1783 AD

Curse of the Moon 2

One year (or so, depending on whatever timeline ArtPlay eventually releases), the sword-wielding demon hunter Zangetsu was back. Brought back from the dead by Church-sanctioned sorceress Dominique Baldwin (at least that's what we suspect since the game never says, but she does have resurrection magic), the demon hunter was revived to fight the current threat to the world: the return of the demon Gremory and his evil plague of beasts and devils. It's one man with a magical blade against the hordes of the damned.

Except Zangetsu had help in his quest. After an initial exploration of the surrounded ground, Zangetsu was joined in his battle, first by Dominique and then later by the solider/sniper Robert (although not without some grief as the soldier didn't much trust Dominique or the Church), and then the corgi-in-a-mech, Hachi (which Robert also had an issue because he liked the Alchemists even less than the Church). Eventually these four banded together and fought their way from the cliffs outside Gremory's demonic castle all the way to the pinnacle to battle the demon itself. The battles were grueling, but the heroes all worked as a team and, eventually took down every danger in front of them, including Gremory.

Only Gremory had a plan, too. At the moment when the heroes though they had the beast dead to rights, the demon unleashed an attack. Dominique sacrificed herself to protect the others, but in the process she was captured by Gremory and pull into its demonic void. The trio of remaining heroes were ejected from the castle, left to worry about their friend who was now one with the demons.

Realizing there was only one thing they could do, Zangetsu, Robert, and Hachi buckled down and went right back into the castle again. This time, using the powers each of them had, they were able to collect three shards of a power sword. Forged together this blade, the Zanmato, would allow Zangetsu to deal the killing blow to Gremory once and for all. They three allies fought their way all the way back to the top of the castle and then faced down Gremory in a new form. They battled hard and eventually were able to take down the beast, and with his last slashing blow, Zangetsu split the demon in twain, freeing Dominique and saving her life (and her soul... maybe; see Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night).

Jubilant, the four reunited heroes settled down at camp to celebrate their success. But their party was interrupted by three travelers: Zangetsu's old companions Alfred, Gebel, and Miriam. They came with a dire warning: now that Gremory was defeated, the evil forces were massing for one last major strike against Earth. Their bass: the Moon. The heroes would have to find away to the planetoid and defeat the demons lurking there.

Casting about across the landscape they'd just explored (at least twice over), the heroes managed to find seven parts needed to build their space ship. Working together, they bested the beasts of the lands and collected the items, getting their ship ready for the final journey. They hopped aboard, fired it up, and flew to the Moon, battling the beasts that stood (well, really, flew) in their way.

Once on the Moon the heroes had one last journey to take, exploring to the center of the demonic base to battle the last of the hulking beasts. One last battle was all it took and the demons were defeated. As the stood on the edge of space, looking back at their home-world, the heroes rested, secure in the knowledge that the Earth was finally free of the demon's curse... for a while, at least.

Important Information

As with the previous retro game in the series, Curse of the Moon 2 features multiple play throughs, not all of which would be considered canon. The main one we want to point out this time is Episode EX, a play-through of the game you have to finish if you don't collect all three parts of the demon-slaying Zanmato. Fail in that and you don't actually free Dominique. Instead, the heroes are ejected a second time and Robert and Hachi are injured in the process. Here, Zangetsu has to go through the game again but this time he'll get help from Miriam, Alfred, and Gebel. Only after they play-through again, which the Zanmato automatically given to Zangetsu at the start of their mission, is Dominique freed and a hearty round of congratulations are had.

Whether you play the EX mission or managed to finish Episode 2 properly the first time around, you end up at the same spot with the heroes agreeing to go to the moon and searching the countryside for the parts. It's a neat idea, having this extra mode with all the characters, but as far as the story is concerned it's not considered the "best" ending for Episode 2. As such, it's not canon (at least until ArtPlay says otherwise).