BLACK/MATRIX Advanced for Sega Dreamcast

Mini-games guide by iatneH (rotting_angel$h0tmail[dot]c$m)

Version 0.2

This guide has been submitted to GameFAQs exclusively. If you accessed this
from any other site, please contact me and I will make some attempt to put
down the smack. I will however allow other FAQ writers to include this in
whole or in part in their own guides as long as proper credit is given.

History:
03-06-04 - Updated activities and events, added stat comparison section
          Basically, the guide is now complete. (but not final)
03-06-04 - Started writing the guide

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Maps
3. Activities (and stats)
4. About Items
5. Other events
6. Little details
7. Comparison of initial stats and final stats
8. Credits and contact

***************
1. Introduction
***************

 My first ever guide! So apologies for any horrible layouts and general
 confusion.

 This is the tactical RPG developed by Flight-Plan
 (http://www.flight-plan.co.jp) and published by NEC Interchannel
 (http://www.neic.co.jp) for the Sega Dreamcast console. The game was only
 released in Japan, although there was a plan for a North American release
 which was sadly cancelled. Unfortunately, I do not read or understand very
 much Japanese, so I cannot give a complete walkthrough of the game. The
 only part of the game I will describe in this guide is the very first part
 where you are still undergoing rehabilitation at your master's house before
 getting into the actual game with all the battles and events. Brief battle
 FAQs have been made elsewhere by other fans of the game. Contrary to what
 one ignorant game magazine reviewer said, these mini-games are NOT pointless;
 Certain activities will raise Abel's stats, so you don't have to go into your
 first battle complaining how weak Abel is, like that other person who
 obviously didn't take the time to go through the various activities.
 Trust me, even though rehab can take over two hours of game time, it
 is VERY well worth it if you don't want to be completely slaughtered in your
 first battle.

*******************************
2. Map of goshujin-sama's house
*******************************

 It is going to be incredibly difficult for me to map out the house in the 3/4
 view, so I have rotated everything counter-clockwise by 45 degrees.
 Available activities are indicated by lower case words on the map.
 Paths to different parts of the house will be shown in upper case words.

 Note that the activity "eat" is available anywhere, as long as you are
 equipped with an edible item. (Costs 2 AP) More about eating in
 sections 3 and 4.
 Also, most items can be given to your master by equipping the item and
 then pressing "X" while next to her/him. (Costs 1 AP)

2.1 House Interior
                                    ________
                         __________/reading/
                        /barrel           /
                       /  ________       /
     _________________/  /        /_____/
    /fireplace  diary   |
    |                   |
  TO BEDROOM            |
    |                   |
   _|                   |
  |bath                 |
  |         cutting veggies
  |cleaning             |
  |_______________      |
                  |TO OUTSIDE


2.1.1 Bedroom

   _______________
  |            |drawer
  |sleep       |  |
  |____           |_
  | pots        TO HOUSE INTERIOR
  |_________________


2.2 Outside              Oh boy this one's going to be tough...


     TO HUNTING RANGE_______TO CLIFF
  |         _______________      |
  |        |    TO CAVE 1  \     |
TO GATE |TO HOUSE           |     |
   \   \     ___                 |
    \   \    |  |   field        |
     \ chop firewood             |
      \  TO STREAM L___          |
       \_____|        TO STREAM R           OMG what a disaster...


2.2.1 Gate

  TO OUTSIDE           Going through the gate ends your rehabilitation.
    |    |             Once you have left, there's no going back to the
    |    |             happy life you enjoyed with your master, and
    |    |             you will now be at the mercy of black-winged
    |    |             angels who don't quite give you that warm fuzzy
 TO THE CRUEL WORLD    feeling your master does.


