Our prelude informs us that we'll be playing as two sisters, out for revenge on the man who murdered their father. One is a dancer in the city of music and dancing, Manbaraba, and the other is a fortune teller.
We start in a dance hall where Mara, one of our heros tonight, is dancing for a massive group of people. I don't know for certain, but I'm betting this is pushing the hardware of the NES with all the sprites. Her show is done, so she returns to the dressing room with her sister and boss. We learn this is their last night in town, as they're setting out in the morning. We get our final pay of 100 Gold and go to bed. In the morning, we begin our adventure. The NPCs seem to suggest we head home to Kyives (let's pretend it's Ukrainian for the moment). There are weapon and armor shops, but we can't afford much at the moment. So head out and head north Kyivs.
There isn't much here, but everyone remembers us. The innkeeper lets us stay for free because he feels bad for us. Most importantly, we're filled in on our backstory. Our dad, Edgar, was murdered by his apprentice, Balzack. ...what a terrible name... One NPC thinks it had something to do with the Theory of Evolution. We had a dog, who is still in town, but he pays us no mind. We also learn that another follower of our dad, Orin, is still alive. He was wounded but healed up in the cave to the west. Before going there, though, we need gear and levels. Stay around Kyievs because the inn is free. The armor in Kyevs is better than Manbaraba, but I bought everything in the starting town. Despite that, I still had a hell of a time in the cave. Bring some antidotes with you.
Mara and Nara are actually fun and exciting to play as. Mara plays like a red mage from Final Fantasy, and Nara is a sage. Mara can heal and eventually learns a fire spell, and Nara can debuff and cast her own fire spells. I wish they'd diversify a bit, but it is what it is. This makes battles more exciting, and I can't just turbo my way through them all.
The cave is filled with a few people looking for the Sphere of Silence, but I couldn't figure out why. To reach it, we're going to need to find a few seemingly dead ends. However, there will be golden plates on the floor of four of them, which act as an elevator. On the second floor, take the right path first before going down. This will take us to the Lantern of Darkness, an item I didn't use. I've read it changed the time of day, though. More importantly, we'll find Orin, who'll tell us about the Sphere of Silence. Orin will join the group (you might need the Sphere for this), and he's a damn good bruiser. He's got nearly 100 HP, more than the girls combined, and a massive attack stat. He was doing more damage than Ragnar did with the Sword of Malice. Return to the second floor and take the other path. Follow it until you find the Orb Orin is looking for. At this point, Naya had learned Outside, which I used because this dungeon ate away my stat pools.
With a group of three, we might be able to head northeast now. Before, strong monsters would attack us, and we couldn't do anything about them. Just north is a large castle. We've heard from a few NPCs that this area has recently undergone a royal shakeup. The previous King was deposed and replaced by someone named Balzack. There's that terrible name again... All the doors in the courtyard are locked, but Orin can break locks. This lets us explore around. The only thing to find is the consul in his room. He's loyal to the current liege, who no one can seem to find. Another soldier informs us the consul is jittery and will run to the King if he's ever scared. An old man in the jail cell once terrified him with a gunpowder explosion... With nothing else to do, leave the castle.
We can go one of two ways now. North is the port city of Haville. We can buy new gear, which is be needed. We can also see a ship in the docks, but getting a Boarding Pass has been made harder with Balzack being a tyrant. But a few of the townsfolk give us a clue to the other way we could have gone. Far to the west is the mining village of Akemto. The people say this is a cursed village, and it seems to be. Skeletons lie in a house to the northwest, and the northeastern hut is filled with sick miners. The mines have been overrun with monsters, and toxic gas is emanating from it. But many stay around, lured in by their lust for gold. At the bottom is the gunpowder jar we'll need. There's not much to speak of down here, but the mobs are incredibly hard for how fragile our characters are. I have the best armor I can get now, but having less than 50 HP, still gives them the advantage. If you need to train, and you will, the area around Haville is a great place. Monsters can attack in formations of five or more, and a combined effort of Maya's Infernos and Naya's Fireball can wipe them in one round. Sometimes, you'll even run into slimes that form into king slime! Getting gold is very easy up here. At the end of the mines, Naya learned Return, so I can go wherever she's been before. And with the gunpowder in hand, return to Keelon Castle.
Enter that random hallway next to the consul's room and light the powder. It'll go off, and the consul will leave his room, turn around to lock it, and we can follow him to his King. I acted as this was a stealth mission, similar to Taloon's trip to jail cells last night. We'll see the consul open a hidden doorway, and we use that now.
Inside is the Balzack on his throne. He remembers who we are, and he tells us he killed Edgar because Ed wanted nothing to do with the Theory of Evolution. Apparently, it's made Balzack stronger, so he attacks us. Balzack can devastate our party with his normal attacks, but that's not his deadliest attack. His Fireball can hit for 20 damage. Defensively, we can't harm him with fire magic, and the Sap spell isn't effective. To make things worse, he can fully heal himself. So, to prevent all this, use the Sphere of Silence. It severely weakens him and removes his magic. Naya should use Sap on him (twice), and we can go to town on him from there. Physical attacks did more damage because we lowered his defense, but I don't think there's much difference otherwise. Balzack's basic blows can still hurt, so make sure Maya always has a Heal if you get to around twenty HP. He's pretty easy once you've used the Orb on him.
We'll win, but our victory will be short lived. Another man will teleport in behind Balzack and yell at him. Balz will defend himself, and our new friend will tell him that he can't die yet and speak of a man named Saro... To prevent us from getting our vengeance, he attacks us.
I didn't last long enough to get his name, but we were supposed to lose. We'll wake up in the jail beneath the castle alongside an old man. All we can do is talk to the man, and he'll tell us there's no hope for him anyway. He tells us he has a Boarding Pass in the room to the south of us, which also leads to the way out of jail. Who designed this prison? As we enter the courtyard, soldiers from the castle will come after us. Despite not needing to because we know Return, Orin stays back to buy us time to escape. We make use of it and Return to Haville. With the old man's Boarding Pass, we can board the ship to Endor. As the boat leaves the dock, another scene that pushes the NES hardware plays, and we're automatically sent to the center of the world, Endor. As we enter, this chapter ends with us not getting our vengeance.
I actually enjoyed tonight. It was a short chapter, but that's probably for the best. After the debacle last night, I needed it. Maya and Naya aren't bland attackers, so anything to shake it up is great. It's hard to tell the difference between their skills and Cris and Bray, though. Better attack stats, I guess? Either way, they're on the team when we play tomorrow and finally get to meet the Chosen Hero.
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