Fresh. Let's Play Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass!

There's two enemies we still haven't seen despite getting this far in, possibly in encounters I've canceled. The Drones seen here are fast, and can either attack or hock up something gross to inflict Sick, but have very little durability. Oftentimes, the Buddy Bee in the same encounter will kill them with cannibalization, which might grant an extra action, I'm not sure. Like the other bees, they're weak to light.



There's still no sign of the queen in all of this, and that's pretty concerning.



We have to keep looking, though.



The tunnels just keep going.



This is the last enemy type we'll encounter in fights down here. Worker Bees can attack normally, Startle someone with a stinger, or shuffle around clicking, which I thought telegraphed an attack but doesn't actually do anything. They're decidedly middleweight compared to the other encounters here, and retain the same weakness to light.



One last fork in the road. If we head north, we'll encounter the Queen, so I'm going this way first.



Another bit of furniture, not that we can use it without leaving. I'm going to have to do that anyway, I don't have the resources to stay in the beehive much longer.



This is where Clean Getaway comes in very handy.



Music: Let's Color Today

Backing out for now so I can get my ducks lined up for the last part.



Music: Adventuring for Beginners

The Rose Table (+3 ATK, 1/6th of the Floral Set) is going to be VERY nice for this last stretch.



Once more.



Music: Cacophony of Bees

I don't run from any encounters here, but neither do I expend much in the way of resources in fighting them. Which is good, in the long run: lots of fights can be really hairy if not properly leveled. But it's fairly tedious and doesn't make for a good story, so we'll skip past it.



This last Royal Guard is instantly alert and attacks us as soon as we try to approach it.



No status effects hampering this one's ability to fight us.



Looks like the bottom-most chamber of the hive here. Get ready.



Music

One last... thing.



A voice, familiar yet wrong, buzzes through from inside the thing.



It throbs pretty regularly throughout this scene.



I guess... whatever this is... used to be the queen.



Music: Skin Thieves

No if it's all right we'll just leave okay?



But we don't get that luxury. It's time for the final boss of the beehive:



Music: A Cocoon Throbbing in a Dead Man's Mouth

The true Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass starts here.

The Queen Bee has a schedule to most of her attacks and sticks to it. On the second turn, she'll shriek, which will cause both of the otherwise-invincible Pupae next to her to hatch. On the fourth turn, she'll call up two new Pupae, which overtake any enemies already on the field. Both of these actions happen about once every five turns, so as the fight goes on she'll cycle through Pupae and their hatched forms pretty regularly. These Pupae start off by hatching into Drones, but will upgrade the longer the fight goes on, first to Worker Bees, then Buddy Bees, and finally to Royal Guards. Outside of that, the Queen Bee can attack, sting to Startle, or hock up something to inflict Sick, and is just as vulnerable to light as the others.

I really liked my strategy for this fight, of just ignoring all the extra guys and going ham on the queen (although I, a stupid person, also decided to Insult the Worker Bees each time they did their clicky thing, assuming it was a telegraph). You can either use the Happy Little Sunflower to do huge blasty damage with Sunshine, use Revolting Blob form to poison with Toxic Sludge and then tank up to keep the team alive, or roll Low-Level Goon for straightforward High Five healing and Bully or basic attack damage. Attacking the newly hatched bees is a choice you'll have to make for yourself, although the longer the fight goes on, the more damage you have to pump into them to keep them down, and by that point wouldn't you rather just hit the Queen Bee instead?

Also: that was a pretty gruesomely thematic end to the fight, huh.



Music

I wish it wasn't this way.



Yeah, good call. But first.



Music: Cacophony of Bees

One last room.



The bees aren't going to need this anymore. We can use our Honey Pot to gather a bit.

The Buddy Bee Honey alone can permanently boost all stats of whoever we give it to, but then we wouldn't have a cake. And I want a cake.



Music: Let's Color Today

Now, we're not going straight back Home yet.



We have one last thing to handle in The Wilted Lands.



I also swap out the party's gear so Jimmy gets the Bee Stinger for now.



Music: Fortress of Nitwits

Remember the secret hole underneath Punch Tanaka's pile of wrecked motorcycles?



Time to explore that.



Music: Groaning Planet

Dark down here.



Interesting designs in this cave, too.



Huh, that's all? Okay. Back we go, then.



Only new enemy to this area is Grabbing Hands, replacing the Turtle Stack in the usual Wilted Lands encounter list. They can use the same Grasping move Big Enormous pulled, and do nothing except that. They're annoying, but not especially dangerous.



...Huh. Exit was here before. It appears to be gone now.



But we've got ourselves a new path to the right.



Awful cramped, this place.



Tends to alternate between long, tight corridors, and little windy multi-level spaces with pits. Hm.



Sort of unnerving, and probably not very fun for anyone particularly claustrophobic, but not nearly as horrific as the beehive. Still, you could find yourself here just by exploring a little right after defeating Punch Tanaka, before you knew the game was gonna nosedive right into full body horror. And the music here, combined with the sudden music stings when you find the dead ends, can shake someone up a bit.



But to us, right now, it's just a dark and cramped cave. We're high enough in level that the encounters don't even stop us, although the Grabbing Hands can prove a nuisance if you enter this area as soon as possible (especially since without the Bee Stinger, Jimmy can't break Buck free if he gets Grasped).



Just us and the barely-there music.



Really narrowing down here, huh.



Guess we're going this way.



Hm. Ceiling's coming down, too.



Nothing our Blob form can't handle.



Hm... getting pretty tight here.



Wonder how long we're going to be in here. It's pretty long, and squishing down this much is slow going.



Ah, I think that's the end. Just a bit further.



...Oh no. I think we're stuck. Jimmy's wiggling like mad but he can't get through.

He's trying as hard as he can, but he's not getting any further ahead. Come on, Jimmy, do your best!



Almost. Really hope this leads somewhere more open, we physically cannot back up.



Well, it's open by comparison.



Jimmy pours himself out and recomposes himself.



We've gotta be near the end, right?



Right through here, right?



Not again!



And the way back is closed too! Is this it?



Oh. We're not alone in here, are we.



As scary as all these tight corridors are, they were home to something even more constricting.



We're in Slither's domain.



Music: A Cocoon Throbbing in a Dead Man's Mouth

If you make it all the way to the end here just after fighting Punch Tanaka, Slither will hands-down destroy you. Like Punch, Slither can telegraph an attack by spending a turn watching you, after which it will either prep a Counter or unleash a tremor that deals significant damage to the party. It can also do the venemous Sickness bite of the Mr. Asps, a heavy single-target bite, or its signature attack, a coiling move that Grasps the target for three turns. Slither can only Grasp one target a turn, but it deals damage over time while it does, AND unlike the other sources of the status we've seen, Slither is more than capable of attacking while Grasping someone. Without a way to Startle Slither and break a teammate free, you simply don't have enough actions to keep up with Slither's attrition game. You'll need to make use of Undulate to keep the heat off of Buck, since he's the only one who can break a Grasp with Insult and he's your best damage dealer. After the Beehive, armed with the Bee Stinger, it's a little easier, although I wasn't really prepared for Slither to just roll over and die without even trying to Grasp us once. I kind of fell asleep at the wheel for this one and still came out ahead just fine.



In any case, Slither's cave is our first real introduction to the game's hidden zones!



Music: The Noble Sea

As mentioned, this story takes place in Jimmy's dream. So it stands to reason that the hidden, darker corners of the dream would be nightmares. These Nightmare zones tend to be evocative of one of Jimmy's fears, and when he defeats the boss emblematic of that fear, he usually gets access to a treasure trove of goodies, particularly goodies that expand your weird strategic options. Slither and its cave, naturally, represent claustrophobia, but some of the Nightmare zones are a little more esoteric in what exactly they represent, and can be left up to player interpretation. Incidentally, this, as well as the corruption of the Beehive, were hinted at by the scarecrows in Giant Garden. Wonder what other omens of theirs will come true...



