Part 4: Autumn/Winter 1991

    



Hello everyone, and welcome back to Linda³! In his quest to restore Linda's memory, last time Ken went to visit the town of Eterna, all the way up in the North. There he met Elizabeth Green, the chairwoman of the Green Pharmaceutical Co. She promised him that she can produce for him a quantity of "Memorin Z", a medication which allegedly cures amnesia. She promised Ken that someone named Dr. Panheim will get in touch with him over that (we've already head about him previously as one of the three most renowned scientists on Neo-Kenya).

Also, in Eterna it seems to be a permanent Christmas time and everybody wears Santa Claus suits.

Before we continue with todays episode, I have to make a correction--last time I was referring to Eterna's location as "North Area", but that's not entirely accurate: even though it's located quite far to the North, in fact the game considers this to be the "West Area" instead, due to the shifted arrangement of the areas on the map. There is, in fact, no "North Area" in this game at all!

Well, with that done, let's go and catch up with Ken, who has just finished his meeting with Elizabeth.



So, let's head outside.



Oh, good, it hasn't started snowing yet! Snow can be a bit of a problem as it slows down your movement by quite a bit! But as I said, luckily, it's not snowing at the moment, although it's very possible to do so at this time of year at this kind of northern location.



Another thing, you might recall that Eterna is situated north of a rather large lake. For now, we want to pay a visit to a nearby place which is to the west, so we'll just go around the lake and follow the mountain range which separates this whole northern region from the rest of the map.



Eventually, over here, there is a tunnel leading west. If you recall, again, last time one of the Bird Line employees told us about the tunnel which is the only way to access the locations north of coordinate 7 (which is where we currently are). Taking this tunnel will lead us to a place called Battle Park, which we passed through during our connecting flights. Today we're going to explore it a bit just to see what's going on in the world.





Here we are, on the other side of the tunnel! The sign with the arrow simply points out that going east leads to Eterna and Lina Valley which we already know.

So let's start with our usual tour of the place!



We'll start with this lady over here. I can't help but notice that she also seems to be pregnant...

If you're not confident in your strength level, it maybe not such a bad idea to run back into town when it starts snowing. Around here, knowing when to run away is just as important as having courage. Especially if you have someone to come back to at home.



The tent to the left of her is empty. This is a bit unfortunate, as sometimes you can find here a guy to whom you can sell those medals (like the one we got last time). But he only has some percentage of showing up, and apparently today we're not in that range so he's not here. We could have sold the medal for about 1000G, but that's ok, I'm sure we'll find him another time. So for now, let's check out the other two tents which are immediately next to us.



This area is in the centre of the West Area, so hunters naturally started meeting here to trade the spoils and exchange information. Soon enough, temporary tents started being permanent, then the merchants showed up, and so the town of Battle Park was born!



When you're outside if you see some tiny specks flying around... those are fleas. They too count as animals, so don't forget to catch them!

This is good advice, because you genuinely might miss them otherwise because they are kind of hard to see. But, yes, fleas definitely count as animals we need to catch in this game, and we'll be doing just that a bit later today!



Located centrally, there is quite a large tent here, so let's check that out.



Near the entrance is the bar, where Ken can order a drink to replenish his HP. But as usual, make sure to only have ONE drink, as having more will inflict the "lost" status effect for short duration--you know the really annoying one which inverts all directional controls!



That's pretty cool... I wonder if there's ever going to be a musical performance here? Hmm... well, never mind.



What we do have here, is a waitress.

By the way, one thing which remains fun until the very end of life is... food! So you end up eating too much which harms your body. And then it starts feeling even better than sex, so you end up eating even more. End result: fat and middle aged! Too bad...

I just love how philosophical some of the NPCs in this game are. It's just plain fun to talk to everybody, because you never know what kind of crazy thing they may say!

There's also that guy standing at the blue desk, over there.



Come! The strongest creatures that have ever existing will show you their infinite power in the third ring!

