It's a game with the good kind of bugs! Let's Play Bug Fables

[Explopyro]

Design Interlude: Discussing Astotheles

I hadn't planned to do a full design breakdown/repair post about Astotheles, but after the update and subsequent thread discussion I realised there was probably enough to say that it was worth doing. I want to be clear from the outset that, overall, I actually like the Astotheles fight and think it probably only warrants minor changes.



This fight has two separate and distinct things going on. The first, of course, is the no-items gimmick. The second is the structure of Astotheles' attacks, largely a flurry of low-damage hits that heavily rewards blocking. The item restriction is the sort of thing that could be applied to any fight, but I do think it was a very smart decision to tie it to what is otherwise a simple and straightforward fight concept.

The structure of his attacks heavily rewards using Taunt and stacking defence boosts on Kabbu (well, Back Support at least, or you could get Defense Exchange from wave 30 of the Cave of Trials), and Spiky Bod if you're good at blocking (because it applies separately on every hit, it can add up fast). If you don't go that route, the fight becomes more or less a damage race (which is fine, there are still various ways to deal with that), but I definitely think this fight does a good job of encouraging players to try playing defence.

The one criticism I have of the attack patterns is that his damage output might be a bit too unpredictably random. The difference between his mildest attacks (one 4-damage hit, or two 2-damage hits), and his strongest (4-damage hit followed by a 3-hit combo) is pretty stark, especially late in the fight when he gets to roll those dice twice per turn. This can definitely make the difficulty feel a bit inconsistent: I have had runs of this fight which felt like I won due to good RNG, rather than any choices I made, and I think it might benefit from some kind of weighting element where the strongest and weakest attacks he can do each become more likely the more turns it's been since the last time he did them. This is a minor nitpick though, I'm certainly not averse to random elements in games.

So let's talk about the item restriction.

The core concept is straightforward: when you use an item, Astotheles reacts with a counter that destroys the item before it takes effect. Effectively, all items in this fight behave as though they've been replaced with a blank item that wastes the character's turn without doing anything.

This, in and of itself, is fine. It can feel bad to waste an item if you walk into it unknowingly, but every character's Spy dialogue gives a hint about how it works, so I think it's perfectly fair. It makes you recontextualise item use as part of your strategy: HP and TP management becomes something you need to really think about instead of offloading it to consumables, you can't use bombs or status-boosting items to boost your damage output, self-inflicted status strategies aren't viable, etc. It's a good way of making the player think and get out of their comfort zone if they've been relying too much on a specific strategy.

The problematic aspect is in what happens if you try to use an item while Astotheles is suffering from a disabling status effect (freeze, sleep, numb). He arbitrarily cures himself of the status, then breaks the item anyway.



This is a problem for a couple of reasons:

(1) It counteracts what the game teaches elsewhere about how status effects interact with enemy reactions. In the Chapter 2 fight against Zasp and Mothiva, Zasp does not react to Mothiva being hit or KO'd if he is frozen or asleep when it happens, and that's absolutely something you can take strategic advantage of. Other enemies later in the game will behave similarly: Astotheles is very much an exception to the rule.

(2) It runs counter to intuition, meaning most players won't predict the outcome correctly. It's true that Bug Fables isn't a game absolutely dedicated to realism, but it's still the case that a player is going to have expectations, and it's better not to contravene them unless you have a good reason to.

(3) The self-cure leaves Astotheles in a better position afterward than before, making this even more counterproductive than wasting an item when he isn't disabled. The player is being punished more than usual for trying a natural way to play around the gimmick (whereas my design preference would be to reward players for getting clever).

The result is that this behaviour almost always takes the player by surprise and feels like a "gotcha" out of nowhere, or maybe even like the game is cheating against them. It usually leaves them in a worse situation than before, and (because players are often in a desperate situation when they feel the need to try it) very often leads directly to losing the fight.

I can think of three different ways to resolve the problem:

(A) When incapacitated by status, Astotheles doesn't react to item use. This is my preferred solution, it's more consistent with how other fights work, and changes the strategic value of status effects. I might also suggest lowering his freeze and/or sleep resistance, to give the player a bit more freedom to actually exploit it. This does make the fight easier; I think that's fine, but I would consider increasing his HP in compensation (especially if lowering his resistances).

(B) Make Astotheles immune to status effects. The main advantage here is that this would be the easiest to implement, and stays closest to the current version of the fight (you don't get to use items, he destroys all the items you try to use), while resolving the problematic aspect. The downside here is that this takes away a strategic option the player would otherwise have, so it's a nontrivial difficulty increase. Maybe his HP would need to be reduced a bit to keep things fair.

(C) Have the fight take place before Team Snakemouth recovers their possessions, changing the justification for "no item use" to them not having any. This might also require forcing Vi to sit out the fight, since all of her abilities are either tied to her Beemerang or her Stash (which would require a rebalance of his stats, but the game is definitely capable of having a fight without the full party, as we saw with Acolyte Aria). The main thing I don't like about this version is that it removes some of Astotheles' characterisation, "he's so fast/skilled he can intercept your item use" did add a little something I'd be sorry to lose.

Any one of those solutions, it seems to me, solves both the verisimilitude and unfairness problems while staying true to the intent of the fight. It doesn't require major changes.

To wrap this up on a different note, let's have a look at Astotheles' page from the art book:



Genow's aside about the factory lockdown is interesting, because we don't get a lot of evidence for that ingame (though we did see spears like the ones the wasps use in the Power Plant, so it seems like they broke in there and may have run afoul of the Midge Broodmother).

Also, the concept art shows him with a sword or dagger hilt, which suggests his weapon might not be a cane or walking stick as I've always interpreted it. I maintain I saw what I saw.

[Explopyro]

36: Concerning Horns

Last time, our adventure in the bandits' hideout led us to recover some stolen goods. Let's see what we can do with them.

06 - Outskirts



The bandits' hideout is very close to the Outskirts entrance to the Lost Sands, so let's head back that way. We can stop by Artis and check for a reward on the way.



On the way, I failed to dodge one of the Underlings, which normally wouldn't be noteworthy one way or the other. Except...



It's a Golden Seedling, which is convenient to demonstrate how much we've grown. These used to be a pain to deal with. Now, though, we have Strong Start and Chompy, meaning our first turn is composed of 5 guaranteed actions.







(Leif relayed the Strong Start turn to Kabbu to avoid the damage penalty.)





And Chompy deals the final blow. Easy and completely risk-free.



These things are still worth ludicrous amounts of EXP. Honestly, it's kind of annoying, since we're already a bit on the overlevelled side and there's still a lot of side content left this chapter that will give us more. On the other hand, I've found being overlevelled tends to be less unbalancing in this game than a lot of others, so we'll deal with it.

If encountered in a formation alongside other enemies (especially if not in front, or if there are more than one), Golden Seedlings can still be nontrivial, but they're a lot less threatening than they used to be.



I won't turn up my nose at a free Tangy Berry either, though now that we can buy them they're a lot less precious. (Also, we get a Danger Spud from the Underling formation's normal drops.)

Anyway, after that interruption, let's get back to what we were doing.



Now for Artis.

Hey! You're back. Let's see how you have been doing with that Medal of mine.
Hmm! Good job, folks! You defeated that hardened Astotheles!
Was it too challenging for ya? You deserve a reward. Here, take this!



Come back later when you've bonked some extra hard heads with that Medal, will ya?

Triumph Buzz is a counterpart to the Victory Buzz medal we acquired earlier. For 3 MP, this will heal each member of our party 2 HP at the end of each fight. Like Victory Buzz, this goes a long way toward making normal battles less taxing on our resources; if you're only going to wear one of them, Victory Buzz tends to be more consistently useful, but you can always just wear both, or swap to whichever you're in more need of recovering at the moment. It's a medal we'll certainly appreciate having, though I'm not going to put it on right now.





In the plaza, we see Utter alerting us that there are new quests posted. Let's check the board.









Two of these are obviously related to the stolen items we recovered (what on earth happened to poor Tanjerin?), but that's not the only thing going on. Let's accept all the quests.

That said, for anyone playing along, be cautious about accepting "Explorer Check!" if you want to do any business in the Ant Kingdom Commercial District; once you have the quest in your log, the events will trigger automatically when you go there (and blocks you off from accessing e.g. the medal shops until you've dealt with it).

Let's see what's going on with Tanjerin first, shall we?

26 - Golden Lands



There he is, in the eastern part of the Golden Settlement. That little orange-shaped house seems to be his. Not looking great, is he. There's no new banter, so let's talk to him.



By the spicy berries of the land... your horn!
We're guessing that rock did this to you.
H-Huuuu...



H-Hu. F-Fine. I'll tell ya.
I was gonna break the rock to be the strongest! But then my horn broke.
It doesn't hurt or anything, but some bandits nabbed it. I can't heal it!
What could bandits possibly do with your horn?
D-Don't ask me. But I need it. Or I can't break the rock!
That should be the least of your worries!
Look. Just leave it to us. We'll get it back from the bandits!
Try not to break anything else until we return.
Huuu...

Well then.



Talking to him again prompts us to give him an item. Of course, we need to try the Bug Ranger Plushie first...

T-That's not it. My horn is orange like me, okay? Sniff...

He doesn't have a special reaction to the plushie, he'll say the same thing for any incorrect item.



Anyway, it would be cruel to keep him waiting. Let's give his horn back.





Well, that's one way to solve the problem, I guess? Duct tape fixes everything?

Alright. Now, you should definitely rest!





The screen briefly blacks out, and when we come back, he's gone. Oh dear. This isn't going to end well, is it? Let's go see if we can find him.



As we may have predicted, he's back at the rock.



I implore you to reconsider! You've hurt yourself already!
Nah. Imma do it! Just watch!





Oookay then? (We'll check this out in a moment.)

Well, it's not quite broken, but...





I can rest now. I deserve it for working so hard! See you, and thanks!



Well, at least he's happy, I suppose? I really don't know what to do with this, but it counts as completing the quest.

Now that the rock's gone, a new path has opened up for us to explore. Let's check out a few things before that, though.



If we go back to the east side, we can find Tanjerin hanging out by his house.



Now I'm gonna look for new things to break!
...Please don't.

He has new dialogue, of course. (I'm still worried about him, having his horn just taped back on can't be a good thing. And yes, it will stay that way.)

For better or worse, there aren't any new banters for Tanjerin (honestly, I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity; I kept checking throughout this quest expecting there to be something).



Let's check out our new medal. Mightier Pebble is, as you might have guessed, something of an upgrade to Mighty Pebble in concept. For 3 MP, this will give Kabbu the skill "Boulder Toss". Let's try it out.





Boulder Toss costs 4 TP, and can target any above-ground enemy (including airborne enemies). If the action command is performed successfully, Kabbu will launch a giant boulder, which hits the main target for (Kabbu's attack + 3) damage, and adjacent targets for 2 damage. If you fail the action command, the boulder lands on Kabbu, dealing 4 damage to him. Only the main hit is affected by modifiers to Kabbu's attack and exhaustion penalties, the splash and self-damage are fixed values (though, as you can see here, the splash damage is still reduced by enemies' defence, it's not like Pebble Toss).

Honestly, this is a pretty solid skill. I've never used it much, but I'm not entirely sure why; it might just be that Under Strike unlocks around the same time, and serves a pretty similar role (hitting flying and burrowed enemies, hitting multiple enemies at once), and you can use that without dedicating MP to it. Still, this is pretty good.



Let's check out the new path that's opened to us.





What is this area? There's someone here behind the desk...

That's a big field.
It seems some activity is conducted here. Let's investigate.

Well, that's helpful.





This sign is more informative. (Also, uh, Paper Mario fans might find the concept of 'Whacka Farms' moderately disturbing. It's nothing like that.) Remember the Whack-A-Worm game from the Golden Festival? Looks like this is a place where we can play that again. Let's talk to the attendant.



Uh, excuse us...
What is it?! Can't you see I am-
Wait, are you... customers?!
Depends. What do you do here?
Oh, welcome! Welcome to the Whack Farms!
Here, we play a popular game called Whack-A-Worm!
Oh, that's the game we played at the festival!
Yeah. The festival hosts it sometimes, but here you can play whenever you want!
It's 10 berries for a try, and depending on your score, you can win quite a few berries or items back!



Let's not, right now.

Ugh. Alright. If you ever change your mind, just come back.

There's also a banter about the attendant:

She didn't realize she was trapped?
Good for her. We'd have gotten antsy.
No point in bringing it up now... but isn't it depressing?
To be accustomed to not having clients...
W-Well, we could help her out a bit...

If even Vi feels badly for her, who am I to resist? (Or is she just eager to play the game? Who knows?)



Alright! Please get in the arena so we can start!

04 - FIGHT!



It's the same Whack-A-Worm game we played before, just in a slightly different arena (the terrain isn't quite the same). Worms pop out of the ground, you try to hit as many as you can with the Beemerang in the 1-minute time limit.



That run could've definitely gone better.



Hehe! What do we get?
Here is something for your efforts.



Thank you for playing, come back again!

Most of the time, you just win berries (it seems to be 1 berry per worm you hit). If you enjoy this game, it's not an awful way to grind berries, though other methods do tend to be faster. The sign said there's a special prize for getting 25 points, though, so let's keep trying.



There we go.



It's not 30 worms, but still super impressive!
Ha! It was nothing for me!
Here you go, this is a special prize!



Thank you for playing, come back again!

The prize for 25 worms is a Heart Berry. That's really quite nice, it's well worth trying to get this (although it might take a bit of practice to get the score). I foresee a bit of voting ahead of us, we'll have to decide who gets to eat this one.

That said, we can't stop now; she mentioned 30 worms! That's... considerably trickier.

Click me for video!



It took me over half an hour of attempts before I managed this. I won't claim to be any good at this minigame, but it seems to me that beating 30 points usually requires a bit of RNG cooperation in addition to skill. It goes a lot more smoothly if you get a few close groups of worms, or if they spawn close enough together that you don't need to move much to get to the next one, etc. One trick that can be helpful (you'll see me do it a handful of times in the video) is that, if you barely miss a throw, you can sometimes move Vi a little and get the Beemerang to catch the worm on the way back to her.

Anyway, let's see what we get?



Heheheh.



What was that?
A special code. For a special "menu".
THAT's the reward!?
When you figure it out, it's worth it...
How mysterious...
Oh, and take these, too!



Thank you for playing, come back again!

You can tell from my berry count that I was at this a while. Anyway, our reward for scoring this well is... our first Menu Code! From here on out, we'll occasionally stumble across these. That conversation was a bit cryptic though, wasn't it? The game won't outright tell you what the codes are for.

The codes can be entered when naming your file for a new playthrough, and enable various changes to shake up the gameplay (usually extra challenges, but not exclusively). Entering the code doesn't actually name your file, either, so you can activate as many of them as you want and still call your file whatever you like. You don't actually need to have found the codes ingame to use them, but I do appreciate that they're hidden ingame.

So what does MOREFARM do? This first one is a little disappointing, honestly: it increases the amount of EXP needed to rank up. The wiki says the cumulative increase per rank goes from 1 point to 5 points. That is certainly a thing you can do. The other codes are more interesting, and we'll discuss them in due course when they come up.

With that, unless we want to grind more berries, we're done here. Let's investigate the next stolen item.

37 - Defiant Root



In Defiant Root, we can find that this shop in the commercial district has finally opened its doors.



That looks like the lady whose silk was stolen. We'll talk to her momentarily, but let's check the banter first:

Ms. Kali's made quite a name for herself in town! Her wares are very popular.
Eh, they're way too expensive.
And we're already beautiful.
Al...right?

Heh. Leif certainly has his vain moments. Let's talk to her.



That's gotta be Kali. Excuse us, miss?
Whatever could you want? Can't you see I'm devastated?
We're here to help!
You need not suffer any longer. Could you tell us what happened?
Aah... Explorers! Please excuse me, I've been very on edge.
I have ample reason to believe bandits have stolen my silk!
Not any silk, yes? This one costs both time and many berries to manufacture!
The bandits've really done a number on Defiant Root.
Leave it to us! You will be able to craft again soon!
So dashing! Please, return it before they ruin it!
You got it. Start getting that reward ready!

I do think it's a little odd that all these quests' starting dialogue is written as though Team Snakemouth are going to go out and look for the stolen thing, when the most likely case is they already have it since these quests don't appear until after you beat Astotheles. That said, it's not guaranteed we'd have the thing, and if we hadn't known to grab it (by the fact it was an item we could pick up) we'd have to go back into the Bandits' Hideout now.



Talking to her again goes right to the prompt to give her things. We're going to try the plushie, of course.

No, no, no! This isn't it. How distressing!

She doesn't have a special reaction either, sadly.



Let's hand over the silk; easy come, easy go?



It did feel incredible carrying it back here.
Miss Kali, did you truly create such an exquisite texture?
That's right. Silks and the wondrous items of fashion and leisure it can be woven into are my absolute PASSION.
They've gotta be worth a fortune! No wonder it got stolen.
A fortune? Hah! You cannot put a price on a masterpiece.
...Though I'll have you know my prices are very economical, darlings.



This place is so cool though. I've never seen this big wheel before!
W-Wait! Do be VERY careful near that vase, my dear. It's a gift from a client very close to me.
Incredible. Your work touches the hearts of the wearer that strongly?
Shame we're not too much into fashion...
I'm itching to get back to work, so...
Please, let me reward you for all you've done for this shop.



She gives us a Lore Book. Not too bad; we'll have to check this out soon, along with the other one we're currently holding onto.

And you all seem absolutely exhausted, you poor things. Breathe this in, my darlings, it should soothe and fix your wounds with ease.
Oh! Thank you so much!











Welp. We all saw that coming, surely.





That vase was a one of a kind design from...
Ah crud.



I...I'm sorry!
Sorry is NOT enough! It's time to show you the consequences of touching things that do not belong to YOU!





What's this smoke...?









I digress. Come, my knight, let's give these two a proper thrashing!
Kabbu, what do you think you're doing?



I... can't control... my body...
A puppet on silken strings, now... Let's begin, shall we?

Click me for video!

29 - Team, This One's Stronger! (Miniboss)





Well, this is awkward! Kabbu's under some kind of pheromone mind control, and will be fighting on Kali's side. (That's not... quite... what pheromones do, but it's honestly one of the better excuses for mind control I've seen in a game.)

We're only going to have Vi and Leif for this battle (thank goodness it doesn't seem to have worked on him too). Let's spy.



Kabbu's... our friend. We must seek an alternative to this.

25 HP?! He doesn't have that much when he's on our side! (For better or worse, Enemy Kabbu here is a fixed entity, and isn't affected by any of our medals or stat upgrades.)



Maybe if I knock her around a bit, she'll stop dancing and start listening!

The spy dialogue for both of them is definitely implying we should be focusing on Kali here.



To start off, Leif attacks her.



Chompy, unfortunately, can only reach Kabbu. I'm sure he'll forgive her later?



Kabbu still has his Taunt, of course, which he uses on Leif here. It works the same way Zasp's Taunt did when we fought him: a taunted character can only use basic attacks or do nothing. Taunt also doesn't cost Kabbu his turn (though he doesn't always use it), so he'll follow it up with something else...



In this case, a variant on his usual Heavy Strike, for 4 damage.



On Kali's turn, she uses a dance that boosts Kabbu's defence for the next turn. She'll never attack us directly, but she has all sorts of support moves she'll be using on him.



So here's where things stand now.





With Leif taunted, he can only do normal attacks, so I'm not inclined to get too fancy here. I do switch their positions, though, to put Vi in front since she's healthier.



Chompy's still stuck hitting poor Kabbu, though with the defence boost it barely matters.



Kabbu also has Pebble Toss! Though it seems to be more effective when he's using it against us, I wonder why that is...



Kali has another dance which heals Kabbu for 5, conveniently undoing everything Chompy's done to him.



At the end of that turn, TP Core kicks in. It's a bit wasted since we hadn't actually spent any TP yet, but this is handy to have in this battle. We only have two actions per turn, we don't want to have to spend them on recovery.



Here's where things stand after two turns. We've made a bit of progress, but there's still a ways to go.



Let's have Leif cast Empower on Vi. (In retrospect, this was a bit inefficient, but it made sense at the time.)



Vi attacks Kali for 4 now.



Chompy is still trying her hardest, for better or worse.



Heavy Strike hurts, but it's not the worst thing Kabbu can do here.



And this is genuinely scary. It's probably the most dangerous move Kali has: this dance gives Kabbu +2 charge-up. His attacks become terrifying with this on top of them (although you can get lucky: it doesn't boost his Pebble Toss damage, but using that will still consume the bonus, so sometimes he wastes it).



That said, there's a countermeasure. Did you remember Leif's Cleanse spell? (I often don't, to be honest.)





Cleanse completely nullifies charge-ups and temporary buffs, which is really handy in this fight. That's looking much better.





And here's why casting Empower was a waste: I ended up deciding it would be too risky to attack with Vi here, and opted instead to have her use a Succulent Platter to set up some HP regeneration (as well as poison herself, I put the poison medals back on her after Astotheles). She only attacked once while boosted. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.



Chompy is helping?





Kabbu taunts Vi this time, then follows up with a new move! He can also use Under Strike against us. It has a base damage of 5, but thankfully only hits one bug one time.



Kali boosts his defence again.







Lots of things happen at end-of-turn this time! Despite the poison damage, the regeneration from Succulent Platter still has Vi net gaining health.



This is a bit awkward. I'd been hoping to get a big attack in with Vi this turn, but she's taunted. Oh well.





We'll still have Leif boost her (hopefully she can make better use of it next turn), but for now she'll attack normally.



Chompy has a one-track mind.



Kabbu uses Pebble Toss again, which isn't too bad (though Vi is looking a bit worse for wear after that).



This time, Kali elects to boost his attack instead. It's not quite as scary as the charge-up (and still lasts for only 1 turn), but that could get bad.





And there goes the last of the Succulent Platter. It did what it needed to do.



With Vi finally free of the taunt, let's take advantage of all her boosts. It's time for a Hurricane Toss.



11 total damage isn't too bad.



Leif relays to Vi so she can attack again. With the boosts, that'll do more damage than Leif could do without spending TP (and, for better or worse, we can't quite finish her).



Chompy is still chugging along.



Kabbu's heart isn't really in this, he's still just throwing pebbles.



Kali boosts his attack again.









For better or worse, we'll just do some normal attacks this turn. Vi's poison and attack boosts have both worn off.





Ouch. At least he wasted the taunt?



That's worse.



This isn't looking great, is it?



At least we have Magic Seeds. Situations like these are what they're made for.



Vi uses a Tornado Toss, and finishes Kali off.



Which... ends the fight. Once Kali is defeated, Kabbu is freed from her influence and won't keep fighting.



If you're paying close attention to the EXP amounts in both the video and the above screenshot, you may notice they don't quite match; I'm sorry about this, but as it happens I record most boss fights several times, and the run I liked best for video and commentary ended up not being on the same file as the Golden Seedling and Whack-a-Worm. The number in this screenshot is correct for the one we'll be going forward with.

Anyway, this fight! It's a fun surprise, you're probably not expecting it from what looks like a basic fetch quest, and the gimmicks are interesting. In addition to just focusing down Kali, status effects can be a good strategy here: Kabbu is very resistant to freeze at 80%, so that won't work for long, but he has 0% resistance to sleep, so if you pack a few Numbnail Darts or Sleep Bombs you can make this fight much less stressful. Another thing you can do, if you know this fight is coming and are worried about it, is unequip any medals Kabbu was using and focus all those MP on Vi and Leif instead (e.g. here the HP Plus, Favorite One, Spiky Bod etc medals I had on Kabbu all do nothing).

There are a few other wrinkles to the fight we didn't see:



Kabbu also has access to Dash Through here, and it hurts! It's base 4 damage to both Vi and Leif, and it only gets scarier if he's boosted. (This was also more awkward in older versions of the game, in which this move unlocked later; it was really weird seeing Kabbu bust out this move when he didn't know it yet.)





Going after Kabbu first is a futile endeavour; Kali will always use this "healing dust" move to revive him with 9 HP at the first available opportunity. You do get more EXP for the fight if you KO him at least once, though.







I...I'm sorry. That smoke made me dizzy, I couldn't help it...
...
...



It was quite uncouth of me to lose my temper.
Let's put this behind us, hm? Water in the oasis, as it were. I'll see if Butomu can fix the vase...
Fine with us. We're too lazy to press charges.



Despite the downward turn... we hope you make great things with that silk, Kali!
Oh. I assure you, I can and will, my dear knight.
...Please remove yourselves from my shop, if you would be so kind.



Despite that... unexpected turn, shall we say... we have now finished the quest. There's a bit of fun commentary in the bestiary entries, too:







(You obviously can't get Kabbu's spy dialogue in this fight, but it's not confined to the bestiary either. If you replay this fight in the B.O.S.S. system, he'll be on both sides of the fight and can spy on himself, or on Kali, to see these comments there.)



If we try to talk to Kali any further, this is all we'll get. This could definitely have gone better.

Kali, as you may have guessed, is a silk moth. The wiki suggests her name may be derived from Bombykol, the pheromone silk moths use to attract mates. Which does raise some questions here, namely, why did her spray work on Kabbu, but not on Leif? (Are pheromones more universal in Bugaria that they work across species? But that still isn't sufficient, because Leif's immunity is still a mystery... maybe something we'll learn later could help make sense of this.)

We have plenty more quests to do, but at least we've resolved the issue of the stolen goods, so this seems like a reasonable place to stop for today. Before that, though, let's go check in with Artis again.



Was it too challenging for ya? You deserve a reward. Here, take this!



Come back later when you've bonked some extra hard heads with that Medal, will ya?



Our reward is Heavy Throw, another skill-granting medal. This one's for Vi, and costs 2 MP. Let's check the skill out.





Heavy Throw is... interesting. For 5 TP, it does one big hit, which deals (Vi's attack + 3) damage and also inflicts Defence Down for 2 turns. If you fail the action command to catch the Beemerang when it returns, though, Vi will also hit herself for a flat 3 damage.

Everything this skill does (well, except the self-damage anyway) sounds great on paper, but I find it tends to be awkward in practice. When you want an enemy's defence lowered, you generally prefer that to happen before dealing damage, and it's better if someone other than Vi does it so she can take advantage of the lowered defence with a big multi-hit attack. It's fine, you can definitely use this to good effect, but the other tools available just tend to get the job done better.

Anyway, we've certainly gained our share of new skills this update! Next time, we'll continue with the sidequests, and start looking into what our newfound digging abilities make available to us.

In the meantime, how about some voting? Who gets to eat the Heart Berry this time?

[Explopyro]

37: Impostor Syndrome

Last time, we got a start on our latest batch of sidequests by returning the stolen goods (with, of course, some complications). Let's look into some of the others; specifically, let's head to the Ant Kingdom commercial district and see what Gen and Eri were worried about.

Before that, though, some management:





I've restocked our items, since we were starting to get low.



We won this Heart Berry last time, for scoring 25 points in the Whack-a-Worm game. The thread voted that it's Vi's turn to eat one, so let's give it to her.





Vi now has 10 max HP (though 2 of that is from a medal).

Also, this screen's a good reminder that I haven't been to the library in a while. We'll turn in those Lore Books soon enough, I promise.

I've also moved some medals around:









I thought it'd be a good idea to show what we're wearing, it's been a while. That said, you'll notice some differences here, mainly that I've moved all the poison medals to Kabbu. After the incident with Kali last time, I thought it might be nice to give him a turn as the main attacker.

17 - Ant Kingdom



Let's head into the commercial area.

13 - It's Getting Scary!



If you have the "Explorer Check" quest accepted, this scene starts as soon as you enter the area. Hope you didn't want to do any business first!



Explorers don't lie! You should check again!
I know how to do my job! Don't you dare try to swindle me!



What is the matter here!?
They're trying to steal Amber's items!
We're not! Look at our permit!





...That permit's fake.
What'd ya say!?
Uh, really?
It's missing its crystals. Haven't you noticed? This is obviously some cheap imitation.
Thieves, and a farce to boot!? You will answer for your crimes!
Whew, good thing you're here. We had no idea...



Well, that escalated quickly!

Click me for video!

29 - Team, This One's Stronger!





Looks like it's going to be a fight. Let's start off as we usually do, by getting some information:



It's not only to gain riches, but to help others! Now, let's count up your sins!

Kabbu, predictably, really doesn't think much of this pair.



Doesn't seem like you're willing to listen... Our ice will sneak past your defenses.

I don't know quite what Leif is trying to say here (aside from the fact he usually mentions ice because it's his answer to everything). Pisci's defence works just as well against ice as everything else.

For now, let's just do some basic attacks and see what they can do.



Leif relays to Kabbu for slightly better damage.





Chompy's helping!



Cenn attacks by throwing his stick as a boomerang. This hits the same character twice, with base damage of 4 and then 3; it hurts a lot, especially if you don't block well.



Pisci, meanwhile, builds a rock wall for them to hide behind. Sometimes she'll take multiple actions in a turn, but that's all she did this time.



Well, this is awkward. The rocks count as the front-most enemy, so Kabbu and Chompy can't reach with most of their attacks. However...



Kabbu can just go underneath it! Under Strike is pretty great in this fight, and it's even better if you can time it exactly right; I was a little off this time.





Leif and Vi will just keep hitting Cenn for now.



And poor Chompy has no choice but to eat rocks. (The rock wall appears to have 1 defence, for some reason.)



Cenn uses a different attack this time. He can also just hit us with the stick, for 4 base damage (Favorite One and Super Block+ are cancelling each other out here).



This turn, Pisci chucks some rocks at us. These don't have to target the same bug (though she decided to focus on Kabbu here), and do 2 damage each.



We're making progress.



Kabbu's Under Strike goes much better this time, hitting both of them! The timing for this feels pretty tricky (I'm still not all that consistent with it, as you can see), though I don't actually know how small the window is.





Leif and Vi continue hitting Cenn.



Chompy hits the rock pile again, causing it to fall apart. Pisci's rock walls have 4 HP, so you can get rid of them if you want to.





At the start of their turn, instead of attacking, they decide they've had enough and run away.

(As far as I can tell, the trigger for this happening is either of them being below half HP when their turn begins. Also, if anyone is wondering, it's not actually possible to win this fight: I did some fairly extensive testing, and found there's a script in place which arbitrarily stops their HP from being reduced below 2.)







This is bad. They'll just come back and harass someone else!
We have no idea where they'd flee to, though...
That permit's fake, right? Maybe they'll try to steal a real one?
We'll check out the area near the Association, then!
We shall as well. Let's get them with haste!





Gen and Eri leave, and the game gives us back control. Let's head to the Outskirts, I guess, and see if we can't track them down.





We pass by our house on the way, though, so it only makes sense to rest up first.

06 - Outskirts



We eventually find them here, on the other side of a fence near the exit that eventually leads to Golden Path.



We can, of course, dig and go under the fence. As soon as we get closer, a cutscene will start:

13 - It's Getting Scary!



How did you find us so fast!?
It's cuz we're, like, actual explorers!





Gen, Eri! Good job locating the frauds!
We won't waste our breath negotiating.
Yeah! Let's just beat 'em up!
Darn, they're too strong. What do we do!?
Just give it up! There's a reason Maki refused your application!
What would he know? Y'all are just the Queen's lapbugs!
No one has the right to tell us we can't explore!
...
I get how you feel. But... the answer wasn't to become criminals!
It was to train and become stronger, so you could do the dangerous stuff!
Don't lecture us! We'll see who needs to get stronger after this!

It's time for round two (the real fight).

Click me for video!

29 - Team, This One's Stronger!





In a way, they did us a favour by running away, because it means we start this fight already having their spy data. No need to waste any actions this turn, let's just get to fighting.



Let's start off by having Leif cast Empower on Kabbu.





Then we poison him with some Spicy Fries. Admittedly, in retrospect this was a minor mistake (why did I use Empower instead of doing something else with Leif? Or why didn't I get Burly Chips instead?), but the durations stack so we won't need to refresh the attack buff later.



Now it's Under Strike time! Look at that 18 damage. This can be really potent if you're good at using it; just because Vi's skills are the most obvious way to output lots of damage, don't rule the other two out. (I also really like Under Strike in this fight because it completely ignores Pisci's defence.)





To finish out the turn, Vi and Chompy attack normally.



Cenn hits Kabbu with his stick (and I fail to block).



Pisci does something new this turn - she pulls out a Crunchy Leaf and heals Cenn. Supposedly, both of them can do this, though only to heal each other; in practice, I don't think I've ever seen Cenn do it. (Also, I've seen quite a few people comment on it being odd that Cenn is able to eat leaves with a proboscis.)



Immediately after that, she builds a rock wall.



So far, so good. Let's keep doing that.





Unfortunately, this time my timing is less good and I only manage to hit Cenn. Still, if I were choosing one to prioritise hitting, it would be Cenn (given his higher damage output), so it could be much worse.



Leif attacks.





Vi uses a Crisbee Donut to restore our TP, since we were nearly out. It doesn't take much skill use to burn through our 15 points.



Chompy attacks rocks for lack of anything better to do.



Ouch. The boomerang attack really hurts if you miss blocking.



At least Pisci's rocks aren't much of a threat.



We might need to do a bit of regrouping this turn.





First things first, though, Kabbu's going to keep Under Striking. This time, he only managed to hit Pisci, though. Still, damage is damage. (Also evidence of how finicky this skill can be - his positioning looks right here, but clearly not.)



Leif freezes Cenn with Frigid Coffin. I would have liked to just KO him this turn, but missing with Under Strike ruled that out; freezing him is nearly as good at taking him out of the fight.



Vi gets Leif out of the woods with Secret Stash.



And Chompy hits the rocks again, which should be enough to do for them.







Well, it was enough to get rid of the rocks, but Pisci just puts them right back after healing Cenn. She's very persistent about this; trying to keep the rocks gone is honestly a losing proposition here.



We should definitely be able to finish off at least one of them this turn.



Tornado Toss with full charge against a frozen target is honestly a bit overkill; there goes Cenn. (Meanwhile I'm just thinking all that wasted damage is a bit inefficient; feels like I got a bit sloppy.)



We're out of TP, so I just had Kabbu hit the rocks.



While Leif hits Pisci, though without the +1 charge he wouldn't have managed to do any damage.



And Chompy finishes the rocks off; let's see if they stay gone.



At the start of their turn, if either Cenn or Pisci has been defeated, the other will gain a permanent Attack Up. (This is definitely another reason to try to take down Cenn first, I wouldn't want to be fighting him with boosted damage.)





Pisci throws some rocks at us. They're a bit more threatening with Attack Up, but still not that scary.



We've gotten Pisci low enough with incidental damage that we should be able to finish things now.





It feels a bit awkward using an item so close to the end of the fight (and with better planning I could probably have avoided this), but getting through her defence is a lot simpler with a bit of TP.



Vi's Needle Pincer does the job quite nicely.



That wraps up the fight! It's a decent chunk of EXP too, more than enough for us to Rank Up. (Also, I have to say, I've always thought Kabbu looks good in purple.)





This brings us to 50 total MP. (That sounds like a lot, but it really isn't hard to fill that up.)



Tch. You preachy bunch...









Something stops them as they try to run away again.









YOU didn't notice OUR plan!
Incredible! Good work!
We're gonna ship these off to be judged. Thanks for your help!
Let's see. Confiscate the permit and... huh. They had this on them.
You should take it, Team Snakemouth!



Another Lore Book for the pile.

Pleasure to help.
We'll see you around. Good luck in your other quests!
Heheh. See you around!



With that, we've completed another quest. Cenn and Pisci are a good fight (and I think it's also a nice touch that their inexperience is represented in game mechanic terms by them both having very small movesets).

Also, did you notice? Put together the names of all the characters involved in this quest and you get Gen, Eri, Cenn, Pisci, or... "Generic NPC". There you go, it's the punchline to a joke begun with Gen and Eri's names all the way back at the beginning of the game. (Honestly, the most impressive aspect of this is that all of the individual names look fine in a vacuum.)

Completing another boss fight, of course, means we should check in with Artis.



Hmmm! Good job, folks! You defeated that hardened duo of fake explorers!
Was it too challenging for ya? You deserve a reward. Here, take this!



Come back later when you've bonked some extra hard heads with that medal, will ya?

Our Hard Mode reward for beating them is our fifth copy of HP Plus. We've now seen every copy of this medal in the game (there are six; the last one is currently waiting in Shades' shop though we haven't bought it yet).



Also, now that we've finished helping them with their quest, Gen and Eri will go back to hanging out at their usual spot here in the Association.





They have new dialogue, though it's fairly sparse. The banter has also updated:

Gen and Eri seem a bit unreliable.
It's good to know they have our back, though!
Indeed. This camaraderie is what being an explorer is all about!

Seems like their stunt with the Sleep Bomb back there definitely impressed Vi.

With that quest out of our way, let's do some exploration. Now that we can dig, we can finally find out what's hiding under all those dirt mounds we've been seeing across the world (and find a few other neat things too). Let's go on a backtracking tour.



Though let's start with something new. If we return to where we just fought Cenn and Pisci, there's one hiding just past them.







It only has a Danger Spud. A bit disappointing, but it has its uses. I guess it helps establish early that not all of these are going to be incredibly impressive.



Next up is this one we saw at the very beginning of the game, right in front of the Explorers' Association.







That's certainly something new! We've been hearing about Dark Cherries from time to time, but now we've actually found some.

They're an interesting item. They don't actually do anything unless you cook them (in fact, as an item, they take up space in our inventory and can't be used), but they're used to make some of the best consumables in the game. Also, the "high price" is not a lie, they can be sold for 50 berries each if you're so inclined (though berries are so plentiful by this point in the game that there's usually no need to).

We'll talk more about Dark Cherries later this update, but for now I'm going to put a pin in the subject and get back to exploring.



There's one more dirt mound in this part of the Outskirts (though how it got on top of that rock I have no idea).







This one has a Crystal Berry inside! It's always nice to get more of these, and you can find a lot of them this way.



Moving on to the plaza, here's one just next to Bugaria Theatre, off the path toward the Ant Palace.







Another Crystal Berry!



And in the Commercial District, there's one here just by the entrance to the Underground Tavern.







This one has a Lore Book inside (how did that get there?).

We've now seen all the types of rewards from these digging spots: they can have Crystal Berries, Lore Books, Dark Cherries, or occasionally miscellaneous consumable items. They're well worth remembering. We've got a lot more still to check, so let's keep going.



Remember this gate the Ants put up blocking the way back to Snakemouth Den, after we got back from there?



Now that we can dig, it's no longer an obstacle. We can just go under it if we want to head back there.



Which is convenient for checking this digging spot.







All it has is a Spicy Berry, though. (I guess we've now replaced the Spicy Fries I used in the boss fight. Thanks, game?)



Here's a sneaky one. This one's in the room where we fought Monsieur Scarlet. In order to get back here, you have to remember the illusory wall and just walk through it.







Another Lore Book! This brings us to 5 now; looks like we're going to have a fair bit of reading ahead of us.



Continuing on to the Golden Path, there's this one if we jump across some flytraps in the first area.







More Dark Cherries!



While we're here in the Golden Path, let's stop at Chomper Caverns on the way, there's something new we can find there now as well.





Remember this crack in the far wall? Now that we can dig, we can burrow and go through.





This room, with the flowers and nail resting by the wall (and possibly also the shape of the medal here?), is generally considered to be a tribute to Hollow Knight.





The medal here is a really interesting one, too. Berserker costs a whopping 6 MP, and comes with a hefty share of drawbacks. Equipping this on a bug makes them unable to block, prevents them from using skills and items, and they can neither give nor receive turns with Turn Relay, but in return they get a flat +3 to their attack.

The best thing to do with it now is probably to pair it with Strong Start, since even with the double exhaustion, the character will still do more than usual damage on the second hit. Vi is probably the best candidate if you want to do that, since she can hit any enemy, but losing her other abilities is a real tradeoff and I have to say I personally don't use this much. I'll definitely show some strategies with it later, though, I think there's even a good opportunity next update.

One other thing worth noting about this is that, if you want, you can come get this before fighting Astotheles (all you need is the digging ability). If you're really bad at blocking, you can use this to give you a big boost in the damage race instead; I definitely took advantage of this on some of the bonus difficulties.



Reaching the Golden Settlement, there's a digging spot in the entrance area, surrounded by this circle of rocks.







It has another Crystal Berry in it.





In the western side of town, we can also use the digging ability to get inside the pen where the aphids and cochineals live. (Remember this digging spot? We could see it when Vi was playing the Whack-a-Worm game during the Golden Festival.)







Another Crystal Berry.



We're not done here just yet, either.





We can also sneak around the back of the fortune-teller's stall, and dig under the fence there. What happens if we talk to him?



Well, if you want me to try to find things you have not found yet, please talk to me from the front of the desk.
... Here, to commemorate my fated scare.



Please refrain from doing it again, though.
Even though I was expecting it, it really gave me a scare...

The first time we talk to him from this side, he'll give us a Crystal Berry. Not bad! (Although this is easy to miss if you don't already know about it...)



Talking to him again just gets us this line.



Heading into the Ant Mines, let's take a stop in the back room. We haven't been there in a while.



Most of the miners are gone, having left to build the various shortcut tunnels we use. The digging spot is still here, though!







Yet another Crystal Berry.



Let's briefly return to the Lost Sands. This is the ruined Roach city where Hawk gave us the key.



There was a digging spot inside this ruined building.







Another Crystal Berry! This is another one that's easy to overlook, since you can't see the dirt mound from outside the building.



Finally, let's return to Metal Island, and check out what's beyond this fence.





There's a spring here.





With it, we can get on top of Master Slice's restaurant, where a Crystal Berry is just sitting out in the open. Not bad!

That wraps up the Digging World Tour (at least for now). There are still a handful more things we can access, but as they're more involved, that will be for the next update.



For now, let's go read some books.

18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen





Did we find some books, she asks. Did we ever.



Many dialogue boxes later, the shelf looks significantly more full, wouldn't you say?



Let's see what they have to say!

Snakemouth Den. Rumors say that during Elizant I's rule, roaches that lived in Snakemouth Den were faced with a sudden demise. In one night, all the roaches that lived there were gone, and fungi monsters appeared. Expeditions sent have always suffered losses, so the search for the reason was put on hold. Snakemouth Den is rumored to be a host to many Ancient Crystals. Could that be the cause?

Most of that isn't exactly new, but clearly we've only scratched the surface of the mysteries in there. We're surely going to have to investigate more later.

A Brief History of Bees. The Bees are close allies with the Ants, and came in shortly after Elizant I settled down in these lands. While they used to make honey themselves, technological advancements made robotic drones slowly take over the honey's production. Many bees of the younger generation, barring scholars, do not fully understand how to make it. Their society is mostly composed of females, with males residing in the Queen's chambers.

It's a cute detail that the modern bees are forgetting how to make honey now that they have technology to do it for them. (Also, we haven't and will not meet any male honeybees, despite this book acknowledging their existence.)

A Brief History of Wasps. Although they've been around long before Elizant I's arrival, the Wasps live just outside of Bugaria. Thus, the Ants hold the title of first settlers. The Wasps control most of the northern territory comprising the Far Grasslands and Wild Swamplands, and will attack anyone they catch intruding. Due to a history of internal conflict, even the young are well-versed in military tactics and combat.

(This one's definitely reflecting the politics of its Ant author...)

A Brief History of Termites. The Termites, like the Wasps, lived in these lands before Elizant I, and, like them, live just outside of Bugaria. An isolationist society, they say the Termites were close allies of the Roaches and as such possess advanced technology within their dome. Unlike Bees and Ants, the Termites possess both male and female soldiers and workers in their society. They are also very good builders, and know how to use clay well.

We haven't met any termites yet, but clearly we're going to eventually. Fun fact: in evolutionary terms, termites are more closely related to roaches than they are to ants, so that alliance makes a certain amount of sense.

The Roaches. The roaches are the oldest of the bugs that rose after what they call the Day of Awakening. Having mastered the art of crystals, their civilization rose on top of this abundant power source. However, they suddenly disappeared. Many have speculated on the reason. Popular sentiment is some sort of civil war must have led their civilization to crumble. Personally, I doubt it. Surely some would have remained, then? If some roaches did survive, they live far from Bugaria. Perhaps not even they would know of what their ancestors did.

This one is very speculative. We still know very little about the roaches, except that they're gone.

I continue to enjoy the way the Lore Books are both an in-universe item and a way to convey backstory details that would otherwise be hard to fit in naturally.

There's one final stop I'd like to make before wrapping up today's update.

34 - Dodgy Business



Now that we've found our first Dark Cherries, this fellow shows up in the Underground Tavern.

Huh. This guy's new.
He keeps staring at us... Let's see what he wants.

Let's talk to him.



You've found some Dark Cherries, haven't you?!
Uh, well, yes. How did you...



I have a lot of Dark Cherries with me, you see... I can smell them from miles away!
So rare and valuable... Dear cherry lovers, I'll sell some of mine for 50 berries each!
What?! Can't you lower that a bit?
Finding these cherries is no easy task! Even for my expert nose!
50 berries. It's a steal.
We did hear of some amazing recipes using them... Hmm...
Hyuk hyuk hyuk! Please consider it, cherry lovers! It's an amazing deal!

This charming fellow is known only as the Dark Cherry Salesman. As that name suggests, he sells Dark Cherries. Notably, he actually sells them at cost, so you can use this as a crude way to store money (though it's a bit pointless considering the bank can hold up to 10,000, and we have limited item storage).



Talking to him again, he offers some hints in addition to giving us the option to buy the cherries. Let's see what he can tell us.

Haha! Lots of things! These cherries aren't just an easy way to get cash, y'know?
You can bake them, add a bit of explosives, try them out with other ingredients...
These ARE rare and expensive, so don't be too liberal with your experiments! Hyuk hyuk!
Do mix it with rare ingredients, though! Oh, I don't know... A Tangy Berry, perhaps? Hyuk hyuk!

Those are actually some very concrete hints; he's basically told us three of the four recipes we can make with them.



Hyuk hyuk! Well, it's a free kingdom! I'm free to set the prices, and you're free to reject them.
But these cherries aren't that easy to find! See you soon, my friends!

That's all he has to say for now. There's also a new banter after meeting him:

This, uh, peculiar bug seems obsessed with Dark Cherries.
They ARE rare and delicious. Don't you wonder where he found so many?
Maybe he has, like, a secret underground garden full of them!
We must find that garden ASAP.
...You're not planning a robbery in front of him, are you!?

That's a cute one.

So, enough stalling; let's finally talk about Dark Cherries in detail.

Dark Cherries are the closest thing Bug Fables has to a Megalixir or equivalent. There are a handful hidden throughout the world, usually buried in the ground or given as rewards. Finding your first one also causes the salesman to appear in the Underground Tavern.

On their own, Dark Cherries they do absolutely nothing. You can sell them for 50 berries each, but you cannot actually use them as a consumable item. If you want to unlock their potential, you have to cook them, and that means figuring out the recipes (which could be a bit tricky, but between the Salesman and Dan's dialogue on Metal Island, there are ingame hints for all of them).

We get hints to try "baking them" (Bag of Flour), "mixing with other rare berries or rare seeds" (Tangy Berry, Magic Seed), or "add explosives" (Spicy Bomb). Those are, in fact, the four possible recipes. You can also cook Dark Cherries by themselves, but it will be disappointing, you just get a Succulent Platter. Anything else just becomes a very expensive Mistake. Let's take a closer look:

Cherry Pie (64)
"A deliciously expensive pie made from rare Dark Cherries. Recovers 8 HP to the party and 5 TP."
Sell: 32 berries
Made by combining and

Cherry Pie is the least impressive item on offer, but it's still pretty good. Queen's Dinners are usually better and easier to get, but they cure status and this doesn't (meaning if you're doing poison or other status strategies, you might want this since it can activate Weak Stomach or heal everyone without interrupting your strategy).

Miracle Shake (66)
"A perfect blend of strong healing items. Restores 6 HP to the party while reviving fallen allies."
Sell: 35 berries
Made by combining and

Here's the best revival/comeback item you could ask for. Miracle Shake is the only item that lets you revive two fallen bugs in a single action, which can really help salvage an otherwise losing battle. Technically speaking it's not a strict upgrade over a Magic Seed, since it recovers 1 fewer HP to the fallen bug, but as it heals the living bugs as well it's almost always better.

You never want to end up in a situation where using these looks like a good idea, but if you do, nothing else compares, so it's usually worth carrying at least one if you can.

Berry Smoothie (65)
"A most delicious blend of exotic berries! Fully restores the party's TP."
Restores 99 TP
Sell: 17 berries
Made by combining and

The best TP recovery item bar none, though if you aren't putting a lot of levels into TP, Crisbee Donuts are nearly as good and Queen's Dinners are probably better. If you're going with a heavy TP build and relying on expensive skills (many of which we still have yet to see), you'll love these and will probably burn through a lot of them in long fights. It's worth noting that, unlike the rest of the Dark Cherry recipes, we'll eventually find another way to make these, though not until much later in the game (i.e., Chapter 7).

Cherry Bombs (63)
"Powerful, unstable and explosive! Toss it at enemies to deal huge damage and a random status!"
Randomly chooses Spicy Bomb, Burly Bomb, Poison Bomb, Sleep Bomb, Numb Bomb, or Frost Bomb and inflicts its effect with +2 damage. (In practice this is 6-7 damage to the main target, 4-5 damage to others in the radius, either ignoring defence or inflicting a status ailment.)
Sell: 37 berries
Made by combining and , , or

And here we have arguably the most powerful offensive item in the game (Abombination does more damage, but needs to be used carefully to mitigate the self-damage). That said, Cherry Bombs can also be tricky to use effectively, because the effect is a bit unpredictable and getting a status you're not expecting (such as Numb, which boosts defence) can throw a wrench in things. If all you want is big damage, though, these are wonderful. Imagine using Strong Start and opening a fight by throwing 4 of these.

Overall, the items you can make with Dark Cherries are some of the most powerful in the game (though none of them quite outclasses the Queen's Dinner, they complement it very well). On the other hand, they are also very definitely superfluous: you never actually need anything this good, and there are lots of other items serving similar roles.

As such, I personally like to pretend the Dark Cherry Salesman doesn't exist, and treat Dark Cherries (and the items you can make with them) as a limited commodity (aside from him, there are 9 of them in the game, and one endgame enemy can very rarely drop them). That way, instead of facing the temptation to overuse them and trivialise most bosses, I have to think carefully about what to make and when to use it (and being able to use them without penalty in B.O.S.S. or the Cave of Trials feels a lot more special). I also feel like treating them this way is more consistent with the way the characters talk about them in-universe, and the way the cherries are hidden in the world as though they were a collectible. (Given there are four recipes, 9 of them total also feels like a perfect number.)

Dark Cherries in this game have honestly given me a lot of appreciation for the occasional "megalixir" type rare consumable in games, and changed how I think about game design as a result. I know conventional wisdom is that these type of items are bad design because they encourage hoarding, but I think used very sparingly there's a good experience there that it's a shame to lose entirely. (There's a case to be made that having them buyable is better for accessibility, and I don't begrudge the game doing that, but I definitely prefer things without.) Please do discuss this in the thread, I expect a lot of people will disagree with me on this one.

Anyway, Dark Cherries. They're a thing. I'm open to suggestions for what to do with the two we've just found.

With that, I'll end today's update. Next time, we'll investigate some more places we can get to by digging, and maybe encounter unexpected characters and sidequests.

[Explopyro]

(The character limit has been giving me far too many problems: even with this in, the post is supposedly under 50k characters until I try to submit it, and then it's suddenly too much. So I'm going to make this small extra post instead of splitting the update.)



Also, after today's treasure hunt, we currently have 20 Crystal Berries. As a reminder, Shades currently has the following available for sale:

HP Plus (2 Crystal Berries)
EXP Booster (2 Crystal Berries)
Power Exchange (5 Crystal Berries)
Poison Defender (4 Crystal Berries)

Instead of a shopping list, let me just ask: should we buy him out? (except for EXP Booster, I'm not buying that) He'll get new stock at the start of Chapter 5, but these are all solid medals we could be using in the meantime, we'll probably want them long-term anyway, and we'll still have 9 berries left over. Please vote one way or the other in the thread.

[Robindaybird]

I suspect what Leif was trying to say in their spy comment is that Cenn and Pisci didn't take time to make sure their fake permit passes muster and instead of cutting their losses and run they chose to fight it out, both things more experienced con artists would know to do.

[Explopyro]

I suspect what Leif was trying to say in their spy comment is that Cenn and Pisci didn't take time to make sure their fake permit passes muster and instead of cutting their losses and run they chose to fight it out, both things more experienced con artists would know to do.

Oh, I'm sure he was implying that, but apparently I was also unclear in trying to say what I thought was unclear. Well done me.

What I meant to say was, I find it strange that he says "my ice will pierce her defences" when, in fact, his ice attacks behave exactly the same as any other attack against her so it's not actually a valid hint. I think the purpose of the line is to draw the player's attention to the fact Pisci has defence, so it's a hint in that respect, but I think it could have been worded better.

[Explopyro]

38: The Magician and the Fool

17 - Ant Kingdom



Once again, we're starting off with a bit of management. First off, I dropped off the two Dark Cherries we found last time with Amber; I'm sure we'll make use of them soon enough, but for now they can go into storage so they don't clog up our inventory.

34 - Dodgy Business











Next stop is Shades' place, since the thread universally voted to buy him out (with the exception of EXP Booster, that's for challenge runs). We're down to 5 Crystal Berries now, but these are all useful medals we'll be glad to have.



Now that we have a full complement of six HP Plus medals, we can start really thinking about how to distribute them. For now, I'm just going with two for each bug, but I'll probably change that around soon enough (Kabbu might want a greater share for tanking purposes, or we might consider not using all of them to free up MP for something else).



And Vi's back to carrying the poison medals again, though for now she's only getting one of each, I didn't quite have the MP for the second copy of Poison Defender and she honestly doesn't want it that badly.



Kabbu can get the second Super Block+ for now. I generally like them better on him than the other bugs because of the synergy with Spiky Bod (each copy is 1 more point of counter damage per Super Block).



Now, let's get moving. Our first stop today is going to be in the Far Grasslands (the small preview area we could access from the Power Plant).

56 - Lands Untamed





This root was blocking us before, but we can dig under it now and see a bit more of this area.





The first thing we encounter on the other side is yet another new enemy. (It's a bit hard to see in this area sometimes thanks to all the foliage; the game does its best to make it selectively transparent, but there's only so much that can do...)

04 - FIGHT!





We've seen the Mantidfly before, but let's find out what's up with the spider.



Well, and steal. I must make sure our inventory remains safe!

Jumping Spiders are another Chapter 5 enemy. Apparently their attacks can steal items if not blocked, though I don't think I've ever personally seen it happen.



Let's relay to Kabbu and have him hit it.



Leif freezes the Mantidfly to keep it out of our hair while we deal with the spider.





Conveniently it's not quite dead, so we'll get to see at least something it can do.



As you might expect from a jumping spider, it attacks by jumping on us.



Conveniently, we're in a good position to clean everything up this turn.



Kabbu finishes off the spider.







While Leif, Vi, and Chompy have exactly enough damage between them to kill the Mantidfly.



The enemies here are still worth ludicrous EXP.



Past the spider is a path leading to a new area.



This place seems... strange. We immediately see big spiderwebs.

Shadiest place in a while, huh.
Can't say we're not curious.
I'd rather we focus on the mission... but surely a small detour would not hurt?

Well, our party is curious, so let's check it out further.



The signs are certainly inhospitable.



Is that some kind of building?



More pleasant signs.



Yeah, that's definitely some kind of tower. Who could live here?

Climbing up on the rocks here, we get a prompt that allows us to inspect it. Let's do that.

A tower, in this wild place?
Let's break in.
Aw yes! We're on the same page!
I-Isn't it private property!?



After that conversation, we get a discovery.







Awkwardly, the discovery text here might be a bit too informative. Still, this certainly sounds like an interesting person we should try to meet.



Interacting with this spot again just produces this text.



To get closer to the tower, we need to use Leif's bubble shield to cross the brambles.



More of the same.



Whoever lives here, though, they're serious about not wanting visitors. The front door is firmly shut, we can't get in that way.



Cutting some weeds over this side, though, reveals a hole in the ground. Maybe we can jump down?



25 - Caves



Team Snakemouth lands with a crash in what looks like an underground library.



Bleh. I hate when the treasure turns out to be books.
This must be someone's residence! We're... we're tresspassers!
Shh. Relax. We've just gotta get out before-







Get outta here, aight? Or I'll kick you out myself!
And don't you dare touch any books! I'll track you down!

Someone's grumpy, but can you blame him?



W-Was that a spider?
Seemed more like a friendly neighborhood Tarantula.
We... we could've gone to prison...
Guess we'd better get out before he calls explorers on us.

Well, while we're here, we may as well have a look around. Let's check for a banter first though:

Yay... so many books...
This Tarantula is quite well read! There's a few classics in here!
Oh, we've been meaning to read this one. "World Round Pastry".
Maybe if we don't take it outside, he won't mind?
Absolutely not! We can't risk it!

This is cute. (And of course Leif found a book about food immediately.)



Ooh, that's a Crystal Berry up on the shelf. We'll definitely want to take that with us. (Hey, it's not a book, maybe wizard friend won't miss it?) Before that, though, we can read the papers on the table:



Hmm, maybe we'll be able to help him out with that.



On the eastern side of the room, there are stairs up toward the exit. Before that, though, there's something sneaky here:



There's a little gap between the stairs and the wall, where we can find this Burly Tea.



We can use the miscellaneous junk to climb up on top of the bookcase.





And Vi can grab the Crystal Berry with her Beemerang. We're a bit low on these after spending so many, so this is much appreciated.



There's nothing else to do in this cellar, so let's head upstairs and see what else is here.



We come out on the ground floor. There's a save crystal here, but it looks like the front door is locked, so we can't actually get out...

Wow! Look at all the flying books!
Weird, we can't feel any magic here. The Tarantula must not use any crystals.
I understand your awe, but the door is locked! We'll... have to ask for help.
Gulp.

Nothing else for it, let's head upstairs.



We have a bit of a ways to climb; the camera angle rotates around as we do. I love the aesthetic here, the room's full of rainbow smoke and flying books.



At the top, we find an exit to another room.



It's the wizard's room, of course. Is that a gacha machine? (We'll get to that.) First off, let's see what our team have to say:

That's a dream catcher! Incredible!
It's unusual to see you so pumped up!
Mother always nagged father to buy her one. They were very expensive, though.
Bleh, who's gonna pay up for that? Those don't even work!
But this one's owned by a wizard. Maybe...
...Ah, we don't really need it any more, do we...?
Leif...

That's a bit sad.



We're going to have to ask him to let us out.



...You're still here!? Can't you see I'm busy!?
The door's locked. We literally can't leave.
Not without breaking something...
O-Oh. Sigh... Blimey. I get really into my potions.



...It is?
I'm a wizard! You dare underestimate me!?
Um, thanks for letting us out. Our apologies for breaking in.
It's whatever. All I care about is finishing this brew!

Well, that was painless enough. (I like this guy.)



Still, seems like we're not done here quite yet. We can clearly talk to him again.

Sir wizard?



Yes! You seem... troubled. We're explorers, yes?
Good for you.
What he means is, it seems like you need help.
Do you know anything about extracting the magical compounds of materials?
Nooooope.
And you boast you can help me!?
Well... can't we?
...
There's a potion I want to make. But its materials...
I'd have to travel everywhere! I hate leaving the tower!
What kind of ingredients?



That sounds super cool! So what's the ingredients?



A riddle from one of the 10 great sorcerers!
We'll try. Make it worth our while.



Honestly, I don't blame him being a bit cheesed off at us for that. Still, as the logbook notification suggests, we've gotten ourselves a sidequest.





It automatically gets added to our log. We'll need to figure out what these three components are and bring them back for him.



If we talk to him again, he'll ask us this. If we say no:

Then begone and only come back when you have them!

And if we say yes without them:

You're still missing some! Weren't ya gonna help?

After either line, he'll repeat the clue again. I guess that's helpful for anyone who didn't realise it's also in the quest log.

There's a banter about the wizard too:

This tower is incredible. Did he build it all by himself?
I hope so. It'd cost a fortune to buy...
He truly seems to be a sorcerer. It must've been child's play!

Incidentally, while the game only ever refers to him as "The Wizard", the artbook does give this character a name. He's apparently called Tarantular.

Before we leave, there's a bit more to see around his room. For instance, you might've noticed this peeking out of a corner:



Blimey! That book's... garbage! Take it with you.
Bleh. If it's bad, I don't want it.



G-Guh...
Hm. Maybe Reeves will take interest in it...?

That's right, after all this time, it's the third Bad Book! (And also some fun dialogue. I love a good bookish grump. We'll deliver this soon enough.)



There's also this gacha machine.



The gimmick here is that the price varies randomly each time (as far as I know, it can range from 10-19 berries). Let's see what we get?





No matter what you pay, all the capsules are the same.



It's a new kind of combat item. We'll test this out shortly. In addition to using them in combat, you can also use this as a means of (slowly) grinding money: Longleg Summoners always sell for 18 berries, regardless of what you pay for them.



Let's head back down. The banter in this room has updated now, too:

Wow! Look at all the flying books!
Weird, we can't feel any magic here. The Tarantula must not use any crystals.
He must be one of the 10 sorcerers! What an honor! To think we'd trespass his property...
Eh, we're helping him out. So it's okay!
Right.



The door is open now, so we can leave.



Conveniently, it will stay open, so we don't have to go back in through the cellar again.



On the way back, an opportunity presents itself to demonstrate the Longleg Summoner. Using it, well, summons a longleg spider that will then stomp on the targeted enemy (no, I don't really get how that works). It attacks a single enemy for 6, and ignores 1 point of defence (as seen here against a Wild Chomper which has 2 defence).

Against a single target, these can output more damage than most of the bombs we can make (and they're significantly cheaper than Cherry Bombs). They're not bad at all, though I'll admit I don't make frequent use of them.

18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen



Let's stop in at the library and deliver that book to Reeves.





Ah! This is one of the worst ones! Let's see...



NO! THIS ONE'S TOO AWFUL!
Sir, please remain calm. This is a library!
This book was perfect. Such a beautiful story...
Incredible prose! Tight pacing! Amazing characters!
...And it's a bad book?



Yikes...
This is too much, even for me. I'll destroy it later...
Thank you for everything, explorers. Here's my last reward.



Uh, hope you enjoyed them...



That completes Reeves' quest. The real reward here is the dialogue, of course (can you imagine actually reading this book? He paints a surprisingly vivid picture of it).

...I really wish I could introduce Reeves to the Wizard. They'd either be fast friends or despise each other and either way it'd be amazing.



If we talk to Reeves again after completing the quest, this is all he has to say.

Speaking of sidequests, let's see what we can do about those potion ingredients.



"Nectar from the critters of the land" refers to Aphid Dew. It's a reasonable clue, so long as you remember that's an item that exists; considering it's only available from this one shop in the Golden Settlement, it's an easy thing to forget about.

The other two ingredients are a bit trickier, and honestly the clues aren't going to help us find them. They'll identify the correct thing once we find it, but that's a different matter.



Let's head back into the Bandits' Hideout. I realise this will seem like it's coming out of nowhere, but there are actually a couple things worth seeing here.

47 - The Bandits' Hideout



Among other things, if we come back to Astotheles' room, we can read his journal.

Day XXX. An unprepared moth was spotted near the sandpits. He carried quite a few berries. Although I truly pitied him, the funds will let us get through this month smoothly.

Day YYZ. The flowers bloomed in our garden. Our hideout comes closer to becoming a home.

Day ZZZ. I was shown mercy today. Mercy I have not shown others... I need to think. I've left the hideout in charge of my trusted advisor. But I'll return.

A bit of insight into his character there.



Let's go back to their kitchen.





There's someone new behind the counter now.



He won't fight us. (There are some other bandits wandering the hideout still, who we can fight as usual, but this one is friendly.) There's also a banter:

A bandit!
Chill, Vi. He doesn't seem to want to fight.
Indeed. We can't just go around hitting everyone!
Hmph!

(As far as I can tell, the cook is just one of the cricket bandits with his hood down.)



Just south of the cook, we can find a new item. This Squash is the "fruit that blooms in lifeless soil".

Normally, these can only be found in an area called the Forsaken Lands, which we won't be able to go to for quite a while yet, but the bandits seem to be able to source them somehow. I used to think there was only the one available, but it apparently respawns here periodically, so with enough patience you can keep coming back to collect as many as you want.

In addition to its use in the sidequest, this can be used in a handful of recipes:

Squash Puree (48)
"Some mashed Squash, simple but good! Restores 2 TP and gradually restores 2 TP for 2 turns."
Sell: 3 berries
Made by cooking a by itself

Squash Candy (49)
"Candy made from squash and a lot of sugar! Restores 5 TP and then 2 TP for 3 turns."
Sell: 8 berries
Made by combining and

Squash Tart (50)
"A delicious and smooth tart made out of squashes. Grants increased attack and TP regeneration for 3 turns."
Sell: 6 berries
Made by combining and

Plumpling Pie (51)
"This pie makes you feel as strong as a plumpling! Grants increased defence and TP regeneration for 3 turns."
Sell: 12 berries
Made by combining and

The real highlights here are Squash Tart and Plumpling Pie: the other boosting items we've had access to lasted for 2 turns, but these last for 3, which is a substantial upgrade. They also work to trigger Weak Stomach. I always transition to these as my boosting item of choice once it's reasonably easy to acquire Squash in bulk (right now it's inconvenient enough I don't think it's worth the bother). Squash Puree and Squash Candy are okay, but I usually prefer to stick with Crisbee Donuts for TP restoration. When you need TP, you generally need it now rather than later.

Unfortunately, the third item the Wizard wants us to find, "the essence of frost itself", is out of reach right now. We'll hang on to the others, and keep our eyes peeled for something that might meet that description; it'll come along in due course.

(This is where I apologise and admit to screwing up. I had forgotten we still don't have access to that item when planning out the updates; I fully intended to complete the quest here and demonstrate the reward in the next big fight, but obviously I can't exactly do that. We will eventually see it, no need to worry, it's just that these things don't quite flow together as nicely as I had hoped they would. Mea culpa.)



Let's head to Metal Island now.

34 - Dodgy Business



Specifically, the Spy Card arena. Remember this crack in the wall? We can now dig through.



...That may not have been the best idea.

13 - It's Getting Scary!





Aaaaah! You destroyed the wall! You think I won't mind because I'm rich!?
How dare you! I thought you were decent bugs!



Yeah. You've really gotta complain to management.
And you're blaming ME for the hotel's faults!?
Err, no... just...



Click me for video!

29 - Team, This One's Stronger!





Well, that escalated quickly! Looks like we're going to have to fight Carmina. Let's see what we're dealing with here.



Ah, crud. She heard us. Let's see where that roulette lands...

Roulette, eh? Looks like her love of games of chance even extends to her fighting style. We'll see how this works soon enough.



Also, this fight might go pretty long: 85 HP and 1 defence is a lot of durability. I suspect the devs were assuming most people would come here a bit later.





Leif relays to Kabbu to get an extra point of damage through her defence.





So far, so good. What's she going to do?



At the start of each turn, Carmina spins a giant roulette wheel. This can have all sorts of unpredictable effects, both on her and on us; each time it shows up, there will be six icons present, though that's only a subset of the possible effects. This time, she healed herself for 5 HP and undid most of our damage. Goody.



After spinning the wheel, she goes directly into attack mode. This attack has her chuck 2-3 cards at a single bug, each of which hits for 4 damage; it can also inflict status effects if not blocked, depending on the colour of the card. Leif only got poisoned here, since the first card was a neutral one; other cards can inflict Sleep or Numb also. Carmina really isn't messing around, this attack can get nasty.



We've barely made any progress here: the healing undid most of our work, and she took a big chunk out of Leif.





For now, we'll just have Kabbu keep hitting her.



Vi can heal Leif with Secret Stash, conveniently curing his poison too.



While Chompy goes for the kneecaps again.

What'll it be this time?



Oh. The roulette results aren't always good for her. In this case, Carmina puts herself to sleep, which immediately ends her turn (though, unfortunately, this does mean she gets more healing). Still, it's a bit of a reprieve regardless.



We could leave her asleep, but that would be counterproductive: she'd just heal more.









Okay, now it's her turn and...



Wait, what? She skipped her turn?

This is a bit of an odd glitch. If you hit an enemy while they're asleep, it will immediately wake them up, but for some reason this also causes them to skip their next turn. As you might imagine, this is pretty exploitable if you actively use sleep attacks (e.g. you can put an enemy to sleep, then wake them up the same turn to disable them without them getting to heal).

I don't like to proactively take advantage of this (it feels cheesy), but the game's handed it to us here so we may as well capitalise on it. Let's keep attacking.









Spin the wheel again?



Ouch. This is one of the nastier effects, putting our entire team to sleep.



And she throws cards again. At least this wakes Vi up, and the poison isn't exactly unwelcome.



Well. The sleep gives us some passive healing, at least, but the loss in action economy really hurts. Still, with Vi poisoned, we can at least try to deal some damage.



We can put her in front and do a Hurricane Toss. Without any charges it's just 8 damage, but that's still more than we could have done otherwise. (In retrospect, Needle Pincer would actually have done more, at 4 + 3 + 3.)



Chompy, of course, keeps chomping.



Oh no. This is one of the more annoying results. The ink blot inflicts a status effect we haven't encountered yet: it's called "Inked", and it makes the affected characters unable to use skills. Unlike other negative status effects, this one also can't be cured (even by items which "cure any status effect"), you just have to wait it out. It can really throw a wrench in your plans if you weren't expecting it.



We also see a new attack from Carmina this turn. The dice bomb deals a random amount of damage, as shown on the die, but it's a bit weird. This attack cannot be blocked, and the damage ignores defence, but it can still be increased if Carmina has Attack Up (which she can get from spinning the wheel).



With the whole team inked, our options are limited.







Let's get Kabbu in front and have him do the attacking, it's the best we can manage right now.





Notably, ink only prevents the use of skills, items are still fair game. I ended up going for this Succulent Platter; it's a bit risky not to get the healing right away, but this will also help keep Vi's poison bonuses going.



Chompy chomp.



This time, the wheel gives us all Defence Down. That could be a problem.



We also get to see the last of Carmina's attacks. This blown kiss attacks with a base damage of 4, always inflicts Defence Down for 2 turns, and inflicts Numb if not blocked. The debuff duration will stack with the one that was just inflicted, so Kabbu's defence is going to be lowered for quite a while after this. At least it wasn't the cards, I suppose.



At least the ink status is gone now. Between that and finally getting a charge-up from Kabbu being hit, this seems like a good time to try to do some damage.



Let's get Vi in front and have Leif Empower her.



Much better.



After a relay, she can attack again.



And Chompy is helping.



Oh, goody, more ink.





At least she rolls badly on the dice this time around.



We could be in worse shape, although being inked is never pleasant.







We're left with little choice but to keep attacking. At least Vi can still take advantage of Poison Attacker and Empower.







Hey, Carmina, stop hitting yourself.



Okay, I take it back, you can hit yourself all you want! It's better than this! (Vi could have survived this if I'd blocked every card perfectly, but that's a tall order here.)



Carmina's pretty low on health; we should be able to finish this soon. First things first, though...





Let's get Vi back up.



She'll get a bit of damage in...



Before Leif uses Frigid Coffin to freeze her. She only has 50% resistance at base, and we haven't frozen her before, so the odds of succeeding are quite good. (In retrospect, I sequenced this turn inefficiently, I should have had Kabbu use the Magic Seed instead of letting Leif gain exhaustion.)



Let's not forget we can have Chompy do nothing; wouldn't want to break the freeze early.



And, with that, we can bring the fight to a close.











This fight against Carmina is pretty interesting, if weird. I'm never quite sure if I like it. For all that the AI for every enemy in Bug Fables involves RNG, this fight is much more capricious than most, and almost any strategy you use will require a certain amount of luck. Staying on top of healing makes this a lot less fraught, but even then some bad luck with sleep or ink can quickly cause the fight to turn against you. It's not hard to feel backed into a corner in this fight; it can feel rewarding to salvage the sticky situations it puts you in, but it can also get frustrating if you end up on the back foot due to RNG. And sometimes, Carmina just gets unlucky and clowns on herself, which is funny but makes for an unsatisfying battle.

Also, it's worth noting, the Inked status effect was a new mechanic added in v1.1; it only appears in a few select boss fights, but this is one of them. Those spaces didn't appear on her wheel in prior versions.



Here's a demonstration of the fact that status-recovery items (like Queen's Dinner) don't do anything about ink. (I'm genuinely not sure if this is intentional, or if the "all status effects" is a hard-coded list they forgot to update, but regardless this is how it works.)

There are some other interesting effects on the roulette that we didn't see this time around:



This space will heal Team Snakemouth for 3 HP each.





She can boost her attack or defence.



She can inflict Attack Down on our entire party.



She can poison herself (or all of us).



And finally, there's this space, which is absolutely terrifying. As you might expect, this gives her an extra turn. It's not like a Hustle Berry, though: it's an extra turn this turn. Meaning, as soon as she's done attacking, she'll get to spin the wheel again and then attack again after that. If you're really unlucky, this can chain. I've seen her spin this twice in a row and end up taking three full turns; it is pain. (Here is an alternate take where that happened, if you want to see it.)

This fight is very unpredictable, and can turn against you with next to no warning.



We ARE sorry, but no.
...*Sigh*. I'll go tell management about the gap...
We're... we're truly sorry!
Whatever. Get out. I've got to prepare for the tournament.

After the fight, she just dismisses us. This fight isn't associated with a sidequest or anything, it's just... here. There isn't any reward, outside of the usual things, like getting Carmina's entry in the bestiary and associated Spy Card (which we saw her play against us quite a while ago!), and the usual Hard Mode medal. I think this is probably the most secret of the optional bosses in Bug Fables, it's really easy to overlook and I'm pretty sure on my first playthrough Carmina was the last entry I needed for bestiary completion.



*Sigh* ...Why did I teach you how to play...

Trying to talk to Carmina again is not very productive. (She was a lot more friendly to us in the tournament, wasn't she? It seems a shame to leave things like this but, well, we don't have much choice...)

There is also a new banter:

Carmina's a pretty formidable duelist.
And she can fight well, too!
Team, perhaps we should discuss Carmina... outside of her room?

Always fun when the game hangs a lampshade on things like this.

Well, regardless, there's nothing else to be done here. Guess we can always go check in with Artis...



Was it too challenging for ya? You deserve a reward. Here, take this!



Come back later when you've bonked some extra hard heads with that Medal, will ya?



Our Hard Mode reward for beating Carmina is, fitting the theme of the fight, the Random Start medal. This costs 2 MP, and can make the equipped bug start each battle with a random status effect. The possible outcomes are: Attack Up (2 turns), Defence Up (2 turns), HP Regeneration (2 turns), TP Regeneration (2 turns), Poison (2 turns), +2 Charge-up, or 1 extra action.

You may notice that, with the exception of poison, all of those are unequivocally positive (and poison's not exactly that bad). And, for that matter, poison is a really easy thing to take advantage of, so that may as well be a positive effect. If you're already using poison medals on someone, giving them this is a pretty easy sell. I don't use it all that often, honestly, but you can definitely have some fun with this.

Next time, we'll finish exploring the desert and go hunting for ore in Stream Mountain. That's the last remaining sidequest before we can finally get back to... story progress?

[AweStriker]

Someone on the team apparently watched Kamen Rider W. Honestly makes sense for Kabbu to do that kind of shout-out anyway...

(this is about the "count up your sins" line; that was W's catchphrase)

[Explopyro]

39: Crossing the Streams

06 - Outskirts





The last loose end we can wrap up before getting back to the plot is Stream Mountain. Butomu's quest for ore is the starting point, but there's more there than just that. We'll be starting with that, though.





Also, moving some medals around again. We're going to take a break from poison strategies so I can fit in Triumph Buzz and Victory Buzz, as they make exploration a lot less annoying.



So, how do we get to Stream Mountain, exactly? We've seen the exit before, at the oasis in the Lost Sands, but there's no way up from that side. There's a single spot on the Lost Sands map we haven't been to yet, so let's start from the Outskirts entrance and see if we can't get there.

36 - Lost Sands





We need to take the northwest exit from this first screen.



And here's where we can find a new path!





Specifically, with our digging ability we can now get under this fallen log.



The exit here leads to the place we haven't been, but this enemy's in the way first.





These enemies are basically trivial now, but this is technically a new battle.



Let's head north.



Looks like we found it. There's also a save crystal in case we need it.

Fancy place for a cave.
This has gotta be Stream Mountain!
What an imposing name! It must be extremely dangerous!
Nah. There's just water coming out of the side!
That's it?
Hm. Still, call it intuition, but... We feel the need to explore it.
Let's do it!



Before we cross that bridge (is that a toy rake?), let's take a quick detour east.



It's the big central sand pit area! This side has been taunting us since we first saw it, but now that we've reached it we can knock down both of the twigs.







With this done, we've finally opened all the paths in this room. This theoretically means getting around the Lost Sands is now a lot easier, but at the same time, we're nearly done with everything here, so it ends up feeling a bit pointless. Still, a shortcut is a shortcut.

Let's head back.





Crossing the rake leads to a cave entrance. Let's go inside.

25 - Caves



The first thing we see on entering is the notification for a new discovery. Let's check that out.







Well, that sounds ominous. (If you remember all the way back to when we saw the Bounty postings, Stream Mountain might sound familiar...). Anyway, Stream Mountain is yet another optional dungeon for us to explore.

There should also be a banter, let's check that.

This must be Stream Mountain, the source of the desert's oasis.
It's, like, underground water coming up and stuff. Right?
Indeed. Defiant Root's well must be linked to this place too.
There are stories about the strong monsters here... we must tread carefully.

I'm not actually sure what Stream Mountain is supposed to be, in-universe. It's smack in the middle of the Lost Sands (which are, explicitly, a sandbox), but this place is more reminiscent of a natural cave formation, and it isn't clear to me where the water comes from.

Anyway, let's have a look around.



It isn't long before we might find ourselves stymied. Just west of the entrance is this stream, which is too wide to jump across. We could assume we need a new movement ability, and come back later, or...



We could dig underground and head into this cracked wall. You could be forgiven for not noticing it earlier, what with the grass right in front of it.





There's a narrow path behind the crack which we can follow to come out on the other side. (It can be a bit tricky to actually get through here, since you can neither see the team nor the exact shape of the path and need to kind of feel your way through.)



We are immediately faced with an intimidating-looking new enemy on this side.



These things can get pretty aggressive, spotting us from a decent distance and pulling boulders out of the ground to chuck at us. Thanks to Crazy Prepared, I don't take a first strike, but even so...

04 - FIGHT!



Let's find out what this thing is.



I know it's no Spider, but...-?! Whoa! It's got a giant rock! Kabbu, hurry up and hit it!

These are loosely based on the Belostomatidae, or "giant water bugs" (among other names).

They're really bulky, with a solid combination of HP and defence. 2 defence is enough that you need to actively think about how you're going to get through it (though we have plenty of ways to do that). We'll find out what she means about giant rocks eventually, I'm sure.





We'll start off just by having Kabbu hit it a few times. His innate 1 pierce really comes in handy.



Leif and Vi can't even scratch it with their basic attacks.



And Chompy's only able to contribute thanks to the Pretty Ribbon.



On its turn, we see its most straightforward attack: it just walks up and smashes someone for 4 damage. I find this attack one of the easier ones to block, with how telegraphed it is.



I decided to have Leif use Empower on Kabbu, so he can get a bit more damage through. Break might have been better, but Empower's the one I happened to have equipped.





That's definitely an improvement.



Chompy is still helping.



This time, it punches Vi.



After two turns, it's down to 8 HP, well within range of us finishing it off.



Kabbu's Under Strike is a decent choice against these, since it pierces all defence.



And with a relay, he deals the final hit too.





Triumph Buzz and Victory Buzz kick in at the end of the fight, recovering most of the resources we used (just assume this is happening every fight for the rest of the update, I don't think it's worth showing evey time). This is a big help in here, since the enemies here can be a real pain to take down without some TP expenditure.

Most of the enemies here will eventually reappear in Chapter 6, though it feels more like they're Stream Mountain enemies that cameo there rather than being properly Chapter 6 enemies.



Belostoss are also worth quite a lot of EXP at our level.

25 - Caves



Interestingly, like the Chomper Brutes, these are another enemy that inexplicably like to drop cooked food items (and, once again, I think version 1.1 either added this or increased the drop rates, I don't remember them being so generous before that).



In this case, just a Baked Yam, but there are a decent variety of things available. It makes managing resources in here slightly less painful.



Past the Belostoss is the path forward. There isn't a whole lot going on in this room.



That's certainly about to change, though! Let's see what our team think before we start messing with things in here.

Ugh. Water. And water spiders. This is the worst combination.
This ancient crystal seems to be linked to the tide!
Let's lower it and keep it low, then.
I think we should try going up too, though...

Water level puzzles!







Hitting this big crystal causes the pit to fill with water; hitting it again will drain everything out.



The water striders rise up with the surface level, too. With the pool full, though, we can't get anywhere; we're going to have to lower it again and investigate further.



Easy enough to lower it again.



Let's jump down into the pit and have a look around. First things first, the strider is a new enemy, we should probably deal with that...



04 - FIGHT!





Looks like there are two of them.



Yet, its attacks are quite pressurized... We must not drag this battle out!
Vi, keep it low to the ground!

These aren't quite as bulky as the Belostoss are, but they can present problems in their own way. (These are obviously based on Gerridae, commonly known as, well, water striders. They're known for being light enough to walk on water without breaking the surface tension. They are insects though, not spiders; maybe Leif was talking about something else in here?)



That's a hefty amount of HP to chew through, but at least these have no defence.











The damage adds up a lot faster when they have no defence!



The main thing the striders do is this charging attack where they launch themselves into us (interestingly, if you miss the block, they'll charge right through instead of bouncing off).



The second strider charges Kabbu, which was quite unlucky for it. A Super Block from him now deals 3 points of counter damage, now that he's wearing both Super Block+ medals.



Significantly less scary now.



First off, we'll have Kabbu finish the one in front.







While everyone else starts in on the next one.



Here's their other attack, which is a bit scarier than the charge. The striders can spit a volley of water droplets at us, hitting 2-3 times for 3 damage each. (It can change targets between shots, Kabbu just got unlucky this time.)



And after attacking, it raises itself up tall. The striders can do this after either attack, though they don't always; it's effectively as if they were flying for targeting purposes.



Being up high is usually just a minor annoyance, though. It's not going to help the thing here.



Vi finishes it off.



Water Striders aren't worth nearly as much EXP as Belostoss, but they're still giving us plenty.

25 - Caves



With the strider out of the way, let's take a closer look at this area.



There's a cave entrance down here, but we'll ignore that for the moment (Butomu's quest says the ore can be found at the peak, so let's go up first). Let's knock down some twigs.







What good did that do us...?





Let's try raising the water level now.





Looks like the twigs float on water! We can now use them as a way to get across. It's neat recontextualising the twigs a bit like this, since we'd been used to just bridging gaps with them.

(If you come here a bit later in the game, there's an easier way to cross water that makes it unnecessary to do this: in fact, the first time I explored this area, I completely missed the bottom level in this room because I just raised the water and went right through...)





Looks like there's yet another new enemy here!



We get ambushed as soon as we step ashore, I couldn't have avoided this one if I'd wanted to.

04 - FIGHT!





Another new enemy that comes in pairs. Let's see what these are about.



It uses its bubble to avoid attacks for a turn as well. Let's prepare to strike back.

These must be the "water spiders" Leif was complaining about earlier. They're not as scary as Spuder, at least? (These are based on the diving bell spider,Argyronetica aquatica, which live underwater in bubbles of trapped air.)









Everybody attacking isn't quite enough to take down the one in the front, so let's see what these things can do.



Diving Spiders have a fairly simple attack: they spit droplets at us. Some of them are just water, and some of them are poisonous (if we don't block), but they all have a base damage of 3. Like a lot of these attacks, it can hit 2-3 times, and is capable of switching targets.



After shooting, it encloses itself in a bubble. This is pretty much the same as Leif's Bubble Shield, it's impervious to damage (with only a few exceptions).







The second spider gets a full three shots, and I mess up blocking and get a few bugs poisoned.



Then it, too, shields. Diving Spiders are a very predictable enemy and more or less always do the same thing.



Well, that's annoying. Can we do anything this turn?



If we don't want to spend the whole turn twiddling our thumbs (or doing recovery), Leif's Cleanse skill can come in handy.





Cleanse just straight-up removes the shield, leaving them vulnerable again.



Kabbu takes advantage and finishes it off.





Rather than unshield the second spider, I elected to have Vi use her stash to heal Kabbu.



Chompy's not getting through that. (I could have ordered her to do nothing, but this way we can see the shield in action.)



While shielded, they still just attack with the same pattern (though, obviously, they don't renew the shield afterward).



The shield only lasts a single turn. With those charge-ups, we can now just finish it with normal attacks.











That wasn't too bad. These are also worth decent EXP, more than the striders at any rate.



For better or worse, most of the berries they left behind ended up falling into the drink. The game is generally nice and tries to respawn items if they fall into water or a pit, but sometimes (like here) it gets into a loop and they immediately fall right back in again.



Let's head to the next area.



This is a pretty big room, and we can already see it's probably going to be a vertical one, there are bounce mushrooms over to the left. Let's check the banter.

Up, and up we go! To the very toppest of tops!
You're getting way too excited there, buddy.
Nonsense. We will proclaim ourselves conquerors of this heap, and none will stop us.
Well said! Let us climb with haste!
Okay...

Kabbu is weirdly enthusiastic about heights, sometimes. It's cute.



Before climbing, though, let's deal with this Belostoss.



It's still just the one.



Let's Empower Kabbu, like last time.









This isn't a huge amount of damage, but it gets the job done.



This is new! In addition to the punching, this is the other major thing they can do: throwing boulders. This looks a lot like Kabbu's Boulder Toss skill, but it doesn't do any splash damage, just hits one character really hard (okay, I missed blocking here and Kabbu has Favorite One on, it's 6 damage at base).

The peculiar thing about this attack is that, sometimes, Belostoss will stop after pulling up the boulder, and just stand there holding it over their head until throwing it the next turn. If they do that, you can hit them with a flipping attack to make them drop it. (The faster variant is apparently a Hard Mode exclusive thing; on Normal, they only have the two-turn version of this attack.)



Let's just end this.







Vi's Needle Pincer is another great way to deal with high-defence enemies.



And Kabbu finishes things off.





It's also enough EXP for us to rank up!





Of course, we're going to get more MP.



Also, as a bonus, we learn a new skill! This sounds a bit weird, though, doesn't it? Since when did Kabbu have ice skills? More on that in a moment.







Loads of items, though nothing particularly interesting. Still, I won't complain.

Let's check out Frozen Drill.



Wait a second...



Frozen Drill shows up in Leif's skill page too. That's because, for all the message said Kabbu learned it, this is actually something new: it's our first Team Skill! (Is this why they've been called Teamwork Points the whole time?)

Team Skills are what they sound like: they involve multiple bugs at once and combine their abilities. They show up in the same skills menu as everything else, and any bug involved can initiate them (in this case, either Kabbu or Leif can choose Frozen Drill on their turn). They cost an action from every bug who participates, though, so they do have a downside (though if one of the bugs has no actions remaining, you can still do the skill, it'll just take the action on credit and have them start with one fewer on the next turn).

We're going to have to try this out.



For now, though, let's go climbing.





Oh look, a guinea pig!





Let's do it.



That spider is very, very dead.

So... how does this work? Frozen Drill uses the attack stats of both characters, the base damage is (Kabbu's attack + Leif's attack)/2, rounded up (accounting for all charges, positioning bonuses, etc). It hits four times: the first three pierce 1 point of defence (with all the usual caveats), and the final hit deals +1 damage and can freeze. This attack also flips enemies if possible.

It's a bit impractical to use, considering it costs both Leif and Kabbu a turn (and Vi's Hurricane Toss or Needle Pincer are usually more efficient), but it's definitely powerful and sometimes it's just the thing you need. If Kabbu and/or Leif end up with some surplus charges on them, this isn't a bad way to spend them. (Also, we're not quite done yet...)







We'll take a chunk out of the Water Strider too.







It plinks away at us a bit, but we can easily finish off the strider now.





Okay. So what did I mean by saying we haven't seen everything with Frozen Drill yet?



Let's do something a bit goofy, and put the Berserker medal on Kabbu.





Those geysers are obviously a puzzle, and we'll get to them in just a moment.



There's a convenient experimental subject just over here, so let's do that first.







So... well, Kabbu can't use skills, that's how Berserker works...



But team skills appear in both characters' skill menus, and Leif can select it just fine. (Also, you can notice a side-effect of the Berserker medal here: Kabbu's in his angry pose all the time in battle now.)



The attack boost from Berserker gets applied to the team skill at full power. This is absolutely brutal. (Remember, nobody had any charge-ups or attack buffs here. This is base attack + positioning bonus + Berserker, nothing else.)

If you want to use Berserker, this is one of the best ways to take advantage of it. I honestly consider it more of a gimmick strategy than anything else, though, because the downsides of Berserker are so significant. Being unable to block and relay locks out a lot more options than you might think at first, and no matter who you give Berserker to, though, you're giving up important utility (whether it's Vi's healing, Leif's freezing and buffs, or Kabbu's taunting and revival). These are all significant tradeoffs, and I don't think any of them are quite worth it.



Oh, right, there was a Psicorp here too. Let's fix that. (Even with exhaustion, Berserker makes big numbers happen.)

Chompy can finish it off from here.



As per usual, EXP gain starts dropping off post level-up.



Now, to return to the geysers. This is something of a timing puzzle: we're going to have to build a staircase by freezing them when they're at appropriate heights. (Let's not forget that, while they thaw naturally if left alone long enough, Kabbu can also shatter them with his horn if we need to unfreeze them early.)





So far, this is straightforward. However, it's usually not possible to jump from here to the ledge when the geyser's at a height we could reach from below...





So it's usually easier to freeze this one and use it to get to the ledge.





It might have been possible to just go straight to the left, but it's better to play it safe. Letting this geyser thaw and then freezing it again at a higher point makes it a lot easier to make the jump.





There we go.







Our prize is a new medal. Antlion Jaws is kind of weird. It's 5 MP, and gives the equipped bug's basic attacks (and only their basic attacks) the ability to "pierce 1 point of defence".

We've discussed in the past the various peculiarities of how that ability works, but the short version is that under the hood it's actually just adding +1 to damage if the enemy has positive defence. This means that this medal can produce extra damage in some circumstances. We've already discussed what happens when an enemy has 1 defence and a Defence Down debuff, for instance. Additionally, this medal stacks with Kabbu's innate 1 pierce, and with other copies of itself. If Kabbu equips an Antlion Jaws medal and attacks an enemy with 1 defence, he'll deal 1 more point of damage than you would expect (e.g. Kabbu has 3 attack, enemy has 1 defence, he will deal 3+2-1 = 4 damage; if that enemy had Defence Down, it would be 5 damage). This is weird and unintuitive, but can be very effective.

As an aside, this seems like a good time to point out something I like about the way Bug Fables handles attack increases. You may have noticed that, so far, every medal that increases our attack has some kind of drawback associated with it. Favorite One makes us take more damage and manage charges, Last Attack only activates on low HP, Power Exchange reduces defence, Poison Attacker requires us to get and stay poisoned, and now Antlion Jaws only affects normal attacks (and only against certain enemies). This is very definitely a trend. The game's not saying we can't have attack boosts, but we have to pick an approach and figure out how we're going to work around the drawbacks (or turn them into advantages somehow). This is a good way to make build decisions interesting and encourage variety, rather than (say) just being able to slap on a Power Plus or two and call it a day.



Back to exploring. Heading west from the geysers just leads us to the path onward. The beam of light suggests maybe this will take us outside?



Yes indeed. Looks like we've reached the end of the line. Is that the ore?



Yes it is.



To the south, there's a switch and an elevator here.







Hitting the switch turns the elevator on, which means we can now get back in from the oasis side as well. Very convenient. (You don't want to jump down without hitting this, that way lies frustration.)

Let's head back to Defiant Root and deliver the ore.

37 - Defiant Root





Butomu is in the smithy by the shops.





Before we give her the ore, we have to try this.

Hrm. No, this will not do. You must have made a mistake.

Sadly, she doesn't have a special reaction.



Let's give her the ore.



No problem.
Pardon me, but I will get to work immediately.
I've been itching to finish this Medal.



Things fade out for a moment while we hear sounds of her working...







Hohoh! Sorry... I thought I made it light enough for you brave folk!



That's the quest completed. Simple enough!



First Plating is a pretty nice reward, too. It's 4 MP, and nullifies the first hit (whatever it is) the equipped bug would take each battle. This can be pretty handy if you're going with low-HP strategies, etc, making them a little less risky than they would otherwise be (it definitely pairs well with things like Power Exchange and Last Attack), though you can't rely on it in long fights. 4 MP is a lot for something that only works once each fight, but the effect is good enough it's often worth it.

You don't want to equip this on someone who's doing poison strategies, though. It doesn't prevent the poison damage, but taking poison damage is enough to shut it off, so unfortunately you get the worst of both worlds.



Talking to Butomu again, this is all she has to say.





On the way back, let's check in with Amber briefly... I'm just going to take this Abombination out of storage and hang it on the mantelpiece over here.





Let's head back inside, we're not done with Stream Mountain just yet.





After all, we can't forget about this lower path we didn't take! We'll pick up here next time. Until then!

[Explopyro]

40: Tide Comes In, Tide Goes Out (You Can't Explain That)

25 - Caves



Last time, we explored the upper levels of Stream Mountain and found some ore. Today, we're plumbing the depths and finishing up the area.



Through the entrance is a big room with another of those water-level control crystals. Let's get our bearings.

Is this a dead end? We can feel something...
Let's move the water around! Can't give up without looking for clues!

The banter doesn't tell us much, but we definitely need to investigate.



First up, though, let's get the enemies out of the way.



It's neat to see them mixing up the new enemies with ones from outside, even if they're not much by way of challenge (the Psicorp's main function in this battle is to annoy us by making it harder to get to the Belostoss). It helps make the biomes feel connected.



Belostoss are still worth loads of EXP. We're actually seeing the EXP cap here, which would explain why it didn't decrease post ranking up (in fact, Belostoss is one of a few 'large' enemies that have a higher cap of 20, instead of the usual 15). The per-enemy EXP cap, by the way, is a big part of why the EXP Booster medal is rarely worth using.



Let's head down and see what's going on on the lower level.



There are lots of twigs here, clearly we're going to have a lot of platforming ahead of us once we raise the water level. Before that, though, we should clear out all the water striders: even if we weren't in the habit of fighting everything, they'd get in our way while platforming so they have to go.



It's just a straightforward fight with two of them.



There's definitely a big contrast in the EXP gain between these and the Belostoss.





There's the exit to the next room, but how do we get up there?



First things first, though, let's get rid of this other strider that was peeking out from the corner.



This fight's a bit more interesting, since it's a new combination. Still, it may take a while to chew through all that HP, but it's not terribly challenging.



This isn't bad, though!





We've been finding a lot of these, haven't we? They can actually drop other food items too, I swear.





Also, this Clear Water was just sitting here on the floor, for some reason. I think it's here for flavour reasons, this being a watery dungeon; it actually respawns every time you reenter this room, as far as I can tell. I don't have room, so I'm not going to bother taking it with me.



With the enemies cleared out, let's get started on the puzzle of this room. If you look near the top, that looks like a stick we can knock down, so let's start there. We'll need to head up and raise the water level to reach it.







The path across these sticks is a bit circuitous, and it can be tricky staying on top of them and not falling into the water. Thankfully, if we do fall in, there's no penalty and we can just try again. That doesn't mean it can't get annoying, though.



We made it, at least.





And that's the stick down. Does this path get us there?



Well, it gives us a way to get over to this stick, but... the water level's too high, it's covering the exit! What to do?



We need to head back to the crystal. We can't just lower the water, or we won't be able to get up high enough...



So let's set Vi's Beemerang spinning, then head back over the sticks again. This does mean we have to platform while also holding down (B), but it means we can wait to start lowering the water until we're in position to jump over to the exit.





Now we release the Beemerang so it hits the switch.





As the surface lowers, we can ride the stick down and jump off to the ledge.



Now we can actually move forward! This room isn't that hard to navigate once you know the trick of it, but it can take bit to see the solution if you're not trying to think outside the box. It's a neat little puzzle.



Hmm... a big empty room, with one of Venus' buds and a save crystal. That's not suspicious at all.

Stream Mountain's depths are super lame! Where's the treasure!?
Be careful, everyone. We feel extremely powerful magic!
If even Leif is wary, we'd best be on guard. Watch your step, Vi!

There's definitely going to be something here. Let's check in with Venus, too.





Let's take her up on the healing, absolutely.



Now, before we walk into this obvious boss fight, let's rearrange some medals.



First things first, let's take off Triumph Buzz and Victory Buzz. They're really good for exploration, but they serve zero purpose in boss fights and we don't need them taking up MP that could be doing something else.



Vi's going to put on Power Exchange. A bit of extra attack could come in handy.







Otherwise, I haven't changed a whole lot here (though, notably, Vi's only got the offensive portion of the poison medals, I didn't quite have the MP to fit in Poison Defender).



Let's head in.



The room shakes...



and the Tidal Wyrm emerges!

Click me for video!

35 - Reckless for Glory! (Bonus Boss)





This thing certainly looks intimidating! Tidal Wyrm is another of the Bounties. Let's spy, of course.



Its tail is constantly barraging us... We must make the time to incapacitate it.

As far as I can tell, this thing is just straight up an Eastern-style water dragon? (Albeit a bug-sized one.) It doesn't seem to be based on any particular form of wildlife, unlike most of the other enemies in this game. It feels a bit incongruous, honestly.



Also, that's a lot of durability! 103 HP and 1 defence is going to take a while to get through. We do have the tail to think about too, though: it may not have a visible HP bar, but it's available to be targeted separately. So let's try something...



Leif empowers Kabbu.





Kabbu's Dash Through is a pretty solid choice here, hitting both the main body and the tail (and also piercing defence for good measure). It's one of the better ways to get damage in on both simultaneously; they're just a bit too far apart for Under Strike to hit at once.





Vi and Chompy will just attack normally, though the defence gets in their way a bit.



To start off, the Tidal Wyrm bites Kabbu. This attack has a base damage of 5, but it's not all that scary (and Super Blocking takes a lot off of of it, not to mention some nice counter damage).



After the head attacks, the tail also gets a turn. The tail only has one move, though, launching water droplets into the air that fall two turns later.



Not bad for one turn in. Let's see what we can do now.



Another Dash Through, and...





So here's the core gimmick of the fight. The tail actually has its own HP, tracked separately from the main body (specifically, it has 10 HP and 1 defence), and when you kill it the Tidal Wyrm collapses. While collapsed, its defence drops to 0. Which means we should get some attacks in.





I decided to have Vi use a Crisbee Donut instead of attacking, though. We blew through a lot of our TP on Dash Through and we'll probably want more soon enough. (Also, this way she poisons herself and saves her charge.)



Chompy attacks too.



In addition to the lowered defence, knocking down the Tidal Wyrm makes it skip its next turn. It doesn't do anything to us, and we can just keep beating up on it.







I dithered a bit here, before deciding to have Vi just attack instead of going for a bigger move. This was probably a mistake, though it didn't end up hurting me very much.



Chompy, of course, continues to chomp.



Our reprieve is over, though. It always gets up the following turn.



It gets to attack immediately, too. This water breath is its most dangerous attack, hitting the entire party for 5 base damage (filling the bar counts as a normal block; you can also Super Block, if you press (A) with perfect timing after the bar disappears, to reduce it further, although that's very hard to do consistently).



The tail's back too, immediately launching another water droplet.



And the first droplet falls on Vi. This delayed attack has 4 base damage, so it's not completely negligible, but it's not exactly the biggest threat in this fight. Still, there's a lot going on here, and the damage can build up quickly!



Everyone's looking a bit worse for wear here, but so is the boss at least.



Kabbu attacks as usual.



Then we'll have Vi attack to make use of her boosts (she's still poisoned for now)...





Before Leif relays to her so she can heal everyone. I don't want to take chances here, and Vi's low enough that another water breath attack would almost certainly KO her. It's a shame to lose the poison bonus, but better safe than sorry.



Chompy does her thing.



On its turn, the Tidal Wyrm decides to show us yet another new behaviour: calling for reinforcements. A Water Strider shows up.



And attacks us immediately.



As usual, more water bombs are incoming.



Hmm... how are we going to deal with this? Let's get creative, shall we?





First things first, Leif shields everyone.



Remember this thing?





As it turns out, Abombination's damage ignores defence. And its 10 damage is perfect for taking out the tail, while also inflicting heavy damage on the main body and the strider. It does break our shield, but that served its purpose protecting us from the blast.

I don't use this item all that often, but it really shines in this fight.



Did you expect to see Heavy Strike again? With the strider at 5 HP, it was the perfect way to finish it off.



Leaving Chompy free to hit the Tidal Wyrm.



The boss might not be attacking us, but we're still due to be hit by falling water. At least Kabbu managed to Super Block.



We're getting close now. We should be able to get some heavy damage in on this turn.



First up, though, we're going to need some TP.



Even though Leif is out of actions, he can still participate in Frozen Drill if Kabbu initiates it. (Also, despite having no actions, Leif doesn't get an exhaustion penalty here, he didn't take actions this turn to gain any.) He'll still be down an action next turn, but this is probably worth it.



Chompy does her thing again.



This hurts, though. The Tidal Wyrm gets up and hits us with water breath.





The usual water droplet things: a new one gets launched, and an old one falls. You get used to seeing that in this fight.



We're getting very close now, though we can't quite finish things this turn. Annoyingly, because Leif is down an action thanks to Frozen Drill, we can't change our formation; it would have been nice to be able to get Vi in front for a stronger attack, but we can't.



Instead, we'll just have her Hurricane Toss from the rear. It's still good damage, though not quite as good as it would have been.





While Kabbu and Chompy will just attack normally.



This is pretty painful, though. I left Vi on low enough HP that the water breath attack was enough to KO her, and the other two are dangerously low also. In retrospect, it might have been a better idea to use Sharing Stash again instead of trying to attack. That said, we weren't at any risk of losing the fight here, and we should still be in a good position next turn.



And the usual water droplet.



Even though Vi's gone down, it's not really a problem, because we have the fight won.





There we go.



Tidal Wyrm actually has a unique death animation, rearing back before slowly sinking beneath the water.



And we get a nice haul of EXP for our trouble. (Poor Vi though, face down in the water.)





As the Tidal Wyrm disappears, it also leaves behind some sort of item.



Vi picks it up automatically, just like the Crystal Fang the Devourer left behind. I'm sure Doppel is going to want this.

25 - Caves



And with that, our second Bounty has been dealt with! There's also a new banter here now:

With the beast defeated, this is nothing more than a puddle.
Mhm. Let's go back. Might as well raise the water and drown this place in history's waves.
Why're you two being all sappy...?

I do like this one, the contrast between Kabbu and Leif trying to be solemn and Vi just not getting it amuses me.

Tidal Wyrm is just a really solid fight. Its gimmick is pretty simple, and it doesn't have particularly diverse attack patterns (we saw all of its moves in that fight), but it can put out a lot of damage and doesn't let up on the pressure unless you spend valuable time and actions attacking the tail (which slows down your progress damaging the actual body). There are a lot of different ways you can approach this one.

So before we leave, let me show you another run of the fight where I take a very different approach. A bit of setup first:



I went out and fought some enemies, deliberately getting Vi low on HP.



As well as redistributing her HP Plus medals between Kabbu and Leif, since she won't be needing them.





Here's the medal setup I'll be using. This is going to look pretty strange, but there's a method behind the madness. We're boosting Vi's attack to a very specific level, which right now means we need Berserker, as well as Power Exchange and Last Attack (which is the reason we're starting with her on low HP). She's also getting Strong Start, to take extra advantage of that on her first turn. She gets First Plating as a bit of insurance against mistakes, since pretty much any hit would mean she's going down.

Leif, meanwhile, gets Antlion Jaws, to help him get through the Tidal Wyrm's defence; he, too, needs to be able to hit some very specific numbers. It'll all make sense soon.

Click me for video!

35 - Reckless for Glory! (Bonus Boss)



We'll start the fight with Vi in back for now.





With that specific combination of attack boosts and Strong Start, Vi can deal exactly 10 damage to the tail, immediately knocking down the Tidal Wyrm.



Leaving the others free to attack.





I'll spend a turn spying, still, but Kabbu and Chompy can get damage in.



Now, we can move Vi to the front, where she'll be for the rest of the fight.



With all the boosts we gave her, she can hit for 8 with normal attacks now. That's a lot!



Kabbu does his part, though it looks underwhelming by comparison.



And we'll have Leif use Bubble Shield Lite to keep her safe when it gets back up.



Chompy contributes.



There we go. Water breath is still scary, but we can manage; if we need to heal Leif or Kabbu at some point, that's fine, the important thing is that Vi stays alive and stays at 4 HP or lower.



And, of course, we still have to deal with the droplets.



Now here's where the magic happens.





Vi and Leif can immediately take out the tail again. (Thanks to Favorite One, we're doing a bit of extra damage here, but we'd be fine even without that. The reason Leif has Antlion Jaws is that, if we didn't have those charges, we could have Vi do 7, Leif attack for 2, then Kabbu relay to Leif again for the final 1 point. Without it, we wouldn't be able to KO the tail without spending TP, and giving Antlion Jaws to Vi wouldn't work because Berserker prevents her being relayed to.)





We continue doing the thing.



At this point, you know the drill. We can keep this going more or less indefinitely.











This could cause problems, though. The one thing that can throw a wrench into this strategy is the adds.



The strider going after Vi is a stroke of luck, though (it's more likely since she's in front, but still).





The delayed attack was also targeting Vi; it's always nice when that works out. (With this strategy, if it targets her, it'll always be on a turn when she's shielded, which is pretty nice. And we don't really care if it hits one of the others.)

Let's deal with this the best we can, I guess.









Abombination time! It's still the best way to quickly clear out these things, and keep Tidal Wyrm under control. Leif being down an action next turn will be annoying, but we can handle it.





We do more damage.



Leif may have been down an action, but Kabbu can relay to him so we can still shield Vi in time. Crisis averted!





The bite attack is always good to see, but especially when fully negated by the shield.





A new bubble, of course, accompanies yet another one being nullified by shielding Vi.



And now we're back to where we were before.







Here's the basic setup finally coming into play: with the specific attack boosts we've given Vi, and with Antlion Jaws on Leif, we can do exactly 10 damage to the tail.



That means we spend the turn with only Chompy doing damage, of course, but we'll get our opening immediately after.





That's better.



We'll have Kabbu restore some TP, just in case we need it. (We do have TP Core on, but that's not quite enough to fuel the shield indefinitely.)



Again, we shield Vi.



And Chompy continues chomping.



The water breath hurts, but it's better than reinforcements.





More water droplet things happen.



Despite the HP situation, we're in pretty good shape.





First things first, we'll knock it out again.



While Kabbu can eat one of the many Baked Yams we've been accumulating. That's all we needed, Leif's still healthy enough to survive a hit from anything. (It's definitely important to stay on top of healing with this strategy so that nobody goes down. This setup minimises the number of times Tidal Wyrm gets to attack, but that's not the same thing as being completely safe, and any character going down will probably be enough to break our loop.)



The usual thing.



Getting close to the end.









Rinse and repeat.







We're fine.



We could finish it off here by just attacking the face directly, but on principle, let's keep doing the pattern anyway.





Tail goes down.





Kabbu and Chompy do their thing.



And Vi deals the final blow!



I wouldn't say this strategy is foolproof, or even necessarily better than the more conventional approach we took the first time, but it's pretty safe as long as you're paying attention, and I enjoyed finding a situation (other than Team Skills) where the Berserker medal is advantageous.

Just to be clear, I should also add: the tail's HP changes depending on the difficulty settings, and if you're facing tougher versions of this fight (whether on a bonus difficulty, or in B.O.S.S. on EX mode), neither this tactic nor the Abombination are quite so spectacular. It's often better there to just find ways to mitigate or outheal the damage and fight through its attacks, rather than wasting time playing around with the tail. Here, though, the numbers work out perfectly (and I wouldn't be all that surprised if they were intended to).



The one thing we didn't see in either run of this fight is that, in addition to Water Striders, Diving Spiders can also show up when it calls for reinforcements. They're a bit more annoying with their ability to shield, but a timely application of Cleanse can take care of that too (if you relay to Leif, he can still shield the team so they can use an Abombination, and that 10 damage + 3 from Chompy is enough to kill a 13 HP Diving Spider in one turn also).

I don't have as much to say about the Tidal Wyrm as I did about the Devourer, for better or worse. It's a solid, well-designed fight, but perhaps due to the fact its gimmicks are more straightforward and you're unlikely to get to it without having access to the tools you need to beat it (given where and when it's located in the game), it doesn't tend to make nearly as memorable an impression.

Anyway, let's get out of here.

25 - Caves



Venus is still here to heal us on the way out.



There's no real reason to do so, but I always like following Leif's suggestion to raise the water level as we leave.



Tidal Wyrm is a Bounty, so we don't get a Hard Mode reward from Artis.



34 - Dodgy Business



Instead, we need to check in with Doppel at the tavern.





May I have that crystal it dropped?



...Yes, this is a genuine deal. Here is your reward.





Nice doing business with you. Please find the other bounties and your reward will be waiting.



We get our second copy of Last Attack, which is really excellent. Keeping a bug under 4 HP isn't all that difficult, and if they equip both of these, it's one of the easiest ways to get a substantial attack boost. We'll also encounter another medal very soon that pairs extremely well with these.

It's hard to stress enough just how powerful this can be; if I'm not using it much, it's mainly because I want the fights to go on long enough that the enemies have time to show off what they're about.

With that, we're finished with Stream Mountain. What a fun little side dungeon.

Stream Mountain was also the last bit of side content we had available to do. This means that next time we'll finally get back to our mission, and make our way to the Sand Castle. Plot awaits! I'll see you then.

[Kacie]

The Tidal Wyrm looks a bit like a mosquito larvae to me. Seems a bit small to be a Wyrm, but maybe that's what they were going for?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito# ... larvae.png

[Explopyro]

The Tidal Wyrm looks a bit like a mosquito larvae to me. Seems a bit small to be a Wyrm, but maybe that's what they were going for?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito# ... larvae.png

That is certainly possible (I do see the resemblance!), although the scale difference makes it seem unlikely to me. Another possibility was raised in the SA thread (which I'll quote here momentarily) but I have my doubts about that one also, the devs' comments in the artbook make me inclined to think this is just an original creature.

Here's the discussion we had over there:

I think it's meant to be a lugworm. Long tideline-dwelling worm with bristles along the middle, lives in a U-shaped burrow with head and tail at each end.

It certainly could be! I'm not going to rule it out, at any rate; thanks for finding that.

If it is, though, the devs have never said anything that would confirm it. I looked up Tidal Wyrm's entry in the art book and they don't have any notes on the inspiration except to say that the final design was something of a compromise. Apparently, they'd originally been designing an antlion boss thinking it would fit the desert setting, and changed it to this once they decided to have Stream Mountain be a watery area because the habitat no longer fit it. I think the only remnant of that is the fact that part of it remains below the surface you stand on while fighting it.

[Explopyro]

Well, this is awkward. I had been hoping to have an update ready to go for today, but some things came up this week and I didn't have as much time to work on it as I'd hoped. Depending on how things go, I may have it ready by tomorrow, but Monday's looking more likely.

But. We need to talk about something else.

I just saw this thread and read the blog post it linked to. (I recommend reading this if you care at all about abuse in the gaming industry, but let me give a content warning, it's a firsthand account of industry abuses and discusses workplace sexism, sexual harassment, gaslighting, and rape among other things.)

The writer of this piece is the person who previously wrote the Dangen Warning, an expose of abuses and unprofessional business practices by Dangen Entertainment as experienced by the dev teams of two games, Devil's Engine and FIGHT KNIGHT. I had previously refrained from discussing it in this thread for a few reasons:

(1) it's not precisely germane: the Bug Fables team are unconnected to any of this, said they had no problems and Dangen were honouring their contract appropriately, and did not encourage a boycott of their game (unlike the Devil's Engine team)

(2) the situation was messy and I didn't feel like I had access to enough of the story to draw firm conclusions

and (3) while it does look damning, the person responsible for the worst of it was removed from the company.

In short, I didn't think it was relevant enough, and I wasn't confident I fully understood what happened. So why now?

Well, this new article is harrowing and makes everything seem so much worse (in particular, some of the devs involved come off very badly: it sounds like the writer's primary regret is that the way she framed things previously allowed some of them to present themselves as victims when they were also abusive to her). Especially in the context of the recent and ongoing conversation about abuses at high-profile studios like Blizzard, this seems important. Also, I recently learned that FIGHT KNIGHT (which I thought was a dead project) is slated for release this year, but given the contents of the blog post (which claim its primary creator is an abusive rapist) I do not think anyone should be supporting it.

We were going to have to talk about FIGHT KNIGHT at some point, because Bug Fables contains a minigame based on it (while Bug Fables was in development, they were seen as something of 'sister projects', being crowd-funded around the same time and going through the same publisher, so they incorporated it as a reference). But as it will still be quite some time before I get to it in the LP, I didn't want to wait to talk about it when the article in question was posted yesterday and I could raise awareness of it now.

What does this mean for my LP specifically? Well, nothing. Everything will continue as normal. Again, none of this has any direct connection to Bug Fables (or, for that matter, CrossCode, another excellent game; Dangen only publishes its Japanese localisation), but I thought it was important enough I would be remiss not to address it.

Feel free to discuss this or not, as you please; I realise this is heavy and unpleasant subject matter. The usual content will resume in a day or two.

[Explopyro]

41: Emergent Mysteries

37 - Defiant Root





We're starting out in Defiant Root, because I needed to restock on doughnuts again. I've been going through a lot of these, what with all the boss fights.

While here, I noticed that some of the NPCs have new dialogue (some of which we should probably have seen a bit earlier than this), so let's take a quick look around.



For instance, Dran here seems to think we're still looking for the keys.





But first, let's eat a bit more before leaving, this food is really nice!

While others, like Rob and Bub here, tell us our victory over the bandits is having some effects.



My guess is that someone went up and took care of business at their hideout.
At least now I can worry less about having my cargo stolen.

The bartender has noticed, too. (Should we tell him it was us?)



If I could build some sort of giant bubble... I'd walk all over them to show them who's boss!

This is kind of interesting, too. (Well, not the hint, which we're seeing too late for it to be helpful.) We didn't see this mantis last time we were in here, but this is Mar. He's another dev avatar: specifically, the game's main programmer. If I had to guess, he probably showed up here at the same time as Genow (who, you may recall, traded us cloth as part of the sequence for Vi's Request).



Back outside, this person can tell us the museum curator apparently has information about the Sand Castle. We should check that out.



Actually, we'd like to ask you if you know anything about the Sand Castle.
The Sand Castle? Hmm... It's Roach made, that's for sure!
They say there was an old Roach village near the oasis south of town.
I'm sure those old ruins hold some important things, castle or not. Shame I'm too old to explore the desert alone!

This is another hint that we were definitely meant to find earlier; those are the ruins where we found Hawk and got half of the key from him.

Anyway, let's head out to the desert. We have the Sandcastle Key, and we know where to use it (we saw Stratos and Delilah there a long time ago). We'll head to the easternmost side of the desert, then make our way north.

36 - Lost Sands



When we get to this screen, one of Venus' buds is waiting for us. She wasn't here before. That's probably indicative of something.



If her presence wasn't enough, her dialogue makes the warning explicit. We don't need healing, though, so let's press forward regardless.



As soon as we set foot in the northern half of this area, the ground starts shaking.





Seems like a solid plan...



13 - It's Getting Scary!



Guess we weren't fast enough.



What a vicious beast!
They really aren't making getting all the artifacts simple.
Eep! We better stop talking, and start fighting!

Well, for all this is an ambush, we know what to do.

Click me for video!

