The Let's Play Archive

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

by Yapping Eevee

Part 15: The Plobfather Revealed!

Update 13: The Plobfather Revealed!



And welcome back! It seems that the thread has done that thing which usually happens with a certain other series (*coughFinalFantasycough*), where people start talking about every individual game in the series and arguing discussing their merits. So I figure I may as well weigh in on this.



I have:
-played the original versions of the first four games
-read Tendales’ LP of V
-no clue about VI or VII
-beaten VIII
-played a fair chunk of both IX and Joker 2
-seen UZworm’s LPs of both Monster games





The thread seems to have two main sticking points regarding a) grinding, and b) the blank-slate party members in III and IX. I’d like to take a moment to express a heartfelt ‘fuck you’ to II’s endgame at this point. Not because of the death spells, but just the amount of grinding required to beat the last boss without massive savestate abuse. I’d say that III and IV are much better about grinding in general.







Oh, and as for the blank slate party members… I’m one of the folks who’s perfectly fine with them. A game with a blank slate party can make for a truly magnificent LP, as certain goons have demonstrated time and again. Giving voice to the voiceless and writing your own dialogue for a character with an existing personality are two very different things. One is roleplaying. The other is fanfiction. One of these two things works out well much, much less often.



Then press +Control Pad to change speed and direction. Unga unga!

In fact, the only reason I stopped playing IX is because I did A Dumb Thing™. Three hours and several sidequests after the last time I had saved, I accidentally loaded a state instead of saving one. That kind of killed my enthusiasm a bit. Maybe I’ll go back to it someday.



Alright, that’s enough of that. Let’s move on with this; an awesome if somewhat easy game about slimes, tanks and glorious puns.



Down underground, the only way across these rapids is to sit on one of the railway carts and let it carry you across. This solution is only ever used this one time, so that’s nice.



......................................................................U-r-gr8!



As has been discussed, lightning staves are kind of gimmicky and lackluster. They also aren’t needed in any alchemy recipes at all, so I think I’ll give this one a miss.



Clawdia happy to be rescued just this once. Unga! Me woman, after all!

The cavewoman-esque slime gives us an oaken club. Is that some kind of proposition?



Anyway, this screen may seem familiar to those who’ve been paying attention.



Yes, we’re now on the other half of this weird little maze of bridges, barriers and woodwork.





We have a mimic on this side along with another holy crystal, but there’s not much else to see here.



Until we get to the end of the maze, where the game checks whether you’re on the ball today.



See that? That’s our fourteenth point of health. In case it wasn’t obvious, we’re kind of running out of main game here.



The following screen is a mirror image of its counterpart, with our second rockbomb and another spinefield to traverse.



Things don’t go nearly as badly this time around. And you know what’s beyond this point, don’t you?



Hm? Who the heck are you?

Going like a dream, huh? Guess that other platypunk got screwed over on the prime excavation spot.



When these bad boys I dug up hit that Schleiman o’ yours, it’s gonna be Bolognese!



So, you know how the other War Chest’s ammo was a little bit lacking? This one, not so much. Let’s take a look at what he’s got.





Al Plato has a selection of solid ammo, including metal king and bastard swords along with the second tier balls and missiles. He does have some bits of dud ammunition in the gold bar (which deals 10 damage) and a chest, but all in all, his stuff’s pretty solid.



Which is why I decided to break in and disrupt his operations.



Ooh, he has one of these destructiballs too! Nasty.



There is a slight issue when the Hammerhood loses his hammer though, meaning that nobody fires anything for a little while. Well, aside from the Goodybag sending a claptrap into the enemy cannon room.



I didn’t actually notice that it had happened, or that it’s what hurt Al Plato here until I was reviewing the recording.



The Hammerhood revives just as I head back over to load some stolen goodies into our cannons…



...but none of it manages to get there. This fight is won mostly by my stock of bastard swords, with a few other potent projectiles mixed in.



Ah, Rocket! I wrote a poem to pass the time. It’s a real chicken and egg situation!

Well, aside from the fact that we saw some of the slimehabitants were carried away before being put in their boxes. But that was a dozen updates ago, so you’d be forgiven for forgetting.





The cracked-up bard gives us a Goddess statue, which should hopefully prove handy later.



With both sides of the split finished off, we can finally head on through this Imp’s obstruction.



Aaaaaand of course there’s more cactiballs. Thanks, game.



