Part 58: DS Quest for the Sand Pearl part 1

DS Update 3: Quest for the Sand Pearl part 1

It's me again! Time for another one of these. Today, we're going to make our way through the Waterway to Damcyan.

Before we head out from Kaipo, there are a couple things to take care of. First:



What's that, Rydia? I didn't catch the little guy's name.


What? You didn't hear me? I said-


Oh, that's his name. I gotcha.

Now, before we head out, our new buddy What. needs one more thing...


It's something Fat Chocobo here can help us out with! Those other options will be unlocked later.


For now, this is the one that concerns us.


Here, we can draw a new face for What.

On the left are various sized "brushes" which will fill anywhere from 1 to 6 squares. There are also erasers, stamps, and a fill option.


There are several different palettes. Click around until you find the one you like.

This is all controlled with the stylus, of course, which means I'm stuck using a mouse. That said...


This is what we'll be rolling with for now.




If you've any other ideas for What.'s face, suggest away! You can change his face any time and it doesn't cost you a thing except your precious time!

Right. Now we're ready to leave Kaipo, but not to go on to the next area (just yet).


Rydia's only level 7 and she's fragile as all hell. I'm going to level her up a bit before moving on.


While I'm at it, how about I demonstrate this nifty Rod of hers?


Since I set it to her abilities earlier, now I can use it in battle instead of her wimpy physical attack (that she should never use).


Mage Arrows summons... well... arrows.


It does pretty decent damage, considering Rydia's only level 7! It'll get more powerful as she levels up, too. And all for the cost of absolutely no MP! It's pretty nifty, and I'll be using it all the goddamn time!


Rydia comes with a few White and Black Magic spells right out of the box. Her selection isn't too impressive right now, but that will change!


For now, at least she can keep herself healthy while Cecil handles the asskicking. Right on, Rydia!


Look at that! We're already seeing the fruits of our efforts!


Rydia does a little twirl when she levels up. It's adorable.


And she learns new spells! These... aren't very useful, but every little bit helps!

A little later...


We encounter a new enemy! Desert Sahagin's have 40 HP to their name and a weakness to Ice.


Speaking of Ice, Rydia came with that spell, as well as Thunder. Fire is conspicuously absent from this list, of course. We know Rydia isn't too fond of fire...


Even Cecil is invited to the levelling party! Go Cecil.


This can also happen when you encounter an enemy, and it ain't fun. Remember that "Preempitve" attack I got back in the first update? This is the same thing, except the enemy gets a free attack instead of us.

Depending on the enemy, it can be really bad or just a minor nuisance. In the case of these guys, it's the latter, thankfully.


Our little summoner is coming along nicely!


After healing up the party, I decide to show off Sight. You may remember it has the same effect as a Gnomish Bread.


Cast it, and it brings up a map!


Scroll through the list and you can select various places, which will appear on the map. Joy.

Like I said, this is completely useless to me because the DS version has a map on the lower screen. Constantly.

More rampant murder later...


This is another thing that can happen at the start of battle. It's a bit like "Surprised," only far more sinister. And annoying.


Not only do the enemy get a free turn on you, they're attacking you from behind.


Meaning your squishies in the back row now take full damage from attacks!


Cecil's damage will also be for shit from the back row. So, what you do is this.


Cecil charges forward and Rydia falls back behind him. It takes up a turn, but it's well worth it for long battles, or if you're fighting tough enemies!


"Tough enemies" is a much broader category when you're ambushed like this. Ouch!

Basically, always swap rows if you're back-attacked. Always.


But with that, Rydia's training is done.


She learned a couple more useful spells. Esuna is a very handy spell. It removes all negative status effects! It's among the most useful in the White Mage's repertoire (and they have a lot).


One last thing! Rydia is a Summoner, so of course she can summon things.


Like when you use an item, when you cast spells, a little yellow bar appears. When it fills up red, the spell is cast. How quickly it fills up depends on the spell (more powerful ones take longer to charge).

As to the summon, here it is!


Polsy version


That's that, though. It's dungeon time!


Here's the Waterway. It looks pretty nifty in the DS version. You'll get a good look at it as we go along.


First order of business: new enemies! You... don't want these things to get the jump on you like this. Bad things happen.


They cast magic.


Lots of magic.


In all elemental flavors, in fact


And it stings. Bad.




Owie!

