Game 14: Super Hydlide (Genesis) - Finished!

Thanks to the help of readers and viewers I have finished. I apologize for the length of this post. Judging by the length of my outline, I should have posted an interim update.

Not the most creative final screen, but I'll take it

Ilmari helped out with a hint that pointed me towards the space compass. Technically, I had found the compass already; however, after getting a cryptic message twice, I promptly forgot to return to a certain chest. Would I have found it on my own? Possibly, but not in the timely manner I did; I immediately knew where to look once I read the hint.

Checked this twice with the same result. One guess what was eventually in here.

With the compass in hand it was an easy matter of locating the ship. All the fairies inside had turned into monsters... it was too late to save them. Their final message told me to seek the first dimension, and I should go 7 steps south and 4 west from the ruins (sic) written on the wall in the Cave of Death. I also found a fairy-made helmet, which offered as much defense as the space suit, and a horn, which was not a joke item.

Go that way. 13 left 13 up (I wonder if it's always in the same place)

The door to the first dimension was easy enough to identify. It was a translucent doorway between two pillars. Entering this previously had sent me on a teleportation ride across the land. The purpose of it was lost on me until I read that message. With the time-door amulet in hand I vanished to the first dimension.

Was this just sitting here the whole time?

The land here was much different. The enemies were tougher. The landscape was barren. I found two caves: one was a trap (poison) and the another transported me back to Fairyland. It had changed. The monsters took on a mutated form. I went back to the first town to raise my levels and prepare to grind.

I had no idea what to do in the First Dimension. Some supreme evil was supposed to be there, but neither his dark cave nor his treacherous tower jutted from the ground. On a whim, I decided to talk to all the townsfolk again. They all had the same thing to say, except for one or two per screen.

Who knew he'd learn to speak throughout the game

Now the majority of townspeople had absolutely nothing to say. "!?...." is their default response. At first I dismissed this as trying to fill the screen without adding dialogue. After one of the past plot events it seems this has changed; now they had something to say.

Why hide this information until now?

Most notable was the mention of the Town of Illusion in the First Dimension, located in the middle of the land. It's not a very large plot of land, 5x5 screens, and in the middle was a small island with two tombstones. I'm certain I'd stood on that island and searched before. One thing I hadn't done is go through all of my quest items and try to use... well look at that, the horn somehow granted access.

That's what they said in the Heavenly City

Once again I faced the blank stares of the townspeople. Luckily the shop owner offered up some new items. Cat's eyes are equal to Flash, Fake Medicine is equal to Invincible, and Holy Water dispels seals; all are one-time use. Well, I think I know where to use the Holy Water, and those hanging outside of it confirm my inklings with lore of what awaits inside.

Yes, need pretty statue

Inside is another dark cave. It's more maze-like than the previous, with a handful of hidden areas (not so hidden with Flash) and a physics bending horizontal wrap around. A chest here contained the Flame Sword. A lightweight weapon slightly less powerful than my current weapon, but with the added benefit of range.

What in the world does this mean?

I never did find any "Sacred Light"

Varalys was the only other point of interest. The fight seemed to be going very quickly at first. Varalys teleported randomly over the screen; however, I wasn't taking much damage and he was nearly dead. On my next attack, he was back up to full life. I still don't quite understand, but he seemed to heal automatically after a certain amount of damage. This happened 13 times. Just as I was beginning to think I needed to search for these Sacred Lights, he died.

Yes! I almost have him...

...what just happened?

With Varalys defeated I picked up the statue which lay at his feet. With it I could now... I actually don't know what I'm supposed to do with this thing. I was lost again for a bit, grinded out some experience since it was once again getting good.

Yeah, might as well

I wondered back through the city of Illusion and once again happened to start speaking to the townsfolk. I should have known their silence would be broken.

Not a peep out of you...

...and now you're finishing each other's sentences

The statue opens a time door. A man imprisoned for an unnamed crime tells me he traveled there with a fairy. The only way he got back was with an exit talisman. I can confirm there's no teleporting out.

North east where?

Finding the final dungeon took some time. I think the game started taking pity on me as there were now audible chimes whenever I walked over something of importance. Maybe it only happens late in the game, or maybe this was only the first time I really took notice. In any case, I heard the chime and tried to use the statue.

Is he doing an interpretive dance?

Using Time magic, I jumped ahead to the middle of the night (I found it doesn't have to be exactly midnight). I found a computer terminal that mentioned an imprisoned fairy on floor two, the fairy on floor three, and the locking mechanism on floor four. The fairy joined me as I headed towards the final confrontation.

Nearing the end game

At one point I found some camping gear, which allowed me to save outside the boss' room. This was crucial as I had a rough time punching through to the end. It's actually a bit silly though, the first time I found it I used it right away, and I didn't even realize it was one-time use. I ended up dying and reloading to find the camping gear still there. It seems the save is made before removing the camping gear.

