WALKTHROUGH FOR "CRIMSON SEA" ONLY FOR THE XBOX Version 1.40 By Lord deArnise Chad Simplicio PrinceoftheWinds@aol.com -= VERSION NOTES =- Version 1.40 - April 26, 2003, late evening PST Added in the Default Field Controls. Thought it may aid you readers further. Also did some formatting corrections and provided more accurate info. Version 1.10 - January 16, 2003 Some changes in the order of quests so that they are now numbered as given in the game. Also, some new information regarding modes other than Standard. Version 1.00 - January 15, 2003, early evening PST Finally went through the entire game, and thus, this walkthrough is complete. Man, my arms are like jelly, but all in good time. :-) -= WRITER'S NOTE =- Please note that I am not affiliated with Koei, Microsoft, nor anyone else. The only website who can make this walkthrough available for public use is, of course, GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com). -= TABLE OF CONTENTS =- 1. Introduction 2. The Characters 3. Default Field Controls 4. Tips for preserving and glorifying IAG Agents 5. The Walkthrough 6. Changes from other modes 7. A Word of Thanks -= 1. INTRODUCTION =- To this day, "Crimson Sea" is one of the more unique games available exclusively for Xbox. It combines great game play with anime-style futuristic graphics and a great storyline. In "Crimson Sea," you control Sho, a Vipa trying to earn a living as a private detective. Accompanied by his sidekick, Yangqin, the two get a task from a mysterious and exotic woman who hires them to retrieve an item in the underground tunnels of Grarve in the wake of an incident that has been decimating Theophilus. This is where the story really picks up. This walkthrough goes through all of the 24 quests in the game. The entire waltkthrough is based on a combination of my playing style and playing the game in Standard Mode. It also gives you some tips on party formations and the special objective that will help you reap the rewards. Later on, I'll have an in-depth FAQ on the various items available for use by Sho. -= 2. THE CHARACTERS =- *** SHO *** This is your main character and the one you control. At first, he'll be armed with a standard Viper handgun, but as you progress through the game, you'll be able to upgrade his weaponry and later, his Neo-Psionics. ******* YANGQIN ******* Virtually Sho's sidekick, this young boy is intelligent and skilled. Armed with two small Vipers, Yangqin will almost always support Sho in his quests. Party formation: Yangqin is best by Sho's side or in front or behind him. ***** SHAMI ***** A member of IAG's A-squad, Shami becomes an important asset in some of Sho's early quests. She is armed with a Scorpion and some Neo-Psionics. Party formation: Shami is best at providing flanking support. ******** BOW RAHN ******** Quiet, kind, and peaceful, this member of IAG's G-squad never seems to have a shining moment, but he is strong and hardy. He is armed with a Volcano. Party formation: Bow Rahn has the most HPs other than Sho. Best used to watch the backs and flanks of those up front. ***** KECAK ***** Another member of G-squad, Kecak has been like a big sister to Bow Rahn. She is armed with a Vulcan. Party formation: Kecak is also good for providing flanking support and for watching others' backs. **** DIEZ **** She makes an appearance during Sho's archeomusiology quests, then joins you starting at Quest #11. She is armed with a Wyvern. Party formation: Like Shami, Diez can provide frontal or flanking support for Sho up front and to the side. She could also act as a "tank" for Sho while Sho can use Cure skills to help preserve her. -= 3. DEFAULT FIELD CONTROLS =- Left analog - Movement & Sighting Right analog - Move camera to the side you indicate based on inverted flight control. To me, it is not very useful except in the quest where you're chasing Tabla Sicu or fighting aerial bosses. Back button - Comp Screen to tinker with your weapon, use items, & modify team member formation A - Jump B - Dash while moving, do a 180 when standing still, or skip movies or cut-scenes X - Fire gun, investigate an object, or talk to people. You'll get a prompt when you're close to certain objects or people. Y - Blade slash White Button - Use active Neo-Psionic. You can change your active NP in the Comp Screen, but it cannot be done during a NP move. Left trigger - Shuffle movement. In other words, Strafe. Right trigger - Hold this trigger to lock on target. Sho will lock on target the enemy and can move while firing. Left + Right triggers - Manual aim. A laser sight will be your targeting reticule. However, Sho cannot move. Start - What else, Pause and bring up the Game Menu. ** Neither the Black Button nor the Directional Pad is used in this game. -= 4. TIPS FOR PRESERVING AND GLORIFYING IAG AGENTS =- Try to keep them alive. Some quests have a special task where keeping all of them alive helps reap bigger rewards. Other quests make some characters important to preserve. When possible, keep a set of medkits with you to heal Sho or any dying party members. As the manual states, party members have certain places where they work best. Gold stars when customizing individual positions of party members show this. Use your blade. There are some missions where using blade attacks will be quite useful. Use blade attacks to clear out swarms and help preserve your party members. Concentrate on a few weapons and NPs. The more you use a particular weapon or NPs, the more exp you will gain for that weapon and the more skilled you will be at using it. For NPs, the more you use them, the less BP you will use over time. Use an NP very often, and it will level up, up to level 3. Max your rewards. Be swift, decisive, and explore thoroughly. Preserve Sho by not getting hit, don't let any party member die. Strive to chain as many hits as you can, and kill as many mutons as you can. Finally, try to fully fulfill any special objectives. Don't hesitate to retry a quest if your rewards are quite low for your tastes. If you feel can "S" a quest, then go for it. The special rewards are great. -= 5. AND NOW, THE WALKTHROUGH =- ** This walkthrough is for Standard Mode and Standard Ex Mode. ** QUEST 1: BELOW ALLARGANDO, GRARVE Quest: Retrieve the Item Special: Time spent fighting the boss. Max your rewards by going through the tutorial (in Standard Mode only). When you really do the quest, follow the path of the tunnels, taking down any monsters and using your Blade attacks to break items and find some extra credits. In one of the vending machines, there's a Small Medkit. Eventually, you'll come to large room with a single item. As small as it may look, that is the treasure Sho was looking for. Afterwards, you will have to fight a slimy boss. Lock on and fire at it and shuffle about to avoid its attacks. After it takes some damage, it will begin to dissolve and reappear at any of the pods of slime throughout the room. Shuffle and lock on when it appears, and finish it off. QUEST 2: ALLARGANDO CITY, GRARVE Quest: Rendezvous with IAG agents and destroy the Mutons Special: Number of team remembers remaining. Good party formation: Yangqin on Sho's side, aiming up, then to the side. Kecak on Sho's other side, facing the other direction. Bow Rahn behind Sho, facing down. The path is fairly straightforward. Benches, boxes, and small plant containers are breakable for credits. Here, you will be faced with a series of Muton roaches and Aquamoebas. Your blade is useful for taking them out up close. In one of the buildings, you will meet up with Kecak. From there, clear out all Mutons in the way. The forcefield near another stairwell will turn blue when you have destroyed all Mutons in that area. If so, proceed through the gate and down the stairs, taking out all Mutons on the way to the next building, where you will meet up with Bow Rahn. Exit the building; take out all Mutons on the walkway. Live-D will tell you to move to the upper level when all Mutons have been destroyed. Take the elevator to the upper level where the boss is. This can be fairly tough, since the boss will spit out small Aquamoebas as well as devour Sho and Yangqin. Dash away when it gets too close, and use your blade to take down any small Mutons and do some damage to the boss. Don't hesitate to use your small medkits, for you'll want to preserve Sho and Yangqin. When you find the Quickpod generator, strap it onto Sho's Viper. It is a very useful item, especially if you're doing a lot of jump attacks. QUEST 3: LIBITUM PLANT Quest: Destroy all Mutons invading the energy plant. Special: Number of team members remaining Good party formation: Same as the last mission, with Yangqin aiming at the side to protect Sho's flank. This can be a tough one if you haven't utilized your Blade attacks and your strafing, for there'll be virtually hundreds of awl ants to smite, along with a handful of mechanical floating gunpods that will shoot lightning bolts. Kill every single Muton to finish the mission. Here, you will find a Vulcan I barrel. Strap it on