The Tyrano Lair is up first tonight, and I think I hate it. The encounter rate is higher than anywhere else, and the strategy is repetitive. Have Crono use Lightning 2. Most of the mobs get stunned by it, lowering their defense in the process. It's an easy win. Have Ayla Rock Toss the Volcanos. Try to avoid the Winged Apes; They're not worth it. Fortunately, they're only three of them.
At the beginning, we have to take the right path down. We'll see several villages in a cage. We can let them out, and they'll run off without a word. We're in a hurry, so, rad? Continue going down, and we'll see three Reptites preparing their dinner, Kino. After an easy battle, and despite the lock being beside us, Ayla will panic and try to break Kino out. Crono and Robby comment that it's odd but do nothing to stop her from climbing over the bone bars. The two lovers unite, and Kino wants to join us for the siege. Ayla reminds him that he's the Chief if anything happens to Ayla, so he has to return home. As we return to the beginning of the Lair, Kino opens the left path, and we start our climb.
Take the right path first since it's a dead end. One of those chests is a trap, by the way. The rest of the dungeon is a straight shot, more or less. There is a room with a strange teleport aspect that I didn't understand, but there's a revive in that egg. There are two locked doors the rest of the way, but the switch is nearby both times. Eventually, we'll find a fella who looks like Nizbel, flexing like the muscle saur he is. He lets us know Azela is behind him, and we walk by...
And then he attacks us! The battle is similar to the first Nizbel battle, except he has bigger stats. Volt Tackle does nearly 1000 damage, so there's your strategy. Robby can do whatever, but have him use Cure Beam every other turn or so. Save and climb one more flight.
Azela is waiting for us on her throne, promising this war will soon end. She performs a gymnastics move and flees to where a deep roar came from. The final battle of this war is against Azela and the Black Tyrano!
Lightning kinda works here, I guess. We're going to need to focus Azela first. She buffs the dinosaur and can heal him if we do damage, anyway. Crono should use Lightning, and Ayla can go all out. Robo can do whatever. He'll need to heal every few turns, though. Once the Reptite Queen dies, BT's stats go down. Physical attacks are still pretty useless, though. However, he will often charge up a super move. That'll give us five turns to harm him since he drops his defense. Volt Charge is the move to do again, but make sure you've got over 300 HP when the countdown reaches 0. If you can't remove his 10000 HP in five turns, defend, heal, and prepare again.
Azela is still alive and laments her loss. Before the battle, she called out for the Red Star to wipe out the humans! As she lies dying, I think she always knew she'd lose somehow. She hopes her Red Star will wipe out everyone on the planet and remains obstinate against the apes. Despite that, Ayla, strength recognizing strength, says she respects Azela. We'll cut to space as the Red Star begins its final descent onto the planet. Ayla will call it Lavos... For some reason, she manually translates this word to "Big Fire." It makes me wonder how communication has been working all this time? Lavos' landing pad is the Tyrano Lair, so we'd better move. Kino shows up with the dactyls, and we all jump on. Ayla wants to bring Azela, but she's accepted her loss. Ayla promises to never forget her, but Azella responds, "We... have no future."
Lavos lands with a mighty crater, and we wonder if now's the time to kill it. We head down to see a time Gate. Lavos always dug deeper into the planet. So we jump into the Gate.
On the otherside is a frozen landscape with dust in the air. It's the year 12000 BC, so Lavos' dirt storm caused an ice age that lasted 6500000 years! Travel east until you find a strange, glowing teleporter. It takes us to a green landscape above the clouds. The same song that played when we met Melchior, "Corridors of Time," rings out into the aether of our world.
Welcome to the eternal Kingdom of Zeal, home of magic and dreams. There are several settlements up here, each separated by a bridge of frozen earth: Kajar and Enhassa. Up here, we learn that this is where magic was born. The Zealots have been using the Earthbound ones as slaves. The Earthbound have no magic powers, so it just makes sense in this world. What's most interesting is we'll gather is Zeal is so powerful because they've got the Mammon Machine. The Mammon Machine is an engine that uses the power of Lavos to sustain them. In Kajar, we'll meet a strange boy. He comes up to us and says, "The Black Wind howls...one among you will shortly perish." Our party insults the kid, but he walks off with us trying to remind ourselves we'll be fine. We can also meet a man named Dalton, who lets us know the Prophet knew we'd show up. I'm sure they'll throw us a party.
In the Zeal Palace, we can meet the heirs to Zeal. The buy, Janus, is the one who said we'd die. There's also his older sister, Schala, who is a magical prodigy. We overhear them talking about their mad mother before an attendant calls for Schala to head to the throne room. If we follow her, we'll see her use a pendant that looks like the one Marle has. It opens the door to the throne room but closes behind her. Ours doesn't work, but a nearby maid thinks the Mamman Machine can repower it. The Machine in question is in the left hall. It does work, so we can follow the Princess. The Queen immediately yells at us, and Dalton attacks us at the behest of the Prophet.
We can die, storywise, but I won! I brought Marle and Lucca with me since I wanted to fight level 20 Spekkio. Have Crono and Marle use Ice Sword, but make sure to have Lucca set up a fire strategy. Golem copies whatever was used on him, and I was set up to defend against fire. It also restarts his turn when he copies, so it's an easy win.
Everyone poofs back into the room, and the Queen locks us into stasis with her overwhelming might. Later on, Schala comes to free us because she's hella rad. However, the Prophet stops her. He wants us killed, but he stops when Schala demands we be set free. He, instead, kicks us out of this time period. We then remember that our necklace can open sealed doors. Sealed doors such as the one near the old man who spoke of Schala. And we'll do that...
... tomorrow!
"I'm a bowling ball dreaming I'm a plate of sashimi." This has been how I've described myself for years, and here is its impetus. I opened a bunch of sealed chests, so it's back to the future right away tomorrow.
Monday, January 31, 2022
Sunday, January 30, 2022
Dactyl Dungeon
Finally, a short update!
We left Ayla's hut and traveled to the village of Laruba. Laruba was once hidden in the forest, fleeing the Reptites. A little girl tells us they followed Ayla here. A few villagers blame us for this happening. The Reptites also kidnapped Kino. We find Ayla having an argument with the Laruba Elder. It shows the differences between the two tribes and the duality of man. Laruba doesn't want to fight, but Ayla knows that humans have to if they wish to survive. She becomes demanding, wanting vengeance on Azala for her cowardly comrades, it seems. She insults him with a quote a lot of people like: "Old man breathe, but dead on inside!" I don't know how I feel about it, but I understand why a lot would. Eventually, the Elder tells Ayla where the dactyls are, she goes after them, and we go after her. The Elder asks us to take care of her.
The Dactyl's Nest is to the north. It's a winding path dungeon, and I'm starting to see an archetype forming in CT's dungeons. It's not a bad thing, but I've never noticed it before. Regardless, none of the mobs here are scary, nor do they have any gimmicks. There are sentient volcanoes around, and their head blows off when you attack them, but this changes nothing about their stats or AI. There isn't a boss here, either.
At the top of the mountain are Ayla and a pterodactyl. She's glad to see us and informs us she's heading to the base of the Reptites, but she doesn't want us to come. All of us might die, and she's worried. Glenn, though, knows that we're friends, so we'll fight each other's battles side-by-side. Ayla is glad she has strong friends and joins the party. Another anime cutscene happens where we all jump on the back of the pterodactyls, and we fly off into the Tyrano Lair! These scenes are, low-key, one of my favorite in the game. I only noticed it recently, but there's a red star shining in the sky for that conversation. Something world altering is coming... But we'll see what that is...
... tomorrow!
The Royal Rumble was tonight, and it ran longish. I also wanted to get some work done on "my" game, so I didn't play as much as I normally would. What extra time I had, I dedicated to some TP grinding against Nus in the Hunting Grounds. I wanted Ayla to learn Charm. It took longer than I thought, so I quit. The upcoming bosses don't have anything too great, so I've got time... Robby learned Cure Beam, and Crono's about to learn Life. The new anime opening shows Robo joining the group for the upcoming dungeon, so I'm bringing him along!
We left Ayla's hut and traveled to the village of Laruba. Laruba was once hidden in the forest, fleeing the Reptites. A little girl tells us they followed Ayla here. A few villagers blame us for this happening. The Reptites also kidnapped Kino. We find Ayla having an argument with the Laruba Elder. It shows the differences between the two tribes and the duality of man. Laruba doesn't want to fight, but Ayla knows that humans have to if they wish to survive. She becomes demanding, wanting vengeance on Azala for her cowardly comrades, it seems. She insults him with a quote a lot of people like: "Old man breathe, but dead on inside!" I don't know how I feel about it, but I understand why a lot would. Eventually, the Elder tells Ayla where the dactyls are, she goes after them, and we go after her. The Elder asks us to take care of her.
The Dactyl's Nest is to the north. It's a winding path dungeon, and I'm starting to see an archetype forming in CT's dungeons. It's not a bad thing, but I've never noticed it before. Regardless, none of the mobs here are scary, nor do they have any gimmicks. There are sentient volcanoes around, and their head blows off when you attack them, but this changes nothing about their stats or AI. There isn't a boss here, either.
At the top of the mountain are Ayla and a pterodactyl. She's glad to see us and informs us she's heading to the base of the Reptites, but she doesn't want us to come. All of us might die, and she's worried. Glenn, though, knows that we're friends, so we'll fight each other's battles side-by-side. Ayla is glad she has strong friends and joins the party. Another anime cutscene happens where we all jump on the back of the pterodactyls, and we fly off into the Tyrano Lair! These scenes are, low-key, one of my favorite in the game. I only noticed it recently, but there's a red star shining in the sky for that conversation. Something world altering is coming... But we'll see what that is...
... tomorrow!
The Royal Rumble was tonight, and it ran longish. I also wanted to get some work done on "my" game, so I didn't play as much as I normally would. What extra time I had, I dedicated to some TP grinding against Nus in the Hunting Grounds. I wanted Ayla to learn Charm. It took longer than I thought, so I quit. The upcoming bosses don't have anything too great, so I've got time... Robby learned Cure Beam, and Crono's about to learn Life. The new anime opening shows Robo joining the group for the upcoming dungeon, so I'm bringing him along!
Saturday, January 29, 2022
The Masamune
I started out hunting for the prehistoric anti-capitalist barter system, killed two Nus, and then jumped off a cliff into a portal. All in a days work.
The team then went back to Melchior. He was shocked that we not only had the Masamune, but the Dreamstone, as well. He asked us how we got either of them but then rescinded his question for fear of his heart. He began to work, and Lucca joined him. I wondered if it's always her or anyone could join in? The world may never know. Melchior reforges the blade, and Lucca poofs around with the Dreamstone. Crono and Marle/Robo just sit around. After a few min, each blacksmith comes together, and the Masamune is reforged! The whole time this happens, a familiar song is played. Hallways of Clocks, I think it was called. We should now head back to the past and talk to Glenn.
We'll show him the reforged blade, and we'll ask him to join in our hunt to stop Magus. Glenn says he needs to sleep on it, and we'll get a flashback. A man in armor is speaking to King Guardia and Lenne. This is Sir Cyrus, a man we've heard a few legends about from Glenn and some townspeople. He's leaving the castle to stop the Frog King from terrorizing the countryside. He also wants to see this sword everyone's been talking about. He passes the Knights of the Square Table and comes to a humanoid Glenn. This happened before whatever turned Glenn into a frog took place. The two of them leave the castle and fight around Guardia Forest. A part of me hopes it's not the actual forest but just asset reuseal. Some lamia are slain, and Cyrus and Glenn save a woman from the Frog King. They get the Medal of Courage from him as he runs off, never to be seen again. We cut to the Denodoro Mountains, where Cyrus and Glenn stand against Magus and Ozzie. Or, trying to. It's not going well for them, and Cyrus asks Glenn to flee. Glenn refuses to leave his friend behind despite the chances both of them dying are a certainty. Cyrus rushes forward and is killed by Magus. Just to toy with the young squire, Glenn, they opt to change his form.
We return to Frog's house in the Cursed Woods, and a night of rumination has changed Glenn's mind. Our paladin is ready to take revenge for his friend and slay the Fiendlord, Magus! He has no idea about Lavos, but a lot of people don't like this guy. Far to the east of Denodoro is a random mountain. Enter it to see another flashback between Glenn and Cyrus. This time, they're both in training, thinking about their futures. Glenn, as a child, is saved by a teenaged Cyrus, and we'll get a scene on the Zenon Bridge. We'll end this with the aftermath of Cyrus' death and Glenn lying still as a frog. His best friend died ten years ago, and Glenn has been sitting on these emotions ever since. Back to the "present," and we'll see another anime cutscene that's one of my favorites. Glenn will soak up the blowing wind before removing the Masamune from its sheath. He will power the blade up and a blue pillar of light will shine across the world. He'll swing the sword and rend the mountain in two, revealing a passage under the straight to the west. Glenn can now equip the Masamune, and you should also give him the Hero's Badge to up the critical attack rate of the weapon. Before venturing further, return to the End of Time. Spekkio can grant Glenn his magical ability, which will be water. You should do this since Glenn is a mandatory party member, so leaving him with no spells or anything to learn is a real disadvantage for you. Everyone needs Tech Points! He's one of my favorite characters in any game. Glenn fights like a paladin, but he's pretty fast, second on the team right now behind Crono. He hits hard, is pretty tanky, can heal, crits all the time, has versatile double techs, and can do both good magic and physical damage. He's a character with no weaknesses and only strengths. So I guess he's broken, but it's cool. Also got some good plot arcs...
The path under the straight is filled with bats, who are weak to physical attacks, and rats that are vulnerable to magic. Marle and Glenn can learn Ice Water, which attacks everyone on screen. I plan to spam it for the next two hours. There's also a tiny bat following us... On the otherside of the passage is a massive castle. We've entered Magus' domain, and there are plenty of tricks to be had here.
There are two paths for the foyer. Both contain random people, mid ethers in chests, and are dead ends. Go to the ends of both of them and return here. When we do, things start to go. Ozzie will appear before us and give a typical villain speech. He'll say if we want to get to Magus, we'll need to get through the castle and the 100 demons that inhabit this place! The first battle of the dungeon happens! This whole place only has a handful of mobs, but they're unique to each other. Some are weak to either type of damage, while one absorbs magic (sorcerer). Nearly every battle is against groups of two or more species, so you have to figure out who to attack first and how. It'll keep ya on ya toes, depending on who you brought in. I usually just Ice Watered everyone and let Crono and Glenn clean up if anyone survived.
But once Ozzie goes away, we need to head down the hallways once more. This time, enemies are here, and I went to the right first. This section has us meeting fake versions of friends and family. Crono's mom wants to punish him, and Queen Lenne wants to eat Glenn. Our third party member's nightmare changes based on who's in the party. If you have Robby, Lucca will promise to break him again, Marle's dad wants her dead, and Taban will berate Lucca. At the end is one of Magus' general, Flea. Glenn will introduce "her," but it turns out Flea is a man. As long as it's power, sex doesn't matter. Flea is the hardest fight in the game so far. He deas in magic damage, but his worst stuff is his ability to inflict status effects. Sleep is annoying, but confusion is something you'll see a lot. He also has a million hit points! You cannot do any single target damage, magic or physical, or it'll be countered. Stick to X-Slash. Marle has learned Haste before this battle, so I applied it to get as many turns in as I could. It's gonna take some time, luck, and plenty of ethers, so prepare for a long heavyweight fight. Michael Peter drops a magic tag when we win and flies off. He was the small bat following us, so that's one less nuisance.
Return to the front and take the left path. It's filled with Omicrones and skeletons, neither of which are hard. At the end is the third general, Slush...uh...Slash. He's a two round battle, but neither is hard. A bit time consuming, though. Spam X-Slash in round one, and don't worry about Haste. Just keep everyone healed with Marle. For round two, Slash will pull out his sword, and it gets a bit harder. Do caste Haste and keep spamming X-Slash. Slash (the boss) will usually use Slash (the move), which does trigger a counter if you have the Rage Band on. Slash (the tech) hits multiple party members, but the damage is much less than a normal sword swing. Sal Hudson, too, will run away and leave his sword behind. Slash (the sword) is one of the best in the game since it raises Crono's speed by two! The damage falls off later, of course, but I'll be using it for a while!
Return to the foyer and enter the "save point," It's actually a teleporter that takes us the rest of the keep. From here, we deal with Ozzie's hand cranked traps. Sometimes he's bringing up mobs to ambush us, and other times, he's trying to trap us in a guillotine. The death trap conveyor belts are easy to avoid, but they can't kill you if they strike you. They will bring you to one HP, so heal up when you chase off John Michael. Next up are traps that he'll trigger when we get near them, but they're kinda bad. They only drop us into a room below. There are unnamed save point mobs we'll have to kill, a real safe point, and a teleporter point down here. We keep returning to the room with the floors revealed. We'll finally have him cornered in a grand throne room. Rather than fight us, though, he freezes himself. If we attack him in the form, everything is countered with a powerful magical spell. Instead, aim for the cranks around him. The fourth one will drop the frozen Ozzie below, and two save points will appear before. One's a teleporter, though, and we can enter and exit from the one on the otherside. Rest up and head into the dark stairwell.
Do what you will with the bats here. The next few rooms are very similar. Mobs will roll down stairs in an attempt to start a battle with us. You can avoid them if you climb down the ladders should you want to. After a while, we'll reach one last save point.
We'll enter the room and hear chanting. As we step forward, a blue flame will light our way forward. After another anime cutscene, we'll finally reach Magus. Magus and Glenn will unhappily reminisce about the past before we attempt to stop him summoning Lavos.
Magus changes his weakness every few turns or when stuck by said weakness. If you hit him with anything other than that, he'll absorb it. His physical defense is incredibly high, so don't bother with the attack command for a while. Glenn, though, can use it. The Masamune will lower Magus' magical defense, allowing Chrono and your third party member to get more damage in. There's a good argument to bring in Lucca or Robo for this as two water users is a bit redundant. Unless Robo has Cure Beam, though, I'm not a believer in it. Marle's heals are too good and sync with Aura Whirl. Magus' attacks aren't too strong, so that duel tech goes a long way. At least, for phase one...
After Magus takes enough damage, he'll "risk casting a spell." This normalizes his physical defense and removes his ability to absorb magic. But this also ups his attack. It takes two turns, but Magus will usually cast his strongest spell, Dark Matter. Keep your HP above 200/250, and you'll survive. Just make sure to heal after. I ran out of MP for Crono and Marle, so mid ethers are going to be used a few times. Fortunately, I had over thirty of them.
Despite us winning, Magus is more concerned with something else. He's lost concentration of his summon, and now Lavos is going mad. We'll yell at him for losing control of his creation, but we'll tell us that he had no part in creating Lavos... Suddenly, time and space around us will begin to warp and distort. We'll revolve a point in front of not Vegeta until the world goes black. We hear a bell ring in the distance, and someone tries to wake up Crono, mirroring the start of the game. It's not mom, but it's Marle. It seems Crono and her got married, and they've been living off the King's money. However, Marle wants Crono to get a job and be independent. She keeps trying to wake up him. She keeps trying and trying and trying... It was a dream, and we awaken in a hut in 65 Million BC. Ayla had a dream which led her to find us in the mountains. She dragged us all here and now wants to eat Glenn, who's still a frog. We dissuade her, and she tells us to go back to bed. Just as we wake up later, Kino enters the hut to inform us Ayla has gone looking for Laruba, another human village hiding from the Reptites. But he's followed by a loud random guy who screams that the forest to the north is burning! I wonder what we'll find there...
...tomorrow!
So Magus didn't summon Lavos? What's really going on here!? The plot's just starting now!
The team then went back to Melchior. He was shocked that we not only had the Masamune, but the Dreamstone, as well. He asked us how we got either of them but then rescinded his question for fear of his heart. He began to work, and Lucca joined him. I wondered if it's always her or anyone could join in? The world may never know. Melchior reforges the blade, and Lucca poofs around with the Dreamstone. Crono and Marle/Robo just sit around. After a few min, each blacksmith comes together, and the Masamune is reforged! The whole time this happens, a familiar song is played. Hallways of Clocks, I think it was called. We should now head back to the past and talk to Glenn.
