Part 15: In Which Will Defies Gravity

Sky Garden Theme




“On the ground, Neil and my friends look like tiny ants going back and forth. I should probably tell them that I’m okay, but… eh, they’ll figure it out.”



“So you’re the same guys I talked to before? I don’t want to be a moon racist, but you guys all kind of look the same.”



“There are four Crystal Balls in four locations. Find each one in clockwise order…”

“Now I just want to do it in counter-clockwise order just to be contrary. But… that might not work out so well…”



This will make more sense in a minute, but it is in fact this dungeon’s gimmick. There are two sides to the Sky Palace.



There’s a convenient save point here that we can use, but no transformation ability as of yet. As a note, if you look down at the background you can actually see the lines of the area we were previously in. Playing with save states the whole limited save points doesn’t mean as much as it once did, so it’s weird to imagine playing this on a console. But enough with that, on to the dungeon!

Sky Palace Gameplay Video




Our first two enemies are the Dynapede and Blue Cyber. Dynapedes are stupid inchworms that are easy to kill, but will shoot off explosive segments of their bodies when they’re killed. Blue Cyber shoot lasers or their fists as you, but all of the attacks are in straight lines so you have to approach them indirectly.



Poking around the first area also gets us a very welcome Red Jewel.



Next up, we find one of the transfer points.

“OHGODTHISISHOWIDIE!”



The other side is darker, but very similar and in many ways is a mirror as far as enemies, structure, and everything else.




In addition to similar enemies, we also have moving balls of fire that bounce off of the wall. Red Cyber are identical to Blue Cyber, but their fists will go out and then come back. It’s a tiny difference. The worm enemies are a bit smarter and can hop between levels, and are called Nitropedes. Also as a note, occasionally some enemies will drop gems with a heart in the middle. These give gems, but they also restore 5HP. They’re welcome, and shortly after this we clear enough enemies to get a DEF increase.




Next up we have a weird combination enemy. The sword is mobile and will chase after you, but can simply beat it into submission with your flute. Once the sword is done you can use telekinesis to move the statue. For solving the riddle…



One down, three to go.



Of course, we’re not done with this section yet. A bit of exploration finds another place to swap sides, with a chest and a Blue Cyber. They really do throw their hands, but they’ll grow back. Killing him clears this area and gets us an HP increase, as well as the Herb that’s in the chest.



It’s not obvious, but each crystal ball being set in place literally moves us a step closer to being able to cross to the central island. That blue square there is a platform.



Moving on to the next area, we’ve got a gauntlet of Blue Cybers to deal with. The straight line makes it a bit harder to avoid their attacks, pretty much guaranteeing that we’re going to take some damage.



I can only imagine how nerve wracking this would be in real life.



The payoff is a ramp area like we’ve seen before, with a sword/statue combo to deal with. That said, you don’t really need to fight them if you place yourself right.



Still, it’s better to just get everything over with at once to have a clear field to jump. Sadly, we can’t see the ant people below us.



The whole area is pretty much defined by finding your way to a place where you can cross over to the other side.. and back.




The key to goths ides of this area is in these two Cybers, who are happily isolated from us and free to shoot without repercussions.



We have to backtrack a little bit to move this guy out of the way to access a hidden room, which contains a Dark Space to transform into Freedan.




Dark Friar makes short work of those two enemies, getting us a STR upgrade and clearing a path forward.



Remember what I said about mirror images? This is a pretty clear cut case, but it’s definitely easier with Freedan. At the very least we can use his sword to clear the first two, and Dark Friar to finish off the last one.



At the very end killing one last enemy opens our way to a Crystal Ball and gets another HP increase. Of course, we’re not done yet…



Since Freedan still has to make his way back to plant that Crystal Ball.

“This is SO beneath my dignity.”



And with that, we’re halfway there.

Next update: We finish this dungeon, and Will loses faith in his cousin.