Mother 1 high playthrough log part 4

To start with, I had to rely on a guide to know that the next area is the Desert, east of Santa Claus Station... I bet there was some NPC hint that would've lead me here, but I don't remember and didn't write it down...

- Yucca Desert part 1 -

This place is very big... I don't wanna get lost in this clusterfuck overworld again, so I'm just gonna go straight toward the dot. Found an oasis, someone camping out there with a little plane, says he can't find the last land mine he planted in this desert a long time ago...

So uh... do I wanna ride in the plane or do I wanna look for this land mine? hmmm... oh and I get to ride in the tank if I buy enough plane tickets.. okay sure.
Course A: it just flies around over the desert and lands back at the tent... this shows that there's there's a ruins area a bit farther to the east.
Course B: It flies west to the factory and past some houses I'm not sure if I've been to or not...
Can't carry all 10 stubs... sigh, gotta warp back to Magicant and deposit items...

Ugh, apparenly one of the melodies is hidden near some random cactuses in the desert that you pass by in the plane course A... may as well take this time to explore the perimeter of this giant area and try and see what's available... Oh wow, I can get all the way to Easter station. Which would've been the next stop after Santa Claus Station if the bridge tracks weren't broken. I guess I'll explore here for now before finishing the desert stuff.

- Easter -

Some creepy Lavender Town-esque music here...

Seems a lot of people have gone missing.

Bring my mommy and daddy back, please.

A big flying ship took all the grown ups away.

At the left side of this town is the house of a brother and sister and a strange baby.

Mommy told me this baby has a special power.

Oh hello there. My name is Tom Garrickson. Introducing myself is my hobby.

lmao

Used telepathy on the baby.

I am this baby's consciousness. I have psychic powers, just as you do. I possess the ability to teleport. With it, you can return to anywhere you've been before.

Learned teleportation PSI... sweet, now I can warp to anywhere, not just Magicant. in fact I probably don't even need to carry around the Magicant warping item anymore.

I think I heard the voices of my dad and the others coming from the mountains. But the mountains are way past the town of Valentine.

Hmm, yeah, looks like I could explore even further beyond Easter still if I wanted to, toward the last town of the game, Valentine... probably not a good idea, Ana still dies easily. Back to the desert for now...

- Yucca Desert part 2 -

Had to look up a map of this area... I guess I'm okay with using online guides for some parts of this game to make the experience better... like maps of huge areas and like... I just found out I can easily heal all battle-related status ailments with Ana's Healing Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Omega spells. There, finally learned the 5th melody from the stupid cactus with a face...

Course C goes far east, past a tower, to Valentine station then follows the tracks back to the oasis.. that speed really makes this overworld seem much more trivial than it is when you're walking around.

Wow, that desert robot boss was easy after taking advantage of PSI moves to play smartly.

At level 37/22/33 now...

- Monkey Grotto -

Be careful, a lot of the monkeys here like to lie.

Just go straight. The truth you seek is straight ahead.

But really though... I've just realized how OP my party actually is now with Ness + Ana's PSI abilities.. and now getting tons of PSI stones to keep me using them. Lloyd kinda sucks though.

How long has it taken you to get this far? Oh, just thought I'd ask.

Turn back! Or, if you don't feel like turning back, just keep going.

...oh wow, getting real mixed messages... almost seems like this maze might be another one of those scary near-endless things like the train tunnel...

Hubba Hubba! Heaven must be missing an angel.

Don't assume that all monkeys are liars.

A penguin:

Boy, did I mess up. I must've made a serious mistake to end up here.

In a dead-end room:

I'm the boss monkey. It annoys me how the others lie all the time. Go straight ahead and you'll find the exit to your right.

Oh, don't pay any attention to this melody.

heheh. do I look like a monkey?

No

Darn. You have really good eyes, you know that? I'm actually a tanuki, also known as a raccoon dog.

Right near the exit:

Stop, you must not go this way!

lol I love this game's dialog. Is the official translation as good as this or better? might be worth checking out.

Finally made my way to a new Magicant shell entrance...

Where is the god's tail?

You're very strange, you know that? But I also think I might like you...

This may or may not be the 2nd last Mother 1 high session, I just realized... only one town left.

