...The ancient treasures are kept in the sewer system. Anyone suspect we might have been able to get down here from the outside?
Ah, Multibounce. Same as in Paper Mario, lets you jump on enemies in a line, but they've given a copy to us before we fight a bunch of Koopa enemies. Very polite of them.
That's a Fuzzy. What a hyper little guy, huh? Cut back on the caffeine! Max HP is 3, Attack is 1, and Defense is 0. Those things suck up your HP and use it to replenish their own! Isn't that the worst? I mean, EW! Doesn't that just sound totally gross? Anyway, guard against them by pressing the A Button the MOMENT they release you. The timing is pretty hard to master, so, uh, practice up! These things really suck… HP.
This is the return of Fuzzy- Paper Mario also had us fighting a bunch in Chapter 1, and I suppose it's intended as a tutorial for healing enemies? I'm not entirely sure what the commonality is, but Fuzzies make more sense as the equivalent of sewer rats in an abandoned fortress than mischievous thieves around Koopa Village.
And hey, sometimes they just miss.
...No extra FP? Playing risky, I see.
The Petalburg reference is funnier in light of these: The Stone Keys are based on the sun and the moon, coincidentally giving them the same name (if not the same functionality) as the Sun and Moon Stones of Pokemon. Both had functionality in Hoenn, where Petalburg is from, although the Sun Stone didn't add any new functionality for the region.
Finding a Stone gets you in a boss fight with four Fuzzies. The random items are unfortunate, though- the first one is holding a HP Drain, a confusingly named item that inflicts 5 damage on a target of your choosing while restoring the user for the same amount.
We are not dealing with this garbage.
Nothing further in this direction.
We're in Shhwonk Fortress. This room is damp and moldy, too. Like every other one. Jeepers creepers... I just wanna see the sun again. Is that so wrong?
The Moon Stone is all the way west, and there's plenty of Fuzzies to deal with on the way. Or run.
These attacks really are not easy to block. Zap Tap is a little trickier to find this game, not that you're expected to have it this early anyway.
This is a pretty easy dungeon, all told.
Especially if you're packing some heat.
All this moisture makes this place really moldy-smelling. And what's that other stink? Is that what wet Fuzzy smells like? I think I'm gonna totally barf.
Which is probably for the best, because it's not like we want to spend time here.
...I suppose it couldn't be that easy.
We just need to borrow the Stone Keys. Though I guess you're going to be saying no there.
Mini boss time!
That's a Gold Fuzzy. Whoa, those are super-rare! I'm serious! Wow! Max HP is 10, Attack is 1, and Defense is 0. Oh, but hey! Even though it's a Fuzzy, it won't suck up your HP, which is nice. I have to wonder though… How does this thing hide? Look at it! It's so gaudy!
Gold Fuzzy, as distinguished from the similarly-hued Fuzzy of Jade Jungle, seems to be some kind of Fuzzy boss, completely original to TTYD. Despite being some kind of Fuzzy leader, he is strictly inferior to the Fuzzies, and will go down to a moderately savage beating and can be completely stonewalled by anyone slightly good at guarding.
"Moderately savage beating" will be Power Smash.
Once you get to about 6 HP, the Gold Fuzzy gets wise, and decides to pull out another trick.
MEEORK!
It's a Fuzzy Horde! Look at 'em all! What a mob scene! It's crazy! Max HP is 20, Attack is 1, and Defense is 0. Fuzzies come at you all at once and attack in order. Says here not to freak out! It also says that if you use good timing to defend, you won't take much damage. I'm thinking it might just be faster to whip the ringleader, though, y'know?
The Fuzzy Horde is the Gold Fuzzy's way out of being completely trivialised in two turns- its fate if it lets itself be open to two Power Smashes.
It swarms one character, and bounces on their head three-to-five times (depending on their HP). No HP leeching, but if you don't manage to keep up with the damage, that's five damage. When we have 10 HP.
The Gold Fuzzy will still attack separately.
Ooh, got a Superguard off. But yeah, the Fuzzy Horde, despite having its own Tattle, does not have its own entry in the Log, and you're covered if you've Tattled Fuzzy at all.
Let's see what we've got in the Mystery Bag.
...Yay? That feels a little overkill.
At least my guarding is on point.
Even being at the back of the formation doesn't save him from just normal Jumps.
