Oh! Emperor Vandole is a DOG. - Let's Uncover the Secret of Mana!

Are you sure it wasn't supposed to be a D?

Part XI - This is the Part Where Shit Gets Real

There is a secret afoot, and it involves Mana! Perhaps finally we shall find out what that secret is! No, we will not. Last time, we were accosted by an aborted plot arc in Tasnica, an aborted plot arc with Joch, and got thrust mid-plot-arc into the Empire's mad scheme to attain the Mana Fortress from the Tree Palace. Now that we've traversed the sewers and subways beneath the Grand Palace that has taken the Tree Palace's place, we shall venture forth into the aforementioned Grand Palace! Should be crazy-fun!



♪♪ Sacred Intrusion ♪♪

Right away, this place is letting us know that it means business! A howling black HeckHellhound calls forth Beast Zombies to attack! The intimidation factor of an enemy suddenly howling at you aside, Hellhounds aren't exactly intimidating. They just summon Howlers and Beast Zombies, neither of which can even touch us any more.



These guys, by contrast, are fairly dangerous. DoomElemental Swords love to use Stone Saber to petrify your allies. They're irritating, but hardly impossible to deal with. Just don't get cocky, and don't forget that the Sprite is now a rapid-fire magic death machine.



And another "new" enemy! The TurtlanceTurtle Knight is just a stronger variation of previous turtle types, and thank goodness for that; I've had more than enough of enemies pulling new tricks out of their sleeves!



Case in point! These little devils, called Gremlins, toss 3 spears at a time at you. They hit pretty damn hard too! Magic is your friend with these guys!



This orb was just begging for a good Earthquake.



And that's the main gimmick of this place: there are 7 rooms, in which there are 7 orbs, one per elemental spirit (minus Dryad). You have to cast a spell on each and every one to clear this place.



Doing so summons a National ScarDevil Magazine, which is a textbook example of what we'll be running into a lot more often from here on out: an enemy with a ludicrously good item drop that it almost never drops. In this case, it drops an Amulet Helm rarely, which is a decent bit of kit for Tomato and Percy.



The other one on this floor is the Ice orb. Freeze does the trick nicely!



Then it's on to floor 2! Oh yes, they weren't kidding when they called this the "Grand" Palace. This isn't even the top floor!



When a problem comes along, we must whip it! There's even a few decoy whippin' spots, just to mess with ya.



The orbs below opened up the paths on this floor to the orbs up here. Confused? You shouldn't be. It's actually pretty linear.



One air biscuit later, that's 3 down and 5 to go!



Take note: you have to walk through a lower doorway to get to the next part of this floor. It's pretty much invisible unless you know to look for it.



Man, those levels just keep going higher...



This orb wanted to Explode, and who am I to argue with it?

This one really wanted to be hit with Dark Force.



The Wisp orb was jonsin' for a bit of Saint Beam. Hmm, I think there was an entrance I skipped on the way here. Let's check that one out.



What was the point of this room? I'm getting outta here...



What the crap!? Yes, this just happened. It spawned that chest somewhere that I cannot grab it. Know what's in it? The 7th Sword Orb. Thank you, Nasir, for doing such a wonderful job coding this game. To be fair, he probably wasn't even given the chance to beta test, but come on! I didn't even have to try to make that happen!



Whatever. I'm too lazy to fix the problem (and it will be convenient for a later demonstration if I don't), so let's just move on to the next floor.



Man, this place is big...



They decided to switch things up a bit and add switches to either side of the third floor! Y'know, Square, it's not really a puzzle if there's only one choice and it opens the way directly in front of you as soon as you do it...



Clearly not getting this message, they pulled a double and added even MORE pointless switches that open the way 2 feet ahead.



Before the cream sits out too long, we must whip it!



The Luna orb insists on a bit of Lunatic, which I can and do provide.



When something's going wrong, we must whip it!



Welp, that was it for Grand Palace's interior. Now we're back up to the Tree Palace level.



♪♪ Crisis ♪♪

And those dastardly Imperial fiends left us a lizard! Yeah, as you can imagine from Percy's first battle action there, this fight will not end well for that little Snap Dragon.

And MAN does he snap hard! ProTip: don't get eaten!



One spell-chain later, the party has a nice meal of Roasted Newt before collecting their spoils.



