Another look at the Trouble board. The Puni Elder wants a Life Shroom, and at this stage in the game, I can't afford the dent in my pocketbook that will make. This one, though...
Oh, my dad is in a world of hurt down there! Please, you gotta help him! I'm waiting at the entrance to the Pit of 100 Trials beneath Rogueport!
...The Pit.
While I'm preparing for the place, I went back to Hooktail's Castle for this Star Panel.
...I'm sure this'll be important later.
If I'm going into the Pit, I am not going without this.
So... to get him out.
How desperate do you have to be, to go for that?
I think you may need some plan, but yeah, this is not going to help. I mean, who would you even sell the contents of the Pit to?
Once you go in, you can't go out.
The battle theme isn't unique, but the ambient theme is quite appropriate.
That's a Gloomba. It likes dark, damp places. Max HP is 7, Attack is 3, and Defense is 0. It's stronger than a normal Goomba, so be careful. That's not a healthy color for a Goomba, but it doesn't mean it's sick or anything. So don't show any mercy!
Gloombas will your first encounter here in the Pit. For the first 80 Floors, there's one new unique enemy among enemies you've met before. There's usually around five varieties per set of 10 Floors.
For the first 10 Floors, you will find Gloomba, Spinia, Spania, Dull Bones and Fuzzy. This pattern will repeat, with the last enemy (in this case, Fuzzy) being replaced with a treasure. Each floor has three possible patterns you can see, which is just enough variety for its intentions. Sure, it can make the floors a bit tedious, but it wants you to prove that you can take down a horde by design and not by fluke.
The first round is just fine for us by now.
Floor 10, and... Charlieton?
Charlieton will sell these six items, but the price will depend on which rest floor you're on. This is them at their cheapest. On floor 20, the prices will be 15/30/45/60, floor 30 20/40/60/80, and continue in such a pattern regardless of whether or not Charlieton actually appears. It's profit driven by desperation, and goddammit we just have to suck it up, don't we? Fortunately, we're not going down far enough that we're that worried. Besides, this stuff doesn't make enough of a dent on the lower floors.
Charlieton alludes to that dynamic in his dialogue.
That's Charlieton, the merchant. I guess he sells his wares here, too. But... it looks like his stuff gets more expensive the deeper he is in the pit. I'm happy to be able to shop here and all, but sheesh... Well, it's your money.
As does Goombella.
This is the freebie Sleepy Stomp. If you just want one to add it to your collection, go for this one, and honestly, if you want one for the practical benefits, this might be more worth it than the Lovely Howz even then.
Hit the block to continue, or chicken out. We've still gotta find a kid's dad.
That's a Paragloomba. It's a Gloomba with wings. Max HP is 7, Attack is 3, and Defense is 0. It's like a stronger version of a Parakoopa. And maybe that's all there is to it. I wonder if living down here ever makes its wings moldy? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYUCK! It's too gross to even think about! Bleck!
How do underground monsters even get wings, anyway?
Floors 11-20 have Paragloomba, Cleft, Pokey, Dark Puff, Pider. Pokeys are in this game, we haven't met them yet, but they haven't gotten tougher than 64.
Speaking of which, we're getting tangible EXP from this venture. Hopefully it won't mess with how overlevelled I am for Chapter 3 too much.
Don't be afraid to throw these out. We've also got more SP to spare for a few of these in a row now, too.
Hahaha...
That's a Pokey. It's a cactus ghoul that's got nasty spines all over its body. Max HP is 4, Attack is 3, and Defense is 0. Look at those spines... Those would TOTALLY hurt. If you stomp on it, you'll regret it. Pokeys attack by lobbing parts of their bodies and by charging at you... They can even call friends in for help, so be quick about taking them out.
Pokey, surprisingly, only has one appearance outside the Pit, which makes its Tattle hilarious. The functions aren't that different, summoning reinforcements, throwing chunks at you, and so on.
...Oh yeah, you can fail Tattles. Somehow.
There's one thing that makes Pokey fun to fight: If you Superguard the attack where it throws a piece of itself at you, the projectile bounces back into Pokey's face and does the damage it was supposed to do to itself. This is a huge help dealing with its stronger recolour, but it's mildly frustrating it's 1 damage short of oneshotting itself.
I needed that...
Hey, I can always bonk him twice.
...It's formations like this that tell you the Pit is about getting you to show you're good at the game. We fought something similar last time, and it was tricky. If we can't do it again, we've got no business down here.
Let's try some new tricks while we have Quick Change.
Also this.
...That's going to fire at the least convenient time, isn't it?
Guess not.
Thank you!
Forgot what it was like to have to do the normal attack...
Pine T. Sr. can be found on Floor 18, and Floor 18 specifically.
We just need to talk to him after we've taken out the Pokey in the room.
That's Pine T. Sr., the Toad. He's the father of Pine T. Jr., who asked us to help him out. We gotta help Pine T. Sr. quickly, for his son's sake!
And yes, that's his name.
He will follow us down the pipe once we have opened it up. And will continue to do so as we press on.
Once we enter a rest room with an exit, Pine T. Sr. will immediately rush to leave.
Now is the time to mention a mechanic I was hoping we'd have seen first, but no matter. Randomly, you will find a Puni called a Mover instead of an enemy on a floor, and they can allow you to skip a few floors for money. You can accidentally skip Pine T. if you're not careful, but more importantly, Floor 19 can spawn a Mover and allow you to skip the rest floor. If you have the absolutely fantastic luck of getting another seven Movers perfectly positioned to get you to the bottom of the Pit without hitting a single other Rest Floor, you can totally escort Pine T. Sr. to meet the superboss of the pit. He has no unique dialogue for it, but he doesn't crash the game. Even if I'm not sure he's using explicit pathing.
Anyway, Fire Drive (3 BP) gives you a 5 FP move that does 5 fire damage to the first enemy in the line, 4 to the second, 3 to the third, 2 to the fourth, 1 to the fifth, and applies the Burn status, dealing passive damage. Burn is always applied unless the enemy is resistant to it, but as an attack, this one only really works if you're really strapped for better. 5 FP is just a huge cost for something that diminishing.
Besides, I think it only applies to grounded enemies.
Fire Drive seems like a pretty bad place to stop, so let's go deeper.
That's a Spiky Gloomba. It's a Spiky Goomba that likes dark places. Max HP is 7, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. Its Attack is pretty high, huh? I'm sure you know this, but try not to jump on the spike. I wonder if I'd look like that if I stayed down here long enough? …I'd rather not think about that. Are there tanning salons in Rogueport?
Don't worry, Goombella, I'm sure that's not how it works. Spiky Gloomba is the new enemy of Floors 21-30, although to us, everything is new. And oh man, if that isn't a welcoming first formation.
The formation order will be Spiky Gloomba, Bandit, Lakitu, Bob-omb, Boo. We'll meet Bandit, Lakitu and Bob-omb in Chapter 3 (Boo waits until Chapter 4), and in the interests of not overloading us with Tattles, I'd better save the Chapter 3 ones for Chapter 3 itself. They work mostly the same as they do in 64 anyway.
Clock Out demonstration. You mash any button you please, although the bomb will be over the group the button is.
The buttons can switch during the mash. I usually like to keep the bomb on the enemy, although I don't know if there's any reason not to mash on yourself or the audience and throw it to the enemy later on.
Perfect. I need to get plenty of Tattles here and all of these enemies are things I do not want to let run around unattended during that time.
And I think Earth Tremor may be a necessity.
...Thank you.
And that was even more perfectly timed.
Of course I am.
That's a Boo. It's everyone's favorite ghost. …Well, most everyone… Max HP is 7, Attack is 3, and Defense is 0. It's nothing to write home about on the Attack side, but it can turn invisible. If it turns invisible, we won't be able to hit it, so beat it while you can see it. Boos are kinda cute, but I sure wouldn't want to meet one in a dark alley. If I ran into one in the bathroom in the middle of the night, I'd… Well, never you mind what I'd do.
Boo is a new enemy to TTYD- we met plenty in 64, but none of them were hostile. They can scare us for 3 damage, or they can turn invisible for a turn. They can also apply their invisibility to an ally. They can also get all Boos to fly at flying height, so they can't get hurt by ground attacks, but that's small change when we get to them. Here, though, we're going to need some ground attacks.