29 - Team, This One's Stronger! (Miniboss)





Surprise miniboss fight! That is one big scorpion. It comes with a friend, too, although a single Psicorp isn't particularly intimidating to us now. Let's get a handle on what we'll be dealing with here.



This thing's way angrier than a Psicorp! We've got to knock it out!

Does anyone else find it a bit strange the spy dialogues are consistently written as though they're occurring partway through the fight? Most players are going to see it right at the start, which makes some of the lines feel a bit incongruous when they comment on a thing that hasn't happened yet.

The Dune Scorpion would probably look a lot more intimidating if we hadn't spent the last couple of updates gallivanting around the world and taking down superbosses. Still, let's not underestimate it.





The Psicorp has low enough HP that it's almost always a good idea to just swat it on the first turn. Dash Through conveniently lets us get it most of the way gone, while also getting a hit in on the boss behind it.





Leif relays to Kabbu for a second hit, then finishes it off himself.



Which leaves Chompy free to bite the scorpion right in the face. Whatever else you might say about her, she's very brave for her size.



On its first turn, the Dune Scorpion uses a straightforward pincer attack. This hits for 4 base damage, and while it didn't do so here, it will sometimes follow up with a swipe from the second claw (for an additional 4).



One turn in. Let's just attack for now.







Vi relays to Kabbu to keep her charge, though.



Chompy, of course, keeps chomping.



On its turn, the Dune Scorpion hurls a boulder at us! This is definitely its scariest attack, hitting the entire party for 5 base damage. This adds up very quickly, you need to stay on top of it.



We're definitely going to need to heal at least Kabbu this turn.





We'll have him and Leif attack normally.



While Vi pulls out Sharing Stash (and conveniently keeps her charges still). It's kind of neat she ended up getting only mushrooms this time.



Chompy does her thing.





Ouch. The boulder toss really hurts, especially when you get it multiple turns in a row. Good thing we healed.



So, remember when I said not to take this boss too lightly? I'm about to do that. If we got aggressive (like, say, with Hurricane Toss), we could finish it off this turn, but we're only three turns in and I wanted to let it show us a bit more of what it could do.



So instead, Vi just attacks normally, wasting the charges.







And the others each do their part.





Here's the mistake. I should have healed again. Because I didn't, Kabbu was low enough that the boulder did him in.



This isn't looking great. Still, we're not in that bad a position, and Vi and Leif should be able to handle it from here.







We'll just keep attacking. Once again, more aggressive play could have ended things this turn, but I didn't quite want to.



There we go. Here's the Dune Scorpion's last remaining attack - when it goes into melee and raises both pincers instead of one, it's going for its tail attack. This does 4 base damage, and randomly causes either sleep or poison if it isn't blocked.



Now there's no point messing around any further.



Leif finishes it off with Frigid Coffin.





It also gives us exactly the amount of EXP we need to reach Rank 18. Convenient!



We get more MP. There's no special bonus at this rank.

Dune Scorpion is a very straightforward boss, which leaves it feeling a bit anticlimactic to me; even if you weren't doing the optional content, it comes after Astotheles, who has one of the more interesting gimmicks. Still, as we saw here, it's a fight worth taking seriously: it can put out a lot of damage very quickly, especially with the boulder attack (its damage output is very similar to Tidal Wyrm, in fact).



Here's the one thing we didn't see: the claw swipe hitting twice. Both hits do the same 4 damage. The second hit seems to be fairly rare, though; I don't know the exact odds, but I'd guess it's significantly lower than 50%.







13 - It's Getting Scary!



The music cuts out as soon as the stinger hits Leif. I guess it wasn't dead after all, but... what's going on here?



W-What the... What is this!?
Leif!? ...Curses, what do we-



Zasp ex machina! (Were you expecting that?) He appears out of nowhere and finishes off the scorpion.





There's no time! Do as I say, if you value your friend's life!

Everything fades to black, while they attempt to take Leif to safety.

048 - The Ones Who... (Recommended listening!)





Yet another one...
Disgusting. If it keeps up like this, our research...











The screen fades to white (and the music goes silent again), while Leif ponders these voices. Is this a memory...? But if it is, just what is he remembering?







Oi. Knock it off already! He lives. I made sure to treat the wound.
Just what were those things coming out of him...?



I... I can't lose someone again!
Then stop shaking him! He'll come around.



Leif! Goodness gracious, you had me in the most deep of panics!
No kidding, he's been shouting for hours... U-Um, but I was really worried too!
...Zasp? W-Where are we? What happened?
You let your guard down like a fool, and got shanked.
Zasp jumped in and broke that scorpion's face!
Don't thank me. I had a debt to settle.
Those things inside us... What kind of abomination are we...?
...



I've lost so many... I truly feared we would lose you. So it doesn't matter.
Y-Yeah! The doctor said you had weird stuff in you, anyways!
Vi, Kabbu...
How touching... I guess my work here is done.
Zasp, even with what you said... Thank you.
It's hard to find good friends. You'd best go get that artifact, before Mothiva ends her vacation.







It must be connected to us. We can't stop now. What if the castle holds answers?
Are you gonna be okay? It was looking super bad...
It doesn't matter if Mothiva gets the artifact. We could always go rest at the inn...
No. We can feel that it's important... We will go. We must go.
Would you help us just a bit longer?



Then it is settled. Let us proceed to the Sand Castle!

36 - Lost Sands



With that, we regain control. This is an excellent scene, but I don't have much to say about it. The mysteries only deepen still. I do quite enjoy how cavalier everyone is about what's happening to Leif: whatever it is, it happened, but he's still alive and we can't do anything about it for now, so we're going to move on and hopefully learn more later.



This location might not immediately look familiar, given the position we start in, but if we head north...



We're right back to the screen where we fought the scorpion. Venus is gone already, though; she was just here to make sure we could heal before facing it.



Now we can head north without interruption.



And here we are!





Let's put the key in.



The ground starts shaking...

Click me for video!

49 - Rise from the Sands



The pillar sinks into the sand...



Which starts flowing and then rises up...



Then begins to fall away...



Exposing the Sand Castle at last.

(This scene looks fine in the GIFs, but really deserves to be seen in video form along with the music. Anyone who's played Paper Mario 64 will immediately be taken back to Dry Dry Ruins, it's very clear this is an homage to it.)





Truly, I have never seen such an impressive structure. I wonder if it'd make the Queen somewhat jealous?



So the artifact must be here, then... Will you truly be okay, Leif?
We really can just go back if you feel bad, y'know?
Thank you for your concern, but we'll manage.
Be ready, though. This doesn't look like an easy place to explore.



We're back in control again. We could head back to Artis to get our Hard Mode reward for beating the Dune Scorpion (and if you're playing along, you might want to, it's a good one), but I don't want to break the momentum here. The Sand Castle is our big dungeon for the chapter, and it's certainly been long enough in coming! (because I've been doing all the side content, shh)

Before we go in, though, let's have a quick look at the complete, unredacted Lost Sands map. Stream Mountain and the Sand Castle were our last unexplored locations, we've now seen the entire area.



Also, now that the castle's emerged, there's a new banter here.

This looks like a daunting climb...
Getting second thoughts?
Never ever! Besides, we promised to help you out!
That's right. Not even the tallest mountain will deter me!
Heh...



In we go.

50 - Lost Castle of Ancient Worship (Recommended listening!)



This place is huge! We'll get our bearings in a moment, but first, let's see what our party think.

This place reeks of ice magic.
I got used to only you being able to do it, Leif! I don't like the cold at all...
This is no ordinary castle, evidently. Let's make sure not to be caught off guard once more.
No kidding.

Poor Leif. You don't have to rub it in, Kabbu.



What's going on here? There's a big pit in front of us which we can't cross, but those sparkles and the big crystal switch are certainly suggestive...



Hitting the switch with Vi's Beemerang turns it on, and it releases a wave of ice magic in a big circle around it. Suddenly, the sparkles are replaced by an icy platform!



Ice magic. Thought you'd seen it before.
It's not the same! Ice magic is your thing!
True. Could this place be related to us?
Only one way to find out! Time to explore!
Let's be careful, please. We've let our guard down too many times during this mission...



After that conversation, we regain control.



And with the crystal powering it, we can cross the newly formed ice bridge.



There's a new enemy waiting for us on the other side, too!





This thing looks very strange. Let's find out what it is?



Its ice version is weak to my horn! We must make sure to take note of which attacks are causing more damage!

Kabbu's commentary is quite informative here. Krawlers have different forms, depending on the circumstances when you encounter them. This one's in the sand form, but if we'd touched it inside the cold zone, it'd have been in the ice form instead. The ice form is also one of a handful of enemies that takes weakness damage from Kabbu's horn attacks, and in fact this is the first time we've encountered a weakness to something other than ice.



One of these by itself isn't terribly scary.



Kabbu attacks normally for now.



The sand form is weak to ice.



Even that weakness isn't enough for Leif to get through with doubled exhaustion, though. (I thought it was neat to show you still get the "SUPER!" message for weakness damage even when it deals zero.)





Vi and Chompy struggle a bit with this thing's defence.



On its turn, the Krawler attacks by charging at Kabbu. This attack is the same regardless of whether it's in sand or ice form, dealing 4 base damage.



It's nearly dead.



We finish it off.



We're a bit overlevelled, so we're only getting pity EXP from the enemies in here. Such is the consequence of completionism.





It leaves behind a new item, too. Magic Ice can be dropped by all of the enemies in here, and it's pretty similar to things like Poison Dart or Numbnail Dart: it can be thrown at an enemy to attack it for 2 damage, and attempts to inflict freeze for 1 turn. It can also be used in cooking (in fact, this is the last new ingredient for us to find, and we can now make all the recipes if we want to). Here are the things it can make:

Shaved Ice (24)
"This refreshing treat's just a bit TOO cold! Restores 4 HP to an ally and 4 TP. It may cause brain freeze!"
Inflicts freeze (2 turns)
Sell: 5 berries
Made by cooking a by itself

Cold Salad (25)
"Salad made by freezing down leaves. Restores 8 HP to an ally, but it may cause brain freeze!"
Inflicts freeze (2 turns)
Sell: 8 berries
Made by combining and

Ice Cream (26)
"This creamy treat is SO amazing it's worth risking a brain freeze! Restores 10 TP."
Inflicts freeze (2 turns)
Sell: 7 berries
Made by combining and

Honey Ice Cream (27)
"This honey flavored ice cream's a real guilty pleasure! Restores 5 HP and 10 TP. It may cause brain freeze!"
Inflicts freeze (2 turns)
Sell: 9 berries
Made by combining and

Frost Pie (31)
"A special pie that is best served cold. Restores 6 HP to an ally and 10 TP, but it may cause brain freeze!"
Inflicts freeze (2 turns)
Sell: 9 berries
Made by combining and

Frost Bomb (60)
"A bomb colder than cold! Toss it on enemies to freeze them!"
Causes 5 damage to the targeted enemy
Causes 3 damage to other enemies in blast radius
Inflicts freeze (1 turn) on enemies hit
Sell: 15 berries
Made by combining or and

There is a definite theme to these items. (Also, hey, we can finally make that Honey Ice Cream they were selling in the factory gift shop. It's also possible to see Frost Pie before this, it's one of the food items droppable by Chomper Brutes and Belostoss.) It's hard to justify using these unless you're equipping Freeze Resistance medals to prevent being frozen (or, I guess, using a strategy that requires being frozen, but we don't know of any reason to do that yet). Honey Ice Cream and Frost Pie are pretty strong number-wise, though, so equipping medals to use them isn't necessarily the worst idea (especially, perhaps, for players who didn't complete Crisbee's quest and can't get the doughnuts).

I can't say I care for Frost Bombs very much, because Leif's skills are generally better at freezing things (Frigid Coffin pierces resistance and freezes for longer, and Icefall can be aimed more precisely than bombs for area-of-effect freezing). It's not a bad item, but I like the other bombs a lot more.

In addition to these recipes, Magic Ice also has a couple of other uses. This is "the essence of frost itself" that our wizard friend was looking for, so we'll have to make sure to save one for him. And speaking of sidequests, this is another item that can be given to Eremi in Defiant Root to complete the "It's Too Hot!" quest, though it's still not considered the best solution for her.

Whew. There was a lot to say about that item.



Let's take it with us and head further in.



We're in some kind of central chamber now. There's a save crystal and one of Venus' buds here, definitely making it look like this is going to be a hub we revisit multiple times.

This is the main room? I thought it'd be more like the Ant Palace!
It doesn't look like a cozy place to live in, for sure.
That statue... Is that the Everlasting Sapling? Perhaps this is a place of worship?
It'd make sense if an artifact is here.
It's not a castle without treasure, so let's check every corner!

Intriguing.



Venus offers to heal us, of course, but we don't need it. Let's see what information she has for us.



Ah, it still feels like it was yesterday when they were scurrying around the land trying to get stuff together!
I tell you, the Sapling brought a lot of blessings but also curses to them... Don't make the same mistake.

She's certainly feeling talkative this time! That's definitely interesting. How much does she remember about the Roaches?



On the east side, we quickly run into a dead end. The north exit is blocked by a sandfall, and the door east is locked.



Heading west is a bit more productive, there are definitely paths we can take here. First, though, we should take care of this enemy.



It's a Psicorp and a Krawler.



This battle wasn't interesting enough to show in full, but we do get to see the Krawler's other attack! In sand form, it can fire this electric laser. Its base damage is 3, and can inflict Numb if not blocked.



Still only pity EXP.



We have two doors to choose between. Let's head west first, I suppose.



What's this room? That's a new kind of ice-generating crystal...

That's one big ice cube!
It's more of a rectangular cuboid, Vi.
The heck!?
It seems quite easy to push... I just wish I could ride it as it slid by!

Looks like we're going to have a sliding ice block puzzle in here. Lovely. Before we try to solve it, though, let's explore a bit more and get our bearings.



That switch to the north looks like where we need the ice block to ultimately end up.



There's a sign here. Of course, we should also check out the cracked wall.





Digging allows us to go underneath into this little alcove and find the Frostbite medal! This completes the set of medals that reward us for having a bad status.



Frostbite is 2 MP, and it's a bit weird. When frozen, the equipped bug will take no damage, and retaliate for the full damage they would have taken if the enemy made melee contact (and this retaliation is capable of freezing them). It does not prevent hits from unfreezing the bug, though, so it works at most once each time you're frozen. Like the retaliation damage from Spiky Bod, this cannot kill enemies and will instead leave them on 1 HP.

I find it difficult to think of ways to make good strategic use of this: you can have Kabbu taunt, then someone else freeze him with an item, but with those same two actions you could have had someone throw a Frost Bomb instead, or just use Leif's ice magic. I guess if you wanted to heal him and/or taunt anyway, nullifying an attack and countering is a nice bonus to have on top of it? But then, it's also only effective against enemies that make contact. The effect is powerful, but it's very situational and requires a lot of setup.

I did find out in testing that it utterly shreds Golden Seedlings, though, so that's fun. The retaliation damage goes right through their defence gimmick, and it prevents the massive damage they would otherwise do to Kabbu.

This medal was buffed substantially in v1.1, and the previous version was so bad I don't hesitate to call it useless. It halved damage taken instead of nullifying it, and didn't deal retaliation damage, instead only attempting to freeze the attacker. I think I got used to it being worthless and never revisited it after the buff; the new version is gimmicky, but at least it does something good.



Let's take a crack at this puzzle. It might not be completely obvious why yet, but this is a puzzle best solved by more or less feeling your way through. Let's send the block left first.



Now the gimmick becomes obvious: the ice magic field travels with the block, and in addition to making the surface icy so it slides, it causes these icicles to appear when it gets into range. This means that, for the purposes of the sliding puzzle, we can't see all the obstacles until the block is in range, and every move is something of a leap of faith.

For now, let's send it up.



The icicle we could barely see there stops its travel.



Now we send it west again...





Then down, to stop at those icicles we saw earlier.



Then east. This is the tricky bit to see, because the icicles that stop it are out of the radius while we're getting it into position. But we knew they would be there, and as such we've solved it.



All that's left to do is send it north to the switch.





Pressing the switch causes a door to open on the upper level, but there's no way to get up there from this room. We'll have to come back from elsewhere, it seems, but at least we've removed an obstacle.



There's nothing else we can do in this room for now, so let's head back to the central chamber.



Now to check out the northern door.



This room looks complicated. Let's check the banter first.

Goodness. This area is truly enormous!
Because the castle wasn't grandiose enough, apparently.
It's really cold down here, bleh.
The sun has never graced this room, it couldn't be helped.
Let's watch our step, then. We'd hate to get trapped in yet another basement...

I guess we're supposed to have gone down a level. That wasn't apparent from how the entrance looked up above, but I guess it makes sense.



Before anything else, this wizardy thing wants a piece of us.



It certainly looks intimidating. Let's see what's going on with it.



But we're not eager to share. Time to bring it down.

Spooky.



It's also fairly bulky, at 17 HP it's definitely one of the stronger enemies here.





Haunted Cloth is another enemy that's weak to Kabbu's horn attacks, though, so that 17 HP goes down a lot faster than one might otherwise think.







See? Almost dead already.



That said, these things are not to be taken lightly. It can envelop one of our bugs and try to drain their life (this normally does 1 HP per pulse, but Kabbu has Favorite One on), healing itself equal to the damage. This attack keeps going until you successfully finish the action command; if you don't fill the bar it will just keep going until the bug is out of HP.

It has a few other attacks, too, but we won't see them this fight.



Two attacks from Kabbu finishes it right off.



These, too, are only giving us pity EXP. Oh well.





Haunted Cloths can also drop Magic Ice for us. It's a very common thing to find after battles in here.



In the far corner of this room, that looks like a Crystal Berry. We'll have to figure out how to get over there.



First things first, though, let's deal with the western half.









The switches on these moving platforms, despite not looking like the big crystals, also generate ice magic fields that are capable of making platforms appear. Because the platforms are moving, though, the fields move with them and the platforms can appear and disappear.



This platform's always stable, though, so it's easy to get to the pillar at least.



Now we hit the big crystal. This doesn't move, so we can be sure these platforms are stable; now we can get to the next moving platform and see what's going on toward the back of the room.







Now we activate the switch on this platform.



This gives us access to the rear ledge.



Let's deal with this enemy first. (Do notice the big platform to the left of us, though, the switch moved far enough back that way to make it appear.)



It's an Arrow Worm and a Krawler. We haven't seen an Arrow Worm in a while!



As proof of concept, let's freeze the Krawler while we take out the Arrow Worm.





After we break the Krawler out of the ice, it's swapped to its ice form. (Do note that a damaging ice attack isn't enough to change its form, you have to successfully freeze it.)



Although this is weird; seems like we may have found a bug. It appears that, while they correctly lose their ice weakness when changing from sand to ice form mid-battle, they don't gain the weakness to Kabbu's horn. They do have the horn weakness if they begin the battle in ice form. How odd.



When in ice form, instead of the electric beam, they instead have an ice beam that freezes if not blocked. It's otherwise the same attack.



Pity EXP.



Now, what do we do?



We can try hitting this switch...



But it's a false lead. It doesn't reach far enough to enable the far platform, and it doesn't do us any good otherwise either.



It does, at least, keep the platform up that lets us get back to this moving one.



The moving platform's crystal makes this long platform appear, but it occasionally gets out of range, so the platform pops in and out of existence periodically.



We need to use the Beemerang to turn that crank, but the timing can be a bit tricky: we have to hit it, then get to a safer platform (so we don't fall down the pit) while keeping the Beemerang spinning.



Conveniently, the corner is close enough to this ledge that we can just jump across here. You can see the spikes starting to lower as the crank turns.



In the cell, we find this key. We're going to need that to progress.



As soon as we cross back to this side, the spikes start going back up. If you don't cross quickly enough they'll raise again, but there's a gap in the left wall of the cell that gives access to the crank, so you can lower them again without getting stuck.



Now, before we leave this room, let's get that Crystal Berry.



This platform has been moving back and forth across the eastern half of the room.



The spikes coming out of the wall are low enough we can't go under them, but the ice platform should help.





We have to get back on the moving platform before it gets out of range and the ice disappears, but... those ice spikes are going to be a problem.



We have to disable the switch to make them disappear.



Then immediately enable it again, to get the next ice platform so we can get around the second set of spikes.





There we go! That was fun.







We repeat the process in reverse to make our way back.





We've done everything we can in this room; let's get out of here.



This seems like a good place to wrap things up for now, since we're back at the central save crystal. Next time, we'll use the key we found to open the path east, and keep exploring the Sand Castle! I'll see you then.

[Explopyro]

42: Temple of Doom

50 - Lost Castle of Ancient Worship



Last time, we unveiled the Sand Castle and ventured inside. We'll continue our exploration this time; we found a key in the basement, and there's a locked door right here.







There we go. Now we can explore the east side.



This room's full of what looks like Roach statuary. What are we going to have to do here? First things first, though, let's check the banter.

We do wonder why the roaches liked building so many statues...
I mean, if I was rich I'd build a ton of me too!
Unrelated to riches, this seems to be more of a cultural matter. Hopefully not greed or arrogance...
Oi...

Heh.



A bit further in, we come across a fallen pillar bloking the path. Looks like we're going to need to find another path if we want to go forward, and that's probably going to involve those statues and crystals along the back wall.



When we get close to this statue, though, its head transforms, lifts off and starts chasing us!



It's a new kind of enemy. Let's see what this is about.



I'll bring it down and bury it where it belongs!

Wardens are another kind of robotic enemy in here, and have a lot in common with the Krawlers we've been fighting, including having sand and ice forms with different weaknesses. The most salient difference, of course, is that these ones can fly.



To start with, we'll have Vi hit it to bring it down.



Once it's on the ground, of course, the others can start hitting it.



The sand form is weak to Leif's ice.



Chompy does her bit too.



On its turn, it rises back into the air and then charges up. This is actually one of their less commonly used moves. They seem to be more likely to use it when on low health, but even then they still tend to prefer other attacks.

In addition to giving itself +2 charge-up, this move also gives it Defence Up.



When an enemy charges up like this, it's like a giant blinking sign saying a big attack is coming, so it's probably a good idea to either kill it ASAP or shield the party. Wardens have low enough HP that killing them is usually more practical, unless multiples charged up in the same turn...



I'm going to elect to do neither, and skip my turn so we can see what this does.



It floats toward us, slowly, before self-destructing in a big explosion that hits the entire group. This attack's base damage is actually 2, but it's effectively 4 since it always comes the turn after charging up. (Honestly, this isn't as nasty as I expected, the Abomihoneys we fought in Chapter 3 had a much more devastating self-destruct. It's still not really something you want to get hit with, though.)

Also, as a self-destruct attack, this robs us of the EXP we'd normally get from killing the enemy.



We do still get the 1 point of pity EXP. (And, actually, we're high enough rank that that's all we'd be getting regardless, but that's probably not the case for most players here.)



With the Warden defeated, the headless statue is left looking a bit goofy. Something tells me...



Yep, the other statue has one too.



Another Warden by its lonesome. These really aren't all that threatening until they start coming in groups, 14 HP is less than it might seem when they don't have any defence or healing gimmicks.



We do see a different attack from it here, at least. This is what they do most frequently, a dive-bombing ram for 3 base damage.



Still just pity EXP even though we killed it.



With the enemies gone, let's see what's going on in this room.



Hitting the crystals turns on the ice magic fields, as expected. Specifically, this makes the sparkles in the air above the crystal solidify into a platform.



Like before, though, only one crystal in the room can be active at a time. So turning on this one makes the second platform disappear.





So if we climb up and try to cross, we'll get stuck at this gap. What to do...?



Use the Beemerang, of course. If we set it spinning here before we climb up, we can trigger the switch remotely by releasing it.



We climb back up here...



Then release it to hit the switch.



And now we can move onward. It's not that hard a puzzle, but I appreciate how they keep finding different ways to use the same ice platform gimmick.



We drop down on the other side of the barricade from earlier. There's a Haunted Cloth waiting for us.



Once we engage it, we discover it also comes with a Krawler.



I won't show the entire battle, but we do get to see a new attack from the Haunted Cloth! This icy wind attack hits the entire party with a base damage of 3, and it will freeze everyone if not blocked (i.e., if you don't fill the bar). That's pretty nasty, but it's easy enough to block it (at least normally; here, I got lucky and managed the Super Block timing after filling the bar), so it's less problematic than it could be.

Players who struggle with blocking this would be well advised to equip Freeze Resistance medals.



We finish the battle.



With the enemy out of the way, we can get a better look at this side of the room. The mound of sand on this side is climbable, so we can use it to get back over the barricade if need be, but there's not much else to be found here.



Let's head upstairs.



Well this looks daunting.

Eep! D-Don't get squished!
This castle has not been very inviting, but this is a tad much!
It's not like we ever feel invited when there's an artifact.
Not the factory's fault, you know...

A fun little banter to start things off (I love how Vi still gets offended on behalf of the factory).



Let's get a better look around. Boulders keep falling out of the chutes on the right-hand side, then rolling to the left, and that's going to be a problem.



Before we can get close, though, we should probably deal with this enemy. It's been a while since we've fought Arrow Worms.







As a reminder, Arrow Worms stay underground by default, and need to be driven out by something like Leif's ice magic (or if necessary, Vi can do it with Hurricane Toss, and Kabbu can use Under Strike). They're not much of a threat to us now, though, especially since with Chompy along we can kill each one in a single turn.



Easy enough.



Now, how are we going to deal with this?



I've seen this first boulder dispenser stump a fair number of people. They come just fast enough (and the path is just long enough) that you can't quite run through in the gap between boulders.

What we need to do is take advantage of Kabbu's ability to dig, and sneak past them underground.







There we go, we've gotten through. Now, what to do here should be obvious.



Leif's Bubble Shield lets us cross the big patch of brambles. (Though I do have to wonder, how did those get in here?)



What is significantly less obvious is that, in addition to the ramp on the left side, there's also a semi-camouflaged gap in the eastern wall.



Passing through there takes us to this little hidden nook.



Let's get the enemy out of the way first. (Bubble Shield makes it really easy to get first strikes.)



We're faced with a Psicorp and a Warden. This is a new combination, though it's not particularly challenging.



We clear them out.



And claim our prize. I'm pretty sure this is one of the last Crystal Berries I found on my first playthrough, it's really easy to just overlook the entrance to this room and keep going.



Let's head back, there's nothing else here.



Now we go to the ramp.



Here, we're faced with another puzzle. The first step is pretty obvious.



Once a boulder passes us, we'll go hit the crystal.





Then quickly head west before the next one catches up to us.



Here, we can see that there's another switch in the foreground. We can't just hit it, though, or we'll have a bit of a problem: the next platform has a big pile of rocks on it that we can't destroy, and that'll block our progress.

(If you somehow miss out on seeing the foreground switch, this is a lot harder. You can use the Beemerang Hold to hit the other switch again instead, but the timing to set that up without getting squashed by the boulder is pretty tight.)



But if we wait to flip the switch until the boulder has crossed the first ice platform...





We can make a path for it to crash into the rocks and destroy them, clearing the way. An added benefit of this is that we've switched off the first platform, so no further boulders will be able to reach us.





We move onward. (Looks like crashing into those spikes in the wall was enough to do for the boulder, thankfully.)



Heading south, we encounter a Warden just floating around. They're not exclusively disguised as statues in here, they seem more than capable of existing independently.



Looks like it's one of each! The second one is in ice mode.



Just like Krawlers before them (and Haunted Cloths), the ice form is weak to Kabbu's horn attacks.



Easy enough to clean this up. We still haven't seen all the attacks this enemy type has, but these ones weren't interested in showing us anything new.



They leave behind some more Magic Ice for us.





Continuing south requires a bit of careful platforming so we don't fall into the spikes.



The Haunted Cloth waiting on the other side is hard to avoid, so let's just fight it.



This one comes with an ice Krawler.



It also finally shows us the remaining attack we hadn't seen, a spinning dash that hits the entire party. This is a bit less fearsome than its other attacks, but can still put out quite a bit of damage (this is base 3 across the party, very similar to the wind attack).



And here we can see Kabbu's horn doing weakness damage.



With the enemies dealt with, let's move on.



Before we leave this room, let's check out this switch.





Activating the switch turns on this moving platform, which then moves back and forth between here and the entrance to the room. It's a nice shortcut to have should we ever need to come back here.



Now we're done here, so let's press on.



The exit from that room brings us here. Recognise this space?



We're back in the central chamber, just on the upper level now. Let's hit this switch.





The switch activates this elevator, which lets us head back to Venus and the save crystal if we need to. But how do we go forward?



The bridge may be out, but there's a walkway outside! (This also might be a Paper Mario reference, there was a similar puzzle in Hooktail Castle in TTYD...)





We can cross on the ledge, passing behind the back wall to come out on the far side of the room.



And now that we're over here, we have a path forward.



This room may also look familiar once we get a bit further in.



This is the upper level of the room where we solved the ice-sliding puzzle. In addition to pressing the switch that opened the door, the ice block is also our bridge across. If we hadn't solved that puzzle before, we'd have to jump down and do it now (at which point that elevator would come in handy).



On the far side, we're faced with a Krawler.



Actually, a pair of them.



We're used to these by now, they don't present very much trouble. (In general, the enemies here are balanced assuming you don't have Chompy, so for better or worse everything is a bit of a pushover for us.)



Onward and upward.



This room looks complicated.

I don't get it.
Thinking's about the only thing that can stop you, huh.
Shut it.
Easy now. We cannot just aimlessly press plates. There must be a clue somewhere!

Our hint is to look for a hint. How helpful. (Also, it's been a while since Leif insulted Vi, good to see him back in form I guess.)

Trying to fight the Krawlers in here (each of which is only a single one by itself) can provide another hint, because they'll respawn immediately, as enemies usually do if they're intended as part of a puzzle. We'll need to use them for something.



Hitting the switch in the centre of the room lights up the roach-shaped inscription in the floor, too. (Also, let's notice there's a key on that ledge in the corner, we're going to have to get that somehow.)





Trying to climb up this side, we can discover the statue's head is another Warden.



Or, rather, another pair of them.



Here we go, it's their last remaining attack. Like Krawlers, Wardens also have the beam attack, which changes between electric and ice depending on their form and inflicts Numb or Freeze respectively.



We clean them up.



They leave behind more Magic Ice. It's pretty inevitable to end up swimming in the stuff just from going through here; I don't have the space to keep this one.



Let's head back down and see what we can do here.





The inscriptions on these pillars should tell us what to do, though it's in the form of a riddle. (I quite enjoy this puzzle.) The key is realising that the hands and feet in question belong to the roach inscribed in the floor.





First step is to make sure the crystal's turned on.



Then we can freeze one of the Krawlers. (Incidentally, one nice property of the ice magic field is that a frozen enemy won't thaw out while inside the field. You can take your time while doing this.)





And put it on one of the switches corresponding to a hand.







Then we repeat the process on the other side. Nothing's happening, though.



That's because we need to apply the second half of that clue. "It turned into drops, sinking into the sand." We need to turn off the switch.



Once we do that, the door forward opens. We're not done yet, though.





If we're quick, we can hit the switch again before the blocks melt, and not need to freeze them again. (It's not necessary to actually let them melt for the door to open, despite what the inscription says, just disabling the magic field while they're on the correct switches is enough.)





Let's move them to the feet now.







Putting ice blocks on both feet causes the platforms at the back of the room to rise up, giving us a path across to grab that key. ("We felt the cold at our feet before locking the way.")





I'm sure we'll be needing this soon. (Also, interestingly, the statue on this side is real, it's not a Warden.)



Now that we've got the key, let's head onward.



Here we are back in the central chamber again, but on an even higher balcony.

Huff... We've reached the top floor. A bit rough on my limbs...
Never heard you complain until now, with all the walking.
I... I just really dislike stairs!
(I hope they didn't see me flying over them...)

This line is enough to make me regret the game not showing this, it's cute and I want to see it now.



The enemy waiting here is another pair of Wardens, this time both in sand form. Let's get them out of the way.



With the enemy gone, there's nothing else we can do in here, the rubble is blocking everything off.



So let's head through this door.



This one takes us outside! I'm not entirely sure the layout makes complete sense here (we went out the north exit of that room, and somehow come out of this tower?). I have to assume the camera angles inside must not necessarily correspond to the cardinal directions I've been using out of habit, but even then it seems a bit weird.

Anyway, let's see what our team have to say.

Ah. Fresh air!
We can see all of the desert from here. It's quite soothing...
Maybe we could come back. It's not like anyone owns the place.
This is now my castle! Dibs!

A nice cheerful one.

Let's fight the enemy first.



It's a Haunted Cloth along with an Arrow Worm. The most notable thing about this fight is that we get a new battle background just for this specific room; I appreciate how thorough they get with this sort of thing. Haunted Cloths also look quite different in the brighter lighting.



The battle itself was nothing special.



There's a save crystal here, as well as a locked door. Is that the way we need to go?





Apparently not. The key we have doesn't fit, so we're going to need to find another one. The one we have must go somewhere else.



There's another way to go on the far side. Let's take care of the enemy first, though.



Two Krawlers and an Arrow Worm. For a change, let's actually show this fight, I decided to have some fun with this one.





While it's a bit expensive, Kabbu's Under Strike also works to expose underground enemies. I wouldn't do it normally, but here the enemies are close enough together that it's easy to also get in good damage on one of the others.



Leif's Icefall freezes both Krawlers.





And Vi can finish off the Arrow Worm.



Chompy bites the Krawler in front, breaking it out of the ice and showing it's switched into ice form.



I messed up the block timing, so Kabbu took full damage from the charge. For all I've been glossing over the enemies in here, they're not harmless, and can give you some trouble if you let them.



Now we just have these two left. Let's clean it up.



This one's a foregone conclusion.





And here, the ice form's weakness to Kabbu's horn lets us make quick work of it. (I'm now puzzled why the one we fought last update didn't get the weakness appropriately, it's working correctly now. I can't explain the anomaly.)



Chompy deals the final blow.



There we go.



They also left a Honey Drop behind! This is convenient: considering all the TP we spent in that battle, we'll just eat it immediately.



Let's head onward.





We're on the other side of the room from before. There's a locked door here, but a few other things to see before we go that way. (Thankfully, the giant roach statue is just a statue, we don't have to fight a giant Warden...)



If we head to the left, there's some kind of mural painted or engraved on the back wall.



When we get closer, we're given the opportunity to inspect it.



It seems to be some sort of depiction of the Everlasting Sapling... Even the artifacts are there!
We're impressed, Kabbu. This drawing's quality hasn't aged well at all.



As you might expect, examining the mural gives us a Discovery.





There we go.



The text is too faded to be read.

Checking it again gets us this message.



Hitting the switch over here turns on yet another elevator.





This one goes two levels down, once again bringing us back to the central chamber where Venus' bud is. Very convenient if we need healing. Let's head back up, though.







Our key works in this door, at least, so let's see what's on the other side.



More ice block puzzles, it seems!

This room looks like a storm passed through!
We can only wonder what this room's purpose used to be.
We should only wonder how to solve it!

Let's get a look around.





There are two magic crystals here, and we're no doubt going to need to do something with them.



At the far wall, we can find this fallen pillar. We can climb up it, but the gap is too wide for us to jump across, so we're going to need to put the ice block here to bridge it.



Before that, though, we can nip in behind here and grab this hidden item. This could be handy if we want to use that Frostbite medal we found last time.



Let's see what we can do with this.





Starting off nice and simply, we send the block to the east.



We can also use the crystal itself as a blockade for it.





Letting us send it further east. Here we run into an issue, though: the block stops moving once it reaches the boundary of the magic field. Ice blocks can't slide on sand.





That's easily remedied, though, we just activate the other crystal.





Now we can push the block the rest of the way. From here, it's pretty obvious what we have to do.





Send it north just a bit...





Then west to stop at the crystal.





And, finally, north to where we want it. This room may look daunting and complex, but the solution is very straightforward once you start trying things.





Now we can climb up and jump across.





From atop this ledge, we can see into the far side of the room. That looks like the key we're looking for...





Yes it is! But...





This isn't exactly a surprise, is it?

29 - Team, This One's Stronger! (Miniboss)





It's just a fight against three regular Wardens, but for some reason, we get the miniboss music here. I guess because it's a mandatory fight?



Let's start things off with an Icefall from Leif.

I'm not entirely sure what happened with the damage here, but I think the most likely explanation is that the freeze (and therefore the form change) occurs before the damage is calculated, so the one that got frozen isn't taking weakness damage? I swear, I learn new things every session.



Leif attacks again, breaking it out of the ice.



We'll keep attacking.



When Kabbu attacks the one in ice form, it takes weakness damage appropriately. I definitely think last time was some kind of fluke.



And Chompy does her part, though it's not quite enough to finish this one.





That means we're going to take some attacks, though that's blunted substantially by my managing to Super Block these ones.



Then I missed completely on this laser from the third one, and Leif was numbed.



This is a bit awkward, but let's see what we can do.



I didn't want to waste Vi's damage on the one that's nearly dead, so I had her attack the centre one instead.



I really don't want to take three attacks again. But what can I do?







Under Strike to the rescue. It also goes high enough to hit airborne enemies, so we can finish off the weakened one while also doing 5 damage to the other.



Which lets Chompy finish it off.



Now we only have to take a single attack.



From here, it's trivial to finish off the last one, especially now that Leif has recovered.



There we go. That wasn't so bad, although as you can see, these enemies can get dangerous quickly if you mess up blocking and get hit with a bad status.

50 - Lost Castle of Ancient Worship



The Wardens poof out of existence, and there's nothing else to threaten us here.





And there's a bouncy mushroom to help us get back.



Let's head back to the roof.





Now that we have the key, we can move onward. But this seems to be a good place to stop for now, we've been through a lot of puzzles today, and there's a save point right here. Next time, we'll unlock this door and see what's waiting for us inside. I'll see you then.

[Explopyro]

43: The Mummy

50 - Lost Castle of Ancient Worship





When we left off, we'd just found ourselves a big key, the one that actually goes to this door. No more dawdling, let's see where it takes us.



Spooky. It's a long corridor lined with sarcophagi.

Now it's really feeling like a throne room!
What are those boxes? I've never seen something like it.
It does give kind of a bad vibe. Stay sharp.

Yeah, it's a bit ominous.





Eventually, the corridor widens a bit and we see the actual throne room they were talking about. Although that's not a throne, it's a sarcophagus on a pedestal.



As soon as we get close, the room starts shaking.







Correct. That's not even how we speak. That's Roach dialect.



D-Did you need to scream as well?
Well, yes.
Eh, just one more warning on the heap. Let's get that artifact!



The room starts shaking again, as the voices intensify.



Sand starts filling the room...



The coffin opens, and its occupant floats out.



It's just a fancy Cursed Cloth!
We can feel it... Its magic is just like ours!
Our answers must be here. We won't be stopped by it!
Let's go!

Talking certainly doesn't seem to be an option we have.

Click me for video!

51 - The Watcher (Recommended listening!)





Time for a boss fight! It's some kind of undead roach sorcerer (with some really fantastic music, give its theme a listen). Let's get some more information first.



We'll put you to rest, forever this time!



69 HP and 0 defence is honestly on the squishy side for a boss at this point, especially when you compare it to some of the things we've been fighting. If you really go all-out, glass cannon style, you can take this guy down fast. That said, don't underestimate it.









We'll just start out with some normal attacks, so we can get an impression of what it can do.



On its first turn, the Watcher burrows underground and attempts to drain Kabbu's life. Like some of the other life-draining attacks we've seen, this attack keeps going until you successfully complete the action command. The base damage is 1 point each time it pulses, healing the boss for the same amount; one disadvantage of our using Favorite One is that the boss gets a bit of extra healing here.



Also notable is that, after using that attack, the Watcher remains underground.



Of course, that's easy enough to deal with.



Once it's out from underground, Kabbu can attack as normal.



But let's play it cautiously and have Vi heal him. We have TP Core on, so we'll get most of this TP back soon anyway.



Chompy helps out.



This turn, the first thing the Watcher does is summon a sand wall to make it harder to get to.



Then boosts its own defence. Neither of these moves cost it an action.



Here's the actual attack it uses this time: a volley of electric sparks. This hits 2-3 times, for 3 base damage each. They all went at Kabbu this time, but it can change targets with each shot. Unlike other times we've seen attacks that look like this, the Watcher's version can't inflict Numb on us and just deals damage.



After attacking, it's not quite done just yet. The last thing the Watcher does this turn is switch stances. That was a long turn!



This pose certainly looks familiar, doesn't it?

Anyway, here's the core mechanic of this fight. The Watcher, like the enemies we've been fighting throughout the Sand Castle, has two elemental forms, sand and ice. This fight is very much a capstone to the gimmick the enemies have had throughout this dungeon. Unlike those enemies, though, it doesn't have fluctuating weaknesses (neither form takes weakness damage from anything), but it uses different attacks in each form.



Kabbu's stuck hitting the sand barricade if he doesn't want to spend TP.





Leif and Vi get some more hits in on the Watcher.



While Chompy has to bite sand (that can't taste good!)

The sand walls have 5 HP, so this is enough to bring it down. They're also weak to ice, if you happen to want Leif attacking them.



This attack looks familiar, doesn't it? It's just like Leif's magic. This deals 4 damage at base, and freezes if you don't block it. (Leif's basic attack certainly doesn't do that! This is more or less Frigid Coffin.) If you aren't confident in your blocking abilities, Freeze Resistance medals go a long way in this fight.



No form change or anything this turn. The defence boost has worn off, at least.





Kabbu and Leif will get some attacks in.



While Vi will spend her turn healing Kabbu again. She's letting her charges accumulate this way, too.



Chompy keeps at it.



This attack is scary! (And also familiar: it's identical to Leif's Icefall spell!) This hits the entire party for 5 damage, and freezes if you don't block.

If you don't have Freeze Resistance on anyone and fail to block this, the entire party (except Chompy if you have her) is getting frozen, and that sets you up to take a nasty beating the next turn (remember, on top of not being able to block, being frozen causes you to take an additional point of damage). That isn't necessarily an automatic TPK, but the party will most likely be in dire straits if they survive. You do not want to let this happen.

After this attack, the Watcher decides to switch forms again.



We're looking at the sand form again, which is a bit of a relief, as it means at least one more turn before we might be facing an Icefall again.





Kabbu and Leif attack as normal.





Let's have Vi pull out Sharing Stash to undo most of the damage the Icefall did.



Chompy knows what her job is.



Here's where things can get really scary. At the start of its first turn below 50% HP, the Watcher will give itself an extra action. It'll be doing twice as much each turn for the rest of the fight.



Then it boosts its defence again...



Before using the electric spark attack. Three hits, all aimed at Kabbu this time; this could have been a lot worse if I didn't end up negating two of them by Super Blocking.



Are we having deja vu?



Seriously, now.

This turn it becomes abundantly clear how the minor attacks (like the stat boosting moves and summoning pillars) actually work: it gets an opportunity to do them before taking each proper action. I guess we should be thankful it chose defence both times here, because it can also get Attack Up this way; that said, the second one isn't necessarily wasted because the durations will stack.



With Vi at +3 charge, there's an obvious thing to do.



So let's get her in front and use Hurricane Toss! That's a solid chunk of damage there.







The others do their part, but it looks disappointing by comparison. It's not quite enough to finish things, so let's see what the boss does.



First off, another sand wall.



Followed by the life drain attack, targeting Vi this time. At least this means it gets less healing than before.





It then follows this up with the same attack again, which is pretty annoying. Still, we'll manage.



Then it swaps back to ice mode.



We're still not in a great position to finish things out, between the healing and that annoying wall.



So we'll do what we can. Vi hits the Watcher...



While Kabbu hits the wall.



This is a bit disappointing (that defence buff is helping it!), but it's better than nothing.



Chompy finishes off the wall, at least.



Before attacking, here's another status-type move the Watcher can use (which also, like the others, doesn't cost it a turn). It heals itself 6 HP.





After that it's a fairly straightforward turn from the boss, just using the Frigid Coffin attack twice.



That heal probably saved its life, it would have been low enough to finish off this turn without it.





We'll have Kabbu double up attacking, to get an extra point through its defence.



Also, it's doughnut time. We're close enough to finishing things that this might be wasteful, but I didn't want to take chances in case it might heal again. This gives us a much higher ceiling of damage output next turn.



Chompy does her thing, of course.



This is new. When in ice form, it can still summon barriers, but they're giant icicles instead of sand piles. The ice wall is nearly identical to the sand one, and still has 5 HP, but instead of an ice weakness, it's weak to Kabbu's horn. The weakness-switching gimmick is still here, it just applies to these obstacles instead of the Watcher itself.



It follows that up with another Icefall, which we thankfully block. Getting frozen here would probably have been fatal.





Speaking of fatal, I spoke too soon. After boosting its defence, its second attack is a Frigid Coffin, and Kabbu was low enough for it to KO him.



This looks significantly worse than it is. We're fine.





A Magic Seed quickly solves the worst of our problems. We're still a bit low on HP, overall, but with Kabbu back in action we can probably finish this.



Walls only stop you if you attack from the front! Under Strike can sneak underneath, so we don't have to bother trying to break this down.



And that was just enough damage to get things into Hurricane Toss range.



Vi deals the coup de grace.



Things got pretty rough for a moment there! The Watcher is a great fight, although if you don't take things slowly (like I did here), you may miss out on seeing a lot of the interesting things it can do. And strategically speaking, going for an all-out blitz approach (if not from the beginning, then maybe from just above halfway so it spends as little time as possible with double actions) is probably the safest way to handle this, especially when you consider how much damage it can put out with a double Icefall (or if you miss blocking and get frozen). This boss is dangerous, and the fight can turn against you on a dime.



Leaving the battle, we see this pop up very briefly before the cutscene begins.











Hey, look! It's the artifact!
Don't despair yet, Leif. It may hold some answers!
Go get it before I do!







What? Then what could it be?
We don't know. But this doesn't have the same feeling as the others...



We cut over to see a door opening at the far side of the room. Clearly, there's more going on here.



There must be a reason this stone is here, though.
Let us ask Neo later. For now, we've got to push through.
Mhm! Off we go!



We regain control. That's certainly mysterious. I guess we're not done here quite yet. Before we move on to check what's beyond that door, there's a new banter here now:

The rock we found here was quite beautiful.
Maybe explorers would mistake it for the artifact?
I sure would have. Glad to have Leif's gibberspeak!
Hmph.

(Why are you talking about this as though it were hypothetical?)



Anyway, let's move onward.





Well, there's the artifact.

Our guess is they never expected anyone to make it to this room.
But we did! Team Snakemouth keeps being awesome!

Short and sweet banter in here.



Let's claim our prize.



At last, the final artifact!
Heheheh, we did it! We're going in the hall of fame!
...It's incredible, we must say.
These have been sought after since Elizant's time.
It was only through our combined efforts that it was possible!
You guys can chat it up later. Let's take it and get that reward!

16 - Lost Treasure





And there we have it. (Had you been wondering what this artifact was going to be called?)



The team explored the Roach ruins and uncovered the hideout of the infamous Lost Sand bandits.
An ambush shone a worrying light on Leif's condition...
But in the end, the last artifact was collected. Is the Everlasting Sapling within reach?



And there's the end of chapter summary!





With the artifact collected, the icy aura pervading the room fades away.



We've still got to get the Sapling.
And help Leif on his quest!
...Right. We've got to get back to Neo. Let's go turn this in.



And now we get the traditional end-of-chapter save prompt. Where are things going to go from here? Surely our goal can't be in sight already?



Also, here's this notification again. The previous one was for the Hard Mode boss defeat, while this is the usual end-of-chapter one.





There we are.

And with this, we come to the end of Chapter 4 of Bug Fables! This was certainly a long one (though, admittedly, more due to the proliferation of side content than the actual chapter itself; if you're just doing the main storyline, you can go straight from the Bandits' Hideout to the Sand Castle instead of scouring the world for treasures). Regardless, there's certainly a lot of information to digest; our quest for the Sand Castle seems to have yielded more questions than answers.

Next time, we'll deliver the final artifact and see where things take us. I'll see you then!

[Explopyro]

44: Bug is Weak to Fire (Part 1)

50 - Lost Castle of Ancient Worship



Last time, we defeated The Watcher and claimed the fourth artifact, bringing Chapter 4 to a close. We'll pick up exactly where we left off: loading the chapter-end save starts us in the chamber where we found it.



Now we just need to backtrack our way through the Sand Castle.







There are still some enemies around, but we'll ignore them.



It might be worth taking a stop in this central lobby to talk to Venus, though. We don't get any kind of automatic healing after the boss fight or chapter end, and we took a bit of a beating there.



But Venus can fix that for us easily enough.



Now to head outside.





We've barely taken a step outside the castle, and someone's desperately trying to get our attention. That can't be good.



Zasp warps in.



Zasp, it is unlike you to be so frazzled!
Has something happened?
The Ant Kingdom... is under attack! The Wasps have struck!

13 - It's Getting Scary!





Mothiva and the others are fighting. We have no time for chatter.
We must go immediately!
L-Let's hurry up, then!



52 - Ant Kingdom, Under Attack!





I will go look for Mothiva. Go check on the Queen, and we'll catch up!
You're going to fight your own people?
...Hmph. As if I was anything like those pests. Stay safe.







Neither did I, Vi. But we must fight. We must protect this town that took us in!
No time to waste. Let's freeze this invasion to a halt!



With that, we regain control. This area's looking very different now: most of the Ant Kingdom residents have evacuated the town and are hanging out here in the Outskirts, and we can see injured soldiers and smoke rising in the distance. Clearly, we can't treat this like our usual post-chapter routine. Let's get our bearings and see if we can't figure out what's going on.

First off, there's a banter:

We must head into the city! The Queen is in danger!
Mhm. Let's kick those Wasps out of our home!

Short and to the point, I'm not sure what I was expecting.



If we head west, we can find Fry and Madame Butterfly hanging out in the middle of the bridge (and, yes, blocking our path). Let's start with them.





Without cooking, I am nothing!

Fry might be here, but he doesn't have his equipment so he can't do any emergency cooking for us.





Merab is hiding over here, but doesn't have any stock with him either.



Maybe Artis will be able to help us?



No such luck.



Eetl's over here panicking by the save crystal. (Which has turned yellow again. I guess it wasn't necessary to stop and heal with Venus, but I'd forgotten about this.)



We'll be back! Stop worrying!

Vi tries unsuccessfully to reassure him.





Gen and Eri are here too, and seem to have been helping with the evacuation.





It's alright. Please be sure to check our wares!

The merchant caravan are still open for business, at least. Good to know, if we were running low on items.



Fuzzo's worried about the theatre.



Also, Amber, despite having fled her usual location, is still operating the storage as usual and has access to all of our stuff. That's convenient.



Most of the NPCs don't have unique banters during this crisis, and pressing the button just repeats the general area banter we saw earlier. Amber gets one, though. Vi's really impressed (is that the right word?) at her dedication to the job.

Let's keep looking around.



It seems like it. But we are taking a huge beating from the Wasps...
I wonder if Zaryant can keep the Queen safe by herself...

This doesn't sound good. We'll do what we can. (Just like before, they're placed conveniently to block the bridge.)



Over here, Ann is worried about Pibu.



Interacting with Pibu reveals that Leif is too.



You wanna talk to them?
No. It's not time yet. We have a mission to do.
...

Leif's family made it out safely, but he still doesn't feel comfortable talking to them.





Eophi and Mun aren't doing too great over here. (Also, what happened to the mask Eophi usually wears?)



We can also inspect this door.





Leby and Dib have locked themselves inside the house.





Celia and Levi are over here monitoring things, but it looks like they're too busy to help out with any of the fighting.





Madeleine and Seb are here too; what a time for them to have come home. She seems worried that this might cause an increase in anti-wasp prejudice.



Over by the gate, we find some soldiers looking much worse for wear, and also Samira.







...The Queen...

At least they're still alive? This certainly doesn't look good...



Let's move forward.



The plaza has certainly seen better days. Also, lots of wasp soldiers.

Everything is...
Come, Vi! We must press on!

Another quick area banter.



Rubble is blocking the way into our house, too!



24 - Oh No! WASPS!!





The soldiers prowling around here are actual enemies, and we can fight them. (Also, look at all the detail in the battle background! The transition is practically seamless.) We've fought both Wasp Troopers and Wasp Scouts before, but we've only ever seen them in scripted miniboss-style encounters; now they're normal enemies.





I like Under Strike a lot in these fights. It's very convenient that it can simultaneously pierce the Troopers' defence and knock down the flying Scouts, though the positioning is finicky so it can be a bit unreliable.



Regardless, that really softened them both up.



Leif relays to Kabbu to hit the Trooper again, though even he has a hard time getting through 2 defence.





Leif and Vi focus on the Scout instead. (Vi's put Power Exchange on again, that's why she's doing an extra point.)



Chompy does her part too.



It's been a while since we've seen these attacks, but they hurt!



A bit less so if you block well, but even then, this can add up. (And because we haven't seen these enemies much, we're unlikely to be very familiar with the timing here...)



For better or worse, let's finish this.







There we go.



We're still rather overlevelled, so we're only getting pity EXP. That said, that isn't always the case here: despite their stats being the same as the ones we fought before, these ones have had their base EXP value increased, so they should be giving EXP if you're around the level the devs expect you to be.



They also sometimes leave behind Crunchy Leaves. I won't complain.



Looks like they did attack the theatre: all the posters are scattered over the ground.



You dare oppose us!?
Don't underestimate him, Mothiva!
I know!

We can also eavesdrop on this encounter. Zasp and Mothiva are, indeed, doing their part.



We can't fight that trooper because they're keeping him occupied. Let's keep going.



This one's fair game, though!





It's the same formation as last time. Let's take a different approach?



First off, let's have Vi bring down the Scout.



Then Leif can freeze it with Frigid Coffin. The scouts have the ability to summon more allies, if you let them, and keeping them frozen is a really good way to stop that happening.







Now Kabbu and Chompy can focus on the Trooper.



Wasp Troopers have a bunch of different attack animations, but they all do very similar damage, so mostly it just keeps you on your toes when trying to block them.



Let's clean this up.





I wanted to hit both with this Under Strike, but messed up and only got the Trooper. Still, he was the more important one to hit with it.



Leif finishes him off.





While Vi and Chompy, together, can do exactly enough damage to get rid of the Scout.



There we go!



There's nothing else to see in the plaza, let's press onwards.

52 - Ant Kingdom, Under Attack!



Things aren't looking good here either!

Oh no! The palace!
We must hurry!!!

These banters are getting more frantic as we go, aren't they?



More injured soldiers are over here.



Save your strength! We'll take care of this!



These two have definitely seen better days.



Venturing onto the bridge, we quickly run into more wasp troops.

24 - Oh No! WASPS!!



This time, it's a pair of scouts (also, this area has its own background too!).





Let's start off by having Vi get them down into hitting range for the others.







This isn't quite enough to kill, but it's close. (Also, in a fight like this, I don't necessarily mind spreading damage around a bit. I could be imagining it, but it seems to me that Scouts are more likely to summon allies if they're alone.)



Vi gets kicked in the face...



While Kabbu is faced with the needle toss attack.



Let's clean this up.



Vi's perfectly situated to finish off the one in front.



Then we relay to her to get the second one down.



And freeze her with Leif.



Let's have Chompy do nothing, so we don't break the ice.





Now we can finish her off without risk.



That wasn't too bad.



There's one more set to get through here, though.



A pair of Troopers. This might be a bit trickier.





Messing up Under Strike and only hitting the rear one certainly isn't going to help, either!



Let's have Leif cast Break on one of them, to help us get through the defence.







That's better.





This isn't, though! They teamed up on Kabbu, and that was enough to take him down: sometimes having him in front with Favorite One on really gets punished. This could get a bit dicey.



With +1 charge, and Break still in effect, Leif can move in front and do exactly enough damage to finish off the first one.



Let's not take any more risks here: Vi can finish off the second one with Hurricane Toss.



These fights can turn against you pretty quickly if you let them, but we got through.



At least it drops another Crunchy Leaf. This is actually a nice opportunity to show something...



Namely, that because Kabbu was unconscious at the end of the fight, he didn't get healed from Triumph Buzz. The automatic revival-on-1-HP takes place after that medal's effect.



He can eat these two Crunchy Leaves we picked up. Easy come, easy go.



There. That's better.



Onward, into the palace!

52 - Ant Kingdom, Under Attack!



The palace has also definitely seen better days. Rocks and rubble are blocking all the exits except for the throne room, and there are more wasp soldiers and injured ants everywhere.

We're almost at the throne room! We must hurry!

This time, only Kabbu says anything in the banter.



Save them...

Oh no. The Lieutenant doesn't seem to have done any better than the others.



This fallen soldier has nothing to say at all.



Let's start over here.

24 - Oh No! WASPS!!



One of each, but this time they've swapped positions.



Let's start off with Break on the trooper.









All our normal attacks aren't quite enough for the kill, but it's very close.





I do much better blocking the spear throw this time.



Now, what to do about this.



Kabbu finishes off the trooper.







While the others focus on the scout. I could have frozen it to be safe, but I'm out of TP and would rather not spend an item.



More of the same. This hurts a bit more if you fail to block, but it's not that bad (and, thankfully, it's not summoning another enemy).







And from there we can end the fight easily.





This soldier's no more talkative than the last one. I hope she's all right.



One last enemy before the throne room. What will it be?



Of course. It's three of them. Why would it be anything else?





The one advantage of there being more enemies is that they're packed closer together, so this is a lot easier to do reliably.









We'll get some damage in on both of them, though it's not quite enough to manage killing either. This could get nasty.



The third trooper attack actually deals 1 fewer point of damage than the other two.





That could have gone much worse! I'll certainly take the counterattack damage, that's very helpful.



This looks a lot less scary now.



First things first, Kabbu kills the trooper.



He's low enough on HP that I decided to have Vi heal him. I don't particularly want a repeat of what happened a few battles ago.



Then she attacks the back one. This may seem weird, but again, I don't quite have enough damage to finish off the front one, and I'd rather weaken both than kill one anyway (if I'm right about the AI for summoning allies).



Chompy can attack whichever one we bring down, she doesn't much care which.



More counter damage will certainly make it easier to ensure we win the next turn.



That could have been much worse.







There we go. Easy enough.



And that wraps this up!



Of course, who knows what's waiting for us in the throne room?

