TAIL CONCERTO Strategies, Secrets, and Other Info FAQ v1.0 (Initial version)
By Kristina Ann Potts AKA Aussie2B or Succubus
E-mail:
[email protected]
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Introduction
Photo Album
Strategies
Frequently Asked Questions
Contacting Me
Copyright Information
Thanks to...
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INTRODUCTION
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Hello, and welcome to my Tail Concerto FAQ. While there may be FAQs and
walkthroughs out there that cover similar information on Tail Concerto, I
have two main reasons for making this FAQ:
1. I’ve been meaning to write a FAQ on the photo album for a long time, even
back when no information on the photo album seemed to be available anywhere.
2. I believe I have something new to offer. I’ve yet to see a walkthrough or
FAQ on Tail Concerto give in-depth strategies for the challenging parts of
the game, and I’ve also yet to see a photo album FAQ tell you exactly where
to locate a specific missing piece of the photo album. While a list is
helpful, what if the player doesn’t want to rely on a FAQ throughout the
entire game? Or what if someone is just missing one or two pieces? They
shouldn’t need to backtrack to every photo piece location in the game. That’s
where my FAQ comes into play.
Anyway, I love Tail Concerto very much, so even though it may have been
tedious to go back and forth between the photo album and where I was
collecting the pieces to find out exactly which piece goes where, it was
still fun to replay the game. I hope my FAQ is helpful to you. :)
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PHOTO ALBUM
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To find the pieces you are missing, find it in the photo album diagram. Then find
its number to get the location. NOTE: This FAQ can be used as a list in which to
get every piece as you play the game. Photo piece locations are listed (more or
less) in the order in which you can get them.
The Kittens Terria Alicia Sitting Terria At Panta
Shopping At Table Balcony
____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 38 | 42 | | 18 | 17 | | 2 | 3 | | | | 22 | 23 |
|_____|_____| |_____|_____| |_____|_____| | 29 | |_____|_____|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 44 | 43 | | 20 | 21 | | 1 | 4 | | | | 19 | 24 |
|_____|_____| |_____|_____| |_____|_____| |___________| |_____|_____|
Stare Sitting Kittens With Stare Reading Russell & Alicia As A
In Field Swords Chamberlain Child
____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | 11 | | | | 39 | 37 | | 9 | 10 | | 31 | 30 |
|_____|_____| | 13 | |_____|_____| |_____|_____| |_____|_____|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | 8 | | | | 41 | 40 | | 7 | 12 | | 33 | 32 |
|_____|_____| |___________| |_____|_____| |_____|_____| |_____|_____|
Flare In Cyan In Flare Napping Cyan With Young Alicia
Swimsuit Swim Trunks Rose & Waffle
____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | 25 | | | | 35 | 34 | | | | |
|_____|_____| | 27 | |_____|_____| | 15 | | 45 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| 28 | 26 | | | | 36 | 14 | | | | |
|_____|_____| |___________| |_____|_____| |___________| |___________|
RESACA HARBOR
1. Behind the blue truck with the wooden crate.
2. In the “View Ocean Wine Company” building’s cabinet.
3. On the floor in the “View Ocean Wine Company” building.
CENTRAL PLAZA
4. To the right of the kitten grafitti near the two crates by the “Frank Rodge”
building.
5. In the “Frank Rodge” building.
6. In the cabinet of the “AAA” building (near the door to Downtown Resaca).
DOWNTOWN RESACA
7 & 8. Blast the moving and honking truck several times to make it drop both.
9. In the right corner near the Downtown Resaca entrance.
10. In the cabinet of the empty house that the dog-woman walks by.
11. Behind the last house in Downtown Resaca.
12. In the fireplace of the last house.
13. First in the Central Plaza, get the toy doll from the kitten hiding in the
cabinet of the house with a sign that looks like “Coo”. Then talk to the dog-girl
in the last house of Downtown Resaca. She’ll give you an entire photograph.
AIRLEAF
14. In the house’s garage.
(NOTE: While you can acquire some photo pieces on the islands the first time you
reach Airleaf, you can’t get them all until you get the improved jetpack. It’s also
much easier to collect items on the islands once you get the second jetpack;
therefore, I won’t cover those pieces until later on.)
