Prison
-Crono is brutally processed and tossed in his cell.
-oh crap I gotta move, was exploring my cell and saw “2 days until the execution,” “1 day until the execution”
-Made a ruckus and got the guard into my cell.
They probably shouldn’t have left the sword in my possession, but who am I to dispute the details of Guardian justice?
-There are two treasure chests in the cell next door that I really want to reach, but can’t. Best guess is that I would’ve had to sneak over there instead of bopping the guard over the head. Too late.
-Exploring the jail. Is that a ghost in the cell?
-Argh! There’s a SECOND cell I can’t get into, where the gate again only raises halfway. Also with treasure in it. There’s a break in the cell wall though and a hole leading down. My guess is that I have to find my way to that hole somehow, get the treasure, and drop to the cell below to get the treasure there.
But how to get into the upper cell from the outside?
-JACKPOT!
Made my way to a higher level of the jail tower, then climbed down the face of the building and got the treasure. 1,500g and a sword.
-Making sure to backtrack and explore all I can, which rewards me well with extra potions and gold.
-Mini-boss?
“Omnicrone.”
Lol, beat her and she skedaddles. “They don’t pay me enough for this!” Wonder if I’ll see her again.
-OH HELL YES, LUCCA TO THE RESCUE
-Got five mid-tonics from the passed-out supervisor. I like that you can sneak up on enemies in this place and bop them on the head to knock them out rather than have to fight them in combat. Granted, I still fought most of them since I like the experience, but still!
-He also has a manual about a Dragon Tank, which I assume is an upcoming boss: the Head repairs Body damage, and has a shield that prevents lightning and fire damage. Head before body, and physical attacks while head is up. Got it.
-On the bridge on the way out, the Chancellor sends the Dragon Tank after us.
-Something’s up with the Chancellor. I understand someone in his position being concerned about rebellion or someone abducting the princess, but there was enough evidence that he had to have known that Crono didn’t abduct Marle. He’s got some other agenda going on.
-Dragon Tank is the toughest fight so far, but made it through by taking out the head, then Fire Whirling down the other two parts and healing up with tonics occasionally.
-uh oh, another Dragon Tank phase coming as the guards and Chancellor repair it.
-LOL GET REKT – the bridge fell out from under them, and we literally walk over them to freedom as they cling for dear life.
-Started to get swarmed by soldiers on the escape and Princess Nadia stops them. I wonder what’s up with her choosing the name Marle. Likely just a random alias.
-The King and Chancellor emerge to give the kill orders and ignore her, but Marle doesn’t take any shit.
She continues to rocket up my “favorite gaming characters” list.
-She tosses off her gown and escapes with us. Woohoo!! FIST PUMP
-Into the woods, guards still hot on our heels. Turned towards the open field, and now there’s a Gate there. Where the hell are these coming from?
-We head on through.
-hahahahaha the Chancellor’s reaction is glorious.
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THE FUTURE???
HAHAHAH FUCK YES, I THINK WE’RE IN THE FUTURE! Easier to imagine and visualize the past than the future, so I was afraid they might not deal with it. Happy to be proven wrong. The open pasture is now a metal room.
-One of the doors is sealed, the other one open. Let’s see what’s out there.
Definitely not Esthar.
-This place looks like a nuclear wasteland. Destroyed structures, dark, windy, lightning flashes. Definitely post-war.
-Two structures are open to me: Trann Dome and Lab 16. I flipped a coin. It came up tails. Lab 16 it is.
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Lab 16
-Rats in here steal my tonics. Bad rats!
-Monsters are a mutated plant and an octopus. Weird.
-Got a Berserker Ring that boosts hit and Defense, but makes the character auto-attack. Hm. Let’s try that on Lucca… yeah, not wild about that ring. One of the enemies here heals, so I want to focus attacks rather than auto-attacking.
-The presence of the rat thieves adds an action element to the game as I have to learn their pathing to dodge them.
Amidst the husks of cars in Lab 16.
-Shadow monsters here seem like they can only be hurt by fire, not regular attacks.
-Boo. Lab 16 took me to the other side, away from the Trann Dome. Gonna backtrack and check that out before progressing.
-I wonder when Marle and Lucca will get a dual tech. And when the three of them get a tri-tech.
-Aha! I was wondering what Crono’s Slash tech was for. It’s for non-physical damage. It can harm the Shadows.
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Trann Dome
-Some weary, haggard-looking survivors in here.
-Nice armor upgrades, and a new, badly needed weapon for Lucca.
-There’s food in the Arris Dome, northeast of Lab 16.
-Nobody here has heard of a “kingdom,” or a “Truce dome.” This must be pretty far in the future.
-Really nice touch: there’s no inn, per se, but there’s a machine that rejuvenates us. (But still leaves the rester hungry.)
-Arrghh! That crest again seals my way from going further into the Trann Dome.
-Stopping for now. Crono is level 10, Marle and Lucca are level 9.
-Quick theory about how things might work: I think the Chancellor saw the group disappear, investigated the Gates, got his hands on technology he shouldn’t have access to by travelling into the future, and influenced the king to restart war with Magus and the rest of the world. War with apocalyptic consequences.
Basically, I fear that the Chancellor is a more brutal version of Biff in Back to the Future 2.
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Next time: back through Lab 16 towards the Arris Dome.
