Monday, April 2, 2012

TEXT PLAY: Legend of Mana (PlayStation; 2000): Issue #04: A New Artifact


This is about where I start running into trouble with this game, I think.

Part of what's been keeping me on this one is that now that I've pretty much got Domina and the Luon Highway all cleared out, I've been a bit confused about what to do next. We're at a point where I'm gonna need a little help, I think, so I'll be using, at least in part, the walkthrough at the Legend of Mana Fan Site. I won't be following it exactly, of course, as it's a little late for that, if nothing else.

So, I guess we're off to a place called Gato. It's the place Daena said she was from, I think. Maybe we'll run into her someplace here. The first big mission here is to help Inspector Boyd try to solve a murder. Previous attempts at getting through this game have left me with the impression that Boyd is more like this Inspector. Sadly, I get to play the role of Deux Deux this time. And I'll feel like it by the end, too.

To get Gato on the map, we need to use the Flame Artifact I got from Niccolo, I think it was, when I finished off the Mantis Ant a while back. I'll just plop that down to the right of where I've got the highway. Got everything it a straight line for now, but that'll change in a bit.

The mission starts when a nun tries to help a Sproutling, one of the plant dudes we've been seeing all over, with some sort of bug infestation. If we follow it from the village to a forked path, we'll meet some dude named Mr. Reubens. I wonder if Reubens's first name is Paul...? If you talk to him, he'll introduce himself and say something about somebody trying to jack something called the Flame of Hope. Since we're already on the left path, I'll go down that. After we leave, somebody drops a note for Reubens. Could it be Ultros the Octopus?

Down this path is the Gato's temple, the Temple of Healing. About all that's here for now is a nun praying. Keep her in mind for later. In a back room, we find Daena, who says she's watching over her friend Matilda. I think that may be the friend she wanted to talk to Gaeus the Earth about before, but that's for later, too, I supect.

One of the cool things about Legend of Mana is that it's got quite a big selection of sentient races and species in it. It's rather like quite a few of the more famous pen-and-paper RPGs in that regard. In this first Gato quest, we're having our first encounter with the Jumi race. The Jumi are a people who have glowing jewels on their chests that act as their hearts and control their life forces. As the quest progresses, we find out from Boyd that there's a jewel thief named Sandra who's been offing Jumi like mad so she can hork their jewels, or as they call them in-game, cores.

Sandra's got something of an alter ego, and I ran into her in Gato's shop when I went in to buy a new sword. Later on, she'll dress up as one of the local temple's nuns while she stakes out Mr. Reubens, who, as luck would have it, is a Jumi. Anyway, we find all this out while chasing one of those Sproutling guys I talked about before, who's running around with something called a Popo bug buried in its leaves.

Sandra wants the bug because it's supposed to have potent medicinal qualities to it. She's nice enough to offer it to Reubens first, but he's too big a pussy to take it off the Sproutling while Sandra's got its leaves pulled back. Reubens says he doesn't want to take the bug because it requires causing the walking head of lettuce discomfort. A moment later, the Sproutling runs off, after which Sandra tells Reubens to grow a pair because the bug was already irritating the plant guy and he could have used the bug to save his girlfriend in another town I don't have the Artifact for yet.

At this point, we have to leave the conversation to find the Sproutling. It went to the temple and started pestering the nun who was praying there. The Sproutling runs off, apparently tripping the praying nun in the process somehow. The first place to look is with Reubins and the other nun. The Sproutling isn't there, but the nun murders Reubens and takes his jewel core before teleporting out just before Boyd shows up. The inspector thinks you did it and accuses you before running back to the temple for some odd reason. With his dying breath, Reubens says he wishes he could see his girlfriend Diana again and then vanishes into the ether. Not quite the origin story for Wonder Woman I'm familiar with, but it could work.

Back at the temple, Boyd has you go look on the outskirts of town for Sandra while he screws around in the temple for a little while longer. At least there's a dungeon with battles. I could use the Lucre and XP. And so could the pet Rabbite I brought along.

All this time, I've been thinking I've been forgetting something, and this is probably it. I think I forgot to mention last issue that my monster egg from the Monster Corral tutorial a couple issues ago had hatched, and it was a Rabbite. I named it Red Green, after the title character of one of my favorite sitcoms. Pets can gain levels just like player characters and NPCs. An interesting thing in all of this is that the pets can develop personalities as they level up based on what they get fed. That's one of the things the produce and meat is for, I guess. One way to level them up is through battles, like I'm doing here. Another is by leaving them out in the barnyard. Either way, pets eat every time they gain levels, and the kind of food they get changes their personalities. I'm not entirely sure, but I think there may be quests later on that require pets, but don't quote me on that just yet.

Anyway, back to the quest at hand. Chase Sandra to a big waterfall, and Boyd will somehow catch up just in time to see Sandra toss a grappling hook onto something called the Cancun Bird and get flown off. The quest ends with Boyd and Sandra exchanging Doctor Claw impressions. Sandra says she'll be back; Boyd says he'll get her next time. In the meantime, there are a few other missions to go on, so it's back home for me and Red.

The next quest takes us back to Gato, this time to help our buddy Niccolo with something. This is a pretty simple one. Niccolo just wants to get some Greenballs because he wants to steam them and have them as a snack. Not a surprising thing because he's kind of a big bunny. But then again, I really shouldn't make jokes about Niccolo's being a fatass. In real life, I'm one, too, but I'm trying to change. But anyway, this one's pretty much a chance to play through one of my favorite Adventures With Bill segments from the Red Green Show, where Red and his buddy Bill try to get some wild honey. In this case, we've just gotta go to the waterfall. Don't even have to go through the dungeon if we don't want to, but hey, might as well grind a little bit while I've got the chance.

On the way through the dungeon, I learned a couple new fighting moves and a new limit break. Once we get to the waterfall, Niccolo starts running around like mad, so I just head off screen to the right for a bit, then head back to that waterfall and stand on the log for a bit. This would be a good chance to go get a drink or maybe make a sandwich or something if I hadn't already had dinner. Once I'm back to the game, it's time to step off the log. A Faerie will show up and ask what's going on there. I don't think it really matters what you say, because whatever you tell the Faerie will make Niccolo finish up and do something that really set the Spoony One off when he did his LP of SWAT 4 before asking you the same thing the Faerie did. I don't think the answer really matters this time, either, because it'll end the quest with Niccolo giving you a Greenball Bun, the Broken Doll Artifact and 500 Lucre for your trouble.

But since we're pretty much done in Gato for now and will need to use another Artifact. This time, it's off to a place called Mindas, according to the guide I mentioned at the top of the issue. We'll at least get started on that next time, in Issue #5: The Mindas Touch.

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