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Monday, 6 December 2010

Winning Your First Blitzball Match

...because it's a matter of pride, dammit.

In Final Fantasy X, it is possible to win your first match against the Luca Goers.  This is the easiest way I've found to do it, that least relies on luck.  Of course, if you do get lucky, you may want to take that goal shot.

The general point of this method is to keep the score nil-nil for as long as possible, and use the Jecht Shot to score. 

The first thing you need to do is get the Jecht Shot on the S.S. Winno. If I recall correctly, you need to attempt this as part of the storyline, so just save first, and make sure you get it. It's not too tricky.

Now, for the actual match. During the first half, don't try to score.  Get the ball, and keep it on your own side (hit triangle while in possession of the ball, and change your movement to manual). Your goals here are to keep the score nil-nil, and level Tidus up to three, so he can use techs in the second half.  Keep Tidus way back by your own goal, and have him pass to the defenders to gain exp.  You'll get three for each successful pass.  You only need one or two, since he starts with some exp.

At half-time, equip Tidus with the Jecht Shot. You have three minutes before Tidus leaves, and your only goal is to have Tidus score, just once.  You can take out two defenders with the Jecht shot, so it's a lot easier.  Whatever you're doing at the three minute mark will be interrupted, so get your shots in early.

For the last two minutes, see how it's going.  If you've got a big lead, have fun with it, if not, play defensively.

A fair amount of this first match depends on luck.  If you get unlucky, it's easy to lose, but with a few lucky breaks like I had on my last match, you can get the score to 4-2 before Tidus leaves.  Like I did.  Ha!  Bite me, Bickson.  And then I had Wakka score, just because.

Saturday, 4 December 2010

Updates

I'm giving up on the fishing in Breath of Fire III. It's seriously affecting my enjoyment of the game, to the point where I've spent the last few weeks playing other things instead. I haven't started any other big RPGs, but I've played bits of various platformers, and spent an happy hour or so killing random things on my Star Ocean III save file.

I've got a very respectable amount of fishing points, easily enough to get every reward in the game, except for that final damn title. So, I'm just going to go ahead and try to finish the game now.

Friday, 26 November 2010

Updates

I'm still trying to max out my fishing scores in Breath of Fire III, and get the Gold Eggs to drop the Divine Helm. I'm only intending to get one, which I will then have the faeries copy, so both Rei and Garr get one, without me having to fight another few hundred of those damn Egg Gangs.

This is very long and boring work so I've been dabbling in other games inbetween times. This is so not cheating. I made the rules, after all.

I played my old save file of Star Ocean: 'Til the End of Time a bit, mostly just to run around and have Maria shoot things. I played through some of Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, again, mostly to run around and shoot things (okay, stab, I didn't get Lin yet). I finished the white chamber, which is freeware released by Studio Trophis (and rather fun). And I'm playing through the RPG mode of Ehrgeiz, which I may post up some basic tips for later. My main tip is, level grind. I find money and items hard to come by, and doing that means having more items to sell/save for later, and less need to use them on new enemies. I'm also making a rough exp chart, which I may post up.

Oh, and I played some Spyro.

Thursday, 4 November 2010

Breath of Fire III - Ultimate Equipment Shopping List

A list of all the equipment you need to collect in order to fully equip all your characters in Breath of Fire III. There are individual lists, linked below, but this is here to make things a bit easier.


Weapons

  • GooKing Sword for Ryu - Stolen from GooKings in Myria Station.
  • Ouroboros for Nina - Bought from the Faerie Village's Ability Weapon shop for 22,000 zenny.
  • Atomic Bomb for Momo - Bought in Caer Xhan for 16,000 zenny.
  • Dragonfang for Peco - Dropped by Reddrakes and Icedrakes in Myria Station Laboratory.
  • Beast Spear for Garr - Examine Guardian Geist's ashes immediately after the battle.
  • Holy Avenger for Rei - Dropped by Archmages in the Container Yard.

Armour

  • Life Armour for Ryu and Rei - You can find one suit in the Desert of Death, and you can buy more from the Manillo at the Lost Shore, near Kombinat.  You'll need one Whale, one Spearfish, and three Barandy.
  • Diana's Dress for Nina - Dropped by Revenants in Myria Station.
  • Mist Armour for Momo - Dropped by Mistmen in Myria Station.
  • AmberBPlate for Peco - Can be Bought in Parch in the Faerie Colonies Ability Weapon Shop.
  • Gideon's Garb for Garr - Dropped by Armour in Myria Station.

  • Aries Gloves for Ryu, Nina, Momo, Peco, and Rei - Stolen from Berserkers at the Container Yard.
  • Giant Shield for Garr - Found in Myria Station.

  • Dragon Helm for Ryu - Found in Myria Station after finding the Chimera.
  • Silver Tiara for Nina and Momo - Found in Eden.  You'll need to have the Faeries copy it if you want one each.
  • UV Glasses for Peco - Found in the Steel Grave.
  • Divine Helm for Garr and Rei - Dropped by Gold Eggs in the Factory and Wraiths in Myria Station.

Kids with Swords

I played my first RPG, Final Fantasy VIII, when I was around twelve or thirteen. Now I'm twenty-two.

The heroes of Final Fantasy VIII were all seventeen or eighteen, and it's been very odd growing past that age. At first, the characters seemed impossibly mature to me - now they seem very young and out of their depth. I wonder how the older characters will look, in later games, as I grow past them? I've past Cloud's age (21) now. I'm the same age as Aeris (22)(I insist on calling her Aeris. Bite me, it's my blog and my playthrough). I've passed Alice Elliot (21). Soon I'll catch up to Yuri Hyuga (24).

I played Final Fantasy X and X-2 between the ages of fifteen and nineteen. That is, I started off at Rikku's age (15) and grew up through to Yuna's (19) in X-2.

I defended Yuna strenuously when her new look was criticised. I suspect that all teenager girls go through a stage like that, when their clothes become sexier and more revealing, as they realise that they're becoming women and not girls. It's not a bad thing. It can be dangerous, if they are encouraged in the wrong ways or by the wrong people in their budding sexuality, but it doesn't mean that Yuna has essentially changed as a person - no more than any teenager does during those years.

If it helps, though, think about how the monsters' hit points are represented, numerically. The characters don't see that - that's there for the player, to make things easier. Is it not possible that the revealing outfits are there purely for the player, that the in-game characters don't see them that way? After all, while people comment on her new outfit, they don't mention that it's overly revealing.

Saturday, 30 October 2010

Completion Project Update

I spent a lot of time fishing in Breath of Fire III this morning, then cracked and played Ehrgeiz for a bit. What I like about Ehrgeiz is not the fighting so much as the mini-rpg. I like the dungeon trawl, and the systematic kind of exploration. That's what I like about the .hack// games and Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. It appeals to my analytical side.

I'm not playing Ehrgeiz properly, as such - I'm just playing around with it for funsies, and, so that when I do it play it properly, I have an idea of how to do it well.

Things I've learnt so far include the fact that it is quite easy to get out of your depth very quickly, and a pain to go after your characters, especially since your inventory is with the other one.  Each floor doesn't contain enough monsters to level both of your characters up as much as they need, so I'll probably have to spend some time level grinding on each one.  I'll probably alternate; get Koji to two, Clair to three, Koji to four, Clair to five, and so on.

Another issue with the game is the fact that your inventory is tiny, especially since it includes food, healing items, weapons and armour, and piles of coins that you need to drop off at the bank frequently.

Oh, and the dungeon is randomly generated each playthrough.

I still like it, though.

Thursday, 28 October 2010

UpaRupa

At one point in Breath of Fire II, your party is sent to catch an UpaRupa.


See?

'UpaRupa' or 'Wooper Looper' is the Japanese name for the Mexican creature, Axotlotl. They are adorably weird, and look oddly like how I imagine the link between humans and our last time as aquatic creatures.

Axolotl!

Axolotl also appear in Final Fantasy IX, in Qu's Marsh.


See?

Finally, the Pokemon Mudkip is also loosely based on the axolotl.

See?

Tuesday, 26 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 14

Defeated the Elder, then did some level grinding. I set up two Copy Shops in the Faerie Colony, with three fairies each. I then set one up to copy an Ivory Dice, fought two battles, rinse, repeat. After they'd all been set up, they started churning out the dice at a rate of one every two battles (except for at a certain point, where it took four, instead of two). Doing it this way means you can ensure a higher success rate, by saving inbetween visits. Failure and Success aren't actually determined until you enter the Colony.

I apprenticed Garr to Hachio, and Peco to Ladon. They'll be done at levels 26 and 32, respectively.  Nina finished with Emitai, but I left her there for a while.

Okay, I've mastered every master.  Not bad.  I also did some fishing, and got Life Armours for both Rei and Ryu.  I'm trying to get maximum points for every fish, which is proving to be a long, tricky task.

Completion Project Update - New Games!

Yesterday, I bought a ton of second-hand playstation games. I did mention this in another post, I think. I got Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, Casper, Spyro, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

A weird thing happened as I was paying. I asked if they had a copy of Ehrgeiz, and the person serving me told me that that game was "crap", and that it was called "energize" (he did confirm that it was the same game, since it had Final Fantasy VII cameos, so at least he knew which one I meant).

Dude. I didn't ask for your opinion, I asked if you had it. Keep a civil tongue in your head when you're working.

This is why I buy most of my games off Amazon.

If anyone's wondering, this was the Game store on New Street in Birmingham.

On a brighter note, for Casper, I intend to write a full, clear, walkthrough. It may not include everything, but it ought to get people to the end of that damn game. All the walkthrough's available are quite confusing, and the game's hard enough as it is.

Monday, 25 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 13

I apprenticed Momo to Fahl, with the idea of apprenticing her to Deis later. Copied a few Ivory Dice in the Faerie Colony. I'll have Garr apprentice under Hachio once I've got the things working again. I also copied a Ring of Fire, and Nina finished with Yggdrasil and moved to Emitai while I was getting those dice.  She'll be done at level 30.  Rei finished with Meryleep, so I stuck him with Fahl as well, again in preparation for Deis.

Once I was done with all of that, I picked up some Deep Divers from the Manillo nearby, then headed back to Steel Beach.

I had a bit of difficulty learning Tornado from the Insectors.  They wouldn't use it until they'd already used up all their AP on Typhoon.  I had Nina learn 'Transfer' (the handiest skill in Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, incidentally, though not quite as good here), and use that on them at that point, which worked.  Then all of my characters failed to learn it, and the stupid thing ran away.  But still, the theory is sound.  I also found that, when alone, if they don't run away immediately, they'll use the skill, but I wasn't watching it that time.  Finally learnt it in another battle.

Oh hey, there's another statue of Ladon in Dragnier.

I like the mural, and the clear continuity from the previous games.

Shopping and Completion Project Update

I bought some new games today. Well, new-old games. Croc, Spyro, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, Casper, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. All games I have fond (ish) memories of from my childhood, all for the playstation. I guess I'll have to make an updated Project List, and put it up at the side of my posts.

Last time I looked, they had Donald Duck: Quack Attack, which I seem to remember completing at the age of twelve or so.  I couldn't find it today, though.  I kind of want that and Ehrgeiz.

I want a DS too, for things like the Phoenix Wright games, Final Fantasy III, Time Hollow, and, maybe, Chrono Trigger.

Someday.

Thursday, 21 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 12

Since the Fairy Colony Weapons (Speed) shop is done, I've closed that down (after buying the good stuff, obviously), and set up the two kinds of item shops. I also have two copy shops now, but only one faery in each. I've all eight houses built, with one faery working in each, and the rest hunting, so I can get my twenty faeries (some of whom, I hope, will have high blue bars).

