Let's Play Psychic World (SMS) Round 4 - Ruins

OK, Round 4. Ruins. It looks like we're going into some sort of haunted pyramid.



I start by Excharging my ESP into HP. Since I'm hard up against the ceiling, my gif isn't marred by Lucia jumping every time I want to activate Shield. Looks like there's a new power at the bottom left. Let's take a look:



This is Levitation. It's pretty simple: hold the jump button and you'll float upwards. At level 1 it only lasts long enough to get out of this pit (which I could just jump out of). Since there's an ESP recharge item on this screen, I could just collect them both and use Teleport to respawn the power up until it was at full strength, but that's lame. Anyway, I've got a new Attack Capability to try out:



As usual, at level 1 Ultra-sonic is underwhelming.



It is what I need to break these blocks, though.



Here's a new mechanic for this stage. Holding jump over these vents will allow Lucia to float upwards, even without Levitation active. There seems to be a lot of active technology in these ruins... maybe it's plot related?



There's a power up for my Ultra-sonic over here. Let's see it in action:



Aww yeah, two tiny waves instead of one!



Using it to bust the blocks under this red thing causes it to drop down, clearing a path up above. You won't see me stepping into one of those, because they hurt Lucia quickly enough that she won't usually make it out of them if I do.



I drop the other one and pick up the ESP refill. This level requires a lot of ESP use for Levitation. For example:



Some games will let your character hang for as long as an ordinary jump if you hit the ceiling, but in Psychic World trying to jump these gaps without Levitation will see Lucia drop to a quick death in the red things (I could get across the upper one by running, though). It doesn't last long, so if you're not quick you can take a fall anyway.



This one I could have just run across.



I try out all my weapons on this spinning thing, to no avail. Nothing for it but to avoid it.



In the next room we meet the first enemies of the Ruins. They're pretty funky! I drop to the lowest level and take one out with Ultra-sonic, then take a shot at the one on the level above with Burning Bullet. The fire weapon has no effect.



I try out Cooling Down, which freezes the enemy in its slimy tracks, just as advertised. Doesn't last long though, and doesn't seem to do any damage.



I have to use Levitation to get off the lower level, which in theory could be a problem: if you have no ESP power left, you can't proceed. That's not necessarily a huge issue, because you can jump up and get hit by the shots fired by the enemy at the top until you die and start the stage over, but if the reason you've run out of ESP is using Explosion to kill that enemy, you could softlock your game. There's no time limit, so if you can't proceed and you can't get killed, you'll have to reboot. I don't think it's ever happened to me, though.

The other thing going on in this gif is an attempt to use Cooling Down to bypass an enemy. I think when they're in that square you're supposed to be able to walk through them, but either I'm wrong or it just doesn't last long enough at its current power level for me to pull it off.



I continue upwards and finish off the enemies. Using levitation to get that Ultra-sonic power up was probably unnecessary.



The green thing is an obstacle rather than an enemy, so far as I can tell. Ultra-sonic doesn't work on it, at least.



I should probably be using Shield more. Lucia can take a lot of hits, but I'm pretty low on HP.



There we go. Ghosts are tough!



This big open room goes on for a while. I do some Excharging on the way. I think my Explosion is already as strong as it's gonna get, but I struggle to leave a power-up uncollected.



There's kind of a pattern in this level where whenever I Excharge the game gives a health refill straight after. I probably would have died before getting it though, I guess. These green guys take a lot of hits.



My Levitate is getting a bit longer-lasting, which is good. I stopped and fired off Ultra-sonic there because I realised I hadn't gotten a clear shot of it since the last upgrade and I wanted to be able to make a close-up gif. But I didn't. I did make one after getting the upgrade in this gif, though:



Two double waves, each a little bigger than before. Nice!



I carry on and use something I should have started using much earlier in the level: Explosion.



The next room has some simple environmental hazards.



Lucia's quest for air supremacy continues, and she gets another Ultra-sonic power up (along with a probably-pointless Explosion) and a full HP/ESP refill from the enemies. I probably could have conveyed all this with a few screenshots, but making a gif is actually easier than tiling shots.



