This board is pretty much dead. So why not liven it up briefly with a playthrough topic? I’ve played through this game a couple times, but it’s been at least 15 years since I last played it. I’ve also played through the PlayStation remake once. Being a JRPG, this will likely just be an account of what happens as opposed to me trying to figure out how to progress. If you’ve played it, it’ll likely be a trip down memory lane. Time to fire up my Model 1 Sega CD and relive this great game. This will be the first time I’ve played it on something other than my JVC X’Eye, so hopefully I won’t run into any technical issues, as I’ve read the Model 2 sometimes has one.
After watching the title movie (wow, they give you less than 5 seconds on the title screen to hit START before the intro movie starts up again), the scene zooms in on Dragonmaster Dyne’s memorial just outside of Burg to find our hero, Alex. The first cutscene plays as Alex’s flying-cat-like pal Nall finally finds him and berates him for spending so much time here instead of living his own life, then reminds him of his promise to practice with Luna for the upcoming festival. As we head out, Ramus approaches, gets his little introduction scene, tells us of a huge diamond he was told the dragon in a nearby cave has, and suggests we head out to claim it, and he’s going regardless. He then leaves to stock up on supplies for the adventure. Aaaaaaaand, the town won’t load. The music keeps playing, but nothing else. So, I’ll switch to my CDX. 0 for 2 as it won’t even read the disc (I think its optics need to be replaced as it was having trouble reading Jurassic Park a while back). Since I didn’t feel like digging out my Model 2 or X’Eye, remembering the same thing happened with my PCEngine with the first Cosmic Fantasy, I tried deleting the Jurassic Park save file, thus clearing the internal memory, and voila, it worked!
Now that I can finally explore Burg, the old man at the entrance tells me I have the aura of a Dragonmaster. Heading into my house, my mother tells me that Luna is waiting for me at the nearby spring. The chest in the basement is locked and I don’t have the key. I find out the bridge to Saith has been washed out by the risen river, the Dragon Cave is to the east, and am told about the Magic Circles that restore MP. There’s the standard woman who moved away from the big city and is now bored in this small village. Heading to Ramus’ house, he hasn’t finished preparing, so the only thing to do is head to the fountain where Luna is waiting. Hmm, I got another freeze as I exited a house as it was reloading the music track. So, I gotta make sure I don’t do any screen transitions at the end of a music track. Heading to the spring right next to town, we find Luna’s bouquet, but she’s nowhere to be seen. Luna then shows up in the form of a cutscene, asks if Ramus found me, and then we practice. Nall doesn’t look very happy. Something’s off about Alex’s harp-playing and our practice session is cut short. Luna then joins the party after Nall tells her that I want to go to the Dragon Cave. She must have the key to that chest in our house’s basement as she tells me to check it out. I guess not, as we need to ask our father for it. With key in hand, we get some new equipment. With that taken care of, Ramus is now ready to go, so we meet up with him at the town entrance and head off to the Dragon Cave to begin our adventure. Before doing so, we stop by the weapon shop, which will now actually sell us stuff, and buy a sling for Luna.
Getting into our first battle, I’m reminded of one of the reasons why I like the game: the positioning system. Oh, yeah, walking around town restores HP. On our way to the cave, which conveniently can be seen from Burg, we find a couple healing stones. Just before reaching the cave, we conveniently come across a shrine where we can fully heal or donate silver. I have no idea what donating does. Entering the cave, our path is blocked by an ice boulder. Ramus mentions a Fire Ring at his house. Gee, would have been nice to bring that, just in case. So, it’s back to Burg. Back at the cave, the ring does the trick, melting the boulder and then crumbling to dust. We find a nice Wooden Shield for Alex. Eventually, we make it to a chamber with a large floating something, but we can’t do anything with it. We then get introduced to Quark, which I was very impressed with the first time I played it. Quark then sees Alex’s green eyes, the same as Dyne’s, and gives us a Dragon Ring and tells us to go to the mainland to seek our destiny. Speaking to him after the cutscene, he recognizes Luna, but can put his finger (talon?) on it. Speaking to him again, Ramus demands the diamond from Quark, and we’re given it since it’s just his fecal matter. We then receive a bit of experience. Speaking to him again, he just reminds Alex to return with the ring when he’s achieved manhood and fully heals the party. Alex can equip the ring, but it doesn’t seem to do anything. Maybe it protects from magic or something. With this place fully looted, we head back to Burg to see if anything changed, or maybe that bridge to Saith got repaired.
The bridge is still out, so let’s see what’s new in Burg. Nothing of note in Burg, just people being impressed that I met the dragon and received the ring. We can afford a short sword, so Alex gets a very nice upgrade. Exploring the rest of this landmass, far to the north of the bridge, we find an odd patch of woods. After finding a Tiara for Luna, we run into Laike. We fill him in on why we’re out and about and he laughs and wishes us well on our adventure. There’s a locked chest beyond him that we can’t open. There’s a cabin across the log bridge, which must be Laike’s home. Crossing another log bridge, we find a large tree in the middle of a clearing. Oh, hey, there’s a locked chest hidden by that tree. With nothing else to do here, we head back to Burg. Nothing changed here, so we pick up another short sword for Ramus and try to find what we missed. Oh, geez, we walked right by the little cabin north of the bridge. The man inside says he can’t fix the bridge until the water level drops. Dang it! I only tried selling the diamond to the weapon shop. I needed to try selling it to the item shop. Now that we’ve been told that we might be able to sell it in Miribia, things suddenly progress. Back at the logger’s cabin, the water level is down, so he can fix the bridge, but he doesn’t have his axe, having left it in the cabin in the Weird Woods up north.
Heh. Even though we already spent a bunch of time here, NOW is when Nall decides to be scared of the woods and says they’re supposedly haunted. It must be haunted, since the Woodcutter Axe has suddenly appeared on a table in the shed. Returning with the axe, the logger thanks us and heads out to fix the bridge. We then receive a little experience for our troubles. It’ll be a little while before it gets fixed, so we head back to Burg. Arriving, Ramus goes to ask his dad if he can go to Meribia and suggests we do the same. Speaking to our father, he’s resigned to this happening eventually, so he writes us a letter to help us get a boat in Saith. Speaking to all the townsfolk, we’re told the Goddess Althena lives in a tower on the mainland. Ramus is again waiting for us at the town entrance, so we collect him and head back to the logger’s home. He’s repaired the bridge and invites us to test out his workmanship. Before we do that, we head back to see if Laike has anything new to say. He doesn’t. It looks like the logger came back up here, chopped down the tree (that hidden chest is now in plain sight), and somehow dragged all the lumber back down to repair the bridge. Well, it didn’t seem too difficult for you to head up here, so why did WE need to recover your axe?
