I get lost a lot.

I broke outta lockdown (I’m probably not sick) and played Super Smash Brothers Ultimate with a few friends, so I didn’t get much play in tonight. I tried to cram some in, though.

I walk east out of Palo and enter the Heavensway. It’s a rocky plain like area that eventually starts leading upwards in elevation into the mountains. And here’s where I got lost! There are a lot of forked paths in this area. The one we need was the last possible path I could walk. I traveled everywhere else, up to the castle gates and even the dungeon I’ll be going into later, before finding the correct path. After aimlessly walking around for twenty minutes, I walk into a field of flowers. It is a beautiful area, and I want to know what it looks like in the remake. We walk further and further in until everyone passes out.

We wake up in a bed with an Amazon nearby. We’ve entered the secret hideout of the Laurent Resistance, survivors of the Nevarl raid. For some reason, they took our shoes off and placed us in the same state of undress as if we’d rented a room at the inn, which is sketchy because Angela seems to sleep naked. I think all the Amazons are women, though, so...uh...? We walk through the hideout and talk to the leader, the old groundskeeper of the castle. He informs us we should search for a better strategist, Donperi. Donperi aided the Hero King of Valcena during their Dragon Lord campaign many years ago. The thing is, he’s not human. He’s a koropokkur, a very tiny humanoid creature that lives in the Rabbite Forest. To reach him, we need to find the Minor Mallet. There were rumors of such an item in Beiser, so we head there. In the Night Market is a new merchant who isn’t having fun in her new job. She gives us the mallet with no questions asked and quits. I don’t like this. It’s nice that it's easy to get, but it’s very boring and deus ex-y (not the game).

Travel back to Jadd, which is free now, not by us but by the new barrier erected by the Wendel Priest. The cave to Wendel is blocked again, so we can’t backtrack that far. Near to where we met Fairy is a gargoyle statue. Use the mallet to make your party small, and the statue will open up a path to the village. We convince the guy at the front of town we’re one of them and then ask him if he knows who Donpuri is. He yells at us to look for him ourselves. After talking to people in the trees, one gives us the idea that the guy at the gate was Donperi. We go talk to him, and he confesses. He knew all along that we weren't one of his kind but wanted to play a trick on us. He then gives us the knowledge we need. He tells us to find Sylph in the Gusthall near Laurent. Sylph can then spread the sleep flower spores across the Nevarl troops in the castle, and we can move in afterwards. I’m really annoyed since we were supposed to find Sylph already and were just there! A statue blocked our path, so why did we need to backtrack!?

We return to the mountains and enter Gusthall. It’s a dungeon where various paths are blocked by strong winds coming from statues. Feel free to spam Gnome magic in here, as it can one-shot most mobs, and, once again, I got lost. I think I’m supposed to get lost, so I’m slightly not salty. YOu can press green switches on the walls near the wind statues to change their direction, which is needed to advance. Eventually, I reach a Golden Goddess Statue to refill my HP and MP. Many of the mobs can do a lot of damage, so it’s quite welcome. Save and continue eastward. We enter a room with the Wind Mana Crystal, the first we’ve seen all game. Fairy tells us the Benovodons, ancient mana beasts that once tried to destroy the world are housed in the Mana Crystals. Sylph, however, is nowhere to be seen. If we interact with the crystal, Fairy asks us to focus our mind to class change. I lack the needed level, so remember to come back later on. Keep going west, and we see a dark knight attacking Sylph. As we approach, he retreats, and a Harpe, Harcypete, attacks us.

She’s surprisingly easy. Have Angela spam Diamond Shard, doing about 200 damage for only 2 MP. It’s far more effective than Riesz and Durran’s physical attacks. She also doesn’t seem to do a lot of damage, physical or magical. Go figure.

After we fell the summoned beast, we heal Sylph up, and he joins us because we saved his life. He also teaches Angela Cyclone when she levels up. After this, I return to the statue and called it a night.

I wish there were treasure chests in this game. And not just the trapped stuff from mobs. I don’t feel rewarded for getting lost and exploring. Maybe that’s just me, I dunno. Also, why did this take so long to write? Two hours of playtime should not be nearly two hours of typing!