Walkthrough

The original walkthrough was done by Steve Rusher. It has been HTML-ized and slightly edited by me.

SOUTH CAPE

SCHOOL: Here you get a quick briefing on what the game's storyline will be revolving around. Then, Seth will tell you to meet him at "the usual place." More on that later. First, go up the staircase to the left. Approach the energy ball from below to enter Dark Space. In Dark Space, you can save your game, or later in the game, transform.

Go in, and you'll find you have the Dark Power, therefore you are the chosen one. Save your game.

Go back to the school, and then exit to enter town. Talk to as many people as you can. When you're done, go down all the way until you reach the dock. Then, go right. There's a boarded up cave, but you can get in anyways. Talk to the fisherman before you enter!

SEASIDE CAVE: Talk to both of them. Erik will rush in, with news that the Princess of Edward Castle has run away. Then, they'll start playing cards. Move to the left of Erik.

They then want to see your "mysterious power" To show them, stand to the left of the statue and push the L or R button, and it'll move towards you. AMAZING! This is one of the game's most useful skills, so remember it. Talk to Lance. He'll lay out 4 cards, and ask you which is the Ace of Diamonds. The one you pick is always right cuz you're psychic.

TOWN: Leave the cave, and take a RED JEWEL out of the fisherman's pot. When you leave the dock, you'll be facing a red house, which is LANCE'S HOUSE. Enter it, take the stairs on the right, and search the pot on the upper-right for another RED JEWEL. Go back to the School, go on to the roof, and look for another RED JEWEL on the left side of the bell tower. Then, jump off the ledge to your left. There's a man on the roof, so talk to him. He's the JEWELER GEM. Give him your Red Jewels for a herb.

Finally, go to the school and save your game. Like most RPGs, you should save often to prevent constant backtracking every time you screw up.

Go to WILL'S HOUSE (It's just to the right of the School) and you'll see a pig wrecking the place. Try to go upstairs. The pig will push you away and Kara will come out. Go upstairs, and talk to your parents. You'll hear a scream from downstairs. Go investigate! Two guards will be there to haul Kara away. Talk to your parents again, and go upstairs to eat, then you will go to sleep. When you wake up, go downstairs and talk to your mother to learn LOLA'S MELODY.

Save!

Leave town and go to Edward Castle.

EDWARD CASTLE

Go right until you see two sets of stairs. Go up the stairs until you reach the top, and then cross the bridge. Talk to the guard, and Kara will let you pass. Talk to Kara. You will find that the King has hired a hunter. If you want to have some cheap fun, stand to the right of the guard and talk to him to get thrown really fast. Go back to the ground floor.

There is now a person behind the pillar all the way to the right on the ground floor. Talk to him. He'll give you a RED JEWEL.

Go left until you see a guard standing next to a doorway. Enter the doorway, and talk to the king. He'll put you in a cell no matter what your answer is.

NOTE: Actually, you do have the Crystal Ring... You just don't know it....

Now, this seems unneccesary, but press your ATTACK/TALK button in the following locations:
1.) Facing the ball on the ball and chain
2.) Facing the wall standing on the moss heap at the upper-right corner
3.) Facing the wall standing on the moss heap at the lower-left corner
4.) Facing outside standing at the cell door

Then, wait about 15-20 seconds, and a guard will drop down some bread. Eat it. Wait about 10 more seconds, and you'll drift off to sleep, and your father will start talking to you from the flute. You will be presented with two options. Choose either one, it doesn't matter. Use telekinesis to grab the item that drops from the ceiling. Go over to the cell door and wait about 5 seconds and you will hear Hamlet, who walks up to the cell. Go to the left of the door, face down, and press ATTACK/TALK to talk to it. You will recieve a key. Equip it, and use it on the door. Enter the cell on the right to save your game.

Go down, and enter the first fight so far!

NOTE: I like referring to the first insanely easy fights in games as "Newbie Lane." Only newbies die in such places, so please, watch your step and avoid stereotypes.

UNDERGROUND TUNNEL

ENEMIES/HP:
Bat/3  Ribber/6  Canal Worm/5  King Bat/10
Skull Chaser/14  Skull Chaser's Head/10

Use the jump-attack tactic mentioned in the HINTS FOR ANY WORLD section to easily beat this area. There is no reason for not finishing off every single enemy in this place.

To get by the two statues, use telekinesis to move either one out of the way.

You can deflect the fireballs shot by the Canal Worms by using telekinesis while facing them. In the third screen, hit the switch by attacking it and follow the new path for a herb. Hit the switch again to resume.

Watch out for falling spears! If you see the shadow, move away from it, obviously. The weird spike things tend to follow the walls. Remember that.

To flip the "rusty" switch, go up the stairs, and jump off the ledge above it. As a reward, you get a RED JEWEL.

If you're extremely new to this, you might have to resume from a saved game.

When you reach a room with two switches, equip LOLA'S MELODY and use it. Go to the right switch. When the timer hits 3, whack the switch. Then, back to fighting!

When you reach the part with 4 Canal Worms, you only have to kill the upper-left one, but kill 'em all for the reward. :) Enter the newly formed Dark Space to transform into Freedan. Go back and hit the switch with your new, really long sword. Take the top path to avoid the spikeballs. When the path forks, go left for a RED JEWEL, then go right.

When all is said and done, you'll meet Lilly. When she leaves, search the bottom barrel in the row of four from the right side for a RED JEWEL. Searching it from the left does not work. Leave the room, and go up the stairs until you're to the roof. Cross the bridge and rescue Kara. Before you leave, go back to the bottom floor. There's a big fat Roast Leg of Yak (scrumptious) in the first open barrel you'll see. Finally, you can leave!

BACK TO SOUTH CAPE

Oh, no! The Jackal's after you! Don't worry, you never actually fight him. Talk to Lilly. Leave Will's House, talk to anyone you want

You should do two things in particular before you leave:
1.) If you didn't get it before, go in and out of the Seaside Cave until the fisherman pulls up a pot. Look in it for a RED JEWEL.

2.) Trade your RED JEWELS for a Defense Force.

Then talk to Lilly again when you're ready to go. When Lilly says you won't be back for a long time, what she REALLY means is, you WON'T be back. Sorry if she got your hopes up!

Once you get to ITORY VILLAGE, play LOLA'S MELODY to reveal its true nature.

ITORY VILLAGE

First things first. Go left, and search the first log pile in the row of 3 from below for a RED JEWEL.

Go all the way to the top and save your game. Go to the statue of Will on the left to learn Psycho Dash. Then, run down the ramp. Don't stop running, and you'll wind up at a different part of the map. Go down until you hear a voice talking to you. Go up to the gravestones and talk to the elder.

Go down the ladder and into the cave. Hit the wall with your flute until you hear a hollow sound. Psycho Dash the wall, go in, and you'll get Incan Statue A.

Go back to the village, SAVE, and go all the way to the bottom. Go right, up the staircase, and then right to enter Lilly's House. Talk to Lilly to go to the Moon Tribe Camp.

MOON TRIBE CAMP

ENEMIES/HP:
Slugger/6

First, go up until the Moon Tribe will talk to you. Then, they will appear. Talk to all of them and go down and into the cave. You have 20 seconds to kill all of the insects. Not too difficult, just try to hit as many at once as possible.

Then, it's off to the Incan Ruins.

INCAN RUINS

ENEMIES/HP:
Mudpit/8  Four Way/9  Slugger/6  Splop/6
Scuttlebug/6  Whirligig/8  Stone Lord/11
Stone Guard/11

[Any bomb forces you get from enemies which create ladders when you're outside will only lead back. Ignore them if you want to go forward.]

First, go left. Kill guys until you reach the leftward exit at the bottom, then in the next room go up and left, and exit southward where you get a Diamond-Shaped Block. Go back to the spike pit and use it on the diamond-shaped hole in the ground.

Go outside, kill anything along the way, and go as far right as you can. Go down the ladder and in the doorway. Use Psycho Dash to destroy the statues. In the chest is a herb. You'll get that other chest later; don't worry. Go back up the ladder, go left, cross the bridge, and jump off the ledge. Go in the doorway. Use Psycho Dash to destroy the statue. Then, you'll encounter some Splops. Make quick work of them. After the Whirligig, go up the stairs, left, down the next set of stairs, and outside. Head up and to the left, and in the door.

When you see the 4 gold statues, DON'T go near them! If they come to life, run out of the room and come back. Use Telekinesis to move each one on to a gold tile, OR, move 3 of them on to the tiles, and stand on the remaining one. A door will form. Go into the next room. Step on the golden tiles to drop blocks which let you cross the spikes. At the top of the room is a Dark Space. Transform into Freedan, go up the stairs, and work your way to the exit at the bottom, where you will learn the Melody of the Wind.

Backtrack until you reach the room with two Whirligigs (go DOWN the ladder outside). Kill the one you couldn't reach before, and a mini-ramp will form. Use the same continued-run technique as the one you used in Itory to access a new area. Kill everything you see, especially the still Whirligig. Then, use the continued-run technique again.

Keep going, and when the road forks, go up. Then go left for a herb. Go down the stairs. You'll see four gold statues with a switch nearby that don't come to life when you approach them. The switch is what brings them to life.

Head down and outside. If you've been killing all the enemies like a good boy, the last ones outside should be on this stretch. Enter the door to the right.

You'll see another group of four Stone Guards/Stone Lords which will come to life when you hit the nearby switch. When you reach the ramp, run down it and continue running to the right. You'll see a door. Go through it. Go down, and when you find the Dark Space, save. Change back into Will. In the chest past all the Scuttlebugs is a RED JEWEL. (You saw this before, but couldn't reach it.) Use your map (press START) if you can't seem to locate it.

Go back through the door, and down the stairs. Keep heading down until you reach a room full of gold tiles. Play the Melody of the Wind. A tile will start to glow, so stand on it. Be patient. After about 12 seconds of standing on it, a door will open at the bottom of the room. Go through it, go left, and you'll see a Dark Space entrance. Save your game, and transform into Freedan.

Go right and then down the ladder. Use Incan Statue A on top of the stone head. Then, go back up, left, down the next ladder, and use Incan Statue B on top of the other one. Go back up, save again, then go left. To fight the boss, stand on the tile between the three pylons, then through the door.

