Alex's Mind Dungeon
Using a save phone allows Alex to enter his Mind Dungeon, a place to level up Alex and the party, obtain new skills, and to find and upgrade Karta. Each level up has Alex descending downwards, deeper into the Mind Dungeon. Vella first introduces Alex to the Mind Dungeon in Chapter 2, which is where it is first accessed.
In Chapter 5's calendar segment, the Mind Dungeon can no longer be accessed through a phone. Instead, it is an option Alex can select on the calender. During this period, each level up (including Karta level ups) will spend a day.
Alex will start at the Krow's Nest, where the Handsome Krow will allow him to pick three different Karta to level up. The Self focuses on LIF and STR. The Sun boosts LUK and SPD. The Holy Thief specializes in AGI and PRC.
Below the Krow's Nest are various Karta Characters. Talking to them allows Alex to use blood bags (gained from battles) to level them up, which also unlocks new dialogue from them.
Chalices can be found around the map to unlock new skills for characters. Usually requiring the use of tools to be reached.
Fetuses (represented by Divine Spirits) are scattered across the map and can be collected. They can be given to Jocasta in exchange for a Karta Key, which can be used to open up the Foils hidden in the Mind Dungeon. Foils contain new Karta. However, before obtaining the new Karta, Alex and Handsome Krow must battle against a familiar girl.
Interactions[edit | edit source]
Besides the Karta, there are three other entities that can be interacted with, them being The Choir, The Camera, and a Heart. As the game progresses, the dialogue will change for all of them.
The Camera[edit | edit source]
Have you figured it out yet...?
The Question.
After Mystical Ultima Legend LP
One day you will forget the Dark Game existed, and all you will know is its memes.
After Essentia Mind Dungeon
One day, you'll be King:
A vessel for the ONISM MAN.
The Choir[edit | edit source]
Why do we live? To process memes? To select for them using consciousness?
Without a body, I can't pass on my genes.
As a Projection of the Mind, I fear becoming a vessel for an idea.
The Meme Host.
The ONISM MAN.
After Mystical Ultima Legend LP
Why do we die? I fear it's to give way for healthier minds with less wisdom.
Children playing a game they don't understand.
Sorting through the chaos.
Building a tower of meaning.
Universal, yet trivial, without the suffering the meaning seeks to subvert.
After Essentia Mind Dungeon
We live for memes. We die to give way to fresh minds, but why do we suffer? I don't know?
Perhaps it is divorced from the meme and unrelated to the mind? A byproduct of the dance between the flesh and soul.
Then again... I have no body, and my suffering remains.
Heart[edit | edit source]
Thump. Thump. Thump..... Thump!
(You remember your mother and father together.)
After Mystical Ultima Legend LP
Thump.... Thump...... Thump.......
(You can't recall a time before the divorce.)
After Essentia Mind Dungeon
ThumpThumpThumpThump!
(You disregard the flesh. You aim for the Silicone. Thought and experience without despair.)
"DIA 0" Dialogue[edit | edit source]
There is an additional set of dialogues in the script, supposedly meant to take place before the rest, although it isn't known if they can be found in-game as of yet.
Camera: One day the Dark Game will take your life. It's already taken your heart.
Choir: Why are we here, Alex? What do you hope to accomplish?
Heart: Thump. Thump. Thump.
(You remember your father.)
Cutscenes[edit | edit source]
As Alex levels up in his Mind Dungeon, certain levels will trigger a cutscene, presented as a stage play, the Krow named Marlene will often play a character while perched up on the arm of puppet-like representations of other people, those being Sammy, Michael, and Alex's Dad.
Level 8/Floor 43: Krow
I see you've settled into the Mind Dungeon quite well. Have you met the Librarian?
Oh, I guess you wouldn't... She's on floor 15.
There is a girl who minds the place all by herself. Tell her the Krow told you to come read old memories.
She will show you the rest.
Before you go, I feel like I should warn you about that girl...
Ask whatever questions you want, but remember, she may not answer.
There are things I cannot say, and things she certainly can't. However, keep asking questions. Ask as many as you can think of.
That will be your job. Whenever you're not in the Dungeon of the Mind, you are free to do as you like.
Understand?
Level 15/Floor 36: The Librarian
I am sorry, I did not know you were here. You could have knocked. I was in the back room, in the stacks. (Everything here is such a mess.)
As you can see, no one visits here. No one except the Dungeon Master... and s/he hasn't visited in almost a year.
Excuse me, but perhaps you have mistaken this for another floor? This is the library. I can't imagine you're here to read all these old books.
Only the Dungeon Master is allowed to read them anyway. You're... not the Dungeon Master, are you? No, didn't think so.
Forgive me, I hate to be rude... but I'll need you to remove your glasses. There are things in this room that aren't meant for your eyes.
Only the Dungeon Master is allowed to see... You understand, right? Good.
Anyway, why have you come? What can I do for you...?
