Let's Play La-Mulana: The Mother Has Been Waiting

The room above has changed. Man, this is gonna be a pain to make a map of. Anyway, the new room has pretty much the same layout, but with knights and little blobs instead of bats and lizards. The pot at the bottom is in a different place, too, and now holds 100 coins instead of 30. Score! There's a message on the broken stele that I don't currently understand.



I head back down the left side and find another new room, and the older brother's store. He's selling ammo for subweapons I don't have yet, and the Dragon Bone, which I can't afford. I wonder if that's the skull mentioned in the broken stele on the previous screen? I've mentioned a few times now that I'm replaying a section that I went through without recording: this is probably the most significant change from that run. Either this shop didn't appear in it, or I didn't notice it. In that run I bought the helmet instead of the scanner, so I wonder if buying a useless item in the little brother's shop is necessary to unlock the big brother's shop?

I also scan the stele for a clue about Tiamat. Will I be escaping from the front of the world at some point?



Taking the left side ladder up gets me back to the bottom of the entry screen. My map is really not going to be able to capture the layout of this place.



I return to the little brother's shop and get the Helmet:



The manual isn't much use on the Helmet, but I know from a clue in the Spring of the Sky that it'll let me walk through waterfalls without being washed away. That'll be my next destination. For now I take the right hand ladder up, which takes me to the same place the left hand one did, then spend a little time fruitlessly going up and down ladders looking for new rooms before warping out to save. Reviewing the footage, I think I've taken every ladder except the right hand one going up on the screen with the older brother's store. Missed that one. I'll add it to the list to try later. For now, though, time for the Spring of the Sky:



Ah. Did I forget about the water? Not check I had enough VIT to make it out? Or did I just see dying and reloading as the quickest way to get my health back? I honestly don't remember, but probably the last option. Sorry, Lemeza.



The next attempt goes a little better, though my decision to scan the skeleton by the altar means spending longer underwater than is healthy.



As promised, now that I have the Helmet I can pass through the waterfalls without being washed away. It doesn't do anything about the bats, though.



I land in the water again and struggle a bit with bats and the fishman before getting out. My VIT is not great.



The picture on this stele seems pretty straightforward. I need to get an Ankh Jewel from a big fish at the end of a boat ride.



There's another waterfall a bit deeper into the Spring, so I set off for it, but drown along the way. I'm not on top form at the moment. Fortunately, I don't think I've achieved anything since my last save.



On my return to the Spring, I unexpectedly open the treasure chest at 1/0. I guess it's unlocked by moving through the upper right portion of the waterfall? Or maybe by jumping through both waterfalls? Last time it didn't unlock, but I think I jumped over rather than through the right hand fall.



I pick up the map. Man, this is a pretty big Field.



The trip through the water goes a little better this time.



I load up Glyph Reader and scan the stele here again, just for a reminder. I'm still equipping Diviner Sensation, too.



In the next room a fairy appears and restores my VIT. Pretty cool! It's obvious watching the GIF now, but there's a little glimmer in the spot where the fairy appears that I didn't notice when I was playing, so this was a bit of a surprise.



I take the floating platform up a couple of screens to a horizontally floating platform. Another vertical one comes and goes. Also of note: in some of the waterfall shots you can see a little circle that flickers on and off. I thought it was just a glitch of the water animation, but when you get close:



A fish leaps out! Luckily for me, I land on the other platform.



Unfortunately, I blow the next jump and am beset by a series of disasters.



I warp out to save, but neglect to equip Game Master. Xelpud gives me a clue about the Spring. Could it be getting the map that triggers Xelpud's clue? If so, I've missed a few by talking to him with Game Master equipped when he would have clued me in if I hadn't. Oh well.



Being low on health, I go in via the Guidance Gate so that I won't have to swim up from the altar. I'm not sure how I thought I was going to get through the other flooded room, but it's a moot point because I get knocked down a hole by a bat and drown again.



I once again warp to the Gate and walk back to the room with the healing fairy. I guess it's in this room so you can top up on VIT after the swim to get here.



This time I notice the spark on the platform.



I hop over and another fairy appears to refill my VIT. Last time the fairy was wearing blue, this time it's more of a red colour. Is that significant? Also, I'm still equipping Diviner Sensation, which I think is necessary for the fairy to appear. I should try coming here without it to see if I can still see the spark, and to confirm that the fairy won't heal me without the ROM.



I head up a couple of screens and decide to take the path right instead of trying my luck on the moving platforms again. The ledge starts to fall away as I land on it, so I rush to the next room.

As I step inside the door closes and the ladder up disappears. Am I trapped?



Aah! A creature bursts from the water below and starts firing at me. It's hard to make out because of the transparency of the sprite, but I see it as a cyclopean centaur with claws for hands.



I equip the Shuriken and attempt an attack, without much success.



What better time than a miniboss fight to read a stele? I already know about the seals from the User's Manual, but I am impressed by how many different versions of these symbols the creators of the game made.



This is fast becoming my standard room guard tactic. It works!



In the next room I see what looks like the Conception Seal. Excellent!



Sure enough, that's what it is. The Conception symbol appears at the right side of my HUD as I collect it. I also get ten coins from the pot and Hyper Sports 1 from the broken stele. HS1 is a 1984 sports game that actually has the number 1 on its title screen, which seems kind of unusual. A little while ago I found Hyper Olympic 3, which I thought might have actually been Hyper Sports 1, since HS1 is the third Hyper release and there was no actual Hyper Olympic 3, but I guess not.



I go left and emerge back in the waterfall shaft. I attempt to jump to the moving platform, but miss the button press and instead fall down two screens. But hey, there's a Conception Lock here for me to try my new Seal on! Let's give it a go:



I fall down again before making it to the seal, but when I do get there a spark appears, breaks the seal, and a doorway appears. Rockin'.



I struggle to get over there, though, and wind up warping back to town to save with my VIT critical. Those bubble fishmen and waterfall fish are a real nuisance.



I'm sure you can fill in the blank that explains my reappearance in the ruins with increased VIT Lemeza died and I reloaded. When I return to the room with the spark without Diviner Sensation in the MSX I can see the spark but can't make the fairy appear. This is good to know - it means I don't have to keep DS loaded in order to find other fairy locations. I decide to hold off on restoring my VIT until it's really low, and then head back up to the newly appeared doorway.



It's a subweapon/weights shop run by a fish. It's got one good fish pun and two less good ones. I don't buy anything. Then I start climbing the shaft again.



I take a side passage to the left. There's another Lock in here, and a boat down below.



The Conception seal breaks the lock, and with it the wall on the left. I put a weight on the revealed Dais and the waterworks mechanism comes to life again.



Outside a second waterfall has started flowing and has flooded the shelf on the wall. The water isn't making it through to the next room, so perhaps I need to get the gear in the pool working, but I don't have the VIT to risk going in there just now. Also, I got two bats in one strike of the whip.



I ride the platform up to the top of the shaft and find another lock. Breaking it reveals a sphere with a fish in it. Could it be?



It is! I get the Scalesphere:



I should be able to breathe underwater now, which will make getting around the Spring much less of a pain. I guess the clue earlier about finding a rock and getting it polished was just flavour text.



Sure enough, I'm able to stand in this water without my VIT draining. I'm trying to unstick this gear, but it isn't working.



It turns out I need to hit the top half to get it moving. Or maybe the black spot in the wall is actually a blockage of some kind and that's what I'm striking?



Either way, this gets water flowing into the boat room. An earlier clue suggested that casting off the boat would take me to Bahamut's sleeping place. That sounds like somewhere I want to go with full VIT, so I turn back to visit the fairy.



I get my VIT back, and decide that while I'm here I'll check out the passageway at the bottom of this screen.



It does not go well. I'm trapped!



Or not. There must be at least some percentage of players who miss the Grail and actually get trapped by stuff like this. Imagine playing this far having to walk all the way in and out of the ruins every time you wanted to save, though.

OK, that's enough for today. I feel like I made a lot of progress this time!

Maps:

Endless Corridor:



The Maze:



Spring of the Sky:






Clues:

Village:
"The Algol with the blue body and the many eyes. Legend has it he is weak to the Serpent Staff."

