DewPrism
Mint's FAQ
(for the Japanese version)
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Bare Contents:
1. Your Universe (and the People in it)
2. Pure Magic
3. Getting Physical
4. Money Talk
5. Annoying Bosses and other Nuisances
========================================
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A bit about Mint...
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Mint is a self-absorbed, ruthless, and singularly bloody-minded
dominatrix whose desire for power stops at nothing short of conquering
the world. And she _can_ do it. That's why she's so fun to role-play.
But first she's got to get even with her younger sister, Maya, who not
only stole the throne from her, but who has also used the heirloom of
the royal family of the Great Eastern Kingdom (to which they both
belong) – The Book Of Cosmos – against her, as well as amplifying her
mere dislike of pumpkins into a full-blown phobia.
Two years after her flight from the Great Eastern Kingdom, Mint finds
herself in the town of Karona, and embarks on quest after quest in
search of ever more power. She eventually finds out though that there
is more to Maya's apparent betrayal than meets the eye, and worse yet,
that there are others looking for the source of ultimate power: the
DewPrism. Mint threatens, cajoles and drop-kicks-ass while remaining
cute as a button (with razor edges, perhaps), making her one of the
most lovable characters in Square history.
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Why this isn't a walkthrough
-----------------------------
This game really doesn't present much of a challenge to new or
experienced gamers. The plot is straightforward, and there are only so
many places to visit and people to talk to if you get stuck. When asked
to make a choice, it's usually a yes/no dichotomy. Monsters drop
potions which restore HP or MP when they're killed, and if you die all
you need is a bronze coin to continue. Most of the difficulty comes
from not knowing what a particular boss is weak against, or from having
to do precision jumping. This FAQ can help with the former; the
latter's up to you.
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1. Your Universe (and the People in it)
----------------------------------------
For ease of reference here is the list of Romanised names I will be
using for this FAQ:
Location Names (as per the screen at the town gates)
- Karona Forest
- Labyrinth
- Mel's Atria
- Gamur Forest Village (looks a lot like the Ewok village)
- Fiery Mountain
- Lakeside (later Maya's Tower)
- Varen's Holy City
People Names
Mint! – the female main character
Rue – the male main character
Claus – bespectacled bearer of all arcane knowledge in Karona, looks a
bit like Robin Williams, treats Prima Doll as a son, limps
Mira – Claus' wife, short purple hair
Elena – Claus' and Mira's daughter, plasters (really ribbons) at her
temples, has a thing for Rue
Mel – magic-user with a bunny-face for a skullcap, her Atria is one
pastel acid trip
Belle – blue-white-haired magic-user in fancy dark-russet gown, a
persistent nemesis of Mint
Duke – Belle's adventuring partner and punching bag, fights with fists
Prima Doll – child liberated from the Cube Mint gets in the Labyrinth,
needed to break the seal in the ruins in the middle of the
lake
Maya – Mint's sister, powerful magic-user with a headdress worthy of
Amidala, colour-coordinated like a Ming vase
Dollmaster – guy with two white locks and a tengu mask in Mint's
opening sequence, engineered the entire scheme
Psychomaster – one of Dollmaster's cronies, eyes closed, dressed like a
butler with three papillotes on his head
Wiraf – 1000 year old dragon atop Fiery Mountain
Varen – great magic-user thought to have been destroyed by the
DewPrism, final boss, also looks like Amidala
I hereby apologise for taking liberties in translating the Japanese
names of the places and characters (these are all approximations of my
own), most of all for the Great Eastern Kingdom (sounds like an
insurance company where I come from); but I had no better option.
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2. Pure Magic
--------------
The best thing about playing Mint is probably that it's just so easy
to. The magic system in DewPrism is very friendly: you restore MP
simply by dealing physical damage. The more powerful the enemy (as well
as the more damage you deal), the more MP you restore. In cases where
you can't damage something physically (the final boss, for instance)
you STILL restore MP by hitting it. With long-range, rapid-fire, and
most importantly healing capabilities, the game is a cinch with Mint's
magic.
