Part 13: In Which Will’s Hair Finds a Secret

We’re picking back up with a dungeon update. Due to popular request, I’m attaching a video of the first part of the dungeon just to show it off a bit: Mine First Part Video. For some reason Youtube might be throwing the sound off by a bit. I may try a re-upload later to fix the issue.



Our first new enemy is the Flayzer, who has the obvious disadvantage of attacking in straight lines when we’re quite capable of moving at a diagonal. They’re actually the easiest thing in the dungeon, despite their intimidating size.



Just north we have our first Grundit, which will pop up and wave around, then throw a fireball that will actually chase you around. It’s slow, though, and unlike similar enemies in Soul Blazer they don’t regain their health when they go underground. Clearing the first room gets us a very welcome HP increase.



“Elevator entrance… use that door to get to the elevator. But which door is THAT door? The gate is locked…”




“Well, that was more crushing it with my flute, but whatever. So it looks like Erik was really underestimating when he was trying to rescue three of you.”



Next up we have the Eye Stalker, shown here shooting freakin’ laser beams at where Will was a few seconds ago. They’re not terribly swift, but we also can’t easily reach them right now…



Until we kill another enemy and demolish part of the pen, letting them out. It makes for a busy few seconds until the situation gets resolved.



“So how am I supposed to find it?”

“Watch for wind blowing through the cracks in the wall. It would blow fine hair like yours around. Then you’ll understand.”

“Wait, my hair is fine? What do you mean by that?”

“Can’t talk, running off to freedom.”



Nearby we have another herb for the treasury, even though at this point we haven’t really used any. They’re going to start piling up pretty soon.



Coming back around there’s a set of stairs leading up to some more enemies and a set of four switches that open up a door in the center, just to our left in this screenshot. Clearing out the area also finally gets us an upgrade to Strength.



Coming down the stairs and moving on we get to this chamber. It’s hard to depict in this screenshot (there’s a reason there’s a video) but Will’s hair will blow if you stand in front of this section. Using his charge move will destroy the hidden entrance, resulting in…




The best part of this is that we don’t have to carry them around. Inventory space really is a precious commodity in this game.



Just to the right of the hidden passage we finish off the enemies in the area and get this upgrade as well as reaching a Dark Space.



A chance to restore HP is always welcome, and it’s a good opportunity to change into Freedan.



For some unguessable reason there is a network of ropes and suspended platforms crisscrossing the next area.



It’s also full of more Eye Stalkers, which Freedan can defeat in a couple of swings rather than the three to four that Will would need.



The area is a bit more interesting, with a set of ramps that we have to navigate by going up to the second level so that we can run down and then up the other side.



The next room we can reach is actually a side room, where we have to fight through a series of pens full of enemies. Eye Stalkers can turn into stone and become invincible for a brief period, but if you walk away they’ll turn back to normal so that you can kill them. Clearing out the room gets us yet more HP!



Once again a bit hard to see, but Freedan’s hair blows in the wind here. There’s another hidden door that we have to use Will’s charge attack on. There’s a Dark Space we can use to transform right there, and there’s nothing stopping us from immediately turning back to Freedan after we’re done.




“Freedan’s power - the Dark Friar can defeat enemies in places a sword can’t reach. When you’ve defeated all the enemies the road will open up.”

The above mentioned power uses the same mechanism as Will’s. Hold down the attack button, then release once Freedan starts to flash.



It looks kind of like this, and makes Freedan a much more versatile fighter.



To move forward, we have to use it on an enemy on a ledge that was completely inaccessible before. Killing the last enemy demolishes a wall between two ramps so that we can dash up the one on the right as well as giving us this Defense increase.



“Please use this key to save them.”

This actually represents the end of this particular path, since we now have to go all the way back to the beginning of the dungeon and use the key to proceed.



“I don’t know who came up with this system, but he was a genius.”



“WHEEEEE!”



Immediately afterwards the joy stops, as we find ourselves face to face with another door that requires two keys. Handily enough, there are also two sets of downward staircases.



The first one we’ll visit is the Morgue, which is full of Grundits and miscellaneous corpses.



One of the corpses is holding one of the keys we need, but it’s possible to get this without clearing all of the enemies in the Morgue. Finishing the place out gets us a strength boost, so it’s well worth it.



The second stairway leads us down to this tableau, where we have to navigate through the serpentine to reach the chained “laborer.” Clearing out the enemies gets us an HP increase as well as the second key we need. With that this dungeon is pretty much done, and using both keys gets us to the final room:



“Three of you just stuck in an empty room in the bottom of the mine? What. The. Hell.”



“If you could go there, help the villagers to regain their strength.”

“I’ll put that on my list. Right after saving the world.”



“People have turned to stone. Some are sick with unknown diseases.”

“O…kay… uh, we’ll say third on the list. That one seems a bit more complicated.”



“I heard from Erik that your friend has lost his memory. Legend says that there is a song that brings back the past. Please let him hear it.”



The Memory Melody

“May I have the prison key and the Melody of the Wind as souvenir of our meeting?”

“Kid, you’re trading me one thing for two and I’m up to my eyeballs in herbs. Take whatever you want as long as it’s not a Red Jewel or Herb.”

Next update: Crazy Inventions and Mysterious Drawings