Mother 3 high playthrough part 7: we aRE fulGRatE

Chapter 7 - The Seven Needles continued

Okay, so to recap what's going on... so far 3 of the seven Magypsie needles have been pulled out... one in Osohe Castle pulled out by the Pigmask commander, and one in Murasaki Forest pulled out by Lucas... and 1 in Snowcap Mountain that the commander got to before Lucas could. Each time a needle is pulled out, the Magypsie who is gaurding that needle fades out of existence... The Magypsies have lived for a long time guarding these needles, waiting for the prophecized one to come and pull them out in order to save the world... they have lived for a long time guarding these needles, and they've long since accepted the fact that they will disappear when their needle is pulled... But there's also another part of the prophecy that says if one with evil intentions pulls out the needles, the world will fall to evil. At the 3rd needle in Snowcap Mountain, at that point I got stuck at a really hard boss that I might need to grind a bit for...

I forgot I had this "Enemy Wimperizer" item... maybe you're meant to start using this on bosses if you don't want to grind.

...or not. It doesn't even work on this Steel Mechorilla. oh and it's one-use then it's gone, regardless of whether it worked or not... wow what a great item.
Could it be maybe Kumatora's lightning attacks that are making him "short circuit" and go berserk? I'll try not using that anymore.
Like, I don't think you're meant to be able to survive for more than a few turns when he goes berserk... that's just insane. Even after a few Defense Up buffs on the whole team and Offense Down on it, it still isn't enough to survive a few turns without everybody being on healing duty every turn... I have no good "heal all" powers yet, and only PSI Shield alpha that only works one at a time and doesn't last long...
I can beat this thing easily if it never short circuits though... so just in case attacking is what triggers that, I'll do all the buffs/debuffs I can while guarding with Boney before I start attacking...

Ha! I was right... no short-circuit + going buff/debuff crazy at the start = ridiculously impossible boss battle turns pathetically easy

Oh yeah, Right before the boss battle, Lucas and the commander had an epic staredown... I think it's obvious by now who this commander guy is.
Kumatora:

That masked man... Could he be the one pulling the Needles?!

That snowman dialog... too deep...

Kumatora doesn't let you continue north without going back to check on Lydia first.

Lydia:

Lucas... someone besides you has pulled the needle. Whatever is inside that person's heart has been passed on to the Dark Dragon... You MUST pull the rest of the remaining Needles from here on out...

Lydia tells us about the white box at the top of the mountain that they can ride back down on.

Also go and ask my little Pigmask friend what he wants to do now.

When I went back to talk to the Pigmask guy, who now has his helmet off... oh wait, is this the kid in Tazmily who got introduced to money, and hid it in the well? I think so...

a butterfly appeared and made everyone relax...

I secretly listened in on your conversation. Me and you are enemies. Don't bother with me. Just go do what you need to do. I have no intention of helping you guys out. That Magypsy helped me out, though. Even though I'm a complete stranger. So I'm gonna stay here and look after his rabbits. Then we'll be even.

Get going already! Before another Needle gets pulled!

I wonder if there are any other recurring Pigmask characters like this who turn out to be a character I know.

This cute zoomed out cutscene... they walk up to the top of the mountain, then ride a white box down... the white box goes flying off a ramp, and lands them in Tazmily Graveyard... The fridge they were all inside ran into a stone grave as it landed... they're all uninjured from this... cuz I dunno, PSI Shield or something?

Tazmily Village 6

The letter in the impossible to ignore jar reads:

tHiS way.

Wow... this part of the game is weird... it's like, are the Mr. Saturns trying to direct you toward the secret highway passage that Fassad came out of in Chapter 3... They're trying to keep you on the track towards racing to the next Needle instead of wasting time in Tazmily... but I'm gonna waste time in Tazmily anyway just in case there's some new dialog I might miss.

I never noticed until now how overly cheery the friendly item deposit guy is...

The gods are watching over you guys. You're incredible. You're amazing. Seriously, you're a real inspiration. We're right behind you, supporting you 100%, from the sidelines.

I wonder if this guy is actually Flint in disguise, secretly following Lucas around everywhere and helping him on the sidelines the whole time... lol nah, that's unlikely...

I'm so glad they gave me train station patrol. This way, people like you can come talk to me. Had I been on mountain patrol instead, I'd only meet bears and stuff.
That's scary.

Ol' Beanstalk is gone, but sometimes I think I can still hear the sound of his bell.

At Mayor Pusher's house... it's mostly the same as before... I just realized "the sidest of side-characters" guy is constantly pacing from side to side in the hallway...

Ollie:

You know, however depressed you may get, as long as you have hope, there'll always be tomorrow. So try not to give up hope.
And what's also important is humor!

some guy in Pusher's house:

I'm the one teaching Master Ollie about humor. Though I may not look it, I've been known as "Huck the Huckster" since childhood.

I'm not sure if all this dialog is "new" or if I just glossed over it before at the beginning of this chapter, but I'm really enjoying getting to know these side characters better.

That waitress from Club Titiboo, who complained about having to giggle at the end of every sentence, now she's looking for work in Tazmily, complaining about this village being boring... Everyone in Yado's Inn is set on moving to the big city now... and Abbot and Abbey are already packing to move...

Someone says the old woman who used to be in the retirement home has moved to New Pork City... high theory just now... maybe that old man who got taken away by the Pigmask army, screaming "I'm plenty alive, dagnabbit", maybe was also taken to New Pork City, against his will.

Only one of the dogs is left in the sheriff's office... The others all moved to New Pork City. This one dog who stayed is the only one who still prefers Tazmily.

So yeah, this whole revisit didn't amount to anything other than flavor text... I think you're meant to just be directed straight towards the graveyard path by the bottle.

Underground Highway 2/Highway 2

...
what the pork is this now...?
Do I read the jar that is too hard to ignore or get on the coffee table that is too hard to ignore?
When you answer "don't read" the jar looks sad.
When you read it:

atta@KED. vERy BaD.
@@mE t@ tHUnDER aREa. tHanKS tHanKS.

and getting on the coffee table... okay cool so it's like a pork vehicle except it's a table.

Oh wait... I just noticed the south path from this tunnel... it leads out to the Tazmily-Factory railway... The path to the highway from that railway tunnel is now opened up... I already revisited the Factory and Club Titiboo earlier in this chapter and I'm pretty sure there's no new flavor text to check out there at this point.

The Pigmask army's secret path to the desert is still locked up.

It's really easy to explore this highway now with the coffee table horse thing.

lol tables are so much more efficient than pork beans.

I know I'm supposed to go to Thunder Tower, past the junkyard... but what's that southeast part of the highway about again?

Left: To Candrum

What looks like a pigmask traffic director standing in traffic... he's actually immobilized.
Oh it's the back entrance to the Clayman Factory, where I came out of in Chapter 5 after Lucas was mistaken for the commander... I think this also exits out to the Murasaki Forest area, and I think I could get to the Thunder Tower from there... Not sure which is they way you're meant to go... This path has security robot enemies that attack you.

But what about entering the thunder tower from the highway entrance to the north? That way is obviously a lot easier, due to the coffee table letting you get there really fast... so I guess that's probably the way you're meant to go.

Went to visit the mouse mom by the garbage dump...

Squeak squeeeeak. (Oh, you're that kind person from before. Parenting is indeed difficult. Mice grow exponentially in number, after all. But, but! Having children makes our happiness grow exponentially, too!)

Hot Dog is written on the sign.

Okay actually coming this way around the junkyard is a good idea after all... found a frog and a pigmask selling dangerous stuff... this is like Lloyd/Jeff levels of weapon style... Pencil Rockets, bombs (including New Year's Eve Bomb that puts all normal enemies to 1HP)...
This Pigmask says Lucas looks familiar somehow... hmm...

A stray dog smells the Doggy Jerky that Boney is carrying... gave him it, and he says

Bow wow! (I'm exceptionally happy! I want to thank you guys somehow! Oh, I know! You can have this!)
*gives Lucas a bomb*

Then when you talk to him again:

Bow-wow! (I'm a carefree stray dog. We couldn't talk when you were riding your vehicle earlier. So let's talk now.)
Bow wow wow. (Here, YOU start the conversation.)

Okay done talking to dogs for now.

A sign says:

Preserve our beautiful scenery! Please refrain from posting signs.

Leo-Leo opened all the other giftboxes in that giftbox circle... he says they were all great, and the sweater Lucas took was the suckiest present of all.

? Highway construction ?

Okay so the coffee table path to the back of the thunder tower does seem to be the most straightforward way to go... Instead of fighting through all those high level security robots...
But wait... the path to the east of the Thunder Tower's back entrance is opened up now... The road in this direction looks like it's still under construction. I had to get off the coffee table and walk...

