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Fat and Useless
Sep 3, 2011

Not Thin and Useful

Foomy is Foomy

Never understood why it wasn't his default.

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Carbon dioxide
Oct 9, 2012

Someone should make the obligatory pokemon reference.

Aerdan
Apr 14, 2012

Not Dennis NEDry

Carbon dioxide posted:

Someone should make the obligatory pokemon reference.

It predates Pokémon, sorry.

Loren1350
Mar 30, 2007
I feel a little late to the party, but count me as another fan of this game.

So many Suds suggestions, I gotta throw Norm into the hat.

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE

Fat and Useless posted:

Foomy is Foomy

Never understood why it wasn't his default.

This, the name fits so well. Voting for Foomy.

We can get creative with the other capsule monsters that aren't bubble blobs.

Teriferin
Oct 30, 2012
Foomy. It is the only choice/

Rockopolis
Dec 21, 2012

I MAKE FUN OF QUEER STORYGAMES BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY LIFE THAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CRY

I can't understand these kinds of games, and not getting it bugs me almost as much as me being weird
Someone already suggested Staypuft, so I'll suggest Vigo.

Mootiman
May 9, 2005

Khisanth Magus posted:

That is a bit over 5 characters. I'll go with foomy.

How about Gozer then?

Camel Pimp
May 17, 2008

This poster survived LPing Lunar: Dragon Song. Let's give her a hand.
Honestly, I generally found that it's not worthwhile to bother with the capsule monsters.

That being said... Cream since we can't name it Cheese.

Jeedy Jay
Nov 8, 2012
This game has the second or third best castle theme of any RPG I can think of.

Also, Foomy is Foomy.

A Pleasant Hug
Dec 30, 2007

...It's the thought that counts, right?
Capsule Monsters are really quite powerful additions when you take the time to raise them.

Taking the LP's status, Blastinus effectively has three party members right now, with one of them controlled by the AI that occasionally does decent damage with Foomy Punch. While later ones have special abilities that will prove exceptionally useful, even if the AI chooses to be stupid and defends or runs away, it's another target on the field to soak up damage, direct attacks away from controllable party members, split the damage from multi-target attacks even further, and never need healed. They're unlikely to survive a boss battle, but when they grow stronger, they'll be able to hold their own. In the Ancient Cave, some of them are stronger at Lv.1 than a few of the main party members.

They're really, really useful, and I just wanted to clarify that. :)

Voting Foomy as well.

AtomikKrab
Jul 17, 2010

Keep on GOP rolling rolling rolling rolling.

:kimchi: Capsule monsters! :syoon:


They are just part of why this game was so good, completely optional doom beasts you can just pick up and have follow you around, and it gives a use to old equips.

Aerdan
Apr 14, 2012

Not Dennis NEDry
Sudsy.

Capsule monsters also generally have a pretty good HP pool compared to your PCs, and they only get better from this baby form.

Blastinus
Feb 28, 2010

Time to try my luck
:rolldice:
Crap.
:siren: Voting :siren: is :siren: over :siren:

Not by popular vote, but because I thought it was amusing and appropriate, our new pile of soap bubbles is named Foomy. I'm sure this will be very amusing when we get to his final form.

Update tomorrow.

:frogsiren: Stop volunteering names! Naming is over! :frogsiren:

SC Bracer
Aug 7, 2012

DEMAGLIO!
Chapter 3: Fuckin' Box Puzzles

So last time, we railroaded ourselves by making our watership a landship. Let's go fix that.


This is the first "proper" dungeon of the game, and actually has one of the selling points of the game: puzzles! Of course, Maxim isn't the best character for puzzle fun, so we'll mostly be pushing blocks, pulling blocks, throwing blocks, and triggering my Bravely Default trauma.



: But they drew the bridge in because of all the monsters.



: It doesn't look like Parcelyte Army will be here to do anything about the monsters any time soon.

: Guess I'll just have to take care of them myself!

: I'll go with you. I don't want you getting in any trouble.

: I'll be fine, Doc. Monster hunting is my business!

: I'm not worried YOU! I'm tagging along to make sure you don't break the bridge's control device.

: Hey!



: Actually, you made it through Soma Temple just fine. You might be safe either way.