We'll show him the reforged blade, and we'll ask him to join in our hunt to stop Magus. Glenn says he needs to sleep on it, and we'll get a flashback. A man in armor is speaking to King Guardia and Lenne. This is Sir Cyrus, a man we've heard a few legends about from Glenn and some townspeople. He's leaving the castle to stop the Frog King from terrorizing the countryside. He also wants to see this sword everyone's been talking about. He passes the Knights of the Square Table and comes to a humanoid Glenn. This happened before whatever turned Glenn into a frog took place. The two of them leave the castle and fight around Guardia Forest. A part of me hopes it's not the actual forest but just asset reuseal. Some lamia are slain, and Cyrus and Glenn save a woman from the Frog King. They get the Medal of Courage from him as he runs off, never to be seen again. We cut to the Denodoro Mountains, where Cyrus and Glenn stand against Magus and Ozzie. Or, trying to. It's not going well for them, and Cyrus asks Glenn to flee. Glenn refuses to leave his friend behind despite the chances both of them dying are a certainty. Cyrus rushes forward and is killed by Magus. Just to toy with the young squire, Glenn, they opt to change his form.
We return to Frog's house in the Cursed Woods, and a night of rumination has changed Glenn's mind. Our paladin is ready to take revenge for his friend and slay the Fiendlord, Magus! He has no idea about Lavos, but a lot of people don't like this guy. Far to the east of Denodoro is a random mountain. Enter it to see another flashback between Glenn and Cyrus. This time, they're both in training, thinking about their futures. Glenn, as a child, is saved by a teenaged Cyrus, and we'll get a scene on the Zenon Bridge. We'll end this with the aftermath of Cyrus' death and Glenn lying still as a frog. His best friend died ten years ago, and Glenn has been sitting on these emotions ever since. Back to the "present," and we'll see another anime cutscene that's one of my favorites. Glenn will soak up the blowing wind before removing the Masamune from its sheath. He will power the blade up and a blue pillar of light will shine across the world. He'll swing the sword and rend the mountain in two, revealing a passage under the straight to the west. Glenn can now equip the Masamune, and you should also give him the Hero's Badge to up the critical attack rate of the weapon. Before venturing further, return to the End of Time. Spekkio can grant Glenn his magical ability, which will be water. You should do this since Glenn is a mandatory party member, so leaving him with no spells or anything to learn is a real disadvantage for you. Everyone needs Tech Points! He's one of my favorite characters in any game. Glenn fights like a paladin, but he's pretty fast, second on the team right now behind Crono. He hits hard, is pretty tanky, can heal, crits all the time, has versatile double techs, and can do both good magic and physical damage. He's a character with no weaknesses and only strengths. So I guess he's broken, but it's cool. Also got some good plot arcs...
The path under the straight is filled with bats, who are weak to physical attacks, and rats that are vulnerable to magic. Marle and Glenn can learn Ice Water, which attacks everyone on screen. I plan to spam it for the next two hours. There's also a tiny bat following us... On the otherside of the passage is a massive castle. We've entered Magus' domain, and there are plenty of tricks to be had here.
There are two paths for the foyer. Both contain random people, mid ethers in chests, and are dead ends. Go to the ends of both of them and return here. When we do, things start to go. Ozzie will appear before us and give a typical villain speech. He'll say if we want to get to Magus, we'll need to get through the castle and the 100 demons that inhabit this place! The first battle of the dungeon happens! This whole place only has a handful of mobs, but they're unique to each other. Some are weak to either type of damage, while one absorbs magic (sorcerer). Nearly every battle is against groups of two or more species, so you have to figure out who to attack first and how. It'll keep ya on ya toes, depending on who you brought in. I usually just Ice Watered everyone and let Crono and Glenn clean up if anyone survived.
But once Ozzie goes away, we need to head down the hallways once more. This time, enemies are here, and I went to the right first. This section has us meeting fake versions of friends and family. Crono's mom wants to punish him, and Queen Lenne wants to eat Glenn. Our third party member's nightmare changes based on who's in the party. If you have Robby, Lucca will promise to break him again, Marle's dad wants her dead, and Taban will berate Lucca. At the end is one of Magus' general, Flea. Glenn will introduce "her," but it turns out Flea is a man. As long as it's power, sex doesn't matter. Flea is the hardest fight in the game so far. He deas in magic damage, but his worst stuff is his ability to inflict status effects. Sleep is annoying, but confusion is something you'll see a lot. He also has a million hit points! You cannot do any single target damage, magic or physical, or it'll be countered. Stick to X-Slash. Marle has learned Haste before this battle, so I applied it to get as many turns in as I could. It's gonna take some time, luck, and plenty of ethers, so prepare for a long heavyweight fight. Michael Peter drops a magic tag when we win and flies off. He was the small bat following us, so that's one less nuisance.
Return to the front and take the left path. It's filled with Omicrones and skeletons, neither of which are hard. At the end is the third general, Slush...uh...Slash. He's a two round battle, but neither is hard. A bit time consuming, though. Spam X-Slash in round one, and don't worry about Haste. Just keep everyone healed with Marle. For round two, Slash will pull out his sword, and it gets a bit harder. Do caste Haste and keep spamming X-Slash. Slash (the boss) will usually use Slash (the move), which does trigger a counter if you have the Rage Band on. Slash (the tech) hits multiple party members, but the damage is much less than a normal sword swing. Sal Hudson, too, will run away and leave his sword behind. Slash (the sword) is one of the best in the game since it raises Crono's speed by two! The damage falls off later, of course, but I'll be using it for a while!
Return to the foyer and enter the "save point," It's actually a teleporter that takes us the rest of the keep. From here, we deal with Ozzie's hand cranked traps. Sometimes he's bringing up mobs to ambush us, and other times, he's trying to trap us in a guillotine. The death trap conveyor belts are easy to avoid, but they can't kill you if they strike you. They will bring you to one HP, so heal up when you chase off John Michael. Next up are traps that he'll trigger when we get near them, but they're kinda bad. They only drop us into a room below. There are unnamed save point mobs we'll have to kill, a real safe point, and a teleporter point down here. We keep returning to the room with the floors revealed. We'll finally have him cornered in a grand throne room. Rather than fight us, though, he freezes himself. If we attack him in the form, everything is countered with a powerful magical spell. Instead, aim for the cranks around him. The fourth one will drop the frozen Ozzie below, and two save points will appear before. One's a teleporter, though, and we can enter and exit from the one on the otherside. Rest up and head into the dark stairwell.
Do what you will with the bats here. The next few rooms are very similar. Mobs will roll down stairs in an attempt to start a battle with us. You can avoid them if you climb down the ladders should you want to. After a while, we'll reach one last save point.
We'll enter the room and hear chanting. As we step forward, a blue flame will light our way forward. After another anime cutscene, we'll finally reach Magus. Magus and Glenn will unhappily reminisce about the past before we attempt to stop him summoning Lavos.
Magus changes his weakness every few turns or when stuck by said weakness. If you hit him with anything other than that, he'll absorb it. His physical defense is incredibly high, so don't bother with the attack command for a while. Glenn, though, can use it. The Masamune will lower Magus' magical defense, allowing Chrono and your third party member to get more damage in. There's a good argument to bring in Lucca or Robo for this as two water users is a bit redundant. Unless Robo has Cure Beam, though, I'm not a believer in it. Marle's heals are too good and sync with Aura Whirl. Magus' attacks aren't too strong, so that duel tech goes a long way. At least, for phase one...
After Magus takes enough damage, he'll "risk casting a spell." This normalizes his physical defense and removes his ability to absorb magic. But this also ups his attack. It takes two turns, but Magus will usually cast his strongest spell, Dark Matter. Keep your HP above 200/250, and you'll survive. Just make sure to heal after. I ran out of MP for Crono and Marle, so mid ethers are going to be used a few times. Fortunately, I had over thirty of them.
Despite us winning, Magus is more concerned with something else. He's lost concentration of his summon, and now Lavos is going mad. We'll yell at him for losing control of his creation, but we'll tell us that he had no part in creating Lavos... Suddenly, time and space around us will begin to warp and distort. We'll revolve a point in front of not Vegeta until the world goes black. We hear a bell ring in the distance, and someone tries to wake up Crono, mirroring the start of the game. It's not mom, but it's Marle. It seems Crono and her got married, and they've been living off the King's money. However, Marle wants Crono to get a job and be independent. She keeps trying to wake up him. She keeps trying and trying and trying... It was a dream, and we awaken in a hut in 65 Million BC. Ayla had a dream which led her to find us in the mountains. She dragged us all here and now wants to eat Glenn, who's still a frog. We dissuade her, and she tells us to go back to bed. Just as we wake up later, Kino enters the hut to inform us Ayla has gone looking for Laruba, another human village hiding from the Reptites. But he's followed by a loud random guy who screams that the forest to the north is burning! I wonder what we'll find there...
...tomorrow!
So Magus didn't summon Lavos? What's really going on here!? The plot's just starting now!
Friday, January 28, 2022
The Hero Arrives!
We learned last night that the villain from 600 AD, Magus, summoned Lavos in an attempt to win a war against mankind. If we want to stop Lavos, we should start there.
Not much has changed in 600, or at least it doesn't appear to have. Several townsfolk in Truce inform us that the King was attacked defending the country from Magus and is now recuperating. Soldiers manning the frontline at Zenan Bridge confirms this, but they also tell us their supplies are running low. They're in desperate need of food from the castle. That's two reasons to head to Marle's house, so head there. The King is alive but tertiary for this. Head down to the right where the kitchen is. We'll see the Head Chef running so fast, trying to cook food for the King and Queen as well as the frontlines, that he's making a small dust storm at his feet. When we talk to him, he'll tell us that his brother is an idiot. A main will scold him, but nothing much comes from it. As we leave the castle, the Chef will catch up to us. He finished the rations for the soldiers, so he asks us to tell his brother to stay safe. He hands us "1" Jerky. An entire army is expected to survive on a single stick of beef jerky. How did Guardia stand for 1000 years?
Return to Zenan bridge and hand the single jerky to the knight in golden armor, the Chef's brother. All the soldiers that remain get excited for food and have piped up! It's a good thing, too, as we're about to be under attack. A legion from across the bridge begins their assault. It's headed by Ozzie, who conveniently informs us that he's Magus' general. He then attacks us with skeletons. The undead aren't hard and slaying them causes Ozzie to flee. Attacking him enough to break his spell also works, which is how I ended battle two. Along the way, we see several soldiers die and get possessed by not John Michael. As we reach the end of the bridge, Ozzie summons a small horde of skeletons who combine into one. Meet Zombor.
Zombor is two targets: a top half and legs. The upper body is weak to fire and absorbs ice, while the legs are the opposite. Cyclone can hit both parts, so have Crono perform that while Marle and Lucca do their thing. He attacks, but I don't remember how. I'm pretty sure you need to defeat both parts to win, but I saved his legs for last. Ozzie promises we haven't seen the last of him before battle, so the chase ends here. All the soldiers at the start of the bridge congratulate us, and we can explore Porre now.
There's a large town just past the bridge that I have no idea how is still around. You'd think this would be Mystic Central by now? It's called Denodoro, named after the nearby mountain range, and the only thing of note here is we can see the great explorer, Toma, being paid to find the mythical Rainbow Shell. The Elder has his reservations about his choice, but it's too late now. This place doesn't exist in 1000 AD, but I'm sure it'll be fine. We also begin to hear rumblings that The Legendary Hero has arrived. Head past Fiona's Shrine for now and have a look-see in Poore. People tell us the Hero is from here, and it's a small child named Tata. His dad, especially, is excited. Tata's not around, though, so search around the forest path to the west. It's filled with frogs and snakes that eat frogs. At the very back is a ladder down that takes us to our old pal Glenn (not Frog). We inform Glenn of what's happened to the King, and he becomes sullen and depressed. He asks us to leave and stands guard near a green pot.
The only place I haven't looked yet is the Denodoro Mountains. An NPC in the town warned us about goblins with hammers. They're strong, but if we burn their weapon, then they become fragile. We'll need to make use of this often here. On the first screen is a small child being chased by two goblins. This is Tata, and he's in over his head. He asks us to leave, but we can't let a child wander around here, Hero or not. Denadoro is a winding mountain path filled form goblins and free lancers. Everything is weak to magic, so it's another Hecran's Cave scenario. Many of the battles are traps, of sorts, with the lancers waking up the goblins to attack us. It's annoying, but it's supposed to be annoying and unlike a lot of dungeons in other games. I can't wait to learn AoE magic spells... At the end is a small cave with a child in it. This isn't Tata, who we didn't find here, but someone named Masa. Behind him is a shining sword! As we approach it, the boy calls out to us to ask if we're here for the sword. Another NPC told us about the blade Masamune; could this be it? We respond yes, and Masa calls out for his brother, Mune, who appears from thin air behind the sword. The two scold us for not knowing that the blade isn't what makes it legendary, rather it's how you use it. But if we want it, we're gonna have to fight for it!
Masa and Mune counter every attack with an X-Slash. Both physical and magical blows trigger it, so we'll just have to eat it. Antipode, Lucca and Marle's combo tech, does nearly 400 damage, so spam that. have Crono use Spuncut if you've learned it. I got it after this battle, so good job, me! You'll only need to defeat one, so focus on whoever. Hopefully, you brought some heal items with you because these guys can cause confusion, indicated by a star over a character's head. But the battle isn't over yet. Masa and Mune say it's time to get real, and they form into one creature. I forgot Masamune looked like this, which explains why it looked so weird in Chrono Cross.
Round two is easier. I didn't get confused, there is no countering, and there's only one target/DPS. The only thing to watch out for is when Masamune begins to control tornado energy. Have Crono use Slash to dispel their field to prevent whatever they were planning to do. Thank you to another NPC in Denodoro.
They'll say that they accept us, and the shining sword behind them will turn into a battle worn, broken blade. It's chipped and has no hilt, so we're going to need to repair it somehow. Before going anywhere else, I went back to Porre. Tata informs us he found the Hero Badge in the cafe. It was dropped by a frog, and he wanted to return it. However, everyone made a big deal about it, so he kinda just went with it. He's ending the charade and giving it to us. I go back to Glenn, and he's even more bummed now. But he does move from his green pot, allowing us to open it. Inside is a hilt with "M E L C H I O R" written on it. Why does a weapons dealer in 1000 AD have his name engraved on a legendary sword? But I guess we're going to him. As we enter his hut, the music will change to something strange... But he does know that this is the Masamune. He says he'll repair it, but there's no way to do so anymore. The Dreamstone that the blade is made out of has been gone for centuries. I have more questions... And then I remember the other teleporter at the End of Time. It takes us to 65 Million BC!
We go through the pillar of light and come to a cliffside or the air just beyond the cliff. Alas, we fall down said cliff. Good job to whoever made these portals! As we land, we see a platoon of green lizards. They immediately attack us! They're not that hard. They're grouped up, so Cyclone and Fire Throw do good work. After we take them out, even more show up! But behind them is the second anime cutscene. A blonde woman wearing the purple pelt of an animal jumps into the fray. She takes out a handful of the lizards and gets chased away by several more. This leaves us to clean up the remainders, which we do with ease. The woman returns and pins Crono against the war. Tension rise for a moment before she, in broken English, says how strong Crono is. She only respects strong people like her and introduces herself as Ayla. Marle and Lucca give backhanded remarks towards her, but Ayla says how strong they are, too. We'll ask her if she has any Red Rock, to which she replies yes. She then invites us to her village for a party!
Cross the bridge, and her hut is on the left side. We'll all head to Ioka Village's common area and enjoy the music, beverages, and soup. Probably too much soup... A blond guy is off to the side, being jealous, but Ayla eventually challenges Crono to a soup eating contest. Mash the X button to win! The winner gets the Dreamstone, so job well done! We might as well enjoy the rest of the party, right? We'll wake in the morning feeling ill, and I'm starting to think that wasn't soup, translators! Somehow, even Robby wasn't feeling right. We'll quickly notice footprints are around us, and our stuff is missing. Most importantly, the Gate Key is gone! A villager says she saw Reptites, the sworn enemy of the humans, going south to the Forest Maze.
When we enter the forest, we'll see the blond guy, Kino, standing there. Ayla will ask him what happened, and we'll learn he stole our stuff. He really was jealous because Ayla showed us too much attention for his liking. Ayla punches him for being dumb. These two are dating, it seems, but Ayla has her emotions under control, and "Ayla likes Kino most so Kino shouldn't steal." ... or something like that. Ayla asks Kino to hand over our stuff, but he'll say the Reptites took it and ran off. We'll now have to follow the footprints before us in this area that's hard to see. Fortunately, it's straightforward enough.
On the otherside is the Reptite's Lair. It's filled with dinosaurs, who don't like being struck with electricity and holes. EvilWeviles can make holes if we let them on the map, which we can use to get to treasure or deeper into the dungeon. Robby and Crono's Max Cyclone and Rocket Roll can take care of the small fries, but watch out for the winged apes and their shiitake partners. Take out the mushrooms first. At the very end of this cave is the Reptite leader, Azela, holding our Gate Key. She'll ask us what this is for, and I happily tell her. She doesn't believe anyone would give up any information that easily, so she attacks us with Nizbel!
Robo was the correct choice to bring for this battle. Nizbel is similar to other dinosaurs in that he's strong upfront but weak when struck by Lightning. He won't get stunned, though, so he's always dangerous. What's worse is he can shake off the electrical blasts, which hurt us more than him. Keep your HP over 200 if you've hit him with Lightning, and use a Mid Tonic after he releases it. Use Lightning once to lower his defense, and then spam Crono and Ayla's Drill Kick combo. It does nearly 500 damage, so it works better than spamming attacks. Robo can do whatever. He can heal off Nizbel's single target attacks at the very least. Watch out for his earthquake move. It doesn't hit hard but can set up a wipe if he's been electrified recently. Azela will be shocked (sorry) that we defeated Nizbel. But she'll throw us the Key, and it'll be undamaged. We'll all return to Ioka with the Key and Dreamstone, so we can fix the Masamune...
...tomorrow!
I want to use people I don't normally do. I've used Robo the least out of everyone in the game despite him being one of the best. He's got great utility, HP, defense, attack, and can cure, so a lot of people like him. I've always found him too slow, though. But I also want to level up Lucca for once, too. I also want to try to Charm with Ayla this playthrough, so what am I going to do!?
Not much has changed in 600, or at least it doesn't appear to have. Several townsfolk in Truce inform us that the King was attacked defending the country from Magus and is now recuperating. Soldiers manning the frontline at Zenan Bridge confirms this, but they also tell us their supplies are running low. They're in desperate need of food from the castle. That's two reasons to head to Marle's house, so head there. The King is alive but tertiary for this. Head down to the right where the kitchen is. We'll see the Head Chef running so fast, trying to cook food for the King and Queen as well as the frontlines, that he's making a small dust storm at his feet. When we talk to him, he'll tell us that his brother is an idiot. A main will scold him, but nothing much comes from it. As we leave the castle, the Chef will catch up to us. He finished the rations for the soldiers, so he asks us to tell his brother to stay safe. He hands us "1" Jerky. An entire army is expected to survive on a single stick of beef jerky. How did Guardia stand for 1000 years?
Return to Zenan bridge and hand the single jerky to the knight in golden armor, the Chef's brother. All the soldiers that remain get excited for food and have piped up! It's a good thing, too, as we're about to be under attack. A legion from across the bridge begins their assault. It's headed by Ozzie, who conveniently informs us that he's Magus' general. He then attacks us with skeletons. The undead aren't hard and slaying them causes Ozzie to flee. Attacking him enough to break his spell also works, which is how I ended battle two. Along the way, we see several soldiers die and get possessed by not John Michael. As we reach the end of the bridge, Ozzie summons a small horde of skeletons who combine into one. Meet Zombor.
Zombor is two targets: a top half and legs. The upper body is weak to fire and absorbs ice, while the legs are the opposite. Cyclone can hit both parts, so have Crono perform that while Marle and Lucca do their thing. He attacks, but I don't remember how. I'm pretty sure you need to defeat both parts to win, but I saved his legs for last. Ozzie promises we haven't seen the last of him before battle, so the chase ends here. All the soldiers at the start of the bridge congratulate us, and we can explore Porre now.