Oh, it’s the consumable version of the game’s best healing item (barring the revival stuff). This is special medicine, which will heal our tank for 50 HP once we actually find some in ammo form.





Heading through the warp takes us to the end of the area, with the boss door and an obvious tank battle room nearby.



Oh, and here’s the devil tail chest. This should be an easy place to farm some up if I need them.



Now, if this is the last tank battle of the area… Can you see where this is going, readers?



If you wanna go any further than this, you’re gonna have to get past me first. Seems the Plob have found something totally awesome… You’re gonna have to get past me pretty quick if you wanna catch them in time!

Somebody seems to be loosening up. Alright, let’s make this quick!







Schleiman versus Schwarzman, round 3! Fight!



You know how this one goes by now, right? Slival’s still all by his lonesome, so infiltration tactics work wonders against him.



Edged boomerangs are pretty cool.



Hiya, buddy! We’ve come to pummel the goo out of you until we win.



Big words from someone who just got revived.





Sorry, which one of us is dead?



Finding another orichalcum is very nice indeed! You see, the only continual source of these outside of alchemy is from the necropolis’ Goodybags; they also drop gold bars, but the other two items are considerably less awesome. (Goddess statues and lightning staves, if you’re curious.)



Don’t worry, I’m getting stronger, too. I can keep up with you. Guess I’ll let you pass now. Go on!

See you later, Slival!



You there, lad! Would you help me, please? One is beside oneself with boredom.

Ah, must be one of the upper class if they’re calling themselves ‘one’.



Now, one must be getting back to town at once. Do be careful, young man.



Seems Her Royal Wobbliness is quite capable of finding her own way home… and that not all the shellslimes sound Australian.



It reminded one of your father, Big Daddy, in his younger years. You look just like him!



Let it never be said that the king and queen of Slimenia are not generous.



There’s only one more thing we need to do here, so let’s save the final slime and see whether the Plob have unearthed the Dark One yet.





Hi there.



Pot Belly and Harvest Loon both - Peh! - enjoyed doing battle with you, I’m sure. Peh! But not as much - Peh! - as I’m going to! I’m about to become a real thorn in your side!

Alright, time to take on the last of the Plob’s Big Three. Lickety Spit, the Gripevine!



Lickety Spit has four cactiball minions wandering around at all times, so trying to get rid of them isn’t going to be very fruitful.



These particular cactiballs can launch themselves at Rocket’s position, but they’re also our method of hurting the boss.



I’m going to have to make you cry, lad. And scream. Peh! I can’t let you off too easily!



Some spiky vines emerge from time to time after Lickety drops below half health, so be wary of those as well.



Just don’t do anything stupid, and this boss fight should be fairly straightforward.



We’ve dug up the - Peh! - thing that was sealing the Dark One away now. It’s a shame to - Peh! - have to leaf you like this, but there you are.



And that’s the end of the Big Three, folks! Now to save our last slime of the day.



I suppose I can let you off this once. Now, back to town through that teleportal!

You must be Lady Poly’s husband, I’m assuming…





The meteorite is a 70-damage, very fast piece of ammo. It’s basically the golden arrow except even better. I think it may actually be the fastest ammo in the game!











This is him, folks. The Plobfather, the six-tailed head of the whole organisation. Don Clawleone, biggest and baddest Platypunk around!



You ain’t quit stuffin’ mush down ya throat since ya got here. I thought you princess dames was supposed ta be classy.







I’m sendin’ ya back to Slimenia before ya bring the whole operation down!



-------



You were unsuccessful? Hmph. I see… But at least you’re unhurt.





It’s not the ground we need to worry about now. The danger’s in the sky!



...And here I thought Bowser had the monopoly on flying fortresses that look like the big bad.



Damn, Gluttonella’s getting slammed on today. Also, somebody messed up and layered Ducktor Cid under his garage.

I can’t wait to get stuck into that thing! We’ll give the Plob something to think about!

Hmph. I’ll leave this in your capable hands, then. You young ones know what to do.





Just one more, and Rocket will be at maximum power!



We’ll give them what for! ...Next update. For now, we have some NPC chatter and a few more crew members to cover.



It’s not as tedious as I always imagined. The common folk seem to have the right idea. Ah, yes. I’m enclosing a gift that’s been in my esteemed family for generations.



