This desert sucks.
We met with Ioden at the bridge and continued on into a desert. But first, a village! There's no weapons/armor shop here, but there's a house on the southeast. Inside ate two wounded soldiers. The gist is they were attacked by Felix and crew in the middle of the massive sandstorm. The soldiers were guarding someone named Sheba, but she was nowhere to be found. From here, let's go into a sandstorm!
This isn't hard, but it sure is long. Sulhalla Desert is an attrition dungeon, more than anything, because of the number of minibosses and optional, genuine bosses. There are several small crevices along the way, and each is guarded by a sandstorm. The villagers informed us that water affected the storms, so get your Douse Psy ready! Each time you approach the whirlwind, use Douse to fight the creature who spawned it. Tornado Lizards can do a lot of damage, being able to attack twice a round, but they'll only last two or three rounds. At the first fork, head right for a dead end with a great arm armor. There are two more tornado lizards, though. One is just before the djinn, so if you get chased by a tornado, go back and use Reveal. Follow the footsteps for a secret pillar. As for the Storm Lizard, he beat me up. I managed to win, but Garet was killed, and I have no idea how Ivan survived. He has the same tactics as the other lizard but is much stronger. Through the cave behind the djinn is a pink tornado. I didn't fight him out of fear. I was running low on HP and PP, so I just left. Apparently, this tornado takes you to that secret dungeon I didn't know about on the ship. But you need another Psy skill, so I'll be back.
Beyond this is a military checkpoint. Everyone is dying, though, because Felix attacked them. They say they'll live, but there's another down the path that isn't so lucky. The only other thing here is the Mercury djinn! The Venus Lighthouse is before us, but we'll tackle that...
... tomorrow!
I bothered to adjust my classes from the de facto default. Issac is a dragoon because why not. They can heal in this game. Mia is something that had access to Wish Well because I want more healing. Garet is a fast ruffian, and Ivan is in just his default stuff. I'll look into some things later. Everyone has their role and gid stats, but I'm not using two earth djinns...
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
A racing fight!
What a weird tournament.
Babi is waiting for us at the Collaso, and he's not at home. We can use a room to rest if you need to. There's no working inn in Tobil, so I enjoy the beds. It's treated like a big deal, but it's really not. Afterwards, had to the colosseum, and we'll get right into the fray.
Babi has allowed Issac to be the eighth participant in the tournament finals. Who was it supposed to be? Only Issac gets to participate, which upsets Garet. Everyone else gets to watch, though, and they can even cheat! We'll get a rundown on the rules from one of the guards. Issac has to run an obstacle course before the true fight begins. We have no items or equipment during this, so everything we'll be able to use must be found in the course. While we run the Ninja Warrior gauntlet, our allies can use their Psy powers to help us cross faster or reach useless items. It's actually kinda fun and different. I don't know if I've ever seen it before. How and where you deploy your cheatsy doodles are up to you. I'd suggest giving Issac Growth, though. The only equipable items on the course are at the very end, but you must reach them before your opponent. Otherwise, they'll take the good piece. There are three courses, each longer than the last, but none of the fights are tough if Issac can heal. They also suffer under the same rules. Ragnarok makes quick work of everyone. Last night, I noticed that the more djinns you use will allow you to summon different, stronger guys. I used four and went a little overkill with summoning Judgement. 650 damage was a bit too much. I didn't find this hard, but Issac collapsed in exhaustion at the end.
He wakes up sometime later. After some mild teasing from Garet, we go see our patron. This is a longer scene, so I'll make this fast.
- Babi is an old man who should have died a long time ago. The only reason he's alive is because of that potion/draught we collected for him last night. This explains how we help found Lumpa with the grandfather of the current leader.
- During a flood, Babi was washed out to sea and came to the City of Lemuria, an ancient civilization. He found the potion and was given a boat that runs on Psy to return home. He's been looking to return to the city for information and because he's running out of the draught. But no ship has found the city.
- You can apparently see it from the Babi Lighthouse to the south, but currents prevent ships from venturing out, the city hides itself from one's vision.
- As you'd guess, Babi wants us to make him immortal. I (the player) am getting bad vibes from him, so I try to turn him down. We haven't seen Saturo and Menardi in a while, after all. Alas, Babi has something to do at the nearby Venus Lighthouse.
- Babi's assistant, Iodem, will meet us later, and we all go to do this stuff.
But not me. Speak to Babi in his bed, and we'll get that Cloak Ball he used to make himself invisible. After, hug the southern coast of the sea until you reach a cave. Make your way through it, and you'll end up south of Kalay. We can now save Master Hammet! The Cloak Ball only works in shadows, so avoid the light. This is a lengthy maze, but there are only a few random encounters towards the end. Sneak your way through until you need to Catch a key. This'll open up the cells, opening up paths back. A few times, you'll have to do battle with a few of the gang members, but they're nothing to fear. Eventually, Ivan will need to Whirlwind away a few vines. At the end of this cave is Master Hammet.
Eventually, Dodompa, the boss, shows up and summons his pet! This guy can bring our HP to one, so expect a lot of healing. I overdid the level four summons again, which went pretty well. He's weak to fire, it seems. I got 900 EXP! The boss falls onto his boss, which leads to an embarrassing scene for the great baddie. We all laugh at him until his dad shows up. Dompa is on our side, and he makes sure his son will change. Donpa frees Hammet, and the city prepares for peace...eventually.
From here, some convoluted stuff happens that probably makes sense if this were to happen in real life. Dompa asks us to sneak out, which is done automatically, and we have to leave via the cave again. As we exit, we notice we're being followed. Fortunately, it's a friend of Hammet. Out of fear of Dodonpa's lackeys, we all sneak into a wagon until we get to Kalay. Hammet uses a secret entrance to return home, and we go through the front. Hammet and Layana ate together, but the missus is upset. She told us not to waste our time on one guy with the world in peril. She means well, I guess, so we get right back on our path. Before leaving, Layana tells us to go to the western continent. But, before that, we finally get to climb another lighthouse...
... tomorrow!
I'm really enjoying the game, but I kinda hate writing about it.
Babi is waiting for us at the Collaso, and he's not at home. We can use a room to rest if you need to. There's no working inn in Tobil, so I enjoy the beds. It's treated like a big deal, but it's really not. Afterwards, had to the colosseum, and we'll get right into the fray.
Babi has allowed Issac to be the eighth participant in the tournament finals. Who was it supposed to be? Only Issac gets to participate, which upsets Garet. Everyone else gets to watch, though, and they can even cheat! We'll get a rundown on the rules from one of the guards. Issac has to run an obstacle course before the true fight begins. We have no items or equipment during this, so everything we'll be able to use must be found in the course. While we run the Ninja Warrior gauntlet, our allies can use their Psy powers to help us cross faster or reach useless items. It's actually kinda fun and different. I don't know if I've ever seen it before. How and where you deploy your cheatsy doodles are up to you. I'd suggest giving Issac Growth, though. The only equipable items on the course are at the very end, but you must reach them before your opponent. Otherwise, they'll take the good piece. There are three courses, each longer than the last, but none of the fights are tough if Issac can heal. They also suffer under the same rules. Ragnarok makes quick work of everyone. Last night, I noticed that the more djinns you use will allow you to summon different, stronger guys. I used four and went a little overkill with summoning Judgement. 650 damage was a bit too much. I didn't find this hard, but Issac collapsed in exhaustion at the end.
He wakes up sometime later. After some mild teasing from Garet, we go see our patron. This is a longer scene, so I'll make this fast.
- Babi is an old man who should have died a long time ago. The only reason he's alive is because of that potion/draught we collected for him last night. This explains how we help found Lumpa with the grandfather of the current leader.
- During a flood, Babi was washed out to sea and came to the City of Lemuria, an ancient civilization. He found the potion and was given a boat that runs on Psy to return home. He's been looking to return to the city for information and because he's running out of the draught. But no ship has found the city.
- You can apparently see it from the Babi Lighthouse to the south, but currents prevent ships from venturing out, the city hides itself from one's vision.
- As you'd guess, Babi wants us to make him immortal. I (the player) am getting bad vibes from him, so I try to turn him down. We haven't seen Saturo and Menardi in a while, after all. Alas, Babi has something to do at the nearby Venus Lighthouse.
- Babi's assistant, Iodem, will meet us later, and we all go to do this stuff.
But not me. Speak to Babi in his bed, and we'll get that Cloak Ball he used to make himself invisible. After, hug the southern coast of the sea until you reach a cave. Make your way through it, and you'll end up south of Kalay. We can now save Master Hammet! The Cloak Ball only works in shadows, so avoid the light. This is a lengthy maze, but there are only a few random encounters towards the end. Sneak your way through until you need to Catch a key. This'll open up the cells, opening up paths back. A few times, you'll have to do battle with a few of the gang members, but they're nothing to fear. Eventually, Ivan will need to Whirlwind away a few vines. At the end of this cave is Master Hammet.
Eventually, Dodompa, the boss, shows up and summons his pet! This guy can bring our HP to one, so expect a lot of healing. I overdid the level four summons again, which went pretty well. He's weak to fire, it seems. I got 900 EXP! The boss falls onto his boss, which leads to an embarrassing scene for the great baddie. We all laugh at him until his dad shows up. Dompa is on our side, and he makes sure his son will change. Donpa frees Hammet, and the city prepares for peace...eventually.
From here, some convoluted stuff happens that probably makes sense if this were to happen in real life. Dompa asks us to sneak out, which is done automatically, and we have to leave via the cave again. As we exit, we notice we're being followed. Fortunately, it's a friend of Hammet. Out of fear of Dodonpa's lackeys, we all sneak into a wagon until we get to Kalay. Hammet uses a secret entrance to return home, and we go through the front. Hammet and Layana ate together, but the missus is upset. She told us not to waste our time on one guy with the world in peril. She means well, I guess, so we get right back on our path. Before leaving, Layana tells us to go to the western continent. But, before that, we finally get to climb another lighthouse...
