Ashitaka had no combat ability, so the main character controlled by the player was still princess mononoke.
The next part was the exploration process throughout the entire Sacred Beast Mountain.
While searching for food, they also fought against the humans who were attacking the forest.
Due to a change in stance, the beasts in the forest were now friendly, and beasts that could not communicate before could now converse.
All of this was because San had been raised by the white wolf since she was young, allowing her to understand animal languages.
At this point, Yamada unexpectedly discovered that Yakul, the male protagonist's mount, was also a chatterbox; if you talked to him, he would even tell you about the happy times he spent with Ashitaka among the Emishi people.
When San heard that Ashitaka had an ex-fiancée, she felt completely out of sorts.
But Yakul comforted her, saying, "Ashitaka never saw Kaya as a fiancée. He always thought of Kaya as a younger sister. If you're talking about someone he truly has feelings for…"
Yakul didn't continue, instead staring blankly at princess mononoke.
Her face turned as red as an Apple.
San was truly too cute.
Yamada Masaharu sighed with a smile.
Handsome, pure, violent, and cute.
Where in life could one find such a good girl?
...
After getting familiar with the forest for a while and returning to the Mona Clan, a new event occurred.
A group of Boar Gods had come knocking.
These Boar Gods were new arrivals; they had traveled across the sea to this place solely to eliminate the humans destroying the forest.
"We kill humans to protect the forest."
"But why does the Mona Clan save humans?"
"Why are there humans here?"
The leading Boar God angrily demanded.
The humans he referred to were not only Ashitaka but also princess mononoke, San.
The White Wolf God was displeased upon hearing this, standing in front of the two and gnashing his teeth, saying, "She is my daughter."
"There are humans everywhere. It's not too late to return to your own mountains and kill them."
Upon hearing this, the group of Boar Gods became agitated:
"We came here to protect the Forest Spirit's forest!"
"Why are there humans here?!"
San righteously stated, "He was saved by the Forest Spirit, and the Forest Spirit allowed him to stay here!"
Upon hearing this, the group of Boar Gods erupted, unable to believe what they had heard.
"What?! The Forest Spirit actually saved a human?!"
"The Forest Spirit actually saved a human?!"
"Why didn't he save the Boar God?!"
It was no wonder they were dissatisfied; previously, the Boar God was injured by humans and even turned into a demon due to hatred, yet it still didn't receive healing from the Forest Spirit.
And now, this was a human.
Humans are vile villains who destroy the forest, our enemies, so why would the Forest Spirit save him?!
As the highest ancient deity of this land, why would the Forest Spirit do such a thing?!
"The Forest Spirit holds the power of life and death," the White Wolf God growled, gnashing his teeth, "Have you forgotten, giant Boar Gods?!"
The two sides began to argue.
...
Following this was another major battle. After repelling the various Boar Gods, an even larger Boar God appeared.
This Boar God was clearly no ordinary foe.
He had four tusks, and his body was taller than the White Wolf God; princess mononoke stood before him like a tiny dot.
This fellow was the famous Okkoto.
He came from the West, having crossed the sea.
He originally came to avenge the Boar God who had been killed earlier, but he sniffed out detailed information from Ashitaka's cursed hand, only then understanding—
The gravely wounded Boar God had escaped, becoming a demon due to suffering and hatred for humans.
Okkoto felt extremely sad, not expecting such a disgrace to appear within their Boar God clan.
But just when Yamada Masaharu thought a terrifying BOSS battle was about to begin, Okkoto showed no intention of attacking them.
Okkoto prepared to lead his clan of Boar Gods in a final decisive battle against humanity.
Because if things continued like this, human strength would grow, and for clan Boar Gods like them, they would eventually become meat on someone else's chopping block.
Rather than dying in the end, it was better to bravely advance and fight with all their might, letting humans know the power of their Boar God clan.
Okkoto declared that since the Mona Clan was so close to humans, they would launch an attack on humans even without their help.
After making this declaration, Okkoto led his clan away.
...
That night, under San's care, the male protagonist's body improved slightly. When he woke up, a huge moon had risen outside.
Seeing the forest under the moonlight, Ashitaka's heart yearned.