There's a large town just past the bridge that I have no idea how is still around. You'd think this would be Mystic Central by now? It's called Denodoro, named after the nearby mountain range, and the only thing of note here is we can see the great explorer, Toma, being paid to find the mythical Rainbow Shell. The Elder has his reservations about his choice, but it's too late now. This place doesn't exist in 1000 AD, but I'm sure it'll be fine. We also begin to hear rumblings that The Legendary Hero has arrived. Head past Fiona's Shrine for now and have a look-see in Poore. People tell us the Hero is from here, and it's a small child named Tata. His dad, especially, is excited. Tata's not around, though, so search around the forest path to the west. It's filled with frogs and snakes that eat frogs. At the very back is a ladder down that takes us to our old pal Glenn (not Frog). We inform Glenn of what's happened to the King, and he becomes sullen and depressed. He asks us to leave and stands guard near a green pot.
The only place I haven't looked yet is the Denodoro Mountains. An NPC in the town warned us about goblins with hammers. They're strong, but if we burn their weapon, then they become fragile. We'll need to make use of this often here. On the first screen is a small child being chased by two goblins. This is Tata, and he's in over his head. He asks us to leave, but we can't let a child wander around here, Hero or not. Denadoro is a winding mountain path filled form goblins and free lancers. Everything is weak to magic, so it's another Hecran's Cave scenario. Many of the battles are traps, of sorts, with the lancers waking up the goblins to attack us. It's annoying, but it's supposed to be annoying and unlike a lot of dungeons in other games. I can't wait to learn AoE magic spells... At the end is a small cave with a child in it. This isn't Tata, who we didn't find here, but someone named Masa. Behind him is a shining sword! As we approach it, the boy calls out to us to ask if we're here for the sword. Another NPC told us about the blade Masamune; could this be it? We respond yes, and Masa calls out for his brother, Mune, who appears from thin air behind the sword. The two scold us for not knowing that the blade isn't what makes it legendary, rather it's how you use it. But if we want it, we're gonna have to fight for it!
Masa and Mune counter every attack with an X-Slash. Both physical and magical blows trigger it, so we'll just have to eat it. Antipode, Lucca and Marle's combo tech, does nearly 400 damage, so spam that. have Crono use Spuncut if you've learned it. I got it after this battle, so good job, me! You'll only need to defeat one, so focus on whoever. Hopefully, you brought some heal items with you because these guys can cause confusion, indicated by a star over a character's head. But the battle isn't over yet. Masa and Mune say it's time to get real, and they form into one creature. I forgot Masamune looked like this, which explains why it looked so weird in Chrono Cross.
Round two is easier. I didn't get confused, there is no countering, and there's only one target/DPS. The only thing to watch out for is when Masamune begins to control tornado energy. Have Crono use Slash to dispel their field to prevent whatever they were planning to do. Thank you to another NPC in Denodoro.
They'll say that they accept us, and the shining sword behind them will turn into a battle worn, broken blade. It's chipped and has no hilt, so we're going to need to repair it somehow. Before going anywhere else, I went back to Porre. Tata informs us he found the Hero Badge in the cafe. It was dropped by a frog, and he wanted to return it. However, everyone made a big deal about it, so he kinda just went with it. He's ending the charade and giving it to us. I go back to Glenn, and he's even more bummed now. But he does move from his green pot, allowing us to open it. Inside is a hilt with "M E L C H I O R" written on it. Why does a weapons dealer in 1000 AD have his name engraved on a legendary sword? But I guess we're going to him. As we enter his hut, the music will change to something strange... But he does know that this is the Masamune. He says he'll repair it, but there's no way to do so anymore. The Dreamstone that the blade is made out of has been gone for centuries. I have more questions... And then I remember the other teleporter at the End of Time. It takes us to 65 Million BC!
We go through the pillar of light and come to a cliffside or the air just beyond the cliff. Alas, we fall down said cliff. Good job to whoever made these portals! As we land, we see a platoon of green lizards. They immediately attack us! They're not that hard. They're grouped up, so Cyclone and Fire Throw do good work. After we take them out, even more show up! But behind them is the second anime cutscene. A blonde woman wearing the purple pelt of an animal jumps into the fray. She takes out a handful of the lizards and gets chased away by several more. This leaves us to clean up the remainders, which we do with ease. The woman returns and pins Crono against the war. Tension rise for a moment before she, in broken English, says how strong Crono is. She only respects strong people like her and introduces herself as Ayla. Marle and Lucca give backhanded remarks towards her, but Ayla says how strong they are, too. We'll ask her if she has any Red Rock, to which she replies yes. She then invites us to her village for a party!
Cross the bridge, and her hut is on the left side. We'll all head to Ioka Village's common area and enjoy the music, beverages, and soup. Probably too much soup... A blond guy is off to the side, being jealous, but Ayla eventually challenges Crono to a soup eating contest. Mash the X button to win! The winner gets the Dreamstone, so job well done! We might as well enjoy the rest of the party, right? We'll wake in the morning feeling ill, and I'm starting to think that wasn't soup, translators! Somehow, even Robby wasn't feeling right. We'll quickly notice footprints are around us, and our stuff is missing. Most importantly, the Gate Key is gone! A villager says she saw Reptites, the sworn enemy of the humans, going south to the Forest Maze.
When we enter the forest, we'll see the blond guy, Kino, standing there. Ayla will ask him what happened, and we'll learn he stole our stuff. He really was jealous because Ayla showed us too much attention for his liking. Ayla punches him for being dumb. These two are dating, it seems, but Ayla has her emotions under control, and "Ayla likes Kino most so Kino shouldn't steal." ... or something like that. Ayla asks Kino to hand over our stuff, but he'll say the Reptites took it and ran off. We'll now have to follow the footprints before us in this area that's hard to see. Fortunately, it's straightforward enough.
On the otherside is the Reptite's Lair. It's filled with dinosaurs, who don't like being struck with electricity and holes. EvilWeviles can make holes if we let them on the map, which we can use to get to treasure or deeper into the dungeon. Robby and Crono's Max Cyclone and Rocket Roll can take care of the small fries, but watch out for the winged apes and their shiitake partners. Take out the mushrooms first. At the very end of this cave is the Reptite leader, Azela, holding our Gate Key. She'll ask us what this is for, and I happily tell her. She doesn't believe anyone would give up any information that easily, so she attacks us with Nizbel!
Robo was the correct choice to bring for this battle. Nizbel is similar to other dinosaurs in that he's strong upfront but weak when struck by Lightning. He won't get stunned, though, so he's always dangerous. What's worse is he can shake off the electrical blasts, which hurt us more than him. Keep your HP over 200 if you've hit him with Lightning, and use a Mid Tonic after he releases it. Use Lightning once to lower his defense, and then spam Crono and Ayla's Drill Kick combo. It does nearly 500 damage, so it works better than spamming attacks. Robo can do whatever. He can heal off Nizbel's single target attacks at the very least. Watch out for his earthquake move. It doesn't hit hard but can set up a wipe if he's been electrified recently. Azela will be shocked (sorry) that we defeated Nizbel. But she'll throw us the Key, and it'll be undamaged. We'll all return to Ioka with the Key and Dreamstone, so we can fix the Masamune...
...tomorrow!
I want to use people I don't normally do. I've used Robo the least out of everyone in the game despite him being one of the best. He's got great utility, HP, defense, attack, and can cure, so a lot of people like him. I've always found him too slow, though. But I also want to level up Lucca for once, too. I also want to try to Charm with Ayla this playthrough, so what am I going to do!?
Thursday, January 27, 2022
Beyond the Ruins
The loading times are hurting my soul!
The team crossed Lab 32 last night in search of a time Gate to anywhere but here. We need to get home and defeat Lavos on the way! Far to the south is Proto Dome. It's filled with various robots designed to kill bugs, but there's a strange, yellow humanoid robot in the back. We get our first Dragonball Z style cutscene of the game here. The group walks into a room, scarring the rat away. We see a ruined and utterly broken robot sitting lying on the ground. Lucca pulls out a screwdriver, applies a sly smile on her face, and gets to work! Meanwhile, Marle tries to open the door behind it, likely to the Gate.
Paying that no mind, Lucca prepares to boot up her robot. Marle is concerned it will attack us, but Lucca assures her it won't. She removed the possibility and states that robots aren't evil. It's humans who program them to be. But a future Prometheus is activated and whirls into motion. It had a thankful and humble demeanor about itself until Lucca asked to be called simply by her name. She and Marle bond over a disdain for titles. I assume this is a "name-san" scene, which usually falls flat when translated, but this one is smoothly done. Good job, translators! Lucca then asks for the robot's name. "R-66y." Lucca hates it and wants a real name. The default option is Robo, but I rarely name him that. It's either Promo because I know the future or Proto because I forgot the future. But this time, I realized his callsign is almost a name, so R-66y will be called Robby on this playthrough. Robby informs us the door behind him is locked as the power is out, but we can turn it on in the Ruined Factory north. Before we go, we discuss why nothing is here. Robby says that humans and other bots used to be here, but we think something bad happened...
The Ruined Factory usually confuses me a bit. Take the right elevator down and find the conveyer belt at the bottom. Run against the direction but don't make contact with the ninja bots. If you do, then a drone will pick us up and carry us away. Follow the upper path this leads to, and we'll come to several rooms. One contains drone control codes, controller button prompts, and another is the control mechanism. There are also some treasure chests up here. The goal up here is to direct the drone to remove the red containers in our way. Simply input the codes and make your way back down. Take that path, which'll lead us to unlocking the left route and the final security code for Zabie (I think).
The left path takes us to the very bottom of the facility. We'll need to remove the laser grid to get to the power switch. Use the Zabie code (clockwise on your controller) and flip the lever. As we do, alarms will ring, and we'll need to fly. The doors before us will begin to shut, but Robo can hold them open. The elevator is out, so we'll have to take the stairs. We eventually get to understand why Robo was alone...
We'll be confronted by six R-Series robots that look like Robo. Robby will try to interact with them, but they say he's malfunctioning and begin to rugby tackle him. Crono can attempt to interfere, but the mass of bots throws him off. In time, they thrash Robo and throw him in the trash. And then they turn on us.
I died here! I've never had issues here, but I learned you shouldn't leave one alive. Doing so will have the remaining guy counter everything with a massive explosion to Crono and Lucca. They're not strong, and two cyclones to each group of three will finish the job. Lucca will take Robby out of the trash and drag him back to Proto Dome. She'll manage to repair him and asks what he plans to do after. It's a sentence he's never thought about...
The Gate is behind that door, and Robo wants to come with. There's nothing here, so why not? The four of us jump into the blue hole, but a spark of electricity shoots off us.
We come to a cold, dark room, dimly lit by a single street light. An old man is beneath it, and he tells us this is where travelers come when their group has four people in it. This is the End of Time! It's our home base of sorts and where our party members wait when I don't want them on our team. Gates lead to and from here, so it's perfect. Before we head back to 1000 AD, the old man says we should enter the room behind him.
This is the God of War, Spekkio! His appearance will change based on our level, and we can duel him each time. More importantly, he teaches the party magic. Crono is a light/electric/heaven mage, Marle has power over ice, and Lucca likes fire. Robby isn't human but can deal shadow magic! With that done, head to 1000 AD.
We'll pop out of an imps closet, but they're oddly cool with it. They'll warn us their village, though, won't be. We're in Medina, home to Mystics who sided with Magus 400 years ago. Most of them hold him in high regard and hate humans. In the village center, we can hear them chanting towards Magus and the monster he tried to summon back then: Lavos.
To the west is Hecran's Cave. Outside that is Melchior's Hut. He's a weapons dealer with new gear, and he tells us a path to Truce is through the cave. Inside are mobs weak to magic but strong against physical attacks. We'll need to spam our new magic spells to get through this. I probably should have brought Robo to deal with the multiple targets pet fight, but oh well. In the back is the guy who owns this place, Hecran.
Keep spamming magic, and don't attack him when he asks you to. His counter hits hard and should be avoided. Use this to heal. He'll trigger the party's idea to return to 600 AD to fight Magus before he summons Lavos, but we'll do that...
... tomorrow!
I walked through Lab 32. It's a waste with only a Race Log and mutants inside. I also made sure to get Taban's armor for Lucca. Anything that ups her speed is a must have! You can also have gone to 65 Million BC, but I'll save that for later. I think tonight was the worst part of the game, and it's still a four out of five.
The team crossed Lab 32 last night in search of a time Gate to anywhere but here. We need to get home and defeat Lavos on the way! Far to the south is Proto Dome. It's filled with various robots designed to kill bugs, but there's a strange, yellow humanoid robot in the back. We get our first Dragonball Z style cutscene of the game here. The group walks into a room, scarring the rat away. We see a ruined and utterly broken robot sitting lying on the ground. Lucca pulls out a screwdriver, applies a sly smile on her face, and gets to work! Meanwhile, Marle tries to open the door behind it, likely to the Gate.
Paying that no mind, Lucca prepares to boot up her robot. Marle is concerned it will attack us, but Lucca assures her it won't. She removed the possibility and states that robots aren't evil. It's humans who program them to be. But a future Prometheus is activated and whirls into motion. It had a thankful and humble demeanor about itself until Lucca asked to be called simply by her name. She and Marle bond over a disdain for titles. I assume this is a "name-san" scene, which usually falls flat when translated, but this one is smoothly done. Good job, translators! Lucca then asks for the robot's name. "R-66y." Lucca hates it and wants a real name. The default option is Robo, but I rarely name him that. It's either Promo because I know the future or Proto because I forgot the future. But this time, I realized his callsign is almost a name, so R-66y will be called Robby on this playthrough. Robby informs us the door behind him is locked as the power is out, but we can turn it on in the Ruined Factory north. Before we go, we discuss why nothing is here. Robby says that humans and other bots used to be here, but we think something bad happened...
The Ruined Factory usually confuses me a bit. Take the right elevator down and find the conveyer belt at the bottom. Run against the direction but don't make contact with the ninja bots. If you do, then a drone will pick us up and carry us away. Follow the upper path this leads to, and we'll come to several rooms. One contains drone control codes, controller button prompts, and another is the control mechanism. There are also some treasure chests up here. The goal up here is to direct the drone to remove the red containers in our way. Simply input the codes and make your way back down. Take that path, which'll lead us to unlocking the left route and the final security code for Zabie (I think).
The left path takes us to the very bottom of the facility. We'll need to remove the laser grid to get to the power switch. Use the Zabie code (clockwise on your controller) and flip the lever. As we do, alarms will ring, and we'll need to fly. The doors before us will begin to shut, but Robo can hold them open. The elevator is out, so we'll have to take the stairs. We eventually get to understand why Robo was alone...
We'll be confronted by six R-Series robots that look like Robo. Robby will try to interact with them, but they say he's malfunctioning and begin to rugby tackle him. Crono can attempt to interfere, but the mass of bots throws him off. In time, they thrash Robo and throw him in the trash. And then they turn on us.
I died here! I've never had issues here, but I learned you shouldn't leave one alive. Doing so will have the remaining guy counter everything with a massive explosion to Crono and Lucca. They're not strong, and two cyclones to each group of three will finish the job. Lucca will take Robby out of the trash and drag him back to Proto Dome. She'll manage to repair him and asks what he plans to do after. It's a sentence he's never thought about...
The Gate is behind that door, and Robo wants to come with. There's nothing here, so why not? The four of us jump into the blue hole, but a spark of electricity shoots off us.
We come to a cold, dark room, dimly lit by a single street light. An old man is beneath it, and he tells us this is where travelers come when their group has four people in it. This is the End of Time! It's our home base of sorts and where our party members wait when I don't want them on our team. Gates lead to and from here, so it's perfect. Before we head back to 1000 AD, the old man says we should enter the room behind him.
This is the God of War, Spekkio! His appearance will change based on our level, and we can duel him each time. More importantly, he teaches the party magic. Crono is a light/electric/heaven mage, Marle has power over ice, and Lucca likes fire. Robby isn't human but can deal shadow magic! With that done, head to 1000 AD.
We'll pop out of an imps closet, but they're oddly cool with it. They'll warn us their village, though, won't be. We're in Medina, home to Mystics who sided with Magus 400 years ago. Most of them hold him in high regard and hate humans. In the village center, we can hear them chanting towards Magus and the monster he tried to summon back then: Lavos.
To the west is Hecran's Cave. Outside that is Melchior's Hut. He's a weapons dealer with new gear, and he tells us a path to Truce is through the cave. Inside are mobs weak to magic but strong against physical attacks. We'll need to spam our new magic spells to get through this. I probably should have brought Robo to deal with the multiple targets pet fight, but oh well. In the back is the guy who owns this place, Hecran.
Keep spamming magic, and don't attack him when he asks you to. His counter hits hard and should be avoided. Use this to heal. He'll trigger the party's idea to return to 600 AD to fight Magus before he summons Lavos, but we'll do that...
... tomorrow!
I walked through Lab 32. It's a waste with only a Race Log and mutants inside. I also made sure to get Taban's armor for Lucca. Anything that ups her speed is a must have! You can also have gone to 65 Million BC, but I'll save that for later. I think tonight was the worst part of the game, and it's still a four out of five.
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
We're back!
So, the battle system. As I said last night, it's Final Fantasy/ATB-esq, but we're not standing on opposite ends of a screen. We're intermixed, usually, and the enemies can move around. Sadly, characters cannot, but we can be thrown about. "But what's the point of moving," you ask? Many techniques (skills) and magic are AoE. Some targeters are a circle around a single point, a line from character to target, or just everyone on screen. For a SNES game from 1995, this was revolutionary for the genre. To further add to the fun, each character has their specific magic qualities that I'll get into in a day or two for their own unique techniques. However, duel and triple techs exist to allow the characters to combine their moves into one super attack. And all the action takes place live on screen with no jump cut to a separate battle world. There are no random battles, and all fights happen as we try to traverse the dungeon as though a D&D game without the tabletop aspects of cover and whatnot. It's one of many things that Chrono Trigger excels at and does better than any other game before it!
But what did we do tonight? Not as much as last night because last night was excessive. Partly because of my (hopefully) flowery language and partly because day one plot dumps. But I digress.
Chrono was escorting Marle back to Guardia Castle! As we enter, soldiers yell and surround us as the Chancellor walks into the foyer. He declares that Chrono has kidnapped the Princess and must be put on trial. Word got around that Marle went missing, and now we have to suffer the effects of the Chancellor's decision from 400 years ago! The trial begins, which is a fairly well known part of CT. What makes it fun is that our actions during the Fair decide our fate (sorta). I gave clues as to what to do yesterday, but we can totally mess this whole thing up and lose the trial. But even if we win, the game goes on all the same, so it's only our reward that changes. In short, the Chancellor is the prosecutor, and our lawyer, Pierre, is our defense attorney. Each side will call in various people we interacted with at the Fair. If we ate the old man's lunch, he'd be here to yell at us. Similar to not helping the girl and her cat, trying to pawn off Marle's pendant, and hurrying her along when she got snacks. But I did everything I know to be the perfect little Mormon boy. Despite that, one juror still called me guilty!? I'll be honest, the trial is a lot more fun and exciting if you're evil. As it was, it was pretty short and boring. Definitely be guilty! But I won, so I should go free, right? Nope. Either way, the Chancellor will declare that running off with the Princess is a crime and give us three days of solitary confinement. Marle runs in to stop this farce, but her father demands she act like a Princess and follow the rules.
The Chancellor and two guards escort Chrono to the jail cell. Despite his first declaration, he'll tell the supervisor that Crono is to be executed in three days. The supervisor never heard this call, but Chance insists the paperwork got held up. We're taken to our cell, and another choice can be made. Do we sit for three days or break out now? Regardless, open the pink package your sympathizers brought up. I got a bunch of ethers. Once again, though, your choice only sorta matters. It is 1995, remember. If we wait, Lucca will break in to free us. But, if you want to be proactive, shake the bars of your cell a few times. A guard will enter to bust us up, but that gives us time to run past him and out. We'll have to fight the two guards and then several more along the way. Murder will prove our innocence!
Mobs in The Gael (as I'm going to call it) are mostly just guards and their boss, Omicrone. Unlike the real Omicron, Omicrone isn't tough and runs away. One of my favorite mobs in any game are down here, and that's the Blue Shield. They use the shield they're holding as cover, which works well. Wait for them to open up to attack, which will allow Chrono to deal max damage. They're not much, but they make you wait and think. Spamming "attack" isn't how you win in Chrono Trigger, nor is it convoluted strategies. It just works so well! The second (fourth?) floor allows access to the other jail cells you couldn't reach. Do go get them as one is a lode sword, a weapon that nearly doubles Chrono's attack at this point. Make sure you visit the torture chamber to free Fritz. He'll reward us at the shop later but keep climbing up for now.
As we reach the reception desk, the supervisor will run off in fear of not Goku! As he does, though, Lucca shows up. She came to save us, but we did it ourselves, and it reminds us of the other option we had in jail. Save the game and read the note the supervisor dropped before heading up one more set of stairs. It's a key to the upcoming boss fight. We'll walk across a bridge that starts to rumble. As we're about to reach the otherside, we'll see the Chancellor and his new toy, the Dragon Tank! It'll attack us, and we come to the second boss battle.
Dragon Tank has three targetable parts. I think you only need to take out the body, but where's the fun in that? Chrono can use Cyclone all battle if you want, and Lucca should shoot at the head. DT is immune to fire, so what else can she do? The head heals everything, so that needs to go! You may have to heal, and I popped a few Mid Tonics (200 HP). Dragon Tank can hit fast and hard will all three parts. You're gonna need to chug some pots at some point. It's got a massive single target move and another that strikes everyone. Go after the wheels next to make sure the Chancellor rues his actions before finishing off the body. Chrono will do one fancy sword thrust to finish it off, which'll cause the Tank to explode as Chance calls in his engineers. The three men are fine, but they have to hold on to each other to keep from falling. They form a nice replacement bridge, which is great for us. Follow the stairs down, and you can open this treasure chest. As we reach the foyer, the guards will try to stop us. Run past them until we get to the exit and even more guards. Marle shows up in her regal gown and demands that her friends be let go. The King and Chance, somehow. make their way into the scene to, once again, remind Marle that she should act like a Princess. Marle gets mad, telling her dad that just because she has a fancy title doesn't make her less human. She throws off her dress, takes Chrono (but not Lucca), and we all leave the castle.
We enter the forest and automatically run east instead of west for some reason. The guards and Chance give chase for this. We run into a clearing, but we find a Gate there! Marle wants us to go through it, but Lucca is less thrilled about the idea since we don't know where it goes. Sadly, Chance and co. show up, so we have no other option. Lucca activates her key, and we jump into the blue hole! We come out in a futuristic world of grey steel. We don't know when or where, but it's a highly advanced civilization. We're inside somewhere, so we head onto the world map.
Dust rushes through the air as our feet step onto a barren, lifeless, brown earth. There's not a hint of green to be seen as a large city lies in ruins to our north. Where ever we are, it isn't very happy. To the south is Tran Dome. We ask them where we are, but they don't get our references. I guess Guardia fell long before their time. In fact, the Gate is inside Bangor Dome. There is a merchant here that has much needed upgrades, though. But most of the disheveled populace tell us that life sucks. There is an enertron here that we can use to restore our HP and MP, "But you're still hungry..." One person thinks there's hope to the east, past Lab 16, but no one's ever made it through there before. Apparently, it contains mobs that can't be harmed by conventional means. Guards still stop us from leaving the forest back in 1000 AD, so we have to make our way through the Lab.
Most of the enemies are your typical affair. Avoid the rats, though. You can't fight them, but they will steal your tonics. I don't know if they can swipe anything else. On the second screen, though, everything gets a bit more strategic. Shadows exist there, and they seem to be sentient oil spills. Swords and arrows don't do much damage to them, but magic techniques will. Lucca's Fire Throw is the most obvious, but Chrono's Slash works well, too. Marle can heal, so she's always useful! Make sure to get the treasures in here since they're stronger weapons for Lucca and Marle. Another Lode Sword is here, too, if you missed the one in the Gael. There's also a berserker's ring, but I don't know if I'll be using that.
On the otherside of the Lab is Arris Dome. Inside are more people in rags. Two tell us about their husband/father, who went down in the depth of the Dome to find food but never came back. As we try to head down the ladder, a man named Doan will stop us. He'll warn us about the man who never came back, but Marle's spirit and Lucca's cockiness will spur us on to save these people from starving. We may be the only ones in this world capable of changing anything. Inside Arris Dome are bugs, beetles, and robot ninjas. They're not ninjas, but I always think they are when I look at them. The right is blocked, so we have to go the left way. We traverse the rafters and pass the rat statue until we get to the aforementioned mobs. Beyond them is a note warning us that anything that comes near the storage unit will be attacked. We enter the room behind the note, hear a warning clarion, and fight a boss!
Guardian is aided by two bits. We'll need to take out those two before we do anything else, or else our every attack will be met with a counter. The bits are pretty fragile, and their demise sends Guardian into a countdown phase. From 5 to 0, it'll do nothing but let us attack it. Once it reaches 0, it'll respawn the bits, and we'll repeat our actions. Guardian is immune to fire, but the bits aren't. Feel free to Fire Throw on the off chance they line up, but don't worry about it. Keep attacking, and you should finish this with only one respawn. We can now access the storage room, but I kinda wish we couldn't.
Inside is a mass of rotten and spoiled food. The refrigeration system failed long ago, so everything went bad. None of it is usable. In the back is the man we heard about before, but he too is dead. In his hand are a bunch of seeds. He also has a note that tells us the rat statue on the rafters isn't a statue, and it knows the passcode to the sealed area. Open the chest and leave this place. Chase after the rat, and it'll tell you to "hold L1 and R1 while pressing X at the panel." Do that at the blinking console, and we can learn the secret of this time period. Arris Dome has a computer filled with information. Lucca searches for "Gates" and, somehow, finds that our way out is on the otherside of the continent. Then Marle presses a button, and we witness the end of this planet. In the year 1999, The Day of Lavos happened. We see a satellite image of a red bug emerge from underneath the surface and showers the globe with hellfire. The video cuts out, but this was the day the planet died.
We're stunned for a moment due to the horror we saw, but Marle's eternal optimism kicks in. She wants to change the future just as Chrono and Lucca did to save her. Lucca is unsure we're capable of such an action, but I'm totally down! We're going to save the world from Lavos! Return to the top, and all the people will swarm us. They back off when they learn we don't have food, but Marle hands Doan the seeds the man died for. It'll be a long, hard road, but if they plant the seeds, they may survive. Doan and everyone are still sad they won't be eating well tonight, but they're also filled a new hope. We all remark on being "heal thy," and Doan hands us a Jetbike key. In Lab 32 is a car we can use to reach the Gate. It's a gift for the seeds.
Head there, and we'll meet "The Man," Johnny. Johnny is a robot who fancies himself the best racer around. If we want to get across Lab 32, we're gonna need to win a race. It's not a real race, per se, as it's more of a rubber band where we circle around each other for 800-1000 units of measurement. When you get close to the end, boost to stay ahead as slipstreams are very strong in the future. It's a little weird, but it's fine. It's not the worst minigame around... When you win, Johnny says he's always around for a rematch. We can walk through the Lab, but that takes a while. That being said... I know what' doing...
...tomorrow!
Probably not tomorrow, but who knows? I did work my way through the sewers. I was feeling weak for some reason, so I didn't activate any of the traps, which are a fun way to keep this place interesting. I did get the Rage Band, which lets the user have a 50% counter rate. I also took out Krawlie. Spam Fire Whirl and have Marle use Aura after the boss "thrashes ya." Surprisingly easy. On the otherside is an old man and a robot who calls out to someone named "Schala"?
But what did we do tonight? Not as much as last night because last night was excessive. Partly because of my (hopefully) flowery language and partly because day one plot dumps. But I digress.
Chrono was escorting Marle back to Guardia Castle! As we enter, soldiers yell and surround us as the Chancellor walks into the foyer. He declares that Chrono has kidnapped the Princess and must be put on trial. Word got around that Marle went missing, and now we have to suffer the effects of the Chancellor's decision from 400 years ago! The trial begins, which is a fairly well known part of CT. What makes it fun is that our actions during the Fair decide our fate (sorta). I gave clues as to what to do yesterday, but we can totally mess this whole thing up and lose the trial. But even if we win, the game goes on all the same, so it's only our reward that changes. In short, the Chancellor is the prosecutor, and our lawyer, Pierre, is our defense attorney. Each side will call in various people we interacted with at the Fair. If we ate the old man's lunch, he'd be here to yell at us. Similar to not helping the girl and her cat, trying to pawn off Marle's pendant, and hurrying her along when she got snacks. But I did everything I know to be the perfect little Mormon boy. Despite that, one juror still called me guilty!? I'll be honest, the trial is a lot more fun and exciting if you're evil. As it was, it was pretty short and boring. Definitely be guilty! But I won, so I should go free, right? Nope. Either way, the Chancellor will declare that running off with the Princess is a crime and give us three days of solitary confinement. Marle runs in to stop this farce, but her father demands she act like a Princess and follow the rules.
The Chancellor and two guards escort Chrono to the jail cell. Despite his first declaration, he'll tell the supervisor that Crono is to be executed in three days. The supervisor never heard this call, but Chance insists the paperwork got held up. We're taken to our cell, and another choice can be made. Do we sit for three days or break out now? Regardless, open the pink package your sympathizers brought up. I got a bunch of ethers. Once again, though, your choice only sorta matters. It is 1995, remember. If we wait, Lucca will break in to free us. But, if you want to be proactive, shake the bars of your cell a few times. A guard will enter to bust us up, but that gives us time to run past him and out. We'll have to fight the two guards and then several more along the way. Murder will prove our innocence!
Mobs in The Gael (as I'm going to call it) are mostly just guards and their boss, Omicrone. Unlike the real Omicron, Omicrone isn't tough and runs away. One of my favorite mobs in any game are down here, and that's the Blue Shield. They use the shield they're holding as cover, which works well. Wait for them to open up to attack, which will allow Chrono to deal max damage. They're not much, but they make you wait and think. Spamming "attack" isn't how you win in Chrono Trigger, nor is it convoluted strategies. It just works so well! The second (fourth?) floor allows access to the other jail cells you couldn't reach. Do go get them as one is a lode sword, a weapon that nearly doubles Chrono's attack at this point. Make sure you visit the torture chamber to free Fritz. He'll reward us at the shop later but keep climbing up for now.
As we reach the reception desk, the supervisor will run off in fear of not Goku! As he does, though, Lucca shows up. She came to save us, but we did it ourselves, and it reminds us of the other option we had in jail. Save the game and read the note the supervisor dropped before heading up one more set of stairs. It's a key to the upcoming boss fight. We'll walk across a bridge that starts to rumble. As we're about to reach the otherside, we'll see the Chancellor and his new toy, the Dragon Tank! It'll attack us, and we come to the second boss battle.
Dragon Tank has three targetable parts. I think you only need to take out the body, but where's the fun in that? Chrono can use Cyclone all battle if you want, and Lucca should shoot at the head. DT is immune to fire, so what else can she do? The head heals everything, so that needs to go! You may have to heal, and I popped a few Mid Tonics (200 HP). Dragon Tank can hit fast and hard will all three parts. You're gonna need to chug some pots at some point. It's got a massive single target move and another that strikes everyone. Go after the wheels next to make sure the Chancellor rues his actions before finishing off the body. Chrono will do one fancy sword thrust to finish it off, which'll cause the Tank to explode as Chance calls in his engineers. The three men are fine, but they have to hold on to each other to keep from falling. They form a nice replacement bridge, which is great for us. Follow the stairs down, and you can open this treasure chest. As we reach the foyer, the guards will try to stop us. Run past them until we get to the exit and even more guards. Marle shows up in her regal gown and demands that her friends be let go. The King and Chance, somehow. make their way into the scene to, once again, remind Marle that she should act like a Princess. Marle gets mad, telling her dad that just because she has a fancy title doesn't make her less human. She throws off her dress, takes Chrono (but not Lucca), and we all leave the castle.
We enter the forest and automatically run east instead of west for some reason. The guards and Chance give chase for this. We run into a clearing, but we find a Gate there! Marle wants us to go through it, but Lucca is less thrilled about the idea since we don't know where it goes. Sadly, Chance and co. show up, so we have no other option. Lucca activates her key, and we jump into the blue hole! We come out in a futuristic world of grey steel. We don't know when or where, but it's a highly advanced civilization. We're inside somewhere, so we head onto the world map.
Dust rushes through the air as our feet step onto a barren, lifeless, brown earth. There's not a hint of green to be seen as a large city lies in ruins to our north. Where ever we are, it isn't very happy. To the south is Tran Dome. We ask them where we are, but they don't get our references. I guess Guardia fell long before their time. In fact, the Gate is inside Bangor Dome. There is a merchant here that has much needed upgrades, though. But most of the disheveled populace tell us that life sucks. There is an enertron here that we can use to restore our HP and MP, "But you're still hungry..." One person thinks there's hope to the east, past Lab 16, but no one's ever made it through there before. Apparently, it contains mobs that can't be harmed by conventional means. Guards still stop us from leaving the forest back in 1000 AD, so we have to make our way through the Lab.
Most of the enemies are your typical affair. Avoid the rats, though. You can't fight them, but they will steal your tonics. I don't know if they can swipe anything else. On the second screen, though, everything gets a bit more strategic. Shadows exist there, and they seem to be sentient oil spills. Swords and arrows don't do much damage to them, but magic techniques will. Lucca's Fire Throw is the most obvious, but Chrono's Slash works well, too. Marle can heal, so she's always useful! Make sure to get the treasures in here since they're stronger weapons for Lucca and Marle. Another Lode Sword is here, too, if you missed the one in the Gael. There's also a berserker's ring, but I don't know if I'll be using that.
On the otherside of the Lab is Arris Dome. Inside are more people in rags. Two tell us about their husband/father, who went down in the depth of the Dome to find food but never came back. As we try to head down the ladder, a man named Doan will stop us. He'll warn us about the man who never came back, but Marle's spirit and Lucca's cockiness will spur us on to save these people from starving. We may be the only ones in this world capable of changing anything. Inside Arris Dome are bugs, beetles, and robot ninjas. They're not ninjas, but I always think they are when I look at them. The right is blocked, so we have to go the left way. We traverse the rafters and pass the rat statue until we get to the aforementioned mobs. Beyond them is a note warning us that anything that comes near the storage unit will be attacked. We enter the room behind the note, hear a warning clarion, and fight a boss!
Guardian is aided by two bits. We'll need to take out those two before we do anything else, or else our every attack will be met with a counter. The bits are pretty fragile, and their demise sends Guardian into a countdown phase. From 5 to 0, it'll do nothing but let us attack it. Once it reaches 0, it'll respawn the bits, and we'll repeat our actions. Guardian is immune to fire, but the bits aren't. Feel free to Fire Throw on the off chance they line up, but don't worry about it. Keep attacking, and you should finish this with only one respawn. We can now access the storage room, but I kinda wish we couldn't.
Inside is a mass of rotten and spoiled food. The refrigeration system failed long ago, so everything went bad. None of it is usable. In the back is the man we heard about before, but he too is dead. In his hand are a bunch of seeds. He also has a note that tells us the rat statue on the rafters isn't a statue, and it knows the passcode to the sealed area. Open the chest and leave this place. Chase after the rat, and it'll tell you to "hold L1 and R1 while pressing X at the panel." Do that at the blinking console, and we can learn the secret of this time period. Arris Dome has a computer filled with information. Lucca searches for "Gates" and, somehow, finds that our way out is on the otherside of the continent. Then Marle presses a button, and we witness the end of this planet. In the year 1999, The Day of Lavos happened. We see a satellite image of a red bug emerge from underneath the surface and showers the globe with hellfire. The video cuts out, but this was the day the planet died.
We're stunned for a moment due to the horror we saw, but Marle's eternal optimism kicks in. She wants to change the future just as Chrono and Lucca did to save her. Lucca is unsure we're capable of such an action, but I'm totally down! We're going to save the world from Lavos! Return to the top, and all the people will swarm us. They back off when they learn we don't have food, but Marle hands Doan the seeds the man died for. It'll be a long, hard road, but if they plant the seeds, they may survive. Doan and everyone are still sad they won't be eating well tonight, but they're also filled a new hope. We all remark on being "heal thy," and Doan hands us a Jetbike key. In Lab 32 is a car we can use to reach the Gate. It's a gift for the seeds.
Head there, and we'll meet "The Man," Johnny. Johnny is a robot who fancies himself the best racer around. If we want to get across Lab 32, we're gonna need to win a race. It's not a real race, per se, as it's more of a rubber band where we circle around each other for 800-1000 units of measurement. When you get close to the end, boost to stay ahead as slipstreams are very strong in the future. It's a little weird, but it's fine. It's not the worst minigame around... When you win, Johnny says he's always around for a rematch. We can walk through the Lab, but that takes a while. That being said... I know what' doing...
...tomorrow!
Probably not tomorrow, but who knows? I did work my way through the sewers. I was feeling weak for some reason, so I didn't activate any of the traps, which are a fun way to keep this place interesting. I did get the Rage Band, which lets the user have a 50% counter rate. I also took out Krawlie. Spam Fire Whirl and have Marle use Aura after the boss "thrashes ya." Surprisingly easy. On the otherside is an old man and a robot who calls out to someone named "Schala"?
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Good morning, Crono.
In the ancient year of 2001/2, I bought Final Fantasy Chronicles. I bought it to own Final Fantasy IV and had no idea what Chrono Trigger was about. I played it a little bit when I kept having issues with IV, but I never gave it an honest attempt until 2003, when I spent a month getting every ending in this random SNES port. But even during that first go around, there was something that called to me. I got yelled at by my mom once for having "Wind Scene" on to do homework. Despite the controller being nowhere near me, she insisted I was playing games. We've never gotten along, but that's a story for another therapist.
But ever since I got all the endings in 2003/4, I've considered Chrono Trigger to be the greatest game I've ever played. The graphics were great, the story was investing, the battle system had so many intricacies, and the music was as good as it gets. I'm still not sure if any OST can match this thirty-year-old game. That was... until recently. I replayed Final Fantasy X in May, and I changed my mind about ol' Chrono Trigger. FFX beats it out for the same reasons above. But it's been a few years since my last playthrough of my second favorite game, so maybe it's time to take a new look at it? Does it hold up? How much can I overlook the flaws, if there even are any? How much have I changed? This'll be a controversial choice here, but I'll be playing the Playstation One port for Chrono Trigger. I own it, and I really want to play it legit. I also really liked the anime cutscenes and think they add a lot to the game.
I've gone on record as saying the sound that the pendulum makes as the Chrono Trigger logo drops to the screen is the greatest sound Earth has ever experienced. There's something about that thronk that fills me with a sense of calm and wanderlust. It's a great way to kick off this masterpiece. "Presentment" leads to the title track of the game if you let the opening scenes play out. But I want to play, so I quickly start a new game!
Birds fly over a coastline and lead us to a square. Fireworks can be heard nearby as balloons drift off into the air. A bell rings as we fade to black and wake up with a green haired woman waking up her son. This is our hero, Crono, and Lenne's bell ringing in the distance signals the start of the Guardia Millennial Fair. We've been a country for 1000 years, so it just makes sense. I get out of bed, shut the blinds, and walk downstairs. Mom informs us that our friend, Lucca, has a new invention she's showing off at the Fair today, and we've been invited. We can then head on our way but talk to her again to get our allowance of 200 gold.
"Peaceful Days" plays as we enter the world map. There are no random encounters in Chrono Trigger and nothing at all on the world map. This means we can explore to our heart's content. I open a few treasures around our starting town of Truce before crossing the Zenon Bridge and looting Porre. Even the elderly from Porre are walking to experience the Fair. I even did some adventuring in the Guardia Forest! It's not necessary, but the battle system is so fun. It gets better with more people and duel techs, but Cyclone is fun enough this early on. I also found some odd black chests "Sealing by a mysterious force." All the while, "Memories of Green" plays, and this might be the best song ever recorded. Nujabes' "Aurelian Dance" is a close second, but there's something about the 1000 AD overworld, man.
