All right, time to begin our third trek along the Twilight Trail.
Again?
So what do you tell the team when you duck away to go taunt us? Surely nothing close to the truth.
So hey, remember how Vivian (and the rest of the Sirens) couldn't identify Mario readily, and had to resort to consulting a sketch to make sure they had the right guy? Vivian has not yet resolved this face-blindness, and seeing our body does not let her realise we are Mario, a character she is allegedly hostile to. Remember, she hasn't officially defected from the X-Nauts yet, she's just doing this to be nice and because her sisters have left her unattended.
The thief is going to ask again if we can guess his name. In the original story being referenced, the victim also was allowed three tries to guess her tormentor's name, and I assume this is intentional.
All right, let's see... yes, I think I know what your name is.
This is the closest Mario is ever going to come to swearing at somebody, by the way.
Vivian's Shade Fist in action. This is to show that Vivian cannot damage our foe either, and also to make it clear what her command does. You don't see the button until the time comes to hit it.
Off we go. Something we're going to see a lot as we go on is that Vivian's "tail" must be attached to the ground, and the game does some wacky shenanigans to make sure of it whenever she's moving quickly or over a great height.
We'll get his name or die trying.
With these guys running around, literally.
Shade First burning somebody. Although in this case, he was already down.
This is going to suck.
Thank you!
Exactly what I needed! Glad I bought it.
Oh, cool, that helps.
(Full admission, I meant to do this before I left, so I had to head back quickly. You still get blocked by the double, but you don't run out of chances to flee. There's no new dialogue for it.)
This is the best-case scenario when using Quake Hammer on Hyper Clefts.
More wacky Vivian tail shenanigans. I just have to admire what they do about it.
Huh. Well, I have Quake Hammer....
Anyway, this is when we are intended to visit the well.
Got a Super Hammer on the knot of Buzzies!
...And it even works! Sorta.
Doesn't actually make this go any faster, though.
Vivian's Shade Fist is useless against Buzzies. As if they didn't highlight her weaknesses enough for her introduction.
5 is such an inconvenient number. I should've brought Hammerman.
Whee!
...I really wish this doesn't deload the coins already there.
...Oh wow, he's even Dizzy.
Wow, that's a lot of goodies.
Including another Shroom Roast when I get back.
And don't forget this. Won't need to buy it, if I haven't already.
Now then, how do we get through this?
Slide it out of the way, and then Veil under it as it comes back down.
Shine in this secret tunnel.
So what rests at the end of it?
...The higher level of the room with Atomic Boo's box.
At least there's a collectible.
Tube Mode to the left, and we can find ourselves on the other side of a locked door down here. This room is a treasure trove.
Starting with this bird.
I think you know what to do.
The bird is smart enough to notice that two strangers don't just vanish, but doesn't have the desire to investigate further.
Before commiserating about how horrible his lot in life is.
This bird is one of the few characters in the world, if not the only one, to know the real name of the trickster.
And to make sure we visited him, he also has the letter we need to say the name aloud.
And he sings. Like a canary.
Yes. You are an engaging bird indeed.
...Do we not have any crackers?
Starting the treasure hunt with the normal items. Why is there a strength boost for Mario after the solo section with him? That almost feels insulting.
I have no idea what you're intended to use this on in the near future. Clefts? The boss of this area doesn't have Defence to Soften.
Perfect. Precisely what will happen to put that doppelganger in his place.
...You have. No idea how much of the English language uses the letter "p" until you try to write without it.
(In the Japanese version, this is the character "ン", which is necessary to spell the word "ランペル", or "Ranperu". All non-English languages call Doopliss by either "Rumpel" or "Rampel", and all non-Japanese languages can just use the letter "p" as well.)
This is the key out of the room. It occurred to me during the writeup that it might be possible to use the key to Doopliss's belfry in order to open this door, but on closer inspection, the two keys have different designs and presumably only function on their intended doors.
Star Panel in here, too.
Out we go.
For some reason, Vivian doesn't taunt the parrot until we leave. I presume this is to be polite to the bird.
...Dangit, he's on the other side of Twilight Trail, isn't he?
Back over we go...
Woo hoo?
Never mind, woo hoo.
This is going to get worse before it gets better.
Thank goodness for the burn, else Vivian would three-hit-KO these.
To be explicit about how Burn works, all Burned characters take damage at the end of the enemy turn.
Allowing Vivian to finish the Dayzee off.
...Yeah, see, he's not leaving that spot. He knows we're here and is trying to run into us.
...Woo hoo?
It's beautiful.
This, less so.
Veil requires you to press five buttons in a row to work. You have some time, but it is super stressful, especially considering when you need to use it.
More money!
...I think I can deal with this one.
Like so.
Sure. When I die, I'll be thinking of all the Nintendo Power being billed to my now defunct bank account.
