Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Case Study No. 0947: The Archivist (Infinity Blade II)

Infinity Blade II - Archivist Stone Wall BOSS
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Infinity Blade II - Archivist Stone Wall

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http://www.game teep.com/infinity-blade-ii/ 364217
Tags: infinity blade 2 stone wall archivist boss
Added: 1 year ago
From: wbangca
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From wikipedia.org:

Infinity Blade II is an action role-playing video game for the iOS mobile devices developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games released through the Apple App Store. The game is the sequel for the acclaimed Infinity Blade from the same developers.

Infinity Blade II was announced on October 4, 2011 during the Apple iPhone 4S Presentation Keynote. It was subsequently released on December 1, 2011.

The sequel features enhanced graphics and a storyline continuing from the novel Infinity Blade: Awakening.

Gameplay
In Infinity Blade II, as with its predecessor, the player explores the world through an "on-rails" mechanic; that is, the player's path through the environment is largely predetermined and choices of direction are limited. Despite this, the player may choose to explore different paths through the castle that serves as the central environment of the game, leading to various ends such as Thane's tower, the chamber containing the MX-Goliath, and the cavern of the Stone Demon. Progression through the castle is halted every time the character enters a new room or encounters a new foe, giving the player a chance to search for loot (bags of gold are hidden throughout many scenes), equip or buy/sell weapons, gather information on upcoming enemies, and choose the next point in the path. The player has a certain amount of freedom in moving the camera around while the character is at rest. While the character is in motion, camera movement is much more limited, as the scene becomes cinematic in nature.

The primary game mechanic is one-on-one sword combat with enemies encountered throughout the scripted path. The player controls the character's weapon or weapons by swiping a finger across the screen. While in combat, players can touch the bottom left or bottom right side of the screen to dodge attacks or the bottom center of the screen to block attacks with a shield, which breaks if used too much. Players can also parry blows by matching the timing of their blows with their foes' and swiping in a parallel direction. New to Infinity Blade II is the ability to fight with dual wield and heavy weapons, separate classes from the "light" weapons that were the only type available in the first game.[4] When fighting with dual weapons, blocking is unavailable, replaced by a downwards dodge action. By contrast, when fighting with heavy weapons, dodging is unavailable, and the player instead must counter attacks by blocking in the correct direction. Successfully dodging, blocking, or parrying enough times in a row stuns the enemy, leaving them vulnerable to counterattack for a short period.

Plot
The game begins with Siris, the main character, and his companion Isa arriving at an Asian-themed estate owned by Saydhi, one of the Deathless and an information dealer. Isa appeals to Siris not to go further, but when he persists, she reluctantly explains that Saydhi will answer one question if he can fight his way to her by defeating her champions. Once he does, Saydhi offers him a place as one of her champions, but Siris demands that she answer his question instead: where can he find the Worker of Secrets? Suddenly suspicious, Saydhi tells Siris where to find the Worker, but attacks him immediately. Once Siris defeats her, he notices a pedestal with a keyhole that fits the Infinity Blade. He proceeds to slide the sword in it, and the pedestal disappears into the ground.

Suddenly, Raidriar, The God King, appears behind Siris clutching the Infinity Blade. Calling Siris "Ausar," the God King takes the blade and prepares to stab Siris. However, before he can deal the fatal blow, Isa appears on a rooftop and shoots Siris in the head with a crossbow, killing him abruptly. The God King lays down the blade in frustration.

Siris awakes on a cot in an industrial-looking chamber, naked save for a loin cloth, realizing that he too is a Deathless. He journeys to a tall castle, reminiscent of the one from the first game, though this one is crumbling. He battles his way into the tower and up to the top floor where he finds Thane, High Lord of House Ix, sitting before a round seal in the floor showing a great tree. When Siris defeats him and moves to break the seal, Thane warns that Siris will lose his life in the process. Siris reveals his immortality to Thane before breaking the seal and dying.

Again, Siris wakes in the chamber, apparently unscathed. He returns to the castle again and battles his way through. He must now defeat three Sentinels: the Archivist, in the library; the Stone Demon, beneath the arena; and a mortal who guards the seals with an MX-Goliath, a large robotic warrior suit. After he defeats each, Siris unlocks another seal, dying each time and being reborn in the mysterious chamber.