ASAP so your Blade attacks can take out many Mutons all around Sho and the gun itself is rapid-fire. When you return to IAG headquarters, you can use your credits to upgrade your weapons, do some training, any buy items. You'll also get your first NP skill. ** These next four quests can be done in any order. They are listed by quest number. From here on out, the Mutons will drop BP pods when they are slain. ** QUEST 4: SPACEPORT OF TEN, GEN Quest: Protect Yangqin while he works on fixing the shuttle. Special: Amount of damage to the shuttle. The less damage, the better. Good party formation: Shami protecting Sho's flank from behind. You'll need to keep an eye on Yangqin as he works on different panels of the shuttle to get it back in working order. Stick with him and kill off any attacking Mutons. When the skies darken, the spinning mechanical boss will do either attack by itself or unleash its stinging missiles. When it does the latter, wait for all of the missiles to converge, then unleash your Blastsphere (using your credits to upgrade to Blastsphere II or DeAtomizer I or II from Ex Mode is useful). When the Q meter is full, the quest is complete. If possible, destroy the explosive crates. They contain some valuable credits. Keep the Mutons and Missiles away from the shuttle to max your rewards. QUEST 5: DOLENTE MINE, SEMPLICE Quest: Gather the scattered pieces of waveform within a specified time Special: Number of waveforms collected. The more you collect, the better. Good party formation: Again Sho is by himself while his squad members cover the entrance to the mine. As the opening cut-scenes showed, the Mutons broke the waveform into pieces. Both Yangqin and Shami tell Sho that the waveform pieces must be retrieved before the Mutons absorb them. This is the reason your quest is as given. Collect at least 20 of the 26 waveform pieces before time runs out. Use your radar to guide your path. You'll face the usual Muton roaches here, but also some mechanical guardians that will shoot lasers. Start on the right tunnel (both the middle and right tunnel leads to the same area), exploring all areas and taking down any waveform-carrying Mutons along the way. There are three stones along the way, both unlocking specific doors that have a glow that corresponds to the stone needed. The blue stone, found in the area unlocked by the yellow stone, unlocks the door leading into the left tunnel. Once you have at least 20 waveforms, you can clean house and challenge the mechanical guardians. When time runs out with all objectives met, the quest is completed. There are a few gaps you can jump over. One gap is necessary to help fulfill the objectives. The rest lead into area with medkits and other items. One of them is an Omegabooster Generator, found next to a guardian in the left tunnels. Behind your starting point is a chamber inhabited by natives. It contains a medium BP capsule. QUEST 6: AGITATO MILITARY PLANT Quest: Retrieve the waveform pieces from the factory. Be careful of the factory equipment. Special: Number of waveforms collected. The more you collect, the better. Good party formation: Sho is by himself for this mission. You'll need to collect at least 160 of the 200 pieces to complete this quest. The tough part of this is that you'll be on conveyor belts, and you'll have to fight off the Mutons while collecting them. The best way to do this is to shuffle. When you make transitions from one belt to another, stop shuffling so you can turn to the direction of the next belt and then shuffle and collect the pieces. Some pieces are up in the air, so you'll have to jump and evade some obstacles. At the end, you'll face another boss. This one emits electrical bursts and has some tentacles. Lock on and strafe with your favorite weapons other than Wyvern (the boss will just absorb the electrical Wyvern attack and get healed), and you should get through it with minimal damage. QUEST 7: UNA CONTROLLED AREA, GRARVE Quest: Guide the President safely to the exit. Don't get him killed or leave him behind. Special: President's HP; the more he has left, the higher the grade & reward, so do your best not to let the Mutons hit him or hit him yourself. Good party formation: Yangqin behind Sho, facing to one side. Shami protecting the other side behind Sho and next to Yangqin. This can be fairly tough if you don't devise a good tactic to protect the president. When the president move by himself, keep Sho in front of him so you can protect him some and slow him down if any Muton are ahead. When he cowers near a set of traps or surrounded by Mutons, you need to give him a push by moving behind him and move Sho against the cowering president. When you get to the moving platforms, you can direct the president anywhere. Make sure you kill all ambushing Mutons. When you move up a set of spiral ramps, watch for flying roaches. Once you move to the door from the spiral ramps, the main quest is complete and Shami harvests the Grarve Waveform. Barrels contain credits, with some medkits along the way. ** After these four quests are completed, something new will happen. Also, new weapons and training becomes available back at IAG. ** ** Now these next three quests become available, and can be done in any order. Sho will be on his own for these missions. ** QUEST 8: MAGDALENA BRIDGE, GRARVE Quest: Find archeomusiologist Ud. Special: Distance the Kwake Tyrant advanced. The less it travels, the better. You will face more advanced Mutons as you cross the bridge. Most of them spin as they charge, while others will spit fire. Along the way, you'll find a M Medkit. Grab it if you need it. The boss is fairly tough. While you do need to get close enough to attack it, and to max special objective, stay close to it, you must also be wary of its front tentacles. Jump away when the tentacles move to attack, and then charge in when it breathes its fire at you. QUEST 9: KYOKU, ETHEREAL CITY; GEN Quest: Find archeomusiologist Gameran before Shahanai. Special: Number of waveforms collected. By now, you should have a new NP, Protection I. This is an odd mission since Shahanai and his group will try to interfere with your progress by pursuing and attacking Gameran. They'll even try to delay you. Keep moving, taking out any Mutons you can and stunning Shahanai's goons by shooting them. You can take their dropped credits. Try to keep a good distance from Shahanai because once he spots him, he will dash towards him. Get to Gameran first and collect a waveform piece. In the end, you will have to fight off a swarm of flying insects. Take them all out any way you wish to complete the quest. On the way, you'll find some medkits and credits off exploding boxes. Things get more intriguing afterwards back at IAG. QUEST 10: CENTRAL SUNJACK, SEMPLICE Quest: Destroy all hidden enemies before time runs out. Special: Number of times you shoot and startle the people of Sunjack. The less you do this, the better. You'll have a new NP after you complete your second archeomusiological quest, Sonic Aura. This will be quite useful for finding the hidden enemies because they become visible when hit. You'll have 20 minutes to kill all 25 hidden enemies. Watch your radar carefully because it will help you find the hidden Muton. When you're in range of them, you'll either see them barely visible, or see their footsteps. Shoot them from afar because they will explode when they go down. Try not to engage any mechanical guardians because they will cause some confusion in the radar. Once you find all 25 within the time limit, the quest is complete. There is a new effector that will improve your weapons. From your starting point, go right, then make a left at the first intersection. It should lead to a dead-end which a mechanical guardian over there. Dash past, grab the item, then dash out and continue your hunt. ** When all three is done, the story brings a new twist along with a new NP, Cure I, and leads into the next quest. ** QUEST 11: DESIREE VALLEY, AGITATO Quest: Find archeomusiologist Djembe Special: Number of team members remaining. Good party formation: Your entire G-squad plus Diez is available. You can do it any way you want as long as each member is on a gold star position. Have Yangqin and Kecak guard your flanks and Bow Rahn behind you, protecting your rear. Diez and Shami can be anywhere up front, either providing frontal or flanking support for Sho. Another good party formation: You can try spreading them out so that Sho can evade any long-range Muton attacks. Diez and Kecak can provide frontal support, Yangqin and Shami can provide flanking support, and Bow Rahn can watch Sho's rear. Put your party members on the edges of the formation grid, at one of their best position. Your new Cure NP will work nicely here since your entire squad will help you. Here, you will have to navigate through a series of gorges, fighting off swarms of desert-hardened Awl Ants and a new breed of Mutons that can burrow, have sharp claws, and can spit fire. At the end, you will encounter a flying boss. It will lay Awl Ant eggs and breathe fire. Free aiming will work well here since you will have to shoot the flying boss. Use any means to keep the Awl Ants off of you so you can free aim and take down the boss. Finish it off to complete the quest. Use your NPs liberally. With all the Awl Ants crawling about, you shouldn't run too low on BPs. Also, see how many hits you can chain. At the first retry, I got 265 ants in a combo. * wink, wink * The story becomes more intriguing once the squad talks to Djembe. QUEST 12: COMMODO RUINS, SEMPLICE Quest: Destroy the Mutons designed as humans before time runs out. Special: Number of times you've mistakenly shot the people of Commodo. The less people are mistakenly shot, the better your reward. Good party formation: Shami behind you, to the side. You're given a new NP, Death Ray. This will be quite useful for finding the disguised Mutons. This is similar to the previous Semplice mission since you'll be using your radar to find the 10 disguised Mutons before the 15 minute clock runs out. When you do find the disguised Muton, they will mutate when attacked. Be careful when finding them in a group of Commodo residents. If you shoot the wrong one, their angered spirit will attack, and they do hit hard. When all 10 disguised Mutons are slain, you will face a flytrap-like boss. It has a large arm that can grab you or Shami, and a series of burst attacks that will spread throughout the boss area. Press the attack, and you should get through with minimal damage. "S" tip: When you're close to a potential muton in disguise, but is in a group of natives, push the suspected native around, and in an open space. If your sensor shows the muton is very close, then fire away. QUEST 13: CALANDO TUNNEL, MENO MOSO Quest: Go to the Native section. Special: Number of team members remaining. Good party formation: You could do this in a variety of ways as long as Yangqin, Shami, and Diez are in their gold star positions. One good formation is to have Yangqin on one side, protecting one flank, Diez on another side up front, protecting the other flank, and Shami protecting Sho's rear from behind. You'll have to be real careful here. While you do have to destroy all Mutons along the way, you also have to be careful not to breach the transparent tunnel wall. If you wish to play it safe, use blade attacks to destroy the Mutons. If you must use a gun, use a Viper or fire your Vulcan or Wyvern in short bursts. You will encounter a new breed of Mutons that can glide through the walls. Wait until they do so, and then attack them. You'll also face a fast and swarming variation of Ant Awls, a good opportunity to use blade attacks. As you proceed down the tunnels, you will also face more advanced variations of Mutons, as well as ranged Mutons. Attack carefully, but also decisively. At the end of the tunnel, you will find a hole leading down. Jump into it and into the boss area. The boss is liquid, so it will change shapes as it varies its attacks. Since the walls are solid, you can use your favorite boss weapon. When it's in waveform, it will try a dash attack. Dash to the other side when it does, and anywhere to the boss' 5:00, 6:00, or 7:00 when it sprouts tentacles in an effort to grab you and drain you of life. When it becomes more like a monster, keep your distance and lock onto it. In addition, it will spit out aquamoebas, so take them out too. You can use Cure NPs to preserve your party members, but try to keep your BPs full for the boss fight. Use your BP capsules if you need to prior to the boss fight because the boss' attacks are quite heavy. QUEST 14: PIU LENTO 1, MENO MOSO Quest: Destroy the Mutons in the Native section. Special: Number of team members remaining. Good party formation: Similar to the previous mission. One of the Natives informs you of a music manipulator in the area. Care to take a guess who that is? Anyway, stop by the vendor robot to the left of your starting point and get any provisions and new weaponry and upgrades, if needed. From there, proceed straight ahead. Ranged Mutons are all over the sector, including a few liquid Mutons that can charge attack, and shoot a spread. Hit it to oblivion. Some objects are breakable for extra credits. Once all Mutons are destroyed, as shown by the Enemy gauge, the quest is completed. Liquid Mutons will drop medkits. If you need them, grab them. QUEST 15: PIU LENTO 2, MENO MOSO Quest: Destroy the Mutons and save the Natives Special: Number of civilians saved Good party formation: Similar to the previous missions. There are 30 civilians you should strive to save, all while destroying the Mutons as quickly as you can. They are in groups of 5, each being attacked by ranged Mutons and an advanced liquid Muton. Destroy all Mutons in the area to save the civilians. This will lead to the boss fight in the middle of the sector. There are three bosses you must destroy, and advanced fighters are supporting them. A good tactic is to kill off all the advanced fighters, then take down the bosses. When one of the bosses has taken enough damage, it dies off. Take down all three to complete the quest. QUEST 16: WALRUS OBSERVATORY, PIU LENTO, MENO MOSO Quest: Trail Tabla Sicu to his goal. Special: Amount of money collected. Good party formation: Sho is by himself while Yangqin and Shami watch the entrance. Follow the archeomusiologist, but don't let him see you. Be wary of the items he will drop on the way, for they'll either be bombs, or money. Grab as much money as you can, and either evade or jump over the bombs. If you get too close to him, he will stun you. However, you do need to stay close, because when the alarm goes off and Sho says "I must hurry, or I'll lose him", you must get close to Tabla Sicu. Dash along the archeomusiologist's path. He will move towards a door. Don't worry about the mutons that appear at this time, keep trailing the professor. If you're close enough when Tablu Sicu reaches a door, you should see a cut-scene, and the quest will be completed. The plot becomes more interesting after the rewards screen. QUEST 17: THE GEN SHUTTLE PRESTO Quest: Destroy all Mutons in the shuttle. Special: Shuttle's HP when all Mutons are destroyed. Good party formation: Sho will be by himself, although his fellow party members except Yangqin will also aid you. This is a quest that requires swift, decisive attacks because the Mutons will try to damage the shuttle beyond repair or operation. You must destroy all 35 Mutons. These aren't ordinary or advanced Mutons you will find. These are Muton specters that will attack, so you must use your radar well. The enemies emit a purple haze, which should help you. The Presto has three levels, each of which your party members will aid in taking down the Mutons. If you find one level clear at the moment, move to the next level. You may need to do some backtracking if you find no more Muton Specters on the bottom level. After all, these specters can move through solid walls. Behind you is a vendor bot. I recommend getting the Vulcan III barrel. In Ex mode, if you have the DeAtomizer II NP, you might get lucky and wipe out most, if not all, of the invading Muton Specters with a single blast. This tactic is great for getting the "S" grade. QUEST 18: EXPLOSION AT CALCANDO, AGITATO Quest: Protect the large weapon from the Mutons Special: Remainder of the 4 weapons' HP Good party formation: All party members are available. Spread them out, covering all four corners. A good formation is to have Yangqin on one side, covering one flank, Kecak covering the other side behind Sho. Diez and Shami can help Sho with a frontal defense, spread out. As usual, Bow Rahn can watch everyone else's back. A fairly tough quest. The Mutons will attack ferociously to destroy the four weapons. All weapons will sink when damaged until destroyed. If all four are destroyed, both G-squad and all of Agitato will be destroyed. Stay in the middle and make the mechanical gunpods Priority One. Other Mutons will try to attack, so clear them out if needed after you have taken out all spawning gunpods. When you have taken out enough gunpods and Mutons, the boss will appear. This one will spin about, shooting out lasers. Stay away from the middle when it does this, and shoot at it and take out any flanking Mutons. Sometimes, it will move away from the weapons area and spit out small homing missiles that will surround one of the weapons. Take out as much of it as you can. If the boss has low HPs left, you can ignore the missiles and try to finish it off. You can use Blastsphere or DeAtomizer to augment your attacks, or Cure to preserve your party members and yourself. The choice is yours, but make sure they're trained to level 2 or 3. QUEST 19: THE BARBARA EXPRESS, SEMPLICE Quest: Stop the runaway train before time runs out. Special: Time spent fighting the boss. Good party formation: Sho will be by himself. Swift and decisive tactics will stop the runaway train from crashing into the Dolente Mine. You'll have to move to the forward engine and activate the emergency brakes before your time limit of 15 minutes runs out. You don't have to kill every Muton and guardian. Just kill enough of them to clear a path to the next car. When you get to a small room with a medkit inside, the next door leads into the boss area. This boss is a mechanical one, which can shoot lasers. A good method is to shoot at it for a few seconds, then jump over one of the barriers and repeat the process. This will keep the boss thinking and minimize damage inflicted on you. Kill it quickly because you still have to move to the forward train and pull down the emergency brakes in order to complete the quest. Cure or BlastSphere/DeAtomizer work best for this quest. After the rewards screen, an interesting cut-scene comes. I'll leave that for you to find out. QUEST 20: LEIKA GARDENS, GEN Quest: Defeat Ekdahl. Special: None Good party formation: This is a one-on-one battle between Sho and Ekdahl. This is it. The showdown between the two surviving Vipas, Sho, and Ekdahl. Ekdahl will do a few forms of attack in the first part: A normal energy attack, where he will shoot a volley of energy bolts while levitating. A dash attack with his blades. A jump attack with his blades. Split into four and attack with a volley of energy bolts. The trick here is to use your dash to evade his attacks, and hit him hard and fast. When he splits into four, dash about and shoot the images until you hear him grunt. Try to keep an eye on him to anticipate his attack and evade and attack accordingly. When he has half of his HPs left, a cut-scene will occur, and the battle continues outside. This time, Ekdahl will try to stun you and amplify his attacks with his blades. Keep him in your sights and attack him. When he his HPs are very low, the quest is done. Use your items liberally, but try not to use your Medixirs. Make sure you have at least 3, and an inventory full of Medikits and BP capsules. Also, use your Cure NPs, and make sure it's at level 3. QUEST 21: THE CRIMSON PLAINS OF THE CRIMSON PLANET Quest: Go to the lab Special: Number of team members remaining Good party formation: Yangqin, Shami, and Diez will come along with you. As usual, put Yangqin and Diez on flanking positions, and Shami behind you, covering your rear. This will be your toughest fight to date. Although all surviving IAG members including Live-D and Shahanai will aid in the attack, there will be a major swarm of advanced Mutons. The first battle puts you against Bull Mutons. Try to preserve your items and BPs, and use blade attacks if you're surrounded by the Mutons. In fact, Blade attacks are great for stopping a Bull Muton's wicked charge. The second battle puts you against even more Bull Mutons, plus some Greater Bull Mutons. Once you kill enough of them, Sho will say "Looks like the barrier is gone!" Gather your remaining party members and move past the area where the barrier was. The third battle puts you against Ant Awls, Ranged Mutons, and some of the bosses you fought in earlier quests. As usual, kill enough of them to take out the barrier and move on as quickly as you can. Pick up any BP pods and items along the way. The fourth battle puts you against another boss. And from its attacks, it is no other than the flying boss from the Djembe quest. Again, kill off any Awl Ants that hatches from the eggs and kill the boss as quickly as you can. Past the door, you will face the plant boss from Semplice. Impose similar tactics on the boss. When it's gone, move past the barrier. Run to the lab to complete the quest. QUEST 22: THE VIPA RESEARCH CENTER IN THE CRIMSON PLANET Quest: Head for the lowest level of the lab. Special: Number of team members remaining. Good party formation: Similar to the last mission, except you'll want your party members up close for these tight quarters. This is a very interesting quest. The lab is full of Chrysthillium gas, so any weapon being fired in that area will ignite the gas and cause a spectacular explosion, vaporizing you and your party members. We don't want that, right? Start by following the hallway. As you approach one of the doors, a cut-scene will occur. It seems our good boy, Yangqin, has found the archives room. So you, Shami, and Diez must press on without him. The lounge across from the archives room has some breakable items containing money. Press onward. Be careful of the next room, for while it has a L Medkit, it is also spewing gas. Get out of there ASAP, and take out the Mutons that spawn. The path to the left leads to the power