Legacy: Doors & Demons

Written by Morpheus Kitami

It's been a little while since I last opened up Legacy, let's see what's...

Yep, this is a comic from an alternate universe, I believe issue #19 of Superman's Pal, Jane Olson

All right, this is going to get sadder and sadder until at the last minute, where I miraculously manage to win. Still sounds like a Superman comic. I take a sad stroll to the places I've already been, curious as to how I'm going to accomplish that without a hex editor or Cheat Engine. As I walk, I discover that quite a few places with a monster inside have nothing inside of them. Except the places where the eldritch squirrels are guarding the doors on, those I'm not touching.

I have no reason to show you this, I just think this is funny in-hand

As I walk past a familiar dropping of items, including the M10, ha, like I'm touching that again, I notice once again the straitjacket. I haven't used that before now. Could it deal with the "no firearms" sign? Whatever, it'll solve something, I'll be bewildered, we'll move on.

First test, does the straitjacket protect against the eldritch squirrels? Answer, no. If anything, the bullet-proof vest is extremely useful against their teeth. Also, I didn't take a picture of it, because I was dodging, but one rather small room (2x4) contains two items. A Chinese coin, located at the extreme bottom of the screen when you can pick it up, and a note that says, and I quote "Take this to take nothing". I prefer not to repeat the kind of sentences I use during normal gameplay, and this is no exception.

Second test, does it help with the "No Firearms" door? No, I don't even know if its a puzzle, I just unlocked it normally. For my troubles, another medikit. That's four. I'm running out of space before I'm going to have to skip to the next floor. I should not repeat my more common vulgarities here, but I'm not enjoying the thought of actually having to legitimately fight those squirrels.

It would probably help if I didn't keep accidentally using the medikit

Third test, does the straitjacket deal with the invisible wall? Yes. I believe one of Ellen's notes is hinting at this, so I will give the game credit for that. I'm just using this on the other things first, because, that's what I want to use the things on first. Inside are in some order, an anchor rune, another coin, and a...foul-smelling fungi. Its not the weirdest item I've ever seen, but it is a strange choice in this so-far straight-laced Poe-inspired horror game.

Some of the runes are a different color on this floor, I smell a trap

After changing back into something safer, I explore the parts blocked off by the trick safe. It occurs to me there's only one bathroom in this asylum, unless one of the squirrels is guarding it. I wonder if any of the inmates here lived long enough to use it? I basically just find the other three coins on the floor, and a .45 mag, hidden due to its color. Now I just need to find the place to summon the Karcist and...is anyone who actually reached this point in the game going to fall for that?

Now, that leaves me with two locations that I haven't reached, both guarded by eldritch squirrels. Technically, one location is guarded by two, but one of those is just pacing the hallway. First, I want to try a stupid theory I have. You see, I found an oil lantern. Pail of oil, oil lantern, you can see where this is headed. Does this work against the squirrels?

No

That leaves me with little choice. Mind you, I didn't have a choice to begin with, since they're against doors, but I had the illusion of getting first blood. Nope. Time to use Mr. 45. First target, squirrel in big padded cell hallway. End result: Near-death, two bullets remaining, and two jams. Thanks, thanks, for that guys. We really need realistic Jagged Alliance-style gun jamming in our horror RPG that doesn't even bother telling us what calibre the small-calibre ammunition is.

That's right, nothing

For what? I dunno, maybe you can see something I've missed. Reload, big outside corridor this time. I take my time, I dodge past the other squirrel. He dies on my final shot. What treasures are inside this door? Its unlocked, so this could be good...its a key card. To the asylum. You know, the place I've just effectively undone all the locks on. This would have been useful, let's say, 3 hours ago. Its useless now. I haven't even put points into my lock-picking skills and the electronic tool kit renders the key card useless.

That means...I have to go to the 3rd floor now. I've got a gun. I've got three magazines, found one in the stairwell. I wonder what wonders are up in this side...?

Yes, another gun, crap, I don't have room for it

Another gun, empty. Hopefully when I find ammo for it I can actually hit something and kill it for once. Speaking of guns, where the hell is that .44? I don't like getting teased about a .44 and not getting one. Not a lot of choice in doors, most are locked. I still have that pesky problem of not being able to unlock them, joy. Then east, there's just one huge hallway. With another one off to the side.

If I didn't know any better, I'd swear someone threw a modern filter on that painting

The eastern side is a very, very long hallway. A weirdly shaped hallway with another hallway attached to it. This hallway mostly consists of waiting for slimes to get out of the way. There is a note along the way mentioning that the Hand of Glory protects against ethereal creatures. I guess that means slimes? Well, it works against slimes. However, it suffers from a minor problem, namely, there are certain tiles that blow a gust of wind. It doesn't do anything to the player, but it does blow out the hand of glory.

Oh, yeah, I see it now

The interior is just more of the same, long hallways. There's a note describing some Japanese samurai, Shintaro Fukijama, who was supposedly the second-best, only Musashi Miyamoto was the better swordsman. I guess Kajiro Sasaki is just a joke then. It attributes the samurai's skill to demonic influence. Know what I'm thinking? New weapon. But I think there are going to be problems with that.

