Let's Play Halloween Flop! (One Off #5)

[Current OST: Spooks On Parade MIDI]

We immediately start off with our three main characters in a spooky graveyard. I gotta say, the gameboy color-esque graphics are real neat.

It helps that they straight up use Spooks on Parade as the overworld song - yeah, the entire game is full of references.

: "Why are we here again? It's really scary."

This little ghost fella is Bobby. She's arguably the nicest person in this cast and isn't too spooky despite being a ghost.

: "Bo, you're a ghost!! You were probably born here."

This is Agatha, a witch that has a few screws loose. She's the nutty one and has crazy magic powers, but I can't help but want to pinch her cheeks. (Although, granted, she might bite my finger off if I do that.)

: "Actually, I was born in a car accident."

Now that's some prime gallows humor.

: "Let's stop wasting our time fighting. We came here for a very important reason, and we are on a time limit."

This dashing woman in black is Delila, a vampire that'll serve as our brute force for the evening. She is arguably The Best character in the entire game because not only does she look cool, she's also kind of the team mom. Just give it a bit.

: "I know..."

: "Unless you do not wish to find your candle again?"



Yeeesh. Being a ghost in this world isn't easy.

: "And Agatha needs her hat and I need my cape. True, we won't fade away like you, but we aren't much without them."

It's all about the style, you know.

: "Everyone in town needs their gear back. Whoever took it -- I will beat them half to death!"

Yeesh, a bit overkill for a few stolen items. (Granted, in Bobby's case, it's a bit more grave.)

: "Oh, please don't! That would be terrible."

: "I'm going to agree with Bobby this time; it would be terrible to beat someone half to death."

: "Can I beat them all the way to death, then?"

Thaaat's our sociopath.

: "No!"

: "No."

: "Ugh, you two are boring."

Yeah, Delila, why won't you let Agatha go on a murder rampage? Don't be a square.

At this point, she asks Agatha if she's sure the culprit ran by here. Agatha wants to keep it a secret, but Bobby brings out the best of her ghostly charms:

: "Please tell us your secrets, Agathaaa!!"



"... Well, a frog told me."

: "A frog! Where?!"

: "A frog."

She can't believe it.

: "Yes, I'm a witch! Frogs and stuff can talk to me, okay? He told me he saw a suspicious band of people head into the graveyard carrying something heavy. It had to be the culprits running away with the things from the village."

: "A frog."

If these guys had more than one portrait, I can imagine Delila making the most "" face at this.

: "Are you really going to dwell on that part of all this?"

: "No, that would just waste more time. Now that you've finally been kind enough to inform me just how crazy you actually are, let's continue."

Sick burn on your best friend, jeez... though to be fair, she's not wrong? It just flies over Agatha's head here.

: "That's the spirit! We have to get this stuff back before midnight! Halloween is tomorrow."

: "Yes. Bobby, we'll leave you behind if you don't keep up."



: "Let's check around. They should have a secret tunnel around here."

: "Your imagination is getting the better of you."



And with that, we can finally move!

While it's very tempting to go and fight that little blob fella, he's plot progression. I feel there's quite a bit to do here before we move on.



First of all, opening the menu will take us to this neat screen of all the characters and their stats. A major thing in this game is that there is no experience or levels - what you see is what you get, and you do a fixed amount of damage throughout.

I'll explain what these attacks do and what the peculiar letters at the top of the screen signify, but not right now. I will say that the art perfectly compliments the feeling this game is trying to go for.



"I wonder what really happened?"

Creator cameo #1 and I gotta say, that's pretty funny.



"What kind of a name is that?!"

Creator cameo#2 and... yeah, I have to agree.

Imagine if your screen name was your real name. Rainbow Chara X would be a mouthful to say in casual conversation.



"That's... really very sad."

I would have said they were being a baby, but that's just me.



When you really think about it, gravestones are really just the VIP seats for the dead.



"Somehow, reading this fills me with a heavy sadness I can't seem to fully understand."

Booo.



"Death is not a threat, says a tombstone."

Oh, what a silly game.

... Not gonna lie, that's a pretty clever way to explain a game mechanic. You can retry fights if you lose and I can appreciate that.

There were more around here like "you should have paid me back that money" or "rest in peace, my coffee maker" to which Agatha's like "this isn't a junkyard", but I think that's enough fooling around.



: "Nothing!"

: "Nothing at all!"

They're all adorable, even if the last one has his eyes drooping out of his... body??

: "Well, that's not suspicious in the least."

: "They're really cute!"

See, I'm not the only one who thinks so.

: "Now listen here, you three little blobs. One of you is going to tell us if you saw anyone suspicious in the graveyard tonight or my boot's going to make a mold in your faces!"

Your negotiation skills are amazing.





"Besides, without our important items, fighting them could be dangerous. They appear to be a well-balanced team."

