Let's play Star Ocean 3! Part 10
Sep. 13th, 2020 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
paranoodleContent Warning: Mild references to war crimes again. This'll be a semi-frequent thing in the Elicoor section in general (due to being in the middle of a war on a planet that hasn't invented the Geneva conventions yet), so consider this a blanket warning for the rest of that part of the game, though I'll make notes if anything more notable comes up.
While the game expects us to finish walking to Kirlsa, which is pretty close, we actually have the option to run allll the way back to Airyglyph and get some extra dialogue! I'll cover this in extras and not the main updates, but that's going to be a thing. We're not expected to go back to Airyglyph at all until a good 10-15 hours from now, but there's at least 5-6 separate occasions where we can visit it for some unique dialogue, mainly with party members. One of them is even a PA, and it's the first since the one back on the transport ship Helre way back when. I wasn't kidding when I said the game is frontloaded with them.
So with that, we're just going to follow the mountain path down to Kirlsa. We get pretty close to the gates, when:
Fayt: Uhh... I just felt dizzy there for a minute.
Nel: We'll be in Kirlsa soon. Can you make it that far? Why don't you have him carry you...
Nel: Very well.
Cliff: ...
We stopped right before the gate, so let's walk that final couple feet.
Cliff kneels down next to Fayt.
Cliff: Don't overexert yourself. Remember, you're not as strong as we are.
Fayt: Now even you're treating me like a baby. I said I'm fine!
Cliff: Yeah, well, I'm saying you don't look fine at all.
Nel: I'd prefer to just leave this town now, but that won't be possible with Fayt in this condition... Let's stay here tonight.
Cliff: What about those guys chasing us?
Nel: We'll be okay if Tynave and Farleen succeed in leading them off... And in any case, we have nothing to gain by forcing a sick person to march.
Cliff: True enough.
Nel: And we're in luck. There's an inn right over there, in that building with the wagon outside.
Cliff: Where're you going?
Nel: I'm just going to check things out. I'll be right back.
Cliff: All right, but are you sure you should leave us alone? Aren't you afraid we'll just run away?
Nel: No. You won't run out on me. I trust you, remember?
Cliff: Oh, don't say that. Now we can't run away...
Nel: Heh heh.
Nel smiles warmly.
Nel: I don't mind you walking around, just don't leave the town. And don't do anything... conspicuous. We're still in Airyglyph territory. There's no telling where the enemy is hiding.
Cliff: Gotcha.
Fayt: All right.
Cliff: What're you gonna do?
Fayt: Don't worry about me. What are you gonna do?
Cliff: I'm conspicuous just walking around... Well, it's gonna be pretty boring, but I guess I'll just have to wait right here.
Fayt: I think I'll take a walk - I'm sure it'll do me good.
Cliff: All right, but be careful. Like she said, we're still in enemy territory.
Fayt: Yeah, I know.
We're free to explore Kirlsa now! All the gates are locked, as well as the doors to Woltar's mansion, but everything else is open. It's a little bit smaller than Airyglyph (the city) but not by much. First off we can talk to Cliff in our inn room:
Cliff: Even if we make a run for it, we've got nowhere to go. Let's just keep a veil of trust up for right now.
And going down to the ground floor we can check the guest register for the inn, where we're listed under the alias "Scarlet Rathgrith".
Walking around town to get a feel for things, the important topics today include information about how this used to be a mining town but they had to close the mines on account of being infested by dragons, which doesn't seem like a great situation to be in. Some of the townspeople mention that there's apparently spies in town that the guard are trying to find, which is why all the gates are closed. Most of them are worried at the idea of Aquarian spies infiltrating their midst, but a handful are excited about the idea of the spies being captured and executed as they deserve.
There's a lot to explore in here, but I'll cover it more in the extras when we get there. There's a lot of interesting townspeople in Kirlsa and many of them have defined little arcs/progression. When we're done wandering around, we find an old man near a barred-off mine, who's really anxious to find someone to talk politics with.
