------------------------------------------
Mother 3 strategy guide
Author: Kylohk
Version: 1.05
Platform: Gameboy Advance
Date: 2008-11-10
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Table of contents: [Search key]
===I. PREFACE===
2. Story
3. Basics [MT3]
4. Combat and skills [MT4]
===II. TURBULENT TIMES===
5. The constant cowboy [MT5] [5B] [5C]
6. The great egg robbery [MT6] [6B]
7. Happiness is a box [MT7] [7B] [7C] [7D]
===III. THREE YEARS ON===
8. The boy in the orange-yellow striped shirt [MT8] [8B] [8C]
9. Once upon a time in Nowhere Part III [MT9] [9B]
10. Protruding needles, hidden dragon [MT10] [10B] [10C] [10D] [10E] [10F]
11. Minutes to midnight [MT11] [11B] [11C] [11D]
===IV. A HOPEFUL CONCLUSION===
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| I. PREFACE |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Mother 3 is the third and possibly final instalment of the Mother series, a
series of RPGs developed by Shigesato Itoi for Nintendo. The series is popular
in Japan, but only one of the three games made it out of Japan. That game is
Earthbound (known as Mother 2) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
That release was not successful, due to awful marketing and poor public
perception of the game's graphics. Nevertheless, the Mother series gained a
cult following, spawning a dedicated fansite.
Following the release of the Nintendo 64, a third game for the series, Mother
3 was in development for the console. Unfortunately, the N64 version of the
game was eventually cancelled due to various technical setbacks and the fact
that Itoi's team had difficulties working with 3D environments. The fanbase of
the series was definitely not pleased by the cancellation. All seemed gloomy
until Itoi restarted development of the game for the Gameboy Advance. Mother 3
was eventually released on 20th April, 2006 in Japan. Despite the DS being out
for over a year, the game sold over 500,000 copies. There have been constant
cries from the Internet community for the game to be translated and released
to the United States, all to no avail. As a result, the game is officially
available in only Japanese.
Being a text based RPG with no detailed cutscenes or full motion videos, it is
definitely no fun to play through it without understanding what everyone is
saying. At least in foreign films, you get to clearly see what everyone is
doing, therefore allowing you to have a vague understanding of the plot when
there are no subtitles! The good news is that some fans have made an
unofficial English translation of the game. As long as you can find a Mother 3
ROM on the internet, you can apply their patch and play it in English. In fact,
this guide assumes you are playing the game in English, so let's go.
*****************
About the author
*****************
I, Kylohk, am a Chinese gamer born in the year of the Tiger. The name Kylohk
is a reference to my real name K. Y. Lo and my city of origin (HK, short form
for Hong Kong). I've been playing Nintendo systems since the age of 9 and have
owned all Nintendo games consoles from the SNES onwards. It may also interest
you that I'm an exclusively Nintendo gamer: I've never bought a single Sega,
Sony or Microsoft system ever (although I was tempted to buy an Xbox 360 soon
after its launch). Of course, I've learnt to live without many big name
franchises many GameFAQs users take for granted (Final Fantasy, Metal Gear
Solid etc.)! When it comes to handhelds, I own a Gameboy Color, Gameboy
Advance and Nintendo DS.
I have been writing guides for GameFAQs since 2002, when I posted my guide for
the GameCube remake of the first Resident Evil. Since then, I've posted over
20 comprehensive guides for various games, having uploaded over 12MB of data.
My first honour came in May 2008, when my Super Mario Galaxy guide was awarded
a star, having received enough recommendations from the readers. Therefore I
must thank you for all your support over time!
I do not have any MySpace or Facebook pages, since I do not believe in social
networking websites. What I have is a YouTube channel that can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/kylohk
If you need help with the game, feel free to contact me through a personal
message on YouTube. If you like my guides and/or videos, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE and
I'll take that as a vote of confidence.
---------------
1. Updates
---------------
Version 1.05:
Fixed some typos, refined the search system and added an About Me section.
---------------
2. Story
---------------
Mother 3 is set on the aptly named Nowhere Island, an island literally in the
middle of nowhere. The main character of the story, Lucas, is visiting his
grandfather (from his mother's side) Alec in the mountains with his twin
brother Claus and his mother Hinawa. Lucas' father Flint cannot come because
he is busy working at their home in Tazmily Village. Anyways, we begin on the
final day of their visit, when the three are about to leave for home. All they
have to do is to take a hike down the mountains, walk through the Sunshine
Forest and they can arrive at their village. But as the mother sends a letter
home to tell Flint of their departure, large flying objects are spotted in the
sky. In any case, things are about to go wrong, awfully wrong.
---------------
Characters
---------------
Mother 3 boasts a lot of characters, much more than Earthbound. In fact you
get a total of 6 playable characters. To make things even more complicated,
the game is divided into 8 chapters, and you will be playing as different
people for the first three. Things only begin to settle from the 4th chapter.
In this section, I'll introduce the main characters you play as and their
immediately family. Other important characters will be introduced throughout
the guide of the main game.
***************
The main four
***************
These are the characters you'll be consistently playing with throughout the
game. In fact, there is not a single chapter within the game that would not
involve these characters. The brackets indicate the chapters in which you'll
be playing with each character.
Lucas (Chapters 4,5,6,7,8)
Lucas is the blond haired protagonist of Mother 3. He is the younger of two
twin brothers (second to come out of the womb, I guess?) born to Flint and
Hinawa. Lucas begins the game as a timid weakling, but is forced to fend for
himself at the young age of 10 following a serious tragedy. He undergoes the
most character development out of everyone else in the game, toughening his
resolve as time goes on. But still, his favourite thing is still love.
Kumatora (Chapters 2,3,5,7,8)
Princess Kumatora is the pink haired teenage resident of the local Osohe
Castle. Unlike most Nintendo princesses, who are generally helpless and
defenceless, Kumatora is one tough tomboy with an attitude. In fact, her name
means "bear-tiger" in Japanese. In addition, Kumatora is a psychic, she knows
various PSI powers with different elements. As a princess, you might think she
will be living with the King and Queeen. However, her parents are nowhere to
be found.
Duster (Chapters 1,2,5,7,8)
Duster is the resident thief of Tazmily village. Since there really isn't
anything worth stealing in Tazmily, the villagers still treat him quite well
despite public knowledge of his vocation. As a child, Duster underwent intense
training from his father to be a thief, which resulted in one of his legs
being slightly crippled. That, in conjunction with the constant scolding and
lack of encouragement from his old man, resulted in a love-hate relationship
between him and his dad Wess.
Boney (Chapters 1,4,5,6,7,8)
Boney is the loyal dog of Lucas' family. As man's best friend, you'd expect
him to follow Lucas around. That's all I can say, really!
*************************
Family and close friends
*************************
Here are the family members and close friends of the main 4 characters of the
game. Two of them are playable in the early chapters while some of the rest
act as support characters (i.e. characters that cannot be directly controlled
but will help you in battle nonetheless).
Claus
Claus is the brown haired elder twin brother of Lucas. Some twins are all
alike, but others have contrasting personalities. Lucas and Claus belong to
the latter type of twins: While Lucas is shy, Claus is brave and reckless. His
recklessness will lead to trouble early in the game.
Hinawa
Hinawa is the mother of Lucas and Claus and wife of Flint. She's a loving
mother and acts like the typical housewife. She is a decent cook who is good
at making omelettes, so good that other villagers crave that dish too. The sad
thing is that she will meet an untimely end in this game.
Flint (Chapter 1)
Flint is the father of Lucas and Claus, always sporting a cowboy hat. He works
as a shepherd in Tazmily Village and is well known for his strength. Flint may
appear tough, but tends to get tense when things go wrong. Despite being
heavily featured in the early footage of the N64 version of the game, Flint's
role has been greatly diminished in the GBA version of Mother 3.
Alec (Chapter 1 support)
Alec is the maternal grandfather of Lucas. He resides in the mountains high
above Tazmily Village and is a friend of the Magypsies, a group of fairy like
people. Unlike his son-in-law, Alec is able to stay calm and crack jokes even
in the worst situations.
Wess (Chapters 2,3 support)
Old man Wess is the father of Duster, the local thief. He treats his son as
his pupil, teaching him various thievery skills. Wess is a strict
disciplinarian, as if he were the George Ramsay of thievery, only without the
usage of profanity! He just loves to call Duster a moron when things go wrong.
Consider his relationship with Duster an equivalent to that between Cranky
Kong and Donkey Kong! Nevertheless, he's a very helpful support character.
Salsa (Chapters 3,7)
Salsa is a monkey kidnapped by an army of soldiers who wear pig masks (known
as the Pigmasks). Salsa is coerced into helping them win over the trust of the
Tazmily residents so that they can cease power. To make things worse, he is
dragged along by a travelling merchant named Fassad (known as Yokuba in the
Japanese version) who is not hesitant to abuse him as he pleases.
---------------
3. Basics
---------------
[MT3]
This is where you get to grasp the basics of the game.
---------------
Controls
---------------
Control pad: The control pad is used to move the character around the world.
This game allows you to move in 8 different directions (Up, down, left, right
and the 4 diagonals). Simply hold the key(s) corresponding to the direction
you want to move the character. The control pad is also used to navigate
through menus: Press the key corresponding to the direction you wish to move
the cursor to select the thing you want.
Start button:
Press the start button while you are out in the field to bring up the basic
menu.
Select button:
The select button is used to quickly reveal the current status of your
playable group members while you are out in the field. You get to see how much
health points and psychic points each member has, as well as any status
ailments they are currently suffering from.
A button:
The A button is the action button of the game. When you want to examine an
object, open a gift box or talk to people, walk over to it and press the A
button. The A button is also used to select options and confirm actions on
menus, as well as performing melee combos during battle.
B button:
Use the B button to run in the game. Press and hold the B button until you see
your group members kneel on the ground. Release the button and off you go!
L and R buttons:
Use it to scroll through tabs on certain menus. Press the R button while you
are out in the field to take out the map, if you have one that is.
---------------
Movement
---------------
Movement is rather basic in Mother 3: Just press and hold the control pad keys
in the direction you want to move the character. (For the brain dead: Press
and hold the Up key to move north and so on) To move diagonally, press and
hold the two keys that sandwich the desired direction (E.g. To move in a
northwest direction, hold both the Up and Left keys at the same time). To
climb ladders, simply walk into it and press the Up or Down key depending on
whether you want to ascend or descend.
A new feature of Mother 3 is the ability for your characters to run. Press and
hold the B button while you are in the field until your group members kneel on
the floor. Release the B button at that point and your characters will start
to run. The characters will run automatically, so use the Control Stick to
steer them around. Your characters will stop running when they bump into an
obstacle or when you press the B button again.
---------------
Basic menu
---------------
Press the start button whenever you are out in the field to bring up the basic
menu. A black bar will appear on the top of the screen with five icons. From
chapter 4 onwards, you'll get to see the amount of money (known as Dragon
Points in this game) you have at the far right hand side.
The first icon looks like a bag and brings you to the item menu, where you can
manage your items. The second icon resembles a baseball bat and takes you to
the equipment screen, where you get to check on the current equipment of your
group members and change their equipment if needed.
The third icon looks like an aiming reticule and takes you to the PSI menu,
where you can take a look at the current psychic abilities available to Lucas
and Kumatora (if neither character is in the group, this icon will not appear).
The fourth icon, resembling a silhouette of a person leads to the status menu,
where you get to see a summary of each character's stats, equipment and
special abilities.
The fifth icon allows you to activate the sleep mode, a power saving mode
reserved for the times you aren't playing the game, but don't want to turn off
the GBA or Nintendo DS.
--------------------
Managing your items
--------------------
In the basic menu, press A when you have selected the bag icon to enter the
item menu. While in the item menu, use the control pad to move the cursor
around so that you can read the description of the items in your inventory.
Any items that are currently equipped on your character will be marked by a
white letter E in a black circle. Note that each playable group member has his
own inventory. Press the L and R button to cycle between each group member's
inventories.
To perform an action on an item, move the cursor over the item in question and
press the A button. A menu with 3 options appears. You can either select "Use"
to use the item immediately (This only works for food and healing items).
Select "Give" to bring out a submenu with a list of group members you can give
the item to. Move the cursor over the name of the member you wish to give the
item and press A once more. Select Yes at the confirmation message and the
item will be given to him. The final option is "Drop", which allows you to
discard the item for good. Select "Yes" at the confirmation message to throw
the item away.
Whenever you move your cursor over an item that can be equipped, you can find
out which people can equip it, and whether it is an upgrade for them. If a
group member can equip the item, a small "OK" will appear at the bottom of his
portrait. If the item is an upgrade for him, a red "Up" will appear at the top
(a blue "Down" will appear instead if it's a downgrade). Feel free to give the
item to the person who needs it the most! The potential stat changes will be
shown when you move the cursor over his name in the "Give" submenu.
--------------------------
Equipping your characters
--------------------------
Select the baseball bat icon on the basic menu to enter the Equipment menu,
which features two data fields. The left field shows the current stats of your
character while the right field shows the 4 items currently equipped by the
character. Each character gets to equip a weapon, something on the head,
something on the body and one other item. Just like the item menu, press L and
R to cycle through characters.
To equip your character with something, scroll to his item page and move the
cursor over the slot in which you want to equip him. Press the A button and
you will be shown a list of items that can be equipped in that slot. Move the
cursor over the item to check how it affects his stats. Press the A button
when you have selected the desired item and it will be equipped.
---------------
Psychic powers
---------------
Only two characters in this game can use psychic powers, also known as PSI.
They are Lucas and Kumatora. When either character is in the group, select the
icon on the basic menu that resembles an aiming reticule. You'll be shown a
long list showing all the PSI abilities that are currently available to each
character. Use the L and R buttons to scroll between characters, but note that
the pages of Duster and Boney will be blank.
Of all the PSI abilities on the lists, only the Lifeup and Healing spells will
be available while all other abilities are dimmed out. This is because only
recovery spells can be used outside of battle. Lifeup restores health while
Healing removes status ailments from your character. Note that each spell's PP
(Psychic Point) cost is indicated to the right of each spell.
---------------
Status menu
---------------
The fourth option on the basic menu is the status menu. It allows you to see
the details of each character: Their stats, equipment, status ailments (if any)
and their special abilities. The first page shows the former three, pressing
the A button shows their abilities. You can move the cursor over each ability
to see what it does.
---------------
Going to sleep
---------------
The fifth and final option on the basic menu allows you to enter sleep mode.
When you are out in public and are in the middle of the game, far away from a
save point, you might want to stop for a while without losing your progress.
In that case, select the icon with several letter Zs on it. Select Yes on the
confirmation message to enter sleep mode. You'll be told how to get out of
sleep mode: Press the Select, L and R buttons simultaneously. Press A again
and poof! The screen turns off. You now know how to continue the game when you
need to.
---------------
Saving
---------------
The days of calling your dad to save the game are gone. With the lack of
telephones on Nowhere Island, you will need the help of frogs to record your
memories. Just talk to a frog and you'll be asked whether you want to save.
Select Yes and you will get to save your game in one of two slots. You can
load those saved files by selecting "Load" on the game's title screen.
---------------
Money matters
---------------
Money will be introduced from chapter 4 onwards. Your save frogs also act as
banks from then on. To manage your finances, talk to a frog and he will
present you with an option to manage your Dragon Points (DP). Select that
option and you will be shown a small "Withdraw" window. Use the control pad to
change the digits of the amount of money that you want to withdraw and press
the A button to confirm it. As a rule of a thumb, always keep a minimal amount
of money on you at all times, unless you are about to buy something. You can
deposit any excess DP by pressing the L button while you are on the Withdraw
window.
-------------------
Buying and selling
-------------------
You will come across vendors that sell various goods to you, starting from
Chapter 4. Talk to a vendor to bring up a menu. You will get to choose whether
you want to buy, sell or leave from the first menu. Select Buy if you want to
buy something, then select the character you wish to receive the item. You
then get to see the list of items available for sale, and their corresponding
prices. Items that you cannot afford are dimmed out.
When you move your cursor over an item that can be equipped, the "OK" icon
will appear on the portraits of the characters who can equip the item, an "Up"
or "Down" icon will also appear showing whether it is an upgrade or a
downgrade.
When you want to buy an item, move the cursor over it and press the A button.
Select Yes on the confirmation message and it will be bought and placed in the
character's inventory. If it's a weapon or armour you are buying, you will be
asked whether you want to equip it on the spot: You will almost always be
saying Yes if it happens. After that, you will get to sell the item that has
been replaced.
Selling items are done in a similar way to buying, only that you will be
scrolling through each character's inventory, looking for junk to get rid of.
---------------
Using maps
---------------
If you are lost, you can find your way around using maps. If you already have
a map of the area you are in, press the R button to reveal the map. If the map
is too big to fit the screen, scroll up and down by using the control pad.
Most maps are either given to you by certain characters, or can be found in
gift boxes wrapped using blue ribbons.
---------------------
4. Combat and skills
---------------------
[MT4]
Mother 3, just like any other RPG features a battle system to fight enemies.
It uses a system similar to that of Dragon Quest: You and the enemies take
turns attacking each other. You begin by picking the actions of each character
in your group. In each round, the fastest character among both the group and
the enemies moves first, followed by the second fastest of them all. This
process goes on until the slowest character has made his move.
-----------------
Battle interface
-----------------
Whenever you enter a battle, you will get to see the enemies on the centre of
the screen. In Mother 3, up to 3 enemies can appear on screen at the same time.
You will find the battle menu on the black bar on the top of the screen, where
you can choose what actions your character will take against the enemy. On the
bottom of the screen, you will find the status windows of all the playable
group members, showing their names, health points and psychic points.
In general, each character has four possible courses of action in battle.
Bash/Kick/Bite
The leftmost icon, with a music note on it, allows the character to perform a
normal physical attack on the enemy. This attack can only hit one enemy at a
time, so you'll get to select the enemy you want to attack.
Goods
The next icon resembles a bag, and that allows you to pick an item to use
during that turn. The item may be used against the enemy or on yourself,
depending on what it is. First you have to select the item, then you get to
select the friend or foe you want to use it on.
Special skill
The icon to the right of the bag has an aiming reticule on it. Choosing that
icon allows you to pick a special move to use against the enemy or on
yourselves. Each character has his own set of special skills as you can see
later. As before, you have to choose the target (either friend or foe) after
you've selected the skill you want to use.
Guard
The fourth option is represented with a cross. Choosing that option causes the
character to stand guard, minimizing the amount of damage he'll take during
that turn. Only do that if you have no other viable move to make.
Run
This option, only available to the leader of the group, allows you to try and
escape from battle. This attempt may or may not succeed. If you fail, the
enemy gets a free go at you! You can never run from boss battles, so don't
even try it.
----------------
Entering battle
----------------
As in Earthbound, you begin battles by running into enemies, or when the enemy
runs into you. The direction from which you approach the enemy (or vice versa)
matters, at least for the start of the fight. If you approach an enemy from
the front or side, the battle swirl on screen will be blue, indicating that
you begin on an equal footing.
If you somehow manage to approach an enemy from behind, the battle swirl will
be green. At this point, you usually get to have a free go at the enemy at the
start without any fear of retaliation. On the other hand, if an enemy
approaches you from behind, the swirl will be red, meaning that the enemy will
have one free go at you! The good news is that when that happens, Duster might
be able to help you to turn the tables.
----------------
Character stats
----------------
The stats in Mother 3 are slightly simpler when compared to Earthbound. The
Offense stats affects the power of your physical attacks; the Defense stat
affects the ability of your character to withstand physical damage; IQ
slightly affects the attack power of the Lucas' and Kumatora's PSI attacks. It
is absolutely useless for Duster, Boney, Flint and Salsa; Speed determines the
order in which the group members make their moves (The member with the highest
speed moves first, and so on).
Health points (HP) are self explanatory, a character whose HP drops to 0 will
be knocked out. Characters with higher HPs can take more damage. Psychic
Points (PP) are used by Lucas and Kumatora to cast their PSI spells. The more
PP they have, the more PSI they can use.
---------------
Levelling up
---------------
Every time you win a battle, you'll be told how many experience points you
have earned. The experience points earned by each character are the same, as
long as they are not unconscious. Unconscious characters do not gain any
experience. Once a character has earned enough EXP, his level will increase by
1. In that case, you'll be told which stats of that character have increased
and by how much.
---------------
Combo system
---------------
Mother 3 features a musical combo system for physical attacks. Each battle has
its unique music. If you can tap the A button along with the beat of the music
as your character does his physical attacks, you can score multiple hits on
the enemy, up to 16 hits in a row! Most music themes have a regular 4/4 time,
so the interval between taps would more or less be the same. Only in a select
few themes should you vary the tapping speed, and those are much harder to
score combos with.
For many songs, it's important to time your taps so that you begin at the
right time. Note that whenever it's your character's turn to attack, you'll
see a text window saying "[Character name]'s attack!". When you press the A
button at that point, your character will start attacking. Therefore you can
use that window to get ready for the exact moment to strike. Once you're ready,
tap A and keep moving! Full (or high combos) are important late in the game
since they can easily double, or even treble, the amount of damage your
character can deal, thereby shortening many battles.
If you have problems finding the beat of the melody, Duster is there to help,
as you can see later. Another important tip is that when facing multiple
enemies, the music theme during that battle will be that of the enemy you
first came in contact with. It's always wise to bump into the enemy with the
easier melody in this case, thus making things smoother for you. Throughout
the guide, I'll try to list out the music speeds of each enemy so that you can
have a rough idea of how fast to tap the A button against them.
Oh yes, one final thing, it's generally easier to perform combos when playing
this game on the GBA/Nintendo DS than when playing it on an emulator.
Emulators tend to lag in this respect.
----------------
Status ailments
----------------
During battle, your characters might be affected by numerous ailments which
serve to hinder them in various ways. A character can be affected with several
ailments at the same time.
The PSI spell Healing can be used to remove any ailment from your characters,
as well as certain specialised items. Some ailments may be represented by a
speech bubble with a corresponding icon above the ailing character's status
box. Anyway, here are all the ailments in the game.
Immobilised
Your character cannot move at all. This effect lasts for a few rounds and
nothing can be done to remove it, not even Healing. Don't worry about missing
a couple of turns if the remainder of your group can handle the enemies.
You'll be free to move right after the battle.
Nausea
Your character feels sick, making him loath food. This effect persists after
battle. Any affected characters will display a speech bubble with a grey cloud
above their status boxes. A piece of Mint can make the character feel better.
Strangeness
Your character feels strange and might do something different than what you
originally asked him to do. Sometimes, he might attack members of his own
group! This ailment is denoted by a speech bubble with a fuzzy black scrawl on
it. This effect persists after battle, but only for a short time. Even if one
of the characters is feeling strange, you'll find that the movement controls
are jumbled up. Your best bet is to try and walk around in circles until he
snaps out of it. If it really is an emergency during battles, you can use a
Paper Fan to knock some sense out of him.
Crying
Crying characters are partially blinded by their tears, lowering the accuracy
of their physical attacks. Crying characters display a speech bubble with a
single tear drop on it. Eyedrops can be used to stop a character from crying.
If the affected character mainly uses PSI attacks, just ignore this ailment
since PSI can never miss. All characters stop crying after the battle is won.
Sleep
Your character falls asleep, and cannot do anything for a number of turns. The
affected character will show a speech bubble with several letter Zs in it.
Unlike a character that is immobilised, sleeping characters can be woken up
using an Alarm Cicada. Every one wakes up after battle.
Poison
A character that is poisoned will lose a small amount of health during each
turn. In addition, he will lose health gradually as the group walks around
outside battle. A poisoned character will display a speech bubble with a skull
in it, and you'll see the screen slightly blurring every now and then when the
character takes damage from the poison as he walks around. Antidotes serve to
neutralise poisons.
Paralysis
Your character feels numb, and may fail to make his move at any time during
the battle. This condition is represented by a speech bubble with two parallel
wavy lines on it. For some reasons, the character will regain his senses again
right after battle. Otherwise, an item known as Anti-Paralysis can be used on
the affected character during battle.
Fleas
Your character's body is itching with flees, causing him to lose concentration.
As a result, he sometimes may not be able to use his special attacks. A flea
ridden character will display a speech bubble with a tiny jumping flee on it.
Fleas can be removed using flea powder.
Forgetfulness
Your character has completely forgotten how to use his special moves! He'll
display a speech bubble with a question mark above his status box. This
ailment lasts a few turns and will disappear after battle. Very few enemies
can cause you to lose your memory, so don't worry. You can use Reminder Bells
in the case of an emergency.
---------------
PSI fever
---------------
In Mother 3, you'll no longer learn new PSI spells automatically when you've
reached the appropriate level. Instead, Lucas or Kumatora will sudden feel
feverish when they walk around. This is a sign that a new PSI spell is about
to be learnt. When either of them are having a fever, the group cannot run
around. What you should do is to walk around for a while until the fever has
subsided. Once that happens, the new PSI spell will be learnt.
---------------
Food
---------------
Just like Earthbound, Mother 3 boasts a wide variety of food to restore your
character's health. Different food items restore different amounts of HP, as
stated on its tooltip when you move the cursor over it. Food can be eaten in
and out of battle. Whenever you want to eat something, select the food on the
appropriate group member, then select the person you want to eat the item.
That person will regain health accordingly. Some special food items serve to
restore your characters' PP as well. All those foods begin with the word
"Magic" and are to be used only on Lucas and Kumatora.
------------------
Complete recovery
------------------
Outside battle, there are two ways to fully restore your character's health
and PP, as well as remove all status ailments. The first is by entering a hot
spring, hot tub or any other large body of hot water. Stay in the water for a
few seconds and everyone will be fully healed. Another way is by using Instant
Revitalizing Devices, which resemble black capsules. Examine the capsule and
select yes and there you go.
----------------------
Rolling health meters
----------------------
During battle, notice that the health meters of the characters are designed
like gas/electric meters, where the digits are printed on the rims of wheels.
The digits roll up or down depending on whether he has taken damage or
received healing. As the health pools increase, you'll find that it takes
quite a while for the health to drop by the entire amount of damage dealt to
your group members. Let's say a group member has 200 HP and is dealt 120 HP of
damage, his HP meter will slowly drop down to 80.
To make things even better, the HP drop will be just as slow even when the
character is dealt a knockout blow. As long as the health meter hasn't dropped
down to 0, that character is still active and can continue fighting. If you
can defeat all enemies on screen before that character has lost all his health,
he can avoid losing consciousness. The rolling health meter can also be used
to your advantage during boss battles. Let's say we have a hard hitting boss
that constantly deals mortal damage. You don't have to heal your characters
after every attack he makes, just heal once when the meters are running low
and you can save yourselves from getting knocked out!
------------------------
The main four in detail
------------------------
In this section, I will list out the attributes of the main four characters of
the game (Lucas, Kumatora, Duster and Boney) in detail and what abilities they
can do.
***************
Lucas
***************
Lucas is the antagonist of Mother 3. He has the highest Offense of all the
characters in the game, the second highest Defense and HP. Lucas usually
attacks by whacking his enemy with his stick! However, he is also the slowest;
hence he's usually the last to attack out of the four characters.
Special skill: PSI
Lucas is one of the two psychics in this game. However, only one of his
attacks can directly cause damage. Most ranks of that spell are not very
efficient PP-wise. He is better off spending his PP on support spells like
Lifeup and Healing. In fact, he is the only character that can learn the
highest ranks of those two spells!
Love
Type: Offense Ranks: Alpha/Beta/Gamma/Omega PP cost: 10/20/35/50
Level learnt: Learnt during special events
Love is the signature PSI attack of Lucas. It is named after the thing that he
likes the most. The actual name can vary depending on what you chose as his
favourite thing at the start of a new game. Lucas will simply focus all his
psychic energy and deal great damage to everything on screen. Love cannot be
resisted by anything. Despite its damage, you are better off saving this
attack for bosses when you have an excess of PP and there is no healing to do.
Note that this Love spell is also an important plot device in the game: Lucas'
identity as the chosen one depends on his knowledge of Love! As a result, new
ranks of Love can only be learnt during certain events in the game.
Flash
Type: Offense PP cost: 12
Level learnt: Learnt during a special event
This is another move unique to Lucas. It is entirely unpredictable: Flashing
the enemy can cause him to cry, feel strange, numb or even get knocked out
instantly. The problem is that you can never know what will happen, so don't
use this move unless you are desperate. Oh, and Flash is learnt after a
certain funny event in Chapter 5.
Lifeup
Type: Recovery Ranks: Alpha/Beta/Gamma/Omega PP cost: 5/9/16/28
Level learnt: Special event/17/43/50
Lifeup restores health to the target group member. Alpha restores around 65 HP,
Beta restores around 130 HP, Gamma restores all health, while Omega restores
around 240 HP to everyone in the group. The final rank makes everything easy
in the final stage of the game. The boss can crash bang wallop everyone, and
yet you can stay up by casting Lifeup Omega once in a while, thanks to the
rolling health meters.
Healing
Type: Recovery Ranks: Alpha/Beta/Gamma/Omega PP cost: 4/8/18/30
Level learnt: Special event/25/39/56
Healing removes status ailments from the target group member. Alpha removes
one ailment, Beta removes all ailments, Gamma removes all ailments and revives
a fallen group member with full HP, Omega performs the functions of Gamma to
all group members. Since people rarely suffer from more than one status
ailment, you'll be using Alpha most of the time due to its PP efficiency. Only
in extreme emergencies should you use the Omega rank.
Refresh
Type: Recovery PP cost: 20
Level learnt: 58
Refresh is Lucas' healing-over-time spell, learnt in the late stages of the
game. Whenever you cast this spell, the entire group will recover 10% of their
total HP each round for 5 rounds (restoring 50% in total). You most likely
will only have a chance to use this skill in one of the boss battles of this
game. This spell only serves to prevent your groups from going under when
subject to constant mortal damage. But still, Refresh is more or less made
obsolete thanks to Lifeup Omega.
Shield
Type: Assist Ranks: Alpha/Omega PP cost: 6/18
Level learnt: 22/35
Casting a shield on a group member halves most physical damage dealt to him.
The shield can take up to three hits before it vanishes. Alpha casts a shield
up on one group member, Omega does that for all members. Use the latter when
facing a boss that uses mainly physical attacks.
Counter
Type: Assist Ranks: Alpha/Omega PP cost: 12/28
Level Learnt: Special event/51
A character under the effect of counter reflects all physical damage taken to
the attacker. Just like Shield, a Counter can withstand up to 3 hits. Alpha
affects an individual while Omega affects everyone. You won't be using this
move very often, not even on boss battles.
Psycho-Shield
Type: Assist Ranks: Alpha/Omega PP cost: 8/20
Level learnt: 28/45
Psycho-Shields half all PSI damage to the target, withstanding up to three
hits. You'll be only using Omega since it protects everyone in one go,
especially against bosses that use attacks with area attacks like Fire.
Psycho-Counter
Type: Assist Ranks: Alpha/Omega PP cost: 18/34
Level Learnt: 33/53
Psycho-Counter does the exact same thing for Counter, only against PSI attacks.
Offense Up
Type: Assist Ranks: Alpha/Omega PP cost: 6/18
Level learnt: Special event/36
Offense Up increases the Offense of the targeted group member. You can make
two increments from the base value at any time. Alpha affects one person,
Omega affects everyone. But still, you don't really have to use this move, not
even during boss battles.
Defense Up
Type: Assist Ranks: Alpha/Omega PP cost: 6/18
Level learnt: Special event/30
Defense Up increases the Offense of the targeted group member. You can make
two increments from the base value at any time. Alpha affects one person,
Omega affects everyone. But still, you don't really have to use this move, not
even during boss battles. Use Shield/Psycho-Shield instead.
***************
Kumatora
***************
Kumatora is the tomboyish princess of Osohe Castle. She attacks by slapping
the enemy, hence will be equipping herself with gloves most of the time.
Despite her tough personality, Kumatora isn't that much stat-wise. For one
thing, she has the lowest Offense out of the main four, the second lowest
Defense, HP and speed. What she has over the rest of the pack are her cheap
but effective PSI attacks.
Special skill: PSI
Kumatora is the more offensive of the two PSI users. She boasts a wide variety
of attacks, three of which deal different types of elemental damage effective
against different enemies. Note that some enemies are resistant or immune
against certain elements. As a rule of thumb, always use the highest ranked
attack against bosses. When you are fighting against regular enemies, use the
highest ranked attack in the first round and use physical attacks on the
subsequent rounds. If the physical damage of the other three group members are
high enough, don't even bother to use PSI since it's a waste of PP when you
can beat up the enemy in only 1 or 2 rounds.
Freeze
Type: Attack Ranks: Alpha/Beta/Gamma/Omega PP cost: 5/10/18/28
Level learnt: 10/28/38/51
Freeze is Kumatora's single target attack, dealing ice damage to one enemy
only, with a chance of immobilising him. Vulnerable enemies receive
approximately double damage than normal.
Fire
Type: Attack Ranks: Alpha/Beta/Gamma/Omega PP cost: 6/12/20/40
Level learnt: 10/23/43/53
Fire is an area attack akin to Love, dealing fire damage to every enemy on
screen, with a chance of engulfing the enemy in flames, dealing a little
collateral damage at the next round. Vulnerable enemies receive approximately
double damage than normal. Due to the high PP cost of this spell, I'd suggest
that you only use it when more than one enemy is attacking you at once or when
you are facing bosses. Stick to physical attacks otherwise.
Thunder
Type: Attack Ranks: Alpha/Beta/Gamma/Omega PP cost: 7/15/21/32
Level learnt: 13/32/49/57
Thunder is a random oddball attack against the enemy. Kumatora attacks her
enemies using lightning bolts. However, there is no guarantee which target
each thunderbolt will hit if there are multiple enemies on screen, and the
bolts may sometimes outright miss! The higher ranked the spell, the more
thunderbolts (up to 4) will be sent against the enemy. The good news is that
this attack cannot be mitigated with Psycho-Shields, and that it may paralyse
the enemy on impact.
Thunder is effective against most robots (and other mechanical enemies). It
may also interest you to know that if all 4 bolts of Thunder Omega hit the
same target that is vulnerable to the spell, you'll deal more damage than Love!
Starstorm
Type: Attack PP cost: 48
Level learnt: Learnt through special event
Late in the game, Kumatora will learn how to unleash numerous stars against
her enemies. It's similar to Love in the respect that it deals a large amount
of damage to all enemies on screen. The damage of this attack is similar to
that of Love Omega.
Ground
Type: Attack PP cost: 43
Level learnt: 60
Ground is the final PSI attack Kumatora will be learning in this game. She
starts a massive earthquake, scoring multiple hits and causing heavy damage to
one target (over 800). The enemy may sometimes fall over and be immobilised
for a round. Given how late she learns this spell, Kumatora only can use this
move against one boss.
Magnet
Type: Recovery Ranks: Alpha/Omega
Level learnt: Initial spell/45
Magnet absorbs a small amount of PP (2-8) from enemies that have PP. Alpha
works on one target, Omega works on all enemies on screen. Since there are far
too many hot springs and Instant Revitalising Devices in this game, you'll
rarely have to use them. Use Omega when you want to restore PP when facing
soft targets like slugs.
Lifeup (Alpha/Beta) and Healing (Alpha only)
Kumatora can learn the earliest ranks of Lifeup and Healing, and that's about
it. But still, she is rarely used as the healing in this game. Only in the
late parts of Chapters 2 and 3 will she be useful as a healer. Let Lucas do
most of the healing!
Paralysis
Type: Assist Ranks: Alpha/Omega PP cost: 8/24
Level learnt: Initial skill/29
Kumatora will attempt to paralyse the target. Alpha works on one target, Omega
works against all enemies on screen. Paralysed targets may occasionally fail
to move. Only use this against enemies that are vulnerable to paralysis,
otherwise the spell is likely to fail.
Brainshock
Type: Assist Ranks: Alpha/Omega PP cost: 7/22
Level learnt: 25/47
Brainshock gives the enemy's brain a shock, disrupting his senses, making them
feel strange. Enemies that are feeling strange will act weirdly, sometimes
hurting themselves or their cohorts. Only use this move against enemies that
are vulnerable to strangeness to increase your chances of success.
Hypnosis
Type: Assist Ranks: Alpha/Omega PP cost: 6/18
Level learnt: 21/36
Kumatora attempts to put the enemies to sleep. The problem is that Duster can
also hypnotise enemies with the cost of no PP. Since you'll rarely need to put
multiple enemies to sleep, this move is more or less obsolete.
Offense Down and Defense Down
These two spells lower the enemies' Offense and Defense respectively, up to
two decrements from their base values. Since Duster has skills that have the
same functions as these two spells, you are better off not using these two
spells as Kumatora. Sure, the Omega versions affect all enemies, but bosses
tend to come alone, making them useless as well.
***************
Duster
***************
Duster is a cunning thief of the Tazmily Village. Despite the negative
perceptions on thieves these days, he's still a good guy. Although one of his
legs is slightly crippled, Duster attacks by kicking enemies. Hence he equips
various shoes as weapons.
Duster is the most durable character out of the main four, boasting the
highest defense and HP values. In addition, he's a strong fighter, having the
second highest offense and speed out of the four. His agility can help the
group at the start of the battle, where he sometimes attack one of the enemies
with binding speed, dealing some damage even before the first round. In
addition, whenever an enemy sneaks up on you from behind, Duster is sometimes
able to swoop behind the enemy, giving your group the pre-emptive strike!
Special skill: Thief tools
Duster has undergone intense training in the thievery arts from his father
Wess. As a result, he has a set of 6 skills that can be used in battle. These
skills cost no PP whatsoever so you can use them any time you wish.
Wall staples
Wall staples are used in the field to create improvised ladders to climb up
cliffs and walls. During battle, Duster can also throw some of these wall
staples at the enemy to pin them down, immobilising them for a few turns. This
is useful when you are facing several tough enemies at the same time and you
want to take one out of action for a while.
Siren beetle
Duster throws out a beetle that makes a screeching sound, irritating the enemy
and forcing it to turn around for a few turns. I found that this move isn't as
effective as the wall staples.
Hypno-Pendulum
The hypno-pendulum is used to hypnotise an enemy to fall asleep, taking him
out of action for a few rounds. While the enemy is asleep, you can hear the
beats of the music theme, thus allowing you to know how to tap the A button to
perform combos. Be warned that the enemy might wake up prematurely when
attacked.
Smoke bomb
By throwing a smoke bomb at the enemy, you irritate their eyes, causing them
to cry. Crying enemies have a much greater chance of missing you with their
physical attacks. Make sure that the enemy is vulnerable to crying; otherwise
this trick is unlikely to work.
Scary mask
Duster puts on a mask to scare the enemy, lowering his offense. How on earth
does this work? Anyways, the enemy's offense can be lowered by up to two
decrements from the base value, so don't even try using this more than twice
in a row. This is a very useful trick during boss battles since you can lower
the damage dealt to your group.
Tickle feather
For some reason, tickling the enemy serves to lower his defense by up to two
decrements. Use this to make the enemy take more damage from your physical
attacks. Since this move is free, there is no need to ask Lucas to waste his
PP in casting Offense Up Omega.
***************
Boney
***************
Boney is Lucas' loyal dog. He follows him around, biting any enemy that he
comes across. Boney can only equip one weapon late in the game, and will only
be wearing a collar and a hat most of the time. As a result, he has the lowest
stats out of the main four, except for speed and offense. The good news is
that Boney is the fastest character in the game and will always attack first.
Since he lacks special skills, you are better off giving him your offensive,
healing and food items so that he can use them quickly before the enemy
strikes.
Special skill: Sniff
Boney will sniff at the enemy and expose any elemental and status
vulnerabilities. Note that certain enemies cannot be sniffed.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| II. TURBULENT TIMES |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
OK, now let's really play the game. Place the cartridge or flash cart into
your GBA/Nintendo DS and turn it on. Start the game and select "New game" on
the title screen. You'll get to name the main character, his twin brother, his
parents and his dog. You'll be asked to name your favourite dish as well as
your favourite thing.
WARNING!
This guide contains a lot of plot spoilers, as well as a completely lack of
empathy on my writing style. If you don't want the plot to be spoiled, please
do not read this guide!
For simplicity, let's name the main character Lucas, his older twin brother
Claus, his dad Flint, his mom Hinawa, his dog Boney and his favourite dish to
be the Omelette. Of course, his most favourite thing is Love. Confirm those
names and you'll be asked to set the text speed and window colour. When you
are dong, select end and we'll begin.
You are welcomed to the world of Mother 3. The story is set on the Nowhere
Island, and begins in the mountains above the Sunshine Forest. The young Lucas
is currently visiting his grandpa Alec with his twin brother and mother. He is
shown fast asleep and is being woken up by Claus, who's knocking on the door.
It seems that some friendly dragon like creatures called Dragos have come to
play with them. So, let's get up and go downstairs.
Lucas' mom Hinawa is sitting at the table. Attempt to leave the house and
you'll be told to get dressed. At this point, you must say "Yes" or you cannot
leave the house. Now that you are dressed, head downstairs. At this point, you
are free to run at Hinawa. When you bump into her, she'll "surrender" and give
you a piece of Nut Bread.
Get out of the house. You are free to talk to Alec and his livestock. When you
are done, head southeast until you see a frog. Talk to him and he will explain
the saving system of this game. Feel free to save your game at this point.
Head east to find Claus play-fighting with the Dragos. He is running and
ramming into a Drago, causing it to fall on the ground. But still, this
friendly dragon like creature seemed to enjoy it!
Claus asks you if you want to play. Answer either yes or no. Alec will arrive
at the scene, telling Claus that Lucas doesn't know how to ram into things yet.
He tells you how: Press and hold the B button until you kneel on the ground,
then let go. Lucas seems hesitant, but Alec urges him on. So, there you go,
dash into the green Drago. You are free to run around this plateau, ramming
into the Dragos as you do so. When you are done, talk to Claus.
Claus tells you that the harder you ram them, the more the Dragos like it. All
of a sudden, a Mole Cricket appears and challenges the twins to a fight. This
is just a demonstration battle. Just keep bashing with both Lucas and Claus
until the cricket is knocked out. The Mole Cricket then leaves, telling you to
meet him at the Mole Cricket Hole Stadium some time later.
Hinawa appears, having stepped on that cricket. She tells you all that lunch
is ready, and she's serving your favourite omelettes. The boys run back to the
cabin to eat, while Alec reminds you how to save the game before getting back
himself. In the cabin, you'll learn that Lucas' mom like Omelettes too. Hinawa
tells the boys to get ready to return home after the meal.
Hinawa then goes out to write a letter to her husband Flint, sending it out
via carrier pigeon.
"Dear Flint,
Just like you said they would, the children have been running around the
mountains and fields tirelessly since the moment we arrived.
Claus is as daring as full of energy as ever, while Lucas is still a bit
coddled, But neither one seems tired of playing at all. My father seems sad to
say goodbye to his grandchildren after seeing them for the first time in so
long, but we should be home by this evening.
I had forgotten how nice and refreshing the mountain air is. You're always
covered in the smell of sheep back in Tazmily Village, so I really wish you
could have been here to take in this air.
The next time we visit, let's ask one of the neighbouts to tend to the sheep
so we can go as a family. Claus, Lucas and I are always thinking about you.
When we come home, I'm going to make some of your favourite Omelettes right
away.
Your dearest Hinawa."
As she is returning to cabin, Hinawa notices some strange things flying in the
air. What is going on? Anyway, it's about time this story begins!
-----------------------
5. The constant cowboy
-----------------------
[MT5]
Explosions rock the forest as some people wearing pig masks throw bombs all
over the place, starting a massive forest fire. Panic ensues in Tazmily
village. It's the beginning of Chapter 1: The Night of the Funeral. There are
several things to do in this chapter:
a. Rescue Lighter and Fuel from the fire
b. Search for your missing wife and kids [1B]
c. Search for Claus, who is in trouble [1C]
*************************************
Important characters in this chapter
*************************************
Thomas
Thomas is the fireman cum bazaar owner of Tazmily Village. He is the first to
raise the alarm with his portable siren during the forest fire. In addition,
Thomas has specially solicited help from Flint.
Lighter
Lighter is one of two lumberjacks that reside in the Sunshine Forest. He and
his son Fuel are caught up in the blaze, requiring you to rescue them.
Bronson
Bronson is a fellow villager of Flint that assisted him in the search for his
wife and kids, who have gone missing. The problem with Bronson is his mouth:
He tends to use sarcasm and inappropriate humour even in the worst situations!
*****END CHARACTER*****
=========================================
a. Rescue Lighter and Fuel from the fire
=========================================
The village fireman Thomas has run all the way to Flint's house, asking for
help from the "local reckless nice guy". So, let's help him. Thomas joins your
group and will be following you. Before you leave, talk to Boney to retrieve
the Stick in his doghouse. Equip that as a weapon: It increases your offense
by 2.
Head north to the village proper, retrieving the Nut Bread (restores 30 HP)
from the gift box to the east beforehand. In the centre of the village square,
you'll find an old man named Mapson sitting on a bench. Talk to him and he'll
give you a map of the woods. The location of Lighter's shack will be marked on
the map as well. Press the R button for the map and you'll see the location
marked with a circle. Head north and out of the village now.
Go west at the crossroads until you reach a stone building. Enter the shrine
and talk to the villager there, his name's Jonel. He tells you to pray before
heading to the forest. Walk over to the plaque and examine it. You'll be asked
to enter the name of the person playing the game. You are free to write your
name or anything you wish in the following field. After that, confirm it once
more and the name will be noted down. This name will be useful much later on.
Head out of the shrine, go west and head north into the Sunshine Forest.
----------------
Sunshine forest
----------------
The forest is burning, so let's hurry and save Lighter and Fuel. This is the
first zone in which you have to fight enemies. Get ready!
***************
Enemies
***************
NOTE: All HP values are rough approximations
Mr. Batty
HP: 50 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Physical attack, Size up the situation (Makes itself confused),
Become friendly and affectionate (Immobilises you)
Drop: Nut bread
Mr. Batty are those bats you've fought regularly in Earthbound. Besides
attacking you, they tend to size up the situation, confusing themselves in the
progress. Flint should be able to defeat one within two rounds of bashing,
even without using combos.
Yammmonster
HP: 33 Music beat: Fast
Attack: Physical attack
Drop: Nut bread
Yammonsters are plants with a green orb on its head. These things stay where
they are and will not come after you. Their attacks are extremely weak,
dealing only 4 HP per hit. You should be able to beat these things in two
rounds without any combos.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
The first person you can see in the forest is Mike. Talk to him and he'll give
you a Nut Cookie, a food item that restores 15 HP. Go a little bit to the
north and you'll be confronted by a Mr. Batty, which can be defeated within
two rounds. You'll then arrive at a junction, where you can find the house of
another lumberjack named Issac. A villager named Matt is knocking on his door.
Open the gift box to the left for an Aries Bracelet and equip it on your
"Other" slot to increase your defense by 3. You are free to practice battling
against the Mr. Battys here if you like, healing yourself in the hot spring to
the west as you do so. When you are ready, it's time to actually head into the
scene of the fire. Head north at the junction past Bronson to enter the fire!
This place is burning up, so watch out for the fires on the ground. Flint will
lose health when he steps in one. Move north and you'll see a Pigmask opening
a metal box, releasing some insects all over the place before he runs away to
the southwest. Keep going north, fighting any Yammonsters that get in the way
(as well as stocking up on Nut Bread). A gift box can be found in the
northeast of this part of the forest; open it for a piece of Nut Bread.
You'll eventually walk over to Lighter, who's lying injured on the ground. He
tells Thomas how he was attacked by those weird insects, and that more kept
coming until he was overwhelmed. He tells you that his son Fuel is still in
his cabin. Thomas tends to Flint, while telling him to go save Fuel. So, this
is what you will do. Pick up the piece of lumber (it's called Lighter's Lumber)
and equip it to increase your offense by 4 over the Stick. Throw away the
stick and attempt to head north, only to be attacked by more of those insects.
Event battle! Firefly (x3)
HP: 55 Music beat: Fast
Attack: Breath fire, Charge
Drop: Nut bread
Flint is up against 3 Fireflies, who breath fire and charge. Both attacks only
deal single digit damage to Flint, so he'll be fine. If you've levelled Flint
up, one hit is enough to kill each of those Fireflies. Therefore, you can
expect the battle to end within 3 rounds.
*****END BATTLE*****
Now that the threat has been eliminated, go north to the next area, where
Lighter's cabin is located. A save frog can be found in a water barrel, so
save the game if you need to. Head over to the house to see Fuel cry for help,
only to be swamped by flames. A Flying Mouse can be seen from the window. Go
over to the house and run towards the door to charge it open.
The Flying Mouse is flying around the ground floor of this house. Try getting
upstairs and you'll be attacked!
Event battle! Flying Mouse
HP: ~100 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Bite, Combo attack
Drop: Nut bread
The Flying Mouse has two attacks, both deals around 10 HP of damage to you.
The music beat can be hard to grasp against it, but Flint should still be able
to defeat it in 3 rounds.
*****END BATTLE*****
Go upstairs and you'll find Fuel trapped in the centre of the room, blocked
off by some fallen beams. Dash through the beams to break through to Fuel.