Maybe you should hand this down through a couple more generations, until the Goddess stops being so generous with piggy banks.





It does only appear to be three rooms, now that you mention it.



Oh! When did you get here? I haven’t got dressed up yet.



Gee, I wonder.



You’re my friend, to the end… Do you like my poem? Eggcellent!





Yeah, I think we could definitely do something with this one.

Thank-u. Now-u-process-good-painting.



Dear Goddess, somebody needs to.



And Clawdia no like weak boys. But you different, Rocket.

Yep, that was definitely a proposition.

You’ll have to tell me about your adventures one day. I’ll rinse my ears out specially!

Yay! You came to see me, Rocket! There isn’t much to do here, but stick around.

Hello, Rocket. Are you eating enough? You need to keep up your strength.

Did you read my letter, Rocket? I lotht my temper a bit when I wrote it!



The 100St iron ball is the only one that remains in Boingburg now. We’re at ninety slimes rescued, with the final ten being on the Clawtress itself.





I wish there was someone who’d clear it out for me.



What, you mean this chimney?



I’ve been wondering how long it was going to take for this to happen. We need to jump down the chimney five times to get it completely clean, and then…



Here’s a little present from me for all your hard work. Take it.



I’m as proud as a pup with a new collar! There aren’t many houses in town that have had their chimneys swept by a hero!

Holy crystals are made from holy water and… thousandweights? Uh, someone’s gonna need to explain that one to me. Mind you, a lot of these recipes don’t make much sense.



I thought I was surely beaten! I was so worried, my whites were stiffening! But yokes aside, I’d like to present this to you as a sign of my gooratitude. It’s a new tank called Giggles!



Alright, aside from that onslaught of puns worthy of one of Lizard Wizard or Geop’s threads, Meggan here has revealed a little something. You see, you can pick any tank you’ve encountered before to use in Tank Masters, and there are a couple of secret ones to be earnt. We’ll get into that a bit more when the time comes.



I tell ya, this tank is no laughing matter! Your opponent will flip his noggin! It’s crate!





Pamby swap 10 toy slimes for something weally, weally good! Okay?

Ten toy slimes? That’s two thousand gold you’re asking for, kid. This better be worth it.

Yay! Pamby wikes you! Here’s something weally, weally good like Pamby pwomised.



Thank you! Pamby weally happy now! Yay!

Oh boy, these things. So remember how I said that along with arrows, missiles and balls, there was a fourth stackable set of items? The power tablet is the first of those items. If you stack it with overdrive and weapon tablets, you will create the Power Overdrive Weapon… which functions kind of like the death carrot, except it takes three hits to knock down and supposedly does 100-damage ticks. It’s gimmicky as hell, but sounds like it could be handy in a pinch.





But Wild Fang happy you rescued him.





Just imagine if Rocket learned to use magic as well as his mighty Master Blast. Anyway, there’s just a few more things that need to be done before heading off to the Clawtress.



One is farming up our two newest monsters so we can get them as crew members. Managed to get a couple of other goodies for the Schleiman too.





That lollipop’s not for licking! It’s a wand for casting Frizz! And did it just jinx you with a wink?

With their Zoom spell allowing them to break into enemy tanks with ease (and no travel time), the Jinkster is a solid option for an infiltrator. They aren’t the hardiest, but they’ll warp around and do a decent job harnessing opponents.





The flames might be scary, but just think what water could do to a monster that's 90% fire…

The Dancing Flame’s fiery breath is very destructive in tank warfare, and setting them to guard Rocket means they can still be used as an invasion buddy if you want to go over to the enemy tank and wreck havoc yourself. Another solid option for infiltration.



The last thing we need to take care of is tending to the Schleiman itself. Slimechanic offers three upgrades, each of which are worth 80 HP. The other two cost:
-80G, 1 Holy Crystal, 1 Goddess Statue
-80G, 1 Orichalcum

So with all the main game upgrades bought, the Schleiman reaches a lovely round 1000 HP!



And with some new ammo in stock, we’re ready to assault the Flying Clawtress and rescue the last of Boingburg’s slimehabitants!

There are only two post-game slimes and three enemies to be gathered up now, so feel free to tell me who should serve in our crew for the final area.

-------

Oh, and I have something special to share. I’ve been saving this for when it became spoiler-free, and now that Don Clawleone has shown his face, that’s finally the case.

Please enjoy the magnificent trailer for Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime!