!> From: "A bug! Naaa...that's a feature" !> Subject: Updated xanadu notes include area's 1->10 XANADU NOTES/MINI-FAQ --------------------- General Info ------------ -Hp Recovery occurs when you - Sleep in a bed at the church..pick up hearts..finish level -You max Hp's can increase as you fight also. The more difficult the combat the more the reward. Actually this reward seems to be based on your current/max hp ratio. You can take advantage of that and essentially cheat your max Hp level up. -use capsules -Item description (ones you can equip/use) -mushrooms, raise your max HP -rings/necklaces/stones, levelup arms/armor when equipped/used. -wing, returns you to the church -hourglass, changes(advances) time -jug of water? is really important I suppose (it's worth 500000 gems) restores all Hp's when used -capsules, restore some Hp's - EVENT items These are objects that are needed to get by certain parts of the games. They show up on the event portion of the status screen. Letters, notes to take from one character to another. Keys/amulets that open doors etc.. -there are shops in the towns/villages. One's a seller the other a buyer. -there are items hidden in desk/chest/bookcases. This doesn't happen very often, but enough to mention. They should be indicated in the text below. Area 1 ------ The whole objective is to get key that open's sealed door at cave in the north. This will place you in the side-scrolling form of play. To get the key you will need to rescue villagers trapped/held hostage in the cave. To get these villagers into the caves in the first place requires a fair amount of interaction/dialog by your character with various towns/people. A significant point is to get a character(blob) to join you. He should be in the very nothern part of the area. When you run into him you'll notice something is diff. Sound is diff, result of hitting him is diff...what I did, eventually, is disarm myself. You can remove all items on the subscreen. When I touched him again there was a dialog box session and he joined me. Then you can go back and re-arm yourself. What happens now is you can have him fight for you when you are near an enemy. Move near an enemy...stop moving and this character will take over attacks. You can then pickup goodies. This concept carries over throughout the game with other NPC's. Another milestone is a meeting on the dock at the southern most village. A group/ship departs...If I remember correctly when that last event ocurred the game leveled up...enemy characters changed(became tougher)...the cave in the north originally had no monsters, now it will be loaded. Graphics in the cave are drawn very well. When the side-scroll area/boss is whipped...you'll be warped to the second map. AREA 2 ------ Same final objective, sealed door in cave to side-scroll gameplay. There is a pattern developing here. 8') This area is a little tricky but if you have the gameplay/explore basic's down it should go pretty well. Receiving the key will require the usual interaction/dialog. Notable events...Ship is the only way to get to the deserted village/forest/cave. Cave area here is trickier with orbs/globes that need to be defeated and hidden platforms/rooms. Area 1 may have had a hidden room or 2 also in the cave. There's a hidden room in one of the deserted/ruined houses. Meeting someone at the forest clearing in the north opens up a new path to the underground. AREA 3 ------ The stage in question is the last map in the hint section at the back of the instruction booklet. You will see a river/stream seperating the land mass. You start in the bottom half...this lower area has a small town and church/shrine. A broken bridge is just above the town so one cannot cross. There is a character near the bridge with what appears to be a pot. All of the town buildings are closed to you but people will ans there door and talk briefly before closing the door on you. This lower area also has 2 caves in the mountain region to the right. The cave furthest away has a sealed door in it's first room, so will need a key to explore later. The nearer cave eventually leads to a rock formation that gives you a crystal/shard. Upon returning to town with this, one of the villagers takes it from you and the character near the pot dialog changes. If you get another crystal/shard from the cave, that pot character takes it from you and you then enter the pot/cannon and are shot into the air across the stream into another town. Characters on the other side talk with you briefly in that town. Exploring the upper half land area NE reveals a CASTLE with a prison/bakery/library/stable. Lots of dialog exchanges here. A fairly long exchange