So, yeah, Cecil, reduced from full health to critical before he can even move!


Oh you have got-


Oh, OK that's not so bad...


So yeah. Tiny Mage. Huge pain in the ass.

They only have 50 HP, though, so Cecil can easily drop them in one hit.


If you don't, they have a chance of doing this as a counterattack.


Hey, she needs that MP, jerk!


Ow!


Goddamnit ow! Quit making me look bad!

I recommend dropping these things as quickly as you can. At this stage, Rydia can't reliably one-shot them, so put her on healing duty, at least until she gets a few more levels. You don't want them draining her MP.


At least I profited nicely from their demise.




Level ups for all!

Have anything to say about that, Cecil?


Weren't you paying attention in that last battle, Cecil?! Seems to me Rydia's the one protecting you!


See, Cecil? Pay attention to this girl; she knows things.


Whatever. Let's get looting! This place is much larger than the Mist Cave, and it has a lot of goodies to grab.


But before we head any deeper, we're going to talk to this dapper-looking gentleman.


Hell yes, he does, my good man. And just look at those shades, and that 'stache! Amazing.

I beg you, lend me your aid!

What's happened?



I fear I've little time. I sense something sinister.

You don't know how right you are, Tellah.

Anna, you said? Then you must be Tellah!


Hell yes!






The devil is strong, I warn you.
My magic alone is no match for it. But perhaps with your dark sword as well we might defeat it!



A summoner, is she not? And one with quite some potential, from the looks of it.

We need to reach Damcyan, too.

Then the choice is made for us! Let us make haste.





You worry way too much, Cecil. Tellah's spells aren't just a boon, they can carry you through this whole goddamn dungeon!




The other two's comments aren't nearly as interesting. Oh well.


Here is Tellah. Tellah is awesome. Just look at that Intellect! For comparison, Rydia's Intellect right now is seven.


But he's a tad squishy. Good thing I picked up another one of these!




He comes with a nice array of spells. I wasn't exaggerating when I said he's going to carry us through this dungeon.


Oh, I guess I won't be needing any Emergency Exits after all. That's nice.


This in particular is a great boon to spellcasters, as Leave mentioned in his run-through of this place.


So, let's try him out then, shall we?




Hell. Fucking. YES!


Oh, and here's another new enemy! Sahagins have 110 HP, and they're weak to thunder, unlike their desert cousins.


Rydia tries...


but she can't quite match Tellah's murder potential. Yet. Give her time.


More new enemies! The freaky looking thing in the back is an Amoeba (125 HP)


The clam-looking things are Fangshells (55 HP)


Both are weak to thunder.


Of course, Tellah isn't just an instrument of death. He's also a great healer!


He can top off the party's HP in a flash!


There's this, too. I won't turn down revival I don't have to pay for!


Of course, his physical attack leaves much to be desired.




More stuff!


And more quotes! This is what Tellah has to say if you take him outside. The other two say the same things they did before we got here.


I Tent up while I'm out here, since the party took quite a beating in there. I think the Tent looks cool, cozy too.


And now it's time for some sweet black revenge!


Aim!


The damage isn't as impressive against multiple targets, but that's enough to drop them. All of them.




Again, Rydia's damage is much less impressive, but she'll get there!


Here's something annoying. If you must pick them off one at a time, off the Amoeba first!


If you don't one-shot them, they can counter with Reraise on the entire enemy party


If any of its cohorts are dead, they get revived!


And I'm pretty sure you only get the EXP from them once, so there's no reason to let them do that!


For best results, apply Thunder. Liberally.


These things aren't nearly as much of a threat with Tellah around. In fact,


they're very handy for keeping his MP topped off. Just as long as they don't counter with Osmose themselves, that is.


Rydia is slowly but surely reaching full murder potential.


And she's started learning her second-tier spells, too!


Tellah still has her beat in the magic department but... What the hell, Tellah? Did your Strength stat just go down?!


Down here is a special spot.


You can go behind the waterfall! It contains loot.


Very nice loot! Dry Ethers restore 100 MP, twice as much as an Ether!


X-potions fully restore HP. I'll hang onto this one for now. We don't really need it yet.


These are always helpful, of course.


Continuing with the Tellah-fueled murder, Cecil levels up!


I can always use more of these.


Slowly but surely!