Fortunately, Mario is so strong he can Jump them down.
...What a thief.
That one managed.
...And I didn't even knock it out of his hands?
That was weird.
And for some strange reason, it meant I had to redo the fight afterwards.
Clearly, the answer is Earth Tremor. I cannot deal with letting them live. The Bandit enemies seem just fine here in TTYD, but in both places they appear, their signature gimmick works against the functionality the game demands of them.
Well, that made it worth it. Free Refund from an enemy drop means I don't have to buy it from the Pianta Parlour later.
...
Who's ready to hate themselves?
We need to get them to spawn a Spiny so Goombella can pick up the Tattle. But oh man, fighting Lakitu sucks. They've been nerfed to 5 HP for being a Chapter 3 enemy (and Spines also went from 5 HP to 3, albeit at no Def reduction), but in exchange, both of them get the most annoying attacks of all time.
Lakitu can end its turn by holding a Spiny Egg over his head, making him Spiny for the turn and not even counting as his action.
Spiny can, instead of attacking, roll back up into his Spiny Egg form and make himself immune to damage for the turn.
Yes, counting Earth Tremor.
I cannot overstate how bad it is fighting Lakitu. I am so glad I get the Tattles here rather than in Chapter 3.
Sadly, they're immune to Lip Lock by contact damage.
I tried.
Please don't mock me for trying.
Since we're demonstrating Super Moves, and I have a bit of an issue, here's Shell Shield in action. The "OK" moves left and right along the bar, and the closer it is to the middle, the more HP the shield starts with.
So, uh...
Did anyone notice I don't really have a way to get through 3 Def?
I am stalling for Earth Tremor because that's the only way I can kill Spinies without Superguards.
And what a perfect fight to follow that up on. Bob-ombs have a point of Defence now, but they still have the "hit them and they blow up on your next action" clause. So, not even Power Plus P Koops can trivialise them.
Fire Drive could, if I had the FP for it.
Oi!
I think now might be the time to go for Fire Drive.
This attack has a weird timing: You hold the hammer back, and wait for a fireball to drop in front of you. You then must hit it for the attack to connect. High stakes for such a high-FP, low power move. There isn't even a cross-hair.
But that blows up all the Bob-ombs regardless of entitled damage.
Healing!
MORE HEALING!
Too many Spiky Gloombas. I think the Jump-heavy strat may have been ill-advised- at least it meant I oneshot Boos.
And he can always miss.
...Yay?
I mean, this seems like the perfect opportunity to use it, at least.
No more Spinies.
Huh, Mario does enough damage to oneshot a bomb.
Please stop. This is enough of an endurance round without you lot.
"Bet you wish you had a Hammer right now, huh?"
There we go. Zap Tap (3 BP) isn't quite so powerful since it only applies to Mario (and I feel like there's less enemies who get zapped in general), but it has its uses, and it's a far better prize than Fire Drive. There's no Zap Tap P, incidentally.
We are outta here. Sorry, Strange Sack, I don't think I'm ready to get you.
He seemed just fine. If a little disappointed he didn't make it any further.
Yeah. Job pickings might be slim, but there has to be a job out there that isn't "go into the Pit of 100 Trials". This is Rogueport, so I'll understand if legal work is a bit of slim pickings, but...
...Shouldn't you be using this to help your Dad out?
Never mind, this is probably encouraging him to spend money.
A family, reunited at last.
Might as well turn it in.
Huh. They really kept this dialogue as card-neutral as possible. You'd think they'd want her to sell the minigames we're unlocking.
So how does one make a minigame out of Paper Mode?
Apparently, a footrace. Welcome to Fall Guys circa 2004!
In this game, you have to get paper-thin to avoid the wind and get to the finish. If you don't turn paper-thin as soon as the wind starts blowing... You'll get blown away! If you fall off the track, you'll lose. The higher you place, the more piantas you win. And there are also bonuses associated with your place, so finish as quick as possible. The quickest way to get to the end is to choose paths that don't require jumping! Good luck!
While in normal form, Mario outstrips everyone with ease. While in Paper Mode, you do not blown away by the wind. Everyone else is a lot more cautious about Paper Mode, so if you play it risky, you can make some huge headway.
Oh yeah, and the random spawns change every run.
That's almost a free 5 Piantas a go.
...10.
...Genuine question, who are all these other people, if they don't count to the high scoreboard?
I feel like that one should not count. Just throw out the idea of even getting a high score on it, how do you high score in a race?
Huh. Zess T. cooks for other people. Probably doesn't charge them- she has the perfect excuse to charge us.
...So you can gain and lose weight? I can't imagine losing weight is too easy when your job involves a lot of standing still and teleporting.
...Uh... OK. Not sure why she's keeping it secret from Peeka- is she going to tease her about it?
The Silver Card gets us Power Smash and Multibounce for damage stacking, HP Plus P (6 BP) for shoring up your Partner bulk, and Gold Bar x3 for "free" money. That's a lot of minigame grinding for it, though.
HP Plus P costs extra over Mario's HP Plus, which I think is because one HP Plus P gets us a full 15 extra HP to work with- and by the end of the game, that'll be 35. Sure, that requires switching (and hoping the partner takes all your damage for Mario), but switching Partners is a pretty good way of sharing the burden of your damage input.
That's the full 300 paid to Lumpy. I think he leaves now, and he won't be back until after Chapter 6 or so. We'll get our money back eventually.
Also found this walking around. I'm sure we'll find out more later, but neat that it's here early.
Anyway, off to visit the Pianta Syndicate. We know the way in, so a quick aside to talk about Piantas. Piantas are a purely friendly race, first introduced in Super Mario Sunshine as the major population of Isle Defino, a tropical island paradise that Mario and Peach travel to on vacation. Their hobbies include throwing Mario around ("I'm a chuckster!") and performing tropical dances. They are also a showcase of one of Mario's issues with narrative.
Super Mario Sunshine is probably the platformer with the most prominent story. Isle Delfino is terrorised by a shadowy doppelganger of Mario (actually Bowser Jr. in disguise), who is spreading graffiti across the island and cutting off the life force of the island, the Shine Sprites. Upon landing in Isle Delfino, Mario is immediately arrested on suspicion of being the culprit. He is quickly sentenced to community service in cleaning up the graffiti, in a trial that is, narratively speaking, more of an excuse for exposition than an actual attempt to assess guilt, and as a result, it is more rigged than many kangaroo trials. Considering it wasn't even particularly necessary to get Mario's help to solve the problem- Mario was already cleaning graffiti by the time he is arrested- the utter stupidity of the trial left the Piantas as not inspiring the greatest of memories in player's minds. As such, they usually appear only when later games include tropical levels for them to inhabit.
TTYD, one of the most plotty games in the series and an almost immediate successor to Sunshine, including Piantas knee-deep in crime and having the long arm of the law under their thumb was a not-unexpected addition to the lore. Good luck ever looking at Piantas without raising an eyebrow in suspicion again.
We still have Vinny, Tony and the Don himself, but Frankie and Francesca have moved on.
Oh great, we caught the Don in a bad mood. Maybe we should reconsider...
Mario: I'm not funny, sir.
Goombella: He's not funny, sir.
Technically calming them down!
Whose idea was this? We needed a better one.
Don Pianta, fortunately, is impressed enough at the sheer size of Mario's nose that he is willing to overlook his presumptuousness and is willing to conduct negotiations.
Some negotiations. I'm amazed the Piantas don't commit murders by throwing them out the window.
...Well, we have a fantastic reason, but...
Wait, back up, Mario's goal is just to save Peach? We also, as of right now, believe collecting the Crystal Stars has nothing to do with saving Peach. There are reasons Mario must collect the Stars to get on Peach's trail, but Mario is not currently aware of any.
It might be possible Don Pianta is the mistaken one here. Either way, no mention seems to be made of the treasure we're looking for.
Vinny has to mention that bit.
Tony is less impressed.
Koops: Um... Excuse me, but, uh... That's not true! The treasure is real! Honest!
Flurrie: Bite your tongue! Don't listen to that lout! The treasure is as real as I am!
Not yet proven, please do not claim otherwise in a situation with these stakes.
Don Pianta decides now is not the time to debate the semantics of this point.
But if Mario wants to help a cute girl, Don Pianta's amiable to being of assistance.
Better than I expected. Considering some of the things I did for 20 coins in the Trouble, probably doesn't even push my ethical boundaries!
Koops: Sure! We can do anything! What is it?
Flurrie: I'm not entirely sure I like the sound of this...
As expected, Goombella and Flurrie know what they're getting into, while Koops is blissfully ignorant. You are not leaving your village when you go back home, Koops. You will be eaten alive in Rogueport.
Fortunately for the game's rating, Don Pianta is not asking us to do anything illegal this time.
His daughter has eloped in a paramour Don Pianta did not appreciate, and he would like to track her down, bring her back, and rectify this error.
...OK, the Don is probably going to be doing some illegal (or unconscionable) activities once we succeed, but the scope and victims are outside my knowledge and I will be happy to leave it there.
We don't even have to bring them back ourselves, just leave him with enough information to do it himself. If they're in Rogueport, there's not much they can do without him being informed.
I almost wish they had him grab a palm tree as a club and punctuate this thought by pounding it into his bare palm.
It's a Mario game, he's not going to pump it like a tommy gun.
Vinny objects to this plan. This is an internal matter to the Syndicate.
And surely Vinny and Tony are a smarter resource to draw upon.
He tried that. They failed.
They do not have a foot to stand on to object to Don Pianta's Plan B.
They are the best ass-kissers.
We already saw them earlier, but if we hadn't, we at least have an idea. And yes, they are still in Rogueport.
We have stepped in some deep crap.
Frankie and Francesca are in the port, waiting for a boat, in all likelihood.
That's Francesca the Pianta. She's "well connected," get me? Her dad's a big boss. She doesn't crave money or power or anything like that, though. She lives for love. Doesn't that, like, totally melt your heart? People could learn from this girl!
That's Francesca's boyfriend, Frankie. He's the future of the Pianta syndicate. Hard to believe, isn't it? Still, he's the number-two guy after Don Pianta. You'd think he'd be this tough guy, but Francesca has him eating out of her hand.
Frankie and Francesca's intended first Tattles.
Considering they're on the run from Don Pianta, probably an appropriate reaction. Maybe even reserved, since a lot of people could be a lot more forward about capturing her and bringing her back.
As it is, Francesca is feeling the pinch of her father's grasp.
Safety was that close. Depending on how close it is, she may still be able to abscond before we can actually manage to bring consequences on her.
Frankie is starting to get some cold feet. He knows what Don Pianta is capable of.
So is Francesca, but she knows the consequences more than she knows the methods. Frankie knows exactly how the Don can catch up, he's probably been in our shoes before.
I would not place bets on that.
Francesca seems to be doubting Frankie's commitment at this point.
She expects him to follow her anywhere. Frankie's just fine with that, he's a little more pessimistic about the practical aspect.
The Don will find them. And the harder they make it, the angrier he'll be when he arrives.
Francesca believes in a fairy tale "everything will work out if we really love each other". Considering she's raised by the Don, who'd do anything for her, so she probably has some basis. She just seems a little uninformed about how exactly he went about accomplishing that.
...I dislike both of these options. This is not a sufficiently tear jerking story.
Response if we say we'll stay quiet.
And if we don't.
Koops: Umm... What should we do? I mean, I guess we should go tell Don Pianta something. But I... I don't want our luck to turn terrible... Whatever THAT means!
Flurrie: Oh, whatever should we do? We have to say SOMETHING to that Don Pianta fellow... I must say, though... I don't fancy a run of terrible luck. That would be unfortunate.
No matter which option you pick, we do still need to talk to the Don, and...
I'll do my best.
Let's not lie. I have half a mind to live to see my next birthday.
He even keeps his end of the promise!
Watch them somehow mess this up.
No matter which option you picked, Francesca will barge in right after you.
