In this update, there will be a bit less battling and a bit more prattling. Namely, when I wound up getting everything done, there was primarily story progression, and not a whole lot of fighting, which will be remedied in the next update. So... Continuing from the save prompt where all those zombies were last time...
There's a red chest up in the corner of this scaffolding. If you grab it, there's some sort of green jewel with gold detailing... Interesting. Anyhow, let's ditch this pirate haunt. Hopping onto the teleport ring takes us back to the mouth of the cave... And from there it's a short jaunt to the overworld.
Seeing as we're kinda playing with some major injuries and drained mana here, let's make a pit stop back at Ding Dong Dell... And I'm pretty sure Crabby the Dragon Pirate would like his shiny stones.
While looking through our spell list... Yeah... Somehow we managed to get like a third of everything grayed out... Let's make it a point to fix that later. One 20G flophouse visit later, we've at least fixed the health and mana part of the equation... Alright. Now to head for Heiburushi.
Huh. We can teleport into Skyworld Sazara's kingdom? Convenient... Now... Let's try to show off what we found to her. Oh, so THERE'S where Crabby is...
We strike up a nice conversation... Oliver gets a bit miffed at a comment by Sazara... And... She mentions... "Meguru"? And... Some sort of red text with 3 Kanji and a seperating hiragana... I think the last two are supposed to relate to some kind of language...
Oh... It's a puzzle prompt... Hrm... Help me out a little here, new guide... Well... That's totally helpful... Not.
A little digging on some Japanese-language sites eventually reveals that the solution is to enter "つえをひとつに". Which triggers a short cutscene in which the rocks we recovered swirl around a really neat-looking wand and become embedded in an ornate-looking part in its top. Wonder if this'll finally open those annoying purple chests?
There's some cheerfulness, and then a red phrase with 2 Kanji. ... Something about what I think is Jabo... There's a magic prompt... And... Uh... Well... This is awkward...
One long session of brute forcing later, it turns out to be the 45th spell in the book. It's apparently some sort of "Call" spell... But for what? Sazara mentions some more red text... One of two Kanji... I THINK the last one is rain... And... 5 Katakana... O... Kay?
Oh, it's more magic... Well... Let's try that rain spell... Yep! That did it! It's the 39th in the book... Oh... One more... Uh... Back to brute forcing, I guess.
Ah. It was the spell right after... It’s a curse? Strange that we'd be learning it... But eh.
There's a few words of thanks from Oliver and the rest of the party, Sazara wishes us off... And Heburushi wants us... Outside?
OH! So we DO get the purple dragon in this game! Critter's kinda cute, and his PS 1-esque model on the lower screen has a really adorable nuzzling animation.
Heburushi says a few words, probably a few "dos and don'ts" such as "don't tickle your ride mid-flight"... And gives us a purple and gold trumpet, presumably to summon... Huh. I should really look up this guy’s name already, but yeah. It’s to call our majestic steed.
There’s a short primer on directions... Which I completely missed... All I got out of that was that the A button does... Something. Eh, let's figure it out now.
Okay, so D-Pad / Circle Pad's for movement... Your position is given by a red dot... And A... Oh, it sets you on the overworld... But... Where's that dragon? ... Guess that 'Call' spell was meant for something after all... Nope... Uh... Oh, the trumpet's a key item, duh. Okay, that’s how you get back on. Let's get a bit closer to that place north of the Bogu Empire highlighted on the map and take care of the rest of our spells there. Also, one MASSIVE advantage of riding on Draggy versus that boat. NO ENEMY ENCOUNTERS! Also, you can only dismount on some parts of the overworld. Stay in one place for a little, and you'll be able to tell. If there’s a red circle on the ground, you’re golden, otherwise you can’t land there.
Anyways, we set down near the place on the map... Terrain here's kinda brown and arid-looking... And... There's a purple-domed palace? Let's check this out... Entering the palace takes us to a very Mesoamerican-looking temple thing... Which is also very deserted. The replacement of normal background music by some sampled wind doesn’t help things much. Okay... Going in...
We see the party enter what has to be the most lifeless-looking town square ever, Esther has some comments about her surroundings... Swaine and Oliver throw a few words in... And after a short back and forth, we're taken into another section of the settlement... With an arrow prompting us leftward... Hrm... Let's heal first. That figuring spells out kinda drained my MP... ... Well, THAT'S one place we're not gonna stay at... The local inn charges 900 G for a night! We’ll teleport back to our favorite fleabag inn and save our 880 G. One pit stop and a leftward trek later, we note that as Mesoamerican as this town looks, the locals are far more banal in appearance. And we get another red arrow beckoning us into some sort of green-roofed structure, with a run-in with that traveling catboy again en route.
Heading into the building, we surprise an old lady in purple with a sombrero. There's a little back and forth, which prompts Esther to prod a little deeper and there's... Some manner of moonrunes explanation, followed with some foreboding music as a kid gives us a nasty look. Drippy starts to look really startled... What... Did we? The lady’s now talking about... Something about people... Something about the world being... Cursed?
The party then heads outside, with Esther in kind of a crabby mood. As is Swaine... I thought we put this arguing BEHIND us, guys... Oliver isn’t too cheery either, leaving Drippy to be the sole voice of reason here. Oliver says something very... Loud. Which takes Esther back. Something about Bogu... Swaine interjects, probably telling us to cool our jets. Oliver gives a less-than-happy response... Which prompts Drippy to butt in... Talking something about the heart of... Someone. Oliver doesn't appear to be having any of this. ... And now we’re freed to move... Concerning... Well, while we have the opportunity... Let’s map out this place...
Alright... Starting from the main square... Where the inn and item shop are... There's not much beyond that and the path north... Which leads to a 4-way intersection... The left side has that house we were at earlier... Oh, and a red chest in the lower right of everything... Not much here either... Going to the RIGHT branch of the intersection, we can get to the bookstore... And heading up... It's the approach to a temple? Hmm... Wonder what’s here? ... Well, if there IS anything, we won't be getting to it anytime soon. That door's not opening. Well, that’s the end of this town, I guess... But where are we supposed to head next? Maybe the world map would have some clues? Huh... Nothing appears to be highlighted... Anywhere on this map... Uh... Help me out here, guide.
... O... Kay... Let's try looking a little harder... We’ll call Draggy back. After a bit of a wild goose chase through Ding Dong Dell, the Bogu capital (looks like that place wasn't important after all), that ice village, and Skyworld, we wind up finding that glowing guy that the guide mentions in the treehut village. Thanks for your forthrightness, guide!
Our guy with the emotions we’re looking for is a bit of an old geezer with an orange headband hanging out in the same area as the shop. You’ll notice him by the pulsing that Oliver starts having as he draws near. The old man gives a bit of a cheerful and rambling explanation... Surprises Drippy with one of his comments... Something about 5... Something or others... Geez, guy’s really old. 90 years and going strong... Ish. Drippy gives a bit of a snarky remark... And then there’s a green flash and chime, with Drippy bringing up 'Love'... Ah, it’s time to cast a heart spell again, isn’t it?
There's some talk about love's heart... And... A bunch that I don't understand... Ah, magic prompt! ... Hrm... It seems like it's NOT a heart spell... Uh... Wait... There was an 'Extraction' spell, right? Maybe we’re supposed to use that? Oh. I've got my Heart Peace wrong... Yep! That did it!
Emotion GET! As weird as that is to say that. The man gives us a parting blurb that Drippy doesn’t seem too impressed with, and then we are freed. Now... I think we can head back to that Inca-ish town?
We waltz into granny’s house from earlier, and proudly present the emotion we stole from that old man in the south. There’s a bit of a tense silence... And- Hey, why's the music dead in all of this, anyways? Granny says a couple of things... Though still has that blank expression on her... And now there's a prompt to cast... Heart Cure?
Yep. The familiar chime plays and- Oh wait, that's a GIRL isn't it? Anyhow, serious-face from earlier sparkles a bit. And we pick up a silver orb from her.
Aaand, the music of depressingness is starting up again... "Airi"... Is that this girl’s name? Okay, so it is... Grandma seems stunned in Airi's change of demeanor. And breaks down crying. There’s a few more words... And then the game pulls us, namely, the gang of four, out of the house.
We quickly run into three men staring us down... With some ominous-sounding music in the background... One's a guy in magenta with a white hoodie. Oh wait, there's a woman in pink here too. They close in on us... And appear to be telling us to get lost.
Geez, thanks for the welcome, jerks. Drippy cries out as- Hey! That jerk just punched us! What is your problem, lady?! The lady cries for us to get out... And then zeroes in on Oliver along with the guy in the hoodie, shoving away the rest of the party... Way to help me here!
Oliver for his part is understandably scared stiff by being manhandled by some angry strangers. And Esther finally dashes in to intervene... Followed by Swaine. Oh... And that music’s starting up again. He singles out Ms. Pink and proceeds to give an impassioned rant... Wait, why is there mention of 'DEATH' in this? O_o; Sounds like... This was serious.
Hoodie and Ms. Pink raise some interjections... For a duo that just assaulted a 10-year old, their speech sprites seem remarkably innocent-looking.
Airi finally pokes her head out, probably due to hearing Oliver screaming his lungs out. And seems to demand an explanation. Turns and says a few things to our hero in red. There's a few words from the bystanders... And then Airi begins to say a few things cheerfully... At which Oliver breaks down and starts to cry. She says a few things about 'Heart'... And jerkfaces in the background appear to have been shamed into silence.
The third bystander finally steps up and starts to talk, revealing himself to be an old man in blue and white... And also seems to be gabbing about 'heart'... He says something that elicits an interjection from hoodie... And... 'Death' again? ._.
Oliver seems to be chipper... I suppose that was an apology? Swaine and Esther appear to be stunned, though the latter quickly improves in mood. Oh, and ditto for Swaine. Grandma also has been drawn out by this racket here. There’s a couple words between grandma and hoodie, and then we cut back to inside her house.
Inside, the old lady tells us about... Presumably what’s beyond this town... There's some red script... Which apparently maps to 'Lake of the Dead'... Ominous. Esther says some stuff about what her father’s told her of the lake of doom... And judging by her expression, it’s nothing positive. There’s three... Kings of people? And... A 'Babaricia Kingdom'...
And there’s a save prompt... According to the guide, apparently we almost just got lynched... Wonderful. Let's stop there and call it an update, and get OUT of this town in the next update as we pursue a really-unpleasant sounding lake.
Takeaway Points:
* World dragons are a hundred times better than world airships
- In the end, whether or not you default to Teleportation over the awesome ride your purple steed gives you hinges on two things: How impatient you are, and how low on MP you are. If you’re not in a rush, or otherwise really drained Oliver’s MP, the view and the music you get while on Barney is well worth the slow ride.
- Finding "Love", TL/DR version:
- Check the rainforest town, near the shop.
- Apparently, the Inca town is called Reka, here's a somewhat sucky map of it:
| Temple | ||
| Airi + Grandmother | Crossroads | Bookstore |
| Main Plaza (Inn and Item Shop are here) | ||
| Scenic entrance | ||
- People are ungrateful jerks who cave to irrational lemming antics, even within colorful, Ghibliesque magical worlds.
- Also, Airi and her grandmother have some insanely slow reaction times. Hence how we almost got lynched by a mob.
- It's times like these that I wish I knew more Japanese.
Stats:
- Oliver: Level 32: 172 HP / 124 MP
- Kree: Level 34: 197 HP / 122 MP
- Rucci: Level 35: 263 HP / 137 MP*
- G: 88462.
- Play Time: 76 hours, 04 minutes, 15 seconds.