Then I noticed the Saturn Village music... This must be where I was being called to by the letters in the hard to ignore jars...

Now it transitioned from a road to a cave... I don't have a map for this area, but it's just a linear straight path, with some Filthy Roaches and Naughty Mushrooms...

This cave eventually led outside into

Saturn Valley

That red birds here fly away as soon as you try to talk to them.

aw damn... When I saw the Pigmasks walking around in Saturn Valley, at first I thought there was this epic team of undercover Mr. Saturns in Pigmask costumes, but nope that's not it.
holy pork... this music, what... the sound that this Frightbox makes is legit terrifying...
The Pigmasks are using this weird brainwashing/torture music to try and get the Saturns to tell them where the Needle is hidden.

Lucas started crying from the Frightbox's scary story...

Wiped them out easily with PSI attacks... Boney is still proving to be very useful, letting you know which PSI attacks work best.

lol the one Pigmask lets out a "Boing" at the end of his sentence...

Oops, I think this village has started to get to me...

Opened a box that was sitting in the corner of the small valley... *fart noise* *indescribable smell*
There's several of these gag fart boxes here... but some boxes actually have good stuff too.

Another frightbot in another house...

The Frightbot told a bloodcurdling story.

SlEEP at ElEVEn. tHanK y@U, B@inG.

am REliEfED.

At this point the Frightbots' scary stories do nothing to Lucas's team.

By now, the levels of Lucas/Kumatora/Boney are 35/33/35

A Saturn gives me this Silver Dragonfly instead of a Bowtie as thanks... I'm not sure what this is for.

Found Duster and the Rope Snake... so I guess these Saturn people are the ones who saved them... The music here is really creepy too.

You'd better tell us where the Needle is, or we'll start tickling your underarms again!

The pigmasks are getting so mad at these creatures that don't make sense.

I get the gimmick here... The Frightbots by themselves are harmless to Lucas's team, but when the Frightbots are teamed up with a couple high level Pigmask enemies... they become a huge obstacle to saving yourself with rolling HP because of how much time they take up in their turn trying to frighten you... Also I think they are more effective at causing crying when they have Pigmasks helping them.

Managed to beat them through sheer force, no holding back PP... easy...

Ahh! Our Frightbot! We needed that! We must inform Mr. Fassad immediately!

Just realized the Saturn Valley music is way more catchy/less anoying than the EB Saturn Village music that was playing near the construction cave entrance.

Duster rejoined Lucas's team... Now that the four team members are all together the odds have swung way back in their favor. Getting through those security robots in the Clayman Factory will be no problem (idk if that's where I need to go next after this?)

Duster says he managed to keep the Egg of Light safe.
After explaining the story about the Needles that seal the Dark Dragon... He says he'll come with us... then Kumatora is like

Actually, we would've dragged you along with us anyways.

wE aRE @at@HED l@tS. wE aRE mR. SatURn.

Duster asked one of the Saturns about the Needle's location.

D@ Kn@w. D@@@@@ Kn@w.
Kn@w.
D@ D@ Kn@w.

Duster manages to decipher their weird language to find out where to go...

"That way" means that way. I can tell by their eyes. ...North! They're saying to go toward the volcano to the north.

Sweet, found the Mapson Saturn.

HaVE maP. GiVE at y@U.

wE aRE fUlGRatE.

Rope Snake:

There are some things I want to forget... and some things I have forgotten... but have you forgotten me? It's me, the Rope Snake. I apologize for the trouble I caused before. No, I'm not depressed. I'm not. Really. I'm not depressed.

Until the day comes when I can be useful again... I'll... I'll... I'll devote myself to being patient!

I thought the Rope Snake would rejoin my team again too, but I guess he just hangs out in Saturn Valley for the rest of the game instead...

A sign with a bow on it says

tHiS H@lE
t@ Cliff, and fiRE m@Untain.

The Saturn's shops are open now after you drive away all the Pigmasks... one selling new weapons and armor that get me to spend like everything I have, plus some weird looking battle items... the other selling food (including luck-based food) and Secret Herb.

BiRDiES Play. niGHt GEt latE.

