Beyond the Beyond: Update 3: Wherein Someone Else is Being Reckless (Cave of Spirits)

[ladyabaxa]

Beyond the Beyond: Update 3: Wherein Someone Else is Being Reckless (Cave of Spirits)

Welcome back to Beyond the Beyond. Today we're going to explore this cave just southeast of Isla Village. We'll also be going over quite a bit of battle mechanics today. It's necessary so we might as well get it out of the way as soon as possible.

It's not far from Isla and until we get through a script in here we won't encounter any enemies out in the overworld. That's a nice touch, I suppose, because starter enemies in this game are actually pretty tough for a level 1 character.

The real-game geography around Isla and how it was drawn up for the map have some significant differences. First and foremost Isla was apparently going to exist in a valley ringed by a wall of mountains. Instead the ring is broken on its northern face and Isla sits at that mouth. Secondly a valley forming the ring's eastern half appears to be rocky desert in the manual map (the map being only black and white makes that assertion a bit dubious but its not shaded like known grasslands and forests). This instead ended up as lush forest and hills atop a plateau in the final game.

In all honesty Beyond the Beyond has a not-quite-finished vibe to it that should become apparent as the game progresses. It's not as bad as, say, Knights of Justice, but there's a definite feeling that things aren't as intended.

I don't see Annie anywhere.
Maybe she had the good sense not to run here ahead of us?
Maybe. We'll see. I just want to get this over with as quickly as possible.

A few steps into the dark and dingy cave Finn triggers an encounter.

A script calls for a lone Small Bat. Since this is our first encounter this is where I'll explain how the bulk of combat in this game goes. If you've played even basic turn-based RPGs you'll see Beyond the Beyond is basically the same. Right now Finn can attack the bat, he can try to run away, he can use an item in his inventory (with the game helpfully telling him if it has a battle use by not allowing items that have no use to be selected), or if he knew any spells and had MP he could try his hand at magic.

Beyond the Beyond is slightly different from other jrpgs of the time because the developers came up with a little something they called the Active Playing System (APS). This system encourages the player to pay attention by rewarding button presses at certain moments in battle. Anyone who has played Super Mario RPG should be familiar with this concept however Beyond the Beyond doesn't guarantee that button input will translate into combat awesomeness. Instead each character has a fixed percentage chance an APS event will happen. Mashing the x/square/triangle/circle buttons at certain times only increases this probability. When triggered a chime will sound. If Luck has any effect in the game it is perhaps to increase the chance of an APS event. Maybe.

It isn't strictly necessary to use the APS at all. It's better to think of it as adding a second chance for certain things to happen and playing the game one can hear the chime without pushing anything - it just means the computer rolled a number in a certain range and triggered the APS on its own. Generally, I only button mash in boss battles or if the party gets ambushed by something that could set off a party wipe.

APS events are: double attacks, critical hits, counterattacks, blocking an attack, vital recoveries, and boosted recovery from groggy status. The first four can and do happen on their own without any chimes. The last two only happen when triggered. I'll discuss individual events as they pop up.

Speed is a critical stat in this game to a point. Beyond the Beyond uses a fixed initiative system. Whoever has the highest speed goes first, then the next highest and so on until everyone in battle has had their turn. Ties are usually resolved such that the enemy goes first. There's no randomness to this and aside from some status effects a character's speed won't change in battle. For those who might be thinking ahead yes, this means enemies act in sequential order to one another which can be pretty nasty depending on what they can do.

Finn, being faster then his foe, gets to go first and inflicts a small amount of damage on the nefarious wildlife. Also, we can see that Steiner is flying around near Finn. Steiner has no stats of his own, cannot be hurt by anything, and generally doesn't contribute to battle since he's a baby dragon.

The bat's turn is signaled by it flashing and an orange crystal appearing over it. If I were trying to manipulate the APS this would be the time for me to mash X to improve Finn's chances of blocking or counterattacking.

Since Finn doesn't block he gets punched by the bat for 2 damage. It's not much damage but remember that Finn starts with 8 defense, 5 of which comes from the armor he's wearing. Without that this bat would hit hard enough to drain almost all of Finn's health in one shot. I can understand why the villagers are a bit concerned about monsters in this cave.

After a bit of combat Finn is victorious and does a hopping victory dance as the game displays the spoils of our victory. Okay it's not much but every adventurer has to start somewhere right?

Afterwards the plot catches up to us.

Not bad!
Yikes! Who...who's there?