Talk to him and he'll join you. Go downstairs and leave the house, it's about
to collapse!
The two of you are covered in soot. "Wahh!" Fuel cries, "I'm pitch black and
covered in soot, but I'm alive. Oh, you're pitch black too, Mr. Flint. Thank
you, Mr. Pitch Black Flint! Thank you so much, Mr. Pitch Black Flint! Oh yeah!
We need to let my dad know I'm okay. He's probably worried sick about me
somewhere!"
It's time to make your way back. Go all the way back to the shrine and you'll
find Lighter being administered first aid. (Note: If you take a dip in the hot
spring, the soot will be washed off from your clothes, although your faces
remain pitch black.)
"Dad!" Fuel cries, he goes over to see him. "That voice," Lighter mutters, "Is
that you, Fuel? You're alright? What the? What the world happened to you?
You're pitch black and covered in soot!" "What about you, Dad? You busted your
leg!" "Oh this, this ain't nothing! All I gotta do is twist this like so, and
then do this, and then... Oww! Consarnit!" Hey, I never knew you can fix your
own broken leg just by twisting it around!
One of the onlookers, Lou asks, "Boss! What in the world are you doing?"
"Fixing my injuries, obviously!" Lighter snaps, "What does it look like?"
Thomas is grateful for Flint, he says, "Anyways, we sure are lucky Flint
showed up when he did." Ed adds, "Yeah, he and Lighter've always been
quarrelling buddies since they were kids. It's enough to make me jealous."
For once, Lighter thanks Flint. "Guess I showed my not-so-touch side, huh? I
owe you one for today." Lou comments, "I think that could be the first time I
heard the boss thank anyone." Bronson laughs, "You're right! The only thing
that could make this any stranger is if it suddenly started pouring rain."
Bronson got what he asked for, as it started raining!
"Let's just hope this rain puts out the fire..." Thomas comments. Ed says, "We
need to tend to Lighter. Let's head back to the village for now."
So, they all carried Lighter back to the Yado inn of Tazmily, where the maid
Tessie treats Flint of his wounds. "There you are, Flint," she says, "You're
all patched up now." Thomas remarks, "It's a good thing you and Fuel only
suffered light injuries." Tessie then says, "It's been a while since Tazmily
last had rain. Flint. Please get some rest."
So now the fire is out and the people are rescued. Well done all concerned,
right? Head out of the room and enter the one furthest to the right for a gift
box. Take the Antidote and leave the Yado.
=========================================
b. Search for your missing wife and kids
=========================================
[5B]
Get out of the inn to be approached by Issac, the short sighted lumberjack.
"Flint!" he says, "Perfect timing! I heard you were taking a rest here. Mighty
heavy rain, isn't it? Think I'll join you under the awning." He walks over for
a chat. "Flint. Tell me, have you seen Hinawa and the kids?" Well, you haven't
so select no.
"I see. Actually, I was up in the mountains earlier, picking mushrooms. When I
was up there, I caught sight of Hinawa. Then, while I was taking a break by
the river, I heard loud roars off in the distance. It sounded like it might
have been a Drago that was roaring. After that, I heard what I think might've
been screams..." Oh dear, this doesn't sound good.
"Say, Flint," Issac continues, "Hinawa and the kids made it back home, right?"
Hmm... better go check, maybe they are back. Run back home, only to find a
carrier pigeon and no sign of Hinawa or the kids. Read the letter from Hinawa
and you'll be approached by Issac and Fuel.
"Oh... They're still not back?" Issac asks, "With this rain, they could catch
cold." I don't think it's that simple, pal! It's not just cold that could
happen. The enthusiastic Fuel exclaims, "I'll go find them!" "They are
probably taking shelter from the rain somewhere. It's getting late, so we
should all go look for them. Let's get the other villagers to help too." Issac
leaves. Fuel tells you, "Okay. I'll go tell my dad, then."
Head out of your house and return to the forest, taking your dog Boney with
you. You'll be informed by Jonel that other villagers have come to help you.
----------------
Sunshine Forest
----------------
It's back to the forest again. Go north from Issac's house to reach the large
clearing now devoid of flames. Some new enemies have appeared in conjunction
with Mr. Batty.
***************
Enemies
***************
Mr. Batty
HP: 50 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Physical attack, Size up the situation (Makes itself confused)
Drop: Nut bread
Mr. Batty are those bats you've fought regularly in Earthbound. Besides
attacking you, they tend to size up the situation, confusing themselves in the
progress. Flint should be able to defeat one within two rounds of bashing,
even without using combos.
Baked Yammmonster (NEW)
HP: 155 Music beat: Fast
Attack: Scary face (lowers offense), physical attack, vents steam (wastes a
turn)
Drop: Baked yam
The forest fire has baked the Yammonster to their current form. These guys are
much tougher than the normal Yammonster and can take much more hurt.
Yammonsters can lower your offense by making scary faces at you in conjunction
with hitting you in the low teens. Sometimes, they'll just waste their turns
by venting a burst of steam. Baked Yammonsters drop baked yams upon defeat,
naturally. These treats restore 40 HP when eaten.
Mighty Bitey Snake (NEW)
HP: 75 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Coil around you (Immobilises), Bite with poison fang (Poisons),
biting attack
Drop: Antidote
These snakes are native to the forest and can deliver painful bites. Sometimes,
they may poison you with their fangs. If the snake coils around either Flint
or Boney, he will be immobilised and be unable to move for a few rounds.
Fortunately these snakes have low health and can be defeated quickly. They
also drop antidotes used for treating poisons.
Mischievous Mole (NEW)
HP: 100 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Throw a rock, feel homesick (wastes a turn), scratch with claw
Drop: Nut bread
These moles, as mischievous as they are, are very harmless. They worst they
can do is to throw a rock at you every now and then, inflicting single digit
damage. Sometimes, they even feel homesick, wasting a turn in the process.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Go north until you see Ed (the guy in the grey hat). Go west along the path
he's standing by. You'll come to another T junction. Go south if you want to
get another antidote. Otherwise, go north. Keep right as you do so and you'll
eventually find a gift box with Beef Jerky inside. Beef Jerky can restore 60
HP to you when eaten. Continue north until you run into Mike and a short
sighted person called Ollie. The gift box to his left holds a Mini-mini charm,
which can be equipped in the "Body" slot of Flint for an extra 2 defense.
Move on and you'll find some villagers, Bronson and Tessie included standing
in front of two fallen trees blocking the path. Talk to Bronson and he'll
express his surprise at the two fallen trees. He suspects that the thing that
did it is not human. One of the villagers, Jackie, suggest finding another way
round. Meanwhile, Bateau, the blond, suggests splitting up into a few groups.
He and Tessie walk over to the west.
Fortunately, more help has arrived in the form of the quick recovering Lighter
and Issac. The two lumberjacks start to push the trees aside. Go west to where
Bateau is, only to find a cliff face. Talk to Jonel. "It's just a guess, but
I'd say a Drago climbed up from here." Indeed, there are claw marked on the
cliff.
"See those claw marks? Those most certainly belong to a Drago. But why would a
Drago claw at stuff like this, enough to leave gashes in rock, even? They are
such peaceful creatures. I get the feeling something very bad is happening to
the forest, the people, the animals and me." Attempt to leave the area, until
Boney spots something high above the cliff and runs over to the cliff face.
"What is it, Boney?" Jonel asks. Boney barks at what he saw. Jonel calls Flint
over. "I think Boney found something!" Flint walks over to Boney, who howls.
Bateau then spots what Boney was barking at. "Oh! Look up there," he cries,
"There's a scrap of cloth! Don't you see it? There's a bit of red, right over
there..." Joenl sees it too. In fact, a scrap of red cloth, the same colour as
your wife's dress is hanging on a branch of that wilted tree high up. Wess
then enters the scene.
"What is it?" he asks, "Is there something on top of this cliff?" Jonel is
surprised at his appearance, "Old man Wess!" He says, "What are you doing here?
Sorry to say, but there's nothing a rickety old man can do to help us out." Oh
whatever, let's just ask Wess for advice.
"Oh Flint," Wess begins, "Don't tell me you intend to climb this cliff? I know
how you feel, but scaling this cliff is just too dangerous. But, you know,
maybe my son could be of use. I don't know if it will help any, but let's get
him here so he can try. I'll need to borrow Boney for a bit. Boney. Bring my
song back here. My son's name is..."
At this point, you get to name Wess' son. By default, his name is Duster, so
let's pick that for simplicity. "His name is Duster. Got that? Here, have a
sniff of this sock... Gaahh... It's ripe. Don't forget this smell now." Boney
smalls Duster's dirty sock and remembers his scent. Poor dog. Wess ties a
yellow ribbon around Boney's neck. "I've tied a yellow ribbon around your
collar. Show him the ribbon, and he'll know exactly what's going on! Now
fetch!" So, it's code yellow for Duster.
You get to see a cheesy movie scene similar to those films about a loyal dog
and his master. Boney rushes through the rain back to the village and into
Wess' home. He sees Duster taking a nap and tries in vain to wake him out.
Since it's an emergency, Boney had to resort to dragging the still asleep
Duster back to the forest! But still, Duster wakes up in a timely manner and
goes to sort things out with Wess and Flint.
"Duster," Wess says, "At long last, it is time to put the thief skills you've
studied since childhood to the test. Now, show us your Wall Staple technique!
Right here, right now!" Duster replies, "I did study that technique, but this
is my first time using it for real. I hope this works." He walks over to the
cliff face. He looks at a darker part of the cliff. "This area looks scalable
here." He takes out his wall staples and start inserting these improvised
ladder rungs on the cliff face all the way to the top. "Alright, that should
do it, he calls Flint."
Climb up the ladder and Duster will join you for the time being. The rain has
stopped. Duster offers to help you, despite his slight leg handicap. Now,
let's save at the frog and examine the scrap of cloth. It's the same colour as
your wife's dress! Oh dear... There's a cave to the right with some goodies
inside. Fight those Mischievous Moles and grab the items: A piece of Nut Bread
and a Beef Jerky.
Exit the cave and go north. You'll find some Pigmasks doing some field
experiments with an antelope. It seems they have mashed it together with
machinery or something. Upon discovering you, they activate the machine,
springing their creation to life. This Reconstructed Caribou gets up and
lunges at you. It's time to fight!
Event battle! Reconstructed Caribou
HP: 520 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Generate an intense burst of steam (wastes turn), Charge forward,
Antler attack
Looks like these Pigmasks are planning to mess up the wildlife! The Caribou is
now very evil looking and won't hesitate to charge you down. The good news is
that it can be pinned down with Duster's Wall Staples. Have Duster use them
during the first round and the Caribou will be immobilised. Now, you can spend
the next two round beating him out without fear of retaliation. The music is
not that hard to score combos with. Once the Caribou breaks free, you'll have
to let it have one free attack on you (or maybe it will waste its turn venting
steam). Throw more Wall Staples on it to immobilise it, allowing you to
eventually knock it out.
*****END BATTLE*****
Once the Reconstructed Caribou is defeated, the Pigmasks flee the scene,
dropping a notebook with a pig nose-like mark on the ground. Let's read it.
"All the creatures around here suck. We need to make them cooler. So the theme
will be: Tougher! Rougher! Badder! We'll mix and match this and that to create
whole new things no one's ever seen before! I dub it the "Fascinating Chimera
Project". Let's reconstruct and modify stuff slowly and steadily."
According to this Pig Mark Notebook, these Pigmasks are indeed going to do
nasty things to the environment. Go north and you'll find them escaping in a
flying saucer. Now, there's nothing else to see, so climb down the cliff. Head
east and you'll be told that your boys have been found. It seems they fell
into the river and washed up nearby. Jonel offers to look after Boney while
you and Duster see the kids.
Go northeast and you'll be shown the way by a yellow hat wearing botanist
named Abbot. You see Lucas and Claus wrapped in towels in front of the fire.
Talk to Tessie and she'll let you greet each other. The two hug each other.
Tessie offers tea and asks everyone else to warm up by the fire.
At this point, you are free to walk around the fire, talking to other people
and the kids. The boys are still shocked by whatever they have gone through
and can only stutter "Dad..." and something that's happened to mom. Eventually,
Bronson will run over to tell you something. He seems horrified, so let's see
what he has to say. You are not going to like the way he's saying it...
"Flint..." Bronson begins, "I'm not sure what to say. But just stay calm and
hear me out. I have good news, and I have bad news. Which do you want to hear
first?" OK, he's listening... "No, let me start with the good news." Everyone
edges closer. "I picked up a giant Drago fang. It'll make for a great weapon.
I figured you could probably use it." And the bad news is? "As for the bad
news, the bad news is, it's where I found the Drago Fang. It was in your, it
was pierced through your wife's heart."
Ok, so your wife was bitten to death by a Drago but luckily the fang that bit
into her could be used as a weapon, huh? Always look on the bright side of
life, right? Nah. If Borat were to hear about his wife's death, he'd high five
the messenger. But Flint is no Borat. The shocking news, combined with the way
Bronson delivered it to him caused Flint to break down. He kneels on the floor
and bangs his fists on the ground.
"Flint," Bronson says, "Just try to stay calm. I think the only reason Claus
and Lucas are safe and sound now is because Hinawa risked her life to protect
them." Tessie tries to comfort Flint, but is pushed away. Flint then proceeds
to take a piece of burning wood from the fire and bash the fire with it! He
then swings the stick violently around. Ollie steps forward, "Flint..." Abbot
also tries to calm him down. "Flint, I'm not sure what to say. Please try to
pull yourself together." As a result, he gets knocked out by Flint, who
subsequently bashes Ollie's head in. Tessie gets in front of the kids and try
to shield them from what's going on.
Bronson tries to restrain Flint. "Flint! What are you doing? Claus and Lucas
are watching!" In the end, he had to be knocked out by Lighter. As he loses
consciousness, Flint has a flashback of the day his wife and the twins left
for Alec's place. Everything was bright and cheery. I guess sometimes you
don't know what you have, and then it's gone.
A short break!
OK, I know certain people who played this game have cried at this scene.
However, I'm quite surprised. The thing is that Itoi actually had to release
this game for the GBA, which has limited graphics capabilities. The
insufficient graphical quality limits the way the scenes can be expressed to
the player. Had it been released on the DS, you'd at least see each person's
facial expressions clearly and get a better visualisation of the atmosphere
around Flint and others. Therefore, I personally think that anyone who cries
while playing this game is only a little above crying at a sad novel that
lacks illustrations.
Flint wakes up in the Tazmily prison. He's told by Bronson that no one has
ever been incarcerated in this village before! Flint hence gets the honour for
being the first ever inmate! Bronson offers his deepest condolences and tells
Flint to go to his house to get the Drago Fang once he is released.
You're trapped in the cell. Look around inspecting various things until Claus
runs in. "Dad. It's me, Claus." He walks over to the bars. "I told Lucas to
come too, but he's been crying at Mom's grave all this time. Dad. I'm gonna
leave this apple here. The core might be hard, but, the core, the core might
be too hard to eat, but be sure you eat it! I'm gonna get stronger. I'm gonna
get so strong even Dragos won't stand a chance against me! Dad... I..." He runs
off. I wonder what's this Drago won't stand a chance bit is all about.
Examine the apple and eat it. Flint will find a nail file inside the apple,
which can be used to break the lock on the door. Examine the door and bust
your way out. Now, you are free! Get the hell out of there.
Outside the sheriff's office, you'll meet Duster, who feels sorry for Hinawa's
death. He told you that her burial ended without incident, and that Lucas has
been crying at her grave all the time. You can now go and check out the
funeral. But before that, feel free to go over to the seaside to the west and
get the Edible Mushroom (restores 20 HP) from the gift box.
Go north at the crossroads to the north of the village to get to the cemetery.
Follow the trail of people to Hinawa's grave, where Lucas is crying with Alec
beside him. Claus is nowhere to be found. Talk to Claus and he will say
something that sounded like what Peter told J. M. Barrie at the end of the
film Finding Neverland, shortly after the death of his mom, "Dad, I thought
you said anything could come true, as long as we prayed from the bottom of our
hearts? Mom can't even punish me anymore now. I... don't want it like this!"
Sigh Lucas, Hinawa will always be in your imagination... That's what J. M.
Barrie told Peter. Now, talk to Alec.
"Oh, long time no see. It's me. I haven't been to the village in a while, but
I rushed straight here after I heard about Hinawa. Just after I had such a
wonderful time with my grandkids. (silence) Sorry. Say, come to think of it,
where's Claus? Is he not with you? He said he was going to see you, but then
he never came back. Lucas. Do you know where Claus went?"
Lucas tries to lie, "No." Alec immediately knew he was lying. "Lucas! It's not
good to keep secrets from people! Don't tell me Claus went after that
detestable Drago to..." Lucas interrupts, "No! He didn't take Dad's homemade
knife and go into the mountains to kill the Drago! Aah!" Well it's obvious
Claus is heading for trouble.
Alec is furious, "It's a good thing you raised him to be honest, Flint! Does
Claus honestly think a homemade knife can kill a Drago? Lucas! Why didn't you
stop him!" "Well," Lucas sobs, "I said I wanted to go too, but he said no
because he was going to go alone." Alec tells him off, "So you just let him go?
You fool!" At this point, Lucas feels both sad and ashamed to the point that
he ran home.
"Maybe that was a little too harsh of me... Flint, it sounds like Claus is
headed into the mountains to kill the Drago that killed his mom. We're in a
race against time, but this can't be any ordinary Drago we're dealing with
here. We're gonna need the proper equipment first! Get a weapon to fight
Dragos with, and then hurry to my place. Come get me at my house after you've
gotten yourself a weapon. Do you remember where I live? If you don't, then
have old Mapson mark it on your map for you. I think he's in the town square."
And so begins the third part of the chapter. It's time to search for Claus.
=======================================
c. Search for Claus, who is in trouble
=======================================
[5C]
Head back to the town square and talk to Mapson and have him mark his map for
you. Go south and enter the house to the left of Thomas' Bazaar to find
Bronson. Talk to him and he'll give you the Drago Fang. Next, enter the bazaar.
There are several items free for your taking! There is no need to pay at all,
how crazy. (I mean, even the most ancient of civilisations have ways to trade!)
The item to the left is a Flea Charm, it increases your defense by 3 over the
Mini-mini Charm. The item in the centre is a Running Bomb, an offensive item.
Take it as well. The item to the right is a Better Stick, equip it to increase
your offense by 14 and speed by 3 over Lighter's Lumber. Toss the Mini-mini
charm and the Lumber and off you go!
You now have to go back to where you found the twins the previous night and
continue to go north from there. You'll meet a new enemy, the Greedy Mouse on
the way. Also watch out for the Flying Mice!
New enemy! Greedy mouse
HP: 90 Music beat: Slow
Attacks: Biting attack, steals an item from you
Drop: Peculiar Cheese
Greedy mice are mice that are greedy. They'll occasionally steal items from
your inventory, besides dealing weak damage. The Peculiar Cheese that they
drop restores health depending on who eats it: People who like cheese will
gain 60 HP, otherwise they will recover for less.
---------------
Mt. Oriander
---------------
Alec resides in Mt. Oriander, you'll have to fight your way through some new
enemies before you can reach his place.
***************
Enemies
***************
Spud Bug (NEW)
HP: 80 Music beat: Moderate
Attack: Physical attack
Spud bugs are some kind of creepy crawlies. They are so weak that you should
be able to knock one out in only one hit by now. As a result, I don't even
know what attacks these bugs have beside their physical attack.
Walking bushie (NEW)
HP: ~70 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Lifeup Alpha (on you), Generate Fresh Air (cures status ailments),
Become friendly and affectionate (immobilises you), Greet everyone and leave
(Ends battle instantly)
Walking Bushies are friendly enemies that cast various heals on you. Consider
walking straight to these bushes and press the A button to examine it. Once
the "battle" begins, all you have to do is to stand guard in each turn while
it heals you completely.
Mischievous Mole
HP: 100 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Throw a rock, feel homesick (wastes a turn), scratch with claws
Drop: Nut bread
These moles, as mischievous as they are, are very harmless. They worst they
can do is to throw a rock at you every now and then, inflicting single digit
damage. Sometimes, they even feel homesick, wasting a turn in the process.
Agitated Boar (NEW)
HP: ~125 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Kick the ground (wastes turn), charge
Drop: Beef Jerky
Wild boars are really dangerous creatures. The boars on Mt. Oriander just love
to charge at you, dealing around 30 HP of damage per attack. Their music theme
is the same as that of the Mischievous Mole and the Spud Bug, so you should
get the hang of tapping out combos by now. In fact, as long as you are good at
it, you can defeat this beast in 1 or 2 rounds.
Crag Lizard (NEW)
HP: ~140 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Edge closer (wastes a turn), Biting attack, Bore down and attack
Drop: Beef Jerky
Crag Lizards are grey lizards with a tough hide. They attack either by biting
at Flint, dealing no more than 10 HP of damage per hit, or they bore down and
attack, dealing maybe 16 HP of damage. They aren't hard to defeat if your gear
is up to date.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Notice the Agitated Boars that hang out at the clearing where you found your
kids. Those boars tend to charge around, making them hard to avoid. A Walking
Bushie can be found to the northwest if you want free heals. Go north and
you'll find some Mischievous Moles in the next area. The gift box to the
northwest is guarded by a Crag Lizard. It contains an Aquarius Bracelet, which
increases your defense by 2 over the Aries Bracelet. Cross the bridge and go
right at the fork and you'll eventually reach Alec's house.
Enter the house and talk to your father-in-law. He greets you and tells you
how dangerous the forest is these days. In fact, Alec's been bitten on the
head by a Flying Mouse. He speculates that Claus is at his friend's house.
Alec joins you, so let's go.
Outside the house, Alec tells you about his "froggy intelligence", who work
for his friend as messengers. In fact, his friend can talk to various animals
like lizards as well. He shows you the lizard and asks you to talk to it and
find the way. Whenever you talk to a lizard, it will rotate for a while before
it stops, pointing at the direction you have to go. Whatever you do, just
follow the directions indicated by the red lizards. If you don't want to
bother with the lizards, just go back to the clearing where you found the
twins.
As you walk along, Alec will tell you about his friends, known as Magypsies,
who used to live in isolation. They have mysterious powers and have been
protecting something on the island for a long time. They are neither human nor
beast, and they are not men or women. How weird.
Go over to the river bank to the east and talk to the frog to the right. He
will summon some frogs to appear above the water's surface, creating stepping
stones for you to cross over to the other side. Walk in the direction of the
river bank and the two men will automatically jump from frog to frog across
the river. Go east to reach an area with a hot spring and a house in the
middle of a pond that resembles a giant seashell.
Enter the house to find the Magypsies, who resemble pink hair cross dressing
men. Note that certain people use the male pronoun "he" to refer to these guys,
but I'll just use "she" or "he" depending on how he looks, ok? There are 6
Magypsies in this house, having a party. Talk to the one in green, she's Ionia.
"Is that Alec," she asks, "It is, it is! Good to see you, snookums!" The
Magypsy on the sofa, Aeolia, says, "My, my, who are these two? Don't be rude!
Ionia, introduce us." Ionia says, "Of course, where are my manners? This is my
good friend Alec, and who's this with you? Flint, you say? Well, it's very
nice to meet you. now, let's get you all properly introduced to the Magypsies."
"You're in luck, we're having a party today. Nearly all of us are here. First
we have Aeolia, then there's Doria, Phrygia, Lydia, and that one over there is
Mixolydia. The only one not here is Locria. You can call me Ionia. Hmm? You
don't remember all that? Of course not. That's why I just introduced you,
darling. Isn't that how it works? Right, Alecy-poo?" Ewww... I bet these people
are fabulous." Alec says, "It's been a while, I hope you are well? I hear you
helped my grandson, Claus. Do you know where he might've went?"
Aeolia isn't an empathic person either, "Oh, you mean that rambunctious little
squirt from a little while ago? Then I suppose this Flint fellow is his father.
Hmmm... Yes, I can see the resemblance now. You have the same eyes." Alec tries
to steer back to the subject, "So, what about Claus?" Where is he?" Aeolia
answers, "Oh, he took off. He was in a great hurry, mentioning something about
avenging his mother. I was feeling generous at that time, so I sent him on his
way with a super-powerful PSI technique. I doubt he'll be able to use it very
easily though." Man, what a good example to set for children, Aeolia!
"So he left, then?" Alec asks, "And you didn't stop him? What if something
happens to him?" Mixolydia (the sleeping one) cuts in, "Oh, get over
yourselves. We couldn't care less about you humans, here one minute and gone
the next. You poor things barely live a hundred years, if that! That's a blink
of an eye to us Magypsies. Why would anyone bother to care about such short
lives?" Doria says, "Now, now. Mixolydia! Phrygia! Humans worry about such
short lives. Isn't that right, Alecy-poo? I understand how you feel, I really
do."
Alec is still angry, "I don't care if you understand or not! Just tell us
where Claus went! The boy headed for the Drago Plateau. Quite rambunctious, I
must add. Barely seemed concerned about his own short little life. In yougo
now, you just might catch him in time." "Drago Plateau, you say? Flint! Let's
hurry there!"
Flint now feels very tense about the situation. Let's get out and enter the
cave behind the house.
-----------------
Underground cave
-----------------
Everything is dark here. You cannot see more than two sprites' distance away
from Flint. Fortunately, Alec knows his way through the cave, so follow his
instructions and you will be out in no time. In addition, you can see the
lining of the cave if you tilt the screen of the GBA/Nintendo DS towards the
light. Relax, Flint, relax!
***************
Enemies
***************
Mr. Batty
HP: 50 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Physical attack, Size up the situation (Makes itself confused),
Become friendly and affectionate (Immobilises you)
Drop: Nut bread
Mr. Batty are those bats you've fought regularly in Earthbound. Besides
attacking you, they tend to size up the situation, confusing themselves in the
progress. Flint should be able to defeat one within two rounds of bashing,
even without using combos.
Mischievous Mole
HP: 100 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Throw a rock, feel homesick (wastes a turn), scratch with claws
Drop: Nut bread
These moles, as mischievous as they are, are very harmless. They worst they
can do is to throw a rock at you every now and then, inflicting single digit
damage. Sometimes, they even feel homesick, wasting a turn in the process.
Crag Lizard
HP: ~140 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Edge closer (wastes a turn), Biting attack, Bore down and attack
Drop: Beef Jerky
Crag Lizards are grey lizards with a tough hide. They attack either by biting
at Flint, dealing no more than 10 HP of damage per hit, or they bore down and
attack, dealing maybe 16 HP of damage. They aren't hard to defeat if your gear
is up to date.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Start by heading north, then west. You'll reach a junction, first go north and
get the Peculiar Cheese from the gift box before returning to the junction and
continuing west. Go north at the next junction until Alec tells you to stop.
There is a hole near where you are; find it and drop down. Go east, defeat the
Crag Lizard and get the Beef Jerky from the gift box. After that, go south.
Alec will try to get Flint to relax at that point. Follow the passage, go east,
then go south at the next fork in the path. You'll find another gift box to
the southeast; open it for a Running Bomb. Fight your way past the Moles until
you reach the next junction.
Alec will tell you that there is a vine to the north. However, he is wrong.
Head east instead and climb up the vine. Alec will laugh about the pun he just
made. Once you have climbed the vine, head north until you find another vine.
Climb up the next few vines you are see and you are out.
--------------
Drago Plateau
--------------
You are now out in the open.
***************
Enemies
***************
Crag Lizard
HP: ~140 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Edge closer (wastes a turn), Biting attack, Bore down and attack
Drop: Beef Jerky
Crag Lizards are grey lizards with a tough hide. They attack either by biting
at Flint, dealing no more than 10 HP of damage per hit, or they bore down and
attack, dealing maybe 16 HP of damage. They aren't hard to defeat if your gear
is up to date.
Balding Eagle (NEW)
HP: 90 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Scratch with sharp claws, peck with its beak
Drop: Beef Jerky
Balding Eagles wait on trees and swoop down on you when you come close. Their
claws inflict about 15 HP damage, while their beak inflicts 7 HP of damage.
These guys attack faster than Flint, but can be defeated within one round if
you are good at combos. Notice that these eagles tend to pause for a second
after they have swooped down to the ground, allowing you to quickly sneak
behind one for a pre-emptive strike.
Titany (NEW)
HP: 120 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Brandish pincer, Hold up pincers to look more threatening (wastes a
turn), Hypnosis Alpha
Drop: Running Bomb
Titanys are yellow scorpions who attack with their pincers. They can also
hypnotise you, making you fall asleep, so watch out. For some reasons, these
beasts drop Running Bombs, so feel free to keep fighting these guys to stock
up on those explosives.
Tree
HP: 150 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Call for help, spreads its roots to the earth (wastes a turn),
physical attack, vacuum attack (lowers both your offense and defense), burst
into flames (on defeat)
Even the trees are getting hostile. Fortunately, they deal little damage with
their physical attacks. However, they can call for help, sending more enemies
into the fray. If that happens, make sure you defeat the reinforcements before
defeating the tree. This is because Trees will burst into flames on defeat,
dealing mortal damage to Flint. If he is the last to go, Flint's health meter
will stop dropping the moment it disappears.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Run past the Crag Lizards and enter the cave to the north. Go east and climb
up the rocks for a Beef Jerky. Continue climb up to find some Pigmasks resting.
They flee as soon as they see you, leaving their Instant Revitalising Device
behind. Use it to recover all your health. Go back down and exit the cave
through the east. You'll see the Pigmasks escape in their flying saucer. Go
east, cross the bridge and you'll find a gift box guarded by a Balding Eagle.
Open the box for a Sprinting Bomb, which is more powerful than a Running Bomb.
Get back to the west side of the bridge and head north, fighting your way past
a Titany and a Balding Eagle. You'll come to another bridge leading east.
Cross it and go south for a Beef Jerky. Head north, past the Titany and
Balding Eagle for another Beef Jerky. Cross the bridge to get back to the west
side. Go north to enter the next area.
Talk to the Save Frog to save the game and continue north. You'll find a baby
Drago playing with one of Claus' shoes. As soon as he sees you, the baby gives
a cry and hopes back home to warn his dad, I suppose? Pick up the shoe and
keep on moving. Move past some hostile Trees to find a gift box with Nut Bread
inside. You'll find another of those machines used by the Pigmasks to bring
their creations to life. This one's only been recently used. You'll eventually
find Claus' other shoe.
Alec calls out for Claus, all to no avail. Instead, a giant partially
mechanised Drago comes out. So, this is the monster that killed your wife, and
it doesn't look to happy to see you!
Boss battle! Mecha Drago
HP: 800 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Biting attack, Bellow a war cry (lowers your offense), Shoot flames
out, Stomp with a giant foot, one last attack (on defeat)
Start by using the Drago Fang on the enemy. This pierces its hide, making it
vulnerable to subsequent attacks. Follow each subsequent turn with bombs until
you have run out. This Drago has a large number of tricks that can be used
against you. Besides biting you, he can shoot flames out, dealing over 30
damage, as well as stomping you with a giant foot, dealing around 17 damage. I
suggest that you resort to physical attacks from then on, healing yourself
with Beef Jerky or Peculiar Cheese when your health falls below 30. The music
isn't that hard to score combos with. Also consider using one of Flint's
skills Strengthen up to increase your offense. Once you have dealt 800 damage
to the Drago, he will attempt one last attack, which is guaranteed to deal
mortal damage to Flint. As long as you have over 40 HP at that moment, you
should be able to survive it and win the battle.
*****END BATTLE*****
Alec and Flint fall to the ground, barely able to stand after a tight battle.
The Mecha Drago falls to the ground, mortally wounded. Flint gets up and is
ready to finish him off with the Drago Fang. At this point, the baby Drago
comes out and licks his dying dad. Alec tries to stop Flint from killing the
Mecha Drago, "Flint! Don't do it!" He cries, "That won't solve anything!
You'll only make its child go through what Claus and Lucas had to!" The baby
Drago knocks Flint away from his dying dad as the beast sheds a tear before
finally passing away.
The camera pans over the cliff, showing an unconscious (probably dead) Claus
lying flat on the rock face. It seems he has been knocked off the cliff by the
Mecha Drago. Now, only a Darth Vader style transformation could probably save
his life! You now get a roundup of Chapter 1 as it ends.
"It is possible that until now, the people of Tazmily Village had never known
sadness. On sunny days and cloudy days they always greeted each other with
smiles.
They lived in harmony with the creatures of the forest. The strong would help
the weak, and those who had would share with those who had not. However it now
appears the villagers have learnt all too much about sadness. Suddenly
everything is changing for the worse. When this change begin, where did it
begin, what set it in motion and why?
Almost as if toys the animals have begun to being transformed into strange
ferocious creatures that attack people. Some people like Flint have even had
their families torn apart.
Just what is this suspicious group that wears pig masks? What are those eerie
objects hat soar through the once beautiful skies? And where could the missing
Claus be? The mysteries continue to pile up. And so the tale first begins... as
a tragedy."
You'll get to save at the end of this chapter. Do so and move on. It's sad,
but you won't be able to play as Flint for the rest of the game.
-------------------------
6. The great egg robbery
-------------------------
[MT6]
We now rewind back to the scene where Duster offered his condolences to Flint
on his wife's death. It is revealed that Flint thanked Duster afterwards. We
then have a look at what happens that night. Duster returns home, where his
father Wess is about to assign him a mission. It's time for Chapter 2: Thief
Adventures. Of course, you'll be playing as mainly Duster.
There are two things to do in this chapter:
a. Sneak into Osohe Castle and attempt to locate an important item
b. Reenter the Castle, this time accompanied by Wess [6B]
===================================================================
a. Sneak into Osohe Castle and attempt to locate an important item
===================================================================
"Duster," Wess begins, "I speak to you not as my son, but as my pupil. Listen!
The time has come... No, this is not something we have been looking forward to.
I had hoped the time wouldn't come, if at all possible. But you and I have
been constantly preparing for this day, in the event that it did come. So it
appears you finally have a chance to try out what I've taught you. The enemy's
form is still unknown. But we must now change the way we live. Are you
prepared?"
At this point, you can either pick Yes or No. For more information about
Duster's background, pick No.
"Duster, perhaps we would have been better off born in a different era. I
forced excessive training upon you at a very young age, resulting in your leg
handicap. Or at least that's my vague recollection of it. Then there's the
fact that I failed to raise you to fit in with the villagers. It's all my
fault, or so I seem to remember. If you want to hold a grudge against your
father, grudge away. If that'll make you happy, you can begrudge me all you
want. But, you don't get a choice in this matter."
So, Duster spent his entire childhood training to be a thief, just in case
something bad might happen in the future. He is just like those Gladio "stay
behind" organisations financed by the CIA back in the 50s in which ex-Fascists
are armed and trained against a perceived communist threat. The only
difference here is that for Duster, the threat has finally surfaced! Of course,
it's natural for Duster to loath his dad for not giving him a normal childhood.
"Duster, listen well! This is not a test or anything of the sort. This is an
order. Duster. I am now going to give you a mission. You will sneak into Osohe
Castle. There, you will find a 'certain important item' and bring it back here.
As for what this 'certain important item' is... No. There is no need for me to
tell you. If a thief can't determine the value of what he steals, he's a
disgrace to the profession. Still, would you like to know a little about it?"
Say yes.
"It's a very important looking item. It's like, all shiny. Yeah. I will say no
more than that." Man, what a clue! Wess then looks at the stairs to the
basement. "In the basement, you will find items that I have prepared for you.
The Seven Mystical Thief Tools. No wait, were there seven? Well, whatever.
Take them with you. They will prove useful during your battles with the enemy."
Go down to the basement, only to find 5 gift boxes. Open them for a Hypno-
Pendulum, Tickle Stick, Scary Mask, Smoke Bomb and Siren Beetle. Talk to Wess
and he'll ask you to check behind the house, where he's hidden another item
for you. Now, get out there, behind the house and you'll find a Thunder Bomb
inside the box. Walk down the hill and then go north along the gap to the east
for a gift box with Peculiar Cheese inside. Since Duster likes cheese, that
item will restores 60 HP when eaten.
It's time to make your way to the castle. Go west across the bridge and speak
to Mapson on the way. He'll mark the location of the castle on the map for you.
In addition, he tells you that the drawbridge is up. However, there might be
an underground passage that can be used to gain access. You are free to go
over to Lucas' house, where you can find the boy sitting outside with his dog,
unable to sleep due to his grief.
Try to leave the town centre and you'll bump into a mysterious man dressed in
Arabic clothes. He's accompanied by a monkey, it seems. Move past the gate to
find Butch with a big sack. He tells Duster that he sold his pig for a sack of
money. It seems that no one in the village has ever heard of money before. He
claims that an era of money is about to start, but even he doesn't know what
that means. Since he doesn't want anyone to steal his money, Butch hides it
inside the well. He tells you not to tell anyone else about it. You are free
to take the sack up from the well, but you'll put it back immediately! Some
thief you are, Duster.
When Duster arrives at the crossroad, he sees the castle in the distance. Up
in the sky is an airship paradropping some people into the woods behind the
castle. Now, go north at the crossroads to reach the cemetery. As you go north,
some zombies come out of the ground to confront you! Duster looks tasty, so
it's time to fight them off!
Event battle! Zombie (x4)
HP: 96 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Make an odd sound (wastes turn), Have trouble balancing (wastes turn),
Biting attack
You'll be fighting 4 zombies, but no more than 3 of them will be on the screen
at once. Besides attacking you for single digit damage, these zombies tend to
waste their turns with their antics. Their music theme is a simple percussion
beat; hence it isn't too hard for you to make combo attacks.
*****END BATTLE*****
Once the zombies are defeated, run to the north end of the cemetery, avoiding
the other undead and you'll arrive at the drawbridge. However, it's currently
raised, so you can't enter the castle through the front. As you are about to
get back to the cemetery, you are taught the basics of the music combo system
by an ant. You see the gravedigger Nipolyte enter his shack, so let's follow
him. You find a set of stairs leading to the basement, so let's go down there.
You enter a room with 2 gift boxes and a save frog. Save your game and open
the boxes for some Peculiar Cheese and Beef Jerky. Notice that big maple
coloured shelf? Push it aside to reveal a hole in the wall leading to an
underground passage.
------------------
Passage to castle
------------------
It's dark, it's damp and dingy here. Watch out for the enemies!
***************
Enemies
***************
Detached Leech (NEW)
HP: 65 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Biting attack, suck blood (recovers HP equal to damage dealt)
Drop: Edible mushroom
Leeches are just common pests in damp places. They often appear in groups and
can suck your blood, healing themselves the amount of damage dealt to you.
However, each leech is so weak that it's possible to take one out with just a
2 hit combo.
Spineless Lobster (NEW)
HP: 75 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Brandish pincer, Offense Up Alpha, Raise up pincer to look
threatening (wastes turn)
Drop: Beef Jerky
Don't let the name fool you, these guys are very physical and can deal around
14 damage every time they brandish their pincers. They have considerably high
defense, hence it will probably take you at least three rounds to defeat one,
even with the help of combos. However, there is no need to use the Scary Mask
at all.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Make your way through the passage, fighting past the Detached Leech. You'll
then find a gift box guarded by a Spineless Lobster. Defeat the lobster for
the Running Bomb inside. Keep going and you'll eventually reach the exit
ladder at the other end. To the right is a gift box guarded by 3 leeches. Take
out those leeches for some Nut Bread. Climb up the ladder and you will be at
the front lawn of Osohe Castle. Notice that part of the wall is lighter in
colour than the rest of it. Examine it and you'll get to build an improvised
ladder up the wall using Wall Staples.
As you are about to enter the castle, you will be stopped by an ant again. It
tells you that you can hear the beat of the battle music by putting the enemy
to sleep. Now, let's enter.
---------------
Osohe Castle
---------------
This is the castle that has been inhabited by the royal family of King Osohe.
It looks deserted now.
***************
Enemies
***************
Stinky Ghost (NEW)
HP: 125 Music beat: Fast
Attack: Cough up terrible odor (makes you nauseous), physical attack, call for
help
Drop: Rotten Eclair
Osohe Castle is haunted, and some of those ghosts are hostile towards visitors.
Stinky Ghosts are named after their ability to cough up odors, making you
nauseous. Eww... Ghosts may also call for help from even more of their kind.
Ghosts drop Rotten Eclairs, which is a pseudo currency to buy various goods
within a shop on the ground floor of the castle.
Arachnid! (NEW)
HP: 60 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Biting attack, Shoot webbing (immobilises you)
Drop: Fresh mint
Arachnids (with exclamation mark) are the first spider enemies you'll meet in
the game. Naturally they will sometimes shoot webbing at you to keep you from
moving for a few rounds.
Artsy Ghost (NEW)
HP: 200 Music beat: Slow
Attacks: Speak passionately about art (wastes turn), physical attack
Artsy Ghosts are paintings that are more alive than normal. They are notable
for their extremely slow music beat. You'll have to tap the A button very
slowly to achieve combos. Besides attack you for around 11 damage, Artsy
Ghosts love to talk about art, wasting their turn in the process.
Ghost Armour (NEW)
HP: 140 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Bum rush, throw punch
Drop: Beef Jerky
Ghost Armour are suits of knight armour that attack when you get close. They
have a high defense, so it's important that you score high combos with your
attack. For your information, their battle theme is the same as that of the
Crag Lizard. Their most threatening attack is the Bum-rush, which deals around
18 damage per hit. Even with combos, expect taking 4 or 5 rounds before you
can defeat 1.
Violent Roach (NEW)
HP: 90 Music beat: Slow
Attacks: Spread its wings and charge (immobilises you), physical attack, knit
its brow (wastes turn)
The cockroaches are back from Earthbound, and perform the same attacks as
before. They can spread their wings to immobilise you or just plain attack.
Carpet Monster (NEW)
HP: 100 Music beat: Moderate
Attack: Biting attack
Be careful whenever you see a moving bump on the carpet. A monster lurks
beneath! Carpet Monsters attack by biting at you, dealing around 10 damage
each time. There is nothing special about these enemies.
Rockin' Ghost (NEW)
HP: 150 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Charge, stab with spear
Rockin' Ghosts are ghost knights on rocking horses. They deal a lot of damage:
Their charge can deal over 30 damage while their spear deals around 20. If you
are not good at combos, consider lowering their offense at least once before
fighting them. Their battle theme is the same as that of the Mischievous Mole.
Barrel Man (NEW)
HP: 100 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Physical attack, let out sweet fragrance (makes you fall asleep)
Drop: Nut Bread
Barrel Men are living barrels. Their attacks are weak, yet they frequently
drop Nut Bread. A good idea will be to continuously leave and reenter the room
so that more of them respawn, allowing you to take them out repeatedly,
stocking up on Nut Bread in the process.
Pseudoor (NEW)
HP: 210 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Physical attack, cough up terrible odour
Not all doors in Osohe Castle are real; some of them are really monsters in
disguise! Pseudoors feature a fast battle theme, making it easy for you to
score combos on them. Their physical attacks deal around 11 damage per hit.
Once you have dealt around 150 damage to one, the Pseudoor will shut its door
to protecting itself, allowing you to finish it off with impunity.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
You begin in a hallway with a picture who's always gazing at you. Save at the
save frog and go through the door to the left. Fight your way past the Stinky
Ghost to reach the gift box at the dead end. Inside is some Rotten Milk. Don't
drink it yet! Rotten Milk will turn into Yogurt after some time, which
restores 80 HP when eaten.
Head back to the previous hallway and run to the right. See the statue with a
giant ball there? Ram into it from the left to make the ball fall down, making
a big hole on the floor. Don't ram it from the right otherwise you'll be
flattened and it's game over! Jump down the hole to the room below. Notice the
vertical line on the wall. Examine it to stick some Wall Staples there,
creating a return route for Duster.
Jump back down and don't open the gift box! Otherwise a ghost will pop out and
cough some odor in your face, making you nauseous. Go through the door to the
right and go down the stairs. Open the box there for a Fresh Mint, used to get
rid of nausea. Head through the door at the base of the stairs to reach the
castle lobby. Go south and inspect the castle gate to open it.
I suggest that you go through the door to the left first. A Fresh Mint can be
found in the gift box in that room, along with a Save Frog. Notice some steam
is being emitted from the basement. Climb down to find a hot spring. Heal
yourself and go back to the lobby. Go through the door leading north.
You are now in a hallway with several Stinky Ghosts. Notice that there are
three doors on the northern wall of this hallway. Go through the leftmost one
first. Kill the two Arachnids and get the Battle Memory from the gift box. You
can use it to recall past battles and practice your combos. To find it, go
over to the "Key item" tab in your item menu. Get back out to the hallway and
spend some time fighting those ghosts to gain experience until you are level
13. Heal yourself at the hot spring when your health is low.
Notice that you'll be stocking up on Rotten Eclairs from fighting those ghosts.
To use those eclairs, go through the door in the middle of the three. It is a
ghost shop, and three items are for sale. A fresh mint costs 1 eclair, the
Rope Snake costs 1 eclair and a Beef Jerky costs 2 eclairs. Whatever you do,
buy the Rope Snake and a few Beef Jerkies before heading out again. Go through
the door leading west.
Climb up the stairs and fight the Arachnids. Go through the door at the next
hallway for a gift box with a Chick Bandana inside. Equip it to increase your
defense by 5. Watch out for the painting, it's an Artsy Ghost! Get back out to
the hallway and make your way to the right, fighting past the Ghost Armour
that comes to life as you get close. Although there are three suits of armour,
you can take them one at a time. Go through the door at the other end of the
hallway.
You find yourself in a ballroom, where some Friendly Ghosts are having a party.
Before you go and deal with the dark vertical line on the wall beside one of
the dining tables, go through the door leading south. It's the kitchen, and
it's infested with Violent Roaches. Open the blue ribbon gift box for an Osohe
Sketch, which is a map of the castle.
Notice a jar is shaking? Examine it to trigger a battle with the Strawberry
Slime!
Event battle! Strawberry Slime
HP: 200 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Physical attack, spray digestive fluids, let out a sweet fragrance
(make you fall asleep)
Drop: Sprinting Bomb
What an ugly battle. Start by lowering this Slime's offense with the Scary
Mask. This renders its physical attacks down to deal only 5 damage or so.
However, his other attack, spraying digestive fluids still do around 25 damage
to you. Let's hope this Slime won't make you fall asleep, otherwise you are in
for a beating! The battle theme is the same as that of the mischievous mole,
so you ought to know what to do by now. Use the Tickle Feather to lower the
Slime's defense if you are still having trouble. Once defeated, the Strawberry
Slime might drop a Sprinting Bomb.
*****END BATTLE*****
Get out of the kitchen and examine the vertical line on the wall. Have Duster
make an improvised ladder up to the floor above. On that floor, walk right and
a Friendly Ghost will appear. Trade all your Rotten Eclairs for Beef Jerky, at
the rate of 1 Eclair per Jerky. Go through the door leading south and you'll
find a dead end with two gift boxes. The right one holds an Aquarius Bracelet
which increase your defense by 2 over the Aries Bracelet. The one to the left
hides a Stinky Ghost. Don't open that box!
Go over to the gap on the floor to the left. The Rope Snake will come out to
help. Press A and Duster will swing the snake at the candlesticks on the wall,
causing the snake to bite on them. He then uses the snake to swing across the
gap!
Fight the Carpet Monster on the carpet and head to the left. You'll find a
door with a Friendly Ghost in front of it. Talk to the ghost and he will tell
you about the tough suit of armour inside that you will have to fight. OK,
let's go face them. You'll find a sword, a suit of armour and a shield on
display. Before you get close to them, open the gift box for a pair of Durable
Shoes. Equip them to increase your offense by 6 over the Ordinary Shoes. I
suggest you approach the 3 items from the left, then you can fight the sword
first.
The ghost sword attacks by stabbing you, dealing 23 damage or so per hit. The
battle music sounds familiar: It's that of the snakes in the Sunshine Forest.
Take this thing out fast using combos! It has around 110 HP.
With the sword destroyed, you can face the Ghost Armour, just like any battle
before, only that it's accompanied by a Ghost Shield. The shield has around
130 HP and attacks by charging at you, dealing around 20 damage per blow.
Since it's a shield, expect a tough defense. Lower it with a Tickle Feather if
you need to. Now that the armour set is destroyed, leave the room and go west
and up the stairs. As you do so, you see a girl in a blue dress jumping down
from the ceiling before running through the door to the right. She hasn't
noticed you, and has dropped something shiny.
Save your game with the frog and examine the shiny item. It's a pendant. Keep
moving now. The next hallway is guarded by 2 Rockin' Ghosts. Walk slowly so
that you can take them one at a time. The next hallway features Barrel Men.
There are 3 doors besides the one you have used to enter this hallway. The
rightmost one leads to the next hallway. The other two are monsters (named
Pseudoor) in disguise. Run into them if you want to fight them.
You'll find a concert going on in the next room. The problem is that the ghost
conductor, Mr. Passion, has blown up some gusts, preventing you from reaching
the other door! This guy is a boss, so I suggest you go back to the previous
hallway and pick fights with Barrel Men to stock up on Nut Bread. Once you
have stocked up and levelled up (I've reached level 16 by this point), have a
word with Mr. Passion.
