Part 7: Snicker-Snack

I mentioned earlier that each weapon has something it's better at killing than the others. You can check this on the weapon skill screen, but the thing is that it's not constant. As you upgrade weapons, each one changes its speciality or status effect it causes. You probably want to check this on a regular basis, but it's rarely necessary.



Going to Gaia's Navel they've redecorated with a giant hole. You might notice Jema in the upper right hand corner. I have no idea what he says, as trying to maneuver around the hole caused me to fall into it.



We land on the deck of a mysterious ship. Surely, this will never be seen again and will not be coming back later in the game. I actually don't know yet, but it seems like there's no way they'd waste a setup like this. Once you're there you can't go out except by going forward.



There's also a random whip orb laying about here, which is a nice bonus. Sometimes these things show up in the most random places.



This is backed up when we stumble upon these three guys. I don't even know what's up with his minions as they look very weird.



Oh. Oh dear, this could get confusing quickly. Who the hell are you guys again?




... oh. A bunch of complete idiots. You stole one of the 8 pillars of the world to power a damn robot.



A robot that doesn't even work right. Worst. Amateur. Roboticist. Ever.

Boss? Battle: Kilroy

Kilroy Boss Battle



Kilroy is a bit of a funny boss fight, with no real special abilities and nothing other than brute force to recommend him. He's got quite a reach, however, and he likes to moogle your characters. The only real problem with him is that he's got a tiny little hitbox that makes getting a solid hit difficult.



Once he explodes we get a Javelin's orb. I'm actually starting to work under the assumption that the weapon the designers intended to use is the one that they give you an orb for after a fight. It will be interesting to test.



The Scorpion Army meekly withdraws and we somehow climb out of the mysterious ship, presumably never to see it again.



I'm not even sure what this means here. Help, Reverend Cheddar! Although I can see how dealing with second rate villains like the Scorpion Army can age someone.



While we were fighting a horrible abomination of science downstairs, Jema was buggering off to Pandora. About par for the course, really. While he's doing that, we need to return this Mana Seed. Before that we can upgrade our whip to the Black Whip and the Javelin... to the Javelin. Yes, one of the upgrades is the same name as the weapon class as a whole.



Coming back to the Water Palace it's obvious something is very wrong when there are carnivorous fish swimming in the ornamental pond.



Mere moments after that observation we also stumble upon this ugly spawn of Dagon (Guess what story I'm reading right now..) coming down the stairs bold as daylight and twice as ugly. These are actually called Fish Thugs, and can be a substantial annoyance.



We appear to be interrupting something. I'm really at a loss sometimes as to how easily Luka seems to be pressured into things and held hostage. I somehow expect more from the 200 year old guardian of an important shrine.



We're dealing with a named villain, he's probably going to show back up repeatedly. That said, Geshtar makes a rather good villainous first impression. Luka's life is riding on us handing over the mana seed.



The choice here is kind of cosmetic, but it might make you feel more rebellious to run away. I went with one choice here and another in the video for completion.



Trying to run gets us bitch-slapped for our trouble and put in our place. Remember kids, don't run from Geshtar. You'll only be beaten up tired.




At any rate, no matter what you do you're going to end up with the seed in his possession watching them break the seal. Then, because he can, Geshtar makes a halfhearted attempt to murder you...



by feeding you to his pet monster. Charming. I wonder if he had any plans to come back and retrieve it afterwards?

Boss Fight: Jabberwocky

Jackerwocky Boss Fight Video



The Jabberwocky is a colorful beast with a nice big target of a body to attack and a good chunk of HP. He does have a weakness in Earth Slide, so go ahead and exploit that to your heart's content... unfortunately, he's also fairly tough so even that's only going to help a bit.



While he supposedly can use speed down, the main threats are his long reach and his ability to knock your characters unconscious and poison them. He actually hits quite hard, so it's probably better to use longer ranged weapons.



Unlike a lot of bosses, this one is actually kind enough to give you an indication of when it's going down. Once the first head vanishes you know you're getting close to the end. Our prize is a bow orb.



Jema is waiting for us when we get out, claiming to have defeated some monsters which we never get a chance to see in Pandora. I'm inclined to think in this case that monsters = donuts. He does make himself useful by giving us a whip orb, though.




Now he's packing it up to go home and leaving us to do the whole restoring of the Mana Sword thing. Slacker.



He does have some pull with the cannon guys, evidently, as he can get them to open up new routes on a whim. Either that or they're sadists who find his suggestions of new places to shoot us in a cannon to be hilarious.



While we're at it we also restore the seal on the mana seed. I like to think that because Geshtar was an idiot who figured that we'd die fighting the Jabberwocky and who didn't realize we had the Mana Sword we've just undone all his work.



No pressure. And this is pure evil, you understand, not half and half evil or 2% evil.




I'm not sure how this all follows, but the task list just keeps coming. Well, the second one is a reiteration of our earlier goal, but this time it's somehow more important damn it!



I don't want to know why the creepy old slacker is pushing us to leave him alone with a 200 year old shrine guardian who looks like a teenager. I really don't.



Before getting shot out of a cannon to the Upper Land, we get shot out of a cannon toward Gaia's Navel and get our weapons upgraded to a Backhand Whip to keep Boss's pimp hand strong and a Long Bow.



We're going through what now? Why can't you just put more gunpowder in there or something and just shoot us all the way there?



Yeah, this doesn't look good at ALL. Nothing but forest as far as the eye can see.




Fortunately we land in a clear space, rather than being impaled on the upthrust limbs of a dead tree. I'll say it again, this mode of travel is spectacularly ill thought out. At this point, I'm hoping that Boss's head injuries continue but his amnesia does not become a driving force in the main plot.



Kid shares my feelings. Why don't they try hitting him again to see if that might work?



For those not in the know, we landed in the middle of a bunch of Moogles who appear rather non-plussed by our arrival. There are actually baby Moogles, which is pretty much a first.



Boss can evidently speak Moogle. Also, Kid cannot tell the difference between laughter and tears. This suggests a certain level of sociopathy and explains a great deal about her character.



The game continues to mock my careful efforts to make sure my weapons are upgraded by sending Watts here to be our mobile upgrade station. The logic behind this is a bit curious, however, as he doesn't have a forge or any tools here.



There's a bit of a fun gimmick to this forest. We just left winter, and now we move into spring. Neko's hanging about here surrounded by pink rabites (Silktails) but he doesn't have anything we haven't seen before. Incidentally, this area is a great place to gain some quick levels.



To the south you can see a mystery creature that flies through the screen at irregular intervals. It doesn't actually have the face of a Silktail, that's just an accident of timing.



The area is also home to the appropriately named Steamed Crabs, which should be familiar to anyone who's played Final Fantasy Adventure. They're actually a bit more dangerous with magical ability.



To the west we break pattern and move into a more normal wooded area, but progress is blocked off by an orb. We can't get this yet, but the location is noted.



East leads us into summer, an area inhabited by fish thugs who love to catch you in a crossfire.




A chance chest from one of them reveals another fun trap, which results in a miniature Boy running around. The game is actually rather kind in some cases, as the Undine's remedy spell will undo just about any status ailment.



Finally going north again puts us in the territory of some homicidal owls. My wife says they look like Fruit Loop owl mascots. Going west again takes us back to winter. What kind of weird place have we stumbled into here?

I wish I could tell you that the Scorpion Crew has actual machinations, but...