PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 9 of 33

In this entry, we climb up Twinpeak Mountain, beat Rootrick at his own game again, and get the Earth Scroll.

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Head back to the beginning of the path up Twinpeak Mountain. When you cross the river with the poles, head left instead of right. You'll reach the dead end that we've seen before, but if you go here after saving Steamwood, you'll meet Rootrick. He'll start trying to climb the wall in revenge of destroying the Steam Knight. He won't tell you where the Princess where, and he accidentally lets it slip that there's a scroll near this area. You'll have to climb on the reddish-brown wall nearby and use the Legendary Brace to climb to the top before Rootrick. As long as you can keep a steady rhythm, though, you should be able to make it up there long before Rootrick does. Just watch out for the panels that pop in and out of the wall.

When you reach the top, Musashi will trick Rootrick into going back to the bottom for his cape...and whack him in the back with Lumina, taking him out of the picture. We won't be seeing him again. (If you have a huge lead on him when you get to the top, Musashi will crush him with a rock instead. Either way, Rootrick's gone and he's not coming back. Not until the end of the game anyway. Spoiler alert. The game surprised me there.)

At the top is a monolith with a strange symbol. Strike it with Lumina, and the Earth Scroll will be yours. By using this Scroll, you can stun enemies with powerful tremors and cause boulders to fall. Afterwards, Lumina will talk to you via telepathy. Yes, Lumina is sentient, but only for this one part in the game. Lumina tells you to destroy the Crest Guardian. Sadly, Lumina shuts up for the rest of the game. I wish they did this more.

It's pretty obvious that Musashi is based on the legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, but the Five Scrolls are based on the Five Rings from The Book of Five Rings, which he wrote after he walked away from the life of a swordsman. The Earth Scroll is based on The Book of Earth, which serves as the introductory chapter to The Book of Five Rings and provides a foundation for the skills to be learned while comparing martial arts, leadership and training to building a house. It describes what situations in which certain weapons can be useful or useless, explains the importance of timing, and ends with the nine basic principles upon which samurai must rely.

There will be a boulder blocking a nearby path. Pause the game, then go to the Sword menu and switch from "Norm" (Normal) to "Earth." Perform the Lumina Rotation move as normal. This time, though, you'll use the Earth Scroll. The tremors will cause the rock to fall down, and you'll get another shortcut down the mountain. You'll need to do this in order to leave the area where you found the Scroll.

From here, I head back to the top of the mountain and use the Earth Scroll to get the rock blocking the poles I can swing on. The rock falls, and I can jump off that to jump into and swing on the poles. This leads to the top of the mountain, and while you can easily get there by climbing up the pole afterwards, you'll want to jump from one platform to the next to the right of that pole. This leads to the chest, and inside the chest is a Rock. The Rock is really a Crytsal, which pays out 2500 Drans when appraised.

When you come back from Twinpeak Mountain after getting the Earth Scroll, you'll meet Jon. He'll tell you to arm yourself with the Legendary Armor, and to find the five Scrolls and free them from their proper Crest Guardians. The Guardian for the Earth Scroll is in Hell's Valley. You'll have to head to the castle and ask Steward Ribson for permission to enter Hell's Valley. Jon will run off with Leno to find the next treasure.

When you ask Steward Ribson, you'll need four people to press four switches simultaneously in order to open the gate to Hell's Valley. You'll need Soldier Lardwick, Mercenary Meitlofe, Carpenter Carvey and Knight Lardwick. Once you've rescued them, you can head down there. Of course, you should have everybody rescued by this point. Thankfully, I did. 

PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 8 of 33

In this video, we finally fix the steam problem in Steamwood, then we go exploring some more and see what has changed after that.

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Go up to the gondola area and leap into the wall nearby. Alternate between X and Triangle to climb up the wall, and you'll find Administrator Forest. Talk to him, and he'll not only let you enter Steamwood, but you'll also find out that Steamwood will blow up in exactly 24 hours. He'll also give you the Manual, which explains how Steamwood works.

You have exactly 24 hours starting...now. The timer will be in the upper-right corner of the screen. Take the side path to the forest and go to the right. Climb up the wall that was originally a dead end. You'll reach the entrance to Steamwood. 

At the entrance, go up to the door. Musashi will automatically use the manual.

To save Steamwood, you'll have to close the valves in numerical order. Stand in front of the valve and press Square to work with it. The pressure gauge will rise. Press the X button when it reaches the "OK" zone. If you're successful, the valve gauge will rise. Otherwise, it will decrease. Repeat until full. When you activate the first valve, you'll activate the valve timer, which will reset with the activation of subsequent valves. Sometimes the timer will be at 60 seconds; other times, it will be at 35 seconds. You'll usually have enough time to get to the next valve and activate it in each case, but you'll still want to be careful getting to the valves and you'll want to get some timing going on the later valves. Turn off the next valve gauge before the valve timer reaches zero, or else all the valves will re-open and you'll have to start all over again.

The front door will be your test run. Thankfully, it's pretty slow. When you get into Steamwood, just go up to the first floor and head right. The first two are simple, but it starts getting faster on the third one. It gets mighty fast around the fifth. Keep heading to the right to get all of the valves and get to the elevator on the first as quickly as possible on the first floor. On the second floor, keep going to the left. On the top floor, go left to reach the seventh valve.

If steam blocks a direct path to the valve, you'll have to leap onto a pipe near the valve in order to get to the valve. Be careful when you do this, because it is very, very possible to land next to the valve and fall right back to the bottom of Steamwood. The steam will stop blocking the path to it when you close the valve in front of it.

When you close all eight valves, you'll meet Administrator Fores. He'll tell you that you can use a shortcut to Steamwood from his house so that you don't have to go through the forest to return there. He'll also say there's a rumor going around that a masked man with a cape sabotaged Steamwood and he's heading to Twinpeak Mountain. We know only one guy so far with a mask and a cape, and that's Rootrick.

Head to the right to go through the opening that Fores walks through. You'll be back at the Gondola area.

If you talk to the Mayor after you've saved Steamwood, you'll get another Longetivity Berry.

Back in the forest, there will no longer be steam coming out of the pipes near Steamwood. You may also remember that there was a force field of steam that you could not get past before, but now that you've saved Steamwood, you can go to that area. You'll be able to open a chest for 500 Drans as well as rescue Maid Loinette. If you talk to her at the castle, you'll learn a new technique: the Dashing Pierce. When you see dust trailing from Musashi's feet when he runs, press Square to perform a piercing strike that does some decent damage.

If you talk to the women gossiping at the well, they will mention that a lot of earthquakes have been happening in the area as of late and think that either a catfish is causing them (because Japan) or a troll is causing them (who is Rootrick).

In this video, I talk to all of the shopkeeps in the area, and we also get the rest of the toys and play with them. At this point in the game, the village starts warming up to Musashi, but we still have a long way to go in beating the game.

PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 7 of 33

In this video, we explore some more to see what we can do and get to Chapter 1's level limit so we don't have to get any more experience until Chapter 2.

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If you leap into a deep brown colored-wall, you can climb up it by alternating between the Square and Triangle buttons. Don't forget that when you latch onto a wall, you have to press Triangle first. You'll need to do this in order to use the Legendary Brace and reach the Administrator's Office, which we won't be doing...not yet, anyway.

There's a wall near the gondola, and if you climb up it at night, you can find another Minku and get another Longevity berry.

At Twinpeak Mountain, you can now take shortcuts with the Legendary Brace. Also, one of the pipes at the bottom on the way to the summit will now have steam blasting out of it now that there's trouble in Steamwood. The steam won't be there anymore once you fix the problems in Steamwood.

If you go past where you met Jon and built the raft, you'll see a rock followed by a few poles you can hang on and jump off of. You won't be able to knock the rock down...yet.

If you want, you can play the raft mini-game again and get more money while taking the shortcut all the way back down.