Sermonic Old Man: One day, the church in our town was suddenly surrounded by dozens of soldiers who proceeded to arrest the many followers of the Church of Apris whom had gathered there. A subsequent investigation by Duke Vox, Captain of the Dragon Brigade, concluded that the believers of Apris who gathered there were plotting the assassination of His Royal Majesty. When His Royal Majesty heard about the assassination plot, he declared war on the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria, which was thought to be behind the plot. That is why all the temples of the Chuch of Apris were burned to the ground and even the worship of the Father God, Apris, was banned. It's actually quite a simple matter... Our country merely needed a reason like that so it could invade a sacred kingdom like Aquaria.
Sermonic Old Man: Based on the investigations conducted independently by Duke Vox and the Black Brigade authorities, most of the war protestors have been branded as spies from the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria. They have all been executed at the Kirlsa Training Facility to dissuade others from joining in. No matter how hard His Majesty, Airyglyph XIII, tries to win the war against the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria and make our kingdom flourish, I cannot imagine that the gods would ever forgive him for such sins.
Sermonic Old Man: It would seem that there are more than a few in this world who extol His Royal Majesty as either the second coming of the kingdom's founder, Airyglyph I. However, no matter how much our kingdom flourishes, we must not forget the many who sacrificed their lives to make it possible.
I swear I didn't just transcribe this out of a want to infodump about the politics of this game as well, but this is actually one of the required triggers before we're allowed to continue the story, so the game expects you to have read it for context. Now that we have, if we walk back up to the small graveyard on the north side of town, we run into a familiar face.
We can see Nel is talking, but can't hear them from where Fayt is standing.
Fayt: (What's she doing in a place like this?)
Nel: I see... They're up to the same nasty tricks as always.
Nel: Is it the Dragon Brigade?
???: No, it's the Black Brigade. Of course, the Dragon Brigade is backing them up.
Nel: I see. Good work.
???: Whatever you do, please don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. You know they plan to-
Nel: Huh? Shh!
Fayt: Nothing really. I was passing by and saw you, so...
Fayt: Who was that?
Nel: She works for me, gathering intelligence here in Kirlsa... I was just checking up on her.
Fayt: Is something the matter? You looked pretty grim...
Nel: Nothing unexpected: I've found out our pursuers are getting close to this town.
Fayt: That's it?
Nel: Yes... Why?
Fayt: Oh, well, no reason, really.
Nel: We leave first thing in the morning. We can't afford to waste any time here.
Fayt nods and the screen fades to black.
Fayt: I ran into her at the entrance.
Nel: Like he says.
Cliff: Ah, I see.
Cliff: So how are you feeling now?
Fayt: I'm okay. It must have just been the fatigue catching up with me.
Cliff: Right. Well, hope that's all it was.
Fayt: Sorry to worry you guys.
Cliff: Well, as long as you're okay. Don't sweat it.
Cliff: The Kirlsa Caverns?
Nel: Mineshafts to the north of town. We'll go through there to Arias. Of course it'd be faster to go through the wilderness to the east, but we can't be sure that they aren't waiting to ambush us if we go that way.
Fayt: And the Kirlsa Caverns are safe?
Nel: Well, at least we can be sure there are no Airyglyph soldiers to worry about.
Cliff: Spit it out. What's dangerous about the mineshafts?
Nel: Well, a number of monsters have taken up residence there. I'm not saying it's 100% safe.
Cliff: Riiight.
Nel: Let's just say I'd rather face them than the soldiers. So now that everyone knows the plan, let's get some sleep. We leave early.
Fayt: All right.
Cliff: Okay...
The screen fades to black as they all get some sleep.
Nel: What?
Fayt: Do you think Tynave and Farleen got away okay?
Nel: They'll be fine. Those girls can fend for themselves. They are trained for these eventualities...
Fayt: I hope you're right...
Nel: Hurry up and get ready. Our pursuers are not far away.
Cliff: Yeah, yeah...
Funnily enough, at this point we can just decide to run back to Airyglyph (again). There's a handful of new dialogue from the townspeople if we do (which I'll post in extras), but more importantly there's a PA if we decide to talk to Cliff near the Aqueducts.
Cliff: Who'd have thought it would ever come to this. What a mind-blowing experience. Where've you been anyway? I can't find that Mirage either.
Fayt: Yeah, I wonder where Mirage is.
Cliff: Beats me. Wonder what she's up to.