If he walked up the rocks, he could find the White Wolf God at the cliff top.
The White Wolf God, having been struck by human firestones, was actually poisoned and likely didn't have much time left. However, he dared not seek out the Forest Spirit, as in his current state, the Forest Spirit might not save him but instead directly absorb his life.
After conversing with the White Wolf God, he recounted princess mononoke San's tragic past and the conflict between the forest and humans to Ashitaka.
San was an infant left behind by humans entering the forest, abandoned in their escape.
"She can be neither human nor mountain wolf."
"But, San is my most precious daughter."
Ashitaka, who had originally intended to take San back to live among humans, hesitated after hearing the White Wolf God's words.
The next morning, Ashitaka left the forest.
At this point, the game had entered its final battle.
From here, the main storyline of the entire game was divided into two parts.
The first part took place in the Divine Beast Forest, where Yamada Masaharu continued to play the role of princess mononoke San.
...
At this time, the Boar God group, deeply disturbed by humans, decided to fight to the death under the leadership of the Boar God Okkoto to save their home, the forest.
So San led two other white wolves away from Mona and joined the battle between the Boar God group and the combined forces of Eboshi, the samurai, and the wandering monks, acting as eyes for the blind Okkoto.
This battle was truly exhilarating because Yamada Masaharu felt the power of the beasts fighting alongside the Boar God group, with Okkoto, the god of slaughter, also present.
Everywhere they went, things were truly reduced to ashes.
But—
Eboshi and her forces were well-prepared for this battle. Their ultimate goal was not to eliminate the Boar God group, but to use them as bait to find the Forest Spirit and hunt for the Forest Spirit's head.
The Boar Gods clearly knew it was a trap, yet they charged forward without hesitation, for that was the nature of the Boar Gods.
In their final battle, they staked their dignity and would not retreat or waver in the slightest.
Thus, as the battle progressed, they quickly encountered human traps and firearm formations.
The Boar Gods charging at the front died in droves.
...
Yamada Masaharu broke into the enemy's main camp. The main BOSS of this campaign was still Eboshi.
However, this time, the Eboshi encountered was an enhanced version.
The entire BOSS battle was exceptionally difficult.
After successfully defeating Eboshi, San returned to the Boar God group to search for Okkoto.
In the battle between Eboshi and the Boar God group, the Boar God group was almost completely annihilated, with only the Boar God Okkoto, San, and the mountain dog remaining.
They set off towards the island where the Forest Spirit resided, hoping the Forest Spirit could heal Okkoto's injuries.
However, just then, the orangutans in the forest appeared, saying that they had been tricked by humans and had brought something that was neither human nor beast.
It turned out that after killing the Boar Gods, the humans had put on their skins and smeared themselves with Boar God blood to conceal their human identity, tracking the retreating Okkoto and San, disguised as Boar Gods, and stealthily approaching.
This way, they wouldn't disturb the Forest Spirit.
Eboshi's ultimate goal was also to hunt for the Forest Spirit's head.
And smelling the scent of his descendants and kin, Okkoto thought his deceased clan Boar Gods had returned, and driven by inner demons, his hatred for humans reached its peak.
And Okkoto became insane.
Like the previous Boar God, he spewed a large mouthful of fresh blood, and then his entire body began to wildly grow curse worms.
Seeing that Okkoto was about to turn into a demon, San quickly tried to pull off the worms on his body, shouting, trying to make Okkoto calm down.
However, it was all too late. Okkoto's eyes were bloodshot, and he had long since lost his sanity.
And San was also struck on the head with a stone by the samurai disguised as Boar Gods, fainting onto Okkoto's body.
The curse worms immediately grew wildly, submerging San's body.
Okkoto, carrying San, then galloped madly straight towards the island where the Forest Spirit resided.
...
At this point, San's storyline abruptly ended, and the main perspective shifted to the male protagonist, Ashitaka.
After leaving San, Ashitaka encountered a large number of samurai and scattered soldiers on the road and was attacked by them.
At the same time, after eliminating these enemies, he learned through dialogue with people in Daidara Iron Town that:
While Eboshi led her male soldiers to hunt the Forest Spirit, Daidara Iron Town was attacked by samurai, and only women were left to defend the town.
It turned out that Eboshi's reason for hunting the Forest Spirit's head was entirely due to deception. The monk Jigo, with a large group of samurai and musketeers, had approached Eboshi with a huge bounty from a powerful figure. As long as they could obtain the Forest Spirit's head, the entire Iron Town would receive a large sum of money.
This money and resources would be enough for them to live well.
Based on this, Eboshi agreed to the deal and then led the men from the Iron Town to the Divine Beast Mountain with these imperial samurai.
In other words, now only women were left in the entire Daidara Iron Town.
Daidara Iron Town could be said to be in critical danger.
Yamada Masaharu then quickly rushed back to Daidara Iron Town. Sure enough, the town was now filled with various samurai, all aiming to seize the town.
Another bitter battle followed.
After defeating the samurai, he also engaged in a fierce battle with a massive, exceptionally tall, and fully armored BOSS in the town.
After dying about 20 times, Yamada Masaharu defeated him.
After leaving a remark about what a noob he was, Yamada Masaharu began to converse with the girls in the city.
...
Learning that Eboshi had gone to hunt the Forest Spirit, in order to save the Forest Spirit and San, and also to inform Eboshi to return and save Daidara, he set off for the forest again.
Along the way, there were only musketeers and samurai.
The samurai were actually easier to fight, but the musketeers caused Yamada Masaharu considerable trouble, mainly because of their long range. And if you attracted multiple musketeers, the sheer agony—
They would directly flank you from front and back, and since they carried firearms and were dispersed, if you dealt with one, the other would be far away.
Being shot in the back repeatedly was unbearable for anyone.
After much difficulty, he finally reached the small island in the center of the forest. Ashitaka saw San, with more than half of her body buried in the worms on Okkoto's body.
Okkoto had now completely turned into a demon.
What followed was a terrifying BOSS battle.
Okkoto, transformed into a demon, was far, far more terrifying than the Boar God King he had seen before.
Now controlling the male protagonist Ashitaka, and his mount was Yakul, no longer the white wolf that Yamada liked so much.
It was still the same old tricks: mounted archery, then encircling and attacking reinforcements.
Finding the right opportunity to shoot Okkoto.
But this guy's defense was clearly exceptionally high, almost like a massage.
The battle progressed very slowly.
After much effort, when his health was reduced by half, Okkoto directly went berserk, and the curse worms all over his body exploded, turning into many long, giant snake-like shapes.
The guy in front of him was simply terrifying.
However, fortunately, after entering the second phase, the game also changed his helper—
Seeing that the situation was irreversible, the Mona Clan arrived in time to snatch San back.
The Mona Clan then joined the battle.
The battle between the two giant beasts was a cacophony of wails and howls.
Yamada Masaharu was shocked by this sight.
Of course, despite his shock, he didn't stop working.
With the Mona Clan acting as a tank to hold off the Boar God, Ashitaka could unleash his attacks without worry.
The most important thing was to dodge those attacking tentacles.
After dying about thirty times,
The Boar God's last drop of blood was depleted, and its massive body crashed to the ground.
The dense swarm of insects on its body also scattered onto the ground, rapidly decaying.
"Heh, I thought the Boar God could hold out a bit longer, but I didn't expect him to be so weak."
After the battle with the Boar God, the Mona Clan, already severely wounded, was now at its limit and also collapsed to the ground.
The dying Mona Clan told Ashitaka to live on with San.
Just then, the Forest Spirit emerged.
It was still in its deer form.
As dusk approached, it would soon transform into a glowing giant.
Seeing the Mona Clan and the Boar God lying painfully on the ground, the Forest Spirit walked gently over.
The defeated Boar God, now conscious, showed fear in his eyes upon seeing the Forest Spirit and instinctively recoiled two steps.
However, his physical condition was indeed very poor, and the Boar God couldn't escape, only staring blankly at the Forest Spirit.
The latter gently walked up to him, stretched his neck, and kissed the tip of the Boar God's nose.