Far too many of the hallways either lead back into themselves, to a room with a monster, or are locked. It takes some doing to find something that actually opens, doesn't have something that can kill me, and actually has something inside. This mask, which I think I need the plaque to take, I assume as much, since that seems to be this floor's gimmick, take it when you put the plaque on it. There's a note, but it's just R. Prentiss going on his "I am the One" speech again. Oh, and he traced some distant bloodline. I don't know if its in the in-game tree, but when I eventually checked the manual (to see what some skills actually did) it seems the player is the child of Sarah Prentiss and Alexander Cowley. More to come on that later.

Good, they're getting sneaky, that's just what I needed

I walk out of the room, walk back into one of the more main hallways. The door doesn't open, there's a monster in front of me. These things. I should explain, these are very loud, and when they're on-screen, they cause slowdown. These things can't be missed. Yet I did. These things are fast, so it must have just approached me in a way that made me blind to it. I have to be real careful in other areas because they can get you in the blink of an eye. It doesn't kill you, but getting hurt isn't fun.

Once again stymied by nothing

There's a bunch of items all around, but they're mostly food items. I don't need food items. I don't want food, I want answers! Obscure references aside, I find a weird pre-rendered scene that looks like a temple. I can't do anything to the statue. I can't do anything to the chalice and there's nothing else there. But there is a secret compartment in the pillar below the chalice. It contains the most useless item this game could have possibly given me. The question seems to be, when is one of these scenes going to be useful?

Behold, a map

Now, there are several problems with this item. First, this is the 3rd floor. In European terms, in America where this takes place it's the 4th, but nobody thought of that during testing. So we have a map that shows where I've been. I've cleaned those places out, the only place I haven't yet reached are the places that are nailed shut. Secondly, even if it was the final two floors, I don't need it. I have an automap. The problem has always been demons and locked doors. There is nothing hidden, so to speak. Thirdly, this map is difficult to understand, especially on the 2nd floor. The empty spaces are much smaller than they actually are, but since most of the space actually is taken up, it looks more confusing than it really is. Fourth, I can't read that map key, why is it there?

I've seen worse looking things in this game

The next room over turns out to be a poor choice. Two rooms, each with another crab thing. I think they're crabs. And these rooms had some nice things in them. Final room, no way out, but there's something in here. And a plaque. It just says left. I think I can solve this puzzle. I walk to the shield by sidestepping to the left. Its a Zulu shield. I'm thinking this protects me against the crabs. I don't know if I'm supposed to do things this way, but what the hell, I've tried worse.

Something went...right? Huh?

At first, I was prepared to sarcastically describe myself slowly defeating the crab while a screenshot of my corpse once again graced the screen. Thing is...it actually worked. Exactly as I was prepared to describe it. I can actually kill all these things now. It's not perfect. I have to drop the briefcase, which is annoying. But the game has subjected me to worse things. Now, crab no. 1 was guarding a note, which just tells me to use the samurai's ashes on his stuff to make it more powerful. Nice, things are looking up.

I will say that most of the uglier monsters aren't any less scary for seeing them

Next room, it goes the same as before. Now the problem is getting all this equipment past the slimes. But first, what is in this room? A note, from Mayhew...which says he doesn't know why he collected this stuff, "through the will of the house", and how he sometimes sees a green tentacle beast. Hang on, does this mean that thing's been here since the 19th century? Well, why didn't the cops or the movers see it? I realize this is on the coast, so fish people aren't uncommon, Atlantis does invade every other year, but...why...?

Laugh it up now, if that one point of willpower isn't enough, I'm screwed

Now, there is a problem with this system. The shield is too big to put into the briefcase, which is a problem for getting around slimes. I think I can manage. Damage, I can mitigate by use of resting. I don't know how much time has passed, but I have to be due another few hours. The manual says there's problems if I don't do that, but apparently that's one hell of a long threshold. Insanity is a problem, supposedly. Which brings it more in line with old Lovecraft and Poe. The only ones who went insane were under great physical and mental stress, i.e., not eating and sleeping. Anyway, there's another spell, Xython's Guiding eye, which helps with ranged accuracy.

Before I'm finished, I'm lucky enough to have enough experience points to add a point of willpower. You can't tell, but the game doesn't have a cap on how much experience you can store. That means I can add a couple of points to a skill or spell if I want. First, I'm going to have to find out if I actually need that to open these doors...

Inventory: Medikit (x3), bullet-proof vest, spellbook, keyring, briefcase, electronic tool kit, mechanical tool kit, matches, Colt M1911A!, .45 clip (x4)

Spellbook: Shroud of the Shadow Walker, Agatha's Iron Fist, Belgor's Mental Violation, Elixir of Health, Aura of Mystic Defense, Flames of Desolation, Dimensional Rift, Key of the Shadow Lord, Crimson Mysts of Myamoto, Xython's Guiding Eye

This Session: 2 hours 00 minutes
Total Time: 16 hours 00 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, I've not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!