Anyway, TREASURE!!! The Slab of Beef is a piece of unique furniture we'll discuss back at the Clubhouse.



Badical. The Rad Sneakers (+5 ATK, +250 AGI) are a weapon that doesn't hit as hard as most of our other options, but with how fast you move with them on, who cares? These are nice for Buck if you're willing to take a hit to his damage output, and good for Jimmy if you want him to be a premier Rad Ghost hunter. Even Rad Ghosts have trouble keeping up with you when Rad Sneakers are in play, but you might struggle to outdamage their physical resistance.



The Double-Sided Coin is nice for increasing the rate of Grift, so it's good for Jimmy, but I like my Jimmy a little more versatile, so he keeps his current gear. Later, though, if we're doing the aforementioned weird LUK-based strats, this will come in handy.



After you're done pillaging your deepest nightmares, you can hop into the magic circle to warp to safety.



Music: Adventuring for Beginners

The Slab of Beef (+4 ATK) is one of our Other pieces of furniture, and doesn't belong to a set... that we're aware of. There's actually ten secret sets, composed of unknown items. These secret sets can range in the amount of furniture necessary from 4 to a whopping 8 pieces needed. If you're playing along at home and want to try for a secret set, remember to keep an eye on the noteboard, and try to group up lots of similar items together. Like, say, artwork. Get lots of artwork together and see what happens.



Music: My Animal Friends

Oh, while I'm here: Ms. Mole came back to her home in Smile after wrapping up that last tunnel. You can shake her to get her to confess her secret crush, but I don't want to be mean.



Mrs. Mouse doesn't have much to say, except for being rude to her son.



Mr. Marvelous has already left to do some other goofy stunt.



Music: An Open Window

For now, let's return Home.



Uh yeah about that...



Music

Oh what is this mess?



First of all, hell yes boardgames I'm down for some Spirit Island. Second, most rainclouds don't usually make droning noises...

Or use teleporter lasers.



So, that's not great.



Guess we don't have parents anymore.



I agree. Any ideas for where to escape?



Whenever you're ready.



Figures.



We're next, aren't we.



I had nothing to do with this, you jerk.



All that remains is Jimmy.



And Jimmy's gone now, too.



A while later, some static comes through to us.



Speak up, hard to hear you.



OW. Too loud. Tone it back.



We're currently in a small, sterile-looking place with a screen.



Oh, it's GAMM-E.



Guess she can't use her mouth and her eye at the same time with just the one terminal.



That staticky sound is her switching, I guess.



Just your average grandma computer. She's nice enough, but even though we vanquished the nightmarish demon representative of our claustrophobia recently I'm not especially excited about staying in this small space. Can we talk about this?



Maybe we can call her up on this terminal again.



Hi, Jimmy again, how do we get to a more spacious area?



Hm. Don't know if we can wait that long if there's exploring to be done.

Next Time: A surprise attack? What a Punch Tanaka thing to do.

Music

Nothing against GAMM-E, but Jimmy is an explorer at heart, so exploring we will go!



Again, any spot like this can either use the Revolting Blob (who automatically falls in) or the Happy Little Sunflower (who uses the field action to burrow).



We find ourselves adjacent to a curious pod that fills up with green gel.



Hi again.



Sorry. Pods aren't just exciting to explore.



Before we get any further, we hear some loud clangs, followed by a scraping as the door is slowly pulled open.



Ah, guess Buck's beaten us to the exploring.



Good to see you too, I guess.



GAMM-E switches back to visual scan to get a read on who's arrived.



Don't think you really helped things there, Buck. Can you not be a dick for like two seconds?



Not surprised that Buck's first priority is Helga. Andrew and Lars are both clearly nerds, and we already know Buck's stance on nerds.



...Great.



The hallway outside extends further to the west.



With that, a siren sounds...



And we're faced with our next area: The Iron Flamingo, spaceship home of GAMM-E!



Music: Machines en Vogue

Now, you'd think our first goal for the area is to escape, right? Well, you're half right.



Our actual goal, though, is to talk to GAMM-E. She still has supreme control over security across the Iron Flamingo, and we will not be able to escape without talking to her.



Naturally, she's completely uninterested in talking to us at first.



Each terminal, with one exception, can be used exactly once to talk to her before she cuts comms there. And yeah, Buck got into his pod, but he broke out with stupid brute force, compared to Jimmy wiggling his way out.



Unlike your average overlord AI, GAMM-E isn't really evil, at least not moreso than any other lonely grandma.



Don't forget the terminal back in Jimmy's pod room!



Don't know what you mean, but I think I have an idea.



I'm not averse to spending time with GAMM-E, but I don't really want to spend time in a containment pod. Surely, there's a middle ground.



We can talk this over.



Guessing these rooms house the other family members? No way we're busting past Level-3 security doors, so it's moot.

Hm... maybe someone else is in play here? GAMM-E doesn't seem to want us to be stuck here.



Music: Toaster with Teeth

We're not in Homeflower anymore, so we get a new fight theme. Not that it really matters for the Iron Flamingo: every random encounter here consists of either one or two Mobile Alarms. If you don't grift their voicebox away, they'll call in a much bigger, deadlier enemy and run away. If you DO, they lose their first turn outright, and then alternate between a weak normal attack or just a static crackle that does nothing. One is easy, just grift and then mash attack, but for two you need to have Buck either Insult the second one or instakill it with Magnificent Combo.



Music: Machines en Vogue

Lot of pods in here.



This hall just leads to two Level-3 doors and a Level-1 door at the end.



Past the pods, we have a terminal that can connect to everyone else. Let's start by talking to Helga.



She's taking things well, all told. Let's talk to Andrew next, we should get his take on the whole... bee problem.



Hm. The queen bee said something similar before everything went right to hell, that Homeflower was dying. That's not good at all, yeah. Anyway, let's round things out and say hi to Lars.



Lars has absolutely no problems with this entire situation, which isn't surprising at all. And it sounds like GAMM-E loves her son in turn, so that's nice, at least. I'm cool with Lars staying here if it suits him.



Anyway, time to request security clearance. If you've talked to GAMM-E enough, you'll be in a good place to get something here.



Gesundheit.



Hey, not bad. This isn't all Level-3 doors, just this one, but this should let us access a lot more of the Iron Flamingo.



Huh, guess she's also hosting The Petty Thugs.



Sure didn't, you guys are really moving up in the world!



We passed! What, didn't you pay attention?



Guess some experienced Low-Level Goons like these don't have time to meet the recruits.



Sorry to add to your workload.



This vending machine over here lets us purchase stuff! But if you shake it, which you definitely should not try at home or anywhere else in real life...



Oh, RPG finance inflation.



Anyway, Snack-Os recover the party's HP, and XL Cola recovers the party's MP.



This is the only door we can go through here, the others are too high security.



Leads to a staircase down... hm, what if we go left?



Huh, guess this is a disposal area or something.



Fair enough. Still got lockdown going on, but I think we can get the next level of security clearance now, maybe.



At the other end of the hallway, we've got more Level-1 security in the way, so let's chat a bit more.



I guess she was already pretty old before she became a spaceship AI, huh.

Nowhere else we can go now, but I think we can get that clearance.



Thanks, GAMM-E!



We'll start over here.



Hm... guess this is a scanning device?



Hey be cool GAMM-E be cool you don't gotta send the drones after us



Music: Toaster with Teeth

If you scan Jimmy's default form here, or if a Mobile Alarm actually sounds an alarm, you get to face off against Super Deathbot 5000. Super Deathbot 5000 has a bunch of different weapons, but tends to favor the lethal injection, which deals more than enough damage to oneshot either Jimmy or Buck, and also inflicts Terminal just for funsies. Terminal, for the record, is an incurable status effect that kills the person in three turns. So that's fun. You can steal Super Deathbot 5000's voicebox too, but as you can see, this doesn't actually do anything.



Your actual response to Super Deathbot 5000 is Clean Getaway. Super Deathbot 5000 will not stop until you are dead and then deposited back in your pod room.



