Part 17: Tripping in Mira

Update 15: Tripping in Mira



Are you ready to go through the dimensional rift?




I'll take that as a yes!




Music: Enemy Strike




Did you know that the Mindeer can shoot giant glowing orbs? I didn't either, and it would have been nice to bust those out against the Goldoba earlier.


Here's the rundown on this minigame: We are following the Great Mizuti. We can move left/right, but not forward/backward. If we fall too far behind the Great Mizuti, the minigame fails. Moving left and right will cause us to gradually fall behind, and getting hit by enemy attacks will slow us down as well.

Enemies will periodically spawn in groups, usually of four or five. If you kill them all with the Mindeer's cannon, then the last one will drop a Magnus, which you can fly over and grab (which causes you to fall behind the Great Mizuti since it'll rarely drop right in front of you).

The good news is that the Mindeer's cannon is homing (although it has a fire-forward option as well), so you don't have to try too hard to kill all of the enemies. The difficulty lies more in positioning yourself right to get the magnus drop without overshooting it too much. Some more good news is that one of the enemy groups drops a speed boost instead of a magnus, so you can make up a lot of lost ground that way.




If you let any enemies survive, they'll make their way behind you and attack. This is the main difficulty of the area if you're going for a complete Magnus Gathering; you must fight both types of enemy here and get some of their permanently missable drops, as well as take pictures of both of them. And you have to juggle that around getting the one permanently missable item that drops from the minigame proper (plus whatever other ones you want).




The enemies themselves are kind of interesting. Both enemies here loooove defending against everything. They also appear to be light based, which is a rarity in this game – Mira is the only place I can recall that has a notable amount of light-oriented enemies.






The camera doesn't really show this attack off too well, but basically the floating serpent things can poison.







The floating heads have Glacial Bomb, which can inflict freezing flames...?













As you can see, there are some nice drops form the battles in this area. Unfortunately, this is not the run I went with, so most of these will not be appearing in my inventory.

/\//\/


Let's rewind a little bit and see what happens if I spam the Mindeer cannon and get some Magnus drops that way.




Niiice. As you can see, some of the drops overlap, such as that ice sword for Kalas. Also...



Of course, there's still a drop that's exclusive to cannonspam path. Hell yeah.



As far as I am aware, there are only four permanently missable Magnus here (well, five if you count the boss picture). The Frost Cap, as well as the photos of the two enemies, can only be gotten by fighting. Conversely, the final enemy mob drops Secret Recipe 4 if you kill them with the cannons. Sadly, I didn't get this in my cannon run (that and a Camera 2 are all I missed), but I can't say that I feel too bad about that.


The party comes to a stop...










...and we fight the boss of this area. This is Gnosis. Much like some of it's namesake monsters from Xenosaga, Gnosis is a thinly disguised space penis.

Video: The Hilbert Effect is for losers

Music: Doomed in the Netherworld


Gnosis has one very irritating feature.






It is resistant to EVERY element by fifty percent...except darkness, which it is immune to entirely.

As you might guess, Xelha is not going to be accomplishing very much here. Lyude and Kalas fare a bit better, although they both have more dark magnus in their hands than I should have let them have...oh, well.








The boss is otherwise not all that special. It can paralyze, and that's annoying and all, but this fight is really just a slog through it's 3600 HP plus resistances.




Here's something funny about the battle system: we've already gone over how getting straights and full houses and the like can increase your damage by a percentage. Well, this can be used to rather unconventional effect. Three cheeses should have healed Lyude for 420 HP (plus some for the three card straight)...but when I added in the Chump Change, which is a damage-dealing item, the amount of HP he recovered increased to 544 because the additional length of the straight (6543 as opposed to just 654) offset the raw damage the coins did.

You can use this the other way around, too. Throwing a support or even healing item in an attack hand can increase your overall damage output if you utilize the spirit number properly.




Gnosis cannot handle this Mira logic and promptly dies.





Kalas once again classes up ages before anyone else will get the chance to.











And just like that, we're back on track! That wasn't so hard. I don't know why all those other people had so much trouble getting out of here. I guess they didn't get any help from strange people in masks.








Phew. That was a long ride.

We certainly have had our share of close calls!

We're indebted to the Great Mizuti. Thank you very much!

