...Is that supposed to be an actual song? Where's the rhythm? The general sense of actual musical talent?
Even O'Chunks is losing steam singing it.
Mimi storms into the room, wearing what I think is an air hostess outfit and being highly irritated with his newfound hobby. It's getting in the way of her me time.
Nastasia taking a creative approach to minion discipline. The fact the motivational tune is so terrible suggests that O'Chunks personally wrote it, and the fact "motivational" is about Bleck speaks volumes. Although perhaps Nastasia gave him some creative prompts.
As a reminder, O'Chunks' second defeat in Chapter 5 happened after Dimentio manipulated him into giving up his autonomy, and he isn't even aware that it happened.
Mimi admires Nastasia's creativity. Enough to set aside the matter that she's being irritated by being forced to listen to it.
Besides, she has a more important question: She's bored. It's been how long since Chapter 2 and she hasn't done anything but play dress-up. At least O'Chunks and Dimentio have been occupying their time between deployments (Dimentio by showing up in chapters that aren't tecnically his, and O'Chunks by having the more involved punishment rituals).
Mr. L barges in and asks for a turn, too. Despite, you know, having had Chapter 4, Mr. L is already ready for his second round. I guess that's how you tell he's the newbie who missed orientation.
Unfortunately for them both, it sounds like mayhem is no longer on the agenda.
To which Mimi points out... that seems like a pretty terrible way of actually winning. Sure, sending minions at us who constantly fail isn't helping, but it's better than just rolling out the welcome mat!
Fitting his status as the newbie, Mr. L reads "we don't need you to do anything" as an invitation to completely ignore his superiors.
Count Bleck meant it a bit more literally, ordering his minions to stand down, period. No transforming, no robots, no nothing.
And with that admonishment, leaves with no further comment.
The only thing these two can officially do is sit here and spin their wheels until they run out of rubber, and Nastasia isn't going to do much to enforce that.
And someone is ready to capitalise on that.
Don't think too hard about who it might be, there was only ever going to be one candidate.
With that said, Dimentio isn't actually going to do much to push his desired outcome. He got his kick out of bullying his fellow minions with O'Chunks.
He's just going to tell them what they want to hear and let their own instincts catch on.
They fall for it hook, line and sinker. No one said these two were the smart ones.
"Just need to go... do a pretty girl's hair."
I did find an actual product called a "flavouriser", although I am no better informed as to what exactly one might use it for.
Dimentio has absolutely no idea what just happened, wink wink.
O'Chunks is left to sing the company anthem some more. Hopefully he's too exhausted to realise the subtext that just happened.
And on to the Blumiere intermission. This one's a nice one.
Although it is a little difficult to determine which is which. I think it's Timpani with this tradition.
Whichever of them it is, they are happy with their life as it currently exists.
The fact that Timpani is named here is why I think she's the one who's happy with her life.
...
Yeah, the tragedy probably strikes as soon as we stop watching the flashback.
For the first time, the characters comment on Tippi seeming to feel strange at chapter start.
At this point, the game wants us to be aware that these Blumiere/Timpani flashbacks are being seen by Tippi diagetically, because it's about to make use of that fact.
Yet another expansion of the Void. It already looks big enough to swallow us whole.
...Walks pointedly in the opposite direction.
Pook is both respecting Captain Gills' boundaries while also wanting to continue communications with him. Keep in mind that he has no idea where in Flipside the Captain is, nor has he any clue what Gills' opinion would be on his next actions.
Merlon draws us right in if we take the elevator down, even from 3F- despite the 3F elevator being much further from Merlon's house than the main one.
Fortunately, Lineland, Gloam Valley, the Bitlands, Outer Space and the Land of Cragnons are all still OK.
...Please do not take away our hub world.
This is when the fact that the Light Prognosticus is an instruction manual becomes apparent. By this point in the story, gleaning new instructions is like squeezing water from a stone, and the authors left the boundaries of fact and focused on speculation- taking the very optimistic approach. Everything left is now in our hands.
No pressure. No pressure at all.
A reminder that our Heart Pillars will continue to be at Flopside. We've only done one so far, so a useful one.
Although Merlon takes that way too far in his language describing it.
"And also comfort. Lots of false hope."
I'd say the funnier observation is less that "this guy watches Flint Cragley, Cragtrotter" and more that Flint Cragley, Cragtrotter can be transmitted to non-cragvision TVs. Of course, how exactly the Cragnons "transmit" their cragvision cave drawings is a question unto itself that they don't seem interested in explaining.
