Thursday, December 27, 2012

Dragon Quest IV #06

After a short foray into another game, we're back! We last left Alena and co. about to head south and then west to the Bazaar. Let's Play!

At the Desert Bazaar, there are a couple of new weapons available at the shop, and a new armor (although it was available in Vrenor in the remakes). Consider a Venomous Dagger, a.k.a. Poison Moth Knife, for Brey. Morning Star must be a whip-type weapon in newer DQs, because otherwise the new name "Holy Lance" in the remakes is inexplicable. On the south side, a woman asks if you're interested in your pots and directs you to take a look; do so for a couple of prizes! Like a Gum Pod, whatever that is. Well...it turns out it's horse manure, not only in the remakes but also the original Japanese. Censorship, I tell ya! Further west, a guard suddenly rushes you, saying that the King is in trouble and we have to go back immediately! Priorities, man! We gotta finish checking out the Bazaar! There's a tournament in Endor...and that's all the info we were missing. Shall we Return to Santeem? Why, when we can walk for more money?! ...Nah, let's save the time and travel by spell.

In the throne room, we find the King unable to speak! The chancellor suggests speaking to Goz in the backyard shed, of course some random old dude will know what to do! But the only way to the back is through the roof of course, so up to Alena's room! We now have access to the King's room too, but bookshelves don't say anything on the NES. Goz points us to Marone, and after looting his things for a Wing (and a Seed of Magic in the remakes) we go to Surene. Marone credits Birdsong Nectar from the Bazaar with previously restoring his voice, so it's a lead! Zoom!

No one at the Bazaar mentions anything about the Nectar, but let's see what rumors abound at night.... I speak with the horse, fully expecting it to say something, and am flummoxed to hear animal noises. Flummoxed, I say! But look, there's a congregation to the northwest; what are they talking about? Nothing much, but the shopkeep, being off duty, tells us that the Nectar can be found in a tower to the west! Let's go!

Inside the tower, a man tells us the door is locked and he can't go up. What luck that we have a key! There's an inexpensive Inn in the basement if you need it. Up above, start by taking the southwest path to floor 3, where there are a couple of treasures. Watch out for Butterfly Dragons, they'll kill you with fire. They are inexplicably named "Flying Doctors" on the DS. Brey dies, and Alena and Cristo are forced to hoof it back to the entrance without the handy Outside spell that Brey could have cast 8 times. In an unexpected twist, at this same point in my Japanese run everyone dies except Brey, and he totally saves the day with his amazing powers of escape.

Back at the tower for Take 2, Brey learns the spell Snowstorm which gets put to use immediately. Grislysabers call for backup when they defend, so things can get out of hand quickly if you don't have crowd control! In the Japanese, they're called "Man-eater Sabers"; it's appropriate. When they call for backup, the new foe attacks immediately, so it's a real pain (although for some reason, they don't get the extra attack in the remakes). On the top floor are two elves dancing. They run away, aaargh! But they drop the Nectar that we need, so thank you, clumsy elves! The Japanese group isn't so lucky. A band of Pteranodons and Razor Winds kills Alena and Brey, leaving Cristo and his Super Healing Powers to return to town. Thankfully he's close to a hole he can jump into, the exit isn't far, and there are all sorts of Wyvern Wings in tow. The Japanese crew succeeds on attempt three. The remakes, however, are so much easier that I make it at lower levels on the first try without even being fully equipped with the latest gear.

Back at the castle, the King is nowhere to be found?! Then I realize it's nighttime and he's in bed. I come back in the morning. Alena administers the medicine to the King herself. He stutters a bit, then won't shut the hell up. Turns out he'd been having dreams of horrible monsters from the "Evil World," and exactly when he decided to tell his counsel, he lost his voice. Perhaps the Ruler of Evil exerted some influence to try to keep his rise secret?! The King, realizing that Alena's adventuring is what saved him and that she may be able to save others, allows her to continue. Speaking with him again reveals that he also had another dream which he can't remember.... Maybe it was a dream of the Hero!

Till 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
Evil World じごく [jigoku] Underworld 地獄
Bazaar さばくのバザー [sabaku no bazā] The Desert Bazaar *
Who's Who
Goz ゴン [gon] Starek *
Lita リース [rīsu] Daisy *
Oopsy
Armory
Morning Star モーニングスター [mōningu sutā] Holy Lance ホーリーランス [hōrī ransu]
Toolkit
Birdsong Nectar さえずりのみつ [saezuri no mitsu] * *
Spellbook
Bounce マホカンタ [mahokanta] * *
Return ルーラ [rūra] Zoom *
StopSpell マホトーン [mahotōn] Fizzle *
Snowstorm ヒャダルコ [hyadaruko]
アストロン [asutoron] Kaclang
バギ [bagi] Woosh *

No comments:

Post a Comment