2.2.2 Hunting Range

    TO CLIFF
    |      |
    |      |
  hunting  |
    |      |
    |      |
   TO OUTSIDE


2.2.3 Cliff
                 tree climbing
               ____|    | picking flowers
TO HUNTING RANGE______       |
                     |TO OUTSIDE


2.2.4 Cave 1

     _____________
 pick up rock     \
    |             |
    |             |
    |             |
    \____    _____/
       TO OUTSIDE


2.2.5 Stream R

   TO OUTSIDE
   |_       |
    _|      |
 picking flowers
   |_       |
     |      |
     \      |
      |     |
      \     |
       \pick up turtle


2.2.6 Stream L


    TO OUTSIDE
   |       |
 TO CAVE 2_|
   |     |_
   |_    fishing
   | |     |
   |picking flowers
   |_______|


2.2.7 Cave 2

  _________
 |  |      |
 |__|      |
 |         |
 |___   ___|
  TO STREAM L


*************
3. Activities
*************

  You start the game in the spring season, and as days pass the seasons will
  change, with winter being the last season before circumstances force you
  to leave the house.
  For each activity, I will state the amount of AP required, in which season
  it becomes available, which stat is raised, and what item you receive.
  More about the purpose of items will be discussed in section 4.
  Please note that it is not obvious where the activities are on the game
  map, so there may be several that I missed.

  You start out every day with 10 AP. It's up to you how to spend them, but
  I recommend doing all the mini-games several times to increase your stats
  in a somewhat balanced way, although WHEN the stats go up seems pretty
  unpredictable, as your stats do not increase every time you do the
  activity.

Stat descriptions:
HP  - Hit points. You should all know what this is.
STR - Strength. How much damage you dish out in battle.
VIT - Vitality. How well you take damage in battle.
BP  - Blood points. Similar to magic points, for using skills or spells.
INT - Intelligence. For smart people only. Increases skill/spell power.
DEX - Dexterity. How well you weild a weapon in battle, for hit %.

3.1 Sleep

 AP needed:     none
 Available:     Spring onward
 Stats raised:  HP
 Item received: none
 Replenishes your AP and makes one day pass. Some events occur during sleep,
 particularly on day 2 and 3 of spring. (I think)

3.2 Reading

 AP needed:     3
 Available:     Spring onward
 Stats raised:  none
 Item received: none
 There are two bookshelves.
 The first shelf contains four books on the topic of the biblical
 history of the world on the left, and five more on the right.
 The second shelf contains seven books on the left, one for each of
 the seven sins. The last book is "Love", and you might be wondering
 why that is a sin.
 Remember that this world is ruled by the black-winged angels who
 worship the High god Satan.
 There are an additional seven books on the right side of the second
 shelf.
 In the Playstation version of this game, reading the books raised
 Abel's INT. At first I thought there were only eleven books, and
 I did not discover the other twelve books until it was too late to
 read them all, so I can't say for sure whether INT will increase
 by reading all of the books.

3.3 Fireplace

 AP needed:     2
 Available:     Autumn onward, when the fireplace is lit
 Stats raised:  none
 Item received: none
 Requires you to be equipped with firewood received from the chopping
 firewood activity.
 This *might* increase a stat but it hasn't happened to me yet.

3.4 Bath

 AP needed:     I forgot :p
 Available:     Autumn, when the bucket is filled with bubbling water.
 Stats raised:  HP
 Item received: none
 Take a relaxing toasty bath. Naked. :)
 No your master doesn't get in with you. :p

3.5 Cleaning

 AP needed:     2
 Available:     Spring onward
 Stats raised:  DEX
 Item received: none
 Abel puts the muscle down on the dirty floor.

3.6 Chopping vegetables

 AP needed:     3
 Available:     Spring onward
 Stats raised:  none, or DEX. I forgot this too.
 Item received: some kind of food
 You are briefly shown a list of coloured vegetables. Press the
 corresponding colour controller button as the items go by, and before
 time runs out. If you screw up, you don't get an item!
 Finish with 5+ seconds remaining: Cabbage
             4-4.99: Apple
             3-3.99: Banana
             2-2.99: Bell pepper
 These are the only ones I know so far. I haven't finished with more
 than 6 seconds, or fewer than 3. The first time you do this activity,
 only red and blue are used. Then only yellow and green. Then three
 colours, and eventually 4, to the point where it just gets crazy
 difficult for a person like myself who is more used to the Playstation
 controller button colours.
 Anyway, in general, faster is better, and any mistake is not forgiven.

3.7 Pots, barrel, and drawer

 AP needed:     1
 Available:     Spring onward
 Stats raised:  none
 Item received: Gum
 Your master's private stash of gum!

