Part 9: Tripping the Matango Fantastic*

*Renditions of what really happened while our protagonists are tripping throughout this mushroom fueled adventure are welcome.



We're here in scenic Matango, which was named as such because the first people who explored the place mistook a greeting for the name of the place. It's like those apocryphal tales about Kangaroo meaning "That thing you're pointing at?" or possibly Ragnarok.



The whole fungus related punnery is in full effect here. I suppose we're just lucky he wasn't King Shitake.



As soon as the locals start talking about how they can't fight monsters, it becomes pretty clear that you're going to be expected to fight some monsters for them. If you really think about it, heroes are nothing more than roving gangs of hitmen who'll kill just about anything for the right reward.



.. they have no shame at all.



On the plus side, Matango is the first location we can buy Faerie Walnuts from an ordinary shop rather than from Neko. Money's becoming less and less of an issue, but it's a welcome change.



There's also some fairly substantial armor upgrades available here, which are well worth investing in. Of particular note are the Fancy Overalls, which all three characters can wear.



Somehow Watts is already here ahead of us, waiting. I don't even know how that happens, but the game continues to bring him along for us.



There's a mysterious passage blocked off until we talk to the king. Unfortunately, it's not a treasure room.




The strangeness continues to mount. At one point this world was canvassed by white dragons being ridden by mushrooms. At that point, everything is on the table as far as believability is concerned.




So, those flying creatures in the woods? Miniature mana beasts. As far as world-ending creatures go, I'm not terribly impressed.



"Can we.. can we ride it?"



We're in the throne room, by the way. Only a true king among mushrooms could have such a magnificent beard, not to mention the tiny crown.



All jokes to the contrary, King Truffle probably gives us the kindest welcome out of all the monarchs and important people we've dealt with so far. It's so unexpected that Boy doesn't know what to say.



Except for that whole riding a white dragon thing, that kind of sounds like us.. well, we can fix that!



While he doesn't go and say "Hey, go kill the giant snake and save the dragon" it's pretty clearly implied when he tells us quite literally where the door is.



He's also not going to tell us how to get to the next elemental palace until we take care of this. It seems that everybody has an agenda regarding having us take out some kind of monster for them.




To smooth things over, we get an upgrade for the Javelin. The Light Trident is the first item in that family that has a bonus, against animals and birds. As some people have said, the orbs actually make things make a bit more sense. There's something very weird about visiting King Truffle's bedroom and having the Javelin suddenly become stronger.




Before we leave, there's a small oddity to show off. The Matango inn has a secret passage leading back behind the counter for.. no apparent reason. Cut content, or just weirdness?



Across the hallway the passage is now unblocked and we can follow it to this field of mushrooms, with a good number of enemies scattered across it. This is actually a pretty good place to grind since it meets the criteria for weapons out and is right next to an inn. I'll probably grind all my magic up to level 3 here before leaving the area.



The exit isn't so much a cave as it is a crack in the rock face. The pathway to the promised dragon is surprisingly long, and I kept expecting to find a boss fight around every corner.



There's an entire extensive cave network with whip transitions and everything, peopled by Kimono Birds, Nemesis Owls, and Pebblers.



The effect of having all three characters stacked up on top of each other is accomplished here by a glitch in the game that somehow got everybody stuck on a pixel somewhere. This kind of thing can happen in Secret of Mana with unfortunate regularity.



There's obvious indications that we're probably going to be coming back here.




Eventually we run into a magic orb, which wonder of wonders does not actually require the latest magic we're just learned. It makes sense, though..



How else would you move a bunch of rocks except through symbolic earth magic? Just as a note, Gem Missile doesn't work with this. You need Earth Slide.



The falling rocks open up this passage. I enjoy the fact that I captured a gobsmacked Kimono Bird with this image. As a note, they evidently create Pebblers as part of their shtick. I'd missed that earlier, but saw it in action in this cave. After that it's a straight line to..

Boss Battle: Great Viper

Great Viper Boss Battle



The infamous giant snake that everybody in Matango was talking about. The Great Viper is in many ways not all that threatening, as his main attack is to pretty much ram straight into you. He does follow your characters, however, so it's not like there's an easy pattern to exploit.




His attacks cause the Pygmy status, and he'll occasionally stay back a bit to drop a high level Gem Missile on your characters. Fortunately his magic power is crap, so the damage is very light.



He's weak against Thunderbolt, but the expense of the spell means you probably won't be able to get too many in. Other than that, you can take advantage of the fact that he freezes when he's attacked. When he explodes he blows up in series along his entire length and hands over a Sword Orb.



The dragon we've been looking for, meanwhile, is hiding in a cave that was apparently too narrow for the serpent to reach.




It's pretty obvious that it's an orphan, although I have to wonder how a pair of dragons couldn't handle a snake that we beat with impunity. At any rate, Kid's heart is touched...



And the obvious solution is to drop the entire problem into King Truffle's lap.



And yet the king gave answer, as few such kings there be...

Well, really, would you turn down a dragon mascot for your kingdom? It's pretty sweet!



The game fakes toward the idea that you're going to get to name the dragon...



And then King Truffle remembers that he's the king in these parts and that you have to agree with him. Seriously, he's one of my favorite monarchs in this game so far.



Now that we've done his dirty work, Truffle comes through with the fuses for the Cannon Travel Center.



It also turns out that the whole "I know how to get to the next palace" thing he said was a bit misleading. "Somewhere in the Desert" is not directions!



The courtiers actually have changed dialogue now that there's a dragon right in front of them. They're not terribly impressed, overall, but the king is the king.



The last thing to do before leaving is to get our weapon upgrade. The Claymore is a weapon against insect types, which could come in handy. With that in hand, it's time to head out to the Desert of Kakkara!

Do Mushrooms Talk to Their Babies? This One Does