Mint mixes and matches spell colours and spell effects to get new
magic. Here is a list of them, and how to get them.
Spell Colours
Blue - Mint has it at the start of the game.
White - Mint has it at the start of the game.
Red - Claus gives this to Mint after she returns the first time
from Karona Forest (with the diary and the keystone).
Green - Found on Belle's body after defeating her on the horrid
Hexagon machine the first time.
Black - Found in a treasure shell (the bright pink ones) in the first
screen of Fiery Mountain. Just before crossing into the next
screen, walk off the ledge towards the screen and jump to the
platform left of you.
Gold - Prima Doll gives this to Mint at the entrance of Varen's
Holy City.
Yellow - Obtained after defeating the high-voltage Cheshire in Mel's
Atria.
Spell Effects (anti-clockwise from Normal)
Normal - Mint has it at the start of the game. (pointer symbol)
Wide - Mint has it at the start of the game.
Power - Found on the body of the skeletal guardian of the Labyrinth.
Return to the stairwell where you outran the creature, and
its carcass will be on the bottom step.
Super - Also found in the Labyrinth. In the room which requires you
to melt a huge iceblock to obtain the last token (the khaki
one with the weasel on it) there will be two more iceblocks
to the right. Since you have no way of regaining MP (and the
blocks regenerate if you leave the screen), you need at least
106 MP to get to the treasure shells.
Circle - By far the most annoying effect to get. The treasure shell
containing this effect is hidden within a rock on a ledge on
the cliff-face before fighting the gargoyles in Karona
Forest. After killing the first plant-creature, you will
find yourself on a small ledge on the right cliff-face. Do
NOT jump onto the next ledge along the right – there is a
rock there but it is the wrong rock. Instead walk off the
ledge along the left cliff-face onto another ledge with
another plant-creature, and you will see across from you the
culprit rock. The only way I know of shattering it (as there
isn't enough space for you to jump on the ledge first) is the
spell Graviton (black+power). Then hope that you make the
jump successfully, cos' you only get one try (i.e. if you
don't you'll have to go through the whole forest again –
isn't that just swell?)
Hyper - Obtained by defeating Viraf a second time (ONLY after
defeating the Maya clone).
Cosmos - Maya gives this to Mint just before you fight Varen's second
form.
Useful Notes on Magic
Mint's maximum MP increases the more spells she casts. As if we needed
an incentive to use more magic.
Pay attention to the symbol next to a spell's description. This will
tell you what kind of spell it is. Just because a spell is of a certain
colour doesn't mean that it must be of the element associated with that
colour. The black spells Bomb (normal), Dynamite (super), Drill
(circle) and Graviton (power) for example are considered physical
(crushing) attacks (large axe symbol). The white spells Hearken
(normal) and Arrow (power) are regular physical attacks (hammer
symbol). Most enemies are weak to one or more attacks, so knowing which
each spell falls under is useful.
Having said all that, sometimes it doesn't really matter what element a
spell is. Traditional notions of weaknesses don't seem to be consistent
(i.e. a WHOLE lot of monsters are weak against water) and a large
number of bosses take almost equal damage from all spells. As such, I
eventually stuck to a small number of spells useful under most
circumstances: Force (yellow+circle), Satellite (white+circle), Delta
(red+circle), Inverse (green+super), Graviton (black+power), Bolt
(yellow+power) and Icicle (blue+super).
Some spells will serve "interactive" purposes e.g. shattering rocks,
extinguishing fires, melting iceblocks and so on. There's really only
one instance where it's not obvious which spell to use (see section 5).
Once you obtain the blue spell Energy Spring (blue+hyper) your worries
are over. This consumes all your MP (minimum of 100) and then heals you
for as much. Don't be afraid of abusing this because you will never run
short of MP in this game.
The unique spell Bravery Light created by mixing Gold and Cosmos (they
combine with nothing else) is second in usefulness only to Energy
Spring. At only 10 MP, this spell creates a field which subtracts
damage from MP instead, which can be fired off (by releasing the Magic
button) for some major BOKOBOKO (for how to kill Varen's second form
with it, see section 5). If you replay the game as Mint after
completing Rue's Story as well, you will require no other attack spell.