Yay, more stabby-tossing power!



♪♪ Steel and Snares ♪♪

Seriously, who decorated the interiors of these palaces? I mean yeah, they're symmetrical, but oh so DULL!



Oh. Well, yeah, that's pretty weird too.

Boss: I just can't believe it! Who would do such a thing? Besides us, I mean... {The rebels?}
Percy: Hey! Now there's an exit behind the stage!
Boss: Then let's check it out and find some answers!

I guess it's time to exit stage left, then.



On the other side, we find exposition!

Fanha: I'm afraid so! We'd rule the world if we had unrestricted access to the Mana Fortress!
Boss: "We?" Who else is lurking around here? {Do the math, Boss. There's 2 generals left, and only one of them is still on your Christmas card list.}
*Predictably, Thanatos appears*
Boss: I should have known!
Thanatos: Aha! Long time no see, my young make-belief Knight! {Hey, don't diss Sir Cucumber Boss! Do you know what he had to go through to save Princess Tomato?}
Tomato: Where is Dyluck? Has he been harmed? Is he safe?
Thanatos: Of course! He's just about to become my new body!
Tomato: What are you up to? {He kinda just told you, 'mato. He's gonna possess your boyfriend. Not rocket science.}
Fanha: Never you mind! Now, Thanatos, to the Fortress! Revenge is SO sweet! Bye bye forever, kids!

Is it time for another palette-swapped boss!?



♪♪ Crisis ♪♪

No, amazingly enough! It's time for a completely non-palette-swapped boss instead! HexasLamian Naga here is a bit of a pain if you play fair, since she likes to spam magic just about as much as I do.



Mostly she uses water-elemental magic.



Oh, and she can use Anti-Magic, just in case you were thinking about NOT spell-chaining her to death.



Like I would do something so stupid. So long, Lamian Naga! I look forward to abusing your summon in Seiken Densetsu 3!



Whip it! Whip it good!



Thanatos, double-cross someone? NEVER!



It only looks like a switch, but that's really a teleporter!



This looks eerily familiar... Didn't we see this in the intro when it was talking about the Mana Fortress? ...Oh crap. Also, hooray for missing sprites! Invisi-Geshtar says hi!

Thanatos: Ah yes, poor Geshtar...so caught up in blind loyalty to his Emperor, he refused to join me. I took pity on his carcass, and used my ancient magic to create a living fighting machine!
Boss: How utterly evil...

Waitwaitwait. Wait. You mean Thanatos is EVIL!? NO! That's it, you're off my Thanksgiving get-together list too, Thanatos!



♪♪ Crisis ♪♪

So yeah, it's Geshtar. What is this, the third time we've fought him? He literally doesn't know when to give up.

He also literally doesn't know how to get better at what he does. Spell-chaining him is generally a good idea, that said.



But be careful about it! He likes to cast Counter-Magic, meaning you need to Anti-Magic that off him as soon as he puts it on lest you get a face-full of your own magic!



Yeah, how's that Counter-Magic workin' for ya, Geshy?



Real good, huh?



See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!



Stabby-stab power boost, woot!



Um, no... You're ON the Mana Fortress. If anything, where you're standing right now is going to rise.



The Coral Reef, on the other hand, is reverting to its former state.



♪♪ Prophecy ♪♪

Now the world is well and truly fucked, as the music clearly indicates. There's a dark tint to the sky (because the Apocalypse only ever happens at sunset), and lightning occasionally strikes. Naturally this is reflected in the dire state of every town and how everyone is panicked... hm? What? They never got around to coding that and the world at large is just as peaceful as it was before the Mana Fortress rose? Nobody even has a new line of dialogue acknowledging the change outside of the Tree Palace area? ...Well, okay then.



♪♪ Dark Star ♪♪

Krissie's completely shell-shocked, clearly, since she has nothing new to say. Maybe the others will be more illuminating?

