The Let's Play Archive

Azure Dreams

by Krysmphoenix

Part 35: My name is Mamoru. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

This is it. Once again, as promised, I'm climbing straight to the top, using a gameshark to give me a boost along the way. I wish I could do this on my own power, but then this LP would die off without a proper ending. Fair warning, this update is going to be screenshot heavy, especially because of the way the game handles the 40th floor.


I'm only bringing my monsters with me. No other items.

Floor 1


I'm not pulling out a monster quite yet. My first enemy is a Pulunpa, and I can handle it on my own. Really, the only enemy you can't handle without equipment on the first floor are trolls.


And now you see my cheat in action. It was simply named "Fast Level Up" and as you can see...well, this is fast. I only got 1 EXP from that Pulunpa, but suddenly I got 37 levels from it. I have no idea how this cheat works, only that it does and my levels skyrocket. I also could have used "Infinite HP" but I decided against it. It sends the Max HP to 255, but if turn off the cheat and gain more Max HP (say, by leveling up) your HP loops back to zero. Of course, you could just leave it on, but I like levels better.
Another interesting thing is the yellow bar that used to be a sword. It completely overtook the sword at 100 HP. When I take damage, it doesn't fill up with red. That bar seems to only turn partially red based on the last 100 HP you have. I don't think the game really intended for Mamoru to get this much HP.



The RNG is fickle this time, but I'm grateful never the less. Clowns can still LoDown me, and I don't know how that works with the Fast Level Up cheat, so I'm grateful for the chance to prevent it.
Oh, and you'll notice that my level is now 50. After your first level-gaining spree, you get levels in chunks of two or three after every enemy you beat. After a while later on, you'll have to defeat two or three enemies before you get two or three levels at once. It's very unusual.


Floor 2


I dealt 51 damage to Ghosh. With my bare hand.


And...he finally drops a Wind Crystal for me.
: It's not like you need it anyway.

Floor 3


And here I learn an interesting mechanic. It seems that traps scale to Mamoru's level, as opposed to the floor of the tower. This is really the only interesting thing of note, other than I find a +2 Steel Sword that I equip simply because I don't have a weapon already.

Floor 4


I'm not wasting any time here. My cheat makes grinding pointless because I can kill everything in one hit and they can't deal any more than 1 damage to me. I'm picking up loot I find on the way, but I'm only looking for the elevator.

Floor 9


Fast forward several floors, and you'll notice that I'm even using Go Up traps to do this job for me. Go Up traps are pretty much elevators that don't give you a chance to save in the tower.

Floor 12


I find a Dreamin egg and decide to hatch it in the tower, just to see it's stats.


It's hard to compare the Dreamin to my other monsters, because this thing is somewhere between three to four times their level. Samus has higher ATK, but that's not surprising considering she has the double ATK trait. I don't bring Dream out. I'm actually trying to fight each monster solo and see how much EXP they drop. I want to calculate something out later on.


Speaking of Samus, I got curious to see if the cheat would let my Familiars level up super fast as well. They don't.


Buuut...remember how traps scale to Mamoru's level? Poor Samus didn't stand a chance. The trap did 69 damage. She had 67 Max HP.

Floor 13


I also find a Garuda egg on the floor just after. Comparing it to the Dreamin, it seems that the Dreamin has pretty good HP scale, but it's ATK scale sucks. The Garuda seems like a pretty well-rounded creature.
I also wonder why neither of them are being hatched with their hidden spell. Sometimes when I hatch monsters in the tower, they have their hidden spell...not sure why.


Floor 16


I also stumbled on a change inventory cheat which was rather complex, and can easily glitch the rest of your inventory. By changing one random item into a Roche fruit, I accidentally glitched my inventory so that one of my inventory slots is filled with invisible junk data. I can't see anything, but I can't pick anything up either. I'm changing my inventory for the rest of the trip.
Now, for what the Roche fruit does. The Roche fruit is probably one of the best items in the game. Why? Because you can throw it at a monster and it will turn the monster into an egg. Any monster, straight to egg. For this reason, the Roche fruit is very very rare. Probably Trained Wand rare, although that's a bad analogy because you already saw me get Trained wands twice.


