* * * * * 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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@Mr_Mustache
There's no wrong way of setting Djinn, as far as I know. I typically keep the Mercury Djinn locked to one character as that gives you a solid healer, but you can move that around as well and still be good overall.

For puddles, that will be the fourth character you'll hit those up.

@PogueSquadron

Yeah..BUT HOW? Did you get it? I racked my brain for a good while, way longer than I expected / wanted to.

And it doesn't NEED to be 8 weeks. The entire process should be "comfortable," as the most important factor, while still maintaining an even and "it feels like we're making progress" clip. If you/we finish a week, and it feels like nothing has been accomplished, that is no good.

@missypissy

Ooh, thanks. Did you have 5 Djinn by the time you finish Week 2, or did you get 4 as well?


Telllll me something GOOD, dudes!

I don't know...it was just a matter of getting that logg vertical log to the right side I believe. And using the horizontal logs to stop it in its tracks at some point. It's hard to tell you how to do it unless I'm looking at it. Maybe YouTube it?

I have to get back into this so I can tell you where I'm at with Djinn. How did we feel with last week? Was it too much? If so, this week can be a bit lighter, and we can make our goal completing the Mercury Lighthouse. I personally didn't think this section was too hard though so we can extend it. I'll take a look and post back later.

@PogueSquadron

As with one of the other sections, it looks like the vertical log is supposed to line up with a piece of grass that is worn away. Maybe I'm wrong. I can get the log in the middle, and both upper horizontal logs to make like a T at the top, but I can't jump (diagonally) to either of them OR up to the grass. if I could move the vertical log UP a square (which you can't), everything would work fine. Not nuts about YouTubing it, which someone knew explicitly what to do. Did you get to it yet?

I don't think Week 2 was too long. I'm at like..6 hours total. Some of our weeks of other games WERE 6 hours, haha.

FOR EXAMPLE, played ONE STAGE of Advance Wars last night for like 4 HOURS. I freakin' won, BUT STILL.

Week 3

Top of the World
Objective: After getting through the lighthouse, tie up any loose ends in Bilbin and Kolima.

In theory this week should be lighter than last week, although things may be starting to get more difficult. There may also be some slight retraversal as we get ready for Week 4 (which I'll be on as you're all on Week 3).

Tip: You cannot fully heal Tret Tree until after completing this section, so don't be confused if people are still trees for now.

Also, that chest in Kolima Forest? It contains a Fur Coat, an armor which resists water. It could be helpful for Garet in the next section, though I don't think it's necessary. I didn't get I until after returning to the forest after finishing up week 3.

@PogueSquadron

Started Week 3 last night.

And holy crap, do I feel dumb; I went back to that log thing and spent another TWO MINUTES on it and solved it. I think that patch of grass messed me up. Weird that they have that there since you don't use that AT ALL.

Chest is a Fur Coat if anyone cares, ~4 points stronger than the Robe and is strong against Water.

EDIT-
HA! Sorry, didn't see what you wrote. Thanks for fillin' it in though. I'm most concerned now about any Djinn I may've missed.. Can you confirm if my findings are true? 1st guy, "Forge", and "Gust"/"Breeze"(4)

Finished The Lighthouse last night, and I'm now 1/2/1/2 on Djinn, so thats cool.

Eager to go back and do a bunch of stuff that missed, specifically with the puddles and whatnot. Dig it.

Sorry if this was a short week. I figured this was a good stopping point in regards to the story. I'm going through week 4 now, which is going to be a little longer.

@PogueSquadron

So, what can you really do with the puddles? I pushed one torch to melt some ice, I guess the puddles THERE were to show me that "hey, ice can melt when next to fire?"

I'm back at Vale, too, seeing if I missed anything. I know there was a Nut hanging on a tree that I didn't understand before (have it now), and I blew away some leaves to find some Might Bread or whatever its called. What else should I double check on? Gave a Dog a Bone, though I don't believe I can properly search where he wants me to yet? Does this all sound right?