Guidance Gate:



Spring of the Sky:

"If I tried to go under the waterfalls I'd just get swept away. If I had some sort of helmet I might be able to get by them..."

"The water that operates the tower. It flows here and is converted to energy."





Mausoleum of Giants:



Endless Corridor:



Temple of the Sun:

"The rock where the sacred fish dwells. Polished by a pure maiden, it becomes the Scalesphere. It shall protect thee from drowning."



Inferno Cavern:

"Strange, these ruins are strange. This shouldn't be a dead end..."

The Maze:

"Release the twins."







To-Do:

Anywhere:
-Complete the software use and software combinations lists in the manual
--Figure out what Diviner Sensation does

Village:
-Kill the blue Algol at -5/1, probably with the Serpent Staff.
-Explore beyond the waterfall at 3/4

Guidance Gate:
-Open treasure chests at -2/-2, 2/-1
-Get past barrier at 0/-2
-Climb upper ladder at 0/-2
-Get past holy rock at 1/-2
-Climb narrow shaft at 4/-1
-Take ladder to other Field at 1/-4
-Put weights on daises at -1/-2, 0/-2 (upper)
-Reach and press floor switch at -2/-2
-Do something at 2/-4
-Use Hand Scanner with Glyph Reader on:
--Steles: -1/-2, 4/-1
--Skeletons: 4/-1
-Get the Jewel in the mouth of the face on 0/-3
-Get the Jewel in the star at 0/-4
-Find the Ankh
--"Beyond the path of Angels"
-Awaken the Guardian

Spring of the Sky:
-Activate the waterworks
-Get the key from the blue flying one to open the floodgate
-Scan skeletons: 0/0, 1/-1, 2/1 (x2)
-Get the statue in the room at 0/1 to say or do something
-Reach the Life Jewel in the treasure chest at 0/2
-Reach the two circular objects in 2/0
-Learn to swim and/or breathe underwater
--Find the rock where the sacred fish dwells
--Get it polished by "a pure maiden" to become the Scalesphere
-Cross the waterfalls in 1/0, 3/1
--Get a helmet of some sort
-Climb against the flow of the water in 2/1 as depicted on the stele in Guidance Gate 0/-3
-Open the chests in 1/0, 2/1
-Find the fairies that will "kindly divine thy life", possibly near a star
-Cast off the boat at 2/4
--Meet Bahamut
-Get the Ankh Jewel from the master of fish

Mausoleum of Giants:
-Decipher the legend of the giants
-Do something at the upper left of 2/-2
-Do something with holy wall at 1/-1
-Buy Seal of El Giza at 4/-2 (100 coins)
-Take path to other Field at 6/-3

Endless Corridor:
-Explore the Endless Corridor
--Find a way into the rooms below the top floor

Temple of the Sun:
-Do something with the grey block at 1/0
-Scan skeletons: 4/-2 (x2)
-Scan steles: 1/-2 (several), 1/-4, 4/-2, 5/-3
--Do something at gap in top row of steles at 1/-2
-Get faster to climb slopes
-Open treasure chest at 5/-3
-Do something with blue platform at 2/-4
-?Push the mine cart (at 1/0?) all the way to the bottom?
-Solve all the puzzles
--Proceed below (to 2/-5)
-Purchase Heatproof Case (100 coins) (3/-4)
-Bring the Woman Statue to the sun at 3/-2
-Do something with the wall that goes "ping" at the upper left of 3/-3
-Do something with the statue at 4/-2
-Go to the other Field at 5/-3

Inferno Cavern:
-Become impervious to lava
-Scan skeletons: -2/0 (x2), -1/0 (x2), 0/0 (x2)
-Unlock and take the path to another Field at -2/1
--Kill all enemies in the room
-Get Heatproof Case
-Reach the two rooms at the top left of the map
-?Push the mine cart all the way to the bottom?

The Maze:
-Release the twins
-Try collecting the coins from the pots in 0/-2 again to see if they're still big money
-Buy Dragon Bone (200 coins)
-Take the right hand ladder up from the older brother's store
-Figure out the layout

Conception Locks:
-Guidance Gate -2/-5
-Temple of the Sun 5/-3

Birth Locks:
-Guidance Gate 2/-1
-Waterworks 0/2

Life Locks:
-Village -4/1
-Endless Corridor -1/0

Death Locks:
-Temple of the Sun 0/-4

Fairy Locations:
-Spring of the Sky 3/1

ROMs:

The puzzle in The Maze/Twin Corridors you solved by buying something in that one shop is one you solved ahead of finding the stele that clues you into it (but is something that is not relevant for, uh, a while).

That second shop you stumbled into isn't actually a shop until you buy something from his little brother.

Look at all that progress. You’re tearing up that sky spring.

Yeah, nice advances this time!

Now that faeries are a thing, possibly/hopefully there's one near a teleport point that you can use to top up your VIT instead of killing yourself?

That had not occurred to me. I was a bit worried about how I was gonna handle low health now that the scalesphere will prevent drowning.

"How will I rush Lemeza to a speedy demise now that I can no longer drown him?" he worries.

(There's still lava, right?)

There's more than a few one-shot traps around too.

When we left off, I'd made two big gains: the ability to go in water without dying, and the Conception Seal. I'd also made friends with a fairy, unlocking at least one healing spot. I start off today running from one end of the village to the other looking for the tell-tale spark of a hidden fairy. I don't find any. At the upper right edge of the village is a waterfall that I have not yet gone beyond. Now that I can swim, I decide to take the plunge. I'm realising now though that I should have jumped over the edge to see if there's anything on the next screen to the right. Oh well. I'll add it to the to-do for next time.



I find a small grotto with a ladder leading out and nothing much to do at its base.



On the way out I start whipping the wall to check for secrets, and am surprised when I quickly get a result (the second whip in the GIF made a different sound to the first). Unfortunately I'm interrupted by a bird before I can investigate fully.



On the second attempt I use the much quicker Shuriken to reveal a hidden door. But Lemeza can only get off a ladder at its top or its bottom. I try getting knocked off the ladder by the bird, but that just makes me fall straight down. How am I going to get in there?



Getting knocked down while at the level of the entrance doesn't help.



I try jumping from the level above and steering back towards it, but can't land it. So I give up for now and head for the ruins.



I enter the ruins on foot rather than by warping with the Grail so that I can run around everywhere looking for fairy sparks. I don't find any, but down by the entrance to the Mausoleum there's a Conception Lock. Let's open it up:



It reveals a path to a shop that was not there before.



Inside, a ghost is selling Shurikens and Weights, which don't interest me, and the Detector, which does. So I buy it.



Seems like something that'll come in handy occasionally.



I scour the Mausoleum looking for fairies as well. I find one, but only through a door that I'm sure wasn't there before. Instead of healing, she offers advice. I keep looking, then move to the Temple and look around there. I don't find any fairies, but there is a Conception Lock to be opened:



It takes me a moment to figure out what's changed after opening this lock. I was expecting a ladder up to the chest or something. What's actually happened is that the block by the door at the upper right has disappeared. I haven't been through either right side door yet, so maybe now is the time.



Huh. It's dark in here. I don't think I'll be able to get far, but for now I'll try to look for a path to the upper door.



My Shuriken is quickly stopped by a wall, but the snake's spear either passes through or above it to hit me. I seem to be in a very small area, unable to walk forwards or jump upwards.



I can climb down, though.



I kill a bat, earning enough EXP for a much-needed VIT refill, and continue to stumble forwards in the dark.



The next screen quickly dead-ends, but has a ladder that takes me down to a third screen. I drop down a hole to a lower level. I'm guessing my path isn't coming through very clearly in these screenshots?



Down the bottom I find some kind of low platform. Maybe it's important?



On the next screen some bats start swooping me. Time to get out of this place!



I warp back to the Village and speak to Xelpud, who gives me what looks like a pretty good clue. I don't think I have anything that can produce fire, but I will by the end of this update. I also save, because that's always a good idea.



Here's my map of The Darkness. Usually I save these for the end of the update, but I wanted to talk a little about it. I made it by layering I would guess somewhere between 100 and 200 screenshots to show Lemeza's path and also those of the enemies (I thought I'd easily find a tool that would convert a video or GIF into a long exposure still image, but I didn't, so I did it manually, which... never again). The bats are kind of a nuisance, since they can fly through walls and floors, but otherwise it gives some idea of the layout. Of particular interest, I think, is the little bump in the floor of 1/-1. The elder has told me there's a spot I can light to clear the darkness, perhaps it's there? I'm hoping once I can make flame I'll be able to at least briefly illuminate the place to help me find the right spot to light it properly.



