0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 | | | OZ GENERAL GUIDE | | | 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Version 1.6 Written by Kouryuu (test@_dorothycankickyourass_kou-net.org) OZ is (c)2005 Konami ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 0-------------------0 TABLE OF CONTENTS 0-------------------0 1) REVISIONS --------- Exactly what the heading says. 2) IMPORTANT INFO -------------- Read read read! Certain notable things about this file are addressed here! This also explains how to properly e-mail me. :P 3) INTRODUCTION ------------ About this guide. 4) PLAY TIPS FAQ ------------- Possibly useful information can be found here. Some stage-specific tips and dialogue choices are covered as well. Use Find, Ctrl-F, etc. to search for specific words, numbers, and such if you don't want to read everything in the section. 5) ITEMS ----- Both purchasable and unpurchasable items are listed. 6) COSTUMES -------- Dress up OZ characters! 7) GENERAL UNLOCKABLES ------------------- Things and people that you can get after clearing the game and such. 8) MENU UNLOCKABLES ---------------- Gallery, Fighting with the 35th Platoon, and Dorothy's Big Adventure are here. 9) FRAGMENTS OF WISDOM (英知のかけら) ------------------- Locations of all 20 Fragments. 10) SIDE CHAPTERS ------------- Info about the 2 aside stages. 11) SECRETS ------- !!!!!! 12) CHARACTER RANKINGS ------------------ My list of fave characters to use from best to worst. 13) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ---------------- Crediting my sources. ^-^ 14) ABOUT THE AUTHOR ---------------- Pointless info about the individual that whipped up this guide. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 1) REVISIONS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 0----------------------------------0 Version 1.6 (February 12, 2006) 0----------------------------------0 Managed to get a copy of Konami UK's release of The Sword of Etheria and corrected the Fighter bit that followed Burning, Freezing, Lightning, and Shining in the Items section. (Why didn't anyone tell me it was Factor NOT Fighter!? Go me and my amazing katakana reading skills. :P) I also corrected the description of those elemental items. I also used the names of the scarves in the English version in place of what I initially had. I'm not changing Eteria of Intellect though. Stupid me had to check the dictionary for Sapience. :P In my opinion, there was no reason to even use this word. What's more is the oddity of "wisdom" and such being connected to getting an equipment slot. ^^; Etheria of Capacity would have been too weird, I guess. 0--------------------------------0 Version 1.5 (January 4, 2006) 0--------------------------------0 Added info on how to obtain the 3 items that you can only get by playing on Hard mode. Also, under FRAGMENTS OF WISDOM, I took out the mention of the area "before the boss battle" for stage 9 because I remembered that there wasn't a boss in that stage. :P I also did some more experimenting with the OZ gauge cheat code and wrote down my findings under SECRETS. Finally, some more changes were done to ABOUT THE AUTHOR. 0----------------------------------0 Version 1.0 (December 30, 2005) 0----------------------------------0 Finished the initial version of the guide~~~ 0----------------------------------0 Version 0.0 (November 19, 2005) 0----------------------------------0 Still freshly obsessed with game, I got the urge to write about the various endings and how to obtain them. And then, I started getting carried away and writing about everything else BUT how to get through the game and that's how this file came about and why its layout looks somewhat like the endings guide. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 2) IMPORTANT INFO %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% There are just several things I want to note about this guide: 1) To see the gibberish, you'll have to switch your browser's character encoding to Japanese Shift-JIS. 2) I am NOT affiliated with Konami. I am merely a fan of their game, OZ, and as such, it should be noted that this guide is a non-profit, fan-made piece of work. It is all right to post this at your site, distribute freely, but it is NOT all right to modify it in any way or sell it (by itself or on some compilation CD with other walkthroughs/guides, etc.). 3) This file does NOT contain a walkthrough for the game. The focus is on everything else except the endings. See INTRODUCTION for more details. Also note that this file contains plot spoilers. 4) This guide assumes that you are using the default gamepad configuration. 5) I am not fluent in Japanese so there may be some errors here and there. I do my best to be as accurate as possible. In cases where something just sounds too strange to be translated literally, I do a gist-of/loose translation. 6) To e-mail me, remove the _dorothycankickyourass_ part in my e-mail address. :P Corrections, additions, critiques, and compliments are welcomed. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 3) INTRODUCTION %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% OZ is not your everyday hack-and-slash game like Koei's Dynasty Warriors series meaning you can't mindlessly rush into a fray of enemies, beat them all up yourself, and think the game will reward you with an awesome score. The game heavily emphasizes team-work and gives you bonuses and rankings based on how well you work with the AI-controlled companions. It's also a fairly short game (4 - 10 hours per playthrough) but it retains its replay value by giving the player multiple endings, unlockable stages, items, costumes, characters, and a bonus gallery filled with music, sounds, and images. This guide covers things such as play tips, items, unlockables, and secrets -- basically everything except a walkthrough. :P The endings are covered in a separate guide unimaginatively entitled OZ ENDINGS GUIDE. You can find it listed as Endings Guide at GameFAQs. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 4) PLAY TIPS FAQ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% It's a wonder Konami didn't make this a multiplayer game since I think it'll be a whole different and fun playing experience trying to chain with other live players. :3 And there will probably be the advantage that your teammates won't be standing around doing nothing like the AI does at times. >_> Anyway, here are some run-of-the-mill, probably-pretty-basic, common sense play tips. Oh, and there are some stage specific ones too: ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q1) How do I unlock those ???????? menus? A1) By finishing the game a few times. :3 See MENU UNLOCKABLES. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q2) How do I rack up chains/get high-numbered chains? A2) Eheh. I was actually a pro at BREAKING chains. But I'll share my thoughts about chaining anyway. ^^; Ideally, you want to connect with the enemy each time one is whacked in your direction. However, there is another method too! When you encounter enemies that you can easily bat with one hit, simply run around the field batting those enemies at your teammates. So basically, instead of simply trying to chain using one enemy, you have several. XD Stage 18 is fantastic for this. Take heed though -- if your allies are already busy beating up enemies after you called out his or her name, they may ignore the new enemy you hurl at them. It only makes sense though. I mean, you can only focus on so much at a single time in real life too, right? :P However, I HAVE seen Almira abandon an attack on an enemy just to go after the one someone called her to chain on. Constantly deathblowing with level 1 deathblows can work at times as well since you'll usually knock an enemy into a dazed state and your character may tell someone to go get the enemy. And another word of caution -- pay attention to the names being called and try not to "steal" someone's enemy; especially if that enemy is part of a chain that's currently going. What happens sometimes is that two people will call out names at the same time if they're both trying to chain with the same enemy. >_>;;; This effectively kills a chain since neither recipient takes the initiative to continue with it. Same thing goes for telling allies to attack enemies -- don't send both of them to attack the same enemy when your aim is to start a chain cuz the result will most likely end up as both characters calling each other's name and then everyone will just stand around and let the enemy fall to the ground. 