Let's Play KAIMA! (One Off #4 - Chapter 2)

I may not have save-states, but these are the next best thing. Trust me, we'll need them to see everything.

Fun fact: You can completely ignore Illi at the start and do the game as if you didn't have her, but since she's your only method of healing... yeah, you won't last long.

I love that little detail because it's your companionship with Illi that allows you to save the world, no matter the ending.



How about we ignore the sidequests and just go straight to kicking Vido's ass in ending #1?



: "I knew I couldn't face you alone... So I brought someone else who wants to stop you."

: "I was the one leading the way though!"

(Teehee)

: "If you'd let me explain..."

I feel kind of bad for Vido, honestly. I mean yeah, he destroyed the world doing this, but I don't think what his sister had in mind was, uh... that much better.

: "You don't need to explain to me how you're a fucking monster, I already know!! I'll kill you for what you did to her!!"

: "I see you're beyond reason... Understandable. I won't hold back."

: "I just want to stop KAIMA from being eaten. I guess I shouldn't hold back either."

Searina's butting her way into this personal grudge because she doesn't want to die.



[Current OST: Vengeful Battle]

We're weaker due to not getting a few fights in beforehand, but Vido's still possible. It'll just be a wee bit harder.

(Especially since I didn't heal. )



Oh god I actually got the cut-in again... and wouldn't you know, it missed me again. I'm curious as to how much it would have done, but still nothing.



"If you'd only seen it sooner... Even so, maybe I've gone too far. I'll accept my punishment."

: "Shut up and die!!"

Not gonna lie, Illi can get a tiny bit annoying but she's still a precious muffin.



The entire fight was mostly Illi crying on Searina to heal her while she attacked. He kept aiming for Searina most of the time, so I guess he really doesn't want to hurt Illi after all.



Proof.

Now this is where the fight gets really scary.



... Not that it matters because Illi comes in with the clutch and saves the world.



: "The monsters went away! I guess our mission is complete?"

Hooray?

: "How strange... He's dead, but... I don't feel any better."

: "You should feel great! We defeated the evil prince and everything."

[Illi walks forward]

: "I hear her... calling to me..."

Oh no.

[Illi walks to the next map]

: "Huh? Where are you taking off to?"



[The screen flashes white and Ezel appears in front of Illi]

[Current OST: EZEL]

: "Illi... I knew you would come. Thank you for releasing me from my brother's seal."

: "The prince really sealed up the princess? Wait, for siblings, they look nothing alike..."

I mean, to be fair, me and my sister look nothing alike.

: "Ezel! You're alive...! You're okay!!"


: "Shh, yes, yes... I'm still here."


Hmmm...

You can still tell there's something... off, even without the revelation in chapter 1.

The song has a sinister feeling that's trying to pretend things are okay, but they're not. Even if I went in blind, this would still hit some warning bells.

: "... I shouldn't intrude on this touching reunion. Searina exits stage left!"

Oh, you little dork.



"What's a girl to do now...? My family is gone, along with half the world. Having nothing to work forward to feels strange. Strange feeling? Oh, emptiness. That's what it was called. Empty and aimless... Well, at least I can relax."

Is it really saved, though? No wonder she feels empty.



That was the normal ending! I love the art even if this isn't the best possible ending you can get. Just... Searina sitting with a starry background and some bones.

That's pretty atmospheric.



Now let's go back to where we actually stopped from chapter 1 and see the endings we can get here.



You know, I feel this is Illi's battle and that maybe Vido is full of crap. How about we let her make a choice instead?



Oooh, we get to see her cut-in! Not gonna lie, her design is pretty clever considering she's pretty symmetrical and the fact her name is a palindrome, aka. her name is the same even if you spell it backwards.

[Vido is reduced to bones]

: "Haha... hahaha... It's over. Ezel, I did it!"

: "Woah, ruthless."

No kidding. We're reaching "crazy stalker girlfriend" territory.

[A flash of light, followed by Ezel appearing in front of Illi]

[Replay "Ezel"]

: "Illi..."

[Searina takes a step back]



: "Thank you for freeing me from my brother's seal. I've missed you so much..."

: "I didn't think I'd get to speak to you again like this... Hah, now I don't know what to say..."

: "Dry your tears, darling. You've done well."

[Searina steps back]



Yeah, me too, holy crap. Like that's instant bad vibes.

: "Come on... I'll take you out of this miserable place."

[Illi and Ezel walk past Searina, but Ezel stops]

: [Elipsees]



What do you want?

[She walks off]

That was pretty creepy how she just stopped to look at Searina, especially considering what we know.