EGG STONE
15. Behind the Egg Stone lies an entire photo.
FERZEN
16. On the tower next to the entrance of the 1st Mine. Jump from above the entrance
to the left of the rock in front of the truck. Use the X button to flap your arms
and get a little more distance. With practice you’ll be able to grab the ledge and
climb up.
NOTE: Check the map in the mines for 17 through 24.
17. Alongside of the track between 1 and 4.
18. Next to map on 4.
19. Next to fence on 5.
20. Alongside of the track between 1 and 3.
21. Same as above; jump and grab to get.
22. Alongside of the track between 3 and 6.
23. Next to fence on 8.
24. To the left of the green crystal holder on 9.
25. On top of the ledge that’s left of the entrance to the 2nd Mine.
26. In the cabinet of the room in which Princess Terria was held captive.
27. After rescuing Princess Terria, go to the house with the dog-man’s diary. He’s
gone now, so you can read it. Then go examine the drill near the dock to find an
entire photo. (This is the man’s treasure? O_o Oooooooooookay...)
28. On the tiny ledge to the left of the ladder next to the 2nd Mine entrance. Jump
on the small green ledge, and then jump off to the left. You should land next to
the photo piece below.
GRIMTO
29. To the left of the quicksand, you’ll find an entire photo hidden in the trees
and grass.
COOLANT
30. On top of the chest in Gray’s house/igloo.
31. Under Gray’s desk in his house/igloo.
32. In the second room of the ice cave near the spiked wall.
33. Same as above.
AIRLEAF (part 2)
NOTE: These directions are based on FACING your airship. That means having Waffle
directly facing it, touching it with the front of his body/robo.
34. You should see three large islands slightly to the right. There’s a photo piece
on the lowest one.
35. To your left, you should see a small cluster of islands. You should be able to
make out a photo piece on one of the higher ones.
36. Tilt the camera up twice with the L1 button. You should see an island far above
you slightly to the right that has a photo piece.
37. There’s a photo piece on a close-by island behind you to your left.
38. Go to the two heart-shaped islands directly to your right. Turn right again,
and in the distance, you should see a large island surrounded by many small
islands. One of the small ones has a photo piece.
39. Go to the island with the bone and can near piece 37. From there go to the
island with two trees and two stones. Now tilt the camera up, and go to the island
with two stones above you, which has a whistle. There’s a photo piece on an island
right next to it.
40. On the island shaped like a crescent moon, which is next to a star-shaped
island. To get there, fly directly south until you reach the + shaped island. Then
fly right to find the moon and star.
41. On a large island with an “S” design, next to a smaller island with a bone.
It’s visible from the crescent moon and star islands mentioned in 40.
42. From the crescent moon and star islands mentioned in 40, you should see a
close-by large island with two trees below you. Behind that island, you should see
a large island with three tiny islands above it in the distance. Each of the three
has a photo piece.
43. See above.
44. See 42.
CENTRAL PLAZA IN RESACA
45. In the clock tower, there are moving pistons next to where you find Flare.
Behind the pistons, you’ll find an entire photo.
FINAL NOTE ON PHOTO ALBUM: If you collect every photo piece in the game, you’ll get
three bonus pictures if you load the bonus data after beating the game and saving.
Just press right until you reach three photographs with large question marks on
them. View them to see (from top to bottom) the Prairie police force, the three
Pris sisters, and Cyan, Princess Terria, and Hound the III. Unfortunately, they’re
just the artwork from the manual, so they’re not much of a bonus...
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STRATEGIES
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Overall, I’d consider Tail Concerto a fairly easy game, but it does have its
moments of insane frustration. :) Especially if you’re brave enough (and skilled
enough), to play the game on hard. Here are my personal in-depth strategies:
INSIDE THE IRON GIANT (final area)
Ack! Super slow-mo! I was stuck on this area for months. No strategy will help you
unless you have one key thing – patience. Slow and steady wins the race. If you sit
there trying to fight the slow-motion, you’ll keep making mistakes and falling
down. Now, if you’re mentally prepared, follow my strategy:
Walk to the first teleporter. As soon as you reappear above, tilt the camera down
with the L2 button. There’s a green teleporter ahead of you, but it’s easier to get
to the red one. Jump on the moving platform that comes from the left. You’ll have
to time it just right by jumping to the right and catching it as it comes around.