Now heading East of Easter... I wonder, was this bridge where the music changes back to Mother's Day blocked off before finding that new Magicant entrance?

I get this weird vibe from Magicant it's like... another dimension that Ninten has some kinda special connection to.

- The Swamp -

Went to the first of 3 dots East/SE of Easter/Valentine and found the Swamp... That monkey dungeon was just practice for the next real dungeon of the game... this river maze... holy cow this place is confusing.

Well, that's still nothing compared to the gigantic forests that you can get lost in if you venture outside the main parts of the map that you aren't meant to go to... Honestly that area almost feels like it's supposed to be a challenge bonus dungeon sort of thing but I doubt there's anything to find there. I downloaded some enormous pixel perfect map of this game and... so much of the world looks randomly generated.. like they couldn't figure out how to block off those areas completely, so instead it is possible to go where you aren't meant to go and get completely lost.

Got to a random house in the middle of this swamp... talked to a trash can.

I'm Lloyd's father. Ninten's dad asked for your name earlier. Did you give him the right name?

...
Oh this is the name "you the player" thing...

Pippi is here, that girl from way back at Mother's Day town...

I went out to play again. That's why I'm here. Don't tell my mom, though.

oh, okay.

Powerful futuristic robots and aliens have been the common enemy for a while now... Eventually I gave up trying to find my way through on my own, and followed a guide's mini map to reach the next town.

- Valentine -

You should visit the harbor before you go to Holy Loly Mountain.

Some NPCs here are actually gang members who attack you...

Everything's been nuts ever since some black clouds appeared over the mountains. The town and its people have all started to go crazy.

A haggler tries to sell me a concert ticket that I can get much cheaper at the store... Also the guy from the desert is here, he complains about us destroying his tank.. I gave him his stupid $200 and he left...

Apparently need 3 berry tofus (cost $975/e) from a dept store to do a sidequest here... I definitely would've missed that without using a guide...

An NPC tells me:

The BB Gang's boss's full name is Teddy Junior the 3rd.

These gang members are as easy as the hippies were in the first town...

There's a guy at the prison building who is looking for a weapon... hmm this must be Teddy, the 4th party member who can equip the knife? or maybe S. Knife instead...

OH... WOW... this game and its cryptic hints...

If you ever come across a cactus with a face on it in a desert somewhere...... that would be utterly terrifying.

This is the hint you get for finding that one melody in the desert... It's so subtle, you might not even recognize it as a hint... This game is so troll.

Oh that blasted Black Blood Gang...

Read a sign that says:

East: Holy Loly Mountain
West: Ocean Observatory
North: Valentine Harbor
Keep our ocean clean!

And then:

Did you make sure to read the sign?

Talk to the fisherman and he'll wind up talking your ears off.

I guess that's what I'll find at the Harbor.

Going to Ocean obvservatory first. The whole Ocean overlook area is "no problem here"... Looked through a telescope, saw a rocket that came and landed near me... rode it to the island.. this location is not on the map. This weird family gives me Love Words, Curse Words, and a hint about a robot at the bottom of a lake on Holy Loly Mountain in exchange for berry tofus... The fisherman is just a free inn you can go to instead of using the expensive one at Valentine (or I guess you could also teleport to a different inn)...

Magicant interlude...

I had a dream that Magicant vanished into thin air. My heart's still pounding, even now.

If you need to see the helpful old man, go to Mary's Fountain. He'll come if he hears a cry from the heart. Remember, a cry from the heart!

Back to Valentine... got arrested for underage drinking.. the police officer makes Ninten rest at the police station and then he asks if he's learned his lesson... then he takes your weapon from you. Teddy can sell it back to you for 1100... Nevermind that I'll redo since my last save..

Teddy's parents were killed by monsters in the mountains.

Ana! Oh, nothing, I saw your name printed on your hat, that's all.

Boss fight, BB Gang Leader... it's a weird 1-on-1 gimmick fight where you can only pick one option... neither of us come close to defeating each other.

Hey you, four eyes. You're not cut out for fightin'. Rest here and take it easy. I'll take your stuff, too.

lmao...

Stopping here for now. next time I get high and play this I'll finish the game.