: "Maybe Illi's in danger..."

Yeah... You just doomed your friend.



: "It's up to you, whether or not you listen to me... Whatever the conclusion, I've done all I can up to this point."

: "Right... At least we stopped you."

But was it worth it, though?

: "Illi looked happy. And I'm not in danger anymore. So I'll consider this a job well done!"

[Searina walks offscreen and it fades to black]

Yes, I'm sure she'll be happy as her idol eats her alive.



Huh. Never heard of that one before. So... in this ending, we release a super-powerful cannibal back into the world and left Illi in her hands. Not only that, Ezel is bound to repeat the same thing Vido did but with no good intentions.

It's actually so bad that...



The game itself asks you if you want a do-over! Hell no, we're not going to accept that.

It takes you back to the scene before you make a decision, so let's make this one count.



[Current OST: Title Theme]

: "Like something without a soul could understand... there's no other choice for me."

Or you could... you know... you could step back for a second and analyze the situation, you love-crazy idiot?

: "I was just thinking. If I had a soul, it wouldn't want to watch someone get killed. Even if it's the bad guy."


: "Isn't there a way to release the seal without having to die for it?"

I love how the person with no emotions is the one that talks the most sense. She has her priorities straight.

: "Releasing it voluntarily would undo everything I've worked towards up to now..."

: "I know what you're after... You're trying to become the one and only ruler of KAIMA. I won't let you."

: "See, Illi's ready to make you do it either way. Don't you think it's better to choose the option where you get to live?"

Searina would make an amazing motivational speaker if this is how she does things.

: "A chance to live... We'll see about that. Fine. Allow me to show you my sister's real form."

This can only end well.

[The screen flashes white and Ezel appears in front of Illi again]

[Replay "Ezel"]

: "Ezel...!"

: "Illi... I'm so happy to see you again. But, forgive me, my dear. I need to have a word with my brother."

A word, huh? Get your shovels ready, folks.

: "O-of course... I'm just glad you're still alive."

[Illi steps aside for Vido]



: "You've been watching, haven't you..."

: "Quite intently. I've seen the things you've done to 'protect' this world from me..."

[Monster screech, followed by the screen flashing white]



[Searina steps back]


[Current OST: Something's Wrong]

: "... Was this a bad idea?"

Hahaha. Oh, we doomed the world.

If I have to be real with you guys, this is a hell of a twist. In everything up to now, they try to make Vido look like the bad guy due to his stereotypically evil look and the fact Illi has a grudge against him, but Ezel was the real villain all along.

Her real theme reminds me of the Calcabrina Dance from Final Fantasy IV and that's great because that's easily my favorite song from that game.

: "Ezel... What he was saying... It wasn't true, wasn't it? He was lying, right?"

: "Oh, Illi... don't interrupt. It's time for dear Vido's punishment."



[Echoing laugh SFX followed by the screen turning completely red]

Whoa.

: "Ah, she's eating him. He wasn't lying."

Jesus fuckin' christ. That's messed up.

No wonder why I chose this game as part of the Halloween-a-thon. (It helps that this is a game full of demons.)

: "No... but... he was tricking us... He was supposed to be wrong..."

Her world is upside down.

[The screen cuts to a brand new area]



: "Where is this...? Where have you taken us?"

: "What's wrong, darling? You aren't afraid of my power, are you? Or, would you like me to explain?"



She's very dramatic for an insane cannibal demon because she teleports around the room during this.

: "I learned that by consuming others, your own powers can grow exponentially... Isn't that wonderful?"

[She teleports in front of Searina, causing her to step back]

: "Thanks to Vido, I'm almost strong enough to escape this boring, empty world. Hmhm... almost."

: "Illi... you've always been my favorite. Come with me. I want you to go farther than anyone has ever gone."

This entire scene is making me kind of uncomfortable. Imagine how much worse it could have been if we got to see Illi and Ezel's lives before this game.

Like... let's say one of your best friends turned out to be into some real evil shit and you didn't notice until you had already spent months or even years with them. That'd be one hell of a betrayal.

: "What are you saying...?"



: "Eat... her...?"

O-oh...

: "Yes. Make her power your own."

[Searina steps back]

: "Illi. I might be saying this entirely for self-preservation reasons, but... You don't want to eat me."

: "But Ezel wants me... at her side..."

Yo, don't you dare.

: "You're really considering it? Even without a soul I can still tell how fucked up this whole thing is!"

No kidding, jeez.

: "I-I'm sorry... I'm sorry...!"