After unlocking all the seals, Siris proceeds to the top of the tower once more, where he again finds Thane, who, like Siris, is a Deathless. The two duel once again. When Siris defeats Thane, he unlocks the final seal in the floor, opening the way to the Vault of Tears where the Worker of Secrets is imprisoned. But before he can speak to him, Thane appears once more and again battles Siris. This time, the Worker of Secrets disrupts the fight by placing a hand on Thane's back. The lord dies immediately. The Worker explains that he has disrupted Thane's Quantum Identity Pattern, 'granting' him a true death. The Worker thanks Siris for coming, but explains that he can only be freed if another takes his place in the prison. He appeals to Siris to find Raidriar, defeat him once again, and bring him to the Vault. Siris reluctantly promises to do so.

Siris journeys back to Saydhi's estate and rings a gigantic bell while calling out a challenge to the God King. Raidriar soon appears and sends three minions after him. When Siris defeats them, he engages the God King in battle once more. Finally, Siris knocks him out with a swift blow to the head and brings him back to the Worker of Secrets's eternal prison. There, Siris dumps his still unconscious body and prepares to leave the cell with the Worker by stabbing the Infinity Blade into the seal. When the Worker grabs onto the sword, a blue light blasts Siris away. He then reveals that it was actually Siris who imprisoned him, not The God King, back when he was known as the Deathless Ausar. Weak and disoriented, Siris watches as the Worker escapes with The Infinity Blade, leaving him locked up in the Vault with Raidriar, yelling in anger and regret.

In a post-credits scene, Isa is shown walking toward the castle, presumably to rescue Siris.

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From wikia.com:

The Archivist is the first of 3 Blood Sentinels after beating Thane for the first time. The Archivist guards one of the seals to the Vault of Tears, which holds the Worker of Secrets. Despite being immortal, and having lived for a large amount of time, the Archivist is not deathless.

Story
Upon Siris's second rebirth after defeating Thane, Siris returns in order to free the Worker of Secrets. Siris then comes across the Archivist, the first Blood Sentinel standing in front of a giant stone tablet engraved with markings. The Archivist tells Siris that he should not have come and laments that Siris is probably only a pawn in greater schemes. He also tells Siris that the place they stand in was once the home of a great evil who is now gone, slain by Raidriar on the plains of Koroth. Despite that, the Archivist says that he remained to study, ponder, and question. Before engaging Siris, the Archivist tells him that he will spill his blood with regret. During the battle, the Archivist is shocked to see that it is not only a Deathless fighting him but Ausar himself (as Siris). Upon his defeat, the Archivist warns Ausar that he has begun something he cannot finish and that before he unlocks the rest of the seals, the whole place will come crashing down and the Worker will die with it. Afterwards, Siris plunges his hand into the seal, killing himself in the process and breaking one of the seals restricting access to the Worker.

Tactics
The Archivist starts out at level 50 with no resistances or elemental attacks (despite wielding the Sacrum blades, which are dark-branded when used by Siris). He is classified an agile enemy. As of the Vault of Tears update, he can also vault back and fire blades of dark energy in a similar fashion to Saydhi's fire pulses and Thane's ice bolts, ultimately finishing the volley with a leaping overhead slash.

Trivia
* The Archivist has the lowest level of the blood sentinels upon first encounter at level 50
* This is in consideration that after defeat, a seal would be broken by Siris and appear lit up on the mural, therefore Thane (as fought during his first encounter at level 25) would not count.
* According to the Fiction Podcast, although the Archivist had an extremely long lifespan, he was not actually a Deathless.
* The Archivist's voice actor, Jim Cummings, also voices the Disney characters Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger.

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From epicgames.com:

all we know for sure about the Archivist is that he's not Deathless. Other than that we just know he says some very cryptic things and he may or may not be referring to the same person the whole time.

Archivist: "You should not be here."
Siris: "What IS this place?"
Archivist: "It was once the home of the most vile evil ever to befall this world. He's been gone for ages... Slain by Raidriar on the Plains of Koroth"
Archivist: "Many Devoted believe him truly dead - yet here I study, ponder and... Question."
Archivist: "The Seals must never be broken, for he cannot be allowed to return."
Archivist: "Poor little man. You are a fraud, and likely a pawn"
Archivist: "I spill your blood with regret."

Intermission:

Archivist: "This cannot be! Ausar..?"

After you defeat him:

Archivist: "You have begun something... You cannot finish, Ausar"
Archivist: "This place will come crashing down... Before you can unlock them all. And the Worker... Will die with it!"

we tend to think of the parts in blue being about the Worker of Secrets (since he refers to the seals and a "he" who must never be allowed to return) and the parts in red being about Ausar (formerly the most vile evil blah blah blah). But at face value it's all about the Worker of Secrets. The idea that the first part could be about Ausar is kind of a fan theory that caught on and is only supported be the Archivist's last few lines revealing that he knows Siris is actually Ausar.

anyways, hopefully having his lines here will help

"you will have no mercy from me!"

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