The PrinceWatercress Blog

For the next ending, you'll need to beat Lavos when you first enter The End of Time and before you return to the End of Time with the Telepod Gate and head back to 600 A.D.

Believe it or not, the blue Masa & Mune is the second Spekkio battle that I've done. He can hit you with a weak Lightning attack that can also cause Chaos, Fire 2, Dark Bomb, Ice 2, and Lightning 2. He can also hit one party member with an instant death attack. For best results, Haste everyone with Marle, and cast something on Spekkio that will do over 2000 HP per shot so you can easily burn through this form's 10,000 HP.

For beating this form, you get the Graceful set, which gives you a Magic Tab, a Speed Tab, a Power Tab and ten Elixirs.

As for Lavos, I have to get through the boss rush part again, but at least I won't have to do it for the remainder of this part of the Let's Play where I'm getting all of the endings.

For the Lavos battles here, I equip a Gold Stud on Lucca, since the SightScope is going to be absolutely useless here.

When you beat Lavos at this point in New Game Plus, you'll see a simple ending where a frog, a Nu and a Kilwala fool around while the credits roll.

Sunday, October 27, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 59 of 70

It's time for the trial...again! This time, all seven jurors declare us not guilty.

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Guardia Forest (1000 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

It's that time again: time to replay the whole trial thing and get all seven jurors to declare me not guilty. This time, I succeed.

When asked who started this whole mess, say you did it; saying Marle started it will be used against you. (I messed this part up, and I'll be correcting this when I go for the "all innocent" run again on New Game Plus.) When asked if you were tempted by Marle's wealth, say no both times. (Saying yes either time is used against you

If you brought the cat back to the little girl, the girl will thank you...if you talked to her. If you talk to the little girl, but you don't bring back the cat, the little girl testifies against you. If you bring the cat back to the little girl without talking to the little girl, the little girl never shows up.

If you ate the old man's lunch, the old man will testify against you.

If you tried to run away while Marle is buying candy before heading north to see Lucca's invention, someone will testify against you and call you a kidnapper.

If you picked up the pendant without talking to Marle first, this is used against you.

If you try to sell the pendant to Melchior, this is used against you.

If you lie at any point in the trial, this is used against you. Even if you did something you should not have, always tell the truth.

After the arguments of the trial, you'll get seven members of the jury who will find you guilty or not guilty depending on your actions at the Millennial Fair as well as during the trial. Here is the breakdown, courtesy of StrategyWiki:

Juror 1: Finds you guilty if you claim the fortune tempted you either time, or if you try sell the pendant. Doing neither will lead to a "not guilty."

Juror 2: Finds you guilty if you talked to the little girl and didn't bring her cat back. This one can be tough to get the "not guilty" from.

If you never talk to the little girl and never return the cat, they will find you not guilty, as the little girl never shows up in the trial. (Do this for best results.)
If you rescue the cat before you talk to the little girl, the little girl will testify in your favor, and the juror will find you not guilty.
If you talk to the little girl but fail to return the cat, the little girl testifies against you and the juror will find you guilty.

Juror 3: If you moved away from the candy booth with Down on the D-Pad as Marle was picking out candy, this juror will find you guilty; otherwise, they will find you not guilty.

Juror 4: If you admit that the fortune tempted you either time, or if you picked up the pendant before talking to Marle, this juror will find you guilty. Talking to Marle first after bumping into her rectifies this, as well as not being tempted by wealth.

Juror 5: If you admit that the fortune tempted you either time, this juror finds you guilty. Thankfully, admitting it didn't gives you a "not guilty."

Juror 6: Finds you guilty if you stole the old man's lunch...so don't steal the old man's lunch.

Juror 7: If you either lie at any point in the trial, say that Marle started everything, or claim you never stole something when you really did, this juror finds you guilty. If you state that you were not tempted by her wealth, but still try to sell Marle's pendant, this juror will somehow find you not guilty. Also, if you lie twice, this juror finds you guilty, but no other juror does.

For the best results, rescue the little girl's cat without talking to the little girl, don't eat the old man's lunch, don't press Down to drag Marle away from the candy booth, don't try to sell Marle's pendant, talk to Marle first before picking up the pendant when you bump into her, tell the truth by stating that you started the whole thing and admit to always stealing anything if you did, and mention that you were not tempted by Marle's fortune at all both times.

If you want all guilty, do the exact opposite, and talk to the little girl without returning her cat.

As for the amount of ethers you get, you'll get one Ether for four jurors saying not guilty, two Ethers for five, three for six, and six Ethers for the full seven.

Saturday, October 26, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 58 of 70

Now that we've beaten Yakra again, it's time to go for another ending in New Game Plus.

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For the next ending, you'll need to use the Telepod portal to Lavos in 1000 A.D. after you've returned from beating Yakra in the Cathedral and rescuing Queen Leene in 600 A.D. You'll also need to do this before Crono goes to prison.

Lucca will be out of the party at this point, so once again, it will be another battle where you just have Crono and Marle in the party. This time around, I equip the Gold Stud on Crono to minimize the amount of MP that he uses as I constantly cast Luminaire to do as much damage as possible. Interestingly, I barely have to use any healing items.

When you beat the Lavos Core this time around, everyone will mention that Marle is in an unnecessary disguise before croaking much like Frog does. When you talk to the two men blocking the entrance to Leene Square, Marle will start croaking like a frog. You'll head to the castle, where you'll find out that history has changed in a weird way, as you'll find footage showing Frog getting married to Queen Leene, therefore making everyone in the Guardia family tree in the last 400 years part frog. Also, the king as well as Marle will both hop and croak like frogs.

Friday, October 25, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 57 of 70

Ever wondered how to effectively beat Lavos with Crono? Here's how!

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Leene Square Map (by Rick Bruns)

Believe it or not, there is a way to fight Lavos with only Crono.

After you talk to Lucca at the Telepod, Marle will step back to watch as you demonstrate the Telepod. Instead of going to the left pad, go to the right pad and use the portal there to fight Lavos alone.

For best results, you'll want to equip the PrismSpecs as an accessory if you're not fast enough. The Sun Shades will boost your attack power by 25% during battle, but the PrismSpecs will boost it by 50%. Having a Haste Helm can help, but you don't necessarily need one unless you want to speed the battle up or want to use alternate strategies, such as equipping the Gold Stud and blasting everything with Luminaire while topping up with a HyperEther every so often.

For the shell battle, just keep using Luminaire. The attack boost from the PrismSpecs will always kick in, and you'll see the attack boost right away compared to when you don't have it. Lavos will go down a little faster with the PrismSpecs on as a result.

