58 - Biohazard But Worse
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Last time our resident Nazi cyborg gassed an innocent girl (thankfully she survived). This time, we're going survival horror mode.
Ominous!
Charlie Rich is named after an American country singer.
It's not that I want to be so mega-rich that light bends around me. I just want to have enough money that I don't ever have to worry about price tags for daily necessities.
We last saw this boulder back in Update 4. Fans of the JoJo series will recognize it as the Stand Rolling Stones. It's an independent, automatic Stand that pursues random targets and kills them instantly on contact.
Eat your heart out, Mr. X.
One load later...
I run in a big circle to juke it, which doesn't always work.
The stone usually won't follow you immediately, and there's a "rocks falling" audio cue to tell you when it spawns in on your current map. It does always chase you on these outer connecting bridges, though.
Also zombies, to fully cement we're in the mansion-based survival horror zone.
Since the game skips some of Hol Horse's later comically ineffectual villain antics, I think it's a fun choice to add him back in here.
Also, if we come here as a female character, he starts straight up crying in joy over the revelation he only meant to shoot a woman in the head in cold blood instead of actually doing it.
The gag here being that the real Charlie Rich also went by the nickname Silver Fox.
This is an addition from the R Patch, and one I'm not terribly fond of. It just straight up gives you the answers to puzzles in this segment.
New party member! For now!
Looks like Hol Horse's Emperor is a Long-range Special Stand just like Quicksilver. He's much more Speed oriented than Power, though.
People used to think Hol Horse was named after the band Full Force, but sources indicate he's actually named after Hall & Oates, which makes a bit more sense in katakana.
Like many things in 7th Stand User, I think this segment is a really cool idea implemented in a kind of frustrating fashion.
These poor dinner guests all have hints for this level. I get that they were killed by zombies, but how would they know about the zombies' cell?
The looming danger of Boulder X means it's a good idea to save often and not dillydally in any given room too long.
We head south, through another connecting balcony.
If you somehow stay on this western hallway long enough without dying, you can see a maid moving back and forth on the left balcony there. Her dialogue in the game files is just, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA".
I guess it'd be feasible if you set up an awning or something? More importantly, we need to loot the chests in here like that one corpse wrote.
Hol Horse is actually pretty good in battle, despite being another uncontrollable guest character. He doesn't have many skills, but an all-target attack and a couple debuffs is really all you need. His basic attack also fires twice for double the crit chance.
With the Bar Key, we can backtrack to the bar on the mansion's east side.
And, just to be sure I didn't miss anything, I pop back to the room we started in.
I need to disabuse all of you of the notion I might be any good at video games.
After loading a save and retreading a few minutes, down the stairs we go.
Visible at the bottom left of the screen here are stairs leading down. They only appear after we unlock the cabinet in the bar.
Next up is the west wing.
Just to make sure you're definitely fucked if you fall for this, the boulder moves extra fast only here. We load again and go south.
Ah, well. If you're brushed up on your lore, you know that Part 1 begins in 1880, when Jonathan Joestar is 12 years old. When Dio Brando is adopted into the family, he's one year older than JoJo, so with some basic math...
Not that it makes any sense this would be the password on this computer since there's no reason Charlie Rich would have access to this information... but whatever.
The bathroom is one of two rooms in the entire mansion that're completely safe from the boulder.
You can get as much Bottled Water as you want here to heal up between battles.
Zombies
The zombies were created by a woman called Vins. To further her group's agenda, I believe she plans to kill all of us as well as the owner of the mansion...
...I have to escape. It seems that because of their rotting flesh, the zombies' movement is limited. Using the "Run" command, even in the heat of battle, never seems to fail. There's not much in the way of weapons or medicine here, so it's best to save your strength.
I've been using water from the faucet to stave off my hunger, but I don't know how much longer I can last...
PCs
This mansion's security system is controlled by two password-protected PCs and two switches. There's one PC in the West Wing of the building, and another underground. There's supposedly one more, but I've yet to find it. There was a switch hidden in the wind cabinet, but the cabinet is locked shut. There's another switch underground, but all it does is power the submarine.