Uh, what do you mean? Helpfully, we can ask him for an explanation.

Let's do it! / [ Explain the rules? ] / I'm too busy right now!
The participation fee is 2000G. Once you win, you get a prize of 1000G. For each subsequent win, the prize money doubles. If you win eight times in a row, you will be this seasons champion! But if the team leader is knocked out, the whole team loses and forfeits the prize money. However, you can stop at any point and take the money you've collected so far. There's no shame in quitting while you're ahead.

Ah, so this is some sort of battle arena, where you have a gauntlet of 8 fights in a row! In fact, you can see the fighting area over the the left. What he didn't mention is that there are three different rings, in order of difficulty, and this one where we're standing right now is the hardest. Eithe way, we're a bit busy, so we won't bother with this right now, but we'll definitely check it out later.



You can also talk to the dudes inside the ring... that is, you could if the waitress would finally decide to move! But NPCs in this game have somewhat randomised pathing and sometimes just. don't. want. to. move! I literally had to exit and re-enter the tent to reset her position so I could talk to that guy!



There we go, that's better!

Instead of looking, come in and fight!
Who's next? I'll take on anyone!

They DO NOT have particularly profound things to say, that's for sure!

Further to the left is the second (middle) ring.



Harder than a turtle and stronger than a tiger! You can become a hero in the second ring!

And the guys inside:

Nnnnngh...
You're not going to get a prize by standing there, you know?

Still a bit further to the left is the first ring!



The way to become a true fighter! Young people, try this ring first!

Ah, I guess this one is the easiest. I'm going to take a wild guess that the prizes are not nearly as good. By the way, if we become the "champion", as mentioned, we get one of those medals that can be sold to that special guy who only appears sometimes in one of the tents outside.

We can also see what the waitress here has to say.

Most of the hunters here seem to believe that their team is the strongest. They don't seem to have even the slightest doubt about it. Hence this tent being full of reckless fools at all times!



The guys in the ring, as always, have nothing particularly profound to say...

Hey, sonny! Let's partner up!
Our team is the strongest!

But then there is also that guy hanging just outside the ring...

She's a little bit over 30 and she's the perfect womanly charm, not to mention how experienced she is in the ways of the world, the Green Pharmaceuticals chairwoman... She's a real beauty, isn't she?
[ She's amazing! ] / Eh, not my kind of thing.
Oh, those white fingers of hers, like canned asparagus sticks... I would love to be able to suck on them just once!

Most of these dialogue options really don't change anything, so I'll generally just try to pick whichever one is funnier. Anyway, moving swiftly onwards to the guy in the corner who is wearing a lab coat...

If you want to prove your strenght, go and fight! Even if it goes south, I'll fix you up!

Oh, right, this is one of those doctors who "revive" you when you die in a battle. The official explanation is also that your body is transferred into the backpack, hence why when it happens you lose some of your captured animals, to make space!

Let's head back outside...



There are two guys standing outside the tent entances. As you can imagine, their purpose is to get people to come inside!

It's the Battle Park's famous battle arena! Every hunter's dream! Who will win the champion's belt?

As opposed to that medal item we have, champion's belt is a higher level award.

It's the Battle Park's famous battle arena! The place where you can beat up other people for money! If you've got what it takes, come on in!

Anyway, there's this other guy here...



When "Hume the thorough" finishes his hunting, there's hardly a rat left in the world! I'm pretty sure he's singlehandledly responsible for the extinction of more than one species on this planet! So it's a quite funny that his daughter ended up as the crew member of the ark meant to save the animals!

I think it was mentioned before, but Hume is, of course, Linda's dad. We haven't met him over the course of the game, though.

Next, let's head into the equipment shop.



The goat is a useful animal, which can be used to make either weapons or clothes. Especially when there is no snow, they are easy to catch as their strength is reduced!

This will become important already today! In any case, there is not really any useful equipment to buy here, so we'll hold off on that (we'll anyway find some good stuff shortly for free). But I will sell some of my not needed stuff like the old weapons, and in particular, this thing...