For the Lavos body, attack the left arm (which is the one on the right side of the screen) first until you knock 2,000 HP off its health. Confuse plus a critical hit from the Rainbow will usually do the trick. From there, keep using Luminaire. You'll destroy both arms at the same time, and if you're fast enough, you won't have to worry about Protective Seal killing off your status ailment immunity and ruining the battle. The PrismSpecs makes a much quicker solo battle against Lavos' body a reality, and also a little easier if you know what you're doing.

As for the Lavos core, the PrismSpecs will allow you to hit the left pod with Confuse and destroy it in one shot every time. From there, you can do some damage on the center pod until the right pod lowers its defense. Once that happens, let loose with Luminaire. The left pod (and the center pod, if you somehow take it out) will eventually be revived, but you'll have done enough damage on the right pod to keep the fight in your favor and you can go ahead and take out the left pod in one shot with Confuse again to keep things going smoothly.

The Dream Team ending is the same regardless of whether or not you have Marle in your party.

Thursday, October 24, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 56 of 70

Now that Lavos is beaten, it's time to explore the game further with New Game Plus!

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Leene Square Map (by Rick Bruns)

It's time to get all the endings in New Game Plus mode! In New Game Plus mode, you start out with the same stats that you had from your save where you beat Lavos (or whichever save file you choose). Your character stats, items and techs will all carry over, although some things such as the stuff that people are equipped with when they first join your party do not carry over. Some story-important items such as the Masamune, Hero Medal, Gate Key and the Pendant do not carry over, for obvious reasons. Your money also does not carry over, so if you had a large fortune, you'll have to earn it all over again. On the plus side, you can get items you found all over again, so you can have more than one FrenzyBand if you so choose. You can also get more than one PrismSpecs if you want!

I do the stuff at the Millennial Fair in the way that I should have done it the first time, such as not talking to the girl before returning her cat.

At the Telepod, there will be a shimmer on the right pad. If you walk up to it and press A, you'll enter a gate that takes you straight to the second part (the non-boss rush part) of the battle with the Lavos shell followed by the Lavos body and the Lavos Core with no portal and no save point in-between. I use this portal before talking to Lucca. If you talk to Lucca, Marle will separate from the party, and if you want, you can do a solo battle, which is something I want to try.

As for fighting with only two party members instead of three? Not much different. You'll have to pay more attention to your party's HP and MP, but that's something you should be doing with Lavos, anyway. At least you have Crono and Marle, with Marle being able to Haste herself and Crono and heal pretty well and with Crono being able to do very good damage with Confuse and Luminaire. It's only if you're doing a solo run with just Crono that you can end up being in trouble.

When you beat the Lavos Core, you'll end up at The End of Time. However, the various characters of the game will be avatars for members of the development team. There are eight portals, and you'll enter a room just by walking straight into them. Each room is different and is full of messages from the developers. When you go through all eight portals and talk to everyone, talk to "Gaspar" to open the Spekkio Door. This is where you'll meet The Dream Team, four of which (Akira Toriyama, Hironobu Sakaguchi, Kazuhiko Aoki and Yuji Horii) are represented by manga-style caricatures, with Nobuo Uematsu represented by Norstein Bekkler. When you talk to everyone in here, you'll get the credits at warp speed before the theme from Zeal Kingdom plays in the background.

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 55 of 70

It's time to fight Lavos! Here's everything you need to know.

Also, I forgot to get the Gold Rock! I'll get it in the New Game Plus videos!

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Since there's nothing else to do in the game, it's time to fight Lavos.

When you enter Lavos' shell (or crash into Lavos with Epoch), you'll soon face the alien inside of Lavos, which is connected to a bunch of tubes inside the chamber inside the shell.

First things first: during these battles, be ready to heal yourself and the party at a moment's notice. Lavos hits hard during this set of fights that make up the final battle, so come in with plenty of big-time healing items such as Full Tonics, HyperEthers, Elixirs and MegaElixirs. Also, change your accessories to stuff that can give you an edge, such as a Gold Stud, a FrenzyBand or the PrismSpecs.

You have the body, the left arm and the right arm to deal with. You'll want to deal with the arms first before they can do some really nasty things, as they can attack with crescent-shaped projectiles and revive the body as well as inflict Stop on the party. They can also cast Protective Seal, which voids any and all immunities to status ailments, negating even the effects of the Prism Helms, Magus' Amulet and the Nova Armor can't save you from status ailments.

The left hand (which is on the right) has more HP than the one on the right (which is on the left). The left has 12,000 HP, while the right has 8,000 HP. If you want to take out Lavos without having to worry about getting hit with Protective Seal, work on the hand on the right side of the screen first until it's down at least 4000, then take both arms out with multi-target at the same time. If you're quick enough, you can easily take them down before things get worse.

As for the body, its defense will drop when the arms are gone. When both arms are around, Lavos can use the arms to open up its body for the Laser Beams of Doom, which damages all party members. Obstacle can cast Chaos on anyone unprotected from status ailments, while Shadow Slay will cast Poison. Flame Battle is just a weak fire blast that hits one party member. Shadow Doom Blaze is the last attack Lavos' body will cast before it cycles back to After that, Lavos will cast Evil Emanation, which silently causes its attack to go up. The longer the battle goes, the worse it will get.

Once you defeat the body, you're not done yet. Another alien being will stand where the body of Lavos used to be and produce two pods. This is the Lavos Core, and this is the absolute final battle.

The left pod should be your first target. It has 2000 HP, and can take all physical attacks but absorb all magic attacks. Ayla's Triple Kick and Crono's Confuse, among powerful regular physical attacks, will definitely have a hand in destroying this thing. You'll want to do that, as it can attack any target it wants to, absorb MP from a single target, and cast Protective Seal on one party member in addition to healing the center pod. Once it is destroyed, the right pod's defense will go down.

The pod on the right is the true target and the one you must destroy to win the battle. Unlike the left pod, magic can actually damage it. The right pod is responsible for Time Warp (which changes the scenery in the background and hits everyone for 1 HP), lowering its own defense (which hits everyone for 2 HP) in addition to raising it back up, reviving the left and center pods (which hits everyone for 10 HP), and casting "Active Bit." If you see the message for Active Bit, the party's defense will be lowered. It's much like Evil Emanation, but instead of Lavos getting stronger, you're getting weaker. Once again, the longer this goes, the worse it gets.

When the right pod lowers its defense, this is when you want to attack it. If you attack it while its defense is up and all three parts are alive, the left and right pods will hit you with X Strike.

It should also be mentioned that if all three pods are around, you'll get hit with Invading Light, which inflicts Slow on the party (very bad if Protective Seal has hit someone).