Crossing the bridge, we follow the logger’s wife’s directions and head south toward Saith. Well, south and then a bit east. We enter the town to “What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor?” We’re told the ship that normally sails to Meribia isn’t currently sailing. Gee, I never would have expected that. Someone claiming to be a VIP of the Magic Guild in Vane is staying in town. Speaking to the captain of the ship, he needs a sea chart to navigate the rough seas, and he lost it in a card game to someone named Brett. The weapons here are pretty expensive and we’re only able to upgrade Luna’s sling to some poison darts. Checking out the tavern, we’re told of an old hag to the northwest who supposedly has sea charts for every ocean. Nash, the VIP a couple people mentioned, is also hanging out here, and he has a staff, which he thinks could be traded for the map the hag has. Since we need that sea chart, we allow him to join our party. Showing the letter to the owner of the ship, being that Noah is our father, he allows us passage, that is, when the ship can sail again. I guess it’s off to the hag’s home. Before doing that, we check out the lighthouse just north of Saith. A man is blocking the door to what I’m guessing is the stairs, but he will heal us. Now it’s off to the hag’s home.
Making it to her house, since we can’t trade Nall for the chart, we give up the staff. Back at Saith with the map, news travels fast, as somehow the guy at the entrance has already heard that we got the chart. We hand the chart to the captain and we’re off! Or not, as the light at the lighthouse has mysteriously gone out, likely thanks to all the creatures that have taken over it. He then gives us a flint to relight the lighthouse’s beacon. The guy in the lighthouse has apparently gotten word, and has moved aside so we can ascend. It looks like we’ll have our first boss battle at the top. Maybe not. Making it to the top floor, we use the flint and set the beacon ablaze, receiving a little experience. Back in Saith, the greenish-blue haired fellow in the bar gives us 100S for restoring the lighthouse. Talking to the captain, we’re finally able to head to the mainland. Following him to the end of the pier, Luna decides to stay behind and bids us adieu in a nice cutscene.
Arriving in Meribia, Nash also takes his leave, telling us that he can often be found on Black Rose Street. In the bar that’s soon to be a coffee shop, we hear about Kyle and Jessica. In Mel’s mansion, we learn that Jessica is studying to be a priestess at the nearby Shrine to Althena. Speaking to Mel, after his short cutscene introduction, he is amused at us being on an adventure and suggests we go meet his daughter, Jessica. There’s nothing else to do in the mansion, needing Mel’s permission to get by one guard, so we leave and continue exploring the rather large city. We hear about the city of Vane being between here and the Nanza Barrier, which is to the southwest. Finding the jeweler to sell our diamond, the guy outside the shop mentions that the owner has a horrible reputation. No matter, we want to be swindled. Entering the jewelry shop, the owner, Dross, offers us 4000S for the diamond, so we take it. Heading downstairs with the diamond to get money to pay us, of course he doesn’t return, so we head in after him. These are the sewers we were told about where the monsters can’t be hurt by normal weapons. Well, they can, but we only do 1 point of damage per attack. So, we hightail it out of here to seek assistance. The guy outside the shop suggests talking to Mel. Before that, we check out Black Rose Street, and maybe we’ll get Nash back on the team. In the far magic shop, we find Nash inside. Before talking to him, the shopkeeper tries to draw the magic out of us so we can use magic, but nothing happens. After talking to Nash, the shopkeeper suddenly is able to draw the magic ability out of Alex, but Ramus has none. Yay! Alex can now use magic! Nash won’t rejoin, but we should be able to really damage the enemies in the sewer now, or at least Alex should. Heading back to Mel, he’s rather upset with Dross, but since we’re budding adventurers, he leaves it up to us.
Back in the sewer, Alex is able to one-shot everything with Flame, but we end up running from every encounter to conserve his MP for the battle against the Water Dragon, and he needed just about every magic point to survive it. Taking the stairs beyond the now-deceased dragon, we pick up a couple hidden items and a couple Starlights from the chests and find Dross. He’ll now offer us 1000S for the diamond. Yeah, I don’t think so. He claims to only have 3000S, so we rough him up a bit. We can keep beating on him until we agree to the 3000S. Dross skulks off, vowing to run a clean business. Ramus then takes his half and we start heading back. There’s a guy by a bunch of chests down here in an area I can’t figure out how to get to. As we exit the sewers, Nash is waiting for us in the jewelry shop. He suggests we come with him to Vane so Alex can study magic. Agreeing, he rejoins us. Ramus then decides to stay in Meribia, and parts ways. Heading back to speak with Mel, he congratulates us and tells us that Dross has been banished from Meribia forever. Aw, I thought he was going to let us past that guard. There’s nothing left to do in Meribia, so we leave town. As we leave, Nash says we’ll need to use some Fountain of Transfer far to the south at the foot of a mountain range to get to Vane.
We were told Jessica is at the shrine to the east, so we’ll go there first. Man, the enemies out here sure pack a punch. But, they also reward us with a good amount of silver, so Alex is able to buy the best armor up to this point. Following the road due east, we quickly arrive at the shrine, but Jessica has taken off to see her friends and we’re not told who or where these friends are. So, I guess we’ll go south to find that Fountain of Transfer Nash mentions every time we leave Meribia. Basically stumbling across the Fountain, Nash splits after telling us that the first time we try to enter Vane, we’ll have to make it through a Cave of Trial. After hearing the old Tootsie Pop ad reference, we head in. Just like the monsters in the Meribian Sewers, magic will be needed to defeat them. We run into a shady character by some glass-like doors that won’t open.
Ok, after the game has frozen up after a screen transition in the middle of a music track and after about a half-dozen battles, I’m switching to my X’Eye. Either my Model 1 is starting to have issues, even though it’s had no issues with any other game, or there’s a reason why the manual shows the Model 2 in the setup instructions. Rather than transfer my save over, I just restarted. I guess I didn’t talk to Alex’s mother before leaving for Meribia, as she gives us 500S after telling her we’re determined to leave. I also missed that the chorus girl in the Meribia bar will sing on stage after taking care of Dross.
Back at the Cave of Trial, if you weren’t leveled up by now, you sure will be in a jiffy. Making my way through the cave, I make quick work of the Bronze Dogs at the midway point, thanks to the Flamer spell. Oh, hey, a reference to Cosmic Fantasy 2. I’m sure I was, like, “Huh? Who’s Galam?” on my previous playthroughs. After a few tries, playing around with the Flee command to get distance between us, I defeat the multi-eyed boss and have passed the trial. I can now enter Vane, getting a still image of the floating city and what I’m guessing is the goddess’ tower in the distance for my viewing enjoyment. Nash is waiting to greet me as I exit the cave. He then leaves to fill Ghaleon in and find me a magic tutor, leaving me free to explore the city. In the library, besides finding a cascade ring, I’m told that I’ll need to meet the black, white, red, and blue dragons in their caves to become a Dragonmaster, but all the dragons are supposedly dead. Well, I know first hand that the white one isn’t. The Dragonmaster’s armor will also be given by those dragons. There’s a Star Wars reference among the books. The weapons here are too pricey for me. I can buy Mia’s Bromide, which does nothing. I hear of a magic emperor and that he’s amassing an army of the Vile Tribe. I’m told that I’ll need Lemia’s permission to join the Guild of Magicians. In one of the academies, I’m told of a flying ship, that Althena is in her 15th year of living among us as a human, and there’s a keeper of knowledge called Damon and an inventor named Myght. Heading into Lemia’s mansion, it seems she’s ceased seeing visitors. We’re told of a Sacred Tower of Crystal in Vane with a Room of Stars at the top. The dungeon gives us a parody of the Guns N’ Roses song, “Welcome to the Jungle”. Hmm, why do I have a feeling I’ll be getting imprisoned here sometime soon? Other than the main hall and a room with a chest both being locked, there’s nothing else here.
