Part 16: Dawn of the Hero

We're back to the past! Now to find this Magus fellow and bust his lip.



The Imp Aces are new and remarkably unremarkable.

There's new dialogue in town due to things changing while we were gone.

Longing of the Wind





The majority of chatter relates around Magus's army advancing upon Zenan Bridge, and the appearance of a legendary hero.



The other major thing is the King being wounded from battle. Guardia's in chaos right now, with only the hope of the hero's appearance holding things together.



Zenan Bridge is rebuilt, but we can't go south quite yet.





Morale and supplies are low. This is a losing battle right now.





On the other hand, the Hero made a march across the bridge and is hopefully doing some damage to Magus's troops in the meantime.

Courage and Pride



Guardia Castle, meanwhile, is doing well considering the circumstances.



He just arrived a moment ago, to meet the King.





The King was ready to die for his kingdom, and it was fate that brought the Hero to save him.



I treated him badly, thinking he was just some brat. Luckily, he forgave me. A hero, HE IS.





Since we cannot locate Cyrus, our sole hope rests on the boy who has the hero medal...



And now we know why the Hero had to travel through the bridge. Our best course of action would be to pursue and aid him in his quest, since both our interests are aligned.



Anyway, Magus's army did a number on the Guardia forces.



A mistranslation, the guy is talking about Magus having three fierce warriors.





No Hyper Kebob...



That's what you get for thinkin' that you're the only ones fighting for your country!
Hey!



...



The chef is still the chef, as angry and stubborn as ever.





Of course, that front is to hide his true feelings. I guess you could say...





At any rate, we're done here.



Well, almost.



Take this with you!



Uh, okay.





That's better.

And tell that fool...





And so we will. It's time to go on the offensive.

Courage and Pride





Things are turning grim. Guardia is suffering heavy casualties and hope is fading.



The cook...he has saved us all!

SILENCE





https://mp4.mega64.net/ct/12/073.mp4

Battle 1





We shall DESTROY Magus's troops and bring honor to our King!
But, we are far outnumbered!





Understood!

The Knight Captain is in a difficult position, but he's strong enough to put on a brave face and motivate his men to fight a seemingly hopeless situation.





Of course, it's only seemingly hopeless because, well, we're here and we're ready to kick some ass.



You will find Magus's troops across the bridge! Take this with you!



A simple helmet upgrade, albeit one that only male characters can equip (for equipment purposes, Robo is considered male because why not).



It's time to march south (or to the left, whichever works for you).



I'm Ozzie, Magus's top general! Those who dare defy Magus have to answer to me!





The Deceased have pretty high physical defense, which explains the Guardia troops struggling against them, and absorb Shadow magic. Otherwise, other magic will work fine.



Alternatively, you can just whack Ozzie a few times. His HP and magic defense are too high to actually threaten him any, but just hitting him a bit will break his spell and end the battle fine.





Marching on.



Seems I misjudged you. But I won't do that twice!





Same strategy as before.



Further on...









uhhhh

Boss Battle 1





Zombor is today's boss, and he's kind of an interesting one. First off, he has a top and bottom half that can be targeted, each with its own set of HP. The bottom half absorbs Water and Shadow damage and has decently high physical defense, while the top half absorbs Lightning and Fire but with average physical defense.



These two halves have a variety of attacks, including breathing fire, which is a thing giant skeleton monsters can do.



Also this nasty attack that targets the entire party.



My strat is simply spam Cyclone and do physicals or healing with the other two.





If given the option, you want to kill the top half first, as it gets more aggressive when the bottom half dies.







If you do kill the top half, it will use MP Buster to steal all the MP of whoever killed it.



Then it dies.



Guess we better get to doing that, then!

Longing of the Wind



So there's this town in 600 AD that pretty much vanishes by 1000 AD. There's no real explanation what happens to it within those four hundred years, and honestly it doesn't really matter because this town really isn't that important here either.



Magus must be quite the magician indeed.



What's going to happen to us, and to our country...?

Things are dire, and the local populace is scared of being wiped out. These are trying times indeed.





Good thing we have porn, then!

Actually why are we still carrying this dumb thing, go ahead and take it.



Yahoo! Now just hold your horses and I'll be back in a jiffy!