: "Not as well balanced as I'll be when I dance on their slimy heads."

: "It's like you don't even listen to me."

I love how Delila is there to ground Agatha back to reality, but she's too impulsive to actually pay attention.

: "I'm listening, Delila!"

: "Thank you."

So instead, Bobby's the one to give her some relief. She is a sweetie.

: "Ugh! Fine, enlighten me on why we should be so careful."



I'll fill in this job if you don't mind me. So one of the most intriguing parts of Halloween Flop is its combat system, which is almost like a puzzle game due to the lack of experience and gold - in fact, the only equipment we'll gain are the items that we have to get back.

It has three classes that define the basic rules of combat: Astral, Magical and Undead.

Astral characters have no corporeal body and cannot be harmed by undead, which in this case is the physical class. On the other hand, they take double damage from magic attacks.

They have no magic meter, so every attack they use up eats a small bit of their health. That's not an issue because they can regenerate their health on command. They're more useful for healing than anything else.

Undead are pure physical brawlers and generally hit like trucks - they use up blood points for attacks which can also return if they get damaged.

Magical characters are tricky in that they're also an offensive class and can cripple Astral characters with debuffs, but crumble against Undead.

All in all, it basically goes like this: Undead > Magical > Astral.



It's pretty easy to understand and it makes this game far more interesting because of it.



The slimes admit that they're blocking something and this aggroes Agatha, so you know what time it is.



[Current OST: Boss Beat]

The battle screen in this looks slick. Not only do you have these rad portraits for the main three (Delila's eyes are gorgeous) but you also have the HP/MP bars for enemies to track your progress.

This is honestly really cool and I kinda want to see it in a longer game, but oh well. (I should mention that I'm also making my own game in this same engine, but it'll take quite a bit before I can even push a demo out.)



Much like what Delila said, the slime boys here are a pretty balanced team... they're still pretty easy, though.

That doesn't mean you can just be lazy and spam attacks - you will have to know how the game's battle system works to get anywhere, but they shouldn't be a real threat.



Agatha has fire magic, can double her magic power by swallowing pills (gee, looks like Monster Party worked after all), can stun Astral enemies and can even make Astral enemies corporeal for Delila to attack.

Delila is the muscle of our team in that she can drain blood, scratch enemies to make them bleed (although how she managed to make a slime bleed, I'll never know) or even pull off an Alucard for her ultimate attack.

Bobby is the healer. She can cure the others for a small amount of HP, revive them (which will be useful later on), auto-life herself or use a jack-in-the-box for some damage. I kinda wish she had more to her arsenal aside from one damaging move, but a medic that can serve as good offense is kind of a luxury, not a right.



I see what you did there, you cheeky devils.

I know it's hard to see, but that does a whopping 80 damage. Given how most enemies in this game will have 100 health, that's... quite the attack.

I mean, it's only that strong because Magic Slime is weak to it, but come on.



Get this: Bobby killed another ghost by scaring them with a jack-in-the-box.





When you beat an enemy, they have a little quote before they disappear. The slimes just repeat this same one and the ones after this aren't too interesting, but they're still a nice touch.



The main trio can regenerate their MP (or HP in Bobby's case) whenever they want, so you should never get stuck without an attack.



Oh yes, these little guys are called Huey, Dewey and Louie.

... So did Donald Duck's nephews get turned into slimes or what? References are weird.



She gets one point of health back for this, funnily enough. Slimes must not taste very good.



We did it! That was pretty easy.

I should mention that you regain HP and MP whenever you finish a fight, so don't worry if you get destroyed in a fight. All that really matters is that someone's still standing.



That's... a peculiar metaphor, but okay.

: "It's a hole!"

: "Look who is always right. Come on, we're on a time limit. Time to start putting your trust in Agatha the witch!"

Oh boy, we're never going to hear the end of this one.

The slimes dropped also a key when we beat them, but why?



Ah. Well, in any case, let's go down the incredibly suspicious hole.



: "Looks like that first way is blocked, though. Bobby, can't you phase through and see what is there?"

This would normally be smart, but...

: "Noo! I'm not leaving you guys!"

: "Guess splitting up to check out the other three paths is a no-go then, huh?"

Actually, I don't think splitting up is ever a good idea.

: "Nooo!!"

: "It's a terrible idea anyway. I'll remind you as many times as I need to that we are in a weakened state right now. If we were to separate, we'd be as good as dead."

Dracula Mom knows what she's talking about, listen to her.

: "Some of us are already dead..."



: "Agatha, that's quite enough of that."

Yeah, don't pick on poor old Bobby, you swine.

: "Ugh! Whatever then! You two can have it your way again!"

: "Coming here was your idea, so don't give me that."

: "Yeah, and I was totally right about that."

I dunno if you noticed but Agatha is kind of a brat.

: "So we are sticking together, right?"

: "Yeah."

: "Hurrah!"