Also mastered quite a few of the masters.  Ryu is now with Deis, and will be done at level 47.  Nina still has a level or two to go with Yggdrasil, and then will master Emitai.  Rei's still working with Meryleep.

Momo and Peco have unlocked all of the forms, between them.  Peco's working on getting the Cupid's Lyre, and he'll be done at level 23.

I need to figure out what I want Momo and Garr to be working on.

Wednesday, 20 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 11

Did a bit more fishing. I've got everything except whales now, although I'm still missing points on quite a few of them.

I played around with the Shisu sidequest, but got bored in the end, after getting Lacquer Armour (the second best).  I did some levelling, and experimented with casting burn on Lava Men in Mt. Zublo.  It makes them more powerful, and give off more exp.  They were killing my party members in one hit after four spells, and only giving 196exp each, so I quit.  Played all the way through to the Black Ship.  Then I died on the ship, and managed to get the Shaman's Ring after all.

Few notes on the Black Ship.  The bolt enemies are hard to hit, and the lucky strikes can really hurt.  The big frogs and the little frogs also make a horrible team with all those status effects.  I'd suggest bringing Rei along with the Chain Formation - with any luck, you can take them out before it starts to hurt too much.

Oh hey, silly me, I can learn Disembowel from the Assassins in the Steel Grave.  No need to have Garr spend ten levels under Bunyan.

...there we go.  I'll put Garr under Hachio once I've got the transporters unlocked, then.

Peco's doing well.  I've got an Amber BPlate and a pair of UV Glasses for him already.  That's half his best equipment.

At some point, I ought to make a shopping list of things to get.  Not character by character, but all in one, so I don't have to refer to six different ones.

I've also maxed out the Faery Colony's Weapon (Speed) shop.

Shisu

At a certain point of Breath of Fire III, you'll need to make Shisu.

The ingredients are as follows;

Mackerel - caught at the fishing spot near Maekyss Gorge. It will only appear after talking to the couple there about Shisu, after having visited Parch and spoken to the Mayor. The Mackerel will always be the largest one you've caught, even if you've since sold your entire stock and caught another one (ask me how I know this). Aim for one 68cm or longer.

Shaly Seeds - use Peco to knock some off the tree behind the hut in Maekyss Gorge. You'll need fifteen, so twice should be enough.

Horseradish - on Ogre Road. Use Ryu's sword to slice them. You'll need seven. Enter and leave to make it grow again.

Vinegar - go back to the Cafe, near Momo's tower, and have Garr speak to the person by the well. Play the minigame to get vinegar. You'll need four, so once or twice should be enough.

Finally, speak to the lady at Maekyss Gorge again, then head back to Parch and speak to the Mayor's assistant. You'll be taken to another screen where you can make the Shisu.  The recipe is as follows;

Click on the Mackerel (again, you should have caught one at least 68cm long).  Add fifteen Shaly Seeds, seven Horseradish, and four Vinegar, then knead twice.  Note that you'll only get a visual the first time you click 'knead'.

You should get a Shaman's Ring for this.

The full list of rewards is as follows, in order from best to worst;

Shaman's Ring
Lacquer Armour
Barbarossa
Sage's Frock
Wisdom Fruit
Wisdom Seed
Ammonia

Peco's Best Equipment - Breath of Fire III

In Breath of Fire III, Peco's best equipment is as follows;

Dragon Fang - 85 power, 1 weight.
Dropped by IceDrakes and RedDrakes in Myria Station Laboratory.

Amber BPlate - 45 defence, 4 weight.
Can be bought in Parch or in the Faery Colony's Weapon (Ability) shop.

Aries Gloves - 45 defence, 5 weight.
You can steal these from Berserkers at the Container Yard.

UV Glasses - 18 defence, 1 weight, resists blind.
Found in Steel Grave.

Garr's Best Equipment - Breath of Fire III

In Breath of Fire III, Garr's best weapons are as follows;

Beast Spear - 150 power, 15 weight, drains 1/20 of HP each turn.
Search Gaist's ashes immediately after the battle.

Gideon's Garb - 82 defence, 10 weight, +10 to power.
Dropped by Armor in Myria Station.

Giant Shield- 45 defence, 5 weight.
Found in Myria Station.

Divine Helm - 26 defence, 2 weight, resists flame.
Dropped by Gold Eggs in the Factory and Wraiths in Myria Station.

Rei's Best Equipment - Breath of Fire III

In Breath of Fire III, Rei's best weapons are as follows;

Holy Avenger - 198 power, 1 weight.
Dropped by ArchMages in the Container Yard.

Life Armour - 80 defence, 8 weight.
The armour will heal you, each turn and each step. You can buy it from the Manillo at the fishing spot near Kombinat, where it costs one Whalefish, one Spearfish, and three Barandy. You can also find it in the Desert.


Since this is also Ryu's best armour, it may be easier to have the faeries copy it than to find one and buy one, or to buy two.

Aries Gloves - 44 defence, 2 weight, +10 to power.
You can steal these from Berserkers at the Container Yard.

Divine Helm - 26 defence, 2 weight, resists flame.
Dropped by Gold Eggs in the Factory and Wraiths in Myria Station.

Momo's Best Equipment - Breath of Fire III

In Breath of Fire III, Momo's best weapons are as follows;

Atomic Bomb - 198 power, 1 weight, 100% to hit.
Bought in Caer Xhan for 16,000 zenny.

Mist Armour -75 defence, 4 weight.
Dropped by Mistmen in the final area of Myria Station.

Aries Gloves - 44 defence, 2 weight, +10 to power.
Stolen from Berserkers at the Container Yard.

Silver Tiara - 23 defence, 1 weight.
Found in Eden.  As this is also Nina's best helmet, you may want to have the Faeries copy it.

Nina's Best Equipment - Breath of Fire III

In Breath of Fire III, Nina's best equipment is as follows;

Ouroboros - 80 power, 5 weight, +10 to intelligence. Will cast Raise Dead when used as an item.
You can buy this from the Faerie Village's Weapon Shop (Ability). It's the final item, and costs 22,000 zenny.

Diana's Dress -72 defence, 4 weight.
Dropped by Revenants in the final area of Myria Station.

Aries Gloves - 44 defence, 2 weight, +10 to power.
Stolen from Berserkers at the Container Yard.

Silver Tiara - 23 defence, 1 weight.
Found in Eden.  As this is also Momo's best helmet, you may want to have the Faeries copy it.

Ryu's Best Equipment - Breath of Fire III

In Breath of Fire III, Ryu's best equipment is as follows;

GooKing Sword - 180 power, 4 weight.
You can steal this from a GooKing in the final dungeon. Steal its apple, so it doesn't run away.

Life Armour - 80 defence, 8 weight.
The armour will heal you, each turn and each step. You can buy it from the Manillo at the fishing spot near Kombinat, where it costs one Whalefish, one Spearfish, and three Barandy. You can also find it in the Desert.


Since this is also Rei's best armour, it may be easier to have the faeries copy it than to find one and buy one, or to buy two.

Aries Gloves - 44 defence, 2 weight, +10 to power.
You can steal these from Berserkers at the Container Yard.

Dragon Helm - 50 defence, 2 weight, protection against flame.
You'll find this in the final dungeon, after fighting Chimera.

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 10

I got Momo and Peco back, and spoke to the four kids in Wyndia. Then I apprenticed Rei to Meryleep, went back to Dauna Mine to get Bais and the Coupons. I want to apprentice Peco to Bais, since his levels are lowest, his stats are good, and I want the Chain Formation. It's very handy to have with Rei around - everyone can get extra turns, no matter how much you weigh down the other two.  Unfortunately, I need to find Lee and Wynn first, and for that, I need the damn passport.  I'll just have to try to keep Peco from levelling until then.

Incidentally, I love camping in Breath of Fire III and IV.  I like being able to check in with my characters.  I love the whole 'battle areas' aspect of the world map, too.

I bought some new weapons/armour from Syn City, and then headed to the Plant.

I got a ton of Scale Mail here, which will be sold to fund new weapons.  I also learned Flame Strike, and found the Force Gene.  Then I had to leave for my (real life) exam.

After the exam, I came home and finished out the factory.  This bit reminds me quite a lot of Mamon in the first Shadow Hearts game, crossed with Koudelka (with Repsol playing the part of Patrick).

Interestingly, up until Nina and Momo talk at camp, when Rei is shoved out to spend time with the other males of the party, Rei is always alone in the tent.  After that point, Momo's in there with him, and he seems to be more of a part of the group.  That's sweet.

Momo managed to master Fahl's spells (the only one I needed was Counter), so I put Garr with Bunyan (remind me to head back when he's level thirty).  I found all the triplets, and I intend to put Peco and Momo with two of them, put the game still isn't letting me into Wyndia.  I want that Chain Formation!

...gosh, doesn't Gaist look like DeathEvn?

I finally managed to get Peco apprenticed to Bais, and Momo to Wynn.  Remind me to check back when he's at seventeen, and she's at twenty-seven.

I also got the Faerie Village's culture level to 7, and started up a few shops - Weapons, with speed and ability, and Handyman, with Ability.  I spent some time in Mt. Zublo, levelling Peco up, and advancing the faeries a little more.  Finished with Bais, apprenticed Peco to Lee.

Damn, Peco is powerful.

Friday, 15 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 9

First thing I did today was head to the faerie village, to start building it. I may or may not write a guide post on this - there's a huge number of guides out there already.

I started off with three faeries. One who was great at hunting (and not much else), one who was hugely intelligent (but bad at hunting), and one who was mostly strong, but not really.

I love how the appropriate bars flash when you assign them to a job.

I assigned one to hunting, one to clearing, and one to studying culture.

Did some fishing, caught two red catfish and a barandy. Bought a Katzbaiger from the manillo.

It took bloody ages to learn Mind Flay. And Timed Blow.

I love Rei. Poor Rei.

When they were separated, all he tried to do was get justice. Ryu searched for Rei and Teepo, but he also found friends, while Rei was alone.

Rei kept on searching for Balio and Sunder long after Ryu defeated them at Maekyss Gorge.

Imagine Rei's life before Ryu and Teepo. Ryu and Teepo always had someone. Rei had to be alone.

I got Nina. Work now!

Wednesday, 13 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 8

Blogger ate the new bits of some of my posts in the night, so I rewrote them while fighting the thirty battles for Fahl. Apprenticed Garr to him.

Ryu's only one level off learning Bunyan's final skill, so I had him, Nina (who is maxing out Yggdrasil) and Garr (who just apprenticed to Fahl) train for another level in Mt. Zublo. Currently debating who to apprentice Ryu to next. Torn between Yggdrasil and Mygas.

No, I know, he can max out Hondara next. I'm saving Meryleep for Rei, although I suppose Momo could do it, since I've been keeping her under D'Lonzo for the agility anyway. Or maybe put her under Giotto for now, and under Deis later?

Masters only affect how much your stats go up by in future, not what they're at currently, after all. They won't actually lower them.

Also, a note on the Vulcans - Nina's Simoon spell works pretty well at waking them up.

The thing is, I want all my characters to be well-rounded. Perhaps I should just make a list of which stats to emphasize for each one, in order of importance?

Okay.

Ryu; AP needs to be high, and so does Power and Defence.
Nina; Intelligence and AP. Defence would be nice, and so would be HP. Speed, maybe, but she seems fast enough by herself, and I tend to use the chain formation with Rei in the lead anyway. So, Mygas, Yggdrasil, Hondara, Emitai, and Deis.
Momo; Power, AP and Intelligence. So, Deis. Since Deis severely lowers defence and HP, I should work on those early on. So, Fahl for a bit. I also had her master D'Lonzo, for speed, and to get Steal as early as possible.
Peco; Well-rounded. I'm thinking Giotto then Deis and Ladon.
Garr; Defence, Power and HP. So, Bunyan, Fahl, and Hachio.
Rei; Speed and Power. So, D'Lonzo, Meryleep, and then Fahl.

