Finished off another area and the game play is really fun, but there's not much plot wise.
So far it's just been "get all the stars so we can save peach", sort of like Mario 64. Mario 3 had the sub plots of saving the kings, Mario World had the Koopa Kids, and even Sunshine had all that mess to clean up. The only story elements so far is how Rosalina became ruler of the Lumas, and it's told in small chapters every 10 or so stars.
So far I have 3 of the 5 comet sections lit up, so there may just be 2 areas and a boss area left in the game.
More tomorrow.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
30 stars down.
Finished the first two areas and so far Mario Galaxy feels much more like a Mario game that Sunshine. It's completely a platformer with no real gimmicks tacked on, just the mind bending shifts in gravity.
The game play is not as hard as the bonus levels of Sunshine, which had the same weird gravity, but it's still early on in the game. So far there's been only one area that freaked me out, when going through a small corridor with a moving floor with holes in it I jumped over a hole but garbed a wall by mistake, then jumped backwards from it off the screen but managed to land on a solid area, then blindly jump back onto another solid area on screen.
More levels to do tomorrow!
The game play is not as hard as the bonus levels of Sunshine, which had the same weird gravity, but it's still early on in the game. So far there's been only one area that freaked me out, when going through a small corridor with a moving floor with holes in it I jumped over a hole but garbed a wall by mistake, then jumped backwards from it off the screen but managed to land on a solid area, then blindly jump back onto another solid area on screen.
More levels to do tomorrow!
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Well that's twenty-one down...
Well the game finished sooner than I thought it would, I managed to get the true ending with out really trying much.
shortly after the whole bomb scare I had one more boss fight and then the military is called in, unfortunatly they were there to cover it up, not save people. The 28 people I rescued managed to escape, but Frank was left behind and his chopper went down before he could escape. In the extended ending Frank finds out he may be infected and so I have to run around looking fore cure components, then I had to navigate through a tunnel filled with thousands of zombies. At the end of the tunnel was a boss battle against a tank, then a fist fight on top of the take (very Metal Gear Solid).
In the true end Frank survives and get the story out, and before long the world forgets about the zombies, until Dead Rising 2 I guess.
Tomorrow it's on to Super Mario Galaxy!
shortly after the whole bomb scare I had one more boss fight and then the military is called in, unfortunatly they were there to cover it up, not save people. The 28 people I rescued managed to escape, but Frank was left behind and his chopper went down before he could escape. In the extended ending Frank finds out he may be infected and so I have to run around looking fore cure components, then I had to navigate through a tunnel filled with thousands of zombies. At the end of the tunnel was a boss battle against a tank, then a fist fight on top of the take (very Metal Gear Solid).
In the true end Frank survives and get the story out, and before long the world forgets about the zombies, until Dead Rising 2 I guess.
Tomorrow it's on to Super Mario Galaxy!
Friday, May 28, 2010
7 acts, 28 people saved, 1763 zombies killed
Had a grueling time pulling off this one, large groups and bad odds with no time to lose.
Story wise all that progressed in act 7 is the crazy guy who started the outbreak planed to blow the mall sky high, spreading the zombie wasps all across the country. Fortunately I took out the bombs with literal seconds remaining.
Saved:
-I investigated the crazy raincoat cult hanging out in the movie complex, and had to not only take out a wall of crazies (who lock frank in a box and take his stuff if he gets too close) but their leader. The leader was holding 4 people hostage and running around with a huge sword, after much trial and error I finally shanked him to bits with a meat cleaver. Then I had to guide all 4 hostages back to safety, while avoiding the last wave of exploding cultists, that took some tries too. In the end I got all 4 to the roof, and spent 5 more minutes just trying to get them on the ledge to the vent ducts...
-I got two reports of survivors in the same area, so I checked both out, one one side there was a pyromaniac freaking out 2 women, and the other was some injured guy. The pyro was aggressive and kept throwing bombs at me, but an anti-personnel turret took him down quick. After that he changed his ways and came with me and the 2 girls, then we picked up the injured guy. On the way back I got the call about the bombs so I left the 4 on the roof so I didn't miss the next part, then picked them up later (more ledge confusion too).
-Rescued another injured woman on the way to defuse the bombs.
Didn't save:
-That arrogant photographer that I bumped into a few times showed up again and attack Frank, stripping him to his underwear and tying a lang chan around his neck. So I had to bean him to death with a bowling ball while he took shots at me (photographic and gun type). As a result of this and the very limited amount of time, Frank did the whole bomb rescue in his skivies.
-While trying to find the Bombs I passed a survivor named Gill who was drinking himself silly in the food court, but I had no time to save him, next time around I didn't even go by the food court.
Just 18 hours left in the game, Tomorow should be interesting...
Story wise all that progressed in act 7 is the crazy guy who started the outbreak planed to blow the mall sky high, spreading the zombie wasps all across the country. Fortunately I took out the bombs with literal seconds remaining.
Saved:
-I investigated the crazy raincoat cult hanging out in the movie complex, and had to not only take out a wall of crazies (who lock frank in a box and take his stuff if he gets too close) but their leader. The leader was holding 4 people hostage and running around with a huge sword, after much trial and error I finally shanked him to bits with a meat cleaver. Then I had to guide all 4 hostages back to safety, while avoiding the last wave of exploding cultists, that took some tries too. In the end I got all 4 to the roof, and spent 5 more minutes just trying to get them on the ledge to the vent ducts...
-I got two reports of survivors in the same area, so I checked both out, one one side there was a pyromaniac freaking out 2 women, and the other was some injured guy. The pyro was aggressive and kept throwing bombs at me, but an anti-personnel turret took him down quick. After that he changed his ways and came with me and the 2 girls, then we picked up the injured guy. On the way back I got the call about the bombs so I left the 4 on the roof so I didn't miss the next part, then picked them up later (more ledge confusion too).
-Rescued another injured woman on the way to defuse the bombs.
Didn't save:
-That arrogant photographer that I bumped into a few times showed up again and attack Frank, stripping him to his underwear and tying a lang chan around his neck. So I had to bean him to death with a bowling ball while he took shots at me (photographic and gun type). As a result of this and the very limited amount of time, Frank did the whole bomb rescue in his skivies.
-While trying to find the Bombs I passed a survivor named Gill who was drinking himself silly in the food court, but I had no time to save him, next time around I didn't even go by the food court.
Just 18 hours left in the game, Tomorow should be interesting...
Thursday, May 27, 2010
6 acts, 19 people saved, 1009 zombies killed
Got a chunk done in a small amount of time today, mostly running full speed back and forth in the mall.
Story wise:
It turns out that the jerk that keeps shooting at me is also the one responsible for the zombie out break, and after he shoots his sister she explains a lot. Turns out that Santa Cabeza is a city south of the border that had a US research facility near by, and some how a process to speed up cow reproduction (lead by the professor we caught) made... ZOMBIE COWS! After that some how the zombie infection spread to wasps and the zombie wasps zombified Santa Cabeza. So to take revenge and expose what happened the brother and sister take a bunch of these wasps and spread them in this small town, resulting ti the outbreak.
Rescue wise:
Really busy today, rescuing 10 people, yet I couldn't get them all...
-Saved 2 people hiding out in a sports store, one with a nasty bullet wound to the gut. So I caried him on my back and gave the other a katana.
-Saved a woman who was about to be killed by a cult of crazy rain coat cultists. The cultists go down about as easy as zombies, but they have knives and blow themselves up, and now there all over the place.
-Saved two guys at once on 2 different missions, one guy from 3 crazy snipers (got their rifles), and the other was an old man from an antique store (with battle axes!). I had the carry the old man on my back and the other guy ran faster than me (surprising for his size) so we made great time running back.
-Saved a greedy pig who wouldn't move unless I gave him food, and then he almost caused a revolt among the survivors after he at all the rations and wanted to leave to get more food.
-Saved two women who were hiding in two stores, and one of the wouldn't leave until I picked up the other. Now most survivors either need to be carried or I can give them a weapon to defend themselves, but these two were so useless that they would not take weapons and ran slowly, making the short run back tedious.
-Saved the sister of the guy responsible for the mess, after she tried to kill me with a motorcycle. Well getting out I met up with a guy with a shotgun and helped him get to safety too.
Couldn't save
-The woman I saved from the cultists was so slow and useless, stopped every time a zombie came close and wouldn't take a weapon, that I missed the next mission by seconds. No mater how fast I ran, I heard him die right before I got there.
-I didn't have enough time at the end of the day to save a group of 4 women from a crazy mall cop. At the time I was not equipped enough to take the cop down and I didn't have time to even get them all to safety before the next story mission, so I chose not to attempt the rescue and went right to the story point.