They mention how the door has four locks, so not only do we have to get our items back, we also have to score some more keys. I'm down with that.



: "They look delicious!"

I couldn't help but slip that one in.

It's interesting to note that this is actually a common event (aka. the text doesn't come from the actual carrot) that the devs used - I assume it was to save time due to the schedule this game was on, but I dunno.



There's one down, but I have a feeling the other keys will be harder to get.



: "Hi! I'm Bobby!"

Polar opposites in terms of personality, I swear.

: [Ellipses]

The mummy man?

: "Hi! Nice to meetcha, Bobby. You three aren't going after our leader, are you?"

He's so polite for a dead guy.

: "Hahahahahahaha"

... This guy's just a floating severed head. I would make a Snakewood joke, but I'd rather keep that away from this.



: "Ohhhhhheeeyeeeahahh"

He also can't seem to speak in coherent sentences.... I can't really blame him.

: [Ellipses again]

: "Yup! He sure was!"

Not much for staying quiet, huh?

: "Then yes, we sure are."

: "!!!"

: "Heeeyeyaargh"

These guys are a riot.

: "But I don't get understand. You guys are monsters too. Why would you help orchestrate an attack on Hallow's Eve? On the day before Halloween too."



: [Ellipses yet again]

: "Yeeahaha"

: "So, when we heard that this would also stop Halloween, we knew we were on the right plan. That's why I'm afraid we're going to have to stop you."

Noble intentions, but god damn, guys. That's pretty cutthroat.

: "Baaaacooon!"

Ah, cause his wrappings look like...

This game made me hungry.

: "Lettuce!"

: "Tomaaatomaatooo"

: "Unite! BLT, Attack!"

Oh snap, it's like that now? Bring it on!



Agatha pops some pills to turn into a gargoyle alien double her magic strength, although the downside is that she'll be burning more MP to compensate.

The BLT Crew is all Undead-type and damn, they hurt. They're some of the burliest enemies in the game, but they have one fatal weakness.



Bobby's Jack in the Box attack is randomized, actually. Sometimes she does damage or... she could actually heal the opponent instead.

It's just as unreliable as Present from Pokemon and I don't like how it's her only real attack until we get her candle back.





These boys meant business - they started with a 30 damage attack that hit over three times! Agatha being weak to Undead attacks meant she got totaled and even Delila suffered a bit over it.

Bobby, though? She's just fine.



This is where Bobby shines - her resurrection ability doesn't just bring you back, it puts you in an astral state. This is essential to winning the fight because the BLT Crew are all physical.

It seems real imposing at first until you realize this fight is un-losable as long as Bobby is still healthy.



They would be pretty dangerous otherwise... also, Lettuce pulls a Titanic reference out of nowhere to attack us with.

Bacon can make you skip a turn, so that's fun to deal with.



Tomato the Floating Severed Head kills Delila by munching on her face. That sounds... pleasant.




But hey, Bobby allows her to repay the favor.

The Astral state doesn't last forever, so you better hurry and finish these guys off.



Sorry, Lettuce. You were a cool guy, but you also tried to stop us from saving Halloween. That's a capital offense in my book.

You could have been a good sandwich, but you went rotten. (I swear to god if that's the joke of them being undead, that's... actually really clever.)



: "Truly unfortunate. Perhaps they have learned a lesson here tonight."

: "I hope so. They seemed really nice."

Yeah, they seemed like a fun group. They also dropped the second key! I'll be taking that, thank you.



Going up takes us to... another vampire?



: "Delila! How wonderful to see you again. It has been ever such a long time since we last talked."

: "Not quite long enough, mind you."

: "Who's this douche?"

Oh no, is this Delila's ex? Awkward.

: "Hey! Don't be calling my man a douche, girl. Don't make me Moss-12 your head in."

God damn, werewolf man's packing! (The shotgun he's talking about is from Uncharted, by the way.)

: "Nathanael, please. My name, fair lady, is Eduardo. As you can tell, I am a vampire like your beautiful friend, Delila. Although, a while back I gave up on my powers."



: "Ew! No, it's not. It sucks, sucking blood sucks. It's disgusting. I was so happy to be rid of that. I was not happy that it also meant losing you by my side, Delila."

To be honest, I have to agree with him. It's kiiiinda inducing.

: "Wait... You guys used to date?"

: "Regrettably so."

I don't think she gave him up because he stopped being a vampire, just sayin'.

: "Delila, my dear, I am in deep regret that we used to date as well. The world would be made a better place if it were that we still were dating."

The over-dramatic way he speaks is hard on my tongue, jeez. Delila has none of this because she doesn't even give him a response, just ellipses.

: "My love, follow my path of righteousness. Give up your powers and drinking blood and be with me. I promise you, it is a kinder world. I will treat you as a goddess! Our love can be rekindled for the world to see!"

: "Eduardo."

: "Yes, my love?"



Awww shit. Now you messed up.

: "What? Oh, this!"

[He twirls around]

: "It smells just like you, Delila."

: "Eww."

"Eww" is right, holy hell.

That's stalker territory.

: "Hooooo shiiii--"

: "Delila does smell nice, doesn't she?"

The game always stops Agatha from swearing while the stalker aspect of this completely flies over Bobby's head, the little angel.

: "Now there is a woman who can understand me! Bobby, was it?"

: "I understand you Eduardo. Please marry me. I love you. Eduardo."

That's not Bobby.

: "How would you like to be by my side, Bobby dear?"

: "Uhhh... that's really okay. Thanks for the offer though."

He sure is faithful if he swaps between women at the drop of a hat.

: "Okay! Can we beat this loser up already? I'm sick of hearing him talk."

Yeah, me too. This is all good dialogue, but there's just so much of it that I have to summarize.

Delila asks him where he got her cape and he mentions that he took it from her. She responds with: "I would have heard your twinkling miles away" which is not only a damn good burn, but it also reveals to me that he's one giant Twilight reference.

I... kinda expected that.



He mentions that someone is employing him and his two friends (Werewolf Man Nathaneal and Not-Bobby) and that they're all in on the plan of destroying Halloween.



: "Bobby! Stop cutting me off."

: "Eduardo, I'm sorry, but we're going to have to rearrange your smug face."

Oh hell yeah.

: "My face! No! Just try it, bloodsucker!"

: "Yes! Time to break out the big guns!"



[Current OST: Dracula]

I assume the song is from a Castlevania game, but I can't pin it down exactly. Nathaneal is my favorite character of this bunch even though they're all glorified Twilight homages.



The ghost on the right is called Swanhilda (ha) and while she's easily the least dangerous of the group due to being an Astral type, she can heal the other two.

Gotta shoot the medic first, am I right?



Nathaneal, on the other hand, is pure brute force as he just decides to shoot everyone down - and keep in mind these are magic bullets that can hit Bobby too.

If Bobby ever goes down in a fight without Back Up (her self-target auto-life move), you're kinda screwed because her healing is almost required to win. Be prepared, essentially.



Swanhilda's down. I would put in a "notice me senpai" meme here, but I really don't feel like it.



Delila cuts down Werewolf Man and stops him from shooting Bobby in between the eyes. Now that would have been scary.

Eduardo can also blind you with his ~sparkles~. This is a big problem because the Blind status in this game acts as confusion too, so you could actually heal him if Bobby were to use Ghost Touch.

That's pretty crazy.



However, as one final boot up his ass, Delila sucks his blood and that takes the fight.



If I were in her shoes, I'd probably do the same thing. Eugh.

: "You can't! That's your special item. We only ever get one."

: "She knows that, Bo. Come on, let's get going."

: "Maybe in another world we could have been lovers, Eduardo..."

You can tell she's decent where even after getting disgusted by him, she still feels bad for the guy in some capacity. I don't think I could do that.



: "They smell funny."

: "Bobby, that isn't nice."

: "Sorry."

It's the little bits like this that make their relationship so cute.

: "Hohoho, good afternoon, young ladies. In the presence of a king, you should kneel."

: "In the presence of a god, you should kneel."

: "In the presence of your death, you should kneel."

: "Uh..."



My exact reaction. Who the hell are these guys supposed to be?

: "What are these three loser geezers doing in a tunnel under a graveyard?"

Yeah, no really. Maybe they're hobos.

: "We have a mission blessed upon us by the forces above to protect the princess from harm."

: "A princess?"

: "A real princess!"

I can't. Bobby is too cute.

: "Enough chit-chat. Begone, meddling children."

: "Are you three involved in any way with what happened in town today?"

: "Hahahahaha!! Yes! Yes! The terrible children of the night will not stand a chance!"

Do you really want to play with fire like that, bud?

: "Terrible children?! Now you've done it, buster!"

: "Tch, I've never been so insulted. I am hardly terrible."

Yes, how dare you say that to Dracula Mom and Bobby! (And Agatha.)

: "Hostiles... By the golden crown on my head,"

: "By the sweet smells graced by God,"

: "By the sorrow, cries, and blood of the innocents,"

: "We three kings..."

: "... Of Orient are..."

: "... Going to kill you!"

Impressive intro, but are they really up to snuff?



[Current OST: We Three Kings MIDI]

... I find it extremely fascinating how out of everything we reference in this, it's the Three Wise Men from the bible. It doesn't seem to fit, but it does make sense that they would try to destroy Halloween.

Also, not gonna lie, the art for this entire game has been giving me serious flashbacks to Scott Pilgrim. It's not exact, of course, but it has the same feeling.



I start every fight with a magic buff because I really want to get these guys out of the way. They're all magic enemies, so they're ripe for Delila at least.



