Part 22: This is what they call a hysterical fit, isn't it?

Alright, time to load up my save game and record some more Okage...



...Shit.

So Okage has this neat bug. Sometimes it eat saves, more or less at random (I think it happens to save slot 1 more than 2 or 3, though.) When playing Okage, it's of the utmost importance to save in all three slots, and avoid putting your most recent save in slot 1. If possible, you should frequently back your data up on a second card.

Thankfully, I didn't miss out on anything important. I had to fight Linda again, but I actually got a better recording out of it, so everything worked out okay.

Music: Pos Pos Snowfield



Speaking of Linda, she's in our party now. Most of her stats are average or above average. Her weakest stat is her attack (which is still higher than Kisling's). Unexpectedly, Linda has the highest defense stat of our entire party.

As for abilities, Linda learns a lot of buffs and debuffs, reflecting her boss fight. At the moment her only skill is Omni Concert, which slows every enemy. Later on she'll also learn some elemental attacks (though not ice, oddly enough), and she'll become a better healer than Ari with skills that restore the full party's HP.

All in all, she's not a bad character, but most of the time there are better options.



For now I drop her into my party in place of Rosalyn, which is pretty much a straight downgrade right now. Our LP does go up a little bit, though.

Our current objective is to explore the Madril sewer, but first I'm gonna look around the southern half of Pos Pos.



There's a Tiny Gear behind the Sealed Cave, so we grab it first.



There's a tree next to the Sealed Cave, and you can walk on it. This is pretty much impossible to figure out on your own.



Dropping off the end of this tree brings you to a chest. You have no idea how long I was baffled by this chest out on a tiny island the first time I played. It contains Bandit's Shoes, an accessory that boosts a character's speed by 1.



To get off the island, we walk across another tree and drop down to the mainland.



If we continue south from here, there's a set of giant footprints. These don't actually mean anything, they're just a neat environmental detail.



There's a cabin over by the footprints.



And a Tiny Gear under the nearby tree.



We can also push the snowman around. Once again, just a neat thing you can do that serves no purpose.



After putting the resident's snowman where he'll never find it, we enter the cabin.



Old Guy With a Loud Voice: Ah, it's OK, you don't need to say anything. Not yet... Oh well, I see. They are such small gears. And they were scattered all over due to an immeasurable explosion. Um, the explosion wasn't really a failure, Mr. Anticle. Having an explosion means it is successfully drawing power. Anyway, I cannot even continue the experiment without my precious parts. It'll take too much time to make them over again. Thus, I request an ongoing search! Finding 30 parts would be fine. I'm counting on you, Mr. Sylvester! So long!

Finally, our gear hunting has been given a purpose! There are 32 in all, but Okage is nice enough to only make us collect 30. Which really isn't a whole lot of wiggle room, but it's nice nonetheless. Right now we've got 23.



A little to the north, we find a line of very angry snowmen with a more friendly looking one on the end.



They're all staring off at nothing, though. Except for that tree off to the side, I guess.

...Wait.





This friendly snowman...



...Is staring straight at this tree.



Woman from WCO Snowfield Branch: I am surrounded here by a field of snow. Please excuse me for not showing myself. Welcome to the far-off world of snow. I'm surprised that you found this place. Help for the righteous... Let me give this to you. I hope this will be useful for you...

A letter is handed from the treee! Ari acquired "Cyphertext 6"

Woman from WCO Snowfield Branch: The next code is: "Is it yesterday? Or tomorrow? Or..." Good luck to the righteous.



This Cyphertext is unsolvable.

It's a Japanese word puzzle that they translated completely literally. It has no meaning in English, so there's no way to solve it. I'll go into more detail when I post the solution.

For now, we head south.



You musn't forget psychological terrorism! Now, show me what you've got! Tell these worthless creatures what you really think of them!

A styleless
A cute but
A greasy-haired

Hmm, and?

feeble
stinky fart
lazy

More, more!

vice principle
gold digger
prison barber

Okay! So it's "A styleless stinky fart prison barber"? Good, there's hope for you yet, boy.



I really wish these quizzes happened more often, because they're always really fantastic.



As we continue south, we find a gate and a sign.