Finn speaks! Eh, he'll go back to being a silent protagonist after this one line. Oh yeah and Annie apparently has ninja skills because she was hiding right by the entrance while we were fighting that bat.

Huh?!
I came anyway!
Oh... It's Annie.
"Oh... It's Annie." What kind of greeting is that?! You could at least say hello.
Well you did kind of jump out of the shadows after watching a bat fly down and punch me.
Annie, why are you here? You're not thinking about going with us, are you?
Why, Steiner?! *pause* Do you think I would be a nuisance if I came along?!

Steiner shakes his head by which I mean his sprite is rotated since it's too small to be animated like the humans are.

Do you feel the same way, Finn?!
*shakes his head* No I don't think you're a nuisance. Frankly it would be nice to have someone watching my back.
Really??? Are you sure?? I won't be in the way?
Prrr. Finn watch your back all the time.
Watching my back get hit by monsters doesn't count as helping. No, Annie, I don't think you'd be in the way.
*shakes his head again* Neither do I. I am getting dizzy from this spinning around though.

Annie steps away from the dynamic duo, thinking out loud as she does so.

But maybe I shouldn't... I'm just a weak girl... I wouldn't want to hinder your journey. If I get in your way, then you won't be able to do the favor for my father...
*nod*
Hah! I knew that's how you felt! Just like every other MAN! *rushes towards Finn* You think you're so strong that you don't need a woman's hand, huh?! Hmph, I'm not so easily scorned. I'm the daughter of the kingdom's top knight and I have been trained to fight.

Annie pushes Finn back and runs deeper into the cave.

Annie! Where are you going? You've seen how vicious the creatures living here can be. Don't be reckless!
Where I go doesn't concern the two of you. When I get the Spirit Water, maybe you'll respect me then.
We're in trouble, Finn! This place is dangerous. We must stop Annie.
Yeah no kidding! I mean I'm not worried about the wildlife all that much since I know just how hard she can hit me with that staff of hers but if something happens to her I will NEVER hear the end of it from Sir Galahad or my father.
She's also your sister, Finn. I'd think you would care because of that.
I do care. That's how I know about her hitting me with that staff.

So the duo rushes after Annie but as they reach the hallway they are thrust into another script-summoned battle!

We face off against two bats this time and when one attacks my button mashing triggers a counterattack. Counterattacks are awesome... unless the enemy blocks your attack or they're the ones pulling out the counters. Then it's not so awesome.

On the second round of combat from our last screenshot I trigger something considerably better.

Ok that's it! I'm getting mighty tired of bats punching me. Steiner!
SUPER DUAL ATTACK GO!

First Steiner gives as much of a roar as a baby dragon can and divebombs head first into the target. Then Finn cleaves it with his blade. This sends the target reeling back and if it kills them they explode in a shower of fire, blood, and pixels. It's not quite Vandal Hearts blood fountain level of gore but is still pretty satisfying. This attack is unique for Finn and is an alternate critical hit that is, as far as I can tell from multiple playthroughs, completely unblockable - the only unblockable attack in the entire game I might add. Since critical hits deal double damage that's a pretty good unique trait for our main protagonist.

After clearing that battle more of the cave is revealed and the duo sees Annie standing there. (When I say revealed I mean that everything from the tile Finn is standing on and westward was covered by a black upper layer. When he stepped on it that layer was removed.) When Annie realizes they're catching up (maybe she's just coming out of a random battle herself?) she runs north. The duo pursue until they hit another narrow tunnel leading into darkness and are once again thrust into battle.

This time a slime decides to tag in with our friend the small bat. It just wouldn't be a proper rpg start without the stock weak starter slimes.

What the hell?! Why is everything suddenly trying to kill me?
This does seem... disturbing. Roaming monsters have always been a problem but this seems a bit much.

Hah slime you won't interrupt us while we're talking about you! I have a shield and I know how to use it!

Guarded attacks never deal damage. This is good for us since we can block any physical attack enemies throw at us if we're lucky. This is also bad for us because enemy block rates are set pretty high (something like 30-35% is pretty normal in your average random battle) and not killing some enemies before they get to act can be very bad in the late game. Enemies have two levels of critical: a rush attack where they plow into the target and a true critical where their sprite flashes and they charge into someone with a fire trail behind them. I'll be sure to show those off later. In addition, some enemies try to inflict a status effect instead of or in addition to dealing damage with a critical hit. Blocking prevents damage and the status from taking hold.

More cave is revealed (this is the only area to do this, for dramatic effect) and we see Annie turning to run off again. When did we drop into an episode of Scooby Doo?