Bobby sure took a beating from them, though.



... Well then. She didn't just get beaten, she straight-up got exorcised. I don't think we're winning this fight.



Okay, the strange icon on Agatha and Delila is incense. It doubles everyone's strength and stacks with the pills that Agatha already has on, so she can hit for an easy 60 even on enemies that aren't even weak to it.

She was also charmed so... oh, that's not good.



However, I lost because I was being super careless and didn't pay attention to the fact Myrrh is the real damage dealer of the Three Wise Men.

Like no joke, he has an attack that hits everyone and I ignored that. I dunno what to say.



There's Back-Up in action. Not that she'll be particularly useful, but at least she'll draw fire away from the other two.



I don't know what happened, but Agatha's bleeding now. That's a scary status ailment if you think about it too - I dunno, I'm kinda squeamish about that.



"You should bow... to your deaths."

Ooops, I didn't capture that screenshot correctly... but thank the lord he's gone.

Now it's an easy fight.



Agatha + Incense + Pills = Wanton Death Goddess.



Too bad it was only for this fight only.



The Three Wise Men fall like a stack of cards and this time Bobby didn't get poofed! I'd say that was a good fight.



: "Please don't make a habit of it."

You know, I gotta admit. In a different story, Agatha's impulsiveness would be pretty insufferable if it weren't for Delila and Bobby being there to balance her out.

For such a short game, the main trio bounce off each other really well and each interaction with them is fun.

: "They ran away pretty quick."



Excellent.

Bobby says she's scared, but come on. We can take anything as long as I don't muck it up.



: "Snobby? Well, that's insultive and rude. Not to mention, your outburst is highly intrusive. But, I see you noticed my hat. Do you like it?"

Oh, that face. Agatha is not wrong in calling her that.

: "Heck yes, I like that hat because it's mine!"

: "Calm down, Agatha. I think we need to figure out this situation rather than flying off the handle. You there."

: "Me?"

: "Explain to us this instant how you acquired that hat."

: "As a princess, I have no reason to oblige your orders."

Hey, she's the princess lady the Wise Men were talking about. Guess we have to kick her face in too.

: "Princess Pronica, perhaps you could toss them a bone. They seem so pitiful."

This fruit pie is Ashley. He's another vampire and yes, I did say he. I actually didn't know until the game straight up told me it was a dude in the actual fight - he's a bit too bishie for my blood.

Long story short, Pronica hates being called the princess and took Agatha's hat because being a royal isn't her taste. So, she wants to become something else.



Agatha is outraged and apparently, she had a cat friend in that hat ever since she was a baby. No wonder she's pissed - you don't mess with a witch and her cat.

A ghost frog is summoned for some reason and we battle.



[Current OST: Mystery]

I like harpsichord songs and this is a pretty cool one, but I can't pin down where it's from.

Anyway, Pronica and her team are some of the most annoying enemies in the game.



I didn't get to show it off, but Pronica can hide behind her allies to negate all damage. That's such a coward move but damn if it's not effective.



Heleo isn't that much of a threat. He just delays your turn by kissing you, which is super gross because imagine what ghost frog germs are like.



The most difficult thing about this fight is Ashley if I'm going to be real with you. Not only is he a potent damage dealer, he can heal his allies via potions and buff Pronica's magic power.



This really silly sounding attack is Agatha's ultimate, although Pronica gets to use it because she has the hat. Combine this with the buff she just got and christ, I'm surprised this doesn't kill anybody.

I do find it really neat how all the bosses with our trio's items use them in battle against us.




: "Your Majesty!"

: "Don't call me that..."

You barely even made a meal for Delila. So much for being the princess, huh?



Yeah, the rest of this fight was just trying to deal with Ashley.

It really says something about him when he can fight the entire time by himself and still keep his ground.



Ultimately, though, it was an uphill battle. Good job, I guess, but you all just had to croak.





Not only do we get cat(!!), we get the best move in the game.

: "You looked so short without that hat on!"

: "Heh."

: "... Anyway!! That was easy peasy. Let's go home now."

They could have made her lash out for the short joke, but that would have been too easy.

: "Excuse me? We still have to find who is behind this. Not to mention find the rest of the items stolen from town."

: "All the ghosts that lost their candles will vanish if they don't get them back!"

: "And we can't have that."

Delila is more of the main hero than anybody else here and I applaud that.

: "Ugh, I was joking, okay! Geez. Let's keep going."

Yes, "joking".

But yeah, that just leaves us one last path before the final boss.



: "Watch it, punk."

So much for being pretty.

: "We heard about the three of you, and we've been hired to stop you."

Oh my god that face. She's seriously derping out.

: "Woah, woah! Are we famous or something now? Because that's pretty cool."

Some guy puts a hit on you and that's your first thought. Granted, with how strong Agatha is, I don't blame her for not being afraid.

