This is the only Golden Sun thread so let me ask this. Does the first game have a subtitle? I bought "Golden Sun The Lost Age" off eBay but I think this might be the sequel.
The first game is 'Golden Sun'. The second game is 'Golden Sun: The Lost Age'. It isn't so much a sequel as it is the second half of a much longer game.
The third game, 'Golden Sun: Dark Dawn' is an actual sequel, but it's not worth playing (IMO).
Welcome back to Let's Play: Golden Sun! Last time, we freed a bunch of trees, got paid, and trash talked an old ho. Tonight, we meet with an ancient master and undergo some not-so-difficult trials.
But first!
I did a bit of Djinn re-arranging. I'm keeping Isaac on Knight for a little while, since he's about to get the game's most awesome-looking Psynergy attack.
Garet is getting Mia's Water Djinn, which turns him into a Defender. That means more HP, better defense, and, of all things, Ply.
Mia's getting Jupiter Djinn, which grants here Plasma, which we've seen on Ivan already. It also gives her Prism, which is a Water attack Psynergy that beats the pants off the Frost tree.
We're finishing up with Ivan, who's got the Mars Djinn to make him a Wanderer. He keeps Plasma but loses Whirlwind and Ray for Wind Slash, which is... meh. There's really no reason to use it over Plasma, actually.
We depart Bilibin. We'll have to pass back through the blockade and beyond Kolima again. But hey, free Water of Life. Not gonna turn that down.
This is Kolima Bridge. You can just barely make out Kolima up there to the top right; we circled around to the right and south.
If we had come here before fixing Kolima, this fellow would have been a tree.
No, I'm actually here to see if you'd be interested in changing your cable TV provider.
I'm not entirely sure why Isaac is frowning here, but I can suspect he's had about as enough of this nonsense as I have. No, that sentence doesn't make sense, but that's how I'm phrasing it.
These idiots sure are providing me with lots of compelling reasons for me to give up on saving the world. I'm starting to feel as though it would be worth it, so long as they suffered.
Let's move on.
We've now moved up! No longer are we battling against horrifying monsters like Rats and Rat Soldiers. Now, our enemies are the ruthless Moles! Prepare to eat magical sword, tiny mammals!
To the south is the so-called "evil forest." To the north, well, it looks like some sort of temple.
I ran into a trio of Maulers, those bears we fought back around Mercury Lighthouse, so I thought I'd demonstrate Wind Slash. As you can see, it looks pretty fancy but it's not very strong.
Fuchin Temple! That's right, we've entered Weyard's China now. Bones McCoy was representative of Prussia/Eastern Russia I guess, which makes absolutely no sense. Regardless, this place will be quite enlightening.
Dangit, now I'm making puns.
(Yes) Because certainly nobody could take a raft across or anything.
Oh, so you heard about that. I guess that makes a little more sense.
...And there's the cowardice I've come to expect in every single person on this god-forsaken world.
Wait, gems falling from the sky? Is he talking about Psynergy Stones again?
This fellow seems to be talking about Mercury Lighthouse... they could see that all the way out here? Wow.
Yeah, a forest suddenly appearing. That's right up there with floods and plagues of locusts on the ol' Apocalypse-ometer.
So somebody fix the man a sandwich. How hard can it be?
The healer guy is there because there's no sanctum in this town. And up there, it's another Psynergy Stone. I wonder what it's done this time.
First though, I heal the party's mild wounds and restore my PP.
(No) Being enlightened always struck me as something selfish, anyway. Like Buddha, being all doubtful that he should share his message because all the plebs wouldn't understand.
(Yes) Screw your ancient mysticism, I'm a Magic One-Eyed Rock-fearing Adept and I'm gosh darned proud!
And I wish you could understand why I'm able to set you on fire with my mind, but the world ain't perfect.
The silent treatment? Maybe he heard me rambling about how his hokey religion and ancient traditions are no match for an adept at your side.
Old man! I'm stealing your ring!
Hrm....
Aha!
(Yes) The Old Man speaketh.
: I knew it!
(Yes) I mean, I have no idea who you're talking about, but yes. I follow your enemies. Now, bestow upon me great magicks or I shall lay destruction upon this feeble land!
: I knew it!
: But you must go through Mogall Forest, the endless woods. The forest itself is a mystery, and its paths even more so... No ordinary man can pass from one side to the other. But perhaps I could, young master. If you can endure the trials in the waterfall, I will tell you.
(Yes) I guess I'll do your silly test. After all, the last test I did was killing that stupid evil tree spirit thing, how hard can this be?
Aww man, this is going to be one of those "wax on, wax off" things, isn't it?
Wha-what?
If you answer his questions differently (i.e. you deny things) then he'll read your mind and say that you're lying. I'm pretty sure it's never clarified whether this fellow learned Jupiter Psynergy on his own, or whether it was the rock outside. Personally, I'm betting on the Psynergy Stone, for reasons that won't be clear until The Lost Age.
We wander back down the steps to the base of the waterfall. There's a dude standing in the waterfall, meditating or something?
And he jumps out of our way.
Welcome to Fushin Falls Cave. This place is interesting in that, if you don't care about getting everything in here, you can complete the "trials" in about a minute. But since I'm doing an LP and I want the stuff inside, we'll be doing things the long way. Don't worry, I'll explain the short way at the end.
By the way, I couldn't find a Youtube link for the music in here. If someone can, I'll happily put it right here. If you can't, it's okay. It's not as though it's one of the most memorable tracks in the game or anything.
The sign here relates a not-very-cryptic message. Like, it sounds all cryptic and mysterious, but it'll be pretty obvious what it means.
There's two logs on the bank here, and we can stand on them and roll them back and forth. Thing is, once we start, we can't stop until we hit something. We'll start here.
Yeah. Oh well.
I slaughter him with a couple summons.
And I get a Game Ticket for my trouble! We still don't know what those are for, but we'll find out eventually.
I head across this one instead, which allows me access further into the depths of the cave.
It's another jumping puzzle. By now these are old hat.
This way is a dead end, so we'll have to try a different approach. Instead, I move on to the other exit from the jumping puzzle room.
Another cryptic message. Sigh.
There's a palette swap of the Skeleton and Creeper. I'm still overleveled, so they go down like a cheerleader on prom night.
Hmm... this is the only dark room in the entire place. I wonder if perhaps this is going to have something to do with all them cryptic messages.
Hint hint.
We have two choices here, but one's an obvious dead end. Fortunately, there's a treasure chest there, so off we go!
Roll across...
Sweet daddy! It's been a while since we got a fancy new sword.
And it's a substantial upgrade, too! We give the Arctic Blade to Isaac, and our now-ancient Elven Rapier to Ivan. He can make better use of it than Garet, whose axe is already about as good.
Speaking of substantial upgrades.... that's like 50% more attack power.
We take the other log across and down into the next room. We've got 1 of the 2 things worth getting in this dungeon; let's nab the other one.
See those spikes? We take damage if we step on them. While that's barely a problem later in the game, we still have to heal people individually, and our heal spells are on Isaac and Garet, neither of whom have massive stockpiles of PP. We'll walk around.
We end up here. Look familiar? That's right, it's the cave foyer.
We roll on past the entrance and return to the cavern depths.
That's the other thing we're taking the long route for. Jupiter Djinni number 3! To get there, however, we must finagle!
You see, if we take this log down, we can't get across horizontally on the other log.
The trick (and by trick, I mean "obvious solution") is to roll this log back.
Now we can leap from the log onto this rock, and from there to the log we need to be on in order to cross the river.
Tada.
Let's get it on.
That's Flash Bolt. It's the worst of all the Jupiter Psynergy, but it still deals pretty solid damage to us. We manage to get its HP most of the way down...
...and then the Djinni runs.
This is frustrating, but it's not like you have to restart the game or anything. Just leave the room and re-enter, and it will return. Similar to our battle with Forge, except that jerk never managed to flee.
(N.B.) Actually that image was from the second battle. It ran away the first one, and I missed the snapshot, so I re-battled him a second time to get it. And then:
His escape actually didn't work. But I had the picture so I said screw it. I maintain a belief in full disclosure in my LPs.
A couple rounds and some healing later, and the stupid creature finally goes down. I actually didn't use any summons on this, even though I probably should have.
That's our ninth total Djinni.
Zephyr here boosts the party's Agility, which is meh. It's handy in boss battles, where healers outspeeding boss attacks can be critical to survival, but nowhere else.
We roll this log all the way up and to the next room.
After another rudimentary log rolling puzzle, we can go down those stairs.
Hmm... a Dragon's Eye. Well, the last time we got a weird jewel, we shoved it in a minotaur statue's eye socket. I guess this time they're just going to make it obvious what we need to do.
So Isaac's new sword has a nifty little unleash called Blizzard. It does a fair amount of damage.
Now we're on this side of the room.
Oh gee, I wonder whatever it could be that we need to do.
Thank you, game.
The dragon statue breathes... "fire"... and look! A shadow!
We can take a shortcut back to the other side of this room now.
So remember what I was saying about the shortcut? This bridge is here even when the lights aren't on in this room. If you don't know what you're doing, or you do, you can just wander accidentally onto the bridge and skip 2/3 of this dungeon.
We take a bit of a looping path, and then slide down this before walking through the door.
Ki, huh? Every time I hear that, all I can think of is
But maybe that's just the era I grew up in. Then again, that was the era everyone who played this game grew up in, so....
Don't worry, I'll resist the urge to make jokes about power levels and hair turning yellow.
Wait! Maybe Isaac is so tough because he's a super saiyan!
Okay I'm done.
The Orb of Force? I thought this was Dragon Ball, not Star Wars.
The most obvious recipient of such a tool would have to be Isaac, so... let's give it to Ivan. The dude could use a bit more punch.
It even looks like a Kamehameha. This must be some mighty attack!
*waits for the pun from a couple sentences back to land*
On the way out, Isaac picks up another level. This is a landmark level, however, because....
We just learned Ragnarok, arguably the coolest Psynergy attack in the game. My understanding is that it's based on attack power, so it will scale much more effectively than most regular Psynergy attacks, making it useful throughout the game.
"How cool can this attack be?" You ask?
Let's let these unsuspecting clowns show you.
"Strike with a massive sword." Sounds promising.
That's basically a 2-Djinn summon's worth of damage (admittedly, only to a single target). 7 PP is a bit steep right now, but it'll never cost any more, and as our PP and attack keep climbing, it'll just get better.
Well, we got the Orb, the Djinni, and the Arctic Blade. We're done.
(Yes) I cleaned the place out. I hope you didn't want any of that stuff.
That's what I just said.
But first....
: I am glad to see you master the secrets of Fuchin Temple! We monks call the power you have obtained Ki.
(Yes) It's actually Psynergy, you half-starved hermit. And your little parlor trick here is nothing compared to the might at my fingertips.
: This is called "force" by the western world, but it is really spiritual power.
*gasp* This means that Psynergy is really The Force!
Don't worry, I'll be avoiding Star Wars jokes too. Except for the Chapter title, I guess.
: I will teach you, as I promised. Use this power to go through the forest. What would happen if you let loose this energy in the forest?
(Yes) My first instinct is that the forest would either do nothing, because it's an inanimate object, evil or no. My second instinct is that the forest would mock me for having such a worthless technique. Obviously I'm wasting my time here, I should be out searching for that Jedi Master.
I'm sorry, it slipped out.
(No) Violence. Heh. Battle. Heh. An Adept craves not these things.
I am so sorry.
: Monsters are cowardly. They will run once they know you can see them. They are creatures of the woods... So they do not get lost there.
Let's hear his thoughts on the matter before we leave.
And that's it. With The Force as our ally (and a powerful ally it is) we can now tackle the Evil Forest.
A monster already? He spots us, and leaps into the conspicuous stump in the middle of the screen.
Welcome to Mogall Forest. Get ready, because next time I've got 4 words for you:
"This is gonna suck."
At least the music is good, even if it's a repeat of Kolima.
I vote for not making them samurais/ninjas, because that means Ivan will invariably get shafted, and he's suffered enough at the hands of fickle players
You should make Garet a berserker at some point. Smashing, bashing, and the like is clearly what he's best at.
This next chapter may take a couple more days to finish. I recorded it last night but my computer ate half my screencaps, so I need to redo that part. Also, I've noticed some A/V desyncing in my videos, which I'm going to make an attempt to fix. Look for it at the end of the week.
Looks like the post character limit has been fixed now too, so I'll go ahead and return the OP to its prior state when I get back from class tonight.
Never been much of a fan of the northeastern Angara section of the game. Not much really happens for a while, but the game picks up once you get to the desert, heading towards Kalay and the Karagol Sea.
How can you remember all those names? All I remember is some depressing forest, a desert with giant enemy crustaceans, a boat trip, shaolin monks, a werewolf mutant thing, some Japanese couple, an ancient city, a few lighthouses and Felix being a complete dick. Oh, and a pretty big cliffhanger grumble. Seriously, the last place you visit is such a tease.
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! Last time, we did some stupid generic Asian-themed waterfall test thing and acquired the deadly Kamehameha beam. Ahaha, just kidding, it's just a Psynergy that pushes things at a distance.
We don't get the Kamehameha for a little while yet.
Welcome to Mogall Forest. It used to be called the Mogall Plains, but then this evil forest grew basically overnight. Now trees are scared and people thing it's Armageddon, and I say that's not the Michael Bay movie we want this to be.
If you'll recall from the end of the last chapter, when we walked into the forest, a creature of some kind jumped into that hollow stump. That's this dungeon's mechanic. Although it's entirely possible (albeit difficult) to get through this place otherwise, the trick is to use Force to hit the trunks, scare the animal into jumping out, and follow it through the forest.
The green ape-like beast leaps out of the stump and moves to the downward exit.
Normally this is where I would shout "Follow that chimp!" but I don't know why.
He leads us to the first puzzle room.
We meet up with some old friends... oh wait, nope, it's more cheap palette swaps. These used to be Bats, but now they're Dirges, and that's... more... evil? Or something.
They die like Bats.
Oh look, another stump! Time to use Force.
This time, the creature is brown, and he's not happy to see us.
I would show clips from the battle, but it's really quite an easy one, at least as I am now, a couple levels above the status quo.
Log puzzle again!
Push this one across so that we can get by....
Push it back across and... oh look a Nut.
Just use Catch, just like we always do.
With that log back in the far left position, we can push this one up and into the river to make a bridge, just like in Kolima Forest.
Tada.
Use of excessive Force on this stump reveals our target: green, bipedal, hominid.
The perp flees to the East, but he's on foot. Officers pursue the suspect.
Mia receives a field promotion to level 13 Elder, which boosts her stats but does not provide her with additional tactics for suspect apprehension.
Two stumps this time. Which one do we pick? Well, normally in this game, whichever path seems to be "the long route" is the correct one, (we'll see some particularly egregious forms of this later in Golden Sun and in The Lost Age) but a police officer does his due diligence. We'll use the Force on the nearest one first.
Suspect continues to elude officers. Continue pursuit.
For his valor, Garet was promoted to level 13 Defender. Like Mia, this does almost nothing.
Hmm... let's investigate the log puzzle first.
But first, more annoying monsters.
Ivan is the last of the party to level up. Normally I'd say that this is because he's worthless, but because of his new class, his physical attacks are almost on par with Isaac and Garet.
The rock there is keeping us from moving the log. The solution? Move it.
Another log puzzle lies below. We push this one down to start.
This log gets pushed over just a bit.
Then this one is pushed back to its original position. Yeah, pretty much the same as the last one.
But wait! It's a Djinni! Let's capture it.
We actually get the drop on him and get a free turn of damage.
That, combined with us going all out on attacks and Psynergy, means we down this little guy without taking a single hit.
Ah, Quartz. Fascinating gem, actually, made of a crystalline silicon oxide compound.
Quartz here, for some reason, can revive a downed party member. It seems to be roughly 50% of the time, give or take. With Quartz on our side, we'll rarely need to worry about using Water of Life again, except in the most dire of circumstances.
Let's finish this puzzle and move on, shall we?
We Force this stump to divulge its payload.
And the critter leaps into the stump adjacent. See, this is where I'd have Garet start chucking those Fire Psynergy spells.
It's a simple matter to walk around and Force this one.
(S)he heads left, and so do we.
Just so you know, there are relative threats in this place. Bone Fighters are jerks, and their special attack, Undead Sword, does a lot of damage, especially if there's more than one in the group. It did something like 60 damage, which is basically a Cure Psynergy just to heal it.
Three stumps this time. Only one thing we can do.
A monkey leaps from that one and heads South.
Whereas the monkey from that stump goes West. An impasse.
Well, we know that our overall goal is South, so we'll go that way. I'm probably missing out on something special in the other direction but oh well.
Another puzzle. I'm guessing that means we went the right direction.
Move the rock, then push the log. Couldn't get much more obvious.
Listen, we just want to talk, we don't want to kill you like we did all your friends, why don't you just-
-hide in that stump. Fantastic.
Another log puzzle, but this one is so trivial it's hardly worth mentioning. The logs only go one way, and there's no moving them back at all.
I know I used Quartz on Garet when he was still alive, I was just showing his ability to you slash showing you Cybele. Also, you'll notice that I fixed that desync problem I'd been having; it's a pain in the butt to do but you guys are worth it (d'aww).
And that's it for Mogall Forest. May we never have to return again.
We'll follow the dirt path to our next destination.
By the way, we just learned Quake Sphere. So here we go:
It's pretty good damage over a nice wide area, but the PP cost is far too high just now, and Isaac isn't exactly my AoE person at the best of times.
Eventually, we happen upon this little humble town.
Welcome to Xian, the town of Silk. This is also the start of the Silk Road, which ends in Tolbi, and sounds suspiciously similar to the trade routes across Asia before Portugal began searching for sea routes. Which would make Tolbi, by extrapolation, some town in the Middle East/SE Europe. Perhaps Constantinople? All we know for sure about Tolbi is that they like Lucky Medals, and hiding them in bizarre places around the continent.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMaYObiCZfE
It's got the same music as FuchinTemple, which is kinda lame but oh well.
Xiam also sounds a lot like Siam, what we used to call Thailand. Which, considering its placement in Angara, makes a lot of sense.
Kung Fu? Oh man, this is gonna be awesome!
Another apocalypse freak?
Naturally. Kung Fu will stop the Apocalypse. Finally, someone with some sense.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
The usual upcharge for no real reason.
I believe the saying is, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." And obviously the Romans came up with it, because they're the best at everything.
Eight trees does not an orchard make. This is the entire food supply for all the silkworms that supply the entire continent with silk? Man, this place is so screwed.
That must be the most exciting three minutes of the year.
Thank you, random stranger. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to figure out how to reach that odd creature on the ledge there.
Oh yeah, free Lucky Medal.
We got an Elixir too, hip hip hooray.
I have trouble being impressed by that when I can grow trees with my mind and my best friend can incinerate them the same way.
Just goes to show you, everything is relative.
If that's all we're going to learn from Master Feh, he's only slightly better than that other jerk at Fuchin Temple.
And yet, we won't ever do it.
Altin, huh? Sounds like our next destination to me.
More about Tolbi. It's still unclear to me exactly which real town it's intended to represent; there's a lot of possibilities.
Actually, Isaac still needs another Venus Djinni, but then yes, he'll be quite the Gallant.
(Yes) It ain't no thang. Just watch out for the giant monkey.
Ahahahaha, he thinks Feh would actually stand a chance against me.
There's a new item in the shop here. That wing will reduce the number of monster encounters. We have the Avoid Psynergy which does the same thing, but we'll probably not use either of them.
We buy the gang a few upgrades with the several thousand coins we've saved up.
I almost forgot about the Douse Drop. We got it from killing the Killer Ape. It's another item like the Force Orb or the Catch Beads; it teaches Douse when it's equipped. Douse is a Mercury Psynergy that can be used outside of battle to make it rain. This will have several uses in this game and the next.
Finally time to learn us some fancy kung fu!
Looks pretty dull.
(Yes) I have come to watch and to learn.
I can't promise I won't be singing. Oh ho ho hoooo!
Chi? That sounds a lot like Ki or whatever it is that other monk was telling us about.
Just gotta push the tree over? Well this should be easy.
I used the Force. Duh.
(No) That fact may be a little bit frightening.
The little guy walks over to talk to Feh, but...
Someone with purple hair walks out first.
Little Sammy Chung, I presume?
And that sounds like Funky Billy Chin.
: He is only a little late in returning from Lama Temple. Do not worry!
: Something is wrong with Hsu... I sense it.
: Ahhh, Feizhi... Is it your power again?
: Ever since gems fell from the sky and hit me, I have sensed bad things.
: You say you sense evil ever since you received the power of prophecy. You have told me already. I do not believe it, Feizhi. Your visions are just coincidences.
: My visions came true many times, no? I had a vision about Mogall Forest, and that came true....
Obviously this fellow doesn't know his part, because he's interjecting in this spat. Gonna get a fist to the head.
Dude really needs to stay out of this.
: See, Father?
: I have heard this all. I was surprised, too, but it is still coincidence.
: You still don't believe it?
: Hsu is late, so you worry too much. But do not think bad thoughts.
: You sent people to find Hsu, correct?
Here, Feh shakes his head, indicating that he did not. Can't really get a picture of it.
: Stubborn old man.
: What did you say, Feizhi? You should not speak so to your elders.
: I will not ask anyone. I will go alone, then!
: It is too dangerous.
It seems that Master Feh needs to read some parenting books. Fiezhi bolts.
Looks like we got a rival for Garet for the role of Captain Obvious.
Yeah we got it, thanks.
: Feizhi knows kung fu. She will be all right. Feizhi is alone. She cannot go too far. She will give up soon enough. Until then, let her be.