However, you also want to destroy the center pod, which is the alien with the arms and legs. Aside from smacking one party member like a ton of bricks, it can also cast random status ailments by singing (which is bad if someone's been hit with Protective Seal), Evil Star (which cuts the party's HP by half), Grand Stone (which is Lavos' ultimate physical attack), Crying Heavens (a lightning strike that hits one person for a lot of damage) and Dreamless (the ultimate magical attack).

Believe it or not, the attack you get depends on what the scenery is in the time warp. 65,000,000 B.C. (the Hunting Range) allows for Grand Stone, 12,000 B.C. (the Mammon Machine) allows for Invading Light if all three parts of the Lavos Core are alive, 600 A.D. (Magus' Castle) allows for Evil Star, 1000 A.D. (Leene Square) allows for Spell and the randomly inflicted status effects, and 2300 A.D. (city ruins) allows for Dreamless. Crying Heavens and the slap can hit whenever.

When you destroy the right pod, the battle is over, and you'll save Earth from an omnipotent threat that threatened the past, present and future. If the left and center pods are there when the right pod is defeated, they will be defeated, too.

In the ending, you'll be woken up by a soldier from Guardia Castle, who tells Crono that his stay of execution is over (despite being put on probation when you talked to the King before the whole Rainbow Shell side-quest). When Crono finally meets King Guardia, who considers what to do with Crono even as Marle shows up and protests, King Guardia reveals he knows what has been going on the entire game and thanks you for saving humanity's future. Kino, King Guardia XXI and Doan appear to also thank you, and you'll find out that these people are Marle's ancestors and descendants. (If you see the FMV epilogue on PlayStation and beyond, you'll find out that Ayla put a ring on Kino, which makes her an ancestor as well.) King Guardia XXXIII dedicates the Moonlight Parade on the final night of the Millennial Fair to Crono's victory.

You'll then be at Leene Square at night. A Blue Imp will walk around the square with a cat, while young girls will blow you kisses and dance around while festive music plays. You can talk to everyone from Truce Village if you like, but you'll need to get to the Telepod on the north end. If you saved Lara from the machine in the Sunken Desert sidequest, she will be here; if you rescued the real, present-day Chancellor with the Yakra Key in the Rainbow Shell sidequest, he will be there, too.

The screen before the Telepod has dead ends on both the west and east ends, so all you can do there is head to the Telepod.

When you head to the Telepod, everyone will say their goodbyes. Ayla will leave with Kino after hinting that she is now in a relationship with him and telling everyone that she had fun, Frog leaves with King Guardia XXI after getting a kiss from Marle, Magus leaves without saying a word to search for Schala (if he's spared after the escape from the Blackbird), and Robo leaves with Doan to an unknown but bright future.

If Magus was defeated after the escape from the Blackbird, Frog will no longer be a frog and will be back in human form as Glenn. If Glenn is still a frog in the ending with Epoch, you'll see him with the King, Queen Leene and some soldiers on Zenan Bridge where Frog notices Epoch; if he is human, you'll see the creation of the Guardia Castle prison in 600 A.D. with Glenn watching from an outside walkway.

Afterwards, it's just Crono, Lucca and Marle. The next part depends on whether or not Epoch is in one piece. If you didn't use Epoch to ram into Lavos' shell to fight Lavos' body and core, Crono's mom will show up and chase the cats into the Telepod Gate, and the gang will have to fly Epoch to find her. If you rammed Epoch into Lavos in 1999 A.D., this does not occur.

Afterwards, you'll be met by a soldier, who tells Marle that her father is looking for her. Go back to the previous screen to talk to the King, and Leene's bell will be replaced by a silver bell known as Nadia's bell. As The King helps raise it up, he gets stuck hanging onto the bell and cannot get down. If you got Crono's mom to show up, the gang leaves The King hanging to man Epoch and find Crono's mom. If she didn't show up, Marle tries to help her father, but gets carried away by the balloons. Crono jumps up to grab her, but he gets carried away with Marle. Regardless of what happens, Taban shows up and fires off some fireworks. From there, you'll either see Epoch (if Epoch survived) or Crono and Marle on the ballons (if Epoch didn't) in Mode 7 during the ending as the credits roll.

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 54 of 70

Cats? Cats.

"How many cats are you willing to home and take care of?"

"Yes."

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Leene Square Map (by Rick Bruns)

For the first time ever, I try to get multiple cats for Crono's house in this video.

At Norstein Bekkler's tent, play the 80 Silver Points game. Here, you'll have to shoot at three Kilwalas while also making sure that one of your party members isn't lowered into one of the torches on the back wall; if that happens, it's game over. Thankfully, there will be a sparkle that pops up at the left side that you can run to and press A to raise the other person back up.

You'll want to be fast in order to take out the Kilwalas. If you're fast, you can take out two of the Kilwalas before the first sparkle shows up, and you can easily take out the third one from there.

The first time you win it, you'll win a second cat for Crono's house. Every subsequent time you win it, you'll win a bag of cat food, which contains 20 ounces of cat food. You can see how many ounces of cat food you have by going to Crono's house, moving up to the brown bowl in Crono's room upstairs and pressing A.

You'll be able to play the game twice in a row before you have to get more Silver Points. I didn't know this until I started doing this for the Let's Play, but the most Silver Points you can have at any point is 200; when you reach that point, the game will not let you have any more. Once you play the game twice, you'll have to get more Silver Points. Fighting Gato repeatedly is the quickest way to get back to the maximum of 200, and the game will tell you if you can't collect any more Silver Points.

When you get enough cat food, you'll be able to get another cat. I found out more information on how to do this here and here. As a matter of fact, these are the

Simply put, a little bit of cat food is exhausted whenever you enter the first screen of Leene Square, and it will be anywhere between zero to three ounces. You want to keep the amount of cat food you have high so you can not only make it easier to get another cat, but also make it harder to lose a cat by having a cat randomly run away. Because of this, I keep the amount of times I enter that screen to an absolute minimum. When you have enough cat food (which is at least 60 ounces), you have a random chance of getting another cat. If you don't get another cat at first, keep getting more Silver Points and more cat food until you do. The maximum amount of cats you can have is eleven: six downstairs and five upstairs in Crono's room.

Monday, October 21, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 53 of 70

In this episode, we get done with the Black Omen (at least for the Let's Play), and after that, we'll be taking care of some miscellaneous stuff before taking on Lavos for real.

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After the final save point, you'll enter a room similar to the final one in the Ocean Palace. There will be light pillars containing images of all the playable characters (except for Magus), and at the end will be a destroyed Mammon Machine. Zeal will appear, and you'll have to fight her.

The best party for this whole set of battles is Ayla, Frog and Magus, from what I can gather.

