Part 42: Black Box (Second Half)

Music: A Castle Entangled in Thorns



We find ourselves in a room with a giant clock. There are two blocked trampolines, and two cranks. The red crank moves the clock's hour hand, and the blue crank moves the minute hand. We can't do anything in this room at the moment, so we proceed through the door directly across from the one we entered through.



This room is similar to the other staircase rooms, but we enter from the top this time, and there's only one exit on the lower floor. We grab a LVL Apple from a pot in the room, and proceed through the lower exit.

We run through a hallway with those little traps that cause random encounters, and end up in a room identical to the last.



There's an LS Emethyst E in the corner. We grab it and proceed to the next room.



Our party is proceeding as normal, but a strange sound causes everyone to stop.

Music: Did I Get a Message?
This is a chiptune version of You'll Never Be Alone No Matter Where You Go, the first opening theme of Wild Arms 2. There's also a version with vocals, from the Japanese version of the game.



It sounds like it's coming from your backpack.
Connected at last!
Aaaaah?!
That voice...it's-

Music: Elvis PALB_3106 (: Appearance)




Hah hah hah! It looks like the reception's not bad either! Excellent! A father can hardly be unconcerned for his daughter's welfare, of course... ...So I installed a holographic communication device in your backpack, so we can talk to each other anytime!
He hasn't changed at all, has he... He almost moved me to tears when he said goodbye to Carol before... Boy, don't I feel stupid.
Well, I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm.
What is it, Professor? Did something happen?
Yes! I've at last found a way for the Veruni to live without fear of the VR factor! I'm working with the Baskars right now. With their help, I've finally discovered - no, seen what I'd always been missing!
What you'd been missing...? What's that?
The important thing is that the VR factor is only harmful to us, and not to humans. That's because humans are essentially a part of the planet itself...while the Veruni, having spent millenia in space, have diverged from the traits that identify them as an element of Filgaia. The planet thus rejects us, treating us as foreign contaminants. But if we can establish a bond with Filgaia as humans have-
Oh...so that's why you were so interested in mediums!
Indeed. Quick as always, I see. If individual Veruni carry mediums around, they should be able to establish a physical link with Filgaia, allowing them to neutralize the VR factor in the short term. If we can then maintain a peaceful relationship with the planet...
Then eventually the Veruni will be able to live without problems just as humans do, right?
Exactly. But until now, there was one significant problem.



And even once that link is established, it will fade over time unless renewed. So in order to make such large-scale use of mediums, there had to be some measure of cooperation between the two races.
Oh... So now that they've had to come together to defend themselves against the golems-
Yes. Thanks to you, the wall between the races is beginning to crumble. But in order to destroy it completely, something else is needed to bring the races together.
Something else? What is it?
That I don't know. It may be something concrete, or perhaps just a symbol of some sort... But one way or the other, I expect you are the only ones who can find it. And to do that, the first thing you'll need to accomplish is defeating Volsung. He's become nothing more than a wall himself, an obstacle separating the two races.
Yeah, I know! You can count on us!
Dean, you could at least call me "Dad" - if you're planning to date Carol!
P-Professor! D-don't say things like that!
Hah hah hah! Leave this to me, and concentrate on your own work! Farewell!

The hologram disappears.

...Well, whatever else you can say about him, he definitely makes an impact...
But now everything's all set! All right, I'm really getting into this now! Let's go, everybody! For the future of Filgaia!

Music: A Castle Entangled in Thorns



This room... I was stuck in this room for so long the first time I played.

Anyway, shooting that switch in front of us opens the door, which leads to the other side of the sealed door in Area 08, the first staircase room. We don't need to go through there though, it's just a shortcut.



If you look at the northern wall and turn your camera up as far as it will go, into a position nobody would ever use unless they've been stuck for ages and they're just looking around hoping for any sort of clue, you'll notice a pipe which you can target with the Power Shot. I do not like this room very much.



Anyway, when we shoot that pipe, it drops into a climbable position.



There's a switch up here, and when we press it, we get a clue.



Okay, back to the clock room!



In the previous room, the red flame was in the 7th place, and the blue flame was in the 11th place, so we need to use the cranks to set the clock to 7:55.



After setting the clock up, we're able to use the trampoline on the left, which brings us to a door.