[If we choose I'm worried about Mirage.]
Fayt: I'm worried about Mirage. Guess it really is dangerous for a woman to be all alone on an underdeveloped planet like this.
Cliff: Gimme a break! You really think she's just a pretty face? You wouldn't say that if you really knew her.
Fayt: Look, Cliff. You're right about the physical abilities of you Klausians being far superior to the people of Elicoor. But that doesn't make me feel any better about leaving a woman all by herself on this planet.
Cliff: Well, I suppose we Klausians aren't invincible or anything. We're just like anyone else if surprised in our sleep, and we'll die if someone poisons our food. However... Mirage's weakness lies somewhere else. How should I put it... I don't think she knows the meaning of the word "hesitate". Once she determines that someone is an enemy, she'll never hesitate to act. It makes no difference if it's someone that she's met before.
Cliff: Anyone who's come up against her and lived can only be described as lucky.
Fayt: Hmm... I see.
Cliff: Just remember this. Don't do anything to ruffle her feathers. If you get her really angry, even I won't be able to save you.
Fayt: I'll try to remember that.
[pause]
Cliff: Man, what's up with her? She could at least contact us once while she's out there. I suppose it'll be okay as long as she's safe.
[If we choose I never dreamed something like this would happen.]
Fayt: I never dreamed something like this would happen. Crashing on an underdeveloped planet and then getting mixed up in a war...
Cliff: Well of course you didn't. I'd have to smack you if you knew about all this ahead of time and didn't tell me.
Fayt: No, you're missing my point. I always assumed I'd lead a completely ordinary life in which I'd go to college, get a job, and so on... What I'm trying to say is, such assumptions about one's life are meaningless. After all, look how easily the ordinary life I was leading was shattered.
Cliff: Ain't that the truth. You guys lead pretty sheltered lives there in the Sol System. I bet you didn't even know that the Pangalactic Federation and Aldian Empire are still duking it out in Lambda Sector and Gamma Sector. It might seem that it's peaceful over there, but that's far from the truth.
Fayt: What!? But I heard that the front had recently stabilized, and that for the last several years no battles to speak of had occurred.
Cliff: Oh, come on! You don't actually believe everything the Federation government says, do you? Granted, there haven't been any battles big enough to shake up the balance of power in the galaxy for sometime. Still, small skirmishes between a few battleships happen all the time.
Cliff: Well, I suppose it's because your planet is so far from the frontlines. I shouldn't be surprised that you are so cut off from reality.
[pause]
Cliff: But enough about that. Right now, let's concentrate on getting ourselves off this planet. We can worry about other stuff later.
With that little detour out of the way, let's run all the way back to Kirlsa and maybe check out those caverns we were supposed to go to.
The Kirlsa Caverns is set up in two halves, and the first is pretty small and fairly straightforward. We just kind of go into a counter-clockwise loop (with a handful of branches for loot), run into a device that needs power, and then keep going until we reach a boss and a power generator.
Nel: These days, it's only used as a passage through the mountains. But even that's become dangerous because of cave-ins and such.
Fayt: I see.
That's the boss, it's a big rock. It hits hard but it's fairly slow, so if you're careful with timing your hits right it's really easy to avoid taking damage. It goes down pretty quickly.
Cliff: Kinda late for that now.
Cliff: Wonder if he's behind that cave-in?
Nel: It's a possibility. Don't let your guard down.
Fayt: Yeah.
We turn on the power generator and get power, hurray! The door locked behind us though, so we have to keep following the loop until we get back to where the device was.
And with that, welcome to the bane of my existence. The hauler beasts. This "minigame" (puzzle?) makes up the entire second half of the dungeon, where you have to try to drive a hauler beast around on the tracks to either pick up loot or try to find and head for the exit. These are a nightmare to drive. If you go too fast they miss turns or get scared by rocks, if you go too slow they miss jumps or get scared by wood barriers. You need to not only figure out what path you're going, but constantly adjust your speed up and down so your hauler doesn't either go on the wrong path or gets so stressed out it panics and takes you back to the beginning. This gets exponentially worse if you're trying to get all the loot, because it requires using the "special" abilities of more than one hauler, one of which is "walks around at random" where you have to just cross your fingers and hope it picks the right path because it's the only one that has the stats to reach one of the items. Every time I play this game I reach the Kirla Caverns and remember "OH NO THE HAULER BEASTS" and rethink my entire life.
