* * * * * Chrono Trigger - Week 5 * * * * *

(Plain English: Scroll down to the bottom of the "OP" if you're lagging behind for previous weeks)


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue:
i Okami Club
ii Fire Emblem Club

Epic Center:
01 Ogre Battle
24 Secret of Mana
39 Phantasy Star IV (cont'd)
67 Earthbound (cont'd)
99 Breath of Fire II (cont'd)
110 Paper Mario (cont'd)
123 Golden Sun (cont'd)
136 Chrono Trigger

(ALL VINTAGE EC GAMES ARE CONTINUED IN THEIR OFFICIAL DISCUSSION THREADS!)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Hello, true believers! Welcome to Negative World's newest RPG-centric Club Hub, springing off the heels of the Fire Emblem Club. Way back when, Nintendo Power introduced a monthly walkthrough / in depth Role Play Game section (right around the beefiest SNES RPG era), but since they aren't around anymore to use it, Negative World will bring it out of the ashes, dust it off, and roll with it (two things of note: #1, this is not in reaction to Nintendo Force Magazine at all -- I know that because I thought of it in the shower this morning, so THERE; and #2, I just looked up "Epic Center RPG" on Yahoo, and there is apparently another RPG-based site that has that, ugh. I guess we're looking at a "Ghostbusters" / "Real Ghostbusters" thing now... Whatever..).

For anyone who grew playing SNES RPGs, and were a fan of them, they surely resonated to the point where they still hold office as some of your favorite games of your entire videogame life, systems, generations, and decades later. The NW Epic Center (run primarily by myself, with the aid of some special friends occasionally) will help to expose some of those games that didn't quite get the recognition they deserved, and also to relive some of the greatest games EVER as we play through them again -- together -- and open up a whole new dialogue on these lost treasures.


Next up..



Chrono Trigger is held by many (myself included) as The Greatest RPG of All Time, pun not intended. It is a benchmark title in the genre, and even after 20 years the game is discussed daily and held in high regard, even in the face of juiced-up, HD "masterpieces." Is simpler sometimes better? Sure, but we're not talking "Dragon Warrior" simple here; we're talking 16-bit perfection at its finest. I'm personally a bit worried about pursuing this game once more; it's been a long time since my last jog through it, and I'm afraid I might have the rosiest pair of glasses that any shot of nostalgia could ever produce. We find out later this month, for better or for worse. (C'mon, it's gonna be fine -- we're talking Chrono Trigger here!! THE BEST, JERRY, THE BEST!!)

Sunday, August 30th marks the start of Week 1 (if you prefer to start your own quest AFTER Sunday, like Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, thats fine!). Golden Sun ran 6 Weeks. GameDadGrant will be our DUNGEON MASTER for this one, and we figure the playthrough to run about the same length. Less than two months. I'm told the total quest should last you between 20 and 30 hours.


See ya soon!!


CHRONO TRIGGER

Dungeon Master: GameDadGrant

You Did It! Chrono Trigger Complete:
VofEscaflowne
Scrawnton
Mop it up
Ludist210


Week 4 Complete:
GameDadGrant
mrbiggsly
DapperDave

Week 3 Complete:
Mr_Mustache (and Mrs_Mustache!)

Week 2 Complete:
Smerd
Dark weres
warerare
sirmastersephiroth

Week 1 Complete:
Anand

Triggermen:
HammerLord
Koovaps

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5

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Well, made it to the Dry Dry Outpost. Saved. Will continue later this week. Tomorrow perhaps.

I'm happy my favorite buddy, Parakarry has joined. I love Parakoopas. The desert is honestly not that much fun to explore but I also blame the N64 controller I'm using. Going "south" is wonky.

Just completed Week 2.

Also, I don't think I answered this before (and haven't gone back to check) but I like the one chapter per week deal. I think doing two or even one and a half would be too much. One and a half might be feasible but at the same time I agree it's weird to end mid-way.

I'm enjoying things and the flow right now. We'll finish mid-March then eh?

@DrFinkelstein

I think one Chapter per week is good, too. Nice and rigid.

I've been Save & Quit'ing, too.

@Mr_Mustache

Same here. I guess I could "continue" if I felt like it but it's satisfying to save and quit, not know what's coming next till the new chapter shows here, and go do something else. These Lego aren't going to build themselves!

Also, I'm at Level 7 with a play time of 07:36.

Paper Mario is such a fun RPG! I recommend trying a BP-only run for your level-ups--it starts off rather challenging, but ends up being super fun and customizable. Might be a little late for you guys to do that anyway, but it's not a big deal in PM 64--after all, the BP maxes out at 30 instead of at 99 like in TTYD (now that one has a killer BP-only run!).

I'm actually finding myself remembering quite a bit of this game as I play it, despite it having been years and years. If you were to ask me about the game I probably couldn't have told you much, but actually playing it, I have no problem remembering how to do things and where some hidden stuff is. A little weird how that's working out.

One of the game's best badges is hidden on Mt. Rugged, I'd advise that everyone find it!

As far as how much to do each week, if everyone had already completed week 2 then we could think about changing it, but seeing that some people haven't started yet, if they still want to pick the game up then they should be able to catch up to us. For now, it seems fine as it is. Plus I think the later chapters are a little longer, or at least there's more side stuff to do later on, should give people some time for that stuff.

