Huzzah! Let's Play Cave Story

And here we have the #1 cause of restarting the entire game.

Haha, yeah.

I mean, this is both right and wrong at the same time. Frankly, nobody should get the good ending to Cave Story on their first playthrough. It's incredibly obtuse, for one, but for two, getting the bad ending inspires you to go back and see what you missed. Plus, the demands of the hard version of the Last Cave plus (of course) Hell are such that first-time players need not apply. All that to say that it is totally normal and even desirable to get the "bad" ending the first time you play the game.

see i tried to tell a friend this, who started a little bit before this lp did

he would not listen

he has yet to beat hell

Chapter 5: The Labyrinth

Part Two - The Dark Place

When last we played Cave Story, Professor Booster had just plummeted to the depths of the
Labyrinth. Only a monster would leave him down there to rot, so let's go see how he's doing!

♪♪Gestation ♪♪

I was starting to feel special about our trip to the Labyrinth, but apparently every Tom, Dick and
Harry got an invite. =[



We're getting a little fourth-wall-breaky over here. And the Booster v0.8, as you will soon see
does not allow us to hover, per se. But we'll let that slide because jet pack hell yeah!



And with that, old Booster fades away. Well, technically speaking, we disappears in a puff of smoke.
Boy, we're racking up quite a body count on this expedition.



There's another teleporter down here, but it doesn't work. On further inspection, though, the
game adds this:

An engineer of some ability might be able to repair it, perhaps...

That doesn't do us a lot of good, considering the only engineer we know just expired. Thanks
for nothing, Pixel!



You really do have to go into your inventory to equip the booster. And once you've done that...



You can fly! Sort of. The Booster v0.8 allows you to shoot up for about 2 seconds before it runs
out of juice. It'll recharge whenever you land on the ground. You can feather the jump button
to "hover" if you like, but it's mostly made for jumping really high and getting across gaps.



Like this one! With the booster, we can make it to that health recharge station. The booster is
a neat addition to our movement capabilities and the interplay between it and the Machine Gun
is pretty unique among video game movesets.



We go through the door to the right and find Curly waiting for us. Wait, wasn't she still
convalescing? How the heck did she get here before us?



Curly's go-getter attitude is just delightful.

It's worth noting that if you don't go far enough to the left before interacting with the boulder,
Curly chastises you for not being in the right spot.



RRRRGH!

Sweat droplets fly off both robots for a second (?) as they completely fail to budge the rock.



We don't have time to draft up a weight-training regimen, though, 'cause ya know what time it is?





Yeah you do.

♪♪Balrog's Theme♪♪

This line is pretty revealing, although I think our toaster pal could stand to be a little more
brave.



Balrog takes up a position in the center of the boulder. Who could say no a face that smiley?





It was a ruse! Balrog FLIPS OUT, knocking Curly to the ground. Boss fight!

♪♪Gravity♪♪

Balrog's newest move is to jump in the air and release a swarm of missiles.



This is a fight where sticking to the top of the screen with the Machine Gun makes things pretty
simple. So simple, in fact, that we'll just skip to the end.

♪♪Victory!♪♪

♪♪Gestation ♪♪

Everyone lines up for a big push...



...but Balrog takes care of things pretty much solo. Hey, I loosened it for him, OK??





Balrog exits in his usual fashion, and a treasure chest appears.



Yeah, he seems pretty nice, except for that time he turned a tiny bunny into a raging bioweapon.
But everybody makes mistakes, right?

Atta girl! But first, what's in the chest?



An exhilirating sort of missile. Its acceleration is unmatched.

That is simultaneously the most Japanese and most correct weapon description I have ever seen.
The upgraded missiles are truly exhilirating in that they do RIDICULOUS damage to enemies,
especially if you're up close. Missiles were situationally useful before, but now they wreck shop
and will be used for pretty much every boss fight from here on out.

Well, enough standing around. Time for some tag-team action!

♪♪Labyrinth Fight♪♪

I love this song, it's got a great surf-rock vibe to it. I also love this part of the game, because
for once we aren't fighting solo...



Curly is with us! You'll notice that she's rocking our old Polar Star, too. Mmm-mmm, internal
consistency!



Curly's bubble doesn't just stop missiles, it also lets her hang out in the water without drowning.



This part is super fun, since Curly runs around and creates (helpful) chaos while the player
navigates the level. We still have to do most of the heavy lifting, since she doesn't shoot all
that frequently, but she definitely racks up a few kills with the Polar Star.



Curly is completely indestructible here - just look at her standing on those spikes! These strange
enemies are like floating fans, except that they occasionally shoot out spriralling fire blasts.
They aren't too hard to deal with, but it can be tricky to find a safe time to jump out of cover
and shoot them.



Farther along we come to a water current flowing upwards. Jumping into it just brings us back to
the top...



...so we take this passage on the right instead. By the way, I haven't been drawing attention to
it, but this area is filled with harmless eggs that drop powerups when destroyed. We're murdering
Guadi babies for fun and profit!



That weird thingy on the ceiling spawns little flying critters. Both it and they respond poorly
to being shot.



The water makes jumping difficult, so it's nice to be able to stay elevated. The jetpack can
get you out of shallow water, too, but it doesn't propel you far or quickly in the drink.



Farther along, the water gets a bit deeper. You could potentially drown here, since you can't
jump out of the water and it's a long hike back to the shallows. Of course, the jetpack will get
you out in a pinch.



Like so!



Lots happening on this screen! If you're feeling patient, you can wait for Curly to clean house,
but it goes a lot faster if you contribute some.





I'm not sure why Pixel bothered putting a switch here, all it does is open the passage down.



There's a teleporter here. Taking it brings us back to...

♪♪Gestation ♪♪

...the labyrinth shop!

You were right before and you're still right, my disgusting friend.



So, let me get this straight. The island is flying thanks to some kind of magical creature, right?
And the creature is in this labyrinth? And the best people Jenka could find to guard the thing that
keeps everyone from falling to their deaths are a bunch of giant cockroaches that attack people
indiscriminantly and can't remember what they're even supposed to be doing?

Jenka called Misery a half-wit earlier, but it looks like the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

♪♪Labyrinth Fight♪♪

These fellows are kind of neat and they're only found in this part of the game. They just float up
and down if you don't provoke them. You can destroy the smaller spheres orbiting around the big one
individually, and they still won't react.

But pop the middle one first...



...and all the little guys will start chasing you!



They aren't really all that dangerous and we eventually arrive at the end of the hallway.

♪♪Gestation ♪♪

And so we enter the mysterious Dark Place.

Curly heads over to investigate the giant tiger head (similar to the one in the First Cave), but...



She heads over to the door on the right and we follow.

♪♪Geothermal ♪♪

This is such a great song, I love the melancholy tone that it sets for this scene.



This area is all built from purple metal panels, in stark contrast to the brown stone of the
labyrinth. The way forward is blocked by this big metal shutter, so we investigate the little gap
in the ceiling.



Pressing this switch opens the first four shutters...



...although the last of them doesn't quite open all the way.



I'll teach that shutter a lesson! *Pew pew pew*



We Fonzie the shutter into working again and it raises all the way up. I like that Pixel included
this bit; it doesn't pose much of a challenge to the player, but it helps build the atmosphere
in this old, ruined installation. Or maybe I'm just weird.



Well I don't think we'll be able to blast our way through this one. Geez, look at the size of that
thing.

I think I've got a pretty good idea. Its job rhymes with "peep the highland from clashing to
the sound."



If you head back to the shutter terminal, there's a new prompt. Let's see what we can find
down below.



A long, watery passageway awaits us. You can drown here, but if you just keep moving you'll be fine.



This terminal opens up the MegaShutter. Curly heads into the room and we navigate the watery
passage back to the left.



Just heading back here for a quick save, not for any particular reason, can't be too careful you know!



Inside the room, we find a scene of total (robot) carnage. Let's head up and talk to Curly.





Lady, I'm not sure you and I have met the same Mimigas.

~OH CRAP~

The shutter closes, locking us in, and...



...the creepy robot explodes, sending Curly flying.

♪♪Oppression ♪♪

That's not just a new boss theme, it's a unique new boss theme! And that means trouble.
This is the Core and yes, it is peeping the highland from clashing to the sound. It's also none
too pleased to see us.



The Core consists of a big central...pod thing, surrounded by four smaller...pod things. You can't
hurt it when it's...face? is closed, but occasionally it opens up and we fill it with super missiles.

The core is a very tough fight for first-time players and remains one of the tougher bosses even
on my dozenth replay. It's mostly challenging because there's so much happening on the screen.
The four mini-pods shoot at you and move around the screen. Whenever the main part of the
core opens up, you have to blast them out of the way before you can deal damage to the middle,
which is also attacking you.



In the meantime, the Core will occasionally fill the room with water, which messes up your
movement and can also drown you if you are unlucky (there's a pool at the bottom of the screen,
so sometimes you won't have full air when the water level starts to rise and it's a bad scene).

You'll also note that Curly is back on her feet. Unlike the previous fight with Balrog, she only
spends a few seconds out of commission before joining the fray. Her bubble shield will keep her
safe from the water and she's immune to the boss' attacks, so her presence is more for color
than anything else. That said, she will do a little damage to the Core and I have actually seen
her land the last hit in the fight! But that's pretty rare.



When the core's HP starts to get low, it will use an attack that pushes you back to the edge of
the room. Between that, jumping from block to block and dealing with the water level, it can be
pretty tricky finding a good spot from which to launch an attack. Also, when you get pushed back,
you need to be prepared for...



..giant energy balls! These hit for 20 damage each, so watch your step.



The missile launcher is by far the best weapon for dealing damage to the core, but King does a
decent job of pushing the little pods back and destroying enemy projectiles (which sometimes
yield drops to refill your missile ammo).



Only problem with using King is that he hits a whole bunch of times with each attack. That had the
effect of pushing the Core so far to the right in this fight that I couldn't even damage it!



It eventually drifts back into the room and I unload with the few missiles that I've managed to
scavenge during the fight.



