, and the north one has a Diamond, so make sure you get it!

Return of the Dead

Alright, all of Tsunatsugu’s cases have led up to this. Take the case and talk to Tsunatsugu at Kasumidai. He tells you that the source of the disturbance is to the east of the capital. Hwell. Even before he said that I KNEW where it was. The lone telephone booth standing on that little island in the east. Haha! I just KNEW there was no way that place was just a waste of space in this game! Holy shit though, they want us to punch in the passcode from the first game? How the HELL am I supposed to remember that? Luckily, I use Trillian and that keeps a log of every single conversation I have, so finding the code was simply a matter of searching for phonebooth. Aaaaand the code doesn’t work. Fuck me. I guess they changed it.

Go back to Kasumidai and talk to Tsunatsugu. He tells us that the army did indeed change the code. Damn! It would’ve been hardcore if they had used the same code. Anyway, Tsunatsugu says he’ll look into it. Go read Sadakichi’s mind now. Apparently he doesn’t know it either, but he says he has a clue: SG EIO. He also clues you in that it might make use of 1337 speak.

Go back to Tsunatsugu and talk to him again. He tells you that the password doesn’t use 4 or 9. And that no numbers are used twice.

Go back and read Sadakichi’s mind again. This time he tells you that the sum of the first two digits is 10. The sum of the seventh and eighth digit is also 10. JESUS CHRIST YOU GUYS! Get your fucking act together!

Hokay, let’s try to solve this. Since 4 and 9 aren’t used, no numbers are used twice, and the code has 8 digits, that means we need to use every number. Let’s look at SG EIO. That translates to 56 310. Where do we put that in? We can’t put the 56 in the beginning because that doesn’t add up to 10. We can’t put it in the second and third place because then the first digit would have to be 5, a repeat. Similarly, we can’t put it in the last two places because that also doesn’t add to 10, and we can’t put it in the 6th and 7th place because then the last number would have to be 4, which isn’t used. We can’t put it in the 3rd and 4th place because then we’d have to put the 310 in the 5th, 6th and 7th place, which would mean the last digit would have to be 10, an impossibility because that’s two digits.

That leaves us with only one place to put the 56: in the 5th and 6th spot. Next, where do we place the 310? We can’t place it to the right of the 56 because it won’t fit, which means we have to place it to the left. It can’t be all the way to the left because 3 and 1 don’t add up to 10. That means we’ll have to place it in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th spots. Now, we’ve got most of it figured out. Since the second digit is 3, that means that the first one will have to be 7 so that they add up to 10. Now only the last two digits are left. And what do you know, the only numbers we haven’t used are 2 and 8, which add up to 10. That means the last two digits are either 28 or 82. First let’s try with 28. Oh well whaddya know, it worked! The phone booth is now activated.

If you don’t want to make sense of my messy logic, the code is 73105628. When you’re ready, take the elevator down to the shipyard. You’ll be greeted by some Yomi-Kugutsu. And also a… an… Oukuninushi? Not impressive.

I love how when he says your killing Mot will put a delay in their plans one of the options is to say “Too bad.” Haha, that would be my response to pretty much everything. Anyway, apparently this guy is a friend of Sukuna-hikona from Devil Summoner 1 and he’s pretty pissed. We got a fight on our hands.

—Boss: Tokoyogami Oukuninushi—
My level: 79

Before you get to fight Oukuninushi, you’ll first have to take care of his posse. First, you’ll have to dispatch the 3 Yomi-Kugutsu from before. We’ve already killed these guys, and now we’re much stronger than before, so it’ll be even less of a problem than it used to be. Remember that they’re frail to ice, so use Cocytus, Glacial Blast or Mabufudyne to wreck them. Frost Killer also works very well. Remember to go for the one with the gun first, since that one can attack you from offscreen and that’s annoying.

Once you’ve killed those, you’ll next face a Gashadokuro and an Ichimokuren. WEAK. A single Tempest will kill Gashadokuro, as a single Thunderbolt will end Ichimokuren.

Next, you’ll face Abihiko and Nagasunehiko. Again, low level demons who don’t stand any kind of chance. Abihiko is frail to ice, while his brother is frail to fire.

After those guys, you’ll have to kill a Hitokotonusi and a Mishaguji. MAN, what is this, some kinda pussy party? What’s up with all these weaksauces stinkin’ it up. Hitokotonusi’s frail to fire and I don’t remember what Mishaguji’s weak to. Just hit him with a stick or some’n and he’ll die. The only bad thing about him is that his physical attacks may stun you for about 2 seconds, which is a little annoying.

Now we finally get to fight Oukuninushi. His attacks are reasonably strong, but terribly slow and inaccurate. As long as you’re not sitting directly in front of him you’re safe. He’s frail to electricity, so try to hit him with some thunderbolts. Go ahead and use other spells on him though because he takes huge damage from pretty much everything else.

A good strategy to use is to just block his attack while your demons are casting their spells, then combo him after you’ve blocked. This will make it so that he’s likely to go into frail stun when thunderbolt hits him. Once he does, command your demons to keep using their spells on him rather than strikes to kill him super quick.

Afterwards, go back to Kasumidai and talk to Tsunatsugu to receive your reward. Onigiri, a shitty sword. Bleh.

By the Coast of Time…

Items:
-Element #115
-Diamond
-Aletia
-Moon Chip

Alright bitches! It’s time to do the most important case. Lucifer wants you to go meet him at the Akarana Corridor, so go to Dark Tsukudo-Cho and enter the dimensional rift at the Ushigome-gaeri Bridge.

Well, we’ve already explored a lot of this place. Head all the way to the 1990s where we previously found the space time rift that wouldn’t let us through. Approach it, and Lucifer will allow you to pass. Everything we’ve done for him has come down to this. It’s time to meet this devil.

Ahead you’ll see two teleporters. Take the right one to the 2020s. To the left you’ll see a blue crystal. It has an Element #115. Up ahead you’ll come across another demon wall. This one requires a demon with at least 30 Lu. Not a particularly east criteria to meet, for a demon. I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t have one with that much. Very few demons have this much Lu naturally. Skill Kudan does, so you can try to create one if you want. Otherwise, you could also fuse your existing demons with Saki Mitamas to boost their Lu. It’s up to you. To make a Saki Mitama, first fuse an Aeros with a Flaemis to make a Sylph. Then fuse an Erthys with an Aquans to make an Undine. If you fuse this Sylph and this Undine, you’ll get Saki Mitama.

But anyways. Once you’ve gone past it, you can see the crystal generating power for it to the right. Destroy it. When you get to the intersection, take a left and walk into the teleporter across from the crystal you just destroyed. The next part is just a straight run to another teleporter and then you’ll be in a small platform in the 2050s. Here you’ll find a blue crystal with a Diamond inside. Get it, and then go back to 2020s where you destroyed the crystal. This time, go north from the intersection and take the teleporter to another small platform in the 2050s with a blue crystal. This one contains the MUCH sought after Aletia that St. Germain wants. This is an easy way to get it if you don’t want to farm Kageboushi for it.

Once you have that, go back to the 1990s where Lucifer opened the time rift. This time take the teleporter on the west side. Take the stairs up to find the next save point. You’ll also find a time traveler here who’ll take you back to the entrance of the dungeon. We ain’t need him though. Unless you do! In which case be my guest. Getting more exp walking all the way back here never hurt anybody! But anyway, take the teleporter near the spirit to a platform in the 1990s with a blue crystal containing a Moon Chip. Then go back and after you’ve saved, take the teleporter to the north. Go up the stairs to 20XX, to the room right before you fought the final boss in Devil Summoner 1. Aw man, I was expecting the dog to be here! And that he’d ask you what you typed in as your dream back in Devil Summoner 1. That would’ve been Hard. Core. But oh well, no dice. Anyway, it definitely looks to me like this is the point of no return. Go back and save if you have to, do whatever you gotta do. And when you’re ready, step into the light.

So that’s it. That was Lucifer’s goal. To change the world’s future which is dictated by God. I’m glad. I knew helping him was worth it. And judging by clues and precedence, that future dictated by God is likely destruction and ruin. But now we have our third and final fight against Lucifer!

—Boss: Prince of Darkness Lucifer—
My level: 85

This fight is actually a huge disappointment if you’re well prepared. Make sure you have the strongest demons possible. I’m talking Beelzebub, Arioch, Metatron, Shiva, Vishnu. Try to make sure their stats are as high as possible, particularly Ma, in which you’ll want 40. Also make sure they have the strongest spells. The best one to use against Lucifer is Cocytus, but Thunderbolt and Tempest also work well. Don’t use Hellfire. Next, make sure that they also have Tarukajaon, Makakajaon, and Rakukajaon. These skills are learned by a number of demons and you should really already have them. Makakajaon isn’t a problem since it’s learned by both Beelzebub and Shiva. Tarukajaon is learned by Thor or Mahakala. Rakukajaon is learned by Scathach. To be fair though, Rakukajaon isn’t required.

Finally, make sure they have killer passive skills to boost their damage even further. Specifically: Mage’s Craft, Destructive Joy and Magic Boost. All of these skills are gotten through Victor’s special operations, but you need to give him all the gems he asks for, particularly the ruby, diamond or pearl at the end. Even then it’s still random, so if you don’t get a skill you want, load and try again. I think Magic Boost is learned by Beelzebub though, if I remember correctly. Other nice passive skills to have include Hero’s Might, Agni’s Blessing, the elemental boosts and Skill Extension.

As for yourself, try to get the strongest sword you can. Although, I will tell you a secret: a nice sword to use is Kikouseiken since it boosts ice attack damage. If you have a demon cast Frost Killer on yourself, you can deal amazing damage to Lucifer with your sword strikes!

Now, as soon as the fight starts, cast both Makakajaon and Tarukajaon. Set both of your demons to use their best spells on Lucifer. Now, you’ll notice Lucifer has really high defense! Your attacks won’t do much damage. In fact, There’s a good chance that even if you have 800 MAG, it will be completely depleted before you get him down to 3/4 HP and he turns into his Pyro form.

But here is where my strategy comes in! If you use Kikouseiken + Frost Killer like I’m telling you, I guarantee that you will deal so much damage that you will win this fight without having to use any items. It’s hard to believe since Frost Killer costs so much MAG, but it’s true. It is far more cost effective than simply letting your demons use Cocytus. It helps if the demon who knows Frost Killer also has Skill Extension, but this isn’t necessary.

The fight itself runs very similarly to last time. He will invariably start the fight by casting his crack version of Maragidyne. The start up is very long, he has to very slowly lean forward before he casts it so you can get in 2 full combos before you have to block. If you have demons who drain fire, don’t hide them and let them them absorb it for a little MAG.

After every Maragidyne, stay on your toes because there’s a good chance that he’ll use Evil Gleam as a follow up. This attack is VERY fast, will hit you for over 300 damage and has a chance of charming. If you’re in the middle of a combo when he uses it chances are you won’t be able to block in time since it’s so fast. So after every Maragidyne don’t go balls out on the combos. You can hit him a little bit but leave some room to block in case he uses Evil Gleam.

After he’s used Maragidyne, the second time he leans forward will be to use King’s Yell, a very powerful attack that can also confuse you. You do NOT want to get hit by this, so when you see him lean forward the second time, hide your demons and roll backwards away from him. After he uses it, stay away because King’s Yell remains on the arena for a long time, and if you approach the area where it fell you’ll take the attack even if you had avoided it previously. In fact, even after it’s disappeared don’t jump the gun. Wait a second before going back in because I’ve still gotten hit by it for being too fast.

While you’re waiting for King’s Yell to disappear, Lucifer may use one of two attacks: Evil Gleam, or Roughhouse. If you see that he’s using Evil Gleam (you’ll know because it’ll show up as a message a split second before it appears), block. If he uses Roughhouse you need to roll away from the blue ball that appears before it bursts. Roughhouse is unblockable so the only way to avoid damage is to get away. Be careful with your demons because even when you’re completely out of the bubble, your demons may lag behind and still get hit by it.

After King’s Yell disappears Lucifer may continue using Roughhouse a few times. During this time you should keep damaging him. I recommend going from one side to the other. For example, stay on the right side while damaging him, then when Roughhouse appears, roll all the way to the left side and keep damaging him there, then when the next Roughhouse appears, roll back to the right side, etc. If you see him lean forward a third time, that means Maragidyne is coming.

Now, if you’re doing what I tell you and have all the preparations I told you to get, the truth is that you only need to get Lucifer down to 3/4 health, and once you do, the fight has been won. Why? Because at this point he will turn into his morning star version, and since we’re SO unbelievably powerful at this point, your Kikouseiken with Frost Killer, coupled with your demons’ Destructive Joy and Mage’s Craft boosted magic attacks means that the damage you will deal to Pyro Lucifer will be ABSURD. Literally, you will deal so much damage that you can get him down to 1/4 HP and cause him to glitch out and transform back into his Pyro version immediately, during which you will finish taking off the last remainder of his HP.

That’s it. If you do things like I’m telling you, you won’t have to use items at all, and also won’t have to spend time using strikes because your MAG ran out. Watch my video to see how it should go:

After the fight, Lucifer will allow us to fuse him in the Gouma-Den. As he says, that is his last request. Case closed.

Well, maybe we should check and see if Dahn isn’t, like, dead or some’n

Items:
-Insect Cage x3
-Pojitrawn Crystal
-Bead of Life
-Balm of Life x3
-Abaddon Photo

Yokay. We’ve got almost all the case files in the game done now. Nothing else to take care of at the moment. Let’s go back to Tsukigata and check up on Dahn. He was at the Tento Woods, remember? So go there.

When you arrive, you’ll see two villagers harrassing him. Then they turn and start giving US shit. What, you lookin’ for a fight? Oh… guess they ARE looking for a fight. The form of an Apollyon will appear behind the woman, then get larger and attack you! It may have be darker and be called “psycho” Apollyon but it’s still an Apollyon. We’ve defeated Lucifer, this guy is nothing. Just use Thunderbolts like always and he’ll die before he even gets to use his first attack.

Looks like this is what Shinado meant when he said people would turn against you. Oh well. I ain’t got no qualms about killing a few fuckers, how ’bout you? Anyways, exit back south and take your Great Kohryu over to the Tsukigata Mansion. Or where it used to be anyway.

Huh. Looks like they killed Akijiro. Shame. I mean, he wasn’t an awesome guy or anything, but dude was alright. And not only that, but they’ve taken Akane inside Abaddon. After the villagers have left, you get some nice dying words between Akijiro and Dahn. Akijiro wants Dahn to forget Akane, but we ain’t havin’ none o’ that. Narumi proposes to rescue Akane as a continuation of the job she originally gave us. He asks us if our job was to tell Akane where Dahn was or to bring him to her. Frankly? I don’t remember at all but I don’t give a care. We’re bringing him to her whether that was the original job or not.

Nagi proposes a plan whereby we use the luck from the luck locusts to get into Abaddon. To do that though, we’re gonna have to ask for the Mushibito’s help. But before that, go back to Tsukigata Village and talk to the villagers to see some freaky shit. For one thing, the old man who loved his cow so much actually ate her! Not that I care, I mean, cows are basically made to be eaten (actually Hanako was a bull), but still, that’s pretty powerful. The chicken is still safe though! Anyways, exit and ride the Great Kohryu to the southeast part of the map where the Mushibito nest is.

Once there, walk into the room in front of Dahn where you once met with Lucifer to get a cutscene. After it’s done, talk to the Mushibito again. When he asks you if he’s your hope, tell him he is. He will agree to make the Pojitrawn if you bring him some Luck Locusts. Talk to him again to give him the ones you have on you. It probably won’t be enough though, so we’re gonna have to go catch some more. If you return to the Shinoda Shrine and talk to the Herald, she’ll give you 3 more insect cages. Go into a dark realm and start catching luck locusts. If you bring out a skill order demon and transform into Goro Tatsumi you can use his whistle skill to call them and make it a little bit easier. Keep catching them and don’t stop until your 14 cages are full. Once they are, return and give them all to the Mushibito. 14 should be more than enough. He will create and give you the Pojitrawn Crystal.

In other news, looks like Dahn’s the savior of the Mushibito. What a great guy. After that, you’ll all return to Abaddon. Everyone’s saying shit about how they’re gonna help us fight, but then Narumi proves to be the most sensible guy and tells everyone to stay out of the way. He’ll also give you a Bead of Life. Not that we needed it. Tae will give you 3 Balms of Life. We didn’t need that either. Dahn, on the other hand, insists he’ll go with us to save the villagers. Well, I’m not opposed to that. After all, saving random villagers’s too much of a hassle.

Afterwards, Great Kohryu offers to take us to Abaddon. Ride him and get off on the spot on top of the black sphere. Dahn takes the Pojitrawn Crystal and uses it to open the way. You’ll now be inside Abaddon. Before we do anything, walk down the path to the west and when you get to the second big circular platform, stand in the middle to take a photo of this place. This is what you need to complete Tae’s Photog Needed (5) case. So instead of going further into this dungeon, exit back out again and let’s go complete that case. In fact, while you’re at it, go talk to the Shin Sekai Owner again. He’s got one last case file for us! Also what the fuck? Lucifer is here, but at the same time he’s in our tube? That’s… pretty amazing. But let’s check out that last case.

The Ultimate Blade!

Looks like Victor is planning to create some legendary weapon. He asks us to come to the save point in Dark Tsukudo-Cho, so let’s go there. Victor wants us to find the god Kanayama so he can create the sword Youkou. And he gives us no clues! Gouto suggests asking around in Shin Sekai, so let’s go there. When you approach it, you’ll automatically ask the patrons for clues, but will turn up none. Dammit. The Shin Sekai Owner will come out (that’s a first) though, and tell you that Tae was asking about Kanayama as well.

Guess we’d better go ask Tae! She’s in the Tsukigata Nameless Shrine, remember? Burying Akijiro and all that jazz. Ask her about it, and she’ll tell you that Kana means mine and Yama means mountain, so it must mean he’s in some mine somewhere, or somewhere where you can mine ore. Not in the capital. Hmm… well. I guess you could probably mine in the Tento Sanctuary but that place is fucking hueg! That’s right, it’s not even huge, it’s downright hueg. She’ll ask you if that’s any help. Well, it was kinda vague. Then she tells us the character for mountain also stands for the 3 gods of creation. She also directs us to professor Yanagita. Well! I was starting to think that guy was damn suspicious what with always saying the same line about iron. So head to the south part of resort environs and question Yanagita. He talks about his famous iron civilization for a bit, then tells us to search Tento Woods for these people. That’s where we’re going next!

But it’s not just the usual Tento Woods, no. You need to ride the Great Kohryu and get off in the spot just slightly northeast of the nameless shrine. Yeah, I know, it’s easy to assume it was one of the many entrances to Tento Sanctuary, but nope! It’s actually a different part of Tento Woods. So go in there. You’ll be in a glade with a save point. Talk to Yanagita and he’ll say this must be the spot, but then get possessed! By the god we were trying to find. He tells us that his power was broken down into pieces, and wants us to find them. He says we need to get an Ippon-Datara, an Ichimokuren, and an Oumitsunu. Well! That’s damn easy. You can find Oumitsunus in the training hall B8. Ichimokuren is chillin’ at B7. And Ippon-Dataras are all over the place, like in B333 of the confinement chamber. Actually, Ichimokuren is also found in B333 so you could kill two birds with one stone.

But anyway, once you have those three demons, talk to Yanagita again. The demons will teleport to Victor’s lab and get to work. However, they will fail. Losers! You receive the light steel, and the case will be complete. With it, you can create the Yokou, but eh. There are better swords like the Akatsuki. Although then again, for that you’d have to get two Ukemochi Livers and just ONE was already gay enough.

The last two cases

Welp, at this point we’ve basically got every case file done. Well. Almost every one. Truth is, there are two last cases that you can’t get unless your alignment is neutral and law, respectively, in the same way that you could only get By the Coast of Time… if you were a renegade.

There is a way to get these last two cases. It involves exploiting a little trick to change your alignment. Basically, you transform into Shizu and walk into the bathhouse. There’s a chance that you will get an alignment choice here. So what you do is simply do this same thing over and over and over again, choosing the answer that will get you towards the alignment you want.

So there you have it. If you want to get the other two cases you can do that. I’m not going to though. Why? Just wouldn’t feel right. It’s not that I have anything against little exploits like these. They’re fine. But artificially changing your alignment, everything you’ve done, everything you stand for like that just for a couple of case files feels fake to me. What can I say, I’m not the kinda player that would do anything for 100%. Hell, I’ve played Nocturne many times and I always get the same ending every time. Or in P3, for example, I’ll refuse to max out certain girls’ social links because it feels like I’d be cheating on the one I like.

That’s how it is. I don’t plan to do it, but if you don’t mind, then there you go. You’re on your own for those last cases. All I’ll say is that apparently you get one from the herald of Yatagarasu, and the other one from a guy near the detective agency near the guy who sells fish.

But anyways, I’d say it’s time we got to back to the final dungeon.

Infinite Abyss Abaddon

Items:
-Ma Incense
-Babylon Tablet
-Bead x3
-Bead of Life
-Soma
-Red Crystal
-Turquoise (Hidden)
-Masamune (Hidden)
-Onyx (Hidden)
-Ma Incense
-Ruby
-Uranus Stone
-Giza Mask
-Balm of Life
-Moon Chip
-Renki
-Foxtail
-Kusanagi
-Bead of Life
-Diamond
-Bead
-Element #115
-Kotetsu Sake
-Red Crystal x4

Demons:
-Frost Basilisk
-Pagan Incubus
-Pyro Vritra
-Wind Anzu
-Skill Oberon
-Wind Decarabia
-Skill Titania
-Pagan Rangda
-Wind Ichimokuren
-Skill Ippon-datara
-Volt Thor
-Pyro Muspell
-Pyro Pyro Jack
-Volt Nue
-Skill Scathach
-Pyro Cerberus
-Frost Pabilsag
-Volt Makami
-Skill Futsunushi
-Pyro Throne
-Volt Tsuchigumo
-Pyro Ukobach
-Frost Black Ooze
-Frost Raja Naga
-Fury Shouten
-Fury Rakshasa
-Skill Leanan Sidhe
-Volt Parvati
-Fury Obariyon
-Pyro Gdon
-Frost Tarrasque
-Pagan Jorougumo
-Pagan Sandman
-Skill Blob
-Volt Oumitsunu
-Fury Turdak
-Fury Triglav
-Wind Sandalphon
-Pyro Mada
-Frost Arahabaki
-Wind Kurama
-Skill Kudan
-Volt Barong
-Frost Orochi
-Fury Mahakala
-Volt Nandi
-Fury Ikusa
-Skill Nekomata
-Pagan Lilith
-Pagan Mot

This first place doesn’t have any enemies. Simply keep walking down the only path and then enter the golden sphere at the end. You’ll now be in the sphere of foundation and you’ll see a save point. Use it, then keep going forward. You’ll run into one of the Shinado Masked villagers. Dahn will let the villager take out his rage on him, but on the third strike the Pojitrawn Crystal will make the villager come back to his senses. Shinado ain’t too pleased about it though. Feh. Looks like he still doesn’t get it. Well no matter. We’ll just have to go show him. With violence.

Keep going forward. You’ll see a dog. If you talk to him he will help you a little by telling you that the sphere of contemplation is to the rear and the sphere of surrender is to the left. But anyway. Head to the right from there (southeast) to find a room with a blue crystal. It has a now useless Ma Incense. That’s all there is here. So now where should we go? I dunno! Does it matter? First, let’s head northeast into the sphere of contemplation. This part has a blizzard so make sure you use ignite. Walk into the southeast room to find a Babylon Tablet inside a blue crystal. Once you pick that up, there’s nothing else to do here because dragon’s jaws are set up all over this place. So next, Let’s head northwest to the sphere of surrender. This next part is on FIRE, so bring out a frost order demon and use Cool Down. Head to the southwest room to find the next villager. Dahn will use the Pojitrawn Crystal to return her back to normal. Then you’ll catch a glimpse of Shinado and Akane going to the sphere of Judgement, so that’s where we’re NOT going. Head northeast to the sphere of symmetry.