Gaining levels really wasn't that big a deal by this point

Before diving in to fight the boss, I headed back to town at to gain some levels. I noticed something was off about my location choices. The City of Illusion was no longer available. To make room for the camping gear I had to lighten my load a bit. I figured the horn I used to enter the town was now useless since I could teleport in... apparently not.

At least I was at a point I didn't need the last town for anymore. I faced off against the final boss multiple times. At first I thought the only place I could effectively attack was his mouth, but this got me nowhere. My tactic was to use invincibility (I found the duration stacks) and find a weak point. Many times I accidentally stepped into his mouth, which is guaranteed death. The invincibility kept me alive for some time, but it wore off and I was worn down.

Trapped inside his mouth

At some point I noticed the nodules on his back would blow up. My strategy then changed to focus on hitting that part. It was still helpful to shoot his mouth as it momentarily halted the projectiles coming out. Try as I might, I couldn't destroy more than three before meeting my end.

I then remembered a suggestion from the book, slow the game speed down. So, I set it to the slowest setting and crawled towards the boss encounter. The boss was unaffected. He moved and shot at me with the same ferocity. It seems strange that the only encounter that so far could benefit from changing the game speed would not change. I then tried speeding up the game and set myself to fast. This worked.

How about it? Let's call this a draw.

I now had the means to dodge and take out the lumps on his back and legs. Once all four were destroyed he was immobilized. I took aim and shot in his mouth. Days of in-game time passed. No change. I was missing something. Luckily I had viewer cheering me on, and one looked up a walkthrough after locking the boss in this position a second time.

The key was to do something completely unexpected: walk into his mouth and fire from the inside. While this hadn't worked before, it worked this time. I died the first time as I didn't have quite enough health to survive (even though I saw the experience gain).

Crystal? Did I miss something?

Me alone... and the fairy

Not the most creative name I know, but I grew up reading the Peanuts

And somehow the world is fine again

And so another game reaches its conclusion. It's time to move on. The game was a lot more enjoyable than I thought coming in. Even with the annoying elements working against me (e.g. revisiting areas I already covered, bad translations) we managed to work through it. Thanks to all for the support. Rating to come out this weekend and I'll stream Crystalis on Sunday.

Session Time: Session Time: 5h50m (Total Time: 13h00m)

Game 14: Super Hydlide (Genesis) - Magic Among the Clouds or Robots Underneath the Lake

Based on Sean's suggestion to aim for the head I managed to best the dragon. I tried a bow at first, but didn't have any better luck. My second attempt with the sword went much smoother.

My hard earned reward, a dragon fang... it had no visible use. Once again I was without a lead. Well, time to get back out there and see what I can find. It didn't take long. I decided to return to the tower to find the city in the clouds.

Oh, there it is... just outside the window

I hadn't realized I could actually walk out the windows of the tower, but seeing the cloud sitting outside of one I just had to try. I think I missed this the first time as it's on the 198th floor, and since the elevator went to the 199th I may have passed it. It's also possible I completely missed the visual clue as I wasn't looking for it the first time up.

Most of the townspeople were stunned to see me

The city in the clouds is called Heavenly City. It has an inn, a general store that doesn't offer any better equipment, a magic store for the next six spells, and a palace. Rumors around town are sparse; they're probably too distracted by the view.

So, you're saying if I jump from right here

The people inside the palace told me about the town under the cemetery, which was a nice confirmation I taken the sequence of events out of order somewhere. The king here is very generous, and gives out an unlimited supply of magic herbs. I grabbed a bunch, as much as I could hold, and jumped down the gap in the clouds.

Oh noes!

The cloud stone protected me during the descent, and I landed directly outside the water palace. I hadn't found an ID yet, but I really didn't need one anymore.

You want a dragon's fang? Well, fancy that; I just happen to have a dragon's fang

The Water Palace was much more interesting than the Heavenly Palace: it had even more hints and treasures. The king was an avid collector of interesting and useless items, so I was eager to give him my dragon's fang (current useless item) in exchange for everything in his treasure room (future useless items). I thought the stick in the cemetery was going to be the only joke in the game, but I can see someone had fun here.

To brush all the grime off my smelly feet! Haha...

Hi Yumi! I'm "it's a joke!"

A Sega reference... was this a requirement in all Sega RPGs?

Wow, that thing is heavy

Jokes aside, the residents gave me some good insight into what to do next.

Reveal... I'm sorry, I didn't catch that last part

Well, partial insight anyway. I mean knowing the scroll of Jeem reveals something hidden really narrows the possible uses from anything to everything. I found the scroll in the king's treasury. I traveled back to the runes in the Cave of Death, but still couldn't make them out. I'm probably too stupid to understand them or something.