For some reason, the Fuzzy Horde drops Star Points when it runs away after you beat the leader. This also seems to be their behaviour when you drop their HP low enough deliberately.
After the fight, it runs away. The setup seems to be about as fleshed out as its equivalent was in Paper Mario.
It stays on screen for a pretty long time, although it's not tangible in any way.
Anyway, now for that most beloved of times in the TTYD experience: backtracking all the way back through the entire Shhwonk Fortress to get back to Hooktail's Castle at the start of the map.
Paper Mario never really felt like it was doing this outside Chapter 6, where it was irritating there. I don't know what it did that made it better, but man I wish TTYD could take a few hints.
Don't you just love this exact situation?
Especially since Goombella doesn't get those odds. I really wish these enemies wouldn't respawn for going to Shhwonk.
But hey, this seems like as good an opportunity as any to show off what the deal is with Sweet Treat.
This is the Star Power we get that isn't based on a single Star- in 64, they saved this for Star Beam, so it's funny that we get it first, when we explicitly don't possess any Crystal Stars.
The minigame being played here is a catapult game you've probably seen before, even if I can't name the original source. Mario's crosshair will go up and down automatically, and flicking the control stick to the left will see Mario throw a Crystal Star at whatever he is currently aiming at. If you hit a Mario head, Goombella head or Flower, you get one of whatever you need healed up. The game will spawn seven of each icon total, although I suspect it is impossible to hit all twenty one icons. At least, without being really really good at it.
The game will also throw a few of these Poison Mushroom icons, to discourage blind spamming. Hit one, and you are stunned for a few seconds. That will definitely stop you hitting all the icons.
That will do.
At any rate, now that we have finally used a Star Power, we can show what rebuilding Star Power is like. Stylish Commands and Appeals get you significant chunks of that to rebuild, so if you need another one, it shouldn't take you too long. Don't get spammy and you'll be just fine.
Sometimes, Shy Guy members of the audience will jump on stage and go fiddle with the stuff in the back. This will usually result in something falling on your head. The difference between this and a random drop is very minute.
Ah, hello, that's new. Sometimes, you'll get people in the audience who'll throw things at you. When this happens, you'll get a warning icon telling you to press the X Button- do so and your currently active character will stop what they are doing, attack that audience member, and send them packing.
Sometimes the audience wants to throw you money, healing icons or inventory items. Most of the time, it'll be rocks and finished drink cans that deal damage.
Of the audience members, we can currently see:
- Toads will only throw helpful items. Coins, healing icons, Mushrooms and attacking items in particular. In addition to their triple Star Power, this makes Toads an excellent sight.
- Koopa Troopas can throw coins, healing icons, Courage Shells, POW Blocks, and hurting items.
- Goombas can only throw heckling items.
- Shy Guys can throw heckling items, and in the helpful section, you get mostly your mischievous items- things that can apply status effects, HP Drains, offensive items that attack in weird ways, that sort of thing.
- Rarely, Luigi will appear in your audience. There's only one of him, and he can throw Coins, healing icons, rare Mushrooms and Jellies... and rocks. Yep, Luigi can heckle you. Mario deserves it, but it's a very rare event.
Other enemies will appear later on, when we're introduced to them outside of their audience context (...I don't think we fight any Shy Guys in battle in this game).
Of course, this guy isn't doing anything back.
Here's an Appeal. The character just performs an animation under the spotlight. Mario has a wave, Goombella has a wink.
He was a coward when I used a POW Block.
...I mean, is it really any different from what you were doing before?
...So presumably you're the mother of the GBA kid.
Well, we are a chubby old plumber.
Koopie Koo is pretty attentive to Koops's emotional state. Probably why the two are so close- I don't get the impression anyone else in the village is doing the same.
With that said, Koopie Koo doesn't have a window into Koops's mind.
And even if she had, he appears to be out.
Kroop is just congratulating us for a job well done. Really, we're intended to just skip past Petalburg and go straight to Hooktail.
Aside from the obvious paper-based jokes one can make, this is a particularly interesting time to make this comparison.
Meanwhile, GBA kid has moved on back to the Nintendo 64, and is playing some Mario this time.
...Recursive playing video games inside the video games, are we? Risky business, that.
But I can set it to one side, because you have impeccable taste in Paper Mario 64 partners. Although perhaps I shouldn't say that next to the TTYD equivalent.