Someone has an appropriate reaction, at least.
Because this girl certainly doesn't.
...Of course, this is a joke about his age, but because of where the Void is positioned, Walter really doesn't have a good view of it. Remember, he lives in 2D, that wall is much more of an obstacle than it appears to our 3D vision.
Or he could be newly blind. I'm impressed his vision held out so much longer than his memory.
...Probably Alzheimer's accelerating the deterioration.
I can't exactly agree until I see him wearing them. What kind, incidentally?
It's not even always Up, ya ding-dong! Although 2D does have a preference for Up even among sideways-facing doors.
A good use of duplicate cards that don't give you Atk ups, but not every Card sells for enough cash to cover a Card Bag. I thought this was the case, but it turns out it's not.
Now that is important. It's been far, far too long into the game for this mechanic to finally be introduced, but we genuinely have had to wait this long.
Well, if you go down the elevator and take a right... uh... what is north in 2D?
This is the Saffron item for Sap Soup- there's more with Dyllis, of course. Those "strange effects" are the Courage Shell effect for 40 seconds and the Long-Last Shake effect for 13 HP.
Huh, that gets the rainbow effect? This increase on Bone-in Cut doubles your attack for slightly longer (15 seconds instead of 10) and also gives you 2000 points for chowing down.
...Look, admirable sentiment, but you will be famous to an audience of zero if that comes to pass. In fact, the Void promises that there will be nothing left to remember anything.
...I think I know why you don't sell.
People who realise their money is about to be worthless and want to cash in for something they always wanted to buy but were previously too poor to. These will be the people I will be saddest to disappoint.
This is why she's not back yet.
I'm almost tempted to ask what the boyfriend's side of the story is. And also how upset this lady would be if she was told the truth.
...Um, OK, that's true, but the reasoning is... uh...
That is indeed healthier than the alternatives. Honestly, unless she leave these notes for other people to see, I don't think she's contradicting the advice of her elder.
Excuse me, the Floro Sapiens are no more dangerous than the average person.
...OK, that's not quite the counterargument I think it is.
Our deadline is approaching, and we have a bit worse of a deal than Helvetica.
...I think she still wants the end of the world.
Catch Cards of Chapter 15:
Max HP: 12, Attack: 3. Floro Sapiens serve their floral lord, King Croacus. Watch your head because they'll throw theirs at you!
Floro Sapiens themselves require you to acquire one homegrown. In addition to them dropping Sap Soup, that means that despite our new communication with them, we'll still find some to kill.
Max HP: 4, Attack: 1. Only takes 1 point of damage. This disembodied head really knows how to ruin a picnic. Lay low until it finds someone else to terrorize.
...Is this just a fact of the world out here in these dimensions? What an awful fate. Picnics should be peaceful, or at least interrupted only by Yogi Bear.
Max HP: 5, Attack: 2. It's a poisonous Piranha Plant. As they say, every rose has its venomous bite.
I don't think getting pricked by a rose's thorns are poisonous, just painful. They're things you find outside Australia, after all. This is my Australia showing: If I don't know if something is poisonous, I assume it is, because I live in an environment where it probably is.
Max HP: ??, Attack: 3. It's a vacuum! It's a worm! It's both! Don't feed it bombs, or you'll ruin its supper. Forever.
Well, bombs, plural. Feed it one bomb and it can walk away.
Max HP: 20, Attack: 3. This soldier would rather nap than face the front lines. Hauling that club around would make anyone tired.
It is a massive spike ball, but he seems to be able to swing it pretty well. I guess that's where the exhaustion sets in.
Max HP: 6, Attack: 2. This cactus column wanders in the desert wasteland. When it attacks, it hurls parts of itself at you. Literally. Which is kind of sad, really.
Pokeys in some games can grow their parts back, and I see no reason games that do not depict this don't have the ability. Don't be so dramatic, especially since you're the game showing then throwing them on their own.
Max HP: 10, Attack: 2. For wild, feral animals, Squogs are pretty cute. That is, until you see them eating.
Not something we'd ever see in game, and it'd be animated adorably if it was, but I'm told pigs do look that disgusting.
...The nerve kind, or the medical kind? Or just hungry?
So yeah, you master all of the super-graceful stylish moves? After stomping a foe, move the Wii Remote in different ways while in midair to get stylish! Doing a bunch of them in a row gets you really high scores, so it's worth it. Today I'll tell you about some special moves that are really hard to do. After stomping the enemy, alternatingly tilt the Wii Remote left and right while in midair. You should perform more amazing stylish moves than you've ever seen! But make sure you don't get too excited and throw the Wii Remote! Use the strap!
