Mahjong Taisen (Import) FAQ/Walkthrough

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Introduction

Welcome to another one of my FAQs. This particular FAQ covers Mahjong Taisen. Mahjong Taisen is a NES game that deals with the original version of Mahjong, a game that originated in Asia many a century ago, but with a unique RPG-style twist. Mahjong is an addictive game that is much like poker, but with tiles. It has its own intricacies and being in Japanese helps it none to the English-speaking audiences most likely reading this guide, but, once you learn, you can have an amazingly fun time with this game!

Over twenty years have passed since its release in 1992. Like many hundreds of NES games, it was uncovered. However, the NES FAQ Completion Project was started several years ago to FAQ all of the games for the NES console, and, so far, all of the North American games are covered. Now it's mostly down to Japanese games like this.

And so, that is how I came upon this game. Thanks for listening to my ramblin'; hope you enjoy!

Basics of the Game

Game Controls

Traditional Mahjong

Despite the RPG-style nature of this game, it revolves mostly around the idea of the traditional, classic mahjong. Imagine it like, say, the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG/anime/series or its respective Pokémon counterparts - RPG-style purposes met in odd ways, like card-fighting or using random monsters. Unlike those games, however, each "battle" or "fight" cannot be as individually described; hence, this section is designed to teach you how to play mahjong.

At the title screen of the game, you will notice that you have two options. I know not of what they translate to, but, in this section, they will be referred to as the RPG Mode (top option) and exhibition mode (bottom option), as the latter seems to have no effect on the other.

• At the top, you'll find your opponent's tiles, normally not revealed to you.
• In the middle-left is the dead wall. Here, a bonus tile (top stack, third from left) is found that is an indicator of the bonus, or "Dora", tile. This shown tile is one less than the actual bonus tile. For example, in the attached screenshot, the desired bonus tile is a Bamboo 6.
• At the bottom are your tiles. Like your opponent, you have 13, with the rightmost spot being reserved for the tile you draw.
• Between your tiles and the dead wall are your discarded tiles, which can number up to 20. This is used in stealing tiles, mentioned later.
• Likewise, between your opponent's tiles and the dead wall are his discarded tiles.

Additionally, in exhibition mode, there are two score counters for you and your opponent. They start at 25,000 and go up and down throughout the game, primarily at the end. Unlike in RPG mode, you are to win a series of games in exhibition mode rather than the one game. You'll lose exhibition mode by getting 0 or fewer points.

Alright so far?

When you gain control, you are allowed to discard as many tiles as desired, up to 13 or none at all. This goes into the strategies mentioned in the Strategies/Tips section further ahead. You will want to try and make the various melds with the tiles you have, so you want to plan ahead. Also note that each tile discarded will subtract 100 points from your total in exhibition mode, and you can therefore only draw, say, seven tiles at 700 ~ 799 points.

^sr8| Anyways, what are melds? Melds are kind of like poker hands - they involve the suit and numbers on the tiles to create certain special sets. There are five types used in the game, as in the below table. There are also three suits - circles, which look like dots; bamboos, which look like sticks; and characters, which use Japanese symbols for numerical purposes. You can find pictures of the real ones online somewhere (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong), or you can take a look at the screenshot to the right. Said screenshot orders them by suit and value (left side is "1", then "2", "3", etc.).

Your end goal is to get "mahjong". Mahjong can be reached by having all thirteen tiles in your hand form melds. You can use any number of Kongs, Chows, and Pungs as you want - however, you are limited to having only one pair. (The only exception is the making of seven pairs.) You don't have to use the pair (for example, you could have a Kong and three Pungs/Chows), but you may not use multiple pairs unless said pairs are actually part of the larger Pung/Kong. Luckily, your tiles are sorted in the game by suit and by number, so you can tell what's what. As for the overlapping of sets, I do not think that is allowed.

This generally goes back and forth for a bit. At the start of your turn, you will press the A Button to draw a tile. At that point, you can do one of several things:

• Say that you have mahjong by pressing the B Button - if you do it by accident, you aren't penalized in any noticeable way. You have to pay attention to your hand, though, as the game will not tell you!
  • After having drawn a tile, you must select a tile to give up with the A Button. You can also press Up on the D-Pad to sometimes call a "pre-mahjong". More on that later.

• Discard a tile you do not which to have - press the A Button while the cursor hovers over it to get rid of it.

• Steal a tile by pressing the Down (sometimes Left or Right) Button on the D-Pad - this can only be used against your opponent's most recently-discarded tile, and only if it completes a Pung, Kong, or Chow. This meld will then be set aside and you cannot modify it for the rest of the game.

Okay, I think that's about it for the basics.

Strategies/Tips

• The start can definitely be the most influential time for your game's outcome. At that point, you can often discard as many tiles as you need to! Look at your hand and see what is a meld - and therefore should NOT be discarded - and what is close to a meld. Statistically speaking, completing a Chow (three-tile straight) is more likely in most cases than Pungs or Kongs. If you have an excessive meld (i.e. a four-tile straight), you'll need to analyze other potential options for the outlying tiles of the meld (lowest/highest, or just any one in a five-plus pairing) and, if you can't find one that's very likely, drop it.

• Tiles in the suits (Bamboo, Characters, and Circles) tend to be best used for Pungs, Chows, and Kongs, whereas your others are better left for Pairs, if anything.

• Leave yourself with as many options as possible. For example, let's say you're trying to make a Chow. You have the Circles 3, 4, and 6. Instead of hoping, for some arbitrary reason, for a Circle 5 to come down and make an excessively long Chow, look at the hand. We already have 2/3 of the Chow in Circle 3 and 4, but only 1/3 in Circle 6. You may as well toss out the Circle 6 and let the other Circles get completed with Circle 2 or Circle 5, generally twice as likely to happen than just Circle 5.

• Again, leave yourself with plenty of options! This is extremely, extremely important! The AI will never just hand over a win. You need to leave a lot of flexibility in your strategies! In this way, you can open up your "pre-mahjong" call and more easily win the battles because the penalties against your opponent will be steeper.

• You may as well try forming your pairs as early as possible. Don't use suited ones for this, but try to use the "Honor" tile set, which seem to just feature the large Japanese character. This also ties in to discarding tiles that are the least likely to form melds. Sure, it may not always work, but it's better than tarrying over which tile to remove from a more-likely meld!

Walkthrough

Some Notes (READ!)

Due to the obviously random nature of the mahjong matches, there is no particular way to walk you through that; sorry. You will probably want to see the Basics of the Game section for more information on that, especially the Strategies/Tips section.

So, instead, I will try to walk you through the main game itself - where to go, etc. You will have to play the mahjong yourself, but at least you'll learn where to go.

Finally, as time goes on, the idea of "speaking" with a character will just be associated with the top-left option in the action/option menu brought about by pressing the A Button.

^s17| Now, obviously, Mahjong Taisen is an RPG. Unlike some NES games, you're not meant to beat this in one sitting. Thusly, a save system has been incorporated into the game. In certain areas of the game, you'll find an area not unlike the one pictured nearby. The scientist there is capable of saving the game for you with the middle two options of the dialogue box that usually appears when speaking to him - these correspond to the two save files you'll find on the main menu after selecting "RPG Mode." Whenever you restart a save file, you'll be back in the spaceship you used before, so be ready to teleport or grind for a long time.

RPG mode can get a bit more complicated with its mahjong matches. Rather than live along the rules outlined previously - which you'll find in your first match - you may have other matches. These matches are a series of battles based on HP. If you lose the individual mahjong game, you'll lose HP and, when you lose too much and hit zero, you return to the spaceship. Likewise, you can defeat your opponent by winning enough rounds.

Also, every mahjong game will make use of MP - imagine it like mahjong points. For every tile you draw in the initial round, you'll lose a certain amount of MP - it usually starts at one, but can presumably increase as time goes on. If you need to heal either HP or MP, or both, seek out an inn for a full healing of both, at a cost. You can also use certain items to do so, like Potions.

While in the overworld map (outside of the spaceship, castle, etc.), you can randomly encounter the serial matches mentioned previously.

These serial matches can result in the gain of gold (G) and experience points (EX or EXP). The purpose of the former should be quite obvious - for monetary exchange - but the latter is used in leveling you and your stats up. You can find the stats I've learned of insofar in the Stat Table section.

