Part 3: Focus Tower & Libra Temple

Focus Tower & Libra Temple



Steve reaches a cave at the base of the Focus Tower, which happens to connect to the tower, because the world map says so.



Inside he meets Old Man Douchebag, who once again offers absolutely no help at all before flying away. I'm not sure where he went to begin with, considering we're underground.



Inside Focus Tower is a series of doors. One happens to match the Sand Coin, and coincidence of coincidences, the Sand Coin opens it! I wonder if these other three doors correspond to anything.



In a random chest on the way out Steve finds Fire. That's handy, since we're about to enter the Water part of the game with all the ice-based monsters.



Outside of Focus Tower, we've arrived in the Water part of the game, and not surprisingly something awful has happened. In this case, everything's all frozen. Or maybe it's supposed to be that way and the disaster is something else. Or maybe it's both.



Steve meets some incredibly depressive chick in a cave.



He tries to hit on her by suggesting he's friends with her grandfather, but she's not interested in sneaking off with him.



She finally withers under his charming stream of inane questions, and deigns join us. Say hello to Phoebe, I guess.



And it's a good thing too, as she's quite handy in clearing out the multiple battlefields on the way to Aquaria. They're optional, as always, but there's good reason to engage them.



Namely this Magic Ring, which gives Steve protection against Silence.

Phoebe herself is equipped with a Cat Claw, the first claw item. It allows us to climb walls and stuff, or will when she gives it to us. Oddly, her backup weapon, a bow, is much better than the claw. So she's actually even weaker right now than she could be. She also sports lots of magic, including Thunder, Fire, Heal, and Life. Get used to her, because she's probably the longest-running party member and she's the one you wind up beating the game with. Fortunately she doesn't suck.



And on we go, to Aquaria, which has seen better days. Unless it's supposed to be frozen over, in which case perhaps it hasn't.