(For anyone playing along, there's not really any reason to go out of your way to fight all these Wasps. You can just throw up Leif's Bubble Shield and barge through all of them without needing to fight, if you're in a hurry to get through this. In fact, that's what I usually do, but I thought it was better for the narrative of the LP to do all the fights here.)



Let's head onward.

(As we go in, the music cuts out completely.)









If your troops were trained by you, I know more than enough.





Looks like we got here just in time! (Hopefully.)



Those "vermin" are of my most trusted explorers. They can dispatch you with ease!



S-Shut up! You messed up the whole town!
We won't let you continue unchecked!
Elizant, stand back. We'll show this clown the door.

53 - The Usurper





Well, looks like we've got to fight the Wasp King! We know next to nothing about this guy, so surely we should start off by gathering some intel...



Oh. We can't. Lovely.



Guess there's nothing else for it, let's just try attacking him.











Let's hope that made an impression?



For now, he's content to walk up slowly and hit us with that big axe. In fairness, it hurts a lot! This is 7 base damage, Vi's benefiting from Back Support here.



It's hard to say how well we're doing, when we can't see his HP. Let's keep at it, I guess.









Surely we're having some effect.



He seems really intent on going after Vi, doesn't he? This time, I managed to get the Super Block at least.



I suppose we have no choice but to keep going.









Vi was getting dangerously low, and everyone else was missing a bit of HP, so maybe a Sharing Stash will help us last a bit longer.



Chompy keeps helping.







Oh. Well. He has fire magic. There isn't very much we can do about that, is there.

(This fight is, of course, unwinnable, as you may have expected from the fact we were unable to spy; in fact, even wearing the Spy Specs medal here will fail to reveal his HP. The fire spell goes through any means we have to defend against it, and always ends the fight. Prior to this, he has 999 HP and 999% resistance to all negative status conditions. There is no way to put out enough damage legitimately to have any hope of getting through that; I don't know what happens if you mod the game to make that possible, but I strongly suspect he's just scripted to stop taking damage if he gets too low, the game's done that in other scripted fights.)









He's... too powerful.



If things hadn't already, they've certainly gone from bad to worse now.











Maki! You are LATE!
Forgive me, Your Majesty. It seems my mission took way longer than expected.
...Hmph. At least I managed to snag one artifact.



Taunt as you may. You cannot stop me!
Take care of your vault, you pathetic Ant. I'll come for it soon enough.





He turns very quickly and flees.







Are you safe?! What happened?!
I got sidetracked. Thankfully it seems everything is resolved.
Thankfully? Your delay nearly ruined us!
There are no words to apologize for my fault.
I-It wasn't your fault, Maki...



(If the speech bubble here is unclear, Neolith is the one who said this.)

Thank you, Maki. We truly owe you one.
Thought that was it for a while...
This is NOT over, Zaryant. That lowlife has taken the artifact.
Indeed. We're at fault as well...
W-What matters is we're all okay.



We still hold the others. Should we rush into this?
We could-



M-My Queen...
W-What's the rush anyways?
That artifact is the other half of the Ancient Key.
Do you not remember where its partner was procured from?
...! The Honey Factory's core! Then that half has incredible energy!
Would they even know how to, um, harness it?
We cannot afford to find out. You must pursue.
They have surely gone north, back to the Far Grasslands.



Woah. Take it easy.
I take it there are no objections?



The border is east of Defiant Root, so our tunnels should let us catch up.
Can we win, however?
That magic was really strong... Almost burnt my fur!
We'll accompany them, my Queen. Together we should be more than a match.
I'll, ngh... work with the others to bring the town to normal.
You'll need some war funds, right? ...I've got this on me. Please take it.



Looks like it's settled. We'll prepare to move out.
Go, Team Maki. Team Snakemouth. Retrieve the artifact with haste!



(Something's absolutely up with Kabbu here, his responses are definitely a bit off... still, we have our mission!)

54 - Chapter 5: The Far Grasslands



With that, Chapter 5 has officially begun!



...Oh! Uhm, who is this Yin? I have not heard this name before...
Sigh. Long story. Let's do this mission first, okay?



Oi, Kabbu. Are you okay?
You'd normally be telling us to be careful and stuff.
I...I don't want to speak of it yet. Give me some time to think...
Are you done chatting? Don't keep Maki waiting!



They leave. (Unfortunately, sidequests exist, so we probably are going to be keeping Maki waiting... let's hope we don't make Kina too mad.)

18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen



We finally regain control, and the normal background music resumes. This is certainly a situation we've found ourselves in! We may have found the artifact, but it's been taken from us, so we still don't have the full set and we have no idea what the Wasp King plans to do with it.



Let's have a look around. First things first, it seems like Neolith wants to talk to us...





Would you know anything about this? It's a stone we found in the desert.



This is an ancient Roach power source!
It's always the Roaches, isn't it?
Where exactly did you find this? I thought I'd never see one!
We procured it from the castle in the Lost Sands. Could that hold any meaning?
Weird. Really? My research points to this being the key to an ancient lab.
They say it's somewhere in Snakemouth Den, but no one's found it.



Leif, you were right! This has to be...
A super clue to your weird stuff!
Thank you, Neo. We'll check it out when we can.



Well, that definitely seems like a concrete lead.



The gem we found is in our Key Items inventory, and we'll no doubt have to find a place where it goes somewhere in Snakemouth. We'll need to investigate soon.



If we talk to Neolith again, this is all he has to say. Let's keep looking around.



...I wish you the best of luck.

If we talk to Zaryant, she'll just tell us to get on with the mission. The Queen isn't interested in any further conversation, either.



The guard by the entrance wishes us luck, though.

Let's head out and check out the rest of the town. That'll have to wait until the next post, though, because I've run into the character limit again (it's been a while!). Back momentarily.

[Explopyro]

44: Bug is Weak to Fire (Part 2)



As we head back into the palace lobby, we can see the Ants have already made a lot of progress cleaning things up! The rubble is gone and we can access all the usual areas again. Let's make a quick stop in the library.





Looks like you have enough for the next reward tier! Here you go!



That seems to be all for now! Come back once you have found more Discoveries!

After everything we've been through, we've found enough discoveries for the next reward tier. They're back to being underwhelming, though I guess berries is better than nothing.

Let's head back.



That's Ant Efficiency for you!

This miner gives us some commentary on how the rebuilding has been going.



Yet I feel they will return... We must prepare!
At least Rebecca is safe. She doesn't even seem to have noticed what happened...

Oh good, she's definitely looking better. Just how long were we in the throne room? We're going to have to talk to Rebecca now, though...



She didn't notice anything? There was a boulder blocking the entrance to her room!

Let's head outside and check on the town.

17 - Ant Kingdom





I'm so glad my friend wasn't harmed...

This guard seems to have had some kind of epiphany in the aftermath. (The other one doesn't have any new dialogue.)



There's nothing else to see here by the bridge.



The plaza's looking a bit better now too.



Though, clearly, not all of the damage has been repaired yet.



The first thing we see is Utter trying to get our attention again, meaning there are new sidequests to be had! Let's see.









Four new sidequests for us! These seem like pretty straightforward ones, we'll definitely add them to the to-do list. (Incidentally, "Lost Item" actually becomes available as soon as you defeat Dune Scorpion; we could have done that one last chapter if we'd wanted to, but the others are all new for Chapter 5.)

We'll accept them all.



There's another worker ant hanging out in the plaza now.



Janet also has new dialogue, contingent on us having faced her in the Spy Cards tournament (I could probably have seen this earlier, if I'd remembered to talk to her). There's also a new banter:

Janet's power was not something we anticipated.
She's gotta be mad rich to get to the tournament, too...
Even the most humble looking can hide such surprises!

If we hadn't finished the tournament yet, we'd get different dialogue from her, more appropriate to the current situation.



I should've moved near the Golden Path Tunnel, like that hermit...

This is interesting. That's actually a hint for something hidden, though we can't look into it just yet.



From this side, we can get a better look at the destroyed statue. This does actually have a minor gameplay inconvenience: if we hadn't previously gotten the Discovery for inspecting it, it would be temporarily unavailable and we'd have to wait to get it until the statue is repaired.

Let's have a look around the town and see if anyone else has new dialogue.







Put a pin in this, this sounds like something we'll have to investigate. There's also a new banter for maskless Eophi:

Ah, the mask really helped him look cooler.
He must've lost it! Or someone stole it!
Oooor he just wanted to try a new look?
That's impossible!
You should know better than to doubt Kabbu's nag sensor by now, Vi...

Heh.



This person gives us some insight into how the populace are handling this overall.



In the commercial district, there's a bit more to see too.



Oof. Poor Seedling Slayer. She also gets a new banter:

We're not about to kick an Ant when she's down...
Yeah. At least she tried to help...
(I-I'm so proud!)

This is cute.



Heading south, Fry's back in business once more. Also, do I see...?



Oh, hey there. It's Kenny. You're Vi, Kabbu and Leif, correct?
Heheh. Word gets around!
We're surprised it took you this long to reach the Ant Kingdom.
It's quite cozy, and bustling. Many cultures come together here.
But before you ask, I don't think I'll stay here either.
It's a long search, huh.
Everywhere I've been to is wonderful, I just wish to see more.
Well, let's meet up again later!

This feels a bit incongruous given we've just had the invasion, I have to say. Maybe he was here before that?



If we talk to him again, he gets very pensive.



As befits a new chapter, Merab has some new medals in stock! Looks like only two this time around, though.

TP Plus (55 berries)
Status Relay (50 berries)



That sounds interesting. We've got the berries, so let's just buy both of them.





Let's take a closer look.




Status Relay is only 1 MP, so it's very easy to just tack onto someone. If a bug equips this, when they use Turn Relay they will also donate any status effects (beneficial or not) they have to the relay's target. You can do a lot of neat tricks with this, if you're so inclined. If you combine this with Favorite One, for instance, you can stack both charge-ups from it onto the same bug (e.g. if Leif wears this and Kabbu wears Favorite One, each time Kabbu gets hit Leif can relay to Vi and have her attack with +2 charge). It also pairs pretty well with Random Start (you can give whichever status effect you get to the bug who'd benefit most from it). It's a bit fiddly to work with, but it can be fun.



Speaking of medals, let's go see what Shades has gotten in.



Well, he definitely has new stock. Though we only have 8 Crystal Berries left, so we probably can't afford very much of it. Let's see the full list:

Defense Exchange (5 Crystal Berries)
Poison Attacker (5 Crystal Berries)
Poison Touch (3 Crystal Berries)
EXP Booster (2 Crystal Berries)
Luckier Day (2 Crystal Berries)

There are some interesting things here! An extra copy of Poison Attacker is definitely powerful (they stack exactly the way you'd expect), and Defense Exchange is a new medal to us but you can probably guess what it does (it's 5 MP and gives +1 defence but -1 attack, exactly mirroring Power Exchange). These are both really good medals, and we could do a lot with either.

Poison Touch is a weird one. It's 2 MP, and is yet another potential component of a poison build. If the equipped bug is poisoned, this medal lets them transfer that poison to enemies who make contact attacks (though it doesn't always work, it takes into account their poison resistance). I'm sure there's a way to make this useful (maybe for a Poison Defender tanking build on Kabbu, using Taunt?), but it always seems a bit superfluous to me. Poison Attacker is a much more efficient way of turning poison into damage.

And, of course, we have Luckier Day. "This legendary Medal by Keifer is sure to make you feel lucky while fighting!" Sounds intriguing, right? And it's even 0 MP. What does this do? It turns all in-battle action command messages into UNBEELIEVABLE! Unparalleled power.

With 8 Crystal Berries, we can't buy everything, but we could certainly get one or two. Please vote in the thread for what I should buy. I have a feeling I'll be getting Luckier Day regardless (as there was plenty of interest when I mistakenly thought we could buy it earlier), but we can definitely get something else in addition to it.



Speaking of medals, let's go see Artis.





Hmm! Good job, folks! You defeated that hardened Dune Scorpion!
Was it too challenging for ya? You deserve a reward. Here, take this!



Oh ho! You've been on a roll! Beat The Watcher too, eh? Here, take this as well!



Come back later when you've bonked some extra hard heads with that Medal, will ya?

Ooh boy.

Hard Charge is extremely good. This is a skill-granting medal that anyone can equip. It's 2 MP, and grants the skill "Hard Charge". What does this do? It costs 5 HP to use (yes, HP, not TP), and instantly gives the bug who uses it a full +3 charge-up. That's already really good, but it can get truly absurd when you combine it with medals that reward you for being on low HP. If you combine this with both copies of Last Attack, using the skill effectively increases attack by 4 (once you account for exhaustion). The magic number is 9 maximum HP, allowing you to heal to full and then use Hard Charge to turn on Last Attack at will. Alternatively, you can combine it with Status Relay and pass the 3 charges to a bug who can use them without an exhaustion penalty. Or you can combine it with Life Stealer, and use the increased damage to recover the lost HP and do it again the next turn.

I usually transition from Favorite One to Hard Charge and never look back, at least when I'm going for offence (this thing is an absolute mainstay of glass-cannon builds). I will probably be more sparing with use of this medal in the LP, because it kills things too quickly and isn't conducive to being able to show off the bosses well. But rest assured, you will see shenanigans with this at some point. Using this well is very satisfying.

Enfeeble is a bit disappointing by comparison, but it still has its points. This is another status move for Leif, and like the others takes 2 MP to equip. Enfeeble costs 3 TP and inflicts Attack Down on a single enemy for 2 turns. If you're going for a slower, attrition-based strategy, this can come in handy, though I have to admit I've never used it much.

Let's have a bit more of a look around.

06 - Outskirts



Everything in the Outskirts is pretty much back to normal now. The ants certainly rebuild quickly!



Before we end today's update, let's just take a quick look outside town here.



Wait, is that Mun being held up by some bandits? Let's get a closer look.





Huh, punk!?
E-Eophi's mask! The leaf mask you stole!
Pfft. We put that in the vault LONG ago.
Even if we didn't, we're not gonna give it back!
Yeah, punk. What ya gonna do about it, HUH?
I... I... I'll beat you up! I'll really do it!
HAHAHAHAHA!!!
You're gonna fight us, punk!? Gonna hit us with your shaking legs?
You ain't getting that mask back, worm. Just forget about it!









I'll never get back his mask like this...
I... I'm gonna have to ask for help!



And Mun leaves, walking right past us.

(It's good to have a reminder that, for all Astotheles had his honourable side, the bandits are still not exactly good people. They might be largely reconciled with us, but they're still going around harming ordinary citizens like this.)



That was weird, wasn't it? What could that possibly mean?





Well, if we check the quest board, we'll find he's posted one for us. That's what he meant by asking for help. Let's add it to the list.

This seems like a good place to leave things for today. It's a new chapter, and that means we've got loads of things to do! Next time, we'll get started on all these sidequests that have started piling up. Things have certainly gotten a lot more serious now though, haven't they? We certainly weren't expecting to be invaded by a hostile nation while we were off treasure hunting...

[Explopyro]

Design Interlude: Hopeless Boss Fights

Sometimes, a game developer decides that, for the sake of the plot they want to write, it's important that the player characters lose a fight. Whether it's to give the characters a darkest-hour crisis to build back from, to establish the threat level of a villain, or even to preview exciting mechanics from later in the game, there are plenty of valid reasons to do this. There's at least one major philosophy of fiction writing that essentially boils down to "create characters you like, then make awful things happen to them and see how they respond", and there isn't necessarily any reason why this can't apply to a video game. (Although I'm not always convinced it's the best idea, I understand why it's tempting.)

So, enter the Hopeless Boss Fight. This is when, often quite sensibly, the designers decide to have that loss conveyed through the game's combat mechanics. There are mixed opinions on whether this is a good thing to do. On the positive, it increases the feeling of consistency, worldbuilding, etc when all fights in the game world use the game's mechanics. On the negative, players often feel like their agency and connection to their characters is being taken away. Furthermore, if it's not balanced well, it can create a serious disconnect between what's supposed to be happening in the story and what the player experiences: e.g., the player thinks "I could totally win this if the game weren't cheating" (especially problematic in games with action mechanics where a sufficiently skilled player can just dodge forever). The real issue there, I think, is that it breaks the story's verisimilitude and makes the constructedness of the narrative impossible to ignore.

There's also a potential inverse downside. As a kid, I got used to hopeless boss fights not being well telegraphed, and so sometimes I'd encounter a difficulty spike in a game and just assume I was supposed to lose. This isn't something game designers can really plan around fixing, just a weird meta issue that emerged from games I grew up playing, but I think it serves to highlight how important it can be to communicate the intent clearly with something like this. If the player's first reaction to a challenging fight is "I should deliberately lose first, just to check if the game actually wants me to win", that's also a design failure.



Also, sometimes games make it possible to win them, but then railroad things back on track afterward anyway. I tend to think of this as more of an easter-egg/repeat playthrough bonus than anything else, especially when in many of those cases it requires level-grinding to a point that will trivialise the rest of the game that follows. It's a nice touch when it's possible, but I'm not actually convinced that's necessarily better design.

I could go through an endless list of specific examples from various games and the ways they succeed or (more often) fail, but if I started we'd be here all day and I'm not convinced that would be particularly useful.

I don't think hopeless boss fights are a tool developers should never use, but it's definitely one that needs to be deployed carefully and with forethought. Among other things, I generally think it's very important to communicate what's going on to the player, so they know whether and how to approach it as a challenge.

As such, I think there's actually some pretty clever design behind Bug Fables' first encounter with the Wasp King, and I want to unpack it a bit.

A lot of that cleverness has to do with the fact that the fight only goes on for three turns, and the way that structures what happens and how the player can interact with it. It's also, crucially, not long enough for the player to get too deep into any strategy. They will have barely started feeling things out, so there's no feeling of lost progress and/or wasted effort when the fight ends.

The structure of the Wasp King's attacks over those turns also guarantees that the player will not lose until the prescribed time.



His first two attacks are single-target hits, and he always does the big fire spell on turn three. He's also status-immune, so nothing the player does can interrupt this sequence. This means that even if you come in with everyone on low (or even 1) HP and he KOs a bug each turn, the fight is incapable of ending prematurely.

The devs don't need to figure out what happens if the player does something unusual because the very structure guarantees it's all irrelevant, and they've done it without restricting the player's abilities in a way they'll notice.



And then, when it does come, the fire cyclone does 99 damage and pierces all defences. The most HP a player character could possibly have at the time is 49 (explanation below under spoiler tags), and they will probably have significantly less. This very clearly telegraphs that the player is not supposed to try to survive it with how far beyond their capabilities it is.

Assume the player grinds to the level cap of 27. Additionally, there are two relevant level-up bonuses: +1 HP to each member at 21, and +3 MP at 27. Put 2 further levels in MP (enough to equip every HP Plus medal) and the rest in HP. 9 (Kabbu's starting HP) + 12 (6x HP Plus) + 24 (1 HP per level-up) + 3 (Heart Berries) + 1 (Rank 21 bonus) = 49 maximum HP.

And then, of course, on top of this we have the fact that the game trains us to spy on every enemy, and removes that capability here.



The last time we saw that option disabled was in the scripted fights against Spuder in Chapter 1, where we were supposed to do something else. It's not a blaring sign saying "THIS FIGHT IS HOPELESS, JUST LOSE" (well, okay, it probably is if you're sufficiently familiar with the trope), but it's definitely an indication that something different is happening. It's certainly enough to ensure that, once the fight does end, the player can look back and conclude "that was obviously supposed to happen, I shouldn't go back and try to win".

This all combines very nicely to create a hopeless boss fight that communicates exactly the things it needs to and serves its plot purpose, while being minimally inconvenient to the player. I have to say I think it's a very elegant and understated bit of design.

[Explopyro]

45: Follow the Leader (Part 1)

34 - Dodgy Business



Welcome back. First things first, let's do some business with Shades.



Kehehe! Here you go my lovelies...



Come back if you still have any berries left to spend! Kehehe!





Luckier Day won the voting by a landslide, as I expected. We'll also grab Poison Touch. (I'll admit to putting my thumb on the scale a bit here. Voting was close between that and Poison Attacker, but there's a great opportunity to show off Poison Touch in action later this update, and I think that's worth doing.)



Let's put Luckier Day on



Now, let's get out of here.



Also, a bit of item management. We've got a lot of sidequesting ahead of us this update, but let's start by finally delivering all the potion ingredients the Wizard asked for. If you recall, he wanted "nectar from critters of the land" (Aphid Dew), "fruit that blooms in lifeless soil" (Squash), and "the essence of frost" (Magic Ice). After our adventure in the Sand Castle, we have all of these.



Let's head to the Far Grasslands.

56 - Lands Untamed





The Wizard's Tower is just as we left it. Thankfully, he left the front door open for us so we don't have to go through the cellar again.

25 - Caves





(Don't mind me, just an excuse to show the scenery)



Let's talk to him.



Straight to the point. Yes, yes we did.







You really did help me. As thanks... I shall bestow great power upon you.



How did you... Oh, right. Sorcerer. Yeah, we've got ice magic.
Perfect. Now... IN THE DARKNESS, MASTER THIS TECHNIQUE!





W-Woah! I just learned stuff all of a sudden!
This power's incredible!



Chin up, Beetle. You'll figure one out.
I'm gonna go back to work now. I guess you're, uh, welcome to visit.
Thank you! Now that's a reward!



Our reward for helping out wizard friend is Frost Relay, the team attack for Vi and Leif. He just magically taught them how to do it. (I'd hoped to unlock this before getting Frozen Drill, so that his line about Kabbu figuring one out for himself would make slightly more sense; I think that's the intended sequence. But never mind.) Let's have a look.





Like before, this appears in both of their skill menus, and either of them can initiate it. (It's expensive, though. 10 TP!) We'll take it out for a spin in a moment and discuss what it actually does then.



We can talk to the wizard again, but this is all he has to say now. (Good thing we already took the Bad Book he had, I suppose?)





I'll take the opportunity while I'm here to grab one of these. I want to have at least one of these on hand for something a bit later in the game and probably won't feel like backtracking then, so I'll get one now and leave it with Amber when I get a chance.

56 - Lands Untamed



Let's head back.



Oh, look, a guinea pig! How convenient.

55 - Team, It's Getting Serious! (Recommended listening!)





Before we try out our new skill, hey, the battle music has changed! This new song definitely feels like it fits the higher stakes the plot is starting to go into, and it's a good one. Now that Chapter 5 has started, we'll be hearing this in most of our normal battles (though it's tied to the areas, if we backtrack to earlier locations we'll still hear the original music in them). I thought it was peculiar we didn't hear this last time we came to the Far Grasslands early, but it apparently doesn't kick in until the chapter officially starts.

Anyway.





Frost Relay targets any single enemy. Let's see what it does?





(I had to split this in two GIFs because the attack went on too long)

Frost Relay is, essentially, the mother of all multi-hit attacks. Leif and Vi will take turns hitting the enemy as long as you can keep up with the button prompts (which get faster as it goes on), up to a maximum of 12 hits total (6 each). I'm not good enough to consistently get all of the hits; here, I missed at 9, but that was still overkill for this spider. The attack sequence ends the first time you miss an action command.

There are a few peculiarities in how it works. Leif's hits all have a chance to freeze (though Vi will probably just break them out immediately), while Vi's hits get +1 damage on top of her base attack value. Each bug's damage decreases by 1 each hit, as we've come to expect with multi-hit attacks. Unlike Frozen Drill, which combines Kabbu's and Leif's stats to get a single attack value, Frost Relay uses Vi's and Leif's stats separately for their respective strikes.

10 TP (and two actions) for a single attack is pretty expensive, but you can rack up quite a lot of damage if you're good at the timing. It's probably the team attack best suited to taking advantage of the Berserker medal, if you want to go down that route; alternatively, building up charges on one or both participants is very effective. For all that, though, it's a bit clunky to set up and individual skills tend to just be more convenient.

I can't say it's my favourite thing to use, but there's some serious power here.



Now that we've done that demonstration, let's finish this battle.







(We can see the effects of Luckier Day, too! Though sadly Chompy seems to get left out...)





It even takes effect on the enemy's attacks! (Though this is actually a bit inconvenient, since it makes it hard to tell the difference between a regular block and Super Block.)











Easy enough. One might say unbeelievably so.



Where to next? Let's take stock of our to-do list...



The majority of our new sidequests start in and around Defiant Root, so that seems like an obvious place to start.



37 - Defiant Root



While we're here, let's take a look around for new dialogue since we just finished a chapter.



Mmm... Times are getting rough.

Will comments on current events.



Locke is surprised by the fact the Sand Castle actually existed.



I think I'll cancel my trip for the time being...

And Dran seems primarily concerned with how the attack will affect his travel plans.



Everyone we saw hanging out in the tavern before (including Mar) have cleared out. There's nothing new to see here, I guess.



Let's make a quick stop to save.



Then head into the back part of town.



This is new! We've seen Neil before, we met him at the Lost Sands entrance on the Outskirts side the first time we were there. What's he doing here?





After completing Chapter 4, Neil sets up shop here selling Magic Ice for 10 berries each, meaning we don't have to go back there and kill enemies if we want more of it. Sure, I'll take one.

Hoho! Thank you!



Nice doing business with you!

If we talk to him and then choose not to buy anything:

Ouch! Don't be so cold, will ya!

He retaliates with bad puns. There's also a banter about him:

Hey, that ice isn't melting!
...It'd be more impressive if we hadn't met Leif.
Heh.

Honestly, yes, that's exactly correct in gameplay terms too. Magic Ice would be a much more appealing item if we didn't have Leif with us.



Also, while we're here, I decided to check with Sun to see if he had any new stat-increasing berries for us, but he hasn't gotten anything in yet. He should have something new next chapter, though.

Anyway, we picked up some Magic Ice for a reason...





And that's because it's another possible solution to the "It's Too Hot!" quest. Let's try giving this to Eremi.



This is magic ice. It never melts.
Wait, really? Woah! Then it might help after all! Though I would have preferred an umbrella.



Again, it gives us the choice. Let's give it to her.

Sorry, it's not perfect but it'll do.
Yeah... you're right! Sorry, the heat's got me a bit cranky. I'll try it out!

The screen goes black momentarily.

Ah, much better! Thank you so much!
No probs! Now, to seal the deal...
Here, this should cover the item and more!



She doesn't pay as well for Magic Ice as she does for Shell Ointment, but it's still more than the item is worth.

Thanks~!
I'm gonna get going now. See you around!



And that completes the quest. Just like with Shell Ointment, completing it this way will cause the Reflection medal to be sent to the caravan.

Also, just like before, if we leave the area and come back...



It's nice to finally be able to lok around town without feeling like I'm melting!

We'll find Eremi walking around outside the museum, much happier.

All that said, I saved before doing this for a reason, we'll reload and come back later once we find the umbrella she wants. We still don't have access to that.



We're still not done in Defiant Root, though, let's keep looking around.



Let's take a look in Kali's shop.



Looks like she's gotten herself a new vase, and rearranged the shop a bit?



I'm not sure if she means Butomu repaired the old one, or just made a new one, but either way she still doesn't seem too pleased with us. Let's not stick around.



Where we actually need to go for now is into the back alley.



Hello.



Could this be...?

Our team definitely have some (reasonable) suspicions as to this person's identity! Regardless, though, this looks like the person who posted the Lost Item request, so let's talk to them.



Hm?



Not much for words, he just expects us to know what he wants. Surely it's this? Surely?

That's not it. Find it soon, I ain't got too much time.

Sadly, he doesn't seem to have a special reaction to that. It's been a while since we've seen one, hasn't it... that's a shame.

If we open the menu and then back out, he'll say this:

Hmph. Just find the "thing" and bring it back to me.

Okay, okay. This might be a bit mysterious. If we need a hint, his posting on the quest board did mention we should check the Sunset Inn (which is the inn in the Golden Settlement)...



Remember this thing?





This never happened. I'll be going now.
Don't trip on the way to that concert.



Heh. Your disguise doesn't fool anyone, Zasp. Though why he feels the need to be in disguise for this (or, for that matter, why he's so desperate to have this doll back), I don't know... honestly, this quest raises a lot more questions than it answers.

Regardless, though, the reward's pretty nice! This is our third Heart Berry, and of course now we're going to need to decide who gets to eat it. Please vote in the thread. You may want to keep in mind while voting that this is the last one we'll see for a while, if that has any impact on your choice.



He's not very talkative, if we try to interact with him further. And once we leave this area, he'll be gone if we come back.

Anyway.



Next up, let's go see the Mayor. He also had a quest for us.







It is always nice to be back.
You had a quest posted up and stuff, right?
Mhm. But you shouldn't have bothered, Kabbu! I'm sure you've got more important things to do.
Well...
Not at all!
...Thanks.
Let's get on with the details! Like the reward...
Hoho, don't worry. The mayor pays well!
Y'see, hosting was good and all! I didn't expect to like Whack-A-Worm so much!
And you're seeking some thrills again.
Yup! I really want to see someone score a 20!



There's a nice spot near the settlement, shall we check it out?
Oh, oh yes! Thank you so much, Kabbu!



He starts pushing us toward the door, he's so excited to get on with this. All right, all right.



As we leave, we'll find the Mayor has now joined our group and is following behind us. That said, this seems like a pretty simple task, we just need to bring him to the Whack Farms outside Golden Settlement so he can watch us play the game. (This quest doesn't become available until you've returned Tanjerin's horn and discovered it.)





There's an interesting quirk with quest NPCs following you, in that they'll disappear if we go into an area that's off the critical path of their quest. Nothing actually goes wrong if you do that, and they'll reappear appropriately as soon as you get back to an appropriate area (even if you take a shortcut through areas they disappear in). So I could go through the Ant Mines to complete the quest faster, but for the sake of keeping the mayor with us I'll take the south exit instead.



26 - Golden Lands



It doesn't take that long to cut through the western edge of the Lost Sands, anyway.



Whack Farms is this way.





It was, uh, obstructed.
Sit back and watch, Mayor. Imma get that 20!



After that brief conversation, we're back in control. Before we start, though, a bit more dialogue.



We can talk to the mayor again, though he won't say much. There's also a banter:

Doesn't the mayor like this game too much?
Don't you enjoy eating way too much?
Why are you bringing that up...?

Heh.



Even though we're doing it for the mayor, we still have to pay the entrance fee to play the game. Oh well, nothing else for it.

Alright! Please get in the arena so we can start!



Nothing's changed here, it's the same Whack-a-Worm game as before.



That said, I was a bit rusty and barely missed it on the first attempt.



Leading me to discover that, while the quest is active, you don't get any of the normal rewards for the minigame. We'd normally have made a profit there!



Let's go again.



That's better.



Heheh. It was nothing, for real.
Thank you, you've brought a real good time to this tired old bug!
I hope this repays my debt to you, even slightly...
Vi's the one who did everything, so...
You never owed me anything. Calm down!
Now, let me give you a proper reward!



...A key?
Hoho! You'll have to check near my house to see the treasure it guards!





We'll, uh, get going now.
Hahahahaha! That's alright. I've got to go get some work done too!
See you in Defiant Root!



And, with that, he heads back.



And our quest is marked complete. We're not done quite yet, though - of course we have to go see what that key gets us! Also, there's a new banter here now he's left.

We can replay the worm thing here again!
I can't help but feel sad for the poor worms.
The Mayor said they like it, so...
Does that make it alright to just keep hitting them...?

I'm actually kind of curious what Leif means here, I'm not sure if he's saying "the mayor likes it" or "the worms like it". Those are two very different sentiments!

37 - Defiant Root



Anyway, let's go back to Defiant Root. I just went through the mines this time, since the mayor's no longer with us.





He just encourages us to go check out the vault.





We saw this locked door quite a while ago, but now we can open it.





Inside is a small storeroom with two items for the taking. That may not sound like much, but these are both pretty nice things to have!





We'll take the book and cherries with us and be on our way.



If we return to the mayor after opening the vault, he'll now have this to say.



Next up, let's head up to the Bee Kingdom and take care of Malbee's request.







Let's head straight to the factory.



43 - Work That Honey





This worker (who wasn't here before) tells us where to find Malbee. Simple enough.





Before we get this meeting started, there's a new banter.

Bleh. Taking her posting is like working for her again...
We can charge her extra, if it makes you happy.



Hehe. Leif will enable anything in the name of trolling, won't he?

Let's talk to them and see what they need us to do.





The robot things are having issues, yeah?
Indeed. The Code 32 incident caused plenty of trouble, and I had to fix all of them.
The Menders are durable and reliable, but some of them went haywire despite my efforts.
I don't have time to go look for all of them, so I need you to go in my stead.
We're not qualified engineers, so... How do we fix the Menders?
Easy. Just whack them until their system resets.
What? H-Hit them? What about their feelings!?



They don't indeed. Just go and reset them, no matter what it takes.
There should be 3 around the processing areas of the factory.
You better have a reward ready! Let's move, team!

We have our mission. Good old percussive maintenance. Before we go, we can talk to Malbee and the Overseer again:





Pay no mind to their babbling while in that state.

This sounds... questionable, doesn't it. Still, we have our orders I guess. Let's go take care of this.



The broken Menders are all located in the Honey Processing section of the factory, this way.





Thankfully, the tram operator isn't one of them, and we can still ride it. It's a bit easier to find them starting from that side.







As soon as we disembark, we can find this one. Yeah, there's definitely something wrong with it...



04 - FIGHT!





Talking to it sends us into battle with the berserk Mender. I wonder what this is going to be like?



It's been a while since I've shown the Spy animation (in fact, not since the first time we used it!), but I thought it was worth it to show that Luckier Day even kicks in here.



At least they don't fight back... Time to whack them!

That's unusual. They don't fight back?



What does ? defence mean? Well, let's do the thing, I guess.



These have the same defence gimmick as Golden Seedlings, which makes them take 1 point of damage from most attacks.







There's our turn done. I wonder what it's going to do.





In case it wasn't already obvious, Menders can't harm us, they just spout silly text at us on their turns. A lot of the lines are pretty funny.



Let's put it out of its misery.





We do get some EXP from these, for whatever reason.



And once we're out of battle, the Mender's back to normal! One down, two to go. Let's get searching.





In the next room, we can quickly stumble upon another one. (Though this one can be tricky to find if you don't already know it's here, it's easy to forget to check this corner and you're not going to see it from a distance.) We know what to do.







Second verse, same as the first. Let's hit it a bunch.







Notably, Leif can't get through its defence after the exhaustion penalty from Strong Start. If he'd relayed to someone else, they could have, but I want to see what it says anyway.









How can you not like these lines?







Moving on.



This one in the centre of the area is an obvious suspect, given we saw it was here before, but it's functioning normally. That's no help. Where could the third one be?





Eventually, we might remember to check the top level.



There we go.







Since this is the last one, let's stall for a while and see what lines we can get.





Oh goody, error messages.



Poor robots, having existential crises.





That doesn't sound good.

At this point, it started repeating itself; it's possible there are more potential lines they can say, but I didn't see any more of them. Let's get on with this.







A bit of whacking later, this one's back to normal too.

That's all of 'em. A bit disappointingly easy...
Easy money's still money! Let's go get that reward!
Poor things...

After fixing the third one, our party has this little conversation. The only challenge in this quest is finding them, the rest is a foregone conclusion. Let's head back to Malbee now.





It was emotionally draining...
The Menders weren't made to fight, only to do simple tasks.



Well, I must congratulate you, Vi. I really want you to come back and work for us.





...Regardless of my bias, it's good to see you've found your calling.
You've earned this. Thanks for helping us again.



Woah! This one's really rare!
It would really be ncie to have you back with us, Vi. But I know you'd hate it...
Good luck on your adventures!
Thanks, Chief!
Well, we're out. Stay safe.



Quest complete. Our reward is a second copy of Power Exchange, always a great medal to have (and I do think it's a nice touch that the reward for this is something that works really well for Vi); arguably, the real reward is seeing Vi and her former bosses put aside their differences, but the medal is very nice.

(Alternatively, the reward may be the Mender Spy Card, since this is the only way you get an opportunity to spy on them. I've seen people claim it's easy to abuse and do some broken things with, though I personally have never gotten it to work.)

We can also talk to the both of them again:



I'll live. Exploring's way more fun!

Seems like Malbee's not going to give this a rest, even so.



Beena is just grateful.

Anyway, that wraps up our work here; let's move on to the next sidequest. (In the next post, because the character limit has become a problem; I'll be right back.)

[Explopyro]

45: Follow the Leader (Part 2)

17 - Ant Kingdom



Let's see what we can do about Mun's conflict with the bandits.



Before that, though, let's move some medals around. This one's going to have some combat involved; let's try something different, and set Kabbu up for some poison tanking. Maybe we can make something of Poison Touch?



Mun's clearly waiting for us, but before we talk to him, let's go upstairs.





Mun just got back, and he looks super stressed out... I wish I could help him.

Eophi has a lot of dialogue that's easy to miss during this. You only see this line if you talk to him after the quest is posted but before talking to Mun.



Now, back downstairs. There's also a new banter for Mun:

Hehe, it's cool to see others want to explore!
Y-Yes, but... I can't help but worry. What if he gets hurt?
They shared those concerns with you too, we imagine.
(...Yeah, they did...)

This is cute. Let's talk to him now.



Team Snakemouth, ready to work!
Oh, you're explorers? Y-You saw my post?
You could say that.
Could you tell us all you know?
S-Sure. Look, it's super simple. The bandits stole my friend's mask!
They've gotta be at their hideout! B-But I can't beat 'em alone.
I need your backup!
Wait. Uh, you're going?



Do you have an explorer permit?
N-No...
You should probably stay behind, then.
I refuse!
Besides, if they see me with you, they'll just think you're escorting me!
Please, I can fight! I'm just really shy!
Such thirst for justice!
You can't seriously be falling for that.
Come with us, brave lad. But stay behind our formation!
Oh boy...
A-Alright! Let's go to their hideout, then!



And Mun starts following us. Before we head out, though...



We can talk to Eophi. He really doesn't like this idea.











It's Mun's turn to follow behind us. Like before, he'll disappear if we go off the intended route, but in this case it's also definitely the most efficient one; going through the Outskirts is the fastest way to get back to the Bandits' hideout.

There's actually a new banter outside the hideout:

Tch... The bandits are partly to blame for all the wasps.
They just wanted money though, right?
One must have morals, Vi. No matter the pay, their actions endangered us all.

Nothing to do with Mun's quest, but it's still an interesting one.



Let's head in. The Bandits' hideout is no different than it was last time we were here.

47 - The Bandits' Hideout



A quick detour to the mess to grab another Squash; may as well, while we're here.



I don't remember if I showed this before, but there's now a staircase of boxes in this room so it's no longer necessary to use an ice block to get up.



It's easy to get through here quickly when we can just put up Leif's shield and barge through all the guards without fighting them.



Where we need to go, naturally, is the bandits' storeroom.



We can see a few of them hanging out in the treasure area. Let's just go in.



What!? You followed us, punk!?
...And he's got help with him!
Hah. Think we're scared cuz you're not alone!?



S-Shut up!
A-Aren't those the ones that fought the boss?
That's perfect. We'll beat these punks up and get a reward!
Hmph. Your boss would be most disappointed in you, I'm sure.
You sure about that one, Kabbu?
Whatever. Let's go!



29 - Team, This One's Stronger! (Miniboss)





At first glance, this seems like a perfectly ordinary fight with three bandits. And, well, to be honest it more or less is. Except look there in the background - Mun's actually here on the battle screen, and he's going to try to help out! Adorable. (He'd actually participate in any combat encounters we might have while he's following us in the overworld, if I'd wanted to get into any.) Let's give him a chance to show what he can do?



We'll get Kabbu into the back and have him taunt them.





Then have Leif throw him some food to poison him and activate all the medals.







We'll finish off the turn by making a few normal attacks.



After our turn ends, but before the enemies, Mun gets to attack! He's trying his best. Unfortunately, it doesn't do very much. Mun has only a single point of attack, and two of these three enemies have 1 defence, so it's very unlikely he'll actually manage to contribute anything. He always goes after the front-most grounded enemy.



The Bandit throws a shuriken at Kabbu, which he blocks and takes no damage.



I didn't manage to block this attack, so Kabbu took a bit of damage and got our Squash stolen... but here we can see Poison Touch kicking in, and the Thief becomes poisoned.



The Burglar throws a rock at Kabbu, but it doesn't do anything.



Amid our other end-of-turn effects, the Thief takes 1 damage from poison.



First things first, let's get our item back.



An attack from Vi brings it down, but doesn't make it drop the item.





But Kabbu's Under Strike can take care of that; it's a flipping attack in addition to everything else it does. This also finishes off the Thief.



We'll relay to Kabbu so he can taunt again.



And Chompy finishes off the Bandit.



Mun still doesn't manage to accomplish anything. (I wanted to have Leif cast Break so he could at least do some damage, but I forgot I'd taken off the medal when putting all the poison ones on Kabbu, and by the time I realised it was too late to rectify that mistake. Oh well.)



Once again, the enemy fails to scratch Kabbu.



It's basically a foregone conclusion from here.



Though the Burglar does get one more turn; this might be scarier if I didn't manage to Super Block his dashing attack (it's hard to tell with Luckier Day on, but the biggest giveaway is the 3 points of counter damage from Spiky Bod).





He also managed to poison himself on Kabbu with that attack.



The fight is definitely over now.











Err-
Y-Yes. We couldn't have done it without you, brave lad!
P-Punk...



With that, the bandits all flee, leaving the mask behind.



Y-Yup.
I'm gonna go tell Eophi I beat up all the bad guys! Wow!
Thank you so much!!!

Mun leaves.



Do you really-
YES! This was a tough one!
If you really want one, guess you can go ask him back in town.



We're back in control. The quest isn't over yet, so I guess we're going to have to go back and check in with him.

17 - Ant Kingdom



I wonder what Mun has been saying?



Before we talk to them, there's a short banter.

There's Mun! Let's get him to pay up!

Let's see what they have to say.



S-Seriously?
Here. I got you your mask back!
...!



It's alright! Everything turned out fine!
Hey. Glad you two seem fine.
These are the friends that gave me courage!
You did excellent, Mun!
You, uh, forgot the reward though.
Oh! S-Sorry. Imma get it.
Heheheh... I was so cool though.



Mun goes upstairs.



It was noooo problem!
Don't tell Mun, but I sat down and made a new mask...
I figured if he saw I didn't need one, he'd stop fighting the bandits.
I should've trusted him a bit more!
No one's gonna blame you, seriously.
Please take it. It'll be our secret, alright?



(How did a mask become a cloak? Oh, never mind.)







Oh baby, a double!
Huh?
E-Err... the double of ten is... twenty?
Uh, okay...
T-Thanks again. Have a good day!



And that completes the quest! (Good save there, Vi.) The reward for this one is pretty interesting, too, we'll take a look at that new medal in a moment.

Eophi and Mun also have new dialogue if we talk to them again.





In addition to that, there's a new banter:

Mun's truly grown thanks to this ordeal!
We kinda did everything, but...
Mun did more than you give him credit for.
And, thankfully, he came out unharmed...

Honestly, I find myself agreeing with Vi here. I'm more worried for the two of them now than I was at the start of the quest; everyone seems to have learned exactly the wrong lesson from all this. (I do love the dialogue in this quest, though. I also think it's neat how it aligns so well with the game mechanics: we're fighting old enemies that are no trouble for Team Snakemouth to deal with, but they're an insurmountable obstacle to someone like Mun who has no combat experience.)

Now for our new medal.



Leaf Cloak is an interesting medal. It's 2 MP, and makes the bug wearing it less likely to be targeted by enemies. Specifically, how it works is that the enemy's target selection will be rerolled one time if it selects the equipped bug. So if they're not in front, the usual 25% chance becomes 25% * 25% = 6.25%, or 1/16. That's a significant improvement, though it isn't perfectly foolproof.

It's not a bad medal, but I have to say I find it's overshadowed a bit by Kabbu's Taunt, which does offer perfect control over enemy targeting. Leaf Cloak does give you an edge in action economy, though, so it's not completely overshadowed. (And both methods still can't do anything about attacks that hit the entire party, so in that sense Taunt isn't 100% reliable either.) This medal works best when you combine it with medals that trade survivability for damage (such as Power Exchange, Last Attack, Hard Charge, etc), and if you're really worried, you can add in First Plating to nullify the first unlikely hit that goes their way.

This is an interesting medal that can be very effective if used well, though I rarely find myself using it much.

06 - Outskirts



There's one last sidequest I'd like to take care of this session. Leby's brother Dib has gone missing.

Geez, she's crying really hard. Wonder what's up...

If we check the banter, we'll find even Vi has picked up on how distressed she is. Let's talk to her and see what's going on.



...You... are you explorers?
You know it. We saw your post on the wall!
Oh, thank goodness!
So, your brother went missing?
Y-Yes. He's been going on about getting me some treasure for my birthday.
Even though I told him I didn't need anything!
He hasn't come back yet! He must be lost in Snakemouth Den!



Indeed. We will escort you safely. I am sure he is okay.



...Yes, let's get going.

And there we have our mission statement. I'm not sure how she knows he went to Snakemouth specifically, maybe he said something she didn't mention? Regardless, we're going to have to go back there...



And Leby is going to come with us. Just like the Mayor and Mun earlier, she's now following behind the party.





The path to Snakemouth Den is very familiar by now. When we reach the gate, the guard doesn't have any new dialogue; I guess Dib must have snuck by her, or maybe she was sleeping on the job?



Anyway, we dig under the gate as usual and make our way to the entrance. There's actually a new banter here now, or at least one we haven't seen yet; if you remember way back, we didn't get the ability to check for banters until we were already inside the Den on our first visit.

Snakemouth Den... The grave of a thousand explorers. Ender of...
Look, I get that it's scary. You don't have to say the whole thing every time.
Yes, I must! Anyone going in must be aware of the danger!
Just get a move on.

(This seems a bit tactless when Kabbu was just assuring Leby her brother is perfectly fine...)



It's certainly been a while since we were in here! Let's go in.

12 - Snakemouth Den



Snakemouth Den looks exactly the same as last time, so far.





Though, hey, we can grab this mushroom I forgot to pick up the first time we were here. It's much less impressive now, but whatever.



Leif doesn't have any reaction to this message we saw so long ago. "We have already lost one of ours to this wretched place", it says. There's a decent chance this was written by the survivors of his scouting team...



This is new! Remember this big door we saw open so long ago? We've never looked into what's behind there, and that's definitely something we should investigate now! (Though not quite yet, we need to find Dib first.) There's also a new banter in this room.

This room brings back bad memories.
Agreed. Just thinking about it makes my back hurt!
Oh yeah. I heard a bounceshroom showed up down there after the flood!
We can go down whenever we need to!
We would really prefer not to...
Besides, I feel as though this room is hiding more secrets than we can imagine!
Fine, fine. We'll walk around!

Well, it's good to know about the bounceshroom, otherwise we wouldn't be guaranteed a way back out! That said, let's have a look down there. Dib may have fallen in...





There is, indeed, a bounceshroom down here so we can get back up.



He's not in this room. Maybe to the west?



As soon as we enter this room, Leby sees him and lets us know.



There he is!



Don't worry, we will take care of them for you. Just hide somewhere safe!

And if we check the banter:

THis kid is in danger! It's not time to talk!

Okay, okay, Kabbu, I get the point. What we have to do now is take out all the enemies on the platform with him.





As these are the same enemies we fought here in the beginning of the game, this is beyond trivial to do.



The banter updates to this once the monsters are dead. Let's see what happens, then.



S-Sis!



How DARE you run off alone!? What if you got HURT!
I just wanted to get you a present!
I don't need presents! I need you to be safe!
You're all I have left...
Sis...



Let's give them some time to talk.









I'm sorry for running off. But I'm mad at you too!
You give me most of the food and then pretend you're not hungry!
...
I-I'm not a kid. I can help you out too. We're a family.



Yes. You're right. I will depend on you a bit more from now on...



Is this enough? I found it while exploring...



Um. Yes, thank you.
That is more than enough. Thank you, brave lad.



This is an actual choice, in that the scene will play out differently depending on which you pick. Let's agree to escort them out, it's easy enough to come back on our own later.

Alright, let's get out of here!



06 - Outskirts





I hope we caused no trouble for you.
No problem. Stay safe, you two.
Come on, let's find something else to do!





Leif lingers for a moment while the others move on.



And then we get the quest complete message.





If we go back to see them afterward, they both have new dialogue. There's also a new banter now.

Heh. These two look much happier lately.
It is that joy we bring that gives purpose to explorers.
And getting a reward's always super good!
...
A-And the joy! lots of joy.
Alright, let's go.

That was cute.

What would have happened if we chose the other option?





Aw, shucks. It would help to have you lot with us, but I guess we can return by ourselves.
We will be alright. See you back at the Ant Kingdom.
...Take care, you two. You'll be fine if you're together.



They go home, and it gives us the quest complete message. I always feel guilty picking this option, but it saves a bit of time if you want to look into other things here.

18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen



Before we wrap up the update, let's turn in those Lore Books we picked up.







Two new books to read.

The Lost Art of Flight. History tells us of insects soaring the sky, covering great distances. Nowadays, only the bees, wasps, and a few lesser species seem to retain that privilege. Even so, most bugs continue to possess wings. Day to day life doesn't quite need flight, so perhaps we as a collective have evolved past it. Could it be that one day bees will not flap their wings any longer?

This is interesting. Apparently, after they became sentient, a lot of bugs no longer found flight useful and over time their wings evolved to become more and more vestigial? I'm not entirely sure how plausible I find this, honestly; maybe it's an issue of energy expenditure? But regardless, that's the explanation we get. At least they tried to address it.

Mantid Claws? According to data found on ancient roach slabs, mantises used to have claws instead of hands before the Day of Awakening. What a weird way to live. How would they be able to hold stuff to make art or even cook? Thinking about it, this might be why they have an affinity for sharp tools. Fascinating. Some lesser mantids and mimics still have claws instead of hands. Such a pity.

This one seems more reasonable to me (though, again, it's more explicitly magic here). I do love the author's puzzlement at the prior state of affairs, though.

One last thing before we go.



If you want, you can partially complete both Mun's and Leby's quests, and have them both following you at the same time! Though only on this one screen, they don't otherwise share any locations in common on the paths for their respective quests and one or the other will disappear wherever you go. Still, it's kind of neat that you can do this.

Next time, we'll head back to Snakemouth Den. Between that giant door that opened and the crystal the Watcher left behind, surely we'll be able to discover some kind of new lead?

[Explopyro]

46: Unearthing Horrors (Part 1)

21 - Fry it Up!





Before we get started on today's exploration, a bit of management. I'd run out of Magic Seeds, and in the process of restocking them decided it's not a bad time to use our first Dark Cherries.





I don't have any immediate plans for this (in fact, I hope I'll never have to use it!) but a Miracle Shake is always good to have in your back pocket for emergencies. Where we're going, it's a good idea to be prepared.





Also, lots of doughnuts (plus some other things). We're well stocked for whatever we might encounter. Honestly, this is probably much more than we need, but being prepared never hurt.



Also, Luckier Day is coming off. I'm sorry for whoever might be fans of it; we've had our fun, but I think it's more important to be able to tell the difference between blocks and Super Blocks.



Lastly, we had this Heart Berry to allocate. There weren't a lot of votes this time, and what few votes came in were tied...





So since it fell to me, I broke the tie in favour of Kabbu. All three of our bugs have gotten one each, and it'll help him with tanking when he wants to do that.



Let's head back to Snakemouth Den. We have some unfinished business to take care of.

12 - Snakemouth Den



Snakemouth Den hasn't changed since we left, but we still have yet to go past this door. (Remember, it opened early in the game as part of the fakeout, after we fell through the trapdoor. It's very easy to forget this is here, but then, I suspect part of the reason Leby's sidequest exists is to nudge players to remember it.) It's finally time to see what's behind there.





Well, this looks mysterious. What's all this fog surrounding the far exit? Let's see what our party think?

Seriously? A door behind the door?
Whatever is in here, the Roaches sure wanted to keep it hidden.
......

It definitely seems like something important is here. Let's see what we can do.



We can interact with this pedestal here.



Specifically, it requests a key item. We did find that Peculiar Gem...





When we place it, the Everlasting Sapling symbol on the door lights up, and it rolls out of the way.





Uh, yup! Ready to go in?
Nje trahbj...
Err, is that a yes?
...Rik?





...S-Sorry. You're not wrong. The place's intense.
Let's prepare properly. A place this well guarded must have its own set of dangers.
Hopefully a treasure or two, too!
What matters is finally finding our answers...



Leif's reacting very strongly to whatever this place is. Let's hope he can keep it together long enough for us to learn something; this definitely seems like the best lead on his past we've had so far.

Before we head through the door, there's another banter now.

Msetr jantgb vi?
Woah. You alright? There's gotta be some important stuff in there!

Hang in there, Leif.



Onward!

73 - Lab Over Snakemouth (Recommended listening!)





(...I'm starting to worry.)



13 - It's Getting Scary!







W-What the heck!?
A Bee... and a Beetle!? In this place!?







Leif, you... you get them?
That language, is it...
They won't listen. Ready up!

29 - Team, This One's Stronger! (Miniboss)





Who or what is this? Let's try to find out, I guess...



Its carapace is absurdly tough. Leif, support me as I strike it!



Ugh! Leif... can you use your ice magic on them?



It seems there are more cordyceps-infested bugs in here than just the Zombiants we fought so long ago. Now there are bees and beetles as well (with punny names, because of course). These are definitely stronger than they were. And they're not going to listen to reason, so let's make some attacks and see what they do.





As fungus-based (cordyceps-infected) enemies, they're weak to Leif's ice. That'll help.



Chompy will bite zombies the same as anything else. She's such a trooper.



The Zombee, on its first turn, throws needles at us! This is eerily similar to Vi's Needle Toss attack; it does 4 base damage, hits twice (potentially switching targets between hits), and inflicts sleep if not blocked. Poor Kabbu got knocked out here, as I'm a bit out of practice with the timing.



The Zombeetle is even scarier! This is a variant of Kabbu's Dash Through attack (I guess this is just standard beetle procedure?), dealing 5 base damage and hitting the entire party. (Also, having been sent to sleep, Kabbu can't block even when the others do, so he takes an extra point of damage. At least he wakes up.)



Ouch. One turn in and our party is nearly dead. Let's turn this fight around.





First things first, we'll have Vi use the Sharing Stash to spread some healing around. We can't be stingy with healing when this kind of party damage is around.



Kabbu finishes off the Zombee.



While Leif uses Frigid Coffin to freeze the Zombeetle and spare us another turn of pain. In addition to being weak to ice damage, these enemies also have a meagre 30% freeze resistance, so the first Frigid Coffin of the fight is guaranteed to successfully freeze them.



After Chompy skips her turn so the beetle stays frozen, things look a lot better. We should be able to clean this up easily now.









There we go!



And we're receiving EXP again. Loads of it, in fact. It's a bit odd how this works out, sometimes; especially on Hard Mode, Bug Fables' EXP system tends to generate large bursts of it until you gain a few levels and then it's back to the pity EXP until you progress to the next tier of enemies. It can feel a bit odd sometimes.

73 - Lab Over Snakemouth







Don't jump to any conclusions! We... we must delve deeper, and find the truth.
...Right. Let's move on.

The party take a few steps forward, only to immediately be faced with a large body of water.



Mmm... We have an idea.





Er, is it safe?
They'll probably melt out. We'll have to be quick.
Not a problem!





Leif has gotten a new field skill, and a new battle skill to go along with it. Let's take a look.



That's certainly an expensive skill! (It used to be even more so, v1.1 reduced it from 13 TP) This skill is probably the biggest draw toward TP-heavy builds; if you like it, investing in a big TP pool goes a long way toward being able to use it reliably. We'll discuss what it does in more detail once I find an opportunity to demonstrate it.



Before we move on, there's also a new banter here.

Qerjlsk rbaljae... "Who goes there... Intruder!"
It's a real language, huh. I thought you were just mumbling and stuff.
Of course it is. No one can mumble that creatively!
(They sure know how to take the edge off things.)

This is a cute one. Also, it's kind of funny when you know Genow said in an interview that this language was generated by randomly smashing a keyboard and is not translatable.





With Leif's new icicle ability, we can build a path to the west. There are some quirks to how this works: the platforms melt after a short while, and there can be a maximum of three out at once, so when you make a fourth the oldest one disappears. It's not that hard to use, but it can get a bit tedious slowly working your way across bodies of water (and if you mess up and fall in, you're starting over from the beginning, though some platforms might stick around).



What's over here?



Well, first things first, the mushroom is actually an enemy!

55 - Team, It's Getting Serious!





What's this thing? A giant bearded mushroom?



It should be equally weak to ice. Let's be wary of its poison and counterattack!



It's certainly a bit more durable than the mushrooms we've fought before! Let's do what we can.





These are also weak to ice, like everything else in here.







The main attack these have is just pouncing on us with all their weight, for 5 damage. It looks painful, but they're very slow, so it's easier to block than many other attacks.



From here, we can finish it off easily.



These are worth a lot of EXP too. We're getting close to ranking up again!



Let's keep looking around.



That message is very clear. Too bad we're obviously going to ignore it.



That said, our path forward is also immediately blocked by this pillar.





Easy enough to dig under it to the far side. What now, though? The door onward is shut. There's a switch up on a pedestal in the corner, but we can't get up to it...





Leif's new icicle ability drops from high enough to hit it, though! It's not just for crossing water, and the game makes sure we figure that out immediately.



That opens the door.



So let's keep heading forward.



What's this? We get a discovery as soon as we enter this room.





This is very mysterious. Are we going to like what we find here?

Also, there's a new banter:

Such a colossal facility's been hiding in plain sight...
Well, the trapdoor was a pretty good distraction.
The artifact kept explorers distracted, too.
But we're here now. Time to unearth this place's secrets.

Well, Leif is determined, so let's press on.



This room is full of water, so we're going to need to use ice platforms to get around it.





It's a simple matter to cross to this central platform. There's a save crystal here if we want it, at least.



What's this machine? Let's try interacting with it...



It projects a hologram of a roach.



We can't latch onto the sapling anymore. We must find a way to become eternal on our own...!

That sounds ominous. What exactly were they doing here?



We can also read these notes on the table. They were studying the crystals too...



Let's make our way to the west first.



It's not a long distance, but we do need to cross the water. What does the tablet say?



Containment offices? Oh dear.



Let's check it out.



Is that Venus? What's she doing here?

S-Something's up ahead... We're not sure if we should go...
Have courage, Leif! Your answers could be at hand!

Something about this room is making Leif apprehensive. Maybe Venus will be able to help us?



This is all she has to say, aside from offering the usual healing. Hopefully there are some answers here, but are we going to like them? This is getting spooky.



Before anything else, we're going to have to deal with this guy. The big mushroom we could see was, of course, another one of these.



This Bloatshroom comes with a Zombee. That's right, despite the way we encountered them before, they weren't minibosses but rather the normal enemies for this area.

We'll focus damage on the Bloatshroom for the first turn, which isn't quite enough to kill it.



Meaning it gets to attack us. When you fail to block, it lands with a crash instead of bouncing off; this hurts!





Also, more needles from the bee. I missed blocking the second one, meaning Vi got sent to sleep. Oops?



Let's deal with this, I suppose.



Kabbu finishes the mushroom off.





Leif and Chompy do some damage to the bee.





Ouch. I really need to get better at blocking these. Kabbu's asleep now too, on top of all that damage. At least Vi should wake up in time for the next turn.



That said, Leif and Vi can finish this without difficulty. It could have been much worse.





Also, this is enough to push us over the threshold for the next rank, so all the damage we took will get healed anyway.



As usual, we'll get more MP.



As a special bonus for reaching Rank 19, we get an upgrade to our item capacity: we can now carry up to 15 items! This is very convenient, and also the last upgrade of this type, 15 will be our maximum item capacity for the rest of the game.





Conveniently, it gives us the space to keep this. I guess this isn't bad to have? Bloatshrooms seem to drop these quite frequently. (Aside from these, enemies here drop basic items fairly frequently, but it's the same Crunchy Leaf, Honey Drop, and Aphid Eggs we saw all the way back in the lower regions of Snakemouth.)

Let's take a look around this room.





There are some notes we can read on this table here. Uh, that kind of thinking rarely leads to anything good...



There's a door leading onward, but it's firmly shut.



Trying to interact with this panel prompts us to insert something, but nothing we have works. Guess we're going to need to rustle up some gears at some point, hopefully that will open the way?



Also, we can climb up the pile of machinery at the back.



Though all that's up here is this sad Mushroom. I guess we may as well take it; these are even more underwhelming now than they were back at the start of the game.



For better or worse, this room is a dead end for now, so let's head back to the central chamber.



This room, while it may not immediately look that way, is wide open thanks to our icicle ability and presents lots of paths we can take.





Let's start with this corner and work our way around clockwise?







There's a locked door here, we're probably going to need some kind of keycard to open it. Guess this one's a dead end.



We can drop down from there to another path, though. Let's deal with this enemy first.



Oh, how cute. There are Zombiants here too. This is a pretty simple fight, the Zombiant doesn't present much of an additional threat so this is barely different from fighting the Bloatshroom by itself.



Easy enough.



Let's see what's to the north, since we can actually go this way.



There's a lot going on in here! Let's have a look.





There are some notes on this table tantalising us with hints about what may have gone wrong in here, and also providing what sounds like a hint for the room. Also, let's check the banter:

The "test subjects" sure caused the roaches a lot of trouble.
The roaches caused the subjects a lot of trouble too...
Even so, they refused to stop their research...

This is all very intriguing, but we still don't have a good sense of what happened here... let's keep looking around.



Before we try to figure out what to do with all the switches, there's a Zombeetle prowling around that we should probably deal with.



It has friends. This could get nasty if we're not careful.



Kabbu attacks it, since it's in front.



But let's have Leif take at least one enemy out of commission with Frigid Coffin. This is a good habit to get into in here in general, since everything is very vulnerable to freezing (every enemy in here has exactly 30% freeze resistance, so that first freeze is guaranteed).







We'll get in some more damage on the beetle, but not quite enough to kill it, meaning we're going to face some retaliation.



Yeah, that hurts.



Aww, it's trying!



After that turn one, we've more or less neutralised this fight.





We finish off the beetle.



And the ant for good measure.



Chompy will choose to do nothing, so as not to unfreeze the remaining enemy.



From here, it's a simple matter to clean up.



We're done here. Let's get back to our exploration.



The door here is closed and we can't get past, but looking carefully we can definitely see there's a gear on the far side. We want that. Guess we need to figure out how to get the door open...



The key is going to be dealing with all the switches along the far wall. Our only clue is that cryptic message to "direct power to the pipes"... well, we can see a few pipes along the wall aligned with certain switches.



This is a mechanic we've seen before, in the bees' Power Plant: hitting any switch toggles both itself and the two switches adjacent to it. It's tedious to give an exact play-by play of this, so I won't: we'll work our way from right to left across the room, ensuring the switches next to the pipes are on, and the other switches are off. As long as you're methodical and keep the goal in mind, this isn't too difficult (the main challenge in this puzzle is figuring out how to interpret the clues).



Here's our desired end state. Just doing that wasn't enough, however...



We also need to trip this lever.



Once we do that (if we got the switch configuration right), the door finally opens! (Also, there's that glowing Sapling emblem again...)





There we go, we've found one gear at least. Let's take it.



Also, there's another one of those projectors here...





If we could create thunderous spells as well, it would bolster our productivity!

Frost magic, you say? Is that something to do with Leif? Also, blight magic doesn't sound very pleasant, does it...





Well, we have a gear, and we have some more information. That's all we can find in this room, so let's head back and keep looking around.



What's to the east of us?



Ice platforms can get us to the lowest part of this platform, and we can jump our way up from there.







Oh well. It's another keycard lock, we can't proceed here.





That said, there's a convenient shortcut back south to the central platform, so this isn't too much of a detour.



There's a path to the south, so we still have more places to look.



We should deal with this Zombee first, regardless.



With the help of a first strike, we can eliminate the Zombee on the first turn, and be left with nothing but the Zombiant afterward. This fight is trivial for us.



Let's just move on.





We could head west over the water, but let's take the obvious door that's right here first.



This room's enormous, there's a lot going on here!

This room makes us a bit nostalgic... With the platforms going up and down.
Climbing hills, trees, castles... we just keep going up, huh.
I don't think that's what he meant...

This room is certainly reminiscent of our earlier visit to Snakemouth Den.



Before we try to examine anything too closely, we should get the enemy out of the way.



This could be problematic if we're not careful.











We use the first turn to eliminate the Zombee; with Chompy's help, we can just take care of it.



Here's a new attack from the Bloatshroom! It releases a cloud of spores, which uses a button-mashing action command. The damage isn't really the scary part here (I think it's only 2 points if not blocked? I managed the Super Block timing here and completely negated it): it can inflict Numb if you don't fill the bar to block normally, and it heals any fungus enemies for 3 HP. If there aren't other enemies present, this can also spawn a Jellyshroom.



Also, ouch, another Zombeetle dash attack. This is never pleasant to be hit by.



How are we going to handle this? (Also, I just noticed something peculiar here... the counter damage from blocking the dash got applied to the Bloatshroom instead of the Zombeetle, somehow? I don't understand.)



Let's freeze that beetle to get ourselves some breathing room.



We'll get a bit of damage in on the mushroom.





While Vi heals back most of the group damage.



Chompy does her part.



Oh, that counter damage will help.



That's much better. Let's see what we can do now.





First off, let's finish the Bloatshroom off.





It might have been better to do nothing with Vi and Chompy, then finish things the next turn, but I got impatient (and this way we at least get the damage bonus for breaking the ice).



Ouch. We finally get to see the Zombeetle's other attack, though! It's another move out of Kabbu's skillset, this is Boulder Toss. It hits the main target for 5 base damage, and splashes 3 to the rest of our party. This is a bit less threatening overall than Dash Through is, but I find it trickier to block.

Zombeetles only have these two attacks, so regardless of which they pick they'll be doing damage to the entire party. They are scary, and by far the most dangerous enemy in here. It's a very good idea to get in the habit of either freezing them, killing them first, or both.



That said, from here it's trivial to finish this one off.





Glad to have that out of the way.





Now to look around this room. There are a few conspicuous switches on the ground...





Hitting this one doesn't seem to do anything, at least not that we can see from this vantage point.





While this one causes the platforms above us to move. Still not particularly helpful to us down here. Let's get a different perspective.





There's an enemy up here, we should deal with that first.



It's only a lone Zombeetle.



When they're by themselves, Zombeetles aren't too bad. Especially when a single Frigid Coffin, combined with our attacks and Chompy (or a second turn's attacks, if we didn't have her and/or didn't get the first strike) is exactly enough to finish it off in one turn. It doesn't even cost us anything, thanks to Victory Buzz giving us back the TP.

Also, apparently, if you finish off a frozen enemy, the freeze status icon stays visible during its death animation (as you can see here). That's interesting.



Not bad.



From here, we can get onto the platform at least.



What to do now, though? There's nothing obvious to interact with, and the platform is stationary...



The trick is remembering that we can now hit things vertically with Leif's icicles, and that switch is on the floor below us. Drop an icicle on it, and...



The two platforms both move to the centre, and we can jump to the next one...



Then ride it over to the far side.



Once again, there's an enemy waiting.



One of each again, this should look familiar.



Now that we've seen all their attacks, I have no compunctions about aggressively freezing Zombeetles. Don't let them get turns.



Finishing this fight is pretty unremarkable from there.



Now, how do we progress from here?



This switch would be the obvious thing to interact with...



But all it does is make a platform on the level above us move toward us. That's not much use right now...



If we come over here, though, we can hit the switch back on the lower level...



That makes this platform rise up, but we need to hustle to get to it or it'll leave without us (if you look carefully, it's already started lifting off by the time I reach it here).



That said, that's only part of the answer, because now we're stymied again.



Let's try this again.



As we're headed up, let's drop an icicle on the second switch.





And now when we reach the top, the next platform will be in position so we can jump to it.



We ride that platform to the right, but it eventually stops.



There's an obvious switch we can hit here...



But it's easy to miss what it does if you're not looking carefully: it makes another platform approach in the foreground.





We can ride that one back east...



But once we jump to this last one, it appears we're stuck again. There's nothing obvious to interact with, and the platform is stationary.



But if we drop an icicle, we can hit that very first switch again!



And that lifts us up to this area, where we can disembark. I like the way this room makes you think about the space you're in and recontextualise what you can do with icicles.



As we should probably have expected, there are enemies waiting for us.



It's not too different from the fight we had before, except that there's a Zombiant here too.



First things first, let's freeze the beetle to give ourselves some breathing room.





Kabbu attacks the Zombee.





While we'll have Vi hit the Zombiant; I'm trying to set up getting rid of it early, since we can't kill the bee regardless. It's not really threatening, but it's enough of an annoyance I'd rather not have it there.



Chompy, of course, doesn't have options.



There we go! After all this time, here's the Zombee's other attack. It's Needle Pincer, just like Vi has. Like their needle toss, this one also inflicts sleep if not blocked (and unfortunately for Kabbu, while I blocked the first hit, I missed on the second one so he's still going to sleep).

An interesting little bit of trivia: this animation is very similar to Vi's basic attack in the earliest beta, before they decided to give her the Beemerang. Likewise, Zombeetles' body structure and stance bear a strong resemblance to that same beta's version of Kabbu.



Anyway, on with the fight: the Zombiant tries its hardest. They are still capable of doing non-negligible damage, but they're not that noticeable.



This is pretty much done now, even with Kabbu asleep.





We'll finish off these two.



While Chompy does nothing so we can avoid taking a big hit.



From here, it's not too much trouble to finish off the Zombeetle.



And we're done. That EXP is starting to add up again!



Now let's take a look around. This room looks to have sustained some damage...



There's another terminal here.





Food will not last long. To think it'd end like this...

It definitely sounds like things went badly for the roach scientists in the end... but we still don't quite know what they were doing that led to this.



At least we can grab this inside the broken capsule! This should open some paths for us.





There's nothing else to see, so let's head back down. Conveniently, most of our traversal here was vertical, so we can just drop right back to the entrance.





And back to the central room.

(Once again, the character limit rears its ugly head, so we'll continue momentarily in the next post.)

[Explopyro]

46: Unearthing Horrors (Part 2)

73 - Lab Over Snakemouth



There's nothing in this southeast corner, but it does give us a nice view of the room's overall structure.



Let's head west.





There's another exit over here, so let's see what we can find there.



What is this room?

What's this place supposed to be?
Is that a containment cell...?
The water's moving with a lot of force. Maybe we can use it to find our way inside.

Looks like there are more puzzles ahead of us! Before that, though, let's fight the enemy. Surely it's not just a Zombiant?



No, no it's not. I guess they're at least a little more threatening in a group (and that Bloatshroom in the back could cause some problems if it heals them).



So let's just kill them all at once. Leif empowers Kabbu...



And a single Dash Through does the trick.



Now we're left facing just the single Bloatshroom, and that's not a challenge to deal with.



Easy enough.



The game really seems to like giving me these. I don't understand what's managing to cook them in here, but okay.



There are some cryptic notes on the table. Is this a Frankenstein's monster situation?



Also, that big mushroom is an enemy. Are we even surprised now?



This isn't too bad.



Let's just get rid of them and keep moving forward.



Okay, this is just getting silly now.



Let's deal with the actual puzzle in this room. The water here has a strong current, so if we freeze an iceberg in it...



We can get on and ride it as it drifts east.







Also, we'll pass this crank along the way. Getting the Beemerang to turn it will lower the bars to the cage on the far platform.



Once we drift close enough, we can jump over and head inside.



Also, this guy is here.





But he's alone, so he doesn't present much trouble.



He also leaves behind a keycard when defeated. Thanks! (Though once we're no longer holding the Beemerang, the bars rise up quickly, which makes it a bit more difficult to see. Also, we're going to need to find another path out, clearly...)





There are some notes on the ground. This is really ominous...





And here's the path out. We can climb up this path of junk, then dig our way through that cracked wall.





We come out up here.





And from there it's a trivial matter to get back.



Let's head back to the main area again.



At least now we have both keycards, so we can open those two locked doors.





Also, with our ability to make ice platforms, the room's structure is more of a suggestion than anything else. We can just take the direct path there.





Let's open this and go in.





There's that glowing Sapling symbol again.



On we go.



Oh, this room. An enormous expanse of water, plus some other things we'll see the function of soon enough...

This is quite a lot of water!
And there's a bunch of pipes... does science use that much water?
Who knows. But it looks like the perfect playground for our icicle magic.

Leif knows what's up here.



Let's check out this upper level first though.





As usual, the mushroom is actually enemies.



Also as usual, freezing the beetle first is the key to the fight going smoothly. Simple enough.





It also gives us enough EXP to rank up again. Twice in one session! (This isn't too unusual for this dungeon, the enemies in here are very generous with EXP.)



We'll get more MP. That's all we get this level, there's no special bonus.



Looking around up here, there's nothing we can do yet, so let's head back down.





We need to look across the water first.



Flipping this switch turns on a plethora of geysers along the back wall of the room. We're going to need to use those to make our way across...



So let's head back and see what we can do.



Building a path across here can be something of a pain. If you're too high relative to the geyser, Leif can't hit it directly, but needs to drop an icicle on it (and then there's a delay, so it's trickier to get it to stop at the height you want it).



The easiest way to do it is to drop the icicle as the geyser's rising, and freeze it as close to its peak height as possible.





Also, dropping icicles lets us freeze the horizontal spouts too.



Halfway there!



A few more waterspouts and we can reach this big platform with machinery on it.



We can see one of the gears we need, but of course there's an enemy waiting first.



It took me until this point to realise I hadn't demonstrated Leif's new Ice Rain spell yet. Uh, oops? Let's do that now.





It targets "all enemies", but how exactly?



Ice Rain bears some resemblance to Leif's earlier skills, but it's much more powerful. The reticle moves horizontally, and we can press (A) to make it drop an icicle wherever it's currently positioned. These icicles explode, just like with Icefall, so if you aim well you can catch multiple enemies in the blast each time. And we get to drop four of them.

Each icicle deals damage equal to Leif's attack (we haven't even boosted him here, the only bonuses we're seeing are from being in front, enemies' ice weakness, and the extra point for hitting frozen enemies where applicable) and attempts to freeze the enemy. You may also notice that, unlike the other multi-hit attacks, the damage here doesn't degrade: each hit does full damage. (And against Golden Seedlings, each hit does 1, so this makes it very easy to kill those if you want.)

This move is expensive, but it's worth it (though it can be underwhelming if you don't boost Leif's attack first; on my first playthrough, I first used it when Leif wasn't in front and was puzzled by the TP cost, because it didn't seem very good when each hit only did 2). With even minor attack boosts, this can quickly become devastating. The only thing I don't quite like about this move is that it quickly burns through enemies' freeze resistance, so it's not always a great idea to use it early in a fight if you think you might want the utility of freezing things later. Then again, if you're using this, you probably aren't planning for fights to go long, so that often just doesn't matter.

Spamming Ice Rain is definitely the biggest draw of TP-heavy builds, if you want to go that route. It's by far the easiest way to destroy groups of enemies.



After that one attack, the battle's already over. If I'd had better aim with the explosions, we wouldn't even need to clean this up.



Let's finish this and move on.



We can now claim the Big Gear. We're nearly there, just one more to go.





Backtracking along the geyser pathway seems like a pain, so let's not bother! There's no need to reverse our steps when the entire room is filled with water, we'll just build our own way back.





Easy enough.



Let's head back. There's one more locked room to explore.









Let's open the way.





Just like the other one, the Sapling lights up and the door rolls away.



What could be in here?



This looks... interesting?

...I don't get it.
It seems those pillars can transfer energy if placed right.
We'll have to take note of what pillars get raised by which plates!

So, yes, it's an obvious puzzle room. Before that, though...



There's something inside the broken capsule over here!



This medal will make our lives much easier trying to solve the puzzle in this room (and also in a few other places, later on in the game).





It's also completely free to equip, so there's basically no reason not to put this on and then forget about it. It doesn't make enemies stay frozen indefinitely, but it extends the time long enough that it rarely presents a problem. (Also, I think in this room the enemies thaw more quickly than usual, to ensure we make use of it? At least, it feels that way.)





On the eastern side of the room, we can see a locked door next to these platforms. It looks like we need to complete a circuit on the side of the platforms for it to open?



We'll start off by freezing this convenient Zombiant.



Then put it onto this centre switch. It can be a bit hard to see, but the switches have coloured markings around them that correspond to the colours of the platforms: this is the green switch, and it made the green platforms rise.







With the green platforms raised, it forms a staircase we can use to get up here, where there's another Zombiant and the final (yellow) switch.



To start with, we'll put it on the yellow switch.



First off, how do we get to this Crystal Berry?





Simple enough. Swap the green switch for red, and we have stairs.





I'll just take that, thanks.



But now we can't get back to the yellow switch, and that's a problem, so let's move it back again.





Now, to actually make progress, we're going to need to move this frozen Zombiant down to where the other switches are.



Let's look at the platforms. Green looks to be part of the circuit, as does red, so we don't want to mess with those. By process of elimination, we need to press the blue switch.



There we go! With frozen ants on green and blue, the circuit completes and the door opens.



Inside this little niche is the final gear we need!



And, with that, we're done here, so back we go.







Whew. That's been a lot; I think we'll stop at this save crystal for now. This place is very mysterious, and we still don't know exactly what the roach scientists were up to in this lab... I can only imagine what Leif must be thinking right now. Next time, we'll put the gears into place and see if we can get some more concrete answers to just what happened here. I'll see you then.

[Explopyro]

47: Truth and Reconciliation

73 - Lab Over Snakemouth



Last time, we began exploring the upper level of Snakemouth Den and discovered a mysterious lab. We still don't know exactly what happened here, but whatever it was certainly doesn't seem to have ended well.



Before we go any further, let's put on some more medals (we gained two ranks last session, so we have some unallocated MP). Let's try out Status Relay and Hard Charge on Vi. I've also put on our second TP Plus, bringing our maximum to 18.



Now let's get going. We've explored all the side paths from this central room in our search for the gears, so we need to head back to the mechanism that needed them.





On we go.





Also, Venus is here, so we should take the chance to heal.



Here we are. Let's put the gears in.





The big gear goes on the right.





The small gear goes in the centre.





And the medium gear goes on the left.

(Yes, you need to put each in the proper location, though there's no actual challenge to doing so. You'll just be told it doesn't fit if you try to put one in the wrong place.)



Once all the gears are in place, they start turning, which causes the door to light up and open.



Opening the way to the next room. Let's head in.



This room is full of tanks. Some of them are broken, and others still seem to have test subjects inside.

This feeling... Everyone, let's search every corner of this room.
There's something... We can feel it.

Checking the banter gets us this ominous statement from Leif. Let's keep exploring, I guess.



There's a console here, but inspecting it only gets this message.



From this angle, we can get a better view of the subjects in the tanks. Beetles, bees and ants are all represented...



What's this at the far end of the room?



When we get close to this big shattered tank, Leif decides to stand inside it.



Has it triggered any memories!?
N-No, we're sorry.
After all we did to get here!?



It's... worrying. But mostly just raised more questions.
Mmm. You think the last Queen built this place in secret?
No. That's absolutely impossible.
You remember we were scouting Snakemouth? This is probably what she was investigating.
...If only we hadn't messed up, we could have reported this cruel facility.
It wasn't your fault!
Let's make our way back. There's lots to think about.



Guess the tank was a false lead, then? At least Leif's starting to put some pieces together, I suppose...



There are also some papers on the floor over here.



Maybe we should go out and try to get some more of them.

This is confirmation of a sort. It seems like the roaches were trapping whoever happened to come into Snakemouth to experiment on, but might not have reached the point of active kidnapping yet (though it sounds like they were considering it!). These researchers didn't have much by way of ethics.





For better or worse, it doesn't seem like we're going to find much else in here... let's head back?



Of course it wasn't going to be that easy.



74 - The Other One (Recommended listening!)



...What is that? Is that a moth? (Or... was it a moth?)



Sibling!? Leif, did you say sibling!?
T-That doesn't make any sense!



Vi! Ready your Beemerang! We must protect Leif!

Click me for video!





Whatever this is, we're going to have to fight. And Leif's out of commission! Whatever he's going through seems to have overwhelmed him enough that he can't move. (The Strong Start medal's effect is going to waste, I guess I should have moved it to someone else. Oh well.)

Let's see if spying sheds any light on this.



Whatever memories have awoken... we shall face them together after this battle!



110 HP and 1 defence. That's going to be a lot to get through, especially if Leif can't help... well, nothing else for it, I suppose. Let's do what we can.





That's got to be it for now. What are we up against?



This attack's pretty nasty, especially to start off with. It launches two spheres of blight magic (this must be the test subject that was mentioned in the log...), each of which hits for 4 base damage and inflicts Poison and Attack Down for two turns. Blocking will prevent the poison, but not the attack debuff. This can change targets between hits, though it didn't this time.



The poison damage isn't necessarily a big problem (especially since we only got two turns' worth, we blocked one hit), but we're not set up to take advantage of it so it's definitely an annoyance.



Four turns of Attack Down on Kabbu is going to be significantly more annoying. (For better or worse, though, we'll just have to endure it, items and skills can't remove this kind of debuff. We could remove it by getting him KO'd and reviving him, but, uh, let's not do that.)

Also, despite being unable to act, Leif still gets the charge-ups from Favorite One triggering; that's interesting. Maybe we'll be able to take advantage of that later.



For now, let's just attack with Kabbu. He can still do some damage, at least.



Also, I want to heal him. We've been picking up all these Cooked Shrooms, so we may as well use some of them.





Conveniently, it's just enough to heal him to full and cure the poison too.



Chompy will keep doing her thing.





We must strike quickly!

On its turn, the Zommoth charges up, gaining Defence Up and +1 charge. As our team are quick to observe, this probably signifies something big is coming next turn...



Between 2 points of defence and Kabbu having Attack Down, this could be tough to get through.



Although he still deals 2 damage for some reason. I'm not sure why that happened, though by this point I should be used to unusual numbers occurring when attacks that partially ignore defence interact with debuffs.



Faced with 2 points of defence, I had Vi go for Needle Pincer to ignore it and get some better damage in.



Chompy struggles to get through.





I... I have no siblings! As if I could be related to this beast!
Leif, are you okay? You're...

Looks like Leif came out of his trance just in time to shield us from the big attack! Good save. That does not look like it'd have been pleasant to be hit by.



And now that Leif's woken up, he's back in action for good. (The first three turns of this fight are partially scripted. Zommoth's attack is chosen randomly on its first turn, but its second turn is always the charge-up, followed by the laser attack which Leif automatically wakes up and shields. After this point, things are less predictable.)



Let's have Kabbu just keep attacking for now.



Since Leif's awake now, let's have him cast Break. (I should have done this before Kabbu attacked, I wasn't quite thinking.)



Now let's get a bit tricky. Vi can relay to Leif...



And with Status Relay, sets him up to attack with +3 next turn.



Leif can then relay right back to Vi, so she can attack without wasting the bonus.



Chompy contributes too.



On its turn, Zommoth just walks up and smashes Leif. This is probably its weakest attack, though it still hurts, especially since I missed the block.



Time for Leif to shine! Let's get him in front.



It's time for Ice Rain. With +3 charge and Break active.



Ouch. That's 29 damage! Ice Rain really pays off when you combine it with damage boosts. (It can be a bit risky using it early in a fight, since it does waste your freezes, but I don't expect to need them here and Zommoth's base freeze resistance is 75% so it's hard to reliably freeze when you need to. This trade-off is worth keeping in mind when planning strategies, though.)



Let's keep going. Vi will just attack.





While Kabbu uses a doughnut (considering he still has a turn of Attack Down remaining, he's the best choice to do it). After that Ice Rain, our TP was looking very low.



Chompy keeps chomping, too.



Zommoth's revenge is paltry by comparison. This attack isn't all that scary.



Let's get Kabbu back in front now. Things certainly look more manageable now, don't they? We should probably take it easy this turn, though, and maybe we can set up another explosive burst turn a bit down the road.





Kabbu and Leif will just attack for now.





While Vi heals Leif. These mushrooms are certainly coming in handy! (Honestly, I'd normally have been inclined to use her Stash skills instead, but these were free and using them relieves pressure on our TP so we can keep affording Ice Rain.)



Chompy knows what to do.



This is new! Zommoth can cry out to summon reinforcements. It gets a Bloatshroom here, though this can also summon other fungus-based enemies (including the other types of test subjects, and Jellyshrooms).



The summoned enemy gets to attack immediately, also. Normally I wouldn't be thrilled about that, but hitting Kabbu triggers Favorite One and that's always helpful.



How are we going to deal with this?



Well, if we get Leif in front and have Vi do the relay dance, he can immediately cast Ice Rain with a +2 bonus.



I didn't have the best aim here, considering only two of the shots managed to hit both enemies. But it's still more than adequate to do the job, destroying the Jellyshroom and racking up 17 damage on the boss on top of that. (Though do note that after this second freeze, Zommoth's freeze resistance is over 100%. We won't be able to freeze it again.)



That's much better.







We'll finish out the turn with some more attacks.



On Zommoth's turn, it charges again. (This is an attack it can use normally, and thanks to what happened before, we should know how to handle it...)



Let's be careful and protect ourselves. (Admittedly, if we got aggressive we could probably finish things this turn, but there's nothing wrong with playing it safe.)





We're going to need more TP to be able to afford Bubble Shield.





Simple enough to do that now.



Here's a neat trick, though. Let's have Vi relay to Leif this turn. This will immediately consume the action and end our turn, but doing this lets us spend the action now and start our next turn normally.



Chompy does her best.





There's the blight beam again, but thanks to Bubble Shield it's completely harmless.



Favorite One still triggers, though, which makes things considerably simpler for us.



Once again, let's take advantage of Status Relay and pass the boost to Leif. We have exactly 11 TP left...



Which means we can finish things with another Ice Rain. (I thought it was only fair for Leif to get the spotlight in this battle.)



And with that, the battle is finished. Zommoth can be a pretty intimidating boss fight, especially if you go into it not knowing what to expect. It has quite a bit of variety in its attacks and its ability to spread negative conditions around the party, so there's a lot to deal with and the conditions you're fighting under can change suddenly. I ended up with a pretty clean run of it, but that's aided in part by using an aggressive approach. The longer you let this fight go on, the worse off you'll probably be. It has a few other attacks we didn't see:



This tail swipe (actually, is that tail made of fungus? eww) is slightly more damaging than the overhead smash, but is still ultimately a basic attack.



On the other hand, this shriek is terrifying in multiple sense of the word. This deals 4 base damage, and on top of that inflicts Defence Down on the entire party for 2 turns.





And here's what happens if you don't block the beam. It's not pretty. (This fight is a lot harder if you don't remember Bubble Shield exists; I'm embarrassed to say that I forgot about it on my first playthrough, even with the explicit reminder...) The party had Defence Down in the run I got these screenshots; the base damage is 4 on the first pass and 3 on the second, but it's effectively 5 + 4 since Zommoth will always have +1 charge from the previous turn (unless you used Cleanse for some reason). Like the blight spheres, this beam also inflicts Attack Down and Poison (2 turns per hit) on the entire party. Even under the best circumstances, getting hit by this will leave you struggling for the rest of the fight.

Let's get back to the story. Will we be able to learn anything from this ambush?





Hey, calm down! You're acting weird!
Did that monster spark your memories?

48 - The Ones Who...



Seems like the console's suddenly turned back on?



It's a failure. Yet another one...
Disgusting. If it keeps up like this, our research...



(The screen-tearing effect in the footage is deliberate here, and does a good job of making it look shaky and unreliable.)









Eh? But you're here with us!
It's not me, Leif. It really is... Us.



...
...
Muse, Elizant I, and everyone...
They are people "Leif" held so dearly...
While he was in the Spider's cocoon, at some point... I...
I wanted to care for them too. And before I'd realized...



It goes without saying, after everything we've seen, that this facility researched cordyceps.
But everything we've found in here is cruel and heartless.
Uh, yeah. But not you! You're, like, a pretty cool dude!
Am I? Or was "Leif" a cool dude?
Err... I don't really know...
But you didn't know us before, right? We still became good friends, though.



...Are you seriously trying to make it that simple?
That's... so like you, Vi.
It's true though, isn't it? You've chosen to take Leif's mantle!
So to us, you're Leif anyways!







That's messed up. What about his family...?
Do you still care for them? Do you... care about us?
...
...Well, yes. We're very grateful for everything. And... it's been fun.
You don't have to decide right now how you feel.
Truth be told, this is an unbelievable scenario.
But you're our friend! It's okay!



......
That's right, we... never faked anything.
...
Let's go. We have a lot to think about, if we're going to meet our family.
Take it easy, okay?
We'll listen when you decide what to do!
Thank you. Let's get out of here.



As soon as they're finished having that conversation, we get this prompt offering to let us go right back to the Ant Kingdom. Let's... let's go, I guess? That's a lot to process. (I love how supportive Kabbu and Vi are here, though. They handled that very well.)

17 - Ant Kingdom



After a brief fade out, we're right back here in the plaza. We could take some time to stew over that and figure out what to think about it... or we could go reintroduce Leif to his family, since we're so conveniently close. Let's do that.









Who are "we"? Who was I before I met Leif?
...We don't know...
...



For better or worse.
If I threw out his memories and personality... These precious thoughts would get lost.
Maybe I can't discard them, even if I tried.
Um, what do YOU want to do?



I want the same things Leif does!
Then do them! Carry on Leif's will! At least, I believe that will be okay!
Yes. That's... what we decided, too.
I'm not Leif exactly, but we're still Leif.
Even though he got lost to time, and fused with a cordyceps...
We will live on as Leif!
Phew. Glad you won't go missing on us!
You're our friend, so this changes nothing!



Do we stay out here?
No, please come with us. I want my... my family to meet my friends.

They head into the house.

15 - The One Left Behind (Leif's Theme)







Mom, it's Team Snakemouth! They saved us from the wasps!
Oho! Wow, it's an honor!
Err, yes. These are my friends Kabbu and Vi. And we're... Leif.
It's nice to meet you.
A pleasure!
Yup!
Hm? Young lad, you...



Really!?
About that, that's why we're here...



W-what?! F-Father! What is the meaning of this!?
O-Oi! I have brothers! Don't jump on me!
You're my uncle? Really? You're not lying!?
......It's something like that.



I can't believe it!



We'll be leaving now...
N-No, wait! It's a GOOD surprise!
You've gotta stay for dinner! Your friends, too!
Aw yes, free food!



Is it really okay?
Of course! You're family!
We're not completely sure...



Besides, you're the coolest explorer! My uncle's so cool!



We fade out for a moment.





It's... it's been so good to meet you. But we've got a mission to go to.
Oh, that's not an issue. Come back anytime!
You've got to tell us more explorer stories!
And bring some souvenirs!
We will. Please take care until then.
The food was super good, thank you!
Thank you very much for your hospitality.
You'll always have a home here. Have safe travels, alright?

17 - Ant Kingdom





How're you feeling, Leif?
Thank you. We can never truly repay you.
Oh, it's whatevs.
Seeing you happy is ample reward!
We're truly fortunate to have met you back then.
You saved us in more ways than one.



If something else troubles you, just come to us!
Heh. Same. Let's get a move on, then. There's a lot to do.



Well, okay then. That was sudden! (And also a bit incongruous, this skill's goofy name feels strange given when and how we learn it.) This is a team skill that involves all of Team Snakemouth, reflecting their newfound understanding. We'll take a look at it momentarily.





We also get alerts to the fact we've completed the quest, and earned a new achievement.



The achievement is simply called "The Truth", reflecting our new understanding of Leif's situation.



Before anything else, let's head back into the house, there's a bit more dialogue we can see.



Muze and her father both have new things to say. Let's start with her.



Thank you, Muze. We'll pace ourselves.

There's also a new banter.

Muze... We can't believe even their names are similar.
I'm not superstitious, but... it has to be fate!
Do they act the same and stuff, too?
...Nah. Muse was loud, confident and outgoing... Kinda like Vi.
She had pretty strong kicks, too.
You two must've been a super strong team!
...Heh, well. She did a lot of the work. We had no magic back then.
That's right...! I'm so used to your magic, I'd forgotten.



It's nice seeing him able to get a bit of closure.



When Muze's husband stops working at the lab so much, maybe you'll get to meet him!
...Heh, we'll have some good stories ready for then.

(This is interesting. We've already met her husband, actually. It's Hawk, Professor Honeycomb's assistant. If you look closely at Tod, he actually reflects both of their colouring: he has two pink wings and two yellow ones.)

There's a new banter for him too.

Leif, does he look anything like your father?
Well, he wears his wings the same way... but nah.
Father was tall, and quite thin.
Woah, even taller than you!?
Yeah. He was a bit of a wimp, too.
I truly wish we could have met your family!



Poor Leif.



There's not a lot to see upstairs, but Tod's ball is a nice reminder that we've been interacting with this family occasionally even before we knew who they were. (Also, I wonder how old that painting of Elizant I is. Was that Leif's originally?)

The one thing that's still a bit unclear to me, timeline-wise, is exactly how many generations there have been. Muze's father (who unfortunately doesn't have a name, he's only ever referred to that way or as Tod's grandfather) could be Leif's son, or there could be another generation between them still. Regardless, I like to think that he recognised Leif, but decided not to contradict Muze's assumption they were brothers in recognition that Leif didn't want to come out with everything (I think the dialogue implies this, but it's ambiguous).

Also, it's hard to tell ingame (the only look we get is in the washed-out Roach recording), but it's likely Leif's colouration while alive would have been similar to Muze's father's.



Here's a piece of concept art that shows what he may have looked like.

A lot of little things make more sense in retrospect now, don't they? Venus' inability to sense him, Leif's immunity to Kali's pheromones, his enormous appetite (and possibly his preference for mushrooms, even), the presence of Roach crystals inside him... even his all-white eyes. The pieces were all there, just waiting to be put together.

Anyway, while we process everything we've learned... let's go bowling?



Like our previous team skills, this appears in every bug's skill menu, since they're all involved and any of them can initiate it. This sounds... weird. Let's go try it out?



Seedlings are always good for a first test.



This sounds pretty involved, but let's do it.



Leif's job is to freeze Vi inside a giant snowball...



Then Kabbu launches it at the enemy.

Frost Bowling costs everyone an action to initiate, and deals damage equal to the party's combined attack (though nobody gets the positioning bonus, it seems) to all enemies. As you can see, it's also capable of inflicting freeze. There's something else, too, though we'll need some more durable enemies to show that part off properly. Let's go find some.



These guys should do nicely.



Let's do this again.





Vi's role in this attack isn't just to be the projectile, but to detonate it from inside! At any point during the attack, you can press A to make Vi explode it, which deals a second hit (for 2 fewer points of damage) to every enemy in a radius around her. This does, however, end the attack, so if you do it too early an enemy in the back might not get hit.

This attack has always seemed gimmicky and impractical to me, considering it costs three actions to perform; I honestly don't think I've ever used it in a serious fight, especially when Ice Rain is there as an alternative. It's neat, though, and reasonably powerful.



With this, we'll wrap things up for today. Next time, Leif's new icicle ability should open up some more paths for us... I'll see you then.

[Explopyro]

48: The Hermit and the King

06 - Outskirts



Last time, we finished exploring the Upper Snakemouth lab, finally got some real answers about Leif's past, and helped him get at least some amount of closure in meeting his descendants.

Today, we're going to follow up on the more mechanical side of what we uncovered. Leif's icicle skill opens up some new areas to explore. Also, we defeated a boss, so Artis should have a reward for us; let's start there.



Hey! You're back. Let's see how you have been doing with that Medal of mine.
...



Was it too challenging for ya? You deserve a reward. Here, take this!



Come back later when you've bonked some extra hard heads with that Medal, will ya?

Let's take a closer look at that medal.



Our reward for defeating Zommoth is Block Heal. For 4 MP, the equipped bug will recover 1 HP each time they successfully execute a Super Block. This seems like it could be quite helpful, if you have the skill to hit Super Blocks reasonably often.

In fact, "quite helpful" turns out to be an incredible understatement. Block Heal is arguably the most broken medal in the game, thanks to the way it's implemented: this medal's healing is applied after all damage, but before determining if the bug would be knocked out. This means that, with it on, if you Super Block an attack that would be lethal the bug will instead survive with 1 HP. If you're sufficiently good at the timing, this medal offers effective immortality. (But for better or worse, if you're not that good, it tends to be a bit underwhelming in how much recovery it offers.)

I don't plan to use it. I'm not that good regardless, and it wouldn't be very interesting if I did trivialise things to that extent anyway. At least we know how it works.

Regardless, we'll take it with us.



Now that we have Leif's icicle ability, there are a few new areas we can reach. Let's start in the eastern portion of the outskirts.



Remember these little islands in the stream? We can cross over to them now by freezing a path.



It doesn't look like there's very much over here.



Or at least it doesn't until we cut the grass (none of which has anything special in it); doing so reveals there's a digging spot. From certain angles you can see this from a distance, so it's not a complete surprise it's here. What's inside?







Dark Cherries. These are always nice to have.



That's all there was to find there, though, so let's head back.



In the next area, we can quickly come across another one. This island's dig spot is readily visible even from this side.



Let's cross over to it.





This one has a Tangy Berry inside. That's also very nice to have, though it'd probably be more impressive if we hadn't already gone to Metal Island and met Skirby (this is one of a very few places you can reliably get one without going there or hunting Golden Seedlings). Still, I won't complain.



That's all there is to find on the island, so let's head back to shore. (And narrowly avoid that encounter.)

That's all for secrets in the eastern side of the outskirts, so let's move on.



In the southern part of the Outskirts, let's return to this waterfall. This place will no doubt be familiar as the place we woke up after being washed out of Snakemouth Den in Chapter 1. Returning here now, we can cross the water and see if there's anything on the far side.





Looks like there's a cave entrance! Let's go in.





This cave is very small, and there's no music, just the sounds of running water. Also... there's someone living here? Let's see if our party have anything interesting to say first.

What a cozy place... It's quite secluded from everywhere else.
They should build a bridge here! Then they could build houses and stuff.
How dare you. And ruin this beauty!?

Leif certainly likes the atmosphere.



There's not much else to do except talk to this fellow.



Our apologies for disturbing you!
We're, err, simply looking around.
I thought I'd finally... I was finally alone. But even here, society follows?
We're leaving, okay? Sheesh.
Try to have a nice day.
...

Well, that was enlightening.



If we try to talk to him again, this is all we'll get; he really doesn't seem like he wants to engage with us. Maybe the banter will be more enlightening?

I wonder what's the point in doing nothing all day...
He could just feel tired, or something.
Leif, this goes quite beyond simple fatigue!

Not particularly.

I guess we should leave?



Who else would detour into this cave?
...





What can we do for you, sir hermit?
My name's Elom. I can feel... that you have something extraordinary. Something I miss.
But I can't put it into words.
Probably a healthy side of optimism.
YOU'RE an optimist?
It's not that. I can feel you've been somewhere beautiful. Removed from others...
I know what I miss is there. Can't you try and find it?
Err, we usually get less vague requests...
And we go to super awesome places all the time!





It's better than nothing.
It's a tough request, but we'll keep you posted!
...Thank you. I will keep trying to figure out my role in this world.
Hmm... A spiritual Golden Paradise...



Well, then! Looks like he actually has a sidequest for us. Let's check it out.





That's not a lot to go on, although "golden paradise" is a pretty unsubtle hint, and is pointing in a pretty obvious direction.

This is something of a "hidden" sidequest, in that it doesn't get posted on the board, and the only way to begin it is by finding this cave and talking to Elom. (We don't necessarily have to have completed Leif's Request before doing this, though we do need to have at least entered Upper Snakemouth to get the icicle ability.)





Now we can actually leave. (If we tried to talk to Elom again, he'd just partially repeat the conversation we just had, there's nothing new there.)

Let's check out a golden paradise.

30 - The Sacred Hills



If we return to the upper portion of the Golden Hills, where Venus lives, maybe we'll be able to find something.



This lady's new! We certainly didn't run into anyone else up here before...

Well, before we talk to her, let's check the banter.

It seems Venus has granted this cricket access to the hills.
Huh. So it's not only by winning offerings?
What could Venus' criteria be...?

There's definitely something mysterious about this. Let's talk to her.



If only she had been able to see it too...
It's truly something. Here on a pilgrimage?
O-Oh, explorers! What a wonderful surprise. I am indeed. Aren't these violet leaves just amazing?
This whole area is so full of beauty, yet it's still dangerous. Please be careful as you take in the sights.
Thank you, miss. Be safe as well!
...Wait a second!
Huh, what?
You three look like you are looking for something up here, are you not?
That's very perceptive of you. Indeed we are.
Do you think I could help you?
...I doubt it. But we thank you for your offer.
Oh, come on, try me! I know these hills inside and out.







Kind of a weirdo, right?
...Could you take me to him?
For what purpose?
I don't know... I think I can help. Trust me?
This whole request chain is a bit abnormal... very well.
Please stay close to us, and we'll escort you to sir hermit.
No rush. Don't forget to enjoy the sights you came here for!





Once we've finished talking to her, she starts following us. Um. Okay then. Let's hope this works out, I guess.



Back we go.



Like when characters followed us before, we could take whatever shortcuts we wanted, but there's an intended path where the character will be visible on the overworld the entire time. We'll take a short detour and escort her through the Golden Path.



It's the same Golden Path we explored before, there's not much new to see.



A quick trip through this cave, and we'll come out where we need to be.







Now back to Elom.







In hindsight, probably not what a hermit wants...
Hello, I've heard of your quest. That you've been here for so long...
And? You will try to make me see the bright side, like all the others?
Oh, not at all. I think this place is lovely.
If it's kept you entertained, it must be full of hidden wonders!
Would you mind if I stayed and looked around?
...!
...If that's okay.



You're not searching for the meaning in things.
I think things happen just because. I love to admire the results!
...
I would like you to stay.
Call me Tekci. It'll be my pleasure!



Y-Yes?
Thank you. I never expected you to go this far for me...
Uh, me neither. Did we just play matchmakers?
As long as everyone's happy...
This is the one worldly thing I have left.



It is from my younger days... I'm glad I kept it. If only to give it to you.
I must thank you too, although I have nothing to give...
Don't worry about it. We'll leave you to your introspection, and stuff.
If you ever need us, just post it in the town's quest board!



...and with that, we've completed the mole cricket matchmaking quest. All right then. This one's always seemed a little strange to me, both in how vague it is, and how quickly it's over. We meet these characters, introduce them to each other, and get a Lore Book; that's it. Good thing they happened to be the same species!

(Also, read their names backward, it nearly spells 'mole cricket'.)



There is a bit more dialogue we can see, if we go back inside.





I'm blessed you made us meet.

At least they seem to be happy. There's also a new banter we can see now.

This quest did not end as I expected...
Eh, they're both happy. It works out.
The client's always right!

Is it just me, or does it feel a little strange how self-aware the game is being about this quest? We haven't had anything quite this meta in a while.



Well, for better or worse, that's it, so let's head back and check out the Lore Book.

18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen



Ah, wonderful. That is one of ours, yes. I'll put it on the shelf, so check it out whenever.



Let's see.

The Ancient Crystals. Many crystals exist around the world, filled with a mysterious power. The old roaches learned how to harness their magic, and crystals are now used as power sources for machinery and many other things. No current side effects from crystal exposure are known, making them relatively safe. Some children's tales mention that sometimes sounds can be heard from them, if in a quiet enough place; probably fake. Archaeologists say these crystals appeared at the same time the Day of Awakening started, suggesting a link between them and that event.

This is intriguing, though the new information raises more questions than it answers.



Sorry... It doesn't seem like you have enough for the next reward tier. But don't give up! Keep trying and come back when you do!

Also, while we're here, I decided to check and see if we'd reached a new reward tier for discoveries. We're still one short. Oh well, let's move on.

06 - Outskirts



Remember how we ran into Stratos and Delilah here, ages ago, hinting there was a dangerous monster nearby in the Outskirts? Well, we have the ability to reach it now...



First, though, let's do some quick medal management. The only thing I'm changing here is moving Hard Charge and Status Relay from Vi to Leif; let's get fiddly, shall we?



All right, let's go.



This is the very first screen we ever got to explore after leaving the town in Chapter 1. That area on the far side of the river always looked a bit suspicious, but we never could reach it before.



We can now, though!



It's a bit hard to see before cutting the grass, but there's an exit leading north hiding in the back.



What are we going to find here?



This area's pretty suspicious, isn't it?



Woah! That's a huge Seedling!
We should think real hard before pressing forward...

The banter doesn't mince words, the Seedling King is up ahead (as we'll soon see; I guess our team's vision extends a bit beyond the screen the player can see). As you may recall, this is one of the Bounty bosses, and the next one we're able to face. Let's check this out.



There's not much to this area, it's just a straight path leading to a slightly larger clearing...



That's a big boy.

13 - It's Getting Scary!



Click me for video!

35 - Reckless for Glory! (Bonus Boss)



The Seedling King, it seems, also comes with his little attendants holding him up. Let's do some spying and see what we're up against here.



But it keeps spawning mini-Seedlings! It's a cuteness factory! ...Sigh, alright.
Let's try to keep the small ones at bay while we defeat this one.

(There's no way I was going to let anyone but Leif do the spying for this one.)



We've faced enemies with more durability, but this heavily implies we're not going to have only the King to deal with, so that might be a bit deceptive. Well, let's start fighting and see what he can do.



Kabbu will attack first, to start things off.



Let's try out Hard Charge! We haven't used it yet.





It's as simple as it sounds. Leif spends 5 HP and instantly gets +3 charge. This is incredibly useful for a variety of things, but I have a very specific purpose for it in mind right now.



Status Relay lets us do some fun things! Vi relays to Leif, then Leif relays to Kabbu, transferring the charges to him.



Then Kabbu relays back to Vi. (Notably, each character can only relay once per turn, so you do have to be careful with this. Vi's no longer able to use relay after that chain finishes.)





But that's okay, because what I want her to do is heal Leif back to full with Secret Stash.



Chompy finishes out our turn. It looks like she's biting the attendants there, but that's a cosmetic thing, they're not actually separate entities from the Seedling King in gameplay terms.

Now for the King's turn...



The King shakes his head, launching Tangy Berries that instantly sprout into Seedlings of various types. This time, it's two Underlings, but it can also generate normal Seedlings, Acornlings, and Cactilings while doing this: quite a lot of the extended Seedling family!





The newly generated Underlings also get to attack us immediately. That's a bit of a beating for Kabbu, but I'd rather they hit him than anyone else.



Because that means my plan worked out as intended. (Also, we can see here that all of the spawned Seedlings start with indefinite-duration Attack Up and Defence Up, but have lower maximum HP than the versions we'd encounter in the wild; these Underlings have only 6 maximum HP. They're more threatening but also more fragile than usual.)



With all this collective charge across the team, let's try out Frost Bowling!





Boom. I think that's a strike! (I'm not entirely sure how the damage of the explosion part is calculated, since the reduction doesn't seem to be a flat number. I'm beginning to think it's percentage-based, and the explosion does something like 60% of the initial damage.)



That pretty effectively got rid of the Seedlings and dealt heavy damage, but the downside of this strategy is that it cost us our entire turn. Only Chompy is left.



We could have her do nothing to spare us the counterattack and give us a turn to regroup a bit after that, but I think I'd rather just keep things moving.





...Yay, more Seedlings. Just what I wanted.





Just like before, they get to attack immediately (though none of them hit Kabbu this time). Could be worse, could be better.



The regular Seedlings only have 2 HP, so they're pretty easy to eliminate. Unfortunately, we're not really set up to just bowl everything down again.



I've had these Spicy Fries for a while; I want to keep everyone's HP topped off as best I can, since if I'm planning to use Frost Bowling more we might get fewer opportunities to heal. May as well get an attack boost while I'm at it.





Kabbu can have this for now.



Dash Through is also pretty effective in this fight, though it unfortunately won't quite kill the Underling even with the boost. (I may have miscalculated there.)



This is less than ideal.



Still, with a relay, Leif can finish it off. It just means we won't be able to do much else this turn.



At least with it out of the way, Chompy can bite the King again.



Well, that's a bit different, it sprouts an Acornling this time.





And, as usual, they both attack immediately. Focusing on Leif is even more awkward than it would be usually, since he now can't afford to use Hard Charge; that said, we'll deal with it.



The Acornlings also have reduced maximum HP (only 3, in fact), but they keep their innate defence, and with the buff from the boss, they can be a bit of a pain.





First off, let's get some TP back.



Dash Through deals with them just fine. (The damage on the Acornling might seem a bit peculiar until we recall how flipping works; the Defence Up boost is still applied while it's flipped, but its innate 2 points aren't, and the flipping attack deals damage as though the enemy were flipped first.)



Leif, meanwhile, can finish off the Underling. Unfortunately, this means we don't have a spare action to heal him this turn, which could get awkward if they decide to go after him again. This is a bit risky, but I preferred it to the alternative.



Chompy keeps doing her thing.



This is different! The first turn it begins under half health, the Seedling King will bound into the air and squash the Seedlings holding it up.



Then it immediately follows that up by charging Vi. Being on the ground gives it access to a few new attacks, of which this is one. It's a straightforward hit with a base damage of 6; this hurts quite a bit, but it's not the worst thing it can do.



From this point on, it also gets two actions per turn for the rest of the fight. (Presumably, the form change counted as the first one last turn.) In this form, it also gains a point of defence it didn't have before. It is significantly more aggressive and threatening from here on out, and this is definitely where the real fight starts.





We'll start off with a Sharing Stash from Vi; she and Leif both need the healing, and the regeneration will absolutely be welcome.



Kabbu can just attack for now.





I'll have Leif use this Baked Yam. He was on lower HP than Vi anyway, but also I'm more inclined to want him at full to open up options with Hard Charge.



Chompy contributes what she can.



For its first action, the King spawns Seedlings again (the form change doesn't preclude it doing that!). This time, we get a normal Seedling and a Cactiling.



The Seedling hits Vi.



But then the King is next in the sequence, and it still has an action left! This attack is pretty terrifying. Rolling through the party hits everyone for base 5 damage; in itself, we've seen worse, but on top of everything else it's doing it can be a nasty surprise.





And of course the turn hasn't ended yet, the Cactiling gets to attack too! Thankfully it didn't go after Vi, at least.



We are making progress, but we should probably do a bit of damage control here. (Also, we can see the Cactiling's stats here, they have 4 HP in this fight. Underlings are probably the most annoying ones at 6 HP.)



Let's get a bit tricky here. First, Leif relays his charge-up to Kabbu.



Then Kabbu relays back so he can use Hard Charge.





Another doughnut to recover our TP...



And we're set up for another round of bowling!







That play was definitely on the risky side, but we're rewarded for it with a lucky freeze.



I'm not inclined to press my luck here by having Chompy attack; let's let the freeze wear off naturally instead of having to take counterattacks.



Here, though, we see the flaw in my plan. Taking actions on the previous turn in addition to using Frost Bowling means we begin this turn with an action deficit, and only Kabbu has any actions to take. There's not a lot we can realistically do.



In the end, I decided just to have him attack normally and figured I'd deal with things the next turn. In retrospect, it would almost certainly have been better to relay to Vi and use Sharing Stash, or something like that...



But, regardless, Chompy at least is unaffected, and gets to act as usual.





And here's where everything comes crashing down. Yeowch. That's a double roll attack; even if I'd managed to Super Block the second one as well, that wouldn't have saved Leif or Vi. If I'd healed instead of attacking this last turn, I might not have ended up in quite so dire a position.



This isn't good. I dithered for a bit here, trying to decide what the best approach might be...



...but, ultimately, situations like this are what Miracle Shakes are made for.



As simple as that, everyone's up and ready to go again. There were no doubt other lines I could have taken to finish the fight, and I don't like making a habit of using these, but ultimately it's worth showing off at least once and this fight gave me a golden opportunity to do so.



Now, let's finish things. Leif's got enough HP to use Hard Charge now, so let's do that.



There are plenty of ways to end the fight from there, but Frozen Drill is convenient. Vi relays to Kabbu so he can initiate it; even with a turn of exhaustion each, Kabbu and Leif should do plenty of damage once the charge bonuses are factored in.



And there we go!



That got a bit dicey at the end, didn't it. The Seedling King is pretty straightforward as far as bonus bosses go, so I thought it might be fun to try a bit of a gimmick strategy. I don't actually recommend fighting it like this, though it was certainly fun to make Frost Bowling the core of a strategy for once. More straightforwardly, Ice Rain is very good here (since the King is weak to ice, as are all of the Seedlings he can summon), as is Dash Through. You can also boost Vi's attack instead, and just try to focus down the King instead of eliminating the Seedlings each time they spawn.



Here's the one attack we didn't see. In addition to spawning Seedlings, the King can also launch a barrage of Hard Seeds, which does 2-3 hits across the party, each hit dealing 4 base damage and inflicting Attack Down for 1 turn. It can do this regardless of whether it has spawned Seedlings with it, but killing all the spawns makes it less likely to see this since it's likely to keep making more (it won't spawn Seedlings if it already has some).

There's one other potential wrinkle in this fight. In earlier versions of the game, this fight was a bit glitchy; the Seedling King was considered to be flying while it had the attendants holding it up, and hitting it would cause the "falling down" sound (with no visual changes to accompany it). Some attacks would hit it normally regardless, but others wouldn't until it was "knocked down". It doesn't make the fight all that much harder, just a bit weird and unintuitive (to the point I'd even wondered if it was intentional design, though it seemed unlikely), but this was one of many issues that version 1.1 fixed.





Like the other Bounties we've fought so far, the Seedling King leaves behind an item, which Vi immediately picks up.



Also, we get a Discovery?







Apparently, this area is called the Seedling Haven.

There's also a new banter here now.

Alright! We took their king down!
Are Seedlings gonna stop showing up?
If only... There are sure to be more Seedling Kings, hiding from explorers.
It's not all that bad, Vi. We can keep looking for Golden Seedlings.
Bleh...

In case we had any concerns that we might have destroyed the local ecosystem or something... we probably haven't. Probably.



There's not much else to see here, though, so let's head back?



Actually, though, there is. If we leave and come back...



We'll find the area is now brimming with Seedlings. The encounters here are special, in that they have a higher base chance of spawning Golden Seedlings: 7.5% each, in comparison to the usual 1% throughout the rest of Bugaria. This is potentially the prime grinding spot in the game, should you wish to gather some combination of EXP, berries, or Tangy Berries. Or if you just want to have fun fighting the things, I guess. (There's actually a way to boost the chances of finding them even higher, but we're still a ways away from finding that.)

I don't intend to do any grinding here right now, but it's good to know it's here. If you don't want to buy Tangy Berries from Skirby (or don't want to go to Metal Island for whatever reason), you can get them pretty easily here.



Let's head back and report in about the Bounty.



On the way, we'll notice that Team Slacker are gone now. As soon as we defeat whatever Bounty they're hinting towards, they move on.



Let's go see Doppel.

34 - Dodgy Business







May I have that crystal it dropped?
...
...Yes, this is a genuine deal. Here is your reward.





Nice doing business with you. Please find the other bounties and your reward will be waiting.

That's new. He does actually have a bit of variety in what medals he can give us, it's just that doing things in the order we did them meant we got both copies of Last Attack first. Defeating the Seedling King rewards us with a second copy of TP Core, which is definitely pretty handy, though it's not nearly as abusable as Last Attack is. The two Bounties that remain will have other rewards for us.

One last thing, before we wrap up: we were one discovery short of the next reward, so let's take a quick trip back to the library.

18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen



...
This time you have 35 Discoveries, last time you had 34...
Looks like you have enough for the next reward tier! Here you go!



That seems to be all for now! Come back once you have found more Discoveries!

This time we get a Crystal Berry, which is definitely one of the nicer rewards (though I admit I have mixed feelings about the reward for getting a bunch of one collectible being a different type of collectible; part of me thinks those systems should have been kept separate). Still, it's nice to have, especially given how many we've spent recently. This brings our total to 5, which is enough to potentially buy another medal, but I think I'm inclined to wait for now until later when Shades might get more stock in again.



For now, this seems like a good place to wrap things up. This takes care of all the cleanup we can do with the icicle ability; with that Bounty fight behind us, we'll be continuing with our actual mission next time. It's time to head into the Far Grasslands and head north. I'll see you then.