I assume this is causing some issues with me using the wiggle button- I notice I spin for like five seconds before I continue physics.
So yeah, you know about Pixls, right? Heh... Yeah, I see that you do. Those wily Ancients were smart, but not too strong. They needed muscle. So they made the Pixls for anything physical they couldn't do on their own. With the help of the Pixls, the Ancients built amazing worlds. But now that technology is mostly lost, as the Pixls are scattered and forgotten. There are even some original Pixls, stronger than the rest, who still wait to be found. I see you've found a Pixl already, but there are others you haven't found yet.
We still have Pixls left to find, but as a little notice, we are now out of mandatory Pixls, so he can only be talking about the optionals. One Pixl opens up in access now, and the other is one I really want to have for Chapter 6.
Now for Flopside's stuff, starting with a guy I'd rather not talk to.
Could you be any more creepy? I don't think it's physically possible.
...Well, that's almost worrying.
(How do charms work for her? She shouldn't be killing enemies.)
What's Notso, then? But yeah, this town really is for me and nobody else. And even then I kinda wish there was more convenience to it.
Nolrem, you are both helping me too hard and not helping me enough. It must be under that Cudge block.
So many people who don't understand boundaries around here.
I'm still on Bleu's side even if he hasn't improved since. He doesn't seem to be too untoward with Peach...
Why is everyone so excited for doomsday? Are your lives really all so terrible?
...Not the thing you want to hear from a married man.
Or... ever. Ew.
Mario already knows about moving heaven and earth for his girlfriend. That's called Tuesday, and I bet Mario has done more for Peach than most people have for their wives.
This game was before the housing crash of 2008, let alone the greater issues to come following. This advice has become harder and harder to follow considering waves hand.
Although this makes the advice gameplay-focused, and thus doesn't actually suit. Catch Cards are a money sink, not a temptation away from more valuable resources.
...Not really that useful. Better than using Boomer, but not really more useful than Cudge and really requires Carrie to move Bowser to the correct position anyway.
"They have one funny joke on them. Sometimes."
...Uh oh.
The kid got bit by the gambling bug.
Yep. It's out-of-this-world... if you eat it as such.
Hey, ever heard of Mario Paint?
Yeah, you think? Hard to get along with someone who wants you to get along.
When even your daughter wonders why your wife ever married you, you know you've messed up somewhere.
...As a counterpart to the advice provided in Flipside, this really is a) a direct improvement in tone and age-appropriateness and b) a better way of accomplishing the same goal. Talking to people about your problems with them is the healthiest way to defuse tension, or to discover that this tension will create an irreparable boundary and it's time to cut your losses. Or even just simply to let the other person know you don't like what they're doing so they can adjust their behaviour to have it happen where it affects you less often.
Mitsy immediately puts this into practice, and tells her grandmother a behaviour of hers that bothers her. At least we know she's listening.
He's not on screen with the house, which is weird, but it is relevant he's talking about that house.
I think this is the same dialogue she had last time.
Now that we've beat Chapter 5, the basement is now open. There is one big reason why they'd lock this, but it's not exactly a good one.
That's Ledger, the editor... The novel series he edited was a huge hit! He married the daughter of his boss, but he's never home, so they've barely spoken... Even if he falls, he gets right back up on his feet. He's the elite of the elite...
Ledger here is the boss of Garamond, like his counterpart, and he's fittingly just as happy with Garamond being an awesome writer as Garamond is being unrestricted.
That's Chip, the coffee nut... He comes here at noon and drinks coffee all day... "If the ocean was made of coffee, I would drink it dry," he brags... He worries about being a show-off and is concerned with his chronic insomnia...
The drunkard of the bar underneath Flopside is fond of coffee, instead of his alternate's fondness for milk.
Interestingly, this particular interjection is the last opportunity they had to introduce the Overthere before the other meanings of this and the Underwhere get explained.
That's Carson, the town informant... He loved watching cop shows as a kid and wanted to grow up to become an informant. The seedy shop and his gentle tone are all part of his schtick...
...I love it. I almost wish I thought of it first.
"And if you don't, well, you can always sell it to the next sucker- I mean shrewd businessman."
Carson adds to the repertoire of Garson, and while he does have a few gameplay nuggets in there, he's really an expert on the deep lore of this game. Anything you wanted to know about backstories of various characters, Carson is the guy to ask.