The famous "gold nugget" which we got previously, and which, as you can see, actually sells for 6400G! Not bad at all for basically no work!

And then the guy in the corner who seems to be... sharpening knives?

The "flea slingshot" is a good weapon for its price... but people are often reluctant to equip it because of its awkward name!

The joke here is mostly because the word for "slingshot" in Japanese is "pachinko", which is also used to refer to the popular pinball-like game!

There is also a butcher to the left...

This guy said that he doesn't want to eat an animal's meat because he thought it was ugly while it was alive... and to think that he said that about an animal which eats humans!



There's also one more guy here in the corner...

Shame about the people in the South Area... most of this planet is covered with oceans, but of all places that satellite had to fall on them!

Yeah, that's pretty bad, not to mention the radiation preventing anybody (us) from going down there...



Here is the tunnel leading west, on the other side of the town, an a person standing in front of it...

Tunnels lead from east and west side of the town, going to the northern lakes. In the winter lakes freeze over and are covered in snow. So even if there is a dead body there, it will remain hidden and the scenery will be beautiful!

Ah, sure, whatever you say...

The sign, by the way, indicates that a place named Koshikata is to the west. We've already heard about it... apparently the former mayor of this place is being held captive in Hospico because of some kind of an "incident" that happened there?

Let's now head into the dog shop...



One of the hunters is here...

It's not uncommon in these parts for it to be snowing in spring and autumn... Really the only time when you can be sure there won't be any snow is during the summer.



And the person at the counter...

I don't really like it, but seems that some people in my trade will even secretly let you register the wolves you catch as hunting dogs.

So, remember how we bought a hunting dog. In fact it's possible, when you catch wild dogs, to bring them to the dog shop and register them to be in your party! And so what this guy is saying that apparently there are some illegal shops which will even let you register wolves as "hunting dogs". Maybe that's something we'll try at some point. I wonder if there are still other kinds of animals you can add to your party...? But in order to try that, we would also have to find someone willing to do it first...

Next, we'll head into this building here:





It houses the inn, and also the bank! So if we talk to the guy at the reception desk...

You probably don't want to be camping on the frozen lake... because if spring comes over night, you might find yourself waking up in water!

So, a few things here... it was mentioned to us at the very beginning of the game that Ken will at level 4 learn the "Camp" ability, allowing him to camp anywhere on the overworld to restore his health--this ability is entirely free and basically eliminates any need to stay at an inn/hotel. And so I also mentioned that seasons will change only when the screen "reloads". Using the camping option counts as "reload" and may cause a season change if the time has come. Using the camp option on the overworld also provides access to some other functions, which we'll actually have a chance to see later today!

Talking to the woman standing next to the INN sign...

Do you sometimes feel like you want to cry because you don't know where to go or what to do?
[ Now that you mention it... ] / Not really...
But you didn't sign up as ark crew to be crying like that! Time will solve everything and you might even get a message from someone. So in the meantime, just keep on collecting animals.

I guess this just reinfoces the gameplay notion to simply get on with the collecting work when there is nothing better to do, until you get contacted by someone. We are definitely heading into a more plot-heavy section of this scenario, however, so we don't need to worry about this so much right now!

Anyway, let's stop by the bank too...



You're still young, so if you want to earn some extra cash, you could head over to Lina Valley. It's hard work, but rewards are good.

Yeah, people keep mentioning this... but there's just SO MANY THINGS to do in this game! I'm sure we'll get there eventually.

Since we are pretty loaded with money, I take the opportunity to pay off that loan we took out at the start of the game. It helped us out to get going, but now there's no reason to keep paying the interest when we don't have to! Let's also have a look at Ken's bank book:



Here we can see a few things... First of all, that "20" was the seasonal loan interest that was taken out from our account at the start of autumn. Second, the "600" figure is Ken's autumn salary. As you can see, when Ken's level goes up, his salary will also increase--makes sense. Finally the last "100" at the bottom is me showing that you can also deposit money into the bank if you want--although at present we don't really have any particular reason to do so.