Push the switches, and they deactivate the security. It's that easy. The problem is the passwords... There are clues in the library in the East Wing, but those zombies are trouble...
Passwords
The answers to the passwords are hidden in the library! Unfortunately, there were so many books, I couldn't make any sense of it all. Better to find and inspect the PCs to find out which question you're trying to answer before fruitlessly searching through the library. Just don't let your guard down while reading...
Movement patterns
The stone moves in a set rhythm, switching between phasing and non-phasing steps. First it takes 5 steps... Then 2 more, during which it can phase through objects. Then, it stops for a little bit. It can't move any more than 7 steps at once before stopping. If there's an obstacle in its way, it can only move 2 steps.
The rock will take the most direct path towards you, so if you can put an obstacle between it and you, that should buy you some time to escape.
Where it appears
That rock can appear almost anywhere inside the mansion. It's dangerous to stand still no matter where you are. Be especially careful around entrances and stairs. If it's coming after you, try to leave the room as fast as you can. Once you leave, it will stop chasing you for a bit... It won't disappear, of course.
In addition... When re-entering a room, it seems to always appear at the same location. For example, if I go to the center room, it comes straight through the entrance. Walking through there, it may appear before your very eyes and kill you...
There you go, those are the boulder mechanics. For once the game does my job for me.
...So the boulder only spawns when you step on specific tiles, which call a random number to see if it does or not. Every room entrance/exit is one of these tiles, and more appear the further you get along in this sequence.
Entering Dio's birthday opened up this second staircase in the lobby.
Last time I went to the San Diego Maritime Museum, I saw the USS Dolphin, the last diesel-powered submarine to be phased out of the US Navy. It operated for so long because it was built as an experimental testbed platform, so it was still useful for R&D purposes until the early 00s.
Anyway, we can't do anything here for now. Off to the East Wing!
Other than the bottled water, you can get Rations from the refrigerators.
Down south we go!
Well. We didn't actually look at the other computer, but it's probably fine, right? Just make sure to remember literally everything on all these bookshelves. By the way, about a third of them have no meaningful information and just run the check to spawn the boulder.
April 7th: An engraving I ordered from an up-and-coming Italian sculptor just arrived. The craftsmanship is great, and it'll look wonderful in my mansion. But what's with that big rock that came with it...? When I asked the artist, he said he didn't remember sending it.
May 25th: The maids have been in an uproar from dusk to dawn today. Apparently, the new hire broke the engraving I had hanging in the center room. It was such a shock to the young thing that it stopped her heart and died. I've no sympathy for a girl who broke someone's possessions and died to get out of trouble.
It's not like I was going to ask her to reimburse me. But in any case, that wonderful art piece is shattered now... I suppose I'll keep the pieces in the storeroom.
June 2nd. I was looking for the pieces of the engraving and pricked my finger on something. My head started spinning, and I thought I was going to puke... Did it give me some kind of virus? I called a doctor, but the quack didn't find out what the problem was.
This building has three floors and a cellar. There's a hidden room with an entrance in the terminal.
June 15th: This is quite something I've gotten myself into. Superpowers! Vampires! Curses! It's entirely like a fantasy world. A month ago, living in a world with as much charm as chewed-up gum, I couldn't have imagined such a heart-throbbing incident happening to me. And it seems like more Stand users are out there...
I'd like to invite them to a party at my mansion. I'd love to share this heart-throbbing feeling. What should the theme of the party be? A Russian roulette? No, it should be even more thrilling than that... Something that incorporates Stands. Everyone will be so happy.
July 2nd: I've finally thought up a theme for the party. I'd forgotten the most crucial element of attracting guests. It's so obvious! I'll just buy something they desire. Should they win the game, they'll get it as a prize. The woman who lent me the monsters for the sideshow suggested a brand-new submarine. What a great idea! Anyone would want that! Now that that's decided, I'll buy up all the submarines in the area.
August 8th: I went to the storehouse for the first time in a while and the rock was gone. Just where is it?
There is a set amount of life energy in the world. It cannot be increased or decreased. The dead cannot be brought back, as the more humans there are, the more life energy is consumed.
Dio Brando, born 1867. An orphan taken in by the Joestar family. The direct cause of all the disasters encountered by the family afterwards.
Vampires: Created when the stone mask's needles pierce the brain of a human. Possess inhuman strength and longevity.
Ripple: An Oriental martial art that incorporates special breathing techniques to draw out the energy in one's blood, revitalizing the user.
Thankfully the boulder does not move while you're in text boxes... though that would be pretty funny.
The three properties of intelligent life are "body", "mind", and "soul".
This mansion has a security system in place. To release the locks, you need to enter the deactivation codes into various PCs around the building.
The movie shown by a phenakistoscope can only be seen by one person at a time.
I GET THE PHENAKISTOSCOPE THING OKAY
We even namedrop Berlin's Stand. This is only the second time I've done the Submarine Route, so I'd forgotten how much foreshadowing they put in here. Neat!
This bunker/pantry is the other safe room.
Yall just ain't thinking hard enough. What counts as "signing documents"? Are they psychically binding?
A generic sort of "glow" sound effect plays here.
Sade (named after the English band) and her entire sidequest are only here if your Day Count is at 20 or below. We're currently at Day 18, which as far as I know is the earliest possible time you can reach the mansion.
Slightly weird text box. It's not like there were any in this room before. Regardless, we head west.
Newly equipped with The Power of Books, we can finally start looking for some password terminals.
In retrospect I should have recorded entering something silly first.
Of course, despite the submarine being right there...
We saw said control panel down these other stairs, but we need to turn on the electricity first. And who was that stranger?
"2FC Security" means that shutter we saw in the dining room. Up we go.
If you're not blatantly cheating, this guy is a pretty tough boss. I believe he's got more Power and Durability than every boss so far.
Hol Horse is at the level cap and still only doing this much damage.
well, okay, i mean,
Let's ask Sade!
Okay, back to business.
Don't help him
Help him out <==
Dying instantly with no pain or suffering from a magic rock is too good for the mega-rich. Torn apart by zombies or thrown into the sea, we can work with.
[BANG!]
The boulder always spawns immediately after this (and it spawns more often throughout the mansion once he's dead), so you gotta hustle. Or simply don't speak to Silver Fox at all; it's not required.
Quick, scroll up!
The answer is May 25th.
And the bookshelves while we're at it...
With the boulder directly next to us like this, how can we possibly escape?
I only know this from a guide. I'm not sure what the in-game hint would be, if there even is one.
It opens up a hole we can use to drop back down a floor! But I'm too slow!
Save early, save often.
That switch also opens something else.
There are some pretty good curatives, some handguns, and a cool 50,000G in these chests, but Rolling Stones always spawns right there.
Yeah.
Okay, let's book it down to the fuel pump.
I don't think it's ever stated in-game, but the Mystery Man's Stand is labelled internally as Power of Dreams.
Oh.
Fittingly, Hol Horse refuses to act during this battle.
Stroheim is out of SP to just instantly nuke her, but we still have Mega Speedwagon and his slate of Ripple moves. This isn't a difficult fight.
Dear Michael,
If you're reading this, I'm probably no longer in this world. But don't be sad! Just stay calm and listen. What's done is done. I want you to live to escape this mansion. There are two other people in here... I made them promise to find a way out. Seize that chance and leave!
I've been hearing sounds above, so they're probably already looking for it. If you get out, beware that woman... Vins. Now that I've seen those zombies, she's definitely a traitor. This room has the scent of zombies in it, too. I'm not sure what I'll do if I'm found... But if I turn into a zombie, be a good boy and kill me, okay? Try not to look at my face!
I love you, Michael.
-Sade
SUBMARINE ROUTE ENDING: EXPLAINED?!?!
The idea here is that Sade, like D'arby, is also bound by her Stand; Hol Horse agreed to save her, but that meant she couldn't leave this room until then... even when zombies got in. Michael tried to kill us because that contract was preventing the two of them from escaping together.
See You Stand Cowboy...
The Submarine Route always feels way shorter to me since you have fewer hubs to explore and thus fewer unique events. We covered it from Update 55 to 58, while the corresponding Manga Route was from Update 17 to 25; over twice as long. I'm glad it exists, though.
See you again!
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