Welcome back! I feel like I get a lot done this time, so let's get to it: I start by warping back into the Mausoleum. Then I remember that I scored some new software last time and didn't try it out in my MSX. I open up the ROM Cartridge select screen, but I can't put it in. Turns out, Game Collection 3 came on disk. I don't have a disk drive, so I can't use it. Oh well. I head right one screen.
There are two pots on this screen. Breaking the lower one reveals a hidden door.
It's a shop, run by a ghost. I guess that clue earlier about hidden shops in the ruins was correct. The sold out item appears to be throwing knives. I can also buy weights, or King's Valley II - The Seal of El Giza, an MSX platformer from 1988. The screenshots in that link remind me a lot of La-Mulana, and apparently some of the music was reused in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, so I and a lot of people reading this have probably heard it. But I can't afford the ROM and don't need the weights, so I disappoint the ghost and leave.
I check out the stele up top and learn about another giant, then head down to attempt to scan the skeleton (nothing there - assume from now on if there's a skeleton I can get to on a screen and I don't mention it, it didn't scan (this will come back to bite me when I miss a vital clue from one down the line, I'm sure)) and take on the fist. They pack a punch: my health bar goes down two increments from one blow.
I manage to take my revenge without further injury.
I carry on to the right and reach a dead end. Whipping the pillar gets me nowhere, so I head back left and continue into the area I've already explored. I reach the screen with the two shield guys. Last time I didn't try taking them both out, so I've come back to give that a go.
It's harder than you might expect.
But I get there in the end. Nothing happens, though. I thought the chest might open. But afterwards:
What?! It's a door? I just had to push through? Bloody hell!
I immediately think of the similar barrier in the Guidance Gate, but keep my cool long enough to scan the skeleton on the next screen before warping there. Sadly I neglected to try going back through the door to see if it's one-way, which I suspect that it is.
Sure enough, the barrier in 0/-4 is no such thing, and I stroll through it.
In 1/-4 I weight the dais at the bottom, causing a red jewel to appear at the bottom of the long wall. Pushing the block doesn't seem to do anything other than letting me out of the lower portion of the room so that I can get the Ankh Jewel.
That dais wasn't here in my earlier visits, not that it mattered when I couldn't figure out a door. I had a look at my videos, and it seems to have appeared when I activated the footswitch at -1/-5 after figuring out the armoury puzzle. So now I know what that did.
The Ankh Jewel shows up as a sub-weapon, but equipping it and pressing M doesn't seem to do anything (besides letting me see how many Jewels I have). Maybe once I have the Ankh?
I warp back to the village and save, then head back into the Mausoleum and start heading for new territory. But first I decide to throw away half my VIT fighting a fist for no reason.
Eventually I give up and run away. I take a ride on a floating platform down two screens, seeing some ghosts along the way. There's also some kind of star chart and another of the big blue stars with the symbol in the middle. I still haven't figured out what those are about.
I ride back up to the middle level and jump off to the left (don't go all the way up, because you'll hit spikes). The stele has another clue about the giants. This'll become more obvious in a minute, but this area is full of really big statues, which either represent or are the actual bodies of the deceased giants mentioned in all these inscriptions. The one we've seen so far, back in 2/-2 holding up the roof, I think is the Zeb mentioned here.
Just like in real life, ghosts can be killed with one strike of the whip.
I head right and find a couple more giants. And another fist, which I again take on for some reason. This time I get it, but not before losing almost all of my remaining VIT.
The broken stele has another partial message, which doesn't seem to fit with any of the others I have, and a picture that looks a lot like the Ankh Jewel. My guess at the message: "Whoever steals the red jewel shall never leave here again", which is kind of ominous given I just took one of them. Anyway, I get some Shuriken ammo from a pot and move to the next screen.
I clear the room of ghosts and attempt to climb the ladder, but it's no good. Lemeza needs to be standing on the ground to get on to a ladder. How will I get to this one?
I also try something really obvious: I switch out the Hand Scanner for Shurikens and throw them at the fist instead of trying to get the timing right of whipping it. It's a big success! If you want to conserve ammo against these things, here's a tip: they take three hits to kill from behind, but only one from the front.
Having learned of the usefulness of the Shuriken, I use them while clearing out this next room. The ghosts can be annoying to try to kill because they often fade away just as you're about to hit them. I thought at first they were infinitely spawning, but it turns out there's a finite number (two in this case) and once you get them they stop appearing. I think this room was mentioned in the last update:
Stele:But I'm not sure what to do with that. The giant in this room I believe is Led:
Where the ghosts ... two Knights. ... disappear then one will gain power.
Stele:This guy's got a hole in his chest, at least. The part about the sun I think is relevant, too, but I'll get to that in a little bit.
On a day when the sun was bright, Led fell in battle. A large hole torn in his chest, he went into his long, final rest.
I check out the stele, which tells me more about Zeb, and stand in front of the hole in Led's chest an try to enter it like a door. It doesn't work. There's also a path to another Field here, with a symbol I don't recognise by the ladder, but I'm not done here yet so I don't take it. On the way back I break a pot that's almost hidden in the column behind it, but nothing drops.
