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WALK-THRU for The Longing Ribbon
writ by Gibmaker
2005/01/06
PROLOGUE
--------
The first time your character becomes controllable is when your friends pull over on the road. There's nothing to do here but walk around, really. After a certain amount of time you all decide just to get going again, and that's the end of that.
In the next area, follow your friends north up the driveway. Wait for the gates to open and go through them. Join your friends at the front door and follow them inside.
CHAPTER I
---------
Once you've talked to your friends a little you'll be free to explore the first floor of the mansion. You must do three things (well, attempt three things) to advance: attempt to go upstairs (the staircase is directly north of the front door) and attempt to get into the kitchen (to the east of the front door) and attempt to leave via the back door (far north). Once you've done all of those things, go to the piano room.
(In this area of the game, and in all other areas of the game, be sure to check all the bookshelves and framed pictures you see for power-ups as soon as possible. If you put it off too long you may miss your chance.)
Go back to the staircase and try to go upstairs once again. After the little scene that follows, try once more and you'll actually make it.
To finish off this section of the story, you must do two things: approach the doors that connect the west suite to the south suite on the balcony (Jeannine will make a remark about them), and get Matthew to break the candelabra in the east suite. (You must exit and re-enter the east suite several times from the terrace before that happens.) Be sure to use the sinks in the east and west suites.
Once that has been done, return to the west suite and use the bed.
CHAPTER II
----------
Once you jump out of bed, go back and use the bed again. Then use it once more. It doesn't matter whether or not you take the shotgun with you for the next part. It really doesn't. Take it if it makes you feel cool.
Use the sink in your room again. (Remember, it's a new chapter so you can use the sinks again.) You don't need to learn the "Secondary Attack" skill yet, so I'd suggest improving your stats. Don't increase the strength of your Heal skill either; you don't yet have enough Max HP to benefit from that.
Go out of your room, downstairs, and out the front door (after searching the first and second floors for new power-up art, of course). Go around the house to the right, and keep going right for as long as you can. Once you're back at the west balcony, use the rope to climb back up. Then go in the doors to the south suite.
Exit the first room to the right. At the bottom of the next area, in roughly the middle, is the exit onto the south-facing balcony. (But visit the sink on the far right first.)
Once on the south balcony, stand in front of the highest part of the foyer roof (the part that comes up a bit in front of the side of the balcony), face down, and press the use key to slide down the roof to the ground.
Once you're back in the house, go all the way back upstairs and into the west suite. You'll be interrupted a few times on the way; just wait through those scenes as they come. Use the bed to go back to sleep.
CHAPTER III
-----------
It's pretty much a one-way path; wait through the images that appear above the balcony, then go right and up. Pick up the sword when it falls. Continue along the path and pick up the key when it appears. Then go back to the right and up. Pick up the chest in the next area, and then it will be time for the first official battle in the entire game, versus the DREAM THING.
-+-- Monster Profile: DREAM THING --+-
HP: 60
ATK: 8
DEF: 30%
AGL: 10%
Monsters' defense works a bit differently than heros' defense; with Jeannine's defense stat, ALL damage is reduced accordingly. With monsters' defense, though, damage is reduced by a random percentage UP TO the defense listed. For example, with this monster, anywhere from 0% to 30% will be reduced with each hit.
Like for heros, Agility is the odds that the monster will dodge an attack. Increasing Jeannine's Agility will also reduce that of the monsters that she faces. (If Jeannine's agility is at maximum, all monsters will have 0 agility.)
The dream thing has a few different-looking attacks, but they all do the same amount of damage. This first battle is basically an Attack-and-Heal affair; if you've learned secondary attacks you'll have a "Sideways Swipe" option which should speed things up, but it's really not necessary. (Which is why I suggest putting off learning secondary attacks until later.)
-+----------------------------------+-
Once the battle's over, leave the room onto the balcony and go in the doors to the south suite. In Luke's room, attempt to leave through the door on the right, then go back and talk to Luke in the bed. Then leave to the right.
The eastern regions of the south suite are inaccessible for now, so just leave through the door to the north. Go into the east suite. Try to talk to Matthew in the chair TWICE, and then follow him out onto the terrace. Talk to him there, then go back into the house, walk around the sword once, and approach the doors to the terrace again. Matthew will walk back in. Follow him back to the sword. After the following scene is over, talk to Sara. Pick up the sword when it falls, and follow your friends to the west.
(Looking forward: You won't need secondary techniques for the battles in chapter 3, but you may wish to have them for the first battle in chapter 4; if you do, learn Secondary Attacks 1/2 now. There is one accessible sink at the beginning of chapter 4, just before the first battle, at which you can learn 2/2.)
Once out in the hall, Matthew and Sara will start following you. Go downstairs and use the stereo system, which is to the south of the piano room. You will hear a tone; hang on to that note in your head and run back to the piano. Locate that note on the keyboard and play it a bunch of times in a row to receive a key. (If it doesn't seem to be working, try a different octave.) Then go to the dining room and use the key to unlock either of the kitchen doors.
Find the grating in the floor at the north end of the kitchen, with a barrel just south of it. Uncork the barrel, then face up and push it onto the grating. Go to the barrel on the left side of the room and attempt to open it. Pick up the coffee beans, then go back to the first barrel and dump them in. A passage down is revealed.
Go down and make your way to the southernmost part of the cellar, a little chamber that's similar to an area in the second dream. Use the barrels here, and select the option to open them. This is your second opportunity to die in the game; as soon as you've knocked the barrels over, run to the north, out of the little chamber, and wait until things stop falling over before going back down into the cave that opened.
Make your way through the cave to the room with the waterfall that you visited in the second dream. ***SECRET: Before Sara arrives, walk around the little pond all the way to the left, face up, and use the wall.*** Go up to the platform where the chest was and use the upper wall; select the option to yank on the rocks. You'll have to do this twice. Pick up the chest (you'll have to face it from the front), and approach Sara and talk to her. Things will happen, and you'll be launched into the second official battle of the game, against BATS.
