Part 6: My Kingdom For An ATM
Update Six: My Kingdom For An ATMWelcome back! Last time, on Mother, Leo entered Magicant and discovered he is definitely a stranger in a strange land; however, he ate some Butter, and then it was all okay. Today, we're going to find an ATM, so let's rock.
We last left off outside of this house; we're heading east now.
These three houses that have "7" on their sign are the shops around here. I can't figure out why the "7" is there, but I'm sure there's a good reason that I'm not smart enough to think of.
We'll be going down the line here, so we're in the first shop here.
I guess this guy has telepathy, too, and he used the same rock we did to get here. Or maybe there's another way into Magicant...
I wonder if he came here interested in profit, or if he just decided this was the best way to go about things. I'm now picturing him as a Ferengi.
My $107 isn't going to get me very far here. I need an ATM.
Maybe this shop has one.
No ATM in this shop, but these bracelet items will occupy the same spot that the Easy Ring does. I also discovered, later, that the Easy Ring does provide a defensive boost, equivalent to that of the Goddess Bracelet.
But, before I can buy any of this shit, I need to find a Goddamn money machine.
These pendants each resist a different element; Rain Pendant resists fire attacks, Flame Pendant resists freeze attacks, and the Earth Pendant resists thunder attacks. The Repel Ring acts like Repel items do in the Pokemon games.
There might be a cash machine up around here. I'm looking forward to actually
The path leading north has these pillars all throughout.
I weaved my way through all of them, but I didn't get to fight the hidden boss.
Alright, hit me with your best shot. Thankfully, he doesn't actually ask you a riddle that you have to manually input the answer to; he doesn't ask you anything. So, how do we solve this?
His buddies on either side both offer this worthwhile information.
This is how we answer the riddle. It's good to see Leo is putting those psychic powers to their full extent.
I haven't thought up the question yet, though. Heheh.
Ah, a riddle that can only be answered through the use of psychic abilities. Is this clever, or just assholish?
Either way, they shuffle on out of the way, and we're free to move on.
This looks like an important building. But, first, I make sure there's no treasure hidden around it.
Dammit. There's nothing here.
May as well scoot inside, then. There might be an ATM.
...I don't think this is where the ATM is.
This is where I want to go to continue the story; I'm not quite ready to do that yet, but we'll return here very soon.
Heading back out of that area, I spy a Red Weed. I recall someone telling me I can throw these into the fountain to make Magic Weed.
So, I snag it up, even though I have the Big Bag full of Magic Herbs. It never hurts to be prepared, right?
Heading south and hitting the "Check" button reveals that we're in a danger zone. We best be on full alert.
Heading further south, we encounter this bridge and what seems to be a well beyond it.
However, try as I might, I couldn't do anything with the well, so I keep moving south.
...Oh, my. Timmy could just have a field day here.
They could be baskets, too, I suppose.
Heading east and south, I find a river that forms a barrier; we can walk on the pinkish purple water, but not the blue water.
I decide to follow the river for a bit; the map doesn't work here, so I'm pretty well on my own for figuring out landmarks and how to get around.
But, first, a battle!
Swooshette's are nothing really special. They're faster than Leo and their attack is a combination attack, but it's nothing I'm concerned with.
Now, if there were four or five of them and that damage was tripled or quadrupled, I'd be a little more apprehensive of these gals.
But, she only has 40 HP, so Leo makes short work of her.
Following the river leads us back here. But, it continues on north, so it's not a total bust.
Defensively, Magisnails are fairly tough.
Leo can't one-shot them, but they can't do any appreciable damage back, so they're no more a threat than anything else we've encountered. It takes a few rounds to drop the Magisnail, as they have 50 HP.
Let's continue.
I went back north and crossed back over the bridge we used to get down there.
I head straight north from there, already abandoning my plan of following the river. And this tileset is kind of mesmerizing to me.
Heading north through the pinkish lake thing, I find another house. I'm still looking for an ATM, by the way.
But I've found something more interesting than that, at the moment. These guys might not look familiar, but I assure you, we are familiar with them.
Flying Men exist in this Magicant, too, and will serve as fine guests in Leo's party.
Without any fanfare, he joins up with Leo and I'm suddenly feeling that much more
Heading west from the Flying Man house, there's another river.
Since I have very little idea of where I am, I follow it again. I'm feeling that I'm going to have to trek around this place quite a bit more often, so if I can find some of the major locations early and easy ways to get there, that'll save me lost-as-balls headaches in the future.
Though, it does strike me just how big this place is. The Magicant we visited in Earthbound wasn't all that large, really; it was no bigger than some Sanctuary dungeons, really.
But this place? It's fucking massive. It's an entirely different location than anything we've experienced thus far (even though that hasn't been much
) but the size here actually makes it feel like a whole new world.
And the NPC's around here give it a sense of life, too. That's one thing I think the Mother series does very well; it's not often that you visit a locale that just feels devoid of life. All the cities and towns are living, breathing things, as are the NPC's there. It's something I don't think exists well enough in modern games, really.
This is the fountain that many people have been gushing over; but, don't approach it from this side.
You gotta hit it from down here.
It serves as yet another full heal spot in Magicant. With all of these around, I'm starting to get concerned that Leo is going to encounter some very bad hoo-doo around here.
But, remember that dialog about a "cry from the heart"? Telepathy comes from the mind, which is kind of like the heart. Or something.
This guy is our cash machine. From what I can tell, this is his only function, but it's valuable nonetheless.
It's too bad that he knows how to access our bank account, as I would have loved to get some free cash, but, hey, what can you do?
I liked this dialog too much to transcribe it.
But, now that we have plenty of cash, let's get back and do some shopping.
I'm going to be so upset if this bridge takes me back to the shops.
Somehow, I imagine it's not going to.
This is around the point where I became slightly lost again; it wasn't as bad as the time where I gained ten levels, so I don't feel embarrassed about this one.
But, nothing super-interesting was over there, so I head back.
Trees! These could serve as a good landmark.
Gotta cross the pinkish water to get down into these trees.
Well, now, this looks like an interesting path.
It's not a full-blown hidden side path, so we'd have to come down here anyway, but it's good to find it early.
Inside this house, there's...Quite an interesting man.
It's not because he's a philosopher. I find that interesting, as I once considered becoming a philosophy professor, but that's neither here nor there.
Guitar music? I hope it's some sweet-ass Spanish guitar.
I don't even get how this works. Then again, it is Magicant, so it makes perfect sense.
You should probably make a not of this now so you don't forget later.
Come back when I'm stronger? I like the cut of this man's jib. And, with this update, my note is already ready!
Let's clear on out of here for now.
What in the hell is that?
Oh, a cat that swims in the ground. Of course. And there's only one way to guess...
We're going to make Leo pretty!
Oh, never mind. We can't even get this ribbon now, but we'll be back for it.
Heading south, we find another monkey.
No, not really. You're a monkey that doesn't sing. I don't think we need any clarification on that.
Monkeys are assholes in this game! I like the Earthbound monkeys better!
Heading further south, there's a little girl down here.
Man, that guy has it rough.
Well, I guess this is as far south as we're going.
Let's follow this wall. I imagine it'll lead us where we'd like to go.
Oh, another fight. It'd been such a long time since I had one, I thought I was out of the danger zone.
With only 40 HP to their name, these guys aren't too dangerous.
Leo, you lovely son of a bastard.
Flying Man can't gain exp normally, so he doesn't level, but Leo still does!
And we got a new power!
Offense Up? Oh, fucking sweet. I might use this more than I did in Earthbound. Leo hits pretty damned hard to begin with, so any chance to make that even harder is just going to be icing on the cake.
And we're back to the village we started in. I'm not exactly sure how, but it looks like I took the long way around to get the places I did.
And now I have money, but no space.
I quickly clear some space and pick up a Magic Coin.
And a Goddess Bracelet.
Now, Leo's defense is going to remain the same, no matter if he's wearing the Goddess Bracelet or the Easy Ring. I'm not sure which one I should keep on, as Leo won't get any defensive benefits.
But, with the Easy Ring, I'll have less encounters to deal with, but more exp to even all of that out.
With the Goddess Bracelet equipped, the encounter rate is going to fucking explode, and the exp will probably even out either way.
With this update coming to a close, I present a vote: shall Leo remain equipped with the Easy Ring, netting him more exp, but less encounters, or shall he equip the Goddess Bracelet, for more encounters (a bigger pain in my ass) for less exp?
BOLD a vote, folks, and stay tuned for next time, when we meet a queen!