CHAPTER 6: EXTUS PART 1

CHAPTER 6 PART 1

In the brief instant before the transition between Entropy and Extus, I was hoping that I would get Godzilla and Angurius back. As the board appeared, I saw that my wish was half granted: I had Godzilla back, but no Anguirus. I would have preferred both, but despite Anguirus's neat abilities I would have chosen Godzilla if I had to pick between the two.



Extus had two different colored temples, white and pink. A pyramid, what looked like some modern buildings, and two other icons I couldn't figure out at the time. The new bosses were Kumonga, Gorosaurus, and Not-Ghidorah, (whom I was dreading to see, let alone fight.)

With Godzilla back, I was excited again and eager to explore, yet still cautious. I went to the Quiz level first, just as before. This time, Face's questions were more random than ever;

Quiz 3

1. Do elephants breathe?

Answer: Yes, Reaction: Weird Face #2

2. Have you ever been molested by a family member?

Answer: No, Reaction: Weird Face #6

3. Have you ever raped anyone?

Answer: No, Reaction: Weird Face #8

4. Is green your favorite color?

Answer: No, Reaction: Weird Face #10

5. Is the computer the pinnacle of modern technology?

Answer: Yes, Reaction: Weird Face #4

6. Are you a tough guy?

Answer: Yes, Reaction: Weird Face #12

7. Can you fly?

Answer No, Reaction: Weird Face #9

8. Can you stand on your head?

Answer: Yes, Reaction: Weird Face #7

9. Do you hate raccoons?

Answer: No, Reaction: Confused

10. Do you feel blame?

Answer: No, Reaction: Weird Face #11

11. Would you like a new monster?

Answer: Yes, Reaction: Surprised

12. Will you miss me?

Answer: Yes, Reaction: Sad

I was happy that I was getting a new monster, but that last question bothered me. "Will you miss me?"



"Is Face referring to when I finish the game?" I thought. Since the revelation of the game's truly otherworldly nature, I wasn't sure what to think of Face, or anything else in the game. But something about that last statement gave me a genuine feeling of sadness from Face.

As I was thinking about this, the game had gone back to the board. I had a new monster, but I had no idea who it was supposed to be.



The sprite had a slight resemblance to Rodan, but the head was totally off. I moved this mysterious newcomer to a White Temple icon and started the level. When I started the level, this screen appeared with the text "FIND THE GEM". Presumably instructions for beating the level.



After that I got my first look at my new playable monster: A hairy, dark blue creature with bat wings and a skull-like face named "Solomon".



And I also found that my path was blocked by a beam of light, and a small pillar with a plate on it. I figured that this beam of light was blocking the exit, so I have to find the gem and drop it on the plate to deactivate the beam.

How exactly I was going to do that, I didn't know. There wasn't anything in the original game requiring you to find an item to beat a level. I'd have to find out when I obtained the gem. The only direction I had to go was left, so on I proceeded.

Solomon was an interesting monster, to say the least. He was capable of both flight and a heat beam, both of which proved to be very useful. He also could kick and slash with his wings, but he couldn't duck.

The White Temple's music was a vocalizing choir, or a videogame approximation of such. It's hard to describe but it had a very "holy" sound to it.



It wasn't long before I started running into waves of strange new enemies.
They did little to stop me, I ran past them while slashing and didn't take any damage.

There was a "pause" between each wave of enemies, after you had killed about 10, there wouldn't be any for about a minute, then the next wave would appear. After 5 minutes, I noticed holes in the floor and ceiling:



Guillotine mouthed creatures were rapidly flying up and down these crevices, so I had to time my jumps carefully, because I didn't know if I'd get another shot at this. Luckily I managed to get through without a scratch. I'm just lucky, I guess.



After that I found myself at the end of the hallway, facing some kind of mini-boss monster. It moved fast and had some kind of projectile that it shot in 4 directions, but I killed it quite easily using Solomon's heat beam. When the battle was over I had my gem, which was inside the creature's head:



I found that I could pick up and hold the gem by walking over to it and holding down B. I made the long trek back to the start, deposited the gem on the plate, which deactivated the beam.



I left the stage, and was shown what was probably the strangest quirk relating to the "Solomon" monster.



Every time you complete a stage or defeat a boss with Solomon, this screen appears. I have no idea what "STILL THE BEST 1973" means. Neither the date nor the phrase has any meaning or significance to me that I can think of, and I've spent a lot of time thinking about it.

The next level I played was one that I call "Bronze Pyramids". I used Godzilla, and found he had been leveled up to 12 since I last played as him in Dementia.



The Bronze Pyramids were fairly normal as far as these levels go, but the visuals were quite interesting, almost unusually colorful and lively. The music had a fittingly Egyptian style to it, it was slow and mysterious sounding.

I strolled through the level fighting off the various enemies, none were too difficult (although the ants could be a pain if you ran into too many at once). My favorite enemy was this giant reptile I encountered halfway through;



At the end of the level I came to a giant pyramid and I engaged in yet another mini-boss fight. Although this was one was a bit different, because I had to fight two of these monsters at the same time.







Individually, I could have dealt with them easily, but fighting both of them at once was challenging. But I sped things up by tricking one of the twin beasts into barbecuing his brother by jumping when he uses his flame breath:



After defeating the twin monsters, I noticed something strange after returning to the board: I was now able to move my monster piece anywhere on the board, without limits. Normally Godzilla could only move 3 spaces each turn, and Mothra could move 5.

I wanted to try out Solomon some more, so I moved his piece over to one of the brown pillar looking icons with colored dots and started the level.



When I got to the level, I then realized what the level icon represented: Totem Poles. I was greeted by two of them right at the beginning. The music had a Native American sound to it. It seemed to be using the same instruments as the Entropy Forest, it was noticeably different but just as foreboding.



I walked around for 3 minutes with nothing else in sight besides the totem poles. I didn't realize it until then, but I wasn't expecting another level with nothing "alive" in it, after all the activity in Entropy. Walking by all those multicolored faces, this unnerving level left me feeling like I was being watched.