So Flipside's convenient, created by Ancients in a space between dimensions. That means you can open up portals to all the other worlds from there. But on the other hand, it's strangely susceptible to influences from other worlds... So the Ancients built the town in a way that would stabilize this effect. And that particular way was... Do you know what? The town was built in duplicate with both Flipside and Flopside versions! They realized that light without dark, or vice versa, would never be stable. You need both sides for perfection, you know? Having two opposite sides is the secret of the town's stability and longevity.
Flipside was created for its ability to connect to other worlds, but it seemed that very ability served it poorly for the purposes of "existing under its own power". Flopside was apparently necessary to support this for "light and dark" reasons. Presumably, this was the creators of Flipside taking a few shortcuts that came back to bite them for the benefit of the hero.
So you heard the famous charmer Merlee moved into Flopside somewhere, right? If she casts a charm on you, good things happen when you beat enemies. Try it! ...Oh yeah. But I hear that something's been bothering her lately. If you talk to her directly and not across from the ball, she'll tell you about it. If you have some free time, why don't you go see what's going on with her?
This secret also unlocks at this point, too. I believe, anyway. Might be it was always there, come to think of it. It would actually be kinda useful to have that prize for Chapter 5...
So Count Bleck has four minions, does he not? The biggest and brawniest of these is one named O'Chunks. So about this O'Chunks... He was once the general of an army in a certain land... I hear he led a force of a thousand strong across enemy lines. But one of his trusted advisors sold him out... And all of his men fell to the enemy. I guess that's when Count Bleck scooped him up. Bleck played upon his shame and depression to enlist him in his service. Cruel...
Speaking of backstories, surprise, O'Chunks has a backstory! All four members of Team Bleck (with Nastasia being the fourth and not Mr. L) have backstories you can learn about by having a chinwag with Carson. O'Chunks was a trusted commander (whether an honourable man or a warlord doesn't come across here), until his choice in lieutenants came back to bite him in the arse. As such, he decided to become a trusted lackey in turn. Such a shame that this time, it is the master who betrays the lieutenant... and also a different lieutenant planning his own betrayal. It must suck to be O'Chunks.
So have you heard of the Tribe of Darkness? Nolrem and others like him are descendants of this shadowy, odd people. Long, long ago, they broke off from the Tribe of Ancients to live alone. They avoided mixing with other people out of pride... And no one even knows where they went to live, they were so secretive. There are rumors of a secret castle deep in a forest... Must have been lonely...
Now this is just ridiculous. We know that Blumiere is of the Tribe of Darkness, and the way things play out later, we know that the Tribe ended with him. Why is Nolrem a descendant? I'd think him a student of their remaining texts, if anything. But yeah, this isn't all that new for the audience, but it does kinda contextualize Blumiere and his tribe in the worldbuilding.
So Count Bleck has four minions, as you know. The one named Mimi has the ability to mimic any person she wants to... She's so good at it that I hear she even sometimes forgets who she is... This Mimi... Her true identity is shrouded in mystery. Some say she's a failed Pixl experiment of the Ancients... Others say she's the unintended creation of a witch... A witch who was researching potions that would allow shape-shifting... If you ever meet her, could you ask her for me?
Mimi's turn, and even Carson doesn't seem entirely sure what Mimi is. She's just... Mimi, nightmare fuel incarnate, and I feel like all the suggestions provided match that reputation. It's almost scarier not knowing, because it makes the fact that Mimi just... isn't supposed to exist even more stark.
And makes the fact that she's bored even funnier.
So let me tell you more about the Tribe of Darkness I mentioned earlier... They started as a group within the Ancients who had more magic power. Fearing their power would be diluted, they forbade marriage outside the group. Their power was considered an important resource by all of the Ancients. But no one knows why their power was so important now... One day, they all just disappeared from the Tribe of Ancients... And since then, no one has seen them... Did their games end? All is now shrouded in darkness.
Like, see, even Carson disproves the idea of Nolrem being a Tribe of Darkness descendant. Insulating their power to keep it pure, and yet all it accomplished was hiding it from the world and eventually from everyone. This is why you don't suppress knowledge you want to keep.
Now then, what's in the Overthere Arcade?
Nothing. Well, nothing but some treasures, including a new minigame to play in the Flipside Arcade. This secret minigame is why they kept this area until after Chapter 5, incidentally. Perhaps they should've just put a Cudge block over it or something.
The water passage is hidden in 3D, but if you remember it was there in Flipside, you'll find it's still here in Flopside. Although it gets frightfully annoying flipping into 3D every time we want to go over here.