... Oh, Krow told you to visit me? Oh... hehehe. Well, it's nice to have the company.
Usually Krow sends people away. That's his job you know. Outsiders aren't allowed in the Dungeon of the Mind.
What...? Someone gave you the phone number for the Dungeon of the Mind?
I don't know what that means. Have I met you somewhere before?
As you may know, in this Dungeon of the Mind, memory is unreliable and uncertain. There are things we can remember and things we cannot remember.
You seem to be among the things I cannot. Please forgive me, but... I want to have met you before...
Of course, what I want doesn't matter. Only what the Dungeon Master wants matters. Okay, I've spoken enough.
Level 20/Floor 31: The Astronomer
Oh, has the Dungeon Master FINALLY sent me the help I requested?
Oh, no. You won't do.
*grumbles*
(Oh this is such a waste of time... i don't understand the persis of-)
Do you know how to science, boy? Have you even had a proper education?
Arithmetic, history, Latin, astronomy?
That offensive look of dis-ease shows me that you haven't even graduated primary school.
How can you look upon me, knowing who I am, without a proper education?!
You... do... know... who... I... am?
Don't you?
I am Dr. Aryabhata! I am the famous mathematician-astronomer from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy, THE GOLDEN ERA!!!...... 499 AD.
I ask the Dungeon Master for help with this absurd project he's assigned me, and he sends me an even more absurd apprentice?!
It's as if he doesn't want me to solve the problem.
*sigh*
You do know the problem, don't you...?
Wow! He sends you down here without even telling you the Question. It's his job to ask the questions, and our job to answer them!
Go back to floor 30 and find out what the Question is. Once you know, come back to floor 20 and I will allow you to watch me work.
I spent 1,238 years trying to answer this question, what difference will a few more hours make?
Level 30/Floor 21: Dad
Hey, so, yeah... look, I gotta go away for a while. I don't know when I'm coming back.
Things... yeah, things will be fine. Your mom is a good mom. She's... yeah, look...
You know I'm your dad, and I'll always be your dad... so, yeah... don't forget that.
Look... things might be tough... but, yeah... uhm... crap, I'm terrible at this.
Sometimes adults realize that they made mistakes... and sometimes.... their mistakes cost a lot of money, and require a lot of food... and educations...
And some adults, like your mother, are better at providing for those mistakes than fathers.
Look, you're lucky that your mom is smart. Smarter than I am.
Anyway, sometimes the realization of those mistakes leads you to following other mistakes halfway across the country in hope of finding some dream...
A youthful dream with nice legs. Only, those legs aren't as smart as your mom's, but man...
Anyway... yeah... so... hopefully this doesn't screw you up too badly. Just... yeah, you can have all my stuff.
I left most of it here. It's like, your birthright or whatever.
So... my clothes are a bit big... but you'll grow into them, and then you can dress just like your old man.
Try not to make the same mistakes I made... okay?
Level 35/Floor 16: Disembodied Voice
Did you find out the Question, Alex?
No...?
You're such a disappointment.
Boy, can you do any damned thing right?!
GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY FACE!!
I HATE YOU!!
I HATE YOU SO MUCH!!!!
JUST GO AWAY!!!
GET OUT!!!
WHO ARE YOU TO VEX ME WITH YOUR PERPETUAL IDIOCRACY?!
Don't you dare run, unless you find the Question!
Silly, pathetic, worthless, piece of filth.
Level 38/Floor 13: Librarian
Have you found the Dungeon Master?
He's tricky to find.
Tell me, have you been enjoying your time in the Dungeon of the Mind?
It can be overwhelming... never knowing if you're making the right choice.
Afraid to act, because of the paralyzing fear that you've chosen wrong.
I chose wrong once.
I want to go away... far away....
Just... to get out of here... to be on my own.
Well, not here...
That's how I wound up here... inside the Dungeon of the Mind.
I... I had a mom, but no dad. Mom got weird when dad left.
Things were fine for a while... but before I knew it, life had changed so much, there was little to be happy for.
So, I cried myself to sleep every night.
I screamed every night.
I tried running away... never got very far.
And you know what...?
I got away once. Far away... but I came back.
I felt terrible that my mom was left all alone... so I went back.
When I got home, things were better for a while.
Then they got worse.
Screaming, throwing things... accidentally on purpose, blowing out the pilot light on the stove.
So, I willed myself to escape... and I got far away.
Did I make the right choice?
... No...
I'm asking YOU!
Did I make the right choice?!
IS THIS BETTER?!
DID I SCREW UP?!
I CAN'T EVER LEAVE, YOU KNOW!
ALL I CAN DO IS STAY HERE AND CATALOGUE THE DUNGEON MASTER'S THOUGHTS!
DO YOU REALIZE HOW MANY THOUGHTS HE HAS?!
I need to get out... Can you help me get out...?
Didn't think so.
Of course you can't.
You're trapped here too. Just like me.
Level 40/Floor 11: Demented Voice
Did you figure out the Question?