Man: I can't believe Thanatos went and double-crossed the Emperor. What is he up to?
Jema: Boss, are you okay? We barely got away!
Boss: Yes, we're all fine. But we've failed to stop the revival of the Fortress...
Jema: I know, the Mana Beast will probably appear and crash against the Fortress any minute! The resulting battle between the two will mean the annihilation of our world,a nd everyone on it.
Percy: So? Let's just take Flammie up and board the Fortress ourselves first!
Jema: Without the protection of Mana, you wouldn't even get past the front door.
Tomato: The seeds are dead...
Boss: NO! There must be another way! Right...?
Jema: No, there isn't...unless...! Wait, there just MIGHT be one last way to get out of this! The seeds that used to power your sword are but a small part of the Mana Tree itself. Sage Joch once mentioned to me that the Mana Tree is located within Pure Landthe Mana Holy Land. It's supposed to be hidden under a dense cloud barrier, normally invisible to human eyes. But the fortress is consuming the last of the world's Mana... The barrier has surely weakened. Find the Tree itself, and you could instantly revive the Mana Sword and destroy the Fortress!
Boss: We have no choice. We MUST find that place...
Jema: It's a forbidden place. No one has ever been there in recorded history. Beware!

Well, Jema's still got a bad case of the verbal runs, but he's told us what we need to know. The Mana Holy Land awaits!



But first, let's have a chat with our friendly neighborhood Niccolo.



That's a 'spensive vest!



Anyone who still might have been in doubt that this game was cut down for release on a cartridge should have their doubts assuaged by this. Just look at the difference in defensive power between our previous armor and this new stuff! As you can imagine, this results in a ludicrous difficulty hike for anyone unfortunate enough to be unable to afford this new armor, too. And if you do the math between buying and selling prices, you'll see that Niccolo does in fact charge twice the "standard" rate for these items, despite them being impossible to buy elsewhere. Ouch!



Anyway, the palace has the rest of the NPC Crew waiting to talk us up.

Girl: The Emperor's been stopped, but the world's finished...

This is clearly Camp Optimism. Let's get outta here.

♪♪ Prophecy ♪♪

The Mana Fortress now looms in the sky any time we take off. As in, it's always slightly north of any location we take off from. ANY LOCATION. The Mana Fortress is stalking us...



♪♪ Eternal Winds ♪♪

Anyway, we're way behind on spell leveling for Dryad and severely short on cash after that Niccolo armor, so it's grind time.



For a comparative tuppence of price, we also get some new weapons! The Nimbus ChainDiamond Flail (an insect-crusher; meh), the Wing Bow (confuses enemies; cool), and the Elf's HarpoonRune Spear (+1 Intelligence and Wisdom; snore) join our weapon ranks! We'll need more cash before we can finish our upgrading schtick, though.



This could take a bit... I'll have to finish it up next time, in fact. But until then, let's get back to a subject we touched on briefly before.

Remember way back in Part VIII when I mentioned the Grand Palace's sword orb chest and how you should wait until that point to do the Mantis Ant rematch glitch if you wanted to break your game's difficulty with a sickening crack? Let's get back to that, shall we? (Doubly so since that damned glitch cost me my sword power-up. Boo!)



Boss is feeling a bit sheepish about cheating like this. For sake of simplicity, I did the Mantis Ant rematch twice three timesfour times so we don't have to wait 'til we get the last "official" sword orb. Also, the save file I was working off of was back when I first showed this off. Haha.



What's this? Upgrade to level... 9?



Oh snap.



The end result is the best damn sword in the game! That attack power is not a joke or a glitch, it's really that high! As you can imagine, you cannot forge your sword up to this power level by any means besides this glitch. That doesn't mean that you can never get access to this sword, however. We'll discuss that later...



Just look at those damage numbers! And this is with a significantly lower-leveled Boss, too!



So I'll leave you today with a brief glimpse of what happens if you try to visit the Mana Fortress right now. The screen flashes rather annoyingly while this is said too, and of course it just forces you to leave immediately. Come back next time when we tackle the Mana Holy Land and find out at last... what the Secret of Mana really is!

I remember when I played this with my friend I was the BOY with the sword mostly and he was the GIRL with the spear mostly, and we somehow got a random extra spear orb drop, so his spear was the strongest weapon in the game, and it drop me crazy.

Don't be too hard on the guy -- there's pretty much no chance he was responsible for the level design that resulted in this glitch.

Believe me, I'm trying not to be too hard on Nasir. They put some seriously unrealistic expectations on him (and all of the Secret of Mana staff, really; even the translator!). That the end result is stable at all given how much they had to do to convert it down to cartridge format from the in-progress CD version of the game is testament enough to Nasir's abilities.