Floor 18


Ha. They can't hurt me either. Of course my DEF stat is probably off the charts already. I think Mamoru gets a point in DEF a little more than every other level. Most of his ATK and DEF is supposed to come from equipment..

Floor 21


Huh. This is my first Emo Pulunpa I find in a long time. The ones with higher stats but won't attack Mamoru. Every other time I was on this floor I only found normal Pulunpas instead. Odd.

Floor 23


On the other side of the spectrum to the Arachnes, Mamoru get's a point of ATK a little more often than DEF, but not a whole lot. Either way, being level 95 is enough to one-shot a block.

Floor 25


Somewhat ironically, I use a Mazarr seed to to finally reach level 99. I leave the cheat on, but Mamoru won't level up anymore.


Here are Mamoru's stats. The theoretical Max HP is 255, which you can reach through Medicinal herbs. But if you gain another point of Max HP after that, I'm pretty sure it loops back to zero, meaning instant death.

Floor 28


Because of the high HP count of Naplasses, they need two hits from Mamoru at this level. Everything else still dies in one.
However, I noticed that the v3 Manoevas will sometimes transform into other monsters. If they transform into a Naplass, they'll randomly fall asleep, but the rest of the stats are still the same, and they'll die in only one hit.



Because I have plenty of HP to spare, I play with a Bomb Trap, seeing how much damage it can do to me, because I really want to know if the traps are based only on Mamoru's level or if the floor of the tower factors in somehow. This trap dealt 65 damage.

Floor 30


Perhaps not surprisingly, Killers are the first creature that can do more than one damage to Mamoru. And they do 30. Granted, they'd need to hit me eight times in a row to kill me (not to mention standard HP regeneration, which seems to be faster with higher max HP) and I can kill them in one.
Damn this felt good. And then I remembered that I cheated to do this.



I've been finding a bit of White sand as I've gone through the tower. No Red or Blue sand.
: I still have my ways of holding grudges against you.
But you've given me tons of eggs.
: Eggs were never part of my grudge. Besides, you're not doing anything with most of them anyway.

Floor 31

Upon reaching floor 31, an event immediately starts. Some light falls from above and hovers over a square adjacent to Mamoru. Eventually the light becomes a hologram.


Meet Beldo.
: You came all this way. Well you have grown up quite well. Like the son of Guy that you are. Hm hm hm hm. Do you know who I am? I bet you don't. The last man your father Guy saw. That's me. I am Beldo the most powerful monster tame of all.


You bastard. Guy was awesome.
: But... My right hand is throbbing.
Note: Beldo's picture is missing an entire right arm. It's hard to tell, but it's more than just the hand.
: I thirst for your blood. The right hand that was cut off by your father. Yes, my right hand was once cut off by Guy. Harming my body is such a unforgiveable act. Uuuuummmm. Do you understand? My grudge is bigger than just killing Guy. I will shred you into pieces too. My actual body is on the top floor. Grow up to become stronger than your father. I look forward to it. If you wish to find out about your father, and about me, come to the top floor!


And the light disappears.


Beldo's sprite was partially blocking an egg in the room. It contains a Glacier, a new monster we have not seen yet. It's also the toughest Water monster in the game.

Monster Book posted:


No. 30 GLACIER Habitat Iceberg
Its characteristics is the crystal shaped wart on its back, which helps to camouflage itself in its habitat: icebergs. Despite its frightful appearance, it is timid. It exhales air that is chilled inside its body, and creates ice walls to protect itself.


The Glacier has a special ability, which simply named "Create an ice." Shockingly, it creates an ice chunk in front of it. I'm not 100% sure on how it works, but if a monster is right in front of the Glacier, the monster will be stuck in the ice chunk.
Then the Glacier kicks the ice chunk which slides until it hits a wall. If it hits a monster, I think the damage is on level with a basic attack. If a monster was stuck inside, the monster will slide until the wall and maybe take damage. This ability uses around 8 MP.


Floor 32



Monster Book posted:


No. 02 DRAGON Habitat Cave
Its fame and strength won the name, "King of the Monsters." A wild dragon usually lives deep in a cave. Its intensely hot breath and hot scales distinguish it. It is extremely difficult for a human to raise one.

