Part 20: Update Twenty: Fried Calimari, Anyone?

Sorry about this folks; I intended to have an update posted much earlier, but the internet around here shit out for a while today. So, to make up for this, I'll give you guys two updates today.

But, last time on Super Mario RPG, we investigated part of a spooky sunken ship. Today, we'll continue on our trip through the briny deep. So, let's get this show on the road.



Remember that Muku Cookie I bought? Let's see what that does.



I came into this, having no fucking clue what was going to happen.



I was a little apprehensive at first, using an item who's effects I don't know on my own party. But, what the hell do I have to lose, right?



...It makes Bowser fondle a gopher? No wonder I stayed away from this item.





Is...Is it giving me the stink-eye?



Jesus Christ, it threw a bomb!



And there's a bird!



It finishes off with being adorable. I'm still not sure what the hell happened here.



But, whatever, I got 69 HP back. I won't complain.



Movin' right along...



I skipped these doors last time to prevent raping browsers with a shitton of images, so let's get to it? A Greaper is in front of each.



The Straw Head is the only thing that's new around here, enemy-wise. 131 HP, but slow as shit, with crappy stats everywhere else. They can poison your party or Scarecrow, but they're not a threat, since they're weak to Thunder and Pure Water wipes 'em out with no problems.



You might wonder why the hell there's a Sky Troopa around here. It's not fightable here, though. See that cannon ball on top of those crates? And that button nearby?



It follows your movements, in the sense that it moves in whatever direction you're facing. So, it's just a simple matter of guiding him to knock the ball to the switch.



In all of these rooms, they'll drop a prize and a clue to the password we're going to need.



Alright, there's an "S". That's super fucking helpful.





Initially, this room looks like it doesn't make any Goddamn sense. Those trampolines move back and forth and hitting the block in front of them will freeze them in place. After all three are stopped, a cannon ball drops and, if done correctly, should bounce from trampoline to trampoline until it hits the switch.



We get a Flower and another clue in this room.



Well, I guess that narrows it down. If I knew anything about the ocean floor.



Now, I'll admit, I completely screwed the pooch on this one. I kicked this Greaper's ass, then moved onto the next room.



If it helps, I've done the same thing in Mega Man X, after making that bastard of a jump in Flame Mammoth's stage. You know the one, where you get Zero's Buster early? Yeah, I've gotten up there and then jumped off without thinking.

Oh, and that Dry Bones is a great spot to grind. From what I can tell, there's always a Reacher, two Greapers, and two Dry Bones there. Greapers drop Lucky Flowers.



I chose to leave this room as quickly as possible, so as to not to break my promise that I won't grind anymore. It was very difficult and I hope you all appreciate my self-control.



Nice to see you, too, shopkeep. He isn't selling anything new here, unfortunately.





GOOD LUCK!

Well, good to know I can Sherlock Holmes this if I need to. Especially since I'm missing a clue, because I'm a fucking idiot.



But, onto the next puzzle room!



That fight gets Bowser up to level 16. His bonus? +3 HP. It's a little... inducing.



Anyway, in this room, there's a Coin that leaves a trail behind it. You might remember something similar from Super Mario World. It works same here, as in you hit the leading coin too early, that's the end.



It follows a preset trail across the room, pooping out a Coin here and there. Collect 'em all and you get your clue for this room.



The Coins function as the second prize in this room. Though, I do believe this clue is the most helpful so far.



Next room!



But first, Toadstool gained herself a level. She's at 15 now, which means she learned Mute. She snags herself a nice +3 to Attack, too.



This room is pretty simple. That block in the corner, when hit, makes a cannonball fire. What you have to do is jump and knock it into the block above, then repeat with the other two cannons.



It's pretty easy to do, honestly.



The secondary prize reflects the simplicity here.



And the clue is, once again, helpful. Huzzah!



This leads us to a final puzzle room, then we have to go input the password to move on.



There's two buttons here. Step on one, then move, and it'll pop back up. So, what are we to do? (Even though there's five people here and this shouldn't be a fucking issue! )



There's an oddly colored barrel over there. I'm sure you all see where this is going.





Yep. Knock it down and roll it over to a switch, then hop on the other. Ta-da!



A full-heal Mushroom was our secondary prize here. Let's go put in our password now that we have our last clue.



Even though we don't have all of the clues, we can still solve this. I'll reveal all of the letters here to give you guys a chance to puzzle it out at home.











Alright, folks, you can either scroll down now to see the answer or you can figure it out on your own!






































Pearls. It seems pretty obvious once it's solved, but before I can see how it'd be a bit of a stumper. There's a lot of letters there. Don't feel bad if you didn't get it.



Because I just set the stage for a Japanese porn comic!



Meet the Tentacles. 200 HP a pop, with fairly average stats. However, they're weak to Fire.





They never stood a chance. Our characters begin to move forward here.



I didn't actually see Toadstool jump. I think she just levitated across, like it was Super Mario Bros. 2.



Yep, we gotta deal with three more of these bastards. They're the same as the three before this one. I decide to fight these ones regularly, though, so that I have an opportunity to tell you a bit about 'em.



See, they're really fairly not dangerous. They have a physical attack which is nothing special, but they have one other ability that's kind of a pain in the ass.



They didn't do it this time, which surprised me, but they can choose a character at random and throw them off screen. This removes them from battle temporarily, which is quite an inconvenience.



The real kicker about that though, is when the character returns, they're in Fear status. But, that wraps it up for the Tentacles, and just in time!



Meet King Calimari. He's got a few different attacks, such as Drain Beam here.



Oddly enough, it doesn't drain health or anything. It just deals damage. I don't quite understand the naming scheme here.







He has a max of 800 HP, with a weakness to Fire. His Attack is pretty high (100), and his Defense is at a solid 80, too. However, magic-wise, he's pretty much a dud, and he has a whole 8 Speed.



Suck on this, you tentacly bastard!



Yeah, I like Ultra Flame.



This is the face he makes before using a physical attack. Remember what I said about that Attack stat of his?



Sure, it's not a ton of damage, but considering my levels, seeing 21 is a bit surprising. King Calimari is fairly solid, as far as bosses go.



Toadstool heals our HP. Group Hug is far too powerful for it's terribly cheap cost.



He can also poison one of your characters. He also has Sand Storm, which he didn't use this fight. But, we all remember that from the Bundt fight, right? Fear is a pain in the ass, sure, but with Toadstool around, any status effects are simply laughable.





Never underestimate the power of dolls, people. Bowser does not fuck around when it comes to action figures.



34 experience isn't bad, but considering this fight had three phases, I feel like I should have gotten quite a bit more. 100 Coins isn't bad, though, except I've been maxed on Coins for the longest time now. Why can't bosses drop Frog Coins?



Anyways, we're dropped into this room. Since this update is running long, I'll end it here.

But, next time, we'll explore a bit more of the ship, and maybe meet Jonathan Jones! Stay tuned!