Part 5: Paging Dr. Evil

Once we've escaped from Elinee's castle, it's time to take a look at our new toy. The whip has a lot to be said for it: It's fast, it does decent damage, and it'll damage multiple enemies in a row. I had a hell of a time trying to get a shot of it in action because of how fast it is. Also, it makes you feel like Simon Belmont.




The whip allows you to use poles like this as a method of quick transport, providing us with a shortcut to the Water Palace. Way back at the beginning of the game, one of Dyluck's soldiers mentioned this shortcut and said they needed a whip to take it. Logic suggests that they tried the shortcut anyway and got stuck until Elinee came and nabbed them.



In unrelated news, there's an Elemental spirit who hasn't checked in in a while and probably needs rescuing.



Following Luka's directions we come to some curiously non-migratory fish gawping their merry way along. At least in this game they made an effort to put the fish in the water, unlike in Final Fantasy Adventure.



For an elemental spirit, I think that Undine has the least well hidden place I could imagine. I'm pretty sure that all the other spirits put in a lot more effort than her. More to come about that.



Entering the cave this roly-poly little guy viciously...toddles toward us. Some people refer to this as a mini boss, but in my mind he's just too pathetic.



Once you do enough damage he puts on his darling crown and starts eating people. You can hit him to make him let go, but there's going to be some damage to the victim.



It's a simple fight, and would be even simpler if he didn't have a level 3 healing spell. Every time he casts it, he gets back about 200 HP. What might not be obvious is that the way he's positioned here he's within reach of Boy's whip and Kid's spear but can't reach us with his tongue.



The only thing that really cements his status as a mini boss is that he actually gets a unique death animation. RIP Tonpole/Biting Lizard.



Somehow this guy was in fact inconveniencing Undine and we get our first magic as a reward. Kid gets healing/support magic, while Boss gets the offensive variety. Boy is feeling a bit left out at this point..




Boy's role is to put off immediate gratification for later power and to be a vessel for magic cast on the sword. Once again, it's all about the sword.



We also get a new mana weapon, although I'm less than enthused. It's a javelin, but in many ways its much like the bow and arrow and less useful than the boomerang.



Boss's incipient megalomania is tweaked by these events.



Luka has our marching orders for the next phase. If you think of it, in many ways the whole deal with Elinee was a giant waste of time as far as why we actually went there.



At this point we start magically murdering our way across the country side in order to raise our magic levels. Even with no power behind it at all, Boss's Ice Magic soon becomes our easiest and fastest way of doing damage.




Its time for a quick stop off in Gaia's Navel, where the spike knuckle becomes a power glove and the boomerang becomes a chakram. It turns out that Boss can wear the same armor as Boy, and that I probably should have bought it a hat at some point. Oops.



The magma river isn't terribly impressive, but I suppose it's enough to keep the curious away. When you only have 11 MP, having to use 2 just to get in the door is a bit annoying.



There's a rather abrupt change in the decor as we enter the palace itself. In many ways the motif is surprisingly fiery. We also find our chief nemesis in this dungeon, a trio of goblins led by a Ma Goblin. They're particularly insidious since they can pop out regular goblins and heal them. The goblins themselves are fairly dangerous since they have boomerangs and axes, and can very quickly catch you in a situation where you're going to be mercilessly pounded with no chance to get away.



There are also animated chess pieces running around, but they're little more than an annoyance.



The dungeon is fairly short, and pretty much ends with an outraged gnome telling us that we cannot pass.



Somehow this sparks a reaction in Boss. Not pictured: Boss whipping the shit out of this gnome. I think he'll use whatever weapon you give him, but the whip just adds an extra touch of humor.



Considering how well he's taking his whipping, it's a bit worrisome when he decides to bug out. As for why...

Boss Battle: Fire Gigas

Fire Gigas Battle Video



Next thing you know you're in a boss battle with this guy, the Fire Gigas. Aside from looking like an upset Walrus, he's our first boss with an elemental weakness that can be exploited. That doesn't mean the battle is going to be easy, however, as the Fire Gigas is packing a lot of firepower.




He loves spamming 4th level fire attacks, which is just a bit unfair considering that we only have access to level 1 spells. If he gets on a roll, you can just watch your HP going down the drain.



You also want to be careful about attacking him from the front, as he'll counter with a slam attack followed by an exploder.



Also, he breaths fire. This is actually probably the least dangerous attack he has, so it's a bit of a relief when he decides to use it.



On occasion he'll transform into motes of light and dance around the room. This is your cue to heal up if you need it and wait for him to reconstitute himself. The damage you're seeing is from a Freeze Gem, which is the easiest way to win this fight. Fire Gigas has just over 800 HP, so you need 4 Freeze Gems to finish him off. The problem is that you've already used 1 to open the door and you might well have used magic throughout the dungeon. I actually came in for my first few attempts with 3 MP.



You see, when you gain levels you don't get your MP refilled like your HP is. The only way to restore MP mid-dungeon is through Faerie Walnuts, courtesy of our friendly shyster. Also, chocolate is probably a good thing considering that it heals considerably more than candy. Ironically, after going through the trouble of buying these I didn't even need them.



As long as you have enough MP he's actually a pretty easy fight. I also give him some credit for being the only boss we've seen yet who seems naturally likely to explode upon death. Our prize is an axe orb, much appreciated for its increase in power.




Immediately afterward we meet the elemental spirit Gnome and find out that we were his unwitting assassins and that it was all a set up to rid him of that annoying Fire Gigas.




Boss, having taken his name to heart, takes Gnome to task for trying to use us. There's a certain amount of subtext here that's just a bit disturbing with these particular names, but we'll roll with it.



Boy isn't happy about it, but nobody's paying attention to what he wants. Just carry the sword, Boy.



Boss, his wife Kid, and their servant Boy. All one big happy family..



Or, you know, not. Being our main connect with the spirits seems to be going to Boss's head, as he's just fine with all of this.



With that out of the way, we seal our second mana seed. This mechanic makes a certain amount more sense now, as it governs the level we can raise all of our spells to. 8 palaces, 8 seeds and 8 elemental spirits means that we've got 64 magic levels to grind if we want to max them all out.



Something in the process results in Boss rolling back with what looks like a sudden head injury.




Somehow, through precision head trauma, his amnesia has been cured. If only we'd known that this could have been solved a long time ago.



This proposed solution ignores the fact that we have no idea where this forest is or how to get there. Also, we have much bigger things to worry about in the meantime like this whole Thanatos guy trying to destroy the kingdom of Pandora.



Boy's expression says it all right here.

Magic can be hazardous to Boy's health