9_9 ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q3) How do I get lots and lots of yellow eteria? A3) Equip the Ring of the Spirits (精霊の指輪) on everyone since I think it only applies to the wearer that kills an enemy. The item increases the amount of yellow eteria dropped by enemies by 1.25x. Of course, as a consequence, the chances of green eteria being dropped is reduced by 50%. The trick is to constantly build up chains and to constantly deathblow. Many times, once you do a deathblow, an ally will immediately connect with an enemy that was hit by it and continue with a chain. Ensure that you don't break it so the multiplier for yellow eteria keeps increasing. Oh yeah, playing on Hard mode helps too. :3 ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q4) How do I get oodles of blue eteria? A4) This is only applicable after stage 12 in both Story Mode and EX mode. To get blue eteria, you MUST use deathblows. Problem is, even if you DO use a deathblow, this rare eteria may not appear. Sucks, doesn't it? Here's a chart with the chance of appearance in relation to deathblows (DB) used and the level of difficulty: 0--------------------------------------------0 | DB | Difficulty Mode | |--------------------------------------------| | | Easy Normal Hard | |--------------------------------------------| | Solo | 50% 40% 30% | | | | | Duo | 70% 60% 50% | | | | | OZ | 100% 90% 80% | 0--------------------------------------------0 Basically, under all difficulty modes, the best thing to do is build up to Over Zenith and unleash it on a pack of enemies. Easier said than done though. BTW, equipping the Ring of Trust (信頼の指輪) also helps. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q5) Does batting enemies off bridges or edges count as a kill? A5) I'm pretty sure they don't since, for example, in stage 18, the kill count for the spiders doesn't increase if they go flying off the edge. But try not to bat enemies off the sides since they could hinder your overall stage score as you don't get any eteria for not killing enemies with your weapon. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q6) I'm getting swarmed by enemies! ToT!!!! Help? A6) If you're having a tough time in certain areas, try and separate enemies by luring a few of them away and then concentrate on disposing of those ones first. Of course, it may not always work due to the stupidity of your teammates rushing/going near other enemies or if you're in one of the smaller areas where everything is pretty much within the same radius, but the divide and conquer method can usually save lives . :P It's quite useful in areas where you can still go back to a previous area (blue arrows). Oh, about the ally AI stupidity -- you can sort of override their dumb- ness by constantly telling them to follow you. You do have to be careful since they may get smacked by enemies while running away from them. :/ Also, try luring enemies to attack you while you're in guard mode and then issue attack orders for your party members to attack the enemy. Logic dictates that they would have to be behind or flanking the enemy for this to work though. :E Finally, make enemies that use projectiles your first priority because, in the long run, they will most likely be the cause of your downfall. I mean, nothing sucks more than having an awesome chain going and then getting hit by a flying rock and consequently getting comboed by those damned enemies that wield those long swords. >_> ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q7) I wonder ... Can I switch between enemy targets? And can I specifically choose one partner to attack a certain enemy? A7) Of course you can! (<-- Answer to both questions.) When you're holding onto the target button (R1), hit R2 to cycle between nearby enemies. For your allies, when you're locked onto an enemy, you can switch the colour of the target lock to correspond with the ally you want to sic on the enemy by hitting L2. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q8) HEY! How come the game always chooses the level 2 deathblows!? I want to be able to do a deathblow with the other character! A8) Like issuing attack orders to specific companions, you can switch between partners by hitting L2 when the tension gauge is at level 2. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q9) How different is Hard mode from Normal and Easy? A9) I've yet to try every stage under Hard but the main difference is the amount and types of enemies you have to deal with. Here is a tiny list of the changes I could see from the several stages I played on Hard: - Enemy AI is much more aggressive and they evade/jump around a lot more too making it that more difficult to hurt them. :/ They seem to have beefier defense, and bosses tend to execute their special attacks a lot more frequently. - Different items/eteria in certain chests, etc. For example, there might be chests where, under Normal and Easy, you get yellow eteria but under Hard, you get green eteria instead. - The amount of eteria you get from certain chests, etc. - The enemy respawn rate in boss battles is zany. E.g., in stage 4, the boss is accompanied by 4 Bellator Sicas and the moment you beat one down, another one quickly materializes shortly after. >_> Now stage 5 is quite different in that you get swarms and swarms of ene- mies if you bust into certain rooms. When playing under other modes, you either get a nasty backdraft from a booby-trapped chest or nothing at all, save a chest sitting around looking pretty. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q10) Do dialogue choices really matter? A10) They influence who accompanies Feel in stage 9 and it's only through choices that you can get the mighty Muffler of Justice since each posi- tive reply you give to either Almira or Leon adds 1 point to her or his invisible "trust Feel" meter. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q11) So which choices causes which character to show up in stage 9? A11) Generally, the answers that make Feel sound more confident and decisive will get him Leon (the exception is stage 8). The more cautious and friendlier ones will cause Almira to pop up in stage 9. However, there's a much easier, 2-step way to figure things out! #1. All top choices will get you Leon. #2. All bottom choices will get you Almira. :P However, if you're insistent on completely snubbing a certain character here's how to do it: To give all your love to Almira, choose the following: Stage 1: Bottom for the 1st choice. Top for the 2nd choice. Stage 2: Top for the 1st choice. Bottom for the 2nd choice. Stage 3: Bottom. Stage 4: Bottom. Stage 5: Bottom. Stage 6: Top. Stage 8: Choose the bottom one to get a conversation with Leon as he will not be the one that sticks with Feel. The top choice is an indifferent/neutral choice. Obviously, to be warm and fuzzy with Leon means that you have to select the choices you didn't choose above. Anyway, here's the rundown: Stage 1: Top for 1st choice. Bottom for 2nd choice. (These are actually neutral choices but since the opposites make Almira like Feel more ...) Stage 2: Bottom for the 1st choice. Top for the 2nd choice. Stage 3: Top. Stage 4: Top. Stage 5: Top. Stage 6: Bottom. Stage 8: Choose the bottom one to get a conversation with Almira as she will not be the one that sticks with Feel. The top choice is an indifferent/neutral choice. Note that stage 9 top choice is positive for BOTH characters and stage 11 top answer affects the character that is NOT with Feel. This is important for getting the Muffler of Justice. For more info on the muffler, see GENERAL UNLOCKABLES. Also note that if you managed to make even choices between Almira and Leon, Almira will be the one that joins Feel in stage 9. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q12) d00de, I can't find some Fragments of Wisdom! Where are they? A12) See the FRAGMENTS OF WISDOM section. However, you should generally explore everywhere and kill/break everything that's solid like fish and boulders! You may find hidden areas and items! ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q13) Whoa. Feel just healed someone and he wasn't even wearing the item that lets him do that! What gives? A13) As noted in the manual in the little box on page 10 under the heading One Point, Feel comes with an handy, auto-heal-others ability! XD If you just witnessed it in that you were using the character that died, know that you too can heal others when you use Feel as your character. Just go up to a reviving character and stand next to him or her for a bit and Feel will automatically heal his friend for half of his or her maximum health. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q14) Why is there a chest in stage 4 that I can't get? D: A14) Only Almira can reach the chest on top of the rock in the middle of the second area. It is only through absolute pure luck that she will break it AND get the item it contains. :P Otherwise, you'll have to wait until after stage 6 where the game will give you EX Mode. In EX Mode, play as Almira so you can control her actions. Incidentally, Juju can get up there as well. What you have to do is jump, target a Volo Saggita up there, and hit the attack button. If done correctly, she'll land on the rock. :3 Of course, by the time you get to use Juju, you probably have the specific item that's in there anyway. :3 ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q15) Ugh! That giant crab-like in stage 4 keeps burrowing into the ground too quickly! I must kill it!! But how can I do it!? :(( A15) Just run up to it and issue attack orders like mad. Well, it'll be nice if you joined in on ganging up on it too. The key is just to keep hit- ting it to prevent it from going into the ground. Be careful when someone manages to hurl it into the air because if the person that's next in line to connect the chain misses the monster, it may land far away and quickly start burrowing again. And if you don't get to it in time, it'll disappear into the ground and never come back. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q16) Do the backdraft-spewing chests in stage 5 contain anything? A16) Yes they do. If I remember correctly, the lava explosion will occur even if you manage to break the chest. So use the dash attack on it and get out of the room immediately. Note that the traps are completely random so there MIGHT be a chance that the Fragment is in a room with a trap. ._. BUT, as far as I know, the rooms with a child in them don't have traps. Please note that under Hard mode, you don't have dangerous backdrafts shooting out at you in those booby-trapped rooms. Instead, you get to fight wave after wave of various enemies. I believe only the initial wave of monsters that come out of the rooms drop eteria. The later ones might as well but you'll probably need some crazy chaining and/or level 2+ deathblows to get them to give you something. Don't quote me on that though. :P Oh, according to The Complete Guide, I THINK it mentions something like if you manage to break all the chests, 2 of the chests in the last area before the boss fight will contain large amounts of yellow eteria. We're talking like one with 500 yellow eteria and another with 1000. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q17) Does it matter which path I take at the start of stage 6? Stage 10? Etc.? A17) Yes. The differences are treasure, map design, and enemies. I mean, come on! The game's replay value can't ONLY come from the fact that there are 4 endings and several unlockable things! ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q18) Does it matter which boss I beat in stage 6? A18) If you mean in terms of character unlocking then yes, it DOES matter. Naturally, Juju is easier but keep in mind that whoever you beat down here will never join you in future stages. Of course, you can always replay the game for the other character. XD I tried to take them both out at the same time once but it didn't work. :( I came close though! For additional info, check the GENERAL UNLOCKABLES section. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q19) The chests in stage 7 are cheap. >:( Why are there only green eteria!? A19) So that you can survive all the exploding monsters, that's why! Seriously, don't bust all 3 chests in the large cavern as they all con- tain green eteria. I mean, if you do, you may run into the trouble of getting beat up quite a bit right before facing the boss and having no means of restoring health. BTW, the boss area is north of the place with the last ords so when you're finished there and sort of low on health, just run back to the chests! ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q20) For stage 7, is there any way to kill the fish without knocking them back into lava 99% of the time? >_>; A20) Indeed! Don't take them head on; attack from the side. It's best to do this by rotating the camera so that the path is horizontal across the screen. This way, you can easily judge that distance between you and the fish you're attacking. Also, hit the attack button once to knock them out of the air -- do NOT constantly mash the attack button. Repeat this "slow attack" on the fish when it's on the ground if you think you might knock it into lava. (Example of a "slow attack" is one hit per second. :P) BTW, sometimes you can push a fish away from the edge by simply moving your character up to it. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q21) Should I hack open every one of those poison-puffing plant things in stage 10? A21) Yes, since one of them contains a Fragment of Wisdom. Check FRAGMENTS OF WISDOM for details. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q22) The Pseudolus keep killing me! >o_> There was another time where the black hole blocked off the exit. 9_9## So yeah, when you get the choice to take the left, center, or right path, be aware that you will most likely be committing suicide by heading anywhere BUT the center. Well, of course, if you can beat up all the enemies in either right or left area before the invincible dark- ness comes, then everything's a-ok. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q26) HEY! About those the spider-like creatures!! Do they drop ANY yellow eteria!? A26) I think they MIGHT if you're wearing the item that increases the chance of yellow eteria appearing when an enemy is killed. However, according to the game guide, the Haeresis drop NO yellow eteria. They do leave blue eteria however. (You might not want to use them as a means to stock up on blue eteria in stage 18 though since each Haeresis only drops 1. :P) ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q27) Why do I always have to play as Feel in Story Mode!? I wanna play as Almira! A27) After stage 12, you have the option to choose between the three charac- ters. Alas, anyone outside of the trio cannot be chosen in Story Mode play. And yes, this is a question that should have been addressed earlier but I don't want to redo all the numbers AGAIN. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ Q28) Why does Feel keep getting those weird flashes during cutscenes? A28) This isn't a play tip but I figure I should address it anyway! Well, from what I understand, it's due to his ability to communicate with Eteria. I think those flashes are images shown to him by Eteria. ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 5) ITEMS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% These purchasable equipment are listed in the order as they appear on the Items list in the game. Non-purchasable items that are found follow this list. NOTES!! ** You can only wear one item from each category so if you're already wearing a bracelet, you can't wear another one. And, because of this, you can't stack the offense or defense bonuses you get from wearing certain acces- sories. ** Selling prices of items that could be sold are always half of their origi- nal value. ** Also, physical strength means life/hitpoints/health, etc. ** Additional comments not part of the actual description found in the game may follow the description. ** Most of the information below is from a Japanese Web site (credited in the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS section). However, the availability of the items seems to conflict with the official guide. I never paid attention to when certain items appear so I have no idea which source is correct. Basically, anything that says from stage 3 onward could mean stage 4 and on. And anything that says from stage 7 onward could mean from stage 8 and on. X_X 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Eteria of Life (命のエテリア) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: Variable as it increases with each subsequent purchase. However, the amount for the next "level" is roughly current cost x 1.5. Description: Increases a chara's physical strength by 1 level. Availability: From Stage 2 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Eteria of Power (力のエテリア) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: Variable as it increases with each subsequent purchase. The amount for the next level is current cost x 2. Description: Increases a chara's attack strength by 1 level. Availability: From Stage 2 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Eteria of Intellect (智のエテリア) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: Slot #2 costs 3000. Slot #3 costs 9000. Slot #4 costs 18000. Description: Increases a chara's item slot by 1. Availability: From Stage 2 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Burning Factor (バーニングファイター) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 1000 Description: Gives a deathblow the element of fire. However, the attack power of all moves will be decresased. Enemies may be set aflame. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Burning Material (バーニングマテリアル) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 10000 Description: Gives a deathblow the element of fire. Enemies may be set aflame. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Freezing Factor (フリージングファイター) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 2000 Description: Gives a deathblow the element of ice. However, the attack power of all moves will be decresased. Enemies may become frozen. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Freezing Material (フリージングマテリアル) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 15000 Description: Gives a deathblow the element of ice. Enemies may become frozen. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Lightning Factor (ライトニングファイター) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 2500 Description: Gives a deathblow the element of lightning. However, the attack power of all moves will be decresased. Enemy movement may be slowed. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Lightning Material (ライトニングマテリアル) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 17500 Description: Gives a deathblow the element of lightning. Enemy movement may be slowed. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Shining Factor (シャイニングファイター) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 1500 Description: Gives a deathblow the element of light. However, the attack power of it is reduced. Enemies will become easily dazed. Also, enemies exploding from the deathblow can damage other enemies in the vicinity. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Shining Material (シャイニングマテリアル) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 12500 Description: Gives a deathblow the element of light. Enemies will become easily dazed. Also, enemies exploding from the deathblow can damage other enemies in the vicinity. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Invisibility Scarf (見えないスカーフ) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 700 Description: It makes it harder for enemies to target the wearer. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Conspicuous Scarf (目立つスカーフ) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 500 Description: Wearing this causes the individual to be easily targeted by enemies. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Mask of Anger (怒りの仮面) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 500 Description: Equipping this causes the wearer to attack more frequently. This item will not work on the player character. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Mask of Fear (恐れの仮面) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 500 Description: Equipping this causes the wearer to attack less frequently. This item will not work on the player character. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Mask of Hatred (憎悪の仮面) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 1000 Description: The damage given to an enemy and the damage received from an enemy increases 1.2 times. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Mask of Affection (慈愛の仮面) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 1000 Description: The damage given to an enemy and the damage received from an enemy increases 0.8 times. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Ring of the Spirits (精霊の指輪) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 2000 Description: Enemies drop yellow eteria 1.25 times more than usual. However, the probability of green eteria being dropped is reduced by half. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Ring of the Hunter (狩人の指輪) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 1000 Description: The chance of yellow eteria being dropped by enemies is re- duced by half. However, the probability of green eteria being dropped is doubled. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Ring of Trust (信頼の指輪) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 3000 Description: I'm uncertain about this but it sounds like the amount of yellow eteria you can get from enemies is reduced by 8 times the usual amount. However, the chance of getting green and blue eteria increases 1.5 times. Availability: From Stage 13 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Talisman of Revival (蘇生の護符) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 3000 Description: Equipping this allows the character to revive 25% faster. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Talisman of Regeneration (再生の護符) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 12000 Description: When the tension gauge is at level 1 or higher, the wearer will gradually recover health. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Talisman of Devotion (献身の護符) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 5000 Description: At the cost of 1/4 of the wearer's health, a team member can be revived. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Talisman of Recovery (治癒の護符) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 10000 Description: Wearing this allows the wearer to restore life to a fallen companion. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Talisman of Rebirth (復活の護符) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 1500 Description: Once the life meter hits 0, it will automatically be restored to half. One time use only. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Talisman of Miracle (奇跡の護符) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 4000 Description: Once the life meter hits 0, it will automatically be restored to full. One time use only. Availability: From Stage 13 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Brass Necklace (真鍮の首飾り) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 1000 Description: Increases health by 10%. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Silver Necklace (銀の首飾り) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 5000 Description: Increases health by 20%. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Copper Hemp Garment (銅のかたびら) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 2000 Description: The damage received from enemies decreases by 10%. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Silver Hemp Garment (銀のかたびら) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 10000 Description: The damage received from enemies decreases by 15%. Will not flinch if hit by enemies. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Bracelet of Power (力の腕輪) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 8000 Description: Dish out 15% more damage to foes. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Bracelet of Strength (強力の腕輪) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 16000 Description: Dish out 30% more damage to foes. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Bracelet of the Soul (魂の腕輪) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 10000 Description: The tension gauge rises by 5% each time someone wearing this successfully hits an enemy during chaining. Availability: From Stage 3 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Bracelet of Fighting Spirit (闘魂の腕輪) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 25000 Description: The tension gauge rises by 10% each time someone wearing this successfully hits an enemy during chaining. Availability: From Stage 7 onward. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Gold Necklace (金の首飾り) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: N/A Description: Increases character's physical strength by 30%. Availability: Stage 1 of Hard Mode (in either EX or Story Mode). How to obtain: Break the well in the middle of the village. This can only be done by having someone get hit into it; preferably Almira. :P 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Bracelet of Super Power (超力の腕輪) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: N/A Description: Dish out 50% more damage to enemies. Availability: Stage 9 of Hard Mode (in either EX or Story Mode). How to obtain: In the last area, slaughter the second Decurio Lucta (white golem) that appears. Be aware that if it's gobbled up by one of the mouths of the walls/columns, you won't get the bracelet. I never managed to get past the 2nd last area (with the 2 ords) so this information is just from various sites. ^^; 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Pure Silver Hemp Garment (真銀のかたびら) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: N/A Description: The damage received from enemies decreases by 20%. Will not flinch if hit by enemies. Availability: Stage 16 of Hard Mode (in either EX or Story Mode). How to obtain: I am somewhat unsure of this one. I think the trigger to getting this is to defeat all the monsters just outside the boss area. Some Web sites say you just have to beat the Decurio Ascia (golem). :/ %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 6) COSTUMES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% These are just various apparel and accessories that you can make your characters wear. They are also only available after the first clear game. Unfortunately, you can only see them wearing this stuff during a stage and not on the chara selection screen. :( Character-specific costumes will not be available for purchase until you un- lock the corresponding characters. Note: ** Additional comments not part of the actual description found in the game may follow the description. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Glasses (眼鏡) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 10000 Description: Stylish glasses. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Sunglasses (サングラス) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 8000 Description: Wild sunglasses. Males only. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cat Ears (猫耳) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 15000 Description: Cute cat ears. Females only. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Bunny Ears (ウサギの耳) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 15000 Description: Sexy bunny ears. Females only. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Afro Wig (アフロのかつら) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 8000 Description: Soulful wig. Males only. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Hero's Clothes (英雄の衣装) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 60000 Description: Clothes belonging to a hero from another world. Feel only. Note: Deathblows will be fire based if Feel wears this. The attire belongs to the Flame Champion from Konami's RPG, Suikoden III. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Teacher's Clothes (教師の衣装) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 80000 Description: Teacher's clothing. Almira only. Note: Deathblows will be ice based if Almira wears this. Costume could be an original design.) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Belmont's Clothes (ベルモンドの衣装) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 60000 Description: Clothes belonging to a hero from another world. Leon only. Note: Deathblows will be lightning based if Leon wears this. The attire belongs to Leon Belmont from Konami's action game, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Moegino High School Uniform (もえぎの高校制服) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 90000 Description: Uniform of Moegino Private Secondary School. For female students only. Oddly enough, this means Juju. :P Note: Deathblows will be light-based (Shining Material) if Juju wears this. Outfit is from Tokimeki Memorial 3. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 OZ High School Uniform (悪頭高校制服) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 80000 Description: Uniform of OZ Private Secondary School. For female students only. Juju only again. Note: Deathblows will be light-based (Shining Factor) if Juju wears this. Outfit is an original. The kanji is read with the on-yomi reading of "O" and "ZU". ._.;; 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Koroku Suit (コロクの着ぐるみ) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 60000 Description: A costume of a brown dog. Galumn only. *additional description of the scarf is needed* There's something about doing 1.5 times more damage with this outfit on. But I can't figure out what this "hirumi" means. Here's the sentence: 攻撃時のひるみダメージが通常の1.5倍 Note: The outfit is of one of the 108 Stars from Suikoden III. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Kogoro Suit (コゴロウの着ぐるみ) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 80000 Description: A costume of a black dog. Galumn only. *additional description of the scarf is needed* There's something about doing 2 times more damage with this outfit on. But I can't figure out what this "hirumi" means. Here's the sentence: 攻撃時のひるみダメージが通常の２倍 Note: The outfit is of one of the 4 non-Star dogs from Suikoden III. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Bartender's Clothes (バーテンの衣装) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 60000 Description: Bartender's clothing. Vitis only. A suitable cocktail for the ladies ... (<-- No idea if this is correct since, instead of "ladies", it should be the femi- nine form of "you" but since the English "you" doesn't dis- tinguish gender ... Note: This outfit comes with "Reflect Guard" where, if you hold onto the guard button, any attacks from enemies will be deflected causing the enemies to be stunned. XD I must note that this is quite fun to use in Stage 1. >D Anyway, the outfit is probably an original. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Robbie Suit (ロビーの着ぐるみ) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Cost: 50000 Description: A costume of a rabbit. Silent Hill's mascot. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 7) GENERAL UNLOCKABLES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% All unlockables listed pertain to Story Mode only. You CANNOT get any of these through EX Mode. ============================================================================== ITEMS ============================================================================== 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Chicken's Cockscomb (ニワトリのとさか) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Description: The proof of a coward. Everyone lacks motivation. How to obtain: Player character cannot have any kills; that is, his or her kill percentage has to be 0%. You can get this item on any stage but it is recommended that you do it on an early stage like stage 2 or 3. What it does: The rate the tension gauge reduces at is quickened by 10%. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Muffler of Justice (正義のマフラー) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Description: A cool looking muffler. The number 9 is embroidered on it. Only Feel can wear this. How to obtain: Feel must give both Almira and Leon 4 or more positive answers. The Complete Guide notes these answers as being something like "trust points". The simplest way is just choose the top answers for every decision you must make. This results in 5 points for Almira and 5 for Leon. Do note, however, the choices also influence who will join Feel in stage 9. So if you're adamant about a specific character being with the hero, refer to PLAY TIPS FAQ Q11 for which answers you need to get the person you want. What it does: The Muffler of Justice grants you access to the hilarious alternate reality stage, "Mobilize! OZ Ranger!", that happens after stage 8 if you have the muffler equipped. Check the SIDE CHAPTERS for more information. In addition to unlocking that extra stage, this cool item assists you in raising the tension gauge by 3% with each successful chain hit. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Feel's Casual Outfit (フィールの普段着) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Description: Feel's everyday wear. And yes, only Feel can wear this. :P How to obtain: Clear the game with any ending BUT the bad ending. What it does: Gives Feel the power of normality. Seriously, it just changes his appearance to how he looked in stage 1 before Toto and Eteria transformed him. There are no added abilities or effects. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Bracelet of Encouragement (鼓舞の腕輪) 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Description: The rate that the tension gauge falls at is slowed by 5%. How to obtain: Clear the game with the bad ending. What it does: See description. ============================================================================== CHARACTERS ============================================================================== 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 ~~ Juju ~~ 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 How to unlock: In stage 6, beat Galumn first. After you clear the game, she will be a playable EX mode character! 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 ~~ Galumn ~~ 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 How to unlock: In stage 6, beat Juju first. After you clear the game, he will be a playable EX Mode character! 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 ~~ Vitis ~~ 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 How to unlock: The first time you can get Vitis is through your second playthrough. For the side chapter "Cain", get a stage rank of A or higher. Once you complete the game, he'll be usable under EX Mode. :D 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 ~~ Cain ~~ 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 How to unlock: You'd think that by clearing the side chapter that's named after him, you would get him right? Heh. No. What you need to do is beat stage 20 (re: happy ending) to get this Feel clone. The Complete Guide also says some- thing about him being unlockable upon a third playthrough but I've yet to attempt to test that out. Anyway, he's another EX Mode only guy. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 ~~ Dorothy ~~ 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 How to unlock: Get all 20 Fragments of Wisdom. :3 She's not an EX Mode character though. You only get to use her in her VERY OWN SIDE STORY!!!! See MENU UNLOCKABLES for the side story and FRAGMENTS OF WISDOM for locations of the Fragments. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 ~~ Toto ~~ 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 How to unlock: Same as Dorothy. However, he's not playable. :(((( %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 8) MENU UNLOCKABLES %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% This part's all about those 4 ???????? menu items where you'll find out what they are, what they contain, and how to get them! 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 EX MODE 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 This is the first one that will be unlocked on the Title Screen since all you have to do is clear stage 6 under Story Mode! EX Mode allows players to replay stages that were finished under Story Mode. Use this mode to explore areas you missed, stock up on yellow eteria for item purchases as well as to beef up your characters, or just to hone your fighting/chaining skills. Any Fragments of Wisdom you're missing can be snatched up through here too. Also, this is the one place where you can make use of the characters you un- locked. Check out GENERAL UNLOCKABLES for a list of playable EX Mode charac- ters. Note that the stage rankings you get under this mode DO NOT effect the ran- kings from Story Mode. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 GALLERY 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 This is the biggest section and one that you can continually add to as you replay the game over and over. (Well, this is only true if you start a new game from a clear game save.) The Gallery itself and each section it con- tains are unlocked with the Fragments of Wisdom and you only get these gal- lery bonuses when you complete Story Mode. Here's a rundown of the sections and how many Fragments are needed to unlock each one. It should be understood that the more Fragments you collect, the more sections will be unlocked when you finish the game. Character Design Drawings -- 3 Fragments Title Gallery -- 5 Fragments Movie Gallery -- 7 Fragments Sound Gallery -- 10 Fragments Fighting with the 35th Platoon -- 15 Fragments Dorothy's Big Adventure -- 20 Fragments Now what does each section CONTAIN? ============================================================================== Character Design Drawings ============================================================================== coloured drawings of the front, back, and side view of characters by the game's character designer/illustrator, Ishikawa Fumi, who is probably best known for her Genso Suikoden II and III artworks. The first images you get will be of Feel, Almira, Leon, and whoever joined Feel and friend from stages 9 - 12. Subsequent playthroughs will net you the remaining 5 characters. Well, in the case of the last two slots, you'll need 20 Fragments and to complete the little side quest you get from them. :P ============================================================================== Title Gallery ============================================================================== Stage title images of all the stages you completed will be here except they won't have the stage number or name on them. :D Well, you'll still get to see the names and all but you have the ability to turn them on and off. XD ============================================================================== Movie Gallery ============================================================================== You'd think Konami would be nice enough to include every freakin' cutscene in the game so we can see them again without having to go through all of Story Mode. Unfortunately, that's not the case since they only include the 4 stylish full-motion videos: 1) Cain's release (from the Prologue stage) 2) Arrival at Theolgia (from the beginning of Stage 7) 3) Memory of the Gods (from stage 16, before the boss battle) 4) Ruler of the Gods (from the beginning of Stage 19) Er, I made up the descriptions of the movies. I don't think they have actual titles. ============================================================================== Sound Gallery ============================================================================== BGM (background music) from all the stages you have played are here as well as gameplay/in-battle character voices. None of the cutscene dialogues are included. Like the Character Design Drawings and Title Gallery, more and more music and characters will be added with subsequent playthroughs with clear game data. Note that the names of the BGM are not reflective of their actual titles found on the soundtrack. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 FIGHTING WITH THE 35TH PLATOON 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 With 15 Fragments, you can get this wee side story where you get to play as a bunch of Volos. Through this, you get a glimpse of what the Volos have to go through in the name of the gods. At the start, the captain is giving a big speech to his little platoon and how it is their duty to kill the traitors to the gods. And suddenly, the traitors arrive! :O!! This is where you get to fight the Pseudolus, the bosses from Stage 10. The first part of the battle will have you controlling Volo Ansas but as the number of allies thins, you'll get Volo Sicas to command. It's pretty much like a regular game with deathblows and target attacking except the Volos are really slow. >_> Chances are, you'll get comboed before you even have a chance to land a blow on one of the Pseudolus. What you DO have going for you is that a single blow can knock them into a dazed state so use that to your advantage! I'm not sure what the conditions are in getting a good rank for this stage but I think keeping a lot of comrades alive + quick clear time will get you a good rating. Incidentally, if no companions keel over, you will be rewarded with 100,000 yellow eteria! Anyway, after the battle ends, the little monsters are happy that the trai- tors were defeated but the captain tells them that they were only dummies and that what they just did was a training session for the real thing. He goes on a bit about some stuff and then I think he tells the group that they're to join up with the 3rd division. However, he shortly receives word that the 4th division was under attack by an unknown enemy so now, the orders have changed to assist this other group. Unfortunately, their efforts are in vain since the next shot you see is of the "graveyard" from Stage 18 and a 35th platoon member saying stuff with his last breath. Soon, the heroes wander into the area and exactly like stage 18, Leon muses that it suddenly got so quiet and Almira comments that it's "the calm before the storm". Sigh. Such a depressing little aside stage, this was. :( Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that after you clear this stage, you get a Fragment of Wisdom. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 DOROTHY'S BIG ADVENTURE 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 With 20 Fragments of Wisdom, you gain access to Konami's take on The Wizard of OZ: Feel gets swept away by a tornado and it's up to his sister and their cat to rescue him! But instead of trying to find the wizard as a means to go home, Dorothy's after the wizard cuz he's responsible for kidnapping her brother!!! Along the way, she meets a scarecrow, lion, and some other individuals. :D You go through 6 familiar stages controlling Dorothy and have Toto as your sole partner. It's a different experience using the little girl and it's a quite fun one at that. There were actually some stages that had me going, "I can't believe that they would have the player going through this!!" due to where they appear in Story Mode/their difficulty. In a way, it would have been nice if Konami did some original levels for this. :/ You don't gain any special items after finishing the side story. All you do is get Dorothy and Toto's images and voices added to the Gallery as well as the title image for Dorothy's Big Adventure. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 9) FRAGMENTS OF WISDOM (英知のかけら) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% I'm not sure what specific description a Fragment of Wisdom has since I never bothered to translate anything in regards to it. All I cared about was where I could get them. :P There are 20 in total and it's possible to get 19 of them before the first clear game you get. The 20th one will have to wait till a certain menu option is available. :3 You can get these through either Story Mode or EX Mode and there is only ONE per stage so don't think you can go cheatin' the system! And if you're re- playing the game with clear game data and you have all 20 Fragments, don't expect to get any more. :P Now what are these things for, you ask? *Points to MENU UNLOCKABLES* 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 STAGE | LOCATION 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 1 The well in the middle of the village has to be broken to get this one so either Almira or whoever you're controlling has to get hit into it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Look for a hidden barrel in the tall grass by that arch-like place close to the waterfall. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 In the area where you have yellow arrows going north and south (with the north path fading off the map), head south. There is a chest there with the Fragment along with some monsters. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 On the second screen, on the giant rock platform in the middle with some Volo Saggitas. Only Almira and Juju can land on this rock. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 From the entrance, ignore the monster fleeing right and take the left path. Plow your way to the last area on this left side. (It's the third area with monsters, left of the circular area.) Rotate the camera to face the 3 rooms in this area. The chest with the Fragment is in the left-most room. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 From the entrance, beat the enemy on the left side and take the that route. In the next area, smite the enemy guarding the room with a door. And I have a horrible memory so I don't know if the Guide wrote this as a mistake or not but apparently, if you miss the chest above, you still have another chance to get the Fragment. Once you beat the first set of enemies upstairs, head up another flight of stairs and slaughter all enemies to open the door to the left. The Fragment will only be here if you didn't get the one on the first floor. Otherwise, you will be treated to some nice yellow eteria. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Smack a jumping fish out of the air and destroy it. You may have to kill a bunch of these fish enemies to get the Fragment though as it's random as to which one has it. ^^; Would the one you accidentally whacked into lava have it? I have no idea. Pray that it didn't so you won't have to redo the level. :/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 OMG! Look behind you! I'm not kidding. From the starting point, turn around. :P ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 On the path after the place where you have to take out 2 red ords, you will be at an elevated area with some Tessera Ulnas (the flying monsters). Going right will bring you down to the enemies so head left and follow the path all the way to the end. Warning: Do not jump-attack the chest since there's a mouth on wall near the chest. :P As an easier(?) way to remember, this particular area is also the place with the three man-eating columns all lined up next to one another and a wall with one mouth right across from them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 At a cross-like area (second screen from the start), just keep heading towards the north; you'll probably pass by 2 treasure chests along the way. This room has 3 exits in total but the north side has no exit! So at the place with no exit, destroy the northern-most poison capsule. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Only appears if 2 or more pillars are left standing. It will also appears right above the player character. Make sure you get it before you hop into the middle/onto the lift because you ain't going to be able to go back down. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Look out for rolling boulders! You'll want to deathblow them!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 From the area where you get to choose to use the left or right teleporters, choose the left one. Now pay attention to the map -- there will be this one rectangle-like part that's jutting upward but if you go to its location, there's only a wall. Go through this illusionary wall. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 At the beginning point, take the closest teleporter to your left. At the new location, take the left path to a deadend with a chest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 In the room before the boss area -- the one with a Decurio Lucta and Volo Telas on each corner of the middle platform plus an assortment of enemies including an annoying one sitting on a water-bubble shooting turret -- there should be some Tessera Teras (the flying enemies). One of them is carrying the Fragment. Defeat them first BEFORE the Decurio Lucta/golem enemy. If you get rid of the golem first, the flying enemies will disappear. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 There's a circular area where you have 4 ords spread out between 2 levels and a giant gaping hole in the middle of the 2 levels. Destroy all ords and do a leap of faith toward the middle of of the gap. Don't do some half-assed jump. Make the effort to jump FAR as there's a floating platform with a chest on it in the room below. If you're lucky, you'll land on it. If not, well, try the stage again. :3 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 In the second area, in the incredibly tough chest to destroy. You can either stab, poke, jab, whack, slash, and hack at it many times OR you can deathblow it once or twice and it should open. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 When you enter the area with a bunch of corpses, head to the body behind the chest and hit it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Beat this stage and on the screen where you get to see your overall ranking for the entire game, one of the items you re- ceive is a Fragment of Wisdom. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Simply complete "Fighting with the 35th Platoon". Check MENU UNLOCKABLES. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 10) SIDE CHAPTERS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Konami actually threw in two extra stages that are accessible through Story Mode on a second replay onward on any level of difficulty. How's that for replay value? One demands that Feel gets chummy with both Almira and Leon to unlock it while the other one just needs you to have the plain old ability to get through the game. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Side Chapter: Mobilize! OZ Ranger! 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 The alternate reality/joke version of stage 9 substitute is an absolute riot. You get this sentai (those cheesy Japanese live-action shows where a group of people dress in colour co-ordinated outfits and can "summon"/control giant ro- bots to fight giant monsters) parody stage after stage 8 where Feel falls through the big fat hole that Vitis made. XD To get this chapter, Feel has to be wearing the Muffler of Justice (正義のマフラー) for stage 8. (See GENERAL UNLOCKABLES on how to obtain the muffler.) Once you complete stage 8, the next stage on the Main Menu should be called "???". A super brief summary of what happens: Feel wakes up in the modern world in a modern bedroom. He's greeted by Leon and Almira who are wholly out of the character. (Notice the change in voice acting for Almira and Leon! ^o^) Feel gets all confused by their behaviour and even further confused with the conversation that happens when Toto comes rushing into the room with the news that all the children in the village have been kidnapped! After the group "mobilizes", the scene cuts to some modern docks with a silly-voiced monster terrorizing the children. Of course, the heroes arrive, do their heroic babble, and finally do their OZ Ranger transformations. ^^; Poor Feel is so lost with all of this. XD The battle is a rather straightforward one where you fight waves upon waves of enemies and then the silly-voiced monster itself, Gegelgia (a.k.a. stage 3 boss, Servus). A somewhat long sequence follows after its defeat where you get to see the members of the secret organization of Theologia arguing amongst themselves and scheming. Classic badguy laughter ensues. Nothing special is gained from completing this other than getting the satis- faction of seeing everyone (save Feel) out of character and in silly outfits. Now that I think about it, I wish Konami would allow players to buy the OZ Ranger outfits for the characters to wear during regular gameplay. And when in those outfits, the charas should have the voices they have in this side chapter. :D 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Side Chapter: Cain 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 This one is a pure no-brainer to obtain. On a second playthrough, once you pass stage 16, the next stage on the Main Menu will automatically be a "???" stage. This particular chapter sheds some light on what occurred 3 years after (I think) the failure of the original OZ team and why Vitis didn't get the psychedelic flashes like Juju and Galumn did when Feel and friends defeated him in stage 15. You play as Vitis leading the current OZ team through the same map as the prologue map. Note that you don't get any auto Over Zenith attack on the enemies in the last area. :P I'm not sure how it is with other players but for me, it was quite a different experience using a character with extremely short range. I actually failed to connect most of the chains the first time I played this stage. :P Now after reaching the eteria barrier, Juju and Galumn will disappear leaving Vitis to head on into the cave alone. Of course he meets the man this chapter is named after and they have this little discussion about betrayal and such. A really cheesy looking FMV fol- lows this part. I mean, couldn't Konami make things more exciting? What happens next is ripe for yaoi fanfics, but!! There is a rather cute part afterward (that has nothing to do with the yaoi fanfics bit). Oh yeah, doing well in this stage (as in, getting an A or higher overall) will get you Vitis for EX Mode play after you clear the game. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 11) SECRETS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% There are 3 secret commands, all of which are pretty much "The Konami Code". You know -- the one where everyone that owned an NES or knew someone that owned an NES could recite? :P With the exception of the third cheat listed here, they can only be used when the screen is paused. Incidentally, there ARE either Pro Action Replay or GameShark codes for this game. However, I DO NOT HAVE THESE CODES SO DO NOT ASK ME FOR THEM. Besides, don't cheat! Play the game the way it's supposed to be played. :( 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Fill Up the OZ Gauge 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 *** Cheat is only applicable to stages 13 and beyond in Story Mode. Once *** *** you have completed stage 12 and activated the ability to use the OZ *** *** gauge, you can also use the cheat in stages 1 - 12 in EX Mode. *** Be in full Rex armor in boss battles! This cheat is great if you're having a tough time collecting blue eteria. It can only be used ONCE per stage. Well, it's not like you'll need it to be full several times in a stage. :P The code is up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, L1, R1. Note: Under Story Mode, although you can collect blue eteria and get Over Zenith during the Mobilize! OZ Ranger! stage, you can't use this cheat. ^^; 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Drain the OZ Gauge 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 For whatever reason, you can bring the gauge back down to 0. And you can do it as many times as you want in a stage. To get rid of the shiny blue look of the OZ gauge, pause the game and press up, up, down, down. left, right, left, right, R1, L1. 