When the battle starts, Zeal will hit the party with Halation, which sends all three of your party members to 1 HP. If you have Ayla and Frog in your party, you can hit here with Dino Tail and Frog Squash, respectively, for max damage, then heal with a MegaElixir with the third character. You can also get a MegaElixir from winning this battle as well as from hitting Zeal with Charm and getting one from her, so that's two you can get from this battle. By hitting with both of those attacks and then healing with a MegaElixir, Zeal will only fight using Halation, and her other two attacks - the energy balls that are similar to Dalton's as well as the MP-absorbing Death Kiss - will never be seen. You can just repeat the Dino Tail-Frog Squash-MegaElixir combo and she will quickly go down.

After that battle, Zeal will then throw you into the Mammon Machine, and you'll have to fight it. If you Charm it with Ayla, you can get yet another MegaElixir. That's good, because you'll need to heal as soon as you start the battle. At the start of the battle, the Mammon Machine will increase its attack power with your magic attacks and increase its defense with your physical attacks. Bringing Frog into here is useful, because if he has the revived Masamune equipped, he can absorb the power of the Mammon Machine and heal himself while powering the Mammon Machine down. Eventually, the Mammon Machine will discharge its energy, and if you've powered its attack up a lot, it will hurt. Having Frog attack it with the revived Masamune will make the power of the energy discharge drastically go down. The Mammon Machine will eventually stand still and occasionally hit individual party members with the Fire-based Point Flare attack (which doesn't do much damage) before storing energy again. As the Mammon Machine stands still, you can smack it around with magic and not have to worry about consequences until it starts storing energy from your attacks again.

Eventually, the Mammon Machine will go down, and you'll face Queen Zeal one more time. If you have Magus in your party, you'll get some additional dialogue between him and Zeal, and Magus' theme will play during the battle instead of the alternate boss battle theme you usually hear when facing Son of Sun, Masa & Mune, and other bosses.

Having Ayla is essential for this battle if you want to get some cool stuff. Charming the left hand will get you a Prism Dress, while Charming the right hand will net you a Prism Helm. You'll want to be ready to help Ayla out when you do these things, though, as the left hand will always counterattack with Life Shaver (which brings the attacker's HP to one) and the right hand will always counterattack with MP Buster (which absorbs the attacker's MP). Charming the face will net you another MegaElixir.

In this battle, always attack the face with powerful single-target Techniques, regardless of whether they are Single, Dual or Triple. Dark Bomb does damage for a single-target attack and doesn't hit the hands (amazingly), and Frog and Ayla's Drop Kick can do over 3000 HP if everyone's levels is in the mid-50's. It also helps that the face does not counter-attack upon being hit, unlike the hands, althought it does have powerful attacks such as the water-based Hexagon Mist and the Shadow-based Shadow Gears that target the whole party and the Skygate that does Lightning-based damage to one party member. It can also cast MP Buster and Halation on occasion, so watch out for that.

When you defeat the head, the hands follow, and the battle is over. The Black Omen will dissipate, and you'll face Lavos. If you haven't defeated Lavos yet, you'll face his final form just like in the Ocean Palace. If you already have, you'll just go in and you'll have the option to save your game and take the portal back out to The Edge of Time, where Epoch will be waiting. If you conquered the Black Omen in 1000 A.D., you can conquer it again in 600 A.D. and a third time in 12,000 B.C. and fight both forms of Zeal and the Mammon Machine all over again and Charm the second hands for Prism Helms and Prism Dresses a second and third time to fully deck out the entire party.

Sunday, October 20, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 52 of 70

We're almost done with the Black Omen...

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You'll soon face the Giga Mutant. The Giga Mutant will try to put you sleep and poison you, among other things, and the lower body can also hit you with Life Shaver if given the chance. It also likes to suck HP out of its lower half to keep its upper half alive. Charming the upper half gives you a Wall Ring while the lower half will give you a Hit Ring. Hit both halves with Magic and don't let up.

After this, you'll take an elevator ride, and you'll face even more monsters along the way to the next boss battle. All of these battles are one-time-only, so you'll need to Charm as many MegaElixirs as you can out of the Ruminators and get two Power Tabs out of that double Tubster battle. There will also be a ton of Panels you can fight, so get those Speed Tabs with Ayla's Charm!

You'll then face the Terra Mutant. The upper half will hit you with a bunch of fire attacks, but both halves have attacks that can bring party members' HP to one (Halation for the upper half, which affects the whole party; Life Shaver for the lower half, which affects just one party member). Charming the upper half gives you a Muscle Ring while Charming the lower half will net you a Power Seal.

This battle has a bit of a twist. While this battle is much like the one with the Giga Mutant, you'll want to focus entirely on the upper half and hit it with powerful magic attacks that affect only that half, as the lower half will absorb all magic. When you take out the upper half, the lower half will disappear soon afterwards, so if you wanted, you can just hit the upper half with Luminaire and Dark Matter until the cows come home, and it wouldn't make a bit of difference.

You'll soon face another Lavos Spawn. Same strategies apply: attack the yellow "head" and not the shell, unless you want your party to be wiped out. After that, you'll face five more Panels, which means five last shots at getting Speed Tabs for the party. You'll then have one last save point...

Saturday, October 19, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 51 of 70

The first run through the Black Omen is the best. If you know what you're doing, you can get a whole bunch of items to better your party with.

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Geno Dome Map (by Rick Bruns)

The Tubster is a gold Heckran palette swap, but you can easily hit it with physical attacks. If you attack it or use a technique on it (like Charm), it will counter-attack, and that attack can pack a punch. You can Charm it to get a Power Tab, and there is also a chance you can get an Elixir from it that way as well. If you want, you can leave, come back, keep fighting the Tubster and get a ton of Power Tabs.

The Blobs and the Aliens are one-time-only battles. The Blobs can be Charmed for a Magic Ring and the Aliens can be Charmed for Magic Tabs. Beating them can also net you some Shields and Barriers. Beware, as they both have counter-attacks and they can be nasty. The Blobs can counter with MP Buster, while the Aliens counter-attack with an instant death attack. If you're going to hit them, hit them super-hard so they die before they can counter-attack.

Friday, October 18, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 50 of 70

In this entry, we finally head to the Black Omen. It'll take us a while to get through it.

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World Map (2300 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

12,000 B.C. (World Map) (by Rick Bruns)

I start the video by showing the Speed Tab and Magic Tab from the Geno Dome that I never found in-game.

With that over with, it's time to head to the Black Omen. As soon as you head to any era besides 65,000,000 B.C. or 1999 A.D. on the Epoch, you'll end up right near it.

If you try to enter it in 2300 A.D., the door will be locked due to Lavos having ravaged the world. You can still fight the Laser Guards one time only at the entrance if you haven't already, but that is about it.

From here, you can enter the Black Omen in 12,000 B.C., 600 A.D. or 1000 A.D. For best results, enter it in 1000 A.D. so the Black Omen can exist in the other eras, then 600 A.D., then 12,000 B.C.

After you enter the Black Omen, Zeal will tell you that the Day of Lavos will soon be coming, then you will face the Mega Mutant. The Mega Mutant can inflict Sleep, Blind, Chaos and Poison on your party in addition to absorbing HP from your party to heal itself, but you should have stuff like the Nova Armor and the Prism Helms at this point. Charming the upper half will give you an Elixir, while the lower half will net you a Vigil Hat. The upper hlaf has slightly more HP than the lower half, but you can easily tear it apart with strong magic attacks as well as physical attacks to the upper half. Once you beat the Mega Mutant, you won't have to face it again.

The Incognito enemies are much like the Blue Shield enemies from the Guardia Castle prison in 1000 A.D. and are vulnerable when they peer out of their shields, but they can also cast Lock on you if given the chance.

The Martellos are turret-type enemies, and Charming them can give you HyperEthers. Firing Lasers is all they can do.

The Goons have plenty of powerful attacks, including The Drop, which cuts the targeted party member's HP by half just like the Iron Orb attack. Charming them will net you Nova Armors, which you'll need for your party to nullify status ailments.

The Synchrites have laser and missiles attacks, and they can also cast Time Stop and MP Buster if given the chance. Charming them can net you HyperEthers, but there is also a chance you can get a Gold Earring.

The Panels are one-time only battles, and the Panels can only fire missiles. If you can charm them, you can get Speed Tabs for your party, which makes bringing Ayla in to fight them absolutely essential.

The Boss Orbs will cast Lock All on your entire party, but that's it. The Side Kicks that accompany it do nothing. At this rate, it's a race to see if you can defeat the Boss Orb (which is easy) and the Side Kicks (which is not) to get extra money from the Side Kicks.

The Metal Mute can absorb HP like the regular Mutants from early on in the game, but Charming it can net you a HyperEther. The Flyclops is prehaps the weakest of the enemies on the Black Omen, only being able to absorb MP, and will give you Gold Studs if you charm them.

Eventually, you'll have to take an elevator and fight some enemies, and you'll face some new ones on the way down. The Cybots are blue versions of the Gato enemy and can inflict Chaos on the party in addition to attacking with Iron Orb. Charming it gives you the Power Meal, which is almost completely useless.

The Ruminators are much like the Gnashers, but they are grey and have two heads. You'll usually see them in groups of four, and they will bite and attack each other before one remains to focus entirely on you. Charming them will net you MegaElixirs, which refill the HP and MP of the entire party, and is definitely recommended.

The Magic Seal increases Magic and Magic Defense by five when equipped.

You'll eventually come across two Nus. One of them will run a shop where you can buy healing items, including HyperEthers, which can be rather expensive. The other will allow you to instantly exit the Black Omen halfway through if you decide to "Wake Up" from the dream that is the Black Omen rather than stay, and if you do that, the Underling and Boss Frogs show up to provide a seat that takes you back to the front door.

Thursday, October 17, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 49 of 70

...and now, to battle Lavos. However, this is just one part of the battle...

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If you press A at the bucket of water to the right of the door to Spekkio, you can go to the Day of Lavos 1999 A.D. and fight Lavos. If you choose to fight Lavos, you'll get a small boss rush of sorts.

You'll fight Lavos mimicking these bosses in the following order: Dragon Tank, Guardian, Heckran, Zombor, Masa & Mune, Nizbel, Magus, Azala and Black Tyrano, Giga Gaia. Same strategies apply.

For the Dragon Tank, the creature on the right is the head, the middle part is the body, and the creature on the left is the wheel. Due to the odd layout compared to the real Dragon Tank, it's easier to destroy all three parts at the same time.

After the Giga Gaia battle, you'll face Lavos much like you faced it at the Black Omen. When "Destruction rains from the heavens!", be ready to heal up afterwards, then start hitting Lavos with everything you've got. The lightning attack afterwards can inflict Chaos on people, so make sure you have Prism Helms or other status protecting items equipped on all your party members. The needle attack will hit one member of the party for a ton of damage.

At this point, you should be strong enough to defeat this form of Lavos, and when you do, you'll be able to enter Lavos' shell. Inside will be a path leading to an even more dangerous battle, but there will also be a save point as well as a portal. Once you beat this boss rush, you won't have to do it again.

You can actually go towards the final battle without having to fight this form of Lavos. If you get in the Epoch, travel to 1999 A.D. and agree to fly towards Lavos when prompted, you'll get an awesome Mode 7 cutscene where you fly through Lavos. This destroys Epoch, however, and there will be no turning back - no save point, no portal - if you do this.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 48 of 70

In this entry, we finally open up all the sealed doors and chests now that the Pendant is able to open them all up.

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World Map (2300 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

Bangor Dome (by Rick Bruns)

Trann Dome (by Rick Bruns)

Arris Dome Map (by Rick Bruns)

Now that we're able to open sealed doors and chests since we powered up Marle's pendant at the Mammon Machine, we can.

First up are the sealed doors in 2300 A.D. There are three: one in Bangor Dome, one in Trann Dome and one in Arris Dome. Bangor and Trann can be accessed as soon as you get there, but you'll need to head back down to close to where the computer is to get to the sealed door there.

At Bangor Dome, you can get the Charm Top, a Full Ether and a Wallet. The Wallet converts experience points to gold when equipped on anyone in the active party. The Charm Top is an accessory that only Ayla can equip, and when used, ups the chances of Ayla getting an item - especially a rare one - with Charm. It's a very useful accessory and will come into play in the late game.

At Trann Dome, you can get a Gold Stud (which cuts MP use by 75%) and a Full Ether. You can also find a Magic Tab on the ground.

At Arris Dome, you can find a Lumin Robe, an Elixir (which refills all HP and MP for one party member), a Hit Ring and a Gold Earring (which increases the wearer's HP by 50%, essentially doubling it).

Guardia Forest (600 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

Guardia Forest (1000 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

Guardia Castle (600 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

Northern Ruins (600 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

Northern Ruins (1000 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

Magic Cave Map (by Rick Bruns)

Powering up Marle's pendant with the Mammon Machine also allows you to open all the sealed chests. However, there is a secret to this.

You'll need to go to the chests in 600 A.D. and press A near them. You'll get a prompt as to whether or not you want to open them. Choose "No." Go back to those same chests in 1000 A.D. and open them to get an upgraded version of what you could have gotten in 600 A.D.

The Vests absorb all elemental damage of their respective type (Red for Fire, Blue for Water, White for Lightning/Light, Black for Shadow/Darkness), as opposed to the Mails that only absorb 50%. Also, the weapons you can get with this trick are more powerful than the ones you can get without it.

The Nova Armor protects from status ailments, while the Moon Armor - which has more defense - does not (it only increases Magic Defense by ten points). The Siren can inflict Stop on enemies, while the Valkyrie, which is more powerful, does not. The Shiva Edge, compared to the Kali Blade, does quadruple damage on critical hits.

The Magic Cave, Heckran's Cave and Guardia Forest chests are the only chests to which this rule does not apply. Magic Cave and Heckran's Cave do not have opposite era equivalents, and the Guardia Forest chests for both 600 A.D. and 1000 A.D. are seemingly considered completely different chests.

Here is the list of everything you can get with and without the trick.

Truce Inn: Blue Vest (600 A.D.) / Blue Mail (1000 A.D.)

Porre Elder's House/Mayor's Manor: Black Vest and White Vest (600 A.D.) / Black Mail and White Mail (1000 A.D.)

Guardia Castle: Red Vest (600 A.D.) / Red Mail (1000 A.D.)

Northern Ruins/Hero's Grave: Nova Armor, Siren, Kali Blade (600 A.D.) / Moon Armor, Valkyrie, Shiva Edge (1000 A.D.)

Guardia Forest (600 A.D.): Speed Tab

Guardia Forest (1000 A.D.): Power Ring

Magic Cave (600 A.D.): Magic Ring

Heckran Cave (1000 A.D.): Wall Ring and Dash Ring

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 47 of 70

In this video, we complete our last sidequest, and it's a bit of a puzzler.

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World Map (2300 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

Geno Dome Map (by Rick Bruns)

Our next side quest takes place in the Geno Dome in 2300 A.D. The Geno Dome is in the lower-right corner of the world map, south of the Sun Keep.

When you head there, put Robo in the front of the party before using the computer. You'll need him in this position in order to enter the Geno Dome. When you go through the door, you'll be fighting Debuggests and Proto 4's on a big conveyor belt. They are more powerful than the Debuggers and the Proto 3's, but you can easily wipe them out.

Once you're past the conveyor belt, you'll be in one big hallway. In certain spots of the dome, you'll be taunted by the same voice that let you in, saying that robots are superior and that all the humans will die out from pure despair as robots take over the world.

The sparkle is the dust chute. This takes you back to the beginning if you want to leave.

The energy pods have switches nearby, and you'll need to hit them in order to go into them while charged with electricity to open them. To charge up, you'll need to find the energy pod near the computer and open it up, then go in and immediately run to an open pod. The pod in the northwest corner leads to the first of two Pozoyo Dolls, which you'll need to open the big double doors in the upper floor. The pod near the entrance leads to a treasure room, and the one near the conveyor belt - which you'll need to change the direction of with a nearby switch that you'll have to reach in a roundabout way - leads to a Proto 3. I'll explain the Proto 3 later.

Speaking of the northwest corner, you'll need to set the switches to red, green, red from left to right. This will open the nearby energy pod in that corner. Once you charge up and run straight to that pod to open the nearby door, you'll be able to get the first Pozoyo Doll.

As you clear the area out of enemies, you'll also fight the Laser Guards. The Laser Guards have a few hundred HP, but they can zap each other and self-destruct, doing explosion damage that damages the whole party if given the chance to do so.

The computer in the center of the lower floor tells you how everything works, but I'll show exactly what to do here in this guide.

If you go up to the top of the conveyor belt, you'll see a Proto 3 go through the wall. This is a clue that you can go through the wall. You'll want to go to the door in the southwest corner and head to the upper floor, then make your way back down so you can go through the wall, reverse the conveyor belt's direction and get rid of the laser blocking your path.

The door in the southeast corner of the lower floor leads to the upper floor. From here, you can take the door to the west, go down the hallway (don't forget the Power Tab in the southwest corner!) and take the elevator down to the other side of the conveyor belt. You can then go through the wall, hit the switch, and make the nearby conveyor belt move up instead of down. You can then go back to the conveyor belt from there and hit the switch so you can turn off the red laser blocking your path. This will allow you to charge up the nearby energy pod so you can get the Proto 3. You'll need to take the Proto 3 to the southwest corner of the lower floor and pit it against the other Proto 3 that will actively block you from taking the other Pozoyo Doll. The Proto 3 does a good job of following you as long as you go slowly to where you need to take it and you position yourself so that it can get around walls and see where you are.

There is a Speed Tab behind the Pozoyo Doll in the northwest corner, and the path through the wall to the switch that reverse the direction of the conveyor belt has a Magic Tab in the middle of it. You may have to keep pressing A to get it, but it's there. Believe it or not, I did not even know this Magic Tab existed until I got this guide.

In the upper floor, there is a switch near a laser wall that you cannot reach. You'll need to line yourself up vertically with the switch, start running, and then - while running - press A when you're at the third tile from the wall. Robo will leap up and hit the switch, and you can get a MegaElixir that fully refills the party's HP and MP as well as a Magic Tab.

You'll also find a conveyor belt that turns humans into materials for making robots. You won't be able to shut it down until you complete this side quest.

When you get both Pozoyo Dolls, you'll run into Atropos - a pink Robo with ribbons - near where the laser wall was. When Robo talks to her, you'll find out that Robo (named Prometheus by Atropos, much like the blue R-Series robots) was assigned to study humans as a species, and Mother Brain - the creator of the R-66 series - has re-programmed her to efficiently exterminate humans. Robo will ask the other members of the party to let him fight her alone, to which they oblige, before you have a boss battle with Atropos.

Atropos XL will have the same moves as Robo, and she can also heal herself with Cure Beam, too. You'll want to use your most powerful attacks and keep your HP and MP high to make sure you survive Atropos' powerful attacks, and you'll also want to come into the battle with the Ruby Armor equipped on Robo. Why? Because when you get Atropos' HP low enough, she will keep attacking with nothing but Area Bomb. If you have the Ruby Armor equipped on Robo, it will negate a lot of the damage and you can keep smacking her with regular physical attacks while she can barely do anything to you.

Eventually, you'll defeat Atropos XL, and while the reprogramming will wear off, Atropos XL will not be able to survive. She ends up giving Robo one of her ribbons, which permanently increases his Speed by three points and his Magic Defense by ten.

After this, you'll have to head to the big double doors and put the Pozoyo Dolls in the spots to the side in order to open them. When you do, you'll meet - and face - Mother Brain, who is in charge of everything in the facility as well as the creation of the R-Series. When Robo refuses to have his memories erased, Mother Brain considers Robo a traitor before deciding to destroy him and the rest of the party.