As soon as I try to leave through the cave the sign is directing me to, a Saturn comes out of that last house and says

we aRE fulGRatE
iS miStaKE. wE aRE GRatEfUl.

lol... subtle hint here that I need to go back and convince Rope Snake to come with us in order to progress... but no, nothing stopping you from going up the ladder.

This cave had more Saturns in it, leading to the upper half of Saturn Valley, where the hot spring is... Then from there another cave that looks much more "volcano-y"...

oh lol I was wrong... THIS is what the 5 person ladder thing is about... so you can get up to the staple-able part of the cliff.

The 5-Saturn ladder:

fall apaRt. fUn.

- Phrygia's house -

Wow, this music is nice...

Another merchant mole cricket hanging out near this Magypsy shell house selling stuff...

A boulder is blocking the way north past this house.

The sign is there for Phrygia to talk to us while she's asleep... she wants to fade away while sleeping... says to give the boulder some encouraging words.
The boulder moves out of the way from the encouraging words Lucas gives it... then there's a puzzle with horizontal moving boulders and vertical moving boulders... Then the volcano path...

- Volcano -

The Mrs. Lava does a lot to me, only because it attacks first and uses PSI Fire.
The levels of Lucas/Kumatora/Duster/Boney are now 36/34/29/35
Up ahead, a couple of Pigmasks are gossiping about Fassad, who has a huge change in his appearance lately... He has horns now... they're searching for the Needle just to avoid getting yelled at by him some more.

... wow... this lava path is legit hard... I'm getting frequent level ups here, so I'm definitely not over-leveled... The Mrs. Lava and other volcano enemies can be taken out easily right away with some good combo hits and PSI Freeze when they are just by themselves, but they're a huge pain when they're in groups... this one little mini-volcano enemy actually can randomly spawn 2 firefly enemies that can themselves do a lot of damage if you don't use Duster to distract them with a Siren Beetle.

I guess that Alola Coat would've been nice to have here if I had kept it.

This kind of difficulty is really more reminiscent of EarthBound, in terms of both how annoying the enemies are, how hard it is to figure out where to go in this cave with no map.

Died once and had to start the cave over... now at levels 38/36/33/37

There, found the Needle... That wasn't too hard to get through since I already explored all the dead end paths before restarting from death and keeping my level ups.

*Pigmask music*
Interpreter:

"I found you. I finally found you. Nwehehehe!"
is what Fassad says

Fassad now has horns coming out of his nose, and is holding onto a jetpack.

This boss battle... New Fassad... this was pretty hard. He keeps doing crying/nausea status effects on you, putting up a shield that Boney has to disable with the Shield Disperser item... Kumatora has to be on like full time healing duty, Lucas needs to occasionally cast Shield on everybody but otherwise everyone but Kumatora has to attack and do good combos in order to get his HP down while he's scarfing up Luxury Bananas.
Just from the shear number of Secret Herbs everyone in my party had, I was able to beat him with everybody still alive... I would've lost a LOT of items if I had died continued.

Fassad has become like Fawful now...

You will pay for this. And he says it with intense emotion. I believe it is an anger-filled emotion.

After pulling the Needle, Phrygia shows up to tell us where the other Needles are before disappearing. Is she still asleep or what?

One Needle is on Tanetane Island, south of Tazmily. I believe Mixolydia is protecting it.
Another Needle is in Chupichupyoi Temple, deep in the Oriander Mountains. I believe Iona is protecting it.
I think you already know this, of course, but it's said that the heart of whoever pulls the Needles is passed on to the Dark Dragon... Instill the power of power, the darkness of darkness, and the light of light into your spirit. Let me peer into your eyes.
Thank you. Thank you... Lucas.

She gives Lucas a notebook where she wrote down what she just told us.

And another one... The Needle is said to be sticking out of the Dark Dragon's head... I can't seem to locate it at all. Nor Locria, who's supposed to protect that particular Needle... I'm so picky about details, yet I have no idea where they are... Having to disappear without finding out, it's a little sad.

You can expect to see more of me in your dreams from now on. *giggle* Goodbye!

After beating that really tough boss... my levels are now at 40/38/36/39
Lucas just now learned the upgraded Healing spell that fully revives from incapacitation... and Kuma learned the 3rd level of PSI Freeze.

The 4th Needle has been pulled out... now Lucas and the commander are tied 2-2.

Barely managed to make it back to the frog at Phrygia's house with everyone still alive.

btw here's the map of Saturn Valley I completely forgot to look at, there was no reason to even look at it.