[Current OST: Desperate Battle]

We finally get to fight Illi ourselves! And you know what? I'm not feeling particularly merciful.



You're gonna eat Searina? Well, I won't let you.



You were a great help, but the instant you go down that path, there's no coming back.



... Okay, I'm not gonna lie, that didn't feel good at all. There's not even victory music for doing that.



: "What a shame... if she can't even win against something like you, she was useless to me from the start."

Wow, that's heartless.

[She teleports in front of Searina]

: "Doll. Do you have a name?"

: "It's Searina."



Oh, is she really trying to get us on her side?

: "Are you going to eat me if I refuse?"


: "I could do that... or leave you here in this dying world. The decision is yours."


: "Living in a dead world... that makes it sounds like I might as well be dead too. I choose survival!"

Damn. You know, if I were in her shoes, I'd probably choose the same answer.

I adore how her logic is always consistent even in the face of something like this.

[Echoing laugh SFX]

: "You're smart for something without a soul. We'll go far together. Hmhmhm..."



Damn, that's harsh. But at the same time I love a successful "hero-turned-villain" scenario because it's rarely done well. It's good stuff.

But, uh... now it's guaranteed that the universe will suffer, so let's not have that?



[Current OST: Desperate Battle]

: "You don't have to do this!"

: "I don't have any other choice! If you don't like it, kill me!"

: "There's no reason you should have to die. So I'd really rather not..."

I omitted this the first time around because it wouldn't make sense.

This time we guard against her attacks so more dialogue can show up.

: "Maybe a world like this... should've been destroyed after all."



: "I don't want the world to be destroyed. Don't you wanna live, too?"

: "What's the point in it...? I should've just let him destroy everything if it was going to be like this!"

Sometimes it flashes that Illi is too distressed to attack and I'm not gonna lie, this is pretty heavy.

: "Everything I believed in up to now... It was all a lie..."

Even if she does hit you, it's piddly damage at best. I don't think I could really handle an Illi critical, so thank god for that.

: "So why are you still listening to her?"



: "'Loved'? So it's different now?"

: "I... I...!"

[Illi just cries - the music swiches over to her theme]

: "I can't... I can't do it! Consuming others like that, it's not okay!! But how can I go against Ezel? She meant the world to me... But this Ezel only wants to use me..."

I'm glad you decided to grow a conscience at the last second, jeez. Can't imagine what would have happened if I had to defend myself.

: "In the end, she would've... I would've been eaten, right? Right??"

: "Yeah. That's right."

Just a blunt "yeah." Searina's reactions are the best.

: "I don't want this... I don't want any of this!"



[Illi gets up and looks at Ezel]

: "We have to stop you... from escaping KAIMA. From hurting anyone else."

: "Stop me...? Oh, Illi... what are you and a soulless doll going to do to ME?"

: "Violent things! I don't have a conscience to hold me back. Hope you're ready!!"

Yeeaah, boy!

: "You're not my Ezel... My Ezel was different... I have to destroy the lie...!"

Oh come on, dude.



[Replay "Something's Wrong"]

: "Illi... You wouldn't lay a finger on me... On your dear princess... would you?"

: "You aren't the Ezel I remember... You stole her body, didn't you? Give back my Ezel!!"

Really?

: "You're still in denial? Whatever... as long as you'll fight with me."

Even Searina knows what I'm thinking.

We smack Ezel for a bit until the next dialogue box shows up. Illi can't attack because she's still distressed.



: "Can you see them? Is my Ezel trapped in there?"

Searina (and me) are unamused.

[Ezel smiles sweetly]



: "Fuck you, I want the truth!"

(You can't handle the truth, baby)]

: "Hmhm... In that case, allow me."



[Current OST: Decisive Battle]

(This is the best battle song in the game, I swear.)

But yeah, now it's time to pull out the:

Real final boss alarm!

Despite the fact she doesn't hit as hard as her brother, Ezel strikes both of you at once, so you better keep your guard up.

Searina realizes that Ezel has absorbed hundreds of souls and that's where her power comes from. Illi finally shakes off her distress and helps Searina fight one last time.



: "Souls...? I can't see them... How can I fight?"

: "They're kinda everywhere. I'll point them out, but even swinging randomly, they'll be hard to miss, I think."

I can only imagine a giant Giygas-like cluster of screaming faces and that's terrifying.



This is a neat final boss for RPG Maker standards, just sayin'. It's not too hard or too easy - it's just right.

: "That's one group of souls freed..."


: "Whatever you're trying to do, it's useless against me!"



Damn! Just as I said the difficulty's just right.

But wait!



: "Why won't you die?!"

