me.letsPlay(Mother).getPart(4);
Gahhhhhhh. Sorry for the crazy late update on this. It's half I've been doing other things (like panicking about school >>; ) and half simply that... this game is dull. >>; You guys are probably way more entertained by reading this than I am playing the game itself. XD I'll get into that more when I get to my post-game summary. Also, as some of you already know, I will have three different jobs, starting this semester! So... my updates on this will likely continue to be sparse. >>; Sorry, y'all.
And with that out of the way, let's dive into...
Let's Play: Mother, Part 4!
When we last left our heroes, we had stopped right outside of the edge of a desert that we visited largely because we had nothing better to do. If you've been reading along, you'll notice this is a running theme of this game. Seriously, I'd take the weak forced plot hooks in the early Final Fantasy games over this. >>;
In any case, the desert. I hate this desert. It's large and featureless, and the map is still a worthless piece of crap. There is exactly one dot in the middle of this desert on the map, and it is not the only place we need to visit, which is kind of a problem. The desert is also filled with poisonous enemies, and none of the PSIs I have cure poison. And I have no antidotes handy. The first time (Spoiler: I end up wandering in and out of this desert about ten times, not all of which actually gets saved to the file because of save state shenanigans) I go into the desert, I get poisoned almost immediately, and have to leave to heal it.
Eventually I get out to the dot in the center of the desert, and it turns out to be a small oasis and camp with a guy who has both a plane and a tank. Okay, sure, why not. Here's his deal: he has three different courses for plane rides, each costing a different amount. When you ride the plane, you get a ticket stub for each character in your party. If you collect ten ticket stubs, you can trade them in for a chance to ride in the tank. Sounds simple enough, right?
Here's the problem. Each stub takes up an individual inventory slot. Each character only has eight inventory slots. If you do not have three empty inventory slots, you cannot ride the plane. Furthermore, since you get three ticket stubs at a time, you have to go up to twelve stubs. That's half of your inventory space, and this is after you've stocked up on antidotes so that you don't die to poisoning in the desert. What. The. Hell.
So I take the plane rides, which show me the following things:
It's very easy to miss the cactus, by the way, since it doesn't look all that unusual compared to the others, and most of the desert is featureless, making it hard to keep your bearings. Furthermore, the cactus is the first thing you see on that particular route, and you come back into the oasis from a completely different direction. But it does sing.
"Raise your voices...
Now you might be asking "Why bother? Why not just go explore the ruins?" I thought as much too, and tried to do so. However, at a choke point next to the entrance, there is a boss (invisible on the world map, meaning there's no warning until it's too late). And guess what? It's a damn big boss. It will excessively one hit KO a character each round, meaning you have three rounds. It also always goes first, meaning you get two attacks, then one, then death. With the tank, though? The giant robot boss can't even touch us. His attacks are (somehow) reflected back on him, doing more damage to himself than three shots of tank fire (since the basic attack for each character is replaced with tank fire). He quickly goes down, the party is left without a scratch, but the tank is demolished. Which is probably fortunate, since I don't know how we'd get it down the ladder in the first place.
So now we can explore the ruins! Huzzah! The ruins are... actually pretty dang boring. There's a ton of monkeys, which all apparently lie. It is pretty maze like, but only to the point of mild irritation, really. There's a few presents lying around, and no random encounters. All in all, kinda dull. In the bottom level, there's a cave with a telepathic stone not unlike the one that led us to Magicant the first time. So I commune with it, and...
... end up in Magicant. Huh. That was anti-climactic. I heal up, because why not, and then head out. On the way out, though, I talk to the dragon again, since (according to the bard from the previous episode) he should have the next part. Well, talking to him does nothing, but on a hunch I check him instead (which I hadn't done before, since usually the shortcut defaults to "check")... and the dragon wakes up. Boss fight!
|
V
Do these really look like the same dragon to you?
I nearly get my ass handed to me, but I do manage to pull through - even though Rose is dead at the end of combat, and he only died due to a lucky crit from blue!John. Once beaten, he gladly hands over his sheet music - y'know, because all dragons have sheet music.
"All day long now, love grows strong now."
So I run back up to Magicant to heal again, and then leave - only to find myself in a completely different cave than the one south of Thanksgiving. Apparently, by entering Magicant by the cave in the ruins, I now exit Magicant through this new cave, northwest of Easter. Speaking of, it would seem Easter is my next stop. It's set back in the woods, surrounded by a huge fence with just a little gate, "garded" by an even smaller kid.
An owl, apparently.
From the looks of it, all of the adults in this town are missing - apparently taken by a flying ship into the mountains. No doubt I'll need to go rescue them shortly. But the store is still running (if only I had my ATM Card...) and the inn is offering free room and board, so I can at least rest and buy things. Wandering around town, I also hear about a strange baby - which I find in one of the houses. I talk to it, and nothing seems out of the ordinary... but it was mentioned. There has to be something unusual, right? I try telepathy - and the baby (who is psychic) teaches me teleport. Well alright then. Also, fuck yeah, teleport! Unfortunately, much like the sequel, you need a good long runway in order to teleport from somewhere.
So after teleporting around to get various things in order, I head back to Easter and prepare to leave via the east exit. Join me next time, when I continue to wander aimlessly and stumble into plot!
Status:
blue!John: Level 29
Rose: Level 17
red!John: Level 24
"Take a melody,
simple as can be.
