* * * * * 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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um, wow, I only now remember I was going to give the slums a go today. I'm sorry. The greatest Snivy artist on Earth was streaming today, I wasn't even thinking about it.

Just one thing left for the week for me. Nikki finished Beta, too. Scene 12 was a long one. Gigantic map.

@Zero

Its a Catch 22. Do too little, and people complain of things dragging on...or someone SHOOTS ahead; do too much, and people go "well I'll never finish," and thats that. Its not like you can't finish a week late or something. Nothing bad will happen..

Playing "nothing" will yield zero progress though, I know that much.

--Like Anand said before, can you handheldies play that while playing Ogre Battle? I'm pretty sure you can play the game with one hand if you want to..

@Renjaku

You were streaming!? Tell us more!

@Mr_Mustache
The greatest Snivy artist on the earth is unfathomably greater than me. It is a power of a god. His pictures tremble the heavens.

Sorry about the time off. Got back late Monday and had some time to play, but squandered it while still in "vacation mode." The rest of the week has been busy and I only even looked here once. I will get back on track tomorrow morning and will catch up best I can. I'm excited to play again!

I think I may have to drop out of this Game Club.

As I've mentioned in this thread, my Wii has recently died. And I'm not sure when it'll be fixed, and whether or not I'll be able to keep my games. I *should* be able to keep them, but probably not my save files. We'll see.

In any case, I'm not sure when I'll be back on my feet (Wii-wise) so I may have to step off from this epic SNES journey, unfortunately.

@Mr_Mustache I do tons of online stuff while playing my handheld! I can't squeeze more in! I actually don't find much time to play my handheld at home lately though.

I finished up 13 last night. I ended up using Zero's tactics of staying by the base. I was getting super annoyed defending the town just a bit to the right of the base. If you're unit is there and lose a battle they're dead. Well, unless they're a flying unit. I lost three teams that way. The first time it was totally unexpected. The other two times I had good unit there and didn't expect them to lose.

D'oh! Started 9 and was doing okay for a bit, but forgot to leave a guy guarding the base, and a baddie snuck by without me noticing. That's what happens when you don't play for a week.

@gojira

'Atta boy! I'll have to finish my last week later tonight. This weekend has been busy. I don't have next week up yet either. If you HAVE to get started, head for..Kalbi Peninsula; did you just do Shangrila? And do you have Boots or a Bell? You can put any unit back at base pronto. Actually, the Bell RETURNS a unit to base (like, off the field). Could you deploy a new one?

@Renjaku
@GameDadGrant
@Zero

Oh, you guyyys..

@Koovaps

I used to leave my Lord back at base constantly, but I stopped doing that a few years ago. I like to have him talk to the people now; a real man-about-town!

@Mr_Mustache

Yeah I was up in the sky, that's why my teams were dieing. I had a couple of units at home base. A couple at the closest town just north of the base. And tried to have a couple at the town to the East. The towns are spread apart so far if you don't want to risk losing them it's difficult to keep units at all of them to defend. And because of these big maps you can never tell where the enemy is going to go until they are basically there.

@Mr_Mustache

I'll try to get back in the saddle once my Wii gets back in working order! But I'll be so far behind.

It's not a lack of interest though! I like what I've played, but the system I have to play it on ain't functioning...!

I....I can only blame Nintendo's console hardware division for such crappy quality assurance.

Ogre Battle takes up my full attention. The moment I stop looking, some 5 random pieces on the map manoeuvres around my troops and And kill the guard(s) at my base.
Also, Fire Emblem just came out, so I basically volunteered to fall a week behind so I could immerse myself in that world for a while.

I finished Kalbi Peninsula without any problem. Well other than I was losing money every time. I think I need to redo my strategy a bit so I can get on the positive side of money making.

WEEK 5

-Scene 14: Snow Field: Kalbi Peninsula - Hidden Cities / Temples: 1 - Hidden Treasure: 4
-Scene 15: The Wizard: Balmorian Ruins - Hidden Cities / Temples: 1 - Treasure: 4
-Scene 16: Imprisonment: Antalia - Hidden Cities / Temples: 1 - Treasure: 4