: "Hardly."

: "There's no way you're as famous..."

: "... Or as hot..."

: "... As us."

: "Peter's Angels!"

Excuse me? Is this going where I think it is?



: "Wait! Who is Peter?"

: "Wouldn't you like to know."

: "Too bad you won't get to."

: "Or know anything else ever for that fact."

Sassy, but I don't think you know exactly who you're dealing with.

: "Bring it on!!"



[Current OST: Charlie's Angels theme]

Okay, you gotta admit - for being a blatant reference, this is pretty cool. (It helps that they're not as derpy in the actual battle.)



Peter's Angels are arguably the easiest opponents in the entire game that aren't the slimes due to them being Astral enemies.

Not only that, we just got Agatha's hat back, so... Hahaha.



The interesting thing is that the Angels all have attacks that do double damage regardless of affinity. I looked it up in the actual engine and fittingly enough, the element is called "MURDER".

I adore how each boss has some neat gimmick to their fight that makes them stand out against the others at least.



Too bad for them that I can do this, huh?



The angels can regenerate much like Bobby, but they do it by fixing their hair. Gotta look good when you're kicking people in the face.



If they thought they were hot before, then they haven't seen anything yet.



I decided to mess with the final one by showing off Lockdown. It's kinda moot considering the most dangerous enemy at any given time won't be Astral-type, but hey I felt like it.



Bobby messes up the last one's hair with her Jack in the Box and that breaks the angels apart.



: "...Or as hot..."

: "... As us."

: "Agatha's mix-matched group of monsters!"

Guys, please.

: "Well, that was trite."

Well, you tried... But yeah, I have to agree.

: "Yeah, let's never do that again."

: "Aww, you guys are no fun."

The Angels drop the last key we need and that should be it! However, Delila brings up the middling issue of there still being one missing item - Bobby's candle.

They mull it over and ultimately decide it's up to Agatha.



Come on dude, Bobby's like my favorite character. It'd be a disservice to not help her.



: "I am so proud of you."

: "Kitterkitterkitterkitterkitter"

: "Ahahahahaha!!"

So... a horse man, a skeleton and Bloody Mary. Hang on, lemme just:



There we go.

: "Oh! Is that another ghost over there?"

: "Woah."

: "Woah?"



: "She looks flipping scary. Girl's got blood coming out of everything."

This is the most reasonable Agatha's been all game.

: "Some ghosts are like that, you know? Hey! Hello!"

: "Huh?"

Skeleton friend goes "kitter kitter kitter" which I don't... understand what noise he's making. Is it his bones rattling? Does he need some milk?



: "How do you know my name?!"

: "This candle told me, Bobby. It told me all about you."

... Creepy.

: "That's... that's my candle!"

: "!!"

With this one, Bloody Mary had been confined herself inside of a mirror world to prevent herself from fading away. (Man, what is it with Queen Nehellenia references popping up lately?)

She muses over whether she should give the candle back, but the results are obvious:

: "Why should I care? Should I care?"

: "No."

: "Kitter."



You assholes!

Mary explains that why should she care if people make ghosts out to be evil creatures anyway.

: "You do harm them."

: "I give them what they want, Horse, my man. They want a scare and I provide. I could never leave their mirrors though, but now I can. What a great time I'll have, tearing humans apart with these hands."

Holy shit, we really have to do something about this one. The others were "ehhh whatever", but the person with Bobby's Candle could become a legit serial killer.

: "You were human once too. How can you want to hurt them?"

This falls on deaf ears.

: "Agatha, we have to get that candle back."



: "Huh?"

: "Stop socializing. It's time to kick butt. If you think for one second we're going to let you keep that candle and kill our friend, you can think again. See this fist? It's about to find a place in your face. Metaphorically, because you can't punch ghosts. "

Awww, she really does care! Best friends.

: "SHIIIIIIIREEE!! Let's see you try, you insolent fools!"

: "Oh dear me, a fight."

: "I'll tear out your souls!!"



[Current OST: Deep Red]

[You know, since I don't have that song, let's go with this one instead: Sullied Grace]

This is arguably the most difficult fight outside of the final boss, mostly because there's no real trick to it. You have to hit them with everything you have otherwise you'll suffer.

It helps that this is the most personal fight we've had so far, mostly due to how Bobby's existence is at stake.



Cat In Hat is an invaluable attack for this boss, thanks to Bloody Mary being Astral-type.



Damn! Bloody Mary is the only real offensive Astral enemy in the game aside from possibly the angels, thanks to her having 50 more HP than any other enemy in the game.



Horse's Neck (yes, that's his name) is the least powerful person in this team, surprisingly enough. You'd think with his imposing horned-demon figure he'd be at least a pain, but nah.

He also has an MP recovery move called Ponder that restores exactly 42 MP.





If Bobby didn't have an auto-life spell, that would have been the end of her.



