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Beyond the Beyond: Update 4: Wherein We Have to Teach Cthulhu a Lesson (Cave of Spirits, pt. 2)
Where did we last leave off? Oh yes...
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.
We thus rejoin Finn and Steiner as they search for a way to rescue Annie who has been pulled under a nasty, icky pool by a huge monster.
Their search takes them back up to the ground floor and down the eastern staircase. This is the path Galahad told us to take before we left Isla. Using this staircase takes us the east side of B1.
There's little of note as we descend a couple of staircases. This screenshot shows the limits of how complicated this dungeon is. It's basically just large enough you'll have to fight at least one random encounter here. We want to continue heading east and turn north. But nuts to that! Let's first take a detour!
To the north there is a second staircase heading down. We instead want to take that.
It leads to this quiet, enemy-less cliff overlooking a lush valley. The geography of how this could work battles me. As far as I know there's nothing to do here but enjoy the eye candy. There are no random encounters on this screen and as far as I know no events are scripted to take place here.
Referring back to the Marion map I guess an idea cut early on was that Finn would start in Isla and it would be an isolated valley walled in by mountains. Both the backdrop above and the valley in the map are ringed with mountains, have tall rocky hills poking out of the landscape, and are right next to Isla. There doesn't seem to be any obvious way through the mountains surrounding Isla so maybe Finn would traverse what is now the Cave of Spirits to a valley which had to be crossed. Then there would be another tunnel or an event would take place?
If so I guess this was cut for time. The villagers still talk as if Isla was extremely isolated and cut off from the kingdom while the village is a stone's-throw from the capital according to in-game travel times. There is a reason for the plot to start in such a remote location but said reason won't pop up until much, much later in the game.
We now return to our regularly scheduled narrative already in progress. Finn heads down the stairs that advance the plot.
A three tiered cascading spring sits at the northern end of B2, east side. That makes the kraken pool one of the lowest points in the Cave of Spirits. The spring before us is beautiful but more importantly something we need is here.
A spring all the way down here? Is this what Galahad asked me to find? Prrr. Likely. This must be the Spirit Water. Huh, I wonder where the water drains out to? I can hear water flowing downhill. There must be a lot of caverns and waterways under us. I bet most are flooded though. There doesn't seem to be any way for us to descend further. We've hit a dead end. We should at least get some Spirit Water while we're here. Hey wait a minute! This stuff is supposed to be magical, right? I guess. I've never seen it in action. This might be a long shot but let's see how well that water beast likes this stuff. What makes you think it will have any effect at all? Well this is pristine water and that swamp is pretty nasty. I just sort of figured it might not like other kinds of water. I guess that makes sense.
First though we need something to store some water in. It's a good thing Sir Galahad gave us that flask! To fill it is a matter of standing next to the water and going Item > Flask > Use via Finn's inventory.
Key Item Spirit Water got! If we were ever unsure of the flask's contents we could (so long as we're in the Cave of Spirits because the scripting to run this doesn't work anywhere else) go to Item > Use > Flask and the game would tell us if the flask were empty, filled with water, or had only a little bit left. With the flask full Finn and Steiner run back across the cave to the bone-littered pool of death.
The briney cavern is still as horrible as when the duo left it. It seems our water monster hasn't returned nor is there any sign of Annie.
Finn, try everything you can to save Annie! That's the plan. *takes a deep breath* Well, here goes. If that thing attacks us I have no idea what we'll do.
Huh? It's awfully quiet. Let's shake things up then.
Finn pours part of the flask's contents into the swamp. Again, just go Item > Flask > Use to do this.
I hope you like a dose of this you monster!
At first nothing happens. Then air bubbles start popping through the surface and the cavern shakes.
Finn, look! I think we've got that beast's attention! Whoa! The whole cavern is shaking! That thing had better not bring the roof down on our heads! Watch out it's coming up to the surface.
