Wednesday, September 19, 2012

TEXT PLAY: Legend of Mana (PlayStation; 2000): Issue #32: Sproutlings Dream of Magic Instruments

Well, this sure didn't go quite as planned...

Remember that Sproutling in front of the house that said he was going to go join the Mana Tree soon from last issue? I guess I get to do that quest right now. Not quite what I'd expected, but there we go, I guess.

So, soon as I step out of the house this time, the quest starts. The Sproutlings that had taken up residence by the door say that the one who was about to keel over has had his dreams kidnapped or something and needs to be rescued before he can actually go to the Mana Tree. There's a trail of leaves going in the direction of my lab, so I may as well follow it to see what happens.

What happens is that one of the Students of Magic has been in there all night building a room for me to make magical instruments in. On the one hand, I've been meaning to do that for awhile now. On the other, yeah, thanks, kid, just come on in. Don't knock or anything when you're coming onto somebody else's property.

Anyway, this little mini-quest that I hadn't expected or wanted to do just now tells us how to make magic instruments of our own out of all that stuff we've been getting from the monsters the last 31 issues. The big trick is getting enchanted coins from elemental sprites that can be found... places, just like the monster eggs. Play them a song on your instruments, and if it's one they like, they'll come to you so you can talk to them and get the coins from them. From there, it's a matter of hoping you've got good coins and materials to work with, because it matters somehow, although the student doesn't really explain how. Guess I'll have to screw around with it and see what happens on my own later.

But anyway, once that's done with and I tell Lil Cactus about it, it's time to actually go after the Sproutling who's mind has gone missing. Back in the lab, Q and Orko, I guess, are arguing about letting the Sproutling actually move on to the next part of its existence. Orko wants to let him go because of all the good stuff that can happen if the Mana Tree comes back, Q is strangely afraid of all the war and destruction that can result. After getting no farther than that, I figure I may as well go looking outside the lab.

Right there by the door to the lab is my good buddy Pohkehil the Bird Prophet. He says he can help fix the situation, so I take him in to talk to Orko and Q. Guess Pohkehil is going to take Orko's side on this. It turns out that Q's real name in this case is Nunuzac. The two have a rather long debate on how necessary the Mana Tree is. Q is all worried about the war and fighting and destruction that has come because of the Mana Tree, and says we don't need it because having tranquil spirits is more important. Pohkehil says that while we don't truly need the things that the tree can bring, they make life better, so it's worth the bad things that come along with it. Turns out, I've gotta agree with Birdface on this one, even if Q doesn't agree. And since he won't be convinced, Pohkehil gives up and says that Nunuzac can just do what he thinks is right before leaving.

After a good five minutes of listening to these two gibbber on at one another, there's finally something for me to do. Talking to Q puts us into a dream world where everything looks like the caverns we found Pearl in that one time. After a few all-too-quick battles, we find the Sproutling, barely conscious, at the end. No boss fight, which is kind of weird, considering that we get the final Artifact in the game. I guess this means we might be moving up after having beaten Drakonis.

Now, I could just go use that right now, but I don't think I want to try finishing the game just yet. There's still a few things I should probably do first. I hear the game's Jumi Arc is really good. At least that's what the person behind this fanfic has told me.

Anyway, I might just do a little running around next issue, since I'm not entirely sure where to find the next quest. See you then, folks, and as always, those things I usually end these with.

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