While the village is in crisis, you won't be able to enter the toy store or the restaurant, as they will stay close until the problems at Steamwood are resolved.

There are some walls you can climb on the forest path to Steamwood. The pipes will also be shooting out more steam than ever, so you'll want to be careful as you move around. One of them will be blocked by a cliff halfway up, and you won't be able to deal with that until later. Another one leads to more pipes, a path off to the side leading to a chest containing an AgedCoin, and the entrance to Steamwood itself. You'll need to talk to Administrator Fores just to open the door.

If you're at 75% Tired, Musashi will move more slowly and will walk instead of run. If you're at 90% Tired, Musashi will look like he is about to drop, and he will barely be able to swing Fusion. (His Lumina swing is strangely unaffected.)

We're at the level limit at the end of this video, so next time, we're heading to Steamwood.

PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 6 of 33

I always liked Twinpeak Mountain for some reason. Playing through the area in the demo got that started, and it's nice to not that everything is as it was when I went from the demo to the full game. And yes, that includes the music. 

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Pressing Triangle takes you to the last choice with the dialogue trees in the stores, which makes it easier to get back to the action. Also, you can skip dialogue with the Circle button, but only in the Western version of the game (the Japanese version doesn't let you).

If you block a strike from an enemy and immediately press Triangle after blocking it, you can perform a counter hit that does a lot of damage if it connects. 

In the area past the Mushrooms in the forest, you'll find Seer Bevealy on top of a hill. You'll need to assimilate Hop to get to her and free her. Across the nearby pipe is an OldCrown, which becomes a Cakepan if appraised by Connors at the junk store. You'll need to appraise items first before you can find out what they are, and if it's junk, only when the junk is appraised will you be able to sell it. Thankfully, appraisal costs nothing. You can discard junk, but at this rate, you're probably going to need the money.

If you talk to Seer Bevealy at the castle, she will give you a hint as to where the next of the Five Scrolls area. Also, if someone has not been rescued, Steward Ribson will tell you where they are, but only if they've been in an area you've already been, and only in vague terms (in other words, you're just told to go to that area). If you haven't been to that area, Steward Ribson will tell you that even Seer Bevealy does not know where they are, and until you go to that area.

I also show off some of the toys that I bought in the past videos after resting up in Musashi's room at the castle. Where we're going to be, we're going to be there for a while, and having a tiredness rate of 0% is going to help a bit.

With all that done, it's time to head to Twinpeak Mountain. Keep heading left and you'll eventually reach a new area. If you've ever played the PS1 demo for this game, you'll know that this is the Medium difficulty mission from said demo.

Go all the way to the left when you reach the new area and use Lumina to free Mercenary Meitloife (MercenC). You'll want to rescue him when you see him, as he will be important in the near future.

You can climb on the poles by jumping on them and holding Up and Down on the Control Pad. At the top of said pole are BP refills, so take them if you need them.

On the other side of the poles is a treasure box. This particular treasure box is a Memory Box. These act as temporary save points of sorts that you can go back to when you die. You'll return to the last Memory Box where you stored your memories up until that point, but you'll lose half of all your money. The Memory Box data also disappears if you turn off the PlayStation.

At this point in the game, you'll find various treasures, but they're all going to be junk. There are chests in the game that give you money, including one to the west of the Memory Box, but they are few and far between.

There is a Minku dropping to the west of the 200 Drans chest.

The platforms that move in and out of the wall do so very slowly. More than likely, you won't have to wait to use them as platforms and clear both of them. If you drop down and to the left from them, you can get to the Minku and go after it for a Longevity Berry.

The caves are just simple platforming areas. The first one is dead simple: just jump from platform to platform. If you need to get closer to an edge, you can hold R1 to go into the blocking stance, then walk up to the platform and make your jump from there.

The area after the first cave is a dilapidated bridge than can still be crossed provided you're careful. There are soldiers on the bridge, but there are also soldiers in the background that try to snipe at you.

There are vines underneath the bridge, and one of the gaps in the bridge has a vine you can climb down. Carefully jump from one platform in the river to another and you'll free Shepherd Beefalo (Shepherd) from the Bincho Field. He can be pretty easy to miss. If you talk to Shepherd Beefalo at the castle, you'll see how many Minku you've found so far. There is a chance that a Minku or two will leave a dropping after you finish talking to him.

Before climbing back up to the bridge, jump to the vines to the left. Underneath the left end of the bridge is a Dagger that you can appraise.

The second cavern contains mini-waterfalls, and you'll have to wait until they stop running down to the water below so you can continue on without taking damage.

After the second cavern, go to the right, but don't go up the wall just yet. Instead, keep going right and you'll find a tree. Strike it down with Lumina Rotation to cut it and get your first log by walking up to it and pressing the Square button. (If you hit it with Fusion, Musashi will tell you that you need to put some "oomph" into it, which is your clue to use Lumina Rotation.) The logs take up inventory spots, and you can press X on the Item menu to perform use and discard actions with the items. You can also sort items with the Circle button.

From there, climb up the ridge on the wall. You'll find out it's a tail of a dinosaur skeleton.

It's possible to trigger a glitch if you jump into a certain part of the mountain near the skeleton, strangely enough. If you trigger it, you'll go into the mountain and suddenly re-materialize at the exit from the second cave.

Don't forget to go down the pole after you go get up there so you can rescue Knight Lardwick (KnightB). He'll tell you his brother, Soldier Lardwick, is somewhere else on the mountain. Be sure to rescue Knight Lardwick, as you'll need him in the near-future.

After you go back up, use the platforms that spin back and forth to get further into the mountain. If you fall and hit the water, you'll respawn back at the last patch of dry land you were on. After the spinning plaforms, go down the next pole to get the second log and rescue Carpenter Carvey (CarpentA).

Go back up and jump on the poles to swing on them. Jump off of them to get from one pole to the next. Climb up the pole and cut the tree here to get the third log.

From the third log, head to the left and you'll find the tree you'll need to cut to get the fourth log. From there, all you need to worry about is scaling Twinpeak Mountain. It won't take long for you to reach Jon.

When you talk to Jon with all four logs, you'll learn that his secret is not about the Five Scrolls. Instead, it's about the Legendary Armor, the armor in the legend of Brave Fencer Musashi. There are five pieces in the Armor, each with their own unique power. One of the pieces of the Armor is at the bottom of the river, and you'll need to head down there to get it. Thankfully, the logs that Jon told you to bring will be used to build a raft.

After it's built, Musashi will jump aboard. You can steer the raft with the Control Pad and also make it jump along with you with the X button. If you run into anything that will damage it, like rocks or walls, you'll lose one log. Lose all four logs and you'll have to start the whole section over. It should be mentioned that Musashi has quite a few death quotes.

This section will definitely take some memorization to get through if this is your first time playing. The coins that you can follow (and collect a lot of, when you get good enough) give you a good idea of where to go.

You'll go faster on the waterfall, so be careful as you follow the coins so you don't run into rocks on the way down.

Near the end, you'll see Thirstquencher soldiers with spiked balls on fishing poles. If these spiked balls whack you, you're taking a hit. If you're on one or two legs at this point, you'll be walking on eggshells at this point trying wildly not to take any more damage.

When you finally make it to the end, you'll be at a previously unexplored part of the entrance area leading to Twinpeak Mountain. Jump up the stairs and make a U-turn to find a treasure chest containing a Bracelet. You'll need to appraise this to find out what it really is, however...

If you keep going south, you'll find another area that has a Bincho Field and a treasure chest, but your path will be blocked by a rock. You won't be able to do anything here, but you will be returning to this area later.

From here, you can drop down to the entrance and return to the town.

When you take the Bracelet to the appraisal shop, Connor (the appraiser) will identify it as the Legendary Bracelet, or L-Brace. This will allow you to climb certain walls with Fusion and Lumina.

