Alphadia Genesis, Amnesia: Memories, Analogue: A Hate Story, Anodyne

According to Steam, I have 69 hours of playtime in Alphadia Genesis.  According to the game itself, I finished the true ending at 46 hours.  I think the discrepancy is due, in part, to reloading after deaths, but mostly due to leaving the game on in the background while I did other things.  Since I bought the game for £6.99 in the first place, that's 10-15p per hour of entertainment, which is a pretty good deal considering I buy kindle books for 99p and up, and they generally only take 1-3 hours to read.

The game plays like a classic RPG.  I liked that nothing was truly missable (as far as I can tell), I liked the side quests, the dungeons were fun to explore, all that good stuff.  The biggest weakness was that the story appeared to be written both by and for twelve-year-olds, and the localisation was done by someone with absolutely terrible grammar.  It's really, really badly written, with ridiculous characters, but, while I do list it as a negative, it didn't really ruin the experience for me.  Sure, this isn't a game that really touched me, like Final Fantasies or Shadow Hearts (but, full disclosure, I was a teenager back then, and I might have reacted to this game differently if I'd been a teenager when I first played it), but it was still fun.  It felt really light and fluffy, which surprises me because the first Shadow Hearts game took about the same amount of time to play, and that felt incredibly intense and emotional.

I didn't like that the game window couldn't be resized.  You can play it on mobile, it really didn't need to be taking up 75% of my screen, and looked really weird at that size.  I liked that it had steam achievements, and that they were feasible - as opposed to say, killing 10,000 enemies in Final Fantasy Games, when you'd have to push to hit 2000 in a single play through - but I'd have liked it better if they'd linked more into the post-game content rather than just numerical values.  All of the achievements are based on chests opened, or enemies killed, or steps moved, or gold spent.  How about an achievement to reaching the normal ending and the true ending, or for defeating every battle at the arena, or finishing every quest, or collecting the Nall arena weapons?  You know, something to prompt you into exploring the world more and seeing everything in the game.  On that note, I don't like that there wasn't any kind of hint as to whether the four AGP giving battles actually existed in this edition, or where they could be found.  While I didn't actively search for them, I fought at least 100 battles on the island where the Arch Dragon was supposed to show up (I counted some and estimated) for levelling purposes and didn't see hide nor hair of them.  An achievement for, say, finding all the AGP, or defeating these enemies would have been really helpful there.  I did like that the screen could be zoomed out so you could get a better idea of where things were when exploring dungeons, though I didn't like having to zoom in to spot the AGP.

Now I've finished Alphadia Genesis - see my last few posts - I'm moving down my list of steam games alphabetically, as part of my new year's resolution to actually play the games I own.  The next on the list is Amnesia: Memories, which I played and finished last March.  I enjoyed it, but it was also very intense and emotional, and I'm not sure I'm ready to go through that again.  Since I have already played and completed it, I'm not obligated to do so again, so I'm going to skip it for now.  The same goes for the next game on the list, Analogue: A Hate Story.  I completed it with all achievements back in January 2017, it put me through the emotional wringer, and I'm not ready to have that experience again right now.  That brings us down to Anodyne, a game I bought in the last Steam winter sale.  I think I got it because it was cheap (69p) and on my wishlist, but I honestly can't remember when or why I put it on my wishlist in the first place.  The description on the Steam store page reads; in this unique Zelda-lite game, explore and fight your way through surreal and creepy, nature, urban and abstract themed areas in the human Young's subconscious, evoked by a 16-bit-era visual style and a moody, dream-like soundtrack.  I was never a fan of the Zelda games - nothing against them, it's just the first one I played was 3d and made me motion sick and I never felt like going back and playing the other ones since I'm not a fan of the battle style - but I do like abstract games about the subconscious, so that might be why.  I nearly returned this game because, when I downloaded it about a week ago - knowing it would be the next game to focus on - it got stuck.  It was at 100% and said "finishing download", but never did that.  Trying to delete the game just made steam crash, and it wouldn't let anything else download.  I asked Steam if I could just return it based on that, and they refused because I was a 2 weeks outside of the 2 week return window.  I think that was a bit rough - at the very least, having read about the problem, they could have sent instructions to fix it, even if they weren't willing to remove the game from my account and refund my 69p.  Luckily, in the gap between sending the email and getting the reply, it finished downloading properly.

Alphadia Genesis - Post-Game Spoiler Free Walkthrough

Continued from here.

Pandora Core

• Second option (first option just repeats the normal ending).

Side Quests

• Where to go for cut scenes is explained by the game, so I'm only going to list areas with unclaimed items or side quests.