Aww come on Annie this is getting ridiculous! Please just stop for a moment so we can talk!
Ahh, she's run off again Finn.
Great now OHMYGODWHATTHEHELLGETITOFFOFME!!
Finn!!

We pursue to the next juncture for the 4th script-summoned battle. This time two slimes ambush Finn. There are a variety of animations for monsters entering the field of battle. Slimes drop from the ceiling so it makes some sense they'd ambush the kid not paying any attention to what's above him.

Slimes don't do much damage per hit but this ambush is a great time to set up what happens if a player gets careless or just unlucky. When Finn's VP hits zero he goes into groggy status. Groggied characters can't act, be targeted by anything, or damaged but they can't act until their next turn. Any character who starts their turn in groggy status has their speed halved (roughly) for that round. This isn't necessarily a bad thing since they might then avoid attacks that would just send them back to groggy status but right now even with the penalty Finn recovers before the monsters act and he can get groggy-juggled rather easily. The speed penalty does have one negative effect that I've never seen mentioned in walkthroughs:

Any character in groggy status at the conclusion of combat gains zero experience from the encounter.

This isn't going to matter to us until we get more characters. Missing one battle's worth of XP isn't a big deal but Beyond the Beyond isn't the slightest bit shy about cranking out tons of damage with the expectation players will survive because 0 VP isn't automatically deadly. Characters who get beat up a lot tend to start falling behind in levels which makes them even more vulnerable and can set off a hard to reverse downward spiral.

In short - try to avoid being groggied! If you know a character is about to be hit and groggied triggering the APS can, instead of blocking, result in a Vital Recovery. This leaves the character with a couple of hit points without losing any LP or being groggied. It is rare, though, so don't count on it to save you if you bite off more than you can chew.

Since Finn was groggied when his next turn comes around his Life Points come into play. Finn recovers some of his health but at the cost of his LP. Here he's traded all 5 LP for a measly 7 VP. As characters gain more VP and LP the game cranks up how much LP is drained when coming out of groggy status and the VP recovered. The exchange rate is pretty abysmal right now but as Finn levels up the ratio of LP lost to VP gained will improve. This makes button mashing to invoke the APS more practical and rewarding. There's no chime for success but if it works the character's VP recovery is doubled and LP reduction is halved making it easy to spot once you've played for awhile.

Having spent all his Life Points avoiding death Finn destroys the two slimes and sees Annie about to run off again. He and Steiner press forward to the final scripted battle of this chase sequence.

A rabbit? What's a rabbit doing down here anyway? Why is it attacking me? Why doesn't the slime eat it?
Those are all very good questions Finn. I'm sorry to say I don't have answers for any of them.

Although now I suspect the last question can be answered by the fact the rabbit's kicking you in the head.
ASGEKDFFEIDLK!!
Hey you can't say I'm not looking out for you today.
Galahad why did you send me here?!
Whoa! Deep breaths Finn! Deep breaths! It's just a slime and a rabbit.

I, I think I prefered my father's lessons to this.
It's okay. It's just a little bruising. Oh hey! There's Annie! We finally caught up with her.

Leave me alone!

Finn and Steiner approach. Annie immediately backs away hitting the wall behind her with a rather loud thud.

Wait! Hold on a second! I'm risking my neck in here. Please just listen will ya?
I said, "Leave me alone!"

Annie thus bolts to her right down a staircase. Aww, youthful rebellion!

Wait. Which way was the dangerous path? It was... left. Right?
My head hurts. Again. Sure, whatever Steiner. I don't think I care about that anymore. Let's just catch up with Annie.

With that the party is released from Scripted Battle Land into the wonderful world of Random Encounters R'Us. If we wanted to we could return to the village to recuperate. We'd have to fight at least one random battle to make it that far but there's nothing in the game stopping us from attempting it. We're not going to do that because it makes no sense from our narrative perspective but it is nice to know it's an option.

Annie's in danger? Eh, we can afford to run back to the village and sleep the rest of the day away. She'll be fine until tomorrow right? Ah, ha, ha, ha, NO! That is silly, game.

AHEM! The duo races downstairs only for disaster to strike in the name of Game Mechanics 101!

Alas Finn's health drops to 0 once more and he dies.

The two slimes dance in joy over their kill. They will feast well tonight.

