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.
Looking it up myself, it doesn't seem correct. Biremes, triremes, etc. were named for the number of rows of oars they had, not the number of oarsmen on each oar. A trireme would have three rows of oars, not three men on each oar.
I actually did extensive research on the subject a few years back in college. Older theory contends that the number indicated how many banks of oars were on each side, while the more modern belief is that it was the number of rowers on the boat. The former is vastly more likely, as (particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean) the size of polyremes grew to enormous sizes. As a matter of fact, the Egyptian king Ptolemy IV supposedly built a "forty" as the flagship of his fleet. Its design was, in all likelihood, a catamaran-style ship, but even so I defy you to build a ship made of wood that's got 20 banks of oars and doesn't sink.
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! Last time, we battled a kraken and landed on a magic and mysterious island.
And then I died to these guys.
For the sake of self-loathing, I decided to give it one more of the old college tries.
I did better than expected.
Unfortunately, the current Djinn setup means I don't have anyone who can cast Revive, so if a character goes down, I have to rely on the 50/50 chance of revival from Quartz. That said, it took me 4 uses of Quartz to get Garet and Mia back up.
A couple 4th level summons was all it took to finish off the second Gryphon.
That kind of reward is what I'd call "not worth it."
Especially since this is the room behind those monsters.
If you stand on the tan region, the statues will move to block you from moving forward.
This one in particular is a pain.
We'll have to come back once we've got some new Psynergy. How, you ask? How can we return to an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea?
Patience, Grasshopper.
Anyway, that's as far as we can go here.
So we leave!
Captain Santa Claus! Away team reporting back! No intelligent life here!
(Yes) As thoroughly as is reasonably possible I mean.
(Yes) I only died once though. Considering how much I loathe most of you people, I'm inclined to tell you that it's safe. Especially Gilligan. Let's leave him here.
If you really want to die, then be my guest.
Yes, this is precisely what I want to happen.
: There's no need for that. We figured out the course to Tolbi.
: Let's go to Tolbi before the sea gets any rougher. Tell our tourists they can enjoy a nice, long break after we arrive.
Green Guide: It's too late... Nothing we can say will calm them down.
: If we hurry, we can make it to Colosso in time.
Green Guide: I see! If we can get them to Colosso, they'll all be happy.
: All right then, go and tell the tourists.
: It's not much farther. I'll ask the oarsmen to work 'til the very end.
We follow Kaja belowdecks to talk to the oarsmen.
: We've strayed off course because the left team's timing is off. One last push should get us there. Give it all you've got, people! All right! Let's aim for Tolbi and set off one last time!
Man, I told you to leave Gilligan!
And we're a-sailin'.
: Hey, I can see land!
: It looks like we made it!
And now we get some final words from those chumps who were stuck with rowing.
I don't think that's how it works, little lady. I expect you'll be sore tomorrow though. Staying down there in the dark with all those sweaty men.
I'm a terrible person.
Kaja walks up to address us after they leave.
: Thanks for all your hard work. Your efforts got this ship to shore. I thank you again. Hurry, everyone! Colosso is already underway in Tolbi! You'd better get moving to Tolbi, too.
(Yes) Shut up Gilligan.
Six people, huh? That sounds about the right number for Team Jerkface + Team Afterthought. Perhaps they didn't cause the landslide after all.
The guy in the yellow bandana confirms that a strange group sailed on to Tolbi before us.
It's the same old music, but I figure you guys deserve it.
Sounds like we won't be getting to Crossbone Isle that way again. Or back to Kalay, for that matter.
What a payday. Seriously though, programmers, awarding us paltry sums of coin for our persistent Revealing is just mean. 36 coins is, like, a couple of Herbs.
Oh yeah, I remember that lady.
She had a message for you.
That's because-
(Yes) Take your stupid message and leave me be!
Naturally, we don't get a reward of any kind.
More incredulous idiots. I'm beginning to think that this world isn't worth saving.
I'm switching my Djinn back to default positions for now because I really want to have Revive. It's a 15 PP move that Isaac learns, and as you'd probably guess, it revives a fallen party member without worrying about the sketchy Quartz or expensive Water of Life.
There's a chest here, but getting to it is almost trivial. Just Move the boxes from the other side of the fence so that you can jump across.
Another Potion, nothing special.
More confirmation that we ain't going on any more boats this game.
What's there to do in Tolbi? What isn't there to do in Tolbi?
Even the kids here are loaded.
Sounds like... have I actually arrived too late? Did I miss the Inevitable Tournament? Holy mother of the Elements, we've come to a place where they're all talking about a tournament and we won't get sucked into participating! This must be some kind of absurd miracle!
Let's celebrate by burning all our cash on sweet loot.
I alchemize 5400 coins into a Frost Wand for Mia. She allocates it to her Strife Specibus, "Wandkind."
I buy some more mundane armor upgrades and such for the rest of the group.
Another of these consarndit Lucky Medals! They're from Tolbi, aren't they? Then what are they for?
We'll find out soon.
First though, I head around this side of the entrance. It's sneaky sneaky.
Use Growth on this vine, as we always do.
And then Frost this puddle.
Now we can cross over to that little strip of land.
And we find us a Mars Djinni back there!
Ember is kind of lame. He restores the party's PP when used, but I don't use Psynergy for much besides healing, so it's not that useful. If you really dig using Psynergy though, I guess he could be kind of handy.
Okay so the real deal is that Tolbi is basically Vegas. There's gambling all over the place, there's a seedy underbelly, and what happens in Tolbi generally stays in Tolbi. Also, it was the setting of a popular Weyard comedy from a few years back, wherein a group of guys get drugged during their friend's bachelor party and try to track him down on the day before the wedding. I forget what it was called... the Dangleover? Something like that.
This game is pretty simple. Roll the dice. Check where they land. If any combination of dice rolls and landing regions match, you win money.
I'm not very good at this game, but I have a feeling that it's dominated by the RNG anyway.
(Yes) Sounds like more gambling, and I'm always up for gambling!
Welcome to Tolbi Spring!
This game is simple. You chuck Lucky Medals and coins into the fountain, aiming for the center of the target. The closer you get, the better your reward. Tossing coins just nets you more coins, but... tossing Lucky Medals gets you rare items.
Gotta watch out for the turtles and crabs, though. If you hit one with the Medal, it'll throw off your aim.
Oddly enough, it's actually not that tricky to hit the center. But if you want to get all the items, you actually have to hit the concentric rings, which is much more difficult. Let me know if there's anything specific you want me to get here next time. I've got a half dozen Medals or so left.
Isaac and Garet got Earth Shields, and I gave the Assassin's Blade to Isaac.
(Yup) World record is like 117 or something, right? I don't actually care enough to check.
Sounds like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons. By the way, does that rock in the middle of the graveyard look odd?
Man, I don't know... do I really want to eat food that I found in an invisible box in the middle of a graveyard?
On with the plot!
Uh oh, it's the fuzz. Busted.
I swear, officers, I didn't know the bread belonged to anyone!
Hmm....
Doesn't remind me of anyone....
(No) I haven't seen him.
They go back the way they came, leaving me dumbstruck. I guess they weren't going to ask around the rest of the town?
Is that what I'm reduced to? I manage to escape being forced to enter this stupid tournament, and now if I want to have a bed to sleep on, I'll have to pretend that I'm actually in the tournament? Oh cruel, cruel Fate!
Well, at least it's a place to sleep.
(Yes) Better heal up as soon as possible. Don't know when some more incompetent idiots are going to accuse me of something or enlist me in doing something stupid.
The group separates, and then spends something like 45 seconds of out-of-game time saying goodnight. I'm not going to inflict that on you.
Altmiller Cave? Well, it's mentioned, so it must be our next destination.
Is that Abraham Lincoln?
: Inconceivable? Is that what you were going to say?
Well no, but now that you've brought it up....
You've fallen victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous of which is "Never get involved in a land war in Angara" but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against an Adept when death is on the line!"
To answer your next question, no, the rest of this episode won't be me quoting Princess Bride. I'm sure I'll work it into a future update though.
Well we're definitely going there. Anyone? Got a list of the "evil" places we've been? Evil forest, evil desert, evil sea, evil island, we're about due for an evil cave.
: I'm aware of Altmiller Cave's... eccentricities.
: Lord Babi has left in secret before....
: I followed Lord Babi once... I was certain he had gone into Altmiller Cave...
These guards are either super enthralled by this news... or really uncomfortable. I'm reading it as the latter in my head.
: Once he entered the cave, Lord Babi vanished before my very eyes.
: After he entered the mouth of the cave, I followed him... but he had vanished, leaving no trace. I tried following him several times after that. Each time, he vanished within seconds of entering the cave's mouth.
Well... that kinda sounds like some form of Psynergy, doesn't it? It's basically the exact opposite of Reveal.
: No. This time is different. Something puzzles me...
: It is certainly strange that Lord Babi should go right before Colosso. But there's something else...
: Lord Babi's bedding was not disturbed this morning.
That means he was hovering above it last night what do you think it means it means he didn't go to bed last night you nitwit.
: Last night, Lord Babi did not use his bed. That is the problem. Lord Babi has, in fact, been missing since last night. And that is why I am so worried. He has never done this before.
The writers/translators here really do need some serious editing. I waver a lot between fixing their errors in these transcript (as I am wont to do) and leaving them as a testament to the people who made the game.
: Speak no such foolishness! I am sure Lord Babi is alive and well somewhere!
: I will go to the colosseum in Lord Babi's stead. You must find him...
Man, this dude must be paying you guys well.
: Lord Babi, where have you gone?
I take it back. This guy is no Lincoln, he's just Mr. Smithers.
This whole "missing leader" thing has made me really tense. You know what might help?
More gambling!
And now we learn what those stupid tickets we've been collecting are for!
Don't ask me how people with technology so backwards they can't figure out what a sail does can manage to have a working slot machine.
This game is actually kind of special, because it's the only way I know of to get certain rare items. Specifically, you can win different Shoes, Shirts, and Jewelry <insert joke about how Alex would love it here> that can be worn in addition to normal armor and have stacking bonuses.
Basically, you need to line up a row of 5 of whatever you want to win. The little Boot means shoes, etc. The crescent moon shape will take the place of anything. You roll, then you can pick reels to keep stopped and spin the rest, so it's kind of like Yahtzee too I guess. You've got 5 total rolls to isolate your 5-of-a-kind pair.
I should also mention that I'm actually terrible at this game. I don't know why.
I did score me some sweet Fur Boots, though. I'll probably play this one some more later, because there's one item in particular that I really need to get.
We'll be back to Tolbi before too long. Head Northwest from here and cross some bridges, and you'll soon find Altmiller Cave.
As you move forward, it gets progressively darker. Typically, this is where I pull out my HM Slave and make him cast Flash so I can move through the place as efficiently as possible. Sadly, that's the wrong game.
Foul Dirge appeared! Terrendos's Isaac used SWORD TO THE HEAD! It's Super Effective! Enemy Foul Dirge fainted!
Terrendos's Isaac has reached level 19! Isaac learned REVIVE!
Sweet mama that is a useful spell to have.
Yup, it's now pitch black. By the way, Altmiller Cave is what I like to call "a huge dick." Whenever you see what looks like an easy path between you and your goal hidden by only the barest little dark area, you will invariably find the path blocked, and be forced to take a circuitous route around.
This is a Clay Gargoyle. They can use Spire. Spire hurts. Kill them before they use Spire.
Hmm... an easily accessible chest! Surely it's not a Mimic!
Yeah... I was getting kind of sick of these guys so I just burned him down really fast.
Can't complain about the rewards though.
Hey, what's that?
That's it. Garet, give your Captain Obvious badge to Ivan for the rest of the day.
: Wrapped in Psynergetic light... who could it be?
: You know about Psynergy? And you can see me?
: Come on, mister! Don't hide--show yourself!
: Even if I wanted to show myself... As you can see, I cannot move.
: What do you mean, "as you can see"? You're invisible!
No, Ivan. No. You haven't earned the right to make bad jokes. We barely tolerate your insufferable know-it-all smarty pants uselessness as it is.
: Oh... That's right.
: You say you can't move... What happened?
: Hmmm, yes. I ran out of my draught and collapsed here.
: Draught? Exactly what kind of draught is it?
Well apparently it lets him move.
: You couldn't even begin to comprehend if I tried to tell you. *Cough.*
: You seem to be in a lot of pain. Your life depends on that draught, huh?
: It does. Could you do me a favor?
: A favor? What is it?
: I'd like you to get my draught for me.
: Get it? Where is it?
: Deep in this cave...
: What, is there a pharmacy down there?
I don't think she was being witty, dude, I think she's actually that stupid.
(Yes) I mean it's pretty obvious that you're Babi, since none of those other chumps can see Psynergy.
What are you saying, Garet? You think it's possible that this game is actually going to fake us out with some invisible human-shaped monster that happens to be in a situation that could explain where an NPC with a portrait has been? You're really overestimating the complexity of the plot here.
: He said he couldn't move even if he wanted to, right? Someone is in trouble! It's only natural to want to help.
: I agree with Ivan--whoever he is, he needs our help.
: Fine! Okay! We should help people in need. Is that better!?
Garet gives up too easily.
: Will you get it for me?!
: What do we have to do to get your draught?
: First, you'll have to go deep into the cave. You'll find five rocks sticking up out of the group. Rotate the rocks on the left and right sides. When you turn the rocks in the right order, five colored lights will appear.
: Colored lights!? This sounds weird.
Do I need to remind you about Mercury Lighthouse and the crazy reverse waterfall? Or how about the dragon statue that shot real fire and revealed shadows of an invisible walkway? Or perhaps the invisible ponds of water in the midst of a scorching desert that we needed magic powers to spot?
: That's right. Lights will appear on the wall. There will be five colors: blue, green, white, yellow, and red. Turn the five rocks in accordance with those colors.
: Riiight...Spin the rocks in accordance with the color of the light...
And Garet is skeptical too? Do these people actually remember their journey so far? The living statues that spewed infinite water?
: The blue light corresponds to the rock farthest to the left. In order, the other rocks are green, white, yellow, and red. When you see the light, rotate the corresponding rock.
: So, in order, left to right, the colors are blue, green, white, yellow, red?
: Correct. If you do this correctly, a hidden door will open.
It's funny; I have a pretty bad memory for this kind of thing, so I usually have to write stuff like this down. But since I took the screencap, I could just keep that open as a handy reference!
: A door? Somewhere deep in a cave? Who put it there?
: An ancient civilization, long since vanished. Ohhh! Please hurry!
: He seems to be in a lot of pain. We'd better find that cave, Isaac.
No time to waste! By which I mean... he's not going anywhere, we can feel free to kill some time if we like.
Good thing you told me, I'd have never thought to look there.
Directly above you can see the way I came. Directly East is the door to which I must go.
But wait! This place is a huge dick! We have to take the longest possible route; the other three are all blocked off in various ways.
Fortunately, most of the enemies here are pretty easy. Just watch out for the Golems, because they can pack a wallop. If your whole team attacks one, it should go down before it can attack.
Oh thank goodness we're finally free.
Just in time for some more log rolling puzzles, this time for a clearly-visible Jupiter Djinni over there.
Make sure you push this pillar off the edge first, so you can leave.
Maneuver the cylinders into this position, then Frost the puddle.
Then push them like so.
Last, push this one down just one step so that you can access the Djinni.
This one we'll need to fight.
I'd suggest that you burn it down, but it's weak to Venus Psynergy, so just engage Ragnarok Protocol.
Joined Mia? Uh oh.
Whoopsies, looks like I need to find me another Mercury Djinni. No fear, there's one more closeby. If I set this Jupiter Djinn on Mia, it'll reset her class for some stupid reason.
Once more into the darkness then.
Dead end.
Dangit!
You know what, screw you.
Oh yeah, there's these guys too. They have the AoE attack Fire Blessing, seen above, and it can do moderate damage. The real pain is when you get a party of two of them and they both use it. That's at least a Wish or more to bring everyone back to full.
Hey, got a proc from Mia's new wand.
There's another rolling puzzle but this one is really trivial. It's literally one log you need to move.
Well, this looks like the place.
Rotate the leftmost rock, then the rightmost rock to activate the device.
Red, huh?
White now?
Center rock it is.
And red.
Well that was easy.
Hello, I'm here to pick up a prescription for one... "magic draught..." ugh I need to stop trusting invisible people who want drugs.
Hmm... well all I could find was this "Mystic Draught." I guess I'll take it back to the talking shadow and see if that'll work.
I'm actually going to end the chapter here. I know it's a bit shorter than usual, and a bit of an odd place to end it, but if memory serves, there's a really long scene when we get back to the shadowy figure. So join us next time, when we'll deliver the Draught, be revered as heroes, and definitely won't be forced into that god-awful fool's errand tournament called Colosso.
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! Sorry for the long break, but I was Me Playing a game called Skyward Sword over the last week or so, and combined with American Thanksgiving I was a little busy. Regardless, let's get back into it! Last time, we discovered Ancient Gambling and we found an invisible... thing. Then we went to the Pharmacy at the Bottom of the Cave (the rarely-mentioned sequel to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)
Right, there we are. We've got the magic medicine and we're going to go deliver it to the invisible guy and hopefully get rewarded!
But first we have to fight our way out of this stupid cave. I know what you're thinking: "Terrendos, why don't you just use your Retreat Psynergy?" Well if I did that I'd have to go back inside to find the guy, and even if that would be a little bit shorter, I could use the experience anyway. The more random things I kill, the less chance there is of me having to do any level grinding before the final boss.
So that Assassin's Blade I got from the Tolbi Spring? Turns out it has a chance to insta-kill things. I don't think it has ever procced for me on a boss fight, but I'm assuming that it doesn't affect them.
Yup, gotta watch out for those stalactites. My teacher always said "stalactites hold tight to the ceiling" and I never forgot.
Found a Cookie in this treasure chest, it's the only one worth opening. Cookie boosts PP, but I gave it to Isaac anyway because duh.
Dude could use a bit more PP.
The other chest is a Vial, by the way. Don't bother with it.
We hand him the draught and then it's cutscene time.
Well, whatever it is, it's standing up now.
*gasp* It... it couldn't be!
Yeah it's Babi. Big surprise. Let's have some music!
: What are you talking about? What did you expect?
He thought it was a chick? Instead, it's just a creepy old man.
: Well, I mean, we couldn't see who was talking...
(No) I mean this is about the most obvious twist ever.
: You must be well traveled indeed if that didn't shock you.
: How did you become paralyzed while you were invisible?
: And that ability to conceal yourself... Are you an Adept?
: An Adept? What are you talking about?
: You used Psynergy to conceal yourself, didn't you? Only an Adept could do that.
: Oh, um... Yes, I was using Psynergy to conceal myself...
This conversation is going to be like pulling teeth.
: Something in his tale doesn't sound right... I shall peer into his heart.
Wow, that might actually be helpful! Thank you, Ivan!
I didn't get a good capture of it, but Ivan jumps backward in surprise.
: What's the matter, Ivan?
: This is Babi, the ruler of Tolbi! And that WASN'T Psynergy he was using to conceal himself... It was the power of an ancient civilization!
That is it! I am fed up with these monkey-fighting magic powers from these Monday-to-Friday ancient civilizations!
: I said nothing of the kind! How can you know that? So, I guess that would make you Adepts... Does that mean... Have I finally found true Lemurians!?
Lemuriwho?
: That's what I've been saying! We're Adepts... But what's Lemuria?
Oh no. Oh no. I'm as clueless as Garet about something! Noooooo!
: Yes, what is this "Lemuria"?
: What? You're Adepts... but not Lemurians? So I was wrong...
: Are you searching for these Lemurians, Babi?
: Babi, you're the ruler of Tolbi... You can have anything you want. Why would you want to find these Lemurians?
: Even the ruler of Tolbi has his limitations. Every year, I grow older and more frail... This body's had it.
: And you regret growing older?
: I understand your desire to remain young, but there's nothing anyone can do about it.
Having played the recent DS sequel Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, I find aspects of this conversation highly amusing. Suffice it to say that immortality isn't exactly difficult to come by for this particular group of Adepts.
(Yes) I remember everything about everything. Just uhh... fill me in on what exactly you're talking about.
Oh, yeah. That. Kraden said that, but do you really trust that old codger? I'm reasonably sure he's to blame for basically everything.
(Yes) Though I'm probably going to regret saying that.
Oh look, it's two of the incompetent guards that were searching for Babi earlier.
: No, it's not that.
: I have my reasons....
Sounds like Babi's keeping a tight lid on the secret of his success. Not that I blame him. Sure these guards are probably super loyal, but if you knew where to go to get Magic Life Extendy Potion wouldn't you want some too?
: I did not mean to cause anyone any undue concern.
"It's okay, we just figured it was the Alzheimer's kicking in again."
: The trials have already ended?
That means that we can't possibly be entered in Colosso! Hooray! We can just sit and watch the slaughter like normal people! Maybe Babi can give us box seats!
: I had an important errand, but it has been taken care of.
See, these guys really need a grammar editor.
: I must speak more with these people.
I imagine this to be spoken as disdainfully as possible.
: I owe my life to them.
That's right, fools! Now crawl at my feet before a giant magic swords plows through thy skull!
Reward? That sounds good. Seats at Colosso would be great for a start, and then... we're kinda on this big important mission. If you'd devote a couple platoons of these stupid soldiers into our employ, I'm sure we could find a use for them.
: Oh, I see... If that's what we have to do, then... I have not heard your names yet.
: I'm Garet. This is Isaac.
: I am Ivan.
: My name is Mia.
: Come see me at my palace once the finals have ended. I would like to speak with you further. Say, I have an idea... Why don't you enter the finals? You have some interesting powers.
: And you don't think that saving my life qualifies as a suitable trial? I look forward to seeing you battle!
: He's asking us to appear in Colosso, isn't he?
: Is he serious?
: He wants to see us fight using our Psynergy... That's what it is.
(No) Could it possibly be a way out?
: You don't want to either, do you?
: Either way, we're stuck here in Tolbi until Colosso is over.
: Babi said that he wanted to talk to us, didn't he?
: He seemed to know Kraden.
: What could be the connection between Lemuria and Adepts?
: I suspect he knows quite a bit about what's going on with us.
: I guess all we can do is wait around until Colosso is over... I hate just waiting around...
(No) Screw you, Garet. I'm not getting myself killed just to satiate your bloodlust. We could use a vacation anyway.
: What? Don't let me down like this!
: I guess we'll just wait until we reach Tolbi and let Isaac decide there.
Don't be fooled, I know it sounds like we have a choice, but we don't. The story won't progress until we compete in Colosso.
I resolve a bit of my anger towards this game in the usual way: Ragnarok Protocol.
Hey, at least I got a level.
Let's get out of this god-forsaken hellhole.
Got two little things to take care of before we head back to Tolbi. First, this one:
Head over in this direction (you can actually see Altmiller Cave up there) and then cross the bridge at the far left and walk around a bit.
Yup, it's a Mercury Djinni. I should actually have picked this one up before the cave, but it doesn't make that much difference.
Hail Prism is one of the more powerful Mercury Psynergies, and it actually does pretty substantial damage to us here. In retrospect, probably should have put a Psynergy seal on the stupid thing.
It's still not that hard to kill.
Gotta rearrange my Djinn a bit.
Ivan here has now reached the Magister class. It confers no new Psynergy, but it's a pretty decent stat boost.
For the other thing, we have to head East. Move along the Northern edge of the Karagol Sea, and eventually you'll come back to a place we've been before.
Lookie there!
And that's how we get that Djinni.
Isaac is now a Lord, and, like Ivan, gets no new Psynergy but a substantial stat boost. That's what's really important here.
We're done, back to Tolbi.
Screw you.
Okay so a did a bunch of Lucky Wheeling. Got a bunch of new stuff, too much to really bother you all with.
Isaac got a nice pair of boots and a sweet undershirt though.
Gave Mia a few upgrades too.
Might as well get this over with.
Hey, I wonder if I can gamble on my own victory? Wouldn't that be interesting?
Oh snap oh snap oh snap!
(Yes)
Uhh.... (No)?
Ffffffffff...
Okay, I give up. Let's get this train wreck over with.
Sounds like somebody wants to die. You think I'd hesitate to murder you, minion? You don't even have a face!
No, putting me in the finals is an insult to me. You think I can't murder any ordinary man you throw at me?
Thank you.
(Yup) Might as well, can't progress with the story any other way.
Oh, by the way, if you refuse to acknowledge that you're Isaac and outright refuse to participate in Colosso, you will eventually hear this little gem:
: Garet, why don't you pretend to be our leader... just until we're in the participants' room?
That's right, Ivan actually puts Garet in charge to force you to participate. Talk about desperate.
Return of the Sepia Tone. This time, they're explaining that Isaac must battle alone.