What? I must be goin' deaf. Did you just say to me dat you couldn't tell me? You come waltzin' in here an' say dat to me? To ME?!? Do I look like a sucker to you? I warned you, wise guy! Fine! We're gonna need a mop to pick up what's left of you!
Dialogue if you happen to keep the secret. Yeah, uh, I think we made the right call.
Between both optional dialogue branches, why exactly they've chosen come back feels a bit more esoteric. Francesca seemed pretty against this, although perhaps Frankie has impressed on her what might happen to Mario if they leave him in the lurch.
His position is much more tenuous than Francesca's.
Yeah, no matter what happened, Frankie is definitely the one who came back.
Frankie is just making sure that the Don doesn't turn his back on family. Frankie's made his bed, he's going to lie in it.
Not in that way, please.
...How long can you two go at this?
Don Pianta gets impatient, and yells at everyone to shut up.
...Oh dear.
Frankie was a favourite mook of the Don. Well, was.
This line feels like a reference to a famous mobster movie, but it's not one I've seen. Probably Casablanca or Godfather.
The Don has gotten so annoyed that he ultimately doesn't want the satisfaction of killing them, and decides to send them into exile.
Which, you know, is exactly what they wanted to do anyway.
Go Frankie. He had one line and he botched it.
The kids recognise Don's acceptance of them doing what they want, and thank him directly to his face.
The Don is trying to keep his dignity here, guys, please respect that.
Vinny is more encouraging.
Apparently these two were letting Frankie and Francesca get away. No wonder they were failing. That makes our arrival a bit of a spanner in the works for the syndicate.
Seems everything worked out?
We've been kicked out of a conversation state, although we don't have the tickets we need. Vinny reminds us of that fact.
Tony doesn't seem to care.
We did, technically, do as the Don asked.
He didn't like how things ended, but he can't exactly blame us for it, we had nothing to do with the trainwreck.
Don Pianta upholds his end of the deal and gives us what we asked for.
The Don does kinda like the idea of Frankie and Francesca. It's entirely on his ego that he hasn't done more for them. Or even so much as admitted it's working out.
...I guess we can count ourselves exactly as lucky as Frankie and Francesca. Better than the alternative.
From the Don, that is probably high praise.
Ideally, we won't have to test that, but I'm liking that interpretation. I wouldn't bet my life on it, but...
Of course he was. He was being an overly protective father, but he's also an overly protective Godfather, so the fragile masculinity issues are simultaneously more important and less important.
Ultimately, this is a Mario game, so while we are told Don Pianta is a scary mob boss with a list of crimes matching some of history's greatest crooks, and he certainly threatens such crimes, he does not actually live up to his reputation. This isn't unusual for child-friendly mobsters, and we had them beating the crap out of one of the Robbos earlier to prove they're not bluffing, but ultimately, Frankly and everyone gets ultimately far too comfortable with knowing a mafia don. I'm not asking for someone to be put in cement shoes, but as he is, he's basically a friendly old man constantly promising abusive behaviour in much the same way your grandfather keeps talking about spanking misbehaving children.
Off we go to Glitzville, though.
...What an email to get after risking our life than that?
Mario! Koops! How are you boys doing?
I'm just amazed... I had no idea a machine like this could be used to send messages! Technology! Wow!
I'm doing great, drinking fresh springwater, picking wildflowers, polishing my shell... This town seemed so boring ten years ago, but I see the world differently now. I bet you'll like Petalburg more than you used to once you get back from YOUR adventure, Koops!
So, where are you headed next? I want you to see the wide world, Son; it'll be good for you! But don't go TOO far past that front door! Aah ha ha ha!
From, Koopley
Wow, you've been in Hooktail's belly for a long time. I think Koops'll like the place we're going in this quest.
Speaking of: Flying Wrestling Town.
Don't forget to grab this as you head up.
All you need to do is walk into the basket under the blimp and press A.
We get a nice, longer cutscene of the blimp ride for the first time, and this is the theme. This longer cutscene, and the 3D model of the blimp that appears here, only appears the first time around. After this, the blimp animation is entirely in 2D, and is much quicker- only really showing the landing.
Next time: Landing in glitz and glory.
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