... tomorrow!
I'm really enjoying the game, but I kinda hate writing about it.
Monday, August 29, 2022
Sailing the seas sucks.
We can't save Ivan's father figure person, so let's find the Kalay Docks.
There's a tour group that needs to be at the docks, so talk to everyone in Kalay until a scene plays when you try to leave. You'll find these randos here. Like before, the Silk Road is blocked. This time, though, there's another way around. We can take a boat across the sea, but there are some issues. It's not safe at all. Fortunately, capitalism is fueled with blood, so the captain is okay with setting sail. He and his crew discuss staying home, and one of the sailors concocts a plan to prevent us from being attacked. The captain has a memento that he believes will make us invincible. If that's stolen, though...
It works, but we're dumb. Read the suspicious guy's mind to learn the hiding spot, and we'll ship off. But there's still a problem. If we do get attacked, who's going to defend everyone? The tour group has two people, Sean and Ouranos, who volunteer to protect the deck. Without us even bringing it up, Sean sees that we're strong warriors. He suggests we defend the oarsmen in the hull. Issac, lacking a personality, is down. Plan C is also formed. If we suck, we'll need to convince the tour group to fill in.
This part is awful. It's boring, repetitive, and nonsensical. From here, we'll begin to sail across the sea. Along the way, we'll be attacked several times. Every time, somehow, monsters always make it to the oarsmen, knocking one out. We'll have to have a civilian row, but it doesn't matter who we pick. I don't see a point with it, nor did I see why we had to have the same scene every time. The fourth time we get attacked will be by a Kraken!
This guy was pretty hard. He's weak to fire but primarily uses AoE attacks and debuffs. Mia had to use Wish every turn, and we still nearly got wiped. Kraken can attack twice in one turn as well, and his single target move can do nearly 300 HP if it's focused. He's weak to fire, and physical attacks worked better than magic. After this, we'll make it to Tobil!
But I didn't go there. I saw a djinn on the other side of the landslide in Kalay. The way to reach this guy is to walk about the sea and enter the docks from the north. After this, I still didn't go to Tobil. There's a cave to the northwest called Altavista Cave. The gimmick here is it's dark, and we can only see via torches and Ivan's Reveal. As you'd expect, this is confounded by being a long maze. This is the longest dungeon so far, I think. About halfway through is a strange sight. Uh... "sight." It's an invisible man! He convinces us to find his magical drink thing at the bottom of the cave, so there's a plot reason to be here. The log puzzle below confused me because a pillar blended in with the rolling logs. But I got the djinn! This was the second time the graphical contrast failed tonight. Anyway, get the potion and return it to the guy.
It's Babi, the ruler of Tobil. He's famous is Lumpa. He's down here searching for a way to become immortal and is looking for Lemurians, an ancient civilization. Some things are said, and Garet recalls Kraden's words about Alchemy. Babi knows Kraden, so there's a fun connection. Before we can speak more, Babi's retainers enter the dungeon. The entire city is worried about its ruler, and the Collaso Tournament has been postponed. Apparently, we never had a chance to enter it, even if we went to the city first.
From here, I got another random encounter djinn and visited the shops in Tobil. I found where to spend all those Spin Tickets thingys. It's a slot machine mini game, and I hate gambling. There's more here with these Lucky Medals, but that's for later.Let's see how Babi will let us advance to the finals of the tournament...
... tomorrow!
If you mess up the stupid rowing part, you can find a secret dungeon. There's a djinn there, so I'm suddenly annoyed.
There's a tour group that needs to be at the docks, so talk to everyone in Kalay until a scene plays when you try to leave. You'll find these randos here. Like before, the Silk Road is blocked. This time, though, there's another way around. We can take a boat across the sea, but there are some issues. It's not safe at all. Fortunately, capitalism is fueled with blood, so the captain is okay with setting sail. He and his crew discuss staying home, and one of the sailors concocts a plan to prevent us from being attacked. The captain has a memento that he believes will make us invincible. If that's stolen, though...
It works, but we're dumb. Read the suspicious guy's mind to learn the hiding spot, and we'll ship off. But there's still a problem. If we do get attacked, who's going to defend everyone? The tour group has two people, Sean and Ouranos, who volunteer to protect the deck. Without us even bringing it up, Sean sees that we're strong warriors. He suggests we defend the oarsmen in the hull. Issac, lacking a personality, is down. Plan C is also formed. If we suck, we'll need to convince the tour group to fill in.
This part is awful. It's boring, repetitive, and nonsensical. From here, we'll begin to sail across the sea. Along the way, we'll be attacked several times. Every time, somehow, monsters always make it to the oarsmen, knocking one out. We'll have to have a civilian row, but it doesn't matter who we pick. I don't see a point with it, nor did I see why we had to have the same scene every time. The fourth time we get attacked will be by a Kraken!
This guy was pretty hard. He's weak to fire but primarily uses AoE attacks and debuffs. Mia had to use Wish every turn, and we still nearly got wiped. Kraken can attack twice in one turn as well, and his single target move can do nearly 300 HP if it's focused. He's weak to fire, and physical attacks worked better than magic. After this, we'll make it to Tobil!
But I didn't go there. I saw a djinn on the other side of the landslide in Kalay. The way to reach this guy is to walk about the sea and enter the docks from the north. After this, I still didn't go to Tobil. There's a cave to the northwest called Altavista Cave. The gimmick here is it's dark, and we can only see via torches and Ivan's Reveal. As you'd expect, this is confounded by being a long maze. This is the longest dungeon so far, I think. About halfway through is a strange sight. Uh... "sight." It's an invisible man! He convinces us to find his magical drink thing at the bottom of the cave, so there's a plot reason to be here. The log puzzle below confused me because a pillar blended in with the rolling logs. But I got the djinn! This was the second time the graphical contrast failed tonight. Anyway, get the potion and return it to the guy.
It's Babi, the ruler of Tobil. He's famous is Lumpa. He's down here searching for a way to become immortal and is looking for Lemurians, an ancient civilization. Some things are said, and Garet recalls Kraden's words about Alchemy. Babi knows Kraden, so there's a fun connection. Before we can speak more, Babi's retainers enter the dungeon. The entire city is worried about its ruler, and the Collaso Tournament has been postponed. Apparently, we never had a chance to enter it, even if we went to the city first.
From here, I got another random encounter djinn and visited the shops in Tobil. I found where to spend all those Spin Tickets thingys. It's a slot machine mini game, and I hate gambling. There's more here with these Lucky Medals, but that's for later.Let's see how Babi will let us advance to the finals of the tournament...
... tomorrow!
If you mess up the stupid rowing part, you can find a secret dungeon. There's a djinn there, so I'm suddenly annoyed.
Saturday, August 27, 2022
Home again
Let's save a dude first.
The Lama Temple is another Buddhist inspired place. The reason to come here is to speak to the head priest, Master Hama. She's a woman with purple hair and the ability to see the future. She knows our names and why we came here. She's also got a connection to Ivan (not Vlad). As a fellow Jupiter adept, Hama considers teaching Ivan the Psyenergy Reveal. However, she recalls a time when she failed to do so before. Nothing bad happened, and no one died, but Hama doesn't like to waste time. Suddenly, the runaway, Feishi, enters the room. She's the one Hama tried to teach Reveal too, but the results, as we learn now, only just showed up. Feishi is here to save Hzu. Some things are said, implicating Saturno and Menardi for the landslide blocking the Slik Road, and the two go off to find him. Before leaving, Hama teaches Ivan Reveal.
This will allow us to see invisible things in the area, such as hidden items. Its primary purpose is to reveal oases in the upcoming desert to help us get through. Without Reveal, we'd take damage in the "evil" sands as we pass through. It also shows us hidden mobs, antlions, and even a djinn! There's also a treasure under a rock east of the tower. Alternatively, we can help save Hzu. Head to the Silk Road and Reveal a hidden door. Follow the path and Lift the boulder off the ugly guy. I don't remember if we're rewarded monetarily for this, but the road back to Xian is available. We can return to Hama, and the party tried to encourage Ivan to discuss how Hama knows him more. He doesn't want to, though...
The Lamakin Desert isn't a big deal once you have Reveal. Use the spell near the middle of rock circles to find what you're looking for. Don't stand directly in the middle, as it might be a trap. The antlions aren't too tough, but they give great rewards. This might be one of the best grind spots since they respawn every time you use Reveal. You will need Reveal for the djinn AND to find the exit. It'll be hidden behind a sand fall, guarded by a manticore. I don't remember how I beat him, but I think Ice and Whirlwind worked well.
We'll exit to the world map in an area that resembles Vault. Rivers make this area a maze, but make sure to find the djinn in another random peninsula. West of this is the merchant town of Kalay. This is where Ivan grew up, and is the place Master Hammet wanted to return to but couldn't. As expected, Hammet isn't back. We can further this by speaking to his wife, Layanna. She's sent the ransom money, but he still isn't back. In fact, Ivan's homecoming encouraged everyone to think Hammet was home too. The soldiers of the town want to rush Lunpa, but Layanna is afraid that might end up with the thieves killing Hammet. We ask if we can do anything, and we'll be told no. Layanna also knows of our mission, and we learn a lot about Ivan.
Long ago, Hammet was a failing merchant until he saved people from Vale out in the world. One of them told him a prophecy of Issac's mission and how this random kid would be involved in it. For reasons I didn't understand, Hammet took Ivan and the staff and raised him. He was also told about silk and built his town on that. Layanna wants us to save to world and not her husband.