Apparently that's quite accurate

Well, I'll keep an eye out for things that need revealing. I'm not sure how to educate myself in order to read the runes, so I don't think I'll uncover that mystery quite yet.

The seal... yes, yes... what seal, exactly?

This is the second time someone mentioned a seal. In the first town a guard warned me not to break the seal. Well, if I happen to go against his wishes, then I'll definitely keep an eye out for a valuable statue. Probably one used to trade for wings so I can fly to space.

Lost ID card? I'll be sure to use it

I tried to do the right thing and return the ID pass card, but she already got another one by the time I returned. At least now I had a way to exit the castle without magic. The Move spell is so useful that I'll never need the ID, but I can see other characters that don't have as much magic needing to recover it.

With the scroll of Jeem as my only lead, I once again thought of all the possible places to use it. The only likely spot was to reveal a path to the submerged palace. At least this time it was less stumbling upon the next location and more process of elimination (the crevice was the next spot to try).

I command you... PART!

or... RISE!

I spent a good number of in-game days exploring the robot infested lake palace. It was tough going once again. I think my lack of proper armor coupled with low HP caused most of that trouble. So, I grabbed all the spells I could from cloud city (my name and I'm sticking with it) and returned to the cave of death. I grinded out a couple of days worth of zombies.

With the help of the Flash spell I can see everything

I gathered enough experience to purchase all the spells and another level. I was now rightly equipped to handle the lake palace.

Sleep and Slow are obvious; Defeat destroys all enemies; Weight prevents encumbrance; and Invincible is a godsend

I felt like I was nearing the end, so I went invincible throughout most of the palace and ran through most of the guards. In the end I found a room I was locked into.

Not sure if it's visible, but I'm locked inside

In the upper portion of this room is a panel to the right and in the center the tiles make noise on the left side. I'm not sure what to make of all this. In fact, I would have been stuck there if not for the collected of herbs I hadn't used yet. They gave me enough magic to cure myself while I gathered my wits.

I'm here... now what?

Enemies kept spawning, so I couldn't explore without obstacle and I wasn't getting anywhere in any case. I teleported back to town and called it a night.

I checked the panel, but this was the only message I got

I must be missing some crucial step in the process. What is the point of that room? I know I haven't fully explore the palace, so I must have skipped over an item to energize or unlock something in this room. I'll try again another day. I still feel like I'm close.

Session Time: 2h20m (Total Time: 7h10m)

Game 14: Super Hydlide (Genesis) - More Dragons Than Dragon Wars

It feels strange to take a month off from a game. Lingering questions still haunt my thoughts: what will I find at the top of the tower; where are key items I've heard about (e.g. I.D. pass, bankbook); how can I reach Cloud City? I know I've forgotten some things in this gap.

I expect to see this screen more often

Notably I haven't made a map yet. I'd normally take a look back through my recordings to map certain areas. I do this after playing because I don't like pausing to map while streaming since it increases down time. I'm probably over-thinking this as a problem, and for some games I should take the time; otherwise, I risk being lost in mazes and large expansive worlds where everything looks the same. I'll definitely (possibly) do this before my next excursion.

Well, the only cure for such a lack of playing is to dive right back in. To the top of the tower! The top is easily reachable now that I have access to the elevator from the second floor. There are two floors available, 198 and 199, but they're both empty. What's their purpose? I haven't find one yet. At the top I met with the beast mentioned by the townsfolk.

Big ball of smoke isn't so scary

I was expecting a tough battle; I had forgotten I wanted to purchase an Arrow for ranged attacks just in case it was a flying monster. It was, but it was also easily fought with melee weapons. Even though the boss was a simple affair, I did manage to see my first 'game over' screen by accidentally chasing it off the edge. Second round, I was bit more reserved in my pursuit.

Yay! What's a Cloud Stone?

Winning granted me the Cloud Stone. What does it do? According to the manual it protects me while among the clouds. I attempted to walk off the tower with little benefit, so maybe Cloud City is a myth (not likely).

Is Cloud City in this direction?

I was sure the Cloud City entrance was at the top of the tower, but I never found it. Instead I took to searching over land for anything I missed in my earlier travels. Without a map, and hardly remembering where I searched prior, I followed the river north of the tower.

And so our hero resorts to grave robbing

To my surprise, I found a couple new sights (or maybe just ones I'd forgotten). The first was a lake that had three pillars rising from the water. The second was a graveyard. While visiting each gravestone I was surprised when I stumbled upon a hidden staircase.

Just like that; stairs appear

The hidden city provided a new selection of equipment, hints, and places to explore.

So am I!