BOSS: CASTOTH; HP-40
STRATEGY: First, knock out his hands. They take about 5 hits each to neutralize. Then, when his eyes light up, whack his head as many times as possible.

NOTE: You don't have to stand near the edge of the gap to hit him. You can stand all the way at the bottom, and if you're Freedan (which you should be), your long sword can hit him anyways.

When he starts shaking, stand right near the upper-right corner of the gap. If you stand behind him, you get burned, despite what Gaia tells you. The 3-flame crystal-thing is the most you really have to worry about. When a hand pops up, whack it fast. Stay near the bottom of the room until he's vulnerable and you should be fine. It may take a herb to beat this guy. Go up, and jump down the pit to reach the Incan Gold Ship.

INCAN GOLD SHIP

Go down the stairs near the bottom of the screen. Then, go up through the doorway. Go all the way to the right and grab the Mystic Statue in the chest. Go back to the place you started, and climb the ladder to the Crow's Nest. Yes, you can jump off the top if you want to. ;)

Talk to the guy up there and the ship will set sail. Go back down and downstairs again. Go right, talk to the lady next to the ladder going up the bunkbed, and then go up to go to sleep. In your dream, go downstairs and talk to your mother. When you wake up, before you do anything, go left and talk to Seth (Purple robe...) for a RED JEWEL. Then go back downstairs. Go right and "talk" to the mummified queen. Then, the ship will start to shake. Go back on deck and find out why I told you to talk to Seth first. :)

The ship will then be blown to pieces and you'll be stuck with Kara on a small raft.

ADRIFT

NOTE: This is pathetically boring. If there is one thing I hate about this game, it's this sequence.

Day 1: Keep talking to Kara until she suggests that you both eat. Use the meat you stole from Edward Castle.

Day 2: Wait... If you haven't noticed by now, your HP is slowly decreasing...

Day 4: Talk to Kara. A pot will drift towards you. In it is a letter which will tell you what your next adventure will be... Anyhow, talk to Kara repeatedly until the day ends.

Day 7: Stand near the top of the boat and hit ATTACK to smack fish. When they land on the boat, stand on them and press ATTACK to eat them. Do this until you're at full health, then talk to Kara. She'll move. Stand near the top of the boat, to her left, and smack more fish until she eats it.

Day 12: Nothing happens, but you see a red star...

Day 18: Talk to Kara. No your hair didn't get longer. :) Ignore the sharks, and you'll be taught another one of the lame morals this game has to offer.

Day 21: Talk to Kara. You'll pass out, and wake up, FINALLY OFF THE DAMN RAFT!

DIAMOND COAST

That's right, you've got scurvy. Fun stuff, huh? Despite the fact that back in the times of this game, scurvy was usually fatal, you're still acting just fine. Go down to jump off the bed, talk to Kara, go outside, and search the pot to the right of the doorway for a RED JEWEL. Talk to Kara to depart to Freejia.

NOTE: The dog's name is Turbo, eh? Hey, guess what? In the sequel to Illusion of Gaia (Terranigma), Turbo returns as a key part of the storyline! [He's also a major part of the story in Soul Blazer, the prequel.]

FREEJIA

Go right, and then up the staircase. Talk to Kara, then go inside. Instead of following her, go up and through the doorway. Go all the way to the right, and into the last door. Search the open pot for a RED JEWEL. Go back to the ground floor, go right, and talk to everyone. Leave the hotel, go as far right as you can, and jump down on to the flower bed. (Between the two buildings with the blue roofs) The spot you can jump down on is right below the last door. Then, go down until you can jump back onto the pathway. Talk to the cloaked guy for a RED JEWEL. Then, go back up, into the flower bed, left, and back out again.

You might be overloaded with RED JEWELS, so go in the building that the little girl is standing next to (head left....) and go up the stairs until you reach the roof. Go right on to the next roof and talk to the man. He's the Jeweler Gem. Go back down, and through the alley between the last two buildings.

Search the trash can next to the man with the blue robe for an HP Jewel (which will raise your HP by one point). Keep going right until you see a man blocking your path. Search the trash can right in front of him for a herb. Go back into the building that the two purple-robed guys are in front of and you can save your game at last! Head right a bit and you'll see a staircase with a guy on top (talk to him for a quick laugh). The trashcan near the base of the staircase contains 2 Herbs. Go right and into the last building. Go up the stairs and jump off the right ledge to get by the doofus who was guarding the path.

Go right, down, up the ladder, and jump off the ledge. Go down the stairs and talk to the man at the table. Go outside, and retrace your steps until you find the two purple-robed guys. Talk to the one on the right, and tell him the slave's location (it sounds bad, but don't worry) for a RED JEWEL.

Get by the guy blocking your way again (after saving of course) and go right, then into the Labor Market. Talk to the robed guy, say you're there to get a laborer, and talk to all 3. The third has a dirty secret. Go back outside, talk to the guy blocking your path again (He'll shove you back) then go left all the way to the place where the guy slams the door in your face.

Approach the door and "talk" to it. You'll hear Erik inside. To break the door, just attack it. You don't need to Psycho Dash it like some people claim you do. Talk to Erik to learn where the Diamond Mines are. Then, save, leave, and go there.

DIAMOND MINE

ENEMIES/HP:
Flayzer/10  Grundit/5  Eye Stalker/5

Pretty straight-forward. Here are basic instructions:

When you find the elevator door and the sign, go up a little bit and left. Talk to the laborer, then whack the ball and chain to free him.

The second one is easy to find, but guarded better. When you find the first switch, look above, below, and to the left of the wood platform to find the other 3. Flip them all and go down. After a while, the road will fork. You can go down another level, or left. Go left, then up. In the corner (to the left of the Dark Space), your hair will blow around. Psycho Dash the wall, and a laborer will give you 3 RED JEWELS. (Hint submitted by Logan Hudson)

Go right and kill everything for access to a Dark Space, where you can heal and transform to Freedan. Go back down and right, and go down a level.

Here, you'll see a ramp like in an earlier room. Don't run down it; instead, head up and right and go down the staircase. In the bottom right is a dead end room. Kill everyone to open the way to a Dark Space. Enter, transform to Will. Don't save. Go left and up into the little crevace. See how your hair blows around? Psycho Dash the wall there to access ANOTHER Dark Space. Here, you learn Dark Friar. Now you can save.

Go back one room to the place where you couldn't do a continued-run because a fence blocked your way. Charge a Dark Friar attack, and blast the Grundit on the ledge to the right of the fence. Then, go left, up and Continued Run up the ramp. You'll find another laborer. Save him, then talk to him for the Elevator Key. Go back to the room with the elevator in it, and use the elevator key on the steel grating.

NOTE: To simplify your life, when you reach the area with the 4 switches, just go left and jump off the ledge.

After you go up the elevator, you'll find a room with two staircases. Go down the left one to fight a bunch of Grundits. It's worth it for the powerup. Near the lower-right corner is the Mine Key. Look for a little sparkle, then stand on it and hit ATTACK to pick it up.

Then go down the right one to fight a little bit of everything. Dark Friar wastes most of 'em. Free the laborer for the key to the mine.

Go back and use both keys on the steel grating. Go down the stairs, free the 3 laborers, and talk to all three of them. Sam will teach you the Memory Melody. He'll also relieve you of two useless items in your inventory.... Now walk outside. Don't be confused; remember you're right near the entrance.

BACK TO FREEJIA / NEIL'S COTTAGE / NAZCA

Go to the hotel and use the Memory Melody on Erik. Kara will announce another obvious moral... Off to Neil's Cottage!

Neil has some interesting toys: An oxygen tank, an airplane wing, a telescope, and a primative camera. Sure...

Talk to everyone, check out Neil's inventions, then talk to Neil again to leave for the Nazca Desert.

Okay, here's basically what to do. Wait until everyone stops walking. Then, talk to everyone once. Then talk to Kara again. Go down to the lower-left. Follow the ghost until you lose it. Then, go back to the main group, and talk to Neil. The answer would be the Left Foot. Go there, and when they all stop moving, stand at the knee and press ATTACK. The Sky Garden will decend, and you'll be transported there.

SKY GARDEN

ENEMIES/HP:
 TOP SIDE:
Blue Cyber/16  Dynapede/12
 BOTTOM SIDE:
Red Cyber/16  Nitropede/12

DIFFERENCES: Nitropede, when dead, the pieces will still fall down, but they hurt if you're too close; plus Nitropedes jump around. Red Cybers, when they fire their fists, the fists return.

[The Sky Garden has two sides: the upper and lower sides. The enemies between the sides are similar in appearance and tactics. You can get from one side to the other by jumping off ledges. Remember that switches you trigger on one side will affect the other side as well.]

First things first. When you arrive, go down, left, and back up to save!

Take the upper-left passageway first. Continued-Run down the ramp and hold UP to jump. Then, progress until you have two options: 1.) Continued-Run down another ramp and jump again; or 2.) Jump off a ledge on to the other side.

Continued-Run-Jump the ramp (option 1), but when you land, hold LEFT so you don't jump the next one. Go down and jump off the edge to switch to the other side.

Go right until you hit a wall, then go up. There's a tunnel "blocked" by a chain of 3 light balls bouncing around. It's invincible, and it hurts. Stay in the corners and it can't hurt you. Sneak by it, and keep going until you find a Dark Space. SAVE! USE FREEDAN NOW!

Go down and to the place where the energy-ball thing was originally blocking your path. It still is, but go right and down. You'll see a knight with a sword in his hands. Use Dark Friar on it, and the sword will spring loose. Those things hurt, so avoid it until you can charge Dark Friar, and then blast it. The Knight is now yours to pull along with Telekinesis. Pull it onto the switch to its left to remove the mini-statue from your path. [You have to pull it one step up first.] Go down. Kill as much as you can, but conserve health. Jump off the ledge to return to the normal side.

Go up to the ramp, and continued run, but hold UP for a herb. Go right, up, and off the edge again. To get back to the ramp, go right, down, and then off the edge. Go down the ramp again, but this time hold DOWN for a Crystal Ball (you need 4 of them). [You have to kill the sword to move the statue out of the way so you can get to the chest.]

