Part nostalgia-bomb, part note-taking and part FAQ, what started in GameTrailers as a video game blog is now on Blogger. This blog is a look back at video games, both popular and obscure, from the video game industry's infancy all the way to the previous console generation.
From Dartmoor, make your way down. Head all the way to the left and enter the house. You will be told to see the guru in the Castle of Fraternal. You will also learn that the Dragon Slayer is in the Dwarf King's hands.
Make your way to the right from here, Be careful with the gold horned guy; nudge towards him and stab him, since he moves suddenly.
You'll eventually reach a castle. You won't be able to enter it until you get another ring. Keep going right and you'll see the Castle of Fraternal. Go up from here, since you cannot reach the castle by normal means from here, and follow the path. You'll reach the castle from above.
There are three levels to this castle: top, middle and bottom. The middle level loops horizontally, which can make it a little easier to get where you want to go.
The gold slimes on the ceiling produce ghosts that will grab onto you. They can easily be defeated with the Tilte spell. You'll eventually want to get back onto the top floor from the middle one to take on a dragon boss.
To beat the dragon boss, King Grieve, block the fireballs and use Tilte when he dives down in front of you. You'll take him out quickly and get the Dragon Slayer for your efforts. By equipping the Dragon Slayer, you will also equip the Battle Helmet and Battle Suit.
From here, drop to the lower floor to find the Guru. Talking to him will reveal the dragon boss' name - and that The Evil One changed his appearance, allowing him to protect the Dragon Slayer by hiding it within his own body - and give you the Demons Ring, which opens the way to the Evil One himself.
Leave Castle of Fraternal and head back to the left. You'll eventually be able to make your way to the door requiring the Demons Ring, allowing you to enter the Evil Fortress.
This area is a bit of a maze, and certain areas will loop to each other. Thankfully, having a map here is really helpful. You want to make it to the room with the jumping boss and enter the door to face the Evil One.
The Evil One is the final boss of the game. Jump up and stab him in the face, and be sure to come in here with Tilte equipped as well as plenty of Red Potions. You'll be able to do a load of damage with Tilte and/or the Dragon Slayer, and compared to King Grieve, The Evil One is a pushover.
When you beat The Evil One, you will save the Elves and the Dwarfs and start a gradual return to peace and normalcy. The hero then leaves the town of Eolis to head on another journey, and this time, the area is a lot more beautiful and bright. You just beat Faxanadu! Congratulations!
From Conflate, go back to the upward path you saw on the way there and go up the ladder. This will lead you to the path leading to the town of Daybreak.
Almost of the enemies that you see here are enemies that you have seen before, so don't worry about meeting too many new enemies.
The Magical Rod will boost your magic damage, and you will need it for a little bit later.
The leaping boss comes back here, and if you beat him, you will get the Battle Suit, which is the best armor in the game. Unfortunately, you won't be able to equip it quite yet.
To get back up the ladder from where you found the Magical Rod and the Battle Suit, stop when you see the guy with the sword and shield move. When he stops moving, carefully, nudge your way to the top of the latter and past it so that you stand on the ladder. Move right, and take the guy down.
The black and gold enemies stay in one spot - except to teleport - and can be pushed back by attacking them.
King Keys are cheaper here than in previous towns at 1200 Golds apiece. Buy two of them.
At the tool shop, you can buy the Tilte spell. This is a diagonally arcing projectile that is powerful and consumes a lot of magic, but can be useful against the final boss.
The nurse at the dried meat shop tells you that the Guru of Conflate has the Ring of Dwarfs...so go back there.
At the bar, you'll learn that you can find a magic cane above the tower of Pillar, and that the castle of Dartmoor is a complex maze.
At the house next to the guru, you'll find out that news of your exploits have made the rounds.
Go back to the Guru and get the Ring of Dworf to open the door to Dartmoor. (Yes, that's how it's spelled.) You'll also find out that you will be be able to wear the Battle Helmet and Battle Suit when you have the Dragon Slayer.
Head back to Daybreak. At the screen before you get there, keep going back between this screen and the town of Daybreak himself to get some Golds. This will help you get the Tilte spell, should you need it.
Just below the start is the town of Dartmoor itself. Going up and to the left at the start takes you to, from left to right, a meat shop, a key shop, a tool shop and a house.
The guys with maces will jump around a lot. They always do two short hops followed by a long jump.
The walking gold nugget-like enemies are very fast and will charge at you. Be ready to hit them.
If you go up after the first two screens, the path leads to a bunch of bosses and an Elixir. Otherwise, take out the boss to the right with a few castings of Fire.
The xenomorph-looking enemies with the sword and shield are pretty powerful, and move only when you move. Thankfully, you can take the top road to avoid them when you first see them.
Further to the right is a new boss. This guy will jump when you are close enough, and he will keep jumping around. Get him pinned against the right wall, and when he jumps at you, hit him and keep him at the wall. He'll eventually go down in no time, and you'll get the Black Onyx, which is a piece of the meteorite. This item will reduce the amount of damage you take for as long as you have it in your inventory.
On the way back from the Black Onyx, you can use Fire to push enemies back.
When you bring the Black Onyx back to the guy who wanted it, you'll get an Ace (A) Key. This will allow you to open the door to the right of him and take the road to Conflate.
The bird enemy jumps around every so often. It isn't very fast, and it always drops bread.
The one-eyed monster that pops out of the ground does not move, making it very vulnerable.
Watch out for the blue worm that goes up and down the ladder. Thankfully, it gets knocked off after one strike, and will drop money. After this ladder, there will be a fork in the road. Going right will take you to Conflate. If you take that path, however, you'll run into a bottle of poison that you will not be able to avoid unless you jump carefully.
Going left will take you to an area accessible with a King Key that will take you into a room where you will fight the Black Onyx boss from the Tower of Mist. Beating it will award you with the Battle Helmet, and while this item is not required, it's still helpful. It is in the Shield section, but it cannot be equipped until later in the game.
At the right fork, there is another branching path. Going further to the right takes you to Conflate, while going up takes you to yet another area. Head right for now.
The villagers here do not really give any useful information.
The tool shop sells a Giant Blade, which is more than twice as powerful as the Long Sword. The Magic Shield is also here, if you don't have it yet. Be sure you have both at this point.
In the house next to the doctor, you will learn that there is a magic hall outside of town.
The dried meat here costs 250 Golds.
There are some new keys here. There are King (K) Keys that are slightly more expensive, and you'll be needing at least three of them.
At the tool shop, the Full Plate armor is the next step up from what you've got now, as it gives 25% protection from attacks.. Go get it and equip it outside.
At the bar, the smoking man will tell you that the door to the capital below is open.
The squid enemies move back and forth and take quite a few strikes from the Long Sword to beat up. It's worth it for the bread, though.
The tentacle-like enemies with the single eye move slowly and also drop bread.
The bees fly at you in groups of three.
Dropping down from the exit from Victim and making your way to the right, following the path as you go, takes you to an old man who will teach you Fire for 3000 Golds. Fire deals four times more damage than Deluge and uses almost as much MP. This is one spell you will definitely want to get and equip. Not only does it work wonders against enemies, but it pushes normal enemies all the way back and goes through the ones that don't survive.
If you go two screens left from where you learned Fire and go up the ladder up top, you'll head to a Useless Tower. Inside are a few enemies and a Red Potion. That's it. There is absolutely no reason to go there and use a King Key to go inside. Instead, go one screen left, work your way up and head left from there.
The blue man who beats on a drum should be taken out as soon as possible, as he casts a thunder spell that will hit you anywhere on the screen no matter what. The nearby house will contain a man who will will help you out if go inside the Tower of Mist up ahead, beat the Dwarf inside, get the meteorite piece and bring it back to him.
The blue guy with the bald head can jump high in the air and hover for a bit, and he can also make some long jumps, too
At the fountain near the Tower of Fortress entrance, walk into the block at the top of the fortress by moving into it. This will push the block out of existence and cause a ladder to drop down to the left. Go up the ladder and enter the door with a Queen Key.
