========================================================= G U A R D I A N ' S C R U S A D E ========================================================= ========================================================= Walkthrough ========================================================= a) Chapter 1 : Departure ------------------------ You begin the game in bed, until your fairy friend Nehani wakes you up. Throughout the game, Nehani acts as your advisor (and your conscience!). Just press the Square button if you want to talk to her. She also contributes a little in battle - slight healing with Pixie Dust, and a tight slap that does rubbish damage. You get an option to rename yourself here. It's a good idea too, since KNIGHT does sound rather lame for a hero name. Nehani will inform you that you have to talk to the elder. Do so - the elder's house is at the top right. After talking to the elder, you find out that you need to bring a letter to the nearby town of Santa Claria. Before you leave, poke around town and talk to everyone (usual RPG advice, really). Talk to Mary at the bridge on the west exit of town to get a candy bar (restores 30 HP). You can get two old toys in the upper left house, next to a guy named Algo. At the extreme lower right an old man is looking for a blue kitten. Visit the farmhouse on the southwest of town to find another old toy behind all the gears. Once you proceed out of town, you'll start bumping into monsters. It's a good idea to build some levels now - just up to level 3 or 4. When you reach the fork, head left into Santa Clara. Here, you can rest at the inn for free. There's a treasure chest in the house on the upper left of the beach, and the other houses can be explored for the fun of it (check Nehani's sometimes funny responses!). When you're done fooling around, get to the elder's house (the largest one in the upper part of town). Look at the bookshelves for a laugh, then chat with the elder. Once that is done, can head back to your town, Olgo. On your way back, you will have your first encounter with Baby, that cute little pink thing you see by the bridge. A mysterious man with rabbit ears (I'm not kidding!) will appear and tell you to take Baby to the God's Tower. Then Baby will start following you. Talk to the elder, who will suggest that you leave Baby in the cave near Grave Road. So get over there! Grave Road is right of the fork leading to Santa Clara. Be sure to fight a lot here - you will need the experience. Make sure the monsters are running from you by the time you find a bridge (they will be white in color). Actually, this is the basic rule of the game - fight until the monsters start avoiding you, then you should be strong enough to move on. Across the bridge you will meet some pretty strong enemies. Kill as much as you can, then leave Baby at the cave exit. Return to town and rest. That night, you'll get a dream that is a repeat of the Rabbit-man's chat. After seeing it again, you make up your mind to go rescue Baby (not much of a choice there, really). Return back to the caves. If you got the guts to go in, you will fight some really tough monsters, particularly the Bearephant, who can cause some serious damage. Make sure you are very high-leveled before attempting to proceed further. Fight a little and retreat to Santa Clara to rest and restock on Candy Bars. Once you make level 8 or 9, explore the caves. At the first junction, go up for an old toy, and the go back and take the other route. Take the chest here for a Bronze Shield and a toy (why are there toys all over a monster-infested dungeon?). Proceed. At the next junction, go up. Here you will meet some even more ridiculously powerful monsters; watch out for the Thornsaurus! Try to avoid them and grab that chest for an iron sword. Go up into the dead end for another chest containing (you guessed it!) an old toy. Return back to the fork and go right. You will find yourself in Kell, a town of peaceful monsters. Before you know it, you get bummed into fighting a monster in exchange for Baby's whereabouts. Before you do fight Mushmare, use the (free) inn and buy some supplies. By the way, if you try searching for stuff in the item shop, you'll end up being forced to buy them! Look around the other tents for some extra items if needed, then proceed into the shed. For all the trouble, Mushmare is actually a wimp - assuming you are level 10 and above. Just keep hitting him and he'll go down without much trouble. Now go back and talk to the Elder. You eventually pick up your first living toy of the game, Mr. O'Neal. He will awaken all your other toys, and the elder will tell you that there is one more in the shed. Go back and pick that up, then search the shed for more treasures if you want. You should now have a fair number of living toys by now: Mr. O'Neil - Whacks enemy with baton - He may be the first living toy, but he sure is the weakest! His baton attacks do crummy damage. Pyro - Use fire attacks - This guy does some pretty good damage every round - probably your best toy for quite a while. Cupid - Heals part a little - Pretty important early in the game. Heals both Knight and Baby slightly. Nurse - Heals one character slightly - It's cheaper to use than Cupid. Da Bomb - Explodes in 3 turns - Blows up after summoning in three turns. Be careful that YOU get as much serious damage as your enemies! However, blocking prevents the damage. Use it only if you have a well-disciplined Baby (who will obey your Defend command), or you'll end up knocking him out as well as the enemy. Unless he's already down, that is. Dark Postle - Dark Damage to All - Does dark element attacks. EVERYONE suffers damage, even you, and this time you can't block it! Jupiter - Light Damage to All - Same as Dark Postle, but does light element attacks instead. Viper - Paralyzes - Launches a paralyzing dart at the enemy. Once you continue deeper into the inner caves, look to the south walls to