Finally, I reach the Silver Spire with the Crystal Tower on an unreachable island next to it. Hidden behind the Silver Spire is a Hyram Nut. The guy hanging out nearby tells me that there’s a secret entrance to the Crystal Tower in the Cave of Trial. So, that’s where that door leads. Entering the Silver Spire, the Dragon Ring glimmers, breaking some seal, and we find Mia. After her little intro cutscene, she tells me that her mother, Lamia, has been acting weird. Trying to climb the stairs just sends us back to the entrance and even Mia can’t go further. One of the people just outside the Spire mentions a Charm of Althena that guards the treasures, so maybe I have to find that. Back in the mansion, Nash has just returned, so maybe he’ll shed some light on what I have to do next. Since I can’t get admitted into any of the academies, he takes me to see Ghaleon, who is in the previously locked room with the chest. I snag a Music Box, which simply plays music, from the chest before talking to Ghaleon. Ghaleon gets his introduction, this time with voice work. He says that if I can prove myself, he’ll get me into the guild. Speaking to his assistant Glumm, I’m to go northwest to the nearby fishing village of Lann and investigate a man who claims to be a Dragonmaster and has been terrorizing the village. Nash rejoins and we’re off to Lann. Before leaving, we check out the Silver Spire to see if there’s any dialog between Nash and Mia. As we enter, Nash says we’ll need Lamia’s permission to get past the ground floor. Mia has vacated the premises.
We follow the road northwest and quickly arrive in Lann. We learn that the supposed Dragonmaster has caused all the fish to leave with his strange magic. We get treated to another La-la-la-la song. In the mayor’s house, we meet Jessica. After her intro cutscene, she tells us that she’d heard of the town’s plight and came to help. The mayor says the fake Dragonmaster lives in a cave beneath the nearby island. Jessica joins and we’re off to expose an imposter. Jessica zaps the guy who won’t let us borrow his boat, and we head to the island. Accidentally getting back on the boat as soon as we land, one of the people in town treats us to a Parenthood (everyone remembers that movie, right?) reference. Back on the island, there’s just a set of magic stones and the cave, so we enter it. The monsters in here are a bit tough, but we eventually make it to the imposter Dragonmaster Zoc. Rather than fighting him, we have to deal with a foursome of dinosaur-like creatures. Nash’s Thunder Bomb is pretty useful and after defeating them, Zoc fesses up to being a fake and vows to mend his ways. We allow him to leave and then head back to town. As soon as we land, Jessica takes off. Oh, no! The singing girl is gone! The plot thickens!!! Getting nothing but a thank you from the mayor, we head back to Vane.
Back in Vane, the word is that Lemia has been quite angry and locking people up in the dungeon for no reason. Gee, I wonder what’s in store for us. Ghaleon is impressed with us and has granted us an audience with Lamia. Nash leaves again. After noticing the Dragon Ring, he wants me to take him to see Quark at some point. Ok, the repeated misspelling of “a lot” as “alot" is starting to bug me. Mia is now in the main hall, and after talking to her, then the chancellor, Lemia finally appears from behind the curtain. I speak to her and, after her cutscene intro, she promptly throws me into the prison. Oh, I’m soooo shocked. Nall even takes off, leaving me truly alone in the cell. Very shortly thereafter, Nall and Mia show up. Mia thinks her mother is under a curse. Ya think so? We’ll need to retrieve the Goddess’ Mirror from the Silver Spire. But, Nash said we’ll need Lemia’s permission to get anywhere in it. Mia joins up and she has a Prison Key on her. We can speak to all the prisoners but the one in the cell the key won't work on. Other than what I think is a Bud Dry reference, there’s nothing important told to us.
On our way to the Silver Spire, the person outside the mansion says Lemia is performing some ceremony in the Room of Stars. I wonder where Nash went. He and Ghaleon left the mansion. Checking every building, he’s nowhere to be found. Since Mia can’t leave Vane without Lemia’s permission, she leaves the party if you leave town. I guess it’s just Mia and Alex to tackle the Spire. At the stairs, Lemia uses the Dragon Ring to break the Charm of Althena and we’re able to ascend. These monsters give a nice amount of experience. The monsters give us little trouble and we grab the Mirror on the top floor. Mia then asks me to accompany her to the Room of Stars to cure her mother. The shopkeepers have some humorous dialog if you try to sell the mirror.
Making our way down through the Cave of Trial (I’m not sure what Marley is in reference to, as I can only think of Bob Marley, but have no idea how that fits), Mia’s lineage breaks the seal on the glass door. Nash is waiting for us outside the Crystal Tower and joins us. Since there was a hidden item behind the Silver Spire, we check behind this one and find a Dover Nut. The references are really coming fast and furious, as the movie Westworld gets a mention. Entering the Star Chamber, we find Ghaleon and Lemia about to start some ceremony. Mia uses the Mirror to reveal Lemia to be Xenobia, leader of the Vile Tribe. Because we foiled her plan to take over the guild, she summons a couple flying imp-like creatures and then teleports out. After we easily dispatch them, Mia and Nash again leave the party. Now we need to find the real Lemia. Ghaleon is shocked, shocked, I say! that he was fooled by Xenobia, and suggests I take him to see Quark to mount a defense against her. Agreeing, he says he’ll meet me in Meribia. One of the mages on the previous floor teleports me out and I’m back in Vane.
Speaking to the city folk, it’s suggested that Damon might know about Lemia. Nash and Mia are nowhere to be found, so I head back to Meribia. Forgetting exactly where Meribia is, I instead make it to Althena’s Shrine and find out that Jessica went to Meribia. I also learn that Damon lives on the other side of Nanza. This time finding Meribia, the guy outside the jewelry shop says that Dross supposedly returned to Reza, the town of thieves. Every world needs a town of thieves. A new owner has moved into the jewelry shop, but he’s out right now. Talking to the sailor at the docks, he tells us all the good singers have been kidnapped. Uh, oh! Checking out Black Rose St., Nash isn’t around here. Hmm, the chorus girl in the bar is still here. Other than picking up a Mirror Shield for Alex, there’s nothing to do in town, so I head into Mel’s mansion. The guard who wouldn’t let me by earlier moves aside as everyone has been waiting upstairs for me to arrive. There’s a few locked chests up here. If you follow the couple around, you get a Fatal Attraction mention. Ah, so this is how you get to that previously unreachable section of the Meribian Sewers. You can play blackjack against Brett, the guy that won the sea chart from the ship captain. Unfortunately, you can’t split or double down, and you don’t get 1.5x for getting dealt a blackjack. If you finish with more money than you started with, he’ll challenge you to one last hand for all or nothing (“all” being the money you won, not your entire purse), and will ALWAYS deal only himself a blackjack and you will bust if you hit. I find Ghaleon, Mel, and Jessica waiting in Mel’s office. Speaking to Mel, he eventually invites me to stay the night, as the boat for Saith won’t leave until the next morning.
While asleep, Alex and Nall both dream of Luna crying out for Alex. Now morning, Mel tells me that Ghaleon has already left for the dock. Speaking to Jessica, she hits on Alex, and then she has to go… meet her father… ??? Following her, Mel seems to want to hook us up. Jessica then tells us to head to the wharf. Shoot. I thought she would rejoin. Meandering my way back through the rather annoyingly designed mansion, I head to the wharf to find Ghaleon waiting. We board the boat and make the return trip to Saith. Just about everyone in Saith is impressed seeing Ghaleon. I had to look up why Shannon Daugherty was mentioned. At the time, she was starring in Beverly Hills 90210. There’s nothing of note here, so we head to Burg. Before doing that, out of curiosity we head to the old hag’s house. She senses a strong foreboding about Ghaleon and demands we leave. We’ll also need to visit the logger and especially our old buddy Laike. The logger doesn’t have anything important and Laike has left the Weird Woods. Nall does have a new line if you examine the stump from the tree used to fix the bridge. So, it’s off to Burg, and then a return visit to Quark.
Luna is off picking flowers at the spring, so we stop by Dyne’s Memorial first. Ghaleon is rather upset with how modest it is. Heading to the spring, after the “I’m so glad you’re back” dialog, Ghaleon mentions that she looks like someone, and then Luna talks a little about her frightening dreams. Nothing too important, so we leave for the cave. There’s still nothing for us to do with the floating thing in the chamber. As soon as we enter Quark’s chamber, Ghaleon bluntly blurts out his first mention of ruling the world. Speaking to Quark, in a nice cutscene, Ghaleon blames him for Dyne’s death and then in turn deals a mortal wound to Quark, running off crazily yelling about having only Althena standing between him and world domination. Before Quark breathes his last, he says that I must become a Dragonmaster and save Althena from Ghaleon. He then tells me to start collecting the dragon equipment, with the first piece being the White Dragon Wings, which is that floating thingy in the other chamber. Yay! They’ll let me teleport between towns. That’ll be a very nice timesaver. Aw, but I can’t use them just yet. So, I head over to the chamber and collect the Wings. Nall mentions that they lack power. I then also learn the Dragon Bolt spell and get a little experience. Yay!
As I approach Burg, the first evidence of Ghaleon’s rampage is seen, as the stream that flowed through it and the spring has dried up. In town, the only people left are my parents and my mother says Luna is waiting for me at the spring. Dyne’s memorial has also been destroyed. Going to the spring, Luna is being held hostage by Xenobia and several members of the Vile Tribe. Speaking to Xenobia, she says she’s taking Luna to Ghaleon, says she’ll send me to work in the Talon Mines, and then I get into battle against what I’m guessing are those members of the Vile Tribe. The Dragon Bolt spells works wonders against them. Before being able to save Luna, Xenobia is able to block Luna’s path and teleport both of them away. My favorite musical piece in the game then begins to play. Nall puts two and two together and figures out that Ghaleon is the Magic Emperor we’ve been hearing about. The White Dragon Wings then activate. Leaving the spring, the overworld music has also changed. Back in Burg, which still has the pensive music playing, my father tells me that everyone was taken to the Talon Mines to be slaves and then my parents turn into Vile Tribe members, which I have to fight and easily defeat. Now the music changes to the dirge.
With no real direction, I start revisiting everywhere we’ve been. Nothing of note at the logger’s or Weird Woods. In Saith, the captain says Meribia is overrun by the Vile Tribe, so I’m guessing that’s the next game-advancing destination. Nothing important at the Lighthouse or old hag’s house. At Althena’s Shrine, we find out Ghaleon has been kidnapping all the good singers, hoping to find the goddess among them. We also find out that Mel has been cursed by Xenobia and it will only be lifted by killing her. Damon would know where she is, but his exact whereabouts are unknown. Zooming to Meribia, the town theme has changed to the sewer theme. Nothing important on Black Rose Street. In the bar, the chorus girl has finally been kidnapped, and we hear of the Grindery for the first time. There’s also a Snagglepuss reference in the bar. One of the guards in the mansion tells us that the villages around Nanza Barrier are being attacked by the Vile Tribe. I guess that will be our next destination. Making it to Mel’s office, Jessica is by the now petrified Mel. Apparently telling her that I’m going after Xenobia and Ghaleon, she rejoins to help.
Now with Jessica back, we head to Vane and hopefully get Nash and Mia back on the team. Since there probably won’t be anything important in Lann, we stop there first. I was right. Teleporting to Vane, the old man by the warp entrance tells us Mia is waiting for us in the mansion. I think the line the guy wandering around outside the mansion might be a reference to the last two lines of poem “The Autumn Wind” first used in the Oakland Raiders’ 1974 official team yearbook film. It has the same feel to me. Inside the mansion, all the prisoners have been released, including the one in the cell we couldn’t open. That prisoner turned out to be Lemia, who was disguised by Ghaleon’s magic. His magic also sealed her memory and magic ability. We find her, as well as Nash and Mia in the main hall. Speaking to Nash, he’s upset with himself for helping out Ghaleon and joins. Speaking to Lemia, the only thing she remembers is her first name. Mia also joins up to help defeat Ghaleon. Looks like Kyle is the last piece of the puzzle, so Nanza should be our next stop. Once we get him to join, Damon’s home supposedly beyond it should be next.
Heading south, we arrive at the Nanza Barrier. The guy at the entrance says Kyle’s place is through a cave, so I’m guessing we won’t meet him here. We get our pretty much standard topical reference, as Fabio gets a shout out. It seems Laike made his way through here recently. I guess we will meet Kyle here as we can’t get through to the back of the town, or whatever, without his permission. Speaking to him, he gets his little cutscene intro, and then he starts to explain what’s needed to pass through the cave before spotting Jessica. Getting filled in on what’s happened, he joins up. Speaking to the bandits again, we get a Barney (the purple dinosaur) reference. And then we get a Wayne’s World “Exsqueeze me” (spelled differently, though) reference. Leaving by the back, we hear of another inventor, Taben. We pick up the suit of Chain Mail from the chest before heading into the cave. What? Kyle can’t wield a shield? In the cave, the Salvation Army gets a mention and we get another lawyer joke. We’re told of the village of Iluk east of the cave exit.
Making it out of the cave rather easily, we do a little exploring before going to Iluk. There’s nothing to the west except mountains and plateaus. To the south is an unreachable volcano. East of the volcano, we can get to a shrine to heal. The guy wandering around in here tells us that there’s a dragon’s cave at the base of the volcano. Continuing east, we reach Iluk. Upon entering, we’re told that Reza is to the south. We’re also told that the Vile Tribe are torturing people to the east, so that must be where the Talon Mine is. We learn that Taben made the Grindery (at least, I’m assuming that’s the machine mentioned). So, he’ll probably know how to stop it. Starting to narrow down where Damon is, we’re told he lives in a tower in the southern mountains. Behind a locked door and low picket fence, there’s a hot air balloon. If only we could get to it. That low picket fence is just insurmountable. The inventor living here tells us that the balloon is almost finished. He studied under Myght, but won’t say anything more about him. Interesting. Kyle does not unequip his Dark Sword when he equips a Crossbow. Whoa! No pop culture reference.
Leaving Iluk, we continue exploring the eastern part of this area. To the southeast, there’s a strange little island right off the coast that kinda looks like a turtle shell. Eventually, we arrive in Reza and promptly get the White Dragon Wings swiped from us by one of Kyle’s own men. On the reference watch, I think there’s a Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome reference. Now we’re told Damon lives in a spire near the volcano. It seems you need to be a thief to get into the bazaar. There’s a spring to the east where you can purify your body. I’m guessing this is different than a shrine. One of the shops here is run by Dross and he informs us that Ramus has taken over his old shop in Meribia. Dross’ shop is a bank for items. Finally finding the bar where our thief was spotted running to, there’s a locked chest inside that we’ll need to come back to. You can play blackjack with the same limitations as against Brett, but it doesn’t finish with an automatic loss option. It’s confirmed that Taben made the Grindery. We’re told the bartender is the leader of the thieves’ guild. Is that Laike? Ok, who is Chutney Dallas? The only thing I could find is from the book “Showdown at the Okie-Dokie”, where the “biggest singer in the universe” is named Chutney Dallas. The book is the 9th in the Cheetah Girls book series. The first book in the series was published in 1999. So, did the author, Deborah Gregory, actually include a reference to a throwaway line in this game? Oh, geez, I can’t believe I didn’t think of this earlier. Chutney Dallas is a play on Whitney Houston. After listening to Lily sing, we can’t get into the thieves’ bazaar, so we head back downstairs and talk to Laike. After filling him in on how Ghaleon is the Magic Emperor, Laike gives us some advice and then tells us to talk to the old man in Iluk regarding the Dragon Armor and that he supposedly knows how to get into the Red Dragon’s Cave. Talking to the bartender, he challenges us to open the locked chest in order to gain admittance into the thieves’ guild. Kyle tries his hand at picking its lock, and after a bit of futility, and Jessica ribbing him about it, it finally pops open and we find a Thief’s Crest inside. The bartender grants us membership in the guild, so we head back upstairs and into the bazaar. Wow! That’s some expensive soap. We find the guy who took the Dragon’s Wings and Kyle takes them back.
Before heading back to Iluk, we continue exploring east. At the base of a plateau, we find a Spring of Althena. Having some soap on us, we get to see a still image of the guys bathing/playing in it with a strategically placed wing of Nall’s covering Kyle’s privates. Heading north, we arrive at the town of Meryod. Since we haven’t been tasked with coming here yet, we leave. There’s nothing else over here, so we head back to Iluk. Talking to the old man, he says we’ll need the spirit of the rain cloud to get to the Red Dragon’s Cave. He then looks around for it without moving and thinks the thieves stole it. There was some item for sale at the bazaar that I’m guessing is what we’ll need. Speaking to the inventor, he asks us to get some “sinewy vines” from monsters in the sands to the east so he can finish the hot air balloon. Hmm, I completely missed the peninsula due east earlier. After killing off a bunch of stationary Man-Eating Plants, one of them finally drops a giant root, which I’m guessing is the “sinewy vines”. Handing over the root to the inventor, he’s able to finish the balloon. Following him out to the balloon, the other guy out here tells us that someone in Meryod has been to Damon’s place and might have some important info about Damon. Speaking to the inventor, he gives us a Tommy Flanagan, the Pathological Liar reference. Boarding the balloon and taking it for a spin, after a bit where we fly past Damon’s Spire, Jessica loses control and we crash land in Reza.
This is where we needed to go anyway, so we head to the thieves bazaar. Hmm, Laike’s left. Well, if there’s a male only spring, there must be a female only spring, so we buy another bar of soap. We also buy the Rain Cloud. Heh. I like how you can’t sell anything in the bazaar, since they can just steal whatever they want, being thieves and all. Returning to Iluk, the old man tells us to use the Rain Cloud to get past the lava surrounding the volcano. The inventor just gives us a heartfelt apology for the balloon crashing. There’s nothing else here, so we head back to Reza before going to Meryod. Oh, there’s a Dover Nut hidden by the entrance to Dross’ shop. Nothing has really changed here, so we head to the village of inbreeding, Meryod.
The welcome woman at Meryod’s entrance warns us about the bridge in town being rotten. Entering the bar, the guy that’s been to Damon’s isn’t here right now, so we’ll have to trigger a fl-- wait for him to get back. We listen to the dancer, who curiously hasn’t been kidnapped, sing. While trying to cross to the eastern part of town, the bridge gives way, separating everyone. The carpenter won’t fix the bridge until tomorrow. I’ll bet finding the whole party will make it become tomorrow. We find Mia on the southern bridge between two guys hitting on her. Heading into the bar, the guy who’s been to Damon’s is back. Talking to him, he tells us that we need to play some music near that thing that looks like a turtle shell. Unsurprisingly, Kyle is also in the bar, so we collect him. Jessica is found in the house of another pair of guys, also getting hit on. Finally, we find Nash hanging out near the armor shop. Back at the carpenter’s, based on his dialog, it’s tomorrow, but he still won’t fix it until the next tomorrow. Let’s see what exiting town and reentering does. That didn’t work. So, let’s go back to Reza.
The balloon is gone. Heading to the bazaar, somehow one of the thieves got it through the door and is trying to sell it. In doing so, H. Ross Perot gets a mention. There’s nothing else of note here, so we head to that turtle island. Once there, we try playing the Music Box to no avail. Trying Alex’s harp, it also doesn’t work. But if we simply search by it, Alex automatically plays his harp and the turtle takes us to Damon’s Spire. Exploring the area, there’s an Althena’s Shrine to the east and the volcano to the west, which we can enter. Leaving that for later, we go back to Damon’s Spire. Navigating our way through the forest maze, we arrive at the actual structure. Taking the stairs down into the basement, flipping a few switches allows us to find our way to a chest with the Spire Key in it. Heading back up and taking the stairs up this time, we’re in a library maze where we can read about Dragonmasters. One of the books fully restores Alex’s HP and MP. We pick up an Ice Cane, which isn’t as useful as the Fire Cane, on the next floor and use the key from the basement to open the door here. Inside the room, we find Damon. He tells us that Xenobia will next appear in Reza to kidnap Lily. With that piece of info, we zoom to Reza.
Making a beeline to the bar, Xenobia is next to Lily. And we can just waltz right by them and into the bazaar. Heading back and speaking to Lily, she doesn’t have much to say, but Xenobia tells us that Luna is at Ghaleon’s lair. She then says we’ll meet again in the Frontier before teleporting Lily and herself away. Oh, nice. One of the Wings’ destinations is Damon’s room. Let’s see if he has anything new to say. Nope. I guess the Red Dragon’s Cave is next. At the volcano, we use the Rain Cloud to create a bridge across the lava so we can enter the volcano proper. Using the simple method of following the right wall, we make our way down to a chamber where the red dragon’s spirit gives Alex its power. We’re able to get the Dragon Shield and Alex learns the Dragon Fire spell. After clearing out the cave and finding a nice Sage’s Robe, we head back to see if Damon has anything new to say. He doesn’t, so we zoom to Meryod to see if the bridge has been fixed. It has, but before we cross it, we see if anyone has anything new to say. Other than comments on the bridge being fixed, the guy in the bar who had been to Damon’s says how impressed he is with Damon and then takes off for some reason. We’re told that the Frontier to the east is inaccessible due to the mountains that surround it. But, as Nash says, if Xenobia can get out, we should be able to get in. Never mind that she can teleport around. So, after buying a couple weapon upgrades, it’s off to find a way into the Frontier.
The first thing we come across in our exploration is the female only spring, so we use our soap and get treated to a scene with the ladies bathing and splashing Nall. Hey! How come Nall can go in both springs? The springs seem to serve no useful purpose. Continuing along the only path, we find an inactive transmission spring. Eventually, we wind our way around the mountains to find the village of Lyton, where everyone sings their dialog -- not actually sings, but there are musical notes in the text boxes. We’re told the nearby river is cursed and can’t be crossed, the Black Dragon to the east has gone insane, their best singer was kidnapped, and the Blue Dragon’s cave’s entrance is beneath a waterfall across the river. Speaking to the resident magician, he’s dreamed of a green-eyed boy named Alex becoming a Dragonmaster. Telling him my name is Alex, he breaks the curse on the river. Gee, that was easy.
Heading east of town, the only thing we find is a chasm and a cave. The cave leads to the prairie, but some sort of epidemic has broken out, so we can’t cross under the chasm. There must be something else around this area. A path through the mountains south of Lyton leads us to the town of Tamur. Kyle shows off his womanizing ways, only to be rebuffed by Jessica. We’re told Myght lives in a tower to the east. Laike has also made his way here. He tells us to come back after we’ve been to the Blue Dragon’s cave. Near the north entrance, we meet Tempest and Fresca, who get an intro cutscene. They’ve come from the prairie in seek of skilled warriors and Tempest challenges Alex to a test of fighting skills. After watching a little sequence of Tempest and Alex walking around the area with attack sound effects, Tempest says Alex is the second strongest man he’s ever fought, with Laike being the strongest. Fresca then asks us to help find a cure for the disease plaguing the prairie and Tempest says he may call on Alex’s skill in the future. With nothing else to do here, we exit by the north entrance and continue east.
The path leads to a dead end with Myght’s Lab at the end. As we were told in Tamur, Myght’s embarrassment over his bad body odor keeps us from getting to see him. Maybe Laike will be of assistance. Nope. Back to Lyton. Nothing’s changed here. Hmm. The only thing I can think of is the transmission spring. Oh, there’s now little stones in the river west of Lyton. Checking the transmission spring, it’s still out of order. So, we’ll cross the little stone bridges. Just in case a high encounter rate plagues you, it gives you plenty of spots to heal up. We quickly make it to the waterfall mentioned and enter the Blue Dragon Cave. We pick up another set of Sage’s Clothes and a nice Holy Shield for Jessica. This cave is a lot more straightforward than the Red Dragon’s. I guess it’s time to free up some inventory space and eat all those nuts we’ve been finding. Whoa! There’s actually a boss in here! We easily take care of the Brainiac and continue on to the dragon’s chamber. It gives us the Blue Dragon’s Helmet and Alex learns the Dragon Tear spell. As we start to leave the chamber, Xenobia teleports in and commands Nash to take the helmet. Oh, no! You double-crosser! Somehow, he’s able to grab it off of Alex’s head and take it to her. They then teleport out. Now we’ve gotta hunt down Nash. But first, it’s back to Tamur to see what Laike has in store for us.
Back in Tamur, Laike tells us that we’ll have to go to the Goddess’ Tower for Alex to become a Dragonmaster, but it’s only accessible from the sky. Myght might be able to build us a flying machine, so he offers to accompany us to Myght’s Tower. To lessen Myght’s embarrassment, everyone else stays behind and it’s just Laike, Nall, and myself. Laike can actually level up, but it would take 100,000 exp to do so. Wow. He gets 4 attacks. I guess they REALLY didn’t want you to get defeated in this stretch. In Myght’s Lab, the guy blocking our progress earlier is no longer there. Heading up the stairs, we’re in a tube maze. Odd design choice. There’s another locked chest here to come back to. Finally making it through the maze, we arrive in Myght’s workshop. Myght gets a little intro cutscene, after which he’s irate that we’re here. After Dyne says hello, Myght guesses that we want him to build another balloon, to which he agrees, but it’ll take some time. Heading up to the roof, Ghaleon teleports in and drops a huge hint about who Laike actually is. Laike refuses Ghaleon’s offer, and after a bit of bluster, Ghaleon teleports away. With nothing else to do here, we take the first tube back to the ground floor and head back to Tamur.
As soon as we enter town, Laike takes off back to his house. Tempest and Fresca have nothing new to say. Collecting the other three at Laike’s house, we go back to Tempest and Fresca, as they’re likely our next objective. Oh, as soon as our party if full again, the music changes to the destroyed Burg theme and Nash seemingly limps in. He was actually playing Xenobia for a fool and tells us that the way to the Frontier is via the out of order fountain of transfer and we’ll need to use the Water of Mirage to reactivate it. Mia chimes in saying the prairie tribe has the water. Saying I trust him, he returns the Dragon Helmet and rejoins the party. Nash was seriously wounded when he escaped, leaving him with 1 HP and 1 MP, but just walking around town heals those wounds and with a quick stop at the next magic circle, those MP will also be restored. Hmm, Tempest and Fresca have left town. They’re not in Lyton, and nothing else here really changed. Maybe we can go through the cave to the prairie.
Back in the cave, the bridge across the chasm in here has been lowered and we can now get to the prairie as Tempest has told the guard here that we might be able to help. Continuing, we’re told that Fresca has contracted the mystery disease. Just outside the cave entrance is the tent village of Pao. We find out that the cause of the disease is supposedly some monster named Grissel. Tempest has left in search of the Goddess’ Seal, which is apparently the cure, and it’s in the Guardian Caves to the northeast. In the elder’s tent, the cave is called the Cave of Darkness. The girls then fall ill. Hmm, I wonder if we can enter the cave without triggering that. Reload. After a quick stop back at Meryod to upgrade our equipment, we head off to the cave where Tempest went.
Entering the cave, we find a Pixie’s Bow for Nash, which more than doubles his attack power. Nice. We also find a Pixie’s Whip, but, oddly, no one can equip it. Upon saving, the cave is identified as Grimzol’s Cave. But I thought its name was Grissel. We find Tempest at the stairs to the next level, but he won’t let us by, saying it’s too dangerous. I guess it’s back to Pao to get the ladies sick. With Mia incapacitated and Jessica staying to care for her, the boys head back to the cave. Tempest suddenly has no issue with how dangerous it is, and joins our party. He can equip whips, so that Pixie’s Whip is a nice instant boost to his attack. Right before the boss, we find a nice Insane Sword for Kyle, which isn’t cursed like the name might suggest. I guess there would need to be a cursed status in the game for that to happen. Nall calls the boss the Inca God. Is this Grimzol/Grissel? It must be, since, after having no issues with it, we receive the Goddess’ Seal. Tempest then says that it was Grimzol. Even though it was blocking a doorway, we can’t go any further. So, it’s back to Pao.
