I need someone to go to 50th floor of Pit of 100 Trials for me, SHA-BOOM! So I need someone pretty tough, SHA-PLOWIE! For details, please see me next to cannon statue in Fahr Outpost, SHA-BOOMITY!
Now then, you may or may not have noticed I "forgot" to finish up one of the Tattles. That's because, to finish it up, I'll need to actually go into the Pit. And I'm not going that deep without finishing the whole thing while I'm there.
This is the guy we're talking to, incidentally.
That's... an interesting myth. The Pit of 100 Trials was originally founded as a torture chamber for the Shadow Queen's enemies, and most people understand it to be not work going back to, for obvious reasons. Where would this come from?
...OK, yeah, this sounds exactly like the sort of thing some drunk idiots would dare each other to do. Nobody was exactly expecting him to do it.
In his shame, he asks that we erase his accomplishment. No one's going to verify one way or the other on this one, mate.
I mean, what's he going to do? Go down there and check? The whole point is that most people don't do that sort of thing.
I promise I'll do it. Although perhaps I should've brought a camera.
Going into the Pit, I have packed... a lot of Jellies and Ultras. Scoff at the philosophy of "I might need it later" as you please, this is that later.
Of course, we can't go without Power, Power, Power. At first to wipe out the easier hordes, and then to keep up with the later ones. Quick Change, of course, to keep up a diverse portfolio of attacks to launch per round, Flower Saver to help spam powerful herd-hitting moves, and Heart Finder to make sure we can brush off scratches as we get them.
Power Shell is oneshotting formations. At like 2FP a pop. This can't be anything other than worth it.
Oh, sure, that's gonna help you.
These formations always giving me exciting decisions to make.
Fortunately, Dr. Agon is good at dealing with Koopas.
Also got plenty of Movers in the first few sections. We've seen me get to floor 50 already.
Suffice it to say we're not scared of anything on the way down.
I usually don't go out of my way to check, but it might actually be possible this graffiti is always here, instead of being inscribed only when you do the Trouble. Not that I think you're in much luck if it is. Maybe.
A relatively ordinary wish, more or less. Although the soccer team bit was absolutely worth a laugh. Can Bob-ombs play soccer?
There is absolutely no erasing this graffiti through conventional tactics.
...Just blow up the wall it's on? Sounds good.
At any rate, down we go to Floors 51-59. These floors will contain, in order, Badge Bandit, Ice Puff, Dark Boo, Red Chomp and Moon Cleft. Could we have done this before Chapter 6? Probably. Few Chapter 7 enemies in there, but had the reward been worth it, I'm sure I would've found something.
That's a Badge Bandit. He's a Bandit who'll go after your badges. That jerk! Max HP is 12, Attack is 5, and Defense is 0. He has high Attack power and HP. He sometimes steals a badge when he tackles you, so use your Guard carefully. And even if he gets one, keep your cool, OK? If he runs from the battle, you can always find him and reengage him.
Badge Bandit is an otherwise ordinary bandit who has managed to learn how to rob you of your hard-earned Badges. Fortunately, because of the mechanics of the Pit, it's impossible to lose them permanently, but it can get frustrating in a hurry if you can't handle them effectively. They can also rob you of coins and items, like Bandits and Big Bandits respectively.
I'm not scared of this floor.
Huh- Mr. Mover is here to move me down to something more threatening.
...Somewhat ironically, I reckon I can say that counts.
The Red Chomps, of course, we can handle. Although even though they're "Chapter 3 enemies", that isn't necessarily the case. You have Gulp, if it comes down to that.
The reward for making your way through to Floor 60 is another copy of Double Dip. You cannot find these through random chance, and when you equip both, you get the effects of 64's Triple Dip. Not a strategy I'd use, but hey, since we have picked up the Strange Sack...
Floors 61-69 use the enemies Dark Lakitu, Dry Bones, Dark Wizzerd, Frost Piranha and Dark Craw. Yep, we're making our way through the high-ranked Glitz Pit fighters as regular enemies down in this back half. Also some Chapter 8 enemies- although of course, I'm fairly sure going through the Pit is a good way of bumping into spoilers regardless.