For now, I warp to the Spring and sit for a moment in glorious subaquatic safety.



Then I take the ladder downwards. How exactly a ladder leading down from a pool of water can keep dry I leave to the reader to ponder, but it leads to another pool with a new seahorse enemy and from there to a room with the familiar bubble fishman. Somehow I manage to get thrown backwards past the fishman, denying me the chance to check this room out properly. The angler fish on the right looks a lot like the "master of fish" mentioned in this clue. According to the manual, "The lord of the fishpeople is a proud fish. It is said there is some good in his heart, but whether this is true is unknown." I'm not sure if that's this fish or not.



In the room below I take out a fishman to read the stele. "Above the sun", eh? Where have I been that's got a sun? Then I take a moving platform back up a screen and read the broken stele there. I'm not sure its clue will be of value.



I head left and after a brief scuffle with a seahorse discover that the wall makes a noise when struck. None of my current weapons or subweapons work on it, but I'll make a note to come back later.

I go back to the right and take on the master of fish. I try walking into it first, too see if there's some good in his heart, but take damage when I do. So I try the whip, which causes the cheerful and friendly looking fish to flinch. What's the deal, here? I decide not to push the attack for now.



Instead I take on the left side fishman and read the stele. I already know that I need to get further into the Endless Corridor.



I go back to the master of fish and try the shuriken on it, which gets me a nice clear shot of its reaction sprite. I'm not happy with this. It doesn't seem right to be attacking this fish. Also, I hit it six times without effect, so I'm starting to think I need to do something else.



I try just standing there for a while, but that gets me nowhere.



So I head down and to the left, finding a winch with a chain on it. I try striking it with all my weapons, but get no result.



I head to the screen below, where the chain continues to a block that seems to be stopping the flow of water. The broken stele that Lemeza is standing in front of in the shot bizarrely doesn't scan at all, and killing the enemies doesn't do anything, so I head back up and to the right, where I get another broken stele that at least scans, but has nothing on it. At the right side of this screen is a blue figure over a dais. It looks familiar...



Weighting the dais gets me the puzzle solving sound but doesn't change anything on screen. According to the clue I just linked to, I need to open the floodgate so the water will flow again. "The blue flying one holds the key." I guess the floodgate is the big stone block I've just seen, and now that I've activated the mechanism by the blue flying one it might be open?



Doesn't seem to be so. Striking the winch gets no response, and striking the block itself invites divine retribution. I also tried to attack the little white spot where the chain reaches the roof, but the Shuriken doesn't work and I can't land a hit with anything else. Watching the footage though, it looks like I didn't try using the backswing of the whip. I'll add that to my list. I think this area relates to the clue about the spring being above the sun: if I can lift this block somehow, water will flow down from here into the Temple of the Sun. But I haven't got it figured out yet.



I head back to the master of fish.



I work out my frustrations for a while, and the fish dies. Again, this doesn't feel right. Is there some other way to solve this? Anyway, when the fish dies, the chest opens to reveal the Ankh Jewel. Score! Less obviously, the bubble fishman on the upper level dies with the fish.



I take the Jewel, of course.



As I start to head back to the upper part of the level, a seahorse knocks me backwards and I notice that even though the master of fish has respawned, the bubble fishmen both die as soon as I enter the screen. Sadly, I don't get EXP for it.



I return to the first screen of the Spring and scan the skeleton in the water for Konami Game Collection Vol. 1, a 1988 compilation of five earlier titles: Antarctic Adventure, Yie Ar Kung-Fu, Yie Ar Kung-Fu 2: The Emperor Yie-Gah, Knightmare, and King's Valley. Good value! Then I head right, to the place where energy is collected from the water for the tower and where I still can't interact with the circular objects, and head up to the room pictured in this clue. The water level has risen and the chest has opened now that I've reactivated the waterworks.



I scan the two underwater skeletons, finding nothing, then head for the platform to get the Glove:



This seems kind of underwhelming, but it's one more tick on my to-do list at least.



I head to the next screen, where a bubble fishman again expires as I enter (this is entirely welcome, those guys are a pain) and heal up with the fairy. Then for some reason I go back into the trap at the lower right of the room. I think I was hoping the floodgate clue related to the blue bar that's blocking my movement. Anyway, it gives me a good reason to warp out and save.



I return to the Spring and make my way up to the boat room.



Inside, an Ankh has appeared! I'm not certain, but I think this was probably the result of weighting the dais below the image of the blue flying one.



I use an Ankh Jewel and the bulk of the room fades away. As the boat sets off, what looks like the master of fish in red races in from below. Is it here to help me, or for revenge?



Whoa! A giant fish appears, its wake throwing Lemeza's boat into the air. This must be Bahamut, as mentioned in an earlier clue:

Bahamut in video games is often a big dragon, as in the Final Fantasies and D&D. La-Mulana goes a little closer to the source with its giant fish:

The Earth is supported by an angel, which stands on a rock of ruby, which is born by a huge bull, which stands on Bahamut, who swims in water which is above darkness, "and the knowledge of mankind fails as to what is under the darkness".

La-Mulana doesn't quite get the scale of Bahamut to what's described there, but at least it's a fish. Anyways, let's take it on:



Bahamut does another jump attack, this time landing on Lemeza, and follows with some fire breath that misses. I don't seem to have any control over the movement of the boat, so I'm not sure how I'm supposed to dodge attacks.



I get knocked off the boat by the next attack, landing on the fish below. Is it there to stop me falling offscreen? Unlike the boat, its movements mirror Lemeza's. Even with the scalesphere, though, I'm losing health in the water. Is it from contact with the fish? Is it on impact with the fast-moving water surface? Dunno.



Bahamut lunges at me again, and this time I manage to send at least a couple of Shuriken straight to its face and avoid (barely) taking a hit. The shuriken didn't hurt the last guardian, will they damage Bahamut? I think I'm hearing the damage sound when they land, and it's hard to see how else I'm gonna land hits. The whip and knife don't seem suitable for this fight.



Seriously, what was I supposed to do here to not get hit?



In its next attack, Bahamut pukes at me. Gross! It gives a good chance to throw some Shuriken, but I get knocked into the water and struggle to get back to the boat, losing a little health with each jump.

I have a couple of bad cycles. I manage to land a hit with the whip, but at the cost of another trip into the water.



I've cut few similar cycles of Bahamut jumping on Lemeza here and gone for the end of the fight: I get into a perfect spot for rapid-fire Shurikening, then get thrown far from the boat when Bahamut opens its mouth and lose the last of my VIT trying to reach the boat again. I'd been thinking maybe I was only losing health at the point of entering the water, but looking at this footage I think Lemeza loses some VIT while staying under. I guess I need to stay on the boat as much as possible.



On the way back for another shot, I learn that what the fairy in the Mausoleum said about standing still to get healed is true.



My second attempt at Bahamut starts well, but I get knocked away from the boat a few times and quickly lose all my health in the water. This seems really hard! I'm gonna put it off for now. The last guardian I beat didn't even get me anything, anyway.



I decide before I quit for the day I'll dip back into the Inferno Cavern and unlock its altar so I can just warp in next time instead of having to enter from the Temple (Not shown between the two screenshots here: three full minutes of me getting hit by these birds and thrown to the bottom of this pit without reaching the Cavern). Hey, is that a dais in the second screenshot? How long has that been there?



I jump down and weight it, but nothing happens on this screen. I guess I'll find out what it did later. I was genuinely shocked by this dais appearing. I would have sworn I'd already killed all the enemies on that screen in an earlier pass. This is a reminder of the importance of being thorough, I guess. I've added clearing each screen of enemies to the list, but I'm sure I'll still miss a few here and there.

Say, the heiroglyphs on the wall here kind of look like they're pointing downwards. Is this an easier path to the hidden platforms below?



Nope!



This error turns out to be a blessing in disguise, though: climbing up again I see that the mine cart has been freed from the roof by the mechanism I just activated.

