Illusion of Gaia Part #25 - In Which Will Channels His Inner Devil

Part 25: In Which Will Channels His Inner Devil

We’ve reached a point of no return for the moment with this series of ramps, although it’s more of a temporary barrier than anything else.

At the bottom we’ve got another herb for the pile, as well as…

“AAAAHHHH! GETIFOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!”

So that’s how the snakes grab on. You can see one in mid leap here, but he’s unfortunately not going to grab that archer’s ass. You can shake them off by running back and forth quickly or leaving the room.

The divisions here on this pit are important, but it’s going to take most people at least one try to figure out where they need to jump.

The target is here, with an extra bonus for missing.

“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?”

There’s actually a couple layers where you have to jump down, killing off enemies and getting a Defense boost on the way. The final goal is getting to this Dark Space.

“Will’s power is the Spin Dash. Use this to climb hills and jump. Spin your body to send enemies flying, and use the recoil to climb hills. Use the attack and LR buttons for power.”

“You’re not even pretending anymore, are you. Is this the bottom of the barrel?”

“Well, I’m out of things to give you in this form so… yes. And no. It’s complicated.”

“That should probably worry me more than it does.”

This is what I meant when saying that the hills are now a temporary barrier. The explanation isn’t great, but you basically have to charge up like you were doing a Psycho Dash and then alternate tapping the L and R buttons until Will starts to spin. Once the spinning starts four arrows appear, giving you a window to direct the spin. It’s a bit trickier on a keyboard than on a controller, but on the plus side it turns Will into the Tasmanian Devil.

We don’t immediately use the spin, but it’ll come up in the near future. In the mean time it’s switch puzzles and snakes and an HP increase…

As well as a chance to change into Freedan for the next section.

The area’s full of enemies like this one who are behind barriers with no other way to attack them than using Freedan’s abilities. Killing the distant enemies unblocks doorways and lets you progress further. There’s also a couple of switches that you need Freedan’s extra reach for.

After gaining Strength and some more HP killing our way through these areas and another set of Terra Cotta warriors, there’s another Dark Space to transform back into Will. There’s a ramp blocking the way to the end of the dungeon, so you have no choice but to fight the boss as Will this time.

“Y’know, I have REALLY got to start bringing rope with me when I explore ancient ruins.”

It’s also a one way trip down into the boss area, so once you jump down you’re pretty well committed.

The boss, Sand Fanger, isn’t really much to look at. His main attack is to poke out of the sand and shoot two gray balls that hatch into miniature Sand Fangers. They’re not terribly dangerous, but they can be a distraction so it’s better to just destroy them as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, he’ll leap out of the sand like a breaching dolphin and try to run you over. The only way to do damage is to hit him on the head, but this also includes when he’s spitting out the gray eggs.