This hallway contains invisible versions of the traps from before. The detector makes them visible so that we can shoot them.



This room contains four torches and a sealed door. If we look at the door, it we get a message.

*The door will open at the time portrayed by the flames.

We light all four torches, which burn red, but the door doesn't open. Back to the clock room, then!



The purple flame in the stupid pipe room was in the 3rd place, so we set the clock to 3:15.



Now we can use the trampoline on the right, which takes us to another door.



This room contains another sealed door and four more torches, but two of them light blue, and two of them light red. Back to the clock room!



There was a total of six red flames and two blue flames, so we set the clock to 6:10.



And now the sealed doors are open! They both lead to the same room, so it doesn't matter which one we take.

I think the concept of this puzzle is interesting, but it fails in execution. It requires too much running back-and-forth, and the encounter rate in this place is ridiculous, so the puzzle is just tedious and awful.



When we proceed through the door, we're given another boss fight.



We've gotta beat two of these guys. Their basic attacks deals about 1000 damage, they use Dark Isolate, and they have a preparation attack which hits all adjacent HEXes for 2000 damage. They're not a threat, but they love to use Dark Isolate or Replace when you get your caster on the earth ley point, so it takes awhile to kill them.



I am quite anxious to see your faces, you know.

I would be there already if it wasn't for your stupid clock puzzle!

We'll be there soon enough. After all, the longer it takes to get to the climax, the more exciting it is!
Heh heh, perhaps so. Then I suppose I shall wait a while longer. I wish you the best of luck.
He sure is calm, isn't he?
He won't be for long! C'mon, let's go!



Is it because their deaths will signal the fulfillment of my desire...? But then, what is the reason for these ambivalent feelings...? ... In any case, the future belongs to the victor. I will not lose. Not until I return my own existence to nothingness...



This room sure looks familiar.

Anyway, there's an elevator in this room, so we ride it up to the next floor.




Now we're in a circular set of rooms. Before we start exploring these rooms, we need to head through the door directly ahead of us.



A Sol Niger, a save point, an LS Amethyst Y, and an Ambrosia. We purify the Sol Niger, grab our loot, and return to the previous room.

Now you may be wondering why this Sol Niger doesn't count for Kanon's quest - aside from the gameplay reason of it being past the point of no return, of course. My best guess is that it doesn't count because it's on the Locus Solus, rather than Filgaia.



The rooms around here contain platforms which rise out of the ground when we shoot the nearby orbs.



These platforms bring us to the second floor. The second floor balconies have doors to the other rooms in the circle, so we can ride a platform up in one room, then move to the second floor of an adjacent room.



There's an LS Amethyst Z up here. That makes four of these so far.



The next room has a sealed door which we cannot reach. The actions we take in these rooms will get us through that door.



The second floor has these orbs, which make platforms appear.



If you've ever played a Megaman game, you should be familiar with how these platforms work. A platform appears, and then the previous platform disappears, and then another platform appears, etc.



Partway up, we have to shoot another orb to activate more platforms, or we'll fall to the ground.



We have to keep this up for awhile, traversing through two rooms.



At the end, we reach a stomp switch, which has no immediate effect when pressed.



And then we do it again.



This screenshot makes this whole sequence look really difficult, but I actually just activated the next set of platforms a bit too early and ended up having to make a few difficult jumps to keep up.



And we reach a second stomp switch. Now that we've activated both, something happens!



A nearby wall lowers, revealing...another wall! Let's investigate, shall we?

*The Locus Solus Amethysts start shimmering with a strange light. Insert them into the holes?

Yes



When we place the Amethysts, the previously inaccessible door opens, and a platform raises so that we can reach it.



The next room contains a huge spiral staircase. At the top...



I don't think I'm ready for this, guys... I need a moment to calm myself.

The Art of Wild Arms



Another picture from the Development Material Collection. I also included a smaller picture from the Development Material Collection, because I like it. It contains sketches of characters in alternate costumes which do not appear in the game. There's also some weird genderswap thing.

As for the costumes, Rebecca is dressed as Rudy from Wild Arms 1, and Dean is dressed as Levin from Wild Arms XF. The uncolored sketches of Carol and Rebecca are also different costumes, but I can't tell if they're cameos or not. I really like those Rudy and Levin costumes though, it's a shame they aren't in the game.