We beat the Core! But there's no time to celebrate as Misery appears, looking pretty frazzled.







Curly hasn't been reading the LP, so in fact she doesn't.



Uh, it actually was my plan, now that you mention it. Though maybe I could have thought
things through a litte more...







Misery teleports the core away and then flies off screen. But we have other things to worry
about because...

~GLUB GLUB~

...the room is filling with water again!



Curly's staring off into space being sad that she is a bad mother, which is weird, because Shaft
was a bad mother and it never seemed to bother him.

Anyway, we don't have a magic air bubble and apparently robots gotta breathe, so we'd better
jet. Let's head for the exit, post-haste!



Situation: very bad.





We start to lose consciousness, but just as things are looking bad we hear the "item get" sound.

......?
...You can breathe.



When we come to, we're surrounded by Curly's bubble. Our savior lies at our feet.



C'mon, Curly, wake up! Wake up!

...

Curly won't be waking up any time soon.



"Used to" =( =( =(

♪♪Geothermal ♪♪

There's nothing we can do for Curly at this point. As we leave the room, the door shuts behind us
and she is consigned to a watery tomb.



Yeah, I'm in kind of a Dark Place myself right now. Guess we'll stop for today. See you next time.
I guess.

...

Huzzah.

The cable isn't too hard to find, even on a first playthrough, but even if you somehow didn't screw things up with Booster, the next step is still likely to screw you up.

This is the main reason I always recommend people play this game the first time completely blind.

In video games, it's VERY hard to pull off tense and emotional scenes that involve character sacrifice. Cave Story is one of the few moments where it actually works, because it doesn't just say "there was a cutscene bullet but it shot your obligatory love interest instead of you".

You have the run up to the Core through the Labyrinth, full of areas showing that Curly doesn't need to worry about drowning, but that it's still an everpresent threat for you. You can even drown when activating the security locks to the Core if you screw up.

And the fact that they actually let you play for the entire duration of that drowning sequence just drives it home. It doesn't break the rules of the game world to try for cheap drama, the room even flooded here and there during the boss fight, and you're sure it's gonna come down and you'll have a chance to breathe, why isn't it coming back, what's going on, I'd really like to not die here and get back to saving after that fight, no no no NO

But then you're still around, what's going on, did Curly drag you back to safety?

Nope. She kept you safe, but she didn't take you, or herself, anywhere.

And when you realize there's nothing you can do and head off, the door closes and the Core music starts again, it's positively heartbreaking. I'm even tearing up a little dwelling on it now.

In conclusion,

The cable only appears at all if you didn't get the booster. You'll note that none of the screenshots have the sparkle for it.

I don't actually know how much you can mix-and-match the elements required for the good ending. I know I've done seemingly everything right only to forget a minor detail and found myself locked out of the shack that leads to Hell. But I can't remember ever saving Curly with the Booster v0.8 - is that even possible? I don't think we can draw a conclusion from the missing sparkle. You have to grab the tow rope before the fight with the Core starts, so I think it disappears once you're in the action. Whether it was even there this time, I'm not sure, since I didn't go looking for it. Anyway, to the best of my knowledge, you can't save Curly at all unless you bypass Booster, which I something I think approximately 0% of first-time players would do unless they had been spoiled.

I've heard you can totally grab the tow rope during the fight, but I've never waited until then for obvious reasons, so I can't confirm.

Hmm, this may require some experimentation. But that might require that I replay the game to get back to this point (stupid single save point). I should check my backup save when I get home to see if it's before or after the labyrinth.

I could swear I've grabbed it during the drowning sequence.

I have a screenshot of my guy standing in exactly the right spot during the drowning sequence and I didn't see the sparkle then. So maybe you can pick it up at that point, but only if you skipped getting the booster? I'll eventually look into the good ending and maybe we'll do some experiments then.

oh fine

gimme a couple hours

More likely my memory's faulty, but if turtle wants to do Science, far be it from me to stop him.

aturtledoesscience

Hmm, wonder if BEAT's been sitting on that screencap...

meanwhile, i'm just gonna sit here grinning at the fact that BEAT will never be able to watch a youtube video again without seeing TOP TEN SOMETHING in the recommended bar

I'm pretty sure he hasn't!

He used my screenshot to make it.

Now that is some Solid Science (TM). Thanks, Turtle!

(If by some miracle you are reading this thread and you DON'T already know all about Cave Story, then you should maybe skip Turt's spoiler pop for now.)

YOU NOTICED! : )

Curly giving me her bubble on my first playthrough is one of my top three video game moments, probably. I could never imagine spoiling a first-time player of that experience.

Yeah, and it's especially powerful considering the super cool sequence that you just played where she fought alongside you. It also lights a fire under the player to make them think about what they could have done to save her. Of course, the answer to that question doesn't make any sense, but I still think the motivation is important and that's one of the reasons why I get so annoyed by people who insist on getting the good ending the first time they play Cave Story.

Sooooo maybe put that in spoiler text?

Or is that the joke?

I mean, I just played through that part, so I don't think we need to worry about spoiling it any more.