The path here will be covered in mist. The gold guy with the sword and shield will do a lot of damage if he touches you, but you have more range than him, so use the Long Sword.
There is a ladder above the entrance to Mascon. If you go there, you will find a tower that requires the Queen Key to enter and contains a few magical items, including the Black Onyx, which further reduces the amount of damage you take for as long as it is in your inventory.
In the bar, you will learn there are stores nearby that sell useful items, but they are located in the sky. Also, you will learn that the meteorites become position that bring sickness when mixed with water, and that everything started when the Dwarfs brought a meteorite into the World Tree.
The dried meats here cost 180 Golds.
At the weapons and armor shop, the Large Shield is the next step up from the Small Shield. Also, Thunder is 50% more powerful than Deluge, but uses twice the MP.
Around town, you will learn that Mascon has been covered in mist ever since a meteorite hit the town and that some areas may still be burning. You will learn that a meteorite is in the Tower of Suffer, which is above a Guru.
The nurse at the doctor's office tells you that the Hourglass will allow you to move around freely while time is stopped for a short time.
The floating blue heads with the single eye move around a little strangely. They can also bump you into enemies, so watch out.
One screen to the right after meeting the one-eyed flying enemies has a shop upwards that sells the Death spell at a much cheaper price.
Further to the right is a house. You'll learn here that the Dwarfs are chanting their mantras to a segment of the meteorite, as they believe it has special cosmic power. You'll also learn the Tower of Suffer is nearby.
You'll eventually find the Tower of Suffer as you follow the path up from that house. Just watch out with the jumps. To the right just before the Tower of Suffer is a bar, a Guru and a doctor. The bar and the doctor on the sides have monsters, but the Guru will be in the center door if you need to save.
You'll soon see the Tower of Suffer. The dragon enemy nearby jumps up and down in place. You'll need a Queen Key to enter the Tower.
From the beginning, you'll want to head right, then keep going up on that side of the tower.
The spider-like enemy can only be struck in the head with the Long Sword, but you can hit it in the legs with magic.
When you see the two flying enemies from Trunk, you're close to another item. Just keep jumping over the fireballs and striking them in the head. You'll get the Pendant, which is a piece of the meteorite. It is supposed to increase your attack power, but the item is bugged and it decreases it, making getting it completely worthless. (In the next video, it is mentioned that due to a bug in the game's programming, the game thinks you already have the pendant when you don't due to a simple coding error.)
To beat up the big worm enemy on the way back, just drop down and hit it hard and fast with Deluge to push it away significantly, or else that big worm will be on top of you.
There is one set of screens you can go back and forth on the west end of the Tower of Fortress. The room you want to keep re-entering is the one with the three fly enemies (which is the one that contains the door to a Guru). Go up and down the ladder on the upper-left corner and re-enter that room four times. Beat up the enemies, and you'll get the Wing Boots underneath the ladder. Repeat to get as many pairs of Wing Boots as you need.
Be sure to talk to the Guru here. He will tell you to go below the blue sky to find a fountain above.
Watch out for the bottle of poison on the way down from the Guru room.
There are two spaces on the map at ground level that are mostly blue sky. The second one, which has that little bit of tree root on the right, is the one where you want to use a pair of Wing Boots. Equip them, press Down and B to use them, then hold A and press up. Fly two screens up. You'll be in a brand new area. Fly one more screen up and talk to the old man. After some humorous dialogue, you'll get the second spring turned on.
From here, drop all the way straight down, and head back to Forepaw to heal up and level up if you have to. Also, get a Jack Key and three Queen (Q) Keys. If you jump straight up in front of the shopkeeper, you can talk to him again quickly to make buying multiple things easier. There's just one more spring to go.