[Explopyro]

49: Maki the Mighty

37 - Defiant Root



Last time, we used Leif's new icicle skill to find a few hidden items, a sidequest, and a Bounty fight. With that all behind us, it's time to get back to our mission. Let's hope nobody's upset we've kept them waiting... anyway, we'll start out in Defiant Root, as it's the closest to where we need to go.





Also, as per usual, some item restocking, we've been going through a lot of them recently. I'm sure Crisbee's grateful for all the business. We've got more doughnuts as usual; I also made a new Miracle Shake to replace the one I used, and a few oddball things for variety that may or may not end up being useful.



Let's be on our way. We need to meet Maki at the Far Grasslands entrance, which is east of here.

36 - Lost Sands



We don't have to go very far - this is just one screen east of Defiant Root.



Here we are. Things look a bit different though...

Oh no! The gate is destroyed!
A shame, but we can enter the Far Grasslands with ease now.
With permission, we could've crossed anyways...

Apparently, the wasps destroyed the border gate in the course of their invasion. That's probably not good.



Maki and his team are waiting for us. We know Kina, but who's the third person?



(Um. Yeah. Let's say we did, Maki.)

...Muh! Muh!
So who's the cute little thing?
Just some stray from the streets...



This is Yin. I found her while spying on the Wasps.
She should have become a Moth moons ago. And, well, her condition fascinates me.
...Is that so? That's weird.
Yeah! Never heard of a super old caterpillar!
Whatever. We've got work to do. I just hope she doesn't slow us down.
We'll head in first. Make sure you're well prepared.
We've never been more ready!
Uh, right. See you there.



They head north.



We'll follow them shortly.



Before that, though, let's investigate this area a bit more.



The gate guard appears to be hiding back here. She really looks traumatised; ingame, her sprite is constantly shuddering.



Did you see who did it!?
Vi! Can't you see she's in shock?!
It was her job to watch the gate, though...



Her will's more broken than the gate. Let's leave her alone for a bit.

Wow, good going, Vi. She's surprisingly supportive a lot of the time, but then we also get moments like this, where she manages to say precisely the wrong thing...

Let's talk to the guard again?

M-My only job... A failure!
Let's leave her be for a bit.

I don't think we're going to be able to do any good here, unfortunately.



Let's head north.

56 - Lands Untamed



It's the Far Grasslands! We've seen a small portion of this area before, but now it's time to explore it for real.

Far Grasslands...
Heavy foliage here.
This is part of the Wasp Kingdom, they probably don't care much about cleaning stuff up.
Lots of wild creatures live here. We need to be extra careful.
(...Still...)

Kabbu's definitely worrying about something. Let's go meet up with the others, though.



Hey, Kabbu. You're from the north, right?
We do recall hearing it once or twice.
You had many tales of this land when we first met. Would you serve as our guide?
...Yes. To be sincere, I've been waiting to return to this wretched place.
Uh, what? Wretched?
You've been acting weird. What's going on?



These are the Far Grasslands. They connect the Lost Sands with the Wasp Kingdom.
Given the state of affairs, it is likely their walls are sealed. Even if we went north to them...
We wouldn't be able to get in.



There's obviously some off-path or something...
That is correct. East of here... is... the Wild Swamplands.
Hideous monsters, wild tribes, thick water at every turn...



Kabbu, I had no idea it was this dreadful...
I'll take your words to heart, Kabbu. It's clear this is not a journey we can underestimate.
Kina, you should stay behind with Yin.
What? Are you crazy? You know how strong we are together!
I cannot risk this young bug suffering a harsh fate.
Please, I beg you to watch her until I return.



Kina... Please, try to understand your brother!







Kina takes Yin and leaves.



We aren't at the swamp yet, but we cannot relax.
Yeah. It's east of here, right? I'll make sure there's no traps around!
This area changes constantly, so I can't tell what's ahead.
Stay close to me. Let's go!



Um. Just what are you up to, Kabbu?



Anyway. After that conversation's over, we regain control. And Maki is following us now! He'll be accompanying us throughout this area. Also, if we check the banter now, we'll get a new one:

All being said, it's an honor to travel with you!
Despite my rank, I'm pretty normal... So please, don't feel the need to be too respectful.
You act anything but normal!

Now that Maki's with us, he'll participate in the banters too.



We're supposed to head east, but, well, there's also a path to the west. Let's explore that way first. (Despite the game telling us there's time pressure...)



We immediately find a digging spot, trying to hide behind this foliage in the foreground.







It has a Crystal Berry inside! Not bad. I'll happily take that.



Also, there's an enemy waiting for us.

55 - Team, It's Getting Serious!





Let's take a moment, once again, to appreciate the new battle music. We've already been hearing this in the battles in Upper Snakemouth, but players who decided not to go there quite yet will hear it here first. (For fun, here's a dance remix with a cute animation.)

Anyway, we encountered Wild Chompers briefly before, when we came to this area early. If not, they'd be a new enemy. Their 2 defence can be troublesome. Also, it looks like Maki's joining us here in the battle screen too.



Let's have Kabbu attack.



But for now, everyone else is going to do nothing.



Because after Team Snakemouth is done acting, Maki gets a turn! And unlike our previous experiences with guest party members, he is very strong. Maki will always attack the enemy in front, dealing 6 damage and ignoring all defence. Suffice it to say, that Wild Chomper is very dead.



We're back to receiving pity EXP again. This is, among other things, a consequence of going to Upper Snakemouth as soon as possible; generally speaking, if you go there first, you'll be a bit overlevelled for here, and vice versa.



Anyway, that's that battle done with. Having Maki along is certainly going to make things go a lot more smoothly here!



Just past that Chomper is a path to another area. Let's go.

56 - Lands Untamed



What are we going to find here? Let's check the banter first.

It's way too messy in here! I can barely make out the road!
It's not like there's a town nearby. We're just plowing through the wildlife.
The Ant Kingdom and its outskirts took a long time to tidy up. It makes you appreciate the workers more.
We've taken them for granted...!

This one's cute, and it's always nice to get these little worldbuilding details.



Moving forward a bit, there are lots of enemies milling about here, including a new one we haven't seen before...



First things first, though, let's climb up this ramp that's barely visible in the foreground. We're going to have to fight that spider before anything else.

55 - Team, It's Getting Serious!



Well, spiders. These are Jumping Spiders; we've seen them before on the path to the Wizard's Tower. Though as that area was optional, this could easily be your first time facing them.











Team Snakemouth's combined attacks can eliminate the front one right off.





While Chompy and Maki put quite the dent in the second one.



Here's something we haven't seen before, though! If you fail to block, Jumping Spiders can steal items with their attacks. That's my Queen's Dinner!



This will not stand.



Thankfully, it's a simple matter to kill the spider and get our item back. Just like with the bandits, any flipping attack will make them drop a stolen item (or you can just kill them), but they'll escape with it if you let them.



Anyway, that's over.





The reason we needed to come up here was to grab this Crystal Berry. This one can be easy to overlook, if you're not in the habit of checking everywhere.



Of course, we're not quite done here yet. Let's clear out the rest of these enemies.



Mantidflies are another enemy we got to preview earlier. They're not all that sturdy, but they innately get to attack twice per turn, which can get annoying quickly.



The combined efforts of our team and Chompy are enough to kill the first one.



Leaving Maki free to take a big chunk out of the second.





Good thing, too, because that could have gone badly! The surviving one hit Kabbu twice and brought him to 1 HP.



The Mantidfly itself is nearly dead, though. Before we kill it, let's do a bit of damage control.





Two uses of Vi's Secret Stash and Kabbu's back to normal. The after-battle recovery medals can take care of a lot, but if we're not using our TP for anything else, it's often a good idea to supplement them (especially since we'll recover most of the TP right away anyhow).



Now we finish things.



That could definitely have been worse.





There's not much to see on this level if we head west, just some weeds we can cut for a handful of berries.



We can climb up these rocks and flowers, though.



Guess it's time to find out what this thing is.



A new enemy, of course, means it's spying time.



Kabbu said to focus it, but I'd rather leave it for last. Hmm...



These are Flowerlings. They're another Seedling variety (though I always think they look a bit like UFOs). As the spy dialogue suggests, these are something of a support enemy.









We'll start out by attacking the spider, though not quite enough to kill it.



Well, that's useful! Maki's attack is perfectly capable of hitting airborne enemies also. That said, he also didn't quite do enough damage to kill it, so we'll get to see the Flowerling do something.



One of the more common things we'll see them do is heal other enemies (though they can't heal themselves, and they're smart enough not to try to heal enemies that don't need it). It's only 3 HP, though.



The spider immediately undoes the Flowerling's work by landing right on Kabbu's horn. Good going, spider.





From there, it's a trivial matter to finish them both off. That's not all that Flowerlings can do, we'll see more from them as we explore this area.



Also, it conveniently left behind a Honey Drop for us. That could be useful.





We climb up the rest of the flowers and reach this ledge. There's not much up here, just a few weeds we can cut down and a path to the next screen. Guess we'll keep moving.



This area certainly looks overgrown!

Blasted thorns... my one weakness! Whatever shall we do?
Buckle up. We're going on a safe and magical ride.
...! What incredible magic...

Heh. I guess we never had reason to tell him about all of Leif's abilities before, did we? He certainly seems impressed.





Before actually showing him how to cross thorns, let's deal with this.



Kabbu attacks the Wild Chomper to start off.



Vi knocks down the Flowerling...



And Leif kills it with Frigid Coffin. I'd actually just been thinking to disable it here, forgetting how little HP they have and the fact they're weak to ice. Oh well. Dead works too.



And this leaves Maki to effortlessly finish off the Chomper. With just a bit of planning around him, Maki's 6 damage can end a lot of the fights here very efficiently. It's hard not to feel overpowered when he's with us.



Easy enough.



This area is full of thorns. Without Leif's Bubble Shield, we wouldn't be able to get anywhere.





This platform is a dead end; we can't get past this boulder. It's worth remembering this location for later, though.



Maybe we'll have better luck going this way?





Not really? The southern part of this island just has more of these rocks, and crossing the thorns further doesn't take us to anything.



Let's get this Mantidfly out of the way before anything else.



This doesn't seem too difficult. We can eliminate the Mantidfly the first turn, at least...



Which allows us to see the Flowerling's basic attack. It's not very effective; this attack only does 2 damage at base. If they don't have another enemy around to support, this is all that Flowerlings can do.



It's a trivial matter to finish it off after that.



Now let's get a better look around.



This ledge slopes down just enough that we can climb up.





And from there, we can use the flowers to get up here. This place might look familiar! On the other side of the big rock is the 'preview area' we were able to access before, which leads to the Wizard's Tower. We can't get through the rock, though (and trying to dig under it doesn't work), so even if we wanted to go back there, this is a dead end.

We've now explored all of the western path, so let's head back east and try another direction.







Okay. Back where we started. That was a nice detour?



Just east of the entrance, we encounter another Jumping Spider.



That said, it's alone. With Maki along, it's trivial to kill this thing before it gets a turn.



Let's just move on.



The path splits here: we could go east, or north.



Let's check out the northern path first.



There's a lot going on here! Looks like that's the entrance to the Wasp Kingdom in the distance...

There's the border. Well guarded as usual.
Not a fight we want to pick...
You're absolutely sure we can't just blitz in?
Say the word, and I'm ON IT!
They're too many. Our only chance is to sneak in. Let's go.

Leif and Vi are feeling a bit bloodthirsty today, it seems. Something tells me a frontal assault wouldn't go very well, though.



Ooh, is that a Lore Book? Before we can get it, we'll need to contend with this Chomper.



It has a Jumping Spider with it, but with Maki along, this fight goes pretty effortlessly and there's not much to see.



So let's just move on.





We'll take this with us. (We could take a detour to the library and read it, but let's not... we'll get plenty of opportunities later.)



Let's explore the rest of this area, shall we?



We don't have to go far before encountering yet more enemies! There are certainly a lot of them around here...



This could be a bit of a problem.





Seems like a good time to break out Kabbu's Under Strike. This goes a long way to softening up both Mantidflies, at least; I'd rather not take that many hits.







We can finish off the first one easily from there.







I could probably have planned this better, as it's a bit overkill, but at least with Maki's help we've eliminated the second one as well. That was the main goal I had here.



Wild Chompers aren't exactly harmless, but I'd much rather deal with them than the Mantidflies' double attacks.



From here, it's simple to clean this up.





The enemies here are certainly being generous with items today. It's almost enough to make me regret stocking up, since I don't quite have the room to keep them; still, may as well use them immediately to keep ourselves topped off.





Let's not forget to check that island in the centre, with the conspicuous dig spot on it! Leif's icicle ability will make us a bridge, as usual.









Nice. More Dark Cherries. We'll definitely make room for these.



Back to the shore.



More enemies are lying in wait. (With all the big plants around here, it's sometimes hard to see them!)



This is interesting! This Flowerling has several different varieties of Seedling with it; we haven't seen these a lot recently, or at least not outside the Seedling King encounter.





Let's get a little clever. Kabbu hitting the Underling sends it below ground, then Leif's attack brings it right back up... leaving it above ground, and on exactly 6 HP. Perfect for Maki to finish off.





Vi and Leif can start chipping away at the Flowerling, instead.



We will have to waste Chompy's turn, but that'll end up being more efficient in the end.



Good work, Maki.



Acornlings really aren't anything to worry about.



This is new, though! This is the last thing Flowerlings can do: in addition to healing, they can also buff their allies, giving either Attack Up or Defence Up.



It's not going to avail them any, though. We can finish things easily from here.



Let's move on.



We're clearly not supposed to approach the Wasps' fortress, but... can we?



Let's look for another route.

Nope. Maki will stop us if we try to get too close.



And if we head east instead of trying to go north, we'll just find another dead end. There's nothing here but some more weeds to cut.



So let's head back.



And now actually go east.



What have we here?

What dense foliage... It's getting tougher to press forward.
It's kinda nice though. In a weird way.
The Ant Kingdom used to have more plants in it. Maybe they could have built around them better?
Such is the cost of building a city...

Leif seems to have a bit of an issue with urban development.



Barely a few steps in, and we're faced with more spiders...



Well, that's different! It's been a while since we've stumbled upon a Golden Seedling; that's a pleasant surprise.



And this time, we have Ice Rain! Ice Rain really makes short work of them, because unlike the majority of multi-hit attacks, none of these hits are going to get nullified. It's an easy way to tear through their HP (and, conveniently, lets us damage the other enemies a bit as well).



This shouldn't be too hard to clean up now!





Golden Seedlings are still worth loads of EXP, unlike everything else here!





Kabbu can easily finish off this spider.



And this gives me a convenient opportunity to demonstrate something. Let's have Chompy skip her turn.



Maki's attack may ignore defence, but it's not doing flat damage. His damage can still be increased in certain circumstances, like when the enemy is frozen.



The Underling survives to attack us once, but that's all it will manage to do.







There we go! What a haul.



This, too. That's a lot of berries!



And we'll make room for this.



Toward the back of this area, we can notice this bounceshroom behind one of the tall stone structures. Let's look around a bit more before trying it out, though.



There's also a Chomper here. Let's get that out of the way.





Looks like it's a pair of them.



I could definitely have been more efficient about this; our normal attacks weren't quite enough to finish it off, so it fell to Maki to finish off the first one. It's honestly worth spending some TP to get through their defence, though I often can't be bothered (even though we'd recover most of it after the fight); it's a bad habit.



At least we get to see something new! Wild Chompers can summon their own kind of Mini-Chompers. (And they seem to do it just by shaking, instead of launching seeds like their red brethren.)



It also gets to attack immediately. Aside from the colouration, it seems to be just the same as other mini-Chompers.





Spawning also doesn't cost them a turn, so the Wild Chomper still gets to attack normally.



Well, that's different. Despite attacking like normal baby Chompers, these ones have 1 defence, but only 3 maximum HP.



Which ends up making them even easier to deal with, because Kabbu in front can one-shot them without any assistance.



Easy enough to finish the battle from there.





Our exploration quickly reaches its limit. Just a bit further east, we encounter an impassable wall that covers the full length of the area. No going around this, we're going to have to approach this a different way.





Let's head up and see if we can find another path.



Between the stone platforms and the plants, we can make our way east up here. It's just a bit of platforming.



Though there are also enemies up here.





This isn't too bad to deal with, though.



Another convenient Honey Drop, which we can use to replenish any TP we may have spent in the battle.



At first glance, this might appear to be a dead end. Where are we supposed to go?



Why, jump down, of course! If we fall off the right side of the platform, we'll end up on the far side of the wall.



And now we can head onward! (This isn't a point of no return; portions of the wall are low enough on this side that we can make our way over it if we have to. Though that is one-way, we'd need to retrace our prior route to get back here again.)



This area just keeps going!

The path seems to split. Anyone's got a guess?
No need to take chances. If we keep moving north, we'll get there.



Heh. I guess it's not surprising Kabbu appreciates having Maki around, there always seemed to be a bit of mutual admiration there.



We can just about see the path splitting here; let's deal with the enemies first, though.



This is simple enough. We're practically guaranteed to eliminate the spider before it can do anything, and Flowerlings are nearly harmless on their lonesome.



Nothing to be concerned about.





Let's divert to the south first?





There's a stream here, but the lily pads provide a convenient crossing. (For once, a game where walking on lily pads makes perfect sense!)



Um, who is this?

13 - It's Getting Scary!



We've gone a bit off-track. We shouldn't disturb this settlement...

Whoever this is, he seems like he might be raring for a fight. But Maki won't let us get closer, so we're going to have to turn around for now.

56 - Lands Untamed



We can't do anything here for now, but we should probably make note of this for later. Let's head back.





Let's follow the path north.





There are more enemies, of course. But with Maki's help, they're still not much to write home about.



Let's just keep moving.







This one could be a bit annoying.



Team Snakemouth can clear out the first one easily enough, but the second hangs on a bit even after Maki's attack.







That could've definitely been worse. It's usually a relief when they go for the piledriver attack, because it's not very difficult to button-mash out of it and render it harmless.



And now, of course, it's effortless to finish things.



On we go.



Let's keep pressing onward.



Well, this looks different!

...
Stay steadfast, Kabbu. We're almost there.
Yeah!
Sorry, I was just thinking. Let's go.
Mhm.

Kabbu is really not good at hiding the fact he has something on his mind. What could be going on...?



There's a big pool of water here, which we can try to cross if we want to.





That said, it's a waste of time right now. This platform on the other side is piled with boulders we can't do anything about, so there's nothing we can do here. Maybe this will offer some kind of shortcut once we have an ability to do something about them, but right now we're out of luck. Let's head back.





And here we are. This definitely looks like the entrance to the Wild Swamplands. But as there's a save crystal right here, and we've already been exploring for a while, that'll have to wait until next time. Kabbu's definitely worried about something, but we have Maki with us! Surely everything will be fine.

[Explopyro]

Design Interlude: Time and Ludonarrative Dissonance

This may fall into the realm of "my personal pet peeve" more than generalisable design principles, but the game gave me a perfect opportunity to talk about it, so who am I to refuse?



Stories often use time to establish a sense of urgency and raise the stakes. That's a perfectly reasonable writing choice, and in a vacuum it's all well and good. In the context of a video game, though, problems can emerge when that time limit is there for narrative purposes (and exists in-universe in some sense), but doesn't exist for the player.

Take, for instance, what we just experienced in Chapter 5 of Bug Fables. We fended off the Wasps' invasion, and were ordered by the Ant Queen to start a counteroffensive and try to get the artifacts back while they might still be in disarray. We're explicitly told time is of the essence and we must hurry (repeated several times for emphasis!).

Instead, what we actually did was spend several updates' worth of gameplay faffing around doing sidequests (some of which, like Leif's Request, are genuinely important, but others are a lot less justifiable, like the mole cricket quest which explicitly has no time pressure whatsoever) and fighting optional bosses, before finally deigning to meet up with Maki like we were ordered to.



And then, when we got there, he still praised us for coming quickly!

The player's behaviour tends to produce a sequence of events that is narratively incoherent. And, worse, this is more or less encouraged by the gameplay structure. It's really hard not to notice it, and it interferes with suspension of disbelief. (In my experience, this kind of thing tends to lead to players separating the gameplay and story somewhat, and thinking along the lines that "in terms of the story, the characters rushed to their destination appropriately, the sidequests just happen off in some vaguely non-canonical aether". Worse things can happen, but this isn't great as far as headcanons go.)

(What's even more awkward about this particular example is that, in terms of the overarching narrative, it's obviously expected that the player complete the Leif's Request sidequest at some point, but there's never quite a point where the urgency of other things lets up enough for it to be considered the 'appropriate' time. It's always just slightly incongruous that we're taking a break from time-sensitive missions to do it, yet that never causes a problem, and by the end we'll obviously have done it. You can make a case that the 'intended' route is to finish the storyline first and uncover Leif's past in the postgame, but I don't think that feels quite right either.)

Let's contrast this with another way Bug Fables creates narrative urgency, in the aforementioned Wasp invasion sequence. The game interrupted what we were doing, presented the scenario, and forced us to deal with it before we could engage with any other content. (We saw something similar earlier with the Honey Factory lockdown, also.) This is a much more effective way to evoke urgency, in my view, but there are obvious disadvantages: whether you frame it in terms of inconvenience to the player (in temporarily locking them out of the primary gameplay loop or removing access to content, etc), that taken to an extreme it produces linearity, etc., this is an approach that works best when used sparingly.

What we're talking about here, ultimately, is a form of ludonarrative dissonance. Or, in simple terms, a mismatch between the story the gameplay itself tells ("ludonarrative"), and the story the game tells you it's telling ("narrative", for lack of a more specific term). (Alternatively, here's a hbomberguy video.) This has become a popular concept in the games criticism conversation over the last decade or so, and while I do think it's sometimes overused, I think it's an important lens that can reveal issues that are otherwise hard to identify.

The reason I get stuck on this particular one is because the obvious way to "fix" it (something like "TIME BOMB SET GET OUT FAST!") doesn't quite work. I certainly don't want to impose time limits on every game! Nor do I think it's bad for games to have sidequests, or content that can be engaged with in an order of the player's choosing. It is often possible to solve it with some more careful writing, whether to imply the urgency isn't specifically time-related, or the "clock" doesn't start ticking until the player chooses to begin the task, etc.

The ur-example of getting this wrong, to me, will always be The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (which, don't get me wrong, is a game that I love; that just doesn't mean I'm blind to its writing mistakes). As soon as the game deigns to tell you what's going on, the narrative hammers home the urgency: Zelda currently has Ganon trapped, but her power could fail at any time, so you need to build Link's strength and break the stalemate as soon as possible before it does. This urgency is reflected nowhere in the gameplay, which primarily concerns itself with exploring and enjoying the environments, taking your time to get as much out of them as you wish to, and so every time it was mentioned I found myself doing a bit of a double-take. (And, again, this would have been easy to fix: play up the "stalemate" angle instead of emphasising its precariousness. The situation is currently stable, and breaking it is irreversible, so the important thing is to ensure Link is as prepared as possible before doing so.) Far better to lean into the feel of the game than to force a narrative that's constantly fighting it.

(Edit: more succinctly and amusingly expressed in this comic, linked in the thread by Twelve by Pies)

I don't have easy solutions to propose that are universally applicable, but this is the sort of writing issue that consistently irritates me, and at the same time, seems like it can often be resolved fairly easily on another pass of editing (unlike a lot of other, more insidious forms of ludonarrative dissonance, which might necessitate a full rewrite). As such, I wanted to take some time to talk about it.

(Well, okay, the other reason I wanted to talk about it is that, unfortunately, I currently continue to be busy and overwhelmed with life things, and I'm probably not going to be able to do a proper update for another week or so, but a design interlude post is easier to throw together in the interim... the dirty secrets of LP writing, let me tell you them.)

[Explopyro]

50: A Bridge Too Far

It's been a while, hasn't it? (Team Snakemouth kept Maki waiting long enough, now here I am adding to the problem.) I'm sorry about that. I've had a lot to deal with offline and it's been rather overwhelming, so I haven't been able to find much time or energy to work on this. Hopefully now I've gotten back on track and there won't be further delays, but I can't quite be certain.

56 - Lands Untamed



We travelled through the Far Grasslands and reached the entrance to the Wild Swamplands everyone finds so fearsome. It's time to head inside.



Before we do, though, a tiny bit of medal management. Numb Resistance is very helpful against certain enemies here, so I'm going to put these on (and in this case, I prefer to stack both on the same bug for total immunity). I'll go into more detail when it becomes relevant (which may not be in this update), but for now just be aware I'm doing this.

With those preparations complete, in we go.

57 - Swamps Where Dreams Drown



The music here really sets an ominous atmosphere. We get a discovery as soon as we enter, too. Though the game won't quite let us look at it yet, because our team start a conversation immediately.



I wish I could say it'll get better as we go...
This is the only way to the Wasp Kingdom, though. We'll have to deal with it.
Chill out. We're gonna be fine, Kabbu. Okay?
Only if we keep our guard up. The Leafbug tribes are sure to attack us.
Is diplomacy not an option?
They don't speak our language. Our words are lost on them.



Let's make haste and cross. Listen up.
During my scouting of this area, I've found a few structural weaknesses in the Wasp Kingdom's walls.
We can sneak inside through one of these at the back of the swamp. Stay close, and stay vigilant!



Kabbu's still acting a bit cagey, isn't he. What's going on with him? Well, regardless, we've established our mission, best be about it.



We're in control again. Let's see what the discovery says.







(That's a bit of a spoiler, game. Come on.) What kind of a beast, and what exactly happened to Kabbu here? Maybe he'll open up more if we give him some time.

Let's check the banter too.

Dreadful as ever, this cursed land...
Kabbu, this is the time for some helpful advice. Wouldn't you say so?
Oh, lemme guess! Stay together, don't fall in the water, and don't fight spooky things!
Sounds about right.
Indeed.

Vi can always be counted on to lighten the mood, at least. Let's start exploring.



This room is mostly just an open space with some weird-looking weeds we can cut down, though.



Or is it? What's this thing? It just came charging out of nowhere!

55 - Team, It's Getting Serious!





It's been a while since we've fought spiny caterpillar things, hasn't it? Let's see what this thing is about...



We hope its high defenses protect its self-esteem as well. Kabbu, flip it over. We've got a special icicle waiting for it.



This is a Madesphy, and it's a lot more dangerous than it looks (though we're unlikely to see that until later battles with them).

Incidentally, these are based on a real insect, but I cannot for the life of me find the name despite having seen it before ("madesphy" is a deliberate misspelling of the scientific name, and is used only in this game); please do tell me if you know it. The Bug Fables artbook only says "the real one is even uglier".



We'll start off by having Kabbu flip it. (The damage here is a bit peculiar. When we've flipped enemies before, it's reduced their defence before calculating the damage, but against these it deals the damage against full defence first. I'm not sure why the change, but it's consistently how these work.)







Then everyone else can attack, though it's not quite enough to get the kill.



Maki cleans up for us. We'll see what these things can do later.



Unfortunately, we're still getting only pity EXP, even though these are new enemies (a continuing consequence of our having done the side content first). In spite of that, it's a bad idea to underestimate the enemies here.

It seems to be a fairly common experience for people to have Bug Me Not equipped on their first visit here, skip the encounters by accident, and end up finding this whole section of the game underwhelming as a result. Please don't do that, this content is good and it deserves to be experienced.

For now, let's move on.

57 - Swamps Where Dreams Drown



It leaves behind a Crunchy Leaf, but we don't have room to keep it.





With it dead, we're free to look around, but there's not much to see.



Let's head onward.



This room looks a bit more involved. Let's check the banter.

I'm not a fan of the water, but these pads look serviceable.
It's way calmer than I expected in here!
"Keep your guard up." Right, Kabbu?
Please.

Everyone's got really good eyes, to see what's on that upper level; I certainly can't. We'll go there soon enough.



Let's fight this enemy first.



This Wild Chomper has a Madesphy with it. That's a lot of defence to go around.



Let's have Vi start out with a Needle Pincer against the Chomper (thanks to Victory Buzz and TP Core, we can afford to spend our TP a bit more liberally). It's not quite enough to kill, but...



It's precisely enough to get it in range for Kabbu to finish off.



Now Kabbu can flip the Madesphy.







And everyone else cleans up. We're done here.



Let's keep moving.





Cutting down a weed here yields us a Honey Drop. May as well eat that now to get back to full TP, since we don't have room to keep it.



Let's head up.



Ah, there's the water (and lily pads) everyone was talking about!



Let's fight this Mantidfly first, though.



It has a Jumping Spider with it. This fight is still very straightforward, though. With the extra turn from getting the first strike, our team can easily kill the Mantidfly on the first turn.



Leaving Maki to hit the spider, though as we didn't soften it up at all, he can't kill it.





Still, one attack later, we can finish this off effortlessly.



Let's just keep going.



This could be a problem. How are we going to get across this murky water?



If we get on the lily pad, we'll quickly see we can cut this weed. Will that help at all?





Once we cut the weed to free it, the lily pad starts drifting slowly east.



It moves to this point, then reverses direction and heads back. From here, though, we can easily jump to the next one.





We'll just repeat this process and free the next one.



Which floats us over to this corner, where we can jump off on the far side. (The third lily pad isn't part of this path, but it will offer a path to backtrack if we need it.)





It's another big empty clearing... is there nothing here?



Spoke too soon. As soon as we get near the exit, these guys jump out! Is this an ambush?



Oh, aren't these cute...
Raise your guard. These are the vicious Leafbug tribes I mentioned!
Seriously? These look super harmless...



We'd best give it our all!

29 - Team, This One's Stronger! (Miniboss)





Well, that's that, guess we've no choice but to fight them! Let's see what information we can get, this could be a problem.



Not only do they hold powerful strikes, they can even multiply! We'll have to hit many of them at once!

Leafbug Ninjas have an illusion trick, which this is hinting at.



They're definitely annoying enough that it's worth focusing them down. Let's get on it, Vi, before they call for backup.

Leafbug Archers are archers that do archer things, but they also have the ability to summon more leafbugs.



Time to show 'em what real skills look like!

And Leafbug Clubbers are the heavy hitters. That's a reasonably well-balanced party we're up against here!



Despite this setup looking like a miniboss fight (and this fight isn't trivial!), this is merely our introduction to Leafbugs, which we'll be facing as normal enemies throughout the Swamplands. We'll be very familiar with the capabilities of all three classes by the time we're through here.



Leif relays to Kabbu, who hits the first one...



Oh. Oh no. Is that...



Yeah. Looks that way. The Leafbug Tribe have an additional gimmick, which is very similar to our own Favorite One medal. Any time you hit one of them, any other Leafbugs that see it happen immediately react by gaining +1 charge.





And unlike when we do it, their version can trigger multiple times per turn! This can build up really quickly if you're not careful: you want to be thoughtful about when you piss these guys off, especially in multiples, because it doesn't take a lot to make things turn deadly.





As we're quickly about to see, because Maki does not know the meaning of restraint either. He's finished off the Ninja, but its two companions are now at maximum power.



First off, archer does archer things. That's a Super Block, and it still hurt! This arrow's base damage is a very reasonable 3 points, but if you let them charge it up it gets significantly scarier.



Ow.

(This attack deals 5 damage at base, but that's small comfort when we're getting clocked for 8. This turn could have been significantly worse, though: there are other moves he could have used.)



Well, then. How about we don't let them do something like that again?

(The first turn of this battle tends to go badly if you insist on spying everything at once, and aren't using the Spy Specs medal to prevent it costing actions. Alternatively, you can pace the spying over a few turns, and let Leif freeze one or two of them. But, for better or worse, the first time you get here you aren't going to know how these enemies work, and that means this first turn usually gets bloody. I wanted to make sure I showed that properly.)



To start with, let's move Leif in front and have him freeze the big guy with Frigid Coffin. In addition to keeping it from attacking us, when frozen (or suffering from another disabling status), Leafbugs won't react to us beating up their comrades, so it's an even better tactic than usual.



Let's have Vi do a Tornado Toss on the archer. It's been a while since we've used this move! Hurricane Toss is almost always better, but we don't need it so we may as well save the TP.





This worked out perfectly so that Kabbu and Chompy could finish off the archer...



Clearing the way for Maki to eliminate the Clubber, who was on exactly 7 HP.



The amount of EXP you get is not remotely indicative of how challenging the fight was, sometimes. Still, we got through it!

57 - Swamps Where Dreams Drown





Having been beaten, the Leafbugs quickly flee.



This area is their territory. We must try to get through without confronting them.
It's truly a shame they do not understand us.



(Vi, are we talking about the same fight here?)

Let's go, then. Worst case, we freeze them over.



Kabbu is still being shifty. Come on, Kabbu, talk to your friends.



And we're back in control. We certainly haven't seen the last of the Leafbugs. These guys can be a real difficulty spike, especially since it might take a few turns to figure out how their gimmick works (and in the meantime you'll probably take a lot of damage!). I think it's a good kind of difficulty spike, though, in that the player absolutely has the tools to deal with it but will need to think tactically and carefully choose their moves. They're really satisfying to fight once you start figuring them out.



Let's move on to the next area.



Looks like another watery expanse we're going to have to get across somehow...

I shoulda shut up... It's getting intense!
Nothing that cannot be solved by thinking on our next step.
We can really imagine Kabbu and Maki on the same team...
Heheheh. Really? I'd never leave you both now, though.



The banter here is cute (and a nice callback to the game's opening!). Anyway, let's explore-



Wait, that plant was a ninja?



Oh. Well, we didn't get to see what these are capable of in the last fight... and we're not going to in this one either, because even without getting fancy we'll eliminate it before it gets a chance to attack.



That said, let's take the opportunity to have Vi heal Kabbu with Secret Stash; he's looking a bit worse for wear after that last bludgeoning.



I promise we'll get to see Ninjas do their thing in due time.



Well, that's convenient. We can eat this Honey Drop and get back to maximum TP right away.



This branch is our way forward, though it's a bit precarious: the angle's kind of awkward, and it's really easy to fall in the water if you aren't careful.



Also, there's a Clubber lying in wait at the far end, so let's get ready.





I tried to get a first strike there, but he was faster. (Leif's Bubble Shield would probably have worked better, that's usually a solid approach here if you want to get a first strike or try to avoid the encounter.)













These guys have enough defence that it's tricky to get through with basic attacks; Maki helps make up the difference, but this was really inefficient and another approach would have been better. This does mean we didn't touch the Madesphy at all...



And it will get to attack us. This is actually their less scary attack: everything they can do hits the entire party. These things really punch above their weight, and you don't want to take them lightly.



That said, alone it's not much of a threat, since we can finish it off before it gets to do anything else.



Let's move on.



With that out of the way, we have some more platforming to do.



Once we get here, it can be a bit tricky: we need to drop down, but it's hard to see much of the log we're trying to land on.



There we go. The lily pad there would take us back, since otherwise this would have been a one-way path; let's ignore it and keep going forward.





There are some more lily pads to cross, but... um. Where do we go now? How do we get up to that ledge?



Let's try hitting this rock?



Chain reaction! That wasn't quite what I expected, but it seems to have worked...



Now that we've knocked everything down, this ramp gets us right up.





We also need that rock to get us over this fallen log.



Let's head on to the next area.





The banter in this area is very short. Um. Let's head onward, I guess?





13 - It's Getting Scary!



...That doesn't look good.











Yeah, this definitely isn't good. (Although Vi remembered she can fly again, I guess that's something?)

57 - Swamps Where Dreams Drown





No kidding...! Everyone's fine?







...Tch. I hurt my leg...

(Just how did Maki end up so far away from the rest of us, anyway?)



Yikes. I know he has to hear you, but...



It's okay... I'll wait here! Help Kabbu and Leif reach me too!
You've heard him! We must rendezvous with haste! Let's look for another path!



Uh, right. Time to search!



The game's given us back control, but this seems like a pretty sticky situation! We seem to be pretty well trapped here... (although there is a yellow save crystal at least; it's been a while since we've had one of those!)

There is no time! We're pressing on!

If we check the banter, Kabbu will just urge us to keep moving. Um. Let's see what we can do?



One of these giant rock piles is blocking the way forward, but we can try to inspect it.



Ugh, we're stuck already!? This is bad.
Ngh... Gr...
Uh, Kabbu?







W-Were you always this strong?
We must save Maki! We cannot let anything happen to him!
Well, yes. But how did you...



So let's go. We must hurry!
Oi, what's all that hopelessness talk!?
Everything's always worked out fine. Why are you so frazzled?



Just tell us! We'll get it!
...
...Very well. I will tell you the truth.
I've spoken enough of how dreadful this place is.
In my hometown, it is regarded as a graveyard of naive explorers who drowned before they noticed...



We wanted to see Bugaria's vast and beautiful kingdom.
Despite many warnings, and to avoid the Wasp Kingdom, we crossed the swamp.
You can't mean...



Even though I was the rookie, they... made sure I would...



Y-Yeah. You're always telling us you'll help us!



The pain of that journey... I wished to bury it. To overcome my regrets in a new life.
Alas, I find myself back here. Haunted!
I-It's gonna be ok, Kabbu! We're gonna cross it together!
...Yeah. No one's getting left behind. We'll save Maki and get out.



K-Kabbu... Come on, say something!



It's a promise. Let's watch each other.
You got it! Team Snakemouth's ready to go!
Vi, Leif... thank you. Let's go!
(And I'm sorry...)



Well, that was quite heavy, but at least we understand a bit better why coming here has been so hard for Kabbu. Through the power of sheer determination, he can now crush boulders by dashing into them, and he's cleared the way for us to move forward. It's a powerful moment.

That said, it's a bit awkward, because he hasn't actually gained any new abilities. It's the same dash we've been able to use since Chapter 3, but it breaks boulders now when it couldn't before. And in battle, Dash Through is the same as it's always been. This is a consequence of the dash being moved earlier in v1.1 and having the running function added to it: in earlier versions, this is where Kabbu's dash unlocked and he learned Dash Through for use in battle. In fact, this is one of the bigger reasons I briefly considered using v1.0.5 for the LP, but I eventually decided it wasn't worth giving up the bugfixes and quality-of-life features just to strengthen this single moment.

(Also, game balance wise, I think Dash Through unlocking earlier is a significant improvement. When it unlocked here, I never found myself using it much, and the situations where I think it's most useful are already behind us. I certainly don't think it's overpowered, and it opens up a lot of options. Then again, in its absence, maybe other skills like Boulder Throw would get a chance to shine more; no change is without consequence.)



Here's what the dash looked like in prior versions (don't mind the blue crystal, I recorded this on a completed save). It didn't help you move faster, it was just for smashing boulders.



Anyway, with the boulder destroyed, we can now see there's a path we can take to the south (that doesn't look like it's going toward Maki, though, does it...).



That said, we'll explore further next time. And now that Maki's no longer with us, all the enemies we've gotten used to him helping us kill are going to present a significantly bigger threat... well, for better or worse, I'll see you then.

[Explopyro]

51: Heart of Darkness

Um. It's been a while. So, where were we?

57 - Swamps Where Dreams Drown



Oh, right. Sorry, Kabbu.

This is where the dungeon-ness, for lack of a better word for it, of this area starts ramping up. We're stranded with no way back, and we don't have Maki to lean on any more.

Let's head south.







S-Should we worry?
Just make sure we don't slow him down.

Normally I try not to screenshot the banters, but this one's great. Let's hope this doesn't go to Kabbu's head... but for now, I'm inclined to let him rampage.







Smashing rocks is the order of the day; there are plenty of them blocking our path, like this one. It's pretty satisfying just watching Kabbu barge right through them.







Although some of them are just... here. (Or it was, anyway.) This one wasn't blocking any paths or hiding anything, but of course you can't know that until you smash it.



The way forward is over here, past a simple puzzle.



Leif can freeze the Flowerling to make a platform, and we jump across. Nothing to it.





Then we can cross the natural bridge to the far side.



There are some weeds blocking the way here, but that's easily dealt with.





As is this boulder.



Which gives us access to this makeshift bridge of fallen wood. I've always found this one a bit awkward to cross: it's at a slight angle, so you can't cross by just holding a constant direction; it's easy to fall off when you have to adjust.



A Leafbug Archer is waiting to ambush us on the far side. That's not very nice. Having Crazy Prepared equipped is very helpful here, because they will shoot you and it's tricky to dodge. Bubble Shield can also be a big help in approaching them.

55 - Team, It's Getting Serious!



Let's fight! This archer has a Madesphy backing it up, which is pretty annoying, especially since being in the back makes it trickier to flip.











We have enough firepower to take down the Archer in a single turn, even without Maki. (Though it's pretty close, and we wouldn't be able to do that without Chompy! This area's a lot harder if you don't have her along.)



The Madesphy uses its rolling attack. It hurts a lot less when you Super Block.



Thanks to the chip damage from Spiky Bod, it's a simple matter to take it down this turn. If not for that, we might have needed to spend some TP.



We're still getting only pity EXP. (Although we're close to ranking up regardless.)



Oh no! My berries! A lot of those ended up falling into the water. I don't think I've really discussed this, but the game tries to be friendly when this happens, and respawns them on land after a second or so. Unfortunately, sometimes they just end up falling into the water again (especially if the terrain has a lot of sloping textures, like this log) and you get an item cyclically respawning, then falling right back in, until it times out and the game despawns it.



Anyway, let's take a look around this side. There's not much to see here, except for that boulder...



Let's smash it.





Wait, what now?



Let's not forget our other abilities! We need to dig and burrow under this fallen branch.



Um. Would you say that plant looks a bit out of place?



It's a Leafbug Ninja!



I promise we'll see what these guys can do soon, but if they keep trying to fight us alone, they're not going to get to do anything.



So let's just swat him aside and keep moving.



Just past the Ninja is the path forward. This room does a really good job of feeling like an arduous obstacle-laden journey, even if it doesn't actually ask a whole lot of us gameplay-wise.

Let's head onward.





Kabbu notices something as soon as we enter.



(What's the matter?)





The camera pans up and we can see this... thing... walk by in the shadows. (The music also goes completely silent here.)







You mean the one that...
Look, it seems not to have noticed us. With some luck, we'll avoid it, Kabbu.
Yeah, we'd better get a move on!



Kabbu is definitely out for revenge; he's not really trying to hide it any more. This doesn't seem like the best idea, but, well, if we encounter it we may not have much of a choice.



(I couldn't resist. I can't be the only one thinking it.)



Anyway, with the cutscene over, we regain control. Let's check the banter.

There's a lotta weird machines around...
It almost seems like they built them randomly.
Some of them seem to be damaged... Probably by that monster...!

We can't see it from here at the entrance, but it certainly sounds like there are going to be some puzzles ahead. Let's start exploring.



To the south, we can see some enemies. Let's deal with that first.





Hmm. This combination is new. How to deal with this?



Let's swap Vi into the front and use Needle Pincer. Wild Chompers' defence can be annoying, but this is a pretty efficient way to get rid of them.









The rest of our turn can then go toward attacking the archer.



On its turn, the Archer fires an arrow into the air. This is a delayed attack; it has a base damage of 4, but will also benefit from any charge-ups the archer might have at the time of firing. Like most delayed attacks in this game, it's not particularly intimidating, but this one can hit hard enough to make you pay attention.



The arrow would land next turn, but we can easily end the battle before then. (That's the other problem with delayed attacks: they often just do nothing.)







We only get a single point of EXP, but that's enough for us to rank up! (If I'd been paying closer attention, I'd have blown more TP to finish this in a single turn, since we'd just recover it all regardless.)



As usual, let's grab ourselves some more MP.







We also get a pretty nice bonus for reaching Rank 21: a free point of HP for each bug. It's almost like we gained two levels at once! (Internally, this is treated like every bug got to eat a Heart Berry, rather than a level-up in HP; that can make a subtle difference later, but for now I'm just going to make note of it and move on.)

I've seen some players get frustrated by this particular level-up bonus, because it can mess you up if your strategy relies on a specific maximum HP value (e.g. if you're using Hard Charge and Last Attack, you want to have at most 9 maximum HP), and the game doesn't give any warning it's coming. I've mentioned in passing that this game does eventually give you the ability to respec, but that's still a chapter or so away. It isn't catastrophic, but it can be annoying if you don't know about it and get caught off guard.

Of course, if you're playing "normally" (whatever that means), this is just a nice bonus and you'll probably think nothing of it. In our case, we're fine anyway if we want to use those strategies: the thread was nice enough to give each of our bugs one Heart Berry, so this bonus brings Vi and Leif each to exactly 9 HP before HP Plus medals are taken into account.



Anyway.



I wasn't quite sure what to do with our newest MP, and eventually settled on equipping a second copy of TP Core. I'm not sure this will matter since most battles aren't going long enough to trigger it, but it might come in handy eventually.



This Madesphy now demands our attention as well.



Well, it's actually two of them, and there's a Flowerling here too. This could get nasty.





Let's just get rid of the Flowerling right away, before it can do any annoying support things. Vi's attack and a Frigid Coffin from Leif will take care of it nicely.



After that, we can start attacking the Madesphy, but we don't have enough actions left to eliminate either of them (without spending a lot of TP, anyway).



What the...? On their turn, the first Madesphy finally decides to show us their other attack. This shriek is absolutely terrifying; thankfully, I managed to block and nullify its worst aspect.

The Madesphy's shriek attack hits the entire party for a base damage of 3, and if you fail to block, inflicts Numb on all of them. If we'd failed the block here, we'd immediately be facing down an attack from the second Madesphy, and then an attack from each of them next turn (all without the ability to block) before we'd get to take any actions. That'd be some serious damage even discounting the possibility of getting numbed again and extending the combo.

This is the reason I went out of my way to equip a bug with two copies of Numb Resistance, and I think it's generally a good idea here even if you're confident in your blocking. Having one bug immune to Numb puts a limit on how bad this can get, and eliminates the possibility you'll be facing a TPK out of nowhere if you miss the block. These enemies are seriously dangerous, so don't take them lightly.



The second one uses the roll attack instead, which is significantly less frightening (especially since I managed to Super Block again).

Now let's end this.



Kabbu's Under Strike is the perfect tool here, since it both pierces their defences and flips them to set up for the others.



One.



And two.





Let's move on.





First off, let's smash this boulder.



Unfortunately, we quickly find this is a dead end. We're going to need to find a way to move this crane, it seems. Let's look around a bit more?



We can get a better view from over here, but that's about it.



But if we cut these weeds...



We can expose this ramp leading down into the brambles.





Leif's Bubble Shield lets us cross and reach this switch. Will this do the trick?



There we go. Let's head back.





Well, the crane's gone, but it looks like we're not quite done. It hasn't opened a path, just exposed another switch we can hit.



Well, let's see what it does! Nothing visibly changes when you hit this, but it does make the sounds of a crane moving; let's have a look around.



If we return to this point, we'll find another crane has lowered and we can use it as a bridge to get across.



What's over here?



Well, enemies, to start with.



Here we've got a Leafbug Clubber backed up by an Archer. It's not the full complement, but this could still get dangerous quickly.



Let's start out by freezing the archer with Frigid Coffin. The Clubber will charge up once, but at least this will prevent the Archer from reacting when we start hitting its companion. This is usually a good tactic to keep in mind when fighting Leafbugs.











We'll get in the hits we can. It's not quite enough to kill; it could have been if we'd used a skill, but I'd rather conserve TP where I can.



This hurts, but it could have been much worse.



And now we have this one in the bag.



Kabbu finishes the Clubber right off.







And then we deal with the frozen Archer. Nothing to it.





We get the usual things for winning the fight. Before we move onward, let's check out that pile of boulders to the north.





We can smash it, of course...



Revealing a patch of dirt where we can dig.





Two levels of security; someone really didn't want us to have this Crystal Berry! Let's just take that.



It's worth making note of the wooden platform here. It looks like it might be an elevator, but there's no way to get it moving from this side; it'll probably be a shortcut we open later.



Let's head onward.



All the areas here have a very similar look to them; it would be pretty easy to lose your bearings and get lost, if the overall design were less linear.

Anyone else get flashbacks around so much water?
I didn't know the flood had been that traumatizing.
It's not just the flood. Let's add the lost years too.
Yikes... Let's just get outta here soon!

As usual, our team have a bit better vision than we do, and comment on things in the party banter before we've quite seen them. Looks like there's water ahead. (I do appreciate the way our characters will bring up things that happened before and how they feel about them.)



There are some weeds to cut down here, but there's nothing to be found in them.



Also, enemies. Yay.



Yet another new formation. Let's get rid of that Madesphy first, shall we?













This is new! On its turn, the Clubber powers up before attacking, giving itself one turn of Attack Up. They will always do this if they're alone.



Could be worse. (I barely noticed the boost, since more often than not these guys have charge-ups when they're hitting us.)



Leif's looking pretty injured here, but we can deal with this fine.





We'll freeze it to gain some breathing room.



Freeing up Vi to give Leif some Secret Stash healing.



And we'll have Chompy do nothing for now so it stays frozen.



It's trivial to finish things now.





Simple enough. Let's keep moving.



This weed has a Crunchy Leaf in it; we don't have the inventory space to keep it, so let's feed it to Leif and get him back to full HP.



Now for the watery part of this room. Let's cross this path of lily pads.



At the end of the path is this wooden plank.



Heading south along it, we reach this platform. It's a dead end, but there's a crank here: using the Beemerang on it will make the plank rotate.



Which means we need to hold the Beemerang on the crank and ride the spinning plank to the next series of lily pads.



On the far side, archers are waiting to ambush us again.



This one has a Flowerling with it. This fight's barely worth showing: we can eliminate the archer right off, which just leaves the Flowerling to attack us ineffectually for a turn before we kill it.



Sometimes you want to kill them first so they don't support the others, but if you kill everything else first they can't really do anything.



Let's move on.



Hmm. How can we get up there?



What's behind this plant?



When we go behind the plant, the camera automatically moves, to reveal yet another boulder. Let's smash it.





Hidden in the boulder is another crank we can spin. Is this connected to the elevator?



Yes it is! Let's get on, then release the Beemerang and ride it up.





There's nothing spectacular to see up here, just some weeds and a Wild Chomper hiding in them.



Let's deal with this.



Hmm. How to approach this? Wild Chompers are hardy enough that that Flowerling could prove to be a problem...



Let's have Leif Empower Kabbu.





Under Strike takes a big chunk out of this, nearly killing the first Chomper and the Flowerling.





Let's just finish those two off.



And Chompy does her best to hit the last one, though it'll probably just heal this back.



I'm not sure if I've shown this attack before. It can launch 2-3 Hard Seeds, which each hit for 4 base damage. That's pretty dangerous.



Now to deal with this last one.









Basic attacks aren't quite enough to take it down; I often find myself miscounting and ending up off by 1 against some of these enemies, which is a bit annoying.







It accomplishes more than I might have expected on its turn, spawning a mini Chomper to attack us as well.



Still, it's only delaying the inevitable; we can clean this up easily now.



Let's move along.



It dropped a Hard Seed also, but we don't have the room to keep it.



Now we can head back north.



Well, this room looks complicated!

Alright! Let's hop on the lilypads!
Hm? I thought you would hate the risk of falling into the water!
We do.
Just trying to make things fun...

Heh. It was a noble attempt, Vi, but I'm not sure lightening the mood is going to work right now.



Also, Venus is here.



This place is daunting, isn't it? I hope my help cheers you up a bit!

Heh, looks like Venus has noticed the mood too.



We'll take her up on the offer of healing, even if we don't need it that badly. Might as well, 5 berries is nothing to us.

Please come by again, I'm always up for a chat.



There's a Mantidfly on the other side; let's get rid of it.



It has a Wild Chomper with it.





Let's bring down the Mantidfly, and have Leif freeze the Chomper. From there, we can do enough damage to finish off the Mantidfly this turn with normal attacks.



And then it's a simple matter to clean up the frozen Chomper.





Now for this mess. Some of these lily pads are stationary, while others float back and forth on fixed paths.



Like this first one, which we can ride across to this platform.



There's a block we can move over here, but it's not enough to get us anywhere...





But if we smash the boulder, it turns out it's hiding a second one.









Now we can stack the two blocks, and build ourselves a makeshift staircase.







And that's enough to get us to the upper level.



Let's fight some Leafbugs! Will we finally get to see what the Ninjas can do?



Well, let's start off by putting Vi in front and having Leif Empower her.



A Hurricane Toss isn't quite enough to kill this Clubber in one attack, but it gets us quite close.





Then Kabbu can finish it off. The Ninja gets two charges, but at least doing it this way kept it from getting three. (Using setup to make fewer but harder-hitting attacks is another way to try to play around the Leafbugs' reaction.)





Now we can injure, but not kill, the Ninja. What's it going to do?



Well, this attack is fairly straightforward...



But this is different! Here's the shadow clone move. Leafbug Ninjas will do this at the end of their turn if they're alone, splitting into three.



So what does this mean for us, exactly? Well, let's try attacking them.



I guess that wasn't the real one? That one goes poof, but the others react to us hitting it just as if it were an actual Leafbug!





Looks like this one wasn't real either. Notably, Kabbu only did 2 damage when it had 3 HP, but that was still enough to make it go poof: the amount of damage doesn't matter, any hit to one of the incorrect clones is enough to make it vanish.



The bonus charges might be scary if it could survive long enough to attack again, but, well...



No.



That's that dealt with. At least we finally got to see some interesting behaviours from this enemy!



Anyway, there's a switch up here.



Hitting the switch causes this cage to sink under the water, freeing the trapped lily pad and enabling us to move forward.



Let's head back down.



Now we need to wait for the lily pad to come to us.





We can ride that over to the stationary ones here. There are two ways we could go here: there's a moving pad we can ride toward the north exit, and there's a path of stationary pads to the south. Let's head south first.







There's a buried item and a Madesphy on the platform over here. Let's get the enemy out of the way first.



It has a Leafbug Ninja with it. Every enemy formation we've seen in this update has been different! (It's not a big thing, this kind of variety doesn't necessarily matter as long as the battles are sufficiently interesting, but it's still nice when an area has enough enemy variety to support this.)



We'll get rid of the Madesphy first; let's start by flipping it.



Let's have Leif use Frigid Coffin for some extra damage; we can afford it TP-wise, and it'll make it easier to guarantee we get rid of this thing immediately.





There we go.



Chompy gets started on the Ninja.



The Ninja attacks Kabbu but doesn't accomplish very much.



Of course, it also follows up that attack by cloning, so this could get a little tricky.



Or... not. The fact that it didn't go poof when Kabbu hit it means the clone in front is the real one. Good going, Mr Ninja, excellent tactics there.



Interestingly, the fake clones' HP doesn't adjust when you damage the real one.



Anyway, we know which one's real, so let's finish it off.



The clones vanish when the real one dies, as you'd no doubt expect.



That was very silly.



Well, let's see what we got for doing this.





Not bad. These are always nice to have; let's see if we can make room.



We still had a Cooked Shroom lying around; we'll toss that. Simple enough.





And now back to the fork.



Let's ride this one over to the far side.



That's almost certainly a Ninja waiting there.



Yep. Of course.



But it's a silly one trying to fight us alone, so it's a foregone conclusion.



Let's just forget that happened and move along.



A quick bounce to the upper level...



And we have a path to the next area.



Hmm. Does this area look familiar at all? It's hard to see from this vantage...



But we've been here before. This is the room where we had to move the big cranes; we're just on the upper level now.



Flipping that switch turns on this elevator, which is now a convenient shortcut if we need to head back.



Also, this Wild Chomper is up here. Best be about dealing with that.



It has a Leafbug Clubber with it.







We'll go with the usual expedient of Vi stabbing the plant to death before we fight the Clubber. From there, it's just a typical Clubber fight, there's not much to see.



Let's just move along.



That's interesting. I don't think I knew they could drop these. That said, I don't have room to keep this, and I'm not at all bothered about leaving it behind.



Conveniently, there's a save crystal up here, so let's make this our stopping point for now. Next time, we'll continue exploring the Wild Swamplands, including a puzzle room I've been dreading trying to explain since the beginning of this LP. I'll see you then!

[Explopyro]

52: Too Angry to Die (Part 1)

57 - Swamps Where Dreams Drown



Last time, we took a circuitous detour through the Wild Swamplands, and eventually reached this upper level. How close are we to finding Maki and getting out of here, anyway?



Let's head north.



Oof, this room. This room is huge, and complicated (there's a lot we can't see yet from this vantage point). Let's see what our party think first.

...We can't figure out what they were thinking.
Yeah. Why all this stuff? Just build a bridge!
Given what they did to us, maybe they just don't like bridges much?
Whatever. There's plenty of droplets and enemies around. Let's see if we can press all these buttons.

Let's not forget the suggestion to freeze enemies; that's going to be a very important hint for what to do around here. (Also, I am absolutely here for the bridge conversation, I love that the characters get to gripe about that.)



This archer is going to get in the way of our exploration, so let's deal with them first.

55 - Team, It's Getting Serious!





It's a pair of Leafbug Archers. We should be pretty used to dealing with these by now.



Leif attempts to freeze one of them, but gets unlucky. This happens sometimes.



Take two. That's more like it.



Unfortunately, that means the one in front gets an extra charge, so its attacks are going to be a bit more painful than I'd anticipated. We can handle it, but it's annoying. Trying to freeze the Leafbugs is still usually one of the better strategies against them, but it isn't foolproof.







Anyway, we take a big chunk out of the first one. If Leif had gotten the freeze the first time, that extra action would be enough to take this one out, but without it we're not quite there.



Which means Leif gets shot with an arrow. That could have been worse; the Super Block ended up negating the bonus damage, in a sense.



From here, though, it's trivial to finish these off, so let's just do that and move on.



Back to exploring.



With the archer out of the way, we can freeze a water droplet falling from the flower.





And painstakingly move it over to the switch. This causes the platform to lower, giving us a way to move forward.



Let's see what's over here.





There's a lot going on here, but let's take it one piece at a time. If you look near the northern wall, there are water droplets falling from a higher level and breaking up when it hits the boulder. If we smash the boulder, it will probably fall low enough for us to make use of.

The flower next to the boulder, despite looking like the same kind we always see dripping water, doesn't have any droplets coming off it. (I remember it having them and that having potential complications; I suspect that might have changed between versions, but I'm not certain.)

There's another switch on the floor here, and some enemies. Let's have a look at the enemies first.



The Flowerling is just a single one by itself, and if we kill it, it respawns a few seconds later. Like previous occasions where that's happened, this should be a hint that it's meant to be part of the puzzle.





The Leafbug Clubber, by contrast, is a real fight.



This time, Frigid Coffin sticks the first time.