This is actually a huge stumbling block. Believe it or not, the first time I played the game I didn't buy any of this armor and still made it through most of the next area. Then, for some reason, I landed back on the (un)sunken continent and went OH, SO THAT'S WHY.

Another curiosity about the fact that only Neko carries these! It seems to indicate that just maybe you would have been able to buy them elsewhere, but the developers said "f that" and shoved them into the only available location. Because, well, that's what you have to do when you cut a game down like this.

Is it just me, or does the Mana Fortress look sort of like the Death Egg?

I always assumed it was a tree attached to a floating thing, which... well, let's just say that might have made sense if the game were complete.

Ditto, tree on a big floating island, which of course isn't what it should have been in this version. I think. Who the hell knows?

I'm sure the original design team knows, or knew at some point. We'll get into plenty of additional speculation on the appearance of the fortress after the next update.

Now that you say that, I can see it.

I always simply assumed that end-of-game shops are meant to gouge the player the most.

If he's still in any way available, I'd love for someone to properly interview him and ask how much more they made or planned for the CD version.

Man I wish The Lost Levels was still around.

I don't think I ever bought it I basically ground up (And maxed out my magic levels + most of my weapon levels) so that I could survive, and then killed things trying to get rare drops I did cheat to get the mana sword just for fun, and it broke the stat screen...

Also did anyone else notice the boy has extremely high evasion and still gets hit all the time...

I was very young when I first played this, so when the Sunken Continent first rose I assumed that the Grand Palace was the Mana Fortress, and when you reach the end of it and the whole thing recedes, my tiny child brain equated that to the whole sunken continent lifting off into the sky. Since the fortress is the same color as the Sunken Continent on the map, it made sense to my inferior child brain.

But oh man, the idea that the Mana Fortress actually weaponized the Mana Tree is so deliciously twisted that I am now actually kind of sad that it didn't happen that way.

I'm sorry to say that not much happens tonight in Secret of Mana. No comical hijinx occur, no Imperials are slain, and no comical demi-humans make you question your health status. No, all that happens tonight is a stroll for a tranquil forest in search of the supreme being of the entire world. Oh, and there might be a boss fight or two. Maybe.

Part XII - Holy Crap!

Last time the world went to hell in a handbasket as the Emperor got murdered by Fanha and Thanatos, Fanha got murdered by the Tomato Crew, and Thanatos resurrected the Mana Fortress. Now the world's just waiting for the end as it looms ominously in the sky above them, and the last hope lies in the far north in a crater. And no, we did not switch over to Let's Play Final Fantasy VII, oddly enough.



♪♪ Prophecy ♪♪

There's a subtle change in the crater now: the cloud layer has in fact thinned out, as Jema predicted! Down we go!



♪♪ The Holy Land ♪♪

As soon as we land, a voice from the past calls out to us! Whose voice? That's a secret (of Mana), for now.



Right away, we're introduced to this forest's first and most frequently-fought enemy, a Griffin Hand. We'll get plenty of shots of these shortly, but suffice it to say that they're pretty standard-fare, unique appearances aside.



Also hanging out here (and far more annoying) are MushgloomsDarth Matangos! They like to make magic-users' lives hell, and have more HP than should be legally allowed. But they're also horribly ineffective on the whole, so it all balances out.



Also, Ice ThugsPetit Poseidons. They're pretty much the same as the Gremlins from the Grand Palace, except that they're Sahaguins instead of Li'l Devils.



I love the stun animation frames in this game... So, the Mana Holy Land (or Pure Land, if you like censorship) is really big and has several looping areas to add to the confusion. Be prepared to get lost, even if you do know the right way to go.



This place is also the perfectionist's nightmare. There are 4 different unique pieces of uber armor that can be dropped here. Worse still, one of them is Boss' best possible helm! The other 3 you can safely ignore if you want, since they're just variations on each other and outclassed by an item dropped in the last dungeon. Not so much so with that helm, though!



The items in question, for those of you who are perfectionists, are: the Griffin Helm from Griffin Hands, the Dragon Ring from Ice Thugs, the Watcher Ring from Eggplant Men, and the Imp's Ring from Ghosts. I suggest you ignore all but the helm.



Even then, the "best" equipment you can get enemies to drop is barely better than the stuff you buy from Niccolo. Sorry, but a 5-point difference pales in comparison to the 120 points of defense we went up by upgrading to his stuff last time!



