Best Albums of 2023

I am the most humble man in the world, so my musical opinions are truly important. After skipping out on new music last year, I made it my New Year's resolution to listen to more freshness. I listened to 102 new albums and only dropped five for being hot garbage. Here's my top ten, not including remasters (sorry, fellow Swifties).

10.) Avatar - Dance, Devil, Dance
9.) Girlschool - WTFortyFive
8.) 69 Eyes - Death of Darkness
7.) Ne Obliviscaris - Exul
6.) Queens of the Stoneage - ...Times New Roman

5.) In Flames - Foregone
In Flames has been pretty meh since before I was Mormon. But who knew an almost entirely new lineup would revive the band in the middle of their third decade? But it's the long term singer, Anders Fridén, who has kept me returning to this album since February. His clean vocals sound better than ever and make the lyrics pop.
Favorite Song: A Dialogue in b Flat Minor

4.) Ignea - Dreams of Land Unseen
I listened to 102 albums this year (and stopped listening to 5), and one thing I've learned is that I have an infatuation for women who can sing like a pop star one second and then turn into a Cannibal Corpse tribute act the next. Add in some folk instruments, heavy progressive guitars, and catchy melodies and lyrics, and you get a concept album about a woman who sailed the world! Slava Ukrani!
Favorite Song: Incurable Disease

3.) Screaming Females - Desire Pathways
I don't like indie rock, but I fell in love with Screaming Females. Marissa Paternoster is a great guitarist, so maybe her chord progressions made me realize how great the genre could be. Catchy lyrics that are easy to sing to might also be why this album was in constant rotation throughout the year.
Favorite Song: Brass Bell

2.) Gorillaz - Cracker Island
My YouTube Music Recap said I was in the top 0.7 percent of listeners of Gorillaz, and it's entirely because of this album. I've said catchy in every other review, but Cracker Island is full of those hooks. Lyrically and melodically. Ya gotta love bands that get better after 25 years.
Favorite Song: New Gold

1.) Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars
It's catchy, but it's hard to see why. Katatonia's brand of progressive metal means guitar riffs or drum beats don't always line up with vocals. It's complicated and trips me up, so it (apparently) clicks with me. The mix of it all makes every listen a new but familiar experience where you see something new. And all that under the weird drone like vocals of Jonas Renske and his (presumably) meaningful lyrics that kept me intrigued, there are so many reasons I've been listening to this album all year.
Favorite Song: No Beacon to Illuminate Our Fall

Treasure Hunter G should have stayed in Japan.

While I didn't hate Treasure Hunter G, it's not great. I don't want to spend much time on this review, so let's skip the fluff.

Plot: mediocre. Characters are boring. All of them are just there. Who was Rain? All of the villains are one note boredom entities with no substance. Why were Leonardo and J-Elf here? I have more questions now than I did a week ago, and that's bad! 5/10

Gameplay: the focus. It's a fun tactical RPG. I like that you can attack diagonally, which is a weird thing to say, but it's pretty rad. The idea of enemies having an aura around them that makes them harder to navigate around is an idea I can get behind. I wish we had it, though. But this game came out at the end of the SNES, so I'll take what I can get. It can get tiring, sadly. 7/10

Sound: too good. I got Chrono Trigger vibes several times throughout the game. It's not as good, but if the game were better, I'd wonder if the OST would be talked about with the same reverence. It had nine people writing for it! 10/10

Visuals: fine. The sprite work is great, but there is a lot of reuse, and many secondary characters don't stand out. A few paths in maps could do with a touch up, but the spell animations look rad. 5/10

Charm: disappointing. There are so many little things here. AFK animations, fun dialogue, and the idea that we can be rewarded for knocking on a stranger's door are neat. Exploration revolves around looking through every nook and cranny to make money. And the game isn't very long. Sadly, that's it. NPCs come and go, and others leave forever. Whatever happened to the King and Queen? Or Kiruru and the turtle? But they sorta fit because the world lacks substance, too. Like the game, as a whole, there's so much lacking in this experience. 5/10

Negatives exist in the form of separate vendors to sell things, item limits, and the game removing my healer for a boss rush. Remove the negative six from the above, and Treasure Hunter G is a 25/50.

I feel like it's better than a fifty percent, but the game lacks anything to sink your teeth into. The story is a simple McGuffin fetch quest with characters who are just kinda there and their magical monkey. The gameplay is front loaded and doesn't evolve. Maybe if the ending felt satisfying, but I have too many questions. Maybe THG deserves it?

Gee, this was worthwhile...

The Demon Castle is a painfully long dungeon. Fortunately, you can return to one of two heal spheres. One in the town and the second on the third floor. There are many battles on the way up, all of them quite tough, so I ran back to them often. There are also an assortment of items throughout. Most of them are seemingly useless weapons, but there are a few weapons and armor pieces that are great. Also, a bracelet that ups attack instead of defense. Sadly, Blue became useless here. His attacks never hit, and his techniques are all terrible. Maybe if I was smart and learned how to attack from the back without wasting a bunch of action points, but I didn't. But he came around later on. Pongo became a pure mage, but Rain was somehow able to be a good red mage. When you reach the second Undersea Palace from Chrono Trigger room, you're about at the end.

After five floors of suffering, we reach the, presumably, top. Dark Lord is here, which means we fell for his trap? Why did he need to hunt us? Either way, he points out the folly of love, claiming it's what brought us here. I don't remember why. He points out there are only five fairies (who are also guardians) but knows the last one is before him. He Kamehamehas Rain, turning her to crystal. But now he wants to clean up loose ends and kill us. He calls forth Bone Dino, but it'll take a while before it gets here.

So I hope you handed Rain's important items to someone else because she's not here. This is pretty lame for a final boss! Greg is joined by mobs and can summon more when he isn't teleporting around. Neither Blue nor Pongo could physically hit him from the front, but we had to be grouped up. Greg's attacks can do half damage to the entire team, so we needed to be close for a heal bell. If only the game didn't remove my healer. Greg has a lot of HP, so you may need to grind for pots. I hope I missed a shop somewhere in town...

Greg dies but refuses to admit death. He calls forth all the underlings we killed, and they'll fuse into him. We're now against a blue orb. Pongo and Blue can connect with their attacks now, but Red has issues hitting now! I got lucky with level ups, as characters regain a lot of HP when they do so in battle, and I had just enough healing potions for this. If only the game didn't remove my healer!! As Greg gets below 1000 HP (out of 3400), something happens. Bone Dino, who I'll call Gil, begins his resurrection! The ground beneath the castle splits as the dinosaur tries to surface. But something's wrong! Gil's skin falls out. It's well animated! Greg realizes he made a mistake. Rain isn't the fairy guardian. It's Pongo! We're magically healed up to full, putting us in a position to end this farce.

The three return to the top floor of the tower, and Pongo takes up his...her naked fae form. She picks up the blue ball that was Greg and uses it to free Rain. Pongo then leaves the castle to free the other five fairies. While she does that, Red, Blue, and Rain jump off to the surface for one final battle.

Gil's only attack is a fire breath to our 2x8 battlefield. It does just enough damage to be annoying, but it lacks any KO unless you want it to. Red did 200 HP with his Slices skill, and Rain could crit for 100. Save her SP for boosting and healing. Blue was perfectly fine. This battle felt more like an epilogue.

While they did that, Pongo freed the fairies and restored the world from all the damage Greg caused. They bring the landmass back together and return us to the surface.

And this is where we have to say goodbye. Rain can't go with the G brothers. I assume she's from the village at the top of the tree, and this place needs to remain a secret. The fairies cry, and Blue begs Rain to come with them. She remains silent before crying alongside Blue. Staying quiet, the Pongos begin the flight back to the canopy, and Blue promises they'll go on another adventure one day. And with that, the Gs prepare to go home. There's a quick scene where Blue cries again because he realizes his dad is dead, and it's off to Dr. Hello.

He, too, is silent. They all climb aboard the Ferric Falcon and fly over the north continent and Carbuncle Island before landing near Oceania. He and his bird bid them farewell, and they go their separate ways. The Gs can get a lay of the land to learn everyone is enjoying the peace now, and our singer friend wrote a song about them that's popular. We can return to Tania, but there's more to see.

Ruoun is on the mend. Harbettle and Ms. More and living together. Mail is also with them, and her not-so-secret admirer is nearby.
The sword tree Grandpa has on his has already grown tall.
Two people moved into our house, and they found a clock. They give it to the boys, and the clock disappears. Was that grandma's??
The dojo is filled with idiots.

Tania town is similar to Oceania. We have one last opportunity to explore, but the goal is our dad's house. They spend the night and wake up when they hear a voice outside. There's no one there, so they wonder about Brown again. They hear his voice and see him standing on the church's roof! He was saved by Mio, who's probably our new mom. She saved him.

But Brown's already ready for another adventure. He wants to learn if the world is flat! But this time, the boys are coming along!

All the NPCs appear on a stage to remind us they existed. The whale and his turtle friend weren't invited. The credits roll, and the last image of that of Leonardo waiting for either Red or J-Elf on a plateau somewhere. Why was he in this game!?

Whatever...

The End.

G-six. Fly like a g-six.

It's the little things that wow me.

The party returns to Stonehenge only to find Brown G as they leave. There's not much of a happy reunion, as Red gets down to business and wants answers for Brown's actions. He reiterates what he said in his letter: Brown wanted to explore the World Tree, so he researched the Oparts. Much of this was spurred on by, presumably, Georgia talking to him in his dreams. The topic turns to the Ferric Falcon, which the Brothers G inform their father has been repaired. Dr. Hello went and done it! With that knowledge, the game automatically jumps us to Babel Dome.

Also, Leonardo ran up to Red and gave him a duel invite that Leo wanted us to hand to J-Elf. We ignored it...

Hello retells us how the Falcon is only missing its power source, but Georgia gave us the Feather for that purpose. Hello begins preparations, but those'll take a few days. Days that we quickly learn we don't have. The warning klaxons ring out as monsters are attacking the tower. The party heads down two flights, fighting some incredibly powerful mobs. The exp rewards are really good, though, so it may be worth grinding a bit. But fire ends up blocking the path, so the party must return to the top. Hello urges us to escape, but we're concerned about the Falcon. Hello is worried that his work will end in another failure, but everyone believes in this man we just met. We climb aboard the Falcon and prepare for take off.

But then Dark Lord warps in. He doesn't want us to advance, but there's no way we can blow past him. Brown exits the Falcon and prepares to fight against the Dark Lord. He throws us the final Opart, the Talking Stone, first. Greg hits him with a chi blast, and Brown poofs away. Okay... But it worked, and the Ferric Falcon takes off!