Level-Grinding

• To boost your levels - which makes everything easy - it's best to fight metal slimes on the island just south of Grimm's Cave, west of Laveria tunnel.  
• Use an attract charm to make them appear faster.  If a blue dragon appears, it will probably outclass you at first.  Let it kill you and then continue from the title, or just run.  When you get better, you might want to kill them for the money.
• To actually hurt the slimes, you need either critical hits - from the critical band accessory - or Fray's new weapon from the Ghalzabine battle arena, which does extra damage against metal.  There are two critical band accessories you can find in the game (in Grimm's Cave and Yorlnil's Cave)
• To boost the EXP received, have Aurra and Grande as submembers, giving you 1.5x exp.  You can also use Corune's skill, experience gift, which doubles exp..  I sped up Corune by giving her the Conditional Earrings 3, which I normally keep on Fray.  This caused Corune to act first, then Enah used a Hearty Fruit (exp +50%) and Fray and Walter killed the enemies.  The slimes will try to run, but just taking out one or two gives you quite a lot of exp - I went from 69-99 in less than an hour, and that was interrupted by reading reddit and typing this.  Levelling your energi will take longer, but you can also boost the SP received by throwing a Hearty Peel.
• The battle arena in Ghalzabine has new weapons and armour.  Fray's new weapon will be useful for levelling against the metal slimes, and these weapons are more powerful than anything else available.  The final King level rewards you with a total of 1140 Battle Points.

Legendary Weapons

• After collecting the storyline macguffins and revisiting Ghalzabine, you'll be able to start the Quests (16-21) for the legendary weapons and armour.  The quest-giver is clearly visible on screen as you leave Ghalzabine castle, and each weapon will be added to your side quest log as a separate quest.

Achievement Unlocked - Lagoon Warrior God

Achievement Unlocked - King Midas

Village of Nall (Chests 197-202, AGP 660)

• The village is located on the north-easternmost island on the map and has new weapons and armour for your party.
• 20 AGP on the fountain to the north.
• Condition Earrings 1 in the house in the southeast corner of the village.  STR Seed x10 downstairs.  Gamble Coin on next floor.  Energic Scrunchie and Teleporter x10 downstairs again.  HP Seed x30 from the Licker.
• A woman in the house in the northeast will sell you battle coins.
• The eastern house contains a battle arena and a chest containing 10x Holy Water.  It has the same items available and shares a currency with the one in Ghalzabine.  Instead of speaking to the receptionist, you pick a route on the right to face specific battles, which have three different prizes each.  You win them in order and then, I presume, the third (or fourth, for the Flying Dance) prize is repeated ad infinitem.
• Energic Dolls - Spellbinder; Line Slaughter; HP Seed x2 and EP Seed x2.
• My Pet - Wonderful Wand; Halo; MD Seed x2 and Speed Seed x2.
• Arctic Cosplayer - Energic Rifle; Energi Bringer; STR Seed x2 and VIT Seed x2.
• Flying Dancer - Guardian's Vest; Hero's Plate; Heroine's Corset; EP Seed x6.
• The most difficult fight is the Arctic Cosplayer.  Using the armours from Flying Dancer can help.  They halve all damage while boosting your defence, but it does come with a doom countdown, so you'll probably need to combine that with Doom Pendulums from the arena store, which quintuple the count.  Fog Pumps, which are also available from the arena, can also help to reduce damage, will prevent a lot of the penguin's attacks from even touching you.  After using this, you'll need to use items or Aurra's Here Comes the Healing Beam! to heal.  This discussion has some useful tips, including that Reset Flash will remove its buffs after Unrewarded, and that Betadia does quite a lot of damage.  I used a team of Fray, Enah, Aurra, and Walter, and I did find that Fire Change increased the damage I was able to do, though I'm not sure why.  When the shield is up, try using a Super Rocket to cast Betadia, since that won't bounce back.
• Having won all 6 of the possible weapons you will be offered another subquest, to find all six signposts around the world and, if you have all six dark crystals, to get weapons from them.  The last three dark crystals are in Speranza's lab.  The signpost locations are below;

Speranza's Lab (Chests 203-220, AGP 680)

• There's a bit of back and forth before you actually enter the lab, as guided by the game.
• On the first floor, Hitman Ring to the east, Ether Matter x10 to the west, two chests containing Dark Crystals on either side of the stairs (approachable from either side).
• On the next floor, Follow Bracelet to the northwest, Giga Potion x10 to the northeast.  Fire Rocket x15 in the library.  The Card Key will open the western door back on the first floor.
• On the second floor down, STR Seed x4 in the southwest corner and a second card key in the nearby library (not a chest).  MND Seed x4 in the southeast corner.  Assistance Orb in the northeast corner.
• On the third floor down, Perfect Ring in the centre.  Dark Crystal to the north.  Now that you have three Dark Crystals, you can exit out of here and go after the legendary weapons.  At the very least, be sure to leave before facing the final boss.  EP Seed x4 in the southwest corner.  Dead End Cuffs are via a secret passage, the entrance to which is on the same wall as the EP Seed x4, just a little to the north.
• On the fourth floor down, another card key is hidden in a bookcase.
• On the fifth floor down, there is another card key hidden in a bookcase.
• You will need all three card keys to access the sixth floor.
• 20 AGP near the start of the 7th floor down.  Super Rocket to the northeast.  Holy Water x3 via secret passage.
• On the 8th floor, Energi Matter x 10 via secret passage.
• On the 9th floor, Heal Matter x10 via secret passage.  Now leave to finish off anything you have left before returning here to finish the game.

