> > Help! I've fought with Jean Claude for several days now and cannot get out of this neverending cycle. I've tried everything. The message boards mentioned that I need to step back at some point but whenever I do, I get killed. Any help is much appreciated. I'm carrying:
> > ISO Accident Report
> > Crowbar
> > ISO Energy Pulse Gun
> > Military Uniform
> >
> > Vault Key
> > Knife
> > Bazooka
> > Yellow Plant
> >
> > I even set up a spreadsheet to try to come to the answer but it didn't help.
> >
> > Thanks so much!
>
> Ah, these blasted Adventure Games Live fights that take forever to get through. All I can advise you on this one is to follow EVERY option. When you perform an option that's the "right" choice, there should be a hint, like a change in the appearance of your opponent (stumbling? not so confident anymore?). Likewise, when you pick a wrong option, you'll automatically get sent back to the start.
>
> So just pick every option, until you find the right one that seems to do something, then follow through with the second set of options, and so on. Tedious, yes, but about the only reliable way to get through the fight.

Admittedly, fight sequences like this rarely fall to mere logical analysis -- they require some trial and error. I don't particularly enjoy writing them, and I also don't like playing through them as much as for other types of puzzles, but it seemed like if there was going to be just one fight sequence in the game, this would be the place for it.

Anyway: making notes of all the possible states you can be in and where the options lead you is how to solve it.

As it turns out, there are only a few states which you can be in (six or seven, as I recall): J-C can either be falling backward, stumbling forward, or neither, and you can have either the knife, the spray, both, or neither in hand. This completely describes the state you're in. Note that to figure out the description of the state you end up in, you have to pay attention to the action description (pink box text) as well as the area description, particularly when it comes to seeing which way J-C stumbles. The actual wording used can vary a bit, so it can be tricky.

At face value that would allow a maximum of 12 possible states, but it turns out that only about half are reachable in the game.

All that you have to do to win is to choose the right option three times in a row from the starting position (J-C neutral, you carrying both weapons). You *don't* have to do various loops of actions to weaken him first (as in a couple GotA fights). However, if you choose the wrong option, you can be pushed to a state in which you *first* need to recover your weapon(s) and get J-C at a neutral stance again. That means that from wherever you are in the fight now, it may take *more* than three moves (but no more than four or five, probably) to win.

A good way to finish this sequence in just a few minutes would be: wherever you are now, record the information for the state you're in (e.g.: "1. J-C falling back, have knife, dropped spray"), number the options you're given, and try one of them (like "Pick up the tranquilizer spray"). If you get to a new state, number it "2" and write the new list of options. Each move, try some option for that state that you haven't tried yet, and write down which state it leads to. This can be done in a text editor as well as a spreadsheet -- copying/pasting the text from the game directly will save you from having to type a lot out.