To get back to the main area, jump off the edge, go right, then follow the right wall and go as far up as you can. Watch out for the fireball thing. When you hit the top, go left, jump off the small step, then jump off the edge. Climb the stairs, and contined-run down the ramp. Hold RIGHT, and you'll jump two ramps. [Remember, you held LEFT last time you were here.]

Next path: Take the bottom-left one. Yes, the Moon Tribe guy told you to do it clockwise. He lied. Anyhow, kill the Blue Cyber and go up the newly revealed path. Just to the right of the end of the bridge is a ledge you can use to jump to the other side. Do so, but don't hit the switch. First, go left for a RED JEWEL. Go back, flip the switch, and jump off the ledge again. Before you go left, charge a Dark Friar. Use it to quickly kill the first Blue Cyber, then go up and kill the others.

Go down, kill the Dynapede, charge a Dark Friar, go left, and kill the Blue Cybers. Go up, and jump off the ledge. Go right, and use a Dark Friar on the switch from far away. Jump back off the ledge again. Go left, change back to Will, and save. Go down until you see a chest, then go right until you see four mini-pillars grouped together. Stand to the right of them, and continued-run to the right until you run into two statues. Psycho Dash them. You can't do anything with the ramp yet, so jump off the edge to the backside. Go right, avoid the fireballs, then go up the middle of the two rows of statues. Kill the Red Cyber, and quickly go right. Keep going right until you see 3 Red Cybers. Kill them all, and prepare to fight a flying sword without Freedan... It's a bit tougher. Hit the knight, kill the sword, and go left. Ignore the knight, kill the Red Cyber. Then, go back and drag the knight left using Telekinesis onto the switch the Red Cyber was standing on. Go up, left (to the room with all the fireball things), down, left, and off the edge again. Go up the stairs, Psycho Dash the statues again, and continued-run left until you reach the chest. Inside is the second Crystal Ball.

Go up twice and change to Freedan. Go back down to the chest.

To get back to the main part, go RIGHT, RIGHT, UP, RIGHT, UP, and UP.

Save, and take the lower-right path. Use Dark Friar to waste the statues, then go down. Go down the ladder, right, back up, around, down, etc. Eventually you'll see a ramp. Kill the knight's sword, then move it out of the way. Continued-run down the ramp to jump. When you land, you'll be able to go up, so do it. Go up until you can't any more. (If you kill the sword and move the statue out of the way, there's a Dark Space inside the room if you need healing.) Then, go right and jump off the edge to the back of the garden. Go right. You'll see a Red Cyber. Use Dark Friar to kill it, go right, and jump off the edge to the right. Kill the Blue Cyber with a few Dark Friar attacks, then go down the newly revealed path. Keep going down, and jump off the edge again.

If you want to kill some guys, go left. If not, go right. Kill the Red Cybers (try to keep your HP high, this part's annoying), and progress right. Then, go up. Kill the Red Cyber. Go up (watch out for fireballs) for another Crystal Ball. One more and you're done! Just retrace your steps to get back to the main area. Heal and save.

Take the upper-right path. Follow the path until you reach a place full of enemies. Okay, now go right, not down. Go up the staircase to the far right for a RED JEWEL.

To continue to the crystal ball, go RIGHT from the room full of guys, then DOWN and jump off the edge. Going up, or going right twice, will lead to dead ends with lots of enemies (which you should still kill for the powerup). To progress further, go RIGHT from the edge, then DOWN. At the 4-way junction blocked by a Red Cyber, down is a dead end, and right leads to a chest with a herb. To continue, go left. Go as far left as you can, down, right, and off the ledge. In the top-right is a chest with the crystal ball in it. Go back to the junction, and go right. Jump off the ledge and you can get an herb. Go back the start point again.

Now, there are 4 holes in the ground. Use a Crystal Ball on each one of them. Then, save. Go up to fight the boss.

BOSS: VIPER HP-40
STRATEGY: If you're not insanely careless, this guy's a snap! First go up the falling bridge to reach the boss's lair. (Don't worry, it can't catch up to you. 8-)) He attacks as follows:

1.) He drops a cluster of 4 feathers in a cross-shape. It'll stop moving, and then burst into 4 feathers. Minimal damage.

2.) He dives at you. Smack him with your sword.

3.) He'll sit on the upper wall. MOVE AWAY FROM HIM! You'll see a little blue thing form near his mouth, and then he'll spit out a bunch of crystals. Heavy damage, but REAL easy to avoid. You should be able to get about 2 hits off when he's perched.

NOTE: You may think he only fires at a 45-degree angle. NO! He fires down too, so don't try to get under him for a few cheap shots, or you'll probably wind up wasting a herb.

4.) He fires 6 feathers at you, sorta like a curve-shot. They level out and go horizontal, so if they curve your way, try to get between the bottom two sets.

There will also be a wind blowing throughout the battle; run against it to get nearer to him. Dark Friar may also help. Simple stuff. You get a statue! To leave, go left, and jump off the ledge that's left from the place you entered through. Neil will miss you (hehe), then come around again and get you. On your way to Mu, Neil's plane crashes. Blah. You wake up in a strange place....

SEASIDE PALACE

PART 1:

How to read the map: S is where you start (and end). * is Dark Space. RJ is a Red Jewel. Arrows denote leading out into a small room. The numbers are what's important here; D1 means Staircase 1 going down, U1 means the same staircase going up, U2 means Staircase 2 going up, etc. P.2 means it goes to Part 2.

S--
   \
    \    *      D1
     ---------------> RJ
 D2               
<---------------RJ
 U2 D3
---------\      U1
         -----------
    U3   D4        D5
---------------------->Lilly

(Key)---\ U4   D6  U5
        -----  -------

        P.2    U6
       ------------

Ignore the other stairs, just go as far right as you can. You'll meet Lilly, who tags along. Go back to the main room, and go down the first set of stairs you see (the one all the way on the right), then left, and downstairs again, then left, and downstairs. Here you can actually fight guys.

PART 2:
ENEMIES/HP:
Slipper/12  Skuddle/8

P.1
-----\
      \      D1       U2
       \----------------
D4 RJ
-----
U4     D3    U1
--------------------
       U3    EXIT
<----------------

Go as far right as you can until you find two doorways. Take the right one to go upstairs. Inspect both closed coffins from the top and you'll get a Purification Stone. Go back down, and then through the door on your left. Go as far left as you can, and up the stairs for a RED JEWEL. Go back down, and go right until you see a doorway with stairs going down. Go left to find Neil and Lance. Anyhow, go back out, and go right cautiously. When Skuddles start falling down, you're near the end. Kill them all, and enter the doorway. You'll see a dark fountain. Stand above it and use the Purification Stone to taint it. Now, go back outside. [You have to go back to Part 1, pick up the (Key), and go all the way back to the Start (S).] Go left, and up the stairs, right, up the stairs, left, up the stairs, right, up the stairs, right, up the stairs, left, and down the stairs. Go left, and talk to the man at the dead-end for the Key to the Seaside Palace. Go back up the stairs, left, up the stairs, right, up the stairs, left, and save your game. Leave the Dark Space, and go left until you reach a sealed door. Use the key on it. Go down the passageway to reach Mu.

MU

ENEMIES/HP:
Slipper/12  Cyclops/26  Flasher/22  Skuddle/8

NOTE: This area is one of the hardest in the game, at least in my opinion.

Go right until you encounter a Cyclops. Jump-attacks shred those things. Go down, and DON'T run or the Slippers will cause you much pain. Kill the Cyclops to reveal a new path. Using jump-attacks on Slippers works quite well. Go right, and then up. Go right again to the next screen.

NOTE ON FLASHERS: Their shots go one direction for about .75 seconds, then rotate until they're facing where you are when they start rotating. After they rotate, they go one direction. Use this to dodge any lucky shots. Or, you can BLOCK the shots. [Your best bet is to stand in front of them and hold L or R, then hit them. Better yet, hit them first!]

NOTE ON BOUNCERS (little blue undulating circles): To move them, attack them (to push them) or use Telekinesis (to pull them).

USE HERBS IF YOUR HEALTH GETS LOW!

Work your way to the exit of this screen, and go down to the next one. (On the way, you'll have to kill some Skuddles to clear a path.) On the next screen, ou'll see some spike traps. Timing solves this puzzle easily. DON'T jump-attack the Slipper or you'll probably eat spike. You'll see a little temple, which is the Room of Hope. Ignore it. Keep going... Use telekinesis to pull the bouncer out of the way. Keep going. You'll reach a fork in the road. It doesn't matter which way you go; each way has different enemies. I'd tell you to go back and kill them all. You can hit most of them through rocks this time. You'll eventually reach the end of the screen (and another empty chest). After it is a room with two statues, and... Well, nothing. Actually, there is something. Stand at the intersection between both statues' line of sight (both of them are looking at you....) and hit ATTACK for a Statue of Hope. Go back to the Temple of Hope and use it. The water level has now gone down one level. Heading right will reach a ramp down, but all that's there are some Slippers. Kill them, then go back up and left past the Room of Hope; backtrack until you find a ramp going down into the previously flooded water. Go down, turn left, and keep going until you find a row of spikes. When they're down, go into the crevice. They'll go back up, go down, and then you should make a break for it. Or, you can just run across just as they're going down.

You'll find a Dark Space. Turn into Freedan and save. Go back to the ramp. DON'T go up it. Instead, go down along the right wall. Get by the energy chain, and go left. Then, head down to the next screen. Keep going until you reach a blue ramp. First use Dark Friar to kill the Cyclops above the blue ramp. See the bouncer below it? Run into the bouncer from above and hold UP to run up the blue ramp. Continue on. You'll probably run into a Flasher. Kill it. Then, continue to the next screen. You'll see 4 Slippers which are trapped, and one which is not. Ignore the untrapped one, and kill the trapped ones. Then, kill the untrapped one. If you kill the untrapped one first, the others are set loose. Now, you can go either up or down. Go down, and to the next screen.