While I couldn't afford any of the new equipment, it's good to know what's available. A Bow, a Holy Sword, a Bronze Shield, and a Star Helmet were at the top of the list. Beyond cost, the weight of the equipment held back my impulse to buy. Also present was the camping gear, which allows me to sleep (and save) anywhere outside. It's outside my price range for the moment.

For that price it better be a portable house

I found the sister bank to the one in Forest City; they gave me a bankbook and allowed me to deposit and withdraw money. Money in the bank accrues interest at a rate of .1%/day. It's a paltry sum, but it's free money. Just think, in 18 years I can buy the camping gear!

Sounds like I have to jump down the crack at some point

Most of the hints are obtuse enough that I've taken to writing down everything. I mean I get the some things like a palace submerged in the lake; however, I'm not sure what to make of the Scroll of Jeem inside that palace. Rumors of a forbidden warehouse and secret caves piqued my interest.

Who or what is Jeem?

The warehouse had a sentry watching the front, and he warned me no one should enter. As soon as the guard retired for the night, I made my way inside. I searched for a secret entrance that I failed to find from the outside, and was quickly rewarded for my efforts.

Secret passages look like normal walls

Inside the warehouse was an allotment of chests, many empty. The first I opened had a knife, which left me instantly encumbered. Encumbrance plays leading role as the most annoying mechanic in this game. After collecting all the treasure I stood in this empty building and wondered where to find the hidden cave entrance. I scoured the walls, I searched the floors, I stumbled upon the entrance.

Check twice, find entrance

I feel like my progress so far is mostly accidental. The cave inside was dark (what else did I expect). I didn't have the funds to purchase the lamp, so I went about grinding. Might as well continue wandering around at the same time.

Can I come back for it? No? Well alright... wow, this is heavy

I ran across a sword at one of the gravestones, a silver sword. It wasn't listed in the manual. It weighed too much to wield. It also weighed too much to carry. I took a risk and discarded my ax. I couldn't use the sword yet, but my fists didn't offer too much of a reduction.

Beyond that initial discovery, I didn't find anything new outside the city. I returned with my new lamp and some oil. Inside the cave, with the help of the lamp, I could now see three steps in front of me instead of one. Progress here was hard fought.

This is a normal amount of damage I sustained per enemy

The cave had twisty passages and hidden traps. The traps are invisible until triggered, or maybe I failed to see the indicators. Poison wasn't such a big deal with antidote magic. Bombs were just simple damage, easily curable. Paralysis was a bit more annoying, but at least I could still attack.

Adding injury to insult

I had no clue what I was looking for here. None of the townspeople mentioned anything other than the existence of the cave. I found some ancient runes that I couldn't make out. I'm not sure if I couldn't see them well enough, they had completely faded, or if I need some codex to decipher them.

Ruins? I'm going to imagine it says runes

There was plenty of treasure. I found the best armor up to this point and again encountered encumbrance. The silver mail weighed 20K, and my current load capacity wasn't quite that much. I tried to push through with it, but after some consideration I admitted to myself the extra defense didn't outweigh the time loss from slower movement. I sold the armor as I had no way to store it for later.

Just look at that extra AC

Why did I have to take everything out of a chest when I knew I couldn't carry more? I tried to make the silver mail work. I even dropped my chain. The turning point was finding magic mail, which I could easily wear with my other gear. I sold the silver mail. I may never find another one, but playing this way is too cumbersome. The magic mail appears to be equivalent to chain mail.

Stick! A divine stick! Joke! Get it?

I had explored the entire cave and only come away with new equipment; I was hoping for a new lead. While considering my options I grinded on some zombies. While chasing one particularly annoying one (they run away when low on health) I stumbled into a secret room. It wasn't hidden from my character's perspective, only my own.

Gold was the driving force to eradicate the zombies

I had a feeling this area existed beyond my view, but I hadn't seen an example of such a door. I had no way of expecting this kind of gateway. Inside was only a single ration of food, but the discovery now gave me the insight I needed. I searched the rest of the cave for more. I found one, and only one more.

Inside was another boss, a dragon... with three heads.

The game does well with scaling

It was a tough battle. I forgot to mention this before, but during boss battle the menu is locked out. You can't pull it up to check your stats, you can't pull it up to use magic, you can't pull it up to use items. That means no recovery and no weapon swapping.

Die monster!

This dragon didn't even show a health bar. Honestly I don't know if I was doing any damage to it. Was I even hitting it in the right spot?

Am I doing this right? No health bar...

In the end I succumbed not to the dragon, but hunger. Apparently I had spent too long searching the cave and ran out of food. If you don't eat every six hours your health ticks off at a good pace. It only took one such tick to end me.

But I was doing so well!

Well, I have a new goal. I have no idea if I'm equipped to handle this boss, or if I've skipped over some necessary item. I think I may try a Bow.

Scaling of the status bars seems off

Session Time: 2h50m (Total Time: 4h50m)