3.8 Chopping firewood

 AP needed:     4
 Available:     Spring onward
 Stats raised:  STR
 Item received: firewood
 The task is to split a bunch of firewood logs in 20 seconds. Press 'A'
 when Abel raises the axe high enough to split the wood in two. Press
 the button too soon and Abel will miss, wasting time. Wait too long
 and Abel falls over (cute! ^_^). The first time you do this, it
 shouldn't be too hard to chop all the wood you're given, but as more
 and more pieces of wood are added, I think it becomes impossible
 to get a perfect score here.

3.9 Tending to the field

 AP needed:     5
 Available:     Spring to Autumn
 Stats raised:  VIT
 Item received: varies
 Each time you do this, the activity cycles through tilling the dirt ->
 sowing seeds -> picking the crop. So...you don't get the item until
 you pick the crop. The type of crop depends on which season you are in,
 and also I think the longer you wait between sowing the seeds and
 picking the crop, the nicer the thing you pull out of the ground is.
 i.e. pick it the following day -> radish but wait a few days
 and pick -> bok choi (at least that's what it is in Chinese, LOL)

3.10 Picking flowers

 AP needed:     1
 Available:     Spring onward
 Stats raised:  none
 Item received: varies
 I have found three locations where this is possible.
 Pick a pretty flower for your lovely master. Or, you can eat it. O_o.
 The type of flower depends on the season.

3.11 Picking up the turtle

 AP needed:     1
 Available:     ?? I didn't discover this until autumn.
 Stats raised:  none
 Item received: turtle
 Beats me what this is for. Give it to your master, or trash it or
 something. I don't remember if it's edible.

3.12 Picking up the rock

 AP needed:     1
 Available:     Autumn?
 Stats raised:  none
 Item received: rock
 I don't know what this is for either, but when you give it to your
 master, you get a different response from the other things.

3.13 Tree climbing

 AP needed:     5
 Available:     Spring onwards
 Stats raised:  none
 Item received: none
 Gives you a good view of the world, most notably the Tower of Babel
 and its gigantic magical chains.

3.14 Hunting

 AP needed:     5
 Available:     Summer to Autumn
 Stats raised:  DEX
 Item received: varies
 You have three arrows, and can move left and right along the
 fence to aim.
 There are four types of animals to shoot:
 1. The rabbit which is very close to the fence, is very slow, and
    is almost but not quite as stupid as a particular game magazine
    reviewer.
 2. The fox which is intermediate in distance and runs a bit faster.
 3. The boar which is really fast and is the farthest away, and also
    has the smallest gap between the bushes so you have to be good.
    Highly desirable.
 4. Some ultra-rare something-or-other which appears between the boar
    and fox areas, and zooms across the screen at a crazy high speed.
    I have never caught one of these but I have a feeling it's good.

 Shooting a cute rabbit or fox is kind of sad, and your master won't
 cook it for you. If you give a boar to your master, he/she will give
 you a yummy meal the next day. ^_^
 The animals themselves are not edible.
 If you miss all three shots, Abel hangs his head dejectedly and it's
 kind of cute/funny.

3.15 Fishing

 AP needed:     5
 Available:     Spring to Autumn
 Stats raised:  I forgot
 Item received: fish
 There is an arrow which is at the right side of a bar. When a fish
 bites, the arrow begins to move left. Pressing 'A' stops the arrow,
 and the closer the arrow is to the right side, the larger the fish you
 catch. After that, mash the 'A' button like crazy! You've got 10 seconds
 to reel in that bugger! You catch the fish when the bar fills up to
 where the arrow is, starting from the left side.
 The fish is edible, or you can give it to your master.

3.16 Diary

 AP needed:     1
 Available:     Winter
 Stats raised:  none
 Item received: diary
 I think this item only appears when Zero is your master. You can read it
 for 2 AP, I think it has some pretty cute content. Then you can give
 it to Zero for 1 AP, and he says something like "Ba....Baka!
 ...you didn't read it, did you?" Of course not, hehe.


