Part 16: Stick of Artorias
Update 15: Stick of Artorias
Hey there, everybody! It seems that our attempt to win the Ghost Night prize (and stop Spat again) is being held up by this less-than-pleasant ghost, taunting us with the keycard we need for the elevator.
He's even hiding where we can't reach him, like Bijou so helpfully points out. You know, just in case the giant gap wasn't obvious enough.
...Ah! Hamtaro! Look over there!
Ah, of course. That one thing we haven't been able to successfully interact with yet!
But hang on, we've only learned one new Ham-Chat since last ti-
...Sure, that works.
I wonder if it leads to someplace else...Only one way to find out!
Well... I think that may be a new one for my list of interesting ways to enter boss arenas.
...What? Why yes, that does mean we're fighting a boss, despite this being an adventure game about hamsters.
This is using the boss music, at least. I'd call it more of a challenge, though.
You see, this ghost's entire pattern consists of warping to one of five tiles on the arena floor, where he will go through these three animations: whirlwind, cowering and trying to be scary. (The last one has a short wail attached.) Notice anything missing from that?
Yep... This ghost doesn't attack. The real enemy here is timing, as demonstrated above by Hamtaro ineffectually poking it in the face.
Our spooooky pal here is only vulnerable to being poked while he's cowering, so you have to get into position fairly quickly, given the time it takes to open the command menu.
Personally, I would recommend standing somewhere in the middle of the three right-most tiles (out of five). Say, about a step or two right of where Hamtaro is here.
Our opponent subscribes to that old boss tradition of taking exactly three hits, so provided you figure out what's what in short order, this spectre shouldn't last more than a minute.
For poking and prodding that ghost into submission, Hamtaro and Bijou are the new owners of another shiny new keycard!
Sure is.
Now that we're done with all that, let's head on up out of this basement.
Oh, and don't forget to take the board with you! Sure, any couples coming through here after us will be hopelessly out of luck... But them's the breaks!
On the way up to the lobby, we discover that the guy who taught us Go-P has moved up to near the door that won't open... and his girlfriend is nowhere to be seen.
I just noticed she's gone. She normally stays by my side, but... It's weird. Where could she be...?
I could hazard a guess... But either way, there's not much we can do to help this guy now.
So, instead... Let us move onward and upward!
...Oh dear.
Well now, when I say "what", I mean what!
Really? Because when I say "what", I mean what!! Whatever! Whatever!!
Well, that sure was an intelligent conversation.
Say hello to Howdy and Dexter, our new clubhouse hamsters for this area. As you can probably tell, there are often times where they don't get along so well.
We were fixin' to win a "spooktacular prize" for Pashmina, right? Well, after gettin' this far, Dexter gets a bright idea to quit listenin' to me! It's so completely obvious I'm the leader! And everyone needs to listen to the leader!Ah, yes... The fact that he and his buddy Dexter share affection for Pashmina is one of the reasons they often end up clashing.
Let's hear Dexter's side of the story now.
Howdy and I joined forces to win the "spooktacular prize" for Pashmina. You know, to give to her as a present. But, he won't work with me at all! Just who does he think he is?!?More-or-less the same story, except with differing opinions about leadership.
Let's tell these two to knock it off.
Hey... You know...you're right! Bein' more mature 'bout this is the way to go.
...isn't Dexter, at all.
You will not beat us, Hamtaro! No you will not! Let's go, Howdy!
Well... That wasn't quite the reaction I was hoping for, but at least those two are working together now. Even if it is against us...
At least Hamtaro and Bijou can feel the blazing heat of rivalry now.
Now, on exploration and... Hang on a minute.
...Gotta love the classics.
Anyway, onto exploring the second floor! Let's see what awaits us behind door number one!
Oooh, very nice. Extra large armchairs, a fireplace, plenty of books to read... I could laze about here quite comfortably, I think.
Let's check out the reading material.
...About par for the course, I'd say.
Oh-hoh, that sounds like a hint! But, how do we start a fire?
...Hang on, what?
Okay, we just started a fire with the intensity of a good rivalry, summoning old folks' ghosts in the process.
Adventure games!
They aren't the friendliest of old folks, either.
How many times do I have to say it?!?
The cranky old ghost vanishes after we try to strike up a conversation, but this Ham-Chat is all Hamtaro and Bijou can get out of him.
Which means I got no chance at a date, huh?
...Well, at least this one was more polite about it. Not much else we can do in this room, I guess.
Let's try the door at the end of the hall.
Huh, okay then. I didn't expect Boo Manor to have a funeral parlour set up.
The piano is a nice touch, though. Let's see if our heroes know how to play anything interesting.
Well, now... It's not quite Resident Evil levels of ridiculous locking measures, but a coffin that requires a tune to spring open?
Leaving aside the fact that we're probably going to be finding sheet music in the future, we head back past the elevator and through an empty stretch of corridor...
...over to the stairs up to the third floor.
Ooh, another ghost! Let's see if this one's any nicer than those we've met so fair.
Oh-hoh? We'll just see about that...
Ah, right. Floaty ghost.
...Whoops!
When I'm like this, only fire can defeat me!
...You don't say...
Luckily for us, we've solved this puzzle once already!
Heh... Lightweight.
Now, what was so important that there had to be a ghost guarding the door?
Oh, hi there Dexter! Did you and Howdy spilt up to look for clues or something?
We can't get anything more out of Dexter for the moment, so let's continue exploring for now.
Further down the hall, we catch another ghost just before they phase through a door... which spooks our heroes somewhat, despite all the ghosts they've already seen.
There's a minigame on the other side, but I'll spare you most of the spiel for now, because...
Hamtaro has no idea how to properly push things. Presumably, this means all doors up until this point have been opened by walking face-first into them.
Moving swiftly along, now!
Ah... An obstacle to our ascension! We can't reach the keycard reader with these two here, so (assuming that we even have the right card for it) we can't explore the fourth floor yet.
It's no good!
Okay then... You two keep doing what you're doing, I guess.
...I'm not sure the LP goons would agree with that, somehow.
There's one room left that we can explore, so let's take a quick look 'round.
Hmm... I'm not sure I'd want such a sad painting to dominate the room quite so much. But then, I'm hardly well-versed when it comes to art.
There are one or two interesting things in here, at least. This happens if you run across the carpet...
Sweet! More money for the eventual Photo Studio update, when I have to buy all kinds of stuff to dress these two up in.
Naturally, the other interesting thing in this room is the massive portrait on the wall.
Sure, Bijou's just hearing things in the mansion full of ghosts. Somehow, I don't buy it.
And with that, the exploration is over! I guess we'll just chill in here with Dexter until nex-
...Dexter!
So, uh... Yeah, solo Bijou segment.
How does that sound?
...Sure, we'll just pretend Dexter was being coherent there. That's what happens when you interrupt someone who's busy thinking.
Bijou doesn't fancy going solo for couples night, it seems. We'll have to rectify that... next time.
Until then, she can just light this
Bonus video:
Hope you remembered your Charcoal Pine Resin!