: Huh? Isaac's the only one entering the finals?
: But why Isaac?
Naturally, Babi spotted my talent.
: But I wanted to enter, too!
: I guess all you can do... is get it over with, Isaac.
This has been my opinion since the beginning. Where were you?
: I know you want to enter, too, Garet, but there's nothing we can do.
: This is crazy! Isaac won't survive against those Colosso warriors!
: If Isaac wants to win, he'll have to use Psynergy.
: Well, Babi does seem very interested in his Psynergy...
: Even so, how's he supposed to use it here?
You're right, Garet. I'm supposed to murder someone, how could magic powers that let me kill things more easily possibly help?
: What did Babi say we're supposed to do while Isaac is competing?
Great, my friends get floor seats to me decapitating helpless idiots.
Yeah... thanks.
: Umm, can't Isaac go to see the finals stages, too?
(Yes) Well, I should definitely be allowed to see the field I'm killing on, right?
: Come on, you can make another exception, can't you?
Even the game is acknowledging its own redundancy now.
About bloody time.
Okay so... I'm going to skip the super long and boring conversation that takes place next, because I think I can explain it faster and better. Basically, each round is an obstacle course. I'll have to move pillars, jump around, roll logs and the like to get across. There will also be treasure chests with healing items inside that I can pick up. The thing is, I lose all my good gear when I enter, and I'm stuck with the most basic equipment (cotton shirt, short sword, etc.) until I pick more up. The ring is at the end of the obstacle course, and has two pieces of equipment:
My opponent will be running the obstacle course too. The first person to the arena gets the better equipment, which will carry on to the subsequent rounds. Then we battle it out, and the winner moves on. There are 7 other contestants, so that means 3 total rounds.
And now the really important thing: the rest of my team.
For example, look at this part of the obstacle course. Here, Isaac would have to push that top pillar really far. But if someone down below were to move the bottom pillar a bit, he wouldn't have to move anything. That's where the rest of the group comes in. I can pick places for members of my party to cheer, and before the match, they get the chance to use a single Psynergy move to influence the arena.
So that was the first course, and I naturally picked Garet to go there to move that pillar.
For this one, you have to move the pipes to fill the spout and cross the gap.
Or you can let whoever's got the Douse Drop fill it for you.
Those bridges open and close, and require timing Isaac's running to cross. If I had someone with Growth, I could put him or her there, but I don't, and this one is easy, so meh.
This one's pretty much trivial, as long as you don't care about the treasure (which you probably shouldn't). Nobody can contribute here, so moving on.
That's the last place though, so I just put Mia there since she has to go somewhere.
Okay, let's go.
You can see the little drawn-in circle where Isaac needs to stand.
Guess who's our first target?
(Yup)
And Isaac rides off to battle.
I have Garet move the pillar, as I mentioned.
Ivan uses Douse on the little cup.
Mia does nothing. What a chump.
Thanks to the team, the first two parts are trivial. That lets me snag a Nut from a chest (woohoo...).
If you want the chest in the third round, this is how you do it.
Told you you wouldn't want to bother with the chests.
Without much trouble, I make it there far ahead of my chump competition.
I wonder what tactic I'll use fir-SWORDTOTHEHEAD
Yeah, that was easy.
Expect nothing less.
Now they're all practically prostrating themselves before me. I guess they're finally taking my death threats seriously.
And now we do it again!
Second verse, same as the first! The obstacles are different, and there's an additional room, but otherwise it's the same thing. Pick someone to use Psynergy to clear Isaac's path.
This is just a maze. Nothing I can do.
These tiles float back and forth; I have to time my jumping to get across as quickly as possible. Again, not much I can do.
This is the aptly-named Log-Rolling Stage. Blocked by the text block are a pair of puddles that can be Frosted, so this looks like the prime place to put Mia.
Ah, here's a picture where you can just barely see them.
I didn't get a picture of one here that's missing, and unfortunately it's where I put Garet. It's pretty trivial, and I didn't get any good pictures of it. Basically, you climb a wall and slide down one of three different slides. If you're lucky (read: if you looked at it during the explanation and remembered the correct choice) then you can just slide down and move on first try.
Apologies for that, but this is, after all, a timed event.
The Board Walk is last.
This bit is immediately below. If you have someone with the Force Orb here, they can knock over that log and shorten this stage a whole lot.
This is the only real shot I have of The Slides. I gave Garet one of my Venus Djinn to teach him Growth on the off chance that he could reach that plant from the stage, but he can't. Oh well, I already had the way memorized.
Ivan chips in.
And Mia gives me another shortcut.
No, I don't bother with that chest. It's probably a Smoke Bomb or something similarly worthless.
Mia's shortcut comes in quite handy.
Ivan's too.
Oh yeah, I got the Chain Mail. That's almost as good as the armor Isaac's supposed to be wearing. It does seem a little unfair that these gladiator guys have their huge armor on already, though.
This won't take long.
Another couple Djinn, and then it's time for Judgment.
He survives, but just barely.
All it takes is a basic attack to finish him off.
FINISH HIM!
What are you guys, my cheerleaders?
Let's do it one more time.
More scales. Just gotta freeze the water underneath the one to lift the other, no prob.
Pillar maze. Garet can Move the only mobile pillar to make a shortcut.
Those pistons move in and out. Just gotta time your movement so as not to get knocked off.
Basically just a wall to climb. If I wanted to make Isaac a Berserker I could make this faster by using Growth, but ehh I like being able to heal myself. (Yes I'm aware that's what the Nuts are for shut up)
It's a conveyor belt. See the log? Use Force on it to jam up the machine and give Isaac an edge.
Gotta move these pillars to get the log across to the other side. Nobody can help me with this one.
So Garet goes here...
...Mia goes here...
...and Ivan goes here.
Garet Moves the pillar for me.
Ivan jams the machine up something awful.
Mia does what she always does.
Even brute forcing this one isn't that bad. Remember, my chump combatant has to get through all these without help.
Dash across this now that it's busted.
Easy peezy.
I think the other guy gets a long sword.
Alright, Navampa. You're going down like the head cheerleader on Prom night (Oh snap!)
Ground, my newest Venus Djinni, basically stops an opponent for attacking once. This strikes me as incredibly useful once you're too good at this game for it to matter. Basically, some bosses that attack multiple times per turn have a fixed pattern of moves they make, and some are particularly devastating. If you knew when said boss was going to do one of its really brutal moves, you could conceivably stave it off by using Ground right before the boss uses that move, but you'd have to a) have the boss's move patterns memorized and b) appropriately fit the Djinni user's speed so that he uses Ground in the period of the round between the boss's last attack and the deadly one. Seems like it would be easier to just beat him.
Back to the match!
One thing to keep in mind with these guys if you're having a hard time, is to just not use Djinn. You'll keep your HP way up high and be better able to absorb hits than if you have them all on Standby. It may take a bit longer, but it's definitely safer that way.
I'm what you call "lazy."
Let's just say that wasn't the only Ragnarok I used on Navampa.
So long, chump. I'm sure we'll never see you again. Never ever.
Or will we?
Dun dun dun....
Yeah, take that you clown! Wait... why's the rest of my group up here?
what
Failure is not the only option
Then they all say "Isaac..." a bunch more times and I'm not transcribing that.
(Yes) I recall the game cheating my out of my victory come on I was at like full health!
: Oh, gimme a break. You were out cold! You don't remember a thing!
Don't think I won't get out of this bed and choke you.
As well you should be.
: You fought brilliantly to the end, Isaac. Babi was singing your praises.
(Yes) I'm fine. I was fine when the battle ended CURSE YOU PLOT POWER!
: He'd better be all right, after sleeping this long. Sheesh!
: I'm sorry for shouting again.
: Babi said he wanted to see you when you came to, Isaac.
: If you're okay, shall we go see Babi?
: You're fine! Aren't you, Isaac?
Yes I'm fine, now get out of my way, you worthless tool.
I'm up.
: Are you sure you should be getting up so suddenly like that?
: He's fine. He doesn't want to lounge around all day!
: I see. Let's go see Babi then.
And that's the end of the chapter! Sorry these are taking long, but in a couple weeks I'll be done with classes and hopefully be a bit more free to update regularly.
See you next time, when we figure lots of important things out and finally get back to the plot! And then maybe we'll do something else too.
Also screw you character limit on posts here, for making me make such a short part 3 to this chapter.
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! Been a while! Sorry, had these things called "final exams" and wanted to make sure I passed them. That's all done for now though, so I'm back in the saddle!
When we last left off, I was totally cheated out of my Colosso victory by the stupid cutscene. Then everyone said I should talk to Babi.
: I've been waiting here because I wanted to speak with you.
: It's hard to talk when you're so far away... Come over here.
: The battles at Colosso were spectacular!
: It was most rewarding to see Babi's favored warrior steal the day.
: Iodem, bring him the victor's prize.
: Yes, sir, right away.
Okay so technically it did register our win. But it might as well not have. The Lure Cap is completely worthless; it's weaker than the weakest helm on any character at this point, and it increases the chance of random battles. I guess conceivably it's useful if you want to do a bunch of level grinding, but otherwise... lame.
(Yes) I was fine, in fact I think I was at maximum health or darn close. Then the stupid game interrupted my touchdown dance.
: Ah, the recuperative powers of youth... and after such fierce battles!
: Who could expect less from the warriors who rescued me?
: Enough with the flattery. Let's get to the point: Why were we summoned?
: Such insolence! Who do you think you are, to speak to Babi so?
Garet knows he's the best friend of the most powerful being on this planet. He is rightly arrogant. You think I wouldn't do the same thing to you that I did to your guards?
: Let it be, Iodem. There are other ways to judge a man. What is it you said you were called?
: He's talking to you, Garet.
: That's right, Garet. We shall explain all.
: We intended to thank you and your companions for saving Babi, Isaac. But it would seem that gratitude is not enough...
(Yes) Well you're gonna tell me anyway as it's plot-critical.
: Yes, indeed... Your desire is as plain as the day.
: I have just seen Psynergy for the first time... It is an awesome power...
: I used my Cloak Ball to show him Psynergy.
: No one else could see it, but I knew Isaac's tournament was strange. I thought it unlikely that you would fight using such power...
Excuse me? If you could throw a giant magical sword through the head of anyone who looked at you funny, you're telling me you wouldn't use it in battle?
: No need to be ashamed, Isaac. Psynergy is also a warrior's power. When I first learned of your power, I was shocked. I thought you might be Lemurians.
: You have mentioned Lemuria many times, Babi. What is it?
: It is the city of an ancient people, lying far out at sea.
: Many years ago, about the time of the great flood, Babi went to Lemuria.
This flood isn't ever really discussed, as far as I know. Considering that many of these catastrophic events are related to Psynergy, I wonder what it could be. It's way too far back to have been the first attack on Mt. Aleph. But his knowledge of Alchemy is limited enough that it seems unlikely for this to have been when the lighthouses were originally lit. Maybe it was just a normal flood?
: I see...
: The great flood struck while I was traveling with Lunpa.
: Lunpa... You mean Lunpa the thief?
Hey I know that name! Does this mean that Babi was also a thief? <insert wall street joke here>
: I know it is hard to believe... It happened a hundred years ago.
: You mean... those rumors about you are... true?
(No) If he had the Stone of Sages, wouldn't we have seen it in the cave, you dummy?
(No) You incompetent idiot! He's dependent upon that Mystical Draught we just fetched him good lord you are so stupid.
And that's why you don't make the group decisions. Except sometimes when you're kinda ruthless, that's the Garet we'll occasionally heed.
: So you've even heard of the Stone of Sages... I'm afraid I don't have it. It is the draught of Lemuria that has allowed me to live for so long.
: The draught of Lemuria?
: It is a magical draught once taken by those who lived in Lemuria.
: And just drinking stops you from aging?
: Is that what it does?
: Hmmm...It would be more accurate to say it slows the aging process. There is death in Lemuria... But it only comes to those whose senses have failed from centuries of use.
Wanna know a secret? The draught's just vodka. It's all placebo effect.
: Do the people of Lemuria use Psynergy, like we do?
: You have that draught, Babi... That's why you've lived so long. And become wealthy enough to rule Tolbi.
: What are you getting at?
: What is your purpose in making everyone study Alchemy?
: I'm starting to wonder myself. What do you hope to gain, Babi?
: Ah. If I had attained true immortality... There would be no need for all this research.
: I'm not sure I understand.
: I had precious little draught, and now I am running out. You all saw it. There was but little left in the cave...
: How long will it last? And what will happen when it runs out?
: It will run out any day now. And when it does, my life is at its end...
So naturally, he waited until now to start doing something about it. Screw the research into Alchemy, let's spend that R&D money on developing an aircraft and search the seas by air! But no, surely the ancient and mystical secrets of a highly advanced and isolated society can be unlocked by a bunch of grad students. Heck, spend it on a chemist to analyze the ingredients and reverse-engineer the chemical compound.
: Why didn't you tell us sooner? We must hurry to Lemuria!
: It is pointless...
: What on earth do you mean, pointless?
: We cannot find Lemuria.
: But you just said that it lies far out at sea... If we search the seas, we're sure to find it!
: I've sent so many ships in the past in search of Lemuria.
: This must have been before I joined you... But still you failed?
: I needed more Lemurian draught, but I couldn't find Lemuria.
: Why did you collapse in the cave if you still had more draught?
: I have been rationing it, but this time, I waited too long between drinks.
: You were trying to make it last longer...
: I overexerted myself trying to find Lemuria before it ran out.
: And your reason for calling us here has to do with Lemuria?
: Exactly. I want you to find Lemuria. I have not been able to locate Lemuria by sea, but perhaps by air...
: I can hide it no longer... I have built Babi Lighthouse to see if I can find Lemuria at sea.
I think we're supposed to have heard about Babi Lighthouse at this point, probably from those fiddly NPCs I keep skipping for the sake of length. Here's what you need to know:
1. There's a big lighthouse being constructed by Babi.
: What? That's why you're building the lighthouse?
: No, there's more to it than that. We've spotted something in the ocean southeast of the lighthouse... where Lemuria should be.
: Something dangerous, no doubt. What, monsters? We can handle 'em...
: That may be... However, something else troubles me more.
: What is it, my lord?
: No sailor has been able to keep his bearings at sea.
: You're kidding! You mean they can't even keep a straight course?
: Is there something that distorts distance or direction or something?
: The currents shift there, subtly changing a ship's direction. So the lighthouse will help the ships keep their bearings...
: So, how exactly did you get away from Lemuria after the flood, Babi?
: That is the thing, Garet! I crossed the sea in a Lemurian ship. I am hoping you can sail it...
: But why us, when you have so many powerful soldiers at your disposal?
: None of them have the ability to use Psynergy. One must have Psynergy to sail this ship!
(Yes) Well I mean, so far as we know, the definition of "Adept" is "a person who can use Psynergy" so yeah.
: That must be it. No normal person could use that Cloak Ball.
: I learned to use a little Psynergy during my stay in Lemuria. With that little I'd learned, I was able to guide the ship.
: In that case, perhaps... I could sail the ship...
: No. It must be an Adept.
: What should we do, Isaac? Will you do what he wants?
I'm going to go with "no."
: If you do, I will grant you whatever you wish.
: You shouldn't make vows you will later find you cannot keep...
: I haven't even considered my own wishes lately.
That's because you're the adopted son of a filthy rich merchant. Then again, maybe it's also because we're on a mission to save the world and that's a little more important than all the gold-plated hos money can buy.
On second thought....
: In that case, I could provide you with a wealth of items you might like.
(No) Not on your life, sport. We've got important world-saving duties to attend to. We didn't bother saving Ivan's sugar daddy, did we?
Thank you, Garet! For once, we're totally on the same page!
: The lighthouse!? Do you mean Venus Lighthouse?
: Well then, our paths are intertwined. I, too, must go to Venus Lighthouse.
: But we cannot get to the top of Venus Lighthouse, can we?
: These Adepts may be able to solve the riddle that blocks us.
: Ah, I see... The thought hadn't occurred to me.
: Isaac! You shall go to Venus Lighthouse with Iodem. Do not worry... You can take care of your own business first.
: I see... If they can solve the riddle of the lighthouse... then our own wishes will have been fulfilled. So, we can search for Lemuria after they complete their own quest...
(Yes) Fine, I'll help you, but only after we've put an end to all these shenanigans, hijinks, and tom foolery. In that order.
: Ah, you will undertake this quest! I am most grateful!
: In any case, you will need my assistance to reach the lighthouse. I'll make preparations so that I am ready to leave at any time. I take my leave now to make preparations.
: Then you can all meet at Gondowan Passage...
: That's a brilliant idea!
: One more thing. I'd like you to think about a suitable reward.
: Yes. I will take care of that immediately, as well. I shall be waiting for you at the passage.
Yeah, yeah, don't care. Gonna have me some gold-plated hos!
You know... with that Cloak Ball... we might be able to sneak into Lunpa. The town, not the thief.
Let's go ask Mr. Burns if we can borrow it.
I see Babi's being attended by a butler that appears to be even older than he is.
Sweet! Girl's locker room, here I come!
(Yes) I mean seriously, you're a red blooded man, or at least you were before you became an old blue blood. I'm sure you had the same idea I just had.
: The Cloak Ball is very precious to me. I can't just give it away. But perhaps you could borrow it. Take it with you on your quest.
Alright, but this doesn't replace the gold plated hos or anything.
Just like basically every other magic Psynergy-granting item, it's going on Ivan. Dude's got PP for days.
Anyway, that's right. We're going to take this newfound skill, sneak into Lunpa, and finally rescue Bammet. Or uhh... what was his name again?
That's right, it was Hammet. Gonna rescue him. I know what you're thinking: "But Terrendos! You're a busy man! There's a world to save!" To which I would respond: "Yeah, but Hammet is rich. Also, there's a useful reward in it for us. Don't worry, the world will wait. We'll get to Venus Lighthouse in plenty of time to save the day."
That's odd. There was a girl here?
We actually missed the chance to speak with her, but don't worry. She doesn't say anything important.
I'm not exactly sure why there'd be trouble with her going home, unless... was she being held here against her will or something? Perhaps we'll find out more when we get to Lalivero.
Babi's palace also has this little hidden gem. This is where he keeps all his scholars that are studying alchemy to attempt to reproduce the Lemurian Draught. There's a couple of interesting things we'll learn here.
Wait a second. Are you suggesting that Babi Lighthouse is being constructed on top of Venus Ruins? (hint hint, important plot point) It's not an altogether uncommon idea, actually. In antiquity, buildings were often built upon the ruins of those that came before. In fact, I believe I recall reading that the city of Troy from such Greek epics as The Odyssey and The Illiad was discovered, but they were having trouble isolating which exact city was around at the time of that war because it was built on top of earlier cities, and later cities were built atop its ruins, until eventually the ground in the area shifted and submerged most of the city.
I could be wrong about that though. It's been at least 6 years since I read about it. Might not even have been Troy.
(Yes) Umm... yeah. We know that annoying old man who basically caused all our problems. Why?
Well isn't that interesting. Looks like Kraden was doing all his research for Babi in the first place! What a traitor! That means he was only interested in the Elemental Stars... for the crafting of the Stone of Sages... so that Babi could live forever!
In retrospect, Kraden is even more of a douchebag than I thought. I suppose it's possible that he was just using Babi for funding, and his interests in Alchemy were purely for the betterment of mankind, but... nah, gonna stick with "Kraden's a douchebag."
ROAD TRIP! We gotta get back to the other side of the Karagol. How's that done? Head Southeast from Tolbi, along the shore. Eventually you'll see that cave.
The temptation to make a Planet of the Apes joke here was almost insurmountable. You're welcome.
Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty apes! I AM SO SORRY
There, Garet's level 20 now. Ivan and Mia will soon follow suit.
These are pretty much useless now.
But this isn't! Isaac eats the Apple and there is much rejoicing!
Oddly enough, Kobolds are pretty tough monsters in this game. Universally they're almost always weak and pathetic, to the extent that I'm surprised they don't have a page on TVTropes for me to link.
Here's what they usually look like. They're weak little reptilian dragon-worshipers, half a human's height. They're standard low level PC fodder in games like Dungeons and Dragons. The really funny thing is, kobolds are in this game's sequel as relatively weak creatures that the party fights at low level. Whether this is intended as a sort of continuity nod and everyone's levels have been re-scaled in the second game and everyone is super weak again, or it's just a mistake in terms of monster placement, or heck, it could just be a translation snafu from the localization team.
Man am I good at getting onto irrelevant tangents, huh?
This place is pretty much perfectly linear. Just keep going until you get here, then Move this thing outta the way.
Similarly, Move this pillar into the water and you're home free. This, by the way, is what kept us from coming this way when we first needed to get to Tolbi. Now we can get back and forth at will.
There we are, just south of Kalay.
But Kalay is not our destination: Lunpa is.
There we go.
(Yes) And I intend to force my way inside by any means necessary.
That door is made of wood. We're practically gods at this point. If Ivan can't breeze himself over it or Garet can't burn it down then- you know what, nevermind. Let's go.
This way!
The gate here is halfway open. Pressing the button will close it the rest of the way. But look! A puddle of water.
I think we all know how that one ended.
And we're inside Lunpa. Operation: Hot Father has begun.
Easy Isaac... we're under cover. We're in Stealth Mode. Hit the Jackal Switch.
(Yes)
Whew. That was a close one, I almost broke under his rigorous interrogation!
Lame.
And here we have an invisible puddle. To answer your next question: No, I have no idea how it could look like a rock when I'm not using Reveal.
Who cares let's cross.
When we leave the Reveal circle, it returns to a rock. Not gonna question it.
We run around town (literally) until we end up here.
A switch behind the poster? Let's push it!
HO MAMA WE JUST HIT THE MOTHER LODE!
That was the lamest mother lode ever.
Uh oh, more suspicious characters!
(Yes) I'm his accountant, I have some questions about his pension checks.
Sounds like it's time to bust out the Cloak.
Two guards? I can handle two of your guards. Heck, have the whole force ride out to meet me. This'll be like Helm's Deep except inverted. Also the invading force will win.
Okay so I guess we don't want to kill these guys for some reason? Anyway, they've blocked the way, so we gotta leave and come back.
And... we want these people to live?
Okay let's do this. We'll remain cloaked until we step out of the shadows, in which case the spell will fail and we'll be completely visible.
And we're in.
As you can see, this place has lots of dark regions. We'll be using Cloak frequently in order to avoid guards. That's right, we've wandered into the stealth mission. And I know that above soundtrack says it's the Lunpa Fortress song. Don't buy it. Here's what you're supposed to be hearing:
Cloak past these guards. If they catch us, we'll get tossed out and have to try again.
This place is pretty maze-like, but it's not hard at all. There's no random battles (why would there be?) and Cloak is cheap, so even if you get lost, you're still probably going to be fine.
Most of these guys are stationary, but if they're blocking a path like this, it means you need to go around.
Early on, we run into this chump.
(Yes) Listen up, old man! I know you're hiding the merchant! Tell me where he is or you'll see what it's like walking without any kneecaps.
Really? What does your heart say?
Well then, that answers that question.
This guy here walks around a u-shaped loop. Make sure you're always watching him and it should be easy to stay out of the light.
Easy peezy.
This guy walks quickly back and forth with his bro. Just time your movement and hide in the little alcove when they get close.
Like so.
This is never explained, so far as I know. Apparently Dodonpa just keeps random women here? I mean, I'm thinking of a reason, but that would be pretty freakin' dark for this game.
Moving on.
oh no please don't attack me whatever will I do
You call yourself a thief and that's the best insult you've got? I am gonna enjoy murdering you so much.
Well at least they seem willing to admit that they're only going to slow us down. That's progress.
Terrifying.
That's what I thought.
For the record, the red guys can be fought. The green ones just capture you. No I don't know why Dodonpa color codes his guards but I suspect it's the kind of thieving that relies on victims walking into your town for you to capture them.
Another guard who actually knows he won't survive. I'm starting to like this place.
...yeah.
(Yes) I am the Ghost of Christmas Future, and I'm here to take over where Christmas Present left off, show Dodonpa his grave, and then chuck him inside. Except this won't be a dream.
Sadly, I'm afraid I've come to close his eyes. Permanently.
This guy just moves in a circle.
Done.
Huh, there's a key there. Probably opens this door... but how to get it?
Just use Catch.
Not even gonna bother showing him dead.
Down here, just Whirlwind that bush, use Reveal, and open the door.
Oh boy, and here I thought I was done with the puzzles.
There are in fact monsters here, so be prepared for random encounters.
Whirlwind here to unveil a door, behind which are a few cells. Inside one is a chest containing Power Bread.
Delicious.
Unlock this door, then push the crate within down.
: These people... Are they friends of yours? Then it would appear your journey has begun, Ivan.
: I am a little late, but I have come to save you.