I'm not going to cover everything about this minigame, just have a couple screenshots and imagine me screaming in frustration in the background. (Disclaimer: I actually managed to exit the caverns on my very first try for this playthrough and it's the first time I've managed that)
Fayt: Yeah, I did, but uh...
Old Soldier: There's also been some terrible rock slides and holes have opened up in some of the tunnels. It's a complete mess in there.
Fayt: Umm... Who are you?
Old Soldier: Oh, I forgot to introduce myself.
Old Soldier: I'm Gregory von Dermein III, administrator of these caverns. I'm a member of the Glyphian army.
Fayt: Gregory... Uhh...
Gregory: Ha ha ha... Just 'Gregory' will do. I'm only a rank and file soldier. This is a job suited to an old man such as me. Not that I like being old, mind you...
Fayt: How interesting...
Gregory: Whoops. There I go bellyaching again.
Gregory: Well now, if you made it here on that hauler, that must mean the tunnels are clear.
Fayt: Yep. There were a few dangerous parts, but nothing that prevented us from making it through.
Gregory: I see... Well then, I'll drive this one back. I was a fine hauler driver back in the day.
Fayt: Thank you. That would be great.
Gregory: There's a wide expanse of wildlands from here on. Be careful.
Fayt: You be careful, too, Gregory.
Gregory: Don't worry about me. I can still keep up with you youngsters.
Gregory is the MVP, because from here on out if we want to cross the caverns we can just talk to him and he'll take us across without requiring us to do the minigame again (though we still have access to it if we want to hunt for any treasure we might have missed/skipped). Big thank yous to Gregory.
We're now out on the Bequerel Mountain Path, which we'll revisit a couple times during the game. If we explore this area we can go to three different places:
- Arias, our destination
- the mountains of Barr, an area we can already visit ~50% of if we want, but that we're meant to go later and that's significantly higher level than we are right now
- or the Bequerel Mines, an area we're also meant to go to much later, though slightly before Barr, and that we can't progress past the first room in
So with nothing better to do (I say as if I didn't spend half an hour exploring Barr to see how far it would let me go before missing story flags would stop me), we head straight for Arias.
Next time: Arias! We get to meet some more of Nel's coworkers.
While the game expects us to finish walking to Kirlsa, which is pretty close, we actually have the option to run allll the way back to Airyglyph and get some extra dialogue! I'll cover this in extras and not the main updates, but that's going to be a thing. We're not expected to go back to Airyglyph at all until a good 10-15 hours from now, but there's at least 5-6 separate occasions where we can visit it for some unique dialogue, mainly with party members. One of them is even a PA, and it's the first since the one back on the transport ship Helre way back when. I wasn't kidding when I said the game is frontloaded with them.
So with that, we're just going to follow the mountain path down to Kirlsa. We get pretty close to the gates, when:
Fayt: Uhh... I just felt dizzy there for a minute. Nel: We'll be in Kirlsa soon. Can you make it that far? Why don't you have him carry you... Nel: Very well. Cliff: ...We stopped right before the gate, so let's walk that final couple feet.
Cliff kneels down next to Fayt.
Cliff: Don't overexert yourself. Remember, you're not as strong as we are. Fayt: Now even you're treating me like a baby. I said I'm fine! Cliff: Yeah, well, I'm saying you don't look fine at all. Nel: I'd prefer to just leave this town now, but that won't be possible with Fayt in this condition... Let's stay here tonight. Cliff: What about those guys chasing us? Nel: We'll be okay if Tynave and Farleen succeed in leading them off... And in any case, we have nothing to gain by forcing a sick person to march. Cliff: True enough. Nel: And we're in luck. There's an inn right over there, in that building with the wagon outside. Cliff: Where're you going? Nel: I'm just going to check things out. I'll be right back. Cliff: All right, but are you sure you should leave us alone? Aren't you afraid we'll just run away? Nel: No. You won't run out on me. I trust you, remember? Cliff: Oh, don't say that. Now we can't run away... Nel: Heh heh.Nel smiles warmly.