Keep going past Nakisawame. In this next part, there are dragon jaws preventing you from reaching the north parts, so head southeast to the sphere of contemplation since that’s the only path open to us. Remember that we’ve already been here, except now we’re in the north part. Go into the sphere of mercy towards the northeast. Here you’ll find yet another Nakisawame and a save point. Keep going into the sphere proper. Walk into the southwest room to find two blue crystals. They contain Bead x3 and a Bead of Life. Next, go back out and walk into the room to the northwest to find a blue crystal and a red one. The blue one has a Soma. MAN, it kills me to be losing all these rare items because I already have max of them. Seriously. Can’t they, like, convert it into money for me or some shit? That would be cool. See, like God of War, when you open a chest that has health orbs but you have full HP you get exp orbs instead. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Wait, but where was I? Oh right. Now go towards the sphere of revelation in the northeast. The mutt here tells us not to go there but he ain’t the boss of us. In the sphere of revelation, you’ll see that the west side is completely cut off by dragon’s jaws. The doge here tells us that there’s something hidden here. He’s right. Walk into the empty room to the north east and use a volt order demon’s inspect ability to uncover 3 items here. A Turquoise, an Onyx, and a Masamune.

Now, return alllll the way back to the sphere of surrender, and this time go northwest into the sphere of judgement. Here you’ll find another save point. Use it and then go forward. Walk into the northwest room to find the third villager. Dahn will again use the Pojitrawn Crystal, and then you’ll see Shinado and Akane walk into the sphere of symmetry. That means we’re next going to the sphere of revelation up towards the northeast. We’ve already been here but this time we’re checking out the west side. Go into the northwest room to find two crystals. They have a useless Ma Incense and a less useless Ruby. That’s all there is here, so go back to the previous sphere and this time head southeast into the sphere of symmetry.

You’ll find another save point here and a green bend in space. With this you can go to and from the Abysmal Rift, so if you wanna do something outside, go for it. But anyway, take the northeast path to find the last villager. She’ll return to sanity and then you’ll see Shinado and Akane walk into the sphere of crown. There’s no other spheres left to go to, so go after them.

Here you’ll find Akane waiting. Dahn will try to use the Pojitrawn Crystal but it’ll break and do nothing. That’s because he was using our Pojitrawn crystal as a crutch rather than doing things on his own. But once he uses his own luck, Akane’s Shinado mask disappears. Once the cutscene’s over, go back and save again, then return. You’ll see two doors ahead. One with Shinado’s anger and one with Shinado’s grief. I don’t think it really matter which one you go into. But either way, go inside. Here, you’ll be asked a lot of questions to finally set your alignment in stone. As always, I say we should answer truthfully. Let’s see here.

The first question asks you if you’d fuse a weak demon the first chance you get or give him incense to strengthen him. COME ON! Anyone who says they’d give a weak demon incense is a big fat lying son of a cunt. Yeah, I DARE you to go give incense to a random Obariyon off the street before your stats are maxed. Not happening. Therefore, I’m jumping to the left.

The second question is the same dilemma Lucifer faced at one time. To surrender your free will in exchange for divine protection and status, or to break free and be branded a traitor but live freely. This is another pretty easy one. I mean, divine protection and status are both pretty awesome and everything, but free will is far more valuable. So again, to the left I go.

The third questions says a friend introduces you to a girl who is neither attractive nor your type. Would you refuse and spit on your friend’s good intentions or try to go out with her and see if her personality wins out? … guess which finger I’d show this friend. Left again.

The fourth question says a demon’s been with you through thick and thin, but the enemy you’re currently facing is way too strong, and the only way to win is to eat your demon. If you don’t, you’ll both die and everyone else you love will also die. …wait, is this even a serious question? No, seriously. I don’t even need the extra part that says everyone I love will be killed. Just the fact that I’D be killed would be enough to get me to eat my demon. Geez. Come on now. I’m gonna say anyone who says they wouldn’t eat their demon is one fat lying bastard. Left again.

That was the last question. You will reappear in front of the two doors. Then Lucifer will appear. Again, I ask, how is he there and in our tube at the same time? That’s some crazy trick! He describes your alignment for you, and then leaves. Ok, let’s go save again, and then enter the door. The right door will deny us, but the left one will allow us to pass.

You’ll now be in the sphere of physicality. To the left you’ll see a save point. Use it, then keep going forward. You’ll run into a demon wall here. This one wants a demon with St higher than 30. Bahaha, are you kidding me? If your demons don’t have 40 St by now you’re playing it wrong. And if you are, well, should probably go and fuse them with a few Ara Mitamas to boost their St. But anyway, go through with any of your demons and then destroy the crystal behind it. Go through the north door. In this next area, keep going north until you trigger a cutscene. It’s Camael, and he’s not pleased that we’re going against god’s will. We got a fight on our hands!

—Boss: Wind Camael—
My level: 92

Ok I’m starting to think getting this strong was some serious overkill and that nothing can possibly ever pose a challenge from here on out. Camael is no exception. None of his attacks are a threat, and you can just ignore the Power he comes with, even if its attacks can knock you down. Camael is frail to ice, so if you hit him with Cocytus and Frost Killer, you can win in like 10 seconds. Yeah, I know, I’m as disappointed as you are.

Videoing this fight is unnecessary, but since we’re almost done, and in the interest of being thorough… I guess I’ll put it up…

After the fight, Astaroth will congratulate you on being a renegade and defeating Camael. He will give us a Uranus Stone and join our team. HELL yeah! At the Uranus Stone, I mean. Free cash is always good. Astaroth? Not so much. He’s far too weak for us at this point.

After that brief exchange, you’ll return to the area before you fought Camael. Keep going north and into the next one, the sphere of formation. You’ll also find another save point here, so use it, and then head through the doorway. This next part is a bitch to describe in words but oh well.

In this next area, you’ll spot a blue whirlpool in a platform to the north. Keep hugging the north border of the platform you’re on and moving towards the right until you make a bridge of light appear. Now you can approach that blue swirly thing. Before that though, head north from it. Hug the top border of this path to make a bridge appear, on the other end you’ll find a blue crystal with a Giza Mask. Return to the path and keep going along this looong platform, through the various bridges of light that appear until you eventually get to a wind current. If you move through the bridge that appears to the west of the wind current, you’ll find a blue crystal with a balm of life at the end. After you’ve picked that up, go north from the wind current, and if you keep hugging the left wall, after a very long walk you’ll reach another blue crystal, this one with a Moon Chip. If you KEEP hugging the same wall you’ll eventually reach yet another blue crystal. It has a Renki. Again, keep hugging that same wall and you will eventually reach a save point in a place way north from the entrance. Here you’ll also see a door, but it’s sealed shut right now.

We’ll open it in a bit, but for now keep heading west along the path until you reach another wind current in the far west side of this huge area. Like the last wind current, don’t use this one either because it just takes you to the entrance. Walk east from the wind current and then straight north until you create a bridge of light. Take it to reach a blue crystal with a Foxtail. Man, I had forgotten about those things! Anyway, return to just before the bridge and keep walking down the path east from there. When you get to the end of the path, hug the right wall to create another bridge of light. Walk along it, then keep going along this path all the way, past yet another bridge, until you get to a blue crystal with a Kusanagi.

Ok, now that we’ve got that we can FINALLY go check out that blue swirly whirlpool. Return to the wind current in the west side, and head south from it. You will eventually reach the blue whirlpool and it’s faster than backtracking and going the way we originally came. Approach the whirlpool to get a Shinado cutscene. Well, Tatsumi’s there too. Seems this is where he ended up after disappearing way back when. After some bitching from him Shinado will bring out White Rider. He wonders if we can defeat it. BAHAHAHAHAHA! Yawn. This is the THIRD time we’ll have faced White Rider now. He doesn’t even deserve another boss section. If you want to see how to deal with him, read the 4 horsemen section or his respective case file. I doubt you need to though. We’re now so powerful he’ll die just from looking at him funny.

After mopping the floor with White Rider, you’ll see a door open up, and another blue whirlpool appear. Head west from your position and remember to hug the upper border to make a bridge to this door appear. Go through it and approach the next whirlpool. Guess what, now we gotta face Red Rider. Another joke battle. This time Akijiro is talking smack at us. And again, Shinado is all “Your actions for the people are meaningless”. Idiot. I’m not DOING this for the people. I’m doing it for myself. See? I don’t give a shit. Anyway, obliterate Red Rider and another door will open. Keep going east along the bridge and go through said door. From there, keep going along the path and move southwest until you find Nakisawame. From her position, head north all the way until you get to a blue crystal. This one contains a Bead of Life.

Northeast from Nakisawame is a save point. use it, then keep heading north until you reach a wind current. Use Kamikaze on it, and you’ll be blown away to another part close to the third blue whirlpool. Approach it, and you will have to fight Black Rider. Oh, BIG SURPRISE. Anyway, rape his shit and this will make a third door open up. Keep moving along the path until you reach said door, then go through it. You’ll see the last blue whirlpool up ahead. Before you approach it though, go down the right path to reach a blue crystal with a Diamond. North of that is another one with a Bead. Return to the blue swirlpool, and this time take the left path. You will find 2 more Blue Crystals in places symmetrical to the last one. They have an Element #115 and a Kotetsu Sake.

Once you have both of those things, feel free to approach the last swirlyjigger. As expected, we now face Pale Rider. He’s way tougher than his friends but still no match at this point. And oh, now it’s Tae with her feminazi shit. GO BACK TO THE KITCHEN, WHORE. Anyway, after you’ve burninated Pale Rider’s cottage, Tae will get her sanity back. If you’ve completed all her cases and have all her Tae Stickers, at this point you’ll get some extra dialogue where she gets all happy that you have more than 20 Tae Stickers, and then you’ll get a scene with Tae bathing in the hot springs. Huh. I had completely forgotten about those Tae stickers. Well this reward isn’t so bad, I mean, an extra scene? Sure, I’ll take it.

The final door will now open. Use Kamikaze on the wind current nearby to reach it. Don’t forget to save! Go through the door and… oh, I guess that wasn’t the last whirlpool after all because there’s a fifth one here. Here Geirin will appear to tell us it’s pointless to endanger our life fighting Shinado. Ha, don’t make me laugh. I’m not endangered. I think HE should be the one you should be worried about because man, we gonna smoke him so bad. After some more words, you’ll fight another one of those Psycho Apollyons. Bah, you kidding me? This guy’s even weaker than White Rider and trust me, that’s saying something.

After that fight, return to the dragon cave and save. Then proceed to the next area, the sphere of creation. Here you’ll run into a sixth whirlpool! Damn, my prediction was off big time then. Here Narumi will talk to you and will ask you to enter a “dream” like the dog did in Devil Summoner 1. He asks you if you’ve ever dreamed of doing something when you grow up. Yeah, when I grow up I wanna be a total slacker and play videogames all day. Oh wait, I’m ALREADY doing that! Nevermind. Anyway, after some more words an Ophanim will appear and seek to fight you. Geez, what’s with the unimpressive enemies? Come on Shinado, you can do better than this you useless piece of crap!

—Boss: Wind Ophanim—
My level: 96

Actually this enemy is really annoying because he teleports around more than the riders. Hell, he does it without even attacking just to make you waste time. Also, he absorbs all elements phys, quite unlike the Ophanim we’re used to. All this coupled with how much he loves to teleport around means I’m actually going to recommend using unavoidable attacks such as Megidolaon or Raging Blast on him. If you use a sword with the Loyalty Boost effect such as Ameno-nuboko, the damage you can do with this is excellent. In fact, you can win the fight with a mere 2 Megidolaons like I did.

After the battle, return to the sphere of formation and save your game. Then go back to the sphere of creation. When you go in, the Inari Spirit will talk to you. He says he created a space bend for us in case we want to go back entrance of the dungeon. How nice of him. If you walk into the northwest room here, you’ll find 2 red crystals. There are another 2 in the southeast room as well. Get whatever you want from them, and then proceed to the northeast to find the next save point and the space bend the Inari Spirit was yappin’ about.

Go forward and enter the Sphere of God. You’ll be in front of a gigantic Shinado Mask. Then Lucifer will appear again. He explains that the giant mask is the despair of the people. It seems Shinado is just past here, but we don’t have any more Pojitrawn to break this open. When you approach it, Dahn and Akane will catch up to you. In this scene Akane will sacrifice herself to destroy the Shinado mask. Man, I feel bad for Dahn. After this next scene with Lucifer, return to the previous sphere and save your game. Once you’re ready, check the hole. Shinado will summon a giant Akane as a last ditch effort to stop you! It’s battle time.

—Boss: Fukoshi Akane the Patient—
My level: 97

Akane seems to have a lot of HP, so the fight is going to take slightly longer than all the others we’ve been having lately. She’s not particularly dangerous except for one thing: She comes with two Mots who keep respawning and using Dormina. You must NOT let them catch you with Dormina when you’re not blocking because if you fall asleep Akane will use Eternal Rest and that means instant game over. Make sure you’re using demons who are immune to mind so they don’t have to worry about this.

Akane has no weakness, but the Mots are frail to electricity like always. You can try hitting them with Thunderbolt to stun them and then going after Akane while you’re free, or simply command your demons to ignore them outright. If you do ignore them, it’s probably a good idea to let them kill Akane by themselves while you run around avoiding Dormina and Megidola. Oh yeah, Megidola is pretty strong, so try not to get hit by it. The start up is as long as Megido but I think the area is bigger. Remember that you can’t block it. As long as you keep on the move, it shouldn’t get you. Be careful though, because Akane has a crack version of Dormina she likes to use a lot when her HP is low which is ungodly fast and unavoidable, and the only way to make sure it doesn’t sleep you is to be blocking before she uses it. I didn’t bother with that though, and got lucky that the sleep didn’t stick. Although even if it had, my demons would’ve killed her off before she’d get the chance to use Eternal Rest.

After the fight, Shinado will warn you that this will be the final battle. He’s not joking! From here, once you go down that hole, there’s no turning back. So let’s go back to the previous sphere and save, shall we?

Ok, so. It’s been a pretty long journey from level 1 huh? But now we’re almost done. Only the final boss left to go. If you have anything left to do, things to sell and buy etc, go do it now. In fact, we haven’t checked out the last two floors in the training hall, have we? They should REALLY be open by now, so let’s go out and see what they’ve got for us.

Training Hall B9

Items:
-None?!

Demons:
-Pagan Rangda
-Wind Decarabia
-Pyro Vritra
-Frost Basilisk
-Skill Scathach
-Volt Thor

Wha? Not a single item in this pit? You gotta be kidding me! God damn waste of space. I mean, sure, there’s nothing we don’t have by now but they could have at least given us, like, a Giza Mask or something.

Training Hall Bottom Floor

Items:
-NONE?!?

Demons:
-Frost Orochi
-Pagan Lilith
-Pyro Mada
-Volt Barong
-Wind Sandalphon
-Frost Arahabaki
-Fury Mahakala
-Skill Kudan
-Pagan Mot

Oh, DATS IT. We came back for nothing? I’m filing a complaint to the Yatagarasu.

Final Boss: King Abaddon

Ok, we’re about ready to take on the last boss and win the game. You might have noticed that when you got to 950 HP, level ups just plain stopped increasing your HP. To have 999 HP, you need to create the ultimate sword Akatsuki. But for that you need not only the Nous Lucifer gave us, but also TWO Mirror of Sun. That means you’d have to get two Ukemochi Livers. Not easy. But that’s how it goes.

Aside from that, make sure you have 2 of the strongest demons in the game, that their Ma and Vi are maxed out at 40, and that they both have Hellfire, Thunderbolt, Cocytus, and Tempest. Also, make sure one has Makakajaon and the other has Tarukajaon.

Oh, and make sure they have good passive skills. The most important ones are Mage’s Craft and Joyous Destruction which you can get from Victor’s special operations randomly if you give him every gem he asks for. Other than that, Magic Boost is also very nice. I believe that’s learned by Beelzebub.

Finally, make sure you have a Soma and some luck locusts, just in case. It’s a long battle and your MAG may run out even if you have 999 depending on how things develop.

In any case, once you’re ready, go into the sphere of god and jump into the hole. You’ll be in a familiar place. After some bull, Shinado will transform into some kind of abomination and attack you.

—Boss: King Abaddon Shinado—
My level: 99

Man I love this song. Too bad we only get it for the first phase and not the second and third.

Leave your demons set to strike. As soon as the fight starts, have them cast Makakajaon and Tarukajaon twice. Abaddon will immediately move to the far background. When he’s out there you can’t damage him, and his HP will regenerate a little bit! That means you need to do good damage to him. At the very least you need to do more damage than what he regenerates.

From the safety of the background, he will use Corona Pillars on you. This move is pretty strong if it hits you, but it’s pretty easy to avoid as long as you know that the top and bottom pillars move from left to right and the middle pillar from right to left. So when he calls them up, stick by the top right corner of the arena until the middle pillar has started moving to the left side, then move down towards it so you avoid the top one coming at you.

After that Abaddon will move closer. As soon as he appears he will cast an unavoidable attack like Bloody Inferno or Divine Thunder so make sure you’re blocking. You could hide your demons, or let them take the damage which is around 400. Since they should have 999 you can probably afford to. The advantage of letting them take the damage is that they don’t waste time before casting their spells.

Now, about the spells. Shinado’s resistance and weakness changes every time he leaves for the background and comes back. That’s why having every element is important. Anyway, he will randomly drain one element and absorb another. That’s why you should have left your demons set to strike up to now. Now, as soon as he appears command one to cast one spell to see what happens. I recommend against having them cast two different spells at the same time because then you might be unsure which one of the two worked and which one didn’t. So cast every element one by one until you get to the one that registers as a weakness, and once you find it, set both your demons to cast it repeatedly (or, if only one of your demons has it, set the other one to use another spell which doesn’t get drained). While they’re hitting Abaddon with those spells, you should be helping them with your sword strikes. Interestingly, unlike other bosses, once Abaddon is frail stunned, your demons will continue using their spells instead of switching to strikes, so there’s no need to command them. Just combo him nonstop.

If you’re as strong as I was, this is all you need to do. Since every time you take 1/4 of his HP off he will fall for a second, you can kill him here before he ever gets the chance to do anything else. If you can’t deal damage that fast, be prepared to get hit by Prominence and get blown back. The move is far too fast so you should probably just take the hit. After getting blown away roll back in and keep the pressure up. If you’re unable to kill him here, after a while he will run away to the background, use Corona Pillars, blah blah, repeat the loop. Just keep damaging him until he dies. Once you do, you’ll go to the next phase.

In this next phase, you have to kill off the three pillars on Shinado’s head. There will also be a Psycho Apollyon but you can pretty much ignore him. Use your demons’ strongest spells on the pillars, preferably Thunderbolt because that’s what Apollyon’s weak to.

Command one of your demons to use Thunderbolt on the top pillar, and the other one to use it on either the right or left pillar. Since the Psycho Apollyon will appear right between the pillar and your demon, the Thunderbolt will pass through him and frail stun him, effectively putting him out of the fight and letting you work unhindered.

Now, once you kill the first pillar, it will take only a few seconds before they use Judgement and then all get revived. That means you have to kill them all in rapid succession. The pillars work in such a way that they will stop taking damage (up to a certain amount) for a second once they get down to 1/8 HP. You can use this to your advantage by hitting a pillar and getting it down to this, then going on to the next one and getting it down to 1/8, then going to the third one and getting it down too. Since the countdown to regeneration only starts once the first pillar is dead, you can take as much time as you want here. Once all of the pillars have low HP, killing them all fast before the countdown ends should be easy.

If you’re as strong as I was, you don’t even have to bother with all this. Simply command one demon to cast Thunderbolt on the top pillar and the other one on the right pillar. As they’re doing that, move towards the left pillar. Once the two Thunderbolts connect, check the pillars’ HP. If they’re not dead, use another Thunderbolt on them. This time they will definitely be dead. Then call your demons to your side (near the left pillar) and have both of them use Thunderbolt on it. Easy win.

Now you will face the last phase. Ooh, I’m a rappah and I didn’t even know it!

Now Shinado won’t have all those people humping him. That means he won’t be able to regenerate anymore. That doesn’t mean this phase is easier than the first one though. Also this fight will have the intro music from Devil Summoner 1 (not 2).

Begin by casting Makakajaon and Tarukajaon twice. Abaddon will move to the background like in the first phase. Now he will do one of two things. He may either use Judgement, or Judging Eye. Judgement is unavoidable but blockable, while Judging Eye is avoidable but unblockable. If you see the message that he’s preparing for something, that means Judgement is coming, so stand in one place, hide your demons, and block. On other hand, if no message comes up and you see Shinado’s eye following your position, that means Judging Eye is coming. To avoid it, stand on the right end of the arena, wait a little bit, and then start running to the left side. Vice versa will also work.

After this, Abaddon will move close to the arena. As soon as he appears he will use a crack version of the bad luck roulette with ridankalus effects like “All your demons will die”, “All damage is halved” and “MAG consumption is doubled”. All of these effects are crazy bad but there’s not much we can do about it. Hopefully you get a trivial effect like demon seals or bad HP regeneration. If you’re unlucky and all of your demons get killed, just a Balm of Life on the two you’re using and summon them back. If you get half damage or double MAG consumption use a luck locust because that effect will make you run out of MAG for sure. If you do run out of MAG during this fight, go ahead and use your Soma. There are no more fights after this one.

Like the first phase, Abaddon’s resistance and weakness changes randomly. So use the same strategy. Use every element one by one until you get to the one which registers as a weakness, and once you find it, set both of your demons to cast it repeatedly while you combo him. This form has more HP so it’s gonna take little bit longer to kill him. Also watch out, because at this point instead of using Prominence he will use Corona Pillars! It’s all good though, when you see him use it, stop attacking him for a bit, hide your demons and move towards the top right side (you will already be at the top since you’ll have been attacking him), then when the middle pillars starts moving to the left, move down to avoid the top pillar, and then move back to the center and up to continue attacking Shinado.

At this point, if you’re as strong as I was, you’ve basically won. Since Shinado falls down for a second every time you get his HP down by 1/4, if you can deal enough damage to him fast enough, you can kill him here before he gets to do anything else. Easy street.

If you can’t deal enough damage to him, get ready for him to return to the background and the process to repeat. Once you get his HP down, he will even start using Judging Eye several times repeatedly so watch out.

Just keep doing this until he’s dead. Don’t be afraid to use all your items since there’s nothing else to save them for.

Hwell! It looks like we’ve won. That’s all folks. Our adventure is at an end. And just in time, because my copy of Devil Survivor arrives tomorrow! Shinado thanks you and then you appear back in the nameless shrine. I love how everyone’s so worried and Narumi’s all “Didn’t I tell you all? No need to worry!” That guy knows how Devil Summoner works. None of that depressing Persona 3 martyr shit. Also it’s pretty interesting what an important spot is given to Kazuma Kaneko in the credits. He shows up at the very beginning and at the very end. Glad to see him getting the recognition he deserves.

At the end, Narumi toast falls on his pants again. Did it fall butter side up or down? Does it matter?

The end! If you save the clear data you’ll get a second crown beside your save file. I finished with 225 hours. Minus 45 from my first playthrough, that comes out to 180 hours.

Case File 1

Stocking up (1)

You just have to give up 5 medicines. I’m not even going to tell you how to do this one. Medicines are all over the place.

Collection Warrant (1)

You get this one from Sadakichi at Kasumidai. You need to hand over 10 lifestones. Please. Don’t ask me to tell you where to find these. They’re almost as abundant as medicines.

Kagami Hell!

This one requires you to hand over a Pyro Steel. You should already have plenty of these by the time you get this case. If you don’t go fight Pyro order demons and kill them for a chance to get it as a drop. You can also try negotiating with them and asking for an item but killing them seems more effective.

Low on Stock (1)

For this one you have to hand over 2 wood ornaments. You should have these as soon as you unlock this case. If you don’t have them because you sold them, don’t worry too much. Just keep playing and eventually you will have them, because enemies sometimes drop them. Alternatively, there are some wood ornaments scattered about the world in different areas. If you want to get them that way, you can use the search function to look for wood ornament and see which areas have it.