Alright, I guess we'll head southeast, then.



In the corner of the map, we find these gigantic gates and a stone cirlce.



Unfortunately, the gates will not open.



The snowfield's last Tiny Gear is off to the side, bringing our total up to 24. There's nothing else to do here now, so we warp to Madril.

Music: Theme of Madril



Judging by the BGM, things are back to normal here in Madril.



Young Man Who Believes In Justice: Oh Linda, so you were an Evil King? My obsession, they say, was caused by your magical power. But, but... My feelings were genuine! Linda worked really hard to build her career, no matter what anyone says. If "Justice" denies all that I say, then to heck with "Justice"!

I hope things end well for the Young Man Who Believes In Justice.



Next we stop by the bar.



Dumb-Struck Man: I can't wait to see you, Linda. I want to see you, Linda. (Mumble, murmur...)

What's wrong with this guy? He's still under the spell. What's going on?
Don't ask me. I haven't the slightest idea. Was my magical power that strong? I wish!...(giggle)...
In a sense, you could say that this is several hundred times more terrifying than my magical power. Leave him alone, slave.



It's so nice to hear him say he likes me. Why should I undo the spell and snap him back into reality when I don't have to? Besides, ...(giggle)... I forgot how to undo the spell.

This guy was actually creepy and obsessive well before it spread to the rest of the town, so maybe he's genuine?



Now that we're done at the bar, we drop in on Maggie. It's been a little while since we've talked to her.



Now people know me as Maggie, the Beautiful Gangster! I'm the teen idol of Madril!
(Giggling) Little girls are so cute. She calls herself a teen idol! But you are fairly good-looking, so when you grow older, maybe you can be a real teen idol like me.
Who are you, Ma'am?
Ma'am?
Um...(cough)... This lady here is Linda. She's a famous teen idol, you see?
Hmmm. You? I thought you had finally just started burgeoning, but your fall sure came fast.
............



Calm down, Linda. She's only a child. Certainly no match for you.
I know what this is! This is what they call a hysterical fit, isn't it?
Grrr... I'm going to get you! I'll hang you upside-down in the shade and make potpourri out of you!
Back at you, in spades! You pick on me and I'll fight back, or I'm no member of the Spotted-Cat Team!



Maggie! Linda! Now, cut it out!
.....!
Rosalyn...
Knock it off! You're being totally stupid, fighting over such silly things! All this talk about teen idols and beautiful gangsters... You worry more about what people call you than how you carry yourselves!



Rough Old Man: Aw, come on. Don't stop them yet, it was just getting interesting!

Oh, shut up!



If you're so inept that you can't even stop your own daughter from getting into a fight, I'll take it upon myself to slice your alcohol-soaked heart in two, you understand? Now sober up! Stand up straight! You got it? Huh?

Rough Old Man: Y-yes, Ma'am.



A-hem. Shall we get going, then?



And so we do.

Rough Old Man: Sh-she's...





That's about it for the first floor, so let's head upstairs.




Sigh... That dad, he turned me down. Boo hoo... I come home and the doormat's gone. When it rains, it pours. What's going on...? I'm totally depressed. Is it bad luck today? Is it because of my blood type? Horoscope? Palm reading? Boy, I am blue. Deepest blue of all. Why did it have to be like this? I shouldn't have been so stubborn. Really... Whisker Mole and Spotted Cat... Rats... I didn't mean to do this. What am I going to do now?



Maggie, in danger, at the mercy of something terrifying and wicked... When who should show up but Robert! (Sigh) I guess that won't happen...

Man, I'm sorry to hear that. It really sucks that some jerk hid your doormat while you were already having a bad day. What kind of person would do something like that, anyway?



Alright, our final stop before the sewer is the research center.



I can give 10,000 sukel.
I can give 50,000 sukel.
No way.

Researcher: Thank you, thank you. We can now afford to proceed a bit further with our research. Oh, yes, I may have something for you. This is it. It's only a test product but I believe it might prove useful.

Ari acquired "Black Cat Jewel"!



Our next donation won't be for awhile, so our business at the research center is complete for the time being.

...Wait. Wasn't there something Stan wanted to get done at the research center?






Here's some hot concept art.