Nel: I don't mind you walking around, just don't leave the town. And don't do anything... conspicuous. We're still in Airyglyph territory. There's no telling where the enemy is hiding. Cliff: Gotcha. Fayt: All right. Cliff: What're you gonna do? Fayt: Don't worry about me. What are you gonna do? Cliff: I'm conspicuous just walking around... Well, it's gonna be pretty boring, but I guess I'll just have to wait right here. Fayt: I think I'll take a walk - I'm sure it'll do me good. Cliff: All right, but be careful. Like she said, we're still in enemy territory. Fayt: Yeah, I know.We're free to explore Kirlsa now! All the gates are locked, as well as the doors to Woltar's mansion, but everything else is open. It's a little bit smaller than Airyglyph (the city) but not by much. First off we can talk to Cliff in our inn room:
Cliff: Even if we make a run for it, we've got nowhere to go. Let's just keep a veil of trust up for right now.And going down to the ground floor we can check the guest register for the inn, where we're listed under the alias "Scarlet Rathgrith".
Walking around town to get a feel for things, the important topics today include information about how this used to be a mining town but they had to close the mines on account of being infested by dragons, which doesn't seem like a great situation to be in. Some of the townspeople mention that there's apparently spies in town that the guard are trying to find, which is why all the gates are closed. Most of them are worried at the idea of Aquarian spies infiltrating their midst, but a handful are excited about the idea of the spies being captured and executed as they deserve.
There's a lot to explore in here, but I'll cover it more in the extras when we get there. There's a lot of interesting townspeople in Kirlsa and many of them have defined little arcs/progression. When we're done wandering around, we find an old man near a barred-off mine, who's really anxious to find someone to talk politics with.
Sermonic Old Man: One day, the church in our town was suddenly surrounded by dozens of soldiers who proceeded to arrest the many followers of the Church of Apris whom had gathered there. A subsequent investigation by Duke Vox, Captain of the Dragon Brigade, concluded that the believers of Apris who gathered there were plotting the assassination of His Royal Majesty. When His Royal Majesty heard about the assassination plot, he declared war on the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria, which was thought to be behind the plot. That is why all the temples of the Chuch of Apris were burned to the ground and even the worship of the Father God, Apris, was banned. It's actually quite a simple matter... Our country merely needed a reason like that so it could invade a sacred kingdom like Aquaria.
Sermonic Old Man: Based on the investigations conducted independently by Duke Vox and the Black Brigade authorities, most of the war protestors have been branded as spies from the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria. They have all been executed at the Kirlsa Training Facility to dissuade others from joining in. No matter how hard His Majesty, Airyglyph XIII, tries to win the war against the Sacred Kingdom of Aquaria and make our kingdom flourish, I cannot imagine that the gods would ever forgive him for such sins.
Sermonic Old Man: It would seem that there are more than a few in this world who extol His Royal Majesty as either the second coming of the kingdom's founder, Airyglyph I. However, no matter how much our kingdom flourishes, we must not forget the many who sacrificed their lives to make it possible.
I swear I didn't just transcribe this out of a want to infodump about the politics of this game as well, but this is actually one of the required triggers before we're allowed to continue the story, so the game expects you to have read it for context. Now that we have, if we walk back up to the small graveyard on the north side of town, we run into a familiar face.
We can see Nel is talking, but can't hear them from where Fayt is standing.
Fayt: (What's she doing in a place like this?) Nel: I see... They're up to the same nasty tricks as always. Nel: Is it the Dragon Brigade????: No, it's the Black Brigade. Of course, the Dragon Brigade is backing them up.
Nel: I see. Good work.???: Whatever you do, please don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. You know they plan to-
Nel: Huh? Shh! Fayt: Nothing really. I was passing by and saw you, so... Fayt: Who was that? Nel: She works for me, gathering intelligence here in Kirlsa... I was just checking up on her. Fayt: Is something the matter? You looked pretty grim... Nel: Nothing unexpected: I've found out our pursuers are getting close to this town. Fayt: That's it? Nel: Yes... Why? Fayt: Oh, well, no reason, really. Nel: We leave first thing in the morning. We can't afford to waste any time here.Fayt nods and the screen fades to black.