It's unlocked so you're free to take it. And I'll be taking this. Hee hee...



uh, okay, have fun with that



Not a bad trade for us, at least.



There's actually a lot of NPCs in the Elder's House and the inn. We even get a small cutscene upon entering the Elder's House.



Here's some front money. We're counting on you Toma!



Hmm... I'll be waiting for good news.
With that settled, I'll grab a bite before I go.

Seems trustworthy to me!



But that guy's a little flakey... Was it a mistake to trust him?

Guess time will tell.



First off, in the Japanese version this sword was called the Grandleon. Masamune is kinda off here even if you're like me and all you know is the Masamune being a katana from Final Fantasy games, since in this game the Masamune is this big friggin' knight sword thing.

Anyway, for some reason Magus is vulnerable to this blade, so the Hero went off to find it.



Oh yeah, this meaningless village is Sandorino, or really just Dorino.



They're tone-deaf, evil fiends!

So in the original, their names were references to condiments, being Vinegar, Mayonnaise, Soy Sauce. Here, they're references to famous rock musicians, thus the "tone-deaf" jab, though it's probably more that people in 600AD have poor taste in music.



Also we can't just walk up to Magus's front door, because that would be too easy, not that we're really ready yet to fight him anyway.



Holy moly.



But burn their weapons, and they're pussycats.



HEY GUESS WHAT OUR NEXT DUNGEON IS.



By the way, EnergyWhirls will dissipate if you use your "Slash" attack. There's balance in nature.

This is an odd translation that's supposed to be a hint at how to handle a future boss. Good luck figuring that one out on your own!





If he succeeds, there will be nowhere to run. We'll all perish! That's why I'm living it up now!

Some NPCs don't have helpful gameplay hints or exposition. They're just ready to die.





eh why not

Thanks a bunch!





The original text makes it more clear it's really a single, large monster frog, which should sound pretty familiar.



Also Robo has to sleep on the floor.



Here's a villa in the middle of nowhere.



But these woods mean a lot to us, so I'll guard them until he returns.

Have fun with that.



Porre's pretty much same as ever.





Great job, buddy.



The Beret is a woman-only helmet (Robo's not allowed to dress like a woman, it's against his programming) while the Gold Suit's defense boost is overshadowed by how dangerous it must be to wear it.



Seriously, look at how pointy this dumb thing is.



Robo can't wear this. A robot wearing a beret would be embarrassing. Maybe if he wore it the 600AD people would realize that robot looks a little off.





I love this guy.



But things are a lot quieter without that brat around.



So that Legendary Hero we've been hearing about? Apparently just a kid. Go figure.



I saw a rock wall there pop open, and a gaggle of ghouls just walked right in! Best to leave Magus and his cronies alone, though!

Hmmm.



Wow, you made it here already? Sure, OK.

Thanks! I'll wish you a safe journey.



Only thing is...I don't know WHICH island. And the money he gave me is gone. What should I do?

How...how did you spend all that money already? Especially since we are the ones who keep paying your tabs?

You're bad at this whole "adventuring" thing, Toma.



Here's where the Legendary Hero lives.





The kid's not home, but his proud family sure is.



Finally, the Elder's House.







He must have done something very brave! He's probably up north, looking for the legendary sword.

Guess we know where we're heading next.



But before we do, let's check out these woods. It sounds like we may find a familiar face here.





This area is short, but there are some enemies crawling around. Gnawers are standard foes, while T'poles have high physical defense and elemental resistances, but no magic defense.



They also apparently can be eaten by the Gnawers if they get too close to each other. Maybe JERK will trigger that to satisfy his morbid curiosity.



Otherwise, this area is short and leads here.

Memories of Green



For being in a creepy forest, this abode ain't half bad.



The resident even has some nice fashion sense!





'Tis thee, Crono! Thou art here to practice thy skill in swordplay?



It seems Frog hasn't heard the recent news, so...

SILENCE



...I see...



At the Bottom of Night



Frog has already felt that he failed Queen Leene, and now the King has fallen. He certainly has the ability, he just lacks confidence.

Nothing we can do now but leave him be.





Also this exists.



Next time we head off to meet the Legendary Hero and help him recover the sword needed to defeat Magus.