Curate of Curiosities

Previously, Ramona got possessed by a ghost that offered to make her more than a measly sword-for-hire (or knife-for-hire, given her weapon of choice). She and her pals went on to bust a necromancy ring, which operated from an underground hideout that was connected to both the graveyard and the town sewers.

Before we go on, let's take on some of the bounties that we were underequipped for before.

Poisonous sewer rat, dead.

Super-elite raccoon, also dead.

Annoying podcaster, still talking nonsense about the deep state and foreign interference.

Here's our next quest. In the demo version, it was the very last quest that was available, but by the time you got around to it, you probably had enough money to pay off the landlord. Huh. The cabinet is possessed. Just like Ramona, you could say. Maybe that's the reason that the Siren takes particular interest in this.

Our target is the harbor, where there's this warehouse that you couldn't enter before.

Furthermore, the quest calls for someone with shmup skills to exorcise the cabinet. Um...I once got to stage 3 in Dodonpachi, is that skilled enough for you?

Yet as luck would have it, Ramona's just the shmup whiz we needed.

You're a mage, Devon. You shouldn't be this shocked by paranormal stuff like this. But this is what I would expect from someone whose idea of magic is just hitting things with a bat.

They're not hard at all, but it wouldn't be much of a quest if that was all there was to it, so of course there's a boss right after this.

It's even bleeding out of its eyes, just like in every badly written creepypasta ever made.

Now, under normal circumstances, this quest would be just like any of the others we've done so far. We beat down the boss and boom, no more ghost problem.

However, with the Siren by our side, we have the opportunity to make things play out a little differently. If we refuse her offer, we will continue on as normal, doing quests for the AL, earning money, spending the money on equipment and healing items, and maybe pay off the rent. If we take her offer, on the other hand...she's going to take us on one hell of a ride.

I didn't go out of my way to seek her out in the woods just to not see this through.

Obviously, I can't get this across in text form, but the music that plays here is a slowed down version of the title screen theme.

One of the Siren's lesser-known powers, along with possessing people and commanding monsters, is to induce a berserker rage in her host, making whatever scripted boss fights they end up in completely effortless.

Oh dear. There's a dead child in the arcade game. I'm not sure how to feel about this. On the one hand, it shows us just how low the Siren's going to take Ramona in their shared quest for power and recognition, yet on the other hand, I've read at least three different creepypastas that used a very similar plot device, so I don't find it as shocking as the game seems to think it is.

It's too late, Quinnith. You can't steal our kill this time.

Instead, we'll be the one stealing your...life...

This sounds a bit excessive, but this is someone who drove off most of this town's marine life, and commanded monsters to attack any passer-by that she even thought posed a threat. She doesn't do subtlety!

Normally, it has to be the prospective magic-user that has to be placed in mortal danger, but like I just said, the Siren is special.

Once again, Ramona goes on a rampage, and quickly tears Quinnith apart while he begs for mercy.

I don't know about you, but if I were about to be killed by some possessed psycho, my expression would probably be a bit more intense than mildly irritated.

While she is initially hesitant to finish him off, it doesn't take much from the Siren to convince her that his death will open new doors for him.

And with that, it is done. Having consumed the soul of her one-time rival, Ramona's fate is now sealed. The put-upon, down on her luck adventurer is no more, and in her place is something else, something under the influence of a vengeful monster.

Ramona comes to in the clinic next to the bar, next to Devon and Kyrie. From their perspective, it just looks like the quest went really bad, really quickly. Sure, there's no more ghost problem, but the next person to come on the scene saw Quinnith dead and Ramona unconscious, so they're bound to suspect something. I'm surprised that the police didn't show up to question her at any point during this sequence.

Since you joined up with her, I noticed you haven't gotten a chance to carry out vigilante murder, so maybe you've got a point.

Lady, I get that you want to double down on this, but that little stunt you just pulled landed your host in the hospital!

What? You suspect there was some side effect to Ramona being basically at ground zero of a paranormal incident? I'm sure it can't be anything too...

...it worked. She has magic now. And all she had to do was consume the souls of a dead child and another adventurer!

But more importantly, it gives the Siren a new avenue to enact her will, using Ramona as a tool. She's already driven her to murder a fellow adventurer in cold blood, who knows what else she's capable of?

Are you sure? One of our party members has magic, and I don't get the impression that he's amounted to much.

You don't suppose that there's another country where they call it "determination" instead?

Before this happened, there was a way to exorcise the Siren from Ramona. You had to buy holy water from the clinic, then take it to the church so the priest can heal you. As of right now, however, this will no longer be an option.

Someone else is admitted to the clinic, in the room next to Ramona's. It's Jasper.

They miss their partner so much, that they trdied to end it all to be with him again.

Apparently, they worked at the same company that Ramona did before becoming an adventurer, so the two of them immediately hit it off, despite a dreadful first impression.

It's time for another tutorial. Come to think of it, this seems to be the only proper tutorial in this game. I guess since this is an RPG Maker game, you're expected to already know how most of the mechanics work.

With this brand new development, Ramona has an entirely new battle skillset, with its own submenu.

Her magic works much the same way as Devon's. She has a TP bar that fills up when she deals or takes damage. Of course, if you're feeling impatient, you can literally burn a bit of cash to gain a good bit of TP.

And the animation for this skill is one of RPG Maker's default battle animations, which as you can see, doesn't clash at all with the rest of the rest of the game's crude artstyle.

She also has two attack spells and a healing spell, and whenever she uses any of them, the name of the spell will appear on screen, just like in Final Fantasy.

Wait a minute. Final Fantasy references, the main character has a ghost in her head? Oh hell, I should have known. This is the MARDEK 4 that the guys at Fig Hunter have been waiting for all this time!

Devon recognizes this type of magic as the kind used by the very same creature that killed his parents, left him at the mercy of vicious monsters, and caused his magic to awaken. He has every right to wonder why on earth this happened.

How ironic it is that he's immediately persuaded by that very same magic.

The Siren tries to persuade her to be more bold in influencing her friends with her new powers, but she remains steadfast. Yes, there's bound to be an eventual catch to this. At some point, the Siren will make her an offer she simply can't refuse. I mean, we saw her basically force her to kill Quinnith.

What would happen if Ramona actually died during a quest? Who would the landlord try to shake down for rent? Her parents?

...Actually, there's no need to ask that. In the demo version, it was the landlord whose face graced the game over screen, with a caption stating that he's now going to ask her parents about the rent she owed.

Now that Jasper's joined us, here's the rundown on their skillset. It's quite similar to that of Julius from Slimes. They have a number of skills that use a varying amount of bullets from their gun (which I'm not sure why they're still allowed to have, given their suicide attempt), with tend to have less-than-ideal accuracy. Particularly this skill called Bullet Time, which hits 5 times, and has the potential to be the most damaging move we have so far. However, they also start of with the ability to move into point-blank range, increasing both their accuracy and their chances of being targeted.

So here's my usual strategy for using Jasper: Oh, you're approaching me? -> Bullet Time -> Reload -> Bullet Time. Repeat until either Jasper or the enemy is dead.

This is what, our second Dangan Ronpa reference?

At this point, the game has the rather annoying habit of railroading you. You can't go back in the bar until you go to the apartment and speak to the landlord.

On the way there, we're attacked by an evolved sewer slime, because they still cannot let this go.

The landlord asks her for rent like usual, but she has a much better offer. She can pay him once she reaches the very top of the adventuring ranks.

From this point onwards, rent will no longer be an issue. The world is Ramona's oyster.

Well, most of it, anyways.