-+-- Hero Profile: SARA w/ Shotgun --+-
HP: 40
MP: 20
ATK: 7
DEF: 10%
AGL: 20%
Techniques: ATK: MP Cost:
Double-barrel 15 300
Sara has only one special technique, "Double-Barrel." As you can see, it has the ludicrous cost of 300 MP. Basically, that means you can only use it once per battle, unless you're prepared to slug it out for 60 turns or something.
-+------------------------+-
-+-- Monster Profile: BATS --+-
HP: 9
ATK: 10
DEF: 20%
AGL: 20%
As mentioned before, Jeannine's secondary attacks aren't necessary against the bats, because one of her regular attacks will murder them sufficiently. A double-barrel shot from Sara will also take care of one enemy, or two of her regular attacks.
In this battle, as in many of the upcoming battles against multiple monsters, it's important to thin the number of monsters as quickly as possible, so use Sara's Double-Barrel attack right off the top. And watch both of their healths; although the bats may seem weak, they can do a surprising amount of damage if they all happen to attack the same hero in one turn.
-+---------------------------+-
Now run back in the direction you came, swatting off bats with every step. In the caves, all the battles are in set locations, but when you're back in the cellar area they happen randomly, every 30-45 steps. Slaughter your way back up to the kitchen.
CHAPTER IV
----------
At this point you'll be given a choice of whether you want to keep the sword as your weapon or take the shotgun from Sara. The shotgun's basic attack is stronger than the sword's, but it's vice versa for the secondary attacks.
Attempt to leave the mansion through the front doors. Then go upstairs and into the west suite. Use the sink BEFORE ENTERING THE WESTERN AREA OF THE SUITE (if you haven't started learning Secondary Attacks yet, now would be a gnarly time to start thinking about it), and then within moments you'll be battling SANDY.
-+-- Monster Profile: SANDY --+-
HP: 150
ATK: 16
DEF: 0%
AGL: 20%
-+----------------------------+-
Once that's over, you'll wind up in the east suite. Nab the sink, then follow Sara and Matthew out onto the terrace. Talk to Sara. Then pick up the chest and use the terrace railing, facing down, to jump down to the ground.
Get around to the front of the house. It doesn't matter if you go left or right. Run south, out the front gates, and down the driveway.
Once in the woods, pick your way forward through the trees. The path winds a bit, but goes in a generally northward direction. Once you've caught up to your friends, open the chest by using it from the front.
In the next area you're sent to, you'll have to fight a lot of FURNITURE. These battles happen randomly every 20-30 steps.
-+-- Ally Profile: MATTHEW --+-
HP: 40
MP: 40
ATK: 15
DEF: 30%
AGL: 15%
Techniques: ATK: MP Cost:
Rush 20 30
Frantic Rush 100 300
-+---------------------------+-
-+-- Monster Profile: FURNITURE --+-
There are two basic kinds of furniture, big and small. Big furniture is those that take up more than one tile vertically on the map; lamps, big potted plants and cabinets. Small furniture is those that take up only one tile; chairs, tables and small potted plants.
Big Furniture: Small furniture:
HP: 30 HP: 40
ATK: 20 ATK: 12
DEF: 15% DEF: 10%
AGL: 0% AGL: 0%
As you can see, Big Furniture's attacks do more damage, but they have less HP. Thus, you should target them first. One of Matthew's Rushes or Jeannine's Backhand Combo will take out big furniture; one of those plus a regular attack from either of them will usually take out small furniture. Note that furniture has no agility.
-+--------------------------------+-
This area wraps around endlessly in every direction. You're trying to find the staircase. If you go in any diagonal direction from your starting place you'll probably find it quickly, but to the south-east there's a trail of red carpets that will help guide you. There are plenty of power-up books and paintings scattered through this area; wander around looking for them as long as you like, but I consider these ones "bonus" (i.e. I didn't count them when adjusting the enemy difficulties). Attempt to go up the staircase, and then you'll fight POSSESSED SARA.
-+-- Monster Profile: POSSESSED SARA --+-
HP: 140
ATK: with sword: 26, 35 with shotgun: 22, 40
DEF: 50%
AGL: 10%
Depending on whether you chose to carry the blade or the gun at the beginning of this chapter, Sara will be equipped with the other weapon. This distinction only affects the strength of her attacks.
This is the first monster in the game who has more than one degree of attack; her regular attack does 26 or 22 HP damage, and about the fifth of the time she'll execute a more powerful attack (a 3-strike combo if she has the sword (35 damage), or a double-barrel shot if she has the gun (40 damage)). So give yourself a wide margin for Healing.
You may have to be a bit prudent with your MP in this battle. Use Jeannine's secondary attack for the first couple of turns, but then reserve your MP for Healing.
-+-------------------------------------+-
CHAPTER V
---------
Once you've been thrown out of the house, go around to the left (the gates to the right aren't unlocked) and in the back door. Go up to the south suite and talk to Lyman. Then go back down to the first floor and check the wooden chair in the top-right corner of the dining room to find the key.
If you go back around and attempt to unlock the front doors now, though, you'll discover the key doesn't fit. What that key actually does is unlock the cover on the piano in the piano room, at which point you will receive another key. The new key unlocks the front doors.
In the next area, if you go through the doors that usually lead into the south suite you'll wind up back on the first floor. Lyman says there's a "trick" to finding the key; it's actually a little quintessential RPG door puzzle. First, use the piano and wait through the cutscene. That will cause those three doors just east of the front door to appear. Whenever you go through one you wind up on the opposite side of the hall.
Look at the pairs of plants on the opposite side of the hall from each door; if the plants look the same, that is the "correct" door to go through. They change each time. Keep going through the "correct" doors until you wind up on the second floor, at which point the door to the south suite will, in fact, take you to the south suite. (Don't walk too far away from the three doors before you're finished or the puzzle will reset.)