Request for Gems (1)

You need an Aquamarine for this one. You really should already have one by the time you get this quest, but if you don’t, remember that you can get gems by negotiating with demons and asking for an item, and also by fusing a demon who has maxed out loyalty. They will give you a letter and an item, which a lot of the time will be a gem.

Demons for Science! (1)

This quest requires that you give up a Pagan Lilim. You’ll have to create her through fusion. There are many ways to create a Lilim. Here’s the deal: Lilim is level 19. To create her, search through your current demons in the fusion screen for a combination that will result in a pagan order demon. Once you’ve found that, look at the resulting demon’s level. If it’s lower than 19 (Lilim’s level), then that means the two parent demons’ original levels are too low (what I mean by original level is the level they come with when they are created or recruited). So create a demon of the SAME ORDER as any of the two parent demons but with a higher original level. If the resulting pagan order demon is still lower than level 19, keep making parent demons with higher original levels until you get a Lilim.

Here’s an example: You have a level 13 Jack Frost and a level 3 Volt Koropokkur. A fusion of these two demons results in a level 12 Pagan Alp. That’s lower than Pagan Lilim, so it means we need higher level parent demons. So you decide to create a level 10 Volt Agathion because he’s the same order as Koropokkur, only higher level. You check what results from the fusion between Jack Frost and your new Agathion and it turns out this makes a level 15 Pagan Mokoi. This is still lower than Pagan Lilim, so it means we need even higher level parent demons. You decide to fuse your Moh Shuvuu and your Enku to create a level 14 Volt Makami. This is the same order as Volt Agathion, only higher level. You check to see what demon results from the fusion between Makami and Jack Frost, and it turns out Lilim comes out. That’s the one you want.

Lab Rats

This is the first sidequest. You have to complete it to progress. Just go to Dark Tsukudo-Cho and walk to the first save point.

Ghost Driver

According to the case information, the ghost car is over at Dark Tsukudo-Cho. So head on over there.

Move over to the place where you fought Inugami. You remember where that is, don’t you? ‘course you do. Head north from there until you hear an engine sound. Then you’ll be thrust into combat.

—Boss: Volt Rumored Oboroguruma—
My level: 17

This guy isn’t too strong, but you’re on a 3 minute timer, so you have to do a lot of damage to him and kill him before time runs out. He’s frail to wind, so what you want to do is have two demons who know Zan (or even better, Mazan) constantly using it on him. If you want to have even more chances to frail stun him, throw Wind Sword into the mix. Remember, Poltergeist learns that if you level it up once. If you’re at least level 13, you can fuse an Obariyon and a Sandman to form a Wind Moh Shuvuu. This is a pretty nice demon to have for this fight because not only does she have Zan, but she absorbs Oboroguruma’s electric attacks, giving you extra MAG with which to unleash your attacks!

Oboroguruma only has two attacks: Mazio, and a rush attack. If you have Moh Shuvuu, just block the Mazio when you see the cue, but don’t hide your demons so that she can drain it and give you extra MAG. Don’t worry about the other demon dying. Getting MAG is more important. If you don’t have a demon who can absorb Mazio, then go ahead and hide them.

Stay on Oboroguruma’s face so that he’s more inclined to attack you and leaves your demons free to spam him with Zan. Keep your finger on the block button and combo him once immediately after he uses an attack during his recovery. This will usually cause him to go into frail stun and you can get some more hits on him and replenish your MAG. Once he recovers from stun, go back to blocking because he’s about to attack.

Keep doing this and he should go down before the 3 minutes are up.

Stare from the Cracks

You get this one from either talking to the herald or the owner of Shin Sekai. Damned if I remember which. But whatever, whaddya think I am, some kinda machine? Take the case and head over to the exhibition at Fukagawa-Cho. Check the lattice door on the side to the right of the buffoon who keeps telling you stories for no charge. Looks like the one who was staring from the cracks was just a regular vanilla Makami. He’s pissed off at people being dicks and challenges you to a fight! Except wait, now dere’s TREE off dem? Well, Makami…dere’s ONE of me.

—Boss: Volt Rumored Makami—
My level: 25

Just kidding. There are actually a jillion of ’em. Thing is, uh. These guys are absolute pussies. They pose approximately ZERO threat. In fact, don’t even bother trying to avoid their attacks, they don’t do that much damage! The entire strategy here is to just bring in two demons who know Mazan and spam it constantly to kill them. That’s it. Seriously this is such an easy battle. It’s just very long since there are so many of them. Other than that, it helps to command your demon to keep using mazan instead of striking at the Makamis while they’re stunned. That’ll make it go faster. And if you want to rape them even harder, use Wind Sword. This is far from necessary though.

You’ll get a dragon tiles for your trouble. That’s it for this quest. Moving on!

Cursed House

Get over to the gambling parlor to get the skinny from Osamu. He directs you to the house in front of the violent chicken. Go into the house and you’ll find the umbrella maker. It seems his illness may be caused by a demon. Gouto says to follow the demon’s scent to its source. Hmm… not much to go by. Either way, go to the back door of that same house and take out your volt order demon. Use its inspect ability and you’ll find a demonic footprint. Now go back to the violent chicken, and bring out a frost order demon. Use cool down on it. Looks like this chicken’s turned out to be a demon. Let’s go!

—Boss: Frost Rumored Basilisk—
My level: 25

This guy can be dangerous if you don’t defend properly. He’s weak to electricity so bring in demons who know Mazio or Ziorati. I suppose Zio could also do, but come on! You can do better. Set both demons to spam their electric skills. Now, you have to be careful. While Basilisk won’t outright kill you with an attack, he still hits for a lot and can cause both poison and stone. When the battle starts, hide your demons and watch what he does. If he uses an attack right away, it’s a good thing you had your demons hidden huh? But if instead he just starts walking, unhide your demons and let them hit him with their zio skills. Basilisk goes into frail stun very easily. When he does, get two combos on him (if you’re using mazio and ziorati. If you’re using vanilla zio, you’ll only be able to get off one combo). As soon as he comes out of frail stun, hide your demons and roll away and to one side because he will retaliate with one of his attacks.

I said away and to the side because he might use Glacial Blast, which has big range in a straight line. If he uses this and misses (which he should if you rolled away) run up to his backside and unhide your demons and unleash those zio skills while he’s locked into the move. If you’re lucky he’ll even go into frail stun again if zio hits him after he finishes the move.

He also might use Venomstrike. This move is very powerful and also poisons. It’s also fast and somewhat difficult to see coming. But if you rolled away as soon as he went out of frail stun like I told you, it shouldn’t be a problem, he’ll just whiff it. I will note, however, that even though it’s fast, it still has a visible cue and avoiding it on reaction like I did in my video is possible. You’ll see white beams surround him as he’s preparing it. If you see that and your demons are near him, very quickly hide them like I do in my video to avoid it.

Finally he can also use Petra. This move is hell of dangerous, since it turns you to stone and leaves you completely vulnerable to a one hit kill for a while. Do not get hit by this. Fortunately, the cue is somewhat long and obvious. Hell, you even get a big fat message on the screen telling you when Petra is coming. It affects an area all around Basilisk, but rather than try dodging and risking it, it’s best to just hide your demons and block whenever you see the cue. Remember not to jump the gun and unhide your demons too soon though, because Petra can still hit them a little bit after it’s over.

In any case, have your demons attack him right after he uses one of his attacks, but keep your guard up in case he doesn’t get frail stunned immediately and uses another attack.

After the fight, Basilisk says he’s sorry and says he’ll let you choose between two treasure boxes if you forgive him. You can demand both boxes but it won’t do anything. And you can choose not to forgive him but he’ll just keep asking the question again. Ah phooew. Anyways. You’ll get the choice of either the heavy treasure box with a lot inside or the light treasure box with not much inside. I know common sense tells us that the light one obviously has something amazing in it, but alas, this time it ain’t so. The light one only has like. 200 yen or some shit. The heavy one on the other hand has a beetle and a Stag Beetle! MUCH better! Incidentally, the beetle is the item you need to complete the Bug Collector (1) case, and the other way to get one is through luck with the item find skill, so I strongly urge you to choose the heavy box. Anyways! We’re done with this quest. On to the next one!

Case File 2

Biting Spirit

You get this one from Sadakichi. You gotta hand over an Ox Bezoar. That’s it! Come on. If you don’t have an Ox Bezoar I feel sorry for you.

Missing Tiles

Notice that after you complete the Stare from the Cracks case, a new case will appear. Missing Tiles. It’s from Narumi. Ha. Looks like he’s lost his mahjong set. If you’ve been following my guide, you should already have all the pieces. Turn them all in for a hefty 10000 yen reward! Woo! We’ve got some real dough now! Can this day possibly get any better? I mean, we’ve won 10000 fucking yen plus nobody I know got killed in South Central L.A! If you haven’t been following my guide, then I’m hurt. But I can forgive you… I guess. Use the search function and search for Dragon Tiles, Number Tiles, Scoring Sticks, and Four Wind Tiles to find out where you can get them. Come on, don’t be lazy.

Photog Needed (1)

Tae wants a photo of the shrine at Shinoda. First you need to get the camera from Victor in Demons for Science (1). Once you do, head to Shinoda and search the bushes on the left side to find the spot where you need to take the photog.

Bug Collector (1)

This one’s tough. You need to find a beetle. A surefire way to find one is to do the Cursed House quest and choose the big treasure box when Basilisk asks you. If that’s not an option, you’ll have to run around with finders keepers skill and hope you get lucky and find one. Not easy. I’ve found one right at the nameless shrine myself, so you might want to search there.

Selling Umbrellas

You get this one from one of the Kantou Haguro-Gumi punks in front of the Daikoku-Yu. This one’s easy. Just hand over 2000 yen. Yeah, hurts, I know, but what can ya do.

Demons for Science! (2)

Oh screw you, Victor. Why don’t you come out and say what you want instead of making us have to guess. Thankfully the tip isn’t all that cryptic. He says needs a soulless demon with furious power. That tells us that it’s a fury order demon. Well, it happens to be Fury Nezha. He does look like a Frankenstein monster, so I guess he has no soul. Nezha can be found in Dark Mannen-Cho and the training hall B2, but I’ve found that he’s notorious for refusing to join you. If you have to create him, then read my Demon for Science (1) entry to learn the basics of how to get the demon you want. Nezha is level 14. Here’s an example of how to create him: Skill Pixie + Volt Raiju.

I’m Collecting Demons

Psh, another demon request? Well at least this one tells us exactly which one he’s looking for. It’s a Jubokko. Jubokko is a frost order demon and he’s level 23. If you want to create him read my Demon for Science (1) entry to learn the basics of how to get the demon you want. Here’s an example of how to get a Jubokko: Pagan Mokoi + Pyro Orthrus.

It Came From The Sewer!

-Items:
-Flute of Rhone

Ohhh snap, this case is great. Why? Because as a reward you get the large tarrasque and can finally traverse the ocean! You’re actually obligated to complete this quest later on, but let’s do it right now. The sooner we can show that ocean who’s boss the better. Besides, you do remember the mysterious blonde man telling us to check out the catholic church don’t you? And the only way to get there is by sea. You’re just as curious as I am about that aren’t you? Of course you are! So let’s do this.

Take the case and go to the manhole in front of Ushigome Gaeri Bridge. Talk to the dude there and say you’re here for le sewer case. You’ll get the chance to say what exactly the large tarrasque is. Obviously the coolest answer is a white alligator! But let’s move on. The dude’s actually a demon and he wants you to find his G, the Large Tarrasque. Apparently he got hammered and drifted out west? I dunno. Well, we know Tsukigata Village’s out west, and that’s where he is. I’d rather not pay the 1000 yen to make the trip, I mean seriously 1000 fucking yen? Are you fuckin’ loco? But them’s the breaks. So get back over to Tsukigata Village. Once there, head straight for the residential area east of the resort environs. You’ll find some brats picking on the tiny tarrasque. One of them even says to smash it and kick its shell! The fuck? That’s kind of unnecessary. Let’s rough these little hoes up. Well, that’s what I’d wish you could do but unfortunately the only two options you get is to either bribe them or give up. COME ON! I’ve killed fiends, I can take these three little bitches easy! Uh, anyway, yeah, choose to bribe them. You’ll have to hand over 3 Jin Dans. Well that’s easy. You should already have this many, easy.

The kids leave and the Large Tarrasque will now take you on a ride whenever you want! Woooo! You got any idea how many possibilities that opens up for us? It’s crazy. The Large Tarrasque will also give you a box that keeps you young forever as long as you don’t open it, but the jackass drops it and its ill effects hit you, bringing you down to 1 HP and MAG. You get the option of forgiving him or giving him hell. Normally I’d be mad but I’m too stoked about being able to travel over water so I’ma let this slide, let me ride. Just another homicide. You also get a Bead of Life as a reward. Pretty awesome. Alright, so! Now that that’s done with, head back to the detective agency. We’ve still got waaaay more stuff to do at the capital. Don’t forget to rest and replenish your health.

Fear of Betobeto

Check out this case file. I’m pretty sure the Herald of Yatagarasu is the one who gives it to you. Looks like some schmuck called Betobeto (what?) is roaming around Kasumidai. Take the case and head over. This case is especially awesome because it grants us access to Kasumidai! Fuck yeah. Head up to the guard post and then take a right. You’ll hear some footsteps and be thrust into battle!

—Boss: Fury Rumored Obariyon—
My level: 25

This fight’s gonna take a while. There are tons of these little hoes. And they have a shitload of HP. Hell, ten shitloads. Plus, they’re a lot more dangerous than the Makamis since they use very powerful physical attacks that don’t have much startup. These guys are frail to wind and death and like to surround you, so they’re just begging to be pummeled by a demon’s Mazan. However, the true trick to winning this battle without a hitch is to use either Wind Sword or Pagan Sword (your pick). Just use Pagan Sword at the beginning of the battle, and keep reapplying it every time it wears off. Then just go crazy and spam your combos endlessly. This makes you nigh untouchable! The spinning slash at the end of your bread and butter combo is especially useful for frail stunning Obariyons all around you. That’s all there is to this fight. Just keep doing this and you’ll win easily.

After the battle you’ve receive a 32 Gunto. What is this I don’t even. Looks like it’s a crappy axe. Oh well, I’m sure it’s SOMEHOW useful right?

The Curse Reborn

You get this case from Tsunagatsu. He’s the devil summoner in a navy officer uniform standing near a car on the east side of Kasumidai.

Note that to reach the North Training Hall you have to take the streetcar to Fukagawa-Cho and then walk all the way to the north part and then use the Large Tarrasque just to swim over the tiny pond to the island in the middle. Here you’ll find another 8 red crystals. You know what you have to do. Make sure you get an incense from every one. Yeah, I know you just did that in the previous training hall and you’re tired but hang in there! You can do it.

Once you’re done with the red crystals, you’ll have already noticed there’s an Oni standing on the north side. This guy probably has something to do with Tsunagatsu’s curse. After saving, go talk to him. Looks like he is the one responsible for the curse. He’ll summon his brothers (and he has tons of them) and you’ll go into battle. Pfft. This guy actually thinks he’s got a chance?

—Boss: Fury Oni—
My level: 30

There are tons of these guys and you’ll have to kill them all. As per usual with these types of fights, the best way to go about things is to continually imbue your sword with the element they’re frail to. These Onis are frail to both electricity and death, so you have a choice of either going with Volt Sword or Pagan Sword. It’s up to you. Next, have two demons who know either Mazio or Mudoon. Set them to use these skills repeatedly. As soon as the fight starts cast Pagan (or volt) sword on yourself, and recast it every time it runs out. In this way you’re almost untouchable because every hit from your sword will stun them. The spin at the end of your bread and butter combo is especially effective at stunning any dudes that try to surround you.

This fight’ll be similar to the Obariyon fight in the Betobeto quest, but unlike the Obariyons, these Onis are quite a bit more dangerous. Even with Pagan Sword they’re still likely to get a few hits in on you and your demons so it’s a good idea to have some form of Dia handy. Finally, these whores can also use Luck Roulette of the Beast. If you get a particularly nasty bad luck effect like I did in my video (Raidou’s attacks will whiff), it’s a good idea to just use a luck locust and negate the effect. It’s not worth fighting the entire battle whiffing your attacks when luck locusts are so easy to get.

Apparently, murdering this Oni won’t undo the curse on Tsunagatsu. It will, however, give us a case closed, and the reward is Bizen-Osafune.

Case File 3

Don’t Try This at Home (1)

For this one you have to hand over 5 Anti-Mutes. Konnou-Ya itself actually sells these, though you might have to spend some money first to get its stock to open up.

The World of Plants (1)

Remember the patch of grass that didn’t have anything growing on it back in Tento Woods? The one north of the stupid Obariyon? Right. Check that during a full moon and you’ll obtain the moonlight herbs you need to complete this case.

Manhuntin’ (1)

You get this one from Satake over at the bathhouse. Unfortunately when you get it you can’t solve it. You will have to wait until chapter 4 when the Red-Light District is open. Go in, as soon as you go through the arch, take a left to go into a small alleyway. Here you’ll find Kuroi. Talk to him, then take a picture of him for Satake. You’ll get 8000 yen as a reward, which isn’t actually too shabby!

Please, Raidou Hon?

You get this one from Kamanari in Mannen-Cho. He wants a Shishiou Sake. This sake’s pretty damn rare. The first one you can get is hidden deep in Centipede Road. Get to the part where the stone tablet says there’s hidden treasure, and take the rightmost path during a 2/8 moon. You’ll arrive at a glade with 2 blue crystals. The Shishiou Sake is here. There’s also one in a blue crystal in the Training Hall B5. Not to mention you can get more by completing the Don’t Try this at Home (2) case file. In case you like, DRANK the ones you had. You shameless alcoholic. You’ll receive 3 Volt Bronzes for it, which is a TERRIBLE reward but oh well.

Request for Gems (2)

I THINK you get this one from negotiating with a demon but I could be wrong. You need to hand over 2 aquamarines and 1 opal. You should have TONS of these by the time you get this case. If you don’t, I dunno what you’ve been doing. The process for getting common gems like these is always the same: you can get them from demons when they level up, from them after you fuse them, and the best way: asking for items in negotiation.

Sword Collecting (1)

This one’s kind of annoying since you’ll have to waste money in sword alchemy to create the Muramasa. The process goes like this: Renki > Bizen-Osafune/32 Gunto > Kotetsu > Muramasa. I’d recommend waiting until you can get bronze souls from regular battles to complete this case. Up to you though. You can still get bronzes before that by fusing high level demons.

Long-Distance Dating

You get this one from a demon during negotiation. It requires a “female demon with fine fur who giggles a lot”. Oh that’s easy. Nekomata for sure. You can fuse her if you want (check the demons for science (1) entry for details on how to fuse specific demons) she’s level 28. But you can also get her easy and no frills over at the Tento Sanctuary. ‘s your choice. For this you get the famous Element #115.

Limits of the Macabre

You get this case from the owner of Shin Sekai. Some dude wants an Okiku-mushi with at least 10 luck. Now, I don’t really understand why he had to include the “at least 10 luck” part considering Okiku-mushis you get off the fucking street come with at least 10 luck. Either way. If you want to get one easy, just pick one up in the Tento Sanctuary. Hand it over for 3 Wind Bronze. Not exactly a great reward but eh.

The Shichinin Dougyou!

Halright. Time to help Tsunatsugu (worst name to type ever. I always end up typing Tsunagatsu for some reason and have to double check every time.) some more. Swenyways. For this one we have to head back to Tsukigata Village, so take the case and go there. To find the Shichinin Dougyou, walk up to the Fire Tower and then take a left from there.

—Boss: Evil Yomi-Kugutsu—
My level: 42

You’ll be fighting seven Yomi-Kugutsu in two waves, first three, then four. These dudes have a LOT of HP, and their attacks can both take a substantial amount of HP and be disruptive. Further, you’re going to have to kill them before 5 minutes are up. The Yomi-Kugutsu are frail to ice. I really recommend bringing in a demon who knows Frost Sword. It helps tremendously. Just imbue your sword with ice and reapply it every time it runs out and you’ll lock down whoever you’re attacking until they’re dead. To round things up make sure your demons know ice skills as well. Mabufu works wonderfully, but so does Bufurati and Bufudyne.

The Yomi-Kugutsu come in two flavors, sword-wielder and machine-gunner. They’re both dangerous, but the gunner can hit you from off-screen which is annoying so I’m gonna suggest going for the gunners first and let your demons handle the others while you kill it. Try to concentrate on a single Yomi-kugutsu until it’s dead before moving on to the next one. You can usually leave your demons to their own devices as long as they’re set to using their ice skills. Though it helps a lot if you use Null Phys or bring in a demon like Nebiros who is immune to physical attacks. If one of the sword kugutsu sneaks up behind you while you’re attacking another, watch out. While you can usually hope that your demon casts a spell on it while it’s attacking you, it’s safer to turn around and frail stun it to buy yourself time if you can.

Once you kill the first three (should only take about a minute), you’ll have to face four at the same time. It works more or less the same except it’s a bit harder since you’re outnumbered. You’ll be facing 2 sword guys and 2 gunners. Just go for one gunner and try to kill it as fast as you can. However, if you can get two Yomi-kugutsu near each other where you can frail stun them both with one combo, go for that.

Throughout the fight keep an eye on your health as well as your demons. If the enemies seem to be overwhelming you, don’t be afraid to hide your demons and run to a safer place to regroup. 5 minutes is a generous amount of time to win. Now if it were 3 minutes? I’d be worried.

Guard Mission

You get this case from reading Sadakichi’s mind over at Kasumidai. Take the case and head over there. Take a left from the colonel Adachi statue and go past the cannon to trigger a battle with the Hyakki-Yakou!

—Boss: Hyakki-Yakou—
My level: 31

This fight is too long, clanky. You’ve got 100 demons here and you have to kill them all. That’s a lot of work, but oh well.

The first third of this fight is a complete joke. You’ll fight Pretas and Enkus for christ sake. Those guys are like, what, level 3? I dunno. Point is, the damage they do to you at this point is pitiful, and they go down real easy-like. Remember the Pretas are weak to fire and elec, and Enkus are weak to ice. Might want to keep that in mind. To make this fight even easier, use Volt sword and stun those pesky Pretas. I’d recommend not going with fire or ice, since that can heal Enku and Preta, respectively. But anyway, this first half should pose no problem at all! Hell, in fact, these guys are so weak that you might as well just use brute force to kill them faster instead of bothering with weaknesses.

Afterwards though, you’ll start facing Nekomatas and Okiku-Mushis. These whores are pretty damn annoying since they love to spam Marin-Karin and Pulinpa, confusing and charming your demons. If avoiding these things is proving too much of a hassle, I recommend bringing in demons who are immune to mind. There are many demons that have this characteristic, bring in whichever you prefer. I went with an Oshichi and a Nigi Mitama. Of course, make sure these two demons know some fire and electric skills because Nekomata is frail to electricity, and Okiku-Mushi is frail to fire. Volt Sword also helps if you want to stun those Nekomatas easily, although I’d recommend going with Pyro Blade since Volt Sword heals Okiku-Mushi.

Afterwards they’ll go back to throwing Pretas and Enkus at you, and this works the same way as the first third of the battle. For the final 2 demons, you’ll face two Gashadokuros. These guys are pretty tough, but there’s only two of them so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. They’re frail to wind so have your demons hit them with Mazan and the like.

This fight is too long, so I decided to just show it starting from the second third.

After all that you get Renki x2. Not too bad.

Case File 4

Looking for Fickle Dew

You get this from the Shin Sekai owner if you talk to him in chapter 3, but you won’t be able to complete this case until Chapter 4. You get the Fickle Dew as a reward for completing Off The Map. Then just hand it over. Easy. As a reward, you get the Hiranya.

Photog Needed (2)

You get this one from talking to the Shin Sekai owner. As always, it’s real easy-like. Just go to Tsukigata Village, check the Fire Tower in the north part and snap the photo to get Tae Sticker x2.