Having done that, we'll exit through that door on the right.



This brings us in front of a farm-like thing. If we talk to the girl...

Hey, look! That one on the right is quite lively! I bet it would also taste the best!

Um, ok. But the more interesting conversation is to be had from the woman standing on the right.

Have you ever heard the legend of the "phantom animal"?
[ Nope, havent! ] / Yeah, I've heard of it..

I definitely want to hear this one!

That animal apparently only appears during heavy blizzards, when you can barely even see in front of you. But I've lived here for 20 years and I've never seen a blizzard that fierce. I'm sure it's something they must have invented just to attract more tourists in winter... it's the kind of thing they'd do!

Hmm. I'm not sure what think about this.

We can also go into the farm building...





Right by the entrance is an animal trader, and he has a good hint for us!

Just because an animal is not easy to see with the naked human eye doesn't mean that it's not there. They can look just like a rock or a tree, and also a rock or a tree can look like them!



A bit further inside is another person...

It's good that you guys can get to understand the animals better through fighting them. As a woman, on the other hand, prefer to gain the undersating by eating them. Hmm, I wonder which animal do I want to get to know better for lunch today?

Some of the dialogue in this game is genuinely funny! However, I know you didn't miss those stairs in the corner, leading into the basement, so lets check that out!



What even is this down here? Some kind of machine room? Anyway, there is a guy here to talk to.

My name is Bronco, and I'm the owner of this farm! When I was young I had a hard life, but now I'm one of the richest people on the planet, if you forive my bragging. I have everything I've ever wanted, and I've done everything I've ever wanted to do, so I don't mind about dying.

Does he mean that he's just going to stay on the planet, or what?

In any case, yes, that is definitely another chest in that room over there, and yes, that is also definitely another locked door that the chest sits behind. So nothing can done with that right now.



Looking around the room, yeah I guess it's some kind of machine/technical room for the farm upstairs. And that's where we'll return now.



Back upstairs, there is another person here...

The more animals you deposit, the more you get! BB Farm will help you build your fortune!

Luckily, there's an option here to ask him to explain.

First you have to bring one male and one female animal and pay the cost of keeping time. Then all you have to do is wait for the spring and will probably get to meet a lot of lovely youngsters. It's easier to make money that way than via lottery!

Animal breeders, it seems. Well, let's add this to our list of things to check out later. This is already a very long list, but worry not. Even though we seem to be pushed along by the plot for the most part, I promise you there will come a time when we'll really be able to explore this world in detail and try out anything and everything that this game offers!



Further to the left, we can see where some of the animals are kept... those are definitely rabbits in the first compartment, flying around. There is also a persom here!

Don't feel shy! When fighting animals, just go for the weakest first! I mean, that's what they'll do to you anyway.

This isn't quite true. Different animals have different ways of choosing whom they will attack, and believe it or not, this information is actually outlined in the game guide book I have!

All right, we're kind of done here for the moment, so let's head over to the entrance area of Battle Park.



One last guy to talk to, though.

There is a tunnel at L-11, leading back to the East Area. But hunters don't use it much.

Maybe they don't, but we will use it today!

Let's leave this place for now.



Upon exiting, I'm happy to realise that it hasn't been snowing, so that will make our life definitely easier!

Let's do some hunting!

Although, before we start, there's something I forgot last time. When we were fighting stonefish, I forgot to post a picture showing what they used to look like back in the PC Engine version:



I'm sure you'll agree with me that not posting this screenshot would have been entirely unforgivable, right?

Anyway, NOW let's see what we can find in these parts!

First of all...





...here we have some dolphins!



Other than slightly higher HP than what we're used to, there's still nothing special here.

But check out what they used to look like in the PC Engine version:



I'm just going to leave that there with no comment, all right?