Achievement Unlocked - Treasure Hunter

Legendary Enemies

• According to various sources there are four enemies which give a one-time AGP reward, totalling 500 AGP.  I have yet to find anything that confirms whether or not they actually exist in the steam version of the game, and since they're very rare, it's quite tricky to prove or disprove.  What I'm tempted to do is go through 200 battles in each location and by then I'll either have found them or given up.  
• They are;
• Arch-Dragon, on the island south of Grimm's Cave.  Blue Dragons, Metal Gelatins and Full Metal Gelatins also appear on this island, and only on this island, so you'll know if you've got the right one.  I suggest going after this one first, because you'll gain loads of exp and SP while searching for it.
• King Penguin on the island east of the continent containing Micheli.
• Dark Wyvern on the island west of Dauhl Library.
• Cursed Behemot south of the village of Nall.

Alphadia Genesis - Main Game Spoiler-free Walkthrough

General

All the achievements are linked to the stats you can view by going to 'System' then 'Trophies' in the in-game menu.  I'm just noting down approximately when I achieved them, they're not linked to specific parts of the game.  There is an achievement for finding all 220 chests, so I've numbered them to make it easier to check if you've missed any.  As far as I can tell, nothing is permanently missable.  The 'use energi' achievements I initially assumed meant to use energi points, but it actually means to cast the skills listed under energi - basically, just use magic X amount of times.  I'm not sure if casting healing energi from the menu counts.

According to this resource - one of the only ones I found for the game - there are six items which can only be bought with AGP through the speciality shop;

• Mind Earrings - 80AGP
• Guilty Amulet - 110AGP
• Total Amulet - 130AGP
• Condition Earrings 3 - 150AGP
• Booster Bracelet - 70AGP
• Invalid Commune - 120AGP

Buying one copy of each of the above would cost 660AGP.  There are also three accessories of which only one copy is obtainable without buying more with AGP;

• Energi Scrunchie - 100AGP
• Assistance Orb - 80AGP
• Case x Charm - 100AGP

So far, I've found 680 AGP in game, and have heard rumours (but not verified) that there is 500 more.

Archleign (Chests 1-2, 40AGP)

• Automatic battle.
• 3x Poison Cure in chest in house to southwest.
• Hi-elixir in chest in the inn.
• Secret tunnel in the lab area of the castle, leading to chest 3 containing an emerald.
• 20 AGP in the Guild.
• After speaking to the King, Quest 1 available at the Guild.  The person you're looking for is in Archleign.  Indignator x3 given as a reward.
• 20 AGP received automatically on leaving the city.

Achievement Unlocked - Departure

Dauhl Laboratory (Chests 3-8, 60AGP)

• Elixir x2 in chest left of the entrance.
• Chest containing Energi Drop x20 down the secret passage Aurra shows you, right of the entrance.
• Exchange earrings in chest through the secret tunnel by the stairs after meeting Enah.  
• 20 AGP in room containing a single cryogenic chamber.
• Potion x2 in chest before boss.
• Status Care x2 in chest after boss.

Achievement Unlocked - Apprentice Warrior

Archleign

• Once the cut scenes are done, Heath in the Castle has Quest 2.  The instructions are straightforward and the reward is three Power Drinks.

Achievement Unlocked - Apprentice Wizard

Achievement Unlocked - Journeyman Wizard

Lakey Checkpoint (Chests 9-10, 80AGP)

• VIT Seed x2 in chest upstairs.
• 20 AGP on one of the barrels on the far side of the river.
• Energy Herb x5 right outside the North Gate, chest partially hidden by wall.

Katorah (100 AGP)

• 20AGP on a barrel in the inn.
• Quest 3 available after sleeping at the inn.  Rewarded with Hi-Elixir x2.

Hetrix Cave (Chests 11-16, 120AGP)

• Fire Grenade x3 and Guard Drink x4 in chests north of the entrance.
• Clear Ring x2 in chest.  There are no secret passages, all chests are clearly visible.
• Energetic Tempest in chest.
• HP Seed x2 in chest.
• 20 AGP in the room with hay on the floor.
• Speed Drink x4 in chest on ledge near entrance.

Luvira Tunnel (Chests 17-23, 140AGP)

• Idlator x6 in chest.
• Lunatic Wand in green chest, through short hidden tunnel.
• Indignator x5 in chest.
• Potion x3 in chest 20, south-east of last chest.  Secret tunnel near here leads to a green chest containing a Life Bangle.
• 20AGP on box.
• Status Care x 4 in chest south-west of AGP.  
• Water Grenade x 6 in chest after boss.

Ries (Chest 24, 160AGP)

• STR seed in inn via secret tunnel.
• 20AGP on box in the cafe.

Kotoch Ridge (Chests 25-39, 180AGP)

• Light Grenade x20 in a chest through the secret tunnel right of the entrance (not directly, but same screen).
• Energi Elixir x15 in a chest through the secret tunnel left of the entrance (not directly, but same screen).
• Mage Masher in green chest through secret tunnel near exit of second screen.
• Fine Earrings beta in green chest through another secret tunnel, right before outside area. 
• Dynamite Strip x2 in chest in outside area.
• Indiginator x4 in chest northeast in next indoor area.
• Guard Drink x15 in chest through secret tunnel.
• Energi Drink x16 through secret tunnel in next area, after cutscene.
• Energi Bangle in green chest.
• 20AGP in tree in second outside area.
• Luck Drink x15 in chest through secret tunnel left of entrance in next indoor area.
• HP Seed x2 through secret tunnel right of entrance.
• Meeting Grande means you can have two characters providing support, with boosts depending on the pairing as described in this post.
• Power Drink x6 in chest via secret tunnel in north-east of living area, after meeting Grande.
• Hearty Fruit x10 in chest via secret tunnel in north-east of living area.
• Hearty Seed x10 in secret tunnel in north-east of living area.
• MND Seed x2 in chest via secret tunnel in south-west of living area.