Music: Machines en Vogue

Every form has a unique response here. I'll spoilerpop Happy Little Sunflower's response here.





If you go Revolting Blob, you get a unique response.



Wheeee!



That's pretty convenient. The drain here leads to the disposal area from earlier.



Right, moving on.



One more Goon. If memory serves, that's the fanboy.



You sure this is what you want? I guess I won't stop you.



The door to the left has a laser tripwire which will call out an inescapable Super Deathbot 5000 encounter. Maybe later when we've got a ton of imagination forms and levels we can take that on, but that day is not today.



The other door holds another big scary robot, but a damaged one.



It's not destroyed yet, though.



Music: Toaster with Teeth

The older 4000 model of Super Deathbot can either be a pushover with too much HP or an actual miniboss depending almost entirely on RNG. It's capable of a basic attack, an electricity wave that hits everyone in the fight including itself, and a double-attacking rampage that consumes its next turn as well. It'll sometimes burn a turn sparking and doing nothing, and you can grift the Exposed Wires from it to permanently inflict Frazzled on it (as a refresher, this causes it to occasionally attack itself). The 4000 has a lot of health and decent attack power, but all of its limitations and existing damage mean that you won't have a very uphill fight.



Music: Machines en Vogue

With that down, we can access another terminal as well as some of the more spacious piping in the ship.



Hm. Guess Hans is Jimmy's grandpa on his mom's side. I wonder if he's also a spaceship.



Anyway, I forgot this Level-1 door way back at the start like a dang fool, so I get to backtrack all the way across the Iron Flamingo now.



Nothing in here but a spare pod and terminal. Wonder who this is for.



Interesting perspective here. Anyway, that's all the terminals we can reach for now. Now we're gonna go into the pipes like true escape artist explorer video game protagonists.



Just a reminder that I'm getting into constant fights with Mobile Alarms, Mobile Alarms, and Mobile Alarms. No, I can't cancel them. Yes, it's a little tedious.



There's a bunch of viewports along the pipe here.



Ah, we're above the pod hallway. So inside those Level-3 doors next to us...

Yep, there's the rest of the family. Andrew, Helga, and Lars are each in a pod room of their own.



Anything interesting in the opposite hallway?



Guess Information Guy got captured too? Don't know why you'd want him.



And a pretty high-security hallway. Guess we're not getting down there for a while.



Now, if that goon fanboy is to be believed, there's a big meeting going on here.



...Huh, a dog? Can't hear what's going on down there.



Music

Oh, that creaking? Probably the pipe collapsing at a really inopportune time.



Yep, sounds like it.



Music: Skin Thieves

Now, my usual rule of thumb re: dogs is that every dog is good, but you still have to check each time. Well, I've checked, and I'm pretty sure this is a bad dog.



Music

You really think GAMM-E will just sit back and listen to you threatening to eat her grandkid, dog?



Thanks again, GAMM-E. I don't like this dog at all. We'll meet up with everyone and come back and fight this dog, you can count on that.



For now, though, we've got to escape.



Just us and Buck now, huh.



Music: March of the Corgis

Welcome to the next island: Sweet Melody, neighboring Homeflower. It's on the other side of Unbreakable Bridge. We're currently in the kingdom of Legato.



Music

Awfully conspicious timing. Maybe that's Helga.



The brief fanfare matches up with the song sung at the start of the game. That's telegraphing Helga real hard.



Music: March of the Corgis

Guess that's our first goal: infiltrate Legato Castle and confirm if the Queen is Helga.



Sure is, little buddy! Any info for us?



Interesting. This is sounding more and more like a case of mistaken identity.



Inside the clock tower next to Timothy Mouse is a composer.



Sorry, champ. Any problem with me checking out the upper floor?



Then there's no harm in me heading up, right?



Sure enough, no matter how much we step on that switch, the clock tower keeps going.



How about this place?



I was gonna make fun of you and say that you were just trying to look fancy again, but hey, if you have an actual mansion, that says a lot.

It says EAT THE RICH



There's nothing and nobody else in the mansion, although the pictures are of different Legato people. Weird that Mr. Marvelous would have that in his mansion rather than pictures of himself.



Anyway, there's a bank branch and Ms. Robin's usual stall here.



There's also Besson, who's an oddball, but not bothering anybody, so I'll leave him be.



Even if we didn't have a good lead, we're stuck in here for now.



Ms. Robin has some new stock here. I grab the Crush manual and both pieces of furniture. For the record, the equipment here is the Recorder (+8 ATK/MAT), the Hand Wraps (+12 ATK):

And the Tuxedo (+8 DEF/MDF):



Yeah I bet.



Weird adventure, but hey, you're having fun and doing what you love for some reason, so more power to you.



Here's a good look at what our finances are right now. I have no idea if that's rich or poor for this part of the game.



Later.



Buck's new Crush (12 MP) skill is basically a mini-Magnificent Combo. It's certainly fine on him, but he can already basically do that anyway, and the MP is still on the heavy side for him. Now, if we get another party member soon, this will let them handle a bit more like Buck, so that's something to consider.



Anyway, let's check out the castle.



Suits of armor with lutes unarmored.



Music

Hard to tell, but that's a drawbridge for the level above us, not a gate.



Hey man I just wanna talk, we can talk about this right?



Or not. Guess we're doing this the hard way.



Music: Oh-So-Cool Castle

Welcome to Legato Castle! Our goal is to pursue Harply in the direction he fled, but we can't do that with the drawbridge up, so the first priority is to find a way to cross. Thankfully, while the means to do this isn't indicated in any way, I know exactly where it is.



There are encounters in the area, but there's a few moxie trees here to work with.



To get through quickly, first we want to go in here.



Head straight down the hall and don't look back.



Music: War of Hearts

Most of the enemies here are Tootsoldiers, who have a little complexity to them not immediately apparent. They start fights in a defensive stance, which allows them to attack, guard, or shieldbash to Startle. Every [number unknown] turns, they'll switch between that and an offensive stance, which drops the guard and shieldbash in favor of a power attack to one person, or a flashy whirling attack that hits the party. You will probably defeat most of them before they get around to ever changing stance... BUT ITS THERE. Also: every enemy that's themed after a musical instrument, like the Tootsoldier, adds that instrument to their actions each turn.

Music: Oh-So-Cool Castle

Anyway, in here.



What'd they put in there? Is it a goose again? It better not be a goose.



GEESE AREN'T COOL.



Music: Worm Party

Oh no. It's worse than a goose, it's a Red-Billed Squawker, and it's on us before we even recognize what hits us.



Music: War of Hearts

The Red-Billed Squawker has three moves: normal attack, a yammer that Startles the party and inflicts minor damage, and a rampage double attack that consumes its next turn. Pretty standard stuff. However, at 50% health, it'll ascend to new heights of Hyper speedy nonsense and double its AGI for the rest of the fight, while also removing the cooldown turn after rampaging. As you can see, this makes a wounded Red-Billed Squawker pretty scary! That said, this fight doesn't really have much in the way of tricks, just don't get stupid like I did and make sure to keep yourself healthy, because without the Rad Sneakers, you're not outspeeding this thing at this stage of the game. If you DO have them, either have Jimmy abuse the speed with High Five to heal weakened teammates, or have Buck use Insult to keep the bird off-balance as much as it does the same to you. Watch those rampages early on, so you can have nice freebie turns to whale on it.



There's that guy done.



Music: The Noble Sea

I think it's high time we got ourselves a new form don't you?



I feel a great power honking inside of us...



Nice. Jimmy's new form is the Red-Billed Squawker, which as you can see gives us our way of clearing the drawbridge, no problem.



Music: Oh-So-Cool Castle

You are unfit to look after another creature.



Best of luck with that.



So, the Red-Billed Squawker. As the stats indicate, this is the speed-focused form, and awards us +1 AGI with every level. This form is very much about going first in fights, and seizing that advantage as hard and loudly as you can. Let's break down some skills!