That's a Dark Lakitu. It rides a rain cloud. Max HP is 13, Attack is 5, and Defense is 0. It attacks by throwing pipes at you. If it's holding up a pipe when you jump on it, you'll get hurt. And sometimes the pipes it throws turn into Sky-Blue Spinies. Whoa! If you only attack the Spinies, you'll never win, so go after the Dark Lakitu!
This rusty-looking fellow is Dark Lakitu, and... uh, pipes? That's a mistranslation at work. Spiny Eggs (the ball form Spinies take after Lakitu throws them but before they hit the ground) have always been known as パイポ "Paipo" in Japan- the name comes from the same Japanese fairy tale that Lakitu's JP name "Jugem" comes from. How exactly the translators messed up a series standard translation is another question.
Something Goombella doesn't bring up, but they can charge +5 Atk for a Thunder Throw on their next turn, in addition to traditional Lakitu garbage.
Drat, not getting rid of this Wizzerd in one turn with my current set. I think I've turned off some of my Atk Ups so I can fit in Flower Finder- this is where that's coming back to be its own issue.
That's a Sky-Blue Spiny. It appeared from a pipe thrown by the Dark Lakitu. Max HP is 6, Attack is 6, and Defense is 4. It'll totally charge at you! Sometimes it balls up to defend and store energy for an attack. If you can, beat it and any buddies it may have with a special attack.
Sky-Blue Spinies are mostly original to TTYD, but I think they're possibly being inspired by the fastest recolour Spiny could get in the ports of Mario Bros. that use Spinies- or, you know, the first attempt by Nintendo to answer the question of which Mario turtle does Mario Kart's Spiny Shell come from. These guys can also charge up a +6 super attack, but Goombella mentioned this one.
As nice as Super Attacks are as an option here, Earth Tremor only hits the 6 damage necessary to kill one at maximum. If you're not adept at finishing the full combo, it might not be the attack to lean on here.
And the less said about this, the better.
At least I can take that one.
Is it weird when I sorta wish Kooper's Fire Shell was still around? Shell Slam will be very important and Fiery Jinx's ability to hit air targets is worth the extra FP, but when everything is on the ground...
At least I didn't really need it.
Dark Craws are still miniature bosses, and even with our massive Atk stats, we're going to need to dedicate multiple actions to taking all the chunks out of that HP bar. Enemies like this only get more common the deeper down the Pit we go. "That miniboss is now a regular enemy" works more weirdly in TTYD, where Atk ups are not plentiful, than they do in conventional RPGs, where levelling up raises your power inherently to the point that a miniboss you had to tread carefully around is legitimately something you can tear into confetti when you find it as an enemy.
Now, the fact we will have to use multiple actions does not mean he's not a chump. Degraded boss or not, he's still using the attack patterns from an early-game miniboss.
And, of course, when there's stuff like Lakitu to take out, the Dark Craw can wait.
Ka-BOOM!
...Always ruining my fun.
Although thankfully, I won't have to deal with this, too.
Double Dip P, so you can apply the Triple Dip effect to your partners.
...It's a reward.
I know I don't need money for anything, but this feels a little ridiculous. I've still got my reserves.
Floors 71-79 will introduce us to Wizzerd, Dark Koopatrol, Phantom Ember, Swoopula and Chain-Chomp. Aside from Dark Koopatrol, everything else comes from Chapter 8. I'd like to get down this deep early, but this is starting to reach the point where my Chapter 6 self is probably pretty reasonable in not doing. Also because of all the Star Points I would get and get no level ups in the chapters themselves.
That's a Wizzerd. It's a part-machine, part-organic, centuries-old thing. Max HP is 10, Attack is 6, and Defense is 3. It uses magic to attack, heal, and alter your condition, so stay on guard. Its Defense is high, but we can totally take this thing!
The Wizzerd is the new enemy of the Pit, although it still manages to be confusing in that it comes after Dark Wizzerd even in the context of itself. Wizzerds have their piercing laser and lightning attacks, can try to apply the Confused status, raise their stats, and even recover 6 of their HP. So, you know, keep on your toes as you would any wizard.
...Not helped by these matters. Who let this dumb mechanic into the game Pit?
...Help me here, Bobbery, don't tell me Bob-ombast doesn't actually have the Fog-clearing effect. Your appeal does!
Random evasion penalties are never fun. I have said it before, and I will say it as many times as necessary. TTYD loses a whole lot from having this.
At least this should hit.
