It's been some time since I played a more modern game, but here I am with Beard Blade. After seeing this one in action, I just had to check it out for myself.
The story begins at night on Pamperry Isle, when a couple of guys who are up to no good are digging in the ground when they find an orb. The orb flies away, then a sheep swallows it and goes towards a house. When these no-goodniks chase after the sheep, they not only find several more sheep, but they also find a man with facial heart in sleepwear barging out of a door of a house, ready to chase after them...which he does.
He ends up chasing them onto their ship, where the game begins. Welcome to the tutorial level.
The controls I mention work if you are using an XBox 360 controller, but they work with the equivalent buttons on other controllers (except PS4, which does not work on this game). Left and Right let you move around, Down ducks, and Down-Left and Down-Right crawl. A and B jump. You won't be able to attack...yet. You can jump on enemies, but you'll just bounce off of them.
Along the way, you'll not only find coins that you'll be able to spend later, but you'll also learn how to move around. There are springboards that will launch you into the air if you move onto them, and you can drop down from platforms by holding Down and pressing A.
If you die at any point, you'll just go back to an earlier point. Thankfully, you have an endless amount of lives.
Crawling will allow you to crawl through narrow passageways to areas you may not be able to get to normally.
The cannonballs from the cannons hurt. Make sure they don't hit you.
You'll eventually fall into a jail cell where a hooded man is being held captive. You'll need to press Up on the D-Pad (or left analog stick) to talk to him when the game gives you the prompt above the hooded man's head. Use the A button to go through the lines of dialogue. You'll find out that the goons on this ship are holding him hostage, and to free him, you just need to jump into him.
The hooded man will tell you that the ones who took your sheep are called the Smuglins, then mentions that he has has magic that can manifest a person's "peculiar trait," then uses the magic to...give you a sentient beard. The hooded man then mentions that the jail cell door on the right could be broken with enough force, and if you go up to the door and keep pressing X or Y (or R), you can attack the door multiple times until it breaks. From there, you're free to continue on after the hooded man goes ahead.
The barber pole is a checkpoint. If you die after touching one, you'll go back to the last barber pole that you touched instead of the very beginning of the level.
With your newfound attack powers, you can not only attack enemies and beat them up (sometimes getting random coin and health drops from it), but you can also destroy crates to get them out of your way. The bandage on the wall is a hint that you have to break the crate through the wall.
To open a chest, walk up to it and press Up to get what is inside. Sometimes there will be coins, while other times there will be hearts that refill your health. You'll start out with three hearts, but you'll be able to increase your maximum health as you progress through the game.
Eventually, you'll have your first boss battle. To defeat this guy when he jumps into his machine above, you'll need to stand above a springboard, then move out of the way when the guy shoots so the shot bounces back at him. You'll know he's about to shoot when the red light on the machine flashes. After one hit, springboards will eventually move from right to left at the bottom of the screen. After a second hit, the guy is down, but not for long. You'll need to keep hitting him when he charges at you. Eventually, he'll go down, and you'll also be able to steal his clothes and wear them for the rest of the game. You'll also find out that our hero has a name: Branson.
From here, head to the right to follow the hooded man. You'll run into Orzo and find all the sheep, but the sheep that eats the orb starts flashing a brilliant white light. All the sheep are scattered across the land as the Smuglins lose control of the ship, which runs right into a rock. You'll then land on Pimento Island, where the game truly begins.
If you press the Y button on the overworld map, you can look at the current treasures and enemy cards that you have. We don't have any...yet. We'll need to collect those as we go through the game.
In the lower-left corner is the amount of big coins - or Smuglin coins - that we have. There are usually three per stage, and each stage is split into two types - daytime (AM) and nighttime (PM). You can see what time it is by looking in the lower-right corner on the overworld map. Both versions of the level will have different places to go as well as their own secrets to collect.
Mora's House
There is a chest inside the house that refills your health (and a dog that follows you around), but there's not much else here.
Caraway Bay 1 (Day)
You can pick up coins if you go to the left.
When in water, you can move around with the D-Pad or left stick, and you can hold A to jump out of the water. You'll also have an air meter, and if that runs out, Branson will suffocate from lack of oxygen and you'll be taken back to an earlier point.
The enemies in the shells will take a few hits to defeat.
To get the first big coin, just drop down to the springboard just after the start and go left to get it.
If you see a sign with a skull on it, you're near a bottomless pit that will kill you if you fall in.
Sometimes, there are dotted line boxes with suns or moons on them. You'll be able to go through them if you're near them at the proper time; otherwise, they will be solid blocks and you won't be able to pass through them.
The first card is easy to get during the day. You can just walk up to it and get it if you take the platform down in the first section. This will give you card #1, Scaracara.
The slime enemies on the ceilings will shoot slime downwards, and when you hit them enough times, the slimes will split into two, and you'll have to destroy the mini-slimes.
You won't be able to reach the chest above the entrance to the third section until you have a certain ability later on. It just has coins.
There is a doorway just after the beginning of the third section. Press Up in front of doorways to enter them. When you approach the hills of sand, blue crabs will come out of them. Mash the attack button to defeat them as soon as possible. For defeating both crabs, you'll get a big coin.
To get the third coin, you'll need to jump to it from the lower platform to the right of it. From there, press A again to do a spin glide to the coin. To break the block with the cracks next to it, you'll need to break it from the side where the cracks are at. If the cracks are to the right, hit it from the right. If the cracks are to the left, hit it from the left.
Before you exit the level, jump to the red chest with the note on it. The red note chests will contain tracks from the game for the sound test, and you'll find Track 1 here.
At the end of every level is a green Smuglin with a bag. You'll need to chase the Smuglin around the room and hit him until he drops the bag. Once the bag is on the ground, go up to it and press Up to rescue one of your sheep.
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