Fayt: I ran into her at the entrance. Nel: Like he says. Cliff: Ah, I see. Cliff: So how are you feeling now? Fayt: I'm okay. It must have just been the fatigue catching up with me. Cliff: Right. Well, hope that's all it was. Fayt: Sorry to worry you guys. Cliff: Well, as long as you're okay. Don't sweat it. Cliff: The Kirlsa Caverns? Nel: Mineshafts to the north of town. We'll go through there to Arias. Of course it'd be faster to go through the wilderness to the east, but we can't be sure that they aren't waiting to ambush us if we go that way. Fayt: And the Kirlsa Caverns are safe? Nel: Well, at least we can be sure there are no Airyglyph soldiers to worry about. Cliff: Spit it out. What's dangerous about the mineshafts? Nel: Well, a number of monsters have taken up residence there. I'm not saying it's 100% safe. Cliff: Riiight. Nel: Let's just say I'd rather face them than the soldiers. So now that everyone knows the plan, let's get some sleep. We leave early. Fayt: All right. Cliff: Okay...The screen fades to black as they all get some sleep.
Nel: What? Fayt: Do you think Tynave and Farleen got away okay? Nel: They'll be fine. Those girls can fend for themselves. They are trained for these eventualities... Fayt: I hope you're right... Nel: Hurry up and get ready. Our pursuers are not far away. Cliff: Yeah, yeah...Funnily enough, at this point we can just decide to run back to Airyglyph (again). There's a handful of new dialogue from the townspeople if we do (which I'll post in extras), but more importantly there's a PA if we decide to talk to Cliff near the Aqueducts.
Cliff: Who'd have thought it would ever come to this. What a mind-blowing experience. Where've you been anyway? I can't find that Mirage either. Fayt: Yeah, I wonder where Mirage is. Cliff: Beats me. Wonder what she's up to.[If we choose I'm worried about Mirage.]
Fayt: I'm worried about Mirage. Guess it really is dangerous for a woman to be all alone on an underdeveloped planet like this. Cliff: Gimme a break! You really think she's just a pretty face? You wouldn't say that if you really knew her. Fayt: Look, Cliff. You're right about the physical abilities of you Klausians being far superior to the people of Elicoor. But that doesn't make me feel any better about leaving a woman all by herself on this planet. Cliff: Well, I suppose we Klausians aren't invincible or anything. We're just like anyone else if surprised in our sleep, and we'll die if someone poisons our food. However... Mirage's weakness lies somewhere else. How should I put it... I don't think she knows the meaning of the word "hesitate". Once she determines that someone is an enemy, she'll never hesitate to act. It makes no difference if it's someone that she's met before. Cliff: Anyone who's come up against her and lived can only be described as lucky. Fayt: Hmm... I see. Cliff: Just remember this. Don't do anything to ruffle her feathers. If you get her really angry, even I won't be able to save you. Fayt: I'll try to remember that.[pause]
Cliff: Man, what's up with her? She could at least contact us once while she's out there. I suppose it'll be okay as long as she's safe.[If we choose I never dreamed something like this would happen.]
Fayt: I never dreamed something like this would happen. Crashing on an underdeveloped planet and then getting mixed up in a war... Cliff: Well of course you didn't. I'd have to smack you if you knew about all this ahead of time and didn't tell me. Fayt: No, you're missing my point. I always assumed I'd lead a completely ordinary life in which I'd go to college, get a job, and so on... What I'm trying to say is, such assumptions about one's life are meaningless. After all, look how easily the ordinary life I was leading was shattered. Cliff: Ain't that the truth. You guys lead pretty sheltered lives there in the Sol System. I bet you didn't even know that the Pangalactic Federation and Aldian Empire are still duking it out in Lambda Sector and Gamma Sector. It might seem that it's peaceful over there, but that's far from the truth. Fayt: What!? But I heard that the front had recently stabilized, and that for the last several years no battles to speak of had occurred. Cliff: Oh, come on! You don't actually believe everything the Federation government says, do you? Granted, there haven't been any battles big enough to shake up the balance of power in the galaxy for sometime. Still, small skirmishes between a few battleships happen all the time. Cliff: Well, I suppose it's because your planet is so far from the frontlines. I shouldn't be surprised that you are so cut off from reality.[pause]
Cliff: But enough about that. Right now, let's concentrate on getting ourselves off this planet. We can worry about other stuff later.With that little detour out of the way, let's run all the way back to Kirlsa and maybe check out those caverns we were supposed to go to.