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3. Getting Physical
--------------------
Even as a fighter Mint is outstanding. Her standing attacks are fast
(for best results, tap the button regularly such that you don't execute
the 3-hit combo, instead hitting the target continuously), and her
jumping kick does good damage. This game gives characters auto-
targeting i.e. Mint will lash out at whatever's closest to her, which
may or may not be a good thing.
Mint however does take quite a lot of damage, so it's better to stick
to long-range magic (until you get Energy Spring). HOWEVER, unlike
increasing MP, her maximum HP increases the more damage she _takes_. So
you'll have to find a happy medium between avoiding all damage and
having a low max HP (that is unless you're willing to earn enough money
to just BUY more HP or +1 DEF).
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4. Money Talk
--------------
You make money primarily by killing monsters and selling their rotting
carcasses *evil laugh*. More difficult monsters fetch higher prices,
but take a longer time to accumulate a lot of. The fastest way I've
found of making money is to stand a short distance from the entrance to
one of the huts in Gamur Forest Village, equip the spell Typhoon
(green+wide) and keep your finger on the Magic button. As new Ewok-
things jump out to their doom they should die right in front of Mint,
dropping their potions directly onto her. In case you do run out of MP,
just beat them up a bit and repeat. 999 of them will earn you 19980 G.
You also get money by selling off rocks and other bric-a-brac. These
are usually in treasure shells deviously hidden in hard-to-see places.
Here are the ones easily missed:
Karona Forest: In the abandoned house, there are shells at the
rightmost part of the second floor, and on the balcony (through the
door).
Labyrinth: After the first two waterfall screens, be sure to check all
the exits on your right before taking the left into the third waterfall
screen. Along with the Super spell effect there is a shell beyond the
three iceblocks. In the screen with the two rotating rings of tokens
above water, there is a shell on a ledge at the opposite end of the
room.
Gamur Forest Village: There is a shell containing a brooch requiring
you to set up the levers exactly as you would for reaching the Guardian
but on the platform with two levers do NOT hit the one on the right. If
you're unable to get to the Guardian even, see section 5. Once you have
the brooch don't sell it off at the shops, instead approach one of the
men (Markam, in the peach hat) around the fountain in Karona, who will
offer to buy it for 4000 G. If you refuse him the first time he will
offer you 6000 G instead.
Maya's Tower: At the base of the second stairwell there is a shell a
short ways clockwise from where you start out. Also be sure to go right
to the end of a new storey before entering the door.
There are six places to spend money in Karona. Immediately on your
right entering Karona is the weapons and armour store. Only buy the
best available stuff at any time i.e. when all four slots are filled
get the second and fourth items. You can also sell your carcasses here.
Next to that is the hotel, where a night costs 500 G. The first time
you sleep here, look around the chest opposite the bed. You should find
a Stone of Dreamseeing. Now you'll have an odd dream (of a monkey
jumping into a tree stump). This is actually a clue to a treasure
location, so pay attention to where the dream takes place (it's the
first tree stump in Karona forest, just jump on top of it). When you
come to a tiny plant, use blue magic on it to make it grow, jump onto
the platform to the right and obtain the Last Hero book inside the
shell. Give this to Rod in Karona for a permanent ATK +4. I don't think
there are any other dreams to be had. You will also find various coins
every time you sleep here.
