The Let's Play Archive

Dragon Warrior I

by LordAndrew

Part 3: Post 03: Tablet of the Ancestor




Post 03: Tablet of the Ancestor


Carrying on in our adventure, we set out to find a way across the sea to the DracoLord's castle!


But it isn't that easy. It never will be. The DracoLord's minions exist all over. This Slime is no exception. Command?


Battle is indeed turn-based, with you going, then the enemy. Sometimes, you can sneak attack the enemy, and sometimes, the enemy can sneak attack you! You can either attack it with your weapon, cast a spell on it, use an item on yourself or it, or flee.


Since we only have a club, we'll have to attack. Here we have to... select a target?

NES differences:

But, you only fight one enemy at a time. Anyways, we bludgeon the gooey beast with our club, leaving blue splatters on our club.


Our club does a measly two damage, however.


But, our attack proves too much, as the Slime withers away and dies, with a majority of it leaking off of our club.


And you'll only be seeing this screen a whole lot of times to the power of four.


Upon defeating the enemy, we grow in our experience and wisdom as to what we can accomplish.


...and we also get some gold from the monster? The amount of gold an enemy drops tends to be double the experience it gives.

NES differences:

But Slimes aren't the only enemies you'll face, oh no. You will also face RedSlimes in the immediate area, which are just palette swaps of the Slime. They are a bit stronger and give a bit more gold and experience. Also note that, based on what type of terrain you're standing on when on the overworld, it will dictate the background in combat.


Another enemy local to the area around Tantegel is the Dracky. It is some sort of baby dragon, if I recall. They give even more experience than a RedSlime, as well as gold.

NES differences:

As you battle, you accumulate experience. Eventually, your experience will unlock new potential. Here, we level up.








Going into our stats menu, we can check out what our stats look like now. We have a lot more health now! Rather, maximum health. We'll have to go to an inn if we want to recover.


Oh, right. We did happen to forget to talk to one person in town, so we should go ahead and do that now.


*: But aren't you a handsome fellow? I... I'll tag along.

: Well, as long as it can make this adventure easier!

She follows you around! I wonder how useful she is in battle.


She even sleeps at the inn with you, all for three gold.


One stay later reveals a separate adventure it seems.

As you leave Tantegel however, she vanishes from your party and goes to stand on the street corner again. Hm. Oh well, we can do this alone!


When you hit level three, you learn Heal. It can be used in or out of combat, and it heals you minorly. It costs magic to use, however, which you are on short supply of currently.


At level four, you learn Firebal. It sends out a fireball to damage the enemy. It burns magic fairly quickly, but it usually wins battles in one shot at low levels.

NES differences:

Finally, the Spooky is the strongest enemy in the area I believe, giving out a hefty amount of experience and gold.

NES differences:

Before setting out, we head back to Tantegel to grab the Copper Sword, Leather Armour, and Leather Shield, then head north to discover this cave in the desert.


Well, for one, it's pitch black in here. Unless you're a masochist like me, you're going to want to bring a Torch. We happen to have one though, right?


Going into the menu and items, select the torch. We light it up somehow, and...


...now we can navigate! This place actually doesn't have any monsters at all, you really just have to navigate it and get to the bottom.

NES differences:

You'll know when you're nearing the stairs, as you'll see these. I wonder if they give off light when your torch is out?


The staircase, as mentioned earlier.


A very decorative tile, if only a little bit ironic.


Ducking and swirving the narrow cave, we finally come across this!


: My name is Loto. To my descendant... To reach the demonic island that can be seen from Tantegel, three magic implements were needed. I used them to cross the sea and defeat the lord of the demons. I will entrust the three mystic items with three sages. Their descendants will guard them. When evil returns to that island, collect the items and fight it. The three sages are waiting. It is your duty to go, my progeny!

: Amazing. They actually built Tantegel from the source of all evil on purpose apparently. And thanks Loto, you couldn't have just left the items in a sack or something behind this tablet could you. Bah.
From here, you just have to waltz back outside. Now we know how to reach the island of all evil!

NES differences:

As we end our quest for now, heading back to Tantegel to let what we've learned soak in, let's take a look at our stats.


We certainly are coming along nicely, aren't we?


And we even have magic!

From here on out, we can go all sorts of places as long as we can survive. We have to track down the sages, retrieve the items they hold, and save the princess too! But where do we go first? Well, hm.