Ehhh... she already has Esuna, so this is pretty pointless. I prefer zapping my foes to hell to messing around with status effects.


That's one floor clear!

Obtained 5 Eyedrops

Yes, I spend a lot of time running around. I get lost easily, OK?


In the next area, another new enemy! Killer Fish have 60 HP, and like most monsters in here, they're weak to thunder.


Other than that, they're nothing interesting. This is, though. Tellah is getting even more murderous.


One nice thing about those Tiny Mages, they sometimes drop these. It's a nice defensive upgrade for Tellah.


Murder status: getting there!






More loot, and more levels!


In here, we get a rest stop.





You can use Tents and Cottages and even save within these circles.
We'll use my Tent here. We need to recover our strength before we face that beast.

Free healing! I like the sound of that.



That child- where is she from?

She is a summoner from the village of Mist.

Indeed. Then my eyes were not mistaken.
She has great potential. With practice and training, she should be able to master many spells.

He's right, too. Rydia is a beast once she gets going!

Such a darling little face too. She reminds me of my Anna when she was young.

Aww, yeah. She's the cutest little magical murder machine.

Your daughter?



Deceived by some wandering bard, and whisked away to Damcyan...
All because I refused to give them my blessing.

Yeah, Tellah, if you don't want a kid to do something, especially when it comes to romance, the worst thing you can do is forbid her from doing it.



A friend of mine is suffering from desert fever in Kaipo.

I see. And you seek a sand pearl.
Then haste drives you as well. Even my magic could not avail you against the foe you face.

This line confused me at first. I think the "foe" he's referring to is the desert fever, not the antlion.

This monster of the lake, what manner of creature is it.

A vicious one, with eight massive, writhing tentacles.
But if we are to save your friend and Anna, we must find a way to slay it. I pray these premonitions are only an old man's fretting, but if they prove true, our time is short.




I avail myself of the save point, and then we're ready to continue.


This is a handy thing. You can use it in battle, like the Rod, except it tosses a free Blizzard at the enemy! I'll hang onto it for now, since not much in this cave is weak to ice.


Obtained 5 Antidotes

Nice, nice. Moving on!


Money is always good! With more money, I can buy my own loot!


This is an upgraded version of the Red Fang I used at the very beginning of the game. I always seem to forget I have things like this...


Let's talk new enemies! I wish I had equipped that Ice Rod now, because these guys are weak to ice. But they only have 94 HP, so they're not that tough.


They can do this. though, which can get annoying.


Cecil is just straight up immune to it, for whatever reason. I'll take it!


I got two level ups off those guys!


Nice, a couple of very helpful spells! Keep it up, Rydia, keep it up!


And now you're losing Stamina too?! What the hell, Tellah? What the hell?


Eh, whatever. We're moving right along.

Obtained 3 Tents

Like I said, Tents are super useful, but rather pricey. Any free ones I pick up are most welcome!


These can sometimes accompany Gigantoads. They have even less HP (66) and are still weak to ice.


Everything in this cave is weak to Tellah.


First, this.


Then, secret passage time!


I wind up over here.


Where I complete the map for this floor, oddly enough.

Obtained 3 Phoenix Downs


All in all, a profitable foray!


This goes directly on Rydia, of course.


Good job, Cecil, way to stay relevant!




Leave no treasure uncollected! Zeus' Wraths work like Bomb Fragments, except they're lighting element, rather than fire.


Tellah got Toaded. Heh, he's a little gray toad now.


Casting Toad, or Esuna, cures Toad. Toad is more fun, so I went with that.




All better!


This is the main treasure of the dungeon. Hell yeah, I'm equipping this thing right away!


It doubles Cecil's offensive output! Not bad, not bad at all!


I suppose these are helpful? I haven't had to use one yet...



Obtained Ether

What? Just one Ether? Why you cheaping out on me now, stupid dungeon!


Almost done with this place, believe it or not.



The monster dwells at the base of the waterfall beyond. It may be wise to pitch another tent outside and rest before we face him.

I do so.


I dunno, maybe because it likes to eat people; ever think about that?!


I like the way Tellah thinks!


Atta girl, Rydia! You can do it.


First, this room...


then to the top of a huge waterfall!

There is no turning back now. The beast awaits us down below.


Pfft. You have to ask?


BONZAAAAAAAA-


AIIIIIIII!


SPLOOSH!