So, where's Great Mizuti off to? Wherever it is, we'd like to take you, but we don't have much time.


Um, excuse you. Following the Great Mizuti is way more important than whatever world-saving nonsense we're currently doing.





Figures. Sounds like a tough one. Well, good luck with this “secret and elaborate” mission of yours!


Ah. No worry. The Great Mizuti be invincible.


The Empire must already be here. Let's pick up the pace.


Who knows what they could be up to here? Let's keep our eyes open.


We must bid the Great Mizuti farewell! I hope we meet again.


wh...what...?


Uh huh. Time to say goodbye! Us heroes, we have so much to do!





Weird little guy, isn't he? Well, let's go.


...come back...please don't leave me...










Okay, moving on...gotta put on a brave face for the LP...


Video: An argument (author's choice for utterly atrocious voice acting)

Music: Bellflower





Oh, my! It's like Willy Wonka's factory but without the deathtraps for children! I love it here! Mira is the best, we should all go and live in Mira.




(I was going to give them smilies but they have too many lines)


Donella: Well, my Atonaruson are the best in the universe! That's a fact!

Tisocco: Nonsense!!

Donella: How dare you!!

Tisocco: Enough! I'm I'm telling you, nothing can beat my scrumptious Parsolme! They're second to none!

Donella: You can't be serious! My Atonaruson are the best! Nothing comes close to their sweet goodness!

Tisocco: Poppycock!!

Donella: Hogwash!!





Tisocco: Oh, Lady Melodia!

I couldn't possible choose between the pastries you make. Both of you are so talented. Please...

Tisocco: You honor me...er, us, with your kind words, Milady.

If you come up with anything new, get it to me as soon as possible. I'm such a greedy girl.

Donella: Once my new pastries are finished, I will deliver a platterful, immediately!

How wonderful. I can hardly wait. Have a nice day, both of you.


Melodia starts walking forward, but trips and falls.



Kalas helps her back up to her feet, giving us irrefutable proof that Mira is indeed a land where strange and wonderful/terrible things happen.


Thank you, dark-winged traveler. I appreciate your help.


And you guys thought that tripping was going to be a drug reference.




Tisocco: Her parents, the Grand Prince and Princess, died when she was still very young. Now she lives alone with her grandfather, Lord Calbren.


The word “alone” has no place in that sentence. Not only does he specifically state that she lives with her grandfather, but she also has maids and stuff. Tisocco is stupid.


Donella: So graceful, so pure of heart. She's simply wonderful. Now, back to the oven. Can't keep Lady Melodia waiting now, can we?

Tisocco: How right you are! Back to work! You just wait and see, Donella. Lady Melodia will fall head over heels for my next recipe!

Donella: No, you just watch. She'll fly to the heavens once she tastes my new pastries!


They FINALLY go away. I thought about glossing over their lines, but these two are just too ridiculous to not show off.




All right, I'll go. But Sabin is not at Grandpa Quz's house, right?

Sabin is already at your grandpa's place.

Kalas, didn't you ever learn that honestly is not always the best policy?

Nubata refuses to sign on now that he knows Sabin is there, and I can't really blame him because Sabin is one creepy fuck. However, he does indicate that he might sign anyway if I bring him something good to eat. But what?






As you can see, rare shots of characters can sell for quite a bit.



While pictures of interdimensional wang sells for basically nothing.






This shop has some decent stuff. The meat weapons are all surprisingly effective, and that creel is a nice upgrade for Gibari.

Now then, if we head into Tisocco's pastry shop...





Meet Trill. She reminds me of Minnie Driver. I've never quite figured out why.


It's been a while, hasn't it! Almost two years since you left...Two years since...the accident. My, how time flies! Anyway, it's great to see you. You look well.

Yeah, I guess so. What's with the outfit?

Oh, you mean this? Heheh, you're talking to an apprentice pastry cook under the great Master Tisocco.

Wow! You, a pastry cook? Say, Trill...I've been meaning to ask you something...

This is another one of those awkward lines. He's going to ask her if she knows anything about the End Magnus, but the way he says that he's been “meaning to ask her” implies that it's something he's wanted to ask her for a while instead of over the last ten seconds that they've been talking. I dunno, I'm probably reading too much into that one, but it still hangs in my head a little.