Bring Robo, Crono and Ayla to this battle. Use Falcon Hit on the Displays to take them all out and keep them from healing Mother Brain, then keep using it on Mother Brain herself. If you do this, however, Mother Brain will attack you with laser beams and also try to inflict Chaos with Reprogram and hit you with Memory Reset to keep you from using Techs...unless you're quick.

Another thing you can do is bring Lucca into the party and use Hypno Wave to put the displays to sleep, then hack away at Mother Brain with powerful attacks while she is unable to attack the party.

When you beat Mother Brain, you'll get the Giga Arm and the Crisis Arm, both weapons for Robo. Giga Arm is the most powerful weapon Robo can equip, while the Crisis Arm is the weakest and deals damage directly dependent on the last digit in Robo's current HP. You'll also shut down the factory, and you will not be able to go back in again.

Monday, October 14, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 46 of 70

In this entry, we get a Moon Stone and try to turn it into a Sun Stone. What could possibly go wrong?

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World Map (65,000,000 B.C.) (by Rick Burns)

Hunting Range Map (by Rick Bruns)

For the next side quest, we're getting the Sun Stone.

You'll want to start by heading to 65,000,000 B.C. and heading to the trading hut. Here, you can trade ten each of Petal, Fang, Horn and Feather for the Ruby Armor, which cuts all fire damage by 80%. You'll need this for the upcoming battle. If you're short of all that, keep going to the Hunting Range and get more trading stuff until you do. Don't forget to fight the Nu, as you can get more from him in addition to extra tech points. Get three Ruby Armors, then equip them on three party members. It doesn't matter who; just make sure you bring them to the battle.

If you go to Laruba Village, you'll find a Nu. If you talk to him, you can change the name of your lead party member. Regardless of whether or not you do it, you'll get the Silver Rock, which allows you to perform the "SpinStrike" Triple Tech. This can be equipped by Robo, Frog or Ayla and requires Laser Spin, Leap Slash and Tail Spin to be learned by those characters respectively, and like all rock-based Triple Techs, require all three of those party members to be in your party.

]World Map (2300 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

You'll then want to head to 2300 A.D. and look for the Sun Palace, which will be south of Death Peak and Keeper's Dome. When you go in and touch the sparkle, you'll have to face Son of Sun.

To face Son of Sun, you'll need to attack the flames that surround it with physical attacks. If you hit the wrong one, you'll get hit by a weak fire attack, but the Ruby Armor will make it little more than a nuisance. If you hit the correct flame, you'll do damage to Son of Sun. Whatever you do, do not attack Son of Sun directly; Son of Sun will hit you with Flare and damage the whole party if you do. You'll have the Ruby Armors at this point, but it is still not recommended. Every so often, Son of Sun will spin the fireballs around, and you'll have to find the correct one all over again. After you do enough damage, Son of Sun will start losing power. When you get that message, the battle is won.

Son of Sun will move further north into the keep, and when you interact with it, it will turn into the Moon Stone. You'll need to take it to the Sun Keep and keep it there for 65 million years to turn it into a Sun Stone. Take the moon stone, then head back to 65,000,000 B.C. and head to the northeast corner of the map where the Sun Keep is. Enter the Sun Keep and move into the light, then place the Moon Stone there. This will be in the northeast corner of all eras except 1999 A.D. (which you will never be able to explore). If you want, you can go from one era to the next and watch it power up. If you do that, you'll also find a Power Tab left of the Moon Stone in 600 A.D.

When you reach 1000 A.D., you'll find out that the Moon Stone is gone. If you head to Porre Village, you'll see sparkles emanating from the Mayor's Manor, and if you talk to the Mayor, he will deny that he knows what the Moon Stone/Sun Stone is and refuse to give it to you while his older children still hate him.

Head to the Snail Stop and buy the Jerky from the guy behind the counter for 9900G, then head to the Elder's House in Porre in 600 A.D. The woman inside is needing Jerky to cook something, and if you talk to her with the Jerky in your inventory, she will offer to buy it from you for 10,000G. As tempting as the money is, give it to her for free instead, and she will be amazed by your generosity. Head back to the Mayor's Manor in Porre in 1000 A.D. and talk to the Mayor. This time, the Mayor is a generous person, and his kids love him now and his wife will no longer be sad about the kids drifting apart from them, and if you talk to him, he will give it to you.

If you do the thing with the Jerky regarding the Elder's House/Mayor's Manor in Porre before you get the Sun Stone, the Sun Stone will still end up in the Mayor's Manor in Porre in 1000 A.D. even if the mayor is a nicer, more generous person. The only difference is that you won't have to do the Jerky thing a second time and you can get the Moon Stone back immediately.

Regardless of how you do this, go back to the Sun Keep in 1000 A.D. and place the Moon Stone in the light. Head back to the Sun Keep in 2300 A.D., and this time, the Moon Stone will be a full-fledged Sun Stone. Put Lucca in your party if you don't have her there already, then interact with the Sun Stone. You'll take the Sun Stone to Lucca's house in 2300 A.D., and you'll get two items: the Wondershot, which varies in damage and is Lucca's most powerful physical weapon, and the Sun Shades, which ups the attack power of whoever wears it.

If you head to Melchior in the Guardia Castle treasury after getting the Rainbow Shell with the Sun Stone, you'll get two new items: the Prism Specs, which ups attack power even more than the Sun Shades do, and the Rainbow, which is Crono's most powerful weapon (on Super NES and PlayStation) and comes with an 80% critical hit rate.

Sunday, October 13, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 45 of 70

In this entry, we finally get the Rainbow Shell and get it to the castle at last, but back in the present, someone wants to make a move and finally ruin Marle's father.

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Giant's Claw Map (by Rick Bruns)

When you go through the door in the jail cell, you'll face Rust Tyrano when you try to move past it.

Rust Tyrano fights just like Black Tyrano, but he can take you down if you're not careful. The trick to beating him is making sure your health is high while hitting him hard in the opening moments of the match. Because of this, I'm able to beat him despite having a hard time healing near the end, as the Blue Rock's Omega Flare allows me to deal more than 3000 HP per shot. If you can charm Rust Tyrano, you can get the Red Mail, which completely absorbs fire damage.

If you want to make it easier, put Marle in the party and have her cast Haste on herself before casting it on the other party members, then go at it with everything you have, including Triple Techs, while keeping health high. This video is but one example of what you can do.

Guardia Castle (600 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)

Once you beat Rust Tyrano, you can move forwards toward the Rainbow Shell. If you move into it and press A, you can pick it up, but you'll find it heavy. As you walk away, the screen fades to black and transitions to the throne room of Guardia Castle in 600 A.D. Here, the king will name the Rainbow Shell a national treasure while also commanding the soldiers to head to the Giant's Claw and pick it up. If you head back to where the Rainbow Shell was, you'll see them trying to pick it up.

