48 - Dev Room
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Last time, we beat the game! This time, we explore the post-game developer's room!
Everyone in this room has some shit to say. I'll probably cut one or two that are redundant or spoilery.
Oh, that was never fully explained, was it? See, my Dan Penn's power is to preserve memories, much like a hard disk drive. That power can be used not only on living things, but on corpses... However, in order to write the memories of long-dead people, I would have to also know those memories, yes?
That's right. Like it did with mine, Dan Penn can read information buried deep within the souls of the dead, including those from their past lives... The previous loop. So in other words, when reading the memories of the dead, I also learned of the previous world (that of the original JoJo's manga).
Of course, since this world differed at points, there were things that even I couldn't predict...
OH BABY TIME FOR SOME TEXT
About the Slaves to Fate
The Slaves to Fate are a coalition of Stand users who are unhappy with the state of the world and use their powers for acts of terror. They planned to use their powers to get revenge on society... But their organizational skills were poor, and they didn't get all that much done.
Even so, in a world where nothing is certain, I deigned it best to eliminate all potential obstacles, so I infiltrated the group and started picking them off one-by-one. And by a fortune coincidence, some of the more moronic members among them clashed with your group, which saved me a good deal of trouble.
How you got to the present day
After I donned the stone mask and became a vampire during a house fire, I was fortunately shielded form the sun by the building's rubble. Then, when I received news that my son... Weather... had been murdered by a white supremacy group, that profound despair awakened my Stand.
I changed my face with surgery and abandoned my old life, beginning work as a fortuneteller and occasionally feeding on the suicidal. Then, Made In Heaven ripped me from the world I knew and transported me here. It was then that I joined the Slaves to Fate and began my quest to investigate this new reality.
I just want to say, the "feeding on the suicidal" thing is such a bizarre detail. Is that supposed to like, make it okay or something? Am I supposed to find Vins more or less evil because of it??
Origin of your Stand name
My Stand's name comes from the Finnish hard rock band, Hanoi Rocks. The reason it was chosen has to do with the Tower of Hanoi. The Tower of Hanoi is a puzzle involving a number of different sized disks with small holes in the center. These disks kind of resemble the spinning disk of a phenakistoscope.
It's a deceptively complex puzzle that can famously be solved using a recursive algorithm, or an answer devised from solutions to smaller instances of the same problem. As for "rocks"... It's a stretch, but it's pronounced similarly to "lock"... this recursive world of the phenakistoscope is the "key" to unlocking the puzzle of my son's death.
I thought I'd escaped the Tower of Hanoi once I stopped playing Bioware games, but we just can't win these days.
More about your Stand power
As it was explained in the text, my power is to momentarily depart this world to observe the flow of time. I can use this to predict events yet to happen, but though I can preview destiny, I cannot change it... In that sense, it's nothing more than an inferior version of Thoth, really.
But to compensate, my Stand has a great deal of prowess in battle. It can take the power necessary to depart this world and blast it at foes. I'm sure I gave you a fair amount of trouble, yes? Also, it's hard to tell, but it's a centaur, just like Made In Heaven. In the image of an executioner, it wields a righteous blade of judgement in its hand.
I'm sorry Vins. You have never been a challenge any time I have played this game.
I could have gone to the ghost house at any point. I might show it off later.
I feel really stupid for not just doing this on my other file (where I have beaten it four times) and scoring another point on the board. I'm going to be switching to that one if I decide to showcase any more stuff.
"Acceleration of time"?
I know a lot of people here haven't yet finished all of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, so let me give a short, spoiler-free explanation. The "acceleration of time" is the power of a Stand that appears in the manga. This Stand speeds up time to fulfill the instructions written in "The Path to Heaven". It fast-forwards until the end of the universe is reached, and time begins anew, starting the process over again in a loop. This game's world is the result of one of those loops.
I can't say too much more without spoiling the original story, so please purchase JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 6: Stone Ocean at your earliest convenience!
I think that ship sailed a looong time ago ma'am.
I didn't understand Vins' story
Oh no, I knew it... 💧 It might take a while, but I can explain in more detail. But first... Have you read up to Part 7 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?
We're going to say "yes" here. It's been decades, the statute of spoiler limitations is over. Spoiler warning, obviously.
Oh, good! In that case, I can explain in a bit more detail. First, do you remember all of the Stands with power over time? If you use a DVD remote as an example... The World is like a pause button... Bites the Dust is like a rewind button... King Crimson is like a Chapter Skip button...
...And Made In Heaven is equivalent to Fast-Forward. However, Made In Heaven has another function... Auto-Repeat, or looping. Continuing the DVD player analogy, let's imagine the world like a movie on a TV screen to simplify things. Next, I'll explain Hanoi Rocks...