From here, head back to the Tower of Fortress and talk to the Guru again. He will give you a Joker (Jo) Key to open the door below the town. If you need another Joker Key, just talk to the Guru again. Inside is another flying enemy similar to the one in the Tower of Trunk. If you grabbed the ointment before going down here, it is easy to drop down, get in here, go to town on this monster, and talk to the old man on the next screen to the right to revive the last spring. Be sure to talk to him again to get the Ring of Ruby, which will allow you to push the rock away from the fountain.
From here, you can go back to Forepaw and restock on necessary items, then head to the fountain near the Tower of Fortress entrance.
If you're playing along with HCBailly at this point, you'll probably have the Magic Shield. If you get it now, you'll never have to buy another shield in the game.
Past the Tower of Trunk, use the Mattock to break the brown wall tiles in your path. This wall comes back when you leave the screen and come back, so be careful. Also, if you keep going between this screen and the one above and beat up monsters as you go, you'll get a Red Potion.
Now for those new enemies on the road to Forepaw. The ghost enemies fly around at an angle and always drop bread. The mushroom head zombies move slowly, can jump up from time to time and also always drop bread. The man in the white hood shoots fireballs that can be protected against easily with the Magic Shield, and they can easily be stabbed with the Hand Dagger or whatever weapon you have for the 115 Golds they always drop.
The glove increases your attack power temporarily, so jump the platforms and go get it. Unfortunately, it does not come with its own timer. Some items work this way.
The tool shop sells the Long Sword (which deals double the damage of the Hand Dagger and has more range) and the Studded Mail (which has twice the defense of the last armor you had). Get both of them and equip the Wing Boots allow you to fly for a limited time and is an item that takes up inventory space, and if you use it, it does come with a timer that you can see on the heads-up display at the top of the screen.
If you bought Red Potions in Apolune, you can sell them for more than you bought them for in the tool shop here. You can take advantage of this for a little more Golds.
There is a meat shop here where you can eat dried meat for 150 Golds. It's still less expensive than the doctor here.
One villager will tell you that water from three springs flows into a nearby fountain. If you find the three springs, you can return the water from each to the fountain to revive it. This fountain is somewhere in the sky, and if you go down from the town, you'll find a place where the sky opens above. The fountain is there, but you need Wing Boots to reach it.
The first screen out of Forepaw has three ghosts, and if you can hit them in the right spot, you can get a lot of bread to replenish your health with. You can also go to the screen below that and go back and forth between it and the screen to the left to get the bread off the one ghost repeatedly.
If you go up from here and keep going back and forth between this screen and the one before it while beating up enemies, you can get ointment. It has no timer, but if you pick it up, you will be invulnerable to damage from physical strikes (but not projectiles) for a brief period of time.
From the screen above where you exited Forepaw from, go two screens left. You'll find one of the fountains and a door before it. Enter it with a Jack Key equipped to go in. Welcome to the Tower of Fortress.
Believe it or not, you're not supposed to go here first; however, the game lets you. There are some advantages to coming here before you're supposed to, though.
The brown bottle that looks like a Red Potion (but is brown instead) above the starting point is the bottle of poison. If you touch it, you will take some damage.
This dungeon has four floors, and there is a bit of a fork. One direction will take you to Wing Boots and an Elixir that is blocked by a boss battle, and the other takes you to an old man who you will need to talk to in order to release the water from the fountain. If you do not have an Elixir (either by having used the one you bought in Eolis or just plain not having one), you will have to take on the boss first, get the Elixir from behind him, then go all the way back to the old man to use the Elixir to revive the Spring of Trunk. Press A when he asks if he can use your Elixir, then you'll release the water from the fountain. The old man will then tell you to go to Mascon after water flows into the fountain and find the poison the Dwarfs hide, or else the Elves with be destroyed.
The flies fly back and forth, changing their altitude from time to time. You'll learn to time when to hit
To fight the big worm enemy just before the boss, just stand on the wall next to the ladder and strike to the right to hit it in the head when it comes close. That enemy will not be able to touch you, and you'll easily get a ton of coins.