And, finally, Tenpai. In the exhibition mode, as described in the Traditional Mahjong section, you just take off more points. In RPG Mode, though, you'll receive a sort of "second chance" when you have Tenpai and there is no conclusive winner to the round. For 5 MP per tile, you can choose up to three tiles that appear at the top of the screen. If you pick one that will complete your mahjong, you'll deal some damage to your opponent. The damage amount is usually fairly minimal, but something's better than nothing.

The Action Menu

During the RPG mode of Mahjong Taisen, whenever you press the A Button in the field, you'll see a menu like the one to the right appear. I will reference this many times throughout the walkthrough, for lack of better terminology. Right now, here's what I know about what does what:

• Top-left option: Speak with people; engage voluntarily in mahjong battles.
• Middle-left option: View the current and maximum stats of your characters.
• Bottom-left option: Allows teleportation to important areas, sometimes; namely in the overworld.
• Top-right option: Use what are the special Magic Spells.
• Middle-right option: Use or trash your basic items.
• Bottom-right option: Open treasure chests; general interaction with the environment.

Crash-Landing!

You will begin by choosing the RPG mode (top option) from the title screen. From there, choose the top option to begin the game.

You'll cycle through a few scenes initially. Scroll on through the text, or read it if you can manage. As you go on through, you'll reach a name entry screen soon after you find your main character within the spaceship. At this black/white (mostly) screen, feel free to enter a distinguished name for your character. The bottom-right option will exit this menu and confirm your name. The two options to the left of the "exit" will move the cursor in the naming box below to the right and left, respectively.

Afterwards, we get some more text. Long story short, it seems something happened to your ship and you crash-landed on the planet below. Once you regain control, you may want to try to get familiar with the "action menu" brought up by the A Button. For now, the top-left and middle-left options are the only important ones. The top-left option induces speech with characters in most needed uses, and the middle-left can be used to go to your statistics page.

For now, go south and onto the "EXIT" pad to hit the outside world.

Approach the purple-armored man nearby. Face him and use the top-left action menu option to speak with him. He'll speak and ask you a question. Use either choice and he'll bring you to the castle of the kingdom. Within the castle, proceed north and up the staircase to the king's throne room. There, speak with the king and you will play mahjong. Play until you win!

The Man Downstairs...

After beating the king of the castle, listen to his speech and go back downstairs.

As you proceed south to leave the castle, please take note of the rooms to the right. Earlier, if you tried going in there, you were blocked by one of the soldiers. Now, however, you can enter. The first room has what you'd expect. You can speak with the scientist in there to save your game.

^s2|Shops, left and right respectively. The second room is seemingly more interesting. To the north are a few shopkeeps. Speak with them and you'll get a few options - to buy, sell (I assume), and leave, respectively. Nearby are the screenshots of their shops - obviously, you only start with 1,000 units of gold. Feel free to buy as you will; the shops are respectively below, and translated.

The third room is an inn. The innkeeper to the west and north of there will take eight units of your money to let you rest and, like in most RPGs, this will heal your HP and MP. What you probably did not know is that these both can be drained over the course of mahjong battles and such, based on the MP rate taken for the initial drawing of tiles. Take note of your stats, okay - the maximums can be found by going forward from the middle-left option of the action menu.

In the fourth room, you can find a man further north. Speak with him and pretty much press the A Button to everything he says for another mahjong battle. This one, however, is a serial one as mentioned in the [[Some Notes]] section.

When you win, enjoy 20 EXP. and 33 gold! This should trigger a level-up in you, primarily raising your HP and MP! ^_^

Liberate the Village!

After beating your first true mahjong battle, feel free to leave this room and return to the inn (door to the left) to heal up your probably greatly-lowered HP and MP. I don' think there's anything else to do in the castle, unless you feel like shopping. Go west and south to leave the castle.

^s4|Village shops. Back in the overworld, take note that, now that you're alone, you can be attacked by enemies at random for serial battles like the one in the previous section of the walkthrough. Anyways, to the east, you'll find a building north of the dirt path. Go there to find a village. Upon entering, go west and into the building with the sign on it to find a shop. Pictured at the right are the shopkeepers' respective stocks, with the right shopkeep being the only one featuring anything new.

That's all that I know of to be currently reachable here, so feel free to leave.

If you return to the castle and head north along the dirt path, you'll end up soon finding a house along the side of the road. It is a inn, which you can peruse for 12 gold. 'Course, that being close to the castle's 8-gold inn, it's kinda pointless, right?

Anyways, I'm not sure exactly on how to meet the next condition. I did the following first:

• Spoke with everyone in the village east of the castle.
• Spoke with everyone in the castle.
• Spoke with everyone in the inn north of the castle.
• Spoke with the soldier in the cave north of the castle.

After this, I returned to the castle and spoke with the king. I believe you'll have succeeded if you speak with him and he goes into a long babble, summons soldiers, then dismisses them. At this point, go to the village east of the castle. There, head north, west, and north. Speak with the impeding soldier and he should move aside. But, again, I did much before actually doing this, on the premise that I was stuck.

Anyways, to the west and north of the moved soldier should be one of those odd enemies you saw in the introductory sequences. Speak with the enemy and battle! After doing so, go along the path and into the second house. You'll see a woman - probably sobbing - within. Go downstairs and you'll find another enemy to beat. Continue along the main path, in fact, going into every building and checking things out for the soldiers. There's none especially hidden - they all look like black- or brown-robed women in the field.

Two houses along the way involve puzzles. There are two different puzzles, with the locations of the girls being relative to the 3x3 square in the middle.

• First House:
  • Speak with the bottom-left girl thrice.
  • Speak with the top-right girl once.
  • Speak with the bottom-right girl once.
  • Speak with the bottom-center girl once.
  • Speak with the girl who filled her spot once more.
  • Speak with the two girls to the north of the girl in the previous step once each.
  • Go along to the treasure chest; use bottom-right option in the action menu to get the Three-Color Koi-Koi item.

• Second House:
  • Speak with the bottom-right girl thrice.
  • Speak with the middle-left girl once.
  • Speak with the bottom-center girl once.
  • Speak with the center girl once.
  • Speak with the middle-right girl twice.
  • Speak with the top-center girl once.
  • Speak with the top-right girl once.
  • Go along to the treasure chest; use the bottom-right option in the action menu to find some item whose name I've yet to translate.

To the Other Side!

Well, it seems that the village has been freed of enemy forces. What next? Well, first, be sure to speak with everyone (namely the old man in the northeastern house) to be sure something isn't forgotten.

I would recommend leaving the village and returning to the castle. You can use the bottom-left menu option while on the overworld to teleport, or just walk west. There, sleep in the inn and speak with the king, and probably everyone else, just to be sure. Leave the castle and go north to find a house on the side of the path. Go within. This house is also an inn - however, it costs 50% more than the castle inn at 12 gold. Anyways, speak with the girl to the right as you enter and she'll move aside. Go into the newly-opened room and speak with the man further north.

Now, leave. Continue northward into the cavern. This area is effectively akin to the village from before, as it has those enemy soldiers here, too, in addition to the random encounters. Begin by going along the path and beating up the first soldier. Along the path to the left, you'll find one of the items from the village shop - Referral Mapumodoru. Along the other path, you'll find a chest yielding a basic Potion item. Still, something's better than nothing!

Return to the main path and continue along it; you'll soon encounter another soldier to beat. Win the battle and head south and southwest along the path to the next clearing. There, you should see two more soldiers. Beat the eastern one if you want to reach the two chests - the north one contains what I believe is a Potion; the southern chest has ... some other item.

Anyways, from the clearing, use the southwest path and defeat the soldier there. Continue along to the next soldier. This final battle of the cave floor will be a little ... different.

I must say, I hope for more of those types of battles in the future. ;) Anyways, continue on outside.

A New Ally!

On the other side of the cave, head east and north along the relatively empty path. (Yes, you'll still find random enemies.) As you head north, you'll see some metal structure. This building houses a scientist you can use to save the game. To the west of the structure (you can walk on the brown hills, you know), you'll find a generic inn. Feel free to speak with the people within, then go to the counter in the southwest corner. Speak with the girl there and you'll be able to spend 18 gold to refill your HP and MP.