Unlike Thoth, these aren't predictions, but fated events that are scheduled to happen - destiny that is set in stone. Just like Man In The Mirror, which can create a mirror world, Hanoi Rocks allows the user to travel between the real world and the world of the observer... Nothing more, nothing less. Vins' problem is that Hanoi Rocks' power causes everything she watches to become true reality - nothing can be done to change the result once it's been observed.
But from Vins' side, the only thing visible is a distorted image caused by millions of worlds repeating so quickly that they appear to overlap on the display. Do you remember what I said a bit ago about the events Vins sees becoming true reality?
Vins is dropped off in this world, causing the fast-forward to finally stop, but this causes a paradox. This world was created as a result of the image Vins say during the accelerated time, so if she were to begin observing again while time flowed normally, it would cease to exist.
To prevent the end of the world, destiny arranges a replacement for Vins, rendering her bound to reality. But changing destiny is not altogether impossible. What Vins sees becomes true reality, but if she sees nothing, then nothing is truly set.
I think this is why I can't quite dislike the fanfic stuff in this game. It is absolutely the exact kind of Stand bullshit I could see coming out of the real manga. She had to make diagrams for cryin' out loud.
Can you play as other protags?
This is a new feature in version 2.0. Take a look at the vending machine to your right! Right now, only Josuke is available, but... I'd like to add more in the future, if I have time. Still the entire story has to be changed, so it might not be until a long while, if ever... 💧
The game files have multiple characters who don't appear - Koichi, Okuyasu, Jolyne, etc - who could be candidates for such a thing. But maybe it's best to not overextend.
Is there a happy ending?
Version 1.1 added a route where all of your friends survive. I won't tell you how to reach it, but I can give you some hints. If your total FP is over 50... You can enter a certain room. It's not exactly a happy end, though, so be forewarned...
There is a happy ending in version 1.5 and up, but the way to get it is definitely a secret! I'll only tell you that it can't be triggered on the first 2 playthroughs. Good luck finding it!
My original plan for the Let's Play was to end on the hidden ending, but I've been doing this for over 18 months and I'm tired. We'll see.
I'm going to truncate this one. Basically you can program in an enemy AI routine for your Stand and the game will generate a code. You can enter the code into the computer and have characters fight little auto-battles against each other.
Have at it.
Translating a weird fan project like this seems like a pretty thankless job. Good work.
1 for quitting in the middle of the journey. 1 normal ending. 1 character ending for each route, 6 in total. 1 for failing the final battle. 2 special endings that trigger only under certain conditions. 3 Whole Party Lives endings. 1 happy Whole Party Lives ending. 2 Josuke endings. 1 for the Dio route. 1 for the Dark Side route.
Actually, the character endings have a lot of variations depending on your Stand, events you've finished, and bad karma... 54 in total.
I'm a serial completionist but I ain't doing that shit.
12/15/2010: v1.0
1/14/2011: v1.1
1/28/2011: v1.2
3/15/2011: v1.5
3/25/2011: v1.6
4/6/2011: v1.7
5/3/2011: v1.72
7/6/2011: v1.75
7/18/2011: v1.8
3/16/2012: v2.0
5/7/2012: v2.1
6/28/2012: v2.2
1/6/2013: v2.3B
1/13/2013: v2.3
1/27/2013: v2.31
3/2/2013: v2.4
4/3/2013: v2.41
7/28/2013: v2.45
9/22/2014: v2.45E (First English version)
12/25/2014: Merry Christmas! 4 years after v1.0, v2.48 was released!
It's good to be reminded sometimes that these things don't emerge out of a vacuum. They take dedicated work and aren't just perfect out of the gate. And also, maybe some goon on a doomed social media website will make a Let's Play over ten years later!
We completely skipped both of these. Alas.
Shout outs to the Updated Autopsy Report podcast, covering the Ace Attorney series and its many inspirations. Friends of the site.
The PS2 remake - Minstrel Song - did come out westward, and it's on Steam now too.
I think we went too quickly through the game to see him any further in than we did.
How'd you get a Stand?
My Stand, Living Things, awakened after I set out to investigate the circumstances of Alicia's death. Its power is to overwrite the "data" of an organism's physical traits. This way, I can make clones of people... Sort of like Judgement, except that I use actual bodies, and also like Cinderella, except that it has no affect on that person's luck.
Anything that was attached to the body will reappear as a part of it... but this power is only skin deep, and doesn't affect the mind or soul. I can't raise the dead. That's why I combined my powers with Steel, who could grant the clone memories, and Alicia, who could supply it with life energy. Together, we could effectively revive people.
If Vins is thwarted and the timestream is returned to normal, then I die at Cape York. I imagine [REDACTED] went back to being corpses after the ending.
Are you in the manga?
In volume 59, on page 156... I'm the guy who died in 48 hours with a bunch of tomato-sized blisters! I have no name, though, so that's all original to the game.
You're not a Slave to Fate?
