Part 22: Boy Meets Backtracking Again
Update 22 - Boy Meets Backtracking Again
Ride with me
Times have been tough, but I'm going to try my best every day. We have a saying in the world of tea... "One time, one meeting." Basically, this could be the first and last time we ever meet. The first and last chance. The first and last moment...
... Take care my friends.
Mom, there's a door in the tea shop!
I wonder if this one leads back to the hospital... Let's go check it out!
Fish Heads
Doo dee doo... the big pipe's connected to the... small pipe. The small pipe's connected to the... big drain. The big drain's connected to the...
Oh hey guys! Hi Uma!
...What is that thing? Oh, you mean THIS thing? It's a water pump.
Yeah... There's a few more around here. I'm trying to find 'em.
Why are you looking for them?
Oh, God! Uma he didn't mean to ask too many questions!
I like you, kid. So I'm gonna be real with you. ... We both know, there's something special about this place. I've seen you watering random plants, makin' the beanstalks grow. Talkin' to bears and water-people.
How did you know--- These worlds are connected! You know this as well as I do. These devices... they seem to drain more than just the water that used to be here in the hospital.
Uma... Yeah, kid?
Why do you keep helping me? Even after I... Well... After I accused you of doing bad things that you didn't even do...
Kid, I don't hold that against you. I would have thought those things about me, too, if I were you! ... We've all been given our own challenges. Sometimes while we're working them out, our paths will collide with others who are working on challenges of their own. We help each other more than we know. ... It's time for me to go now. I think my time's running out. But you hang in there, okay? Okay.These Grey Walls (hospital)
Uma leaves the room and we finally have control again! Let's turn on the pump real quick before we do anything else.
Sounds of water being drained into the pump.
Nice! There may have been an area that was blocked off from us because of some water in the Forest, and that may be our next story goal...However, we've got a LOT to do before that happens.
First off, I wanted to talk about the Kazuko and Kisaburo arc since I didn't get a chance to do so while it was happening. You may have noticed that the arc started a couple of updates ago, and is now officially over- yet we never had a "dungeon." There was no hospital to explore, nor an old house to investigate. Instead the gameplay was the Monsieur's mansion, and when you were done with that (and Stormey) then you got the story in one sitting. Remember how I said I felt like the devs would agree with me about the gameplay being a bit ass during the Winston/Gemma arc? Well, they just gutted it down and give you the story here instead of trying to fit it into a "dungeon." I MUCH prefer this to the hospital exploration we had to do, but I'd say it was a bit inferior to Tony's house. Because of the way the story is given to you in Kisaburo's arc, there's no real pacing- just cutscene after cutscene. The scenes are really good, so it ends up working despite that, but the slow buildup to Benny's death and the subsequent events are a superior experience. I am definitely glad the devs do try to shake things up, if every story had a "dungeon" like Gemma's, I wouldn't have done this LP.
Now that the rant is out of the way, it's time to wrap up some loose ends. We need to head back to the Forest, but we need to get out of this room, so let's head south.
Ah, a bathroom. We know what must be done.
Perfect. The chest contains 25G, and with that this room is explored.
An empty patient's room. There's still some looting for us to do though, as there's 25G in the cabinets and in the chest...
We found our first CD! There's a couple of these scattered around, and they are songs from the game. Once we buy a jukebox for the patient lounge, you can go there and play several of the best songs in the game.
We also water the plant before we leave, as it's sure to unlock a beanstalk for us. Now let's leave this room and head back into the hall.
Wait...this room? But...
really queer Christmas" post="483173185 posted:
Update 2 - Boy Named ??? Meets Girl Named Sue
That's it for Kisaburo, lets check out that last room. It's where Yami's staying.
And it's locked as expected. Guess the kid tries to flee constantly.
...Did he get transfered? We usually see him after a story ends, and we didn't see him this time. That's...weird.
Well regardless, we're back in the halls of the hospital and we can now head back into the rest of the Forest. Since we now have a pickaxe, we can explore just about every corner of the Forest. Let's go do that.
First up, we have side quests to turn in! Let's head over to Panky's place and give him the berries he needs.
