The enemy is felled by an intensely powerful blow! Climbing the Dark Spire.

[JBear]

The Dark Spire is one of those DS games that I heard about when it first came out, but just never got around to for whatever reason and promptly forgot about. Fast-forward to last year, and several folks were discussing it in the dungeon crawler thread, sharing screenshots and music, and my interest was instantly piqued. I ordered a copy on eBay (no box, I realized only after getting it, much to my disappointment), and then... sat it on a shelf and promptly forgot about it again.

But no longer! I fired it up last night, and this game is a delight right out of the gate, so I'm going to share my ~live impressions here until I get bored of doing so. Thoughts from my first session:

• The music is A+ right out of the gate, and makes a strong first impression. Moody, intense, and unique.
• I love that it starts with a beleaguered functionary breaking the 4th wall ask asking you to make a party.
• Description of Charisma stat: "Affects appearance. There is no crime in being beautiful."
• I can apparently teach everyone to knit.
• The game tried to give me a set of level 2 premades, but this ain't my first rodeo. We're making some level 1 chumps to go die in a dungeon.
• My new Mage has 1 HP. I'm... sure it's fine.
• This game has cross-classing! Something to look into later, I guess. The levelling system seems very open and robust.
• Oh wow, there are 4 variations on "attack" right out of the gate.
• It seems like styles of attack are gated by class. My casters just have the default attack option.
• And you can "look" at the enemy to get a little description.
• Geez, even spells can be cast "quickly" or "carefully". This is a lot to take in.
• I found the "classic" mode. Hah, holy shit. We Ultima now. Even the music gets a retro remix and loses some channels. Amazing.
• Hah, fuck, I wish I could take a screenshot, because the look on this Innkeeper's face is chefkiss. He looks like he just slept with my partner.
• And this shopkeeper looks like he wants to sell me a watch from under his jacket.
• I can see how effective armour is in the shop, but as far as I can tell, there's no way to compare weapons? Frustrating. It's fine for now, but I don't know what I'm going to do later.
• It seems like certain gear "shuts off" my class levels, but I'm unclear what the consequences of that are. I'll just wear appropriate gear for now.
• I can go to church and Pray. I guess I'll have my Priest do that?
• My first trip into the dungeon was very short. My Rogue got poisoned by a trapped chest, and it took all of my GP to cure him. I can't even afford to sleep.
• It seems like I can only save in the dungeon? Odd. I'd usually expect the opposite. I think I'll stick to dropping saves at the entrance.
• Oh neat, I can just swap spells around at the guild, instead of "learning" them. On the other hand, after levelling up, my Mage now has... 2 HP. I'm sure it's fine.
• The game tried very hard to warn me that it was about to dump into a pit into the basement. I didn't listen. Made it out alive, though, much to my surprise! And now I know that the Run command works!
• Update: not prepare for the basement *or* the second floor.
• Secret rooms! I knew my secret sense was tingling. And there's a sword in here! You and I are going to get along famously, Dark Spire.
• The sword requires both hands; I think I'll keep my shield for now.
• I am being consistently rewarded for checking walls to find my way into blank tiles. Ka-ching!
• My first puzzle. I had to put a hat on a statue!
• That was my Steel helm, and the statue took it with him. I needed that. :-(
• Note to self: not all bats are created equal. Ow.

And that's it for my first session. I'm really enjoying it so far! It feels like a game made for folks who like to read; it has strong "game book" energy. There's all sorts of colourful text that players can take or leave as they please (and I'm very happy to take it). It just has a very unique style, which I'm here for. It was pretty hard to start, as these games often are, but I feel like I'm starting to stabilize. Overall, it's actually a lot friendly than it looks. It's wearing the clothes of a hardcore crawler, but it's playing a bit friendlier than I'm used to, in subtle ways. It also has a bunch of novel ideas that I've not seen elsewhere. I'm really looking forward to digging in further!

Oh, and finally, my usual disclaimer: I like playing games spoiler-free, and that includes mechanics. Any questions that I pose above are rhetorical. Please let me figure stuff out on my own, or maybe even not at all, which is okay. Thanks!

