Arni Village - Nothing has changed but everything!

Why have so many mobs in Lizard Rock changed? Gone are the Beach Bums, replaced by air-breathing fish. But at least the Komodos are fine...

Walking back into Arni, I’m greeted by the same gatekeeper I saw before, but he doesn’t remember me. Not only that, but everyone has changed. The poetry girl says she gave up the hobby years ago. The fisherman has started a cult in his basement, worshipping a man made of straw. Radius is gone, replaced by Gonji, The Stingy. The giant fish catcher, without his fish, is bland and boring. We’re in a drought, but the Viper festival is in full swing. There’s also a woman ogling a rock star named Nikki, so not everything sucks now.

Scared and alone, I walk into my house and find a man I’ve never met has been living there for five years! The only person who wants to talk to me is Leena. At least until she tells me what she knows. Apparently, I, Serge, died 14 years ago. His parents passed shortly thereafter. Upset she has to relive the death of her first love, Leena tells me to go the gravesite on Cape Howl. Before heading there, I walk to the Hydra Marshes, which are now poisonous. The Dragon Falls is being inspected by unknown people. Fossil Valley is being investigated by the local Acacia Dragoons, instead of Porre.

Finally, I step up to Cape Howl, where, surely, the epigraph of Leena and Serge’s love still stands:
RIP
Our Beloved Serge
Died Aged 7
...Serge has been dead for 10 years.

As our protagonist learns of his fate, he is interrupted by a man with long purple hair who is here to “hunt ghosts”. His name is Karsh, and he somehow knows that Serge is from another world. Suddenly, the woman in Red from the first scenes shows up, gives Karsh a tongue lashing, and joins our side. Karsh, and his backups, Peppor and Solt, then attack us. They, in bumbling fashion, tutorialize how elements work, and their strengths and weaknesses. They lack any opposing elements to the party, so they’re easily dispatched in a few turns.

After the Dragoons flee, Kid suggests the two of them travel around to figure out what’s up with Serge. I tell her no, three times, because I know what’s to come. The game automatically returns to the village where, the next morning, Leena and Poshul wake us up. They both join up with Serge because they’re worried he bumped his head. and Leena, regardless of timeline, is a wonderful girlfriend. Before leaving, I go down to the cult guy to show him the shark tooth necklace from his alternate world self. He gets upset, tells us he abandoned the fishing life years ago (his family hates him, by the way), and yells at us to leave. Suddenly, the straw icon comes to life and tells us he’s a lucky charm that can sense something up about Serge. His name is Mojo, and he joins the party. I replace the dog.

Refusing to travel with Kid would have resulted in Leena and Poshul not joining the team. I wanted Leena, so I went that route.

We then head north through Fossil Valley, where the investigation has ended. There is still a team looking for an exorcist, which we pretend to be. When we reach the top of a nearby ladder, we find a sentient decapitated skull. We also find a flower, and we cause the Dodos to go extinct again. Serge is responsible for two extinctions in only four hours...

We then head up to Termina, the largest town in the El Nido Archipelago. We see a knight named Glenn looking for a flower. Sadly, the seller is out of what he’s looking for. We meet them later at a memorial service for their friend, Dario. Glenn asks us for the flower we found, and I give it away for free. After this, we save a dying churro stand, meet the artistic son of a wealthy merchant, see a totally legit mermaid, and bump into Kid again. Kid is accepting that we ditched her to hang out with Leena, which is true. Kid’s a good bro. She then decides our next plan.

After Leena and Serge walked around town (the above list), we come to a statue of General Viper, the ruler of these islands. Kid then decides that we’re breaking into his house. She also forces her way into the party, but I'da let her in willingly at this point just to replace Mojo. But how do we get in?

There are three ways. I usually go with Guile because he was supposed to be Magus in development. There’s also Pierre, who’s story I’ve never done, ever, in twenty years. Instead, I teamed up with the entertainment group, The Radical Dreamers, and the dancer Miki. She, and the troupe, are looking for their leader, Nikki. Nikki is rumored to be in the Shadow Forest, on a binge, so in I go. He was the route I went when I first played the game, but haven’t done since. Eventually, we find him talking to a spore, it runs off, he quotes Guns 'N’ Roses, and gets attacked. In the only pincer attack in the game, we're able to save him. He then tells us he’s looking for his sister and joins the party.

And that’s where I called it!

The Viper Manor is a lengthy dungeon, and I don’t want to play too long. Now just seemed like the best place to end, and I’ll move this giant eye guy tomorrow. Sorry, I goofed around with the direct storytelling for the first two blogs, but it just felt right. Did it help with immersion? The main plot hasn’t quite started just yet, but will soon. Who is Serge? Why are we in a different world? Who is Lynx? Stay tuned tomorrow.