It's time for an adventure in what is probably Enix's best RPG not named Dragon Quest.
South Cape
The journey begins in South Cape. You are Will. Three years ago, you were part of an expedition to Tower of Babel along with your father. Unfortunately, disaster befell the crew, and you are the only person who seems to have survived. Unfortunately, you have no recollection of what happened to your father, who - as far as you and everyone knows - is now missing. You also have no recollection of how you survived, and you somehow have the ability to move objects from a distance without physically touching them.
The game begins in the school (which is a church in the Japanese version and has a cross on the wall that is edited out from the Western releases). The teacher will you not to go very far without your parents as demons have been spotted outside of town. You'll then be introduced to your friends: Seth (who is in all purple), Erik (the guy wearing white) and Lance (the guy wearing green). Seth will head to the cave at the docks, Erik has to head home first and Lance stays put...for now.
The normal entrance out of the school is to the east, but if you take the nearby stairs, you'll end up on the ceiling of the school. When you walk near the ball of light, it turns into a portal. If you enter it, you will enter the Dark Space, where you will meet Gaia, the source of all life who will help you on your journey and save your game. Only one with the Dark Power can see the portal to the Dark Space, and you apparently have it. Later on, Gaia will help you in other ways...
Use the Control Pad to move around, and press A to talk to people. By talking to the man on the roof, you will learn that there are some places you can drop down from by walking into them for about a second.
If you enter the bell tower from the left side and press A, you will find a Red Jewel. The A button can also be used to examine things such as signs.
There are 50 Red Jewels in the game, and while you don't necessarily need them to beat the game, you can get some interesting things from collecting them.
By double-tapping any direction on the Control Pad, you can run in that direction. You can also move to the side to make some tight, narrow turns while running.
Pressing Select lets you access the Inventory. Items lets you examine items by moving the hand cursor on them with the Control Pad as well as equip them with the A button, Order lets you rearrange items with the Control Pad and the A button, Remove lets you discard items by choosing them with the Control Pad and the A button, and Cond. lets you look at your stats.
On the roof of the building to the south of the school is Gem. Gem will take the form of the villagers that you meet, so you want to watch out for him. He is looking for Red Jewels, and if you give him enough, he will give you rewards in return. You can give him the Red Jewels by talking to him and selecting the option to give them to him, or you can equip them in the Inventory and press B to use them. If you do the latter, the Red Jewels will teleport directly to Gem.
Use A to confirm, B to back out and the Control Pad to switch between decisions when talking to Gem. You can do this to see the list of the rewards that you can get for giving Gem enough Red Jewels.
Gem is on top of Seth's house. You'll learn that Seth's parents are in a fight over how the family money is spent. To the right of Seth's house is Lance's house. Lance lives with his frail mother, and if you go down the stairs and examine the two pots on the northern wall with the A button, you'll find your second Red Jewel.
In certain areas, Will's hair and clothes will blow around. This is used as a hint sometimes in certain parts of the game.
The big house in the south-east corner is Erik's house. Erik is part of a rich family, and because of that, they have the biggest house in town. If you go up the stairs on the second floor, you can see girls playing a game of "Red Light, Green Light," and you can also drop down to scare the woman below half to death. She'll go back to talking about the wind after about a minute.
The man in the red vest is walking around selling weapons. He won't sell you any, though.
The house to the immediate east of the school is Will's House. Will lives here with Grandpa Bill and Grandma Lola, the former of whom is a good opera singer and the latter of whom is a great cook. The house next to Will's is of no importance.
The town exit is to the north, but the guard will not let you pass...yet.
To the south is the docks. There is a guy with a fishing pole. Also, there is a cave where the rest of your school friends hang out, and you have to go here to advance the plot. Before you talk to Seth and Lance (the latter of whom is now there), go in and out of the cave until the guy with the fishing pole is right in front of you with a pot. When he does, walk up to the pot and press A to get the third Red Jewels. When you give Gem three Red Jewels, he will give you an Herb. There are only 12 Herbs in the game, so use them sparingly!
Back to the seaside cave. Talk to Lance to advance the plot, though you can also talk to Seth if you want. Erik will show up and announce that the princess of Edward Castle has run away to South Cape. Lance teases Erik for liking the princess - whose name is Kara - then he takes his spot at the table. Stand to the left of Erik, then your friends will ask you to show off your mysterious power again. If you talk to Seth, Seth will tell you to face the statue and press and hold either of the shoulder buttons (L or R) to make the statue move. Afterwards, talk to Lance. Lance will lay four cards down on the ground, and will ask you to pick which one you think is the Ace of Diamonds. It doesn't matter which card you stand on to and select with A; they're all the Ace of Diamonds. The whole time, your friends will wonder what exactly your powers are, and think it is some sort of psychic power. After this, you can leave the cave, and this time it is sundown.
From here, head back to Will's house. You'll find a pig in your house. If you try to go upstairs, Hamlet will move you out of the way. A girl will come downstairs. This is Kara. She is rather frank of her opinion of you, then asks you about your parents, especially your father Olman. She also tells you that Grandpa Bill and Grandma Lola are singing upstairs. Go up and talk to Grandpa Bill to advance the plot, and you'll learn that Lola's career as an opera singer led him to marry her. Lola will wonder where Kara is, then a scream is heard from downstairs. Go downstairs from there with Bill and Lola, and you will see two soldiers corner Kara and take her out of the castle. Kara reveals who she is, and says she feels like she has met Will before and that they feel like good friends. From there, talk to Lola, and she will tell you about the viaduct that Grandpa Bill built underneath the castle. Grandpa Bill used to be an architect, and he shows remorse for building it because it was made to be a prison with a maze to keep prisoners who are never heard from again from escaping. From there, go upstairs, and you'll advance the plot again.
The next day, go downstairs. Talk to Lola, and she will tell you that a letter has come for you from King Edward. The letter asks that you bring the Crystal Ring from Olman's belongings to the castle. Before you go, Lola teaches you a tune that will take a slot in your inventory and will be used later.
From here, you can leave town from the exit to the north.
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