But I think we can ignore her! The bridge to Vault is repaired, so we can go there to see how everyone has changed. The thieves are gone, but we can find a djinn. Ring the bell on the north guard tower and use Reveal near the dog to find a cave. Vault Cave is a fairly long dungeon that'll test our mastery of our Psys. Freeze, Wind, Lift, and Push are all needed. The dumbest puzzle so far is down here, though. We'll have to push a pillar with a flame on it through a dripping cave. We'll need to time it just right, but the timing is so precise that it's almost unfair. I also think it's optional, though, and you can Retreat to ignore it. Enjoy your djinn.
But since we're nearby, let's go back to Vale. Garet's family is shocked but glad to see him. It's a short lived reunion, but it's touching nonetheless. Dora, however, has fallen ill. She tries to say it's just a cold, but she's coughing a lot. She scolds us for breaking our promise to never return until we've saved the world, but oh well. There's another djinn here!
There's a cave behind Kraden's house that we'll need to use Lift to reach. The puzzles are fun and got me thinking for a bit, but they weren't obnoxious. I have to say, these puzzles are the best aspect of GS. In the back is another djinn and the Halt Psyenergy. Use Halt to catch the djinn, and carry on. We'll try to save Kirk Hammet...
... tomorrow!
It's an Ivan arc, I guess. He's my least favorite character so far, so maybe this'll change. It's not that I hate him; he's just...there.
The Lama Temple is another Buddhist inspired place. The reason to come here is to speak to the head priest, Master Hama. She's a woman with purple hair and the ability to see the future. She knows our names and why we came here. She's also got a connection to Ivan (not Vlad). As a fellow Jupiter adept, Hama considers teaching Ivan the Psyenergy Reveal. However, she recalls a time when she failed to do so before. Nothing bad happened, and no one died, but Hama doesn't like to waste time. Suddenly, the runaway, Feishi, enters the room. She's the one Hama tried to teach Reveal too, but the results, as we learn now, only just showed up. Feishi is here to save Hzu. Some things are said, implicating Saturno and Menardi for the landslide blocking the Slik Road, and the two go off to find him. Before leaving, Hama teaches Ivan Reveal.
This will allow us to see invisible things in the area, such as hidden items. Its primary purpose is to reveal oases in the upcoming desert to help us get through. Without Reveal, we'd take damage in the "evil" sands as we pass through. It also shows us hidden mobs, antlions, and even a djinn! There's also a treasure under a rock east of the tower. Alternatively, we can help save Hzu. Head to the Silk Road and Reveal a hidden door. Follow the path and Lift the boulder off the ugly guy. I don't remember if we're rewarded monetarily for this, but the road back to Xian is available. We can return to Hama, and the party tried to encourage Ivan to discuss how Hama knows him more. He doesn't want to, though...
The Lamakin Desert isn't a big deal once you have Reveal. Use the spell near the middle of rock circles to find what you're looking for. Don't stand directly in the middle, as it might be a trap. The antlions aren't too tough, but they give great rewards. This might be one of the best grind spots since they respawn every time you use Reveal. You will need Reveal for the djinn AND to find the exit. It'll be hidden behind a sand fall, guarded by a manticore. I don't remember how I beat him, but I think Ice and Whirlwind worked well.
We'll exit to the world map in an area that resembles Vault. Rivers make this area a maze, but make sure to find the djinn in another random peninsula. West of this is the merchant town of Kalay. This is where Ivan grew up, and is the place Master Hammet wanted to return to but couldn't. As expected, Hammet isn't back. We can further this by speaking to his wife, Layanna. She's sent the ransom money, but he still isn't back. In fact, Ivan's homecoming encouraged everyone to think Hammet was home too. The soldiers of the town want to rush Lunpa, but Layanna is afraid that might end up with the thieves killing Hammet. We ask if we can do anything, and we'll be told no. Layanna also knows of our mission, and we learn a lot about Ivan.
Long ago, Hammet was a failing merchant until he saved people from Vale out in the world. One of them told him a prophecy of Issac's mission and how this random kid would be involved in it. For reasons I didn't understand, Hammet took Ivan and the staff and raised him. He was also told about silk and built his town on that. Layanna wants us to save to world and not her husband.
But I think we can ignore her! The bridge to Vault is repaired, so we can go there to see how everyone has changed. The thieves are gone, but we can find a djinn. Ring the bell on the north guard tower and use Reveal near the dog to find a cave. Vault Cave is a fairly long dungeon that'll test our mastery of our Psys. Freeze, Wind, Lift, and Push are all needed. The dumbest puzzle so far is down here, though. We'll have to push a pillar with a flame on it through a dripping cave. We'll need to time it just right, but the timing is so precise that it's almost unfair. I also think it's optional, though, and you can Retreat to ignore it. Enjoy your djinn.
But since we're nearby, let's go back to Vale. Garet's family is shocked but glad to see him. It's a short lived reunion, but it's touching nonetheless. Dora, however, has fallen ill. She tries to say it's just a cold, but she's coughing a lot. She scolds us for breaking our promise to never return until we've saved the world, but oh well. There's another djinn here!
There's a cave behind Kraden's house that we'll need to use Lift to reach. The puzzles are fun and got me thinking for a bit, but they weren't obnoxious. I have to say, these puzzles are the best aspect of GS. In the back is another djinn and the Halt Psyenergy. Use Halt to catch the djinn, and carry on. We'll try to save Kirk Hammet...
... tomorrow!
It's an Ivan arc, I guess. He's my least favorite character so far, so maybe this'll change. It's not that I hate him; he's just...there.
Friday, August 26, 2022
Monster Vomit
Weeeeeeee!
The runaway girl with the name I'll never be able to pronounce doesn't really care about us. We'll see her again along the Silk Road, but it's mostly to point out the block in the road. She thinks her boyfriend is on the otherside but can't get past it. So we'll keep going north!
This is the mining town of Altin. Most of the village is flooded, and we'll see why in a moment. There are mobs that are vomiting water into the mine. We'll chase the first one in a nearby cave. After a quick chase, we'll finally beat up a statue. We've been pushing them the whole game, but this is the first we've beaten up. They use a lot of AoE water magic, but they're also pretty fragile. This guy teaches us how to use Freeze without the proper djinn setup, which'll be helpful in the future.
From here, we make our way through two more mine floors chasing the same things. The gimmick of this place is we'll need to navigate a few minecart tracks to reach the guardian statues and a djinn. There's only one switch per track, so this isn't an unbearable task. This place feels like a massive maze, but there's only one path forward until you "drain" the waters. Every time you slay a statue, the water level in town drops, opening up more shops and NPCs. It also opens up more places to explore in the dungeon. The inn is always available, though.
At the very bottom is a flashy, smooth stoned alter. On it is another giant guardian statue. Its attacks are similar to the small fries but with boss like attributes. If you go into the fight at full HP, then Vlad won't die in the second round. Be prepared to heal. The best plan would be to make sure you have every djinn. I skipped over the random encounter one you find on a random peninsula north of Xian. Getting that and the one in the mines will allow Mia to equip four Mercury djinns and learn a team wide heal. Defiantly worth getting and resetting the neat setup I had.
Afterwards, the team wonders why the statues would begin moving on their own. No one says anything, but I assume it's because of the Psy stones. Behind the boss is a chest that contains the Lift Psyenergy. This allows us to lift certain rocks in our way. None of which are by th runaway girl. Retreat to the entrance of the last cave and head back in. We can now move stones to go deeper in. Follow the path until you get to the world map. We're on the otherside of the mountain from Altin. Trying to get past the pass lets us see a guy trapped under a rock. We can't help him, so good luck, bud. We're outside Lama Temple, so I'll learn some Buddhist stuff...
.. tomorrow!
I tried to skip ahead, but there's a desert to the south. All of my teammates kept complaining about the heat, so I just came back. All I wanted were more djinns!
The runaway girl with the name I'll never be able to pronounce doesn't really care about us. We'll see her again along the Silk Road, but it's mostly to point out the block in the road. She thinks her boyfriend is on the otherside but can't get past it. So we'll keep going north!
This is the mining town of Altin. Most of the village is flooded, and we'll see why in a moment. There are mobs that are vomiting water into the mine. We'll chase the first one in a nearby cave. After a quick chase, we'll finally beat up a statue. We've been pushing them the whole game, but this is the first we've beaten up. They use a lot of AoE water magic, but they're also pretty fragile. This guy teaches us how to use Freeze without the proper djinn setup, which'll be helpful in the future.
From here, we make our way through two more mine floors chasing the same things. The gimmick of this place is we'll need to navigate a few minecart tracks to reach the guardian statues and a djinn. There's only one switch per track, so this isn't an unbearable task. This place feels like a massive maze, but there's only one path forward until you "drain" the waters. Every time you slay a statue, the water level in town drops, opening up more shops and NPCs. It also opens up more places to explore in the dungeon. The inn is always available, though.
At the very bottom is a flashy, smooth stoned alter. On it is another giant guardian statue. Its attacks are similar to the small fries but with boss like attributes. If you go into the fight at full HP, then Vlad won't die in the second round. Be prepared to heal. The best plan would be to make sure you have every djinn. I skipped over the random encounter one you find on a random peninsula north of Xian. Getting that and the one in the mines will allow Mia to equip four Mercury djinns and learn a team wide heal. Defiantly worth getting and resetting the neat setup I had.
Afterwards, the team wonders why the statues would begin moving on their own. No one says anything, but I assume it's because of the Psy stones. Behind the boss is a chest that contains the Lift Psyenergy. This allows us to lift certain rocks in our way. None of which are by th runaway girl. Retreat to the entrance of the last cave and head back in. We can now move stones to go deeper in. Follow the path until you get to the world map. We're on the otherside of the mountain from Altin. Trying to get past the pass lets us see a guy trapped under a rock. We can't help him, so good luck, bud. We're outside Lama Temple, so I'll learn some Buddhist stuff...