^s9| There's little else to do in either location, so leave. Go along the sandy path northeast until you reach an area like the one pictured to the right. The boulder to the north is going to block your path for a bit, so just into the cave slightly further east.

Within the cavern (the one pictured on the screenshot), continue along the linear path for a bit, slaying random, undeserving beasts along the way. (What? We gotta eat.) You'll soon reach a fork in the path. To the north, you'll find a soldier. Go there first if you want, but I'd go west first - there's some item in the chest that heals 10 HP. (No, it does not translate to "Potion", but same effect.)

The soldier you fight will challenge you to the third type of mahjong battle - the completion of mahjong type that you had at the end of the previous cavern. Same principles apply, so just scroll up a little to the previous light-blue box for it. You'll get a whopping 51 EXP. and 290 gold for winning this one, plus perhaps an Escape Ring. ^_^

Continue north to the next fork, this one also being east/west. Go east if you want an item from a chest. It would be the 300-gold item from the village shop from before - one of the potential stat-boosters of evasion, strength, or defense. Along the other path, at the end, you'll see some kind of purple/pink urn thing. Speak with it, as it is actually some kind of rabbit-like robot. However the conversation goes, you'll be forced into the typical mahjong battle against it.

And, boy, the reward is so great: 867 EXP. and 1,096 gold!!! ^_^ If you're around my level (Level 12), that will nearly double your EXP., and, in my case, my gold! It's a long battle, though, but well worth it, in my opinion!

Additionally, the robo-rabbit character seems to join your party, so the battle's pretty necessary, anyways.

Anyways, go on outside when you're done.

New Castle, New Ally!

Back outside the cave, you'll probably remember that boulder to the west, I assume? If not, it's kinda blatantly visible, anyways. =P Anyways, approach it. Once next to it and facing it, open up the action menu and use the lower-left option. Now that you have the robo-rabbit in your party, after a bit of dialogue, the rock will be pushed aside. Proceed along this new path.

Further along the path, you'll find a metal house and an inn, much like you did earlier. Feel free to peruse both in a similar manner. This time, though, the inn costs 27 gold - can't be that much, considering the 1,096 you recently won! =P Return outside and continue north to find a fork in the overworld path. Go ahead and head east.

You'll find another of those metal houses not long after the fork. As before, within resides the scientist you can use to save the game. Additionally, this time, you may as well speak with him to engage in a bit of an exhibition mahjong battle - you'll only really lose MP if you lose, and that's only the ones you use for the initial draws. There's no real risk here, so try and win. Once you do, there'll be a lengthy skein of dialogue and the scientist disappears along with the purplish dude that appears behind him, possibly against his will.

^s10| Oh well. Leave. Continue along the sandy path to reach the next castle. Once you arrive, speak with the central soldier and he'll move aside. Feel free to speak with the residents of the castle that are roaming about this courtyard. To the north, there are three doors. For now, the door on the left is useless. The door on the right will lead to an area like that in the nearby screenshot. You should be familiar with the structure of these from the first castle: the scientist is in leftmost room (save and revive allies), then the shop, then some random old dude, then the inn (33 gold). Feel free to peruse the shop and inn as desired.

^s11| Speaking of the shops, a screenshot is nearby, and the lists below. Obviously, the left side has remained the same, so feel free to buy Potions and whatnot.

Finally, go into the room to the right of the shop and left of the inn. Speak with the man there and choose the top option from the dialogue box to battle him.

After the battle, accept your item and return to the courtyard. (Use the inn on the way if you're low on HP/MP; we have another battle on the horizon.) This time, go through the central door and to the east, then south. Speak with the man in blue and use the top option of the dialogue box to fight against him.

After the battle, you'll gain another whopping amount of EXP. (873) and gold (1,053). Use the top option from the dialogue box after the battle to get him to join your party! To the south and west, there should be a staircase. Use it to get to the top of the castle wall. From there, head northeast and through the western door. Go north and west from there and through another. Outside, while RPG tradition would make you think to go through the western door, that path has nothing of note on it beyond people to speak with. Go through the central door.

Then go up the next staircase. There, you'll find the king. I guess you have to speak with him (it would only make sense), so do so. Heal yourself at the inn - you can find it from the courtyard, as before - then leave.

Cave Battle!

Return back north to the fork and head further north. You will soon see what looks like a castle tower on the corner of the coastline. Ignore it for the moment; it seems to be locked, and you probably lack a key. So head east. You'll soon find an inn along the coast. Speak with the southernmost girl on the left side to pay 45 gold to stay and heal your HP/MP. That's about it for this particular building.

Continue back outside and eastward along the coast. It won't be long until you find another cavern. Whelp, why not go in? (You know, besides bats, animated skeletons, random people, and the potential of dying.)

Initially, the cave is quite linear, though filled with some bloody monsters. (I'm not joking - I saw a pink turtle-thing and a pink skeleton in my first two fights. There has to be a reason for the pink - why not blood? =P) Continue east and south to find your first soldier in a while. This battle will take place in the "complete a mahjong" format you're familiar with already.

After the battle (which you'll probably get an Escape Ring from), you'll find the door nearby unlocked, and the path now forks.

Whether or not you went along the path (I recommend doing so, if but for the grinding), at the fork in the path, head west. You'll soon turn south, and then find a staircase to descend. At the bottom, there is a treasure chest - open it to find the 250-gold item from the first village shop, one of the strength/evasion/defense-boosting Amejisus. That'll probably be it for this cavern. Return outside and to the castle. You can teleport there if you want (bottom-left action menu option, bottom choice).

Imposters!

^s13| Go south from the castle and through the forest and the hills to the south. You can actually go through, even if it seems like the reddish hills would block you (a common misconception I continually make). For example, you could go along the path in white on the nearby screenshot. Anyways, to the village... Well, not like there's anything you can do there - the man in the entrance blocks you for some arbitrary reason. Oh well. Continue along the path marked on the overworld map to find another of those yellow objects, like you found at the start of the Cave Battle! section. As before, use the lower-right action menu command to grab it.

Return to the castle. There, go to the courtyard and through the central door. Go north and into the first room to the west. Speak with a man in there to battle him; same goes for the other guy. Go east and south to find the stairwells as before. Use the southwestern one and speak with the woman on the roof for a battle. Then go through the western of the two doors nearby. Go north and west to the next area, then through the western door there. Go west, south, west, and south to the castle wall, then downstairs. Speak with the lone man here for another mahjong battle.

I'm not too sure of its neccessity, though, seeing as you don't lose HP for losing, nor he if you win. Oh, well. In the courtyard, we'll find another imposter along the west side - he looks kind of like one of the king's advisors or something.

At this point, heal up in the inn (come on, you've won enough gold to manage 33 units!), then go inside again. Go east and south. Use the west staircase to get to the castle walls, then go through the western of the two doors. Speak with the blue-haired imposter near the newly-built door to the north. (Very new, in fact. I mean, you came through here no less than two minutes ago going down!) This battle with the door guard will be the familiar "complete mahjong" format.

Continue along the path outside and speak with the guard out there ... who is another imposter! There don't seem to be any further ahead (or in the king's room, surprisingly). Return to the previous area and speak with the man in the northeast corner. He'll hand you an item, quite the important one, as you won't be allowed to not keep it in the case of if you need to discard an item.

Anyways, return back to the previous area (the one you had the fight with the guard in) and go through the left door. Go along the path to what I assume is a restaurant. There, in the northwest corner, should be some tables with people at them. Speak with them - one is an imposter you will clash with.

Now, ready for a big surprise? First go heal up in the inn again, then head to the king's room. (Remember again where you fought the guard? Center door, then upstairs.) Go speak with the king and -- poof! -- he turns into a monster and fights you! After one of the longest battles yet, you'll receive some of the best rewards, too -- 843 EXP. and 1,092 gold!! Nice!

After the battle, it seems the king is dead, or just unresponsive. Sounds like that's our cue to leave. Go ahead and do so. On the way out, in the courtyard, you'll find one more imposter through the northwestern door. Heal as you leave.

...

On second thought, we're not done yet! =P Would it ever be that easy? Anyways, after having healed up, go back to the king's room again. Speak with the magician next to the king and, lo' and behold, he, too, is a beast in disguise. Slay 'im like the knights of old slayed dragons! ... >_> You'll get quite the large reward from this fight as well: 870 EXP. and 1,028 gold!!

