Mother 3 Part #4 - Desperate Search (1)

Part 4: Desperate Search (1)

It's a good thing you and Fuel only suffered light injuries.

It's been a while since Tazmily last had rain.

Nah, we've got talking to do.

...Meh.

I hope he's alright...

With the forest like it is now, won't the way back be dangerous?

Mr. Flint. Thank you so much.

Did you see anything else in the fire besides those weird bugs? I'm talking about some... suspicious people with pig-like masks on. Those bastards... They turned the forest pitch black!

You should get some rest now, Dad.

Oh, yeah! You were pitch black, too, Fuel!

Come on, Dad. You really need to rest now.

At least everything ended up alright.

I was worried more about him than the fire!

But if something ever happens again, I promise I'll help out.

It's a kind offer, though kind of moot considering our house is just a screen away.

Oh, and be sure to brush your teeth, too.

The middle room is rented out by a frog.

The right room also has an Antidote, which curse the poison status effect.

Perfect timing! I heard you were taking a rest here.

Not recently since they're still at Alec's.

...Actually, I was up in the mountains earlier, picking mushrooms. While I was up there, I caught sight of Hinawa. Then, while I was taking a break by the river, I heard loud roars far off in the distance... It sounded like it might've been a Drago that was roaring...

Say, Flint. Hinawa and the kids made it back home, right?

Might be a good time to check up on the ol' homestead.

After talking to more NPCs, of course.

...That's what I'm telling these two, but they won't listen to me, of course.

Actually, that's it on NPCs for the moment.

Can't go north due to plot, but the west and east paths are open now!

The west path leads to the pointless Sheriff's Office.

There's also a beach at the far end.

The mushroom restores around 20HP.

And a rather unique house for a character we've yet to meet.

East path has a bunch of houses and a sparrow.

(During battle, it's not uncommon to forget what exactly each item does, right? Has this ever happened to you? When it does, just choose the item you want to know about and press Select. A simpler description will pop up, which is quite handy, indeed. Now to end this with a sparrow-like...chirp chirp!)

Another handy hint considering how many different food items we have so far.

Peculiar Cheese is a weird item, in that the amount of HP it restores depends on who it's used on. People who love cheese will restore more HP than people who hate it.

Anyway, back at home there's no Hinawa, Claus, or Lucas, though there is a carrier pigeon.

quote:

Dear Flint,
Just like you said they would, the children have been running around the mountains and fields tirelessly since the moment we arrived.

Claus is as daring and full of energy as ever, while Lucas is still a bit coddled. But neither one seems tired of playing at all.

My father seems sad to say goodbye to his grandchildren after seeing them for the first time in so long, but we should be home by this evening. I had forgotten how nice and refreshing the mountain air is. You're always covered in the smell of sheep back in Tazmily Village, so I really wish you could have been here to take in this air.

The next time we visit, let's ask one of our neighbors to tend the sheep so we can all come up here as a family.

Claus, Lucas, and I were always thinking about you. When we get home this evening, I'll start cooking some of your favorite Omelets right away.

With love, your dearest Hinawa

I'll go find them!

They're probably taking shelter from the rain somewhere. It's getting late, so we should all go look for them. Let's get the other villagers to help, too.

Okay. I'll go tell my dad, then.

(Please take me with you. I'm sure I'll be helpful.)

Why not?

New party member!

Unlike Thomas and Fuel, Boney is a full-fledged party member, though kind of a weird one. Boney's not as powerful as Flint, but he is very fast, fast enough that for this part of the game Boney will almost always go first. Thus Boney ends up being best used to throw healing items when needed, though for random trash Boney's still got a decent offense.

Sniff is Boney's special skill, which sniffs out enemy weaknesses. Basically think Scan/Libra from Final Fantasy, or an enemy guide from GameFAQs.

Alright, time to look for our family!

I wanted to go too, but I can't leave this place unattended, so... I'm sorry.

and you wound up pitch black too, Flint. It's like everything is pitch black lately.

so I'm keeping a very sharp eye on him.

It's okay, Mr. Flint.

One thing I didn't know until this part is that behind one of the houses in the eastern section of town is this hidden chest with a damage-dealing Thunder Bomb inside. It apparently will refill if you go out to the crossroads area.

I really wanna help out, honest. *hic* I'm totally just the guy to help you out.

Thanks for the help!

Speaking of big helps, there's Leder just chilling out in the rain.

Anyway, here's some more people who actually will help us out.

I asked everyone to split up and search the forest for Hinawa.