The Kirlsa Caverns is set up in two halves, and the first is pretty small and fairly straightforward. We just kind of go into a counter-clockwise loop (with a handful of branches for loot), run into a device that needs power, and then keep going until we reach a boss and a power generator.
Nel: These days, it's only used as a passage through the mountains. But even that's become dangerous because of cave-ins and such. Fayt: I see.That's the boss, it's a big rock. It hits hard but it's fairly slow, so if you're careful with timing your hits right it's really easy to avoid taking damage. It goes down pretty quickly.
Cliff: Kinda late for that now. Cliff: Wonder if he's behind that cave-in? Nel: It's a possibility. Don't let your guard down. Fayt: Yeah.We turn on the power generator and get power, hurray! The door locked behind us though, so we have to keep following the loop until we get back to where the device was.
And with that, welcome to the bane of my existence. The hauler beasts. This "minigame" (puzzle?) makes up the entire second half of the dungeon, where you have to try to drive a hauler beast around on the tracks to either pick up loot or try to find and head for the exit. These are a nightmare to drive. If you go too fast they miss turns or get scared by rocks, if you go too slow they miss jumps or get scared by wood barriers. You need to not only figure out what path you're going, but constantly adjust your speed up and down so your hauler doesn't either go on the wrong path or gets so stressed out it panics and takes you back to the beginning. This gets exponentially worse if you're trying to get all the loot, because it requires using the "special" abilities of more than one hauler, one of which is "walks around at random" where you have to just cross your fingers and hope it picks the right path because it's the only one that has the stats to reach one of the items. Every time I play this game I reach the Kirla Caverns and remember "OH NO THE HAULER BEASTS" and rethink my entire life.
I'm not going to cover everything about this minigame, just have a couple screenshots and imagine me screaming in frustration in the background. (Disclaimer: I actually managed to exit the caverns on my very first try for this playthrough and it's the first time I've managed that)
Fayt: Yeah, I did, but uh...Old Soldier: There's also been some terrible rock slides and holes have opened up in some of the tunnels. It's a complete mess in there.
Fayt: Umm... Who are you?Old Soldier: Oh, I forgot to introduce myself.
Old Soldier: I'm Gregory von Dermein III, administrator of these caverns. I'm a member of the Glyphian army.
Fayt: Gregory... Uhh...Gregory: Ha ha ha... Just 'Gregory' will do. I'm only a rank and file soldier. This is a job suited to an old man such as me. Not that I like being old, mind you...
Fayt: How interesting...Gregory: Whoops. There I go bellyaching again.
Gregory: Well now, if you made it here on that hauler, that must mean the tunnels are clear.
Fayt: Yep. There were a few dangerous parts, but nothing that prevented us from making it through.Gregory: I see... Well then, I'll drive this one back. I was a fine hauler driver back in the day.
Fayt: Thank you. That would be great.Gregory: There's a wide expanse of wildlands from here on. Be careful.
Fayt: You be careful, too, Gregory.Gregory: Don't worry about me. I can still keep up with you youngsters.
Gregory is the MVP, because from here on out if we want to cross the caverns we can just talk to him and he'll take us across without requiring us to do the minigame again (though we still have access to it if we want to hunt for any treasure we might have missed/skipped). Big thank yous to Gregory.
We're now out on the Bequerel Mountain Path, which we'll revisit a couple times during the game. If we explore this area we can go to three different places:
- Arias, our destination
- the mountains of Barr, an area we can already visit ~50% of if we want, but that we're meant to go later and that's significantly higher level than we are right now
- or the Bequerel Mines, an area we're also meant to go to much later, though slightly before Barr, and that we can't progress past the first room in
So with nothing better to do (I say as if I didn't spend half an hour exploring Barr to see how far it would let me go before missing story flags would stop me), we head straight for Arias.
Next time: Arias! We get to meet some more of Nel's coworkers.