Mr. Passion is playing the 2nd Movement of Family Matters. Refuse to listen
and he'll get angry and fight you!
Boss battle! Mr. Passion
HP: 650 Music beat: Slow
Attacks: Chair change, madly brandish his baton, grow ever more exuberant
(increases his offense), gets lost in the music (wastes turn), send a mouse
flying, send everything but the kitchen sink flying
This is a very funny battle. Mr. Passion attacks with various music oriented
attacks, dealing around 27 damage per hit. Fortunately, he is vulnerable to
crying, so a Smoke Bomb can make him cry and miss many of his attacks. Also
use the Scary Mask to lower his offense at the second round. After that, it's
time to fight. The battle theme drops snippets of two real life symphonies,
including Beethoven's 5th Symphony!
The beat of this music is very slow, as slow as that of the Artsy Ghost. Start
whittling him down bit by bit and he will suddenly grow ever more exuberant
midway through the battle, increasing his offense again. Use the Scary Mask to
cancel that effect and keep on fighting. Mr. Passion will then resort to
sending various objects in the room flying at you. If you are hit by a mouse,
you'll take negligible damage, otherwise you get hurt a bit more if you are
hit by everything but the kitchen sink. Just keep fighting and Mr. Passion
will eventually disappear, along with his windy music.
*****END BATTLE*****
With Mr. Passion defeated, enter the next room, where you can find a shiny
object on the ground. Well, it matches Wess' description, so let's take it
with you. With the Noble Spittoon in hand, return to the previous room and
examine the fireplace. Jump down the hole and you'll return to the room above
the hot spring.
Leave the castle to discover that it's now morning. Talk to Nipolyte and he'll
give you a key to the drawbridge. Go over to the drawbridge and lower it. You
can now make your way back home and show Wess the loot.
=====================================================
b. Reenter the Castle, this time accompanied by Wess
=====================================================
[6B]
I'm going to warn you that what you are about to read on screen is going to be
a shocking George Ramsay style rebuke sans swearing. Talk to Wess in the house
and show him your item.
"Oh. That was faster than I expected," Wess says, "Okay, let's take a look-see.
Is this? This luster, this texture, this delicate, profound and shiny quality!
This is the legendary Noble Spittoon, passed downw from generation to
generation in Osohe. You found it! My judgment was correct after all! Duster!
You're exceptionally..." Wait for it, wait for it...
"Stupider than I thought!" Wess yells, smashing the spittoon, "You moron, you
moron, you moron! You call yourself a thief, yet you can't even tell what it
is you need to steal? Anything else, moron? Did you bring back any other big
jackpot items? Are you sure you're not just fooling around to try to entertain
me? You moron." Duster shows him the pendant.
"Let me have a closer look at that! This, it isn't what I was looking for. But
could it be?" Duster remembers the girl from whom he found the pendant.
"Duster," Wess says, "That pendant. I think its owner might be, the princess
of Osohe Castle. Duster. Your first job was an utter failure. But this is no
time to be calling you a moron. I'll come with you this time. We're heading to
Osohe Castle at once. Let's hurry to the room the spittoon was in."
Wess joins you, so let's leave for the castle again. Get another Thunder Bomb
from the back of the house. Note that the music has changed to a cheeky
version of the Pig Army theme. It seems that Pigmasks are now raiding the
castle with tanks and all that! Enter the castle through the front door.
---------------
Osohe Castle
---------------
You'll be spotted by two Pigmasks when you enter the lobby. One of them sticks
a pair of electrodes into a man made of clay, unleashing it against you! It's
time to fight again! Wess may help you during battles by throwing Thunder
Bombs, trying a Secret Thief Art Technique or just by a normal attack. He
sometimes scolds Duster, wasting his turn. But still, his attacks deal a lot
of damage, making him an excellent support character.
Event battle! Clay Man
HP: 850 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Throw punch, bum rush, crash down on you
Clay men are robots made out of clay. He attacks by throwing punches at you
and bum rushing at first. Start by lowering his offense using the Scary Mask.
Since the beat is fast, it's not hard to get 16 hit combos on this guy. After
you have dealt more than 600 damage on the Clay Man, he will start to crash
down on you, dealing over 40 damage but immobilising himself for 2 rounds
while he struggles to get up. You can often defeat him before he can do any
harm on you.
*****END BATTLE*****
The Clay Man collapses and the Pig Masks cannot revive him. They flee deeper
into the castle. Now, it's time to make your way back to the room where you
found the Noble Spittoon. Man, this place is crawling with pigs, and I am not
referring to the police!
***************
Enemies
***************
Pigmask (NEW)
HP: 150 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Say some nasty, horrible things (lowers your offense), Kick, Fire a
beam, fly into a rage (increase his offense)
Drop: Bag of Pork Chips
Pigmasks are the standard foot soldiers of the Pig Army. They wear pig masks,
hence their name. They attack by kicking and firing beams at you, dealing
around 17 damage per hit. They can also say nasty things to lower your offense.
Pigmasks tend to drop bags of Pork Chips, greasy junk food that restores 50 HP
when eaten. I wonder whether they are pork rinds.
Carpet Monster
HP: 100 Music beat: Moderate
Attack: Biting attack
Be careful whenever you see a moving bump on the carpet. A monster lurks
beneath! Carpet Monsters attack by biting at you, dealing around 10 damage
each time. There is nothing special about these enemies.
Rockin' Ghost
HP: 150 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Charge, stab with spear
Rockin' Ghosts are ghost knights on rocking horses. They deal a lot of damage:
Their charge can deal over 30 damage while their spear deals around 20. If you
are not good at combos, consider lowering their offense at least once before
fighting them. Their battle theme is the same as that of the Mischievous Mole.
Barrel Man
HP: 100 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Physical attack, let out sweet fragrance (makes you fall asleep)
Drop: Nut Bread
Barrel Men are living barrels. Their attacks are weak, yet they frequently
drop Nut Bread. A good idea will be to continuously leave and reenter the room
so that more of them respawn, allowing you to take them out repeatedly,
stocking up on Nut Bread in the process.
Pseudoor
HP: 210 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Physical attack, cough up terrible odour
Not all doors in Osohe Castle are real; some of them are really monsters in
disguise! Pseudoors feature a fast battle theme, making it easy for you to
score combos on them. Their physical attacks deal around 11 damage per hit.
Once you have dealt around 150 damage to one, the Pseudoor will shut its door
to protecting itself, allowing you to finish it off with impunity.
Lingering Spirit (NEW)
HP: 100 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Fire Alpha, physical attack, sway back and forth (wastes turn),
expound on its past sorrows in life (makes someone cry)
Lingering Spirits resemble red flames floating in midair. They can cast Fire
Alpha against you, dealing damage to the entire group. They are resistant to
physical attacks, but can be defeated in one hit from Kumatora's Freeze Alpha.
Osohe Cape (NEW)
HP: 200 Music beat: Varies
Attacks: Shield Alpha, physical attack, Magnet Alpha, Freeze Alpha
Drop: Peculiar Cheese
Some purple capes are on the loose on the upper floors of the castle. Besides
performing physical attacks, they can form a shield that protects them or
their allies against physical attacks. They can also try to steal your PP, but
fortunately it only works against Kumatora. If you are unlucky, they might
cast Freeze Alpha on you, dealing 40 damage to either Duster or Kumatora in
doing so. Their battle theme changes in tempo all the time, making it hard to
score combos. It's a good idea to run into the Lingering Spirits near them, if
any are present. This makes it easy to defeat the cape, if it decides to join
the battle. In addition, use Duster's Wall Staples against this enemy to pin
it down.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
The whole place is being ransacked by the Pigmasks, are they looking for
something? All the Friendly Ghosts are now gathered in the kitchen. It seems
that you can take a rest on the sofa in the room where Mr. Passion was. Do
that to recover all your health. Enter the room where you found the Noble
Spittoon and examine the part of the wall that looks like an angry face.
"The real treasure is further inside," Wess says, walking closer to the wall,
"It appears someone has opened this door. Very recently, too. I believe only
the princess has the ability to open this secret door. Duster. This is
embarrassing. Turn the other way. Don't look now! I'm not going to stick my
butt out or anything like that, though." Duster turns around as Wess does a
funny dance accompanied by funky music. Of course, he can't resist watching
this funny dance! But surprisingly, the face on the wall opens its mouth in
happiness, allowing you to go through!
"I believe I taught you this dance when you were still very young. I even told
you a million times to do it whenever you get stuck. The princess most likely
went through here. And those pig fellows are probably still inside the castle
as well. So we need to be careful! You moron!" The two go through the door and
enter a room with a trash can. Save the game if you wish. Go over to the
balcony and look down and you'll see something that resembles a needle stuck
on the ground in the courtyard below.
Wess claims to have asked King Osohe what it was, but he refused to tell him.
Hence he has decided never to think about it anymore. But still, that needle
will be important in later chapters, so watch out. Go through the door to the
right. You reach another stairwell and are almost hit by an electric spark
shot out from the princess of the castle.
"Wess?" The princess cries, "Is that you, you old geezer?" The two men walk up
to her. "Oh, Princess," Wess says, "So it was you! my, how this brings back
memories. Sometimes, I wouldn't remember you for not but a little bit. No, no,
no! Wait! I'm so giddy that I've mixed up my words! I haven't forgotten about
you for but a bit! No, no, wait." He's still mixed up, but blames Duster for
it! "Duster! You moron! Get your act together!"
"Whatever," the princess says, "I got my leg caught in this stupid trap. I
can't afford to die here, so I was just thinking about cutting my leg off."
"Oh-ho-ho! I see you're as reckless as ever! But you needn't resort to
removing your foot, Princess. For me and my Thief Arts, a trap of this sort is
absolutely nothing to worry about. No, wait, wait! Just leave it to me! I'll
have this off faster than you can say, 'Piece of cake'!" Wess quickly frees
the princess from the trap.
"Princess. I'm so pleased to know you're all right. The princess notices the
pendant on you. "Hey! My pendant! So you stole it, huh? Damn, can't let my
guard down for even a second. He your son, geezer? Hmmm... His breath kind of
stinks. Your names' Duster huh. My name's..."
At this point, you get to name the Princess. Let's stick with the default:
Kumatora. "Kumatora," she says, "Good to meetcha! What're you doing? Let's go!"
Wess asks, "Wherever are you headed, Princess?" "Isn't it obvious? You guys're
here for it too, ain'tcha?" "But your leg is injured." "Just a little spit on
it and it will be good as new! Let's move!" She turns to Duster, "Hey!
Geezer's son! Escort me, will ya? Geez!" Kumatora joins your group.
Go upstairs and through the door. You'll be informed by the wind (yeah, the
wind) that Kumatora can use a special set of spells known as PSI. The next
room is guarded by red flames known as Lingering Spirits. One hit from
Kumatora's Freeze Alpha is enough to take one out! Jump across the next gap
and go through the door on the other side. Refrain from using PSI against
anything that are not Lingering Spirits, since you want to save PP.
You reach another stairwell with a gift box and save frog. Open the box for a
Flea Charm. Equip it on Duster since he gains more from it than Kumatora,
increasing his defense by 3 over the Mini-mini Charm. Jump across the gap on
the next floor and fight your way past even more Lingering Spirits. The next
stairwell is guarded by two Barrel Men. Defeat them both and Kumatora will
level up. The next room features an Osohe Cape and a Lingering Spirit. Defeat
them both and jump across the gap. Some Magic Gelatin can be found inside;
give it to Kumatora since it restores 20 PP when she eats it.
Go upstairs, past some more Barrel Men and jump across the gap. You'll enter a
large room with many magic brooms moving around. Avoid touching them or they
will sweep you all up, sending you back to the balcony with the trash can. But
still, each broom disappears when you've touched it once, so it won't be that
frustrating if you do get sent back.
The two boxes contain a Sprinting Bomb and Beef Jerky. Oh and Kumatora will
start to feel feverish. The wind tells you that it's because she is about to
learn a new PSI skill. Walk around for a while and she will learn Thunder
Alpha, a spell that deals lightning damage against the enemy, as well as
Lifeup Alpha, a spell that restores around 65 HP on one group member. The next
stairwell houses a save frog. Save your game and keep on moving.
You'll encounter more Osohe Capes and Lingering Spirits in the next hallway.
The next room contains the treasure, so feel free to go in and out of this
hallway to level Kumatora up to level 14.
Go through those double doors to get the treasure Wess wanted you to get all
along. "Yes, here we are," Wess says. The three walk close to the egg like
object on the stand.
"This is where I hid it. Duster. This is the 'certain important item' I had
instructed you to bring back. It seems to be known as the Egg of Light, or the
Hummingbird Egg. Truth be told, not even I know anything about this egg. The
Hummingbird Egg is a ball of secrets inside secrets that are inside even more
secrets. Or something like that, supposedly, apparently."
Kumatora says, "And now the ball of secrets is needed." She walks over to the
Egg. "If this wound up in the wrong hands, the lid on the secrets would come
undone, and..." She touches the egg, "bad things will happen." And why is that?
But there won't be any explanation, for now. Wess then says, "Just what sort
of hope or calamity is hidden away in this egg? Not even I know. In any case,
this Hummingbird Egg is our secret."
"But doesn't it seem kind of ridiculous that the egg of a tiny hummingbird
hold all of the world's secrets?" Tell you what, the egg might just hold the
answer "42", at this rate! Wess says, "Indeed, it is quite ridiculous. But
what's most ridiculous of all is this moron standing right here." You just
can't resist putting your son down, eh Wess? "Duster, this egg gives off such
a thick scent of secrets that's so concentrated it almost reminds me of
condensed milk. Yet, you couldn't even catch a single whiff of it! That's how
much of a moron you are!" By this logic, most people in this world are morons
because they can't smell the smell of secrets! "You're a failure as a thief!"
Duster backs off slightly. Kumatora tries to defend Duster, "You shouldn't
keep calling your own kid a moron like that. Cause if he really is a moron, he
couldn't understand anyways. Anyways, we can't let the bad guys get their
hands on this egg." But then, someone's banging on the door! The Pigmasks are
using Claymen to break open the door!
"Geezer! Duster!" Kumatora cries, "Let's get outta here!" She quickly grabs
the egg from the stand. "Princess! Please wait!" Wess cries, "I know it
appears to be sitting there nonchalantly, but I placed traps around the egg!"
"Huh? Traps?" The floor opens up beneath them, sending them falling through
several floors down to a large pool of water in the basement. Piles of skulls
can be seen sticking out of the water. This does not look good.
"Princess, are you all right?" Wess asks. Kumatora surfaces, "Yeah, I'm just
fine, but... Huh?" "Whatever's the matter? If you're worried about that moron,
don't be. He's been trained for just this sort of thing." "No, it's not Duster.
The egg is gone!" "Come again? That moron isn't gone, but the egg is?"
Fortunately, both the egg and Duster are fine, for now. For once, Wess
compliments Duster, "Yes, all right! Well done! I've called you a moron 11
times so far, but I take it all back now! You're no longer a moron. Hurray!"
But then, some creature starts swimming towards the three. "I don't know if
I'd say 'hurray' just yet," Kumatora mutters.
Boss battle! Oh-So-Snake
HP: ~1200-1300 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Snap with its tail, biting attack, cause a giant wave
The Oh-So-Snake is the resident sea monster hidden in the depths of Osohe
Castle. My, he wants to eat you up. Have Duster use the Scary Mask at the
first round and the Tickle Feather at the second. This lowers both the Snake's
offense and defense. (If neither tricks work, stop trying to attempt it) Have
Kumatora use Thunder Alpha at every turn. The snake attacks by snapping you
with its tail, dealing around 15 damage to both Duster and Kumatora. Its
biting attack deals around 24 damage to one target.
Fortunately, this boss is sometimes vulnerable to the Wall Staple. If you are
lucky, you can pin it down, keeping it from attacking you most of the time.
(If the Staples don't work, Wess can sometimes immobilise the Snake by
throwing one of Duster's socks out) In addition, the music is easy to score
combos with, just tap the A button at a moderate pace. Once you have dealt
enough damage, the Snake might dive into the water and cause a giant wave,
dealing around 50 damage to both Duster and Kumatora. Use Lifeup on Kumatora
if she's nearly out. Continue attacking and the Snake will be defeated after
you have dealt between 1200 and 1300 damage to it.
*****END BATTLE*****
After the snake's defeat, a rumbling sound is heard. "Now what?" Wess exclaims.
Looks like the water is being rapidly drained, pulling all three and the egg
away with it! Kumatora and Wess are washed onto the river bank in Tazmily
Village, while Duster is nowhere to be found. The two are spotted by Fuel and
Lighter and taken back to Wess' house.
Wess asks whether they have found Duster, but the answer is no. Wess is mad
that Duster is "taking his damn merry time". He insists that his son will be
in big trouble once he finds him. Kumatora asks Wess to look for him together.
Get out of the house and head to the town square. If Kumatora is at level 15,
she will get feverish and learn Healing Alpha and Offense Up Alpha soon after.
Go over to the town centre to find a commotion.
It looks like someone's stolen Butch's money. He naturally lays the blame on
Duster, since only he knew about the hiding place of the cash. The problem is
that the villagers are very thick: They don't know what money is, let alone
where Butch got the money. Butch continues to suspect Wess and Duster, stating
that they haven't struck before since there hasn't been anything worth
stealing.
Kumatora is furious and rushes to Duster's defence, threatening bodily harm
against Butch! But then Flint arrives at the scene, asking everyone to calm
down, holding his belief in Duster's innocence. Wess obviously isn't pleased
at being implicated in the theft, he calls Duster a moron once more. We now
get a roundup of the 2nd chapter of the game.
"The mysterious group that has been tinkering with the forest creature in an
almost toy like fashion has finally commenced its plan to alter the ton the
lives and even the hearts of the people.
It seems as if a grand scheme of some sort is hidden behind the actions of the
suspicious peddler who has recently arrived. However, not everyone is content
to sit quietly as the enemy continues its odious attacks from angle.
Flint, whose family bonds are torn to shreds; Wess and his son Duster, the
thieves of justice; Kumatora, the mysterious girl who suddenly appeared.
Destiny is bring together those who would do their power for good.
And what has become of Lucas, the crybaby?"
To find out more about this peddler, let's go on to the next chapter!
----------------------
7. Happiness is a box
----------------------
[MT7]
What a story! By the end of chapter 3, 2 characters have gone missing. First
Claus, then Duster. But there is no time to worry about them as the scene
swiftly changes to the desert, where a Pig Army airship has landed. Some
Pigmasks meet up with the crew as they drag two monkeys off the ship. It's
time for Chapter 3: The Suspicious Peddler.
An man in Arabic clothing, Fassad appears. He tells the monkey, "Alright,
monkey! Listen up! If you don't do your job, then this girl monkey is as good
as dead. Do what you're supposed to, and you'll get to a nice, happy reunion
later. Understand? Both you and this girlie monkey could wind up dead if
you're not careful!" Fassad takes out a remote and presses it, giving the
monkey an electric shock. Gee, do you really have to stoop so low to coerce a
monkey to do your bidding? Just capture any monkey and train him to be your
pet!
"Well? How do you like it?" Fassad sneers, "That lovely thing around your neck
is no ordinary collar. It's so advanced that even if you ran to the ends of
the desert, punishing you would still be a snap." My, would the RSPCA be mad
when they find out!
"Come to think of it, monkey, you don't have a name, do you? You're going to
need one from here on out. I hope you can come up with something cute!
Nwehehehehe!" Yes, this Fassad guy (known as Yokuba in the original Japanese
version) has a weird way to laugh! You now get to name the monkey, let's name
him Salsa by default.
"Alright, stupid monkey! Salsa! I'll only say this once, so listen close! If
you wanna enjoy your little journey with me, just remember these two things.
You are I are buddies. Don't you dare try to run away from me. Always behave,
and act nice and friendly. Got that?" Say yes, lest he punishes you!
"Good boy. The second thing to remember: never disobey my commands. If I say
dance, you dance! If I say laugh, you laugh! It's that simple. Got it?" Yes!
"Do what I say, and we'll both get through this without any hard feelings.
Nwehehehehe. Oh? What's that defiant look in your eyes? Dance!" Fassad waves
his arms to the left. You now have to press the Left key of the control pad.
In fact, whenever Fassad waves his arms in a certain direction, you will have
to press the key on the D-pad corresponding to that direction. Or else be
punished even more!
Salsa dances, and Fassad laughs at him. "That's such a silly monkey dance that
just watching it is embarrassing! Try a different dance!" He waves his arms to
the right, so press the Right key on the D-pad. (If you take too long, you
will be punished with an electric shock!) Fassad then says, "Good boy, laugh!"
He waves his arms downwards, press the Down key. Salsa then laughs. "Backflip!"
Fassad now raises both of his arms, so press the Up key to do the backflip.
"Good boy, good job. No doubt everyone'll believe we're a performance duo now."
Salsa sees his girlfriend being dragged awayh. He is shocked as he tries to
run to her. The rest of the Pigmasks board the airship, kicking Salsa to the
ground in the process, how mean. Salsa is now depressed, but Fassad has no
sympathy at all.
"Hey, you stupid monkey!" he yells, "You only get to cry when I tell you to!
No crying on your own! It's punishment time!" Another electric shock is
administered! Fassad gets even more brutal now, "Hey, you! Quit sleeping on
the job! Alright listen! There's a white, round building west of here. We're
going there." Fassad will now drag you along. Let's go.
There are several things to do in this chapter.
a. Make your way towards Tazmily Village
b. Show the villagers what it means to be happy with Fassad [7B]
c. Get dragged along to Osohe Castle to investigate [7C]
d. Escape from Fassad with the help of Kumatora and Wess [7D]
************************************
Important character in this chapter
************************************
Fassad
Fassad, known as Yokuba in the original Japanese version, is a pedlar working
with the Pigmasks. His job is to corrupt the villagers' values under the guise
of making them happy. Fassad is a very abusive towards animals and will not
hesitate to punish them harshly if they do not do what he told them to do.
RSPCA, please take note. Oh yes, this guy has a taste for bananas as well, and
will toss peels all around the place.
*****END CHARACTER*****
=========================================
a. Make your way towards Tazmily Village
=========================================
You start in the desert, so save your game with the frog in the barrel and go
south west. Fassad starts at level 1 and is almost helpless in battle.
Fortunately Fassad, despite his cruelty, acts as a good supporting character
in battle, dealing heavy damage for you. His physical attack deals around 40
damage, his bum-rush around 80 and his bombs deal 200 damage, which is
guaranteed to knock out the enemy!
***************
Enemies
***************
Dung beetle (NEW)
HP: 60 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Physical attack, diligently roll its dung (wastes turn)
Drop: Dung
Dung Beetles are rather harmless creatures that would rather roll their dung
than attack you. If one does attack, it does maybe 2 or 3 damage. Fassad can
easily defeat one for you. It sometimes drops dung, which obviously cannot be
eaten. What you can do is take the dung to a dung beetle called Wan Sum Dung
(yes, that's his name!) to the left of a pool of water in the first open area.
He'll take the dung and award you with 5 experience points.
Sand Lizard (NEW)
HP: 90 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Physical attack, eat Dung Beetle (if it is present), stare this way
(wastes turn)
Drop: Nut bread
Sand Lizards are the more dangerous of the two initial enemies. Their physical
attacks deal 7 damage per hit. The funny thing is that if you are battling
this lizard with a dung beetle, it will sometimes waste a turn eating the dung
beetle, removing the latter from battle!
Sara-Sara-Sahara (NEW)
HP: 90 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Physical attack, go with the flow (waste turn), fire Dum-E-Beam
(makes you feel strange)
Drop: Ancient Banana
I don't know what to make of these things, but they resemble two yellow
detached mouthpieces floating in mid air with a pair of eyes on top. They
physical attacks aren't that dangerous. Just watch for their Dum-E-Beam that
can make you feel strange.
Great Antlion (NEW)
HP: 110 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Beckon (waste turn), physical attack
These giant ants tend to make small whirlpools in the sand. They are so
heavily armoured that Salsa's attacks will only deal one damage per hit. Your
best bet is to use Salsa's Monkey Mimic tactic to respond in kind to any of
its physical attacks. Of course, relying on Fassad is another good option.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
You are in a large open area. Take the time to fight the Dung Beetles and Sand
Lizards to level up some. If you are injured, go over to the pool of water and
drink some. It's got a slight taste of dung, but you'll be fine! The three
boxes in this area hold Beef Jerky, Nut Bread and a Running Bomb. When you are
at level 5, it's time to move on to the next area by going southeast.
You'll reach a fork in the path. Go west to find a gift box with a Luxury
Banana inside. However, Fassad will snatch the banana from you and eat it
immediately. Take the right path to reach the next open area. Go all the way
to the south and walk along the edge to the west until you see a gift box.
Open that for a Beef Jerky. Go directly north from where you are to find
another gift box, this time has Bug Spray inside. Go north from here to find a
Save Frog trapped in a whirlpool.
Talk to the frog and trigger a battle with a Great Antlion. Use the Bug Spray
to defeat it in one hit, freeing the frog. That Antlion also drops a Flea
Charm, which increases Salsa's defense by 5 when equipped. Feel free to save
your game and read the sign behind the frog for some interesting information
about frogs that live in the desert.
Go south, then west to the gift box for another Running Bomb. Now, go north to
the next area, where the round building is. Open the gift box to the northwest
of the building for an Aquarius Bracelet, which increases your defense by 5.
Approach the building, only to find a Cactus Wolf blocking the way. Defeat it,
otherwise you'll suffer even more punishment from Fassad!
Event battle! Cactus Wolf
HP: 450 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Cactus headbutt, biting attack
Drop: Beef Jerky
This wolf has a small piece of cactus on its head. I wonder what happened to
it? Of course, you'd expect it to headbutt you, dealing around 21 damage each
time. I recommend that you use Monkey Mimic in each turn. Then you can simply
respond in kind whenever he attacks you, making it unnecessary to try your
luck on combos. Eat something whenever your HP drops below 20 and you'll be
fine.
*****END BATTLE*****
Now that the wolf is tamed, examine the door and Fassad will open it. Salsa is
obviously reluctant, and hence had to be kicked in!
-------------------
Underground tunnel
-------------------
The two ride the lift down to the tunnel. Make your way through the tunnel,
getting the Bug Spray and Underground Map from the boxes as you do so.
***************
Enemies
***************
Violent Roach
HP: 90 Music beat: Slow
Attacks: Spread its wings and charge (immobilises you), physical attack, knit
its brow (wastes turn)
The cockroaches are back from Earthbound, and perform the same attacks as
before. They can spread their wings to immobilise you or just plain attack.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Fight your way past two cockroaches and go through the door at the other end
of the tunnel. You arrive at an underground road of sorts. Fassad shows you a
parked pink vehicle. "Hey, stupid monkey, look here. This is a high-tech
vehicle known as a Pork Bean. We're going to take it to an unbelievably
uncivilised village called Tazmily. It'd take an incredibly long time to get
there on foot, but with the Pork Bean, we'd get there in a blink of a 'Nwehe!'.
You get all that?"
"Use that ladder to get down there!" But first, go left to that Instant
Revitalising Device. Fassad will also explain how it works to you. Now, get
into the device to fully heal yourself and get the Beef Jerky and Ancient
Banana from the gift boxes. The latter can be used in battle to trip the enemy,
inflicting a small amount of damage.
Now, go over to the Pork Bean and inspect it. You'll be asked whether you want
to board the vehicle. Say yes and off you go! Go west for now, running down
any enemies in the way. Whenever you want to stop the Pork Bean, press the B
button. Press the B button again to alight. Make your way through the tunnels,
passing through a bit where you can see the trees outside. You'll eventually
enter a Pig Army tank parking bay. Get off the Pork Bean and go south. You'll
find 2 gift boxes with some Nut Bread and a Chick Bandana inside. The latter
increases your defense by 5 when worn.
Go west to reach the end of the tunnel. Alight the Pork Bean and get the Bug
Spray from the Gift Box. Climb up the ladder and get the Running Bomb from the
box to the right. The exit ladder is blocked by 3 Gooey Goos, so let's fight!
Event Battle! Gooey Goo (x3)
HP: 100 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Spray digestive fluids, edge closer (wastes turn), physical attack,
attempt to split (creates a new Gooey Goo)
Drop: Mosquito Charm
Despite the sign's warning to the left, start by throwing a Running Bomb at
the 3 Goos. The bomb will deal 80 damage or so against all 3 enemies, allowing
you or Fassad to finish each one in the subsequent rounds. The Goos' most
deadly weapon is their digestive fluid, which deals around 14 damage every
time they spray it at you. Fortunately all 3 Goos are unlikely to attack at
the same round, some of them wasting their turns by edging closer. When things
go bad, a Goo may attempt to split, creating a new one in the process, let's
hope that doesn't happen. You'll receive a Mosquito Charm upon victory. Equip
it to increase your defense by 2 over the Flea Charm.
*****END BATTLE*****
With the Goos gone, climb up the ladder to emerge at the graveyard of Tazmily
Village.
----------------
Tazmily Village
----------------
"To the south of this cemetery is a village," Fassad says, "There's a place
called the Yado Inn, where we can stay the night. That's where we're headed
now." I assume you know where the inn is? Let's go there now, ignoring the
undead in the graveyard. As you reach the village gates, you see Butch with
his bag of money. Talk to him and Fassad will remind Butch not to let the cash
be stolen by thieves. Go a bit further and you will bump into Duster, who's
making his way to Osohe Castle. This is where the timelines of Chapters 2 and
3 start to overlap.
Fassad then resorts to eavesdropping on the subsequent conversation between
Butch and Duster, laughing silently to him as he sees Butch hide the money in
the well. I wonder what he's planning to do? Right now, it's time to go south
and enter the Yado Inn. Talk to Jackie, the man behind the counter.
Fassad asks how much is the lodging fee, a question to which Jackie's confused,
"Oh, fee?" A fellow attendant Betsy comes over and tells Fassad, "There is no
'how much' here. Please feel free to stay the night." This is what you expect
from villagers in a rustic village who have overly naive values! I mean, even
Stone Age people have money, in form of sea shells!
"Oh I see," Fassad says, "Still, it's hardly a cumbersome thing to have." He
hands over a bag of money to Jackie. Betsy is still puzzled, she says, "Oh, I
guess it's okay, then. I'll kindly accept your offer. I suppose it could make
a good doorstop. Your room is the one in the middle. Please make yourself at
home, and have pleasant dreams." "Thank you very much," Fassad says, "Come,
little Salsa, where's your little 'Thank you'?" He bends down, lowering both
of his arms. Press the Down key on the directional pad to make Salsa laugh.
"Eee! How cute!" says Betsy. "Well, then. If you'll excuse us. Come, little
Salsa, let's go to our room, shall we?" At this point, you are left to play,
so let's join Fassad in the middle room. Fassad briefs you on the job. "You're
goingto work hard for me, starting tomorrow. Now go to sleep!" He lies down on
the bed and starts snoring. Salsa falls asleep as well. Some hours later,
Fassad wakes up and gets out. Why don't you follow him?
Go back to the town centre. You see Fassad speaking on his walkie-talkie.
"You've arrived at Osohe Castle? Good. Wait until dawn, then storm the place.
Everything's progressing smoothly here. What? You saw someone else hanging
around the castle? That's it? You only saw him? Then leave him be. He's
probably just some villager who got drunk and got himself lost. We walks with
a limp? I think I might have seen him myself. He's got brown hair, a gloomy
feel, slightly bad breath, and looks kind of like a bum? Yeah, don't worry
about him. Okay, I'll leave it in your hands. Stay alert!" Yup, it's Duster
all right. Now we know that had Duster found the egg on his first attempt, he
wouldn't have to go back with Wess, met Kumatora and go missing!
You then see Fassad steal the bag of money. As you remember at the end of
Chapter 2, Duster will be blamed for the theft! Go over to him and get your
complimentary electric shock! Fassad thinks you are trying to escape. He tells
you off, alternating his words with short shocks. "Don't you think you could
run away from me? That's why you are such a stupid monkey! Don't make me say
it anymore, go back to the room and sleep! Don't bother me anymore! What's
with that look? Laugh!"
Fassad lowers both arms again, so press Down on the D-pad. "But you know," he
continues, "If you were going to run away, I'm sure there were some more
intelligent ways you could have done it. Like trying to disguise yourself, or
trying to walk without making any sound. But I guess monkeys are just aren't
intelligent enough for things like that! Nwehehehehe!" Don't start giving him
any new ideas, Fassad!
As he sleeps, Salsa dreams about the events earlier that day, like how he was
separated from his girlfriend and forced to work for Fassad. Anyways, sleep
well since you have work cut out for you. Fassad will give you a nice wake up
call: An electric shock!
============================================================
b. Show the villagers what it means to be happy with Fassad
============================================================
[7B]
"Listen, just keep doing your tricks all happy like. Prance around all nice
and funny to help charm the villagers. Do a good job, and I'll set you free.
I'll even take you back to that girlie monkey. But if you bore the audience,
you'll get an extra heaping of punishment, got that?" Save your game and leave
the inn. It's time to show the villagers what it means to be happy!
Some joyful fairground music is played at the Town Centre, attracting numerous
villagers to Fassad. "Come! Gather around," Fassad says, "Come, one and all,
fair denizens of Tazmily! Congratulations are in order for the hard work you
put in every single day!" Fassad bends down, so let's press the Down key on
the directional pad to laugh.
"I've come here today to give you all wonderful news, about happiness!" Fassad
says, waving his arms to the left. Press Left on the D-pad to dance. "Blue
skies," Fassad continues, "White clouds, bountiful crops, stout livestock,
happy families and kind hearted neighbours. This village is filled with so
many wondrous things! But there's still something missing! A tiny speck of
uncertainty that steals into each bright day."
Fassad moves closer to the audience, "Is this really how things should be?
Shouldn't we be living much more comfortable, enjoyable lives? It's only
natural to harbour a few such suspicions." Some people begin to walk away,
"Off animals that have never been seen before now lurk in our forests, and
giant balloon like objects soar our skies! What's going on? What's happening
to the world we live in? And that's not all, not by a long shot! The word on
the wind says that in the very near future, lightning powerful enough to burn
down forests and woods will rain down on us almost daily!"
Someone laughs cynically, so Fassad addresses her, "Oh! You laughed at that,
didn't you? You thought to yourself, 'Get real! Something like that would
never happen!' But I truly believe this will soon be a reality!" Another
person walks off. "And in times like this, isn't it human nature to want to be
happy? To live with a smile on your face? But I have good news for you! Today
is your lucky day!" Fassad raises both arms, prompting you to press the Up key
to do a backflip.
"You can obtain happiness very easy." Fassad waves his arms to the right, so
press the Right key on the D-pad. "Just look here," Fassad says, pointing to
Salsa, "Even my cute, adorable Salsa is dancing so happily. The reason for
this, you see, is that this monkey has got a head start on obtaining
happiness!" Fassad now bends down, so press Down and laugh! "How exactly did
little Salsa here manage to find happiness? All those who are interested,
please raise your hand boisterously. Who wants to be happy?"
Looks like Fassad's infomercial has spread enough Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt
to four people in the crowd. Besides, what kind of person will use a monkey to
promote his product? Well, the people of Tazmily aren't very bright either, it
seems. "Okay, little Salsa! Go and ask the nice people who want happiness for
their names. Please keep your hands raised, folks."
The four people are Abbot, the man in the big brown hat; Issac, the short
sighted lumberjack; Abbey, the woman in the deep pink dress and Biff, the
brown haired guy in yellow clothes to the right. Talk to them one by one to
know their names. Talk to Fassad when you are done.
"Everyone," he says, "If even just one more of us can achieve happiness, all
can be right in the world! For those of you who didn't raise your hand, please
think it over later and if you decide that you do want happiness after all,
feel free to let me know anytime! Well, that's all for today's show! May
happiness come to this village!" Fassad signals Salsa to do one more backflip,
so press Up. "Take care!" Press the Down key and laugh. Fassad turns to Salsa.
"Now then, he says, "Come along, little Salsa, let's return to the Yado Inn."
Back in the room, Fassad receives a call from his men. It seems that they are
looking for something, but someone else (i.e. Duster, Wess and Kumatora) has
been spotted in the castle. Fassad is shocked to learn that those guys are too
tough to handle, so he promises to come himself when he's sorted things out.
Fassad hangs up and tells Salsa that the Happy Boxes are located in the
cemetery, and asks him to deliver them to the four people who raised their
hands earlier. He threatens you with severe punishment if you fail to complete
your job in 23 minutes. Having given you one more electric shock, he promises
to reward you with a banana if you can do it in 22 minutes or less.
Let's get moving. Go to the northwest part of the cemetery and talk to Mapson.
He'll mark the locations of the homes of Issac, Abbot, Abbey and Biff. Notice
that there are only 3 circles. This is because 2 of them live together. Go
over to the brown boxes to the north and pick one up by examining it. You must
now walk slowly to your destinations with a box on your back!
Now, Issac's house is in the Sunshine Forest. I assume you know how to get
there, having played chapter 1. If not, it's the first house you see upon
entering the forest. Avoid all enemies on your way, especially the Greedy Mice!
Talk to Issac and he'll install the Happy Box, which resembles a pink CRT
computer monitor, on his table. Apparently, happiness is a box.
(NOTE: If you ever bothered to go see Flint's house between deliveries, you'll
find Flint tending to his sheep.)
To reach Biff's house, you have to go east from the town square, cross the
bridge and then all the way to the ranch to the south. You'll find Biff
standing outside his house. Talk to him to finish your delivery. As for
Abbot's house, it's a house 1st to the left as you go through the village
gates. You'll also find that Abbot and Abbey only need one box, since they are
a couple. So, your work is complete. Let's return to Fassad.
It seems that you have done it in 25 minutes, that's 2 minutes too late!
You'll get shocked for this! (No matter how fast you finish this task, Fassad
will still say you took 25 minutes, so don't bother trying) He now asks you to
head to Osohe Castle with him.
====================================================
c. Get dragged along to Osohe Castle to investigate
====================================================
[7C]
As you make your may to the castle, you are free to talk to the locals. Some
remain sceptical about those Happy Boxes, while others are considering them.
One person even asks you to tell him about this thing called money later.
Either way, let's enter the castle.
---------------
Osohe Castle
---------------
Fassad finds two Pigmasks sleeping on the job. It seems that they still
haven't found what they were looking for. Fassad now recognises one of the
intruders as Duster, whom he bumped into the previous night. He gets mad when
he found out that Duster is getting to the top floor and orders them not to
let the two intruders get there first. The two Pigmasks quickly spring into
action, one of them accidentally running in the wall in the process! Anyways,
let's retrace the route Duster took the previous night. No enemies will get in
your way for now. All the ghosts have been sent to the kitchen by the Pigmasks,
thanks to the power of science.
Climb up the ladder in the ballroom and you'll be on the level with the first
big gap. Examine it and Fassad will comment that it's a dead end. Climb back
down. As you are about to leave the ballroom, Fassad gets another call from
his men, telling him that the intruders have fled into the basement, taking
the important item (the Hummingbird Egg) with them.
Get back down to the ground floor hallway, the one with three doors. Go
through the one to the right. You'll find a gift box with some Rotten Milk.
Take it and save it for later, when it turns into yogurt. Also get the Beef
Jerky from the box to the right before you climb down the ladder. Get ready to
fight since the basement houses some new enemies!
***************
Enemies
***************
Big Bro (NEW)
HP: 65 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Lifeup Beta, Fire Alpha, act nervous (wastes turn)
Drop: Nut Cookie
Big Bros are actually tiny pink oval orbs with some basic facial features and
four limbs. They attempt to cast various PSI, but will fail to do so in the
first few turns. It's vital that you defeat them before they are able to
concentrate.
Barrel Man
HP: 100 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Physical attack, let out sweet fragrance (makes you fall asleep)
Drop: Nut Bread
Barrel Men are living barrels. Their attacks are weak, yet they frequently
drop Nut Bread. A good idea will be to continuously leave and reenter the room
so that more of them respawn, allowing you to take them out repeatedly,
stocking up on Nut Bread in the process.
Cheery Skeleton (NEW)
HP: 100 Music beat: Very fast
Attacks: Skip (wastes turn), throw a bone
This dancing skeleton has one of the fastest beats in the game. But still,
Salsa probably can't hit for much damage at his level. Just rely on Fassad's
help to defeat them. Their bone throw attack deals around 7 damage.
Little Big Bro (NEW)
HP: 120 Music beat: Slow
Attacks: Make scary face (lowers offense), bum-rush, attack with a kick
Drop: Beef Jerky
What a misleading name for a big green ball with four limbs and facial
features! Their bum-rushes are the most dangerous since they can deal over 20
damage to you. Otherwise, you can still beat them easily with the help of
Fassad.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Fight your way past the Big Bros and Barrel Men to reach the next room. You'll
enter a hallway with some dance pictures on the wall. Examine all three of
them to learn the Osohe Dance. Defeat the Big Bros and you'll reach another of
those doors which resemble an angry face. Fassad asks you do to something to
open it. Examine it and you'll get to press the directional pad in one of four
directions in an attempt to dance. Press either the Left or Right key and
Salsa can perform the dance and open the door. And what is Fassad's way of
saying thank you? An electric shock!
You reach a circular room with a ladder going down. Walk around for a bit and
a ghost frog will appear. Talk to him to save your game. Climb down to reach
the lowest level of the basement. Open the gift box by the ladder for a Pisces
Bracelet, which increases your defense by 2 over the Aquarius Bracelet. Fight
your way past a Cheery Skeleton to reach a fork in the path. Take the upper
path, defeat the Big Bro and climb down the ladder for a gift box with Beef
Jerky inside.
Return to the fork and take the lower path. Climb down the ladder and go right
for an Ancient Banana. After that, go all the way to the left, getting the
Beef Jerky from the box on the way. You'll reach a dead end with a lever.
Examine it and Fassad will ask you to pull it. Do so and you'll hear a
rumbling sound. You'll see Duster, Kumatora, Wess and the Hummingbird Egg get
washed away in the waterway below. Fassad is stupid enough to believe that
they fled into the waterway, whereas it's the lever that did the trick.
Two Pigmasks then come to see Fassad. He's outraged that the three intruders
have escaped with the Egg. Fassad then tells you to return to the Yado Inn for
now. Let's leave the castle, only to find the drawbridge blocked with two of
your men's tanks. Apparently the two drivers are arguing with each other. The
two idiots then try to shift the responsibility to the other as Fassad tells
one of them to move out of the way. Of course, Fassad is extremely angry and
scolds the both of them. Now that you can finally leave, you will encounter
the same commotion in the town square at the end of chapter 2.
=========================================================
d. Escape from Fassad with the help of Kumatora and Wess
=========================================================
[7D]
Fassad joins in, sympathising with Butch on the theft of his money. He
suggests that the village is becoming cursed. "We cannot allow Tazmily Village
to become a dismal hive for evildoers to run amok. We must all seek happiness,"
he says, "Or this village will be in grave danger!" What Fassad said is
similar to what many philosophers have said in the past centuries, only that
he is using it in the wrong context! It's obvious that trust based values are
a bad idea since a few selfish individuals can easily ruin everything for
everyone!
While Fassad's back is turned, Salsa walks over to Kumatora and looks at her
in the eye. The screen glows slightly, as if some hidden message has been
transmitted to her. Fassad sees Salsa, he says, "Oh? What's this? Are you fond
of the nice lady there? Come, now. I'll give you lots and lots of Luxury
Bananas later, so let us return to the Yado Inn. Okay, little Salsa?" Oh no,
he's going to give you the shock treatment instead!
In the room, Fassad gives Salsa a nasty scolding, "Hey! Stupid monkey!" he
yells, "It seems you still don't understand the situation you are in! If you
ever disobey me or try any funny business in the slightest, I'll make sure
your beloved girlie monkey ends up in some serious trouble. Remember that! Now,
go to sleep!"
Fassad lies down on the bed to go to sleep. Salsa has nothing to do but fall
asleep for now. Some hours later, in the middle of the night, Kumatora
whispers to Salsa through the window. "Hey, hey monkey!" She whispers, waking
you up. Why not examine the window to the left?
It seems Kumatora and Wess are outside. "Hey monkey!" Kumatora calls, "We are
here to rescue you! That cheap bastard's asleep. Hurry here!" Salsa jumps out
of the window, and the three run back to the town centre. "You're save now,"
Wess says. I guess Kumatora might have known Fassad before he even came.
"Dunno how you got involved with that lie-spewing fraud, but you must have had
your reasons, I guess. Poor little thing." "Princess," Wess says, "This is a
great deed you have done. Now let's go find that lazy moron, I mean Duster,
and that egg he has with him. I know he's all right; morons like him never get
sick or hurt, no matter where they go or what they do." Ignorance is bliss, I
see.
"Yeah," mutters Kumatora, "We just have to find Duster and the egg." She turns
to Salsa, "But first, let's free this monkey." She examines the monkey's
collar, "Geezer, go steal that azapper gizmo while that lying freak's still
asleep." "Oh right," Wess says, "I should have swiped it earlier. I will be
right back." He sneaks into Fassad's room.
"You'll be free in a minute, monkey," Kumatora tells Salsa, "You must have had
it rough." All of a sudden, Salsa gets shocked! Has Fassad found out about
your escape? But no, Wess has the remote in hand. "Hey, monkey," he says, "I
stole the doohickey. I accidentally bumped it on the way back. Did it zap you?"
Of course you did! "Sorry about that." Wess lays the remote on the ground.
"Here, monkey," Kumatora says, "You destroy it." Salsa pounces on the remote,
stomping it to pieces, zapping himself one last time in the process. "Alright,
monkey, you can go wherever you want now. You're free." However, Salsa is
hesitant. "You got something keeping you from running away? What is it?" Salsa
must have transmitted his thoughts to Kumatora again, since the screen glowed
for a second again. "Oh, your girlfriend's been kidnapped? Or monkeynapped, I
should say? Damn that cheap bastard! He's screwed up!"
Oops, looks like you should have fled the scene earlier, as you have been
discovered by Fassad and his henchmen! "Oh, did you call for me," He sneers,
"I happen to be that screwed-up, cheap bastard you speak of! To think I would
get to meet you here, of all places, Princess Kumatora. Nwehehehehe!"
"You stupid monkey! Did you think you could get away from me?" Well, for once,
he's much harder to stop without that shocking device! Salsa cowers behind
Kumatora. "He can!" yells Kumatora, "And we are going to let him!" She
whispers to Wess and Salsa if they were ready to run. However, they have
already run off! Kumatora quickly exits, stage left. Fassad orders his men to
corner the trio through his walkie-talkie.
----------------
Sunshine Forest
----------------
There is only one place you can go, the forest. Be warned that it's crawling
with pigs, as well as their Recon Mechs!
***************
Enemies
***************
Pigmask
HP: 150 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Say some nasty, horrible things (lowers your offense), Kick, Fire a
beam, fly into a rage (increase his offense)
Drop: Bag of Pork Chips
Pigmasks are the standard foot soldiers of the Pig Army. They wear pig masks,
hence their name. They attack by kicking and firing beams at you, dealing
around 17 damage per hit. They can also say nasty things to lower your offense.
Pigmasks tend to drop bags of Pork Chips, greasy junk food that restores 50 HP
when eaten. I wonder whether they are pork rinds.
Recon Mech
HP: 80 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Sound an alarm (attempts to call for help from another Pigmask), fire
a beam
Recon Mechs are white pig faced drones employed by the Pig Army. Take these
guys out fast since they can sound an alarm, alerting other Pigmasks to the
battle. Fortunately, these things are very flimsy: One hit from Thunder Alpha
or Wess' Thunder Bomb can take it out.
*****ENEMY LIST*****
You'll reach the area where Issac's house is. Feel free to save and train
Kumatora and Salsa with those Pigmasks and Recon Mechs. Even though the enemy
is in hot pursuit, you still have all the time to visit the hot springs. When
you are ready to fight the boss battle of this chapter, go north to the next
area.
Run to the north of the clearing to find an enemy tank blocking the way. Run
all the way back to find yourself cornered. You are now forced to fight a Pork
Tank.
Boss battle! Pork Tank
HP: ~1800-1900 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Charge, vent its exhaust (makes everyone cry), attack wildly, fire
cannon
This is one of those David and Goliath moments. A monkey and a human versus a
fully armoured tank! Since neither Salsa or Kumatora are armed with bazookas,
Salsa should begin the battle by throwing our all the Running Bombs he has,
switching to using Monkey Mimic every turn after he runs out. Meanwhile,
Kumatora should bombard the tank with Thunder Alpha, stopping to heal or eat
when either her or Salsa's health starts to go low. For some reasons, this
tank can slip due to Ancient Bananas, losing around 50 health in the process.
The tank can charge, dealing around 30 damage to one character. Don't worry if
it vents its exhaust, since Kumatora's PSI can still hit the target even when
she's crying. Sometimes, the tank attacks wildly, dealing around 40 damage to
both characters, so watch out! Meanwhile, its cannon deals over 40 damage to
one character when fired.
The tank will get wrecked when it has taken over 1100 damage or so. At this
point, it can't fire its cannon. The driver will be forced to throw
cannonballs at you, dealing only around 20 damage to one character. However,
most of the time, the tank will end up wasting its turns due to its damage. At
this point, feel free to attack it with near impunity until the tank is
destroyed.