Before you hit the switch, kill the Slipper. Then, hit the switch, and RUN up, go right, then RUN down, and you should easily clear the spikes. Go right. Progress through the next screen, and then you'll encounter an area full of energy chains. To pass them, start running when they're retracting; when you get there they should be completely in. Just stay alive. When you get through it, you'll find a Dark Space and learn PSYCHO SLIDER. Save.

Go back through the room with the energy chains, and on the screen after, you'll see a small hole in the bottom of the wall. Seriously, it's hard to miss. Slide through it, and go right. You'll see a blue ramp. Go down to find a bouncer. Use telekinesis to drag it into position, then bounce up the ramp. Go left, up, and right again. When you hit the right wall, remember this: DON'T run downwards, or you'll run into an energy chain. Use jump attacks to kill the Cyclopes effectively. Kill the Skuddles, and a statue will appear. Go right, down, and past the first two sets of spikes. Reference the diagram below in reference to the leftmost set of two spikes.

# = wall
^ = spikes

########
   ^^
 X####
########

Search where the X is for another Statue of Hope. NOTE: It's right in the line of sight of the statue, obviously. :) Go right again, and go back to the hole in the wall you came through. Backtrack until you reach the room where the four Slippers were trapped. Go up until you can't any more, then go right. Slide through the hole in the wall. (You're now right at the beginning again!) Go left, then up. If you want to save/heal, go left, and back to the Seaside Palace. The Dark Space is just to the right of the Palace entrance... Then, go back. See that ramp that leads to the lower (brownish) level about 3 screen widths right of the entrance? Go down it, right, and up to the other Temple of Hope. Use the Statue of Hope on the altar. Leave, go straight down, and open the chest for a RED JEWEL. If you didn't save before, save now. Go back up the ramp, left, down, right, and slide back through the opening in the wall.

Go left, down the ramp, and right. Go down the next ramp. Go left, slide through the hole in the wall, kill the Flashers, go left, and go up the ramp to save. DON'T turn into Freedan for reasons that should be painfully obvious. Go back down, and up to the next screen. Keep going up until you reach the top, then go right. You'll see a chest. Inside is Rama's Statue. Go back down to the previous screen. Slide through the hole you came in through. Go right to the next screen. Then, go up to the next after taking out the Flashers. Go up, right, and up. You'll encounter two Cyclopes, guarding a chest with the other Rama's Statue. Go back, slide through the whole one last time, and save. There's a large battle coming up, so you should really try to be Freedan for it! (SERIOUS thanks to Nathanael Neisen for this hint!) Here's how to do it: from this Dark Space (with the Will Statue in it, but no Freedan statue) head left, then down to the next screen. Just keep following the path on the brownish level. Don't go into any holes, and don't head up or down a level. When you reach the spot where the imprisoned Slippers used to be, head right instead of up. You'll finally reach a ramp and a dead end, so go up the ramp then down the blue ramp next to it. Go right, up, and left. Keep going until you see the brown ramp. Don't go up it. Instead, head left, down, past the spikes, and into the Dark Space to transform into Freedan! Now backtrack alllllll the way to the Dark Space with the Will Statue, and save. Go down the ramp and down to the next screen. Go right, to the next screen, right, and up into the large doorway. Use one Rama's Statue on each altar. Go to the top of the graveyard, and "talk" to the front of the statue that stands out from the rest. Yep, that's Rama. Talk to some of the spirits. I recommend talking to them from top to bottom, as the story they tell makes the most sense that way...

Talk to Rama again for a Mystic Statue. If you want to save before fighting the boss, do it NOW! This one's annoying!

BOSS: VAMPIRES HP-40 x2
STRATEGY: These two are ANNOYING! DO NOT use Psycho Slider, it only makes life more painful. You CAN however, jump-attack over their shots.

WILL:
The blond-haired one in my opinion is much easier. To kill her, just run up to her, hit her 3 times, then RUN AWAY FROM HER before her fireball attack can hurt you. When the two join together to fire an energy ball, get as far away as you can, and DON'T let yourself get hit. If your HP is low enough, it can kill you instantly.

To kill the other one, just get right up in his face when he stops moving and hack away. Then, back off. I successfully used up about 6 Herbs winning this battle, so don't expect this to be any sort of cakewalk.

Some people find that walking right up to them and hacking away is actually the most effective way of winning...

If you really really really really can't beat them, C2A5-44A2 is the Game Genie code for invincibility.

FREEDAN:
Yes, you CAN fight these two with Freedan! You do 2x the damage, so these guys are MUCH MUCH MUCH simpler! Dark Friar works decently, but just thwacking them with all you got works nice too!
[Cidolfas: You can charge up a Dark Friar before you even start the battle; to get past the conversations, use the B button instead of A. (You should be on the second upward path from the left; that's where the female vampire will be.) As soon as you can, let the Dark Friar go, then run up to the female vampire and slash away. She should be practically dead by the time she moves.]

Afterwards, go up to the bomb (from the back), and hit ATTACK/TALK to attempt to diffuse it. Cut either wire, it doesn't matter, because you're psychic so of course you know which one is right... Then, talk to Erik. Attempt to leave, and everyone else will show up.

SEASIDE TUNNEL

Go right, pick up the mushroom, and talk to Kara. Just wait out the scenes... Well, this area's pretty pointless. At the end, you reach the Angel Village.

ANGEL VILLAGE

There are two parts to this. There's the guest area, which you get to by going down the right ladder at the start, and the main village which you get to by going left and down the other one. You should go to the guest area and talk to everyone first, it's just good for the storyline... Then go to the main village.

MAIN VILLAGE: Go all the way to the right, and through the doorway. Then, go right, and in through the next doorway. Talk to the two angels, they'll tell you how to get to Ishtar's studio...

Anyhow, go back down, and head left. Go in through the doorway on that tight-fitting area to enter the Dance Hall. Search the fountain for a RED JEWEL. Leave, and continue left. You'll see an angel staring at the river. That's the Jeweler Gem. Behind the Jeweler is a doorway heading down. Go in it. The doorway to your left has a Dark Space in it. You should save. Continue all the way to the right until you see a large door. Talk to the angel, and answer YES. To open the door, face it and press the TALK/ATTACK button. Then, go in.

GETTING TO ISHTAR'S STUDIO

ENEMIES/HP:
Dive Bat/5  Steelbones/20  Draco/10
Ramskull/10

Okay, this is pretty easy. The flames on the wall blow away from the correct way. So if one is slanted like this: \ Go right. If it's slanted like this: / Go left. Simple? Good! Just take doorways between two opposing flames.

Steelbones inflict quite a bit of damage, so if one approaches you, just keep swinging and eventually its stupidity will lead to its demise. Dive Bats are simple to take out: Just intercept them with your flute when they dive!

There's only one way to go for a while. You'll then reach a room with four doors (besides the one you came in). The first two lead to the same place. Besides for the two upward staircases, that room has one downward staircase, which is a dead end. The far right door in the four-door room leads to another dead end. (The dead ends do have enemies, which you should kill.) The way to continue forward is the third door from the left. The hall will get dark after a while, but the enemies are the same.

When you reach the screen with a river at the bottom, search the wall between the area where the two wall flames would imply that there's a doorway, and one will appear.

When you encounter two Dracos, take them both out, and slide under the small gap in the wall behind the one on the left for a RED JEWEL. In the Wind Tunnel, life is a lot easier if you run, and when close to a Ramskull, shift up or down and Psycho Slider it to death.

After the wind tunnel, you will encounter columns of Ramskulls. Psycho Slide the center one to destroy them all with one hit. In the last room, the entrance to Ishtar's Studio is hidden:

Method 1: Between the last two statues is a V-like point in the wall of the cave. Between that V-point and the statue just left of the last one is the entrance.

Method 2: Your hair blows around in one part of the room. Go straight up. The entrance is there. Go to the right of the waterfalls, and you'll see three doorways.

Door 1: Kara is trapped in the painting. Obviously, you're the one that has to get her out...

Door 2: Search the red pot on the left for a RED JEWEL.

Door 3: Talk to Ishtar. Solve the riddles, you get Kara back? Okay, fine. Go on to the riddle section.

PART I: The jar all the way on the right changed color from brown to blue-ish gray.

PART II: The two jars in the bottom-left changed color.

PART III: Open the chest in the first room, obviously. The contents have changed, so select the chest. Inside the new chest is a RED JEWEL, so get it before you continue.

PART IV: Your hair blows around, so select your head.

Anyhow, after solving all the riddles, go back to Ishtar's studio, and talk to the portrait (yup!), then open the chest for Magic Dust. Go back outside, into the first door, and use the Magic Dust on the portrait of Kara. Then, talk to the portrait. Will gets pissed, for reasons beyond my comprehension. Please don't e-mail me explanations. Talk to Neil to leave for the Floating City, also known as Watermia. (From now until the very end of the game, you can freely go back to places you've been before, including dungeons.)

WATERMIA

First, talk to everyone, then leave the house. To read Kara's diary, go to the left side of the raft that keeps the house you were just in afloat, and stand on the second plank from the top. Go right. When you're basically right above the ladder, press your TALK/ATTACK button to read it.

Go left until you reach a house with two pots in front of it. Go in. Talk to Lance, then his father, then Lance again. Then leave. Lance will cut in front of you. Go back to Luke's house (the place you started...) Lilly's birthday party progresses, and afterwards, Lilly and Lance go outside. Lance reveals his true feelings for Lilly, and Lilly runs away.

Okay, now exit Luke's house, go down to the next raft, and left to the next. Go down to the little mini-raft with 4 exits, and go left to the edge of the next raft. There's a woman surrounded by a bunch of pots. Search the upper-left one for a RED JEWEL. (Hint submitted by Drowsy Head)

Go back to the miniraft, and head right to the gambling house. There are three people facing downwards. The one on the left is the Jeweler Gem.

Anyhow, leave the gambling house, go to your inventory, equip Lance's Letter, and use it anywhere. Go back to the mini-raft, and go left. In the house is a Dark Space. SAVE! Now, go back to the mini-raft, and go down. Off to the Great Wall!