But even I have to experience the Fair at some point. I enter and get greeted with a mass of people enjoying themselves. It's a carnival with games, merchants, and whatnot about. But I'm here to see Lucca. Make your way past the fountain and Lenne's Bell, and there will be two people. They'll tell us that Lucca isn't ready, so we should enjoy ourselves. As we pass the bell, a girl will bump into us. She'll cry in pain but get up before we do. It was totally our fault (it was), so that's nice. Make sure she's okay, and we can look for the pendant. It's just to the side, so bring it to her. This is ...Marle, and she's a bit lost. She thinks we're a great dude and asks us to show her around the Fair. I like blondes, so I oblige. We chug some sodas because I'm competitive, but I also reunite a girl with her lost cat because I'm nice. I hope that old guy enjoys his lunch! After that, we go dancing. And then we beat up Lucca's robot.
"[He] is Gato.
[He} has metal joints.
Beat [him] up and
earn fifteen silver points!"
I don't know what silver points are good for, but I want them. Gato puts up a good fight, but Crono and Marle can take care of him. After this, I show Marle how strong I am and visit a few vendors. I didn't think she'd be interested in the weapons guy, but I'll see him later. Once Lucca was done setting up, Marle wants some snacks before climbing the stairs. I'm a patient man, so I let her choose in silence. Crono does a lot in silence..., and then we saw Lucca.
A small group of people were here to see Lucca's Telepod! They didn't trust it could teleport people across space, but I have faith in my friend. I happily went up to one of the pods and exited from the other. I even did it twice. All systems were green! Marle was excited and wanted to try, but something happened. Her pendant began to shine, and her body turned into balls of light. A blue hole opens up between the pods, and the lights that were Marle enters it. Lucca rushed everyone off, and her dad wondered what went wrong. Lucca also felt like she's seen her before. All that was left of Marle was her pendant. I went over to it, and Lucca got the idea that that messed it all up. Before we could do any more experiments, we'd need to get Marle back. Lucca and Tabon started the teleportation process again, and I entered the blue hole.
On the otherside was a forest overlooking a mountain that was inhabitant by imps. Make your way down, and you'll get a forced taste of how battle works here. It's turn based, but enemies can move around the active map. Nothing is random, and the movement lets us attack multiple targets if you have the correct techs. Thanks to early TP "grinding," Cyclone is one such technique. All the mobs are weak, so head to the world map. It looks kinda like Truce, but Crono's house is gone, as is the Fair! Everything is orange, and the song "Wind Theme" places. I used to play this on guitar, and it's one of the best songs in the game! Look around Trice, and we'll learn we're in the year 600 AD, 400 years in the past! Not only that, but Queen Lenne had been missing but was recently found in the mountains where we zoned in... There's a cathedral that wasn't there "before," and the Zenon Bridge is out because Magus' troops destroyed it. An NPC at the Fair told us Magus was a wizard the humans fought against 400 years ago...
With nowhere to go, head to the castle. The guards insult us a moment before they hear a voice, and the Queen tells them to let us in. The Queen is a bit less uppity than you'd expect. Follow her in, and we'll see the Chancellor get upset and leave. The King and his guards tell us the Queen went up the right tower, so climb that. Don't open the chests. At the top, the guard will let us pass, and we can enter the Queen's room. She'll dismiss her maids and reveal that she's Marle! She looks like Lenne, so everyone's been confusing the two. Suddenly, Marle will start to cry again. She'll feel her body being torn apart, and it'll start to flicker until she disappears. We quickly leave and return to the throne room. Somehow, Lucca will be waiting for us, and she'll tell us that Marle, real name Nadia, is the Princess in their time, therefore, the descendant of Lenne. She must have disappeared because the real Lenne was never saved as she was before. But if we find Lenne, we might save Marle. Talk to the King to learn about a royal heirloom that's the key to solving this.
The only place I haven't been to is the Cathedral. Inside are nuns giving us creepy vibes. Near the altar is the emblem the King spoke about. Picking it up will cause the nuns to get mad and transform into lamias. This also triggers a fight. The Nagaettes are weak to fire, so teaching Lucca Fire Throw, leading to a combo tech with Crono, can take them out in two rounds. I've never liked Lucca because she's so slow, but I just learned everything in the upcoming dungeon isn't fond of flames. I have a newfound respect for her, and I don't know what my party will be. After the four die, Lucca relaxes. As she does, another lamia will teleport in and attack her. Luckily, a frog will fall from the rafters to kill it, saving us. Lucca is surprised, at first, because the frog can talk, but he says she's a knight of the Queen, here to save her. He suggests we team up, which we can turn down, but I don't know what happens if we do. Say yes because froggy is great. He can heal! This is Glenn (GLENN!), and he rounds out our party for the Cathedral dungeon. Play the organ to reveal the secret door, and head in
Check all the rooms in here as there are plenty of EXP, gold, and tech points to get. Climb the stairs on either side first, with the right side housing some good treasure. You gotta follow one of the baddies into the Magus' Statue Room for full effect. You also hear a not fun song and get to beat up royal doppelgangers. More importantly, they let slip that the Chancellor isn't a human anymore. The real Chancellor was replaced by a monster! Do the left side, then double back around the front hallway. Then head up the middle. There are two rooms on either side of this map with skull buttons. Those drop the floor spikes in the middle room, which, after a battle, let us reach another organ that reveals the super secret door further back. Inside that is a straight shot upwards past six mobs. There's also a second save point here if you need to refresh your MP and save the game. Beyond that door is a screaming Queen being attacked by the fake Chancellor. We'll run in and tell the Queen to get behind us while we battle with Yakon!
Yakon seems to counter everything Crono does with a move that hits everyone. However, his double tech with Frog, X-Strike, does 175 damage, so we should eat it. I had plenty of tonics and wasn't afraid to use them. Yakon also has a few single target attacks, but, being the first boss, isn't that hard. Lucca can use Fire Throw since it's better than her basics. After we dispose of Yakon, Glenn and the Queen will have a moment together. They go way back. We can then open the two treasures in this room, one of which contains the real Chancellor! I don't know if you can leave him in there... We'll all return to the castle, righting the weird time based plothole of history!
The King and Queen thank us again, and the Chancellor promises to construct a penal system to prevent this from happening again. There wasn't already one? And would acts of war in a war really be affected by a jail? But how's Marle? Crono and Lucca rush up the Queen's room to see Marle rematerializes. She says how terrifying that experience was, being cold and alone. "Was it like dying?" But it's time to return home! Head back to where we zoned in, and Lucca will tell us about her Gate Key. She calls the portal a Gate and surmises to their creation. Did someone else form it? Marle says how cool Lucca is, but Lucca tries to blow it off. Marle's pretty insistent, but we'll return to this later. She also doesn't want us to treat her differently now that we know she's royalty. We jump into the blue portal and return to the Telepod experience at the Fair! That was an experience! Marle invites us to dinner at the castle later, but Lucca has to finish something first. The girls ask Crono to escort Marle home, but I'll have to do that...
...tomorrow!
It doesn't get much better than this, man! I smile like an idiot every time I hear the opening lines to "Memories of Green" and "Wind Scene." Casting double techs will never not be rewarding, and writing the early parts of this update were a kick. A love letter of sorts to one of my favorite games, and I'm looking forward to playing this for the twentieth time. I know more about Chrono Trigger than any game, movie, album, or person. I've never touched a boob, but I have played CT, and I'm betting this is better! I'll discuss the battle system tomorrow.
Also, I'll try to figure out if this is a diary exercise or a conventional update by then, too! I'M EXCITED!!!
But ever since I got all the endings in 2003/4, I've considered Chrono Trigger to be the greatest game I've ever played. The graphics were great, the story was investing, the battle system had so many intricacies, and the music was as good as it gets. I'm still not sure if any OST can match this thirty-year-old game. That was... until recently. I replayed Final Fantasy X in May, and I changed my mind about ol' Chrono Trigger. FFX beats it out for the same reasons above. But it's been a few years since my last playthrough of my second favorite game, so maybe it's time to take a new look at it? Does it hold up? How much can I overlook the flaws, if there even are any? How much have I changed? This'll be a controversial choice here, but I'll be playing the Playstation One port for Chrono Trigger. I own it, and I really want to play it legit. I also really liked the anime cutscenes and think they add a lot to the game.
I've gone on record as saying the sound that the pendulum makes as the Chrono Trigger logo drops to the screen is the greatest sound Earth has ever experienced. There's something about that thronk that fills me with a sense of calm and wanderlust. It's a great way to kick off this masterpiece. "Presentment" leads to the title track of the game if you let the opening scenes play out. But I want to play, so I quickly start a new game!
Birds fly over a coastline and lead us to a square. Fireworks can be heard nearby as balloons drift off into the air. A bell rings as we fade to black and wake up with a green haired woman waking up her son. This is our hero, Crono, and Lenne's bell ringing in the distance signals the start of the Guardia Millennial Fair. We've been a country for 1000 years, so it just makes sense. I get out of bed, shut the blinds, and walk downstairs. Mom informs us that our friend, Lucca, has a new invention she's showing off at the Fair today, and we've been invited. We can then head on our way but talk to her again to get our allowance of 200 gold.
"Peaceful Days" plays as we enter the world map. There are no random encounters in Chrono Trigger and nothing at all on the world map. This means we can explore to our heart's content. I open a few treasures around our starting town of Truce before crossing the Zenon Bridge and looting Porre. Even the elderly from Porre are walking to experience the Fair. I even did some adventuring in the Guardia Forest! It's not necessary, but the battle system is so fun. It gets better with more people and duel techs, but Cyclone is fun enough this early on. I also found some odd black chests "Sealing by a mysterious force." All the while, "Memories of Green" plays, and this might be the best song ever recorded. Nujabes' "Aurelian Dance" is a close second, but there's something about the 1000 AD overworld, man.
But even I have to experience the Fair at some point. I enter and get greeted with a mass of people enjoying themselves. It's a carnival with games, merchants, and whatnot about. But I'm here to see Lucca. Make your way past the fountain and Lenne's Bell, and there will be two people. They'll tell us that Lucca isn't ready, so we should enjoy ourselves. As we pass the bell, a girl will bump into us. She'll cry in pain but get up before we do. It was totally our fault (it was), so that's nice. Make sure she's okay, and we can look for the pendant. It's just to the side, so bring it to her. This is ...Marle, and she's a bit lost. She thinks we're a great dude and asks us to show her around the Fair. I like blondes, so I oblige. We chug some sodas because I'm competitive, but I also reunite a girl with her lost cat because I'm nice. I hope that old guy enjoys his lunch! After that, we go dancing. And then we beat up Lucca's robot.
"[He] is Gato.
[He} has metal joints.
Beat [him] up and
earn fifteen silver points!"
I don't know what silver points are good for, but I want them. Gato puts up a good fight, but Crono and Marle can take care of him. After this, I show Marle how strong I am and visit a few vendors. I didn't think she'd be interested in the weapons guy, but I'll see him later. Once Lucca was done setting up, Marle wants some snacks before climbing the stairs. I'm a patient man, so I let her choose in silence. Crono does a lot in silence..., and then we saw Lucca.
A small group of people were here to see Lucca's Telepod! They didn't trust it could teleport people across space, but I have faith in my friend. I happily went up to one of the pods and exited from the other. I even did it twice. All systems were green! Marle was excited and wanted to try, but something happened. Her pendant began to shine, and her body turned into balls of light. A blue hole opens up between the pods, and the lights that were Marle enters it. Lucca rushed everyone off, and her dad wondered what went wrong. Lucca also felt like she's seen her before. All that was left of Marle was her pendant. I went over to it, and Lucca got the idea that that messed it all up. Before we could do any more experiments, we'd need to get Marle back. Lucca and Tabon started the teleportation process again, and I entered the blue hole.
On the otherside was a forest overlooking a mountain that was inhabitant by imps. Make your way down, and you'll get a forced taste of how battle works here. It's turn based, but enemies can move around the active map. Nothing is random, and the movement lets us attack multiple targets if you have the correct techs. Thanks to early TP "grinding," Cyclone is one such technique. All the mobs are weak, so head to the world map. It looks kinda like Truce, but Crono's house is gone, as is the Fair! Everything is orange, and the song "Wind Theme" places. I used to play this on guitar, and it's one of the best songs in the game! Look around Trice, and we'll learn we're in the year 600 AD, 400 years in the past! Not only that, but Queen Lenne had been missing but was recently found in the mountains where we zoned in... There's a cathedral that wasn't there "before," and the Zenon Bridge is out because Magus' troops destroyed it. An NPC at the Fair told us Magus was a wizard the humans fought against 400 years ago...
With nowhere to go, head to the castle. The guards insult us a moment before they hear a voice, and the Queen tells them to let us in. The Queen is a bit less uppity than you'd expect. Follow her in, and we'll see the Chancellor get upset and leave. The King and his guards tell us the Queen went up the right tower, so climb that. Don't open the chests. At the top, the guard will let us pass, and we can enter the Queen's room. She'll dismiss her maids and reveal that she's Marle! She looks like Lenne, so everyone's been confusing the two. Suddenly, Marle will start to cry again. She'll feel her body being torn apart, and it'll start to flicker until she disappears. We quickly leave and return to the throne room. Somehow, Lucca will be waiting for us, and she'll tell us that Marle, real name Nadia, is the Princess in their time, therefore, the descendant of Lenne. She must have disappeared because the real Lenne was never saved as she was before. But if we find Lenne, we might save Marle. Talk to the King to learn about a royal heirloom that's the key to solving this.
The only place I haven't been to is the Cathedral. Inside are nuns giving us creepy vibes. Near the altar is the emblem the King spoke about. Picking it up will cause the nuns to get mad and transform into lamias. This also triggers a fight. The Nagaettes are weak to fire, so teaching Lucca Fire Throw, leading to a combo tech with Crono, can take them out in two rounds. I've never liked Lucca because she's so slow, but I just learned everything in the upcoming dungeon isn't fond of flames. I have a newfound respect for her, and I don't know what my party will be. After the four die, Lucca relaxes. As she does, another lamia will teleport in and attack her. Luckily, a frog will fall from the rafters to kill it, saving us. Lucca is surprised, at first, because the frog can talk, but he says she's a knight of the Queen, here to save her. He suggests we team up, which we can turn down, but I don't know what happens if we do. Say yes because froggy is great. He can heal! This is Glenn (GLENN!), and he rounds out our party for the Cathedral dungeon. Play the organ to reveal the secret door, and head in
Check all the rooms in here as there are plenty of EXP, gold, and tech points to get. Climb the stairs on either side first, with the right side housing some good treasure. You gotta follow one of the baddies into the Magus' Statue Room for full effect. You also hear a not fun song and get to beat up royal doppelgangers. More importantly, they let slip that the Chancellor isn't a human anymore. The real Chancellor was replaced by a monster! Do the left side, then double back around the front hallway. Then head up the middle. There are two rooms on either side of this map with skull buttons. Those drop the floor spikes in the middle room, which, after a battle, let us reach another organ that reveals the super secret door further back. Inside that is a straight shot upwards past six mobs. There's also a second save point here if you need to refresh your MP and save the game. Beyond that door is a screaming Queen being attacked by the fake Chancellor. We'll run in and tell the Queen to get behind us while we battle with Yakon!
Yakon seems to counter everything Crono does with a move that hits everyone. However, his double tech with Frog, X-Strike, does 175 damage, so we should eat it. I had plenty of tonics and wasn't afraid to use them. Yakon also has a few single target attacks, but, being the first boss, isn't that hard. Lucca can use Fire Throw since it's better than her basics. After we dispose of Yakon, Glenn and the Queen will have a moment together. They go way back. We can then open the two treasures in this room, one of which contains the real Chancellor! I don't know if you can leave him in there... We'll all return to the castle, righting the weird time based plothole of history!
The King and Queen thank us again, and the Chancellor promises to construct a penal system to prevent this from happening again. There wasn't already one? And would acts of war in a war really be affected by a jail? But how's Marle? Crono and Lucca rush up the Queen's room to see Marle rematerializes. She says how terrifying that experience was, being cold and alone. "Was it like dying?" But it's time to return home! Head back to where we zoned in, and Lucca will tell us about her Gate Key. She calls the portal a Gate and surmises to their creation. Did someone else form it? Marle says how cool Lucca is, but Lucca tries to blow it off. Marle's pretty insistent, but we'll return to this later. She also doesn't want us to treat her differently now that we know she's royalty. We jump into the blue portal and return to the Telepod experience at the Fair! That was an experience! Marle invites us to dinner at the castle later, but Lucca has to finish something first. The girls ask Crono to escort Marle home, but I'll have to do that...
...tomorrow!
It doesn't get much better than this, man! I smile like an idiot every time I hear the opening lines to "Memories of Green" and "Wind Scene." Casting double techs will never not be rewarding, and writing the early parts of this update were a kick. A love letter of sorts to one of my favorite games, and I'm looking forward to playing this for the twentieth time. I know more about Chrono Trigger than any game, movie, album, or person. I've never touched a boob, but I have played CT, and I'm betting this is better! I'll discuss the battle system tomorrow.
Also, I'll try to figure out if this is a diary exercise or a conventional update by then, too! I'M EXCITED!!!
Saturday, January 22, 2022
Breath of Fire 3 isn't fun.
I'm tapping out here, guys. Breath of Fire 3 started out pretty good, got interesting in the middle, but it's starting to drag now. Unlike Legend of Dragoon, we've still got a lot more ground to go, but I'm getting bored.
Today I played hide-and-seek with several random engine parts, which took far too long to find. I then spoke to my friends on a boat. I talked to them again then the sea rose up to send us back to Raphalia. We then had to go to a small village only accessible via the Middle Sea, and the mayor got mad because he hates eating fish. Then move, douche! This led us on a wild goose chase that I'm not going to do. Right now, we'll need to go find four ingredients, each with its own mini game. None of which are fun. I don't like fishing mini games in general, and the one in BoF 3 doesn't even try to change it. That is a wall for me, but I've read there's another minigame that's even worse.
But even that isn't the only thing that's keeping me from finishing the game. I'm just not having fun now.
There's too much tedium in the game. Saving and changing characters is a pain. Why do we need to enter a menu to go into a subscreen, only to walk into another area? We should be allowed to change characters anywhere that's safe. Ya, know, like a town to make buying gear for other characters easier.
Why are towns so annoying to navigate? Everything is a maze! What makes it worse is that you need to move the camera over the map around. I know this was the early days of 3D, but I'm glad this didn't catch on. At least let us keep moving while we shift the map to keep the game moving.
The characters are very hit and miss. Ryu is a silent protagonist, as is my usual third party member, Peco. Nina gets a lot of dialogue, as she should, and Momo and Garr are very situational. I keep forgetting Rei exists. Everyone feels bland, which isn't good.
The battle system is getting to be boring. It was fun at first when we kept getting new skills and seeing new mobs, but I've been using the same moves for twenty hours, and we're getting to pallet swamps now. I don't think it's going to get better...
The music is bad. That's wrong, of course, but I really don't like it. It's all too peppy and jazz fusiony, and it isn't connecting to me. The Chrono Trigger ripoff is great, and there was another song I was okay with, but everything else is grating to me.
Why do I keep letting the faeries distract me with their nonsense?
I was enjoying the story, and I'm curious what the truth was about The Brood, the Dragon War, and Ryu's role in everything, but I can't get through the swamp. I heard this was the best Breath of Fire game, so I'm really bummed I have no desire to play another of them. Or, at least, I won't be finishing this one. I feel bad because I stopped playing it once already, and here I am again. This time, though, it's just because I'm bored. Sorry, Breath of Fire. I'm not gonna say you're a bad game, but you're not for me.
My birthday and anniversary are coming up, and I need to see what really is the best game I've ever played is. Chrono Trigger on Monday.