with a character near the library that is interrupted by a guard a # of times. Talk too everyone again in all villages.. go back to castle and talk with one of the characters behind a desk while 'unarmed'..he will give you what looks like a letter. -give the letter to the guys in the north-most town with the things that look like hammers. They will go to the bridge and repair it. -when you get to the bridge those same guys should be there. Talk to the guard and the bridge will be repaired. -go back to the northern town and speak to the mayor. an event will occur. -in the castle, one of the torch-holders can be lit. it's the left-most one in the main horzontal hallway. Lighting it will reveal a door to appear where there was only a wall at the top of the main vertical hallway. (I talked to them, but never could get them to open the locked door) -the next significant event happens in the south-most town in the area. (I had a little difficulty getting this to trigger, not sure why?) -visit the castle again, as you leave there will be a conversation between the members of you party. Not sure what causes this but I guess it has to happen before moving on... -visit the mayor at the north-most town again and you should recieve an ENVELOPE. -go back to the castle and talk to the old man behind the desk. He will open the route upstairs and introduce you to the king. -most locked doors in the castle will be open. There will be butt-loads of treasure to collect. -before leaving, speak to the other guy who is usually behind a desk in the main floor of the castle. He will give you a KEY. -the key will let you go into the southern-most cave. Explore it and at the end will be the side-scroll scenario with the boss at the end. ***** get ready for a terrific cinema ***** AREA 4 ------ Explore/talk to everyone and eventually an event in the SW(main house) will trigger. Your party splits up..Explore/talk to everyone again... -try searching the 'desk' in the NW-most house in town. you should get a silver thing that looks like a '>' symbol. Give it to the hermit guy (in the house north of town). He should be gone next time you visit him. If you go east from his house, there is an inconspicuous path you can follow between the plateaus and the mountains... follow it until you get to a small clearing. Something should happen here and you'll get another item that looks something like a paisley? Give that to the hermit (he should be back) and for some reason the path that was blocked will now be clear. -get new sword but shield will be found soon..sword will be found near level end(your choice) The rest of the the area is easier and more logical to figure out, but there's a fair amount to do... notable events |* getting code from hermit for the block/stone sequence to unlocked cave. |* get book from bookcase at main house and give to character in cave. |* take/position crystals on correct altars. |* have the large rabbit?(at hermits hut) go with you too aid in opening pathway |* have patience with floor spikes :) just get that timing down '-) General info...Area 5 - Upgrade weapons/armor...monsters to north are pretty tough. - After upgrading weapons, I did some exploring to get familiar with the area. There are 3 towns, a home NE, locked hut east, hut old woman(OW)/chicken North _ at OW's house, bookcase to left always has some text, bookcase to right appears to give you a code? - need to visit shrine in lake. You initially meet a char in first village(ctr) and later meet him at pier NE of first town. You will have to go there 3 diff times. - flower's only bloom from about 1am-->6am - This is the first area I needed to actually use the wing - visibility of enemy char's come and go...I'm not sure why Main points... - your party break's up... - talk to everyone 1st town. Go E to 2nd town do the same. Go back to the 1st village. Talk to everyone again...there s/b 2 char's at ctr sq. Talk too them. This is when I explored area more thoroughly and leveled up. Re-visited all town's/houses. Then eventually... _ In 1st village ctr Sq. will be 3rd char..talk to him. He leaves. He is the one you need to meet at pier outside 1st town at/after midnight. He returns you to the pier and leaves...go to 2nd town...old man's(OM) house with rabbit? _ eventually old man in 2nd village falls asleep. Talk all in town. Now go to hut with old woman. She explains flowers. Need to get at least 20. Go to area N of 1st village and get flowers. - after 20 flowers return to old woman..they start working on something..return later(to get what looks like armor or a cloak?) - 3rd village nw house...get bottle and key. Used key at locked hut E, but nothing