CHINA'S GREAT WALL

ENEMIES/HP:
Archer/25  Eyesore/22  Fire Bug/22  Asp/15

NOTE: Yes, it's called "China's Great Wall" in this, so DON'T ARGUE WITH ME!
NOTE REGARDING ARCHERS: Yes, telekinesis DOES block arrows! Use this to your extreme advantage! Also, arrows do damage even if the Invincibility Game Genie code is active!
NOTE REGARDING EYESORES: Yes, they look exactly like Fire Bugs.
NOTE REGARDING ASPS: If one latches on to you, hit LEFT and RIGHT over and over again really fast until it falls off.
NOTE REGARDING GRAPHICS: If you're using an emulator, this level will look very weird on a 16-bit graphics mode. Change to an 8-bit mode to see the backgrounds/foregrounds normally.

Big place, but truly easy. Go right until you see a doorway. Enter. Go left, kill the Archers, and jump into the pit. You CAN take the ladder, but doing such is much slower. Go right. If you take the first ladder you see, you'll encounter 2 Archers, and that's it. When you go up the second one, you'll see something on the ground. Pick it up. It's part of Lilly's necklace... Follow the path right, up the stairs, left, and up the stairs again. Continue right. Avoid the spears.

Next screen.... Jump into the really deep pit. Now, most people would explode into unrecognizable pieces upon jumping this far, but of course you emerge without a scratch... :p

Anyhow, continue right.

NOTE: In rows of statues like these, some usually come to life. If you encounter a large amount of statues, use your map (Hit START) to predict when you'll encounter one.

Go up the stairs, go left, defeat the Archers, and go up the stairs BEHIND the Archers. You'll see a chest. Inside is a RED JEWEL. Go back down, right, and up the middle set of stairs. Kill the two Eyesores, go right, and upstairs again. Go left, and watch out for the snake! If you want, you can go up the stairs behind the spear trap and fight another Fire Bug and two Asps. Anyhow, go up the stairs all the way to the left, and then go up again. You'll see a bunch of doorways with stairs leading up. The second one from the right has a necklace stone in front of it. Enter that one (the rest are dead ends with no enemies), and hit the switch. Then, take the first doorway up (to the right of the one you came into this room). Go left, up the stairs, and right. Kill the Fire Bug, and run by the spikes when they all retract. Lilly will now join you.

Next screen... You'll see a bunch of ramps in a staircase-like fashion. The door you see leads to a herb; the ramps lead to the path forward.

If you stop when you see the first door, go down it to go back to the herb room. The switch opens the way back to the top of the ramps. Before you ask, no you can't get to that middle door right now. You CAN get to the last door before you reach the next screen, but right now there's nothing there.

Next screen... Okay, there are 3 doors and a large pit. (I call this room the chasm room.) You can go right to the next screen, but don't yet. The left and right doors lead to two sides of the same room, each side of which has two Asps. The middle door leads to more enemies and another door up. In that door (I call this the middle-door room for obvious reasons) are a bunch of chasms separated by small red squares. To find the right chasm, starting from the square in front of the door you arrive in, go left three squares and jump down the chasm to the left of it (so you're 4 chasms left of the door). You'll land on a small platform with a Dark Space. You learn Spin Dash! SAVE!

HOW TO USE SPIN DASH: I thought Spin Dash was very poorly explained, so here's my explaination: Hold down Attack until you're flashing rapidly (i.e. if you would let go of Attack, you'd do a Psycho Dash), and while holding attack, press L and R very fast. Alternate, so do L then R then L then R etc. When you see 4 directional arrows pop up, you have two options:

1.) Hold a direction on the D-Pad to go in that direction REALLY fast, which is why this skill is useful
2.) Wait for the arrows to disappear, then just hold directions to manually move yourself around.

Anyhow, jump down (you're back in the middle-door room), and go through the doorway to return to the top. If you want to kill all the enemies in this screen, jump down the chasm directly to the right of the middle door to reach two Archers. Now jump down again to land in the middle-door room yet again. Go back up to the chasm room. Then, go LEFT to the previous screen. Get near the jump, and Spin Dash over to the doorway you couldn't get to before. (Hold right to avoid going back over ramps you don't want to.) Go through the doorway, left, and through the doorway at the end. (The switch to the right will retract the spears if you hit it twice with your sword, but it just leads to the rightmost room after the ramps.) Then, you'll encounter a rather tricky scenario. First, head right if you want to kill a bunch of Fire Bugs and Eyesores. Go left, hit the switch on the bottom, RUN left, move up a bit, and RUN right past the spear trap before it closes again. Hit both switches. RUN left past the other spear trap. Then, progress left until you reach a Dark Space. Transform to Freedan and save. Go right. To lift the spear trap, hit the switch to the left of it. Go back up the stairs you entered through. Go right until you see a switch. Hit it twice, then go past the spears and through the doorway. Go right to the "chasm screen", and then right to the screen after that (which I told you not to go to, and now you'll see why. 8-)).

Dark Friar the Archer to death to gain access to the doorway. Go in, obviously. Go left, and down the next set of stairs. There will be statues blocking your way. Here's how to dispose of them:

1.) Pull it left
2.) Pull it left
3.) Pull it left, get above it, pull it up a bit, get to the left of it, then pull it left. Go around it.
4+.) Your sword is a handy tool... Smack them out of the way

If you for any reason want them all to come to life, flip the red switch. Go up the stairs, left past the spear traps, up the stairs again, and right to the next screen.

Go down the stairs, right (keep heading right to kill a whole lot of enemies), down the stairs again, and use your map or your eyesight to selectively kill the correct statues. A Dark Space will appear near the stairs. Return to Will, and save. Then, go back up to the top floor. Spin Dash over the jump, and go to the next screen. Jump off the ledge to fight a BOSS!

BOSS: SAND FANGER; HP-40
STRATEGY: IMO, this guy's a LOT easier than those two vampires! Anyhow, my advice is to charge Spin Dashes and place yourself so that his head will land on you when you're spinning. When he sticks his head out of the sand just to spit out eggs, just slash away. When eggs hatch, killing the minibugs is your top priority. Remember: It's better to get shot by a minibug than hit by the big one. Big one causes about 4hp damage per hit, small rocks only do about 1. This is easily doable without wasting an Herb.

Okay, boss defeated. Go right, up the ladder, right, down the stairs, left, and attempt to approach Lance. Yeah, it is pretty interesting how you have to learn new abilities and beat a giant sand bug to get this far but Lance mysteriously can breeze through the entire area without even seeming slightly exhausted... Oh well. After Lilly and Lance talk for a bit, talk to Lance. Then, LEAVE! Watch the soap-opera-ish cutscene...

FINISHING WATERMIA

Back to Watermia! Go back to the gambling hall, and search the jar in the upper-right corner (the right one) for a RED JEWEL.

Talk to the Jeweler if this means anything for you... If you got ALL of the red jewels so far, you should be able to upgrade your Dark Friar attack!

Anyhow, leave the gambling house, and go to the upper-right corner of the raft that the gambling house is floating on. Wait patiently for a lotus leaf to come to you, then hop on. Ride it to another raft, where people are gambling. [If the leaf doesn't move, walk around a bit on it; you have to be in the exact center of it for it to move.]

Talk to the man blocking your way. Yes, you do want to join, so answer Yes to both questions. Talk to the man in the straw hat. Take any glass except for the one all the way on the right, and you'll be fine. After each glass, talk to your opponent again, and he'll take his turn.

REMEMBER: Will is psychic. If you try to drink the poison glass, it warns you...

In your opponent's will are 4 Kruks. Oh, boy, go back to Luke's house and talk to Neil, then talk to everyone else going counter-clockwise from Neil, then Neil again. Off to Euro!

EURO

Okay, first off, get out of the mansion. Go down through the marketplace. On the left, there's an apple vendor. Talk to them for a free apple. Then, go to the mansion again, go left and go up the stairs. Talk to Ann to give her the apple. If she asks you something, answer "No" Do this until she gets 3 apples, and you'll get a RED JEWEL.

Then, go down to the very end of the marketplace. Go right, and leave Euro. Go back to Watermia, go to Luke's house, and talk to Lance and Lilly for another RED JEWEL. Return to Euro.

From the Euro entrance, head up to the upper-right corner. There's a man who tells you outsiders are not allowed. About half a screen below him is a small gap between two buildings. Head left between the gap, and then up the ladder. Enter the shrine, and search the statue. Look? Of course! You'll find a small labor camp. The one in the upper-left has something to say that you should definately remember. Also, keep in mind how many skeletons are on the ground... Look in the barrel in the lower-right corner for a RED JEWEL. (Hint submitted by Drowsy Head)

Go back to Euro, and go to the entrance (I'm just using this as a reference point)

From the Euro entrance, go up until you meet a woman with blue hair who STANDS STILL. There's another one that moves, so be sure you get the right one. She'll tell you about Rofsky, world-famous violinist. Anyhow, make it so that you are approaching her from the bottom of the screen and are able to talk to her, meaning you're basically about 1 tile below her. Now, hold LEFT until you can't any more. When you stop, press TALK/ATTACK for a RED JEWEL. Then, go into Rofsky's house, and talk to both of them repeatedly until one of them marks off Mount Temple on your map.

Leave Rofsky's, go right, up, and left. Look for a guy peering out the window. Enter and talk to the guy. He's the Jeweler Gem. Go back to the exit (don't leave, just go to the exit) Enter the doorway right above the green-haired guy standing near the exit. Go up the stairs to save your game.

Okay, if you want an extra HP point tacked to your stats, go down to the long line, and wait in it. Yes, it takes a ridiculous amount of time. The line moves at a rate of about 1 person every 30 seconds. This 3.5 minute wait seems like forever. Inside the building are 2 potions. The left one gives you an extra HP point. The other is the same as Jeweler Gem's Dark Friar powerup. I'm not sure if you can use both, cuz I was denied access to the second because my Dark Friar is "powerful enough." Oh well. If you've been bad about getting jewels and don't have the Dark Friar powerup yet, DEFINITELY take it now! Anyhow, return to the main Euro screen... (Hint submitted by the_rat_killah)

MOUNTAIN TEMPLE

ENEMIES/HP:
Skulker/18  Acid Spider/18  Fire Sprite/15  Yorrick/18

NOTE: I refer to this area as the "beanstalk". Don't ask why, I just do. :)

First, go as far left as you can. Then, head upwards to the top of the screen, but stay left as much as possible. Then, go left to the next screen. Here the path will fork three ways: two up and one down. The lower path leads to a dead end, and the two upper paths lead to the same place (just one slightly left of the other). Take the left path to shorten your way. Go left until you can't any more. Go down, and watch out for the Acid Spider on the left. Spin Dash over the ramp. Go up to the Dark Space, turn into Freedan, and save. Go left as far as you can, and up. You'll see two paths parallel to each other. Take the right one, and watch out for the skulls everywhere. With Freedan's sword, you should easily be able to pick off the Yorricks. Go up as far as you can to advance to the next screen.