You seem to have misunderstood something a traveling manga artist said about me. (Actually, that was on purpose! The game maker wanted to mislead the player into thinking that.)
You're not an enemy?
No, I'm not an enemy. But I'm not really an ally per se, either... My aim was to use the 7th Stand User as a means of altering destiny. The will-o'-the-wisp Stands in the game are a part of my power, Element of Freedom. They act without regards to my own wishes.
Once my power has taken hold of a Stand, it gives them the power to create those automatic will-o'-the-wisps from their life energy. Of course, if they use it too much, they'll die prematurely... but it's up to them whether they want to use it or not. Meaning the ones that attacked you all belonged to your enemies.
What does your Stand do?
In the beginning, this body was that of an abandoned child... For all intents and purposes, a corpse. It's true that no Stand can bring the dead back to life, but it's not impossible to make their bodies move again. Take Justice or Limp Bizkit, for example.
You may ask, "why is it that Stands can't reverse death?"... The reason for that is, in short, the power of destiny... Fate has a set amount of life energy to distribute among living things. This energy of fate can't be increased or decreased... It's what humans refer to as a soul. Since there's only so many souls in the world, bringing the dead back is impossible.
To make the dead walk again, there has to be a surplus of souls. And this surplus has to be obtained from someone else's supply. My Stand can obtain this energy by granting their wish for a new power (my will-o'-the-wisp Stands) and absorbing their energy as they use it. That energy is given to me, and I use it to make this body function. It's like a deal with the devil... Power, in exchange for your soul...
[REDACTED] and [REDACTED] appear to have come back from the dead, but really, they're nothing more than clones reanimated using my supply of energy.
Just who are you exactly?
10 years ago... I was an infant, left for dead in a public bathroom and discovered by Mr. Steel. Before then, I was a researcher investigating the minerals of Cape York. As you'll read in JoJo volume 59, the crater there contained fragments of the material the Stand Arrow was made from, so I died in a grisly fashion similar to the 2 officers in the manga.
One of those men in the manga was Berlin, but in this parallel world created by Vins, I, his lover, died in his place. However, as my Stand power awakened the moment before my death... my power caused my spirit to possess the body of the infant Steel found, and I lived on that way, thus my child-like appearance.
After Mr. Steel died, he regained his memories of the past worlds thanks to Dan Penn, and Berlin and I started working with him to stand up to fate.
Is there anything more scare-quotes "anime" than ginning up a reason why a character looks like a little girl?
This is a hidden way to manipulate the day counter. If you want, you can be going up against Dio on like Day 2.
Aya's Cinderella Salon was spotted in Update 3, but it's only open after the first run. You also have to find an invitation letter hidden in the school lockers.
Way ahead of you, dude.
Yeah, yeah. Fuck F-Mega.
This is good half just to clean up your cluttered inventory and half to buy from the vending machines.
And to buy this, an item I think is kind of critical to enjoying replays of 7SU. I'll go over it later.
This is meant to be the out for how the player character can master the Ripple so easily.
Glad I managed to get this one. It's a particularly good showcase of 7SU's genuine affection for the source material.
We've done the full lap, so let's take a look at these vending machines.
Full Reset is what it sounds like. You only keep your Game Completion count and the key items from the other vending machines... which we're about to see.
Absolutely critical for replays. Even with the ability to skip cutscenes, you've got to mash through so much dialogue.
This instantly turns Jotaro into the best character in the game even if you never use the 200 SP Stop Time skill. His base stats skyrocket and Star Platinum's basic attack hits twice on top of increased crit chance and guaranteed first strike.
I believe the R Patch makes it so Josuke's good ending does allow you to enter the Dev Room (and consequently get NG+).
The machine sells a bunch of amazing pieces of equipment, along with every skill book and some other useful items.
Anyway, pretend I sold off everything and didn't just save edit my money to the cap.
The Chaotic Key introduces random variables that affect little things everywhere. I have it already on my other file with which we'll be moving forward. It's also one of the other things you keep in a Full Reset.
This is why Badges of Honor are so important. I didn't really go hugely out of my way to get any on this run, and we only have six; enough to NG+ and get either Star Platinum The World or King Crimson. Josuke's disc is right out. And if you somehow didn't keep a single one? You're just fucked. If you don't start NG+, then your "games cleared" counter won't increase either, since it's per save file rather than a global variable. And you only get to the Dev Room with endings where you fight Vins... that is, you need at least 30 FP.
If there's anything that I consider a major black mark on 7SU, it's this reliance on playing it over and over and over. I like to play different games!
As of me writing this post (a few weeks ahead of schedule), and assuming nothing goes wrong, I plan on doing a truncated second playthrough to show off some of the really major things we missed. Even if I don't, or if you stop reading here, I sincerely hope you enjoyed Cascada's Wild Ride, even moreso if you started reading back on Cohost.
Thank you for reading, and see you again!
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