Then the tentacle, still holding Annie, emerges from the pool.
Annie! ANNIE!! Dammit say something! It's amazing the creature didn't drag her deeper into the caverns. Amazing or not I'll take whatever lucky breaks I can get right now. Annie answer me!!
The tentacle flails about in pain.
Then it tosses Annie to the stone cavern floor and disappears back into the depths never to be seen again.
Annie! She's not moving... Wake up! Is she really dead? Wake up, Annie! Come on you can't just roll over and die now. She's covered in slime and that sludge stuff in the water. Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick. She's not breathing. It's no use... We have to try something else. Try? Try what? I'm not a doctor or a priest! I don't know a damn thing about healing people! I only know how to hit things with a sword! Wait, the flask isn't empty. Try giving her some Spirit Water, Finn. What? Remember, magic water? It can't exactly do any harm to her at this point! Yeah, I guess you've got a point there. Okay, I'll try it.
Finn crouches down (not shown but his sprite does get close to her right before this message pops up) and pours a few drops of Spirit Water down our unlucky friend's throat.
This has to work. We've come too far to fail now.
Eek! There was a flash of light! What is that water doing to her?
The duo jump back.
I don't know but I'm hoping it's something that helps her. If we've somehow turned Annie into a monster I'll never be able to forgive myself.
Uuummm.. D, did she just cough? Is she alive? You go check, Finn. I'll be right behind you.
Uuuh... <cough> Mmmm...
Alive and conscious once more Annie jumps to her feet!
I... *pause* I was... ehh? Annie you're ok! We were so worried about you! Worried? What was there to worry about? Annie... Wait a minute. The bones, the drag marks on the floor. By Arawn I remember now. The Kraken dragged me under! You're safe now Annie. The Kraken's gone. I don't even want to think about it! Ugh, now I wish I hadn't remembered it in the first place.Annie, I'm so relieved. You sound all right. *turns to Finn* Finn are you all right? You've hardly said a word. Yeah, Annie. I'm ok. I just... He's just happy to see you safe and sound! I'm glad you're ok. *turns to Finn* Finn, let's go. We shouldn't stay here too long. *approaches* I'm scared... I can't walk alone. Take me with you, okay? It's good to have you back. Of course you can walk with us. Come here, you! Whoa, Finn! You're usually not the huggy type. Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something? I'm sure.
Annie thus joins our party. Woohoo!
Annie starts at level 1 with some basic starter gear and a few herbs and antidotes to her name. Since I've done all this in one dash the extra herbs are a welcome addition. Finn picked up one that a slime dropped but he's still used most of those he brought with him. Annie does start with higher base defense and speed then Finn did when he was level 1. She doesn't know any spells right now but starting with 10 MP and the cleric class are a pretty good indicator that Annie is destined to learn healing magic.
Since Annie's a caster type it seems narratively appropriate to give her the wisdom boost. This might not do her any good in terms of game mechanics but, meh.
Stats boosters are extremely rare in Beyond the Beyond but this time I didn't have to save scum to get the best result. Level ups are semi-random so you don't want to waste what few boosters are available.
Having Annie in the party opens up a new option in our options menu. It also means we encounter larger groups of monsters just as the game flips over to what is going to be the standard enemy encounter rate for the rest of the game: the tripping-over-enemies-every-three-steps level. It's not literally that bad but Beyond the Beyond is kind of infamous for its encounter rate.
One thing I will quickly note is that Beyond the Beyond is one of those RPGs that doesn't let you selectively target within groups. If you're using something single target like, say, just straight up attacking, you can only select which group you want to attack.
Opening up the Tactics menu presents 5 options with the game already set to Fight. Selecting one of these puts the team under that AI setting. None of these options ever effect Finn though. He's always under manual control.
Charge - go all out trying to kill all enemies as quickly as possible even if it means nuking them from orbit
Fight - magic is allowed but the AI won't use it unless it thinks it can kill a target or someone drops to half health or less in which case it will toss out a heal
Reserve - use no magic, items with magical effects the character possesses are fair game though including stuff like herbs
Guard - this is like Charge but the characters shift their focus to trying to protect themselves and one another
Manual - player controls all actions
Reserve is an option I use often until gear with magical effects start turning up since it saves time in not having to input commands. The AI of your allies will try to kill whatever enemy with the least health and defense remains in combat so they're pretty good about attacking whatever Finn hits. Not being able to pick targets in groups thus isn't as much of a problem as it might otherwise be. The AI is far from perfect but it will be fine for now.
I don't see much point in the other settings. The big difference is the ability to use magic and if you're going to go that route you might as well put them on Manual and make sure they're doing it efficiently. The AI is notoriously bad at spell selection which is why enemies generally only know one or two spells apiece.
I should go back to the spring and refill the flask. Why? There's still some water left. It's not like Dad specified how full it has to be. *sloshes the water in the flask* There's not much left. I don't particularly want to have to explain why I got so little. Oh. Ok.
It's not necessary to refill the flask but in the interest of covering Finn's butt and getting Annie some experience we do just that. On the way down to the spring Annie reaches level 2 and we run into the assortment of Tumble Rabbits in the screenshot above. This is another Battle Mechanics 101 bit. The same type of enemies aren't always grouped together. One group can get up to 8 members (the largest I've ever seen them get anyway) but the game won't generate groups larger then three members when it starts an encounter. When people start learning attack magic this is going to become relevant.
At last we return to the entrance and conclude our business with the Cave of Spirits.
Finn, it's getting dark. We should hurry back home. Aww, home! It feels like we've been in here forever!
Outside night is setting in and we get to see what an outdoor battlefield looks like. Beyond the Beyond doesn't have day-night cycles so I'm showing off the nighttime battlegrounds when I can.
More slimes out here? Where are they coming from and why are they attacking people? You weren't being attacked by monsters... like these... down in the cave? A couple tried to mess with me, yeah, but I didn't think anything of it and it was nowhere near the amount that have attacked since I joined you. See I'm not the only one who thinks this is weird. Something is happening to the world! Aww come off it Steiner. It's been a dry summer. I bet they're just hungrier then usual.
Finn are you sure you're all right? You haven't said much since you and Steiner rescued me. I'm... ok. It's just been a long day. Ya know? You know you can talk to me. Well... Krrr. Finn, I'm your friend too. Steiner! Not you too! You've had a hard day, Finn. It's natural for friends to worry about each other. I don't see anyone asking Annie if she wants to talk about what it was like under the swamp! ... I'm sorry. I - let's just get back to the village ok?
One step away from town we're attacked again. Dang it Beyond the Beyond! (Also we can see how the village graphics awkwardly overlap bits of mountain. It clearly isn't designed for this.)
One day, Finn, I'll tell you what it was like. Until then you've just got to trust me.
We made it. Finn! We should return home as soon as possible! I'm sure Sonya and Sir Galahad are worried about us.
--BONUS CONTENT--
Suppose Finn hadn't been so fortunate during his trek in the Cave of Spirits. He could have run into the worst possible formation for solo Finn.
Finn is level 3 here and the game tosses out 4 bats in two groups of two to fight him.
They can crank out critical hits while they're at it. Each critical hit only does 2 damage but when you've got 12 max health, are facing four enemies, and each of those four can potentially attack twice every round your health total can get shredded quickly.
Fortunately for this Finn I manage to trigger a Vital Recover at the end of the round when the last bat to attack went critical + normal attack to groggy him. Instead he ends the round at 1 VP and uses a herb at the beginning of the next round. Remember how I said encounters for a level 1 character can be dangerous in this game? Yeah even with some experience to his name the game is still quite able to kick Finn around the block with the weakest enemies around.
Next time on Beyond the Beyond - the return to Isla Village
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