@Mr_Mustache there's a part in the next section to show you what you can do with the puddles. I'll give you a firm stopping point for week 4 today. Sorry I'm always late with these. It was anniversary weekend!

Week 4

Water, Water, Everywhere

Objective: Complete the Lamakan Desert

This might be a longer week. As always, I'm new to this, so if need be, we could make this a two-weeker.

In this week you will finally be advancing past the area of the Mercury Lighthouse, Bilbin, and Kolima. Tie up as many loose ends as you can before you go. This may include using the Hermes Water on Tret and returning to Bilbin for a little prize (not a huge deal but it's something at least). Tip: The most valuable chest in Bilbin is probably the Water of Life, which is the chest all the way to the right.

At this point, your Djinn should look like this (names and locations below:)
props to Golden Sun Wiki at http://goldensun.wikia.com/wiki/Master_List_of_Djinn


Flint (World Map, south of Vale, approaches Isaac)
Forge (Goma Cave)
Gust (Bilibin)
Venus Granite (Kolima)
Breeze (Tret Tree)
Fever (Imil)

Fizz (Mercury Lighthouse, comes with Mia)
Sleet (Mercury Lighthouse)

Of course, note that some of these are found automatically through the story (like Flint and Fizz) while others are found on the field.

This week, you will:

1.) (After curing the people of Kolima and Bilbin) Travel to the Fuchin Temple. To get there, head east of Kolima along the path, through the bridge that you couldn't pass before. Since the man isn't a tree anymore, he will let you pass.
2.) Complete the task in Fuchin Falls Cave. May the "force" be with you.
3.) Make your way through the Mogall Forest
4.) Make your way past Xian and all the way to the town of Altin.
5.) Complete the caves in Altin to unflood the town, and allow yourself to proceed to the next area, the Lama Temple.
6.)Make your way through the Lamakan Desert

If you have any Djinn questions let me know. We can do a Djinn check at the end of every week before we advance to the next week. Sorry if this week is a little longer, but I figure this game is fairly fast paced and most of these areas can be finished in a couple hours or less.

Likely my least favorite part of the game. I still need to get through Week 3...but I will keep pressing forward!

@Mr_Mustache
Well, if you can melt the ice then maybe...

@missypissy There are some parts of this game that are pretty annoying. I'm about to head to thedesert now and for some reason I'm finally remembering the music that I'm about to dread listening to.

@PogueSquadron

HEY! I WAS able to get that Djinn in Kolima before changing the trees back (secret hidden staircase behind the building!). Also, I suspended last night after getting back to Bilibin and having 4 chests in front of me. Hmm.... (Thanks for the hot tip!)

@missypissy

Yeah, haha, I figured it out last night. I walked around in Lunpa for a little bit..

@PogueSquadron

ACK! How do I get Fever? Is that the "search around" one with the dog bone? CRAP. I don't even remember where Imil is.. "Western" Continent? Help! (Or is Imil the Ice place? I couldn't get into that cave like a dum-dum. Are we supposed to get in there yet? Snowman looks suspicious..)

--Weekly Djinn Check sounds AWESOME. I very much appreciate that.

I think Fever is the one in Imil (the snow town) located on the north side, behind the frozen waterfall. You have to slip slide on the rocks to get there.

@PogueSquadron

Ugh, I was trying. Does something else open up that I can't do yet, or another stone drop down that I can use?

Also, with those oddly arranged Gravestones, I feel like I need to bomb the middle of them or something ala Zelda. Wrong?

There's something you can push onto the ice from above.

As for the graves, not sure. If there's something to do there, you won't be able to find it until getting a certain ability.

@Mr_Mustache
Wrong. But like @PogueSquadron said there is an ability you get that reveals the hole.

@PogueSquadron

Alright, I'll give it a whirl later. IS IT THE SNOWMAN?! If so, do I have to PHYSICALLY push it? I thought I tried MOVING it with my MIND but it didn't work.