Me either.
That's why I'm here.
There are no questions here. No one to bother you to do stuff.
I like it here... It's peaceful.
Level 50/Floor 1: Dungeon Master
People can be so mean. Don't you think, Alex?
Yeah, I feel the same way.
I've come to realize something... something pretty screwed up.
You are I...? We're the same.
Like, literally the same.
You're like, a concept. Like, a stuffed panda.
The stuffed panda isn't just a stuffed panda, but the concept...
That's where the importance is.
A stuffed panda can be a friend, it can be a playful monster, it can be a protector...
Whatever it needs to be, that's what it is.
The concept of a stuffed panda is greater than any actual panda.
Same thing with a crow.
A crow is ugly. It's not welcome.
No one would EVER want one in their home, unless they were weird.
So, somehow... we're both the stuffed panda, and the crow.
We're not perfect.
In fact... we kinda suck. We're absolutely mediocre young men.
But, have you stopped to look at who tells us how much we suck?
A teenage goth girl who slept with someone twice her age.
A bratty photographer responsible for one of the skeeziest websites on the net.
A robot, who would lead infinite amounts of boys to a life of solitude on a distant star, just because one might hurt someone one day.
No one ever said we'd hurt anyone.
That wasn't written in stone.
Just like how Dad said you'd never be able to learn to ride a bike.
You fell off!
SO MANY TIMES!
You were sooooo bad at it!
That's the same thing.
People say you'll destroy the world enough times, and damn... you'll grow to believe it!
We get a bad rap, you and I.
That's just because we had a lot growing up. Good mom, lots of money...
We lived in a nice town. Things were easy for us.
But, you know what? That's just on a basic needs level.
Life sucked.
Dad left us... Mom was NEVER HOME...
Television raised us. No one was there to check out homework...
Dad never called...
Never...
Not even to give us advice, or put money into our bank account.
That would've been nice...
But yeah, we had everything else. No one ever judged us for the way we looked.
No one was scared of us walking down the street.
Maybe our life was on easy mode...
I don't know. I've never lived another life.
But... I guess, we're weak. Easy mode was too hard for us.
I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore, man.
So, look. Here is the deal.
The world is over, it's done... but there is another world... far away...
I'm going to suggest something radical. SUPER RADICAL.
Go, right now... and kill proto you!
You're strong. Stronger than you'll ever be.
Go and fight him alone...
And from there... maybe then you'll find happiness.
Just avoid that robot.
She's not a bad girl, she's just not good for you.
We bring out the worst in each other... don't we?
Yeah, so... if you want to be happy, you'll need to kill proto you, yourself.
Then you'll be good to go!
Just you, Panda, and Krow. The holy trinity of suburban mediocrity.
Good luck, man.
Oh, did you figure out the Question...?
Yeah, I thought you did.
Level 99/Floor 49b: Krow
So, you've come to the end of the universe. That's pretty crazy.
I never thought this would actually happen.
Most of the time, the hero saves the day.
Oh, right... I forgot. You aren't a "hero". You're a "protagonist".
Silly me!
In your story, you fail. The world ends. Everyone cries. Credits roll.
I don't like that.
...I don't like you.
Your ending sucks!
You can take this postmodern nonsense and shove it!
I should have gone into David Foster Wallace's head... At least his thoughts are worth a damn.
Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt your feeling?
GOOD!!!
You're responsible for the death of everyone on this planet.
All of them.
KOWW! KOWW!
It's going to be so lonely now... even Librarian moved on.
She told me to say goodbye...
And that you were nothing but a disappointment.
Oh, and that you had lovely little eyes.
Did you notice the eyes, by the way?
They were part of the Question you failed to answer.
Anyway... I'm going now. Off to find another mind.
Oh wait, you killed all of them.
Stupid worthless little brat...
KOWW KOWW!
Old Battle Mode[edit | edit source]
The old battle mode's Mind Dungeon is quite different, beside the more obvious differences like the lack of Karta existing.
Levels are represented by floors within the Mind Dungeon. With each floor, Alex is presented with 4 doors, which allow Alex to boost certain stats. A number above the door represents how much the stat will be boosted by. The LUK and SPD stat gain an additional increase when chosen. If you cannot decide or don't care, talking to Krow will allow him to assign the stats themselves.
Sometimes, doors will have a book on top, representing that it will unlock a new skill for a party member. Whenever a Soul Survivor is banished, they will show up on one of the floor's doors. Choosing to ignore it will allow Alex to level up like normal, but choosing to purge it triggers a minigame. If won, an additional stat bonus will be applied- but if lost, the door will be locked and be unable to be used to level up.
Each time Alex descends a floor, his party members will level up alongside him. A Boing Boing at the foyer allows Alex to have his friends level up manually, for cases where Alex doesn't have enough EXP to level up but his party members do.
Pre-I.V, a Brain in a Vat is present which allows the game's script setting to be changed.