: Yes, as long as I have the Ankh of Runa, monsters cannot detect me.

: What a fascinating item! Can I take a look? I'll bet if I could get it open...


wiggle wiggle wiggle

: This is a sacred artifact of Runa. I cannot let you conduct experiments on it.

: Just let me hold it! I'll be gentle, I promise.

: Come on, Doc. I think she knows better than to let you get your hands on it.


Aww they didn't let him science.




Before we do anything productive, let's go grab some treasure. We can push the lower block towards the stack, and scope out that treasure chest.


kaching!




Just off to the side, we can jump on these boxes and get another Potion, which is pretty sweet. Now, we head to the left, for actual plot.




: Um, okay. What about it?

: Take a look at that switch over there. That's a pressure plate switch. You have to push this box on top of it to activate it.

: Why do they have to make it so complicated?

: It's so monsters can't activate it accidentally. Anyway, try giving that crate a push.
Whoa, an actual justification for dungeon puzzling. What even is this.

: Alright.


Uhhh...



: Hey, you could have been a little more specific. I'm new at this crate pushing thing!

: Really, Maxim. Anyone could see that was the wrong direction.

: Hey! Come on, Iris...

: Ha! Don't worry about it, Maxim. I've actually invented a "Reset" device for just this kind of situation.

: "Reset?"

: Yes! It reverses time back to your last checkpoint!

: It reverses time? That's incredible! How does it work?

: I don't know, exactly. It was sort of an accidental discovery.

: Are you sure it's safe to use this thing?

: Sure! I haven't had any problems with it so far!


Oh, Lexis, you god. Reset is the best drat thing, because it completely nukes whatever terrible things you did, and sends you back to the previous checkpoint. The game is fairly generous with checkpoints as well, so feel free to use this whenever you think you've messed up. You Reset by tapping the pictured button on the bottom screen. There are a few places you can't use it though, and I'll point this out when we encounter them.


So, let's pretend Maxim wasn't an idiot, and move on. Our box is back now, so we'll push it towards the brown pressure plate.


This activates a ladder that will take us down to the meat of the dungeon. Before we go down though, let's head further left, and go grab some more treasure.




These blocks are light blocks, and you can throw them at things. We can use that, and another of the blue push/pull blocks, to make our way up to that treasure chest, which contains a Miracle. Miracle is pretty great, but completely useless to us for this dungeon. It provides a full IP/HP heal and revive, so unless you have another person around to revive you...

Now we can head down that ladder for real.




: Yes. Originally, the wave generator was the only thing here. Nobody knew how to move it. It took years for us to understand how to operate it. Its technology is incredibly advanced.

: Huh. Pretty impressive!



: However, you need to release the locks on the device first.





: Go for the one on the right first.

: Gotcha!

: Oh, and I've got another invention for you.

: What is it?

: It's "escape"! You can use it to instantly return to the Excelion from any dungeon.

: As long as it's not weird like "reset."

: Well, I really don't know how this one works either. Hahahaha!


Just like Reset, you tap the icon to leave any dungeon at any time, barring when plot decides we're stuck. One downside is that if you do use it, puzzles get reset as well, and you're sent back to the start, so it's more of a oh gently caress button.




So, let's take Lexis' advice and go for the right lever first. This one is just a matter of going right and jumping up a few levels.


There's a ladder just to the left of this lever, which is where we want to go next. If we work our way downwards, eventually we'll run into a gap.






: Oh no! Look at that hole in the walkway. We can't jump across that.

: What are we going to do?

: Don't worry, guys! I can get across with my "Cross Dash" attack!

: Oh, that's right! You fly through the air when you do that attack!

: I've never seen an attack like it.

: Just be careful. Don't break anything else while you're flying around with your sword.


Now that we technically know how to Cross Dash, let's make a quick detour. Right of this gap is this rather indistinct ladder that you have to jump to get to. If we climb up this, and dash across the catwalk...


We can get ourselves a nice little armour upgrade to Maxim's current gear.


Poison resistance is really nice for this dungeon, as we'll see in a bit.




These two blocks on the left side of the area are our next objective. We need to push them so that we can use them to get onto the catwalk again.


Uh, oops. So I hosed up, and managed to knock the Blue jelly onto the block, where it's happy to kill me.




