You seemed to be nearing the end of the game now, having access to what seemed to be the final dungeon, though you knew how RPGs could tend to draw things out. Still, it seemed like a good idea to clean up any sidequests before you progressed, having found enough BIS equipment to handle any random encounters that you came across with mindless ease.

The pathway up the mountains was hidden, requiring you to move a boulder before a new path was revealed. Heading up that mountain path you'd come to a cave mouth with a destroyed caravan wagon at the opening, no doubt housing some item or another. You move in, only for the game to pause your character on screen as a set of red eyes appears from the cave a moment before a great brown dragon head appeared, looking about idly before spotting your character, giving a snarl and a puff of smoke before you were launched into a battle!

A new boss theme plays, chip tune still seeming strangely ominous as the hulking brown dragon waited for his turn, seeming to have maxed out health. Hardly an issue, your entire party had the same health and equipment not to be laughed at. Annoyingly, two of your three party members seemed to have started the fight with the 'FEAR' debuff, character sprites frantically turning in place with their run animation, both of their turns being passed over with the message "Couldn't Flee!" flashing onscreen before your main got their action. Curious to see the mechanics of the fight, you choose to simply attack, knowing your weapon was rather over powered. The animation plays and the sound of slashing damage rings out only for the display to show you'd done... 1 damage? It seemed there was going to be a trick to this fight. The dragon gets its turn next, seeming to also use a basic, unnamed attack, slashing its claws. Three red 9999s appear above each of your characters before each collapsed and the fight ends, sending you to the game over screen.

Annoying, but it proved your theory that this was a boss fight meant to be taken on in the endgame, likely after you completed the main story. There would either need to be a weapon you'd need to hold, a spell that drops his strength, or something else in the game that would let you start the actual fight. You decide you could worry about it later, choosing to load file from the title screen only to find all three save slots empty...?!

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An awesome little pixel animation from  Dsurion123 who absolutely knocked this out of the park. Please give them a look, they have an awesome gallery of pixel and traditional art!

Despite the over-saturation of "retro" aesthetics in recent indie gaming, I'll always have a spot in my heart for pixel art. I grew up with the NES and PC and have been gaming since I can remember. Video games were a huge part of my childhood and still manage to take up a good deal of my limited free time these days as well. I've always enjoyed the idea of Cain being an NPC in RPG settings. A party wipe if approached wrong, a temp party member that just one-shots encounters before going his own way. Fun to think about.