He notices our handiwork, and it's about time. I'm the center of attention here, darnit, and these B-characters are getting on my nerves.
It doesn't seem that difficult to knock over. I mean, it's just a log. Maybe someone bumped into it. It's got a high center of gravity, you see, and-
Yeah okay we'll go with A Wizard Did It.
(Yes) They keep calling it Chi, so I guess I can.
Feh says this, but he doesn't get his picture this time. I don't know why. Game error?
Anyway, here comes the big boss, wah ha! Let's get it on!
Well, duh.
I wish this dude had a face, it would be much easier for me.
: Hmmmm... The warrior did make the tree fall. I grant you that...
: What the warrior did... It is not Chi.
(Yes) He was a funky China man from funky China town. I learned an ancient Chinese art, and I really know my part.
So there's two schools, then? My Monkey-style beats your Crane-style.
Master Hama, however, is a character of no small importance. We'll be meeting with this legendary master soon, and it will be... an educational experience.
: Very similar... But still different... Chi concentrates the energy of the body into the hand... then releases in onto a distant object.
(Yes) So I guess Chi is what Goku uses, not Ki. Which confuses the heck outta me, but whatevs.
It's actually kind of odd that Feh would learn something to focus the energy of the body and not the mind from Master Hama, but that is a story for another day.
: This warrior is wise. The power to will something to move requires much wisdom. Fuchin's Ki releases the mind's energy like Chi releases the body's. The body's energy has limits, but mental energy has few limits. Train your Ki. It will grow very strong. Do your best, warrior.
That doesn't seem like very helpful advice to your students.
Another student of Master Hama. I wonder if he'll be as kung-fu as Feh. All the feinting and the slipping and the kicking from the hip.
Well I guess we're about done here, we'll move on along until we get to-
Oh yeah, the Mercury Djinni. We didn't see any way of getting to it, but surely there must be some way!
Maybe she too is kung fu training. Let's bug her.
Yeah, sure.
Talk to her right here.
Now there's a puddle of water here. It's all a part of my diabolical plan!
We have to remove Mia's Djinni in order to get Frost back. You'll notice that it's usable outside of battle! Fascinating!
Okay, I know that ice expands as it crystallizes, but this is ridiculous.
With that pillar in that place, however, we can now leap across the gap and make our way to the Mercury Djinni.
We don't even have to battle this one!
We're actually going to keep this one on Garet, just like the rest.
Mist does damage and can put a foe to sleep, except the sleep part rarely works.
(Yes) I took a bow and made a stand.
Surely we won't be seeing you ever again, so good luck on whatever it is you were planning on doing. Finding Hsu I guess?
Good luck with that, lady. We've got important world-saving duties to take care of right now. We can't be bothered to bring you along.
And that's it for Xian! Next time, we'll head West, towards Altin and Lama Temple.
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! When we left our heroes, we'd just learned about kung fu and how some chump named Hsu is probably in danger. But don't worry, we won't be seeing any of that ever again, so no need to be concerned.
Would you guys like to see a world map? I know I sure would.
I actually forgot I could do this, just press the L button on the world map. I could probably open up MS Paint and do a crude drawing of our path thus far, but that seems like work.
So here we are, outside Xian. We need to head West to our next destination, but first, a little side-trip.
Head North from Xian first, until you cross that bridge up there to reach an isolated island of land. Why should you do this?
Because there's a Mars Djinni there. This is pretty much the worst thing about this game: there's several Djinn that are encountered randomly on the world map, and there's no clue whatsoever as to their location short of looking it up online. Fortunately, there's no missable Djinn; you can always come back to this area later, but it's still a pain in the butt and completely stupid. Still, it's better than Dark Dawn, where there's actually a couple that you can permanently miss, thereby screwing over your party in the endgame.
The Djinni goes down easy, and Mia and Garet level up (and learn nothing useful).
Corona's actually not bad. He's another of those stat-buff Djinn.
Boosting Defense is pretty handy though.
By the way, I gave Ivan the Douse Drop. I already explained its OOCombat use, but it's got an ICombat one too.
It's not very effective though.
This seems like a good time to do some Djinn tomfoolery.
Garet and Isaac have each other's Djinn, so they're now both Ruffians, which are very offense-oriented. I put Ivan and Mia's Djinn back on them, mainly because Mia's about to learn a very useful spell.
Isaac and Garet both have the same combat Psynergy now. Let's take a look at Planet Diver.
It's pretty similar to Ragnarok, actually.
Moving on, follow the sandy dirt path west until you get to this fork. It's our next stop.
(No) You should stay here and clear these rocks out of the way so I can get by.
See that puddle? Let's use Frost again.
No, this is not why I switched Mia's Djinn back, although it is quite the nice coincidence.
We Growth that little plant to make it a vine, then climb up and use the ice pillar to jump across the gap.
We get Power Bread for our trouble. It's an HP boosting item.
Gave it to Isaac because he's going to be able to use Revive eventually.
Well, we can't go to Lama because of the landslide. Guess we're going to Altin.
(Yes) But I'm already pretty sure the place sucks.
(No) You ambushed me the second I walked into town, I haven't seen a thing yet.
So you guys... didn't drink water?
Shut up, I see a statue I need to move.
Another Psy Crystal. Hrm. We keep seeing these, and they keep causing problems. First it was Kolima, then Mogall... they're sort of like harbingers of problems.
This lady thinks only of herself. We'll not be saving her house.
Can't access the mine, huh? So no riches for Team Issac.
We get our first look at the severity of the situation. Wow, this really does suck.
There's one of the monsters right there. I guess we're the only ones who can kill it.
What? You can't sell me armor? These things are gonna pay.
It's spotted me.
Why do things keep running away from us?
Now we have to follow it into this stupid cave.
It runs away, and we get our little tutorial on the thing we've already been doing for a while now.
The beast jumps across on the ice pillar, and we must pursue.
And of course, it sees us again. This is getting tiresome.
Finally, nowhere to run.
I briefly considered making a video for this fight, but it's just a miniboss, and it's not a challenging fight. If you have absolutely no skill, you can summon rush it into oblivion.
I spend the first round using stat-boost Djinn, as I do with most boss battles.
With Granite's effect, the statue can't do much to us this round.
Planet Diver does a respectable amount of damage. I rather like having it on two characters.
A couple of rounds is all it takes.
The Vial isn't our real reward, though.
The Frost Jewel. As you may have guessed, it'll bestow Frost Psynergy on whoever's equipped it. That lets me change Mia's class all I want and not have to worry about losing out on Frost, which is one of the more commonly-used OOC Psynergies.
The water also drains from this section, suggesting a way in which we might be able to save Altin.
I gave the Jewel to Ivan, because he's always got extra PP lying around. In fact, he tends to be my Psynergy mule; I stick him with the vast majority of these things.
I use Frost on the remaining puddle, and I can return to the entrance.
Looks like some of the water here has drained; it's actually a whole level lower now.
Well, now that there's some homes that aren't completely covered in water, let's loot them.
We don't find much though.
Really?
Hypocrisy, thy name is you.
(Yes) Hells to the yeah I want weapons, I want everything you've got!
BOOOOOOO
Maybe Team Jerkface wandered by and asked for weapons, you refused to sell, and Mr. Fabulous woke up these statues and made them spray water.
Actually, the timing here does seem a little odd. These statues are Mercury aligned (if you couldn't tell by the fact that they're spraying water, they're also resistant to Mia's Psynergy and weak to Garet's). Was it really that Psynergy stone we found that caused the problem here, or was it perhaps Mercury Lighthouse? Could the Lighthouse really have such an effect from this far away?
For the record, Imil and Mercury Lighthouse are here:
And we're around here:
One bit of information that we should keep in mind:
Note that here we see that Feizhi predicted the flood in Altin. Establishing a timeline can help us figure out the real cause. If we ever learn more about Feizhi's powers, perhaps we can fill in the blanks.
Anyway, back to draining Altin.
The water's drained around this entrance, so we can check out this area.
Mine rails? I guess maybe we'll follow those.
Regions of the mines are still flooded. We'll have to come back this way after we've killed some more of those statues.
More of the same, here. These things are a nonchallenge at this point, so I have no problem fleeing on occasion.
We must be close.
Rats.
No, not that kind of... darnit.
A minecart. Excuse me while I have terrible flashbacks to Donkey Kong Country (I am abysmal at platformers and that game brutalized me in my childhood).
Hmm... seems to be a track switch. I guess I'll have to anticipate these and change them before I hop in the cart.
There we go.
And here we go.
We build up way more speed than one would think, and we're able to careen across the gap.
And there we go.
This fight is quite literally identical to the last one. Suffice it to say, it's an easy win.
Isaac does level up, however.
Our prize is the same, minus the Frost Jewel.
The water drains away once more, so we can go explore those other dead ends now.
Well darn. We can't Move this rock, so we'll have to come back some other time when we've got a different Psynergy.
We head back here instead.
Another minecart.
I guess I need to flip that switch to proceed.
There we go.
Ignoring for the moment how we've just witnessed our cart launched higher into the air on a ramp than our starting height and how this has completely violated Newtonian physics, let's just move on before my head explodes.
We head through the door and come to this fork.
Fortunately, our path is evident.
Victory nets us another Game Ticket. When are we going to find out what the heck these things are for, anyway?
Hmm... this looks too easy. Better stay down here for now.
Yup, gotta Frost that puddle before I climb the ladder.
Let's go.
I see you.
I also see treasure. This is going to be a little tricky.
Frost this puddle first....
Then jump across and hop in the mine cart.
Jump the gap.
And voila.
A Dragon Shield, that's a substantial improvement over my Isaac's current Iron Shield.
And it resists Fire too!
Back across, but this time,
We flip this switch before we get back in.
That leads us down here, to the third statue.
Now's the time where I got really bored with fighting these things and decided to do things the old fashioned way.
Hello, Living Statue. Say hello to my little friends...
Procne...
Tiamat...
Neptune...
And good old Cybele.
That's what I thought.
Water's drained, and we've reached a dead end.
Time to vamoose.
With the village now fully drained, we can buy some new armor.
I actually go pretty sparing though. There'll be some mega-upgrades soon, and I'd like to be sure I've got enough money for them.
I buy a pair of upgrades and sell off Isaac's old shield.
Strange. I think it's fair to say, since they're called "Living Statues," that they're one and the same.
(Yes) Well "slaughtered" is a more appropriate verb, but yeah it was me.
I heal up at the inn and enter the lowest entrance of the Altin mines.
Hmm... which way do I go? I guess right.
Another Lucky Medal. Lucky me!
It occurs to me that I've yet to demonstrate either Mad Growth or Blast.
They're nothing special, just standard Venus and Mars Psynergy, respectively.
Picked up Nova though, for my trouble. I'll have to show it to you later.
Hello darling! Don't worry, I'm comin' to get ya!
This is easy enough. Move the pillar, Frost the puddle.
While I'm Frosting, I'll take care of this one too.
Oh momma, Ply Well! It's a serious upgrade from regular Ply. It'll basically fully heal any member of the party at this point, even though it claims to restore only 200 HP.
We leap across the large chasm and jump in the mine cart.
Thusly.
Then I just flip the switch...
And ride this baby all the way to that Djinni.
Let's do this thing.
Another short fight.
Spritz, huh? And you restore the whole party's HP? Well let's put you with Mia where you belong.
But wait, what's this? Wish?
That's right, now Mia can efficiently heal the entire party with a single spell. In non-boss battles, the party will tend to take damage pretty evenly, so having something to heal everyone at once is a vast improvement.
It's worth mentioning that this particular Psynergy (which was the important one that I gave Mia back her Mercury Djinn for) is tied to her class. If she ever has less than 4 Mercury Djinn set, she'll lose the spell. Something to keep in mind during tougher boss fights.
Well, let's move on.
*sound of Terrendos grumbling*
There.
Now let's move on.
Garet's not far behind Isaac, so he gets Nova too.
We're actually back near the entrance of this section of the mines.
There's an odd and very long channel up here though. Perhaps this is where they were actually mining? If so, they should have done a better job clearing these rocks.
That's odd. What's a single log doing standing on edge back there?
Well, you all know the theme of this game: always do the opposite of what you're told.
This is the part where, if Golden Sun were a pencil and paper RPG like D&D, we'd have sufficiently pissed off the GM enough for him to pull a literal Rocks Fall Everyone Dies. I still think it would have been an amusing enough ending to this game.
The log wavers back and forth before falling over.
Oh look, it's Aleph Boulder Part 2: Rock Harder.
Yeah, I'll bet you're regretting that now. Queue the Indiana Jones music!
This is all a cutscene, by the way; no quick time events or a resulting Game Over. Team Isaac automatically flees the boulder anyway.
You'd think Isaac would be pretty traumatized by this, all things considered.
We get to the side just as the Boulder passes us by.
That hole was definitely not there before.
We can climb down these rails like a ladder. You have no idea how long it took me to figure that out ten years ago when I first played through this game.
What's that up ahead?
Huh.
Some sort of ancient ruin? I wonder what's down here.
: I wonder why Altin's guardian statues turned into monsters.
(No) Come on, dude. You've been with me for a while now. Weird crap happens to us. It happens to us a lot.
: Oh, I'm sure you get that sort of thing all the time. Still, it's strange that the bottom of the mine was made of carved stone.
: The guardian statues were created long, long ago.
: What are they for?
The statue cracks and shatters. It is no more.
: It must all be related to these ruins, buried deep in the mine...
: I guess so... Hey, Isaac, we should check that chest before we go!
Lifting Gem, huh?
I guess that was an easy one.
We climb back up and backtrack a bit.
A spherical boulder, huh? Well, let's try our new Lift!
Huh.
There's two paths. One leads to a pillar we Move aside...
And we're rewarded with a Vial.
Lift this boulder on the other path...
Follow the path around...
And down...
And we're free! Next to us is Lama Temple, which we'll hit up next time. To the South is the Lamakan Desert, and it's bad news. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Actually, I'd like to finish up with a bit of a discussion about that boss. As you can tell, it was called the Hydros Statue. That name doesn't have any significance just now, but it's actually quite important in the sequel. I don't want to give away any spoilers for the sequel, so I'll keep things vague, but the circumstances surrounding that name suggest a potential origin. But how did they get here? Why was the water they spewed undrinkable? I have a theory. It's contained in spoilers here because there's some major plot points from Golden Sun and The Lost Age that I'm discussing:
The guardian statues were once war machines created by Lemuria and sent to secure the riches of the Altin mines in antiquity. Hydros, of course, is and likely was still the king of Lemuria (at the absolute least, considering the long-lived nature of Lemurians, we can at least extrapolate that he was alive at the time of the darkening of the Elemental Lighthouses). The machines are powered by Psynergy, and obviously quite powerful, and are activated by Lemuria's favored Psynergy. We know that Alchemy was causing absolutely brutal wars before it was cut off. My original hypothesis was that these statues were designed to provide water to the region, which as was mentioned, never had even a well. Mercury's light reactivated them, but years of stagnation resulted in them malfunctioning. Alternately, the water inside them was stagnant, and when they woke up, the water they filled the town with remained equally stagnant.
But no, the more I think about it, the more I think they were weapons of war. Hydros sent them to drown and conquer Altin, an ironic form of destruction for a town that was constantly in need of fresh water. During the attack, the Lighthouses were snuffed out, and the machines were deprived of power. They froze in place, appearing as statues, for hundreds or thousands of years. Over time, the people of Altin assumed that they were in fact statues, just as the rest of the world forgot that it had once been able to manipulate the elements. They became "guardian statues" of the town, mascots, if you will.
The name Hydros implicates the king in their creation, either as inventor or as the funding for the machine. Although he appears to be a rational and fair ruler when we meet him in The Lost Age, this suggests that he might not always have been that way.
But that's the end of this chapter! Next time, we'll explore Lama Temple, and probably the Lamakan Desert too. Until then!
As a footnote to this chapter, I feel obligated to mention something here. Getting the Force Psynergy is, in fact, completely optional. You can beat the entire game without ever acquiring it. Mogall Forest becomes a game of trial and error, and you miss out on a few cutscenes and a few benefits later on in the game and in the sequel, but it's not required. In fact, if you get to the sign in the Altin mines, and you don't have Force, Garet will complain about a dead end, kick the sign, and knock the log over, accomplishing the same thing for you. I don't know exactly why the designers did that (though I would suppose it's because the Orb of Force is kind of easy to miss) but the fact remains that it is possible.
This is fun, and I don't need to go through the games themselves again (never finished lost age, got lost somewhere). Keep up the thread! Also, I never experimented with the djinn system. Every djinn to their user! Nothing else!
Apologies for the delay in Chapter 13. Got this thing called Advanced Fluid Mechanics Midterm and it sucked up a bunch of my weekend. Everything's captured, I just have to upload the pictures and make the actual post. Plan for tomorrow evening or the day after.
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! Last time, we explored the Mines of Moria, battled a balrog, and lost Gandalf to the depths.
Oh, wait, no. Altin Mines, Hydros Statue, and didn't lose anyone. Well maybe if we're lucky Team Jerkface threw Kraden into the mines on their way through.
Regardless, we're now through the mines and on the other side. We can head to Lama Temple, try our luck in the Lamakan Desert, or go back the way we came.
Naturally, we chose to do the later. Progress is for suckers.
Say, who's that fellow there? Looks like he's trapped by one of those Lift-able boulders.
Well, we can't do anything to help him now. We'll leave him for the wolves and make for the Temple. Perhaps they'll send monks to collect the remains of the body.
Welcome to Lama Temple! I'd offer you some music, but it's the same as the last couple places. Eh, what the heck.
Well, it wouldn't be a Nintendo game without a desert world. But don't worry, there's another one later!
Yeah, well you'd be anxious too if you'd just killed a bunch of living statues. Speaking of which, why'd we kill them? They seemed quite happy to flee us, perhaps there's a way we could have funneled them into the desert and used their water to keep cool.
(No) Educate me, oh knowledgeable one.
That's okay, I get my inner peace by murdering things with giant rocks.
I'll give you the same excuse I gave that other guy.
Really? Well then, let's see what Mr. Hypocrite's thinking.
*tsk, tsk, no eternal peace or enlightenment for you. No, you'll be sent to the coal mines.
(Yes) Well technically we came from the West, since- you know what, never mind, we came from the East.
(Yes) It was boring, for a place with so much violence.
Hama must be a great master of kung fu then, if Feh's students are continuing here. Then again, I can't say I think much of the monks I've already met here.
That's odd.
I just see a rock. Can't Lift it or anything; I guess we'll see what it does later?
Whoops, free healing.
(No) Who cares, Feh already as much as told us that Ki is a bazillion times better. That means my Kung Fu is stronger than his.
I accidentally cut this off... he just says "chi."
Well, well, Hama is a lady, huh? Well maybe I'll stick around for some lessons from the schoolteacher, if you catch my drift. After all, this is the apocalypse. We might need to start repopulating.
Was that creepy enough? Be honest, I was going for creepy.
(No) Must just be a lucky guess. Besides, if she were psychic, there's plenty of important things she should be telling us right about now.
: Then, how come she knew we were coming, Isaac?
: I anticipated your arrival.
: You knew we were coming, then?
: I have been waiting a long while for you. You came seeking the Elemental Stars.
: You know about the Elemental Stars, too? Who... Who are you?
: I am a Jupiter Adept, just like Ivan.
: I'm not a Jupiter Adept! What are you talking about?
Okay, I've been telling you that for ages. Isaac and Garet have been telling you that since Vault. But no, you go ahead and stay in denial you incompetent windbag.
: You are, Ivan, although you may not yet know it.
: Why do you say that?
: Do you not have the power to read minds? This ability is unique to the Jupiter Adepts.
: You predicted our coming... Is that also Psynergy?
No, that was Chi.
: Ho ho! Excellent question, Miss Mia. Yes, the ability to foresee events also belongs to the Jupiter Adepts.
: Then, can Ivan learn the power of prediction, too?
: He already has.
: I don't think I have--
: You do. You merely do not yet know that you have it.
Let me guess: through the Psynergy, things he will see. Other places. The future...the past. Old friends long gone. Am I right?
: The power of Jupiter must be great if it lets you see the future.
: Oh, but Ivan can learn to use an even greater power!
: What greater power?
: Reveal.
: Reveal?
: Yes. I have waited long to pass the power of true sight on to you.
Okay, no. Just give him the foresight, screw the regular sight. Seeing the future is infinitely more useful.
: You waited here in Lama Temple just to teach Reveal to Ivan?
: You will need Reveal if you are to achieve your goals... Jupiter Adepts can learn Reveal on their own, over time... But that power alone will not help you find Saturos as his company moves on. It was Saturos and his companions who blocked Silk Road.
Don't care. I'm the leader of this group and I say we give Ivan the Future Sight! Listen good, lady, because I can crush you with my mind. Betcha won't foresee the giant Psynergy sword plowing through your skull.
: Felix and the rest of them, huh? Those cowards!
: Felix bears a terrible fate, a burden I would not wish on any man.
: A terrible fate? What do you mean?
: I am sorry, but I can say nothing more of this matter. Now, we must focus on the power of Reveal. You will need the power of Reveal to cross the evil Lamakan Desert.
Boo hoo, Felix can suck it. I said FORESIGHT!
(No) Sure, we've passed through evil mines and an evil forest, but an evil desert? That's a bit of a stretch.
Your support means... so much to me.
: Why will we need Reveal to cross the desert?
: Crossing Lamakan Desert was hard enough with the extreme heat. But evil has taken hold of the desert, and its heat has become unbearable. Entering the desert now is nothing short of asking for death.