Wait through the excruciatingly long cutscene, and you'll be thrown into the model house. This is where you will have to fight lots and lots of MODEL FURNITURE. (See the profile for regular furniture. It's basically the same.) At this point a new technique will be available for you to learn at the sink, "Unheal". Also, if you haven't raised your Heal Strength yet, you definitely should at this point.
(You haven't encountered any yet, but there are a few enemies coming up in the game who can heal themselves the same way you do. What "Unheal" does is, if used on the turn IMMEDIATELY AFTER the enemy heal, and provided you don't miss, it will automatically put the enemy's HP back down to what it was before the heal. This can prove very helpful, particular in the case of the final boss whose heals restore 100 HP. The trade-off is that it's useless against enemies who don't heal. Oh well. It only costs one sink.)
First, go west into Luke's room and he will join you after the battle. Then go back to the east, and Luke will open a passage to the north. Now simply proceed through the series of rooms. It's pretty much linear and you can't get lost. You'll lose Luke at the staircase; pick up the sword and before you know it you'll be fighting the PIANO. ***SECRET: If you wish to save before the piano battle, before picking up the sword walk into the room to the south and stand between the two potted plants against the east wall.***
-+-- Ally Profile: LUKE --+-
HP: 60
ATK: 15, 35, 50
DEF: 25%
AGL: 25%
Techniques: ATK: MP Cost:
Thrust 35 40
Multiple Thrust 50 70
Exorcise 500 500
Luke has 4 degrees of offensive moves; his regular attack, two degrees of "Thrust" attacks and an "Exorcise" technique. Exorcise will drain all his MP for the rest of the battle in exchange for the total eradication of one enemy. You shouldn't use this except on the very last enemy in the party. "Multiple Thrust" is almost as good and uses less MP.
-+------------------------+-
-+-- Monster Profile: PIANO --+-
HP: 250
ATK: 15, 25
DEF: 15%
AGL: 1%
This battle is unique in that the piano's "buddies" (the two chairs) respawn. Each turn that one of the chairs is not present, there is a 1/8 chance of it respawning. Address the chairs at the beginning of the battle and as soon as they reappear; their attacks may not be strong, but over multiple turns the damage can be significant. By this point in the game you may be able to defeat each of the chairs with one regular attack, if you've been increasing your attack strength.
-+----------------------------+-
Talk to Luke to wake him up, then attempt to follow him south.
CHAPTER VI
----------
You only have three minutes to escape the initial "waterfall" area. After following the path to the south (and warping back to the top of the area) once, talk to Sandy. Then go back and talk to the girl. Catching the chair isn't all that difficult; you just have to get beside it and "use" it. You'll battle the chair. (A battle against a single chair should be a snap by this point.) Now use the boat by the waterfall, climb the ladder, and you'll battle it too.
-+-- Monster Profile: BOAT --+-
HP: 80
ATK: 30
DEF: 15%
AGL: 20%
-+---------------------------+-
In the next area, once the doors start appearing, you have to get to one and use it before it starts to fade. They keep appearing in different places, but they'll never appear right beside you, so don't just stand in one place and wait for one. If you wait at the foot of the bed you'll be in a good position to dash to any part of the room when one appears. Once you've successfully reached a door, you'll fight YOUR DOUBLE, for no particular reason.
-+-- Monster Profile: YOUR DOUBLE --+-
HP: 200
ATK: 30, 60, Heal
DEF: 50%
AGL: 10%
This is the first enemy you encounter in the game that can heal itself. If you've learned Unheal, be sure to use it on the turn IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING the Double's heal for it to be effective. (Fortunately, the Double will not Unheal you.) The Double heals 1/4 of the time; additionally, 1/4 of the time she also uses a "Rage" attack on you.
-+----------------------------------+-
After the cutscene, go right out of Luke's room. Scour the south suite for power-up art and use the sink BEFORE APPROACHING THE SOUTH-EAST CHAMBER where the model house is. Also, check out on the balcony for another oddly located sink. Then approach the model house and you'll battle LUKE.
-+-- Monster Profile: LUKE --+-
HP: 405
ATK: 22, 33
DEF: 30%
AGL: 20%
-+---------------------------+-
After that, there is an insanely long cutscene which is supposed to explain some of the mysteries of the game so far, but it will probably only make you more confused. After you leave the house, run straight south, all the way down the driveway to the road. Now you will be fighting ANIMALS. Sandy will join you after the first battle. ***SECRETS: After the first battle (against two snakes and a raccoon) go back to the east and use the log. Also, after fighting the bear you'll see a tree stump to the south-east. Use it to reveal a secert save point.***
-+-- Ally Profile: SANDY --+-
HP: 110
ATK: 80
DEF: 25%
AGL: 30%
Sandy has no special techniques, but he does have one unique characteristic: All of his regular attacks count as rage attacks. That is, he loses HP every time he lands a successful attack, in addition to whatever damage is dealt to him by enemies that turn. You might imagine then that you'd be better off without him in your party. But whatever. Games are supposed to be hard.
-+-------------------------+-
-+-- Monster Profile: ANIMALS --+-
Bear: Foxes/Wolves: Raccoons: Birds: Frogs/Snakes:
HP: 400 HP: 140 HP: 120 HP: 70 HP: 50
ATK: 25 ATK: 20 ATK: 20 ATK: 25 ATK: 30
DEF: 20% DEF: 10% DEF: 10% DEF: 20% DEF: 10%
AGL: 5% AGL: 20% AGL: 20% AGL: 20% AGL: 20%
There are many different kinds of animals, each with slightly different stats, but since this small section is the only place you fight them, it's barely worth going into the particulars. The bear is the strongest animal, and you only fight one, as a sort of mini-boss. The rest of the animals arrive in parties of two to four.
Sandy can be a handicap because of the way he loses HP every time he attacks successfully, but his attack is very strong to compensate. There's also the ever-present danger of all the enemies choosing to attack the same hero in one turn, so have Jeannine heal if either hero gets below 33% of a full health bar.
The last animal battle in this section is particularly tough; it involves two wolves and two birds. It's important to destroy the birds first and thin the enemy party; otherwise you probably will not survive. Jeannine may have to heal every turn until Sandy can kill the first one.
Note that, when defeated, animals will either explode bloodily or become exorcised and run away, depending on who deals the fatal blow. (Sandy explodes, Jeannine exorcises.) There's no penalty for what fate awaits each creature; this is just to demonstrate that the sword has some sort of special power for exorcising things.
-+------------------------------+-
After the first battle, Luke will drop the sword for you. (He just can't hang on to the damn thing.) Pick it up, then work your way to the west; Sandy will be running ahead to guide you. Once you catch up with Sara, Luke will wrest the ribbon from her and throw it to the ground. While Sara is off killing Luke to the left, walk down and pick up the ribbon. But don't dawdle; it only takes so long to kill Luke, you know.
Quickly press your "use" key to use the ribbon before the platform disintegrates. Accept Reschen's proposition, unless you're in the mood to view a "Game Over" screen.
CHAPTER VII
-----------
Here you receive both the shotgun and the sword, and before each battle you must choose which one you'd like to equip. In the following area, there are random battles against MORE FUCKING FURNITURE.
-+-- Monster Profile: MORE FURNITURE --+-
Big Furniture: Small furniture:
HP: 30 HP: 40
ATK: 30 ATK: 18
DEF: 15% DEF: 10%
AGL: 0% AGL: 0%
It's our old friends the large and small furniture, but since this is the final dungeon their attack stats are slightly tougher. The reccommended style of combat remains the same, though; target the big stuff first.
-+-------------------------------------+-
Travel north to the two stereo systems; after you listen to them both, the blockade on the stairs will be cleared and you can go upstairs.
You'll arrive at the dining room. (At this point there are no more random furniture battles.) To the east is the piano room. To the west are those three doors that never had any logical reason to be there except to provide a row of doors for the various puzzles in this game. Going through each of them will take you to a different suite in the house. At the far end of each suite is a star on the floor. Use the sinks in each suite before touching the stars; once you touch them you'll be harangued by a furniture battle. After the battle, you'll wind up back in the hall of three doors.
Seem like you've made no progress? Well, you have to go through the suites in the CORRECT ORDER!!! Note that a musical tone sounds when you open each of the doors; each of those tones corresponds to a particular key on the piano. If the key makes a weird crunching sound on the piano instead of producing the tone when you play it, that is NOT the correct door; find the door whose tone corresponds to a key on the piano that plays correctly.
You must choose three correct doors in succession to solve the puzzle. You may wish to scour each of the suites first before beginning this puzzle, since the doors disappear once you solve the puzzle. Listen to the two stereo systems north of the dining room, and finally proceed into the kitchen.
Go north to the row of gratings and walk across them once. When you return to the south a barrel will have appeared, which you cannot move. Note its location and step on the grating directly north of it. If you accidentally step on another grating before stepping on the right one, the barrel will move and you'll have to check it's position again. Anyway, you'll be fighting BATS AGAIN.
-+-- Monster Profile: BATS AGAIN --+-
HP: 15
ATK: 18
DEF: 20%
AGL: 20%
The unique challenge with bats is that they sometimes arrive in groups of five, which is a lot! But even so, these battles shouldn't trouble you much.
-+---------------------------------+-
The cellar is a bit longer than before, and it's set up like one of the castle mazes in the original Mario Bros where you have to choose the correct path. In several spots you have the choice of going north or south to pass an obstacle; if you choose the wrong way you'll wind up back at the start. The correct path must be discovered by trial and error. You will suffer through a number of randomly-occurring battles with bats while walking through this area, but they are infrequent (about thirty steps).
There are two more stereo systems at the south-west extremity of the cellar. You guessed it--you have to listen to them both. After listening to one you'll wind up back at the start of the cellar, and the correct path past the obstacles will have changed. After you've listened to both stereos, the tunnel to the cave will be open; please go through it and use the final stereo system in the middle of the next room. Watch the pulse-pounding story sequence.
You won't fight any bats in the next area, but you'll find yourself fighting A PAIR OF HIDEOUS CREATURES. For the rest of the battles in the game, you must equip the sword.
-+-- Monster Profile: TWO HIDEOUS CREATURES --+-
Faerie-thing: Troll-thing:
HP: 300 HP: 400
ATK: 25, Heal ATK: 25, 35
DEF: 20% DEF: 20%
AGL: 20% AGL: 20%
The faerie-thing should be targetted first, since it's weaker and it possesses a heal technique which it uses on itself and the troll-thing. Hopefully you have quite a bit of agility by now, since this is a battle in which the enemy party can drain your HP as fast as you can heal it, trapping you into having to heal every single turn. Make your move on the occassions when you dodge an attack.
-+--------------------------------------------+-
Once that's done, go to the right, into the inner cave where the chest was in chapter 3. Watch the scene unfold, and prepare to do battle with the FINAL BOSS. This battle also requires the use of the sword.
-+-- Monster Profile: THE FINAL BOSS --+-
Boss: Buddies:
HP: 800 HP: 30
ATK: 25, 35 ATK: 10
DEF: 20% DEF: 20%
AGL: 0% AGL: 20%
This battle is the second in the game in which the buddies respawn. This time they are not present initially. Each turn there is a 25% chance of either buddy appearing. Again, it is worth your while to target them as soon as they show up since the damage they deal, although small, can pile up over many turns. If your attack stat is 160% or higher, one regular attack will destroy them.
Note that the boss has no agility. It has 2 different strengths of attack; a "thunder" attack which does 35 HP of damage (which it uses 20% of the time), and several weaker attacks which look different but all do 25 HP of damage. Also, 20% of the time it heals itself by 100 HP. Attack with triple strikes and Rage/Weapon attacks before any buddies show up, and Unhealing should be high on your "To Do" list. I mean, 100 HP is a lot.
-+-------------------------------------+-
Once you've laid the smack down on the final boss, run your stupid ass outta there, back up through the cellar, through the kitchen, and out the front door. YOU JUST WON THE GAME SIR
* * * * *
writ by Gibmaker
2005/01/06
PROLOGUE
--------
The first time your character becomes controllable is when your friends pull over on the road. There's nothing to do here but walk around, really. After a certain amount of time you all decide just to get going again, and that's the end of that.
In the next area, follow your friends north up the driveway. Wait for the gates to open and go through them. Join your friends at the front door and follow them inside.
CHAPTER I
---------
Once you've talked to your friends a little you'll be free to explore the first floor of the mansion. You must do three things (well, attempt three things) to advance: attempt to go upstairs (the staircase is directly north of the front door) and attempt to get into the kitchen (to the east of the front door) and attempt to leave via the back door (far north). Once you've done all of those things, go to the piano room.
(In this area of the game, and in all other areas of the game, be sure to check all the bookshelves and framed pictures you see for power-ups as soon as possible. If you put it off too long you may miss your chance.)
Go back to the staircase and try to go upstairs once again. After the little scene that follows, try once more and you'll actually make it.
To finish off this section of the story, you must do two things: approach the doors that connect the west suite to the south suite on the balcony (Jeannine will make a remark about them), and get Matthew to break the candelabra in the east suite. (You must exit and re-enter the east suite several times from the terrace before that happens.) Be sure to use the sinks in the east and west suites.
Once that has been done, return to the west suite and use the bed.
CHAPTER II
----------
Once you jump out of bed, go back and use the bed again. Then use it once more. It doesn't matter whether or not you take the shotgun with you for the next part. It really doesn't. Take it if it makes you feel cool.
Use the sink in your room again. (Remember, it's a new chapter so you can use the sinks again.) You don't need to learn the "Secondary Attack" skill yet, so I'd suggest improving your stats. Don't increase the strength of your Heal skill either; you don't yet have enough Max HP to benefit from that.
Go out of your room, downstairs, and out the front door (after searching the first and second floors for new power-up art, of course). Go around the house to the right, and keep going right for as long as you can. Once you're back at the west balcony, use the rope to climb back up. Then go in the doors to the south suite.
Exit the first room to the right. At the bottom of the next area, in roughly the middle, is the exit onto the south-facing balcony. (But visit the sink on the far right first.)
Once on the south balcony, stand in front of the highest part of the foyer roof (the part that comes up a bit in front of the side of the balcony), face down, and press the use key to slide down the roof to the ground.
Once you're back in the house, go all the way back upstairs and into the west suite. You'll be interrupted a few times on the way; just wait through those scenes as they come. Use the bed to go back to sleep.
CHAPTER III
-----------
It's pretty much a one-way path; wait through the images that appear above the balcony, then go right and up. Pick up the sword when it falls. Continue along the path and pick up the key when it appears. Then go back to the right and up. Pick up the chest in the next area, and then it will be time for the first official battle in the entire game, versus the DREAM THING.
-+-- Monster Profile: DREAM THING --+-
HP: 60
ATK: 8
DEF: 30%
AGL: 10%
Monsters' defense works a bit differently than heros' defense; with Jeannine's defense stat, ALL damage is reduced accordingly. With monsters' defense, though, damage is reduced by a random percentage UP TO the defense listed. For example, with this monster, anywhere from 0% to 30% will be reduced with each hit.
Like for heros, Agility is the odds that the monster will dodge an attack. Increasing Jeannine's Agility will also reduce that of the monsters that she faces. (If Jeannine's agility is at maximum, all monsters will have 0 agility.)
The dream thing has a few different-looking attacks, but they all do the same amount of damage. This first battle is basically an Attack-and-Heal affair; if you've learned secondary attacks you'll have a "Sideways Swipe" option which should speed things up, but it's really not necessary. (Which is why I suggest putting off learning secondary attacks until later.)
-+----------------------------------+-
Once the battle's over, leave the room onto the balcony and go in the doors to the south suite. In Luke's room, attempt to leave through the door on the right, then go back and talk to Luke in the bed. Then leave to the right.
The eastern regions of the south suite are inaccessible for now, so just leave through the door to the north. Go into the east suite. Try to talk to Matthew in the chair TWICE, and then follow him out onto the terrace. Talk to him there, then go back into the house, walk around the sword once, and approach the doors to the terrace again. Matthew will walk back in. Follow him back to the sword. After the following scene is over, talk to Sara. Pick up the sword when it falls, and follow your friends to the west.
(Looking forward: You won't need secondary techniques for the battles in chapter 3, but you may wish to have them for the first battle in chapter 4; if you do, learn Secondary Attacks 1/2 now. There is one accessible sink at the beginning of chapter 4, just before the first battle, at which you can learn 2/2.)
Once out in the hall, Matthew and Sara will start following you. Go downstairs and use the stereo system, which is to the south of the piano room. You will hear a tone; hang on to that note in your head and run back to the piano. Locate that note on the keyboard and play it a bunch of times in a row to receive a key. (If it doesn't seem to be working, try a different octave.) Then go to the dining room and use the key to unlock either of the kitchen doors.
Find the grating in the floor at the north end of the kitchen, with a barrel just south of it. Uncork the barrel, then face up and push it onto the grating. Go to the barrel on the left side of the room and attempt to open it. Pick up the coffee beans, then go back to the first barrel and dump them in. A passage down is revealed.
Go down and make your way to the southernmost part of the cellar, a little chamber that's similar to an area in the second dream. Use the barrels here, and select the option to open them. This is your second opportunity to die in the game; as soon as you've knocked the barrels over, run to the north, out of the little chamber, and wait until things stop falling over before going back down into the cave that opened.
Make your way through the cave to the room with the waterfall that you visited in the second dream. ***SECRET: Before Sara arrives, walk around the little pond all the way to the left, face up, and use the wall.*** Go up to the platform where the chest was and use the upper wall; select the option to yank on the rocks. You'll have to do this twice. Pick up the chest (you'll have to face it from the front), and approach Sara and talk to her. Things will happen, and you'll be launched into the second official battle of the game, against BATS.
-+-- Hero Profile: SARA w/ Shotgun --+-
HP: 40
MP: 20
ATK: 7
DEF: 10%
AGL: 20%
Techniques: ATK: MP Cost:
Double-barrel 15 300
Sara has only one special technique, "Double-Barrel." As you can see, it has the ludicrous cost of 300 MP. Basically, that means you can only use it once per battle, unless you're prepared to slug it out for 60 turns or something.
-+------------------------+-
-+-- Monster Profile: BATS --+-
HP: 9
ATK: 10
DEF: 20%
AGL: 20%
As mentioned before, Jeannine's secondary attacks aren't necessary against the bats, because one of her regular attacks will murder them sufficiently. A double-barrel shot from Sara will also take care of one enemy, or two of her regular attacks.
In this battle, as in many of the upcoming battles against multiple monsters, it's important to thin the number of monsters as quickly as possible, so use Sara's Double-Barrel attack right off the top. And watch both of their healths; although the bats may seem weak, they can do a surprising amount of damage if they all happen to attack the same hero in one turn.
-+---------------------------+-
Now run back in the direction you came, swatting off bats with every step. In the caves, all the battles are in set locations, but when you're back in the cellar area they happen randomly, every 30-45 steps. Slaughter your way back up to the kitchen.
CHAPTER IV
----------
At this point you'll be given a choice of whether you want to keep the sword as your weapon or take the shotgun from Sara. The shotgun's basic attack is stronger than the sword's, but it's vice versa for the secondary attacks.
Attempt to leave the mansion through the front doors. Then go upstairs and into the west suite. Use the sink BEFORE ENTERING THE WESTERN AREA OF THE SUITE (if you haven't started learning Secondary Attacks yet, now would be a gnarly time to start thinking about it), and then within moments you'll be battling SANDY.
-+-- Monster Profile: SANDY --+-
HP: 150
ATK: 16
DEF: 0%
AGL: 20%
-+----------------------------+-
Once that's over, you'll wind up in the east suite. Nab the sink, then follow Sara and Matthew out onto the terrace. Talk to Sara. Then pick up the chest and use the terrace railing, facing down, to jump down to the ground.
Get around to the front of the house. It doesn't matter if you go left or right. Run south, out the front gates, and down the driveway.
Once in the woods, pick your way forward through the trees. The path winds a bit, but goes in a generally northward direction. Once you've caught up to your friends, open the chest by using it from the front.
In the next area you're sent to, you'll have to fight a lot of FURNITURE. These battles happen randomly every 20-30 steps.
-+-- Ally Profile: MATTHEW --+-
HP: 40
MP: 40
ATK: 15
DEF: 30%
AGL: 15%
Techniques: ATK: MP Cost:
Rush 20 30
Frantic Rush 100 300
-+---------------------------+-
-+-- Monster Profile: FURNITURE --+-
There are two basic kinds of furniture, big and small. Big furniture is those that take up more than one tile vertically on the map; lamps, big potted plants and cabinets. Small furniture is those that take up only one tile; chairs, tables and small potted plants.
Big Furniture: Small furniture:
HP: 30 HP: 40
ATK: 20 ATK: 12
DEF: 15% DEF: 10%
AGL: 0% AGL: 0%
As you can see, Big Furniture's attacks do more damage, but they have less HP. Thus, you should target them first. One of Matthew's Rushes or Jeannine's Backhand Combo will take out big furniture; one of those plus a regular attack from either of them will usually take out small furniture. Note that furniture has no agility.
-+--------------------------------+-
This area wraps around endlessly in every direction. You're trying to find the staircase. If you go in any diagonal direction from your starting place you'll probably find it quickly, but to the south-east there's a trail of red carpets that will help guide you. There are plenty of power-up books and paintings scattered through this area; wander around looking for them as long as you like, but I consider these ones "bonus" (i.e. I didn't count them when adjusting the enemy difficulties). Attempt to go up the staircase, and then you'll fight POSSESSED SARA.
-+-- Monster Profile: POSSESSED SARA --+-
HP: 140
ATK: with sword: 26, 35 with shotgun: 22, 40
DEF: 50%
AGL: 10%
Depending on whether you chose to carry the blade or the gun at the beginning of this chapter, Sara will be equipped with the other weapon. This distinction only affects the strength of her attacks.
This is the first monster in the game who has more than one degree of attack; her regular attack does 26 or 22 HP damage, and about the fifth of the time she'll execute a more powerful attack (a 3-strike combo if she has the sword (35 damage), or a double-barrel shot if she has the gun (40 damage)). So give yourself a wide margin for Healing.
You may have to be a bit prudent with your MP in this battle. Use Jeannine's secondary attack for the first couple of turns, but then reserve your MP for Healing.
-+-------------------------------------+-
CHAPTER V
---------
Once you've been thrown out of the house, go around to the left (the gates to the right aren't unlocked) and in the back door. Go up to the south suite and talk to Lyman. Then go back down to the first floor and check the wooden chair in the top-right corner of the dining room to find the key.
If you go back around and attempt to unlock the front doors now, though, you'll discover the key doesn't fit. What that key actually does is unlock the cover on the piano in the piano room, at which point you will receive another key. The new key unlocks the front doors.
In the next area, if you go through the doors that usually lead into the south suite you'll wind up back on the first floor. Lyman says there's a "trick" to finding the key; it's actually a little quintessential RPG door puzzle. First, use the piano and wait through the cutscene. That will cause those three doors just east of the front door to appear. Whenever you go through one you wind up on the opposite side of the hall.
Look at the pairs of plants on the opposite side of the hall from each door; if the plants look the same, that is the "correct" door to go through. They change each time. Keep going through the "correct" doors until you wind up on the second floor, at which point the door to the south suite will, in fact, take you to the south suite. (Don't walk too far away from the three doors before you're finished or the puzzle will reset.)
Wait through the excruciatingly long cutscene, and you'll be thrown into the model house. This is where you will have to fight lots and lots of MODEL FURNITURE. (See the profile for regular furniture. It's basically the same.) At this point a new technique will be available for you to learn at the sink, "Unheal". Also, if you haven't raised your Heal Strength yet, you definitely should at this point.
(You haven't encountered any yet, but there are a few enemies coming up in the game who can heal themselves the same way you do. What "Unheal" does is, if used on the turn IMMEDIATELY AFTER the enemy heal, and provided you don't miss, it will automatically put the enemy's HP back down to what it was before the heal. This can prove very helpful, particular in the case of the final boss whose heals restore 100 HP. The trade-off is that it's useless against enemies who don't heal. Oh well. It only costs one sink.)
First, go west into Luke's room and he will join you after the battle. Then go back to the east, and Luke will open a passage to the north. Now simply proceed through the series of rooms. It's pretty much linear and you can't get lost. You'll lose Luke at the staircase; pick up the sword and before you know it you'll be fighting the PIANO. ***SECRET: If you wish to save before the piano battle, before picking up the sword walk into the room to the south and stand between the two potted plants against the east wall.***
-+-- Ally Profile: LUKE --+-
HP: 60
ATK: 15, 35, 50
DEF: 25%
AGL: 25%
Techniques: ATK: MP Cost:
Thrust 35 40
Multiple Thrust 50 70
Exorcise 500 500
Luke has 4 degrees of offensive moves; his regular attack, two degrees of "Thrust" attacks and an "Exorcise" technique. Exorcise will drain all his MP for the rest of the battle in exchange for the total eradication of one enemy. You shouldn't use this except on the very last enemy in the party. "Multiple Thrust" is almost as good and uses less MP.
-+------------------------+-
-+-- Monster Profile: PIANO --+-
HP: 250
ATK: 15, 25
DEF: 15%
AGL: 1%
This battle is unique in that the piano's "buddies" (the two chairs) respawn. Each turn that one of the chairs is not present, there is a 1/8 chance of it respawning. Address the chairs at the beginning of the battle and as soon as they reappear; their attacks may not be strong, but over multiple turns the damage can be significant. By this point in the game you may be able to defeat each of the chairs with one regular attack, if you've been increasing your attack strength.
-+----------------------------+-
Talk to Luke to wake him up, then attempt to follow him south.
CHAPTER VI
----------
You only have three minutes to escape the initial "waterfall" area. After following the path to the south (and warping back to the top of the area) once, talk to Sandy. Then go back and talk to the girl. Catching the chair isn't all that difficult; you just have to get beside it and "use" it. You'll battle the chair. (A battle against a single chair should be a snap by this point.) Now use the boat by the waterfall, climb the ladder, and you'll battle it too.
-+-- Monster Profile: BOAT --+-
HP: 80
ATK: 30
DEF: 15%
AGL: 20%
-+---------------------------+-
In the next area, once the doors start appearing, you have to get to one and use it before it starts to fade. They keep appearing in different places, but they'll never appear right beside you, so don't just stand in one place and wait for one. If you wait at the foot of the bed you'll be in a good position to dash to any part of the room when one appears. Once you've successfully reached a door, you'll fight YOUR DOUBLE, for no particular reason.
-+-- Monster Profile: YOUR DOUBLE --+-
HP: 200
ATK: 30, 60, Heal
DEF: 50%
AGL: 10%
This is the first enemy you encounter in the game that can heal itself. If you've learned Unheal, be sure to use it on the turn IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING the Double's heal for it to be effective. (Fortunately, the Double will not Unheal you.) The Double heals 1/4 of the time; additionally, 1/4 of the time she also uses a "Rage" attack on you.
-+----------------------------------+-
After the cutscene, go right out of Luke's room. Scour the south suite for power-up art and use the sink BEFORE APPROACHING THE SOUTH-EAST CHAMBER where the model house is. Also, check out on the balcony for another oddly located sink. Then approach the model house and you'll battle LUKE.
-+-- Monster Profile: LUKE --+-
HP: 405
ATK: 22, 33
DEF: 30%
AGL: 20%
-+---------------------------+-
After that, there is an insanely long cutscene which is supposed to explain some of the mysteries of the game so far, but it will probably only make you more confused. After you leave the house, run straight south, all the way down the driveway to the road. Now you will be fighting ANIMALS. Sandy will join you after the first battle. ***SECRETS: After the first battle (against two snakes and a raccoon) go back to the east and use the log. Also, after fighting the bear you'll see a tree stump to the south-east. Use it to reveal a secert save point.***
-+-- Ally Profile: SANDY --+-
HP: 110
ATK: 80
DEF: 25%
AGL: 30%
Sandy has no special techniques, but he does have one unique characteristic: All of his regular attacks count as rage attacks. That is, he loses HP every time he lands a successful attack, in addition to whatever damage is dealt to him by enemies that turn. You might imagine then that you'd be better off without him in your party. But whatever. Games are supposed to be hard.
-+-------------------------+-
-+-- Monster Profile: ANIMALS --+-
Bear: Foxes/Wolves: Raccoons: Birds: Frogs/Snakes:
HP: 400 HP: 140 HP: 120 HP: 70 HP: 50
ATK: 25 ATK: 20 ATK: 20 ATK: 25 ATK: 30
DEF: 20% DEF: 10% DEF: 10% DEF: 20% DEF: 10%
AGL: 5% AGL: 20% AGL: 20% AGL: 20% AGL: 20%
There are many different kinds of animals, each with slightly different stats, but since this small section is the only place you fight them, it's barely worth going into the particulars. The bear is the strongest animal, and you only fight one, as a sort of mini-boss. The rest of the animals arrive in parties of two to four.
Sandy can be a handicap because of the way he loses HP every time he attacks successfully, but his attack is very strong to compensate. There's also the ever-present danger of all the enemies choosing to attack the same hero in one turn, so have Jeannine heal if either hero gets below 33% of a full health bar.
The last animal battle in this section is particularly tough; it involves two wolves and two birds. It's important to destroy the birds first and thin the enemy party; otherwise you probably will not survive. Jeannine may have to heal every turn until Sandy can kill the first one.
Note that, when defeated, animals will either explode bloodily or become exorcised and run away, depending on who deals the fatal blow. (Sandy explodes, Jeannine exorcises.) There's no penalty for what fate awaits each creature; this is just to demonstrate that the sword has some sort of special power for exorcising things.
-+------------------------------+-
After the first battle, Luke will drop the sword for you. (He just can't hang on to the damn thing.) Pick it up, then work your way to the west; Sandy will be running ahead to guide you. Once you catch up with Sara, Luke will wrest the ribbon from her and throw it to the ground. While Sara is off killing Luke to the left, walk down and pick up the ribbon. But don't dawdle; it only takes so long to kill Luke, you know.
Quickly press your "use" key to use the ribbon before the platform disintegrates. Accept Reschen's proposition, unless you're in the mood to view a "Game Over" screen.
CHAPTER VII
-----------
Here you receive both the shotgun and the sword, and before each battle you must choose which one you'd like to equip. In the following area, there are random battles against MORE FUCKING FURNITURE.
-+-- Monster Profile: MORE FURNITURE --+-
Big Furniture: Small furniture:
HP: 30 HP: 40
ATK: 30 ATK: 18
DEF: 15% DEF: 10%
AGL: 0% AGL: 0%
It's our old friends the large and small furniture, but since this is the final dungeon their attack stats are slightly tougher. The reccommended style of combat remains the same, though; target the big stuff first.
-+-------------------------------------+-
Travel north to the two stereo systems; after you listen to them both, the blockade on the stairs will be cleared and you can go upstairs.
You'll arrive at the dining room. (At this point there are no more random furniture battles.) To the east is the piano room. To the west are those three doors that never had any logical reason to be there except to provide a row of doors for the various puzzles in this game. Going through each of them will take you to a different suite in the house. At the far end of each suite is a star on the floor. Use the sinks in each suite before touching the stars; once you touch them you'll be harangued by a furniture battle. After the battle, you'll wind up back in the hall of three doors.
Seem like you've made no progress? Well, you have to go through the suites in the CORRECT ORDER!!! Note that a musical tone sounds when you open each of the doors; each of those tones corresponds to a particular key on the piano. If the key makes a weird crunching sound on the piano instead of producing the tone when you play it, that is NOT the correct door; find the door whose tone corresponds to a key on the piano that plays correctly.
You must choose three correct doors in succession to solve the puzzle. You may wish to scour each of the suites first before beginning this puzzle, since the doors disappear once you solve the puzzle. Listen to the two stereo systems north of the dining room, and finally proceed into the kitchen.
Go north to the row of gratings and walk across them once. When you return to the south a barrel will have appeared, which you cannot move. Note its location and step on the grating directly north of it. If you accidentally step on another grating before stepping on the right one, the barrel will move and you'll have to check it's position again. Anyway, you'll be fighting BATS AGAIN.
-+-- Monster Profile: BATS AGAIN --+-
HP: 15
ATK: 18
DEF: 20%
AGL: 20%
The unique challenge with bats is that they sometimes arrive in groups of five, which is a lot! But even so, these battles shouldn't trouble you much.
-+---------------------------------+-
The cellar is a bit longer than before, and it's set up like one of the castle mazes in the original Mario Bros where you have to choose the correct path. In several spots you have the choice of going north or south to pass an obstacle; if you choose the wrong way you'll wind up back at the start. The correct path must be discovered by trial and error. You will suffer through a number of randomly-occurring battles with bats while walking through this area, but they are infrequent (about thirty steps).
There are two more stereo systems at the south-west extremity of the cellar. You guessed it--you have to listen to them both. After listening to one you'll wind up back at the start of the cellar, and the correct path past the obstacles will have changed. After you've listened to both stereos, the tunnel to the cave will be open; please go through it and use the final stereo system in the middle of the next room. Watch the pulse-pounding story sequence.
You won't fight any bats in the next area, but you'll find yourself fighting A PAIR OF HIDEOUS CREATURES. For the rest of the battles in the game, you must equip the sword.
-+-- Monster Profile: TWO HIDEOUS CREATURES --+-
Faerie-thing: Troll-thing:
HP: 300 HP: 400
ATK: 25, Heal ATK: 25, 35
DEF: 20% DEF: 20%
AGL: 20% AGL: 20%
The faerie-thing should be targetted first, since it's weaker and it possesses a heal technique which it uses on itself and the troll-thing. Hopefully you have quite a bit of agility by now, since this is a battle in which the enemy party can drain your HP as fast as you can heal it, trapping you into having to heal every single turn. Make your move on the occassions when you dodge an attack.
-+--------------------------------------------+-
Once that's done, go to the right, into the inner cave where the chest was in chapter 3. Watch the scene unfold, and prepare to do battle with the FINAL BOSS. This battle also requires the use of the sword.
-+-- Monster Profile: THE FINAL BOSS --+-
Boss: Buddies:
HP: 800 HP: 30
ATK: 25, 35 ATK: 10
DEF: 20% DEF: 20%
AGL: 0% AGL: 20%
This battle is the second in the game in which the buddies respawn. This time they are not present initially. Each turn there is a 25% chance of either buddy appearing. Again, it is worth your while to target them as soon as they show up since the damage they deal, although small, can pile up over many turns. If your attack stat is 160% or higher, one regular attack will destroy them.
Note that the boss has no agility. It has 2 different strengths of attack; a "thunder" attack which does 35 HP of damage (which it uses 20% of the time), and several weaker attacks which look different but all do 25 HP of damage. Also, 20% of the time it heals itself by 100 HP. Attack with triple strikes and Rage/Weapon attacks before any buddies show up, and Unhealing should be high on your "To Do" list. I mean, 100 HP is a lot.
-+-------------------------------------+-
Once you've laid the smack down on the final boss, run your stupid ass outta there, back up through the cellar, through the kitchen, and out the front door. YOU JUST WON THE GAME SIR
* * * * *
