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ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 421 Part 2

ShanFro is, so to speak, an All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet with the entire Imperial Feast being placed on the table. You can chooses whatever you want to eat whenever you want. You don’t have to finish one plate before moving on to the next, and you can stretch your chopsticks to another plate at the other side of the table should your fancy strike you to.

However, it should be said that this is like a full plate, or at least it is unlikely that the public will receive a dish in which boiled salmon roe and strawberries come jam-packed together in a curry. That would be weird and downright revolting.

Furthermore, the difficulty level is also one of the things that I find disappointing about this game.

Adjusting the difficulty level is an endless task when making a video game. The first encounter cannot be won if your opponent is going to be the Demon Lord at the peak of his power, and the catharsis of the last battle against the final boss can be severely diminished if you are so overpowered that the battle is not even a challenge anymore.

The difficulty level should basically start low and steadly limb higher and higher. But this game for some reason has difficulty levels for each of its multiple elements. And they cannot be replaced by other factors. No matter how strong the player is, if the level of the army is low, the game will be over in a matter of seconds. If the national power remains low, it will not be possible to form an alliance with other countries. Therefore, all the elements are required to be held at a high level.

Moreover, since the difficulty levels of the first half and the second half of this game feel like two entirely different products, it is something that surely feel as though it was implemented forcefully and without much thinking.

High difficulty and a sense of accomplishment have an inseparable relationship, but it is not something that should be raised suddenly as one sees fit.

However…… Yes, however. Even if it falls into the category of a shitty game for various reasons, there is only one point to be evaluated in this game.

「There is nothing that is impossible for the President! After all, he is the President of all people! And my United States respect everything and everyone, no matter their religion, orientation or skin color! And as the President, I won’t yield my people over to the darkness!」

I guess that this is the idea behind the whole plot, a main theme that was holding this whole experience together from start to finish.

That’s why I was busy with the hardships and responsibilities as a head of the state, and the difficulty level jumps up because of the demons that have appeared as enemies of humankind.

* United States will not lose to anyone!

* Especially to the likes of you!

* We are not going to give you our world on a silver platter!

Those dialogue boxes right there are all pretty slapstick and a little bit cringey, but that’s okay, I guess. It all fits into the plot of the game, especially since in the latter half of the story it was revealed that the Unification Flag is actually a relic of the Goddess and that the President is actually someone like the left hand of the Goddess herself.

It’s a little bit sad that the gag options were all but gone now, but this also fits into the story. Besides, trying to joke around in this setting and dire situation would have been a special kind of cringe in its own right.

And those words are not directed towards the Last Boss. No, those words are meant for Rice-chan and Rice-chan alone. She was still trapped there, but the power of the relic called “Unification Flag” was still with her. And now it was time to use that power.

* That is why……

* That is why……

* That is why……

The choices here are not really choices. But this is a preparation for the next set of choices. They didn’t have to be that way, but it’s an added flavor, I guess.

「And that is exactly why……」

At that moment, the time comes to a stop as if the whole world froze. A window is displayed in front of me, and a list of letters inscribed into it.

* Please call out my name!

* Because you are the very first person who believed in me!

* I’m here to get it all back!

Alright, please leave it to me, my dear Goddess.

I dismiss all the system windows as if I was getting myself rid of a nasty fly, and then I say the words that reverberate throughout the world that begins to move once more.

「The Presidential Office is nothing like that, Rice-chan! I thought you would know that! And now, come back to me!」

「Yes…… Yes, that’s right!」

The flag with the emblem of the skewered grilled fish start to shine, and that bright light erases the shadows and darkness that were holding Rice-chan capture. Rice-chan then grabbed the Unification Flag and started running back to my side.

「Mister President!」

「Welcome back home, Rice-chan. So, how about that, Demon Emperor-kun……? Are you ready to surrender now? Or do I have to beat the living shit out of you?」

「DAMN YOU, DAMN YOOOOOOUUUUUU……!!」

With the Unification Flag returning to the player’s camp where it originally belonged, its effect is brought to me once more and the power that was mine to command started to come back as well.

The President stands up by the belief of his people, and the people move forward under the guidance of the President. That’s just how it is. You might even call it a natural order.

The Blessing of the Goddess should now be at its peak, and even the effects that could only be used once in the past have been brought back to me. As for the Unification Flag, it has been transformed into a new divine design with golden embroidery formed out of pure light. This must be its true power, just like the true power of the United States. I also activate the special ability of the Unification Flag, which vastly increases the power and strength of the President based on the amount of people unified under its banner.

There is a huge buff aura being given to the player at this point in time in form of a bright light, and the golden light emanating from my body starts to push back the encroaching darkness all around me.

「The name of this mode is the President Mode! And you’d better remember that name, Demon Emperor…… Because it is I, the President, who is going to defeat you once and for all!」

And now the time has come for some general impressions!

Every single fault and sin that this game has today can be affiliated to the fact that the developer went bankrupt shortly after releasing this game on the market. Because truth to be told, the only thing this game needed to truly become a masterpiece was a simple difficulty adjustment patch!

That being said, I am a player who decided to stick with this game until the very end, despite its many shortcomings! The battles were growing increasingly frustrating and the story was getting so all over the place that it would be hard to call it anything but a joke at this point, but that doesn’t matter! It’s time for the final battle!