Part 14: Update Fourteen: Trees Aren't Supposed To Do That!

I said I'd throw up a new update when we hit a new page, but I didn't expect it to come tonight. I thought I'd have until the morning!

Last time, on Earthbound, we paid out $400 (half of which went to an asshole inventor and the other half went to someone useful), and disintegrated an iron statue that looked like a pencil. Today, we're crossing the rest of Peaceful Rest Valley. Let's get started, shall we?



Before we cross this bridge, there's more land to the north. In RPG terms, this generally means there's something up there.





Nothin'. Damn, I thought for sure--



While I'll accept this, I would have preferred treasure. Maybe a new bat for Nass.







I like how Nass' face turns to that wide smile, then his face immediately flops back to "I'm tired of this bullshit".



There are a bunch of photographer spots around the world; I don't know where all of them are, but I'll get as many as I can.



...Wait a minute...There wasn't a tree there before.



Jesus, it's hostile!



This is also our first new enemy of the update, and the toughest of our new foes; 145 HP, with a ton of offense and defense.





Prior to this run, I hadn't seen the Territorial Oak use this attack very often. It drains some offense and defense. Two points of the former and one of the latter, in this instance.



Aww, c'mon, he took two fucking offense! That shouldn't equal 13 HP! And yes, I know the formula, piss off if you were going to post it.



His other attack, aside from just hitting Nass in the face.



Brainshock makes the target "feel strange" which gives them a chance to hit themselves or allies. Feeling strange can be a huge pain in the ass. And I actually looked that up, too, out of curiosity, and found something interesting.



That's mighty interesting to me. I didn't know that prior to this. Though, I'm sure Alien Arcana or someone was going to point that out later.



The Territorial Oak seems to miss more often than not when it comes to its physical attack. I'm glad, as this would do around 30 damage to me.



Final blow. That didn't seem too bad, now did it?



This is the bad part.



The very bad part.



The Oak is the first enemy we've met that has an on-death reaction attack. As you can see, it does a ton of damage.



They drop a hefty amount of exp., though. And thanks to the rolling HP meter, we survive.



I'm uncomfortable with my HP that low around here, so a quick boost is in order. Peaceful Rest Valley is a pain in the ass to get through.





Ooh, a present box!



I've encountered far less enemies this far in than I expected. Usually, by now, I've fought a ton of enemies.



Though, it's not like I get through with a lack of fights. You'll see later.



Goddamn son of a bitch!



Exact same item we've had since before Giant Step.



See that gray diamond back there? That's an enemy, and the second biggest pain in the ass in this valley.



Conveniently enough, there's one right up here.





113 HP, with a good offense and he's pretty quick, too. He can also inflict the Cold status effect on Nass.



He's also got the annoying Shield Alpha. Half damage to this guy, while he's still dealing full damage to me.



Now, granted, I have Shield Alpha, too, but I don't want to use up valuable PP that could go toward Life Up Alpha. And Shield Alpha is more expensive, too.



This was the final blow of the fight. SMAAAAAAAAAASH attacks destroy shields instantly, which is nice, but it could have happened a touch sooner so that I could have been dealing regular damage.



They dole out a kickass amount of exp., too.



There's a decent amount of presents around the valley, too.



Not exactly useful contents in all of them, but the Luck Capsule will raise our Luck by 1 point. Since Alien Arcana has pointed out that Luck is useless, I drink this immediately.



I wonder what it's like to just feel your Luck grow, even if it's just a little bit.



And nothing over here, so we've gotta head down the path off of this hill.



Two Territorial Oaks and a Mobile Sprout. I've found that apparently, two Oaks will not occupy the same battle, which is a godsend.



If there were two Oaks, I'd have to coordinate their deaths, and take both of them bursting into flame in Nass' face. I could probably survive it, but that's a risk I'm barely willing to take.



Like I said, these guys hit like trucks.



Bacon Alpha only did 19 more damage; very soon, our regular physical attacks are going to just about match Bacon Alpha on single targets.





GAH FUCK



I've never seen the Oak do that much damage before. It certainly caught me off guard.



Magic Butterflies also seem to be frequent residents around here. At least, I saw a shitload of them (seriously, like six or seven) around here.



Before I reach the Magic Butterfly, I've got some other troubles to deal with.



The fight does not start well for me. But, I've gotta wipe out the Mobile Sprout first. Taking out the Oak first would doom me.