While Dark Lord cannot fly, another underling can. Fossile catches up to us midflight, so there's a battle here. It's a tiny field, but it's enough. Hopefully, you gave all your SP pits to Blue because he's pretty useless here. Pongo and Rain can use magic, and Red should spam Slashes. I also placed the smiling doll behind everyone for some good regain.

After the flying dinosaur skeleton dies (again), a new task is at hand. A series of natural events tries to block our path. These are barriers by the World Tree and fairies. The Oparts need to be used. Dad's Talking Stone is used first and guides us through the procedure. It's usually obvious, but the Dark Globe sets up the final push. It feels kinda random, but I'll blame translation puffery.

The Ferric Falcon lands good enough in another frozen realm. Dr. Hello and his bird remain behind to repair it, so we're on our own. Luckily, he brought a new item with him that we can use (by speaking to him) to restore our status and save. From here, we need to battle our way through abominable snowmen. We'll only need to fight one, but someone is waiting for us.

The final (?) underling of Dark Lord jumps out at us, declares his love for Greg, and fights us. Fenril is joined by three yetis and can summon red skeleton goblins. I had Red and Rain go up the middle while Blue and Pongo distracted the other two with status effects.

Behind him is the final fairy, but she's already been crystallized. It yells at the guardians for help. Behind her is the biggest tree ever. The party wonders how they'll get to the top, and Rain and Pongo step up. They appear to cast a spell, and we all start to fly up the trunk of the tree. It takes a long time, and Blue mostly talks about something childish. Rain is concerned that her secret will be revealed...

At the top is a desolate and ruined village. Most of the homes are empty or contain new gear. But there are a few depressed beings underground in the back. They believe that the fairies are gone, and the guardians (who are different than the fae) are nowhere to be found. One thinks we're them but refuses to get hopeful. There's a restore and save sphere within, and the Demon's Castle is what appears to be where a temple would be. I think we're at the end, so I'll finish Treasure Hunter G...

...tomorrow!

There are a lot of things that need to be explained and very little time to do it in.

Grid Level 4

It's more forests!

West of Aknass is a forest. It's filled with the usual rabble, but there's also a turtle man! He finally reappears, still swearing vengeance over our dad or something. Leonardo fights alone and isn't strong. He runs away, telling us we're not strong and promising more revenge.

On the otherside are two villages. Haama is to the north, and it appears abandoned. No one runs the inn, and the item shop is filled with kabutops. As we explore, a human runs up to us and asks to save his family. We follow him to his house and enter the pitch black building. Nothing is there, and we hear the door lock behind us. Water suddenly begins to flood the room. Shout out to the architect of this village. Their homes are water tight! But this trap starts to show its effectiveness. The floods rise, and we quickly learn to "swim." Rain mutters to the aether while Red runs around. Three holes implode the house, and water rushes out. We were saved by Mio? She hits on Rain again by saying she sensed the call of her heart. Things then get weird when Mio teaches Rain the Drain spell. As thanks, Rain has to accept Mio's original deal of becoming her slave. Mio quickly metaphorically rips up that deal. It was all a joke. Mio teleports away, and the party never thinks about why they almost died. There's another town to the south that exists to rest before the next forest.

We'll eventually reach Rekur. As Hello showed us, Papa Brown is lying in bed, dealing with severe injuries. He's so out of it that he didn't realize his children were here. He was more concerned about finding the Oparts and going to the World Tree. He passes back out, muttering about the Underground City. One of the maids gives us his possessions, a strength seed and the Tablet. Check out the town for new weapons and armor. Other townsfolk inform us about a cave to the northeast.

Rekur Cave is wonderfully small. There's an ooze at the top, and a bat guards a door. From there, it's a gauntlet of mobs. We can return to the healing and save spheres at any time. I found it got easier as it went along. At the end is a tall man named Artemis and his three golems. He says something about the fall of his home, Atlantis, and how he's protecting it.

The battle against him is straightforward. The golems only move one square at a time and can't seem to attack when they move. They're surprisingly fragile if you gang up on them. Meanwhile, Artemis only has one attack: a homing fire thing that hits everyone on the team. It only did 30 damage to everyone, so I had no problem here. After the fight, Art recognizes us as the heroes who can save the world. He teaches Red the Super Dash technique before dying. Behind him is the Old Map, an Opart that lessens the effects of gravity.

We return to Brown, but he's run off in the last few days. How long were we down there!? The maid doesn't know where he went but suggests the Underground City or Stonehenge. I think we were just at the city, so I made my way back to Aroshu Castle.
 
The King is gone, so we can't enter the castle. But there's a new north entrance from the city. The headache inducing effects aren't as strong as before, and someone thinks it's because of the Map. Red informs us that "sensors indicate something is forming in the middle." Is Red a robot? What sensors!? Regardless, the thing Red sensed was the great villain, himself, Dark Lord. The party finally meets the man they need to defeat. And under such auspicious circumstances, too. Dark Lord, who I'm gonna start calling Greg, randomly blurts out that he's found the final fairy. He then charges a Kamehameha and shootout at us, but the team casually steps aside. They suddenly begin to float and warp away, confusing everyone.

We're brought to a ruined castle. There are a few mobs outside, but the people and harpy are normal NPCs. They're shocked that we exist and could come to this area. Venturing into the castle has more NPCs, horses, who inform us this is Atlantis. They've been outside the conventional flow of time, but there are mixed feelings about this from the populace. We also hear of a "winged lady."

In the back is a giant angel. The winged lady looks like a divine being. She welcomes the team to Atlantis, and Blue is excited. This is the woman from his dreams. Remember those? She fills us in on how all this started. The Atlantans abused the power of Stonehenge, the Pyramids, and another Opart to control the Power of the Earth. But this caused an imbalance in space and time. It ended up with Bone Dino being born and creating what the current humans call the Ancient War. The surviving Atlantans joined up with the six fairies to seal Bone Dino, using the Ferric Falcon, but this killed countless and reshaped the physical landscape of the planet. Atlantis sank, and the new continents formed in the wake. And now Greg wants to unseal Bone Dino. The Winged Lady, who I'll call Georgia, urges us to find the last fairy at the World Tree. Blue doesn't understand, so she gives us a Feather, which can be used to power the Ferric Falcon. We now have to walk back through the castle and return to Stonehenge. The repaired falcon is with Dr. Hello, so I'll talk to him...

...tomorrow!

What a wonderful piece of music Atlantis gave us. I think we're coming up to the conclusion soon. Both guides I "used" are reaching the end of their bars, and I know I bought the final gear I'll ever buy.

G man!

There are two forests south of the pyramids, and I took the east one. I don't remember the name, The only thing here is a man is waiting for us by the name of J-elf. He's the guy who freed Dark Lord. J works for Dark Lord now and wants to kill us. He brings forth two kabutops and attacks us. I put the Pokémon asleep and make quick work of the alleged elf. The party remarks that that was weird, and they remind me of something I forgot. We were sorta ambushed by a guy in Hello's tower. He failed and couldn't even fight, though. Blue called him a turtle, and we carried on our way. We wonder if they're related.

We'll come out near a castle. There's also a town, but I'm more interested in the castle. I'm also dumb and didn't go there. There's yet another forest to the south called Ur, and a man is being attacked. We kill one of the highwaymen, and the other tells us the man they attacking has a bounty from the King on him. They run off, and the man invites us to his house.

Next to him is another woman in a crystal. She shows us a city being destroyed by fire from the sky and demons. Rain calls her a fairy, which reminds me of another thing I skimmed. In the conversation with Dark Lord and the unnamed underling, who we learn later tonight is named Ryzer (?), one of them mentioned six fairies. These six seem important for some reason.

To the east of this is a lone house. The guy we saved is inside and lets us sleep in his house. The inn in town is only five giv, so I don't know why. But we wake up and see that the man is a singer. He used to work for the King but was fired. Since then, he's been living here at the shrine to a famous vocalist, teaching orphans how to sing. But the debt has been repaid, so we leave. Guards from the castle stop us and ask for the singer, and Red gives them the wrong directions. Blue thinks that was cool. The party warns the singer, who has a very strange name I'll never remember, but the guards aren't far behind.

They knock down the fence and desecrate the shrine. As they do, evil spirits appear and quickly kill the guards. They surround their leader, who we'll learn is the King, and we run in to save him. This battle is weird because only Red does any damage despite not having an elemental weapon. But spamming magic is the way to go. After the battle, the sprints are still restless. From behind us comes a chorus of voices. The choir that was in the house walked out and defeated the creatures. Seeing such selfless actions, the King recalls the bounty but asks us to escort him home. If he gets attacked, he'll detonate a bomb because being dead is better than being hurt?

Take the new south exit and go north through to the forest. This will result in only one battle, and the King never exploded. Take him to the castle, and he'll throw a feast. If you're speed running, then run to the third floor. The castle is huge but empty. Maids bring in a large feast we never get to eat because the Queen joins us. But she's gone mad! She thinks Blue is her dead son. The King tries to convince her that Blue isn't their blood, but grief rocks Charlotte, who takes Blue to play in her room. The Kings asks to borrow Blue for three days, but that's not prescient at the moment.

An explosion is heard outside, and two guards enter. Something has landed behind the castle at Stonehenge, a place in dad's journal. The guards are afraid of the area, so we do it. The sound we heard was a woman crystal landing. She shows us Dark Lord talking to Ryzer, and they bring up guardians again. But those guardians won't matter if they find the sixth and final fairy. I tried to investigate Stonehenge, but a strange forcefield gave everyone a headache.

The Queen is asleep, so we sneak in and abscond with Blue. She catches up to as we leave, and King finally convinces her Blue isn't hers. The threat of invading another country is worse than losing a child, I guess. We're free to leave.

Outside the castle are guards in green. These are the guys from the kingdom the King wanted to invade. They ask us for detailed information on the castle, but I won't talk. This results in an easy battle! More arrive, but we get back up, too! Dr. Hello has fixed his drill train. We all hop on and return to his dome. Hello has learned our father is still alive. He's been tracking him since Hello fixed the Falcon. Remember that? Hello invented the pervert peeping vase to appease his love, Mio, but he has one too. We look into it and see Brown fall out of bed. He's severely injured, so the brothers want to find him. Hello says he's in a village out west, and we begin heading there. The forest that was blocked is open now, but I'll head out west...

...tomorrow!

Grid level 3 is a difficulty spike.

(camel)

Wikipedia is weird.

Dead end and soldier blocked forests surround us on the world map, so the only place we can travel to is the Babel Dome. We enter a tower, and this game becomes a sci-fi romp. Cold, electric steel line the halls of this place, and all the mobs are robots with tasks for us. The first guard asks for a hi potion. We have an extra one, and the game mandates we relinquish it. The next two behind her ask for a frog. I don't have any, so I get to beat them up. They're nothing to worry about. The rest of the battles up are optional and only triggered if you speak to them. I considered them free, easy experience. At the top is the man everyone in Aknass spoke of: Dr. Hello. Or, as he insists, "The last mad scientist, Dr. Hello." He and his mimic bird say some nonsense, but the alarms in his tower start to clang out. Something is happening in his basement. He asks us to follow him, and he escorts us there.