Now, go up as far as you can. You should jump off the end of the vine and land on a set of 4 huge mushrooms. Go left to advance to the next screen.

Don't worry; any path that isn't correct leads almost directly to a dead end, so here's just how to get to the end quickly: Stay along the right side of the screen and just go down until you reach the bottom-right corner. Then, go left as far as you can. Go up, left a bit, and back down to the bottom edge of the screen. Go left until you can't any more. Go up until you see two Yorricks facing each other. To kill them, stand just a bit below them and let go with Dark Friars. Keep going up until you see a bunch of large mushrooms. To your left should be a square-shaped set of vines. Go to the top edge of the square, and then go right until you can't. Go up a bit, and right. Kill the two Yorricks, and a new vine will be formed. Ignore it; it just leads back to the start. Keep going right until you can go up to the top edge. Wipe out all the floating skulls, go left, down, and left. Open the chest for Mushroom Drops. Backtrack to the newly formed vine, and this time go down it. Go right and you'll be back on the previous screen.

You can head two ways; one to go further, and one to get a Red Jewel. First, of course, we'll go for the Jewel. Go up, right, and down. The path will fork to the left and right. Go right, and keep going right until you reach the next screen. The screen you enter is basically a one-way course, just stay as far up as you can and keep going right until you reach a Dark Space. Save, and DON'T turn back into Will. Leave the Dark Space, go down as far as you can, then left all the way until you leave the screen. Open the chest for a RED JEWEL. Backtrack to the Dark Space. From the Dark Space, there should be two vines to your left. You came from the upper one. Take the lower one to backtrack quite a ways in minimal time. Go up, left, and to the previous screen.

Now to really progress. Go up the first vine you see, and keep going up until you reach what would appear to be a dead end. See the chopped off point? Use the Mushroom Drops on it to make it grow.

NOTE: You can do this to all cut off points on the Mountain Temple.

Anyhow, go across the newly formed bridge, and up to the next screen. Go as far up as you can until you see a set of giant mushrooms (a dead end). Go right, past the mushrooms, and down. There's only one way to go now. Cross the "mushroom bridge," and then go up. Note that there's another "chopped off" point... Go right, down, and right to the next screen.

Welcome to what I have dubbed the "shroom screen" There are two ways to go, up and right. If you go right, you'll fight a bunch of guys and reach a dead end. Only do this if you're one of those people who likes to kill every enemy in the game (like me!) because you'll have to take the upper path anyways. Use a herb if the Fire Sprites hurt you too much. (They might drop a Heart Gem if you're lucky; plus if you kill all the enemies on the screen you'll get a Heart Force which will refill your HP.) Anyhow, go up instead of right; it's a one-way street to the chest containing more Mushroom Drops.

NOTE: I now have 9 lives and 99 Dark Power. :)

Go back to the previous screen, up a bit, and use the Mushroom Drops on the chopoff point. Cross the new vine, and go up. If you go left a bit, you'll see another chopoff point. Remember it. Go up to the next screen.

Now, this screen is confusing. Head to the bottom right path to reach a Dark Space where you can learn Aura Barrier, a non-essential, but rather important Freedan skill. SAVE!

NOTE: To use Aura Barrier, charge up a Dark Friar, but instead of letting go of Attack to fire it, hold down L or R. You need not hit both at once to execute the technique.

Anyhow, backtrack all the way to the left till you reach the beginning. Now, go up while staying as far to the left as you can; you'll go up past three intersections (four if you count the one directly above the entrance), then turn right to see a ramp. Jump it. Go right, across the short vine you see to the right, and you'll hit some more shrooms. Head right (you'll be all the way at the right side of the screen now). Then, go down, watch out for the 3 Yorricks, go down a little more, left, across the ramp (you'll jump over several mushroom tops), and up the only ramp you'll be able to jump to reach a chest with more Mushroom Drops in it. Phew!

Now to get out.... Go down, left, across the only accessible ramp, up the mushroom patch to the top, right, across the next ramp, and then ignore the ramp you see (it leads back to the mushroom patch) and just keep taking the vines heading downward that are closest to you to reach the exit. Now go down, left, and use the Mushroom Drops on the chopoff point. Go left as far as you can, and then up, and left to the next screen.

This screen is a one-way track until you reach a point where it forks up to the next screen and down. Down is a dead end that leads to the last Fire Sprite; go up to continue. Now, go up the long walk of red mushrooms until you reach a chest containing the Teapot, which is your objective.

BACKTRACKING, ONE SCREEN AT A TIME: (take the initiative and kill any enemies you missed)
1.) Just go back the way you came, like I said, it's a one-way track.
2.) Go right until you see a ramp. Jump the ramp, then head all the way left and down.
3.) Head all the way down and right.
4.) Head right all the way (the dead ends always have little side paths) till you reach some mushrooms with a Dark Space. Save, TURN INTO WILL, then take the vine just to your left with the ramp on the end. Take the ramp, then when you're done jumping, go up and left.
5.) Go all the way left and down.
6.) Go down until you reach the red mushrooms, DON'T GO ON THE MUSHROOMS, instead take the right vine. Go up until you see a ramp. Spin Dash over it. Follow the path right and down.
7.) All the way down and right.

Congratulations!

FINISHING EURO / NATIVES' VILLAGE

Go left all the way, and then up all the way to the mansion. Enter! Go right, up the stairs, and use the Teapot on either of Neil's parents. They'll reveal their true identities (Moon Tribe members. Skeletons underneath the shrine? Yeah, you remember those, right?) and leave. Talk to Neil. After a cutscene, Neil leaves. Talk to Kara to leave for the Natives' Village.

There's nothing to do here, really. Talk to Kara, enter the hut she enters, and talk to her again to spend the night. The natives will capture you.

If you are extremely sadistic and are using an emulator, freeze-frame when Kara says "It's as if we will soon be separated" Anyhow, I need not reveal what happens next, you have to see it for yourself. ;)

Will's mother will appear as a spirit and restate your mission. After the spirit leaves, enter the hut on the right, and search the pot near the bottom for a RED JEWEL. Go back outside to the little native congregation. Talk to the top one on the right side and Ankor Wat will be marked on your map. There's a Dark Space in the far upper-right corner of the village. Use it! Then, leave and head for Ankor Wat.

ANKOR WAT

ENEMIES/HP:
 OUTSIDE:
Shrubber/15  Zip Fly/7  Zombie/20
 INSIDE:
Goldcap/25  Gorgon/28  Frenzie/20
Wall Walker/30  Green Miniworm/1  Wall Walker 2/20

NOTE ON THE TWO WALL WALKERS: I believe there are two kinds. One has 20hp, I believe, and the other 30. However, the one with 20 takes about 4hp more damage per hit than the other one. It might not drop bugs either. If you can tell them apart visually, read the disclaimer at the bottom and e-mail me.

NOTE ON FRENZIES: These guys speed up based on NUMBER OF IMPACTS not TOTAL DAMAGE, so if you hit them with high-powered attacks like Psycho Dash, they'll stay slow but take plenty of damage.

NOTE ON GORGONS: These guys are wussy! Use Jump Attacks or Freedan's extra-long sword to mop the floor with them!

NOTE ON ZOMBIES: To kill these guys, hit their head as much as possible when they extend it, and when it dies, the body is vulnerable.

Believe it or not, this place is probably easier to get lost in than the Mountain Temple. Just go straight up from the start to enter the actual ruins.

From the entrance, go right, up, and right. You'll encounter a Gorgon. Use hit-and-run tactics to kill it. Go up the stairs and Continued-Run down the ramp and up the next one for an easy RED JEWEL. Go back down, and keep going right until you can't any more, then go up to the next screen. Spin Dash up the ramp. Keep going up, kill the Wall Walker, and continue up. Kill the next two Wall Walkers, or at least the right one, and Psycho Slide through the little hole. Keep going up and you'll eventually reach the next screen...

Go up, and jump off the ledge. You'll land in a pit full of bugs. They can't hurt you, so don't worry. Just go up the stairs to the left, and continue. You'll reach a room full of Goldcaps and Frenzies. This part is a great place to lose health, so do hit-and-run Psycho Dashes on the Goldcaps to make life a lot easier. In the upper-left corner is a Wall Walker. Kill it and a staircase will form. Go up to the next screen. There are two ways to go now: Right (which leads to more Wall Walkers and little else) or down. You can go right if you want, but you must go down eventually. Anyhow, the exit you need to take is in the lower-left corner of the screen.

You'll see a small gap in the wall. DON'T Psycho Slide under it. First, stand right up near it. Two Gorgons will jump off. Stay away from the shadows to avoid getting hit. Now, time your Psycho Slider carefully so you don't hit either Frenzie. After you finish that chamber, Psycho Slide to the next. Now, you can kill the two Gorgons without ever having to face them: Stand next to the wall closer to whichever one you want to kill. Smack it if it gets too close to the edge. If it gets too close, it my hit you with its spin attack. Repeat until one is dead. Do the same for the other. Use Psycho Dashes to take out the Frenzies with ease. Go down, kill the Wall Walkers, go down some more, and open up the chest for a herb. Then, go back down, stand behind the ramp (which is right above the chest), and Spin Dash to jump it. Go down to the next screen.

Now, head right. The Frenzies shouldn't pose much of a threat... You'll see two statues, and between them a walkway, heading outside to the next area. Go down, up the stairs, right, and kill the Wall Walker for a way back if you want to bail and go save or something. Anyhow, go through the walkway between the statues to reach the Garden.

The Garden is infested with pesky shrub monsters. They look slightly off-color (darker), but if you can't tell them apart, hit START to use your map. Yeah, there are a lot of enemies. Navigating the garden: To start, there's really only one way to go, and that's up and left. There's a Dark Space to the right, but you can't get to it right now. So go up, left, down, left, up as far as you can (DON'T go right!), left, down, left, across the little stairway bridge, up all the way, and back right across the bridge. There are 3 ways you can go: up, right, and down. Go right! Now go up a bit, right, down, right, Psycho Dash to make quick work of the Shrubber wall, right, up, right as far as you can (ignore the stairs), across the mini-bridge, down, kill the Shrubber wall, down all the way, across the mini-bridge, down (up against the wall), left, and into the Dark Space. Turn into Freedan, and obviously, SAVE! Leave the Dark Space. If you need kills, go up and right, and kill the Shrubber wall, but return to the save point afterwards. Backtrack to the staircase, and re-enter the structure through the stairs you passed earlier. (By the way, if you want to get the HP Jewel from the enemies, there's one Shrubber all the way at the top which can only be hit with a Dark Friar.)

Now, head right (left is a dead end right now). Kill as many Frenzies as you can with Dark Friar or better yet, Aura Barrier. Go right all the way, then up to the next screen. Use Dark Friar to kill the Frenzie on the right. It will allow you to continue upwards to the next area. Keep going up, and you will reach a Dark Space, where you will learn Earthquaker! To use it, just jump off a ledge and hit your TALK/ATTACK button as you're going down!

Go back down to the previous screen, and then keep going left until you hit the far left wall. If you go up, you'll see a Gorgon which won't stop spinning. Go right, up the stairs, and jump off the ledge. Execute Earthquaker to remove the pest.

NOTE: If you attempt to get by the Gorgon without using Earthquaker, he'll block your path. If he does this, exit the building and then re-enter. You have to use Earthquaker to stop him from moving into the way!

Keep going up, to the next screen. You can go up or right and down. Up leads to a RED JEWEL; when you have it, go back down and take the right path back to the room you just left (where you used Earthquaker). Go right, and through the pathway marked by statues to reach the "Road to Main Hall"

Just go straight up and back into the structure. (To kill the zombies, which I recommend seeing as there's only four of 'em, you'll have to jump off the ledges to reach them.) Go left. Follow the path until you reach a staircase. Don't go up it. Instead, go right, and follow the pathway until you reach an exit. Once you're back outside, go down, across the minibridge, and kill the Shrubber. You'll see a little sparkle on the ground. Hit TALK/ATTACK on top of it for the Black Crystal Glasses. Backtrack to the staircase I told you not to go up, and go up it. You'll be basically blinded, so use the Black Crystal Glasses to make the area visible. Head right, and then go down. Jump in the large pit, enter the Dark Space, and turn back into Will. Oh, and save of course.

Leave the Dark Space, jump off the ledge, go left, up, and continue until you reach the staircase again. Head left, ignoring the holes in the floor, until you see a gap in the wall. Psycho Slide under it, and go right. Jump in the pit to fall back down a floor; open the chest for a RED JEWEL. Make your way back to the stairs, again, this time Psycho Slide under the wall, keep going down past the pit, and then go right and up the stairs. The right way is a dead end with two Frenzies. Head left, and continue through the one-way course until you reach a staircase. Go up to the 4th floor.

Go left, and down. There are two ways to go. If you want to kill more enemies and get a RED JEWEL, take the right path. Either way, you'll have to jump down the pit. Now, head left until you reach the left wall, then go up, and up the stairs. Head right, and go up the stairs. Go up, talk to the spirit, and you get a Gorgon Flower.

Now, you have to backtrack all the way back to the start... Right now is about the time I start wishing Illusion of Gaia had something like the Magic Rope in Secret of Mana or the Mirror in Zelda 3...

Okay, return to the Natives' Village. Go to the upper-right hut, and use the Gorgon Flower on each statue. Erik and Kara will come in. Talk to the woman in the middle for a RED JEWEL. Do whatever you want (trade in Red Jewels maybe?) and then come back and talk to Kara to leave for Dao.

DAO

When you arrive, leave the first building then talk to the man just to your left. Yes, you are Will. :) You'll get your father's journal, which is essential to finishing the Pyramid. Go left a bit and up to reach a Dark Space, where you can save. Leave, then go right past the first two doorways. In a little alley is a guy just standing there. Yep, that's the Jeweler! If you've been good about getting jewels, you should easily have a Dark Friar powerup by now... And believe me, it's one hell of a powerup!

NOTE: If you have never used a single Herb so far, your inventory should be overflowing now! :)

If you continue right, you'll see two men talking to each other. The one on the left has something to say regarding what Neil's been doing... :) Anyhow, go up a bit, and you'll see a blue-haired woman. Talk to her for a warning from The Jackal... *gasp!*

By the way, to the right of the woman are two rocks one right above the other. 3 tiles to the right of the top one on the ground is a RED JEWEL.

Do whatever you want, and then go in the building just to the right of the one you entered through to talk to Neil, who will tell you how to get to the Pyramid.

Leave Dao, and head for the Pyramid.

PYRAMID

ENEMIES/HP:
Mystic Ball/20  Tuts/30  Blaster/25  Haunt/12
Haunt's Spirit/28

NOTE: In my opinion, this place is far more amusing than Ankor Wat.

NOTE ON BLASTERS: You can't see 'em, but you can hit 'em!

NOTE ON HAUNTS: Hey, guess what? You can BLOCK the spirits that come out! Now THAT saves health!

First, go right. Psycho Slider kills the Mystic Balls rather well. After killing both of them, a Dark Space will appear. Enter, talk to Gaia for the Aura, and then transform into Shadow!

LAME NOTE: When I went through this game my third time (using massive amounts of cheats) my inventory was maxed out, and Gaia told me "Cut down on your inventory and come back". :D If Gaia tells you this, discard your Will and Lola's Letter and you'll still be maxed out on herbs!

Leave the Dark Space, but don't use the Aura... Head right. Go right until you're right at the flat part in front of the exit. Use the Aura there, and you'll wind up in a small room. Search the left pillar near the top of the room for a RED JEWEL. Use the Aura again to go down again. To return to the top, press the TALK/ATTACK button on top of the blue puddle thing, and select Jump In. Once back at the top, use Aura at the base of the staircase at the center. You'll see a Dark Space, so save!

Now, there 6 doors, and each one must be done differently, with different characters. The way I'm structuring this is assuming Door 1 is on the far left, Door 2 is the one to the right of it, Door 3 to the right of door 2, etc. Got it? Good! For all of these doors, you can worry a little less about damage, because right after you finish a door, you'll warp back to the Dark Space where you can save and heal. So go all out! 8-)

1 2 3 Dark Space 4 5 6

Your goal is to get the six Hieroglyph Stones. When you finish a room, you'll warp back to the top of the Pyramid. If you're maxed out on items, you can just enter the topmost room and dump a Hieroglyph Stone there by equipping it and pressing B. Just enter them in order, except for the first two, which are switched (1 goes in the second from left slot, and 2 goes in the leftmost slot). The rest are in the same place as their respective rooms.

NOTE: If a character's name has an X next to it, you may use it to solve the door.

How to read the maps: U# and D# (e.g. U1 and D1) are the same staircase, just one's the top entrance and one's the bottom entrance. (U=upwards, D=downwards). RJ stands for Red Jewel, E for Exit puddle, and STONE means you'll find a blue exit puddle and door to the Hieroglyph Stone there. R1 means the door to the first half of the room and R2 means the door to the second half. (It's the same door.) A brown dot is the entrance to the room (in the first half of the room). A red surface is slippery (you need Will's Spin Dash); a green vertical line is a place to jump down; and a blue vertical line is a place where Shadow can use Aura. The third room has a special gimmick mentioned on the map itself.

DOOR 1
    [X] Will
    [ ] Freedan
    [ ] Shadow

First, head left. Use Spin Dash to get up both ramps, and then keep taking the doorways with stairs heading down until you leave the screen. Now, head left, down the staircase, and use Spin Dash to clear the next ramp set as well. Keep going over it if you want to kill the laser orbs. Then, head left and down the stairs. Go right, and you'll see a small ramp. Start a Spin Dash before the ramp, and hold RIGHT to clear the second one as well. Go right, down the staircase, Spin Dash over the next jump, and enter the doorway. Take the Hieroglyph Stone off of the wall, go out, and jump into the blue puddle.

DOOR 2
    [ ] Will
    [ ] Freedan
    [X] Shadow

Okay, if you see a spot in this area with a bunch of bricks below it, use the Aura. Just keep going down. There's a RED JEWEL on the far right side of the second screen. To get the Hieroglyph Stone, use the Aura right below the big lion drawing on the wall. If you didn't get the RED JEWEL first, then use the Aura right below the doorway leading to the stone.

DOOR 3
    [X] Will
    [ ] Freedan
    [X] Shadow

If you use Will, you can get a RED JEWEL by Spin Dashing over the ramp. However, you need Shadow to win. On the second screen, just keep stepping on tiles. Easy stuff.

DOOR 4
    [X] Will
    [ ] Freedan
    [ ] Shadow

Most of this is one-track. Keep going; the only split path in the first half of the room is a room which has two upward staircases. The right one leads to an exit puddle, and the left one leads forward. In the second half you have a choice of going down the stairs (both staircases you see lead to each other; there's nothing else there) or heading right. Do so to continue. At the end, there's a staircase down that leads to about 6 Haunts and a chest with a RED JEWEL in it. Go back up and head right. Here, use Spin Dash to get over the ramps; try to time it right so you don't get battered too much by the descending spikes. Keep going right to reach the Hieroglyph Stone.

DOOR 5
    [ ] Will
    [ ] Freedan
    [X] Shadow

Use the Aura at the point which is straight above the treasure chest (Hit START to use your map) for a RED JEWEL.

DOOR 6
    [X] Will
    [X] Freedan
    [X] Shadow

I advise you use Freedan... It's more fun. No, you don't need Aura, because a good amount of the Haunts that come out of the wall have staircases behind them... i.e. Walk into the place the mummies walked out of.

Finally, go through the door you keep arriving in after each door is finished. Obey the voice, and walk left. The Jackal will show up! AAAAA! After you hear another voice tell you to play the flute, you should freeze-frame if you're using an emulator (this part is fun), GET AWAY FROM THE STATUE ON YOUR LEFT, and use Lola's Melody. Yeah, this is why you never forgot it... KABOOF! No more Jackal. :)

Why does this work? Well, if you talked to the guy in the room you're in now before you started solving doors, you'd know. ;)

To solve the wall puzzle, reference the journal in your inventory. A blue puddle will appear outside. SAVE SAVE SAVE!!! You may fight with whoever you wish. I advise using Freedan, because Dark Friar makes life a lot easier for me.

BOSS: MUMMY QUEEN; HP-40
STRATEGY: If you're all nice and upgraded like me, this is a snap. :) Anyhow, when the queen solidifies, hit her. Then, get away, cuz she'll explode into 8 spirits. The 8 spirits will then attempt to seek you out, and NO, you CAN'T kill them! Then, the spirits will re-combine into the queen. The queen does occasionally fire energy balls at you from her staff. Avoid them. After she drops below 1/2 health or so, instead of 8 random spirits, you'll get a ring of 8 that follows you. 7 of them flicker, but one remains solid. Hit the solid one and she'll reform.

The best way I find to dodge the 8-seeking-spirits attacks is as follows:

If you're on the lower level, stay near a teleporter. When they start getting near, take the teleporter up, charge a Dark Friar, and hit her.

If you're on the upper level, try to get between them, but when they start getting close, jump off the ledge.

If you're using Freedan with an upgraded Dark Friar, detonate it within the spirit ring to quickly neutralize it, then run right up to the queen and smack her with your sword.

I finished this boss with less than half my health gone and didn't use any Herbs. EASY!

FINISHING DAO / TOWER OF BABEL

If you want, you can play Snake Panic. It's in one of the buildings near the top, so look around. If you do good (I got 76) you get two RED JEWELS.

Okay, now save, and talk to Neil. He'll take you to the Tower of Babel. Notice that two parachutes dropped off...

Search the altar where you supposedly found the flute for the final RED JEWEL. Continue right and try to pass through the lasers. You'll find the Crystal Ring! Equip it, and pass through. There's only one way to go, so talk to spirits along the way. When you see a metal-framed doorway, go right, enter the Dark Space, and SAVE! Then, enter the doorway.

NOTE: You will now fight each boss again as Shadow. Yeah, they all LOOK harder, but I think that with Shadow, they're all easier. After each boss, continue and a doorway formerly blocked by lasers will open up.

Good luck!

BOSS DIFFERENCES:
CASTOTH: Fires off two sets of triangular fireball things at once instead of one.
VIPER: 6-shot goes faster, 4-shot goes slower, significantly more damage.
 - Shadow has long arms, so you can smack him when he fires the diamond gun now! Just be cautious
VAMPIRES: The big fat energy-ball attack goes faster, both seem to do slightly more damage. In my opinion, another difference is that it no longer takes Herbs to defeat them. :p

NOTE: If you lose lots of health to the vampires, I say restore from a save until you lose little more than half your health, because you can't revive yourself between them and the next two without using Herbs.

SAND FANGER: Goes faster? I dunno

Okay, now go outside, talk to the bird thing, and he'll take you up. Go left, and into the door.

MUMMY QUEEN: Stronger, I suppose. Be extremely careful. You might have to use an herb here. Well, this time you're injured as well. Difficult!!!

Now, you'll be able to save one last time. If you want to return to Dao for any reason (Wanna trade in that final Red Jewel, perhaps?) talk to the spirit and request to be returned. You won't have to re-fight the bosses, don't worry. If you do have all 50 Jewels, you can enter Gem's Mansion (see last section).

From this point forward, it's no turning back! Eventually, you'll reach a room with bones in them. Talk to them. Really, you can. You'll hear Will's father explain quite a bit. I never knew the Camel was a biological experiment... hehe Talk to the spirits on the roof all you want... The spirit on the upper-right is the Russian Glass player.... When you're done, talk to the center spirit, then to Kara. Prepare for the final battle!

MY FINAL STATS: (Copied from the "Cond." item from the menu)
 HP 40/40 (Contributors, I OWE YOU ONE!)
 DP 99 S9 (Hell yeah!)
 STR 29
 DEF 32

BOSS: CHAOS COMET / DARK GAIA; HP-20 and 40
STRATEGY: This boss has two stages:

1.) The comet itself... Okay, when it opens its mouth, shoot its mouth with a firebird. That's right, you shoot projectiles now! Avoid the energy storm, obviously. Each energy spike does about 5hp damage.

2.) When it fires two large green energy balls at you, use Telekinesis to deflect them. Kill as many of those pesky little blue balls as you can. When the boss opens her mouth, fire at her head about 4 times then GET BACK OR GET BLASTED! Took me 2 tries to win this one. Second time I didn't use any Herbs...

My personal strategy for beating Dark Gaia: Stay in the center, right at the bottom, facing upwards, hitting ATTACK as much as possible. When I see green energy balls, I hit L or R to block them. Because of how Shadow attacks, any blue balls that get too close get knocked anyways. When the boss suddenly starts taking damage, I move, and when she fires, I move back.

Now, sit back and watch the dreadfully boring ending... You've won!

GEM'S MANSION

ENEMIES/HP:
Flayzer 2/20  Grundit 2/30  Eye Stalker 2/16

"50... Suddenly you've gathered 50 Red Jewels... The time has come to tell you some of my secrets. Follow me!!"

Hence starts your journey into Gem's mansion... That is, IF you got all 50 Red Jewels! Yes, the enemies here are the exact same as the Diamond Mine, except they'be been pumped up, and the Eye Stalkers have many more constricting spaces to nail you in.

I WILL WARN YOU AHEAD OF TIME: YOUR REWARDS FOR ACCOMPLISHING THIS INCREDIBLY ANNOYING TASK IS AT THE ABSOLUTE MOST ONE SINGLE HERB AND SOME DARK GEMS! You don't even get an upgrade jewel for killing all of the monsters!

Okay, the whole thing is essentially a one-way course, except for two points:

1.) There are two thin passages headed down and one hallway heading right. Take the lower-right passage.
2.) You can jump off the staircase, or go up a hallway past the end of it. The hallway leads to two Eye Stalker 2's and a chest with a herb in it. Wow. You need to go to the base of the stairs anyways.

I will bet that a lot of people get stuck when they reach the first staircase. To get by it, Psycho Slide under the left side of it!

Eventually, you'll reach a doorway, where you can fight Solid Arm. What's so great about Solid Arm? Well, a few things are revealed, and one major storyline component uncovered:
1.) Solid Arm was a boss in Soul Blazer, the prequel to Illusion of Gaia.
2.) Solid Arm was defeated by Blazer, and scattered into 50 pieces we like to call "Red Jewels"
3.) Gem was the head of the whole labor trade operation! He's been using slaves to attempt to dig up the Red Jewels.
4.) Now that he's back, you have to beat him!

BOSS: SOLID ARM HP-40
STRATEGY: Hey, you thought the vampires were annoying as hell!? Enter Solid Arm! This guy is a PAIN! Only 1 damage per hit means expect this to be a LONG fight... Or maybe not, if you die fast enough. His persistent fireball attacks are very hard to block (Try standing near the corners) and you can't attack him from the side.

Well, here's the extremely basic strategy: Don't use the center conveyer unless you like pain. Try to lure him to the side conveyers, block fireballs (difficult, but possible), and then jump-attack him. This takes a long time!

ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY:
(Submitted by Gerko)
Another method is using Spin Dash repeatedly, and charging a new one while doing the one you're on. This maximizes damage and minimizes vulnerability. Try it, it might work!

"A quiet voice is heard. I was defeated again... Blazer was strong, but you are stronger... Danger approaches this planet. You should hurry to the Tower of Babel..."

Yeah, if you look around, you don't see the Jeweler Gem anymore either... And you thought you'd actually GET something for searching every last corner of this game... :P

DISCLAIMER (Steve Rusher)

-= HINTS =-

If you submit any instructions, hints, or information to me, your submission becomes my sole property! PERIOD! This means that:
1.) I don't have to include your information
2.) I am not obliged to give you credit if I do
3.) I may edit your information for clarity, precision, appropriateness, or because I just feel like it
4.) I may put your information anywhere I want, even in places other than this guide!
5.) I OWN THE INFORMATION!

Now, I believe that people are entitled to credit for their work. I will include your name only if you do not specify otherwise. If you want your e-mail address included as well, tell me. If you want to remain anonymous, say so. If you say nothing and no name is supplied, I will include the username in your e-mail address.

This policy may be changed by me at any time without notice.

Agree? Good. Now you can e-mail me. You don't have to say you agree, because by e-mailing me, you are acknowledging that you do. If you disagree, don't mail me your hints!

-= QUESTIONS =-

I am not obligated to answer any of your questions. I may dismiss your e-mail as general stupidity, or I may answer your question. I will usually answer questions, but try to be as detailed as possible before e-mailing me. Also, don't expect me to solve the whole damn game for you. I spent about a month writing this, documenting practically every step I took, so I'm pretty sure this qualifies as "complete."

Also, if you have something to ask, see the FAQ section first, then go back to the section you're stuck on to make sure you really can't solve it without e-mailing me.

I welcome e-mail, but I prefer INTELLIGENT e-mail...

-= SPAM =-

If you send me advertisements, chain letters, get-rich-quick junk, or any other unsolicited e-mail, your ISP will hear from me and likely have your account terminated.

<< tern@rochester.rr.com >>

This document is (c) 2000 Orbiter Productions. However, I am giving permission to anyone who wishes to edit this document permission simply by adding their name and e-mail address to the list below! You may include this document on CD-ROMs and other file collections, as long as this file is included at NO ADDITIONAL COST! That means that this document is free, and if you charge extra, expect your *** on a platter!

EDITORS:
Steve Rusher
Cidolfas