Sorbete

Member
Oct 30, 2017
634
Keep getting only D in battles. I know I not great at games but sometimes I'm sure I did better than a D and sometimes I suck and get an S
 

Magnet_Man

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,322


Proceeded to repeat indefinitely until I shut the game down from the home menu. Platinum Games are wild man.
 

The Unsent

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,741
Only played it for 4 hours, but not enjoying it. I don't think I can persist, I'm falling asleep with the long winded investigations, the generic looking enemies and crude mini dungeons in the repetitive astral plains. The amount of tutorials in the game is boring especially base having to visit every facility for an mascot explanation. The only thing I like about the game are the battle controls and some of the music. Falling asleep after about 4 missions, think I'm going to trade it in.
 

thefro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,999
Just beat it last night. Pretty crazy ride. Got over 30 hours on my game clock and still have quite a bit I could do if I want to be a completionist. Not sure if it's my favorite Platinum Game, but it's up there with the Bayonettas.

On to
Chapter 12

Only played it for 4 hours, but not enjoying it. I don't think I can persist, I'm falling asleep with the long winded investigations, the generic looking enemies and crude mini dungeons in the repetitive astral plains. The amount of tutorials in the game is boring especially base having to visit every facility for an mascot explanation. The only thing I like about the game are the battle controls and some of the music. Falling asleep after about 4 missions, think I'm going to trade it in.

I'd at least try to get into the battles in Chapter 3, but it probably isn't for you if you've already gotten your Legion and still aren't enjoying the combat or the side missions/exploration.
 

Mzril

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
435
Ok, I've been playing this non-stop this past weekend and made it to file 7.

Does ANYONE enjoy the non-combat sections of this game? It's such a massive chore to collect all the red matter and do a bunch of the unappealing side quests. File 6 was the worst at this, the combat sections throughout that entire file with the Hermits + Beta Homunculus were sooooo good but its so ruined by the beginning stealth section + the zone 9 village.

And yet I need to play them all to get a good file ending score.
 

AndrewGPK

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,945
Keep getting only D in battles. I know I not great at games but sometimes I'm sure I did better than a D and sometimes I suck and get an S


Your grade isn't determined as much by efficiency and speed (although that contributes) as it is by doing a variety of things with your legions. Use different legions and their combos and attacks in the same battle and your score generally goes up. That's why people have an easier time getting S+ scores latter in the game than earlier in the game, because you acquire more legions upgrade the combos/skills you can do.

Many don't like that its not as much skill based, but it does encourage you to use a variety of legions and combos.
 

LiftGammaGain

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,765
Asia-Europe
Well this has been curious. According to my switch, i have clocked 75 hours of Astral Chain. Just reached the end yesterday, PST difficulty setting. I started a new file before reaching the end, since i thought i finaly had grasped the game.
That second save file has 40 hours and i finally reached the end.
Somehow i still didn't get the game, was still struggling with memory since i kept trying to do Bayonetta combos, still lost in the game but addicted to the atmosphere and the games routines...
After i got the credit roll, took my dog outside for a walk, had to hold him strong since he wanted to reach a cat that was passing by. I hold him from the leach.
Thats when it hit me. Ive been playing it all wrong.
Went back home had dinner with my family and jumped back to my post game save file. Booted up a few missions, replayed other ( easily s+ most) and now im completely in love with this game.
I was really expecting something difrent, was too attached to what Platinum have produced before and at the same time not recognising that in reality this game is pure Platinum Games. The setting, audio visual design, theme, control and many other small things have really had a huge impact in me and i didnt even noticed.
This is indeed a very special game. Looking forward to another 70 hour of playtime.
 

Sagitario

Member
Oct 26, 2017
966
Finished it over the weekend. Almost 50 hours but I still have to replay a few chapters and the file 12 missions. I need TONS of premium material codes. What's the primary source for those?

I love the game and it's my favorite PlatinumGames title, but the difficulty spike on the final boss was BS, especially during the final stage where the camera is SO bad. I used all my healing items and batteries and I barely made it (was there a trick or gimmick I missed?). The whole file 11 boss was an amazing set piece, tho.