find a cave containing a living toy Phoenix. Further up you'll find another living toy, Walkbomb, and even further up, a candy bar. Phoenix - Restores normal conditions - A vital living toy, really. Don't leave this cave without it! Walkbomb - Damage based on distance walked - Does surprisingly good damage. However, the meter of distance walked resets each time you use it, so use it sparingly. You'll eventually encounter a well-fed baby, a lot of broken eggshells, and a very pissed mama bird. Yep, another boss battle. This one isn't too tough; toss in Da Bomb and Pyro, and they'll pretty much do the job for you. Just remember to block on the 3rd round! You'll pick up a living toy, Timeout, after the battle. After a few scenes, you'll end up in an inn, and after another few scenes, get introduced to the merchant Bonik. You then pick up another living toy, Mapster, after that. After yet another scene, you can now name Baby by talking to the innkeeper's wife. Then, you will finally be able to use Baby in battle, even though he isn't too effective as yet. Now head north, then east, to Isten. Timeout - Prevents damage for 3 turns - Prevents anyone from doing any damage for three rounds - if you need take a break and heal your party this is a useful way of doing it. Also, tossing Da Bomb after using Timeout, then one other toy of your choice, then defend for a nasty chain of toy attacks! Mapster - Enhances map, attacks in battle - Not all that useful, since you already have a map in the manual. During battle he's even more useless, with his rubbish spin attack that shaves one-digit damages off the enemy. ========================================================= b) Chapter 2 : The Journey -------------------------- After almost arriving to town, and listening to an argument, you eventually find yourself duped into fighting for a man named Richten as a stand-in to help your new friend Bonik. After you are free to go, look around town. You'll encounter the strange monster Ibkee and her brother Darkbeat for the first time. You find out your opponent will be Darkbeat. Look around the back of the building in the lower left for a living toy Kimoni. Kimoni - Heals 1 character - Just what it says. Heals a little more than Cupid, but only for one person. Search the furthest south for a decent Buccaneer Mail. It has protection against light element attacks. You also get to bet on who will win, but you'll lose no matter who you bet on (you'll find out after the match why). Also, in Marco's house, check the closet to "receive" something from Nehani. Once you are ready, rest at the inn, and the next day the battle begins. The battle itself is pretty one-sided - you'll be down before you can do anything! After the battle, talk to Marco for some extra Rubies, and return to Richten's house for another living toy, the Contributor. Seems to fit Richten's personality, too. Contributor - Throws money (20Rb) at enemy - Sounds a little like something out of Final Fantasy? Well, money does hurt, apparently. Does the best damage for 20Rb per blow. After this, head south and east to Zed Harbor, and fight as much monsters as possible along the way. Baby should be going up levels at every fight. Let him go up to level 8 or 9 by the time you enter Zed Harbor. At Zed Harbor, do the usual RPG stuff - talk to people for info, buy supplies, rest at the inn. You can play the piano twice at the cafe for an item from the audience - interesting, since there isn't any audience! At the house with all the Artema worshippers, talk to the worshipper upstairs for a Vampire toy, then talk to the man at the bookshelf, and then search the shelf behind him for another living toy Heal Bat. Vampire - Uses HP to attack - The most useless toy? Close enough. It does the same damage as 10% of your HP, which is probably to low for most battles anyway. And you lose HP for that too! Heal Bat - Sucks HP from enemy - Doesn't suck very much from the opponent, doesn't restore much for you too. In the Governor's home, search the flower pot in the corner of the room with the Governor for a Buccaneer Sword. In the second floor, search the chest a few times to open it and get another living toy, Baron. Baron - Turns 10% of your damage to money - The opposite of the Contributor, I suppose. If you are really in need of money, and don't mind getting yourself hurt... Then, head to the harbor area in the South. Search the large cannon for a Tower Shield, and the crates East of the cannon for a Bug. Open the chest there for yet another living toy, the Minicar. Minicar - Rams one enemy - Kills enemy outright if hit. Misses most of the time, unfortunately. Now head into the ticketing office to meet Bonik again. You'll find out he's just bought the last ticket. Now go talk to the Governor and you'll get your next quest - a beast emerald for the ticket! Walk by the port again to bump into another group of recurring NPCs - Kalkanor, Ramal and Gwinladin. After the little scene, leave town and head for the cave in the West. The old man Rogo mistakes you as his assistant, and sends you off to deliver an slate to Galik in Carmarthen. Before you go, search the boxes beside his house for a strange bug, then search the western tunnel for a snoozeweed on the wall. Then, you can go into his house to buy some items from a merchant if you want - that's the only chance you get to buy cheaper stuff for a while. Okay, time to go on! By the way, it's best to have Knight and Baby both above level 15 - monsters after the cave are tough! There isn't much at Carmarthen to explore. Locate the house of Galik, which is a Southwest of town, and you'll find out he isn't in. Go into the mine to find a living toy, Miner. Miner - Dig for Rubies - You can get rich using this fellow real quick, assuming you've got decent luck. Does okay damage during battle later in the game. Now leave town and head over to the west and find your way across the swamps to the