Or they would feast well if Finn weren't plot shielded and immediately wakes up in Isla's church at full health but minus half his gold. How does this happen? Well it's been a staple in Camelot games (and various other rpgs) long before Beyond the Beyond but we'll just smile and say Steiner did it. Somehow. If Finn had any human companions they would still be dead and in need of the priest's ability to raise the dead for 20 gold pieces per level. Hopefully we won't need this service for a long time because that's money we really can't afford to spend on things other then equipment.

Finn didn't die however because he was being careful and munching herbs as needed to stay healed. (Also, I planned this and reloaded my savestate from prior to deliberately playing badly so I could show this off.)

Down the stairs just a few steps from our demonstration death Finn finds the first treasure chest of the game. I want to know what wiseass on the development team thought to put a Source of Wisdom right after a scene with someone demonstrating a lack of wisdom because other people were engaging in behavior lacking of wisdom. Well played, whoever you are. Well played!

Sources of Wisdom increase one character's I.Q. by 3-5 points. The function of I.Q. in game mechanics is largely unknown but all the same we'll save this for someone whose character concept is more devoted to brain power then Finn.

From there we descend to B2. Being a starter dungeon there are a few brief twists and turns but if you know where you're going you can usually dash from staircase to staircase without triggering a random battle.

This is the simplest dungeon in Beyond the Beyond. This... is not a good sign for what we'll be up against later on.

Finn and Steiner descend to B3. When they approach the next staircase down there's a sudden scream!

Eeeeeeeeeeek!
Finn! That's her! Something must have happened! Let's hurry up and find her!

Downstairs we find Annie and it seems she's stumbled into a grim situation.

Annie is in trouble! Finn, what are we going to do?
Do anything! Just help me!
Shit! What the hell is that thing?
This is no time for questions. We've got to act fast!
Come on let's teach that tentacle, thing, whatever a lesson!

What do Finn and Steiner do? They, of course, run up and start hitting the tentacle holding Annie.

Take this, and this, and this!
I don't think we're having any effect on it.

After a few strikes the monster decides it's had enough of this nonsense and smacks Finn and Steiner away.

In response they leap up and both try a flying tackle on the tentacle. It, however, is already busy pulling Annie into the swamp water.

Missing her they instead hit each other and comically bounce back. (At least that's what I think is going on. There's no sound effect or animation for this. Their sprites just move to the same tile then step back and fall over.)

With the tentacle having pulled Annie beyond Finn's reach it is up to Steiner to fly out and rescue her.

HELP!!
I've got you Annie! Just hold on. I'll pull you out.

A tug of war ensues between the baby dragon and the giant thing under the swamp. No I don't know how that works. Obviously Steiner's wings generate more thrust then he lets on. Since Finn can't fly he stands there.

Steiner, please... Help me! I can't die like this!
Just hang on, Annie! I'll save you.
Steiner, I... I can... no longer...

Unable to maintain her grip on tiny baby dragon paws Annie is sucked down to a watery grave. (That track continues to play instead of the normal dungeon music until we conclude this bit of plot.)

The screen shakes as Steiner is thrown back into Finn, knocking the two of them to the ground. Air bubbles mark the spot where Annie disappeared.

Steiner flies out to that spot.

By great Arawn...
It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Umm. We can still save her.
GALAHAD WHY DID YOU SEND ME HERE?!
Finn!
I just watched my sister die and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it!
You've got to get it together, Finn. She might not be dead yet! Finn, we have got to do something! There must be a way to rescue her!
But what the hell can we do to a monster that lives deep under water?
Hmm, maybe there's an outlet for this pool. The beast seemed to be having a lot of trouble. Maybe that was just one tentacle reaching through a narrow tunnel.
You think we can catch up to it somewhere else before it eats Annie?
I don't really know. I'm just throwing out ideas.
You don't know?!
Well let's look around. Maybe we'll find a something useful or come up with a plan.

I'm searching and the only thing I'm coming up with is that whatever this is I definitely don't want to drink it.
There are so many human bones here. Is this what happened to the villagers who disappeared in this cave?
Annie's not gonna be the next corpse for this collection!
I didn't say she was Finn...
We obviously can't do anything to save her here. Come on.

Finn, we can't leave her here! We must do something!
I know. I don't have any idea how we're going to do that but your idea about searching for an outlet is better then nothing. I am NOT going back to the village without her.

Just in case Finn gets it into his head to run back to the village for help it's a no-go.

We can't leave Annie!

The duo are going to have to figure out a solution to this dilemma on their own. Next time on Beyond the Beyond - the second part of our journey into the Cave of Spirits!

Update Two | Index | Update Four