I ride the lift down one level and check out some clues. The first (the right hand stele) continues the story of the giants, and the second (left hand stele) confuses me. Maybe it's a code of some sort? The broken stele is blank and the skeleton silent.
I head down another level and reach a room with sun, moon, and star symbols on plinths. The first message is from the intact stele, and I'll show what it means shortly. The second, from the skeleton, I'm a little fuzzy on.
The broken stele drops Magical Tree, a 1984 platformer in which a racial stereotype climbs a two kilometer tall tree.
Here's the meat of this room: whipping the symbols changes them. Changing what's in the heavens changes the time. To solve the puzzle, you have to get all three symbols to match. Now that I'm reviewing my video, I can really look closely at what happens when each is whipped:
Whipping the left column from the right moves the left column anticlockwise on the diagram in the background (star to moon), and the middle and right columns clockwise.
Whipping the middle column from the left moves the left column anticlockwise, the middle column clockwise, and the right column doesn't change.
Whipping the right column from the left moves the left and right anticlockwise, and the middle clockwise.
Whipping the middle column from the right moves it anticlockwise and the other two don't change.
Then I whip the one on the left from the right again, and this time it and the one on the right go clockwise and the middle one doesn't move. Inconsistent!
Then I did a couple of more or less random whips, and the stars aligned and the Shell Horn played. This was pure luck. Looking some more at the video, I still haven't figured it out. The two first strikes in this gif are on the same place but give different results. Possible factors in what changes: which column you whip; which side you whip from; what the symbol is showing when you whip it; which symbol is showing on the columns not whipped; how often you've whipped already; some combination of the above.
Having gotten a result, I head back up and go left. There's a giant here pointing to either the stele or a pot. I break the pot and get nothing out of it. The stele has another clue that I don't know quite what to do with yet. Writing this now though I think I remember this room from the Wii version, where I had to look up the solution. If I'm right, I still remember what to do, but I'll try to wait until I've gotten a clue that explains why I should before I do it.
The clue here, which mentions Led and power, fits with the partial message I quoted earlier which seemed to be describing Led's room and gaining power. But I haven't figured out how it will happen yet.
I head left again, where there are another two giants, one of them pointing as well. Unlike the one on the last screen, which was making a fist and extending one finger, this one seems to be holding its hand out palm down. What does it mean?
I get hit by a ghost and realise I have almost no VIT left, so I warp out, save, and warp back in.
I head back to the contraption to see if it's still in a solved position, which it is, and I get hit by a ghost and die. Fortunately, I just saved my game!
I reload, head back to the Mausoleum, and go down and right from the altar looking to see if anything is different since aligning the stars.
Dun dun duuuuuuun! This must be Bud:
Stele:He's gone from standing to resting since I filled the sky with stars. Incidentally, this is some of my favourite artwork in the game so far.
Bud went into a long, final rest on a night when the sky was full of stars.
I head up the now-accessible ladder and find myself in a room I've been in before, but only at the left edge. There's a stele which tells me about Migera, the giant who built the Waterworks, and a closed treasure chest. There's also a dais on the left that wasn't there before. I'm not sure what I did to make it appear, but I'm glad it did. I backtrack to it and place a weight, and the chest opens to reveal another Ankh Jewel.
I head back around and grab the Jewel. After I do, a wall starts to rise, almost trapping Lemeza. This was warned about in a stele earlier in this update. I make it out onto a convenient gargoyle (no idea what its purpose is). Even if I hadn't, presumably I could have used the Grail to warp out.
I head back down, getting a shot of Bud with no enemies in the way as I pass. In the next room I use some Shurikens to take out the fist, which I've been doing a lot, and notice that the giant on the left (in the second and third shots) is holding his spear in his left hand. Maybe that's Migera, who I've just learned is left handed?
Stele:If so, then Bud, Migera, and Led are all in this area of the Mausoleum, which would suggest Fut is the one on the right (in the second and third shots). This might be useful info:
Bud, Migera, Led, and Fut built a flying tower to return the Mother to the sky.
Skeleton:I'll have to go back and try to do something around Fut's feet. For now, I head down and to the left, to the other group of giants (presumably Abt, Zi, Riv, and Sakit). The one on the left in the fourth shot I mentioned above is holding his arm out. I thought it was with palms extended, but taking another look I notice he's holding some kind of claw in his right hand. What I took for a palm could be the profile view of another claw?
"There is power by the feet of Fut." Which one is Fut......?
User's Manual:Maybe this claw?
Grapple Claw: Lets you grab onto walls.
I go right again, reaching a screen I haven't seen before and a new stele. I believe I've identified five of the nine brothers, with just the four in this corridor left to go. One of the pots here drops ten coins, which is nice. There don't seem to have been as many coins around since leaving the Guidance Gate. On the left is what looks like a doorway:
Despite there being no apparent seal image, it leads to a new Field. And a pretty garish one at that.
The flowers here are a new enemy type. They throw a projectile. Pollen? As someone with allergies, this is a frightening enemy.
