Part 31: Friends In High Places

Howdy, folks, and welcome back! Last time, on Secret of Evermore, we took out the dreaded Verminator, met the true Queen and met Tinker, who gave us a new axe. He told us to go visit his brother, Gomi, for help returning to Ivor Tower, so let's boogie.





We've got to go back to the last maze, exiting through the dungeon.





I don't have much else to say about that. I mean, we're going through the dungeon to go to a sewer maze. What could I possibly say?



Though, with the Knight Basher, this maze becomes much easier.



If you remember, there were piles of shit scattered about the maze.



And with this axe, we can smash down those barriers, taking the maze out of this maze.



After the previous sixty two mazes, this is quite cathartic.







And while we're blowing stuff up, let's check out our newest formula.



Yeah, it explodes stuff. It's also satisfying.



This is Explosion at level 0. The first time I've used it, actually; Explosion is quite powerful.



And, what the hell, may as well show this off, too.







After this initial damage, it'll start doing 4 damage periodically. It'll do more damage as it levels up, but, eh...





The Knight Basher has a good bit of power behind it, too. The Lance is stronger still, but I'll stick with the golden axe for now.





And now the path to Gomi's Tower is open.



It's where we're spending pretty much the rest of the update.





I'm not sure why we're back in a marsh, but whatever.



It's all of ten feet long with a couple of Blue Goos and a mosquito or two.



My head canon is that Zach eventually grows strong enough that things explode when he bites them. It seems plausible.





This is Gomi's Tower. It's another maze area, but this time it's vertical!





And there are new enemies!



This is the Dragoil. They have 300 HP, drop 150 EXP and give out 60 Gold Coins. I'm...I'm not sure how they're different from the Gargons in the Dark Forest.



A little further up, we meet some Gore Grubs.



They have 150 HP, drop 85 EXP and give a paltry 10 Gold Coins. The Insect Incense also has no effect on them, so I guess they're not considered insects on Evermore.



I included this shot because I think it looks fucking metal.



And Crush is my preferred method of dealing with Dragoils. They're actually kind of dangerous to York, since they can hit him for about 30 damage.



Sure, 30 isn't a lot, but that's the most we've taken from not-a-boss in quite some time.





Explosion gaining a level boosted its damage by a fair amount. Explosion is a pretty great formula because it's powerful, looks cool, and the ingredients for it are super easy to get here.



I'm not sure why you wouldn't use it, honestly. And, yeah, we hit a dead end. Dammit, Gomi.





There's a few chests scattered about here.



I might have missed one or two, but I'm not worried about it.



Making a maze vertical and with pitfalls doesn't make it any better, game!



Say what you will about York, but he is enthusiastic as hell when swinging the axe.



And that Gore Grub dropped 12.5 times it's usual drop in cash. Just kind of interesting to note.





That statue is vaguely terrifying.



Acorn!? Dammit, why did I climb up here?







We're re-covering old ground.



Eventually, we'll hit this pit and drop down to where we need to go. I took six shots before this that I didn't show because I'm sure you're all not that interested in seeing it.



York also nails the landing in true hero style.





Don't worry, we want to be back on the ground.



As this is on the opposite side of where we entered, and leads back up.



It's kind of like climbing those two towers in Rogue Galaxy, but without a cyclops that throws shurikens.





This door apparently leads to an elevator, because we shoot right up the tower.



We're also nearly done with the tower. It's definitely no Tower of Zot.



Or Babil.



It might seem like I'm longing for better Square games, but Secret of Evermore isn't a bad game.



It's pretty simple and the main character is boring, sure, but it's just plain fun to play.



But, enough of that, it's time for a boss fight!



This is Sterling. He's the Timberdrake's bigger, annoying, red cousin.



And this is why he's annoying. See how he's carrying York there, and the spell is still going off?



He's apparently ingoddamnvincible during that, because he won't take any damage from it.



And he drops York off the ledge for a bit of damage.



It's a short walk back to him, but he can still throw Fireballs at you while climbing back up.





Which is what makes this fight slightly dangerous. Sterling's Fireball is way better than the Timberdrake's.





Super Heal takes a lot longer than Heal, but it looks prettier and fully restores HP.



Oh, you red asshole.



The game kind of freaked out about all those colors. I like the purple flames coming off of Zach.



Sterling has 3,200 HP, but has absolutely shit magic defense.



I mean, Christ. Suck it down, Sterling.



And I quickly tire of his shit. Just how tired of it do I get?



About that tired of it.





Fight's over, loser. Keep your balls to yourself.



That's right, he's not dead! We finally didn't kill a boss!



And not even hiding the palette swap...



You could have said that before I dropped multiple stone fists on him.





That American Pickers show would get a touch more interesting if one of the guys was a dragon...





Gomi's thing seems to be that he likes dragons and doesn't shut the hell up.







I just wanted to show you how much he talks. Compared to a lot of others in this game, he has said a ton of words.



Hell, I think Fire Eyes was the last one to talk that much.





Eh, we've gotta take out the fake Queen. We don't have much choice.





I can't take a bad guy seriously if the worst thing someone can say about them is that they're mean.





You're only trying because you've been told to! You don't have any free will of your own, York!



Christ, your dog is more autonomous than you!



Admit it, Zach is the one that drags you to the movies. If not for him, you'd die in your house.



York probably didn't think of it.





More formulas are pretty helpful.







1 Iron and 2 Ash isn't asking for much. And Lightning Storm is also really powerful.



C'mon, giant catapult!



Or even a giant ballista.



Dragon rides are also acceptable.



(the dragon's name is Sterling)





That is more the face of someone that is planning on dropping us while we're seven hundred feet in the air and feasting on our entrails.





And, yeah, that's how we get back. There's no shots of us flying over the country side or the Queen's army gathering; we disappear off one screen and onto this one.



Sterling, AWAAAAAAAAAAY



Yeah, I probably should do that.



Zach is pretty great.



That goes for you, too, Constant Reader! We're taking a break here.

Stay tuned for more exciting Secret of Evermore action!