@TriforceBun

I just gave myself a HP boost because I felt 15 HP wasn't good enough in Dry Dry Ruins. Now I will likely continue the BP.

@Mop it up

Which Badge? You can spoiler it out! (I'm..trying to remember what I've found there.)

Just a quick update. I'm done with chapter one and I should rush through the second and beat it by tomorrow.

I got FP for my first upgrade, but I've been upping the BPs exclusively from the next level and on. I like the idea of focusing on badges, but I also like having some more freedom to use my partners abilities every now and then.

@Mr_Mustache It's hard for me to figure out what people will think are spoilers in this game (TrifoceBun spoilered out the max BP level even though I didn't), but I guess I should.

The badge everyone should find on Mt. Rugged is: Damage Dodge. When you do the defensive action command, Mario's defense will increase by 1, which will make for a total of 2. Most enemies will be doing more than 1 damage attacks, so it'll definitely help.

@Mop it up

Oh, I TOTALLY got that. Excellent badge. I made room for that thing IMMEDIATELY.

Can you help me with Stone Blocks? The only ones (3) I can remember seeing were on Mt. Rugged, in a Pipe under Toad Town, and POSSIBLY one way back around Goomba Village? I'm definitely going back, just trying to shave time. I know I've seen 'em. Can I Hammer the Stone Cactus, too?

@Mr_Mustache

As far as I know, that's all of them. Except I don't think there's a stone block in Goomba Village. Could be wrong, though. I'm pretty sure you can't do anything to the stone cactus.

@DrFinkelstein

It's a bit more towards the end of March. The final week begins on the 23rd.


Okay, I'll keep things to one chapter a week. I like that the most too. Thank you for the feedback, everyone.

I am still playing! Probably about half done with week 2. I wasted a bunch of time running errands for old koopa dude, and fighting in the dojo. I'll be busy the next couple nights, so I'll likely have to finish 2 and work on 3 during the weekend. With Monday off, I like my chances! Also, one chapter a week is perfect!

There's something that's always bothered me about Mario's house in this game. Why in the world do Mario and Luigi have a bunk bed? There's plenty of space in the bedroom to have separate beds, no reason to stack them!

@Mr_Mustache Hero of Hyrule mostly covered it, but there is indeed a stone block back near Goomba Village, in the area where you first got the hammer. However, it isn't covering anything up, so there is no reason to go back to it. My guess is that the only reason the block exists is to show you that you can't destroy stone blocks with the first hammer.

Another week down! We've crossed a mountain, lied to a bounty-hunting buzzard, explored a desert, and did a bit of archaeology. We also met a new friend with a useful flying ability and a special attack reminiscent of Yoshi's egg throwing. Up next is a heavy dose of Halloween in February. There's a maze-like forest to traverse; a mansion that houses the departed to be explored; and a big, hungry bully to be stopped. This villain resides in one of the toughest areas in the game, but don't be discouraged! There's nothing a good swing of our new hammer can't solve. Let's go!

PAPER MARIO EPIC CENTER
Week 3

Goal:
Rescue the third Star Spirit. Select "Save and Quit" afterwards.


Important Notes:
1. Talk to the Bulb-ulb in Toad Town to get a Magical Seed

2. Talk to the Bulb-ulb in Forever Forest to get another Magical Seed


Optional:
1. Find the two badges hidden in Forever Forest

2. In Boo's Mansion, there is a green couch on the first floor. You'll see it as soon as you go through the main entrance to the mansion. There are doors on the wall behind this couch. Go through the first door to the left of the couch. In that room is a vase. Jump into this vase for a fun surprise.

3. In Tubba Blubba's Castle, find the D-Down Badge and the Mega Rush badge.
D-Down Hint:Bomb the wall behind the sleeping Blubba on the second floor. Use the Spin Jump ability in the new room. Mega Rush Hint:Push the clock to the right on the second floor to reveal a bedroom. The badge is hidden in here.

Just started Week 2. The slow pacing is my major dislike about this game so far.

I will start and complete WEEK 3 later than normal this week. I will be out of town the next few days. I'm bummed about it because it's all work and no play but whatev'.

Will pick this back up before Sunday surely!

Found some stuff this week (3) that maybe would've been over looked:

1. 2 Badges (as Princess) that can be put into the magic chest.
2. 2 Special Blue Disc Blocks? And now all of my critters are powered up.

And I'm not even into the Forest yet.

@Mr_Mustache

Yeah, the first thing was accidentally overlooked. Good job finding them. Originally, I didn't want to include badges at all in the optional section because there's no way I can cover all of them, but I ended up deciding to list some badges whenever there isn't a whole lot of extra stuff in a chapter. If I didn't list some badges this week, then the only optional thing would've been a brief easter egg. But I did completely miss those when creating this week's schedule, so again, good find. Thank you for letting me know.

I did intentionally leave out the second thing, however. I'm not trying to point out all of the extra content in the game. I'm just trying to direct people to the most interesting or fun stuff and to give them a bit more to do if the main story isn't enough. Although, if you want me to, I can list some of those blocks next time. Thank you for pointing those out in case I missed them.

Just finished up week 3.