*****END BATTLE*****
You think you might have won the battle, but Fassad arrives with more men and
another tank! "Now, then, Princess Kumatora," he says, "May I ask that you
behave and do as we say?" His men close in on them, but Lucas appears all of a
sudden. "Who are you?" Fassad asks, "Get out of here, you stupid kid!" However,
Lucas is not discouraged by him or the pigmasks' attempt to shoo him. He blows
a whistle, summoning a Baby Drago to the scene.
"Oh my pork!" Fassad cries, "What is a baby Drago doing here?" You, baby Drago,
get out of here!" The baby roars, calling forth his dad, who swiftly sends two
Pigmasks flying with a whip of his tail. Kumatora, Wess and Salsa moves out of
the way as the Drago roars and send two more Pigmasks flying. The other two
Pigmasks and tank driver flee the scene in fear, leaving Fassad behind. "Hey!"
Fassad cries, "Get back here you!" He turns around and faces the Drago. "No,
stop," he whimpers, "Stop! Don't! Please!"
"Feeling better now, monkey?" Kumatora asks. The monkey blows a whistle,
ordering the Drago to ram into Fassad, sending him into the air screaming. The
Drago then proceeds to gather his kid and jump on the Pork Tank, stomping it
flat before leaving. "Lucas," Wess says, "I heard that you have done nothing
but cry since the day your mother passed away, but what you did just now was
wonderful. You saved our lives. Thank you, Lucas."
"Oh right," Kumatora says, "Got to say hi. Hi! Nice to meetcha, and thanks!
You didn't even know what was going on, but you saved our lives! It's probably
a little late for it now, but you should ask this geezer about what's going
on." "Sure, I can fill you in on everything," Wess says, "Will you listen,
Lucas?" You get to accept or decline his offer. Let's just assume you said yes.
"Well, it goes like this," Wess begins and starts explaining. You don't get to
read what he said. "And that's everything that's happened. No, Lucas. You stay
here in Tazmily. I'm certain Claus will come back sooner or later. I'd like
you and Flint and the others to work together to protect our village. Oh, I
intend to help too of course. What little I can, at least. Princess! I leave
the monkey in your hands. Oh, and the search for that moron too."
"Lucas," Kumatora says, "Don't know why, but I somehow get the feeling I'll be
seeing you again. Take care of yourself!" She takes Salsa and leaves. You now
get to read the roundup of Chapter 3.
"Tazmily Village is now transforming exactly how the newly come pedlar had
planned. Only a handful of villagers realise that things that were good and
right are being tossed away one after the other.
Although prosperity is increasing, an eerie darkness seems to be growing
heavily over the village at the same time. However, within this darkness, a
frail young boy grows ever stronger.
Soon, Lucas will repaint this tale of sadness with a bright new colour. The
deeper the darkness, the brighter the sunrise at dawn. The once coddled Lucas
is now on his way to become a brilliant and young sun."
Save your game, and prepare for one of those typical a "coming of age" plot
devices. You see Lucas tripping on the ground while running after Claus, then
you see him running away crying during his mother's funeral after being
rebuked by Alec. After that, you see how he saved Kumatora, Salsa and Wess by
summoning a Drago against the Pigmasks. After that incident, Lucas and Flint
will regularly visit Hinawa's grave, laying new flowers for him. Time goes by
as Lucas grows. It's time to fast forward 3 years: Lucas is now 13 years old.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| III. THREE YEARS ON |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Three years have passed, and my, how Tazmily Village has changed. You see how
a new monorail train arrive at the station at Tazmily, built at the cross
roads. Things have become much more modern now: The ground is now paved and
the houses are now made of brick and brightly coloured. The village well have
been removed and replaced by a roundabout, where Fassad preaches to the crowd
daily. A lot of new people have arrived in Tazmily out of nowhere. In addition,
the Yado Inn has become a large Yado Hotel.
----------------------------------------------
8. The boy in the orange-yellow striped shirt
----------------------------------------------
[MT8]
We now come to Flint's house, where 13 year old Lucas has just woken up. Claus
is still missing, it seems. Attempt to leave the house in your pajamas and
you'll get a flashback from 3 years old, where Hinawa tells you to get dressed
before leaving your grandpa's house. Examine the mirror to get dressed, and
you'll remember how your mom used to comb your hair every morning. Hey, your
mom had pampered you a bit too much!
Now that you are fully dressed in your yellow and orange striped shirt with
blue shorts, it's time to leave your house. There are two things to do in this
chapter, as listed below.
a. Explore the modernised Tazmily and get a clue about Duster's location
b. Make your way towards Club Titiboo where Duster's been sighted [8B]
c. Do whatever it takes to enter the club and speak with Duster [8C]
*************************************
Important characters in this chapter
*************************************
DCMC
DCMC is a popular rock band of five that performs at Club Titiboo, a nightclub
near a clay factory. It is led by OJ, the saxophonist and consists of Magic,
the guitarist, Baccio, the drummer, Zhimmy Zmizz, the pianist and Lucky, the
double bassist. Lucky bears an uncanny resemblance to Duster, who as gone
missing for three years since the incident at Osohe Castle. Could he possibly
be the moron that Wess is looking for the whole time?
=========================================================================
a. Explore the modernised Tazmily and get a clue about Duster's location
=========================================================================
Get out of the house to find the lamb shack completely destroyed. Your dog
Boney will join you and accompany you for the rest of the game. Talk to the
Pigmask and the onlooker to find that your house has been struck by lightning
so many times that it's become a famous landmark in Tazmily Village. The
reason why it's been struck so many times is that Lucas refused to install a
Happy Box in his house!
You'll also be stopped by the Save Frog so that he can tell you about the
monetary system in the game. Now that Fassad has successfully introduced money
into Tazmily, you get to earn and spend currency known as Dragon Points, DP in
short. You currently have 30 DP, and that's not enough for anything. So be on
your way.
A short break!
Now, there really isn't anything inherently wrong about modernising a town or
using money. I don't have anything against governmental changes or
totalitarian governments, as long as they ensure the people live decent lives.
The problem here is that the villagers were content and then you come in and
seize power (Unlike Imperial Russia, Cuba, South Vietnam or China where the
average citizens' lives are in turmoil before the Communists took over)! In
addition, you will find that the Pigmasks have committed serious environmental
crimes that would make similar things (oil spills, deforestation) in the real
world look like peanuts.
Start by entering Thomas' shop, which is fitted with an automatic door. Since
Thomas is busy working in some factory, his son Nichol has taken over the
running of the shop. Ah yes, his sister is called Richie! I wonder whether the
original admire Nicole Richie or something, not! You'll find many new people
inside the Yado Hotel in Tazmily now. The box on the right side of the ground
floor holds a Trivia Card 1, which can be used in battle against certain
Pigmasks. Those Pigmasks will attempt to answer the question. However, they
won't waste any turns in doing so, correctly or incorrectly.
Now, get back out and inspect Caroline's Bakery. It seems Fuel is now working
in there. Don't bother buying any of the food, since you won't be needing it
for now. You can now go west for the beach, or east across the new metallic
bridge. Wess' house has been torn down and replaced by an old people's home.
The tenants include Alec, Wess and Mike (the shopkeeper of Thomas' Bazaar in
chapter 1) who live in dingy rooms. Despite the Happy Boxes in their rooms,
they certainly aren't happy!
Talking to Alec reveals that his house has collapsed after being struck by
lightning so many times. Wess, on the other hand, has grown increasingly
suspicious of the Pig Army. Talk to Mike and he'll ask whether you have come
to visit him. Say yes and he'll give you a small amount of money. Leave the
elderly home and go south. You'll run past one other house that is still made
of wood before reaching Butch's ranch, or I should say Pig Army training
ground. It seems Fassad has bought Butch's land (which does not surprise me
since Butch is the earliest adopter of money), and converted it to this base.
Head north to the crossroads and you'll see the monorail station. Don't go
there yet or you'll have triggered an event vital to the next part of the game.
Instead, go north to the cemetery and you'll find Flint at Hinawa's grave. He
tells you to "speak" to her, triggering a flashback of your youth and such.
This is the last time you'll be seeing Flint in person until near the end of
the game, in fact.
Now, go south and enter the station. You see the train doors open and Bronson
and Jackie, wearing factory clothes walk out. You hear their conversation,
suggesting that one of the members of DCMC, a popular rock band, looks a lot
like Duster. Maybe Wess should know about this! Backtrack to the town square
to see another important event.
Wess has come out to confront Fassad. "Fassad!" Wess shouts, "Stop it! Quit
ruining this town any more than you already have! There's something not right
about all this lightning, especially today's! I think you guys are behind it
somehow! Leave this instant! Keep your grubby hands out of this town's
affairs!" Fassad walks over to Wess. "Why, hello there, Mr. Wess. You know, if
you keep making the veins on your forehead pop out like that, happiness will
only escape you."
Well, Wess is definitely unhappy with this town's state, but not lacking that
type of "happiness" as defined by Fassad. "By which I mean your hair, in this
case." A Pigmasks sneaks behind Wess. Fassad continues, "In any case, I
haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about. Well, it's been fun.
Please be careful not to trip, get hurt or go bald on your way home." The
Pigmask catches Wess with a big butterfly net!
"Cases this violence!" Wess cries, "I'm no bug! I'm an old man!" But he's
still dragged back to the elderly home. Lucas walks over, having seen the
incident. "Lucas!" Fassad says, "Quit snooping around me! Don't get in my way!
Lucas, I really wish you would put a Happy Box in your home already, so you
can be happy just like everyone else here. I'm always hoping for that day."
Let's go see Wess, that poor guy. "Oh, Lucas," he says, "I really embarrassed
myself earlier. But curse that Fassad, treating me like a bug! Like a stag
beetle!" You tell him the Duster sighting. "What? A guy who looks just like
Duster? Could that moron still be? Lucas! I'll now lower my voice and talk to
you in a whisper. I hate to ask, but could you go and see if this lookalike
really is my moron or not? Fassad's cronies are on the lookout for me, so I
can't go anywhere or do anything. Please. Go find that moron for me."
Wess picks up his carrier pigeon. "If you do find Duster, send this pigeon to
let me know. Thanks, Lucas. I'd go myself, but everyone's on the lookout for
me." It's time to go out on your adventure. Make your way towards the monorail
station. Remember to get the Thunder Bomb from behind the old people's home!
==================================================================
b. Make your way towards Club Titiboo where Duster's been sighted
==================================================================
[8B]
I know this sounds crazy, but you are not going to take the monorail. Instead,
you have to walk through the train tunnel! You will be stopped by a man
resembling Mr. T as you attempt to enter the tunnel, but he eventually gives
in to your persistence and gives you a map of the tunnel. All right, get ready
for a rather twisted variant of the boy walking on railroad plot!
---------------
Monorail track
---------------
There is nothing you can do but keep moving east, fighting all the enemies
along the way. You'll meet the first of many horrible creations by the Pig
Army, in the form of dogs with mushroom heads and chicken/snake hybrids.
***************
Enemies
***************
Rambling Mushroom (NEW)
HP: 170 Music beat: Slow
Attacks: Physical attack, scatter spores (causes one of you to feel strange),
be absentminded (wastes turn)
Drop: Edible mushroom
Rambling Mushrooms are the same pink mushrooms on legs in EarthBound. Their
physical attacks deal around 10 damage each, but their main threat is their
spores, which causes you to feel strange. If one of you feels strange after
battle, the walking controls will be messed up for a few seconds before
returning to normal. Meanwhile, their mushrooms restore 20 health when eaten.
Their battle theme is the same as that of the Violent Roach.
Slitherhen (NEW)
HP: 120 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Coil around you (immobilises one of you for a few turns), peck with
its beak
Who's idea is it to meld a chicken's head onto a snake's body? Siltherhens
attack by pecking at you, dealing 14 damage each time and coiling around you.
These guys are easier to score combos with than Rambling Mushrooms.
Squawking Stick (NEW)
HP: 150 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Squawk (summons 2 enemies), peck with its beak, spin around (wastes
turn)
Drop: Good stick
This things resemble a stick with a bird's head on top. They like to squawk,
summoning 2 enemies to join the battle. You better take this guy out fast
while it's still alone. The good thing is that these sticks might drop Good
Sticks, a weapon for Lucas.
Really Flying Mouse (NEW)
HP: 120 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Charge, propeller attack
This has got to be one step up from the Flying Mouse. These mice are equipped
with propellers. They can either charge or attack you with the propeller,
dealing over 25 damage to one target at a time.
Muttshroom (NEW)
HP: 250 Music beat: Slow
Attacks: Scatter its spores (causes one of you to feel strange), mushroom
headbutt
This has got to be the toughest enemies of them all in the tunnel. Muttshrooms
tend to growl before they run at you. These mushroom headed dogs have over 200
HP and can headbutt you for over 30 damage each time. However, their music
theme is the same as that of the Rambling Mushrooms.
Reconstructed Mole (NEW)
HP: 150 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Drill attack, call for help (summons an extra enemy), grin (wastes
turn)
Looks like they have fitted moles with drills! Those drills deal nearly 40
damage on one target, which is a lot considering your health pools at the
moment. Whatever you do, don't let them call for reinforcements!
****END ENEMY LIST*****
It's quite hard to get through the first few areas without taking heavy damage.
I suggest you try to fight a minimal number of battles before you make it to a
certain area. You'll find a gift box guarded by a Squawking Stick in the
second area. Open it for a Bread Roll. If any Squawking Sticks have dropped a
Good Stick, equip it on Lucas. It increases his offense by 12 over the Easy-
Grip Stick.
NOTE: Sometimes a train will be coming when you are on the track. If that
happens, you may either be hit and sent back to the village, or you'll dive
out of the way just in time. Just be careful and try to stay off the tracks.
The third underground area is flanked by 3 Slitherhens. It is impossible to
get past them without fighting them. Survive them and you can reach the fourth
area, which is the area I was talking about earlier. Boney barks at the
clothes on the ground. Climb up the ladder for a hot spring. Bathe there to
restore your health. It seems one of the Magypsies, Ionia, is there.
Talk to her for the next event. Ionia mistakes you for Claus, who dropped by
Aeolia's house before he set off to avenge his mother in vain. Ionia tells you
that you are now in a Magic Butterfly colony, where she often comes when she's
worn out using her PSI. She officially introduces you to the world of psychic
powers known as PSI, and helps you realise them in a very special way. Ionia
asks you to turn around and the screen goes black. She tells you not to
struggle and endure the ordeal for a little bit. I don't know what she did to
Lucas, but he's learnt PSI! You now can cast Lifeup Alpha, a spell that
restores health, Healing Alpha, a spell that removes status ailments and more
surprisingly, Love Alpha.
Love Alpha is a unique spell that can't even be used by Magypsies. Ionia asks
you for your name, which you tell her. Now you can leave, having learnt PSI.
You can now sustain yourself and Boney. Feel free to do some grinding in the
tunnels near this area, keeping yourself and Boney up with Lifeup Alpha, and
taking a dip in the hot spring when you run out of PP. (You can also come in
contact with Magic Butterflies, they restore 20 PP each)
A gift box in this area holds a Magic Butterfly, and a Magic Butterfrog can be
found to the south! Use it to save your game. Whatever you do, don't use Love
Alpha during your grinds, it's a waste of PP in this part of the game.
The fifth area features Slitherhens, Really Flying Mice, Rambling Mushrooms
and Muttshrooms. The sixth features Really Flying Mice and Reconstructed Moles.
In addition, a Sprinting Bomb can be found in the gift box in that area. The
seventh area is empty, and you would have reached your destination once you
exit that tunnel.
You arrive at an area inhabited by crosses between snake and cattle called
Cattlesnakes. Whatever you do, don't fight them since they hit very hard.
You'll reach the other monorail station. There are two boxes nearby. The one
to the northwest, guarded by Squawking Sticks, holds a Bread Roll while the
one to the east holds Flea Powder, good for dealing with fleas. Go north from
the station to arrive at a factory.
================================================================
c. Do whatever it takes to enter the club and speak with Duster
================================================================
[8C]
Note that Club Titiboo is reserved for factory employees only. Therefore you
must work at least once in a part time job for them before you can go. There
is a vending machine by the factory entrance, but they don't sell anything
that's worth buying.
*****FACTORY VENDING MACHINE*****
Fizzy Soda (6 DP; restores 20 health)
Beef Jerky (26 DP; restores 60 health)
Antidote (8 DP; removes poison)
Paper Fan (12 DP; removes strangeness)
Eye Drops (10 DP; stops crying)
Flea Powder (30 DP; removes fleas)
The presence of flea powder in the vending machine gives visitors a bad
impression of the working conditions of the factory. I mean, who wants to work
in flea-ridden conditions? But still, many of Tazmily Village's men, including
Issac, Butch, Biff, Lou and Bud are working there at the moment. Let's go in
and talk to the Pigmask in blue. He's responsible for the recruitment of new
workers. Accept his offer for part time work and he'll give you your job
description: Your job is to transport Clay Men on low power to be recharged.
The blue Pigmask gives you a sketch of the factory and asks you to sign the
player's name on a document. This is actually an opportunity to confirm the
name you took early in chapter 1. If there are no problems, just select "OK"
on the screen. I guess, you the player act as Lucas' guarantor or something!
Meanwhile, some other work is assigned to Boney the dog.
Now, let's enter the factory and climb the ladder down to the lower level.
Walk through the rooms, looking for Clay Men who are walking erratically and
have a crooked mouth. Those are the ones whose power is running low. You have
to push them all the way to the Pigmask operating the red lift by the ladder.
You can do this by walking into the Clay Man in the direction you want him to
go. Once you have reached the Pigmask, talk to him and he will lower the lift
and load the Clay Man into it. Ride the lift up and push it all the way to Bud
and Lou, the two working on the recharger. The Clay Man will immediately
spring to life and run back into the plant when it's recharged. Do it 2 more
times and your work is done.
Talk to the blue Pigmask and he will pay you 200 DP and give you a ticket to
enter Club Titiboo. Let's get out of here! Notice that it is already night
time. Go northeast and you'll find a man in green next to a cart. That is the
Item Guy, a person that can hold on to your items for free! Give him your
Trivia Card 1, since it's useless. Go north and you'll find a ropeway station.
Take the Area Map from the blue gift box and talk to the staff member for a
ride up to the club.
You'll find a pair of binoculars at the ropeway station. Pay 1 DP to look into
it. You'll spot a tall tower with a yellow sphere on top in the distance. Save
at the frog, withdraw all your money and attempt to enter the club for a funny
scene.
The bouncers, named Neckbeard and Skinhead initially stop Lucas and Boney in
since one is underaged and the other is a dog. "Whoa there," Skinhead says,
"Haven't seen you around here before, we don't allow pets inside. Sorry, but
I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Neckbeard says, "Come back some other
time." The two walk kind of miserably away before returning with Boney
disguised as a boy. Clearly the two goons are not impressed.
"Whoa," Skinhead says, "It's that guy who had a dog with him just a minute ago
and some dog like dude." "No, there's something fishy about this! Where'd that
dog from earlier go, and where'd this dog-like dude come from? And on top of
that, you smell underage!" Neckbeard sniffs you, "You smell like an underage
kid and a dog!" Skinhead agrees, "Now that you mention it, this is weird! No
suspicious people allowed! That's our rule here! Scram! Get lost, you kid like
guy and you dog like dude!" Neckbeard wants more though, "Nah! I say we
pulverise them right here!"
Just as Lucas and Boney are about to get violently manhandled, a waitress
called Violet walks out. "Oh my," she says, if it isn't the underage smelling
Poo and the doge smelling Wuuf! I take it you two have been mistaken for an
underage kid and a dog yet again?" She giggles.
Skinhead is surprised, "What? You know these dudes, Violet?" Neckbeard is
still not convinced, "I don't know, I still say there's something not right
about those guys! Especially this dog like dude here. Shake! Don't look away
from me! Shake! See, you do know how to shake." He grins at this discovery,
"This guy is definitely dog like, but it seems he isn't a dog. But, dude. Uf
by chance you are a dog, you'd be one of the best dogs to ever shake, heh." I
guess this idiot expects dogs to be unable to shake!
"Wonderful!" Violet says, "Come in, have lots of fun and forget about all your
worries!" Walk in and Neckbeard tells you to have fun.
---------------
Club Titiboo
---------------
Upon entering the club, go right and talk to the beardy guy with the yellow
shirt. He sells DCMC merchandise, which can be equipped to upgrade your stats.
*****HOMEMADE DCMC MERCHANDISE*****
DCMC Pamphlet (100 DP; downgrade)
DCMC Shirt (360 DP; defense +10, speed +1; Lucas)
DCMC Hat (200 DP; defense +7, speed +2; Lucas, Boney)
DCMC Ring (400 DP; defense +7, speed +5; Lucas)
Pickled Veggie Plate (10 DP; Restores 10 health)
*****END LIST*****
Judging by the prices, you might only afford to equip Lucas with the shirt and
hat, and Boney with the hat. Don't worry about the pamphlet, since you'll be
getting one for free later on. As for the 300-400 DP needed for the ring,
consider gathering the money through some battles later. Now, let's talk to
the waitress Violet for a surprise.
Violet tells you to be quiet, "Listen, but don't change the expression on your
face. I know I'm dressed in this girly outfit, but it's me, Kumatora! WE met
at the Sunshine Forest, remember? I'll explain everything later. Put on a
smile, will you? Okay, good." She raises her voice, "Okay! The next DCMC song
is about to begin! Please go on in and find some empty seats." Now, head
through the double doors to the main part of the club. People are cheering for
the band. It seems that the concert is over, and people are just waiting for
the encore.
Tessie, the maid from the Yado, is a fan of DCMC and she tells you that Lucky,
the bassist looks a lot like Duster. Now, you can keep walking around, talking
to people. Notice the short sighted man in white who tells you that another
lady in white is looking at him as if he likes her. Talking to that woman and
you'll find that their feelings were mutual! This is one of the running gags
in the game, in fact. Also note the large burly Pigmask sitting up front
accompanied by two ladies. That's the Pork Trooper, someone you'll get to know
more about later. Eventually Boney will want to sit down. Sit down to trigger
the next scene.
Thomas walks in, dressed in some yellow factory clothes. Kumatora, still
disguised as Violet comes over to serve you. "What would you like to drink,
sir? You want, water?" Thomas overhears you and laughs, "Oh! Hey there, Lucas!
I was wondering who in the world would order water in a place like this! I
mean, come on? Water? Hey! Violet, baby! One Fizzy Soda for this here boy! And
a Big City Cola for his dog like friend! It's on me, the great Thomas, of
course!" "Certainly, sir! One Fizzy Soda instead of water, and one Big City
Cola, coming right up!" She giggles and walks off to fetch the drinks. I
wonder how painful it is for her to make such giggles all the time!
"Here you are, gentlemen!" Kumatora says, she then comes close to whisper
something important, "Listen, but don't change the expression on your face.
There's a lot I need to talk to you about after the DCMC concert's over. After
it's over, don't leave. Hang out in the lobby. I'll be there to get you.
Alright, see you later. You idiot! Don't change your expression! Well, enjoy
yourselves!" Thomas calls you, "Hey, Lucas! What were you and Violet talking
about? I never knew you were such a ladies' man!"
Then, the encore is starting. OJ, the band leader gives everyone their
traditional greeting. "Tonda Gossa!" he cries, "Are you enjoying the show? Oh
my pork! Looks like our time is up, sad to say. So here's one last song for
you. Here's 'King P's Theme'! Hit it!" And so, the band starts the song, which
sounds like the Pigmask theme in rock. Notice how familiar the guy on the
double bass looks! In fact, he'd look like Duster wearing an afro wig. Also
note that there is no singer. How can you be a rock band without a singer?
Now that it's over, leave the room, but talk to the lady by the door first.
She will give you a DCMC Pamphlet for free, which will be important in a
future battle. Go over to the right side of the lobby and talk to Kumatora.
Follow her through the door and climb down the ladder. You have entered a
secret passageway to her room. Go south and fight some Slimy Slugs to get the
items they are guarding.
New enemy! Slimy Slug
HP: 170 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Physical attack, Hypnosis Alpha, vacuum attack (lowers both your
offense and defense)
Drop: Sprinting Bomb
Slimy Slugs are purple slugs that live in the underground passage beneath Club
Titiboo. They don't hit hard, but their hypnosis can be very annoying,
especially when you face multiple Slugs at once. There is always a danger that
they will use the skill alternately, keeping you and Boney out of action for
long periods of time. To make things worse, sometimes more Slugs will drop
down from the ceiling to join the battle! Take these things out fast. For some
reason, these slugs tend to carry bombs with them.
The two gift boxes contain a Saltwater Gun, which deals a lot of damage to
metallic targets, as well as a Made-You-Look, which makes the enemy turn
around for one turn when used. Give both items to Boney. Go north, fight past
two more slugs and climb up the ladder to Violet's room. She's having a shower
because of the dirty passage and the slugs. Examine the door to the bathroom
and Violet will be ready. She tells you two to shower. You then get a passage
of scrolling text, telling you what happened next.
"After showering, the three conversed at great length, almost as if filling in
the three year gap that had separated them.
They discussed the rescued monkey. They discussed the Humming Bid Egg from
Osohe Castle and how it went missing. They discussed the fact that one of the
DCMC band members appear to be an amnesic Duster.
And they discussed the mysterious army that had radically transformed Tazmily
Village. As if assembling the jumbled pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, they told
each other what they knew to put their thoughts together.
The coming battle will not be easy. This more than anything, they knew all too
well. 'I want to be stronger.' It was at around this time that Lucas truly
began to have such feelings."
Kumatora finishes her explanation on how she managed to wind up in Club
Titiboo. She tells Lucas that Duster's memory is vital in locating the
Hummingbird Egg. She tells you to see Duster and try to talk to him, since he
might remember you and Boney. Since there are guards outside, Kumatora decides
to let you use a secret passage through the attic to get to Duster's room.
Meanwhile, Kumatora goes to assemble the other members of DCMC.
Before you climb up, try to raise money to buy the DCMC ring for Lucas. Each
Slug gives you 15 DP when defeated. Feel free to keep fighting them until you
have enough money for the ring. Once you are equipped with the ring, return to
Violet's room and use her spa to heal up before climbing up to the attic.
You hear a funky version of "Being friends" as the background music. As soon
as you go climb up, go through the opening in the wall to the north. You'll
find the Item Guy and a gift box with an Attic Guide. Let's press the R button
to have a look, shall we? Now, notice how each section of the attic is linked
together by either brown paths or blue paths. Brown paths lead to dead ends
which may or may not have any items hidden there. The blue paths mark the
route you must take to reach Duster's room.
Get back to the previous section of the attic and talk to the white mouse.
Looks like he's got a variety of things for you to buy.
*****WHITE MOUSE IN THE ATTIC*****
Better Stick (500 DP; downgrade)
Bread roll (30 DP; restores 60 health)
Antidote (8 DP; removes poison)
Anti-paralysis (14 DP; cures paralysis)
Sprinting Bomb (200 DP; deals damage to all enemies on screen)
Pencil Rocket (500 DP; deals damage to all enemies on screen)
Bug Spray (100 DP; deals heavy damage to a single insect enemy)
Made-You-Look (50 DP; tricks the enemy into turning around)
You might want to battle some of the enemies in this attic to raise cash to
buy Pencil Rockets. They will be very useful for an upcoming fight. Now, let's
go through the northeastern opening to face the music.
***************
Enemies
***************
Arachnid!!! (NEW)
HP: 200 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Biting attack, Shoot webbing (immobilises you), bite with venomous
fang (poisons you)
Drop: Antidote
Arachnids (with 3 exclamation marks) are more powerful versions than the
Arachnids with 1 exclamation mark back in Osohe Castle. The same strategies
and tapping rhythm apply to them. If you are facing more than one of these
enemies at once, have Boney use a Bug Spray on them.
Greedier Mouse (NEW)
HP: 150 Music beat: Slow
Attacks: Biting attack, steals an item from you, say some nasty, horrible
things (Lowers the offense of someone in the group)
Drop: Peculiar Cheese, Bag of Big City Fries
Greedier Mice are a more powerful version of the Greedy Mice. It seems that
these mice are capable of lowering your offense by saying nasty things. These
mice have retained the battle theme from their weaker counterparts.
Elder Batty (NEW)
HP: 270 Music beat: Fast
Attack: Physical attack, size up the situation (makes itself feel strange)
So, even bats live in the attic. Elder Battys are stronger yellow versions of
Mr. Batty. Their battle theme has changed to a more mystical ballroom dance.
However, you'll still be tapping the A button rather quickly to score combos.
Beaten Drum (NEW)
HP: 300 Music beat: Varies
Attack: Eight-beat attack, Sixteen-beat attack, combo attack
This green drum has been holed, making it unusable. However, it can still make
eight-beat attacks, dealing around 20 damage per hit. The battle theme changes
in tempo all the time, making it hard to score long combos. To make things
worse, this drum can scramble the beat using its sixteen-beat attack! Their
high HP makes life even harder for you.
Gently Weeping Guitar (NEW)
HP: 250 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Discharge electricity
This red guitar's strings are broken, making it unplayable. Their battle theme
is very cheery and fast, and you'll have to tap the A button very fast to
score combos, but this makes the battle even more fun! Try to take it out as
quickly as possible since this guitar can discharge electricity, causing
damage to both of you!
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
In this second section of the attic, defeat the Arachnids and go through the
opening to the right. Follow the path, fighting your way through more
Arachnids and Greedy Mice until you reach a dead end with a gift box. Open the
box for a Magic Tart, a treat that restores 20 PP when eaten. Head back to the
second section of the attic and head through the opening directly to your
north for a dead end with an Antidote. Return, go further west, pick up the
Bug Spray and go through the opening there to reach the third section.
Defeat the Elder Batty and Arachnid and enter the fourth section. The fourth
section is empty, so carry onto the fifth. There is an Elder Batty and a
Greedier Mouse on the right side of this section. Defeat them but do not go
through the southern opening. That path leads to absolutely nothing. The sixth
section is also empty, so continue to the seventh section. You'll find some
hostile abandoned music instruments. Go through the southern opening for a bag
of Big City Fries. These fries restore 70 health when eaten.
You should nearly have than enough money for a Pencil Rocket, so let's go all
the way back to the early sections and take out a few more Arachnids. When you
think you have enough, get back down to Violet's room to take a spa and
withdraw the money. Buy the pencil rocket and place it in Boney's inventory.
Now, let's return to the seventh section. Sneak past the drum and fight the
Gently Weeping Guitar to the right. The guitar is guarding a Sprinting Bomb.
Go southeast for the eighth section.
Fight past the Elder Batty and Arachnid and go southeast once more. You arrive
at a room with 2 mice. Talk to them (they speak in some funny accent) for
Peculiar Cheese and Nut Bread. The three boxes stuff that will be instantly
eaten when you open one, completing restoring your health and PP. Now, save
your game and check your inventory. Make sure Boney is carrying all the
offensive items like bombs and a few food items. Head back to the eighth
section and fight your way past the enemies to the west. There is a Gently
Weeping Guitar and a Beaten Drum in the ninth section. Just run towards the
other opening to the south, ignore the Magic Gelatin in the corner there.
You'll reach the tenth and final section of the attic where an abandoned
double bass is in the way of the hole leading down to Duster's room. Talk to
it and it will rant about how Duster abandoned it for a new bass. It decides
to take its anger out on you and summons a fellow drum and guitar to help.
Let's fight!
Boss battle! Jealous Bass
HP: ~950-1000 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Jam session attack, fly into a rage, solo jam session attack,
physical attack
This is one fight in which many players are stopped cold, since they don't
know what to do when faced with the multiple attacks from all angles. The
Jealous Bass is most dangerous when his fellow abandoned instruments are
present. This is because it can coordinate with them to perform one powerful
band jam attack on you! It's important that you destroy the guitar and drum
before they can deal too much damage. Start the first round with a Love Alpha
from Lucas and the Pencil Rocket from Boney. This will destroy all his mates
and level the playing field.
Once the band members are out, the Bass will fly into a rage, increasing his
offense by 23. This bass will start using its solo jam session attack, which
deals 25-33 damage to both of you at once. It will also use its physical
attack on either Lucas or Boney. At this point, you should just try to score
long combos against the bass, using Lifeup or eating when your health goes low.
The music beat is very fast, making things easy for you.
*****END BATTLE****
Now that the bass is destroyed, jump down the hole to Duster's room. "What
took you so long?" Asks Kumatora, "Anyways, I just finished explaining
everything to the band members." Talk to Duster, who's still wearing an afro
wig. "Tonda Gossa," he says, "Who are you?" Kumatora tries to help, "He's the
one I was talking about just now, Duster. You two know each other." Duster is
confused about his name, "Duster? It's true that I don't even remember my real
name, but I've lived my life as Lucky for years now." "Okay," Kumatora says,
"All right, Lucky. I hate to ask, but could you tell him everything you
remember too?"
Duster thinks carefully, then says, "Yeah, right. I can definitely tell that
something very important is taking place here. I had absolutely no memory
whatsoever from before I came to Club Titiboo. I had no idea who I was, where
I came from, or where I was going. Bust for some reason, I was clutching a
strange egg with great care. I didn't know where I was going, yet I continued
to walk desperately. All I knew was that the egg was really important for some
reason. I knew I absolutely had to keep it safe. So I looked for a place to
hide it... And then, after walking and walking, I buried the egg inside a big
dirt clod in a valley, where I knew no one would ever find it. I still know
where it is. I haven't forgotten. You go up a cliff near a giant waterfall
and..."
You see an image of the tall red tower with a yellow sphere on top. Kumatora
has a brainstorm. She says, "Unknown Valley! That's it, Duster! The egg we all
worked so hard to protect is there! Let's go there now!"
However, Duster is not sure about his own identity. "But, am I really Duster,"
he asks, "If I am this 'Duster' person, that means I'll have to leave the band,
right? Duster or Lucky, one of them will cease to exist after today. Right? If
it turns out I'm Duster, what happens to the DCMC?" Well, they will become a
four man band, for once.
"But if I continue to live as Lucky, then what was that egg thing all about?
What should I do? I just can't decide." Shimmy Zmizz, the pianist says, "Of
course, you can't. All you can do is to ask destiny." Baccio, the drummer
agrees, "Yeah. If destiny decides it, I'll say goodbye to you with a smile on
my face." OJ is lost for words, "Destiny, huh," he mutters, "Yeah, let's ask
destiny. We have a way. The same thing we've always done whenever we weren't
sure what to do."
Lucky answers, "Stone-Sheet-Clippers, yeah?" Isn't it supposed to be Rock-
Paper-Scissors? "Yup," says OJ, "This Lucas fellow will play Stone-Sheet-
Clippers with us. If he beats all five of us in a row, you'll go. But if he
loses even once, you'll stay in the DCMC and keep on playing the bass. How's
that sound?" "Five in the row, I'm cool with that. You there, you okay with
that, right?" OJ turns to Lucas and says, "Okay, well, we're ready to begin
when you are. You can start with any of us."
At this point, play Rock-Paper-Scissors with each member. You'll be shown
which directional key on the D-pad corresponds to each gesture. Press the key
corresponding to the gesture you want to give out. If you win, you can go
through. If you lose, the band member will somehow say that he moved too slow
and ask you to do it again! So, there's no way you can lose! Once you have
done it with Duster and the three to the left, talk to OJ. He tells you to
give out Scissors, while he will be giving out paper. Do as he says and you'll
win! It would seem that the 4 DCMC members are trying to rig Duster's
"destiny"!
OJ says, "I see. So this is destiny. I guess Lucky probably is this Duster guy,
after all." He tells Duster, "Go! Don't worry about anything else at all!"
Kumatora says, "I think Duster hid the egg in Unknown Valley. Which means I
have no reason to stay here anymore, either." She runs to the door, "Alright!
Time to get out of these girly clothes! Thanks for everything, guys. Take care,
now!" She runs out, yelling, "Out of my way, dammit!" She must have attacked
someone with her PSI!
"Lucky, no Duster, I guess," OJ says, "You were the greatest bass player ever.
I'm going to miss you, man. I hope we can meet again, someday." "I'm sure we
will," Magic says. Shimmy Zmizz then reminds Duster, "Don't go forgetting the
time you spent with us now, you dig?" "Lucky," Baccio says before exiting the
room. Now that you are alone, Duster tells you, "I still don't remember
anything, but I'll come with you guys anyway. Okay! Let's go!"
Duster joins the group. Get out of the room and you'll find Neckbeard and
Skinhead sprawling on the floor, having been knocked out by Kumatora. She
joins you as well. So, let's leave. However, Duster hears his bandmates
perform a farewell song to him, prompting him to stop and listen.
"Bon voyage, amigo. Oh guy in the sky, please grant a gift to our friend who
is about to set out. How much time we wasted laughing together. Oh, guy in the
sky, how we enjoyed that wasted time and those helpless smiles. Bon voyage,
bon voyage amigo."
As the other three leave the building, Duster has a flashback of the day he
first came to the club, when he was roughed up by the two bouncers. However,
he was spotted by the DCMC and taken into the band. Duster spent his time
learning how to play the double bass, eventually becoming an indispensible
member of the band. "Tonda Gossa," he says, "Thanks guys." Duster removes his
afro wig, places it on the round and joins the rest of the gang outside. Now
that Duster has been found, Lucas sends the carrier pigeon back to Wess to
inform him of the good news.
----------------------------------------
9. Once upon a time in Nowhere Part III
----------------------------------------
[MT9]
The chapter starts by showing you the tall tower Lucas saw in the binoculars
earlier. A lightning cannon fires lightning in all directions. That, is the
Tower of Thunder, the source of the lightning that destroyed Alec's house. It
is also the namesake of Chapter 5.
We now come to Duster's flashback. He remembers placing it inside an abandoned
Clay Man in the valley before walking off. "There should be a big hole in the
ground straight north of here. I think I went through it and hid the egg
somewhere on the other side. So, let's head for that area first."
There is something you can do before you continue your mission. Go all the way
back to Tazmily and see Wess. You'll find that he's not very pleased to see
Duster, and only gives credit to Lucas, Kumatora and Boney! What a father!
Also head back to Osohe Castle and enter the room where you first found Mr.
Passion. Looks like he's turned into Lord Passion now! Refuse to listen to his
music to start an optional battle!
Optional battle! Lord Passion
HP: 2500? Music beat: Varies Vulnerability: Fire
Attacks: Madly brandish his baton, play numbing melody (causes one of you to
be paralysed), Send everything but the kitchen sink flying (deals damage to
all of you), send candles flying (deals damage to all of you), play a
sorrowful melody (makes one of you cry)
This is a very funny, yet hard battle. Lord Passion is up to his old tricks
again! In this battle, Lucas should stick with physical attacks (using Lifeup
when someone's health is low); Duster should begin with the smoke bomb, making
Lord Passion Cry, then he should lower his offense 2 to 3 times, followed by
his defense before attacking himself. As for Kumatora, use Fire Alpha at all
times, it might not do as much damage as Thunder Alpha, but it's certainly
more reliable. Boney should stick with physical attacks.
It's important that Duster uses his Scary Mask for a few rounds, since it
drastically lowers the Lord's offense, making his attacks deal only a little
more than 10 damage at most, if they hit that is. In fact, one of his attack,
sending candles flying dealt only 1 damage to Lucas! Once his offense has been
lowered 3 times, start lowering his defense to make things easier for Kumatora.
As for the battle music, it's much weirder than before. It's like a megamix of
Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Hallelujah, the Rite of Spring and more classical
pieces. To make things worse, the beat of each snippet is different! I found
that it's the easiest to perform combos when Hallelujah is playing, since you
only have to tap the A button in a moderate speed. As for the Rite of Spring
that immediately follows, tap it slowly.
Once Lord Passion is defeated, the items floating in midair drop down onto the
floor. Examine the shoe, it's a pair of Mystical Shoes, perfect for Duster! It
increases his health by 15, offense by 28, IQ by 5 and speed by 7 over the
Durable Shoes! Now that you are done here, let's head back to the waterfall.
*****END BATTLE*****
Now that you are back, there are two things you must do in this chapter:
a. Recover the Hummingbird Egg
b. Infiltrate the Tower of Thunder [9B]
===============================
a. Recover the Hummingbird Egg
===============================
Walk under the flyover and enter the cave. You'll find a hot spring, a save
frog and a mole vendor. Let's save your game, withdraw all your money and
check out the mole for any new equipment.
*****MOLE VENDOR*****
Better Stick (500 DP; downgrade)
Durable Gloves (300 DP; Offense +16; Kumatora)
Sharp Shoes (480 DP; downgrade)
Fly Charm (350 DP; Defense +10; Duster, Kumatora)
Sparrow Bandana (200 DP; Defense +9; Duster)
Azure Ribbon (180 DP; Defense +8; Kumatora, Boney)
Capricorn Bracelet (600 DP; Defense +9; Lucas, Kumatora, Duster)
*****END LIST*****
You should have enough money to afford 2 Capricorn Bracelets. Don't worry
about the third one, since you'll receive one for free. If there are any other
upgrades that you still cannot afford, exit the cave through the north exit
and fight some enemies there. Just leave the area and return to make more
enemies respawn.
***************
Enemies
***************
Parental Kangashark (NEW)
HP: 300 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Ice, crying
Attacks: Powerful kick, drop kick, biting attack
This is a kangaroo fitted with a hammerhead shark's head! Naturally they will
attack by delivering powerful kicks at you, dealing around 30-40 damage.
Reconstructed Lion (NEW)
HP: 300 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Lightning, sleep
Attacks: Biting attack, bellow a war cry (lowers on group member's offense),
breathe fire
Drop: Sprinting Bomb
A lion's head on metallic tentacles, what are they thinking of next? Their
bites deal over 30 damage, but are still not much of a threat given Lucas'
lifeup. There is no need to use PSI on them since you should be able to defeat
one in two rounds of physical attacks.
Mecha-Turtle (NEW)
HP: 400 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Ice, sleep
Attacks: Fire several missiles
Some turtles have been fitted with many cannons in its shells. These guys will
always turn around before firing their missiles or bullets at your group.
Their missile barrage deals over 30 damage to 3 group members. Be warned that
you won't gain any advantage by approaching one from behind since that's where
their cannons are located!
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
When you have bought all the items you needed, go northeast. Take off Boney's
clothes before you go there, by the way. You'll come to an area filled with
holes. I guess you'll have to try dropping down different holes until you find
the right one. But whatever, drop down the first hole you see to enter the
cave below. Go right for a Capricorn Bracelet and equip it on whoever's not
received it yet. Go right, fight past some Paternal Kangasharks to reach a
dead end with 2 gift boxes. Open them for a Pencil Rocket and some Beef Jerky.
Now, turn around the go the other way to the south, where the cave exit is.
Now that you are back on the surface, drop down the southwesternmost hole for
the path leading to the next area.
Save at the frog, then exit the cave. You'll find the abandoned Clay Man
outside. "Yeah," Duster says, "This is it. I hid the egg inside that mud
figure." Duster checks the Clay Man, "Yes! It's still here!" Suddenly, a bolt
of lightning strikes the Clay Man, knocking Duster away. "Duster!" Kumatora
cries, "Are you okay?" "Yeah... I'm fine. Was that lightning just now? Whew,
that was close!" Duster walks over the Clay Man, who gets up and runs off,
having been charged by lightning. "It took off with the egg!" Duster cries.
Kumatora says, "We got to go after it!"
Let's run after the Clay Man. You'll approach a sign, apparently you are
approaching some "Tower of Love and Peace". Yeah right. Love is so electric,
after all! You get to have another close look at the Tower of Thunder.
"There's a good view of this tower from Club Titiboo," Kumatora comments, "I
wonder what it's here for." Meanwhile, the Clay Man has run to the other end
of the path. "Anyways, never mind this! We have to catch that thing quick!"
Run to the other end of this path, fighting your way through more Kangasharks
and Mecha-Turtles. Get the Secret Herb from the gift box and leave this area.
That herb removes all status ailments from the person you apply it to, and
revives him if he is unconscious. The next gift box you see holds a magic
butterfly. Use it to restore 20 PP to Lucas and Kumatora. Keep going until you
reach another factory. Let's have a look at the vending machines first.
*****VENDING MACHINE 1*****
Cup of Pork Noodles (80 DP; Restores 80 health)
Anti-paralysis (14 DP: Cures paralysis)
Fresh Mint (16 DP; Cures nausea)
Paper Fan (12 DP; Cures strangeness)
Recollection Bell (20 DP; Restores memory)
Eye Drops (10 DP; Stops crying)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all ailments, including incapacitation)
*****VENDING MACHINE 2*****
Better Stick (500 DP; Downgrade)
Durable Gloves (300 DP; Already equipped)
Sharp Shoes (480 DP; Downgrade)
Fly Charm (360 DP; Already Equipped)
Sparrow Bandana (200 DP; Already equipped)
Azure Ribbon (180 DP; Already equipped)
Capricorn Bracelet (600 DP; Already equipped)
*****END LIST*****
There is nothing worth buying, so let's go inside. You overhear a conversation
between several Pigmasks regarding their restroom habits. They then see you.
For some reason, they do not sound the alarm, instead mistaking you for an
important Commander! A lieutenant prepares some Pigmask uniforms for you. Even
Boney gets to wear a yellow mask! Oh, by the way, who else in this game looks
like Lucas, Claus perhaps? Could he possibly be...?
Climb up the ladder and open the gift box to listen to some boogie-woogie
rhythm. That's it, no item. Talking to the Pigmask reveals that they have
actually seen the berserk Clay Man run through this plant, but they ignored it
so that it could eventually run into a tree or something. Make your way
through this Clay Man factory, using the Instant Revitalising Device along the
way to recover your health and PP.
Head out the back to find the Clay Man being loaded on a rubbish truck! "Oh
damn! We can't let it get away!" Let's give chase along the Pigmask Highway!
----------------
Pigmask highway
----------------
The highway can be a dangerous place, not because of fast cars, but these
weird enemies!
***************
Enemies
***************
Wound-Up Road Hog (NEW)
HP: 420 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Fire, crying
Attacks: Charge, attack wildly
Drop: Secret Herb
I heard of road hogs before, but Mother 3 is taking things a bit too literally.
The Wound-Up Road Hog is a giant wound up boar on wheels. They whizz around
the road, making it hard to avoid them. They can either hit one target with
their charge attack or attack wildly, hitting any 3 group members. Their
battle theme is the same mystical dance theme as the Elder Battys. Happy
bashing!
Scrapped Robot (NEW)
HP: 320 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Lightning, numbness
Attacks: Let out an awful smell (Makes one of you nauseous), physical attack
I bet these things have fallen off the rubbish trucks that frequent this
highway. The funny thing about these robots is that some of them enter the
battle feeling strange, hence they can sometimes hurt themselves instead of
you. Don't get discouraged by their awful smell and bash away.
Road Block (NEW)
HP: 320 Music beat: Varies Vulnerabilities: Lightning, sleep
Attacks: Call for help, Hypnosis Alpha
Even the barriers on the road are hostile. Road blocks are nasty in the sense
that they keep calling for help from other enemies. Better put it to sleep
before hand. Better still, don't bother fighting them and just run over them
with your Pork Bean.
Reconstructed Lion
HP: 300 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Lightning, sleep
Attacks: Biting attack, bellow a war cry (lowers on group member's offense),
breathe fire
Drop: Sprinting Bomb
A lion's head on metallic tentacles, what are they thinking of next? Their
bites deal over 30 damage, but are still not much of a threat given Lucas'
lifeup. There is no need to use PSI on them since you should be able to defeat
one in two rounds of physical attacks.
Wobbly Robot (NEW)
HP: 370 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Lightning, sleep
Attacks: Bum-rush
Wobbly Robots are useless robots that are thrown into the highway. However,
they do hit hard with their Bum-rushes. There is no need to fight these
enemies at all.
Atomic Power Robot (NEW)
HP: 300 Music beat: Varies Vulnerabilities: Lightning, strangeness
Attacks: Fire a beam, explode
I guess you remember those atomic power robots from Earthbound, well these
enemies function the same way, firing beams at you all the time. Whenever you
are fighting these guys as part of a group, always destroy him last since he
will explode upon defeat, causing major damage to everyone in the group.
Rhinocerocket (NEW)
HP: 400 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Lightning
Attacks: Charge straight ahead
These are rhino headed rockets that fly randomly across the road. If you are
interested in fighting one, get off your Pork Bean. However, you'd wish you've
hadn't! These rockets charges at you, dealing two hits (around 30 damage each)
to every group member! Fortunately, one of these rockets can be defeated
within 2 round if you are good at combos, but then the damage has already been
done.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Fight your way past the 2 Road Hogs and continue west to find 2 Scrapped
Robots. Enter the next tunnel to be approached by a Pigmask on a Pork Bean
vehicle. Seeing that you are the Commander, the Pigmask lets you use his ride
to follow the rubbish truck. He tells you that the dump is northeast of where
you are. In addition, he warns you not to slip and crash, and that's exactly
what will happen! You slip on some banana peels and crashed! How on earth
could that happen? The Pork Bean is supposed to be hovering over the ground.