Okay, now we're done here. Feel free to heal up and leave.

A Dark Wind

After you shop, or whatever you want, head east some more houses. None of them have anything to note, really. The first house you reach with the sign is one you'll be prevented entrance into by a man in the lobby, so continue on to the next house with the sign. Speak with the random old man in there and select the top option during the dialogue to have a mahjong battle with him. You'll receive a nice item after the battle, quite possibly.

Back outside, go south and across the bridge, then east and into the first house. You can speak with the man at the table for a mahjong battle, but you won't lose HP.

Now, onto the real business. Feel free to heal at the inn whenever you need to during this next exercise. From the previous man's house (the no-HP-loss one), go east and into the large house. Lo' and behold, within you'll find a soldier. Speak with said soldier and beat him in battle. Afterwards, speak with the man you just saved to get an item, then leave. You will repeat this in the southwest corner of town, in the big white house.

Next, go into the house just east of the southwestern big house - in other words, the southwesternmost small house. You'll find another soldier within there to beat. Speak with the man you just saved for another item. At this point, go into the house that was blocked before by the man in its lobby - it's two buildings east of the item shop.

Speak with the man within and you'll now be allowed, having all three of the passes or whatever they are. Within, go to the northeast portion of the room. Speak with the man impeding you and he'll move aside. Go north and speak with the female. After a long skein of dialogue, you'll then engage with her ... in a mahjong battle! Enjoy reaping the rewards of slaying this Medusa or whatever it is - 1,664 EXP. and 3,200 gold!

After the battle, exit the house. Feel free to heal up again at the local inn, then proceed into the large northwestern white house. Defeat the soldier within. Then go speak with the person huddling off-screen in the back, northeast corner. She'll take the machine parts the other windmill workers gave you and fix the windmills in the town.

That seems to be it for here. Heal up in the inn and shop around if you want, then leave.

Cave Battle, Part Deux!

It's time to return to the cavern from before. Yes, you're right, you were unwillingly (?) brought into going to the cavern before needlessly. However, mahjong battles are more skill than stat, and you made it, I hope - thusly, more levels and money you were given. Anyways, for now, go to the Cave Battle! section. Follow the walkthrough through there, if you want - we won't mention anything new and will assume you plundered the damp place already.

Anyways, be sure to heal up in the inn along the way - plenty of hard, lengthy battles within.

^s19| Go along the path to the fork. There, run along the path to the west. At the bottom of the staircase, you'll see something like the attached screenshot. Yeah, this cave got full of monsters while we were gone. -_- Speak with the golem nearby, defeat it, and return to the fork. Run along the other path. (Oh, yeah, begin to ready for massive rewards from the enemies found in the field like that golem. ^_^;)

As you go along said path, you'll fight a few enemies other than the high-reward random encounters. First, near the staircase to B1F is a Medusa-esque enemy. Next, about halfway through B1F, is a green glob of goop. And, at the end of the path... Well, some weird, odd man. Battle, battle, battle, fight, etc. After that tough battle, you'll receive an item from the enemy as he dissipates.

Leave the cavern!

Tower of the Gods

I don't care if that's the wrong name; it's a cool name and a nice reference to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. =P

All that text, and no mention of where the tower is? Well, that's quite simple. After finishing the cavern for the second time, proceed westward. Rest up at the inn, if you want - however, if you need to revive a character or go shopping, just teleport to the second castle and do it there, as the inn is slightly cheaper there. The tower is west of the aforementioned inn; from the castle, go west to the shoreline and north from there.

Within, open up the door. You will do so by using the item pictured above - it can be found through the middle-right option like the other items. Now, you're inside. Go along the path to the northeast and it'll soon split into two northbound paths (though they both circle around later to point south). The left path is a dead end, so use the other path. It's linear, so just up the staircase at the end.

On the next floor, on-screen should be two chests already. The one on the right will yield the ever-useful (and expensive) Tears of Horae to revive KO'ed allies; the other one yields a Three-Color Koi-Koi. That's about it for here; go right and up the stairs. Then go on to the next floor.

There, you'll probably want to circle around to the chest nearby, maybe. Within, you'll find the Junk Hoihoi, which will automatically summon a monster to battle. Well, why not if you're looking for EXP. or something? The staircase just to the north is actually a dead-end, so you'll want to circle back to the staircase that brought you to this floor, then continue along the path to the right of there. This path, like the others, is also quite linear, so just walk along it, defeating any fool enemy that crosses your path.

On the next floor, continue along the linear, winding path. Eventually, you'll find another of the elite soldiers that you've been clashing against throughout the game. Well, this time, you'll fight your first "complete a mahjong" type of battle in a while. After the battle (which yields a reward less than some enemies around here), continue along the newly-opened pathway. Proceed to the next floor once you get there.

On the next floor, continue west along the linear path to soon come in contact with a soldier. Defeat him, then speak with the woman behind him and defeat her as well! She's actually rather weak (she went down with around 50 damage for) for what rewards she yields - 819 EXP. and 354 gold. =/ Anyways, after the skein of post-battle dialogue, an option box will appear with two choices within it. Use the top option and the same woman will become the fourth member of your party.

Well, continue along the path ahead. Open up the nearby chest for a Seven-Pair Koi-Koi, then continue around to the next floor. There, go along the path to the end with the chest, then open said chest for a Tiny/Small Strength. Then go ahead and use the stairs to the southeast that you passed moments ago.

Now, on the next floor, you'll find a man standing in front of what I presume to be a teleporter. Getting him to move aside? I don't know how. I mean, I got him to move, yes - but I went around the overworld, respoke with everyone, and returned and regrinded my way up. Previously, he wouldn't budge. That'll probably be the best thing to do if he won't move initially.

Once you get on, you'll teleport elsewhere. Feel free to speak with the old dudes up here, then go south and downstairs. There, go north and you can battle with the blue-haired guy if you want - it's another of those battles that don't cost you HP for losing. Other than that, go around to the southeast corner and downstairs.

Go to the east and west to find chests; they contain a Junk Hoihoi and a Half-Flush Koi-Koi, respectively. Heh, rhymes. Now go through the door in the center of the room and, within, you'll find the familiar old man. Speak with him and, per the usual, you'll speak for a bit. When the option box appears, use the top option and you'll begin a mahjong battle. Accept the item you get afterwards, then leave this room and proceed downstairs.

Down here, you'll find another floor without enemies. You'll also see three doors to the north. On the left, you'll find the inn - pay 52 gold there and you'll have your party's HP and MP fully restored. In the center, you'll find the little scientist man who can save your game and revive KO'ed allies. And, finally, on the right, you'll find the shop. Its screenshot is nearby, as well as the translated shop lists.

^l21|The shops; leftmost two on top, rightmost two on bottom.

Yeah, that's basically a mash-up of every shop we've seen insofar. Feel free to lighten your wallet here. There's little else to do in the Tower of the Gods, so go south outside of the shop/inn/save area to reach the overworld map.

A Port Village

Continue southward from there, this time hugging the mountains, even as you U-turn to the north to avoid the haphazardly-placed walls. Soon, a path will open to the west. Head on towards the brown house on the map, which just happens to be a village.

As you enter the building in front of you, the background music itself indicates something is dreadfully wrong. I'm no Japanese expert (or amateur, for that matter), but it's quite likely that they've been injured or fatally diseased. Neither is good. Anyways, in the aforementioned first building, the bottom-left clerk can be spoken with to stay at the inn for 52 gold. The building to the north of the inn is the save area with the scientist.

^s23| The next building to the north consists of the shop, which contains two rather pushy greeters. =/ Anyways, speak with the woman at the desk to be able to shop - the Japanese and pseudo-English lists are nearby.

After shopping, then healing at the inn, head northwest of the shop. There, you'll find another house with a sign above it. Go inside and defeat another one of the old men in a mahjong battle. (Of course, you have to use the top option of the eventual dialogue box.) And, if I'm not mistaken, you actually fight a mermaid. O_o You'll receive one of the typical old-man items afterwards - this should be your fifth. There's not much else to do in town - everything to the north, even though it seems very important is blocked - so leave.

Underwater Tunnel

When you return to the overworld map, head back to the mountains and head north along them. Eventually, you'll reach a peninsula with a cavern on it. Enter.