Hyperactivity (5 MP, unlock at level 5) is a phenomenally useful ability for a creative player. It's an instant move, which means that, like Jimmy's transformations, using it doesn't consume Jimmy's turn. If you have the MP to spare, this is your panic button for "I need this move to happen now now NOW", like taking down a troublesome enemy, healing someone at critical health, that sort of thing.

Natural Alarm (5 MP, unlock at level 10) is one of the few area-cure moves in the game. It's a pretty nice one, too, since Sleep is a really nasty status to have on more than one person at once. And this being on the speedy form, it means you can also likely cure it before enemies get to capitalize on the damage boost for hitting a sleeping target.

Early Riser (passive, unlock at level 15) is a natural improvement on that: if an area sleep effect catches Jimmy, then obviously he can't cure it on everyone... unless he's immune to the effect himself. Naturally, if sleep isn't an issue, this skill is kind of a waste.

Flighty (passive, unlock at level 25) is the form's obligatory stat-spiking passive. AGI isn't a bad general stat to spike either, although whether it's worth a passive slot is another question, especially when Hyperactivity is right there. Your call, though, and there's certainly niche ways to abuse skyhigh AGI (like ghost-hunting).

Elaborate Dance (8 MP, unlock at level 40) is the same kind of move the Rad Ghosts use to aggravate us to no end. It's really good if used in conjunction with Blob form, especially on moves that score extra effects if they hit regardless of damage, but the cooldown means you'll need to find other things to do when it's not available, and it loses a lot of value if Jimmy isn't doing tanking.

Annoying Squawk (unlock at level 50) is the honk that will shake people in their dumb shoes. The enemies are big and slow and their thoughts are bigger and slower, but you are loud and small and fast and you will not let those thoughts take their time. They will try to be fast, but you will try to be faster, and you will succeed, because your honks are better and more Startling than their total inability to honk. Your brother's honks are outdated and his hat is a crime nobody envies. Make him weep, since he cannot honk like you.



With our perfect and good new body, we can progress. We'll go this way.



Left takes us to the battlements, and we'll head there for sure, but right now Jimmy needs a helping hand.



There's a three-way fork here, but I want to go this way, since it leads back to the courtyard.



NYOOOOOOM



bonk.

We could've gotten it down by shaking, of course, but this is funnier.



Oh no!



Music: War of Hearts

Here's the other two enemies found in Legato Castle. The Whistling Kettles are on the quick side, and can either attack normally or releast a burst of steam to damage and Startle the party. Should you steal their Tea, you not only recover 10% of your party's MP, but disable the steam move!



Teamice, like the Whistling Kettle, contain Tea, but they are instantly defeated when it's stolen. They can only attack normally, and if they're dropped to 50% or lower HP, they'll try to flee the battle.



Music: Oh-So-Cool Castle

Let's check in here real quick.



Thanks for the warning!

Whoa, that sounds cool as hell. TELL ME MORE.



Okay we HAVE to check out the prisons now.



But first, over here.



TOYS!!!



Just got disembodied eyes again. Come on, I know you can do more!



Okay, NOW we can go on the battlements. Getting tired of encounters here.



And it's that easy.



Flip the lever to get the drawbridge back in place...



And run up this watchtower.



If you would, that'd be nice.



Music: March of the Corgis

And it's that easy. We can have the guy turn the encounters in Legato Castle back on by talking to them again, but...



Exactly. Anyway let's go play in the prisons. We've had a longer update than I expected and I want to just do a small thing before we go further in.



Just down here.



Hm, how on earth would we get through there...



Yep, Blob form will do it.



Little late for that. But thanks, I guess.



Shoe Inserts (+5 AGI) are another of those "hey, want slightly more of that stat?" accessories. So hey, if you do, there you go.



Wait, Information Guy? What are you doing down here?



I... see.



No I think I got it, thanks.



Further in are these strange doors. The eyes open and the door shuts as we approach, even if we sprint using Red-Billed Squawker form. We'll need another method, but that's enough for today, anyway.

Next Time: People say I'm a man of few words, but I think if they could see inside me, they'd be surprised by all the inner turmoil. I have a tragic and exciting backstory.

Loving this LP so far and I really hope this game eventually makes its way to some platforms besides computers. Not that I have anything against playing it on a PC (I know even a budget (modern) lappy can run this and I have considered buying one for retro computer gaming), but this is very much a title I would love to have available on my Switch and/or my phone.

Also possible spoilers but I have a hunch that we may have already seen the horrible cat monster that escaped.

It's really a treat to be able to see all the little hints and bits of foreshadowing that the game does without having to go back and play the game all over again.

I can only assume that Oh-So-Cool castle is a spin on Mother 3's Osohe Castle. Is there an Oh-So-Cool Snake at the end?

dammit something that bothers you is something that fazes not phases arrrgh

Music: March of the Corgis

If we go this way, we'll find the Queen for sure.



Weird that the throne is unoccupied. Maybe she's been taken up the tower for security.



Guess so. Who's this guy?



It's maybe Roland of the Legato Knights?



Music: War of Hearts

Roland is the heavyweight of the Legato Knights, and can either attack, rampage to attack twice but tire himself next turn, or tense his muscles to telegraph a power attack the turn after. He hits pretty hard even though he's slow, but as the dialogue indicated, this isn't the real Roland. If we steal the Loose Thread from him, he turns into a bog-standard Tootsoldier. For XP measuring reasons, I will not be doing this for any of these fights.



Compared to an average Tootsoldier, which only gives 60? Yeah, we'll fight them legit, why not.



Music: March of the Corgis

Next, please.



These are all going to be actors, aren't they.



Well, for certain definitions of "actor".



Music: War of Hearts

LeGrange is the fastest of the Legato Knights. He can do a normal attack, a triple attack that tires him out next turn, a blindingly fast attack that outspeeds whatever we do, and a feinting hilt bash that can Startle. And yes, you can steal his Loose Thread, too. He doesn't have nearly the bulk Roland did, naturally. He awards 225 XP, apparently.



Music: March of the Corgis

Get honked on.



Moving right along.



You guys really didn't think this through at all, did you.



Music: War of Hearts

Claire is the status effect specialist of the Legato Knights. While she can do normal attacks, she'll usually instead try to perform a move that inflicts something else, including a piercing attack that causes Unguarded, a poisoned attack that causes Sick, the Startling shieldbash that Tootsoldiers use, and laughing in our face after an attack to inflict Unmotivated. It goes without saying that you can steal a Loose Thread here, too. She awards 250 XP.



Music: March of the Corgis

None of these fights is serious enough to merit a video, of course. They're miniboss caliber, but only barely, as I've yet to really require strategy beyond just mashing attack.



Hey there, contestant number four.



Someone tell this thespian that brevity is the soul of wit.



Music: War of Hearts

Coltrane is the most skilled warrior of the Legato Knights. He's got a normal attack, and can tense his muscles to ready a power slash next turn. What's more, he can actually tense up for two turns to do an even more powerful slash, enough to really put the hurt on, so it's not always a safe bet to just autostartle after one telegraph. As usual, you can steal his Loose Thread, and he awards 275 XP.



Music: March of the Corgis

This is going well so far, but even an imitation Coltrane is a threat, so we'll back off and heal before we climb the last stair.



That's the ticket. ALL THE WAY BACK NOW.



Music

...Hm. Somehow I get the feeling this last one isn't an actor.



This guy means business, and is absolutely worth a boss fight on his own.



Music: Righteous Scrabble

This is the general boss music for bosses that don't already have another theme, and wow it's good. I love it. Beach Volleyball Massacre fits Punch for sure, and A Cocoon Throbbing in a Dead Man's Mouth is excellent for a "what the hell am I even looking at" sort of thing, but Righteous Scrabble is one of the best fight musics in this game.

Anyway, Windsor is the leader of the Legato Knights. While he doesn't have the Legato Knights with him now, his leadership and tactical skills are enough to render him a serious opponent even with mere Lv. 2 Tootsoldiers. He can attack directly, or order all of his allies to make a free normal attack, or simply twirl his mustache. He'll also command them to alternate between their two stances more often than in regular fights, so you should pay attention to that in this fight. While the Tootsoldiers are on the offensive, attack them directly, and when they're on the defensive, focus directly on Windsor instead. If you end up defeating both Tootsoldiers before Windsor is defeated, he'll square up and switch to regular attacks alone for the rest of the match.



Music: March of the Corgis

Maybe that tale Timothy Mouse told us actually happened, huh?



Hey man, I'm just here to see if the Queen is actually Helga. I didn't agree to no dethronings.



I mean there's a pod literally right there from GAMM-E's ship. It's Helga, right?

Well, let's go see.



Music

Yep, there's a sad mom.



It is us, Bird Son and Beef Son.



Hello!



Music: An Open Window

She gets right up and gives each of us a quick smooch on the cheek.



You're throwing off Buck's toughness cred. Please continue, it amuses me.



Helga confirmed hip chick.



What's up?



Yay new party member!



Sure did. If you already used it before this point... I don't know. I haven't tried.



Besides, why do that when I can get a cake now?



It's a pretty short amount of time, just a quick fade to black.



Now that's what I'm talking about. We're giving this to Jimmy, of course.



The what now?



Music

You... opened the closet. With the boards and the padlocks and the police tape? Are you SURE that was a good idea?



Down from the attic comes... huh, is that a teddy bear?



Jonathon Bear, just like in Jimmy's favorite TV show.



Music: March of the Corgis

Huh, already to a fourth party member? That's quick.



We get to cut away to Legato's front gate, but as we approach...



Music

Wait, he was telling the truth? Those weird staticky noises aren't just for show?



Music: Skin Thieves

That's not good. This is the first we've heard of the titular Pulsating Mass all game, and it's not good news at all.



Music: March of the Corgis

After that brief message, the crowd disperses and Harply greets us.



Well, I think you're still awfully quick to jump to conclusion, but there's no harm done in the end, I guess.



Sure, we can talk to Windsor. He seemed like an all right guy.



But right now, NEW PARTY MEMBERS!!!!!

Helga's a regular bundle of sunshine, I tell you. She's a powerful support character, and sports pretty good ATK, MDF, and AGI in particular. Like, none of those stats is sky high or anything, but she has enough to hold her own. Always welcome on my team, for sure.

Helga's personality, as you've seen from how she handles basically everything in life, is Optimistic. She's got enough cheery mom energy to power right through a bevy of common status effects, which is excellent for a support character. She starts out equipped with a Clutch (+6 ATK/+10MAT):

And a Floral Dress (+5 DEF/+10 MDF):



Helga brings her Mothering skills into fights, which... yeah. Literally just the same as the Happy Little Sunflower, but with Sunshine exchanged for High Five. Without any manuals, Helga is committed to almost a pure support role. It's not bad, mind you, sometimes you just want a full time healer, but it's a little unexciting to me, that's all. It also seriously takes the incentive off of leveling Happy Little Sunflower for Jimmy, even though it's a good idea. Just to refresh everyone's memories:

High Five (10 MP) for single target heals, now sharply decreased in use since we have a whole party to work with.

Mental Clarity (5 MP) to cure status effects. This one is much stronger on Helga than Jimmy, simply because she's already immune to anything this move can cure, so she never has to waste a turn tagging herself before getting to work on the rest of the party.

Pep Talk (15 MP) to revive. Now we have two people who can do that, so hey, there's that to look forward to (like we weren't just gonna bust out consumables anyway).

Comforting Smile (15 MP) to party heal. We're getting far enough in the game that MP constraints are less of a looming presence than before, but we still can't spam this every turn yet. Still, this is probably Helga's best move.



Jonathon Bear is a little trickier. His stats are generally above average, but he doesn't have anything he really excels at, and where he has flaws (particularly in AGI, HP, and LUK) those flaws are huge. Jonathon might just have the lowest LUK out of everyone in the game.



He's got the kind of Supportive personality you'd expect from someone who introduces themselves as your best friend. It's a pretty powerful personality, too: Ants-on-a-Log wielded by Jonathon becomes a full heal, Choco-Cola recovers half a teammate's MP, even Alarm Clocks benefit from it. And that's before I even get into attack items, because while we haven't found any yet, those absolutely exist. His starting gear is the Padded Paws (+7 ATK/MAT, +2 DEF/MDF):

And the Plush Fur (+10 DEF/+5 MDF):



Jonathon's Funducation skillset, while nice and thematic, is a really unwieldy mixed bag, though. None of the moves are outright bad, they're just... less useful for someone with Jonathon's stats, I feel like, a lot of the time. It's really easy to think of him as outright worthless until you remember that whole "double item strength" thing.

High Five (10 MP) is a healing move, and thus you usually want it on a faster character, but Jonathon is not a fast bear. And he comes right alongside Helga, who IS fast and has better MP as well. Again, High Five isn't a bad move at all, but it's like how Insult on Buck gets outclassed the second Jimmy gets Red-Billed Squawker by virtue of stats.

Sunshine (8 MP) is the only magical attack anyone in our party has access to, and Jonathon's got better MAT than the only other wielder (Jimmy), so right now this is a pretty good move to use if Jonathon has nothing better to do. (Hint: he usually has nothing better to do, unless you have items you want to use.)

Natural Alarm (5 MP) is, like High Five, a decent support move that Jonathon is already outclassed in. Remember, Jimmy is not only faster, but can get access to a passive sleep immunity with Early Riser, making him a great way to just no-sell sleep in a fight. Natural Alarm simply isn't useful with Jonathon's stats. If he was faster, it'd be a different story, but he isn't.

Energize is the only unique skill Jonathon Bear brings to the table, and it's certainly not without use. Sometimes, other characters (like Buck) will just go through their MP way faster than Jonathon will, so he can donate some of his to them. This is still only a useful skill in spite of the drawbacks: Jonathon has fairly low MP in the first place, so whatever he gives them with Energize won't actually be very much, and if you're going to commit to Energize to spike someone's MP... why not just pass them a Choco-Cola and recover half their MP without burning half of Jonathon's in the first place?



Anyway I buy both of them a Crush manual, give Helga the Bee Stinger, and go right back up the tower. I HAVE CURIOSITY.



Huh. Maybe this is the mirror where the Legato Knights imprisoned the former Queen! How spooooooooky! But it's ruining our ability to see the Red-Billed Squawker mirror text.



Hi again Windsor.



Sidequest! We'll be able to find the other members of the Legato Knights as we progress through the game. Doing this allows us to fight them all as a team, which is absolutely a postgame-tier battle, but there's no reason not to do this now.



Sure, mate!



Wow, Mr. Marvelous legit snuck into someone's home, bolted down two statues of himself, and pretended to own the place just to impress Jimmy.



Thanks. No hard feelings about you sounding the castle alarm and describing Jimmy as a ten-foot-tall monster.



Well if you won't take the toys, Jimmy will.



Gaaaah fine. We'll leave them alone... for now.



Music: Let's Color Today

High time we got out of this place, anyway.



Now we can move around a little more of Sweet Melody. That cloudy plateau looks fun, but is out of reach. We'll stop by the Clubhouse first.



Music: Adventuring for Beginners

A new feature has opened up at the Clubhouse: this teleporter! With it, we can telprot instantly to any other Clubhouse we've seen, allowing us to backtrack to Homeflower at our discretion from here on out. I'll leave that alone for a bit, though.



The Alphablocks (+1 AGI, 1/4 of the Kiddy Set) are the first new piece of furniture we've gotten.



The Stuffed Hippo (+1 MAT, 1/4 of the Kiddy Set) is the second. It stands to reason that Ms. Robin will stock the next two set pieces at her next shop.



We also have the Treble Clef (+3 AGI, 1/6 of the Musical Set). Since we don't have any sets except for the Rustic Set, I replace the Snake Hatrack with this for now.



Music: Let's Color Today

If we want to get into Sweet Melody proper, we're going to have to take the Blue Staff River path.



Music: Butterscotch Train

Another information terminal, huh? All right, hit me.



Not sure why you're worried. It doesn't seem to take more than one attack to kill you anyway.



Hm. Different kind of pod from usual, this looks more like a shuttle or something than a containment pod.



Hello again, mystery fish.

Mystery fish is shy, like Jimmy.



Music: War of Hearts

Looks like The Petty Thugs have made a foothold here, so maybe they were using that pod earlier to vacate the Iron Flamingo. Anyway, the Mid-Level Goon's got a normal attack, the Bully move, and a smirk, which telegraphs a pretty beefy party-wide attack next turn. Thankfully, you can steal their Work Ethic out from under them, which will cause them to take a break and go to Sleep.



Bagspiders are pretty standard enemies on the whole. They can either normal attack, or do the usual Sick-inducing venemous bite.



Music: Butterscotch Train

If you do this, Jimmy whistles the same fanfare the Tootsoldier played when he entered Legato (and the same tune that the song in the intro started with).



Hm... that spot looks Sunflowerable to me.



Shwoop!



Wow, we grew an entire pay phone.



Not surprising, nobody even uses these things anymore.



The stones in the river emit a tone when we hop on them, and the tone changes depending on how far up or down the river we are!



It's The Petty Thugs again, all right. But they have a plan now. Wonder what that could be...



Is telling us the plan part of the plan? Because I really hope you factored that in.



Regardless, The Petty Thugs scatter in different directions. We're free to chase after one of them, but like Johnny Knives said, the other two get away if we do. I'm gonna go follow Big Enormous because I like him.



Toybox!!!



We've already gotten the sparkles effect before and we don't have much MP spent yet so I'll just skip to the Spectacles (+5 MAT), which go right to Jonathon:



Huh. Guess we caught up with Big Enormous.



Kind of a fatalistic guy, aren't you? Well, I don't see the good in kicking him while he's down, so we'll leave him be. Too far down for us to get him out, anyway.



The path heads up here, presumably rejoining with the other two paths.



Yep. If we pursued Johnny Knives, we'd exit from the cave here, and if we went after DeeDee we'd go across the river rocks.



We'll backtrack a little bit, but we will have to come back to the Blue Staff River after the end to get everything.



Johnny Knives would get stuck early on because he's afraid of the dark, which is too intangible to be stabbed.



None of the paths is very long, of course.



Music: War of Hearts

The Hypnopottamus here alternates between a normal attack and a lullaby that puts one party member to Sleep. Wheeeee!



Music: Butterscotch Train

Right, this is about where Johnny Knives would be. We can't open the door there yet, of course.



As for this area out here, see that center stone that's too far away for us to reach? DeeDee would be stuck there, having leapt before she looked and misgauged the distance.



The Hermit Crab Shell (+20 DEF) is really good for this stage of the game, even if it impacts your MDF compared to other armors. Magical attacks aren't that common at this stage anyway. As such, this goes to Helga for now.

Anyway, let's go meet the trap.



Music: War of Hearts

I used my disembodied eyes for this?



Music: Butterscotch Train

Wheee behind the waterfalls!



Can't go up the cliff here.



Oh hi.



Music: Knuckle Sandwich and Ladyfingers

So your big trap was "fight me, but over here by Punch Tanaka"? That's... about the caliber of trap I expected from you guys.



There's a reason I focused you down first last time, DeeDee. I don't need a new one.



Anyway yeah, we totally beat him. And then we made fun of his taste in music. He threw us all over the side of a bridge a few times, so we made fun of it EXTRA hard.



I feel like that's how Jimmy would try to play a heel, anyway.



I believe in you, buddy. I hope you can believe in yourself someday, too.



Music: Beach Volleyball Massacre

As shown here, The Petty Thugs are the boss for the end of Blue Staff River. Whichever one of the three you pursue will be replaced by Punch Tanaka at the end, and all four of them have slightly upgraded stats and moves. Punch Tanaka adds a new telegraph, where he confidently (?) scratches his head. This can result in either the Counter stance or the Magnificent Combo, so the strategy for him isn't very different. Same goes for Johnny Knives, who can now use a poisoned dagger attack to inflict Sick, or extend his maniacal cackle telegraph for a second turn for a triple power attack, and who is just as useless when his knives are stolen. DeeDee can now do a powerful slam attack, although it will tire her out next turn, and she has a flurry kick move that attacks and Startles the entire party. Big Enormous, for his part, gains a new, sadder song on his boombox that inflicts Unmotivated on the party for a few turns, curbing your ATK.

The basic strategy is the same as the first fight: steal Johnny's knives, take down DeeDee first since she's the frailest and her Startling moves can really throw a wrench into things, you get the idea. Punch Tanaka in the same fight doesn't change things too much, since the strategy for him (Startle after telegraphs) isn't too interrupted by anybody else except Big Enormous' bearhug, and honestly, if Big Enormous goes for the bearhug, you come out ahead in action economy for a turn or two anyway.



Music: Knuckle Sandwich and Ladyfingers

Since we actually took down Punch Tanaka before he escaped this time, we not only get a lot more XP, but three Marvelous Coins:



...You really aren't a planning sort of guy, are you?



Music

WELP



BYE EVERYONE



Good thing we happen to have an entire raft here, huh.



Yes, and you want to punch them, we get it.



This is a good point, after this scene, to go backtrack and check out old areas and see what's new. But first.



Music: Worm Party

What sort of wacky predicament has he gotten into now?



Can he not swim? Huh.



If you say so, Helga. Up you get, then.



We pull him aboard and he shakes himself off.

Yeah, he's fine.



That is both a terrible excuse and completely in keeping with the rest of your MO.



Music

Sounds good. We'll be ready for that dog, and reunite with Andrew, Lars, and GAMM-E in no time.



And that takes Blue Staff River to a close for now.



Music: Let's Color Today

We can head south to progress towards Mute Notes, but I want to draw attention to something important first.



We're now on the other side of Unbreakable Bridge.



Let's see if the path is mended yet.



Mr. Beaver, you champ. This was a crater like a day ago!



Look at this inspiring bridge!



I CAN'T HELP IT I'M EXCITED



Say, what's down here?



A mystery secret cave! Maybe there's treasure?



No, just Mr. Cat's home for some weird reason. Why'd you even need an inn room if you live here?



We'll swing by Home since it's a quick stop. Though I gotta say, that bird that was flying around that spire earlier... it's not looking too great.



Music: An Open Window

This is the only real loose end to clear up here.



It's not a bad choice for Buck early on, or if you have a good weapon for normal attacks like the Bee Stinger.

Next Time: Here's your apple cinnamon muffin. But it's not coming with any extra love!

"Hypnopotamus"

*chef kiss*

Mr. Cat, worst NPC. -_-

Non-Playable ... Cat?

My first assumption was that the rope down to his house was past the break but that seems a bit silly if his house is on the same side as the town.

If I lived alone in a cave under a bridge I wouldn't want to stay there all the time either.

Music: My Animal Friends

Looks like things are happening a bit back in Smile. I'll be honest, Cordelia, we came back to see everybody, not just you.



I have to be honest!



Y'know what? Sure, we'll help with muffin delivery. That sounds fun.



No problem. This is a pretty light side thing, as is the next one we're gonna do, because we're going to tackle the next big area, and it's even more of a mess to navigate than Giant Garden.



I'm not gonna have a lot to say for this. It's just cute mouse muffin delivery time, and we all have to accept that.



True enough, he'd already gotten a branch in Legato before we'd even set foot there.



Dang she's got some top tier mom chops. Almost makes me look past her being mean to Jimmy. ALMOST.



BUT YOU'RE STILL MEAN TO JIMMY.



This is just dang adorable.



Right, yeah. Everyone else has left town already.



Music: Let's Color Today

RUNNING AROUND AT THE SPEED OF HONK



GOT PLACES TO GO, GOTTA DELIVER A MUFFIN, YO



I can relate extremely hard to Mr. Beaver right now.



Music

Plus the crime rate's gone up lately, especially shaking.



Music: Morning Lullaby

...Wow, that's kind of a heavy question out of the blue, isn't it? But I think you put your effort to a productive use intended to help people, at least moodwise, so I think it counts as an overall good act.



Well, ignoring that it's safe because you went this way and not towards the rotted beehive... This feels a lot like a Calvin and Hobbes winter comic. Do selfish motives behind an overall selfless act mean that it's got ill intent behind it? These are some hard thoughts to deal with, and I dunno if I'm the one to talk about them.



Music

Sure, just don't catch cold.



Music: Let's Color Today

Sure. I could deliver the other ones too, but I see why Timothy might be the priority for you.



Well, that was pretty quick to handle. We'll swing by Legato and see if he's still there.



I think it's pretty close.



Music: Butterscotch Train

First, though, there's another secret here.



We're approaching from the far side of the bridge we fought Punch Tanaka and the rest on.



If we go this way, we could hop down the ledge and return to the main path. But if you look closely, you can see a secret cave.



This is a secret place, but not in the same way Slither's cavern was secret. Similar, but different. There is no terror to be found here.



Music: Balancing the Great Rings

I don't know if this place has an official name, but we'll call it Singing Water Cave for reasons.

Hey Helga how you doing.



This Helga's a little wavier than normal. Hm.



Music: War of Hearts

The Metrognome enemy is a little more unique than this encounter indicates, but for now, it's a quick enemy that can either do a normal attack, or throw sparkly dust in your eyes and Startle you. If they're not at full health, they'll switch to humming a calming melody that heals the enemy party. As you can see, they've got enough money to make Grift a lucrative endeavor.



Music: Balancing the Great Rings

We head left first, because treasure reasons.



This is a pretty nice bit of kit, especially for a secret zone we'll tackle later this update.



Music: War of Hearts

Treemen are jerks, but like the Metrognome, there's more to them than meets the eye. They can either do a normal attack, or release poisonous spores to inflict Sick on the party, which suuuucks.



Music: Balancing the Great Rings

Back this way now.



Nice, finally got Antibodies! Since we're gonna have virtually no other passives for a while, this gets slapped right on.



Remember, this is a property that even the Revolting Blob doesn't have by default, so even if you're okay with just swapping to a form when you need it, you can get some unique capabilities by investing in it longterm!



There's not much else in most of the Singing Water Cave. The scenery is nice and the music is relaxing, though.



Oooh, I want it.



At the top of the rope, we find a slightly wavier Helga. This is also a bit of a clue as to what this cave really represents, but we'll get to that later.



Down another rope to get to the toys.



Do you like the Shoe Inserts? Do you want those, but better for characters who've invested more in AGI? This is for you. After a point, this will be flat better than the Shoe Inserts for pretty much everyone, though.



Not really a lot to say here for now, just a very nice lake cave.



By going around this room the long way, we get more disembodied eyes (wasting our first set, grumble grumble) and the track for the area.



Further in, Helga's getting... well, wavy isn't apt anymore. Disjointed? Fuzzy?



Right, let's go over the facts. We know this game is taking place in Jimmy's dream, right? So the Helga that's in our party is, obviously, not the actual real Helga, just a dream representation of her. But this fuzzier Helga isn't really reacting to us like she does. It's more like she's reciting lines.



I'll spell it out at the next fuzzy Helga, since there's one more.



There we are.

This Helga is basically Jimmy's memories of her, which means that this is, despite the fuzziness, the most accurate representation of her we've seen yet. There's a secret location dedicated to Jimmy's memories of each of his family members, and we're going to track them all down.



Doesn't hurt that we can get some neat loot, although none of it is required. The Helping Hands (no stat boosts) are a unique weapon for Jonathon Bear, although not my style since his starting Padded Paws are really nice. If you want to give him a cheap area heal, though, they can be a good way to extend his support capabilities. Like the Bee Stinger, and like most weapons that modify the properties of your basic attack, this disables the ability to counter that most characters definitely have I swear.



Anyway I forgot my Emergency Exit so please excuse me while I backtrack through this entire cave.



Music: March of the Corgis

Jimmy's just here helping her out here, but I'm glad you're having fun!



Music: Let's Color Today

Right, welcome to the next area, and it's a real piece of work, let me tell you.



Music: Two Rivers

This is Fermata Forest, and this is a curious thing for Jimmy to say, don't you think?

There's a reason for that. We're playing Oracle of Seasons all over again, buddy!



The entire area changes its terrain based on what season you set it to. What's more, the encounters change state as well!



The basic rules as I remember them, and how they change things: in the spring and summer, climbable vines sprout up. In summer and autumn, log bridges form across the rivers. In spring, the large flowers bloom, sometimes holding toyboxes but in all cases being sturdy enough to walk on. In autumn, some mushrooms can be used as staircases. And in winter, of course, all the water freezes over and can be walked on with ease.



This place has a ton of treasures, and you'll need to get really handy with messing with the seasons to find them all.



Winter is secretly the best season in this area, by the way.



This is part of the reason. There's snowmen for (I think) all of Jimmy's family hidden around the place!



Music: War of Hearts

The encounters are the same as in the Singing Water Cave, but as mentioned, they change with the seasons. Spring is identical, but winter changes a lot of things. First off, the Bagspiders spin cocoons in Autumn and Winter, and the cocoons will split open on their turn to generate 1-3 Bagspiders. The Metrognome has slowed down a lot in his old age and no longer has money to Grift, but he's traded the sparkly dust for an ice spell that deals magical damage. If injured, he'll chant a strange language, telegraphing a powerful blizzard spell that damages the entire party. Finally, the Treeman has become undead (and gained a weakness to light attacks like Sunshine) and has traded the spore attack for a decently powerful bite.



Music: Two Rivers

Look at that edgy angry snowman.



Music: War of Hearts

The Hypnopottamus doesn't change much with the seasons, but they do hibernate in winter.



In summer, the Metrognome gets fit as hell, and their special move when uninjured is Bully. If they're injured, they'll do a war dance to Motivate their team. As you can see, we can also steal furniture from them.



Music: Two Rivers

The central area has a healing fountain, so this area isn't too grueling despite the encounters and season shifts.



Rubik is here, and so is the dog.



DAOG



CUBBINS IS GOOD



Rubik sells consumables here, but their inventory shifts slightly with the season.



In summer, they sell Super Balls, which are a consumable attack item. This is how you get Jonathon to do big-huge damage, but I'm not buying them. I have a slightly different plan.



Up here is another whatever-the-thing-that-changes-seasons-is.



It's slightly ineffective, though, since it can't change the season to winter in practice. No way down from the ledge if you do.



The mushrooms of autumn can impede progress as well as aid it.



Roman Candles do about half the damage of Super Balls, although it is magical damage. Still not what we're looking for, though.



Music: War of Hearts

In autumn, the Treeman starts off fights Sick, and will sometimes burn their turn coughing. If we steal their Health, they do that on that turn and more often on subsequent turns. I didn't try to test it, but I feel like stealing their Health might also cure Sick on Jimmy. It would be extremely apt to me.



Music: Two Rivers

Well, that's annoying. We can get that by using the starting switcherthingy, though.



Music: War of Hearts

Metrognomes in autumn are still magical, but less so than wintry ones. Their special move is a mudslide move that inflicts Sticky on the party when undamaged, and a barrier that applies the Guarded buff to their team when injured.



Music: Two Rivers

We'll have to find another way to reach Rubik and Cubbins in springtime.



We get a nice thing by backtracking to the southeast corner in springtime, though!

If it's all the same, I'd rather not talk about how long it took me to figure out how to reach the Fall Colors (+10 DEF/MDF), thanks. Buck gets them because he still has boring old Overalls.



Music: War of Hearts

The summery Treeman has no special traits or moves, it's just the beefiest version. It is exactly as boring as it looks.



Music: Two Rivers

Just past Rubik is a mystery cave that's boarded up. We'll get in there in a bit.



The cave here is the way forward, but we're ignoring it for now. It's slightly better to get there in winter, but no biggie if you can't figure it out.



Speaking of winter, we can't reach that mystery spot in the pond until winter.



Getting to Rubik in spring is pretty easy, actually. Just go left from the top of the ledge.



This is what I wanted. The Cherry Bomb is the magical counterpart to the Super Ball, but for real this time. I buy four, because that's all I can afford, and I want Jonathon to have some real kick for this update.



To get to both Rubik and the cave in winter, just go all the way back to the start.



Just be careful, because ALL water freezes over in winter.



Rubik's winter sale is the most underwhelming one. Smoky adds... I think a 50% chance to dodge attacks? Not saying that's bad, but is that really what you want to spend that much money and a turn on?



This crack here is too small for even the Happy Little Sunflower or Revolting Blob to squeeze through. We might need a bit more weight to do this.



Music

This is why going to winter before entering the cave is nice, but not required. It gives you a bit of an extra edge for:



Music: War of Hearts

The Grumble Bear! It starts off the fight Sleeping if you approach in winter, though it's by no means a requirement to fight it head-on. The Grumble Bear has three basic moves: a basic attack, a roar that attacks everyone, and a rampage that does two chunky attacks but tires them next turn. However, these moves all upgrade the more injured it gets. At two-third max HP, the basic attack is replaced with a bite, the rampage gains an extra hit, and the roar also inflicts Unguarded. At one-third, the bite becomes an even stronger slam, the rampage gains yet another hit, and the roar applies both Unguarded and Unmotivated. The Grumble Bear is slow, but it packs a serious wallop with all of its attacks, so if you're not going for the winter ambush, you might want to play it slow at first, and only bust out the big guns once the Grumble Bear really starts getting mad.

Also: notice how much damage a Cherry Bomb from Jonathon did! That's better than Buck's Magnificent Combo, and that's our strongest attack yet! He's kind of crazy powerful if you really let him be.



Grumble Bear down! Take that, Dad!



Music: The Noble Sea

Oh man, it's time to get way huge!



POWER GEAR!



...I want a huge unwieldy Jimmy, but okay.



Music: Two Rivers

Anyway, this is the Grumble Bear form! The field action, as indicated, is a buttslam of incredible force.



If any toyboxes remain unopened in the area, you'll get a question mark over your head, and a number of "knocks" equal to the number of toyboxes. We've got 6 to go here!



Right past the cave is another tree stump with built-in Rod of Seasons, if you need it, and we do.



But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Grumble Bear's entire theme is based around "uncontrollable might", if you will. Every level of Grumble Bear gives +1 ATK to all forms, and almost all of its moves are just as mighty as a real bear, but tend to have a drawback.

Afternoon Nap (8 MP, unlock at level 5) is a much more powerful and versatile move than it looks, because of one little hidden attribute: it's actually a priority move, like Undulate or enemy Counters. This means that you can pop it on the last turn in an encounter and enjoy a nicely discounted full heal while your team deals with what remains, or throw it out and then queue up Natural Alarm or Mental Clarity on a friend so they can wake you up before you suffer the drawback!

Rampage (10 MP, unlock at level 10) isn't quite as useful as the damage indicates. Yes, it hits like a Grumble Bear should, but that stun prevents Jimmy from doing anything for at least one more turn after the fact (it might be two turns, I forget). Note that Stun and Startle are not the same. It's still monstrously powerful, and not a bad idea if you have a good setup (like on a Sleeping enemy) or if you just need one last attack to end the fight, but it's not one-size-fits-all.

Fierce Growl (10 MP, unlock at level 15) is our first multitargeting attack! It's a pretty weak one, sadly, but multitarget attacks of any power level are really strong in Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, and endgame encounters usually involve just unleashing a bunch of them until the enemy party is a smoking crater. I wouldn't really say Fierce Growl is likely to see play by then, but hey, maybe it could.

Sharp Claws (passive, unlock at level 25) is the usual stat-spiking passive. And ATK is a pretty nice stat to spike, too, particularly in midgame, where other physical damage dealers tend to fall a bit behind Jimmy. Definitely a nice one to shoot for if you haven't got a better plan by now.

Head-On Collision (10 MP, unlock at level 40) should be considered the bread-and-butter attack of the Grumble Bear. The recoil damage is pretty minimal, and you ought to have no shortage of ways to keep it in check. For all intents and purposes, this lets you do Buck's Magnificent Combo, but every turn. Head-On Collision is a real powerhouse of a move.

Juggernaut (passive, unlock at level 50) is a bit of a dangerous move for the obvious reason that it disables Jimmy's ability to do anything except attack. When Buck throws Inner Rage, that's a choice you actively make. If Jimmy applies Juggernaut as a passive, then once that's running, he's committed for the rest of the fight. You can't even get cheeky and apply it only to his Jimmy form and try to swap away after a while, that just leaves you stuck in Jimmy form instead once you swap in. Basically: only ever bother with this once imagination XP is no longer a concern for you.



Anyway, just a little further in, we get the Winter Coat (+14 DEF/+8 MDF). It's just generic good clothing.



Since we can get to autumn on the other side of Rubik, we can now climb up here.



RAMMING SPEED!



And that's that opened.



Just go through here to reach...

The natural habitat of the Red-Billed Squawker!



By approaching as one ourselves, we have a brief and very noisy party.



We can get to the lightbulb beyond them now.



One more done. Let's wrap this area up.



In summer, we can get to another climate machine just beyond the last one.



Not the right way to the toybox, but hey, snow Helga.



We're rewarded with a pretty nice Summery Dress (+5 ATK, +12 DEF/MDF).



Four left here. I know that three of them are below the cracked ice, but we're doing that last.



The exit is literally right above the penultimate bulletin board.



Music: Adventuring for Beginners

I'll set up the Speaker Cabinet (+3 MDF, 1/6 of the Musical Set) instead of the Treble Clef for now.



May as well show off the Barbell (+2 DEF, 1/5 of the Gym Set) we got from the summer Metrognome, although I'm not keeping it out.



Music: Two Rivers

Anyway, go to the very last OH THOSE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DRUMS IM AN IDIOT and change it to spring for the last treasure. This gets us the Spring-Loaded Jacket (+10 DEF/AGI). It's good for people who want to be fast, and right now, with our party, that's Jonathon. (Helga could use it too, but she's already plenty quick.)



Right, let's do this. Open up!



Music

Whoa, that's maybe a little deeper than I was expecting.



Music: Strangled While Asleep

We're in another realm entirely.



As the fight backdrop and persistent music indicate, we're in another nightmare area, although this one's a little odder than most. In addition to the wintry variants of the Treeman and Metrognome, we can find Sleepwalkers, who normally just attack or space out for their turns. If any of our party members are asleep, though, the Sleepwalker will enter their dreams and instantly kill them from within, which is pretty wild! Let's avoid that.



We can also encounter Ice Flowers here. They can either attack normally or spew sleeping gas on someone. If they inhale a huge gulp of air, they're telegraphing sleepy-time breath that hits your entire party, which is super bad when combined with the above enemy! Don't let them do that, and if they do, disrupt the Sleepwalker or throw a Natural Alarm as fast as possible.



This first area is kind of a featureless wasteland with no signs of entrance or exit.



Nobody to talk to, nothing to interact with.



The other unique enemy for the area is the Sleeping Demon. As indicated, it starts fights while Sleeping. The first turn it takes after waking will be a rampage that hits three times, and after that it will either do a normal attack or Counter physical attacks. They hit really hard, so make sure to put that initial Sleep to good use!



Eventually, a door will appear. It technically has a fixed location, but the wandering is important to make it appear there.