Part 10: Littorally A Cave?

So, looks like this is finally going to a get a non-Japanese PSN release. It's been available in Japan's PSN for about 3 years now, so it took long enough. Not sure what it means by "relatively soon" but it's better than nothing.

Upon arriving back in Inoa, a mini-cutscene happens. I say cutscene, but it's basically 6 lines of getting bitched at for... something.



: A curse brought upon us the moment you arrived. You are an angel of death! A devourer of souls! Leave this village at once...

So, yeah, Giles is a dick now. That kinda came out of nowhere. Most of the villagers at this point will just insinuate that Giles is completely insane and that they believe in you and blah blah blah.

To get an idea of what to do next, though, you have to talk to people that you might have forgotten even exist at this point. The first one here is probably the best example of that.



Phineas' no longer bed ridden apparently, and he gives a vague hint as to what to do next. A fair bit south of Inoa is a beach, but it's been effectively inaccessible up until this point because of the tide. Apparently that's gone now so our next objective is presumably something there.

Aside from Giles being a complete prick, a certain other person is too. They kind of have a valid reason, I guess, but it's still a tad excessive.



Myra: I pray that the gods strike you dead with a vengeance reserved for the worst of sinners!

I can buy Myra being like that because, well, her daughter did die just yesterday and all. I don't get how that can be Alundra's fault since it's not like he could be in two places at once or anything, and Sara killed her anyway.

Sybill pointed us towards the most pointless dungeon, as well as gave a vague hint as to how to beat the first part, so maybe she can give us a bit more of a clue as to what to do at the beach.



Or not. Well, uh, back to picking villagers at random to see what we find I guess.



Wendell: Now that the tide is so low, perhaps you can catch a glimpse of it!

A shrine at the beach? If it's anything like the Ancient Shrine I think I'll pass. Although, if it really is a shrine then that's where plot is presumably going to happen. Incidentally, you've been able to see what it probably is since the beginning if you stand in a specific area. More specifically just to the south-east in front of a locked house that's for rent.



That cave to the bottom is only thing on the beach that could be considered the "shrine" Wendell mentioned. There's quite literally nowhere else to go on the actual beach itself.

Hey, wait a second, why is the door open here now?



The Medallion opens for business immediately following the Ancient Shrine but there's not much point to checking it out yet. The same can be said of a different location sort of near here for that matter. The Medallion, unlike that other place, is a store though and it's quite possibly the best one in the entire game bar none. Well, it would be if it weren't for a little catch.



: What am I doing here? I invested the treasure from my years of adventure into this shop. One very near-fatal shipwreck is all I needed to make me thing long and hard about a career change... Well, kid, aren't ya going to buy something?

So Merrick also survived the Klark's shipwreck. That makes sense; it's not like they'd just kill of a character with a portrait in... their introduction... oh.

The Medallion has for sale a whole bunch of awesome accessories that boost Attack and/or Defence, as well as several Life Vessels. He's also hiding something for once you get them all off of him, but there is a bit of a problem there.



Everything, and I do mean everything, costs 10,000 gilder. I'm sure you can see why that's such a big problem. We'll eventually get a means to acquire all of his things but that's a few dungeons away for the time being. Since there's nothing else we can do here, it's off to this shrine/cave/thing at the beach.



The cave isn't that far from The Medallion, and you'll even pass a different house on the way here. Said house has nothing in it other than an old guy named Nava, who's blocking a stairway, and an unobtainable chest. No point to going there yet though, so it's off to the dungeon.



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Compared to the last few dungeons, the Coastal Cave is actually pretty simple. It really drives home how utterly pointless the previous dungeon was too; the Long Boots had a life span of approximately half a dungeon. The Mermaid Boots are exactly the same as them but better since they allow you to swim too. That's a lot more important than it sounds, since it allows access to pretty much the entire world map with a few exceptions.

Oh, and the reward for actually beating the dungeon isn't to be scoffed at either. It's part of making Alundra outright invincible, since it restores HP everytime it's used.

Incidentally, the save file name for this part of the game is "Beginning of the End." This dungeon is roughly a quarter of the way through the game.

Next time: ...Ice Pillars...