Day 170
6 Monastery
This is the longest level yet.
Nothing will stop me from climbing this mountain. From here it’s a long linear path up into Nyen-de-Kyi-buk monastery. Eric has nobody else to turn to except for the monk, Thod Pa, he briefly met in the very first level who he knows is still in the Monastery because of monk telepathy.
We cover a mountain trail and bridge which soon acts as a tutorial for the new weapon the Kila. It is functionally a long-range railgun compared to the Kartrika’s slower rocket launcher. The game is indicating here that it has much better accuracy at range but an extremely slow recharge time.
The foley is noticeably much better here with the wind + rope bridge. The composer is going all in on the throat singing throughout the level as well. This level feels the most like a proof-of-concept since it gives us a bit of everything. We get mountain trails, temple courtyards, tight interiors, and lots of key hunting and combat. We also get a real sense of promise of the setting now that we are at a much higher altitude but still encountering buildings. There is a point that I remember the game becomes pure mountain and it starts to get quite abstract but at least here we are still grounded in scenic vistas that are contrasted by the architecture.
I think the developers get worried that the player might be bored in this level a lot. It becomes a running theme, the first instance of which is a random rockfall quick time event which is easily dodged.
I really like this reveal of the temple grounds, we enter into a cool-looking building, see it at the top of the stairs, and it opens up into a nice little scene. We also get the customary ghost POV shot but here it’s nice because we still have control, I thought it was a cut scene initially.
Unfortunately, this is where we encounter the first hard crash of the play through. After I defeat some enemies the console completely freezes.
A quick reset brings us back to our first of many key hunts. These usually have us going around the large monastery buildings into every room that has a grey monochrome filter applied to it. When you enter into these ghost dens, the game also applies a very consistent Dutch angle which is now becoming almost comical because of how mechanically precise the angle change is every time. The monastery is pleasant to walk around at least. An abandoned liminal space.
Ganesha masks are our key. Yet more religious paraphernalia that gets reduced to an inventory keychain.
We open the door they unlock and are more formally introduced to the flying ghost enemy. These guys are here to reinforce that the Kila is worth using since they move almost immediately after you fire and they add a little bit of wrinkle with the banishing QTE, now you can’t see the sequence of motion icons until you have to perform them.
As we progress onto the temple, another of many frustrating gimmicks, the incense room, nearly stops the play through.
The setup is that we are locked in a square room with an incense holder in each corner. This particular species of ghost is invisible/invincible except when near smoke so you have to frantically light incense and dispatch the ghosts in the 3 seconds they are visible, all while dodging damage over time. I was thinking about taking a break before the 4th attempt; my hands are still not fully there but they are much better. Luckily, I stunlock both ghosts in the corner and get the banishing QTE off. One of the nunchuk QTEs is starting to become really inconsistent and I feel like it’s a matter of time before the hardware collapses at this rate.
After this we get to the temple proper. We see a vision of Frank who actually calls out to us.
I think this might be first time we’ve actually heard him speak for an extended period. I haven’t mentioned it much but Eric speaks with a distinct Scottish accent while Frank sounds English. I’m not sure if this is an oversight or just a bit of background detail, it’s not infeasible. Just a bit odd, am wondering if they gave Frank less voice-acting thought given how infrequently he speaks aloud so far. The Frank echo is trying to get into the temple but the door’s locked.
This area has a blind corner which stumps me for about 10 minutes before I consult a FAQ and find the right way through. This room with the three windows feels significant somehow, but it isn’t.
Progressing into the Monastery itself we are met with the traditional ‘3-key’ configuration and the game briefly feels like a Zelda dungeon. Systematically working our way through the rooms to find the three ghosts that need banishing.
Because I’ve been playing the game for so long and the console and disc seem to be disintegrating, a background sound (some kind of collision noise?) seems to be looping on top of itself and it creates a sort of tearing noise. It’s literally like the sound of tearing fabric. I don’t remember this from my first playthrough and it quickly becomes clear that it’s a glitch, but it does not go away. Several combat encounters are made more difficult because of the noise. I have to do a full reset to get rid of this as well, but I have to admit that playing the game in the dark with that sound creeping in differently gave it more tension. Kind of an Eternal Darkness feeling.
We finally unlock the inner chamber and fight the temple super ghost. We are rescued by Thod-Pa beating the gong which is functionally equivalent to ghost bleach. All the text logs on this level talk about the difficulty the monks had trying to find ways to get rid of all the ghosts but Thod-Pa has just been manning the gong this whole time.
We get the Lag pa, an unsearchable name for what I think is more commonly known as a ‘Vajra’ ࿇ , a ritual hand for pacifying and destroying demons. This game interprets it as a sort of ghost fishing rod. There is a brief tutorial on how to use it but with no ghosts to use it on. This will become a pain in the arse shortly.
We then meet up with Thod Pa get the longest cutscene in the game which, in very uncharacteristic fashion, unambiguously explains the entire plot thus far. He even apologises for the game being confusing.
It’s a summary of all the things that have been briefly hinted at by previous characters or explaining more detail in the text logs, so I assume this cut scene is basically made for players who probably weren’t paying attention up until this point. Basically he confirms that the whole plot revolves around finding the terma, rather than wait for the scrolls that discuss the terma to be fully translated and studied, Thod Pa tells Bennett (remember him?) a British occultist about it which leads to the expedition that has caused this curse to happen. Although the cut scene dryly explains the plot, it has some moments.
Killer 7 vibes here ^
I had thought this cutscene would be the end of an already quite long level. It is not!
We enter into a relatively cosy feeling section where Thod-Pa says we need to learn from the previous lamas to gain the strength to defeat ghosts as we progress up the mountain. Because the original ritual has not been properly completed by anyone who has trying to ascend the mountain, the next best thing is for Frank to do some accelerated monk training.
We get a free health upgrade from exorcising one of the statues and it’s the first time I realise that the statues give the health upgrades via Jomo Mengmo’s prophecies, a category of text log. I’ve got three of the possible five(?) so far which raises the interesting possibility of a player being completely screwed if you didn’t realise the statues confer this benefit. I’m only just noticing the statues do this and we’re nearly halfway through the game, the game never really makes you do this or completely feeds back that it’s what causes the health upgrade. It is never mentioned in the manual and is a bit of a secret mechanic. You can’t do anything to go back and get missed health upgrades, so the player really needs to be on it to not get put in a situation where they are extremely limited by their base health.
Getting back to the lamas… To learn more we now embark on a stealth section in which Eric uses a tape-recorder to record ghosts reciting mantras. He is literally required to gather evidence of the existence of ghosts. The stealth section is another mild inconvenience as you can only see the path while aiming your third eye. Otherwise touching these ghost spikes means the ghosts evacuate and you have to try again.
Once we have the mantras, Thod-Pa takes us back to the temple for a rematch.
After the Eagle Demon I didn’t think the game had a more deranged skill check but they kind of manage it here.
You have to do an extended lasso motion input which simulates ringing some kind of instrument associated with meditation. I think it’s a handheld prayer wheel or possibly a ritual bell (dril bu - འབྲིལ་བུ) but the game never actually shows what it is that you are manipulating. The feedback on how well you are doing is very poor here and it requires an extremely sustained effort to keep the appropriate amount of motion, acceleration, and rhythm. The goal is to do the motion correctly until the screen gradually goes black. If you let up on the correct motion for even less than a second, it resets your progress. This segment is unskippable and must be performed every time you attempt the boss.
The boss itself is vanquished very easily but only if you know what to do. This is where the tutorial for the Lag Pa would have been appropriate. We are taught to use a new weapon quite a long time before we ever encounter an enemy we can use it on. This bastardised to it in one hit but it requires that you remember to hold B, make contact with the enemy, and flip up. It also helps to know that this action is hard to do consistently. Although the boss can essentially be killed in one hit, it can also kill you very quickly if you are not ready.
I lost count of how much time I spent trying to do that QTE before the boss. I actually decided to take a break from the playthrough. Normally I complete each level in one sitting but this level was so long, and had so many bizarre little skill checks I was feeling both physically and mentally exhausted. One time I attempted it, it just would not let me progress. I think I tried twirling my arm for a solid two minutes. I don’t what it is that drives people to be so cruel about these kinds of gates. I have to trust that it was a lack of time and resources that inflicted this upon me, not a deliberate decision to challenge the player. I’d be really curious to know what you do in the PC version of this game.
- [I looked it up and I’m furious. There’s an actual interface that clearly feeds back what motion is required for your mouse and how close you are to completing it. I assume this version was released later when they might have had time to correct it.]
I took a break for about an hour but still felt like I wanted to finish the level since the FAQ indicated it was almost over. I booted up the game again and still couldn’t progress past this QTE.
I gave it another half-hour, tried again, and beat the boss.
After all this Thod-Pa gives us his final warning. Frank is almost certainly dead but his soul is still in the bardo (sort of liminal purgatory in Buddhism). Eric feels it completely necessary to state once again they doesn’t believe in anything that is happening.
What are you chatting Eric? The level required so much effort and active learning about the different ghosts. In order to progress we we had to record the undead and lasso a super ghost. We have witnessed the ghost of our own dead brother who we are searching for. I think Eric is just trying to say that he is thankful but can’t find the right words.
Our next stop is to rendezvous with the apparently still alive Master Lama Khenpo in another temple complex further up the mountain.
Current Altitude: 18,700 ft
Incense Remaining: 24