Everyone else piles onto the front guy.



Ow. Even without too many charges, these hits can hurt.



Let's clean this up.



Leif finishes off the one in front.







While everyone else starts in on the other one. It's not quite enough to kill, but that's fine.





We'll just weather one more hit, then give it a final poke.



Moving on.



With the Clubber out of the way, we can look around the far side of this platform, but there's not much to see, just an expanse of water blocking us. We could try having Leif make icicles, but it won't get us anywhere, the far side is a sheer cliff. We're going to need to gain elevation somehow.





Let's start off by smashing the boulder.



Now the water droplet comes low enough for us to freeze. Let's try pressing the switch?







Putting weight on the switch causes this platform to descend. (Getting the ice block here is a bit of a pain, since the Flowerling really likes to get in the way. I usually end up having to run from battle a few times in the process.)



We can... stand on this...? What did that accomplish? Clearly, we need to do something else here. We can't reach far enough to knock the ice block off the switch while we're on the platform...



Let's revisit this Flowerling. You may recall that while ice blocks we make from water droplets stay frozen indefinitely, frozen enemies thaw out after a short time...



So if we put the frozen Flowerling on the switch instead...



(We might have to re-freeze it again partway through this process, this can get a bit finicky. You don't have to wait for it to thaw, thankfully; you can just freeze it again to reset the duration as needed.)



Let's also put the ice block onto the platform. Just trust me on this one.



Now we get on, and wait for the Flowerling to thaw out.



Once it does, the platform rises back up, and brings us with it! That's progress.





If we hadn't brought that ice block up with us, we'd have nothing to put on this switch up here, and would need to repeat the process with the Flowerling.



The switch here turns on this moving platform, which moves back and forth over the pit and allows us to get over to the west.





There's a Madesphy waiting for us on the far side; how rude.



It has a Clubber with it, too. Still, this shouldn't be too difficult, especially since I managed to get a first strike.











We can take out the Madesphy immediately, so let's do that. They're almost always the correct enemy to prioritise. (And as an added bonus, the leafbugs don't care if we hit them.)



Chompy gets to attack the Clubber.



This is new! I've been waiting to see when one of them would pull out this attack. This leaping slam attack has a base damage of 4 and hits the entire party, and it gets significantly nastier when you factor in the Attack Up boost they get when fighting alone, let alone charge-ups if you beat up on some of their buddies first.

If you're playing even a bit recklessly (and aren't staying on top of your HP), this can be an incredibly nasty surprise: at full power, it's 8 damage across the entire party and could easily be game over. Madesphy aren't the only enemies you need to be afraid of in here!



That said, this particular guy is dead, he just doesn't know it yet.



And now he does.



We get a Crunchy Leaf after the battle; I don't have room to keep this, but we may as well have someone eat it now.





There's not much else to see on this ledge, except a path forward to the next area. We could move on, but there's clearly more to see here (and, if we'd had the Detector equipped, we'd know there's treasure to be found). Let's head back and investigate further.









Back on the central ledge, if we head to the east side, we can just barely see there's a switch a level below us. That's intriguing.



We don't need to keep this switch pressed any more, so let's take the ice block and see if we can't get it onto the new one.





And, with some careful manoeuvering, there we go. (Looking at it now, that's just barely on the edge, but thankfully it still counts. You absolutely can miss the switch if your aim is sufficiently off, and then would have to to go back to the start and get a new ice block up here...)



Anyway, that switch causes this platform to descend and stop at our current level.



But it's just jutting out into the middle of nowhere...?



This puzzle, like another one we saw way back in the Honey Factory, needs us to remember the rule that there can be only one ice block per source of droplets. If we freeze a droplet falling from this flower, it will cause the one we put on the switch to vanish, and the platform will rise back up and take us with it!

(In previous versions, this created another failure mode: when both flowers produced droplets, you could put the ice block from the wrong flower on the switch, and then freezing this one wouldn't work to toggle the switch. I kind of like the dimension that added to the puzzle, admittedly, in that it meant you needed to think about which block went where. On the other hand, this version is significantly less potentially frustrating. You win some, you lose some.)



Anyway, using this arcane sorcery to get the block off the switch gets us up to here.



Disembarking this platform, it seems like we've finally reached the topmost ledge. Let's have a look around.



There's a Leafbug Archer here.



But if we get into battle with it, we'll see there's only one of them. And killing it will quickly reveal it's yet another of those rapidly-respawning enemies...



So let's freeze it instead.



There's a switch here we can use the enemy to hold down. This is trickier than it looks, both because it's a pain to get the archer frozen (it will shoot at you, and getting shot will send you back into battle), and frozen enemies have a tendency to get stuck on the geometry a little, they're not quite as easy to move around as the regular ice blocks.



That causes this platform to lower, giving us a path back west again.



But we need to move quickly, because the enemy will thaw out and the platform might start heading back up with us still on it! (The Extra Freeze medal we got in Upper Snakemouth helps, but even with that, this can still be tricky.) It was close, but we made it.



There's a medal sitting on a stump up here, and not much else. What could it be, though?





It's an interesting one, though.

Eternal Venom is one of the few remaining pieces of the poison build. For 2 MP, it makes poison last indefinitely for the equipped bug. It's exactly what it says on the tin. You know when you want this, and the rest of the time you almost certainly don't.

Truthfully, for all the obvious benefits, it tends to be superfluous in most contexts. You still need a way to get the bug poisoned, for one thing, and then if you're stacking Poison Attacker for burst damage, the battle's probably not going to last longer than the 2-4 turns that poison would have lasted anyway (Weak Stomach gives you 3 turns; items with innate poison are either 2 or 4). Its best use is probably for builds that focus on tanking with Poison Defender, and let fights go on long enough for it to matter. Still, that's definitely something. I'm not sure if it's worth the 2 MP, but it's far from useless.



That's the only thing up here, so let's jump down.



And now we're back at the exit. If you don't care about the medal, you can just take the shortcut and leave early, but why would you do that?

I remembered this room being worse than it actually was (I think in part due to the removal of that second water droplet). It's a bit finicky and irritating in places, but it's an interesting navigational puzzle that asks you to think about things the game hasn't quite foregrounded before. And if you choose not to do it, all you miss out on is a fairly niche medal (although I suppose a player weighing that choice wouldn't know that).

Before we head out, this room was the last time we'll be forced to fight the normal enemies of the Wild Swamplands, so I want to go over a few attacks we could have seen but didn't. (I was hoping they'd all eventually come up naturally, but no such luck.)



First off, the Wild Chompers have a variation on their seed-spitting attack. This one launches Danger Spuds instead of Hard Seeds: these deal 4 base damage, and also inflict 2 turns of poison if not blocked. (This GIF is from a different file where Vi has two copies of Power Exchange equipped, if you're wondering about inconsistencies in the damage numbers.)



Leafbug Ninjas have this knife/shuriken throwing attack, in addition to their melee strikes. This one deals 1-2 hits, each with base damage of 3. If you let them build up charges, this can hurt quite a bit (especially if both hits end up hitting the same bug).



And finally, Leafbug Archers can blow a horn to summon other Leafbugs. They'll only do this when they're alone, and it doesn't cost them an action, so they'll attack normally after the ally appears.

Anyway, interruption aside, let's head west.



This area should look familiar - we've reached the other side of the destroyed bridge!



And if there was any doubt, checking the banter here still just gets this line from Kabbu. (Which is a bit of a missed opportunity, really.)

Whatever you do, don't jump off where the bridge was, or you'll have to go through the whole area all over again.



Instead, we'll head north.





There's a stick we can knock down to make a bridge.



Let's head over.



There's not much here aside from a bounce shroom and the path to the north. This is where Maki was before... where'd he go?

We don't want to step on the mushroom; it'll send us right back to the left side of the bridge. This does mean we could retreat to the rest of Bugaria if we really wanted (and there is another shroom at the top under a boulder we can break now, so we could get back without trekking that whole dungeon again), but let's not.



Onward.



Oh, there's Maki. And quite a lot of other things... for instance, we can just barely see Venus off to the east, and there looks to be some kind of gathering of Leafbugs in the distance?

Maki's alright! Thank goodness...
There's a welcome party up ahead. Let's give it to them.
I've been waiting for this!

Looks like Leif and Vi are feeling bloodthirsty. All in due time.



Venus is just over here.





Well, that's ominous.



We will let her heal us, at least.



Let's check in with Maki.



I am fine. It was a light bruise. I should be up soon. Though...
They're everywhere, ain't they? So persistent.
You're still injured, so let us handle this first.
Yeah! We'll knock 'em out in record time!
Stay cautious, Team Snakemouth. Something doesn't feel right.



Kabbu? You're trembling...
Don't be reckless. It's not over till we're out of here.
You stay here, Maki. We will clear the area ahead.



That's two exhortations we've had now for Kabbu not to be reckless. Kabbu, what are you doing? Put those down.

If we try talking to Maki again, we'll just see this line:

Go on ahead, I will catch up.

There's also a banter for him.

Maki is quite formidable. I do wish he could still fight alongside us...
Let's show him we've grown since our fight!
(Kinda sad we missed it...)

Heh. Right, he wasn't there for that, was he.



There's a save crystal here too. Probably a good idea to use that.





Let's see what's waiting over here...







A loud roaring comes from offscreen, and everything shakes...





And it roars again.



58 - The Terror of the Swamps





Kabbu! Is this...!?



We've never seen anything like this... Kabbu, we should fall back!
No! This beast... this beast ate my friends!
...You vile, wretched scum. You will rue the day you let me live!
Kabbu, we get that you're angry! But this is too risky!
We've beat way stronger foes! We will destroy it!



E-Eep! It's too late to run!



Click me for video!

59 - Cruel Beast, Devourer of Journeys (RECOMMENDED LISTENING!)





Welp. Time for a fight, whether we're ready for it or not. Before anything else, listen to the music for this fight. It is intense and really sells this moment, this is definitely one of the best tracks in the game.

What, exactly, are we up against?



Today, you will suffer the pain of every bug you've hurt!
Vi, Leif... forgive my selfishness... Just this once, this is something I must do!



Kabbu gets to do the spying on his nemesis, of course; it just wouldn't be right otherwise. This thing gets no name other than "The Beast", and it's pretty scary. We've seen bigger numbers from the optional bosses, certainly, but this is still nothing to sneeze at.

(The Beast is based on the Amazonian giant centipede, Scolopendra gigantea. Which, yes, is the same thing the Pokemon Scolipede was based on. They've been known to grow to lengths exceeding a foot and prey on pretty much anything smaller than them, including mammals and reptiles. They are also venomous.)



Let's have Leif Empower Kabbu to start off.



Then he'll attack.



That was pretty good; let's do it again.



Chompy does her part.



On its first turn, the Beast bites Kabbu. This attack also heals it for half the damage dealt, so much like a few other bosses we've faced, its maximum health of 82 is a bit deceptive as far as its total durability goes. It's not quite as scary as it might look here, admittedly, because Kabbu has -3 defence (thanks to two Power Exchanges and Favorite One); the base damage is 4.



Honestly, while Kabbu took a bit of damage there, that worked out pretty well overall. Let's keep doing it. (He wants to be attacking anyway.)





Not bad for regular attacks.





No sense completely throwing caution to the wind, though. Let's have Vi use Secret Stash and (mostly) undo the damage he took.



Chompy, of course, chomps.



Second verse, same as the first. This still hurts, but it's far from the worst thing it could be doing.



This is honestly working out surprisingly well. Why stop now?





Empower's worn off, so he's doing a bit less damage, but this is still very solid. (And relaying to Kabbu lets the other two build up charge, which is a nice added bonus.)



Vi heals him again.



And Chompy chomps again.



Is it... is it laughing at us? This is a new move, at any rate. It's charging up for something.



Specifically, it's given itself maximum charge. It's also taken a different stance; if previous bosses are anything to go by, this probably means a big party-wide attack is coming.



We could go for Bubble Shield, but let's try Cleanse instead (if nothing else, it's significantly cheaper TP-wise). We'll still get hit by the attack this way, but it will lose the benefit of the charge-ups, so it should be substantially less painful.



You can see here that using Cleanse removes the charges, but it's still in the new pose, no doubt readying the prepared attack.





Regardless, Kabbu has a bit of a one-track mind right now.



Chompy always does.



Here's the big attack: a ramming charge that hits everyone (also, whoops, I blocked way too early there). The base damage is 3, which isn't too terrible, but normally this would incorporate +3 from the charge-ups on the previous turn and be much more painful. Cleanse takes most of the edge off, or, of course, Bubble Shield is always an option if you can afford it.



Well. What to do now? Vi and Leif both have maximum charge now...





So, naturally, let's get Vi in front for a Hurricane Toss.



Kabbu can keep doing his thing.



I deliberated for a bit over this before deciding to just go with a normal attack. In the end, damage is damage, and I don't quite have the TP for Ice Rain or Frozen Drill, so anything Leif would do is single-target.



She's still helping.



This is different. When The Beast is reduced below 35% maximum HP, it grants itself an extra action per turn for the rest of the fight. Interestingly, here, it's also showing another of its abilities: at the beginning of its turn, it has a chance to give itself 2 turns' worth of Attack Up, which doesn't cost it any actions. (The interesting bit is that it did that before the HP-triggered extra action appeared.)

This horn strike is a variation of its basic attack, dealing extra damage (5 base instead of 4), but without healing itself.



It might be too little too late, though. Let's finish this?





Wait, what? That doesn't seem right... 13 minus 5 is not 10.



After another attack, it's still on 10 HP. Um...



Uh, change of plan. If we can't hurt it any more, let's heal ourselves?



Chompy keeps trying her best. Can't fault her that, even if it's not doing much here...









...Ngh... My-my friends...
All because I... I wanted revenge!
I haven't honored my companions... I've tarnished their sacrifice!





The Beast roars loudly again.



I will defeat this monster, not for revenge...









Well. Even with the scripting being a bit heavy-handed, this moment always gets me in the feels. Kabbu's powering through on sheer rage and determination at this point, and he is not going to let things end this way again. Leif and Vi might have gone down, but they're not out, and he's going to fight this thing alone if he has to.



Mechanically, a few things are going on here. Kabbu gets a permanent Attack Up for the rest of the fight, and The Beast gets a permanent Attack Down. He also can't use items (which means no Magic Seeds), and Pep Talk has temporarily disappeared from his skills list; like it or not, we've got to go this alone.

Let's not draw this out too much.



One Under Strike is enough to end things.



And that's it for the Beast!

This is an incredibly satisfying fight. Between the buildup, the music, and the mechanics, everything more or less comes together perfectly. There's a bit more to the fight than we saw in that run; Kabbu wearing all the Power Exchanges was a gimmick that I wanted to do for thematic reasons, and it surprised me how well it ended up working out as a strategy. So let's take a look at some of the other things this boss can do:



It can burrow underground at the start of its turn. Like the Attack Up boost, this doesn't cost it an action.



While underground, it only uses the bite attack. This does the same damage (and heals by half) as when it bites from above ground, but the animation and timing are different.



It also stays underground after finishing its turn.



As usual, though, it can be forced out with the usual methods. Leif's ice attacks are probably easiest, but Under Strike and Hurricane Toss will also do the job.



Also, it has poison breath. This has a base damage of 3 and hits the entire party, with the usual mash action command that goes with breath attacks (if you fail to fill the bar, this will poison the entire party for 2 turns).

There are a lot of things that can be threatening in this fight, though it's not too bad once you know what you're dealing with. (I do have to say I think it's tuned a bit oddly in terms of when the second action kicks in: that tends not to get a chance to become as threatening as it ought to, because it activates at 28 HP but the fight effectively ends at 10. That might have been an intentional choice, but I wouldn't have minded this fight being a bit harder.)



Here's an odd bit of trivia: If Kabbu is knocked out when The Beast reaches 10 HP, he'll be subtly revived on 5 HP as the cutscene attack starts, then everything will proceed normally. I'd never seen this happen before testing it for the LP, and I was a bit disappointed because I expected the scene to change to acknowledge it (like, say, he gets up in reaction to seeing the others attacked). It seems more like a failsafe than an alternate ending to the fight, and I honestly think it looks awkward.

Let's get back to the aftermath.



(More on this in a moment.)



T-Thanks, Kabbu...
That was too close for comfort.









...I...



Vi, Leif... I'm sorry. I... I was blinded by this pain.





B-But I think I woulda done the same if someone, um, hurt you guys...
U-Um, same. Even so, Kabbu...
We cannot turn back time. Even though they're gone, we're sure they're proud of how much you've grown.
You saved us, after all.
My teacher... would be scolding me like you are, Maki. For being such a fool!



...Thank you, everyone. I don't deserve this kindness.



To a fault, we must say.
E-Everyone...
*Sigh* That being said, we're at the Wasp Kingdom's door.
Because of my injury, I won't be able to accompany you inside, but...
I shall move on ahead and set up a camp so we may rest up.
I shall watch the exit route to make sure you can return.
We can do this mission... together. Let's go, and fulfill our duty!



After a brief fade-out, Maki is gone, and we regain control of Team Snakemouth. Before we move on, let's check the banter:

(...If only I could have saved you. Curses...)
(Are you really proud of me? I can only pray it is true.)
(My friends... I won't ever forget our time together. Rest in peace.)

I have nothing to add to this. Kabbu gets to have this touching little soliloquy, but it's really easy to miss seeing it when you're playing through the game normally. Let's hope this brought him a little closure.





With the Beast gone, this room seems very empty. Let's head onward.

(Unfortunately, the character limit is fighting me, and I have to split the update. Back momentarily.)

[Explopyro]

52: Too Angry to Die (Part 2)

56 - Lands Untamed



And we're back in the Far Grasslands!



No surprise, we can do anything!
It's not much of a celebration, but we get to set up camp and rest for a few moments.
Would it be wise to stop now?
Of course. We've all taken quite a beating. My leg most of all...
If you're going to infiltrate their kingdom, you'd best be in top shape. Give me a moment.

We fade out for a moment again, and then...



Not bad.



You got through that treacherous place while keeping a stash? Incredible...
You'd best share, Vi. We're starving.
Eat your own stuff!
...Just kidding. It's fine this once. We beat that super huge monster!



Kabbu? Are you hurt?



You're such a softie... Of course we'll get through everything if we're together.
Team Snakemouth's the best for a reason!
Heh. It seems it was my loss for not putting you on my team, eh?
Maybe I would have made such an incredible bond, too.
You're our friend too. Kinda.
Thanks for passing us and all.
I'm sorry for delaying us with my sentimentality...
Let's feast and get ready for our mission!





Because this area is covered by heavy foliage, it seems the Wasps haven't noticed this crack yet.
Well, good for us. Let's go in, then.
Don't be hasty. You mustn't let the Wasps catch you.
If you're captured... That's it. It's over.
Can't be any tougher than the bandit hideout.
Do not underestimate the Wasps, Vi.
Indeed, we must be utmostly cautious.
Yeah, Vi. You better not do ANY underestimating.



Uhm, either way, I shall remain here securing the exit route.
If you get hurt, do retreat and come to me for treatment. You cannot afford to be reckless.



Looks like it's time for Metal Gear Bugs II.



Before that, though, let's get our bearings a bit. First off, there's a new banter:

Am I beyond glad to leave that swamp...
We can leave it behind, now. We never have to go back.
What if we missed some treas-... I mean, yeah. It's over!
...

Heh.



If we talk to Maki, he'll offer to let us rest.

(Yes) Very well. Please rest well so that the mission may succeed.
(No) Do not push yourselves too hard.

He'll just stay here for whenever we need him.



A few steps to the south, we come to a rock formation that might look familiar...



Breaking the first one lets us get down to this platform, which should definitely be looking familiar. This is the other side of the river from the entrance to the Wild Swamplands. Speaking of ways back...



There's a save crystal here, too. And we can see a path to the north.





Going through there, we come out on the other side of the walls, and get a new discovery.



We're in the Wasp Kingdom!

(I'm going to hold off showing the text for this discovery; it's a bit too spoilery for now.)

The Wasp Kingdom's very fortified.
We're gonna have to be super sneaky!
Trust me with this, team. We shall dig our way through!

The banter here just reinforces the importance of stealth.





If we go south, we'll quickly realise our mistake: that's the way to the main entrance to the wasps' hive! We can't get in this way without the guard seeing us.







If we do let the guard see us, this is what will happen. No fighting our way in right now. Let's, uh, pretend that never happened and try to find a different path.



Let's walk around this way behind the hive instead.





This all looks very ominous.



There's a poorly disguised hole in the side of the keep, though. All we need to do to get in is cut these weeds! ...We'll get to that.





Because there's also a boulder here for Kabbu to destroy.



Also, if we try to go south, we'll quickly learn the guard will catch us from this side also.



Let's check out this hole that the boulder was hiding.

25 - Caves



Um. This place looks familiar...





Flipping the switch on this side lowers the portcullis.





And we quickly find our way back to the Ant Tunnels. This cave apparently connects the Power Plant (which is in the Golden Lands), the Far Grasslands (near the Wizard's tower), and the Wasp Kingdom. If we wanted to, we could head back and explore all sorts of things now, or catch up on sidequests (if we had any), etc.



But for now, let's head back to the save crystal at Maki's camp.





If we take a quick look at our achievements, we'll notice something a bit peculiar. We got the achievement for defeating the chapter boss on Hard Mode, as usual, but we didn't get the one for finishing the chapter! That's because the chapter isn't over yet. We may have defeated the boss, but this chapter's structure is a bit nontraditional and we have more to do yet.

So next time on Bug Fables, it's time to spy on some wasps. Would that be called vespionage, do you think? One way or another, I'll see you then.

[Explopyro]

53: Wasp Kingdom Sting (Part 1)

56 - Lands Untamed



Where we left off, we were regrouping after escaping the Wild Swamplands and preparing to infiltrate the Wasps' Hive. Before we break in, though, a few little things.



First off, in memory of Kabbu's former team members, here's their concept art from the artbook. This is captioned "Bit & Master", though I'm not actually sure who is who and it doesn't explicitly say; I think Bit's the smaller one on the left and the more grizzled-looking one is Master? The artbook also has this to say:

"Bit and Kabbu joined the team at the same time, but Bit's immense strength led to their master treating Kabbu as the rookie. [...] They loved Kabbu, and would be proud to see how far he's come."

For better or worse, outside Kabbu's recollections, this is all the information we're going to get about them. Rest in peace, friends.





A bit of minor medal management. Vi's getting the Power Exchanges back for this next segment, I think Kabbu's had his fill of them for a while. Also, now that we're through the Wild Swamplands, we're done with Madesphy and I no longer feel the need to have Numb Resistance as a precaution.







I know I said we'd be infiltrating the Wasp Kingdom, and we will shortly. There's a semi-hidden scene we can see if we take a minor detour now, though, so let's check that out first.

37 - Defiant Root



Namely, if we go back to Defiant Root, we can find Kina and Yin. (You can technically see this any time after joining up with Maki, I just forgot to double back earlier.)



M-muh muh!



YOU BETTER NOT THINK OF DOING ANYTHING FUNNY OR I WILL END YOU!!



We'd best, uh, catch up with Maki soon.

Well, that escalated quickly.



Also, amusingly, Kina will keep glaring at poor Yin even after the conversation ends, until we leave the screen and they reset. There are also banters:

I remember Maki saying this caterpillar's name is Yin.
Isn't Yin too old to still be a caterpillar?
We can feel a faint magic inside of her. Don't think this is your run of the mill caterpillar.
We need to ask Maki for more information after the mission.

And for Kina:

Kina doesn't like Yin at all, huh.
She's way too overprotective of Maki.
Say it any louder and she'll smack us!
A fair warning...

Nothing we didn't already know there. That level of jealousy can't be healthy. Leif's speculation about Yin's magic is interesting, though; hopefully we'll get to learn more about her later.



Anyway, that was fun. Back to adventure. (Blame me for the pacing issues there if you want, but I didn't want to miss out on that scene.)

060 - Wasp Kingdom





Let's find the artifact and get out.
Wait, Leif. Remember. We must not be caught, the Wasps are formidable foes.
Hey! We managed to get past the bandit hideout, didn't we?
I don't think the Wasps will be as easy to shake off as the bandits were.
Let's plan our moves carefully, so that the mission may succeed! Let's move!

Stealth mission time. Let's try to get a better view of the area. (Also, the music in here is quite nice, it's got a tense and militaristic sound to it.)



This seems pretty simple so far. There's one guard who patrols back and forth here, and a stationary one on the stairs. While we wait for her to head back left, let's check the banter in here.

This room's mostly pots, correct? Interesting...
The Hive's got a few like these too! It's probably just a bunch of food.
Outsiders probably don't get to see these. We're pretty lucky. And hungry.
Don't steal their food!

Leif is easily distracted, sometimes.



Once she patrols back to this point, we can sneak past behind her while she's still facing away. The dark brown floor is too hard to dig, so we can't take the easy solution.



This type of floor is more permeable, thankfully, so we can burrow under the fallen beam.



Simple enough.



From there, it's a simple matter to climb to the upper level. Let's stay away from the stairs, though, or that scout might see us. (I'm pretty sure the upper level is safe, but she will absolutely see you if you drop down to her level.) Onward we go.



What's this place? It's not much more heavily guarded...

What is... going on here?
Everything's closed down...
Is this supposed to be, like, their plaza?
S-Shh! They almost heard us... Let's ponder later.

This is a bit weird.



Anyway, this room's floor is entirely diggable soil, so let's just take it underground. As long as we don't get close enough to actually touch the guards, they won't notice us.



Still, paying attention to the patrol patterns makes it safer.



Let's see what's through this exit to the west.





Uh... are those tanks?

Hm? What is this room for?
I dunno, but it seems they hang those big machines here.
...Seems like one of them is missing. Where could it be?

That's probably not good.



Anyway, aside from some new alarming things to be concerned with, we can't do anything else in this room. Let's head back.





Let's get back underground.



It can be a bit tricky to see, but we can burrow under the boarded entrance and get inside this hut. There's a switch we can flip in here.



It activates the elevator. Now we just have to get to it.



Whew, good thing we have to be underground to get out of the hut. Otherwise, it'd be tough to avoid getting caught, since you can't really see the guards from in there.







Let's make our way to the upper level. The elevator itself is safe, none of the guards can see on top of it.



The door east is locked, so that's no good.



We can go west, though. (Also, do note there's a yellow save crystal here, that can be helpful. Though it's worth noting that it's a minor point of no return if you save here: we can't get out the way we came in.)



It becomes immediately apparent on entering this room that things are about to get complicated.

I really don't get it. How come everyone's stuff is so run down?
If the Hive looked like this, no one would listen to the Queen!
Yeah. They're awfully loyal to be living like this.
Something's bizarre...

Our party continue to comment on the general state of disrepair. There's definitely something curious about all of this.



Let's get underground and explore a bit to see what's going on here. The guard patrols the entire room anticlockwise, in a big circle; best try to keep track of her, since the room's big enough she can surprise you from offscreen.



We can't head further west on the southern part of the room, thanks to the dark floor. We can see water droplets falling here, though, which means ice block puzzles ahead. That geyser at the back is probably going to be useful eventually...





We can make our way through the north side to this end. The guard by the door may be stationary and look like she's sleeping, but she's perfectly alert and will spot us if we get too close. It might look like we could just sneak behind her, but that won't work.





Also, this crank raises the wooden elevator at the back. That should be helpful, somehow...

Let's put the pieces together.





First, we freeze the droplet.









Then we manoeuvre the ice cube into the geyser. This can be a pain, especially if your timing isn't great relative to the guard's position. It's best to take this slowly and retreat rather than getting caught, because if she sees us we'll have to start the room over.







Now we burrow our way to the crank, and use it to raise the platform.





We have to be a bit careful now, because we have to hold the Beemerang in place and can't dig. The safest way to do this is to follow behind the guard while keeping a safe distance.







And the reason we did all of this becomes clear at last - there's a hole in the roof of the house!



Falling down inside, we can grab this key.







Then carefully make our way back. (I do emphasise carefully. On an earlier take while recording this, I learned that getting caught after taking the key causes you to lose it. That can get very frustrating.)







There we go. Let's see what's on this side.



More guards. Just lovely.

The more we see of the Wasp Kingdom, the more confused we get.
This gate looks recent...
We can feel sorry about 'em later. We've gotta get the artifact!



This seems straightforward so far. Another anticlockwise circular patrol, so we can follow her.



Then flip this switch.



Which lowers the gate. This one's on a timer, though, so we do need to hurry a bit.





There we go. That's a lot of guards...









But there's a path of soft ground all the way through here, so the solution is pretty obvious. That said, this isn't trivial: the path is pretty narrow, and if we actually touch the guards (or they step on us), we'll get caught.



Here, once again we need to hit a switch to lower a timed gate. This one more or less requires the Beemerang; trying to hit it up close is just asking to be caught.



From there, we can just head right through. That could have been worse!



Entering the next room, a conversation immediately starts.

They must not be patrolling past here too thoroughly. Yay.
Huff... Alright, team. This is a good spot to rest. We can proceed when we're ready.



You know I'd rather we be cautious...
And you know how we are. Let's give it to 'em.
Sigh...

Our team observe that this area is less densely guarded, so we can abandon stealth and aggressively take out the guards instead. Sounds good to me.

There's also a new banter.

Today's been full of action, huh.
Our legs are starting to feel the strain.
I'm glad we made it through the swamplands. Please, let's not push ourselves too hard.
You got it, Kabbu!

This one's cute too.



This sign tells us the blocked off portion of this room is food storage. The vents sound interesting, though... guess we'll need to find another key.



There's a save crystal here, but they've gone back to blue again. No more free healing for us.



Oh well. Let's fight some guards!

24 - Oh No! WASPS!!





Wasp soldiers should be pretty familiar to us by this point. We've fought them a few times before, and their abilities are exactly the same.



Ours, however, are not. With two Power Exchanges equipped, Vi can just casually shank these guys now.











The Scouts don't fare much better. We needed Frigid Coffin's damage boost to make this a same-turn kill, but even without that she wouldn't have gotten to do much.



I think we're doing a fine job of avoiding detection, wouldn't you say?

Also, you may notice their experience yield has been adjusted again. Looks like we're back to being considered at an appropriate level for the content.

060 - Wasp Kingdom



Let's just keep moving along.



Oh. That doesn't sound good.





That is certainly a prison. And those are some familiar faces, unfortunately.

Is this a prison? It's huge! Like, the bandits would be super jealous.
It's worrying for a kingdom to need such an extensive holding space...
Don't we know some of them? Did they get snatched during the invasion?
I'll do my best to help us reach them!

Before any of that, though, we have some guards to dispatch.





It's the same fight as last time.



Went with a similar plan this time, but I decided to save a bit of TP and not kill the Scout immediately. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake: stacking Power Exchange can make the enemy's response really hurt, especially if they use an attack that hits multiple times.





Still, the cleanup is pretty painless.



Let's move along.



There's another enemy waiting a bit further in.





This one's a pair of Scouts.





We'll just get them out of the air first.





And have Leif freeze one of them so we take fewer attacks.



Chompy does her part too.



Oh. That'll make things easier.



This is trivial to clean up from here.





Let's head back and check out the cells.



First up, this one.



What's Amber doing here?



...her job, clearly. Um. Okay then.



She can hold onto some of the rare ingredients we picked up, there's no good reason to be carrying these Dark Cherries or Tangy Berry around with us.

Thank you! I will guard it with my life.
Would you like to store something else?
(No) Oh, okay! have a nice day!

Uh.

We wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't even noticed she's a prisoner.
She's, uh, dedicated. But she's not dumb. She sure knows.
As if her life wasn't hard enough, she's being judged by you both...

Amber will be fine. Let's move it along.



There's also a sad little ant in this cell.





She's starving. We can give her something to eat...



If we decline, this is what would happen. But let's not be so heartless.



We're overflowing with food, anyway. We certainly won't miss a Leaf Omelet.



The king will pay.
Rest, poor soul. You will be freed soon!
...
Nothing to say, Vi? A request, perhaps?
Nah. Let's go, team!

And this cute conversation is our reward. Character development!

Talking to her again after feeding her will just repeat her last line. Also, there's a banter.

That's just cruel! You can't leave people without food!
He's not gonna win any best king awards, for sure.
We've got to solve this issue quickly...!



For better or worse, there's nothing else we can do here. At least we were able to feed her. (Although Amber's right there... maybe she didn't feel comfortable sharing our items without consent?)



Now for the second cell.



That's all she has to say, but there's a banter too.

She sure looks glad to be here.
She's nuts!
Even if she's glad, we must save her!

This character continues to be... strange. Why does this mantis have a wasp fetish? We will never know.



There's a wasp in here too?



So they threw you in here?
Mhm. It's so frustrating...

That's certainly interesting. There might be something unnatural about this.

Why's a Wasp in prison?
The best way to know is to ask the fellow, I believe.

If you look carefully, this scout actually has a distinctive appearance: one of her antennae seems to be broken.



Anyway, that's it for that cell.



Wait, they arrested Bub and Rob?





Aw. Kabbu seems to be reminded of his old friends.

Even these two have ended up here...
Well, they'd been travelling a lot. This is like a sponsored trip.
Ugh. You'd have to pay me to get me to come back.



Unfortunately, we can't seem to break them out right now. We're going to have to investigate further and see if we can find a solution.



We're not quite done here yet, though. More boulders to smash!





The big door is too heavy to move. But there's something suspicious in this last cell...







Not bad! I certainly won't complain about these. (Let's just take a quick detour and hand them off to Amber, since she's right here.)



With that done, let's head through here.



It's... the cleaner's room?











W-Wait! Are you THE Bug Rangers!? Oh Queenie!
P-Pardon me?
Yeah! Just look at the poster!



It's such an honor, wow! Finally someone's heard my pleas!



Not me. I'm just a cleaner. Everyone's gone super nuts lately after the Queen went missing...!
I've kinda just rolled with the punches. Better than getting thrown into a cell.
You're saying the Wasp Kingdom's changed under the King?
You've looked around, right? Everything's so unkempt... Everyone's just focused on fighting!
Dunno where he came from, but he sure messed stuff up fast!
...You'll help, right? You're the Bug Rangers!



To help, we, uh... need an ancient artifact! Got any of those?
Oh, no way they'd give anything useful to me. You'd have better luck asking the King himself.
Here, this should help ya.



(We can't believe this is working...)
Hang on tight, miss! We will restore your kingdom!



Heheheh, yeah! You'd better have a reward ready when we do!
I'll give you some of my famous stew for free!
Or I would, but, uh, I'm in a tight spot now. Economy's bad...



...Eh, I'll take it.
A snack wouldn't hurt.
Name's Jayde. I can't believe my dream's coming true! Make yourselves at home, Rangers!



Well, that is certainly a thing that just happened. So, yep, there's the punchline for all the setup with the Bug Rangers - apparently they bear a completely coincidental strong resemblance to Team Snakemouth, to the point we can be mistaken for them.



Here's a closer look at the poster. They're pretty much just us, with masks on. (No wonder Kabbu loves the Green Ranger so much.)

Anyway, let's investigate further here, Jayde's pretty interesting.

The Wasp Kingdom is like one big complex. But I'm surprised there's a cleaner's room...
Even villains gotta clear the dust!
Hopefully she won't mind picking up after the guards we knocked down.

There's a room banter, first off.



If we talk to Jayde, she has a few options for us. First up, we can chat:

You're a big inspiration, you know?
Wasps are strong, so if a little Bee can be a hero... Maybe I can too!
You saying I'm little?
Um. Whoops!
Heh.
Your faith in us won't be misplaced!
I really hope so. I need to see the Queen again... To thank her for this pendant and all.
It'd be so unheroic not to be able to!



My bed's the comfiest! You won't regret it!

She'll also let us rest for free.

If I can help AT ALL, just let me know!

There's also a banter for Jayde herself:

(We're surprised you'd lie to her, Kabbu.)
(It's an emergency! And it makes her happy, so...)
Woah! This stew's super good!

Hmm, what's this you say about stew?



Ah. Yeah, that looks pretty good! So, in addition to everything else, Jayde's running a food shop here:

Jayde's Stew (7 berries)
Magic Seed (13 berries)
Mushroom Salad (7 berries)

Her prices are quite reasonable for everything (that's quite a discount for Magic Seeds!) but the real standout here is her stew. It's a legitimately great item, especially at this price; we've definitely seen stronger healing items, but for a hybrid HP and TP restoration it's hard to beat it without using expensive ingredients. (Drowsy Cakes will match it, but you need to equip Sleep Resistance to make those worth using.) This is good stuff.



I'm so honored!



We've got five open slots in our inventory, so we may as well fill up with these.

If you're feeling cheeky, you can keep going back and forth between Jayde and Amber and fill up your storage with these too. I'm not going to bother, but it's not a bad idea if you go through a lot of healing items: these are very cheap, and unmatched for the price.

These will also be available later, but never again at such a low price. If you want them, it's better to stock up now; they're much less appealing at 20 or 25 berries each.



Anyway, let's bid Jayde a nice goodbye. She's been very helpful!

(Unfortunately, the character limit forces me to split the update. Back momentarily.)

[Explopyro]

53: Wasp Kingdom Sting (Part 2)



With the key Jayde gave us, we can open this locked door.







There's not a whole lot back here, just storage containers...



But, of course, we can use those to climb up.



Let's head through here.



Are we in some kind of air duct? (Also, the music goes silent once we're in here.)





Well then.

Fancy... and empty around here.
We can charge straight ahead!
Let's be careful. Even if they haven't noticed us yet, this is too convenient...

This is a bit spooky.



This room certainly looks intimidating, but it's very empty. If you were paying very close attention, you might notice this portcullis was on the other side of the fallen rubble in an earlier room, where the yellow save crystal was. We had to take a much more convoluted path to get here.



Anyway, up the stairs is the only way we can go.



...the throne room is also empty?

This seems to be the throne room.
Well, yeah! You can see the throne right there in the middle!
The artifact should be around here, let's look around.

I guess there's nothing else for it.





...Who's there!? Show yourself!

13 - It's Getting Scary!





I am the cruelest! The most cunning! You face General ULTIMAX! The crusher of rebellions!





We have been watching your every step!
And here I was! Waiting for you to come for my grand entrance!
Your entrance was absolutely, what's the word... Yeah, lame.
Insolent! Peasant! COMMONER!
I shall teach you how we deal with outsiders in the Wasp Kingdom!!
Just get out of the way! We're in a hurry!
As if I'd let you take even one more step...!







Look. Just hand over the artifact and you'll save yourself a whooping!
Fools! The artifact is only for our great king to behold!
Even now he enjoys its splendor, safe within his chambers... You are not to disturb him in any way!
Your king feasts and rests while your kingdom crumbles. Have you no obligation to your people?
All who serve the king are well cared for. Traitors don't deserve a thing!
Hng. We cannot afford to debate our enemy. Let's clear the path to the artifact!

Click me for video!

24 - Oh No! WASPS!!





Like it or not, we've got ourselves a fight! This is less intimidating than it might look, especially after the Beast, but let's do some spying and see what we're dealing with.



But we can do this, team. I'll break his guard as soon as it's raised!



If we manage to flip it over, we should be able to deal with it quickly.

These two are new. Wasp Drillers and Wasp Bombers are the elite soldiers of the Wasps' army, and have some pretty interesting moves. They're not unique to this fight, we'll definitely be seeing more of them in the coming chapters.



For a general, this guy's really weak... I'll beat up everyone else first!

And, of course, we have the general. General Ultimax, despite serving the Wasp King, is not a wasp. He's a hornet. More specifically, he's based on Vespa mandarinia, the Asian giant hornet. You may be familiar with these colloquially as "murder hornets", but will he live up to their reputation?

Anyway, let's get started here.



We've got one action left, so we may as well go for our best attack.



Wasp Drillers go into a guard stance after you hit them. This increases their defence to 3, making it a lot tougher to get subsequent attacks through. Like other guard stances, though, you can break them out of it with a flipping attack.



Chompy can't do that, though.



On its turn, the Wasp Driller launches a barrage of pebbles. This has a base damage of 3, and hits 3-4 times; it can be surprisingly painful, especially if you're using medals that give negative defence.



Meanwhile, the Bomber launches a bomb at us. What were you expecting? These are very similar to the bombs we can make ourselves, and you really want to block them if you can. This Frost Bomb deals 3 base damage across the party, and would have frozen us all if we didn't block.



The general, meanwhile, seems content to offer support, giving a Spicy Berry to the Driller.



Hmm. This could get nasty.



On the other hand, we could just have Vi stab people. Let's do that.





Kabbu doesn't care about guard stances. That's one threat dispensed with.





The bombers' 2 defence isn't the easiest thing to get through.



This time, she pulls out a Sleep Bomb. That, also, is something we really don't want to fail to block. These guys have access to all the bomb types, and they each act pretty much exactly the way you'd expect. It can get out of control quickly.



The general... laughs at us? Okay, then.



What to do now?





This is interesting! It's been a while since we've seen this; it's the off-balance icon. Wasp Bombers are flippable, but it takes two attacks to knock them over.





That's better. While flipped, their defence drops to zero.



Which leaves Vi with the perfect amount of damage to finish it off.



And Chompy can bite the general.



The general seems to freak out a bit once all his soldiers are gone; he starts using this flailing slap attack, but it's pretty pathetic. Its base damage is 1 and it hits 3 times. That said, this can get scary if it goes after someone with lowered defence; that's still a lot of hits, so don't underestimate him.



Still, we're definitely winning this. No sense prolonging the inevitable.







Get out of here.



And that's precisely enough EXP to rank up!





We'll grab the usual MP upgrade. We don't get any special bonus this time around.



Ugh, just shut up already!







The King should be in the next room. Let's go.



Well, that was a fun little interruption. It's not exactly a chapter boss (the Beast already took that role anyway), but it's a nice little fight and has a lot of interesting things going on. It can turn against you in a hurry if you let the Bomber get a status effect on the party, so there's a decent amount of danger still. If the status effects are a problem, you can focus down the Bomber ASAP (they're pretty fragile), or try stacking resistance medals as a last resort.

The King must be in the next room. Let's get the artifact and leave without fighting if we can.

Kabbu will say this if we check for a banter here after defeating Ultimax.



The general is also still here, even if he's stuck in the floor.



Next time... Victory will be on ULTIMAX'S SIDE!
Just shut it!

We can also get a new banter here:

General guy turned out to be a pushover.
As if we needed more distractions... let's just get the artifact and make our exit.

Heh. That's a cute way to sneak a reference in.



Now we can finally see what's down this passage behind the throne. Can we do this without any further interruptions? Please?



What's this? The royal chambers?

The King... isn't here?
Huh? Who's that?









Heavens, no! I'm but a hostage in my own castle...
I am Vanessa II, ruler of the Wasp Kingdom.
Or I was, before that poser somehow stole my people's minds and locked me in my own chambers...
Could it be you've come to save me?



We came to defeat the King. He's not here?
Or at least to take the artifact...



I have not seen him since.
What? How could this be?! He was driven out of the Ant Kingdom and we've had reports he...



13 - It's Getting Scary!



This is bad! Disastrous!
Uh, what's up?
We were tricked! There's no artifact here!
WHAT!?





We must return, immediately!

Please, allow me to accompany you. It would not be wise for me to stay here.
Have your people forsaken you completely?
...My people have lost their minds, even if I do not know how. We cannot rely on them!



With haste!



That's certainly not what we were expecting, is it? We had no idea Queen Vanessa existed before now... so just who is the Wasp King, anyway, and how is he controlling the wasps?



For now, though, Kabbu's right, we should get out of here.



Vanessa is following us now.



Oh, what now?





NOT MY NAME! And you're too late! Our attack at the Ant Kingdom may have failed the first time...
But the second time, with you lot and that sword guy out of the way...
Our glorious King will finally take all the artifacts!



We played right into their hand...!
Grrr! Get out of the way!
Gladly! Not like you can do anything to stop us now!



This really isn't good. The general is certainly smarter than he led us to believe earlier; he might be decent at tactics after all.









Well, that was quick.





No. I can feel something is off. We must hurry to the Queen.
I shall accompany you. I do wish to talk to the Queen about the situation as well.
Yes. I shall escort you.
Team Snakemouth, please join us whenever you are ready.



They all head onward to the throne room. We should definitely get to following them... but this has been a long update already, so we'll pick up right there next time.







Also, now that we've met Vanessa, we can read the discovery information for the Wasp Kingdom without fear of spoilers.

Next time on Bug Fables, we attempt to engage in diplomacy. I'll see you then!

[Explopyro]

54: Desperation and Diplomacy

17 - Ant Kingdom



Okay. Everything looks normal... but is it? Team Maki went ahead with Queen Vanessa, let's catch up with them. Hopefully we're overreacting and it's not the worst case scenario?



...I-I need to go back to the castle... Something weird is happening.

Some of the ants have new dialogue; there's a general sense of unease about.



It looks like Utter wants to alert us that the quest board's been updated, but now's not the time for that! We'll come back and check in with him later.



Something bad is going to happen.

This soldier also feels like something is off.





Please hurry!

18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen



So far, the palace still looks undisturbed. That should be reassuring, and yet...



But I am too afraid to check it out.

The sense of foreboding is further reinforced by the fact that everyone else is feeling it.



Yin's here, freaking out by the throne room entrance. Maki and Kina are nowhere to be seen...

Yin is shaking badly...
Something is going on at the throne room...

She gets a banter.



Hurry!

The Lieutenant's seen better days. That's not a good sign.

...! Something is wrong!

She also gets a banter, though there's not much to it.



Nothing else for it, let's go into the throne room.

13 - It's Getting Scary!









You blasted usurper! Will you burn all of Bugaria to the ground to reach your foolish ambitions!?



A King holds absolute power over his people. He is not meant to serve. He is to be served!
To command! To possess! To enjoy! That is the privilege of royalty! And it shall all be mine!





Like we'd fall for the same trick twice!







Kabbu!
MOVE!











Or I will pry them from your carcass!
...
N-No! If we do, he'll...
You have until my axe swings... To say YES!
...





You shall all bow to me once more - but you shall keep breathing.
Enjoy your last days of peace, lowlives!









My Queen, all I've done is fail you...
Stay still, Maki... You're even more hurt than me.
It's okay. A-At least we're all safe...





Elizant...
No, Queen. Thank you. For choosing to save us.
...



61 - Elizant II's Promise (Recommended listening!)



It would be folly to pretend I deserve this royal mask.
...
My Queen... That's not true! We couldn't ask for one better!
You are our mother! Our beacon of hope!



I have failed as both your Queen and mother of our people.
N-No...



When the King usurped my people, I cowered and hid. I have never raised a blade...
I simply believed my subjects would always follow me, no matter what.
I don't know how, but he turned them all on me just like that...
If you are not a Queen, I am but a peasant.



You've given us all the chance to thrive in your city!
...
Your words are kind, but I cannot accept them.
As we speak, the Wasp King must be heading towards the Everlasting Sapling...
Yet we have no way to pursue...



I assumed it would be to keep yourself young and fit to rule...
Uh, right. No one wants to get old!
...Fair assumptions. But no, it was never something for my own gain.
I might as well tell you, then. The reason for my search.

48 - The Ones Who...



(She hesitates quite a bit here, it seems like she's struggling to say it.)







It was her dream to get the Sapling so she could continue to rule Bugaria for years to come.
...I wished only to bring her back with it.
A graceful Queen, loved by all. A diplomatic genius who ended wars without combat.
I longed for her return... So that I may concede my throne to her.



...
We truly thought wrong of your intentions. But the truth sounds even more insane...



Um, I'm not sure if that would be my reaction...
We need to go beat up the King! Whatever he wants isn't any better!
If we knew where he was going, we would have some chance, but...



Were you ever gonna tell us? Speak up!
R-Right. I was, uh, waiting for the right moment. The King is certainly going for the Sapling, yeah?







A towering behemoth of steel and wood, said to have housed the previous rulers of these lands. The so-called giants.
It is forbidden to go there. None who enter have come back.
...In hindsight, it makes sense it'd be there. Even if we needed the artifacts to enter.
We need a boat to get there, though. Doubt the Wasps will let us sail in fine and dandy.
Tch. They were one step ahead of us. We had just received reports that the ships at the pier were all sunk by the Wasps!





The camera pans up, to focus on a stained-glass window that was hidden behind a curtain on our previous visits.



There's a Termite Kingdom?
They are an isolationist yet advanced society that lives just outside Bugaria...
They hate daylight, so they don't make much contact.
Some species go for a visit, but they forbid entrance to all Ants.
...Or that's how they used to be. Right, our Queen?



But they are our only hope. I will go, injured though I may be. I shall request an audience and do what it takes.



You must NOT put yourself in such danger! I will prepare envoys at once!

18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen



We are only in such dire straits because of me. I will go myself, and that is final.
Hnngh...
If only I was as strong as you, my Queen. Injured as I am...
Maki, Zaryant, you two rally up all explorers. Do not let rumors and panic spread.
When we return, we shall strike at the Wasps.



That is the only known way inside the Giant's Lair from Bugaria.
But right now, we will move to the Forsaken Lands. I will need an escort to ensure I arrive at the Termite Kingdom.



Also, Vanessa, please feel free to stay at our palace.
We do not have much to offer, but we will be sure to treat you as you deserve.



Our mothers may have had trouble in the past, but we can change the relationship between Ants and Wasps for generations to come.
...Is that so. Then let us share a meal after all this is dealt with.
Team Snakemouth, we must hurry. Do not keep me waiting.





You can count on us.

062 - Chapter 6: Assault on Rubber Prison







This marks the point at which Chapter 5 officially ends, and Chapter 6 begins. Those were certainly some revelations! If nothing else, we now understand why Elizant II wanted to find the Sapling so badly, and this is generally the moment where she passes beyond suspicion of villainy. (Also, the intro didn't lie: it used the phrase "she fell into a hard-earned sleep", which definitely sounds like a euphemism for death, but technically we were never told Elizant I was dead.)

Though this motive does raise other questions. Among other things, I find myself wondering how well she actually knew her mother before Elizant I went into stasis (and how old she was at the time). Everyone speaks well of Elizant I and views her as the perfect ruler, but we have very little actual knowledge, and it all sounds just a bit like everyone is idealising her. Would she really be better able to handle this situation, or does Elizant II just want to see her mother again?

Anyway, we have much to think on. In the meantime, let's get our bearings. There's a new banter here now to start things off:

The throne room has seen better days...
We shall not forgive the Wasp King. Let's put a stop to his reign of terror.

Let's hope we can catch up with him.



Please be careful. The Forsaken Lands are always shrouded in fog, and many dangerous beasts lurk within.
Leave it to us!

Zaryant will remind us of the plan, and she has a little more intel to add.



Indeed. The sapling is finally within reach.
Of the Wasp King!
Be careful, everyone! I'll be rooting for you!

And Neolith has a bit of pep talk for us, though Vi's right to temper it.



What's this? We can inspect the newly revealed window.



As you no doubt expected, it's a Discovery!







There's a lot of background detail here. Including that unlike the other kingdoms we've encountered, the termites have both a queen and a king (which is actually true of real termites as well, in contrast with most other social insects).



The window with Elizant II's image is gone, the Wasp King used it to make his escape route. It's almost like it's symbolic, or something. (This doesn't mean the discovery is permanently missable, for players who somehow didn't get it by now; it will eventually be repaired.)



This window is new too.



Apparently this one was of Vanessa I (presumably the relationship between the Ant and Wasp kingdoms broke down before the change in leadership, so it was never updated). Let's check out the discovery info.









Weirdly, despite the window being captioned Vanessa I, the actual text seems to focus on the current queen instead.



We can try to talk to the fallen soldiers in here, but they don't really respond.

The King will not be forgiven!
Let's go after him!

I suppose at least we can take some motivation from this?



Let's leave the throne room. We've seen all we can here for now.



...Oh?



Well, you see...



What!? To think this would happen behind our backs...



We did what we could. At least we can say we were present.
Why you...
Mothiva... You've gotta learn to shut up sometimes!





Shut it! Or we'll take you all on right now!
We can't afford to waste any time. We can argue when the kingdom's safe.







Well, duh! Do you know how frustrating it is to live in your short, meager shadow!?



As if you're the only team who's grown.
Whatever. We'll settle this later. Can't get too agitated before my show today.











Well, that was interesting. I'm sure they'll forget they heard that and leave us alone, definitely. (Damn it, Leif.)



Now that we're through most of the chapter-start talking, let's start the usual check-ins. We'll head to the library first.



Sorry... It doesn't seem you have enough for the next reward tier... But don't give up! Keep trying and come back when you do!

We'd gotten a whole bunch of discoveries in a short period of time, but we're still one short of the next reward. Oh well.





We do have a Lore Book to turn in, though! If you look closely, this one finishes up the bottom shelf. There are still a lot of these left to find; by the end of the game, we'll have filled up both shelves, hard as that might be to believe right now.



Ooh.

Family Structures in Social Bugs. Bugs can be classified into two types: social, and loners. Social bugs usually have a single Queen, the mother of the colony. Although all individuals are siblings, they do not tend to see it that way. Some individuals grow closer to others by choice, creating their own small "family cell".
Social bugs are further separated into workers and civilians. Workers are born to protect and take care of running the colony. They take their job very seriously and fulfill their duties the best they can. Recently, some workers have rebelled to lead a loner life. This, too, could be an evolution?
Civilians form family bonds more easily, and care for the general well-being of their colony. It should be noted that social bugs referring to their Queen as "mother" is considered a taboo. The Queen, however, has the freedom to call others her children.

We'd pieced most of this together already, of course, but it's nice to have it in one place.



We're done in the library for now.



Let's take a quick detour into the mines.



This is new! The mine foreman is trying to get our attention.



We turned it into a pretty nifty tool for you! Would you mind testing it?



This compass always points to this big crystal. Use it whenever you want to travel back here.
There's quite a few tunnels leadin' back here already, the compass will take you to them!

That sounds handy!



The Ant Compass goes into our Key Items menu, and can be used from there. This will let us fast-travel back to the mine hub from almost anywhere (provided that we're standing on a surface Kabbu can dig into). It's really convenient, although honestly it wasn't that difficult to get back to the existing tunnels before this. Still, I'm not going to complain.

It's a bit weird to get this so late in the game; I'm not sure if they give it to us now because the castle attack made for a convenient excuse, or if (on a more meta level) it's because the designers are done using points of no return? Or I could be overthinking it and it's just to give the player a nudge toward doing sidequests, as they approach the endgame.

Anyway, that's all we went into the mines for; let's go back up.



We really need to revise our security.

The Lieutenant's recovered a bit since we last saw her; good to see she's thinking about countermeasures. There's also a new banter for her:

The laiu... lieu... the ant captain's ok! Phew!
Lieutenant, Vi.
Is this the time to correct her grammar?
...You're right. I'm glad she's okay as well.

(While we're being pedantic, Leif, pronunciation is not the same thing as grammar...)



Let's head out of the palace.

17 - Ant Kingdom



Oh, right, Utter had quests for us.









Three new quests. Lost things and missing persons seem to be a bit of a theme here... this could be straightforward, or it could be a huge pain. Only time will tell. We'll accept them all, of course.

Let's have a look around town and run the rest of our post-chapter errands.



That's weird. Merab doesn't have any new medals on display?



This is a thing that happens sometimes; I'm not sure why. If we ask him to shuffle them, though...



It fixes it. He has two new medals we can buy.









We've got plenty of berries, so there's no reason not to grab both.



Prayer isn't new, we already had one, but a second copy allows us to stack them, or give the ability to multiple bugs. (If we wanted to invest 10 MP toward Prayer and Meditation, we could have a single bug recover 4 HP and 2 TP by doing nothing. That adds up!)



Sleepy Needles costs 3 MP to equip, just like Poison Needles did. It adds the ability to inflict sleep (2 turn duration) to Vi's needle skills. Weirdly, inflicting sleep this way only increases enemies' resistance by 10%, unlike the 13% increase from other sources.

This medal's potentially a lot better than Poison Needles (or you can stack them and inflict both statuses). For instance, you can try to spread sleep across multiple enemies if you're good at aiming Needle Toss. Or, if you're willing to exploit it, you can inflict sleep with an early hit and then immediately wake up the enemy by hitting them again, which glitches the AI into skipping that enemy's turn. I rarely use this medal because that feels cheesy, but it can definitely be powerful.



If we talk to Merab again, he'll reveal that we've cleaned him out. That was the last restock he had in him.





Huh?
You'll have to figure it out on your own...

And if we talk to this person after buying out Merab's stock, he'll teach us a new Menu Code! This one's significantly more interesting than the last one we saw.

Inputting "MYSTERY?" when creating a new file enables randomiser mode. Specifically, it shuffles all the medal locations (as far as I know, everything's randomised in a single pool). This also makes medals appear as mystery medals in the field, in shops, etc, so you don't know what anything is until you pick it up.

(The code is also, of course, a blatant reference to the eponymous item in Paper Mario. It would spin a roulette to do a random effect in battle, or give you a random outcome when cooked.)

This mode's a lot of fun, and definitely gives the game a lot of replayability if you're left wanting more. I'll put together a mini-update shortly to cover it in a bit more detail.



Let's head to the bar and see if Shades has anything new.





He definitely does! Like Merab, Chapter 6 marks the final time Shades will restock: these two are the last new medals he's going to get in. Let's remind ourselves what's currently in his full inventory:

Electric Needles (5 Crystal Berries)
Front Support (5 Crystal Berries)
Poison Attacker (5 Crystal Berries)
Defense Exchange (5 Crystal Berries)
EXP Booster (2 Crystal Berries)

Let's talk about the new ones.

Electric Needles completes the trifecta of Vi's status infliction medals. For 3 MP, this gives her needle skills the ability to inflict Numb. It will also increase the enemy's resistance to Numb by 15% each time it's inflicted this way (the same as any other source of Numb). Immobilising enemies is powerful, and the drawback of increasing their defence barely matters if you're attacking with something like the needle skills anyway (both of which ignore defence). That said, it's actually been nerfed: in the current version of the game, Numb duration on enemies is capped at 1 turn, but prior to v1.1 this wasn't the case and you could immobilise things for much longer (and even stack the duration by inflicting it multiple times). It's still a very strong and useful tool, but it used to be significantly more gamebreaking.