Can do, Xelpud!



With my new Glove, pushing things is a breeze!



We're going all the way to the bottom.



One step at a time.



I'm now faced with a tricky decision - ride the blue platform down to the bottom of its shaft, or push the cart across so it falls to the bottom of the Temple?



I go with the latter, and chase it down.



It winds up creating a platform in the spikes here. I try to jump to the raised area on the right and can't get high enough, but when I kill the bird the spikes disappear and the Ankh appears.



I've just spent I don't know how long falling down pits to get here, so I head out and save before facing certain death.



On my return I use the Ankh Jewel, causing a hole to appear in the floor. The mine cart falls through and suddenly some kind of giant frill-necked lizard is chasing me.



And shooting fireballs! Yowza!



A break in the track throws the cart into the air, allowing Lemeza to fire off some Shuriken at the thing's head, but on landing I take a hit, and I subsequently miss a switch that I guess would take me to the upper track.



The ramps in the track keep providing chances to shoot it in the face, but I'm having a hard time doing that and avoiding its fire.



It disappears and reappears at the bottom of the screen, at which height my shots seem to go through it rather than landing, and the roof starts to collapse. I'm getting low on VIT.



I manage to reach the upper level, a prime chance to shoot at it, but instead I try to close in and whip it, which leads to the fatal blow (to Lemeza).



I put the lizard in the too hard basket for now and set off again for the Inferno Cavern. The room in the last screenshot here should have a ladder at the upper left, but it doesn't. I'm going to try killing everything to see if one appears:



Nope. I also find that I can no longer annoy the statues on this screen, I guess because their puzzle is solved, and reviewing the footage I realise I haven't broken the rock at the lower right of the room, which probably doesn't matter but of course might.



To head further into the cavern I need to take a literal leap of faith in the hope that I'll land on something other than lava. I do.



There's another dais rigged to a trap. This one gets me.

The big blue beam unsurprisingly blocks my path to the stele.



I head down the friendlier-looking right side and find myself facing flame rats. These things are a pain, because they drop little fires behind them that can catch you out. I should probably try using the knife to put the flames out, I guess.



The next screen has more flame rats, lots of pushable blocks, and what looks like a map of the area on a stele. "Another here"? Dunno, but the left part of the image roughly fits with the in-game map of the Cavern.



I take out the rats and push some of the blocks around a little. If there's a puzzle to be solved with these blocks, I don't know what it is. The wall to the left of Lemeza looks a little odd, doesn't it?



I give it a good whipping and a path opens. Score!



Inside I'm attacked by two of the wierd snowflake enemies. I struggle a little, but eventually am left alone with the puzzle. There are three blocks, and six spaces to fill. What do?



I've cut about 30 seconds of me staring at the screen before starting, but this is still a pretty long GIF. Pushing blocks on to some of the spaces causes more blocks to appear, so I need to figure out which blocks to put where and in what order so that I don't get stuck. At the end of this GIF I push the newly appeared block down from the top right platform, then realise that I can't push the other block on that platform right onto the space, meaning I've just locked the puzzle. I head to the entrance to reset it.



Here are my various failures. In the first I almost have it, but I can't push the upper left block over to the upper left space because it's on the edge of the platform. In the second, putting the block Lemeza is standing next to onto the space caused a block to appear right next to another on the top left platform, meaning I can't push either of them. In the third I've again pushed the block that needs to go on the top right space down from the platform. In the fourth I've made it impossible to get a block to the upper left space (I should have pushed the block to the left of Lemeza onto the middle left space and then pushed the block on that space in the screenshot on top of it).



And here's the successful attempt. I said earlier that the Glove was underwhelming, but I spent about ten minutes on this room and I shudder to think what that time would have been if I were still moving blocks at the default speed.



If anyone didn't watch the GIF in full (it's almost two minutes, I don't blame you), here's the reward: a Flare Gun. Of course, I have no ammo for it at present. Should come in handy in the Darkness once I get some, though.



I return to the previous room and go right. As I enter the next room, a sound plays. This must be my new detector, but I can't reach the upper portion of the room from the lower left, so I head downwards. The stele there offers a pretty general clue.



Reaching the ladder back up requires careful timing.



Sure enough, I find a hidden store. There's also another partial clue on a broken stele. I've kind of been ignoring these on the assumption that later steles will contain the rest of the clue, but I'm starting to have doubts given I've only been able to pair two fragments once. This one doesn't fit with any of the others I have so far.



I purchase Mahjong Wizard, which I think is Mah-Jong 2. Searching for 牌の魔術師, that game's Japanese title, gets a google translation of "Tile Magician", which is pretty close to Mahjong Wizard. Then I head back down and take a right.



I've been striking walls fairly routinely for a while now, and on this screen it pays off. Sort of - the wall breaks, but I don't find anything.



I don't have the VIT to risk jumping over that lava, so I head up the ladder and at last find the altar. I activate it, then head back to town for another clue from Xelpud (and to save). There have been a lot of references in the Cavern to things that are missing and alternative heres, and now Xelpud is talking about the back. I've played the Wii version, so I do know (or think I know) what this is all about, but I'll wait for it to become clear in the game before I talk about it.

And that's it for today! Here are some maps:

Village:



The Spring of the Sky:



The Darkness:



Inferno Cavern:



Inferno Cavern's map is a little odd: Aside from the two rooms at the upper left that don't connect to the rest, the room at -4/-2 where I got the Flare Gun isn't on the in-game map, but a corridor of three screens from -4/-1 to -6/-1 is. There must be a hidden opening in -3/-1 or maybe in the roof of -4/-2. Or it's entered from somewhere else.

Clues:

Village:
"The Algol with the blue body and the many eyes. Legend has it he is weak to the Serpent Staff."

Guidance Gate:



Spring of the Sky:

"The water that operates the tower. It flows here and is converted to energy."

"The Sky Spring lies above the sun."

"Walk down the infinite corridor. Beyond it lies everything."



Mausoleum of Giants:



Endless Corridor:



Temple of the Sun:



Inferno Cavern:

"Strange, these ruins are strange. This shouldn't be a dead end..."

"Discover where the truth of this land lies."

"This is the Inferno Cavern. A place that was once a source of power."

"If you can't find something important where it should be, check the back."



The Maze:









To-Do:

Anywhere:
-Clear each screen of enemies at least once
-Complete the software use and software combinations lists in the manual

Village:
-Kill the blue Algol at -5/1, probably with the Serpent Staff.
-Explore beyond the waterfall at 4/3
--Jump from 4/3 to attempt to reach 5/3 and/or 5/2
-Get to hidden door at 4/2

Guidance Gate:
-Open treasure chests at -2/-2, 2/-1
-Get past barrier at 0/-2
-Climb upper ladder at 0/-2
-Get past holy rock at 1/-2
-Climb narrow shaft at 4/-1
-Take ladder to other Field at 1/-4
-Put weights on daises at -1/-2, 0/-2 (upper)
-Reach and press floor switch at -2/-2
-Do something at 2/-4
-Use Hand Scanner with Glyph Reader on:
--Steles: -1/-2, 4/-1
--Skeletons: 4/-1
-Get the Jewel in the mouth of the face on 0/-3
-Get the Jewel in the star at 0/-4
-Find the Ankh
--"Beyond the path of Angels"
-Awaken the Guardian

Spring of the Sky:
-Get the key from the blue flying one to open the floodgate
-Scan skeletons: 0/0, 2/1 (x2)
-Get the statue in the room at 0/1 to say or do something
-Reach the Life Jewel in the treasure chest at 0/2
-Reach the two circular objects in 2/0
-Climb against the flow of the water in 2/1 as depicted on the stele in Guidance Gate 0/-3
-Open the chest in 2/1
-Cast off the boat at 2/4
--Meet Bahamut
---Defeat Bahamut
-Get the Ankh Jewel from the master of fish
-Break wall at 1/-2
-Move chain at 1/-3 to lift stone at 1/-4
--Try to break white thing on chain at 1/-4

Mausoleum of Giants:
-Decipher the legend of the giants
-Do something at the upper left of 2/-2
-Do something with holy wall at 1/-1
-Buy Seal of El Giza at 4/-2 (100 coins)
-Take path to other Field at 6/-3

Endless Corridor:
-Explore the Endless Corridor
--Find a way into the rooms below the top floor

Temple of the Sun:
-Do something with the grey block at 1/0
-Scan skeletons: 4/-2 (x2)
-Scan steles: 1/-2 (several), 1/-4, 4/-2, 5/-3
--Do something at gap in top row of steles at 1/-2
-Get faster to climb slopes
-Open treasure chest at 5/-3
-Do something with blue platform at 2/-4
-Push the mine cart (at 1/0?) all the way to the bottom
-Solve all the puzzles
--Proceed below (to 2/-5)
-Purchase Heatproof Case (100 coins) (3/-4)
-Bring the Woman Statue to the sun at 3/-2
-Do something with the wall that goes "ping" at the upper left of 3/-3
-Do something with the statue at 4/-2
-Go to the other Field at 5/-3
-Take upper exit to Darkness at 5/-3
-Defeat the giant lizard

Inferno Cavern:
-Become impervious to lava
-Scan skeletons: -2/0 (x2), -1/0 (x2), 0/0 (x2)
-Unlock and take the path to another Field at -2/1
--Kill all enemies in the room
--Break the rock at the lower right of the room
-Get Heatproof Case
-Reach the two rooms at the top left of the map
-Reach the three rooms going left from -4/-1
-Get past the blue beam to the stele at the upper left of -3/0
-Go down the left hand shaft at -3/0
-Find that which is not here, which is at another here
--Check the back
-Do something in the broken wall space at -1/-3

The Maze:
-Release the twins
-Try collecting the coins from the pots in 0/-2 again to see if they're still big money
-Buy Dragon Bone (200 coins)
-Take the right hand ladder up from the older brother's store
-Figure out the layout

The Darkness:
-Illuminate the area
--Use fire at a small window you can light
---Try flares

Conception Locks:
-Guidance Gate -2/-5
-Temple of the Sun 5/-3

Birth Locks:
-Guidance Gate 2/-1
-Waterworks 0/2

Life Locks:
-Village -4/1
-Endless Corridor -1/0

Death Locks:
-Temple of the Sun 0/-4

Fairy Locations:
-Spring of the Sky 3/1




ROMs:

Do you have any rom combos now? (Rom-com bos?)

Rombos.

Regarding the two options to go down in Inferno Cavern, I was thinking, maybe the quick drop is the way to get to the other "another here" Inferno Cavern?

Not that I know of. I’m building quite a collection, but I don’t know how to identify working combinations. I thought there was a noise when you got one, but when I’ve tried mixing and matching I haven’t heard anything.

I’ll give it a go! But I’ve already played the next update, so not yet.

Last time I took a stroll over the edge of this waterfall, then realised in post that I should have jumped over instead to see if there's anything to the right. This time, I jumped. Turns out there's a chest, and it's locked with the Conception Seal that I happen to have.



I break the lock and gain the Birth Seal for my efforts. Nice!



I attempt to jump to the hidden hut one screen to the left, but I don't even come close. Oh well.



I climb back up the waterfall and start heading back to the village, but then remember that I have the Grail and warp myself to the Guidance Gate altar. One screen to the right is a Birth Lock. Let's bust it open:



It turns out the game is quite picky about how Lemeza touches the lock.



I try a different angle of attack and it breaks. I was expecting the chest to open, but instead a closed upper chamber appears with three myrmecoleos in it.



I have no way to reach them at present. I'll have to come back.



My experience in the Temple last time has made me wonder if I've missed things by not killing all enemies in rooms. This room has been bugging me since I first reached it, and I wonder if it's as simple as taking out all the bats? I give it a shot: it is not as simple as that.



According to my to-do list, there's another Birth Lock at the upper left of the Spring of the Sky. I head back there, and again struggle to jump accurately to unlock it.



I wind up falling all the way back to the bottom of the shaft. This seems like as good a place as any to show La-Mulana's occasionally infuriating water movement mechanics: I'm holding right from just as I hit the water in this GIF, but Lemeza continues to go left until I hit the ground.



After several more failed attempts I get the jump right. Then I fall down again.



On my return, there are ladders leading to the uppermost platform. I kill everything, opening the chest, and get another Life Jewel. Increased max VIT is always welcome.



Carrying on with my to-do list, I warp back to the altar and head downwards to try something again with the chain mechanism.



It turns out to be really simple: the white thing on the chain breaks when I hit it with the backswing of the whip.



I head back up the ladder and strike the winch with the whip until the puzzle solving noise plays, then head back down to find that the block has lifted and the water drained. There are also a bunch of skeletons now, one of which drops Quarth, a 1990 home port of the 1989 arcade puzzle/shmup combo.



I jump down through the hole and find myself in the Temple of the Sun, as suggested by a stele last time:



I combined my maps, and while it is the case that the Spring is over the Temple, there's a gap in the map that isn't there in-game. Also, these three areas don't overlap, but add any more in and they start crossing over, so it's not possible to make one big map of the entire game layout. Pity.



Anyways, I've landed on a small platform that I couldn't reach before. I move quickly to get onto the bigger platform before I get knocked off, and take out the skeletons and flying head. Nothing happens with the enemies killed, but I read a pretty strange message on the stele. Could She who never stops smiling be the statue below? Its expression could maybe be a smile?



I try attacking it, but it doesn't go well. I'm forced to the screen below.



Something's changed down here...

The raised water level allows me to reach the upper level of the next screen, where a destroyed pot reveals a dais that opens the chest, scoring me the boots.



Hey, that sounds pretty good!



Sure enough, Lemeza is moving faster now. This must be a high-priority item for speedrunners.



Bats are a pain in any situation, but they're especially bad on screens with water because they're the same colour and so invisible. Killing all the enemies on this screen doesn't do anything, but at least I've done it. I'd like to explore the Darkness again, but I want to try using flares to light the place up, so I head back left.



The very next enemy I encounter helpfully drops a flare.



My increased speed has two immediate uses: I can climb up the slopes in the Temple now, and I can make this jump. I should make a note to try and reach the hidden hut above the village again.



For some reason I thought climbing into this statue from below would make it disappear. Something I'm misremembering from the Wii version, I guess. I also try attacking from below with predictable results.



I head for the upper level of The Darkness, cleverly waiting for the knight to turn away from me before opening the door, and not so cleverly taking a hit from a bat.



Getting thrown off-screen has its advantages, though: the second knight is returned to the middle of the screen with its back to me, allowing me to throw Shuriken at it. Sadly, I get just ridiculous luck with the bats and wind up fleeing.



Third time lucky, I get rid of the knight at last, then read the stele. I'm not adding that to my clues list. I know about that. Then I head through the door to reach the upper level of the first screen of darkness. What can I do here?



I take one step forward and fall down. Argh. I'm still higher than I would be from the other entrance, though. Let's try my flare:



With my sole flare I manage to kill a bat. That's better than not killing a bat! But not really what I was trying to do.



I fall down again and spend some time taking hits in the dark. It seems like there are some spikes or something at the left edge of the platform with the upper snakeman.



At some point I notice my lack of VIT and warp out to save. Then I decide to mix things up a little and try to heal Lemeza instead of killing him off, so I head for the fairy in the Spring. Since I'm in the area I decide to take another shot at Bahamut: I have more VIT now, and being able to move faster should make it easier to get back in the boat when I fall out.



Whoops. I overshot the jump a little there. I need to adjust to this new movement speed.



Aww gee.



Yes!



No!



It takes me over three minutes, but I make it to the Ankh room eventually, and again face off against Bahamut.



Sure enough, I can get back to the boat a bit quicker than before.

As before, I'm landing a couple of hits with the Shuriken but taking a lot of damage myself. I don't have many Shuriken left at this point, which is kind of an oversight on my part. This GIF shows something I mentioned earlier: before I allow Lemeza to land on this fish, his jumps go straight up out of the water and only move forwards on the way down. After he touches down on the fish and starts moving forwards, he can jump forwards out of the water. I think this is probably the real purpose of the fish in this fight.



The fight actually goes fairly well for a while (not shown), with Lemeza landing a fair few hits and not taking all that many in return, but then I run out of ammo. I'm left with the whip at this point.



Before I can even try to attack that way though, disaster strikes. Lemeza is knocked to the water by Bahamut's fire breath, misses getting back on the boat when it's pushed upwards by a wave, and fails to land on the fish to reset his jumping momentum, with the result that he drowns.



I decide that's enough Bahamut for today and set out to score some flares. I check the earlier updates of the LP and see that this store in the temple sells flares, so I head there and spend 70 coins to get 10 flares. That's not a great price, in my opinion, but I haven't yet seen any dropping from pots so I don't have many options.



I return to the newly unlocked area in the Guidance Gate and use the flares to kill the myrmecoleos, unlocking the chest.



I get the Cross:



I don't think I've seen the "Soul" enemy before, unless it's the ghosts in the Mausoleum.



I set off for The Darkness, but as so often happens (to me) I get waylaid by injury and falling in a pit. In the process of trying to get out again (I should have just warped back to the Temple altar) I find a pot in the pyramid that drops ten flares. That's a seventy coin value! Much better than buying them. I also come across the shop selling the Heatproof Case, and since I have the money and will be exploring the Inferno Cavern some more some time soon, I pick it up.





Now that I can use my computer in lava, I set off for the Darkness. I try a flare at the entrance, but it gets me nowhere. So I set off for the little bump in the floor I identified in the last update.



I fire off a flare and the room lights up. Have I cleared the darkness?



Nope. After a few seconds, the lights go out again. And just as I was about to scan that stele!



Fortunately, the Hand Scanner and MSX2 work even in the dark. The message on the stele reminds me of something one of my uncles once said to me on Facebook, but is probably a more literal direction for navigating the Darkness.



I light the room up again, then go to the next one and start firing off flares to find more light spots. I don't actually have a lot of flares to go around, but I eventually find a good spot, which reveals there's quite a bit going on in this room. I'm guessing that pressing the footswitch at the upper right will open the chest at the upper left. Presumably I'll have to do it all in the dark, too, since there's no way to get a flare to the torch from the right side of the room. Having the lights on also lets me see that there's a ladder down I can reach.



I get swooped as I take the ladder and fall to the screen below, where I am confronted by I guess Legion? I use my usual room guard technique of lots of Shurikens, which would be more effective if I were striking the boss itself more instead of the floating heads around it, but I get there in the end. When it dies, the area map appears.



I fumble around in the dark for a while and eventually reach it.



I load up the map software and take a look. "Chamber of Extinction", eh? I think my name was less ominous, though this one certainly works in the sense of extinguishing light. I set off for the next room, needing to weight an invisible dais to pass through.



In the next room I am able to walk straight along the bottom to continue, at which point I come into blessed illumination again.



I immediately take a left back into the darkness, but quickly decide it's too hard and I want to be able to see again.



There's a little patch of grass that I can freely walk in front of, until it springs up from the ground revealing a humanoid figure. I whip it a few times and it's gone. Let's check in with JLB:

These ones don't seem to shriek.



The stele up top has a mysterious clue. I guess I'll need to keep an eye out for a room shaped like a cross, but I don't know how I'll summon anything there. Then I finish off the last enemy with no obvious effect, and try attacking the thing at the lower left with no effect. I guess it's just scenery. Speaking of which, check out all the images of dripping people crawling and walking in the background of this room.

Extremely observant readers may have noticed that the room I've been in has a ladder leading downwards but has no room below it on the in-game map. I take the ladder and find that it's taken me not just down a room, but also four screens to the right.



Three snake-men throw their spears at me. The third one lands a hit. One nice touch with these guys is that they only have one spear - their sprite changes after they throw it to reflect that they don't have it any more. Hey, is that a sparkle at the right of the screen?



Sure enough, I step there with Diviner Sensation loaded and a fairy appears with a much-needed VIT top-up. Oddly, though, it's not a complete restore. The last time I got healed it was by a blue fairy which took me from a similarly low VIT all the way back up to full. I guess the orange one isn't as powerful? Dunno what influences which one you get, though. I'm pretty sure I've had two or three different colours at the heal spot in the Spring.



I read the stele for another odd clue. I'll add it to my list and wait for something to come up that makes sense of it.



Here's the mandrake's popping up animation. I don't get there in time to take it out before it goes down again.



I get it eventually, though, and set about taking the other enemies out. By luck, the backswing of Lemeza's whip breaks a wall to reveal some coins while he's attacking a snake-man. I set about testing the other walls and find some flares.



There's another breakable wall at the upper left. Because I'm standing against it I get the coins before they become visible, but watch Lemeza's cash supply as the wall breaks: that's one spicy meatball! I try to move to the next room through the hole I've made, but it doesn't work.



I decide to go back up the ladder and head right, which leads to a room with three flying demon enemies, some moving platforms, and a treasure chest. I take the ladder down and see an always welcome sight, the area's altar.



Whoa. Sounds heavy, dude...



As I contemplate the horrors that happened in this place, something starts shooting out of the wall at me. I move to the lower level and take out some enemies. Unfortunately I can't clear the room because I can't reach the skeleton down below. There's a Birth Lock down there which I have the seal for, but I can't reach it, either. There's also a block receptacle, but no block to push onto it.



I get yet another broken message from a broken stele, then annoy something somewhere by striking a wall, then I head up on the moving platforms to see if killing the demons will open the chest.



It doesn't go well, and with an eye to my VIT I decide to put this off until later. I really need to reach the upper left of the screen, I think.



I head right from the altar, reaching a corridor with another blank broken stele. There's a switch at the end of the lower passage, but I haven't got a path to there yet. I try the knife out against the low-lying enemies of this screen but still have to wait for them to pop up before I can attack. I also move along the room striking the floor with it to see if there's a hidden path down, but no dice.



The next room looks like it should have a ladder leading upwards to another Field, but there isn't one. I think the symbol there is the number 9. There's also some green water that I'm not brave enough to jump into at my current VIT, so I take out the snake-man and move on, then turn back and enter the lower corridor. But I can't get past the blue barrier.



I'm all but dead and I can't see any obvious way to proceed in this area, so I bail out and save. Then I decide to head back to the Maze to see if I can get the big coin drops I got in the last update again. With next to no VIT, I don't make it. On my second attempt I stop off to pick up Seal of El Giza from this shop in the Mausoleum, since I have the money.



I return to the Maze. The pot that contained 30 coins still does, but the one that dropped 100 does not. 30 coins at a hit is nice, but probably not worth the effort to get there.



I also try taking the right side ladder up from the Older Brother's Store. I don't blame you for not remembering this, but it's the one path I didn't try taking last time I was in this area. It leads to a room I've been to before.



I warp to the Endless Corridor because for some reason I thought the Life Lock there (which I can't open) was a Birth Lock (which I would be able to open). When this doesn't work I sit puzzled for a moment, honestly stumped as to where I can reach but haven't gone yet. Then I remember the Inferno Cavern.



But it's to be a brief visit: I fall in lava immediately and fail to get out, so I warp back to town. I was planning to say "Good thing I bought that heatproof case" at this point, but reviewing the GIF it looks like I was out of the lava when I opened the MSX screen to exit.



And that's it for today!

Maps:

The Village:



The Chamber of Extinction:

Clues:

Village:
"The Algol with the blue body and the many eyes. Legend has it he is weak to the Serpent Staff."

Guidance Gate:



Spring of the Sky:

"The water that operates the tower. It flows here and is converted to energy."

"The Sky Spring lies above the sun."

"Walk down the infinite corridor. Beyond it lies everything."



Mausoleum of Giants:



Endless Corridor:



Temple of the Sun:



Inferno Cavern:


The Maze:

"Release the twins."



Chamber of Extinction:

"If thou cannot go left, go right."

"A joyful sould is milky hued, an eloquent soul is black, an honest soul is purple, a happy soul is green, a pure soul is white, a passionate soul is red, and a kind soul is blue. Souls have colors."







To-Do:

Anywhere:
-Clear each screen of enemies at least once
-Complete the software use and software combinations lists in the manual

Village:
-Kill the blue Algol at -5/1, probably with the Serpent Staff.
-Explore beyond the waterfall at 4/3
--Jump from 4/3 to attempt to reach 5/3 and/or 5/2
-Get to hidden door at 4/2
--Try jumping from 5/2 with the boots

Guidance Gate:
-Open treasure chests at -2/-2, 2/-1
-Get past barrier at 0/-2
-Climb upper ladder at 0/-2
-Get past holy rock at 1/-2
-Climb narrow shaft at 4/-1
-Take ladder to other Field at 1/-4
-Put weights on daises at -1/-2, 0/-2 (upper)
-Reach and press floor switch at -2/-2
-Do something at 2/-4
-Use Hand Scanner with Glyph Reader on:
--Steles: -1/-2, 4/-1
--Skeletons: 4/-1
-Get the Jewel in the mouth of the face on 0/-3
-Get the Jewel in the star at 0/-4
-Find the Ankh
--"Beyond the path of Angels"
-Awaken the Guardian

Spring of the Sky:
-Get the statue in the room at 0/1 to say or do something
-Reach the Life Jewel in the treasure chest at 0/2
-Reach the two circular objects in 2/0
-Defeat Bahamut
-Break wall at 1/-2
-Move chain at 1/-3 to lift stone at 1/-4
--Try to break white thing on chain at 1/-4

Mausoleum of Giants:
-Decipher the legend of the giants
-Do something at the upper left of 2/-2
-Do something with holy wall at 1/-1
-Buy Seal of El Giza at 4/-2 (100 coins)

Endless Corridor:
-Explore the Endless Corridor
--Find a way into the rooms below the top floor

Temple of the Sun:
-Scan steles: 1/-2 (several), 4/-2, 5/-3
--Do something at gap in top row of steles at 1/-2
-Get faster to climb slopes
-Open treasure chest at 5/-3
-Solve all the puzzles
-Purchase Heatproof Case (100 coins) (3/-4)
-Bring the Woman Statue to the sun at 3/-2
-Do something with the wall that goes "ping" at the upper left of 3/-3
-Do something with the statue at 4/-2
-Take upper exit to Darkness at 5/-3
-Shoot through she who never stops smiling
-Defeat the giant lizard

Inferno Cavern:
-Become impervious to lava
-Scan skeletons: -2/0 (x2), -1/0 (x2), 0/0 (x2)
-Unlock and take the path to another Field at -2/1
--Break the rock at the lower right of the room
-Get Heatproof Case
-Reach the two rooms at the top left of the map
-Reach the three rooms going left from -4/-1
-Get past the blue beam to the stele at the upper left of -3/0
-Go down the left hand shaft at -3/0
-Find that which is not here, which is at another here
--Check the back
-Do something in the broken wall space at -1/-3

The Maze:
-Release the twins
-Try collecting the coins from the pots in 0/-2 again to see if they're still big money
-Buy Dragon Bone (200 coins)
-Take the right hand ladder up from the older brother's store
-Figure out the layout

Chamber of Extinction:
-Illuminate the area
--Use fire at a small window you can light
---Try flares
----Try a flare at the upper entrance to 0/0
--Illuminate: 0/0, 1/0, 1/-1, 2/-1, 2/-2, 3/-2
-Press the footswitch at the upper right of 2/-1
-Open the chest at the upper left of 2/-1
-Open chest at 5/-2
--Kill all enemies
--Try to break blocks at 4/-2 and go to 5/-2 from there
-Get into lower part of 5/-3
--Enter from 6/-3 somehow?
--Unlock Birth Lock at 5/-3
--Push block (?) onto block space at 5/-3
-Step on footswitch at end of lower corridor at 6/-3
-Read stele at 7/-3
-Get past barrier at 7/-3
-Go in green water at 7/-3
-Find path upwards to new Field at 7/-3
-Reach the rooms at the upper right of the map


Birth Locks:
-Guidance Gate 2/-1
-Waterworks 0/2
-Chamber of Extinction 5/-3

Life Locks:
-Village -4/1
-Endless Corridor -1/0

Death Locks:
-Temple of the Sun 0/-4

Fairy Locations:
-Spring of the Sky 3/1
-Chamber of Extinction 8/-3

ROMs:

I love those long exposure-style maps you made of the dark rooms. Very impressive.

Disappointing that the areas don't gel into one massive world map, though!

There are reasons for that, although each "map" follows certain layout and design rules.

Hello again. Last time Lemeza was unable to jump to a hidden doorway to the left of this platform in the waterfall grotto. Later last time, Lemeza got some boots that increased his speed and therefore jumping distance. Let's give it another go:



Still no good! I tried this three times, thinking maybe I just needed to get right to the edge of the platform before jumping, but couldn't make it. Getting back up the big ladder for further attempts was taking too long, so I've put it off again. But:



While I was at the bottom after the first attempt, I thought I'd try to take out this bird in case it unlocked something. By luck, I took a swing at it while standing against but facing away from the wall, which made a noise. So I kept doing it, and found something.



With me in control, Lemeza needs all the VIT he can get.



I return to the ruins and head for a room that's been bugging me since the start of the game. Now that I have the boots, I'll be able to jump to the top left area and walk the Path of Angels. Let's do this thing!



I make the jump, but it doesn't get me anywhere immediate. I thought the holy block might disappear when I went down the ladder, but it doesn't, and remains as wrath-inducing as ever. Let's try for the invisible floor, which I expect to be just to the left of this platform:



Ah.



I find it on my second attempt, but it doesn't do me any good. I need to come at the platform with the ladder upwards from the left.



The boots make it easier to jump across this gap, but offer no way to reach the upper part of the room and from there the left approach to the high platform in the last GIF. If I could push the grey block down, maybe I could make it, but it won't budge from its place.



Next on my list for today is trying to light the darkness in the Chamber of Extinction, so I first head for the pot in the Temple that is one of two places where I know I can get flares. Then I head for the chamber.



The other place I know of is the lower right of the first screen here. I also get some coins from the lower left breakable block, but there's no refill on the 100 coins at the upper left. I visit the fairy while I'm there, then head up to try breaking some blocks that I haven't taken out before. They get me another ten or twenty flares (I think the lowest block dropped some, as seen in the last image here, but it's hard to tell with Lemeza in the way).



I head right. I'm hoping that taking these demon enemies out will open the chest.



My attack starts poorly.



And continues poorly. After a couple more rounds of this:



I remember that I have the Shuriken and manage to take them out. The chest doesn't open, but in the process I've destroyed a pot to reveal a door. This is slightly odd, because I've attacked several of these pots before and been unable to damage them, so I'd taken them to be scenery only.



Inside, another clue! More talk about the front and the back.



Back outside I try to jump to the moving platform, but wind up falling to the room below. When I come back up, the demons have respawned. I try knifing the wall below the chest to check for any more breakable blocks but come up with nothing. I don't want to take on the demons again, so I move on.



This green water looks toxic, doesn't it?



It isn't, but the hand within it is.



This wall makes the "there's something here but you can't have it" noise to everything I can attack it with.

The other side of the pool is more agreeable, dropping some flares. I'm starting to build up a good supply! Taking the flares reveals a skeleton, which drops Metal Gear 2, a 1990 tactical espionage game that probably doesn't need a lot of introduction on Talking Time.



Loaded with flares, I return to the darkness.



I hit a few bats before finding the torch, but am able to light the room. Looks like there's a stele up there, and a pit I won't be able to jump out of if I fall in it.



The next room (where I fought Legion earlier) takes me a little longer to light, and when I find the spot it looks like there's just a passage to the room above that I can't reach. All these lighting spots seem to be positioned so that I can't hit them with a flare from the upper sections.



It takes me a while in the dark, but I find my way to the ladder and climb upwards. I've been in the next room before, but I missed the stele last time. I guess Spriggan must be one of the bosses? Maybe the one I already fought in the Mausoleum? But none of the giants were named Spriggan. Anyway, I carry on through the following room.



I find another stele, and another room that looks quite hard to navigate in the dark.



And I'm back at the entrance from the Temple. There are another two stele here, the lower of which I can reach. It provides a clue for lighting the rooms. In retrospect, wandering around the dark trying to use the hand scanner would have made sense.



I warp back to the altar and reenter the darkness from the upper entrance at the right side. I manage to fall into a hole I can't get out of and decide that I'll put off further attempts at navigation until after I make my map of the area. Speaking of which:



Here's the map of just the dark area. Even with the map, it's going to be hard to guide Lemeza through that in the dark, but there's a treasure chest, several steles, and some things I might be able to break in there, so I'll give it a shot next time.



I head back to town and save, then return to the Inferno Cavern. From the altar, I haven't been down and to the right yet. It quickly leads to a dead end, but there's a stele, a switch, a chest, and a dais (floating in the air), so there's lots to do.



The stele again mentions the twins. Since I got the boots, maybe Lemeza is the man that runs faster than anyone?



I hit the footswitch, causing three blocks to drop. One of them lands on Lemeza. Between that and the lava he's standing in, I'm getting low on VIT.



The puzzle here is pretty obvious: I need to stack the blocks so that I can stand in front of the dais and drop a weight. But to do that, I need to push the lowest one left, which will involve standing in lava. I don't have the VIT for that right now, so it will have to wait.



Instead, I start heading up the left side of the area, and...

hey...

what's that?



It's a Birth Lock that I completely missed when I was here before. It blends in with the red backdrop. I unlock it and a passage opens in the shaft to the left. Nice!



I jump down the shaft in an attempt to reach the newly opened passage, but take a hit from a gout of flame and am unable to make it. On the plus side, killing the flame rat at the bottom tips my EXP over the edge, refilling my VIT. I start heading up for another try.



I make a few more attempts, but do no better. The timing of the gout just above the opening seems to be consistent so that you always get hit before making it. I decide to use my newly refilled VIT to push the block in the lava I saw earlier, but I fall in the lava along the way.



I teleport to the Spring to get my VIT back up and then try again. I get knocked in lava again, but on the third attempt I take out the skeleton that's been knocking me in with Shuriken before attempting the jump and I finally make it. Thank goodness I bought that heatproof case!



As I said before, it's a pretty simple puzzle if you have the VIT to survive it. I score the Grapple Claw for my troubles:

I've been looking forwards to this thing since seeing a narrow shaft in the Guidance Gate that I couldn't jump up. Being able to jump up between two walls is gonna open this game right up.



I head back to town to save, and Xelpud has something to say about the claw. He would have said more, too, but I pressed down to exit before noticing the button icon that indicates a second screen of text. I went back in, but he was back to his usual comments. Oh well. I'm sure it was nothing too important.



I head for the shaft in the Guidance Gate that I mentioned. Let's climb!



Oh. I'm jumping into the wall, then pressing up, like Xelpud said, but it's not working.



I clear out the bats and make several more attempts.



Eventually I manage to get it to work. But why did it work this time and not all the other times?



I'm still getting inconsistent attachment, but worse than that: it seems like I can't jump upwards off the wall, only downwards. This isn't going to help me climb.



Lemeza does seem to be able to do a fast jump away from the wall, though. That should help me into the gap I've just opened in the Inferno Cavern.



I've cut about ten minutes here of my trying to get the grab working consistently (as well as some wandering the ruins). I enter the Cavern from the Temple so I can break the rock I missed before (it holds coins but doesn't unlock the ladder at the top left), then I head for the shaft to see if I can get anywhere with the claw. When I arrive, I notice that the blue barrier has disappeared. It was here when I was jumping down the shaft before, so it must have gone when I got the Grapple Claw.



If there was any doubt that I'm supposed to use the claw to reach the opening in the wall below, it's gone now.



But I still can't get the claw to trigger when I want it to, so it's no good.



The barrier in the Cavern having disappeared, I wonder if the one in the Chamber might be gone, too. No such luck. Oh well. I head back to the the village, save, and quit in frustration. I have since figured out what I was doing wrong, so next time I'll be grappling whenever I want to.

Maps:

Village:



Chamber of Extinction:



Inferno Cavern:

Village:
"The Algol with the blue body and the many eyes. Legend has it he is weak to the Serpent Staff."

Guidance Gate:



Spring of the Sky:



Mausoleum of Giants:



Endless Corridor:



Temple of the Sun:



Inferno Cavern:

"Strange, these ruins are strange. This shouldn't be a dead end..."

"Discover where the truth of this land lies."

"This is the Inferno Cavern. A place that was once a source of power."

"If you can't find something important where it should be, check the back."

"The imprisoned twins. The man that runs faster than anyone will free them."



The Maze:



Chamber of Extinction:

"If thou cannot go left, go right."

"A joyful sould is milky hued, an eloquent soul is black, an honest soul is purple, a happy soul is green, a pure soul is white, a passionate soul is red, and a kind soul is blue. Souls have colors."

"The Guardians lurk in the front. Places without them are the rear. This is the law of the ruins. Only the Infinite Corridor is an exception."

"Spriggan, the giant statue. Show hostility and he will awaken. Fight him more and he will return to sleep."







Anywhere:
-Clear each screen of enemies at least once
-Complete the software use and software combinations lists in the manual

Village:
-Kill the blue Algol at -5/1, probably with the Serpent Staff.
-Get to hidden door at 4/2
--Try jumping from 5/2 with the boots

Guidance Gate:
-Open treasure chests at -2/-2, 2/-1
-Get past barrier at 0/-2
-Climb upper ladder at 0/-2
-Get past holy rock at 1/-2
--Get rid of holy rock at 1/-2
-Climb narrow shaft at 4/-1
-Put weights on daises at -1/-2, 0/-2 (upper)
-Reach and press floor switch at -2/-2
-Do something at 2/-4
-Use Hand Scanner with Glyph Reader on:
--Steles: -1/-2, 4/-1
--Skeletons: 4/-1
-Get the Jewel in the mouth of the face on 0/-3
-Get the Jewel in the star at 0/-4
-Find the Ankh
--"Beyond the path of Angels"
-Awaken the Guardian

Spring of the Sky:
-Get the statue in the room at 0/1 to say or do something
-Reach the two circular objects in 2/0
-Defeat Bahamut
-Break wall at 1/-2
-Move chain at 1/-3 to lift stone at 1/-4
--Try to break white thing on chain at 1/-4

Mausoleum of Giants:
-Decipher the legend of the giants
-Do something at the upper left of 2/-2
-Do something with holy wall at 1/-1

Endless Corridor:
-Explore the Endless Corridor
--Find a way into the rooms below the top floor

Temple of the Sun:
-Scan steles: 1/-2 (several), 5/-3
--Do something at gap in top row of steles at 1/-2
-Solve all the puzzles
-Bring the Woman Statue to the sun at 3/-2
-Do something with the wall that goes "ping" at the upper left of 3/-3
-Do something with the statue at 4/-2
-Shoot through she who never stops smiling
-Defeat the giant lizard

Inferno Cavern:
-Become impervious to lava
-Scan skeletons: -2/0 (x2), -1/0 (x2), 0/0 (x2)
-Unlock and take the path to another Field at -2/1
--Break the rock at the lower right of the room
-Reach the two rooms at the top left of the map
-Reach the three rooms going left from -4/-1
-Get past the blue beam to the stele at the upper left of -3/0
-Go down the left hand shaft at -3/0
-Find that which is not here, which is at another here
--Check the back
-Do something in the broken wall space at -1/-3

The Maze:
-Release the twins
-Buy Dragon Bone (200 coins)
-Figure out the layout

Chamber of Extinction:
-Illuminate the area
--Use fire at a small window you can light
---Try flares
----Try a flare at the upper entrance to 0/0
--Illuminate: 0/0, 1/0, 2/-2, 3/-2
-Press the footswitch at the upper right of 2/-1
-Open the chest at the upper left of 2/-1
-Open chest at 5/-2
--Kill all enemies
--Try to break blocks at 4/-2 and go to 5/-2 from there
-Get into lower part of 5/-3
--Enter from 6/-3 somehow?
--Unlock Birth Lock at 5/-3
--Push block (?) onto block space at 5/-3
-Step on footswitch at end of lower corridor at 6/-3
-Read stele at 1/0, 2/0, 3/-2, 7/-3
-Get past barrier at 7/-3
-Go in green water at 7/-3
-Break the wall at the upper left of 7/-3
-Find path upwards to new Field at 7/-3
-Reach the rooms at the upper right of the map


Birth Locks:
-Chamber of Extinction 5/-3

Life Locks:
-Village -4/1
-Endless Corridor -1/0

Death Locks:
-Temple of the Sun 0/-4

Fairy Locations:
-Spring of the Sky 3/1
-Chamber of Extinction 8/-3

ROMs: