To Where it Began

What a weird way to get back there.

North around the mountains is a temba village. They think the dinosaurs are caged in while they're the free ones. But their town looks pretty circular to me. Try to find the merchant because he has Paula's best weapon. There's also a talking rock here, and he's kinda important. He tells us we have a fate, and that's to stop Gygas. He also tells us where all the Your Sanctuary locations are, including the last one. Fire Springs is to the southwest. But take a long detour east of there because Poo's body armor is nearby.

Fire Springs is a lava cavern. We'll have to navigate a series of caves and ropes to climb up. Stick to the bottom first because the Cherub Band is all the way to the right. The enemies are nothing to worry about now. At the top is a not good boy.

Carbon Dog is on fire, but be wary of using Freeze. CD has a shield that either negates or reflects. I don't remember which. So just spam physical attacks. But be ready for a twist. It's Diamond Dog. They appear when Carbon has broken. I found it to be the same fight, except you should use spells instead of bashes. Diamond has twice the health, so this segment will take some time. Fill Ness' inventory up with PP restoring items and the Franklin Badge. If you got the Sea Pendent in Lost Underworld, equip that. Behind the dogs is a geyser of lava, and Ness sees himself looking down at himself... The Sound Stone plays out all the sounds of the Sanctuary Location. It kinda sounds terrible.

Ness is suddenly taken to a black-and-white location. He walks up to an empty house, and even his form isn't around. We hear the door open and see the room pan sideways as a small dog runs around. The stairs make a noise as something uses them, and the camera pans again across the upstairs hallway in the house. The door to Ness' room triggers, but there's a rocking baby cradle here. We hear voices talking about baby Ness in his oversized hat. The two voices discuss how they want Ness to be when he's grown up before his bottle suddenly moves. The room fades away as Ness reappears in a grossly colored world.

Magicant is Ness' mind world. Does everyone with PK powers have one or only chosen ones? It's filled with a lot of people Ness has met on this journey, minus his friends, so he's here alone. His family is to the right, but there's no dad phone. Every time you speak to someone the world changes color to another clashing scheme. Walk around the land and talk to everyone for clues to Ness' past. He had a lot of friends before he set out on this journey. There's a shop somewhere that sells Earth Charms and magic pudding. The charm is a half decent Sea Charm, and the pudding is a PP restorative if you didn't bring any. If you come to a hut filled with flying men, a symbol of Ness' courage, then you're about to enter a dungeon. Bring a man among for the funsies. As you step across the threshold, the music changes and mobs can be seen.

Enemies now come at you, and some can be tricky. The scariest are the electro swooshes. Or they would be if you didn't have the Franklin Badge. The loaded dice can summon friends. The carefree bomb shows up with molecules, but I didn't notice anything too bad. Look out for a few presents in here. One is Ness' second best bat, the Magicant Bat, and the other is the Goddess Band, the best armband. There's also another you that can return your favorite hat if you lost/sold it. You monster. You'll reach a spiral that takes you to a stick. This stick teleports you to the Sea of Eden. It's a lake that contains three krakens and the personification of Ness' nightmares.

The Mani-mani statue is before us. It uses all of Ness' spells, including PSI Lucy Omega. It also uses an instant death attack, but the Earth Pendent worked well enough for me. I managed to get Flying Man into the battle, but he didn't last. You're going to need to make use of the ticking HP meter here. Nightmare can remove all of Ness' HP with Lucy O, so you'll need to heal before your HP drops to 0. I had over 600 HP, so there's plenty of time. Nightmare can also use shields to reflect damage back at you, so you're gonna have to juggle taking damage, giving damage, countering damage, and healing to survive this. It's finally a tough opponent for the first time since day one. Hence the need for PP items. But I won... Defeating your darkness rewards an extra 200000 exp, and Ness levels up. Unlike the usual stat ups, Ness gets 175 HP and 300 PP. The power of the Sanctuary also provides more power, and Ness' stats grow in various areas by five.

Ness' voice speaks again and tells him to go to Saturn Valley. Something is there that'll help us reach Gygas. All the Your Sanctuary locations flash on screen before Ness wakes up, back in Fire Cavern. The Sound Stone is gone, and our friends say he was in a deep sleep, talking out loud. Ness, seemingly, informs the group of Saturn Valley, and they automatically teleport there.

Apple Kid and Dr. Andonuts are there. They've built a new Phase Distorter vehicle that should take us to Gygas. Porky stole the first one and kidnapped a Saturn. As we climb in, we get fried! Jeff's dad tells us he needs a rare stone to complete the machine. I forget how, but we learn the stone is from meteorites, like the one Buzzbuzz used to start this journey near Ness' house. So let's go back home.

It's different than before. It's dark, and all the people are gone. Even the shop and hotel are closed. Make your way home, and look out for the new mobs. Gygas knows we're looking for that stone! The Ghost of Starman uses Poo's move in round one, but nearing level 90 usually gives us the speed advantage. He can also drop the best ribbon for Paula. I tried to get it, but Ness gained eight levels over an hour and a half before it dropped, so I quit. The evil eye can diamonise your team, so good luck against them.

Our mom is still here, but the lights are off for her safety. She seems to indicate the townsfolk are alive and just held up in their homes. Make your way up the hill and collect the rock at the meteor. Return home, eat a pizza, and call your dad. Returning to Saturn Valley is the point of no return. So enjoy the last night at home just as you did before the journey began. I'll finish Earthbound...

...tomorrow!

Ness is at level 99! The Magicant scenes also changed my mind about him. It showed a lot about him and provided his game an entire point for my review. Sadly, the Goddess Ribbon didn't drop, and I'm ready to end this. So I also won't be farming Ness' best weapon.