seems to have happened? go back to 2nd town...some party members back. form up - go back to old woman, get what looks like armor or a cloak?, form up - game levels up..monsters change. - on way to former locked hut party members break up again...2 are guarding bridges the 3rd I can't find. - lure one of the enemy char into the former locked hut that is E. Take care not to kill this char. Try to exit hut...an event takes place. - go to OM home...then to NE house, father is now gone...go back to OM home..he is now awake. Go back to NE house, new event...your now off to the island. - warped back to the OM' home. talk to all...go to OW's house...new event lots of text..stairway appears..new item(pink stone)..figure out column switches. - talk to diff old man on island near OW's house. - talk to previously empty home in 3rd town...go back to OM's home, get new item (lt grn bottle)...this is where party members stay again(I think)...talk to NE house within 2nd town..boy leaves..you need to go to pier...boy takes you to shrine again... - explore all you can...figure out column switches (code) from cabinet helps, OW from mainland is here...after you've done all you can, warp back to the church... - go to OM's home---reform with party members...talk to everyone..go back to pier NE when your ready for the end of level....back to shrine - go to all wall switches...eventually your party members will talk to each other. This talking is a necessary event, without that happening you cannot get the OW to help you...I'm not sure excatly what triggers it, but going between wall switches seems to be a catalyst, I did this part twice and both times this talking event took place at the right side wall switch, she is needed to activate the switches so you can proceed... after you talk among yourselves. go to the OW...she will leave...the right side will be done first...go to the spot across from her, she will help you pass, when finished you must release the wall sw on your side...then go to where she is...she will leave to do the left side...go across from that... make sure you have all you need as this will shortly take you to the side-scroll section of this level. AREA 6 ------ - Talk to everyone in the first town(FT). Upgrade armor/sword..shield will soon be found in a cave. - go through mountain tunnel and explore cave(RC)...ringed by mountains. party breaks up here...go back to FT - in town get letter...go NE and give letter to man...he clears path. Continue to isolated home(IH) after long mountain pass. talk to char here - go back to FT...get hanky???... then go back to IH - at IH give hanky???...then check bookcase...get as many dynamite(D) sticks as you wish, 10 should be enough. go back to FT talk to all. - go to the south most cave(SC)...use D on blocked pathways...this leads to town(IT) in mountains you could see before but not reach...go to all doors... continue on another pass to a large isolated house(LIH)...go to doors...then eventually back to FT. Talk all...new event...one of the priest? leaves... talk all - go to IT, talk all, go to LIH, new event...all gather around someones bedside, talk all...Back to FT - talk to all at church..new event..other member breaks off..here is were I got the vial...I think, talk all in FT...boy leaves from ctr home. - Get vapor/cloud drop in woods NW of first town. - Back to FT..church..event..now have bottle - Back to LIH...event...talk all..go to IT, talk all... - go to FT...event...member leaves, monsters overrun town, go to church...talk all - back to LIH, member rejoins...talk all - you now need meet a # of char's at various places on this level... when they leave you they'll gather at the LIH, their 7 that need to be found - NE of pathway to IH from shoreline - on crag of mountain pass to IH - In the SC - just NW outside SC - north of RC in small crag - in RC - just north of FT - talk with all at LIH, particularly leader after all have been found. - go to RC, be at roon SW in cave at 17:00...event triggers. - locked door in RC now accessible. Explore rest of RC, lots of chest, figure out switches, need 8 D's to clear obstructs, eventually path cannot be cleared - go to IH, get larger bombs, back to RC and clear path. meet trapped members. - back to IT, get item. back to RC - release trapped members,..event..reform. - play around with crystal switches for awhile... Periodically you'll break into conversation with party members, eventually one member will use the last large bomb, side-scroll area is next. Area 7 ------ - upgrade weapons/armor - go to fenced/maze(FM) NE of town, rescue girl. - goodtime to explore area...house N of FM(HNFM), cave NW of FM(NC), door to