Two things. First, floors 32 and 33 win the prize for having the coolest floor textures. This is awesome.
Second, meet the Dragon. They know the spell Breath, which is very powerful. Thanks to the mirror shield, none of them hit me, and every single Breath cast at me gets reflected back to the Dragon. The reflected spell does around 6 or 7 damage. Dragons can also take two hits from Mamoru and deal around 30 back. These guys are tough.



I also find my first Blue sand in the tower. And a Life Wand too, which I equip. I start getting around 8-12 HP back with every hit. Not that I need it, but it's nice. The steel sword wasn't adding much anyway.


Oh, and we see Glacier's now. They deal 1 damage to me and only take one hit to defeat. Very rarely will they use their Ice ability, but when they do use it, I usually end up sliding down a hallway.

Floor 33



Monster Book posted:


No. 46 GOLEM Habitat: Monster Tower
This monster has been protecting the Monster Tower since ancient times. Why they protect the tower is unknown. It is a magical life form created by a magician, has no emotion, and it executes commands of its creator alone. Its movements are slow and heavy, but it has a defensive force and endures well.

Golem's are the toughest Wind monster in the game. They deal around 11 damage to Mamoru and they have very high DEF, but still fall in two hits. I imagine a Golem that has a Block fused to it would always take one damage once it gets enough levels in. They also have some kind of charge up attack where it shoots out it's arm and can hit two squares away at least. I'm not fully sure how it works. If I ever got one as a familiar, I'd probably study it.

Floor 34


Floor 34 and 35 also have a pretty cool design as well. This one seems more fire oriented, as opposed to the previous icy design.
Anyway, I trigger another Bomb Trap. This one dealt 64 damage, which is one less than the previous one ages ago. It appears all traps are based on Mamoru's level, and independent of whatever triggered it and what the current floor is. Well, all traps except the Monster Den, that's not a "Trap" like the rest. It doesn't have a trigger you can detect and it only happens once.


Floor 36



Monster Book posted:


No. 16 MAXIMUM Habitat Monster Tower
A MAXIMUM was born in the Monster Tower, the strongest of a completely new species. Since it lives near the top floor of the tower, no one has seen it in the past except the famous Beastmaster "Guy" from Monsbaiya.

Alright. Every monster in this game has something that makes them unique. That something is either a Trait, a Spell, an evolved form, or a unique skill. Maximum's uniqueness is that they don't have any of that. They are just fucking powerful. Incredibly high stats, and I cannot believe that they only take up one square with a size like that. People are mixed whether or not the Maximum or the Dragon is the strongest Fire monster. Naturally they die in two hits and deal around 30 damage to Mamoru. All these upper-tier monsters seem to be capped at that damage level. Regardless, imagine facing a Monster Den in these upper floors. Don't worry, that doesn't happen to me.
Also, once again note the new floor textures. This one seems more...I don't know how to describe it, but it definitely gives you an evil vibe.



Out of curiosity, I eat a Mazarr seed to try to go to level 100. It doesn't work.


And I abuse save-states to get a Restore scroll from the Barong. I use to to revive Samus. I could have used the item-cheat like the Roche fruit before, but I didn't want to risk corrupting my inventory again.

Floor 39


Ironically, I find an egg on the 39th floor of the Tower, and a Golem is inside. I actually had to do this twice, because I was displeased with the way the screenshots turned out for the final battle. Even more ironically, I found a different egg on the 39th floor last time. Inside was a Maximum.
Anyway, back to floor designs, I rather like this one too. It's good for Wind, and seems surprisingly futuristic.



I test out the ability, "A charged punch." It goes out about 10 squares ahead. Not bad. But like the Glacier's ability, it uses up around 8 MP. I'm pretty sure it also does as much damage as a physical attack.


I find a Wind Crystal sitting next to the final elevator.
: I think it's good to give someone lots of stuff they don't need. This is my last chance to torture you. The 40th floor is outside of my domain.
I bring out Samus and Calvin right before going up. I'm going to need all the help I can get to take down Beldo.

Floor 40
Special note for this floor: Bold italics indicate dialog that I added in. It should be obvious what I'm doing.




Right before you enter the 40th floor, you get shown this, the camera zooming in onto the last floor, a small building on top of the Tower.


Your familiars appear next to the elevator (which is actually a decorative tile, it's not really an elevator), but Mamoru marches on ahead alone. Beldo stands before a hanging platform, surrounded by four obelisks. In the center of the platform is an egg, surrounded by a humming forcefield.
: Hello. My name is Mamoru. You killed my father. Prepare to die.


Mic appears, stops by Mamoru, looks at him for a moment, then stands beside Beldo.
: Well done. You have trained him and led him here. Well done.
: [?????]
: Quite reasonable that you are so surprised, but this guy is a part of me!
Mic morphs and becomes Beldo's missing right arm. His right arm is twice as big as the human left arm, and still resembles Mic in many ways. Beldo then raises the arm. Flex! sorry, couldn't resist.


: Seven years ago, your father Guy and I met in the tower and together we tried to reach the top floor. The top floor is where the Ultimate egg can be found.


This is why I said the update would take so many pictures. This flashback is done completely like this.


There is the sound effect of a blast of energy. Notice Mic in the picture.




: I am the one who is going to use it's power. I'm the proper bearer of the ultimate power.
: B... Beldo... You are...


: I shall take this egg. It will be part of me and the world will be mine.


Guy cuts off Beldo's arm.


Very first update posted:



Beldo then fires one straight for Guy.



Guy blocks, but is heavily injured.




: Let this egg be sealed for the sake of my blood. Abra cadabra!
Alright, I'm sorry. What. Abra cadabra? That's the best you got?


Very first update posted:



He fires another laser at Guy.


Even in death, Guy is still badass.


: But you have died and I have survived.


Beldo sees Mic and reaches for it, ignoring the unknown Unicorn. You know, this one.

Very first update posted:





: Well, that's alright. All I need is the blood of a monster tamer. The blood of someone who is strong enough to reach the top floor or the blood of a monster tamer who is even stronger.
The flash back ends, showing Beldo standing before Mamoru once more.
: Do you...understand, Mr. Mamoru?


So glad I timed this right. Beldo fires another purple laser at Mamoru.


Whoever rated this game clearly did not see this scene. We've got arms being chopped off and blood fountains. Fun fact: Mamoru is still at full HP.
: Three gods and souls. I command here on the blood of the monster tamer.


Beldo walks over to the magic circle. He grabs Guy's sword, which powers the seal. When he removes Guy's sword, the seal vanishes along with Mamoru's blood. Then he turns back to Mamoru.




: Hello! My name is Mamoru! You killed my father! Prepare to die!
I had a fire crystal stored just for this moment. Unfortunately, Beldo is innately Quick, and gets two turns for every one of mine. The Salamander is also innately Quick, but needs to be in the same square as the enemy to attack. As Beldo approaches, the Salamander tries to keep up.
I retreat back to the entrance, back to the monsters so they can back me up. I try to get Calvin to help and use mixture magic, but because of the way the floor is laid out, both monsters are considered "lost" and I cannot give them orders until I am close enough.



Once they are in range, Clavin mixes Thunder Blade to try and paralyze. It doesn't work. Beldo is immune to all status effects. Samus also attacks and deals 84 damage, the same as the Thunder Blade. Now the Salamander can finally hit, and it deals a minor 27 damage with two hits.


Samus cannot keep up. Beldo is as powerful as the end-game enemies, and attacks twice per turn. Beldo seems to favor hitting Familiars in range as opposed to Mamoru, oddly enough.


I bring out Seuss as backup, but he falls in the same turn he was removed from the bag. The Salamander attacks again.


I have Calvin use DeoWall on Mamoru, hoping it might reduce the damage a little. I haven't really messed with the Wall trio, but the non-water variations of it only reduce specific elemental damage. Beldo isn't linked to an element. I also through a Malicious scroll at Beldo, which surprisingly works...for one turn. Right after that, the confusion no longer applies.


Calvin attacks Beldo now, and Mamoru steps back. Calvin doesn't even last a single turn, and the wind protection expires right after. So much for that.


But I'm not alone. I bring out the Golem and the Glacier I hatched in the tower. Both deal massive amounts of damage to Beldo. The Golem has maxed out DEF, and Beldo can only deal 1 damage to that.
However, you should notice something. Mamoru is on relatively equal rules with the enemies in this game, and my Familiars are pretty much player controlled monsters, right down to the stats. Remember how I mentioned that HP can't go above 255? This is because HP is stored as a byte, and has a range of 0-255. No higher, no lower. I just dealt more than that to Beldo.

This battle is unwinnable. You cannot defeat Beldo. I just tried, and used game-shattering monsters (and actually let them pound Beldo for several rounds) and it resulted in nothing. You cannot win.

: And this is why the 40th floor is outside my domain.


I let the monsters return to the bag so Beldo will attack Mamoru again. The only way to win, is to lose.


It's hard to tell, but once Mamoru drops to 1 HP, three small lights come out of Beldo, one red, one blue, and one green. All three fly into Mamoru. Pictured is the red light flying into Mamoru. I also move the HUD to the side, so you can better see what's going on.


: You are a part of me now. You won't survive without me.


Mic separates from Beldo, with Guy's sword in his mouth.
: I can't take any command but his. Mamoru! This is the sword of Guy, your father. It is a masterpiece, Soul Shooter!




: Hello! My name is Mamoru! You killed my father! Prepare to die!
For some reason, the game still tracks damage. This dealt 201.
: Wooo! For the blood and love of your father! Lethal Soul Shooter!
: Hello! My name is Mamoru! You killed my father! Prepare to die!
: Oh my god! I don't wanna die...! Stop saying that!
: Hello! My name is Mamoru! You killed my father! Prepare to die!
: No!
: Offer me money.
: Yes...
: Offer me power too, promise me that.
: All that I have and more, please...
: Offer me everything I ask for.
: Anything you want.


Mamoru leaps in the air, and energy flies into him, giving everything into this once strike.
It deals 308 damage.

: I want my father back, you son of a bitch.


Beldo starts to shrink, and mini explosions happen all over him.
: You will regret your stupidity. Hmm... Oh, yeah... I didn't die. What...Ah!


Beldo shrinks to this smallest size, and tries to flee, but Mic swoops down and picks him up. Then eats him.
: I'm so sorry, Mamoru. I tricked you. But you always took good care of me. Just like your father did. That's why I couldn't leave you to die. No. Ever since the first time I sensed Guy in you, were to have been my master. Would you... Can you forgive me?
: Not bad to have a talking one. || Betrayal is never forgiven.
You are actually given a choice here. If you don't forgive Mic, you will lose him. This is the only time in the game you can get rid of Mic, if you want.
: Mamoru!
He flies up into Mamoru's face and gives him a big hug.


All that's left to do is to pick up the ultimate egg. You actually can't do anything else. The menu won't open up so you can't use a wind crystal even if you had one. Nor can you check out Guy's sword.

END OF DAY! KILL COUNT FOR THE DAY!
Because I used a gameshark here, I won't include these in the total count.

: 6 Pulunpas, 1 Noise, 10 Trolls (Hammer), 7 Flames, 4 Cyclones, 6 Baloons, 2 Manoevas, 1 Blume, 2 U-Boats, 4 Clowns, 5 Dreamin, 4 Trolls (Bow), 7 Volcanoes, 3 Griffons, 2 Krakens, 3 Nyuels, 6 Trolls (Sword), 3 Garudas, 7 Manoevas (v2), 1 Barong, 3 Pickets, 8 Arachnes, 1 Weadog, 2 Unicorns, 6 Vipers, 1 Pulunpa (Emo), 6 Blocks, 2 Zus, 2 Stealths, 2 Snowmen, 4 Mandaras, 8 Manoevas (v3), 4 Naplasses, 9 Tyrants, 5 Killers, 5 Dragons, 5 Glaciers, 4 Golems, 3 Maximums. 203 KILLS TOTAL
9 Traps discovered.
13 wins against Ghosh.
Beldo defeated.

You had reflection
You were rustproof
You had life drain
You cheated
You survived

: These three were all no match for Beldo.

: Betrayed Mamoru, but returned to his side in the end.

Hatched in the Tower was a Dreamin, Garuda, Glacier and Golem. They shall return to the Tower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is close to 100 screenshots. I'm going to end the update here.

Next time: The rest of the ending, and we see what is inside the Ultimate egg.
Also, I'll go finish off some rumors, such as the Holy Sword thing I tried to check out a while back but never got the Red Sand. If there is anything else people want to see what would happen, now is the time to ask.

You are now free to talk about Beldo. Please do not discuss the Ultimate Egg or Guy's Sword outside of spoiler tags please.