Here's the midboss, some kind of demon or something? I try having a go without Shield, and manage ok. I'm not sure if Explosion actually damages it. The instructions say it won't work on larger enemies, not sure if that's just the actual bosses.



Here's my triple Ultra-sonic, with animated background!



I decide the most appropriate move here is to blow up the enemies before most of them can reach me.



I collect the power ups for fully powered up weapons and continue. The last shot there is not an error - the midboss repeats.



Some more of those red things. Levitation is getting properly useful now.



Even with Ultra-sonic fully charged, these enemies take a lot of hits.



I can't seem to get through a room without taking a hit somewhere. You remember I pointed out the potential softlock early in this stage? Every room requiring Levitation since has had some kind of environmental hazard in it that would allow you to restart the level if necessary. Just pointing that out.



Here's a long corridor split vertically across two rooms.



Here are some enemies knocking Lucia down.



And here's another spot where you could trap yourself if you ran out of ESP. Poor form, Psychic World! On the plus side, the last enemy I killed dropped a full ESP refill, so it's not likely to happen. I wonder if they realised it could be a problem, and that's their solution? Not a great one, in my opinion.



But, you know, it works for me and I don't get trapped. One thing that can catch you out here is that you can't have Levitation and Shield active at the same time. My HP gets pretty low. If I were to try to Excharge it up and fell back in that hole, I could get stuck.



Speaking of which, I refill my HP. I don't fall back down, though.



As usual, after I heal myself the game drops some HP.



The next room has some more power ups and a few enemies to explode.



After clearing the room I'm stuck up here. I can't go back down without walking to the left and starting from the bottom, so I do.



I clear a few more enemies in the bottom of this screen. I didn't include it in the screenshots, but the first one dropped a full HP refill. With the second one's ESP refill, I'm at full power.



And for once I navigate the room obstacles safely. The vents in this room are a trap - if you take one up to the upper level, there's no way past the green thing without taking a hit (or using Shield, I guess).



The next room has a long corridor with unbreakable spikes and readily breakable enemies.



Then this, which is super-frustrating. You can crouch under the green thing, but if you get hit by the projectile Lucia's damage sprite is standing, which pops her up into the path of the green thing for more injury.



That's what the ESP abilities are for, of course. I Explode the first enemy and use Shield to get past the second.



The next room is a big bunch of nope. I think this is the game checking if you've realised you have Explosion available to you. I am aware. The enemies drop some more full HP and ESP refills, which is good, because up next is:



The boss! I'm not sure if this is a robot or some kind of monster in a suit. These high tech ruins make me think of the "Aliens built the pyramids" idea, which would fit with this being a spaceman.



Anyway, Lucia can't shoot through the red bar, so you just have to avoid the red balls until the enemy opens a space at the top. If I were quicker, I might have gotten up there to fire a few shots before the wave it makes started pushing me back.



Lucia will stay in place if you hold forwards, then when she starts running she'll move forwards. Unfortunately stopping to activate Levitation will lose that momentum, as will running into the barrier.



Eventually it'll switch to an upwards wave, carrying Lucia to the ceiling. I get a few hits in before the barrier closes again.



I dodge for a while...



Then the barrier drops again and I finish it off. For my troubles, I get a full health refill, which is nice to have starting another stage. The boss is worth 40,000 points, which also gets an ESP refill, not that I was low.

Next time:



Fortress



Wear this ESP booster. It'll help you see this bonus material:

No boss concept art this time. Instead:



Lucia, and her ESP MAXIMAM HEAD GEAR. Not sure why she's wearing a translucent skirt.

Sensenic:
Lucia, full name: Luciella Valerie Angela ("Valerie" is the name that came to me closest to that katakana transcription, but it could be anything - Barelli, Ballery, Varelly...).

Also, there's a note on the left one:
"Initial design
Lucia
During the game this design is used"

And that made me notice that indeed in the intro sequence she has long hair, but then her sprite has shoulder length hair.