That's Flamm, the map dealer... He stocks maps that the legendary explorer left... His name is his only real shortcoming...
The counterpart of Flimm is Flamm, and his product is basically the same except executed differently. Much like the names of Flipside and Flopside, which make a pun when combined but which the Flipside version works on its own, these two form the pun "Flimflam", with Flimm alone providing the equally entertaining and appropriate pun "flimsy". They did a surprisingly good job with the jokes, making sure they were funny both with and without the Flopside versions.
Flamm's purpose is to sell us treasure maps.
If you remember Hint Art from Mario Odyssey, this is more or less the same mechanic, except simpler. Each map has a screenshot of some part of the game's levels, with a red "X" placed on top of it. If you go to the part of the world depicted and use Fleep where the "X" is, you can find hidden treasure. Yes, like Odyssey, you do need to purchase the map first.
Flamm sells his maps in a more ordered manner than Flimm does. He will sell you every map in numerical order that it is possible for him to sell, with some maps not being sellable until later Chapters, but he will not tell you what the treasure is (although the price may hint which ones are better than others). The treasures are consistent from playthrough to playthrough, however, so if you don't like the result of Map 17, don't buy it next time and you won't screw yourself over.
Maps available after Chapter 5:
- Flipside: 1, 2, 3
- Lineland: 6, 9, 10, 11
- Gloam Valley: 12, 13, 14, 16, 17
- Bitlands: 18, 19, 20, 24
- Outer Space: 25, 27, 28
- Land of Crag: 31, 33, 34, 35
Notice how all the maps that point to the same part of the world are grouped together numerically. If you were to travel through the game's world with every map, including the ones we do not yet have access to, you would find the locations for each map in numerical order. If you're not sure where to look, "between the location in the last map and the location in the next map" is a good place to start.
There is a cap on the number of maps Flamm can carry at once. Reloading him should be enough to get some new maps in stock, but if he's run out, you will have to finish a chapter for a new batch.
I'm keeping my money for now, since I have some more purchases to consider, but I will be acquiring every Map's treasure. For now, it is time to answer a question I'm sure we have:
What the hell is the deal with these tiny houses?
Welcome to Itty Bits, a tiny shop which sells goods we can use at any size.
Cooking ingredients. This is our consistent source of virtually everything we haven't had to this point in order to fill out our recipe book.
Flopside's branch sells these three goodies. We'll be coming back this way a lot, because the officially prescribed recipe of the ultimate healing item includes two Power Steaks along the way. I'm not necessarily sure what the best recipe is quite yet, but I'll be playing using that version.
Just know I'm buying a lot.
No secrets in 3D over here, but we do have to go into it to leave without Return Pipe.
Now then, this was the Pit of 100 Trials in Flipside. ...And it's locked here in Flopside too, can't forget to deal with that.
But there's something back here for us to do!
...Uh... yeah, I think I don't really want to dig further into this question, I don't get it. Let's leave it where it stands and move on.
For... significantly cheaper than the first pipe, he'll connect this basement area of Flopside up to Flopside Tower. This pipe will be on 2F, same as the first, but on the opposite end of the map. It's... not exactly more convenient than using the 1F elevator if you want to go anywhere but here. Might be slightly faster if you're heading to B1F, but not by much.
One way back up, coming right up.
There's a benefit to charging ahead: You don't know what you'll find until you get there.
That elevator shown on-screen is the elevator to 1F. There is no way to get to this pipe without passing it by. That's what I mean when I say it's often not convenient to use the pipe to get to the lower levels of Flopside that aren't the bottom.
My commitment to not using these Atk ups.
Staying at Inga's to get a Slimy Shroom from the deluxe package. This is the only place to find one.
Smelly Herb, Power Steak, and Slimy Shroom, respectively.
Both of these were sold because they weren't on the recipe list. It's true that the Herb Tea is pretty useless as an ingredient, but the Slimy Extract has a healthy list of recipes, including being the only way to cook your own Life Shrooms. It's 40 for a Slimy Shroom plus 11 for the Shroom Shake, that's more expensive than 50 for the Shroom and Life Shrooms aren't quite as good as they were in TTYD...
Aww... wow, this might be the first acknowledgement of the Mario universe anyone in Flip-flopside has ever offered.
Just as long as you don't become a mailman. All due respect, the job is stressful.
...One of these days I'll consider going up there... seems like a long ride on an elevator, though.