For the boss, just run past him. The boulders do a lot of damage, but if you're fast, they won't hit you. Go up the ladder and grab the Elixir, then go left and repeatedly attack the boss from behind for some Golds and free Wing Boots.
When you encounter that monster near the gate leading out, you can use the Hand Dagger to defeat it. Press B to use your physical weapon. You'll rear back for a frame or two before striking, but it's not too much of a problem. Also, the enemy you just fought dropped money. Enemies will drop either food that replenishes your health or money you can use in the shops, and after you figure out which monster drops what, getting stocked up on what you need is easier.
The door leading out of Eolis requires a Jack Key. Head to the sub-menu and equip a Jack Key, then enter the door. You'll use the key.
Be careful. Once you leave Eolis, you can't return.
The enemies you'll face will be the ones you first encountered in Eolis. It should be noticed that the jumping heads will switch directions. Use a Deluge spell followed by a dagger stab on them. The spiked monsters require just one Deluge.
Press Up in front of a ladder - even in the air - to grab onto it. You can then climb where you need to with the Control Pad from there.
The light blue guys that slowly move around are zombies. You can easily defeat them with the dagger, and all they give you is experience.
The tool shop on the way to the next town sells the Magic Shield and the Death spell, but they are very expensive. You'll definitely want to get the Magic Shield when you can, as it reduces damage by 90% if you block them. Death can easily kill bosses, but it uses a lot of MP.
The first person you meet will tell you there are Dwarfs all over the Tower of Trunk. Leave town, turn right and go straight, and you 'll find the tower.
The tool shop here sells the Small Shield, which will be your first shield in the game and will reduce damage by 50%. Equip it just like you did everything else by going to Shield in the sub-screen. In order to use it, just stand there. You'll block whatever hit you and take less damage as a result.
At the cafe, you will learn that you can break walls with the Mattock and that you can find it in the Tower of Trunk by defeating a Dwarf.
The doctor is more expensive than in Eolis. Unfortunately, you'll be forced to rely on him here, since you can't go back to Eolis and eat the dried meat to refill on magic and power for less than what the doctor there charges.
To the left of the doctor is the Guru. The Guru's password will keep track of any items you have, all of your magic spells, all of your equipped armor and weapons, your current rank. If you use a password, you will start off with the minimum amount of experience for that rank. There are sixteen ranks in the game, and you get stronger with each one you get. Also, you don't get all the Golds that you had back when you start back off from a password; instead, you get a fixed amount.
If you get enough experience for a new rank, go to the Guru and he will give you a new rank.
The nurse at the doctor's office will tell you about the poison bottles. Do not touch poison bottles, or you will take some damage.
You'll also learn here that you can only hold eight items in your inventory, and that the Guru's mantra is the password that the Guru gives you.
If you go between the second and third screens of this area four times and defeat the enemies on the second screen, you can easily win a Mattock without having to beat the enemy at the end here.
If you want to get the Mattock properly, however, you will meet a new enemy. The blue horned enemies will jump forward when you are close enough. Wait for them to jump, then stab before the jump again. These guys drop 100 Golds when defeated. Use them to get Golds for the Magic Shield (and Death, if you absolutely want it.
The lizard guys jump around when you get close enough, but they're not as bad as the horned enemies. They also drop 100 Golds when beaten.
At the end of Tower of Trunk is a winged creature. Don't go down the stairs; instead, stay at the top of the stage and keep casting Deluge until it dies. Run to the right to get the Mattock and the Golds that this enemy drops.
Oh, boy! A Nihon Falcom game! Believe it or not, this is a side story/spin-off of Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II, the second installment of Nihon Falcom's Dragon Slayer series.
This game uses a password rather than a save system. However, some of the games look similar, with capital H's looking like capital N's and capital O's looking like zeroes. Thankfully, the font is changed is the Wii Virtual Console version so everything is easier to read.
The game begins with a nameless elf warrior heading back to his hometown of the Elf town of Eolis after a long journey. Unfortunately, when he comes back, his town has become almost deserted and the walls around the town are crumbling. It turns out that some meteorites have rained down around the nearby World Tree, and monsters controlled by The Evil One in the Evil Place are running amok. You are the only one who can set things right.
The hero (who can be named in the Japanese version) will then enter the town. Left and Right on the Control Pad let you move around, while Up lets you open doors and talk to somebody in front of you. The first person you talk to will tell you to go see the King right away.
As you explore Eolis, you'll come across the meat shop, where you can restore your power with dried meat for 50 Golds. Golds are the currency for this game. Press A to buy, and press B to back out.
The P bar is your power, or health, meter. The M bar is your magic meter. The E followed by the number is your current experience, the T followed by the two-digit number is the time remaining on a magical item, and the G followed by the big seven-digit number is the amount of Golds you have. The brackets on the far right indicate your currently equipped item.
If you go to the right of where you start, there will be a monster. If you have him kill you, you'll get full health and magic and be taken to the Guru. Talk to the Guru, and you will be given a ring to take with you when you see the King. This Ring of Elf will identify you as an elf so you can enter the castle to see him. When you leave this area, you'll be back to the screen left of where you entered from. (Interestingly, the Guru's church has a faintly-noticeable cross that is censored out in the Western version, because Nintendo. Ironically, people are allowed to smoke, as you can see in the next screen to the left.)
There are shops to the left of the Guru, but there is nothing you can do in either of those stores for now. The smoking man will tell you that the Dwarfs are already in town and that the end is near. On the next screen to the left, press A while holding Left to jump over the two spiked creatures, then head over to the left. Jump over the next two spiked creatures, then go left and enter the door on the right. This guy will restore your magic for 200 Golds, but you're better off using the meat. The door on the left has a warrior will give you a martial arts lesson for 200 Golds, but you're better off using items. The person outside will tell you that the last well is drying up.
Further to the left is the castle. Go in and you will meet the King. Talk to him, and you will learn that the Elf fountain has stopped and the wells are drying up. Men have went to find out what has happened, but none have returned. The King names you the Elves' last hope, and gives you 1500 Golds to spend on supplies.
As you have probably figured out from moving around, by holding Left or Right, you move slowly at first, then you start moving quickly after a few steps. This takes a little bit of getting used to,
Go back to the stores near the smoking man. The one on the right allows you to buy some keys to open doors. Buy three Jack (J) Keys. Whenever you use a key, it will disappear, and you will have to use another one.
The store on the left is a tool shop. Here, buy the Deluge spell, an Elixir. The Deluge Spell is a fireball that you can equip in the Magic menu, and the Elixir will refill your life should you die. To call up the item menu, just press the Select button, and you can equip magic, weapons and armor as well as use items. The Elixir does not go into your Item section; instead it goes into the Player section that shows your current rank (out of sixteen possible ones), the amount of experience needed for the next rank, what you have equipped and your special items, which is where your Elixir will be.
If you buy a Red Potion - which refills your health when used - for 160 Golds and sell it back for 80 Golds (or buy two Red Potions), then buy a Hand Dagger with the 400 Golds you have left, you can go back to the King and get 1500 Golds again - something you're only supposed to do once. (Apparently, the game checks to see if you have absolutely no Golds first when you talk to the King.) From there, you can buy more things you aren't expected to buy. If you do that, you can buy the Hand Dagger for 400 Golds and fill the rest of your inventory with Red Potions for a low price, as items will get more expensive as you go through the game (and sell them back in future towns for more money.)
Leave the store, then equip a Jack Key and the Deluge spell. You must leave the stores in order to equip the things you just bought. To use the Deluge spell, hold Up and press B. It uses a little bit of magic, but it allows you to throw fireballs at the spiky creatures to the left in order to destroy them, as the Hand Dagger would not allow you to hit them. The spiky creatures always leave bread behind, and that bread can replenish your health.
The house near the Guru has a man who will tell you about the meteorite that fell into the World Tree and caused the Dwarfs to come out of the underworld and attack the Elves.
Head to the screen to the right of where you entered Eolis. It's time to go.