Anyway, when you're around here, try to avoid these birds flying around... those are eagles, and they will mess up your day. In other words, we're not strong enough to take them on. I will catch a bunch more dolphins, because if nothing else, we can sell them.



So let's just be careful with that one.



As you can see on the screenshot above, one other animal we can find here are fleas.

What do you mean, you don't see it?

All right, here you go:



Well, I guess, it's not like we haven't been warned to be on the lookout for tiny flying dots!

Anyway, here they are in battle:



They do have one interesting ability, which is to split and multiply creating more enemies on the field. This can be a bit annoying, not because it's threatening, but because it also halves their HP making it VERY difficult not to over-damage them--and they have pretty low defense stat to begin with.

Another point to take from the screenshot above is that there can be quite a few enemies at once in a battle!



Let's keep moving.



Here's the next species on our list for today:



Otters!



Here we can already see a hint of complexity that will come into play for catching animals eventually. For example, otters become extinct over the course of time, and can no longer be found in the later parts of the game. So if you don't get them while you can, you never will!



Ugh, no, please eagles, not today! Unfortunately, they will chase you and it can end badly, like here!

Anyway, here's one other animal we can find here for now:





Some koalas!



All right, well, that's enough for this area for now. Let's go and find that tunnel leading back to the East Area!



Ah, there it is. After exiting the tunnel, by walking just a bit to the south...



...we reach again Hardia and the ark! But, before we go and hand in our animals, let's go and exact a bit of revenge first!



Down on the southern coast, we can easily find...



...dogs!



I mean, make no mistake, they're still pretty strong, and they will still mess up your day, but we can just barely deal with it now, unlike before! "Lick wound" is of course a healing ability, and it's actually pretty neat, because our own dogs also learn it as they level up. So you will sometimes just get a random heal in a battle from one of your dogs, completely free!

Let's head back to the ark and hand all of this in...



As we approach, Ken gets another one of those notifications that he has a new phone message. We'll check that later.

In the ark...





...today, we'll be handing in the following: dolphins, fleas, otters, koalas and dogs!

By handing in a dolphin, Ken learns their "ultrasonic wave" ability. Linda learns her first "dog" ability, which is again the aforementioned "lick wounds" heal thing. Apart from that, it's the usual tiny stat boosts for both.

Let's check the situation with the friendly robot...



Nice, we have collected 15 species so far, so I guess we're halfway there.

You know, I just realised there is another species we can easily catch while we're here, so let's just go and do it. It's a bit north from the ark.



Here we can find...



...some squids!



As you can see, they can cause the "pheromone" status effect. This is mostly important after battle when you're on the overworld as it, expectedly, causes most animal species to start chasing you. So you might want to avoid being afflicted by it.



As Ken is heading to the nearest phone to check the message, he receives a notification of another message! So, let's go and listen to both of them!



All right, so, first message:

Hello... This is Panheim, the head of development at Green Pharmaceuticals. I'm calling you because I received a direct request from Chairwoman Elizabeth. Can you write this down? There's a peninsula around area A-01, north of the abandonded village of Koshikata. The goats live in that area. Could you bring me some fresh goat meat? Uh, this is a trade secret, but goat meat is a key ingredient for Memorin Z. Please don't tell anyone.

It was mentioned before that if we carry meat for too long (usually longer than a season) it will spoil. Therefore we need to bring him goat meat before it spoils.

Second message:

Hello... This is Panheim from Green Pharmaceuticals. I forgot to tell you... if you fight goats in the snow, they will be very strong. Well, anyway, make sure to take care, will you?

Well, our task is clear. We need to go back north and find some goats (and hope that it doesn't snow). However, before we do that, I think it's about time to go and check on Linda! I'm sure you will agree with me. So, let's first go over to Hospico!



Going inside...



...before going upstairs to Linda's room, we can head over here to the right and find another person we know.



I should have applied for the crew of the ark too...
Ahaha, just kidding. Go quickly and visit Linda!