Oh, you're screwed now, lady.

[Searina uses Crit on another Soul Cluster]



: "I'm... No! I still have power! I'm still stronger than you!!"

[A transparent Vido appears in front of Ezel]

: "Vido...?"



This heals both of us for over a thousand HP, by the way. Even if we didn't have the "unbeatable resolve" mechanic going on, there should be no reason for us to lose here.



Got em, boys.

: "Goodbye, souls! You've got nothing else to feed on, Ezel!"

: "What did you...!? Why?!? *huff*... *huff*... I can't... warp away... "

: "But if I ate one of you..."

I know she's the villain, but that face is priceless. I'm tempted to make that an LP staple.





Please. Don't embarrass yourself trying.

: "Ugh... How are you so strong?! I'll take that power for myself...!"

: "Give up, Ezel...! Please, I don't want to keep hurting you! Why are you doing all of this...?!

: "Hah... Why? Even if I explained it, you would never understand what true power feels like."

: "Hmm, I don't know about that. We're strong enough to end this pretty fast."

Yeah, tell her off.



: "Illi... Please... I only wanted you and I to run away together. We still have a chance..."

Now that's a smug snake if I've ever seen one.

: "I would have loved that... But... I know you're lying."

: "No, I'm being honest... this time. You've proven your worth to me. We can go back to the way things were."

: "Ezel... I'm sorry...! But you know we can't!!"

: "Useless...! You're all useless to me!! You should've obeyed your princess!"



Oooh, maybe you shouldn't have said that.

: "The souls of her victims..."

: "What's happening?! Stop this...!! NOOOO!!!"



You've eaten your last demon.



[The screen fades to a complete Kaima]



[Current OST: Resolution]

Oh hey, look at that! We fixed everything! Nice.



: "I don't think so..."

: [Elipsees]

: "Huh..."

Is that Searina's soul? Well hot damn, we made it.

Let's walk around town and see the fruit of our efforts!



: "Yep! Which means... No reason for you to cry anymore."

: "... Yeah."

(Looks like we won't have healing tears anymore...)

: "Even though we just did something incredible, I don't really know anything about you. Other than how you felt about Ezel."

: "I don't know anything about you either, other than the fact you don't have a soul... I don't even remember your name."

: "Wow! That's cold."

Yeah, right? Illi, that's harsh.

: "Hey, but that means... Once I get my soul back, you'll know absolutely nothing about me?"

: "You'll probably still be weird. I know that much."

He-hey! Now that's what I like to see. It only took her the entire story to smile for someone else.

: "We'll see about that."

If you keep talking to her, she tells you that Ezel was wrong about the world being boring. Searina being the joker she always is, she admits Kaima looks like a mess.

It also implies that what we're seeing is a blurred version of what KAIMA really looks like, so I guess that's a neat way to explain the simple tiling. (Although I can't blame the creator for this one at all because making brand new art assets for RPG Maker is a severe undertaking.)

Illi also says this to cap it off:

: "If that stupid expression was your default... Then I can already guess what the complete version of you is like."

Awwww.

Let's check on the civilians we saved.



: "Maybe, but Illi helped too. Good job surviving til' the end!"

: "A lot of my buddies tried fightin' Vido when the monsters first showed up... You're the only ones to ever come back. Botha you deserve my respect. Hell, you're stronger and braver than I ever was."

: "Thanks, but... You shouldn't probably respect my bravery when I can't feel fear in the first place."

Green guy was a riot. They were the most interesting NPC yet, so I wish I saw more of them in action.



Pink Sis and her brother are grateful to Searina and Illi for saving the world. He sort of goes a bit too far by asking Searina to be his new sister so he can get her "hero DNA", but I don't think it works like that.



Ghost girl is no longer a ghost and that's fine and dandy. I don't think they served much of a purpose other than cluing the player in that Searina can see dead people.



Neon Green Girl is happy that everything is fixed and thanks Searina, but we straight up admit that we were faking having emotions.

It doesn't bother her too much because we used her gift to reunite the Pink demon family.




We reunite Purple Girl with her best friend and they're happy together.

I'll assume the bones she was next to earlier was her friend, but at least we get to see what she actually looks like.



: "Amnesia, huh? Well, you look a little familiar, but we've never met, so I don't know what to tell you."


: "It's not amnesia. More like, my memories are contradictory. Did I die for revenge, or to be a hero?"


Oh hey, it's the blue guy that tried to fight Vido and lost!

... He's blonde now?

: "Maybe both? Guess the world reforming got you all mixed up."

: "Reform...? That could be... yeah. KAIMA does look more patchworky than before... Is that what happened to me too?"

Ah, that's why. I was curious as to who this was for a second, though.



[Current OST: Resolution - Music Box Version]

Awww. That sets the tone better for the final two conversations, actually.



He's dead, though.

: "You actually beat her... was it something only someone without a soul can accomplish...?"

Funny thing, isn't it? If it weren't for Vido creating monsters to drain KAIMA of its life energy, Searina's soul would have never gotten stolen and her body wouldn't be able to stop the Soul Clusters from feeding Ezel.

So in a sense, Vido did get to save the world after all, even if it was indirect.

: "Uhh, maybe! Illi helped though. Sorry you ended up losing your body."

: "No... Someone who would readily sacrifice other bodies doesn't deserve one of their own. It's only fair I ended up this way."

: "If you're fine with it, that's great! Repent for all the trouble you've caused! Though, I don't blame you for any of it."

Yeah... I mean, his method was pretty destructive, but I'd rather prefer it to the alternative.

If you talk to him again, he explains that Ezel copied his abilities and in doing so, she wound up becoming far more powerful than him. He also resents how he treated the inhabitants of KAIMA as dolls and apologizes, so...

You know, I can't help but feel bad for the poor guy.



: "Yeah. Everyone who got eaten up by the prince and princess, once they were freed, combined their power to make New KAIMA."

So this is a brand new world? I dunno what it is about that line, it gets me kind of sad knowing that it's not exactly the same... even if I have no real frame of reference for what the old KAIMA was like.

: "What a tidy conclusion!"

: "A lot of lives were lost, but... you and Illi saved us. Even without me, you made the right decisions. That's a relief."

: "You were watching the whole time? Heh, awkward."

... I'm curious. Would she have seen what happens in the bad endings too? Now that'd be heartbreaking.

: "I'd find out once we were back together anyway."

: "That's a good point. Should we go and reunite now?"

: "Hmm... Out of respect for whoever or whatever is pulling your strings, we don't have to do it right away."

(One final cheeky moment. I see you.)

: "Roger that. I might go see how everyone's doing, then."

Since we already did that, there's no time to waste.



I'd sure like that... but wait! We forgot about one more thing:


The secret ending.



To unlock this one, you have to go south during the escape sequence at the start. For some reason, enemies don't attack you down here.





Doing so will take you past the final boss arena which is stacked with Vido's squiggle monsters. Good thing we don't have to fight any of them, huh?



[Replay "Something's Wrong"]


I don't like where this is going if that's playing this early in the game.



: "This is a little spooky."

You're telling me. Searina's at a pitiful 6 HP, so there's no way in hell she'd be able to fight Ezel.

[Vido walks in]



: "I came from, uhh... The other side of the world? I'm Searina."

I can imagine a bored first-time player wandering into this scene by accident, hence why they're introducing themselves here.

: "However you got here, I can't let you release Ezel's seal."

: "Oh, I'm not interested in any of that. I'm just trying to survive."

Good thing too because unsealing Ezel would have been a very bad idea without Illi's healing magic.

: "Hmmm, you're... You could be of use to me."



: "Sounds fine to me!"

Chipper as always.

: "You're doing the world a favor... Even if no one else can seem to grasp that. Now I won't have to fight this battle alone."




Oooh, we get to fight with Vido in the secret ending! This is also the only ending that doesn't end with him dead, so that's fine with me.

... Though granted, imagine how cool it could have been if he was the one to help Searina fight Ezel? That would have been a spectacle.



[Replay Resolution - Music Box Version]

Okay, enough messing around. It's time to end KAIMA for good.



Awww, look at that smile.



All in all, this was a great game you guys had. It had a story to tell and it did so beautifully considering the time-span.

It has great art, music and writing - it's pretty much the whole package. Sure, the combat wasn't anything new, but it was still well-balanced.



Some more credits for you.

Plus, for such a small game, it has a ton of replay value - it has multiple endings and puts a heavy emphasis on choices. I gotta admit, not many people put that much attention to detail outside of commercial games - that's what impressed me the most.



I'm glad I could play this game and I hope you guys have good luck on any future projects.

The only issues I have with the game is Illi being a wee bit annoying, but I'm glad she decided to cut it out towards the end.

There was also the fact that... Well, I have to admit, the tiling wasn't that impressive. However, like I said, making new art assets is ridiculously time consuming.

I give it a 89/100 (Excellent) for most of the reasons I said above. Next time on the Halloween-a-thon, we're going to be delving into more traditional spooks that I guarantee you will not be as heavy as this game.

See you then.