Also, equipping all three status needle medals at the same time (and maybe adding Status Booster) is a build choice that's somewhat popular. It's not necessarily predictable what will happen, but most enemies aren't immune to everything, and their resistance generally won't build quickly enough to stop the disabling before you win the fight. I'm not the biggest fan of this approach (if I'm going to use these, I prefer to just equip Electric Needles and use it as one tool among many), but it can definitely be effective.

Front Support is the most expensive medal in the game, MP-wise. It costs a whopping 8 MP to equip. For that, you get +1 defence for the bug in front (which, considering that position is more likely to be attacked, is the most effective place to have a defence bonus). This is obviously good, but is it worth the opportunity cost of not spending those 8 MP on other medals? I find it hard to justify, it's just too difficult to fit in given how many options there are. But, having said that, the effect is powerful, and it might be what you need.

We've got 8 Crystal Berries right now, and we'll probably find a few more soon (though, as you can see, we're definitely coming up on the tail end of things). Please vote in the thread for a medal or two for us to buy next; this will probably be the last time I ask for votes on this, given how much options will be narrowing from here.

In the meantime, let's get some more stuff.







Was it too challenging for ya? You deserve a reward. Here, take this!



Come back later when you've bonked some extra hard heads with that Medal, will ya?



Reverse Toxin is the final piece of the poison build. For 3 MP, this makes the equipped bug recover HP while poisoned, instead of taking damage: they'll heal the same amount that they would have taken in damage. As a downside, though, it reduces defence by 1 while poisoned (but of course you can counteract that with Poison Defender). This can definitely be good if you're going the tanking route with your poison build (and it pairs well with Eternal Venom), though depending on how you're going about it, that extra point of defence might be more valuable than the healing. Regardless, the tradeoff makes it significantly more interesting to think about than if it just had the healing aspect.

We'll add it to the pile.

Let's take a quick trip to Defiant Root, there's one last thing I want to pick up before ending the update.



Remember this fellow?



Uuuuuhhhhh?

So, Sun has gotten new stock for the first time since we met him in Chapter 3, and it's this thing. Damn right I want this.

Use it well, travelers.



I do not have any more berries with me at the moment, but I might find some more in the future. Please come back some other time.



So. The Super Pepper. This is the only way to get a permanent attack increase that isn't from medals. And we get one. There's one other, but it's in the postgame. So we're now faced with a decision.

Voting time! Who gets to eat this? Anyone could make great use of this. Vi probably gets the most mileage out of it, since she has the cheapest multi-hit moves, but then Leif has Icefall and Ice Rain, and even Kabbu has Under Strike and Dash Through... anyone can be the primary damage-dealer of the party, if you set them up for it. Honestly, on unmodified Hard Mode, I tend to think it's overkill and usually don't give it to anybody. But this is an LP, so it shouldn't be my decision. What do you think?

Next time, world exploration and sidequests! I'll see you then. (Look out for a mini-post on the randomiser mode in the meantime.)

[Explopyro]

Bonus: Menu Codes & Randomiser Mode Preview

01 - Bug Fables

Let's take a quick look at menu codes and the randomiser mode, because it does some interesting things. I'm obviously not going to cover it in full (it's taking me long enough to cover the main playthrough!), but I don't want to ignore it either.





So let's enter the code MYSTERY? instead of our file name.



When we select "Confirm", it plays an acceptance tone, but just clears the name entry and waits for more inputs. We could put in more menu codes, if we wanted; the effects combine, so you can customise your playthroughs for all sorts of challenge runs. It's pretty nice, but for now we'll just put in a file name and move on.



It also lets us input a seed! Want to do a race with a friend under the same conditions? Did you have a really good experience you want to repeat?

(For a long time, I wasn't sure whether you could view your seed ingame after creating the file, and recommended using an external RNG to pick the seed and note it somehow, maybe using it for the filename?, so that if you liked the run and wanted to replay or share it with a friend you could easily do so. I've since been informed that you can in fact view your seed ingame, on the right-hand sign in the Cave of Trials room, so this is largely moot.)



Once you come across any medal in this mode, the difference becomes apparent. Every medal in the field appears as a mystery medal until you collect it and find out what it is.



In this run, instead of Bug Me Not!, I got Poison Attacker.

The utility medals you get used to relying on aren't necessarily going to be available! (This mode can really make you miss Crazy Prepared, for instance.)

As far as I know, all of the medals are shuffled into a common pool and could be any mystery medal, with only two exceptions: Hard Mode and Extra Freeze are always still found in their original locations.







Another thing you'll quickly see is that the prices in Merab's shop have been standardised. Everything costs 35 berries, no matter what, so you can't deduce what they are from the cost. What's this one going to be?



Shock Trooper? That's different. Okay then.





The same goes for Shades, though with a bit of a twist.





Heh, that's one he usually sells. That does sometimes happen. Let's buy another one.



Well, that's a dud.



Wait, what? Now the price has gone up?

The first two medals you buy from him, no matter what they are, cost 3 Crystal Berries each. After that, the rest of them cost 4 each. As he carries 13 medals total, this adds up exactly to 50 Crystal Berries, so there won't be any left over just like in the vanilla game.

That's really all I had to show. It's a randomiser, it behaves exactly the way you'd expect.

If I had one criticism, it's that the nature of randomising medal locations makes runs feel very different and interesting in the early to midgame, but as you get further, things homogenise as you start to accumulate a critical mass of the good stuff, and the late game always feels pretty much the same.

The best way to combat this, I found, is to add a self-imposed restriction that I'm not allowed to buy medals from either Merab, Shades, or both (Merab stocks 15 total, Shades stocks 13 total), depending on how much I want to challenge myself. This way, there's always an arbitrary portion of the medal pool that's inaccessible to me, and I have to make do with what I get and can't rely on using tried-and-true strategies.

If you've finished the game and still want more Bug Fables, it's well worth trying out. This mode's great.

Also, here is a tool which might be of interest to people playing this mode (which I became aware of thanks to the Bug Fables Discord). It attempts to deduce your seed and the likely locations of medals based on information you give it about what you've already found. What I don't know is the mapping between its order and the actual ingame locations, so I suspect there's going to inevitably be some guesswork involved still (and, honestly, I think I'll prefer to play without using it), but it's pretty neat regardless.

[Explopyro]

Interlude: Welcome to the World of Pokémon



What's this? Everyone looks different here! Are we in the wrong game?

So, some time ago I did a playthrough of Pokémon Sword with a team of all Bug Fables characters. I've been wanting to do a side update showing them off for a while, but I've been waiting until I could explain all the decisions I made without spoiling anything in the LP.



Here's my party of six, from left to right: Vi, Kabbu, Leif, Maki, Levi, Celia. There are plenty of other characters I considered including too, but I either thought they didn't quite fit (a Scolipede for the Beast would have been perfect, for instance, but it didn't feel right having it on the same team as Kabbu), or they would've made team diversity weird (I considered just doing Team Snakemouth and Team Maki, but I didn't have any great ideas for how to differentiate Kina and Maki, so Levi and Celia got the nod instead).

One detail that unfortunately won't come through in the screenshots is that I played through the game with a trainer called Elizant II (who I gave burgundy hair and purple clothing), since all six of these characters are loyal to her. Unfortunately, I bred all of these Pokémon on my main file, so the "original trainer" info shows that instead, and I didn't keep the Elizant II save after finishing (it was before I decided to do an LP) so I don't have her trainer profile to show.

Let's take a closer look.



Let's start with Vi. In perhaps a controversial decision, she is a Ribombee, rather than Beedrill. Beedrill does have Twineedle, which would have been perfect, but I thought overall Ribombee fit better (aesthetically Ribombee just looks a lot more like Vi, and there are some other reasons I'll get into). Also, shh, Beedrill wasn't in Sword and Shield anyway.

She's holding Leftovers, to represent her endless stash of healing items.



She also has the ability Honey Gather, for a similar reason (it lets her scavenge Honey items after battles, which I thought was nicely fitting). It's a useless ability in gameplay terms (Honey is significantly less useful in Pokémon than it is in Bug Fables, and Ribombee have other abilities that are better), but these are the sacrifices we make in the name of accuracy.



She has a Rash nature. This is +special attack, -special defence, so it's both a useful one for her in gameplay terms, and one that fits her personality reasonably well. It's nice when things like that come together.



Here are her moves. This is where things get a bit fuzzier, because Ribombee is a special attacker and physical moves would have fit Vi better, but I did the best I could within those constraints. Pollen Puff lets her heal her allies in addition to attacking, Stun Spore vaguely represents Electric Needles, and Quiver Dance boosts her attack and speed (representing the types of strategies she tends to favour in Bug Fables). Moonblast lets her hit things hard, so it works in that sense, it's just a bit thematically off.

Next up is Kabbu.



Kabbu, of course, is a Heracross. He was by far the easiest character to pick a Pokémon species for.

He is seen here holding a Rocky Helmet, representing the Spiky Bod medal.





Though he sometimes gets a Focus Band or Focus Sash instead, in acknowledgment of his survival at 1 HP in the fight with The Beast.



He has the Guts ability, which lets him do more damage when suffering a status effect (usually poison). Clearly, this version of the team has the poison medals equipped to him.



Kabbu has an Adamant nature (+physical attack, -special attack). As well as being one of the better choices gameplay-wise, I thought it was a pretty good fit for his determined personality.



And here are Kabbu's moves. Megahorn needs no explanation, but he also has Brick Break (I would have given him Rock Smash but that wasn't in Sword) for destroying boulders, Dig for use both in battle and the field, and Rock Slide representing Mighty Pebble/Mightier Pebble.

Now for Leif.



Sword and Shield gave us Frosmoth, an ice moth Pokémon, so this wasn't a particularly difficult choice either. Though I did consider some others before going with the obvious: there are several moth Pokémon with vaguely-magical abilities (or even some fungus Pokémon, Parasect is literally a cordyceps) that could probably have worked, and Frosmoth's body shape is quite different to Leif.

He is holding a Never-Melt Ice, because all of his offences are ice-based. He's Leif, what did you expect?



I went out of my way to get his hidden ability, Ice Scales. Also, Leif is the only team member I didn't go with a 252/252/6 EV spread for, he has 252 in special attack but I spread the rest across his defences a bit haphazardly. All of this is a more or less futile effort to get him some survivability (and mitigate the defencive flaws of Ice/Bug as a type), because he's too slow to avoid taking some hits.



I gave Leif the Quiet nature (+special attack, -speed). He's often soft-spoken and deadpan, so it seemed reasonably appropriate.



And here are Leif's moves. Just like in Bug Fables, he only deals damage with ice. (Let's say Blizzard is "Ice Rain"; he also had Hail at one point as a more direct representation, but it didn't do him a lot of good.) We also have Icy Wind (which has the secondary effect of lowering enemies' stats) and Quiver Dance to raise his own, representing his myriad status-buff spells. I considered giving him Helping Hand, also, to represent that and/or the way I frequently have him use Turn Relay, but there weren't enough double battles ingame to justify spending the slot.

That's Team Snakemouth. The other characters didn't have as many details I could mine, so they're not going to be quite as elaborate, but let's look at them too.

Maki is next.



I ended up with Maki as a Lurantis. It's a bit awkward because Lurantis is grass-type (meaning this team isn't mono-Bug), and a pun on orchid mantises (which Maki isn't), but it's a reddish mantis with sword-like appendages that gets slashing moves.

Arguably, Scizor is mantis-like and could also have worked, but I preferred the explicit swords Lurantis had. I could have used a Scizor for Kina, maybe, but I didn't have the ability to do trade-evolutions when setting this up, so I couldn't control enough of the parameters for my taste.

Maki is holding a Quick Claw, because Lurantis is very slow but he's pretty nimble in Bug Fables. (He's got that leg injury, but he can pull off an ambush when it matters.)



The Contrary ability isn't a great thematic fit, personality-wise, but mechanically it lets him get stronger over the course of a fight without having to stop attacking. That seemed like a reasonably good fit for him (and also it's a fun ability to play with, let me have this).



Brave (+physical attack, -speed) nature is self-explanatory. Adamant could have fit just as well, but I didn't want to overuse that and Brave seemed like an excellent fit personality-wise. Maki doesn't hesitate to go into danger, even if he leaves his team behind for their safety.



Maki's moves. Leaf Blade and Night Slash are both swordy moves. Superpower, in addition to sounding awesome, is an ability that lets him power up with Contrary. Leech Life is there not really because it's fitting, but since he couldn't be a Bug type I wanted him to have a Bug-type move, and the recovery does help him.

Levi and Celia are left.



Levi is probably the one I had to stretch the hardest with. Truthfully, Ledian would have been a better fit, as a physically-oriented fighting ladybug, but Ledian is both an awful Pokémon and one that doesn't appear in Sword and Shield. Escavalier could have represented his knightly side, but it's not a ladybug. Orbeetle was the compromise I eventually settled on.

We'll say the Twisted Spoon is his sword.



I wasn't spoiled for choice where abilities were concerned, but Swarm at least theoretically works for him. He gets injured a lot, like in the scene with Monsieur Scarlet?



Timid (+speed, -physical attack) was a less-than-perfect choice of nature; it works well for him gameplay-wise, at least, and I justify it in that he's the type to set traps rather than attack openly. Modest (+special attack, -physical attack) would probably have been a better fit, I think, I'd pick that if I did this over again. We have less information to go on for Levi than the previous characters.



Levi's moves were just chosen to be generally effective, I don't have thematic justifications for these.

(As a curiosity, in the course of all the breeding I did to assemble this team, I ended up with a nearly-perfect shiny Blipbug. But it was the wrong gender and the non-shiny colours better fit Levi anyway, so I didn't end up using it.)

And here's Celia.



And here's Celia the Durant. She's a greyish ant who is always seen carrying a shield, so the Steel-type ant seemed like a perfect fit for her. (Before I settled on Levi as the sixth party member, I considered naming my Durant something like Gen-Eri instead, but I think this worked out better.)

She's got an Assault Vest, further representing the big tower shield she carries.



Celia also has Swarm, because Durant's other two abilities are actively detrimental (barring niche strategies for competitive play, which I wasn't going to be doing with this team). I guess her and Levi both having the same ability as teammates makes a kind of sense.



Adamant nature seemed reasonably fitting for Celia also; I can't justify it as much as with Kabbu, but it fits fine with what we know of her.



And her moves. Again, I didn't have as much to go on as for the others, so I just gave her the combat skills I wanted for gameplay. I went out of my way to get First Impression, though (which required a bit of shenanigans); she was pretty standoffish to Team Snakemouth at first, after all.

Let's take a look at the team all together. It was surprisingly hard to get them all into frame at once, but I did manage a couple of decent shots.



(Heh, it's almost like the title screen, Vi and Kabbu are chatting off on the left side while Leif ignores them...)



Something must be going on in the distance here, nobody wanted to look at the camera.



And here I am cooking curry for everyone. I'm no Fry, Kut, or Crisbee, but it just wouldn't be Bug Fables without cooking.

And there you have it! This was fun to do, both in design and as a monotype challenge, and I've been looking forward to sharing it with all of you. I might expand this beyond six members someday (there are a lot of characters I could still add, like Kina and Yin, or Vanessa II as a Vespiquen, etc, there are a lot of Bug Pokémon to work from).

I hope you enjoyed this Pokémon interlude; we'll return to the usual content next time.

[Explopyro]

55: Time For Reflection (Part 1)

01 - Bug Fables



We're back! Now that we've started Chapter 6, the title screen has updated again. Mothiva and Zasp have joined the crowd, hanging out by the theatre entrance. I wonder if that means anything.

Anyway, let's get started.

37 - Defiant Root



We made a quick stop in Defiant Root last time to pick up the Super Pepper. Let's start off with that.



This ended up being a bit contentious: Vi won by only one vote! Let's give it to her.





From this screen, it's not immediately apparent that did anything.



But if we go into the stats/medals menu, we can see her attack value definitely went up. (If we took off the Power Exchanges, we'd see her base attack is now 3.) Vi is getting very, very scary. Someone should probably make a joke about killer bees or something.



While we're here, let's go see Engira in the smithy. He posted a quest for us earlier.



Let's talk to him.



Woah, chill out.
You're Engira, right? You lost that claw thing?
Grr... Yes. Those darn Wasps! I'm sure they're responsible!
Wouldn't one sooner blame the bandits?
As if those uncultured criminals would know the value of MY CLAW!
Heck, if it wasn't the Wasps, they hired the bandits to do it!
That's not much of a clue, is it?



If anyone can find it, it's explorers, right!?
Worry not. We shall recover YOUR CLAW!

All right, that's simple enough. We'll need to head back to that area anyway, we'll definitely keep our eyes open for this. There's also, of course, a banter we can see:
Poor guy. The claw really was a big charm point.
Is it that big of a deal? He can just get another tool, right?
Would you so quickly abandon your Beemerang?
...Alright, alright.

It's not clear to me whether this is just a tool Engira uses, or an actual prosthetic. Regardless, we should find it.

Before that, though, let's have a look around. There's a bit of new dialogue in Defiant Root.



Fuzzo's worried war isn't good for his business.



How long until this old town of us is next? I don't want to think about this...

This guy's worrying about Defiant Root being attacked.



We have to protect the town!

As are the bee soldiers who have to defend it.

More interestingly, perhaps, if we head into the bar...



Speak of the devil. Aebees appears to be drowning her sorrows here.



...Not my business. So long as they keep off here. Sorry.

But first, let's discover that the barkeep is pretty callous.



How will I ever face the Queen...!?

She's not doing too well.









Also, there's a new banter for her. There are so many emotes in this one I had to screenshot the whole thing; Leif, there's a time and place for jokes. (Also, this one's a pretty deep cut: he's playing on Vi's wording in Aebees' previous banters, but if you didn't see those this is probably a lot less funny.)

I wondered if there might be some new dialogue in/around the Bee Kingdom addressing the attack and its fallout, so I went and had a look around, but there doesn't seem to be yet. There was this along the way, but that's it:



Mmm... Times are getting rough.

Will seems to be a bit behind on the news. I can't remember if we've seen this dialogue before, we might well have done.



Let's head outside for a bit. We've got a few miscellaneous things to check out, in addition to working on sidequests, and the first point of interest is right here.



Remember there was a boulder here? Kabbu can smash it now.



There's a buried item underneath it.







It's another set of Dark Cherries. We'll need to do something neat with these soon, they're starting to pile up and I've barely touched them.

Anyway, we're done in Defiant Root for now...

26 - Golden Lands



So let's head to the Golden Settlement next.





If we head into the eastern residential area, we can run into Jayde! Looks like she managed to flee the Wasp Kingdom and is hiding out here.
Jayde's settling here, huh.
It's good to see she'll be out of harm's way.
What we should see is if she's still selling that stew!

If we check the banter, our team will express concern (okay, Vi's concern is for stew, but that still counts right?). Let's see what she has to say.



Jayde? What are you doing here?
After you knocked out Fuff, I decided to follow the Queen's steps and leave for a bit.
This place is really nice, isn't it? I think I'll set up here.
What, like a shop?
My stew shop! You guys liked it so much... I think it can be a success!
You've got that right.
I'll give you a special Ranger Discount, so buy a lot!
Woohoo!



You don't have to say anything! I'm just glad to help in your travels!

Heh, Kabbu wanted to come clean, but she wouldn't let him get a word in.



If we talk to her again, she'll offer to sell us her stew, so it isn't lost forever if you chose not to buy any last chapter. The price has gone up significantly, though. It'll be 25 berries each from now on, which is significantly less of a bargain than before: honestly, at this price, it's not exactly worth it (though berries are so plentiful at this point of the game that the cost barely matters, if you do want it). Sure, we'll take one.

All done! Have a feast!



You can come back anytime, my heroes!

If we decline to buy it, she'll say this:

Aw... well, I'll be around. Come by anytime if you want some!

Also, this was fun:



If we try to buy one with a full inventory, she'll ask us if we can give her something as a souvenir and make room that way. Unfortunately, the game doesn't actually let us do this, but it's a cute line regardless.

So, yeah, this is where Jayde goes. This is all she can do for us right now. Maybe we'll come back if we're hungry, but for now let's move on.





There's another boulder here, right outside the Golden Settlement. It's easy to forget this one, it's been quite a while since we were here!









This one's hiding a Lore Book! We'll have to go read that.



I started heading back normally, but then I realised this would be a perfect time to demonstrate our shiny new Ant Compass! Let's see how this works, shall we?



18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen



After a short animation of Kabbu digging into the ground (you do need to be standing on ground Kabbu can dig in to use this item), we warp directly to the Ant Mines! This is really handy. (Let's just ignore the fact we were standing right next to an entrance to the mines anyway, this is just a demonstration and this works nearly anywhere.)



We can head straight south and immediately find the way up into the Ant Palace.



Since we're here, let's go turn in that Lore Book.





We're starting another row on the shelf! That's more than halfway done, though honestly it always surprises me how long it took us to get to this point. A lot of these come along surprisingly late in the game.



Let's read it.

Bugarian Honey. Something about the pollen collected from Bugarian flowers causes the honey produced here to be super sweet, but also super volatile. If the honey is mixed too thick or heated up too much, it becomes alive and turns into a being called an "Abomihoney". Scientists are still trying to figure out what causes the honey to turn into these beasts. Many tests point toward crystal fragments in the plants of Bugaria being the culprit, but there's no conclusive proof.

This one's mostly telling us what we don't know, though I guess it's good to know they're researching this. (It all goes back to those crystals...) And, I guess, that honey in this world isn't intrinsically monstrous and explosive, it's more of a regional speciality.



Let's head out and have a look around town again.



Just... Just what am I good for...!? What am I guarding for!?

Some of the guards are having crises in the aftermath of the attack.



Well at least this time the city wasn't destroyed...

While others are looking at it a bit more pragmatically. (Though she hasn't seen the damage to the palace itself...)

Weirdly, most of the bugs around don't have new dialogue.



This one does, though.





Also, it's been a while since we've been to the bank. Whoa. I don't remember having nearly this much...

This is honestly a pretty common experience. This number's a bit inflated because I ended up grinding a bunch from the Spy Cards tournament in the process of trying to see all the dialogue, and again in the Whack-a-Worm game to get the menu code reveal, but it's not at all unusual to end up having more berries than you could conceivably spend in the bank by this point in the game. There's still one major money sink yet to come, but honestly, even considering that, berries are practically unlimited now.

We'll leave these all here and let them keep multiplying, I guess.

Your berries are safe here. Come back anytime.



While we're here, let's make a purchase from Shades too. The thread voted for us to grab Poison Attacker and complete the set. Now that we have the full complement of poison medals, I'll need to show off how absurd they get sometime soon. For now, it goes on the pile.

06 - Outskirts



Our next stop is in the outskirts, to the west of the city.





Specifically, we want to check out Chuck's place.



No problem. This bug ain't goin' anywhere.

Chuck himself doesn't have much to say...



But there's a breakable boulder hiding around the far side of his dwelling.







Breaking it lets us walk behind his house into this hidden area, and there's a crystal berry here!



We'll take that with us.





While we're in the Outskirts, let's head to the pier and investigate what happened there.

23 - The Sailors' Pier





At least there were no casualties.

This soldier gives us an update on the situation.



There are Wasps all around Metal Lake. They all headed towards Rubber Prison.
I hope Metal Island is fine.

The divers around here have ceased their operations.



Including Eetl's friend who we met early in the game.





The sea never forgives.

The bugs in here have new dialogue too.



This one seems pretty sensible.



And if we head out on to the pier, we can find the captain looking pretty miserable, and there's clearly no boat to be seen anywhere.



The Wasps sunk it...

Yeah.

It seems they really did sink his ship.
Even if it was super overpriced, it was an awesome ride! It didn't deserve this!
We must take down the Wasp King in the name of everyone, even this poor sailor!

Our team lament the loss in the banter. This one's actually kind of interesting: it's a bit different if you've never ridden the boat and been to Metal Island. In that case, you see this instead:

Yikes, they really did sink his ship.
We have some regrets. It would've been nice to ride on it.
We must take down the Wasp King in the name of everyone, even this poor sailor!

It's not a spectacular difference, but it's neat to see the writers thought about this.



We'll use our trusty compass to head back quickly, we're done here.

56 - Lands Untamed



And from there, we'll make our way back to the Far Grasslands. There's some more exploration we can do here: there are quite a few new banters now that we've finished the chapter and no longer have Maki with us, and of course we have sidequests to do.

I still can't believe we got to be part of Maki's team, even if briefly!
You're such a fanboy.
He's the one who should be honored! We're the super best Bugarian team!

Starting off on a high note, this one's cute.









Heading west, there isn't anything new to see until we get to this area. There are a lot of boulders to smash here...

Y'know... we've been thinking of opening a tour business.
A business?
Just shield up and carry bugs through the thorns. For a price. Got the idea from Maki.
That's a fantastic idea! Just, um, please don't charge us...
No kidding!

Another cute one. Leif does seem to love extortion sometimes.



Let's get started on all these rocks. This one is hiding literally nothing, which will become a trend here...







But this one in the back was blocking a path. Let's see what that's uncovered.



This area certainly looks mysterious.

...There's nothing here!
Hm... is this truly a dead end?
We can feel some faint magic in this place... But there is nothing we can do now. Let's return later then?

Our team don't have much insight. We will eventually be able to return here and find out what Leif's noticing, but that'll be a long way away yet.





That said, they're not quite right that there's nothing here! It can be hard to see, especially from a distance, but this is where Engira's claw ended up somehow. (If you have the Detector medal equipped, it'll go off here, making it a lot easier to find this; without it, it's very easy to overlook.) We'll bring this back to him once we're done exploring here.



For now, there's nothing more to see.









We can smash some more rocks here, but once again, they're not actually hiding anything.



And there's this one, up here.





There's a Flowerling hiding back here...

55 - Team, It's Getting Serious!



This battle's a new formation and isn't completely trivial, but we're overpowered enough now that we can just breeze right through it.

56 - Lands Untamed





Heading west past that one encounter, we reach a familiar area. As I believe I hinted before, this path took us right back to the "preview" portion of this area, which links up to the wizard's domain. There's a new banter now that we've reached it from this side:

To think all these areas are connected... we are lucky the Wasps never took advantage of this.
Well, no way to know if they did.
No point in thinking about it!



We can smash the boulder to get back to our Ant Mines shortcut, if we want (though that feels a lot less significant now that we have our Ant Compass).



Let's head back the way we came, though, we have some more things to see here yet.





The Wasp Kingdom border is... not welcoming, to put it in plain words.
You can tell they don't like visitors. It's like that poster outside my room!
Let's leave it at that...

There's a new banter here, by the Wasp Kingdom border. We still can't get in from this side... can we?







Instead of arbitrarily catching us, we can fight this guard now. It's just a single soldier, and easily dispatched.



For better or worse, though, there's no way through this gate. Let's head back.





All the plants are annoying. But also nice. In a weird way, you know?
The Ant Kingdom used to have more plants in it. Maybe they could have built around them better?
Mayhaps we could discuss a project to plant flowers in unused spaces...

Here we get a slightly different version of a conversation we had earlier.





The mission being done for, it wouldn't hurt to explore this area a bit more.
Just watch your step. The monsters are still dangerous!

Put a pin in this one. There's something new in this room, but we'll be heading past it for now and coming back next update.





Hey, there's Madeleine waiting for us by the entrance to the swamp. She did have a quest for us...



Madeleine's here! Let's start the Seb rescue operation!

We can see this short banter if we check before talking to her.



So it goes. Seb's lost again?
Pretty much. We were sightseeing in the swamp... And when I turned around, he was gone.
Sightseeing!?
He's incorrigible!



I've heard of the Leafbugs living here. I wanted to meet them personally!
...But yes, the area's also full of monsters and murky water! They didn't mention THAT!
Blasted tourist agencies...
Well, it's fine! We'll get him back!
This time, I shall accompany you.
B-But...
Do not worry. I can handle myself. And I may even get to see some Leafbugs!
...And I can't just stay here worrying about Seb. It's mortifying!
So let's go! Into the swamp!



Easy there. We'll get through this just fine.



After that conversation ends, she starts following us! Looks like we're going back into the swamps, whether Kabbu wants to or not...



Let's go in.

57 - Swamps Where Dreams Drown



This area is as dreary as ever.





We could just equip Bug Me Not! and get through here without any encounters, but we'd be missing out if we did. Madeleine's here in the battle screen, and she's going to be helping out with the combat! We'll have our team do nothing so we can get a look at her capabilities.



Madeleine can hold her own! Her attack is a two-hit combo, and each hit does 2 damage and ignores defence. She's not quite as strong as Maki was, but she's far from helpless. If you want to fight some enemies during this quest, it's fun that she can help out.



We'll clean up the Madesphy after that.



Onward.



I wonder how the tribe is doing...
You're too nice. They attacked us, you're aware?
They were just protecting their home!
Well, yeah. But we weren't hitting them or anything...
If we walk around enough, we're bound to meet them again. Then you can ask.
I feel that won't go well, sadly...

This area has a new banter discussing the Leafbug tribes. They're still around here as random enemies.



Forward.



This place is super intense!
Nothing that cannot be solved by thinking on our next step!
No need to copy Maki word for word...

Heh. I think the writers might've gotten a bit frustrated at having to write multiple versions of a lot of these banters?



Here we can see the Leafbugs are back, but we're just going to run past them, there's not much point in fighting. Madeleine can admire them from a distance, that'll do just fine.



Pressing on.



And here we reach the area where the bridge used to be.

They could've repaired the bridge or something...
That'll take time. But we know how to get around.





Breaking this boulder reveals a bouncy mushroom we can use. (We can't quite jump down to the lower area; I had thought we could, but we'll land in water if we try, so we need to go by mushroom instead.)



It launches us over here, right near the exit of the area. Of course, we can't go that way, we need to find Seb!



So we'll head this way.



Right, this room. It's a lot easier to get back from this side, at least.





We can just launch ourselves across with the mushroom, then drop down.





Although we do need to make an ice block and hold down the switch to lower the bridge here.



Still, that's a far cry from what we had to do crossing this the first time.



This area should look familiar. It's more or less a hub where most of the paths converge.



If we make our way all the way to the west, we can eventually return to the area at the bottom of the bridge. There's a mushroom here that wasn't before...



Which launches us right back up to here. That's convenient, but we still haven't found Seb, so we'll need to walk back again...



Let's head east from here.



When we enter this area, Madeleine calls out automatically. This is our hint that he's somewhere in this room.







If we ride the lily pad to the centre of the room, then take this path to the tiny island...



There he is! Also, the buried item seems to have respawned here.



Which isn't bad; Magic Seeds are nice! But I don't have room for this, so I'll need to leave it behind. (I don't know why this one respawns when others don't.)



Seb's here! Let us get him to safety!

Once again, we can see a short banter if we check before talking to him.



Milady! I am deeply sorry for abandoning you once again...
I'm relieved you're safe... But must you keep causing me so much trouble!?
M-Milady! Please... How can I make up for this mistake?
Hmm... When we return home, you shall make me your legendary delicious treats!
I will not let you down!
Thank you once again, Team Snakemouth! I am in your debt once more!



It's a bit dangerous here. Would you visit me at my residence?
I live just next to the Explorers' Association.
Gotcha. Let's leave this dreadful place, then.
I'll make sure Seb does not get lost again. Don't mind us!
I will follow your every step!
See you later, Team Snakemouth!

The screen fades to black, and when it brightens again, they've left.



We're immediately given this prompt to warp back to the Ant Kingdom, if we want to. I see no reason not to, we've done what we came here to do (and seen all the new banters).

We'll pick up there in the next post, the character limit is forcing me to split the update. Be right back.

[Explopyro]

55: Time For Reflection (Part 2)

06 - Outskirts



After a brief fadeout, it brings us right back here to the Association.



Turns out this building is Madeleine's house! She's been out travelling for the entire game so far, so the front door was always locked. It's open now, though.



Let's check in with her before anything else.



I haven't shown you proper gratitude for saving Seb... twice!
I can only hope that this is enough.





We get some berries, and the quest is marked as completed. We're not quite done here yet, though. (And for all that 30 berries may seem a lacklustre reward, that Lore Book in plain sight is part of the reward for the quest, since Madeleine will never open the door otherwise.)



Let's talk to her again.



Uh, we were wondering if you could lend us one of your umbrellas!
The heat's starting to get to you, huh?
You're in luck! I DO have this old one I no longer use. It's all yours!





No sir, no! It's the least I can do after you have helped me so much!
Thank you. It'll really help us out.

The second time we speak to her, we can get this umbrella. Remember the "It's Too Hot!" quest we've had for ages now? This umbrella is for that.

We can talk to her one more time:

Welcome! I hope that umbrella has served you well!
...Although I wonder if I should have lent it to those siblings, hmm...

Oh no, what did the neighbours do to it? I hope it still works.

There's also a new banter for Madeleine:

So Madeleine was the generous bug living here...
What makes you call her generous?
She's part of many relief efforts helping impoverished bugs.
She built the house next door, too!
She gives stuff for free? I don't get it...
...Maybe you will someday, don't worry.

Interestingly, this conversation can't be seen until after we've had the opportunity to feed the starving ant child in the Wasps' prison, so this feels like a bit of a regression for Vi. She already learned this lesson...



Anyway, let's grab this Lore Book from the table. (For all her charity, apparently Madeleine isn't great at returning library books?)



We can also help ourselves to a cup of tea.



Thank you for rescuing me twice. I will repay you someday.

Seb doesn't have as much to say. He does also get a banter, though:

This place ain't that big. Does she really need Seb?
It's not all about cleaning, Vi. Sometimes you just want company...
Yeah, but I don't pay you guys to hang around me!
I'm sure they have close bonds in their own way...

We get to speculate a bit more about their relationship



There's not much else to see in here, just the bedroom area. (There's only one bed, where does Seb sleep?)



Well, that was nice. Let's go hand in some stuff.

18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen



We'll start with the Lore Book, since it's on the way.





Berries as Currency. It is unknown how long bugs have been using these specific types of berries as currency, but it is a very effective method. Hard, long lasting, and very bitter, these berries are almost never eaten for their horrible taste. Their small size is perfect for carrying around, too! There have been some recorded cases of bugs actually enjoying eating these berries, but almost no one can stomach the taste.

I wonder when this book was written. Is Diana the only one who likes them?



Anyway.

37 - Defiant Root



Let's head back to Defiant Root. We've come full circle today.



First things first, let's finally help out Eremi!





Now when we talk to her, it opens the Key Items menu instead of regular items, so we can no longer give her the alternative solutions. We can, however, try giving her the Bug Ranger Plushie?

This isn't really gonna help. I'm grateful you've tried, but...

Sadly, she doesn't have a special reaction.



Let's give her the umbrella.

Wow! That umbrella's beautiful!
It's one of a kind, but perfect for your needs!



Super cute! Now, to seal the deal...
You must have gone through such a hassle! I hope this makes up for it!



Oh, and take this too!



W-Woah! You sure 'bout giving us this much!?
Yeah, it's a lot...
This umbrella will last me more than 20 ointments! It's okay!
We are grateful, miss Eremi. We hope you have cooler days ahead!



And with that, we finally get to complete this quest! It's about time, wouldn't you say? This one started way back in Chapter 4!



If we talk to her again, Eremi certainly seems satisfied.



And if we leave the area and come back, we can see her finally out and about, and carrying the umbrella!



It's nice to finally be able to look around town without feeling like I'm melting!

So that's nice. But what if we'd given her one of the other items earlier?



Well, even if we've completed the quest already, Madeleine will still have the same conversation and give us the umbrella. (I genuinely hadn't known about this before Alxprit pointed it out to me in the thread, back when we first discussed this quest.)



And if we come back to Eremi after obtaining it...





She'll notice, and we get the option to give it to her. Let's see what she says if we refuse.

Ah, alright. If you do change your mind, let me know, alright?

Eh, okay. Let's give it to her.





Here, take this as a token of gratitude!



Thanks for everything!

So while we don't get the Reflection medal (it already went to the caravan and we could have bought it already) solving it this way, we do at least get some berries to make up for the cost of buying it, and Eremi does eventually get to change her sprites and walk around holding the umbrella.



She'll also have the same dialogue now as she did on the other path.

I still think I prefer solving it the "correct" way, but given how long you have to wait, there's a good argument that giving her Shell Ointment earlier is optimal. Reflection is a handy medal, and you can get it at the beginning of Chapter 4 that way; the only thing you miss out on is berries.

Anyway, for better or worse, this odd quest is finally complete.



Now, let's see a man about a claw.



Of course, let's try this first...

Does this look like a claw to you!? Like I could wear this!?
Uh, whoops! Wrong one...

Sadly, another generic reaction. Oh well.



Let's return the claw.



It fits you very well, Engira!
Can you make us something cool with it?
Hm. Well, it'll take a bit. But I do have this prototype...



This'll do. Thanks.



And that's this quest completed! It's a comparatively simple one, though the reward is nice. Though it is a bit weird to get both copies of this medal so close together; I halfway wonder if we're supposed to think Eremi got hers from him at some point, if it's a prototype he's working on?



We can talk to him again, but he only has this to say.

Nice claw.
I don't get what's the big deal with it.
Well, he's the blacksmith... so long as it helps him out, that's all that matters!

There's a new banter too.



We discussed Reflection a bit when it first came up, since we could have obtained it way back in Chapter 4. We now have both copies of it, which completes the set of "Do Nothing" medals. This one costs 3 MP, and makes doing nothing become a kind of defend action. (Like the other Do Nothing medals though, you can only get the effect once in a turn, you can't abuse it further by relaying and doing nothing again.)

Stacking all of these medals on a single bug can actually make for a very effective build, and it's one I definitely plan to show off at some point (it's one of my favourites). The combined effects of these medals makes Do Nothing increase defence by 2, and recover 4 HP and 2 TP. That's quite an effective move. (16 MP total is quite reasonable for this.) Kabbu in particular can make excellent use of this, if someone relays to him so he can also use Taunt: the TP recovery completely offsets the cost, so he can spam it forever, and then 2 defence and 4 HP recovery every turn makes him very, very tough to kill (even without stacking his defence further, which you absolutely can do). Green wins by doing absolutely nothing. It's surprisingly reliable, verging on completely broken.

Anyway, on this note, I think that's enough for one update. Next time, we'll take care of our last remaining sidequest, and explore the final unknown portion of the Far Grasslands. And then it's back to the plot!

[Explopyro]

56: Damsel(fly) in Distress

37 - Defiant Root



When we left off last time, we were in the midst of a batch of sidequests, and left off here in Defiant Root.

38 - Make it Crisbee!



Before we leave, let's just nip into Crisbee's and pick up a Nutty Cake. I'm getting ahead of myself a bit: there's no way to know we'll need this yet, but buying it now will save us a trip once we do. I'm sorry if this bit of inexplicable foresight breaks your immersion.



Let's head into the mines and take the shortcut to Metal Island. A character there posted a sidequest for us.

Do note that because the ships have all been destroyed, this is the only way we can get to Metal Island now. If we hadn't gone there earlier and unlocked the tunnel, Metal Island would be inaccessible, and we would have to put off this quest until we found another way to get there. (The same would go for the Spy Cards tournament if we'd put it off this long.)

72 - Summer Holiday at the Metal Island (tm)



That said, because we do have the tunnel, we can just go here.





Metal Island is pretty much the same as we left it.



Let's also note that Stratos and Delilah are still here. We still can't access the Bounty they're hinting at, we'll need our own seafaring vessel first.



And here's the person we came here to find. She can be a little tricky to spot from a distance because the scenery gets in the way. Let's check the banter before we talk to her.

She's a bit stressed for someone in a vacation island.
Something must be troubling her... Are we able to help?

Not much to this one; let's talk to her and see what she needs.



I... I...
Have some tact, Vi.
Pardon her. We're explorers who took your request.
Ah... I get it now. Thank you!
...So what happened, exactly?
Um, my sis is super strong and brave. She's always taking care of me.
I saw her taking a walk with this Wasp...
I trust her, so I didn't get worried. B-But...



How did a Wasp make it here...? This place hasn't been a target at all.



I overheard them mention the Wasp Kingdom... They've gotta be near it!
I-It's my turn to be brave for Sis. I'll meet you in the Far Grasslands entrance!



We'll be right there. Please be careful!



The screen fades out, and she leaves. Guess we'd better go catch up with her, it looks like we have another escort mission ahead of us.



There isn't an easy shortcut to the entrance specifically. I'm not sure which path is faster; I went via Defiant Root, but you can also take the Far Grasslands tunnel and go past the Wizard's tower area.

56 - Lands Untamed



Anyway, Bumble's here waiting for us.

Woah, she actually made it!
Let's stop her from going further in by herself.

We can see this banter before talking to her. Let's get started on this.



We could've escorted you, you know.
I-It's ok! I gotta be brave to rescue Sis!
Allow us to accompany you from here to the Wasp Kingdom, at least.
A-Alright. Let's go...!
It'll be fine. Just stay behind us!



After that conversation, Bumble starts following us. All we really know is to search areas near the Wasp Kingdom, so let's get started...



Also, just to confirm, Bumble doesn't join us in battle the way Madeleine did. We can just put Bug Me Not! on for the rest of this if we want, we wouldn't miss out on anything.





This area seems like a reasonable place to check first, since the main gate is here, but they're nowhere to be found.



So we'll just trek through the Grasslands again. (Yes, this screen has more to find, but we'll pass through again and double back once we find her.)



And here's where we met Madeleine near the entrance to the Swamplands. I didn't arrange to get a screenshot of it, but we could get both of them to follow us if we wanted (just on this one screen), like we did before with other escortees.





Thankfully, with Leif's icicles and Kabbu's ability to smash boulders, we can take this shortcut instead of going through the Swamplands.



And here we are by the Wasps' hive. Do note that we can't go inside again, they've boarded up the hole we used to sneak in before.



...And they're just right there. That was easy?



If we check for a banter here, Bumble will call out for her sister. I think this might be the only banter in the game where nobody from Team Snakemouth says anything?

Let's talk to them and see what's going on here.



W-What? Kidnapper? What're you talking about?



Wh-What? But Rebelle is my...



...Date? With a Wasp Trooper?
O-Oh dear...
Y-You have a date!? You didn't say anything! I thought you'd...
I was trying to do something spontaneous, for fun! Okay?
I-It's true! I invited her here... And she said yes!
Please understand, tensions have been running high!
Who cares about all those politics? We just want to be together!
Why didn't you tell me?





Wow, your sister IS cool, Rebelle.
We're... sorry for this misunderstanding.
...No, it was my bad. I should've told you, Bumble.



S-Still, we could probably stay at Metal Island until the conflict dies down...
Yeah, right. I guess. We've spent some good time here anyways.
Thanks for caring about Rebelle so much. Here's a little something.



You're a cool dude. Sorry for the scare.
Haha, I get that a lot...
We'll get going now, then. Take care!



And they leave.



Once they're gone, we regain control and the quest is marked complete. Since it was all just a misunderstanding, that was an easy one to resolve! I certainly won't complain about another TP Plus medal either; this is our third now. (Though I'm honestly not planning to equip this any time soon, I haven't been having any TP problems and the MP can be used for other things).

Bumble and Rebelle are both "velvet ants", which are actually a type of wasp (they have this in common with Carmina). This relationship is still somewhat cross-species, but doesn't seem all that absurd. (Also, I should point out that Voi here also has a broken antenna...)

72 - Summer Holiday at the Metal Island (tm)



Anyway, if we head back to Metal Island after resolving this quest, we can find all three of them hanging out here now.



I gotta start thinking of moving, though. Can't be a third wing forever!





They all have a bit of new dialogue. All's well that ends well, I guess, though it sounds like they still have to work out all the details.

Seems our intruding didn't hurt their relationship.
I'm so relieved! If I was the cause for a breakup, I...
...'d apologize a lot. Right?
...Yes.

Also, there's a cute banter, though I do wonder how on earth Vi is pronouncing that. (Copyediting pedantry: Why not break up the lines as "I'd..."/"Apologize a lot."? or "I..."/"You'd apologize a lot."? Either of those would express precisely the same sentiment, a lot less awkwardly.)

56 - Lands Untamed



Let's head back to the Far Grasslands (and ignore the fact I obviously spliced in a later visit to Metal Island).



The save crystal here reminded me to pause for a moment, so let's move some medals around. I want to try something out.











We've assembled the full set of Do Nothing medals, so let's take those out for a spin. (I did have to take off some things to make room, but mostly we lost a few TP Pluses and out-of-battle utility things here.) This isn't the most degenerate version of the Do Nothing build yet, but it should let us do some interesting things.



All right, let's head onward.







This area had a branching path we couldn't take before, but now we can.







Remember this person? Maki wouldn't let us interact with him before, but of course that won't be a problem now.

13 - It's Getting Scary!



Woah, chill out. We're just walking around...



Well, this guy's aggressive. If we pick the second option, we won't even see any new dialogue, the conversation just immediately ends and Team Snakemouth turn back (and then we'd be given this same option on returning). But Thou Must.

Excuse me! We come in peace! We're simply exploring the f-
I warned you! If you won't leave, I'll drive you out!
Whatever! You're probably hiding treasure or something!



W-Wait, we're not poachers!



Click me for video!

29 - Team, This One's Stronger! (Miniboss)





Well, that was abrupt. If he won't listen to reason, I guess we have no choice but to fight him.





It's been a while since we've done this, but let's rearrange our formation. We'll get Kabbu in the back, and then use the Swap Positions command to put Vi in front. And then, of course, we'll spy, we need to get our information.



...He got mad. Maybe we spoke a bit too much this time...



What's this you say about bombs? I guess we'll find out shortly, for better or worse. This is Riz; he's a damselfly, though all we know about him right now is that he seems very territorial.

He has 85 HP and 1 defence. He also starts the battle taking two actions per turn, and will do so for the entire fight. He may not look intimidating, but don't take him lightly.



We'll have Vi hit him to start with. She's got a lot of attack power now.





Leif will relay to Kabbu, who uses Taunt. It's been a while since we've seen this in action, hasn't it?



Now, for his second action, Kabbu will do nothing. All the medal icons show up next to it in the menu here, indicating that they're in effect.



There's not much of an animation, but Kabbu receives +2 defence (bringing his total net defence to 2, Back Support and Favorite One are cancelling each other out) and restores the TP he spent taunting.



Chompy does her thing.



At the start of his turn, Riz buries something in the ground. If you look closely, it seems to be some kind of burrowing drone with a drill, but it has a Numb Bomb in it. These mines are a delayed attack that hit 2 turns later, and have various effects depending on what kind of payload he puts in them. It also doesn't cost him actions to do, he will just sometimes set one up before taking another action.



Here's his actual action, walking up to Kabbu and bashing him with his spear. This has a base damage of 5.



He then attacks again. Riz has three different animations for attacking with the spear, which have different block timings, but all have exactly the same effect. They do 5 base damage, and inflict the Inked status for 2 turns if you fail to block. (His spearhead is a pen nib!) That could get awkward...



As we see here, Kabbu's been inked for two turns. The bomb is targeting Leif in the middle position, but that's less of an immediate problem since it's two turns away still. (Also, notice the bomb is fully underground; if you want to keep track of the effects they'll have, you need to pay attention when he buries them.)



Let's take advantage of Status Relay: Leif relays to Vi, and transfers his charge-up to her.



She can then Hurricane Toss for 25 total damage! There are more impressive tricks, but combining Status Relay and Favorite One can be pretty effective.



Then we'll just have Vi attack again.



While Kabbu does nothing. Being inked puts something of a damper on this strategy, since it prevents him using Taunt; I could definitely have picked a better fight to show it off in (but also, that makes this interesting). But Inked only prevents using skills, Do Nothing still works fine and we can benefit from the recovery at least.



Chompy makes with the chomping.





Riz doesn't set up any new mines this turn, he just attacks twice. I managed to block with Kabbu at least, but Leif unfortunately got inked this time.



Also, this time the screenshot caught the recovery from our TP Core medals. Between those and Meditation, this small TP pool is pretty much self-sustaining.



...Oops.

So I wanted to do the Status Relay trick again, but forgot to factor in the fact that Leif was Inked and that would get transferred along with the charge-up. So Vi might have the attack boosts now, but she can't really do anything with them because her skills are blocked.

This is a bit of an embarrassing blunder on my part, but honestly, it's interesting to show off anyway so I'm not sorry it happened. Status Relay can sometimes trip you up if you're not careful, and the Ink status appears rarely enough that it's easy to get caught off guard by it.





Well, we'll make the best of it.



Kabbu does nothing again and heals himself to full.



And Chompy bites.



Now it's Riz's turn. First up, he plants another bomb (and it's another Numb one).



Ow. I keep messing up the blocking in this battle, I think all the different variants of his attacks throw me off. Leif's barely hanging on, and he's also been inked now.



More ow. Vi, of course, is taking extra damage thanks to her Power Exchange medals.



And at the end of the turn, the bomb that was queued up for Leif's position hits and KOs him. They only do 2 base damage; what's really threatening about them is the status effects, which as usual are inflicted if you fail to block.



We're not exactly in great shape here. Still, we can salvage this. Kabbu's ink has finally worn off, for one thing.





So let's start off by having him revive Leif with Pep Talk. Did you remember Kabbu could do this? It's not the kind of skill you use frequently, but it can definitely come in handy sometimes.



That's better. Now that Leif's back... let's have Kabbu keep doing things, and let both of the others relay to him.



First he taunts...



And then he does nothing. There are a few layers to this plan: we can get the heat off Vi and Leif, recover some TP to set up a bigger move next turn, and guarantee Favorite One will trigger.



Meanwhile, our intrepid plant friend keeps doing what she does.



...Another Numb Bomb? Couldn't we at least have some variety here?



Once again, I mess up blocking and get Kabbu inked for my trouble. My inconsistent timing is really making headaches for me in this fight.



And here we finally see Riz's third attack animation with the spear. This one's a bit of a fakeout, since it looks very similar to the straight charge at first, but takes longer to complete. I actually got the timing this time, though.



We're getting close to the end, now. Though it could still be a bit dicey, since our main strategies are offline thanks to the ink, and both Vi and Leif are pretty low on HP. Let's think things through here.



Well, we can start off with Vi attacking.





Here's what felt like the eureka moment to me. We can spend some TP on Bubble Shield to guarantee we get through this turn safely and Vi's ink will wear off...



Then have Kabbu use Do Nothing, to restore just enough that we can afford Hurricane Toss next turn.



The usual chomps occur.







Bubble Shield does its job. I'd hoped he might target Kabbu to trigger Favorite One, but we don't actually need it.





Also, Leif still had a +1 to pass her, since he shielded last turn. We just need Kabbu to relay to him first, since he's down an action from Bubble Shield. (And this time, he won't be passing ink along with it.)



So we can finish the fight with one final Hurricane Toss.



That one got dicey for a bit! But we pulled through just fine.

Before we talk about this fight overall (and then see what happens afterward), let's look at what else Riz can do.





He has Spicy Bombs, which deal 3 base damage, compared to 2 from the others. These have no special effect, though.







Frost Bombs, Sleep Bombs, and Poison Bombs, which like the Numb Bomb, inflict the status if you fail to block. Like a lot of enemies that inflict status, it's technically a 2 turn duration, but it gets inflicted right before the turn ends (and it ticks down), so you actually only lose 1 turn.





And then there's this thing, which doesn't look like any bomb we've seen before. This is an ink bomb, which, as you may have guessed, inflicts the inked status if you don't block. This isn't an item we can ever obtain, and we won't see one anywhere else, it's exclusive to this fight.

That's right: we already saw Riz's entire moveset, aside from the variety of bombs he can set. This fight is deceptively simple in that way. His moveset is very small, but he can put on a lot of pressure, and most of what he does creates interesting complications for the player one way or another. This fight can definitely catch you off guard if you don't know what to expect, which is pretty fitting considering he's supposed to be improvising traps. I'd say it's a tricky fight more than a hard one (and if you go full blitz with some combination of Poison Attacker/Last Attack/Hard Charge, you can kind of just overpower him before he gets to do much), but it's fun and I really enjoy it for that. Also, that pen spear is stylish.

This fight was significantly easier and less interesting prior to the 1.1 patch; that's the patch that added Ink to the game, and without that he's not nearly as threatening. It's the core of what makes this fight unique, and I'd definitely say that was a good change.

56 - Lands Untamed



Listen! We truly meant you no harm!





Then, you're not poachers?
Nope.
...
My... my bad. It's been tense with so many Wasps about.



It's only my family and me here. We don't see many others...
I assumed the worst. My bad.
It's alright. Forgive us for the smacking!
What DO you want, then?
Uh, we really just wanted to look around. Maybe help a bit?
For a price!
Definitely nothing evil!



I'll let my family know of your arrival. Please don't disturb us, though.



And he leaves. Honestly, he's being surprisingly understanding about this, all things considered.



We regain control.



I guess we may as well see what this place is about.



When we enter this area, we get a discovery. (Also, there's no music here, just the sound of waves. It's pretty nice.)





The weirdest thing about this, to me, is that bugs have a word for fishing. Actual fish should probably be something huge and incomprehensible to them, so it's weird thinking they'd call the activity that. We know what they mean, though.

Also, this entry says dragonflies, but that's an error, they're meant to be damselflies (which are very similar, but not as closely related as one might think). I think this is the only place the mistake remains, Riz's bestiary entry for instance says damselfly.

This is a soothing place. Could have gone without the harsh welcome, however.
That's why exploring's fun! You get to meet lotsa weird people!



Also, there's a cute banter here. I like this one.



Let's have a look around.



Riz is here, but he doesn't have a whole lot to say. He's still pretty suspicious of us.

Riz was quite eager to start a fight. He's quite overprotective.
Living in the wild's gotta put you on edge!
I hope we can move past our fight and become good friends.

There's a banter too, of course.



Let's talk to his sister.



Well, no. But we've been there, young lass.
Really!? Is it true there's a big sweet maker!?
There's a baker. Same thing, probably.
Cool! You know... Bro brings us food every day, even if Dad fishes.
But it's super salty... I wish I could eat some sweets. Like a Nutty Cake!



She's got a quest for us! This one's pretty simple (especially because I got the cake in advance; if you don't, it's a bit of a walk back).





Since we didn't get this one from the board, let's check it out in the quest log.



You didn't? ...Aww...

If you give her the wrong thing, she'll say this (and won't keep it).



Let's give her the Nutty Cake she wants.

Yay!!!



Chill out. It's just cake.
Super yum cake!
......Cake?
You don't know what cake is?
Err, no. Not really.
Preposterous. Here, try some.
W-Woah... Incredible!
Sweets are the best!
Hehehe... Thanks! I got to share with Bro, too!
I'll have to go into the city and get some for Father...
Oh! Here is something I found earlier! You can have it!





We get a Crystal Berry for that. But this one would be worth doing even without the reward, really.



If we talk to Rizza after completing the quest, she'll have this to say.

How can she be so cheerful? You can't do anything in here.
Well, there's fishing...
...Exactly!
She's probably never seen a proper city, so she's happy with what she knows.
...Does it really work that way...?

Also, there's a banter. This is another one I really enjoy.



On the pier, we can find their father, fishing.



If we talk to him, this is all he'll have to say. I guess that's something of an explanation...

Fishing SUCKS!
How rude. You have no concept of patience.
Indeed. Fishing soothes the soul, and even provides food!
My master and I used to sit long hours just to fish and chat...
...I, uh, respect that. But it won't make me like fishing...

This banter highlights a difference of opinion that we probably could have predicted. It's nice to learn a bit more about Kabbu's master, too.



We aren't quite done here yet; let's take a look around the eastern side.



What's this?



Please don't tell anyone I am here. Take this.



Keep this a secret, please.

Well, that certainly happened. This character is known as "that one stickbug" and your guess is as good as mine as to what's up with them. (Are these others also stickbugs, or just plants?)

A second copy of Heal Plus is nice to have, at least. The effects stack if you equip both on the same bug, as you probably expect by now. If you're fond of Vi's healing skills, having her equip both of these goes a long way toward keeping them effective for the rest of the game (it really is a huge difference when you increase the initial healing of Sharing Stash from 2 to 4).



The stickbug won't say anything if we try to talk to them again.

We've seen pretty much everything here now, shall we head back?



On our way out, let's snag this. There's a Lore Book sneakily hiding behind this plant! You can see bits of it peeking out from certain angles, if you're looking, but it's really tough to spot. This is another one where having the Detector equipped goes a long way to help finding it, since at least you know to keep looking.



Now we're actually done here. (Well, sort of. While we've now done everything there is to do here, we will be seeing this place again later. There's an alternate version of the dialogue if you wait to come here until you have the ability to approach from the sea side. I have another playthrough going in parallel so we'll be able to see that eventually.)

Let's use our Ant Compass and head back.

18 - In the Court of the Ant Queen







Let's stop in at the library.





We've been finding a lot of these recently, haven't we.



Dark Cherries. There are some rare berries in Bugaria that are worth a lot. A LOT! We call them Dark Cherries. A red counterpart has been found in the Eastern Lands, but due to how common they are, they aren't as sought after. The dark variants strangely seem to only grow underground. Meanwhile, the red ones grow in tall trees... In any case, some bugs have a keen sense of smell for Dark Cherries. They're hired to find them so that they may be sold to collectors.

Ordinary cherries do exist in this world, apparently. Not that we'll be seeing any.

Also, while we're here...



...



Looks like you have enough for the next reward tier! Here you go!



That seems to be all for now! Come back once you have found more Discoveries!

Thanks to finding the Fishing Village, we reached the threshold for another reward from Libren. A Crystal Berry is always nice to have. We should have enough to grab another medal from Shades now, if we want to.



Also, since we defeated a boss, let's go see Artis.



Was it too challenging for ya? You deserve a reward. Here, take this!



Come back later when you've bonked some extra hard heads with that Medal, will ya?



They can't all be winners, I guess. Berry Finder costs 3 MP to equip, and increases berries dropped after battles by 25%. That's a substantial boost, but honestly, this late in the game you should probably have all the berries you'll ever need, and if you don't, Hard Hits is more effective for grinding berries (it's 0 MP, and doubles the berries you get). I guess you could stack them. Honestly, though, 3 MP is a bit much for this.

For better or worse, this seems like a good place to wrap up this update. After defeating Riz and visiting the fishing village, we've completed all the sidequests available at the beginning of Chapter 6. Next time, we'll meet up with Elizant II and head into the Forsaken Lands. I'll see you then.

[Whilimbird]

I’ve noticed you don’t get a lot of comments on this forum, so I’d just like you to know that I’m here and I’m loving this LP of yours!