Today I played hide-and-seek with several random engine parts, which took far too long to find. I then spoke to my friends on a boat. I talked to them again then the sea rose up to send us back to Raphalia. We then had to go to a small village only accessible via the Middle Sea, and the mayor got mad because he hates eating fish. Then move, douche! This led us on a wild goose chase that I'm not going to do. Right now, we'll need to go find four ingredients, each with its own mini game. None of which are fun. I don't like fishing mini games in general, and the one in BoF 3 doesn't even try to change it. That is a wall for me, but I've read there's another minigame that's even worse.
But even that isn't the only thing that's keeping me from finishing the game. I'm just not having fun now.
There's too much tedium in the game. Saving and changing characters is a pain. Why do we need to enter a menu to go into a subscreen, only to walk into another area? We should be allowed to change characters anywhere that's safe. Ya, know, like a town to make buying gear for other characters easier.
Why are towns so annoying to navigate? Everything is a maze! What makes it worse is that you need to move the camera over the map around. I know this was the early days of 3D, but I'm glad this didn't catch on. At least let us keep moving while we shift the map to keep the game moving.
The characters are very hit and miss. Ryu is a silent protagonist, as is my usual third party member, Peco. Nina gets a lot of dialogue, as she should, and Momo and Garr are very situational. I keep forgetting Rei exists. Everyone feels bland, which isn't good.
The battle system is getting to be boring. It was fun at first when we kept getting new skills and seeing new mobs, but I've been using the same moves for twenty hours, and we're getting to pallet swamps now. I don't think it's going to get better...
The music is bad. That's wrong, of course, but I really don't like it. It's all too peppy and jazz fusiony, and it isn't connecting to me. The Chrono Trigger ripoff is great, and there was another song I was okay with, but everything else is grating to me.
Why do I keep letting the faeries distract me with their nonsense?
I was enjoying the story, and I'm curious what the truth was about The Brood, the Dragon War, and Ryu's role in everything, but I can't get through the swamp. I heard this was the best Breath of Fire game, so I'm really bummed I have no desire to play another of them. Or, at least, I won't be finishing this one. I feel bad because I stopped playing it once already, and here I am again. This time, though, it's just because I'm bored. Sorry, Breath of Fire. I'm not gonna say you're a bad game, but you're not for me.
My birthday and anniversary are coming up, and I need to see what really is the best game I've ever played is. Chrono Trigger on Monday.
Friday, January 21, 2022
Shameless naked woman
My plan worked. The Ring of Fire is great!
After we beat up Gaist, he questions if this is the true power of a dragon. I didn't transform, but he congratulates us anyway. Sadly, it quickly goes south. That fight wasn't so much a test as much of a murder. In order to break the seal, we had to kill Gaist. But he's fine with this. He "died the day he lost faith." Garr seems mostly fine and doesn't grieve at all. The two guardians say their goodbyes, and we return to Angel Tower. Examine the dust that was Gaist to get Garr's ultimate weapon. It's powerful, but it harms the user. If we're getting ultimate weapons, how close are we to the end of the game?
Head back to the naked woman in the light pyramid, and we'll see the seal break. The woman, Deis, knows Garr well. She asks him to come forward and then punches him in the stomach, calling him names the whole time. The altercation is because he and the guardians nearly ruined the world when they wiped out the dragons, apparently. She'll walk up to Ryu, still naked, and call him fun pet names. She doesn't fill us in on much of the backstory right just instant, but she'll ask us to meet her at the cave underneath Mt. Zublio. We assume it's the blue wall with the weird script from earlier. As we leave, Nina asks why Ryu has a dumb look on his face.
Head there and Ryu will be teleported away. We'll get a glimpse of a scene from 500 years ago with Garr and Gaist. They've just killed several dragons when a lamia enters the area. She'll call them names and tell them their God is wrong, and one of the guardians will call her Deis, causing the lamia to slither off. Ryu then comes to an empty room with a small dais in the center. It is at this instance where I made a mistake. Deis will be in her snake form, telling Ryu she can't go around naked all the time. She'll give us a chance to say what form we like better, and I thought this was another sex joke and played into it. That was the wrong answer... The bottom response lets her be a master, so that's a bummer. Deis ports Garr inside, and she'll begin to learn how to see God. In the past, Deis could have simply teleported us to God, but she's "getting old" and can no longer do it. However, she casts a spell on Ryu, which'll allow a light to guide us there. It points north, across the sea, so we'll need a boat. We leave, and Deis stays back to foreshadow her sister. If you try to reenter, Deis needs to rest, so we can't. She seemed like a good master, too...
I went to Raphia to see Shadis. She'll inform us Beyd went to Junk Town to fix their terrible boat. As we approach the south exit of Junk Town, we'll see Beyd a few other Porter Guild members head to the docks, and we're allowed passage for some reason... Bring Momo and enter the docks. The ship is broken and missing parts. Momo thinks she can fix it if we can only get the stuff from the schematics she haphazardly drew up. Everyone asks us to go savage stuff from Steel Beach. We can find some of the parts on the beach, but the important scrap will be in the beached freight. But we're not allowed in because it's dangerous. If we get permission from the foreman, though... Near to the crane is the guy we need to see. He'll ask us to do a dumb game of red light/green light, and we'll accidentally haul up tonight's boss.
The Angler is no joke. Having the Thunder Ring is helpful, but I haven't found a way to avoid status effects. The Ring makes one attack manageable, but its Bone Dart skill sucks. It'll confuse whoever was hit by it, and it seems to work 100 percent of the time. It seemed weak to fire, but that might be a weird quirk on my part. Focus and Combo Attack it a few times while Nina uses Vitamins. I had to use the Hourglass I got a few nights ago to stop time at one point. Ryu had critical HP, and everyone else was dead. I took my three free turns to revive and heal up. If the minigame before this guy wasn't so stupid, it might have been better. Seriously, the game isn't looking better and better with each dungeon... But beating up the frog/fish/crab hybrid lets the foreman know we can handle ourselves in a battle. He grants us passage to the freight ship, and we head in. Sadly, I'm out of time, so I'll finish exploring that...
...tomorrow!
Breath of Fire 3 is starting to drag...
After we beat up Gaist, he questions if this is the true power of a dragon. I didn't transform, but he congratulates us anyway. Sadly, it quickly goes south. That fight wasn't so much a test as much of a murder. In order to break the seal, we had to kill Gaist. But he's fine with this. He "died the day he lost faith." Garr seems mostly fine and doesn't grieve at all. The two guardians say their goodbyes, and we return to Angel Tower. Examine the dust that was Gaist to get Garr's ultimate weapon. It's powerful, but it harms the user. If we're getting ultimate weapons, how close are we to the end of the game?
Head back to the naked woman in the light pyramid, and we'll see the seal break. The woman, Deis, knows Garr well. She asks him to come forward and then punches him in the stomach, calling him names the whole time. The altercation is because he and the guardians nearly ruined the world when they wiped out the dragons, apparently. She'll walk up to Ryu, still naked, and call him fun pet names. She doesn't fill us in on much of the backstory right just instant, but she'll ask us to meet her at the cave underneath Mt. Zublio. We assume it's the blue wall with the weird script from earlier. As we leave, Nina asks why Ryu has a dumb look on his face.
Head there and Ryu will be teleported away. We'll get a glimpse of a scene from 500 years ago with Garr and Gaist. They've just killed several dragons when a lamia enters the area. She'll call them names and tell them their God is wrong, and one of the guardians will call her Deis, causing the lamia to slither off. Ryu then comes to an empty room with a small dais in the center. It is at this instance where I made a mistake. Deis will be in her snake form, telling Ryu she can't go around naked all the time. She'll give us a chance to say what form we like better, and I thought this was another sex joke and played into it. That was the wrong answer... The bottom response lets her be a master, so that's a bummer. Deis ports Garr inside, and she'll begin to learn how to see God. In the past, Deis could have simply teleported us to God, but she's "getting old" and can no longer do it. However, she casts a spell on Ryu, which'll allow a light to guide us there. It points north, across the sea, so we'll need a boat. We leave, and Deis stays back to foreshadow her sister. If you try to reenter, Deis needs to rest, so we can't. She seemed like a good master, too...
I went to Raphia to see Shadis. She'll inform us Beyd went to Junk Town to fix their terrible boat. As we approach the south exit of Junk Town, we'll see Beyd a few other Porter Guild members head to the docks, and we're allowed passage for some reason... Bring Momo and enter the docks. The ship is broken and missing parts. Momo thinks she can fix it if we can only get the stuff from the schematics she haphazardly drew up. Everyone asks us to go savage stuff from Steel Beach. We can find some of the parts on the beach, but the important scrap will be in the beached freight. But we're not allowed in because it's dangerous. If we get permission from the foreman, though... Near to the crane is the guy we need to see. He'll ask us to do a dumb game of red light/green light, and we'll accidentally haul up tonight's boss.
The Angler is no joke. Having the Thunder Ring is helpful, but I haven't found a way to avoid status effects. The Ring makes one attack manageable, but its Bone Dart skill sucks. It'll confuse whoever was hit by it, and it seems to work 100 percent of the time. It seemed weak to fire, but that might be a weird quirk on my part. Focus and Combo Attack it a few times while Nina uses Vitamins. I had to use the Hourglass I got a few nights ago to stop time at one point. Ryu had critical HP, and everyone else was dead. I took my three free turns to revive and heal up. If the minigame before this guy wasn't so stupid, it might have been better. Seriously, the game isn't looking better and better with each dungeon... But beating up the frog/fish/crab hybrid lets the foreman know we can handle ourselves in a battle. He grants us passage to the freight ship, and we head in. Sadly, I'm out of time, so I'll finish exploring that...
...tomorrow!
Breath of Fire 3 is starting to drag...
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Not as planned...
Welp.
I did some minor exploring before going to the castle. I got Meryleep to be Rei's master, and then I had him unlock a door at the north checkpoint. Oh, boy, a fishing rod!
As we enter Wyndia, Nina stops us. She suspects her dad will arrest Ryu, again, so she asks everyone to stay back. Rei, though, being an unknown entity, can get all the glory. The two of them head to the castle, and Nina says that Sir Rei aided her at the Plant. The King says how great both of them are and promises to give Rei the passport we need. In the meantime, Nina gives Rei a tour of the castle. I think there are only two places we need to go, and one is towards the dungeons. Nina regals Rei of the time she met Ryu there, and then Honey will randomly show up. This inspires her to tell our tiger why the King blames Ryu for kidnapping Nina. You can see what's happening to McNeil if you go down to the cells and pick open a lock. It's a new hat for our mage.
Next, talk to the Queen in her room. Shiela will say how proud she is of her daughter but reminds her she needs to act like royalty. Nina isn't thrilled, but she understands. Return downstairs, and the feast will be ready. Sadly, Nina convinces everyone, including Rei, that we're too busy to eat. The King hands over the pass, and Rei reluctantly leaves hungry, and Nina guides him to the gate. She says she can't continue the journey, harkening to her mother's words. As they head out, we hear a scream behind us. A soldier entered and informed the royals that Rei was seen walking with Ryu.
This causes the King to order his arrest. Nina tries in vain to change her parents' minds, and Rei tells her that she's more than just a Princess. "Nina is also Nina." Suddenly, Honey pops out of Nina's dress and seems to guide the team. They follow her to a locked room in the deep recesses of the castle. Honey climbs onto a machine and speaks! It's something in binary, but it causes the strange red floor to shine. Honey walks into the beam and disappears. After evading the royal guards, Rei and Nina follow. They wind up in Durandal's house behind the castle and meet back with the team.
The next morning, we set out to Angel Tower. The passport works, so we're back in the Raphalia. The boat's gone missing again, and we can learn that Beyd and Shadis got married and had a kid. But they're not important... The path around the volcano is fixed, so use it. Head to Garr's hometown, and he'll inform the pope he's ready to sleep. Garr says the same thing to the guards at the tower, and we climb to the top of the pyramid.
En route, we learn that Guardians get to talk to God once in their life, but doing so turns them to stone. Garr intends to speak to God to know the truth, but it doesn't work. When he calls out to God, the naked lady beneath the pyramid astral projects herself before us and says, "God won't show up." I think there's something about doubts... Either way, we'll need to free the naked woman, which means we need to find Geist, a fellow Guardian.
The pope says we shouldn't turn into Geist because he's fallen away. But he does tell us he's in Cliff, a small village down the coast.
We need to get through another annoying dungeon that deals with tides. It's a cool concept, but it involves too much walking around waiting for the tide to change. So dumb...
Cliff is a village of outcasts, and Geist is alone in a small hut. He and Garr speak of The Dragon War and inform us that the dragons didn't fight back. But Geist has the know-how we need, but only if we fight him.
Equip yourself with the Ring of Fire. Ryu fights alone, so Nina won't need it. That ring will absorb Geist's strongest attack, Corona. He can negate all buffs and debuffs, so don't bother with them. Take out the torches since they'll spam heals on him. It's more daunting looking stuff but is easy if you equip yourself. Or, at least, think. Geist killed me, so I'll figure it all out...
...tomorrow!
I did some minor exploring before going to the castle. I got Meryleep to be Rei's master, and then I had him unlock a door at the north checkpoint. Oh, boy, a fishing rod!
As we enter Wyndia, Nina stops us. She suspects her dad will arrest Ryu, again, so she asks everyone to stay back. Rei, though, being an unknown entity, can get all the glory. The two of them head to the castle, and Nina says that Sir Rei aided her at the Plant. The King says how great both of them are and promises to give Rei the passport we need. In the meantime, Nina gives Rei a tour of the castle. I think there are only two places we need to go, and one is towards the dungeons. Nina regals Rei of the time she met Ryu there, and then Honey will randomly show up. This inspires her to tell our tiger why the King blames Ryu for kidnapping Nina. You can see what's happening to McNeil if you go down to the cells and pick open a lock. It's a new hat for our mage.
Next, talk to the Queen in her room. Shiela will say how proud she is of her daughter but reminds her she needs to act like royalty. Nina isn't thrilled, but she understands. Return downstairs, and the feast will be ready. Sadly, Nina convinces everyone, including Rei, that we're too busy to eat. The King hands over the pass, and Rei reluctantly leaves hungry, and Nina guides him to the gate. She says she can't continue the journey, harkening to her mother's words. As they head out, we hear a scream behind us. A soldier entered and informed the royals that Rei was seen walking with Ryu.
This causes the King to order his arrest. Nina tries in vain to change her parents' minds, and Rei tells her that she's more than just a Princess. "Nina is also Nina." Suddenly, Honey pops out of Nina's dress and seems to guide the team. They follow her to a locked room in the deep recesses of the castle. Honey climbs onto a machine and speaks! It's something in binary, but it causes the strange red floor to shine. Honey walks into the beam and disappears. After evading the royal guards, Rei and Nina follow. They wind up in Durandal's house behind the castle and meet back with the team.
The next morning, we set out to Angel Tower. The passport works, so we're back in the Raphalia. The boat's gone missing again, and we can learn that Beyd and Shadis got married and had a kid. But they're not important... The path around the volcano is fixed, so use it. Head to Garr's hometown, and he'll inform the pope he's ready to sleep. Garr says the same thing to the guards at the tower, and we climb to the top of the pyramid.
En route, we learn that Guardians get to talk to God once in their life, but doing so turns them to stone. Garr intends to speak to God to know the truth, but it doesn't work. When he calls out to God, the naked lady beneath the pyramid astral projects herself before us and says, "God won't show up." I think there's something about doubts... Either way, we'll need to free the naked woman, which means we need to find Geist, a fellow Guardian.
The pope says we shouldn't turn into Geist because he's fallen away. But he does tell us he's in Cliff, a small village down the coast.
We need to get through another annoying dungeon that deals with tides. It's a cool concept, but it involves too much walking around waiting for the tide to change. So dumb...
Cliff is a village of outcasts, and Geist is alone in a small hut. He and Garr speak of The Dragon War and inform us that the dragons didn't fight back. But Geist has the know-how we need, but only if we fight him.
Equip yourself with the Ring of Fire. Ryu fights alone, so Nina won't need it. That ring will absorb Geist's strongest attack, Corona. He can negate all buffs and debuffs, so don't bother with them. Take out the torches since they'll spam heals on him. It's more daunting looking stuff but is easy if you equip yourself. Or, at least, think. Geist killed me, so I'll figure it all out...
...tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Palet Clense
I wasted a lot of time exploring tonight only to enter a terrible dungeon!
Firstly, I went back to Momo's tower. Nothing was there, but I did get the Ring of Ice from that crystal puzzle. I then did some stuff in that random forest off the road before the eastern checkpoint and learned I don't understand Peco's field ability. And there's nothing at the arena or the mountain near to it. I'm very good at doing nothing...
So it's on to the Plant. We learned in Wyndia, the Cafe, and the arena that the entire country is having problems with the mutant crops. They taste bad, are getting expensive, and might be doing other strange things. The scientists here confirm it. The machines are breaking, and no one can fix it. Take the stupid conveyor belt system to the middle again, and we'll meet Momo! She doesn't recognize anyone, but I wonder if this would have changed if I brought Garr? Honey knows who we are, though, so it keeps bugging Momo until she comes around. We all enter one of the houses and catch up. After expressing her views on things, she says she can't come with us. She's more interested in machines and not suitable for what we're doing. Peco, though, lives at the Plant now but often spends time in the grove to the east with Yggdrasil. She'll escort us there, and we'll all hear a voice as we enter. The voice talks about Yggdrasil, and its connection to a sage in the past, giving us some story on it. No one's really sure where it came from, so it wasn't narration, but something happened. Peco joins the team, and I'm bummed he hasn't changed in the interim. His sprite is still ugly, and his menu portrait is too. After this, return to the Plant.
Momo senses something is strange. Talking to NPCs reveals that it's all finally broken. Two greenhouses are filling with toxic gas, and several scientists have left. Make your way almost to the center on the stupid conveyor belts to find someone with a plan. If we throw a rock at the glass, he might be able to spill the gasses harmlessly into the air. ...harmlessly... To do so, have Peco slowly kick a rock on the X as marked by the guy. Then, get a running start to smack into it, sending the rock flying. If you make a mistake, you have to reset the area and use the stupid conveyor belts again... Who designed this crap? Once we've done that, smoke will start to come from one of the houses in the middle. Head there, have Momo blow off a lock, and we'll head down into tonight's entertainment.
We're in a factory beneath the farms. Momo wonders who build this place, and we'll get a definitive answer later on. But to reach that, we need to navigate this terrible place. Start by heading south and loop around the ducts. We'll come to a room filled with computers. This makes Momo think it's a ruin. From here, we have to find passwords to use on the computers, which'll open doors down the path. We learn the first password when she gives an example of what it could be: "PALET." Door number one opens, and we backtrack to the door we couldn't open north of the spawn point. Enter through, find a password clue, and return. We have to do this three times! There is a room to rest and save behind the computers, but I hated this. Backtracking isn't fun, and the monsters we fight down here are annoying. The ones that breathe fire are fine but expect to get hit with a lot of status effects. Poison, blind, and confusion especially. And since Momo's here, we're already having accuracy issues.
But the story of this place is Repsol, Momo's dad, built the lab for his experiments, which we'll learn what those at the final boss. Along the way, we see more mutant creatures and have to fight a centipede boss named HugeSlug. Cast fire on this guy and whale away. I brought Momo and Peco with me, so my team is kinda weak down here. We also read a note about something called project AA, which we surmise is the name of what Repsol was doing. At one point, though, Repsol stopped. Why, though?
At the very end of the place is our old friend Palet. We overhear his plan and the whole reason this facility exists. He and Repsol build this place to revive Palet's dead mom. Palet is an old, bald, white bearded man, so I'm sure reviving his mother is a worthwhile idea. To achieve this, he and Repsol used the crhysarim and collected Yggdrasil's sap. The experiments have been running ever since. To "protect my mother," Palet drinks a vial of his experiment and turns into a giant mushroom.
Shroom isn't that hard. Buff up your defense, and you're good to go. It might be wise to speed up Ryu, too, so make sure he goes before the boss, though. I had him use Focus and Combo Attack with Momo buffing his strength. My new best damage output is 1200 HP! Shrom's attacks consist of a heavy physical attack and Head Cracker, which hits one person two or three (or more) times in a row for decent damage. It's why casting Shield a few times is a good idea. He also has a move called Ragnarok, which hits the whole party. With buffed defense, it either hits for thirty damage or, by design, zero damage. It's an all-or-nothing attack that's a whole lotta nothing. After we finish Palet, Momo can turn off the machine. This kills what remains of Palet's mom and ends the disaster that was Monsanto. But it's an option, so I wonder if we could have left that status quo?