-In the same area as the mall cop rescue was two people hanging for their lives from a giant inflatable bear, one on each arm, as they were surrounded by zombies on the ground. Since I skipped the cop mission I didn't get to them either, but they may still be around since there was no timer for their rescue.
Less than 24 game hours left for tomorrow, it's going to be crazy but I hope I can save at least 25 people in total...
Story wise:
It turns out that the jerk that keeps shooting at me is also the one responsible for the zombie out break, and after he shoots his sister she explains a lot. Turns out that Santa Cabeza is a city south of the border that had a US research facility near by, and some how a process to speed up cow reproduction (lead by the professor we caught) made... ZOMBIE COWS! After that some how the zombie infection spread to wasps and the zombie wasps zombified Santa Cabeza. So to take revenge and expose what happened the brother and sister take a bunch of these wasps and spread them in this small town, resulting ti the outbreak.
Rescue wise:
Really busy today, rescuing 10 people, yet I couldn't get them all...
-Saved 2 people hiding out in a sports store, one with a nasty bullet wound to the gut. So I caried him on my back and gave the other a katana.
-Saved a woman who was about to be killed by a cult of crazy rain coat cultists. The cultists go down about as easy as zombies, but they have knives and blow themselves up, and now there all over the place.
-Saved two guys at once on 2 different missions, one guy from 3 crazy snipers (got their rifles), and the other was an old man from an antique store (with battle axes!). I had the carry the old man on my back and the other guy ran faster than me (surprising for his size) so we made great time running back.
-Saved a greedy pig who wouldn't move unless I gave him food, and then he almost caused a revolt among the survivors after he at all the rations and wanted to leave to get more food.
-Saved two women who were hiding in two stores, and one of the wouldn't leave until I picked up the other. Now most survivors either need to be carried or I can give them a weapon to defend themselves, but these two were so useless that they would not take weapons and ran slowly, making the short run back tedious.
-Saved the sister of the guy responsible for the mess, after she tried to kill me with a motorcycle. Well getting out I met up with a guy with a shotgun and helped him get to safety too.
Couldn't save
-The woman I saved from the cultists was so slow and useless, stopped every time a zombie came close and wouldn't take a weapon, that I missed the next mission by seconds. No mater how fast I ran, I heard him die right before I got there.
-I didn't have enough time at the end of the day to save a group of 4 women from a crazy mall cop. At the time I was not equipped enough to take the cop down and I didn't have time to even get them all to safety before the next story mission, so I chose not to attempt the rescue and went right to the story point.
-In the same area as the mall cop rescue was two people hanging for their lives from a giant inflatable bear, one on each arm, as they were surrounded by zombies on the ground. Since I skipped the cop mission I didn't get to them either, but they may still be around since there was no timer for their rescue.
Less than 24 game hours left for tomorrow, it's going to be crazy but I hope I can save at least 25 people in total...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
3 acts, 9 people saved, 669 zombies killed
Got through 2 more acts (although one was 30 seconds long)and the plot is developing a little more. So some thing or event called "Santa Cabeza" is linked with the zombies, the two homeland security agents I'm helping, the elusive doctor we just captured, and the two Spanish looking people who are avoiding/shooting us. Other than that I'm in the dark with 1 day left of the first round.
Rescued three more people, the two Japanese tourists and some guy injured by the zombies. the last one came in so close to the wire that I had a 30 second cap between when I completed it and when the next mission stated. I missed my first side-mission today, but it was to take out some crazy guy, so he would die either way.
I'm learning more about the mechanics though, such as weapons re-spawn in the same place every time I go down to the mall, even if I already have the item from last time. Also I'm learning that even certain zombies always span in the same locations, such as cop zombies with guns, and that orange juice fills up 4 heal slots.
Tomorrow till be tricky since I have two missions to do in under 15 minuets real time, and one is a rescue mission across the mall.
-Also picked up Mario Galaxy today, not sure how it will fit on my line up yet though.
Rescued three more people, the two Japanese tourists and some guy injured by the zombies. the last one came in so close to the wire that I had a 30 second cap between when I completed it and when the next mission stated. I missed my first side-mission today, but it was to take out some crazy guy, so he would die either way.
I'm learning more about the mechanics though, such as weapons re-spawn in the same place every time I go down to the mall, even if I already have the item from last time. Also I'm learning that even certain zombies always span in the same locations, such as cop zombies with guns, and that orange juice fills up 4 heal slots.
Tomorrow till be tricky since I have two missions to do in under 15 minuets real time, and one is a rescue mission across the mall.
-Also picked up Mario Galaxy today, not sure how it will fit on my line up yet though.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
1 act, 6 people saved, 300 zombies killed
It took a bit of time to get adjusted to the mechanics of Dead Rising, it really is an unforgiving game.
Not only are you dumped into this mall with thousands of zombies with only what you can find to defend yourself, but you also need to rescue survivors, fight off crazy people, and all withing a fixed time limit, but you can only save at the half dozen or so locations spread around the map. so for a while much of what i was doing was running around, trying to save people and live, and then having to do it all over again when I die. At least all that repetition familiarized me with the controls, so far Frank moved like a wounded gorilla, I hop that improves as he levels up.
So far I've completed all of the first act, killed 300 zombies (jacking a car helped), and saved the flowing people:
-2 people trapped on the roof.
-1 person trapped in a jewelry store after her baby was eaten.
-1 person trapped in the park after psychos killed her husband.
-2 people who were traped in a shoe store after they barricaded themselves in.
Tomorrow it's time to try and save 2 Japanese tourists trapped in a book store.
Not only are you dumped into this mall with thousands of zombies with only what you can find to defend yourself, but you also need to rescue survivors, fight off crazy people, and all withing a fixed time limit, but you can only save at the half dozen or so locations spread around the map. so for a while much of what i was doing was running around, trying to save people and live, and then having to do it all over again when I die. At least all that repetition familiarized me with the controls, so far Frank moved like a wounded gorilla, I hop that improves as he levels up.
So far I've completed all of the first act, killed 300 zombies (jacking a car helped), and saved the flowing people:
-2 people trapped on the roof.
-1 person trapped in a jewelry store after her baby was eaten.
-1 person trapped in the park after psychos killed her husband.
-2 people who were traped in a shoe store after they barricaded themselves in.
Tomorrow it's time to try and save 2 Japanese tourists trapped in a book store.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Well that's twenty down...
Well I finally finished ToS, and at 27 days it's been the longest lasting game I played so far, it's taken longer to beat than the first attempt at this journal lasted!
In the end the end I had to run trough a maze forest, with a rabbit thing guiding me, earning back some money along the way, until the main character had to face off against his father, alone. The first try he caught me off guard and I lost, but on the second attempt I beat him, then notching that the climatic battle happened while the main character was in a pirate costume. After that battle I had to fight against the spirit of the magic sword, but with 4 against 1 it was not too hard.
Then the ghost of the big bad showed up and possessed the Chosen, taking her to his home base, which suddenly appeared in the sky as a giant planet of dark energy. I quickly stopped off to buy some of the super powered weapons, which were a squeaky hammer, a push broom, and a credit card, before picking up the magic sword and teleporting to the dark planet.
When we arrived the group got separated, and each member of the party had to overcome their inner demons before progressing. After that we stormed the main bad guy's castle, killing his weak dragon guard in the process, and faced him as he regenerate himself. Like all JRPGs, the final boss fight was in multiple forms, but in this case it was only 2 and the first form (a child) was harder than the second (a magic mech-suit).
Once he was defeated the worlds were united and the mana tree awakened (though just a sapling currently), and everyone went off on their own mission to mak the new world a better place. The Professor and Mage went off to end half-elf discrimination, the Prisoner and the girl (who was actually just 28) started a rebuilding effort, the Ninja returned to lead her clan, the other Chosen worked to undo the damage from the Pope, and the Chosen and that main character went off to collect up all the magic stones so no one could misuse them. I home that the sequel continues from this ending.
So tomorrow it's on to playing Dead Rising, an action zombie game will be a huge change from this!
In the end the end I had to run trough a maze forest, with a rabbit thing guiding me, earning back some money along the way, until the main character had to face off against his father, alone. The first try he caught me off guard and I lost, but on the second attempt I beat him, then notching that the climatic battle happened while the main character was in a pirate costume. After that battle I had to fight against the spirit of the magic sword, but with 4 against 1 it was not too hard.
Then the ghost of the big bad showed up and possessed the Chosen, taking her to his home base, which suddenly appeared in the sky as a giant planet of dark energy. I quickly stopped off to buy some of the super powered weapons, which were a squeaky hammer, a push broom, and a credit card, before picking up the magic sword and teleporting to the dark planet.
When we arrived the group got separated, and each member of the party had to overcome their inner demons before progressing. After that we stormed the main bad guy's castle, killing his weak dragon guard in the process, and faced him as he regenerate himself. Like all JRPGs, the final boss fight was in multiple forms, but in this case it was only 2 and the first form (a child) was harder than the second (a magic mech-suit).
Once he was defeated the worlds were united and the mana tree awakened (though just a sapling currently), and everyone went off on their own mission to mak the new world a better place. The Professor and Mage went off to end half-elf discrimination, the Prisoner and the girl (who was actually just 28) started a rebuilding effort, the Ninja returned to lead her clan, the other Chosen worked to undo the damage from the Pope, and the Chosen and that main character went off to collect up all the magic stones so no one could misuse them. I home that the sequel continues from this ending.
So tomorrow it's on to playing Dead Rising, an action zombie game will be a huge change from this!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Death traps and funny costumes
Wel I was right about the other Chosen betraying me, sort of...
We stormed into the "angle's" base and just as we got in, the other Chosen handed our Chosen over to the bad guys, saying he's been spying for them all along. So now I'm down two party members and still have a whole base ahead of me.
Apparently we took a different route than the last time since this way is all old and falling apart, not the annoying path full of doors and puzzles. Although this way sucks as well. First we enter a room with thousands of angles, and the Prisoner stays behind to hold them off.
Down to five. Next we get to the remainder of that big nasty tree, so our Ninja attacks it but gets pulled down into a hole.
Four left. Now the little girl gets trapped in a room by killer vines since we had to escape before the door closed.
Not enough for a full party with tree. Now the Professor has to stay behind to trigger a trap room that drops floor panels as doors open, so the last door opening breaks that floor she's on.
Now it's just the main character and the Mage. He then gets trapped int a room surrounded with shrinking magic magic walls when there was only enough time for one to escape.
Finally it's just the main character left to face the leader of the "angles", and I'm really hopping that it's not a boss battle, and he has succeeded in putting the spirit of his dead sister (the "goddess") into our chosen. Fortunately all of the other party members suddenly sowed up! It turns out that the other Chosen double crossed the bad guys and then saved everyone from their deathtraps, and to top it off he snags a magic gem needed to use the sword to merge the world. The main bad guys sister then basically says to her brother "You're insane, stop it!" and then leaves the Chosen's body. He dosen't take this rejection well and starts a rather tough boss battle, but since I'm getting use to 2 on 1 boss battles we take him down for good.
So now all that's left to do is fight that main character's father to get the sword to free the two world, but first I head back to the ninja village for supplies. when I get there though there is a new side quest where our ninja can revive her grandfather from his coma, once that's finished the ninja got a new costume.
This game has different costumes?!
So with my curiosity sparked, I look up a spoiler free FAQ and found out what other costumes are available.
In then end I got:
-Swim suits for 4 characters
-Formal dress for 4 characters
-A Ninja robe for the ninja
-A silly hat and mask for the other Chosen
-A maid costume for our Chosen
-A pink cat costume for the Mage
-A Klonoa costume for the Girl (bit of Namco self referencing)
-A pirate costume for the main character.
-A ceremonial robe for the Professor.
It seems the Prisoner's alt costume is only available at the end of the game.
Along the way I also sold nearly everything I had and gave away all my money in order to rebuild the down the "angles" destroyed earlier in the game. The down side to this is that I now can't afford the super weapons they have in the weapon shop, so I have to save up more money.
I also tried to beat the arena, and after a couple of tries things were going well, until i got to the final boss... a 30 foot tall armored fire breathing dragon with a huge sword! So I'll come back for that later too.
Lastly I found a use for the other Chosen, turns out that if her's the on screen character and talks to a female (of any age) they give him items or money! It's particularly funny since I have him running around in his silly hat and mask.
So now that all the costumes are snagged, it's time to get back to the main quest tomorrow, and maybe finish the game!
We stormed into the "angle's" base and just as we got in, the other Chosen handed our Chosen over to the bad guys, saying he's been spying for them all along. So now I'm down two party members and still have a whole base ahead of me.
Apparently we took a different route than the last time since this way is all old and falling apart, not the annoying path full of doors and puzzles. Although this way sucks as well. First we enter a room with thousands of angles, and the Prisoner stays behind to hold them off.
Down to five. Next we get to the remainder of that big nasty tree, so our Ninja attacks it but gets pulled down into a hole.
Four left. Now the little girl gets trapped in a room by killer vines since we had to escape before the door closed.
Not enough for a full party with tree. Now the Professor has to stay behind to trigger a trap room that drops floor panels as doors open, so the last door opening breaks that floor she's on.
Now it's just the main character and the Mage. He then gets trapped int a room surrounded with shrinking magic magic walls when there was only enough time for one to escape.
Finally it's just the main character left to face the leader of the "angles", and I'm really hopping that it's not a boss battle, and he has succeeded in putting the spirit of his dead sister (the "goddess") into our chosen. Fortunately all of the other party members suddenly sowed up! It turns out that the other Chosen double crossed the bad guys and then saved everyone from their deathtraps, and to top it off he snags a magic gem needed to use the sword to merge the world. The main bad guys sister then basically says to her brother "You're insane, stop it!" and then leaves the Chosen's body. He dosen't take this rejection well and starts a rather tough boss battle, but since I'm getting use to 2 on 1 boss battles we take him down for good.
So now all that's left to do is fight that main character's father to get the sword to free the two world, but first I head back to the ninja village for supplies. when I get there though there is a new side quest where our ninja can revive her grandfather from his coma, once that's finished the ninja got a new costume.
This game has different costumes?!
So with my curiosity sparked, I look up a spoiler free FAQ and found out what other costumes are available.
In then end I got:
-Swim suits for 4 characters
-Formal dress for 4 characters
-A Ninja robe for the ninja
-A silly hat and mask for the other Chosen
-A maid costume for our Chosen
-A pink cat costume for the Mage
-A Klonoa costume for the Girl (bit of Namco self referencing)
-A pirate costume for the main character.
-A ceremonial robe for the Professor.
It seems the Prisoner's alt costume is only available at the end of the game.
Along the way I also sold nearly everything I had and gave away all my money in order to rebuild the down the "angles" destroyed earlier in the game. The down side to this is that I now can't afford the super weapons they have in the weapon shop, so I have to save up more money.
I also tried to beat the arena, and after a couple of tries things were going well, until i got to the final boss... a 30 foot tall armored fire breathing dragon with a huge sword! So I'll come back for that later too.
Lastly I found a use for the other Chosen, turns out that if her's the on screen character and talks to a female (of any age) they give him items or money! It's particularly funny since I have him running around in his silly hat and mask.
So now that all the costumes are snagged, it's time to get back to the main quest tomorrow, and maybe finish the game!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Search your feelings, you know it to be true!
Ok... A lot of things were revealed today.
After going through a long series of levitating puzzles to get the magic leaf, we came across a story teller with a bombshell of exposition. It turns out that the great hero of legend is actually the leader of the evil "angles", the goddess they are trying to revive is his sister, the leader of the renegades was his friend, and the guy who was in our party but betrayed us was his other friend! So basically the 4 heroes of legend are currently a megalomaniac over lord, a ruthless terrorist, a back stabbing traitor, and a dead goddess, and all 4,000 years old, I hope my party ends up better...
So to get the last ingredient to heal the Chosen we have to go to the bad guy's base, and of course we get captured. We then break out and get to the dungeon like area of the base, and I spend over an hour running through corridors, unlocking doors, and navigating slippery ground puzzles... At the end of it we face off against the leader of the angles, who after being beaten reveals what his plan is. He split apart the worlds and set up the whole decline/rebirth system in order to keep everyone from advancing technology, since when he was a hero there was a huge magic war that nearly killed the planet. Also he has been collecting power so he can kill off all humans and elves and then convert the remaining half elves into mindless angles, so that once the population are homogeneous vegetables, there will be no reason for wars to ever happen again.
We then escape and visit the dwarf so he can fix up the Chosen. That night though another bombshell is released. It turns out the guy who betrayed the party (one of the legendary heroes) is also the real father of the main character, who was thought to be dead after killing his wife who turned into a monster. On top of that it's explained that to stop the main bad guy I need a magic sword that's tied to the father's life, so he has to die in order to save the world. Then it's revealed that the kid we found that was named after the legendary hero IS the legendary hero (AKA the big bad) and he's been spying on us the whole time.
Oh, and I think the chosen of the other world is planing to betray us, I'll find out tomorrow.
After going through a long series of levitating puzzles to get the magic leaf, we came across a story teller with a bombshell of exposition. It turns out that the great hero of legend is actually the leader of the evil "angles", the goddess they are trying to revive is his sister, the leader of the renegades was his friend, and the guy who was in our party but betrayed us was his other friend! So basically the 4 heroes of legend are currently a megalomaniac over lord, a ruthless terrorist, a back stabbing traitor, and a dead goddess, and all 4,000 years old, I hope my party ends up better...
So to get the last ingredient to heal the Chosen we have to go to the bad guy's base, and of course we get captured. We then break out and get to the dungeon like area of the base, and I spend over an hour running through corridors, unlocking doors, and navigating slippery ground puzzles... At the end of it we face off against the leader of the angles, who after being beaten reveals what his plan is. He split apart the worlds and set up the whole decline/rebirth system in order to keep everyone from advancing technology, since when he was a hero there was a huge magic war that nearly killed the planet. Also he has been collecting power so he can kill off all humans and elves and then convert the remaining half elves into mindless angles, so that once the population are homogeneous vegetables, there will be no reason for wars to ever happen again.
We then escape and visit the dwarf so he can fix up the Chosen. That night though another bombshell is released. It turns out the guy who betrayed the party (one of the legendary heroes) is also the real father of the main character, who was thought to be dead after killing his wife who turned into a monster. On top of that it's explained that to stop the main bad guy I need a magic sword that's tied to the father's life, so he has to die in order to save the world. Then it's revealed that the kid we found that was named after the legendary hero IS the legendary hero (AKA the big bad) and he's been spying on us the whole time.
Oh, and I think the chosen of the other world is planing to betray us, I'll find out tomorrow.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Just jump in and get it!
After asking around to find out what was wrong with the Chose, we were told to check out the royal library, but since were wanted criminals in that kingdom it would be tricky. As luck would have it though, we happened to sneak into the city just in time to overhear the plot to kill the king for the pope. So after killing the assassins (without even a fight), we confronted the pope, and even though he escaped we manged to clear our name and save the king.
From the royal library we found that we needed 3 things: some ore from the science lab, a leaf from the elves, and a mana shard from the enemy's home base. The ore was a simple fetch quest, and the shard was saved for last, but the leaf is turning out to be an ordeal.
First we needed permission from the king to visit the elf village (good thing we saved him), but then we had to navigate a huge puzzle where we had to guide some fruit through a swamp by summoning animals. It took and hour to finish and even the character I was controlling said "That took forever!"...
Once that was done I still had to talk to the Elf chief to get permission to go even further into the forest for the leaf. So tomorrow it's off to find a leaf in a forest...
From the royal library we found that we needed 3 things: some ore from the science lab, a leaf from the elves, and a mana shard from the enemy's home base. The ore was a simple fetch quest, and the shard was saved for last, but the leaf is turning out to be an ordeal.
First we needed permission from the king to visit the elf village (good thing we saved him), but then we had to navigate a huge puzzle where we had to guide some fruit through a swamp by summoning animals. It took and hour to finish and even the character I was controlling said "That took forever!"...
Once that was done I still had to talk to the Elf chief to get permission to go even further into the forest for the leaf. So tomorrow it's off to find a leaf in a forest...
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Well that's one down... Disc 1 I mean.
Got one step closer to my Trauma Triage set today, I bought Trauma Team and actually got it less that regular price. Now I just need to find 2nd Opinion for cheap.
In ToS I tried to find any place that I missed, but all I could find were a couple of conversation points, so I went on to the Light spirit. The plan was that once the final summon was collected the mana seed would be free to grow into a tree and both worlds will have ample mana. That's not how it went though...
Turns out that the mana seed got corrupted, so when I beat the Light spirit a giant twisted tree burst out from the ground, taking the largest city in the world out on the way, and threatening to destroy the world as it grows. The up side is that the renegades were building a super power cannon for other reasons but volunteered it to destroy the tree, the down side is that I had to tackle another human ranch before they could fire it.
The ranch was much sorter that the previous ones and it was more just a series of avoiding lasers and collecting tons of good loot. In the end we had to fight the git who got me kicked out of the village in the first place, but after nearly dying (only 1 party member left with 50 health) we beat him and the cannon blew up the tree. While leaving the ranch though, the bad guy came back Die Hard style and shot at the chosen right before I stabbed him. The chosen survived, but the blast revealed that she's slowly crystallizing due to the magic stone she has.
At this point the "Please insert disc 2" prompt came up, and I was a little worried if it would work on the Wii since it mentioned opening the game cube lid. Fortunately it played no problem and tomorrow it's off to explore Disc 2 and find how to fix the Chosen.
In ToS I tried to find any place that I missed, but all I could find were a couple of conversation points, so I went on to the Light spirit. The plan was that once the final summon was collected the mana seed would be free to grow into a tree and both worlds will have ample mana. That's not how it went though...
Turns out that the mana seed got corrupted, so when I beat the Light spirit a giant twisted tree burst out from the ground, taking the largest city in the world out on the way, and threatening to destroy the world as it grows. The up side is that the renegades were building a super power cannon for other reasons but volunteered it to destroy the tree, the down side is that I had to tackle another human ranch before they could fire it.
The ranch was much sorter that the previous ones and it was more just a series of avoiding lasers and collecting tons of good loot. In the end we had to fight the git who got me kicked out of the village in the first place, but after nearly dying (only 1 party member left with 50 health) we beat him and the cannon blew up the tree. While leaving the ranch though, the bad guy came back Die Hard style and shot at the chosen right before I stabbed him. The chosen survived, but the blast revealed that she's slowly crystallizing due to the magic stone she has.
At this point the "Please insert disc 2" prompt came up, and I was a little worried if it would work on the Wii since it mentioned opening the game cube lid. Fortunately it played no problem and tomorrow it's off to explore Disc 2 and find how to fix the Chosen.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
And don't come back!
Didn't get much done today.
With only one summons left, and I'm betting it will some how close off all previous side quests, I'm starting to go to every location I previously been to to see if I missed anything.
So far I just ran across the people who were impersonating my group near the start of the game. They were trying to rip off a town, so we just got the money back and chased them off.
Tomorrow it's more exploring.
With only one summons left, and I'm betting it will some how close off all previous side quests, I'm starting to go to every location I previously been to to see if I missed anything.
So far I just ran across the people who were impersonating my group near the start of the game. They were trying to rip off a town, so we just got the money back and chased them off.
Tomorrow it's more exploring.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
It's too much for the hero, send the little girl instead
A lot of leg work today for just one more summon.
First I went to a dark cave that I found earlier, but now there was dialogue saying that the spirit of Shadow was there, but it was to dark see, so we had to go to the elemental research lab. Once at the lab they said they could help with a blue candle, but the head scientist was just taken away to be executed for helping us. So the only way to get to her cell is to go through the arena, at this point I thought it will be another set of arena matches, but it was just 1 fight of one of my guys against 3 of them.
And I lost...
I sent in the main character of the game, but I didn't notice he was at half health, and when he died the game started over to the last save point. It's like they went "Well Loyd's dead, no point trying to save the worlds now..." and gave up.
So I quickly went back to the dark cave, then to the research lab, and then to the area, this time using the super strong little girl at full health. I won the second time and then got the blue candle to explore the shadow temple.
Inside the temple was an odd new type of puzzle, I had to collect up 5 little shadow monster while disabling light sources and moving sliding walls, it was all quite Pikmin like. After spending way to long herding around these little shadows I finally got them to the end of the temple, where they reformed into the shadow spirit and we had to fight.
The fight didn't take that long surprisingly, maybe I'm at a higher level then expected for this point. I'll find out tomorrow when I finally get the Light spirit, as long as nothing gets in my way.
First I went to a dark cave that I found earlier, but now there was dialogue saying that the spirit of Shadow was there, but it was to dark see, so we had to go to the elemental research lab. Once at the lab they said they could help with a blue candle, but the head scientist was just taken away to be executed for helping us. So the only way to get to her cell is to go through the arena, at this point I thought it will be another set of arena matches, but it was just 1 fight of one of my guys against 3 of them.
And I lost...
I sent in the main character of the game, but I didn't notice he was at half health, and when he died the game started over to the last save point. It's like they went "Well Loyd's dead, no point trying to save the worlds now..." and gave up.
So I quickly went back to the dark cave, then to the research lab, and then to the area, this time using the super strong little girl at full health. I won the second time and then got the blue candle to explore the shadow temple.
Inside the temple was an odd new type of puzzle, I had to collect up 5 little shadow monster while disabling light sources and moving sliding walls, it was all quite Pikmin like. After spending way to long herding around these little shadows I finally got them to the end of the temple, where they reformed into the shadow spirit and we had to fight.
The fight didn't take that long surprisingly, maybe I'm at a higher level then expected for this point. I'll find out tomorrow when I finally get the Light spirit, as long as nothing gets in my way.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Found it!
After searching for over 2 years I have finally found the last game cube game on my want list, Skies of Arcadia Legends! I had pretty much given up hope of finding it short of playing through the nose on line, and I got it for a reasonable price (50$). Now I can completely stop searching the GC section of video game stores and pawn shops, and it takes the the August space for my 1 game a month policy. I'll be starting it after Dead rising, even though it's ranked higher I wanted to space out the CG graphics (though SoA:L is more high end PS1 graphics).
In the spirit of the Metroid Prim Trilogy counting as 1 game, my "1 game" for this month will be "Trauma Center Triage", my self named title for the Trauma trilogy for the Wii. I figure if I can get all 3 for under 70$ then it's less than buying 1 new game, and I already got New Blood for 15$. I have 15 more games to finish before I even get to them (I averaged out their scores), so I have time to shop around.
In ToS today I advanced the powers of my party a lot and the plot a little.
My flying bikes can now be fully powered and jump between the worlds whenever I want, so I hoped back to the other world to look into who killed the little girl's sister. Turns out that I was right about the sister being turned into a monster, and her boyfriend at the time had to kill her. Also the boyfriend happens to be the prisoner that joined my party (he handed himself to the police after the killing), so that makes things a little awkward.
Flipping back to the first world, I looked into a story at the start of the game about a magical bird, and found that if I had the wind spirit I may be able to summon it. So I went back to the air temple and fought the air spirit (actual 3 fairy like spirits) and separating another link between the two worlds in the process. When I summoned the magic bird it told me that it was the spirit of light and I had to also find it's opposite in the other world before we could challenge it. Figuring that fighting these two powerful spirits at one may be tricky I next went to fight the fire spirit, which was surprisingly easy compared to the 3 spirits at once I just faced.
So tomorrow I'll track down any remaining side quests and then take on the finial spirits. I'm betting that it will lead to something huge happening (like the two worlds merging) and lead to the second disc.
In the spirit of the Metroid Prim Trilogy counting as 1 game, my "1 game" for this month will be "Trauma Center Triage", my self named title for the Trauma trilogy for the Wii. I figure if I can get all 3 for under 70$ then it's less than buying 1 new game, and I already got New Blood for 15$. I have 15 more games to finish before I even get to them (I averaged out their scores), so I have time to shop around.
In ToS today I advanced the powers of my party a lot and the plot a little.
My flying bikes can now be fully powered and jump between the worlds whenever I want, so I hoped back to the other world to look into who killed the little girl's sister. Turns out that I was right about the sister being turned into a monster, and her boyfriend at the time had to kill her. Also the boyfriend happens to be the prisoner that joined my party (he handed himself to the police after the killing), so that makes things a little awkward.
Flipping back to the first world, I looked into a story at the start of the game about a magical bird, and found that if I had the wind spirit I may be able to summon it. So I went back to the air temple and fought the air spirit (actual 3 fairy like spirits) and separating another link between the two worlds in the process. When I summoned the magic bird it told me that it was the spirit of light and I had to also find it's opposite in the other world before we could challenge it. Figuring that fighting these two powerful spirits at one may be tricky I next went to fight the fire spirit, which was surprisingly easy compared to the 3 spirits at once I just faced.
So tomorrow I'll track down any remaining side quests and then take on the finial spirits. I'm betting that it will lead to something huge happening (like the two worlds merging) and lead to the second disc.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
We're back!
After flying around a bit I get a lead that the professor was at the amusement park I found while exploring earlier, also while there we meet some one who knew the sister of the little girl. It turns out that the sister was most likely turned into a monster buy the magic stones and then killed, but she left a message to track down the one who put the stone on her.
Not really knowing where to go with that side quest, I continued on and found professor on a floating island near some runes. Turns out that it is a portal and we finally get back to the world we started in! Now that I have the flying bikes I was able to explore much more of the world and found one NPC that told me I was about 48% finished. I'm not sure if that means I'm less than half done or that it includes side quests that i may miss, and also if that will affect the ending I get.
After looking around I find that the group rebelling against the "angles" want to from a truce since we are the only ones who can separate the worlds. We take on a mission to take down another ranch, but get trapped when the base starts to self destruct, the rebels then sacrifice themselves in order for us to escape.
For tomorrow I think I need to collect up the rest of the spirits in this world, or at least until the next plot point comes up.
Not really knowing where to go with that side quest, I continued on and found professor on a floating island near some runes. Turns out that it is a portal and we finally get back to the world we started in! Now that I have the flying bikes I was able to explore much more of the world and found one NPC that told me I was about 48% finished. I'm not sure if that means I'm less than half done or that it includes side quests that i may miss, and also if that will affect the ending I get.
After looking around I find that the group rebelling against the "angles" want to from a truce since we are the only ones who can separate the worlds. We take on a mission to take down another ranch, but get trapped when the base starts to self destruct, the rebels then sacrifice themselves in order for us to escape.
For tomorrow I think I need to collect up the rest of the spirits in this world, or at least until the next plot point comes up.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Slip sliding away
I found the ice temple in an arctic region, not surprisingly, but in order to finish it I had to do a rather strange side quest first. In order to pick the ice plant needed to solve a puzzle I first needed special gloves, which needed penguin quills. What makes this odd is that the penguins are actually people in penguin costumes and look kinda like Chiyo-chan from azumanga daioh in her little costume, and I have to kill a bunch of them!
Once that unpleasantness was out of the way, the only real obstacle was a maze where I slide across the ice in one direction until I hit a wall. I spent 10 minutes going around in circles on that thing until I finally found the right combination to get out. I then reached the location of the ice spirit, but before the battle I ran out and went to the nearest village to save and stock up on items, I didn't' want to go through all that again. Fortunately It wasn't needed since I beat the ice spirit the first try.
As soon as we left the temple though there was a huge bolt of lighting in the distance and the town the little girl came from was being attacked by the "angles". Wen we got there the only survivor was some one with the same name of an ancient hero, so we took him to the nearby dwarf and hard about a story of a gateway between worlds.
In the morning though the professor had disappeared, presumably looking for this gateway, so tomorrow I'll have to find her.
Once that unpleasantness was out of the way, the only real obstacle was a maze where I slide across the ice in one direction until I hit a wall. I spent 10 minutes going around in circles on that thing until I finally found the right combination to get out. I then reached the location of the ice spirit, but before the battle I ran out and went to the nearest village to save and stock up on items, I didn't' want to go through all that again. Fortunately It wasn't needed since I beat the ice spirit the first try.
As soon as we left the temple though there was a huge bolt of lighting in the distance and the town the little girl came from was being attacked by the "angles". Wen we got there the only survivor was some one with the same name of an ancient hero, so we took him to the nearby dwarf and hard about a story of a gateway between worlds.
In the morning though the professor had disappeared, presumably looking for this gateway, so tomorrow I'll have to find her.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Can you dig it?
This was an odd type of dungeon, to solve it I had to leave it a few times.
The first obstacle was a little person, looking much like a Harvest Sprite from Harvest Moon, who said we can't pass till his brother comes back. Turns out his brother was the little guy I met while searching for the ore, and he wanted a potion. So I had to leave the cave, fly to a city that sold potions, and then fly back to the mine with the guy in it.
After the little guy ate the potion (bottle and all), I flew back to the cave and came across another little guy who now wanted some spicy food. So I left the cave again and flew to the dwarf since his maid was cooking somethign spicy last time we were there. The maid gave us a recipe for curry, and once back at the cave I picked the ninja to cook it to curry her favor *rimshot*.
The next little guy was actually pleasant and offered to help without a fetch quest, all we had to do was kill any monsters in his path and then break a bridge with him. At last we got to the earth spirit, who was a giant mole with a propeller and a easy going way of speaking. The fight was difficult, but by that point we had leveled up quite a bit (running around in circles in the last base) and won on the first try.
So far I'm over 26 hours into the game and still on the first disc, I wonder just how long this game is. Tomorrow I'll be looking to another elemental spirit.
The first obstacle was a little person, looking much like a Harvest Sprite from Harvest Moon, who said we can't pass till his brother comes back. Turns out his brother was the little guy I met while searching for the ore, and he wanted a potion. So I had to leave the cave, fly to a city that sold potions, and then fly back to the mine with the guy in it.
After the little guy ate the potion (bottle and all), I flew back to the cave and came across another little guy who now wanted some spicy food. So I left the cave again and flew to the dwarf since his maid was cooking somethign spicy last time we were there. The maid gave us a recipe for curry, and once back at the cave I picked the ninja to cook it to curry her favor *rimshot*.
The next little guy was actually pleasant and offered to help without a fetch quest, all we had to do was kill any monsters in his path and then break a bridge with him. At last we got to the earth spirit, who was a giant mole with a propeller and a easy going way of speaking. The fight was difficult, but by that point we had leveled up quite a bit (running around in circles in the last base) and won on the first try.
So far I'm over 26 hours into the game and still on the first disc, I wonder just how long this game is. Tomorrow I'll be looking to another elemental spirit.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Flying bikes!
The base holding the world jumping bikes was made up of a series of box sliding puzzles, topped with having to kill all guards for passwords. It took a lot longer than it should all due to a poorly placed camera.
To get to the final door I had to go up to the top of the room and get over a gap in the walkway. Since it looked like the gap went all the way down to the ground I couldn't figure out how to get by, so I ran all over the base several times to find another way. Finally I discovered that the gap actually was the depth of a box and I just had to push a couple into the hole to cross. After a not too hard boss battle the bikes were ours!
While the bikes didn't have the power yet to jump world, they did work well as flying transportation, so now all areas of the map are open to me. While exploring around I came across an amusement park and office building, but there didn't seem to be anything to do, so I'll have to come back later.
Finally after searching around the world I came cross a small floating island where the Chose was being held, which of course was a trap. A few medium sizes dragons showed up and we had a rather tricky boss battle, balanced between keeping my party alive and thinning out the baby dragons. Finally we won and my party is now at last full with 8 characters.
Next step is to explore the near by cave for the earth spirit tomorrow.
To get to the final door I had to go up to the top of the room and get over a gap in the walkway. Since it looked like the gap went all the way down to the ground I couldn't figure out how to get by, so I ran all over the base several times to find another way. Finally I discovered that the gap actually was the depth of a box and I just had to push a couple into the hole to cross. After a not too hard boss battle the bikes were ours!
While the bikes didn't have the power yet to jump world, they did work well as flying transportation, so now all areas of the map are open to me. While exploring around I came across an amusement park and office building, but there didn't seem to be anything to do, so I'll have to come back later.
Finally after searching around the world I came cross a small floating island where the Chose was being held, which of course was a trap. A few medium sizes dragons showed up and we had a rather tricky boss battle, balanced between keeping my party alive and thinning out the baby dragons. Finally we won and my party is now at last full with 8 characters.
Next step is to explore the near by cave for the earth spirit tomorrow.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Can't keep 8
Well the dwarf wasn't much help, but we did get directions to where to get the ore to make the charm our self. So after a small boat ride and a short trip through a cave we go back to the girl's town... only to have the girl help our Chose get kidnapped.
In her defense, she was in her spaced out state and controlled by the creepy evil guy. The charm works though and she reverts to sort of normal, and I find out that when her father got sick she volunteered for magical experimentation to make her strong enough to continue his work as a lumberjack. The side effect of it though is that it turned her into a robot piratically, so she kept working even after her father died of his illness. Also, she apparently never aged, so I have no idea how old she really is (anywhere from 20-50 at least).
In order to get our Chosen back, we go to the ninja village again to learn that they found the world hopping bikes, but to power them we need to make a pact with the lightning spirit. After a long puzzle filled shrine we face off against the spirit, but only after a cut scene where the ninja's little summoned animal sacrifices it's self to save her. This act, while noble, is pointless since in the same scene the hero can simply deflect the same attack with his sword, and there not all that powerful in battle.
After making the pact wit the spirit it's revealed that not only can we summon it now, but having a spirit from both words breaks the mana balance between them. So now as long as I keep collecting spirits it should solve the problem of the words fighting over mana!
Next stop tomorow is the bad guy's base where our world hopping bikes are hidden.
In her defense, she was in her spaced out state and controlled by the creepy evil guy. The charm works though and she reverts to sort of normal, and I find out that when her father got sick she volunteered for magical experimentation to make her strong enough to continue his work as a lumberjack. The side effect of it though is that it turned her into a robot piratically, so she kept working even after her father died of his illness. Also, she apparently never aged, so I have no idea how old she really is (anywhere from 20-50 at least).
In order to get our Chosen back, we go to the ninja village again to learn that they found the world hopping bikes, but to power them we need to make a pact with the lightning spirit. After a long puzzle filled shrine we face off against the spirit, but only after a cut scene where the ninja's little summoned animal sacrifices it's self to save her. This act, while noble, is pointless since in the same scene the hero can simply deflect the same attack with his sword, and there not all that powerful in battle.
After making the pact wit the spirit it's revealed that not only can we summon it now, but having a spirit from both words breaks the mana balance between them. So now as long as I keep collecting spirits it should solve the problem of the words fighting over mana!
Next stop tomorow is the bad guy's base where our world hopping bikes are hidden.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Febreze can get that smell out
Well it turns out that we didn't just get a boat ride, but a whole boat to take anywhere we want! Also, the thing shrinks to nothing so it's portable, The world map just opened up a lot more.
So we used the boat to cross to the other continent and then enter a forest in order to take the odd girl home. Along the way however, we have to make a detour to avoid a bunch of guards looking for us, so we stop into our ninja's home town. After a bit of convincing the chief agrees to support our cause and has his intelligence network look for the dimension hopping bikes.
Next I visited the quiet girl's home, only to find that there is a dead person in a bed that she is oblivious of (and a creepy villain type guy in the area). So tomorrow I'll have to go to a near by dwarf to see if he can make a charm to turn her normal.
So we used the boat to cross to the other continent and then enter a forest in order to take the odd girl home. Along the way however, we have to make a detour to avoid a bunch of guards looking for us, so we stop into our ninja's home town. After a bit of convincing the chief agrees to support our cause and has his intelligence network look for the dimension hopping bikes.
Next I visited the quiet girl's home, only to find that there is a dead person in a bed that she is oblivious of (and a creepy villain type guy in the area). So tomorrow I'll have to go to a near by dwarf to see if he can make a charm to turn her normal.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Rats! Snakes!
Managed to get through the sewers after killing dozens of rats and poisonous snakes (odd that they were not venomous) and solving all the silly puzzles involving dropping blocks and shrinking ourselves. Also survived a mini boss battle, seems the pope is resorting to hiring prisoners to kill us in exchange for release.
Then only to be nearly killed off by a mimic chest at the end of the dungeon...
Fortunately I managed to escape with only one character left with 10% health. I then tempted fate by swapping out my dead characters with my reserves and attacked the chest again, this time killing it barely with a last second summon.
Once out I arranged a cargo ship to carry us to the rest of the continent so Tomorrow I'll be able to continue the plot.
Then only to be nearly killed off by a mimic chest at the end of the dungeon...
Fortunately I managed to escape with only one character left with 10% health. I then tempted fate by swapping out my dead characters with my reserves and attacked the chest again, this time killing it barely with a last second summon.
Once out I arranged a cargo ship to carry us to the rest of the continent so Tomorrow I'll be able to continue the plot.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
well at least that's one good thing
Things go too well today in the game.
First we got off the mountain and to the nearest city, and long the way met the idiot Chosen of the other world. Then the king wouldn't see us so we had to sneak in with the help of a little girl lumberjack who had the look of Yutaka from Lucky Star the personality of Nagato from Haruhi Suzumiya, and voiced by Tara Strong. The king is not much help so we go to the big university of this world with the idiot Chose and little girl where we learn the process affecting our Chosen is like when humans were turning into monster. The information doesn't seem to be much help since trying to use the regular method to block the transformation does nothing.
So we plan to go back to our world, but at this point we are all arrested. It's then revealed that in this world half elves (such as the bad guys and 2 of our party) are persecuted and treated like dirt. So we escape and chase down the guards who took our half elf friends, but are then cut off from the rest of the world by a huge bridge. We then tried to go back up the mountain and get back the world hopping bikes, but we're ambushed by the "angles".
They reveal a little more of their plan, that they control the strife in the declining world by sending their half-elf goons to make things even harder for people, just to make sure the whole "regeneration" cycle continues. Fortunately, as they try to take back our Chose for their plans, she regains her humanity and helps us fight a very tough boss battle.
We now have to make our way through a sewer system filled with puzzles in order to get back into the city to get some help to get to the rest of the world. But at least our Chosen is talking, too bad the other chosen won't shut up.
First we got off the mountain and to the nearest city, and long the way met the idiot Chosen of the other world. Then the king wouldn't see us so we had to sneak in with the help of a little girl lumberjack who had the look of Yutaka from Lucky Star the personality of Nagato from Haruhi Suzumiya, and voiced by Tara Strong. The king is not much help so we go to the big university of this world with the idiot Chose and little girl where we learn the process affecting our Chosen is like when humans were turning into monster. The information doesn't seem to be much help since trying to use the regular method to block the transformation does nothing.
So we plan to go back to our world, but at this point we are all arrested. It's then revealed that in this world half elves (such as the bad guys and 2 of our party) are persecuted and treated like dirt. So we escape and chase down the guards who took our half elf friends, but are then cut off from the rest of the world by a huge bridge. We then tried to go back up the mountain and get back the world hopping bikes, but we're ambushed by the "angles".
They reveal a little more of their plan, that they control the strife in the declining world by sending their half-elf goons to make things even harder for people, just to make sure the whole "regeneration" cycle continues. Fortunately, as they try to take back our Chose for their plans, she regains her humanity and helps us fight a very tough boss battle.
We now have to make our way through a sewer system filled with puzzles in order to get back into the city to get some help to get to the rest of the world. But at least our Chosen is talking, too bad the other chosen won't shut up.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
How revealing!
I went back to the tiny town on the mountain and found the governor's wife who was turned into a monster, after she was chased off by an angry mob I find that she dropped the key to the mana tower! Lucky for me, but I wonder why she had it.
At the mana tower the group splits up again to tackle all the sliding block puzzles before rejoining to battle the boss of the place. Compared to the pounding we got from trying to recruit the water spirit, this boss was rather easy. Then the angel comes down to turn the chosen more into an angel and is sounding a lot more evil this time.
While leaving the shrine we found a book explaining how to cure people being turned into monsters, but of course we need a unicorn horn. Also the chosen has now lost the ability to speak and must write what she wants to say on the hand of some one else (she needs a note book).
With only one shrine left to go, the ninja finally explains why sh was trying to kill us, and it's a whopper. Turns out that she's from a parallel dimension that shares the mana with this one, so when one world regenerates the other starts declining until they regenerate and the cycle continues. So she was sent to this world to stop the regeneration in order that her world dosen't decline, but she's having second thoughts now.
Now that I have a direct plot related reason to get the unicorn horn and a few more levels, so I take a stab again at the water spirit. After a rather intense battle we finally defeat her, and trek all the way back to the unicorn again to get the cure. We use the cure to save one of the people who escaped the human ranch, but the governor's wife is nowhere to be found.
After a dramatic night of preparation the team went off the the final shrine to complete the world regeneration, then things get really crazy...
After being split up, we get there to find that the chosen has already started the final process of becoming an angel, and it's revealed that she will die in the process (no surprise there).
Then it's revealed that the "angles" plan to actually use the chose to take over the world. So we have an intense boss fight and kick the angel's butt.
Then it's revealed that the mercenary that's been helping us since the start is actually one one the top generals of the angels and was there to make sure nothing went wrong in their plan. So we had to have a boss battle against him, but after barely surviving the last one we didn't stand much of a chance.
Then it's revealed after we lost that the boss of the angles is also the boos of the bad guys turning humans into monsters and magic rocks. So we have a boss fight against him with all of 1HP each and quickly get slaughtered.
The it's revealed that the guys that attacked in the very first act are actually rebelling against the bad guy and were trying to stop their plans. So they come and rescue our very beaten butts and take us back to their base.
Then it's revealed that the "angles" are just super powered version of the bad guys and they have been controlling things in both worlds for hundreds of years with their made up "angel" and "regeneration" religion.
Then it's revealed that the rebels plan to hold the group captive indefinitely to make sure the bad guys can't finish their plans. So we have to escape, and we take a some world hopping jet bikes to the other world.
Where we promptly crash on a mountain top.
Tomorrow it's time to explore this new world!
At the mana tower the group splits up again to tackle all the sliding block puzzles before rejoining to battle the boss of the place. Compared to the pounding we got from trying to recruit the water spirit, this boss was rather easy. Then the angel comes down to turn the chosen more into an angel and is sounding a lot more evil this time.
While leaving the shrine we found a book explaining how to cure people being turned into monsters, but of course we need a unicorn horn. Also the chosen has now lost the ability to speak and must write what she wants to say on the hand of some one else (she needs a note book).
With only one shrine left to go, the ninja finally explains why sh was trying to kill us, and it's a whopper. Turns out that she's from a parallel dimension that shares the mana with this one, so when one world regenerates the other starts declining until they regenerate and the cycle continues. So she was sent to this world to stop the regeneration in order that her world dosen't decline, but she's having second thoughts now.
Now that I have a direct plot related reason to get the unicorn horn and a few more levels, so I take a stab again at the water spirit. After a rather intense battle we finally defeat her, and trek all the way back to the unicorn again to get the cure. We use the cure to save one of the people who escaped the human ranch, but the governor's wife is nowhere to be found.
After a dramatic night of preparation the team went off the the final shrine to complete the world regeneration, then things get really crazy...
After being split up, we get there to find that the chosen has already started the final process of becoming an angel, and it's revealed that she will die in the process (no surprise there).
Then it's revealed that the "angles" plan to actually use the chose to take over the world. So we have an intense boss fight and kick the angel's butt.
Then it's revealed that the mercenary that's been helping us since the start is actually one one the top generals of the angels and was there to make sure nothing went wrong in their plan. So we had to have a boss battle against him, but after barely surviving the last one we didn't stand much of a chance.
Then it's revealed after we lost that the boss of the angles is also the boos of the bad guys turning humans into monsters and magic rocks. So we have a boss fight against him with all of 1HP each and quickly get slaughtered.
The it's revealed that the guys that attacked in the very first act are actually rebelling against the bad guy and were trying to stop their plans. So they come and rescue our very beaten butts and take us back to their base.
Then it's revealed that the "angles" are just super powered version of the bad guys and they have been controlling things in both worlds for hundreds of years with their made up "angel" and "regeneration" religion.
Then it's revealed that the rebels plan to hold the group captive indefinitely to make sure the bad guys can't finish their plans. So we have to escape, and we take a some world hopping jet bikes to the other world.
Where we promptly crash on a mountain top.
Tomorrow it's time to explore this new world!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Well that didn't go well
Since the Mana tower was still locked and I have no idea how to open it, I went back to the trapped unicorn to see if my new ninja character could help.
Turns out that she has summoning powers but first we have to track half way back across the planet to get to the water shrine again to visit the spirit there. When we get the negotiations with the spirit go well, until she pulls the old "I must test your worthiness" and attacks.
And totally trashes my party.
Fortunately it's one of those battles that just kicks you out with 10% health if you lose, and not a game over (since I haven't saved in a while). So I heal up, grab a bunch of potions (well, jellies in this game) and life restorers, and charge into the fight again well prepared.
And get even more thrashed...
I guess the unicorn will have to wail till I get more levels, Tomorrow I'll scout around for info on how to get into the Mana tower.
Turns out that she has summoning powers but first we have to track half way back across the planet to get to the water shrine again to visit the spirit there. When we get the negotiations with the spirit go well, until she pulls the old "I must test your worthiness" and attacks.
And totally trashes my party.
Fortunately it's one of those battles that just kicks you out with 10% health if you lose, and not a game over (since I haven't saved in a while). So I heal up, grab a bunch of potions (well, jellies in this game) and life restorers, and charge into the fight again well prepared.
And get even more thrashed...
I guess the unicorn will have to wail till I get more levels, Tomorrow I'll scout around for info on how to get into the Mana tower.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Split up, we can do more damage that way
So our group invaded the human ranch, where we made the unsettling discovery that the little stones that give people magic and can turn humans into monster are actually made out of people. Well, more accurately the humans are used as hosts for the stone till they are big enough to harvest, like a pearl in an oyster.
The we get cornered by the head of the factory and a hand full of guards. Considering that we easily took out every one of these places before (along with 3 elemental guardians), I figured these guys would not pose much more of a challenge, but the game seemd to have other ideas. So my group ran off like they couldn't stand a chance...
After finding the only remaining survivor to escape from the ranch, we found out about a secret entrance, and here's where things got tricky. Since the security of the place had to be turned off right before getting to the boss' room, the party split up into 2 parts, so I'm alternating between 2 parties of 3 to get through the place.
In the end it came down to a fight against the boss, and like I figured he didn't pose too much of a challenge.
Tomorrow it's off to try and find a way into the mana tower.
The we get cornered by the head of the factory and a hand full of guards. Considering that we easily took out every one of these places before (along with 3 elemental guardians), I figured these guys would not pose much more of a challenge, but the game seemd to have other ideas. So my group ran off like they couldn't stand a chance...
After finding the only remaining survivor to escape from the ranch, we found out about a secret entrance, and here's where things got tricky. Since the security of the place had to be turned off right before getting to the boss' room, the party split up into 2 parts, so I'm alternating between 2 parties of 3 to get through the place.
In the end it came down to a fight against the boss, and like I figured he didn't pose too much of a challenge.
Tomorrow it's off to try and find a way into the mana tower.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
To air is human.
Things are getting more serious and more complicated...
The air temple was rather small but took the longest to finish due to the puzzles. It was basically one large room and one small room, the small room had the puzzle in it and the large one had the clues for it. The tricky thing is that each clue is hidden in the large room and are in a code, and the fire ring is needed to see the code, but the puzzle needs the wind ring to solve it. So I kept running back and forth trying to find clues, then switching rings, then trying to solve the puzzle, then running back for more clues. On top of that all the monsters respawn any time I change rooms.
Finally I wrote down all the clues and even found the code explanation (which made no sense the first time I read it) and solved the puzzle. The I had the boss battle, which I had to win or else I had to do the puzzle all over again and lose the 3 levels I gained from all those back tracking monster. After that we had another fight with the female ninja that's been following us since almost the start of the quest (fortunately we were healed after the last boss fight). After the fight she ran off saying that she was on the side of good and we were going to destroy her world.
Apparently one of us are misinformed, but I'm not sure who.
After that it's revealed in a cut scene that the Chosen is losing her humanity slowly, no longer needing to eat, sleep, and now even feel temperature or pain. I'm betting by the next temple she loses her emotions too.
On the way to the next temple I went to that little town I found before, and while i was off in the air temple the bad guys from the human ranch came by and totaled the place. Everything was smashed and all people were either killed or taken to the ranch, at least the ninja was there (she was trying to defend the place) and she finally joined the party.
So tomorrow it's off to take down another human ranch and maybe find out what's the ninja's story.
The air temple was rather small but took the longest to finish due to the puzzles. It was basically one large room and one small room, the small room had the puzzle in it and the large one had the clues for it. The tricky thing is that each clue is hidden in the large room and are in a code, and the fire ring is needed to see the code, but the puzzle needs the wind ring to solve it. So I kept running back and forth trying to find clues, then switching rings, then trying to solve the puzzle, then running back for more clues. On top of that all the monsters respawn any time I change rooms.
Finally I wrote down all the clues and even found the code explanation (which made no sense the first time I read it) and solved the puzzle. The I had the boss battle, which I had to win or else I had to do the puzzle all over again and lose the 3 levels I gained from all those back tracking monster. After that we had another fight with the female ninja that's been following us since almost the start of the quest (fortunately we were healed after the last boss fight). After the fight she ran off saying that she was on the side of good and we were going to destroy her world.
Apparently one of us are misinformed, but I'm not sure who.
After that it's revealed in a cut scene that the Chosen is losing her humanity slowly, no longer needing to eat, sleep, and now even feel temperature or pain. I'm betting by the next temple she loses her emotions too.
On the way to the next temple I went to that little town I found before, and while i was off in the air temple the bad guys from the human ranch came by and totaled the place. Everything was smashed and all people were either killed or taken to the ranch, at least the ninja was there (she was trying to defend the place) and she finally joined the party.
So tomorrow it's off to take down another human ranch and maybe find out what's the ninja's story.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Wind spirit, killer demon, easy mistake.
Well it turns out that the medium town that I was in was actually the large city I was avoiding, and I wasn't the only one confused.
Apparently there was an evil demon that was sealed away near the town, and over the years people began to mistake the demon seal for the wind spirit shrine. Shortly before my party arrived some one managed to partly free the demon, and the demon asked for a human sacrifice rather than the normal song and dance. Thinking it was the wind spirit the towns people agreed (for the most part) were about to sacrifice some girl. Her brother objected to this and tried to blow up the seal, which is where we came in.
So after a fight with the demon (which was rather close) we found out that the location of the wind spirit is actually on an island to the east, so tomorrow I'll be checking that out.
Apparently there was an evil demon that was sealed away near the town, and over the years people began to mistake the demon seal for the wind spirit shrine. Shortly before my party arrived some one managed to partly free the demon, and the demon asked for a human sacrifice rather than the normal song and dance. Thinking it was the wind spirit the towns people agreed (for the most part) were about to sacrifice some girl. Her brother objected to this and tried to blow up the seal, which is where we came in.
So after a fight with the demon (which was rather close) we found out that the location of the wind spirit is actually on an island to the east, so tomorrow I'll be checking that out.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Day of ruin
after massing the mountain range we got into a new large area of the map, so I explored around a bit to see what was there.
M main objective I think was some large city, so I avoided that and focused on the outskirts. I found a few locations which will be important later (another human ranch, the tower of mana, and a mountain top outpost) and a medium sized city filled with old ruins.
I don't know if i came to the city in the wrong order since all the NPCs were talking about how some girl has to be sacrificed, yet there was no direct conversation addressing it. I hope I didn't mess up the order of the game by skipping the city, bit it's unlikely.
Only bit of story interaction was when the group stopped some guys from blowing up a large alter, but I saved and quit before finding out more.
Tomorrow I'll find out what's what.
M main objective I think was some large city, so I avoided that and focused on the outskirts. I found a few locations which will be important later (another human ranch, the tower of mana, and a mountain top outpost) and a medium sized city filled with old ruins.
I don't know if i came to the city in the wrong order since all the NPCs were talking about how some girl has to be sacrificed, yet there was no direct conversation addressing it. I hope I didn't mess up the order of the game by skipping the city, bit it's unlikely.
Only bit of story interaction was when the group stopped some guys from blowing up a large alter, but I saved and quit before finding out more.
Tomorrow I'll find out what's what.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
watter you wating for?
Things were a lot simpler today, the place with the statue was also the location of the water temple, so I killed two birds with one stone.
After finishing the water temple and getting he statue I went back to the hills to check out the book, which wasn't much use after all. Now I'm able though to continue on to the next temple in the mountains.
tomorrow I should find out what trouble lurks there.
After finishing the water temple and getting he statue I went back to the hills to check out the book, which wasn't much use after all. Now I'm able though to continue on to the next temple in the mountains.
tomorrow I should find out what trouble lurks there.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Now thigns get complicated.
It started out with the simple task of visiting the governor of the port town our boat arrived in.
But it turns out that some "Chosen" imposers came by and already claimed a book we needed and literally headed for the hills to hock it.
But when we wet to the hills to get it back the guy who bought it says we have to get a certain statue for him before we can look at the book.
But as we are leaving there is word that the big bad guys have attacked the port town and they need our help.
But on the way there we stop at the temple where the statue is and they say that we can't see it until the head priest comes back from the port town. so we head to the town and save the people there.
But when we get back to the temple it turns out that the real statue is lost on a remote island.
But before we can go there we have to help the governor attack the big bad's base.
But before we attack the base we are told that it's a trap and the governor plans to hand us over to the bads. We go back to the town and find out that he is working with the bads because they turned his wife into a monster and he has to cooperate for the cure. After a stern talking to he changes his ways and decides to help us.
But then his daughter turns out the be a creepy monster in disguise and kills him, and we have a boss fight. After the battle we go to the bads' base and finally find the last hostage that was taken from the town.
But she finds out that we killed her grandmother earlier in the game when she was turned into a monster. so she runs off to the bads and we get stuck we a boss fight before blowing up the base.
Tomorrow it's off to get that statue, hopefully it will be simpler than today.
But it turns out that some "Chosen" imposers came by and already claimed a book we needed and literally headed for the hills to hock it.
But when we wet to the hills to get it back the guy who bought it says we have to get a certain statue for him before we can look at the book.
But as we are leaving there is word that the big bad guys have attacked the port town and they need our help.
But on the way there we stop at the temple where the statue is and they say that we can't see it until the head priest comes back from the port town. so we head to the town and save the people there.
But when we get back to the temple it turns out that the real statue is lost on a remote island.
But before we can go there we have to help the governor attack the big bad's base.
But before we attack the base we are told that it's a trap and the governor plans to hand us over to the bads. We go back to the town and find out that he is working with the bads because they turned his wife into a monster and he has to cooperate for the cure. After a stern talking to he changes his ways and decides to help us.
But then his daughter turns out the be a creepy monster in disguise and kills him, and we have a boss fight. After the battle we go to the bads' base and finally find the last hostage that was taken from the town.
But she finds out that we killed her grandmother earlier in the game when she was turned into a monster. so she runs off to the bads and we get stuck we a boss fight before blowing up the base.
Tomorrow it's off to get that statue, hopefully it will be simpler than today.
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