room. Investigate the IAG symbol to trigger the power switch and fully activate any working computers. Return to the archives room to see another cut-scene and retrieve Yangqin and the musical waveform to unlock a door. You'll come to a T-intersection. The second room to the left contains another Medkit. If you need it, grab it. Don't go into the first room on the left side or the first two rooms on the right, because those rooms are spewing gas. The last room to the right contains more breakable objects, and a vendor robot. Buy any provisions or items, if needed. When all on-the-field shopping is done, head to the door on the left of the intersection and take the elevator down. At the next level, head into the large room. A cut-scene will occur. Listen carefully, for you'll get your main goal for this room, which is to destroy the large containers that are generating the Mutons. Do it as quickly as you can while taking out any Mutons that spawn, and preserving your party. When you take out all four containers on the near side, another cut-scene will come. Somehow, you have to drop a beam down to get to the other side. Take out one of the containers on the far side, and the beam on that side will drop. Run across it, then engage the Mutons there while destroying the containers on that side. Once all containers are destroyed, head to the door straight ahead to complete the quest. In this level, the Scorpion III barrel is on the near right corner of the platform you first enter. This barrel, combined with the Tri-Amp effector and Ultimate Core generator, is great for the last two quests. QUEST 23: THE BASEMENT OF THE VIPA RESEARCH CENTER Quest: Defeat Ekdahl Special: None Good party formation: This is the final showdown between the two Vipas. ** A Universe-wide Judgement Day?! Or the Salvation of the Human Race?! ** Another showdown between Sho and Ekdahl. Watch out for Ekdahl's NPs, because he will not hesitate to use them. In addition to the attacks he used against you in Gen, he will also use a laser attack. Impose the similar tactics of evading and attacking, and use every item you have, but save your Medixirs for last. Also, use your Cure NP, because it's better to last longer than to try to hit Ekdahl that hard because he moves so much. In Standard EX mode, Ekdahl may split into 8 and float around while attacking, so be very careful. QUEST 24: CRIMSON SEA Quest: Obtain the final victory Special: None Good party formation: Just Sho and the monstrous Ekdahl. From the Crimson Sea, Ekdahl becomes the most powerful Muton you'll see. If you have used up too much of your items from the last showdown, then you're in for a tough fight. Here are a few tips. Keep the pressure. Keep attacking. When he roars and jumps, jump before he lands and shakes the earth. When he breathes fire or lobs energy bolts, dash up close. When he tries to charge or claw at you, dash away or to the side. When he tries a shockwave or beam, try to dash to the side. Do all this, and have the Medixirs you need to cast Cure and stay alive, and final victory will be yours. -= 6. CHANGES FROM OTHER MODES =- ** Standard Ex Mode ** Some bosses will be slightly tougher, and you won't be able to do the tutorials, but you will have some new items and NPs available, as well as the money you had when you completed the previous game, regardless of the mode. ** Crimson Mode ** This is just the equivalent of the Hard difficulty setting. -= 7. A WORD OF THANKS =- Thanks to everyone at GameFAQs for publishing my very first FAQs. I hope this second one is as good as my first. Second, thanks to Koei for a wonderful game. I haven't seen Japanese game development at its best since Robotech: Battlecry. Finally, thanks to the great electronics specialists at my local EB and Best Buy stores in Puente, Hills, CA, USA. I'll be back for more PC and Xbox games. A special thanks to those who suggested adding in the default field controls. I hope it is useful for those looking for a quick reference or those looking to take a crack at the game. That's all for now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. I hope you have fun playing the game as I have, and may the sea run red with Muton blood. Copyright 2003 Lord deArnise, all rights reserved. This document may not be rewritten or modified in any way without his written consent. This document is to be made available for public use only through GameFAQs.com (http://www.gamefaqs.com). Any errors or omissions should be submitted to the listed e-mail address.