Star Cruiser (X68000) - Cleaning Up The Galaxy For Not Much Profit

It turns out I was supposed to go to Colony 2, not Station 2, as there's no Station 2. There's no Colony 1 here either, but that's okay. No random encounters, even though at one point I'm right on top of an enemy pixel on the map. The local shop has some H-bullets, which sound powerful. Unfortunately, my ship needs to be remodeled before I can use it. I get it and a Gravity Gun 1 anyway, since the second I upgrade my ship it can be improved.

Right, since the Meister isn't in town, I just have to...check the dungeon. That doesn't exist. I'm supposed to have tone to Station 2 back in Sol, wasn't I? Well, it's an excuse to get some money, since the Gravity Catapult here is all the way down from Rigel Kent A. I take a short stop at Fantasia, which is currently too dangerous to enter. I need a reason to do so, which I obviously lack at this moment.

The Catapult deposits me on Saturn. Finally getting back to Sol, I can get my funds back up from a little dealing with the local pirates, and find my way to Station 2. Which was my stop between Mars and Venus back when I was going around here regularly. It's nice taking things a bit slower and just clearing out the randoms, brings my money back up to where it was before I started getting charged for traveling between stars.

Now that I'm actually paying attention to Station 2, there's not a lot here. Just the refueling station and a bar. The bar tells me a rumor about something in the orbit of Saturn, which I heard earlier. There are some trees here, so I try what I did on Mars, move some trees because something is hidden behind them. This doesn't work, but next up I check the walls...and find a cache of fuel. Okay, what gives? A wrong statement on where to go next or I got it wrong at some point? Maybe...maybe I should head to Station 4, where the enemies I couldn't really fight were? No.

After an embarrassing amount of time, I find out that I was supposed to head to Axis 2. Because the full name is Axis Station 2, a fact which is not mentioned anywhere but the station itself. Last time the bar wasn't open, but now it is, and apparently it's glorious even if it looks the same as every other bar. Come to think of it, are those bottles of wine next to the giant keg? They look like dynamite. After Brian finishes discussing the quality of the joint with the lady bartender, a blond man comes in looking for a hiding place. He doesn't say who's after him, but the portrait of the guy who comes in asking for him looks like a VOID commander. Brian picks a fight with them.

After taking out the four guys, yes, that was difficult to deal with, I reenter the bar. The guy is someone who sells information, and seems to have underestimated how valuable his latest bit is. He doesn't offer the information though, but does tell me his name is Max Todd and that he's in the Sirius system. Well, now I just have to find where the Meister is.

It's one with the portrait of the apprentices, who doesn't even pretend Brian is worth his time before getting the card. I can get my ship upgraded for the steep price of $3000. Since I just dealt with the issue at the bar, the ship is upgraded in a snap. Now I can use the Gravity Gun 1, but not the missiles, oddly enough. Diana then calls me and tells me to meet her at the bar on Colony 2. A short jaunt left from Axis Station 2 later...

Thanks to their successes elsewhere, VOID has been able to build a base on Fantasia's moon, Unicorn. Another terrorist organization, White Wolves is involved somehow. Their concern there are alien ruins, where they've found something special. Interesting. Diana suggests bringing good equipment. Well, I think I've got the best I can get for now. Off to Fantasia.
 

The dungeon on Fantasia is dead simple. So simple that it fails to occur to me that it might be a trap until I reach the boss. Uh-oh. He informs me that the White Wolves are already taking action, but after Brian asks, he says he'll refrain from cliches and just kill me...or have his underlings kill me, because he leaves and I'm teleported to a place I need to go through before going back to my ship.

This place is now thick with dozens of groups of two, who, while they don't take that much damage, do move around a lot, and while I'm being reasonably efficient, I'm still getting worn down. Both in-game and physically. You'd think after the thousandth guy I'd be better at this, but I'm constantly making mistakes against this one group which I should be able to get around by now. Enough that despite the odd 5000 recharge, I still run out of fuel long before getting back to my ship. So, I reload and try to do things more efficiently, starting with clearing out the area before the teleport, going out for a recharge, then going through the rest of the area.

And it's still too much. It doesn't help that there are various dead ends and multiple paths, which, while normally pretty cool, are here a trick to make you lose energy. If I'm at my best, I'm getting five guys a tank, if they're getting shots on me or I'm wasting my shots, it can get down to three. It's mostly the former, because recharging shields costs a lot. Some of these are me getting too focused on one guy, but in some cases it's me being too close and having zero chance of getting away.

I make it through the third time by sheer accident. Lo and behold, I get nothing for making it through but a call from Joshua. VOID has attacked a weapons research lab on Metal Dune in Sirius. Better get there fast. I'm sure I have the ability to recharge first, but I head to the Catapult first, deciding that I can recharge there. This game hasn't been that cruel. Joshua meets me at the Catapult, and gives me the pass to Sirius and $8000. Now that makes...well, it doesn't make up for the frustration, but it's nice.

The Catapult deposits me on Atlantis, nice name for a planet, where I meet Gede. Who I at first confuse for Max Todd, but turns out to be a hunter I met back in the Solar System, when I had to find evidence to free Masashi Clark, the head of the newly formed Hunter Guild. He's been working for the feds lately, and when I need some information, he'll give me a freebie. Not counting towards that is him mentioning that Daniel has been acting strange lately. Foreshadowing that he's been replaced by a VOID member, or just depressed? I explore the town and recharge, getting an Analyzer 2 I can't yet use.

Like Rigel Kent, Sirius is a two star system with fewer ships wandering around. Unfortunately, this system really likes the Z axis. Enemy ships tend to fly away rather than toward me, but hey, $800 a pop is a sweet deal. I'll just clear all of them out around Metal Dune, avoid all the asteroids, then go there to recharge my energy before...

Oh, it's another dungeon. Oh, good, it's the exact fight against an enemy which takes just a few shots more. Just as I fear I'm through another tedious set of fights with the odd trip back to a place with a recharge station, I spot change; More variety in enemies and buildings. It's not always easier, but the variety doesn't drive me to tears and I can go back to the town and get a recharge. Sure, there's an interior area, and when I leave it the enemies just outside it respawn, but otherwise everything's okay.

I return after getting a recharge and find that the entire place has respawned. Fortunately, while I was clearing the place out, I also noticed that there was a second path leading to a different area. This leads to a bunch of one-way paths and annoying fights, but I should be able to easily get out. If not, I can reload. It's annoying, but I'm starting to suspect that's going to be this last part of the game.

Then, I meet this guy, and he says he's going to overload the nuclear reactor. Okay, fine...wait, a timer? That's not going down once a second, that's going down fast. Even during the fights. I start worrying, because this sounds like it's going to be one tight timer...until I realize that all the enemies are gone. I just need to find the right switch for this door, then return and enter it to stop the meltdown.

Diana calls me. Sure, why not? At least it's stopping the timer. The way out is trapped, so we need to stop the meltdown. Or rather, she will, Brian can focus on hostages. Since there's nothing stopping me but my own navigational skills, this is rather straight-forward. The hostages, as it turns out...are the plant workers, and they stop the meltdown. The terrorists here were the White Wolves, and they fled to Margarita. Diana calls again, relaying that the traps are gone, and while she'd love to come with to Margarita, she needs to deal with the remains of VOID there.

As I'm getting out of the plant, Joshua calls me. To give me $5000. Kind of small for saving an entire city, but at this point I don't need money. Brian tells him where he's headed and to ask Diana for the details. Joshua then tells me that Diana actually defected to VOID, which Brian responses with disbelief. He followed Brian into Sirius, but most of his troops were killed. I don't remember if there was a traitor, but at this point, I'd be surprised if it was Diana, since...you know, we'd be dead if it wasn't for her. What other option is there? Daniel? Gede?

Margarita is surprisingly ungreen for a planet named after a famously green drink. Sure, the ground in the town is, but the planet's blue and red from the exterior. In the bar, I meet Masashi again. Brian asks for any info he has on the White Wolves, and he asks for money to jog his memory. I'd be offended if there was a chance of running out of money. He tells me to head to planet Hollywood and find Gaby Todd, who is likely Max Todd's sister.

Hollywood is on the other side of the star I was around, so I take a small detour to Dry Canyon, taking out a few hostile ships on the way. Some of them are now worth $1000, but they also are hard as heck to actually target. That radar can be hard to read. Here, in addition to a shop selling a Radar 2 and a recharge station, there's a random house I can enter and a Meister. Who is currently servicing Max Todd's ship. Todd tells me to go to his sister, while I get the Meister to upgrade my ship ahead of schedule, even if it is for $8000.

The new radar...uh...I'm not sure what it does, actually. What I do know is that these 1k bounty ships are a pain to fight. Before landing on Dry Canyon I was not aware of the full scope of what these things could do. They turn faster than I do and love to dive and climb. Both of which makes keeping them in your sights extremely difficult. God help you if you get close, because that's just giving them a free hit. For some of them, the amount of time you spend dealing with them isn't worth the payday.

Hollywood is your typical planet at this point. Recharge station, shop and bar. I recharge, pick up a Beam Booster 3, and then head to the bar, where Gaby isn't. The bartender is adamant that he knows nothing about anything. So, there's a secret passage...where my passage is blocked by flying trash cans which shoot at me. I wasn't aware Moraff knew Japanese. I joke, but there's like a dozen of these and some really small guys who are just as annoying to fight, and both seem to slow the game down immensely. There's no pretense of a dungeon, it's just gun down a dozen of these dudes.

Oh, and it gets better. There's a trap afterwards, over a long hallway. Despite how annoying the seven fights were, they were still better than having to recharge your shields twice over unavoidable damage. This opens a gate. A gate to where? I don't know, but the enemies in the hallway have respawned and I'm not happy about that. Especially since it's all of them and I don't have the energy to get back. I'll reload, clear them out the first time, then return later after getting a recharge...and they respawn when I leave. Screw you too game.

Fine, one final push this session. I make it through the first spawn on a bit less than a full tank, with the shield recharge costing me the rest of it. That's just okay enough, because being prepared for the trap means it only costs me one shield recharge this time. I have one tank in reserve and a third of one left for the final trip back. You'd think this would be enough, but the damn trash cans have become some sort of nightmarish game ruining experience where their mere presence is enough to ruin my hopes of getting out. I lose twice.

Aha, you might think, Morpheus, you've forgotten your missiles. Because I did. Turns out that really doesn't matter, because said missiles are only functional as an energy saving measure. They don't home in on enemies, they don't do any special amount of damage. All they do is seemingly act as shots which don't cost me energy. Costly shots, considering they each cost $100 if memory serves. And unless I bought a hundred of them, it wouldn't be enough to get me back out. I'm in the best possible shape I could be right now and the game is still not letting me through. Short of checking every single wall in every single dungeon I've been to for hidden energy tanks, I guess I need to burn all the money I can on missiles and hope that's enough.

But, rather than do that, I decide that this is just putting a bandaid on it. Okay, I'm having trouble with the speed, maybe I change the CPU the system is using? No, because increasing it so that the trash cans can be fought at a reasonable speed, but everything else is too fast. Fine. If there's no real other option, I'll savescum the hell out of this. It seems likely that burning my money on missiles still requires luck on my part and if I need that, screw it. Over a hundred reloads later, and I've done it. No hyperbole. By the time I make it back to the recharge station, I have no shields and 988 energy. Out of 30k possible energy. WITH SAVESCUMMING.

The door it opens is behind another secret passage, because screw you. Brian asks if the lady there is Gaby Todd like we didn't just waste over an hour figuring that one out. She looks like a classic Hollywood star, not quite Marilyn Monroe, but I suspect they used an image of her to start with. She knows where the White Wolves hideout is and it's mine for $3000. I have just gone through something that's seemingly impossible to do without being perfect and now the game expects me to pay for the privilege of getting the next plot development. Genuinely, I wonder if the game would allow me to go through without paying this, just exploring the galaxy. Because going through what I just did was not fun. NOT FUN AT ALL. It's not that I don't have the money or that I couldn't get the money, it's the principle. Of not getting screwed over.

So I decide to screw over the game. You screw me, I screw you at this point. This is very funny. First, she tells me to go to Dry Canyon to get my ship upgraded, fine, whatever. Brian says he already did that. Then she tells him to get a Gravity Gun 1, Beam Booster 3, and a Nuclear Shield. LADY, IF I DIDN'T HAVE THAT I WOULDN'T BE HERE! Then she tells me that the White Wolves HQ is on Gothic, but I should go by Ghost first because there's some ore there I can process into H-bullets. Since I don't have an ore processing device nor know how to get one...I should probably figure that out.

Next time, I'll deal with the White Wolves. Assuming, of course, that this game doesn't give me a brain aneurysm from something even more obnoxious than what I just dealt with. Though you'll have to forgive me if I make a detour to planet Disaronno.

This Session: 5 hours 15 minutes

Total Time: 14 hours 10 minutes