The items that you find in treasure chests that need to be appraised can be appraised here. Most of the stuff you find is going to be useless, and the useless stuff can only be sold here. He won't be able to buy anything that you've bought from other stores, though.

The OldBook is a Comic, which is useless and is worth 400 Drans. The Dagger is a useless Penknife that you can sell for 800.

After you appraise the L-Brace, you'll find out there's steam all around you and that the music has changed. Mayor Govern and his wife Mrs. Govern will tell you that Steamwood has broken down. Steamwood powers not only the village, but the entire kingdom, and if it blows up, the whole kingdom's going with it. You'll have to go up the cliff near the gondola and talk to Administrator Fores to see what's going on. You won't have a choice but to accept this mission.

PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 5 of 33

In this entry, we find some Minku, rescue a dog and help the man in the stocks. We're well on our way to adventure now...

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If you go off to the side from the slope leading down to the village in the early evening, you'll notice a pink pile of...something. If you press Square near it, Musashi will note that this is a pile of animal droppings and that something is nearby. If you go back to where the droppings were at 22:00, a white creature will be moving around. If you can run up to it and catch it with Square, it will give you a Longevity berry, which will increase your maximum HP by 25 points. The latest you can find a Minku in the places where you can find them is 4:45, after which they will disappear and force you to wait until the next night to look for them again. There are thirteen Minku in the game, and you'll get something for finding all of them.

Lumina Rotation is really good against the mushroom enemies, as you don't have to be so close to hit them. The mushroom enemies will spray powder if you hit them, and the powder will cause you to go to sleep until the mushroom enemies hit you to wake you up.

There is a path to another Minku just past the first set of thorns, and it will be hidden in the trees to the northwest. Going through it late at night will take you to another Minku. Catch it and get your second Longevity Berry. There will be another Minku nearby, but we won't be able to get to it until later in the game.

Believe it or not, jumping around lets you move around faster than running continuously. I take advantage of this at certain points in the game.

Head back up to the gondola and talk to Guard Lumpwood. You'll be able to enter Twinpeak Mountain.

When you enter, you'll get some pretty epic music and the sound of a waterfall. When you see the sign, go left. Break the Bincho Field you see to free Soldier Lardwick. He'll ask you to free his brother, Knight Lardwick, who is located somewhere else on the mountain. He will also tell you this if you talk to him back at the castle.

You'll see the dog on a small island, but a white blob with teeth blocks your path. Find one of those ghost enemies and assimilate his powers to get Shrink. Use it on this blob, then walk on it to flatten him and get it out of the way. Thankfully, it doesn't respawn once you beat it.

To rescue the dog, hold the Control Pad towards the dog and press Square or Triangle to pick him up. You'll have to throw the dog over the river in order to keep the dog from getting wet and respawning back at the island. You can't fight enemies while you're carrying him. If he falls into the river, he'll return to the island where the bone is and start chewing on the bone again.

Once you head back to the gondola area, the dog will instantly head back to the village. Mission accomplished!

Now that you've rescued the dog, go back to the mayor's house. He'll tell you about a man near the exits to the forest, and tells you to go to him for more information about the Five Scrolls, since the mayor doesn't really know much about them after all.

There is a man in the stocks near the forest entrances, but you can only talk to him at night after you talk to the Mayor. If you haven't rescued Leno yet when you first talk to him, he will ask you to free him, and that to free him, you'll need to find his dog, Leno, as Leno knows where the key to the stocks is. 

Since we now have, he'll thank you for saving his dog, and ask you to bring some bread and water. Thankfully, you can find some bread in the bakery. As for the water, press Square at the well next to the church. (If you bring him one item but not the other, you'll hear his thoughts if you talk to him.) You'll need to wait for the gossipping ladies to leave the well at 16:00 in order to get the water, but if you do talk to them at this point, they will have new dialogue now that you've rescued Leno.

Once you have both items, talk to the man in the stocks again. He'll tell you his name is Jon, and that he's a treasure hunter. Musashi comes to the conclusion that he's a thief, but Jon tells him that he has a secret...but only if he sets him free. You'll have to find the key first, but he tells you that the key is hidden in a grave in Meandering Forest. There's a spell cast on Meandering Forest, so he tells you to take his dog Leno - the dog you just saved - with you. He got lost trying to find the key before and ended up in Meandering Forest, but this time hopefully won't be a repeat. Just go in the direction he barks and don't let him get hurt so he doesn't run away.

Head back to the forest, and head to the area after the mushrooms. There will be some thorns in the path to the northwest; use Hop to get past those. You'll see Leno on the other side of the thorns. Go in the direction he barks and you'll find the cemetery. Be sure to clear out the enemies as soon as they appear. When you get to the cemetery, Leno will lead you to the grave where the key is hidden. Just walk up to it and you'll get Jon's key. Leave the cemetery and you'll be back in Meandering Forest.

The level limit for Chapter 1 is Level 8. This means that Level 8 is the strongest that you can get for the entire chapter. In order to get past this limit, you'll need to complete the chapter.

Head back to Jon. He'll tell you to come back after midnight to free him so somebody won't see. When you talk to Jon at 0:00, you'll be able to free Jon. He'll tell you to meet him at the top of Twinpeak Mountain...and to cut down four trees on the way up. He doesn't tell you why, as he sees someone coming and quickly leaves.

PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 4 of 33

In this entry, we head into the forest and take care of some stuff, and we also take the time to get even stronger for what's up ahead.

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It's now time to go to the Somnolent Forest. The path leading to the forest proper has two trees near the road instead of just one.

In case it gets dark, you will have a limited field of vision lit up around you.

South of where you start is an archway, but there's steam shooting out of it. You won't be able to head to the other side of that until later.

The green soldier carries a spear, the little white lump of an enemy tries to eat you and the ghosts will try to shrink you down to fun size (if they aren't teleporting somewhere nearby when they see you, that is).

The green soldier gives you Javelin, which allows you to throw a javelin at enemies. The little white lump with the big teeth gives you Satiate, which increases your BP as time passes for a short time. The ghosts will give you the Shrink ability, which allows you to shrink enemies and them stomp on them to defeat them instantly. Sadly, you don't get any pick-ups out of this.

There is a Water Crest, but you won't be able to us it yet.

Northwest of the Water Crest area is a Bincho Field. Breaking it will rescue Guard Lumpwood, who will allow you to enter Twinpeak Mountain at any time if you talk to him. (Before you find him, Macho will be guarding it and will then head home at 20:00, leaving the path unguarded and giving you the earliest opportunity to sneak over there.)

The flower enemy will give you Hop, which lets you hop around on Lumina and jump over the brambles that will hurt you if you touch them otherwise. The flower enemies are dormant during the day, unless they are attacked, and at night, they will start hopping around if you get close enough to them.

The blue plant enemies spit projectiles at you. They will give you Mint, which leaves you temporarily refreshed with your Tired meter at 0% as long as the light blue burst of light is surrounding you.

Enemies will usually drop things when you defeat them. You can get coins ranging from $10 - $500, hearts (the bigger they are, the more HP they refill), and Bincho (the bigger it is, the more BP it refills). Be sure to grab them when you see them, as you'll need all the pick-ups you can get.

Going southeast from the mint plant takes you to a pipe archway. If you go through it, you'll be on the path leading to Steamwood. The pipes on the northeast wall lead to shortcuts as well as another Bincho Field where you can rescue Musician Pianissimeat. Near him is the Earth Crest, which you won't be able to use for a while. Just watch out for the steam coming out of the pipes.

Another path on the southwest wall leads to another Bincho Field containing Acrobat Sausages, who will be able to do stunts with Clown Weinee. If you go back to the castle and talk to Clown Weinee, however, you'll be told that you need an orange. You won't be able to get one until later.