Bug Collector (2)

In my opinion this one’s easier than the last bug collector quest. You get it from negotiating with demons. It asks you for a Stag Beetle. You can get one for sure by taking the heavy treasure box in the Cursed House quest. If you didn’t do that, you can also get one by running around with the Finders keepers ability in the Shinoda Shrine, and the item find rate for Stag Beetle is a lot higher than the one for vanilla beetle so it shouldn’t be too hard. You get 3 Topazes for this.

My Wish (1)

This one’s really easy. You just have to hand over the Hiranya you got from the Looking for Fickle Dew case. As a reward you may as well not have received anything.

Low on Stock (2)

This one requires you to hand over 2 Rakuyou Chalices. See, this is why you don’t sell stuff like this. You can get a Rakuyou Chalice for sure before this case over at Kasumidai. It’s in the small passage where you need to transform into Antoine to go in. The second one though? You’ll just have to keep playing normally until one drops in battle. You get an Element #115 for your trouble.

Leanan Sidhe in the Sky

This one requires that you hand over a Leanan Sidhe, except she needs to have Ma higher than 20. This presents a problem considering the Leanan Sidhes you pick up off the street come with about 15. It’s gonna take a bit of work to get her Ma over 20. Well, first of all you need to GET a Leanan Sidhe. That’s easy. They’re found in the Great Summoner’s Hall, in Tento Sanctuary and in the Training Hall B4.

Once you have her, what you need to do is fuse her with a Spirit Kusi Mitama to boost her Ma. Not once, but TWICE. And how do we even obtain a Kusi Mitama? Hwell. That’s going to take a bit of work. Here’s how it goes: First, you’ll need to create an Element Erthys and an Element Aquans. There are several ways to make them. For example, fusing two Fury order demons creates an Erthys. Fusing two frost order demons creates an Aquans. Once you have these two, fuse them together to create an Element Undine. Next, you will need to create another Aquans. Fuse him with the Undine to create Kusi Mitama. Fuse this Kusi Mitama with your Leanan Sidhe to boost her Ma by 3 points, bringing it to about 19. Then simply repeat the same process to create a second Kusi Mitama and fuse it to Leanan Sidhe again to make her Ma go past 20. Then you’ll be able to hand it over and complete this damn case.

Golden UFO

You get this from the Shin Sekai owner during chapter 6.

A shrine in the center of the capital? Well that can’t be anything other than the confinement chamber. I mean there ain’t nothing in the center but that. So take the case and head on over there. Oh, the Great Kohryu is gold. Well. I guess that solves this case! Great Kohryu will also grant you access to the 333rd floor. Intriguing. Let’s go there right now!

?????

I never got this case, but word on the street is that you can only get it if you tell Nagi to apologize to Geirin after the Great Summoner’s Hall incident. If you tell her to just keep quiet like I did, you’ll miss this case forever. COME ON! How was I supposed to know that? I mean, am I expected to answer every question differently on my second playthrough? Fuck you. And fuck your dogs too.

Ghost Customer

You get this case from the Herald of Yatagarasu. This case is great because you win the Streetcar Pass if you do it. No longer will you have to pay those obscene prices to get around! I mean come on. 1000 yen to go to Tsukigata and back? ‘s ridankalus. The case calls for you to go to a shrine in the south part of the capital. Now WHERE could this be. Any sensible person will assume it’s the Oumitsu shrine over at Sakuradayama. But nope. Turns out it’s the Training Hall South. COME ON! That ain’ even got shrine in the name!

But anyway, head over there. You’ll find Raiho standing on the north part. Talk to him. It seems he’s the ghost customer! And is looking for a fight, even! As much as we love Raiho, we’ll have to kick his ass.

—Boss: Frost Raiho—
My level: 42

Raiho is a complete joke compared to what he was in Devil Summoner 1. Even though he says he’s stronger. Unlike Devil Summoner 1 in which he has 4 friends, in this one he only has one Pyro Jack. Not impressive. Don’t worry about him, if you kill him Raiho will just summon a different demon. So just concentrate your attacks on Raiho.

Raiho is frail to fire, so bring in demons who know Agi skills, but don’t bring in Pyro order demons unless you want trouble. He only has two attacks, a physical Combo and Samurai Frost which does multi-hit ice damage. Because of this I recommend using demons who are strong against phys (or better yet, null it), and who null ice (or even better, drain it). Fury Triglav is a nice choice, he’s resistant to phys so he can take a hit, and he drains ice so he laughs at Raiho’s Samurai Frost. Meanwhile unlike Frost order demons he can actually learn Agi.

Generally speaking, whether you use Agirati/Agidyne or Maragi each has its pros and cons in this fight. The nice thing about Agidyne is that your demon can cast it at Raiho from a distance and be less likely to get hit by his combo. With Maragi the demon has to walk right up to Raiho’s face. This means he’ll likely take damage from combo if he doesn’t null phys, but if he drains ice like Triglav, it means that when Raiho calls down Samurai Frost, it will fall right on top of him for some nice absorption. ‘s your choice.

It’s worth noting that Samurai Frost always goes straight for you, ignoring your demons. So you can kind of lead him into your ice draining demon if you want. Usually though, you’ll just want to block it. You can avoid it by running/rolling away, but that’ll make you run too far away from Raiho, and the block damage from Samurai Frost is pitiful. If you don’t block it, the damage becomes substantial, although it won’t kill you outright.

Raiho doesn’t go into frail stun very frequently, but when he does, take advantage as always. He’s more likely to be stunned if you’re comboing him before he gets hit by Agi, but that leaves you vulnerable to his attacks so in general I’d recommend doing most of the damage with your demons’ spells.

Like I said just ignore the Pyro Jack throughout the entire fight. For the most part he’s harmless. The only annoying thing he can do is use Dormina and sleep one of your demons with a lucky shot. It’s a good idea to bring a couple Anti-Minds for that. You can technically wait for someone to smack him out of sleep but that can take a while.

After the fight Raiho gives you an Aquamarine (useless). And you also receive the Streetcar Pass (not useless).

Off The Map

Items:
-Faerie Photo
-Fickle Dew

Oho! Looks like this case calls for us to check the Tento Woods for signs of a mysterious village. Sounds fun! To get this case, you need to go to Shirahige springs during chapter 4. Anyway, remember the spot in Tento Woods with the animal trail? The one where a mysterious power prevented you from checking further? Come on, you know the one! The one that’s been keeping us up at night this entire time because we just. couldn’t. figure. out what its deal was. That one. Well finally, after all this time we get to rest easy. Walk up to the animal trail and you’ll be engulfed by gas. Sleep gas to be exact. Dude. If we made a drinking game where we had to take a shot every time Raidou faints in this game we would NOT be afraid of the fucking POLICE right now!

You’ll be woken up by a Titania. Apparently we’re in Faerie Land now. And woah there, Titania wants to keep us trapped here because Raidou’s so handsome? I mean I agree and everything but come on, you know I ain’t wit dat shit, lieutenant.

Man, did I mention I like the music in this place? Anyway, walk south a little and you’ll run into an Oberon. Aren’t you supposed to be Titania’s husband? And you’re fine with all this? That’s pretty damn liberal. If you continue going south then go west, you’ll find a Pixie. She says Titania and Oberon are always mad at each other and that maybe marriage isn’t what she thought it was. Ha! Welcome to the real world. If you check the bushes nearby you’ll be able to take a photo for Tae’s next case! Make sure you do. Next, walk east to find a Sylph. Talk to her to receive some more information. Now if you try to exit down south you’ll just be teleported back.

Go talk to Oberon again. He’ll try to help you. He’ll mention the Fickle Dew, a love potion that according to him also works as a cure for homosexuality! He will give it to you. You have to sprinkle that on Titania. Go talk to her, and sprinkle the Fickle Dew on her. She’ll fall in love with Oberon again. That was easy.

Except the son of a bitch set us up. Now he wants to keep Raidou as a slave. Feh. We’ll have to kill them. Wait, couldn’t we have done this in the FIRST place? Oh well.

—Boss: Skill Titania and Skill Oberon—
My level: 43

These two aren’t particularly strong, but they have a very dangerous combo you need to watch out for. Dormina followed by Eternal Rest will instantly kill you so make absolutely sure you don’t get slept. There’s a chance that even if you get hit by Dormina the sleep won’t stick, or that even if it does, Eternal Rest might miss. But of course it’s best not to rely on this. If your demons get slept, you can just throw an Anti-Mind at them, so that’s no problem. But if you get slept, no one will help you. Not even a demon who knows Patra. So watch out and stay away from Dormina.

Titania is frail to ice, while Oberon is frail to electricity. So bring in the appropriate demons. Bufudyne/Glacial Blast and Ziodyne/Shockwave work well. I’d recommend killing Titania first since she likes casting Media a lot. You can lay on the spells if you want to kill her fast, but you may also want to stick to strikes while she’s frail stunned so that you don’t end up without MAG by the end like I did. It’s not too much of a problem though, since they both take a lot of damage from strikes. Don’t be afraid to get in their face and combo them. Outside of their Dormina + Eternal Rest combination they’re not particularly dangerous. Oberon likes to use a phys Combo and Titania likes to use Bufurati, but the damage isn’t anything to worry about.

For completing this case you swipe the Fickle Dew.

Case File 5

Stocking Up (2)

You get this case from talking to the Shin Sekai owner in chapter 3. You have to hand over 2 Beads. A somewhat uncommon item, though you can still find plenty as drops, and in blue crystals. Use the search function and look for Bead. You’ll find them in all sorts of places. As a reward you get Balm of Life x3. A fair exchange.

The World of Plants (2)

You won’t be able to complete this case for a while when you get it. The Mugshot herbs are at Dark Kasumidai near the Oukuninushi statue, but you won’t be able to go there until chapter 5 when you’re performing the ritual of unsealing. You’ll get a roman coin for it.

Manhuntin’ (2)

You get this one by talking to Satake in chapter 4. Unlike the last missing person case, you don’t have to wait to complete this one. Yanagita is the guy looking for the iron civilization or whatever in the south part of resort environs in Tsukigata Village. Talk to him to take his photog. An interesting thing about Yanagita is that he can vaguely sense demons! Seriously, try talking to him with one. Weird huh? Anyway, you get 10000 yen for this, which is pretty damn nice.

Zombie Highlander

This one is ridiculously easy. 10 Pyro Steels? You should have a jillion by now. Getting them’s easy. Just beat up low level Pyro Order demons. As a reward you get 2 Pagan Silver, which is a VERY good trade.

Request for Gems (3)

Is it me or are these gem cases getting easier every time? You need 3 Aquamarines, 2 Garnets, and 1 Opal for this but you should already have a ton by the time you get this case. If you don’t, you know the drill. Get ’em by asking for items from demons, from gifts when demons level up, when you fuse them, drops, using the search function and searching this guide for blue crystals that have these gems. Shiyat. So many ways. What are you even doing?

Need a Funny Demon

This is another one of those demon requests. It’s asking for a Raiho. As usual, check the Demons for Science (1) entry to learn the basics of how to fuse the demon you want. Raiho is a level 40 Frost order demon, but to be able to fuse him, you must first defeat him in the Ghost Customer case. Frankly 5 emeralds for a Raiho is a scam, but oh well.

Wise Demon Required

Aleister Crowley himself needs a Thoth. Well that’s not too hard. As usual, check the Demons for Science (1) entry to learn the basics of how to fuse the demon you want. Thoth is a level 31 skill order demon, just above Nekomata.

Streetcar Ghost

You get this one from the Herald of Yatagarasu during chapter 5. Haright, this case calls for us to take a trip to Ginza-Cho. Talk to the suspicious dude standing between the bushes near the east exit. He’ll tell you about the ghost. Afterwards Gouto will ask you questions about how to catch it. It really doesn’t matter what you answer as he’ll just correct you if you choose the wrong one. After some scenes you’ll find that the ghost was just a hoax. Aaaand then you’ll get 3 fricken Lu Incenses! Case closed! Wait, that’s IT? That was way too easy for such a good reward!

The Crown of Victory

Wait a minute, didn’t we already murder this jackass? Oh well, looks like blondie wants to see it with his own eyes. If we killed White Rider back when we were level 20, we should have significantly less trouble now.

Like I said, you get this from the blonde young man at the catholic church. Ride the Large Tarrasque back over there and walk towards the church altar. You’ll be asked if you want to wait there. Do so, and you’ll fight White Rider! Again.

—Boss: White Rider—
My level: 31

The main twist this time around, is that you need to kill White Rider before 5 minutes are up! That means you’ll need to do major damage to him, and fast! If you fought him back at level 20 like I did, you already know more or less how it goes. Check the horsemen section for the strategy I used back then. However, since we now have to kill him ASAP, our strategy is going to slightly change.

The main thing I recommend is that you get a Jubokko. As you well know, White Rider is frail to ice, and Jubokko happens to learn the strongest ice attack we have access to at this stage, Glacial Blast. This will be your main means of damage. On top of that, Jubokko is immune to White Rider’s Mamudo, which we already know he loves to use. Just an added bonus to having this demon.

Secondly, it wouldn’t hurt to bring in a demon who knows Makakaja, just to make those Glacial Blasts even more powerful. The demons who can learn Makakaja include Skill Thoth, Wind Anzu, and Fury Lamia.

Thirdly, it would help if one or preferably both of the demons you use in battle can drain death, so you can capitalize on White Rider’s abuse of Mamudo. Demons who drain death include Pagan Ghoul, Pagan Lilim, Skill Ippon-datara, Pagan Sandman, and Skill Legion.

Once you have this, it’s time to punish some suckahs Compton style! When the fight starts, have one of your demons cast Makakaja immediately, and set Jubokko (or both of them) to spam Mabufu. As you already know, the best time to frail stun White Rider is right when he reappears from his teleport, and Mabufu does this best. Read my horsemen section if you don’t know what I’m talking about or if you want to understand White Rider a little better.

Now, every single time you frail stun him with Mabufu, command Jubokko to use Glacial Blast instead of striking White Rider while he’s stunned.Then, command him to use glacial blast AGAIN while White Rider is casting Mamudo for even more damage! The reason I recommend not using Glacial Blast to stun him is because it uses up a lot of MAG, and since White Rider loves teleporting all over the place, it can easily miss and go to waste.

Combo him while he’s weak and steal his MAG. As soon as you see him come out of stun, roll away because he’s about to use Mamudo. Now this is very important: EVERY time White Rider comes out of frail stun, he will counter with Mamudo. EVERY. Single. Time. No exceptions. This is a blessing to you. Roll away (you’re not immune to death), but don’t hide your demons! Let them keep punishing him with their Bufus while he’s casting Mamudo, and then drain it for extra MAG on top of all that!

Now listen carefully, this is very important: wait for your demon to absorb the Mamudo, but IMMEDIATELY after you see the draining animation HIDE YOUR DEMONS. This is because right after Mamudo there’s a chance that White Rider will use his strike attack that has almost no cue. Now that you’re higher level though, this isn’t as much of a threat. If you’re feeling risky, go ahead and leave your demons unattended. But if you want to avoid damage, you will hide them right after Mamudo to prevent this. If he doesn’t use his strike then just unhide them and let them use their Bufus on him while he runs around, hopefully frail stunning him again.

That’s more or less the extent of the strategy. If you do things correctly you should beat him in less than 5 minutes without much problem.

As a reward, you obtain White Rider’s Victory Crown. I wonder what this is for!

Assassination Job

Items:
-Akane’s Letter
-Wind Silver
-Pearl
-Old Underwear
-Persian Vase
-Kotetsu Sake
-Plastic
-Soma

Demons:
-Skill Selket
-Pagan Okiku-mushi
-Frost Pabilsag
-Volt Tsuchigumo
-Pagan Jorougumo
-Pagan Arachne

Hmm… looks like we’ll have to go back to Tsukigata Village for this case. Isn’t it being annihilated by destroyer insects right about now? Oh well. Let’s go anyway. Ride your Kohryu over to the region, and get off in the Tento Woods. You’ll see that the door to the shack Dahn was imprisoned in has been busted open. Go save at the nearby dragon cave, and then go in. Take the stairs down to the cells and you’ll see a dead guy on the floor. Talk to him, and agree to help him. He will give you Akane’s Letter.

Keep heading down the hall to meet a Gold Masked Fukoshi. He seems to be scared of you, and, this was a complete surprise to me, actually sends you to a brand new Fukorutsubo! And it has a pretty bluish color. Very awesome. Let’s do this.

At the first fork, you’ll spot the dragon cave to the right, so head there first and save. The left path only leads to a dead end, so forget it. If you head north from the save point, you’ll just get teleported back, so head west. Keep going west all the way until you find a blue crystal. It has a Wind Silver. Keep going forward to get teleported back to the save point. Go west from it again, and this time head north from the intersection. When you get to the next fork, take a right. You’ll get to another intersection right above the save point. The north and east exits are sealed, leaving only the south one to the save point open. Go south until the camera angle changes, then turn back and return. The north exit will now be open. Go north to the next intersection, and then instead of continuing forward return to the previous one. The east exit will now be open. Walk down that path until you get teleported. You’ll now be in the west part of the map. Pick up that blue crystal to obtain a Pearl, then head north until you get teleported again.

If you go north from where you appear, you’ll reach a room with Nakisawame, so instead of that, head west to reach an intersection. The west exit will be sealed, and we’ve already been south, so take the north path. At the next fork you’ll spot the renegade Fukoshi to the left and a blue crystal to the right, so of course we’re taking the right path. At the end of it you’ll find two blue crystals with an Old Underwear and a Persian Vase. Return to the fork and this time take the left path to find the second dragon cave. Use it. The Fukoshi gold mask is just ahead to the north, but before we confront him, let’s finish exploring this place. Take the south path until you reach another fork. You’ll see a blue crystal at the end of the northwest path, so go there. You’ll get a Kotetsu Sake.

Return to the previous fork. Go south from there to reach an intersection room. You’ll see that the west exit is sealed. Take the south exit just slightly until the camera angle changes, then go back to find the west exit opened. Go through it to find the last two blue crystals. One has a plastic but unfortunately the left one has a Soma. Dammit. Since you’re likely to already have one, you won’t be able to pick this one up. Blagh.

Anyway, get back to the second dragon cave, and when you’re ready, approach the Fukoshi Gold Mask.

—Boss: Fukoshi Gold Mask and Taromaru—
My level: 66

You get this case from Sadakichi if you read his mind during chapter 6.

This guy is basically like Dahn, except stronger. But since we’re MUCH stronger too, there’s no need to worry. He’s frail to electricity so bring in demons who know Thunderbolt and Shockwave.

His attacks have really big cues. When you see him engulfed in orange light, that means he’s preparing to use an attack. Sneak Attack seems to be his favorite, which is a relatively strong attack, but with poor reach, so as long as you’re not right in front of him, you’re safe. He also has a fast strike which can stun you, but the damage from that isn’t a big deal, and since the only way to avoid it is to anticipate it, it’s best not to worry about it.

Generally he’s quite resistant to frail stun, but the best time to stun him is when he’s slowly walking around and not doing anything. Once he is, command your demons to keep pressuring him with electric skills to lay on more damage. Don’t worry about MAG, it’ll decrease a lot but that’ll be solved soon because when you get Gold Mask down to half health, he’ll summon a Taromaru.

Taromaru here works similar to the other times you’ve fought him, except now he’s stronger and takes a lot more damage before he dies. He’s frail to ice so hit him with Cocytus and Glacial Blast. Since Cocytus has longer stun, but glacial blast does more damage, I recommend using Cocytus until he’s stunned and then using glacial blast repeatedly until he shakes it off.

Taromaru has all the attacks you’re already familiar with. If you hear an electric sound and see him brace himself, that means Overdrive is coming, so block and even hide your demons if you want to be safe, though this isn’t necessary. Remember to keep blocking because Overdrive hits up to 3 times. If you see the message that he’s preparing for something, as usual block and hide your demons because Sonic Wave is coming. At this point, it’s actually pretty weak though, hitting for only about 30 block damage. If he jumps high away from the arena, run around the border (or roll, which is faster), in one direction nonstop to avoid his Hopper Kick.

When he’s close to death he’ll also go into a loop where he’ll just do Sonic Wave, followed immediately by Hopper Kick followed immediately by Overdrive and repeat. When he does this, the only way to damage him is during the time when he’s using Overdrive. To do this, you need to keep your demons out and move to a position where overdrive won’t hit them (since Taromaru tends to go after you), so they can cast their spells while you’re blocking it.

Go all out on him with your strongest ice attacks and don’t let up even when he’s stunned. Don’t worry at all about MAG, by the time you’ve killed him your MAG will be almost completely depleted but his death will completely refill you.

When Gold Mask returns he’ll start using Tarukaja and Burning Resolve, so watch out for that. Otherwise though he’s still the same so the same strategy applies. And now that you’ve got full MAG again, you can end it easily.

After the battle, the Fukorutsubo will recede and you’ll find yourself back at the cell. You get the option of finishing the guy off or not. It’s up to you, but if you leave him alive you can then read his mind to get two nice cutscenes.

With that, you get the case closed and an extra insect cage.

Case File 6

Don’t Try This at Home (2)

You have to hand over 9 Anti-Stones to the Konnou-Ya owner here. Except he sells the things himself so you can just buy 9 from him to complete this case. Though they’re 1000 yen each so I gotta say it really hurts your wallet. Shishiou Sake isn’t even that great aside from using it to solve the Kamanari case.

Collection Warrant (2)

Too easy. Attract Waters are all over the place including being sold at the store. It’s actually not that bad of a deal. Smoke Balls can come in handy every once in a while. You get this case by reading Sadakichi’s mind in Chapter 4.

Photog Needed (3)

This one requires a photograph of Faerie Land. To get there you have to do the Off The Map quest, and check the bushes near the Pixie. You get more Tae Stickers as a reward.

My Wish (2)

You need to give the girl a Pearl for this. Not a common gem at all. The first Pearl you can get is in Chapter 4, when you get to the Mushibito Nest, go to Bee Road. It’ll be in a blue crystal there. For this you get two Ma Incenses, so it’s well worth it.

Sword Collecting (2)

Your wallet’ll have to take a serious hit for this. The process for creating the Usumidori is Renki > Bizen-Osafune > Kotetsu > Muramasa > Usumidori. The reward isn’t even that great considering the Plasma Sword is a spear type.

Demon Wanted (1)

Make sure you complete this case! An extra tube as a reward is the real deal. Yatagarasu wants an Undine for their own probably shady purposes. The process for creating an Undine isn’t too difficult. Here’s how. First, you’ll need to create an Element Erthys and an Element Aquans. There are several ways to make them. For example, fusing two Fury order demons creates an Erthys. Fusing two frost order demons creates an Aquans. Once you have these two, fuse them together to create an Element Undine and get your tube!

Job From Narita

You get this case by reading Shizu’s mind with a pagan order demon, then stealing a strand of hair from her with a skill order demon, then transforming into her and walking into Narita’s room and telling him you’re Makiko.

Take the case and go back to his house to get the details. Narita wants you to go to the bridal chamber at Tento Sanctuary and see how the woman there is doing. So that’s what happened to Makiko. Exactly as I speculated. He wants you to give Makiko a pill so she can commit suicide. Ok, sounds like a good job.

Take the streetcars to Tsukigata, go into resort environs, then exit out west. Enter the Tento Shrine Annex South and you’ll be very close to the Bridal Chamber. Go in. Makiko will ask who you are. Tell her you’re Tasuke Narita, and she will bring out her hand. Put the pill into her hands. Death is better than the life she’s having. Besides, you heard the old ones. Once Akane takes her place, they’ll just feed her to Tentomaru. She’s going to die anyway. Might as well be like this.

Afterwards, Gouto asks you if you think Narita did this out of concern for her future or just because it would hurt his political career if someone found out. Just answer truthfully. As far as I can tell, Narita really did care about her. And besides, if no one’s found out by now, I’m pretty sure they weren’t going to.

The case will be closed and you’ll obtain a Masamune.

The Sword of War

Lucifer be’s wantin’ us to kill Red Rider again. Well that’s no problem, I mean, I’ve never been one to turn down the possibility of wanton violence. Take the case and head to the catholic church again. Walk towards the altar and you’ll encounter Red Rider again.