New enemy! Red Mousse have just 35 HP and they're weak to fire. They also are extremely resistant to physical attacks, so magic is unequivocally the way to go.


Like so.


Keep it up, Rydia! You have almost half as much Intellect as Tellah, now!




Here are the other major treasures in this dungeon.




Cecil's a bit beefier now. Good!


And Tellah keeps being Tellah. What, no stat drops this time, bud?


Second-to-last floor, complete!

Obtained 5 Potions

Every little bit helps, I suppose, but we're getting past the point where these things are useful.


Here's another new enemy. Zombies have 87 HP, and a weakness to fire and...




curative magic!


Last armor upgrade for Cecil!


Now he's even more beefy!


This is the last new enemy we encounter in the Waterway. They have a whopping 175 HP, and a weakness to ice.


Tellah tears through them easily enough, of course.


Last treasure! Hermes Sandals cast Haste- makes your ATB gauge fill up faster, very handy!


In preparation for the boss, I feed Tellah an Ether.


Final floor, complete!

Obtained 3 Zeus's Wraths

These might come in handy against the boss... nah.


All right. Let's do this.









Oh god that thing is terrifying!


Kill it! Oh god kill it!


He's weak to dark and thunder, so Cecil should definitely Darkness it up.


Here's Rydia's damage against him. Not too shabby! He has 3350 HP to tear through, so we'll be here awhile.


He doesn't hit very hard, even on a critical.


Tellah's damage against him is a bit more impressive.


But Cecil wins the prize here! Damn, Cecil!


Even on Rydia, he only does 33 damage on a critical. Sure, she's in the back row, but I'd say her defense is coming along nicely!


As in the GBA version, his tentacles will disappear as you damage him. You can use that to gauge how much health he has left.


Of course, if Cecil keeps this up, it won't be long at all!


OK, yeah, that stung a bit more...

At this point, Tellah pipes up with some pointers.



The beast is weakening! But don't be lulled into thinking we've won. A wounded beast is a dangerous one!

His attack power increases at this point, but not by much.


Still, it's a good idea to put Rydia on healing duty, especially Cecil healing duty.


Ow! Good thing I already had a Cure queued up. Yikes


Tellah can also heal in a pinch, and I recommend you do so if you need it!








After an exchange of heavy blows,


The monster is vanquished!


It fades in to sparklies while simultaneously sinking.


Level ups for all, again!






30 Intellect. Yeesh. Rydia still has a long way to go, I guess.


The last of the tentacles sink beneath the waterfall.




Off we go!


All right! Dungeon complete. Let's see what the crew has to say.






Mostly the same sorts of things, I see.

Now, let's head to Damcyan-


Uh oh.


Now, that's just rude.


Jerks.

Have anything to say about this, people?






Yep, just as I thought.


Before we go assess the damage, I relieve Tellah of his equipment. He won't be needing it for awhile.




Welcome to Damcyan Castle.




It's not a very lively place right now.


The dead soldiers say the same sorts of things they do in the GBA version.


Well, Cecil?


Nope. I guess loot is more important!


The healing pots are still up here. The one on the left restores HP and status, while the one on the right restores MP.


But that's not why we're here, is it?


Tellah drops to his knees before his daughter's body.


A mysterious caped figure appears!




Tellah runs toward him,




and it's fisticuffs time!


Tellah proceeds to punch the shit out of Edward.


Kinda...


I'm relieved to see this classic line was preserved. This was my first exposure to it, remember.

Please, things are not as you believe!

*punch*

I see quite well how they are!

I beg you, hear my words!

Choke on your words!

Damn, Tellah, that's cold.

Please, I implore you!


Keep trying, Eddy, you can take at least 50 more of those.

Know this pain- Ann's pain!

But, Anna and I-


Uh oh. Looks like it's cutscene time!



Polsy version

Music from the cutscene

Tellah and Edward are voiced by Lee Everest and Sam Riegel, respectively, and Anna is Zarah Little


All right. We have our newest party member!


As well as a sweet new ride!

Let's just hear what the crew is thinking, and we're done here!






Cecil gets points for keeping his eyes on the prize, but the rest of you need to focus! Especially you, Eddie!






I'll leave you with some status shots, because why not?

Yeah... Edward is going to need a bit of work, clearly.


Well, one of these will help, a little.


And we're done for today! Next time, we'll go save Rosa, so stay tuned!