Back in Pao, many more have fallen ill. We’re now told that we need to take the seal to the Goddess’ Shrine. Talking to the woman in the elder’s tent, she uses the seal to cure all the villagers. So, I guess this is the shrine. Because Tempest broke their law and touched the seal, he’s banished and leaves our party. Mia and Jessica are back on their feet and rejoin. The elder has now recovered as well and has us follow him to where the Water of Mirage is. Good job of leading there, Mr. Elder. He leaves the tent and is nowhere to be seen. After circling around the entire village, we find him by the well in the fenced in area right next to his tent. The water in the well is what we need and we receive a Mirage Potion. Now it’s off to the fountain and then the Frontier.
At the spring, I’m having a problem trying to use the Mirage Water. Using it inside the right circle does nothing, so I just start pushing the A-Button everywhere and it turns out to be at the base of the left circle that works, refilling it. The guy here knew all along where this led. Using the spring, we’re deposited inside the Dark Cave. We fight our way through the cave, picking up a bunch of nearly worthless consumable items, and exit into the Frontier. Not knowing where to go, we head west and make it to the town of Cadin. We learn that Taben lives in the town of Ruid. Ghaleon is also in Ruid, which is located at the far end of the Frontier. We’re also told the Talon Mine is to the southwest, the black dragon’s cave is near Cadin, and the singers have been taken to Ruid. Breaking out of the reference drought, Abba gets a mention. With nothing else to do here, we leave town.
Hmm, we were told the mine was to the southwest, but I don’t see anything here. Exploring the rest of the area, we come across Talon to the east, not to the southwest. Rather than visiting, we continue our exploration. Wow, the magic ring really blends in with the surrounding ground. There’s a cave almost due east of Cadin, which I’m guessing is the black dragon’s cave. We’ll leave that for later. Making our way back to the entrance to the Dark Cave, nothing is to the east of it. Well, there’s nothing else in this area, so we head back to Talon before tackling the cave. We’re told of the cities of Marke and Ruid on the other side of the mine, but we’ll have to get by the supposedly unbeatable commander to make it there. Amnesty International gets a mention. Entering the mine, we eventually run into Alex’s parents. His father tells us that Dyne brought Luna and Nall to them to care for them. With another reference, Mr. Whipple from the Charmin toilet paper ads gets mentioned. We eventually make it to the commander and easily defeat him. The commander warns us of Taben’s Dragon Tanks, which we instantly get to fight. While it hits hard, it’s not too much trouble with the offensive spells at our disposal. The commander, being suitably impressed, moves out of the way, allowing us to pass. He then tells us that he’s going to free the slaves and return to his family in Cadin.
Exiting the mine, with no direction again, we head west, skirting the mountains and arrive in Marke. I wasn’t expecting to be able to fight the commander, not having tackled what I’m guessing is the black dragon’s cave, so we warp back to Cadin and then head to the cave. Entering the cave, it is the Black Dragon’s. We find a very nice set of Holy Clothes. Sweet! At Level 57, Alex can now attack 3 times! We eventually run into an old man who gives us a Hero’s Crest and tells us to take it to the elder in Marke. In the chest next to him, we find Dyne’s Sword. Yay! As the old man said, we’re at a dead end, so we leave the cave and head back to Marke. Before heading to see the elder, we continue exploring the area. Far to the east, there’s a peninsula with 5 stone-like slabs. We eventually wind our way around to a very large city on the side of the mountain. Entering, it gets an ominous still shot of the place. The guards tell us this is Ruid and the front gate is locked. At the least, it got added to the Dragon Wings’ location list. So, it’s back to exploring. There are a few more of those stone slabs just north of Ruid. Do these serve any purpose?
Back in Marke, we’re told that the shrine in the center of the city leads to the black dragon’s cave and we need permission from the elder to enter. I’m guessing the Hero’s Crest will cause the elder to give us permission. We’re also told that the dragon equipment is required to get the Goddess’ Sword. Searching behind the shrine, which we can’t enter, we find an Alcana Nut. Handing the Hero’s Crest to the elder, he grants us permission to enter the shrine. The elder’s aide “takes” us to the shrine, which is now open. He’ll heal us, which is convenient. Time to finish off the dragon equipment. Once inside the shrine, we find some Saint Clothes and a Silver Claw for Jessica. We make our way down to where the Black Dragon is and get to fight its animated skeleton. Thanks to Jessica’s Camp Defender, most of the dragon’s attacks are nullified and we coast to victory. Ghaleon is then heard off screen in a great little piece of voice work mocking us for making it impossible to become a Dragonmaster. After he’s heard running off, we continue on and pick up the Black Dragon Armor, completing the equipment. Alex also learns the Dragon Quake spell. Exploring the rest of the cave, we pick up some Insane Armor for Kyle to go with his Insane Sword. I guess that could have been a little useful during the battle.
Exiting the cave and shrine, the aide tells us that a girl who escaped from Ruid is now staying at the elder’s house and she knows Alex’s name. Speaking to the elder, he says we’ll need Althena’s Sword to defeat Ghaleon, but he doesn’t know where it is. The girl gives us a copy they made of Ruid’s town key, tells us that Luna helped her escape, and that Luna is being held in a castle in Ruid. So, we’re off to Ruid. Well, first we need to sell off a bunch of stuff. And while we’re at it, let’s drop by Laike to see if that balloon is ready yet. It’s not. So, now we’re off to Ruid. The guards don’t have any reaction when we open the gate, so we just waltz right in. We’re told that the castle is actually the Grindery, which is actually mobile. That doesn’t sound good. In the east building, we get a reference to the Carousel ritual in Logan’s Run. Trying to talk to one of the people in here who was walking behind some contraption causes us to find an Itaka Nut. As we ascend Taben’s Tower, we pick up some Holy Clothes for Mia. On the next floor, we run into Taben, who gets a little cutscene intro. He then sics a trio of tanks on us. Defeating them with relative ease (I actually used a Silver Light on Mia), Taben’s shocked that we defeated them. He isn’t too concerned since the Grindery conveniently becomes operational. He considerately tells us that the kidnapped girls are in the Grindery. Leaving the tower, the Grindery has left Ruid. According to someone here, Vane and the Goddess’ Tower are the first targets. One of the guards at the gate says it’s heading by Talon on its way to the coast.
Leaving Ruid, the Grindery’s tracks can be seen, so we follow it. Quickly, they fade away. I’m not sure how that could happen. Heading back to Talon, we stop in Marke and they basically confirm it’s going to Talon. The number 52766 and saying it could be an omen has to be a reference to something, but I can't figure out what. There’s nothing important here, so we leave. Taking our sweet natured time, we go back through the mine rather than warping to Talon. Just about everyone has left the mine. In Talon, we get a reference to the Death Star from Star Wars. We also get my favorite NPC line in the game about the Grindery crushing the guy’s sun tea. Picking the reference pace back up, they pull out the Ed Grimley (Martin Short character) “doomed as doomed can be” quote, followed up by “I must say.” Again, there’s nothing important here, so we leave.
As soon as we exit town, a very nice cutscene plays with Ghaleon commanding Althena to knock Vane out of the sky. The Grindery is visible on screen, so we don’t have to make any attempt to hunt it down. As we try to approach it, there’s a force field powered by Althena that prevents us from entering. After another brief cutscene, Alex wakes up after seven days in the thieves’ bazaar in Reza. Ooh! They have an Insane Helmet for sale. My 130k silver is more than enough to buy it for Kyle. Mia and Jessica are in the beds upstairs, but are still recovering and can’t move. Heading downstairs into the bar, both Nash and Kyle are here. Kyle has lost hope and resorted to drinking. Nash has also lost hope and is moping in the corner. Nall can’t snap either of them out of their funk, so maybe the girls are miraculously recovered and can. They are and they do. As soon as our party is back together, Laike enters. He has good news, as Myght has finished the airship and we can now get to the Goddess’ Tower, where he says Althena’s Sword is located. He then drops the bombshell that he is actually Dyne. Wow, the bartender actually refers to Paul Reuben’s (Pee-Wee Herman) indecent exposure incident. Dross has closed temporarily and says we should go see Ramus in Meribia, as he’ll help us out in any way he can.
Before heading to see Myght, we go to Meribia to see what Remus has in store for us. All of the items for sale here are free. We don’t really need any of them, but, yay! Everyone’s back in Burg, so we zoom there. The music is restored to its original cheerful theme. Heading back to the various towns, Cadin gives us a reference to the K-tel music records, among ‘70s general fashion mentions. The son of the Talon Mine commander gives the Ren and Stimpy song “Happy Happy Joy Joy” a mention. Zooming to Myght’s Lab, the new balloon is waiting for us on the roof. Myght also gives us the tip to look for the Grindery near bodies of water, as it’ll need the water to run its steam engines. As we approach the ladder to the balloon, Xenobia makes another appearance. As she’s threatening us, Dyne appears, is able to get her out of our path, and then mentions that one of the Dragon Tribe is still alive. With his magic power gone, Xenobia turns him to stone before we’re able to climb the ladder to the balloon. Oh, no! Dyne still has a trick up his sleeve, as he’s able to block her even as a statue.
Jessica once again takes the helm and a cutscene shows us flying toward the Goddess’ Tower, only to run into some force field surrounding it. Luckily, we crash land at the entrance to the tower instead of the ground below. The Dragon Wings do allow us to come back here, so I guess if we need to heal, we’ll have to use them, although walking around the little area where we crashed does restore HP. We pick up a Sage’s Cane, which casts De-Protect, for Mia on our way up. On the top floor, we can look at a painting on the wall of a woman that looks an awful lot like Luna. Approaching the sword near the back wall, we inspect one of the dragons flanking it and Alex enters battle against them to prove his worth. A handful of Dragon Quake castings takes care of them. Upon their defeat, they reveal that Nall is actually one of the Dragon Tribe. Quark’s voice then proclaims Alex a Dragonmaster and Nall brings us Althena’s Sword. Alex then learns the Holy Light spell. He also gets a new sprite on the status screen. Just in case you hadn’t figured it out yet, the dragon guardian tells us that Luna is actually Althena. We pick up a Goddess’ Cane, which casts Rest Litany, for Mia from one of the chests here. Leaving the tower, we zoom to the Grindery’s first target, Vane. Other then Mia crying out for her mother as we arrive at the entrance, there’s nothing to do here since the entrance has been split off from the city, making it impossible to enter the city.
Back in Meribia, Lamia is found in one of the shops in Black Rose St. Her memory has returned, but not her magic ability. Huh. For some reason, we can open those locked chests now. Is it the Thief’s Crest? The locked chests here don’t have anything useful. Heading back to all the other locked chests, in the Weird Woods, there’s a Vigor Peach and Recovery Cane, which isn’t as good as the Goddess’ Cane. Finally, the chest in Myght’s tube maze contains a useless Music Box. Since several people in Meribia said the Grindery was near or coming, we head back there. Leaving town and starting north, we quickly see the Grindery parked. Trying to enter, we’re repelled and are in the nearby Althena’s Shrine. Oh, so Alex has to have all the dragon equipment equipped, even the Wings.
Now in the Grindery, it probably would have been operational quite a bit earlier if the workers weren’t forced to navigate this maze. We eventually make our way up to a large flame. Approaching the flame, we get to fight a quartet of flaming balls. Having little trouble with them, thanks to Mia’s Goddess Cane, we defeat them and the flame is extinguished. Heading through the furnace, we exit into a natural area. After one battle, we’re kicked back through the entrance. Re-entering, Nall says we need reinforcements. After a few tries, fighting the same group of monsters, Tempest and Fresca appear and will serve as a distraction for Ghaleon’s troops. Now that we can actually move around in this sanctuary-like area, which is identified as My Secret Garden in the save system, there are some pixies flying around that we can talk to. The fairies are always on the top-most layer of graphics, so they will obscure that part of text boxes. One of the pixies will fully heal the party. Nothing else is of note out here, so we enter the Palace.
Nice. One of the monsters in here drops Dover Nuts. While speaking to all the kidnapped singers, Häagen-Dazs gets a mention, albeit misspelled. On the 8th floor, there’s a healing pool, removing the need to go back to that pixie. Thinking we’re heading the right way, it ends up dead-ending in a chest with the Tower Key, which we hadn’t come across its door. Passing the singer from Lyton, we come to the door the Tower Key’s needed for. We finally arrive in a special chamber and find Luna here. She says that she has succumbed to Ghaleon. Nall simply calling her an imposter makes Xenobia show herself and we get to do battle with her. Keeping Kyle alive against her 4 attacks with the Goddess Cane, we easily defeat her. Xenobia is dumbfounded that we defeated her, thinking she was invincible, and disappears into nothingness. We’re then instantly into an area where we can’t save. But it has angelic music, so I’m guessing we won’t have any encounters.
After picking up the four Herbs of Althena from the treasure chests, we approach the transformed evil Ghaleon. He trash talks us, and then we enter battle. With Jessica’s Camp Defender and then Holy Defender, half of Ghaleon’s attacks are nullified and we defeat him on our first try. This magically opens the locked door behind his throne. Entering, there’s a long glass path to Althena. After a short cutscene, a couple dragon guardians descend and tell us that once they awaken her from her current condition, she will lose all memory of her time as a Luna. Not so fast, as Ghaleon isn’t quite dead as he wipes out both guardians with a single shot. Oh, they’re actually dragon angels. Another cutscene has him transform into his evil form and we get another battle. Using a combination of Camp and Holy Defender, along with Magic Defense on Kyle and the standard healing spells, we have no problem with him and defeat him on our first try. Since we didn’t gain any experience, it looks like Ghaleon is dead for real this time.
The spirits of the dragon angels tell us that Althena’s power is out of control and if she dies, so will our world. That’s not good. It’s up to Alex to get through to her. With a pep talk and words of advice from everyone, and Jessica being able to heal me, I start off toward Althena. It’s a good thing Jessica can heal because the lightning bolts hits me with do about 300 HP of damage and I only have just over 600 HP. Playing the harp reduces that to less than 40 damage. After about a dozen of so lightning strikes, I’m able to make it almost to Althena. This breaks her out of her spell, all her memories rush back to her, and she falls into Alex’s arms. I always chuckle at the look on Alex’s face while he’s holding her in her arms.
While there isn't anything groundbreaking about the gameplay, with the battle positioning being about the only thing that makes this any different than the run-of-the-mill JRPG of the day, I just find it to be a joy to play. All the topical/pop culture references almost became a game within the game -- I think they went juuuust a touch overboard on them. I still give this a 10/10.