I scan the stele here and get a picture of a snake attacking a submarine (?), then continue to the next room and check out the skeleton. It gives me a name for this place, Endless Corridor. I guess that's why the pots have infinity symbols on them.
Having got a name, I warp out and save. Phew! I call it a day. Next time I'll try to align the moons and the suns and see if I can identify the remaining giants and/or get power from them.
Maps:
Mausoleum of Giants:
Pretty big, isn't it?
Endless Corridor:
Clues:
Village:
"The Algol with the blue body and the many eyes. Legend has it he is weak to the Serpent Staff."
Guidance Gate:
"Eight souls rest in this land. The souls are those of the Guardians that protect these lands. When the Ankhs holding the souls shatter from a shining red light, the souls will awaken. The Ankh in this land is beyond the path of Angels, and
""There is a path where the angels face each other" I found an invisible floor!"
"Offer three sacrifices to the heavens."
"The sad tale of the giants. Their history is recorded therein."
"If thou dost cross the ocean of the inferno, thou shouldst take the top path."
"
"In the temple of the Sun, a new trap fills a hole and conceals a trigger."
""Twin Guards" "Silent and alone" "Deliver a stone on high""
Waterworks:
"If I tried to go under the waterfalls I'd just get swept away. If I had some sort of helmet I might be able to get by them..."
"The water that operates the tower. It flows here and is converted to energy."
Mausoleum of Giants:
"So these ruins are those from a race of giants... I was just about to decipher their legend too..."
"We are the second race born of the Great Mother. We were born to return her to the skies. This is the sad story of our race. Nine brothers led our race: Zeb, Bud, Migera, Led, Fut, Abt, Zi, Riv, and Sakit."
"In order to hold up the Earth, Zeb stopped moving, and the remaining brothers split into two factions and fought amongst themselves."
"Abt, Zi, Riv, and Sakit wanted the Mother to remain here on Earth."
"The eldest, Zeb, could not move, as he had to hold up the Earth."
"We could not grant the Great Mother's wish. I am the only one to remain, and here I go to my long, final rest. Abt"
"Zi started praying to the Earth on a moonlight night."
"On a day when the sun was bright, Led fell in battle. A large hole torn in his chest, he went into his long, final rest."
"Bud went into a long, final rest on a night when the sky was full of stars."
"The youngest, Sakit, followed his own path. He locked Led's body, left power in his hand, and went into a long rest."
"Migera is left-handed."
""There is power by the feet of Fut." Which one is Fut......?"
"1 Sword, 2 Bodies, 3 Wishes, 4 Disasters. 5 Stars, 6 Moons, 7 Lights, 8 Paths. 9 Cups, and 0 which is Life."
Endless Corridor:
To-Do:
Village:
-Kill the blue Algol at -5/1, probably with the Serpent Staff.
-Explore beyond the waterfall at 3/4
-Purchase:
--MSX2 (0/0) 150 Coins
--Waterproof case (0/0) 80 Coins
Guidance Gate:
-Open treasure chests at -2/-2, 2/-1
-Get past barriers at 0/-2,
-Climb upper ladder at 0/-2
-Get past holy rock at 1/-2
-
-Climb narrow shaft at 4/-1
-Take ladder to other Field at 1/-4
-Put weights on daises at -1/-2, 0/-2 (upper)
-Reach and press floor switch at -2/-2
-Do something at 2/-4
-Use Hand Scanner with Glyph Reader on:
--Steles: -1/-2, 4/-1
--Skeletons: 4/-1
-
-Get the Jewel in the mouth of the face on 0/-3
-Get the Jewel in the star at 0/-4
-Find the Ankh
--"Beyond the path of Angels"
-
--
-Awaken the Guardian
Waterworks:
-Activate the waterworks
-Get the key from the blue flying one to open the floodgate
-Scan skeletons: 0/0
-Get the statue in the room at 0/1 to say or do something
-Reach the Life Jewel in the treasure chest at 0/2
-Reach the altar at 1/-1
-Reach the two circular objects in 2/0
-Learn to swim and/or breathe underwater
-Cross the waterfalls in 1/0
--Get a helmet of some sort
-Climb against the flow of the water in 2/1 as depicted on the stele in Guidance Gate 0/-3
-Open the chests in 1/0, 2/1
Mausoleum of Giants:
-Decipher the legend of the giants
-Do something at the upper left of 2/-2
-Open chests: 1/-1
-Scan steles: 1/-1
-Scan skeletons: 0/-1 (lower),
-
-Buy Seal of El Giza at 4/-2 (100 coins)
-Take path to other Field at 6/-3
-Align suns, moons, at 3/-5 contraption
-Find the power by the feet of Fut at 4/-3
-Get the claw from the giant on the left at 1/-4
Endless Corridor:
-Explore the Endless Corridor
-Scan upper skeleton at -1/0
Conception Locks:
-Guidance Gate -2/-5
Birth Locks:
-Guidance Gate 2/-1
-Waterworks 0/2
Life Locks:
-Village -4/1
-Endless Corridor -1/0
Next Time:
Part 08: The Giant Awakes
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