Mobile Sprouts aren't much of a threat to Nass anymore, but with a Oak around, just about any other enemy is a slight threat.



Alright, threat #1 is out of the way.



A banana later, our offense is dropped by two and our defense by one.



Repeat those last two images for the next five or six rounds of combat; all the Oak did was drain my offense and defense for the whole fight, except for one round where he tried to Brainshock Nass.



Thank God that Nass is legally retarded.



These fights take forever when your damage output is constantly going down.



But, hey, it's all worthwhile!









You're not reading that screenshot wrong. Nass did gain 39 HP in a single level. No PP gained this level, but that's alright.



And we get our Magic Butterfly, too!



With a Life Up Alpha bolstering my health now, I'm feeling much better about this whole ordeal.



Had the bridge been repaired, we could have skipped all that other crap we just did. But, to me, it's all just exp. in the bank.



: Crud...



Sorry 'bout your luck, pal, but I've got a girl to save.



This looks like trouble, yes, but it's not too bad, really. Even though there's double the chance of getting a Cold.



Another Magic Butterfly and some more exp., too. Usually, the valley isn't this profitable.



Since there are no other sources of PP healing right now, Magic Butterflies are our best method, short of hitting a hotel.



Treasure and PP restoration? Oh, game, why are you being so good to me?



Croissants restore--Hell, I took the screenshot, I'll just use that.



60 HP ain't too shabby. It's a nice upgrade to Hamburgers and helps cut down on my Life Up Alpha usage.



Jesus, it's like Christmas in the valley!



Bombs are pretty nice attack items; they deal a fair amount of damage to an enemy, and I think it'll damage nearby enemies, too.



Hey, two more enemies for the exp. pile over there.



Children, excuse me for a minute. I have to get all on their asses.



Alright, we're back. We've gotten a bit stronger and now, nothing in this valley is a threat to us.





Even though the bridge is a quick route through, there's still quite a bit of valley left. I'd like to polish it all off in this update, so we're going to soldier on.





Jesus, where the hell did all the enemies go?



Yeah, I think this Magic Butterfly will do nicely.



Hey, more enemies!



We'll be chasing after the Spinning Robo first. There's something to the west here that's going to be quite worth our time, too.





Just to give you an idea of how long of a walk it is to the end here.



Ooh, a Hard Hat! That'll be a nice boost to Nass' defense.



Nine points of defense is a hefty boost.



Back on track after our little detour, we've got some more evil plant life to take care of.



There's nothing that's really a threat around here anymore. And that little house back there looks a bit suspicious...



Oh, for the love of Christ...





It's entirely worth it, but I'm glad this place is almost over.



I still haven't seen a way from here down to that cabin.



Down here, we have another present. And more exp.



Cups of Lifenoodles are very, very nice items. They'll revive someone from the dead, and heal any status effect. Except Mushroomization, but there's only one cure for that.

Now, I've gif'd this next part, because I could not believe this shit, and I don't think anyone else would, unless I showed it actually happening.



For all intents and purposes, that should not have happened. I don't have any sort of reasonable explanation for this.



Almost out of this Goddamned place.



Even though it's been very, very good to me this run, I'm still not a fan of Peaceful Rest Valley.



And I've never seen this many fucking Territorial Oaks!



The exit out of here is behind me, but I was just scouring for treasure. I'm sure I missed a bit somewhere, though. I just have that feeling.



Whatever, I'm out of this place.



A Coil Snake?



Three Coil Snakes? What the hell, game?



Eh, just for old time's sake...



I never tire of an instant win.



We're here!



Oh, what the hell is this? Why is there so much ugly-ass blue around here?



The fuck?



: Twoson.

Oh, hey, found that kid's parents. I wonder what his mother has to say about this.



: bring him some happiness.

These are terrible parents! Go home and love your child!



Well, so far, so good.



Wait, what? That's not good. I mean, is it his fault everything around here is that horrid blue?



I'm not sure I want to.



What? No. That's retarded. You're retarded. Where are you getting this crap?



If it gets you to shut up, then yes. I understand perfectly.



Hey, buddy, go do me a quick favor: paint your face blue.



: When you obtain happiness you should visit the Happy-Happyism headquarters. It's located in the center of the village.

...It's like Scientology, but it's a cult! but they're obsessed with blue!



Y'know what, I'm done for now. This entire town gives me the creeps.

See you next update, where we explore this horribly-blue town and maybe find out a thing or two about Kim. Stay tuned!