Next to the hotel is the local church, where you can buy coins:
1000 G gets you 10 bronze coins (100% HP 25% MP)
5000 G gets you 5 silver coins (100%HP 50% MP)
10000 G gets you 2 gold coins (100%HP and MP)
30000 G gets you 1 platina coin (100% HP and MP, +1 base ATK and DEF)
Between the weapons shop and the hotel is an alleyway which brings you
to the pub on your left, where you can restore MP with drinks (milk!)
and an old curiosity shop on your right. Here you can purchase
permanent +1 's to base attack and defense and 10 point increases to HP
and MP for 30000 G each. If this sounds ludicrously expensive, it is,
especially since after giving the old man the Dream Wine (obtained in
the Labyrinth along with the Super effect)(2nd option when you next
speak to him). For improving his nightlife, he gleefully lowers the
price of everything to 5000 G! *This you _MUST_ do!*
The last thing you can do with money is to duel with Rod (through the
alley next to Claus' store). You wager 100 G and if you beat him you
get 1000 G. He is somewhat hard to beat early in the game, until you
start buying some equipment and getting spells, even though he improves
his weapon each time he is defeated. By then though, you could be
making lots more elsewhere.
The inn (the first building on your left) is where you save the game.
Talking to the innkeeper, the 2nd option is to restore HP, the 3rd
option is restore HP and save, and the 4th option is to go to your
room. Use this last option whenever it is night in Karona (to advance
the plot).
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5. Annoying Bosses and other Nuisances
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Annoying Bosses
Here are some simple tips to defeating some of the more tiresome bosses
in the game, especially those whose weaknesses aren't evident.
Belle: This persistent woman is a real posterior pain, despite the fact
that she becomes an (uneasy) ally eventually, oddly enough. Before
this, however, you have to battle her three times:
a) In the Labyrinth, where she steals the Tiara you worked so hard for,
she will annoy you with her own versions of Delta and Satellite. She's
not weak against any element, so I find that rapid-fire Hearken works
the best.
b) Before you enter Gamur Forest Village, she appears with Hexagon the
mechanical monstrosity. To avoid both Hexagon's grasp and her fire wave
spell, just keep running along the boundary of the battlefield. To
actually hit her you'll have to jump onto any of the three platforms
that rise up when she uses the spell and cast spells or kick her, while
avoiding her Delta blasts.
c) Before getting to Wiraf you'll run into her _and_ Hexagon AND Duke.
Dispose of Duke first, then keep avoiding Hexagon's grasp and kicking
her (for catharsis). Once that lifebar is empty you'll have to deal
with her. At that stage you shouldn't be taking much damage from her
spells, so I suggest repeated bludgeoning with the rings.
Guardian: There's only one bit of this whale that you can damage and
that's the glowing bit. If it attacks from the front with the glowing
bit on its forehead, the best thing to do is to kick it, since you'll
be jumping to avoid the bursts of water anyway. After you connect with
a kick however, try to press down on the directional pad to bring Mint
back onto the raft, because auto-targeting will send her towards
Guardian with enough inertia to go overboard. You can get in about 4-5
kicks this way. If it attacks with its vacuum, where the glowing bit is
in its mouth, try to get in a few hits with Hearken. When it crosses
over the raft from side to side (bringing the wave with it) the inertia
only affects you if you jump, so only jump once - over the wave. The
Ewok-things are meant to be refills (they're weak against wind
attacks). The second time you fight it, you'll have the Circle effect,
so instead of kicking it, use Crystal (blue+circle) and jump, and
instead of Hearken use Satellite.
Starlight Duke: You will encounter him coming back from Mel's Atria
after rescuing the 4th little orange man and obtaining Mel's Report.
You can only damage him after he falls over. Oddly enough, he's weak
against holy attacks (wing symbol).
Psychomaster: You will have to fight him twice, once in Karona's church
and again in Varen's Holy City. I'm sure the Japanese exhortation
before each battle tells you this but for those who didn't or can't
read it you can ONLY hit his back. If you hit his front, he will use
that grasp and eject attack. You _could_ try using Graviton
(black+power) but that takes ages to cast.
Varen (1st form): After possessing Rue he will float around the inner
perimeter of the ring randomly, while his dark angel goon does its best
to annoy you. Simply keep tracking down Rue and kicking him (that'll
teach you to compete with Mint!). If you look to be in danger of dying,
beat up dark angel goon and cast Energy Spring.
Varen (2nd form): If all the DewPrism does is morph someone into a big
pink shapeshifting insect I doubt that it would've been of much help to
Mint's ambition. Still it's invulnerable to all attack except in one
form, a flying creature which fires one string of little sparks. When
you see it morphing into this, cast Bravery Light (gold+cosmos) to
absorb the damage as MP damage, then release the Magic button to fire
off the gold octahedron at Varen. This will do a huge amount of damage,
so only 4 or 5 attacks are needed to kill it. If your MP runs low,
potions pop up on the perimeter occasionally, or you can just attack
the crawling insect form. For more of a challenge kick Varen to death
(also after the string of sparks).
Other Nuisances
Karona Forest: In the screen with the two gargoyles you've got to kill
both of them at the same time for the 3345 steps to appear. Little cat-
hedgehogs are best killed with a swift kick to the head.
Labyrinth (part 1): The screen will recur infinitely, so pay attention
to the background sounds. If you can hear the slight roar of a
waterfall, you're in the right screen. Exit to the right and go through
two waterfall screens. You won't hear the roar anymore. When you next
do, exit left. When running from the rock, jump to avoid falling debris
and remember to keep left.
Labyrinth (part 2): When escaping from the skeletal guardian, hug the
inside of the stairwell for maximum speed. Spiked balls will bounce
down the stairs for your convenience. You have to see if they're on the
inside or outside of the stairs just before they crash into you, and
move appropriately. Or if you're good at this sort of thing, just let
them bounce over you.
Mel's Atria: Before you get to see Mel, you'll have to "play" 3 "games"
(talk to the little orange men with the skull staffs and choose the 2nd
option). Whatever time you have left after getting through a short but
annoying stage you use to play the games. For the imps (the rabbit-like
things which throw stars) I suggest jumping on their block after they
jump up (hitting them takes too much time). Also remember the physical
law that no two things can coexist in the same space.
Gamur Forest Village: This entire village counts as a nuisance. The
Ewok things won't attack you if you don't attack them. To get the fans
working, simply cast a wind spell (Typhoon [green+wide] is good) to get
them moving. Here's the sequence of levers:
1. Before getting on to the moving platform, hit the lever so it points
left. At the next section also hit the lever so it points left.
2. Now you will get onto the exit on the far left, which brings you to
a platform with two levers. Hit the one of the left (so that it points
right).
3. Taking the moving platform against brings you to the other exit on
the left. There is only one lever here, after having to negotiate to
two platforms, which you hit once.
4. Before getting on the moving platform hit the lever so it points
right. Now it takes you to the exit (on the far right) with the
treasure shell (containing the brooch) and towards the Guardian.
Mel's Atria (revisited): To re-energise Prima Doll, you'll need yellow
magic from the Lightning Kitty (that's what I call it). To fight it
simply find the little orange man that you rescued in the forest (it's
at the back of the house, and you'll have an extended conversation
[mostly pleasantries] before it gives you the 2 options).
Maya's Tower: In the room with eight or so green pumpkins and the witch
firing pumpkins at you, only pumpkins spinning right to left are safe
to jump on. If you fall off, you'll have to kill all three pumpkins
before you can get back up. Also, when asked which Maya is the false
one, she's the one on the left (2nd option to non-Chinese/Japanese
readers). If you pick the 1st option you'll hit the real Maya, and
she'll quarrel with Mint for a bit, then they both beat up the clone.
Varen's Holy City (part 1): To Rod's machine to fly, you need to
collect 5 more Cannon Orbs. Mel gives you one automatically; Claus has
one; Belle has another (she's in the bar); another has to be borrowed
from Hobbes of the old curio shop. I think the size of the deposit
depends on what tactic you choose to guilt him into loaning it to you.
The first option is to threaten (15000 G), the second is to weep
theatrically (5000 G), and the last begins a sort of staring match
(10000 G). The last orb is obtained by Duke and Rod for you from Wiraf
(visit Rod after you have collected the other 4). Thanks go out to Ken
Chu for drawing my attention to this oversight.