Life rapidly drained away as the Forest Spirit absorbed the Boar God's life; the Boar God's pupils first dilated, then slowly contracted, and his eyes closed.
The next moment, the Boar God crashed down with a tremendous sound.
At this moment, the moon appeared, and the Forest Spirit's body gradually grew, its neck extending all the way to the sky, about to transform into a glowing giant.
And in this situation, Eboshi took the opportunity to shoot down the Forest Spirit's head.
After losing its head, a black, viscous, transparent substance rapidly expanded within the Forest Spirit's body, beginning to spread throughout the entire forest.
These transparent, viscous substances, upon contact with anything living, would cause those things to rapidly wither, decay, and die.
The enraged Forest Spirit began to absorb life to regain its head.
Under the Forest Spirit's control, the Mona Clan, now only a head, bit off one of Eboshi's arms.
"It's over, it's over," princess mononoke cried in despair. "The forest is finished, and the Forest Spirit has also been killed by them."
In the sky, the Forest Spirit transformed into a headless glowing giant; wherever it passed, all the trees withered and died.
Vast expanses of forest lost their vibrant green, turning into withered gray.
And above, in the forest destroyed by the enraged Forest Spirit, broken trees fell, crashing onto the ground and into the rivers.
Seeing this, Gangsha protected Eboshi and left.
Only the Monk and the Samurai carried the Forest Spirit's head, running quickly, wanting to offer this symbol of 'eternal life' to the Heavenly Lord to receive a high reward.
The Forest Spirit pursued its head all the way, destroying Daidara Iron Town in the process.
Fortunately, the women in the Iron Town discovered it early and quickly led people out of the town.
Ashitaka and San, to save the forest, began to fight with the Samurai, just wanting to retrieve the Forest Spirit's head and return it to him.
At this point, the game could choose Ashitaka as the main controlled character, or San.
In short, just follow your preferences.
Yamada Masaharu chose San as his main controlled character, galloping on a white wolf.
"Damn it, how hateful!"
Yamada Masaharu gritted his teeth.
Compared to Eboshi, these merchants, the Monk who wanted to please the Heavenly Lord by completing the task, and that Heavenly Lord who ordered a bounty for eternal life, were simply a bunch of greedy, selfish bastards!
Eboshi at least helped the poor and weak, and she opened mountains and dug sand for survival. What are you guys?!
He didn't expect the worst to be the Monk, who had even been saved by the male protagonist earlier.
The Monk was a mini-boss in the final battle.
After successfully defeating the Monk, the two also retrieved the stolen Forest Spirit's head.
But now the Forest Spirit was rampaging.
And this was the final battle.
To appease the Forest Spirit's wrath, and to prevent it from continuing to grow and destroy the world without limit, Ashitaka and San began their battle against the headless glowing giant.
Honestly, the sense of oppression in this final scene was exceptionally strong.
Because from Yamada Masaharu's main perspective, he couldn't see the glowing giant at all.
At most, he could only see the glowing giant's feet.
And countless slimy arms hanging down from above.
After being hit by an arm, a large portion of health would drop first, then he would be entangled by the slime, and his movement would slow down for a period of time.
If he was then hit by the next giant hand hanging down from the air, or stepped on by the glowing giant's large foot, he would basically have to say goodbye to this world.
"Terrifying."
Yamada Masaharu was experiencing such a grand scene for the first time.
Especially from a 3D flat perspective, the sense of oppression was even stronger.
You even had the illusion that the Forest Spirit had covered the entire sky.
The Forest Spirit's main attack was area damage, and the most terrifying thing was—
It could also absorb blood!
The ultimate BOSS, which was already almost at rock bottom, would instantly recover a portion of its health if you were absorbed by it once.
As you played, hey, guess what?
Full health!
All the previous efforts went down the drain; this feeling was truly heartbreaking.
It was incredibly frustrating; I spent so much time grinding, and just when I was about to kill him, he was at full health.
What was I doing before?!
Yamada Masaharu was somewhat doubting his life.
In other words, when fighting the final Forest Spirit, you not only had to deal damage, but also perfectly dodge the opponent's attacks to achieve a no-damage clear.