**************
4. About Items
**************

 Most of the items you get during rehabilitation are edible, or you can
 give them to your master. The firewood, and rock are the only items
 which can be placed in the fireplace. Eating consumes 2 AP, and
 giving items to your master consumes 1 AP. I have raised VIT by simply
 eating stuff I get directly from the activities, such as vegetables
 from the field and cutting board, raw fish, and flowers. O_o
 If you give your master a flower, or firewood, you get a piece of
 gum as a present. I don't think it's too useful as I have not raised
 a stat and I have eaten a lot of gum.
 If you give your master something you got from the cutting board or
 field, or a fish or boar, the next day you will receive a cooked meal
 which for me has raised HP, STR, VIT, and INT. If you give your master
 a turtle, he/she lets it go. If you give your master a rabbit or fox,
 he/she says something about it being sort of sad. So...be nice,
 and don't shoot rabbits.


*************************************
5. Other events during rehabilitation
*************************************

 On the second day of summer, your master will give you a Super T-shirt
 as a birthday present. Be careful when you use this! Because if you
 are too close to your master, you will end up giving it back instead
 of putting it on, and your master will be a bit unhappy :(
 So, move away a little, and use the item to raise Abel's STR.
 (Costs 2 AP to put on the shirt, LOL)

 On the sixth day of summer, your master starts the day by commenting on
 the hot weather, and asks if you would like to go play in the water.
 You are given the option of yes or no.
 I would say...HELL YEAH! This means that for an entrance fee of 5 AP,
 you get to see a nice artwork of your master in a swimsuit!
 Yes, even if your master is Zero!

 A typhoon strikes near the end of autumn. You get to see some artwork
 of your master drying off :) The event happens after you choose to go
 to sleep, however, after the event you will have only recovered 2 AP.
 Either that or you start out that day with only 3 AP.

 Your master gets sick on the third or fourth day of winter! When you
 go to sleep, you see Abel waiting by your master's bedside. How sweet.
 :)

 On the last day of winter, your master will not be in the house as
 usual. You can still do various activities, however, you cannot
 go to sleep. The only thing left to do is to go through the gate
 and into the real world. If you leave this way, your master comes
 home to find the gate door open and Abel gone, and is quite upset.
 What I recommend you do is when you suspect you are nearing the end
 of winter, to save your game every day before you go to sleep. Then,
 if your master is not in the house in the morning, load your saved
 game and then leave, so that your master can give you a necklace as
 a parting gift. And thus begins the story...

 Abuse! You can save your game when you are inside the house. So, you
 can save your game before and after risky activities such as chopping,
 fishing, and hunting, and maximise what you get from your AP!
 If you screw up, you can just load your game from a few seconds ago
 and try the activity again.

*****************
6. Little details
*****************

 Depending on who you choose to be your goshujin-sama, the decor in the
 bedroom is different. Main differences will be patterns on the floor rug,
 and of your master's bedding. As I recall, the walls may be a different
 colour as well. For example, Dominna's bedroom has a red ambience, while
 Craze decorates her room in green.
 On the same topic, the story goes in the same general direction for all
 choices of goshujin-sama. However, depending on who your master is,
 certain characters may end up being your enemies or allies.
 And supposedly the story for Zero is supposed to be more different than
 the rest.
 Well, it makes both Zero and Abel homosexual, but that's not the
 important part, heh.

**********************
7. Comparison of stats
**********************

 The following stats were taken from my game in Normal mode.

 Here are Abel's initial stats:

 HP   19      BP   10
 STR  11      INT  10
 VIT  11      DEX  10

 And here are his stats when I left on the second last day of winter,
 with Zero as my master. Note that I have made several screw-ups in
 the course of my rehabilitation so it's highly probable the stats
 could be higher for other players.

 HP   26      BP   10
 STR  14      INT  12
 VIT  13      DEX  12

**********************
8. Credits and contact
**********************

 Thanks to my pal who helped me find a used Dreamcast for a sweet price.
 Thanks to Flight-Plan for a wicked game.
 Thanks to Anime Jyanai for helping me get my hands on a copy.

 Got something to contribute? Have I missed a mini-game?
 Send mail to the address at the top of the document (which has
 been weirdified in some effort to ward of spammers) with a descriptive
 subject, and hopefully I will add it to my guide!

Copyright 2003 Geoffrey Tien

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by
their respective trademark and copyright holders.

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