You are discovered by the Pork Trooper, who recognises you as the person who
watched the DCMC encore with him back at Club Titiboo. He's angry at you for
being an imposter, so let's fight!
Event battle! Pork Trooper
HP: ~1750 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Who cares?
Attacks: Don't worry about any of them
Drop: Pickled Veggie Plate
The Pork Trooper may look like a dangerous ruffian, but he has a fatal
weakness: He's a diehard DCMC fan. At the start of the battle, have Boney show
him the DCMC Pamphlet you have taken for free at Club Titiboo. The Trooper
will be utterly mesmerised by the pamphlet and feel jealous, unable to attack
for 3 rounds. This is just like Master Belch of Earthbound, who gets too busy
eating the Fly Honey to fight Ness! You can now hit him with your physical
attacks with absolute impunity.
The Pork Trooper gets back to normal after 3 rounds and will be able to hit
you with his attack during that round. But no worries, have Boney show him the
pamphlet again and he'll continue to feel jealous. Just heal up the damage and
continue bashing him until he's knocked out.
*****END BATTLE*****
The Pork Trooper vows revenge before running off, slipping on the banana peels
on the way. Examine his Pork Bean and board it. Take the left route to the
north. You'll find a blue gift box on the way: Open it for a Highway Map.
Continue west, running over all the enemies that get in the way. You will find
a gift box at the end of the road. Open that for a Gemini Bracelet. Equip it
on Lucas to increase his offense by 10 and defense by 3 over the Capricorn
Bracelet.
Go back to the junction where you fought the Pork Trooper. Take the east path
to the north and keep going north. You'll eventually come to a charging
station. Drive the Pork Bean over the golden plate on the ground and get off.
Examine the machine to the right to recharge your Pork Bean (just in case it
doesn't run out of energy, forcing you to walk the rest of the way later!)
Continue east, across the suspension bridge.
Go south through the tunnel and you'll find the rubbish truck go through a
tunnel to the southeast. Before you go after it, head west at the next
junction. You'll arrive at a dead end with a gift box. You'll find a pair of
Chic Gloves. Let Kumatora wear them, increasing her offense by 7 over the
Durable Gloves. Head back to the drive-in at the junction just now. Use the
Instant Revitalising Device to fully restore your group, save and withdraw all
your money from the frog in the car. Talk to the vendor outside the drive-in
to see what's in store for you.
*****SOUVENIR VENDOR*****
Handy Yo-yo (650 DP; Downgrade)
Souvenir Dress (1400 DP; Defense +13; Kumatora)
Taurus Bracelet (1200 DP; Defense +15; Kumatora, Duster)
Bag of Pork Chips (28 DP; Restores 50 health)
Cup of Pork Noodles (80 DP; Restores 80 health)
Fresh Mint (16 DP; Cures nausea)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all ailments, including incapacitation)
*****END LIST*****
Take the opportunity to upgrade Duster and Kumatora's equipment. Enter the
café to find the two bouncers Neckbeard and Skinhead inside! Now, get back
onto the Pork Bean and continue your chase. Go east, skipping the alcove to
the south since the guy down there won't let you open his gift boxes. You'll
arrive at the rubbish dump, where the Clay Man has just been disposed of.
"Finally!" Kumatora says, "It's about time!" Duster says, "I just hope the
egg's alright." Approach the dump and the four will climb down to get the egg.
"What is that?" Duster cries. A pile of junk suddenly comes to life, attacking
you!
Event battle! Forlorn Junk Heap
HP: 1800 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Can't sniff it
Attacks: Cheerfully throw scrap metal, Give off an incredibly foul odour
(makes one of you feel nauseous), attach pieces of trash to itself (heals
itself for about 300 health), Shield Alpha, swing a big lump of garbage
Looks like there is life in garbage. You are facing the remains of a Clay Man
melded together with pieces of scrap metal and electrical components. This
enemy is protected by a shield. Have Lucas, Kumatora and Boney bash him during
the first round to destroy it. As for Duster, use the Scary Mask during the
first two rounds to lower the Junk Heaps offense, then use the Smoke Bomb
during the third round to make it cry. After that, everyone can just use their
physical attacks on the heap until it is destroyed.
The Junk Heap doesn't hit that often, really. When it does, it can either
throw scrap metal at you, dealing around 30 damage to any 3 members of the
group. It may also swing a big lump of garbage, dealing over 40 damage to one
member. But still, it often wastes its turn doing other things, so any damage
won't be hard to heal through. The heap can sometimes heal itself by attaching
more garbage to itself, but that can only delay its defeat by 2 rouns at most.
Keep bashing, tapping the A button quickly to score combos and eventually you
will win. If all goes well, you might not even have to heal!
*****END BATTLE*****
The heap falls onto the ground and disintegrates into a pile of clay. Duster
sticks his hand into the Clay Man and retrieves the Hummingbird Egg. "There it
is!" He exclaims. You now have the Egg of Light. Duster experiences a
flashback, thanks to the egg. He remembers how he found the Hummingbird Egg
with Wess and Kumatora three years ago. "Now I see," he says, "I really am
Duster. I'm Duster. Guys! I'm Duster! I remember now! I really am Duster!
Yahoo! I finally have my memory back!"
A short break!
You know, the bit where Duster lost his memory after being washed out of the
Castle reminds me of the scene in the Jet Li film, Once Upon a Time in China
VI. In the film, Jet Li's character Master Wong Fei Fung lost his memory,
having been washed along the river during a fight against Indians. Now you
know why I named this chapter of my guide as such.
Kumatora congratulates Duster as well, "Awesome! We did it! Yep! You are
Duster! Duster! Duster! I'll keep calling you that, as many times as you want!
Now don't you dare lose the egg again!"
However, there is no time to celebrate as anther Pigmask pulls over at the
dump. He takes you all to the Thunder Tower in his Pork Bean and tells you to
enter the generator room. Take the lift up to the ground floor. It's time to
infiltrate the Tower of Thunder.
===================================
b. Infiltrate the Tower of Thunder
===================================
[9B]
The lobby of the Tower of Thunder houses an Item Guy, an Instant Revitalising
Device, a Save Frog and a vending machine. Open the blue gift box in the
corner for the Tower Sketch. Examine the map, you'll find that the rooms on
the ground floor of the tower are arranged in a circle. Now, let's see what
new things are for sale in the vending machine.
*****TOWER VENDING MACHINE*****
Good Stick (1500 DP; Already equipped)
Rubber Boots (1360 DP; Downgrade)
Brown Collar (1600 DP; Defense +20, Offense +20; Boney)
Cup of Pork Noodles (80 DP; Restores 80 health)
Anti-paralysis (14 DP: Cures paralysis)
Fresh Mint (16 DP; Cures nausea)
Paper Fan (12 DP; Cures strangeness)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all ailments, including incapacitation)
*****END LIST*****
Chances are that you don't have enough money for the Brown Collar. Let's go
around the ground floor of the tower in a clockwise direction, fighting all
the enemies that get in the way for the money.
***************
Enemies
***************
Whatever (NEW)
HP: 250 Music beat: Slow Vulnerabilities: Fire, sleep
Attacks: HP-Sucker, physical attack, turn the other way, start beeping (wastes
turn)
These things look like brown mouse heads with exposed brains and short
metallic legs. For some reason, they will not attack you on sight. Even when
you come in contact with it, the Whatever will simply act friendly with you!
To trigger a battle, press the A button. Whatever's aren't that dangerous,
their attacks are merely annoyances, dealing around 30 damage per hit.
Sometimes, they may even turn the other way, forfeiting several turns in the
process!
Minor Robot (NEW)
HP: 450 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Lightning, strangeness
Attacks: Throw punch, throw bomb, fire Drow-Z beam (makes one of you fall
asleep)
Drop: Bomb
Now, we have a more dangerous foe in the tower. Minor Robots are much tougher
when it comes to health and can throw bombs, dealing over 40 damage to
everyone in the group. Their punches can deal between 35 to 45 damage,
depending on your defense. Still, their batteries die after a few turns,
enabling you to finish them off with impunity.
Battery Man (NEW)
HP: 300 Music beat: Varies with breaks in between Vulnerabilities: Ice,
sleep
Attacks: Electric shock attack, 1.5 Volt kick
Drop: Made-You-Look
You now have to fight small batteries with legs and facial features. Despite
their small size, these batteries can discharge electricity, dealing around 20
damage to 3 members of the group. As for their 1.5 Volt kick, it deals over 20
damage to one group member. Watch out whenever you fight one with a Minor
Robot. Whenever the Robot's batteries die, the Battery Man may climb into the
Robot, turning it on again. Therefore these little guys are to be taken out
fast.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Enter the first room to face some Whatevers and Minor Robots. You'll usually
have to press the A button to start the battle against the Whatevers if they
act friendly towards you. However, they will still join the battle if you
decide to engage a Minor Robot in the room. Go through the left door when all
enemies are defeated.
Follow the passage to the next room. You'll find some Pigmasks working on a
machine that extracts electrical energy from electric catfish! So this is how
the tower is powered, through catfish! How stupid can the Pig Army get? Open
the box in this room for a cow hat. Let Lucas equip it so that he increases
his defense by 3 over the DCMC hat (and lower his speed by 2 at the same time).
Go through the door to the south.
The next room hosts Minor Robots and Battery Men. Always defeat the Battery
Men first when they attack you with the Minor Robots, this prevents them from
powering up the robot when it runs out of power. Now, go through the door on
the west side of the room. You find yourself if a room with 5 Whatevers.
Engaging one will cause all of them to join you. However, no more than 3 can
be on the screen at the same time. This time, have Kumatora use Fire Alpha or
Beta (if she's learnt it) to speed things up.
Go north for a room guarded by 2 Battery Men and a Minor Robot. Defeat them
and open the gift box for a DCMC Pamphlet. In the control room that follows,
going south will lead you to the ladder leading to the upper levels. Don't go
there yet; instead, go east. That room has a gift box with a Pencil Rocket
inside. From that room, go all the way south to return to the lobby. You
should have enough money for the Brown Collar. If not, continue fighting for a
while. Head back to the largest control room on the northern part of the tower
when you are ready.
Head south from that room, following the arrow on the ground and you'll reach
a large room in the centre of the ground floor. There you see a Pigmask
scaring the electric catfish inside the tank! Climb up the ladder to find a
large collection of DCMC merchandise. Guess who they belong to? It's the Pork
Trooper again, and he's wearing his blue combat suit!
Event battle! Pork Trooper
HP: 2050 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Who cares?
Attacks: Don't worry about any of them
The Pork Trooper may appear tougher, but he still hasn't learnt how to resist
the temptation of DCMC merchandise! As before, just keep showing him the DCMC
Pamphlet and he'll be distracted and unable to attack. This is just too easy!
*****END BATTLE*****
After the Pork Trooper has surrendered, you hear Fassad laugh. "You may think
you are a good impersonator, but you can't fool my eyes!" He appears
accompanied by 2 Pigmasks. "You're the very definition of the phrase 'like a
moron flying into a flame', Lucas! The pain and woe I went through after that
Drago sent me flying, I really must repay that favour in full. Nwehehehehe!"
What do you do now? You climb up the ladder! Fassad eats a banana and laughs,
"Do you honestly think you can escape? Nwehehehe!"
Having climbed up the ladder, the four take off their disguises. "Whew,"
Duster says, "That's better. Much easier to move around now." "Oh, but it
looked pretty good on you," Kumatora joked. Now, the only way to go is up.
You'll get to fight some loose screws as you do so, and I do mean it.
New enemy! Screwloose
HP: 350 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Lightning, strangeness
Attacks: Hypnosis Alpha, physical attack
These are the loose screws I was just talking about. They are so weak and
won't band together against you, so consider them free experience.
Keep climb until you see a ladder leading up to a room above. You arrive at
what appears to the a children's playroom. Enter the square shaped hot tub to
restore your health and PP. Save your game and examine the gift boxes, you'll
find a Saltwater Gun, a Made-You-Look and Secret Herb. One of the boxes
contains a surprise enemy.
Special enemy! Surprise Box
HP: 850 Music beat: Moderate with breaks in between
Vulnerabilities: Ice, numbness
Attacks: Be surprised (Wastes turn), Fire Beta
Begin the first turn by casting Paralysis Alpha. This makes the box numb,
making him sometimes unable to attack. After that, throw your strongest
attacks against him and don't be afraid of the Fire Beta, since there's a hot
tub nearby. Note that the battle theme contains breaks between phrases that
can stop your combo. Try delivering each character's first hit on the
beginning of the phrase to increase your chance of getting long combos.
Now that the box is defeated, take a dip in the hot tub. Examine the jukebox
in the room to play some classic EarthBound music, like the hotel theme or
shop theme. Go over to that robotic nursemaid. She's Miss Marshmellow. She
tells you that you are in Master King P's room. See the yo-yo inside the glass
casing? Examine it and she'll get angry.
Optional battle! Miss Marshmellow
HP: 2150 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Lightning
Attacks: Slap, combo-slap, spill hot tea, brandish a pincer, attack wildly
Master P's robotic nursemaid is willing to defend her master's yo-yo to the
death. She initially attacks by slapping different characters, dealing 50
damage each time. She can also combo-slap, hitting someone twice for over 80
damage in total. In addition, she can spill hot tea, dealing around 60 damage
to everyone.
Have Duster lower her offense a couple of times in the early rounds, while
Kumatora sticks to using Thunder Alpha. Once you have dealt maybe 800 damage
to here, Miss Marshmellow will activate the Ultra Ticked Off System, taking
out a drill and pincers. She can either brandish the pincer, dealing 60 damage
to one person, or she can attack wildly, dealing 50-70 damage to any 3 group
members. Furthermore, her drill hits for over 50 damage per hit. Get ready to
heal a lot using Lucas when that happens. Either way, you'll whittle her down
in some time.
*****END BATTLE*****
Once defeated, Miss Marshmellow falls to the ground and malfunctions, saying
utter nonsense before blowing up. Now you can take the Yo-Yo, which belonged
to a friend. I wonder who is this friend? Let Kumatora equip it to raise her
offense by 7 and speed by 5 over the Chic Gloves. Take yet another dip on the
hot tub before examining the vending machine.
*****PLAYROOM VENDING MACHINE*****
Rubber Cape (1200 DP; Downgrade)
Cup of Pork Noodles (80 DP; Restores 80 health)
Luxury Banana (500 DP; Restores 120 health)
Anti-paralysis (14 DP: Cures paralysis)
Paper Fan (12 DP; Cures strangeness)
Eye Drops (10 DP; Stops crying)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all ailments, including incapacitation)
Pencil Rocket (500 DP; deals damage to all enemies on screen)
Made-You-Look (50 DP; tricks the enemy into turning around)
If you are short on explosives, feel free to buy some Pencil Rockets. Climb up
the ladder when you are ready for the final part of the tower. You'll pass by
several electrical coils. Watch out for the occasional discharge of Short
Circuit Zaps.
New enemy! Short Circuit Zap
HP: 350 Music beat: Varies Vulnerabilities: Ice, strangeness
Attacks: Flash, Thunder Alpha
These are the bolts of electricity that are discharged into the air around the
power coils of the Thunder Tower. Their most dangerous attack has got to be PK
Flash, since it has a chance of knocking any of your group members instantly.
But no worries, you should be able to take one out within two rounds, most
likely before they can use it.
Continue your way up the tower and Lucas will be suddenly struck by a
lightning bolt. Fortunately, he's all right and has learnt the PSI skill Flash.
You'll come to a save frog. Save your game and check your inventory. Divide
any bombs, saltwater guns and explosives between Duster and Boney before
climbing up. As you pass by the main generator, an alarm will sound,
triggering the security system. A robot pops out of the generator, it's time
to fight Mr. Genetor!
Boss battle! Mr. Genetor
HP: 3400 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Ice
Attacks: Swing arms both around, 1000000 Volt chop, store electricity (wastes
turn), discharge zap attack
Mr. Genetor is a highly electrified robot. Melee attacks should not be used
against him while he is active. At the start of the round, have Lucas cast a
shield on someone, Duster lower his offense once (don't worry if it doesn't
work, you don't really need to lower his offense to win) before using bombs
and saltwater guns, while Kumatora should use Freeze Alpha all the time since
Mr. Genetor is vulnerable to ice. As for Boney, start bombing him!
Mr. Genetor can swing both of his arms around, dealing 60-70 damage to two
group members. The 1000000 Volt chop can be devastation, I've seen it hit
Boney for 99 damage before he could be shielded. Lucas should shield Kumatora
and Boney first since they are the most vulnerable. Once you have dealt enough
damage to him, Mr. Genetor will attacking with a discharge zap, dealing around
130-150 lightning damage to everyone in the group. That is almost always
preceded by a round Mr. Genetor storing up energy.
In that case, have Lucas and Kumatora quickly cast Lifeup if anyone is
mortally wounded. The good news is that Mr. Genetor will run out of energy for
a few rounds, allowing you to attack him with physical attacks with impunity.
It is vital that you score high combos since he will restore some health each
round until he is active again. Once you have dealt over 3000 damage to Mr.
Genetor, his charger will die, allowing you to finish him off with impunity
*****END BATTLE*****
Now that the robot has been defeated, you here the following announcement, "A
serious error has occurred in the generator! A serious error has occurred in
the generator! All personnel, evacuate immediately! Repeat! It would be nice
if you'd evacuate immediately!" Now, that's very polite! Boney barks at
Fassad's arrival. "You!" He cries, "How dare you destroy this vital system of
ours!" The group flees through the southern exit. Fassad scoffs another banana
and sneers, "Hmm, I guess this is a case of 'Fools, like smoke, enjoy
heights.'"He must be a very well educated person to use idioms so liberally.
With the generator destroyed, the Thunder Tower is absolutely useless. Climb
up the ladder to the top of the yellow sphere. You're trapped! Fassad comes up
and laughs at you, "You pathetic fools," he says, "There's nowhere to run now!
Nwehehehehe! You've been a real thorn in our side, you know that? What's
funniest of all is that happiness could've been yours had you simply stayed in
Tazmily and lived quietly, without a care in the world!" He eats another
banana and throws the peel on to the ground.
Fassad receives a call, "Alright, it's all set then? I'll be done here soon,
so leave the Mother Porkship on standby up above." He turns to the group,
"Thunder Tower is no longer usable. But this is the perfecet chance to
eliminate the whole lot of you in one fell swoop. It's a bit much for three
lousy rats, but our king just loves being flashy. So I've decided that you and
Thunder Tower can disappear flashily together."
The Mother Porkship arrives, lowering a rope ladder for Fassad. "Well, looks
like my ride is here. Later days, pals!" Fassad walks to the right, near the
banana peel and calls his men, "Okay, all set! Destroy Thunder Tower!" Oh dear,
looks like the four of you are going up in smoke! The tower starts shaking
violently. "Well, Lucas, we haven't known each other long, but it's been fun!
I'll never forget about you guys! Nwehehehehe! Nweeeeeeehehehehe!" But all of
a sudden, a large shock sends Fassad onto the banana peel, causing him to slip
off the tower! It's going to be a long way down!
The Mother Porkship arrives, but the Pigmask at the door sees you approaching,
prompting the ship to quickly ascend. "Alright!" Kumatora cries, "Let's grab
onto it!" Duster says, "Rope Snake! You're up!" He swings the Rope Snake at
the rope ladder, which he quickly bites into. The 4 try their best to hang
onto the rope snake as the ship flies across the sky. Some commander, wearing
a grey helmet looks out at them at the door. "Is that?" Kumatora asks. That
Masked Man reenters the ship, ordering his men to shake you off.
"Gah!" cries Duster, "They are trying to shake us off! Lucas! Kumatora! Boney!
Hold on tight now." The Rope Snake has something to tell you, "Duster, It's me,
the Rope Snake. I know this isn't the best time to chat, but I have some good
news for me and bad news for you. The good news for me, is that although we
haven't known each other long, I'm now a major character in the story, thanks
to you." That's breaking the fourth wall for you! And the bad news is? "And
the bad news for you, is that my jaw isn't sturdy enough to support the weight
of three people and one dog. In other words, my jaw, it's at its limit. This
is literally jaw-dropping!"
The Rope Snake finally gives up and lets go of the ladder, sending Lucas,
Kumatora, Duster and Boney free falling through the sky while the Masked Man
watches them with glee. Now, we get the round up of chapter 5.
"Moving puppets made from clumps of earth. A tower that can fire thunderbolts
on demand. An extensive highway system. Ships that fly through the sky.
The enemy Lucas and his companions must stand up against has grown to such an
enormous scale. Do they even stand a chance against this vile and powerful
nemesis? No, common sense must be ignored in a situation such as this. Even if
there is one in a billion chance of success, there is a one in a billion
chance of turning the tables around.
Will Lucas, Kumatora and Boney be separated once again? Or will they work
together to overcome the obstacles that stand in their way? From the flying
ship, a masked man watches Lucas and his friend. His profile still looks
youthful. The tale now moves to its next chapeter, with the promise of battles
more immense to come."
The following chapter, Sunflower Fields, is very short and serves as some sort
of intermission. So, I'll cover that as well in this part of my guide. Lucas
wakes up in a large field of sunflowers. What luck. After he gets up, randomly
walk around and Lucas will intermittently look to his left and right.
Eventually, he gets a flashback, a vague black and white picture of a room
with a sunflower in a pot. He hears a certain voice calling his name.
I guess you know that the sunflowers symbolise now. Lucas soon spots Boney,
who barks at something to the left. He turns and looks, only to find a figment
of his dead mom Hinawa appear. Now, it's time to walk left to follow her.
Boney runs and gives chase. Let's get even closer. Hinawa's spirit turns back
and looks at Lucas and walks off.
In fact, this reminds me of the Japanese film "Be With You", where the
antagonist remembered how he confessed his love to his dead wife in the middle
of a field of sunflowers.
Keep going left until you reach a cliff. Hinawa's on the clouds. Don't be
afraid, just walk off the cliff and Lucas will jump at her, falling short and
falling down below! This is one of those scenes where it's better off done in
FMV with voice acting. You'd expect Lucas to yell, "Mama!" aloud as he jumps
off! He somehow lands in a pile of hay placed on the ground by Wess and Alec.
It's fast, but Chapter 7's starting.
--------------------------------------
10. Protruding needles, hidden dragon
--------------------------------------
[MT10]
The chapter begins showing the Masked Man enter Osohe Castle, accompanied by a
Pigmask Commander. 6 other green Pigmasks salute them as the two enters. My,
how their salutes resemble the Hitler greeting! "Heil Pork!" Anyways, we move
back to Lucas, who is still out cold after the fall. "He's really asleep,"
Wess says, "At least he doesn't seem to be hurt." Lucas wakes up at the
elderly home. "Oh, you're finally awake!" Alec exclaims, "Don't worry, Boney
is in tip-top shape."
Talk to Alec and he will tell you that Hinawa told him in his dreams to pile
hay in the spot where you fell down to. Looks like Lucas' mother's spirit is
still watching out for you. Alec asks whether Duster was with you. Say yes and
he will tell Wess. "Lucas," Alec then says, "It seems you've met one of my
Magypsy friends. They might not look it, but they are trustworthy. They may be
able to help you out." Now, get out of the elderly home for one of the longest
chapters in the game. Kumatora and Duster are currently missing again, but you
will catch up with them later. Here is what you will have to do:
a. Find out about the needles
b. Head to the Chimera Lab [10B]
c. Locate Duster and search for a needle in the icy mountains [10C]
d. Return to the Saturn Valley and explore the volcano nearby [10D]
e. Walk across the sea floor to Tanehane Island [10E]
f. Find Ionia for the sixth needle [10F]
*************************************
Important characters in this chapter
*************************************
Ionia
Ionia is the unofficial leader of the Magypsies. She, along with the other
Magypsies, protects the seven needles that seal away a dragon protecting the
island. Ionia discovers that Lucas can pull those needles. Since the time has
come, she will inform other Magypsies of your intentions.
Dr. Andonuts
Remember Jeff, the short sighted boy prodigy that helped Ness during
Earthbound? Well, his father is back. Apparently the good Doc has been
kidnapped by the Pig Army and forced to work on the chimera project. In a
sense, he's directly responsible for all those ugly things you see roaming the
island. Despite all this, he's still a kind old man who will help Lucas in one
point in the chapter.
Masked Man
The Masked Man is Lucas' latest rival in the game. He is one other person that
can pull the needles sealing away the dragon. As the commander of the Pig Army,
the Masked Man never speaks and sports powerful lightning attacks. Since Lucas
was mistaken to be him in chapter 5, you should now have a clue on the Masked
Man's real identity.
==============================
a. Find out about the needles
==============================
As you exit the elderly home, Boney spots something and runs over to the
bridge. Go behind the elderly home to find another Thunder Bomb.
After that, get onto the bridge to find Ionia bound and gagged. Examine Ionia
to help her. "Ooh, I undid the gag on my own! I just moved my mouth up and
down like so and slowly slipped it off!" It's amazing that none of the
onlookers helped her! "Ooh, I'm wonderful! I hate to be a bother, but could
you stand me up?" Lucas stands her up.
Ionia continues, "Thank you, darling. I don't know what happened. I was
minding my own business, taking off my makeup, when suddenly I was physically
assaulted! Oh, what an unfabulous time to be attacked!" Ionia then recognises
you, "Oh my! You're that boy I met at the hot spring the other day, aren't you?
It seems the threads of fate have led us to each other again. From the moment
I realised you could use PSI, I knew there was something between us! You're
undoubtedly the one we Magypsies have been waiting for for tens of thousands
of years, right? Can you sense it, too? Can't you feel 'the time' drawing near?
It's okay if you cahn't. I'm not entirely sure about it, either."
"Wait a second, if I was attacked, could it mean? I hope Aeolia is all right!
I wish I could fly there, but I can't without my makeup on! All I can do is
walk on land like a human. How tragic. Oh, well, I'll walk if I have to. And
you! You're coming with me! Come on, let's go to Aeolia's house! Okay?" Just
say yes.
"Marvellous, let's make some magic happen together! I mean that in a nice way."
The tied up Ionia joins you, why doesn't Lucas untie her first? Ionia looks up
the river, "We could reach Aeolia's house easily by going straight up this
river, but..." At this point, one of two Venetian gondola rowers offers to help
you, "Hold on, you guys," he says, "I have no idea what you were talking about
just now, but if it's up the river you need to go, then it's our time to shine!
Come on, follow us!"
Walk south to the banks there. You'll see the two men with their boat. Talk to
one of them to have a ride on this Venetian gondola. You'll arrive up stream,
so go east and enter Aeolia's house.
"Oh, what happened?" Aeolia asks, "Why aren't you wearing any makeup, Ionia?"
Ionia replies, "This is no time to be silly, Aeolia! I was attacked. So I
rushed here to see if you were all right." "I'm just fine," Aeolia says, "I'm
as lovely as I am. But never mind me, why don't you untie that rope already?"
"Oh! I was in such a rush that I never noticed. What a shock! Lucas, could you
untie me now? Unbelievable, you have no sense of courtesy!"
Lucas unties Ionia, who then puts on her makeup. "Ah, who's that fine figure?"
She asks herself, "Why, that's me without makeup! I'm sexy, even without
makeup on." Talk to Aeolia now, "Pleasure to meet you," she says, "I am Aeolia,
one of the Magypsies. Fate has brought you here. Oh, I'm so happy!" Now, talk
to Ionia, "Just one second, there, all done! I'm pretty again!" "Yuck," Aeolia
says, "You can keep that lipstick. Indirect kisses with other girl's aren't my
thing."
"Oh, I have a bad feeling, what could it be? What could it be? What could it
be?" You hear a loud piercing sound, followed by a whoosh, then you experience
an earthquake before yet another piercing sound. Aeolia suddenly starts to
fade. "Oh my, Aeolia!" Ionia cries, "Your body! Your body! Your body! It's
starting to disappear! Oh my! So it is! It's disappearing!"
"I'm disappearing, but I'm well," Aeolia replies. "But, does this mean?" Ionia
asks herself. You now get a look at the needle stuck into the ground inside
Osohe Castle. Aeolia explains, "The Needle in Osohe Castle that I've protected
for so long... Someone has pulled it. Someone able to pull the Needles, has
finally appeared. The Dark Dragon sealed away by the seven Needles will
awaken." Aeolia then moves her table aside to reveal a ladder leading down.
"You can get to the courtyard of Osohe Castle through this underground path.
If the Needle really has been pulled, I will vanish very soon. But it would be
wise to know who pulled it. Someone with a dark heart, or someone with a light
heart? The answer to that may change the fate of the world completely. So
today is the day I disappear. Ionia, what's your name, and Doggy. Goodbye!"
Aeolia vanishes in a poof, leaving behind her razor and lipstick. "Aeolia,"
Ionia says, "You were an open hearted person. That's why we got along so well."
She turns to you, "Okay, let's follow this underground path to Osohe Castle's
courtyard!
Examine the razor and lipstick. They make up Aeolia's Memento. This item
revives the person holding it when he goes unconscious in battle. It can only
be used once, of course. Climb down the ladder for the underground passage.
As you make your way through the tunnels, beware of the Egyptian looking cats
called Cleocatras!
New enemy! Cleocatra
HP: 300 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Can't sniff
Attacks: Hop around (wastes turn), Lifeup Beta, Hypnosis Alpha, physical
attack
These cats are of no threat to Lucas and Boney. You should be able to defeat
these enemies within 2 rounds, even if you cannot score a single combo. Lifeup
serves only to delay their defeat by one round, since it restores no more than
130 health. Cleocatras are only a threat when they come in a group. So always
try to take on one at a time.
The first gift box in the passage holds Beef Jerky. Keep going south until you
see an alcove to the east. Defeat the Cleocatra there and snag the Rotten Milk
inside the box. It's going to turn into Yogurt soon, so don't worry. Keep
going until you see the three Cleocatras. Try luring them one by one so you
can defeat them piecemeal. Go south until you see a bridge leading east. Don't
cross it yet, instead go all the way to the dead end to the south for a Magic
Tart. Cross the bridge, go south, then east and climb up the ladder.
You are now at the courtyard of Osohe Castle. Get onto the lawn and Ionia will
say, "So, the Needle really has been pulled." What's left is a hole in the
ground with purple smoke coming out. "I have absolutely no idea who pulled it.
The Dark Dragon's heart will become light or dark as the person who pulls it.
That's what is said, anyway, but I don't sense anything here at all. I don't
sense a heart of good OR evil. How mysterious. Could there be people in this
world without hearts?"
"I always assumed that the Dark Dragon would stay sealed away for eternity. No,
we still have a chance left. You were able to learn PK Love. Could it be that
you're also able to... Oh, that's right. I haven't explained anything to you at
all. I need to tell you about the Needles."
You then get a long drawn out explanation about the Needles. It seems that
Nowhere Island one of a few islands that are specially protected by a large
sleeping dragon, as big as all the islands combined. Since the dragon is
asleep, the island is protected from disaster. Since the dragon is too
powerful, the Magypsy ancestors sealed the dragon away using needles. Ionia
and the other Magypsies spent centuries guarding it.
It is said that someone that can pull the needles will come when the dragon's
power is needed. Be warned though, if the person who pulls the needles has a
heart of evil, the dragon might obey his will and destroy everything. If the
person has a good heart, the dragon might do something to benefit the whole
world. Whenever a needle is pulled, the Magypsy guarding it will disappear,
their millennia long lives over.
"There is one other legend," Ionia says, "It says only those with the power of
PK Love can pull the seven needles. Not even we Magypsies have that ability.
In other words, you are able to pull the Needles because you are a chosen boy."
There is something on the ground, appears to be a mobile phone. Pick it up,
looks like the Masked Man dropped it. A Pigmask wanted to tell him to hurry to
the location of another Needle. However, they will need some monkey to help
open the door to it. Your destination is the Chimera Lab.
If you don't know where the lab is, answer no. You'll be told to take the
monorail to the clay factory, then head west from the ropeway station. Let's
talk to Ionia once more. She shows you a ladder to the northeast. "That ladder
is a shortcut back to Tazmily. Head there! I'm worried about my own Needle now.
I just know that we will meet again. But if we don't, then that means one of
us has left this world. Goodbye!" She flattens herself completely and drifts
away with the wind, kind of like a piece of paper. It's time to visit the
Chimera Lab.
===========================
b. Head to the Chimera Lab
===========================
[10B]
Climb down that ladder and go through the passage, unlocking the door at the
other end. You are back in the basement of the castle. Get out of there,
fighting your way past these new Bro Teams.
New enemy! Bro Team
HP: 350 Music beat: Moderate
Attacks: Combination Attack, Bum-rush, Freeze Alpha
The Bros have teamed up, making them much stronger. Their Bum-Rushes now deal
over 80 damage. In addition, they can attack with their combination attack,
first breathing fire, dealing 40 damage per person before hitting someone for
70 more damage. Better deal those combos quickly!
Once you have left the castle, Boney willtake you to Hinawa's grave. Nippolyte
is there. "Lucas," he says, "Have you seen Flint? He was just here visiting
Hinawa's grave. He's probably headed back into the mountains yet again to look
for Claus." He moves aside for you to see her grave, "Look for Claus, visit
Hinawa's grave. Look for Claus, visit Hinawa's grave. That's all your old man
does anymore." This has a touch of Billy Elliot in all of this, where the main
character's dad has been such a weakling ever since the mother's died.
"His only salvation is you, Lucas. You've grown so strong that Flint doesn't
need to worry anymore. You've grown up to be a truly good lad. Here. Flint
gave me this. He asked me to give it to you the next time you came by.
Supposedly, it's a good luck charm your pop's treasured since he was a boy
himself." You receive a Courage Badge.
As you approach the monorail station, you get a call on your mobile phone. The
pigmask reminds you to hurry to the Chimera Lab, telling you the directions
once more. Before you take the train, feel free to talk to the villagers. It
would seem that many are considering to move to a big city called New Pork
City. How interesting. Now, talk to the station attendant and pay 100 DP for a
ride (otherwise pay 200 for a ride on the green train. You get to hear a
different music theme when you take that train. In addition, you'll experience
the joy of riding a green-coloured train.).
If you enter the factory, talk to the Blue Pigmask at the entrance and he'll
tell you that it's going to be shut down soon. Apparently they don't need Clay
Men, let alone clay anymore. That Pigmask will soon be leaving for New Pork
City.
Head north from the station and arrive at the rope way station. Head west,
ignoring the enemies and you'll arrive at a small lake. To the north is a door
leading to the second needle. Notice the dance patterns on the door. I think
you will now know why the monkey is needed. Continue west to reach the Chimera
Lab.
---------------
Chimera Lab
---------------
The Pigmask at the entrance recognises you as the part-timer back in the
factory. He asks you to keep watch outside, but let's enter anyway. You won't
be able to get past the Pigmask on the north side of the lobby. But don't
worry, withdraw 2000 DP and check out the vending machine.
*****LAB VENDING MACHINE*****
Very Good Stick (2000 DP; Offense +34; Lucas)
Cup of Pork Noodles (80 DP; Restores 80 health)
Pork Stew (120 DP; Restores 120 health)
Antidote (8 DP; Removes poison)
Eye Drops (10 DP; Stops crying)
Anti-paralysis (14 DP: Cures paralysis)
Fresh Mint (16 DP; Cures nausea)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all ailments, including incapacitation)
Get the very good stick and go through the door next the the sign that says,
"Movie". You'll be inside an empty auditorium. Get onto the stage and go
through the door to the right side. You will enter a locker room. Examine the
open locker for some Pigmask disguises. Go south and walk through the
subsequent rooms until you enter a tape storeroom. Open the blue gift box for
the Chimera Lab map.
Go through the door to the north and the Pigmask there will be expecting you.
He tells you to look for two monkeys that have escaped. You are currently at
the east end of the second floor. Let's search room by room to the west. As
you go through the door, you'll see some scientist hiding inside a trash can.
He runs away from you when he sees you. Keep going west, past the spa room and
the lift. Go through the next door leading north to find another lift. Open
the box in the room for a Secret Herb before continuing west at the previous
hallway. You'll eventually enter a big room with many skeletons of various
chimeras and a Drago on display. Save at the frog specimen.
Go south for a room filled with green specimen tubes. Examine the southeast
corner for a box with a Dog Biscuit. This will come in handy if you want to
trade with certain dogs in the game. Now, head all the way to the north, past
the stuffed animal room and into the brain specimen room. Go left and you'll
find the two monkeys. It's Salsa and his girlfriend! Walk close and they'll
flee. Head back to the skeleton room.
Oh dear, looks like one of their chimeras has run loose!
Event battle! Almost Mecha-Lion
HP: 1680 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Lightning, crying
Attacks: Scratch with sharp claws, biting attack, breathe fire, stab with
poisonous tail, bellow a war-cry (lowers someone's offense)
One of the specimens has run loose in the lab! The Almost Mecha-Lion is mostly
made of metal, although part of its head is still made of flesh. Its claws and
bites can be very painful as they deal over 70 damage to one character. I
suggest you have Lucas erect shields on both Boney and himself as quickly as
possible. Then, you only have to worry about his fire breathing attack, which
does over 40 damage to both of them. Start healing when someone's health is
down to 40.
I know that the lion is vulnerable to crying, but Flash is far too unreliable
to use it on such a tight fight. Your combo skills will be taken to the test
in this battle. Don't hesitate to cast Offense Up on someone if his offense
has been lowered. Although you don't have to win the fight, do so since it
gives good experience.
*****END BATTLE*****
The Mecha-Lion gets up and tries to pounce at Lucas, but it's stopped in
midair with a kick from a Clay Man. My hero. It seems that a number of
Chimeras have recently escaped. Most of them have been rounded up, but one is
left. That one is big and red, it's the Ultimate Chimera! Whatever you do, do
not even come into contact with it. If you do, you won't even get a chance to
fight it, you'll be defeated instantly!
Go back to the east and you'll hear a loud roar. You hear the chaotic sounds
of panicking Pigmasks as they get a beating. Head back downstairs to the first
floor. The Ultimate Chimera is to your left, you have to find some way to lure
it away from that door so you can pass it. Walk close to the Chimera until it
spots you. Then walk slowly to the right. He'll follow you for a short time
before stopping. Get close again and make him follow you again. Keep doing
this until you reach the lift, marked "EV". Take the lift up to the second
floor and go left and reenter the room with the parrot. Take the lift down to
the first floor and return to the hallway. You'll find that the Ultimate
Chimera has gone.
Go left, through the door to some kind of operating theatre. Go south into the
deep freeze room for a bomb, then talk to the Blue Pigmask by the lift. It
seems Salsa and his girlfriend are in the basement. Go down there and walk
past the cages, getting the Pork Stew from the gift box. Go through the rooms
one by one until you reach a red room with even more cages. The two monkeys
are at the dead end, but they flee once again, by jumping over the cages.
You now have to return to the first floor. Go all the way to the room at the
eastern end. Talk to the professor hiding inside the trash can. "I realise you
haven't asked," he says, "But my name is Dr. Andonuts. I'm being forced to
conduct various sorts of research by a certain man. Currently, though, I'm
trying to conceal myself for various reasons. I'm a bit occupied at the moment.
Could you come back at a better time?" That would mean he's Jeff's father from
Earthbound. How did he get here?
Search the rooms along the way as you do so. One of the rooms is running a
movie, and has a Gift Box with a Saltwater Gun inside. You eventually wind up
at a Chimera salesroom. Various chimeras are on sale for exorbitant prices.
You find Salsa and his girlfriend in the corner. At the same time, the
Ultimate Chimera has you corned as well! The doc sneaks into this room as well.
He tells you, "I just remembered this Chimera's weakness, so I mustered up the
courage to come here." But then, the Chimera lunges at Lucas and Boney, who
manage to dodge at the last moment, dropping their masks in doing so. "This is
a high tech, battery operated Chimera. In other words, if we set the power
switch on its back to 'OFF', it will stop!"
The Ultimate Chimera roars yet again, prompting Lucas and Boney to run. Having
seen Lucas' face, Salsa remembers him as the boy who helped him escape from
Fassad and the Pigmasks three years ago. He runs to their aid. Back in the
hallway, the Chimera has caught up with Lucas. Dr. Andonuts, still hiding in
the trash can tells him, "There's a large button on its back! You need to
press it! Come now, be courageous! Use the dog as bait!" Haha.
Boney is not amused. The Ultimate Chimera roars once more. He pounces just
once more. Just as he is about to sink his teeth into Lucas, Salsa comes and
turns off the Chimera! You are safe! "Oh, thank you lad," Dr. Andonuts says,
"And monkey. I think I'll use this opportunity to leave the military and
devote my life to making all living things happy. Oh, you agree with my idea?
Thank you, dog!" Boney is still angry about him suggesting that he'll be used
as bait. "I'm sorry! I was merely joking about the bait thing!" But Boney
gives chase anyway! "It's a simple misunderstanding!" He cries, "You got it
all wrong!"
Salsa is joined by his girlfriend. But then he joins Lucas for the time being.
Soon after the three left the scene, the yellow bird who came with the
Ultimate Chimera steps on the switch on the Chimera's back, turning it on
again! You have not seen the last of it!
------------------------
Outside the Chimera Lab
------------------------
You see Salsa's girlfriend go east. Follow her to the lake district. Go north
until you see the grey door. Examine it and Salsa will offer to help open it
for you. Now, examine it once more and press either the Left or Right key on
the directional pad and he'll do the funny dance yet again, opening the door
for you.
Open the gift box for some Magic Gloves. Something's shining at the bottom of
that pond. Enter the Magypsy house for a surprise. Kumatora is there with the
Magypsy named Doria. "Awesome!" She exclaims, "You really did show up, Lucas!
Oh! You're here too, Salsa? It's great to see you again. I didn't know you
were alive!" Salsa agrees.
"Oh! And how've you been, Love Monkey? Hello!" But Salsa's girlfriend is still
a bit scared upon seeing you. Doria says, "Oh my! What adorable visitors!
Introduce me to them, won't you?" He combs his hair. Kumatora says, "Yeah,
sure. These are my friends. This is Salsa the monkey and his 'Love Monkey'.
And this is Lucas the human. And this dog is," Kumatora forgot the dog's name,
so she quickly asks Lucas. "Boney the dog," she continues.
Doria giggles, "So you are sweet little Lucas? Ionia's told me all about you.
Come with me. I'll show you where the Needle is." Hee moves outside. Kumatora
then tells you. "Yeah, almost forgot. Lucas. That's Doria, one of the seven
Magypsies. He saved me. Apparently, that's what fate had in store." Kumatora
walks out, so let's follow her.
Talk to Doria again. "Ionia told me you would come here. The Needle I'm
guarding is at the bottom of the pond. My Needle is more of a pain to pull
out." He stares at the empty pit to the right. "It's hard to believe you
really have the power to pull the needles. But before you can even try, we
need to move the water from this pond into that empty hole first. You know
that Chimera Laboratory to the west of here? There might be some junk there
that could help us move the pond water. Why not look for something there?"
Let's go back to the lab. You'll fight some enemies on the way.
****************
Enemies
****************
Batangutan (NEW)
HP: 250 Music beat: Varies Vulnerabilities: Fire, sleep
These enemies are so weak that you can defeat them in one round. Therefore, I
wasn't able to check up on their attacks.
Einswine (NEW)
HP: 400 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Fire, strangeness
Attacks: Brainshock Omega, physical attack, Freeze Beta, Thunder Beta
These pigs must be smart, considering that they have an extra brain attached
to their heads! Their brainpower makes them dangerous PSI users. They can
either make you feel strange using Brainshock Omega, or they can cast Freeze
of Thunder Beta, dealing around 120 damage per hit. Fortunately, the health
meters in this game drop ever so slowly. So defeat these guys quick!
Dogfish (NEW)
HP: 330 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Lightning, numbness
Attacks: Biting attack
I heard of dogfish, but this is ridiculous. Dog fish are fish with a dog's
head. They are able to surprise you by jumping out of the water. Their attacks
aren't that dangerous though, their bites inflict just a little over 30 damage
to one of you.
*****END LIST*****
Talk to Dr. Andonuts. "Oh, lad," he says, "I thank you for earlier. What's
that? You're looking for a way to transfer all of the water from one pond to
another? Hmm... Those eyes of yours, lad. They're the eyes of someone who's
taken on some sort of mission. Very well. I'll lend you a helping hand. Achoo!"
He takes out three of his chimeras.
"Gentlemen! Behold!" He exclaims, "I've brought several of the Chimeras I have
been developing in secret. Take whatever one you think will be the most useful
to you." There are three Chimeras. You get to choose one to extract water from
the pond. Note that only one of them really works. If it doesn't, you will
have to make your way back to Andonuts for another, fighting more enemies on
the way.
The first one is a giant purple one called a Dryguy. It uses a jet engine to
dry things by blowing on them. But since when you will use a hairdryer to dry
a pond? If you choose it, the thing will blow and blow, to no effect
whatsoever. The second one is a pair of clay twins called the Bucket Brothers.
They work by constantly fetching water with their buckets and pouring them out
somewhere. If you use them, they will take forever to empty the pond with
their small buckets.
The one you want is the third one. Mr. Pump. It may look unreliable and
covered in red and yellow stripes, it's the one you should be using. Mr. Pump
will suck up the pond water using his snout very quickly and transfer the
water into the empty hole by excreting it through his tail!
"Oh! Yes here we are!" Doria cries, "This will solve our pond water dilemma! I
just know it! Ooh! Look at him suck up the water!" Doria exclaims. "Ooh! The
pond is slowly emptying! More! Do more!" So, the water is successfully
transferred, revealing the needle at the bottom. "Ooh! Look! Look! Just look
at him go! It's enough to give me chills! Just look at him swagger away so
confidently? He leaves the stage with calm air about him! A natural if I ever
saw one! What a Casanova! Bravo, Mr. Pump." Doria then looks at the drained
pond. "There it is! That's the needle! One of the seven needles sealing the
dragon away!"
Climb down into the empty pond and examine the needle. Doria climbs down to
join you. "Can you really pull the Needle? Like Ionia said? I'm not sure if I
should be afraid or happy. A rush of emotions is overcoming me! I can't
believe I'm here, witnessing this moment!" Kumatora comes down as well. Doria
tells you, "Okay! Now pull it! With all your might! Right before my very eyes!"
Kumatora asks, "If this Needle gets pulled, will you disappear like Aeolia
did?"
"Yes, that's right. Because the Needle won't need my protection anymore. The
Needle can only be pulled when 'the time' comes. So when the Needle is finally
pulled, 'the time' has come. We Magypsies have lived our lives so that we can
happily accept that fate when it comes. So don't worry. I'm not going to die.
I'm simply going to follow fate and disappear. So it will be a happy thing. I
do have many fond memories, though, so it will be a little sad, too." You are
asked whether or not to pull the needle. Yes!
As Lucas' hand comes in contact with the needle, a piercing sound is heard. He
pulls it out, causing a gush of smoke to burst out of the hole the needle left
behind. Something awakes inside Lucas, he has learnt Love Beta. Doria starts
to fade. "This really is, the beginning of the end. 'The time' has finally
come. I never once imagined someone would show up at this tender girl's home
to pull the Needle. Disappearing while still young and beautiful. In one sense,
it's bliss. Kumatora. Go with little Lucas and see things through to the end.
I'm about to disappear youthfully and beautifully. Think about me sometimes,
okay? Here, take this memento of me." You receive Doria's memento, which
consists of his razor and lipstick. "I leave the rest in your hands now." He
disappears in a poof as well. "Bye now!"
Kumatora and you climb back up to say goodbye to the monkeys. "Ionia told me
this a long time ago. When the Dark Dragon that's sleeping under the island
wakes up, all life and all time will be reborn. I don't know what is going to
happen, but I'm going to see things through to the end. Lucas, can I come
along with you? I want to go with you. We have to find Duster and the Egg of
Light, too!" Kumatora joins you.
"Salsa. We just met again after all this time, but it looks like this is
goodbye again." She walks over to Salsa and looks at him. "What's with that
look? You're such a sentimental monkey. Let's go! Let's go to that next Needle!
You and Love Monkey take care now." Salsa gives her a nut as a souvenir. "Huh?
What is it? A nut, for me? Thanks! See you later, if we ever get the chance."
This is one long goodbye. Salsa cheers up, doing a backflip in the process.
==============================================================
c. Locate Duster and search for a needle in the icy mountains
==============================================================
[10C]
Give the Magic Gloves to Kumatora. They increase her PP by 10 over the
Friend's Yo-yo, but lowers her Speed by 5. Let's go back to the east, only to
bump into a mouse called the Squeekz. This mouse is not pleased! Anyway, we
have an event battle on our hands here.
Event battle! The Squeekz
HP: 320 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Biting attack
This appears to be a Greedy Mouse pretending to be Elvis Presley. His attacks
are weak, and you should be able to beat him up within one round with the use
of combos. The music is rather fast, making it easy.
*****END BATTLE*****
The Squeekz admits to have suffered from amnesia. He thought he was a cat long
ago, now he realises that he's a mouse. Before leaving, he tells you about the
Mole Crickets, who live to the east. Attempt going east, to bump into a Mole
Cricket, the one you play-fought with 3 years ago with Claus.
"So you kept true to your promise and finally came to the Mole Cricket Hole,
huh? It's me! It's me! Don't you recognise me? I'm the mole cricket you fought
at Alec's place when you were play-fighting with the Dragos as a little kid!
I've been training for this day all these years! Okay, let's go! The time to
battle has come! Follow me!"
The Mole Cricket takes you to the lake to east of the Ropeway Station. He
reveals a hole in a ground which you can climb down. The Mole Cricket taunts
about how he will easily defeat you and so on. The designers originally
intended you to immediately go down, but there is something else you can do.
Let's take the monorail back to Tazmily and visit the graveyard.
----------------
Tazmily Village
----------------
Go over to the northwest corner of the graveyard and you'll find a message in
a jar. Examine the weird font type and a secret passage will the revealed
under one of the gravestones. You climb down to the underground tonel used by
Fassad to get to the village three years ago.
--------------------------------------
Candrum Underpass and Pigmask Highway
--------------------------------------
Climb down the ladder and head east. You'll find another message in a jar in
the next room. The words in a weird font appears to be a distress message,
telling you to come to a "thunder area". Examine the coffee table behind the
jar and you can get on and ride it around like a horse! Make your way to the
Thunder Tower again. However, turn right at the junction before it and follow
the road until you reach a dead end. Get off the coffee table and go south.
You'll hear some familiar funky music. Fight your way through the enemies to
get to Saturn Valley!
***************
Enemies
***************
Filthy Attack Roach (NEW)
HP: 330 Music beat: Slow Vulnerabilities: Ice, crying
Attacks: Spread its wings and charge (immobilises you), physical attack, knit
its brow (wastes turn)
These are more powerful versions of the Attack Roach. Their attacks deal
around 40 damage to one character. However, that's the only attack they have.
Naughty Mushroom (NEW)
HP: 360 Music beat: Slow Vulnerabilities: Fire, numbness
Attacks: Physical attack, scatter spores (causes one of you to feel strange),
be absentminded (wastes turn)
Naughty Mushrooms are green walking mushrooms that are more powerful than
Ramblin' Mushrooms. Given your combo mastery, you won't need to use any fire
attacks to defeat them.
*****END LIST*****
----------------
Saturn Valley
----------------
Looks like the Pigmasks have invaded the place. First, let's open the gift
boxes in the village proper. The one to the southeast contains nothing but
flatulence, while the one to the northwest holds a Black Collar. Equip it on
Boney to raise his offense by 10 and defense by 10 over the brown collar.
Better save your game since the upcoming battle can be very nasty.
There are four houses here. Let's enter the one to the northeast. You find
Duster tied to a totem pole. 3 other Mr. Saturns and the Rope Snakes are
dangling from the clothes line. Two green Pigmasks are using a Frightbot to
coerce the Mr. Saturns into telling them the location of the needle nearby.
The Frightbot attempts to scare the Mr. Saturns through scary stories, while
making chalkboard screeching sounds.
However, the Mr. Saturns really don't know where the needle is. One of the
Pigmask Majors threaten to tickle their underarms again if they don't tell
them the location. The two Pigmasks then spot you. It's time to fight!
Event battle! 2 Pigmask Majors and a Frightbot
Music beat: Varies
Pigmask Major (x2)
HP: 750 Vulnerabilities: Ice, sleep
Attacks: Fire a beam, bum rush, throw a time bomb
Frightbot
HP: Don't worry Vulnerabilities: No need to worry about it
Attacks: Tells you various stories (wastes turn)
The Pigmask Majors may hurt you badly at your current level. Every time they
shoot you with their beams, one of you will be taking around 68 damage.
Whenever one bum-rushes, you'll take over 120, and sometimes 200 damage (That
happened to Boney)! The best strategy is to take them out as quickly as
possible with the help of a Bomb, Love Beta and Freeze Beta. The three should
take out one of the Majors within one round, while the other can be finished
off by bashing it.
As for the Frightbot, it's a different story as it can only tell you various
scary stories that have no effect on you! If anyone is knocked out, revive him
with a Secret Herb and slowly take your time on the bot.
*****END BATTLE*****
The Frightbot is destroyed. "Our Frightbot!" A Pigmask Major cries, "We needed
that! We must inform Mr. Fassad immediately!" So, Fassad is still not dead.
"You pay for this! I'll make sure you pay." The two Pigmasks flee, allowing
you to free Duster.
"Oh, here you are, Duster!" Kumatora exclaims. Lucas unties Duster. "Lucas!"
Duster cries, "Kumatora! Boney! Thank goodness you are all right! The kind
people of this valley rescued me, but those other guys captured us all. But
don't worry. The Egg of Light is safe." "Geez, is this lucky or unlucky? I
can't tell," Kumatora says. Duster answers, "You're all lucky. That's the only
way I can see it." A Mr. Saturn pleads you to let them down.
"Let's help these guys down for now," Duster says. The Mr. Saturns and the
Rope Snake are freed. Lucas tells him about the Needles. "Needles that seal
away the Dark Dragon," Duster says, "Sounds like I should go with you. Lucas,
I'm coming too." "Actually," Kumatora jokes, "We would have dragged you along
with us anyways." Duster has rejoined you. The group is complete once again!
Talk to the Rope Snake and he will apologise for letting go of the ladder
earlier. He denies being depressed, although it's obvious that he is!
Now, let's get back to Tazmily Village. Since the coffee table is gone, you'll
have to go on foot. Don't bother with the shops in Saturn Valley yet. You may
wonder I have asked you to take a long detour to get Duster, even though the
game wants you to do it later. The reason is that Duster will lag too far
behind in levels if you get him then. In addition, Duster makes an upcoming
fight much easier with this Thief Tools. Once you have returned to Tazmily,
talk to Wess again.
He'll ask Duster whether he has remembered who he really is. He laughs and
thanks Lucas and Kumatora for helping him find Duster. Wess then tells Duster
to be thankful to his friends and help them to the end. Good, so your old man
is finally amused, Duster. Let's go and take the train (or run through the
tunnel) back to the clay factory. Actually, run through the tunnel. You'll
find a chain link barrier sealing off two gift boxes open, allowing you to get
the Luxury Banana and Super Bomb inside. Give the bomb to Boney.
Once you have reached the factory, make your way to the Ropeway Station and
turn right at the junction. Climb down the hole for the Mole Cricket Hole.
------------------
Mole Cricket Hole
------------------
The Mole Cricket Hole is a network of tunnels that are similar in structure to
the Stonehenge Maze back in Earthbound. Make your way through the tunnel until
you reach some obstacle. Turn right and climb down the vine in the hole from
which you see steam coming up. It's a hot spring, use it to restore your
health and PP. Climb back up and go through the only unblocked tunnel in the
junction (it leads north). Talk to the Mole Cricket to the right of the mat.
He introduces you to his Elder and asked him to be the judge for the match. He
tells you some complicate rules before beginning the match.
The Elder asks whether you are sure you want to fight, just say yes. Despite
having trained for three years, the Mole Cricket is as weak as ever. One hit
will take him out! "That's enough!" The Elder Cricket cries, "That's enough!
We give up! To think that such a mighty mole cricket warrior would be so
easily defeated. Perhaps mole crickets aren't so powerful after all. I'll
meditate on what else this means at a later time. But for now, the match is
over. I supposed the traditional thing to do now is to be on good terms with
you. So let's be friends. Is there anything you need?"
Kumatora answers, "Actually, yeah. Do you know where the Needles sealing away
the Dark Dragon are? We're looking for them." The Mole Cricket replies, "We
mole crickets aren't very knowledgeable creatures. But call it a hunch, I
think there could be a clue to these mysterious objects on the mountain on the
far end of this mole cricket hole. I figure that's what the elder wants to say,
too. He's hard to read sometimes, though."
The Elder Cricket agrees. "The mountain! Go through this mole cricket hole and
head up the mountain! I'm certain that's what you can do!" "The mountain, huh,"
Kumatora thinks out loud, "We don't have any other leads to follow up on, so
let's check it out. Oh, hey. You guys don't know anything about the Dark
Dragon itself, do you?"
"Sadly, we don't. We really are just mole crickets. Even though he's our elder,
he's just a mole cricket too. We have no real strength at all, it's a pity.
The very least we can do. is help you by eating the lotus roots blocking your
way, and other things like that. Wow, a dragon. I bet it's really incredible."
"It must be incredible, indeed," The elder says, "I've learnt so much today. A
dragon that sleeps underground, needles that seal it away, us being
surprisingly weak. Living a long life is worth it. Do you suppose you could
tell us mole crickets about even more things?"
Just say yes. "Thanks, we'll try not to be too much of a bother, so please
raise us to be great. To start off, I'm thinking of starting a business in our
own unique, mole cricket way. Please stop by if you ever happen to see us!"
"Oh yeah, if you're going to go through this mole cricket hole, you should
take my little bro with you. He's little, but he's a tough one. You can treat
him just like any other item. Hey! Little Bro! Come here!"
You receive the Mole Cricket Brother. He is just like an Exit Mouse from
Earthbound, who teleports you to the cave entrance when you are lost. All
right, let's explore the blocked off bits of the hole. A mole cricket will be
selling Sincerity Dumplings, a food that restores 100 health. Enter the small
room to the east of the Elder and talk to the Mole Crickets there. One of them
will give you a map of the Cricket Hole.
One of the Mole Crickets is green and can save your game. The passage you need
to go is to the south. Have some crickets eat the lotus root so that you can
reach the vine. Now, examine the map. The exit is in the northeast. What you
should do is to follow the purple lines to reach the exit. As long as a line
is continuous, you can keep going in its direction, even though you may have
to climb up and down vines on the way. Eventually, you'll come to the surface.
It's a snowy mountain. The Mole Cricket bro leaves you at this point.
-----------------
Snowcap Mountain
-----------------
There is only one way to go, and it's to the north.
***************
Enemies
***************
Ten-Yeti (NEW)
HP: 640 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Fire, crying
Attacks: Swing its plank of wood, charge
The mountains are so snowy that the resident Yetis love to ski down its slopes.
These guys are cool, both literally and figuratively. A yeti may swing its
plank of wood at you, dealing around 40 damage to one character. Sometimes, it
can charge, dealing around 80 damage to one character. Whatever happens, don't
be intimidate by its large health pool. 2 rounds of carefully made combos,
with or without the usage of Fire Beta, is still enough to take one out.
Chilly Dog (NEW)
HP: 330 Music beat: Slow Vulnerabilities: Fire, sleep
Attacks: Call for help, Biting attack
What a nice pun from the people who translated the game into English. Chilly
Dogs are not tasty, but really white dogs that live in the mountains. Their
bites are weak, dealing around 40 damage to one person. Although they may call
for help, it's not really a problem since Chilly Dogs are surprisingly weak
for enemies at this stage of the game. A few decent combos can take one out,
maybe even within one round. Use Fire Beta against them when you see two come
at once.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
A Ten-Yeti will slide down the first slope you climb, so watch out. You'll
then come to a gift box guarded by two Chilly Dogs. Take them out and get the
Double Jerky inside. Double Jerky is made of beef that is twice dried. It
restores 160 health when eaten. Climb up the next slope and fight another Ten-
Yeti. Then, you'll face a Chilly Dog with another Ten-Yeti. With them defeated,
take the left path to find a dead end with a Cancer Bracelet. Equip it on
Duster to increase his defense by 5 over the Taurus Bracelet.
Continue your ascent and you'll find the Item Guy and a save frog. Save your
game and move north. A Mole Cricket would have caught up with you. Since he's
picked up a lot of stuff on the way, he'll offer to sell something to you.
*****MOLE CRICKET VENDOR*****
Sincerity Dumplings (100 DP; Restores 100 health)
Warm sweater (1000 DP; Downgrade)
Bantam Charm (540 DP; Defense +15; Lucas, Kumatora, Duster)
Bear Hat (720 DP; Defense +15; Lucas, Boney)
White Ribbon (520 DP; Defense +12; Kumatora, Boney)
Cancer Bracelet (1400 DP; Defense +20; Kumatora)
Double Jerky (240 DP; Restores 160 health)
Flea Powder (30 DP; Removes fleas)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all status ailments including incapacitation)
You should have enough money to buy everything. If you don't have any DP in
hand, leave the menu, go down to the save frog and withdraw some cash. Go back
to the north and you'll find the Mole Cricket. There's a very large hot spring
by the Magypsy Lydia's house. Use it and save once more.
Lydia is taking care of some bunnies. "Oh, dear me," he says, "My little
bunnies have run off. This is quite a surprise, you see. WE haven't had
visitors in some time. You must be cold. Come inside and warm up." Enter the
house. Looks like a blue Pigmask is sleeping in Lydia's bed. Talk to the
Magypsy for the next event.
"So you're the one they call Lucas. I've heard about you from Ionia. They say
you're the one who can pull the Needles. Such a strong, sweet face. I am Lydia,
the Magypsy of Snowcap Mountain. What you seek is behind the house. It's
surreal, realising the time has finally come for my Needle to be pulled. I
never thought this day would come to pass. When you pull the Needle, I will
vanish. This is our fate as Magypsies, so that is what must happen. When 'the
time' comes, I will welcome it with open arms. But, there is one concern I
have. Who will take care of my precious bunnies once I'm gone? No one will be
here to look after them."
Lydia looks at the asleep Pigmask, "And then there's him. He still hasn't
regained his strength yet. I hope everything works out for the best when the
time comes. We aren't permitted to interfere, and it's wrong of me to worry so
much about it. I'm a mess, a horrible Magypsy, I never believed 'the time'
would come! Lucas, pull the Needle. Because it's time." He unlocks the
backdoor of his house. "Now, then. Have faith that 'the time' has come, and go
pull the Needle. I've unlocked the door for you."
Approach the door and you'll hear the sound of Pigmask airships approaching.
"What is that?" Lydia asks, "Is this what it sounds like when 'the time'
comes?" The sound of the ships landing from the skies is heard. The Pigmask
wakes up and makes a Pork Salute, "Heil Pork!" Just kidding.
Go outside and the group will see the needle being pulled by the Masked Man.
The group walks forward to confront the Masked Man, who sends a Steel
Mechorilla your way before flying off!
Event battle! Steel Mechorilla
HP: 2850 Music beat: Moderate with breaks in between
Vulnerabilities: Lightning, crying
Attacks: Bellow a war cry (lowers one person's offense), Powerful kick, swing
a steel ball
This battle is the reason why it is advantageous to have Duster around. Have
him throw a Smoke Bomb, making the Mechorilla cry to lower his accuracy,
followed by using the Scary Mask for the next three rounds to lower its
offense greatly. This way, any attacks that hit would deal a manageable amount
of damage (a bit higher than 50 damage per hit). The Mechorilla's kicks hit
one person, while the steel ball hits two people at a time.
Lucas and Boney should stick to physical attacks. Notice that the battle theme
alternates between a threatening tone and a sweet tone. The speed at which you
tap the A button is generally the same, but expect a break at the end of the
section with the sweet tone. As for Kumatora, stick to using Freeze Beta,
instead of Thunder Beta. The reason is that the latter may cause the
Mechgorilla to short circuit and go berserk, greatly increasing the damage it
deals to you. In addition, Freeze Beta has a chance of freezing the enemy in,
allowing you to attack for a few turns with impunity.
*****END BATTLE*****
Everyone looks at the hole where the needle was. "That masked man," Kumatora
comments, "Could he be the one pulling the needles? Is Lydia alright? Head
back to the house and you'll see the fading Lydia come out and walk over to
the hole in the ground. "Lucas," he says, "Someone other than you has pulled
the needle. Whatever is inside that person's heart has been passed on to the
dark dragon. You must pull the rest of the remaining needles from here on out.
Before I disappear, take this memento of me. Take good care of it."
You receive Lydia's Memento. "Lucas," Lydia says, "This is it, 'the time' has
come. Believe in that, and keep pushing forward. This is where I say farewell.
Don't worry about me. You can use the white box at the top of this mountain to
leave. Also, go and ask my little Pigmask friend what he wants to do now."
Poof! He disappears.
Reenter the house to find the Blue Pigmask taking care of the rabbits. Despite
showing enmity towards Lucas, he is grateful of Lydia for saving him. Hence
he'll just stay here. Well, technically that would be desertion, making you no
longer on the side of the Pigmasks, right? Now, leave the house through the
back door again and head north, beyond the hole where the needle once placed
on the ground. You'll be asked whether you want to leave Snowcap Mountain. Say
yes and the four will run down the slope, up the next mountain, where they
ride a refrigerator done the slope and perform a very high ski jump off the
cliff!
By some coincidence, you all land safely in Tazmily Village. Take a rest at
home before you move on.
==============================================================
d. Return to the Saturn Valley and explore the volcano nearby
==============================================================
[10D]
Head back to the Saturn Valley. I know it's annoying, but you will have to run
the entire way! I bet Lucas, Kumatora and Duster would have become marathon
runners by the end of this!
---------------
Saturn Valley
---------------
Let's go shopping. Withdraw all your money from the save frog and check out
the southwestern house for two vendors.
*****MR. SATURN VENDOR 1*****
Funny Stick (2400 DP; Offense +40; Lucas)
Sevolg (1200 DP; Offense +35; Kumatora)
Barefoot Shoes (1520 DP; Downgrade)
Flame Pendant (1500 DP; Defense +15, Fire resist; Lucas, Kumatora, Duster)
Ice Pendant (1500 DP; Defense +15, Ice resist; Lucas, Kumatora, Duster)
Thunder Pendant (1500 DP; Defense +15, Lightning resist; Lucas, Kumatora,
Duster)
Boing Ribbon (780 DP; Defense +14; Kumatora)
Rail Bandana (940 DP; Defense +15; Duster)
Leo Bracelet (1600 DP; Defense +25; Lucas, Kumatora, Duster)
Honey Shower (300 DP; Covers an enemy with honey, causing a swarm of bees to
attack)
Attack Attractor (400 DP; Causes an enemy to stick, making it the target of
everyone's attacks)
Make sure Lucas, Kumatora and Duster are all equipped with the Flame Pendant,
since they'll be fighting many enemies with fire attacks, and it would make
sense to wear something that can half all fire damage received. It is unlikely
that you can afford to buy all 3 Leo Bracelets. In that case, buy them for the
2 people who do not have the Cancer Bracelet.
*****MR. SATURN VENDOR 2*****
White Croissant (40 DP; Restores 70 health)
Strawberry Tofu (180 DP; Restores 120 health)
Lucky Rice (126 DP; Restores a random amount of health)
Lotto Meal (104 DP; Gives a random effect when eaten)
Doggy Jerky (54 DP; Restores 150 health)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all status ailments, including incapacitation)
Cup of Lifenoodles (1780 DP; Removes all status ailemnts, revives unconscious
character with full health)
Exit this house and enter the one to the east. You'll find a Good Kid's Shirt
in the gift box. Although it gives more defense than the Flame Pendant, don't
equip it just yet. Enter the house to the northwest. Open the 2 boxes for
Strawberry Tofu and some flatulence. Talk to one of the Mr. Saturns and he
will offer thanks. Accept it and he gives you a Silver Dragonfly as a gift.
Finally, enter the house where you found Duster. Talk to the Mr. Saturn in the
centre of the house and Duster will ask him if he knows where the needle is.
It seems that Mr. Saturn does know the location! In addition, those Mr.
Saturns must have met one of the Magypsies. Duster concludes, "They're saying
to go toward the volcano to the north. Enter the cave to the back of the
valley and walk through the cave, climbing up the ladder as you do so.
Follow the signs and exit the cave. You'll find a gift box with a Cup of
Lifenoodles in it, as well as a hot spring. Bathe in the spring before
climbing up the ladder. Run past the item guy and head north. Open the gift
box for more flatulence and move over to the Mr. Saturn staring at the cliff
wall. "Fire Mountain above cliff," he says, "Can go." You'll notice a vertical
line in a darker shade of brown on the cliff above you to the right. You'll
need a boost, so talk to the Mr. Saturn again.
A team of 5 Mr. Saturns stand on top of each other, creating an improvised
ladder for Duster to climb up to the vertical line and attach some wall
staples, completing the ladder to the top. The rest of the group follows. The
Mr. Saturn column then falls apart. You are temporarily trapped, so you must
continue north to the volcano.
---------------
Volcano
---------------
You'll find a Magypsy's house at the entrance to the volcano, along with a
Mole Cricket vendor.
*****MOLE CRICKET VENDOR*****
Sincerity Dumplings (100 DP; Restores 100 health)
Anti-paralysis (14 DP; Cures paralysis)
Alarm Cicada (18 DP; Wakes a sleeping person)
Paper Fan (12 DP; Removes strangeness)
Recollection Bell (20 DP; Cures forgetfulness)
Flea Powder (30 DP; Removes fleas)
Anyway, enter the Magypsy house to find Phrygia asleep. She's left a note for
you, "Welcome. I am Phrygia, the sleeping Magypsy. I assume I'll be fast
asleep when you arrive, so I'm leaving this letter here for you. I'm a little
more serious and detail-oriented than the other Magypsies. Hello again, Lucas.
Ionia told me you would be coming here. The Dark Dragon Needle you're to pull
is in a lake of lava up ahead. I don't mind if you pull it while I'm asleep.
It will mean 'the time' has come, and I will disappear in my sleep. There is a
boulder blocking the path to the volcano. You should give it some Encouraging
Words. Well, good luck. Smoochie smoochie."
You receive some Encouraging Words, so let's head out and go north to the
volcano entrance. You'll find a boulder blocking the way. Examine it and Lucas
will speak some Encouraging Words to the boulder, causing it to move aside.
Follow the path to find 3 more boulders blocking your path. First, speak some
of those words to the frontmost boulder to make it move left. After that,
speak to the boulder that was revealed to make it move back. Speak to the
frontmost boulder again to make it move back to its original position. Then,
walk over to the boulder in the centre and speak to it to make it go right.
You can now enter the volcano. Get ready for some red hot enemies here!
***************
Enemies
***************
Sky Titany (NEW)
HP: 500 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Ice, crying
Attacks: Physical attack, Charge, Hypnosis Alpha
The Titanies are back following a long hiatus from chapter 1. These ones fly
and can deal around 40-65 damage with their physical attacks. Since it may be
hard to score combos on them, consider making them cry with a Smoke Bomb,
reducing your chance to be hit.
Mrs. Lava (NEW)
HP: 500 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Ice, sleep
Attacks: Physical attack, Fire Gamma, Plant an unwanted kiss
Mrs. Lava is a blob of lava with female eyes and lips. Their physical attacks
are just the tip of the iceberg. It's their fire attacks that deal the most
damage. Now, do you feel lucky to have bought Fire Pendants?
Pyrefly (NEW)
HP: 270 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Ice, numbness
Attacks: Fire up and charge, Call for help
Pyreflies are stronger versions of Fireflies. However, they are still very
weak health wise and can be defeated within two combos.
Scampering Mushroom (NEW)
HP: 400 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Fire, numbness
Attacks: Combo attack, scatter spores
Drop: Hot Spring Egg
It's not been long, but you'll meet yet another stronger type of mushroom.
Scampering mushrooms are blue mushrooms that perform combo attacks, attempting
to hit someone twice for around 25-35 damage per hit. They are quite fast, so
expect to be hit. The eggs that they drop restore 100 health when eaten.
Magman (NEW)
HP: 600 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Ice, strangeness
Attacks: Erupt, Spawn Pyreflies, Physical attack
Magman are walking mini-volcanoes. They just love to erupt, dealing between 70
and 90 damage to any three group members. Sometimes, they will release two
Pyreflies to their aid. Their physical attacks hit for a little more than 50
damage.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Defeat the enemies in front of you and take the left path for a gift box.
You'll find a Pencil Rocket, so give it to Boney. Head over to the other path
and go north. Open the gift box just before the Pigmasks for a Double Jerky.
Head over to the Pigmasks to overhear the conversation. It seems that Fassad
has undergone a huge makeover to change his image. He has somehow gone much
louder than before with his horns. But then, they spot you, so let's fight!
Event Battle! Pigmask Captain (x2)
HP: 420 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Ice, sleep
Attacks: Fire a beam
This battle isn't hard, although the Pigmasks' beams can hurt a lot, dealing
over 65 damage per hit. Given the easiness of the battle theme, it won't be
hard to score combos and take one out within one round.
*****END BATTLE*****
Once the captains are knocked out, move north to face two Sky Titanies.
Continue north and you'll find a gift box with a Cup of Lifenoodles before you
reach an opening in the cave wall. Follow the path to the west, past a Pyrefly
and Mrs. Lava. You'll reach a fork, let's go through the opening to the south
first. Fight your way past 3 Scampering Mushrooms to get the Saltwater Gun at
the end of this cave.
Head back out and go west. Follow the path along the wall north until you see
another opening in the wall. Enter that cave to find a gift box with rhythmic
flatulence! But that's not all, go south for a magic butterfly and a Luxury
Banana. You can now get out and head east. There will be a fork in the path.
Follow the north path, behind the giant pillar for a Secret Herb. After that,
take the south path and follow it. Defeat the Mrs. Lava that jumps out of the
lava and walk around in circles if someone's feverish. When the character's
learnt the new PSI move, eat and use Lifeup to heal everyone to full health.
Go north and you'll see the needle.
Everything seems clear, until you hear a voice from above. "'I found you, I
finally found you. Nwehehehe!' is what Fassad says." You see Fassad, now
wearing a jet pack come down to you. Two horns stick out of his mouth! He is
accompanied by a robot translator. "Please forgive my late introduction," she
says, "I am Fassad's interpreter." Fassad starts talking, or I should say,
blow his horns, making some Magypsy like melody.
"'Because of you, I feel more beautiful, newer and more wonderful than ever
before, but I will not thank you.' is what Fassad just said." I guess Fassad
suffered serious, but not fatal injuries falling off the Thunder Tower,
although his voice box was permanently damaged, forcing him to speak through
two horns!
"'Blunder? Threw me off Blunder Tower?'" The interpreter is stumped by what
Fassad is trying to say. "I'm sorry I don't understand, Ah. '...off Thunder
Tower. You threw me off Thunder Tower.' He goes on to say, 'The resulting
shame, pain and woe are humiliating. Very humiliating. Therefore, I would very
much like to return the favour in full. Today will be the day I make you cry,
I will make you cry uncle. I do not believe I will ever lose to the likes of
you again, Nwehehehehe!' is what Fassad says."
"'Now let us begin, kind sirs. I will show a mature, grownup terribleness. And
that terribleness is a very mature and grownup terribleness.' is what Fassad
says. He also adds, 'Nwehehehehe!'" Fassad swoops down on you!
Event battle! New Fassad
HP: ~3100-3200 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Can't smell
Attacks: Fire a whole bunch of beams, Music horn attack, Throw a flea bomb,
Use a shield device, Charge, Smile boldly (wastes turn), Throw a whole bunch
of bombs, Scarf down a Luxury Banana (Heals himself for over 500 health)
Drop: Luxury Banana
Fassad must be really mad at you. He can perform many attacks so haphazardly
at you. For instance, he can fire a whole bunch of beams, dealing around 80
damage to 3 people in the group, as well as attack with his music horn,
dealing over 80 damage to one single person. Furthermore, he can deal around
120 damage by charging at someone. Whatever happens, you should have Lucas
cast Shield Omega on the entire group to half the damage.
Fassad himself is protected by a shield, so have Kumatora, Duster and Boney
bash him during the first round to destroy it. Fassad will most likely not
bother putting his shield back up. In the following two rounds, Lucas and
Boney should attack using physical attacks or explosives, while Duster lowers
Fassad's defense twice with the Tickle Stick. Kumatora should stick with using
Freeze Beta all the time, in hopes of immobilising him every now and then. Now,
just watch out your health meters and have Lucas heal using Lifeup Beta when
someone's health drops below 100. This is because New Fassad will eventually
attack by throwing a whole bunch of bombs. These bombs can't be mitigated by
your shield and will deal around 120 damage to three people in the group!
If someone has fleas, removes it immediately unless it's Boney who's affected.
Fassad cannot be sniffed at, so don't bother using it at all.
*****END BATTLE*****
"Nwehehehe!" Fassad laughs through his interpreter, "Followed by 'Hehehe!
Nwehehehehe!' Fassad also says, 'I will humbly make you pay for this.' And he
says it with intense emotion. I believe it is an anger-filled emotion." Haha,
I guess the interpreter also acts as his emoticon device! Fassad flies off,
leaving you to pull the needle. Examine it and pull! The same piercing sound
is heard, followed by the customary whoosh of smoke from the hole, as well as
the subsequent earthquake. Lucas learns Love Gamma.
The fading Phrygia joins you. "I thought it would get pulled while I was
asleep, but I saw it," she says, "I saw the Needle get pulled! That leaves 3
more left. Unlike the other Magypsies, I am very data oriented." And lazy too!
"I'll tell you about the Needles and then disappear. One Needle is on Tanetane
Island, south of Tazmily. I believe Mixolydia is protecting it. Another
Needles is in Chupichupyoi Temple, deep in the Oriander Mountains. I believe
Ionia is protecting it. I think you already know this, of course, but it's
said that the heart of whoever pulls the Needles is passed on to the Dark
Dragons. Instil the power of power, the darkness of darkness, and the light of
light into your spirit. Let me peer into your eyes. Thank you, thank you Lucas.
I wrote down everything I just told you in this secret notebook. Take it with
you." You get Phrygia's Notebook.
"And one other one, the needle said to be sticking out of the Dragon's head. I
can't seem to locate it at all. Nor Locria, who's supposed to protect that
particular needle. I'm so picky about details, yet I have no idea where they
are. Having to disappear without finding out, it's just a little bit sad.
Please, don't forget me. Here, this is a memento of me. A razor and lipstick."
You receive Phrygia's Memento before she disappears. Now, just fight your way
out of here! It's going to be hard since you've spent a lot of PP during the
battle against Fassad. Consider eating something to heal yourselves.
Climb back down to Saturn Valley, to find a Pigmask Major plant a bomb at the
mouth of the cave leading out of the valley, blocking the exit. You are
trapped! Reenter the house in which Duster was found and talk to the Mr.
Saturn standing in front of the totem pole. "Pig Person broke tunnel and left,"
he says. Duster asks, "Is there any other way to leave besides that tunnel?"
"We collect birdies," The Mr. Saturn replies, "Lots of birdies for flying
vehicles. But not enough birdies yet. Maybe one more." Duster is puzzled,
"We're going to fly using birds?" he asks.
Now, get back out and walk slowly back to the blocked tunnel mouth. There are
several red birds here. Whatever you do, don't run or they will fly off. Get
close to one and examine it to catch it. Once the bird is caught, talk to the
same Mr. Saturn again to hand over the bird. "Use birdies to make good thing,"
that Mr. Saturn says, "You wait in hot spring." Do as he says and enter the
hot spring. Talk to the Mr. Saturn there and he will offer some coffee to you.
Accept the offer for a rap session involving scrolling text.
"No one is simply born 'strong'. People only grow stronger little by little,
by encountering difficult situations and learning not to run from them, no
matter how frightening or daunting they may me.
Lucas. That is exactly what you have done to grow strong. However, you did not
do it for yourself. You grew strong for those you would otherwise be unable to
help. They are the reason you are strong. Even now, you occasionally show a
glimpse of it, Lucas. Fleeting images of that once-pampered, crybaby boy can
sometimes be seen in your smile. You've come a very long way.
There is not telling what to expect from here on out, but if one thing is
certain, it's that those who believe in you will be right there to help. Trust
in them. Now go forth, toward whatever stands out the most in your eyes. Go,
facing not the darkness, but the light.
Lucas and his companions. You have driven the enemy into a corner. The enemy's
back is to the wall. There is nothing to fear now. Everyone is watching on,
with complete faith in you, in their hearts, they all say, 'Thank you!' Can
you hear them?"
After this little encouragement, a Mr. Saturn will offer to polish your Badge
of Courage. In addition, the "birdie cage" is done. It's time to see what it's
all about. Looks like the Mr. Saturns have placed a number of birds in a cave.
Examine it and you'll be asked whether you want to ride it. Just say yes.
Duster asks, "So we just hold onto this rope, then?" Suddenly, the Rope Snake
comes out, "Hold it!" he cries, "You guys really think that cheap role will
last all the way to Tazmily with you hanging on it? Have some faith in me. I
may have dislocated my jaw that last time, but I still got plenty left in me!
Just give me one more chance!" Let's accept his offer.
"That's what I am talking about! I knew I could expect great things from you!
Lucas! This looks to be a manly journey through the skies." The birdcage is
raised into the air, and Duster grabs onto it using the Rope Snake. Everyone
holds on, while Boney bites onto Lucas' shorts, pulling it down slightly and
revealing his behind! Despite the Rope Snake's best efforts, he eventually
lets go. Are our heroes going to be separated again? No! They all fall into
the sea near Tazmily Village.
The Rope Snake has completely lost his backbone now. "You bet on me, but it
seems you lost, huh? Yep, I fell. As did you, after you bet on me. I think
that for a while, I'm going to act like a fat worm and hide myself inside a
hole. So don't talk to me. The heroic and cool Rope Snake you once knew is
dead. In a tiny quiet voice I say, so long." The snake slithers off. He'll
never rejoin Duster again. Pity.
================================================
e. Walk across the sea floor to Tanehane Island
================================================
[10E]
Your next stop is Tanehane Island. You'll have to dive down to the sea to get
there. Examine the sea and you'll be asked whether you want to dive in, so
let's do that.
---------------
The seafloor
---------------
For some reason, Lucas and company will be walking on the seabed, instead of
swimming on the surface. Notice that bar in the bottom left corner of the
screen? That denotes your air supply. If it runs out, you won't drown, but
you'll be sent back to the beach, no matter how far you have gone, so watch
out! Your oxygen can be replenished by oxygen machines, which resemble mermen
with giant lips. They'll give you the French kiss to restore your air!
NOTE: If you do get swept back to the beach, talk to Bronson to sunbathe for a
while, restoring your health and PP.
***************
Enemies
***************
Rooound Fish (NEW)
HP: 530 Music beat: Slow Vulnerabilities: Lightning, sleep
Attacks: Vacuum attack (lowers someone's offense and defense), physical attack,
Freeze Beta
Rooound Fish are green one eyed fish with red lips. They often attack faster
than the group, but deal only around 40 damage per hit. The only thing you
have to watch out are their Freeze attacks. The good thing is that these fish
aren't aggressive. They won't fight you unless you walk into them.
Navy SQUEAL (NEW)
HP: 570 Music beat: Moderate with breaks in between
Vulnerabilities: Lightning, numbness
Attacks: Fire a torpedo, fire a beam, tickle (lower someone's defense), decide
that it's time to go on a paid vacation (flees from battle)
Navy SQUEALs are the marines of the Pig Army. They can fire their torpedoes at
you, dealing around 60 damage to any 3 members of the group. Sometimes,
they'll resort to shooting you with their beams, dealing 70 damage to one
person. For marines, Navy SQUEALs are cowards. They very often suddenly decide
to take a paid vacation, fleeing from battle. As a result, you'll win but not
gain any experience at all!
Carefree Jellyfish (NEW)
HP: 480 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Lightning, sleep
Attacks: Tentacle attack
Carefree Jellyfish are docile creatures that won't specifically come after you.
It's easy to attack one from behind, allowing you to quickly take it out
before it can even react.
Rock Lobster (NEW)
HP: 600 Music beat: Varies Vulnerabilities: Lightning, numbness
Attacks: Glare rebelliously (lowers someone's offense), brandish a pincer
Drop: Giant Abalone Steak
Rock Lobsters are much tougher variants of the Spineless Lobsters. They have
such a high defense, making it hard to hurt them using physical attacks. Their
pincers deal around 70 damage to one person. It may be a good idea to lower
its defense using Duster before fighting it. The music beat varies between
slow and fast, so it's hard to make combos. As a rough guide to the beat, try
to tap along with the bass of the music.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Keep going south and you'll find the first oxygen machine. Move on and you'll
find a hole to the left. Climb down to face some green Rooound Fish. Climb up
the ladder beyond them for a high ledge with a gift box. Open the box for a
Virgo Bracelet. It can only be equipped by Kumatora, increasing her defense by
1 and maximum PP by 10 over the Leo Bracelet. Rush back to the first oxygen
machine to refill your air supply. Continue south and take the right fork in
the path. You'll find a blue gift box with the Sea Floor Map inside. Head back
to the oxygen machine for even more oxygen.
Continue your way and you'll meet a Navy SQUEAL, the marines of the Pig Army!
Fight past another one of them and you'll reach another fork. First, take the
right path and replenish your oxygen supply. After that, go back to the fork
and take the left path. You must hurry, since the next oxygen machine is quite
far away. If all goes well, you'll climb down the ladder and reach the next
oxygen machine in the nick of time.
Make your way past the Carefree Jellyfish and Rooound Fish to reach the next
ladder. You find a gift box at the dead end, guarded by a Fish Roe Man.
Special enemy! Fish Roe Man
HP: 1800 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Numbness
Attacks: Fish Roe Kick, flurry of arms and legs, leap into someone's mouth
This is one freaky enemy that can hurt a lot. The Fish Roe Kick deals over 80
damage to one person, while the flurry of arms and legs can deal around 120
damage to any 3 people. Kumatora should cast Paralysis Alpha on the Fish Roe
Man at the first round, while Duster uses the Scary Mask to lower the enemy's
offense a few times. Having said, it's not hard to score combos against the
Fish Roe Man. Once you have dealt over 1800 damage to him, he'll leap into one
group member's mouth, dealing over 80 damage, making his mouth burn and ending
the battle.
*****END BATTLE*****
The Fish Roe Man was guarding an Awesome Crown. It increases Lucas' defense by
5 and his maximum PP by 30 over the Bear Hat. Now, let's head back to the
oxygen machine to refill your air and go all the way back to the path to the
right. Things are going to be very tight, I warn you. Replenish your oxygen
and continue south, turning right at the fork for a Magic Tart. Keep going
south, past some Carefree Jellyfish, for Double Jerky. Keep moving for another
oxygen machine near a Navy SQUEAL.
Turn right at the next fork, past the broken down oxygen machine. Fight past
the next Navy SQUEAL for a functioning one. Go south from the machine for a
Cup of Lifenoodles. Replenish your oxygen yet again before going left. Fight
your way past 2 Rock Lobsters for the next machine. You arrive at a large
series of holes. Climb down the first one you see for a seashell guarded by a
Rock Lobster. The Hermit Crab Shell is for a hermit crab that's lost his shell.
He can be found to a path to the northwest. I suggest you don't bother with it
since all you get is money.
Head out of that hole and go down the one to the southwest for another oxygen
machine and a gift box. There is a Magic Tart inside the box. I suggest that
you refill your oxygen with this machine every time you have finished
examining one of those holes in the area.
Head back out and examine the hole directly south for the first one. You'll
find a box guarded by a Navy SQUEAL. This one holds a Bomb. Enter the
easternmost hole for a tunnel. Open the first gift box you see for Magic
Pudding. The one after that holds the Trivia Card 3. Climb up the ladder and
quickly hurry south to the next oxygen machine. You should be able to reach it
just in time.
Continue along the path and you'll find some Magic Pudding in the next gift
box. Refill your air again and get a move on. You'll find a green fish by the
next machine, which is actually a save frog. Save your game and refill your
oxygen for one last time. Head east for one more Magic Tart before going south
to face the Master Eddy.
Event Battle! Master Eddy
HP: 2500 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Lightning
Attacks: Generate a whirlpool, physical attack (x2), coil around someone
(immobilises someone)
The Master Eddy will suck you in to start the battle. He attacks by generating
whirlpools, dealing nearly 90 damage to everyone in the group. He always
attacks twice when he uses his physical attack, dealing around 40 damage per
hit. Duster should start by lowering his offense with the Scary Mask for a
couple of times while Kumatora uses Thunder Beta in every round. Note that the
damage dealt by the whirlpool cannot be lowered using the Scary Mask. Lucas
will have his hands full with the healing, so let Kumatora help at times. Once
you have dealt over 2500 damage to Master Eddy, he'll generate one last
whirlpool and wash you onto Tanetane Island. The problem is that you would
have lost all your items!
----------------
Tanetane Island
----------------
The group awakes on the beach of Tanetane Island. "Where are we?" Kumatora
asks, "Tanetane Island? Damn, all our items got washed away and we have no
energy left. Let's try to find something to eat." A nearby frog will give you
an emergency message, telling you that your energy is at rock bottom. Go south
and you'll find the frog inside a snake's stomach. Save your game through the
frog and examine the mushrooms to the right.
"These mushrooms," Kumatora comments, "They have a funky looking colour, but
they are okay to eat, right?" Anyway, let's eat them. Everyone but Boney eats
them and suffer from hallucinations as a result! But still, all your health is
restored! The music goes all funky, so let's go east into the jungle. Hey,
it's Flint! Talk to him, "Oh, Lucas," he says, "What are you doing here? Are
you lost?" Meanwhile, Boney is barking his head off, what's wrong? Answer yes,
"Oh, there's nothing wrong with being lost!" And a battle begins!
Event battle! Eerie Smile
HP: 2500 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Fire, numbness
Attacks: Shoot out mold spores (hits everyone, might poison), burst into
laughter, physical attack
You will be fighting against some hallucination. Kumatora should cast
Paralysis Alpha during the first round, while Duster uses his Scary Mask. This
Eerie Smile is likely to start off by shooting out mold spores, hitting
everyone for around 40 damage and potentially poisoning them all. By
paralysing this smile, you get to prevent it from performing many of its
attacks, like bursting into laughter, which deals around 30 damage to one
person. Kumatora should then attack using Fire Beta for every subsequent round,
while everyone else bashes. Once you have dealt over 1000 damage to this smile,
its real identity will be revealed. It's actually a big shroom! Continue to
beat it up until it stops moving.
*****END BATTLE*****
Thanks to your hallucinations, you will confuse many enemies with people you
know in the past. Talk to them and they will say weird things to you, while
Boney barks his head off. After that, you'll have to fight against these Eerie
Smiles. All of these smiles will disappear and reveal the actual enemy once
you have dealt enough damage to them. Don't worry, none of them are as strong
as the first Eerie Smile.
Go east to find Wess. "Duster, he says, "It was my fault you lost full use of
your left leg. I'm sorry. Don't leave me again. Come with me. Let's leave this
place together." Let's try saying no. "You ungrateful child. You would make
anyone cry." Wess disappears. Go north and through the small gap between the
trees to the west. You'll find a trash can. Open it for a Luxury Banana, maybe.
Head back to the main path and you'll find another trash can to the east. This
one contains a Cup of Lifenoodles.
Go north and you'll come to a postbox filled with postcards. The postcards say
various nasty things about Lucas:
The boy named Lucas is crying at a grave.
The boy named Lucas and his dog are loitering in the forest.
The boy named Lucas is getting into trouble in the mountains.
The boy named Lucas stole Nuts from our garden.
The boy named Lucas is bullying animals.
The boy named Lucas learned some bad magic.
The boy named Lucas... The boy named Lucas... The boy named Luca, The boy named
Lucas. The postbox then let out a tremendous scream.
It's obvious that these postcards are a reflection of some mental scars deep
inside Lucas' mind. Go east to find, to your surprise, a 13 year old Claus.
"Say, Lucas, what are you up to? It looks so fun! Let me join you!" Boney is
barking his head off again, so let's say no. "You won't let me join in? Why
not? Why not? Why won't you let me join in?" You'll have to fight this
hallucination.
It turned out to be a cross between an orang-utan and a walrus. To the south
are various postboxes. Open them for various things including: Various screams,
sheer never-ending darkness, the sound of yourself crying, nothing after
nothing, pretty butterflies. A woman approaches you, "Have you seen me
anywhere? Where could I have gone? You hid me, didn't you?" Fight this smile,
it's some fire dragon. After that, you'll find Kumatora disguised as Violet.
Go west and open the trash can for some Magic Pudding.
Now, talk to Violet. "Go to sleep," she says, "In the absolute darkness. Don't
do anything. Don't see anyone. Just sleep. It be oh, so much fun!" Fight this
Eerie Smile, which turned out to be one of those orang-utan walrus things. The
next postbox will show yourself looking back at you when you peek inside. A
lady to the right approaches you. "Your mommy's waiting for you," she says,
"She's waiting for you with fresh-made Omelette. She's waiting. She's waiting
for you!" It's time to fight again, this time it's a Titany in disguise.
So far, this part of the game feels like the film Lord of War, when Nicolas
Cage's character sniffed cocaine laced with gunpowder, causing him to have
hallucinations based on his guilt over his arms dealing business. Go south to
find Claus again. "Everyone's waiting for you," he says, "Everyone's waiting
to throw rocks at you, spit on you, and make your life hell. Who's 'everyone'?
Everyone you love." This Eerie Smile is a mini dragon in disguise. Open the
trash can behind "Claus" for an Alligator Hat. Equip it on Boney to raise his
defense by 5 over the Bear Hat. This hat also makes Boney immune to fleas.
Go east to see Wess again. "You haven't eaten?" He asks, "You haven't eaten?
You haven't eaten? You haven't eaten? You haven't eaten? You haven't eaten?"
Fight this Smile! Another Claus will then be found to the southeast. "Let's
switch places," he says, "Let's switch places. Lucas. Lucas. Let's switch
places. You're more, you're more..." Fight this thing off again! Go south into
the alcove for another trash can. Open it for a Fairy Ribbon. Equip it on
Kumatora to raise her defense by 4 over the Boing Ribbon.
Head north to find Wess yet again. "Is is is is is there there there there
there something something something something something on on on on on on on
on my my my my face face face face face face face face???" He asks. Well, for
one thing, there's something wrong with the way you speak! "You're scary.
You're you're you're you're you're too too too too too too ssss ssss sssscary
scary." And you need a speech therapist, Wess! Fight your hallucinations again.
Continue north to find another postbox and TWO Flints!
"It's almost suppertime," one of the Flints says, "Hinawa should be back soon.
What? She's not coming back? Why, did you do something to her? Huh? I did it
to her? Hinawa isn't coming back? Who are you? What did you do? It's time for
supper. It's time for supper." Beat up this hallucination! Examine the postbox
for a pile of rotten, putrid omelettes before talking to the other Flint. "I'm
gonna beat you. I'm gonna beat you, boy. Daddy's gonna beat you." But hey, you
are gonna beat this Eerie Smile up.
Continue north to find a fork in the path. Go left for a hot spring. You also
find Alec accompanied by Salsa. Surprise, this Salsa can talk, "Of course I
can talk. I can talk forever and ever about how it was Lucas' fault that I
wound up in trouble. Lucas did it. Lucas did it. Lucas did it. Lucas did it."
Alec then says, "Who were you again? Wh wh wh whoo whoooo who w w w were w w
wwwww were you yyou youuu y you again?" before bursting into laughter.
You'll find a postbox near the hot spring. There is nothing inside, except for
the 1000 rat corpses. Enter the hot spring. Despite how luxurious the whole
thing looks, Boney refuses to enter the water. Why wouldn't he do that? As a
result, he will not be healed. Use Lifeup to top him up before going east. You
then find a 10 year old Claus accompanied by your father. "What? Pulling a
needle?" Flint asks, "And where is this thing? There is no such thing. Let's
hurry home now. Needle? A needle, you say? Are you the needle? Don't be stupid!
I oughta pull you!" Claus then says, "Lucas! We finally meet again! It's me,
Claus. Touch my heart. See how it beats in and out? Lucas! There's nothing to
worry about now. It's me! Claus!"
You now have to fight two Eerie Smile at the same time. Start by casting Fire
Beta before bashing away. When the front enemy is knocked out, have Kumatora
cast Freeze Gamma on the one left. Go right and you'll see a woman. "Hello,
ice cream. Let me lick you all up." It's another of those hallucinations. Go
north and talk to Alec. "Princess Kumatora isn't a princess," he says,
"Princess Kumatora isn't a princess. She's like a stick no one loves." Defeat
this hallucination and climb up the vine.
You'll find a caravan next to Pusher, the mayor of Tazmily. He offers the pull
a needle out of you! Talk to Alec to the left and he will say, "Nothing but
lies, nothing but lies. You're nothing more than nothing but lies. Truths are
lies and lies are truths. You, you're all lies." Defeat this final Eerie Smile
and climb up the vine for the Magypsy house.
Enter the house to find a sailor named Ocho. He introduces you to Mixolydia.
Talk to Mixolydia, who's at her table. "Oh me, oh my! We have visitors. And
look, they're all hopped up on mushrooms. You people stink. Oh, wait a minute.
Might you be Lucas, Kumatora and Duster?" Just say yes. "Wow, you guys really
stink. Ionia told me about you. I'm Mixolydia, one of the Magypsies. If that's
too hard to remember, 'Mixo', no, 'Missy' will do just fine. Okay, line up
here." The four stand in a line in front of Mixolydia.
"Yuck, what a stench," Mixolydia says, "Just a tiny bite of those mushrooms
will cause terrible hallucinations. Powerful hallucinations that tear at your
weaknesses and the scars in your heart. But I'll bring you back to your senses
now." She proceeds to whack each of you in the head with a stick.
So that explains the things those people said in the jungle, as well as the
horrible postcards. Lucas misses his mom and twin brother terribly, feels
sceptical about the needles and feels neglected by Flint. Kumatora, despite
her tough appearance is actually very lonely inside. She lacks a person that
gives her true love and care. As for Duster, he begrudges his dad for training
him too hard when he was young, crippling his left leg. In addition, he feels
underappreciated by Wess.
Now that you have regained your consciousness, the music and colours return to
normal. "There," Missy says, "All better. I am amazed you even made it this
far after eating those horrid things. I know what you want to ask. This
island's Needle is at the top of the hill. I sense that 'the time' has come
too. So whenever you want to pull it, go ahead. That's assuming you can get
rid of the special barrier I set up to protect it, of course. Oh, I almost
forgot. My friend Ocho here picked up each and every item you dropped in the
ocean. Be sure to thank him."
Talk to Ocho to obtain all the items that you have dropped in the sea. It's
likely that you are holding too many things, so throw some useless things away,
if necessary. Get out of the house and talk to the Mole Cricket Vendor.
*****MOLE CRICKET VENDOR*****
Sincerity Dumplings (100 DP; Restores 100 health)
Spiky Weapon (3240 DP; Offense +47; Lucas, Kumatora, Duster)
Feather Charm (1280 DP; Defense +18; Lucas, Kumatora, Duster)
Libra Bracelet (2400 DP; Defense +30; Lucas, Kumatora Duster)
Double Jerky (240 DP; Restores 160 health)
Alarm Cicada (18 DP; Wakes a sleeping person)
Recollection Bell (20 DP; Cures forgetfulness)
Flea Powder (30 DP; Removes fleas)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all status ailments, including incapacitation)
Cup of Lifenoodles (1780 DP; Removes all status ailemnts, revives unconscious
character with full health)
Don't buy a Spiky Weapon for Lucas, since better things are coming up for him.
Also don't buy the Feather Charms yet, since the Flame Pendants will be
important in an upcoming boss battle. What you should buy are the Libra
Bracelets. Go through the gate and into the cave.
***************
Enemies
***************
Scampering Mushroom
HP: 400 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Fire, numbness
Attacks: Combo attack, scatter spores
Drop: Hot Spring Egg
For some reason, these blue mushrooms also live on Tanetane Island. They will
continue to perform combo attacks, attempting to hit someone twice for around
25-35 damage per hit. Given your levels, consider them cannon fodder. The eggs
that they drop restore 100 health when eaten.
Titanian (NEW)
HP: 470 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Ice, numbness
Attacks: Brandish a pincer, Hypnosis Omega
Drop: Secret Herb
This is another step up from the Sky Titany. These things have heavy armour
and a pincer that deals around 40 damage to one of you. Let's hope he doesn't
cast Hypnosis Omega on you, as he can make everyone fall asleep. Always use
Freeze Beta once to make this battle go faster.
Unwelcome Gust (NEW)
HP: 600 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Lightning, numbness
Attacks: Physical attacks, generate waterspout, grin (wastes turn)
Drop: Magic Pudding
These are whirlwinds that live on the hills above Tanetane Island. You will
usually face one or two at a time. Their physical attacks deal around 60
damage to one person while their waterspouts can hit any 3 group members for
around 40 damage. Given the damage they can deal to you and their high health
values, consider it a bonus whenever one grins at you. The Magic Pudding that
they drop can be used to restore any PP spent healing after the fight.
Ancient Dragonfly (NEW)
HP: 400 Music beat: Fast with breaks in between
Vulnerabilities: Ice, numbness
Attacks: Breath fire, call for help
Drop: Beef Jerky
This is no ordinary dragonfly; it's a small dragon with wings! This is one of
those fire breathing dragons. However, they'll do very little damage to all of
you, thanks to the Flame Pendants that you are wearing.
Monkalrus (NEW)
HP: 650 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Fire, sleep
Attacks: Physical attack, bum-rush, send fleas flying, take a powerful swing
Drop: Luxury Banana
This is a chimera made by melding a walrus' head with a monkey's body. These
things hit quite hard, dealing around 100 damage when they bum-rush you. Their
power swings are weaker, dealing around 60 damage. However, it might make the
target forget how to use his special moves. It's also not uncommon to find
these flea ridden beasts fling their fleas at you. However, their battle theme
is easy to score combos with. There is no need to use any Fire spells against
this enemy. You'd expect them to drop bananas, of course.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
The cave is inhabited by Scampering Mushrooms and Titanians. These enemies can
be easily defeated piecemeal. Exit the cave at the other end to scale the hill.
There is a Unwelcome Gust on patrol. Defeat it and open the gift box beyond it
for a mambo rhythm. Go north for a junction guarded by 2 Unwelcome Gusts. Use
Thunder Beta to take them out faster. Go west at the junction, past two
Unwelcome Gusts for a Vigour Stick. The Vigour Stick raises Lucas' offense by
10 over the Funny Stick. Now you know why the Spiky Weapon is a ripoff! Go
back to the junction and go north, across the bridge.
Another gift box can be found on the island to the right of the path. Open it
for a Swallow Bandana, which raises Duster's defense by 5 over the Rail
Bandana when equipped. Continue along the path and you'll find a save frog.
Save now. Before you go north, stop. Is Lucas at level 45, and has he learnt
PSI Shield Omega? If not, which is often the case, go back to the jungle and
fight some enemies to raise him up to that level.
It may interest you to find that the "hot spring" you bathed in while you were
hallucinating was actually a pool of industrial sludge! No wonder Boney
refused to enter it. But thanks to the placebo effect, the three were not
poisoned. The real hot spring is behind a door to the north. Once you are
levelled up, head back to the needle.
Save, heal up and eat some magic desserts to fill up your PP. Go north to find
the needle guarded by 3 giant purple statues. "Are these the Barrier Trio?"
Kumatora asks, "Each one of their names is carved here. Barrier Man, Barrier
Gal, Barrier Dude. Are they really that strong?" The three statues wake up,
starting the fight!
Event battle! Barrier Trio
HP: 4000+ (see below) Music beat: Try to follow the percussion beat
Vulnerabilities: Varies during each pose
Attacks: Fire Beta, Fire Gamma, Thunder Beta, Freeze Omega, Defense Up Omega,
Starstorm
During the first round, Lucas should immediately cast PSI Shield Omega to half
the amount of PSI damage dealt to everyone. Duster should immediately use the
Tickle Stick to lower the Trio's defense. As for Kumatora and Boney, start
with physical attacks. The Barrier Trio will not attack, instead make a
Barrier Pose.
For the next round, have Boney sniff the Barrier Trio to see which type of
elemental attacks the Trio is vulnerable to. Duster should use a physical
attack to destroy the Trio's shield. After that, Lucas, Duster and Boney
should stick with physical attacks while Kumatora repeatedly uses elemental
PSI attack corresponding with their vulnerability. Meanwhile, the Trio will
attack using powerful Fire attacks, up to the Gamma rank. However, their
damage will be reduced by 75% thanks to your shield and Flame Pendant (Boney
is the one that suffers the most since he can't equip Flame Pendants). Now,
you only have Thunder Beta to worry about.
The battle theme is very complicated. You're expected to try and tap the A
button along with the percussion beats! But no matter, since Kumatora is
exploiting the Trio's elemental weaknesses, let her deal most of the damage.
Once you have dealt enough damage (usually between 1000 and 2000 damage) to
the Trio, their pose will collapse, prompting them to make a new one. At the
following turn, have Boney sniff the Trio again to see whether their
vulnerability has changed, while everyone else use their physical attacks.
Also notice how the Trio will occasionally cast Defense Up Omega. That is in
response to Duster lowering their defense. In fact, by lowering their defense
constantly, you can coax the trio into wasting their turn by casting Defense
Up Omega, lowering the damage dealt to you.
Once you have dealt around 4000 damage to the Barrier Trio, they will drop its
pose one last time and concentrate during the following turn. Make sure
everyone's PSI Shields are still up. This is because the Trio will then cast
Starstorm on the entire party, dealing around 120 damage to everyone if you
are all shielded. Once you've survived that hit, you've won the battle by
default. This is because the Trio will attempt one more Starstorm, but fail
due to lack of strength. All they could do is to make one last pose before
they concede defeat.
*****END BATTLE*****
Just as you are about to pull the needle, a number of Pig Army ships swoop
down from the sky. The Pigmask Majors come out and lay a red carpet for the
Masked Man. The Masked Man walks over to you and knocks you all out with a
bolt of lightning, allowing him to get to the needle while the Pigmasks
applaud him. Now, he pulls this needle, making the score 3-2 for the Masked
Man. Damn, why can't Lucas quickly pull the needle rather than watch the
Pigmasks land!
The fading Mixolydia comes over. "Hey, you," she says, "Just how long are you
going to sleep there?" The four get up. "That was surprisingly disappointing,"
Missy continues. I agree. After all, you could have quickly ran over and
pulled it before they could even land! "Lucas, your heart wasn't the one
passed on to the Dark Dragon; that Masked Man's was. But there's nothing we
can do about that. Fate is fate. But it's odd. I should be sensing that masked
man's heart coming from the earth, but I'm not feeling anything at all. I'm
about to disappear now, so Ocho will take care of the rest. I instructed him
to wait for you at the beach. You can ride on his back all the way back to
Tazmily Village. I'll give you my razor and lipstick. Take good care of them,
almost as if they were me."
You receive Missy's Memento. "Oh wait," she says, "I almost forgot something
very important. Could you give this to Ionia for me?" You receive a jar of
Yummy Pickles. In Tazmily, I believe there is a 'map-loving and map-owning'
fellow, yes? I think he'll know where Ionia's house is. So hurry there. Take
this to Ionia. Oh, I'm disappearing. Farewell!" Poof, and she's gone. Now that
the Barrier Trio is defeated, you don't need the Flame Pendants anymore. Go
and sell them all and buy Fly Charms. Fight your way back to the beach and
you'll find that the save frog has managed to escape from the snake's stomach.
In addition, Ocho the octopus surfaces. Walk over to him and he'll let you get
on his back. The four gets on and rides him across the seafloor back to the
beach at Tazmily Village. You get to see the oxygen machines congratulating
each other on a good day's work on the way.
===================================
f. Find Ionia for the sixth needle
===================================
[10F]
You arrive back at Tazmily Village, which now has a gloomy music theme.
Where's everyone? Head back to the town centre and you'll find Alec on the way.
He tells you that the people in the village have been steadily heading towards
the big city. He then tells you where Ionia's house is. It's in Argilla Pass,
west of where his old cabin was. To be sure, talk to Mapson to have your map
marked. Meanwhile, some of the villagers who are still here include Nana,
Pusher and Thomas.
Head into the Sunshine Forest. Some arrow lizards are here to help you find
your way to the pass, but the general direction is the same as that taken by
Flint on his way to Alec's home three years ago. You can always go and see
Lighter and Fuel's house. A big hole can be seen on the roof because it got
struck by lightning. Anyways, the enemies in the forest are so weak for your
level, so you can knock them all aside by running into them.
Once you have crossed the wooden bridge north of where Flint learnt about his
wife's death, go west at the fork to reach the Argilla Pass.
---------------
Argilla Pass
---------------
Run forward and you'll trip over, dropping the Jar of Yummy Pickles. This
calls for Boney! You now get to use Boney to find the jar. Notice the sparkles
on the ground? Examine each one for an item for Boney to dig up. Hand the item
to Lucas and you'll find out what it is. Things that can be found include a
Made-You-Look, Rotten Éclair, Heavy Charm and Fresh Mint. The Jar of Fuzzy
Pickles can be found from the sparkle to the northwest.
Now that the Jar has been found, you can move on. I suggest you equip the
Heavy Charm on Kumatora to increase her defense by 8 over the Feather Charm.
At the next fork, turn left for a hot spring. You might find a monkey running
away from you, so let's try to chase it down. It's a Mystery Metal Monkey! One
hit from Kumatora's Thunder Beta should knock it out. Well, it's good
experience, that's all you get!
A Mole Cricket vendor can be found at the hot spring.
*****MOLE CRICKET VENDOR*****
Sincerity Dumplings (100 DP; Restores 100 health)
Clever Stick (3980 DP; Offense +62; Lucas)
Strong Gloves (2690 DP; Offense +50; Kumatora)
Non-Slip Shoes (3660 DP; Offense +58; Duster)
Otter Hat (1640 DP; Defense +25; Lucas, Boney)
Crow Bandana (1520 DP; Defense +25; Duster)
Pumice Charm (1540 DP; Defense +23; Lucas, Duster)
Grilled Fish (150 DP; Restores 120 health)
Grilled Chicken (300 DP; Restores 170 health)
Anti-Paralysis (14 DP; Cures paralysis)
Alarm Cicada (18 DP; Wakes a sleeping person)
Recollection Bell (20 DP; Cures forgetfulness)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all status ailments, including incapacitation)
Cup of Lifenoodles (1780 DP; Removes all status ailments, revives unconscious
character with full health)
Time to gear your characters up. You might run into the Mystery Metal Monkey
yet again! Continue north and fight your way through the enemies.
***************
Enemies
***************
Tender Loving Tree (NEW)
HP: 680 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilties: Fire, crying
Attacks: Call for help, spreads its roots to the earth (wastes a turn),
physical attack, vacuum attack (lowers both your offense and defense), burst
into flames (on defeat)
These trees are upgrades from the trees Flint fought on the Drago Plateau 3
years ago. Now, these trees have a bird's nest above them! Tender Loving Trees
don't have any new tricks up their stems, but they are still sore losers,
bursting into flames when you beat them, hurting 3 of your group members in
the process. I must feel sorry for the birds that lived on such a loving tree.
As before, always defeat this last when it's accompanied by other enemies.
Blue Balding Eagle (NEW)
HP: 570 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Fire, strangeness
Attacks: Scratch with sharp claws, peck with its beak
These balding eagles have blue heads, rather than pink ones. They deal a bit
more damage than their counterparts in chapter 1, but that's about it. Some
decent combos can defeat one within a round.
Mecha-Mole (NEW)
HP: 600 Music beat: Varies Vulnerabilties: Lightning, strangeness
Attacks: Drill attack, sound the alarm (summons more Mecha-Moles), start
beeping (wastes turn), fire a beam
This is the latest incarnation of the mole. They aren't much of a threat
except that they can call for help by sounding an alarm. Let's see if you can
follow the percussion playing in the background of the battle theme to score
combos.
Cuddle Bomb (NEW)
HP: 900 Music beat: Varies Vulnerabilities: Ice, numbness
Attacks: Grin (wastes turn), physical attack, cling onto someone, count down,
explode
These things look like some kind of molecular model found in chemistry labs
with a perverted grin on his face. Cuddle Bombs are the suicide bombers of
Mother 3. They will cling onto someone, count down for two turns before
exploding deal heavy damage. In that case, try stalling the enemy using Wall
Staples. If you don't want to waste PP on Freeze, wait until the music goes
very fast before attacking.
Sticky Slug (NEW)
HP: 370 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Fire, strangeness
Attacks: Vacuum attack (lowers someone's offense and defense), Hypnosis Alpha,
physical attack
Drop: Saltwater Gun
It may be very late in the game, but these slugs are still very weak. If
anything, Kumatora take the opportunity to recover PP by using Magnet Omega on
these things.
Heftyhead (NEW)
HP: 1900 Music beat: Try to follow the percussion
Vulnerabilities: Ice, strangeness
Attacks: Slam its head onto the ground, headbutt attack, Counter Alpha
This is a guy with a giant head which he uses to attack. He causes shockwaves
when he slams his head onto the ground, dealing over 60 damage to everyone. In
addition, he can headbutt someone, dealing around 80 damage to him. Since the
Heftyhead's got such a large health pool, don't hesitate to cast Freeze on him
to end the battle quicker.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Enter the cave to the north. Go right before the ladder for a gift box with
the Cave Map. Fight your way past the Mecha-Moles and you'll find two paths.
Let's go west first. Cross the bridge, and fight past the Cuddle Bombs. Open
the gift box in the next area for Magic Pudding. Go south and you'll be out in
the open for the time being. Enter the cave to the west and you'll enter
another area with 3 Cuddle Bombs. Destroy the bombs and open the box for a
Goddess Bustier. However, it's a downgrade for Kumatora.
The next room contains a surprise, some large yellow moving slab is kneeling
on the ground, feeling sorry for himself. Let's fight the Negative Man!
Special enemy! Negative Man
HP: 2140 Music beat: Try to follow the percussion
Vulnerabilities: Crying
Attacks: Physical attack, start wailing (wastes turn)
Drop: Baked Yam
This enemy is included as a joke. The Negative Man is a yellow stone slab with
a grim outlook at life. He hits for 1 damage every time he attacks and will
waste many turns wailing and sobbing! You gain only 3 experience points from
this battle. However, it's a good battle to practice your combos for an
upcoming boss.
Now that you have defeated the Negative Man, go east, past the initial area.
Go through the cave opening to the north at the following area. Climb down the
ramp and go through the hole in the wall. Head towards the ladder, and more
Sticky Slugs drop down. It's time for Kumatora to recover her PP! Use Magnet
Omega to suck the slug's PP en masse. Climb up the ladder for two gift boxes
containing a Striped Collar and a Cup of Lifenoodles. This collar raises
Boney's offense and defense by 10 over the Black Collar.
Get back to the main path and continue east. The exit is beyond a few Hefty
Heads. You will hear a familiar melody once you exit the cave. Looks like
Ionia's house is nearby. But first, go north to the Chupichupyoi Temple. The
entrance is blocked by vines, so you can't enter. Before you do anything else,
eat food to restore everyone's health and PP and save at the frog.
Another Mole Cricket vendor can be found outside Ionia's house.
*****MOLE CRICKET VENDOR*****
Sincerity Dumplings (100 DP; Restores 100 health)
Grilled Chicken (300 DP; Restores 170 health)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all status ailments, including incapacitation)
Cup of Lifenoodles (1780 DP; Removes all status ailments, revives unconscious
character with full health)
Sprinting Bomb (200 DP; Deals damage to all enemies on screen)
Pencil Rocket (500 DP; Deals damage to all enemies on screen)
If you are running low on explosives, buy several Pencil Rockets. After that,
let's have a word with Ionia. "Oh! It's so good to see you again!" She says,
"You've finally, finally come. Lucas. You always struck me as a bit of a
crybaby, but you've grown so strong." She walks over to Boney. "Boney, You
came with him all this way? Shake. Shake! Oh you don't know any tricks? Let's
see, this slightly plain looking fellow. What was it again? Oh yes, Duster. I
knew your name! I was only teasing, dearie! It's a pleasure to meet you,
Duster. I know very well that your fate lies in helping cute little Duster
here." Ionia turns to Kumatora.
"Kumatora. I've watched you since you were very little, but this is the
prettiest you have been now. You are absolutely fabulous. I know you might say,
'Cut that out!', but it's the truth! By the way, what's the jar you have there?
It looks easy-to-drop and easy-to-roll." You hand over the Jar of Yummy
Pickles. "Oh! Fabulous! My absolute favourite! Yummy Pickles! You brought them
all the way here for me? Thank you! These pickles will be the last thing I eat
before I vanish. I'm going to really enjoy them. You don't need to say
anything. I understand. Five Needles have been pulled now." The current score
is Lucas 2 - 3 Masked Man, by the way.
"Aeolia, Doria, Lydia, Phrygia, and Mixy, I mean Mixolydia. They've all
disappeared, now that 'the time' has come. And now it's my turn. That leaves
only my needle in Chupichupyoi Temple, and the one missing Needle. Now,
adorable little Lucas, go to Chupichupyoi Temple. The temple is covered in
vines frozen in time. You can't get inside with them as they are. You''ll need
to sprinkle these 'Waters of Time' on them."
You receive the Waters of Time. Now, let's head to the temple. A Mr. Saturn
will give you the polished Badge of Courage before you reach there. It's
actually a Franklin Badge, a badge that reflects lightning! Head to the temple,
only to find the Masked Man at the scene with a group of Pigmasks. The
Pigmasks are having trouble removing the vines. They've tried using Clay Men
and bombs, all to no avail. But then, they see you come. Two of the Majors
walk over to you before being joined by the Colonel. The three give you
repeated Pork Salutes, Heil Pork! Heil Pork! It's time to fight!
Event battle! Pigmask Colonel with 2 Pigmask Majors
Music beat: Fast
Pigmask Colonel
HP: 900 Vulnerabilities: Ice
Attacks: Use a PSI shield device, fire a beam
Pigmask Major (x2)
HP: 750 Vulnerabilities: Ice, sleep
Attacks: Fire a beam, bum rush, try to strike someone's joints, throw a time
bomb
Start by having Boney throw a Pencil Rocket at the three, while Kumatora uses
Thunder Gamma (assuming that she's learnt it by now). These moves cannot be
mitigated by the PSI shield put up by the Colonel in the first round. Some
bashing from Duster and Lucas should then knock him out. The other two majors
can then be easily bashed to pieces in no time.
*****END BATTLE*****
The Pigmask Colonel and Majors step aside for you to face the Masked Man, who
tries to zap Lucas with a bolt of lightning. However, Lucas' Franklin Badge
reflects the lightning back to him, forcing him to fight!
Boss battle! Masked Man
HP: 5000 Music beat: Try to follow the percussion
Attacks: Sword slash, fire a beam, Shield Killer, Love Alpha, Love Gamma,
electric shock attack
On close examination, you'd think that you are fighting a cross between a high
ranking Imperial Stormtrooper and Obi-Wan Kenobi. This Masked Man doesn't play
fair. He often takes TWO turns during one round, instead of one. Duster should
use the Scary Mask for the first two turns to lower his offense. Don't bother
putting up any shields during this fight, since the Masked Man will often use
the Shield Killer to remove them. The use of a Shield Killer almost always
comes before a Love attack, dealing over 180 damage to all of you! It's likely
that most of the group will take mortal damage, except maybe Duster. In that
case, have Lucas and Kumatora cast Lifeup on themselves while Boney eats some
food.
Another nasty attack from the Masked Man is his electric shock attack, which
deals around 110 damage to 3 of you. If any of the bolts hits Lucas, his
Franklin Badge will reflect the damage back to the Masked Man. Throughout the
battle, have Kumatora use Thunder Gamma, since that deals the most damage out
of all the attacks. Duster and Boney should try their luck on combos while
Lucas heals every now and then.
With 5000 health, the Masked Man is a tough nut to crack. Expect to use a few
of your mementos before you can defeat him.
*****END BATTLE*****
The Masked Man collapses onto the ground, his armour malfunctioning. The
Pigmasks flee the scene while he flies off. This needle is yours! Approach the
vines blocking the temple entrance. This is it, once you sprinkle the Waters
of Time on the vines, you cannot go back to Tazmily Village or any other place
on Nowhere Island. When you are sure you want to go on, sprinkle the water and
you'll see the vines come to life, flowers bloom on them before they quickly
wilt away. The entrance is now clear.
"Oh, time started flowing again for the vines," Kumatora comments. Duster says,
"Lucas, let's go inside." Enter the temple to find the needle on the altar.
Ionia will appear once you reach the needle. "It was our Magypsy ancestors who
sealed away the Dark Dragon," she says, "Magypsies have guarded the seven
needles for many generations since. But the needles will be pulled when 'the
time' comes. And that time is now. The heart of the person who pulls the
needles will be passed on to the Dark Dragon. And then something big will
happen. Something big enough to recreate the whole world."
"Lucas, I want you to be the one who awakens the Dark Dragon. To accomplish
this, you can't lose or give in, no matter what. Duster, Boney, and Princess
Kumatora. Without heartfelt help from you, his friends, he cannot accomplish
this task. Princess Kumatora is so dangerous that I never intended to teach it
to you, but I'm going to teach it to you right here, right now. Master this
dangerous PSI technique so that you can help Lucas! Are you prepared?"
Kumatora turns her back on Ionia and is struck by lightning. She now knows how
to cast Starstorm!
Walk over to the needle and pull it. Whoosh goes the smoke, and you have now
learnt Love Omega. Ionia starts to fade, "As I start to disappear, my heart
sense an intense disturbance. Locria, the final, missing Magypsy, is rapidly
nearing the seventh needle! That's what I'm sensing. It's coming from, that
direction. From a lively, filthy place. Oh! Just when I'm about to tell where
it is, I ah! I'm sorry, I'm disappearing now. Before I go, here are final
momentos from me. A razor and lipstick. Remember me sometimes, okay?"
You receive Ionia's Memento. "It's too bad I didn't get to see how everything
turns out, but Lucas, honey, little Boney, adorable Duster, and Princess
Kumatora. Whatever happens, make sure you get to see what the final fate of
the world is." She disappears. There is no time for Kumatora to feel sad, as a
flying limousine arrives outside the temple, ready to take you to New Pork
City. It seems that the ruler of the entire world, Master Porky personally
invited you to join him there.
Everyone boards the limo and it takes off! This limousine is well equipped. It
features a dancing stage, a tableful of wine glasses, massage chairs, a
blackjack table, a happy box and a hot tub! You are free to look at everything
you feel like. Once you want to continue with the game, examine the seat next
to the chauffeur and choose to sit down. You'll get a bird's eye view of New
Pork City as the final chapter 8, All Things, begins.
------------------------
11. Minutes to midnight
------------------------
[MT11]
You land on some designated landing strip for the limousine. Since it's your
first time here, the chauffeur hands you the map of New Pork City. You can run
around the place for the time being. Before we begin, I'll tell you what
you'll have to do for the eighth and final chapter of Mother 3.
a. Take a quick tour of the city
b. Learn about the actual history of Nowhere Island and the world [11B]
c. Make your way to the 100th floor of Empire Porky Building [11C]
d. Race towards the final needle [11D]
*************************************
Important characters in this chapter
*************************************
Master Porky
This is the not-so mysterious, assuming that you have played through
Earthbound, king of the world that invited Lucas and friends to visit his New
Pork City. Porky leads the Pig Army that took over the lives of the people in
Tazmily Village. In addition, he has instilled some kind of cult of
personality of himself, as you can tell from the design of various structures
in the city. Where did he come from, and what are his intentions?
=================================
a. Take a quick tour of the city
=================================
Let's start by taking a quick tour of the city in the clockwise direction. Go
east until you reach the junction and head north. You'll soon reach a T
junction with some escalators to the north. But first, let's go west. Tessie
and Betsy are standing opposite a Down escalator. In addition, you'll find a
fast food restaurant named Beauty and Tasty. Standing outside are villagers
Bob and Dona, staring at some pillar. Meanwhile, Jackie is talking business
with a Mole Cricket.
Enter the restaurant to find Bronson at a table. Notice that all the
waitresses are robots made to look like the mother of a certain important
person. Check the menu, looks like today's special dishes consist of various
foods made from your favourite food! In my case, you'll be expecting Omelette
Bowl, Omelette Curry, Omelette Fried Rice, Omelette Egg Soup and Omelette Soup,
Meh Salad with Omelette Topping, Omelette Lunch, Omelette Combo, Omelette Set,
Jumbo Omelette, Omelette Parfair, Omelette Juice and Omelette Special. Quite a
nice selection you got there.
Go over to the counter and talk to the right waitress to see what's on sale
today, barring all those omelette dishes.
*****BEAUTY AND TASTY*****
King Burger (1700 DP; Restores 280 health)
Beefsteak (2000 DP; Restores 300 health)
Pasta with a Past (1400 DP; Restores 190 health)
Favourite Pizza (1960 DP; Restores 250 health)
Rich Kid Stew (1000 DP; Restores 150 health)
Rich Parfair (1300 DP; Restores 170 health)
Notice how the food is ludicrously overpriced here. You're not getting any
sales from me! Let's leave. Ride the escalator to the west up to the Porky
Amusement Park. You'll find a slot machine powered by the Sanchez Brothers.
Insert 1 DP to make them spin around. You'll get different prices if all 3
brothers face the same direction. Considering the fact that there are 4
different directions to face for 3 brothers, you are looking at 4^3 = 64
different combinations here. I do not recommend that you waste your time
trying your luck, since gambling's bad for you.
The Amusement Park features various things, including a Viking swinging boat
ride, a ferris wheel, an incomplete rollercoaster, spinning teacups and a
nerry-go-round with wooden pigs instead of horses. Thomas' wife Lisa and her
kids are there, along with a drunk Matt dating Jill. Go east to find Abbot,
Abbey, Bud and Lou standing outside the Empire Porky Building. Withdraw some
money from the save frog so that you can buy from the vending machine.
*****NEW PORK CITY VENDING MACHINE*****
Master Stick (4860 DP; Offense +75; Lucas)
Expensive Gloves (2360 DP; Offense +58; Kumatora)
Good Shoes (3520 DP; Offense +70; Duster)
Heavy Charm (1820 DP; Defense +26; Lucas, Duster)
Kite Bandana (1840 DP; Defense +30; Duster)
Scorpio Bracelet (2800 DP; Defense +35; Lucas, Kumatora, Duster)
Buy gear for everyone one last time before heading east. Continue east to find
a giant statue of Porky that is an obvious ripoff of the Statue of Liberty.
Climb down the ladder to the lawn below. Notice the purple sewage that is
discharged from the pipes sticking out of this level. Talk to the Pigmask
vendor for some dangerous things.
*****PIGMASK VENDOR*****
Pencil Rocket (500 DP; Deals damage to all enemies on screen)
Bomb (1000 DP; Deals more damage than the Pencil Rocket)
Super Bomb (2000 DP: Deals more damage than the Bomb)
New Year's Eve Bomb (3000 DP; Reduces all enemies' health to 1, only works on
1 enemy in the game)
Saltwater Gun (400 DP; Deals heavy damage to mechanical enemies)
This more or less concludes our tour of the city. Go all the way to the
southeast and enter the cinema, which is showing a film about Ness' adventures
in Earthbound. Enter the screening room and you'll find that the place stinks.
Talk to the punk to the right and he'll tell you that your "leader" in the
sewers once to talk to you. Examine the front row seats to find the cause of
the smell, it's a stinkbug! Boney chases the bugs through a hole in one of the
speakers, leaving the other 3. It's time to find Boney!
==================================================================
b. Learn about the actual history of Nowhere Island and the world
==================================================================
[11B]
Leave the cinema and enter the gaming arcade to the west. Thomas is busy
playing some game, so feel free to run into him. Talk to the other punk and
he'll reveal a secret entrance to the sewers below. Maybe Boney's down there.
---------------
The sewer
---------------
Go south and use the debris as a bridge to cross the purple sewage. You'll
have to fight your way through some pests before you can find Boney.
***************
Enemies
***************
Metal Attack Roach (NEW)
HP: 490 Music beat: Slow Vulnerabilities: Ice, crying
Attacks: Spread its wings and charge (immobilises you), physical attack, knit
its brow (wastes turn
Drop: Secret Herb
You have now met the ultimate form of the attack roach. These bugs are
actually made of metal! Although they are metal, these roaches are still
extremely vulnerable to your physical attacks. These pests are extremely
passive and can easily be approached from behind.
Putrid Mouldy Man (NEW)
HP: 850 Music beat: Varies Vulnerabilities: Ice
Attacks: Physical attack, scatter poisonous mould spores (may poison all of
you), make a foul odour (makes one of you nauseous)
These bums that live in trash cans are back from Earthbound. They are hardly a
threat at your level though. They worst thing that they can do to you is to
poison all of you with his mould spores. Other than that, good use of combos
can knock these guys out in 2 rounds.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
There is only one way to go from here, go all the way to the east, cross the
sewage on the debris and climb up the ladder. Go through the door to the right
for three trash cans. They contain Magic Pudding, a Saltwater Gun and a Putrid
Mouldy Man. Get out of the room and use the hot spring in the room to the left.
Climb down the next ladder and continue to the end of the path, where a door
can be found. For some reason, a Mole Cricket has decided to set up shop in
the sewer, of all places.
*****MOLE CRICKET VENDOR*****
Double Jerky (240 DP; Restores 160 health)
Antidote (8 DP; Removes poison)
Fresh Mint (16 DP; Cures nausea)
Secret Herb (600 DP; Removes all status ailments including incapacitation)
Cup of Lifenoodles (1780 DP; Removes all status ailments and revives an
unconscious person for full health)
Go through the door to find yourself in what appears to be some underground
slum. Go all the way to the left to find the legs of some familiar tall person
chained to the ground. Go to the upper floor and you'll find Boney at a door.
Go through the door to find Leder the ultra tall bell ringer you all thought
to be mute. However, he's got important things to say to you about the history
of Tazmily and the world around you.
"Yes, it's me, Leder, the bell ringer. It must be a real shock to hear me
speaking for once. It wasn't that I couldn't talk all this time. I simply
chose not to. As I rang that Crossroad bell, deep inside my heart I had
decided I would speak to no one." The music changes to something one might
hear during heart to heart talks in TV drama shows. "But the secrets I have
been guarding are now starting to leak out."
"Lucas, the time has come to tell you everything. What I'm about to tell you,
you might not want to know. Even so, you absolutely must hear it. IT will be a
long story, but please listen to it all." Say yes. Since what he says can be
long winding, I'll divide the whole thing into small subsections.
***************
Leder's story
***************
Given who you are and how you've lived, what I say will tear at your hearts,
and there is just so much to tell. So I've decided to have the stinkbug
trembling behind me memorise everything I say. Ready? Mr. Stinkbug?
===The End of the World===
Long ago, there existed a world; A world different from what the people on
these islands think of. This world was incredibly big. More people lived on
this world than there are grains of sand on these Nowhere Islands. I know it
may be hard to imagine, but such a world once existed. Understand?
At some point, the world wound up destroyed. Naturally, it was humans who
destroyed it. In the back of their minds, everyone had an inkling that it
would happen at some point. And then it really did happen. And so, the world
is no more.
===The White Ship===
Just before the end of the world, a White Ship came to these islands. On it
were all the people of Tazmily Village. Yes. Aboard the White Ship were those
few who had managed to escape the world. The people on the ship still went my
their names from the previous world. This White Ship plan had been set in
place before the world was destroyed.
Although they are part of the world, these Nowhere Islands are a special place.
They were the one place that would remain, even if the world was lost, the one
and only place where people could survive. And so the White Ship arrived at
these islands.
===The Dragon and the Magypsies===
Have you committed everything so far to memory, Mr. Stinkbug? The reason these
islands are special is because they harbour a giant dragon nearly as large as
the islands themselves. Long, long ago, people lived together with the Dragon.
However, at some point in time, the people and the Dragon could no longer
coexist. So, using the seven Needles, the Dragon was placed into a long, long
sleep by the ancestors of the Magypsy people, who have lived here since
ancient times.
Ever since, the Magypsies have guarded the Needles, in an effort to prevent
the Dragon from being woken its power is truly needed. Then, until the time of
its awakening, the Dragon continued to sleep, as the power of the earth itself.
And so, because of the tremendous energy of the Dragon hidden deep below,
these islands were protected from the end of the world.
===Those Who Lost Everything===
Those who came here aboard the White Ship feared another end of the world more
than anything else. They felt that the world's destruction was a direct result
of the way they had lived. The people of the White Ship discussed things at
great length. They shared their wisdom and spoke with grave seriousness. And
then they arrived at their conclusion.
They decided to completely erase everyone's memories of the previous world and
start their lives over with new rules and new roles. Yes. In short, everyone
would play out the ideal "story" that they have come up with. That is what
happened. The people would restart their lives in a simple, peaceful village,
in the kind of place they wished they had grown up in. They would erase the
memory of everything the world, their belongings, their rules, and then they
would begin their new lives.
Everyone's old memories would be reset and replaced with their newly-created
story. And thus the village of Tazmily came to be. However, it was necessary
to record the face that the memory replacement had taken place. The
Hummingbird Egg was the device used to store the memories of the White Ship
people. Wess and his son Duster, both playing the role of thieves, were set to
take action should a dangerous situation occur. Remember when they went to
Osohe Castle? They went there to retrieve the secret of the people of the
White Ship.
And there's one other thing, Me. It was essential that one person retain
memory of the previous world to sort of keep watch over things. I was the only
one in the village of Tazmily who wasn't given a role in the new story. The
sound of my bell served as a suggestion to keep everyone's fabricated memories
from reverting. My name Leder comes from the word "leader". No, no, that
doesn't mean I was anyone special. It was just that I was particularly taller
than the others. So, upon discussion, I was selected because it would be
easier for me to stand out.
Being so tall, people would want to see me, you know? And so I was given the
role of revealing these secrets when the time truly called for it. Although
Tazmily Village exists in reality, it was originally created as part of a
story. I know this may be difficult to believe, but do you understand so far?
===Osohe Castle===
Let me also talk about Osohe Castle. Apparently, long ago, a kingdom existed
on this island, centered around the king of Osohe. However, when we arrived on
the White Ship, the people of this kingdom were gone. It seems they had left
the islands, fearing the Dragon's eventual awakening someday. Before boarding
the White Ship, Princess Kumatora was an infant who had lost her mother and
father. Upon coming to these islands, she was given to the Magypsies to raise,
and given the role of Princess of Osohe Castle. Wess and Duster being her
retainers was another part of the fabricated story.
Osohe Castle is one of the few and precious relics of this island's past. We
crafted our story in haste, so the people inside it have very little past or
history. Have you noticed no one in Tazmily can talk about things from 100 or
1000 years ago? In truth, we had wanted to create an entire plethora of myths
and legends, but our story was made in such a hurry that we weren't able to.
It's a real shame.
===The intruder known as Porky===
Truthfully, we had no idea how Tazmily Village would turn out. But things
actually went rather well. The people who had arrived on the White Ship had
fully taken to their new identities. They believed they had always lived
together peacefully. It was when a person by the name of Porky stumbled upon
these islands that everything started to go amok. It seems he used a Time
Distorter machine to travel through time and space at will.
However, he was apparently shut out from all other times and spaces and
tumbled into this era and these islands. Even worse, he used his Time
Distorter to bring many people from other eras here. The Pigmasks, as well as
everyone in New Pork City, were all brought here and brainwashed by Porky.
This Porky fellow seems to view these islands as his own personal toy box,
with which he can do anything he wants.
He would take animals apart and recombine them to make creepy new Chimeras. As
a child like dictator, he began doing whatever he pleased, including his own
army. Porky eventually learned the White Ship secret because of a traitor
among the Magypsies.
===The Dragon's Awakening===
The traitor was Locria, the seventh Magypsy, and the only one you haven't met
yet. After Locria joined forces with Porky, Porky learned about the White Ship
people and the secret of the sleeping Dragon. Porky decided to pull the
Needles to wake the Dragon, so he could use the power for himself. The Dragon
is the power of the very earth itself, you see. It's said that whoever pulls
the sealing Needles will become the Dragon's master. However, only a very
select few are capable of pulling the Dragon's Needles.
Apparently, neither the Magypsiess nor Porky have that capability. Yet, the
Needles are being pulled now. That means Porky is somehow controlling someone
who can control the Dragon's power! We have to put a stop to Porky's antics.
If we don't, the world will be completely destroyed again, and it will spell
the true end for everything. For Porky, that might be the ultimate pleasure,
but we can't allow it to happen. We, the last handful of people there are,
absolutely can't allow it to happen.
===Conclusion===
Lucas, it seems you are a chosen one, with the ability to pull the Needles
sealing the Dragon away. you must pull the Dark Dragon's Needle with your own
hands, and pass your heart on to the Dragon. Let this be my one and only order
to you as your leader.
I hear that six of the Dragon's Needles have already been pulled. Deep in the
earth, the Dragon is likely beginning to stir from its sleep now. Supposedly,
the last Needle is somewhere here in New Pork City. Porky has been gathering
everything that lives on these islands into New Pork City to prepare for the
final Needle's pulling. It's possible he's planning to hold one final twisted
party. But now is our chance to change this looming crisis into a golden
opportunity. All things may come to an end, or new and bountiful things may
begin. Wouldn't you like to help that happen?
Lucas, you were once a weak, fragile boy, but now you've been given a
tremendous role to fulfil. Now that you know everything, including everything
I'm sure you'd rather not know, the time has come for you to save the future
of all life as we know it. "God won't make you bear more than you can carry",
I'm sure you've heard that phrase before. Know that you are not fighting alone.
Everyone, and I do mean everyone, will lend you their support. That was a long
story, but that is the end of everything I have to tell you.
Only the Magypsies know the exact locations of the Needles. But, from the way
Porky and the others have been acting, I would say they are now very close to
reaching the seventh needle. Please Lucas, be the one who pulls the final
needle. Porky issues his orders from the 100th floor of the Empire Porky
Building. Start by jumping into the fray and storming the building. After that,
you can start looking for clues. It's been such a long time since I've spoken
to anyone. And now I'm exhausted. This stinkbug should remember everything
I've just said.
Take him with you. This way, if you happen to forget anything I've said here,
you can ask him to repeat it. Will you go with them, Mr. Stinkbug?
*****THE END*****
Examine the stinkbug to take it with you. Now, let's leave this slum! Use the
hot spring on your way out since you are in for a surprise! Fassad flies right
out of the sewage to confront you. "'Nwehehehehehehehehe!' That's one 'nwe'
and eight 'he's." The interpreter says, "'Oh, what a pleasure it is to see you
again.' No, wait. 'Long time, no see,' Fassad says, 'I saw nwehehehehe to you,
for I will now give you thoroughly destructive damage,' he goes on to say.
"'I have been remade into an incredible, fiercely powerful, and dangerous
ultimate weapon. Therefore, I will absolutely, unquestionably be victorious
over you.' is what Fassad says. 'What's more, I will put an end to your tale.
I will give you damage, and then provide you with even more damage until you
are soundly defeated.' is what Fassad says." Fassad then flies up into the air
above you.
The interpreter goes on, "'Now, then. Here I come.' Fassad is now ready to
fight. Here he comes." Haha, the interpreter actually announces the battle!
Event battle! Miracle Fassad
HP: 6000 Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Off key music attack, throw a flea bomb, charge, let out an awful
smell (makes one of you nauseous), emit a dazzling light (can make someone cry,
feel strange, or even get knocked out instantly), smile boldly (wastes turn),
throw a whole bunch of bombs, PSI Shield Alpha, Thunder Omega, scarf down a
Luxury Banana (heals himself for around 580 health), Offense Down Omega
It's a miracle, just look at how many horns one can stick into a person! This
new version of Fassad loves to make two moves in one round. For instance, he
can attack using off key music, dealing 60-90 damage to any three members of
the group. This is often followed by a flea bomb, which makes one of you flea
ridden. His charges deal around 120 to one person. I suggest that you have
Lucas cast Shield Omega on everyone at the start of the battle. Meanwhile,
Kumatora, Duster and Boney should all bash to destroy his shield.
From the second round onwards, Kumatora should stick to Thunder Gamma while
Lucas, Duster and Boney resort to physical attacks. If you find your group's
health to be dropping hard, mainly due to his bombs, which deal around 130
damage to everyone and cannot be mitigated by shields, have Lucas cast Lifeup
Omega to heal everyone in one go. Beware of his dazzling light, since it can
knock several of you out if you are unlucky, and there is nothing you can do
but use up a memento or two (assuming everyone is holding at least one).
Some of Fassad's horns will fall off once you have dealt over 2400 damage to
him. Fassad's heart will fill with hatred, he's serious now! At this point, he
might cast a PSI shield on himself, which won't stop Kumatora's Thunder Gamma
from hitting him. In addition, watch out for his PSI attacks, namely Thunder
Omega. Lucas can never get hurt thanks to his Franklin Badge, and it'll
reflect the damage back to Fassad whenever he hits. Since you now have Lifeup
Omega, all this damage is not hard to heal through.
Finally, Fassad will try to heal himself by eating Luxury Bananas and lower
your offense, but all that only serves to delay his inevitable defeat.
*****END BATTLE*****
Fassad is really injured now. He's starting to lose consciousness, and only
the rockets on his back are keeping him up. "'Gah! Oww ow owww' Hmm, I will
not translate this part," the translator says, "The reason being that these
are not words, but simple sounds. 'You have bested me, kind sirs. Actually no,
you did not best me. You are merely detestable. I am sick of all this fighting.
Very, extremely sick of it.'"
"'This is all just a game. You could call it Master Porky's game. You people
are still stuck inside the game. As for me, I may have been removed from it.
But, I am still not sure. The flames of my life are in danger now. I do not
think we will ever meet again. And not just in battle,' is what Fassad states.
He also adds in a very faint voice, 'Nwehehe!'" Fassad is now going to plummet.
And so indeed, the jets on his back explode, sending Fassad plummeting into
the gutter.
The interpreter says, "I am an interpreter, but now that Fassad is gone, I am
no longer needed. Please do not chase after me. Goodbye." She leaves. Bye now,
let's get out of this dump and into the Empire Porky Building.
=============================================================
c. Make your way to the 100th floor of Empire Porky Building
=============================================================
[11C]
Notice the large influx of people in New Pork City. You'll find that most of
them just stand there blocking the way. They don't talk much, just random
gibberish. Several escalators have been blocked, so you can only use the
westernmost one to go up. Check your inventory, if you don't have a New Year's
Eve Bomb, buy one from the Pigmask at the base of the tree. After that, climb
up the ladder and examine the giant statue of Porky.
The statue's description says, "The smartest, bravest and toughest chubster of
all time. Here stands a statue of our great leader, Master Porky." Examine it
a couple more times to find it staring at you with great hostilty. You get to
return your feelings of hostility, triggering a fight! This King Statue may
hit very hard and have 9999999 health, but it is vulnerable to the New Year's
Eve bomb. One throw of this bomb from Boney will deal 9999998 damage to it,
allowing Duster to finish it off. That's easy experience! Now, let's get
serious and enter the building.
----------------------
Empire Porky Building
----------------------
Go left the lobby and ride the lift up. Don't bother with the Mole Cricket
vendor. A lift technician will come, telling you that the lift now stops at
the concert hall on the 24th floor. However, the lift can now only stop at the
24th floor, but not the 100th floor.
*****MOLE CRICKET VENDOR*****
Grilled Chicken (300 DP; Restores 170 health)
Secret Herb (600 DP: Removes all status ailments including incapacitation)
Cup of Lifenoodles (1780 DP; Removes all status ailments and revives an
unconscious group member to full health)
Offense Spray (1000 DP; Raises the offense of someone until the end of the
battle)
Defense Spray (1000 DP; Raises the defense of someone until the end of the
battle)
On your way up, the technician recognises Duster as Lucky, the bassist of DCMC.
He tells you to hurry to meet your bandmates.
---------------
24th Floor
---------------
You'll find the Pork Trooper sitting on a couch outside the concert hall with
2 Pigmasks. He recognises you, but decides to just watch the concert with you
as fellow DCMC fans. Enter the concert hall to meet OJ. "Lucky!" he cries,
"Long time, no see, you bum!" The other band members come over as well. "Long
time, no see!" Shimmy Zmizz says, "We've been having some pretty okay concerts
on our own since you left, but with you here, it's going to be like... wow!"
Magic says, "Lucky, I missed you so much! How have you been?" Baccio then says,
"Lucky! It's good to see you again."
Shimmy has some news for you, "All living things on these islands have been
gathered here, in New Pork City. A great, undefiable power has prepared a
festival for the end of all life." Baccio adds, "We can see through this Porky
guy's shallow-brained plans like they are nothing. Why's that, you ask? 'Cause
we are so drunk on our music that he can't fool us with his nonsense!" Magic
says, "I don't know who this Porky guy is, but with all five DCMC members back
together, nothing can scare us now! Well, if I think about it really hard,
maybe I can think of something that can scare us, but no, nothing can scare us
now!"
"Hey, Lucky," OJ says, "Let's forget our worries and just enjoy the music like
the old days!" He takes an afro wig out, "We even have your afro wig all ready
to go!" Have Duster examine the afro wig and put it on. And so, the concert
starts amid cheers and applause, minutes from midnight on the doomsday clock.
"All right, everyone," OJ yells, "This may be the last time you will ever get
to hear us play. And, this might also be the last time we ever get to perform.
To all you wonderful music lovers who have gathered here on this special day,
you're our greatest happiness of all! Tonda Gossa! We are gonna rock until you
drop! No, we're gonna rock until everyone drops! We are gonna do this thing
non-stop! Let's do it!"
The band begins by playing a rock version of Duster's music theme, before
setting him up for a solo gig. But all of a sudden, the power is cut, ending
the concert early. "Tsk tsk tsk, looks like someone's stopped our concert by
force," OJ remarks. You hear someone talking on the public address system.
It's Porky!
"Attention, all goody two-shoes inside the Empire Porky Building. The final
game has begun. Please gather up what puny wisdom and pathetic courage you
have and come to the 100th floor. However, there's no guarantee the lift will
work how you want it to! Wahahahaha! Well, I'll be waiting for you on the
100th floor!" So, the gauntlet has been thrown.
But still, DCMC is still putting a brave face despite their last concert being
called off. "The concert got stopped," Shimmy says, "but we ain't glum. We got
luck on our side. We have always had dumb luck on our side! Tonda Gossa!"
Magic comments, "Do you think the concert might not have been stopped had we
played Porky's lullaby song or something instead?" I think Lucas' presence
might have something to do with it. Baccio then says, "Lucas, was it? We leave
Lucky in your hands. Oh wait! I mean Duster! I forgot, he's not Lucky! Hahaha!"
OJ then tells Duster, "You are the only bassist the DCMC can ever have.
Without you, we are without a bass."
Leave the concert hall to find the Pork Trooper outraged by the concert's
premature end. Head to the lift and ride it up. It's time to make your way to
the 100th floor. The problem is that you will end of visiting many floors that
aren't the real place. You must head through a number of levels before you can
really reach the 100th floor. During this time, you are free to leave via one
of the lifts that go down. Note that you will have to go through all the
floors again when you return from the lobby!
---------------
Hippo Pool
---------------
You arrive at a level where they keep Hippo Launchers. These hippopotamuses
are docile and will not attack unless you examine them. Since there is an
Instant Revitalising Device here, feel free to fight as many hippos to gain
experience.
New enemy! Hippo Launcher
HP: 1600 Music beat: Try to follow the percussion
Vulnerabilities: Lightning, sleep
Attacks: Fire missiles, charge
These are hippopotamuses that are fitted with missile launchers. They are
incredibly popular, even among women and senior citizens. It seems that these
scientists are planning to create household pet versions of these things. As
expected, these things fire missiles, dealing over 60 damage to any 3 group
members. They can also charge at you, dealing 100 damage to so to one person.
Don't worry about taking too much damage, since you can always go back to the
Instant Revitalising Device to heal up to full.
Now, enter the water and head east. You'll find a Super Bomb in the water near
2 Hippos. Get onto the strip of dry land to the east and talk to the
researcher there. He will tell you how he plans to improve the Hippo Launchers
by making them able to brush their teeth on their own, go to the toilet at
night before bed and fetch the newspaper. Ah, what a nice guy. Reenter the
water and head north.
Exit the pool and a suspicious researcher will pit his Hippo Launcher against
you. This is one mandatory battle, but it will be nice and easy. After that,
the researcher will call you stupid and flee. Before you go through the door
to the north, go south to find a gift box. Inside are the Ultimate Shoes,
Duster's best weapon in the game. It raises his offense by 12 over the Good
Shoes, but will lower his speed by 5.
Go north to the next area and go east. Enter the water and go back to the west
for 2 gift boxes. You'll find some Grilled Chicken and a Cup of Lifenoodles
inside the boxes. Fight some more Hippo Launchers if you like before going
over to the lift to the north of the pool of water. Porky taunts you through
the PA system.
"We bring you a breaking news alert," Porky says, "Some idiots have been seen
pretending to be sea monkeys in the middle of a pond. Wahahahahaha! I'm
talking about you guys! Getting all covered in mud so you can fight for your
lives. It's so ridiculous! Alright then, get on the next lift. I think I am
going to sit back and watch even more of your stupidity in action. Come on!
Don't give up! You're so close to the real 100th floor now!"
Porky's behaviour reminds me of the Department Store Spook in Fourside in
Earthbound. That Spook taunted Ness repeatedly as you rode the escalators up
to him in the store. Anyway, let's ride the lift up and hope that you arrive
at the 100th floor.
---------------
Porky fanzone
---------------
Nope, this is not the 100th Floor, but a place for Porky's fans to gather.
You've got a number of babes by a large bed whose sole purpose is to pamper
Porky. In addition, a centaur oxygen machine can be found in the room. Talk to
him and he'll offer you some oxygen for old times' sake! Head east for more
taunts from our great Master Porky.
"Your attention, please. We have a report of lost children. The detestable
Lucas and his pals appear to be lost in Master Porky's fan room. Hehehehe.
Attention, Lucas and friends! Attention, Lucas and friends! Come to the real
100th floor immediately, if you dare!" What a jerk, take the next lift up.
---------------
Restroom Maze
---------------
You hear typical chamber music found in offices. Head west for a surprise.
There is nothing but restrooms on this floor!
***************
Enemies
***************
Pigmask Major
HP: 750 Music beat: Moderate with breaks in between
Vulnerabilities: Ice, sleep
Attacks: Fire a beam, bum rush, throw a time bomb
Pigmask Majors are the 3rd highest ranked troops in the Pig Army. Their
attacks should be of no threat to you at your level. Sure, they might throw a
time bomb at one of your characters, but you should still be able to defeat
one before it blows up.
Metal Attack Roach
HP: 490 Music beat: Slow Vulnerabilities: Ice, crying
Attacks: Spread its wings and charge (immobilises you), physical attack, knit
its brow (wastes turn
Drop: Secret Herb
You have now met the ultimate form of the attack roach. These bugs are
actually made of metal! Although they are metal, these roaches are still
extremely vulnerable to your physical attacks. These pests are extremely
passive and can easily be approached from behind.
Men's Room Sign (NEW)
HP: 1200 Music: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Strangeness
Attacks: Starstorm, Counter Alpha
Drop: Magic Pudding
Even the restroom signs have gone nuts. These things are the most dangerous
since they often cast Starstorm, inflicting mortal damage on all of you.
Thankfully they are easy to hurt with combos-One full round of 16 hit combos
might just be enough to take it out before it can do anything nasty to you.
Otherwise, let the rolling health meters do the thing as you finish it by the
second round.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Let's examine the restrooms one by one. The first one from the right is locked,
the second room is occupied by a Pigmask Major, so defeat him quick. The third
room holds a gift box with an Attack Attractor, which causes an enemy to stink,
making everyone else attack him. The second restroom from the left is locked,
while the door leading to the next set of restrooms can be found in the
leftmost room.
As you enter that area, a man rushes into the middle restroom, so let's not
bother with that door. The first room from the right houses a Pigmask Major
and a Metal Attack Roach, which are nothing but cannon fodder. The second room
from the right is empty. Watch out for the Men's Room Sign on the door to the
leftmost restroom. It will come to life and attack you! Once the sign has been
defeated, go through the door it was on for a Honey Shower. To reach the next
area, enter the room to the right of this one.
There are only 4 restrooms in the next area. The first one from the right is a
Japanese squatting toilet. The second one is designed to look like a duck. The
third one from the right is designed for really big people, judging by its
enormous size! The fourth room leads to the next area.
Enter the first room from the left to find a man on the toilet. The second
room is crammed with all the Friendly Ghosts from Osohe Castle. The sign on
the door leading to the third room is live and will attack you. Enter the room
after the sign is destroyed to find a Pigmask Major and two Metal Attack
Roaches inside. Defeat these enemies so that you can get the Red Collar from
the gift box. This collar raises both Boney's offense and defense by 10 over
the Striped Collar.
Enter the fourth restroom for the next area, don't worry about the fifth one.
I wonder what is going on in there. You'll find many people urgent in the next
area. People run into four of the restrooms, leaving the leftmost one
unoccupied. Save at the frog and enter that room for the next area.
You then see one man running from the second restroom to the third. Enter the
room he left, it's empty. A punk can be found in the leftmost one admiring the
clean restroom. The fourth room leads to the next area, while something
familiar can be found in the fifth room. You'll hear a chink sound, followed
by some banging on the door. Enter that room to find the Ultimate Chimera!
Quickly run out and enter the fourth room and you will hear the Chimera burst
into the previous hallway. Now's your chance to sneak back into that hallway,
past the Chimera into the room he used to be. Open the gift box for an Awesome
Ring before moving on to the next area.
The Awesome Ring lowers Lucas' defense, but raises his PP. It's up to you to
decide whether to equip it. You then find a grand door leading big door
leading to a men's room. Cross the bridge on the pool fitted with Manneken Pis
statues of Porky (in case you don't know, the Manneken Pis is a statue of a
Belgian boy peeing!) As you approach one grand toilet, Porky taunts you
through the PA once again.
"You seem to be having quite the tough time! Did you enjoy my special all you
can pee toilet dungeon? Now, then! I have some sad news for you! This place
you are at now isn't the 100th floor! It's a fake! You are nothing buy a cheap
toy crawling around in the palm of my hand! Alright, allow me to invite you to
the real 100th floor! Board the lift just ahead. I'll be waiting for you!"
Take the lift up for yet another surprise.
---------------
Locria's floor
---------------
You hear a familiar Magypsy house music sans the saxophone. Enter the next
room to find a Magypsy house with a desert background painted on the walls
around it. Enter the house to find some banana peels scattered on the floor
and many boxes with Luxury Bananas (and an Ancient Banana) inside. A Razor and
Lipstick can be found on the vanity table. This must be the Magypsy Locria's
memento. Also note the Arabic turban and special horns. Could Locria be?
Head out of the house and go right for another round of taunting from Porky,
"You guys have no tact whatsoever, do you? Get out of there and get on the
next lift. And then make it to the real 100th floor!" There is a mouse by the
lift. Talking to it and it will reveal itself to be Locria's pet mouse. It
tells you that despite his "Nwehehehehe" laugh, Locria was very nice to it. Oh
well, this confirms that Locris is Fassad. In addition, it shows the
similarity between Fassad and Hitler: Both have funky moustaches, both can do
terrible things, yet both are very kind to those close to them.
Take the lift up, are you at the real 100th floor yet?
---------------
Work area
---------------
This area is under construction. Save at the frog and go through the door to
find some new enemies.
***************
Enemies
***************
Boa Transistor (NEW)
HP: 680 Music beat: Fast with breaks in between
Vulnerabilities: Lightning, strangeness
Attacks: Fire a Dum-E Beam (Makes someone feel strange), biting attack, sound
an alarm, stab with tip of its tail
This is such a funny name for a mechanical snake. You'll hear the same "ka-
chink" sound of the Ultimate Chimera whenever you are spotted by a Boa
Transistor. These enemies have weak attacks, but they can often sound alarms
to summon reinforcements.
K9000 (NEW)
HP: 1100 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Lightning
Attacks: Emit a dazzling light (Makes all of you either feel strange, cry,
numb or defeats you instantly), charge
Drop: New Year's Eve Bomb
The K9000 is a special construction robot. It is one of those enemies that
emit a dazzling light, which has a chance of knocking you all completely,
making you waste one of those Magypsy mementos! Take this thing out fast, or
else. Fortunately, these enemies aren't hard to sneak up on. These robots
actually drop New Year's Eve Bombs!
Rhinocerocket Mark II (NEW)
HP: 800 Music beat: Fast with breaks in between
Vulnerabilities: Ice, numbness
Attacks: Stab with a horn, use its booster rocket (increases its speed
greatly), charge straight ahead
These amusing rhino headed rockets are back with a vengeance, along with their
fast mystical dancing battle theme! They usually attack by stabbing you with
their horns, dealing over 60 damage to one character. These rockets still
retain their ability to charge straight ahead, dealing two blows to everyone
for over 40 damage per hit. Note the breaks in the battle theme and only start
your physical attacks during a long interrupted period.
Love Walker (NEW)
HP: 1000 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Numbness
Attacks: Fire Omega, Counter Omega
I don't know that to make of this creature. It looks like a wheel with a red
lip on it surrounded by 4 female legs in tights. Its PSI attacks can be
devastating, so take it out quickly.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Defeat the Boa Transistor and K9000 before moving on to the next room, where
more of the same enemies are waiting for you. Go through the next door to
enter an incomplete area. You will find a K9000 and a Rhinocerocket Mark II.
Go through the next door to find 2 construction workers. One of them is
standing on the edge of a metal ledge. Run into him to cause him to fall
forwards and grab onto the opposite ledge. I know it's cruel, but you'll be
using that worker as an improvised bridge. Cross the bridge and go through the
door to the north.
Follow the bridges across the platforms until you reach a gift box guarded by
2 "ka-chink" Boa Transistors. Defeat those snakes and open the box for a
Favourite Pizza. Head back to the previous room and go through the door
leading east. You'll then be attacked by a Love Walker. Defeat this thing
before you ram into the construction worker standing on the edge of the blue
ledge. Cross this "bridge" to face another K9000.
Go through the door and you will find a gap between two blue ledges, yet there
are no construction workers for you to use as a bridge. The solution to this
predicament is at the top of those ladders. Climb up there and pull the lever
on the machine. This will drop a heavy metal ball onto the see saw,
catapulting the worker down to the lower level where he stumbles over the gap,
creating a bridge for you to cross. Go east along the blue path for the next
area for a Love Walker and a Rhinocerocket Mark II.
There are two paths leading right, take the northern path for the lift. Before
you board it, go west on the path to the south for some Angel Gloves. These
gloves raise Kumatora's offense by 9 over the Expensive Gloves. Head back
towards the lift for even more taunting. "Attention, workers. Some idiots have
snuck into the construction site and are causing loads of trouble. Idiots!
Idiots! Idiots! You idiots! I'm talking about you guys! Come on, now. How
about you actually try to come to the 100th floor already? You are really
starting to irritate me! You are making my dentures itch like crazy! Get on
the next lift already!"
Did Porky just say "dentures"? I wonder where all his teeth are! Take the lift
up to see for yourself.
---------------
Laboratory
---------------
You find yourself in a laboratory. Restore your group's health and PP with the
Revitalising Device and make your way to the next room. Make your way around
the hi-tech equipment to the east end of the room, where a Mecha-Lion is
waiting for you.
***************
Enemies
***************
Mecha-Lion (NEW)
HP: 1000 Music beat: Moderate with breaks in between
Vulnerabilities: Lightning, numbness
Attacks: Shoot out flame after flame,
Porky's scientists have finally succeeded in mechanising an entire lion. For
some reason, their battle theme alternates intermittently between a fierce and
sweet tune. What are the producers thinking? Mecha Lions can shoot out flames,
dealing around 100 damage to everyone.
Pigmask Colonel
HP: 900 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Ice
Attacks: Use a PSI shield device, fire a beam, fire a Heavy Bazooka, do a bum-
rush
These are the 2nd highest ranked troops of the Pig Army, second only to the
Masked Man. As before, they are equipped with a shield that can be smashed to
pieces in three hits. Sometimes, they will give the game away by erecting a
PSI Shield, overwriting their previous shield in the process. Once the Colonel
has done that, another round of bashing will be enough to defeat him. They
might be able to fire Heavy Bazookas now, but it's nothing for Lucas' Lifeup
Omega to heal through.
Return of Octobot (NEW)
HP: 750 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Lightning
Attacks: Emit an electromagnetic pulse
The Octobots have finally returned from Earthbound. I guess Porky must have
stolen some of Giygas' technology while travelling through time. But still,
these things are still flimsy and can be defeated within one rounds using
combos.
Upgraded Robot (NEW)
HP: 910 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilities: Lightning
Attacks: Spray Forgetfulness Gas (makes one of you forget how to perform
special attacks), do a bum-rush
Porky has finally found some use for his Wobbly Robots. In fact, he's upgraded
them to fire Forgetfulness Gas! Fortunately, simple combo bashing is all you
need to take these things out.
Nuclear Reactor Robot (NEW)
HP: 800 Music beat: Try to follow the percussion
Vulnerabilities: Lightning, strangeness
Attacks: Replenish energy (heals an ally for around 200 health), fire a beam
This is one annoying enemy in the sense that it keeps replenishing energy,
healing its allies. Despite its annoyance, always destroy this robot last
since it explodes when defeated, dealing heavy damage to everyone (Thankfully,
there is no fallout at all). If you don't want to endure any explosions, try
sneaking up on the robot from behind. Just one hit at its back is enough to
destroy the explosive device, thus preventing the Robot from blowing up when
you destroy it.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Go through the door leading east at the junction and continue to follow the
path in the room that follows. You'll then run into a Pigmask Colonel and a
Return of Octobot. Defeat those enemies and go east for a T-junction. Go south
and engage the Upgraded Robot and Nuclear Reactor Robot. Once they are gone,
open the boxes for a King Burger and a Magic Cake. Go north and into the next
room. There is a single gift box in this dead end, guarded by a Mecha-Lion and
a Nuclear Reactor Robot. That gift box contains a Canine Weapon, Boney's only
weapon in the game which raises his offense by 15.
Head all the way back to the first room, where you found the first Mecha-Lion
and go north. Fight your way past a Return of Octobot and Upgraded Robot to
the door. In the room that follows, go west and you'll find a gift box guarded
by a Return of Octobot and Nuclear Reactor Robot. A Super Bomb can be found
inside that box. Go north to find a Pigmask Colonel and an Upgraded Robot. Go
through the door to the north to find a researching standing in front of a
large tank of green liquid. He tells you that that liquid is the base
component of the Nice Person Hot Spring. This hot spring turns you into a
"nice person" that loves Master Porky! Talk about a horrible way to brainwash
people.
Leave that room and go through the door to the east. You'll immediately face a
Return of Octobot and a Pigmask Colonel. Go south for a gift box with a
Sagittarius Bracelet. Equip it on Kumatora, since her defense is the lowest,
to raise it by 10 over the Scorpio Bracelet. Go east and you'll find the
reception of the Nice Person Hot Spring, which transforms you into a nice
person that likes Master Porky. Unlike ordinary hot springs, you have to go
inside a green capsule!
Go through the door to find a lot of poor people that are being brainwashed to
like Porky inside those tubes. Walk to the exit for even more taunting from
Master Porky, "Your attention, please. You appear quite exhausted there, Lucas!
But the real fun is just about to begin! Alright! Climb up those stairs just
ahead! C'mon, don't disappoint me now!" Talk to the save frog stuck inside the
tube to save your game, and go through those double doors.
-------------------
The Porky Fun Show
-------------------
OK, I admit I made the name of this place up due to what you'll see later.
Climb up the stairs that look as if they were built in the late 19th or early
20th century and go through the door. You enter some kind of a game show
hosted by the Chauffeur that drove you into the city. Let's talk to him and
see what's up for you.
"Master Lucas and friends," the host exclaims, "I have been waiting for you.
I've changed my hat, so perhaps you don't recognise me, but I was the
chauffeur of that difficult-to-drive and far-too-long limousine. I'm pleased
to see that you've made it this far. I will now determine if you are fit to
meet with Master Porky or not. Kindly follow, if you would." Follow him to the
first game room.
You enter a room with rows of fake spectators painted on the walls. Talk to
the host again. "Master Porky just loves to play fun games," Yeah, he's been
playing with you four ever since you entered the building! "So I will use this
'Super Whack-a-Mole' game to judge whether or not you're fit to be a wonderful
playmate of his. First, allow me to explain the wonderful rules. Whoever hits
the most moles with their mental "A Button" hammers will win the game. Master
Porky absolutely adores that word, 'win'. If the words 'indulge' and 'humour'
mean anything to you, you'll know what to do."
"But, if you try to throw the match, Master Porky will be very displeased
indeed. Okay, do you understand the rules now?" Yes. What the host means is
that you must let Porky win in those games, and yet by an extremely small
margin to advance! Sounds counterproductive, eh?
The host continues, "Hit the old guy in the helmet and you'll be zapped. Do
try to be careful. Now then! Let's bring out Master Porky's competitor, Master
Mini-Porky!" A robot of Porky with a red light on his head comes out and
throws a mini-tantrum! This just reminds me of Dr. Evil's Mini-me in Austin
Powers. "Ready, Master Porky? Begin!" The Mini-Porky starts whacking the moles.
After he's done, the host announces that Porky has hit a grand total of 10
moles. Now it's your turn.
Move Lucas around the holes and press A whenever you are standing next to a
mole to whack it with your hammer. What you have to do is to whack a total of
9 moles to please the mini-Porky. Any other number and he will throw a tantrum,
forcing you to play the game again. For added laughs, whack some of those
construction workers that pop out to have an electric shock. You can also talk
to the Mini-Porky to have him mumble some illegible robotic drones.
"Time!" the host exclaims, "Now for the results! Master Lucas' record! Tadah!
Total moles hit: 9!" The Mini-Porky then throws a tantrum to rub it in your
face. "Oh my! Master Mini-Porky! You've won the intense match by the razor
thin margin of one mole! What a wonderful game! Truly heart-stopping! Now,
then. Let's move onto the next fun and exciting game!" The Mini-Porky and the
host exit the room. Let's follow them.
Save your game and run up the stairs. You now enter a tropical themed room.
Talk to the host for the second game. "All right!" He yells, "Things are
really heating up now!" Enter the room to find two long narrow paths over a
pseudo "ocean". "Next is the Purple Bridge Race Game! You will both start from
a Purple Bridge at the same time, and the first to reach the other side wins.
You understand the rules, right? Also, if you have the two words indulge and
divulge, perhaps the former would be the one to focus on, if you catch my
drift. Do you understand?" Yes, I do. You must lose this race, but only just
to advance. Otherwise there will be even more tantrums!
"Okay! When you are ready, go to your starting position!" Stand on the number
2 square. Once the host says go, run to the end of the bridge, stopping just
before the yellow square at the finish line. Once the Mini-Porky has caught up
with you and passed the finish line, immediately finish the race. You may have
only half a second to push the Right key on the directional pad. Anything more
than that and you have to do it again.
"Oh my! Master Mini-Porky!" The host shouts, "You win the intense match by a
nose! What a truly fantastic race! This was a match for the ages! Now, then!
Let us move on to the third and final game!" Follow the host and Mini-Porky up
the stairs. For some reason, a save frog is provided between each game.
Now it's time for the final game. "At last," the host says, "We're at the
final game. Please come this way, if you would. The final game is 'To Whom
Goes the Boom?' All right, here is a quick explanation of the rules. Use your
mental "A Button" air pump to quickly inflate your balloon until BOOM! The
first to pop his balloon wins. You understand the rules now, right?"
"Then please go to your position." Walk over to the left bicycle pump to start
this game. The host then says, "Now, then. I'm tripling the points for this
final game. This means that you have a very good chance of coming from behind
to win it all, Master Lucas!" Hey, if the points gained from one game
outnumber the points of the rest of the games, what's the point of playing
them?
Tap the A button to inflate the balloon. The balloon can be inflated by 3
increments before it bursts, so stop once you see the balloon expand the third
time. Once Mini-Porky wins, you get to advance. "You're so young, yet you have
mastered so much!" The host says, "I hereby deem you fit to meet Master Porky.
Now, then! Please go and pay Master Porky a wonderful visit!"
Go through the door and up the stairs. Notice the sofa? Take a quick rest to
restore your health and PP. Save at the frog, you'll need it!
-----------------
The 100th floor
-----------------
The doors are blocked by a robot with a giant pig's head. Examine it and Porky
will taunt you, "Lucas. Welcome to my room! This is the real 100th floor that
you wanted to come to oh-so-badly! Again, I welcome you, my beloved,
detestable pests. I was the one who invited you here. So you're free to come
inside if you wish. It's just, I've given orders to let no one enter my room
to that little attack toy you see right there. Who knows, maybe this is where
we'll say goodbye, even though I invited you here. Alright, let's turn it on!
Say hello to the Natural Killer Cyborg!"
Event battle! Natural Killer Cyborg
HP: 7500 Music beat: Varies Vulnerabilities: Lightning
Attacks: Fire several missiles, take a powerful swing (may make someone forget
how to use his special skills), spray a poisonous gas, electric shock attack,
activate self repair system (heals itself for over 570 health), bore down and
attack, fire end of century beam.
Porky is completely tired of playing games with you. He's now serious! The
Natural Killer Cyborg is really designed to kill you fast. Just like many
bosses in the game, this cyborg can sometimes make two turns in one round.
Firstly, he can fire several missiles, dealing over 110 damage to 3 of you,
and this attack cannot be mitigated using shields. In addition, he can take a
powerful swing at someone which deals over 110 damage and may make him forget
how to use special moves. In addition, the Cyborg may release poisonous gas,
which poisons everyone in the group. Just like the Masked Man, the Natural
Killer Cyborg can attack using an electric shock, dealing over 70 damage to 3
of you, but Lucas (who will reflect the damage right back at the Cyborg).
Furthermore, by boring down and attacking, the Cyborg can deal over 120 damage
to a single person.
Lucas cast Shield Omega on everyone during the first round to half the damage
of most of the Cyborg's attacks. Duster should lower the Cyborg's offense
twice using the Scary Mask, then lower the Cyborg's defense twice using the
Tickle Stick before finally attacking for the rest of the battle. Kumatora
should stick with Thunder Omega until she runs out of PP, while Boney uses
whatever explosives and Saltwater Guns at his disposal to take the enemy down
fast.
To maximise your chances of scoring high combos, wait until a fast guitar
melody can be heard in the battle theme before you start tapping the A button.
Keep fighting and don't let the Cyborg's Self Repair System discourage you.
Once you have dealt enough damage to the Natural Killer Cyborg, it will fire
its end of the century beam at all of you. This beam deals over 85 damage to
everyone if they are shielded. Make sure everyone is protected at that stage
of the fight. The Natural Killer Cyborg should almost be destroyed by the time
Kumatora has used up all her PP.
*****END BATTLE*****
The Natural Killer Cyborg explodes violently, allowing you to go through the
double doors. You are inside a long hallway in which the opening theme of the
original Mother game for the NES is played in the background. I suggest that
you walk slowly to enjoy the music before leaving at the other end. You arrive
at a boat ride along an exhibition of various artefacts from Earthbound.
There's the Runaway Five bus, a stuffed model of lake monster Nessie, a yellow
taxi, various telephones, the Sky Runner, iron statues of an Eraser and Pencil,
a yellow helicopter, Dungeon Man, a Greyhoung Bus, a cash point, a yellow
submarine, a bicycle, the Phase Distorter, the machine Porky rode in during
the final battle in Earthbound and some white dot and black dot.
Go through the double doors at the end of the boat ride and you'll find an
Instant Revitalising Machine in the room. Use the machine to restore your
health and PP and open the gift box for a Pencil Eraser. Use it to rub out the
iron statue of a pencil to the left. That's the only use of the Pencil Eraser
in this game! Go through the next door and run up the stairs to your ultimate
destination.
You enter a large hall with a view of many thunder clouds. Many vines are
dangling from the ceiling. Porky says, "The beginning of the end, the end of
everything." The four walk up to face Porky, who's wearing a white shirt with
brown pants. "Let's be friends," he says, "I'm Porky. I'm really just this
meek little boy." Porky closes in on Lucas. "Please talk to me like good boys
and girls. you know, just like me." It does not matter what you answer, he
will explode in your face. It's a just a robot! Many more Porky robots drop
from the ceiling, it's time to fight!
Event battle! Porky 01-07
HP: 900 Music beat: Moderate Vulnerabilties: Lightning
Attacks: Mechanical attack, mechanical ramming attack, flash an insincere
mechanical smile (wastes turn), propose a mechanical truce (wastes turn),
mechanically pretend to cry (wastes turn)
These robots are all built to look like a cute, innocent Porky. However, they
are actually quite mean inside. They use various attacks, each beginning with
the word "mechanical". For example, their normal attacks deal around 45 damage
to one person, while their ramming attacks deal over to 80 damage to one
person.
The tactics are very simple for this fight. Lucas, Duster and Boney should all
focus on one robot at a time and beat the life out of it. Meanwhile, Kumatora
should use Thunder Omega to deal as much damage to all the enemies on screen.
Don't use any other attack since they will be reflected back at you via the
robots' PSI Counters. Every time you defeat a robot, it will explode, dealing
over 80 damage to everyone. Since it is extremely likely that you can defeat a
Porky robot within 2 rounds, have Lucas cast Refresh every other round, the
small amounts of health healed over each turn can help your group withstand
the damage from the explosions. Lucas can either use his physical attack or
cast Lifeup Omega in the rounds between Refreshes.
Once you have defeated Porky 05, Porky 06 will join the fight. He will
constantly call for help from some weak chimeras. Ignore the Chimeras and just
focus on bashing the Porky robot. Once Porky 06 explodes, Porky 07 will come.
Destroy that bot and you will find no more robots coming at you. At this point,
destroy any chimeras left.
More Porky robots appear, but DCMC comes in to save the day! Baccio jumps in
front, "Tonda Gossa!" he yells, "Dramatic climaxes are when unruly dudes like
us get to shine!" Bash! Shimmy Zmizz jumps out, he says, "Seems like Master
Porky was trying to use us to brainwash everyone. I say it's time we screw up
his idiotic plans!" Wham! Porky 08 is destroyed! Now it's Magic's cue, "Hah!
We ain't gonna let this Porky freak have his way!" He smashes Porky 09 in one
hit! Finally, OJ appears, he exclaims, "We are going to make you pay for all
the bad stuff you have done! Get ready! It's punishement time!" He wallops the
final Porky robot into smithereens. It's over!
*****END BATTLE*****
Lucas, Duster, Kumatora and Boney are joined by Flint. Who's finally made his
long overdue appearance. "Come, Boney," he says, "Lucas. This is it. This is
finally it." Boney barks in agreement. Wess comes over, he says, "Have we
managed to corner the enemy, or have we all been dragged here? Hmm. I suppose
it doesn't matter either way. Right, Duster?" Alec, Bronson, Lighter and Fuel
all storm this room. Porky then speaks through the PA. He seems to be in
declining health, judging by his coughs.
"Come a little closer so I can see your face better. Oh, is that what you look
like? I was the one who brought you here. A traveller who has journeyed to and
from past and future. I'm the most clever, most charming and most trouble
making boy ever. Master Porky Minch!" The view shifts to the vines on the
ceiling.
"I welcome you once again, you weak hangers on pretending to be the last
survivors of the world! Spankety, spankety, spankety!" Porky, now bed-ridden,
senile and sporting a ghastly grey complexion, is lowered down to you in his
hi-tech bed, just like those super obese people in Mexico. He coughs a few
more times and says, "You resorted to blanking your memories to create a new
world where humanity's past failures would never be repeated. How stupid you
can be?"
"No matter how much you change the rules, no matter how much you refuse to
admit defeat, in the end, the creatures known as 'people' will always sign
their own death warrant by acting out of stupidity and evil. And then, mankind
will be gone for good. You could have been happy, if only you would have done
as I did and obediently followed the visionary, selfish desires of a great
hero." What kind of hero will be selfish? Heroes are selfless!
Porky gasps a few times before continuing, "Why is it you struggle to cling to
life with such puny minds, pitiable bodies and feeble hearts? Well, no matter.
The curtain is about to fall on this pathetic little play of yours. Because,
soon, the power of power will be mine. The world and everything in it has been
my oyster so far, and now I'll end it all by acquiring the ultimate power." He
laughs hysterically, but chokes on it. How pathetic.
"Though everything so far has been fun and games, I've given you many a
concession. I was bored out of my mind and wanted to play games with you. But,
now that we are face-to-face like this, I won't hold anything back. My slave,
my lifeless son will pull the final Needle for me. And, the moment he does,
the Dragon should awaken and do as I want. At which time, I assume you fools
will turn into garbage or dust or something and finally disappear for good."
"I'll admit, that's kind of sad. But I would be crushed under the weight of
boredom if it were any other way." So, you want to destroy the world because
you are bored? "Do you understand now? Do you understand the sadness Master
Porky bears, now he's god like?" I understand, it must be awful being forced
to lie on a bed on life support for so long, and you call that god-like! You
can't even laugh properly! An alarm suddenly sounds.
"Oh! You love your little dramatic plays, so this couldn't have come at a
better time for you!" Porky exclaims, "It seems the seventh and final needle
has just been located deep underground, below here." Dr. Andonut appears, he
yells defiantly, "I refuse to help you anymore!" Porky continues to laugh, "I
assume you want to pull it too, Lucas? Why not go and check it out then? I'm
even being fair enough to tell you where it is. That really will make this
game all the more fun! But I think I'll use my shortcut to give myself a head
start, if you don't mind!"
"Bring it on! If you can catch up to me, that is! Here, you can use this lift
all you want! Spankety, spankety, spankety!" The floor beneath Lucas, Duster,
Kumatora, Boney and Flint starts to descend at a fast speed, quickly sending
the five down over 100 storeys of height. DCMC and the rest of the people can
only say their prayers now.
=================================
d. Race towards the final needle
=================================
[11D]
Lucas and company are sent flying out of the lift at the bottom. To make
things worse, the lift is destroyed, so you are trapped! Talk to Flint, he
says, "Lucas. There's something that has me concerned. Could you let me go
ahead first?" You must say yes. "Thanks, don't ask why. But if it seems like
I've been gone a long time, then go ahead and keep going." He walks over,
leaving you to race to the final needle.
Run down the stairs and climb down the ladders. You'll find a familiar
doorknob on one of the ledges, only to drop it very quickly. Keep going down
and save at the save frog. Open the gift box for some hot spring fumes. These
fumes restore your health and PP, just like any other hot spring. Go through
the opening in the wall for the final area.
There is only one way to go, so just follow the path, fighting all the enemies
that get in your way.
***************
Enemies
***************
Fenomeno (NEW)
HP: 750 Music beat: Fast Vulnerabilities: Ice
Attacks: Leap forward, discharge electricity
Drop: Magic Pudding
Fenomenos are falls of energy that come from the final needle. Although you
are very close to the final battle, this enemy is so weak that it can be
defeated in only one round using combos.
Minerali (NEW)
HP: 900 Music beat: Varies Vulnerabilities: Lightning
Attacks: Come crashing down, send rock fragments flying
These rocks are the harder of two enemies. They can crash down on you, dealing
over 70 damage. Sometimes, a Minerali can send rock fragments flying, dealing
over 30 damage to 3 people. The uneven beats make it rather difficult to score
combos on them.
*****END ENEMY LIST*****
Keep moving along the underground path and you'll eventually see Flint's hat
flying through the air. I wonder? Talk to Flint, who is now hatless. "That
masked man," he says, "He's Claus. Lucas, he's your brother. Claus. I don't
know why he's obeying this Porky guy, but as a father, I've finally found the
son I lost. Lucas, be happy. I've finally, finally found your brother." This
reminds me of Star Wars, when Darth Vader, with a masked helmet, tells Luke
Skywalker that he's his father! In fact, Lucas sounds a lot like Luke, don't
you think?
Talk to Flint several more times and he'll reveal that he had tried to talk
sense into the Masked Man, only to fail miserably. Go west and you'll find a
gift box across a bridge. Open it for a Real Bat, which raises Lucas' offense
by 25 and maximum PP by 50 over the Master Stick. Go a little further on and
you'll find a ladder. Before you climb it, check your group. Is Kumatora at
level 60, and has she learnt a spell called Ground? If not, go back and train
a little more until she's learnt it. Once you have that spell, climb up the
ladder to trigger a confrontation with Porky.
"Stop! Stop! Stop right there!" Porky shouts. He approaches you in his bed,
which now has spider legs! "This really is no time for games anymore. I don't
feel like letting you go any further. If you are after the needle, then don't
worry. My adorable little monster is on its way to it as we speak. Huh? That
monster's name is Claus? Its name was Claus? That almost sounds like a
person's name! But now it's my robot. Not even a fragment of life remains
inside it. It's Master Porky's slave robot! It does whatever I say! It acts on
my will alone. It's my double. It doesn't know anything about who you are!"
After a few coughs, Porky engages you in battle.
Boss Battle! Porky
HP: Just fight along and listen to his taunts Music beat: Fast
Attacks: Cough something up (lowers everyone's defense and offense at the same
time), various unknown attacks, use PSI Counter Device, suck something up
(suck one character's health)
Porky is serious this time. Despite being bedridden, he boasts many powerful
attacks that you can't tell what they are. Lucas should cast Shield Omega
right at the start to half the physical damage taken from those attacks. To
make things worse, Porky can cough something up, lowering everyone's offense
and defense at the same time! In that case, have Lucas counter that by casting
Defense Up and Offense Up Omega. Kumatora should keep using Ground until she
runs out of PP, since that move deals extremely heavy damage, while Duster and
Boney try dealing as high combos as they can.
As you deal damage to Porky, he will taunt you in various ways. "Let me fill
you in on something," he says, "No matter how much you attack me, I'll never
die. Even if I somehow wind up beaten, I can never die. Bet you didn't know
that, did you?" He then says, "I've gone through time and space so many times
that I haven't aged like a normal person. Who knows, I might be 1000 years old,
or even 10000 years old. But, despite that, I'm still the same kid at heart!
Is that funny? It is, isn't it? Does it make you laugh? Are you laughing at
me?"
A little later, he says, "If the Dragon wakes up, it might end up destroying
everything and extinguishing all life. Even so, I'll be alive. Me and the
Dragon will be the only things left alive in the whole wide world! I'm more
than ready for that possibility. With my eternal life, I will see the world
through to its end. Until everyone who won't like me is gone."
"Thank you for playing along with me all the way to the end like this. I'm
actually a pretty nice guy, wouldn't you say?"
Soon after he says that, deal a bit more damage and the machinery on his
mobile bed will start shorting out. But he's still very defiant. "I'll never
die," Porky says, "I'll never die, nor will I ever be beaten. But it appears
my machine has run out of energy for the moment. Lucas, you haven't won, just
so you know." He brings out a giant spherical device.
"I'm going to duck inside this 'Absolutely Safe Capsule' for the time being.
When I'm inside, no attack will have any effect on me whatsoever. I'm sure you
are thinking to yourself, 'Yeah right. There's no such thing as absolutely.'
But there is such a thing, and it's this! The Absolutely Safe Capsule I
tricked Dr. Andonuts and the Mr. Saturns into making for me! Me! Me! All for
me!" Porky enters the Absolutely Safe Capsule. Feel free to attack using your
physical attacks, all to no effect. Because Porky is sealed inside the
Absolutely Safe Capsule, the battle is by definition, over.
*****END BATTLE*****
Dr. Andonuts then bursts into the scene. "Oh, my!" He exclaims, "As evil as
old Porky here is, I feel bad for him now. IT's true that the 'Absolutely Safe
Capsule' that the Mr. Saturns I developed together can protect one from every
manner of danger. It is an absolutely safe capsule, bit once you enter it, you
can never exit it. Even what's outside of the Absolutely Safe Capsule is
absolutely safe. I did tell Porky in a hushed voice that he shouldn't use it
yet. But all he can do now is live for eternity inside the capsule, in
absolute safety. Who knows, in a way, he may have got exactly what he wanted.
What do you think? Is it wrong of me to think this way?" Talk about the
ultimate cockroach hotel! Porky is now condemned to a life inside that cramped
space for all eternity! Just say no to Dr. Andonuts.
"It's not wrong, you say? I wonder. I somehow get the feeling it is." If you
talk to the doc at this point, he'll demonstrate how safe Porky is inside the
capsule by rolling it around. Continue north for the final hot spring and save
frog in the game.
Save your game and head north to the final cave, where the final needle is
found. The Masked Man got there before you. He's somehow kneeling in front of
the needle. The Masked Man turns around and spots you. He promptly fires a
bolt of lightning at all of you, causing everyone but Lucas to go unconscious.
It's time for a one on one battle with this guy!
Final Battle! Masked Man
This is more of a plot device than a final battle. Knowing that the Masked Man
is Claus, Lucas will be initially reluctant to fight. Don't try to attack the
Masked Man, just stand guard for the first few rounds. It is inevitable that
the Masked Man will deal mortal damage to you. However, continue to stand
guard. Only use Lifeup Gamma on yourself when your health drops below 50. It
will be a good idea to let your health meter roll back up to full before you
let the Masked Man have his go. You can do this by waiting a while before
pressing the A button when the window "The Masked Man..." appears on screen. In
addition, don't bother to revive anyone else since the Masked Man can
immediately knock him out with his lightning.
As this battle drags on, you start to hear your dead mom's voice. "Lucas," she
will say, followed by "Claus." Unfortunately, the Masked Man still doesn't get
the message and continues to attack you. Continue guarding and healing for now.
Hinawa then pleads, "Claus, stop this. You aren't Porky's robot. You are our
son!" The Masked Man looks around, but continues his attacks. Eventually, the
Masked Man will attack using Love Omega. "Lucas!" Flint cries, "Look out!" He
jumps in front of you, blocking the attack.
Flint is badly hurt. "Claus," he pleads, "Please remember, I've been looking
for you for so long." But then the Masked Man doesn't listen. He hits Flint
with another Love Omega, knocking him out. At this point, you can try
attacking him with physical attacks, not that it would make any difference to
the final outcome of the battle. Hinawa then says, "Claus, You and Lucas are
brothers!" The Masked Man continues his attacks. "Can you hear me? You are
Claus. Your name is Claus! You are our son!" But Claus still doesn't know who
he really is.
Hinawa continues, "Please. Remember! Lucas, Claus." You then get a flashback
of a conversation between Flint and Hinawa while they were looking at you two
in your cradles. This scene bears a large similarity to Ness' flashback upon
obtaining the 8th melody in his Sound Stone back in Earthbound.
The music now changes to a twisted version of the love theme. The music will
slowly straighten up as you make your turns. Notice the Masked Man, or Claus'
attacks have significantly weakened, having learnt that he's your brother
after all. I suggest that you show some brotherly love using Love Alpha on
Claus repeatedly. I bet your heart is aching now! The Masked Man gazes at you.
He covers his ears and shuts his eyes, unable to face it all. The tension is
so great that Lucas wants to cry.
After some turns, Hinawa pleads to Claus one last time, "Claus, Claus, Claus,
come to your mother. You must be so exhausted. Come here, Claus." The Masked
Man looks around, as if searching for something. He removes his mask,
revealing his face. It's Claus! He then unleashes one last lightning attack on
you, which promptly bounces off your Franklin Badge back to him. This hit
proves to be fatal. Claus staggers towards his twin and embraces him. Lucas
immediately recognises his brother.
The dying Claus gives his last words, "I am sorry it turned out like this. I
am really happy you could be with me just before the end. Thanks. Dad, I am
sorry I didn't listen to you. I am going to where mom is now. Lucas, I hope we
meet again someday. Bye. Thank you. I'm sorry. I'm sure we will meet again."
And thus Claus is finally dead, just like how the unmasked Darth Vader died in
the arms of Luke Skywalker, having been exposed to force lightning while
saving his son.
*****END BATTLE*****
Lucas lays Claus' body on the ground. Flint thanks you, "Lucas, thank you.
Claus was just hasty, that's all. You will forgive your hasty brother, won't
you? Alright. This is it. The time has come for you to pull the Dragon's last
needle. Are you ready?" It doesn't matter what you say at this point. "Believe
in yourself and pull that final needle. Nothing needs to be sealed away
anymore. Let's make the Dark Dragon sealed underground our new friend. Pass
your heart to the dragon! Pray to it from the bottom of your heart. Ask it to
protect all life in this world. Me, and everyone else. We believe in you. So
now you need to believe in yourself. Now go. The Dragon is waiting to wake up."
Lucas walks over to the final needle. You're asked, "Your life, and the lives
of all who believe in you; Will you put it all on the line, and pull the final
needle?" It does not matter what you answer, Lucas will still pull the final
needle, triggering the world changing event.
The people in New Pork City are the first to experience intense tremors coming
from beneath the ground. The staff at the chimera lab start to feel
earthquakes too. Meteors start to fall down on Tanetane Island and whirlwinds
and flames start popping up in the sea. In the clay factory, an unsuspecting
Clay Man loads a garbage truck, unaware of the collapsed road. The ground
starts to crack open in Tazmily Village, even Osohe Castle starts to sink into
the ground! Some Pigmasks attempt to flee in the Master Porkship, only to be
hit by a meteor and come crashing down to earth.
Something dark and glowing starts to rise up in the sea as it happens. You are
shown the Nowhere Island from a distance as it burns up, surrounded by
whirlwinds. The tremors become heavier until the screen goes completely white,
then black. Is this the end of all as we know it?
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| IV. A HOPEFUL CONCLUSION |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
You will see the word "End" with a question mark on the black screen.
Surprisingly, the word can be moved around. As you do so, you can hear many
people speaking to you in the background. Looks like everyone's saved after
all! This is what you will read:
"Oww!"
"Watch where you are walking! Can't you see where you are going?"
"It's okay. This is not a dream."
"It's a miracle, a real miracle. It seems everyone's all right."
"I thought everything was about to be destroyed, but everyone's alive! The
only way to describe it is as a miracle."
"Did the Dragon's revival give power to all life?"
"That nearly scared me to death. But I guess this is what they mean by, 'A
crisis gone is easily forgotten. In any case, everyone's just peachy-keen now."
"That was scary. That was the very definition of scary."
"Say, are you [player's name]? Oh! You're okay! That's great! What a relief!
Hey, everybody! [Player's name] is over here and doing just fine!"
"[Player's name]! Lucas said he wanted to meet you."
"[Player's name], thank you so much for everything. And for helping Lucas and
the others. The world might have been completely destroyed, had it not been
for you."
"To be honest, I was scared the moment Lucas pulled the last Needle. I did
have faith, though. I had faith, but I felt a kind of fear so bad that I
almost expected my whole body to blow apart. But, as you can see, everyone is
just fine! We have regained something incredibly immense!" I believe this is
said by Duster.
"Don't know why, but I can't stop my tears from coming out. What is this
feeling? What could it be?" Kumatora sobs. This has got to be the first time
this tomboy of a princess cried. Someone else says, "This is the first time I
have ever seen you cry, Kumatora. You are really cute, now that I look."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop it! Stop it! Stop stepping on me! Even mole crickets
are living creatures you know!" Even the mole crickets have survived!
Someone pokes you, "Heehee! Who poked you in the back? Guess who? Incidentally,
I'm Wess. And it wasn't me." What a cheeky geezer. But then, you bump into
Alec, "I'm Alec. I didn't poke you in the back, [player's name]. He's playing
innocent, but Wess was the one who did it. We are both alive and well. Isn't
that right? We are both well."
"Oxygen?" Even an oxygen machine survived this ordeal, yeah those ones who
restores your oxygen through kisses!
"Oh, have we met somewhere before? Me? My name is Rope Snake. I was just
considering living a quiet life as a Snake Rope now. If you happen to find
that kind of sad, then please talk to me, and say 'Thanks,' and 'Your jaw
saved us all.' No ordinary snake could have done that. Nor an ordinary rope.
This conversation is turning out to be long, just like the snake I am. But I'm
pleased to make your acquaintance. [Player's name], was it? I'll be certain to
etch that name into my mind. Have a good new year! Have a good new year!" Well,
for once, the Rope Snake deserves a lot of credit for saving your lives at
many tense moments. But what is wrong with living as a Snake Rope?
You then hear the sound of a happy monkey. It's Salsa, he and his girlfriend
have also survived the world event caused by Lucas.
The save frog is next. "Now that my saving job is over, I think I will settle
down and take care of the tadpoles. Thank you for everything. No, wait, it's
the other way around.
"Tripped down," a Mr. Saturn says, "Tripped down, hit nose on ground." So
that's what the end of the world feels like, huh?
You then hear Boney's bark. He's fine too.
You then touch something rolling around and hear a short excerpt of the Pig
Army theme. The rolling thing wobbles with glee. There seems to be something
inside, but you can't really tell what it is. Looks like even Porky survived,
although he'll continue to be incarcerated in that Absolutely Safe Capsule!
Yup, absolutely safe to withstand even the end of the world.
Your foot then hits something small and round. It's a doorknob. You finally
picked up the doorknob Thomas pulled out of your door at the start of chapter
1.
"Oh! [Player's name]! Tanks. I feel so utterly, incredibly thankful for
everything you have done."
"Thanks for everything."
"I wish we could always be together. We just met, and now we have to say
goodbye."
"All the people of this world are saved, thanks to you. Thank you, [Player's
name]."
"That was fun, [Player's name]!"
"Let's meet again sometime. We can meet as many times as we want."
"[Player's name]!"
"Bye!"
"What's the world there like? It looks like things will work out here, but
what about your world? Will it be alright?"
"Hey, other world. Be good to [Player's name]!"
"Thanks."
"Goodbye."
"Goodbye..."
"Goodbye!"
"Thanks so much!"
"Come back sometime!"
"Thanks for everything."
"[Player's name]! We will meet again sometime, right?"
"Don't forget us!"
"Goodbye."
"Thanks. We sure had a lot of fun, didn't we?"
"..."
"Thanks..."
Thomas, dressed as a fireman, then comes running out of the screen with his
siren, starting the cast list. The cast list is followed by the end credits,
showing screenshots of different parts of the game. After all this, you get to
see a Mother 3 logo that is completely made of wood. The world of the Mother
universe has been completely restored to its original beauty. After 3 games
spanning nearly 20 years, the Mother series comes to a vague but hopeful
conclusion.
Now, I'll explain why I wrote this guide to be one with near zero-empathy. I'm
doing this is because I am utterly surprised and amazed by the reaction of
many people on the internet forums to the story. Many have expressed how they
cried at this point, at that point and during the final battle. OK, I will
give it to the producers to make many tragic bits in the story, but I believe
they have shot themselves in the foot regarding the presentation by opting for
the Gameboy Advance.
Due to its graphical limitations, the impact of many scenes to the audience is
greatly reduced. Just look at the scene where Flint learns of his wife's death,
his wife's funeral and so on. You can only see their actions, but not their
facial expression.
In addition, look at the final battle, where many forum users have claimed
they have cried over it. What I see is the Masked Man in the middle of the
screen, several menus and windows. The only way you can tell what's going on
is by the text. Such an arrangement gives the player a poor visualisation of
what is really going on. Had Itoi chose the DS, they could at least have room
to make many climactic 3D scenes of the battle, and that would dazzle the
audience more.
I will give a high score to the fun gameplay of this game, especially the
musical combo system. I usually don't care about the story of RPGs, but seeing
the reactions from the fans, I consider them to be grossly oversensitive. I
feel that I will have to lower my score on this game by a little bit due to
that. As I said before, if you cry while playing this game, you are little
above crying at a tragic novel with zero illustrations whatsoever. Thanks for
reading your way through this guide!
This guide is copyright 2008-2011 by Kylohk. Only GameFAQs may post this guide,
so don't bother asking.