Varen's Holy City (part 2): When you are transported to a room with two
fires, extinguish one fire and relight it. The screen will flash and a
ball will fall from the ceiling. What you must now do is collect the
three other balls. To do this repeat the pattern of flames in the other
three rooms, by extinguishing, lighting, or in one case, fanning (with
a wind spell) flames.
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Miscellaneous Things (of no real significance)
-----------------------------------------------
Rod the Bradster's "great machine" is called Scarlet Typhoon Excellent
Gamma. When asked for its name before he'll take you to the ruin in the
middle of the lake, it's the 3rd option. Also if you talk to Rod at
night, you can find out about him and his father.
You can find coins in the streets of Karona and the docks at random.
Just look out for small shiny spots.
After you meet Psychomaster, you'll be sent off to Karona Forest by
Elena to rescue Mira. On the way, you'll bump into the two thieves
being held hostage by a group of zombie-like Puppets. If you help them
(1st option) kill the Puppets, they'll run away leaving a silver coin.
Bravery Light (gold+cosmos) is actually a death elemental attack.
In case you're wondering what the rest of the Hyper spells do (had me
stumped for a while), here's a list:
Burning Heart (red+hyper): For all your MP (minimum of 80) it creates a
fire shield around you which damages anything Mint touches.
Gale gotoku (??)(green+hyper): For all your MP (minimum of 80) it just
makes you take no damage for the duration of the spell.
One Hit of Darkness (black+hyper): For a constant rate of 50 MP, it
does exactly what its name suggests: it hits once, it's a death
elemental attack, and it costs way too much MP.
Blinding Flash (yellow+hyper): For all your MP (minimum of 100) it
creates a large burst of lightning which does a whole lot of damage.
You will obtain a series of items prefixed "Legendary" which turn out
to be cooking utensils. This is a parody of the items you collect in
the hauntingly similar game Brave Fencer Musashiden.
Thanks go to Eugene See for answering the question of what to do with
these things: you have to give them to the owner of the bar, who will
then offer special menu items (the last option). For each dish however
he'll require monster carcasses:
Dish 1: Otama Menieure (50 Otamas) – ATK +2
- Otama are the white tadpoles found in Karona Forest
Dish 2: Kinoko Soup (60 Kinoko Boyas) – Max MP +10
- these are the small mushroom men on the large balls in Mel's Atria
(you get to kill lots of them in one of the games)
Dish 3: Gudon no kimo Soup (30 Gudon) – DEF +2
- Gudon are the large firebreathing lizards in the Labyrinth
Dish 4: Magumagu no TATAKI (50 Magumagu) – Max HP +10
- these are the big red slime monsters on Fiery Mountain
To change the item for the day, just exit and re-enter the bar. A new
item will be randomly selected. For non-Japanese players you'll have to
look at the numbers, or copy down the names of the monsters from their
pictures in your kills list and do some manual optical character
recognition.
When the white twisty symbol appears in the top right corner of the
screen, you can rotate perspectives with the L1 and R1 buttons.
Mint's eyes follow things which she can interact with.
If you take Mint to the Lakeside before reassembling Prima Doll, she
will have a fit over the injustices done unto her by her sister. When
you have to take Prima Doll there, it's still neurotic about being
nothing more than a tool, so perhaps it's better to let it win the
race.
Aya Brea, main character of Parasite Eve, also had a younger sister
named Maya.
After completing the game with both Rue and Mint, you are now presented
with the option of replaying the game but at a higher difficulty level
(or so the game claims). To do this press triangle at the new combined
load game screen and select which character you want to play as. I've
tried this with Mint, but have noticed no great changes. Admittedly
this is probably the result of my going overboard with the power-ups in
the previous game.
----
End
----
Kudos to the Xenogears team at Square
for creating this all-too-short-but-oh-so-sweet game!
Special thanks also to friend Dariru
who completed both Mint's and Rue's story
between three meals and one toilet break.
This document is copyright (and written by) Sim Yee Chiang
<
[email protected]> 1999 and all or part of it may not be
reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without
permission from the author. All other copyright names and trademarks
are hereby acknowledged.