The helped. I should go apprentice Momo to Fahl now. Nina has a few more levels before she finishes Yggdrasil, then she can move to Hondara. Or, maybe she'll stay with Yggdrasil for a while for the defence boost.

Peco can stay with Giotto until Deis is unlocked. Garr is working on getting all of Fahl's spells.

Ryu just finished with Bunyan, and his Agility is looking low, as is his intelligence. His AP really needs a boost, though. I'll put him with Hondara, since I'll be unlocking him in a minute. Hondara will slow down his power-growth slightly, but Ryu can take that hit.

Oooooops. I forgot to speak to Bunyan twice, to get both of the skills I'd unlocked. I had the levels, but because I un-apprenticed Ryu (and then accidentally saved), Bunyan won't count it. Dammit. I'm going to have earn all ten again later.

Oh well, Peco or Garr can do it when I get to level-grinding with the Ivory Dice.

On the bright side, I did remember to unequip all my characters before getting to the end of Angel Tower.  And to give that fucktard Garr a crappy spear.

It seems that Urkan Tapa (and the factory and so on) are the last remnants of "St Eva"'s empire.  It also seems that the Guardians are Myria's children from Breath of Fire II.

I can't be the only one who finds the ZombieDRs the saddest thing ever, can I?  They try to heal their group, and kapowie, everyone's dead Dave.

I also unlocked Emitai after leaving the mine.  I'll apprentice Nina to him once she's done with Yggdrasil.

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 7

I really like the fishing minigame in Breath of Fire III (and in the other games, but this one best). I also love the hunting minigame in Final Fantasy IX. D'you know what the silly thing about that is? I'm a vegan.

Played through to Rhapala. I've given up working on my post about enemy skills - just refer to this FAQ.

I got bored with training Beyd after he'd managed to get himself countered to death three times.  Luckily, I'd managed to net him an extra 12 or so attack and defence points and another hp, which really helped.

I took Peco to the Lighthouse for the levels, along with Momo, to get the treasure.  This made the lighthouse much tougher than it needed to be.

I love the aussie dolphin, and the English translation.  It's awesome.  I wonder what they did in the original version?

Bit of advice on the Vulcans.  Firstly, you can steal proteins, which are awesome.  Secondly, you will double the experience gained if you use a fire spell on them.  This will, however, make them start attacking you, with horrible spells like Lavaburst (which can be learned).  I generally try to whittle their hp down as much as possible (with frost) before using a firespell on them.  After using a firespell, they also become vulnerable to physical attacks, which helps.

Once you have the fairy village up and running, these vulcans will be where you level up, and even without the Ivory dice, they're pretty handy.  You might be lucky, like I was, and manage to nab a set of Magma Armour as a drop from one of the monsters here.  With that and the Ring of Fire you've got two characters here absorbing flame attacks as HP.

Idea.  I can get the fairies to copy that ring when I come back here to level up.  And the ring of ice.  Be handy to have three or even six of each of those.

Ooh, creepy old man.  I'd forgotten him.

I suppose all the bits about the tower and the brood mean that the ending of Breath of Fire II, where Ryu waited too long, is canon.

Did some fishing to the south of Mt. Zublo, and bought two Wisdom Rings.  They raise your Intelligence by thirty!  Also, got Meryleep. 

Breath of Fire III - Ivory Dice

The Ivory Dice is an item in Breath of Fire III, which, when used on an enemy, doubles the amount of experience and zenny earned.

For example, using it on a Vulcan results in the following increases;

  • 1 dice = 600 exp, 900 zenny.
  • 2 dice = 1200 exp, 3600 zenny.
  • 3 dice = 2400 exp, 7200 zenny.
  • 4 dice = 4800 exp, 14400 zenny.
  • 5 dice = 9600 exp, 28800 zenny.
  • 6 dice = 19200 exp, 57600 zenny.
  • 7 dice = 21845 exp, and a little over 57k zenny.
As you can see, the experience caps at 21845, while the zenny caps around 57k. Therefore, it is more profitable, when using a Vulcan (one of the most exp and ap rich random enemies of the game) to use six dice at a time, rather than seven. Because Vulcans are fairly easy to defeat and give extremely high exp and zenny in comparison to this, you will almost certainly be using Ivory Dice to level against them rather than anything else. They can be found in Mt. Zublo, near Deis. Remember to cast 'burn' on them at least once; if you don't, the given exp will begin at 60 per character instead of the 300 you're aiming for. Try to remember to steal a protein while you're doing this, too.

Ivory Dice can only be found in a few places. However, you can use the Faerie Copy Shop to create more. A fairy with a full Sky Blue bar has a better chance of success. Save before entering the village, as success or failure is not determined until you enter.

It takes the fairies exactly fourteen battles to copy one Ivory Dice. This means that it is possible to set up a production line - have fourteen fairies working to copy Ivory Dice at once. Simply set one, fight one random battle, then set the second. After the last one is told to start copying, the first one will finish. This is the most efficient way, since you can guarantee success by saving just outside of the village each time.

You can continue this production line for as long as you wish. Should you have more than one fairy completing their copying at once, there is a higher chance that at least one will fail.

You can use the copying production line to copy an expensive item too, and sell it if it's money you want more than levels.

Breath of Fire III - Stat Raising

You can steal various stat raising items from the following monsters.

Power Food - Foul Weed, Hobgoblin, Night Bat
Life Shard - Titan Goo, Ice Toad
Protein - Vulcan
Magic Shard - Reaper

Breath of Fire III - Training Beyd

In Breath of Fire III, on reaching Rhapala, you must spend some time training Beyd, a member of the Porter's Guild. It's not absolutely necessary to do this, as your party will be able to help him out in the upcoming battle, but I like to train him thoroughly.

First is equipment. I got him a Claymore and some Scale Mail. I also lowered Nina's defence as much as possible and made sure that Ryu had Backhand.

Beyd has three attributes to raise; HP, power, and defence. His defence will go up according to the number of times he's attacked while defending, his power will go up according to how much damage he deals to your party, and his HP will go up according to the damage he takes. The training will end after twenty turns, or when one party is wiped out.

Beyd will usually go after the person with the lowest defence, in this case, Nina with 33. Sometimes, he'll hit Ryu, in which case you should probably hope that Ryu doesn't counter.

Nina tends to get extra turns. You can use these to either cast weaken on Nina or Blunt on Ryu, or use a healing herb. Momo should heal, and Ryu should use Backhand or heal if needed. All of your characters should move before Beyd.

I had Nina smack Beyd a few times if his hp was high enough, particularly on extra turns, when Momo had healed him, but he was still defending.

During your final turn, go all out, and deal as much damage as possible.

After three or so full training sessions, Beyd should be strong enough.

I tended to find myself in a little routine. Beyd defends at the end of his last turn, Nina uses a healing herb on him during her extra turn, and then smacks him, Ryu uses Backhand and Momo casts heal. Rinse, repeat. Nina's hit will raise his defence, Ryu's will raise his hp, and Beyd's own attack will raise his power. Of course, sometimes the idiot will hit Ryu, and get himself countered to death.

When you're done, tell Beyd 'to the Lighthouse!" and Zig will challenge him to a fight.  During this fight, when Zig is looking the other way and waving, you'll be able to help out.  If you hit Zig, he'll regain focus, and if you help Beyd out while he's looking, you'll have to start over. 

Beyd has around 250hp.

Monday, 11 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 6

Played through Momo's tower, and got her apprenticed to D'Lonzo. I had sixteen weapons in my inventory, once I'd swapped out Ryu and Nina's for the spare bent sword and pointed stick. Also found the reverse and thorn genes.

I'm tempted to test out every single gene combination, one day, and write down all the skills and so on that each one has, but that would be a huge task. Not as bad as playing every level of .hack//, but still a pain.

I explored the dump, got all the items, and got Momo up two levels, to learn Monopolize from D'Lonzo.  I then levelled just Momo up another two levels, in order to get Intimidate and Steal.  Mostly Steal.

Poor mutant.

Mutant onion!

I love Peco.

Apprenticed Nina to Yggdrasil, and headed back to the Plant.  In the Arena, I bought everyone knew equipment, left Peco with Balio and Sunder, and used Momo, since she has steal.

Played all the way back to Wyndia, and did a bit more fishing. 

Linkstorm

A few things I've been reading recently.

Firstly, the TV Tropes page on Breath of Fire (and I must apologise for taking up your entire afternoon with that link; TV tropes is a major time sink).

An interesting article on the Princess Maker series (the only one of which I've played is Princess Maker 2).

A link to Cave Story, a game I've heard interesting things about.

And, finally, an article on Final Fantasy VIII, although I disagree - I think Final Fantasy II is the red-headed stepchild.

Sunday, 10 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 5

Yep, done. Levelled Ryu up to 15 (eight levels under Mygas, one under Bunyan) and beat them. I didn't get any item drops though. Just, y'know, pride.

I learned all the same enemy spells and got the same items as before, although now I'm still missing a few points on jellyfish while my puffer fish is perfect. Currently, Ryu is basically carrying Nina through the Wyndian catacombs. He managed to learn Bone Dart from the Ghouls, too.

I've got something like 4000 zenny, without breaking into my stash of silver knives. I've also got sixty-something healing herbs, which Nina is using up.

After buying a bunch of weapons and armour and a midas stone in Wyndia, I had Nina unlock all of Durandal's spells before moving on.

In the Arena, I bought all of the weapons available, even the ones I didn't really need (again, for D'Lonzo).


Breath of Fire III really is a frightening game. Ryu spends his entire life being hunted. Balio and Sunder are nightmarish, when you think of how relentless they chase this little kid. Nevermind the Guardians, and the people who were burnt to death at the mine, and all the people who betray him, and his only friends being presumed dead...

I'm not surprised he disappeared for ten years.  I'm more surprised that he came back.

Breath of Fire III - Ryu's Dragon Genes

In Breath of Fire III, Ryu can collect various dragon genes. He can then combine these to morph into dragons with varying powers and abilities. There are eighteen altogether. Below is a list of where they can be found, in the order that they appear.

Flame

You'll get this one automatically, when Ryu is taken to Wyndia.

Defender

Gained automatically after Ryu transforms at Mt. Boumore.

Reverse

After using the lift and exiting Mt Boumore, you'll be able to find this in an ? spot on the southern side of the mountain.

Thorn

You'll find this at the crash site, after escaping from Momo's tower.

Frost

Behind the hut at Maekyss Gorge.

Thunder

You'll find this behind the hut to the north of Rhapala.

Eldritch

At the top of the lighthouse.

Miracle

In the Fire Cavern, in the room where you fight Gisshan, Scylla, and Charyb.

Shadow


Automatically, after fighting the Dragon Zombie.


Fusion

Automatically, after fighting the Dragon Zombie.

Force

In the Plant. In the room with the memo about Project AA, walk up the air vent and off the screen.  The Force gene is further up.

Gross

On the way out of the Tidal Flats.  You can't miss it.

???

Inside the hut to the west of Junktown.  It's behind a sheet.

Mutant 

The top right corner of Steel Beach.

Trance

Behind the Yggdrasil tree, near Kombinat.

Failure

In the top leftmost corner of the Colony (not the Faerie Colony).

Radiance

Once you've got the Portal Drives working, head to the Container Yard and walk across the crate to the right.

Infinity

Received after defeating the Dragon Elder.

Friday, 8 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 4

I had Ryu learn Frost from Mygas, then headed to Mt Myrneg. After picking up the items and learning Double Blow, I headed back to talk to Bunyan, to get him as a master. I'm currently pondering the idea of levelling Ryu up a few more levels, to get all of Mygas' spells, and then apprenticing him under Bunyan for the next bit of the game. Can't be arsed, really.

Got Meditate from Mygas, then headed up Mt. Myrneg.  Incidentally, Tar Babies freeze and die easy when hit by frost.

Edit; Okay, I'm pissed at myself. I'd forgotten that Balio and Sunder was the reason I normally took the time to learn all of Mygas' skills before heading onwards. I am incredibly tempted to start the whole game over. It's about seven hours worth of play time, with nothing too taxing. And I am a pefectionist. Plus, this way, I can be sure to steal those items from Balio and Sunder, too.

Yup, I'm hitting reset. Sorry Ryu.

I'll probably pick up on these updates once I reach that battle again.

Thursday, 7 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 3

Did some more fishing tonight. I got an iron helm for Ryu, but didn't bother with Teepo and Rei. I also googled a bit to find out what the maximum length was for each fish. I found this guide, which has some interesting info.

According to those lists, I'm fifteen points short on piranhas, twenty on puffers, twenty five on trout, and thirty on rainbow trout. I'm also fifty points short on manillo, but my jellyfish are fine.  Generally speaking, I find that the later fishing spots have bigger fish, and all of these can be found elsewhere.

While hunting for Trout and Rainbow Trout, I generally aim to get two or three at a time, exit, save, then return. I'm going for ten of each. That's five silver knives, at 700 zenny each, which will be lots of cash in Wyndia.

Okay done. I did get the iron helms for Rei and Teepo in the end.

By the way, I'm writing these posts as I play, as you may have guessed. I've just played through the sneaking-past-the-guards section, and saved in McNeil's mansion. Kali sleepy.

Edit:  Okay, when I woke up, I played through all of McNeil's mansion and fighting Balio and Sunder.  Now work!

Fishing in Breath of Fire III

Breath of Fire III also contains a fishing mini-game. There are only seventeen fishing spots in the world - or, at least, in the relatively small area of the world that your party explores - but there's a lot more depth to the game than in the first or second Breath of Fires.  I highly recommend this guide for more in-depth info.

You can buy your first rod, the Wooden Rod, and some bait, from the Item shop in McNeill.  You'll find the Bamboo Rod in Momo's Tower, after gaining Momo.  When you get Rei back, he can open a door in the guard's cabin at the Northern Checkpoint, where you'll find the Deluxe Rod. The Angling Rod can be purchased from the Faerie Colony's Handyman stores (either, but Ability gets it quicker) for 2000 zenny.  You'll find the Spanner in the Steel Grave, if you have Momo blast the door off its hinges.

Finally, to get the Master Rod, clear the game, and have over 9000 fishing points.  Then head to the ? spot to the west of Steel Beach, and talk to the fisherman there.

The most points you can gain for each fish are as follows;



FishPoints
Jellyfish100
Pirana150
Puffer200
Trout250
Rainbow Trout300
Red Catfish400
Bass400
Martian Squid600
Black Bass700
Barandy900
Man o' War100
Flying Fish150
Blowfish200
Sea Bream250
Sea Bass500
Black Porgy400
Octopus500
Angler600
Devilfish700
Spearfish800
Whale999
Mackerel300
Manillo500

Below is a list of the fishing points in the game, in (roughly) the order in which they appear. On each visit, the number of fish available is finite. However, they will be fully restocked should you leave and re-enter.

West of Cedar Woods
Contains: Piranha (6), Jellyfish (10), Rainbow Trout (4).

I found all of these pretty easy to catch. I used a Worm at first, then the Heavy Caro when I felt a bit more confident.

West of McNeil Farm

Contains: Piranha (8), Puffer (8), Trout (4), Manillo

Theoretically, you could catch everything but the Manillo with a Popper, but I find that the Trout will only bite on a Heavy Caro.

The Manillo's stock is as follows;

Silver Knife - RainbowTrout x2 + Trout x2
Iron Helm - Trout x1 + Pirana x2
Waistcloth - Trout x1 + Puffer x1
Spirit - Pirana x3
Baby Frog - Pirana x3
Popper - Puffer x3
Float - Puffer x3
Skill Ink - RainbowTrout x1 + Trout x1
Bell Collar - Angler x3 + MartianSquid x3 + Sea Bream x5
Holy Mantle - Black Bass x3 + Bass x4 + Sea Bass x9

East of the Arena
Contains: Puffer (6), RainbowTrout (8), Bass (6).

The Rainbow Trout here are much larger than the ones near McNeil, and this is the first place you can catch Bass'.

South of Momo's Tower
Contains: Flying Fish (12), Blowfish (4), Black Porgy (3), Octopus (4), Manillo

I found that the Octipodes go for the Heavy Caro, the Black Porgy for Toads, the Blowfish for Floats and the Flying Fish for Poppers or Old Poppers.  The Manillo, as always, goes for coins.  Of course, all of these fish will go for other lures - that's just what I had the best luck with.

The Manillo's stock is as follows;

Chain Cap - Bass x1 + Blowfish x3
Crepe Cape - Black Porgy x1 + Flying Fish x4
Spirit - Blowfish x3
Baby Frog - Blowfish x3
Popper - Flying Fish x2
Float - Flying Fish x2
Skill Ink - Octopus x2

North of the Plant
Contains: Piranha (8), Trout (4), Rainbow Trout (4), Bass (4), Black Bass (2).

I was able to catch everything here with the Bamboo Rod and a Heavy Caro.  That said, I couldn't get the Black Bass to bite until there was absolutely nothing else left (luckily, that was my intention).

East of Mt Myrneg
Contains: Jellyfish (10), Bass (6), MartianSquid (4).

Blogger ate my info overnight, so I can't quite recall what I wrote here.  I'll fill it in if/when I end up going back there.

North of Rhapala
Contains: Man o' War (10), Flying Fish (8), Sea Bream (4).

See above.

West of Rhapala
Contains: Man o' War (4), Flying Fish (4), Sea Bass (10), Octopus (4).

See above.

South of Mt. Zublo
Contains: Sea Bream (12), Black Porgy (6), Angler (2), Manillo

I seem to recall that the Black Porgies would bite on Toads while the Anglers liked Poppers, or possibly the other way around.  I shall have to test that again.

I would highly recommend catching the two Anglers and swapping them for a Wisdom Ring or two.  They raise your intelligence by thirty, which is rather a lot.

The Manillo's store is as follows;

Wisdom Ring - Angler x1 + Black Porgy x2 + Sea Bream x2
Lion's Belt - MartianSquid x2 + Bass x2 + Sea Bass x4
Ginseng - MartianSquid x1 + Octopus x2 + Sea Bass x3
Caro - Sea Bream x3
Frog - Sea Bream x3
Top - Octopus x2
Hanger - Octopus x2
Skill Ink - Black Porgy x1 + Angler x1

South of Dauna Mina
Contains: Red Catfish (3), Bass (10), MartianSquid (4).

Red Catfish will bite on a Frog, the MartianSquid for worm-type bait, and the Bass will bite on anything.

I didn't catch everything here, since most of the fish seemed to be too far out for my rod to reach easily.  I just got two Red Catfish, a MartianSquid and a few Bass, and called it a night.

West of Northern Checkpoint
Contains: Piranha (8), Trout (6), Rainbow Trout (6), Barandy (3), Manillo

The Barandy will bite on a Frog.  It doesn't look any bigger than the Trouts or Rainbow Trouts, but it has a lighter shadow.

The Manillo's stock is as follows;

Wisdom Ring - Black Bass x1 + RainbowTrout x5 + Trout x5
Lion's Belt - Angler x1 + RainbowTrout x9 + Trout x9
Ginseng - Bass x2 + RainbowTrout x5 + Trout x5
Caro - RainbowTrout x2 + Trout x3
Frog - RainbowTrout x2 + Trout x3
Top - RainbowTrout x3 + Trout x2
Hanger - RainbowTrout x3 + Trout x2
Skill Ink - MartianSquid x2 + RainbowTrout x1 + Trout x1
Katzbalger - Barandy x1 + Black Bass x2 + Red Catfish x1
Laurel - Barandy x1 + Black Bass x2 + Bass X1

Southeast of Ogre Road
Contains: Puffer (4), Trout (8), Black Bass (6).

I didn't actually catch anything here on my first time through, since I had enough of all of those fish.  For future reference, though, the Puffers go for floating lures - that is, Old Poppers, Poppers, Tops, and Dogwalkers - while Trout and Black Bass go for worm and fish lures.  Worm lures are Worms, Spirits, Caros and Heavy Caros, while fish lures are Sinkers, Floats, Hangers, and Deep Divers.

Near Tidal Caves
Contains: Octopus (12), Angler (4), Devilfish (4), Manillo

I found that the Octipodes and Devilfish would bite on a heavy caro, while the Anglers will go for Floats, Hangers, and Deep Divers.  The Deluxe Rod helped a lot, here.

The Manillo's stock is as follows;

Hawk's Ring - Black Bass x3 + Bass x5
Artemis' Cap - Black Bass x2 + Angler x2 + Sea Bream x5
Speed Boots - Barandy x1 + Black Bass x1 + Devilfish x2
Soul Gem - Barandy x1 + Sea Bass x2
Bell Collar - Devilfish x2 + Angler x3 + Sea Bream x9
Holy Mantle - Black Bass x3 + Bass x9 + Sea Bass x9
Skill Ink - Octopus x2 + Devilfish x1


Far West of Steel Beach
Contains: Man o' War (3), Flying Fish (3), Blowfish (3), Sea Bream (3), Sea Bass (3), Black Porgy (2), Octopus (2), Angler (2), Devilfish (2), Spearfish (1), Manillo.

There is a fishing spot a little before this (just to the east), but I highly recommend coming here first, since the Manillo here stocks Top level lures.  I caught the Manillo first, and bought a Dog Walker and Deep Diver.  Alternating between those and that Heavy Caro I found way back at the beginning of the game made this fishing spot surprisingly easy.  The only fish who wouldn't go for those was the Black Porgys, who bit on a Fat Frog instead.

The Manillo's stock is as follows;

Demonsbane - Spearfish x1 + Black Bass x2
Aries Spear - Spearfish x1 + Sea Bass x9 + Sea Bream x9
Heavy Caro - Devilfish x1 + MartianSquid x1 + Octopus x2
Fat Frog - Devilfish x1 + MartianSquid x1 + Octopus x2
Dogwalker - Devilfish x1 + MartianSquid x1 + Octopus x2
Deep Diver - Devilfish x1 + MartianSquid x1 + Octopus x2
Skill Ink - Octopus x2 + Devilfish x1

West of Steel Beach
Contains: Sea Bass (12), Devilfish  (4), Spearfish (2).

Nothing too taxing here.  The Devilfish like Heavy Caros, the Spearfish like Deep Divers, and you'll probably catch a ton of Sea Bass while trying not to.

Near Maekyss Gorge
Contains: Puffer (6), MartianSquid (2), Mackerel (12)

This fishing spot will only appear once you've begin the Shisu quest.  It's part of the main plot, and the only time you have to fish.

The Martian Squids will bite on Heavy Caros, while the Puffers will go for Dogwalkers. Mackerels go for both.

Near Kombinat
Contains: Man o' War (8), Flying Fish (4), Spearfish (2), Whale (2), Manillo

I had no luck here initially, except with the Manillo, the Man o' Wars, and the Flying Fish.  You're going to need a Deep Diver - you can find one in the Colony, or buy one from the Manillo to the far west of Steel Beach.

Whales, Man o' Wars and Spearfish will go for Deep Divers, while the Flying Fish will go for Poppers and Old Poppers.  The Manillo's stock is as follows;

Royal Sword - Whale x1 + Spearfish x3 + Barandy x1
Life Armor - Whale x1 + Spearfish x1 + Barandy x3
Cupid's Lyre - Whale x1 + Barandy x2 + Red Catfish x5
Shaman'sRing - Whale x1 + Spearfish x3 + Red Catfish x5
Ivory Dice - Spearfish x1 + Red Catfish x1 + Mackerel x5
Skill Ink - Spearfish x1 + Devilfish x1

Breath of Fire III, Part 2

A few notes - firstly, Mantraps are weak against fire, and Eye Goos give out more exp when blinded.

Oh hey, I won a pointed stick in that battle. That's all the equipment I wanted to steal (3 bent swords, 3 waistclothes, 2 pointed sticks).

Incidentally, on those random battlefields, you'll always find an item. I generally head to a corner, and, if I haven't found it by then, run around in a circle, keeping the edge of the field at the edge of the screen. They're perfectly square, and there's only a few places where the item can be, so you shouldn't have any trouble at all.

Incidentally, fishing will be unlocked in the spring.

Rei and Teepo find Rei in an old cabin in the mountain.

I wonder if this is what remains of the original township once McClean/McNeil took over? Kidding. But maybe. There's a Dragon Statue right outside, the only one left in the game. It doesn't talk.

At this point of the game, I just abuse pilfer. Around here, you can pick up healing herbs and antidotes, which is much better than buying them. Extra equipment and things can be sold. Except weapons, and the stuff I mentioned earlier. Y'see, later in the game, Rei and Teepo will be leaving your party, and you don't want them taking the good stuff. Give them the bent swords, since you can't totally remove a character's weapon.

At another point later on, you'll run into D'Lonzo, a master, who demands that you have 15 different weapons in your inventory. You'll really appreciate having two bent swords (so I need four, not three, silly me) and two pointed sticks, so you can have one in your inventory and one each on Ryu and Nina.

Baby Ryu has the cutest voice in the world. Just saying.

The Nue decides protecting her cubs in the cave behind her. She'd been bringing them food.

She hadn't realised they were dead. They looked like they'd been dead for a long time.

I apprenticed Ryu to Mygas, and did some fishing. Bought a Silver Knife from the manillo. It's worth getting a few of these. One, because Teepo can use them in the next bit of the game, and two, because you can sell them for a fair amount, and get good equipment in Wyndia for the price. I also got a few lures that I didn't have before, and I intend to come back for more silver knives and an iron helm. At this point, you can't get the Bell Collar or Holy Mantle. So, I basically just need trouts and rainbow trouts, but they can wait till after work.

Breath of Fire III - Masters

In Breath of Fire III, you can apprentice your characters to Masters. These masters will teach you new skills, based on how many consecutive levels you've gained under them, and will affect how your characters stats change as you level up. A list of them, in order of appearance, follows.

Mygas

After defeating the Nue, you'll find him at the tree stump to the west of Cedar Woods. Mygas wants all your money in exchange for his tutelage, so I'd suggest going to McNeil and buying expensive things, since there are no banks.

Mygas will cause your AP to go up one more point than it should at each level, while your intelligence will go up two points. He'll also cause your power and defence to gain one less point than they should.

He'll teach you frost after you've gained one level under him, meditation at four, magic ball at six, and typhoon at eight.

Bunyan

Once you've entered Mt Myrneg, head back to McNeil.  Do not head to the top of Mt Myrneg - after that point, you won't be able to get back to McNeil for a while.

Bunyan will lower your AP and intelligence by two per level, but will raise your HP and power by two and your defence by one.

Bunyan will teach you Risky Blow after two levels, Focus after five, Super Combo after eight and Disembowel after ten.

D'Lonzo

You can find her at the Coffee Shop, after escaping from Momo's tower.  She'll offer to teach you, if you have fifteen weapons in your inventory.

It is possible to have this many weapons the first time you meet her - you just need to buy every new kind of weapon available in McNeil, Wyndia, and the Arena, find the two chrysms in Momo's tower, steal bent swords and pointed sticks from Goblins and Man Traps around Cedar Woods, and fish up enough trout and rainbow fish to swap for a bunch of silver knives (one of which is for Ryu, the rest of which are for selling).  Since you can't remove a character's weapon totally, having bent swords to swap out for Teepo and Rei's weapons before they leave, and for Ryu's current weapon when you meet here (while leaving one in the inventory) will really help.  Two pointed sticks (one for Nina to use, one for the inventory) are also helpful, if you missed a weapon somewhere, since the most you can have at this point is sixteen.

D'Lonzo will teach you Monopolize after two levels, Intimidate after three, and Steal after four.  She'll lower your hp by one and your ap by two each level, but raise your power and agility by one each.

Yggdrasil

Once you have Peco, have him address the tree just to the southeast of the Plant.  If you agree to give it a wisdom fruit, Yggdrasil will become your master.

Yggdrasil will teach you Sanctuary at level two, Recall at five, and Shield at eight.  He will lower your hp by one and your power by two, but will raise your ap and defence by one and your intelligence by two.

Giotto

You'll find Giotto at an ? spot to the west of Rhapala, on the shore. He'll allow you to apprentice to him if you have over 2000 fishing points.

Giotto will teach you Trump after two levels, Berserk after five, and Death after eight. He'll cause your hp to go up by four points and your ap by three. However, he'll also send your power, defence, agility and intelligence down by one each.  I apprenticed Peco to him, in preparation for apprenticing him to Deis later.

Meryleep

After visiting the fairy realm, head to the ? point northwest of the checkpoint.  Have Peco kick the rock into the pool, and Meryleep will appear, demanding that you fetch her jewel.

Head east then south, to the shore opposite Mt. Myrneg.  There you'll see a small mountain with a tree on the northern side.  Go to the ? point by the tree, and have Peco knock the crow off the tree.  You should get the flower jewel.  Go back to Meryleep, and she'll accept you as an apprentice.

Meryleep will teach you Charm after two levels, Shadowalk after five, and War Shout after eight.  Your agility will go up by two, but your hp, power, and defence will all go down by one.

Fahl

Talk to him in his bar (he's the guy Balio and Sunder had tying up Ryu and Nina) and accept his challenge.  Fight thirty battles without resting, then go back to him.  As far as I can gather, you must being the battles without resting after speaking to him.  So, y'know, rest and save first, then fight on random fields around the arena.

Fahl will raise your HP by four, your power by one, and your defence by three.  He'll also lower your agility and intelligence by three each.

Fahl will teach you Charge after two levels, Counter after four, and Resist after six.

Hondara

You'll find Hondara in the Hall of Prayer in Urkan Tapa.  He'll teach you after you've learned Backhand from Durandal.

Hondara will teach you Purify after two levels, Kyrie after five, and Benediction after eight.  He'll raise your AP by two and your intelligence by one, but he'll lower your power by two.

Emitai

You can find Emitai in a hut to the south of Dauna Mine, after exiting it as an adult.  Pay him 10,000 zenny, and he'll become your master.

Emitai will teach you Barrier after two levels, Mindsword after four, and Enlighten after eight levels.

Emitai will raise your ap and intelligence by four, but lower your power and defence by two.

Bais

When you are able to return to Wyndia as an adult, head back to the square and speak to the four children (now adults).  They'll challenge you to another game of hide and seek.  When you find each person, they'll become a master.

Bais is hiding in Dauna Mine.  Simply head back to B3, and look near the stairs in the top-left corner.

He'll teach you the chain formation after three levels, and will raise your power by one.

Lang

When you are able to return to Wyndia as an adult, head back to the square and speak to the four children (now adults).  They'll challenge you to another game of hide and seek.  When you find each person, and speak to them again at the square, they'll become a master.

Lang is hiding in the Wyndian Catacombs.  Head into the second area, from Wyndia city, and look behind the top-left tombstone.

After three levels, Lang will give you a Cupid's Lyre, an item that will allow you to recover your hp as you walk.  He'll raise your defence by one each turn.

Lee

When you are able to return to Wyndia as an adult, head back to the square and speak to the four children (now adults).  They'll challenge you to another game of hide and seek.  When you find each person, and speak to them again at the square, they'll become a master.

Lee is hiding near the Eastern Checkpoint. She'll teach you the Magic Formation after three levels, and raises your intelligence by one.

Wynn

When you are able to return to Wyndia as an adult, head back to the square and speak to the four children (now adults). They'll challenge you to another game of hide and seek. When you find each person, and speak to them again at the square, they'll become a master.

Wynn is hiding behind a house in Junk Town.  She'll teach you the HP formation after three levels, and raises your HP by one.

Deis

You'll meet Deis as part of the storyline.  Tell her that you "like [her] better this way", and then, later, have Ryu examine the wall of the temple again.

Deis will teach you Inferno after two levels, Blizzard after five, Myollnir after eight, Sirocco after eleven, and Celerity after fifteen.  She'll raise your AP and Intelligence by three each, and your Power and Agility by one.  She'll also lower your HP and Defence by three.

Hachio

Once you've gotten the Port Drives working again, head to Durandel's cabin, and use the one downstairs.  It'll warp you back to Wyndia's kitchen, where you can find Hachio.

Before offering to teach you, Hachio requires the following; Swallow Eye, Beef Jerky, Angler, and Martian Squid.

Hachio will teach you Might Chop after two levels, and Demonsbane after four.  He;ll raise your HP and Power by two, and your Defence by one, but lower your AP by two, and your Agility and Intelligence by one each.

Ladon

Once you have all eighteen dragon genes, speak to the wall panel in the far north of Dragnier, the one Garr was standing in front of.

Ladon will teach you Mind's Eye after three levels, Holy Strike after five, Ward of Light after seven, and Aura Smash after nine.  He'll lower your HP and AP by 6, but raise your Power and Defence by two, and your Agility and Intelligence by one.

Wednesday, 6 October 2010

Breath of Fire III, Part 1

...I was going to go to sleep, and play this in the morning, but I'm an unapologetic insomniac. So, yeah.

The game opens with a pretty unmistakable frieze of the team from the first game fighting Myria/Maria/Tyr. Two miners - one of them named Mogu - find a baby dragon in a cave, while mining. It kills them. Poor miners.

This bit of the game is really quite gory, considering these are very clearly people, not monster, being killed. And considering you can pick up one of their melted swords from their dead bodies.

I'd forgotten the bit about a voice from the mine calling out to Ryu not to kill people.

Rei reminds me so much of Cray. Or vice versa, I suppose. Cray's more of a jock though - he's very much a leader, and capable of caring for himself. So's Rei, really, but he seems softer, kinder, more brittle, perhaps? I think because he goes from being the strong, protective, elder-brother figure to someone who's basically just tagging along and being super fast.

I suppose Teepo is like a baby Zog. He has more screentime than Zog, at least.

I wonder if Teepo came from the mine as well? The miners said they found those eggs sometimes, and Rei said he found him in the same way. You'd think the miners would have been more prepared, in that case.

The world of Breath of Fire was mostly prosperous, apart from the war. In II, there was more murder and greed, and people enjoyed violence. In III, people are all sad and starving and orphaned. They're essentially scavengers, particularly the mechanics.  How sad, if III really is the latest game set within that world.

Plus, the Dragon Statues and St Eva's churches are long gone.

At this point in the game - that is, when you have Rei, Ryu, and Teepo - I generally level up a bit.  I'd recommend stealing a couple of bent swords from the Goblins (like three) and some waistclothes from the Boss Goblins. Plus, healing herbs from the Eye Goos.  A pointed stick or two wouldn't go amiss either.  I used the defence formation, which helped Rei not to kill things before stealing their stuff.

I got Ryu to learn Burn from the Mage Goos, Influence from Boss Goblins, and Blind from Rippers.  Teepo got Unmotivate, from the Goblins, just because.  Also bought a fishing rod and some worms.  Played through past the bit with Bunyan.  I want to get to a bit where it will let me fish.

Oh hey, 4am and I have work in the morning.  Joy.

Kali's Completion Project Update - Breath of Fire II and III

So, yeah, my file's gone. I've completed the game before, and I remember the three endings and the main plotpoints. I'll just go ahead and move on to III.

My posts will be left tagged with Work-in-Progress. I'll go back and finish them, next time I play Breath of Fire II.

Breath of Fire III is another one I've completed before, complete with best weapons and armour, and all genes found. I don't recall if I got every skill that time, but I will this time. I also intend to get the maximum number of fishing points possible.

My review of Breath of Fire III wasn't very positive. I found it slow-moving and heavy-going, and I recall that I felt it lacked characterisation, in many ways. So, it may be surprising that I'm looking forward to playing it. It may be my least favourite in the series, but being the least favourite out of my favourite series isn't a bad thing, really.

I'm also quite pleased to have found GBemul, which has Gameboy games, and Snessy, which has a number of old SNES games to play. I've found the first game I ever finished, Aladdin, on there, along with Super Mario World, a game I used to play all the time. I couldn't save it then either - it had the same problem as my Breath of Fire II cart, I'm guessing.

Altimate Rewrite of Final Fantasy VIII

I've been reading the Altimate Rewrite of Final Fantasy VIII for a while now. The author, Albert, disappeared for a few months, but he's back now. I've started reading again from the beginning, with the idea that he'd be a lot closer to the end by the time I caught up again. Plus, I'd forgotten some of the finer points of the narrative.

I love Final Fantasy VIII - it was my first RPG, and my first Final Fantasy - and I love the rewrite. Go take a look.

I'm generally not a big fan of fanfiction, but I like this.

Completion Project Update - Disasteriffic

...my GBA has frozen. At the moment, the only option I can see is to reboot it, and if I do that, I really don't want to start over, especially not knowing that this will probably happen again. Probably sooner.

....okay, I turned it off then on again, fast.  My old SNES games, when they wore out, would, occasionally, rarely, randomly save.

YES!  It saved!  Oh my god, I did not expect that to work.

Heeeeeeeeeeeey.

Oh, spoke too soon.  It froze again, and the sound went very odd.  I had to turn it off.  I'll try turning it on again later, see if it's saved, but I'm not holding out any hope there.

The game's available here, but I'm not sure about saving there, either.

Monday, 4 October 2010

Completion Project Update - New Games?

There's a few games I want to add to my project, generally old games I used to own, or ones that I can borrow. Things like Solomon's Club for the Gameboy, which can be played here. I admit, I have no idea what that game's about, or what the items are for, or what the point in collecting all those random things is, but I was mildly addicted to the stupid thing about twelve years ago.

There's a bunch of other retro games on there, but I haven't checked many of them out yet.  I have fond memories of Super Mario Bros 3, among others, so I might go search for that later.

Games I can (and intend) to borrow include Crash Bandicoot 2, Spiderman, a few Digimon games (I was never into this, but I am curious), and a couple more.  I kind of want to play Croc: Legend of the Gobbos and Pacman World again, too.  Maybe that old Tarzan game for the playstation. I might make an updated list one of these days.

Breath of Fire II - Unlimited Cash

To get unlimited cash in Breath of Fire II, you need to get the basic Carpenter into your Township. That is, when sent to fetch a carpenter from Capitan (as part of the main storyline) pick the one in the eastern house, the house that has a relatively "normal" design (judging by the game's other cities). He'll open a kitchen, where you can cook up items into new items. This sometimes fails, so you'll probably want to save at the Dragon Statue first.

Later in the game, when you have five houses (after the first three are built, pay the carpenter another thousand zenny, then walk in and out of town a few times until they're finished), invite Hanz to live in the fifth house. He lives in the house next door to Ryu and Bow's room in Hometown, and he'll open an item shop.

Hanz sells Cond.Ups for 1000 zenny each. The Carpenter will transform three of these into a G.Bar, which sells for 6000 zenny, doubling your money.

I didn't really have a problem with running out of money in the game, but it's nice to have options.

Thursday, 30 September 2010

Breath of Fire II - Secret Character


Breath of Fire II has a secret character who you can get as soon as you are able to travel the seas.

From the beachspot south of Hometown, head south, following the coast line.  Keep following the coastline until you curve around to the north, and land there.  You should be on a desert, with brown mountains to the northwest, and the Thieves Tomb visible just past them.  Walk around here until you end up in a secret room.  Be very careful - these battles are way out of your league, if you do this as soon as possible.

The secret room is a little north-east of the beach spot, and is visible if you look very closely.

Inside, you'll meet three spirits.  Speak with them, then head back to Hometown.  There, head to the magic school, and speak to the girls on the second floor.  One of them will join your party.

Wednesday, 29 September 2010

Breath of Fire II - Wildcat Cafe

Wildcat Cafe is a very strange subquest in Breath of Fire II.

You'll first need to find the cave by the waterfall, southwest of the Witch's Tower and west of Simafort. Once inside, read all the signs and follow the directions. Your party will end up replacing their weapons and armour with napkins, plates, and forks, and rubbing salt and pepper on themselves. Finally, choose "rare".

Your party will now have to face a battle with a Wildcat Chef. Even without your weapons, this doesn't have to be difficult. I used Ryu's FireDragon, and had Katt and Sten attack. Nina didn't even get a turn.

Afterwards, follow the chef into the bar. He'll ask you some questions. Answer no, then yes, and he'll teach someone the ChopChop skill, which is very useful later, for levelling. I chose Katt, personally.  Any other answers will result in a raise of 16hp for all characters.

Sunday, 26 September 2010

Breath of Fire II - Fishing for Fun and Profit

A quick way of getting enough money early on to properly outfit your characters in Breath of Fire II.

In Gate, grab the Treepole from the dresser in the church. When you reach Hometown, fight a few battles, then buy eighteen worms, for 72 zenny.

Outside of Hometown, fight a battle or two until the fishing spot to the west appears. Use your worms and the treepole rod to catch as many fish as possible (keep the line as short as possible to reduce the risk of it breaking. I'd also recommend watching these videos). When you have enough zenny, buy the Stickrod,which will make the process much easier. It shouldn't take you long to amass a few thousand zenny, enough to get you through the first part of the game.

Saturday, 25 September 2010

Breath of Fire II - Storyline

I'm not going to list items or the names of bosses and things this time, just pure story.

Breath of Fire II begins with a giant eye opening, and a voice saying that it doesn't have enough strength, and pleading with someone, everyone, to pray to God.

Ryu and Gate

Ryu Bateson lives with his sister Yua, and their father, Ganor, a priest of St Eva. Yua runs away at naptime, so Ganor sends Ryu to fetch her. The other villagers talk about the death of Ryu and Yua's mother, three years before, and another, later, occasion, when monsters attacked the village, and Ganor and a dragon held them off. They tell Ryu that Yua often plays up at the back mountain, where the dragon now sleeps.

Ryu heads up to the back mountain. The dragon's claws protect doors to the east and west, while it's head protects the one to the north. There, Ryu finds Yua.

Suddenly, a monster attacks. Ryu tries to fight it off, but he isn't strong enough. Ganor appears, and uses his powerful magic to defeat it, before scolding Yua and praising Ryu.

Yua explains that when she sleeps by the dragon, she sees her mother, and Ganor laments his failure in protecting her. Yua and Ganor leave, and Ryu closes his eyes. He sees a huge eye.

Ryu's mother highly resembles Sara, the sister of the Legendary Hero.

Ryu follows his family back to the village, but quickly finds that no one recognises him, or has ever heard of his family. He heads back to the church, to talk to the priest there, and is given a bed for the night.

The night, the other orphan staying there, Bow, takes the candle and leaves to find a better village to steal from. Ryu decides to stay, initially, but then runs after Bow. The two head out of the village, and it starts to rain.

They head for a nearby cave, where Bow lights their way with the candle. In front of them, they see a weird snakey thing, and Bow insists on following it. They eventually catch up, only to find that it was the tail of a huge monster. The thing flings Bow into a wall, and babbles at Ryu. It asks him if he believes he is the one, the chosen child, and challenges him to prove it.

The monster easily breaks every bone in Ryu's body, but calls him the destined child, and challenges him to open the gate. It says that that is when he will know the strength of God.

It was like waking from a long dream...

But now his father and sister disappeared and no one recognised him.

He dreamt of a horrific demon who ripped his mind and body apart, but it remains just a dream.

Yet the vision remains strong.

Deep waiting in the corners of his mind he hears it calling...

"You are the one" the demon screeches, and he realises that it is true.


In his mind, he sees a tower.

Hometown and Bow


Ten years later, Ryu and Bow have grown up to be Rangers, people who can be hired for any tasks.  Bow begs the guild leader for work, and they are given the task of finding someone's pet.  Bow initially refuses, but agrees when he meets the owner of the animal, Windian Princess Mina.  Hoping that she'll reward him with a kiss, Bow and Ryu head to Mt. Fubi in the south, and to the ruins beyond it.

In Hometown, they find a statue of the old Dragon god, who laments that no one prays to him any longer.  They find another old statue in the ruins beyond the mountain.  On the way to Mt. Fubi, they run into a travelling circus.  The star attraction, the Grass Man, looks sad.  The workers tell them that they're heading to Windia next.

On Mt Fubi, Ryu and Bow fight three harpy sisters, who appear to have been picking off animals and travellers. They also ran into a hunter named Azusa, who'd gotten lost on the mountain while hunting an animal.

In the ruins, they meet an old man, Niro, being terrorised by cockroaches.  They save him, then rescue Mina's pet pig, Suzy, from his cookpot.

Returning to the guild, they find Mina, who thanks them, and ask them to visit her in Windia.  The guild leader pays them their 500 zenny, and, disappointed, Bow suggests that they return to their room.

In the night, a man, Kilgore, appears, to ask Bow to liberate his stolen Magic Hood.  Bow agrees, and decides not to wake Ryu.

The next day, Bow is still missing.  Their lady and the other people in the block have no idea what's happened, but, outside, Ryu hears people talking about Bow being wanted for burgling Trout's mansion.  On his way to the north of town, a blue-haired, bat-winged woman crashes into him.  Eventually, Ryu found Kilgore, who told him that it was his fault, and pleaded with him to save Bow.

Ryu headed back to their room, where Bow was now waiting for him.  Bow explained that he'd been trying to liberate the Magic Hood, but as he made his way through Trout's mansion, a girl with blue hair and bat's wings ran into him.  When he walked down the way she'd come, he found the place ransacked, and the guards right behind him.  The girl he'd seen had taken everything.

Ryu and Bow agreed that they needed to find her, to prove Bow's innocence - but to do that, they had to avoid the guards.  Bow hid in the trash, and Ryu carried him out of town, and all the way to Niro, in the ruins.

When they got there, Bow explained what had happened.  Niro agreed to let Bow stay in exchange for him hunting and repairing the building.  Niro also suggested that Ryu ask about the suspicious woman at Hometown or Coursair, to the east.  Ryu headed to Coursair.

Katt and the Coliseum

In Coursair's church, Ryu met a very charismatic man named Ray, and a doctor named Kay who wanted her own office.  In the bar, Ryu met a man named Poo, who wished someone would build him a house.  He waited in the bar till evening.

That evening, Ryu heard from the other patrons about a girl who would be fighting in the coliseum.  He also found that the tickets were sold out.  A large, odd-looking man named Rand suggested that he ask the lady's opponent, Baba, if he, Ryu, could take his place.  Baba lived in Tag Woods.  Ryu headed to Tag Woods.

Ryu eventually found Baba, who, offended at the suggestion, attacked him.  After being beaten by Ryu, Baba had a change of heart, and gave him his axe.  He also vowed never to fight again.

Ryu headed back to speak to Rand.  When Rand saw the axe, he assumed that Ryu was Baba, and was disappointed at how normal he looked.  Confident in his disguise, Ryu picked up a few herbs at the item shop, and headed to the Coliseum.

Inside, he was told that he needed to attend a final interview with the Dir. HR which turned out to be a battle.  After winning, Ryu went to speak to the manager, Augus.  Augus told him that he'd already decided on 'Baba' torturing and killing the girl, as the audience enjoyed that kind of thing.  Augus told Ryu that they'd be throwing a poison dart at the girl during the fight, and this Ryu''s payment was waiting in his dressing room.

Ryu took the 1000coins from his dressing room, then headed outside to put all his cash in the bank.  He didn't trust these people one bit.

After Ryu had spoken to the soldier in his dressing room, Rand came to see him.  Ryu explained the situation, and Rand agreed to go and buy two antidotes - if Ryu and the girl both took one, neither would be affected by the darts.

There was a flaw in this plan - the girl refused to listen to Rand.  Rand told Ryu to gently knock the girl unconscious and protect her from the poison that way.

As Ryu headed to the battlefield, Augus told his soldiers that he didn't care who the poisoned darts hit - either fighter dying would make a good show.

The girl...didn't have blue hair and bat wings.  Instead, she was a red-headed member of the Woren tribe, named Katt.  Ryu tried to tell her about the poison, but, again, she refused to listen.

Ryu managed to disable Katt, and pushed her out of the way of the poisoned needles., instead getting hit by them himself.  He woke in the inn, listening to her wondering how to apologise to him.

Ryu and Katt decided to join forces, and headed back into the Coliseum to confront Augus.

In Augus' office, Katt and Ryu ran into Rand.  Augus was babbling about God's approval of his "scenario".

"We make you fight each other...and hurt each other...we turn that into a show!  And, the enjoyment of all your warped minds becomes the strength of our God..."

Augus transforms into a monster, and attacks, decided that, if it can't be a show, at least they can be killed in style.

After being defeated, Augus groaned that the seed had still been planted, that they could not stop his God by knocking him down.

Rand asked him what he meant, and Augus laughed.  He told them that God's world was coming.

Rand and Katt decide to stick with Ryu, or "Baba", as they still know him.  Ryu decides that they can both help Bow and Niro, and they all head to the ruins.

At the ruins, the party splits up again.  Rand stays to help with the repairs while Ryu and Katt look for the thief.  Rand mentions that he's heard of a similar person in Hometown's Magic School, so Ryu and Katt head there.

Nina

As Ryu and Katt walked through hometown, they heard an explosion.  Running over, they saw a blonde girl with wings being pestered by a group of thugs who wanted to take her to their boss.  She apologised for hurting them, but said that if they didn't leave her alone, she wouldn't hold back.  Nina headed back inside the magic school, as the men ran away, and Katt, impressed, begged Ryu to let her learn magic too.  He agreed, and they headed inside the school.

From students in the magic school, they learned that Nina's black wings for unusual for Windia, where everyone else had white wings.  They also heard about the Joker Gang, who gathered at Mt. Rocko in the east.

Upstairs, they overheard Nina talking to an instructor, Yoji.  Katt interrupted, and begged Nina to teach her magic.  She told Nina that, if she did, Katt and Ryu would get the Joker Gang for her.

Yoji exclaimed at her braveness, but told her that it was impossible - Katt didn't have time to learn magic to defeat the Joker Gang.

Just then a member of the gang burst in.  He told Nina that they'd kidnapped her sister, Mina, the girl who's pet Bow and Ryu had saved.  Nina followed him.

Ryu realised that, if Nina was Mina's older sister, she must be a Windian princess, too.

Furious, Katt insisted that she and Ryu follow the gang, and rescue Nina and Mina.  The two headed to Mt. Rocko, to the southwest of Corsair.  They headed into the cave surrounded by mountains.  A hood challenged them at the interest, but he was no problem.

Inside, Katt and Ryu found that all of the Joker Gang were related.  They also met a man named Win, who said he only lived in the cave because he was homeless.

They told the guard that the bosses' nephew's name was 'Pain', and he let them through,  However, they failed the next test, and this guard attacked them, along with a poisonous spider.  After defeating him, they headed deeper into the cave.

After knocking out another guard, Ryu and Katt found the boss and Nina.  They hid and watched.

Nina demanded that her sister be returned to her.  Joker brought Mina out, but told Nina that he'd only free her if Nina vowed to become his slave.  He used his men to grab Nina, and keep her from escaping.

Disgusted, Ryu and Katt decided to quietly free Mina.  Katt snuck up behind the one guard holding Mina and knocked him out, before Nina gave her oath.  Joker set his other hoods on her and Ryu, but they were quite easy to defeat, although they did keep calling for backup.  After the battle, Nina hit Joker with a spell, and managed to bury him in rubble.  As Nina was thanking Ryu and Katt, behind her, Joker transformed into a monster.

After the battle, Mina told Nina that she'd left the castle because she wanted to see her.  Both sisters thanked Ryu and Katt.  Ryu and Katt agreed to help escort Mina back to Windia.  On the way out, they grabbed all of Joker's treasure.

When they reached Windia, Mina convinced the guard to let them through.  They had to make their way through the Dead Maze under the castle in order to reach the city proper.

Ryu spoke to the prisoners along the way.  One claimed that a child with dark wings had been born to the Royal family, and that this heralded disaster.  The man next to her told them that the old lady herself had cast a spell to cause disaster.

A nurse, in another part of the maze, told them that she'd once taken care of a dark-winged child, who'd been sent away, as her wings were a bad omen.

A little way through the maze, Mina said, "Nina, everyone will be shocked when we return, won't they?!"

Nina didn't respond.

Another person in the maze told them "According to legend, a person with black wings will ruin Windia."

A little later, Mina said "I wish you could come home...every once in a while."

Outside of the maze, the party ran into guards.  Mina ran into the Queen's arms, while the soldiers questioned the rest of the party.  Mina told them that she'd had her sister bring her back, but the Queen contradicted her, telling them that "Mina does not have an older sister."

Nina apologised, and said "your princess seemed to have been lost, so we..."

Confused, Mina asked what they were talking about.

The Queen asked the soldiers to thank the party and escort them out of the castle.  She added "Mina, you must also thank them."

Outside of the castle, the guard gave them directions back to the east.  Katt asked Nina what was going on, and told her she liked her wings.

As the party walked into Windia proper, they ran into a monkey conducting a magic show.  He convinced Ryu to let him make him, Ryu, disappear.

Katt and Nina demanded that the monkey, who introduced himself as Sten, return Ryu.  He claimed that he couldn't, and commenced flirting with both of them.   Behind him, Nina saw Ryu start to dig himself out of the ground.  As Sten decided he'd like to date both Katt and Nina, Katt saw Ryu and hit Sten with her weapon.  Sten wormed his way into the party, giving his life to Katt, and then they were four.

A few people in town mentioned recent burglaries by a blue-haired, bat-winged woman, who fled west.  The party decided to head to Capitan.

A few other people talked about the Great Bird, a transformation that Windians were formerly capable of.  It was rumoured that the Royal family still retained the talent.  Someone else mentioned a gap to the south, the one the guard had mentioned.  He said a highlander with long arms could probably cross it.  A lady named Barretta in the weapon's shop wished for her own business, while a man in the Inn wished to sell fish.

Outside of Windia, the circus was waiting again.  The workers told them that they were going to Tunlan next.  The Grassman looked even more depressed.

The party also passed a hunting lodge.  They were looking for an Uparupa, for which they were willing to pay 10,000 zenny.  They wanted it to sell to a circus.

One of the hunters told them that, when the owl fruits bloomed, a beautiful girl appeared, so he'd been waiting for her.  He told them that he intended to sell her, of course.  The party continued west, to Capitan.

In Capitan, the party met a travelling salesman named Leminton, and a painter named Locker.  They also learned that, after the well ran dry, all the village's children had fallen in.

The party went to investigate and fell in themselves.  Inside the well, they ran into Ray, from Coursair, who fought off a monster that attacked them.  He explained that the well was infested, and asked them to help.

The party rescued a child, and fought off some of the monsters.  Afterwards, the entire well started shaking.  They hurried back to Ray, who exclaimed that the dam must be bursting.  As they ran to escape, Ray managed to cast a spell to create a barrier, stopping the water.  He asked them to quickly save the rest of the villagers while he held it.  They did so, before heading back to tell Ray.  Luckily, everyone was able to outrun the water.

Outside, Ray asked to be taken to "where the members meet".   The party headed back to the ruins.

Once there, they found that the old house had been repaired, a new one had been built, and the ruins was now called the Township.  Ryu asked Ray to give the blessing to Nina.

The party headed back to Capitan, where a strange girl insisted on borrowing Ryu for a bit.  When she'd got him home, she explained that she and her granny were experimenting with the idea of uniting the power of shamans with other people.  However, Ryu's power was far too strong, and ended up setting the forest on fire.  Afterwards, she explained that this was Ryu's dragon power, and she was surprised to find it still existed in anyone.  Granny also insisted that Ryu now find them a house.  Back at the township, they insisted on taking the one that Bow had built for him and Ryu.  They also ordered Ryu to fetch a carpenter from Capitan.

In Capitan, Ryu learned that the bat-winged girl had taken a boat to the north, to Simafort.  He sent the carpenter to the Township, and the party got on a ship to follow the bat-winged girl to Simafort.

From the harbour, they headed through the nearby woods.  Halfway through, they came to a swamp, with a number of frogs sitting around it.  Suddenly, a voice spoke to them.  A giant frog arose from the swamp and told them he'd had a spell cast on him.  He asked the party to head to Witch Tower in the west, to ask the witch to remove the spell.

The party walked all the way around to the tower, stopping to rest with a man who was camping by the dragon statue.

Inside the tower, the witch made them fight for her amusement before she would open the gate.  After slaughtering three enemies, they were allowed through.  In the next room, they saw two statues, with a person inbetween them.  The person tried to warn them that the exits were closed, and that the witch was twisted and would do terrible things to them, but then he was turned into a statue too.  They saw many of these statues, on their way through the tower.  Finally, they ran into Nimufu, the witch.  She offered to turn the frog back if Ryu became her pet.  Ryu backed away in horror.

Angered at not being liked, Nimufu attacked, saying she'd kill him first, then play with him.

When defeated, Nimufu cried that no one loved her but a frog.  She told them that if a young girl kissed the frog, he'd turn back to normal.   Then she begged them to leave her alone.

On their way out of the tower, they noticed that all the statues were now people.  They also spoke to a water shamen, who had to hurry back to Granny.

Back at the woods, Nina kissed the frog, who transformed into a smaller frog.  He introduced himself as the Prince of Simafort.  While all this had been going on, the Township had been growing stronger.  The party headed back to take a look.  They then explored a strange restaurant that fed the strong and cooked the weak before heading to Simafort.

Once they arrived at Simafort, Jean was denounced as an imposter.  Stunned, the party were told to leave, but were stopped by Petape, the Princess of Simafort.  She told them that their Jean was the real one, and begged them to rescue him.

Asking around the castle, they found that, since "returning", Prince Jean had talked a lot about St Eva, and had been writing hymns about her.  They also found that the King had been acting oddly - he just mumbled.  They also heard about a thief who'd tried to take Simafort's Treasure Sword, who'd been put to work in the palace kitchens.

After defeating the Jailor, they found Jean, painting in his cell.  Jean told them that they could prove his identity with the Royal Ring, which he'd given to Nimufu, because she was lonely.

The party eventually found Nimufu at the Wildcat Cafe, attending a Witch School reunion.   After a little excursion which they all vowed never to talk of again, they had the ring.  Nimufu refused to believe that anyone would give anything so important to her.

Back at the castle, they challenged the imposter, but found that he had a ring of his own.  As a last resort, Petape challenged the imposter to a cooking contest against Jean, and Ryu was dispatched to find the ingredients.  The party headed through the castle dungeon, hunting down the ingredients.  It wasn't easy.  They saw a few of the imposter-Prince's guards die on the way through.

Although Jean cooked well, the Head Chef and the King both proclaimed the imposter-Prince the winner.  Petape appealed to the party to try the food, for a fairer vote.  Ryu tried, but he vomited.

Furious, Petape screeched that she would blow up the castle, and both Princes ran after her.  The Head Chef begged Ryu for forgiveness, and explained that the imposter had threatened him.  He asked Ryu to save Petape, Jean, and the castle.

The party followed them, and soon came across both Jean and Petape, who'd been attacked by the imposter.  The Imposter introduced himself as Kuwadora, transformed into a demon and attacked the party, for knowing the secret of the power under the castle.

Afterwards, the imposter called out to God, wondering how he could lose when he'd been granted special powers.  Then he tried to blow up the castle with the last of his strength.

Jean rushed in, and explained that it wasn't an explosion control - it was the hiding place of the legendary sword.  They'd told everyone it would destroy the castle to prevent burglars, but it seemed no one had informed Petape of this.

As the King thanked them, Petape gave them permission to take whatever they'd like from the castle, which was handy, as Ryu had already grabbed the Legendary Sword.  Instead of saying goodbye, Jean told them he was coming with them.

In Simafort's kitchen, the bat-winged girl was yelling about cockroaches.  The chefs begged the party to take her off their hands, and Ryu readily agreed.  The party headed back to Hometown, and took the thief to Trout's place.

Patty, the bat-winged girl, claimed, as Bow had, that Trout was a thief himself, and she was merely trying to get the items back.  Trout asked Ryu to check the basement for the thieves she claimed were there.  Ryu couldn't find any, and Trout thanked him for exposing the thief and asked him to leave.

Outside, the party ran into Kilgore, who asked them to bring Bow to him, so he could apologise.  The party headed back to the Township to pick up Bow, then back to Hometown.

Kilgore invited them all to dinner, where he asked Bow to steal from Trout's place again.  Ryu agreed to go with him.

Inside, they found a secret basement, which did indeed have a number of thieves locked up, including Patty.  Patty said that she told them so, and that she only stole from bad people.  Suddenly, Trout came back and caught them.  He asked Bow if he would steal for him; when Bow and Patty refused his offer, Trout decided to kill them, and transformed into a monster.

Afterwards, Trout whined that he'd just wanted to be rich - richer than anyone.  Patty gave Bow the Magic Hood before escaping.

Back at his mansion, Kilgore let Bow keep the hood, as a token of his appreciation.  He also wondered if Trout's greed had consumed his soul, and if something terrible was going to happen.  Bow agreed that a lot of strange things had been happening lately.  Ryu agreed that something bad was going to happen, and thought about all the people he'd seen who'd transformed into monsters because of their greed, or love of violence.  In his mind, he saw the eye again.


A young man's day...the voice of a demon...like a bad dream...The destined child.

He saw Gate.


Something...something evil...has begun to stir....this little stir is about to change...the world greatly.

On their way out of Hometown, another Ranger, Sylvia, asked Ryu and Bow to come to the Guild with her, for something urgent.

In Powell, the head Ranger's, office, a group of Rangers were talking about a huge demon they'd been sent to face, something far beyond their capabilities.  When Bow asked, they told him they'd been researching an incident in Gate, where a lot of the trees in the forest had died.  They also heard more about the large Demon, and realised it was the one that they'd faced as children.

The elder told them to look for the Grass Man, who could communicate with trees, and might find out what happened at Gate.  He warned Bow and Ryu not to be heroes.

The party headed south of Simafort, and soon found a hut which offered sight-seeing of the whale caves.  The owner was one of the thieves they'd freed from Trout, and he offered them a free trip.

Inside, they met a man named Maiyoru, and two dolphins, named Tree and Ton.  They explained that the party were inside the mouth of Grandpa the Whale, but Grandpa seemed to have been sleeping a lot lately, and they were getting worried.  It had all started when Grandpa had swallowed a big stone doll.  It was a scary doll that came out in a dream and said "sleep, sleep".

Maiyoru left then, riding on one of the dolphins.  He told the party to come and see him, in his to the west, if they had any questions.

The party headed down to the whale's stomach, until they ran into the stone idol.  The writing on it said that the person who woke it would be cursed forever.

The idol complained that it couldn't sleep, so it would put Grandpa - and Ryu - to sleep forever.

After the battle, the idol thanked them for letting him sleep and disappeared.  Grandpa was still sleeping, though, so the party headed back to his throat and kicked his adam's apple until he woke up.

In gratitude, Grandpa offered to show them around the ocean.  Tree and Ton suggested Tunlan, where the carnival was, and, remembering the Grass Man, Ryu agreed.

Spar

The circus was indeed near Tunlan, and the party headed there first.  They found that the carnival was much more popular in Tunlan, simply by showing monsters that were commonplace elsewhere but rare here.  Although Ryu could understand their speech, they couldn't understand his.

The party also learned that the Grass Man was going to be eaten by a monster, to try to attract more customers.  They went in and found the chief of the Carnival taunting the Grass Man, who responded civilly.  The chief told the party that he'd only stop the show if they were willing to bring him an Uparupa instead.

The party headed to the Uparupa caves, just south of Coursair, to try to catch one.   Along the way, they had to stop by Owl Woods for more Owlfruit.  While there, they took care of the girl the hunters had been talking about.

When Ryu finally caught an Uparupa, he couldn't bear the thought of giving it to the Chief.  The party let the Uparupa go, and headed back to the Carnival, to rescue the Grass Man.

Back at the Carnival, the chief transformed into a monster and attacked them.  Afterwards, the Grass Man let himself out of the cage, and told the party that he'd been waiting for them - or, at least, for people like them, people horrified by the atrocities in the world.  He introduced himself as Spar.

With Spar, the party hurried to the Great Sea of Trees, to the west, to ask the wise tree about Gate.

The Wise Tree told them that the information was buried deep within his mind.  He told them that, in order to find it, they'd need to fetch the Therapy Pillow - or, 'Bolster' - from Tunlan.  However, in Tunlan the party learned that they'd need a musical instrument in order to communicate with the people there.  They headed to Highfort, to the east, to see if they could borrow the famous flute.

When they reached Highfort, Sten told them that it was his hometown.  He told them that he'd never intended to go back.

Inside the castle, a soldier greeted him as Chief Sten, and told him that he'd thought Sten had died at the Goonheim war.  Sten told him that he'd run away, and that the hero of the Goonheim war was Trubo, who'd fought to the end.

The soldier told Sten that Trubo was looking forward to seeing him.  Sten said he couldn't face him, then left, telling the party that they'd need to get the famous flute themselves.  Talking to the other Highlanders, the party learned of Shupkay, a beautiful, bloodthirsty general.  They also learned that the castle had recently become filled with monsters.

Wandering around, the party ended up overhearing a war meeting, where Shupkay talked of taking over the world, and building an incredible weapon.  Realising that they'd heard her, Shupkay dropped them through a trapdoor.

Elsewhere, Sten wondered where Ryu and the others had gone.  He set off to explore.  One of the soldiers warned him about Shupkay.

Along the way, Sten ran into Trubo.  Trubo still held a grudge and challenged Sten to single combat.

After trading a few blows, Trubo revealed that he'd thought Sten was dead, and was angry at him for not coming home.  Trubo said he could forgive Sten leaving him - but not for leaving the Princess.  In his anger, Trubo then broke the bridge they were standing on, and told Sten he could only escape from it by defeating him.

Sten won, and fished Trubo out of the water below.  When he awoke, Trubo told Sten of how Shupkay was now controlling the Kingdom.  She intended to unlock the powers of the castle, using a member of the Royal family - the Princess.  Trubo and Sten decided to split up, and make their way to the Princess.

Eventually, Sten found himself in the Princesses room, where Shupkay was attempting to persuade her to help unlock the power of the castle.  Sten challenged her, but she dropped him through a trapdoor as well.

Sten met up with the rest of the party, and they all made their way upstairs.  Finally, they ran into Trubo, who'd been heavily injured by the security system.  The party smashed it.

Afterwards, Trubo told them that it had been guarding the control room - if they smashed it, Shupkay would be unable to use the castle as a weapon.  He told Sten that he'd take care of it, while Sten and the party rescued the Princess.

Shupkay intended to use a machine which took human emotions and turned them into energy.  She decided that the Princess's despair at seeing Sten killed would be enough, and attacked.

When she was unable to defeat the party - as a monster - Shupkay decided that she would use her own feelings in order to transform the castle into a flying fortress.  Downstairs, Trubo was unable to break the machine, and, upstairs, the party couldn't reach Shupkay.

Trubo had managed to do something, however.  The energy started going backwards, and Shupkay screamed that the castle would explode.  The party and the Princess ran to the elevators.  Unfortunately, they needed to be operated manually, and Sten offered to stay behind.

Afterwards, the Princess, Elforan, gave them the famous flute, and asked that, should Sten appear again, they take care of him.  She hoped he'd return someday.

The party found Sten on their way out.

In Tunlan, the party learned that the Queen was sick.  They'd have to cure her of her obesity before she'd help them.  They also learned of an old Magician, Gedd, who would be able to cure the Queen, if she hadn't banished him.  The party headed northeast, to the island Gedd had been banished to.

Old man Gedd insisted that he would only talk to women.  Luckily, he accepted the Seso-bonded Spar as female.  He still refused to help the Queen...unless, that is, he got a kiss from Spar.

With Gedd, the party returned to Tunlan.  Gedd examined the queen, and told the party that she was turning into a monster due to her greed.  The greed and selfishness in her heart made her vulnerable to demons.

Gedd gave the party a list of items to fetch from his mountain.  The party headed there, and brought back a Mirror and a Mushroom.  Gedd told them that they needed to head inside the Queen, to defeat her fat, and shrank them down with the mushroom. 

Once inside the Queen, the party used the Mirror to communicate with Gedd.  Once they'd finally gotten rid of all the fat demons, Gedd let them out.  The Queen agreed to let Gedd stay in Tunlan, and gave Ryu permission to take the Therapy Pillow/Bolster.  The party headed back to the wise old tree, Gandaroof

Once there, they entered his mind.  They found many memories there, including a prophecy of a dragon who would lead a brave group during times of trouble, and stories of a demon who took over one's soul when a person was vulnerable.  Ryu also learned that the dragon clan disappeared shortly after telling the tree that they had an important mission.

Finally, they ran into a creature that told them he wanted to destroy Gandaroof's memory, because he knew something that was inconvenient to the creature's God.  He also told Ryu that he was the one who'd caused everyone in Gate to forget him and his family.

Ryu destroyed him.

After the battle, the monster gloated that he'd already destroyed part of Gandaroof's memory before disappearing.  Speaking to some of the avatars inside Gandaroof's mind, the party heard of a Dragon who'd lead seven brave warriors to fight a great evil.  Outside, Gandaroof talked about the warrior again, as well as the horror of the devil-god who used such demons to control people.  He talked about a man who'd used the powers of the demon to possess people, but he couldn't remember his name.

Finally, Gandaroof talked about the demon destroying the trees, and people living to the south who would help them fight.