This guy may or may not be speaking to the kinds of flowers I am not allowed to talk about when playing Mario games.
So that's where Koops went.
He is definitely here to say something, but he is in no hurry to spit it out.
Absolutely no hurry. Please don't tease him about it, he's going to get there on his own time.
Eventually, he realises he needs to say it or Mario is going to walk away, and throws it out there with no regards for the consequences.
This happened ten years ago. This has weighed on him a lot, and for a long time. This would drive anyone to desperation, although it does not give him any direction for what to do with this.
He doesn't know what to do about all this angst he has.
He figures, if anything will help, it will be finishing Hooktail and setting his dad's unfinished business to rest. He pretty explicitly doesn't expect anything out of it, but it's the right thing to do.
Koops hasn't done... anything, and he hasn't gotten the best reputation out of it. He also hopes he can do something about that, although his expectations there are similarly low.
This is probably his low self-esteem talking, and not a comment on his odds of getting success out of it.
So, are we willing to take Koops with us?
Sure, why not, kid? We can always talk later about whether you got what you asked for. Do be cautious about getting more than asked, though!
And with that, we have copied Paper Mario once again and added Koops the Koopa Troopa to the team! This is not the last character who is the same species as a 64 partner, but it is the last time it's a 1:1 comparison.
Clearly, they felt this was an excellent starting setup, and decided to stick with it. It's a sensible pair of opening abilities in battle. Shell Toss as a field move is pretty terrible, though, and I think 64 may or may not have taken all the puzzles.
So TTYD expanded Koops's field ability to Shell Hold. The ability for Koops to hold his shell in place before firing adds a lot more options for puzzles.
Especially since, of course, Mario can move around during Hold. This might leave you holding a Gamecube controller in an unusual position, though, considering how the A and X Buttons are positioned. Because of course there will be puzzles where Mario is expected to jump around while holding Koops in place. Thankfully, B and Y don't really do anything.
.
Koops's battle abilities are a reappearance of Kooper's- Shell Toss and Power Shell function as they do in Paper Mario 64, although the Action Commands have changed (slightly). Koops is exactly as Kooper was, although the new mechanics of TTYD have changed his function, and he's going to have brand new upgrade ranks.
No shortcut button for changing partners. You have to go into the pause menu.
To add insult to injury, you can't go into the pause menu to change partner in 64, you have to use the shortcut. This is not confusing at all.
Koops's Appeal. (At least, I think this cute animation is the Appeal). Fortunately, it's not all doom and gloom, he's going to...
...
He's going to break out of his shell. Deep breath. Sigh. I refuse to be party to this pun.
You'd think we'd get control here, and we sorta start moving left...
But Koopie Koo comes to check on us before we can go anywhere interesting.
Koopie Koo does not expect Koops to be able to handle Hooktail. We can argue this point all we want, you can't say she doesn't have one when his dad (who presumably trained to try somewhat) failed.
Koops is in this to become a stronger person. Helping Petalburg is cool too, but he's here to prove himself.
Koopie Koo actually likes the timid Koops for who he is. Valid, but Koops is the one who's not comfortable with himself. If Koops wants to try and better himself for his own sake, that comes first. He can find out what his true nature is himself.
Koopie Koo's argument fails. We already had the "Koops joined the party" spiel, too late to argue otherwise.
And hey, he's standing next to Mr. Plot Armour himself!
Koopie Koo gets angry and Shell Tosses herself across the screen twice for both these lines.
To which Koops feels a bit of regret, but is hopeful that, once he finds who he really is, he can have a meaningful conversation about it.
...You say that, but there is nothing stopping us from just walking into Petalburg...
I have never actually gone back and talked to Koopie Koo, but I decided to go and at least see what would happen if I did. And it turns out the answer is "Koopie Koo actually took a breather and realised she was in the wrong in that conversation". That changes my impression of her significantly.
Koops can be mild-mannered after the fact, that may or may not be just who he is. But while the village is being terrorised by a monster deeply personal to him, he is not just "mild-mannered", he is terrified. And doing something about that is a net positive no matter what.