Give it some words and
sweet harmony.
Raise your voices
all day long now, love grows strong now."
First | Previous | Part 4 | Next | Last
And with that out of the way, let's dive into...
Let's Play: Mother, Part 4!
When we last left our heroes, we had stopped right outside of the edge of a desert that we visited largely because we had nothing better to do. If you've been reading along, you'll notice this is a running theme of this game. Seriously, I'd take the weak forced plot hooks in the early Final Fantasy games over this. >>;
In any case, the desert. I hate this desert. It's large and featureless, and the map is still a worthless piece of crap. There is exactly one dot in the middle of this desert on the map, and it is not the only place we need to visit, which is kind of a problem. The desert is also filled with poisonous enemies, and none of the PSIs I have cure poison. And I have no antidotes handy. The first time (Spoiler: I end up wandering in and out of this desert about ten times, not all of which actually gets saved to the file because of save state shenanigans) I go into the desert, I get poisoned almost immediately, and have to leave to heal it.
Eventually I get out to the dot in the center of the desert, and it turns out to be a small oasis and camp with a guy who has both a plane and a tank. Okay, sure, why not. Here's his deal: he has three different courses for plane rides, each costing a different amount. When you ride the plane, you get a ticket stub for each character in your party. If you collect ten ticket stubs, you can trade them in for a chance to ride in the tank. Sounds simple enough, right?
Here's the problem. Each stub takes up an individual inventory slot. Each character only has eight inventory slots. If you do not have three empty inventory slots, you cannot ride the plane. Furthermore, since you get three ticket stubs at a time, you have to go up to twelve stubs. That's half of your inventory space, and this is after you've stocked up on antidotes so that you don't die to poisoning in the desert. What. The. Hell.
So I take the plane rides, which show me the following things:
- A singular special cactus.
- Some ancient ruins.
- The north edge of the map.
- A giant skyscraper that is probably plot important later.
It's very easy to miss the cactus, by the way, since it doesn't look all that unusual compared to the others, and most of the desert is featureless, making it hard to keep your bearings. Furthermore, the cactus is the first thing you see on that particular route, and you come back into the oasis from a completely different direction. But it does sing.
"Raise your voices...
Now you might be asking "Why bother? Why not just go explore the ruins?" I thought as much too, and tried to do so. However, at a choke point next to the entrance, there is a boss (invisible on the world map, meaning there's no warning until it's too late). And guess what? It's a damn big boss. It will excessively one hit KO a character each round, meaning you have three rounds. It also always goes first, meaning you get two attacks, then one, then death. With the tank, though? The giant robot boss can't even touch us. His attacks are (somehow) reflected back on him, doing more damage to himself than three shots of tank fire (since the basic attack for each character is replaced with tank fire). He quickly goes down, the party is left without a scratch, but the tank is demolished. Which is probably fortunate, since I don't know how we'd get it down the ladder in the first place.
So now we can explore the ruins! Huzzah! The ruins are... actually pretty dang boring. There's a ton of monkeys, which all apparently lie. It is pretty maze like, but only to the point of mild irritation, really. There's a few presents lying around, and no random encounters. All in all, kinda dull. In the bottom level, there's a cave with a telepathic stone not unlike the one that led us to Magicant the first time. So I commune with it, and...
... end up in Magicant. Huh. That was anti-climactic. I heal up, because why not, and then head out. On the way out, though, I talk to the dragon again, since (according to the bard from the previous episode) he should have the next part. Well, talking to him does nothing, but on a hunch I check him instead (which I hadn't done before, since usually the shortcut defaults to "check")... and the dragon wakes up. Boss fight!
|
V
Do these really look like the same dragon to you?
I nearly get my ass handed to me, but I do manage to pull through - even though Rose is dead at the end of combat, and he only died due to a lucky crit from blue!John. Once beaten, he gladly hands over his sheet music - y'know, because all dragons have sheet music.
"All day long now, love grows strong now."
So I run back up to Magicant to heal again, and then leave - only to find myself in a completely different cave than the one south of Thanksgiving. Apparently, by entering Magicant by the cave in the ruins, I now exit Magicant through this new cave, northwest of Easter. Speaking of, it would seem Easter is my next stop. It's set back in the woods, surrounded by a huge fence with just a little gate, "garded" by an even smaller kid.
An owl, apparently.
From the looks of it, all of the adults in this town are missing - apparently taken by a flying ship into the mountains. No doubt I'll need to go rescue them shortly. But the store is still running (if only I had my ATM Card...) and the inn is offering free room and board, so I can at least rest and buy things. Wandering around town, I also hear about a strange baby - which I find in one of the houses. I talk to it, and nothing seems out of the ordinary... but it was mentioned. There has to be something unusual, right? I try telepathy - and the baby (who is psychic) teaches me teleport. Well alright then. Also, fuck yeah, teleport! Unfortunately, much like the sequel, you need a good long runway in order to teleport from somewhere.
So after teleporting around to get various things in order, I head back to Easter and prepare to leave via the east exit. Join me next time, when I continue to wander aimlessly and stumble into plot!
Status:
blue!John: Level 29
Rose: Level 17
red!John: Level 24
"Take a melody,
simple as can be.
Give it some words and
sweet harmony.
Raise your voices
all day long now, love grows strong now."
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