I was really enjoying the story but the abrupt end disappointed me. I feel that they didn't explain anything, I was left with more questions and at the end, I didn't get it.
The biggest disappointment came after getting the medical suit, tho. The male twin is flat and that's just sad AND VERY HOMOPHOBIC! :P
 

AndrewGPK

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,945
Final boss is pretty much a damage sponge, just takes a lot of time to get through it. I guess you can master his attacks with enough attempts, but for most it is a battle of attrition. But the game is pretty generous with the healing.


(BTW, I don't think I understood how the batteries and recharges worked until just before the final boss. I had no idea I could refill my batteries during the Files. Of course it isn't hugely needed until the end either. I never used many of the drinks either. I think they could really limit the number of healing and enhancement items in a sequel. 3 types of healing, doubled to 6 with the ones only allowed within the file. Tons of boost drink items that I never even tried. That should be simplified. And I never used grenades and that kind of stuff, there was already too much going on in combat to worry about using special items.)
 

Nephilim

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,606
Ok, I've been playing this non-stop this past weekend and made it to file 7.

Does ANYONE enjoy the non-combat sections of this game? It's such a massive chore to collect all the red matter and do a bunch of the unappealing side quests. File 6 was the worst at this, the combat sections throughout that entire file with the Hermits + Beta Homunculus were sooooo good but its so ruined by the beginning stealth section + the zone 9 village.

And yet I need to play them all to get a good file ending score.
The atmosphere, music, graphics and general pacing of the game carried the non combat sections for me.
Investigations are nothing really engaging, but i genuinely love the overall tone and setting of Astral Chain so much that i see them as an excuse to be in this world for a bit longer.

You got plenty of highlights to see from now on and endgame then is pretty much combat non stop, it's great fun.
 

Kingpin Rogers

HILF
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,459
Just hit file 3 and this game is pissing me off to no end. I'm usually a big fan of platinum's games but this just isn't doing it for me. Combat right now is just dull and annoying, when I don't have my legion out all I do is mash zr for the same combo over and over again and when I have my legion I press zl to send it to an enemy and occasionally bind it when it's appropriate. Am I missing something here? I really hope the combat gets more complex cause right now it just seems so simple, particular non legion combat, it just feels like there's 1 combo and that's it.

Another thing that really pisses me off is dodging, it feels like instead of iframes you actually have to dodge it, which I don't like since a lot of times things are so clustered I don't know which way I have to dodge, just that I have to dodge. Another thing that's annoying is they went with something like witchtime where if you dodge then time slows for a second and you can do a stronger attack but when dodging multi hit attacks it doesn't actually work unless you dodge the last hit. Which goes against my intuition and results in me getting hit cause I'm trying to take advantage of what I assumed would be a successful counter.

The only thing I'm enjoying right now is the fact that I can make a character that looks like Chie from P4 and that sometimes my characters hair goes blue for some reason, like she's become a Super Saiyan God which is cool. Very disappointed so far.
 

PKrockin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,260
Just hit file 3 and this game is pissing me off to no end. I'm usually a big fan of platinum's games but this just isn't doing it for me. Combat right now is just dull and annoying, when I don't have my legion out all I do is mash zr for the same combo over and over again and when I have my legion I press zl to send it to an enemy and occasionally bind it when it's appropriate. Am I missing something here? I really hope the combat gets more complex cause right now it just seems so simple, particular non legion combat, it just feels like there's 1 combo and that's it.

Another thing that really pisses me off is dodging, it feels like instead of iframes you actually have to dodge it, which I don't like since a lot of times things are so clustered I don't know which way I have to dodge, just that I have to dodge. Another thing that's annoying is they went with something like witchtime where if you dodge then time slows for a second and you can do a stronger attack but when dodging multi hit attacks it doesn't actually work unless you dodge the last hit. Which goes against my intuition and results in me getting hit cause I'm trying to take advantage of what I assumed would be a successful counter.