What even is this room she's in? Looks like some kind of control room with computers and stuff?

A few moments later in Linda's room...



...it looks like she might be doing a bit better?



It's a strange thing to thik about... the person you fell in love with was the other me, the one before I lost my memory.
But, Ken! It means that the other me must have been a very good judge of character!
...... 🎔
Visit me again, ok? I will be waiting for you! 🎔

Cute. But now, if we want her to get better, we have a task to perform!

Dr. Panheim mentioned that goats can be found around Koshikata (although he also mentioned something about the town being abandoned). So let's see if we can travel over there...



If we check the list of destinations of the Bird Line...



...Koshikata is definitely listed! So let's buy a ticket!

Sorry, but the line to Koshikata is temporarily not operational.

Ah. Well, I guess it probably has something to do with the "abandoned" thing. Ok then. The closest place to it we CAN travel to, is indeed none other than Battle Park, so let's go back there again!



After arriving in Battle Park, we'll head straight to the west side...



...where that tunnel leading outside is located.



At the other end of the tunnel, there seems to be some kind of an office! In fact it's the "Rent-A-Animal" service desk! Let's see.

Even in dangerous areas, if you ride one of our rental dolphins, you will be safe and comfortable, for only 200G. With a dolphin, you can even move fast through water and wetlands where it's difficult to walk!

Well, that explains why those dolphinse there appear to have saddles on them, at least. We can ask for a further explanation.

Number 1: To get on, stand next to the animal and press the O button. Number 2: If a season changes, the rental animal will return here on their own. Number 3: While riding, you cannot enter battles nor use the navigation device, or any other menus, sorry about that.

So number 2, at least, is simply because in different seasons you will get different animals to ride. Were it winter and snow, we would have gotten a polar bear instead of a dolphin! But otherwise this seems pretty much exactly what you'd expect it to be, more or less like riding a Chocobo in a Final Fantasy game. All right, let's rent ourselves a dolphin (even if we really don't need it since it's not snowy outside).

Here we go...



...hop on, and...



...off we go! As mentioned, this would be much more useful in the snow as it allows you to move at normal speed instead of being seriously slowed down.



Going past Koshikata (there in the corner)...



...we do indeed find some goats. (Of course, I had to hop off the dolphin to be able to fight them.)



Here. We. Go.



So this is a bit of a precarious situation (slightly), since there is a fair few of them, and they have relatively higher HP. Therefore, I decide this is the right time to try out turning Ken into a "beastman". So, if we select that option from the menu...



...we get a whole bunch of options to choose from, which animal we want to transform into (there's more if you scroll down), including, on top, the option to turn back into a human. Ken is a bit low level with his beast prowess, so for now he only turns into a "beast-boy", not yet a full "beast-man", that will come as he learns more abilities.

The number on the left shows how much BP will be consumed by the transformation, and on the right you can see what effect it will have on your stats (HP, attack, defense, speed). So here I have highlighted the "rat" option, which does decrease our attack by 21, but also brings our speed up by a whole 55! So I turn Ken into a rat-boy, which is even reflected on the battle screen:



...and now we can proceed with this battle as normal. Our increased speed almost gets us to a point where the enemies are basically not getting many turns... but when they do get a turn, they decide to use the "call reinforcements of another species" ability, and, well... a whole bunch of weasels show up too!



Luckily, we were pretty much already finished with the goats by this point, so we finish this easily.



So we got weasels summoned here by the goats, but normally you would have to find them yourself. As mentioned above, and as we were told previously at some point, you can't really see weasels on the overworld, because they masquerade as trees. So what you have to do is walk around in wooded areas...



...like here, where there's plenty of them, and they will eventually pop out.

Regarding the beast transformations, there is also one good one which you may want to use: if you transform into a dolphin, your HP and defense go down slightly, but your attack power is increased by 51! Here is what Ken looks like on the battle screen as a "dolphin-boy":



But anyway, now that we have a goat, we should finally head over to Eterna!