In the camp, later that night, Momo thinks she knows why that place was built. Repsol wanted to revive Momo's mom. She's not sure why he stopped, but she wonders if it has something to do with the mutants. He knew the resurrection would have created a monstrosity and ended it all. She then wonders if Peco is the result of such an attempt? What really is our sentient onion? Nina thanks her for her help in saving her kingdom, and Momo changes her mind about rejoining the team. She does want to see hat boat... King Wyndia should have a change of heart about Ryu now, so we'll be getting a passport from him again...
...tomorrow.
I got the indication that Palet and Momo have been working together for much of the time Ryu "died." Was it ever brought up that he sold us out to Balio and Sunder? Did he try to kill her at any point between now and then? Dropped plot points, man... Also, remind me to return to that terrible place to get another dragon form for Ryu. I don't know if I'll be using Ascension often, but I'm an in game collectible hoarder!
Firstly, I went back to Momo's tower. Nothing was there, but I did get the Ring of Ice from that crystal puzzle. I then did some stuff in that random forest off the road before the eastern checkpoint and learned I don't understand Peco's field ability. And there's nothing at the arena or the mountain near to it. I'm very good at doing nothing...
So it's on to the Plant. We learned in Wyndia, the Cafe, and the arena that the entire country is having problems with the mutant crops. They taste bad, are getting expensive, and might be doing other strange things. The scientists here confirm it. The machines are breaking, and no one can fix it. Take the stupid conveyor belt system to the middle again, and we'll meet Momo! She doesn't recognize anyone, but I wonder if this would have changed if I brought Garr? Honey knows who we are, though, so it keeps bugging Momo until she comes around. We all enter one of the houses and catch up. After expressing her views on things, she says she can't come with us. She's more interested in machines and not suitable for what we're doing. Peco, though, lives at the Plant now but often spends time in the grove to the east with Yggdrasil. She'll escort us there, and we'll all hear a voice as we enter. The voice talks about Yggdrasil, and its connection to a sage in the past, giving us some story on it. No one's really sure where it came from, so it wasn't narration, but something happened. Peco joins the team, and I'm bummed he hasn't changed in the interim. His sprite is still ugly, and his menu portrait is too. After this, return to the Plant.
Momo senses something is strange. Talking to NPCs reveals that it's all finally broken. Two greenhouses are filling with toxic gas, and several scientists have left. Make your way almost to the center on the stupid conveyor belts to find someone with a plan. If we throw a rock at the glass, he might be able to spill the gasses harmlessly into the air. ...harmlessly... To do so, have Peco slowly kick a rock on the X as marked by the guy. Then, get a running start to smack into it, sending the rock flying. If you make a mistake, you have to reset the area and use the stupid conveyor belts again... Who designed this crap? Once we've done that, smoke will start to come from one of the houses in the middle. Head there, have Momo blow off a lock, and we'll head down into tonight's entertainment.
We're in a factory beneath the farms. Momo wonders who build this place, and we'll get a definitive answer later on. But to reach that, we need to navigate this terrible place. Start by heading south and loop around the ducts. We'll come to a room filled with computers. This makes Momo think it's a ruin. From here, we have to find passwords to use on the computers, which'll open doors down the path. We learn the first password when she gives an example of what it could be: "PALET." Door number one opens, and we backtrack to the door we couldn't open north of the spawn point. Enter through, find a password clue, and return. We have to do this three times! There is a room to rest and save behind the computers, but I hated this. Backtracking isn't fun, and the monsters we fight down here are annoying. The ones that breathe fire are fine but expect to get hit with a lot of status effects. Poison, blind, and confusion especially. And since Momo's here, we're already having accuracy issues.
But the story of this place is Repsol, Momo's dad, built the lab for his experiments, which we'll learn what those at the final boss. Along the way, we see more mutant creatures and have to fight a centipede boss named HugeSlug. Cast fire on this guy and whale away. I brought Momo and Peco with me, so my team is kinda weak down here. We also read a note about something called project AA, which we surmise is the name of what Repsol was doing. At one point, though, Repsol stopped. Why, though?
At the very end of the place is our old friend Palet. We overhear his plan and the whole reason this facility exists. He and Repsol build this place to revive Palet's dead mom. Palet is an old, bald, white bearded man, so I'm sure reviving his mother is a worthwhile idea. To achieve this, he and Repsol used the crhysarim and collected Yggdrasil's sap. The experiments have been running ever since. To "protect my mother," Palet drinks a vial of his experiment and turns into a giant mushroom.
Shroom isn't that hard. Buff up your defense, and you're good to go. It might be wise to speed up Ryu, too, so make sure he goes before the boss, though. I had him use Focus and Combo Attack with Momo buffing his strength. My new best damage output is 1200 HP! Shrom's attacks consist of a heavy physical attack and Head Cracker, which hits one person two or three (or more) times in a row for decent damage. It's why casting Shield a few times is a good idea. He also has a move called Ragnarok, which hits the whole party. With buffed defense, it either hits for thirty damage or, by design, zero damage. It's an all-or-nothing attack that's a whole lotta nothing. After we finish Palet, Momo can turn off the machine. This kills what remains of Palet's mom and ends the disaster that was Monsanto. But it's an option, so I wonder if we could have left that status quo?
In the camp, later that night, Momo thinks she knows why that place was built. Repsol wanted to revive Momo's mom. She's not sure why he stopped, but she wonders if it has something to do with the mutants. He knew the resurrection would have created a monstrosity and ended it all. She then wonders if Peco is the result of such an attempt? What really is our sentient onion? Nina thanks her for her help in saving her kingdom, and Momo changes her mind about rejoining the team. She does want to see hat boat... King Wyndia should have a change of heart about Ryu now, so we'll be getting a passport from him again...
...tomorrow.
I got the indication that Palet and Momo have been working together for much of the time Ryu "died." Was it ever brought up that he sold us out to Balio and Sunder? Did he try to kill her at any point between now and then? Dropped plot points, man... Also, remind me to return to that terrible place to get another dragon form for Ryu. I don't know if I'll be using Ascension often, but I'm an in game collectible hoarder!
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Weretiger?
There tiger!
Ryu and Garr are heading back to the Angel Tower, but something is stopping us as we reach western Wyndia: A royal blockade. Soldiers are investigating the town for black market food deals, so they have the area under lockdown. The citizens of McNeil don't seem to mind, so I wish real people could be as understanding in 2022! So, since we can't travel east, we might as well head into town. Nothing has changed much there in the [insert number] years since we've left, but Garr manages to get us a discount at the inn. A wounded tiger came through the village not too long ago, and now the townsfolk are spooked to go into the woods. Garr promises to get rid of it, and we can use the discount if we want.
But that means we'll need to head to where this (gameplay) began. Cedar Woods has the same enemies as before, and Bunyin has no new dialogue, which is a huge bummer. I was hoping he'd be a bit more important than "named NPC," but nope. Return to our first home that Balio and Sunder burnt down all those years ago. In the distance, we'll hear an animal howl. Ryu will ask Garr to remain back, and our guardian understands that he has a relationship with the weretiger. Ryu knows what's up. As we begin to walk the path around our fallen treehouse, we can see Rei sitting there in the corner. He's shocked and glad to see us, and it seems our fight in the Ogre Woods knocked some sense into him. Ever since the night the evilcorns threw him into the stream around the tree, he's been out for revenge. He changed into a weretiger, a power hinted at when Bunyin had him attack the Nue alone, and has been attacking people in Sin City. Despite us being here, Rei doesn't think he can end his siege. He transforms again and leaps away.
Return to the town, and we can see Loki is knocked down. Why is Loki here, and why does he add nothing to this? Everyone tells us that the tiger went off to McNeil Manor. An old man wonders if that was Rei? Using that as a clue, we head to the manor again. As we approach, though, a group of soldiers come down the road with the unmistakable figure of McNeil. The mayor is bound and in the middle of them. What's really odd is there's a blonde woman in a pink outfit with a wing like cape beside them. As Garr steps forward, they greet each other. It's Nina! She's arresting McNeil because he's been working with the mob from Sin City, finally putting that plot thread to an end. Garr fills her in on Ryu's past and what we've done since he woke up, and she gets down to business. If we know about the mob leader, it's her job to continue the investigation. She joins the team, and we need to go to Sin City! Plus, she wants to arrest the leader and not let Rei kill him.
As we enter the gate, Garr smells blood. Everyone we pass is either terrified or knocked out, and the shops are unmanned and useless. I was hoping to get 10000 zenni, but that'll have to wait. Follow the path all the way to the back. Past the bridge will be a dead guy, and everyone on this side is working with the mob. Inside the HQ is a man who tells us the leader ran away, and he should be at the northern checkpoint by now. There's a picture in the chest, but I didn't look into it. Keep going north (westish), and we'll reach the end of the known world. A man in purple is carrying a rucksack and approaching the gate. As he does, the weretigered Rei jumps behind him. He transforms back into his humanoid form, and the two start a conversation. Ryu catches up, and he and Rei start talking about revenge. As they do, Mikba transforms into a giant ogre and one shots Rei. We have to form a party, with the dead Rei in it, and I'm sure you already figured out who my third was.
Revive Rei, and he'll go into weretiger form automatically. This acts like the berserk status, so you can't control him. He does 200 damage a turn, so it's pretty worth it. The best strategy is to cast slow on Mikba. He's already sluggish, but that's the additional trick we need to make sure all three of us get an EXtra turn, doubling our DPS. But be careful with attacking. Mikba can counter, and it's usually with the Lucky Strike move. This hit Rei twice, killing him both times. Even stealing can trigger a counter... My strat was to use Focus with Ryu and attack with Combo Attack. I did over 700 damage with this, but he still lived. Nina and Rei can supplement/heal the DPS. Because our opponent is so slow and lacks any teamwide moves, it's a pretty easy battle, albeit a bit daunting.
Afterwards, Makba makes the assertion that revenge has already been gotten. He knows that Ryu killed Balio and Sunder years ago. This shocks Rei. He wonders what he's been doing all these years and further questions himself. He knew he could never take a life and expected a one-on-one fight between himself and Makba to end in failure. Mikba mentions that the powers he and Rei share are a gift from God, and should be embraced. As he finishes, he teleports away. Garr joins us and talks about God and Dragon War. If Dragons used their power for the sake of using their power, then Garr wouldn't have any regrets about killing them, even if Ryu was like that. Nina gets annoyed, reminding Garr that Ryu isn't an evil dragon. Rei, meanwhile, decides that he wants to meet God to ask why he was given these powers. We're asked to make a team of three, and we head back to Wyndia!
As we get to the path outside the city, Nina informs us that we'll need a pass to reach the Angel Tower, just as before. The King kinda hates Ryu, though, so she doesn't think he'll be as welcoming. The King blames Ryu for Nina's going missing again, you see. However, if we save the country for the second time in as many days, he'll surely have to let us pass! And to do that, we'll need to fix the mutant plants and the Plant again... But we'll do that...
...tomorrow!
The village of McNeil is pretty fine with their mayor-for-life going away. They're mostly wondering if their name will change once the Kingdom stops running it. We can also meet the kids we played hide-n-seek with long ago, but they'll go hiding throughout the entire Kingdom this time. Sure seems like a good choice for adults to do... I wonder if we'll see Momo or Pico tomorrow. And does this mean Teepo is alive somewhere?
Ryu and Garr are heading back to the Angel Tower, but something is stopping us as we reach western Wyndia: A royal blockade. Soldiers are investigating the town for black market food deals, so they have the area under lockdown. The citizens of McNeil don't seem to mind, so I wish real people could be as understanding in 2022! So, since we can't travel east, we might as well head into town. Nothing has changed much there in the [insert number] years since we've left, but Garr manages to get us a discount at the inn. A wounded tiger came through the village not too long ago, and now the townsfolk are spooked to go into the woods. Garr promises to get rid of it, and we can use the discount if we want.
But that means we'll need to head to where this (gameplay) began. Cedar Woods has the same enemies as before, and Bunyin has no new dialogue, which is a huge bummer. I was hoping he'd be a bit more important than "named NPC," but nope. Return to our first home that Balio and Sunder burnt down all those years ago. In the distance, we'll hear an animal howl. Ryu will ask Garr to remain back, and our guardian understands that he has a relationship with the weretiger. Ryu knows what's up. As we begin to walk the path around our fallen treehouse, we can see Rei sitting there in the corner. He's shocked and glad to see us, and it seems our fight in the Ogre Woods knocked some sense into him. Ever since the night the evilcorns threw him into the stream around the tree, he's been out for revenge. He changed into a weretiger, a power hinted at when Bunyin had him attack the Nue alone, and has been attacking people in Sin City. Despite us being here, Rei doesn't think he can end his siege. He transforms again and leaps away.
Return to the town, and we can see Loki is knocked down. Why is Loki here, and why does he add nothing to this? Everyone tells us that the tiger went off to McNeil Manor. An old man wonders if that was Rei? Using that as a clue, we head to the manor again. As we approach, though, a group of soldiers come down the road with the unmistakable figure of McNeil. The mayor is bound and in the middle of them. What's really odd is there's a blonde woman in a pink outfit with a wing like cape beside them. As Garr steps forward, they greet each other. It's Nina! She's arresting McNeil because he's been working with the mob from Sin City, finally putting that plot thread to an end. Garr fills her in on Ryu's past and what we've done since he woke up, and she gets down to business. If we know about the mob leader, it's her job to continue the investigation. She joins the team, and we need to go to Sin City! Plus, she wants to arrest the leader and not let Rei kill him.
As we enter the gate, Garr smells blood. Everyone we pass is either terrified or knocked out, and the shops are unmanned and useless. I was hoping to get 10000 zenni, but that'll have to wait. Follow the path all the way to the back. Past the bridge will be a dead guy, and everyone on this side is working with the mob. Inside the HQ is a man who tells us the leader ran away, and he should be at the northern checkpoint by now. There's a picture in the chest, but I didn't look into it. Keep going north (westish), and we'll reach the end of the known world. A man in purple is carrying a rucksack and approaching the gate. As he does, the weretigered Rei jumps behind him. He transforms back into his humanoid form, and the two start a conversation. Ryu catches up, and he and Rei start talking about revenge. As they do, Mikba transforms into a giant ogre and one shots Rei. We have to form a party, with the dead Rei in it, and I'm sure you already figured out who my third was.
Revive Rei, and he'll go into weretiger form automatically. This acts like the berserk status, so you can't control him. He does 200 damage a turn, so it's pretty worth it. The best strategy is to cast slow on Mikba. He's already sluggish, but that's the additional trick we need to make sure all three of us get an EXtra turn, doubling our DPS. But be careful with attacking. Mikba can counter, and it's usually with the Lucky Strike move. This hit Rei twice, killing him both times. Even stealing can trigger a counter... My strat was to use Focus with Ryu and attack with Combo Attack. I did over 700 damage with this, but he still lived. Nina and Rei can supplement/heal the DPS. Because our opponent is so slow and lacks any teamwide moves, it's a pretty easy battle, albeit a bit daunting.
Afterwards, Makba makes the assertion that revenge has already been gotten. He knows that Ryu killed Balio and Sunder years ago. This shocks Rei. He wonders what he's been doing all these years and further questions himself. He knew he could never take a life and expected a one-on-one fight between himself and Makba to end in failure. Mikba mentions that the powers he and Rei share are a gift from God, and should be embraced. As he finishes, he teleports away. Garr joins us and talks about God and Dragon War. If Dragons used their power for the sake of using their power, then Garr wouldn't have any regrets about killing them, even if Ryu was like that. Nina gets annoyed, reminding Garr that Ryu isn't an evil dragon. Rei, meanwhile, decides that he wants to meet God to ask why he was given these powers. We're asked to make a team of three, and we head back to Wyndia!
As we get to the path outside the city, Nina informs us that we'll need a pass to reach the Angel Tower, just as before. The King kinda hates Ryu, though, so she doesn't think he'll be as welcoming. The King blames Ryu for Nina's going missing again, you see. However, if we save the country for the second time in as many days, he'll surely have to let us pass! And to do that, we'll need to fix the mutant plants and the Plant again... But we'll do that...
...tomorrow!
The village of McNeil is pretty fine with their mayor-for-life going away. They're mostly wondering if their name will change once the Kingdom stops running it. We can also meet the kids we played hide-n-seek with long ago, but they'll go hiding throughout the entire Kingdom this time. Sure seems like a good choice for adults to do... I wonder if we'll see Momo or Pico tomorrow. And does this mean Teepo is alive somewhere?
Monday, January 17, 2022
Glow Up
This came earlier than expected...
We walked into Angel Tower, and the guards instructed us that only those with permission from the pope may enter. He gave Garr the go ahead and not us, so our giant dude needs to be here for this. Climb the stairs and then fall down the pyramid blocks to collect the treasures. They're not the best, but I want them! On the south part of the pyramid is a fork. The stairs down takes us to a naked girl encased in a cube of light. And no one's gonna wonder who or why this is? Up the stairs will take us into the dungeon proper.
Angel Tower is the worst named dungeon ever. It contains no angels, nor is it a tower. It's a series of basements, and we need to move four blocks across two puzzles to make the bridge necessary to let us advance. All the while, mobs that steal our MP and cast death on us attack. The first puzzle takes us to the furthest down path from the start. Have Garr push the block into the first space to seal the gap. A few floors down is the second puzzle, which is a lot more complicated. Start with the north part and take the stairs down there. Push the first block into the comer, then wrap around east to get the other two. It's straightforward from there. Starting is the hardest part, but it's easy once you realize what you need to do.
Inside that door and down another set of stairs, leading us to a long hallway. Before we go down much, Garr will ask our third, Nina, to leave us for a moment. What's to come is something only Ryu and Garr will understand. Down the hall is another pyramid with four blue markers around it. On the west marker is
"Garr
299"
Garr will inform us that his place is a testament to the guardians of the planet. The black mist around us will clear, revealing that we're standing over a pile of bones. Dragon bones, at that. The number underneath each name is how many dragons each guardian killed in The Dragon War 400 years ago. A dragon spirit will form from the bones and try to attack Garr, but nothing happens with it. Garr will continue by telling us that his people were under dragon rule, so they prayed to their god for the ability to overcome it. Their god granted them the guardians, and that's how we've got here. And Ryu is now the last dragon...
Gar draws his spear, and a fight starts. Unlike the one at the arena, this one is really easy. Garr only hits for about thirty damage, so I decided to use Focus a few times to get my attack up. It triggered on a counter... Double Slash away, use items when need be, and don't regret using a rare wisdom fruit like I did. He'll go down quickly.
With Garr on the ropes, he'll wonder what's to come of these two. Both fighters will hear a voice telling them that "He is not your enemy." Ryu will begin to shake and transform into a new type of dragon, a Kaiser Dragon. He'll then raise to the ceiling and disappear as rocks start to fall around the wounded Garr.
We'll cut to Ryu, alone in the dark. The voice tells him more stuff about not being a warmonger as Ryu runs away from lights. He seems a random dude, and he'll transform into the baby dragon we started the game with. We're suddenly brought to the mines we were at before we met Rei and Teepo, with Garr giving chase. Garr will somehow get around us, stick his spear in our face, and Ryu will transform. But he's a child anymore; He's a full grown man. Ryu's also naked... Garr will ask Ryu if he forgives him for trying to kill him, and I responded, "...." Garr understands and gives us our gear. This look is way better than the sprite we were a few minutes ago. I get a sense of regal and class now.
Ryu vanished from Angel Tower years ago, and Garr finally tracked us down. He then tells us that he's been questioning his religion ever since? Ryu isn't bad, so why did his god want him to kill all the dragons. Something doesn't add up, and Garr intends to find that out. He joins the group, and it's the two of us walking through the mines. Head to where we got knocked out by the crane long ago, and head down. We'll come to an elevator, and we'll need to go to the second floor. The first floor takes us outside to a small merchant, but the cliff is too large to jump down, so we can't just cheese it. Return to the second floor and get through to the mine cart portion. None of the mobs are hard, nor are they worth it. To get through, we need to move the cart rigged with explosives to the other side. Don't forget to use it as a makeshift bridge to get a new wind sword for Ryu. As we blow up the rock in our path, something mysterious appears.