As we saw last time, as long as you have the Spike Shield (or Quake Hammer) to flip a Dark Koopatrol over, it's not a threat no matter how much HP you have to chew through.
Although some of these bigger formations promise fun and exciting ways to choose your order of operations from turn 1.
This can stay down while I deal with everything else.
The Swoopula was the best choice, this thing doesn't do much.
Keeping him on his back. And also, did you notice?
That would have made him difficult to engage. (I think it applies to him and not his friends.)
...Not that he isn't already.
Superguarding will do vital damage.
Although Ms. Mowz had us covered after all.
Now that we're getting tangible Star Points, we can get some more stats. FP is actually going to matter down here-
MEEP! The Superstar stage is something you're not likely to see in the main story, at least, but if you're here, your stage can start doing pyrotechnics and burns you, and you get two rare stage drops of a Bowser statue and a meteor strike, both of which can inflict Confuse or Dizzy. Shame most people are going to miss those actually cool stage drops, but at least they won't have to deal with the status effects.
At least the stage is beautiful.
So much for that Fiery Jinx.
...Why did I take this off? At least we have room for it somewhere in the build.
Now there are two of them! This might be nice to have Quake Hammer ready.
Also Gulp. Gulp can work.
Although, while they are flipped, Goombella or the Doc can keep them on their back even if they don't have access to Spike Shield.
This doesn't count as a flip.
...Well, if that isn't something to look forward to.
At least I can't hit myself with this.
(Actually, I think I can.)
Look at that payout! Try not to think about how it's all useless. Besides, a freebie Boo's Sheet!
That is rather a lot of fire.
Completing Floor 80, finally, gets us Bump Attack (5BP). This would have made backtracking so much more pleasant. Just saying. (As a reminder, 64 got this from Rip Cheato for 192 coins any time after getting Sushie and beating whichever Blooper is guarding that pipe).
Floors 81-89 feature Spunia, Dark Bristle, Arantula, Piranha Plant and Spunia in the fifth slot.
Spunia, we've seen before, hanging around in the corners of the Rogueport, but now we'll be expected to fight them in numbers- or at least teamed up with things we couldn't oneshot before.
...Well, when we can see them.
Counterplay to a gimmick only really helps much if the gimmick actually gets countered by it.
But that is Star Points worth bringing home.
That's a Dark Bristle. It's an ancient creature made of rock. Max HP is 8, Attack is 8, and Defense is 4. You can't jump on it because of its spikes, and you can't approach due to its spears. AND its Defense is high. You'd better take it out with special attacks or items.
Dark Bristle only has the one attack to throw at you, but Bristles were always better as a defensive enemy. Spike Shield, Quake Hammer, and Special Attacks (Art Attack or Supernova, Earth Tremor doesn't cut it anymore) are the standard ways to take these guys out, although I would be remiss if I didn't point out Shell Slam as a candidate. Fortunately, only Floors 82 and 87 will ever pit you against more than one of them, and even they keep it to two at most.
Even Spike Shield pits you up against that Defence score.
Here's that Shell Slam in action. With Koops' Power Pluses, he's enough to cover me for these, although Shell Slam does have a cost to it.
Now those are some pyrotechnics.
...We are made of paper, though.
That's an Arantula. It's a spiderlike creature that lives deep underground. Max HP is 16, Attack is 7, and Defense is 0. Yeah… It's pretty tough. It'll spit web-wads at you. Sometimes it even attacks several times in a row. That coloring freaks me out. …I'm kinda scared of spiders. So let's do this quickly!!
Arantula, of course, is an advanced variant of the Pider, trading that colourless theme from Boggly Woods and instead having a token resemblance to the redback spider. Fortunately, they won't be levying that bite on you, instead sticking to the web spit (7 damage on the single blow, 4 damage apiece on the triple blow). If there are an even number of Arantulas, they will occupy the top and bottom of the line. If there an odd number, they will all occupy the same level. If you somehow stop an Arantula from moving, no other Arantulas will move.
That's a Piranha Plant. In fact, I think this is the strongest type of them all. Max HP is 15, Attack is 9 and Defense is 0. Its Attack power is absurdly high… It may look like a normal Piranha Plant, but don't be fooled! It's super-tough! If we get beaten by a flower, we'll never hear the end of it, know what I mean?
Piranha Plant, sporting a near-match of Piranha Plant's classic design but for those golden teeth, is not, in fact, the Piranha Plant we know and love. Japanese, French and German deem it the Killer Piranha, and indeed, Viridi's list of Piranha Plants in Smash Ultimate will include it in Japanese (whether French and German do is a bit more out-of-the-way to track down). Their only attack is that 9 Atk bite- no poison or anything to keep on your toes for.
Although 9 Atk is currently one fifth of my HP. Did you know the Piranha Plant floors can spawn them in groups of four?
It would help if I actually managed to land an Action Command Jump on them.
Any time they hit the partner is excellent news.
They sure do love their Spunia lineups. Floor 85 will only have Spunias- either three, four or five. I seem to have got lucky. Or perhaps unlucky.
I say lucky because I have screen-clearing.
It would be nice if these pierced their Defence points.
Sadly, we're a ways off from the next level up, so Sweet Feast will pose necessary.
Although we'll probably get another one before floor 90.
On one hand, I'm on full HP.
...Actually, I don't think there was a second hand here.
Hoping this works...
Wow, it does.
I'm impressed.
...Uh, why are these burning in the middle of a fight?
Never mind, didn't get that level. There'll be plenty of time for it next set.
Lucky Day (7 BP), if you want a copy outside Lucky's Happy Lottery, is found down here. It only works on Mario and there's no Lucky Day P, which makes it less fun than it was in 64, but I suppose it made the most sense for this to be the final Badge before the ending. Although what could possibly wait for us at the bottom...?
The final prices on Charlieton's items. Wow, that's steep. I've got money to burn, but also little in the way of need for it. Although perhaps the Maples...
Floors 91-99 can spawn Elite Wizzerds, Poison Puffs, Bob-ulks, Swampires and Elite Wizzerd again in the last slot. Unlike the rest of the Pit, however, Elite Wizzerd is set to appear on Floors 91, 95 and 99, while the other three enemies appear in order in the floors between. There's also one more enemy that lives in these floors, but you can't find it on the overworld.
That's an Elite Wizzerd. This is the top of the heap for half-machine organisms. Max HP is 12, Attack is 8, and Defense is 5. You can probably guess this, but it uses various magic moves in battle. And, if it's alone, it'll create illusions of itself. It has no real weakness. So just use whatever you've got to beat it, OK? Let's go, Mario!!
Tickle (8), Laser Beam (8, Piercing), Lightning Storm (8), Power Up (Raises Stats), Recover (Heals 10 HP), Clone (creates illusions when alone)
Elite Wizzerd is the scariest enemy TTYD can throw at you, and oh boy, is it scary. It doesn't have that much new in its toolkit compared to Wizzerd (in fact, it can't even apply any status effects), but it makes up for it with a 10 HP heal reinforcing that absolutely ludicrous bulk. Five points of defence? Hope you have something to get through that, because you will be demanded it.
That's a Poison Puff. Basically just a puff of poisonous air. Max HP is 15, Attack is 8, and Defense is 0. Its poison-gas attack is 10! These things charge you, but they also save up toxins and poison you with them. Scum! Plus, you can't touch them when they're saving up toxins or you'll get hurt. Lame!
Poison Puff is more than appropriate as the final variant of Ruff Puff. Their Poison state cannot be blocked by any damage, and instead of doing 1 point of knockback, it hits you with half the damage you would've dealt, like a Spite Pouch. Their Poison Breath does 10 Piercing damage and inflicts Poison. 15 HP is a really difficult number to deal with cleanly, and this will be a trend among things down on these floors.
You absolutely must be willing to throw out your A game. And you have nine of these fights to do in a row.
Didn't even kill the Poison Puffs with that one, just making sure the Elite Wizzerd went down. Mostly because Art Attack isn't great with these controls.
Now that I could use!
Although I did wind up getting that level...
Aha! There we go! Amazy Dayzee appears in one of the three possible formations on each floor other than the floors occupied by Elite Wizzerds- and if you get one to spawn on Swampire's floors, those formations have two in them!
And with all these Atk buffs, we can definitely take them before they run now.
That's a Swampire. It's a feared health-sucker that hides in the darkness. Max HP is 20, Attack is 6, and Defense is 0. It sucks health from its prey to add to its own HP. And that…totally grosses me out like you wouldn't believe. If you let it feast on you, its HP will get really high. Focus your attacks on it!
That green Swooper up there is Swampire, with a green colouration that brings to mind the Swooper's classic design from Super Mario World (although perhaps not exactly the same shade). Their only attack is that 6 HP leech, and with 20 HP to chew through, you'd rather them not get those back.
Anyway, back to that Amazy Dayzee I was dealing with.
There's Swampire having its fun.
...At least we're that much closer to the next level up?
I think the time has come to throw this one out.
At least when it's alone, we can focus fire and outpace the healing. Fortunately, they usually will be.
...Unless you're on the Swampire floors, in which case there can be five of them.
Fifty Star Points. Plus change from everything else in that fight.
...Oh. You lot.
That's a Bob-ulk. That's… easily the biggest Bob-omb I've ever seen! Max HP is 10, Attack is 4, and Defense is 2. It won't attack, but once its fuse is lit, it'll explode after a while. So the problem is... how to beat it before it goes off. I mean, its bomb attack has a power of 16! That's no joke. Seriously, watch out for that. Just go all out to beat it. Pull out all the stops. Or you could just set it off early with fire or explosions. Your call.
Bob-ulk, rather fortunately, has the same leisurely pattern of lighting its fuse, giving itself +3 Def, then +3 Atk, then +9 Atk, and then exploding for that utterly, utterly painful 16 damage. Fortunately, four damage isn't that much if you want to explode it, and hey, it might even help if they spawn in formation with something annoying (they don't, really, although they can show up with an Elite Wizzerd...). On the other hand, if they do, there's no Fiery Jinxing or Bob-ombasting, leaving you with few options to hit everything on the screen that won't also blow them up. This is probably by design, although it does of course limit options in general.
Literally useless, but sure.
I wasn't expecting that to be how their Def buffs worked.
I'd say go for Shell Slam on these guys, but considering I still had another two turns before they blew up, I could afford to go light.
...I'm amazed that killed the one in the middle. Two damage. I'm almost disappointed.
Meant I had to take the hit from this guy.
Fortunately, another Amazy Dayzee to make everything all better.
...Once I get past the rest of the formation.
Thank you, switching partners. Swampire still sucks, but I can deal with that.
And hey, if I'm about to get a free heal...
Yeah, seemed like a good idea, considering the damage numbers being thrown at us.
When everything on the field needs to have their Defence pierced, Koops really is the way to go. I've underappreciated him over the years. Or perhaps Shell Slam is only really good down here.
Got the five Swampires on the second round. Yeah, this is going to suck.
Just clear them. I will admit, I did think I had more breathing room than I did with Star Power.
But this is the last floor, and I was lucky enough to avoid the game's worst trick: All three Elite Wizzerd rooms have a formation of five of the bastards. Unless you can oneshot them with Shell Slam and something in Mario's pocket, that might be scarier than what lives on floor 100.
I was lucky I checked this one, to be sure.
So yeah, that Trial Stew. Seems like a good idea to drink it and then follow up with a Jelly Ultra, right? Yeah, it only works in battle, they thought of that. Looks like I'll have to deal with the Star Power I'm given.
The final Badge setup, for a superboss fight. Funnily enough, I also never bothered with this guy: The Pit of 100 Trials is, admittedly, far less scary when you have savestates as opposed to console, and I never really cared about them before. I was fairly sure it had dialogue, too, although I hadn't seen it, so it seemed like I should probably give it a look for the blog.
And so down we go for our cutscene against the thing resting at the bottom of the Pit.
The third dragon mentioned in Grifty's stories, a skeletal remnant of once remained- or perhaps, exactly what the Shadow Queen crafted to be at the bottom of her garbage disposal for people she just doesn't like.
As one might expect, although be vastly disappointed by, Bonetail also copies Hooktail's theme like Gloomtail did.
Truly, the dialogue I came all this way for.
Koops: Yikes! What a grump!
Flurrie: Mercy! Such anger!
Dr. Agon: Whoa! What a psycho!
Vivian: Wow! What a grouch!
Bobbery: Rather a crabby sort, eh?
Ms. Mowz: My! What a crab!
Are all of you this judgemental? I know Bonetail doesn't exactly have the personality to bounce off of, but there were less... coarse ways to express the same thoughts.
That's Bonetail. He's the oldest brother of Hooktail. …So old he's just bones, in fact. Wow. Now THAT'S old. His body's Max HP is 200, his Attack is 8, and his Defense is 2. He has various breaths that might confuse us or put us to sleep. When his HP gets low, he'll recover… or reanimate, as the case may be. He's probably stronger than the last boss, seriously! Let's do this right!
Bonetail can stomp or chomp us, of course, but it's his (her? Goombella went with "him", but like hell I'm trusting Goombella with gendering and the Italian version names it "Ossandra") breaths you have to watch out for. 8 damage, piercing, and has four different colours. The white breath can put you to Sleep, green can Confuse you, purple can Shrink you, and blue can Freeze you. Watch out, because even Feeling Fine doesn't block that Freeze. It can also restore 20 HP to itself, er... somehow, and it can only do so twice- although considering how much damage you have to put up, it probably will get off both heals.
10 damage looks a lot less impressive when it's only like one or two pixels on the HP bar.
Well, got the Shrink.
Perhaps I should've switched her out and given this Power Lift to someone else. Then again, she doesn't unshrink in my pocket.
Net positive!
...8 damage a blow. Yeah, I'm thinking this might've been a time to prefer Bobbery to Goombella.
Not letting that hit me again.
Down in front, Bulky!
That attack is like lightning. Mario's still reeling and they're back to their resting position.
Time for the Doctor.
...How much damage was that, past me? Rolls eyes.
...And there goes the meteor stage drop. Because I needed Dizzy on top of what Bonetail can hit me with.
Lucky Day at least showing its worth.
No, I didn't get it.
I love Dr. Agon throwing Eggs at hecklers.
Although that perfect accuracy seems to have been wasted, somehow managing to Ground Pound right past the snout.
Yes, despite being skeletal (and immune to every other status), Bonetail is still susceptible to Burn. For what those extra points are worth.
When it heals, all it does is call out another mighty "AROOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the likes of which Nixon would be proud of.
So much for the Doc.
Thank you, Lucky Day!
Yeah, without Power Lift, Ground Pound ain't the most impressive thing. ever.
Although I don't have the Star Power to replace it.
Wow, Lucky Day is really showing up. I mean, it has to, for something we only got this late, right?
Honestly, the Defence isn't even worth it, the breaths are piercing.
There we go, that's the damage Dr. Agon is capable of with Power Lift. 4+3+2+1+1+1, that's 12 damage in all- more than Spin Jump, and probably more than what we'd expect from Bobbery.
I don't think the mating call is necessarily a precursor to a heal. Sometimes he just does that.
There goes the backdrop.
I'd rather some hearts right about now...
Yeah, there's the other heal.
Don't you dare-!
Fortunately, I don't think he's capable of it.
31 HP, no more heals... We're very close.
And Mario has enough left to take one more attack.
Have a bonk, pal!
The last of the Shadow Queen's surviving pets will trouble Rogueport no more.
No, seriously, she doesn't come back if you redo the Pit.
Much like the Shadow Queen, because the game is fully aware you're never going to fight anything ever again after beating Bonetail, it chooses not to give you Star Points for it. Although once again, I'm not sure if the one Star Point is an intentional part of this, to make it blatant you're being snubbed, or an oversight from the "always give one Star Point" mercy mechanic also going to these fights. Absolutely hilarious either way.
Like her siblings before her, Bonetail somehow flips itself over in a room that looks far too small for him to manage it.
And despite a lack of an actual... throat, they repeat the same thing as their siblings and huck up the prize for besting her.
Return Postage (7 BP) is... a Badge. It applies the Spite Pouch effect permanently- it is, at least, an improvement on Zap Tap, I guess, but Zap Tap also lets you get by electrified enemies. The Spite Pouch was a disappointing item and not even the Poison Puffs can really sell this as being worth the cost.
If you sell this at the Lovely Howz, it's worth 500 coins sold and the asking price if you want it back is 999. Fitting, but look at our wallet. We do not need the money.
Return Postage is the last of the Badges I needed to fill out the collection. That's 85 Badges of... assorted quality, all somewhere in our inventory.
Bonetail's Tattle was also the last one I needed to fill out the Log. Of course, if you didn't get it during the fight, it will show up in the trash can. Although you will need Goombella to Tattle everything else in the Pit, since you can redo the rest of the floors if you really want to.
(Getting those Amazy Dayzee floors is one of two ways to really get Star Points if you have ambitions about seeing level 99, the game's level cap. The other way is to go find Amazies in Twilight Trail- you'll only ever get one at a time, but it's far less tedious. And when I'm describing the Twilight Trail as less tedious...)
Huh. My inventory is still almost full. Guess I didn't really need it?
This is the lowest floor in the Pit of 100 Trials. A zombified dragon named Bonetail used to protect this room. Yuuuuuck. Mario, I bet you're the first person to make it this far! I totally knew you'd do it! Now let's get out of this creepy place and back to the world above, OK?
And to round this out, a Goombella Tattle for the room itself. I absolutely believe we're the first ones down here that also made it out. Bonetail did have to get down here at some point.
Finally, we've made it out.
I could've gone to any of them, but hey, might as well! I think I have a spare Inn Coupon, but also my wallet is overflowing.
With that said, we do have to go turn in this Trouble before we can say we're done.
I like how he does acknowledge he can't actually be sure we're being truthful about this assertion. He figures we were gone long enough. And certainly look like we've been through the hell that is the Pit of 100 Trials.
He just doesn't realise we went through the other half too.
This is a nice cooked item to add to our inventory. It would be nice if this counted as making the recipe.
Huh, what did I put in my inventory since leaving the Pit?
Have fun with those 22 kids. I'll see if I can talk with Peach into helping you set up the soccer team bit.
What a final reward for a massive Trouble. I'm not even sure I'd bring that with me into the Pit if I was doing the other 50 floors afterward.
For the first and last time in my life, I have finished the Trouble Centre! Making it so you didn't have to do the Koopa Koot favours linearly certainly allowed you to just do the good ones, but that makes it incredibly difficult to justify why you would want to do the bad ones. Perhaps they're intended as traps to make the player waste their time? I don't like that sort of hostile design. In the modern age of game design, I think developers en masse have started to agree, and most things they ask you to spend your time on will actually give you a reward they expect to be worth it, and it's down to the player to decide whether they agree.
...
Well, OK, this is totally something I would expect someone to say to The Mario, but also, Rogueport is still a wretched hive of scum and villainy? I'm not 100% sure what the plan is for this place now that The Legendary Treasure that the whole place was built on has been found and is not for sale, but considering the mafia still has control and it's not like many of these people have the necessary skillsets to reform Rogueport, I think even this town still has troubles that the Trouble Centre could lend a hand with. Were it a tad more altruistic. And allowed one person to pledge support to multiple Troubles at a time.
The lesson capitalists seemed to have learned from this line is to do just enough good to maximise profits, but not so much good that the numbers go back down. I imagine Rogueport is doomed to the same fate.
At any rate, there's something I've not been mentioning until afterwards: There's actually another Wonky story.
So there's that Trouble Center on Rogueport's east side, right... Well, only a few people know about the back entrance to it... Hey, I'm not saying there's anything good in there, but it may be worth a look.
Now that we're done doing everything for this guy, time to learn his name.
That's Goose. Turns out the Trouble Center was being run by him and Ishnail's boys. He may look violent, but he's actually an intellectual. People surprise you, huh?
The Trouble Centre being one of Ishnail's places is something that fits in with Gus's toll and the general "scammy" nature of the place, and you could have of course learned this at any point after getting Flurrie.
He will let you keep doing Troubles without question, I just thought it'd be polite to let him think otherwise.
...They pose the veneer of legitimacy as a way to allow people with illegal (McGoomba), raunchy (Toodles) or just plain embarrassing (Jolene) Troubles to feel comfortable putting them on the board. If they were not part of a mafia desperate for money and running a con that inhibited access to the centre, I would be more willing to take them at their word.
There is a part of me that wonders if the extra layers of world-building around the mafia I've been pointing out- both with this and with the Francesca plotline- are instead based on the writer's misunderstandings of mafia dynamics and trying to keep Rogueport squeaky clean enough for that E rating while still being a wretched hive. Most of this is based on the idea that the Francesca stuff is just traditional 2004-era "whipped husband" jokes. I prefer the other idea, so in the absence of evidence to the contrary, I'm just going to pretend there's a method to the madness.
Not that we could take Troubles by talking to Goose on the main entrance anyway.
Next time: You thought this game was weird?
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