If you talk to everyone in the castle, everyone will be relieved that you survived your battle with Magus earlier in the game. The King as well as Queen Leene will also think highly of Frog if you have him in your party, and the King will also knight Frog as well.

From here, head back to Guardia Castle in the present day.

When you head back to the castle, there will now be a treasury east of the entrance where the Rainbow Shell is being kept. If you talk to everyone, however, you'll find out that the present day king, Marle's father, will be on trial for selling the Rainbow Shell. Put Marle in your party and keep her there for the rest of the side quest. Head towards the courtroom with Marle in the party and you'll be able to force your way in. You'll find out that the Chancellor is trying to frame the king, and he will tell you to confirm his innocence with proof.

When you are forced out of the courtroom, you won't be able to go back in again. From here, Marle will say there is no heirloom despite the fact that we just got the Rainbow Shell brought into the castle 400 years ago after finding it in the Giant's Claw, and the party has to remind Marle about it. She will then realize that the Rainbow Shell has to still be in the treasury, and you'll need to head down in there to get it.

At this point, you won't be able to leave the castle until you complete this part of the side quest. Also at this point, you can finally enter the treasury, which was guarded by a soldier up until now (he will be down on the ground after being bitten by a rat, or so he says). You'll have to fight some Gnashers and Naga-ettes - the same enemies from the Cathedral in 600 A.D. - to get to the Rainbow Shell, but these things are super easy to beat up.

As you get to the treasury, Marle will realize that there is a plot, and you'll see that plot try to unfold with the Chancellor bringing out a fake witness to frame the King. Eventually, you'll reach the Rainbow Shell, which is resting in the treasury, having never been sold by The King. You'll find a letter from Queen Leene where Leene somehow knows that Marle and her father are having trouble getting along but knows that they will come together. You'll also get a Prism Shard, which will be proof that the Rainbow Shell is still in the treasury.

After this, head back to the courtroom entrance. You still won't be able to get in, but Marle will know an alternate way in. The game will then go back to the courtroom, where a jury of nothing but shoulders will find The King guilty in kangaroo court. Marle will suddenly crash through the stained glass window behind the judge and show up with proof, and the rest of the party will soon join her. Marle presents the Prism Shard, and the Chancellor will be exposed. He then transforms into Yakra XIII, and it will become clear that this was all a plot to get rid of the King in revenge for the first Yakra being defeated by your party at the beginning of the game for kidnapping Queen Leene.

Yakra can hit party members with Blizzard to inflict the Chaos status ailment, and he can also shake the ground to damage the whole party. When you do enough damage to him, he can also hit you with the Needle Spin attack, which can do a lot of damage to a single party member. Keep your health high while hitting him with powerful attacks, especially when Yakra XIII tries to kill your party in desperation with a Needle Spin attack that hits the whole party after you defeat him. Unlike the single-target version, however, it doesn't do as much damage when it targets the whole party.

When you defeat Yakra XIII, he will drop something, but you won't be able to pick it up yet. You'll see Marle and the King have a conversation with Marle, where it is revealed that The King was at Queen Aliza's side as she passed on peacefully and mentions a few details of Aliza's funeral before The King and Marle finally make up. In other words, everything the fake Chancellor said never happened.

Afterwards, The King will ask you to take care of Marle. Before you can leave, however, Melchior shows up, and he will head to the treasury to forge something out of the Rainbow Shell. Head back to the courtoom - which is now unguarded - and get the sparkle on the floor. This is the Yakra Key. Explore the castle and find the locked chest, then open it with the Yakra Key to free the real Chancellor, who will get right back to work on the closing ceremonies of the Millenial Fair.

If you head to the kitchen - which is heavily upgraded from what it was in 600 A.D. - you'll be able to eat for free and refill your HP and MP, especially with the Crono Special, which is essentially sushi.

If you head back to the Treasury and talk to Melchior, you can choose between three Prism Helms or one Prism Dress. Believe it or not, you'll be able to get more Prism Dresses and Prism Helms if you know what to do and how to do it, and while the Prism Dress is the best armor for Marle, Lucca and Ayla, the Prism Helms protect the wearers from status ailments. Pick the Prism Helms.

Melchior will stay in the treasury, and if you talk to him, he will tell you that he can make something wonderful with the Rainbow Shell if he had something to make an alloy with. We'll be keeping that in mind for the next side quest that I decide to do.

Saturday, October 12, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 44 of 70

It's time to head to the Giant's Claw, which looks A LOT like the Tyrano Lair.

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Giant's Claw Map (by Rick Bruns)

Now that we have some optional stuff done, it's time to head to the place that the optional stuff is tied to: Giant's Claw, northwest of Choras Village in 600 A.D.

As established earlier, this place shares rooms with the Tyrano Lair in 65,000,000 B.C. There are some cave areas to add some twists to everything, however. There are also new enemies.

The Fossil Ape is the hardest of the four enemies you'll deal with here. While they are just like the Winged Ape and the Cave Ape enemies from earlier in the game, these guys can pack a punch! The other enemies aren't so bad. The Leapers leap at you, but that's all they can do. The Gigasaurs can be hit with any magic for substantial damage, which is good, as hitting them with lightning-based magic causes them to do the lightning discharge attack on your party immediately. Even Magus' Dark Bomb can do over 1000 damage easily. The Lizardactyl is a blue version of the Avian Rex, but it can also be taken out very easily.

There are two Power Tabs. One of them will be in a dead in the large the cave area you'll need to get through, while the other one is in a area that you'll need to drop down a hole in order to access. When you land in what was the jail cell near the old Tyrano Lair entrance, head west and take the stairs to find the Tab.

The Blue Rock allows Lucca, Robo and Magus to perform the Omega Flare Triple Tech. Lucca will need Flare, Robo will need Laser Spin and Magus will need Dark Bomb before it can actually be performed with the Blue Rock equipped on one of them, however.

The ZodiacCape is only equippable by Marle, Lucca and Ayla and increases Magic Defense by 10 in addition to being a good source of armor defense.

There are some rooms with buttons. There are usually of the "one button opens the path, the other introduces enemies" variety, although one has three buttons. One produces a save point, the other drops two Fossil Apes down on you, and the other produces a pit you'll have to go down in order to progress.

When you reach the cell where Kino was held in the Tyrano Lair, you're almost there. There will be a save point there in case you couldn't use the one earlier, and there will also be a door there...

Friday, October 11, 2024

PrinceWatercress plays Chrono Trigger (Super NES) - Part 43 of 70

...and now for something completely optional.

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Guardia Forest (1000 A.D.) (by Rick Bruns)