Earlier, a shadow dragon showed up to say Ryu should kill Garr, but only the player could see it. It makes a full appearance now, saying the same thing. Ryu is unphased, but we all learn Garr wants to take Ryu to his god so that they both may learn the truth of The Dragon War. Zombie Dragon gets annoyed, and a boss fight breaks out.
I spent last night getting Kyrie from the pope's second-in-command, and that's why I didn't have an update. I accidentally had it spoiled for me, so I wanted this cheese strat in my back pocket. I tried a few times to defeat it normally, but I got bored pretty quick and used the move. Kyrie will one shot undead mobs, and this includes bosses. My cholesterol has questions, but it was an easy fight. Thank you, Momo, for sacrificing your stats for this. Afterwards, ZD will yell more things and turn into a crystal. It'll bounce towards Ryu, who'll learn a new dragon form. As he does, a woman will appear behind him, point, and scream "True Dragon" at him. She'll turn into an orb, and Ryu will learn another dragon form. Garr will wonder what the hell that was, and we can exit. Don't bother climbing the ladder up. Just head right, trigger the floor thing three times, and leave.
When we're outside, the foreman of the mine will congratulate Garr for getting rid of the dragon problem they had. Apparently, Ryu killed a lot of people, which causes him to not have fun. Garr will settle the boy down, and we can get our payment from the foreman. We don't, but it's worth doing everything for story. At the very least, we'll learn that Ogre Path has a tiger problem, and we can learn more about it at Sin City.
We're back on the world map, and it's got a new theme. Is it better? I'll be honest, I haven't been liking the music in the game so far. The Cedar Woods theme is a rip off of Secret of the Forest from Chrono Trigger, and it's really nice, but everything else has been "meh." Do I hate funk and jazz? Anyway, far to the west is Sin City. Go to the campsite, and Garr will inform us that Baio and Sunder's boss lives here, but we don't be dealing with him now. Get new gear, and we can pay a bum twenty zenni to tell us more about the tiger. It's actually a weretiger...
Ogre Forest is pretty straightforward, and nothing is too scary. This includes the aforementioned weretiger. It doesn't hit hard, but we sure do. Sadly, it runs away, so I suspect we'll see its yellow fur and red mohawk again later. Garr wants to head east through Wyndia and return to the Angel Tower. Wyndia is to the east and across the mountain range that stands in our way. There's nothing here, but watch out for the gootitans. Their flame spell is no joke. Once we get past, we can see the town we started our journey on long ago in the distance. But I'll return there...
...tomorrow!
Emitai, the mage who tried to swindle us in the tournament, lives near the mines. I didn't talk to him, but I'll head back once I get Nina again. Assuming she rejoins us and is alive, of course. Also, I wonder if they repaired the boat in Junk Town? That's why I wasn't expected the grow up to happen so soon. A game leaving a problem unsolved? Unheard of.
Also, the faeries need our help to not die. The one in charge is mad at us, so help the village flourish if you want. It seems like a passive thing, so it's up to you. But, you know, Power of Friendship, and all that...
We walked into Angel Tower, and the guards instructed us that only those with permission from the pope may enter. He gave Garr the go ahead and not us, so our giant dude needs to be here for this. Climb the stairs and then fall down the pyramid blocks to collect the treasures. They're not the best, but I want them! On the south part of the pyramid is a fork. The stairs down takes us to a naked girl encased in a cube of light. And no one's gonna wonder who or why this is? Up the stairs will take us into the dungeon proper.
Angel Tower is the worst named dungeon ever. It contains no angels, nor is it a tower. It's a series of basements, and we need to move four blocks across two puzzles to make the bridge necessary to let us advance. All the while, mobs that steal our MP and cast death on us attack. The first puzzle takes us to the furthest down path from the start. Have Garr push the block into the first space to seal the gap. A few floors down is the second puzzle, which is a lot more complicated. Start with the north part and take the stairs down there. Push the first block into the comer, then wrap around east to get the other two. It's straightforward from there. Starting is the hardest part, but it's easy once you realize what you need to do.
Inside that door and down another set of stairs, leading us to a long hallway. Before we go down much, Garr will ask our third, Nina, to leave us for a moment. What's to come is something only Ryu and Garr will understand. Down the hall is another pyramid with four blue markers around it. On the west marker is
"Garr
299"
Garr will inform us that his place is a testament to the guardians of the planet. The black mist around us will clear, revealing that we're standing over a pile of bones. Dragon bones, at that. The number underneath each name is how many dragons each guardian killed in The Dragon War 400 years ago. A dragon spirit will form from the bones and try to attack Garr, but nothing happens with it. Garr will continue by telling us that his people were under dragon rule, so they prayed to their god for the ability to overcome it. Their god granted them the guardians, and that's how we've got here. And Ryu is now the last dragon...
Gar draws his spear, and a fight starts. Unlike the one at the arena, this one is really easy. Garr only hits for about thirty damage, so I decided to use Focus a few times to get my attack up. It triggered on a counter... Double Slash away, use items when need be, and don't regret using a rare wisdom fruit like I did. He'll go down quickly.
With Garr on the ropes, he'll wonder what's to come of these two. Both fighters will hear a voice telling them that "He is not your enemy." Ryu will begin to shake and transform into a new type of dragon, a Kaiser Dragon. He'll then raise to the ceiling and disappear as rocks start to fall around the wounded Garr.
We'll cut to Ryu, alone in the dark. The voice tells him more stuff about not being a warmonger as Ryu runs away from lights. He seems a random dude, and he'll transform into the baby dragon we started the game with. We're suddenly brought to the mines we were at before we met Rei and Teepo, with Garr giving chase. Garr will somehow get around us, stick his spear in our face, and Ryu will transform. But he's a child anymore; He's a full grown man. Ryu's also naked... Garr will ask Ryu if he forgives him for trying to kill him, and I responded, "...." Garr understands and gives us our gear. This look is way better than the sprite we were a few minutes ago. I get a sense of regal and class now.
Ryu vanished from Angel Tower years ago, and Garr finally tracked us down. He then tells us that he's been questioning his religion ever since? Ryu isn't bad, so why did his god want him to kill all the dragons. Something doesn't add up, and Garr intends to find that out. He joins the group, and it's the two of us walking through the mines. Head to where we got knocked out by the crane long ago, and head down. We'll come to an elevator, and we'll need to go to the second floor. The first floor takes us outside to a small merchant, but the cliff is too large to jump down, so we can't just cheese it. Return to the second floor and get through to the mine cart portion. None of the mobs are hard, nor are they worth it. To get through, we need to move the cart rigged with explosives to the other side. Don't forget to use it as a makeshift bridge to get a new wind sword for Ryu. As we blow up the rock in our path, something mysterious appears.
Earlier, a shadow dragon showed up to say Ryu should kill Garr, but only the player could see it. It makes a full appearance now, saying the same thing. Ryu is unphased, but we all learn Garr wants to take Ryu to his god so that they both may learn the truth of The Dragon War. Zombie Dragon gets annoyed, and a boss fight breaks out.
I spent last night getting Kyrie from the pope's second-in-command, and that's why I didn't have an update. I accidentally had it spoiled for me, so I wanted this cheese strat in my back pocket. I tried a few times to defeat it normally, but I got bored pretty quick and used the move. Kyrie will one shot undead mobs, and this includes bosses. My cholesterol has questions, but it was an easy fight. Thank you, Momo, for sacrificing your stats for this. Afterwards, ZD will yell more things and turn into a crystal. It'll bounce towards Ryu, who'll learn a new dragon form. As he does, a woman will appear behind him, point, and scream "True Dragon" at him. She'll turn into an orb, and Ryu will learn another dragon form. Garr will wonder what the hell that was, and we can exit. Don't bother climbing the ladder up. Just head right, trigger the floor thing three times, and leave.
When we're outside, the foreman of the mine will congratulate Garr for getting rid of the dragon problem they had. Apparently, Ryu killed a lot of people, which causes him to not have fun. Garr will settle the boy down, and we can get our payment from the foreman. We don't, but it's worth doing everything for story. At the very least, we'll learn that Ogre Path has a tiger problem, and we can learn more about it at Sin City.
We're back on the world map, and it's got a new theme. Is it better? I'll be honest, I haven't been liking the music in the game so far. The Cedar Woods theme is a rip off of Secret of the Forest from Chrono Trigger, and it's really nice, but everything else has been "meh." Do I hate funk and jazz? Anyway, far to the west is Sin City. Go to the campsite, and Garr will inform us that Baio and Sunder's boss lives here, but we don't be dealing with him now. Get new gear, and we can pay a bum twenty zenni to tell us more about the tiger. It's actually a weretiger...
Ogre Forest is pretty straightforward, and nothing is too scary. This includes the aforementioned weretiger. It doesn't hit hard, but we sure do. Sadly, it runs away, so I suspect we'll see its yellow fur and red mohawk again later. Garr wants to head east through Wyndia and return to the Angel Tower. Wyndia is to the east and across the mountain range that stands in our way. There's nothing here, but watch out for the gootitans. Their flame spell is no joke. Once we get past, we can see the town we started our journey on long ago in the distance. But I'll return there...
...tomorrow!
Emitai, the mage who tried to swindle us in the tournament, lives near the mines. I didn't talk to him, but I'll head back once I get Nina again. Assuming she rejoins us and is alive, of course. Also, I wonder if they repaired the boat in Junk Town? That's why I wasn't expected the grow up to happen so soon. A game leaving a problem unsolved? Unheard of.
Also, the faeries need our help to not die. The one in charge is mad at us, so help the village flourish if you want. It seems like a passive thing, so it's up to you. But, you know, Power of Friendship, and all that...
Saturday, January 15, 2022
Between Scylla and Charybdis
... is a surprise!
Since the boat still hasn't returned to Raphalia, we might as well use the Fairy Tiara. There's a flower field just outside of town, but it doesn't seem to matter where you start. I've seen five of these fields already, but they all take you to the same place: a cliff edge. Climb said cliff, and you'll come to a small house. As we enter, we'll see, and hear, two faeries arguing. They are upset that the lighthouse is working again, which means the monster will show up soon to eat them. The lead fairy, who we met at the lighthouse, will continue to demand that we fix the problem we started and defeat the sea monster. She'll instruct us to go to the beach and wait for night.
We follow orders and head straight there. That night, Ryu, Nina, and a forced Momo see a shark fin come out of the water. It approaches the beach for some reason, and we all get the jump on it.
...it's just a dolphin...
Sure, it can talk, but it looks like a dolphin. All four (three) of us have a nice conversation. We apologize for our actions, and our new dolphin friend, Dolphin, understands that mistakes happen and forgives us. Nina and Momo return to the house to get more clues about what the monster looks like, leaving Ryu and Dolphin alone. And then things get strange. Dolphin's accent suddenly turns abrasively Australian. The game even offers to redo the scene with a proper English translation, which I skipped. The accent idea is fine, but why break the fourth wall? I hated it... Anyway, the girls and faeries come down, and the Fae creatures yell at Dolphin. They each get a dig in at him, and then he transforms.
...that's not a dolphin...
It's a mutated narwhal that can walk on land. As you'd guess, a fight breaks out.
It's not that hard, but it takes a while. Dolphin is weak to lightning, so spam the appropriate spells. Its physical attacks aren't too damaging, but they can set up Tsunami, a move that hits everyone for big damage. Momo seemed largely immune to it, but that might have just been a quirk on my part. Momo can also learn Intimidate here, which is a move that causes an opponent to miss their turn. I doubt I'll use it, but ya never know. We return to the house in the morning, and all three faeries thank us. Dolphin was the reason they kept the lighthouse broken because he threatened to eat them otherwise. The light kept him up, you see, so I'm wondering where we are. Are we in another world or just in a strange place near the Raphelia region? A fourth fairy is born as we're there, teaching us that they spawn from cocoons and grow from bugs. Strange... But there's nothing else here, so return to our world.
Sadly, speaking to Beyd or Shadis only results in them telling us the ship still isn't here. Beyd, though, will ask us to talk to Sinkar. Sinkar can grant us access to the secret Porter Guild path through the volcano. I guess the insides of a recently erupted volcano are safer than the outsides?
There's a wall of script that no one can read in the volcano, but we need to take the left path. Inside Mt. Subio are monsters who don't like ice. My new favorite mob is in here, Vulcan. It's a tiny volcano that lets you beat up on it for fifty exp. Use a fire spell on it, though, and it starts to attack. You'll get 300 a character for a still easy win. Peco can also learn the move it uses if you have him watch it. Apparently, the Lava Men in here are great for grinding as well... The rest of the area has us walking across magma, which hurts, but we can get new items. At the very least, get the new dragon perk in the final room. There's also a Ring of Fire early on, which allows the user to absorb fire spells. The asbestos armor, which only increases resistance, can also be found here. All of these will aid us in the upcoming boss battle...
As we're about to exit, an old man will step forward. He'll ramble about protecting the souls of the dead at Angel Tower or something. He'll then summon forth Scylla and Charybdis, who appear from the lava around us. This starts the boss battle where it's three-on-three, but I feel outnumbered.
Both Greek myths can be put to sleep, but it only lasts one round. Peco just learned Dream Breath, so I had him doing that for a while. Those two can team up to wipe out Nina, who'll be our main damage dealer here. You need to take out the old man before doing anything. He usually defends, but he likes to cast sleep on us. If you're caught off guard and the entire team passes out, you're likely to never wake up. More annoying, he can also heal his whole team, so make sure he dies! From there, the battle does get more manageable. The enemy AI seems to change, and they become more passive. Keep spamming Iceblast, Duel Attack, and basic attacks. In hindsight, Momo would have been a good third with her ice ammo equipped. Once one dies, the other becomes even more passive, which is good because I was out of MP. I turned on the auto battle for this fight and just let it run for five minutes once Chardy B was left. Thanks to the Ring of Fire, I got healthier against him. Afterwards, just walk out.
We're on the otherside of the region, and there are three places before us. Far away is Junk Town. There's no story here yet, but we can learn that the ship's engine broke, and that's the reason it hasn't returned to Raphalia. If you have the money, pick up the new gear. It looks strong. The other city we can get to is a town I can't pronounce. It's filled with religious people who have a statue of Garr in the back of it. It's a terrible layout, and I hate it. But bring Garr in here to move a bolder and to speak to the guy in charge. The head pope will ask Garr if he's ready for bed because there's no evil in the world. Garr is silent, but we get the idea he is. Despite there being plenty of evil in the world? Were Balio and Sundar the greatest evil on this planet? Good job, I guess. Leave the town, and we'll cut to the camp. Garr and Ryu are around the campfire until Nina tells them to come to bed. Ryu heads inside, but Garr stops him until he thinks it's best to show him what his future holds rather than tell. Will Ryu die? We'll find out...
...tomorrow!
Since the boat still hasn't returned to Raphalia, we might as well use the Fairy Tiara. There's a flower field just outside of town, but it doesn't seem to matter where you start. I've seen five of these fields already, but they all take you to the same place: a cliff edge. Climb said cliff, and you'll come to a small house. As we enter, we'll see, and hear, two faeries arguing. They are upset that the lighthouse is working again, which means the monster will show up soon to eat them. The lead fairy, who we met at the lighthouse, will continue to demand that we fix the problem we started and defeat the sea monster. She'll instruct us to go to the beach and wait for night.
We follow orders and head straight there. That night, Ryu, Nina, and a forced Momo see a shark fin come out of the water. It approaches the beach for some reason, and we all get the jump on it.
...it's just a dolphin...
Sure, it can talk, but it looks like a dolphin. All four (three) of us have a nice conversation. We apologize for our actions, and our new dolphin friend, Dolphin, understands that mistakes happen and forgives us. Nina and Momo return to the house to get more clues about what the monster looks like, leaving Ryu and Dolphin alone. And then things get strange. Dolphin's accent suddenly turns abrasively Australian. The game even offers to redo the scene with a proper English translation, which I skipped. The accent idea is fine, but why break the fourth wall? I hated it... Anyway, the girls and faeries come down, and the Fae creatures yell at Dolphin. They each get a dig in at him, and then he transforms.
...that's not a dolphin...
It's a mutated narwhal that can walk on land. As you'd guess, a fight breaks out.
It's not that hard, but it takes a while. Dolphin is weak to lightning, so spam the appropriate spells. Its physical attacks aren't too damaging, but they can set up Tsunami, a move that hits everyone for big damage. Momo seemed largely immune to it, but that might have just been a quirk on my part. Momo can also learn Intimidate here, which is a move that causes an opponent to miss their turn. I doubt I'll use it, but ya never know. We return to the house in the morning, and all three faeries thank us. Dolphin was the reason they kept the lighthouse broken because he threatened to eat them otherwise. The light kept him up, you see, so I'm wondering where we are. Are we in another world or just in a strange place near the Raphelia region? A fourth fairy is born as we're there, teaching us that they spawn from cocoons and grow from bugs. Strange... But there's nothing else here, so return to our world.
Sadly, speaking to Beyd or Shadis only results in them telling us the ship still isn't here. Beyd, though, will ask us to talk to Sinkar. Sinkar can grant us access to the secret Porter Guild path through the volcano. I guess the insides of a recently erupted volcano are safer than the outsides?
There's a wall of script that no one can read in the volcano, but we need to take the left path. Inside Mt. Subio are monsters who don't like ice. My new favorite mob is in here, Vulcan. It's a tiny volcano that lets you beat up on it for fifty exp. Use a fire spell on it, though, and it starts to attack. You'll get 300 a character for a still easy win. Peco can also learn the move it uses if you have him watch it. Apparently, the Lava Men in here are great for grinding as well... The rest of the area has us walking across magma, which hurts, but we can get new items. At the very least, get the new dragon perk in the final room. There's also a Ring of Fire early on, which allows the user to absorb fire spells. The asbestos armor, which only increases resistance, can also be found here. All of these will aid us in the upcoming boss battle...
As we're about to exit, an old man will step forward. He'll ramble about protecting the souls of the dead at Angel Tower or something. He'll then summon forth Scylla and Charybdis, who appear from the lava around us. This starts the boss battle where it's three-on-three, but I feel outnumbered.
Both Greek myths can be put to sleep, but it only lasts one round. Peco just learned Dream Breath, so I had him doing that for a while. Those two can team up to wipe out Nina, who'll be our main damage dealer here. You need to take out the old man before doing anything. He usually defends, but he likes to cast sleep on us. If you're caught off guard and the entire team passes out, you're likely to never wake up. More annoying, he can also heal his whole team, so make sure he dies! From there, the battle does get more manageable. The enemy AI seems to change, and they become more passive. Keep spamming Iceblast, Duel Attack, and basic attacks. In hindsight, Momo would have been a good third with her ice ammo equipped. Once one dies, the other becomes even more passive, which is good because I was out of MP. I turned on the auto battle for this fight and just let it run for five minutes once Chardy B was left. Thanks to the Ring of Fire, I got healthier against him. Afterwards, just walk out.
We're on the otherside of the region, and there are three places before us. Far away is Junk Town. There's no story here yet, but we can learn that the ship's engine broke, and that's the reason it hasn't returned to Raphalia. If you have the money, pick up the new gear. It looks strong. The other city we can get to is a town I can't pronounce. It's filled with religious people who have a statue of Garr in the back of it. It's a terrible layout, and I hate it. But bring Garr in here to move a bolder and to speak to the guy in charge. The head pope will ask Garr if he's ready for bed because there's no evil in the world. Garr is silent, but we get the idea he is. Despite there being plenty of evil in the world? Were Balio and Sundar the greatest evil on this planet? Good job, I guess. Leave the town, and we'll cut to the camp. Garr and Ryu are around the campfire until Nina tells them to come to bed. Ryu heads inside, but Garr stops him until he thinks it's best to show him what his future holds rather than tell. Will Ryu die? We'll find out...
...tomorrow!
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