The Japanese box art for this game is pretty damn good (and for the ladies) - just like the NA box art. This game has to set a record for "punches furthest above its own weight with its box art" because both of them make the game look amazing. Is it, though? Ehhh.
Next up is Abell Ruins, the second of the game's five dungeons. It's a lot more interesting than the first dungeon, at least, due to being a technologically-advanced ancient ruin. I need to get through this place so I can get the Life Jade and pair it up with the Power Jade I already have. Nothing else seems worth using except the Defense Jade (which is also after this dungeon), but unfortunately I can't equip three so it's the one that's gotta go.
Almost right away, there's a new Jade in this place. This thing illuminates dark rooms...barely, and only in the immediate area around the faerie. It can be leveled up to emit more light, which actually ends up brightening up the room a bit. Getting it to level 5 is sufficient.
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Nintendo Power's coverage of this second dungeon is very limited, but it shows off the awesome-looking boss. The bosses might be the strong point of this game.
This room has Tetujins (yep, actual Tetujins from 7th Saga) as enemies.
This room is even more important. One of the bats in this room drops a crystal, and for some reason the crystal respawns every time you take it out. So you can farm this room as much as you need to and max out your Jades (remember, either 60 or 80 crystals to max any given Jade).
After I get the Light Jade to level 5, I unequip it and just focus on leveling the Power Jade. I'll need to come back here once I get the Life Jade and level that too.
LIIIIIIVE!
WIIIIIN!
Alright, that's enough of that, back to the gameplay. The second dungeon is more straightforward than the first (and the rooms don't all look the same, which helps with not getting lost). Each key is after a bunch of rooms of puzzles.
On one hand, it's nice that the keys have names (unlike, say, A Link to the Past) so it's easier to keep track of which ones you've gotten. On the other hand, unlike that game, almost all the keys seem to be required, and the whole game (dungeon-wise, anyway) is just finding the next key.
I prefer the Topless Key.
Speaking of endless, how many damn keys are there in this dungeon?
.................
......and this is just ONE DUNGEON.
Between keys, it's all about the puzzles. This one has 3 switches and 3 stones. However, the lowest stone can't be moved off the wall. The red ball chases you in straight lines and functions as a block as well.
The puzzles tend to have out of the box solutions.
So what's the answer? Top two rocks go over the left and middle switches. Lowest rock stays where it is, and you use that as a wall to make the red ball move left and up onto the right switch.
This next puzzle is probably one that ended a few runs at the game because it's so obscure. Wall plaque says "the secret is in the pillar"...what pillar?
Well, this part of the wall can be pushed over to the right to unlock the door. It's the first and maybe only time that a wall can be pushed. So this is the "pillar" eh?
That gets me the last required key, which is basically the Boss Key, because it leads to...
Second big boss, and the last one covered by Nintendo Power. This thing has a big gravity-pull that drags you (and the nearby spheres) in.
Most important thing is to stay out of the corners, since it's a quick loss if it gets you trapped. Blast it with Boomerangs, have some levels in the Power Jade, profit.
Winning gets me the Silver Plaque, which unlocks further story. Speaking of unlocking, my unused keys from that dungeon can't be sold or dropped, and I'm getting low on inventory space now.
Putting aside that Toronto is actually SOUTHEAST, that's our next destination. It's the second town (of two) and pretty much the halfway point of the game.
The road to Toronto is the closest thing the game has to a regular RPG area. No keys, no puzzles, just fighting your way through bandits.
Toronto is THE BIG CITY. A little TOO big, with a ton of buildings. It's basically two towns worth of NPCs crammed together.
Getting to the next dungeon requires running around and talking to a LOT of NPCs. Thought about just calling the post here for the moment, because I have no idea what to do next and have been wandering around trying to talk to literally everyone, to no avail.
This guy seems to be the key. He's translating the Silver Plaque, but he needs time to do it, and I'm not sure how to make time pass besides talking to everybody over and over to trigger various events.
In exchange for the plaque, he gives up the other Jade that I've been waiting for, the Life Jade. This one makes your HP regenerate, which is a full-on game-changer.
At level 0, it regenerates 1 HP every 20 seconds or so, which isn't great (though it does help in a long dungeon for conserving healing items). At level 19 it's more like every 3 seconds and makes you basically impossible to kill as long as you back off during fights. Don't need healing items anymore at that point except for bosses, and even that's arguable since merely playing defensively will get your HP back up during a boss.
Next thing I have to do is apparently fight in the Arena while I wait for something to happen.
Or rather, pick from various monsters (complete with betting odds) who then fight it out.
The monsters move around kind of randomly and attack just like they would normally, and even the weaker monster can win if the stronger one does stupid stuff / isn't aggressive.
Case in point, I bet on the stronger one and he lost.
Bischoff vs Ball Man!
Look at them go!
After a bunch of failed bets on the betting-favorites, I finally get a win. So yeah, the ones with worse odds tend to win a lot.
As I continue to roam around Toronto and its numerous rooms, I find this guy freaking out because the newlyweds in the next room won't stop banging.
No, that's literally what's happening. The couple in question are a little weird.
Out in the hallway is this young woman who is all horned-up from listening to the newlyweds. She's ready to jump Lemele's bones.
"ARRIBA!" yells the guy in the other room as a lamp falls and shatters.
This is where I need to go next...if I can figure out how to get out of this damn town!
"Ice Castle has the finest jewels, folks. Nobody has ever seen anything like it. We have the finest Ice Castles, don't we folks?"
Now that I have both Jades I wanted, in the interest of actually getting something done besides talking to random NPCs and losing my mind, I head back to the Abell Ruins bat room to grind levels for them. The northmost bat is the one that always drops a crystal, and it's 80 of those to max each Jade (from zero).
With the Power Jade already at 10, I can one-shot these guys now, which speeds things up a lot.
LIVE TO WIN!
That's one maxed. Didn't take long at all.
To give an idea of what a huge difference the Power Jade makes, without it I've got 7 attack power with the best current weapon. The Jade puts me at 27 attack power. With the best weapons in the game you're around 15-20 attack power, and the Jade will put you at a whopping 35-40. It was pretty quick to level up, too. Probably about 15 minutes of grinding in this room for every Jade you max out. I only need to max two of them.
LIIIIIIIIIVE!
WIIIIIIIIIN!
Warp Gates are low key the game's best item. You can warp to any save point, which makes getting around a snap.
Unfortunately, I'm now done level-grinding for the entire game already. Not much of that to do.
Our next destination. And yeah, this is a mistranslation of Romus, making a return from 7th Saga.
This one guy's fiance, Vanessa, was kidnapped by Romus' goons and taken to the Ice Castle, so rescuing her is the new goal.
Side note: It has been scientifically proven that Vanessa is one of the hottest names.
Vanessa's parents don't seem all that bothered. They have little regard for the boyfriend though.
The guy who runs the Arena needs a key duplicated because his house key is worn down, or something. Did I just step into Mystic Ark? What's with all the fetch quests dragging this town out?
The weapon shop is where to get the key in question, though it requires circling around and talking to the shopkeeper on his side of the counter to get different dialogue.
"And it's just the right size!"
After all that running around Toronto trying to make things happen, I eventually trigger everything I need to, and the NPCs form up to create a warp portal to the desert.
I was a little bit excited for the Barren Land since a desert area has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it's just this one big room with nothing whatsoever in it except some scattered mobs and another warp portal, which leads to the next dungeon. So I'm in this action-packed room for all of 30 seconds, after spending like an hour doddering about in the town.
Romus' Ice Castle is the third of the five dungeons. As I understand it, the last three dungeons are all pretty much in rapid succession from here on out, so I might well clear the game in Part 3. Stay tuned.
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