The only thing I'm enjoying right now is the fact that I can make a character that looks like Chie from P4 and that sometimes my characters hair goes blue for some reason, like she's become a Super Saiyan God which is cool. Very disappointed so far.
They're about to explain why your hair's turning blue and how you've been playing baby mode so far. At the end of file 2 they gave you a taste of the central mechanic of the game, though they fudge the controls in that section. Just go boot up file 3, you have like 5-6 new mechanics/features to start using.

You don't have to physically dodge the move, you have tons of i-frames. I think the thing is you have the most frames on a backwards dodge, less on a sideways dodge, and very little on a forward dodge. I think the invincibility from backwards dodging is enough to chain them to get away, but you could also just sprint and dive away. Regardless, I'm pretty sure I know the attack you're talking about and there's very, very few that last so long and constantly come at you like that. It's the only one I can think of.
 

Mzril

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
435
Finished. I wish the game did a better job explaining the phenomena that was Chimeras.
Also while I get Joseph's plan to combine all of humanity and chimeras into one super organism, what the hell is Jenas plan to save the world with her chimeras?

Good Combat, Good Story, Bad side missions and the start of the game is far too slow.

8.3/10. The game was at its best when going full over the top anime and the worst during all the cop stealth stuff.
 

Thequietone

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,052
Finished. I wish the game did a better job explaining the phenomena that was Chimeras.
Also while I get Joseph's plan to combine all of humanity and chimeras into one super organism, what the hell is Jenas plan to save the world with her chimeras?

Good Combat, Good Story, Bad side missions and the start of the game is far too slow.

8.3/10. The game was at its best when going full over the top anime and the worst during all the cop stealth stuff.
I'm guessing you missed something because Astral Chain's story only leaves one question unanswered.
A meteor struck Earth and that's what started the doors to the Astral Plane and released the chimeras. While researching the Astral Plane Jenna and Joseph learned that it was a check on humanity that happened many times in human history. At least 3 times. Anytime human technology got to a certain point this would purge the world and restart human history. Her plan was why fight the natural order of things and save humanity by letting humanity be absorbed back into the Astral Plane and start over again. In the current timeline they have gone further than any other timeline with technology. I'd say the only question left is who made the Astral Plane/chimeras in the first place and why. Was it God? Aliens? Humans? If humans go too far with technology do we destroy ourselves?
 

Sagitario

Member
Oct 26, 2017
966
I'm guessing you missed something because Astral Chain's story only leaves one question unanswered.
A meteor struck Earth and that's what started the doors to the Astral Plane and released the chimeras. While researching the Astral Plane Jenna and Joseph learned that it was a check on humanity that happened many times in human history. At least 3 times. Anytime human technology got to a certain point this would purge the world and restart human history. Her plan was why fight the natural order of things and save humanity by letting humanity be absorbed back into the Astral Plane and start over again. In the current timeline they have gone further than any other timeline with technology. I'd say the only question left is who made the Astral Plane/chimeras in the first place and why. Was it God? Aliens? Humans? If humans go too far with technology do we destroy ourselves?
Where is that from? I guess I missed any mention of a meteor.
 

Sorbete

Member
Oct 30, 2017
634
I've been trying to use all diversity as possible and still get only D's in combat, I'm giving up. Do I miss some costumes or anything if I just score D's?
 

Igor

Member
Oct 31, 2017
1,511
Is there any way to replay sections of each file rather the whole damn thing? I just missed a slime towards the end of the file 3 and id rather not have to play with a guide in order to be able to max out the entire game within 3 playthroughs. this approach worked for Bayonetta but the levels were so much quicker.
 

Karish

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,642
Didn't appreciate how good the audio is in this game until I plugged nice headphones into my Lite last night.
 

Pokemaniac

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,951
Is there any way to replay sections of each file rather the whole damn thing? I just missed a slime towards the end of the file 3 and id rather not have to play with a guide in order to be able to max out the entire game within 3 playthroughs. this approach worked for Bayonetta but the levels were so much quicker.
You can start from any of the chapters in the file and quit out of the file using the pause menu ("File Options" on the rightmost tab).
 

TYRANITARR

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,300
I've been trying to use all diversity as possible and still get only D's in combat, I'm giving up. Do I miss some costumes or anything if I just score D's?
Yeah the rankings make no sense. Just ignore them and play the battles however you want and have fun. I think the rewards you miss for S ranks are just costume color nonsense. So it's nothing.
 

Sphinx

Member
Nov 29, 2017
2,403
can someone please help me out here?

I just started this game and I would like to know how it's laid out.

like, does it have chapters? files? areas?

for example, when I am playing a game divided in chapters, I like to know from the get go how many I need to beat to complete the game, that's the info I am looking for.

can someone tell me that info please, maybe spoiler tagged?
 

Thequietone

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,052
can someone please help me out here?

I just started this game and I would like to know how it's laid out.

like, does it have chapters? files? areas?

for example, when I am playing a game divided in chapters, I like to know from the get go how many I need to beat to complete the game, that's the info I am looking for.

can someone tell me that info please, maybe spoiler tagged?
12 files but 11 is only needed to complete the main story. Some are longer than others.
 

Capra

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,547
I've had this game for over a month and I've barely felt like playing it. I decided to push through and after hitting file 9... I still feel like I have no idea how this game expects me to play.

I want to get right in an enemy's face and smack then around like in Bayonetta, but most enemy attacks seem to punish you for doing so and feel unavoidable even if you dodge. Legions are cool, but for the most part I just leave them on autopilot and occasionally remember to do some special attacks while swapping then out as the situation demands. The targeting on the legions is super spotty where they just end up picking whatever target they feel like... Although MC targeting isn't much better.

I've been able to get by with mashing for the most part until now. The boss in this chapter is... Problematic. It's cool and has the spectacle I expect from a Platinum game, but I don't feel like I have the same control over my own character that I would have in MGR or Bayo or even W101.

Also holy fuck that motorcycle sequence is this game's riding on a missle. Except worse. This might be my least favorite Platinum game that I've played and that bums me out so much.
 

Sagitario

Member
Oct 26, 2017
966
I wish the game would tell you in what chapter/part within a file you're missing items (like it does with red and blue cases). Having to replay the whole chapter to check is annoying.

How hard do Olive's cases get? How many are there?
 

Pokemaniac

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,951
How hard do Olive's cases get? How many are there?
There's 70 cases, plus one extra one that unlocks anytime once you collect a specific set of items.

The R1 and R2 cases aren't too hard, but once you get to R3 it seriously starts ramping up. The final 70th case is definitely the hardest challenge in the game
 

FantasticMrSnake

It's Pronounced "Aerith"
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,577
I reached chapter 12, and I did one mission, are there more story content or that's it?

And all post game content are only fights?
 

jefjay

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,205
I'm an idiot. There were stretches during the final segments of chapter 11 that frustrated me fuck that fucking jumping section and who ever designed it. I got past them, but at what I think is the final boss I had so little left (0 AEDs) I just couldn't beat it. Another instant kill move isn't helping. Before this stretch I can't remember the last time I used 1 AED, let alone all 4. Sigh. So I'll jump back the beginning of the chapter and buy a bunch of stuff and race back... but what's this? It reverted my save back to the beginning of chapter 11? AHHH! Fuck this game. I'm out.
 

TYRANITARR

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,300
I'm an idiot. There were stretches during the final segments of chapter 11 that frustrated me fuck that fucking jumping section and who ever designed it. I got past them, but at what I think is the final boss I had so little left (0 AEDs) I just couldn't beat it. Another instant kill move isn't helping. Before this stretch I can't remember the last time I used 1 AED, let alone all 4. Sigh. So I'll jump back the beginning of the chapter and buy a bunch of stuff and race back... but what's this? It reverted my save back to the beginning of chapter 11? AHHH! Fuck this game. I'm out.
UGH that's rough.

I'm currently in File 08 and at the other dimension and I'm stuck on one of the puzzles there. It doesn't feel good that I'm also at the point where I'm like "Ehhhhh, I don't super care to see the end of this."

Can anyone at least confirm the story/stuff is interesting to see after File 08? Should I keep going?
 

AndrewGPK

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,945
UGH that's rough.

I'm currently in File 08 and at the other dimension and I'm stuck on one of the puzzles there. It doesn't feel good that I'm also at the point where I'm like "Ehhhhh, I don't super care to see the end of this."