Here we are... but there's one problem. We have a goat, but we've been asked to bring goat meat! Luckily, as he's been leveling up, Ken has also learned an ability to process animals into meat.

He can use it by activating the "camp" option...



...like so. This allows us to choose what each party member should do while they camp out. Default selected option is to simply sleep, but here we can choose for Ken to process the meat. We can then pick a goat and the end result will be that we have processed one of our goats into goat meat that we can give to Panheim.

Also, as we wake up the next morning... turns out, winter has come!



Seven years and two seasons left, 15 species still left to hand in!



Also, there was some snowfall over night it seems! Well, no matter, we'll head into Eterna...



...straight into the mansion! Let's go talk to Elizabeth.



[ Ask about Christmas ] / Ask about Santa Claus / Ask about Panheim.

Turns out, we can find out a bit more about the whole Christmas deal, so let's do that before we get to the topic of Panheim!

My family has loved Christmas for generations. That's why it's Christmas here all year round! The company uniform for our employees is a Santa Claus suit! Is it not wonderful?
Ask about Christmas / [ Ask about Santa Claus ] / Ask about Panheim.
Even now, I still believe that Santa Claus really exists! Because he always gives me the best presents. I hope you also receive a nice gift from him!

Well, enough chit-chat.

Ask about Christmas / Ask about Santa Claus / [ Ask about Panheim. ]







Looks like you already brough the meat? As expected, you work fast!

Ken hands over the goat meat to Dr. Panheim

I will contact you as soon as the medicine is ready. Well, it's quite a simple formula, so by the time you visit Linda one more time and come back here, it should be ready.
By the way, Chairwoman Elizabeth seems to like you a lot. May I ask what kinds of tricks did yo use? I wonder if you could tell me, you know, to return the favour of me making the medicine for you?
Is it because of "that"? You know, because you are so young and strong?
[ Of course it is! ] / Is it?
Ah... You're so young, I envy you...

Before you ask, there's no variation in dialogue here no matter which option you pick!

Anyway, I think we're ready to be on our way here...



So we might be a bit busy preparing for it and I might not be able to meet you. But feel free to come over anyway!

We're done talking to them, but before we leave let's have a snoop around the house a bit more!



On the same floor, in the southeast corner there is a staircase leading down.



Hm, let's keep going down. There seems to be quite a lot going on here under the mansion, huh?



Now if we head down that hallway to the right... it's a bit of a long hallway, but eventually...



Oh, hey! Two chests which are, for once, actualy NOT behind a locked door!

The first one contains "sheep sweater" a clothing item, and the other one contains a weapon: "jellyfish needle".

So, here's where Ken is now with his stats:



Let's check out the new gear.



First, the jellyfish needle brings his attack power from 169 to 175, so a small upgrade, but either way no reason to not do it.



The sheep sweater brings his defense up from 134 to 157 and increases a whole bunch of resistances, so even if it does lower physical and fire resist by 1 point, it's still pretty good. Overall, it's been worth coming down here. So, let's return to that spot where we came down on the stairs...



We can use the stairs in the top corner to head further down...



Errr... Well, that door where Ken is standing is very definitely locked, but, uh, why does it look like there are people here who are imprisoned and are being watched over by dogs?

What even is this situation?

But, well, the door is locked, so all we can do is go back the way we came.



Finally, there's a convenient shortcut here--if we climb that ladder there...



...it deposits us directly outside, next to the mansion! Let's head out of here for now, then.

Well, that's it for today. We'll see what happens next, but at least we seem to be getting closer to having the medication for Linda!

In addition to that, I'll try to remember to talk a bit next time about all the abilities that Ken has learned over the course of the game and what they do, since I've been neglecting it a bit.

Also, I just wanted to warn you that next time things are going to get a bit weird plot-wise, so be prepared for that.




As for our regular art section, today we have two illustrations from the PC Engine era. First of all, a pretty cool one of Elizabeth and Panheim...



...and then another silly one of Linda: