------------------------------------------------------------------ Princess Crown FAQ v1.2 by Castellan (Doug Erickson) Princess Crown, "Gradriel," and all characters herein associated with Princess Crown Copyright 1997 Sega Enterprises and Atlus Ltd ------------------------------------------------------------------- - Princess Crown - An Action/RPG (c) 1997 by: Sega Enterprises and Atlus I. The Background Story II. The Controls and Combat III. Items, Equipment, and Miscellanea IV. The Bestiary V. The Walkthrough VI. Extras VII. Special Thanks and Credits ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I. - The Background Story - "A LONG LONG AGO... PRINCESS GRADRIEL WAS TO RECEIVE THE GOLD CROWN "I WANT TO BECOME A BRAVE QUEEN IN ORDER TO STOP THE DEMONS" GRADRIEL SET OUT ON HER JOURNEY THE DRAGON THAT ATTACKED GRADRIEL WAS DEFEATED BY A SINGLE BLOW FROM THE DRAGON SLAYER EDWARD BY THE MAGIC OF THE WITCH PROSPERPINA THE KIDS WERE TURNED INTO ANIMALS PROSPERPINA RUN A WAY AT TOP SPEED THESE PEOPLE ARE USING MY NAME PARSONS HAPPENED TO BE REAL PORTGUS KNOWING THAT SIDRAEL WAS TAKEN BY THE DEMONS BUT THIS CAUSED THE GATE TO UNDERWORLD GRADRIEL WENT TO FACE THE GREATERDEMONS GOLGOTHA THE EXGENERAL, ARRIVED" - from the introductory animation (Poesy or simply weird? You be the judge.) In Princess Crown, you control the actions of Princess Gradriel, a young woman determined to crush the demonic forces threatening her land, using the might of her sword and the magic of the gems. By undertaking this quest, she hopes to prove herself a legendary queen, much as her ancestors were (apparently, Valendia Land is traditionally matriarchal). Princess Crown is an Action RPG in the vein of classics such as Sword of Vermilion and Ys Book 3, with a healty dose of Capcom's AD&D arcade offerings thrown in to spice the whole affair up. Everything takes place from a side-scrolling perspective, including combat, town navigation, travelling, and dungeon exploration. Sounds pretty plain, eh? Well, you haven't seen how it LOOKS. This game is a brilliant testament to the 2D prowess of the Saturn, featuring amazing animation, brilliant color, and some of the best hand-drawn video game artwork this side of a Capcom fighting title. Toss in a great leading character, an incredible attention to detail, a unique fighting engine for combat, and large world to explore, and you have one of the best arcade-oriented RPGs available on ANY platform. The game itself has a fair amount of Japanese, which occurs mostly as character dialog. Many of the options and virtually all of the text graphics are in English, including the splash screens and end-of-battle tallies. The game is very playable despite the Japanese dialog; if you don't mind missing out on what appears to be a pretty humorous story, you probably won't have any difficulty with this game. Just in case, though, I've included a walkthrough if you're having difficulty finding the next task to accomplish or dungeon to visit. The game itself centers its challenge around its combat engine, as opposed to dexterity tests or puzzle solving, of which there are few to none. As a result, this game plays like the conjugation of Capcom's AD&D arcade titles with your average side-scrolling RPG, such as Popful Mail. Unlike the AD&D titles, though, there are many towns to visit with people aplenty to talk with and a more extensive item management system. Unlike the generic side-scrolling RPG, there are no jumping puzzles nor platforming elements present. What this game does retain is some fairly detailed hand-to-hand fighting, a traversable map to explore (each 2D town/dungeon/area is linked by one of several 2D paths, along which random encounters occur) in a relatively non-linear sequence, a number of cinematic segues, and a whole lot of combat-driven madcap fun. Here is a brief synopsis of the story behind Princess Crown: (some spoilers included) 13-year old Gradriel is the youngest daughter of the now-legendary Queen Elfrenne, who, 25 years previous, had slain the demonic forces which threatened the peaceful kingdom of Valendia. Despite having two older twin sisters, Eriel and Sidrael, (Eriel is in blue, and Sidrael is in green), she is the heir to the throne, Elfrenne having died recently. Gradriel is told by visiting emissaries that all is not well in Valendia, and that the evil creatures, which, after the defeat of the demons, had gone into hibernation, were once again haranguing the land with their misanthropic behaviors. Gradriel's chief councillor and head wizard advises against her venturing out to correct these problems, but impetuous Gradriel has other ideas. Slipping out of the castle, she visits the many landmarks and villages of Valendia Land. Meanwhile, an ancient grimoire of evil, long since sealed up in Valenadine Castle, awakens after hearing the dark call of its master, the archdemon Golgotha. Possessing Eriel, it subverts her into an evil sorceress who begins to wage magical mayhem on Valendia. Eventually, Gradriel will face and defeat Evil Eriel, but the Grimoire will find a new host, and Eriel's twin, Sidrael, will find herself in the clutches of Golgotha himself... II. Combat and Controls The primary play element of Princess Crown, other than the 2D exploration and dialog-driven story advancement, is the combat engine. As you progress through the game, you will be confronted with a number of encounters, both preset and random. When this occurs, your friendly pet fairy will drop Gradriel her broadsword, your enemy will leap onto the screen, and combat will occur. Get ready! The D-pad is used in Street Fighter style, with the following presses eliciting these effects: - Push foward/away: Gradiel walks forward/backward. - Pushing away during an enemy attack: Gradriel Guard's against the foe's attack, reducing damage significantly. Guarding will fail if Gradriel is out of POWER, so, if you think the enemy might counter, don't blow your energy aiming for that big combo, 'kay? - Double tap forward/away to dash in that direction. - Pushing up or up+diagonal will make Gradriel jump accordingly. - Pushing down on the D-pad will make Gradriel crouch. If there is an item beneath her, she will pick it up. There are three primary buttons used in battle - the A, the B, and the C button, as labelled on your pad. The A button, when depressed, calls up the Item Wheel, where all of your current USE items are kept (the rest are stored in your backpack(s) - more on this in a bit). Use the D-pad to rotate the wheel, so that the item you wish to use is in Gradriel's outstretched hand. When you have the item you to use in her hand, hit the C button. The B button is used to cancel any selection, and to enable the Option Select. Press B when a foe is attacking you to call up the Evasion Menu, which will allow you to select one of two maneuvers: either the Side Step or the Dash Back. The Side Step will make Gradriel dash *through* the enemy, allowing her to attack them from the back for a possible critical hit. Dash Back enables Gradriel to take a flying leap back, which is a good idea when the foe in question is about to unleash a massive Critical special. The B button's press MUST be timed to correspond with the foe's attack, so watch the baddie's animation! When they start to wind up, pound the B button! One warning, though: you need available POWER to successfully Option Select, so don't commit to an attack sequence unless you have a bit left for an evasion! The C button is the "Attack" button, which, when used with the proper D-Pad motion or timing, produces a variety of sword slashes and attacks: - Pressing the C button once: A single, vertical slash. - Pressing C button while jumping: A powerful aerial slash! - Pressing the C button while crouching: A dashing through slash - a very safe maneuver. - Pressing the C button after a successful hit with the POWER bar charged will add a second hit in quick succession. As long as the POWER bar remains charged, hits can be added on for up to N times, although, as the combo increases, the chance of a counter increases. If your POWER bar runs out, the combo cannot be continued. - Pressing and holding C will execute a VERY powerful Rising Slash which will hit multiple times and consume most of your POWER bar. Tack it on after a 1 or 2 hit combo for BIG damage! If this move is used as the finishing blow, a Street Fighter-esque sunburst will occur - too cool! Guarding while using a special shield will cause that special shield to inflict damage on the opponent. Certain items, such as daggers, axes, holy water, and bombs, may be thrown in combat, and magic gems and scrolls may also be used, much to your opponent's dismay. Be careful, though; some opponents may decide to use one of these items on you! Other items, when equipped, will enhance your jumping ability and strength. During non-combat scenes, the buttons have the following effect: On the D-Pad: - Left/Right: Move Gradriel left/right on the screen. - Down: Crouch to pick an item up. Or just crouch and giggle at her pimpin' look. You decide. - Up: Enter a building/hallway/room. - Double tap Left/Right: Run in the appropriate direction. A - Open the Item Wheel. B - Cancel the current selection. C - Action Button - use this to confirm a selection, to talk, or to use an item selected from the Item Wheel. L (shoulder) - Call up your backpack and transfer items into and from the USE area, or ogle your special items and game stats. R (shoulder) - Call up a map of the world/dungeon. If you don't know any Japanese, check this frequently to see if any new paths have opened up. If you are good enough to complete the game, you will be able to play as not only Edward (who has his own mini-adventure to complete), but as Portgus, Prosperpina, and a yet unknown 5th character. All of them have a mini-adventure to complete, which become available as extra books in the initial game load area, where you direct a young girl to bring a book to her grandmother. After completing the Story of Gradriel, the Story of Edward will appear as a second book to be picked up. Complete it, and future books, containing Portgus, Prosperpina, and a yet unknown character will become available. Each of these ancillary characters' quests are significantly shorter than that of Gradriel (obviously), but each has a full range of combat maneuvers which look incredibly cool. Check out Portgus, especially - his Rapier technique looks like that of Samurai Shodown's Charlotte, with incredible animation. Talk about replay value! Controls for Edward - forthcoming. Controls for Portgus - forthcoming. Controls for Prosperpina - forthcoming. Controls for ??? - forthcoming. III. Items, Equipment, and Miscellanea - EQUIPMENT - (all of the items listed under EQUIPMENT can have their stats improved by using an "E+1" scroll on them) Grey Glove - Attack power up 10%. Green Glove - Attack power up 20%. Silver Gauntlet - Attack power up 30%. Golden Gauntlet - This is a cool one - it increases the chance of Gradriel's Rising Slash (hold C during a combo) doing increased damage! You'll notice that, on occasions, when executing her Rising Slash, a word balloon with text will appear over Gradriel's head before she executes the Slash. Equipping the Golden Gauntlet increases the chance of this happening. E+1 scrolls increase the chance of this even more, so feel free to use 'em liberally. Addendum: It also increases the chance of a critical hit in general - what a kick ass item, eh? Blue Pendant - Improved defensive ability - Gradriel takes less damage overall from physical attacks. Use several E+1 scrolls on this item to toughen it up. Purple Pendant - Improved defensive ability, up to 50%! Pile on the E+1 scrolls to keep this bad boy from getting broken. Leaf (Elf) Boots - allows automated Option Select for enhanced evasive tactics during battle. One of the best pieces of EQ in the game. Blink Boots - Movement speed increase. Angel Boots - Enhanced jumping ability in battle - very nice! Emerald Ring - Every blow to an opponent causes gold pieces to fall from them. Amethyst Ring - Double-jumping is enabled. Very convenient. Ruby Ring - Enhanced damage with Fire Magic. Again, using a few E+1 scrolls on this item make it more formidable. Gradriel also becomes more resistant to fire attacks when using this item. Sapphire Ring - Enhanced damage with Ice Magic. As ever, E+1 it to make your Ice Magic incredibly brutal and effective. Gradriel also becomes more resistant to ice attacks when using this item. Spiked Shield - Foe takes damage when his attack is Guarded by Gradriel. Frozen Eye Shield - Foe is turned to ice when his attack is Guarded by Gradriel. Dragon Shield - Foe gets zorched with flame when his attack is Guarded by Gradriel. Thief Bracelet - Items are picked up automatically when Gradriel passes over them. Warrior Bracelet - Limited Auto-Guarding is enabled. Using E+1 scrolls on this improve its ability and make it more durable. - GEMS - (When charged by a gold and purple potion, these can cast spells up to 3 times. Single use gems can be found on Barbarians and other foes) Opal - Shoots a limited strafing ray which, when it strikes a foe, turns them to stone and does damage. Ruby - Hurls a large fireball at a 45 degree angle towards the ground, which explodes on contact. Very powerful against undead. Amethyst - Makes lightning roar from the sky and hit the opponent multiple times. Sapphire - Hurls icicles at the opponent, freezing them. Emerald - A rain of meteors drops from the sky, mangling your foe. Diamond - Heals Gradriel significantly, as well as does damage to undead. Gold and Purple Potion - use on an unenchanted gem to imbue them with magical properties. - RODS - (can be used 3 times in battle) Skull Rod - turns weaker foes into hamsters! :) Ruby Rod - creates 3 daggers for your usage. Sapphire Rod - Wind Rod - Blows the enemy away from Gradriel, giving her a little breathing space. Goblin Rod - Summons a goblin, who flies across the screen, smiting the enemy and dropping a random item. - Throwing Weapons - (can be thrown a limited number of times. A thrown weapon with multiple uses must still be picked up after each throw.) Brass Dagger - Crappy damage and goes in a straight line. Silver Dagger - Better damage and goes in a straight line. Knocks an item off of the foe for subsequent thievery. Throwing Axe - Good damage, but arcs. Good against flying or frequently jumping foes. Bomb - KABOOM! Great damage (especially versus ghouls), but has a delayed detonation after hitting the ground. Holy Water - Sends a rippling streak of holy flame across the ground when it strikes. Good damage. - Scrolls - (single use items of attack or enchantment. I will refer to them by the letters/symbols on their graphic) GOM - If this scroll is used when a fight starts, your equipment cannot be damaged during the round. Yay! M8 - Earthquake! Drops a big-ass rock on the foe for good damage. FiRE - Imbues Gradriel's sword with fire, enabling extra damage to most foes save those with innate fire resistance (such as, say, Dragons). BoLT - Imbues Gradriel's sword with lightning energy, enabling extra damage to most foes save those with lightning resistance. GOLD - It's the Midas Touch! Turn your foe to solid gold and chop gold coins off of him. MiR - Create a mirror image of Gradriel, ala Morrigan's EX Specials in Nightwarriors. Double damage, twice the fun! EXiT - Teleports Gradriel out of a dungeon. ReT - Returns Gradriel to the last Inn visited (and saved at). E+1 - Add 1 point of enhancement to any piece of equipment. All equipment this is used on is made more durable, and, for some items, it also improves their effects. If you think your favorite piece of EQ is about to break, use this on it. A maximum enhancement of +9 (9 scrolls required) is possible. EYE - Identifies an item as cursed or otherwise. DiS - Removes the curse from any piece of ill-affected equipment. NEW - When used on an item that has multiple uses, it restores it to full. Example: Using this scroll on a gem with 1 use will bring it back up to 3 uses, or, using it on a half-eaten piece of meat will restore it to an uneaten condition. Unfortunately, it won'r fix damaged equipment. REF - Immunity to stoning attacks - obtained in the Goblin Village during the Basilisk quest. Sage Crest - GIGA-damage to any undead foe. - Food Items - Certain food items, such as corn, meat, and dodo eggs, must be brought to a pub owner for preparation. If you have one of these items (and you can't eat it), take it to a pub owner and select the first option from the three. He will, for about 30 Gold, cook the food and return it to you, giving you an excellent healing item! Conversely, you can buy a previously prepared food item for about 40 to 60 Gold, by choosing the second option. Every food item has 3 uses before it is completely consumed. Heart Fruit - about 10 to 25 points healed. Weak. Mango - Average healing, but, if the pit is used during battle, you can grow two more mangoes! Talk about a green thumb! Mushroom - 50% Power restored. Milk - Power increase, plus small healing. Cooked Fish - A yummy seafood treat with good healing properties. Leaves a fish skeleton behind to take up an inventory slot after it has been fully consumed. Toss it ASAP to free up the slot. Cooked Meat - A beefy surprise guaranteed to restore HP. Very strong, but leaves a bone for you to throw out in your inventory after it has been eaten. You can use a NEW scroll on the bone (and the fish skeleton) to completely restore it, if you decide to keep it. Egg on Toast - A surprisingly powerful healing item. Fruit Cake - A healing item of only middling effect. Hamburger - Another item of middling restorative ability. Cooked Corn - A healing item with reasonably good effect. You can also prepare food yourself, assuming you have a pan and the necessary ingredients. - Potions - Each potion is described by the symbol that appears on the label of the jar the potion comes in. Potions, when used, last about 15 seconds. Potions may have multiple uses. AT Potion - Ups Gradriel's damage potential. DF Potion - Lessens damage taken by Gradriel in battle. Dot-inna-Circle (Sun) Potion - Temporary Invincibility! Eeeeeee-yes! Skull Potion - Poison! Bleagh! However, your Power maxes out after using this potion, although a goodly HP loss is incurred. Spiral Potion - no idea, yet. Stomach Potion - you can eat/drink faster in battle. Nice. - Special Items - (viewed by hitting L, then R. These items are found in the first row of items on this screen.) Candy - Powers up your fairy friend. There are up to 8 pieces available. Listed below are the effects each piece has: 1st Piece - Your fairy friend will periodically fly in and hit the opponent for weak damage. 2nd Piece - Improved fairy attack damage. 3rd Piece - Your fairy friend will drop a random potion. 4th Piece - 5th Piece - 6th Piece - 7th Piece - 8th Piece - - Quest Items - (viewed by hitting L, then R. These items are found in the second row of items on this screen.) Musical Note Scroll - Give this to the Bard on the very left side of Valenadine Town. Green Gem - Give this to the Gold Dragon north of Dwalf Land. IV. The Bestiary In this section, I will list each monster, and the best fighting tactics for beating it. Boss monsters will have a [BOSS] tag after their name. SOLDIER [Practice] - an armor-clad soldier encountered at the beginning of the game. He's just there to familiarize you with the fighting system. Whack him but good. Practice comboing into a Rising Slash, if you get the opportunity. Remember, tap C, C, C, and then hold C. Whack-whack-whack-SWOOSH! and he's outta there! OCHRE JELLY - A cute little blob of goo. High-level variants have a VERY damaging Critical Attack, though, so don't underestimate these twerps. When they float towards you after a bounce, hit B when they're almost on your face (yech!) to Option Select and follow up with a Side Step and a combo. MYCONID - A very cute little animated mushroom, with some strange spirits living under his spotted cap. These cute fellers, despite their diminuative stature, can be a real pain in the plate mail, even when they are low-level. When they summon the female spirit, back off and Guard, or risk big damage. If they summon the male spirit with the muscles, do a jumping attack and put 'em down, old school. Dash Attacks work great on these sneaky buggers. DODOH - An angry flightless bird. Its attacks are short-range and do very little damage. Just beat the living crud out of it. Alternate a B press during your combos (flutter rapidly between B and C presses) to easily Option Select its Counters. Hee hee. BARBARIAN - A large, fur-wearing warrior. This guy will use gem magic and throwing axes during battle, as well as munch on healing items, depending on his level. Use regular jumping attacks, and, when he gears up from a butt crush or a thrust attack, whack him with a combo, followed with a Rising Slash. GHOUL - Tough. Very tough. Avoid jumping attacks except when his pukes acid, or risk getting hit in his Claws O' Fury combo. If you see the words "Critical" flash onscreen, GUARD. Otherwise, you can face up to 100+ points of damage from his Thorny Tomb critical. Using B to Option Select out of his multihitters is a great idea - you'll save yourself a lot of grief. Conversely, if you have an Ankh Scroll, USE it, and avoid this nasty fight altogether. GHOST - Flying nasty. He zooms all over the screen, periodically lunging at you with his Tail Spike attack. After decimating half of his life bar, he loses his pumpkin mask and gets some nastier attacks, such as the Grim Reaper special and the Spectral Mourner. You can take out the lantern shots he fires in his pumpkinhead form by swiping at them with your sword - the same can be done to take out the tragic Spectral Mourner. When he turns into the Grim Reaper, Guard. Trying to dodge it is almost impossible, since he'll remain invincible and follow you until he can swing at you. GOBLINS - A flying threesome who enjoy taunting you. Ignore their cute antics and floor them with jumping slashes. They'll occasionally tag out, but don't worry - just treat all three like a single entity and whack away. Be sure to Guard when you see them raise their mallets for 2-hit comboes, and lay into them when they start taunting you. CENTAUR - Half horse, half cherub with a penchant for archery. Not too tough, although, when you see him fire an arrow upward, dash out of the way or be conked on the head by the fowl he gunned out of the air (this is really hilarious to watch, BTW). Just Guard his arrow attacks and whack him with combos, or conversely, leap over his smaller arrow spreads and hit him with a jumping slash. When he charges, guard in the OPPOSING director or be bowled over. FROGGER - Cute little frog with a few karate skills. He'll counter frequently, but he isn't particularly tough, thanks to having almost ZERO Hit Points. Just dash as he leaps over you and pound him with ground attacks. To avoid the counters, keep your combos short, and never start from the air. BANDITS - A duo of scruffy rogues who attack one at a time. They'll use throwing knives and quaff wine to heal themselves during the round, but their low individual HP makes them pretty nonthreatening foes. Guard when they slash, and counter with a combo culminating in a Rising Slash. They'll back off and allow Gradriel to get her breath back after she finishes the combo. PIRATES - Same as the Bandits, but have a powerful Cannon Special where the currently inactive Pirate runs of the screen, hauls in a big cannon, and rains explosive shells on you. This move has a big wind-up time, so start Guarding early. DOPPELGANGER [?] - Not encountered yet. DRAGON [BOSS] - A pain in the behind at ANY level. Although the Dragon is the second boss you'll fight, these scaly baddies crop up every now and then as conventional enemies (and as boss encounters) throughout the game. Don't be bewitched by their amazing animation - these guys are TOUGH. Use jumping attacks whenever possible, especially when they are winding up to flame you. If you suspect they're going to do a bite attack, Guard, and retaliate with a Rising Slash combo. Having Leaf Boots or a Ruby Ring pays off in spades for this fight. Using Ice or Lightning Magic is also an excellent idea. PROSPERPINA [BOSS] - Irritating, but not too tough. When she mounts her broom, jumping slash her out of the air. Having Angel Boots or an Amethyst (Double Jump) Ring makes her even easier. On the ground, dash attack her when she is at range, and Guard her rushing attacks and Flame Hex attack. Follow up with a combo. TARANTULA - Wussy boss. A well-timed jumping slash will wax him when it takes to the trees. As ever, Option Select or back dash when he tries to web you. Otherwise, charge your power bar and combo, combo, combo! Later encounters have this guy showing up at higher levels, where he uses his Web Critical more frequently. When you see the words "Critical" flash on-screen, either do a quick double-tap back or Guard. BASILISK [BOSS] - Urk. This is one bad chicken-thing. Make sure you have a LOT of healing items, as he likes to use his Critical Hit Stoning Gaze (and you thought Cyclop's Super in XvsSF was impressive) often for up to 100 points of damage and stoning! Jumping attacks are often countered with a regular Stoning Ray attack, which leaves you vulnerable until you can shake out of it. Your best bet is to dash in immediately after he does a tail attack or reappears from his Ground Tunnel Counter, and try for a combo. Keep your combos short, though, or face a deadly counter or a Stoning Ray! If you are getting beat up pretty bad, dash away and use a healing item. If you have any charged Sapphires, Bombs, or Holy Water, use that, too! Addendum: If you are having difficulty beating him, there is an optional quest you can undertake to ensure victory. After talking to the statue immediately before encountering the Basilisk, an area to the north on the Map will open up, showing a path to the Goblin Village. To be brief, what you need to do is go through the Goblin Village, to the hut at the end of the path, and buy a Goblin Rod. Take it to the owner of the Shop in the Goblin Village, and select the last (third) option when talking to him. He'll disappear into the back of the Shop and not emerge. Leave the shop, and you'll be attacked by his friends. Kill them, and claim the ReF scroll, which will confer immunity to the Basilisk's stoning attacks! EVIL SEED - A nasty puppet with a circular saw for a hand. When he starts bouncing around, use a jumping slash to hammer him down. Using bombs, Fire Magic, and a FiRE scroll will put this guy to rest, permanently. POLTERGEIST + EVIL SEED [BOSS] - Eyaaaaugh! This boss first appears as a giant ghost who summons and manipulates a variety of items, including a doll, a set of plates, a chair, and more, which he spins in an expanding and contracting wheel about him. If these items hit you, they can do some serious hurt, so dash in and out with short combos. When he attacks using his body, jump straight up and slash. After you deplete his HP, he'll summon a EVIL SEED body and animate it - handle it just like you did the previous EVIL SEED boss from the Yggdrasil area. POLTERGEIST - A fat ghost similar to the boss one, only lacking the ability to animate an EVIL SEED body after initial defeat. He has a nasty Counter where he spews poisonous ether at you if your combo is poorly timed, so keep the combos short and peck at him with jumping attacks and single slashes. GEIST ARMOR - Headless armor packing a large sword. Not too tough, but beware his Critical! When you see the words "Critical" flash on-screen, get back! His sword will become a size roughly equivalent to 3/4 of the screen in length, and he'll swing it at you for MEGA-damage. However, when he isn't executing this attack, he's a pushover - just peck away with jumping slashes, dashing slashes, and the occasional combo. If you've mastered the option select (or have Leaf Boots), he's utterly negligible. OPTIC EYE - A Beholder-type floating eye that uses magic for attacks. These guys are a PAIN - thank Gawd they're a rare encounter. They like to use Ice and Lightning Magic, and the occasional Stoning Ray. What makes them really tough is the fact that they are hard to combo - most slashes result in them falling to the ground, and leaving an explosive skin behind. Be sure to whack the newly-shedded skin before continuing your attack, or you may find yourself bumping into it at the wrong time - ouch! Keep Guarding when not hitting them with jumping attacks. Use Lightning Magic or throwing weapons whenever possible. Heal frequently. Option Select with the B button when this feller winds up for a fireball, or suffer the big hurt. CAPTAIN BIGHOOK [BOSS] - A large, ill-tempered pirate with a giant hook for a hand and a pogo spring for a pegleg. Guard his rolling attack or suffer big damage. When he starts bouncing around, a well-timed jumping slash will keep him earthbound. If he goes Critical, Guard. He's not too tough if you keep your Guard up or have Leaf Boots equipped to Option Select his rolling crush. EVIL ERIEL [BOSS] - Eriel, Gradriel's sister, turned into a rather well- -endowed succubus by an Evil Grimoire. Challenging, but easily doable if you keep your Guard up and time your jumping attacks appropriately. The best time to strike is after the Grimoire's Chomp attack - dash in and combo her. When she uses the Flaming Runes attack or summons the scorpions, Guard until the attack has completely left the screen - both of them have residual effects. Hit her with Meteor Magic frequently, and use the Leaf Boots to Option Select through the Scorpion attacks. If you have the Leaf Boots equipped, Side Stepping through the Scorpions to combo her works brutally well. Conversely, if you've mastered the timing for an Option Select (tricky as the Scorpions have no evident wind-up), you can avoid using the Leaf Boots and use the slot for, say, a Purple Pendant. SKULG [BOSS] - A powerful demon, and one of the most difficult fights in the game. He uses magic quickly and frequently, has high-damage attacks, is tough to combo, and, worst of all, he heals himself halfway through the fight! He hates Meteor Magic, so have several Emeralds charged before the fight starts. Use the Frozen Eye Shield to return some of his damage - just make sure you use a GOM scroll to keep the Shield from breaking during the battle. Be sure you're over level 30 and have at least 4 Item Use slots equipped with healing items before tackling him, though. Option Select through his Demon Claw or his Flame Pentacle with a Side Step and whack him before he can use the cover the attack provides to use a Gem. You cannot interrupt his Life Recovery, so don't even bother. Oh, and if you have a Purple Pendant, USE IT. OR ELSE. GRIFFON [?] - Not encountered yet. HARPY [?] - Not encountered yet. GOLGOTHA [FINAL BOSS?] - Not encountered yet. Pretty big dude, though. And more yet to be discovered... V. Walkthrough (brief) You begin the game in Valenadine Castle, listening to the petitions of your subjects. After a flurry of dialogue culminating in your wizardly pal taking you out to the training field and showing you how to fight, you are left to your devices in your bedroom, and the game begins. Start off by paying a visit to Eriel, your sister (dressed in the blue dress) down the hall. She'll give you a Red Pendant and a flag allowing you to leave the castle will be set. Meander your way downstairs to the castle exit and try to leave. The guards will stop you, but, upon re-entry, a friendly fairy will aid you in escaping the castle. Head down the path and into Valenadine Town. A note at this point: after talking to key characters, check your map! New areas may have opened up as a result of the dialogue, so constant map examination (press R) will help non-Japanese speakers determine if they have made any headway. Once in Valenadine Town, talk to the Bard at the far left before exitting. He'll give you some sob story about having lost his music - keep this in mind for a later excursion. Head west to Nutsbill. Once there, talk to the townsfolk to learn about how a pair of delightful naivelings were turned into animals by the witch Prosperpina. Talking to the mayor will result in a northbound path to Prosperpina's hut opening up - head there ASAP. Confont Prosperpina and beat her, and the kids will be changed back. Head back to town and converse with the mayor again to make a westbound path open up. Take the opportunity to talk to the fairies down south, as well. Westward ho! In Dorangora to the west, you'll hear rumors of an evil dragon terrorizing the hapless community. Talking to certain key citizens will make another westward path open up to the Dragon's Den. Head there for an encounter with key character Edward, and then head back to town, where an evil Dragon is waiting to smack you but good. Kill it, then talk to the townsfolk again to open up new areas. Take this opportunity to level up a a bit by fighting a few Ghouls or Ghosts on the way to Cemeteryth. Along this path (assuming you talked to the correct townsfolk), there will be a branching path to a dark mountain. If you feel cocky or sure of yourself, take it and enter the dungeon therein. It's an easy dungeon, but you'll have to fight a level 18 Dragon at the end, so make suree you've stocked up on healing items. Kill him and claim the Musical Note Scroll, which can then be returned to the Bard in Valenadine Town. Having made the bard happy, I'm almost certain that at this point you can visit the Yggdrasil Tree. Head to the fairy area south of Nutsbill and chat with fairies, and then head south to the Yggdrasil Tree. It seems an Evil Seed has taken up residence in it - clearing this bugger out will net you your first piece of fairy candy and an extra backpack! Traverse to Cemeteryth to the town of ???, a rustic farming community. Be sure to talk to the orange-clad mage in one of the houses - he once owned a shop in Cemetreyth, but was driven out by an evil and mighty Poltergeist. Talk to the rest of the townsfolk and open up a path to the Unicorn Vale. Let's make a segue to the Unicorn Vale, at this time. Visiting there will net you an encounter with Evil Eriel as she busily hassles the poor unicorns living there. You'll challenge her to a fight, but she'll decline, letting a large Tarantula fight for her instead. Kill it and talk to the greatful Unicorns. Return to town, visit with the villagers, aand head off to Akberstep. Akberstep is a town in a bit of a bind. Literally - they've all been turned to stone by a rampaging Basilisk, courtesy of (you guessed it) Evil Eriel. Talk to the little girl in the Inn, and then take a revealed entrance by the stables (you'll see the Enter message flashing by it as you walk by) to see Ol' Mr. Basilisk. Talk to the statue in this area, first; it'll tell you about a Magic Scroll kept by the Goblins which will aid you in defeating the Basilisk. Of course, if you're ballsy or simply high-level, you can beat the Basilisk, although it will be quite difficult. On the other hand, a route to the Goblin Village between Dorangora and Nutsbill will have opened up - my suggestion is to go there, instead. Passing through Cemeteryth, you will encounter a nasty Poltergeist boss IF you have previously spoken to the orange-clad mage in ???. Kill him, and, the next time you visit Cemeteryth, you'll be able to shop in the building to the farthest right, which sells Sage Crest scrolls. Yes! Hokay. Having cleared Cemeteryth, lets continue on up to the Goblin Village. Talk to the nasty little beasties in the town, and then truck your plate-mailed butt on up to the shop at the end of the northernmost route out of the village. Buy a Goblin Staff (the one with the grinning head on it), and head back down to the village. Take the staff to the shopkeeper in town, and select the third (last) option from the menu. He'll leave out the back of the shop, promising to bring you the ReF scroll. No such luck, though - he doesn't come back. Exit the shop and head out the southernmost (right) exit of the village. You should then be confronted by some high-level Goblins who really want that staff - whoop their knobby butts but good and claim the ReF scroll. Now you're ready to tackle the Basilisk. At the beginning of the fight, use the ReF scroll, and slam that bad boy down. When you've completed talking to all the recently unstoned people in town, head off east toward the triple village of Cadho Badho. Now, this is a bit tricky. There are three villages in the triangle of towns that comprise Cadho Badho: the Garrison (bottom left), the Magi (bottom right), and the Shops (top). Go to the Shops town and converse with everyone, or at least until a route from the Magi to the Sirene's Cave appears. Visit the Sirene's Cave and chat with both Edward and the Sirene. Return to the Magi area, and then back to the Garrison - watch out for an angry Prosperpina, though! Now, trek to each of the towns in this order - Garrison, Magi, Shops, and back to the Garrison. Along the routes in between, you should encounter gossiping villagers, and a pair of bandits at least once (although it might be twice - there's some debate). Once back in the Garrison, visit the Tavern and talk to the people there. After that, exit and talk to the girl standing outside the Tavern - if everything was done correctly (you saw the gossiping people and the bandits on the routes), Gradriel will have asuspicious thought balloon appear during this dialogue. Now, if you head to the far right of the Garrison town, there should be a girl dressed in blue. Talk to her and she will run off. Gradriel will take off in hot pursuit, and find out from "her" that Evil Eriel is back in business, and has set up shop in a cave along the western route between Akberstep and Cadho Badho. Check your map, and you should see it. So, off to the cave we trek. Explore, and eventually you will find Evil Eriel, who will summon a high-level Barbarian to put an end to you. The fight is easy, so don't worry - lay the smack down, old school, and Evil Eriel will flee. Head back to the Sirene's Cave to visit Edward and the Sirene. After a brief interlude, you will be placed outside the Sirene's area. Instead of heading off for Cadho Badho, pay the Sirene one last visit. She will tell you of a nasty Tarantula King hassling the glade she lives in, and a route to its lair just off the route between her cave and Cadho Badho will appear. This is an optional quest, and will net you another piece of fairy candy. At this time, you can head north to the seaside village of ???. Talk to everyone in the town, especially Portgus, and then head out to the docks by using the entrance to them in the middle of town that will have opened up. There, Gradriel and Portgus will be kidnapped by some nasty pirates, and taken to Pirates Isle. On Pirates Isle, you'll need to rescue the two pairs of people from the dungeon before exitting. When you've done that, head back outside for a boss battle with the crazy Captain Bighook. Thwack him upside the noggin, talk to Portgus, and head for home. Now, head west of the seaside town on the route that has opened up leading back to Valenadine Castle. You should be able to get inside at this point, where you will be greeted with relief by your supplicants. Be sure to visit the dungeons near the practice fields - you can get quite a few good items and a fairy candy if you beat up the boss, a high-level Evil Seed. Converse with everyone in the castle, and then head out for the tower route you saw branching off between Valenadine Castle and the seaside town. Talk to the green mage and venture inside. Head up the tower (watch out for Optic Eyes!) to confront Evil Eriel. Having freed Eriel from Golgotha's Grimoire, you suddenly hear that the Castle is under siege! Rushing back to the Castle (be sure you have equipped plenty of healing items and spell gems after the fight with Eriel), you find that Golgotha's lieutenant, the demon Skulg has attacked the castle with a host of undead and tarantulae! Angrily, you confront him in a duel to the death. This is a TOUGH battle, and Skulg will heal himself halfway through, so be prepared! You manage to defeat Skulg, but he flees before you can strike the deathblow, taking Sidrael with him. Now, the last third of the game begins. Head south to Cadho Badho, and then towards the Frogger Vale. Talk to the Froggers, and head off for Dwalf Land. (I'm still stuck at this point, but here are some basic instructions, courtesy of Lawrence Wu) - Go north to the cave beside the town north of Dwalf Land (not sure what you need to do to make the cave accessible) - it might involve winning at the Truck Races? - The Golden Dragon then tells you to bring him a Green Gem. Go inside the first mining entrance inside Dwalf Land and kill the Tarantula. The Dwalf King will then give you a Green Gem when you talk to him. - Bring the Gem to the Golden Dragon, who will tell you about the Tower of Temporality (not sure where on the map it is). - Go to the Tower and you will encounter a demon at the top, whom you must defeat to get the Time Gem. Apparently, he's a really tough fight (this might be the Doppelganger), so be prepared! After you win, you will be transported back in time 25 years. - You will wake up in Valenadine Town. Head off for the Castle ASAP. Chat with everyone, especially the wizard, who will give you the Time Gem. Finally, head back to your room on the top level. - Head forward in time again and defeat the demon Bloody, who had apparently killed Edward sometime between Dwalf Land and the Tower areas. Defeating Bloody will save Edward from death at the demon's hands. - Now, it's off to Hell! Traverse around, and eventually you will run into your ol' buddy Skulg. Kick his butt. Now, head off on the loooooooooong route to Golgotha's Tower to save Sidrael. At this point, I'm not sure what the plot is, but either Eriel is still suffering from the book's effects, or Sidrael has been turned into Evil Sidrael by the Grimoire, but she will release two of the four chains binding Golgotha, and a big battle will commence. - Golgotha, according to Mr. Wu, is one bad puppy. Your attacks do very little damage, while his attacks lay out vast hurt. After beating him, he will flee, and you will be returned to the palace for an extended talk session with the inhabitants. Apparently, the game isn't over yet, as Mr. Wu says there is more to be done - I'll try and get to this point soon. VI. Extras. VII. Credits. Mega-thanks go out to: Scott Dilley (sdilley@uswest.com) Brad Johnson (nightwlf@wizard.com) Lawrence Wu (bematoco@msll.hinet.net) Andrew Waller (ANDREW.S.WALLER@solutia.com) for a superlative manual translation for contributing everything from gameplay advice to corrections to item identification to plot element translations. Thank you, thank you! Apeendix A: Version History: 1.0: My first attempt. A brief review, story information, and some items use explained. Controls incorrectly explicated. 1.1: Bestiary fleshed out. Controls correctly identified, and most items identified correctly. Walkthrough begun. 1.2: Manual translation added, courtesy of Mr. Waller. Walkthrough added to. All items usage correctly identified. Battle strategies rewritten and correct item names given. Information about playing as Edward, Portgus, Prosperpina added. 2.0 (coming): Walkthrough completed. Controls for Edward, Portgus, and Prosperina added, along with a brief walkthrough for each of their quests. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have anything to contribute, including manual translations, item usages or effects, strategies, special moves, or secrets, please mail me at: douglas@mailhost.ecn.ou.edu and let me know! Complete credit will be given. If you are a gaming magazine or site looking to use the information contained herein, you must let me know and give credit to myself and the others who have assisted me in the development of this FAQ. Any attempt to use the material contained herein without my express permission is a discourtesy and will not be tolerated. If you wish to use this FAQ on your site or in your publication, please contact me so I can ensure proper credit will be given. The same goes for game retailers (*cough* Game Cave *cough*). --- --- Douglas L. Erickson - ECN Computer Publications and Training Specialist mail to: douglas@mailhost.ecn.ou.edu --- http://www.ecn.ou.edu/~douglas --- ECN does not, in any way, sponsor or endorse my rabid opinions. --- -- "No-one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence -- -- of the American public." - H. L. Mencken --