Now simply wait as it passes by the red teleporter, and hop onto it.
This next part is confusing, but it’s actually quite easy in that you rarely need
to jump. (You may want to tilt the camera down again.) If you took the red
teleporter, you should see the green one or vice versa. Just ignore the one you
didn’t take before. You want to work your way to the yellow one. Each time you jump
on a platform it moves. They only move back and forth, though. From the red
teleporter you should be standing on (if you took my advice ;) ), get on the
platform closest to you. Just keep getting on the one that you’re taken next to (if
you time it right, you can just walk onto each platform), and you’ll reach one
that’ll take you right above the yellow teleporter. Just drop down onto it. You’re
almost at the top! O_O!
Once you’re teleported higher above, hop on the little platform in front of you,
and wait for a staircase to appear. Tilt the camera down again, and use R2 to move
to the back edge of the platform. Take a small hop to the next one. Repeat for
every platform, and shoot the little guys each time. You don’t want to fall down
after all your work. Just take it very slowly, and you’ll reach Alicia’s ship.
FIGHTING THE IRON GIANT (final boss)
The Iron Giant may be a bit of a pushover on easy, but man, is he one tough mofo on
hard! It’ll take near perfect execution of a good strategy (*cough* *cough* ;) ) to
beat him. Just like in all good platform games, practice makes perfect!
The Iron Giant has a pattern that consists only of about three moves. He circles
the room, shoots one or two lasers at you that burst into a wall of flames, circles
the room again, stops to shoot a series of bombs in your direction, circles once
more, then charges at you extremely fast. Rinse and repeat. Your only way of
attacking him is with your supped up bubble blaster. If at anytime your attacks
cause him to explode and fall down, be prepared because he’s about to skip to his
next attack. You can use this to your benefit (if you’re really lucky and fast) and
stop his current attack. Now, my method of beating him:
First, shoot at him whenever you can. Start the battle by shooting until he stops
circling the room in order to do his laser attack. The Iron Giant has a way of
“predicting” where you’re going, so instead of running and jumping all over the
place, stop when he’s about to shoot. That way he’ll shoot directly where you’re
standing. Jump to the side right as he shoots. With this strategy, you should never
get hit by it. If he shoots the laser twice, try to get in some hits between the
two.
Start shooting again once he returns to circling the room. When he stops and sucks
in his arms, shoot like crazy! Don’t stop until the bombs are heading for you.
Simply jump to the side to avoid them.
Chances are you shot him so many times that you interrupted him, and he immediately
starts his charge. If not, just get in some more shots as he’s circling the room
until he charges. This is the hardest attack to avoid. Most people recommend
jumping to the side, but DON’T. And I mean don’t! I almost always get hit when I
try jumping. Maybe it can cut it on easy or normal, but on hard, jumping is a death
wish. So resist all urge to jump, and just run to the side. I know it seems slow,
but it works. If you successfully dodge, turn around and shoot the pudding out of
the Iron Giant while he’s down. Now he’ll repeat the pattern, so be prepared for
the lasers again and so on.
If you successfully beat him, there will be a short dialogue sequence, which is
interrupted by the Iron Giant reviving! O_O No, you don’t gotta fight him again.
Just jump and grab at or shoot one of the crystals (the blue one seems to be the
only one easily reachable). Without all five, the Iron Giant will collapse, and
Prairie will be saved!
NOTE: I’ve heard that diving also works well to dodge the Iron Giant’s charging
attack. I prefer simply running myself, but if this strategy seem better for you,
go for it. I’d recommend turning the diving sensitivity up to high in the menu once
the battle starts.
If you’re having trouble with a boss or other tricky part in Tail Concerto, email
me! I’d be happy to add it to the strategy section.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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The fun part of this FAQ where I answer all the things you’re curious about that
involve Tail Concerto. :)
Q: What is Tail Concerto? Should I buy it?
A: Why are you reading this FAQ if you don’t know? O_o To answer that question, and
to offer my opinion on the game, read my Tail Concerto review on www.gamefaqs.com
or the picture version on my site at
www.geocities.com/triacesuperfan/tcreview.html. I recommend my site’s version; it’s
funnier. ;P
Q: I’m confused. Who made Tail Concerto, Atlus or Bandai?
A: Neither. :) I was uninformed myself for quite awhile, assuming that it was
developed by Bandai. It’s actually in fact made by a small Japanese developer known
as CyberConnect.
Q: Is there a sequel to Tail Concerto? Or any other CyberConnect games I can buy?
A: Yes and no. CyberConnect recently announced a sequel to Tail Concerto on
PlayStation2, but it’ll be a long time before it’s released. I don’t know of any
games similar to Tail Concerto, but there are two other CyberConnect games
available. One being Silent Bomber for PlayStation, the other being .hack recently
released for PlayStation2 (in Japan, a US version should come in due time).
Q: I love the artwork in Tail Concerto. Who drew it? Do you know where I can find
more?
A: I definitely do. Tail Concerto’s artwork was done by the amazing Nobuteru Yuuki,
an artist who always reinvents his style. Chances are you’ve seen his work before
and didn’t even know it. In the anime industry, he’s done Record of Lodoss War,
Escaflowne, X: The Movie, Battle Angel Alita, and some other titles. In the gaming
industry, he’s done the artwork for Seiken Densetsu 3, Chrono Cross, and of course,
our beloved Tail Concerto.
Q: Was there anything changed between the Japanese and US version of the game?
A: Besides the obvious, such as the voice acting being dubbed into English, there
are also some other questionable changes. One that most people are disappointed in
is that the original J-Pop opening song “For Little Tail” was replaced with a good,
though rather weak, orchestral piece. Also, it appears that some of the photo album
pictures were changed. My assumption is that the dull instruction manual artwork
pictures replaced certain original drawings. Why, I can’t say. Perhaps it’s a
matter of censorship. I’ve heard that some of the names of characters/places/etc.
were changed too.
Q: I heard there’s a sound test in the game. Is it true?
A: Yep, I was skeptical, but I confirmed it myself. Unlike the other bonuses, which
you can get on any difficulty, you can only access the sound test if you beat the
game on hard, load the bonus data, and use the phonograph. There are twenty song to
listen to, and, no, “For Little Tail” isn’t one of them...
Q: Are there any Tail Concerto products I can buy?
A: Yes, but very little. I know of a Japanese guidebook, artbook, and I assume
there’s a CD single for the opening song “For Little Tail” (don’t hold me to that,
though, just an educated guess). There is also some doujinshi, which are unofficial
fan-made comic books. Some of which are hentai... x_x That’s all I know of right
now.
Q: Courtesy of my boyfriend’s little sister – Why do the cat and dog people have
belly buttons?
A: Your guess is as good as mine. o_O
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CONTACTING ME
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If you need help with Tail Concerto, or have any questions about it, feel free to
email me. Please don’t ask questions answered already in the FAQ, though. Don’t ask
for ISOs, burnt CDs, etc. as I cannot provide them and don’t support them. If you
just want to chat about Tail Concerto, feel free to send me mail; I love talking
about my favorite games. :) I’ll also happily take submissions and give credit to
those who submit to this FAQ.
E-mail address:
[email protected]
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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
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This FAQ is copyright 2002 Kristina Potts. This FAQ may be used only if the author
has been contacted and gave permission, nothing is altered, and the FAQ is used in
its entirety. Credit must also be given to the author. This FAQ may NOT be used for
commercial purposes.
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THANKS TO...
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CyberConnect for making such a wonderful charming game. I’m looking forward to Tail
Concerto 2. :)
Bandai for publishing this game.
Atlus for picking it up and releasing it in the US.
Matt Lilly for writing the first guide on the photo album I ever saw. Would’ve
never found them all without that guide’s help.
The GameFAQs Tail Concerto message board members for teaching me many things about
the game I didn’t know.
GameFAQs for hosting my reviews, walkthroughs, and FAQs.
My Andy for being cute. :P And for not killing me when I subjected him to the
cuteness that is Tail Concerto.
tri-Ace because, uh... I sold my soul to them? O_o?
Myself because... thanking Fred Meyer would be silly.