—Boss: Fiend Red Rider—
My level: 43

Red Rider works the same way as the last time we fought him, except this time you need to defeat him in under 5 minutes. Since we’re MUCH stronger than we were 20 levels ago, this shouldn’t be a problem. First of all, Red Rider is frail to electricity so make sure you get a demon with a high damage electric skill such as Shockwave or Ziodyne. Just as an example, Volt Nue learns Shockwave. Next, get the same demon or another one with Mazio. Preferably, these two demons will be immune to death. Lastly, get these same demons or a third one with Makakaja to boost your damage even further. Demons who learn Makakaja include Skill Thoth and Wind Anzu.

The fight itself works in a very similar way to last time, so go read the horsemen section if you don’t remember Red Rider’s details.

Start with your demon who knows Makakaja and the one who knows the high damage electric skill. Make it cast Makakaja immediately, and once he does, return him to the tube and replace him with your demon who knows Mazio. Set this demon to use Mazio repeatedly, and set the other demon to strike. The reason I recommend this is because Shockwave is way too costly MAG-wise, and since it travels in a straight line, it’s likely to miss Red Rider if your demon just uses it haphazardly. So we’re going to use it manually.

Like I said in the fiends section, the best way to frail stun Red Rider is to catch him with Mazio the moment he’s reappearing from his teleport. I’ll paste that part with the relevant changes:

So how will you go about damaging Red Rider? While his physical attacks may be very dangerous, they also happen to be the best moment to attack him. Here’s the deal: Red Rider is very, VERY likely to go into frail stun if he’s hit by an electric attack just as he’s teleporting in. And this is exactly why you need Mazio. Whenever you see Red Rider going into his physical loop, keep your demons hidden and very close to you, wait until after he uses his physical attack and he teleports out. Immediately unhide your demons, and depending on your timing and how close you were to Red Rider before he teleported out, your demon should begin casting Mazio immediately after coming out of hiding despite the fact that Red Rider is currently in the fourth dimension. By the time Red Rider teleports back in, (and he’s very likely to teleport near to you), the demon will have already finished casting Mazio, and hit Red Rider with it just as he’s teleporting in, making him go into frail stun. This is your chance to combo him with your sword and get some MAG. As soon as he’s about to get out of stun though, hide your demons again and quickly roll away. The fact that your demon needs to start casting before Red Rider appears is why Zio will not work. Because a demon with Zio will shoot it where Red Rider USED to be, and not where he WILL be. Mazio doesn’t have this problem since it shoots all around you.

The main difference for this fight is that since we want to deal big damage fast, every time you manage to frail stun Red Rider, immediately command your demon to use Shockwave on him. Of course while he’s doing that, hit him with your sword as well. Once Red Rider shakes off stun, he can counter with a number of things. The first one, and most beneficial to you, is Mamudo. If you got demons who are immune to death like I told you to, simply leave them there and command your main demon to cast Shockwave again for even more damage and the possibility of another stun. If Red Rider starts casting Makajam, you can command your demon to cast Shockwave again and still manage to pull them out before they get hit by Makajam. It takes a bit of timing though. Finally, Red Rider may simply counter with a physical attack. If your demons aren’t immune to phys this is a problem since they may well get one-shotted. Fortunately Red Rider’s physical attack has a longer startup compared to White and Black, so if you see that he’s about to counter with a strike, immediately hide your demons.

Once he manages to get back to teleporting around, just go back to trying to stun him with Mazio. If at some point you see Red Rider just walking around instead of teleporting nonstop, command your demon to use Shockwave on him, and it’s very likely to hit him if you’re fast.

If you do things properly and don’t miss with Shockwave too much, you should kill Red Rider long before the 5 minutes are up and before your MAG runs out.

Haunted Mansion

Hm! We gotta go to the Daidouji Mansion for this case! I thought that place was closed off. Well if you take this case it magically opens up. Go there and you’ll find the source of the disturbance. It’s the Jack-san 5! Hahahaha I love how one of them is white and the rest are black. Awesome. Unfortunately we gotta kill them. That makes me sad.

—Boss: Jack-san 5—
My level: 50

The only difficult part of this fight is that you have to win in under 50 seconds. Still, these guys aren’t very strong at all. Since there’s so little time, I would recommend not even bothering with their weaknesses. Just use your hardest hitting attacks to put them down. Their moves include Frenzy and Mamudo, so a demon like Nebiros which renders both those things null can be especially useful. Still, it’s hardly necessary since these guys are so weak. You might also want to watch out for the Jack Frost’s unavoidable attack, Terror Blizzard. In fact, these dudes are SO weaksauce, that I killed them in 5 seconds with two cross slashes. I’d show you a video of that, but I accidentally deleted it. Oh well, I guess it’s not too big of a loss.

As a reward you’ll obtain 2 Fury Silvers. Unfortunately, you can’t explore the Daidouji Residence. Boooo!! Hiss!

One Girl’s Happiness

You get this case by talking to Lucifer at the catholic church after the marriage ritual when you’ve returned to the capital during chapter 4. Take the case and then go to Tamonten Shrine. You’ll see two schoolgirls in front of it. Talk to them. They’ll say Raidou hasn’t showed at school recently. Ha! That’s Raidou for you. A complete renegade. Too cool for school. All that good stuff. They’ll mention a ghost who haunts the school. Say you definitely want to hear about it. After she tells you the story (I love the part about it being the last stall in the bathroom. Something about that makes it creepier), Alice appears. Complete with music that I thought was only used for important plot situations.

—Boss: Fiend Alice—
My level: 44

Wait, Alice is a fiend? That’s pretty damn cool. Anyway, this can be a hard battle if you try to approach it the usual way. Alice is frail to electric attacks but that doesn’t really help us all that much because she only takes 1 damage from magic attacks. That’s why for this battle, I’m going to recommend forgetting about her weakness and just fight her with nothing but physical attacks. Bring in a demon who has very high strength and access to strong phys skills. Preferably, make it one who is immune to gun attacks.

The problem is that Alice comes with 5 annoying Zombie Officers who keep shooting at you. Their gun attacks are actually pretty strong and disruptive, and if you kill them, more will just spawn immediately so it’s useless to try and deal with them. The zombies only have 1 HP, so they’re easy to kill, but I think they’re fuckin’ terrorists or something because they have the tendency to explode for big damage when you kill them. So in general I suggest you leave them alone and rely on a demon’s immunity to gun.

It’ll also be nice if you can stack on abilities that help your physical attacks. You know. Power Chakra, Hero’s Might, Moonlight Rage, Warcry, Tarukaja, all that good shit.

Set your demon to use his best phys skill repeatedly on Alice. This is by far the best way to damage her. There is absolutely no need to frail stun her. You can also get in there and help out with your own combos, but watch out for Mamudoon, as this can instantly kill you. In fact, Mamudoon alone is a compelling argument for staying away and letting your demons do the work, as it goes of surprisingly fast and can catch you if you’re in the middle of a combo and not on the ball. Other less lethal stuff to watch out for include Marin-karin and Petra. More importantly, if Alice decides to stay near her Zombies, this can be very problematic. Since it can be easy to kill them and then get hit by their explosion. If Alice is far away from them, you can go balls out on her, but if she’s near, it might be a better idea to hang back a bit and let your demon attack her but hide it when you see a zombie is about to explode.

Since your demon is so much stronger than you, it’s really not too bad an idea to play it safe and just let it do all the work. Call it to your side every time you see Alice using Mamudoo, Petra or Marin-karin if they’re not immune to death and mind. I killed her in about 2 minutes and I was only using one demon. I imagine with two it’d be a complete massacre. Overall a tricky fight that isn’t much of a problem once you know what to do.

Case File 7

Stocking up (3)

You get this from the Shin Sekai owner during chapter 4. The Konnou-Ya owner wants a fucking Bead of Life! What, does that bitch think these grow on trees?! He’s willing to give you 5 Kotetsu Sakes for it, which is basically a scam. But not much we can do about it. Bead of Lifes are not easy to come by. However, you should really have a few by the time you get this case. Use the search function to find out the places where they be’s at.

The World of Plants (3)

You won’t be able to complete this case until you’ve completed Fake Raidou Sighted!. Once you do, the way to the Akarana Corridor will open. Go check out the Akarana Corridor section in chapter 6 if you’re not sure exactly where the Senju Herbs are. For this you get a Cretan Goddess.

Manhuntin’ (3)

You get this one from Satake if you talk to him during chapter 5. You have to take a photo of some actress for him. This one’s real easy street. She’s hanging out in Ginza-Cho in the north alleyway near some movie posters. You get 12000 yen for this, which is an awesome amount of moola for such an easy job. Hold on though! To REALLY complete this case and get the full story you need to take a photo 3 times! For that, you get a grand total of 36000 yen! Most lucrative case ever?

Low on Stock (3)

Talk to the owner of Ryugu during chapter 5 to get this case. She requires two Persian Vases from you. They’re not easy to find but you should have at least 2 by now. You get them as drops in battles. You can also get them with the finders keepers ability. I know for sure I got one running around in the Ishigami Inari shrine, so couldn’t hurt to try there if you need one. As a reward you get 2 Element #115s. Man. We have a ton of these now.

Request for Gems (4)

As usual, you get this from demon negotiation. This one is much harder than the other ones based on the fact that he wants a Ruby this time. A very, very rare gem. So far, there’s only 2 places where you can get a ruby in the game. In the Tento Springs, and in Centipede Road. You better not have used them up. If you did, hwell. I guess you’ll have to complete the Uneasy Alliance case to get 3 Rubies.

Burning Reinforcements!

You get this from the Shin Sekai owner during chapter 5. Some noob wants a Gdon that has Ice Resist. Damn, talk about demanding. Alright dogg, here’s an easy way to do this: First, get two frost order demons and fuse them to create an Aquans. Then max out his loyalty to get him to learn Ice Resist. Then, grab a Volt Nue and Fury Ikusa (both running around in the training hall B6, although Ikusa is a bit of a whore and can take a few tries to recruit). Fuse them to form a Pyro Throne. Then fuse that Throne with the Aquans to create the Gdon who knows Ice Resist. Hand it over to the guy to get 4 Garnets.

Demon Wanted (2)

You get this from Yatagarasu during chapter 5. This time he wants a Kusi Mitama and he’s willing to fork over a tube. A good reward. Well, we already know how to make Kusi Mitamas. It’s a bit of a hassle but hey, a tube! First get two frost order demons. Fuse them to create an Aquans. Then get two fury order demons. Fuse them to form an Erthys. Fuse those two to form an Undine. Then get two more frost order demons and fuse them to form another Aquans. Then fuse that Aquans with the Undine to get the Kusi Mitama. Then you’ll have your shiny new tube.

The Scales of Famine

Next up, we gotsta go kill Black Rider for Lucifer. So as always, go to the Catholic Church and walk up to the altar to trigger the fight.

—Boss: Fiend Black Rider—
My level: 51

Been a while since we’ve seen this guy. He’s harder than the other riders so far because he has no weaknesses, but now we’re strong enough that we can kill him with brute force before those 5 minutes are up. Since these horsemen are very resistant to physical attacks, we’ll be assaulting him with magic. Bring in your hardest hitting elemental magic, doesn’t matter what kind. I’m talkin’ Tempest, Glacial Blast, Fire Breath, Shockwave, that kinda stuff. Makakaja is also a good idea. Unlike the previous riders you’ll be cutting it close with your MAG but you should still be able to kill him before it completely runs dry.

Black Rider still works the same way he did way back when, so if you don’t remember go read the horsemen section.

Still, since he loves teleporting so much, you’re not going to go balls out with your attacks. At least not immediately. When the fight starts, cast Makakaja. Then set both your demons to use their strongest magic but hide them so they don’t use it. Black Rider will begin by teleporting around and using strikes and Mad Rushes. This is not a good moment to attack him if you’re not immune to phys since not only will you take a lot of damage if you stand in front of him, but it also doesn’t leave him vulnerable for very long until his next teleport, so you’ll just end up wasting a lot of MAG. So what you want to do at this point is simply run around with your demons hidden and bide your time. Let him use his dumb physical attacks all he wants.

After a few seconds of that though, he’s bound to begin his Mudo loop, and that’s when you’ll begin your offensive. Not only is his Mudo very inaccurate, but it also leaves him vulnerable for a very long time. So when you see him begin his Mudo loop, unhide your demons and let them unleash their magic attacks on him while he casts it. You should combo him yourself while you’re at it, as this can sometimes cause him to flinch. Don’t forget to quickly hide your demons again after the attack though. You don’t want them to waste MAG casting a second time because chances are Black Rider will already have teleported away.

Another, probably even better, opportunity to unleash your attacks on him is when he’s using Begin Starvation. Just wait for him to cast it, then run around to his side and show him what for.

If you only attack during these moments, your MAG shouldn’t run completely dry before he’s dead and you’ll still win before the time limit’s up.

As a reward you get the scales of famine.

Scars of Recession

You get this case by reading Sadakichi’s mind during chapter 5.

Oh? Looks like some people are losing their will to work and staying at home. What? That sounds like me EVERY day. I mean me and work? We’re not on speaking terms. Ever. Anyway so this case calls for us to go to the “north area” of the capital. Way to be vague. Well, don’t worry. I got yo back, dogg. Turns out you gotta head over to Mannen-Cho, the north part past the flamboyantly gay crossdresser fantasizing about Satake and Kazama naked. Here you’ll find a factory worker. Talk to him to get a speech about how it’s pointless to live honestly because the lucky will always be on top and the poor will always be at the bottom. Hwell. I may be selfish, a dick, an asshole, and basically a monster, but if there’s one thing I value it’s honesty.

Anyways, after some more complaining the cause of this guy’s apathy will appear. It’s Belphegor! You’ll have a fight on your hands.

—Boss: Skill Belphegor—
My level: 52

Man I love this guy. He’s like the embodiment of laziness. If this guy is the one who tempts people into being lazy then he must basically live in my fucking room. Anyway. This fight is pretty interesting because Belphegor is pretty strong, but you need to kill him in under 2 minutes or else he’ll leave. He’s frail to wind, so bring in demons with the strongest wind skills you can muster. I personally recommend Tempest. That shiz is hell of all kinds of basically such as good. Skill Mikaboshi comes with it. Good stuff. But stuff like Wind Cutter and Mazandyne will still work as well. Makakaja is also a good idea. 2 minutes isn’t a lot, so you want to deal as much damage as possible.

Belphegor is a fun boss since he doesn’t teleport all over the place like others because of how lazy he is. He just stays near the center of the arena and uses powerful skills like Mamudoon and Megido. Cast Makakaja, set your demons to use their strongest wind skills, and let loose. Remember that Belphegor is more likely to go into frail stun if you’ve made him flinch with your sword combos directly prior to him getting hit by a wind skill. Once he does, command your demons to keep using their spells rather than striking him so you can deal more damage.

Stay on your toes when Belphegor’s stun wears off because he’ll counter with Mamudoon or Megido, so make sure to hide your demons and quickly roll away to avoid damage. Then go back in and keep the pressure up. Remember that he will also cast Dekaja from time to time so you may have to reapply Makakaja periodically.

As a reward you get a Babylon Tablet? Meh.

The Possessed Capital

You get this from the herald of Yatagarasu during chapter 6

Hokay, looks like we have to go kill another god. This one’s holed up in the east training hall, so ride your Great Kohryu over there. Once inside, walk up to the north part until you feel a presence. Feh! Turns out it’s Yakubyou-gami again. Guess he didn’t learn his lesson the first time.

—Boss: Fiend Yakubyou-gami—
My level: 67

Nope, he hasn’t learned anything new since the last time we saw him. This fight is identical to the last one, with the only difference that you have a 5 minute timer. But since we’re so much stronger now, it’s not a problem.

Same strategy as last time applies: have one demon set to using its best phys skill (or magic if they have a passive boost corresponding to it) on Yakubyou-gami (who has no weaknesses), and the other demon set to using Mazandyne on his zombie reinforcements to keep them from using their disruptive attacks and Dormina, and replenish your MAG. By hitting the frail stunned zombies every now and then you can ensure that your MAG never runs out throughout the entire battle.

Yakubyou-gami doesn’t really have any extreme attacks. One he’ll do often is a tongue lash. But it’s so weak and inaccurate that you shouldn’t even pay attention to it. The other one is Mighty Blow. This one has a pretty big cue. When you see him grab his umbrella, quickly hide your demons and block. The attack affects a very wide area. The only way to avoid it for sure is to be far back on the other side of the arena, and there’s no reason to do that when you can easily block it. His third physical attack is Rush, which is also highly telegraphed. When you see him hang back on his cloud, it means he’s about to rush. He will also use Luck Roulette of the Beast. This usually isn’t much of a problem, though if you get a particularly nasty effect such as whiffed attacks, go ahead and override it with a luck locust.

Once you get him down to half HP, you should start hiding your demons and blocking whenever you get the message that he’s preparing for something. It could be Luck Roulette, but it could also be his unavoidable attack, Judgement. Well, the way to know is that if he’s twirling his umbrella really fast it will be Judgement. He will also use Diarama to heal himself for 1000 once you get him down to half, which is annoying but not much you can do about it.

I’m too lazy to video this fight again. Go watch the previous one, it’s the same except now you do more damage.

After the fight and some shameless self praising by Gouto, it’s case closed and you receive 5 pyro golds.

Case File 8

Don’t Try this at home (3)

You kiddin’ me? Yet another case where you can buy the item off Konnou-Ya. Nothin’ else to it. And the reward is equally as lame.

Gift from Uranus

Man okay this case is retarded. I had no idea how to get the Uranus Stone and then out of nowhere Mikaboshi gives it to me as a level up gift. It’s like man why you even got to do a thing. If you don’t wanna do that though, you can eventually get one in chapter 5 once you have the Great Kohryu. It’s in the island east of Ginza-Cho.

Photog Needed (4)

You get this one from the Shin Sekai owner. If you took the picture when I told you, you should already have it by the time you get this case. If not, just go to the Ishigami Inari shrine and take the photo from the bottom center of the area.

I Can’t Contain It

You get this from the herald of Yatagarasu during chapter 6. Crowley wants an amulet, and chances are you already have one by the time you get this case. If not, you just need to complete Request for Gems (4) to get it. As a reward, you obtain the Cultural Theory book.

Demon Wanted (3)

This one ain’t too easy. You need to be at least level 59 to create a Kagutsuchi, so you likely won’t be able to complete it when you get the case. Once you are 59, though, the first step is to make a Vritra. You probably already have access to the dark realms by the time you’re level 59, so you can go to Dark Kasumidai or something and capture a Cerberus there. Then it’s just a matter of ranking him up. Create an Element Flaemis by fusing together two other pyro order demons and then fuse the cerberus with the flaemis to get a Muspell, then create a second flaemis and fuse it with Muspell to get Vritra. Once you have Vritra, you’ll have to level him twice until he learns Hellfire because that’s the skill Yatagarasu is demanding. Once he learns it, create a THIRD flaemis and fuse it with Vritra to form Kagutsuchi. Make sure he inherits Hellfire. Then just hand it over to complete the case and receive your extra tube.

An Uneasy Alliance

Dang but this one’s a hassle. The reward is good though. Well, first we need a demon who can learn Vengeance Seal. That’s Cerberus. Go to B6 of the training hall (that’s the deepest you can go when you get this case) and grab a Volt Nue and a Fury Ikusa. Fuse these two to make a Throne. Then fuse this Throne with a Flaemis or an Aeros to make a Cerberus. You can create Flaemis by fusing two pyro order demons. Aeros with two wind order demons.

Once you have Cerberus, max out its loyalty and this will make him learn Vengeance Seal. We’re almost there! The next part is easy: go to B1 of the training hall and capture a Preta. Then just fuse this Preta with your Cerberus to create a Feng Huang with Vengeance Seal. Give it to the guy to receive 3 rubies! Not bad at all.

National Secrets

Aright, first off, grab a Raja Naga from the Ishigami Tunnel. Then grab a Pagan Jorougumo from B6 of the training hall (that’s the lowest you can go when you get this case). Fuse them together to form a Triglav. I think that’s the closest you can get with the demons you have access to at this point. Next we’ll have to bump this up to an Atavaka. Create an Erthys by fusing two fury order demons, then fuse this Erthys with the Triglav to make a Rakshasa. Then create another Erthys and fuse it with Rakshasa to get Atavaka. Then just hand it over to the guy. There’s no need to do anything else since Atavaka already comes with the required Vi. Oh and by the way, he asks for an Atavaka whose Vi is higher than 25, but that’s not true. He will still accept one with 25. For this you get 4 skill silvers.

The Seal of Death

You get this if you talk to Lucifer at the catholic church during chapter 6.

Alright, time to fight the final horseman for Lucifer. He was tough the last time we fought him, but now we should be powerful enough to dispatch him without much trouble right? Go to the catholic church as usual and approach the altar to trigger the battle.

—Boss: Fiend Pale Rider—
My level: 67

Actually he’s still pretty damn tough if you don’t bring in proper demons. First and foremost you want a demon who is immune to phys, and preferably also to death. The best one you can bring in at this point is probably Pagan Lilith. However Mada will also work, and Nebiros as well. Note that if you decide to use a demon like Mada who is only immune to phys but not to death, you’ll need to heal it throughout the fight with items whenever he gets hit by Summon Undead. In which case you will have to hope he doesn’t get Can’t Use Items on Luck Roulette of the Dragon.

You need to beat Pale Rider in under 5 minutes this time, but since we’re so powerful now and basically dealing 500 damager Hellfire, this won’t be a problem. What will still be a problem is MAG. I actually don’t recommend using your strongest spells for this fight (Hellfire, Thunderbolt, Cocytus, Tempest) because, although they deal the most damage, they’re not the most cost efficient. If you use these spells, you WILL run out of MAG before the last Pale Rider is dead. Therefore, I’m going to recommend using dyne tier spells. These deal very good damage, though not on par with the strongest spells, but cost significantly less MAG. Oh and by the way, Makakaja is NECESSARY.

The fight will be similar to the last time you fought Pale Rider, except now his attacks aren’t particularly dangerous anymore. Honestly, the only threat in this fight is running out of MAG. This is why having a demon who can absorb death is so nice. But even if you don’t, here are some tips to avoid running out: if you’re using single target dyne spells, it’s best to set your demon to strike and use the spell manually to make sure it doesn’t miss. Demons are pretty stupid so they will constantly stay one step behind Pale Rider if you leave them to their own devices. If you’re using area of effect dyne spells, you can set them to repeat, but you’ll have to hide them to keep them from using them, and unhide them with good timing right before Pale Rider teleports in so that they can finish casting it before Pale Rider teleports back out.

Further, remember that at 3/4 and at 1/2 health Pale Rider will give you a lot of MAG. By the time you get him down to 3/4, chances are your MAG will be at 4/5 but it will go back up to full. Be careful once he summons his first clone though, because getting him to 1/2 health will only take one or two spells. What this means is that your MAG will barely have been used and he will give you a huge amount for nothing. To avoid this, make sure you attack his CLONE a little bit instead of the original so that the MAG he gives you once you get him down to 1/2 doesn’t go to waste.

Once there are 3 Pale Riders running around, their dynamics change a little. For one, Summon Undead will go straight for you instead of your demon (though they will still hit him if he’s in their path). More importantly, every once in a while, you’ll see that one Pale Rider will just stand in one place for a long time not doing anything at all. If you catch one doing this, immediately make your demon assault him with his spells repeatedly. You can rack up damage fast this way.

You won’t be attacking at all throughout this. Just let your demon do the killing and babysit him. Since we’re so high level now, you can just block Pale Rider’s attacks all day without worrying about the block damage, unlike the last time we fought him. If a Pale Rider corners you, he will start striking you repeatedly up to like 20 times. This used to be a problem, but now it actually works to your advantage because the block damage isn’t anything special, and it keeps him in place for a long time, perfectly setting him up to get owned by your demon from behind.

If you’re careful with your MAG usage, you should be able to kill all 3 Pale Riders before it completely runs dry.