There is a path on the southwest side that will take you straight back to Grillin' Village. There will be a windmill nearby, but you won't be able to do anything there yet. However, if you knock on the door at night, you'll wake up Wid, who will tell you to get plenty of rest or else you'll get tired in a dangerous place, which is sound advice for this game.

We now have the schedule for all the stores (except the inn, which is always open).

Restaurant: 6 am - 2 pm, closed Sunday

Toy Store: 12 pm - 8 pm, closed Wednesday

Grocery: 10 am to 8 pm daily

Conner's Pawn Shop: 11 am - 4 pm, closed Monday

Jam's Bakery: 7 am - 7 pm, closed Thursday

The church is open at 6 AM, and it closes at 4 PM. You can talk to Father White by knocking on the door during the evening, but if you try to knock late at night, he won't answer.

You can jump into the trees and climb on them with Up and Down, and you can rotate with Left and Right. If you climb up past the top, you'll jump off.

You'll have different ranks depending on your level average. You'll start out as "Little Turd" at Level 1, but become "Apprentice" at Level 3. There are also level caps for each chapter, which keeps you from over-leveling throughout the game, and in order to break the cap, you'll need to complete the current chapter.

The path northeast of the first set of brambles leads to a path full of mushroom enemies. If their powder hits you after you strike them, you'll be put to sleep, and the mushrooms will move in and attack you, which will wake you up. Absorbing them will give you Sleepy, which will make you super tired. The eye on Musashi's portrait will completely shut, which is a bad thing, as his portrait will be able to tell you if you are doing okay or if you're about to get tired.

Past this path leads to several things. You won't be able to get past the rock that looks like a slug blocking the Island of Dragons until later in the game. There is the Meandering Forest, and we'll be heading there shortly.

One side of the village will lead straight back to the castle, while the other leads back to the upward path leading back to the mountain entrance.

When you select "Visit," you can talk to the people that you've rescue. If you see Musashi say "Better go meet them!", then that means you have yet to talk to them. You'll be talking to people more than once sometimes, and doing this can help you finish some sidequests, so return to the castle often.

Musician B is Musician Pianissimeat, and talking to him will add flute to the castle them. Rescue more musicians to get the full song. Acrobat is Acrobat Sausages, who will ask you to talk to Clown Weinee, who in turn will tell you to bring an orange for their stunt, which we won't be able to do until later in the game. Hawker, of course, will be Hawker Steamwood, and he will tell you about the Minku, which will give you the Longevity Berry if you catch one. Guard is Guard Lumpwood, and he'll be at the Twinpeak Mountains entrance, so you obviously won't be able to speak to him at the castle.

If you go to your room and rest, you'll rest for a full eight hours with a full HP and BP restoration. Also, if you buy toys, you can play with them in your room. Just keep in mind that if you buy them, you'll need to open them, and if you open them, you won't be able to sell them back. Thankfully, the game tells you which buttons do what when you play with a toy, and you can use the shoulder buttons and the D-Pad to look at the toys from other angles and press Square and X to perform the two actions that the toys can perform.

Sometimes, there will be a sale at the grocery store. If that happens, you'll be able to get a small percentage off all the items in the store.

PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 3 of 33

In this entry, we explore the village for the first time.

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When you head to the village, you'll get an interesting cutscene of Musashi zipping down to Grillin' Village.

Now that the main game has finally begun, you'll notice the day and time under the money and ability that you have. There are day and night cycles in the game, and as time passes, the game will transition from morning to afternoon to evening to night as you play. Since you're in a simple village, the stores are obviously going to close in the later hours. The time cycles are not real-time, as they pass every few seconds in fifteen minute intervals.

As time progresses, you'll get tired. At 70% tired, you'll start moving more slowly, and at 90%, Musashi can barely keep his head up. Unless you can press Select to switch between Lumina and the moon in the lower-left corner and then power up the assimilation gauge to full with R1 to sleep in the wild, sleep at your room in the castle, or sleep at the inn, you will eventually fall asleep. To wake up, press Square. Your HP will slowly refill, but your BP will slowly decrease, unlike the full heal at the castle and the inn, so be careful while doing this and always keep your BP high.

If a store has closed, you can always press Square on the door to see what the hours are. They all have different hours, and some stores will be closed on different days.

The seven days are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Skyday and Saturday.

If you need to move the camera around in the overhead view, use L2 and R2.

There are signs for all of these stores located above the entrance that shows what services they provide. The bed indicates the inn. Unlike the other shops in town, the inn will always be open even in the middle of the night if you need to heal.

The door with the jar and the cone above it is the grocery. Here, you can buy healing items that can replenish your HP as well as cure status ailments. The best items to get are the expensive S-Revive (which revives you if you die) and the Cheese, which does better at healing you the longer you keep it in your inventory and is a very good 

The building with the dragon head breathing fire is the toy store. Here, you can buy toys based on the enemies that you fight. Defeating an enemy will usually unlock its action figure, if it has one.

The inn with the bed above the door is the inn, which is always open. This is the only place where you can save your game, and the other place you can rest at safely other than the castle. It will cost you some money, however, and the more you pay, the more perks you can get such as healing status ailments and getting a meal to go along with the room. There's also a room where you can nap for three hours, and there are also some rooms where you can talk to the occupants, but that won't come into play until later.

The door with the bread above it is the bakery. The various breads here will replenish your Bincho Points (BP). Your BP will slowly dissipate by the hour (in game time) and when it's down to zero, your health will go down. I'm guessing that Steward Ribson was right in saying that you have a temporary Bincho field surrounding you since you were summoned. Be careful with the items that are here, however, as the milk can spoil after a few days and the bread products can soon get moldy. When that happens, these items become far less effective to the point that they're absolutely useless.

The door with the magnifying glass and the treasure chest is the appraiser. The appraiser will be able to identify the strange items you'll find in treasure chests in the game for a fee.

The church is the place of worship in the town. You can talk to Father White to be cured of posion for free at any time. Father White will tell you to drink the water from the well if you feel ill, which will come into play a little later. 

The restaurant is open at night, and while the food is expensive, it can help heal you. You can also chat with the people, including Macho, who you can play cards with. With him, you can bet money to see if the next card is high or low, and it's always double or nothing. It's tempting as a means of getting money, especially early in the game, but it's pretty easy to fight enemies and farm money in this game.

If a door is not open, you can knock on it with Square. During the daytime, you can knock on doors to talk to more townspeople and get some more information.

You can talk to people by walking up to them and pressing Square. You'll be able to meet with the kid Tim and Mint and get hints as to what to do next, even though you can find out what you need to do by pressing Start and seeing what Musashi says. There are also other people you can talk to such as farmers, villagers and even the town gossips next to the well.

The town is split in two halves. The cobblestone half is where the stores will be, while all of the villagers will live in the dirt path half. The dirt path half leads to all of the villagers' homes.

One of the homes has an awning next to the entrance as well as a weathercock on the roof. This is the mayor's house. When you talk to him, he'll figure out who you are pretty quickly. He'll ask you to find the neighborhood dog, and if you bring him back, you'll be made a citizen of the town and you'll get some information on the Five Scrolls. Accept the task. You'll find out the dog is in Twinpeak Mountain, but access is forbidden and even he can't let you in.

Leading out of the village is a series of entrances to the Somnolent Forest. One of the paths lead to a dead end. Here, you'll find Hawker Steakwood, who will tell you about the Longevity Berries, which will increase your HP. He will tell you to meet him at the castle to learn more, then he leaves. If you do, he will tell you to find a Minku in the middle of the night and catch it to take the berry that it has.

Whenever you free somebody from a Bincho Field, your max BP will increase by 5 points. These will definitely add up over time, so it's best to free everybody. To do that, you'll need to hit the Bincho Field with Lumina, and you'll free whoever is trapped in the Field.