 

[Peklo]

I've been playing it for a few days now. I'm coming at it from the opposite context and perspective of a dungeon RPG and D&D grognard; I've never tabled a top, and my experiences with video games derived from the related traditions and rulesets are slim, as the modernized and sleek Etrian Odyssey stylings are still my foremost interaction with the genre. The Dark Spire is not that, and I'm not approaching it as such, but it's an important piece of context for anyone thinking about trying it out, as I'm sure it turned off many people upon release for embodying an entirely different expression of that shared heritage. If you are able to settle into it, the game's obvious strengths come instantly into play, as the visuals are unlike anything ever seen in comparable material: they're chiaroscuro; they're Mike Mignola--and very importantly to me, have not as far as I've played fallen prey to the almost ubiquitous sexualization plaguing the genre. It's the most compelling visual footprint I've encountered this side of Elminage. I've gushed about the music too in that aforementioned blobber thread, and hearing it in context, with the other parts of the aesthetic, is just sublime as an audiovisual experience, in addition to all the other quirks of the presentation--I never knew how compelling an askew perspective on a grid-based dungeon could be before this, or how evocative environmental texturing could look on the humble DS.

My favourite part even above all that is just how wildly evocative all the play systems interacting with the rigours of exploration are in it, and whether that's a staple of the genre or something exceptional to The Dark Spire is beyond my knowing, but it's a thrill all the same. No one is telling you much to set you on your way, but the game occupies this odd juxtaposition in having an ever-present tooltip mapped to a button just so you can glean more information on objects or menu functions, and basically all of it is written interestingly, justifying the prose beyond practical concerns. In fact, so much of the game seems to exist just to enliven the atmosphere of inhabiting its world and playing it, as there are "useless" things to be found and applied that still have the same right to exist next to all the survival-critical number-crunching, to be filed in your party's virtual characters sheets or as a memorable diversion in the annals of memory. There's tons and tons of fighting to be had, with fairly repetitive mechanics more often than not, but I've rarely found it boring or monotonous--there's always some unpredictable bit of narration that creates a worthwhile story in the interaction even if many of the actions you take to arrive there are the same. It's a game that just begs to be explored for everything you can find in it, and it's funny and grim and welcoming and standoffish all at the same time.

 

[Octopus Prime]

I absolutely love the visuals in this game.

Just being able to look at More Stuff is all the incentive you’d need to keep playing

 

[Dracula]

I can't even afford to sleep.

This feels like the quintessential dungeon crawl experience in sum.

 

[Octopus Prime]

It really may be the least accommodating game in the genre stretching back decades.

Eliminage is more gentle and easier to grasp

 

[Yimothy]

I also started looking on eBay for this probably at the same time as JBear and wound up placing an unreasonably high bid for a copy that I was kind of relieved to be outbid on. Haven’t moved on it since, but this thread has me thinking about it again.

 

[Falselogic]

Holy Shit that's a pricey game! Even if you just get the cart...

 

[JBear]

It really may be the least accommodating game in the genre stretching back decades.

Eliminage is more gentle and easier to grasp

I disagree strongly, as someone who has played quite a lot of these, and has sunk 100+ hours into multiple Elminage games in particular. I feel like it's doing a lot to quietly accommodate the player. Party size is only 4, with 4 possible player classes, so there's a much less overwhelming task at character creation, to say nothing of the ready-made party waiting to go (not unique to this game, but still worth noting). As Peklo mentioned, every item and menu option has a tooltip, and they're all well-written and useful (and this from a genre with notoriously bad translations). Poison can't kill you, you can save everywhere, there's an automap accessible at any time, the game telegraphs all of its opening traps so that you can learn what to expect, etc, etc. I feel like it's going to great lengths to be friendlier than most entries in the genre; it just hides it well under an intimidating coat of paint.

ETA: Oh, and it has a tutorial!

I'd also be curious to see what mechanics the manual might expand on, but unfortunately I can't find a copy anywhere on the internet.

 

[Fyonn]

Dang, now I'm playing this game, too (thanks flash card). Dwarven Warrior KOS-MOS, Human Priest Shion, Halfling Thief MOMO, and Elven Wizard chaos brave the spire. Really love the Skills available. Definitely going to make Shion good at cooking ASAP. Gotta stay canon.

 

[jpfriction]

My copy is in storage, otherwise I'd scan that manual for you jbears.

I made it a couple levels deep but I wasn't smart enough for some of the puzzles. I'll give it another shot one of these days.

 

[JBear]

Today's action report:

• I broke a crystal doll because some spooky voice with pink writing asked me to? Seems fine?
• Ah, I think breaking the doll unsealed this door with my quest objective in it? I'll take it!
• These maps wrap along the edges? Fuck, this changes everything.
• So far there seems to be no penalty for failing to pick a lock? I took the lockpicking skill on my Thief anyway, just to be safe, but perhaps I shouldn't have bothered.
• Meanwhile, there seems to be a large penalty for failing to disarm traps, and I haven't noticed any increase in success after taking the disarm skill.
• Damage pit traps are also a thing. My Mage and his 3 HP are now dead.
• Dammit, reviving my Mage took all of my money from that trip.
• A one-way door. Uh oh.
• Fortunately, there seems to be a healing spring in here.
• Note to self: come back here and read the engraving next to this spring once I've taught someone the languages skill.
• Oh, there's another one-way door right back out. Convenient!
• I just solved a riddle posed to me by a door with teeth. Part of me is sad that I didn't get to see what it would do to me if I'd failed.
• Ooo, new music-- I think this gobbo gang is a mini-boss.
• ...and my Mage is dead again. At least the goblins are too!
• Feels like I've done about all I can on the first floor. Let's see if I'm ready for the basement now.
• Update: I was not ready for the basement.
• The second floor feels a bit more plausible now, though.
• Important note: ghost are vulnerable to punching.
• Ooo, a Gambling Den!
• Amusingly, my Priest is the only one I can teach the Gambling skill to, so I guess it's time for someone to pick up a vice!
• I've taught my Priest to gamble and my Mage to read, so let's see about that statue near the MP healing spring...
• The sign says it's safe to drink. Thanks!
• Apparently dark rooms are a thing. I don't know if I'll ever find a way to light them, but for now I can navigate by sound provided that I'm careful.
• There doesn't seem to be a penalty for fighting in the dark.
• Well, I wasn't planning to save-scum my way to fortune via gambling, but according the quest-giver I just found in a dark room, I need to win five times in a row to complete his quest, so I guess we live here now.
• Well, now I have 4000 gold pieces and a quest item. I have to think that this is what the game wanted me to do, and who am I to argue?
• Holy shit, that quest gave 3000 EXP. Well crud, I hope there wasn't some alternative solution that I just brute-forced my way past.
• So many of these skills sound so delightfully useless. Equestrian? Navigating by the stars? Yes, I must know all the things.
• I hadn't let the Town music sit before-- it's a banger.
• Oh shit, that guy just dropped a compass. Never leave home without one! I see "spinners" on the map legend, so I'm sure it'll be invaluable.
• I consistently seem to have interface issues when using items. It always takes me two antidotes to cure poison: one to fuck up and remind me, and one to use on the correct target. I'm sure I'll get it eventually.
• ...but not today.

TLDR: Game's still good! I think that's just about it for that half of 2F, so time to go up the other stairs from the first floor that I found.

 

[gorha]

Wow, y'all weren't kidding about the prices. I got it new for $4.99 not too long after it came out, and it was a steal at that price, but I'd balk at paying over $100 for it now. I wonder what happened to drive it up so much. I remember really liking the writing in this game; I think Atlus did an even better job with The Dark Spire than their own Etrian Odyssey games (or maybe the original script was better and the translation reflected that).

The manual doesn't go into too much detail, but it does explain a few of the things you were wondering about:
Praying can affect your alignment. Priests have to be lawful or chaotic, and there are spells for both Priests and Mages that require a particular alignment to use.
Equipping something not allowed to your class prevents spellcasting for Mages and Priests, and makes trap disarming and lockpicking harder for Thieves.

I don't have a scanner at home, but there's one in my office. I'll see if I have some time to scan it at work. It does have a lot of screenshots, including ones of the town NPCs.

 

[Fyonn]

Took me forever to figure out disarming on my own. For the curious:

Spoiler

If your thief does it right and thinks the trap will be easy to disarm, you pick each option from the top of the list to the bottom. They still might fail, but they'll always fail if you do it in the wrong order. If your thief thinks it will be hard to disarm, the trap parts will (edit) might be out-of-order. I think the correct order is always the same for each trap type, so you can take your own personal notes on how to disarm each trap type.

Considering how many runs were being instantly ended by trying and failing to disarm poison needles for me, this has been pretty vital info.

 

[Nich]

I remember really liking the writing in this game; I think Atlus did an even better job with The Dark Spire than their own Etrian Odyssey games (or maybe the original script was better and the translation reflected that).

Ouch...

 

[Poster]

I played this maybe a year or so after it came out. After some false starts, I did finally complete it, including the bonus dungeon.

While the art and music were great, I do wish the game had not tied them together--I really wanted to play the "classic" music with the regular dungeon/monster art.

 

[gorha]

Ouch...

Dang, sorry I did also really like Etrian Odyssey, to be clear! It was the game that made me get a DS, even.

 

[Fyonn]

To say The Dark Spire has great music is a bit of an understatement. This track, for instance, would not be out of place as a SMT or Castlevania boss theme, and would be a top tier one of those if it were:

 

[JBear]

Good music to get killed by goblins to.

 

[Peklo]

That's a funny comparison to make since Kenichi Arakawa was one of the three composers who did the soundtrack for the aurally superb PC-98 Castlevania clone Rusty. Clearly it's a seasoned pro's work in a style they know better than anyone.

The more I play this the clearer its specific strengths and appeals become. It's a game foremost about navigation more than anything, and the particulars of its interface seem deliberately chosen for achieving a precisely attuned effect toward that end. The decision to withhold an updating player position icon for the map (except when called upon through spells, using a dwindling resource), as well as leaving that map behind a button press despite the system's two screens allowing it to be constantly up speak to the kind of play challenges the game is interested in exploring, and what kind of skills it demands of the player in turn: this is not a game to play if you cannot summon up a knack of developing a sense of direction in charting virtual spaces, because on a baseline you're left to your own devices in keeping steady orientation in the labyrinth. Aids for gathering your position exist in the aforementioned spell and other tools like compasses, but this is not Etrian Odyssey where you can play the entire game staring at the map screen while the visualized environment up top serves more as atmospheric flavour. The Dark Spire is still at its heart a grid-based dungeon crawl, with a lack of distinct landmarks, but finding your way through the tower is a more active experience when you're cross-referencing the map's record, your own immediate architectural vicinity, and trying to combine the two into a definite navigational conclusion. You're always thinking about the world around you and cannot "tune out" to an auto-pilot means of travel, lest you lose your way even on trodden ground.

Which brings things to another stellar mark of the overall design sense employed here as it's very reserved about its doling out of expediting shortcuts and bypasses that modern dungeon crawls like From's output have long since codified into an expected endorphin rush involved in the wider genre and how it's supposed to work. Even Etrian Odyssey as it aged shifted from long treks into the labyrinth that emphasized multi-floor attrition into a more micro-focused, piecemeal style, and from the start there were the Warp Wires and Ariadne Threads. Here, planning an exit out of the dungeon is as large part of the strategies as pushing into new spaces, and as a result you get to develop a much more intimate and developed understanding of the environmental nuances over many such backtracking retreats and returns to the deepest point previously reached, helping with that sense of pro-active navigation that the game wants you to develop along the way. Because the layouts are so amazingly dense and involved, prioritizing those qualities over legibility, there are also several specific paths that remain as options for the inevitable retreat out, so covering previously explored areas doesn't feel like a chore even if technically nothing new manifests during those walks. The twisting passages have remained compelling even if I technically know what's coming up, and a lot of it has to do with the necessity to remain engaged in navigating them.

 

[gorha]

I did scan the manual. Are Google Drive links OK to post here?

Edit: never mind, I put it on imgur

https://imgur.com/a/eznGsDp

 

[Fyonn]

Much to my surprise, I've kept at playing this, and yeah, Peklo's right, the specifics of the navigational focus make this the only dungeon crawler I've ever played where I look dungeon more than the map, while also making looking at the map an engaging experience. Like sometimes I'll look at the map be confused, then wander around to nearby rooms before I can go "oh, wait, yeah, I know where I am." The fact that it's possible to do that at all without common landmarks other than room shape is really a testament to the strength of the map design. It sprawls, but there's also a sense of delineation between map "zones" for lack of a better word.

 

[Peklo]

Some more commentary in the vein of what this game is or isn't.