Hello called it a robot boar, but it looked like a teddy bear to me. But it is on a rampage. Interacting with it causes us to enter a fight against two of them. Focus on one at a time. These guys hit incredibly hard. I think Rain died at the end. After we've taken them out, the doctor's robot mice go crazy. Their only attacks are a wide AoE around them that electrifies everything, including allies, for decent damage. Hello will get mad that his experiments failed again and asks us to leave. His bird catches up to us and gives us the key to his house. Underneath that is a passage to the Pyramids.

The house is back in town, and we explode some contraption to reveal it. It's home to a lot of mobs, and this feels the most combat heavy area yet. You can punch through walls of rock to reach the pyramids.

There's a village here that acts as a town, minus any item shops. You can buy new weapons. We'll need to go through the small pyramid to reach the north part of town. It's a straight path, but getting into it is fun. Find the correct path up and avoid the perilous rocks that crumble as you pass them. The same puzzle blocks the second. Inside both are mummies, as you'd expect, but there are two new ones. A barrel that transforms into a man and some sort of rock creature add to the difficulty. The second pyramid is very long and mazelike. As the tunnel to get here, expect an absorbent amount of battles. I'd explain the puzzle at the very end, but I didn't understand it. But Pyramid Eye is waiting for us. It increases resistance to lightning damage, so I'm sure it's good. Blue won't let us use the Golden Spiral to leave, so go through the door behind the Eye.

It brings us to a tomb like area, and we'll meet a new named enemy. Lady Mary is there, and Blue says she smells. He falls asleep during her monologue about the Dark Lord and the ancient magic the pyramids house. But she awakens the two cockatrices guarding the entrance.

This is an odd battle. There are two, but one just wastes time. It can't harm us if we're on the opposite side of the room, beating up its twin. Both dudes cast an AoE magic attack and have a rock that causes confusion. Great Heal and Cure will be your biggest assets in this lengthy battle.

But Mary's not done. She'll summon two mummies and attack us herself. I put the ads to sleep/delusion and focused on Mary. She's just a vampire Hel, so it wasn't hard. Mary was load bearing, and the pyramid began to collapse. Now, Blue lets us Helix out.

Return to the tunnel to see Dr. Hello there. And he brought a train! It's actually a drill, and he's here to pick us up and bring us back to his place. We board the train, and he promptly breaks it by backing it into the cave wall. He and his bird argue about putting the fire out, but we'll need to find our own way back/to the next Opart. But we'll do that...

...tomorrow!

I wonder if this is a NES story game? Find the McGuffins and save the world as you do? I hope the story kicks up.

Gylfaginning

But first, we fall.

The hole the carbuncle brought us to ends horribly for everyone. For starters, we fell. And we didn't land in the same place. The Gs landed near the top, while Rain and Pongo landed far beneath them. The boys are fine and make it their mission to find their friends. Along the way are old mobs we've dealt with before. Nothing is a concern.

We fell into a hole, but it feels like we're on a cliff. We need to descend down until we reach an old, dilapidated rope bridge. We can run across the bridge, but it's quicker to let gravity do the work. We'll magically appear at the bottom of the ravine, and our friends will be nearby. It's faster than walking, but I wonder if I missed anything? Rain is fine, but Pongo hurt his leg. For the next few battles, his defense and act will be lowered. The puzzle of the Opart involves a bunch of hidden factors. There's a plaque on a wall that gives you clues on how to advance. It's pretty easy, and even I figured it out quickly. At the bottom is the boss battle.

We're against two of the green tank dogs from the previous dungeon and another bull. The problem here is I haven't healed since before the whale ambushes. My item hoarding has allowed me to collect a good amount of SP pots, so liberal use on Rain was wise. Behind it is the Opart we've sought: the Gold Spiral. This allows us to fast travel out of any (or at least this one) dungeon. Using it now takes us back to the carbuncle camp. Before we leave, they praise us as the heroes in one of their legends. We return to Kiruri, and I'm reminded that a crystal with a woman in it is here. She speaks to us, asking about a guardian. I don't think it's actually to us and is more of a recording "Save me, Obi-won" thing.

We (the player) witness a scene between Dark Lord and a yet unknown underling.

Back on our whaleboat, we began to travel to the northern continent. But something is wrong with the water; it's warmer. Suddenly, several massive tidal waves strike us. The party hides in Kiruri's blowhole, but they're spit out into a battle against a giant squid. Its only attack was a spinning knockback to everyone around it. More tidal waves come at us, and three giant squids ambush us. Yet more tidal waves beckon us to the depths, but one final one was called forth by the dead.

The Ghost of Hel is a giant floating face above us. She attacks us. This battle is against eight green slimes. Hel floats above us but can't be struck. She occasionally tries to inflict status effects on us, a single target poison and a battlefield wide delusion, but the slimes are the main threat. They never move but like to cause us to teleport around the whale's back with a tornado. They also have a basic attack when we get close. Take them out one by one and heal often. We still haven't rested since Oceania. As we finish up, Rain notices that Kiruri is bleeding heavily from his right fin. He tries to play it off that he's fine, but it's a lot of blood. But we arrive at the north continent in time. But slowly. As we depart, we promise Kiruri that we'll find a hi potion for him if he waits. He's too excited to swim again, so he promises nothing.

Investigate around town to learn there's a guy who sells "drugs" in the inn's attic. If we bring him a frog, he'll make us our potion. Several kids hang out around a manhole to the east, and we get to ruin their secret hideout. Surely, frogs live in sewers! Battles down here begin by informing us that the field is at level two. We're against mobs from the Aged Cave, but they're definitely stronger. We'll need to push levers to open passages until we reach a frog. A fight begins, but we can end it early by picking it up. I tried to fight my way l through, but I still haven't slept! Using Blue's Teleport Trap brought Red near to the target. Return to the druggist, collect your hi potions, and go see our whale.

Kiruri isn't there. The mood turns sour, and we all ponder where he went. We try to leave, but Rain remains back, looking out at the sea. She points out that Kiruri isn't gone, and he pulls up! He just went swimming. Red feeds him the hi potion and lets him get on with his life. We each promise to see each other again!

And with that, I finally went to sleep. It was uneventful. I upgraded my gear and got a lay about town. There's a slightly crazy scientist living up north who makes weird things, like a giant black bird who scared everyone in Akass. So I'll check that out...

...tomorrow!

I explored a bit around the forests and got my butt kicked. But I did save a goat! I felt rushed trying to get the hi potion because I accidentally spoiled myself that Kiruri could die if we ignored him. Not sure if this is true, but sounds neat!

G-Unit!

Whales!!!!!

Yeah, the new island outside the Oceania Inn is actually a whale. It hates us, though. Even after we beat up its jellyfish and water cloud parasites, too. But even if it didn't hate us for being nosy, the whale couldn't do anything. Its tail is too hurt to properly leave the bay. Fortunately, Kujira is cool just floating about. Its turtle friend informs us that this is a defensive tone. Kujira does want to swim again, but its tail is too damaged to propel him. The turtle tells us to find something to heal him. Head back to the inn and find a pharmacist in one of the rooms. They'll tell us about frog oil in the Neko Forest. While we are here, spend a night at the inn. There will be a scene during the night where Red and Rain have a kinda romantic moment on the roof of the building. Rain sees how much Red loves his dad while Pongo plays violin.

The Neko Forest is home to man eating plants. The good news is those plants are also man spitting. To advance, speak with Ms Mora back in Sebia. She can coat us in something slimy, allowing us to travel the roots. Mail is getting better, but Harbattle is nowhere to be found. We can also see the ruins of our home and see a sword sprout growing where grandpa died.

The Neko Forest is a straight path, only broken up by the man eating plants. To be fair, Rain can speak with plants, and we were warned it would. But with Ms Mora's thingy, we slip through the underground and warp around the area. Every section is walled off, so this is the only way to traverse. Inspect all the purple/pink flowers along the way because there are plenty of stat seeds to be found. There's a strange building in the middle, and an entity I can't figure out is attached to it. It complains about being immortal and stuck here.

Eventually, we'll make it into that building. It's inhabited by several types of feline people, tigers being the most obvious. There are also a million jars filled with nothing. The catmen inform us they're here because of a tidal wave that cursed them. Okay. Their elderly princess is on her throne in the back and doesn't care for us. She goes so far as to summon mobs and attack us to kick us out. Her ads were the chaff from the mountain and easily dispatched. Once she was alone, I didn't have any problem with her. She'll surrender and give us access to the frog we need. A stairwell beneath her opens, but she warns us of something...

After looking around at the swamp, I stumble upon the Boss Plant. It cycles through several attack patterns. It can spit up four slimes, put everyone in front of it asleep, or attack everyone before it. You can only stand and attack in the four squares directly in front of the plant. The target has 1800 HP but lacks any offensive power. Save Rain's SP for healing. There was a fire rod in the throne room, and the boss was weak to fire and ice. It'll take a while, but you're in no danger. We'll get the frog, and you should return to the healing sphere.

As we try to leave the forest, Hel will ambush us. She offers us reprieve if we hand over Rain, but that's not happening. She's finally getting good! Hel calls forth two underlings with weird names. They did nothing in the battle, so I didn't remember their names. I managed to put both of them to sleep/delusion, removing them from the whole fight. Hel has the same stats and attacks as before, so this is the exact same battle. Once she's dead, we'll have a turn or two to do what we want with her minions before they randomly die. There's probably a reason, but this translation kinda sucks. It causes visual glitches a lot. As before, Hel teleports away.

We (the player) witness a scene where we meet the Dark Lord. Graphic glitches ruin the scene, but I get that Hel apologizes for failing again. Dark Lord doesn't care and kills her. "I'll send you to the old world."

Red and friends return to Oceania and speak to the apothecary. They make the potion, and we try to heal the whale. He doesn't take it out of stubbornness. Even the turtle attempts to convince him, but it's to no avail. Rain, being a being of pure love, manages to reach him. It works, and our new whale friend takes us out to see. We discuss life and the past, learning that Kujira is a descendant of a whale from when the seas split in two. This somehow granted whales the ability to speak common. As we travel, we're attacked by sea creatures. Eventually, our boat gets tired and needs a rest at Carbuncle Island, which is a location in Brown's journal.

We travel around until a group of gnomes find us. Rain speaks their language and tells us the diminutive fae folk are harassed by monsters. We're the heroes, so we kill them. It turns out it is a group of rats... As thanks, a carbuncle guides us to a hole, which I'll inspect...

...tomorrow!

All the good walkthroughs for Treasure Hunter G don't carry on past Neko Forest, so I'm on my own from here on out. I'm sure this will be fine!

Number 1 in da hood, G.

The Abnoba Castle is home to a bunch of perverts. There's the guy who's staring into a vase that sees everything. He's looking at a woman undress... And then there's the wo/man in charge.

Magician Mel knew we were coming as they could see everything with the vase. They even know what's in the letter. They don't care, though, because the ruler of the world means nothing to the people in the castle. What does interest Mel is Rain. Mel looks like a woman but acts like a lecherous man. S/He says s/he wants to spend time with Rain, but it's clear it was spoken in a perverse way. Fortunately, she turns Mel, who I'm going to assume is a woman, down. Seeing her will, Mel offers us the knowledge we came here for. Papa Brown has been searching for Oparts, which are Out Of Place Artifacts. Mel presumes they're from an ancient civilization but doesn't know much more about them. Even the one she hands over, Dark Globe, just clears confusion. It's pretty insignificant but still an Opart. Mel tells us our dad's written the locations to several more and gives us a place to rest tonight.

Rather than sleep, though, we explore the top of the tower. We gain some minuscule backstory on this world through book titles, and one causes Blue to think another ancestor had wanderlust. But then they get to the top and look out to the world. It's dark and foggy, so there's not much to see. For some reason, Red takes this as an invitation to pee off the side. Blue and even Pongo join him. Blue tries to get Rain in on the fun, but she's not an idiot. Everyone finishes, but Red and his delay ends up causing the team to be ambushed.

A knock wakes up Rain, and she explores the hallway to investigate. Once she's there, the door locks, and everyone else is awoken by her yelling. A giant bird has appeared before Rain. It rams her into the wall. Before this, she's been a useless character. Out of desperation, though, she casts a basic fire spell in defense. The bird changes into Mel, who congratulates Rain for awakening her powers. Everyone wakes up the next morning wondering if that was a dream. Mel sees them off and hits on our new mage one last time before we descend the mountain.

This might be optional, but the monk beneath the waterfall has been knocked out. Monsters attacked him from behind the river. Investigating inside brings us to the commander who ordered the burning of Ruian. Hel is doing her Magus impression and sentences us to death. She's joined by creatures I didn't get the name of because I focused all my attacks on Hel. She was the closest. Her main attack is a knockback sword swing that does a lot of damage. She can't be surrounded because she can also teleport. The blobs she's summoned tend to place traps on the bottom part of the map and remain out of the fray. It's another reason to avoid them. One did get close and died for it. Rain had learned a healing spell by this battle, so I did get to make use of that. Hel will be shocked she lost and teleport away, swearing we'll meet again. She also said we only won because of Pongo... With little reaction to that, the team automatically runs (into a wall) back to the G Home.

There's a quick discussion about whether or not this is another one of dad's tall tales, but Rain believes it's true. We figure we've nothing else to do, so we might as well have an adventure. The list of places Brown has found Oparts are mostly on the northern continent. But there is one in Harmon's Cave, north of Oceania. I picked up the ice weapons because someone said there were a lot of fire mobs in the cave. They were correct. The forest is a quick trek, and we reach the cave in due time.

There's a lock before us. Words are written in a language no one knows, but there's a translation in Brown's notebook. Red has to say something embarrassing, but it works. I focused on the rare but scary jars. They don't move, have one HP, but can cast an ice magic that hits everyone and hurts. After them were the surprisingly tanky fire snakes. These guys can knock back a character with their fire tackle and can do it multiple times a round. The fire clouds aren't a big deal already. We'll eventually jump down a pit filled with snakes...and a giant!

Bull is joined by an entire squad of fire slugs and clouds, as well as two ice jars for good measure. I remained south and took out the mobs around me, letting everything north come to me. This would create a bottleneck, but that's fine. I feverishly killed the ads before Bull started ramming my party. He's so big he takes up four squares on the battlefield. I don't know when or how, but Rain learned Great Heal at some point. This spell allowed her to heal the entire party at once for twenty two MP. I had plenty of MP pots, so I used that spell liberally.

In this room is another locked door. Rain magically can read the words now and details something about tickling feet and grabbing a shoulder. I then notice that the room we're in looks like a cactaur... Find a switch on the left foot, jump through the right eye, and high five the left hand to open the door. Inside is the Gorgobabia Crystal. Apparently, this controls the seas, which is why the ocean has been unstable lately. With it in our hands, though, everything is settled down. Too bad we're too late. The last tidal wave sank all the ships that could have taken us to the north continent. But there's a new island, and there's still the rumors of ghosts. I'll check them out...

...tomorrow!

I also spent time at the frog casino. Won me some boots and anti poison ring I won't be using, and learned I suck at frog racing.

The OG

Akin to nothing, Final Fantasy Renaissance is cheap as hell.

Irate-o Forest lies between us and our hometown of Tania. But before is a woman in a crystal no one wants to acknowledge. There's an old man beside it for some reason, but something will happen to him. The spirit of the crystal lady will possess the poor man and speak to us. She warns us of a being called the Dark Lord. He was sealed for 1000 years before he was released. We (the player) see a scene where a rude man is escorted into a tomb, seeking the Dark Crown. His guide is worried and doesn't wish to go further, and the ruse man calls him a coward and tells him to wait here. He quickly changes his mind and cuts the man down. The thief wants that crown and the power that comes with it all to himself. He enters the tomb and approaches the grave. The crown begins to shake, levitate, and fill the room with light. The thief runs away, and the scene returns to the Irate Forest. The spirit asks us to stop the Dark Lord before he revives Bone Dino. The spirit retreats from the man, who runs off in terror.

Enemies in the forest are things we've already fought. The only thing new is the bees. Explore everywhere and dig up those plants. I'm starting to notice that sifting through every single little corner of a map is how one finds and earns money in this game. Mobs don't drop giv, nor do they drop poached furs or something. So it's gonna be tough sledding until I figure out some stuff. At the end of the path is the gremlin who ran away from us back home. She informs us they were sent to burn the sprite and promises we'll meet grandpa again as a battle against her begins.

She's surrounded by sentient fires, and she'll spawn more her first three turns. The witch has a lot of HP, so I don't think you can stop her from calling them. Go slowly and kill the slugs before her, and let everything come to you. Witch lacks any offensive powers once her fires are dead. Her final words mention someone named Lord Hel. Besides that, there is no fanfare, so head onto the world map.

I like that there are no encounters here, and the music is fun. It also feels open world, as there are five places we can go to now. So add Chrono Trigger to the list of games the game feels like. Rather than explore things early, I just went to Tania Town. As with other villages, there's a lot of neat stuff around. Finding clothes that suck, falling for traps filled with bats, killing bees, and learning more about dad. He often told wildly over-the-top stories that no one believed. At least his public persona was the same as his private. Outside our old house are the training guys from Runion, and they'll teach Blue a new trap.

The boys enter their former home and announce they're back. The place is empty. The boys want to find dad's adventure room, so they start to look for clues. After a few false leads and a mild bomb, they discover a secret staircase behind the bookshelf. It takes them to a room so dark no one can see. Blue bangs his knee on something as he finds a source of light. There are more pots, but they eventually find a note from dad. It's a note to them. It tells them dad always sought adventure but stumbled upon something world altering. He didn't write much of it, as he's a rather flippant man, but he speaks of things called Oparts and the world's trees. One in particular, especially. He handed that stuff over to "academia," but an angel came to him shortly after. She "turned into a map" that showed dangers and the Earth Tree. There was something about saving the world that called out to him, so he took on that quest. He hopes to see his sons again after finding the Earth Tree and asks them to take a second letter, found beside this one, to a magician on Mt. Abnoba. He signs off as "Brown G." So we're the G in Treasure Hunter G! Red and Blue wonder if this letter is another tall tale, but Rain joins them in the basement and urges them to obey. Red knows she's hiding something, but Rain refuses to say anything. ...for now. But her words reach Blue, so that's our next destination.

Abnoba is to the east, but visit the Port Town of Oceana. There are new weapons and armor here, but I only bought a sword for Red for some reason. I also found a bunch of Smelly Boots. The perks are not worth equipping them!

Mt. Abnoba is filled with monks who test us often. Every time we win their test, someone will learn new skills. At last, Pongo isn't the only one with extra stuff to do! Blue still seems pretty mid, but his teleport trap did help us out up here. Rain, sadly, still sucks. The new mob is something terrifying. It's a clam that attacks the entire battlefield with ice. It can't move and is protected by friends, so abuse the teleport trap. It works on allies as well. The party then has to avoid an eternal rockslide as they climb a sheer cliff. Fortunately, they move side to side quickly. We'll eventually reach a tower where the guards tell us to find the hole. There's a save point on the second floor, so I'll look for this mage...

...tomorrow!

I kinda see why Square kept this local. It's a big break from convention, which they didn't like to test foreign markets with. But of a learning curve, ya know?

The hunt for treasure, g.

Treasure of Rudra was the last game Squaresoft developed for the Super Nintendo, but it was not the last game they produced. That award goes to another game allegedly about treasure: Treasure Hunter G. THG is another Japan exclusive that Square never translated to another region. Because of that, translators got mad and decided to rom hack the game so people everywhere could enjoy it. In theory, at least. Is it actually enjoyable? Let's-a find out!

I skipped the opening movie because I'm bad, so the game starts in a small cabin. An old man is trying to wake up two boys, Red and Blue. The man is complaining that neither brother is fond of getting up in the morning. Blue has had nightmares every night and has cried every morning. Red is deep asleep, and we get to experience his dream. The two brothers are having an argument with their unnamed father. Dear old dad is an absentee father and goes off on adventures all the time, leaving the color boys alone. Red, especially, calls him out, but dad doesn't listen to his son's complaints. He's more interested in chasing after Ferric Falcons, whatever those are. After a lackadaisical proverb dad made up to justify his actions, Red grabs Blue's hand, and they storm out of their house. The two talk outside until Blue starts to strike Red for no apparent reason, but we quickly see the old man is smacking his grandson. The two boys made their way to their grandfather's house in a neighboring town, and that's who they're staying with now!

The three discuss life until a friend of grandpa's, Harbattle, barges into the house. Something has happened at the nearby Aged Cave. There's a falcon there... Grandpa joins them for the expedition, and we get to the tutorial dungeon.

Treasure Hunter G is another stab at a tactical style of combat. It's no Final Fantasy Tactics, nor is it even Energy Breaker, but it's close. There's only one plane (so far), but all actions take place on a grid. Movement has its own counter, different from actions, but they are tied together, somehow. Proximity to a mob seems to adjust action points. But something G does that's interesting is the ability to attack diagonally. So a strong line can be an actual line. Items can also be thrown for damage, but I don't think I'll be doing that. Samurais are overrated.

Battles in the Aged Cave are against rats, who look a lot like snakes. It takes the boys a few turns to take them down, but grandpa easily kills them. He's a well seasoned monk, it seems, judging by his rad spin kick. There's also a single bat. In an offshoot is a strange machine no one can surmise the meaning of. They guessed it was a drill because the cave never used to be this deep. We're also introduced to healing and save points.

In the back is not what I expected. It appears to be an airship, but this is a Ferric Falcon. The party sees a group of people in the distance talking about planting a bomb before the bombers leave. Suddenly, the cave starts to shake. The party takes a look back at the falcon and sees the father they ran away from climbing the rocks around the falcon. There's nothing they can do, so they need to get out of the cave before they're trapped. We need to avoid falling rocks, but the escape isn't terrible. As they leave, the cave collapses, and they witness something fly off overhead. We (the player) see that it's dad, but the engine of the airship is broken. The party sees it crash far to the east. Rather than check it out, they go home.

Haubattle is informed of what happened, and the family decides it's time to find dad's secret adventure vault. Grandpa has known about it, but it's new information to the boys. Before leaving, though, we'll need new gear. Looking around town has us meeting a young girl named Rain and her monkey, Pongo. Grandpa saved them when they were attacked by bandits in the forest. But they're still healing, so they go elsewhere. But grandpa wants to drink, so he tells us to make money!

From here, we need to do odd jobs to make money. Mow the lawn, kill rats, and sell frogs. There's also a training dojo to tell us more about combat and gain some difficult experience. If we try to leave, Ponga joins us. So pick him up before combat. More importantly (I hope), we can learn a lot about our fellow Rurians. Collect giv and head to the world map. The nearby town of Sebia has the gear. Weapons are a priority and the only thing we need to buy. I'm not fond of how shopping works. It's very realistic, which is kinda clunky. I'm sure I'll get used to it. There are also a few more odd jobs here. As we try to leave, a villager tells us our home is burning!

The fire has spread everywhere, so we decide to help anyone we can find. Harbattle is in his house, and we need to save him from sentient flames. Take him to Ms Mora's, who he will save after she gives us her ex husband's violin. Mail is trapped by normal fire, so we concoct a plan. It fails, but Pongo rescues her anyway. Her secret admirer's dialogue didn't work... Grandpa's fighting gremlins outside the house, defending Rain as he holds his own. After our battle against a second gremlin, the gremlins get a cheap shot at grandpa and throw him into his burning home. The gremlins run away, and we put out our grandpa.

The burns are fatal. Grandpa's dying words urge us to return home, and he succumbs to his injuries. Rain takes the blame for this, saying they were looking for her again. But it's time to get away from the fire. The three leave the village and see Pongo heading towards Sebia. There's no way the music that plays for that scene was stock SNES chiptune. It's way too good!

The survivors of Ruran are in the item shop. Mail is despondent, but at least Harbattle and Ms Mora are in decent spirits. Pongo plays a song on the violin as we leave. Armor is free now because the shopkeeper feels bad for us, as is the inn. So gear up and get ready for the forest before us, which I'll do...

...tomorrow!

The menu is going to take some getting used to. Switching items is very cumbersome.

Songs I Think are Magic pt. 5

The weeb episode!

One of the biggest reasons I've never touched a boob is because of Adult Swim and Toonani. There are a lot of other reasons, by the way. Them introducing me to anime, alongside my growing interest in JRPGs, molded me into who I am. I didn't mean for this, but I really damned Japan, didn't I?

Uh...anyway, I like anime! From Dragonball Z to Cowboy Behop, I've recently rewatched Outlaw Star and YuYu Hakusho, and they hold up. I'd have long breaks here and there because of school and other stuff, but I recall recording Witch Hunter Robin and Blue Gender in middle school. High school was a total wash, but I came back afterwards because of Elfin Lied and Clannad. Other Key Studios stuff was there, too. Even in college, Angel Beats! and Rosen Maiden were my supper entertainment one summer. The amount of bagel bites and corn dogs I ate that season shortened my life by five years. Sword Art Online, Akame Ga Kill, Shakugun No Shana, (even) Attack on Titan, and so many others I've forgotten kept me and my stuffed animals on edge before bed. Nowadays, I've been rewatching old shows, but I've also thoroughly enjoyed newer ones. Ascendence of a Bookworm, Faraway Paladin, Ancient Magus Bride, Somali and the Forest Spirit, 86, Is The Order a Rabbit...

Right, uh, music. I'm talking about music. Most of those shows won't be here, but I occasionally nerd out. Their exclusion isn't a review of their soundtracks, but I don't usually pay attention to backing music. I struggle to see and am too focused on the story to retain anything on first viewing, and there's rarely a second. So what does pierce my thick skull means something. Only the best of the best on this list (and the next)!

And let's start with one that isn't on Spotify: Heaven's Not Enough. The final song that's played in the 2003 dystopian adventure anime has three notes. The synth piano plays behind everything else, and is always prominent but never boring. After a few loops, a woodwind instrument plays a melody alongside it and brings the mood even lower. Steve Contie, a name you'll see again, of New York Dolls fame, begins to sing about the folly of alternate worlds. "You think you've found it, but it loses you." "Most everything is nothing that it seems...you see the things you only want to see." And then the words become a first person event about flying and forgetting. Drums join the song as the singer states his own potential displeasure with heaven for a few verses. And then it becomes a solid rock song. At this point, it's a lengthy poem about a previous life. A life that was focused on this heaven? A heaven that didn't matter in the end. The final sentence is "heaven goodbye." The three note synth piano becomes the only thing in the song again, as it drones on for a full minute. The track is haunting and a little confusing, which is a good metaphor for Wolf's Rain. The premise is a group of wolves/boys seeking a flower girl who's supposed to lead them to Paradise. Cheza is also chased by two scientists who try to study her: Hub and his ex-wife, Cher. There's also a wolf hunter, Quent, and his dog, Blue, who interact with both groups. There's also the nobleman/main antagonist who created Cheza and his underlings, who become focal points in a world war that doesn't really matter. The plot skips between these four groups, their meetings, twists, and how the world changes. At the end of the extra OVAs, we experience the end of the world, and the final scenes are a bit strange. But I do recognize that no one gets their happy ending. Yoko Kanno will be back. Expect this entry to disappear and repeat elsewhere eventually...

"The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom. His tongue speaks judgement. Oh, how sacred. How serene. How benevolent. Oh, pure lily." What does a Latin foux church hymn have to do with Elfin Lied? Absolutely nothing! But it sure as hell sets the tone. In a show filled with blood and nudity, it's a song inspired by several bible verses that sticks out the most. Lilium is the opening theme to Elfin Lied, but it has some gravitas on the show, proper, as well. The main characters hum it once or twice, but it's never explained why they know it. The church organ inspires an idea of a benevolent being a vital part of the show, but the real MC is a woman most believe to be a devil. And her actions during the twelve episodes leads even me into agreeing. There's a lot of slaughter at the hands of Lucy. A tale of nurture vs nature at the hands of a young woman with invisible hands and cat ears doesn't really fit the opening song. But Elfin Lied is the anime that got me back into anime. I even read the manga! I don't know what to say about Lilium, but Elfin Lied is kinda important to me. Even the ending theme, Be Your Girl, doesn't fit, but is still really fun! Also, I will neither confirm nor deny that my Lucy's name stems from this Lucy.

Another pivotal track in my anime journey is about food! The closing song to CLANNAD tells the tale of a family of dongos, rice dumplings, and their unique personalities. I'd love to go into more detail about them, but I've never eaten them. I don't think I've even had a dumpling. And I can't even speak to the lyrical quality because it's in Japanese. A translation I found says they personify food, and every little dongo has a unique outlook on life. It sounds cute, which is amplified by the music. It's an adorable child's xylophone with a kawai voice over it. The instrument plays a number of melodies throughout the piece, but it's always the focus. Even the bells that start to show up don't override them. They somehow enhance them! A foux choir starts up in the second part, which makes it feel so wholesome. But why is there a tinge of melancholy behind it all? This show is filled with happiness and only happiness! Right? Anyway, everything falls away as the song ends with the one voice and that cute xylophone melody.

A Moon Filled Sky is the name of a song that's a common motif throughout both Ef - A Fairy Tale of Memories and Melodies. I just finished rewatching these a few days ago, so there's a good reason it's taken me a year to write this part! There are several versions played on different instruments, tempos, and moods. The common version is on a solo violin after a quick scale or two on a piano to introduce it. The piano doesn't change much, but the violin sings a charming tune. And it's definitely supposed to be lyrical. The second violin "verse" is slightly altered, but I can't pick out why, but the piano is more aggressive. The "chorus" is a bit of a duet between the two instruments. And there are only those two instruments. Quartets are overrated! But that does make it such a chill and mellow song to keep on repeat. It's played as typical background noise in the first season but takes on incredible gravitas in the second. We learn who wrote it, and that only sorta makes it worse because he's a creepy pedophile. But the song was written when its composer was in high school, so I won't blame the composition. But it also means something to his friends and the painful journey they take in life. Two of them give the track lyrics. It might be one, but my translator got lazy with the longer song. The English version, though, was created by the character with the worst life. But that doesn't hold her back from happiness! Her lyrics are about hope. "With the courage to live, the future I embrace, and the strength everyone gave me, I believe in love." Her dying words were a happy song made by her friend, so get ready to cry.

Both Moon and Ef''s OP/ED were written by TENMON. Both have several variations throughout both seasons, and they're songs of love (I think). But that's where the similarities end. Euphoric Fields/Ebullient Future sound nearly identical, and I can't tell which is which off the top of my head. Future kicks off hard before slowing down. It's a song of love, but the type of love that doesn't come easy. Fields starts slower, with the singer, Elisa, getting some time to shine before the J-pop hits. From there, the lyrics are about looking toward the future and realizing the past can't hurt anymore. "Be alive, take it!" Both songs are great representatives of the overarching plots of the seasons. Chihiro and Maya Maya finding love to overcome their deficiencies, and Yu and the creep, Kuze, are trying to overcome the pain in their past to move on and live. Honestly, on their own, the songs aren't super spectacular, but they're so startling and instant reminders of the anime they're from. They're catchy, and Elisa's thick accent adds to the charm of them. There are also Japanese and instrument only versions scattered here and there.

What's the greatest fake band in the history of the world? Detkklok! Better question: what's the best fake band for weebs? Girl Dead Monster! The distraction girls group from Angel Beats! introduced me to J-rock. Admittedly, it's not a genre I've spent much time with since 2010, but guess what I want to do! Angel Beats! is another anime that made me feel things men aren't supposed to feel, so I wanna write about it. It's a show about dead kids who aren't ready to pass on. Purgatory is high school, so maybe it's hell? Over time, all these characters you come to meet and laugh with start to slowly fade away, including the most memorable part of the show, GirlDeMo. Of all the songs I could write about here, I want to shout out Crow Song. It's the first thing we hear from them and is the catchiest. Lyrically, It's a good call to the show's premise. One day, everyone hearing the song will have to leave the plane of existence. But until then, I agree with the singer, Iwasami. Let's just rock out on our guitars! I think I'll rewatch Angel Beats! soon!

Not only is this the final song on this update, and not only is it the best in this section, but it is the best song of all time. From the godfather of lo-fi hip hop, Nujabes, comes Aruarian Dance. Sampling The Lamp is Low by the Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida in 1970, Nujabes slaps a damn fun drum beat over the melody that transforms the song from a Disneyesq background song into a track that forces your attention. But it's not a violent demand. It's in the same vein as a gentle stream calls you to the majesty of nature or the warm, embracing eyes of a lover calling you home. Aruarian Dance makes you want to, well, dance. A dance that's just a smooth glide across the room to your comfy spot or a relaxing tour on a skateboard while drinking cranberry juice. Nujabes shows what the power of a drum can do while cleaning up the guitar notes that get a little lost in the original song. It's from Samurai Champloo, but it's spread across the hearts and souls of all who've listened to it and need a good reason to enjoy the company of loved ones or just time alone. I dare you to be upset or even depressed after a listen. Fun fact: the true origins of the song can be traced back to Maurice Ravel in 1890's Pavane for Dead Princess, along with some Mildred Baily along the way to really showcase it. It goes to show the power and immortality of music. Something written 124 years ago is still relevant across genres that didn't exist when it was first written and made with technology Ravel could only dream of at the time. But despite the time gaps, the original message carries on. Ravel wrote a song to call back to happier times in Spain. Baily added lyrics about a simple love, and now Nujabes uses a Brazilian's version to elicit all of that again. May we all dream the sweetest dream we will ever know.

But what's an aruarian?

Why was Vahn?

I've been here ALL month. Rather than linger on Legend of Legaia any longer, let's get down to brass tax.


What does the OG LoL do that sucks?

Let's start with the story. It gets confusing and weird. Unless I missed something, there are also a number of plot holes. Do sim-seru function without the Great Genesis Tree? I also never found the reason why everyone thought the mist was holy. I assume it's because of Rogue, but what was his endgame in this? If there's nothing there, what are you ruling over?

The gameplay was fine, but it gets pretty boring once you've "unlocked" all the arts. Spam the same buttons repeatedly until your opponent dies. And in random battles, there's no difference between this and traditional turn based games. And don't get me started on how useless magic is.


Those may be the only deeply flawed issues I have with the game, but those are some of the most vital parts. Perhaps the good can outweigh the bad!

Noa quickly became one of my favorite all time characters. Her bubbly personality and infectious optimism with adorable ignorance towards common things drew me to her. I don't see myself in her, but she's just so fun!

The charm! By god, the charm! All the fun little things I want to see in RPGs are here. End game stats are the greatest. More importantly, gear actuality changes appearance when equipped. This was practically unheard of in 1998, but it never really caught on despite everyone everywhere loving it. Not even Final Fantasy stole this idea, but some "nameless" company did it! Shout out to Prokion! Nine-year-old me would have loved this game for that inclusion alone.


But that's kinda it. Everything else is middling, although far from terrible. Time for the numbers!

Plot: mixed bag. I've only known Noa for thirty eight hours, but if anything happens to her, I will kill everyone in this room and then myself! I don't care for her brother, though. 7/10

Gameplay: too long. Tedium sets in about twenty five hours in. Bosses become punch sponges, and new gear costs way too much. But the dungeons are short and fun. Shame magic is useless... 6/10

Sound: hookless. I enjoyed the variety of tracks we hear, but it's missing those earworms I need. 8/10

Visuals: lenient. I probably could dock the game for its use of pallet swaps, but there are enough enemies for me to say, "Look! The gear changes!" Flashy magic spells, unique locations, and quality are within. 10/10

Charm: love it. Legaia has memorable NPCs, a decent world, exploration, and just enough cute little things to make me see the game's got It. Lingers a but, though, and gameplay tedium creates more flaws... 7/10

Add those numbers up and deduct the cost of gear aggravation (-2) and the questionable translation, which creates some... odd moments of text (-1), and Legend of Legaia is a solid 35/50. A good seventy percent fits well. I enjoyed my time in Legaia, but I don't know if I could recommend it. The fighting game aspects are only novel for so long, and the weirdness with translation ("silence") keeps it in the cult classic realm. I didn't mention this anywhere else, but there are four different endings, all made at a choice after the final boss. That's always a plus!

Into the beast

Cheating is punished inside the Juggernaut, so save state often, including as you kill the final boss. Or be a real manly man man, and don't cheat!

The Bio Castle looks like it's inside the guts of Juggernaut. It is, so this is a wonderful representation. We'll travel across muscle, blood, sinew, and intestinal villani to reach Brother Cort. Each section has its own little thing that makes it different from anywhere else we've been. Treading water in a river of blood, lots of jumping, and a dumb pressure puzzle at the end are all within. Along the way, we'll get one final chance to collect all the seru we've encountered during the game. We can also find the ultimate equipment for all of our characters. They're sitting in chests, so it's rather anticlimactic.

The only story scenes are about halfway down. A save point lies before it. Inside the room are the villagers of Rim Elm. They're being sucked into Juggernaut just as Conkram was. They're still cognizant, and a few yell at Vahn for being wrong. Maya and Mie get a zoomed in scene, and they promise to remain strong. Dad and Nene don't, but trust us to save them.

The party finds their way to a tunnel. They stop, and Noa feels a breeze from behind her. Suddenly, a river flow charges and pushes them into a bottomless pit. Gala catches a ledge with Vahn and Noa holding on to him, but Gala's hand slips, and they all fall down. They land on a muscle tendon of Juggernaut, and Noa is the first to get up. She senses an energy she's felt before. Floating above them, in what appears to be Jug's heart, is the still living Cort. Noa tries to convince Cort to return to being a human, She's learned what love is, so many that'll reach him. It doesn't. Cort's in his full blown god complex phase. He wants to wipe out the human race, and now we have to stop him.

Obviously, I cheated for this battle, but I don't know if I needed to. Cort seemed really weak. His combo did less than 2000 damage, and his AoE attack is telegraphed. I summoned our ra-seru, which you get from leveling them up to the max level, for a combined ~13000 damage. A few Points Cards and Miracle Arts later and Ol' Corty kicked the bucket.

Our ra-seru informs us that we succeed just in time. Hari's life persevering powers of the Great Genesis Tree have run out. The seru time is up. They unequip themselves from us and float overhead, and we get one final word to our friends. Noa starts to panic and begs Terra to stay. She doesn't want to be alone. Terra reminds her that Noa has Vahn and Gala now. Gala, despite the contention, doesn't want Ozma to leave either. The ra-seru scolds him for relying on outside power and forgetting his basics. Vahn is still silent... Meta, Terra, and Ozma say one more farewell to the humans and wish them well. The seru will soon be gone, and the age of man will begin again anew. But they have enough power for one more thing...

We see a final CGI scene where the remains of Juggernaut are turned to stone. We see Rim Elm villagers are also petrified and dead in the remains, but three lights light up the area. The rock chips on Mei begin to break off...

A month later, and Vahn, Papa Val, and Nene are at the Rim Elm Genesis Tree. The final power of our ra-seru revived the villagers and granted them stronger, more resilient bodies immune to wear, tear, and illness. Dr. Usha wanders in and is upset that Vahn's about to go on a journey. He should aid in rebuilding his home, but he's gonna nope out... Usha wants to write a book about saving the world, but he'll settle for interviews with the family. Usha asks Vahn why he's going on the journey, and we get four choices. These actually mean something and change the final ending of the game. I replied that I wanted to see the mist free world!
After this, I spoke to Maya and Mei. Mei wanted to come on the journey, and I let her. It'll be a nice date.
We can speak to many friends who've come to visit the heros, including the Disco King, who taught Noa how to dance, Tetsu, and Lucres.
Luctes brought Usha here and told us the Soren will become earthbound. Their seru will soon be gone, so they might as well learn from Grantes!
The save point is also broken because it's tied to Tieg.
The elder tells us that Noa left and took a random baby with her. He believes that child is the reborn Cort, who she wants to raise. She suspects everyone will hate him because he tried to destroy the world, so she took him to safety.
Pepe and his dad are also here as a pit stop on their travels.
As Vahn and Mie prepare to leave Rim Elm through the wooded fence, the entire village wishes them luck, and the two begin their journey to Drake Castle!

The credits roll, and we see the final scenes for our friends. Noa is in Jeremi with baby Cort at the top of the tower.
Gala is teaching at the monastery, and it has new recruits.
Cara is at home, and Grantes returns with a fish. The fish is still alive. Cara is either shocked or excited.
Sol is a bustling tourist town.
The flying wagons of Octam still function... for now.
The Soren exist.
Usha's interns are still making bombs...poorly.
There were a few others, but they're whatever...
The final scene is a flower growing from the ground. I think I see the Absolute Fortress in the background, so I assume this is Conkram.

Advancing this takes us to a stats screen, which is hella rad. The game has tracked battles, escapes, time, highest combo, damage, KOs, kills, arts learned, magic gathered, and treasure found. I got 88.4 percent!

And with that, we're returned to the main menu.

The End.

No happy endings.

We return to Conkram, but there's something missing. Like, everything. The clamshell that we saw on the world map is closed. The party climbs it, and Noa calls out to her parents, hoping desperately for any response. The area is barren, devoid of anything. Gala assumes that the city became such a vital part of the sim-seru that it vanished as its parasite did when the mist disappeared. He believes that the King and Queen knew this would happen. Noa gets mad at Terra because Terra should have known this would happen. Noa wanted to know it. Out of anger, confusion, and a realization that this journey brings nothing for her, she tells Terra she hates her. Noa breaks down and starts crying, and everything jumps ahead a few days. We've returned to Rim Elm.

Nene has to wake up Vahn, who's enjoying his retirement from saving the world. I can relate. Our friends are waiting for us, so let's go for a walk around Rim Elm. Everyone is glad to see us. We can also have a final match against our master. He's faster than me and whooped my ass, so maybe he should have saved the world?

Poor Noa is living with the elder. She's despondent and looking out the window. The loss of her family caused her to have an outburst against Terra, and even she's not talking to Noa anymore. The girl has never been more alone and hopeless. Sadly, Vahn is a silent protagonist and sucks.
Maya leaves her house and encourages us to talk to Mei. She's becoming a high class tailor and enjoying life. She's changed, as has Vahn, apparently. Out of character, Vahn moves in and kisses Mei. She turns red as Maya comes back. Vahn has to go talk to Gala at the Genesis Tree...

I don't remember what they talk about because they're interrupted by a kid telling them someone's asking for them. We can guess it's Usha, but the kid said his name is Songi.

Noa beat us there, as has our master and a few other townsfolk. I try to assume Songi has changed, but Vahn's quickly proven wrong. Songi starts talking about ruling the world and destroying Rim Elm. Tetsu tries to defend us but is quickly stopped with a single blow. Songi says he pulled his punches. I don't know why because he summons Juggernaut! He's fused with Cort, and Songi is going to use him to take over Legaia. But not just our world but Seru-kai as well.

Juggernaut does something and turns Rim Elm into a similar location as Conkram. Songi seals something to prevent us from stopping him and leaves. If we truly want to save the world, we need to travel to Seru-kai and get him there.

Eru Mai is our gateway. After the party prays to Tieg, an interdimensional hole opens up. As we go through it, Terra encourages everyone and wishes them well. The rest of the seru tell us more about the ra-seru. They're supposed to be fail safes in case Rouge got freed. They're supposed to do what they're doing and help mankind save the two worlds. So it's all going according to plan!

Everyone arrives in a world with floating blue hexagons around. It's a short walk filled with seru you probably already have, and there's a giant Genesis Tree at the end. The Great Genesis Tree is trapped in a special type of sim-seru, and Songi is draining the tree's power. After he compares himself to us, saying we're all being manipulated by the ra-seru, which he has, and reminds us he's the perfect being and best to become god, a fight starts.

This sucked. Songi's attacks do between 1500 and 3000 damage, and there's no way to know who or when he'll strike. I died and realized I'm kinda over Legend of Legaia. I cheated and gave myself a permanent max HP code. Sorry.

We beat the ra-seru that was inside Songi, and his body starts to convulse. Humans aren't capable of being in this realm, so he's being torn apart now that his seru is gone. He curses us and dies. But he fatally damaged the GGT. All the seru will soon die, and we will follow along with them. Suddenly, three lights appear overhead. It's Hari! They're the words of Tieg and, therefore, immortal. They appear and grant the tree more power at the cost of their souls, allowing us to empower it more. But it's only for a short time. We'll need to defeat Cort again to save our world before the tree dies. Time is running out.

We're warped back to Legaia and find ourselves on Mt. Rikuru, where we met Noa. The Rim Elm tree is dead, so this is the closest. From here, we can explore the world one more time. Our friends are boring, but we still should travel to three (two) places. Our ra-seru has one more level to gain. Terra's level is the tree on Rikuru, and Ozma is his tree in Voz. Vahn has to seek the tree in Sol. Hari will give us even more last of his power. And with that, I'm ready to finish this!

We walk back to Rim Elm, and Vahn needs a second to stabilize himself. Gala reminds him of all the miracles they've done throughout the journey, so what's one more. Noa seems less enthusiastic, seeing as her hometown looked a lot like this, so there's no guarantee the villagers will be alive on the otherside. The ra-seru unseal the magic block over Juggernaut's mouth and climb into the final dungeon. And I'll do that...

...tomorrow!

Why did Songi help us? Are sim-seru not reliant on the Great Genesis Tree? Let's see how this ends!

We did it, everyone!

Jette's Absolute Fortress is the longest dungeon yet. It's several screens long, splattering through caves and high tech hallways. All the mobs are seru monsters you can learn (if you haven't already). I didn't stick around to get the ones I skipped. The second screen has us coming face to face with our longtime enemy. Juggernaut is sitting in a pool of mist. There's a pipe above him, showering him with more mist. But it's asleep. As we climb the caves behind it, Juggernaut will stir, but he remains sleeping. What dream does a monster have? The party eventually reaches a raised area with three levers on it. Turn the right one first and return to the floating platform just before it to get the treasure. I think it was a weapon for Noa. Triggering the left switch has us meeting the final Wiseman of Conkram.

Jette says the same things about the mist being holy and whatnot. He changes into his seru outfit, and a battle begins. Jette works the same as everyone else without a team attack warning. The only thing special about him is he can clone himself. The clone is sad and pathetic and dies easily while providing no threat. It's just annoying. Jette's combo attack is also stronger than his magic, so that's fun. As he dies, he sees our future. It's a desolate wasteland.

The team continues up the fortress until they reach the top. Jette's dead, so there's nothing standing in our way! The team starts to destroy the Mist Generator, but Noa suddenly gets a splitting headache. We (the player) see a man enter the room and call out to his little sister. Both Jette and this man remember meeting us ten years ago. This is Prince Cort. He says more stuff about the holy mist, and Noa yells at him, denouncing him as her brother. I'm sure you can figure out where this is going...

Cort starts the battle by putting a shield on himself that negates damage that isn't from an art. It breaks when he takes 25000 damage, half of his total HP. While that's up, he'll spam one of two moves: a team wide attack or a single target religious reference. The cross does more damage, but I prefer everyone getting hit. It's easier to plan around. The first time I fought him, Cort only attacked with the team wide spell. Why did I mention that? Because Cort has a stupid attack that practically one shots everyone, even at full HP. There's no warning, and I died. Dumb! I went back in and broke his shield. From there, I finished him off with the Points Card.

Cort is confused why he sucks and tells us his seru powers the Mist Generator. If one dies, the other will, too. So he falls into the pit and lands "in" Juggernaut's mist pool. The entire tower starts to shake as the machine breaks, landing on Juggernaut. This appears to kill the mighty sim-seru. But can we get out? Noa asks the aether why her brother would do such a thing, but there's no answer here. The team needs to escape and only has forty seconds. The wall behind us collapses, so I use a Door of Light to leave. Noa is confused because this is a random pipe and not the entrance. Gala says some things that don't matter because we're knocked into a pit by a wave of mist.

Cara wakes up Vahn. The party is outside the fortress, and the mist is gone. We saved the world!!! Cara is here because Grantes wanted to watch. He was given his wings back by his dad but plans to return them. Grantes wants to live as an earthbound person now and makes out with Cara. Noa watches from a too close a distance. Anyway, they leave, and we'll talk to Noa's parents...

...tomorrow!

Why was Cara there? What happens if we don't have a Door of Light? I wonder how long this epilogue is?

Why is Vahn the main character?

Noa 4444 lyfe!

The inn normally costs 10000 gold a night, but Conkram is in a frenzy, so we can sleep for free! It's an empty building when we wake up as the new weapon demonstration is about to begin.

There's a glass cylinder in the middle of town, and Zeta is the master of ceremonies for this reveal. He says this is the weapon that will defeat Sol by empowering a user's seru. A volunteer ventures into the cylinder, and the camera cuts to beneath the castle. Prince Cort and Jette, the Fourth Wisemen we haven't met, operate a computer. Jette turns on the machine, and mist begins to flow into the cylinder in the middle of town. It suddenly goes haywire, and too much mist is forced into it. The volunteer inside becomes a monster and breaks the glass, allowing the mist to envelop the town. A few citizens are killed while most flee into their homes. Gala tells us we're responsible for saving Conkram now and gets the team to run to the basement. A hole in the ground is before us, and it's an interdimensional gate between our world and Seru-Kai, the home to the seru. Specifically, a place called Rogue's Tower.

The party jumps in and sees a fragment of Rogue careening by us. Our ra-seru say things I don't quite understand because the plot is getting weird with proper nouns not being proper. Either way, we arrive at Rogue's Tower and need to reach the top. If we kill Rogue, the mist will stop. To get there, we need to navigate Sabrina's gym from Pokémon. Occasionally, the tower turns into a living organism, so don't teleport during that phase. It'll warp you to a dead end by default. The other thing we'll need to do is defeat "stronger" versions of the berserker and the winged lion. Killing them empowers the bigger teleport circle that lets us ascend to a higher floor. Our target, Rogue, is on level four.

Rogue only attacks every other turn, but it'll be a team wide move that deals 800 damage to a spirited character. When it's not doing that, it's changing elements. When it changes, Spoon yourself. I ended up circling through healers while my other two either charged or unleashed their Miracle Arts. At level thirty one, Gala gains his full stamina bar. Vahn did the least damage.

Rogue dies, and he's a load bearing boss. The tower collapses, but our ra-seru warp us out. The King is yelling at his underlings and son as we pop out of the hole. He demands everyone remain here to repent but asks us to come to the throne room after Gala tells him we saved the world. Nebular notices Cort is wearing a seru. Noa tried to reveal to her parents she's their daughter. The King rewards us with the Nemesis Gem. He calls it a waste and wishes he could give us something else, but Cort doesn't want us to have it anyway. But it doesn't matter. We can see the Queen on the roof, and Noa almost tells her who she is again. All Noa wants is recognition from her parents, but she understands. Minea gives her her ring, which increases the wearer's HP by 25 percent. Despite not knowing, they both comment that Noa is a good girl. We also see the symbol of Conkram, a clam on a pedestal, open up...
We return to our Conkram, and (the player) see a scene where Cort and Wisemen find the Rogue fragment that passed us on the way to the tower... The trapped Queen urges us to end the Mist Generator and says she loves Noa. The King states the same. We'll have to return to the world map and to the north to Jette's Absolute Fortress, where I hope the Gates of Hell are because we're using this Nemesis Gem and saving the world...

...tomorrow!

Vahn serves no purpose so far.

...it's a time travel story...

Tubular.

The Soren elder immediately gives us the go ahead to be taken to Zora's Floating Fortress. We only came here for the new gear...

Luctes and co. lift off from the base and take us to the Karisto Mist Generator. It's located deep inside the floating castle, a place where many Soren have been killed in failed counteroffensives, so Luctes drops us off on a connected ledge. We now have to walk the caves to reach the throne room. Along the way, nothing really happens. The only sort of gimmick is we need to beat up a slave and turn something off. I don't know what that switch connected to, though. Garra, the final wind seru, can be found here, and there are three dark seru, puera, as well. They have a roulette attack, so be careful. I didn't bother to try to learn them because I don't see a point. I'm never gonna use them, grind them, or care. They take 120 MP to summon anyway!

The party reaches the throne room, but it's empty. We (the player) witness a scene where the Soren have to hide (by flying into the air) because a blue creature has arrived. But we examine the door behind the throne because that's where the mist generator is. Sadly, it's locked. There's a choice to make, but neither matter. We'll have to leave the room, but as we do, the trap is sprung.

Zora walks in. Her loyalty to Prince Cort has led her to this day, and a battle begins. Zora is more annoying than anything. Her team wide attack deals 1100 damage, but her combo is kinda weak. Her worst move is her ability to spam petrification. I tried to use my usual strategy, but I got annoyed and just finished her off with the Points Card.