... Good job, Delila, you somehow managed to make a skeleton bleed. Maybe she hit his bone marrow or something, I don't want my brain to hurt.



Somehow, the very act of:



Is enough to kill Bloody Mary for good. Man, whatever, I'm just rolling with it.



Bobby, on the other hand, out-spooks the skeleton and we call it a fight.



: "Huh... But hey--"

: "Hurrah! My candle is back. Thanks so much you two."

Job well done, I'd say.

: "Yeah well, there was really no way we were going to let that bitc-"

Agatha is one salty witch.

: "Bobby, you need to stand up for yourself more often."

: "Haha, yeah. But it's okay because I have you two. And you two are the best."

: "Awww, Bobby."

: "You're also one of the best, Bobby. Don't sell yourself short."


Awwwwww.

This is so sweet.

: "Thanks, Delila!"

: "Heh. I'm feeling a lot better now that we know Bobby's safe."

I'm gonna be honest - this is legitimately one of the most adorable moments I've ever seen.

: "We still need to save everyone else!"

: "That's right. Let's go girls."





We're looking pretty snazzy now that we got our gear back. I also like the attention to detail because even something as small as Bobby's candle or Delila's cape is accurately reflected in the overworld.



After unlocking all the doors, Bobby says that she's still a little scared but at least now she's willing to fight.

I would hope so after all the effort we went through just to get our items back.



Although I had it hovering over "not yet", there's not much else to do. Yeah, we're almost done, folks!

There's not even alternate endings like in KAIMA, although I don't think the guys could have been able to pull that off due to the schedule they were under.

Just what lies beyond the door, though?



[Current OST: Bunny Trail]

This is a nice song, although I wish you guys could hear it.

... But wait, is that really the final boss? A bunny?

: "No surprise there, I suppose. They were all hired under the promise of chocolate. I guess one shouldn't expect useful people to sign up with such a promise. The fact some worthless losers did though is enough for me and proves it was a valid effort. It's foolish to waste money when I can use chocolate poop instead, you know?"

This guy went from being a lame final villain to the most diabolical of all. Chocolate poop.

: "Who the heck are you?"

: "Oh sorry, I forgot that children like you wouldn't know who I am. I don't bother wasting my time giving candy out in your little dead Halloween land. Seriously, you guys have enough candy and chocolate without me."



I know he's a cute little rabbit fella, but wow what a pompous prick.

: "You're the Easter Bunny!"

... The Easter Bunny being the main villain of a Halloween game is something I should have expected, to be honest.

: "You could say that."

: "Before I was born, back when I was human, I used to get chocolates from you."

In the context of what he just said before, that uh... yeah.

: "Yes, well, that is the sort of business I run. Though you didn't get chocolate from me,
stupid kid. You got it from your parents."

You know, he's kind of a hipster bunny if you look at him close enough.

: "Oh... People at school would tell me that sometimes."

: "Those people were smart people, unless they claim I don't exist, because as you can see, that's simply not true."

: "Okay, so we know who you are, but what does that have to do with any of this?"

Delila is this close to just punting him already.

: "Yeah! Why did you take all of the items of all the residents of Hallow's Eve?"

: "Ahaha! I guess that is a thing you guys would want to know. I'm not wasting my breath on you though. Giblet."

: "Y-yeah?"

Oh wow, he even has his own zombie bunny servant for... some reason. I feel kinda bad for Giblet.

: "Please explain to these children just what I hope to accomplish with my seemingly random plot."

Allow me to do that, your grand douchiness.



So... Ultimately, he wants to destroy Halloween because his Easter organization isn't making as much money. He can't touch Christmas because he knows Santa would pile-drive him into the snow, but considers Halloween free game because apparently, when you take a ghoul's ability to scare aka. depowering them, people will lose interest in Halloween.

Therefore he will gain more money on Easter because of candy.

Forgive me for saying this, but this is a pretty hare-brained master plan.

This absolutely baffles Agatha and crew because he's really going to destroy Halloween just for profit.

: "Indeed, money has no heart. However, it does have the ability to purchase hearts. Therefore, just as good."



: "Yeah!"

: "I agree. What you are doing is wrong."

Peter scoffs it off and says that he left his ability to care in another suit. To quote Delila here: "You have messed with the wrong group of people, Mr. Barnes."

Because you know she's going to rip him apart with Baskerville.

: "Delila's right! You wreck our family, you have another thing coming."

: "Holidays have nothing to do with money or profit! They're about celebrating a good time."

Bobby speaks the truth. I mean, I wouldn't be doing this let's play if I didn't care about Halloween.

: "Pft. You can preach to me all you want. I don't care what a bunch of children have to say. If you want your stuff back so bad, then beat me in a fight."

: "Are... are sure this, Peter?"

: "Of course I'm sure. I'm set in my ways and if they are going to stand in those ways, then I'll set them aside. Violently."

