Stage 5: Tir Asleen
This stage is different.
You get to choose which character to go through the stage with! :O
Guess who I picked. Go on, guess. :b
We're barely in, when suddenly...
Trolls! D: They run, climb, and spit big globules of green stuff at you. And when you kill 'em,
they make the same noise as in the movie!
Hooray, a new spell! Interestingly enough, at certain points, the game will skip the immediate
upgrade and let you buy the next upgrade after that. So I wound up skipping buying Gold Magic,
but I still got to use it anyway.
Gold magic's not much to write about anyway. The screen flashes, and the mookier mooks
instantly die.
See the interlacing effect? That's what time magic does. It stops all enemies and projectiles
from moving for a few seconds, but it does not work on bosses. At all. Still, pretty useful in
some situations! Okay, most situations.
Eventually, actually make it inside the castle.
What awaits us within?
Spikes, for one thing. Lots and lots of spikes.
Also, walls which drop down on you, not pictured.
(At this point, I got a Game Over, one of very many, and chose Madmartigan as my player this
time. Unfortunately, I made no progress at all as him, because he sucks at jumping in small
spaces.)
The next shop owl offered us the penultimate magic upgrade:
Unfortunately, we couldn't afford it, so we sadly moved on.
Well, this bridge looks perfectly safe, I'm sure there's nothing to worry abou
Um, what the hell is that?
Crap, the Erborsisk! And this time, it not only looks like the real thing, but it actually poses a threat!
I blew off one of its heads with Tornado blasts, but sadly...
I ran out of time :(
On my next life, though, I did beat it.
Kael shows up to bluster a bit, then leaves you to continue to the next stage... which is where we're heading right now!
Stage 6: Nockmaar Castle, part one
Sorry for not getting a shot of the map, but I'm sure you can guess what it looks like by now.
The first part of this stage features Madmartigan fighting his way through a maze of hallways
(and I literally mean a maze).
The entrance. More soldiers. Whoopee.
Hooray, no ambiguity here!
Here it is, the best sword in the game. Let's buy it!
Jumping block puzzles. Proof that Capcom hates us.
At the end of this long, very annoying corridor, we come upon the first choice of the castle:
Which door leads forward? I'm not telling ;)
The correct door takes you to this place. That pillar doesn't block your progress, it's just
decorative. The spike-lined blocks go up and down in a predictable enough pattern, so you can
either walk over them when they're down or jump across the gap when they're up.
When you get to this point, however, it becomes a different story. You pretty much have to run over the tops to get across, and if you're still on when it goes up, you'll get hurt D:
Choices, choices.
This corridor features axe-men by the score, pushing spiked slabs of rock at you. You can destroy the slabs quickly and move on to kill the axe-men.
Four doors?! D:
Also, these guys are great for grinding gold with; just get yourself into a loop and kill them over and over again.
Fortunately, those are the last doors you have to go through (if you're lucky), and beyond them is...
General Kael, looking rather different this time!
He fights kind of like Sorsha, with one additional difference:
Those platforms aren't just for show!
Stabby stabby, and then...
Oh, no you won't!
Stage 6: Nockmaar Castle, part two
Now, it's Willow's turn!
Time to climb that tower and deal with annoyingly high jumps!
But first, a demonstration of Explosive Magic, the penultimate spell:
First, a series of fireballs spread out to either side (and drop down if you cast in midair and/
or on a small ledge)
Then the fireballs explode, dealing Massive Damage! :D
Now, we can buy the ultimate spell, Crystal Magic. Fortunately, we have plenty of cash to spend :)
I had some screenshots of it, but I lost them trying to make an anigif with The Gimp.
Here we are at the top of the tower. It's time for the final confrontation with Bavmorda. The
bitch is getting what's coming to her, Warwick Davis style!
Those blue sparks are Bavmorda's primary attack. They fly at you at varying heights, and it
takes perfect timing not to get hit. She'll also set one of those candleabras on fire, or
enchant the pot thing in the corner and bring it to life, as in the movie.
Eventually, after much swearing and eating of quarters, I defeat Bavmorda, and am treated to the credits!
And now, another proud tradition of video games, the Load Bearing Boss's defeat signalling the
destruction of her castle!
Finally, the epilogue, read by a digitized voice that rearranges the sentences slightly.
THE END.
I hope you've enjoyed this fairly rushed Let's Play, and that you'll come back for my next
effort, Faxanadu!