Anyway, you can barely see it, but there's a cave in this area. This leads to the way forward. Great design, Squaresoft!



♪♪ Crisis ♪♪

Inside the cave is murder, as usual! It's another one of those snakes, and as you can see, I was quick to prepare for the fight with a bit of Tinkle Barrier.



The Dragon Worm is best spell-chained, since he moves around a lot and often goes out of targeting range of weapons.



Also, he can petrify you. Given how rare that is, it was worth noting.



Oh, and he has a Balloon-causing attack. He's kinda mean if you don't keep him spell-locked!



Not mean enough, of course!

Just what I axed for! That's the last one you'll find officially too.



♪♪ The Holy Land ♪♪

Yeah, there's more after the boss. A lot more; we've only just gotten started. There are six bosses in this area. And no healing outside of what you bring with yourself. Do not waste those healing items!



Do you want me to save your game before you attempt it?
> Yes / No

There are, however, save points. This is both good and bad; good in that you don't have to do it all in one go, and bad in that you can't leave here once you arrive and can screw yourself over. Save at your own risk!



Being the Mana Holy Land, you can't just walk to the boss immediately. Fortunately, the intervening screen is pretty tame. Yeah, Needlions are now common enemies. And very easy too, thanks to the armor upgrade from Nic.



♪♪ Crisis ♪♪

So, on to the boss! The SnowWhite Dragon's a spell-spammer himself, so yet again, I recommend you spell-chain. You don't have to, of course, but the fight will take a lot longer if you don't.



Or you can be MP-efficient and fire him up with Fireball. Your call.



Either way, he doesn't last long.



Shoot, that's our last official bow upgrade too!



♪♪ The Holy Land ♪♪

And now the arbitrary barrier is gone. Hooray?



Another brief forest maze, before...



...We descend into a cave! Now there's Specters as well, but generally things aren't any more challenging. In fact, the non-boss segments of the Holy Land are pretty consistently uninteresting and just drag on.



I mean REALLY drag on...

♪♪ Crisis ♪♪

Ah, there we go. The next boss! Axe Beak here is a palette-swap of the previous bird-boss from WAAAAAAAAAY back before the Wind Seed, and has few new tricks to show for it.



Can you guess how I recommend you deal with him?



If you guessed "spell-chain him", congratulations, you're winner!



Suck it, Birdo!



I guess our last Javelin orb makes us a bunch of tossers.



♪♪ The Holy Land ♪♪

Would you like me to save your game in case disaster strikes?
> Yes / No

What again? Well, maybe it's not a palette-swap.



Hahaha Protect. That's a good joke now.



♪♪ Crisis ♪♪

Guess what? It's a palette-swap! I am so shocked, he lied.



Also guess what? Spell-chain the Red Dragon!



Also also guess what? We won!



Also also also guess what? We've handily acquired the last official Glove orb!



♪♪ The Holy Land ♪♪

So yeah, that's four bosses down... Back to the boring part!



Ho hum...



Ooh, broken pillars. We must be getting close to something!

Or maybe the game's just messing with us?



Yeah, it's just messing with us. This next maze section is kinda annoying again. Once more, the right way is hard to spot.



And to make matters more irritating, there's "fake" paths that don't go anywhere too!



♪♪ Crisis ♪♪

But confusion and misdirection are no match for me! On to the Thunder Gigas! Can you guess oh who am I kidding? You know how to deal with bosses by now.



Thunder Gigas is as boring as his fire and ice counterparts.



Even electrocuting us doesn't help him any.



He has too much HP, too. Just die already!



Thank you.



Sweet stabbing pain, it's the last (for reals) Sword orb! Too bad we missed that one in the Grand Palace, huh?



♪♪ The Holy Land ♪♪

Well, no time to regret, we have a dungeon to finish.



Please allow me to save your game before the final test!
> Yes / No

Are you really surprised?



♪♪ Crisis ♪♪

So yeah, Blue Dragon. Weak against earth. Spell-chain. Amazing.

Know what? Screw it. I'ma fight this guy properly instead. How hard could it be?



Pretty hard, as it turns out! Like all of the other bosses here, this guy's spell-happy and likes to make himself untouchable by weapons. The fight ended up taking four times as long as any other fight here as a result. Why would I do such a thing? Because damn it, I want SOMETHING here to pose a proper threat, besides the threat of me falling asleep from how dull the fights are!



Boom, baby! Taken out the old-fashioned way!



He even threw in our last Boomerang orb!



♪♪ The Holy Land ♪♪

Augh, just END!



♪♪ Where Angels Fear to Tread ♪♪

Oh, it ended. Well!

Tomato: Look over there! It's the Mana Tree!

What, where!?



No, Tomato, I'm pretty sure that's Totoro's tree.

*Tomato turns to face Boss*
Tomato: It's like a dream. Can we REALLY be here? ...Boss... We've done it! I'm so glad I met you... Oh, and you too, Percy!
Percy: Yeah... I feel so lucky to have met you two!
Boss: So many things have happened since we started... But we never gave up hope... And now we have just one more job to do. We'll ask the Mana Tree to help revive the sword, then we can destroy the fortress!

Well, I guess that plan might work. You could also, you know, ask the tree to stop providing Mana to the world for about 5 minutes. Then the fortress would crash and burn, you could start the flow of Mana back up, and everyone would be happy. I guess that would make too much sense, huh?



Oh no, don't tell me it's...!

Boss: That's the voice of... Thanatos! From the Fortress!
Tomato: He followed us here!? {How the hell did you MISS that the Mana Fortress is following you everywhere?}
I've waited a long time for this. Now the old legend of the Holy Sword is at an end... {Hooray for title drops!} Behold the awesome might of the Mana Fortress, and the dawn of a new age of despair!

Damn it, Thanatos! Go away!



Hey, stop that!



Oh, that is the LAST straw! See this, Thanatos? I am unfriending you on Facebook. You and I are through forever!



Damn, that must've been some blast. Not sure how it caused the party to get blown TOWARDS the tree, but whatever.



But mommy, I don't wanna go to school today!

Well there WAS, until you led Thanatos here like an idiot and let him cast Megagiga on it. Good job breaking it, hero.

*Percy pouts*
Percy: What the...after all we've been through! Thanatos killed it!
*Tomato pouts*
Tomato: ...then what's going to happen to everyone now? We can't destroy the Fortress!

Jeez, one little setback and you two are all "wah wah wah end of the world"!



See? The tree's not quite dead yet. Things always work out in a JRPG. You should be more genre-savvy.

It's already too late to destroy the Mana Fortress. It has now consumed most of the world's Mana. Even as we speak, all the beasts of the world are combining into a single creature...the Mana Beast. Only the great Mana Beast is able to bring back Mana, but it has little control over its rage. If it were to attack the Fortress now, the world would be finished. The only way to avoid this is to destroy the beast using the Mana Sword you now hold. The sword's true potential can only be released and used by the people of the Tribe of Mana. I wish your father, the legendary knight Serin, were standing here now to see how you've grown... He was badly wounded 15 years ago by the Emperor in a great battle, but vowed to stop him. On his way to a final showdown, Serin was ambushed by Thanatos and killed. That was in Potos.

Holy exposition, Batman!



Oh, you're not even remotely done being shocked yet, Boss. Just wait 'til this next revelation.

Yes, that was your father, Serin. I was his wife...and I am your mother, Boss.

Oh snap. I always knew you were a plant inside! The name "Sir Boss Cucumber" was a bit of a giveaway, really.



♪♪ I Will Never Forget You ♪♪

And now, we finally get it. The explanation we have been waiting for. The big revelation. This is... The Secret of Mana!

The women of our kind become the Tree, the protectors of the world and all life on it. The men wield the Sword, and protect against evil! You must stop Thanatos, and destroy the Mana Beast. You're the only one who can do this. With my last energy, I can only restore the life and power of the Seeds of Mana to aid you...
*All Mana Seeds Restored!*
Oh Boss... I'm so sorry... I haven't been much of a mother to you...

So the long-awaited Secret of Mana is...! That it comes from a tree! Wait, no, that wasn't kept secret. Actually, the real secret is that the Mana Tree is preserved by a cycle of human-to-tree transformations by the women of the never-before-mentioned Mana Tribe. Players familiar with the plot of the first Seiken Densetsu game (aka. Final Fantasy Adventure or Sword of Mana, take your pick) will recognize that this wasn't really a secret at all to anyone who had played the previous game through to the end.