Villains do enjoy their dangly bits. The effective ones dangle the protagonists over delightfully layered cruelties. The ineffective ones dangle their weaknesses over the protagonist's head.
And don't realise that the fish is able to grab the hook.
Doopliss. Clean out my ears.
This is a screenshot that is going all of the places out of context.
Doopliss goes into a quite literal spiral of regret, misery, and general feelings associated with having just been beat at his own game.
Before running back home like the coward he is.
...So, who wants to cross Twilight Trail a fifth time? Chapter 4's backtracking is a huge deal, and often, a deal-breaker. I do kinda think that making you cross the trail with solo Mario and Mario+Vivian is a good idea, although after that, I'm not 100% sure what, exactly, will cut out the other two trips. Reworking "telling Doopliss his name" is definitely the solution, but how that looks is harder to pin down.
If you're wondering what these crows are on about, they've moved on to Peach.
...Excuse me, what the actual hell? Are we victim-blaming Peach?
Mario's ability to do things that are not saving Peach altruistically might be in question, but never question the idea that Mario should not save Peach at all. Fixing Bowser might be a bit of an ordeal, but it is better than any alternative.
...Are we just jumping right back into this convesation from where we left it last time? That is an odd introduction.
Part of me wants to tell you not to bother, it's just too expensive these days, but on the other hand...
This crow continues to utterly rock the concept of staring into the void and rambling as it stares back. Even if I am slightly concerned about how his bird brain is handling it.
Rolls eyes. So much for the crows being intelligent.
...I don't want to dispute the science of this statement more than necessary, especially since the "average" solar-cell efficiency has yet to meet this figure, but guys... waves vaguely at climate change.
This crow brings up a point that applies just fine here: Twilighters aren't using solar panels, they're using lunar panels. And moonlight eats up so much of the potency of solar.
...Excuse me, no! Bad ravens!
Just because there is a market doesn't mean you should do it! If you can do it without exploiting innocents in the cross-fire, go nuts (way I see it, more money they spend on scams, less money they spend on their own harmful tricks), but a stalking site is not the way to go.
I swear, Dour... you manage to be frightfully rude to me and specifically me so damn often.
I think the enemies come back even if you don't go into Twilight Town itself...
I definitely found something. Something with Last Stand P, too.
...Is the Paragoomba the one benefiting from that Badge anyway? Weird.
Now that is something I can appreciate.
Now if only I could carry it to the boss.
Plink.
Dangit. I hate it when I step on a rock.
...Vivian can't oneshot that without it getting a turn. She could if she was Super Rank, hint hint.
At least it ran instead.
I could Quake Hammer again, but this did the job just fine.
What is it with the game and coins?
At least I got the Shooting Star.
In we go.
...Oh, right, Swoopers. Tricky to avoid these.
Proof of concept: Vivian can hit ceiling enemies. Much more reliable than Body Slam, at least.
I didn't actually need a third one, but I don't think I knew how many I did need, so hey, might as well.
It's not a long walk through the Steeple itself, to get to Doopliss again.
Well, OK, we have to climb the staircase again, although this is another one I can forgive.
My setup for Doopliss. Don't bring P Badges- not that Vivian is awful, but they're going to help less here than they have elsewhere. Quake Hammer is specifically for something you don't have to do, but I'm choosing to do.
There's an unused version of the Mario version of Doopliss that would've been sitting in the chair waiting for us to arrive.
And yes, we've got Doopliss's tense theme again. This also played whenever he was asking us for a name, and I feel like it's even more fitting for him when he's in Mario's body.
You are a terrible Mario. I can only imagine that he's not delivering that "It's-a me" in Mario's signature tone. I just haven't decided what's the funniest way to not pronounce that correctly. Presumably it's not a gruff tone.
Presumably, the reason he is not sitting on his chair is to have this dramatic camera pan to show off we're not just fighting Doopliss today.
Our Partners will be chipping in for this fight... on the enemy side.
Koops notices we have teamed up with an X-Naut and dismisses the possibility that the real Mario would've have chosen her for a Partner.
Flurrie and Dr. Agon had their doubts, too, but teaming up with Vivian has put them on Doopliss's side.
And then Doopliss goes right for calling them pawns to their faces. Missed a spot check, there.
Speaking of face-blindness, Vivian has finally noticed that the man currently claiming to be us is claiming to be Mario.
The answer doesn't matter, but now might be a good time to mention it. I literally wasn't able to tell you, considering I... you know, can't tell you my name.
Vivian still hasn't formally defected, and to find out that she's actively working against her sisters... well, when you've spent your entire life being told you're useless, that's not exactly what you want to see out of your first independent act.
Doopliss is in no mood to give us time to talk this out.
Doopliss's theme returns for the real Chapter 4 boss. I called it merely cromulent the first time around, but with the full context of the fight's setup- literally doing battle with ourselves to take back our name, our life, our friends... this song really feels like it was written for the rematch. The steeple bell lets it sound like it fits the first, but it's no comparison.
In the transition to the boss fight, Vivian has dropped out of the fight, and Doopliss takes the time to mock us for it. Strangely, we don't see it ourselves until after the taunt.
Doopliss has 40 HP, same as the first fight, but he won't do any tricks to refill. As he- or perhaps "we"- were, his only attacks are Jump for 2 damage, Spin Jump for 2+2 and Hammer for 4. Doopliss really isn't a scary fight no matter which phase you're on.
No, the real danger in this fight is that firebrand standing right behind him. Goombella has the same HP and Atk power as she does as your party member- 10 HP and 1 damage at base, 20 HP and 2 at Super Rank, like ours is. She can use Multibonk, too, regardless of rank- and for some reason, the game actually forgets that Multibonk does diminishing damage and sets all bonks to hit you for 2 damage a bonk. She will never waste her turn Tattling, although there's unused text at the ready for the possibility she would. The problem being that she correctly identifies us as "Mario" when she explicitly doesn't think that's the case.
Thanks to Zap Tap, she can't Multibonk me, but I think it is in my interests to take her down, just in case.
...How is he doing 3 damage and getting zapped? Hammer bypasses Zap Tap! (Turns out Doopliss's Hammer isn't so lucky.)
Sorry about this, Goombella!
...
Of course it does.
Don't even get the Zap Tap out of it.
This is a weird line, and it's likely a translation issue. As far as I'm aware, Vivian is not actually handing in her resignation to Beldam and the Sirens directly- when we next see them, they don't realise Vivian has deserted yet.
After having left, Vivian was left with the choice of going back to Beldam in disgrace for what she did, or staying with Mario despite what her sisters have set up about him needing to be stopped. Before she got trapped with Beldam again, she decided you know what, she'd rather be on our side.
You are going down, Doopliss.
Those first two turns with Vivian gone over with, now seems like the time to Power Lift.
(Strangely, even if you did equip P Badges, Vivian doesn't recognise them because of her late join anyway.)
Excellent. That'll cover Goombella's Headbonk.
...Vivian, we may need to discuss this whole "hair over your eyes" deal in the future. This fog thing is not going to go away.
Thank goodness, the Fog is over.
The Doopliss fight plays by similar rules to what Mario does- once Mario's down, it's Game Over. We don't have to attack the Partner at all. Which does kinda make the fight pretty quick, if you play it that way.
What's with all these Bingo! chances?
Vivian takes out Goombella, just to be sure.
Every party member has a line for Doopliss before going down.
Doopliss will only ever respond with an aggravated "Ughhhh..."
Before switching out to the next partner in the list. Koops has Shell Toss and Power Shell, again rated at either 2 or 3 damage depending on whether he's been upgraded, and has 10 or 15 HP. Strangely, the site I'm using lists Power Shell as his Ultra Rank move "Shell Slam" instead. I don't know if he actually does have that, but if he does, that pierces defence.
That was a Shell Toss, so off our +2 Def it tinks.
And that is why I brought Quake Hammer. Since he's still vulnerable to being flipped, this will disable the Partner gimmick of the fight and make dealing with the doppelganger himself that much more manageable.
With a side effect of knocking over all his stuff.
Take that!
...If it Fogs up once in a fight, it'll usually fog up again a few times. Fog should not have come up in battle, full stop.
...Also, since when did we get two new Audience members? Hammer Bros. will throw hammers at us, and like to take offence if we flub a Hammer action command. Bulky Bob-Ombs take up two seats, and rather than throwing things, they can light up their fuses. If they're sitting there for five turns, they'll blow up and blast away the audience members nearby. I feel like Bulky Bob-Ombs shouldn't appear until we see them in battle ourselves, while Hammer Bros... should've been here sooner? There should've been at least one watching us fight Hamma, Bamma and Flare.
Goombella: Mario! Don't let your guard down, OK?
Flurrie: Do be careful, Mario! These foes are rather tough!
Dr. Agon: Gonzales! We can't lose to these guys!
When Mario starts to run low on health, the Partner throws in a warning. I don't think this heralds any sort of change in strategy from either character.
And funnily enough, because the camera is zoomed in, that cube effect is mostly off-screen.
I think Power Lift is over, so this is thanks to the Def up.
...Stage drop, I assume. I can't see anything! Also, you can barely make out Koops is still on his back.
Mario Quake Hammers again to keep him that way.
Which drops the rest of the backdrop on our heads. I assume the Moon won't fall down on us too.
Continuing to land hits in the Fog.
You have no idea what the real Super Mario has been through on this adventure alone, have you?
