Princess Alena wants to go on a journey to prove her strength, but her father the King says NO! "Why you must be so very tomboy?" the DS remake moans. Her tutor Brey feels responsible for how she's turned out—too tomboyish! Cristo, apparently some sort of priest/soldier, says if something would happen to her, he'd cry. I mean, the, the King! The King would cry! Cristo's got a crush on her, fufufu. In the remakes you can look in a bookshelf in the next room and find a little doodle of Alena that Cristo has made in a theology book. Awww! A little graphical note, in the Japanese original Cristo's sprite does not feature the same goofy eye-blinking animation as it does in the U.S. version. Odd. A priest says something comes from the east, and he hopes nothing bad happens. Really?! In a room behind him is some Fairy Water in a drawer. We can't get out the front gate, so we go upstairs to Alena's room, which has recently been repaired and is easily escapable. Something about the faux Russian accent on the DS reminds me of an excerpt from a Japanese manual I once read: "Please be careful to spill a drop like coffee in the master console." Get the Feather Hat from her wardrobe before you jump!
We're off to the nearby town! But before we get there, Brey and Cristo come up from behind. But not to bring Alena back, no! They are here to be accessories to her delinquency! In Surene town, a sign advises us to upgrade our equipment. While exploring, we come across a man who is in love with a nun. She says she's too old for him! No mention of vows of chastity or such, because Nintendo of America couldn't let it slip out that she's devoted her life to God or anything. Near there is Marone the poet. La, la, la! A.k.a. Josef Starling. In the PS remake I accidentally discover that I can pick up and reposition flowers. Gardenrific! There's more to the town, but it's behind locked doors. To make battles a little easier, I buy a Copper Sword for Cristo and some Herbs before leaving. In the Japanese version I don't read this to refresh my memory, and get a Leather Hat for Brey instead, then save; I have a feeling this will negatively impact the coming boss battle. Oops. Moving along, our clue says to go northwest!
In the town of Tempe, the remakes have a Mini Medal inside of the well. On the PS these are kept in your inventory, but on the DS they're separate, saving you some room. Talking around, we learn that there is a monster which demands female sacrifices, and Nina will be the next to go. No! This will not do! We tell her father that we'll take care of it, and he sends us to the...shaman. Because shamans are okay, and priests aren't. Anyway, we are told it only appears when given an offering, so shut up and hide in this box, we'll tote you up to it. After getting inside the offering litter, the shaman makes the cryptic statement, "Don't ever litter the litter." An early Dragon Quest pun—even the NPCs tell him this is no time for joking around! These didn't start to get really prominent in the U.S. versions until VIII, hooboy! And then the remakes started. But we love them anyway! He also tells a joke in the Japanese here, but I'm not good enough to understand it, something about God's basket...maybe it's just supposed to sound funny because he says "gokagoga"? On the DS, the joke is praying that the Goddess safely carries you. ...Get it? 'Cause you're in a box? Blech.
Oh, right, the monster. It closely resembles the one that Ragnar fought in the tower basement! In a fairly close battle, my Lv 2 team seems to be gaining the upper hand, but timing prevents Alena from being healed before death, and then Brey's magic fails at that critical point and all is lost. Try again! Learning Sap on the way back should prove helpful. Except unlucky turn order means everyone dies. Take three! It seems that I gain one more level every time I walk to town; Upper should be very useful! And it is; it works wonders! Everyone stays alive while Brey Saps the enemy, and Alena punches judiciously. It drops Lifeforce Nuts, everyone gains another level from the experience, and the town is rejoice! Japanese version went exactly the same way; Cristo spends so much time healing and buffing that his lack of weapon upgrade is immaterial. However, the DS goes much better, with a loss at Lv 2 but then a stunning victory at Lv 3, even though Borya (a.k.a. Brey) doesn't even learn Sap by then! Apparently the spell-level tables were reworked; either that or they're still slightly random like in Dragon Quest III. Speaking with Nina, she says simply, "We're getting married." I guess so, whether I like it or not, huh? Is she speaking to Alena, or Cristo? Naw, she must have meant Brey.
Endor is our next suggested destination, in the east, which we can reach by going...southwest. That's...not accurate at all. (All versions besides the English NES correctly say southeast.) In any case, since I can't save here, I go on for now. Heading up north, on the pedestal are more Lifeforce Nuts for those who search thoroughly, although they do not appear in the remakes, because they're in the graveyard instead. The poet nearby mentions a town called Frenor to the east; let's go there first! Hmmm...the priest there is gardening, and rushes up to see us when we approach the chapel. Is he hiding something? We'll explore Frenor starting next time!
| Name Changes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| NES (U) | NES (J) | NDS (U) | PS (J) |
| * denotes an entry which was not significantly changed from the previous version in the same language. Blank entries either have not appeared yet or were not named in that version. | |||
| Atlas | |||
| Santeem | サントハイム [santohaimu] | Zamoksva | * |
| Surene | サラン [saran] | Zalenagrad | * |
| Tempe | テンペ [tenpe] | Taborov | * |
| Endor | エンドール [endōru] | * | * |
| Frenor | フレノール [furenōru] | Vrenor | * |
| Who's Who | |||
| Princess Alena | アリーナひめ [arīna hime] | Tsarevna Alena | * |
| Cristo | クリフト [kurifuto] | Kiryl | * |
| Brey | ブライ [burai] | Borya | * |
| King | サントハイムおう [santohaimu ō] | Tsar Stepan | * |
| Marone | マローニ [marōni] | Josef Starling | * |
| Nina | ニーナ [nīna] | Anastasia | * |
| Boss Rush | |||
| Chameleon Humanoid | カメレオンマン [kamereon man] | Master Kung | * |
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