The fact she wasn't standing in her usual position, and she has a unique behaviour for returning to it after the conversation, shows that this dialogue is, overall, something the devs intended people to actually consider going to see. Even if you backtrack out of Hooktail's Castle (there are a myriad of reasons why you might), there's no real point to visiting this screen before actually clearing it except the Badge in Kroop's backyard, and this dialogue goes away once you beat Hooktail, for obvious reasons. And that's a shame, because it really does turn her from a shallow girlfriend custom-made to appreciate the pre-existing Koops to a woman who, while having a thing for the kind of man Koops is, has a suitable, complex, and realistic reaction to Koops wanting to change who he is for the better.
After you've talked to her the once, she turns back into a generic NPC. You do have to actually go and... fight Hooktail at some point.
There's a few NPCs scattered around that have different reactions depending on who you have in the lead in your party. Koopie Koo, obviously, is one of them, having different dialogue to address Koops directly as opposed to having "anyone else" (in our case Goombella).
And yes, tragically, Dupree is another such example. Such characters usually only pay attention to one partner specifically, which probably explains why he expresses little interest in the other female party members we will find later.
Anyway, let's wander off.
There are two things about Shell Hold to consider when First Striking an enemy. First, any enemy that touches the shell, even if the shell is stationary, is considered to be hit by a Shell Toss First Strike. Secondly, while Mario's First Strikes have been upgraded to "you can Action Command them", Koops's free Shell Toss maintains the benefit from 64 of automatically doing the damage of a correctly performed Action Command.
With that said, I suppose it is now inferior to doing your own Shell Toss, since it doesn't give the opportunity for Stylish Commands.
As previously mentioned, Shell Toss and Power Shell are exactly as Kooper used them.
Although the Action Commands are new. This isn't functionally different from Kooper's hammer timing, but it does spice up the controls a bit.
The Stylish Command on Shell Toss is, once you've hit the enemy, press A and Koops will start breakdancing. Press A again as the dance slows down, and Koops will finish with a pose.
Koops's victory animation. He's so cute.
Free Happy Heart get.
Power Shell's new Action Command. The bar rapidly fills up and then empties. Any time the bar is full is a good time to fire.
The Stylish Command is, when Koops reappears where he started standing, press A and you get another different type of breakdance. He's doing more of a handstand in this one.
That is the Stone Keys finally gone and placed.
Well, Hooktail has been around for a long time. I wonder how long the whole "terrorising the village" thing was going on. That feels a mite more recent, owing to the fact there is still a village there.
To make absolutely sure we brought along Koops, we're not getting in without him.
The extra mention of such is kinda weird, but part of me feels like this was scribbled on by a later explorer who made this discovery, by the slightly different vocal tone the Addendum provides. Which makes me wonder if the person who originally set the task considered the possibility of Koopa Troopas who could use Shell Hold.
I always set up Shell Hold on this switch. I don't know why, personal preference mainly. Also I suspect the wall on the switch on the other side may or may not be too close. But at any rate, a quick mention that Shell Hold will keep Koops in place regardless of the laws of physics he is breaking- he will not drop to the ground despite Holding in mid-air.
If you can use Hold on the other switch, you may not find this out here, but this will be necessary to remember to solve later puzzles.
The timing isn't actually that strict. Pressing B and releasing X at more or less the same time will be enough, you just have to know what the puzzle is asking you to do. If you want an inkling on how generous the time window is, the TAS has enough time to hit the first switch, travel to the second, and hit it to trigger the pipe to open without using Koops at all.
Into the background we go. A large number of instances of background travel wind up being "there is a new location in the distance, and you can walk there directly by going into the background". Which is pretty neat the first time.
For some reason, the big entrance to Hooktail's Castle occurs after we already have an indoor room. I suspect it's because they wanted a big entrance but couldn't spawn us in an outdoor map without breaking suspension of disbelief.
Pluck up your courage, my brave man, and sally forth!
So, Hooktail Castle, huh? Well... It sure is ominous, that's for sure.
Goombella is less impressed. She may be trying to smooth it over for Koops, but she has been in Rogueport's sewers.
...I refuse to be done in by a stupid rickety bridge.
Oh hey, HP Plus Badge down here. These work the same as they did in 64.
And we don't have enough Badges yet not to equip it. We'll be fine on HP.
What we're supposed to do is use the spring to bounce up to a higher level and Plane Ability across. This was an area in the demo, and I suspect this is mostly a showcase of the new Plane Ability for them.
Next time: Exploring Hooktail Castle, and standing up to the dragon.
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