Flint helped out with the forest fire and saving Fuel, so it makes sense everyone's repaying in kind. Sure, a lot of these people are eccentric, but it's a small town. Of course they care for each other and are willing to help out their neighbors. Well, most of the people will, anyway.

Seems nobody's aware of just how strong I really am.

Wess is an interesting character, as we'll see later on.

I don't like it. It doesn't seem like it's ever going to stop...

Let's check out Boney in combat, shall we?

Handy if you're not using a guide, though it uses up a turn.

Boney's damage output. Flint's doing around 35, for the record.

You can also get an unlimited supply of Antidotes here, which is handy since some poison-inflicting enemies are coming up.

Two new enemies in this area.

Baked Yammonsters are only notable in their high HP. Well, that and being sentient yam monsters.

They can lower offense and do a weak physical attack. Not very threatening when you have two party members.

They have a 50% chance of dropping baked yams, which restores 40HP.

Not you, though. You're pretty careless, so I bet you forgot to bring Antidotes with you into the forest, despite the fact the place is teeming with Mighty Bitey Snakes everywhere. Here, you can have one of my Antidotes. If you don't think that'll be enough, you can always get some more at Isaac's house.

The game once again beating "USE ANTIDOTES TO CURE POISON!" into you. Free Antidote, at least, except we already have an infinite supply of free Antidotes, so.

Speaking of Mighty Bitey Snakes!

They're mighty, and boy are they bitey. They can do decent damage with their bites. And of course poison as well, though I'll show that off in a moment.

but it looks like this area over here got hit really bad by the fire, too.

This path is where that pigmask ran off to after releasing fireflies. This path will take us to where we need to go next.

With all these people looking, I'm sure we'll find them soon.

(The house I was secretly living in burned down.)

Had to rip this mouse sprite myself. Otherwise, nothing of note.

It's easy to lose your footing and slip around here.

Okay.

I got into a situation where I ended up fighting two enemies. Nothing Flint's Swing can't take advantage of.

Though Flint did get poisoned. If only I had an item that could cure Poison...

It will be all right. Reggie knows it.

This is Reggie, who lives in the tent. Yeah.

so I bet he's hiding around here somewhere, watching us worry our heads off. But Lucas is a crybaby, so I bet he's probably in tears by now...

That's a lot of people searching.

Recovers 60HP or so, which is very nice.

to have some of those slightly unclean and not very tasty cookies of mine...

Well, when you put it that way, who can resist?

...Do you think maybe they're not in this area?

This charm will boost defense by 2. As you can see here, it's better on Flint since Boney already starts off with decent body armor, so of course I give it to Boney because I'm not paying any attention and end up gimping him quite a bit.

Up here there's a bunch of people gathered around.

But that can't be possible...

Just look at this, Flint... These huge trees were snapped right in two.

How could such big trees get ripped down like this? There's one thing for sure. Whatever did this, it wasn't human...

What do we do now? They have the path completely blocked...

Actually, Hinawa and the kids might still be stuck out there, because of all these knocked-down trees blocking the way.

Even if it's not the most direct path, we should look for another way around...

It's probably best if we split up into a few groups.

Have you found Hinawa and the kids?!

Lighter?! Are you sure you're in good enough shape to be out here?

I'm always in good enough shape. Don't treat me like some injured clod!

We'll take care of things here. You keep pushing on ahead, Flint.

That was a pretty quick recovery.

Mr. Flint. My dad will do his best!

Anyway, this way's blocked for now, so time to find another way around.

Yeah, there's nothing to worry about. Plus, Lou and I are experts when it comes to getting in the way.

I'll show off the animations for these two next update, since I've got Flint partially blocking them and all. Yeah, they keep this shtick up for quite awhile.

The fact we haven't found them is a pretty huge problem, if you ask me!!

OK.

I wonder if something's happened.

Oh, no, I mean that in a good way!

See those claw marks? Those most certainly belong to a Drago. But why would a Drago claw at stuff like this, enough to leave gashes in rock, even? They're such peaceful creatures.

WELP.

I get the feeling something very bad is happening to the forest, the people, the animals, and me...

Anyway, it's a dead end, so turn back and-

What is it, Boney?

Oh! Look, up there! There's a scrap of cloth! Don't you see it? There's a bit of red, right over there...

Old man Wess! What are you doing here? Sorry to say, but there's nothing a rickety old man can do to help us out.

I know how you feel, but scaling this cliff face is just too dangerous. But, you know, maybe my son could be of use. I don't know if it will help any, but let's get him here so he can try.