What it is not: a complex playground for party-building mechanics, à la Etrian Odyssey (it's an useful point of contrast; I'm only mildly obsessed). That series is built on the assumption that any player-concocted makeup of an RPG party can "make it work"--some more optimally and seamlessly than others, but the design overall accommodates unusual and very specific party synergies, of which there are almost uncountably many. The Dark Spire by its very nature cannot and will not accept such; the four classes that form the pillars of the D&D player archetypes fill up the party's ranks and every one of them is crucial with the role and responsibilities they respectively govern: you need warriors to tank hits; you need thieves to lockpick doors and disarms chests; you need priests to facilitate longer exploratory ventures; and do you ever need mages to reliably address the increasingly ballooning enemy formations. Early on, it might appear as if there's room for doubling up or abstaining from any one of these ordained tasks, but it quickly becomes clear that The Dark Spire's player groups are at their core rigid, tuned machines of exploration with pre-determined expectations to be fulfilled, experimentation and diversification only existing in the margins and with later specialization.

What it is: a dang adventure game, in the old sense of the word. What do you actually do in an Etrian Odyssey, or a Shin Megami Tensei, in terms of delving deeper in their labyrinth worlds? Most gates that exist in them are built out of meat and sinew, as that's where those games's attention lies, in the interlocking mechanics of battle. You will encounter other figures during your travels for dialogue purposes to push the narrative along, but they're the intermissions between the exploration that's stratified with significant boss encounters to signify the beginnings and endings of individual sections, pushing the player out or welcoming them in. The Dark Spire does not follow that paradigm, as there are very few dedicated bosses in it, and ones that exist are often so similar to the standard encounters that you might not even notice the difference were the mid-boss BGM not signaling it. Instead of bosses serving as gating and the ultimate challenge as built up by the battle mechanics, the game again turns to its true heart: the exploration of the environment and the picking up of assorted observations and clues to solve the puzzles therein. These aren't that simplistic affairs either as they require a keen and active tendency to thoroughly scour the environment for any oddities that usually are only represented textually, and the knick-knacks and jigsaw tiles accrued along the way often come from multiple floors of collected material before they make themselves relevant and required many hours later in some novel and surprising fashion and combination. It's a recipe that has all the ingredients to stymie and perplex in the way design of this heritage so often has if a step is missed somewhere along the way and retracing seems unfathomable, but it colours the game's particularities accordingly with what the rest is compelled to focus on really admirably and confidently, and brings out the best elements in it. The solutions to the riddles are so evocative or inexplicably arranged that I've often laughed along with them, in this tower that on a superficial level seems so hostile and repellent to any sort of levity to be found within.

 

[Fyonn]

The fact that the MP-restoring fountain JBear has already mentioned says it is specifically a carbonated water fountain and it's also safe for pets is one such example of The Dark Spire's sense of humor. A room with a refreshing fountain what feels like interminably deep into the dangers of the tower when you first get there, sandwiched between one-way doors says "yeah man, this is a normal place to bring your dog, don't worry about it."

 

[JBear]

Didn't get a lot of time to play this recently, but FWIW:

• My Warrior had to take an oath when he levelled up?
  
  
  
  
• These all seem incredibly inconsequential, and they are 100% going to bite me in the ass later somehow, aren't they? (I took "no dog eating", FWIW.)
• Oh, wow priest level 4 is off the hook. Finally, poison curing and a persistent AC buff for the whole team.
• Ah, and now a Defense button is lit up on the top screen-- I had wondered what that was for. Looks like it's to track party buffs.
• I just ran into a sentient piles of coins on the first floor, near the entrance. I've been by here a million times already, so I guess it must be rare encounter-- killing them was certainly a good payday.
• I gave my Mage a level of Vit instead of an experience level, in hopes that it will fix his HP problem. He still only has 8 VIT now, though, instead of 7, and how he's a level behind everyone else to boot. This is going to be a problem when I presumably finally start fighting things that can consistently attack my back line (which consists only of my Mage).

I did scan the manual. Are Google Drive links OK to post here?

Edit: never mind, I put it on imgur

https://imgur.com/a/eznGsDp

This is great, thanks! I just gave the whole thing a read:

• Breaking oaths increases XP needed to level up. Yikes!
• This game has prestige classes! So much for one of each! It looks like there's one unique prestige class for each unique pairing of base classes, for 6 total. Presumably I have to cross-class into the applicable classes to unlock them. I guess I'll have to start planning!
• The innkeeper can apparently sometimes have "secret items in stock" if you talk to him regularly. So far, he's not had anything new to say, but I'll keep it in mind!
• lol, the manual lists some later possible traps, and the consequences include poisoning the whole party, random status effects on the whole party, draining the entire party's spells charges, and just killing someone outright. Fun!
• And we end with a spell chart, conveniently including only the spell levels that I currently have access to.
• ! It looks like there are some spells only available to lawful/chaotic characters. My party is all neutral/lawful, so I'll probably be denied some fun toys. Ah well.
• ...which includes a level 4 Priest spells that cures any status ailment. Weird that that's chaotic.

 

[Peklo]

I finished this. I've been trying to keep all the commentary very generalized throughout for JBear and others's sake who are also playing, but it probably doesn't hurt to say that this ended up being one of the best games I've ever played. Just a tremendous exploration of the form that has to be on some level exceptional, even if I lack the context to more fully understand it from that perspective.

One of my favourite aspects of it was just the tone landed on--it can be deeply silly and serious alternatively or simultaneously, and evocative for all that; it even wields the kind of nerdy referentiality to other media as a strength that I usually find off-putting (and there is a lot of that within). I think it comes down to playing all of it--the fairy tales, folklore, literary allusions, video games and other modernities--entirely straight and informed by the setting's sideways nature, so even the absurdities don't seem out of place for how the game carries itself. It's just very dry in its jokey sensibilities, in ways that in my experience are uncommon in video games when they attempt to be funny; winking at the audience often takes precedence. Here, almost everything landed, regardless of if I identified the source of the gag--it's holistically very well written, and honestly, after a decade and more of these really self-serious From Software narratives and their kin representing the dark fantasy genre or what have you, exceedingly welcome to immerse in.

I played on hardware so I can't share any direct captures of my own, but I still want to showcase just how amazing this game looks all over--crops from other people's streaming footage will have to do, so excuse the quality. Don't look if you're averse to visual spoilers, since these encompass most of the game's length. The audiovisuality is what hooked me years before I ever even played The Dark Spire, and it's something that I can't stress enough, in how important it is to me to be compelled by aesthetics in this genre or any other--there are well-regarded blobbers that I simply won't touch because some aspect of the character, creature or interface design puts me off. This is a game that exceeds all of my personal wants and demands by a huge margin, and it's something to be celebrated.

Spoiler

 

[MetManMas]

Years ago I bought this game on clearance for like $5 or so; sadly I no longer have it. I did not know it would shoot up so much in price.

I hope The Dark Spire gets a rerelease someday. Hopefully an HD one, assuming Success still has the original unscaled art assets around somewhere.

 

[JBear]

• For tonight's session, we're heading to the basement.
• These Alchemists that I've been trivially mopping up can apparently cast my Mage's level 3 fireball spell. Great. That's a couple of folks dead in one shot. A short trip to start the night!
• There's a sign here that says "Super Danger Zone: Are you prepared to restart?" Now, this is either the game being kind again, or bravado from the thieves down here to protect their hideout. Mind you, if it's the latter, then they're breaking the 4th wall. That said, they wouldn't be the first characters in this game to do so.
• Dark rooms and poison gas traps? Sure, great. why not?
• Add "magical draining traps" to that list.
• I just found a corpse clutching a checklist. The checklist is a guide to inspect a "power reactor"???
• "Guild of Commerce Secret Headquarters: No Soliciting"
• Hah, there's a door-knocker outside that no one answers, and if I knock a dozen or so times in succession, someone inside gets mad and yells.
• Hrm. If I go through the door, I just get booted out with no opportunity to interact? I guess I'll have to come back here later.
• Starting to run into more sentient coins again. They can apparently breathe on the party? Don't ask me how that works, but it only seems to hit for 0-1 damage, so they're not very good at it. A sign of dragons to come. perhaps?
• Hrm, I found a Blizzard Jewel, and have now fully explored the basement (or, at least, as much of it as I can access ATM). I currently have two quests, which are to beat up some thieves and get the Flame Jewel, and I thought both of those would be down here, but it looks like neither of them is? I guess I did stuff out of order?
• Found the thieves' nest on the first floor, via a passage back down from the second.
• Also found the "Generator Room". I'm sure I'll need that later?
• Ah, nm, there was a secret room with a lever to open it just around the corner.
• ...I think I just found a hamster wheel that's missing its hamster in the generator room. The game is playing this completely straight.
• Taking out my inspection checklist, it looks like I need feed, water, and a squirrel, so I guess make that a squirrel wheel!
• I also found a suspicious noblewoman trapped in a room? Can't seem to interact with her meaningfully ATM, but the games is making it seem like a trap of some sort.
• Okay, scratch that: it occurred to me to try using a Recovery Potion on her, and it healed her leg and she gave me a bracelet before running off. Looks like the bracelet resists sleep? Score!
• I was able to fill my squirrel bottle at the spring I found earlier-- turns out the comment about being safe for pets was a puzzle hint, not just fun colour!
• I think I've officially reached the point where I'm going to have to start making a list of notable coordinates to revisit later.

The list thus far (hopefully I didn't forget anything; it may already have been too late):

Basement
--

• Room with blizzard crystals (3E, 20N)

F1
--

• Collapsing hallway (4E, 0N)
• Guild of Commerce Secret HQ (4E, 3N)
• Generator Room (13E, 6N)
• Doll Room (21E, 20N)
• Sir Emerald Lightning, who sold me an Important Item (7E, 4N)
• MP recovery fountain (13E, 17N)

F2
--

• Gambling Hall (3E, 18N)
• Gambling Nobleman (4E, 19N)

Outstanding mysteries
--

• Getting to the other side of the collapsing floor
• What to do with the Important Item and Blizzard Crystal
• Fixing the power generator (need feed and a squirrel)
• Fixing the elevator (may be the same thing)
• Meaningfully interacting with the Guild of Commerce
• Figure out what to do with Scrap Metal so I can free up inventory space.

 

[Fyonn]

Living coins with breath weapons are a weird early game Wizardry thing. Doesn't explain them, but they're part of a proud, inexplicable legacy.

 

[JBear]

• Back to Floor 2.
• Found a sealed door and a secret altar. Smashing the altar unsealed the door.
• ...and pissed off some ghosts. Mini-boss time!
• It's nothing that liberal application of fire wasn't able to fix.
• And for our trouble we got... ectoplasm? This is not the fire jewel that I was hoping for.
• Ah well-- onward and upward!
• ...warp tiles
• Update: We're in a full-fledged teleporter maze. We're getting warped back and forth between 3 near-identical rooms. Whee!
• Hah, another update: a teleport maze with pit traps. We dungeon crawling now!
• Aha, I found a switch. I think this must shut off the pit trap, because I don't see any other way to cross the east-most room.
• Success! That was a fun puzzle! And my reward was my next quest objective: the flame jewel. Huzzah!
• I just bluffed my way past a door guarded by pirates by wearing a tricorne hat, a cutlass, and a stuffed parrot on my shoulder. (Game is good.)
• That is... quite a lot of angry pirates (12 total, in 3 groups).
• Fortunately, I also brought quite a lot of magic fireballs.
• ...There were more pirates. (Still fine.)
• The pirate Whirlwind Willy wants me to find his missing captain (and missing ship's log?). If I do, I think I'll get to use their ship? Why do I need a pirate ship in a tower? ...Why is a pirate ship in a tower in the first place?
• I just found some rum-soaked nuts in the pirates' stores... such as a squirrel might eat?
• And one of those Japanese trees with paper wishes tied to it.
• More pirates just attacked me for trying to steal their marshmallows. Which, I mean, fair.
• The pirates have a capsule machine? So far it only seems to spit out flavoured ink and compasses.
• I found the "Docks", where there's a docked pirate ship that I am apparently not welcome to board, and that is also having technical difficulties of some nature.
• Found the Captain's log, which includes instructions on how to operate a "magic ship".
• Also found a list of of ingredients to make a Candy House? "Roofing: Chocolate; Walls: Wafers; Stucco: Whipped Cream; Glass: Rock Candy; Insulation: Marshmallows" Given that I already have some marshmallows, I assume that I'll be doing this for some reason!
• It also mentions marshmallows being useful for both insulation and soundproofing, which I guess might be relevant?
• There's new music for a Pirate argument about who gets to be captain next and it's the most glorious thing I've ever heard:
  
• Hrm. I seem to be stuck! The pirates were supposedly blocking the way to the next floor, but they've cleared out and taken their ship with them and all that I see is dead ends. (This is not a request: I'll get unstuck.)

More notable maps coordinates for my reference:

• 2F - Rum-soaked nuts (14E, 7N)
• 2F - Paper wishing tree (14E, 15N)
• 2F - Capsule machine (20E, 15N)

 

[jpfriction]

This is about as far as I ever made it. Godspeed Jbear, I’ll probably check out for the most part on the off chance I ever play this silly game again.