Welcome to the Forest
Hey hey, you came through!You give Panky the Sila Berries.
Thanks to you, there'll be plenty of Sila Berry Juice for everyone! When it's time for Star Night, talk to the Chief and he'll walk over with you!Both Panky and Cora say that last part, since you can turn these quests in at any point up till Star Night happens. You don't get a reward just yet for turning in the quest, you gotta wait till Star Night. It can seem a little BS at first, but patience is rewarded!
Speaking of Cora, she also had a side quest that we finished.
Wow, you brought everything! Thank-you so much!You give Cora the Reeds and Fireflies.
Now Star Night will be as bright as it was meant to be!Both side quests completed! They weren't too bad, and I think Cora's quest does affect Star Night's looks at least.
Now, to explore...
See this well that's been here since the start?
A secret in plain sight. The rocks have to be jumped across at specific points to get to the chests on each side, but it's not difficult to figure out. The one on the right has 10G, while the one on the left is guarded by some creatures. What do they have to say?
Wait! Guys come back!
The other one doesn't say anything, but there is one with its head sticking out!
Whoa, it talks!
>You're still in the ground...
I'm only 85% in the ground. I'm not coming fully out because my body gets cold easily. I have really bad circulation.>Why aren't you afraid?
Life's too short. If I ducked into my hole everytime something new came near me, I'd miss out on a lot of things. So even though my body stays under ground, my face and my eyes have so many new experiences!Aww how cute. That chest he's next to?
Another CD. There's still more to get this update too!
Heading out of the well, there's a chest next to the entrance of Winston's area.
...Onion air freshener? I mean, maybe some sauted onion smell, but raw onion? We really should get rid of this... but it is cute. Ah hell, it can stay. The next stop on our list is Winston's area.
There's a chest and a climbable beanstalk behind these rocks. As well, theres a rock blocking a path to the south. What does the chest hold for us?
Some cute stickers! These are going to look great in the patient lounge...but they may also be added somewhere else. Look forward to that. Now let's climb the beanstalk. Hmm? What's that you say? The beanstalk hasn't grown yet? WELL WATCH THIS.
Aha! I have the power to make it grow WITH MY MIND or editing, either or.
Sadly, this is a small enclave of Skylands. With only a small hut and chest of import.
Though it is a good chest. This song hasn't gotten a spotlight since update 5 when Jacky first appeared, so here, have it again.
The Spirit Envoy
The door is locked, so that's it! Feels like there was supposed to be more here, but alas. Now, as I said, there was a rock blocking off the southern path. Let's go take care of that.
There's actually quite a bit back here, and it's all optional! It's kinda amazing how much content is here that can just be skipped if you run from story point to story point.
We should probably hurry and examine that sign because uh...
It's...quite excited.
Ceremony?
Yeah... The Signs are celebrating "Wooden Sign Day." There's singing, and dancing... We discuss issues that affect Wooden Signs... you know, things like mold, termites, culture. Why are you missing it? The other Signs made me stand guard so no one would interrupt them. In all honesty, I think it's because they don't like me.
...How do you carry a blanket with you? Do you just drape it over your hea- uh, top pole?
Well, technically it's not a blanket, it's a giant purple bean bag.This raises further questions!!!
Aww, there's nothing wrong with that.Our boy, still the best kid in the world.
You're right! If a Wooden Sign still carries around a security bean bag, then is he any less of a Wooden Sign? Definitely not! And now that I've mentioned my bean bag, I feel very weird without it. I bet the other Signs are gonna try to cut it up or something...Don't you think that's being a bit irrat-
Aww there, there. How about I help you get it back? Wait... Really? You would do that for me? Of course! Where is it? In a treasure box inside the cave that I'm supposed to be guarding.
I'll do it!
It's time to crash this sign party.
This is starting to seem more like a cult meeting than a party.
PED XING YIELD Stop interrupting us, or we'll change our text to say "GET OUT" Who let this non-Sign into our ceremony?Man not only are these guys pricks, but this party is a bit wooden. Eh? Get it? A bit- *gets smacked with a tomato*
I can't believe they were actually going to cut it up!
We have different choices here, but I'm nice enough to show off all paths.
>Stop!