Can anyone at least confirm the story/stuff is interesting to see after File 08? Should I keep going?


File 08 is notoriously the low point of the game with all the mini games and investigations etc. File 09 is freaking amazing, like better than the finale of most games good.....

Slog through 08 and get to 09, if at the end of 09 you still aren't feeling it then I think you can be done, but I'm betting you will want to finish the story after experiencing 09. File 09, 10, 11 are all really great and then that opens up a lot of challenge stuff in the postgame.

I thought the storyline was pretty interesting, but the presentation and set pieces that are left for you to see are the star of what's left.
 

TYRANITARR

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,300
Cool thanks! I'll see it through!
File 08 is notoriously the low point of the game with all the mini games and investigations etc. File 09 is freaking amazing, like better than the finale of most games good.....

Slog through 08 and get to 09, if at the end of 09 you still aren't feeling it then I think you can be done, but I'm betting you will want to finish the story after experiencing 09. File 09, 10, 11 are all really great and then that opens up a lot of challenge stuff in the postgame.

I thought the storyline was pretty interesting, but the presentation and set pieces that are left for you to see are the star of what's left.
 

Brixx

Member
Jan 26, 2018
280
Been playing this for a couple weeks now and I have to say, this may be Platinum's finest achievement. It's wildly imaginative and creative. There's a lot of interesting new ideas in this game and they're implemented extremely well. I'm really loving this title and it's in contention for my game of the year.
 

IamPeacock

Member
Feb 9, 2018
807
Belgium
I'm at File 09 and the game is pretty mediocre to me.

The Legions and story has great ideas, but are very bad implemented. I'm constantly struggling with the camera and sometimes it gets too hectic with too many visual effects that I can't see what I'm doing. The environments feel all the same and the puzzles are also repetitive.

Also, and maybe it's nitpicking, but the music gives me a constant feeling that I need to rush through sections.

Nintendo should be involved for the sequel, I believe they could create something amazing.
 

GuEiMiRrIRoW

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,530
Brazil
This game is so amazing. I had to stop and pray! now I regret not buying the special edition. Fire emblem and then this.... what an amazing year!
 

jefjay

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,205
So I bit the bullet and restarted chapter 11. I didn't bother with any of the side quests, just stocked up on as much as I could and took off. Knowing what to expect I got through to the end much better prepared this time, and beat the final boss! Yeah, there was no way in fuck I was going to beat the final boss with 0 AEDs.

The ending, sort of... At first I was WTF? I did all that for no real ending? But when I started up Chapter 12 there was a nice epilogue at least.

Overall I really enjoyed the game. Even parts others have criticized. From the combat to the slower side quests. It's just there were enough aspects/segments that annoyed the hell out of me that holds the game down. Still darn good and probably will find its way onto my personal top 10 GOTY list.
 

Thequietone

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,052
So I bit the bullet and restarted chapter 11. I didn't bother with any of the side quests, just stocked up on as much as I could and took off. Knowing what to expect I got through to the end much better prepared this time, and beat the final boss! Yeah, there was no way in fuck I was going to beat the final boss with 0 AEDs.

The ending, sort of... At first I was WTF? I did all that for no real ending? But when I started up Chapter 12 there was a nice epilogue at least.

Overall I really enjoyed the game. Even parts others have criticized. From the combat to the slower side quests. It's just there were enough aspects/segments that annoyed the hell out of me that holds the game down. Still darn good and probably will find its way onto my personal top 10 GOTY list.
Glad you finished it. It's a great game and my only real complaint is the stealth sections. I dislike stealth games and its even worse when the game isn't designed with stealth as the key gameplay element. I didn't have trouble with the camera that seemed to plague a lot of players for some reason. I would have also liked if they somehow made some of the supporting cast more memorable as I feel aside from like 5 or 6 of them you don't really get to know them that well. Quite clear that Platinum plans to make a few sequels in the future and I am hoping they improve in the future and I welcome them to make more sequels.
 

sora bora

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,572
This is a coincidence, right?

