Game 8 - Light Fantasy Part 2

Let's talk a little more about the status effects in this game. I mentioned last time that they're a huge problem with the game's difficulty and playability. The main issue is that none of them go away with the passage of time (in or out of battle), except for sleep. The only way you can cure them is with a spell or item, or by eating food at a restaurant in a town. There is no spell or item in the game that cures all status effects. So this means that for the eleven status effects in the game you need to make sure you keep items and spells to cure them.

Here are the effects:

• Stone (can't move or act)
• Ice (can't move or act)
• Food (move randomly, can't act)

  

  The apple is the "food" effect

• Poison (10 damage after your move)
• On fire (30 damage after your move)
• Lightning (20 damage after your move)
• Sleep (can't move or act)
• Charm (can't act)
• Confusion (random movement, no action)
• Surprise (random movement, no action)
• Mini (Can move and act, but all actions will miss)

The spells that cure these have a limited range, and the ones that cause damage kill you before you get to take your action. You have a limited inventory, and each item takes up one slot (no stacking of items) This, along with the slow pace of the battle system, is a big reason why multiple walkthrough sites for this game recommend power leveling at specific points and then running or activating the no encounter glitch for the rest. I usually don't grind in RPGs, but I made an exception here.

After beating the demon at the end of the last post and saving the little racoon or squirrel thing (Yan), I was able to use the shops in the town and move on to the next section, and Yan gives you the stolen Mirror of Light. This means that the question comes back whether you should exchange it for the princess or not, but nobody discusses that now. Instead, we try to save a village, but it turns out to be a trap, and you have to make your way through an underground path, fighting imitation squirrels along the way.

"Hahaha, I am a follower of darkness, Rizu!"

Eventually you use the Mirror of Light to expose the fakes, and fight the real Rizu:

The dog now has a spear, which has a 5 panel range and can hit multiple enemies

Afterwards, we want to visit a magic island in the middle of a lake, but we need a magic flask to drain the water temporarily. An inventor called Wagner had made one, so we're off in search of him -- just then, another darkness follower appears and dares us to save a village before he reaches it. We can't save the village, but we can jump in the well and find out what's causing the water not to come out.

In the well we come across people who have been transformed to trees, including the inventor Wagner.

It's not entirely clear why this happened

Once we beat the devils in the well, the water comes back, and we get the magic flask. Now it's on to the magic island, although we do need the permission of the mermaids first.

Mea, who will soon join the party

Now once you reach the mermaid village you get a bunch of the status effect healing spells, as well as the first spell that hits all monsters. The path to the village is a great place to level, so part of the reason I didn't make more progress this week was that I spent some time grinding (I also had to go to a wedding and a memorial day party).

Sorry for the short post this week, but now that I finished grinding a bit I can move on with the game and should be able to make good progress for next time. The dog has great HP growth; he's over 1000 HP now while the main character has 300. With the spear he's still a great character even though he can't use magic.