What isn't as clear is that Jema and Boss are both part of the secretive Mana Tribe, as was Boss' father Serin. In a way, Jema's kind of like an uncle to Boss as a result. He's also a total thunder-stealer, since future generations would remember the guardians of the Mana Tree as the Knights of Jema, not the Knights of Boss. Being a nameable character sucks sometimes.



Well, to be fair, he DID finally find his real mother. Bit of a bummer reunion, but he knew what he was getting into when he signed up to be a JRPG protagonist.

...mother? Why won't you talk to me? Mother!!
Tomato: Boss...
Boss: Mother...my...
Percy: ...this is nuts! *He smacks Boss!* Snap out of it! She just asked us to do something! Tomato doesn't have a mother...and neither do I!
Boss: ...sorry...I'll be okay.
*Boss steps forward*
Boss: I've got a lot to live up to, and we have a big job ahead of us.
*Percy takes a victory pose!*
Percy: Now you're talking number one!
Tomato: Yeah! I feel like I just met my mom too! I know she's in my heart!

Is it time for a team cheer?



♪♪ Calm Before the Storm ♪♪

It is! GO! TEAM!



We are SO out of sight!



Oh good, our dragon outta nowhere hasn't become part of the Mana Beast yet! That'd make things awkward.



♪♪ Prophecy ♪♪

Well, I hope you didn't forget anything at the Mana Holy Land, because you can never return! Well, sort of. You can return to the burned-down Mana Tree, but there is nothing there. The dungeon proper is gone gone GONE.



♪♪ The Sprite Child ♪♪

Oh, and here's what I wanted to demonstrate before: the last official orb you get for each weapon gives you ALL of the other orbs for them before that too. So even though we didn't get all of the sword orbs, we can still upgrade the sword again! Anyway, almost every last weapon gets an upgrade! The Gigas SwordSurt's Sword would have given us +1 Strength, if we'd gotten it at the proper time. We will never use it since we didn't. Sucky boost anyway.

Look at all that powering up! It's like a season finale of Dragon Ball Z! Let's go over them one by one, shall we?

Great Axe: Bonus damage to fish and plants. You know, those enemy types that don't even show up in the last dungeon.
Griffin Claws: Poisons enemies. You know, that status effect that is completely worthless.
Dragon DartSpear: Does bonus damage to dragons. You know, like those 3 bosses we've already fought.
Shuriken: High critical hit rate. Pretty much the only great weapon of the lot.
DoomDeadly Bow: High critical hit rate. Okay, this one is awesome too, I admit.
Dragon Buster: Surprise, good against dragons! And a full dungeon too late to matter!

Well, kinda disappointing load-out, but it could've been worse.



♪♪ A Silent Prayer ♪♪

Our post-Holy Land bonuses also include a new power level for each spell school available! It may be best not to for all of them, however. The castings per level necessary gets higher with every level, and level 8's the worst: 50 castings to go from 7 to 8. OUCH! If you're not a perfectionist, I suggest you limit your level 8 selection to what you're actually gonna use (in my case, Undine and Wisp).



♪♪ What the Forest Taught Me ♪♪

Percy's a bit easier since most of his spells are interchangeable and since Burst is a deathspell unmatched by anything else. Even just Dryad at level 8 will do the trick.



Oh, and getting Luna up to level 8 for Tomato can pay off in spades too. Moon Saber Lv.8 lasts a LONG time and absorbs an awful lot of HP.



I also did a bit of weapons leveling, just for the hell of it. Why not?



♪♪ Bright Summer Skies ♪♪

I also realized that we have one item missing from our item ring! This is a Niccolo exclusive, the Barrel. It causes the character under the barrel to be entirely unable to act, but also makes them entirely immune to damage. Handy if you just want to run through an area without fighting anything, I guess.



♪♪ Prophecy ♪♪

Anyway, that's enough fluff for this update. Come back next time when we finish the fight and take on the Mana Fortress!

Uh... wow, again.

Yeah, Hiroki Kikuta went all out for Secret of Mana. This game also set a trend: Mana games came to be associated with awesome music starting with this one. Even when Yoko Shimomura took over for Legend of Mana's soundtrack, that continued to hold true.

Wait, really? I could have sworn I went back through to the beginning and called Flammie after doing a couple gates.