[Spoilers!] Open End? Dafuq?

[hlah]

So it ends with ninja-san magically pulling out a sword and then ALMOST (but not quite) killing master yellowpants (I can't remember the names, they're in a foreign language)? Really? without even rolling the credits? And why is there no weapons cache or anything in "The Return"? The lady said something like "Before we go further, you'll need a sword. Bajeeb always kept plenty of those on the top of that watch tower.", so I climbed almost all the roofs but there was no sword to be found. Almost, because one of the tops was unreachable (even with mark of serenity) and another had one of those fembots sitting on a ledge. No way to get past that (not without attack items, anyways). The lady makes other weird remarks late in the game, like when she mentioned that those who become very powerful can disappear into thin air, she disappeared into thin air (boy, did that thicken the plot). Later she asked if I can remember "this test". NO! I DON'T REMEMBER IT AND I'M SCARED SHITLESS. It was a great test though and I enjoyed sneaking my way through.

 

Then there are these impossibru seals: "Remain undetected until you recover your equipment". I've remained undetected the whole time (achieved "No alarms raised" bonus), but apparently that's not good enough. Then there are "Stealth kill 3 hallucinations in less than 15 seconds" and "Stealth kill from a hiding spot after moving into it with serenity". No sword, no stealth kills. I had one hallucination that I'm aware of (fembot appeared only once) and it just killed me right then and there.

 

It also says in the end I killed 3 enemies and docks me 8000 points for it, but 1 of them killed herself without me even noticing her presence at all. She just stupidly fell into a trap. The others were tricked, so no direct kills. I really had to do that in order to advance the game (they have sensors so you can't just sneak past). But it shouldn't count towards kills, especially when I had nothing to do with it. I made a screenshot, attached below.

 

In level select, the left button (maybe also the right) takes you to the first level. It went something like this: "Oh, that's nice, let's have look at these in chronological order". *click*, *click*, *clickclickclick*BOOM* upgrade screen. Okay, this, that, done. Oh great, I have to find Lex Luthor again. How did that happen? I checked to see how this works and apparently the button "clicks through" on the first level, I hate interfaces where the same pixels suddenly change their behaviour.

 

No motn rant would be complete without mentioning the controls, though. So there.

 

TL;DR: motn is nice but the end is effed up. Would not play again.

[Wade]

Hmm, it looks like you never picked up the sword in that level, which is why you were unable to get those achievements.

 

As mentioned, the sword is kept at the top of the watch tower, which would be the first actual building you enter in the level.

[hlah]

The first buildings are used to gain access to underground tunnels, no sword there. Past the tunnels I enter this building, it has a stalker and a fuse box on it.

[Wade]

Nope, you should have the sword by that point.

 

From the screenshot, I believe that's about the 4th building in the level.

 

As I said, the sword will be inside the first building you enter.

[hlah]

This one? I got on top of this tower after the first set of subway tunnels. The one before that allows me to enter those tunnels. Is it in there? Imaginary friend doesn't mention a sword in that part of the level.

 

Also, the level selection screen is really bugged. The left and right buttons can't be clicked very quickly as that starts a level (as if the button isn't there for a brief moment). When I open the screen, the highlighted level is "A moonlit garden". I press back, then forth, it now highlights "The Return". This is 100% reproducible each time.

 

Since I easily got that far in the game anyway (to above building without the sword), I finished it again. It seemed much shorter this time and I only had to trick 1 stalker. Upon completion I chose next and got the whole end scene with an awesome soundtrack(!). Strange then, if level selection prevents you from advancing the game, why is that button even there? The game would be better without it and I wouldn't have been upset by what seemed like an open end after such a huge story arc.

 

I'm using the humble bundle Linux version, that should be the latest right?

[Wade]

Not sure what you mean by the level progression issue...

 

If you complete "The Return" and then select Next, it will take you to the next level, which is the epilogue for the game.

 

For the sword, yes, that appears to be the correct building. You'll notice that there is a checkpoint icon below you in the screenshot. The sword should be positioned on a platform underneath that icon.

[hlah]

I got it!

 

As for the level selection screen, I was worried you might not be able to select the next level from it. But the only problem with it that I can verify is that double clicking an arrow button activates a level. That shouldn't happen, as it's very unexpected.

 

There remains only 1 seal to accomplish, but I'm unable to do it because I kept my cool (until the end when I killed myself). When do hallucinations occur and how can you kill a stalker without using traps or attack items?

 

 

(Image on imgur this time because the uploader is dumb.)

[Wade]

The hallucinations are going to be any of the "guards" in the level. Once you kill them, they will turn back into ninjas in a puff of smoke.

 

For the Stalkers, they are similar to Heavy Goons, in that you need to stun them first before you can kill them, or kill them with a trap. You can stun them with an item, or a large amount of melee attacks.

[hlah]

The hallucinations are going to be any of the "guards" in the level. Once you kill them, they will turn back into ninjas in a puff of smoke.

 

Oh, I was wondering why that happened.

 

For the Stalkers, they are similar to Heavy Goons, in that you need to stun them first before you can kill them, or kill them with a trap. You can stun them with an item, or a large amount of melee attacks.

 

Melee attacks on a stalker? Their right arm is quite deadly, but I'll try!

 

BTW, I managed to get below the floor by hanging from a chain and using mark of serenity. I threw a dart directly to the guard (hanging low) and immediately teleported myself out of sight (I intended to force a hangman's hymn). Below screenshot was made in "Breaching the perimiter" right after the checkpoint where you get the objective to "get inside the security tower". The chain remains attached when this happens.