palace(P) initially locked near a small beach N then SW of FM. - eventually enter cave north(NC) and talk all, back to town - talk all, back to NC, back to town, when leaving town...new member joins. - go to P door..do all you can then go to NC, then town then NC again and get what looks like a wand. - back to town...all char have moved from sw home to se home, event- marriage? - back to NC return wand?, at P someone arrives and opens door, explore all you can...next door opening warps you to FM...talk all...try P door again, same warp to FM, talk at town, event at main house, go back to P, rescue another char, warp to cave, talk all here and back at town, then go to bookcase at HNFM...talk all, then back to P. - explore palace area, lots here. Do what you can then eventually meet a char at FM, the back to HNFM. - get leave from tree west of HNFM, back to HNFM and get item(bottle). - Back to NC, revive char, then back to P and finish loose ends. - at golden statues...various combinations of worn items are what turn the statues grey. After this the blue warp tiles are activated. I recommend having a bunch of healing capsules and hopefully you still have some bottles with the healing elixir left. Working your way through the tiles leads to the side-scroll stage...this is the toughest one yet. AREA 8 ------ Mountainous, lots of ladders, boarded up mine? entrances, starting at church there is a house east with an old man/girl ne(EOM), cemetary east, blocked entrance just ne of church, house after scalable cliffs nw(HSC), slaves/traders sw, 2 sets of slaves (SH1)(SH2) traders(T) and an blocked path(BP), large building west(LBW), 2 small cabins attached just south of LBW. Items are expensive but worth having and leveling up. - lots of back and forth between areas, particularly 'traders'/'slaves' and the east old man with girl NNE(EOM) - get key at scalable cliffs use at desk or bookcase in HSC, access HSC with ladders. Lots of back and forth...2nd time at EOM you should get what looks like apiece of cloth...pay the bucks to enter the slave/trader area.. Eventually you can access each desk in the overseer room of those 'slave' homes. You could always enter that room but nothing much happened, eventually after trying all sorts of stuff with/without weapons, when tried to access the overseer room in the 'slave' house closest to the church. I was warped to the 'traders' house. Should the piece of cloth and 2 keys. The man at EOM forges them for you I believe. After that and having the keys mentioned above, I could access each desk(only once) in both 'slave' homes, when you do you don't get an item just text. I don't believe the keys were used yet, just that the particular event has taken place - after that you need to talk to the slaves in the homes...I did it getting caught and without getting caught, after they march back, wait till they enter and the overseer is out of sight, talk to all slaves...if morning arrives while your still in their you will be warped back to the 'traders' house..you have just about enough time to get the info you want and get out...I did it both ways, not sure if that's necessary, also talked to them in the fields after...then go to the EOM, get item, then go to the W end to the man blocking path at bottom of ladder, give item and you can then pass by. - explore west side...go to LBW, event, party breaks up. talk all, this includes slaves both at night and in fields. go to EOM..get bottle. This bottle will put 2 traders T asleep...the go to HSC..get what item (looks like grapes) Back to T, give item and while he is out of building go to his bed...get item, when he returns you get ring. - give ring to 2-114 at west most slave house SH2. Back to LBW and reform party. Now go to mine south of LBW, open entrance, talk all. Visit store...text exchange, then go to EOM. Talk all...back to west mine. Then visit the left most grave in cemetary, new text. Back to EOM, talk girl, event, then talk all again. - things have now changed... back to T need to pay bucks to enter again. Talk all...talk all slaves again, particularly SH2, continue west..explore all here eventuall back to EOM...event, he leaves. I explored and talked to everyone again while looking for him, he is now at back of cemetary..event..enter and and explore. Their are trapdoor floors and hidden passages. Eventually you will find a locked door(will lead to side-scroll play), char near chest, talk to him...events. - Talk all, visit mine lotsa bucks. The back to the EOM, then to the cave get any missed chest, the go thru locked door. You will meet another character then its end of level play. This one is pretty tough as all enemies 'cause