Say hello to what I thought was the most essential recipe we can make, the Gorgeous Steak is not at all that dish. There is a simpler way to make what I am about to show you. But it's the one I'm using, and I don't think it's that much pricier. Much more inconvenient, though.
The Shroom Steak, however, is essential. Well, OK, you can get away without, but the other ingredient in that recipe is a little too hard to come by to say it really counts.
Dyllis Deluxe. 90 HP and 5000 points a bite. No Ultra Shroom Shake we collect will not be turned into one of these before we consume it. If you're playing along at home, the Roast Shroom Dish, a Super Shroom Shake bought for 80 coins and cooked at Saffron's (actually, I think the Gorgeous Steak is cheaper than that), will suffice as the second ingredient.
Time to install a bunch of Cooking Disks...
- Honey Shroom: Shroom Shake + Honey Jar.
- Honey Super: Super Shroom Shake + Honey Jar.
- Fruity Shroom: Peachy Peach + Shroom Shake.
- Shroom Broth: Shroom Shake + Smelly Herb.
- Awesome Snack: Cake Mix + Fresh Veggie.
- Koopa Dumpling: Cake Mix + Turtley Leaf.
- Sap Muffin: Sap Soup + Cake Mix.
- Lovely Chocolate: Mild Cocoa Bean + Fire Burst.
- Strange Chocolate: Mild Cocoa Bean + Poison Shroom.
- Sweet Choco-bar: Mild Cocoa Bean + Honey Jar.
- Shroom Choco-bar: Mild Cocoa Bean + Shroom Shake
- Golden Choco-bar: Mild Cocoa Bean + Golden Leaf
- Heavy Meal: Honey Jar + Honey Candy
- Mistake: Sleepy Sheep
- Mushroom Crepe: Shroom Shake + Cake Mix.
- Shroom Cake: Super Shroom Cake + Cake Mix.
- Chocolate Cake: Mild Cocoa Bean + Cake Mix.
- Mousse: Cake Mix + Big Egg.
- Fruity Cake: Peachy Peach + Mushroom Crepe.
- Heartful Cake: Cake Mix + Lovely Chocolate.
- Peach Tart: Peachy Peach + Cake Mix.
- Horsetail Tart: Horsetail + Cake Mix.
- Gingerbread House: Chocolate Cake + Mousse.
- Shroom Pudding: Big Egg + Shroom Shake.
- Mango Pudding: Big Egg + Keel Mango.
- Love Pudding: Big Egg + Lovely Chocolate.
- Dayzee Syrup: Dayzee Tear.
- Miracle Dinner: Mystery Box.
- Town Special: Primordial Fruit.
- Fruity Punch: Peachy Peach + Keel Mango.
- Fruit Parfait: Peachy Peach + Snow Cone.
- Snow Bunny: Snow Cone + Turtley Leaf.
- Berry Snow Bunny: Snow Bunny + Pink Apple.
- Mango Juice: Keel Mango.
- Mixed Shake: Peach Juice + Mango Juice.
- Warm Cocoa: Mild Cocoa Bean.
- Stamina Juice: Inky Sauce + Honey Jar.
- Gradual Syrup: Long-Last Shake + Peachy Peach.
- Sap Syrup: Sap Soup.
- Slimy Extract: Slimy Shroom.
- Weird Extract: Peach Juice + Hot Sauce.
By the way, the hint for Slimy Shroom is just "Somewhere in Flopside. ```
I think the irony of it is that the favour Merlee asks of us is small.
...Note the number of ways that sentence can be read.
All we need to do is source a crystal ball for her.
...Wait, won't that still be a replacement crystal ball? Surely you bought the same model when you got a replacement? This seems like a solution that won't solve the problem you're pointing out.
Also known as "my Flipside counterpart". The two do know about each other, of course, although that rules out the possibility that Merlee is just Flopsidian. So much for only Merlon and Nolrem knowing, by the way.
There's literally a pipe right outside their houses connecting the two. I paid 300 coins for it, is no one else using it?
"Please let me use my psychic powers I need cash for food"
Problem solved!
...Look, we're clearly helpful enough to help Merlee, we could just do this for you afterwards.
Perhaps one day, you will live in a universe where you can learn to find things that people need to look for. 2D might not be your place for that, although maybe Samus and Shantae could use your skills.
...What time do you have to practice? OK, to be fair, that does kinda suggest more "too busy to leave" and not "no leisure time".
Visit to 1-1 doesn't sound too bad. Besides, he's in the first room.
You're sick, too? You could've led with that.
...I guess it has been a while, maybe some players forgot this guy. Hard to forget a guy who charged the hero for the ability to save the world, though.
Yeah, yeah, I know where this is going.
This sidequest will require we wind up visiting a number of locations in 1-1, so I'm just going to replay the whole thing to make less Return Pipe trips. Hey, the Pipe comes out on the other side of the tower from here.
Look at how powerful we have become!
This is also a good opportunity to pick up a few Maps I bought from the Map Chap.
Maps will usually provide Catch Cards or rare items. 31 of the 48 Maps are Catch Cards, and while they are all listed as having chances of appearing in the Card Shop, I imagine the odds are astronomically low- especially since the point of locking some maps out of your hands is because the Catch Cards they reward would either be spoilers or otherwise besides the point.
Bestovius taught Mario how to flip between dimensions. He talks about his beard and floats all the time. Other than that, he's perfectly normal.
We start our collection of Map Cards with Bestovius himself. A lot of these Map Cards will be significant NPCs like this, who have Catch Cards but the game has found it difficult to give you naturally.
Please give Peach the ability to flip into 3D. I'm sick of switching to Mario.
But this will do as a consolation prize.
Get off your high horse. Or your cloud, whatever you call it.
Yes. Yes I am. Let me do my job.
Don't point out this isn't my job.
Of course you do.
This is the appearance of a recurring joke in sidequests in Paper Mario: someone who wants something, but will pointedly not tell you what was in it. In Paper Mario, it seemed to be some kind of sexual thing, while in TTYD, it was probably some kind of murder evidence. SPM's probably more of the formerg.
Although we'd definitely need to check what Watchitt has to say for himself first.
...How the hell do I fall in a pit like that?
Despite our power increase, Koopa Shells do not match. Not like they are functionally weaker.
This is what Mario can pull out attacking them directly. He had 1 HP, this was not necessary.
Huh, Happy Flower carries into 3D.
Add another one of these.
Huh, that's a surprising drop.
Sadly, we still have to use some of these.
Some. Peach can circumvent a few. Remember, we didn't have her yet.
These clouds didn't get the coins back? Aw...
Went shopping, and got a Cake Mix from the point system.
Although I needed to go make some space for it. If you finish a conversation with a shopkeep with space free, you have to take it.
I'm going to wind up using this, of course.
I'm feeling like most dialogue was written with Mario in mind, because I feel like Peach wouldn't get annoyed with just this much. I can't even imagine Peach losing her patience at all. It doesn't help that Peach's resting face can't really be read as negatively as Mario (whose mouth is hidden) and Bowser (who has massive resting monster face on account of being a monster).
Box my ears and Toadsworth and Mario will throw you to the wolves before I can lift a finger.
...Yes?
Peach's eyes. That's the expression I'd expect for "don't look at me like that".
Oh. Merlumina, of course. I kinda thought she disappeared, but I guess we never saw that.
I guess he won't shut up until we go figure out what Merlumina wants.
...Can you give me an idea what that is?
Huh. That's... unexpected.
That's... well, I can't be surprised.
Peach has patience, but that doesn't mean she has to like it. She looks just as glad to leave as anyone else.
This was always here, by the way. I just didn't know it was there while I was here.
These brothers guard the bridges in Yold Town. Brothers will be brothers, even in strange dimensions.
Thank you, and let's move on.
Right, we could get there faster by Return Pipe, but there's Maps in 1-3.
Also item drops, apparently.
This is the rock that's an arrow in 3D. You need to go a bit deeper than the red tree to go grab this.
375 coins once we get back to Yold Town!
Whee!
I actually got lost about which statue this is. This is the one you want- the two pillars help point you this way, if you remember these background details.
Max HP: ??, Attack: 1. Fracktail valiantly guarded the Pure Heart inside Yold Ruins. That is, until Dimentio fried his processor.
Expect a lot of bosses, too. Not that we'd get this beforehand anyway, we didn't have access to any way of getting Cards, but this is also an instance of a "spoiler"- we wouldn't know about Dimentio frying Fracktail's processor until it happened, and a few other Catch Cards we don't get until after the fact have the same element of referring to events that happen during the game.
Cudge can take out the Buzzy Beetles, but not the Tromps.
...And I've forgotten which one of these doors I need. That's something that gets awkward if you need to backtrack. That's usually just for Maps, at least.
Gotta go through this again, though. Mostly because the Tromps fill in a hole we came out.
Carrie can't float over them, despite them basically being spike floors.
Whoops, forgot to grab that. Oh well, I won't need it for a bit.
Right, need to find a Map in here.
You can kinda see the circles in the background of the map, but you use it as your reference point on which stair to check.
She made a Pure Heart to stop the end of all worlds. She is an ancestor of Merlon and Bestovius.
Once again, Merlumina is an ancestor before she is a character. At least she gets a card, unlike the other three.
Once again, you need to walk around here a while until Merlumina shows up. You can hit the block before she appears.
Right, Merlumina. You can't possibly mean to send me somewhere else. I'm not going through Yold Ruins again.
Now that she's not guarding the Pure Heart, her afterlife is... well, nothing.
What else can she do? I'm not sure she can leave, and it's not like she's got books. Or TV. Or even a cup-and-ball toy.
But even after I sat in bed and read for a bit, I still wasn't sleepy. If this keeps up, I thought, I will be reduced to a mere phantom in this world... So I tried counting sheep... But even counting 100,000 sheep didn't work. Then I became frustrated with myself for not being able to sleep. So I thought, why not send out my frustration to someone telepathically... I figured the message would reach someone in the nearby town with Ancient blood. I used to do it all the time when I was single and wanted to meet people... Heehee... I was a wild gal back then, throwing caution... and my heart... to the wind... One day, my mind message reached three different men. From that day on, my heart was a tossing ship on a tempest of love...
The story of how Merlumina passed the time was presumably the thing she did while passing the time, considering we get another of Merlumina's recurring bits:
Speeches so long that we get bored. I can just barely imagine Peach with the glassy-eyed stare of someone that has fallen asleep without shutting their eyes.
Merlumina finally notices that her audience doesn't care, because "not sleeping" is her entire issue and falling asleep in front of her is even more rude than it normally is.
Mostly because old people keep complaining about it without contextualising the reasons why.
I was trying to vent some of my frustration with some telepathic pranks... But the person receiving the telepathy was hard of hearing, so it barely worked... That only made me more sad... But it helped me to realize something else... Maybe I couldn't sleep because I was sad... And then I realized that since childhood, I always fell asleep to lullabies. My mom was always there when I slept as a child... She'd hold my hand and sing me sweet songs... Of course, once I moved out, I needed someone else to sing them to me... I was quite popular back then, I should tell you. I finally found four men who met my standards for lullaby singing... And from that day on, my life was awash in a whirling pool of love songs... I had four men singing to me, and when I... There was... So I decided to... But all we could... When the... So... But then... And I said... However...
Apparently, the reason she so often goes on diversions is because her own internal logic is just that weird. Being unable to sufficiently taunt Old Man Watchitt making you sad made you realise you only fall asleep to lullabies? I think that was an unrelated brainwave.
Twice in one cutscene. This entire sidequest better not have been an excuse to do this joke, although I would not be surprised if that was part of the intent.
Well, that explains that part, at least. You may need to get that checked, I don't think that's normal.
Among other things, you might develop insanity if you're left alone with your waking thoughts too long. At least you're not generating new ones as rapidly as an active person? Also, being dead might make good insurance you won't suffer too badly if you develop anything.
We kept up the sleeping for quite a while out of that cut to black. Honestly, Peach looks so pretty with Tippi in her hair.
Peach: There is no excuse for my actions.
Mario: I kinda need you to help me with this...
Bowser: Shut the hell up, weirdo.
At the very least, talking us to sleep twice has been enough talking to tire her out, as much as she can be tired.
...Well, if it works, it works.
...No, no it wasn't. I refuse to take credit for this idea.
And now, Merlumina can disappear back into the pages of history, where she belongs.
Hopefully she moves on to the afterlife, and isn't just in an eternal coma.
Peach pipes up, and points out we do kinda need one more thing while we're here...
Thankfully, she's not too upset about having to do this for us.
...Although it does sound like she's writing the autograph for us (well, Mario), and not Watchitt. Best not explain that one to her, we don't want her to lose her tiredness and be kept awake for the next 1500 years.
...Is it really so significant she kissed it, game? You can't even see it on the sprite!
Actually, I think that's the same Autograph sprite as the train conductor's from TTYD. Which... let's not think about that too much.
Anyway, we don't need anything further from you.
And you don't need anything further from us. Well, other than what we're already doing.
Chapter revisit clear! Hey, it was here, and I think this spawns me back in Flipside faster than if I used the Pipe.
Next time: Look at all these inventory items you're picking up. Be a shame if... somebody weren't able to hold them!
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