Sorry, Kalas. We have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm way too busy right now. Hey, why don't you help me out a little? Just a small favor? For an old friend?

...All right. So what should I do?

Hmm, let me see...We'll be needing some Mira chocolate. Master Tisocco really needs some for his latest recipe, but Donella across the street bought it all up, and the next shipment won't be in for a while. Could you stop by Donella's bakery, and ask the people there if they could spare a little?


Well, I'm sure this is just going to go swimmingly.



Yup. Going great.



This guy says he will let us have some Mira chocolate, but only if we snag some Mira cream from Tisocco's (which we can just take without asking). Upon bringing it to him, he'll say we can take some chocolate...but only when Donella's not looking. Thankfully, that ridiculous cake hat of hers makes it easy to tell when she's facing away from you.






Remember when I was talking about Yells before, and how you need to use a specific item prior to Yells a bunch of times to level them up? Well, here you go. This is one of them.


Anyway, I bring back the chocolate to Trill and we move on to the next cutscene.




Yeah. Has anything strange been going on here recently?

Yeah...You could say it's been pretty weird here lately. For one, the Empire shows up all of a sudden. There was also something about a mysterious, shining Magnus. I was in the Mystical Garden, looking for Clemon...that's something we use in the pastries. I'd heard rumors about people seeing a strange light in the garden, but didn't really believe them. Just another tale, I figured...Then, at the far end of the Garden, it appeared out of nowhere! Just like that, our of thin air. It scared the wits out of me, and I ran away as fast as I could.

Are you sure, Trill? You weren't just seeing things?

I'm not kidding! It really happened!!

Does the Empire know about this?

Hmm, I don't think so. They wouldn't take the time to listen to us pastry cooks. I heard they were in a rush to get to the city.

Kalas, we should go take a look at that garden.

It's not far from here. Just north of town.

I see. Thanks, Trill.

Hey, Kalas, I want you to try some of the pastries I make, once they're ready. Remember to drop by later, okay?


I never remember to drop by later, so I don't know if that actually matters or not. But anyway, we are about to go to...well...




Music: Mystery Crystal



Hmm...this place seems normal enough I guess.



Music: The Tower of DRUAGA

wait hold on I appear to be upside-



oh god I'm being attacked by giant hands that are stuck together



the third dimension has abandoned us someone save



eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee




































































































































/\//\/



Okay, so it's not quite that incoherent, but Detourne is still a strange, strange place.








This nice lady can explain most of the mechanics that Detourne employs to some extent. However, she has one thing in particular that's worth asking about.




A long time ago, there was a Golden Hero who used a single pickaxe to dig a hole and save his girlfriend. The door he opened at that time is now closed and that concerns him greatly.


Talking to the woman about the Golden Hero will prompt him to appear the next times we return to this room...which we will be doing rather frequently.




Mirage Weed is a Quest Mangus that disappears after thirty minutes. We'll actually need some later, but I refrain from getting it now in case it vanishes.

Now, let's head through the door to the right.






The six doors in the main room all connect to the tower of DRUAGA. As such, we can use the tower of DRUAGA to get to different places in the main room, and vice versa. The Tower of DRUAGA also has two additional doors, one of which is the sealed up one that the lady told us about. That is, of course, our final destination, but to get there we need both a pickaxe and a key.




The green blobs are enemies...and are surprisingly dangerous. They don't have any special gimmicks or anything, but they can dish out 200-250 damage with a good combo if you don't block it. To complete the area, we will have to defeat all three blob groups in the Tower of DRUAGA at some point or another.






Hey, I like that!




I pop out of the upper left door, but that red block is...well, blocking me. Fortunately, I can still talk to the Golden Hero.

O-Of course! That's what I came here for.

I knew it! I'm sure I opened that door before, but for some reason, it's been closed again. It's been bothering me for a long time. I can't do much, but I'll try to help you.


At this point, the Golden Hero gives us Jet Boots. These increase our running speed in the Tower of DRUAGA. I think I'll talk to him again, though.





Then he gives us the White Sword, which does...um...nothing, as far as I'm aware, except prompt him to give you the next item later.


One quick jaunt through the Tower of DRUAGA later...