Songi becomes the center of attention next, as he's here to drop the truth. Zora is a pawn. Her entire existence, including this castle, is a trap for us. We were to be lured here and killed, one way or another. Songi then Galic Guns the door to the Mist Generator. As we enter the room, he informs us he's going to destroy the ra-seru inside the generator. An egg Grantes gave Zora is powering the machine, as all of them have. Our ra-seru knew this but said it's best that we kill them. The CGI scene of the machine being destroyed automatically runs as we enter the room. Songi is on his floating turtle and reiterates that the mist from here was fake. Zora is still alive and tries to retort, but Songi is closer to Cort than the "bossy" woman who claims to love him is. Out of spite, Songi finishes off Zora with another Galic Gun.

And with that done, Songi begins the trap again. He plans to make sure we die here as originally planned. The generator made fake mist, but it did power the castle. And with that gone, we're gonna crash into Legaia. We had six minutes, but I escaped in less than two. We reach the landing zone, but Lactes isn't here. Air friction causes the rock we're standing on to break apart, and the force of it causes Noa to fly off the edge. The Soren finally realize we're here and save us, just as the castle crashes into a bay north of Beru.

The Soren elder informs us the real Mist Generator is located in Conkram. We can finally go to Noa's hometown, and she's thrilled. Before we take off, Luctes apologizes for his rudeness when we first met. He then gives us a teleport stone because this is a one way trip. We can be dropped off, but we can't be picked up. The mist is thick, so we'll need to parachute down. Everything goes as planned.

Conkram is encased in a giant clam... and everything is moving. Noa tries to call out to her parents, but the horrifying body morph of the seru that is Conkram takes Gala's attention. This game suddenly became a horror story. The party hears a voice and finds it coming from a man being eaten by the seru. He calls for help, and that's all he can do. But our goal now is to find whatever we can.

We enter the castle, and Noa, for the first time all game, feels something other than sheer excitement. She's afraid, but Gala promises to protect her. We find our way to the clam pearl, and inside it is a person! Queen Minea, who can finally meet her daughter again. Her love for Noa has kept her sane during this ordeal. But she also knows who Vahn and Gala are, so whatever. Minea knows we're here and says the Mist Generator is in Jette's Absolute Fortress. The only way to read that is through a tunnel to her right, but we need a Nemesis Key to open the door. Sadly, none of those exist anymore. We'll need to go into the past. She tells us to find King Nebular and obtain the Seru Flame. The King is in the basement and in a similar predicament as his wife. Vahn picks up the flame and is told to light the torches in the Room of Mirrors, which is on the Queen's left. He does, and the party goes back in time. En route, Terra warns Noa not to interact with her parents or else she'll create chaos that the mist will thrive on.

Past Conkram is a happening place. We arrive before the mist and ten years into their war with Sol. Their new weapon will be unveiled tomorrow. We can look around the castle and town and pick up a lot of interesting things. Firstly, Noa has a brother. People talk about a Prince Cort, who helped design the new weapon. We also see Zeta, Dohati, and Zora, and they're advisors for the royal family. And their personal guards are the Daliles family. There's finally no new equipment, and it's the middle of the night. After talking to Dr. Usha, we realize we should probably rest at the inn. We'll witness this new seru enhancing weapon...

...tomorrow!

Things got interesting real fast.

What is Love?

My quarterback!

Grantes is still sitting at the bar because grounded birds are terrible people.

Grantes is more open to speaking with us, but he's still standoffish. Hand the piano player the sheet music Cara gave us, and she'll remark how simple it is. But it's still very good. A somber but still regal and somehow hopeful track plays, which Grantes recognizes instantly. It's the same song Cara played when she took his flute. He's more open to discussion but doubts Cara still loves him. Noa doesn't understand love yet, so Gala does it. Noa finds it fascinating! But Gala's words reach Grantees. He asks us to tell Cara something, but it's stupid because we meet both of them in Cara's house in Buma.

Noa shouts that she's here as she walks in on Cara and Grantes in a near moment of passion, embarrassing both the adults. As thanks for reuniting the two lovers, Grantes tells us the whole story. He was a Soren until he was cast out of his tribe for falling in love with Cara. They took his winged seru as punishment, and that's what he's been moping about since. But Cara's more import now. But his worst sin was falling for Zora's deceit. She promised him plenty if he gave her the seru eggs in Buma's Genesis Tree. But Zora betrayed him after her floating castle was built. Grantes gives us his flute, which we can use to call his people atop Mt. Dhini to the north. Cara also finally gives Noa her egg. We can hang around to discuss what love is, and Noa finally figured it out. Sorta. Cara calls her romantic love silly and envies what Noa has.

Mt. Dhini is at the top of Karisto, so enjoy the walk. The layout of it is reminiscent of Ratayu but without the hidden paths. It's really disappointing. There's a new earth seru, iota, and you can find an accessory that rewards you with fewer encounters. Vahn plays one note on the flute, and four Soren descend from above. We're too high of altitude for the mist to be here, so they're safe. The Soren get mad that we're not Soren, but Gala insinuates they're allies of the mist. The leader, Luctes, refutes that, and Gala informs them we're here to save the world. We need their help to reach the Floating Castle, and the Soren have a discussion. It ends because they need to talk to their elder. The three nameless boys pick up our party and take us to Soren Base. We have to speak to their elder...

...tomorrow!

Grantes is Luctes' brother, and they're both the children of the elder. Scandalous!

Boss rush.

I have a lot to type and not time to do out in!

The "skyline" of Uru Mais is dominated by a smooth black Central American pyramid. We enter the field, and Gala points out there is no mist. Noa sees a house and thinks we can dream in there. They can't, but there is a notebook warning about hearing voices at night. I didn't know what it meant, so I climbed up the pyramid.

There were three pegs that came together at the top. A voice spoke to the party, and we activated three doors on the side of the pyramid. I went to the back first for some reason, and it brought us to a cave. Gala suddenly fell into a fugue state and walked forward as though possessed. Terra tells Vahn and Noa to leave him; he's about to dream.

We witness the moment his feud with Songi began. Songi was jealous that Gala was better than him. During a training ceremony two years ago, Songi sabotaged the battle. He obtained some drugs from a woman in Biran and gave them to Gala. Songi told Gala it was a Fury Elixir, which he had already taken. Guilt racked him, causing our rival to ask Gala to take one to even it up. It was not Fury but the drugs. They kicked in, and Gala was as good as "dead." After Songi won, he found out Gala knew what it was the whole time, which just upset Songi more. The voice told Gala that what he did was right, and that he shouldn't beat himself up for it. "Humans create their own happiness with their pride."

The party was warped back to the top of the pyramid, and a peg glows. Eight ethereal beings appear around them, but they don't speak in complete words.

Noa was next, and her room appeared to be a wheat field. The same thing happened, and we see her being held by her parents as a baby. It turns out Noa is the princess of Conkram. An adviser enters the room and warns the King about "Cort." We skip ahead, and the Queen asks a man to take baby Noa far away from the mist. The man grows light wings and flies away. As he soared over Mt. Rikuru, where Vahn met Noa, the mist appeared. The man crashed, and a wolf approached the baby. Terra then ascended from the sky. The voice congratulated Noa for never giving up hope despite all she'd endured.

We return to the top again, and the beings are less translucent and talkative. And then Gala gets mad. Terra and the rest of the ra-seru have an idea as to what's going on, but they're not saying anything. Gala demands answers he never gets but tells Ozma they'll split up if their goals ever differ.

Vahn's room is a beige kaleidoscope. His dream takes place shortly after his sister, Nene, was born. The birth caused his mother to bleed out, and Vahn overheard his father and elder discussing the healing waters of Drake. Despite the dangers of the mist, child Vahn somehow left the village to find the water. His father went looking for him but got wounded in the process. While the two were away, his mother died. The voice tells Vahn not to live in the past and always look for the future.

We're returned to the top, and everything is revealed. We came here to speak to the divine god, Tieg. The beings around the party tell them Tieg is half human, half seru. One day, he split himself in two and let the two halves of him live in the two separate worlds he created. This went well until a traitorous seru, Rogue, tried to fuse the two. He was sealed away for a time until he escaped and brought the mist with him. After telling us this, the beings do a dumb dance and bring everything into a pocket dimension where the Fire Drops exist. Tieg tells us the drops are chaos manifest.

As we try to leave, the world starts shaking. Juggernaut shows up, shoots a laser at the pyramid, and poofs away. Our enemies are too slow. Cara laughs, and Noa asks for her seru egg. Cara promises to do so if we save Beru.

We take the Fire Drops back to the doctor. These all powerful things are made into bombs, whose creation is the least stable method of science! But it makes four bombs.

One is used to open the path to Koru, and it went off well before the three seconds Usha told us it would... From here, the party needs to split up. They need to detonate the other three bombs at the same time from three separate directions. The three will need to open and close doors for each other to reach the destination, which was pretty fun. Although it was very short! The three prepare to plant the bombs, but they're interrupted.

The Daliles family is here. Their over-the-top words annoy Gala, but they pep up Noa. Regardless, we begin three boss fights that are functionally the same. They're all one-on-one with mirrored images of each other. The Daliless have the same attack pattern: combo, combo, art. My pattern was: after the setup/stat boost, Miracle Art, heal, Spirit. It went well and worked, even if Vahn was slower than his opponent somehow. Gala and Vahn can use Spoon, but I had Noa use a healing bloom. After They lose, they all fall off the cliff where Koru is.

The party plants the bomb, and they go off at one. Noa is angry at Usha! We (the player) see that the Daliless are dying but still alive. Their fighting spirit is still thriving, and they have one more card to play. They're loyal to Zora and the mist and fuse with the still breathing Koru. They will detonate him themselves for the sake of destruction! Our party wakes up to see the fusion light in the hole the bombs didn't make. The ra-seru tell them what's going on, and they decide they need to kill Koru. Heal, save, and get to level twenty seven!

This is a gimmick battle. We have four rounds to remove "100" HP. If we fail, we have to reload. Start this battle close to max AP. I used the first round to extend the stamina bar to perform Miracle Arts. This didn't work, so I just used the Point Card.

The heat in Koru's body escapes, and it melts the glacier around Buro. There's no downside to a billion tons of water flooding the valley. We automatically go back to town, and Gala remarks that the town is actually very beautiful when it's not frozen. Noa doesn't care because we have three trees to save. Each character empowers a single tree, and the area is restored. Cara is impressed, but she reneges on the deal. She's busy lamenting that she buried the heart of herself and her lover, Grantes, here.

The party walks away and sees three people flying overhead. These are the soren and are the key to destroying the Floating Castle. But they ignore Noa's adorable calling to them. Cara rejoins us, and her hand is bleeding. She gives us sheet music, which has the notation of the flute she played with Grantes. The fairy tale the lady told us a few days ago is about Cara and Grantes. Maybe we can change the soren's mind with music, but I'll do that...

...tomorrow!

I chose a stupid time to go into overtime. And I haven't edited anything in a week. RIP me...