: You shouldn't have risked yourself, Ivan.
Uh oh.
: Dodonpa!
: Sorry to interrupt your teary little reunion, Hammet! This must be your little rat, Ivan--you always did claim he'd rescue you! Look at him. He's just a child! But to think these kids could get this far!
: Hey, yeah! If we're just kids, what does that make your pathetic thugs?
: What kind of scum takes ransom money and then doesn't free his hostage?
: I see. So, you've been extorting money from Layana, have you?
: Now that we've found Hammet, we'll be taking him home!
: I'm afraid I can't let you do that. Hammet is what I like to call my little money tree.
: You dirty scoundrel!
: Name-calling won't help you! I'm not giving Hammet up!
That's odd. But odder is how exactly this creature stays there. How does Dodonpa feed it? How did Dodonpa discover such a creature?
We never find out. I'd complain, but really it's not important and it would take this game three hours of in-game conversation to explain anyway.
: How did Dodonpa get trapped under the monster?
: He tried to pull another dirty trick on you! When Dodonpa saw his monster was losing, he tried to get behind you.
: Just a second longer, and you'd have been history!
: You dirty snake!
Ivan, you're operating under the assumption that he could possibly have hurt us. Considering how easily we curb-stomped his stupid toad, this is not something that was likely to happen.
: Dodonpa, you are rotten to the core!
: Yeah, OK! I'm SORRY! Now, get this thing off of me!
: "Get this thing off of me"!?
: I don't know. That thing looks awfully heavy for us kids to lift.
(No) I say we leave him there. He'll eventually get hungry, and then he'll have to eat his way out through rotting toad meat. I can think of few more fitting punishments.
: I agree. What do you think, Hammet?
Geez, never thought she'd agree to that one. Hell hath no fury, huh?
: I think we have to try, at least.
Yay teamwork. Note that "we try" means "everyone but me try" as Hammet sits there like a jerk.
: There. You should be able to get up now!
: I... I can't.
: Did you break your leg or something?
: It's not broken... I should be able to stand after a bit.
: Thank goodness...
: What do you mean, "thank goodness"!? Didn't he just try to kill us?
: Can't we just forgive and forget?
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
: Dodonpa kidnapped you, remember!?
: Oh, that's right...
: Get a grip, you guys!
Garet's the voice of reason in this group now? Seriously, did someone give him Ritalin or something?
: But Hammet is safe now, isn't he?
: Yeah, but do you really think Dodonpa will reform if Hammet forgives him?
: Hmm... I wonder... How about it, Dodonpa?
: He already said he wouldn't do anything!
: Of course, he's going to say that! He wants us to forgive him!
: What do you think we should do with him, Garet?
: We should lock him up here, just like he did to Hammet.
I much prefer the rotting toad feast solution but that's close enough.
: No! How can you be so cruel!
: Oh? And yet you have no problem being that cruel to Hammet!
(No) Rotting Toad Feast! Rotting Toad Feast!
Huh?
: Dad!
: Dodonpa... You pitiful wretch. I always told you that if you did evil to others... others would do evil to you. You must right all of the misdeeds you've done! I feel bad for spoiling you. Look at the trouble it has caused...
: See! It's all your fault that all this happened!
: Yes, which is why this is going to hurt you more than it does me!
: You're not serious, are you, Dad?
: I most certainly am! You're going to spend some time here thinking about all that you've done! Dodonpa has caused you all sorts of trouble, hasn't he?
: No, not at all!
: I must apologize deeply for all of this.
: Thank you, Donpa, but you do not need to apologize.
: Then you forgive me?
I didn't get a picture of it, but Hammet nods right here.
: I am sorry about the trouble, but I do have on request.
: A request?
: I don't know how you got in here, but please leave by the same means.
: Huh? Donpa, didn't you just say you're going to lock up Dodonpa?
: So we shouldn't have to sneak around, should we?
: Some of Dodonpa's henchmen are still loyal to him. I'm ashamed to say it, but they won't listen to any of my orders. This new gang of thieves will attack Hammet if they find him in the fortress. And they may come to check his cell, right?
So we murder them on our way out. The others barely slowed us down.
: I see. Then they'd free Dodonpa, wouldn't they?
: And then he'd head straight for Kalay seeking his revenge!
: I see. Yes, you're right.
: It would be terrible if Kalay were attacked.
Kalay has walls. What are they gonna do?
: That's why you must go while you still can!
: You mean immediately?
: I heard of your intrusion, so I spread some rumors through the fortress.
: Rumors?
: I said brigands had snuck in to kidnap Hammet, but failed and ran off.
: Why in the world did you do that?
: Now, they won't let anyone down here at all. Plus, many of Dodonpa's men have left to find the intruders.
: Donpa, you are a shrewd one!
: I just thought I'd try to help however I could...
This plan mega-sucks. All you're doing is delaying any actual problem solving until after the demigods have left you idiots to your own devices.
(No) Gonna kill my way out of here.
: Why did I even bother asking? Let's get a move on! The next time you meet Dodonpa, he will be a changed man.
Screw you, old man. If we walk out of Lunpa like this without establishing a more permanent Kalay-friendly government, all that will happen is the soldiers will take over and a new regime will develop in Iraq- ahem... I mean in Lunpa!
Don't worry, this game was made before 9/11. There's no political statement here, aside from the one I'm forcibly inserting.
: I get it already! I won't do anything wrong! Come on, let me go!
Okay so I have a confession to make. It was kind of late when I was capturing this chapter, and... I kinda forgot to pick up the reward we get for coming back here and everything. Whoops. More importantly, I didn't remember until I started writing this, so I'll have to make sure that gets included in the next chapter somewhere.
That's it for Lunpa. Got one more long cutscene before we're done, though. But you know what? It's a lot of conversation that I can more than adequately sum up here:
Leaving through Lunpa Cave, Hammet meets a friend of his, a fellow merchant sneaking into Lunpa to trade with the people there. He agrees to help smuggle Hammet and the group back to Kalay on the back of his wagon.
I tried to find something else important in that conversation, really I did. The merchant has a name (Bunza) but no portrait, and he's never seen or mentioned ever again.
That's Bunza up top.
: Arrived where?
: Oh, I didn't tell you about this entrance, Ivan? This underground passage leads to Hammet Palace.
: An underground passage? What for?
: Just to be safe.
: I don't understand. Why bring the wagon in this way?
: Well then, Bunza, would you please take them to the town's entrance?
: What? Why? We'll just go this way with you.
: I'm confused...
: You have no reason to hide, now, do you?
: Why shouldn't we just go in this way?
I promise you you're overestimating the competence of Dodonpa's spies. Hammet could probably just walk into town and be fine.
(Yes) Whatever gets me outta this conversation faster.
Back in Kalay. My first instinct is to make a break for it before I get dragged into another conversation but I guess we should go make sure Hammet arrived safely and perhaps get a reward from Layana.
Actually, is there anything down there? I forget if there's any treasure worth picking up.
You were expecting someone else? I'm the only person in this world who helps any of you godforsaken idiots.
: I told you time and time again not to go to Lunpa, but you went anyway.
: Please, Layana, don't be so harsh on them.
: Naturally, I'm happy that they rescued you. But this was something that Kalay should have handled alone.
: Yes. Your mission is to recover the Elemental Stars.
Oh, that old thing? Totally taken care of.
: Layana, you shouldn't...
: I... I had to rescue Hammet, no matter the cost...
: It's already done. There is nothing more to be said.
: Hold on! We all wanted to save Hammet as badly as Ivan did.
Garet's looking to score points with the hot lady that looks kinda like his mother. Don't need Freud for that one.
Comparison shots: Layana Kay (Garet's Sister) Garet's Mom
More than a little creepy, but then maybe it's just me? Am I just seeing the red hair and imagining the rest of the family resemblance? I don't care, this is funnier.
: It doesn't matter, Garet. I'm the one at fault! I made a mistake. We will leave immediately on Felix's trail!
: Yes. That would be best. Leave immediately.
: Isaac, we should be going.
: Ivan, is that really what you want?
(Yes) I'm sick of this place.
: Take your Shaman's Rod and go to Hesperia.
: To Hesperia...?
: That is what the Jupiter Adept said.
: Hesperia... Where is that?
: It is the continent to the west of Angara.
A whole other continent? Maybe we're not as close to the end of this game as I thought we were.
: What are we going to find in Hesperia if we go?
: That, I do not know...
: The continent to the west? On the other side of the sea?
: Do not waste time chattering. You must set out immediately.
Okay! All done! Let's just talk to these guys one more time....
That'll round out this extra-long-feeling chapter. Sorry again about the long wait, but I made this one extra long to compensate. At this rate, I don't know when I'll finish, only that I will at some point. Hopefully by February, since I'm on break now, and I'll have about a month to do almost nothing. But we're coming up on the endgame here anyway. Probably 3-4 more chapters.
If I were a crazy evil man I would have filled every room next to the prisoner with a weak wall easily broken down by metal cutlery with a horrific monster. And if the prisoner managed to kill that monster, he would find a note saying: "Great job! Only ten more rooms this way to freedom!"
Ha! You all thought I'd given up, didn't you? Yeah, well, disappointed though I am that there were no pleas in-thread for me to continue this debacle, as I said many times I'm simply too stubborn to give up on this thing, especially so close to the end. Got a bit distracted last month but I'm back in the game, and I'm all in, baby. So without further ado, let's bring this ship back to the port, because I've got a doozy of a cargo to unload.
Wow, that sentence really got away from me.
When we left our heroes, like a month ago, I'd saved Ivan's adopted jerk father and then realized that I needed to go all the way back to Lunpa to fetch a reward.
Fortunately for you, this isn't a video LP or I'd have to make several minutes of boring small talk with myself as I ran back here. With the magic of editing, the entire journey takes no time at all!
We do still have to go in the cave way. The gate guards haven't yet learned about us decimating Lunpa's army and will still turn us away. As if they could really stop us.
So much for a "secret escape," huh?
We Cloak past these incompetent guards and we're back inside Lunpa Fortress.
This is going to be pretty short so even though this is definitely not the music for Lunpa Fortress, we're gonna play it because it's cheery and I think that ought to match the gory bloodstains we've certainly left on the walls of this place.
I spend way too long trying to find my way before I stumble, purely coincidentally, into the treasure room.
Amongst the fabulous wealth that I'm assuming came from Kalay, there's an Elixir, 100 coins, a Lucky Medal, and...
This is actually pretty nice.
Extra PP is always a good thing for our healer to have. We'll probably keep this bad boy on Mia until the end of the game.
(Yes) If memory serves, he's eating his way out of Toadonpa. Or did we decide against that?
This is Dodonpa's wife, by the way.
And his children. I have a feeling Dodonpa's "conniving" gene may be recessive.
Finally, we get where we're trying to go: Donpa's room. The old man's gonna show us his appreciation.
: I have a little something for you, for your teaching Dodonpa his lesson.
: Deep within there is an interesting creature that I fought once long ago. I give this to you. Please take good care of it.
I swear if this thing looks like Toadonpa I am not-
Oh, it's a Mercury Djinni!
Naturally, we'll be giving Tonic to Mia for now.
Now she's a Paragon, which is the highest she can climb in this game. The sequel, having additional Djinn, allows an additional tier above that for all the base classes.
We're done there, for the rest of the game. So I drop Lunpa like a hot iron. I sure hope we never have to deal with anyone else in the Lunpa line ever again.
On our way back, we get those level ups. No new magic though.
Behold, our next destination. You can see Tolbi Docks on the top edge of the screen. We're heading down, to cross over into the next continent. We've spent this entire time in Angara, AKA Eurasia. Now we're entering northern Africa. It's called Gondowan here.
You'll note that, rather than part the Red Sea or cross the Mediterranean, all we gotta do here is walk over a drawbridge. Don't even need our passports.
Six strange-looking folk? Hmm...
Must be six other people.
We've now got Iodem in our party! Woohoo... he does nothing. Well that's not entirely true, he does instigate conversations occasionally.
There's a pretty substantial boost in monster difficulty on this side of the drawbridge, but that's mostly because we've been fighting those same old Tolbi-region monsters for the last few levels.
Holy crap is that a Moblin?
If you follow the path, you'll soon happen upon this little hamlet.
It doesn't look nearly that deserty from the outside.
This would be where the red warning light should start flashing in Isaac's head.
Yup. It's inevitable. There's another desert we have to cross.
Another useless Lucky Medal. I don't know why they keep giving us these things; all the equipment you can get in Tolbi's fountain is a downgrade by now. I guess if you had really terrible aim you could turn them into Waters of Life but who needs that many of those?
So if you jump across the little moat behind the building and walk over here, you'll find a chest.
Must resist urge to make puerile jokes.
Hey, time for a cutscene! We're actually getting close to the end of these. I can only remember a couple more conversations that seem to take forever, so that's a major plus I guess?
I'll puzzle that bit of information out later.
I'll keep that in mind.
HEY IDIOTS! WHAT STUPID PROBLEM OF YOURS DO I HAVE TO SOLVE NOW?
Well if they're soldiers of Tolbi, that means they're recruited from the winners of Colosso. That puts them at about 0.5 Isaac in terms of battle strength.
Other useful comparisons:
: 0.8 Isaac : 0.7 Isaac : 0.3 Isaac : 0.4 Isaac : 0.1 Isaac : 3 Isaac : 0.001 Isaac
Time for Iodem to initiate one of those conversations like I explained earlier.
: You soldiers were supposed to be heading for Babi Lighthouse!
: Babi ordered me to go to the lighthouse with Isaac. You were escorting Sheba to Lalivero, no?
: What has happened to Sheba? Where is Sheba!?
: If anything has happened to Sheba, what will become of the lighthouse? Sheba was the sole reason Lalivero aided us in its construction. We entrusted you with Sheba to speed up the construction. Was that a mistake?
: Is this true!?
: You acted properly, then, but where is Sheba now?
: Isaac, we must go to the desert and find Sheba.
: Water? You can stop the sandstorms with water... I think I understand. Not get some rest...
: Can this be?
: Wh-Who--what are they?
: That's enough... Get some rest!
: Thank you for your help. You have dispatched your duties with honor.
(Yes) Hmm... people with strange powers who produced water out of nowhere and managed to kill monsters these scrubs couldn't handle. As many different groups fulfill those criteria, I think it's safe to say it's Team Jerkface.
A little clarification on the background here, stuff we'd have picked up if I'd had the patience to talk to every stupid NPC in the game. So Babi wanted his lighthouse, and he knew roughly where Lemuria was supposed to be. So he wanted to build a lighthouse somewhere that he could allow ships to navigate the oceans there. The problem is, Tolbi is just a little bit" in the middle of a continent" and doesn't have easy access to the ocean. So he marched his troops to a town called Lalivero, which just happens to be quite close to Venus Lighthouse. Babi tried to pay the Laliverans to build his lighthouse but they refused, to he kidnapped a little girl named Sheba, who the locals think is very important. Babi promised that he'd give her back when they built the lighthouse. Apparently they're getting close to completion, so these soldiers were escorting her back to Lalivero, when they encountered Team Jerkface.
Yeah okay crazy old people.
And so, with our business in Suhalla concluded, we set forth into... Suhalla Desert! That's right, desert number 2!
I guess they spent so much money on the desert theme song they decided to try for a second use of it. This is actually one of my least favorite dungeons in the game, and I'll explain why soon.
Whenever we approach a narrow little walkway like this, a whirlwind will spring up.
: There'll be trouble if we get caught up in one of those... But something is wrong... why are there so many? If we don't get past here, we'll never make it to Babi Lighthouse. We must step carefully if we hope to escape the desert.
So, having heard that, you'd think that actually walking into one of these things is the last thing you should do. Instead, you'd try and use some Mercury Psynergy on the thing to try and break it, right?
Wrong. The solution is to walk into it, let it suck you up, and then use Dowse. Because that makes total sense.
But wait, there's more! If you don't use Dowse in a couple of seconds, the whirlwind will just send you back to the entrance of the desert and you'll have to start all over again! Oh yeah, and not only are these things all over the place, but if you come back through, they respawn.
Oh, right. And every time you escape one, you have to fight one of these things. The Tornado Lizards aren't too tough, somewhere between a normal enemy and a miniboss. If you use offensive Djinn, you can kill them in one turn, otherwise it'll probably take two.
This one leads to a treasure chest.
The Virtuous Armlet is pretty good. I gave it to Ivan, as it's a solid upgrade for him.
This is an Acid Maggot. I think they may have been starting to run out of good names for enemies at this point.
Ivan learns High Impact, which increases the party's Attack. Not bad, but not exactly useful in your non-boss battles.
There's a Mimic here, but it's worth killing.
He'll give you a Water of Life, which if you're awesome like me you'll never need and can just sell for several thousand coins. Or you can be even more like me and hoard them like I do most every non-useless item so that at the end of The Lost Age I have a dozen on each character.
Narrating this place really sucks because there really aren't any puzzles. It's just trial and error of walking through the sandstorms and hoping that you picked the right one.
I'll give the Tornado Lizards credit for one thing though: they do give pretty solid experience.
Try not to miss this Cookie on the second screen. Extra PP is always handy. Naturally, I continued my process of making Ubersmench Isaac.
Watch out for these Magicores, as they can cast a few spells. Don't feel bad about using Djinn to down them in a single turn, just make sure you re-Set them afterwards.
A pink tornado. Huh.
And now for something completely stupid. Let's use Reveal here for no good reason!
Hmm... footprints and an invisible pillar. I forget how far these footprints go, but regardless they should have put some sort of indicator to use Reveal here.
But hey, I mean, if you don't use Reveal here, it's not like it costs you anything besides a Djinni, right?
AHGFJHSD
If this ever happens, just leave the screen and come back. In this case, a cave has been provided.
I have Isaac use Ground, which prevents the Djinni from acting in the first round.
It still takes two turns to bring him down, but fortunately he doesn't run again.
Oddly enough, Eruption was the move the Djinni just used on us.
Hey, it's Flash! Flash is the most broken Djinni in this game. He all but nullifies any damage the party takes on a given turn. We're talking single digit damage. And because you can spend a turn to Set a Djinni on Standby, one could forgo one of their characters to make the entire party immune to damage for every second turn in a battle. Needless to say this can trivialize a lot of fights, but it's even worse in the sequel, where you get a second Djinni, Shade, that works basically the same way. With those two alternating, you can keep your party alive nearly indefinitely. Fortunately, the absolute hardest bosses have ways around that technique.
With his sixth Djinni Set, Garet climbs his echeladder and achieves the lofty rank of Champion. It's exactly the same as Warrior, except more. In the sequel, he gets a cool new move, but here he gets squat.
We end up here. And of course I, like an idiot, only took one image of this place. This is where the pink tornado is. Just pretend it's there. Because it is, it's just the imaging system the GBA uses makes it invisible in half the frames.
Now, you may be asking yourself: "Terrendos, what does this mysterious pink tornado do?" And I would respond: "You'll find out in a later episode!"
Okay, okay. You walk inside it and let it carry you away. Unlike every other sandstorm, this one will take you back to Crossbone Isle. But I'm not going back there until right before the endgame, when I've got every last Psynergy I might need and my team is much higher level, because there's some tough enemies in the lower levels of that place.
Continuing southward from our detour...
We move across a rather wide expanse of desert when we're accosted.
This sandstorm is chasing us down.
We stop by to nab this stone for the inevitable fight, and you can see, that sucker is hot on our tail.
And yet...
Somehow...
We're just barely keeping away from it. It's still there, it's just I was under duress so again, didn't take many pictures.
Eventually...
Pretty sure that Iodem is saying that from inside that sandstorm.
: Should we search the desert once more or press on to Lalivero?
(Yes) I think you're a fool to stop us here, five feet from the exit and two feet from a giant sandstorm that's been chasing us!
: Ah yes, I had forgotten about your foes. Our guard gate lies ahead. We can leave Sheba to the soldiers at the gate. Well, perhaps we should head there first, then.
Now, I gotta say, I've never actually made it to that conversation without triggering the boss fight before. I was sorely tempted to leave the desert and see what would happen. If I hadn't been LPing this game, or if I'd saved recently, I definitely would have. But for you guys, and because I didn't want to risk losing out on that amount of experience, I stood there after the conversation and let the sandstorm catch up rather than taking the three steps to the exit.
(Yes) Well let's be honest, it's Team Jerkface, but it's not Felix. That dude is straight up terrible.
: 0.05 Isaac
: Yeah... no one else is capable of this. After we find Sheba, we must track down the monsters that did this. We must get to Babi Lighthouse as soon as possible! Yes, but we cannot leave the soldiers like this...
: But that would be...
: He's right! We've got to stop them! We're going after them, right Isaac!
Wait, so are we going to the lighthouse first, or to find Sheba, or to catch Team Jerkface?
By the way, if you need to revive a character or anything, there's a healer in the room behind that door.
There's a mini-puzzle on this screen. There's a bunch of different places to slide down, and you have to pick the right one.
Make sure you get the Mint, as it's irreplaceable.
Yes, yes, I know I said I was giving all the boosting items to Isaac, but it's important for Mia to be fast because she's our healer.
There's a couple new enemies here. Goblins are pretty straightforward sacks of HP, but those Earth Golems pack a wallop. Focus on them first so you don't take so much damage.
See?
Another new move for Ivan, this boosts everyone's Resistance. Again, only useful in boss battles.
Nightmares are casters, but they're a bit tougher than you might think. Focus fire, don't try and spread your damage out.
Yeah, that's upgraded Plasma, and it really smarts.
Land on this platform here and you'll be able to battle a Mercury Djinni. In fact, this is the last Mercury Djinni in this game!
I use Ground again because I don't want to have to restart.
Pretty easy, just use your own Djinn to pound it into the ground.
Having a second Djinni capable of reviving an ally (the other being Quartz the Venus Djinni) is super nice, especially when it's on the healer by default. Dew is the only way Mia will be reviving people in her current class, short of using a Water of Life.
No new class, but eh. As I said, Mia is now complete. There's only three Djinn left to find in this game!
Meanwhile, all the boosting I've done to Isaac's Luck stat is really paying off. I'm getting free kills off this Assassin's Blade all the time.
Hmm... strange wanderers?
No! Johnny! Don't you die on me, you glorious bastard!
Nice job, Mia.
: I'm sorry. He's dead, Jim.
Shut up, Mia. You are not Bones.
Oh well nothing we can do about it let's go.
Hey that looks familiar. Kinda like Mercury Lighthouse, but differently colored. I wonder what it could be?
This is the Mercury Lighthouse track again, but I don't mind its being reused in this area.
Wow, we get through this entire game without seeing an NPC die and now they're getting killed off left and right. Now we know things are serious!
Well, if there was any doubt left that this is the fault of Team Jerkface....
Not to be rude, but we could do it. Probably wouldn't even break a sweat.
I will admit, I don't like them just randomly attacking scholars. I can't find a reason why they'd want to, aside from "we're evil." The thing is, they've usually had more control than that. The only thing I can think of is maybe Saturos was asleep and Menardi broke out of her leash somehow.
I have a feeling that in your dream, you weren't lying on the ground, mortally wounded.
There's a connection? To what?
We could go inside Venus Lighthouse, but we can't get very far without hitting a dead end. Besides, there's more cutscenes up ahead!
Behold, Lalivero, and to the north, Babi Lighthouse! Odd, it doesn't look to be that near completion. Oh well.
(Yes) I mean at this point it should be pretty obvious. We've been following a trail of bodies, and it's been them from the start. You think a new group of insane serial killers has thrown their name in the hat in the eleventh hour?
: You survived!
: Were you fighting a group of six people?
Oh snap, it's big reveal time!
: You've survived as well! There were seven? Is this the same group you were following before?
Well at least now I don't feel so bad about leaving a teenage girl abandoned in the desert.
: Sheba, you say... Is this true!?
Hmm... if Kraden is protecting her, we should probably kill her when we catch up.
: Did you hear that, Isaac? What do they want with Sheba? Sheba... They all...
: What do they hope to find at Babi Lighthouse?
: Ruins? Of course! The foundations of the lighthouse!
: I see. Faran, too.. Isaac! We must head for Babi Lighthouse as well. Are you concerned about these soldiers?
: Even the soldiers insist, Isaac! Come on!
We haven't really learned why Sheba is such a big deal, but I'm pretty sure we will soon. If not, if I've missed the conversation, then I'll explain later. But that's not what's most important about this conversation.
Team Jerkface went to Venus Lighthouse, and then apparently continued on through to Lalivero. Since the Lighthouse isn't yet lit, we can assume that they didn't get all the way to the top. Now they're heading for Babi Lighthouse, specifically to the foundations. It was actually a pretty common thing in the ancient world for people to use the leftover ruins of previous buildings in the construction of new ones. Back then of course, they were typically made of stone, and thus pretty sound. As a matter of fact, the city of Troy (the famous city described in The Iliad) was destroyed and rebuilt a number of times both before and after the war upon which said story was likely based. It was typically rebuilt upon the very same ruins of its prior incarnation, thus making the identification of which remains existed during the war difficult. When you consider that Lalivero is only building this thing because Babi is holding some little girl hostage, it makes sense they'd cut whatever corners they could.
We're almost done for this chapter, but there's one more thing I'd like to do first.
Okay, two things. First, we grab this Psy Crystal off the Golden Idol. Now every other time we've seen one of these things, an Adept has been close at hand. I wonder if we'll see any locals here with Psynergy?
Ladder in the item shop? Don't mind if I do!
Jump over to the wall here...
Then jump over there...
And again...
There's some Water of Life in one of the pots.
Then come back over this way and keep running along the wall.
I wonder what it is we're going to get?
Jump over and climb the vine.
Bam, last Mars Djinni!
He's okay. Another offensive Djinni, never a bad thing to have.
And of course, no class up for Garet, but that's expected.
And that's it! Next chapter, we'll buy some upgrades, talk to some Laliverans, maybe figure out what the deal is with Sheba, and then we'll head to Babi Lighthouse!
We're getting real close to the end, folks. I anticipate 3-4 more chapters. Again, sorry about the long delay, but January was kinda hectic for me. Since we're closing in on the end here, I need some endgame class suggestions! I think I recall someone wanting a Samurai, but that leaves three more, so let me know what you want!
doesn't killing the lizard in the sand cloud mean you can't go whoop Dulhullan?
Are you gonna go whoop Dulhullan?
First of all, Dullahan is in the sequel. The secret boss in this game is Deadbeard. Secondly, that pink tornado sticks around even after defeating the boss in the desert.
But yes, I will beat Deadbeard before I finish this game.
Welcome back to Let's Play: Golden Sun! Lost my save data, mostly killed my desire to finish this, blah blah blah let's get back into it!
When we last left our heroes, we'd reached the mysterious town of Lalivero, where Babi was forcing the populous to build his lighthouse so that he could find his way back to Lemuria and find himself some more magic pills to stay effectively immortal. We were forced to bring Babi's assistant, Iodem, along for the ride, despite him being a dead weight on the party and dull to boot.
Oh yeah and there's some clueless chick named Sheba who's been kidnapped by Saturos's group and everyone in town is pissed. That too.
Well at least they're not blaming us.
Before we enter Babi Lighthouse in order to stop all that business, we have to go back to the Venus Lighthouse. This part always confuses me for some reason; I can never remember the right way to do everything the first time. That's why you might notice that the picture numbers are all mixed up.
So, back to Venus Lighthouse we go! It's not exactly a long walk.
Looks a lot like the entrance to Sol Sanctum, actually.
I'm not so sure. Unless Saturos let Menardi off her leash, I don't think anyone is going to be unnecessarily murdered.
Well look at that, a fancy mural.
A-wha? How is this not the entrance? It said Venus Lighthouse Entrance! Screw you, confusing ancient civilizations! Who builds things this absurdly?
Whatever. Let's just move on before I have a coronary.
Well that certainly looks like a puzzle. But how to get to it?
Nothing behind these fancy statues.
Aha-crap. Looks like we need some new Psynergy to beat this one.
This looks promising...
Dang it!
Great, so... I guess we need to go find that statue then.
Another one of these rooms. Whatever, I've gotten pretty good at them by now.
Hmm... how to get to that chest....
Sweet momma, free loot!
Lucky Cap, huh?
Pretty nifty... on Isaac it goes!
Now, this point is where I always get stuck. I remember being stuck at this point on my first playthrough for weeks, and this was before I discovered the prevalence of internet walkthroughs to clue me in. Every visible path is clearly blocked in one way or another, so your instinct is to say "welp, guess I'll come back here later when I have new Psynergy."
You are wrong and ugly. Here's what you're supposed to do.
That's right, you talk to the wall.
Even this is kind of misleading, but I'm referring more to the second half. It says "eyes of truth," so that means Reveal:
And look! A door! Here's the thing: Team Jerkface doesn't have Reveal, so they can't have seen this doorway. It's Jupiter Psynergy, and the only possible Jupiter adept they could have in their group is Sheba, who, as far as we know, doesn't even know Psynergy exists.
Right down the stairs is that chest we passed, and it's got the Carry Stone inside. It bestows the Carry Psynergy on the person to whom it is equipped. Let's go try it out.
The monsters here are the first nontrivial creatures I've fought in ages. Watch out for the Golems in particular.
Mostly because of that. Truncheon Fist will always leave a PC on 1 HP, which makes him or her ripe for getting picked off by an AoE attack. Fortunately, the Golems are slow, so you aren't likely to see them unless you neglect to heal the PC right away.
Mia learns Glacier, which is the most powerful form of Frost. It's still terrible.
Here we go! We can try to Move this block, but the little line of dots shows that we can't get it out of our way.
This looks like a job for Carry!
Yup. Carry will lift smaller objects off the ground, shift them one space, and then let them go. Carry is also the final equipped-item Psynergy in the game, which is good because my heroes' pockets are getting pretty full.
Right up the stairs, we see a field of electricity. That's odd. Welp, guess we're not going that way. Now, if you're like Young Terrendos, playing this game for the first time, you'd probably turn around and look for somewhere else to go, only to be continually frustrated.
Still wrong, still ugly.
Use Reveal here again. I may or may not have forgotten to do this on this playthrough and spent an hour looking for the right way before I finally turned to GameFAQs.
Go down the stairs and you'll find...
At least this time we don't have to summon a stupid little fairy.
I still don't understand the last bit of that. We should be looking South? It's not important. Like the mural, this implies that we need to go really far away to access the Lighthouse. We do not. We just have to follow Team Jerkface through Babi's Lighthouse. It's like a 30 second walk, it's not that "distant" or anything.
So this little design appeared here. It's a clue for later. Actually, we have a bit of a choice here. We can keep the path this way, or we can talk to the statue again.
Then the path looks like this instead. Which one we choose will determine the path we must take to get to Venus Lighthouse. We're going to keep it on this one.
Around this time, Isaac learned Mother Gaia. It's the second tier of the Gaia series of Venus Psynergy, which is really strong.
Yeah, it's a lot of damage. The third and final tier, Grand Gaia, is learned at like level 40 or something (I don't care enough to look it up exactly) but since we'll be beating this game around level 26 or so, we won't be learning it.
With all that done, it's time to head to Babi Lighthouse!
Woo! Ehh, actually I like the Venus Lighthouse music better. Oh well.
I know, let's talk to some clueless migrant laborers! Surely they'll know what's going on!
Nope.
Naturally, he's forgetting that assembling a brand new foundation would be more difficult and time consuming than using an old one.
Hey, this guy actually has information! Nothing we haven't already heard, but I'll take any victory I can get at this point.
Well, now that we've got the Carry Stone, this little puzzle is trivial.
Just Carry the block up there. Easy peezy.
More of the exceedingly rare Lucky Pepper.
Naturally, we use it to make Isaac sneeze.
In case you're wondering what all that Luck we've given to Isaac is doing...
It means we get this with about 1/3 of all Isaac melee attacks.
Moving on, we see more of Babi's soldiers lying on the ground. Team Jerkface has been pretty ruthless here.
You clearly weren't thinking at all. This is a JRPG! If someone looks like a circus performer, that means they're extremely powerful. And if they're teenagers that look like circus performers, well, then I hope your life insurance is paid up, because you're in real trouble!
Say, a hidden ladder. Let's see what's down there.
Pretty simple puzzle.
Move this block here, then find the other entrance.
Hint: It looks just like the first entrance.
Move this pillar aside and we can jump across.
We end up out here. So we Growth the plant and continue back inside, following the only available path.
The path leads here, so we jump down...
Right next to the final Jupiter Djinni.
I was going to take more pictures of this fight, but the thing didn't even last a turn. Isaac is such a freakin' beast at this point he nearly one shot the little creature.
Luff, the final Jupiter Djinni, and the penultimate Djinni of this game.
Psynergy sealing is highly variant. There's some very strong enemies in the sequel that can be utterly cowed by a Psynergy Seal, but most bosses don't use actual Psynergy and so can completely ignore it. Luff here will be used as a status boost and will seldom receive battle summons.
He does boost Luck, which is pretty nice.
We slide down the only available path.
And we find ourselves here.
Well, that sucks. Guess we're going back up then.
While we keep climbing, let's take a look at some of the enemies around here.
This guy may be a palette swap of the gryphons that murdered my party back in Crossbone Isle, but he's a lot easier. Most of these guys are just big ol' tanks of HP, really. The challenge in Babi's Lighthouse is not about running out of PP to heal yourself, it's about maintaining a high level of patience because you're getting into battles that last a long time, and they occur with the same frequency as the shorter battles from earlier in the game. Babi's Lighthouse, if completed in one long run (i.e. NOT how we'll be doing things) is intended as an endurance challenge, not a sprint.
Similarly, these guys are approximately the same level of relative difficulty as their first incarnations, but they're harder to kill. Part of this might be because my level is... well, it's not really low, but I'm not as overleveled as I usually am anymore.
Gnome Wizards are deadly and surprisingly resilient. I suggest always focusing them down first, because they have potent AoE Psynergy at their disposal.
That's odd. I wonder who were the ones attacking? I would presume that Menardi was one, but the other?
This suggests that it was Saturos and Menardi who were doing most of the fighting. I suppose that's relatively consistent, but the part that confuses me is the bit about the other four not having much fight in them. Kraden and Jenna make sense, Felix is a weak little coward, but Alex? Why would he not have any fight in him? Perhaps because they came straight here right through the desert and the lighthouse, and he'd been doing most of the Psynergy by putting out all the sandstorms and fighting the guards?
Anyway, we climb back to the top of the tower and go down the northernmost slide.
Looks like these guys are trying to follow Team Jerkface too.
: Well? Does the door open?
Sigh. It's not enough that every Tom, Dick, and Faran needs our help to do even the most mundane thing. Dollars to doughnuts they're going to insist we're not capable of anything and we'll have to prove it by opening the door.
Interesting fact: The Laliveran word for "study" is the same as the one for "pilfer" or "loot."
: Oh! Iodem...
: Faran! I am so sorry about Sheba...
: Why did this sort of thing have to happen?
: Are Felix and the others beyond this door?
: Yes. Beyond the door that no normal man can open...
(Yes) Well I mean, it's not like I have anything better to- get the heck outta my way before I magicsword you in the brainbox!
Note that he's asking Isaac, not Faran. Otherwise this would be a lot more hilarious.
: Iodem, just who are these people?
: They come from the far north. They have chased the ones who took Sheba all the way here.
: They've been chasing that fearsome group?
: Yes. They are most fearsome.
: Such awful power... And what they're trying to do seems very dangerous.
I don't know why, but for some reason this comment just makes me wanna punch Ivan. I suspect I have some irrational hatred of him that's manifesting this way.
: We're the only ones who can stop them.
(Yes) At this point, I'm basically a demigod. I can create earthquakes, rend the ground asunder, drop giant rock spikes from the heavens, awaken the dead, and control plants. And I'm just one of the team. I think we can handle a couple pyromaniacs and their entourage.
: You seem quite sure of yourself, but what do you think you can do?
: I have never heard such harsh words from you, Faran.
You know what? You're totally right, unnamed NPCs. We definitely should have to prove ourselves in order to have the privilege of throwing our lives away saving your preteen girl from the clutches of evil. And let's not count the fact that we've already beaten giant sand monsters, mutated evil apes, ancient living statues, manticores, tree spirits, or Colosso combatants.
: First, you will have to demonstrate your powers to us.
(Yes) Of course I can, I'm awesome! You've been traveling with me, you fool, you know I murder people that challenge me.
: Your confidence means nothing unless you show that you can do it.
Part of the reason this guy sounds so unimpressed with me is because I keep answering Yes. If I were a little less sure of myself, Iodem would be more encouraging. As it is, it still seems like he should have a bit more faith in us. After all, he watched us clear the desert without breaking a sweat (pun intended...?).
That's right, pathetic fools. Stand aside so that I, Isaac the Terrible, may crush this door with my mighty mind powers!
: Now, show me what you can do.
: I am counting on you, Isaac! Prove your worth by opening that door!
:If you can open this door, I will trust Iodem once more...
Still haven't heard much about Sheba. I guess I might as well explain what the deal is with her. Basically, she fell from the sky as an infant, and landed in Lalivero. The Laliverans worshiped her as a holy child, descended from the gods, and having some great destiny. Then Babi decided that Lalivero was the place to build his Lighthouse. He marched in with his troops and had them take the girl, who he held hostage in Tolbi in exchange for the Laliverans cooperating with the lighthouse construction. As the lighthouse was nearing completion, Sheba was being sent back to her people. But if Sheba remains kidnapped, Lalivero will cease work on the lighthouse and may revolt against Tolbi's rule.
Either I missed most of this explanation by skipping important NPCs, or it's still yet to come, or it's in the sequel, The Lost Age. At this point, there's no story spoilers here, so there's no reason I can't explain it now.
Golden Sun Secret: The answer is always Reveal.
Oh look at that another hidden switch that Team Jerkface couldn't possibly have found because they don't have Reveal. Hooray plotholes!
: The door!
: I don't believe it! The door opened!
: I don't know how to explain it...
: We did it because we're us!
Really? That's the best you can do?
: It would take too long to explain.
: There's no time for an explanation, anyway.
Yeah, because "we have magic powers" takes way too long to say. That's four whole words!
: That's right. We must rescue Sheba!
: Let's go, Faran. We've got to save Sheba!
: It closed to prevent people with no Psynergy from entering!
: It would be perilous for those without Psynergy to try to get through.
: I agree! You'll have to let us handle it from here!
Oh look, we end up explaining it anyway. Nice time-saver.
(Yes) Don't worry, we won't make fun of you for letting children go someplace you can't go yourself... at least, not out loud.
: Since we can't even open the door, we'd just be getting in your way.
: This is true...
: But we can't leave Sheba in their hands just because it's dangerous.
: They have greater power than you can even imagine.
(Yes) Sucks to be you! Man, sure it great having god-like powers, isn't it, gang?
: That is how it seems.
: Without that sort of power, we would just get in their way. I understand. Sheba's life is in your hands. Do not fail us. You must bring Sheba safely back!
: Make haste, Isaac. All our hopes lie with you!
And we're done with that conversation, free to move on.
Where did Babi find this guy? A man so utterly devoted to Babi that he chases Babi's immortality for him? Maybe Iodem is thinking that Babi will let slip some of that sweet elixir if he succeeds?
If I had a nickel for every time I heard those words...
The door closes behind us. We'll go it alone from here. No way out.
At least until we use the Retreat Psynergy but shh!
Quick note: I came here before I activated the statue in Venus Lighthouse, which is why there's no pattern on the floor there. This statue may not say these things if you've already triggered the other one.
Yeah whatever, let's go.
Another mundane pillar puzzle. You only need one of them.
Just put that block there and you're golden.
If you come here before opening the path at Venus Lighthouse, the next room will look like this:
See something missing? Yeah, all the shenanigans in Venus Lighthouse were about raising pillars to jump across right here.
Post-Venus Lighthouse hijinks, we get ourselves a pillar. Note that, had we chosen the other path, we'd have created a pillar on the left path, and the next few rooms would be a little different. We have to go both in order to get all the fancy shmancy items here, so I'll leave that for our return visit.
Hmm... what could we possibly need to do here?
Surely it's not just...
Yup that was it. And don't call me Shirley.
That joke doesn't work well when written down.
Another one, well I'll just push it over.
Then fill it with water. Voila.
For the record, you can freeze the water to make an ice pillar too.
Two paths. Right leads to an item, so we'll go there first.
What do we do here? Hint: the answer is always Reveal.
The Asura's Armor boosts attack and heals a little HP every turn. It's pretty darn good, and naturally it goes to Isaac.
A lot of these might actually be tricky if they didn't make it super obvious where things need to go by marking the path with those dots.
Push it, fill it, freeze it.
Done.
This is where the two paths reconverge. As I said, it was a pretty minor difference.
Statue room! This one is actually pretty tricky.
Can't go through the door... what's an adept to do?
That's your clue. You actually need to Mind Read the statues. Took Young Me a while to figure out, but fortunately it's easier to remember on subsequent runs.
It's a logic puzzle! Reminds me of those little logic puzzle games they made me do in elementary school. You know the kind, they had a bunch of empty boxes and like 5 different logic phrases and you had to figure out which one was which? I can't remember if they had an official name.
But I digress. There's five spots, and thinking this one through, the solution is pretty straightforward.
The left path leads us down here. We can push that statue onto the switch to turn of the electricity and exit the lighthouse. I think the statue moves back once you're through. Doesn't matter, we have Retreat.
Venus Lighthouse is all about sand. I know, I know, I used the "it's rough and it gets everywhere" reference already. What a waste.
You may remember sandfalls in the first desert. Basically, we can run across them, but they'll constantly drag downward. You can't run up but you can run left, right, and down.
A few new enemies here. Both of these are dangerous. The little tiny ones can explode for big damage (like a Graveler using Selfdestruct) and the Grand Golems... well...
...let's just say they hit hard.
Another simple Carry puzzle, this one designed for travel in either direction.
I doubt I even need to show this, but whatever.
Eventually we come here. We let the sandfall carry us down and jump off right before the cliff.
If you miss the exit, you'll have to climb back around and try again.
This here is the Thunder Crown, and it is the first Cursed Item we've seen so far. It's really strong, but if I equip it to a character, he will suffer through being cursed, which is a very annoying status ailment similar to Confusion in Pokemon. If you want to take the item off, you then need to go to one of the healers in town and pay them to remove it.
In short, you never want to equip cursed items. At least... not yet. But we'll get there. Patience, Grasshopper.
This part should remind you of Mercury Lighthouse, or it would if you hadn't read my exploits there like 6 months ago. Make sure you try and run into each of these so you don't miss any hidden rooms with delicious items.
Like the one on the far right here.
This one actually just leads to the next section, so you can't really miss it.
There's a simple jumping puzzle here, and then we get to Venus Lighthouse's other gimmick.
Electrical engineering.
This is the "introductory" puzzle. Complete the circuit.
When all the blocks are in, the statue sends out a signal.
If you did it right, the door opens. If not, you have to leave and try again. These are also in the sequel (including one really great one involving two signals that need to hit at the same time) but that's not important right now.
Press the button in this room.
And that little slider will open a new sandfall and close the other one.
As you can see, this has repercussions throughout the rest of the dungeon.
We slide down the sandfall and then cross the new path we made.
The only exceptional aspect of this pillar puzzle is that it's stretched a bit, so that it won't all fit on one screen.
Moving that pillar lets you access the pillar you need to move in order to progress.
There.
We actually walk through a different part of the same places we'd walked already. I kinda like that.
The path is still pretty linear though.
Iteration 2 of this puzzle: this time, there's a couple of bends, and more holes than blocks.
The solution is still pretty easy though.
More sandfall shenanigans.
Make sure you don't skip the secret room here.
Dragon scales are really good. They're actually a bit tougher than Asura's Armor, but for now I'm putting the Scales on Garet because I like the attack boost on Isaac.
This room has scales, like the ones in Colosso. You can either pile all the blocks on the right side to bring it to walk height, or you can put two blocks on the left one.
Whichever you choose, you'll need Carry to get them over the dots.
Another switch, another slider.
Now that left sandfall is working, which means we can go through the southwest doorway.
Only one way to go.
It might be tough to see in this image, but the sand is flowing like water. You'll be swept up in the current as soon as you step in, so your job will be to divert your course in the specific direction you want to go and make sure your timing is good.
Ah, the Gaia Blade, the most powerful sword for Isaac in the game. Well, there might be some better one that randomly drops off of an enemy, but aside from that it's the best.
As you can see, it's a massive upgrade to the aging Assassin's Blade we've been using on him. Ivan gets Isaac's sloppy seconds, though.
Ivan's pretty lucky, so it'll trigger the instakill pretty frequently. Still, this is far from the best weapon for Ivan; I'll try and get him something better for the endgame.
I flail about for longer than I'd care to admit before I finally get to the other side.
Watch out for the Manticore Kings, as the Lucid Prophecy spell can put a Doom Clock on one of your team. Just kill it quick and it won't have any effect. At this point though, it hardly matters; Revive is so readily available that death is merely an inconvenience.
And here we are.
Iteration 3: This time, it's actually tricky.
Solving this circuit is mostly about patience. Memorize what blocks you've got available, and figure out where you can make them go. Don't push any of them in until you're absolutely sure.
I solved it this way. I think there are multiple solutions.
Ta-da.
Last switch.
Third sandfall is fully operational.
Hmm... that looks familiar.
Let's see what all that Isaac Luck has bought us with his final weapon!
*whistles*
Yeah, and those happen all the time. Oddly enough, that doesn't even hold a freakin' candle to the Sol Blade from The Lost Age, whose unleash is powerful enough to rival the most powerful summons. In fact, several strategies for beating endgame bosses revolve around boosting up Sol Blade's wielder and praying for unleashes.
Some of you may be asking... "Kikuichimonji?" My answer: I've never really bothered trying to get one before. I'll give it a try, I guess, especially if you all scream and cry and moan in the thread.
Anyway, this is the path we've unlocked with the new sandfall.
Okay, we're here. If we go down that slide, we start the process of the endgame. Since I want to get the final Venus Djinni and beat Crossbone Isle before I do that, I'll have to leave and come back later. Fortunately, coming back through will be a lot faster, and I'll probably cut most of it out.
For now, we rest up. Next time, we'll finish Crossbone Isle and beat the game's toughest boss in this LP's penultimate chapter. I might also include some level grinding or something since that shouldn't take too long. Or if you guys have suggestions, I'll take them.
Also, this would be the time for you all to chime in with your endgame class suggestions. As of now, I've got Samurai and White Mage down. What shall the others be? Alternately, if you'd like me to change those, speak now or forever hold your peace.
I'm going to finally do something I'd promised Terrendos I'd do literally over half a year ago, and start offering some supplementary information on some of the various game mechanics. Yeah, I procrastinate, that's why I'm not doing any lps myself.
spoiled for wordswordswords
Since it's an appropriate time, I think I'll start by talking about why the Gaia Blade is the best weapon in the game by far(as mentioned, some people think Kikuichimonji is better, but it's ability is unreliable.) That specific reason is simply that it's an elemental weapon.
Now, I hear you saying "But Mars, don't all the special weapons do elemental damage when they unleash?". To which I respond "Well, kid, if you'd shut the fuck up and let me SPEAK, maybe I'll get a chance to explain it!".
Ahem, anyway, the special thing about elemental weapons is that EVERY basic attack they make is elemental. And in so being, that means every attack is thus modified by the character's power in that particular element. So in the Gaia Blade's case, it's obviously Earth element, so Isaac has a natural edge with it. Toss a bunch of Venus djinn on him, get Ivan to buff him up a bit, and he can handle essentially any enemy without using a point of PP. God help the enemy if they're weak to earth. Granted, this does have the effect of lowering the damage against earth enemies, but since it's still getting Isaac's Venus bonus, it evens out in the end anyway.
Now, this is naturally a bit confusing to any new player, as the game never actually mentions this special property. Most people just notice that certain weapons seem to be unnaturally powerful and just roll with it. There is one little secret to discovering these uber-weapons, and that lies in the Status/Inventory screen. Not the ACTUAL inventory, but rather one of the pages to flip through when on the status screen.
That little orb right there.(thanks for the picture, Terr)
Now, if you remember 10+ updates ago, or if you've played the game yourself, there might be a little light going off in your head. The Elven Rapier, a.k.a. "That sword that turns Ivan into a murder machine for a good 1/3 of the game" gets a Jupiter bonus, and it's a pretty significant boost that early in the game. That thing can carry you through most boss fights early on, and that little, easily overlooked orb is why.
Camelot also made the amazing Golden Sun. Dark Dawn ended on a massive cliffhanger. Any plans to tell us what happens next? Don’t keep us hanging!
HT - I’m very pleased that you enjoyed Dark Dawn. RPGs take a very long time to make and need a lot of effort. As you will appreciate if you have played the game, the number of ideas that went into the story was rather substantial. When writing a story like that for a Golden Sun game, I really feel like I am pouring my soul into it and when I am finished, I always feel really drained. Everyone else working on the project also really devoted themselves to it, treating it like their life’s work. So it really is a huge encouragement to us to get a positive reaction from the people who play the game.
A big reason for us making RPGs comes from the requests from all the people who have enjoyed our RPGs in the past. Perhaps if there are enough Nintendo users asking for another game in the Golden Sun series, then this will naturally lead to the development of such a game.
Speaking personally from the perspective of the story, I think that honestly it may not be so likely because Golden Sun really requires a full effort to be put in. But of course, if there are enough people saying that we really must create another game, then we may just have to listen to them. Still, you would need to give me a bit of time to work on ideas for the story before we could release a fourth game in the series.
So they currently don't have plans for a fourth game, even though Dark Dawn was only the first part of a new story? I have a feeling that the game must have bombed.
I'm not sure I even want a sequel though. I was not a fan of Dark Dawn.
Posts
Wikipedia, at least, agrees with me:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic-era_warships
Scroll down to "oaring system."
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! Last time, we battled a kraken and landed on a magic and mysterious island.
And then I died to these guys.
For the sake of self-loathing, I decided to give it one more of the old college tries.
I did better than expected.
Unfortunately, the current Djinn setup means I don't have anyone who can cast Revive, so if a character goes down, I have to rely on the 50/50 chance of revival from Quartz. That said, it took me 4 uses of Quartz to get Garet and Mia back up.
A couple 4th level summons was all it took to finish off the second Gryphon.
That kind of reward is what I'd call "not worth it."
Especially since this is the room behind those monsters.
If you stand on the tan region, the statues will move to block you from moving forward.
This one in particular is a pain.
We'll have to come back once we've got some new Psynergy. How, you ask? How can we return to an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea?
Patience, Grasshopper.
Anyway, that's as far as we can go here.
So we leave!
Captain Santa Claus! Away team reporting back! No intelligent life here!
(Yes) As thoroughly as is reasonably possible I mean.
(Yes) I only died once though. Considering how much I loathe most of you people, I'm inclined to tell you that it's safe. Especially Gilligan. Let's leave him here.
If you really want to die, then be my guest.
Yes, this is precisely what I want to happen.
: There's no need for that. We figured out the course to Tolbi.
: Let's go to Tolbi before the sea gets any rougher. Tell our tourists they can enjoy a nice, long break after we arrive.
Green Guide: It's too late... Nothing we can say will calm them down.
: If we hurry, we can make it to Colosso in time.
Green Guide: I see! If we can get them to Colosso, they'll all be happy.
: All right then, go and tell the tourists.
: It's not much farther. I'll ask the oarsmen to work 'til the very end.
We follow Kaja belowdecks to talk to the oarsmen.
: We've strayed off course because the left team's timing is off. One last push should get us there. Give it all you've got, people! All right! Let's aim for Tolbi and set off one last time!
Man, I told you to leave Gilligan!
And we're a-sailin'.
: Hey, I can see land!
: It looks like we made it!
And now we get some final words from those chumps who were stuck with rowing.
I don't think that's how it works, little lady. I expect you'll be sore tomorrow though. Staying down there in the dark with all those sweaty men.
I'm a terrible person.
Kaja walks up to address us after they leave.
: Thanks for all your hard work. Your efforts got this ship to shore. I thank you again. Hurry, everyone! Colosso is already underway in Tolbi! You'd better get moving to Tolbi, too.
(Yes) Shut up Gilligan.
Six people, huh? That sounds about the right number for Team Jerkface + Team Afterthought. Perhaps they didn't cause the landslide after all.
The guy in the yellow bandana confirms that a strange group sailed on to Tolbi before us.
We've arrived at Tolbi Docks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq0JPMmyDrI
It's the same old music, but I figure you guys deserve it.
Sounds like we won't be getting to Crossbone Isle that way again. Or back to Kalay, for that matter.
What a payday. Seriously though, programmers, awarding us paltry sums of coin for our persistent Revealing is just mean. 36 coins is, like, a couple of Herbs.
Oh yeah, I remember that lady.
She had a message for you.
That's because-
(Yes) Take your stupid message and leave me be!
Naturally, we don't get a reward of any kind.
More incredulous idiots. I'm beginning to think that this world isn't worth saving.
I'm switching my Djinn back to default positions for now because I really want to have Revive. It's a 15 PP move that Isaac learns, and as you'd probably guess, it revives a fallen party member without worrying about the sketchy Quartz or expensive Water of Life.
There's a chest here, but getting to it is almost trivial. Just Move the boxes from the other side of the fence so that you can jump across.
Another Potion, nothing special.
More confirmation that we ain't going on any more boats this game.
And we finally make it to Tolbi!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Om1m_WlORY
What's there to do in Tolbi? What isn't there to do in Tolbi?
Even the kids here are loaded.
Sounds like... have I actually arrived too late? Did I miss the Inevitable Tournament? Holy mother of the Elements, we've come to a place where they're all talking about a tournament and we won't get sucked into participating! This must be some kind of absurd miracle!
Let's celebrate by burning all our cash on sweet loot.
I alchemize 5400 coins into a Frost Wand for Mia. She allocates it to her Strife Specibus, "Wandkind."
I buy some more mundane armor upgrades and such for the rest of the group.
Another of these consarndit Lucky Medals! They're from Tolbi, aren't they? Then what are they for?
We'll find out soon.
First though, I head around this side of the entrance. It's sneaky sneaky.
Use Growth on this vine, as we always do.
And then Frost this puddle.
Now we can cross over to that little strip of land.
And we find us a Mars Djinni back there!
Ember is kind of lame. He restores the party's PP when used, but I don't use Psynergy for much besides healing, so it's not that useful. If you really dig using Psynergy though, I guess he could be kind of handy.
Well that sucks. Where's a guy supposed to get some shuteye around here and heal up all our stab wounds and gryphon injuries?
Okay so the real deal is that Tolbi is basically Vegas. There's gambling all over the place, there's a seedy underbelly, and what happens in Tolbi generally stays in Tolbi. Also, it was the setting of a popular Weyard comedy from a few years back, wherein a group of guys get drugged during their friend's bachelor party and try to track him down on the day before the wedding. I forget what it was called... the Dangleover? Something like that.
This game is pretty simple. Roll the dice. Check where they land. If any combination of dice rolls and landing regions match, you win money.
I'm not very good at this game, but I have a feeling that it's dominated by the RNG anyway.
(Yes) Sounds like more gambling, and I'm always up for gambling!
Welcome to Tolbi Spring!
This game is simple. You chuck Lucky Medals and coins into the fountain, aiming for the center of the target. The closer you get, the better your reward. Tossing coins just nets you more coins, but... tossing Lucky Medals gets you rare items.
Gotta watch out for the turtles and crabs, though. If you hit one with the Medal, it'll throw off your aim.
Oddly enough, it's actually not that tricky to hit the center. But if you want to get all the items, you actually have to hit the concentric rings, which is much more difficult. Let me know if there's anything specific you want me to get here next time. I've got a half dozen Medals or so left.
Isaac and Garet got Earth Shields, and I gave the Assassin's Blade to Isaac.
(Yup) World record is like 117 or something, right? I don't actually care enough to check.
Sounds like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons. By the way, does that rock in the middle of the graveyard look odd?
Man, I don't know... do I really want to eat food that I found in an invisible box in the middle of a graveyard?
On with the plot!
Uh oh, it's the fuzz. Busted.
I swear, officers, I didn't know the bread belonged to anyone!
Hmm....
Doesn't remind me of anyone....
(No) I haven't seen him.
They go back the way they came, leaving me dumbstruck. I guess they weren't going to ask around the rest of the town?
Is that what I'm reduced to? I manage to escape being forced to enter this stupid tournament, and now if I want to have a bed to sleep on, I'll have to pretend that I'm actually in the tournament? Oh cruel, cruel Fate!
Well, at least it's a place to sleep.
(Yes) Better heal up as soon as possible. Don't know when some more incompetent idiots are going to accuse me of something or enlist me in doing something stupid.
The group separates, and then spends something like 45 seconds of out-of-game time saying goodnight. I'm not going to inflict that on you.
And we're off.
Hmm... this looks important.
Altmiller Cave? Well, it's mentioned, so it must be our next destination.
Is that Abraham Lincoln?
: Inconceivable? Is that what you were going to say?
Well no, but now that you've brought it up....
You've fallen victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous of which is "Never get involved in a land war in Angara" but only slightly less well-known is this: "Never go in against an Adept when death is on the line!"
To answer your next question, no, the rest of this episode won't be me quoting Princess Bride. I'm sure I'll work it into a future update though.
Well we're definitely going there. Anyone? Got a list of the "evil" places we've been? Evil forest, evil desert, evil sea, evil island, we're about due for an evil cave.
: I'm aware of Altmiller Cave's... eccentricities.
: Lord Babi has left in secret before....
: I followed Lord Babi once... I was certain he had gone into Altmiller Cave...
These guards are either super enthralled by this news... or really uncomfortable. I'm reading it as the latter in my head.
: Once he entered the cave, Lord Babi vanished before my very eyes.
: After he entered the mouth of the cave, I followed him... but he had vanished, leaving no trace. I tried following him several times after that. Each time, he vanished within seconds of entering the cave's mouth.
Well... that kinda sounds like some form of Psynergy, doesn't it? It's basically the exact opposite of Reveal.
: No. This time is different. Something puzzles me...
: It is certainly strange that Lord Babi should go right before Colosso. But there's something else...
: Lord Babi's bedding was not disturbed this morning.
That means he was hovering above it last night what do you think it means it means he didn't go to bed last night you nitwit.
: Last night, Lord Babi did not use his bed. That is the problem. Lord Babi has, in fact, been missing since last night. And that is why I am so worried. He has never done this before.
The writers/translators here really do need some serious editing. I waver a lot between fixing their errors in these transcript (as I am wont to do) and leaving them as a testament to the people who made the game.
: Speak no such foolishness! I am sure Lord Babi is alive and well somewhere!
: I will go to the colosseum in Lord Babi's stead. You must find him...
Man, this dude must be paying you guys well.
: Lord Babi, where have you gone?
I take it back. This guy is no Lincoln, he's just Mr. Smithers.
This whole "missing leader" thing has made me really tense. You know what might help?
More gambling!
And now we learn what those stupid tickets we've been collecting are for!
Don't ask me how people with technology so backwards they can't figure out what a sail does can manage to have a working slot machine.
This game is actually kind of special, because it's the only way I know of to get certain rare items. Specifically, you can win different Shoes, Shirts, and Jewelry <insert joke about how Alex would love it here> that can be worn in addition to normal armor and have stacking bonuses.
Basically, you need to line up a row of 5 of whatever you want to win. The little Boot means shoes, etc. The crescent moon shape will take the place of anything. You roll, then you can pick reels to keep stopped and spin the rest, so it's kind of like Yahtzee too I guess. You've got 5 total rolls to isolate your 5-of-a-kind pair.
I should also mention that I'm actually terrible at this game. I don't know why.
I did score me some sweet Fur Boots, though. I'll probably play this one some more later, because there's one item in particular that I really need to get.
We'll be back to Tolbi before too long. Head Northwest from here and cross some bridges, and you'll soon find Altmiller Cave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q_ZssG3GOE
As you move forward, it gets progressively darker. Typically, this is where I pull out my HM Slave and make him cast Flash so I can move through the place as efficiently as possible. Sadly, that's the wrong game.
Foul Dirge appeared! Terrendos's Isaac used SWORD TO THE HEAD! It's Super Effective! Enemy Foul Dirge fainted!
Terrendos's Isaac has reached level 19! Isaac learned REVIVE!
Sweet mama that is a useful spell to have.
Yup, it's now pitch black. By the way, Altmiller Cave is what I like to call "a huge dick." Whenever you see what looks like an easy path between you and your goal hidden by only the barest little dark area, you will invariably find the path blocked, and be forced to take a circuitous route around.
This is a Clay Gargoyle. They can use Spire. Spire hurts. Kill them before they use Spire.
Hmm... an easily accessible chest! Surely it's not a Mimic!
Yeah... I was getting kind of sick of these guys so I just burned him down really fast.
Can't complain about the rewards though.
Hey, what's that?
That's it. Garet, give your Captain Obvious badge to Ivan for the rest of the day.
: Wrapped in Psynergetic light... who could it be?
: You know about Psynergy? And you can see me?
: Come on, mister! Don't hide--show yourself!
: Even if I wanted to show myself... As you can see, I cannot move.
: What do you mean, "as you can see"? You're invisible!
No, Ivan. No. You haven't earned the right to make bad jokes. We barely tolerate your insufferable know-it-all smarty pants uselessness as it is.
: Oh... That's right.
: You say you can't move... What happened?
: Hmmm, yes. I ran out of my draught and collapsed here.
: Draught? Exactly what kind of draught is it?
Well apparently it lets him move.
: You couldn't even begin to comprehend if I tried to tell you. *Cough.*
: You seem to be in a lot of pain. Your life depends on that draught, huh?
: It does. Could you do me a favor?
: A favor? What is it?
: I'd like you to get my draught for me.
: Get it? Where is it?
: Deep in this cave...
: What, is there a pharmacy down there?
I don't think she was being witty, dude, I think she's actually that stupid.
(Yes) I mean it's pretty obvious that you're Babi, since none of those other chumps can see Psynergy.
What are you saying, Garet? You think it's possible that this game is actually going to fake us out with some invisible human-shaped monster that happens to be in a situation that could explain where an NPC with a portrait has been? You're really overestimating the complexity of the plot here.
: He said he couldn't move even if he wanted to, right? Someone is in trouble! It's only natural to want to help.
: I agree with Ivan--whoever he is, he needs our help.
: Fine! Okay! We should help people in need. Is that better!?
Garet gives up too easily.
: Will you get it for me?!
: What do we have to do to get your draught?
: First, you'll have to go deep into the cave. You'll find five rocks sticking up out of the group. Rotate the rocks on the left and right sides. When you turn the rocks in the right order, five colored lights will appear.
: Colored lights!? This sounds weird.
Do I need to remind you about Mercury Lighthouse and the crazy reverse waterfall? Or how about the dragon statue that shot real fire and revealed shadows of an invisible walkway? Or perhaps the invisible ponds of water in the midst of a scorching desert that we needed magic powers to spot?
: That's right. Lights will appear on the wall. There will be five colors: blue, green, white, yellow, and red. Turn the five rocks in accordance with those colors.
: Riiight...Spin the rocks in accordance with the color of the light...
And Garet is skeptical too? Do these people actually remember their journey so far? The living statues that spewed infinite water?
: The blue light corresponds to the rock farthest to the left. In order, the other rocks are green, white, yellow, and red. When you see the light, rotate the corresponding rock.
: So, in order, left to right, the colors are blue, green, white, yellow, red?
: Correct. If you do this correctly, a hidden door will open.
It's funny; I have a pretty bad memory for this kind of thing, so I usually have to write stuff like this down. But since I took the screencap, I could just keep that open as a handy reference!
: A door? Somewhere deep in a cave? Who put it there?
: An ancient civilization, long since vanished. Ohhh! Please hurry!
: He seems to be in a lot of pain. We'd better find that cave, Isaac.
No time to waste! By which I mean... he's not going anywhere, we can feel free to kill some time if we like.
Good thing you told me, I'd have never thought to look there.
Directly above you can see the way I came. Directly East is the door to which I must go.
But wait! This place is a huge dick! We have to take the longest possible route; the other three are all blocked off in various ways.
Fortunately, most of the enemies here are pretty easy. Just watch out for the Golems, because they can pack a wallop. If your whole team attacks one, it should go down before it can attack.
Oh thank goodness we're finally free.
Just in time for some more log rolling puzzles, this time for a clearly-visible Jupiter Djinni over there.
Make sure you push this pillar off the edge first, so you can leave.
Maneuver the cylinders into this position, then Frost the puddle.
Then push them like so.
Last, push this one down just one step so that you can access the Djinni.
This one we'll need to fight.
I'd suggest that you burn it down, but it's weak to Venus Psynergy, so just engage Ragnarok Protocol.
Joined Mia? Uh oh.
Whoopsies, looks like I need to find me another Mercury Djinni. No fear, there's one more closeby. If I set this Jupiter Djinn on Mia, it'll reset her class for some stupid reason.
Once more into the darkness then.
Dead end.
Dangit!
You know what, screw you.
Oh yeah, there's these guys too. They have the AoE attack Fire Blessing, seen above, and it can do moderate damage. The real pain is when you get a party of two of them and they both use it. That's at least a Wish or more to bring everyone back to full.
Hey, got a proc from Mia's new wand.
There's another rolling puzzle but this one is really trivial. It's literally one log you need to move.
Well, this looks like the place.
Rotate the leftmost rock, then the rightmost rock to activate the device.
Red, huh?
White now?
Center rock it is.
And red.
Well that was easy.
Hello, I'm here to pick up a prescription for one... "magic draught..." ugh I need to stop trusting invisible people who want drugs.
Hmm... well all I could find was this "Mystic Draught." I guess I'll take it back to the talking shadow and see if that'll work.
I'm actually going to end the chapter here. I know it's a bit shorter than usual, and a bit of an odd place to end it, but if memory serves, there's a really long scene when we get back to the shadowy figure. So join us next time, when we'll deliver the Draught, be revered as heroes, and definitely won't be forced into that god-awful fool's errand tournament called Colosso.
It just makes sense for my ocd habit :P
Welcome back to Let's Play Golden Sun! Sorry for the long break, but I was Me Playing a game called Skyward Sword over the last week or so, and combined with American Thanksgiving I was a little busy. Regardless, let's get back into it! Last time, we discovered Ancient Gambling and we found an invisible... thing. Then we went to the Pharmacy at the Bottom of the Cave (the rarely-mentioned sequel to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)
Right, there we are. We've got the magic medicine and we're going to go deliver it to the invisible guy and hopefully get rewarded!
But first we have to fight our way out of this stupid cave. I know what you're thinking: "Terrendos, why don't you just use your Retreat Psynergy?" Well if I did that I'd have to go back inside to find the guy, and even if that would be a little bit shorter, I could use the experience anyway. The more random things I kill, the less chance there is of me having to do any level grinding before the final boss.
So that Assassin's Blade I got from the Tolbi Spring? Turns out it has a chance to insta-kill things. I don't think it has ever procced for me on a boss fight, but I'm assuming that it doesn't affect them.
Yup, gotta watch out for those stalactites. My teacher always said "stalactites hold tight to the ceiling" and I never forgot.
Found a Cookie in this treasure chest, it's the only one worth opening. Cookie boosts PP, but I gave it to Isaac anyway because duh.
Dude could use a bit more PP.
The other chest is a Vial, by the way. Don't bother with it.
We hand him the draught and then it's cutscene time.
Well, whatever it is, it's standing up now.
*gasp* It... it couldn't be!
Yeah it's Babi. Big surprise. Let's have some music!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IiEIx3WFcs
: Look! It's a man!
: What are you talking about? What did you expect?
He thought it was a chick? Instead, it's just a creepy old man.
: Well, I mean, we couldn't see who was talking...
(No) I mean this is about the most obvious twist ever.
: You must be well traveled indeed if that didn't shock you.
: How did you become paralyzed while you were invisible?
: And that ability to conceal yourself... Are you an Adept?
: An Adept? What are you talking about?
: You used Psynergy to conceal yourself, didn't you? Only an Adept could do that.
: Oh, um... Yes, I was using Psynergy to conceal myself...
This conversation is going to be like pulling teeth.
: Something in his tale doesn't sound right... I shall peer into his heart.
Wow, that might actually be helpful! Thank you, Ivan!
I didn't get a good capture of it, but Ivan jumps backward in surprise.
: What's the matter, Ivan?
: This is Babi, the ruler of Tolbi! And that WASN'T Psynergy he was using to conceal himself... It was the power of an ancient civilization!
That is it! I am fed up with these monkey-fighting magic powers from these Monday-to-Friday ancient civilizations!
: I said nothing of the kind! How can you know that? So, I guess that would make you Adepts... Does that mean... Have I finally found true Lemurians!?
Lemuriwho?
: That's what I've been saying! We're Adepts... But what's Lemuria?
Oh no. Oh no. I'm as clueless as Garet about something! Noooooo!
: Yes, what is this "Lemuria"?
: What? You're Adepts... but not Lemurians? So I was wrong...
: Are you searching for these Lemurians, Babi?
: Babi, you're the ruler of Tolbi... You can have anything you want. Why would you want to find these Lemurians?
: Even the ruler of Tolbi has his limitations. Every year, I grow older and more frail... This body's had it.
: And you regret growing older?
: I understand your desire to remain young, but there's nothing anyone can do about it.
Having played the recent DS sequel Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, I find aspects of this conversation highly amusing. Suffice it to say that immortality isn't exactly difficult to come by for this particular group of Adepts.
(Yes) I remember everything about everything. Just uhh... fill me in on what exactly you're talking about.
Oh, yeah. That. Kraden said that, but do you really trust that old codger? I'm reasonably sure he's to blame for basically everything.
(Yes) Though I'm probably going to regret saying that.
Oh look, it's two of the incompetent guards that were searching for Babi earlier.
: No, it's not that.
: I have my reasons....
Sounds like Babi's keeping a tight lid on the secret of his success. Not that I blame him. Sure these guards are probably super loyal, but if you knew where to go to get Magic Life Extendy Potion wouldn't you want some too?
: I did not mean to cause anyone any undue concern.
"It's okay, we just figured it was the Alzheimer's kicking in again."
: The trials have already ended?
That means that we can't possibly be entered in Colosso! Hooray! We can just sit and watch the slaughter like normal people! Maybe Babi can give us box seats!
: I had an important errand, but it has been taken care of.
See, these guys really need a grammar editor.
: I must speak more with these people.
I imagine this to be spoken as disdainfully as possible.
: I owe my life to them.
That's right, fools! Now crawl at my feet before a giant magic swords plows through thy skull!
Reward? That sounds good. Seats at Colosso would be great for a start, and then... we're kinda on this big important mission. If you'd devote a couple platoons of these stupid soldiers into our employ, I'm sure we could find a use for them.
: Oh, I see... If that's what we have to do, then... I have not heard your names yet.
: I'm Garet. This is Isaac.
: I am Ivan.
: My name is Mia.
: Come see me at my palace once the finals have ended. I would like to speak with you further. Say, I have an idea... Why don't you enter the finals? You have some interesting powers.
!
No!
No no no no!
No no no no no no no!
Noooooooooooooooooooo!
*faint hope*
: And you don't think that saving my life qualifies as a suitable trial? I look forward to seeing you battle!
: He's asking us to appear in Colosso, isn't he?
: Is he serious?
: He wants to see us fight using our Psynergy... That's what it is.
(No) Could it possibly be a way out?
: You don't want to either, do you?
: Either way, we're stuck here in Tolbi until Colosso is over.
: Babi said that he wanted to talk to us, didn't he?
: He seemed to know Kraden.
: What could be the connection between Lemuria and Adepts?
: I suspect he knows quite a bit about what's going on with us.
: I guess all we can do is wait around until Colosso is over... I hate just waiting around...
(No) Screw you, Garet. I'm not getting myself killed just to satiate your bloodlust. We could use a vacation anyway.
: What? Don't let me down like this!
: I guess we'll just wait until we reach Tolbi and let Isaac decide there.
Don't be fooled, I know it sounds like we have a choice, but we don't. The story won't progress until we compete in Colosso.
I resolve a bit of my anger towards this game in the usual way: Ragnarok Protocol.
Hey, at least I got a level.
Let's get out of this god-forsaken hellhole.
Got two little things to take care of before we head back to Tolbi. First, this one:
Head over in this direction (you can actually see Altmiller Cave up there) and then cross the bridge at the far left and walk around a bit.
Yup, it's a Mercury Djinni. I should actually have picked this one up before the cave, but it doesn't make that much difference.
Hail Prism is one of the more powerful Mercury Psynergies, and it actually does pretty substantial damage to us here. In retrospect, probably should have put a Psynergy seal on the stupid thing.
It's still not that hard to kill.
Gotta rearrange my Djinn a bit.
Ivan here has now reached the Magister class. It confers no new Psynergy, but it's a pretty decent stat boost.
For the other thing, we have to head East. Move along the Northern edge of the Karagol Sea, and eventually you'll come back to a place we've been before.
Lookie there!
And that's how we get that Djinni.
Isaac is now a Lord, and, like Ivan, gets no new Psynergy but a substantial stat boost. That's what's really important here.
We're done, back to Tolbi.
Screw you.
Okay so a did a bunch of Lucky Wheeling. Got a bunch of new stuff, too much to really bother you all with.
Isaac got a nice pair of boots and a sweet undershirt though.
Gave Mia a few upgrades too.
Might as well get this over with.
Hey, I wonder if I can gamble on my own victory? Wouldn't that be interesting?
Oh snap oh snap oh snap!
(Yes)
Uhh.... (No)?
Ffffffffff...
Okay, I give up. Let's get this train wreck over with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peYmM8r1Vzw
Yes, I know, I know, I'm the hero, it's me.
Sounds like somebody wants to die. You think I'd hesitate to murder you, minion? You don't even have a face!
No, putting me in the finals is an insult to me. You think I can't murder any ordinary man you throw at me?
Thank you.
(Yup) Might as well, can't progress with the story any other way.
Oh, by the way, if you refuse to acknowledge that you're Isaac and outright refuse to participate in Colosso, you will eventually hear this little gem:
That's right, Ivan actually puts Garet in charge to force you to participate. Talk about desperate.
Return of the Sepia Tone. This time, they're explaining that Isaac must battle alone.
: Huh? Isaac's the only one entering the finals?
: But why Isaac?
Naturally, Babi spotted my talent.
: But I wanted to enter, too!
: I guess all you can do... is get it over with, Isaac.
This has been my opinion since the beginning. Where were you?
: I know you want to enter, too, Garet, but there's nothing we can do.
: This is crazy! Isaac won't survive against those Colosso warriors!
: If Isaac wants to win, he'll have to use Psynergy.
: Well, Babi does seem very interested in his Psynergy...
: Even so, how's he supposed to use it here?
You're right, Garet. I'm supposed to murder someone, how could magic powers that let me kill things more easily possibly help?
: What did Babi say we're supposed to do while Isaac is competing?
Great, my friends get floor seats to me decapitating helpless idiots.
Yeah... thanks.
: Umm, can't Isaac go to see the finals stages, too?
(Yes) Well, I should definitely be allowed to see the field I'm killing on, right?
: Come on, you can make another exception, can't you?
Even the game is acknowledging its own redundancy now.
About bloody time.
Okay so... I'm going to skip the super long and boring conversation that takes place next, because I think I can explain it faster and better. Basically, each round is an obstacle course. I'll have to move pillars, jump around, roll logs and the like to get across. There will also be treasure chests with healing items inside that I can pick up. The thing is, I lose all my good gear when I enter, and I'm stuck with the most basic equipment (cotton shirt, short sword, etc.) until I pick more up. The ring is at the end of the obstacle course, and has two pieces of equipment:
My opponent will be running the obstacle course too. The first person to the arena gets the better equipment, which will carry on to the subsequent rounds. Then we battle it out, and the winner moves on. There are 7 other contestants, so that means 3 total rounds.
And now the really important thing: the rest of my team.
For example, look at this part of the obstacle course. Here, Isaac would have to push that top pillar really far. But if someone down below were to move the bottom pillar a bit, he wouldn't have to move anything. That's where the rest of the group comes in. I can pick places for members of my party to cheer, and before the match, they get the chance to use a single Psynergy move to influence the arena.
So that was the first course, and I naturally picked Garet to go there to move that pillar.
For this one, you have to move the pipes to fill the spout and cross the gap.
Or you can let whoever's got the Douse Drop fill it for you.
Those bridges open and close, and require timing Isaac's running to cross. If I had someone with Growth, I could put him or her there, but I don't, and this one is easy, so meh.
This one's pretty much trivial, as long as you don't care about the treasure (which you probably shouldn't). Nobody can contribute here, so moving on.
That's the last place though, so I just put Mia there since she has to go somewhere.
Okay, let's go.
You can see the little drawn-in circle where Isaac needs to stand.
Guess who's our first target?
(Yup)
And Isaac rides off to battle.
I have Garet move the pillar, as I mentioned.
Ivan uses Douse on the little cup.
Mia does nothing. What a chump.
Thanks to the team, the first two parts are trivial. That lets me snag a Nut from a chest (woohoo...).
If you want the chest in the third round, this is how you do it.
Told you you wouldn't want to bother with the chests.
Without much trouble, I make it there far ahead of my chump competition.
I wonder what tactic I'll use fir-SWORDTOTHEHEAD
Yeah, that was easy.
Expect nothing less.
Now they're all practically prostrating themselves before me. I guess they're finally taking my death threats seriously.
And now we do it again!
Second verse, same as the first! The obstacles are different, and there's an additional room, but otherwise it's the same thing. Pick someone to use Psynergy to clear Isaac's path.
This is just a maze. Nothing I can do.
These tiles float back and forth; I have to time my jumping to get across as quickly as possible. Again, not much I can do.
This is the aptly-named Log-Rolling Stage. Blocked by the text block are a pair of puddles that can be Frosted, so this looks like the prime place to put Mia.
Ah, here's a picture where you can just barely see them.
I didn't get a picture of one here that's missing, and unfortunately it's where I put Garet. It's pretty trivial, and I didn't get any good pictures of it. Basically, you climb a wall and slide down one of three different slides. If you're lucky (read: if you looked at it during the explanation and remembered the correct choice) then you can just slide down and move on first try.
Apologies for that, but this is, after all, a timed event.
The Board Walk is last.
This bit is immediately below. If you have someone with the Force Orb here, they can knock over that log and shorten this stage a whole lot.
This is the only real shot I have of The Slides. I gave Garet one of my Venus Djinn to teach him Growth on the off chance that he could reach that plant from the stage, but he can't. Oh well, I already had the way memorized.
Ivan chips in.
And Mia gives me another shortcut.
No, I don't bother with that chest. It's probably a Smoke Bomb or something similarly worthless.
Mia's shortcut comes in quite handy.
Ivan's too.
Oh yeah, I got the Chain Mail. That's almost as good as the armor Isaac's supposed to be wearing. It does seem a little unfair that these gladiator guys have their huge armor on already, though.
This won't take long.
Another couple Djinn, and then it's time for Judgment.
He survives, but just barely.
All it takes is a basic attack to finish him off.
FINISH HIM!
What are you guys, my cheerleaders?
Let's do it one more time.
More scales. Just gotta freeze the water underneath the one to lift the other, no prob.
Pillar maze. Garet can Move the only mobile pillar to make a shortcut.
Those pistons move in and out. Just gotta time your movement so as not to get knocked off.
Basically just a wall to climb. If I wanted to make Isaac a Berserker I could make this faster by using Growth, but ehh I like being able to heal myself. (Yes I'm aware that's what the Nuts are for shut up)
It's a conveyor belt. See the log? Use Force on it to jam up the machine and give Isaac an edge.
Gotta move these pillars to get the log across to the other side. Nobody can help me with this one.
So Garet goes here...
...Mia goes here...
...and Ivan goes here.
Garet Moves the pillar for me.
Ivan jams the machine up something awful.
Mia does what she always does.
Even brute forcing this one isn't that bad. Remember, my chump combatant has to get through all these without help.
Dash across this now that it's busted.
Easy peezy.
I think the other guy gets a long sword.
Alright, Navampa. You're going down like the head cheerleader on Prom night (Oh snap!)
Ground, my newest Venus Djinni, basically stops an opponent for attacking once. This strikes me as incredibly useful once you're too good at this game for it to matter. Basically, some bosses that attack multiple times per turn have a fixed pattern of moves they make, and some are particularly devastating. If you knew when said boss was going to do one of its really brutal moves, you could conceivably stave it off by using Ground right before the boss uses that move, but you'd have to a) have the boss's move patterns memorized and b) appropriately fit the Djinni user's speed so that he uses Ground in the period of the round between the boss's last attack and the deadly one. Seems like it would be easier to just beat him.
Back to the match!
One thing to keep in mind with these guys if you're having a hard time, is to just not use Djinn. You'll keep your HP way up high and be better able to absorb hits than if you have them all on Standby. It may take a bit longer, but it's definitely safer that way.
I'm what you call "lazy."
Let's just say that wasn't the only Ragnarok I used on Navampa.
So long, chump. I'm sure we'll never see you again. Never ever.
Or will we?
Dun dun dun....
Yeah, take that you clown! Wait... why's the rest of my group up here?
what
Failure is not the only option
Then they all say "Isaac..." a bunch more times and I'm not transcribing that.
And then it turns out Isaac's asleep.
Thank you, Garet.
: He must be exhausted.
: Let's leave him to sleep for now.
Hey look, we're back at the surrogate inn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMfK2VIpqBw
: Huh?
: Colosso? Duh! That ended long ago!
(Yes) I recall the game cheating my out of my victory come on I was at like full health!
: Oh, gimme a break. You were out cold! You don't remember a thing!
Don't think I won't get out of this bed and choke you.
As well you should be.
: You fought brilliantly to the end, Isaac. Babi was singing your praises.
(Yes) I'm fine. I was fine when the battle ended CURSE YOU PLOT POWER!
: He'd better be all right, after sleeping this long. Sheesh!
: I'm sorry for shouting again.
: Babi said he wanted to see you when you came to, Isaac.
: If you're okay, shall we go see Babi?
: You're fine! Aren't you, Isaac?
Yes I'm fine, now get out of my way, you worthless tool.
I'm up.
: Are you sure you should be getting up so suddenly like that?
: He's fine. He doesn't want to lounge around all day!
: I see. Let's go see Babi then.
And that's the end of the chapter! Sorry these are taking long, but in a couple weeks I'll be done with classes and hopefully be a bit more free to update regularly.
See you next time, when we figure lots of important things out and finally get back to the plot! And then maybe we'll do something else too.
Also screw you character limit on posts here, for making me make such a short part 3 to this chapter.
i don't have time to catch up right now, but over the holidays i'll be back
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
Edit: Also, please let me know if you see any typos. I had a bit to drink as I wrote this so it's a possibility.
When we last left off, I was totally cheated out of my Colosso victory by the stupid cutscene. Then everyone said I should talk to Babi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0LAHE1kokk
Hey look, it's a statue of Babi!
Looks like Smithers is waiting for us too.
: I've been waiting here because I wanted to speak with you.
: It's hard to talk when you're so far away... Come over here.
: The battles at Colosso were spectacular!
: It was most rewarding to see Babi's favored warrior steal the day.
: Iodem, bring him the victor's prize.
: Yes, sir, right away.
Okay so technically it did register our win. But it might as well not have. The Lure Cap is completely worthless; it's weaker than the weakest helm on any character at this point, and it increases the chance of random battles. I guess conceivably it's useful if you want to do a bunch of level grinding, but otherwise... lame.
(Yes) I was fine, in fact I think I was at maximum health or darn close. Then the stupid game interrupted my touchdown dance.
: Ah, the recuperative powers of youth... and after such fierce battles!
: Who could expect less from the warriors who rescued me?
: Enough with the flattery. Let's get to the point: Why were we summoned?
: Such insolence! Who do you think you are, to speak to Babi so?
Garet knows he's the best friend of the most powerful being on this planet. He is rightly arrogant. You think I wouldn't do the same thing to you that I did to your guards?
: Let it be, Iodem. There are other ways to judge a man. What is it you said you were called?
: He's talking to you, Garet.
: That's right, Garet. We shall explain all.
: We intended to thank you and your companions for saving Babi, Isaac. But it would seem that gratitude is not enough...
Time for a tonal shift!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IiEIx3WFcs
: I have disclosed everything to Iodem.
: What do you mean by everything?
(Yes) Well you're gonna tell me anyway as it's plot-critical.
: Yes, indeed... Your desire is as plain as the day.
: I have just seen Psynergy for the first time... It is an awesome power...
: I used my Cloak Ball to show him Psynergy.
: No one else could see it, but I knew Isaac's tournament was strange. I thought it unlikely that you would fight using such power...
Excuse me? If you could throw a giant magical sword through the head of anyone who looked at you funny, you're telling me you wouldn't use it in battle?
: No need to be ashamed, Isaac. Psynergy is also a warrior's power. When I first learned of your power, I was shocked. I thought you might be Lemurians.
: You have mentioned Lemuria many times, Babi. What is it?
: It is the city of an ancient people, lying far out at sea.
: Many years ago, about the time of the great flood, Babi went to Lemuria.
This flood isn't ever really discussed, as far as I know. Considering that many of these catastrophic events are related to Psynergy, I wonder what it could be. It's way too far back to have been the first attack on Mt. Aleph. But his knowledge of Alchemy is limited enough that it seems unlikely for this to have been when the lighthouses were originally lit. Maybe it was just a normal flood?
: I see...
: The great flood struck while I was traveling with Lunpa.
: Lunpa... You mean Lunpa the thief?
Hey I know that name! Does this mean that Babi was also a thief? <insert wall street joke here>
: I know it is hard to believe... It happened a hundred years ago.
: You mean... those rumors about you are... true?
(No) If he had the Stone of Sages, wouldn't we have seen it in the cave, you dummy?
(No) You incompetent idiot! He's dependent upon that Mystical Draught we just fetched him good lord you are so stupid.
And that's why you don't make the group decisions. Except sometimes when you're kinda ruthless, that's the Garet we'll occasionally heed.
: So you've even heard of the Stone of Sages... I'm afraid I don't have it. It is the draught of Lemuria that has allowed me to live for so long.
: The draught of Lemuria?
: It is a magical draught once taken by those who lived in Lemuria.
: And just drinking stops you from aging?
: Is that what it does?
: Hmmm...It would be more accurate to say it slows the aging process. There is death in Lemuria... But it only comes to those whose senses have failed from centuries of use.
Wanna know a secret? The draught's just vodka. It's all placebo effect.
: Do the people of Lemuria use Psynergy, like we do?
: You have that draught, Babi... That's why you've lived so long. And become wealthy enough to rule Tolbi.
: What are you getting at?
: What is your purpose in making everyone study Alchemy?
: I'm starting to wonder myself. What do you hope to gain, Babi?
: Ah. If I had attained true immortality... There would be no need for all this research.
: I'm not sure I understand.
: I had precious little draught, and now I am running out. You all saw it. There was but little left in the cave...
: How long will it last? And what will happen when it runs out?
: It will run out any day now. And when it does, my life is at its end...
So naturally, he waited until now to start doing something about it. Screw the research into Alchemy, let's spend that R&D money on developing an aircraft and search the seas by air! But no, surely the ancient and mystical secrets of a highly advanced and isolated society can be unlocked by a bunch of grad students. Heck, spend it on a chemist to analyze the ingredients and reverse-engineer the chemical compound.
: Why didn't you tell us sooner? We must hurry to Lemuria!
: It is pointless...
: What on earth do you mean, pointless?
: We cannot find Lemuria.
: But you just said that it lies far out at sea... If we search the seas, we're sure to find it!
: I've sent so many ships in the past in search of Lemuria.
: This must have been before I joined you... But still you failed?
: I needed more Lemurian draught, but I couldn't find Lemuria.
: Why did you collapse in the cave if you still had more draught?
: I have been rationing it, but this time, I waited too long between drinks.
: You were trying to make it last longer...
: I overexerted myself trying to find Lemuria before it ran out.
: And your reason for calling us here has to do with Lemuria?
: Exactly. I want you to find Lemuria. I have not been able to locate Lemuria by sea, but perhaps by air...
: I can hide it no longer... I have built Babi Lighthouse to see if I can find Lemuria at sea.
I think we're supposed to have heard about Babi Lighthouse at this point, probably from those fiddly NPCs I keep skipping for the sake of length. Here's what you need to know:
1. There's a big lighthouse being constructed by Babi.
: What? That's why you're building the lighthouse?
: No, there's more to it than that. We've spotted something in the ocean southeast of the lighthouse... where Lemuria should be.
: Something dangerous, no doubt. What, monsters? We can handle 'em...
: That may be... However, something else troubles me more.
: What is it, my lord?
: No sailor has been able to keep his bearings at sea.
: You're kidding! You mean they can't even keep a straight course?
: Is there something that distorts distance or direction or something?
: The currents shift there, subtly changing a ship's direction. So the lighthouse will help the ships keep their bearings...
: So, how exactly did you get away from Lemuria after the flood, Babi?
: That is the thing, Garet! I crossed the sea in a Lemurian ship. I am hoping you can sail it...
: But why us, when you have so many powerful soldiers at your disposal?
: None of them have the ability to use Psynergy. One must have Psynergy to sail this ship!
(Yes) Well I mean, so far as we know, the definition of "Adept" is "a person who can use Psynergy" so yeah.
: That must be it. No normal person could use that Cloak Ball.
: I learned to use a little Psynergy during my stay in Lemuria. With that little I'd learned, I was able to guide the ship.
: In that case, perhaps... I could sail the ship...
: No. It must be an Adept.
: What should we do, Isaac? Will you do what he wants?
I'm going to go with "no."
: If you do, I will grant you whatever you wish.
: You shouldn't make vows you will later find you cannot keep...
: I haven't even considered my own wishes lately.
That's because you're the adopted son of a filthy rich merchant. Then again, maybe it's also because we're on a mission to save the world and that's a little more important than all the gold-plated hos money can buy.
On second thought....
: In that case, I could provide you with a wealth of items you might like.
(No) Not on your life, sport. We've got important world-saving duties to attend to. We didn't bother saving Ivan's sugar daddy, did we?
Thank you, Garet! For once, we're totally on the same page!
: The lighthouse!? Do you mean Venus Lighthouse?
: Well then, our paths are intertwined. I, too, must go to Venus Lighthouse.
: But we cannot get to the top of Venus Lighthouse, can we?
: These Adepts may be able to solve the riddle that blocks us.
: Ah, I see... The thought hadn't occurred to me.
: Isaac! You shall go to Venus Lighthouse with Iodem. Do not worry... You can take care of your own business first.
: I see... If they can solve the riddle of the lighthouse... then our own wishes will have been fulfilled. So, we can search for Lemuria after they complete their own quest...
(Yes) Fine, I'll help you, but only after we've put an end to all these shenanigans, hijinks, and tom foolery. In that order.
: Ah, you will undertake this quest! I am most grateful!
: In any case, you will need my assistance to reach the lighthouse. I'll make preparations so that I am ready to leave at any time. I take my leave now to make preparations.
: Then you can all meet at Gondowan Passage...
: That's a brilliant idea!
: One more thing. I'd like you to think about a suitable reward.
: Yes. I will take care of that immediately, as well. I shall be waiting for you at the passage.
Yeah, yeah, don't care. Gonna have me some gold-plated hos!
Let's go ask Mr. Burns if we can borrow it.
I see Babi's being attended by a butler that appears to be even older than he is.
Sweet! Girl's locker room, here I come!
(Yes) I mean seriously, you're a red blooded man, or at least you were before you became an old blue blood. I'm sure you had the same idea I just had.
: The Cloak Ball is very precious to me. I can't just give it away. But perhaps you could borrow it. Take it with you on your quest.
Alright, but this doesn't replace the gold plated hos or anything.
Just like basically every other magic Psynergy-granting item, it's going on Ivan. Dude's got PP for days.
Anyway, that's right. We're going to take this newfound skill, sneak into Lunpa, and finally rescue Bammet. Or uhh... what was his name again?
That's right, it was Hammet. Gonna rescue him. I know what you're thinking: "But Terrendos! You're a busy man! There's a world to save!" To which I would respond: "Yeah, but Hammet is rich. Also, there's a useful reward in it for us. Don't worry, the world will wait. We'll get to Venus Lighthouse in plenty of time to save the day."
That's odd. There was a girl here?
We actually missed the chance to speak with her, but don't worry. She doesn't say anything important.
I'm not exactly sure why there'd be trouble with her going home, unless... was she being held here against her will or something? Perhaps we'll find out more when we get to Lalivero.
Babi's palace also has this little hidden gem. This is where he keeps all his scholars that are studying alchemy to attempt to reproduce the Lemurian Draught. There's a couple of interesting things we'll learn here.
Wait a second. Are you suggesting that Babi Lighthouse is being constructed on top of Venus Ruins? (hint hint, important plot point) It's not an altogether uncommon idea, actually. In antiquity, buildings were often built upon the ruins of those that came before. In fact, I believe I recall reading that the city of Troy from such Greek epics as The Odyssey and The Illiad was discovered, but they were having trouble isolating which exact city was around at the time of that war because it was built on top of earlier cities, and later cities were built atop its ruins, until eventually the ground in the area shifted and submerged most of the city.
I could be wrong about that though. It's been at least 6 years since I read about it. Might not even have been Troy.
(Yes) Umm... yeah. We know that annoying old man who basically caused all our problems. Why?
Well isn't that interesting. Looks like Kraden was doing all his research for Babi in the first place! What a traitor! That means he was only interested in the Elemental Stars... for the crafting of the Stone of Sages... so that Babi could live forever!
In retrospect, Kraden is even more of a douchebag than I thought. I suppose it's possible that he was just using Babi for funding, and his interests in Alchemy were purely for the betterment of mankind, but... nah, gonna stick with "Kraden's a douchebag."
ROAD TRIP! We gotta get back to the other side of the Karagol. How's that done? Head Southeast from Tolbi, along the shore. Eventually you'll see that cave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q_ZssG3GOE
First off, Lift this boulder to progress.
The temptation to make a Planet of the Apes joke here was almost insurmountable. You're welcome.
Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty apes! I AM SO SORRY
There, Garet's level 20 now. Ivan and Mia will soon follow suit.
These are pretty much useless now.
But this isn't! Isaac eats the Apple and there is much rejoicing!
Oddly enough, Kobolds are pretty tough monsters in this game. Universally they're almost always weak and pathetic, to the extent that I'm surprised they don't have a page on TVTropes for me to link.
Here's what they usually look like. They're weak little reptilian dragon-worshipers, half a human's height. They're standard low level PC fodder in games like Dungeons and Dragons. The really funny thing is, kobolds are in this game's sequel as relatively weak creatures that the party fights at low level. Whether this is intended as a sort of continuity nod and everyone's levels have been re-scaled in the second game and everyone is super weak again, or it's just a mistake in terms of monster placement, or heck, it could just be a translation snafu from the localization team.
Man am I good at getting onto irrelevant tangents, huh?
This place is pretty much perfectly linear. Just keep going until you get here, then Move this thing outta the way.
Similarly, Move this pillar into the water and you're home free. This, by the way, is what kept us from coming this way when we first needed to get to Tolbi. Now we can get back and forth at will.
There we are, just south of Kalay.
But Kalay is not our destination: Lunpa is.
There we go.
(Yes) And I intend to force my way inside by any means necessary.
That door is made of wood. We're practically gods at this point. If Ivan can't breeze himself over it or Garet can't burn it down then- you know what, nevermind. Let's go.
This way!
The gate here is halfway open. Pressing the button will close it the rest of the way. But look! A puddle of water.
I think we all know how that one ended.
And we're inside Lunpa. Operation: Hot Father has begun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fInEJNRIocY
Easy Isaac... we're under cover. We're in Stealth Mode. Hit the Jackal Switch.
(Yes)
Whew. That was a close one, I almost broke under his rigorous interrogation!
Lame.
And here we have an invisible puddle. To answer your next question: No, I have no idea how it could look like a rock when I'm not using Reveal.
Who cares let's cross.
When we leave the Reveal circle, it returns to a rock. Not gonna question it.
We run around town (literally) until we end up here.
A switch behind the poster? Let's push it!
HO MAMA WE JUST HIT THE MOTHER LODE!
That was the lamest mother lode ever.
Uh oh, more suspicious characters!
(Yes) I'm his accountant, I have some questions about his pension checks.
Sounds like it's time to bust out the Cloak.
Two guards? I can handle two of your guards. Heck, have the whole force ride out to meet me. This'll be like Helm's Deep except inverted. Also the invading force will win.
Okay so I guess we don't want to kill these guys for some reason? Anyway, they've blocked the way, so we gotta leave and come back.
And... we want these people to live?
Okay let's do this. We'll remain cloaked until we step out of the shadows, in which case the spell will fail and we'll be completely visible.
And we're in.
As you can see, this place has lots of dark regions. We'll be using Cloak frequently in order to avoid guards. That's right, we've wandered into the stealth mission. And I know that above soundtrack says it's the Lunpa Fortress song. Don't buy it. Here's what you're supposed to be hearing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz91VMjgthk
Cloak past these guards. If they catch us, we'll get tossed out and have to try again.
This place is pretty maze-like, but it's not hard at all. There's no random battles (why would there be?) and Cloak is cheap, so even if you get lost, you're still probably going to be fine.
Most of these guys are stationary, but if they're blocking a path like this, it means you need to go around.
Early on, we run into this chump.
(Yes) Listen up, old man! I know you're hiding the merchant! Tell me where he is or you'll see what it's like walking without any kneecaps.
Really? What does your heart say?
Well then, that answers that question.
This guy here walks around a u-shaped loop. Make sure you're always watching him and it should be easy to stay out of the light.
Easy peezy.
This guy walks quickly back and forth with his bro. Just time your movement and hide in the little alcove when they get close.
Like so.
This is never explained, so far as I know. Apparently Dodonpa just keeps random women here? I mean, I'm thinking of a reason, but that would be pretty freakin' dark for this game.
Moving on.
oh no please don't attack me whatever will I do
You call yourself a thief and that's the best insult you've got? I am gonna enjoy murdering you so much.
Well at least they seem willing to admit that they're only going to slow us down. That's progress.
Terrifying.
That's what I thought.
For the record, the red guys can be fought. The green ones just capture you. No I don't know why Dodonpa color codes his guards but I suspect it's the kind of thieving that relies on victims walking into your town for you to capture them.
Another guard who actually knows he won't survive. I'm starting to like this place.
...yeah.
(Yes) I am the Ghost of Christmas Future, and I'm here to take over where Christmas Present left off, show Dodonpa his grave, and then chuck him inside. Except this won't be a dream.
Sadly, I'm afraid I've come to close his eyes. Permanently.
This guy just moves in a circle.
Done.
Huh, there's a key there. Probably opens this door... but how to get it?
Just use Catch.
Not even gonna bother showing him dead.
Down here, just Whirlwind that bush, use Reveal, and open the door.
Oh boy, and here I thought I was done with the puzzles.
There are in fact monsters here, so be prepared for random encounters.
Whirlwind here to unveil a door, behind which are a few cells. Inside one is a chest containing Power Bread.
Delicious.
Unlock this door, then push the crate within down.
Keep going...
...and going...
There. Now you can get across.
Again, Whirlwind/Reveal combo.
And here we are!
: These people... Are they friends of yours? Then it would appear your journey has begun, Ivan.
: I am a little late, but I have come to save you.
: You shouldn't have risked yourself, Ivan.
Uh oh.
: Dodonpa!
: Sorry to interrupt your teary little reunion, Hammet! This must be your little rat, Ivan--you always did claim he'd rescue you! Look at him. He's just a child! But to think these kids could get this far!
: Hey, yeah! If we're just kids, what does that make your pathetic thugs?
: What kind of scum takes ransom money and then doesn't free his hostage?
: I see. So, you've been extorting money from Layana, have you?
: Now that we've found Hammet, we'll be taking him home!
: I'm afraid I can't let you do that. Hammet is what I like to call my little money tree.
: You dirty scoundrel!
: Name-calling won't help you! I'm not giving Hammet up!
That's probably a bad sign.
Boss battle time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsvnpFLhpes
That's odd. But odder is how exactly this creature stays there. How does Dodonpa feed it? How did Dodonpa discover such a creature?
We never find out. I'd complain, but really it's not important and it would take this game three hours of in-game conversation to explain anyway.
: How did Dodonpa get trapped under the monster?
: He tried to pull another dirty trick on you! When Dodonpa saw his monster was losing, he tried to get behind you.
: Just a second longer, and you'd have been history!
: You dirty snake!
Ivan, you're operating under the assumption that he could possibly have hurt us. Considering how easily we curb-stomped his stupid toad, this is not something that was likely to happen.
: Dodonpa, you are rotten to the core!
: Yeah, OK! I'm SORRY! Now, get this thing off of me!
: "Get this thing off of me"!?
: I don't know. That thing looks awfully heavy for us kids to lift.
(No) I say we leave him there. He'll eventually get hungry, and then he'll have to eat his way out through rotting toad meat. I can think of few more fitting punishments.
: I agree. What do you think, Hammet?
Geez, never thought she'd agree to that one. Hell hath no fury, huh?
: I think we have to try, at least.
Yay teamwork. Note that "we try" means "everyone but me try" as Hammet sits there like a jerk.
: There. You should be able to get up now!
: I... I can't.
: Did you break your leg or something?
: It's not broken... I should be able to stand after a bit.
: Thank goodness...
: What do you mean, "thank goodness"!? Didn't he just try to kill us?
: Can't we just forgive and forget?
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
: Dodonpa kidnapped you, remember!?
: Oh, that's right...
: Get a grip, you guys!
Garet's the voice of reason in this group now? Seriously, did someone give him Ritalin or something?
: But Hammet is safe now, isn't he?
: Yeah, but do you really think Dodonpa will reform if Hammet forgives him?
: Hmm... I wonder... How about it, Dodonpa?
: He already said he wouldn't do anything!
: Of course, he's going to say that! He wants us to forgive him!
: What do you think we should do with him, Garet?
: We should lock him up here, just like he did to Hammet.
I much prefer the rotting toad feast solution but that's close enough.
: No! How can you be so cruel!
: Oh? And yet you have no problem being that cruel to Hammet!
(No) Rotting Toad Feast! Rotting Toad Feast!
Huh?
: Dad!
: Dodonpa... You pitiful wretch. I always told you that if you did evil to others... others would do evil to you. You must right all of the misdeeds you've done! I feel bad for spoiling you. Look at the trouble it has caused...
: See! It's all your fault that all this happened!
: Yes, which is why this is going to hurt you more than it does me!
: You're not serious, are you, Dad?
: I most certainly am! You're going to spend some time here thinking about all that you've done! Dodonpa has caused you all sorts of trouble, hasn't he?
: No, not at all!
: I must apologize deeply for all of this.
: Thank you, Donpa, but you do not need to apologize.
: Then you forgive me?
I didn't get a picture of it, but Hammet nods right here.
: I am sorry about the trouble, but I do have on request.
: A request?
: I don't know how you got in here, but please leave by the same means.
: Huh? Donpa, didn't you just say you're going to lock up Dodonpa?
: So we shouldn't have to sneak around, should we?
: Some of Dodonpa's henchmen are still loyal to him. I'm ashamed to say it, but they won't listen to any of my orders. This new gang of thieves will attack Hammet if they find him in the fortress. And they may come to check his cell, right?
So we murder them on our way out. The others barely slowed us down.
: I see. Then they'd free Dodonpa, wouldn't they?
: And then he'd head straight for Kalay seeking his revenge!
: I see. Yes, you're right.
: It would be terrible if Kalay were attacked.
Kalay has walls. What are they gonna do?
: That's why you must go while you still can!
: You mean immediately?
: I heard of your intrusion, so I spread some rumors through the fortress.
: Rumors?
: I said brigands had snuck in to kidnap Hammet, but failed and ran off.
: Why in the world did you do that?
: Now, they won't let anyone down here at all. Plus, many of Dodonpa's men have left to find the intruders.
: Donpa, you are a shrewd one!
: I just thought I'd try to help however I could...
This plan mega-sucks. All you're doing is delaying any actual problem solving until after the demigods have left you idiots to your own devices.
(No) Gonna kill my way out of here.
: Why did I even bother asking? Let's get a move on! The next time you meet Dodonpa, he will be a changed man.
Screw you, old man. If we walk out of Lunpa like this without establishing a more permanent Kalay-friendly government, all that will happen is the soldiers will take over and a new regime will develop in Iraq- ahem... I mean in Lunpa!
Don't worry, this game was made before 9/11. There's no political statement here, aside from the one I'm forcibly inserting.
: I get it already! I won't do anything wrong! Come on, let me go!
Okay so I have a confession to make. It was kind of late when I was capturing this chapter, and... I kinda forgot to pick up the reward we get for coming back here and everything. Whoops. More importantly, I didn't remember until I started writing this, so I'll have to make sure that gets included in the next chapter somewhere.
That's it for Lunpa. Got one more long cutscene before we're done, though. But you know what? It's a lot of conversation that I can more than adequately sum up here:
Leaving through Lunpa Cave, Hammet meets a friend of his, a fellow merchant sneaking into Lunpa to trade with the people there. He agrees to help smuggle Hammet and the group back to Kalay on the back of his wagon.
I tried to find something else important in that conversation, really I did. The merchant has a name (Bunza) but no portrait, and he's never seen or mentioned ever again.
That's Bunza up top.
: Arrived where?
: Oh, I didn't tell you about this entrance, Ivan? This underground passage leads to Hammet Palace.
: An underground passage? What for?
: Just to be safe.
: I don't understand. Why bring the wagon in this way?
: Well then, Bunza, would you please take them to the town's entrance?
: What? Why? We'll just go this way with you.
: I'm confused...
: You have no reason to hide, now, do you?
: Why shouldn't we just go in this way?
I promise you you're overestimating the competence of Dodonpa's spies. Hammet could probably just walk into town and be fine.
(Yes) Whatever gets me outta this conversation faster.
Back in Kalay. My first instinct is to make a break for it before I get dragged into another conversation but I guess we should go make sure Hammet arrived safely and perhaps get a reward from Layana.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVvH2CldYOo
Yeah I don't care at all.
Actually, is there anything down there? I forget if there's any treasure worth picking up.
You were expecting someone else? I'm the only person in this world who helps any of you godforsaken idiots.
: I told you time and time again not to go to Lunpa, but you went anyway.
: Please, Layana, don't be so harsh on them.
: Naturally, I'm happy that they rescued you. But this was something that Kalay should have handled alone.
: Yes. Your mission is to recover the Elemental Stars.
Oh, that old thing? Totally taken care of.
: Layana, you shouldn't...
: I... I had to rescue Hammet, no matter the cost...
: It's already done. There is nothing more to be said.
: Hold on! We all wanted to save Hammet as badly as Ivan did.
Garet's looking to score points with the hot lady that looks kinda like his mother. Don't need Freud for that one.
Comparison shots:
Layana
Kay (Garet's Sister)
Garet's Mom
More than a little creepy, but then maybe it's just me? Am I just seeing the red hair and imagining the rest of the family resemblance? I don't care, this is funnier.
: It doesn't matter, Garet. I'm the one at fault! I made a mistake. We will leave immediately on Felix's trail!
: Yes. That would be best. Leave immediately.
: Isaac, we should be going.
: Ivan, is that really what you want?
(Yes) I'm sick of this place.
: Take your Shaman's Rod and go to Hesperia.
: To Hesperia...?
: That is what the Jupiter Adept said.
: Hesperia... Where is that?
: It is the continent to the west of Angara.
A whole other continent? Maybe we're not as close to the end of this game as I thought we were.
: What are we going to find in Hesperia if we go?
: That, I do not know...
: The continent to the west? On the other side of the sea?
: Do not waste time chattering. You must set out immediately.
Okay! All done! Let's just talk to these guys one more time....
That'll round out this extra-long-feeling chapter. Sorry again about the long wait, but I made this one extra long to compensate. At this rate, I don't know when I'll finish, only that I will at some point. Hopefully by February, since I'm on break now, and I'll have about a month to do almost nothing. But we're coming up on the endgame here anyway. Probably 3-4 more chapters.
See you next time!
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
That freedom of course would be spikes of doom.
Wow, that sentence really got away from me.
When we left our heroes, like a month ago, I'd saved Ivan's adopted jerk father and then realized that I needed to go all the way back to Lunpa to fetch a reward.
Fortunately for you, this isn't a video LP or I'd have to make several minutes of boring small talk with myself as I ran back here. With the magic of editing, the entire journey takes no time at all!
We do still have to go in the cave way. The gate guards haven't yet learned about us decimating Lunpa's army and will still turn us away. As if they could really stop us.
So much for a "secret escape," huh?
We Cloak past these incompetent guards and we're back inside Lunpa Fortress.
This is going to be pretty short so even though this is definitely not the music for Lunpa Fortress, we're gonna play it because it's cheery and I think that ought to match the gory bloodstains we've certainly left on the walls of this place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fInEJNRIocY
I spend way too long trying to find my way before I stumble, purely coincidentally, into the treasure room.
Amongst the fabulous wealth that I'm assuming came from Kalay, there's an Elixir, 100 coins, a Lucky Medal, and...
This is actually pretty nice.
Extra PP is always a good thing for our healer to have. We'll probably keep this bad boy on Mia until the end of the game.
(Yes) If memory serves, he's eating his way out of Toadonpa. Or did we decide against that?
This is Dodonpa's wife, by the way.
And his children. I have a feeling Dodonpa's "conniving" gene may be recessive.
Finally, we get where we're trying to go: Donpa's room. The old man's gonna show us his appreciation.
: I have a little something for you, for your teaching Dodonpa his lesson.
: Deep within there is an interesting creature that I fought once long ago. I give this to you. Please take good care of it.
I swear if this thing looks like Toadonpa I am not-
Oh, it's a Mercury Djinni!
Naturally, we'll be giving Tonic to Mia for now.
Now she's a Paragon, which is the highest she can climb in this game. The sequel, having additional Djinn, allows an additional tier above that for all the base classes.
We're done there, for the rest of the game. So I drop Lunpa like a hot iron. I sure hope we never have to deal with anyone else in the Lunpa line ever again.
On our way back, we get those level ups. No new magic though.
Behold, our next destination. You can see Tolbi Docks on the top edge of the screen. We're heading down, to cross over into the next continent. We've spent this entire time in Angara, AKA Eurasia. Now we're entering northern Africa. It's called Gondowan here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehw6FnBf9s0
Same overland music.
You'll note that, rather than part the Red Sea or cross the Mediterranean, all we gotta do here is walk over a drawbridge. Don't even need our passports.
Six strange-looking folk? Hmm...
Must be six other people.
We've now got Iodem in our party! Woohoo... he does nothing. Well that's not entirely true, he does instigate conversations occasionally.
There's a pretty substantial boost in monster difficulty on this side of the drawbridge, but that's mostly because we've been fighting those same old Tolbi-region monsters for the last few levels.
Holy crap is that a Moblin?
If you follow the path, you'll soon happen upon this little hamlet.
It doesn't look nearly that deserty from the outside.
This would be where the red warning light should start flashing in Isaac's head.
Yup. It's inevitable. There's another desert we have to cross.
Another useless Lucky Medal. I don't know why they keep giving us these things; all the equipment you can get in Tolbi's fountain is a downgrade by now. I guess if you had really terrible aim you could turn them into Waters of Life but who needs that many of those?
So if you jump across the little moat behind the building and walk over here, you'll find a chest.
Must resist urge to make puerile jokes.
Hey, time for a cutscene! We're actually getting close to the end of these. I can only remember a couple more conversations that seem to take forever, so that's a major plus I guess?
I'll puzzle that bit of information out later.
I'll keep that in mind.
HEY IDIOTS! WHAT STUPID PROBLEM OF YOURS DO I HAVE TO SOLVE NOW?
Well if they're soldiers of Tolbi, that means they're recruited from the winners of Colosso. That puts them at about 0.5 Isaac in terms of battle strength.
Other useful comparisons:
: 0.8 Isaac
: 0.7 Isaac
: 0.3 Isaac
: 0.4 Isaac
: 0.1 Isaac
: 3 Isaac
: 0.001 Isaac
Time for Iodem to initiate one of those conversations like I explained earlier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IiEIx3WFcs
: You soldiers were supposed to be heading for Babi Lighthouse!
: Babi ordered me to go to the lighthouse with Isaac. You were escorting Sheba to Lalivero, no?
: What has happened to Sheba? Where is Sheba!?
: If anything has happened to Sheba, what will become of the lighthouse? Sheba was the sole reason Lalivero aided us in its construction. We entrusted you with Sheba to speed up the construction. Was that a mistake?
: Is this true!?
: You acted properly, then, but where is Sheba now?
: Isaac, we must go to the desert and find Sheba.
: Water? You can stop the sandstorms with water... I think I understand. Not get some rest...
: Can this be?
: Wh-Who--what are they?
: That's enough... Get some rest!
: Thank you for your help. You have dispatched your duties with honor.
(Yes) Hmm... people with strange powers who produced water out of nowhere and managed to kill monsters these scrubs couldn't handle. As many different groups fulfill those criteria, I think it's safe to say it's Team Jerkface.
A little clarification on the background here, stuff we'd have picked up if I'd had the patience to talk to every stupid NPC in the game. So Babi wanted his lighthouse, and he knew roughly where Lemuria was supposed to be. So he wanted to build a lighthouse somewhere that he could allow ships to navigate the oceans there. The problem is, Tolbi is just a little bit" in the middle of a continent" and doesn't have easy access to the ocean. So he marched his troops to a town called Lalivero, which just happens to be quite close to Venus Lighthouse. Babi tried to pay the Laliverans to build his lighthouse but they refused, to he kidnapped a little girl named Sheba, who the locals think is very important. Babi promised that he'd give her back when they built the lighthouse. Apparently they're getting close to completion, so these soldiers were escorting her back to Lalivero, when they encountered Team Jerkface.
Yeah okay crazy old people.
And so, with our business in Suhalla concluded, we set forth into... Suhalla Desert! That's right, desert number 2!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mpru5Pru3s
I guess they spent so much money on the desert theme song they decided to try for a second use of it. This is actually one of my least favorite dungeons in the game, and I'll explain why soon.
Whenever we approach a narrow little walkway like this, a whirlwind will spring up.
: There'll be trouble if we get caught up in one of those... But something is wrong... why are there so many? If we don't get past here, we'll never make it to Babi Lighthouse. We must step carefully if we hope to escape the desert.
So, having heard that, you'd think that actually walking into one of these things is the last thing you should do. Instead, you'd try and use some Mercury Psynergy on the thing to try and break it, right?
Wrong. The solution is to walk into it, let it suck you up, and then use Dowse. Because that makes total sense.
But wait, there's more! If you don't use Dowse in a couple of seconds, the whirlwind will just send you back to the entrance of the desert and you'll have to start all over again! Oh yeah, and not only are these things all over the place, but if you come back through, they respawn.
Oh, right. And every time you escape one, you have to fight one of these things. The Tornado Lizards aren't too tough, somewhere between a normal enemy and a miniboss. If you use offensive Djinn, you can kill them in one turn, otherwise it'll probably take two.
This one leads to a treasure chest.
The Virtuous Armlet is pretty good. I gave it to Ivan, as it's a solid upgrade for him.
This is an Acid Maggot. I think they may have been starting to run out of good names for enemies at this point.
Ivan learns High Impact, which increases the party's Attack. Not bad, but not exactly useful in your non-boss battles.
There's a Mimic here, but it's worth killing.
He'll give you a Water of Life, which if you're awesome like me you'll never need and can just sell for several thousand coins. Or you can be even more like me and hoard them like I do most every non-useless item so that at the end of The Lost Age I have a dozen on each character.
Narrating this place really sucks because there really aren't any puzzles. It's just trial and error of walking through the sandstorms and hoping that you picked the right one.
I'll give the Tornado Lizards credit for one thing though: they do give pretty solid experience.
Try not to miss this Cookie on the second screen. Extra PP is always handy. Naturally, I continued my process of making Ubersmench Isaac.
Watch out for these Magicores, as they can cast a few spells. Don't feel bad about using Djinn to down them in a single turn, just make sure you re-Set them afterwards.
A pink tornado. Huh.
And now for something completely stupid. Let's use Reveal here for no good reason!
Hmm... footprints and an invisible pillar. I forget how far these footprints go, but regardless they should have put some sort of indicator to use Reveal here.
But hey, I mean, if you don't use Reveal here, it's not like it costs you anything besides a Djinni, right?
AHGFJHSD
If this ever happens, just leave the screen and come back. In this case, a cave has been provided.
I have Isaac use Ground, which prevents the Djinni from acting in the first round.
It still takes two turns to bring him down, but fortunately he doesn't run again.
Oddly enough, Eruption was the move the Djinni just used on us.
Hey, it's Flash! Flash is the most broken Djinni in this game. He all but nullifies any damage the party takes on a given turn. We're talking single digit damage. And because you can spend a turn to Set a Djinni on Standby, one could forgo one of their characters to make the entire party immune to damage for every second turn in a battle. Needless to say this can trivialize a lot of fights, but it's even worse in the sequel, where you get a second Djinni, Shade, that works basically the same way. With those two alternating, you can keep your party alive nearly indefinitely. Fortunately, the absolute hardest bosses have ways around that technique.
With his sixth Djinni Set, Garet climbs his echeladder and achieves the lofty rank of Champion. It's exactly the same as Warrior, except more. In the sequel, he gets a cool new move, but here he gets squat.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
Back to that cave.
We end up here. And of course I, like an idiot, only took one image of this place. This is where the pink tornado is. Just pretend it's there. Because it is, it's just the imaging system the GBA uses makes it invisible in half the frames.
Now, you may be asking yourself: "Terrendos, what does this mysterious pink tornado do?" And I would respond: "You'll find out in a later episode!"
Okay, okay. You walk inside it and let it carry you away. Unlike every other sandstorm, this one will take you back to Crossbone Isle. But I'm not going back there until right before the endgame, when I've got every last Psynergy I might need and my team is much higher level, because there's some tough enemies in the lower levels of that place.
Continuing southward from our detour...
We move across a rather wide expanse of desert when we're accosted.
This sandstorm is chasing us down.
We stop by to nab this stone for the inevitable fight, and you can see, that sucker is hot on our tail.
And yet...
Somehow...
We're just barely keeping away from it. It's still there, it's just I was under duress so again, didn't take many pictures.
Eventually...
Pretty sure that Iodem is saying that from inside that sandstorm.
: Should we search the desert once more or press on to Lalivero?
(Yes) I think you're a fool to stop us here, five feet from the exit and two feet from a giant sandstorm that's been chasing us!
: Ah yes, I had forgotten about your foes. Our guard gate lies ahead. We can leave Sheba to the soldiers at the gate. Well, perhaps we should head there first, then.
Now, I gotta say, I've never actually made it to that conversation without triggering the boss fight before. I was sorely tempted to leave the desert and see what would happen. If I hadn't been LPing this game, or if I'd saved recently, I definitely would have. But for you guys, and because I didn't want to risk losing out on that amount of experience, I stood there after the conversation and let the sandstorm catch up rather than taking the three steps to the exit.
The things I do for you people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Nkej2MxME
You'll notice we picked up Wish Well after that battle.
Yeah it's pretty nice. It's basically the best thing about Mia's default class.
There's really only one way to go, so just keep on truckin' along.
Eventually you'll get to Suhalla Gate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q_ZssG3GOE
Yep we've heard this one before. Too bad.
Did anyone not see this one coming?
: What is the meaning of this!?
: What has happened to the gate?
(Yes) Well let's be honest, it's Team Jerkface, but it's not Felix. That dude is straight up terrible.
: 0.05 Isaac
: Yeah... no one else is capable of this. After we find Sheba, we must track down the monsters that did this. We must get to Babi Lighthouse as soon as possible! Yes, but we cannot leave the soldiers like this...
: But that would be...
: He's right! We've got to stop them! We're going after them, right Isaac!
Wait, so are we going to the lighthouse first, or to find Sheba, or to catch Team Jerkface?
By the way, if you need to revive a character or anything, there's a healer in the room behind that door.
There's a mini-puzzle on this screen. There's a bunch of different places to slide down, and you have to pick the right one.
Make sure you get the Mint, as it's irreplaceable.
Yes, yes, I know I said I was giving all the boosting items to Isaac, but it's important for Mia to be fast because she's our healer.
There's a couple new enemies here. Goblins are pretty straightforward sacks of HP, but those Earth Golems pack a wallop. Focus on them first so you don't take so much damage.
See?
Another new move for Ivan, this boosts everyone's Resistance. Again, only useful in boss battles.
Nightmares are casters, but they're a bit tougher than you might think. Focus fire, don't try and spread your damage out.
Yeah, that's upgraded Plasma, and it really smarts.
Land on this platform here and you'll be able to battle a Mercury Djinni. In fact, this is the last Mercury Djinni in this game!
I use Ground again because I don't want to have to restart.
Pretty easy, just use your own Djinn to pound it into the ground.
Having a second Djinni capable of reviving an ally (the other being Quartz the Venus Djinni) is super nice, especially when it's on the healer by default. Dew is the only way Mia will be reviving people in her current class, short of using a Water of Life.
No new class, but eh. As I said, Mia is now complete. There's only three Djinn left to find in this game!
Meanwhile, all the boosting I've done to Isaac's Luck stat is really paying off. I'm getting free kills off this Assassin's Blade all the time.
Hmm... strange wanderers?
No! Johnny! Don't you die on me, you glorious bastard!
Nice job, Mia.
: I'm sorry. He's dead, Jim.
Shut up, Mia. You are not Bones.
Oh well nothing we can do about it let's go.
Hey that looks familiar. Kinda like Mercury Lighthouse, but differently colored. I wonder what it could be?
Oh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz-12WeL9JE
This is the Mercury Lighthouse track again, but I don't mind its being reused in this area.
Wow, we get through this entire game without seeing an NPC die and now they're getting killed off left and right. Now we know things are serious!
Well, if there was any doubt left that this is the fault of Team Jerkface....
Not to be rude, but we could do it. Probably wouldn't even break a sweat.
I will admit, I don't like them just randomly attacking scholars. I can't find a reason why they'd want to, aside from "we're evil." The thing is, they've usually had more control than that. The only thing I can think of is maybe Saturos was asleep and Menardi broke out of her leash somehow.
I have a feeling that in your dream, you weren't lying on the ground, mortally wounded.
There's a connection? To what?
We could go inside Venus Lighthouse, but we can't get very far without hitting a dead end. Besides, there's more cutscenes up ahead!
Behold, Lalivero, and to the north, Babi Lighthouse! Odd, it doesn't look to be that near completion. Oh well.
Queue the depressing music!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsVstNMeWKQ
(Yes) I mean at this point it should be pretty obvious. We've been following a trail of bodies, and it's been them from the start. You think a new group of insane serial killers has thrown their name in the hat in the eleventh hour?
: You survived!
: Were you fighting a group of six people?
Oh snap, it's big reveal time!
: You've survived as well! There were seven? Is this the same group you were following before?
Well at least now I don't feel so bad about leaving a teenage girl abandoned in the desert.
: Sheba, you say... Is this true!?
Hmm... if Kraden is protecting her, we should probably kill her when we catch up.
: Did you hear that, Isaac? What do they want with Sheba? Sheba... They all...
: What do they hope to find at Babi Lighthouse?
: Ruins? Of course! The foundations of the lighthouse!
: I see. Faran, too.. Isaac! We must head for Babi Lighthouse as well. Are you concerned about these soldiers?
: Even the soldiers insist, Isaac! Come on!
We haven't really learned why Sheba is such a big deal, but I'm pretty sure we will soon. If not, if I've missed the conversation, then I'll explain later. But that's not what's most important about this conversation.
Team Jerkface went to Venus Lighthouse, and then apparently continued on through to Lalivero. Since the Lighthouse isn't yet lit, we can assume that they didn't get all the way to the top. Now they're heading for Babi Lighthouse, specifically to the foundations. It was actually a pretty common thing in the ancient world for people to use the leftover ruins of previous buildings in the construction of new ones. Back then of course, they were typically made of stone, and thus pretty sound. As a matter of fact, the city of Troy (the famous city described in The Iliad) was destroyed and rebuilt a number of times both before and after the war upon which said story was likely based. It was typically rebuilt upon the very same ruins of its prior incarnation, thus making the identification of which remains existed during the war difficult. When you consider that Lalivero is only building this thing because Babi is holding some little girl hostage, it makes sense they'd cut whatever corners they could.
We're almost done for this chapter, but there's one more thing I'd like to do first.
Okay, two things. First, we grab this Psy Crystal off the Golden Idol. Now every other time we've seen one of these things, an Adept has been close at hand. I wonder if we'll see any locals here with Psynergy?
Ladder in the item shop? Don't mind if I do!
Jump over to the wall here...
Then jump over there...
And again...
There's some Water of Life in one of the pots.
Then come back over this way and keep running along the wall.
I wonder what it is we're going to get?
Jump over and climb the vine.
Bam, last Mars Djinni!
He's okay. Another offensive Djinni, never a bad thing to have.
And of course, no class up for Garet, but that's expected.
And that's it! Next chapter, we'll buy some upgrades, talk to some Laliverans, maybe figure out what the deal is with Sheba, and then we'll head to Babi Lighthouse!
We're getting real close to the end, folks. I anticipate 3-4 more chapters. Again, sorry about the long delay, but January was kinda hectic for me. Since we're closing in on the end here, I need some endgame class suggestions! I think I recall someone wanting a Samurai, but that leaves three more, so let me know what you want!
But;
Are you gonna go whoop Dulhullan?
But yes, I will beat Deadbeard before I finish this game.
When we last left our heroes, we'd reached the mysterious town of Lalivero, where Babi was forcing the populous to build his lighthouse so that he could find his way back to Lemuria and find himself some more magic pills to stay effectively immortal. We were forced to bring Babi's assistant, Iodem, along for the ride, despite him being a dead weight on the party and dull to boot.
Oh yeah and there's some clueless chick named Sheba who's been kidnapped by Saturos's group and everyone in town is pissed. That too.
Well at least they're not blaming us.
Before we enter Babi Lighthouse in order to stop all that business, we have to go back to the Venus Lighthouse. This part always confuses me for some reason; I can never remember the right way to do everything the first time. That's why you might notice that the picture numbers are all mixed up.
So, back to Venus Lighthouse we go! It's not exactly a long walk.
Looks a lot like the entrance to Sol Sanctum, actually.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5d1rrbNo3o
This music is kickin'!
I guess team Jerkface came this way too.
I'm not so sure. Unless Saturos let Menardi off her leash, I don't think anyone is going to be unnecessarily murdered.
Well look at that, a fancy mural.
A-wha? How is this not the entrance? It said Venus Lighthouse Entrance! Screw you, confusing ancient civilizations! Who builds things this absurdly?
Whatever. Let's just move on before I have a coronary.
Well that certainly looks like a puzzle. But how to get to it?
Nothing behind these fancy statues.
Aha-crap. Looks like we need some new Psynergy to beat this one.
This looks promising...
Dang it!
Great, so... I guess we need to go find that statue then.
Another one of these rooms. Whatever, I've gotten pretty good at them by now.
Hmm... how to get to that chest....
Sweet momma, free loot!
Lucky Cap, huh?
Pretty nifty... on Isaac it goes!
Now, this point is where I always get stuck. I remember being stuck at this point on my first playthrough for weeks, and this was before I discovered the prevalence of internet walkthroughs to clue me in. Every visible path is clearly blocked in one way or another, so your instinct is to say "welp, guess I'll come back here later when I have new Psynergy."
You are wrong and ugly. Here's what you're supposed to do.
That's right, you talk to the wall.
Even this is kind of misleading, but I'm referring more to the second half. It says "eyes of truth," so that means Reveal:
And look! A door! Here's the thing: Team Jerkface doesn't have Reveal, so they can't have seen this doorway. It's Jupiter Psynergy, and the only possible Jupiter adept they could have in their group is Sheba, who, as far as we know, doesn't even know Psynergy exists.
Right down the stairs is that chest we passed, and it's got the Carry Stone inside. It bestows the Carry Psynergy on the person to whom it is equipped. Let's go try it out.
The monsters here are the first nontrivial creatures I've fought in ages. Watch out for the Golems in particular.
Mostly because of that. Truncheon Fist will always leave a PC on 1 HP, which makes him or her ripe for getting picked off by an AoE attack. Fortunately, the Golems are slow, so you aren't likely to see them unless you neglect to heal the PC right away.
Mia learns Glacier, which is the most powerful form of Frost. It's still terrible.
Here we go! We can try to Move this block, but the little line of dots shows that we can't get it out of our way.
This looks like a job for Carry!
Yup. Carry will lift smaller objects off the ground, shift them one space, and then let them go. Carry is also the final equipped-item Psynergy in the game, which is good because my heroes' pockets are getting pretty full.
Right up the stairs, we see a field of electricity. That's odd. Welp, guess we're not going that way. Now, if you're like Young Terrendos, playing this game for the first time, you'd probably turn around and look for somewhere else to go, only to be continually frustrated.
Still wrong, still ugly.
Use Reveal here again. I may or may not have forgotten to do this on this playthrough and spent an hour looking for the right way before I finally turned to GameFAQs.
Go down the stairs and you'll find...
At least this time we don't have to summon a stupid little fairy.
I still don't understand the last bit of that. We should be looking South? It's not important. Like the mural, this implies that we need to go really far away to access the Lighthouse. We do not. We just have to follow Team Jerkface through Babi's Lighthouse. It's like a 30 second walk, it's not that "distant" or anything.
So this little design appeared here. It's a clue for later. Actually, we have a bit of a choice here. We can keep the path this way, or we can talk to the statue again.
Then the path looks like this instead. Which one we choose will determine the path we must take to get to Venus Lighthouse. We're going to keep it on this one.
Around this time, Isaac learned Mother Gaia. It's the second tier of the Gaia series of Venus Psynergy, which is really strong.
Yeah, it's a lot of damage. The third and final tier, Grand Gaia, is learned at like level 40 or something (I don't care enough to look it up exactly) but since we'll be beating this game around level 26 or so, we won't be learning it.
With all that done, it's time to head to Babi Lighthouse!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6969PXphpxE
Woo! Ehh, actually I like the Venus Lighthouse music better. Oh well.
I know, let's talk to some clueless migrant laborers! Surely they'll know what's going on!
Nope.
Naturally, he's forgetting that assembling a brand new foundation would be more difficult and time consuming than using an old one.
Hey, this guy actually has information! Nothing we haven't already heard, but I'll take any victory I can get at this point.
Well, now that we've got the Carry Stone, this little puzzle is trivial.
Just Carry the block up there. Easy peezy.
More of the exceedingly rare Lucky Pepper.
Naturally, we use it to make Isaac sneeze.
In case you're wondering what all that Luck we've given to Isaac is doing...
It means we get this with about 1/3 of all Isaac melee attacks.
Moving on, we see more of Babi's soldiers lying on the ground. Team Jerkface has been pretty ruthless here.
You clearly weren't thinking at all. This is a JRPG! If someone looks like a circus performer, that means they're extremely powerful. And if they're teenagers that look like circus performers, well, then I hope your life insurance is paid up, because you're in real trouble!
Say, a hidden ladder. Let's see what's down there.
Pretty simple puzzle.
Move this block here, then find the other entrance.
Hint: It looks just like the first entrance.
Move this pillar aside and we can jump across.
We end up out here. So we Growth the plant and continue back inside, following the only available path.
The path leads here, so we jump down...
Right next to the final Jupiter Djinni.
I was going to take more pictures of this fight, but the thing didn't even last a turn. Isaac is such a freakin' beast at this point he nearly one shot the little creature.
Luff, the final Jupiter Djinni, and the penultimate Djinni of this game.
Psynergy sealing is highly variant. There's some very strong enemies in the sequel that can be utterly cowed by a Psynergy Seal, but most bosses don't use actual Psynergy and so can completely ignore it. Luff here will be used as a status boost and will seldom receive battle summons.
He does boost Luck, which is pretty nice.
We slide down the only available path.
And we find ourselves here.
Well, that sucks. Guess we're going back up then.
While we keep climbing, let's take a look at some of the enemies around here.
This guy may be a palette swap of the gryphons that murdered my party back in Crossbone Isle, but he's a lot easier. Most of these guys are just big ol' tanks of HP, really. The challenge in Babi's Lighthouse is not about running out of PP to heal yourself, it's about maintaining a high level of patience because you're getting into battles that last a long time, and they occur with the same frequency as the shorter battles from earlier in the game. Babi's Lighthouse, if completed in one long run (i.e. NOT how we'll be doing things) is intended as an endurance challenge, not a sprint.
Similarly, these guys are approximately the same level of relative difficulty as their first incarnations, but they're harder to kill. Part of this might be because my level is... well, it's not really low, but I'm not as overleveled as I usually am anymore.
Gnome Wizards are deadly and surprisingly resilient. I suggest always focusing them down first, because they have potent AoE Psynergy at their disposal.
That's odd. I wonder who were the ones attacking? I would presume that Menardi was one, but the other?
This suggests that it was Saturos and Menardi who were doing most of the fighting. I suppose that's relatively consistent, but the part that confuses me is the bit about the other four not having much fight in them. Kraden and Jenna make sense, Felix is a weak little coward, but Alex? Why would he not have any fight in him? Perhaps because they came straight here right through the desert and the lighthouse, and he'd been doing most of the Psynergy by putting out all the sandstorms and fighting the guards?
Anyway, we climb back to the top of the tower and go down the northernmost slide.
And we land here this time.
Uh oh, cutscene time!
Looks like these guys are trying to follow Team Jerkface too.
: Well? Does the door open?
Sigh. It's not enough that every Tom, Dick, and Faran needs our help to do even the most mundane thing. Dollars to doughnuts they're going to insist we're not capable of anything and we'll have to prove it by opening the door.
Interesting fact: The Laliveran word for "study" is the same as the one for "pilfer" or "loot."
: Oh! Iodem...
: Faran! I am so sorry about Sheba...
: Why did this sort of thing have to happen?
: Are Felix and the others beyond this door?
: Yes. Beyond the door that no normal man can open...
(Yes) Well I mean, it's not like I have anything better to- get the heck outta my way before I magicsword you in the brainbox!
Note that he's asking Isaac, not Faran. Otherwise this would be a lot more hilarious.
: Iodem, just who are these people?
: They come from the far north. They have chased the ones who took Sheba all the way here.
: They've been chasing that fearsome group?
: Yes. They are most fearsome.
: Such awful power... And what they're trying to do seems very dangerous.
I don't know why, but for some reason this comment just makes me wanna punch Ivan. I suspect I have some irrational hatred of him that's manifesting this way.
: We're the only ones who can stop them.
(Yes) At this point, I'm basically a demigod. I can create earthquakes, rend the ground asunder, drop giant rock spikes from the heavens, awaken the dead, and control plants. And I'm just one of the team. I think we can handle a couple pyromaniacs and their entourage.
: You seem quite sure of yourself, but what do you think you can do?
: I have never heard such harsh words from you, Faran.
You know what? You're totally right, unnamed NPCs. We definitely should have to prove ourselves in order to have the privilege of throwing our lives away saving your preteen girl from the clutches of evil. And let's not count the fact that we've already beaten giant sand monsters, mutated evil apes, ancient living statues, manticores, tree spirits, or Colosso combatants.
: First, you will have to demonstrate your powers to us.
(Yes) Of course I can, I'm awesome! You've been traveling with me, you fool, you know I murder people that challenge me.
: Your confidence means nothing unless you show that you can do it.
Part of the reason this guy sounds so unimpressed with me is because I keep answering Yes. If I were a little less sure of myself, Iodem would be more encouraging. As it is, it still seems like he should have a bit more faith in us. After all, he watched us clear the desert without breaking a sweat (pun intended...?).
That's right, pathetic fools. Stand aside so that I, Isaac the Terrible, may crush this door with my mighty mind powers!
: Now, show me what you can do.
: I am counting on you, Isaac! Prove your worth by opening that door!
:If you can open this door, I will trust Iodem once more...
Still haven't heard much about Sheba. I guess I might as well explain what the deal is with her. Basically, she fell from the sky as an infant, and landed in Lalivero. The Laliverans worshiped her as a holy child, descended from the gods, and having some great destiny. Then Babi decided that Lalivero was the place to build his Lighthouse. He marched in with his troops and had them take the girl, who he held hostage in Tolbi in exchange for the Laliverans cooperating with the lighthouse construction. As the lighthouse was nearing completion, Sheba was being sent back to her people. But if Sheba remains kidnapped, Lalivero will cease work on the lighthouse and may revolt against Tolbi's rule.
Either I missed most of this explanation by skipping important NPCs, or it's still yet to come, or it's in the sequel, The Lost Age. At this point, there's no story spoilers here, so there's no reason I can't explain it now.
Golden Sun Secret: The answer is always Reveal.
Oh look at that another hidden switch that Team Jerkface couldn't possibly have found because they don't have Reveal. Hooray plotholes!
: The door!
: I don't believe it! The door opened!
: I don't know how to explain it...
: We did it because we're us!
Really? That's the best you can do?
: It would take too long to explain.
: There's no time for an explanation, anyway.
Yeah, because "we have magic powers" takes way too long to say. That's four whole words!
: That's right. We must rescue Sheba!
: Let's go, Faran. We've got to save Sheba!
: It closed to prevent people with no Psynergy from entering!
: It would be perilous for those without Psynergy to try to get through.
: I agree! You'll have to let us handle it from here!
Oh look, we end up explaining it anyway. Nice time-saver.
(Yes) Don't worry, we won't make fun of you for letting children go someplace you can't go yourself... at least, not out loud.
: Since we can't even open the door, we'd just be getting in your way.
: This is true...
: But we can't leave Sheba in their hands just because it's dangerous.
: They have greater power than you can even imagine.
(Yes) Sucks to be you! Man, sure it great having god-like powers, isn't it, gang?
: That is how it seems.
: Without that sort of power, we would just get in their way. I understand. Sheba's life is in your hands. Do not fail us. You must bring Sheba safely back!
: Make haste, Isaac. All our hopes lie with you!
And we're done with that conversation, free to move on.
Where did Babi find this guy? A man so utterly devoted to Babi that he chases Babi's immortality for him? Maybe Iodem is thinking that Babi will let slip some of that sweet elixir if he succeeds?
If I had a nickel for every time I heard those words...
The door closes behind us. We'll go it alone from here. No way out.
At least until we use the Retreat Psynergy but shh!
Oh hey, another statue. Let's go check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8zB6FI-Gbc
Quick note: I came here before I activated the statue in Venus Lighthouse, which is why there's no pattern on the floor there. This statue may not say these things if you've already triggered the other one.
Yeah whatever, let's go.
Another mundane pillar puzzle. You only need one of them.
Just put that block there and you're golden.
If you come here before opening the path at Venus Lighthouse, the next room will look like this:
See something missing? Yeah, all the shenanigans in Venus Lighthouse were about raising pillars to jump across right here.
Post-Venus Lighthouse hijinks, we get ourselves a pillar. Note that, had we chosen the other path, we'd have created a pillar on the left path, and the next few rooms would be a little different. We have to go both in order to get all the fancy shmancy items here, so I'll leave that for our return visit.
Hmm... what could we possibly need to do here?
Surely it's not just...
Yup that was it. And don't call me Shirley.
That joke doesn't work well when written down.
Another one, well I'll just push it over.
Then fill it with water. Voila.
For the record, you can freeze the water to make an ice pillar too.
Two paths. Right leads to an item, so we'll go there first.
What do we do here? Hint: the answer is always Reveal.
The Asura's Armor boosts attack and heals a little HP every turn. It's pretty darn good, and naturally it goes to Isaac.
A lot of these might actually be tricky if they didn't make it super obvious where things need to go by marking the path with those dots.
Push it, fill it, freeze it.
Done.
This is where the two paths reconverge. As I said, it was a pretty minor difference.
Statue room! This one is actually pretty tricky.
Can't go through the door... what's an adept to do?
That's your clue. You actually need to Mind Read the statues. Took Young Me a while to figure out, but fortunately it's easier to remember on subsequent runs.
It's a logic puzzle! Reminds me of those little logic puzzle games they made me do in elementary school. You know the kind, they had a bunch of empty boxes and like 5 different logic phrases and you had to figure out which one was which? I can't remember if they had an official name.
But I digress. There's five spots, and thinking this one through, the solution is pretty straightforward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDPT6Ehq_bI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIApimtigtE
They're kind enough to give us this to heal up. Now let's load up some sweet music and roll up to the endgame!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Gdske6FPk
The left path leads us down here. We can push that statue onto the switch to turn of the electricity and exit the lighthouse. I think the statue moves back once you're through. Doesn't matter, we have Retreat.
Venus Lighthouse is all about sand. I know, I know, I used the "it's rough and it gets everywhere" reference already. What a waste.
You may remember sandfalls in the first desert. Basically, we can run across them, but they'll constantly drag downward. You can't run up but you can run left, right, and down.
A few new enemies here. Both of these are dangerous. The little tiny ones can explode for big damage (like a Graveler using Selfdestruct) and the Grand Golems... well...
...let's just say they hit hard.
Another simple Carry puzzle, this one designed for travel in either direction.
I doubt I even need to show this, but whatever.
Eventually we come here. We let the sandfall carry us down and jump off right before the cliff.
If you miss the exit, you'll have to climb back around and try again.
This here is the Thunder Crown, and it is the first Cursed Item we've seen so far. It's really strong, but if I equip it to a character, he will suffer through being cursed, which is a very annoying status ailment similar to Confusion in Pokemon. If you want to take the item off, you then need to go to one of the healers in town and pay them to remove it.
In short, you never want to equip cursed items. At least... not yet. But we'll get there. Patience, Grasshopper.
This part should remind you of Mercury Lighthouse, or it would if you hadn't read my exploits there like 6 months ago. Make sure you try and run into each of these so you don't miss any hidden rooms with delicious items.
Like the one on the far right here.
This one actually just leads to the next section, so you can't really miss it.
There's a simple jumping puzzle here, and then we get to Venus Lighthouse's other gimmick.
Electrical engineering.
This is the "introductory" puzzle. Complete the circuit.
When all the blocks are in, the statue sends out a signal.
If you did it right, the door opens. If not, you have to leave and try again. These are also in the sequel (including one really great one involving two signals that need to hit at the same time) but that's not important right now.
Press the button in this room.
And that little slider will open a new sandfall and close the other one.
As you can see, this has repercussions throughout the rest of the dungeon.
We slide down the sandfall and then cross the new path we made.
The only exceptional aspect of this pillar puzzle is that it's stretched a bit, so that it won't all fit on one screen.
Moving that pillar lets you access the pillar you need to move in order to progress.
There.
We actually walk through a different part of the same places we'd walked already. I kinda like that.
The path is still pretty linear though.
Iteration 2 of this puzzle: this time, there's a couple of bends, and more holes than blocks.
The solution is still pretty easy though.
More sandfall shenanigans.
Make sure you don't skip the secret room here.
Dragon scales are really good. They're actually a bit tougher than Asura's Armor, but for now I'm putting the Scales on Garet because I like the attack boost on Isaac.
This room has scales, like the ones in Colosso. You can either pile all the blocks on the right side to bring it to walk height, or you can put two blocks on the left one.
Whichever you choose, you'll need Carry to get them over the dots.
Another switch, another slider.
Now that left sandfall is working, which means we can go through the southwest doorway.
Only one way to go.
It might be tough to see in this image, but the sand is flowing like water. You'll be swept up in the current as soon as you step in, so your job will be to divert your course in the specific direction you want to go and make sure your timing is good.
Ah, the Gaia Blade, the most powerful sword for Isaac in the game. Well, there might be some better one that randomly drops off of an enemy, but aside from that it's the best.
As you can see, it's a massive upgrade to the aging Assassin's Blade we've been using on him. Ivan gets Isaac's sloppy seconds, though.
Ivan's pretty lucky, so it'll trigger the instakill pretty frequently. Still, this is far from the best weapon for Ivan; I'll try and get him something better for the endgame.
I flail about for longer than I'd care to admit before I finally get to the other side.
Watch out for the Manticore Kings, as the Lucid Prophecy spell can put a Doom Clock on one of your team. Just kill it quick and it won't have any effect. At this point though, it hardly matters; Revive is so readily available that death is merely an inconvenience.
And here we are.
Iteration 3: This time, it's actually tricky.
Solving this circuit is mostly about patience. Memorize what blocks you've got available, and figure out where you can make them go. Don't push any of them in until you're absolutely sure.
I solved it this way. I think there are multiple solutions.
Ta-da.
Last switch.
Third sandfall is fully operational.
Hmm... that looks familiar.
Let's see what all that Isaac Luck has bought us with his final weapon!
*whistles*
Yeah, and those happen all the time. Oddly enough, that doesn't even hold a freakin' candle to the Sol Blade from The Lost Age, whose unleash is powerful enough to rival the most powerful summons. In fact, several strategies for beating endgame bosses revolve around boosting up Sol Blade's wielder and praying for unleashes.
Some of you may be asking... "Kikuichimonji?" My answer: I've never really bothered trying to get one before. I'll give it a try, I guess, especially if you all scream and cry and moan in the thread.
Anyway, this is the path we've unlocked with the new sandfall.
Okay, we're here. If we go down that slide, we start the process of the endgame. Since I want to get the final Venus Djinni and beat Crossbone Isle before I do that, I'll have to leave and come back later. Fortunately, coming back through will be a lot faster, and I'll probably cut most of it out.
For now, we rest up. Next time, we'll finish Crossbone Isle and beat the game's toughest boss in this LP's penultimate chapter. I might also include some level grinding or something since that shouldn't take too long. Or if you guys have suggestions, I'll take them.
Anywho, see you next time!
spoiled for wordswordswords
Now, I hear you saying "But Mars, don't all the special weapons do elemental damage when they unleash?". To which I respond "Well, kid, if you'd shut the fuck up and let me SPEAK, maybe I'll get a chance to explain it!".
Ahem, anyway, the special thing about elemental weapons is that EVERY basic attack they make is elemental. And in so being, that means every attack is thus modified by the character's power in that particular element. So in the Gaia Blade's case, it's obviously Earth element, so Isaac has a natural edge with it. Toss a bunch of Venus djinn on him, get Ivan to buff him up a bit, and he can handle essentially any enemy without using a point of PP. God help the enemy if they're weak to earth. Granted, this does have the effect of lowering the damage against earth enemies, but since it's still getting Isaac's Venus bonus, it evens out in the end anyway.
Now, this is naturally a bit confusing to any new player, as the game never actually mentions this special property. Most people just notice that certain weapons seem to be unnaturally powerful and just roll with it. There is one little secret to discovering these uber-weapons, and that lies in the Status/Inventory screen. Not the ACTUAL inventory, but rather one of the pages to flip through when on the status screen.
That little orb right there.(thanks for the picture, Terr)
Now, if you remember 10+ updates ago, or if you've played the game yourself, there might be a little light going off in your head. The Elven Rapier, a.k.a. "That sword that turns Ivan into a murder machine for a good 1/3 of the game" gets a Jupiter bonus, and it's a pretty significant boost that early in the game. That thing can carry you through most boss fights early on, and that little, easily overlooked orb is why.
This inteview is bizarre So they currently don't have plans for a fourth game, even though Dark Dawn was only the first part of a new story? I have a feeling that the game must have bombed.
I'm not sure I even want a sequel though. I was not a fan of Dark Dawn.