Episode 6

This chapter starts with a playable flashback through the eyes of the original Raincoat Killer on the night of the Greenvale massacre fifty years ago. Dodge debris and angry citizens and make it to the Greenvale Community Center before the thirteenth bell rings (approximately nine minutes of game time). I got to say the fact that the Raincoat Killer was mentally strong enough to hold back the blind rage caused by the gas in an attempt to confront the source puts a new spin on the whole “serial killer” legend. It would seem in reality the Raincoat Killer was less of a boogeyman and actually kind of heroic!

That’s not to say you can’t go on a mindless killing spree as the legend suggests, you are in control after all, but if you want to make it to the tower in time I wouldn’t advise it. Even though you can kill with one hit the ax swing is so slow that eliminating groups of rage fueled citizens will waste the limited time you have to make the circuitous route to the tower. Besides, killing everyone really isn’t necessary as their attacks are easily avoided if you give the citizens a wide berth when you pass by…hell most of them won’t even budge from their spawn point and attack anyway.

Clock Tower Route. (Click to enlarge)

To the Clock Tower!

PLEASE NOTE! The Greenvale map and street names are not visible during this segment of the game. I’ve only listed them in my navigation directions so you can use them as a reference to the route depicted on the map to the right.

From the parking lot of the future A & G Diner make a left onto January Way until a red vine fence cuts through and blocks the road near the Cradle St intersection. Enter the path open to the right then hug the red vine fence as you cross the large field.

Eventually you will cross Veil Way and enter a back lot that contains large piles of logs. Break through the fence and head through the the farthest alleyway to the right then make a left onto Calm St. Make a right back onto January Way followed by another left at the next intersection onto Donovan St.

From this point forward you can just follow the road straight to the Community Center. Once you approach the entrance (about 258 yards from the target) time will skip forward to the twelfth bell ring regardless of the current count and angry citizens break open the main gates. At this point a countdown begins and you’ll have approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds to reach the green ring in front of the clock tower before an automatic game over.

Kaysen with the military.

Upon reaching the clock tower a familiar face is seen supervising the release of the gas while laughing at all the chaos its wrought. Is Forrest Kaysen a vampire or something? He looks just as he does today! Well we don’t know for sure it’s Kaysen, it is possible it’s an ancestor of his but I have some major doubts about that…

Time jumps forward and York takes the Raincoat Killer’s place at the bottom of the clock tower surrounded by several of his Greenvale friends all armed and crazed. It would seem that more gas has been released into the town and is already wreaking havoc. If we want to prevent another massacre we’ll have to hurry and confront Kaysen inside!

Armed and crazed.

Even though our friends are now trying to kill us we have to resist the urge to retaliate since they are being controlled by an unknown force. If you do attack them it is an immediate game over so just give everyone a wide berth and head directly for the green ring near the Community Center entrance. Before you enter the ring however be sure to pick up the [Agent Honor (Red)] to the left of the door!

We’ve arrived too late 🙁

York enters a white forest with a mirror to shave, a bed to sleep on, as well as a toolbox, suitcase and a phone to save. This your last opportunity to prepare for the long fight ahead. Stock up on any health kits you may have in the toolbox and make sure the [.357 Magnum (∞)] is equipped once more. If you neglected to complete Side Mission #11 back in Chapter 8 be sure to purchase a regular [.357 Magnum] at Panda Bear through the toolbox. If you want to have a bit of extra health I also suggest using the suitcase to change into the Passion Red suit.

Once you are all set exit the room through door directly ahead.

What a sick bastard.

Inside the theater an extremely amused Kaysen welcomes York to the “Grand Finale” while an unconscious Emily sits by his side. She stirs shortly after York’s arrival but it becomes apparent rather quickly that he has arrived much too late to save her. Over the last day and a half the red seeds she ingested have germinated and a red tree sapling protrudes from her navel. To make matters worse Kaysen’s gloats heavily imply that the sapling’s growth was the direct result of raping Emily while she was under the amorous effects of the red seeds. This the secret “trick” Kaysen alluded to when York first met him in getting his red trees to sprout.

The true circumstances are revealed.

Seeing Emily’s condition causes York to flashback to the day of his parents’ murder/suicide and the true circumstances of the tragedy are finally revealed. Kaysen planted a tree in York’s mother then watched with glee as Xander, unable to mercy kill his own wife, committed suicide after the red sapling inside Valentine Morgan grew and turned her into a lifeless husk. When Kaysen noticed the young York cowering in the doorway he struck him hard across the face which knocked him unconscious.

It’s some pretty traumatic stuff, no wonder York has blocked it out all these years.

Wait did I say York? Make that Zach, the imaginary friend York’s been chatting with this entire game.

Meeting York.

As a way to cope with the sudden and brutal deaths of his parents and Kaysen’s assault Zach developed a dissociative identity disorder and his second personality, York, took over the day to day responsibilities.

With this revelation the York projection disappears and we come face to face with the true appearance of our favorite special agent with shockingly white hair with a long and gnarly scar running from his left temple to the tip of his nose consequences of Kaysen’s attack all those years ago.

Zach’s true appearance.

Hmm no wonder everyone was referring to him as “Agent Scarface” on his arrival to Greenvale…

Emily pleads with Zach to end her misery and we are present with three options:

Option #1: Aim at Kaysen
Option #2: Point the gun at our own head
Option #1: Point the gun at Emily

Emily removes the sapling.

To proceed you must choose Option #3 and attempt to do what Zach’s own father could not all those years ago. Choosing to shoot at Kaysen or kill yourself will return Zach to the Red Room containing the lifeless husk of Emily. York will inform Zach that he made the wrong choice and you are given the option to return to reality and make a different choice or stick with your decision and earn a game over in which Zach goes crazy. Since there’s no lasting consequences for making a wrong decision I highly recommend you attempt to shoot Kaysen and kill yourself before pointing the gun at Emily to gain a bit of extra dialogue on Kaysen’s true identity and learn where the Zach personality has been all these years.

York joins Emily in the afterlife.

Zach can’t make himself pull the trigger and kill the woman loves so Emily takes her life into her own hands and rips the sapling from her own body. As Emily dies in Zach’s arms we witness her spirit become a goddess of the forest and join the other Greenvale victims. Since Zach has finally gained the courage to leave the confines of the Red Room and rejoined reality York’s decides it’s safe to break away and decides to join Emily in the afterlife as well.

Man…Zach not only lost the girl but his best friend in just a few moments. It is heartbreaking but there isn’t time to wallow in sadness just yet!

Enraged that Zach has left the confines of the Red Room Kaysen morphs into a large, rotund, purple..thing thus proving without a doubt that he is anything human and solves the mystery of how he’s been able to cause misery for so long without aging…

Kaysen has two attacks can be evaded by completing simple quick time events:

• Attack #1: While hanging from the ceiling Kaysen will spit purple energy balls towards Zach. Simply evade by pressing [B] whenever prompted. Kaysen will only fire one ball at a time at the start of the battle but as his life depletes these attacks become more frenzied and he’ll often shoot three energy balls back to back.

Kaysen’s roll attack.
• Attack #2: Once you are successful in knocking Kaysen from the ceiling he’ll perform a roll attack. To evade simply run out of Kaysen’s direct trajectory to the left or the right side of the stage. If you fail to move away in time you will have to perform a three button combo to avoid being smashed into. If you fail this quick time event Kaysen will fly back up to the ceiling and you will have to knock him down again.

This battle is simple but a bit tedious since it takes quite a bit of ammunition to take Kaysen down and he’s only vulnerable briefly in certain positions. It also doesn’t help that the most powerful range weapon in your arsenal, the [.357 Magnum (∞)], only holds four bullets at a time so you’ll only get a few shots in while Kaysen’s vulnerable before you are forced to reload and the time window to inflict damage has closed.

First thing you want to do is make sure the [Weather Doll] is in the upright position in your inventory so Zach’s health will slowly reload if he is ever hit by one of Kaysen’s attacks.

Kaysen hangs from ceiling

Shoot Kaysen one to two times to make him drop from ceiling. Since his back is invulnerable it is best to wait until Kaysen is facing Zach straight on before taking any shots so you won’t waste time and bullets shooting him with no effect. You’ll know when you’ve made a direct hit on Kaysen when purple blood spurts out of him after you’ve made a shot.

Once Kaysen falls to the floor to he’ll perform his roll attack so reload your gun as soon as he lets go of the ceiling then be ready to move out of the way when he shoots towards Zach.

Kaysen struggles to get back up.

If you are successful in evading Kaysen’s roll attack he’ll land in the middle of the front row on his back and struggle briefly to get back up. While he’s in this vulnerable position lock on and fire at him. It’s possible to get at least four direct hits before Kaysen returns to the ceiling and repeats his attack cycle.

Using the [.357 Magnum (∞)] it is possible to deplete Kaysen’s life bar after forty or so direct hits.

Once Kaysen’s life bar is completely depleted he will jump onto the stage and gloat about how foolish humans are. Dropping onto to all fours Kaysen then transforms into larger and more monstrous form before breaking a hole in the stage and sending Zach into the sub level of the theater leaving Zach with no options but to flee or be crushed.

Combo example.

Kaysen chases Zach down a long winding staircase and will attack whenever even he gets too close. To evade these attacks you must press the correct button sequence that flashes on the screen.

• Attack #1: Kaysen will spit out purple energy balls which you evade by simply pressing the [B] button. As Zach closes in on the exit Kaysen will increase the frequency of this attack and will shoot up to 3 energy balls back to back.

Energy ball attack
• Attack #2: When Kaysen is close to Zach’s heels he’ll attempt to physically ram him. To evade you must complete the four button sequence that flashes up on the screen. This combo usually involves hitting the game pad buttons in a simple clockwise ([A][B][Y][X]) or counterclockwise ([X][Y][B][A]) motion.

Since you only have to run for the most part during this sequence it may seem like a piece of cake but like the previous Raincoat Killer chases Zach’s movement is unfortunately controlled by wiggling the left analog stick side to side… which you will have to perform constantly for roughly three minutes before to reaching the exit.

The best strategy in this fight is to immediately turn the [Weather Doll] in your inventory upside down so Zach’s health will slowly reload if he’s hit then pause the game every now and then to give your hand a break from the frantic side to side motion.

When Zach bursts through the door at the bottom of the stairs he’ll find himself on the roof of the clock tower. Hmm it would seem time and space is pretty fuck up at the moment. Kaysen’s momentum will send him flying through the door and straight over the side of the tower into the abyss below.

But this fight isn’t over just yet! Just as Zach vows to avenge Emily Kaysen returns as tall as a building and somewhat back to his original human form.

It’s time for the final showdown!

During this last fight sequence Kaysen has three main attacks and two of them can only be avoided by physically moving out of the way:

Green Energy Attack

• Attack #1: When Kaysen says “Take this and die” he’ll reach down and swipe his left arm across the ground releasing a green energy attack that splinters into several different directions. If you are near Kaysen when this attack is unleashed Zach will be knocked onto the ground by the initial shock wave and be unable to move momentarily. To evade this attack you must move a safe distance away from Kaysen as soon as he begins the phrase to prevent being knocked down then stay out of the direct trajectory of the energy that’s unleashed.

Energy Ball Attack
• Attack #2: Kaysen will spit large purple energy balls at Zach which you can evade by simply pressing the [B] button. In the beginning Kaysen will only fire a single energy ball every now but as his life bar depletes these attacks become more frequent and he’ll often shoot three energy balls back to back.
• Attack #3: Shortly after Kaysen turns and hides the doll in his front overall pocket he’ll yell “This is the end, Zach” and slam his left first into the ground releasing another green energy attack. If you are near Kaysen when this attack is unleashed Zach will be knocked onto the ground by the initial shock wave and be unable to move momentarily. To evade this attack you must move a safe distance away from Kaysen as soon as he begins the phrase to prevent being knocked down then stay out of the direct trajectory of the energy that’s unleashed.

Before you attack Kaysen make sure the [Weather Doll] in the inventory is turned upside down so Zach’s health will slowly reload if he’s ever hit.

Kaysen is only vulnerable through the small doll clutched in his right hand which unfortunately is a bit hard to target at a distance so you you’ll have to get pretty close to the guy when you take your shots. With the [.357 Magnum (∞)] equipped aim at the doll’s face and chest and fire only when the cross hairs form a cross. Unfortunately auto aim is useless in this situation since it will only target the large and invulnerable Kaysen and not the doll. When you’ve made a direct hit you’ll see purple blood spurt from the doll and the large Kaysen will howl in pain. The doll is briefly invulnerable during Kaysen’s pain animation so use this time to reload your gun and only take additional shots once he has settled back down.

Aim at the doll

If you had to purchase a [.357 Magnum] from Panda Bear because you neglected to complete Side Mission #11 you may be running low on ammo by this point. Luckily there’s two boxes of [.357 Magnum Bullets] and three boxes of [5.56mm x 45 Bullets] hidden within the boxes scattered around the roof of the clock tower. Kaysen may even end up breaking a few of these boxes open for you when he deploys his energy attack.

Speaking of which these green energy attacks are pretty annoying given their frequency and the need to move a safe distance away from Kaysen to evade. Since it is hard to target the doll at a distance you’ll waste time returning to Kaysen’s side again and run the risk of a repeated energy attack before getting more than a few shots into the doll.

Cram Zach into the corner

Fortunately there’s a way to protect yourself from this attack without having to run too far away from Kaysen that involves utilizing the broken pillars around the perimeter of the clock tower. Since Kaysen’s attack flows from his left hand cramming Zach into the corner of one pillars near the hand holding the doll should block both the initial shock wave and the resulting energy blast.

It’s a bit hard to put into words so I’ve made a little visual diagram to explain what I mean.

Based on Kaysen’s current position Zach should be safe from the energy attack behind both Pillars #2 and #3. (Please note: you can never hide behind Pillar #1 due to the debris preventing Zach from wedging himself all the way into the corner.)

If Kaysen shuffles too far to the left and the hand holding the doll is directly over Pillar #2 or #1 leaving no where to hide on the left side of the area you may be able to hide behind Pillars #3 or #4 but it is not guaranteed you will make it in time so you may be hit by a stray energy beam.

The hiding behind the pillar method works best when you have have at least one or two pillars between Kaysen’s left attack hand and Zach meaning Kaysen needs to be somewhere between Pillars #3-#5. If Kaysen ends up hovering between Pillars #1 or #2 it is possible guide him towards the right side of the area by essentially running over to that side and wait for him to shuffle closer to Zach.

Kaysen slams his fist down.

Honestly though you probably won’t have to guide Kaysen back to the right too often as he generally stays near the center of the area for most of the fight.

Kaysen’s lifebar should deplete after approximately twenty-three or so successful shots into the doll. Once this occurs he’ll turn his back to Zach and hide the doll in his front overall pocket. When the doll is safely tucked away Kaysen will yell “This is the end, Zach” and slam his fist into the ground and release another energy attack.

Quickly shoot the doll!

As soon as Kaysen turns equip the [10mm Submachine Gun (∞)]. After Kaysen slams his fist down dodge the resulting energy attack then climb onto his fist and run up his arm. Once you are on his shoulder aim the gun down at his chest and spray the top of the overall pocket with bullets IMMEDIATELY. To end this fight you only need one bullet to hit the doll which is easier to achieve with a wide spread of bullets over the entire pocket area.

If you make it onto Kaysen’s shoulder and fail to shoot the doll during a brief time window Zach will be thrown off the shoulder and back onto the floor. Kaysen will regenerate all of his life and you’ll have to deplete his life bar once more before you have another opportunity at shooting the doll from his shoulder again. If you mess up the quick time sequence that appears Zach will also take damage from the fall back onto the ground.

Kaysen’s true form?

A large red eye rises out from Kaysen’s mouth (his true form perhaps?) and sputters his disbelief that a puny human has caused him so much pain. Zach fires one last shot into the large eye and finally kills Kaysen for good.

With Kaysen’s death the citizens of Greenvale return to their senses and stop trying to kill one another. Zach has saved the town! Hurray!