Not the least, you should've stolen the rest of our Crystal Stars. Or maybe used your own.
Koops wound up falling- I think at this point, I wanted to see the other two party members in action.
Strangely, he doesn't switch out until after Vivian acts.
There we go. Flurrie has either 15 or 25 HP, and her only attack is her Body Slam (2 or 4 Atk).
I don't think I can beat Flurrie fast enough to save Doopliss from recoil and burn.
Look at him, he's dead next turn no matter what I do.
I gave it my best shot.
But not even Mario himself is safe from Mario's might.
Once again, Doopliss does the same death throw Mario would do if he gets knocked to 0 HP.
Goombella: Eeeek! Mario!!!
Koops: AAAAAA! Mario!!!
Dr. Agon: Whoa! Gonzales!!!
And, much like if Mario goes down, the Partner will be too busy agonising over Mario's defeat that they won't finish the job and haul Mario to safety.
Thanks for the Star Points.
Now, before we move on, I actually did wind up rerunning the fight to see what happens if you take out the whole team.
There's Flurrie down. Focus-fire on the Partners and no Fog this time really helped out.
Also, Vivian's Appeal, while I'm here. I never wound up having a good time to use and it really is that adorable.
Dr. Agon (or I think he's just "Yoshi") has, of course, 10 or 20 HP, and he only uses Ground Pound, dealing 1 damage... up to 6 times. Turns out the Doopliss fight is weird under the hood.
Or, well, once, if you're Electrified. I think this has been a great showcase of how vulnerable I am to hostile Electrify, don't you?
That is exactly what I was hoping Dr. Agon would say when he got knocked out. He is such a dramatic tyke.
I'm also massively disappointed, although not entirely surprised, to learn Doopliss has no special reaction to seeing the entire party KOed. I do wish the game encouraged you to beat at least one, though, to see that entirely appropriate "Ughhhh..." as Doopliss loses "loyal ones".
Now then, with that over, we can head back to the normal-
...
Well, this fight was far luckier in more ways than one. You guys don't mind if I just quietly make this save state the one that progresses on from this point, right?
Doopliss drops the Ruby Star again as he falls to the ground.
And this time we know it's him.
Super Mario is back! Wa-hoo! It's a me, Mario!
"I would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for you meddling Siren and that dumb pipe!" Although I appreciate the irony of taking off his mask to reveal a loser in a bedsheet.
At which point he runs away like the cowardly little jerk he is.
Leaving the party to realise they fell for Doopliss hook, line and sinker.
...I'd say that is not how that phrase applies linguistically, but since the origin of "hoodwink" apparently comes from throwing a hood over someone's head to blind them, "shell" would not be an unusual alternative, especially if you enter a Koopa's shell like humans do a shirt. Which is supported by Koops's shell having a hoodie attached.
Drama. And the bad kind of drama, not stageplay.
At which point Dr. Agon asks why we teamed up with Vivian, if we really are the real deal.
Vivian doesn't really know how to explain that.
Although Mario steps forward and nods at her.
He's back in his body, but he's not talking any more than he did beforehand, so this is presumably a brief, satisfactory explanation that Vivian defected and she's with us now.
Dr. Agon accepts it. Any longer explanation can come after the intermission at the end of the chapter.
Vivian takes the time to apologise for running out on us.
Don't worry about it. I think you'll get along just fine here.
Vivian also hands the Ruby Star over to Mario directly, which I assume is intended to show she is well and truly committed to our side now- she's not, for example, picking up this star and bolting to turn it into her sister.
At last, the Ruby Star really is ours.
If the shortness of the chapter or the unusual animation Doopliss had when he claimed the Ruby Star himself didn't tip you off, Doopliss's Crystal Star animation is also different (he keeps his feet flat on the ground) and they forgot to explain Art Attack to us last time. Art Attack will task us with drawing circles around enemies, and the more of the enemy is encircled, the more damage is dealt. You can do 3 damage with a single circle, and have a limited time to draw as many circles as you can. This is a 4 SP attack with an Action Command that doesn't really work on keyboard controls, so I probably won't use it as much as I might on console.
Mario defeated the rogue who had stolen his name and appearance. Now Mario has four Crystal Stars. That leaves a mere three more to find! And THAT means his quest to collect all of the Crystal Stars is more than half over! Now Mario heads off toward his next adventure with his new friend, Vivian... But what about Beldam and Marilyn? And what became of the doppelganger, Doopliss?
...I wouldn't say "more than half over"... but yeah, we are getting up there, aren't we?
There's one more bit before we cut to Peach, incidentally: Beldam and Marilyn have come back from their siesta, and they have finally noticed that Vivian has gone missing. One has to wonder how they learn Vivian has-
...Oh. Well, I guess that means the questions the ending narration posed have been answered.
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