Y8tX3d4.jpg


look at the names
 

Twinguistics

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
478
Just finished file 3 and it took ages! It was way too long in my opinion, it just kept going and going. I then find out I only did half of the red files. Wtf!? Where on earth were they hiding? I felt like I scoured the whole of the areas. Man, I must have spent 2 hours on that one level at least.
 

Pokemaniac

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,951
Just finished file 3 and it took ages! It was way too long in my opinion, it just kept going and going. I then find out I only did half of the red files. Wtf!? Where on earth were they hiding? I felt like I scoured the whole of the areas. Man, I must have spent 2 hours on that one level at least.
For what it's worth, I think file 3 is probably the second longest one, at least going by the overall number of cases shown by the file select screen.

Something to keep in mind is that a bunch of the optional red cases require you to stop and explore to find them even when the narrative is pushing you to just move forward. Often they won't even be marked on your map until you find them.

Also, a bunch of the files, especially early on, have one or two red cases that are actually impossible to get to with the abilities you have when you first play them. So you shouldn't be too stressed if you can't find all of them on your first playthrough.
 

Capra

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,547
Went back and finished this finally. Or at least, I finished file 11 and saw the credits.

Like, the game has some amazing spectacle but it just never clicked with me even to the end. I ended up spamming healing items and dying a bunch on the final boss with no real sense that I had any control. And that's the main thing I keep coming back to when I try to play this game. Other Platinum games make me feel like I'm always in control of my character and whenever I die, it's my fault. Here, I always feel like I'm fighting the camera, or the dodge mechanics, or the legion's targeting, or my own sluggish movements. I know it's not trying to be Bayonetta, but goddamn playing it just makes me want to go through 2 again.

The story has some promise, but at its best it just feels like a lesser version of something like Evangelion or NieR Automata. I'm interested to see it continue though, and hope a sequel could be able to streamline the mechanics a bit, iron out the difficulty spikes, and develop the story into something more confident to be its own thing.
 

DaveB

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,728
New Hampshire, USA
Well, shit... Read the last reply and I now know how many files/chapters there are. That sucks.

I started playing the game last night and got through two or three chapters before hanging it up because my Switch battery got low. I just finished the file where...

You're in the chimera's world and your dad stays behind to fight off the legions that became unchained. That was intense when the character I was playing somehow managed to re-chain one of them, but then you were suddenly having to fight them all. I'll be curious to see where the story goes, but I will say one thing; fuck if the game doesn't start off with style. I didn't realize I was in control right away with how seamlessly it went from cinematic to gameplay. This game's definitely a looker.
 

Putosaure

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,161
France
Decided to try to finish the game these days but oh boy did this game went from great fun to super infuriating starting Chapter 9. The first fight got me mad. They don't tell you what is the new legion ability until after the fight, all the shit you face is completely random and you're on tiny platforms, and why are you so SLOW! By the time the character gets back on its feet your struck by another assault. When you die you have to wait for the animation to finish, and what is that abysmal autoaim? At one point my character was shooting the ground! This game make my blood boil really. I'm afraid my neighbors might think I'm nuts with all this swearing that just happened.
 

AndrewGPK

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,945
Decided to try to finish the game these days but oh boy did this game went from great fun to super infuriating starting Chapter 9. The first fight got me mad. They don't tell you what is the new legion ability until after the fight, all the shit you face is completely random and you're on tiny platforms, and why are you so SLOW! By the time the character gets back on its feet your struck by another assault. When you die you have to wait for the animation to finish, and what is that abysmal autoaim? At one point my character was shooting the ground! This game make my blood boil really. I'm afraid my neighbors might think I'm nuts with all this swearing that just happened.


Wow, really? Most people get infuriated with the endless side quests and minigames in Chapter 8. Chapter 9 is considered about the best in the game, and I would say its better than most games' last boss. Probably my favorite part of the game. I remember a little bit of difficulty figuring out how to beat that boss, but nothing like you are mentioning. The difficulty spike is generally considered to be Chapter 11. I didn't realize until just before Chapter 11 that you could refill the hearts.....I didn't know what AEDs did. Thank god I figured it out before the last boss or it would have been hopeless.