Achievement Unlocked - Drifter

• Quest 4 is now available in Ries.  The reward is an Emerald.  You can repeat the quest indefinitely, for the same reward each time.

Achievement Unlocked - Master Wizard

Erto Checkpoint (Chest 40, 200AGP)

• Light Grenade x8 in Chest
• 20AGP on the exit wall.

Miyva (220AGP)

• 20AGP on a wall in the mansion.
• Quest 5 available before leaving.  The reward is 3 Luck Drinks.

Ghalzabine (240AGP)

• 20 AGP in the weapon's shop.

Achievement Unlocked - Well Off

Cayani Laboratory (Chests 41-54, AGP 260)

• Fire Bomb x3 through secret tunnel right of entrance.
• Water Bomb x 4 in chest via northwest (compass directions refer to where they are on the map, not how you get there) secret passage.
• Corona in chest via northwest secret passage (right next to the first one).
• Guard Drink x5 via northern secret passage.
• Luck Drink x3 in chest via western secret passage.
• Energi Stone x2 at the bottom of the stairs.
• 20AGP, west of cutscene.
• Light Bomb x2 via southeast tunnel in second area.
• Emerald x2 in northeast room.
• Heal Materia x5 in chest to the north.
• Holy Water in northwest room.
• Energi Stone x2 in a green chest in the centre of the map.
• Exiter x2 near start of third area.
• Hearty Peel x3 in the northmost room (you need to return here after the game takes you out).
• Follow Bracelet via secret tunnel near northmost room.
• The arena in Ghalzabine is unlocked after completing the laboratory.  It's in the guild and it's quite straightforward.  Each level you complete unlocks the next level, and you also earn battle coins to buy things in the battle shop.  It's a good way to get good weapons and accessories, though you'll probably want to come back later when your characters are higher levels.

Achievement Unlocked - Archmage

Tranquil Lodge (Chest 55, AGP 280)

• 20AGP outside.
• Buffing Powder in the inn.
• Quest 7 available from the owner, rewarded with 3 STR Seeds.
• Quest 6 available from Cayani Laboratory, rewarded with a Mega Elixir and repeatable ad infinitem.  It didn't unlock for me until after visiting the lodge.  There's an accessory you can get from the arena which increases encounters, which will be useful for both of these.

Achievement Unlocked - Master Warrior


Nessi Trench (Chests 56-67, AGP 300)

• Megapotion x5 in chest via secret tunnel.
• Attract Charm via second secret tunnel, a little further on.
• Hi-Elixir x5 in northeast chest.
• Energi Materia x5 and Rusty Energi Ring in west via secret tunnel.
• Light Bomb via another secret tunnel.
• Energi Stone in green chest after group splits.
• Doom Pendulum in green chest via secret tunnel a little way after team regroups.
• 20 AGP on a wall in a dead-end.  The secret tunnel above loops around it.
• Clear Ring x2, go right instead of left to stairs up.
• Berserk Gem via secret tunnel near stairs up.
• Fog Drink x8 via secret tunnel.
• Light Circlet via secret tunnel to the right of the last one.

Achievement Unlocked - Explorer

Lokka (Chest 68, AGP 320)

• 20 AGP on a barrel in the Inn.
• MND Seed x2 in the Inn.
• Quest 8 available if you reenter the village.  The quest item is on the first floor of the Nessi Trench, when you enter from the south.  The reward is 2 MND seeds.

Achievement Unlocked - Rich


Mount Nordon (Chest 69-82, AGP 340)

Clear Ring x2 in dead-end.

Dawn Moon via secret tunnel.

Falcon Vest via secret tunnel.

Energi Stone in dead end.

Mega-Potion x5 in dead end.

20 AGP in dead end in 3rd area.

Fire Bomb x6 outside.

Quadrupler Pearls outside.

Indiginator x4 inside.

Energi Stone in dead end.

Status Care x10 in dead end near water.

Megalixir x15 before second outside area.

Fog Pump x5 outside.

Perfect Ring and Power Drink x8 on the shortcut ledge back to the beginning.

Mountain Cottage (AGP 360)

20 AGP on a box.

Quest 9 available from Saty.  The reward is Ether Matter x4 and the quest is repeatable.

Ghalzabine

At this point, I had a Rusty Energi Ring (Nessi Trench) and Buffing Powder (Tranquil Lodge) and delivered both to Mr Sparkle in Ghalzabine.  You'll eventually get a Prince Ring in exchange.  I don't know if the time it takes him is measured in literal time or fights or what.

Quest 10 available.  Speak to the quester again immediately to complete.  You're rewarded with 30 EP seeds.

Achievement Unlocked - Legendary Brave


Micheli (Chest 83, AGP 380)

Hearty Seed x3 at the inn.

20 AGP in the mayor's house.

Quest 11 available after sleeping at the inn.  The reward is 5 EP seeds.

Ohlu Tower (Chest 84-103, AGP 400)

Door key in chest in north east on ground floor.

Ignore the western stairs for now, because the two treasures are behind two locked doors.

Door key in chest on second floor.  Indiginator x5 and Fire Bomb x5 behind locked doors to the south.

On third floor, Door Key, and Rusty Energi Ring to the east of the stairs. 

Diamond x2 via secret passage.  

Anti Energi Plate, Door Key, and Fine Earrings alpha found on the eastern edge of the map, two via secret passages.  

Door Key and Hearty Peel x8 upstairs, the latter via multiple secret passages.

Back on the first floor, the western stairs lead to a Fallen Empire and 5 Mega Potions.

Next Earrings via a secret passage after going up the central stairs from the first floor and then another set.  Door Key to the northeast.

Mega Elixir x4 and 20 AGP via locked door on the next floor.  Also allows access to a chest containing 8 Energi Drinks via secret passage.

HP Seed x3 and EP Seed x3 in the south.  The secret passage isn't marked, just walk towards them from the right.

Achievement Unlocked - Apprentice Treasure Hunter

Ghalzabine (AGP 420)

After all the cutscenes/events, Quest 12 is available from a palace guard.  Take the central stairs.  The reward is 4 VIT Seeds.

20 AGP on a vase in the castle.

Quest 13 is available in the city.  The reward is 6 Dynamite Strips.

The weapon shop will now be updated with equipment that outranks what you could get for battle coins at the arena.

Grimms Cave (Chests 104-115, AGP 440)

Downstairs, Light Bomb x8 in southeast corner.

Ether Materia x4 in southwest corner.

Energi Stone in the northwest corner.

Holy Water x2 in the northeast corner.

20 AGP on a wall in a dead end, right as the path begins spiralling in to the centre.  If you hit the boulders, you've gone too far.

Gae Bulg via secret passage to the south.

Deviless Dress via a secret passage on an eastern edge as you being to spiral.

Assist Bracelet via secret passage near exit.

On the next floor, Critical Band via secret passage in the northwest corner.

Quadrupler Pearls in the centre.

SPD Seed x2, north after the cut scene.

Perfect Ring via a secret passage after the cut scene.  Follow a second secret passage to 4x Hearty Fruit.

Rest Stop (AGP 460)

20 AGP on a tree.

Guwaro Ruins (Chests 116-137, AGP 500)

Gilded Key x2 in southeast corner.

Wooden Key x2 in the east.

You might wish to backtrack to pick up the Energi Stone behind the gilded-key door and the Shadowline behind the wooden key door.

Gilded Key x2 in the northwest corner.

Plus Fire Rocket x via secret passage around the northwest corner.

Exiter x2 on second floor.

Wooden Key x2 to the east.

STR Seed x2 behind gilded key door.

Energi Stone in the centre.

Heal Materia x18 via wooden door in the southwest corner.

20 AGP just southeast of that wooden door.

Energi Materia x12 via a secret passage in the west.

Gilded Key x2 in the northwest corner on next floor.

VIT Seed x2 behind gilded key door.  Open the wooden-key door at the other end of the room to reach a chest containing another 2 Wooden Keys.

Ether Heal x3 via gilded key door.

EP Seed x2 via wooden key door.

20 AGP in top right corner.

SPD Seed x2 via wooden key door in the southeast.

Diamond x 2 in chest.

Mega-Potion x4 via two gilded key doors.

Hearty Fruit x10 via secret passage, past stairs.

Exiter x2 on next floor.

Achievement Unlocked - Legendary Traveller

Pamyuht (Chest 138, AGP 520)

20 AGP on a tree.

Buffing Powder in the house.

Quest 14 is available after the cut scene.  The reward is 6 HP Seeds.

At this point, you can head back to Myva and deliver the second Rusty Energi Ring and Buffing Powder to Shiny Joe.

Achievement Unlocked - Extremely Rich

Yorlnil Cave (Chests 139-150 , AGP 580)

Critical Band via secret passage to the west.

Dodge Belt and Dark Crystal via secret passage in the east.

20 AGP in a dead end towards the north of the map.

Drop Amulet in a chest to the north.

On the next floor, Rising Sun and Unlimited Bracelet via secret passages clearly visible off the main path.

Lead Breastplate (via secret passage) and Speed Drink x6 if you carry on past the switch.

Ether Materia x5 over the bridge.

In the area after the fight, Luck Drink x8, Exiter x3 and MND Seed x3.  

20 AGP in a dead end shortly before the statue.

If you go back to Shiny Joe, he'll give you a Princess Ring.

At this point, I followed this guide to gain 10 levels, just for fun.

Raness Cave (Chests 151-165, AGP 620)

Teleporter x2 near the stairs.  This whole place is pretty linear, nothing is really hidden.

On second floor, Sturdy Key in chest to the north.  20AGP in dead end opposite.

Water Bomb x6 to the east, Dark Crystal to the south.

On third floor, Sturdy Key to the northwest, Angel Earrings to the northeast, Exchange Earrings to the south.

On fourth floor, Desire Wand via secret passage, Hearty Fruit in centre of area.

On fifth floor, 20 AGP in northwest corner, Study Key in centre.

On sixth floor, Assist Bracelet and Fine Earrings alpha behind sturdy key door in southeast.  Guardian Orb behind study key door in west.

On seventh floor, Life Bangle and Exiter x3.  I refuse to tell you where.  Zoom out.

Energi Pandora and Pandora Core (Chests 166-196, AGP 640)

Water Rocket x3 to the southwest.  Assist Bracelet via secret passage to the east.  Dynamite Strip x2 to the southeast.

Holy Water x3 near the east switch, 20 AGP near west switch, Gamble Coin to the south.

In the second half of the first floor, Hitman Ring via secret passage.

After battle, Dark Crystal via secret passage to the west, Status Care x 12 in northwest.  Condition Earrings 2 via secret passage, Mega Elixir x3 to the northeast, Condition Earrings 1 via secret passage.

Mega Potion x6 on next floor.

In Pandora Core, Light Circlet to northwest, Hearty Fruit x5 to the northeast.

On the next floor, Energi Bangle to the east, Giga Potion x2 in the centre, 20AGP on a crystal to the north.

On the next floor, Hearty Fruit x3 in the southwest.  Heal Matter x8 and STR Seed x2 towards the centre.  Next Earrings to the northwest.

After battle, Hearty Peel x3.  In the newly opened area, Energi Matter x6, Hearty Seed x3, and Indignator x8.

After battle, Brave Armour x2, Silk Robe x3, and Force Vest.

Light Rocket x3 in newly opened area.  Ether Matter x4 and Case x Charm through door.

MND Seed x2 after next door.

Achievement Unlocked - Legendary Wizard

This is the normal end of the game.  The game will instruct you on how to continue.  I have written the rest of this guide in a seperate post. 

Zodiac Challenge: Interlude - Return of the Rabbit

Bunny is my favourite - closely followed by her great-grandfather, Jake - and I will be damned if I let her die without eking out every last bit of her lifespan.  This pack works like university, in that the characters on holiday won't age, and the world at home won't move on until they come back, so it's a good way to spend time with a few sims rather than the whole family.

I gave Bunny a bit of a makeover, to make her a more glamorous old lady, and whitened her hair slightly.  I've been lightening it bit by bit since she became an elder.  If we assume Hialeah was born when Bunny was around 37 and that Hialeah is now approaching her thirties (only not, because vampires don't age) then Bunny is approaching 70, which makes her older than both of my maternal grandparents were when they died.

Despite still looking 25, Sequoyah loves his wife.  I'd intended them to have a relaxed, romantic holiday, but I check the adventure board and they quickly get dragged into that.  It seems like the World Adventures pack is really intended as more of a puzzle-solving game than a holiday pack like the first game had.

Bunny's first adventure involves exploring an old tomb, while Sequoyah needs to persuade people to shop at a specific store.  He's still a celebrity here - as is Bunny - so he sometimes has to stop for people to take his photo.  Bunny did stop by here to use her incredible friend-making powers and learn some French songs and then headed to the tomb.  She and Sequoyah both brought their own vehicles (presumably in their inventories) so getting around is easy.

Sequoyah comes to join her when he's done, and help with the heavy lifting (even though Bunny is athletic, so she's managing fine).  It's a full moon, which I was a little concerned about, but if zombies did appear, they didn't follow us down to the tomb.

The paparazzi did follow us - and, creepily, due to the way the base camp works, she also took photos of Sequoyah and Bunny while they were sleeping and I couldn't lock the door to keep her out - but she got left behind quite early on.

Bunny and Sequoyah flirt and kiss between each obstacle, which is quite cute, even if it's me making them do it.

After finding the bones of an old explorer, Sequoyah vows to protect Bunny from harm, which is also very romantic.

After finishing the tomb, they take a selfie for posterity!  They complete a few other adventures - including breaking into the Landgraab's holiday home - and return with level 1 visas.  I'd like them to get to level 3 and buy a holiday home in France to pass on to future generations.  I'm not sure how that will work.

Zodiac Challenge: Interlude - A Monkey and a Dog

We return to Remy and Dan's last semester of the year.  Dan has succeeded in going on a date with coffee girl, but has now decided he's just not that into her.

Meanwhile, Remy is happy to be on the Dean's list.

He's also happy to be hooking up with his roommate Harold.

 

The two brothers have struggled to spend time together, but sometimes they share meals.

Dan decides to organise a protest against clowns because fuck clowns.  He only had an hour before it started, so he didn't get to send out flyers, but people showed up anyway.

One of the classes that Sims attend on Wednesday is an actual lecture class - instead of going into a rabbit hole, they go to a classroom and can do things like sleep, take notes, or ask questions.  Dan organised his protest from in class.  Remy had the next class in that room which was cute, my boyfriend and I had that in first year despite being on totally different courses.

Remy shows up after his class is over and they jam a bit.

That evening - still at the protest - Dan meets a cute girl in a theatre costume and vows to protect her.  (This is actually a character I made from this story I wrote - honestly, while I would like for my sims to fall in love with townies, like Jake and Yuriko did, there just aren't that many cute, non-partnered townies around).

Meanwhile, Remy has found a cute boy to draw.

Remy and Dan both attend a party after the protest, and Dan ends up sleeping with Gabbie Ahmed, who he's flirted with before (I did not take a picture).

 Look at his stride of pride!

...then he goes home and writes a love letter to Veronica (theatre girl).

He tries to go on a date with her the next day, but it's a full moon and she's a zombie (not shown, further off the screen).  Annoyingly, this gives them a relationship downgrade, because the game handles that by immediately cancelling the date, pretending he's annoyed her.  For my story (which is that Veronica is the ghost of a girl who drowned herself after being betrayed by her lover but who appears in a non-ghost form in the nighttime) her absence was due to another, ghostier reason.

I send Dan home, but Remy isn't at all bothered by ghosts so he just keeps playing.

Afterwards, Remy goes home and, purely by coincidence, hangs out with Harold (whom he is still sleeping with).

They have breakfast together the next day as well.  Harold is the closest thing Remy has had to a steady boyfriend, even though they're not official.  They just woohoo and hang out together.

The next day, Dan and Veronica manage a semi-successful date!  Afterwards Dan invites her to stay overnight, but sleeps in his brother's bed so she can sleep in his alone. 

He also confesses that, shortly after they met, he slept with Gabbie Ahmed, which isn't really cheating but the game thinks it is.

She wakes up still mad and decides to confront him, but has to go to class before she can.  They don't see each other the next day, since it's exam day.

Remy does a bit of slow-dancing with Harold, since they'll all be leaving uni for the summer soon.

...and then wakes up to open his transcript.

They've both passed the year!  I'm not sure why they're both showing on the same thing, because they opened their letters separately.

Dan is delighted!  Their mother will be so proud.

Dan goes over to talk to Veronica before they all have to leave, but they don't manage to make up.

...and Remy casts a glance at Harold.

We won't be returning to the main town quite yet because, now I've got World Adventures, Bunny and Sequoyah are going on a belated honeymoon!  they left Hialeah in charge of the children.

Alphadia Genesis - Formation Effects (Yells)

In Alphadia Genesis, leaving different combinations of people out of your active party results in the above effects.

About Love, Hate, and the Other Ones, and Alicemare

I have no idea what this game is, when I bought it, or why.  It doesn't appear on my Steam transaction history, which makes me suspect I got it through Humble Bundle, maybe alongside a game I wanted more.  Today is the first time I've played it, but I forgot to look at the 'last played' bit on Steam before starting the game.

It turns out it's a little platformer!  You start with two characters, Love and Hate, who are very cute.  They can move other little beings around by telling them that they love or hate them, which is just adorable.  I looked it up and it seems like the game started with 60 levels but is now up to 80.  I finished all 80 in about three days.  No Steam achievements or anything.

The next game on my list would be Alicemare, which is a horror game inspired by classic children's stories.  I played in in May of 2018, and I remember enjoying it a lot, although I don't want to replay it right now.  That means my actual next game will be Alphadia Genesis.  Again, I don't remember when I bought it or why.  My Steam purchase history tells me I bought it for £6.99 on the 23rd of April 2018, and that I played it enough on May 18th 2018 to unlock the achievement of taking 1000 steps.  I have no memories of this, but that would have been when I was supposed to be revising for my second year exams, so that explains why I stopped playing.  I just checked and I bought Alicemare - along with a load of other games - on May15th 2018, so I just have played that one immediately (and ignored the others - MEMENTO, An Octave Higher, Forget Me Not: My Organic Garden, and The Crooked Man).

The 39 Steps

The 39 Steps is a game I started a while ago, though it's really more of a multi-media novel than a game.  Well, I say a while, apparently it was back in April of 2018.    The original novel, by John Buchan, was one of the first of the spy-thriller genre, and, according to TV tropes, did for spy stories what Tolkien did for fantasy.

For the game itself, there are choices - just a straightforward walk through the text.   When the narrator is taking in information - like looking around a room - you'll be given a choice as to what to look at first.  Likewise, if the narrator - the book's in first person, so the narrator is also the main character - is taking whatever he can from a cupboard, you get to pick those items up.  There are also some tricky things to do when the narrator is engaged in something difficult, like running away.  However, there are no ways to affect the plot, though it is possible to miss a few in-game awards if you don't click on literally everything. There are some nice effects depending on whether the plot is moving quickly or slowly, kind of like in House of Leaves, where some pages have few words printed on them so you flip through faster, giving you a sense of urgency.  The voice acting is amazing, and really adds to the story.

Spy-thrillers aren't really a genre I enjoy - I've actually owned the book multiple times but have never read it - but this game made it really fun for me to read, and I'd like to see other books adapted in this way.  Like the works of Shakespeare for example, which should really be performed and watched rather than read anyway, so this would be a really nice compromise between going to see a play and reading the script.  I finished the game today; it took about 5 hours to finish it with all achievements.

I'm making a game to propose to my boyfriend with...

...and I'm fine sharing it here because he never reads my blogs.

As you probably know - if you've read any of my other posts - I quite like RPGs.  I've tried to make games with RPGMaker before, but I started off too ambitious and then got distracted and lost where I was for a bit.  This game will be much shorter and it has a deadline of the end of this month.  My boyfriend is expecting a proposal in February (or he gets to propose in March), so I'm aiming for January to keep the surprise element.  The ring - black ceramic and lapis lazuli - is being made in America, so hopefully it will arrive in time.  It's not a huge problem if it arrives later, though it would be nice to have it ready.

My game - which I'll share here after completion and maybe on Steam if I can figure out how - will be a short RPG made with the free version of RPGMaker XV Ace, since the expensive version is like £60 and I am a poor student.  I'm aiming for 1-2 hours of gameplay, split into five segments.  These segments mirror a walk the boyfriend and I did in our first year, from Manchester to Birmingham.  It took us five days to cover about 80 miles and we stayed in AirBnBs along the way.  For the boyfriend, this was very much LOTR inspired, and I watched all the movies with him on his birthday so I could put in some LOTR elements.  I also read The Hobbit.  So far, the only joke I've actually included is calling the main villain "Sour Ron", but the thought is there.

The plot of the game itself will be about two people who fight Sour Ron, lose, and are cursed.  One loses his memory entirely, and the other loses some of her memory and her true form - she spends 90% of the game as a rose instead.  The two go on a journey to find and defeat Sour Ron, in the hopes that it will restore their memory/personhood.  Along the way, they discover that the journey itself is the important part.

My mental soundtrack for this is In the Beginning from Anastasia, for several reasons.  Firstly, it was the song I listened to when I attended my interview at this university, where I ended up meeting the boyfriend in halls in our first year.  "No one told me I was going to find you.  Unexpected, what you did to my heart".  Secondly, it reminds me of Shadow Hearts, which is one of the first stories that defined love for me.  Both thematically - the idea that, at the end, I want to be standing at the beginning with you - and, more literally, because Anastasia is a playable character in Shadow Hearts II. 

The 13th Doll

The 13th Doll is the sequel to The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour.  It's fanmade, but the creators (Attic Door creations) partnered with the original creators, Trilobyte, to make this an official sequel.  They even got Robert Hirschboeck back to play Stauf!

You have a choice of two storylines to follow, Tad or Dr Richmond, and each have their own puzzles and route through the old house.  The games in the same full motion video style, but now you can move around and look at things from all angles and the quality is way better because it's been 25 years.  Tbh, I preferred the old way because this sort of first-person view gives me motion sickness, but I got used to it, and it definitely made the game creepier.  Jump scares are now possible, for a start.  The actors were a little stilted in the sane roles, but got into it more when the madness started.  I like that, plotwise, they really built on what was already there, and filled in some of the questions left from the first game - most notably, the role of the woman in white.

I've played through as Dr Richmond, and I'm liking the game a lot.  The puzzles in the older games were too difficult for me, so I tended to look them up rather than get frustrated, but these are easier, not least because the rules and goals are better explained.  I also like that the game has achievements, to make sure you find everything, and that the map changes to show which rooms are locked or unlocked, and which have uncompleted puzzles or key items to be found.  You can also zoom around the mansion on the map like in The 11th Hour.  Also, I really like that you can window this game!  You couldn't with the second one.  The first one could be windowed by pressing alt+enter.

As well as the puzzles, there are golden memory coins and backers names to find in the mansion, though the map doesn't signal when you've missed those.  I found some of them, but the coins are especially tricky.  You can pick up ten as Tad and ten as Dr Richmond and, in my first playthrough, I found one.  Luckily, the coins aren't really missable - you can go back and pick them up right before the end scene, which is a place I saved anyway because that's also where the decision is made which determines which ending you receive.  It would have been nice if there'd been some hints to where the coins are, maybe a trail of cryptic crossword clues like the second game.  I did miss a name in an area you can't return to, but the two areas you can't return to are close to the beginning of the game, so I'll probably just restart to nab that one.  Both characters have three locations, so I'd recommend making one save as soon as you enter each, and then saving while Dr Richmond is collecting the eyes and as soon as Tad unlocks the Temple Room.  From there, you can go back and pick up anything you missed.  That last Dr save will let you unlock both endings without too much backtracking, while Tad can save after the Doll Room puzzle for the same effect.

It took me two days to play through all of this - once as the Dr and once as Tad, saving and backtracking sometimes to get every coin and VIP name.   Frustratingly, I now have every achievement except "Master of the Dolls", for viewing the secret ending.  Apparently, you need to complete every puzzle in the game without using any hints and view all five endings.  I've got all five endings on seperate saves - since the game will let you save after the end - and I thought I'd only used hints on the first two puzzles in the doctor's run, but I redid those when searching for the VIP names, so apparently not.  I'm going to try a speedrun through both routes tomorrow, see if that works.

Edit:  My speedrun through both routes took just over 3 hours, and it did successfully unlock the 'extras' button for the bonus ending!  It's over to the lower left of the menu screen, and now I'm haunted by the idea that I might have unlocked it earlier and just not noticed it.

It turns out there is also a novelisation of The 7th Guest, which I am now halfway through since it was £1.99 on Kindle.  I'm enjoying it so far.  It basically gives you more backstory on each of the guests and Stauf, and then describes the events at the mansion.  The puzzles are referenced, for example, the first thing the guests do is eat the cake, but they're not described in depth and it's just solved by one of the guests since it's not a puzzle book.

I did try making the Stauf mansion in the Sims, but it turned out to be impossible since that mansion defies the laws of time and space.  I did know that, but I was hoping to build a big shell around it, to take account of the difference between the first and second floor, and so I could make the outside look right and add the secret rooms and passages in the massive gaps.  Unfortunately, it didn't work.  I think it might be possible to do it by changing the second floor corridor and where the rooms come of it, but keeping the rooms themselves the same, but maybe not.