General Tips and things to remember:
-Having trouble keeping a Town or your Base? Remember to use BOOTS (select a Unit, select a Town you already have -- voila) and BELL to return guys there instantly! Also, you don't HAVE to deploy EVERYONE. If you only Deploy 9, you can always have that ACE in your back pocket to deploy another should you need to right as someone arrives. And if worse comes to worse, go nuts on the LEADER w/ Tarot Cards. If he is dead, the unit will not be able to take ANY of your towns.
-Enemy units seem to "pop" up occasionally, but that isn't so true. Like Fog of War in other games, you need to be able to "see" the enemy. Sometimes it helps to have someone "scout" out the way by leaving guys as sort of a checkpoint for these units to bypass. I can tell you that I've been scared myself tracking a guy, and then watching him disappear before my very eyes. Where IS he going??
-Always, always, ALWAYS check your army numbers. If you're above 95, you could potentially miss out on someone joining your cause! I like to keep it around 92 personally, though that CAN be hard with so many great guys (and girls) to choose from!
-Because we went to other places first (aside from the direct path), you may very well outlevel a lot of these guys. Keep your wits about you, and park a heavy unit back home if you notice a drop in CHA/ALI. There was an incident at our place where Warren was left out there a little too long, and his CHA dropped all the way to 0. The quest back north will not be an easy one..


Spoilers / handholding, of course..
Tips for Scene 14: Kalbi Peninsula: Bring your snowboots (Muses, Ice Giants, etc.) and plenty to keep warm (Red Dragons, Fire Weapons, etc.) Chances are your Lord has pretty high levels, keep him/her out of action for this entire thing as it could be troublesome later. Go to Suntsubal to find one of three items; sell it for a high price! In Belgen, YES and NO answers will tell you about enemies weak against COLD and FIRE respectively. If you snaked Debonair in Week 4, he is the guy you want to use for this Boss fight. Hidden City is SE of Olesun on the Medium Sized Island. Treasure is SW of Glyng Bry on an island, due east of THAT to the other side of that mountain clump (which would intersect with a path from Gallstadt to Tronheim), in between the two islands SE of the hidden city Zolmstein, and near the top and middle mountain of the SE range. There is a Chaos Gate for Beta Organa if you've missed it; it is NE of your base, beyond the mountains.
Tips for Scene 15: Balmorian Ruins: Some Undead dudes running around here if you need to jack anyone's ALI up! You can pick up Saradin on this stage, but your Rep needs to be SKY HIGH. Don't give up any cities here! You'll also need that HEROSTAR (of course!) and an ALI of 70+ w/ your Lord. Head to the hidden city of Kalayo (where the road ends west of Wallas) and you'll receive the Bell of Light. Go on a City/Temple swing (you can probably do this after you've killed everyone else if it is more convenient that way) to use it on Statues (you can't lose it by using it on the wrong one). Or just go to the Temple closest to the enemy's Base.. Once you have enough room for him and his buddies, take Saradin and break him out on the Boss. He is even stronger than Warren if that is possible! Treasure is SW of Wallas, NW of Shik'Anhy, NW of Wan Kayo, and due West of the Boss Base on that "is it an island jutting out?" landmass. There is a Chaos Gate directly on the other side of the stage in almost the exact same place. Afterwards return to Sahnfan to get a sell-it-for-dough MEDAL.
Tips for Scene 16: Antalia; Holy cow, wicked Marsh land. If you have a Zombie Dragon, this is the place to use him! Also in the Marsh, plenty of Undead characters for you to slaughter with White Weapons, and drive your ALI through the roof. At the hidden Temple (nestled in the middle mountain range), you will find Yushis, who is being held against her will! Make sure you have room for her (OF COURSE), and rescue her. Help her out! Treasure is near the middle of the bottom range; to the left, middle, and right of it. More is on the middle island North of the Enemy Base, and there is a Chaos Gate on the larger island next to that, too. When you're all set to take on the Boss, you should choose someone packing some white power; and it doesn't need to be Yushis. You can save her for next stage. Afterwards, return here for a free Undead STAFF at the Boss place.


Good Luck!

@gojira

How is your Rep doing? Is it coming back up at all?

@Dark Weres

I included a special "help" note in our Week 5 stuff for you. Do you have any BOOTS?

@Mr_Mustache

Every time I get it up a couple of notches I pull another Death card.

@gojira

Are you routinely getting a bump with each Liberated city? How is your City Unit going? Gotta have SOMEONE way up there in ALI by now, like, I mean, you should have at least 5 guys in your whole joint who are at 100 ALI by this time. At least 90's, right?

I can only see what Nikki and I are doing, I wish I could monitor everyone! It. would. be. AWESOME.

@Mr_Mustache

Yeah I have a unit that's all 90's and 100's, but like I said I'm pulling death cards left and right which have been taking away any progress I make.

@gojira

Weird. How is the LUCK of your unit leader? I'm not sure if that affects cards, but I know that finding ITEMS at towns/temples is DIRECTLY attached to your liberator unit leader's LUCK. More good cards than bad cards out there though.. You'll get there!!

Busy weekend, should be finishing Week 4 tonight. Woo! Should be caught up by the coming weekend, too.