.. tomorrow!
I tried to skip ahead, but there's a desert to the south. All of my teammates kept complaining about the heat, so I just came back. All I wanted were more djinns!
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Fuchin'
Get that big nut from the kids! McCoy also had a reward for you. I chose the fourth chest.
But now we need to wrap around the river. We'll cross a bridge that the operator thinks is special, and then we'll find an eastern temple. This is Fuchin Temple, and it's an optional place. It's still worth doing, though.
Several people tell us this is a place where adherents learn about ki, an energy source similar, but different to, Psy. If we want everything here, we'll need to read the head monk's mind. He notices and thinks we can succeed in the trials of the temple. He'll give us access to the Falls Cave, which is pretty fun! The main puzzle involves rolling water logged logs like an old timey lumberjack. The goal is to find the Dragon's Eye and place it in the statue to reveal an invisible bridge. Cross it by the left side of the room. Along the way, we'll find the Arctic Blade, which gives a huge increase to attack, and a Jupiter djinn. The "biggest" reward is the Psyenergy skill Force. This attacks things from range, but the hit detection sucks and is optional. It's supposed to help us get through the next dungeon.
Speaking of which, Mogall Forest is to the south. It's a Lost Forest thing, but we can find a "guide" using Force. Use it on the tree stumps to scare off an ape. It'll "show" us the proper way, or at least a way to treasure. But the repeating ends aren't too far off, so this is more tedious than just pathfinding. At least two times down here, you'll need to use Move on a rock to push a log. One leads to a Venus djinn that can be used as a revive. Another is a shirt that boosts agility for a mage! Before we leave, we'll have to get through a giant ape. He's one of the easiest bosses so far, though.
Further down the river is the town of Xian. It's based on Chinese culture and is dedicated to kung fu. To get the Mercury djinn, have the water girl drop her bucket near the second door she'll walk past. You can find a Pay called Frost to freeze it, making a pillar to jump on. There's a kung fu house nearby this. We can show off our Psy by using Force on a tree. This'll shock everyone, and they'll want to tell their boss. He's a bit busy, though. His daughter believes a friend of hers is in danger. She was hit by a Psy stone and has gotten powers of prophecy. Despite this, her dad doesn't believe her, but she runs off anyway. It's not a big deal.
The master is surprised that the tree is knocked down, and he gives a detailed speech about the difference between Chi and Ki. One's from the body, and the other is from the spirit. Anyway, we're done here. The runaway is waiting at the exit, so I guess I'll have to save her boyfriend...
... tomorrow!
How would this scene play without Force?
But now we need to wrap around the river. We'll cross a bridge that the operator thinks is special, and then we'll find an eastern temple. This is Fuchin Temple, and it's an optional place. It's still worth doing, though.
Several people tell us this is a place where adherents learn about ki, an energy source similar, but different to, Psy. If we want everything here, we'll need to read the head monk's mind. He notices and thinks we can succeed in the trials of the temple. He'll give us access to the Falls Cave, which is pretty fun! The main puzzle involves rolling water logged logs like an old timey lumberjack. The goal is to find the Dragon's Eye and place it in the statue to reveal an invisible bridge. Cross it by the left side of the room. Along the way, we'll find the Arctic Blade, which gives a huge increase to attack, and a Jupiter djinn. The "biggest" reward is the Psyenergy skill Force. This attacks things from range, but the hit detection sucks and is optional. It's supposed to help us get through the next dungeon.
Speaking of which, Mogall Forest is to the south. It's a Lost Forest thing, but we can find a "guide" using Force. Use it on the tree stumps to scare off an ape. It'll "show" us the proper way, or at least a way to treasure. But the repeating ends aren't too far off, so this is more tedious than just pathfinding. At least two times down here, you'll need to use Move on a rock to push a log. One leads to a Venus djinn that can be used as a revive. Another is a shirt that boosts agility for a mage! Before we leave, we'll have to get through a giant ape. He's one of the easiest bosses so far, though.
Further down the river is the town of Xian. It's based on Chinese culture and is dedicated to kung fu. To get the Mercury djinn, have the water girl drop her bucket near the second door she'll walk past. You can find a Pay called Frost to freeze it, making a pillar to jump on. There's a kung fu house nearby this. We can show off our Psy by using Force on a tree. This'll shock everyone, and they'll want to tell their boss. He's a bit busy, though. His daughter believes a friend of hers is in danger. She was hit by a Psy stone and has gotten powers of prophecy. Despite this, her dad doesn't believe her, but she runs off anyway. It's not a big deal.
The master is surprised that the tree is knocked down, and he gives a detailed speech about the difference between Chi and Ki. One's from the body, and the other is from the spirit. Anyway, we're done here. The runaway is waiting at the exit, so I guess I'll have to save her boyfriend...
... tomorrow!
How would this scene play without Force?
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Vengeance
Victory! Victory! Victory!
So I left the Mercury Lighthouse and went all the way back to town. There's a cave with another djinn on it that I used to make Issac stronger. Then I kept backtracking. I went past the useless barricade and found a town filled with trees. I'll discuss this later, but I got another djinn in the garden via the secret entrance behind the tree stump house. Using our two new friends, new gear, and an additional level or two, I climbed back up the lighthouse. I prayed before the statue to make the waterfall go up and took it to the beacon. The same scene happened, but I noticed Saturno said he's weak.
He sure didn't feel weak. Saturno likes to use fire attacks. His AoE can hit three people for a good chunk of damage, and he's got a single target move that isn't so bad. Vlad is very fragile, so heal him if he's struck. I probably should have put him at the end of the line to prevent him from being hit by every AoE. Everyone else is pretty okay. He's weak to water, so maybe don't give Mia all your water djinns? We'll be here a long time, so don't hesitate to heal. I managed to win just as Vlad ran out of MP, but I barely summoned. For some reason, Mia's MP is always full.
After forever, we'll finally win. Satuos falls down, and the team wonders what we'll do now. Just then, we'll hear another voice. Alex appears from behind the beacon, and Mia is shocked. Alex is her brother! After a lengthy conversation, Alex says he sealed a power here, but it's brushed aside. What power did he seal? I (the player) begin to wonder if these guys are the evil ones or if there's something else going on behind the scenes. He then tells us this conversation was to buy time for Saturn to recover. Saturn gets up and complains about the lighthouse. Being an Ares adept means he's weakened by the Mercury activation. This also explains why Mia's MP kept being restored. Issac whats to finish off our enemy, but they leave. Alex asks if we still have the Area Star, but I lie and say no.
We eventually return to the ground floor with Mia as a part of our group. I think she wants to follow her brother. Everyone else is concerned about Imel losing its healer, but the Waters of Hermes is flowing again, and villagers are drinking it to heal up. This happens because the lighthouse is active, which makes me think even harder that Alex and crew are the good guys. We say farewell to Mia's friends at the church and go to Kolima. Before doing so, though, find a water bottle in town. I think one's in a box somewhere. Fill that up at the Water of Hermes.
As expected, everyone is a tree. We ponder it until Mia notices the glowing stuff on the ground. Suddenly, everything's color changes as our bodies become paralyzed. More shiny things begin to fall around us, and the party panics. A blue forcefield surrounds the team and prevents our transformation. When it's over, we slowly regain our movement and wonder if that was a side effect/passive of Psyenergy. The scene plays out again, but we consciously summon the barrier this time. Two voices yell at us for being immune to their power. Tret and Laurel are mad that the good King Tret has withered away for a stupid house. He's become mad and wants revenge before he dies. So if we want to cure Kolima, we'll need to find the latent kind Tret again.
North of the village is the Kolima Forest. Because we got strong in the lighthouse, none of the mobs are a threat. What we need to worry about is making paths. Many fallen trees block our path, felled because the forest is dying. Most of these are pretty simple, but there's one that's deceptively hard. You have to open a dam to drain the lake behind it. Doing so lets us push more trees around to form a path across the lake when we fill it back up. To get across, we only need to shove one. But there's a chest on the otherside that contains an armor that raises water resistance. Its base defense sucks, though, so I don't know if it's worth the headache. There are no random encounters in this area. Beyond this are the treants Laural and Tret.
Climb into Tret's head, and you'll come to the Great Deku Tree! We'll need to jump across stable spider webs and outside branches to climb up. Don't jump on the same golden thingy twice, or you'll plummet downward. There's a wind djinn on the second outside part, so we'll now have two of each! At the top, you'll need to fall to advance. Find the center point of the web and jump on it twice. You should have noticed a hole in the middle of every floor, which we'll now fall through to the roots system. Here are the remains of the kind Tret. Or not...
Tret's pretty easy. I don't think you're supposed to be here with four people and eight djinns. I think he's supposed to be vulnerable to wind, but he's definitely not fond of fire. After the battle, the angry Tret turns back into has true self. He thanks us for bringing him to his senses before he dies and tries to return the village to normal, but he's grown too weak. The face fades, and we return outside. If you have the Waters of Hermes, you can bring him back to life now. As thanks, he restores the villagers. He and Laurel inform us all this happened when Psystones fell from the sky. So this is kinda our fault... These stones responded to the treant's emotions, which caused the chaos. Laurel uses her powers to search for something. She tells us the river leads to an even worse forest down downstream. She'll ask us to save whatever is there, so there's our next destination. So I'll check out Kolima and Bilbin...
... tomorrow!
Why is the water named after Hernes? What does he have to do with liquid or healing? Either way, I saved a tree at the barricade, so I'm a hero!
So I left the Mercury Lighthouse and went all the way back to town. There's a cave with another djinn on it that I used to make Issac stronger. Then I kept backtracking. I went past the useless barricade and found a town filled with trees. I'll discuss this later, but I got another djinn in the garden via the secret entrance behind the tree stump house. Using our two new friends, new gear, and an additional level or two, I climbed back up the lighthouse. I prayed before the statue to make the waterfall go up and took it to the beacon. The same scene happened, but I noticed Saturno said he's weak.
He sure didn't feel weak. Saturno likes to use fire attacks. His AoE can hit three people for a good chunk of damage, and he's got a single target move that isn't so bad. Vlad is very fragile, so heal him if he's struck. I probably should have put him at the end of the line to prevent him from being hit by every AoE. Everyone else is pretty okay. He's weak to water, so maybe don't give Mia all your water djinns? We'll be here a long time, so don't hesitate to heal. I managed to win just as Vlad ran out of MP, but I barely summoned. For some reason, Mia's MP is always full.
After forever, we'll finally win. Satuos falls down, and the team wonders what we'll do now. Just then, we'll hear another voice. Alex appears from behind the beacon, and Mia is shocked. Alex is her brother! After a lengthy conversation, Alex says he sealed a power here, but it's brushed aside. What power did he seal? I (the player) begin to wonder if these guys are the evil ones or if there's something else going on behind the scenes. He then tells us this conversation was to buy time for Saturn to recover. Saturn gets up and complains about the lighthouse. Being an Ares adept means he's weakened by the Mercury activation. This also explains why Mia's MP kept being restored. Issac whats to finish off our enemy, but they leave. Alex asks if we still have the Area Star, but I lie and say no.
We eventually return to the ground floor with Mia as a part of our group. I think she wants to follow her brother. Everyone else is concerned about Imel losing its healer, but the Waters of Hermes is flowing again, and villagers are drinking it to heal up. This happens because the lighthouse is active, which makes me think even harder that Alex and crew are the good guys. We say farewell to Mia's friends at the church and go to Kolima. Before doing so, though, find a water bottle in town. I think one's in a box somewhere. Fill that up at the Water of Hermes.
As expected, everyone is a tree. We ponder it until Mia notices the glowing stuff on the ground. Suddenly, everything's color changes as our bodies become paralyzed. More shiny things begin to fall around us, and the party panics. A blue forcefield surrounds the team and prevents our transformation. When it's over, we slowly regain our movement and wonder if that was a side effect/passive of Psyenergy. The scene plays out again, but we consciously summon the barrier this time. Two voices yell at us for being immune to their power. Tret and Laurel are mad that the good King Tret has withered away for a stupid house. He's become mad and wants revenge before he dies. So if we want to cure Kolima, we'll need to find the latent kind Tret again.
North of the village is the Kolima Forest. Because we got strong in the lighthouse, none of the mobs are a threat. What we need to worry about is making paths. Many fallen trees block our path, felled because the forest is dying. Most of these are pretty simple, but there's one that's deceptively hard. You have to open a dam to drain the lake behind it. Doing so lets us push more trees around to form a path across the lake when we fill it back up. To get across, we only need to shove one. But there's a chest on the otherside that contains an armor that raises water resistance. Its base defense sucks, though, so I don't know if it's worth the headache. There are no random encounters in this area. Beyond this are the treants Laural and Tret.
Climb into Tret's head, and you'll come to the Great Deku Tree! We'll need to jump across stable spider webs and outside branches to climb up. Don't jump on the same golden thingy twice, or you'll plummet downward. There's a wind djinn on the second outside part, so we'll now have two of each! At the top, you'll need to fall to advance. Find the center point of the web and jump on it twice. You should have noticed a hole in the middle of every floor, which we'll now fall through to the roots system. Here are the remains of the kind Tret. Or not...
Tret's pretty easy. I don't think you're supposed to be here with four people and eight djinns. I think he's supposed to be vulnerable to wind, but he's definitely not fond of fire. After the battle, the angry Tret turns back into has true self. He thanks us for bringing him to his senses before he dies and tries to return the village to normal, but he's grown too weak. The face fades, and we return outside. If you have the Waters of Hermes, you can bring him back to life now. As thanks, he restores the villagers. He and Laurel inform us all this happened when Psystones fell from the sky. So this is kinda our fault... These stones responded to the treant's emotions, which caused the chaos. Laurel uses her powers to search for something. She tells us the river leads to an even worse forest down downstream. She'll ask us to save whatever is there, so there's our next destination. So I'll check out Kolima and Bilbin...
... tomorrow!
Why is the water named after Hernes? What does he have to do with liquid or healing? Either way, I saved a tree at the barricade, so I'm a hero!
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Sequence Break!
I should not have gone this far north.
We begin our exile with a tutorial. Just outside Vale is a strange creature. It's Flint, an earth djinn. He asks us to find the rest of his friends and teaches us how to utilize the powers of djinns. I don't fully understand it, but it seems important to use them more than I have been. I equip him to Issac because they're both earth guys.
Following the path south brings us to the village of Vault. Before we enter, though, a caravan leaves the town in a hurry. They're afraid of falling rocks, which I assume is the fault of Aleph. They try to go south to go home, but the bridge is out. The only alternate path is through bandit lands, which they take. Apparently, they had to leave a young apprentice named Vlad because a rod was stolen. The Vault townsfolk speak of a recent rash of robberies. Many believe the cause is the sketchy people hanging around town. In the mayor's house is the guy the merchants left, Vlad. He's looking to get the rod back but can't find the clues. He's also really bad at conversation.
(Un)Fortunately, he has a special power. Issac and Garet recognize that Vlad uses Psyenergy, a term he's never heard of, but they can't tell exactly what. The short of it is Vlad can read minds. He uses it too often and never learned to have actual conversations, so he comes off as being a creep all the time. But he knows what's going on, and we offer to find the Shaman's Rod, the rod Master Hammet, the merchant, lost. From here, we have to use Vlad's Mind Read Pay throughout the town. To do this, press select while hovering over it and select L or R to quick use it.
You can "speak" to everyone, including the dog, but the inn is our destination. There are two sketchy dudes upstairs, and they try to avoid us when we ask them about the robberies. When we leave the room, the group concocts a plan. Surround them in the back of the room, and Vlad will read their minds. It confirms they, and a third friend of theirs, are guilty. Vlad knows the items are in the inn somewhere but somehow missed the specifics. Anyway, leave the inn, and I noticed the ladder leading to the hole in the roof. Investigate, Move the bookcase, and free the bound man. After a long conversation, the three thieves realize the gig is up and attack.
Vlad has two strong AoE magic spells, which do great damage. Garet's fire is pretty good, too, and Issac's quake is okay enough. I don't think I needed to heal. We'll quickly dispatch them, and the random guy will get backup. The thieves are thrown into jail, and the items are recovered. The mayor tells us that Hammet has been captured by the bandits, so Vlad goes to free his master. Meanwhile, we need to find a lighthouse.
We can pass the bandit's hideout, but we can't do anything. Goma Cave is to the east, but we're stuck. We can move a few statues to get towards the cave, but one is stuck in the vines. Before we give up, Vlad shows up and blows away the entangled. He couldn't get into the hideout either. With nothing else to do, he joins us, and we all enter the cave. The cave is easy enough to navigate once you remember you can jump across small gaps... There's a room with a man in it who points out the djinn above us. There's a statue nearby that we should push to bridge the gap. A few screens later is when this "bridge" comes into play. Meet the Mars djinn, Forge! To get him, we'll need to fight! Go all out and heal afterwards. Any longer than two rounds is too long. The rest of the cave is a simple walk.
Near the exit is Bilbin. There's a strange tree at the entrance that Vlad can Mind Read... The other villagers speak of a curse brought on a nearby town because the local noblemen cut down the sacred forest. He did it to build his new wife a grand manor. We can talk to him to end the curse, but the Scottish McCoy doesn't want three youths to die. All the other knights he's sent have failed, and he can't have three kids in his conscious. As we leave, a guard suggests the wall that prevents people from trying to end the curse isn't that great of a wall...
But to hell the forest! What's north? Through a cave that slowly turns to ice are monsters that scare me. But I press on. I manage to reach Imil, the snow covered village. There's a sickness taking out the villagers, but the healer, Mia, is doing her best to prevent deaths. Speak to the old couple in the first house. The old man will begin to cough, and his wife asks us to get Mia. Head to the "church," and the little boy tells us Mia already left. Return to the couple, and we'll see Mia heal the sick with her strange form of Psy. It works! She sees that we saw the strange fairy and tells us her story. The Mercury Clan knows healing Pay and is in a similar situation to Vale. Before we talk more, a pink light shines across the room. Mia is scared and cries out for someone named Alex as she runs to the nearby lighthouse.
We have to help Mia take out a monster and bridge the gap before she officially joins us. She'll be two levels above us, so we shouldn't be here. Based on how hard the mobs hit, I absolutely think we shouldn't be here. From here, we make our way through the sacred tower by altering water currents through pipes and eventually jump on water. I even found another Mercury djinn! I really shouldn't be here, but I manage to make it to the top.
But we're too late. It's already been activated, and we see who did it. Felix. He's still holding Jenna and Kaiden hostage and is just about to leave. Menardi is upset we survived and wants to kill us before we become a thorn in their side. Saturos appears from behind the lighthouse pedestal to do the dirty work. While we fight, the rest take the elevator down. Saturn mocks us, and then he kills us. The battle went pretty well for us, but he uses a lot of AoE. We don't have the healing to counter that AND do damage, so we died. Maybe I'll try again
...tomorrow!
Maybe I'll go where I'm supposed to and end the curse of the tree people. Either way, great tun!
We begin our exile with a tutorial. Just outside Vale is a strange creature. It's Flint, an earth djinn. He asks us to find the rest of his friends and teaches us how to utilize the powers of djinns. I don't fully understand it, but it seems important to use them more than I have been. I equip him to Issac because they're both earth guys.
Following the path south brings us to the village of Vault. Before we enter, though, a caravan leaves the town in a hurry. They're afraid of falling rocks, which I assume is the fault of Aleph. They try to go south to go home, but the bridge is out. The only alternate path is through bandit lands, which they take. Apparently, they had to leave a young apprentice named Vlad because a rod was stolen. The Vault townsfolk speak of a recent rash of robberies. Many believe the cause is the sketchy people hanging around town. In the mayor's house is the guy the merchants left, Vlad. He's looking to get the rod back but can't find the clues. He's also really bad at conversation.
(Un)Fortunately, he has a special power. Issac and Garet recognize that Vlad uses Psyenergy, a term he's never heard of, but they can't tell exactly what. The short of it is Vlad can read minds. He uses it too often and never learned to have actual conversations, so he comes off as being a creep all the time. But he knows what's going on, and we offer to find the Shaman's Rod, the rod Master Hammet, the merchant, lost. From here, we have to use Vlad's Mind Read Pay throughout the town. To do this, press select while hovering over it and select L or R to quick use it.
You can "speak" to everyone, including the dog, but the inn is our destination. There are two sketchy dudes upstairs, and they try to avoid us when we ask them about the robberies. When we leave the room, the group concocts a plan. Surround them in the back of the room, and Vlad will read their minds. It confirms they, and a third friend of theirs, are guilty. Vlad knows the items are in the inn somewhere but somehow missed the specifics. Anyway, leave the inn, and I noticed the ladder leading to the hole in the roof. Investigate, Move the bookcase, and free the bound man. After a long conversation, the three thieves realize the gig is up and attack.
Vlad has two strong AoE magic spells, which do great damage. Garet's fire is pretty good, too, and Issac's quake is okay enough. I don't think I needed to heal. We'll quickly dispatch them, and the random guy will get backup. The thieves are thrown into jail, and the items are recovered. The mayor tells us that Hammet has been captured by the bandits, so Vlad goes to free his master. Meanwhile, we need to find a lighthouse.
We can pass the bandit's hideout, but we can't do anything. Goma Cave is to the east, but we're stuck. We can move a few statues to get towards the cave, but one is stuck in the vines. Before we give up, Vlad shows up and blows away the entangled. He couldn't get into the hideout either. With nothing else to do, he joins us, and we all enter the cave. The cave is easy enough to navigate once you remember you can jump across small gaps... There's a room with a man in it who points out the djinn above us. There's a statue nearby that we should push to bridge the gap. A few screens later is when this "bridge" comes into play. Meet the Mars djinn, Forge! To get him, we'll need to fight! Go all out and heal afterwards. Any longer than two rounds is too long. The rest of the cave is a simple walk.
Near the exit is Bilbin. There's a strange tree at the entrance that Vlad can Mind Read... The other villagers speak of a curse brought on a nearby town because the local noblemen cut down the sacred forest. He did it to build his new wife a grand manor. We can talk to him to end the curse, but the Scottish McCoy doesn't want three youths to die. All the other knights he's sent have failed, and he can't have three kids in his conscious. As we leave, a guard suggests the wall that prevents people from trying to end the curse isn't that great of a wall...
But to hell the forest! What's north? Through a cave that slowly turns to ice are monsters that scare me. But I press on. I manage to reach Imil, the snow covered village. There's a sickness taking out the villagers, but the healer, Mia, is doing her best to prevent deaths. Speak to the old couple in the first house. The old man will begin to cough, and his wife asks us to get Mia. Head to the "church," and the little boy tells us Mia already left. Return to the couple, and we'll see Mia heal the sick with her strange form of Psy. It works! She sees that we saw the strange fairy and tells us her story. The Mercury Clan knows healing Pay and is in a similar situation to Vale. Before we talk more, a pink light shines across the room. Mia is scared and cries out for someone named Alex as she runs to the nearby lighthouse.
We have to help Mia take out a monster and bridge the gap before she officially joins us. She'll be two levels above us, so we shouldn't be here. Based on how hard the mobs hit, I absolutely think we shouldn't be here. From here, we make our way through the sacred tower by altering water currents through pipes and eventually jump on water. I even found another Mercury djinn! I really shouldn't be here, but I manage to make it to the top.
But we're too late. It's already been activated, and we see who did it. Felix. He's still holding Jenna and Kaiden hostage and is just about to leave. Menardi is upset we survived and wants to kill us before we become a thorn in their side. Saturos appears from behind the lighthouse pedestal to do the dirty work. While we fight, the rest take the elevator down. Saturn mocks us, and then he kills us. The battle went pretty well for us, but he uses a lot of AoE. We don't have the healing to counter that AND do damage, so we died. Maybe I'll try again
...tomorrow!
Maybe I'll go where I'm supposed to and end the curse of the tree people. Either way, great tun!
Monday, August 22, 2022
The Sun Raises
The Golden Sun that is.
I don't think I've ever played Golden Sun. I say that because this opening segment feels familiar. The rest was brand new, though, so I either stopped playing after twenty minutes or am confusing it with another game. Mother 3, perhaps? Either way, Golden Sun is a Gameboy Advance game. It's a turned based RPG, and Issac, the main character, has a Mii costume for Smash Bros Ultimate. Besides that, I don't know anything about this franchise. I hear it's great, though!
Our journey begins on a stormy night. Our mother, Dora, wakes us up in a hurry because the sacred mountain, Aleph, is about to erupt. A boulder might crush our village, Vale, so we're all to head to the nearby sanctuary. Before we leave, our mother calls forth Mage Hand to make sure we have our jacket. We leave the house and see our dad, Kyle. He's trying to evacuate the rest of the town, and Dora joins him after realizing we're old enough to save ourselves. Our sprite looks like we're seven, but we're actually fourteen, so she's correct. Issac tries to head down the mountain, but small rocks fall from the sky whenever we try. We're being railroaded hard, so head up to get down! We'll see our friend, Garet, trying to haul his stuff to safety. Garet asks if he should leave his treasure, and I say he should. We get asked a lot of questions in GS, and they usually mean something. In the times I save scummed, the scene changed ever so slightly when I altered my response. It's not much, but it's something rad!
From here, the two of us head the long way around our giant village. We see four people doing their best to prevent the boulder from crushing us, and it looks like they're using psychic powers!
In the next area, we notice a dying man near a fence. He warns us that monsters now roam the town as a rock broke the wooden barrier. After we tell him he's not going to die, he jumps to his feet. We finally hear the first music track in the game, and I like it. It's pretty mellow, but there's something spooky about it. It's not a warning klaxon, but we sense the sheer, ominous terror in the notes, which works for the situation. It's like we're kids in a dangerous situation without knowing what's to come. As suggested, random battles begin to occur here. They're nothing to worry about, though. This is the tutorial, after all.
We make our way down the mountain until we reach a drowning kid, Felix. Our parents are there trying to save the brother of another friend, Jenna. No one has any Psyenergy left, so Dora and Jenna go find those who do. Sora tells us to help Jenna as she climbs back up. We meet up with Jen in the town square with a man who's finished restocking his Psyenergy on the rock in the middle of the pond. The four of us return to Felix, who's still drowning. As we approach, though... Via a sideshow, we see the boulder fall through the town. It lands right where everyone is, killing our dad, Jenna's parents, and Felix. Everyone is stunned, but our mom manages to calm down to tell us to go find help. Maybe they've just been dragged down the river? Issac heads back to the square, but Garet wants to be a man and joins us eventually. While we're alone, though, we overhear two people. They say things that don't mean anything to us, but I suspect they will be soon. Garet catches up, and the sketchy people notice they're being watched. Because they're evil, they beat us up to make sure we don't remember them. A battle happens, and I manage to do two HP to the man. The woman one shots us, and we cut to the title screen. I actually thought we died, so nice troll, Camelot.
Three years later, Jenna is watching Garet train his Psyenergy by pushing a rock. They have plans, along with Issac, to train with a village elder, Kraden. Both are still suffering from that night but in different ways. Garet is trying to explain what happened, while the orphaned Jenna is trying to move on. After an awkward moment, they go get Issac. He's fixing the holes in his house while Dora coaches him. Why is he using telekinesis to move straw? Either way, after a cute scene where Dora almost falls off the house and Garet makes more holes in our roof, we all head to Kradon.
En route, we bump into the two mysterious people. We learn they're named Saturos and Menardi, and they have ties to Kraden. We don't remember them, but they let us pass. Everyone, including Menardi, is shocked.
We overhear Kraden saying more of the proper nouns that our assailants said three years ago. Kraden thinks they've been in the sacred Mountain Aleph. Before we warn the village of them, we should confirm their story. The plan to sneak into Sol Sanctum begins! Wait for the guard to go behind the house, and you'll make it to the top without being caught.
I get Motoi Sakuraba vibes from the music, and I was correct to get that. He had a unique sound in the early aughts. The puzzles here involve jumping across platforms to find a jewel. Put that in the minotaur's face to open a new path. From here, use Psyenergys Move to push the statues out of the way. Only three of them can be moved, but one is pointless. Move the leftmost and place a gem in the eye to open another path. All the while, Kraden gives me the creeps. Is this a trap by him to get us to do the hard parts? From here, the real puzzle begins!
We enter a bright room with a sun relief on the floor. Adjacent to it is a dark room with a moon on it. Moving a statue in the room above will cause electricity to shake the rooms below it. Kraden tells us this is a trap, and we should find another way. To disarm the device, push the statutes in the Sol room into their pedestals. This'll cause a hole to open in the floor. Use Move to pull the giant statue into said hole. I didn't realize that was possible, so I was here for a while. This lets us move the four goddesses over Luna's room to create a light beam in the now dim Sol room.
The beam hits the wall, and it'll create a portal to a strange abyss when we get near it. Here's where we learn about our world! Everything on this planet is filled with one of four elements, earth (Venus), water (Mercury), wind (Jupiter), and fire (Mars). The essence of these elements are stored here in the form of Star Crystals. All of this is called Alchemy, which'll is something different than Psyenergy. Psyenergy is something unique to the citizens of Vale and should never be used outside of the village. We're a secret society protecting a secret magic! Kraden gets even creepier and seems overly eager to have us collect the stars. Start with Venus, and the path to Jupiter will rise from the strange abyss. As we get close to Mercury, we're joined by friends.
Saturos and Menardi have entered the abyss and demand we get the last two stars. We were gonna do that anyway, so it seems odd. I refuse to do so, and a deal needs to be struck for some reason. A third man enters wearing a mask and reiterates the plan. After some back and forth, it's revealed that the masked man is Felix, Jenna's brother. She's shocked he's alive, as he says that Saturn and Menards saved him. Felix promises to not harm us if we get the stars. Garet tries to hand over the stars, but a fourth man, Alex, teleports in. They want all four! We make the rounds to the fire star, and everything goes wrong!
The abyss turns into hell, and a giant floating rock guy appears. He does some magic stuff that makes me think he's going to blow up the room. The evil guys kidnap Jenna and Kraden as leverage to trade the fourth gem. Why couldn't Alex have just gotten the final gem? We have a magic bag, but that doesn't seem important. Regardless, things settle down a bit and the Wise One, as Kraden called it, tells us Aleph is a volcano about to explode. More importantly, the world might end. The statues that held the stars kept the balance in the world. Workout them, though, the world is in trouble. Should the stars interact with four lighthouses, then bad things will happen.
We're teleported back to Sol Sanctum, and I Retreat to Vale. There, all the adults are worried about us and the volcano threat. We have to explain what happened, and the village healer confirms it. The Wise One spoke to him in a vision. Issac gladly accepts his fate to save the world. Garet is leas thrilled but follows on his word to follow Issac. The only suggestion we have is about the djinns. In the morning, everyone sees us off except our sad, lonely mom. We see the shaky world map, and we'll explore...
... tomorrow!
Day one plot dumps! We'll probably explore those terms again through the game, so I'll skim it here. So far, I really like the battle sprites. They're stunning! I'm curious about how the game works with classes, spells, and how the elements work together. Word of advice, don't inspect every pot and box on Vale. There's nothing there...
I don't think I've ever played Golden Sun. I say that because this opening segment feels familiar. The rest was brand new, though, so I either stopped playing after twenty minutes or am confusing it with another game. Mother 3, perhaps? Either way, Golden Sun is a Gameboy Advance game. It's a turned based RPG, and Issac, the main character, has a Mii costume for Smash Bros Ultimate. Besides that, I don't know anything about this franchise. I hear it's great, though!
Our journey begins on a stormy night. Our mother, Dora, wakes us up in a hurry because the sacred mountain, Aleph, is about to erupt. A boulder might crush our village, Vale, so we're all to head to the nearby sanctuary. Before we leave, our mother calls forth Mage Hand to make sure we have our jacket. We leave the house and see our dad, Kyle. He's trying to evacuate the rest of the town, and Dora joins him after realizing we're old enough to save ourselves. Our sprite looks like we're seven, but we're actually fourteen, so she's correct. Issac tries to head down the mountain, but small rocks fall from the sky whenever we try. We're being railroaded hard, so head up to get down! We'll see our friend, Garet, trying to haul his stuff to safety. Garet asks if he should leave his treasure, and I say he should. We get asked a lot of questions in GS, and they usually mean something. In the times I save scummed, the scene changed ever so slightly when I altered my response. It's not much, but it's something rad!
From here, the two of us head the long way around our giant village. We see four people doing their best to prevent the boulder from crushing us, and it looks like they're using psychic powers!
In the next area, we notice a dying man near a fence. He warns us that monsters now roam the town as a rock broke the wooden barrier. After we tell him he's not going to die, he jumps to his feet. We finally hear the first music track in the game, and I like it. It's pretty mellow, but there's something spooky about it. It's not a warning klaxon, but we sense the sheer, ominous terror in the notes, which works for the situation. It's like we're kids in a dangerous situation without knowing what's to come. As suggested, random battles begin to occur here. They're nothing to worry about, though. This is the tutorial, after all.
We make our way down the mountain until we reach a drowning kid, Felix. Our parents are there trying to save the brother of another friend, Jenna. No one has any Psyenergy left, so Dora and Jenna go find those who do. Sora tells us to help Jenna as she climbs back up. We meet up with Jen in the town square with a man who's finished restocking his Psyenergy on the rock in the middle of the pond. The four of us return to Felix, who's still drowning. As we approach, though... Via a sideshow, we see the boulder fall through the town. It lands right where everyone is, killing our dad, Jenna's parents, and Felix. Everyone is stunned, but our mom manages to calm down to tell us to go find help. Maybe they've just been dragged down the river? Issac heads back to the square, but Garet wants to be a man and joins us eventually. While we're alone, though, we overhear two people. They say things that don't mean anything to us, but I suspect they will be soon. Garet catches up, and the sketchy people notice they're being watched. Because they're evil, they beat us up to make sure we don't remember them. A battle happens, and I manage to do two HP to the man. The woman one shots us, and we cut to the title screen. I actually thought we died, so nice troll, Camelot.
Three years later, Jenna is watching Garet train his Psyenergy by pushing a rock. They have plans, along with Issac, to train with a village elder, Kraden. Both are still suffering from that night but in different ways. Garet is trying to explain what happened, while the orphaned Jenna is trying to move on. After an awkward moment, they go get Issac. He's fixing the holes in his house while Dora coaches him. Why is he using telekinesis to move straw? Either way, after a cute scene where Dora almost falls off the house and Garet makes more holes in our roof, we all head to Kradon.
En route, we bump into the two mysterious people. We learn they're named Saturos and Menardi, and they have ties to Kraden. We don't remember them, but they let us pass. Everyone, including Menardi, is shocked.
We overhear Kraden saying more of the proper nouns that our assailants said three years ago. Kraden thinks they've been in the sacred Mountain Aleph. Before we warn the village of them, we should confirm their story. The plan to sneak into Sol Sanctum begins! Wait for the guard to go behind the house, and you'll make it to the top without being caught.
I get Motoi Sakuraba vibes from the music, and I was correct to get that. He had a unique sound in the early aughts. The puzzles here involve jumping across platforms to find a jewel. Put that in the minotaur's face to open a new path. From here, use Psyenergys Move to push the statues out of the way. Only three of them can be moved, but one is pointless. Move the leftmost and place a gem in the eye to open another path. All the while, Kraden gives me the creeps. Is this a trap by him to get us to do the hard parts? From here, the real puzzle begins!
We enter a bright room with a sun relief on the floor. Adjacent to it is a dark room with a moon on it. Moving a statue in the room above will cause electricity to shake the rooms below it. Kraden tells us this is a trap, and we should find another way. To disarm the device, push the statutes in the Sol room into their pedestals. This'll cause a hole to open in the floor. Use Move to pull the giant statue into said hole. I didn't realize that was possible, so I was here for a while. This lets us move the four goddesses over Luna's room to create a light beam in the now dim Sol room.
The beam hits the wall, and it'll create a portal to a strange abyss when we get near it. Here's where we learn about our world! Everything on this planet is filled with one of four elements, earth (Venus), water (Mercury), wind (Jupiter), and fire (Mars). The essence of these elements are stored here in the form of Star Crystals. All of this is called Alchemy, which'll is something different than Psyenergy. Psyenergy is something unique to the citizens of Vale and should never be used outside of the village. We're a secret society protecting a secret magic! Kraden gets even creepier and seems overly eager to have us collect the stars. Start with Venus, and the path to Jupiter will rise from the strange abyss. As we get close to Mercury, we're joined by friends.
Saturos and Menardi have entered the abyss and demand we get the last two stars. We were gonna do that anyway, so it seems odd. I refuse to do so, and a deal needs to be struck for some reason. A third man enters wearing a mask and reiterates the plan. After some back and forth, it's revealed that the masked man is Felix, Jenna's brother. She's shocked he's alive, as he says that Saturn and Menards saved him. Felix promises to not harm us if we get the stars. Garet tries to hand over the stars, but a fourth man, Alex, teleports in. They want all four! We make the rounds to the fire star, and everything goes wrong!
The abyss turns into hell, and a giant floating rock guy appears. He does some magic stuff that makes me think he's going to blow up the room. The evil guys kidnap Jenna and Kraden as leverage to trade the fourth gem. Why couldn't Alex have just gotten the final gem? We have a magic bag, but that doesn't seem important. Regardless, things settle down a bit and the Wise One, as Kraden called it, tells us Aleph is a volcano about to explode. More importantly, the world might end. The statues that held the stars kept the balance in the world. Workout them, though, the world is in trouble. Should the stars interact with four lighthouses, then bad things will happen.
We're teleported back to Sol Sanctum, and I Retreat to Vale. There, all the adults are worried about us and the volcano threat. We have to explain what happened, and the village healer confirms it. The Wise One spoke to him in a vision. Issac gladly accepts his fate to save the world. Garet is leas thrilled but follows on his word to follow Issac. The only suggestion we have is about the djinns. In the morning, everyone sees us off except our sad, lonely mom. We see the shaky world map, and we'll explore...
... tomorrow!