As a reward, you obtain the Mortal Seal.

The Prince of Darkness

You get this case from Tsunatsugu during chapter 6.

Ok, this case doesn’t tell us where to go at all! If you talk to Tsunatsugu though, he says the entire military hasn’t found the place. It’s supposed to be a sacred place not connected to the Yatagarasu. Oh. Well that’s easy then. The Catholic Church. If you go there and talk to Lucifer, he will confirm that that is the correct place.

Walk up to the altar, and use a volt order demon’s inspect ability. Check the spot that comes up to find the basement, and get attacked by the “dark prince” and his posse.

—Boss: Pagan Mot-
My level: 68

Mot is actually pretty weak. But before you get to fight him you’ll have to kill off his army. It’ll start by sending out waves of 2 zombie ladies and 1 Ukobach. All of these guys are easily dispatched with area dyne spells, but try to hit them with the one they’re frail to and combo them before they die so you don’t run out of MAG before Mot appears. Zombie Ladies are frail to fire and Ukobachs are frail to both ice and elec.

After a few of those you’ll get waves of Gozuki, Mezuki and Selket. Gozuki and Mezuki are only frail to death, so ideally you should use Pagan Killer on them, if not, Mudo. If you don’t have any death attacks just kill them and get your mag by using wind attacks on Selket.

After a few of those you’ll get a group of 5 Ikusa. These guys are pretty annoying with their highly disruptive attacks, so use Maziodyne to stun most of them, then get the stranglers.

Before they’re all dead though, Mot will finally appear. Once he does, you can either go after him or finish off the remaining Ikusa. It’s up to you. Mot is frail to electricity, so hit him with Thunderbolt or Shockwave. He takes huge damage from these so he won’t last long. He likes to use Megido, but the move takes so long to go off it’s too easy to avoid. And even if it does hit you, it won’t deal much damage. Other than that he’ll also use a Rush and a strike, which aren’t dangerous either. Just kill him!

Case closed! As a reward you get a Raikiri.

7th Trumpet, Eternal King

Check case file 8, and you’ll find this one tucked in there. Looks like another one from our good friend. According to the blonde young man, he’s giving me this case because I’ve once lived my life keepin’ it real. This leads me to believe that you can only get this case once you’re on your second playthrough.

In any case, take the case and head over to Mannen-Cho. The place he’s waiting for us is obvious if you think about it. It’s the abandoned temple. Talk to him.

… He wants to do battle with us?! This is getting good! He teleports you to the final dungeon of Devil Summoner 1, and shows his true form to us. Hmm. So it’s you. I had a feeling.

Lucifer takes us to a place reminiscent of where we fought him in Nocturne, and it’s on. Now, at first you might be thinking “How the HELL am I supposed to beat Lucifer himself this early in the game?” But don’t worry, it’s not like that. As always, Lucifer is a nice guy. He knows we’re not yet at our full potential, so he’s gonna go real easy on us. He’s only testing the waters. This fight is entirely doable, so cast those doubts away! Still, you’re going to be fighting 4 enemies back to back, with no healing in between, so don’t let your guard down. If you want to get out of this fight without using too many items, it’s gonna take a tiny bit of preparation.

First off, I recommend you fuse a Thoth who knows at least a fire skill such as Maragi or Agirati. The cool thing about Thoth is that he absorbs all of the elements except death and phys. This makes him very valuable for this string of fights, since your MAG won’t get healed at all. If you can get Diarama on this Thoth, it would be nice as well. Also, if you can level him twice and learn Makakaja, that’d help tremendously. If you have Makakaja on another demon, that works too.

Next, have a demon who knows Mazio or Ziorati but isn’t instantly killed by physical attacks like Thoth. Preferably this demon also drains ice. I went with Alraune. If you can get diarama on this demon too, that’s nice.

As soon as the fight starts, cast makakaja on your party, then remove one of your demons and leave only Thoth in your party.

—Boss: Pagan Mara—
My level: 32

This is the first demon Lucifer will pit you against. Mara only has three attacks: Rush, Marin-Karin, and Cursed Emission. I don’t even know what Cursed Emission does since I’ve never been hit by it, and neither should you. If it’s anything like Mikazuchi’s cursed emission in Devil Summoner 1, it paralyzes you. But it’s way too slow to pose a threat. Just run away or roll away a couple times and it won’t get to you.

Mara’s most dangerous attack by far is his rush. This can actually instantly kill you if you’re not careful. And Thoth? It’ll kill his dogs and his babies. Fortunately, Mara ONLY concentrates on you. And this is what we will be exploiting throughout the fight. Always position yourself away from Thoth so that Mara can rush you without hitting him. You should ALWAYS be blocking right before he hits you with the rush. It’ll do about 50 damage to you, which isn’t anything to scoff at, but it’s fine. The good thing is that while Mara is hitting you, he leaves Thoth free to continually pelt him with Agirati, which he is frail to. And whenever he decides to use Marin-Karin? Thoth drains that.

So that’s the extent of the strategy for this guy. Keep away from Thoth, let Mara rush you while you block, and let Thoth hit him with Agirati while he does so, hopefully frail stunning him. If he does, make sure to combo him to get back some MAG because this fight will really drain you. Otherwise though, I don’t really recommend trying to hit him when he’s not stunned since his rush is so dangerous. Overall, Mara seems to be quite resistant to frail stun, but he should still fall into it every now and then.

Theoretically, you shouldn’t have to heal at all in this fight, EVEN taking the block damage from Mara’s rush every time.

After you’ve killed him, immediately switch to your demon who knows Mazio or Ziorati and hopefully drains ice. Like I said, I chose Alraune for this.

—Boss: Frost Arioch—

This guy is pretty strong, and is gonna take a while to kill, but thankfully he doesn’t have any attacks that instantly kill you. If you do things right, he’ll be a blessing to you in that you can completely refill your MAG draining from him. Set Alraune to using Mazio/Ziorati, but in this fight, you’ll be doing a lot more babysitting to keep her from getting killed compared to the last fight.

Arioch is frail to elec, but normally he is really resistant to being frail stunned. But there’s a way to get him into stun every time. Read on.

Arioch has 4 attacks. He has Winged Fury, in which he’ll throw your sword at you like a boomerang. While this attack won’t kill you in one shot even if you don’t block it, it’s still not a good idea to get hit by it. Whenever you hear Arioch do his little groan, hide your demon and block, just in case it’s this attack that’s coming. Remember how I said there’s a way to frail stun him every time? Well, this is your best chance at doing so. RIGHT after you block Winged Fury (and it’s not coming back to hit you in the back of the head), immediately unhide Alraune so that she begins casting Mazio or Ziorati, and while she’s in the middle of casting, run up to Arioch and combo him with your sword. He’s VERY vulnerable right after his Winged Fury, and if you do it correctly, your sword strikes should cause him to flinch for a second. This flinch causes him to be 100% likely to go into stun if Mazio hits him, and conveniently enough, Alraune should be about done casting it by this time. Combo him and steal his MAG.

Once he comes out of stun though, watch out. He’s likely to counter with his 2 hit strike combo. Hide your demon and roll away or just block it. The good news is that the cue for this strike is fairly obvious. What I recommend doing here is to run behind him, while letting your demon keep hitting him with Mazio from the front. As soon as you see him about to initiate his strike, quickly press L2 to call your demon. If done correctly, the demon should now be behind him, safe from damage, and free to cast Mazio again while Arioch finishes his combo animation. As soon as he does, run around back to the other side, and if he uses the strike on your demon again, repeat the same process.

Arioch also uses Tetrakarn to render your physical attacks completely ineffective. This is a really annoying move since it keeps you from being able to use the 100% foolproof way of frail stunning him until Tetrakarn runs out. Not much you can do though. When he casts it, you’ll just have to wait it out and let your demon keep using Mazio, hopefully frail stunning him without your help at least a few times.

Finally, Arioch may also use Glacial Blast. The cue is also his groan, but the difference seems to be that he’ll take longer to initiate Glacial Blast compared to Winged Fury. Remember that Glacial Blast travels in a straight line, so to avoid it just run circles around him. If your demon drains ice, don’t hide it! Let it get hit by Glacial Blast and replenish some MAG, not to mention hit Arioch with some Mazios while he’s finishing the glacial blast animation. For added effect, if you managed to avoid it by running circles around him, go in and start comboing him yourself while he’s still using Glacial Blast. There are some chances that he’ll be stunned by Mazio if you do this.

By the time you kill him your MAG should be looking pretty good! But we’re not quite done yet. In the next interlude, Lucifer will say he’s got a present for you. He’s being sarcastic. His present is Evil Gleam, an unavoidable attack. Block to minimize its damage. Next, you’ll be fighting the famous Beelzebub. Switch back to Thoth for this fight.

—Boss: Pagan Beelzebub—

Beelzebub has no weaknesses, but he takes pretty good damage from Agirati anyway. This will be your main mode of damage. This also means that the only way to get MAG in this fight is to drain his moves. Beelzebub has 4 attacks: Thunderbolt, Megido, Mamudoon and strike. Thoth can only absorb thunderbolt. All the other attacks kill him. Theoretically, you could also use a demon who absorbs death to absorb his Mamudoon and get MAG that way. But absorbing his Thunderbolt is better. Why? For one thing, he uses Thunderbolt FAR more often than Mamudoon. Secondly, the start up on Mamudoon is huge, making it easily avoidable, while Thunderbolt can damage you from the moment it appears on screen.

In any case, throughout this fight, you will not touch Beelzebub at all. That’s right. I recommend you just hang back, blocking, and concentrate ONLY on babysitting Thoth to make sure he doesn’t die and kill Beelzebub solely with Agirati. So here’s what you have to do: set Thoth to using Agirati. He will likely teleport right in front of Beelzebub to cast it every time. This is fine, but you have to be on your toes and watch carefully what Beelzebub does. You must NOT let Thoth get hit by Beelzebub’s strike, as it will end him in one shot. Fortunately, the startup for Beelzebub’s strike is fairly obvious. If he starts moving as if beginning an animation and makes no sound, that means he’s about to strike. Immediately call Thoth back to your side to avoid it. On the other hand, if he starts an animation but you hear his little groan that means he’s about to use any of his other attacks. Leave Thoth where he is and let him finish casting Agirati. If Beelzebub casts Thunderbolt (which has a VERY tiny startup), that’s great! It gets absorbed and that’s more MAG for you. If he uses Megido or Mamudoon, that’s also fine because these moves have such a huge startup that you can safely let Thoth finish casting Agirati and call him back to your side and avoid damage every time.

That’s the entire strategy. If you do this, you should never be in any danger yourself and thus there’ll be no need to heal. By the time Beelzebub is dead, you’ll have used up most of your MAG, but that’s fine.

—Boss: Prince of Darkness Lucifer—

Now you’ll go up against Lucifer himself. But don’t worry. Like I said, Lucifer is a good guy. He knows we’re not yet at our full potential, so he’ll be going really easy on us. He will only use two attacks, alternating between them with no variation at all, and we’ll only have to take his HP down to 3/4. Easy. He will first use Maragidyne. This is great, because Thoth will drain it for some much-needed MAG. You will have to block it though, because it’s unavoidable. Then, he will use Roughhouse. This is an unblockable attack that causes a blue sphere to appear near you for a few seconds, and then damages you. Just roll away from the sphere before it bursts and you won’t take damage. Easy. if he uses it on your demon, hide it.

He has no weaknesses. What did you expect?! This is Lucifer we’re dealing with! Anyway, fire doesn’t work against him, so set Thoth to strike and spend a little time using strikes on him. This isn’t too effective, but the main thing we’re doing is replenishing MAG with those Maragidynes. Remember that it’ll hit you for 50 block damage every time though, so if you have to heal, do so.

Once you’re up to 150 MAG or so, switch Thoth out for a demon who knows a big-damage skill such as Glacial Blast, and command it to use it in between Maragidynes and Roughhouses. By the time your MAG runs out you should have Lucifer down to 3/4s health or at least close to it.

Well that was fun. As a reward for showing him your strength, Lucifer lets you choose from two items in his bag of temptation. The Nous or the Healing Bell. Get it? Knowledge or life? The Nous lets you create a strong weapon (according to him), and the Healing Bell gives you and your demons permanent HP regeneration in battle. Choose whichever you want. The Healing Bell is actually really awesome, but I chose the Nous because we already know what the Healing Bell does, but we don’t really KNOW what weapon will result from the Nous. So in the interest of discovering new things I went with the Nous.

Case File 9

Heartbeat of the Dragon

You get this case from the Shin Sekai owner during chapter 6. You need to hand over a Cursed Plate to complete this case. To get it, you have to complete the Just Gimme a Demon case. In exchange you’ll receive a Pentagram.

Looking For A Rare Book

You get this from the Shin Sekai owner during chapter 5, but you won’t be able to complete it until chapter 6 when you get the I Can’t Contain It case. Just hand over the cultural theory book you get from that case and it’s done.

Low On Stock (4)

You get this from the owner of restaurant Ryugu during chapter 6. You won’t be able to complete it until you have access to the Akarana Corridor. Cretan Goddesses are dropped by Shoutens there. Alternatively, you can complete the World of Plants (3) case to get them.

Missing A Few Screws

Rasputin wants you to find 7 rusted screws for him. This case is a bit of a hassle, but it’s not terribly hard. You will find one of the rusted screws by completing the Ghost Driver case. The rest of them you can find by using a demon who knows the Finders Keepers ability and running around near the detective agency, near Shin Sekai, and inside the catholic church. The odds of picking up a Rusted Screw are about 50% so it shouldn’t take TOO long to get them. For this case you get 2 Volt Golds.

Request For Gems (5)

As usual, you get this case by negotiating with demons. WHAT? This guy wants EIGHT rubies? You have got to be shitting me. Still, the Moon Chip is a good reward. The best way to get rubies is to just do the Uneasy Alliance case over and over.

Demons for Science! (3)

Victor wants a Mada with 40 St. You get this from the Shin Sekai owner during chapter 6. Obviously, first you’ll have to create a Mada. As always, there are many ways to make it, though you’ll probably want to use elements to rank up a Pyro order demon at some point. For example, you can get a Wind Hitokotonusi at B333 of the confinement chamber after completing Golden UFO, and fuse it with an Arachne from the Great Summoner’s Hall in chapter 6 to make a Vritra, then rank it up twice with two Flaemis. Or you can get a Basilisk from many places and fuse it with a Mikaboshi to get a Kagutsuchi and then just rank it up once with a Flaemis.

Mada doesn’t come out of the box with 40 St though, only around 35, so you’ll have to fuse him a couple times with some Ara Mitamas to boost his St. To make an Ara Mitama you need to fuse an Aeros with an Aquans.

For this you get a Soma. A good reward, but remember that you can only carry one of these at a time.

Ukemochi

You get this case through demon negotiation. Personally I got it from a Fury Ikusa at the Training Hall B6. This case is one of those “what?” cases. All you have to do is take it, then go to the Ishigami Inari shrine and talk to the Inari there. It’ll give you the Uka Talisman and the case will be closed. What indeed. With the Uka Talisman, if you talk to the Inari Statue and give it 300 yen it will let you sample some of its “cooking” which is actually just a random item. Among the ones I’ve gotten from it include

-Life Stones (common as all shit. I’m talkin’ like 80% here)
-Frost Steels (too damn common)
-Pagan Gold (pretty rare)
-Dainty Snack (uncommon)
-Ma Incense (way too fucking rare)

But seriously this thing is a scam. Don’t waste your hard-earned dough here.

Fake Raidou Sighted!

You get this case from the herald if you talk to her during chapter 6.

Woah, 3 Beads o’ Life for this? Damn good reward. Let’s do it. Get over to Waden One at Sakuradayama.

Oh, turns out it’s Raido. Well, I guess we’ll be returning the favor from Devil Summoner 1 and sending him back to his own dimension. But before we can do that, Mara appears. Again. Pfft. We owned his face 35 levels ago and he thinks he has a chance now? Don’t make me laugh. Gouto makes a big deal out of it anyway though.

—Boss: Pagan Mara—
My level: 68

Actually Mara can still kill you if you’re not careful. Plus, this time he comes with reinforcements and not the type you can ignore. They include a strong Lamia who knows Tempest, an Arachne who uses Ziodyne and Rakukajaon, and a Lilith.

Mara is frail to fire and his most dangerous attacks are physical so Pyro Mada is almost tailor made to fight him, and Lilith would be even better if you can get some fire attacks on her since she’s less susceptible to Mara’s Marin-Karin.

Since Mara will always try to go after you, try to position yourself so that his rush hits Lilith/Mada instead of the other demon (unless the other demon is also immune to phys!). Have the phys immune demon pelt him with Hellfire or Fire Breath repeatedly, and meanwhile have the other demon use the spell the minion is weak to to keep it locked down and out of action. Lamia is frail to wind, and both Lilith and Arachne are frail to ice. As long as you stay near your phys immune demon and block Mara’s rushes, the constant Hellfires should kill him in no time flat before the timer’s up.

After the fight, you’ll need to go to the Shinoda shrine to get the Amatsu Kanagi and perform the ritual of sending. Once the herald has given you the item, go to Dark Tsukudo-Cho and approach the Ushigome-Gaeri bridge to trigger the cutscene and send Raido back to his dimension. Before he leaves he says he’ll have tea cakes ready for you if you ever go to his dimension (…tea cakes?). You can tell him you’ve had enough, but I told him it was cool.

Case closed and 3 beads of Life!

Return of the Dead

Alright, all of Tsunatsugu’s cases have led up to this. Take the case and talk to Tsunatsugu at Kasumidai. He tells you that the source of the disturbance is to the east of the capital. Hwell. Even before he said that I KNEW where it was. The lone telephone booth standing on that little island in the east. Haha! I just KNEW there was no way that place was just a waste of space in this game! Holy shit though, they want us to punch in the passcode from the first game? How the HELL am I supposed to remember that? Luckily, I use Trillian and that keeps a log of every single conversation I have, so finding the code was simply a matter of searching for phonebooth. Aaaaand the code doesn’t work. Fuck me. I guess they changed it.

Go back to Kasumidai and talk to Tsunatsugu. He tells us that the army did indeed change the code. Damn! It would’ve been hardcore if they had used the same code. Anyway, Tsunatsugu says he’ll look into it. Go read Sadakichi’s mind now. Apparently he doesn’t know it either, but he says he has a clue: SG EIO. He also clues you in that it might make use of 1337 speak.

Go back to Tsunatsugu and talk to him again. He tells you that the password doesn’t use 4 or 9. And that no numbers are used twice.

Go back and read Sadakichi’s mind again. This time he tells you that the sum of the first two digits is 10. The sum of the seventh and eighth digit is also 10. JESUS CHRIST YOU GUYS! Get your fucking act together!

Hokay, let’s try to solve this. Since 4 and 9 aren’t used, no numbers are used twice, and the code has 8 digits, that means we need to use every number. Let’s look at SG EIO. That translates to 56 310. Where do we put that in? We can’t put the 56 in the beginning because that doesn’t add up to 10. We can’t put it in the second and third place because then the first digit would have to be 5, a repeat. Similarly, we can’t put it in the last two places because that also doesn’t add to 10, and we can’t put it in the 6th and 7th place because then the last number would have to be 4, which isn’t used. We can’t put it in the 3rd and 4th place because then we’d have to put the 310 in the 5th, 6th and 7th place, which would mean the last digit would have to be 10, an impossibility because that’s two digits.

That leaves us with only one place to put the 56: in the 5th and 6th spot. Next, where do we place the 310? We can’t place it to the right of the 56 because it won’t fit, which means we have to place it to the left. It can’t be all the way to the left because 3 and 1 don’t add up to 10. That means we’ll have to place it in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th spots. Now, we’ve got most of it figured out. Since the second digit is 3, that means that the first one will have to be 7 so that they add up to 10. Now only the last two digits are left. And what do you know, the only numbers we haven’t used are 2 and 8, which add up to 10. That means the last two digits are either 28 or 82. First let’s try with 28. Oh well whaddya know, it worked! The phone booth is now activated.

If you don’t want to make sense of my messy logic, the code is 73105628. When you’re ready, take the elevator down to the shipyard. You’ll be greeted by some Yomi-Kugutsu. And also a… an… Oukuninushi? Not impressive.

I love how when he says your killing Mot will put a delay in their plans one of the options is to say “Too bad.” Haha, that would be my response to pretty much everything. Anyway, apparently this guy is a friend of Sukuna-hikona from Devil Summoner 1 and he’s pretty pissed. We got a fight on our hands.

—Boss: Tokoyogami Oukuninushi—
My level: 79

Before you get to fight Oukuninushi, you’ll first have to take care of his posse. First, you’ll have to dispatch the 3 Yomi-Kugutsu from before. We’ve already killed these guys, and now we’re much stronger than before, so it’ll be even less of a problem than it used to be. Remember that they’re frail to ice, so use Cocytus, Glacial Blast or Mabufudyne to wreck them. Frost Killer also works very well. Remember to go for the one with the gun first, since that one can attack you from offscreen and that’s annoying.

Once you’ve killed those, you’ll next face a Gashadokuro and an Ichimokuren. WEAK. A single Tempest will kill Gashadokuro, as a single Thunderbolt will end Ichimokuren.

Next, you’ll face Abihiko and Nagasunehiko. Again, low level demons who don’t stand any kind of chance. Abihiko is frail to ice, while his brother is frail to fire.

After those guys, you’ll have to kill a Hitokotonusi and a Mishaguji. MAN, what is this, some kinda pussy party? What’s up with all these weaksauces stinkin’ it up. Hitokotonusi’s frail to fire and I don’t remember what Mishaguji’s weak to. Just hit him with a stick or some’n and he’ll die. The only bad thing about him is that his physical attacks may stun you for about 2 seconds, which is a little annoying.

Now we finally get to fight Oukuninushi. His attacks are reasonably strong, but terribly slow and inaccurate. As long as you’re not sitting directly in front of him you’re safe. He’s frail to electricity, so try to hit him with some thunderbolts. Go ahead and use other spells on him though because he takes huge damage from pretty much everything else.

A good strategy to use is to just block his attack while your demons are casting their spells, then combo him after you’ve blocked. This will make it so that he’s likely to go into frail stun when thunderbolt hits him. Once he does, command your demons to keep using their spells on him rather than strikes to kill him super quick.

Afterwards, go back to Kasumidai and talk to Tsunatsugu to receive your reward. Onigiri, a shitty sword. Bleh.

Fallen Dragon

Alright, this is the big one. Lucifer is waiting for you at Ishigami-Cho. The case file says he’s giving it to me because I’ve already lived my life once while keepin’ it real. Which leads me to believe you can only get this case during your second playthrough. In any case, let’s go.

Lucifer likes honesty. Heh. Just like me. He wants to fight us again. According to him, we may serve as a spark for his own reason. I wonder what that reason is…

—Boss: Prince of Darkness Lucifer—
My level: 52

This time around Lucifer will be playing slightly more seriously. But only slightly. The fight still feels like he’s going easy on us. Unlike the last time, you will only be fighting him, and you’ll have to completely deplete his HP. Lucifer doesn’t have any weaknesses but he seems to take the most damage from ice attacks, so bring in demons with the strongest ice skills you have. Glacial Blast is really nice as it does over 100 damage to him. So is Bufudyne since it does about 70 damage to him for less MAG than glacial blast. I imagine Mabufudyne would also be great. Also make sure you bring in Makakaja and Tarukaja. Rakukaja isn’t necessary. If you can bring in demons who drain fire and mind that would also help.

This time around Lucifer will use a wider variety of attacks. As soon as the fight starts cast both Makakaja and Tarukaja. Set both your demons to use their strongest ice attacks, run towards Lucifer and begin using your sword combos on him. He will invariably start the fight by casting his crack version of Maragidyne. The start up is very long, he has to very slowly lean forward before he casts it so you can get in 2 full combos before you have to block. If you have demons who drain fire, don’t hide them and let them them absorb it for a little MAG.