Our next objective is a ladder at the top of the catwalk. First though, left of the catwalk is a potion that'll replace the one I had to burn to take out Bluey up there.


At the top of this ladder is the second lever.


A chest to the side gives us a Charred Newt, which restores all IP, and isn't a very good item in this game, because of passive IP regen being pretty quick. I guess it's ok if you really need IP in a bossfight.

The blue block is going to get pushed to the top-left, and used as a stepping stone so that we can grab a throwing block, and use that to get to our lever.




Now, let's head back to our device.




: It is indeed!

: But this looks like something you have to pedal.

: Well, I had to make some modifications to the bridge to get it to work.

: Couldn't you come up with something better than this?

: Oh, quit complaining. The exercise will do you good. Now go!

: Okay, okay. Grrr... These pedals are really stiff!

: Don't be a wimp. The bridge's energy core does most of the work anyway. You just need to give it a little help.

: Go, Maxim!

: Right!


If you just had a terrifying flashback to Bravely Default, don't worry, I did too. On the bright side, instead of a terrible fairy yelling at you for being a scrub, the button mashing here moves the entire platform of gears forward, as well as part of the bridge.


: Yes! It's moving!

: RRAAAAAAHHH!!!

: Pedal with everything you've got!


Click here for the Gordovan Bridge in motion.




: (It took everyone else hours of pedaling to activate the bridge, yet it reacted to Maxim's energy waves almost instantly. There is something truly remarkable about Maxim's energy waves. Maybe he really is the legendary hero.)
and thank god for that

: ............

: What's wrong, Doc?

: Oh, nothing. That's half the bridge done. Now we've got to do the other side.

: We're only half done?

: Ha ha ha! Sure, but you get to use another of my amazing devices to get across. It's over here. Get to it!

: Yeah, yeah.


One last detour before we go the other side. This particular ledge is pretty important, and kind of on our way to the next pedal device. There is a fairly tricky jump forwards into Cross Dash you can perform here for treasure. Don't worry about falling, while the game has fall damage it'll never kill you, and you land back on the edge you fell off of.


Several attempts later...

Also you can see the pedal device we want to get to just above the message.




: RRAAAAAAHHH!!!

: Easier than moving a bridge, right?

: Yeah, yeah.

: We made it to the other side. Extend this half of the bridge!


Getting this block on the X switch lifts the wooden platform just behind the block, and lets us progress.




We can also get to the third lever, and once that's activated, climb on the brakes, and grab some dosh.




There's a chest with an Antidote in the area just above the block. These purple enemies are why they give us this freebie. These assholes are Poison Butterflies and they can paralyse or poison you. Poison works as normal and saps your health, which is pretty nasty, but won't kill you. I am...not quite sure what paralysis does, since I was fighting normally. I think it makes you slower?


These are the savepoints in dungeons, and they give you a full heal. I spent some time grinding up to level 8 here, so that I'd be ready for the boss, since things respawn when you come out of a save point, and all the healing's free.




Left of the save point, there's a large two-stack tower that you want to get to the lower ledge, and then climb up so that you can push another tower down.




Rapier gives +5 to Attack and +10 to Magic. It's a decent upgrade for Maxim.




: It must be somewhere close by.

Now that we have things set up, we can use the tower we pushed down as a bridge to the lever and pull it. Or we could, except, you know.



: Now I can pull the brakes.

Luckily, it's sitting on the brake for some reason. So let's fix that, and then mash buttons again on the bridge device.

: Nice work, Maxim!

: RRAAAAAAHHH!!!

Now that we've finally got the bridge extended on both ends, we can just casually head back to the Excelion and--

: Aaah!





: Tia?! What are you doing here?

: We'll have to figure that out later. Maxim, save her!

: Of course! Hold on, Tia!

: These look like some tough customers, Maxim. What out when they go berserk!

We're actually a high enough level that these guys aren't very dangerous to us, but they still take a while to kill.


When enemies are red, they're in Berserk status, which makes them very hard to knock down, and also amplifies their damage.


Their most dangerous move is to spin at you really fast, which knocks you out for a bit. The best strategy for this fight is to dodge away when you see them spinning, use Cross Dash to knock them down, and then attack until they berserk, which is when you dodge away again. You can even punt them into the void, but that doesn't really do very much.




: Yeah... I'm fine.

: Why did you come here? I told you not to follow us!

: I wanted to come with you!

: No. If something happens to you...

: Yes? If something happens to me...?

: Uh, what'll happen to your shop?

: Wh-What?! Maxim, you idiot!


Welp, game over. Go home everyone.

SC Bracer fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Jan 4, 2015

hey girl you up
May 21, 2001

Forum Nice Guy
Man, Iris feels like a completely different character in the DS remake.

Blastinus posted:

Not by popular vote, but because I thought it was amusing and appropriate, our new pile of soap bubbles is named Foomy. I'm sure this will be very amusing when we get to his final form.
I really prefer his 4 form to his M form for some reason. Not sure why, just feels more useful.

hey girl you up fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Jan 4, 2015

KataraniSword
Apr 22, 2008

but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

PFlats posted:

I really prefer his 4 form to his M form for some reason. Not sure why, just feels more useful.

Well, generally by the time you can get to the final rank you've got other capsule monsters that are overall just more useful.

Super Jay Mann
Nov 6, 2008

quote:

: Why do they have to make it so complicated?

: It's so monsters can't activate it accidentally. Anyway, try giving that crate a push.

This... actually makes perfect sense. :psyduck:

Also what the hell is going on, Tia's blatant meddling and desperation for Maxim's attention is actually almost charming in the remake, whereas in the original it just sorta comes off as infuriating.

Torrannor
Apr 27, 2013

---FAGNER---
TEAM-MATE
Tia continues to be the worst character.

CmdrKing
Oct 14, 2012

Maybe if I called it 'Interpretive Stabbing'...

Super Jay Mann posted:

This... actually makes perfect sense. :psyduck:

Also what the hell is going on, Tia's blatant meddling and desperation for Maxim's attention is actually almost charming in the remake, whereas in the original it just sorta comes off as infuriating.

I figure it's 50% the new design and 50% having other characters around so it's clear Maxim really is that dense.

SC Bracer
Aug 7, 2012

DEMAGLIO!

CmdrKing posted:

I figure it's 50% the new design and 50% having other characters around so it's clear Maxim really is that dense.

I want to believe, because of the way he quickly stops from saying something that could be construed as romantic to talking about her shop, that he isn't nearly as dense as he acts, he just really doesn't want to date Tia. I imagine part of why it feels less awful is the better translation as well.

EponymousMrYar
Jan 4, 2015

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.
Chalk me up as another person who played Lufia 2 front to back several times over. It's one of my favorite SNES RPG's of all time.

Boss Jewels while powerful and full of +stat goodness tend to taper off really quickly. Arguably the best part about the Catfish Jewel is that it's a powerful all-enemy attack when your options for those just opened up. I ended up not caring about the boss jewels after the next one, mainly because that one has a cool attack and because droprates get so bad I never got any afterwards, except in the post-postgame.

IP abilities are also a great addition to the gameplay and allow some characters to do cool stuff when in Lufia they were pretty much stuck with two options: Attack and Item.

I like the remake. Sure it's a lot different than the base game but I found it interesting for those changes. Plus the translation helps make a lot of things clearer (knock Square-Enix for a lot of things, but they've got a REAL good translation team now.)
Also Doc Lexis practically makes the game by himself.
'Whoops I accidentally turned our boat into a tank!'
'I accidentally made not only a Time Travel device but a Teleporter too!'
'You get to use my incredible Bike Pedals of Science to activate and traverse this bridge!'

The Gordovan Drawbridge is also really snazzy in motion.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
Eh, Maxim'll be fine. Cross Dash cancels vertical momentum.

Feldherren
Feb 21, 2011
So is it ever explained why everyone knows the Sinistrals are running around doing whatever they're doing, and why they're so... nonchalant about it? The way they've been talking about it makes it sound like it's a regular occurrence.

Carbon dioxide
Oct 9, 2012

So, IP are 'anger points' and Charred Newts refill IP.

Why do newts make Maxim so angry?

Aerdan
Apr 14, 2012

Not Dennis NEDry

Feldherren posted:

So is it ever explained why everyone knows the Sinistrals are running around doing whatever they're doing, and why they're so... nonchalant about it? The way they've been talking about it makes it sound like it's a regular occurrence.

For some reason, the remake decided they wanted to be a lot more in-your-face about the mad gods than Lufia II is. I never played it past the first fight with Gades, so I don't know if it's explained or not, but so farI think Lufia II handles the mad gods' introduction to the player better.

Incidentally, the sinistrals are referred to in the Japanese script as gods, at least prior to the remake. This being the 90s, Nintendo obviously made them change that in the localization of the first Lufia title.

Zereth
Jul 9, 2003



PFlats posted:

Man, Iris feels like a completely different character in the DS remake.
Yeah, she seemed Mysterious And Possibly Evil in the original while in the remake she's just kinda there.

Bellmaker
Oct 18, 2008

Chapter DOOF



Carbon dioxide posted:

So, IP are 'anger points' and Charred Newts refill IP.

Why do newts make Maxim so angry?

Do YOU want to eat a newt? Ew.

Jazerus
May 24, 2011


Carbon dioxide posted:

So, IP are 'anger points' and Charred Newts refill IP.

Why do newts make Maxim so angry?

Do you know what enemies populate the fields around Elcid? Newts. Some jellies too, but newts are everywhere there. Maxim is a monster hunter feeling cooped up. Newts are a symbol of the Status Quo holding him down. He's charred more newts for resale than he can count. He's sick and tired of newts.

No idea why they work on everybody else though. :shrug:

EponymousMrYar
Jan 4, 2015

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.
In the SNES games, Charred Newts just restored a pittance of HP.

If I remember correctly Charred/Dried/Preserved Newt is one of those 'mystical energy' ingredients/supplements.
Sort of in the vein of Ginseng and Gingko.

Them restoring IP in the remake is probably because Potions cover all your healing needs and the rest of the items in the game don't fit what replenishing IP would be. (Except Miracles because Miracles can do whatever they want.)

Aerdan
Apr 14, 2012

Not Dennis NEDry

EponymousMrYar posted:

In the SNES games, Charred Newts just restored a pittance of HP.

Pittance of MP, too.

Genocyber
Jun 4, 2012

Aerdan posted:

Incidentally, the sinistrals are referred to in the Japanese script as gods, at least prior to the remake. This being the 90s, Nintendo obviously made them change that in the localization of the first Lufia title.

Left-handed people being mad gods of destruction is pretty believable, tbf.

MagusofStars
Mar 31, 2012



Loving this LP, played the hell out of this back in the day. I'm interested to see how the remake is...though thus far, I'm not impressed.

EponymousMrYar posted:

Boss Jewels while powerful and full of +stat goodness tend to taper off really quickly. Arguably the best part about the Catfish Jewel is that it's a powerful all-enemy attack when your options for those just opened up. I ended up not caring about the boss jewels after the next one, mainly because that one has a cool attack and because droprates get so bad I never got any afterwards, except in the post-postgame.
After the very early game (where you want anything just to fill the slot), the boss jewels are usually outclassed by other ones you can find so it's not really worth doing lots of resets to get them.

The Catfish Jewel itself is actually the best example of this. It raises Guts and Magic Resistance by 20, but these are the two worst stats available, so it's inferior to even the Eagle Rock that you could already have gotten from random monsters. Catfish Jewel is a (small) improvement over leaving the slot entirely empty, but the instant you get basically anything else, you'll want to sub it out. The other boss jewels are better, but still not at all critical.

Genocyber
Jun 4, 2012

Uh, Catfish Jewel is really good. It hits all ground-based (so most) enemies for 60-80 damage, and costs practically no IP.

KataraniSword
Apr 22, 2008

but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

Yeah, the catfish jewel is something you use for its IP Effect, not its stat bonuses.

Aerdan posted:

Incidentally, the sinistrals are referred to in the Japanese script as gods, at least prior to the remake. This being the 90s, Nintendo obviously made them change that in the localization of the first Lufia title.

It's changed in 2, too. "Super beings" all over the place.

KataraniSword fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Jan 4, 2015

SC Bracer
Aug 7, 2012

DEMAGLIO!

EponymousMrYar posted:

The Gordovan Drawbridge is also really snazzy in motion.

