Part 4: The Zoo Of Terror
Update Four: The Zoo Of TerrorWelcome back! Last time, on Mother, we were asked by the mayor of Mother's Day to rescue Pippi, who had been lost. Today, we're going to get her home and visit the Cream Puff Zoo, so let's rock.
We just have to return her to the mayor, so it's not a big deal.
Though, looking at her stats, compared to Leo's, I think she'd be quite the badass. She's only a quarter of Leo's level, and some of her stats are only a third to half of what his are. If Pippi remained in the party, I think she'd be the physical powerhouse.
But, alas, Pippi's fate is not to travel with Leo.
Instead, it is to be returned to the mayor, while Leo receives a meager reward.
Really, it was nothing. After I stopped being lost...
You're so lucky, Pippi. Adorable, too.
Holy crap, we're being applauded? When's the last time a JRPG hero got applause for doing his heroic duty?
And for you, Leo... A $100 reward. Here.
Pippi won't turn her back on us like that. She knows who rescued here, you scumbag!
The mayor then leads us over to that blue table thing.
Apparently, over at the zoo, there's a terrible noise driving all the animals crazy.
Have my assistant Abbot give you a key to the zoo.
Games!? There are tigers over there, you asshole!
Oh, Pippi, you don't need to reward us. The exp alone was enough.
...What? No. They're...Fine, I'm sure.
Well, shit, lookit that! Leo, you dog.
I think that we've found the real brains of this mayoral operation. At the very least, Abbot is far more helpful than the mayor.
Alright, so now, we've been directed toward the Cream Puff Zoo.
Before we get too far, though, we've got to hit the Canary place.
If you'll recall the highlights of me being lost, I ended up out over this place. As it turns out, I could have stopped over here at that point, but, oh well.
That is a canary, believe it or not. It kind of looks like the Flying Man's retarded cousin to me.
There is a man around here who identifies the baby canary you're canarying around as Laura's baby. I'm not sure how it ended up in a pet shop, and so, I'm reluctant to return the baby to Laura.
This statue, as indicated by its off color, is special.
To get to the canary back there, you can't go around, as I had initially assumed. There are some of the spooky trees, that were around the cemetery, blocking the path.
So, instead, you walk behind that statue and through a hole in the wall. It's that kind of stupid puzzle that's only a puzzle because of the perspective; Leo himself wouldn't have had to think about this at all.
We give Laura her baby back, and she sings us a song.
Leo learns the melody, and how we have two out of eight melodies!
And now, we make our way back to this sign (I got lost again, if you were wondering, but managed to get back on track fairly quickly), and head west.
This is actually only about the fourth fight I got into, including being lost. The game's encounter rate confuses me on so many levels.
Flies are new enemies. They have 10 HP.
If not for their ability to do this, I don't think I would have even mentioned them. Since they also only drop 4 exp per Fly (and that's with wearing the Easy Ring), they are a complete waste of time.
The encounter rate starts to get a touch stupid again as I'm making my way to the zoo.
Oh shit! A fucking tiger!
With only 35 HP, though, Leo can nearly one-shot them.
However, they're the first enemy I've met that has dealt more than 1 HP of damage to Leo.
They can also do multi-hit attacks; Leo took 5 HP of damage all together, but Tigers could definitely be dangerous for someone who's lower leveled.
All in all, though, not too tough. Just be sure to take them out as fast as you can.
Dammit, game, why are you waiting until now to throw these at me?
Jesus Christ!
Elephants have 70 HP, so Leo's in for a few rounds of battle here.
Oh, dear Christ! Lifeup Alpha only heals around 30 HP, for reference, so that's a terrifying amount of damage.
But, Leo takes the Elephant down, and gains himself a level.
Continuing down the path, it's fairly uneventful.
It was here that I realized I had gone too far; the fence was what tipped me off.
Heading back, I discover it did, indeed, belong to the Cream Puff Zoo. And look, a monkey!
No, Monkey! Bad Monkey!
Son of a bitch. How am I supposed to get in there now?
...Well, that's certainly convenient.
The zoo itself isn't very exciting. The encounters, as could be expected, are all zoo animals of a sort.
But, not every animal here is hostile. I'm glad I don't have to put any bunnies down.
The pen just below Leo is wrecked like this one, too.
This monkey isn't an asshole, unlike the monkey who stole our key.
It's amazing what a level can do. Tigers are no longer a threat to Leo and his mighty bat.
And now, they're even less of a threat.
Aw, hell yeah!
Defense Down Alpha, I believe, was Leo's new power. Quick Up raises speed by a ridiculous amount (in my test use of it, it boosted Leo's speed by 20), and the Dimensional Warp ability allows you to flee from battle.
Crocodiles are new, too. They have 30 HP a pop, and I only saw them show up in pairs, never alone.
Leo easily crushes their scaly hides and moves on.
The mosaic effect creates a lot of neat looking backgrounds when you can flip through it frame by frame.
Hyenas also have 30 HP, and a good bit of speed.
I'd be much more terrified of them if they could actually hurt Leo.
And there's something interesting about when enemies run away. Hyena C has already acted, but Hyena B chose to run.
It took Hyena C with it, and I won the fight. I don't know if I got exp for the other two Hyenas, but I'm not too worried about it.
Flamingos! They look like those tacky lawn ornaments to me, though.
I'm willing to bet that pen is important, since the sign stuck around during the battle transition.
I don't even remember what I obliterated there. Either way, guess where we get our next melody from.
I'm sorry I don't have much to say here. The Cream Puff Zoo (aside from having a name I absolutely adore) doesn't have a whole lot to talk about.
We're almost done with it, as a matter of fact. It's a pretty short "dungeon".
There are three floors here, each with two rooms to enter.
And, uh, Rats. These guys can also be encountered in Leo's house, in the basement, but I didn't see any of them there.
With an entire 10 HP to whittle away, they're absolute jokes.
The Rope is a fun item; it has a 100% success rate on any enemy, and will tie them up for one to four turns, allowing you to beat them into the dirt.
The other room held this which cures poisoning. Since I have Healing Alpha, this item is kind of useless.
Leo's inventory is full, by the way. If you thought the inventories in Earthbound were limited, at least it was nearly twice the size of this one. Though, having equipped items no longer appear in the inventory is a kindness.
I have no idea where I got this from. I think it was one of the Stray Dogs who dropped it, but I fast-forward through most fights.
Upstairs, there are two more rooms.
The first one is boring and empty. I found nothing of interest in here, so I'm sure that means I missed something important.
In the other room, though, there's another present box.
Since a Crow stole my bread on the way here, this is great. However, my inventory is full, so I toss the Antidote to make room for it.
The final floor.
In the first room, there's this...Pill thingy.
It blinks between red and blue, but who cares, there's a fucking monster inside of it!
Meet the first real boss of the game; the Starman Jr.
Since I'll otherwise forget I have this thing, I may as well see what it does, plus clear up a space in my inventory.
Aww, nuts. I was hoping I could fend off the alien invaders with Lyme disease.
A Gamma level PSI power!?
Oh, thank fuck! That attack would have otherwise instantly killed Leo. Unfortunately, the reflected beam doesn't instantly annihilate the Starman Jr., but that's okay, because I have a plan.
The Rope even affects bosses, so I've locked him down for at least a little bit.
He only has 52 HP to play with, so this fight isn't going to take long.
Aww, fiddlesticks.
But, he was still all tied up, so Leo crushes his skull into the floor (which I assume is very nice and carpeted, since it's a manager's office, but the system limitations can't show expensive carpeting).
Leo gains a level from the fight and I feel accomplished for defeating an alien in a way a cowboy would approve of.
After the fight, the pill...Saucer, ship-thingy flies away. I don't know where it goes.
But, the animals are no longer out for blood!
And in the next room, we find this Medicine. It's a healing item that heals a bunch of health when used.
Since Leo is a bit low on health, I decide to test its effectiveness.
Damn, that fully healed his ass. I wonder if I should have saved that or not...
But, no matter now! Let's see about this singing monkey.
The monkey began to "sing with passion", and we gain another melody!
Also, penguins!
And with that done, let's report back to the mayor. Maybe he'll give us $200 this time!
Have you heard about her? I bet she'd be a great help to you on your journey.
I guess that must have been the secret she had to tell us. I don't know why she hid that for so long, though.
I wonder how much Abbot just wants to fling the mayor (and that chair) out of the window.
Wow, even more recognition?
I'm sure it's more than droppings; there's probably a bit of fur, a tooth, and some vital insides there, too.
Just be glad I don't make it your insides on Leo's clothes!
Abbot, while not being any better about rewarding us, still seems like a solid kind of guy. I like Abbot.
But, we're done for the day.
Next time, on Mother, let's see what we can do with those bridges that used to be blocked. Stay tuned!
Status Shot
I know it's partially because I got lost, but Jesus, Leo is powerful. His defense seems especially insane, though, and I don't know if it's because of the Easy Ring or not.