: Then how can Saturos cross such a deadly place?
: Saturos and Menardi are Mars Adepts. I am merely guessing... but their powers might help them suppress the heat as they cross.
What about Alex? And Felix? More importantly, what about Kraden? Oh wait, he's an old man. The Lamakan Desert is probably like Florida to him.
: I still don't understand... How will Reveal help us in such an evil place?
: Reveal will help you find oases to cool you against the heat.
: Why would we need Reveal for that? Won't we be able to see the oases?
She keeps talking about how we need Reveal, so I'm going to guess that we won't.
(Yes) I don't know why I picked yes here. I'd like to think I had some witty barb planned but I think it was just arbitrary.
Naturally, everyone is sadface about that.
(Yes) It does certainly seem prudent, since there's no downside whatsoever. I mean, unless foresight is still on the table, in which case....
: Ivan, you should let Master Hama teach you how to use Reveal.
: What's wrong, Master Hama? You can pass Reveal on to me, can't you?
: I am unsure that it will work. In preparation for this day, I tried to pass a power on to a young girl, although that power was not Reveal. My student was not an Adept... But I thought anyone could hone a skill he or she already possessed... However, I saw no change in the girl.
: No! There was a change!
Wait what?
Hey look it's that girl with the purple hair. I think her name was Fiezhi?
: Feizhi... Why are you here?
: I sensed it!
: Sensed it? What did you sense?
: Hsu is in great danger!
Hsu? Maybe he's that jerk we ran into back at the Crossroads.
: Hsu left this place a long time ago.
: I know... But Hsu did not return to Xian.
: ...The boulders in the mountains!
: I sensed it. I came through the mine. I came to ask for help.
: I sensed nothing, as I was focused on Isaac's arrival... But, why has the power come to you now, after all this time?
Yes, indeed. Curious, that. More curious: Hama can give us foresight, but apparently she doesn't want to.
: Gems fell from the sky. One hit me right on the head.
: Gems... Psynergy Stones... Then this may work after all.
Okay, wait a minute. This is actually really important news for two reasons:
1. This is (I think) the first instance of Psynergy stones causing a positive change in something.
2. It helps us put together a timeline.
The Psynergy stones all fell during the Mt. Aleph eruption. Remember that room with all the crystals in Sol Sanctum?
That one. Presumably, the eruption shot all that crystal into the air, and it landed on Tret and Laurel, in the Mogall Plains, and on Fiezhi. So let's build ourselves a timeline:
1. Hama anticipates Isaac's coming. She tries to teach Fiezhi foresight.
2. Fiezhi gets hit by a Psynergy stone as Isaac and Garet set off from Vale. Her foresight is amplified.
3. Fiezhi has visions about Mogall shortly before the forest appears:
4. Fiezhi predicts the Altin Mine flood:
This means that the Living Statues and the Hydros Statue couldn't have been activated by the eruption. The only other big thing to happen between then and now was the lighting of the Mercury Lighthouse. Therefore, we can reasonably conclude that it was the Lighthouse that turned them on. To me, this suggests that they weren't originally statues, but (at the time that we battle them) they are the same thing they used to be. If they're powered by the Lighthouse, that means they were last active when the lighthouse was on, which makes them at least centuries old.
But I digress, most of this was already discussed at the end of last chapter. Let's get on with this.
: What about Hsu?
Exactly, what about Hsu? I mean, I've never met him and have no idea who he is or whether I should care about him, but won't somebody think of Hsu?
: Let us hurry to Hsu's aid!
Hey lady, aren't you forgetting something?
Thanks, Garet.
And you call yourself Master. What a chump.
Oh look, some magic glowing.
...woohoo?
: This should do it. Use Reveal to cross the desert. But your Reveal may not be that strong yet... The oases may not appear. The rest is up to Ivan's abilities. Ivan, I am very glad to see you have grown to be such a strong man.
Way to both inspire a lack of confidence in Ivan and make me confused simultaneously. I should explain: I'm confused as to her calling Ivan a "strong man," not that she seems to know him.
They leave to go rescue Hsu.
: Ivan, do you and Master Hama... know each other?
: No... But she doesn't feel like a stranger...
Well we're actually not that far from Kalay, Ivan's hometown. It's not altogether unlikely that Hama may have visited Kalay at one point or another when Ivan was younger.
(No) I'm sure we'll arrive precisely on time to fail spectacularly, no matter how long we take.
: The desert may have slowed them down, but we can't waste a second!
: We can't just leave like this! Hama might need our help... She only has Feizhi to assist her. Shouldn't we help, too?
(Yes) After all, we did steal that gem from the Altin mines without asking for permission. I feel kinda guilty about that.
: I'm more worried about Felix and the others... But I'm not opposed to rescuing Hsu. We'll go with you, Isaac, whatever you decide!
: I wonder what Master Hama was talking about... Oh, I'm sorry... Let's go.
I've discovered what this party really needs. They need someone who's kinda ruthless and more goal-oriented. I mean, look at this party. The only reason Garet wants us to actually do our job is because he's mad at Felix. There should really be a fifth party member who's more willing to say "screw you people, we're saving the world and we're on a schedule." Maybe that's just me though.
Before we leave, we rob Hama for a paltry 6 coins.
So this is what happens when we use Reveal. I don't know if you can see, but there's a chest now where that rock was before.
Free Water of Life, but it's about to become mostly obsolete.
We're done here in Lama. We'll go rescue Hsu I guess.
Still can't get around, even though a toddler could clamber over that knee-high rock wall.
A bit of Reveal, however, and a door appears in the wall. Which is bizarre.
Now we can render our aid.
: Hsu seems unhurt. You must be glad, Feizhi.
: Yes. Thank you, Master. But how can we free him?
: I don't know what we can do.
Let's make our presence known.
You should stand back and let a man handle things.
Huh, so she's the dude in your relationship? Sucks to be you, bro.
Let's get you out of there, I guess.
There we go.
No, it was the other super-powered adepts in this canyon. Of course it was me. It's always me.
: Oh my! The boulder! It floats!
: Quickly, Feizhi. We must pull Hsu free!
Dude, it's just one guy. Just pick him up! Don't drag him along the ground! Heck, let me do it! This boulder isn't going anywhere, at least not until I leave the room.
This is really melodramatic, considering how Lift Psynergy works. Even if it did require our full concentration to sustain (which it doesn't) there's no reason we couldn't send the other three members of the party to help.
Take your time.
: We did it, Feizhi! Thank you, Isaac! We must contact Master Feh and ask him to tend to Hsu's injuries.
: I will ask him to clean up the rocks, too.
: Excellent. If Silk Road remains blocked, everyone will suffer.
There's a scene change here. We fade to black and re-appear outside Lama Temple again.
: No, Master Hama... We are the ones who should be grateful.
: Thank you for passing the power of Reveal on to me... But what you said...
: What is it, Ivan?
There's a beat here, and it looks like Ivan decides not to say anything. Garet breaks the tension.
(No) You kept talking about your giant rage boner for Felix.
Methinks Garet might have a different kind of boner for Hama.
: Do not worry, Garet. I do not mind. Travel well, my friends. I hope to see you soon.
With that, Hama enters the temple. We will never speak to her again. At least... not in this game.
: Weren't you going to ask Master Hama what she meant earlier?
: We do not know when we will be able to see Master Hama again.
(No) I think Ivan knows what's best for him, incompetent idiot though he might be, and I'm getting well and truly tired of this conversation. Besides, we won't find out no matter my answer, so I don't care.
: Thank you, everyone... but it is better that we leave now.
: What do you mean?
: Master Hama hasn't looked me in the eye since she said those words.
: Well, that just makes me even more curious!
: Don't worry about it. I doubt she would even tell me if I asked.
: Well, that's just...
: Master Hama will tell me when we have completed our mission. I have to believe that...
For the record, Hama is kind of a jerk. She's actually manipulating us quite a bit more than it appears right now. She turns out to be more important to the plot than this little sidequest would suggest. If she told us everything she knows right now, the entire course of the game would be changed, and likely for the better, too. I think I can sort of understand why she's holding information back, but it's still kind of a dick move. But then, Jupiter Adepts are usually kind of dicks. It's sort of their thing, manipulating people into doing things for them.
One more free heal before we leave, but before we do... Reveal. Welcome to the second-most-used Psynergy in the game. Not only is it frequently used to discover hidden secrets and such for the rest of the game, it'll also indicate where hidden items can be found, like the ones we've been looting from towns and such the entire game. I pretty much always have Reveal and Mind Read synced to my L and R buttons as shortcuts for how frequently I use them. Luckily, Reveal is only 1 PP to use, so spamming it is totally fine.
You see that odd gauge on the far left of the screen? Every step we take on sand (not rock, for some reason) that gauge climbs a little. When it gets to the top, we take a bunch of damage and empties to start over again. To avoid that, we have to use Reveal to discover oases en route that will lower the gauge for us, sans damage.
Oh yeah, and every 5 seconds one member of your party will complain. This is the most frustrating part of Lamakan Desert.
As you walk through the valley of the shadow of desert, keep an eye out for circles of stones. They'll usually indicate where to use Reveal.
Here, for instance.
There's a few old enemies here, but for the most part these are newbies. They can be focused down with physical attacks, no need to bother with Psynergy unless you're feeling lazy.
Thank you, Ivan.
These guys are actually a little tough. They can breathe fire on your party and deal pretty decent damage to 3 of them. Kill 'em fast before they get that chance.
And... gross.
Ooh, lookie there!
Vulcan Axe, huh? Does it help me to live long and prosper? Just kidding, I know Vulcan was the Roman name for Hephaestus, the Greek god of the forge. He was also the only ugly god. He married Aphrodite, because he worked late and she had ample time to cheat on him during the day.
Story of my life.
Vulcan Axe goes to Isaac because I'm making sure he's the superest.
I'm giving Garet Isaac's old sword as a consolation prize though.
Oh, be quiet you wuss. You're a Mars Adept, you should be all over this place like ants on a picnic.
Shut up!
Okay, so here's what happens when the bar fills:
HP before.
HP after. Sucks, but it's nothing a good old fashioned Wish can't fix.
That fellow right there is why you should be careful about Revealing in the middle of rocks. It's an antlion, except it's huge and it hunts people. They're actually a nontrivial fight, a smidge weaker than the Living Statues. Just make sure you're standing outside of the circle of rocks before Revealing so you don't get pulled in. It's bad news.
We manage to cool off again here.
This is Barrage, the Vulcan Axe unleash.
It's pretty powerful, actually, and this weapon will be sticking around for a while, I think.
Oh ho, it's a Jupiter Djinni! Make sure you don't miss this one, because coming back through this place is a pain. It's on the second screen, head towards the north end of the sand-region and poke around.
And we don't even need to battle it!
It's another attack Djinni for Ivan. Not bad, certainly.
Setting it, however, boosts Ivan into a new class, Mage. All he gets is Ward though, which is okay.
Couple new Psynergies, but I'll show them off soon enough.
Still around the northern edge of this map, I find another chest.
More Lucky Pepper. I think I gave this to Isaac right away, but I might not have.
We make it to the other side, though we do take damage a couple of times. It's the price you pay for sweet loots.
Check it, it's a sand waterfall. We can run along it, but it'll constantly be pushing us down. We have to be careful not to get knocked off the cliff edge because then we'll have to climb back up and try again.
Getting past them really isn't that tough, though.
When you get to a dead end, use Reveal. You'll find a doorway you can walk through.
Move through the tunnel to emerge back out into the desert for the last leg.
Note Ivan's annoying interjection right in the middle of my approach. I was going to cut that part out, but I thought it would be informative.
Manticore is the first boss to pose a significant challenge since Saturos, and it's for several reasons.
1. It attacks multiple times per turn. A lot of the bosses are going to start doing this, and it's always going to suck. If they didn't, however, there would be no way for them to not get completely stunlocked by a well-planned party.
2. It inflicts deadly poison. Mainly that just means Mia has to take a turn away from group healing in order to cure the poison.
3. Curse. He puts it on Mia on the first turn of combat. You see those little flames behind her?
They gradually go out a little bit every turn. When the last one disappears, she dies. It's a lot like Doom from Final Fantasy games. I don't have the capacity to get rid of it yet (unless Elixirs do, but I think that's beyond their skill), so until then I have to make sure to end the fight before the fight ends her.
Regardless, I like to think I handled it pretty well. I made sure to use some of my new Psynergy in the last round so you'd see what it looks like.
When the Manticore dies, we can proceed into the cavern he was protecting.
And we're done! Back on the World Map! Our current destination is Kalay, which is on the southern road. But first, we need to cross the northern one.
See that isolated island there? That's supposed to be a clue.
You'll randomly encounter this little guy there, our fourth Venus Djinni.
He uses a spell called Gaia, which we'll be using later in the game.
Looks pretty cool, actually.
Vine is ours.
He's not that great. I'd rather boost my own Agility than drop my foe's.
Giving him to Garet ups his class! He's now a Savage.
He gets Impair and Spire from the boost. Nice.
Back to the southern path.
Got a recolored zombie. I'm pretty sure there's only like a dozen different enemy sprites in this game.
Ivan gets Bind, which can be used to stop someone from using Psynergy. Except that it never seems to work on bosses, and only some things are considered Psynergy. Still, I imagine there's points where it comes in handy.
We've reached Kalay! Let's see how far we've come!
Huh, I guess we haven't come that far after all.
Next time on Let's Play Golden Sun, we'll visit Ivan's hometown! And buy some upgrades! And talk about hostages! And maybe go for a sail! So tune in next time, same Golden Sun time, same Golden Sun thread!
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! Last time, we talked to some magic kung fu lady, Ivan learned True Sight, and everyone but Isaac complained as we walked through a really hot desert. Apparently Mia's Frost Psynergy is useless for actual cooling purposes or something.
Originally, I was going to go through Kalay here, buy some upgrades and such, and then move right on with the story. But then I remembered that I can do a bunch of backtracking and pick up some Djinn, so we're going to do that instead. But Kalay comes first.
Sure, pal.
I'd like to see you try and stop me.
Technically, it was destroyed by a boulder. Think Krakatoa. Fun fact: did you know that Krakatoa's explosion was considered to be the loudest sound in recorded history? It was heard over 3,000 miles away!
With the bridge rebuilt, we have an easy path back to Vale and Vault, and Lunpa too I guess.
See that shimmering above that pot? That means there's something hidden there that Reveal is showing.
Nothing good though.
There's some pretty substantial upgrades here, but apparently I was a bit mistaken. The really big ones are in the next place we go. Regardless, we will be fighting another boss rather soon, so I buy a few upgrades.
I get Garet a shiny new Axe, comparable to Isaac's Vulcan Axe but without the unleash. I also buy Mia and Ivan some new armor, because they're fragile.
As if that's going to stop me.
More vendor trash.
What's that? Hammet is still gone? That would imply that he never left Lunpa... the town of thieves.... This is bad.
If you look closely, you see we can actually jump across here to that ledge.
Another statue. Well, this is old hat by now: just Move it.
We're now in the aqueducts of Kalay... or maybe it's the sewers. It's not entirely clear.
Got a Mars Djinni there and a statue over here. What do we do?
You guessed it.
The water drains from the basin, and we can climb down and then back up and get to the Djinni.
No need to battle it, either. It joins right away.
Now Isaac is a Savage, like Garet. He picks up the same Psynergy for it.
I explore the rest of the tunnels, but it's all dead ends.
This one actually leads into the Palace. Huh.
We're done here. Let's move on.
(Yes) Go ahead, puny mortal. Tell me your complaints. By the way, Tolbi's probably our next stop, since people are talking about it.
First impression of Babi:
Still sounds like Mr. Burns.
Colosso, huh? A big carnival? I'm sure we'll be drafted into some sort of important role.
Well, enough about this. Let's go meet Ivan's family.
That's right, make yourself useful. Err... for something besides my utility Psynergy mule.
Time for the most epic twist in this game! Ivan isn't from Kalay! He's a crazy person who's associated himself with Hammet while in Vault as a means of feeling important!
: Don't you recognize me? I am Ivan, servant to Lord Hammet!
Who the heck is Ivan? We're quite obviously of Middle Eastern descent, why would we know anyone with a Russian name?
I know, I know. It's not the most epic twist ever. It's just a pair of stupid guards. Go figure.
(Yes) Yeah sure whatever Ivan, I don't care anymore.
: Really? I'm surprised... It doesn't feel like it's been that long...
Wait what?
Uh oh.
Well, this shouldn't be too tough to put together. I mean, Hammet did go to Lunpa; he must have been captured and ransomed. They must have assumed that Ivan was with him. Which means... Kalay was giving Lunpa ransom money for a person they weren't even holding! I've gotta meet those guys, the ruler must be a genius!
(No) Listen here, bub. I'm the main character. That makes me the best hope you've got for any kind of resolution, peaceful or violent. Fortunately for you, we always go with the violent solution. No extra charge.
: My companions and I have overcome many hardships together!
Yeah, there was that lighthouse... and the forest... and then the other forest... and the desert... we're practically hardship experts!
: I remained in Vault to look for his stolen rod.
These stupid soldiers need pictographic representation, darn it.
: Yes, the Shaman's Rod. But I was able to recover it...
But that's pretty much all we know. You're the ones who were filling us in, remember?
(Yes) But they obviously know he's in Lunpa if they're holding him ransom. That's not new news.
: Lady Layana will surely be glad to hear your tale. Please, come with me, and tell her the full story.
Yes, she'll be so glad to learn that I saw Hammet running wantonly, directly into danger.
Uh oh, it's the sepia tone again. Must be another retelling of our story.
: ...that Lord Hammet had returned with you.
Oh snap, Layana is hot! And she's single... sort of! Move in, Isaac!
: What's been happening in Lunpa these days?
Do you know what "these days" means? I don't need the ruling line's family history, we need to know about their present situation.
Would you believe me if I told you that, at one point or another, we'll meet up with every member of the Lunpa line? No? Good, because I'm lying. Lunpa is dead.
: When did you send the ransom money?
: Let's see... First, the volcano erupted...
Hrm... we went back and forth across fake Asia and they haven't had time to walk the few miles from Lunpa to Kalay? Something stinks in the town of Lunpa, and I'm guessing that it's Dodonpa. Just by the name alone, you can tell he sounds like a jerk. It's almost the same as Dodongos, for heaven's sake.
No. There will be no bombing of Dodonpa in this story.
: It's been quite a while since the eruption...
(Yes) If by "possible" you mean "of course they're not going to let him go, they're going to get as much money from Kalay as they can, and once they're sure that Kalay won't attack them in retribution, they'll murder him and probably teabag his corpse" then yes.
I do indeed.
: I agree with Ivan. If they were going to release him, they'd have done it by now.
: I am sorry, Lady Layana, but I think Ivan might be right.
: What should we do? How can we rescue Hammet? What... What if something has happened to him!?
It's best to just assume he's dead, ma'am. Now then, while you're mourning, might I suggest that we offer up a new ruler in Hammet's place to ensure the stability of Kalay? He'd have to marry you, for legitimacy. Perhaps someone... blonde?
Hint hint.
You're not blonde.
Woah. That's what the guards do here? Sign me up!
Oh. Right. Attack Lunpa. Of course.
: I cannot do that... Not without thinking it over carefully... How can we guarantee Hammet's safety if we send soldiers to attack? I cannot do it. I cannot put Hammet's life at risk...
(Yes) Absolutely. There are any number of things we can do to fill her void- I mean the void the void man I need to start thinking straight.
Umm... uhh... ahem... I'm thinking about... undergoing a top secret mission to rescue Hammet, of course!
: Garet thinks that we can help.
: It is too dangerous... If you fail, your lives would be in danger, too.
(No) We're footloose and fancy free, except for that whole "save the world" thing. But we put that on hold to rescue some kung fu chick's fat boyfriend, we can do it again for you.
: I do not believe that... Ivan would not have stayed with you for so long if you did not have an important task ahead.
: Then what will happen to Lord Hammet?
: Hammet is a good hostage for them... They will not kill him. We shall wait for another message from Lunpa.
: Lady Layana, I cannot leave like this...
: It will be fine, Ivan. Hammet would not want to distract you from-- I apologize. I have said more than I should...
: It sounds like Hammet knows about our mission... doesn't it?
: I suppose I can keep it a secret no longer... Very well, I shall tell you... He swore an oath to a Jupiter Adept.
: A Jupiter Adept!?
(Yes) You mean that place that's like a 5 minute walk from you guys? Man, Layana, you sure could use a lesson in geography.
: You ARE from Vale? Really? Then the prophecy was true.
: What prophecy?
: Three years after the terrible storm that struck only Mt. Aleph... Ivan must depart on a journey with warriors from Vale... So it was foretold.
: I've heard nothing of any such prophecy.
: It happened several years before Hammet founded Kalay... He was off traveling. Hammet felt he had reached an impasse as a merchant then. He risked his life on a journey to find a new source of business... He was in mortal danger at the southwestern edge of the world, when some Adepts appeared and saved his life. He had lost consciousness. When he awoke, he found himself in their village.
: Just a moment... Am I from that village?
: Yes. The Adept gave him the Shaman's Rod and you... along with some doubloons.
: Doubloons... Were they golden doubloons?
Mia, of course, is a fan of pirate stories. In fact, he was given two. Two gold doubloons.
: Yes... Let's see... You are... called...
: I am Mia, Lady Layana.
: It was a lot of gold, Mia, but he also received some business advice.
: Business advice? Hammet? The greatest merchant ever known?
: Yes, Garet. Hammet has the Adepts to thank for his success.
See what I was talking about last chapter with the whole "Jupiter adepts are manipulative jerks" thing? Yeah, they're basically completely responsible for putting Ivan right where he is.
Yeah, well if you owed your success to psychics, you'd keep it to yourself too.
: He was advised to buy silk in Xian and sell it in Tolbi. To see anything sell so well, it's like a dream come true. There's no denying that was when Hammet picked up his knack for business.
"Knack" being the standard term for "blowing your money on predictions made by crazy wind-loving psychics."
: Did he have to promise them anything in return?
: Ah, yes, Ivan... It is something you will need on your journey.
: Something we need on our journey...
: The Adept asked Hammet to use the Shaman's Rod to obtain it. He looked for this object wherever he went... But he could never find it. Then, three years ago, a storm struck, one that hit only Mt. Aleph... Hammet was worried that time was running out... But he had managed to unearth a clue just in time. That, Ivan, is why he took you with the caravan on his last journey north.
: I had no idea... So that must be why he left the rod in my care. But then--
: No, Ivan... You mustn't blame yourself...
No, we're about to crush his spirit! Stop trying to make him feel better, Mia!
: It was my carelessness that caused the rod to be stolen. And ultimately, that's why Lord Hammet is being held in Lunpa...
Whew, that was a close one.
: You must continue your journey and complete your quest. You can't blame yourself.
: But what will happen to Hammet?
: I will handle this.
Yeah, you guys are like hyper-capable.
Let the faceless mooks handle this problem. Surely that won't turn out poorly.
: I am sorry I cannot tell you more about the Shaman's Rod...
: No, don't apologize...
: The Shaman's Rod'll help us find that thing we need for our quest, right?
How utterly non-specific. Perhaps you could bring a little bit less to the table?
(Yes) Insofar as we'll look for anything useful on our quest while we're on our quest.
: If Isaac says he will, then there's nothing to worry about!
: Very well... take care of yourselves.
Man, these last few chapters have been really enlightening about the most annoying member of our group. Does this mean that subsequent chapters will reveal important things about our other characters?
Then I guess you'll need to send in a black ops team. Don't worry, I know just the group for the job. Which is to say... just the foursome for the job.
But not today!
Man, I'm faking you guys out left and right in this chapter, aren't I?
And there's the guilt. We get bonus points because we're reading the guy's mind, so he can get a guilt trip twofer.
Back to Kalay proper. We'll talk to some of the local citizenry before we depart.
At this point, I decided to switch around Djinn a bit. I can stay with this setup a while if you like, otherwise make some more suggestions here in the thread. I personally like this one because it gives two people Wish and three people get healing Psynergy.
Sounds like a husband-hunter. Doubtless she will be disappointed.
You're an old man sprite. You must mean "a whole lot younger." Don't worry, we'll see that your strength gets recognized.
Tolbi Springs? Sounds lame. I prefer mindless violence, and from the sound of the crowd, so does everyone else.
Sounds like a tour group is about to depart.
Speaking of which, it's about time we set off, right? Let's go.
What's the hold-up now?
Oh hey it's the tour group.
This part is going to be pretty tough to understand via pictures. I probably should have made a video so you could understand a bit better, but then I realized that it's not really that important. Here's what you need to know from this conversation:
1. This is a tour group. We're going to be following with them on our way to Tolbi.
2. They're utterly clueless and mostly incompetent, especially in terms of traveling.
3. The guys with the big backpacks are in charge of the group, like the tour guides.
But that's not all! For the sake of convenience, I've decided to award everyone in the group that's not already named a name of my own, because it'll actually be quasi-important.
Here is your quick reference guide. Memorize it; there will be a test at the end of the game:
Now then:
These guys seem like jerks.
Sounds like the Garet knockoff is named Ouranos, and he's afraid of boats.
So uhh... we've got a Saturos (Saturn), Ouranos (Uranus), and of course Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. That just leaves Earth and Neptune (and I guess technically Pluto since it was still a planet when this game was made).
And introducing... Old Man! I know he's not on the sheet, but he's easy to remember. Just remember that it's like the Old Man from Pokemon Red who taught you how to catch a Weedle.
He rushes off to catch up to the group. But don't worry, he's got plenty of time to get there. That boat isn't going anywhere without us. After all, we're the main characters.
Well... except for all the monsters they're bound to face en route to the docks. He'll probably die to them.
We're done in Kalay for now. Let's move on!
We could go south and west to the Kalay Docks, but before we do that, there's some backtracking we should do. If you look north, you'll see that bridge there? That's the one that was out ages ago, that Hammet was trying to cross. Now that it's rebuilt, we can head to Vale and Vault quite trivially.
Aside from the obvious Psynergy Stone, there's a couple barrels we can loot.
Nothing that useful. I guess a Vial is still basically a full heal at this point, but still.
Don't feel too bad, that jerk is still trying to do generically evil stuff while we're standing here chatting about him.
Let's check in on good old Dora.
Sounds like Dora's sick.
Okay so is this like a thing in Japan? Young man leaves home, mother gets sick? Because basically the same thing happens in Wind Waker. I just want to know, because I can't find a trope about it.
(No) I don't recall ever promising that.
(No) It was neither. Heaven forbid I want to come see my old Mom at any point. Am I not allowed to get homesick?
Dora gets out of bed and jumps around a bit. Frankly, I'm not buyin' it.
But, as far as I know, there's nothing we can do.
What's that? Why not use Ply? Beats me! Doesn't work. Why it'll work on a cold in Imil but not on Dora here, I got nothing.
Well, we caught up with Isaac's only living family member. Might as well visit Garet's too.
:
: Oh, Garet! And Isaac! What happened!? You're back already!?
: Already? What kind of way is that to greet us?
: But--But they said you might never come back! And it still seems like you're not back for good, like you're just visiting.
: Really? Is that what it seems like?
: Yeah... You and your friends... You all look like you are about to leave.
: You're smarter than you look.
: I have to shape up while you're gone, right? If not...
(Yes) Uh, yeah. You can handle a sword, right kid?
: Take care of our family while I'm gone. All right? WHATEVER YOU DO, you must protect the family while I'm gone. All right? I'm counting on you!
: Don't push yourself too hard, OK?
Garet actually mans up there for a minute. I'm genuinely impressed.
Let's see the rest of Garet's family while we're here. Nobody seems to notice us.
: Hey...
: What?
Garet's Momma looks a lot like Lady Layana. I'm surprised that Garet wasn't hitting on her.
: Shouldn't we look for Garet?
: Why?
: Isaac still doesn't know about Dora... right? Someone should tell him.
: You miss Garet, don't you? You're looking for an excuse to find him.
: What? No! I just...
Garet's grandmother notices us.
: Grandma! What's the matter? Are you choking?
G'sGrandma: It's... It's Garet!
: She must miss Garet, too...
: Oh, Garet...!
: Garet!
: Mom, Dad... I'm home...
And now Gramps wakes up.
: Grandpa, I'm home...
(No) I stopped by for a visit! I've already walked all over this stupid continent, don't I deserve a break?
: Not yet? Well, I'm glad you're home, even if it's just for a little while...
: You're leaving again soon... aren't you?
: Let me introduce you to my new friends.
: Umm... I am Ivan. Pleased to meet you.
: I am Mia, from Imil. Nice to meet you.
: Nice to meet you. Please look after young Garet for us.
: Well, enough chit-chat. Relax and enjoy your stay here...
I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get really sick of these conversations.
Garet's sister, Kay.
: It's been a while...
(Yes) Believe me, I've been and it was boring.
: Really? He must have been happy to see you. He has been so worried about you.
: ...So have I.
: Sis...
: Don't get me wrong. I... I was just worried you might get into trouble, because, you know, you're not that bright...
: Yeah, all right... Thanks, Sis.
: So, are you home for good? Or...
: Not just yet...
: You're leaving... again? Don't push yourself too hard... when you leave again.
Okay, just a couple more little conversations before I can put this chapter to bed. Let's do what we really came here for!
That's a Mimic treasure chest. It doesn't even give you anything good when you kill it like most do.
This puzzle should be pretty much self-evident.
Yeah. As if there were anywhere else the thing could go.
A Frost puzzle. If you don't care about wasting PP, just freeze them all. There's only one you can afford to skip anyway.
But first, Whirlwind these vines.
The Vambrace is a pretty nice item, actually, and we'll probably keep it until nearly the end of the game.
See?
Anyway, use Frost to make this pattern, then you can jump across.
Some of these rooms are filled with water. We'll have to figure out a way to drain this. But don't worry, this isn't the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time.
Basically, just follow along the main available path.
Eventually you'll get to this switch, and you should press it.
Ta da.
This puzzle right here is the trickiest part of this dungeon.
You see that water dripping from the ceiling? If it lands on the flame, it'll go out, and you can't open the door with an unlit torch.
The trick is that there's not enough time for you to push the torch out of the way unless you're pushing it in a SINGLE DIRECTION. That is, if you walk around to move it another way, it'll be too late.
Move the torch across to this point, then DOWN and AROUND the left loop.
That way you can push the torch straight across the dripping water and it won't go out.
There.
The rest is pretty straightforward.
Sap is good.
Stealing HP is never a bad thing, even if he doesn't do quite as much flat damage as Flint.
As I said, Isaac will never see them again.
I rest up at the inn before leaving Vault. It's nice to pay so little again.
Now then...
This is our next destination, Kalay Docks.
No, idiot. This is the sea. Specifically, I think it's supposed to be the Mediterranean Sea, but I'm not sure.
Thanks, random stranger! You corrected Garet for me, and you even made him sad!
: What? But this looks just the way Kraden described it! Someday, I want to see a real ocean, Isaac!
What were you doing while we were heading for Fuchin Temple or whatever and the ocean was right freakin' there? Nothing, that's what.
Anyway, that's all for this chapter. Thank goodness. Next chapter, we'll take to the sea, and I'll probably quote Liam Neeson because why not.
Before I sign off, however, I do need some input. Shall I arrange things so that our ship goes on a little detour? Anyone who's played the game should know what I'm talking about. Obviously I can't finish that place yet, and I'll definitely be going back, but if you want me to go now as well, let me know. Also, I'm taking suggestions for classes again now that I've got 4+ of each kind of Djinn.
Welcome back to Let's Play: Golden Sun! Last time, we wrangled a couple more Djinn and basically slacked off from our world-saving quest. Now we're back in action and on our way to Tolbi!
Ordinarily, we'd be able to stay on Silk Road until we made it all the way to Tolbi, but there's a problem. Team Jerkface has blocked the road behind them, and now the only way to Tolbi is to take a ship across the Karagol Sea.
(Yes) That's the plan. I don't know why, but it's the only place anyone will talk about, so it must be our next destination.
Yup.
Nothing like a little profiteering off of everyone's misfortune.
(Yes) Why? Please tell me you have another sidequest for me.
So what you're saying is... you can't afford to pay me. Fantastic.
Behold, the blocked path to the home stretch of Silk Road. On second thought, perhaps that Djinni is the one who blocked the road. Maybe it wasn't Team Jerkface after all.
Uh oh. I need to buy a ticket?
(Yes) Oh, man. I can already see how this is going to go down.
"Sorry, I'm afraid we're all out of tickets. Fortunately, that man over there happens to have 4 spare tickets and all you'll need to do is go massacre seven thousand Vermin Ghouls and bring him a dozen Vermin Ghoul bladders. Oh, and those Vermin Ghouls are in the bottom of a seven-story dungeon and they spawn in 1 out of every 13 battles so-"
*Gasp*
600 coins? Is that all? You do realize those stupid chainmail hats are more than three times that, right? You can trip over one of the bat palette swaps not five minutes from here and find 600 coi- you know what I'm not about to jinx this. (Yes)
Well, time's a-waistin'. Let's get on board.
Same music as before, and actually we'll have that music for most of this chapter.
Oh no, what a shame. If we're late, maybe I won't be forced to participate.
Looks like some shenanigans over here. I'll have to report this; the captain has a strict no-shenanigan policy. And don't get me started on his opinions concerning hijinks or tom-foolery.
It's Santa!
By the way, the faceless guy is actually the one with the blue handkerchief around his head. So I'm going to be naming him Gilligan. I don't know why they didn't give him a face, since he talks as much as the captain and a bunch of other NPCs that do get photos but whatever.
As it happens, the game script I'm using to assist in my LP has named him Blue. I want it to be known that Gilligan is a much better name for him.
Gilligan: Say, Kaja, how are the oarsmen doing?
: They're fearless there's no problem there. It's just that...
: "It's just that" ... what?
: If a whole bunch of... them appear while we're crossing the sea, I won't be able to handle them alone.
Gilligan: I'm sorry, but you'll have to. I can't let anyone else fight but you, Kaja.
: Remember, the oarsmen will have their hands full rowing. They can't fight. There's nothing we can do... Let's set sail!
Gilligan: Wha-What are you talking about! If we set sail now, we'll never make it to Tolbi.
: We'll be fine... We have a protective amulet!
: Amulet... Amulet, you say... You mean that little anchor charm?
: The little anchor has always protected us from danger.
Gilligan: Captain, get ahold of yourself! That's just foolish superstition!
: It's okay. We'll be fine. Even if we can't find any mercenaries, that little charm will protect us. Now then, let's hurry up! Prepare to set sail! This is great... We'll be setting sail soon!
Gilligan: (Not if I have anything to say about it.)
Sounds like Gilligan's got a problem with the way this ship is being run. This captain's got a mutineer on his deck! Let's run him up the mizzenmast!
As we approach the captain's cabin, Gilligan reappears from inside.
My first instinct is to escalate this into violence. Unfortunately, he flees before Ragnarok Protocol can be engaged.
It's called a sea, dude.
Uhh... seas have waves, dude.
Gilligan is deep in denial. He musta murdered somebody. Fortunately, we don't need due process or lie detectors or any of that nonsense.
I'd call that a confession, but... really, that's it?
This guy really needs to keep his crimes off his mind. What's that saying? A guilty conscience needs no accuser?
Oh hey look it's all the chumps we met before.
I hope you've all committed that helpful guide I gave you to memory.
Pink Guide: Yeah, but...we're going to set sail real soon, so please be patient.
Okay, first one's a freebie.
: When is "real soon"?
There's a bit of a pause, presumably while the guide considers how best to "handle" these two nutjobs.
: I'm asking how long real soon is going to be!
Pink Guide: You're wondering when... Well...
: We're planning to go see Colosso. You know, my friend Ouranos here is scared of ships.
Pink Guide: Ouranos? But he's huge!
: It's not that I'm scared. I just can't stand water... I'd rather be bitten by poisonous spiders than sail across the sea.
Pink Guide: Hmmm. Spiders, huh?
You know, if he's that afraid of the sea, he could probably just climb over that little rockslide. It actually looked pretty passable.
: And even Ouranos is ready to cross the sea right now. Well, if we're not going now, then when are we going to set sail?
Pink Guide: That's... not an easy question.
: You mean you wouldn't know even if I asked? We're going, Ouranos.
: Going? Where?
: Where else? To the captain's quarters, of course.
Pink Guide: What do you think you're going to do in the captain's quarters?
Well the obvious answer is "force him to leave" so I'm going to go with "have a tea party."
: Make him set sail.
: And what if he refuses?
: In that case, we'll just have to do our best to persuade him... Right, Ouranos?
Pink Guide: That sounds crazy!
You're talking to people who want to enter a competition that will likely end up killing them. I think Pink Guide needs a little perspective.
: That sounds great! Count me in.
Pink Guide: I don't want any violence!
I must admit that I forgot just how much conversing goes on during this stupid boat part. Considering half the characters don't have photos, it's a huge pain to write up. Hence the delays.
Actually, the real reason for the delay is that I finally started playing Mass Effect 2 and blew through it over the last week.
We loot some coins before we follow after the crazies.
That's what oars do.
We head to the captain's cabin to see what's going on.
Looks like quite the commotion.
(Yes) Now let me in before I kill you. Don't forget: Ragnarok Protocol can be engaged at any time.
: You're trying to launch the ship? We can't set sail in this dangerous sea!
Kaja has two jobs. He acts incredulous and he commands oarsmen. And I guess his third job is to be scurvy.
: What was that?
Pink Guide: We don't care about that! We paid our money, and now you have to launch the ship!
: But the captain decided to set sail just a second ago.
: So... we're taking off?
: Yes. Preparations are being made right now.
: Well... maybe we were a bit rash, running up here like that.
Pink Guide: Please, launch the ship when you're ready.
Ouranos has other concerns on his mind.
: Dangerous sea... That's what you said, isn't it? It's dangerous out there... Is that why you wouldn't launch the ship?
: Yeah, I did... The sea is dangerous now. There are monsters...
Pink Guide: Monsters, you say?
: Lately, we've been sighting creatures never before seen in the Karagol.
Another recent event, huh? Even money on whether it was caused by Mt. Aleph's eruption or Mercury Lighthouse being lit, but since it's water-related, my wager's on the Lighthouse.
: Dangerous ones?
: Actually, some even came onboard the ship and attacked the crew.
Pink Guide: That IS dangerous!
: We suspect that our replacement ship might have been attacked.
: With such dangerous creatures around... You might need warriors!
: It is certainly dangerous, but the ship is okay. After all, we--
: If there are monsters, I'll be glad to help out.
: Oh, really?
: Hey, Ouranos, I thought--
: We have to make it to Colosso... If we're late, we can't enter.
: That's true, but...
: Hey, maybe you can give us a hand, too, Sean!
: Really? Are you really going to help out?
: I'm a man of my word. If I said I'll help, I'll help.
: With you guys helping me to keep the deck safe, the ship should be okay.
: So, can we set off now?
: No... Now, we need someone to protect the oarsmen...
I think the answer to that is "barricade the door." You really think monsters are going to be smart enough to try and break down a door when there's live targets walking around right by them?
: Protect the oarsmen, huh? You guys need some warriors...
...or a hammer and nails.
: You have an idea?
: I saw some warriors in among the passengers belowdecks.
: Do you think they'd help us out?
: If they're from Angara, they will.
What does being from Angara have to do with anything? It really makes no sense at all. Someone who isn't from Angara won't want the ship to take off? Maybe he's saying that people from Angara are braver than anywhere else?
: Hmmm... If they could help out, we'd be unbeatable. And, of course, we still have my lucky anchor...
The Captain looks to the side and then jumps.
: It's gone... It's vanished!
Oh yeah... I guess we should throw Gilligan to the wolves here, huh?
: What!? The captain's beloved anchor!
: The anchor... Our good luck charm?
: Oh, that? What's the big deal? So what if that old trinket's gone.
: What do you mean, "Oh, that"!? That anchor's been keeping my ship safe for years!
Writing Syntax Tip: when using quotes, they always go outside any punctuation. Even if the inflection would seem to be off, that's still how it has to go.
Pink Guide: It's just decorative, right?
: Even if we find some warriors, we won't make it without that anchor. We're not leaving!
: But you just said we were leaving...
: That was when I thought we still had the anchor!
: Why all the fuss over a little trinket?
Pink Guide: "Little trinket"!? Weren't you listening to what he said?
*sigh*
: It's not just a decoration! It's a good luck charm!
: This ship doesn't leave until we find it.
Gilligan: (What's the problem? We've got some warriors to help us... Maybe we shouldn't have taken it.)
Who's "we?" You acted alone, you fool... unless you have accomplices?
Gilligan: Hey! Hey, you! What are you doing here? You heard the captain-- This ship goes nowhere!!
Okay, that was another long conversation. Don't worry, there's still another one or two left where that came from!
We know that Gilligan thought he hid it up the mast, right?
So naturally, I chose to loot the cargo hold first.
Sweet mama, are we getting close to where these will turn useful!
Okay, enough delays. Up the mast!
Well that was easy.
(Yes) Insofar as I destroyed Gilligan's mind and tore the location from his prefrontal cortex.
Pink Guide: Boy, that's a relief. Now we can set sail. Right, Captain?
: Mmm, not just yet...
: Not yet? What's the problem this time?
: The Karagol Sea is thick with monsters...
Pink Guide: But you don't...
: Well, it's just like Sean said. The best we can do is protect the deck.
Or barricade the oarsmen and passengers belowdecks.
: We need someone to protect the oarsmen.
: Sean, you look like you have someone in mind to help us...
: Yeah.
: Someone to help? Who?
: Those warriors, that's who! They may look young, but each of them is a force to be reckoned with.
On the one hand, I'm wondering how the heck he knows this. Everyone else we've run into seems to think we're helpless children who can't possibly kill them with our minds. What makes this guy different? On the other hand, we're finally getting recognized!
: When you put it that way, sure. Why not?
: I can't argue with that...
(Yes) I'm pretty sure we'll do a terrible job of it, but I'll try none the less.
Pink Guide: Oh, good! That means the ship is taking off!
: There's just one thing left to do...
Pink Guide: Oh, no... Now what?
: I need some volunteers to help with the rowing... just in case.
Pink Guide: What? Are you going to ask the passengers to help row the ship?
: The ship won't move without oarsmen, so...
: Don't worry--we'll do that, too!
Gilligan: Wa-Wait a minute... You're supposed to protect the ship!
: We'll need to ask the other passengers.
: These passengers are part of your tour, so why don't you go ask them?
Pink Guide: This is crazy...
: We need you to help out. Even with the crazy stuff.
: Well then, let's all go to our stations while we wait for the launch.
(Yes) I am Isaac, Destroyer of Worlds! Hear my name and despair, ye mortals! The mighty Sword of the Heavens shall pierce thy skull in my name!
*sigh*
Fun fact: If you refuse to give your name, the Captain says this:
: Well, I'll need to call you something. Hmm... You look like Isaac.
My theory? The Skipper here is a Jupiter Adept.
: Well then Isaac... Well, everybody, let's get this ship to sea!
I hate you, Santa Claus. You and your stupid anchor charm.
Yeah I can guarantee it's going to come to that. Especially with Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Tweedledumber on deck fighting monsters.
I have a feeling this is going to be rather unpopular. Let's poll the audience.
Well, let's get down to the oar decks and prepare for launch.
I'm not entirely sure that I understand the concept of a "replacement ship" anyway. They're supposed to sail alongside us and pick up the passengers if the first ship goes down? That's assuming that whatever attacks this ship won't be attacking the other ship too.
: That'll be me, Ouranos, and Sean on deck, and... Isaac and his friends protecting you down here.
Short answer? No. Long answer? Heeeeeeeeeellz no!
: Isaac and his friends have seen more combat than even I have, so there's nothing to worry about.
: And what will you do if any of you becomes incapacitated?
: Another passenger will help row the ship. Don't worry about it! I had a word with the passengers.
This is an interesting case of Did Not Do the Research, and rather a common one at that. Rowing may seem pretty simple, but in large ships like that, it's much more difficult. Rowing was skilled labor, and oarsmen were well paid. It was actually a great innovation in antiquity to put multiple oarsmen on the same oar, because only one of the men needed to be trained, and the rest could be unskilled labor. This led to ships like the bireme, trireme, and, of course, the quinquereme, the ships that Rome stole from Carthage and duplicated during the First Punic War to sail to victory.
But I digress. This ship has a sail, so the only real reason for oarsmen would be in a combat scenario anyway, and that's clearly not how they're being used.
: Hmmm. Good point... Isaac. You should select a replacement and bring him here.
Let's remember the number one rule of this game: always do the opposite of what adults tell you to do. Naturally, we'll be unbalancing this crew as much as possible.
: Right. You have your orders. I trust you'll all do your best.
Kaja walks up to the deck.
Thanks, Gilligan.
It's about bloody time!
We sail for several seconds, which I'm assuming is actually much longer in-game.
: Monsters?
: Aye, Captain! Sea monsters!
: Captain, turn the rudder hard to starboard!
: All right, I'm turning!
: It's no use. It's too late!
The monsters head straight belowdecks. I don't understand how this is a reasonable move for these creatures to make, but whatever.
Yeargh, me hearty!
Wait... how did they get past us?
Oh well.
These things are a piece of cake. You don't even need to focus down one at a time, just use some AOE Psynergy or melee them.
I chose the Psynergy route.
Oh, and Isaac leveled up too!
: Hey, are you OK? Looks like you took care of those sea monsters. We're missing an oarsman! Oh no! He's unconscious! It looks like the sea monsters got one of our rowers... There's no way around it...
(Yes) Although I don't see why you can't do it on your way back up to the deck. You're a better gauge of rowing ability than I am.
You're going on the list, Kaja.
Okay then, which of these chumps shall we make row?
(Yes) If you picked Baldy, you win the pool!
You're right. I should make the old man row, or maybe the little girl! Man up, you big pansy.
: All right. Take your place. Now, we'll need you to protect this area again, Isaac.
Okay so, for the sake of this chapter's length and the sake of my own sanity, I'm going to abridge this next part a bit. All you need to know is the same thing happens twice more, only with different monsters.
The lizardman is a bit tough, but the bats are pushovers. You can probably save your Psynergy and just attack to kill them.
The Man-O-Wars are unchanged, and the Virago is only slightly more threatening than that. Save your Psynergy, because you're going to need it.
Also, each of these attacks resulted in the injury of an oarsman. Let's check out our replacements:
We got ourselves the Old Man for the second slot.
The Straight Man rounds out our third missing rower.
Now these monsters haven't been easy compared to the stuff you'd expect these guys to face, but nothing seems like it could really threaten the whole ship. I'm beginning to wonder if-
Uh oh.
How would you know, Mia? You've never been on a ship before!
: Isaac, there's a huge sea monster on the ship! If we don't do something, we'll sink! You have to help us!
: If this ship sinks, everything we've done will mean nothing... Let's go bag us some sea monsters.
There's a couple of things you should know, watching this video.
1. In the hurry to record the video, I forgot to heal my party before this fight. Go me.
2. There's a good deal of faffing about. I got a little mixed up on which Djinn were assigned to each character.
Now, talking strategy with this fight: it's probably the biggest challenge so far, especially if you're under-leveled. It's the first boss in a long time that you can't just summon rush and then finish off. Notice that I didn't use any Mercury Djinn in the battle; that let me have access to Wish for the entire fight, which is pretty handy when the Kraken can use a couple of Water Blessings or Dark Blessings on one turn and do heavy damage to your whole party. Besides, the Kraken is Mercury Element, so it's not as though Boreas would have done much damage.
: Thank you, Isaac. You did good against the Kraken. We lost another oarsman, though. I need to check the hull. Go find someone to row the ship.
Our pick this time is Red-Headed Stepchild.
And we're off!
Hmm...
: Hmm... So we've finally reached Tolbi, huh?
: Umm... No. That doesn't look like Tolbi's coast. We must be off course. I don't recognize this place.
: You're right... That looks like an island.
: Hmm... Maybe we should stop for a minute.
: We need time to check the ship's position... Let's head for that island and get our bearings.
Baldy: Island? Isn't this Tolbi?
: The ship went of course, and we're... Well, we're not sure where we are. We've come to this island so we can get our bearings. Raise your oars and rest for a little while.
Baldy: If the ship isn't going anywhere, I'm not waiting down here. Let's take a break out front.
Ah, nothing like tormenting little girls. Really though, she should look on the bright side. We were attacked by a Kraken, there could have been naughty tentacles about.
Let's get off this godforsaken boat.
: Isaac, you talked to the passengers, didn't you? The tour group is arguing about whether they should leave the ship.
: We'd like to go ashore and see if it's safe out there... But we promised we'd protect the ship.
: ...That's it! Isaac!
(Yes) If it gets me off the boat and away from these annoying conversations.
: I see, you're going to go for me, aren't you? I'm sure no one will complain if we scout out the island. There's no telling what kind of monsters are lurking on this island... Be extremely careful!
Just... shut... up!
FREEDOM!
Also, because it's pretty much obligatory at this point:
Climbing the face of the mountain here is a straightforward application of the Growth Psynergy. Make sure you don't miss any of the nice items you can get by sliding down strategic places.
Totally worth it.
That's actually quite nice, however.
Whirlwind these vines to reveal a door leading inside.
This place is... spooky? I guess?
There's one main thing you need to know about this place. Always heal up before you approach the door, because there's mini boss fights at each one.
And that's your queue to TREAT THIS LIKE A BOSS BATTLE. If you come here when you're "supposed" to, then the first few of these are a walk in the park. If you come here now like I did (by deliberately unbalancing the rowing teams) then each one must be taken seriously.
I actually underestimated the difficulty of this one, and I nearly got one of my team killed.
This room is basically just one big puzzle centered around the Move Psynergy.
This is the only chest you really need to bother opening; the rest have a Nut, an Antidote, and 111 coins.
Be prepared for this when you leave, too.
The Mimic isn't too hard, but watch out for Curse.
Make sure you push that pillar down so that you can get back easily. We'll be coming back here later, and it'll be nice to not have to redo these puzzles.
Aside from the puzzle rooms themselves, this place is basically just one big long staircase with a detour at each level. And each detour is guarded.
I really should have learned my lesson from the last fight, but instead I decided that I could probably just knock these guys down pretty quickly.
As you can tell by the amount of PP I used in that battle, I decided wrong.
This room is all about rolling columns, which function just like logs or pipes.
Get both of these; they're quite handy.
I ended up giving Ivan the sword, because he's due for an upgrade; dude was still using that Elven Rapier from way back when.
I learned my lesson for this fight. I pulled out the stat-boosting Djinn and everything, and eventually summoned the group to death.
Just watch out, because even with our stats boosted, these guys pack a wallop.
In this room, you need to jump around and Catch keys. The Blue Keys open doors in the back that lead to treasure, but you need the Red Key to move on.
"What Red Key?" you ask?
That Red Key.
This Cookie will raise your PP permanently. Great for Isaac.
The only other item worth mentioning is the Fairy Ring. There's only one ring I ever use, and it's not this one. Anyway, get it if you want it.
I think I'll do one more.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where I really screw up. I go back and forget that this is a boss fight.
A couple turns later...
I need to rethink my strategy for this one.
I actually do manage to down one gryphon before I get taken out, though. I could probably have reloaded and won on a second try, but this chapter is already plenty long.
Join us next time when we'll give up on Crossbone Isle, and finally make it to Tolbi! Sorry again for the delays with this chapter, I hit a mental roadblock and just could not bring myself to write all this out. My original plan for this game was to finish up around Thanksgiving, but there's no way that's going to happen. My new goal is Christmas, I guess.
It's fine so long as we can get cool golden sun time.
By the way, does the levelup stats change depending on what kind of djinns you have equipped? (such as Venus djinns increase strength and what not)
No, or at least, not that I'm aware of. Level ups are by character I'm 99% sure. However the amount of statups from each level varies within a small range.
EDIT: Also, Terrendos, you are fucking insane, why are you doing that right now
Posts
The first one is just golden sun.
The third game, 'Golden Sun: Dark Dawn' is an actual sequel, but it's not worth playing (IMO).
Play it yourself
It's fuuuunnnnnnn
Welcome back to Let's Play: Golden Sun! Last time, we freed a bunch of trees, got paid, and trash talked an old ho. Tonight, we meet with an ancient master and undergo some not-so-difficult trials.
But first!
I did a bit of Djinn re-arranging. I'm keeping Isaac on Knight for a little while, since he's about to get the game's most awesome-looking Psynergy attack.
Garet is getting Mia's Water Djinn, which turns him into a Defender. That means more HP, better defense, and, of all things, Ply.
Mia's getting Jupiter Djinn, which grants here Plasma, which we've seen on Ivan already. It also gives her Prism, which is a Water attack Psynergy that beats the pants off the Frost tree.
We're finishing up with Ivan, who's got the Mars Djinn to make him a Wanderer. He keeps Plasma but loses Whirlwind and Ray for Wind Slash, which is... meh. There's really no reason to use it over Plasma, actually.
We depart Bilibin. We'll have to pass back through the blockade and beyond Kolima again. But hey, free Water of Life. Not gonna turn that down.
This is Kolima Bridge. You can just barely make out Kolima up there to the top right; we circled around to the right and south.
If we had come here before fixing Kolima, this fellow would have been a tree.
No, I'm actually here to see if you'd be interested in changing your cable TV provider.
I'm not entirely sure why Isaac is frowning here, but I can suspect he's had about as enough of this nonsense as I have. No, that sentence doesn't make sense, but that's how I'm phrasing it.
These idiots sure are providing me with lots of compelling reasons for me to give up on saving the world. I'm starting to feel as though it would be worth it, so long as they suffered.
Let's move on.
We've now moved up! No longer are we battling against horrifying monsters like Rats and Rat Soldiers. Now, our enemies are the ruthless Moles! Prepare to eat magical sword, tiny mammals!
To the south is the so-called "evil forest." To the north, well, it looks like some sort of temple.
I ran into a trio of Maulers, those bears we fought back around Mercury Lighthouse, so I thought I'd demonstrate Wind Slash. As you can see, it looks pretty fancy but it's not very strong.
Fuchin Temple! That's right, we've entered Weyard's China now. Bones McCoy was representative of Prussia/Eastern Russia I guess, which makes absolutely no sense. Regardless, this place will be quite enlightening.
Dangit, now I'm making puns.
(Yes) Because certainly nobody could take a raft across or anything.
Oh, so you heard about that. I guess that makes a little more sense.
...And there's the cowardice I've come to expect in every single person on this god-forsaken world.
Wait, gems falling from the sky? Is he talking about Psynergy Stones again?
This fellow seems to be talking about Mercury Lighthouse... they could see that all the way out here? Wow.
Yeah, a forest suddenly appearing. That's right up there with floods and plagues of locusts on the ol' Apocalypse-ometer.
So somebody fix the man a sandwich. How hard can it be?
The healer guy is there because there's no sanctum in this town. And up there, it's another Psynergy Stone. I wonder what it's done this time.
First though, I heal the party's mild wounds and restore my PP.
(No) Being enlightened always struck me as something selfish, anyway. Like Buddha, being all doubtful that he should share his message because all the plebs wouldn't understand.
(Yes) Screw your ancient mysticism, I'm a Magic One-Eyed Rock-fearing Adept and I'm gosh darned proud!
And I wish you could understand why I'm able to set you on fire with my mind, but the world ain't perfect.
Hey old man! Hot stuff comin' through!
The silent treatment? Maybe he heard me rambling about how his hokey religion and ancient traditions are no match for an adept at your side.
Old man! I'm stealing your ring!
Hrm....
Aha!
(Yes) The Old Man speaketh.
(Yes) I mean, I have no idea who you're talking about, but yes. I follow your enemies. Now, bestow upon me great magicks or I shall lay destruction upon this feeble land!
(Yes) I guess I'll do your silly test. After all, the last test I did was killing that stupid evil tree spirit thing, how hard can this be?
Aww man, this is going to be one of those "wax on, wax off" things, isn't it?
Wha-what?
If you answer his questions differently (i.e. you deny things) then he'll read your mind and say that you're lying. I'm pretty sure it's never clarified whether this fellow learned Jupiter Psynergy on his own, or whether it was the rock outside. Personally, I'm betting on the Psynergy Stone, for reasons that won't be clear until The Lost Age.
We wander back down the steps to the base of the waterfall. There's a dude standing in the waterfall, meditating or something?
And he jumps out of our way.
Welcome to Fushin Falls Cave. This place is interesting in that, if you don't care about getting everything in here, you can complete the "trials" in about a minute. But since I'm doing an LP and I want the stuff inside, we'll be doing things the long way. Don't worry, I'll explain the short way at the end.
By the way, I couldn't find a Youtube link for the music in here. If someone can, I'll happily put it right here. If you can't, it's okay. It's not as though it's one of the most memorable tracks in the game or anything.
The sign here relates a not-very-cryptic message. Like, it sounds all cryptic and mysterious, but it'll be pretty obvious what it means.
There's two logs on the bank here, and we can stand on them and roll them back and forth. Thing is, once we start, we can't stop until we hit something. We'll start here.
Yeah. Oh well.
I slaughter him with a couple summons.
And I get a Game Ticket for my trouble! We still don't know what those are for, but we'll find out eventually.
I head across this one instead, which allows me access further into the depths of the cave.
It's another jumping puzzle. By now these are old hat.
This way is a dead end, so we'll have to try a different approach. Instead, I move on to the other exit from the jumping puzzle room.
Another cryptic message. Sigh.
There's a palette swap of the Skeleton and Creeper. I'm still overleveled, so they go down like a cheerleader on prom night.
Hmm... this is the only dark room in the entire place. I wonder if perhaps this is going to have something to do with all them cryptic messages.
Hint hint.
We have two choices here, but one's an obvious dead end. Fortunately, there's a treasure chest there, so off we go!
Roll across...
Sweet daddy! It's been a while since we got a fancy new sword.
And it's a substantial upgrade, too! We give the Arctic Blade to Isaac, and our now-ancient Elven Rapier to Ivan. He can make better use of it than Garet, whose axe is already about as good.
Speaking of substantial upgrades.... that's like 50% more attack power.
We take the other log across and down into the next room. We've got 1 of the 2 things worth getting in this dungeon; let's nab the other one.
See those spikes? We take damage if we step on them. While that's barely a problem later in the game, we still have to heal people individually, and our heal spells are on Isaac and Garet, neither of whom have massive stockpiles of PP. We'll walk around.
We end up here. Look familiar? That's right, it's the cave foyer.
We roll on past the entrance and return to the cavern depths.
That's the other thing we're taking the long route for. Jupiter Djinni number 3! To get there, however, we must finagle!
You see, if we take this log down, we can't get across horizontally on the other log.
The trick (and by trick, I mean "obvious solution") is to roll this log back.
Now we can leap from the log onto this rock, and from there to the log we need to be on in order to cross the river.
Tada.
Let's get it on.
That's Flash Bolt. It's the worst of all the Jupiter Psynergy, but it still deals pretty solid damage to us. We manage to get its HP most of the way down...
...and then the Djinni runs.
This is frustrating, but it's not like you have to restart the game or anything. Just leave the room and re-enter, and it will return. Similar to our battle with Forge, except that jerk never managed to flee.
(N.B.) Actually that image was from the second battle. It ran away the first one, and I missed the snapshot, so I re-battled him a second time to get it. And then:
His escape actually didn't work. But I had the picture so I said screw it. I maintain a belief in full disclosure in my LPs.
A couple rounds and some healing later, and the stupid creature finally goes down. I actually didn't use any summons on this, even though I probably should have.
That's our ninth total Djinni.
Zephyr here boosts the party's Agility, which is meh. It's handy in boss battles, where healers outspeeding boss attacks can be critical to survival, but nowhere else.
We roll this log all the way up and to the next room.
After another rudimentary log rolling puzzle, we can go down those stairs.
Hmm... a Dragon's Eye. Well, the last time we got a weird jewel, we shoved it in a minotaur statue's eye socket. I guess this time they're just going to make it obvious what we need to do.
So Isaac's new sword has a nifty little unleash called Blizzard. It does a fair amount of damage.
Now we're on this side of the room.
Oh gee, I wonder whatever it could be that we need to do.
Thank you, game.
The dragon statue breathes... "fire"... and look! A shadow!
We can take a shortcut back to the other side of this room now.
So remember what I was saying about the shortcut? This bridge is here even when the lights aren't on in this room. If you don't know what you're doing, or you do, you can just wander accidentally onto the bridge and skip 2/3 of this dungeon.
We take a bit of a looping path, and then slide down this before walking through the door.
Ki, huh? Every time I hear that, all I can think of is
http://dbzmediacentre.yolasite.com/resources/dragonball-z-f34d.jpg
But maybe that's just the era I grew up in. Then again, that was the era everyone who played this game grew up in, so....
Don't worry, I'll resist the urge to make jokes about power levels and hair turning yellow.
Wait! Maybe Isaac is so tough because he's a super saiyan!
Okay I'm done.
The Orb of Force? I thought this was Dragon Ball, not Star Wars.
The most obvious recipient of such a tool would have to be Isaac, so... let's give it to Ivan. The dude could use a bit more punch.
It even looks like a Kamehameha. This must be some mighty attack!
*waits for the pun from a couple sentences back to land*
On the way out, Isaac picks up another level. This is a landmark level, however, because....
We just learned Ragnarok, arguably the coolest Psynergy attack in the game. My understanding is that it's based on attack power, so it will scale much more effectively than most regular Psynergy attacks, making it useful throughout the game.
"How cool can this attack be?" You ask?
Let's let these unsuspecting clowns show you.
"Strike with a massive sword." Sounds promising.
That's basically a 2-Djinn summon's worth of damage (admittedly, only to a single target). 7 PP is a bit steep right now, but it'll never cost any more, and as our PP and attack keep climbing, it'll just get better.
Well, we got the Orb, the Djinni, and the Arctic Blade. We're done.
(Yes) I cleaned the place out. I hope you didn't want any of that stuff.
That's what I just said.
But first....
(Yes) It's actually Psynergy, you half-starved hermit. And your little parlor trick here is nothing compared to the might at my fingertips.
*gasp* This means that Psynergy is really The Force!
Don't worry, I'll be avoiding Star Wars jokes too. Except for the Chapter title, I guess.
(Yes) My first instinct is that the forest would either do nothing, because it's an inanimate object, evil or no. My second instinct is that the forest would mock me for having such a worthless technique. Obviously I'm wasting my time here, I should be out searching for that Jedi Master.
I'm sorry, it slipped out.
(No) Violence. Heh. Battle. Heh. An Adept craves not these things.
I am so sorry.
Let's hear his thoughts on the matter before we leave.
And that's it. With The Force as our ally (and a powerful ally it is) we can now tackle the Evil Forest.
A monster already? He spots us, and leaps into the conspicuous stump in the middle of the screen.
Welcome to Mogall Forest. Get ready, because next time I've got 4 words for you:
"This is gonna suck."
At least the music is good, even if it's a repeat of Kolima.
P.S. Sorry about having to split such a relatively normal update into so many parts. The new character limit on posts is absolutely brutal.
You should make Garet a berserker at some point. Smashing, bashing, and the like is clearly what he's best at.
Looks like the post character limit has been fixed now too, so I'll go ahead and return the OP to its prior state when I get back from class tonight.
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! Last time, we did some stupid generic Asian-themed waterfall test thing and acquired the deadly Kamehameha beam. Ahaha, just kidding, it's just a Psynergy that pushes things at a distance.
We don't get the Kamehameha for a little while yet.
Welcome to Mogall Forest. It used to be called the Mogall Plains, but then this evil forest grew basically overnight. Now trees are scared and people thing it's Armageddon, and I say that's not the Michael Bay movie we want this to be.
If you'll recall from the end of the last chapter, when we walked into the forest, a creature of some kind jumped into that hollow stump. That's this dungeon's mechanic. Although it's entirely possible (albeit difficult) to get through this place otherwise, the trick is to use Force to hit the trunks, scare the animal into jumping out, and follow it through the forest.
Why is this the plan? Beats the heck outta me.
Well, let's get this train wreck a-rollin'.
The green ape-like beast leaps out of the stump and moves to the downward exit.
Normally this is where I would shout "Follow that chimp!" but I don't know why.
He leads us to the first puzzle room.
We meet up with some old friends... oh wait, nope, it's more cheap palette swaps. These used to be Bats, but now they're Dirges, and that's... more... evil? Or something.
They die like Bats.
Oh look, another stump! Time to use Force.
This time, the creature is brown, and he's not happy to see us.
I would show clips from the battle, but it's really quite an easy one, at least as I am now, a couple levels above the status quo.
Log puzzle again!
Push this one across so that we can get by....
Push it back across and... oh look a Nut.
Just use Catch, just like we always do.
With that log back in the far left position, we can push this one up and into the river to make a bridge, just like in Kolima Forest.
Tada.
Use of excessive Force on this stump reveals our target: green, bipedal, hominid.
The perp flees to the East, but he's on foot. Officers pursue the suspect.
Mia receives a field promotion to level 13 Elder, which boosts her stats but does not provide her with additional tactics for suspect apprehension.
Two stumps this time. Which one do we pick? Well, normally in this game, whichever path seems to be "the long route" is the correct one, (we'll see some particularly egregious forms of this later in Golden Sun and in The Lost Age) but a police officer does his due diligence. We'll use the Force on the nearest one first.
Suspect continues to elude officers. Continue pursuit.
For his valor, Garet was promoted to level 13 Defender. Like Mia, this does almost nothing.
Hmm... let's investigate the log puzzle first.
But first, more annoying monsters.
Ivan is the last of the party to level up. Normally I'd say that this is because he's worthless, but because of his new class, his physical attacks are almost on par with Isaac and Garet.
The rock there is keeping us from moving the log. The solution? Move it.
Another log puzzle lies below. We push this one down to start.
This log gets pushed over just a bit.
Then this one is pushed back to its original position. Yeah, pretty much the same as the last one.
But wait! It's a Djinni! Let's capture it.
We actually get the drop on him and get a free turn of damage.
That, combined with us going all out on attacks and Psynergy, means we down this little guy without taking a single hit.
Ah, Quartz. Fascinating gem, actually, made of a crystalline silicon oxide compound.
Quartz here, for some reason, can revive a downed party member. It seems to be roughly 50% of the time, give or take. With Quartz on our side, we'll rarely need to worry about using Water of Life again, except in the most dire of circumstances.
Let's finish this puzzle and move on, shall we?
We Force this stump to divulge its payload.
And the critter leaps into the stump adjacent. See, this is where I'd have Garet start chucking those Fire Psynergy spells.
It's a simple matter to walk around and Force this one.
(S)he heads left, and so do we.
Just so you know, there are relative threats in this place. Bone Fighters are jerks, and their special attack, Undead Sword, does a lot of damage, especially if there's more than one in the group. It did something like 60 damage, which is basically a Cure Psynergy just to heal it.
Three stumps this time. Only one thing we can do.
A monkey leaps from that one and heads South.
Whereas the monkey from that stump goes West. An impasse.
Well, we know that our overall goal is South, so we'll go that way. I'm probably missing out on something special in the other direction but oh well.
Another puzzle. I'm guessing that means we went the right direction.
Move the rock, then push the log. Couldn't get much more obvious.
Listen, we just want to talk, we don't want to kill you like we did all your friends, why don't you just-
-hide in that stump. Fantastic.
Another log puzzle, but this one is so trivial it's hardly worth mentioning. The logs only go one way, and there's no moving them back at all.
Just push this one into the water.
And South we go.
Hmm... I'm getting a bad feeling about this.
I know I used Quartz on Garet when he was still alive, I was just showing his ability to you slash showing you Cybele. Also, you'll notice that I fixed that desync problem I'd been having; it's a pain in the butt to do but you guys are worth it (d'aww).
And that's it for Mogall Forest. May we never have to return again.
We'll follow the dirt path to our next destination.
By the way, we just learned Quake Sphere. So here we go:
It's pretty good damage over a nice wide area, but the PP cost is far too high just now, and Isaac isn't exactly my AoE person at the best of times.
Eventually, we happen upon this little humble town.
Welcome to Xian, the town of Silk. This is also the start of the Silk Road, which ends in Tolbi, and sounds suspiciously similar to the trade routes across Asia before Portugal began searching for sea routes. Which would make Tolbi, by extrapolation, some town in the Middle East/SE Europe. Perhaps Constantinople? All we know for sure about Tolbi is that they like Lucky Medals, and hiding them in bizarre places around the continent.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMaYObiCZfE
It's got the same music as FuchinTemple, which is kinda lame but oh well.
Xiam also sounds a lot like Siam, what we used to call Thailand. Which, considering its placement in Angara, makes a lot of sense.
Kung Fu? Oh man, this is gonna be awesome!
Another apocalypse freak?
Naturally. Kung Fu will stop the Apocalypse. Finally, someone with some sense.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
The usual upcharge for no real reason.
I believe the saying is, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." And obviously the Romans came up with it, because they're the best at everything.
Eight trees does not an orchard make. This is the entire food supply for all the silkworms that supply the entire continent with silk? Man, this place is so screwed.
That must be the most exciting three minutes of the year.
Thank you, random stranger. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to figure out how to reach that odd creature on the ledge there.
Oh yeah, free Lucky Medal.
We got an Elixir too, hip hip hooray.
I have trouble being impressed by that when I can grow trees with my mind and my best friend can incinerate them the same way.
Just goes to show you, everything is relative.
If that's all we're going to learn from Master Feh, he's only slightly better than that other jerk at Fuchin Temple.
And yet, we won't ever do it.
Altin, huh? Sounds like our next destination to me.
More about Tolbi. It's still unclear to me exactly which real town it's intended to represent; there's a lot of possibilities.
Actually, Isaac still needs another Venus Djinni, but then yes, he'll be quite the Gallant.
(Yes) It ain't no thang. Just watch out for the giant monkey.
Ahahahaha, he thinks Feh would actually stand a chance against me.
There's a new item in the shop here. That wing will reduce the number of monster encounters. We have the Avoid Psynergy which does the same thing, but we'll probably not use either of them.
We buy the gang a few upgrades with the several thousand coins we've saved up.
I almost forgot about the Douse Drop. We got it from killing the Killer Ape. It's another item like the Force Orb or the Catch Beads; it teaches Douse when it's equipped. Douse is a Mercury Psynergy that can be used outside of battle to make it rain. This will have several uses in this game and the next.
Finally time to learn us some fancy kung fu!
Looks pretty dull.
(Yes) I have come to watch and to learn.
I can't promise I won't be singing. Oh ho ho hoooo!
This is a much better theme song for Xian.
Make sure your kicks are as fast as lightning.
(Yes) I want to improve my expert timing.
Chi? That sounds a lot like Ki or whatever it is that other monk was telling us about.
Just gotta push the tree over? Well this should be easy.
I used the Force. Duh.
(No) That fact may be a little bit frightening.
The little guy walks over to talk to Feh, but...
Someone with purple hair walks out first.
Little Sammy Chung, I presume?
And that sounds like Funky Billy Chin.
Obviously this fellow doesn't know his part, because he's interjecting in this spat. Gonna get a fist to the head.
Dude really needs to stay out of this.
Here, Feh shakes his head, indicating that he did not. Can't really get a picture of it.
It seems that Master Feh needs to read some parenting books. Fiezhi bolts.
Looks like we got a rival for Garet for the role of Captain Obvious.
Yeah we got it, thanks.
He notices our handiwork, and it's about time. I'm the center of attention here, darnit, and these B-characters are getting on my nerves.
It doesn't seem that difficult to knock over. I mean, it's just a log. Maybe someone bumped into it. It's got a high center of gravity, you see, and-
Yeah okay we'll go with A Wizard Did It.
(Yes) They keep calling it Chi, so I guess I can.
Feh says this, but he doesn't get his picture this time. I don't know why. Game error?
Anyway, here comes the big boss, wah ha! Let's get it on!
Well, duh.
I wish this dude had a face, it would be much easier for me.
(Yes) He was a funky China man from funky China town. I learned an ancient Chinese art, and I really know my part.
So there's two schools, then? My Monkey-style beats your Crane-style.
Master Hama, however, is a character of no small importance. We'll be meeting with this legendary master soon, and it will be... an educational experience.
(Yes) So I guess Chi is what Goku uses, not Ki. Which confuses the heck outta me, but whatevs.
It's actually kind of odd that Feh would learn something to focus the energy of the body and not the mind from Master Hama, but that is a story for another day.
That doesn't seem like very helpful advice to your students.
Another student of Master Hama. I wonder if he'll be as kung-fu as Feh. All the feinting and the slipping and the kicking from the hip.
Well I guess we're about done here, we'll move on along until we get to-
Oh yeah, the Mercury Djinni. We didn't see any way of getting to it, but surely there must be some way!
Maybe she too is kung fu training. Let's bug her.
Yeah, sure.
Talk to her right here.
Now there's a puddle of water here. It's all a part of my diabolical plan!
We have to remove Mia's Djinni in order to get Frost back. You'll notice that it's usable outside of battle! Fascinating!
Okay, I know that ice expands as it crystallizes, but this is ridiculous.
With that pillar in that place, however, we can now leap across the gap and make our way to the Mercury Djinni.
We don't even have to battle this one!
We're actually going to keep this one on Garet, just like the rest.
Mist does damage and can put a foe to sleep, except the sleep part rarely works.
(Yes) I took a bow and made a stand.
Surely we won't be seeing you ever again, so good luck on whatever it is you were planning on doing. Finding Hsu I guess?
Good luck with that, lady. We've got important world-saving duties to take care of right now. We can't be bothered to bring you along.
And that's it for Xian! Next time, we'll head West, towards Altin and Lama Temple.
Until then, may you be into a brand new trip.
Would you guys like to see a world map? I know I sure would.
I actually forgot I could do this, just press the L button on the world map. I could probably open up MS Paint and do a crude drawing of our path thus far, but that seems like work.
So here we are, outside Xian. We need to head West to our next destination, but first, a little side-trip.
Head North from Xian first, until you cross that bridge up there to reach an isolated island of land. Why should you do this?
Because there's a Mars Djinni there. This is pretty much the worst thing about this game: there's several Djinn that are encountered randomly on the world map, and there's no clue whatsoever as to their location short of looking it up online. Fortunately, there's no missable Djinn; you can always come back to this area later, but it's still a pain in the butt and completely stupid. Still, it's better than Dark Dawn, where there's actually a couple that you can permanently miss, thereby screwing over your party in the endgame.
The Djinni goes down easy, and Mia and Garet level up (and learn nothing useful).
Corona's actually not bad. He's another of those stat-buff Djinn.
Boosting Defense is pretty handy though.
By the way, I gave Ivan the Douse Drop. I already explained its OOCombat use, but it's got an ICombat one too.
It's not very effective though.
This seems like a good time to do some Djinn tomfoolery.
Garet and Isaac have each other's Djinn, so they're now both Ruffians, which are very offense-oriented. I put Ivan and Mia's Djinn back on them, mainly because Mia's about to learn a very useful spell.
Isaac and Garet both have the same combat Psynergy now. Let's take a look at Planet Diver.
It's pretty similar to Ragnarok, actually.
Moving on, follow the sandy dirt path west until you get to this fork. It's our next stop.
Yeah, it's just the overworld theme.
Aww man, it's that chick again.
We automatically follow her along the path.
(No) You should stay here and clear these rocks out of the way so I can get by.
See that puddle? Let's use Frost again.
No, this is not why I switched Mia's Djinn back, although it is quite the nice coincidence.
We Growth that little plant to make it a vine, then climb up and use the ice pillar to jump across the gap.
We get Power Bread for our trouble. It's an HP boosting item.
Gave it to Isaac because he's going to be able to use Revive eventually.
Well, we can't go to Lama because of the landslide. Guess we're going to Altin.
(Yes) But I'm already pretty sure the place sucks.
(No) You ambushed me the second I walked into town, I haven't seen a thing yet.
So you guys... didn't drink water?
Shut up, I see a statue I need to move.
Another Psy Crystal. Hrm. We keep seeing these, and they keep causing problems. First it was Kolima, then Mogall... they're sort of like harbingers of problems.
This lady thinks only of herself. We'll not be saving her house.
Can't access the mine, huh? So no riches for Team Issac.
We get our first look at the severity of the situation. Wow, this really does suck.
There's one of the monsters right there. I guess we're the only ones who can kill it.
What? You can't sell me armor? These things are gonna pay.
It's spotted me.
Why do things keep running away from us?
Now we have to follow it into this stupid cave.
It runs away, and we get our little tutorial on the thing we've already been doing for a while now.
The beast jumps across on the ice pillar, and we must pursue.
And of course, it sees us again. This is getting tiresome.
Finally, nowhere to run.
I briefly considered making a video for this fight, but it's just a miniboss, and it's not a challenging fight. If you have absolutely no skill, you can summon rush it into oblivion.
I spend the first round using stat-boost Djinn, as I do with most boss battles.
With Granite's effect, the statue can't do much to us this round.
Planet Diver does a respectable amount of damage. I rather like having it on two characters.
A couple of rounds is all it takes.
The Vial isn't our real reward, though.
The Frost Jewel. As you may have guessed, it'll bestow Frost Psynergy on whoever's equipped it. That lets me change Mia's class all I want and not have to worry about losing out on Frost, which is one of the more commonly-used OOC Psynergies.
The water also drains from this section, suggesting a way in which we might be able to save Altin.
I gave the Jewel to Ivan, because he's always got extra PP lying around. In fact, he tends to be my Psynergy mule; I stick him with the vast majority of these things.
I use Frost on the remaining puddle, and I can return to the entrance.
Looks like some of the water here has drained; it's actually a whole level lower now.
Well, now that there's some homes that aren't completely covered in water, let's loot them.
We don't find much though.
Really?
Hypocrisy, thy name is you.
(Yes) Hells to the yeah I want weapons, I want everything you've got!
BOOOOOOO
Maybe Team Jerkface wandered by and asked for weapons, you refused to sell, and Mr. Fabulous woke up these statues and made them spray water.
Actually, the timing here does seem a little odd. These statues are Mercury aligned (if you couldn't tell by the fact that they're spraying water, they're also resistant to Mia's Psynergy and weak to Garet's). Was it really that Psynergy stone we found that caused the problem here, or was it perhaps Mercury Lighthouse? Could the Lighthouse really have such an effect from this far away?
For the record, Imil and Mercury Lighthouse are here:
And we're around here:
One bit of information that we should keep in mind:
Note that here we see that Feizhi predicted the flood in Altin. Establishing a timeline can help us figure out the real cause. If we ever learn more about Feizhi's powers, perhaps we can fill in the blanks.
Anyway, back to draining Altin.
The water's drained around this entrance, so we can check out this area.
Mine rails? I guess maybe we'll follow those.
Regions of the mines are still flooded. We'll have to come back this way after we've killed some more of those statues.
More of the same, here. These things are a nonchallenge at this point, so I have no problem fleeing on occasion.
We must be close.
Rats.
No, not that kind of... darnit.
A minecart. Excuse me while I have terrible flashbacks to Donkey Kong Country (I am abysmal at platformers and that game brutalized me in my childhood).
Hmm... seems to be a track switch. I guess I'll have to anticipate these and change them before I hop in the cart.
There we go.
And here we go.
We build up way more speed than one would think, and we're able to careen across the gap.
And there we go.
This fight is quite literally identical to the last one. Suffice it to say, it's an easy win.
Isaac does level up, however.
Our prize is the same, minus the Frost Jewel.
The water drains away once more, so we can go explore those other dead ends now.
This one is closer, so we'll try here first.
Well darn. We can't Move this rock, so we'll have to come back some other time when we've got a different Psynergy.
We head back here instead.
Another minecart.
I guess I need to flip that switch to proceed.
There we go.
Ignoring for the moment how we've just witnessed our cart launched higher into the air on a ramp than our starting height and how this has completely violated Newtonian physics, let's just move on before my head explodes.
We head through the door and come to this fork.
Fortunately, our path is evident.
Victory nets us another Game Ticket. When are we going to find out what the heck these things are for, anyway?
Hmm... this looks too easy. Better stay down here for now.
Yup, gotta Frost that puddle before I climb the ladder.
Let's go.
I see you.
I also see treasure. This is going to be a little tricky.
Frost this puddle first....
Then jump across and hop in the mine cart.
Jump the gap.
And voila.
A Dragon Shield, that's a substantial improvement over my Isaac's current Iron Shield.
And it resists Fire too!
Back across, but this time,
We flip this switch before we get back in.
That leads us down here, to the third statue.
Now's the time where I got really bored with fighting these things and decided to do things the old fashioned way.
Hello, Living Statue. Say hello to my little friends...
Procne...
Tiamat...
Neptune...
And good old Cybele.
That's what I thought.
Water's drained, and we've reached a dead end.
Time to vamoose.
With the village now fully drained, we can buy some new armor.
I actually go pretty sparing though. There'll be some mega-upgrades soon, and I'd like to be sure I've got enough money for them.
I buy a pair of upgrades and sell off Isaac's old shield.
Strange. I think it's fair to say, since they're called "Living Statues," that they're one and the same.
(Yes) Well "slaughtered" is a more appropriate verb, but yeah it was me.
I believe that qualifies as both a Smooch of Victory and, judging by the last line, Luminescent Blushing. That's a twofer, baby!
If only Isaac could have frozen in place or collapsed, it would have been a trifecta.
Sounds like a challenge to me.
I heal up at the inn and enter the lowest entrance of the Altin mines.
Hmm... which way do I go? I guess right.
Another Lucky Medal. Lucky me!
It occurs to me that I've yet to demonstrate either Mad Growth or Blast.
They're nothing special, just standard Venus and Mars Psynergy, respectively.
Picked up Nova though, for my trouble. I'll have to show it to you later.
Hello darling! Don't worry, I'm comin' to get ya!
This is easy enough. Move the pillar, Frost the puddle.
While I'm Frosting, I'll take care of this one too.
Oh momma, Ply Well! It's a serious upgrade from regular Ply. It'll basically fully heal any member of the party at this point, even though it claims to restore only 200 HP.
We leap across the large chasm and jump in the mine cart.
Thusly.
Then I just flip the switch...
And ride this baby all the way to that Djinni.
Let's do this thing.
Another short fight.
Spritz, huh? And you restore the whole party's HP? Well let's put you with Mia where you belong.
But wait, what's this? Wish?
That's right, now Mia can efficiently heal the entire party with a single spell. In non-boss battles, the party will tend to take damage pretty evenly, so having something to heal everyone at once is a vast improvement.
It's worth mentioning that this particular Psynergy (which was the important one that I gave Mia back her Mercury Djinn for) is tied to her class. If she ever has less than 4 Mercury Djinn set, she'll lose the spell. Something to keep in mind during tougher boss fights.
Well, let's move on.
*sound of Terrendos grumbling*
There.
Now let's move on.
Garet's not far behind Isaac, so he gets Nova too.
We're actually back near the entrance of this section of the mines.
There's an odd and very long channel up here though. Perhaps this is where they were actually mining? If so, they should have done a better job clearing these rocks.
That's odd. What's a single log doing standing on edge back there?
Well, you all know the theme of this game: always do the opposite of what you're told.
This is the part where, if Golden Sun were a pencil and paper RPG like D&D, we'd have sufficiently pissed off the GM enough for him to pull a literal Rocks Fall Everyone Dies. I still think it would have been an amusing enough ending to this game.
The log wavers back and forth before falling over.
Oh look, it's Aleph Boulder Part 2: Rock Harder.
Yeah, I'll bet you're regretting that now. Queue the Indiana Jones music!
This is all a cutscene, by the way; no quick time events or a resulting Game Over. Team Isaac automatically flees the boulder anyway.
You'd think Isaac would be pretty traumatized by this, all things considered.
We get to the side just as the Boulder passes us by.
That hole was definitely not there before.
We can climb down these rails like a ladder. You have no idea how long it took me to figure that out ten years ago when I first played through this game.
What's that up ahead?
Huh.
Some sort of ancient ruin? I wonder what's down here.
Uh oh.
This is it! This is what we've awakened! We have dug too greedily and too deep!
Here it comes!
(No) Come on, dude. You've been with me for a while now. Weird crap happens to us. It happens to us a lot.
The statue cracks and shatters. It is no more.
Lifting Gem, huh?
I guess that was an easy one.
We climb back up and backtrack a bit.
A spherical boulder, huh? Well, let's try our new Lift!
Huh.
There's two paths. One leads to a pillar we Move aside...
And we're rewarded with a Vial.
Lift this boulder on the other path...
Follow the path around...
And down...
And we're free! Next to us is Lama Temple, which we'll hit up next time. To the South is the Lamakan Desert, and it's bad news. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Actually, I'd like to finish up with a bit of a discussion about that boss. As you can tell, it was called the Hydros Statue. That name doesn't have any significance just now, but it's actually quite important in the sequel. I don't want to give away any spoilers for the sequel, so I'll keep things vague, but the circumstances surrounding that name suggest a potential origin. But how did they get here? Why was the water they spewed undrinkable? I have a theory. It's contained in spoilers here because there's some major plot points from Golden Sun and The Lost Age that I'm discussing:
But no, the more I think about it, the more I think they were weapons of war. Hydros sent them to drown and conquer Altin, an ironic form of destruction for a town that was constantly in need of fresh water. During the attack, the Lighthouses were snuffed out, and the machines were deprived of power. They froze in place, appearing as statues, for hundreds or thousands of years. Over time, the people of Altin assumed that they were in fact statues, just as the rest of the world forgot that it had once been able to manipulate the elements. They became "guardian statues" of the town, mascots, if you will.
The name Hydros implicates the king in their creation, either as inventor or as the funding for the machine. Although he appears to be a rational and fair ruler when we meet him in The Lost Age, this suggests that he might not always have been that way.
But that's the end of this chapter! Next time, we'll explore Lama Temple, and probably the Lamakan Desert too. Until then!
As a footnote to this chapter, I feel obligated to mention something here. Getting the Force Psynergy is, in fact, completely optional. You can beat the entire game without ever acquiring it. Mogall Forest becomes a game of trial and error, and you miss out on a few cutscenes and a few benefits later on in the game and in the sequel, but it's not required. In fact, if you get to the sign in the Altin mines, and you don't have Force, Garet will complain about a dead end, kick the sign, and knock the log over, accomplishing the same thing for you. I don't know exactly why the designers did that (though I would suppose it's because the Orb of Force is kind of easy to miss) but the fact remains that it is possible.
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! Last time, we explored the Mines of Moria, battled a balrog, and lost Gandalf to the depths.
Oh, wait, no. Altin Mines, Hydros Statue, and didn't lose anyone. Well maybe if we're lucky Team Jerkface threw Kraden into the mines on their way through.
Regardless, we're now through the mines and on the other side. We can head to Lama Temple, try our luck in the Lamakan Desert, or go back the way we came.
Naturally, we chose to do the later. Progress is for suckers.
Say, who's that fellow there? Looks like he's trapped by one of those Lift-able boulders.
Well, we can't do anything to help him now. We'll leave him for the wolves and make for the Temple. Perhaps they'll send monks to collect the remains of the body.
Welcome to Lama Temple! I'd offer you some music, but it's the same as the last couple places. Eh, what the heck.
Well, it wouldn't be a Nintendo game without a desert world. But don't worry, there's another one later!
Yeah, well you'd be anxious too if you'd just killed a bunch of living statues. Speaking of which, why'd we kill them? They seemed quite happy to flee us, perhaps there's a way we could have funneled them into the desert and used their water to keep cool.
(No) Educate me, oh knowledgeable one.
That's okay, I get my inner peace by murdering things with giant rocks.
I'll give you the same excuse I gave that other guy.
Really? Well then, let's see what Mr. Hypocrite's thinking.
*tsk, tsk, no eternal peace or enlightenment for you. No, you'll be sent to the coal mines.
(Yes) Well technically we came from the West, since- you know what, never mind, we came from the East.
(Yes) It was boring, for a place with so much violence.
Hama must be a great master of kung fu then, if Feh's students are continuing here. Then again, I can't say I think much of the monks I've already met here.
That's odd.
I just see a rock. Can't Lift it or anything; I guess we'll see what it does later?
Whoops, free healing.
(No) Who cares, Feh already as much as told us that Ki is a bazillion times better. That means my Kung Fu is stronger than his.
I accidentally cut this off... he just says "chi."
Well, well, Hama is a lady, huh? Well maybe I'll stick around for some lessons from the schoolteacher, if you catch my drift. After all, this is the apocalypse. We might need to start repopulating.
Was that creepy enough? Be honest, I was going for creepy.
HEY HAMA! TEACH ME SOMETHING USEFUL!
Hmm... okay that's a new one.
Looks like it's conversation time!
(No) Must just be a lucky guess. Besides, if she were psychic, there's plenty of important things she should be telling us right about now.
Okay, I've been telling you that for ages. Isaac and Garet have been telling you that since Vault. But no, you go ahead and stay in denial you incompetent windbag.
No, that was Chi.
Let me guess: through the Psynergy, things he will see. Other places. The future...the past. Old friends long gone. Am I right?
Okay, no. Just give him the foresight, screw the regular sight. Seeing the future is infinitely more useful.
Don't care. I'm the leader of this group and I say we give Ivan the Future Sight! Listen good, lady, because I can crush you with my mind. Betcha won't foresee the giant Psynergy sword plowing through your skull.
Boo hoo, Felix can suck it. I said FORESIGHT!
(No) Sure, we've passed through evil mines and an evil forest, but an evil desert? That's a bit of a stretch.
Your support means... so much to me.
What about Alex? And Felix? More importantly, what about Kraden? Oh wait, he's an old man. The Lamakan Desert is probably like Florida to him.
She keeps talking about how we need Reveal, so I'm going to guess that we won't.
(Yes) I don't know why I picked yes here. I'd like to think I had some witty barb planned but I think it was just arbitrary.
Naturally, everyone is sadface about that.
(Yes) It does certainly seem prudent, since there's no downside whatsoever. I mean, unless foresight is still on the table, in which case....
Wait what?
Hey look it's that girl with the purple hair. I think her name was Fiezhi?
Hsu? Maybe he's that jerk we ran into back at the Crossroads.
Yes, indeed. Curious, that. More curious: Hama can give us foresight, but apparently she doesn't want to.
Okay, wait a minute. This is actually really important news for two reasons:
1. This is (I think) the first instance of Psynergy stones causing a positive change in something.
2. It helps us put together a timeline.
The Psynergy stones all fell during the Mt. Aleph eruption. Remember that room with all the crystals in Sol Sanctum?
That one. Presumably, the eruption shot all that crystal into the air, and it landed on Tret and Laurel, in the Mogall Plains, and on Fiezhi. So let's build ourselves a timeline:
1. Hama anticipates Isaac's coming. She tries to teach Fiezhi foresight.
2. Fiezhi gets hit by a Psynergy stone as Isaac and Garet set off from Vale. Her foresight is amplified.
3. Fiezhi has visions about Mogall shortly before the forest appears:
4. Fiezhi predicts the Altin Mine flood:
This means that the Living Statues and the Hydros Statue couldn't have been activated by the eruption. The only other big thing to happen between then and now was the lighting of the Mercury Lighthouse. Therefore, we can reasonably conclude that it was the Lighthouse that turned them on. To me, this suggests that they weren't originally statues, but (at the time that we battle them) they are the same thing they used to be. If they're powered by the Lighthouse, that means they were last active when the lighthouse was on, which makes them at least centuries old.
But I digress, most of this was already discussed at the end of last chapter. Let's get on with this.
Exactly, what about Hsu? I mean, I've never met him and have no idea who he is or whether I should care about him, but won't somebody think of Hsu?
Hey lady, aren't you forgetting something?
Thanks, Garet.
And you call yourself Master. What a chump.
Oh look, some magic glowing.
...woohoo?
Way to both inspire a lack of confidence in Ivan and make me confused simultaneously. I should explain: I'm confused as to her calling Ivan a "strong man," not that she seems to know him.
They leave to go rescue Hsu.
Well we're actually not that far from Kalay, Ivan's hometown. It's not altogether unlikely that Hama may have visited Kalay at one point or another when Ivan was younger.
(No) I'm sure we'll arrive precisely on time to fail spectacularly, no matter how long we take.
(Yes) After all, we did steal that gem from the Altin mines without asking for permission. I feel kinda guilty about that.
I've discovered what this party really needs. They need someone who's kinda ruthless and more goal-oriented. I mean, look at this party. The only reason Garet wants us to actually do our job is because he's mad at Felix. There should really be a fifth party member who's more willing to say "screw you people, we're saving the world and we're on a schedule." Maybe that's just me though.
Before we leave, we rob Hama for a paltry 6 coins.
So this is what happens when we use Reveal. I don't know if you can see, but there's a chest now where that rock was before.
Free Water of Life, but it's about to become mostly obsolete.
We're done here in Lama. We'll go rescue Hsu I guess.
Still can't get around, even though a toddler could clamber over that knee-high rock wall.
A bit of Reveal, however, and a door appears in the wall. Which is bizarre.
Now we can render our aid.
Let's make our presence known.
You should stand back and let a man handle things.
Huh, so she's the dude in your relationship? Sucks to be you, bro.
Let's get you out of there, I guess.
There we go.
No, it was the other super-powered adepts in this canyon. Of course it was me. It's always me.
Dude, it's just one guy. Just pick him up! Don't drag him along the ground! Heck, let me do it! This boulder isn't going anywhere, at least not until I leave the room.
This is really melodramatic, considering how Lift Psynergy works. Even if it did require our full concentration to sustain (which it doesn't) there's no reason we couldn't send the other three members of the party to help.
Take your time.
There's a scene change here. We fade to black and re-appear outside Lama Temple again.
There's a beat here, and it looks like Ivan decides not to say anything. Garet breaks the tension.
(No) You kept talking about your giant rage boner for Felix.
Methinks Garet might have a different kind of boner for Hama.
With that, Hama enters the temple. We will never speak to her again. At least... not in this game.
(No) I think Ivan knows what's best for him, incompetent idiot though he might be, and I'm getting well and truly tired of this conversation. Besides, we won't find out no matter my answer, so I don't care.
For the record, Hama is kind of a jerk. She's actually manipulating us quite a bit more than it appears right now. She turns out to be more important to the plot than this little sidequest would suggest. If she told us everything she knows right now, the entire course of the game would be changed, and likely for the better, too. I think I can sort of understand why she's holding information back, but it's still kind of a dick move. But then, Jupiter Adepts are usually kind of dicks. It's sort of their thing, manipulating people into doing things for them.
One more free heal before we leave, but before we do... Reveal. Welcome to the second-most-used Psynergy in the game. Not only is it frequently used to discover hidden secrets and such for the rest of the game, it'll also indicate where hidden items can be found, like the ones we've been looting from towns and such the entire game. I pretty much always have Reveal and Mind Read synced to my L and R buttons as shortcuts for how frequently I use them. Luckily, Reveal is only 1 PP to use, so spamming it is totally fine.
To the Lamakan Desert! And new music!
This place isn't really all that bad.
You see that odd gauge on the far left of the screen? Every step we take on sand (not rock, for some reason) that gauge climbs a little. When it gets to the top, we take a bunch of damage and empties to start over again. To avoid that, we have to use Reveal to discover oases en route that will lower the gauge for us, sans damage.
Oh yeah, and every 5 seconds one member of your party will complain. This is the most frustrating part of Lamakan Desert.
As you walk through the valley of the shadow of desert, keep an eye out for circles of stones. They'll usually indicate where to use Reveal.
Here, for instance.
There's a few old enemies here, but for the most part these are newbies. They can be focused down with physical attacks, no need to bother with Psynergy unless you're feeling lazy.
Thank you, Ivan.
These guys are actually a little tough. They can breathe fire on your party and deal pretty decent damage to 3 of them. Kill 'em fast before they get that chance.
And... gross.
Ooh, lookie there!
Vulcan Axe, huh? Does it help me to live long and prosper? Just kidding, I know Vulcan was the Roman name for Hephaestus, the Greek god of the forge. He was also the only ugly god. He married Aphrodite, because he worked late and she had ample time to cheat on him during the day.
Story of my life.
Vulcan Axe goes to Isaac because I'm making sure he's the superest.
I'm giving Garet Isaac's old sword as a consolation prize though.
Oh, be quiet you wuss. You're a Mars Adept, you should be all over this place like ants on a picnic.
Shut up!
Okay, so here's what happens when the bar fills:
HP before.
HP after. Sucks, but it's nothing a good old fashioned Wish can't fix.
That fellow right there is why you should be careful about Revealing in the middle of rocks. It's an antlion, except it's huge and it hunts people. They're actually a nontrivial fight, a smidge weaker than the Living Statues. Just make sure you're standing outside of the circle of rocks before Revealing so you don't get pulled in. It's bad news.
We manage to cool off again here.
This is Barrage, the Vulcan Axe unleash.
It's pretty powerful, actually, and this weapon will be sticking around for a while, I think.
Oh ho, it's a Jupiter Djinni! Make sure you don't miss this one, because coming back through this place is a pain. It's on the second screen, head towards the north end of the sand-region and poke around.
And we don't even need to battle it!
It's another attack Djinni for Ivan. Not bad, certainly.
Setting it, however, boosts Ivan into a new class, Mage. All he gets is Ward though, which is okay.
Couple new Psynergies, but I'll show them off soon enough.
Still around the northern edge of this map, I find another chest.
More Lucky Pepper. I think I gave this to Isaac right away, but I might not have.
We make it to the other side, though we do take damage a couple of times. It's the price you pay for sweet loots.
Check it, it's a sand waterfall. We can run along it, but it'll constantly be pushing us down. We have to be careful not to get knocked off the cliff edge because then we'll have to climb back up and try again.
Getting past them really isn't that tough, though.
When you get to a dead end, use Reveal. You'll find a doorway you can walk through.
Move through the tunnel to emerge back out into the desert for the last leg.
It's just more sandfall puzzles. Nothing tricky.
Hmm... that looks bad.
Note Ivan's annoying interjection right in the middle of my approach. I was going to cut that part out, but I thought it would be informative.
Manticore is the first boss to pose a significant challenge since Saturos, and it's for several reasons.
1. It attacks multiple times per turn. A lot of the bosses are going to start doing this, and it's always going to suck. If they didn't, however, there would be no way for them to not get completely stunlocked by a well-planned party.
2. It inflicts deadly poison. Mainly that just means Mia has to take a turn away from group healing in order to cure the poison.
3. Curse. He puts it on Mia on the first turn of combat. You see those little flames behind her?
They gradually go out a little bit every turn. When the last one disappears, she dies. It's a lot like Doom from Final Fantasy games. I don't have the capacity to get rid of it yet (unless Elixirs do, but I think that's beyond their skill), so until then I have to make sure to end the fight before the fight ends her.
Regardless, I like to think I handled it pretty well. I made sure to use some of my new Psynergy in the last round so you'd see what it looks like.
When the Manticore dies, we can proceed into the cavern he was protecting.
And we're done! Back on the World Map! Our current destination is Kalay, which is on the southern road. But first, we need to cross the northern one.
See that isolated island there? That's supposed to be a clue.
You'll randomly encounter this little guy there, our fourth Venus Djinni.
He uses a spell called Gaia, which we'll be using later in the game.
Looks pretty cool, actually.
Vine is ours.
He's not that great. I'd rather boost my own Agility than drop my foe's.
Giving him to Garet ups his class! He's now a Savage.
He gets Impair and Spire from the boost. Nice.
Back to the southern path.
Got a recolored zombie. I'm pretty sure there's only like a dozen different enemy sprites in this game.
Ivan gets Bind, which can be used to stop someone from using Psynergy. Except that it never seems to work on bosses, and only some things are considered Psynergy. Still, I imagine there's points where it comes in handy.
We've reached Kalay! Let's see how far we've come!
Huh, I guess we haven't come that far after all.
Next time on Let's Play Golden Sun, we'll visit Ivan's hometown! And buy some upgrades! And talk about hostages! And maybe go for a sail! So tune in next time, same Golden Sun time, same Golden Sun thread!
Originally, I was going to go through Kalay here, buy some upgrades and such, and then move right on with the story. But then I remembered that I can do a bunch of backtracking and pick up some Djinn, so we're going to do that instead. But Kalay comes first.
Sure, pal.
I'd like to see you try and stop me.
Technically, it was destroyed by a boulder. Think Krakatoa. Fun fact: did you know that Krakatoa's explosion was considered to be the loudest sound in recorded history? It was heard over 3,000 miles away!
With the bridge rebuilt, we have an easy path back to Vale and Vault, and Lunpa too I guess.
See that shimmering above that pot? That means there's something hidden there that Reveal is showing.
Nothing good though.
There's some pretty substantial upgrades here, but apparently I was a bit mistaken. The really big ones are in the next place we go. Regardless, we will be fighting another boss rather soon, so I buy a few upgrades.
I get Garet a shiny new Axe, comparable to Isaac's Vulcan Axe but without the unleash. I also buy Mia and Ivan some new armor, because they're fragile.
As if that's going to stop me.
More vendor trash.
What's that? Hammet is still gone? That would imply that he never left Lunpa... the town of thieves.... This is bad.
If you look closely, you see we can actually jump across here to that ledge.
Another statue. Well, this is old hat by now: just Move it.
We're now in the aqueducts of Kalay... or maybe it's the sewers. It's not entirely clear.
Got a Mars Djinni there and a statue over here. What do we do?
You guessed it.
The water drains from the basin, and we can climb down and then back up and get to the Djinni.
No need to battle it, either. It joins right away.
Now Isaac is a Savage, like Garet. He picks up the same Psynergy for it.
I explore the rest of the tunnels, but it's all dead ends.
This one actually leads into the Palace. Huh.
We're done here. Let's move on.
(Yes) Go ahead, puny mortal. Tell me your complaints. By the way, Tolbi's probably our next stop, since people are talking about it.
First impression of Babi:
Still sounds like Mr. Burns.
Colosso, huh? A big carnival? I'm sure we'll be drafted into some sort of important role.
Well, enough about this. Let's go meet Ivan's family.
That's right, make yourself useful. Err... for something besides my utility Psynergy mule.
Time for the most epic twist in this game! Ivan isn't from Kalay! He's a crazy person who's associated himself with Hammet while in Vault as a means of feeling important!
Who the heck is Ivan? We're quite obviously of Middle Eastern descent, why would we know anyone with a Russian name?
I know, I know. It's not the most epic twist ever. It's just a pair of stupid guards. Go figure.
(Yes) Yeah sure whatever Ivan, I don't care anymore.
Wait what?
Uh oh.
Well, this shouldn't be too tough to put together. I mean, Hammet did go to Lunpa; he must have been captured and ransomed. They must have assumed that Ivan was with him. Which means... Kalay was giving Lunpa ransom money for a person they weren't even holding! I've gotta meet those guys, the ruler must be a genius!
(No) Listen here, bub. I'm the main character. That makes me the best hope you've got for any kind of resolution, peaceful or violent. Fortunately for you, we always go with the violent solution. No extra charge.
Yeah, there was that lighthouse... and the forest... and then the other forest... and the desert... we're practically hardship experts!
These stupid soldiers need pictographic representation, darn it.
But that's pretty much all we know. You're the ones who were filling us in, remember?
(Yes) But they obviously know he's in Lunpa if they're holding him ransom. That's not new news.
Yes, she'll be so glad to learn that I saw Hammet running wantonly, directly into danger.
Uh oh, it's the sepia tone again. Must be another retelling of our story.
Oh snap, Layana is hot! And she's single... sort of! Move in, Isaac!
Do you know what "these days" means? I don't need the ruling line's family history, we need to know about their present situation.
Would you believe me if I told you that, at one point or another, we'll meet up with every member of the Lunpa line? No? Good, because I'm lying. Lunpa is dead.
Hrm... we went back and forth across fake Asia and they haven't had time to walk the few miles from Lunpa to Kalay? Something stinks in the town of Lunpa, and I'm guessing that it's Dodonpa. Just by the name alone, you can tell he sounds like a jerk. It's almost the same as Dodongos, for heaven's sake.
No. There will be no bombing of Dodonpa in this story.
(Yes) If by "possible" you mean "of course they're not going to let him go, they're going to get as much money from Kalay as they can, and once they're sure that Kalay won't attack them in retribution, they'll murder him and probably teabag his corpse" then yes.
I do indeed.
It's best to just assume he's dead, ma'am. Now then, while you're mourning, might I suggest that we offer up a new ruler in Hammet's place to ensure the stability of Kalay? He'd have to marry you, for legitimacy. Perhaps someone... blonde?
Hint hint.
You're not blonde.
Woah. That's what the guards do here? Sign me up!
Oh. Right. Attack Lunpa. Of course.
(Yes) Absolutely. There are any number of things we can do to fill her void- I mean the void the void man I need to start thinking straight.
Umm... uhh... ahem... I'm thinking about... undergoing a top secret mission to rescue Hammet, of course!
(No) We're footloose and fancy free, except for that whole "save the world" thing. But we put that on hold to rescue some kung fu chick's fat boyfriend, we can do it again for you.
(Yes) You mean that place that's like a 5 minute walk from you guys? Man, Layana, you sure could use a lesson in geography.
Mia, of course, is a fan of pirate stories. In fact, he was given two. Two gold doubloons.
See what I was talking about last chapter with the whole "Jupiter adepts are manipulative jerks" thing? Yeah, they're basically completely responsible for putting Ivan right where he is.
Yeah, well if you owed your success to psychics, you'd keep it to yourself too.
"Knack" being the standard term for "blowing your money on predictions made by crazy wind-loving psychics."
No, we're about to crush his spirit! Stop trying to make him feel better, Mia!
Whew, that was a close one.
Yeah, you guys are like hyper-capable.
Let the faceless mooks handle this problem. Surely that won't turn out poorly.
How utterly non-specific. Perhaps you could bring a little bit less to the table?
(Yes) Insofar as we'll look for anything useful on our quest while we're on our quest.
Man, these last few chapters have been really enlightening about the most annoying member of our group. Does this mean that subsequent chapters will reveal important things about our other characters?
Nope!
Then I guess you'll need to send in a black ops team. Don't worry, I know just the group for the job. Which is to say... just the foursome for the job.
But not today!
Man, I'm faking you guys out left and right in this chapter, aren't I?
And there's the guilt. We get bonus points because we're reading the guy's mind, so he can get a guilt trip twofer.
Back to Kalay proper. We'll talk to some of the local citizenry before we depart.
Colosso again? What is this stupid thing?
Oh no. This sounds like a tournament, in which case we will be forced by the plot to compete. And probably in a duel.
Hey, I managed to get a trifecta!
At this point, I decided to switch around Djinn a bit. I can stay with this setup a while if you like, otherwise make some more suggestions here in the thread. I personally like this one because it gives two people Wish and three people get healing Psynergy.
Sounds like a husband-hunter. Doubtless she will be disappointed.
You're an old man sprite. You must mean "a whole lot younger." Don't worry, we'll see that your strength gets recognized.
Eh heh heh heh heh... wahahahah.... mwahahahahahaha!
Tolbi Springs? Sounds lame. I prefer mindless violence, and from the sound of the crowd, so does everyone else.
Sounds like a tour group is about to depart.
Speaking of which, it's about time we set off, right? Let's go.
What's the hold-up now?
Oh hey it's the tour group.
This part is going to be pretty tough to understand via pictures. I probably should have made a video so you could understand a bit better, but then I realized that it's not really that important. Here's what you need to know from this conversation:
1. This is a tour group. We're going to be following with them on our way to Tolbi.
2. They're utterly clueless and mostly incompetent, especially in terms of traveling.
3. The guys with the big backpacks are in charge of the group, like the tour guides.
But that's not all! For the sake of convenience, I've decided to award everyone in the group that's not already named a name of my own, because it'll actually be quasi-important.
Here is your quick reference guide. Memorize it; there will be a test at the end of the game:
Now then:
These guys seem like jerks.
Sounds like the Garet knockoff is named Ouranos, and he's afraid of boats.
So uhh... we've got a Saturos (Saturn), Ouranos (Uranus), and of course Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. That just leaves Earth and Neptune (and I guess technically Pluto since it was still a planet when this game was made).
For the record, the other chap's name is Sean.
And introducing... Old Man! I know he's not on the sheet, but he's easy to remember. Just remember that it's like the Old Man from Pokemon Red who taught you how to catch a Weedle.
He rushes off to catch up to the group. But don't worry, he's got plenty of time to get there. That boat isn't going anywhere without us. After all, we're the main characters.
Well... except for all the monsters they're bound to face en route to the docks. He'll probably die to them.
We're done in Kalay for now. Let's move on!
We could go south and west to the Kalay Docks, but before we do that, there's some backtracking we should do. If you look north, you'll see that bridge there? That's the one that was out ages ago, that Hammet was trying to cross. Now that it's rebuilt, we can head to Vale and Vault quite trivially.
So let's do that.
That's me, dutiful son.
This guy's got a house with a hole in it.
Aside from the obvious Psynergy Stone, there's a couple barrels we can loot.
Nothing that useful. I guess a Vial is still basically a full heal at this point, but still.
Don't feel too bad, that jerk is still trying to do generically evil stuff while we're standing here chatting about him.
Let's check in on good old Dora.
Sounds like Dora's sick.
Okay so is this like a thing in Japan? Young man leaves home, mother gets sick? Because basically the same thing happens in Wind Waker. I just want to know, because I can't find a trope about it.
(No) I don't recall ever promising that.
(No) It was neither. Heaven forbid I want to come see my old Mom at any point. Am I not allowed to get homesick?
Dora gets out of bed and jumps around a bit. Frankly, I'm not buyin' it.
But, as far as I know, there's nothing we can do.
What's that? Why not use Ply? Beats me! Doesn't work. Why it'll work on a cold in Imil but not on Dora here, I got nothing.
Well, we caught up with Isaac's only living family member. Might as well visit Garet's too.
(Yes) Uh, yeah. You can handle a sword, right kid?
Garet actually mans up there for a minute. I'm genuinely impressed.
Let's see the rest of Garet's family while we're here. Nobody seems to notice us.
Garet's Momma looks a lot like Lady Layana. I'm surprised that Garet wasn't hitting on her.
Garet's grandmother notices us.
G'sGrandma: It's... It's Garet!
And now Gramps wakes up.
(No) I stopped by for a visit! I've already walked all over this stupid continent, don't I deserve a break?
I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get really sick of these conversations.
Garet's sister, Kay.
(Yes) Believe me, I've been and it was boring.
Okay, just a couple more little conversations before I can put this chapter to bed. Let's do what we really came here for!
Remember this place? From way back in the beginning of the game, there was a dude that was lying, uninjured, next to this boulder?
Indeed. Let's Lift this obstacle out of our way and see what we find.
Well look at that, a hidden cave!
This place is actually pretty linear, once you figure out to use Reveal here to show the hidden jumping stone.
There's some block puzzles and a minor log rolling puzzle, but it's all quite easy.
Push both of these into the water below first.
Then roll this one across so that it splashes down on the other side.
Like so.
The Halt Gem is another Hold item that bestows a utility Psynergy, except this one is only ever used here.
We approach this Djinni...
...but it runs away.
It will keep these rocks between us until we use Halt on it.
Then we can run around and nab it.
Kite allows its user to sacrifice his turn to allow another character to go twice next turn. It's situationally useful, mostly in boss battles.
There's also a chest, but it's just got a Nut in it. Feel free to disregard it and flee the cave after you've acquired Kite.
Done with Vale, onto Vault now.
(No) Not yet. Why?
Don't worry, Isaac will never see them again. Seriously.
Remember this place? With that Venus Djinni back there?
First, make sure you ring the bell so that he hops over there. Otherwise you can't catch him.
If you use Reveal in the center of the graveyard, you'll see a hole with a ladder. Climb down into another mini-dungeon.
Back to the spooky cave theme song!
That's a Mimic treasure chest. It doesn't even give you anything good when you kill it like most do.
This puzzle should be pretty much self-evident.
Yeah. As if there were anywhere else the thing could go.
A Frost puzzle. If you don't care about wasting PP, just freeze them all. There's only one you can afford to skip anyway.
But first, Whirlwind these vines.
The Vambrace is a pretty nice item, actually, and we'll probably keep it until nearly the end of the game.
See?
Anyway, use Frost to make this pattern, then you can jump across.
Some of these rooms are filled with water. We'll have to figure out a way to drain this. But don't worry, this isn't the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time.
Basically, just follow along the main available path.
Eventually you'll get to this switch, and you should press it.
Ta da.
This puzzle right here is the trickiest part of this dungeon.
You see that water dripping from the ceiling? If it lands on the flame, it'll go out, and you can't open the door with an unlit torch.
The trick is that there's not enough time for you to push the torch out of the way unless you're pushing it in a SINGLE DIRECTION. That is, if you walk around to move it another way, it'll be too late.
Move the torch across to this point, then DOWN and AROUND the left loop.
That way you can push the torch straight across the dripping water and it won't go out.
There.
The rest is pretty straightforward.
Sap is good.
Stealing HP is never a bad thing, even if he doesn't do quite as much flat damage as Flint.
As I said, Isaac will never see them again.
I rest up at the inn before leaving Vault. It's nice to pay so little again.
Now then...
This is our next destination, Kalay Docks.
No, idiot. This is the sea. Specifically, I think it's supposed to be the Mediterranean Sea, but I'm not sure.
Thanks, random stranger! You corrected Garet for me, and you even made him sad!
What were you doing while we were heading for Fuchin Temple or whatever and the ocean was right freakin' there? Nothing, that's what.
Anyway, that's all for this chapter. Thank goodness. Next chapter, we'll take to the sea, and I'll probably quote Liam Neeson because why not.
Before I sign off, however, I do need some input. Shall I arrange things so that our ship goes on a little detour? Anyone who's played the game should know what I'm talking about. Obviously I can't finish that place yet, and I'll definitely be going back, but if you want me to go now as well, let me know. Also, I'm taking suggestions for classes again now that I've got 4+ of each kind of Djinn.
That's it! I'll see you all next time!
Isaac: Mercury
Garet: Jupiter
Mia: Mars
Ivan: Venus
That's what I was using for that chapter. Please offer suggestions on changes I can make.
Keep up the updates!
Welcome back to Let's Play: Golden Sun! Last time, we wrangled a couple more Djinn and basically slacked off from our world-saving quest. Now we're back in action and on our way to Tolbi!
This is the Kalay Docks.
Ordinarily, we'd be able to stay on Silk Road until we made it all the way to Tolbi, but there's a problem. Team Jerkface has blocked the road behind them, and now the only way to Tolbi is to take a ship across the Karagol Sea.
(Yes) That's the plan. I don't know why, but it's the only place anyone will talk about, so it must be our next destination.
Yup.
Nothing like a little profiteering off of everyone's misfortune.
(Yes) Why? Please tell me you have another sidequest for me.
So what you're saying is... you can't afford to pay me. Fantastic.
Behold, the blocked path to the home stretch of Silk Road. On second thought, perhaps that Djinni is the one who blocked the road. Maybe it wasn't Team Jerkface after all.
Uh oh. I need to buy a ticket?
(Yes) Oh, man. I can already see how this is going to go down.
"Sorry, I'm afraid we're all out of tickets. Fortunately, that man over there happens to have 4 spare tickets and all you'll need to do is go massacre seven thousand Vermin Ghouls and bring him a dozen Vermin Ghoul bladders. Oh, and those Vermin Ghouls are in the bottom of a seven-story dungeon and they spawn in 1 out of every 13 battles so-"
*Gasp*
600 coins? Is that all? You do realize those stupid chainmail hats are more than three times that, right? You can trip over one of the bat palette swaps not five minutes from here and find 600 coi- you know what I'm not about to jinx this. (Yes)
Well, time's a-waistin'. Let's get on board.
Same music as before, and actually we'll have that music for most of this chapter.
Oh no, what a shame. If we're late, maybe I won't be forced to participate.
Looks like some shenanigans over here. I'll have to report this; the captain has a strict no-shenanigan policy. And don't get me started on his opinions concerning hijinks or tom-foolery.
It's Santa!
By the way, the faceless guy is actually the one with the blue handkerchief around his head. So I'm going to be naming him Gilligan. I don't know why they didn't give him a face, since he talks as much as the captain and a bunch of other NPCs that do get photos but whatever.
As it happens, the game script I'm using to assist in my LP has named him Blue. I want it to be known that Gilligan is a much better name for him.
Gilligan: Say, Kaja, how are the oarsmen doing?
Gilligan: I'm sorry, but you'll have to. I can't let anyone else fight but you, Kaja.
Gilligan: Wha-What are you talking about! If we set sail now, we'll never make it to Tolbi.
Gilligan: Captain, get ahold of yourself! That's just foolish superstition!
Gilligan: (Not if I have anything to say about it.)
Sounds like Gilligan's got a problem with the way this ship is being run. This captain's got a mutineer on his deck! Let's run him up the mizzenmast!
As we approach the captain's cabin, Gilligan reappears from inside.
Sure you didn't.
My first instinct is to escalate this into violence. Unfortunately, he flees before Ragnarok Protocol can be engaged.
It's called a sea, dude.
Uhh... seas have waves, dude.
Gilligan is deep in denial. He musta murdered somebody. Fortunately, we don't need due process or lie detectors or any of that nonsense.
I'd call that a confession, but... really, that's it?
This guy really needs to keep his crimes off his mind. What's that saying? A guilty conscience needs no accuser?
Oh hey look it's all the chumps we met before.
I hope you've all committed that helpful guide I gave you to memory.
Pink Guide: Yeah, but...we're going to set sail real soon, so please be patient.
Okay, first one's a freebie.
There's a bit of a pause, presumably while the guide considers how best to "handle" these two nutjobs.
Pink Guide: You're wondering when... Well...
Pink Guide: Ouranos? But he's huge!
Pink Guide: Hmmm. Spiders, huh?
You know, if he's that afraid of the sea, he could probably just climb over that little rockslide. It actually looked pretty passable.
Pink Guide: That's... not an easy question.
Pink Guide: What do you think you're going to do in the captain's quarters?
Well the obvious answer is "force him to leave" so I'm going to go with "have a tea party."
Pink Guide: That sounds crazy!
You're talking to people who want to enter a competition that will likely end up killing them. I think Pink Guide needs a little perspective.
Pink Guide: I don't want any violence!
I must admit that I forgot just how much conversing goes on during this stupid boat part. Considering half the characters don't have photos, it's a huge pain to write up. Hence the delays.
Actually, the real reason for the delay is that I finally started playing Mass Effect 2 and blew through it over the last week.
We loot some coins before we follow after the crazies.
That's what oars do.
We head to the captain's cabin to see what's going on.
Looks like quite the commotion.
(Yes) Now let me in before I kill you. Don't forget: Ragnarok Protocol can be engaged at any time.
Kaja has two jobs. He acts incredulous and he commands oarsmen. And I guess his third job is to be scurvy.
Pink Guide: We don't care about that! We paid our money, and now you have to launch the ship!
Pink Guide: Please, launch the ship when you're ready.
Ouranos has other concerns on his mind.
Pink Guide: Monsters, you say?
Another recent event, huh? Even money on whether it was caused by Mt. Aleph's eruption or Mercury Lighthouse being lit, but since it's water-related, my wager's on the Lighthouse.
Pink Guide: That IS dangerous!
I think the answer to that is "barricade the door." You really think monsters are going to be smart enough to try and break down a door when there's live targets walking around right by them?
...or a hammer and nails.
What does being from Angara have to do with anything? It really makes no sense at all. Someone who isn't from Angara won't want the ship to take off? Maybe he's saying that people from Angara are braver than anywhere else?
The Captain looks to the side and then jumps.
Oh yeah... I guess we should throw Gilligan to the wolves here, huh?
Writing Syntax Tip: when using quotes, they always go outside any punctuation. Even if the inflection would seem to be off, that's still how it has to go.
Pink Guide: It's just decorative, right?
Pink Guide: "Little trinket"!? Weren't you listening to what he said?
*sigh*
Gilligan: (What's the problem? We've got some warriors to help us... Maybe we shouldn't have taken it.)
Who's "we?" You acted alone, you fool... unless you have accomplices?
Gilligan: Hey! Hey, you! What are you doing here? You heard the captain-- This ship goes nowhere!!
Okay, that was another long conversation. Don't worry, there's still another one or two left where that came from!
So naturally, I chose to loot the cargo hold first.
Sweet mama, are we getting close to where these will turn useful!
Okay, enough delays. Up the mast!
Well that was easy.
(Yes) Insofar as I destroyed Gilligan's mind and tore the location from his prefrontal cortex.
Pink Guide: Boy, that's a relief. Now we can set sail. Right, Captain?
Pink Guide: But you don't...
Or barricade the oarsmen and passengers belowdecks.
On the one hand, I'm wondering how the heck he knows this. Everyone else we've run into seems to think we're helpless children who can't possibly kill them with our minds. What makes this guy different? On the other hand, we're finally getting recognized!
(Yes) I'm pretty sure we'll do a terrible job of it, but I'll try none the less.
Pink Guide: Oh, good! That means the ship is taking off!
Pink Guide: Oh, no... Now what?
Pink Guide: What? Are you going to ask the passengers to help row the ship?
Gilligan: Wa-Wait a minute... You're supposed to protect the ship!
Pink Guide: This is crazy...
(Yes) I am Isaac, Destroyer of Worlds! Hear my name and despair, ye mortals! The mighty Sword of the Heavens shall pierce thy skull in my name!
*sigh*
Fun fact: If you refuse to give your name, the Captain says this:
My theory? The Skipper here is a Jupiter Adept.
I hate you, Santa Claus. You and your stupid anchor charm.
Yeah I can guarantee it's going to come to that. Especially with Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and Tweedledumber on deck fighting monsters.
I have a feeling this is going to be rather unpopular. Let's poll the audience.
Well, let's get down to the oar decks and prepare for launch.
I'm not entirely sure that I understand the concept of a "replacement ship" anyway. They're supposed to sail alongside us and pick up the passengers if the first ship goes down? That's assuming that whatever attacks this ship won't be attacking the other ship too.
Short answer? No. Long answer? Heeeeeeeeeellz no!
This is an interesting case of Did Not Do the Research, and rather a common one at that. Rowing may seem pretty simple, but in large ships like that, it's much more difficult. Rowing was skilled labor, and oarsmen were well paid. It was actually a great innovation in antiquity to put multiple oarsmen on the same oar, because only one of the men needed to be trained, and the rest could be unskilled labor. This led to ships like the bireme, trireme, and, of course, the quinquereme, the ships that Rome stole from Carthage and duplicated during the First Punic War to sail to victory.
But I digress. This ship has a sail, so the only real reason for oarsmen would be in a combat scenario anyway, and that's clearly not how they're being used.
Let's remember the number one rule of this game: always do the opposite of what adults tell you to do. Naturally, we'll be unbalancing this crew as much as possible.
Kaja walks up to the deck.
Thanks, Gilligan.
It's about bloody time!
We sail for several seconds, which I'm assuming is actually much longer in-game.
The monsters head straight belowdecks. I don't understand how this is a reasonable move for these creatures to make, but whatever.
Yeargh, me hearty!
Wait... how did they get past us?
Oh well.
These things are a piece of cake. You don't even need to focus down one at a time, just use some AOE Psynergy or melee them.
I chose the Psynergy route.
Oh, and Isaac leveled up too!
(Yes) Although I don't see why you can't do it on your way back up to the deck. You're a better gauge of rowing ability than I am.
You're going on the list, Kaja.
Okay then, which of these chumps shall we make row?
(Yes) If you picked Baldy, you win the pool!
You're right. I should make the old man row, or maybe the little girl! Man up, you big pansy.
Okay so, for the sake of this chapter's length and the sake of my own sanity, I'm going to abridge this next part a bit. All you need to know is the same thing happens twice more, only with different monsters.
The lizardman is a bit tough, but the bats are pushovers. You can probably save your Psynergy and just attack to kill them.
The Man-O-Wars are unchanged, and the Virago is only slightly more threatening than that. Save your Psynergy, because you're going to need it.
Also, each of these attacks resulted in the injury of an oarsman. Let's check out our replacements:
We got ourselves the Old Man for the second slot.
The Straight Man rounds out our third missing rower.
Now these monsters haven't been easy compared to the stuff you'd expect these guys to face, but nothing seems like it could really threaten the whole ship. I'm beginning to wonder if-
Uh oh.
How would you know, Mia? You've never been on a ship before!
There's a couple of things you should know, watching this video.
1. In the hurry to record the video, I forgot to heal my party before this fight. Go me.
2. There's a good deal of faffing about. I got a little mixed up on which Djinn were assigned to each character.
Now, talking strategy with this fight: it's probably the biggest challenge so far, especially if you're under-leveled. It's the first boss in a long time that you can't just summon rush and then finish off. Notice that I didn't use any Mercury Djinn in the battle; that let me have access to Wish for the entire fight, which is pretty handy when the Kraken can use a couple of Water Blessings or Dark Blessings on one turn and do heavy damage to your whole party. Besides, the Kraken is Mercury Element, so it's not as though Boreas would have done much damage.
Our pick this time is Red-Headed Stepchild.
And we're off!
Hmm...
Baldy: Island? Isn't this Tolbi?
Baldy: If the ship isn't going anywhere, I'm not waiting down here. Let's take a break out front.
Ah, nothing like tormenting little girls. Really though, she should look on the bright side. We were attacked by a Kraken, there could have been naughty tentacles about.
Let's get off this godforsaken boat.
(Yes) If it gets me off the boat and away from these annoying conversations.
Just... shut... up!
FREEDOM!
Also, because it's pretty much obligatory at this point:
This place is pretty small. I wonder what's over here?
Crossbone Isle, huh? That sounds harmless.
Climbing the face of the mountain here is a straightforward application of the Growth Psynergy. Make sure you don't miss any of the nice items you can get by sliding down strategic places.
Totally worth it.
That's actually quite nice, however.
Whirlwind these vines to reveal a door leading inside.
This place is... spooky? I guess?
There's one main thing you need to know about this place. Always heal up before you approach the door, because there's mini boss fights at each one.
The boss music plays:
And that's your queue to TREAT THIS LIKE A BOSS BATTLE. If you come here when you're "supposed" to, then the first few of these are a walk in the park. If you come here now like I did (by deliberately unbalancing the rowing teams) then each one must be taken seriously.
I actually underestimated the difficulty of this one, and I nearly got one of my team killed.
This room is basically just one big puzzle centered around the Move Psynergy.
This is the only chest you really need to bother opening; the rest have a Nut, an Antidote, and 111 coins.
Be prepared for this when you leave, too.
The Mimic isn't too hard, but watch out for Curse.
Make sure you push that pillar down so that you can get back easily. We'll be coming back here later, and it'll be nice to not have to redo these puzzles.
Aside from the puzzle rooms themselves, this place is basically just one big long staircase with a detour at each level. And each detour is guarded.
I really should have learned my lesson from the last fight, but instead I decided that I could probably just knock these guys down pretty quickly.
As you can tell by the amount of PP I used in that battle, I decided wrong.
This room is all about rolling columns, which function just like logs or pipes.
Get both of these; they're quite handy.
I ended up giving Ivan the sword, because he's due for an upgrade; dude was still using that Elven Rapier from way back when.
I learned my lesson for this fight. I pulled out the stat-boosting Djinn and everything, and eventually summoned the group to death.
Just watch out, because even with our stats boosted, these guys pack a wallop.
In this room, you need to jump around and Catch keys. The Blue Keys open doors in the back that lead to treasure, but you need the Red Key to move on.
"What Red Key?" you ask?
That Red Key.
This Cookie will raise your PP permanently. Great for Isaac.
The only other item worth mentioning is the Fairy Ring. There's only one ring I ever use, and it's not this one. Anyway, get it if you want it.
I think I'll do one more.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where I really screw up. I go back and forget that this is a boss fight.
A couple turns later...
I need to rethink my strategy for this one.
I actually do manage to down one gryphon before I get taken out, though. I could probably have reloaded and won on a second try, but this chapter is already plenty long.
Join us next time when we'll give up on Crossbone Isle, and finally make it to Tolbi! Sorry again for the delays with this chapter, I hit a mental roadblock and just could not bring myself to write all this out. My original plan for this game was to finish up around Thanksgiving, but there's no way that's going to happen. My new goal is Christmas, I guess.
By the way, does the levelup stats change depending on what kind of djinns you have equipped? (such as Venus djinns increase strength and what not)
No, or at least, not that I'm aware of. Level ups are by character I'm 99% sure. However the amount of statups from each level varies within a small range.
EDIT: Also, Terrendos, you are fucking insane, why are you doing that right now
why