Within, go south, past the man, then west. At the north/west fork, first go west and, at the end of the fairly lengthy path, open the chest to find a Rock Buster item. Feel free to speak with the girl as well. Then return to the fork and head north some. Open the blatantly-visible chest to find a Potion, then head west from there. At the end of the path, you'll find a familiar soldier. Speak with him and you'll take part in another "complete a mahjong" battle format. After winning said battle, go north and open the chest for a Seven-Pair Koi-Koi. Feel free to speak with the girl nearby, as well.

Continue west and along the linear path. You'll pass another man on the way, but he's of no threat. At the north/south fork, first head along the path to the north. Speak with the man impeding you and he'll reveal himself to be a monster! Defeat him in battle (a fairly massive reward in and of itself) so you can get at that treasure chest, which contains some kind of item.

Return to the fork and go along the southern, unused path. At the end is a girl. Now, I'm not entirely sure on how to get her to move - I made this walkthrough insofar with my exact steps of what I followed. I couldn't get her to move after this - however, I tried re-speaking with everyone in the cave, then the village, then returned to her. Lo' and behold, she moved. That's probably all you'll need to try if you cannot get her to move. After the moves aside, use the stairs she was blocking.

Petrified Village

On the other side of the tunnel, go west, south, east, and south along the linear path. You'll then reach a village. Enter.

Oh, my... As it quickly becomes apparent (and you don't even need to know Japanese for this), the side of evil is growing ever more powerful and malevolent. Many people within this village been turned into solid stone. Well... Go into the building to the west if you want to shop up some. The shop listings and respective translations are below.

^l23|The left and middle shops (top) and right (bottom).

Now, to explore this God-forsaken town... To the northwest of the inn, you'll find another house, absolutely filled with old men. The one sitting at the table in the southeast corner is willing to battle you, and it won't cost you HP if you lose. The same goes for a number of men in this house. Nevertheless, it seems to be optional. If you go west of the house, then north and east along the path, you'll find a few more houses. In the second of this (the one with the sign), you'll find a typical old man. Go through the typical process of listening, saying "yes", defeating him in a mahjong battle, and taking his precious item. That should make six of such items.

That'll about it do it for the town. Feel free to finish shopping, then sleep in the inn for the full healing of HP/MP. Northeast of the inn, you'll find the scientist and his saving/reviving area. Go on out of town when you're done.

No Longer Stoned!

Backtrack to the fork and go along the other pathway, now. It's the mostly deforested one to the west of the five silvery trees that split you up earlier. (Remember, you can walk through green trees!) At the end of this linear path is a cavern. Head on inside.

Go along the linear path. As you make your second turn northward, you'll find another of the familiar soldiers. Defeat this one in - you guessed it - a "complete a mahjong" type of battle. After the battle, go for the easily-reachable Triplets Koi-Koi you'll find on-screen. Then head east and north to the next watery area. You'll quickly reach a west/north fork. Go west and get the easily-reached chest to find a Mega Power Furya. Nice! Continue north from where you turned east and you'll find another chest. Open that one to be rewarded with what I think is an Amejisu of Force.

Return to where the path split to the west and to the north. Take the latter of these paths northward to find someone standing next to some machine. Speak with her and you'll do battle with her. After this, examine the computer nearby with the lower-right command of the action menu.

This should result in the depetrification of everyone in the village mentioned before. Return to the overworld however you wish, then teleport to the village (right column, second option).

That'll actually be it for this bit.

Dragon Slayer!

When you return to the overworld, head west from the village and along the sandy path for a bit. When it ends, head northward and through the trees and hills to the peninsula, where you'll find a tower. Go inside.

^sr26| Once there, head north. Feel free to speak with the man on the right as you go along. You'll soon see a locked door! Oh noes! But wait! We have an item that we got in the previous section, No Longer Stoned!, that will do it! Due to the lack of support for Japanese fonts in Formatted FAQs and Game Wikis on GameFAQs (not to mention my computer), this item's name is pictured to the right. You can find it under the items (middle-right) menu from the action menu - just use it while facing the door!

If you want some extra treasure, when you go north, circle around counterclockwise to find a soldier. Defeat him and go on upstairs. Then go on up another floor and you'll find a chest. Open said chest to find a hand-altering Koi-Koi item. Then go back downstairs. Yes, it's minor, but you never know when you'll need it!

Otherwise, just go north, then circle around clockwise to the soldier. Defeat him in battle, then continue on upstairs. From there, continue up another floor. When you arrive on the next floor, first go west and up the stairs there. On each side, you'll find a soldier. Defeat each one to gain access to the chests behind them, which contain some kind of item and a Rock Buster. This is a dead end, so return to the previous floor.

To the northeast, you'll see four soldiers. Speak with each of them to battle them, then defeat them all. Afterwards, beat their supposable superior further to the north in a "complete a mahjong" battle format. Open the unopened chest nearby for a Mega Potion, then go west and use the staircase.

On the next floor, go northeast and defeat the soldier there, then the one further south. Afterwards, use the staircase. Then use the next one. On what seems to be the final floor, go north and confront the beast there. You may want to first heal up your main character's HP and/or MP - since we've been doing all of these mandatory soldier fights, it may help just to leave and then return, escaping all possible battles, you know?

Anyways, time to begin the fight. Speak with the beast and you'll begin a mahjong battle. It'll easily be a long one - I had trouble doing more than 40 ~ 50 damage at Level 99, myself. Still, it's probably worth it, seeing as you get 1,676 EXP. and 3,232 gold.

Exit the dungeon by whatever means you prefer.

Village of Puzzles

Do you remember that cave that took up most of the first half of the section No Longer Stoned!? That's where you're going back to. You've been there already, so navigate yourself. (Not to mention that it is in the linked-to section...) Navigate yourself to the place where the computer was (end of the path, near the boss in the northeast corner) and use the lower-right option of the action menu. This will unlock the door nearby, so go along the path to the next area.

Once outside, feel free to go to the metal house to save and such, then go into the random (normal) house nearby for the inn - it'll cost you 73 gold. Go southeast in the overworld along the mountain range until you see the sandy path; at that point, just head south and into the village you'll soon see.

When you enter the village, due north of where you enter will be the shops. The lists and respective translations are below:

^l27|Left-to-right, up-down, the left, middle, and right shops.

• First House:
  • Take a look up north. There are two girls already looking quite shifty. They will horizontally line up with you, if possible.
  • Speak with the second girl on the bottom row. Then move one space to the left. This will trap one of the shifty girls.
  • Speak with the girl again, this time holding Up on the D-Pad to move into the space she opens up before the shifty girl.
  • Speak with the third girl on the next row, then move one space to the right to trap that shifty girl.
  • Speak with the girl again and hold Up on the D-Pad to move into the space opened up.
  • Speak with the girl next to the treasure chest, then move left once and alternatingly go up and down to open up the path to the chest.
  • You may get stuck here! In that case, feel free to use the lower-left option of the action menu to teleport out of here: this village is in the right column, bottom option.

• Second House:
  • Speak with the bottom two of the leftmost row of girls until they can move downward no more.
  • If you look carefully, you'll notice one girl moving, but is unable to because of being bounded by two others. Speak with the girl above her left "bounder".
  • Then speak with the left "bounder".
  • The girl will now try to block you horizontally from moving northward. However, the girl that is moving automatically vertically can be used to block her. Maneuver the just-released girl so that the one moving vertically will get on her right for a bit, allowing you to move north to the chest.
  • The chest contains a Magical Flower!
  • You may get stuck here! In that case, feel free to use the lower-left option of the action menu to teleport out of here: this village is in the right column, bottom option.

• Third House:
  • Speak with the top-right girl of the 3x3 square.
  • Speak with the girl to her left once.
  • Speak with the girl to her left thrice.
  • Repeat the above three steps with the next two rows.
  • Go to the chest and open it. It's a King Power Furya!

• Fourth House:
  • Speak with the girl to the south of those moving northward and she'll leave. Quickly go around to the north side and hold Left on the D-Pad to slide in the gap between the northern girl and the treasure chest.

That's about it for this town. The save point is southeast of the old man's place. Heal, shop, save, then return to the overworld map.

The Castle Ruins

Afterwards, return southeast along the mountains. When they begin to curve back westward (creating almost an eastbound "bulge"), head east to the next castle, near the shore.

You'll find a rather decrepit castle... Or, more likely, ravaged by those soldiers! Whatever. Go north and speak with the first one and he'll move aside eventually, being wise enough not to fight or something. In fact, none of them will fight you! (For the most part, anyways.)

Go to the north and, at the northern end of the pillared room, you'll see two pathways. They both go to the north. Use the one on the left and, in the northwest corner, you'll soon see a staircase. Peruse it, then, on the next floor, go east and along the first southbound path. Speak with the soldier across the table to battle. (He actually can reappear, unlike most enemies, later on. Oh well - grind at him if you want EXP. and money.) Return to the pervious floor and, at the aforementioned north/north fork, use the path on the right, this time. Go along the path and up the stairs at the end of the hall. (No, that soldier will not fight you.)

On the next floor, go along the path to find a soldier and a locked door. Defeat this soldier in the usual "complete a mahjong" battle format, then move on. Not too much further ahead, you'll find a north/south fork dividing your perfect linear path. If want to have another of those regenerating soldier battles, go south; otherwise, go north and downstairs. On the ground floor again, work your way south along the linear path, then back upstairs.

See what I meant about those regenerating soldiers? Anyways, go west and north to the room with the staircase. The bat nearby will try to block you from getting at it directly. However, if you go around either pillar's far side, you'll be fine.

Up here, there's nothing but bats. Lots and lots of battles - none of them are battleable, like the others, and there are no random encounters or treasure chests here. So, instead, just head north. You'll find a wizard, quite possibly the one from that first village you liberated! Speak with him and do battle! Afterwards, you'll get a fairly large amount of EXP. and gold, then also an item.

At this point, if you were to explore around the castle, you'd find that all of the non-regenerating soldiers are gone. Those that are still here will always remain here, so there's little point in battling them. Feel free to leave whenever you're ready - like with the cavern in the No Longer Stoned! section, you'll find some more of those brown goop monsters around here, and they'll still yield quite a lot of EXP. ^_^

Mountain Crossing!

Back on the world map, teleport back to the fifth village that had all of the puzzles - it is the bottommost option in the right column when given the choice. There, feel free to shop and heal at the inn, for we have a fair few battles on the way. Back in the overworld, head west for a bit along the mountain range and you'll soon find a village go inside.

Once within this troubled, invaded town, go north. Speak with the first soldier you see and listen to him talk and talk. Eventually, a dialogue box will appear after you are questioned - use the top option, which will give surprise to this warrior before he decides to battle you! Afterwards, go northwest. Near the northwestern house, you'll find another soldier. Beat him, then go within to find another large, fierce mahjong battler - you fought one like him in the tower in the section Dragon Slayer!. ... Well, slay him again, I suppose. As before, you'll get a massive sum of EXP. (1,676) and gold (3,232).

Afterwards, it seems that the village have been vacated of the soldiers. I'd leave, too, if my draconic boss was just slain. =P In the southwest corner of town, you'll find a shop. Enjoy the many female greeters as you go north to shop. The shop list and translations are below, though Koi-Kois aren't exactly all that useful now. Or, at least, I keep having to trash them I use them so little.

Back in the overworld, you can either walk east to the fifth village (the one with the puzzle-filled houses), or teleport there (bottom option, second column). Once there, feel free to heal and save and shop and such, then go south/southeast on the overworld map. Next to the mountains, you'll see a white building. Go inside.

^sr30| As you go south, you'll find a locked door. This door can be unlocked with the item you got in the sixth village just moments ago. The name of this item is pictured to the right (due to the lack of Japanese font support on Formatted FAQs/Game Wikis on GameFAQs). After opening the door, continue south and back outside.

Castle of Gold and EXP.

Back in the overworld map, go south and into the village there. The background music there is quite somber, no? Quite moving. Anyways, in the town, go into the building on the left if you need to use the inn. It costs 92 gold, but it may take a while for the clerk to approach the desk sometimes, for whatever reason. Further north, the middle home of the apartment complex (the one with the sign) will house the scientist who can save your game and revive zero-HP allies.

If you want something strange, go north two houses, to the next one with a sign. Within, you'll find four people in the northeast corner. They are a cloning of your party! O_o Plenty of the patrons nearby also do recognize this fact. Speaking with them will result in four battles -- one against you, the robo-rabbit, blue-haired guy, and pink-haired female -- you can fight in. Nice to finally see your own battle sprite, ain't it? Looks a lot cooler than I thought.

Well, after getting the relatively small amount of gold and EXP. from each, leave this house. That's just about it for this village. The only other feature is at the north side, in the billboarded house, which happens to be a shop. It is translated and detailed below.

After having left the village, go west, south, and east and along the shoreline, as shown on the nearby "map" to find another of those yellow things. This one should probably be your sixth. Afterwards, return to the village (you can't teleport there) and head west to find a castle amongst the desert sands. In the grass northwest of the castle, you'll find your seventh of these yellow objects. Then enter the castle.

Go north to the four-way intersection. You'll find two paths (the one northward is blocked) heading east and west. Let's begin with the east path. Go east and grab the chest there for a Seven-Pairs Koi-Koi, then go north. Head to the next chest you see for an Amejisu of Mamori. Just north of said chest, you'll find a Medusa-like monster to battle with after speaking to her. And, yes, as you probably can guess from the number of monster sprites in the field alone, you'll gain plenty of EXP. and money here.

^sr33| Go back into the eastern hall and north to beat up a soldier in a "complete a mahjong" battle. From there, go north and west to find a blue/purple enemy to beat. Afterwards, go back to the initial four-way intersection and head west. Open the chest and head north, then east into a side-room like before. Defeat the goopy monster there, then go along the main west hall to the enemy at the end. Defeat this golem, too - and don't forget the chest containing the Mega Power Furya to the left! And, of course, the golem will yield an item. Go use this same item, pictured at the right, at the door north of the four-way intersection at the start - then continue on to the next floor.

On the top floor, all you'll find is the king of the castle, of course. Speak with him and, after a lengthy skein of dialogue, you'll be sent into a mahjong battle with him. However, it does not seem to be one of those where you lose HP for losing or gain EXP./gold for winning. Nevertheless, try to win the battle and the king will disappear, replaced by a man further north. Speak with him and you'll do a more familiar type of mahjong battle against this decorated skeleton.

After the battle (which rewards you very poorly, but you may as well do it), leave the castle. Y'know, after you're done grinding. ;)

The Dirty Basement

Back in the overworld, head east for a bit. Once you're on the other side of the mountains, check your stats. If you feel you need healing, go east and heal up back at that village. Otherwise, head south and then west along the shoreline to the next village. Of course, the man at the village entrance will block you for now, but it'll be added as the lower-rightmost option to the teleportation list. Go southeast and east to the end of this curly peninsula to find a white building. Enter it and speak with the man within to be blocked there, too.

Now, I'm not sure if the next event is triggered by something else - if it isn't, go around and speak with people.

Do you remember that man we found in the Castle of Gold and EXP.? You know, the poorly-rewarded fight? It seems he's gone to the first castle and terrorized the king there. You'll find him by teleporting from the overworld via the top-left option - that'll land you right in front of the familiar castle. Enter and go north and upstairs. Approach the king and, though the contrast is horrible, you'll notice odd patches of green. Speak with the man here for a battle.

After the lengthy skein of dialogue, you can leave and teleport back to the blocked village from before. Speak with the man in the entrance and he'll move aside. The first building you'll see the shop:

Or not. I have no freakin' clue on what to do next. I ran around for about the equivalent of 10+ hours of time, running the game from spaceship to here to try and talk with everyone. I'm not sure what triggered the next event, but what I last did was speak with the man next to the northeast wells in the port village (fifth one; top-right teleport option) to get some items by using the top option when speaking to him. Then I went back to the eighth village, spoke with everyone, then went into the home east of the shop - the hospital. There, I spoke with the man who finally moved out the way (presumably, everyone was better now), letting you go downstairs to another dungeon.

Defeat the nearby soldier, then the golem, then the next soldier. Yup, that easy - the end result being a perhaps half-decent EXP./gold gain and the getting of an item that'll let you proceed later on. Open the nearby chest for another item. Go back upstairs and speak with the man there. If you need to, shop, then leave.

Imposters! (Reversed!)

Back in the overworld after defeating the eighth village's enemies, go southeast and east to the end of the peninsula. Enter the house there and speak with the man there. He'll notice the item that you got just moments ago and decide to let you through. Head east through the hall, then through the door to the north. Speak with the man there and your party will get some soldier disguises, which will let you pass unscathed through the soldier fort. >:)

And before you ask, yes, you are required to have them. This is not one of those RPG situations where you just do this to avoid battles.

Anyways, back outside, go east through the hall and speak with the gullible soldier at the end. You'll be let through and up the staircase. Back outside, then, you could probably go into the nearby village if you want to speak with other soldiers. (Kind of funny how many of them seem to speak of you at you.) Noticeably, in the east side, you'll find a treasure chest. Now, here's an odd thing - if you face it from the north, despite there being a whole tile of fence between you and it, you can open it for an item. Odd.

^sr35| Back in the overworld, go along the eastbound path nearby. When you see the tower, go south, then west. You'll soon see a red structure. Ignore it and continue on to your eighth of the yellow objects. Then, rather than go into the red structure, go into the tower to the northeast that you passed earlier. You'll need to use the item you got from the odd chest in the village earlier - its name is to the right. Also, unlike the overworld, you will fight monsters in here despite the soldier suits at random.

Begin by going west, then north along the left wall to find a chest - open it for a Tiny/Small Strength. Go along the east wall from the entrance to find another, this one containing a Half-Flush Koi-Koi. Then return to the entrance area. To the north, there are three doors. Go into the one on the far right and speak with the soldier within to battle; repeat this with the other two doors.

Afterwards, you'll find that the staircase in the lower-left, once was blocked, now is clear. Go up there and continue this cycle of death, death, death, climbing some stairs, and so on. This will continue for a fair while, so I hope you have plenty of items/spells/HP. There will be about a dozen fights in all, give or take a few random encounters, so expect to also gain a few levels here. (Unless you're Level 99, like me. =P) At the top, you'll have a battle against a familiar scythe-wielding wizard. Defeat him, too - let this just be a massacre!

After the battle, you'll gain a fair amount of EXP. and gold, as well as an item during the lengthy dialogue.

Temple of the Sea

After having left the enemy tower, go back to the overworld. There, head west to the grayish building where you entered the enemy lands. Speak with the soldier to the left, then go west and north into the door. Speak with the man there to return to your street clothes, then return to the hall. Go west, speak with the man, and proceed outside. There, teleport to the harbor village we were at so long ago - it is the top-right option of the teleportation menu.

^sr36| Just in case you forgot... Anyways, you can heal up in the inn near the entrance, save in the building north of there, and shop for randomness in the next one to the north. I recommend at least the first two. Continue to the north side and you'll see a man blocking the way to a building. Now that you have that item the wizard gave you in the tower, he'll move aside, finally.

Begin by grabbing the two chests to the right for an Amejisu of Wind and a King Power Furya. Then go west and to the end of the pier. Speak with the fish and you'll be eaten by it!! This is actually good, as you'll ride it to a tower. Once you reach said tower, go within.

When you enter the tower, speak with the frog to the north. He'll soon move aside; afterwards, go east and north. You'll then reach a fork where both paths eventually head west. Use the southern of these two paths and go west, south at the intersection, west, and north the staircase. Go on up a floor. There, defeat the nearby soldier in a "complete a mahjong" battle format, which will unlock the door nearby. Then proceed up to the third floor.

Here, simply go along the linear, winding path to a staircase. Up you go! Here on the top floor, speak with the green frogs as you go along. When you speak with the fifth frog, it'll speak for a while. Suddenly, your third dragon boss will appear, to the surprise of all. Of course, he'll battle you. Afterwards, the frogs will presumably thank you for your efforts and leave.

Imposters (Reversed!), Part Two!

After having finished the Temple of the Sea, backtrack your way outside, or just use a teleporting item like the Referral Mapumodoru. Once outside, speak with the fish to return to the third/harbor village. There, go into the house near the wells's right apartment. You'll find (or should - I didn't know and did the usual "find everyone and yap-yap-yap" thing) - the frogs from the Temple of the Sea! Cool! Speak with them and one should give you a particular item that we will use later.

^sr37| Feel free to shop and sleep at the inn here, then return to the overworld. There, teleport to the eighth village - it will be the lower-right option of the teleport menu. Go southeast from there to the end of the peninsula, then into the building. As before, speak with the man, go through the door in the hall, change clothes, and speak with the soldier in the hall to proceed. Continue to the overworld. There, head north and east to find the tower from before, then go south and west to the red structure. Head inside. Within, use the item that we got from the frogs earlier - it is pictured to the right - on the door to get through!

Good, you're in!

Head along the path and you'll soon reach an east/west fork. First go east and open the chest to find an Amejisu of Force, then go along the path that is to the west. Not long afterwards, you'll reach another east/west fork. Yet again, go along the linear path to the east. At the end, you'll find a green door - go through it and open the chests to find some item and a Seven-Pair Koi-Koi to the west, and a Mega Power Furya to the east.

^sl38| Now, backtrack to the previous east/west fork and use the other path. After a lengthy stint along this linear path, you'll reach an east/south fork as pictured nearby. Use the southern path and you'll be able to reach another of the ever-helpful Koi-Kois. Then backtrack and go along the east path of the fork. At the end of this linear path, you'll find a soldier to battle in front of a locked door - thusly, a "complete the mahjong" battle format. After the battle, open the chest to the right for a Tiny/Small Strength, then go up the stairs nearby.

On the second floor, go ahead and speak with the nearby robot. As he speaks, suddenly a man appears behind him and speaks as well. The man offers you to fight him, with the robot disappearing as a result. Go forward and speak with this fiend! Expect this mahjong battle to be a bit more difficult than the rest - he has a high amount of power, perhaps the highest insofar. Anyways, enjoy your 1,632 EXP. and 3,208 gold for winning.

After the battle, the man will leave. Open the two chests nearby for a couple of battle-only items, then go up to the next floor. Speak with the scientist there, obviously the one that was kidnapped way back around the time you recruited the rabbit-robot into your party. Well... After the conversation, leave the enemy base.

The Final Clash!

After having defeated the enemy leader in his own base, on his own island, you have rescued a helpful scientist. When you spoke with him and he left the place, he went to your spaceship. Return to the overworld and head east, north, and west to the white building. Within, speak with the soldier to go on through, then head west and north. Change clothes and, back in the hall, speak with the man to the west and proceed outside.

There, teleport back to the first castle you ever visited - it will be the top-left option of the teleportation menu. There, still in the overworld, go east, south, and west to the end of the peninsula to the spaceship. Speak with the scientist within and use the top option when the dialogue box appears. Then approach the wheel of the ship (top-center portion) and "speak" with it. Confirm your choice to take off to another planet, where many of the enemy resides. Exit the ship when you land...

Outside, go west and along the outside path around to the staircase to the next floor. (No, those soldiers nearby will not battle you now. However, there are random encounters here!) Go west and south to the purplish door and use it to go outside. Defeat the green enemy that you see in the field there. Afterwards, go through the purple door he was guarding and head along to the end of the path. Defeat the soldier there in a "complete a mahjong" battle format.

Afterwards, you'll find yourself at an east/west fork. The westbound path ends in a dead-end, so use the other path. Once you head upstairs and back outside, speak with the nearby golem, defeat him, and head on downstairs. Once down there, go along the linear path and through the door. Defeat the Medusa-esque monster out here and go through the door she was guarding. ... Well, you get the picture. Continue along the linear path for a while, defeating enemies as they come - there a fair few interspersed with the random encounters.

^sr39| At the end of the path, you'll eventually find a green soldier tinkering around with his computer. He'll block you from messing with it, because he's a selfish hog. Oh well - I wanna play on that computer, so I'll kill you for this! Speak with him to battle. After winning, examine the computer with the bottom-right option of the action menu. After doing so, backtrack up to the top of the structure - you know, where the spaceship landed near those soldiers. Go through the door that was unlocked.

Within, defeat the soldier in front of with you another "complete a mahjong" battle format battle. Then go upstairs and head north. Speak with the man upon the throne and, after a bit of talking, you'll battle the leader of this place. Expect a hard battle - I estimate this guy has 250 ~ 255 HP! You'll get a decent reward for the battle, though - 1,704 EXP. and 3,408 gold!