And now he gives us the Red Necklace, which allows us to walk through fire...but only in the Tower of DRUAGA, of course. This is the only item he gives us that we actually need to progress, because there's a green blob behind some fire that we have to kill.



The Small Fire is one of my favorite Magnus. It is going to be something rather different in a couple of days.




Like I said, six of these passages lead to/from the central room. The door next to the locked door, however, leads to a special area.




This area has the scales, as well as those disturbing hand things. The scales are also vital to completing this area. I'll get to those in a bit.




The hands drop Ox Tongue. Not really sure how that works, but they're another nice attack item so I won't complain.







Yup.







The game seems to be trying to favor Gibari a bit around this point in the game. We find his level 4 and level 5 finishers first. Whirlwind Hit is actually good since it doesn't directly contradict his elemental specialization.





You may recall that in the central area some of the blocks are blue, and some are red, which correspond to the blocks here, and the colors on the scale. Currently, the red scale is heavier. This means that the red blocks are “heavy”, and will always fall – or rise – to be on the same level as Kalas, while the blue blocks are “light” and will always fall or rise to be on the opposite side of Kalas.

So, by drawing water from the spring and using it to tip the scales, we can affect whether the blue or red blocks are on Kalas' level, which can open and close potential routes around the main room.




By make the blue scale heavy, it sets this up. The red block falls to the floor while Kalas is on the ceiling, so Kalas can break the bottom of that chain, which will later allow me to reach the key.




Then, by having the red scale heavy, the red block will stay on the floor when Kalas is on the floor, so he can reach the key.





Some more scale manipulation allows me to reach this section of the Tower of DRUAGA. The Golden Pick Axe only appears here once you've killed all of the green blobs.

So now that I have the pickaxe and the key, I can finally enter the central room!



Video: Magnus




An ancient relic, from the looks of it. Maybe it used to be some sort of an altar...

So where's the Magnus Trill was so worked up about? Could it really be here?

The pendant doesn't seem to be responding to anything...

Quiet! Stay alert! There's something here.












That sucker is HUGE!












Music: Rumbling of the Earth


I suppose this was inevitable. Our next boss battle is against an enormous card.







This guy is the first boss fight in the game that I consider to be genuinely difficult. Much like Gnosis, he has 50% resistance to all elements (though he doesn't get that dark immunity, at least), so once again Xelha is rather mediocre here. It also has 4000 HP.









It's also by far the heaviest hitter we've come across. 380 damage is no joke when my characters are pushing 1000 HP (though that was a completely undefended chain so usually he's not doing quite that much).

Dark Surge also inflicts Headache, which means it basically does nothing.




I wanted to get some good pictures of Diminuendo, but this was the only one that came out decently. Lyude fires his gun into the ground, which launches him into the air, then flies down into the enemy. It's not Sforzando caliber, but I like it.











I like how this boss actually crumbles as the fight goes on. It's much cooler than those basic “winded” animations other enemies have.












Chronos attacks are the best attacks. As you can see, this packed quite a punch even thought I used some defense cards, and it paralyzed Xelha on top of that.

But in the end, even the Giganticus falls...










That isn't an End Magnus. It's not even shiny!





Just an empty shell...a mere shadow of the real End Magnus. I'll bet the End Magnus was sealed away here at one time. When it was moved, part of its great power was burned into this spot and remained as an imprint. With the other End Magnus being unsealed, the shadow's power must have increased...giving it a tangible form of its own.

If that's true, then...

...Then the End Magnus that was sealed here, must have been unsealed ages ago!

So where is it now?



He's the ruler of Mira, right? He might know something.

We should also be wary of the Empire. Whoever came here on the Goldoba must be up to no good. I'm worried as to what fate they have in mind for Mira. Fortunately, the Empire is on good terms with this country. I think it unlikely that they would resort to open force, as they did back in Diadem...

Giacomo must be on that battleship. With a little luck, I'll get that weasel...

Okay. Let's head back to the village.










Well, it looks like nothing much came out of that. But who knows, that Shadow Magnus might just be useful for something!

-

Decision time!

: Someone is in danger! Let's help them!



> Sure thing!

> What a waste of time.


: Hey, Legion, remember when we met?



> I remember.

> I forgot.


And the usual battle party vote, of course.