After every Maragidyne, stay on your toes because there’s a good chance that he’ll use Evil Gleam as a follow up. This attack is VERY fast, will hit you for over 300 damage and has a chance of charming. If you’re in the middle of a combo when he uses it chances are you won’t be able to block in time since it’s so fast. So after every Maragidyne don’t go balls out on the combos. You can hit him a little bit but leave some room to block in case he uses Evil Gleam.

After he’s used Maragidyne, the second time he leans forward will be to use King’s Yell, a very powerful attack that can also confuse you. You do NOT want to get hit by this, so when you see him lean forward the second time, hide your demons and roll backwards away from him. After he uses it, stay away because King’s Yell remains on the arena for a long time, and if you approach the area where it fell you’ll take the attack even if you had avoided it previously. In fact, even after it’s disappeared don’t jump the gun. Wait a second before going back in because I’ve still gotten hit by it for being too fast.

While you’re waiting for King’s Yell to disappear, Lucifer may use one of two attacks: Evil Gleam, or Roughhouse. If you see that he’s using Evil Gleam (you’ll know because it’ll show up as a message a split second before it appears), block. If he uses Roughhouse you need to roll away from the blue ball that appears before it bursts. Roughhouse is unblockable so the only way to avoid damage is to get away. Be careful with your demons because even when you’re completely out of the bubble, your demons may lag behind and still get hit by it.

After King’s Yell disappears Lucifer may continue using Roughhouse a few times. During this time you should keep damaging him. I recommend going from one side to the other. For example, stay on the right side while damaging him, then when Roughhouse appears, roll all the way to the left side and keep damaging him there, then when the next Roughhouse appears, roll back to the right side, etc. If you see him lean forward a third time, that means Maragidyne is coming.

After you’ve dealt some damage and some time has passed, Lucifer will transform into his Morning Star version. Otherwise known as his Pyro version. Otherwise known as his Helel version. In this form he’s ridiculously weak and vulnerable and will just let you beat up on him without retaliating. Make your demons assault him with their strongest ice attacks while you combo him. Not only will you cause an absurd amount of damage, but you’ll also gain a lot of MAG. After about 10 seconds or so, he’ll transform back into his badass version and the fight will continue normally. Throughout the fight after some intervals he’ll keep transforming to a fro from these two versions. I can only assume so as to give you more of a chance since he’s such a nice guy.

Keep attacking him with your strongest attacks, if your MAG runs out, don’t worry. Just keep damaging him with strikes and you’ll have a chance to replenish some when he transforms into Helel.

Once he’s down to about half HP, his behavior will slightly change. For one, he will stop casting Maragidyne outright and just use King’s Yell every time. So once you’ve brought him down to half, make sure to hide your demons and roll away EVERY single time he leans forward. Secondly, he’ll start using Petra Eye. A very fast and dangerous attack that can turn you to stone. Lucifer’s movement when he uses Petra Eye is similar to Roughhouse, so you need to stay on your toes. When you see him move his hand and laugh, QUICKLY roll away and hide your demons. Petra Eye is unblockable and unlike Roughhouse basically hits on the first frame when it appears, so you need to be fast.

It’s important that you constantly deal a lot of damage to him, because after he’s down to 1/3 HP, if you’re being too slow he’ll start healing himself for 1500 with Diarama, and this will make the fight much longer and harder than it has to be.

After the fight, Lucifer will reward you with the second item from his bag of temptation. AW HEYLL NAW. If I had known he’d give us both eventually I would’ve chosen the healing bell first. Bah. Grumblecakes.

Case File 10

Collection Warrant (3)

You get this case from Sadakichi during chapter 7. He wants a Philosopher’s Stone, and you should already have it by the time you get this case. It’s the reward for completing the Wise Demon Required case. In exchange you get an Onogoro Ore.

Photog Needed (5)

You get this case from the Shin Sekai Owner during chapter 7, but you won’t be able to take the photo until you get access the bottomless pit Abaddon. As soon as you get inside, walk west to the next big circular platform and stand on the center of it to be able to snap the photo. Turn it in to get 5 more Tae Stickers.

Hifumi’s Medicine

You need an Ukemochi Liver for this case. Well, the name pretty much tells us where to get it. From the Inari Statue. Thing is, the chances of getting an Ukemochi Liver are RIDICULOUSLY low, so you’re gonna have to ask for a LOT of seconds. Save before doing it and load once you’ve wasted a lot of money, then keep trying. Seriously brace yourself because this is one of the gayest cases in the game. In exchange you’ll get a Mirror of Sun.

In Search of the Truth

St. Germain wants an Aletia. Isn’t he the guy we met in the Akarana Corridor in Devil Summoner 1? I remember that. Anyway, you can find an Aletia in the Akarana Corridor past the space-time rift that Lucifer opens for you in chapter 7 if you’ve been a renegade like me. If you don’t have access to this part, then I can tell you another method, but it won’t be easy. Aletia is dropped by Kageboushi, but the drop rate is STUPIDLY low, so you’re going to need to kill him many, many, many times. I recommend getting the dreadful presence, then saving, and fighting him. If you don’t get the Aletia, load and do it again. And again. And again. This is seriously going to take a hell of a lot of kills unless you get very lucky, so be warned. For information on Kageboushi check the four horsemen section.

Sword Collecting (3)

You need to make a Futsu-Mitama sword for this case. This isn’t too hard. The process is Renki > Himezuru > Kanesada > Kogitsune > Plasma Sword > Sol Blade > Futsu Mitama. No highly special materials are required, so it’s no big deal, just damn expensive.

Just Gimme a Demon

Kyouji wants a Pixie who knows Megidolaon. Hokay, first you’ll need a demon who can learn it. Wind Metatron can learn it if you level him twice. Once he has, it’s just a matter of converting him into a Pixie. There are many ways to do this. For example, go into the training hall B1 and recruit an Obariyon, a Pixie, and a Preta. Fuse the Obariyon with Metatron to create a Gashadokuro (make sure he inherits Megidolaon). Then fuse that Gashadokuro with a Pixie to get a Wind Power. Next, fuse the Preta with that Power to create a Leanan Sidhe. Now we’re pretty close to a Pixie, and it’s all a matter of ranking it down. Get an Erthys and fuse it with Leanan Sidhe to form a Selket. Get another Erthys and fuse it with that to get a Tam Lin, then get a third Erthys and fuse it with Tam Lin to get Pixie.

Remember that you need to make sure every offspring inherits Megidolaon. Once you have the pixie, hand it to receive a Cursed Plate.

The Ultimate Blade!

You get this from the Shin Sekai Owner during chapter 7, but ONLY after you’ve entered the bottomless pit Abaddon.

Looks like Victor is planning to create some legendary weapon. He asks us to come to the save point in Dark Tsukudo-Cho, so let’s go there. Victor wants us to find the god Kanayama so he can create the sword Youkou. And he gives us no clues! Gouto suggests asking around in Shin Sekai, so let’s go there. When you approach it, you’ll automatically ask the patrons for clues, but will turn up none. Dammit. The Shin Sekai Owner will come out (that’s a first) though, and tell you that Tae was asking about Kanayama as well.

Guess we’d better go ask Tae! She’s in the Tsukigata Nameless Shrine, remember? Burying Akijiro and all that jazz. Ask her about it, and she’ll tell you that Kana means mine and Yama means mountain, so it must mean he’s in some mine somewhere, or somewhere where you can mine ore. Not in the capital. Hmm… well. I guess you could probably mine in the Tento Sanctuary but that place is fucking hueg! That’s right, it’s not even huge, it’s downright hueg. She’ll ask you if that’s any help. Well, it was kinda vague. Then she tells us the character for mountain also stands for the 3 gods of creation. She also directs us to professor Yanagita. Well! I was starting to think that guy was damn suspicious what with always saying the same line about iron. So head to the south part of resort environs and question Yanagita. He talks about his famous iron civilization for a bit, then tells us to search Tento Woods for these people. That’s where we’re going next!

But it’s not just the usual Tento Woods, no. You need to ride the Great Kohryu and get off in the spot just slightly northeast of the nameless shrine. Yeah, I know, it’s easy to assume it was one of the many entrances to Tento Sanctuary, but nope! It’s actually a different part of Tento Woods. So go in there. You’ll be in a glade with a save point. Talk to Yanagita and he’ll say this must be the spot, but then get possessed! By the god we were trying to find. He tells us that his power was broken down into pieces, and wants us to find them. He says we need to get an Ippon-Datara, an Ichimokuren, and an Oumitsunu. Well! That’s damn easy. You can find Oumitsunus in the training hall B8. Ichimokuren is chillin’ at B7. And Ippon-Dataras are all over the place, like in B333 of the confinement chamber. Actually, Ichimokuren is also found in B333 so you could kill two birds with one stone.

But anyway, once you have those three demons, talk to Yanagita again. The demons will teleport to Victor’s lab and get to work. However, they will fail. Losers! You receive the light steel, and the case will be complete. With it, you can create the Yokou, but eh. There are better swords like the Akatsuki. Although for that you’d have to get TWO Ukemochi Livers. And just getting one was already gay enough.

?????

I didn’t get this case ’cause I’m too much of a renegade, but word on the street is that you can get it from the herald of Yatagarasu during chapter 7 only if your alignment is law.

By the Coast of Time…

Items:
-Element #115
-Diamond
-Aletia
-Moon Chip

Alright bitches! It’s time to do the most important case. Lucifer wants you to go meet him at the Akarana Corridor, so go to Dark Tsukudo-Cho and enter the dimensional rift at the Ushigome-gaeri Bridge.

Well, we’ve already explored a lot of this place. Head all the way to the 1990s where we previously found the space time rift that wouldn’t let us through. Approach it, and Lucifer will allow you to pass. Everything we’ve done for him has come down to this. It’s time to meet this devil.

Ahead you’ll see two teleporters. Take the right one to the 2020s. To the left you’ll see a blue crystal. It has an Element #115. Up ahead you’ll come across another demon wall. This one requires a demon with at least 30 Lu. Not a particularly east criteria to meet, for a demon. I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t have one with that much. Very few demons have this much Lu naturally. Skill Kudan does, so you can try to create one if you want. Otherwise, you could also fuse your existing demons with Saki Mitamas to boost their Lu. It’s up to you. To make a Saki Mitama, first fuse an Aeros with a Flaemis to make a Sylph. Then fuse an Erthys with an Aquans to make an Undine. If you fuse this Sylph and this Undine, you’ll get Saki Mitama.

But anyways. Once you’ve gone past it, you can see the crystal generating power for it to the right. Destroy it. When you get to the intersection, take a left and walk into the teleporter across from the crystal you just destroyed. The next part is just a straight run to another teleporter and then you’ll be in a small platform in the 2050s. Here you’ll find a blue crystal with a Diamond inside. Get it, and then go back to 2020s where you destroyed the crystal. This time, go north from the intersection and take the teleporter to another small platform in the 2050s with a blue crystal. This one contains the MUCH sought after Aletia that St. Germain wants. This is an easy way to get it if you don’t want to farm Kageboushi for it.

Once you have that, go back to the 1990s where Lucifer opened the time rift. This time take the teleporter on the west side. Take the stairs up to find the next save point. You’ll also find a time traveler here who’ll take you back to the entrance of the dungeon. We ain’t need him though. Unless you do! In which case be my guest. Getting more exp walking all the way back here never hurt anybody! But anyway, take the teleporter near the spirit to a platform in the 1990s with a blue crystal containing a Moon Chip. Then go back and after you’ve saved, take the teleporter to the north. Go up the stairs to 20XX, to the room right before you fought the final boss in Devil Summoner 1. Aw man, I was expecting the dog to be here! And that he’d ask you what you typed in as your dream back in Devil Summoner 1. That would’ve been Hard. Core. But oh well, no dice. Anyway, it definitely looks to me like this is the point of no return. Go back and save if you have to, do whatever you gotta do. And when you’re ready, step into the light.

So that’s it. That was Lucifer’s goal. To change the world’s future which is dictated by God. I’m glad. I knew helping him was worth it. And judging by clues and precedence, that future dictated by God is likely destruction and ruin. But now we have our third and final fight against Lucifer!

—Boss: Prince of Darkness Lucifer—
My level: 85

This fight is actually a huge disappointment if you’re well prepared. Make sure you have the strongest demons possible. I’m talking Beelzebub, Arioch, Metatron, Shiva, Vishnu. Try to make sure their stats are as high as possible, particularly Ma, in which you’ll want 40. Also make sure they have the strongest spells. The best one to use against Lucifer is Cocytus, but Thunderbolt and Tempest also work well. Don’t use Hellfire. Next, make sure that they also have Tarukajaon, Makakajaon, and Rakukajaon. These skills are learned by a number of demons and you should really already have them. Makakajaon isn’t a problem since it’s learned by both Beelzebub and Shiva. Tarukajaon is learned by Thor or Mahakala. Rakukajaon is learned by Scathach. To be fair though, Rakukajaon isn’t required.

Finally, make sure they have killer passive skills to boost their damage even further. Specifically: Mage’s Craft, Destructive Joy and Magic Boost. All of these skills are gotten through Victor’s special operations, but you need to give him all the gems he asks for, particularly the ruby, diamond or pearl at the end. Even then it’s still random, so if you don’t get a skill you want, load and try again. I think Magic Boost is learned by Beelzebub though, if I remember correctly. Other nice passive skills to have include Hero’s Might, Agni’s Blessing, the elemental boosts and Skill Extension.

As for yourself, try to get the strongest sword you can. Although, I will tell you a secret: a nice sword to use is Kikouseiken since it boosts ice attack damage. If you have a demon cast Frost Killer on yourself, you can deal amazing damage to Lucifer with your sword strikes!

Now, as soon as the fight starts, cast both Makakajaon and Tarukajaon. Set both of your demons to use their best spells on Lucifer. Now, you’ll notice Lucifer has really high defense! Your attacks won’t do much damage. In fact, There’s a good chance that even if you have 800 MAG, it will be completely depleted before you get him down to 3/4 HP and he turns into his Pyro form.

But here is where my strategy comes in! If you use Kikouseiken + Frost Killer like I’m telling you, I guarantee that you will deal so much damage that you will win this fight without having to use any items. It’s hard to believe since Frost Killer costs so much MAG, but it’s true. It is far more cost effective than simply letting your demons use Cocytus. It helps if the demon who knows Frost Killer also has Skill Extension, but this isn’t necessary.

The fight itself runs very similarly to last time. He will invariably start the fight by casting his crack version of Maragidyne. The start up is very long, he has to very slowly lean forward before he casts it so you can get in 2 full combos before you have to block. If you have demons who drain fire, don’t hide them and let them them absorb it for a little MAG.

After every Maragidyne, stay on your toes because there’s a good chance that he’ll use Evil Gleam as a follow up. This attack is VERY fast, will hit you for over 300 damage and has a chance of charming. If you’re in the middle of a combo when he uses it chances are you won’t be able to block in time since it’s so fast. So after every Maragidyne don’t go balls out on the combos. You can hit him a little bit but leave some room to block in case he uses Evil Gleam.

After he’s used Maragidyne, the second time he leans forward will be to use King’s Yell, a very powerful attack that can also confuse you. You do NOT want to get hit by this, so when you see him lean forward the second time, hide your demons and roll backwards away from him. After he uses it, stay away because King’s Yell remains on the arena for a long time, and if you approach the area where it fell you’ll take the attack even if you had avoided it previously. In fact, even after it’s disappeared don’t jump the gun. Wait a second before going back in because I’ve still gotten hit by it for being too fast.

While you’re waiting for King’s Yell to disappear, Lucifer may use one of two attacks: Evil Gleam, or Roughhouse. If you see that he’s using Evil Gleam (you’ll know because it’ll show up as a message a split second before it appears), block. If he uses Roughhouse you need to roll away from the blue ball that appears before it bursts. Roughhouse is unblockable so the only way to avoid damage is to get away. Be careful with your demons because even when you’re completely out of the bubble, your demons may lag behind and still get hit by it.

After King’s Yell disappears Lucifer may continue using Roughhouse a few times. During this time you should keep damaging him. I recommend going from one side to the other. For example, stay on the right side while damaging him, then when Roughhouse appears, roll all the way to the left side and keep damaging him there, then when the next Roughhouse appears, roll back to the right side, etc. If you see him lean forward a third time, that means Maragidyne is coming.

Now, if you’re doing what I tell you and have all the preparations I told you to get, the truth is that you only need to get Lucifer down to 3/4 health, and once you do, the fight has been won. Why? Because at this point he will turn into his morning star version, and since we’re SO unbelievably powerful at this point, your Kikouseiken with Frost Killer, coupled with your demons’ Destructive Joy and Mage’s Craft boosted magic attacks means that the damage you will deal to Pyro Lucifer will be ABSURD. Literally, you will deal so much damage that you can get him down to 1/4 HP and cause him to glitch out and transform back into his Pyro version immediately, during which you will finish taking off the last remainder of his HP.

That’s it. If you do things like I’m telling you, you won’t have to use items at all, and also won’t have to spend time using strikes because your MAG ran out. Watch my video to see how it should go:

After the fight, Lucifer will allow us to fuse him in the Gouma-Den. As he says, that is his last request. Case closed.

The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse and Kageboushi

Throughout the game, whenever the New Moon arrives, there’s a chance that a fiend will appear and try to kill you. These are the four horsemen. They’re pretty strong, and will be almost impossible to defeat early on. You can negotiate with them and give them tribute in exchange for letting you escape. However, you’ll want to kill them at some point. When that will be is up to you. In this section I’ll detail my strategies for defeating them as well as what level I was when I did it.

—Boss: Fiend Black Rider—
My level: 11

You’re not supposed to win this fight at such a low level, and it shows. The damage you do to Black Rider with your sword is pitiful. On the other hand, one solid hit from him and it’s over for you. This is going to be a very long battle. It took me 45 minutes. Furthermore, Black Rider isn’t frail to any of the elements, so that’s out of the question. The consequence of this is that you WILL run out of MAG in this battle, and once you do, the only way to replenish it will be to rely solely on strikes while you let it naturally regenerate excruciatingly slowly.

Stock up on medicines before the fight. 10 should do it, but make it 20 just to be safe. And even more than that never hurt anyone.

Bring in the demon with the highest Ma you have. Have him set to attack Black Rider with any of the four basic elemental spells. This is the best way to damage him, because each spell should do around 50 damage. That’s a lot compared to your sword and gun, which do like 1 damage.

So this demon’s spell will be your big guns. However, don’t just leave your demon unattended and let it do its own thing. Not only because it can easily set it up to get one-shotted by Black Rider, but also because MAG consumption is a serious problem throughout this fight, and you don’t want your demon to miss. You have to make every spell count. This is why you should only have the demon with the highest Ma using a spell. Set the other demon to strike. You’re going to be doing some serious babysitting throughout this fight when it comes to your demons. You should keep them hidden at all times and ONLY bring them out when it’s absolutely 100% safe to attack.

That goes for you as well. Only attack Black Rider when it’s 100% safe to do so. This only happens during two situations. First of all, when you see him cast Mudo. When you see that, that’s your cue that Black Rider is about to go into a loop where he casts Mudo, teleports, casts it again, and does this about 5 times or so. This is one of the two situations where you and your demons can safely attack him. While he’s readying the Mudo spell, run to his side with your demons, unhide them, and start slashing at him and let your main demon hit him with a spell ONCE (twice is too risky. It’s likely to miss and that’s wasted MAG. If you have your demon set to spamming the spell, hide them after it uses it so that it won’t use it a second time). The Mudo should NEVER hit you if you’re at Black Rider’s side when he casts it. Also, if you’re lucky, your sword strikes will cause him to flinch and you can get a second, sometimes even a third combo on him.

The second situation in which you can attack him safely is when he uses Begin Starvation. This move leaves him vulnerable for a long time if he misses with it, and he should. Every time. Unless you seriously screw up. No, really, you shouldn’t get hit with this move even once. It’s the easiest one to avoid, and getting hit by it is too devastating since it halves your MAG. The cue is pretty easy to see. Black Rider will teleport, and then not do anything at all for a second. Then he’ll use Begin Starvation. But even if you don’t see it, it’s still very hard to get hit by it if you just keep moving at all time. In any case, when you see him doing that attack, that’s the cue that tells you he’s about to go into a loop where he uses Begin Starvation, teleports, then does it again and repeats this about 5 times or so. What you’re supposed to do is avoid it by running, and while he’s in the middle of the move, run up to his side, or preferably his backside, unhide your demons, and start slashing him before he finishes using the move and keep on attacking him during the recovery (though, again, only permit your main demon to use its spell once). Make sure your demons are very close to Black Rider before you unhide them if you’re going to attack him while Begin Starvation is still onscreen, because if they’re not, there’s a small chance that the demon set to strike will stupidly waltz right in front of Black Rider and get killed.

Anyway, those are the two situations which are most beneficial to you. However, Black Rider has some other attacks. Attacks which are not as beneficial to you. His two physical attacks are extremely dangerous. His strike has a VERY short cue and is quite deadly. However, you should never be close to him if he’s not using Mudo or Begin Starvation, so you should never get hit by this. If you see him teleport near you, roll away immediately just in case he’s about to use his strike. The other physical attack he has is Mad Rush, and this one is even more deadly. It has a longer cue than the strike. You shouldn’t be near him when he’s readying it. To avoid Mad Rush, simply run to the side or roll to the side before he uses it. Remember that when you see him use either of these two physical attacks, that’s your cue that he’s about to go into a loop where he keeps doing physical attacks about 10 times or so. Just something to keep in mind. Slashing him during this process is NOT safe. Don’t try it. And keep your demons hidden. If you want to damage him a little during this, you can shoot him with your gun after he whiffs every strike and Mad Rush. You should get about 7 damage per clip. If you do it right. But be careful.

Finally, Black Rider’s arena-encompassing attack is Soul Balance. This attack has a very long and obvious cue in that you get a message saying “Black Rider is preparing for something.” Soul Balance takes off half your HP if you block it. However, you can also get off scot free from it! When you see the message that Black Rider is preparing for something, don’t stay grounded in place. Rather run just a little bit in any direction and THEN go into block stance. There’s a good chance that Soul Balance will miss you completely. There’s also a chance that it’ll hit you anyway though, but don’t worry. Just heal yourself afterwards.

Speaking of healing, use medicines for your healing purposes. Never use Dia unless you absolutely have to. Remember that MAG is a serious problem in this fight, and you want to use as much of that MAG as possible to damage Black Rider.

Also, Black Rider uses Luck Roulette of the Dragon regularly throughout the fight to confer a variety of bad luck effects on you. These can range from pretty bad (Raidou’s attacks will whiff, and cannot use items), to somewhat bad (Enemies hate you, demons may get lost), to virtually inconsequential (order sealed). Just deal with it. There’s nothing you can do about it anyway. Remember that when Black Rider is angry at you, he won’t flinch, and his attacks will do more damage so be careful. Also, don’t summon a demon when demons may get lost is in effect. When cannot use items in effect, you’ll have to rely on Dia. Which brings me to my next point:

You WILL run out of MAG in this fight. When you do, set both your demons to strike and switch to damaging Black Rider with only physical attacks while your MAG very slowly recuperates. However, just in case cannot use items comes up on the luck roulette of the dragon, stop using magic attacks when you’re down to about 20 MAG or so. This gives you the opportunity to be able to use Dia a couple times if you have to heal when you can’t use items.

Well, that’s about it. It’ll be a long and arduous fight, but if you follow this strategy you’ll wittle him down eventually. After the battle, he gives you so much exp that I went from level 11 to level 17. I really didn’t want that much exp, but oh well.

—Boss: Fiend Red Rider—
My level: 18

If you’ve defeated Black Rider, then chances are good that you’re just strong enough to survive Red Rider’s unavoidable attack if you block it. Which means you can win against him. Mind you, you’re not supposed to fight him at such a low level, but if you wanna be a renegade, read on. This fight will take a very long time. Not quite as much as Black Rider, but it took me 32 minutes to beat him. To be fair, I likely could’ve done it much faster if I had used the strategy I’m about to put forth from the start, but I only developed it about halfway into the fight.