Even if you get hit, never get hit too many times, otherwise it's like fighting for nothing, as it will absorb its health back to full.
After dying countless times, Yamada Masaharu finally achieved the ultimate accomplishment—
No-damage clear, defeating the Forest Spirit.
Boom!!!
A huge whooshing sound above his head.
The Forest Spirit's footsteps also stopped.
Ashitaka and San stood together, clinging to each other, holding the Forest Spirit's head high.
At the same time, the glowing giant, covering the sky, bent down from above.
Its neck continuously elongated, then transformed into a massive wave, rushing down from above towards the head in the two people's hands.
Light swept over, washing over the male protagonist and female protagonist's bodies, and the entire mountain range rumbled.
This scene was truly too shocking!
But the Forest Spirit, having regained its head, crashed to the ground and died as the sun came out.
A huge wave of light, after being struck by it, rippled out like waves.
Like a storm, it swept through Daidara Iron Town, through the withered forest, spread across the mountains, and merged into the river...
And the plants that had been deprived of life by the rampaging glowing giant now burst forth with new life again.
On the iron-brown hillside, green plants grew wildly, blooming with lush flowers.
The withered trees in the forest sprouted green buds, which quickly grew into green leaves, and the once silent and desolate mountains suddenly became vibrant and verdant again.
Although the Forest Spirit fell, it bestowed new vitality upon the earth!
Seeing this, accompanied by Joe Hisaishi's music, Yamada Masaharu was almost in tears.
So shocking, so beautiful, so moving.
On the hillside covered with green wild grass, two white wolves lay among them, basking leisurely in the sun.
Yakul walked down from the mountain and poked his head into the grass.
In the grass, Ashitaka and San were tightly embracing each other. Yakul gently bit Ashitaka's hair, and the latter woke up.
He opened his eyes wide, looking around blankly, completely unaware of what had happened.
The two stood up in shock, running through the mountains, where everything was lush green.
"The forest is saved!"
This was San's first thought after waking up.
"But even if life returns, this will never be the Forest Spirit's forest again."
San said sadly, "The Forest Spirit is dead."
Ashitaka responded, "The Forest Spirit will not die, because he himself is life."
"He encompasses both life and death."
Ashitaka looked down at his right hand; the curse on his hand had completely disappeared.
This indicated that the Forest Spirit had forgiven him and healed him.
"The Forest Spirit told me to live."
San turned and mounted the white wolf, bidding farewell to Ashitaka, "I like Ashitaka."
"But I cannot forgive humans."
"That's fine," Ashitaka smiled. "San lives in the forest, and I live in Daidara Iron Town."
"Let's live on together!"
"I'll ride Yakul to find you!"
San smiled and nodded.
The two smiled and parted ways in the lush green mountains.
Meanwhile, Eboshi, who had lost her right arm, had also realized that she had been betrayed. She said to Gangsha, "I need to apologize to Ashitaka and bring him back.
Also, let's rebuild Daidara Iron Town together!"
Everything seemed to return to the starting point.
Everything seemed to have changed.
Yet, it also seemed as if nothing had changed.
Finally, the camera gradually moved down from above the forest; a small river flowed through the green forest.
The moss-covered ground was lush and green.
Then, a Kodama appeared in the frame, tilting its head and making clicking sounds.
Seeing this, Yamada Masaharu happily laughed out loud.
Kodama!
The strongest wild monsters in princess mononoke; he had never found them so delicate and charming.
As long as the Kodama were still there, it meant the Forest Spirit was still alive!
Joe Hisaishi's music played again.
At this point, the entire game abruptly ended.
[How should humans and nature coexist? Is there no way for everyone to live in harmony?]
[This is an important question Master Miyazaki Hayao wanted to express in 'princess mononoke'.]
[Even now, it may still trouble us, but the act of thinking itself is a very meaningful thing.]
[Thank you all]
[THE END]
This game is amazing.
Although he hadn't seen the movie, Yamada Masaharu had a more immersive experience than the movie.
Thank you, Master Miyazaki Hayao, for creating such an excellent movie.
And thank you, pokeni!
For making such a wonderful fan game.
Yamada clasped his hands together.
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