As the fiend speaks after the battle, the man from the red enemy fort on the main planet suddenly appears, followed by his other cronies: the wizard, the dragon, the evil scientist, the goop monster, the Medusa-like beast, and the golem! Afterwards, they presumably fuse together to become what will become likely your most imposing boss fight ever.

After the boss fight, the enemy will presumably die, defeated despite all he could do to impede you. Go outside now to your spaceship. Examine the steering wheel as before and....

Well, we'll leave that up to you! ;) Yes, this is the ending of the game!

Items Listings

Which are They?

To find these items from the game, you must use the items tab on the action menu. This would be the middle-right button. From there, you have two options: to use the item, and to trash it, respectively. For the in-battle items, they're the third on the list, and retain the same name.

This section is designed to list the various items of the game and their effects. Note that the items have been mostly shoddily translated by Google Translate from the game manual.

Field Items

To use these in the field, simply look at the section Which are They?.

Battle Items

To use these items, look at the section entitled Which are They?. The screenshot there will show a picture encircling the symbol for items. These, however, can only be used during a mahjong battle - nevertheless, the emblem remains the same.

Magic Spells

Which are These?

Once you obtain them, you can find them via the top-right option of the action menu. Some can be used in battle, and these have the same name attached to them in the battle menu. (In that instance, they're the second down on the list.)

Field Spells

These are spells you can only use in the field. These are roughly translated from the game manual.

Battle Spells

These magic spells can only be used during the course of a battle to augment the various conditions to favor you more.

In-Game Shops

First Castle

First Village

Second Castle

Second Village

Tower of the Gods

Third Village

Fourth Village

Fifth Village

Sixth Village

Seventh Village

Eighth Village

Stat Table

The image at the right represents the type of table I'm referring to. When you go to the action menu (A Button), use the middle-left option and go from there to find this table. The specific purpose of this section is to detail what stat changes occur as you go up in EXP. Of course, be sure to note that this is only based off apparent data - in other words, I go by the changes in that table as I proceed in my own playing of the game. The changes listed may be very well approximated, especially in the case of EXP.

Anyways, with respect to the screenshot of the stats screen nearby, here are the order of the stats. The wins, losses, and win/loss ratio is not covered in this table due to the fact that they are determinant upon your own experiences within the game and have no real other effects than for statistical purposes.

• Art/Technique: Seems to be your effective strength, dealt with in calculating damage dealt in mahjong battles. Maxes at 60 points, which is Level 73.

• Defense: Your ability to take less damage when losing mahjong battles. Maxes at 99 (Level 81).

• Agility: Speed. Use is likely to be towards attack evasion and the ability to escape mahjong battles (bottom option on initial battle menu). Maxes at 98, which is at Level 99.

• Max HP: The maximum health you can have at once; influences health in mahjong battles. Maxes at 250 (Level 89).

• Max MP: The maximum MP you can have at once; influences the initial draws of mahjong battles, Tenpai tiebreakers, and the use of Magic Spells. Maxes at 250 (Level 75).

• Wins: How many mahjong battles you've won. Maxes out at 255.

• Losses: How many mahjong battles you've lost. Maxes out at 255.

• Win/Loss Ratio: The percentage of total mahjong battles you've won. Can go from 0% (all loss) to 100% (all won). If a win or loss stat hits 255, then this ratio cannot go higher or lower, respectively.

• EX. (EXP./Experience Points): Earned from mahjong battles, it is used like in other RPGs: to level you up! This will max out at 65,535 EXP., although the maximum level (Level 99) is reached around 63,000 ~ 63,500 EXP.

Some more notes... The first column (Now) is the current stat at that level, whereas what is under the +/- column shows the change from the previous level, if any. The EX. (or EXP.) column shows the EXP. total you have at that level, and the change from the previous level (or the amount you need to reach there). These changes and growths have been experimentally confirmed to be identical, even on different characters, so it usually should apply for all of them.

And, as for the gaps with the question marks, that was where I ended up skipping some levels (due to some of the mass EXP. findings (i.e. new allies!)) and the pattern for those stats was not apparent, so who knows what they are? Anyways, the +/- column will then apply for the difference between that level and the last known stat.

Codes 'n' Such

Credits

In no particular order...

• Devin Morgan:
  • Devin helped to teach me some mahjong rules and strategies via his Mahjong Companion FAQ.
  • For numerous Japanese-to-English translations!
  • For the provision of a useful, translated manual to this game!

• odino:
  • He taught Devin some the strategies which I borrowed from Devin's Mahjong Companion FAQ.

• ReyVGM:
  • He submitted the information in the Codes 'n' Such section to GameFAQs.

• GameFAQs, Neoseeker, and Supercheats:
  • For being the most amazing FAQ-hosting sites I know.

• CJayC, SBAllen, and Devin Morgan (again):
  • General sucking up to the GameFAQs admins. =P

• Me (KeyBlade999):
  • For making this FAQ. =P

• You, the reader:
  • For hopefully enjoying this FAQ.

Version History

• v0.10:
  • Basics of the Game complete; Walkthrough done through the second main battle; Stat Table done through Level 2.
  • Time: 12:51 AM 2/14/2013.

• v0.15:
  • Stuck in the cavern north of the castle for now, but the Stat Table is done through Level 5.
  • Time: 1:32 AM 2/15/2013.

• v0.20:
  • I've been slowly trudging through the village battles (Liberate the Village!) with minor updates to v0.15. I've finished that section, and the same for To the Other Side!. Been adding a little to the Basics of the Game sections and have gotten through Level 10 in the Stat Table.
  • Time: 1:45 AM 2/24/2013.

• v0.25:
  • Progressing quite swimmingly. Just got past the part where the robot-rabbit joins your party (at the end of the A New Ally!. The Stat Table is done through Level 16, more or less.
  • Time: 12:04 AM 2/25/2013.

• v0.30:
  • Progress is increasing in momentum. Finished the New Castle, New Ally! section of the Walkthrough and am working on the Cave Battle! section. As for the Stat Table, it's done through Level 29. Yeah, I'm starting to think I've avoided a fair few battles. >_>
  • Time: 1:31 AM 2/26/2013.

• v0.35:
  • Continuing to go well. Finished the Cave Battle! and Imposters! sections of the Walkthrough after having gotten briefly confused. Also, the Stat Table is done through Level 41.
  • Time: 1:57 AM 2/27/2013.

• v0.40:
  • Spent a majority of the night working on the various supplemental sections; shops, items, etc. As for the Walkthrough, done with A Dark Wind and Cave Battle, Part Deux!. The Stat Table is done through Level 56.
  • Time: 2:25 AM 2/28/2013.

• v0.45:
  • Mostly spent my time stuck in the Tower of the Gods part of the Walkthrough. Also did the Stat Table through Level 70.
  • Time: 2:42 AM 3/1/2013.

• v0.50:
  • Completed the Tower of the Gods, A Port Village, Underwater Tunnel, Petrified Village, No Longer Stoned!, and [[Dragon Slayer]] sections of the Walkthrough, and am working on the fifth village. Shop lists have had some reformatting and are complete to this point in the game, and the Stat Table is complete, due to it being done at Level 99.
  • Time: 3:26 AM 3/2/2013.

• v0.55:
  • Ever more Walkthrough progress: completed the Village of Puzzles, [[Castle of Ruins]], [[Mountain Crossing]], Castle of Gold and EXP., The Dirty Basement, and Imposters! (Reversed!) sections, with up to the tower in Temple of the Sea completed.
  • Time: 4:06 AM 3/3/2013.

• Final:
  • The Walkthrough has been completed now with the completion of the sections Temple of the Sea, Imposters (Reversed!), Part Two!, and The Final Clash!. As such, with the assumed completion of the other supplementary sections (Items Listings, Magic Spells, In-Game Shops, Stat Table), this FAQ/Walkthrough is complete as a whole!
  • Time: 12:27 AM 3/4/2013.

Legalities

This FAQ may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders.

© 2013 Daniel Chaviers (a.k.a. KeyBlade999).

If you would wish to contact me concerning this or my other FAQs, use this e-mail: keyblade999.faqs@gmail.com, or PM (Private Message) me on the GameFAQs message boards.

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