Part 26: Trash Island



Whif! Zam! Sock!


Uh, hey, Pat? Whatcha doing?



That... wasn't Pat's talking icon.
How the fuck did you get your ass beat by a kid?


Oh well I'm sure it's nothing.




Like usual, at the start of every scenario, we get some email.


Thanks Sonia. Sorry you got poisoned.
'Tis only a minor inconvenience. I bet the next time they go on a date it'll kick off a world-ending plot.




We're stopped on our way out when Geo spots Luna.







I'm glad that Luna is marginally less awful now that she's had her cutscene-mandated character development.
You make it sound so artificial. She's less awful because she likes GEO now.













I'd think that after Ophiuca Geo would be less willing to throw himself into danger, but if some random stranger just called him and said he knew his deep secret (that he apparently has on his Transer) I guess I see the reason Geo would go.






Luna calls out to Geo halfway out the door.







You could make comments about 'where was this when she threatened to cut BrotherBands with Bud' but honestly I see it as a more subtle version of her character development.
I never actually bought that she'd cut her BrotherBand with Bud, anyway. It didn't help the bitchiness perception, though.

Either way, we get control outside. Before we head to Time Square, I want to do a little bit of shopping (and also complete requests for the bonus update off-screen, :shh: ).


Thanks Luna.
"Don't make a Brother worry," says the female. This will never not be funny, I'm sorry.

Anyway, first stop is the SubCard salesman in class 2-2.


I grab these two, since I got a Bombalizer from the chip trader that saved me 15k.


I also stopped by Big Wave to grab a StunNukle (that doesn't go into my folder because I just purchased the StrikeEdge) and a BlazingEdge. I didn't have enough money for AntiSword, but honestly that's not a big deal since I'll get it eventually.
Grind more Green Mystery Waves. Eat your greens.

With that out of the way, let's get on with it.




Are we in New York?










Ah, I'm sure it's nothing.
I think the reason Yeti and I fight is because we are both 'positive'




Hey, remember this? Geo can do this in cutscenes too! It's not just for 2 hours of sidequests.
Mind blown.




What now?




Be nice to Geo, he hasn't gotten to "likes repel, opposites attract" in science class yet.
Truly, negative emotion waves are the heart's true essence.


And another pair of plus waves making an old couple argue.
Old folks riot? Check their sign waves.




Well there's only two spots on this map where an NPC could show up, and he wasn't at the lower square.






So, I'm wondering. If one person had a plus and someone else had a minus, what would happen?
Shippers!






At least this guy has a motivation beyond just causing trouble for the sake of it, unlike a lot of the villains so far.





Yeah, these guys aren't really a threat.




What wonderful and wholesome character development.

Dang. I tried to capture it, but failed - the orbs kinda fizzle out one by one.



As they disappear, they leave the people they were affecting too.

Got one this time!


Looks like whatever was causing this was just making people irrationally upset. There wasn't any actual reason behind it.














So, this scenario's 'theme' (so to speak) should be pretty obvious. But, there's still a while before we get into it properly.
Is the theme: Facebook friends are fake? Cuz I think we could all use some disconnecting from Facebook Area 2.





Yes, home, immediately.




After we do a few more things. Like talk to Luna's parents, who are just hanging out here.



There's also this guy, who looks like someone's edgy deviantart OC.
Fucking furries.






Go yiff somewhere else.


(Yes this is all the same conversation)







Sheesh, the guy never shuts up.




Now that we've talked to






Time to fight Wolf Woods! He's a grass-element boss with 1000 HP, and is quite quick. He'll hop around a few times, then will unleash either a Wide Claw, which sends a beam down two columns, or jump in front of MegaMan to use Upper Claw. He can also use Wolf Pack to summon some destroyable wolves that'll hop back and forth across two columns while approaching MegaMan.
More importantly, see those clouds? After about fifteen or so seconds, they'll split apart and show the moon. Wolf Woods will enter a Berserk state; this turns him red, gives him Super Armor to all attacks, and makes him move faster. After a couple seconds of this (enough for three attacks at base form) the clouds will cover the moon again and he goes back to normal.

Pictured: Upper Claw. He jumps in front of MegaMan and then swipes upwards for 60 damage. The counter timing is right as he's about to swipe. You can block this, or step to the side.

Pictured: Wide Claw. He'll try to stay away a little bit and send a wave down the row. Getting hit by the wave, or by jumping in front of him to use Mega Attack, will do 60 damage. Just block or step to the side; the counter timing is right before he swipes.

Pictured: Berserk.

Pictured: Wolf Pack. It's worth noting that these wolves are destroyable, but have about 50 HP. They also get the speed up ability from Wolf Wood's berserk mode. I haven't found a counter timing for this yet.
Since they go down the columns one at a time and only touch two columns, either destroy them or get out of the way; you can't shield them.

Anyway, he... is a grass-element enemy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVx7Ao18LOg
BreakTimeBomb is just breaking this game right now.



Cool. I'll come back to beat you up later for your EX and SP cards too.

Mainly because it's actually a very good card. Wolf Woods will jump to the first enemy in your column, then do a wide claw and upper claw. That's 160 damage at base form. It'll go into my folder in a little bit.

Wolf Woods defeated (and all the available sidequests completed) we can head home.


Oh, he was here.







Why not, right? Plus, the game's nice enough to keep us in cutscene mode so I don't have to wander over to trigger the next flag.





Geo doesn't really notice it, but he's doing a lot better than before. The simple fact that his portrait started smiling is a huge difference.
Yeah, and he went on his first date and now has 2 girls fawning over him. Pretty big.





There's two sides to Geo opening up like this. Sure, he's putting himself at risk of getting hurt, but there's also the chance that he'll find someone that sympathizes. And Pat was one of the sympathizers.



Double the trauma!
If Pat has one more big issue he can get a free milkshake at Denny's.


...He really loves ellipses...













And we've unlocked the fourth bus location.

It seems like a pretty nice place so far.

...when viewed from above is quite unique.
It's actually accurate to the in-game map. Credit where it's due.
Given the BN series and it's weird building layouts, I'm not so sure that's a good thing. After all, the weird shapes of some of the maps are just the nature of the game's presentation and its hardware.

Below the bridge isn't a river, it's the ocean.
This is honestly a pretty neat idea for a game area.



...on the right and a waste plant on the left.

Couples can sit here and be all lovey-dovey... ...I've heard.
Sometimes the game gets a little bit of Geo's personality in the flavor text, and I always like when that happens.
It is nice. Wish it happened a bit more often, though.


Nice. A goodie for exploring.

Looks like only official vehicles can go through.
That's all we can go. If you're paying attention to the map, there's an area past the gate arm, but Pat's waiting for us and we can't go further.

You can hardly tell because it's so shiny.


There's no wavehole nearby, though. That'll have to wait a little bit.

...just a fraction of what they would cost new.


Can I drop off Zack? I'll pay you to take him.
Zack doesn't talk, so this old lady would get bored of his company.

"This entire island was built on a landfill which was eventually called Dream Island."
Oh, it's the garbage patch.



The entrance to Dream Park.
No time like the present. There's more things to investigate and rub my face against.
The mark of an RPG hero is how he surreptitiously inspects objects.

Can I just add I love the background really quick? It's a small touch but they still show the ocean, and its tides, at the base.



I guess someone must be having a picnic.
Quick! Take the food! I need something if I don't get my daily dose of virus busting.

But it's kinda tough without another person.
Maybe Mega would be interested in playing. ...Probably not, but it's a funny mental image.

And that's everything for the lower half of the park. The next cutscene kicks in once we go up the nearby stairs.




The caretaker down there is doing a good job.










That sounds almost vaguely like the straight line for a joke. Probably just awkward phrasing on Pat's part.


Sure thing, Pat. But first, we have more things to look at.

It makes small problems vanish for a bit.
There's something about looking at the ocean, right? Or any body of water where you can't see the other side.
Jump in the water.

You lose track of time if you look too long...
Stomp 'em out.

You can look at the sea while you chat away.

They're just throwing these things at us. The game only really makes you buy a couple of them.


You once I push you over.
Probably more water, if this is the ocean.

There's also a wave hole over here. Time for the fun part of the game, like usual.
Fun? Oh, nice. Sorry, I think the negative waves got to me.




So, first things first. This area has a bunch of new viruses. (Honestly, every screen in Dream Island has different viruses. I wish they'd spread them out properly, instead of only having three for all of Time Square)

Pictured here is all three of them. DoomBomber and OctoIcer are upgraded versions of previous viruses and act the same, but TropiConga is a new one. This grass-element watermelon thing will open up after a few seconds and spit a line of seeds down the row; if you get hit, they'll all hit you (it stuns MegaMan but doesn't give iframes) so be careful and either kill it from the side or just, wait for it to not be firing. It's not like it's very dangerous.

No S? Shame.


A 7 and under 5 seconds? Go back to virus busting school, Yeti.


Tsk, tsk. Got hit by the multi-hit did you.

TropiConga, DoomBomber, and OctoIcer's cards respectively. VulcanSeed will spread out in three directions - forward, and both diagonals forward, starting from the square in front of MegaMan. That means that this does a lot of damage, if you get a virus at the center.

Moving along, the top of the of the area has three paths. The right one goes down here.

There's nothing here but this BMW.


The left path brings us to this sunken pirate ship, which is... somehow a comp. I'm not going to ask questions about Carnival Cruise's business decisions in this world, I think.
Hey, I dig it. You found some lost treasure.


This Hertz was abandoned. Good.

They're really just throwing these at us!
Upside of HpMem10 is that you can afford to give them more often since you're only getting half the HP upgrades.



There's also Craggy viruses, which drop the next level of FireBazooka. Already replacing the old one, huh...
...How far back were the previous ones?
SchoolComp1 virus. So, not TOO far back, but also not super recent.


Back out in the main EM road, the center roads to another pick-a-path with four ramps this time.



Argh! Give me the virus, not the card! I love the BigAx series and would love to use it.

While we're here, let's check out the old man's Transer.



A quick peek at some more of the Mop Lance cards.

The left two paths lead to THIS wonderful reward.


Hahaha! Yes! Get in here! This thing hits in a diagonal slash, so this card is great for double- or triple-deleting certain virus formations.
FUCK. YES.
As the name implies, it breaks, meaning 2x damage to frozen enemies. What a cool looking card art, too. Stroke of genius, this card.


The middle right ramp is the only one that leads forward. No, I will never remember this the first try and will always end up going the wrong way.

The EM road extends down into the next screen, but Mega will yell at us if we try, so pulsing back out it is.


Like usual, the reason we're gated is because using the EM roads to walk around could bypass flags.
---
Yeti's Astronomy Corner
Wolf Woods is 'based' on the Lupus constellation. Lupus translates to Wolf, so... I think it's pretty obvious why Wolf Woods is the name they went with. It sits between Centauros and Scorpio, and...
...That's it, really. No known myths are associated with the constellation.
In its place, werewolves are the other main design inspiration for Wolf Woods - as you can probably tell by the whole 'Full moon makes wolf go crazy' gimmick of the fight. The general gist of things is that a regular person is attacked by a wolf and bitten/scratched, and from that point on they're cursed to transform into a beast that is half human, half wolf every full moon. The typical fiction depiction has a werewolf be highly resistant to all injuries, except those caused by silver.
According to Starforce, werewolves are also vulnerable to getting shot and stabbed.