As mad as I get over the pedaling, it really does look pretty great in motion. Just hard to get a decent sized gif of it. Then I remembered that's exactly what gfycat is for.

Gordovan Bridge in motion

e: made a somewhat better one.

SC Bracer fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Jan 4, 2015

Blastinus
Feb 28, 2010

Time to try my luck
:rolldice:
Crap.
Chapter 5: Do These Dungeon Items Remind You of Anything?



Foomy is Foomy. So the thread has decreed.





Alunze Castle's basement marks the first time we've entered a dungeon that isn't a cave. I, for one, welcome the change in tune.



: I see. But did you see two guys pass through here?

: What!? Ah, well, I...uh...fell asleep. Come to think of it, I might have heard some sounds...

I'm beginning to see why we're the only ones who can save the world.





As stated, the basement is full of monsters, but this gives us a chance to try out our new magic.



Unlike most RPG's, where targeting is one or all, Lufia 2 lets us freely select which enemies we wish to target with our spells. The downside to that is that magic is divided evenly among the targets selected, so while most RPG's just cut damage in half for targeting all enemies, if we hit this entire enemy squad, we'd be looking at 1/4 damage to each.





Spark doesn't do a lot of damge in general, so dividing its damage makes it even worse.



You can also multi-target status spells, which divides its effectiveness among the targeted enemies.



With predictable results.



Horse-type enemies are super aggressive, charging right at you and sometimes going two steps at once.



Mad Horses have the Frenzy ability, which we could use if they drop a Horse Rock. That's unlikely from these guys though, since they've only got a 1% chance to drop it. Much like the eagles, we'll encounter an enemy later that gives us better odds.



Next room, we have to push a block onto that pressure plate below to open the door, but there's no room to maneuver.



So we push a block onto THIS pressure plate, which expands the wall and lets us proceed to...





Ah yeah! If you couldn't tell from the theme, our next secret skill is dropping an infinite number of bombs.



When you drop a bomb, you have eight moves to do whatever before it explodes. Bombs will destroy certain dungeon items, burn grass, and break cracked walls like this one.

And yes, as has been demonstrated time and time again, these bombs are completely harmless. We can even stand in the blast radius, no problem.



Here are some key facts about the Catfish Jewel. Fact number one: it is probably the cheapest IP item to use in the game. Tia's bar has barely moved a smidgen, and she's got even charge for it.



Fact number two:



It can one-shot almost any enemy in this dungeon. Since it is an earthquake spell, per standard RPG rules, it does nothing to flying creatures, but otherwise, sky's the limit.



We've seen this situation before. Find pot, place pot on button, extend bridge.



Much like the cave north of Sundletan, we'll want to remember this spot for later.



Oh, and after you weigh down the button, be sure to come back around, because this part also gets filled in.



Too bad I already bought one of these for Tia when I was in town.



Here is the animation for Droplet. Sentopez have really good Magic Resistance, so it doesn't do much either.



More bats, but this time...



Yeah, these guys won't run. Instead, they'll hit you for double digit damage.





Fortunately, they're super weak to fire damage, so with Foomy and Maxim providing assistance, only one of them actually got a turn.



My usual method for Maxim is to put him on healing duty, since he'll be generally hitting things in combat. Tia's got to conserve her MP for nuking things.



Or we could just find this room and recharge everything. That works too.



Once again, the actual way to proceed is to blow up a wall.



I'm not sure you can even call this a puzzle. The direction of the button corresponds to the door it opens.



Handy.



Now this...this is a puzzle.



If you've ever played Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, you probably know how this works. You line up three or more blocks of the same color...



They vanish. Our objective is to clear the deck, but as you might have noticed, there are only five blues and reds, so we have to deal with them in one fell swoop.



Let's get these reds out of the way first, so we can get rid of the rest of the yellows.



The way to solve the puzzle is to line up two on each end and then push the fifth one into the middle.



Do the same for the reds, and we're done.





Percentage-based healing is generally pretty expensive, IP-wise. If you're using one of these, it'd better be an emergency.



Bull-type enemies also make a beeline straight for the character. It's difficult to shake them off.



Strangely, they don't do a lot of damage, especially compared to Big Bats.



Nothing to this one. Just have to push the one on the left forward, or else you're stuck and have to reset.