As mentioned earlier, here are four stats in the game, and these stats increase as you play through the game. They are as follows:

Body: Musashi's strength. This increases as you defeat enemies.

Mind: Reduces the amount of damage you take from enemies. This increases as you run around throughout the game, so this is obviously the easiest stat to increase.

Fusion (Fus): Fusion's attack power. This increases as you attack with Fusion.

Lumina (Lum): Lumina's attack power. This increases as you attack with Lumina.

There is a limit to the amount of levels you can power up to in every chapter, and once you reach it, you won't be able to level up anymore until you beat the current chapter. When you reach the last chapter, you'll be able to reach the maximum level of 30.

PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 2 of 33

In this entry, we wake up in the castle. 

First | Next | End

Square had a partnership with Electronic Arts in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Square Electronic Arts LLC published all of Square's titles in North America, while Electronic Arts Square K.K. published EA's titles in Japan. Both the LLC and the K.K. were dissolved when Squaresoft merged with Enix, with each partnes buying the other's shares and Square calling the joint venture a success. The LLC would be rebranded under the Square Enix name.

Chapter 2: A New Journey

Musashi then wakes up in a guest room in Allucaneet Castle. Steward Ribson and Butler Livers. You'll obviously have to find the Princess to go back home, but you'll also have to take down the Thirstquencher Empire as they want Lumina. Once it absorbs the Scrolls of Earth, Fire, Water, Wind and Sky, the bearer of the sword will have extraordinary powers.

You'll then find out Seer Bevealy, the only person who knows where the Five Scrolls are, was kidnapped along with everyone else in the castle and sealed in green Bincho Fields. These Fields can only be broken with Lumina.

You'll then receive the Rescue List, which shows all the people you have to rescue. You'll also receive the Sensor Watch. In case you're near a Bincho Field, the circle around Lumina will glow red.

You'll learn that Grillin' Village is at the foot of the castle. You'll also find out that the guest room can be used as a free inn, just in case. You'll also have to head to the library to meet Scribe Shanky, who can read any info you might be interested in having.

The info in Scribe Shanky's books will tell you about the Legend of Musashi, Binchotite, the Allucaneet Kingdom, the Thirstquencher Empire, and...Shogi? I guess that will come in handy later. Unfortunately, you'll only be able to read the first three books for now, as you won't be able to unlock the last two until later. D-Pad select, X confirms and Triangle backs out. 

Scribe Shanky will tell you the gondola is out, so you'll have to glide along the zip line with Fusion and Lumina.

The Visit command will allow you to visit people who have already been rescued. There is Steward Ribson as well as Butler Livers (Butler) and Scribe Shanky (Scribe, who is in the library), but there is also Clown Weinee. Clown Weinee (Clown) will tell you that his partner Acrobat Sausage is currently missing, and Musician Beef-Clef (MusicianA) is waiting for the other musicians to come back.

The Room command lets you go back to your room. You can sleep there for free, but you can also do more here. I'll go into more detail later on.

For your stats, you'll have Body (your strength, which increases with time and as you fight), Mind (your defense, which increases at time goes on), Fusion (Fusion's strength, which increases with time and as you use Fusion) and Lumina (Lumina's strength, which increases with time and as you use Lumina).

PrinceWatercress plays Brave Fencer Musashi - Part 1 of 33

After so long, I finally play this one in time for Let's Play #400.

Next | End

The game begins with Princess Fillet, Steward Ribson and Butler Livers. escaping deep into the castle to the Binchotite Crystal, which is larger than usual. Alchemist Leanman tells the Princess she must perform "Hero Summon." Scribe Shanky is also there, waiting to meet Brave Fencer Musashi.

The Princess successfully casts the spell, and everyone is disappointed that Musashi is not who they expected him to be. Musashi is asked to go to Spiral Tower to get Lumina before the enemy does. Musashi gets a samurai's blade known as Fusion. When it pierces an enemy, it absorbs and assimilates an enemy's power. You'll also get Lumina's sheath, which you'll need for Lumina.

Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

The controls are pretty simple. Press X to jump and Square to swing Fusion. If you hit an enemy, keep mashing Square and you'll be able to perform a four hit combo with it. Sometimes you can stun enemies, too. If you press Square while you're right on top of an enemy while it's stunned, you can pick them up and carry them around. Press Square again to throw the enemy forwards. Any enemies in the trajectory of the throw will also be bowled over.

As you fight enemies, you'll be able to pick up items. Coins will give you money, which are known as Drans in game. The larger the coin, the more it's worth. Hearts will restore some of your health, while the translucent yellow spheres will refill your Bincho Points, or BP. This is used for the abilities that you absorb from enemies with Fusion.

Your path will be blocked by three rocks. Move into the center rock and use the Control Pad to push it out of the way.

Watch out with some of the traps that the enemy soldiers have. Jump over the column lying on the ground that the three soldier push towards you, and keep going forward when the soldiers push the columns to your right down in an attempt to flatten you when you're near the end.

You'll come across a stream that's too wide to jump over. You'll soon learn the Assimilate ability at this point. To use it, hold R1 until the speed gauge at the lower-left corner of the screen is full, and press Square when you're facing the enemy you want to assimilate the ability of. While holding R1, you'll block, and you'll be able to protect yourself as long as you do so. Keep tapping Square repeatedly after the sword makes its mark, and you'll soon get the ability when the lower-left gauge is run. Here, you'll practice this against a blue soldier, who gives you the Gunshot ability when you assimilate him. Use Gunshot to hit the logs at the other end of the stream, and you'll knock the logs down to form a bridge. Strike the statue that blocks your path soon afterward with your sword to get rid of it.

If you go back to use Assimilate on the flower enemies, you'll get Perfume, which reduces damage taken. I believe this is the only time you can get Perfume in the entire game. Absorbing a red soldier will net you the Stun ability, which we'll be able to use later. It lets you stun an enemy in front of you temporarily.

If you see a red glow after hitting an enemy, you just scored a critical hit. Critical hits do more damage than regular hits.

You'll soon be at Spiral Tower, but there's no tower. Destroy the four statues surrounding the perimeter, and avoid being shot at by the rotating statue in the center. When you destroy a statue, a floor switch will be uncovered. Step on all four of them to make Spiral Tower rise up.

Now that Spiral Tower has risen from the water, it's time to go up the tower. Hug the tower wall and keep heading to the right, and avoid the rolling wheels that come down the hill to squash you. They'll alternate from one side of the spiral pathway to the other, and even though the camera pans upward as you run up the path, you'll still be able to dodge them without a hitch.

You'll eventually find the entrance to the tower at the top. Go in.

When you enter the tower, you'll get another hint: "When the Guardian Flame is blanketed with darkness, a light will lead you above." To do this, climb up the spiral path. You'll eventually see a bell above a flame, and Musashi will get the idea of covering the fire with the bell to put it out.

Aside from the soldiers, you'll also see bats fly at you in groups of three. When they come at you, strike them with your sword. They leave plenty of power-ups, especially money that you'll really need.

Use the Gunshot ability to shoot at the rope near the door at the top. To do that, just face the rope and press Circle to use Gunshot. This will cause the bell to drop onto the flame, and cause light to flood the inside of the tower. The doors that were blocking your path earlier will now open for you. Step into the light, and you'll be teleported to the top of the tower.

Now that you're at the top, all you have to do now is to get Lumina. There's just one problem: that stone head that you had to deal with earlier is here at the top of the tower, and this time the jewel on its forehead has formed a barrier that protects Lumina. Meanwhile, a whole bunch of red soldiers with swords are pouring out of the doors.

There is a plate in front of Lumina, and if you stand on it, the barrier surrounding Lumina will disappear. Of course, when you step off, the barrier is reformed. You'll have to get one of the enemies to do the work. To do that, hold R1 and press Square when you're facing one of the red soldiers. When the sword latches on, keep mashing the Square button to get the Stun ability. Stun one of the soldiers, then move them onto the plate and get Lumina before the soldier you stunned comes to. Lumina is now yours.