It's your funeral, buddy.



: "This is the end for you."

: "Just try it."



[Current OST: Rondo]

Final boss alarm

This song is cool too, but I have zero idea where it's supposed to be from.

... You know, since Peter's crazy for money, how about we have this song instead?



Peter has the highest amount of HP out of any of the characters, standing at a whopping 200. Giblet and Vani (misspelled as Vina) are largely support because all the pain comes from Peter.

Now that Bobby has her candle back though, Agatha has some back-up for magic attacks.



... So a Navi knockoff is helping Peter destroy Halloween. This is some weird fanfiction.



Every bit counts because again, the dude is ridiculous. He even has his own super attack in the form of the True Carrot Blade, a 30 damage MURDER-type attack that hits everyone... so yeeesh.



He can also inflict the Recession status effect on you, hilariously enough.

Despite how it sounds, it's actually a move that cuts your attack in half... so I'm really glad he hit Bobby with it because she's still our designated healer.



Oh my god, we're going to die.



"Later she sues the game creators for not even giving her a face picture for this moment."



That's actually pretty funny.



Well then. Rest in peace again, Bobby...?

Oh hell.



We put Giblet out of his misery at least. Can't imagine how bad his life must have been if he had to work for Peter.



At this point I was sweating because we're down our only healer and we're fighting a bunny man with a straight-edge sharp enough to kill Agatha in one hit.



... But Delila manages to save the day and Halloween as a whole despite being blinded.

Dracula Mom is our savior.



: "We did it."

: "We wooooon!!"



That's what you get.

: "Now you have to give back everything you stole. It's over for you, Easter Bunny."

: "We're sorry we hurt you, but you didn't really give us a choice."

I'm surprised Bobby can still be nice after everything that just happened.

: "Feh. Fine. You girls have won. Giblet, return the items to their owners. Oh, and please stop following me."



[Giblet falls over]

I guess he served his purpose.

: "Wait, that's it? Aren't you going to monologue passionately about how we made you see the light through the power of friendship?"

: "No."

: "That's bull."

I mean... he's a corrupt business tycoon. What were you expecting, my dude?

: "A hopeless case. More importantly, however, I hope you HAVE learned to leave Halloween and the residents of Hallow's Eve alone."

: "For now. I have an important meeting withthe Cadbury Bunny to attend though. Discussing branching sales outside of the Easter period. This scheme was just a tiny one of many. Don't think you've seen the last of me or my prowess."

I'm surprised he still has the gusto to go with another plan after the whupping we just gave him. For as much of a prick he is, he does have endurance.

[Peter walks off]



: "That guy is insufferable."

Yeah, you're telling me.

: "More importantly, he's gone now."

But hey, Halloween is saved!

: "Wow, I can't believe that guy! He's such a fluffy cute bunny on the outside..."

: "But an absolute jerk."

: "Yeah. So, we did it! Aren't you both excited?"

: "Yes!"

: "Quite so. We did good work tonight, my friends. Shall we head back? We still need to prepare for Halloween."

: "And make sure that that Giblet fellow over there gives everyone their stuff back."

I would hope so. We didn't beat him and Peter up for nothing.

: "So, I thought of something super scary for this year."



[The screen gradually fades to black here as the characters are talking]

: "Bo and I dress up as Eduardo outside of your window."

Now that would be a nasty prank.

: "Don't even joke about that."

: "That sounds fun, haha!"

: "Perhaps I shall pose as Bloody Mary in your mirror then, Bobby?"

: "No! Wait, I was joking. Please don't, Delila."

: "Ahaha, that's a great idea!"

: "Noo!"

Oh, these wacky kids.



And that's the end of Halloween Flop, folks! It sure was a loaded game in terms of text, but damn if it's not charming. The main characters especially were a great trio - Bobby's kindness, Agatha's headstrong nature and Delila's cool balanced them out really well.

Plus, I love how they genuinely care about each other through thick and thin. That's not to say the other characters weren't neat, of course. Bloody Mary is still like the best boss due to how much was at stake, but I kinda hate that she's optional?

It's strange when you remember that if Bobby doesn't have her candle, she will fade away. That's just a cruel fate for someone as bubbly as her. I guess I should be glad we didn't get a sad ending, but oh well.

The battle system was super cool and the art was nice (barring some derpy portraits). The only real kinks I can think of are how Astral enemies aren't really super-effective against Undead types, but that's about it.

(Also, while I was shuffling through the game files to make portraits for the LP, I found these far more detailed portraits of our main cast with their respective items. I dunno when they were supposed to be used, but have them anyway:

)

All in all, a fun, well-balanced Halloween game that deserves a 90/100 (Excellent). It knew what it wanted to do and I'm happy I was able to play it.

Next time on the Halloween-a-thon, though, we'll be meeting a familiar face with some new paint. See you then.