Since finishing the game, I occasionally jump back onto my last save, prior to the final battle to try and find any content we missed.
I too, am obsessed with the damn man-hole in New Orleans.
Why even animate this opening, if you’re not going to have a whole chapter of illegal sewer racing?
Sadly, I think we have to come to terms with the idea that this is just a red herring. But my heart believes that Kayo-chan's brother, after being lost and alone in America, is living down there, training an army of super mutant Zero4 racers...
The other thing that stands out to me, is the Binoculars item.
If you remember, to get these binoculars, we did a whole ad-hoc history tour of New Orleans, taking us through the various districts and landmarks, ending up at a football stadium where we purchased scalped tickets from Brad Pitt, attended a game where we couldn’t see anything because Americans are to big, so we purchased a pair of Binoculars only to find all it did was look at large Americans closer up.
It seemed weird to me that we'd go through all of that for an item that isn’t used elsewhere. There HAS to be something to them!
So, doing the round table trip of America again in the hopes of finding new content, I found myself back in New Orleans trying to do something with that damn sewer…. Then suddenly.
It’s a thief! Someone catch him!
Ah! It appears Hiro has a use for the Binoculars after all! He can spot thieves!
:
That guy is the thief.
We are given two options:
- Chase him
- Don’t Chase him
Naturally we are going to chase him.
:
Hey wait!
A purse snatcher has appeared!
The purse snatcher ran away
:
I got a leather bag
Though the ‘Purse Snatcher' is a common enemy type in the security guard job, we don’t get to fight him here. He just runs and drops the bag.
Hey, who’s this? I’m guessing this is the man who owned the purse.
:
The perpetrator got away, but I got my bag back.
:
Thank you very much, I'd like to express my gratitude
:
Thank you is fine
:
No, please come to my house.
Uh… I guess this guy really wants to show us his gratitude… What’s the worse that can happen if we follow him to his house?
:
This is Lafitte's blacksmith shop.
Oh, I forgot, we have the travel tour guide here with us. She’s even pointing out the history of handbag man’s house.
:
Yes, I run a blacksmith shop here.
:
This Lafitte blacksmith is a pirate. The former hideout of Jean Lafitte. It was built before 1770.
Huh, apparently this blacksmith’s house is actually a real place in New Orleans…
:
Jean Lafitte had great power with his magnificent sword. He's a pirate.
…And turns out this Jean Lafitte character was a real guy too...
:
Yul Brynner played Lafitte. There's also a movie called "The Great Pirate"
... they even apparently made movies about him! (Though, correction lady, the movie was actually called ‘The Buccaneer’)
:
Wow, you're an amazing person, uncle.
Hiro seems to think that this bearded guy is Jean Lafitte
:
I'm just a blacksmith. So I can't really thank you much.
This whole bit is very odd to me. I've mentioned before that it feels like the developers were just choosing bits and pieces from their own USA travels to adapt to the story. For whatever reason, they must have been really taken by a New Orleans museum tour.
:
If you like what I made, please bring it.
:
Come on in.
Uh, I guess we could follow this guy into his house. I mean, he must be trustworthy if he’s the descendant of a famous pirate, right?
Uh. He appears to have lured us into his basement. I see a lot of medieval weapons on the wall, pliers, eyepatches, hammers, suits of armour…
:
Now, tell me what you like.
Uh, I don’t know what sort of kinks you have buddy, but please count us out...
Oh… that’s interesting. I can use the cursor! Just like the travelogue. We can move it around the screen and press on each item for a description from the blacksmith.
I wasn't expecting this BSDM sex dungeon to be interactive, but there you go.
I believe the humble Blacksmithwants us to take something… Let’s start with that big ol’ sword on the left there…
:
That is the sword of Lafitte that has been passed down here. I cannot give you that. Please choose something else.
Huh. I guess we can’t have that sword because it’s a family heirloom. It must be worth something, because apparently there’s even classic literature written about it.
What about that other bigass sword above the door?
:
Oh, that's the knife we use at home. Leaving my wife in a place like this. It can't be helped.
What on earth does your wife need with that giant knife? Don’t you guys have any other knives to use at home? You know, like standard culinary knives? Or is this part of the sex dungeon thing?
Ok. Hrm. what about that round shield there, next to the Sword of Lafitte?
:
That's a plastic bucket lid.
I see. Some Blacksmith you are. Well, what about the other shield?
That's a pirate shield. Is that okay?
Well, that’s more like it! We can choose whether we want it.
However, I don’t think we need a shield given the fact we're super leveled up from our hours of defeating perverts and soldiers in the Empire State Building.
What about that Trident looking thing?
:
It's junk.
:
It won't even cost a dollar.
...I mean, I’d buy it for a dollar. We’ve certainly purchased a lot worse from Shifty, for significantly more money.
What about that lance thing on the right there?
:
It's junk.
:
It won't even cost a dollar.
Damn… The suit of armour?
:
It's junk.
:
It won't even cost a dollar.
What about this long spear thing? Let me guess, junk, right?
:
That's a pirate's harpoon. Is that okay?
Oh… We can actually choose this one!
I don't expect there to be any whales on our adventure, so… Maybe avoid for now.
Well. That's everything on the walls. There's also few things on the table here, including a hammer, tongs and a knife.
If I try to choose any of these, I get the same canned response.
:
It's like a blacksmith's life.
:
I can't give it to you.
What's that other ball with a piece of string on the table there?
That isn't some sort of … ball gag … is it?
:
That's Lafitte's eyepatch. Is that okay?
Am eye patch huh? Maybe that has some sort of functional use… let's buy it.
:
Here it is. Are you sure?
Well, no, but we'll take it anyway.
:
Thank you very much.
:
Ah, it's already this time. I have to go home.
Well. That seems to be the end of our New Orleans tour. Ultimately it's a choice between whether we want the harpoon, the shield or the eyepatch. I’m hoping at least one of these items unlocks something new, but they seem geared towards the security guard battles.
I decided to save and load states to take all three items to Arnie in Dallas for his professional opinion. But we first ran into the lady.
:
You have three medals don’t you? Don’t hang around here. Challenge Ross to become the national champion.
Yeah yeah lady we’ve done all that, we’re just trying to find new content!
What does Arnie think of our Harpoon?
:
That's an amazing Mori .If you catch a fish with this, I can catch about two at a time.
Is there a secret fishing mini game? I wish.
I did actually try the harpoon, it appears as a item in battles, and seemingly does quite a bit of damage. Would have been handy earlier in the game.
What has Arnie got to say about the Shield?
:
That's a big shield.
:
This guy's defense will increase.
Well, that was to be expected. I tried this in a battle, and it didn't do anything obvious, but I suspect our defence ratings are higher when it is equipped.
Let's ask Arnie about the Ball Gag Eye Patch…
:
If you wear something like this…
:
It doesn't look good.
Huh. Well. That's not very helpful a description. I was thinking maybe it might work like the Scary Mask or the Cute Mask where we get a different portrait of Hiro in battles and (presumably) some sort of buff … but it doesn't seem to be the case.
I have since worn the Eyepatch and travelled across the USA but so far have yet to unlock anything new…
This, I think, unfortunately, is it for the content of Zero4Champ II that I've been able to find….
However….
When translating the FAQ of a Japanese Zero4 fan website, I did see the following…
zero4champ com posted:
Q: I can't find the naked girl's house.
A: Actually, I haven't seen it yet either. It's all about luck whether you encounter it. It's all about luck. Do your best with determination. I've confirmed that my senior's younger brother can actually be seen, and I've received reports from people who have actually seen him
What... Seniors younger brother? Is this referring to Kayo-chan's younger brother?
Is he in some sort of naked girls house that we have to find?!?!
… As much as I'd love this to be true, I don't know. This fan page dates back to the 1990s, and the whole thing reeks of schoolyard ‘I heard there's a lara croft nude code’, and given the author of the FAQ hasn't seen it, yet has a great detailed fan site filled with all this stuff about the game series fills me with doubt….
But then again, the entry right before this one is…
zero4champ.com posted:
Q: The girl won't take off her clothes.
A: She'll take them off if you do as instructed. I've confirmed this. If you use a rapid-fire weapon, you'll be rejected, so try your best.
… And we know that is true. So… maybe?