Of course, when you do that, the stone head will have a mind of its own and shoot its eye beams at the platform leading to Lumina, blowing all the soldiers away in the process and causing Musashi to fall. This causes the stone head to topple down the side of the tower, causing Musashi to run down the side of the tower away from it. Jump when Musashi gives you the prompt to do so, and you'll be back at the bottom of the tower...but the stone head will still roll towards you!

At this point, dodge any boulders that are in your way, and jump over the pillars in the ground when you see them. Don't worry about the soldiers, as they'll try in vain to run faster than you when they see the stone head coming their way. Near the end, you'll get one last prompt from Musashi to jump. Do it so you can clear the stream. At the end, you'll reach a doorway in a wall that the stone head can't break through. You'll be back at Allucaneet (pronounced "All you can eat") Castle.

When you enter the castle, you'll find Princess Fillet...but a man in an iron mask is holding her hostage! This is Rootrick, and he wants Lumina in exchange for the Princess. Musashi isn't going for this, and when he advances towards Rootrick, a flame trap drops from the ceiling, surrounding Musashi with flames. The Princess tells you to use Lumina. This leads to a tutorial on Lumina Rotation.

To use Lumina Rotation, hold R1 until the gauge on the lower-left is full. Keep R1 held down after this and press Triangle, which is the button you'll be pressing to use Lumina. This will cause Musashi to spin around with Lumina in front of his, taking out anything or anyone near him. If this attack reminds you of the spinning sword attack from the Zelda games, give yourself a pat on the back because I'm pretty sure this is what it's lifted from.

By performing the Lumina Rotation, Musashi is able to extinguish the flames, but Rootrick knocks Princess Fillet out and teleports away with her. You'll then fight your first boss of the game: the Steam Knight, which stomps through the roof of the throne room and lands a couple of yards away from Musashi.

Thirstquencher Empire

Steam Knight

You may remember this as the Easy Mode mission on the demo version for this game.

When you fight the Steam Knight, you'll see arrows pointing at the legs of the Steam Knight. Wait for the steam to stop coming out of the legs, then pound on the legs with Fusion. When the steam stops shooting out, however, you'll have to deal with the ball and chain that the Steam Knight swings at you, which homes in on your current position at the time it throws it out. Stay on the move and this won't hurt you.

Sometimes, you'll see chandeliers come down during the battle as the Steam Knight attacks with the ball and chain. Stay away from them so they don't fall on you.

If you need to, press the Triangle button to swing Lumina and do some more damage. Unlike Fusion, a short, thin blade that has fast strikes and can lead to combos that do wicked amounts of damage, Lumina is a large sword that just does one vertical strike and has no opportunities for combos. However, since you can perform Lumina Rotation to deal even more damage (and on multiple nearby enemies, at that), the sword's not all bad, so using both swords is essential for beating the Steam Knight as well as the entire game.

As you do damage to the legs, the legs will show wear and tear. When you complete destroy one of the legs, the Steam Knight will then be temporarily stunned. Tear off the flag underneath the torso by attacking it, and you'll expose the Bincho Crystal in its core. While it's exposed, attack it repeatedly with Lumina until the Steam Knight gets back up. This will cause the Steam Knight's life bar to go down. From here, you'll have to use the same strategies of waiting for the steam to subside and avoiding the ball and chain before attacking the other leg. Remember that the steam will damage you and knock you into the air if you run into it.

The Steam Knight can also shoot out fire that can turn into a flame ring when it hits the ground around you, similar to the one you extinguished when you confronted Rootrick. Like last time, use Lumina Rotation to put it out. You'll have to be faster than last time, though, as the ring of flames will soon try to converge on you and damage you if you can't perform it in time.

When the Steam Knight's life bar is emptied, it will be knocked to the other end of the throne room, unable to move. Go up to the center of the Steam Knight (where you attacked the Bincho Crystal) and pick it up with the Square button. Press Square again to toss the Steam Knight through the wall. This starts the second part of the fight.

Stay away from the Steam Knight after you throw it into the wall, as it will crush you while turning around and exposing its other two legs. From here, you'll be using the same strategies to fight the Steam Knight once again, but this time you have the additional dangers of falling pillars, as the Steam Knight will attack them with its ball and chain, causing the pillars to come down and potentially squash you if you're under them before they land. The Steam Knight can also grab them and throw them at you, but the Steam Knight lifts it up for a moment before tossing it, giving you enough time to run to the other side of the path to avoid them.

When you destroy the other two legs, you'll be able to toss the Steam Knight the same way you tossed it out of the throne room.

For the third part of the boss battle, stay away from the Steam Knight's shadow when the Steam Knight jumps around so you don't get squashed. Whenever its Bincho Crystal is exposed, strike the crystal. You'll still be avoiding the ball and chain attacks from the first two rounds. Use Lumina to do more damage per strike.

When you beat the Steam Knight this time, it'll be for good. The ball from the ball and chain will come off, and after the Steam Knight is thrown through the town wall, Musashi will crush the steam knight with the ball to destroy it once and for all. Musashi then falls asleep as he wonders where Rootrick took Princess Fillet.

PrinceWatercress plays Jungle Hunt - The Longplay

...and now, gameplay minus the commentary! Enjoy!

Let's Play

Jungle Hunt is an arcade game from Taito from 1982 that was ported over to all of the big systems of the day the following year. In this game, you play as Sir Dudley Dashly, and you'll have to swing from vine to vine, swim across a river while stabbing sharks, and running up a hill while avoiding boulders before outwitting cannibals to rescue Lady Penelope from being boiled alive in a cauldron.

At the top of the screen, you'll have your current amount of lives on the left, your current score in the center, and the bonus timer on the right. The faster you get through one loop, the bigger the bonus you'll get.

The first part of the game has you swinging on vines. You'll be moving from right to left here. The vines swing back and forth at various speeds, and you'll need to time your presses of the fire button just right so that the vine ahead of you is angled to the right while the one you are on is angled to the left. If your timing is way off, you'll fall to the ground below and lose a life, but if you catch the vine, you'll be able to jump to the next one. As you're doing this, you'll want to pay attention to where you are on the vine. It's better to be higher on a vine than in a lower position, as that gives you more room for error and makes it easier to jump to the next vine in case something goes wrong.

You'll eventually end up in the river. You can swim around in eight directions with the joystick, and the fire button allows you to stab the crocodiles with a knife. If your upper arm is in the extended position, that means that you're stabbing with the knife, although it can be a bit hard to tell. As you swim across the river, you'll also have a "Diving" meter, which is your oxygen. If you run out of oxygen, you'll lose a life. You'll also lose a life if you run into a crocodile while not in the stabbing animation.

You'll soon reach dry land, and you'll have to run up a hill, although the hill is flat on the Atari 2600 version of the game. Left and Right on the joystick allow you to move back and forth, Down on the joystick allows you to duck, while the fire button allows you to jump. If you're holding Up on the joystick while you press the fire button, you'll do a higher jump than normal, and that can sometimes allow you to jump over the bigger boulders. The smaller boulders roll along the ground, while the bigger boulders will bounce up and down as they advance towards you. You'll have to jump over the smaller boulders, but you can superjump over or duck under the bigger boulders depending on your position as well as the boulder's.

Finally, there's the cannibals. The cannibals will jump back and forth, and you'll want to time your movements carefully so you don't run into them in any way. Approach them as they jump backwards, then jump over them before they jump forwards again. If you don't get close enough to jump over them, back away, then approach as they hop back to the left. Be ready to hit the fire button when you close the distance. If you use the superjump, this can be a little easier. When you jump over a cannibal, head left with Left on the joystick to head to the second cannibal, who you'll have to deal with the same way that you dealt with the first one. After getting past the second cannibal, keep holding Left on the joystick, especially when you reach the screen with Lady Penelope. You'll reunite with Lady Penelope, and the game starts all over again at a slightly higher difficulty.

The only game modes are selectable with the Game Select switch. Game Mode 1 is the default easier difficulty, while Game Mode 2 is the harder difficulty. Pressing the switch will show one of the two numbers - 1 or 2 - in the upper-left corner. The difficulty switches are not used for this game.

I had fun with this port. The colors were of the darker variety, but it definitely feels like you're in a jungle with the hues that the colors come in. I also like that there is also parallax scrolling with the treetops. The sound and music is pretty arcade-y, and the jingle you get for completing a section of the game never gets old. The controls are responsive, and while you'll get them down pretty quickly, getting through and beyond the second loop will take a little bit of doing. As for replay value, your mileage may vary due to the arcade-esque nature of this game much like all others of the era, but don't be surprised if you spend some serious time with this one just because of how fun this is. If you see this one, try it out. You won't be disappointed.

PrinceWatercress plays Jungle Hunt

Taito hit a home run with this one back in the day. Still holds up!

Longplay

Jungle Hunt is an arcade game from Taito from 1982 that was ported over to all of the big systems of the day the following year. In this game, you play as Sir Dudley Dashly, and you'll have to swing from vine to vine, swim across a river while stabbing sharks, and running up a hill while avoiding boulders before outwitting cannibals to rescue Lady Penelope from being boiled alive in a cauldron.

At the top of the screen, you'll have your current amount of lives on the left, your current score in the center, and the bonus timer on the right. The faster you get through one loop, the bigger the bonus you'll get.

The first part of the game has you swinging on vines. You'll be moving from right to left here. The vines swing back and forth at various speeds, and you'll need to time your presses of the fire button just right so that the vine ahead of you is angled to the right while the one you are on is angled to the left. If your timing is way off, you'll fall to the ground below and lose a life, but if you catch the vine, you'll be able to jump to the next one. As you're doing this, you'll want to pay attention to where you are on the vine. It's better to be higher on a vine than in a lower position, as that gives you more room for error and makes it easier to jump to the next vine in case something goes wrong.

You'll eventually end up in the river. You can swim around in eight directions with the joystick, and the fire button allows you to stab the crocodiles with a knife. If your upper arm is in the extended position, that means that you're stabbing with the knife, although it can be a bit hard to tell. As you swim across the river, you'll also have a "Diving" meter, which is your oxygen. If you run out of oxygen, you'll lose a life. You'll also lose a life if you run into a crocodile while not in the stabbing animation.

You'll soon reach dry land, and you'll have to run up a hill, although the hill is flat on the Atari 2600 version of the game. Left and Right on the joystick allow you to move back and forth, Down on the joystick allows you to duck, while the fire button allows you to jump. If you're holding Up on the joystick while you press the fire button, you'll do a higher jump than normal, and that can sometimes allow you to jump over the bigger boulders. The smaller boulders roll along the ground, while the bigger boulders will bounce up and down as they advance towards you. You'll have to jump over the smaller boulders, but you can superjump over or duck under the bigger boulders depending on your position as well as the boulder's.

Finally, there's the cannibals. The cannibals will jump back and forth, and you'll want to time your movements carefully so you don't run into them in any way. Approach them as they jump backwards, then jump over them before they jump forwards again. If you don't get close enough to jump over them, back away, then approach as they hop back to the left. Be ready to hit the fire button when you close the distance. If you use the superjump, this can be a little easier. When you jump over a cannibal, head left with Left on the joystick to head to the second cannibal, who you'll have to deal with the same way that you dealt with the first one. After getting past the second cannibal, keep holding Left on the joystick, especially when you reach the screen with Lady Penelope. You'll reunite with Lady Penelope, and the game starts all over again at a slightly higher difficulty.

The only game modes are selectable with the Game Select switch. Game Mode 1 is the default easier difficulty, while Game Mode 2 is the harder difficulty. Pressing the switch will show one of the two numbers - 1 or 2 - in the upper-left corner. The difficulty switches are not used for this game.

I had fun with this port. The colors were of the darker variety, but it definitely feels like you're in a jungle with the hues that the colors come in. I also like that there is also parallax scrolling with the treetops. The sound and music is pretty arcade-y, and the jingle you get for completing a section of the game never gets old. The controls are responsive, and while you'll get them down pretty quickly, getting through and beyond the second loop will take a little bit of doing. As for replay value, your mileage may vary due to the arcade-esque nature of this game much like all others of the era, but don't be surprised if you spend some serious time with this one just because of how fun this is. If you see this one, try it out. You won't be disappointed.

PrinceWatercress plays Checkout - The Longplay

...and now, here's some gameplay, minus commentary! Enjoy!

Let's Play

Checkout is a pretty interesting looking game for the BBC Micro written by Mike Cooke and published by Virgin Games in 1984 for the BBC Micro. This is one of many "tile-walking" games in existence out there, and to get through this game, you'll need to walk on each tile twice and get all the titles on the same pattern that this produces while also avoiding the drone that rotates around the game board as well as its lasers.

Z moves left, X moves right, : moves up and / moves down. At the top of the screen is your current score and the number of lives you have left. On the left side of the screen is an hourglass, and when all the sand goes down, the drone will zap a laser in four directions. If that laser hits you, or if the drone touches you in any way, you'll lose a life. On the right side is a bar that fills up with red bars, and if you complete 17 levels in a row without a game over, you'll enter a second loop that is much more difficult due to the smaller timer, which allows the drone to zap its laser every few seconds as it zips around more quickly compared to its usual speed.

At the bottom is the timer for the magic square and the three-digit number that dictates how many points you'll get from it, which leads to an explanation for There is a chance that you can walk onto the "magic square,"  which is one of the tiles on the board chosen by the game at random If you land on it within 30 seconds of starting a level, you'll get a jingle, the action will stop, and the numbers on the "reels" of the three-digit number will spin like reels on a slot machine. You'll need to press the space bar to stop the numbers in the bottom right-hand corner, and you'll want to stop the reels on high numbers, as the higher the number you get, the more points you'll get out of it. When you get the magic square and the bonus points, the reels will disappear.

As for the drone, the drone moves around the perimeter between the edge and the center of the board, and it will reverse directions every so often. You'll want to keep an eye on where it is going as well as the hourglass. If you get too close to the drone's path, you will lose a life. If the hourglass empties and the laser that it fires in four directions hits you, you'll also lose a life from that. If you know the drone is about to fire soon, get to one of the corners, as the lasers will never reach them.

It takes quite a bit of skill to get to the later levels, and as you progress through the game, the colors of the tiles, the text and even the background will change colors every so often so as to liven things up, making it so that no two games look the same visually. Also, if you can get to the second loop, you'd better be fast, as not only will the drone fire lasers every few seconds, but the drone will also get a lot faster. The game takes a little while to get used to, but once you get used to how things go, it gets a lot more fun and also a lot more addicting. It also helps that this looks like some sort of game that I could have played on my parents' old Tandy PC back in the early 1990s when I was five or six years old and would still have fun with despite probably not being able to get very far in it. Either way, this is a fun arcade-style game for the BBC Micro and worth checking out.

PrinceWatercress plays Checkout

Are you ready to walk on tiles and avoid a drone on your BBC Micro?!?

Longplay

Checkout is a pretty interesting looking game for the BBC Micro written by Mike Cooke and published by Virgin Games in 1984 for the BBC Micro. This is one of many "tile-walking" games in existence out there, and to get through this game, you'll need to walk on each tile twice and get all the titles on the same pattern that this produces while also avoiding the drone that rotates around the game board as well as its lasers.

Z moves left, X moves right, : moves up and / moves down. At the top of the screen is your current score and the number of lives you have left. On the left side of the screen is an hourglass, and when all the sand goes down, the drone will zap a laser in four directions. If that laser hits you, or if the drone touches you in any way, you'll lose a life. On the right side is a bar that fills up with red bars, and if you complete 17 levels in a row without a game over, you'll enter a second loop that is much more difficult due to the smaller timer, which allows the drone to zap its laser every few seconds as it zips around more quickly compared to its usual speed.

At the bottom is the timer for the magic square and the three-digit number that dictates how many points you'll get from it, which leads to an explanation for There is a chance that you can walk onto the "magic square,"  which is one of the tiles on the board chosen by the game at random If you land on it within 30 seconds of starting a level, you'll get a jingle, the action will stop, and the numbers on the "reels" of the three-digit number will spin like reels on a slot machine. You'll need to press the space bar to stop the numbers in the bottom right-hand corner, and you'll want to stop the reels on high numbers, as the higher the number you get, the more points you'll get out of it. When you get the magic square and the bonus points, the reels will disappear.

As for the drone, the drone moves around the perimeter between the edge and the center of the board, and it will reverse directions every so often. You'll want to keep an eye on where it is going as well as the hourglass. If you get too close to the drone's path, you will lose a life. If the hourglass empties and the laser that it fires in four directions hits you, you'll also lose a life from that. If you know the drone is about to fire soon, get to one of the corners, as the lasers will never reach them.

It takes quite a bit of skill to get to the later levels, and as you progress through the game, the colors of the tiles, the text and even the background will change colors every so often so as to liven things up, making it so that no two games look the same visually. Also, if you can get to the second loop, you'd better be fast, as not only will the drone fire lasers every few seconds, but the drone will also get a lot faster. The game takes a little while to get used to, but once you get used to how things go, it gets a lot more fun and also a lot more addicting. It also helps that this looks like some sort of game that I could have played on my parents' old Tandy PC back in the early 1990s when I was five or six years old and would still have fun with despite probably not being able to get very far in it. Either way, this is a fun arcade-style game for the BBC Micro and worth checking out.

PrinceWatercress plays Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Part 28 of 28

We face Kain and beat him again, but the game ends on a cliffhanger. See you in Soul Reaver 2!

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As soon as you approach the portal, you'll glimpse into the timestream itself. Keep moving down the path, and you'll see more portals. These will give you glimpses not only into this timestream, but other ones (which even hint at some of the powers you were supposed to get in the game, but couldn't due to the game's troubled development cycle; these powers will show up in Soul Reaver 2). 

There is a teleporter at the end of the path before the final boss; you'll want to activate it and save before you do anything else. Shortly past this, you'll find the doors leading to the Chronoplast, and you'll meet Kain again. Kain and Raziel will have a conversation, then the final boss battle commences.

You'll need to hit Kain three times, once on the first floor, again on the second floor and a third time on the top floor. Stay in the middle and look around for Kain so you'll always heal in case you get hit, then go after Kain and hit him before he zaps you and disappears. You'll need to run up the light blue ramps to get to the second floor, and you'll need to do a high jump to reach the third.

Once you beat Kain, Kain will jump into the timestream. The Elder God will warn Raziel that he will not be able to watch over him if he follows, but Raziel follows anyway. He runs into Moebius, the Time Streamer, who welcomes Raziel to his destiny. The game then ends. You just beat Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver!

PrinceWatercress plays Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Part 27 of 28

It's time for the final puzzles in the game!

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0:36 - A statue of Moebius the Time Streamer.

Behind you is a clock. By dropping down, you'll find a symbol all over the wall, and you'll need to pull on the two levers to move the dials on the clock to two symbols: one at the bottom, the other at the top. These two symbols combine to make the symbol you saw at the bottom, and by doing this, you can move the lights around and open up a new area below.

2:49 - For this area, you'll need to use Constriction to move the blocks around. The colors of the symbols indicate which color light needs to face the center, and by combining blue and red, you can get purple. You'll then need to use Constriction on the device in the center to hit the rest of the lights and enter the next door.

5:21 - You'll soon be able to go downstairs. Take out the enemy, then pay attention to the symbols and the colors behind them. The three pillars, which you can control with Constriction, have a different color on the end, and they all control a hand on the clock below. Match the hand for each color to each symbol they represent, and you'll soon open the next door.

10:00 - After dealing with a few more enemies, you'll need to get some gears moving. Move the blocks out of the way to get them to come alive again. You'll get some pistons moving, and you can ride on them as platforms. These pistons will take you to the next area.

13:15 - You'll notice some blocks on the way to the next area. Take care of the enemies, then get ready to push and flip blocks around so that they match the same positions as the parts of the design on the floor that they represent. You'll need to push the blocks you saw across from the cage walls down with your projectiles in order to bring them down and finish the puzzle. That opens another door.

20:30 - After dropping down to the next section, you'll see three symbols on a nearby wall. Remember those symbols for later. Take out the enemies, then use the Constriction ability to move the bottoms of the symbols with their tops. Platforms will start swinging back and forth; ride them to the switches at the top and flip the switches. When you flip all three switches, you'll open yet another door. This will lead to the final battle...

PrinceWatercress plays Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Part 26 of 28

Before we can catch up to Kain, we need to complete a few more puzzles...

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0:44 - If you take the staff out of this enemy, the enemy will revive and attack. If you phase into the spiritual realm and destroy the wraith that stands in its place, then phase back into the material realm, the enemy will be gone.

1:40 - From here, you'll have some block moving to do. The symbols above the spaces in the wall indicate which gates they will control. The pedestal at the start can be spun around with the Constriction skill, and this will open and close the other pair of doors so you can more easily get around, push the blocks and move them to the "Z" and "O" slots to open the big door leading to the rest of the area.

10:03 - For the next area, you can use the Constriction pedestals to open some doors and refill magic, among other things. Shifting to the spiritual realm will get rid of an enemy in the material realm in the area when you need to push the blocks out from the side and then slot them into the wall with your projectile. There will be an enemy behind the door that opens; hit him with a projectile first, then throw the staff at him.

14:30 - After taking out the enemy in the next room, run around the columns so that the light brown parts face the center of the room. This opens the next door. The slit in the room leads to a magic refill. You'll need to head back to the beginning.

16:52 - Open up the path to the slit in the wall with Constriction again, then go back. The door that was previously closed will now be open; entering it leads to the Oracle's Cave. The cauldron belongs to "The Oracle," who was really Moebius in disguise tricking Kain into doing everything that he did in the first game that lead to the canonical bad ending. Raziel will realize that Kain was here. If you use the Constrict spell on the cauldron, this will open up a path leading to a new area. You can also use the fire here to give the Soul Reaver fire powers, if you need to.

PrinceWatercress plays Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Part 25 of 28

We grab the last of the pick-ups before heading back to the final area.

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2:18 - After running around the bridge controls clockwise, we head to another puzzle room where we need to push some blocks. You'll need to use the raised area in the center to create a stack three blocks high, then high jump and glide to get an eldritch energy extension for our runes.

7:25 - We're done here. We need to go back underwater for some more eldritch energy. With this, we have all the magic energy in the game!

10:10 - Back at the boat, shift back to the spiritual realm, then go up and go through the door when you're able to shift back.  You'll find a door that only be opened with a projectile. Platform your way across the water, and you'll reach another door. Go in and use the fire rune to take out the two enemies. Follow the path. You may remember this place. Run clockwise around the column now that you have Constriction. You'll drain the water below. Pull the blocks out to find some magic refills as well as the last health extension pick-up. You are now at max health!

15:15 - Now it's time to go back. Get back over the nearby wall, then go through the underwater path. By taking the correct path, we'll end up back near the beginning of the game and we can teleport to the final area. You'll need to shift to the spiritual realm to open up the slit in the wall. When you do, you'll have a whole new area to deal with on the other side.