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Dorothy's Toto Costume 0----------------------------------------------------------------------------0 After choosing Dorothy's Big Adventure from the main menu, you'll be at the screen where you can select to start a new game (or continue to the whatever the next stage is if you already have a game in progress). Now let's do the Konami code!!! Hit up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, L1, and R1, and then choose to start a new game. Dorothy will be dressed in a Toto costume in place of her everyday dress. ^^; I'm not sure if this works with a game already in progress or if it has to be done from a new game. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 12) CHARACTER RANKINGS %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% This isn't any special game bonus or results from a character popularity poll. It's just me listing my favourite characters to use and why. Maxed stats are listed, BTW, and physical strength = amount of life. 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 | ~~ FEEL ~~ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Physical Strength: 8 | Attack Strength: 8 | Item Slots: 3 | 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Feel beat out Juju since I realized that I couldn't chain easily with her. ^^ There isn't really much to say about him other than the fact that he shares the most health with Galumn and shares the same amount of strength as Leon and that his deathblow, although it travels in a straight line, is great for clearing out enemies directly around him. I can start chains all right with him but trying to connect an incoming mon- ster is not something I can usually do well when I use him. :P I think I just suck at judging distances. Oh, his natural ability to heal fallen teammates is useful. 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 | ~~ JUJU ~~ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Physical Strength: 4 | Attack Strength: 6 | Item Slots: 4 | 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 My lord, the girl is so cool to use! With her, it's very easy to destroy everything quickly. @_@;;; Juju also has great attack range, her defense covers 360 degrees, and her deathblow is extremely useful in taking out multi- ple targets around her as it *locks on* to enemies. I suppose if you want to wipeout enemies quickly with level 1 deathblows, she's the one to use. :3 Also, I believe she's the second highest jumper after Almira. She's fairly all right to use to start and connect chains with. One advantage is that she doesn't need to leap into the air to hit aerial enemies. Her downfall is her health which is the lowest out of all characters. However, her attack strength is one higher than Almira's maxed strength. @_@;; Also, Juju is also susceptible to melee attacks in that when her Rex wings are already off and attacking, an enemy in front of her can walk right up to her and beat her. :( Similarily, it's difficult to attack enemies extremely close and in front of her. Juju and Almira share the most slots for items. 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 | ~~ ALMIRA ~~ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Physical Strength: 5 | Attack Strength: 5 | Item Slots: 4 | 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 This cool-headed character is an aerial queen; she can remain in the air to constantly do jump-kick attacks at enemies and she's the one with the highest jumping ability. For me, she's fairly easy to start and connect chains with, especially when hitting enemies upward instead of batting them forward, or simply attacking them from the air with a swift kick. It's a lot of fun to constantly jump-kick enemies and usually, it'll get to the point that they'll start seeing stars and, as a result, a chain will start. XD Her deathblow is good for covering the area around her but it's not focused like Juju's. And I just noticed she's the weakest character. o_O;; 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 | ~~ LEON ~~ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Physical Strength: 6 | Attack Strength: 8 | Item Slots: 2 | 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 You know, I think his attack range is about the same as Feel's. o_O Considering his one beefy arm is long and stuff, I don't think that's surprising. :P I don't have much to say about him other than the fact that his deathblow is great as long as you're locked on to the right enemy or facing the right away before using it. :P Oh, and the amount of slots he has sort of sucks. 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 | ~~ DOROTHY ~~ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Physical Strength: ? | Attack Strength: ? | Item Slots: ? | 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 The first time I used her was a terrible experience. I could not use her properly for the life of me. Her range is very short. >_> I never used him so I just dumped him in the last slot. Ergh, what's with Galumn's ONE slot? >_> ============================================================================== 13) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ============================================================================== * All the folks at the GameFAQs boards for their translations, namely Bebpro2 & peksi. * Pipps For getting me the damn Fragment of Wisdom in stage 7. :P * OZ: The Complete Guide Published by Dengeki MediaWorks ISBN: 4-8402-3157-5 http://www.mediaworks.co.jp/index.php * OZ - オズ - Kouryaku Jouhou (ＯＺ-オズ攻略情報) http://www.geocities.co.jp/Bookend/2172/oz/index.html * ＯＺ─オズ─ http://hp.kutikomi.net/panitales/?n=page6 * OZ-オズ-　Kouryaku Matome+Log Souko@2ch (攻略まとめ＋ログ倉庫＠2ch) http://oz2ch.michikusa.jp/index.html * ANGEL ASH http://homepage1.nifty.com/angel-ash/ (For its manuscript of the dialogue scenes) * BLOOD JUNKER http://dolch.hp.infoseek.co.jp/ (Also for its manuscript of the dialogue scenes) * The Sword of Etheria You know, the actual EU localized game? :P ============================================================================== 14) ABOUT THE AUTHOR ============================================================================== Eh, not much to talk about other than the fact that I like writing general or topic-specific guides over walkthroughs since I tend to be rather long- winded and throw in a crap load of dry and stupid jokes into them. For some of my "officially released" and non-released walkthroughs and guides, check http://kou-net.org/archive.htm Off the top of my head, I only have 2 walkthroughs and 2 guides so far at GameFAQs. One will never find them under my current handle (nuunuu/nunuu) though cuz things were fucked up once GameFAQs became a part of CNET. I'm also mostly an RPG, adventure, and action gamer. Don't care for many other genres except music/Bemani stuff like Dance Dance Revolution. I also did a bit of Para Para Paradise, Beatmania, DrumMania, and GuitarFreaks. Never tried KeyboardMania though I always wanted to. :( The irony of that is even with my piano background, I'd probably suck at it. XD Many many quarters and dollar coins went into these games at the arcades (mostly to every damn DDR mix they had). In terms of OZ, I first became interested in it when I came across it while looking at Suikoden stuff at the official Japanese Konami site. After that, I downloaded the Tokyo Game Show trailer and some other videos and after getting impressions from those, I decided that this game was something I should look into. I'm really glad I did because I enjoyed it immensely. I replayed it 7 times so far (including restarts with clear game data) which I did solely to get all endings and unlock everything. :P For evidence of my OZ obsession, see the screenshots gallery!!: http://www.kou-net.org/archive/gallery/ozzz/ Anyway, here's some more OZ-related stuff for the heck of things: Fave tunes: ----------- * Over Zenith (Title Screen/OZ boss battle BGM) * Magnificent Battle (Stage 6 and 8 BGM) * Descent of the Fire God (Stage 8 Boss BGM) * Overcoming Sadness ~Beginning the Journey~ (Stage 9 BGM) * Wind God Descent (Stage 18 Boss BGM) * Longing for Sentimentality and Hope (Normal and True Ending BGM) * Destruction God Squad OZ Ranger (OZ Ranger side chapter BGM) * Crossing Over the Grief (I only remember it well from the Normal Ending. I think it's in the True Ending as well.) Fave items: ----------- * Shining Material * anything that raises the tension gauge * Talisman of Regeneration or Talisman of Revival Fave costumes/apparel: ---------------------- * Chicken's Cockscomb * Hero's Clothes * Afro Wig * Bartender's Outfit Fave stages to play under Hard mode: ------------------------------------ * 3, 4, and 18 One of the most evil Hard mode stages: -------------------------------------- * 9. So hard to build up chains in this one. :( Fave party: ----------- * Juju, Feel, and Leon/Almira Fave chara design: ------------------ * Almira Fave ending: ------------ * Happy ending, I guess. But I wasn't exactly satisfied with any of them. Tear-jerker ending: ------------------- * Normal ending. Hardest boss battle: -------------------- * Atheus Worst boss battle: ------------------ * Dorothy Highest chain: -------------- * 23, I think? I know I never went near 30. ^^; Most yellow eteria collected: ----------------------------- * I think it was around 35,000 before the boss battle. (Hard mode stage. :P)