And now, the most interesting gimmick of this dungeon: the teleporter. Each button changes the destination, and we'll want to visit each one in turn, going clockwise from the upper left.



But first, push this block onto the pressure plate. It'll be important very soon.



Whoosh!



Here's a neat one. The box is on top of a switch that extends the land out to let us at that treasure box once removed. However, it also raises the spikes, preventing us from leaving.



What you have to do is set a bomb and run out of the spiked enclosure.





And we get...this thing!



Just like in Lufia DS, collecting the eight Dragon Eggs is an optional objective. Unlike Lufia DS, they're just sitting in optional areas in dungeons, not even held by powerful enemies. Also, the Egg Dragon isn't just in a well in the starting town. We'll have to do a bit of looking before we can find it.



And coming out the south door from that room lets us finish this puzzle. If we hadn't pushed the other block before, we'd have had to come back around and do it anyway.



Next!



Yes, a maze of spikes.



It's not a very long maze, and in short order, you can go around and get to the chest.



What does it do? It's a secret...

Actually, it's a transformational catalyst for Foomy to turn into its Master Form when it reaches Level 4. Each Capsule Monster has a specific fruit for turning into Master Form, and we'll find them as we go along.



Alternatively, stepping down after going through the teleporter lets you walk around the maze and over to a bombable wall.



Can never have too many of these.



And again!



This puzzle involves a contrarian horse that will always go the opposite way around this wall.



You can play Ring Around the Rosie all you like, but you'll never catch him that way.



Fortunately, there's this little alcove here that lets you move in place without moving at all.



And then you just keep running downwards to put it on your level.



Nothing to it!



Sweet! This is going straight on Tia! The Light Knife also has the typical 1.5x attack on its IP skill, but it's Light-elemental, obviously. Good against the undead.





Last but not least, a room full of kobolds.



Sorry, Cobalts. They're tough suckers, able to take a beating from all three of our party members and dish out 15 damage or so in return.



Fortunately, they patrol in a set pattern around the room, so we can easily get them from the side by standing still and slashing repeatedly.



Once they're all dead, we can proceed to the room we saw earlier.



Hello, new lizard type. And...



Goodbye.



: You! Don't move!



I'd say it's time for a showdown, but the soundtrack has other plans.







: Ha, ha! Surprised? Weren't expectin' such terrible tricks underground, were you?

: What are we going to do, Maxim!?

: You ready to swim? The wily water's on its merry way!



: Righto, boss!







There's an understatement.



Incidentally, there's a button to lower the barrier just below, so this whole situation was pretty much a non-issue.

One screen later...





: Whatever happened to them?

: I have no idea. How far were they carried anyway?

: I wonder if they're ok?

: I wouldn't worry. They're the type that always comes back to bug you over and over.

: Yeah, you're right.



Fortunately, Maxim's wrong about that. We won't see those two idiots for a loooooong time, and that's fine with me.

After a spot of backtracking...





All in a day's work.



: I would like to reward you. What would you like?



Hmm...



I think the answer is pretty obvious.

: Wh...what!? You want me as your reward!?



: Well, why not settle for 1000 gold pieces?



:confuoot:

Note, every one of these options is just a different amount of gold. Asking for nothing is the "right" option, and the king will reward your modesty with 3000 gold. That's not nearly as funny though.

By the way, that coronation? Not happening. This was a good use of our time.

Next Time: We bring our bubbly pal to the next level, and we make our way to Tanbel. Or at least we try.

Zereth
Jul 9, 2003



Couldn't you just pick up the SW purple tile and move it to the spot two tiles NW of that? Then you have two overlapping rows of 3.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
I think I know what we'll need to get to that chest with a pillar next to it.

But wow. I was at least expecting a ridiculous gag-based boss fight.

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Blastinus
Feb 28, 2010

Time to try my luck
:rolldice:
Crap.

Zereth posted:

Couldn't you just pick up the SW purple tile and move it to the spot two tiles NW of that? Then you have two overlapping rows of 3.

Hmm...



You mean something like this?



If so, the answer is yes. Shoving the lower left blue out of position, putting the lower right blue where it was, and finishing the two lines is a perfectly viable strategy. Good call!

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