That's OUR word! It's time to teach this non-Sign a lesson!
MOLD!??! Ruuuuuuuuuuun!!!!!!
>25mph!
It's time to teach this non-Sign a lesson! MOLD!??! Ruuuuuuuuuuun!!!!!!I have termites!
You have TERMITES? Ruuuuuuuuuuun!!!!!!The last one is funniest and shortest and as such, gets my offical approval for being the canon choice.
The bean bag is ours! Let's let the sign outside know it can feel secure again.
MY BEAN BAG!!! You found my security bean bag... thank-you so so much!!!! You know... while I was standing out here thinking about life, I decided that as much as I love my bean bag... Maybe there's someone else out there who needs this more than I do. 
Hmm... Perhaps someone at the hospital would like it. We could put it in the new patient lounge... I don't know what a "hospital" is, but if it would help someone, then I want you guys to have it. Aww, that's very kind of you. I should mention, technically it's called a "Sila Berry Bean Bag." A Leeble Artisan from the Skylands made it. He said the design was inspired by Sila Berries, isn't that neat? Anyways, please... take it. Bring happiness to others for me, my new friends!!You received the
Sila Berry Bean Bag. And from here on out, I'm gonna try to stand up for myself when the others give me a hard time.A cute little sidequest, that ends with the sign growing as a character. When the game disguises its fetch quest gameplay into the dialogue/story, is when the game is at its best. I know I've beaten the term fetch quest into the ground, but it's the only way to describe the gameplay besides "Lost and Found", and that would be a dumb title wouldn't it?
It's time to move on as there is more to this area to explore. Starting with that little onion on the side trying to hide in plain sight. What's your story dude?
...And that's all it says. Moving on...
It may be hard to tell, but that log on the right side has a thing moving on it and can be talked to! We first grab the 10G from the chest in the middle then go over to say hello.
>Good, how are you?
Thank-you for asking, I'm very good! I live on a log! Isn't that neat? I just grew the other day. A tree had to fall before I could grow... it gives me food and a nice place to live. So everyday, I always think to myself, "What a generous tree! I love this tree so much!">I've been better.
Aww, I'm so sorry to hear that! You can sit here for a while if it would make you feel better. My home is a log. A tree becomes a log after it falls, and mushrooms like me can come live here. Are you a mushroom? Mushroom, non-mushroom, it's all the same to me! You can always come and sit here with us! We like you a lot!>Sorry, I have to go.
Okay, thank-you for stopping by... I hope you have a wonderful day! I'll think happy thoughts for you!This thing is genuinely pretty cool. It's just a happy and optimistic mushroom that wants to let people know it hopes they have a good day! As much as I love cynical games and things that criticize, I absolutely adore that a game like this can come along and just say "Hey, being positive is cool!"
Continuing up the right trail...
...Gets us here, where I assume an ancient ritual is about to be conducted.
(Note: It's completely silent here except for the sounds of the waterfall)
...Music?
Yeah!! You don't hear it? I don't think so... Aw man, you're missin' out! This music is why I just can't stop dancing! Hey, I've got an idea! I'll give you something to help you get in that dancing-mood, too...
The best of the songs.
Thank-you! Yeahhhh man!That's it for Steven. He's lost himself to the music now.
The minimoras have something to say though!
I do! I try to hold onto them as long as I can. I ask myself, "Where do they even come from? Are they floating around in the air? Did someone put them into my head when I wasn't looking?" Music is the best.Call me crazy... but I'm starting to think a musician had some heavy involvement in this game's development...
Minimori are very musical, you know. When Morizora wakes up, we will sing a song of happiness.
That's it for Steven and his posse. Nowhere to go but back, and as you may recall, there was a second path to head down. So let's check it out before we leave the area.
Gah! A boring 20G. Welp! That's it for this area. The next stop is the southern area the protective sign was guarding. (I can't believe that's a phrase that makes perfect sense).
This one's really cool, we'll get to see it in action later. We're really decking out our patient lounge aren't we? The other chest contains another 20G for the pile, no big deal at this point but the cushion is good to make sure we can buy everything. There's one more secret left to find, but we are going to need to get some protection first...