a fair amount of damage. Get your NPC as he has a freeze weapon that helps alot. Nice cinema between 8/9 AREA 9 ------ Pretty straight forward stage. Lots of interaction in the village initially to be able to leave and later to allow you to continue on across the bridge to the Ice Castle. A number of items need to be found on this level. Probably the most unusual are the 10 apples? that need to be dug from the little snowbanks, marbles/stones that allow you to proceed and large jewels? that open locked doors in the castle. The Ice Castle is tough without upgraded/leveled up items. The shield will be found in the castle. You will need to go back to town a couple of times during your run through the castle to finish it. For me the boss level here was the most difficult. It's also the most graphically pleasing to date. At least for me both knight forms were a bitch. One of your released char's can restore HP's, use her wisely :) You get what appears to be the the DRAGONSLAYER during the cinema as a EVENT item. AREA 10 ------- I'm calling the next two areas 10A/10B cause there's no sidescroll/boss between them, though there is a short cinema. They also appear to be intertwined, both plot wise and cause of the view of the country side through the island? floor. The boss is at the end of 10B. After 10A/B is the 31F tower that leads to the endgame. A map of the tower is provided with the game. I expanded the maps on a copier to aid my exploring, this allows me to mark them up and it leaves the original intact. It's also helping me pick out some of the small details. I've finished with floors B1f-->6f[I think :)] and am currently sorting out the interaction between floors 7-->10. As I indicated in an earlier post, if your familiar with BRANDISH then you know what to expect. If not, you can expect this section to be quite tedious to complete. Lots of traps, red-herrings, warps, etc... The provided maps are accurate, at least so far :') AREA 10A -------- Desert land. Lots of space here and items are really getting expensive. Lots of iteraction at main town. New items are needed as monsters are tough. You'll need to interact with a # of characters, some only at night(roof top-left). The land is layed out like this... a town plus 4 pyramids in a diamond shape with 4 stones in the middle of the diamond. A simple representation follows: T is the town, X is a pyramid, and each space is roughly a playable section. The area outside of the diamond is a wasteland with no apparent borders. The area inside has your usual enemies. X T X + X y X Once you get an amulet/chestplate? you should be able to move the statues in front of the pyramid entrances. At some point you will need to enter the pyramids. Ensure you talk to everyone, particularly it appears the kids/students on the 2nd floor, left most room(library?) Entrance to pyramids require all 8 statues face in the compass direction of the one you wish to enter. ex...all 8 need to face right/east to enter the east/right most pyramid. Once mini-boss's are defeated and you get the harp. talk to all in town. You need to free your rabbit? friend and your party has to form into 5 members. Once the 4 adventurers leave you'll need to go find them. They will be located on a border square(y) roughly between the s/e pyramids. It's a wasteland square. Just outside of the diamond. Talk to them and wait till sunset...their should be a large shadow moving from east to west, an event will ocurr to take you to a new area. AREA 10B -------- Appears to be a floating island/continent. Quit a bit of interaction between angels? in various sections that need to freed. You'll find new weapons here. The main teleport(MTM) room is layed out like this; X5 X1 X4 X2 X3 The order I went in is X3,X2,X1. After freeing and talking to angels? You'll be allowed access to X4,X5 Eventually you'll find X3 no longer accessable, X5 has a chest you cannot open, X4 has an area you cannot access. Similar to how one was denied access in X2,X1 previously. Go to the locked door above the MTM. Interact with one of the columns, top-right. Then go to X5's locked chest, get item. Back to MTM, interact to get access again to X3...go to X3 finish up and get item..back to MTM and then go to X4 too finish area. Back to MTM, # of events ocurr and eventually you get a gold sword. Take the gold sword to the blue gem in X3. Now it's back to the locked door...'open sesame'...event ocurr's ..reform and it's off to the side-scroll portion. If you haven't done so yet leveling up before going to the sidescroll area can happen here pretty fast as monsters are worth alot and you have a large party. Hp's appear to max out at all 9's.