Part 40: Update Thirty Seven: I Got Back Quicker Than Expected

Update Thirty Seven: I Got Back Quicker Than Expected

Howdy, folks, and welcome back! Last time, on Chrono Trigger, we, uh...Lemme check the last update. Oh, right, we got a time machine, and then my hard drive fried.

The ship is the Epoch by the way; that shot I posted earlier was just messing around. Anywho, today, we'll be moving forward, so let's bounce.







This village is pretty small, but there's a good shop in here.



And it throws some more world-building at you. The Earthbound were once residents of Zeal, but due to their complete lack of magical ability, they got kicked out.



North of that lady leads to the shopkeep.



His item selection isn't bad, but I don't need any of this stuff.



There are new weapons for everyone, though, all of them upgrades (except for Chrono, since has the Swallow). I'm not sure what these fellows make their swords of, but this is better than the Masamune. Don't ask me how it works.



There are also armor upgrades.



This is the stuff that was for sale in Medina, from the fiend's shop. It's still expensive here, but not ludicrously so. The sword for Chrono is called the Zanmato, and it deals 1.5x damage to magical enemies. However, I'm sticking with the Swallow; when replaying, he got a Speed Capsule, and he now has maxed out speed, which means he starts every battle with a full ATB gauge.



Also, if the Zeal people weren't dicks already, they've also forced some of the Earthbound into slavery. Under water. Building a palace for Lavos energy siphoning.



We've seen about half of what the village has to offer, by the by. Also, this update isn't very long.



Also, the Earthbound know it's an awful idea to be taking energy from Lavos. Just...Christ, what the hell are they thinking?



You'd think if your Guru folks were telling you it's a shitty idea, you'd listen, instead of trapping one of them on a mountain.



Quick, who's surprised here? The kid that shows no magical ability is actually super-powerful; raise your hand if you didn't expect it.



And he hates his mom enough to basically seal that shit away.





We're talking to a little kid here, by the way, if you couldn't tell from the dialog. Chrono is just blocking most of him.





There's also a free inn here.



For some reason, the party doesn't lay down in these beds. They just seem to be...Kinda standing there. I'm not sure why.





This is our next dungeon, and it's short. Like, screen and a half long short. There's only seven enemies, too.



Some of you are currently foaming at the mouth that I don't have Ayla with me; there's a really good item you can steal from the upcoming boss, a fantastic helmet, but she doesn't have Charm yet. And the enemies have a nice steal, too. Since I was hurrying to get back to this point, I didn't spend much time grinding for Techs, getting levels back to normal, or anything like that.



And I brought Lucca and Marle not only because they'll make that boss fight easier, but since they also need the TP. For example, Marle doesn't have Cure yet. Lucca has Napalm, but not Fire 2.



I didn't want the thread closed too long, since you all seem to be enjoying this a lot.



This goes to Chrono, who currently has 48 Strength. He's a beast.



Moving forward, we've now seen about a third of the dungeon.



And about a third of the enemies. These two are Mudbeasts.



Chrono's new sword is a bitchin' shade of dark blue.



It also puts out these sweet looking anime slashes.



That might not seem like a lot of damage, but Mudbeasts have 830 HP, and a Defense of 170. The normal defense for an enemy is 127.



Also, any time you hit them, they gain Attack power.



They attack how you'd expect, with them looking like big-ass bulls, by slamming their horns into your chest at high speed.



I apparently didn't take a shot of the damage, but here's a shot of Chrono counter-critting.



Magic isn't a bad idea against them, and since I have our two best magic users, these guys get blasted back to Kingdom Come.





Anyways, let's move on.



You'd expect something to be hidden here, but I found nothing. I don't know if I didn't search the right spot or what, but this is a red herring I don't appreciate.





And here are the last two normal enemies we encounter here.



Ice Sword and Fire Sword are still incredibly effective, and you'll get a better look at that in the boss fight.





Which is right here, by the way. Yeah, the Mudbeast Den is really goddamned short.



But those two aren't our only bosses.



A Cockney imp is also joining the fight.

To see the fight in video, click here!



Now, this fight isn't hard, but it can kick your ass if you're not careful. A lot of powerful attacks will get flung around here. It's times like these that I wish Marle had a multi-target healing spell.





That's a 70 damage hit, which isn't too much, but there's three targets here.



The colored Mudbeasts absorb the element of their color, and are weak to the opposite, so Ice is great for the Red Mudbeast and Fire is great for the Blue.



Each Mudbeast has 5,000 HP, but it doesn't take long to tear through it.



While Chrono and Marle focus on one, Lucca begins whittling away at the other.



They won't absorb the element of their color, but they are flat-out immune to it, which is kind of nice. I'd much rather deal no damage than heal a boss, y'know?





The Mud Imp has some attacks of his own, and he's no slouch. Just a huge pain in the ass.







He'll also randomly jump on one of the Mudbeasts and ride them to attack a party member.





But that's actually a Mudbeast attack, and not from the Imp.



It's interesting the things you learn when you have the Rage Band equipped; a lot of enemies will team together for an attack, but only one initiates the attack. It's like the Annihilation Beam with Zombor; despite that coming from the top half, it's actually a lower half attack.





The Mud Imp has high defenses in both categories, and it is not a good idea to attack him.



As shown. X-Strike is scary in our hands, so it freaks me out to see enemies doing a variation of it.





In case you'd forgotten, Marle is basically made of papier-mâché. I have her with the best defense increasing items I have, except for her accessory.



Lucca is sleeping there, as the Mud Imp has an attack that can inflict that status. It's annoying, but that's kind of the theme of this fight.



Case in point; the Mud Imp can attack one of the Mudbeasts to drive them to attack a party member.



I wish this had been the killing blow for the Red Mudbeast, as that would have amused me to no end.



However, it only gets Marle crushed for the crime of standing there and having HP left.



The Mud Imp can also heal himself and the two Mudbeasts; you'll also see here that this fight can go south in a hurry.



Thankfully, it's not a lot of health restored. 150 for an enemy isn't really shit at this point.



When the Red Mudbeast falls, it's time to burn the Blue out of existence.



I love seeing numbers like that. It's so satisfying.



But you know the drill by now; Lucca finishes it off with a Napalm grenade.



Which means the Mud Imp is all alone now.



At this point, the Mud Imp began countering all of my damage dealing with his cure spell; he only has 1200 HP, but with really high defenses.





I hope this knocked a couple of teeth out, you little bastard.







Despite not having a weakness to it, Fire Sword turned out to be very effective.



At least, according to the bestiary I'm using, he doesn't have any weaknesses. It seems the bestiary is the one you can access through the DS version (on the main menu screen, which I don't think I've shown off), so it should be accurate.



We get a good chunk of exp, a nice amount of TP, and some cold hard cash for our efforts.





Our prize is being able to climb this chain, which holds Mt. Woe to the Earth, which means we can go rescue the Guru of Life, and maybe learn a thing or two more about what's going on here.



However, that can wait until next time. I know this update was kind of short, but Mt. Woe has a lot to it, so we'll handle it next time.

In the mean time, let's have a vote! Vote for what party I scale Mt. Woe with; BOLD your vote, and the two characters with the most votes will accompany Chrono to rescue the Guru of Life. Stay tuned!