First off, make sure you have a lot of medicines and ox bezoars. 20 medicines should do it, but more never hurt anyone. Next, Red Rider is frail to electricity. Which means that you’ll be able to siphon MAG off him, and thus MAG consumption will not be nearly as much of a problem as in the Black Rider fight. That’s not to say you can just use attacks with impunity though. No. You still have to be careful and make most attacks count. Hence why you need medicines and ox bezoars: so that you don’t have to use dia as much and waste MAG.

Now, for this fight, make sure you bring in a demon who knows Mazio. Zio will not cut it. You need Mazio for this strategy. The demon who knows this skill is Volt Makami. To create him, fuse a Wind Moh Shuvuu with a Pyro Enku. Once you have Makami, you’re ready. The second demon doesn’t matter, since he’ll be set to strikes only or dia. So that you don’t waste any MAG, only Makami will be using Mazio throughout this fight.

Red Rider is immune to bullets, so you will not be using your gun in this fight. Unlike Black Rider, Red Rider has very few moments in which he’s vulnerable, which will make this fight tougher than Black Rider, and is the reason why you need Mazio.

Red Rider’s attacks are very dangerous. Be especially wary of his physical attacks. You should strive to never get hit by them as they will take off most of your HP. His strike has a long start up, so you should always see it coming and be able to get away. His Rush is harder to avoid than Black Rider’s. Even if you run or roll to the side as he’s preparing it, he will adjust his trajectory to try and hit you anyway. A good way to avoid the rush is to get a lot of distance between you and him so that he can’t reach you with it. If you can’t get any distance, you can also avoid it by rolling to the side at the very end of his preparation. After rolling, make sure to block just in case he hits you anyway. He’ll still deal a nasty 40-50 damage to you, but it’s better than taking the full brunt of the attack. If you see him use a physical attack, that means he’s about to go into a loop where he uses a combination of strikes and rushes about 5 times or so.

He also uses two area of effect attacks in the form of Makajam and Mamudo. Their cue is huge and their range is small. You shouldn’t ever get hit by these moves. If your demons get hit by Makajam their skills will get sealed so just don’t.

His other attack is called Summon Undead. If you see him use it, that means he’s about to go into a loop where he uses Summon Undead about 5 times. However, this is nothing like Black Rider’s Mudo. Summon Undead actually homes in on you, and if it manages to hit you, it will paralyze you, setting you up to get hit by a physical attack while you can’t do anything and die. This is why I can’t recommend trying to damage Red Rider while he’s using this attack. Just concentrate on avoiding it. It’s easy, as long as you’re running away it shouldn’t catch up to you.

Red Rider’s unavoidable attack is Civil War. This attack is hell of all kinds of nasty. Every time you see the message that Red Rider is preparing for something, keep your demons hidden and block. Civil War will do 200 points of block damage to you. Which means that you’ll need to use two medicines to heal yourself afterwards every time. Or two dias, but I’d rather use medicines than waste MAG. Red Rider also uses Luck Roulette of the Beast. This is a gimp version of Black Rider’s Luck Roulette of the Dragon, in that very rarely it may actually confer a positive effect on you such as increased MAG recovery. Red Rider will always alternate between Luck Roulette of the Beast and Civil War. But block for both of them just in case.

Remember to always keep some MAG handy to dia yourself in case cannot use items comes up. Don’t summon demons if demons may get lost comes up. If Red Rider gets mad at you, be VERY careful. Being angry not only makes him less likely to go into frail stun, but also acts as a Tarukaja. If he manages to get you with rush while he’s mad, you WILL die. So be careful.

So how will you go about damaging Red Rider? While his physical attacks may be very dangerous, they also happen to be the best moment to attack him. Here’s the deal: Red Rider is very, VERY likely to go into frail stun if he’s hit by an electric attack just as he’s teleporting in. And this is exactly why you need Mazio. Whenever you see Red Rider going into his physical loop, keep your demons hidden and very close to you, wait until after he uses his physical attack and he teleports out. Immediately unhide your demons, and depending on your timing and how close you were to Red Rider before he teleported out, Makami should begin casting Mazio immediately after coming out of hiding despite the fact that Red Rider is currently in the fourth dimension. By the time Red Rider teleports back in, (and he’s very likely to teleport near to you), Makami will have already finished casting Mazio, and hit Red Rider with it just as he’s teleporting in, making him go into frail stun. This is your chance to combo the shit out of him and get some MAG. As soon as he’s about to get out of stun though, hide your demons again and quickly roll away. The fact that your demon needs to start casting before Red Rider appears is why Zio will not work. Because a demon with Zio will shoot it where Red Rider USED to be, and not where he WILL be. Mazio doesn’t have this problem since it shoots all around you.

There are still a few potential snags though. Mazio has very short range. If for one reason or another Red Rider doesn’t teleport in near you, immediately hide your demons before Mazio finishes casting so that the MAG isn’t wasted.

As ever, you will keep your demons hidden almost all the time, letting them come out only to cast Mazio and to help strike Red Rider while he’s in frail stun. If you’re very careful with your Mazios you should never run out of MAG. If you do, however, you’ll have to rely on strikes for a while. During this phase, let your demons do the hitting. Trying to slash Red Rider when he’s not stunned is simply too dangerous, considering just one of his attacks can potentially end you.

So that’s the strategy for him. Overall this fight is more dangerous than Black Rider, but a little shorter.

—Boss: Fiend White Rider—
My level: 20

The biggest obstacle to defeating White Rider early on is the fact that his unavoidable attack does more damage than god. If you watch my video, you’ll see that at level 20, I just BARELY survive it with 10 HP left. This leads me to believe that at anything lower than 20 the chances of surviving Victory of Fire are very low.

Indeed, White Rider is stronger than Red and Black, at least in the damage he deals. Getting hit by his rush or even just his strike (which has almost no cue) will get you killed even if you have max HP. No two ways about it.

White Rider decided to be a bitch and challenge me immediately after Red, when I had almost no items left. And I wasn’t going to beg for mercy if I had a chance of beating him. Fuck ‘im. I’d find my way around my lack of items! And that I did. If you follow my strategy, you’ll kill him so fast that you’ll barely even have to use any items. For the record, I killed him in just below 8 minutes.

The key to this strategy is a Pagan Lilim who knows Mabufu. Check the case file section if you’re not sure how to create her. Notice that in the example I give, you fuse a Makami with a Jack Frost to make her. This is also key because Jack Frost learns Mabufu, which he can pass on to Lilim. The awesome thing about Lilim is that she drains death type attacks. White Rider abuses Mamudo throughout the fight, and with Lilim this’ll work greatly to our benefit, since he will constantly be replenishing our MAG. For the second demon I would recommend another one who at the very least nulls death type attacks such as Alp (Sandman is even better since he drains, but his Ma is lower than Alp). Since you can’t hide just one demon, if the second one isn’t immune to death, he’ll get killed while Lilim is draining Mamudo. Also, I suggest this second demon have Bufu (or even better, Mabufu), and also dia so that he can cure you without you having to use items. Of course, that’s only if you’re sorely lacking in items like me. If you’re not, there’s no need for dia. Unlike the previous two horsemen, curing with dia is an option here since draining Mamudo will give you a lot more MAG to work with.

In any case, here’s how the fight’s supposed to go. White Rider will always immediately start by using Luck Roulette of the Beast. As he’s preparing to use it, hide your demons so they don’t waste MAG while he’s invincible, and run up to him. Stay right by his side until he uses the roulette, and then unhide your demons. As soon as the battle resumes your demons will use Mabufu before he gets a chance to do anything and he’ll go into frail stun. Combo the shit out of him and steal his MAG. As soon as you see him come out of stun, roll away because he’s about to use Mamudo. Now this is very important: EVERY time White Rider comes out of frail stun, he will counter with Mamudo. EVERY. Single. Time. No exceptions. This is a blessing to you. Roll away (you’re not immune to death), but don’t hide your demons! Let them keep punishing him with their Bufus while he’s casting Mamudo, and then drain it for extra MAG on top of all that!

Now listen carefully, this is very important: wait for Lilim to absorb the Mamudo, but IMMEDIATELY after you see the draining animation HIDE YOUR DEMONS. This is because right after Mamudo there’s a chance that White Rider will use his strike attack that has almost no cue and this WILL kill your demons even if they have max HP. So you will hide them right after Mamudo to prevent this. If he doesn’t use his strike then just unhide them and let them use their Bufus on him while he runs around, hopefully frail stunning him again.

Throughout the fight, don’t try to slash White Rider when he’s not stunned. It’s just too dangerous. One strike from him will kill you and you’ll have to do everything all over. Keep your finger on the block button and let your demons do the dirty work. Whenever you see him use a physical attack, that means he’s about to go into a loop where he uses a combination of strikes and rushes about 5 times or so. The general strategy to stun him with Mabufu is the same as it was for Red Rider. In fact, I’ll just paste it here again with the relevant changes:

So how do you go about damaging this guy? While his physical attacks may be very dangerous, they also happen to be the best moment to attack him. Here’s the deal: White Rider is very, VERY likely to go into frail stun if he’s hit by an ice attack just as he’s teleporting in. And this is exactly why you need Mabufu. Whenever you see White Rider going into his physical loop, keep your demons hidden and very close to you, wait until after he uses his physical attack and he teleports out. Immediately unhide your demons, and depending on your timing and how close you were to White Rider before he teleported out, Lilim should begin casting Mabufu immediately after coming out of hiding despite the fact that White Rider is currently in the fourth dimension. By the time Whitey teleports back in, (and he’s very likely to teleport near to you), Lilim will have already finished casting Mabufu, and hit White Rider with it just as he’s teleporting in, making him go into frail stun. This is your chance to combo the shit out of him and get some MAG. The fact that your demon needs to start casting before White Rider appears is why Bufu alone will not work. Because a demon with Bufu will shoot it where White Rider USED to be, and not where he WILL be. Mabufu doesn’t have this problem since it shoots all around you.

So that’s the deal. Except now that we have Lilim, unlike Red Rider, White Rider has even more vulnerable moments. He will also go into a loop where he casts Mudo about 5 times or so. I laugh in the face of your pathetic attacks, White Rider! Let your demons keep the pressure up while he uses Mudo. It’s no threat, and even benefits you if it hits Lilim.

Finally, I’ve already talked about White Rider’s unavoidable attack, Victory of Fire. This thing makes Soul Balance and Civil War look like a joke. I just barely survive it with 10 HP at level 20. This means that if you’re lower than that, there’s a high chance that you won’t be able to fight White Rider yet. As ever, always keep your demons hidden and blocking whenever you see the message that White Rider is preparing for something.

And that’s about it! White Rider killed me more times than Black and Red, but I also managed to kill him much faster. If you follow this strategy you shouldn’t have problems either.

—Boss: Fiend Pale Rider—
My level: 40

Ok. I think we’re at a level where we can take this guy without it being retarded. First of all, preparation. The main thing you’ll want for this fight is Pagan Nebiros. This guy is level 40 and Pale Rider’s worst nightmare. Not only does he drain death, but he also nulls phys, making ANYTHING Pale Rider tries against him completely futile. This is an advantage so huge that you don’t even need to have an area of effect spell on Nebiros (though it’s always nice). He can just use a tiny Agi right in Pale Rider’s face and not worry about anything. Try to get an elemental boost on Nebiros to up the damage on whatever spell you’re going to use for damage. As usual, there are many ways to fuse a Nebiros. I went with combining a Frost Oukuninushi with a Volt Nue. Finally, to up damage even more, make sure you have another demon who can cast Makakaja at the start of the fight. This is important since you don’t want your MAG to run out before the end of the fight.

Once you have all that… well. Let’s just say Pale Rider better strap on his Compton hat ’cause he’s about to get SMOKED, loc. He’s actually quite a simple boss. He really only has two types of attacks, death and physical. That’s why Nebiros is so good. As soon as the fight starts, cast Makakaja, then return the second demon to its tube. We’ll only be using Nebiros for this fight. Pale Rider isn’t frail to anything but he still takes good damage from spells, so set Nebiros to attack him with his hardest hitting spell, preferably the one that corresponds to the boost you hopefully gave him as a passive skill. I went with Agi and fire boost. This works well because Agi does surprisingly good damage and only costs a measly 8 MAG to cast. I recommend against using heavy piercing spells such as glacial blast, wind crush, shockwave and firebreath because at 36 MAG they’re way too costly, and they require the enemy to sit still for a long time to maximize their damage. Something that Pale Rider doesn’t do. At all.

In any case, all you’re going to be doing throughout this fight is avoiding Pale Rider’s attacks, and babysitting Nebiros so he doesn’t waste MAG quite as much. You can more or less leave Nebiros to his own devices but since Pale Rider loves teleporting around so much, situations crop up where Nebiros may start casting a spell and Pale Rider will have already moved elsewhere. In which case you should make him stop casting by pressing L2. Try to position Nebiros so that he starts casting as soon as Pale Rider reappears and before he initiates an attack. This is usually done by hiding Nebiros, anticipating that Pale Rider will reappear close to you, and quickly unhiding Nebiros so that he can start casting immediately rather than waste time having to move to Pale Rider’s location.

For some reason, it seems Pale Rider KNOWS he’s screwed. So right from the start his Summon Undead will go straight for Raidou, ignoring Nebiros. This means that it’ll be quite hard to replenish MAG by draining, but it’s fine. You can still kill him before you’re all out. Further, you can still drain his summon undead every now and then if Nebiros gets in their way while they’re coming to you. This is really hard though since you don’t really have any command that makes your demons stick close to you without being hidden. As such, you’ll only drain Summon Undead rarely. But like I said, don’t worry about it.

Pale Rider doesn’t have an unavoidable special attack like his compatriots, but his special attack is actually much worse. When you get him down to 3/4s (should actually be really fast), he’ll create a clone of himself, then when you get him down to 1/2 he’ll create a third clone. This is what made Pale Rider so retarded before we had Nebiros. Once there are three Pale Riders on screen, it’s just a clusterfuck of Summon Undeads, Rushes and strikes all trying to hit you and your demons. It orginally made it VERY hard to make any progress on damage without exposing yourself. Furthermore, to win the fight you have to kill ALL THREE Pale Riders. And since recovering MAG is almost impossible, you can see how dumb this would become.

But it’s fine. We’ll win this time. Since there are so many Pale Riders all hell-bent on killing you, scale back the amount of babysitting you do with Nebiros and concentrate more on avoiding attacks during this phase. You’re going to have 3 summons undeads after you pretty much all the time, so be very careful and run around in such a way that you don’t bump into any. If you see that you can’t avoid one, make sure to block. Even if they hit you though, we’re high enough level now that it doesn’t mean an instant kill. It’ll only take about half your HP. During the fight, make sure you heal your wounds with medicines (or Ox Bezoars if you’re in a real pinch). It’s best to use items rather than Dia since MAG is so precious in this fight.

It doesn’t matter which Pale Rider Nebiros attacks. You have to kill all of them anyway. Something worth noting though, is that during this phase when there are 3 Pale Riders, while two of them are attacking, one of them may decide to just sit in one place, not doing anything for a very long time. If you notice one doing this, command Nebiros to go attack it repeatedly. You can usually get off a LOT of damage quickly like this. Just don’t get too close to him yourself, since that usually slaps him back into reality and returns him to his regular pattern. Also, try not to get caught between the wall and a Pale Rider, as this will usually cause him to spam strikes on you repeatedly and it can be a bit hard to break free.

But yeah, just concentrate on avoiding attacks and healing up with medicines if you get hit, eventually Nebiros should kill off one of them, making the rest a bit easier. Just make him move on to the next one after that, and finally the last one. You should theoretically be able to take them all down without losing all of your MAG like I did in my video.

—Boss: Fiend Kageboushi—
My level: 46

One disclaimer, even if you kill this guy, he’ll appear again on the next new moon. He’s very hard and I honestly think we’d have a much easier time with him if we waited a mere 3 levels more. Still, he is technically doable right now even if I don’t recommend it. So if you want to kill him just for kicks, here’s how.

This guy can be very hard to kill for one reason alone: you need to do it FAST because he will run away about 1-5 minutes into the fight if he’s still standing. Furthermore, his weakness is in constant flux. He will always be frail to the element opposite of the attack he just used. For example, if he uses Pyro Blade, he will be frail to ice. If he uses Diamond Crush he will be frail to fire. But guess what? None of this matters. Because that’s not how we’re going to fight him. Not only is he extremely resistant to frail stun, but there is simply no time to waste waiting for him to use something so you can counter.

So here’s what we’re going to do. The play by play. The day by day. We’re going to overwhelm him with a nonstop physical assault. First off, make sure you have the strongest sword you can muster at this point. I went in with a Bakuya. Next, we’re going to need the strongest demons you can create. I’m talking about strength. Create demons with ridiculously high St. I’m talking over 35 St and preferably 40. But that’s not all. They also need to have very high damage physical skills. A nice demon at this level is Pyro Cerberus. He’s level 46, extremely high natural St, and comes out of the box with Mighty Blow, a decent physical skill. The other one I went with was Raja Naga who has Rush. If you’re willing to wait until level 49, I’m sure Atavaka and his Mad Rush would be VERY awesome.

Next, you need to make your two strong demons learn skills that will further increase the strength of their attacks. First and foremost, Tarukaja is ESSENTIAL. An easy way to make them learn this is to create a Spirit Ara Mitama, and level it once. Then fuse the Ara Mitama with one of your demons. This will result in the same demon, except with higher St and some of Ara Mitama’s abilities. Remember that it needs to be a Full Moon for a spirit order demon’s skills to pass on to another. Next, Warcry is also very useful. Finally, good passive skills to have include Power Chakra, Hero’s Might, and Moonlight Rage. If you do have moonlight rage, a way to make sure it activates is to run around near the dungeon’s entrance until you get the fiend’s presence during a New Moon, then exit out to a place without random encounters and run around until a Full Moon, then go back into the dungeon and the fiend’s presence will still be on you, except now you’ll go into battle during a Full Moon. Oh and one last thing. Having Rakukaja isn’t a bad idea either.

Ok. Once you have all these preparations it’s time to fight him. When the fight starts, set both your demons to use their best phys skill repeatedly, and command one of them to cast Tarukaja (and Rakukaja if you have it) right at the start. The nice thing about assaulting him like this is that it causes him to not only flinch but even to fall down, and this opens up the opportunity for an even bigger smackdown while he’s down without fear of retaliation. Even still though, Kageboushi’s attacks are VERY dangerous. And he has a lot of them. Generally speaking though, most of them are linear attacks that hit in the area right in front of Kageboushi. So if you’re behind him and he decides to attack one of your demons, you can call them quickly to your side and they will avoid the attack. If Kageboushi decides to attack you, just hide your demons and block the attack, then resume the attack after you’ve blocked it.

But make no mistake. Even with all these preparations Kageboushi is still very hard. This is largely due to his most dangerous move: Headcrush. This attack is not only INSTANTANEOUS but the damage is ABSURD, ranging from 600 to over 1000. That’s right, more than the max HP you can get in the game. And the scary thing is… you can’t afford to play it safe by hanging back where he can’t hit you because you need to do as much damage as you can as fast as you can.

Let me stress that this is a very difficult fight. Even with all your preparations you’re still going to need a little bit of luck in a few areas: the frequency of his Headcrushes (hopefully he never uses it), the frequency of the times you stun or make him fall down, and when he decides to run away. The time he fights seems to randomly fluctuate from 1 to 5 minutes, so you’re going to have to hope he stays for a reasonable amount of time.

When you see that he’s about to start attacking, hide your demons and run circles around him. This will cause him to start his attack (usually Pyro Blade or Slice and Dice, both dangerous) and miss you, then when you’re behind him you can unhide your demons and unleash your attacks while he’s finishing his move.

Watch out for his Dismiss Demons move. This is a powerful charm skill. The startup is reasonable, so when you see it, hide your demons and block. Don’t unhide them TOO soon though because it can still hit them after you’ve blocked. Further, keep some Anti-Minds handy in case you screw up and they get charmed.

This fight is so difficult that I’m going to recommend using your best items. That’s right. Bead, Bead of Life, and even your Soma. Normally I’m loathe to use such valuable items but this isn’t a normal fight. You can’t waste ANY time healing with Dia or attacking with anything but your best moves since you don’t know when he’ll flee. Unless you’re very lucky, you will run out of MAG before the fight is over. Depending on your luck, you can get away with just using your chakra chip, but most of the time you’ll have to use your Soma. I know it hurts to use these items but there’s simply no time to waste casting Dia and whatnot. At least with other bosses you can whittle them away slowly if you don’t have MAG, but here you don’t have that luxury. It’s also for this reason that I’d suggest waiting until you’re a little bit stronger so you can hopefully get by more easily without using up that Chakra Chip.

But if you want to beat Kageboushi without items like it should be… then read on.

—Boss: Fiend Kageboushi—
My level: 49

Once you’ve attained level 49, you have access to a very powerful demon. One that will be invaluable for this fight. Fury Atavaka. Atavaka is not only very strong, he also learns Mad Rush, a VERY good phys skill, and he’s also resistant to both phys and gun, two of Kageboushi’s most dangerous attacks.

So I’m going to recommend you get an Atavaka, and another strong demon who knows a good phys skill such as Rush, and preferably is resistant to phys as well. I went with Frost Long myself but there are plenty other choices, particularly in the Fury order. Tarukaja is still essential, and Rakukaja and Warcry are still nice but not necessary (I didn’t use them in my video). Make sure both demons have a lot of St. The closer to 40, the better. Give them a lot of passive skills that will enhance their damage like Power Chakra, Hero’s Might and Moonlight Rage. Atavaka has a very nice passive skill that he learns called Agni’s Blessing, so make sure to max out his loyalty beforehand. The rest of the preparations go just like my previous strategy.

Now here’s the interesting thing. I’m not completely sure why, but when I fight Kageboushi with Long and Atavaka, he’s more likely to use his worst moves like Diamond Crush and Wind Blade instead of his most dangerous stuff like Headcrush, Gun and Megidolaon. These worst attacks are great because they have a really long start up and only hit directly in front of him. This means that you can hit him during the time he’s beginning the attack, and then hide your demons and run behind him to avoid damage, all the while hitting him more while he finishes the attack.

Set Atavaka to use Mad Rush, and your other demon to use Rush. At the start of the fight cast Tarukaja, and then assault him relentlessly while using the strategy I mentioned above to avoid damage. He might still use Dismiss Demons or another attack infrequently so stay on your toes, but that’s really all there is to it! With Atavaka’s great Mad Rush, you will eat up his health bar like NOTHING. In fact, you will do so much damage that you can end the fight before your MAG runs out completely or at the least, your MAG will run out when he’s almost dead and only a few more strikes will end him.

Conclusion

Whew! God DAMN but this shit was a lotta work. It’s now June 29 and I started writing this somewhere around May 20. That means I’ve been working practically nonstop for over a fricken month now! I am NEVER doing this again. I am so exhausted man. Wait, I’m getting deja vu. Haven’t I said this before somewhere?

Anyway, overall I have to say that King Mode really wasn’t as hard as I was hoping it’d be. Just further proof of what I’m saying that Atlus is slowly but surely destroying the difficulty in SMT games after Nocturne. COME ON ATLUS! Why do you do this to me? Where are the random encounter enemies that kill you in one hit? Where are the constant game overs? Where are the unavoidable bosses that annihilate you repeatedly?! Can’t you see that you hurt me?

…anyways. Either way, it wasn’t so bad. Except for the part about this being so much work and me being such a slacker. That was tough. I’d like to thank myself for being awesome and doing this guide. I’d also like to thank all of the people who wrote and said nice things to me. You gave further incentive to keep going. Finally, no thanks to gamefaqs for being a bunch of Nazis and rejecting this guide 4 times for excessive profanity. It’s not excessive, chill the fuck out.

In any case, I’m done here. Thanks for reading, I appreciate it.

Keep it real,
~S.A. Renegade

Comments

  • You sluts know the drill. After breaking my back and spending every waking minute for days on end fixing the site I also had to comb through S.A. R. Gade’s guides and fix up all the broken links and add chapter titles and such.

    Any errors in chapter titles or links in the table of contents are mine, not his. Lates, chochachos.

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