Day one plot dumps! We'll probably explore those terms again through the game, so I'll skim it here. So far, I really like the battle sprites. They're stunning! I'm curious about how the game works with classes, spells, and how the elements work together. Word of advice, don't inspect every pot and box on Vale. There's nothing there...
Friday, August 19, 2022
Let's turn me into a review blogger...with numbers.
I'm really bad at math, but there's something about numbers that I like working with. I've used spreadsheets several times for a job and this blog. The Lord Google Bot does all the hard work while I reap the rewards, so maybe that's why I like it.
Elsewhere, playing Castlevania a few weeks ago had me grading the games like an IGN/GameInformer writer would. I had fun doing that, and now I want to do it more often. It's not going to alter my usual end reviews, but I just want to add more numbers to, hopefully, make my sentiments more concrete. I already have a bunch of my point ideas written down! It turns out that I've been preparing for this for over a year! I'll be using my "Best Playable Character" sheets as the basis for all these numbers. I'll be adjusting some of my categories by removing some gameplay aspects and personal ideas to bring them down to six points. More details below.
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Plot is divided into three categories: Characters, villains, and story. Characters and villains can max out at three points, and the story can max at four. I'm doing this because even a good story can save bland characters. Great characters, though, won't rescue a floundering plot. For the record, all points are rounded to the nearest whole, up or down.
For the playable characters, scoring is based on the following rules from my sheets. I'll remove "unique Battle Mechanics, Main Character, Should You Be, and Can You Fight BBG" to get to six points. I'll take that result and cut it in half; 3 points is max. This is more about characters as a whole, and I'm not trying to make a caste system based on if you're a main character, love interest, or random dude. I just want to know if the cast is good or not compared to other games.
The villains are judged not by "Final Boss, Should You Be, Primary, and Relevant." Cut that in half as well; 3 is max. Similar to the characters, I just want to know if the villains are a worthy experience in a quasi vacuum.
The story is out of four. I start the judgement at max points, deducting for plot holes and not being fun. I'll give them points back for cool twists and meaningful expansions. Being too deep can go either way. In theory, this can result in six points, but I'll cap it at four anyway. I need to hammer out a few details for this, obviously, but I don't know to do that. How do I compare character driven stories with interlocking villains or an adventure game with a basic plot around its gameplay mechanic? I feel like I should consider using the side characters sheet here, but I haven't really been maintaining that. We'll see...
--
Gameplay, though, returns to a cavalcade of points.
Is it fun (2)? Rewarding(2)? Are/do things need to be explained still that aren't? Growth is inordinately a plus. I will heavily penalize the game if it's a tedious slog. Tedium is not a gameplay mechanic! While not the be-all-end-all, I'll give out bonus points for being innovative. I also think it's pretty cool if stuff is involved in the story and explained as a part of the world. Anything that connects is great! How should I consider linearity?
---
Art Direction does not mean graphics.
How many assets are there? If a game has too many pallet swaps, it's a bit bland. Can you tell what is what? We've all played games where ladders and stuff get lost in the background. How many areas are there? It's also vital to have a variety of areas to explore. As much as the generic "volcano," or "mountain" dungeon annoys people, I'd rather see different areas than just "industrial city." Did they Quest 64 spell animations? By that, I mean, how diverse are spell graphics? How high quality are the visuals? Final Fantasy VII is a great game, but those blocky models are not. Each of those questions gathers two points apiece.
---
Music may be the most important thing to a memorable game.
Does it fit the setting? What about the mood or scene? A variety is a must have because I don't want to hear Corridors of Time for twenty hours. Ten hours, sure, but not twenty. As much as I prefer melody, I promise not to dock points for artist expertise. Assuming those orchestrated songs are of high quality. To be a perfect OST, every soundtrack needs memorable standouts. I crave getting new songs stuck in my head or (possibly) added to my Spotify playlist. Once again, everything gets two points. I want to make it hard to have a bad OST.
---
Charm is a category because it's the little things that draw players in.
How cool and fleshed out is the world? Are there interesting NPCs and side characters? I really like insignificant cute stuff in my experiences. Replayability can do wonders for enjoyment. I get bored if a game goes too long and overstays its welcome, though. From a technical side, why is this bug in your game? Every question/statement has two points associated with it. However, creepy pedophiles get a -10.
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So this means everything is based on a score of fifty. I've never liked Famitsu's forty, so I'm glad I got to a bit more of an "even" number. And, if I want, I can double it to get to 100. It seems excessive, though. Alternatively, I can divide it by five and do it from ten, which is common enough to make me consider it. But, for now, I'm sticking to fifty points. But none of this means anything without actual "examples."
--
Final Fantasy X:
Plot: Perfect. Characters get all three points for feeling like real people. As do the villains because there's a lot of depth to them. The story of Yuna's journey is intertwined with strange things in Spira, and I always wanted to keep playing. It's filled with stuff that many people deal with in the world daily and just keeps growing. 10/10
Gameplay: Loaded. The Sphere Grid is a surprisingly welcome change that makes every battle feel vital and is filled with many optional ways to play the game if you figure it out. There are a ton of mini-games, even if they're rather notorious... 10/10
Art Direction: Belies the truth. There are so many places to visit in Spira, and they're all so unique and interesting. All I want is another sequel that explores the ruins. Is that so much to ask for? However, there sure are a lot of mob palette swaps. 8/10
Music: From the sages. Uematsu's opus is Final Fantasy X. All the tracks fit with the theme or the location, even hinting at foreshadowing later one. Half of the album has been in my head for twenty years. 10/10
Charm: As good as it got in 2001. If a game has fans clamoring for a prequel based on three dudes, even if we know how it ends, how can it not be amazing?
So Final Fantasy X gets 48/50. If mob variety is the worst of your sins, I wouldn't worry. I do wonder if I should reconsider that aspect? I wonder what a terrible game in this department is like?
--
Chrono Trigger:
Plot: Perfect. Even with a silent protag, CT gets more points than FFX. They both round up to 3, though, so it even outs. But, on the flip side, there sure are a lot of plot holes... 8/10
Gameplay: Can't be topped. Duel techs, multiple characters you can't max out in one go-through, twelve endings, innovation. 10/10
Art Direction: Vast. For a SNES game, I don't recall too many palette swaps besides those floating guys in the Undersea Palace. I know where the main characters are, and there are so many dungeons. 10/10
Music: Legendary. What more can I say that I haven't already said? Or someone else hasn't? 10/10
Charm: More than my supporting mother! Side quests, multiple endings, whatever Norrestien Bekkler is. And let's not forget The Trial! 10/10
Another 48/50. Neither of my favorite games are perfect?! My world is crumbling around me!
--
Persona 3
Plot: Too many weak characters. While the game can survive the MC getting two of six, it can't survive Koromaru getting zero. The same can be said for the villains. Plot wise, anything that might get negative points is made up for with all the shocks through the year. 8/10
Gameplay: Fun but repetitive. I enjoyed playing the game, and I let it absorb me in its world. But you're doing the same things over and over and over and over again. 9/10
Art Direction: Still repetitive. Every mob gets a color change six times through the game. Even bosses come back as trash mobs. Otherwise, I know who my characters are at school, and even the social links get more pixels compared to the others. 4/10
Music: Funky jazz? We're high school kids, and I can't imagine what we hear is something a teenager would listen to on the regular. I just don't know if it would fit the setting. Otherwise, though, I love it! 8/10
Charm: A bit lacking. There's nothing to distract you from the plot or gameplay loop. Sadly, the ending sucked. 2/10
31/50 I'm nothing if not consistent. I still feel like it's better than a D-
--
Dragon Quest V
Plot: Empty. I liked all the characters, but they're all pretty empty. Technical limitations, I guess? Don't even get me started on the villains. 7/10
Gameplay: A turn based RPG. Take that as you will, but I will warn you there are a lot of random battles. 8/10
Art Direction: Still a turn based RPG. Admittedly, I've never liked Dragon Quest's lack of on screen character representation. But the battle screens look nice. 4/10
Music: One of the best on SNES. I'll admit, only the sailing song got stuck in my head, but I thoroughly enjoyed everything I heard. 10/10
Charm: Mixed bag. It was the first DQ on the SNES, and Enjx was more interested in story and gameplay than the small things. But you can choose who to marry! 6/10
35/50
--
Let's start simplifying it now.
Dragon Quest VI:
Plot: 2/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Art: 4/10
Music: 8/10
Charm: 4/10
28/50
--
Vagrant Story:
Plot; 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Art: 6/10
Music: 8/10
Charm: 8/10
42/50
--
Legend of Dragoon:
Plot: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Art: 10/10
Music: 10/10
Charm: 6/10
42/50
--
Xenosaga (all three combined):
Plot: 10/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Art: 10/10
Music: 6/10
Charm: 10/10
44/50
--
Final Fantasy XII:
Plot: 3/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Art: 10/10
Music: 8/10
Charm: 8/10
35/50
--
Dragon Quest IX:
Plot: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Art: 8/10
Music: 4/10
Charm; 10/10
37/50
--
Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past:
Plot: 9/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Art: 8/10
Music: 8/10
Charm: 8/10
45/50
--
Chrono Cross:
Plot: 7/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Music: 10/10
Charm: 10/10
47/50
I hope I've shown off enough of my ideas. I hope harder that I'm consistent. So far, there's been no surprises in my limited review portfolio. They're in line with most Metacritic scores, which I can go either way on. I'm a bit bummed that neither of my favorite games are perfect. I know that nothing else I've played will get all points, though, so it's all the more reason to stop this example page here. I want to play more "perfect" games to see if they really are, but that'll come later. I've got my next playthrough ready, and it's a new franchise. It's also my first GBA review. I really hope I don't drop it.
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