old shrine. Warning : do not enter until Knight and Baby is above level 19 or you will get creamed. It's a good idea to have to good armor too. Rotate the camera a little at the entrance to spot a lost merchant - he'll let you rest and save, which is a good idea. Also a good idea is to learn some transformations (assuming Baby is in a good mood) - you can learn from Psychocat, Fatal Frog and Treead. Going right on the first junction (west), rotate your camera angle a little to spot a treasure chest containing a living toy, Psychodoc Psychodoc - Turns 20HP into 10PP - Not really that good an exchange, really, and quite a waste of one fighting round. Another chest on the right contains a Peach Potion. At the west junction, you can find a large room with two boxes containing candy bars. Then, search the chest in the center for the living toy, Foreman. The chest'll then attack you. it's a tough monster, be careful! Foreman - Attacks, escapes from dungeon - Does pathetic damage in battle, just like Mr. O'Neil. But, more importantly, you can use him to warp back to the entrance, very vital! If you go through the room here, you'll find another junction - go south for a okay-ish Kuldian Armor, then go north for two other living toys, Freud and Clericy. Freud - Sends enemy to sleep - Useful? Not really. Clericy - Keeps healing - Heals little bits each round - think Regen of Final Fantasy. Now go back to the main junction. At the junction you can take either the east or south, either way you will reach a series of caves with strong monsters. In one side cave, you will find the all important living toy, Angel. You can also pick up a cheeseburger along the way. Angel - Heals a lot of HP for the party - Very very useful but somewhat expensive in PP usage. Use sparingly. At the end of it, look to the west for a crummy Sword of Might, then go inside the red doorway. You will encounter Kalkanor and gang and witness them defeating a monster. After they take the emerald and leave, you can go fight the monster again - it's a tough fight, I recommend using Pyro and simple just hit him hard - and you'll get a pretty good White Shield in return. Now return to Galik's house and hand over the slate - you'll find out it's a part of a broken warp gate key. Nothing very useful to you. You can find a bubblegum in Galik's machine and a Spinach Snack in the strange treasure chest upstairs, but other than that, there's nothing really left to do here. Go back to Zed Harbor, and go to the Governor's house. You will meet Kalkanor again, and find out that the rock you picked up after saving Baby from the giant bird is actually one of the holy relics needed to "save the world". You exchange it for tickets. In the ship Zepher, search the phonograph in the captain's room for a toadstool, then go down below deck to rest and save. Then walk around and chat with a few familiar faces. At the lowest deck, you can find a peach potion in the chest and an apple in the sack. Then go back to your room and rest and you'll arrive in Jungo. You'll find a happy couple here - talk to the man and you'll get a chance to name his son - toss in anything you want, and you'll pick up a new living toy, the Ditchmobile. Also, talk to the yellow penguin (..? What's a penguin doing here in the tropics?) Pengie for another living toy, Ringsider. Ditchmobile - Raises Agility - You can easily "ditch" the enemy with this. Ringsider - Gives play by play of battle - Just what exactly is the use of this toy? In a house near the cafe, go downstairs for a bug and a bean (..?). Now leave town and try to learn a transformation from Zakra. For some reason, when I fought them, Baby will repeated use transformations. Maybe he really hate plants? You can take a stroll up to the lighthouse in the southeast of the island and climb up for yet another living toy, Mi Armour. Mi Armour - Raises Defense - A very important toy - especially when you are fighting bosses. Once you are done, return to the ship. It starts to rain now, go to the front of the ship for a new toy, Terroroid. By the way, notice your luck is now at Awful? Terroroid - Scares enemy - Boo! Well, I've never found him useful, but maybe that's just how I play these games. Return below deck, hang around for a while, then go back up - Baby will become seasick. You take him up for some air, then you'll end up seeing an impressive CG clip before being tossed into the sea. You'll end up being separated from Baby, on the island of Kerple (wow, that's a long way to drift). Go to the center of the village to find out about Baby's fate, then go to the chief's hut for a living toy, Mudsy. Mudsy - Slows enemy - Useful only if you're trying to run from the enemy. There's also a barrel here which will give you one ruby each time you search - but it'll take a long time to amass anything decent, so just go kill a monster if you need the cash, okay? Anyway, by now you should have figured out that you need to kill the tribal god Yugonga if you're gonna save Baby's pink hide. Talk to EVERYONE in the village, then go in the shrine (you can't go in if you haven't talked to everyone yet).You should be at level 25 and above. Along the way you will pick up yet another living toy, Pippanic. Pippanic - Confuses one enemy - Just what it says. Further along the same passage you can find a cleverly-hidden Crystal Armor. Why they would hide it is beyond me, however. After that, another cave with a Cheeseburger and a Peach Potion. Then it's Yugonga time. You should be level 27 or above to fight him. Use Timeout, Da Bomb, Contributor in that order, then defend all the way and you would win without lifting a muscle on him! Tribal God indeed. On beating Yugonga, warp back out to town and Baby will be freed. You can now pick up another living toy at the storage hut, Samurai. You will also get the Chester Flute. Before you leave the island, return back to the spot where you fought Yugonga, then go into the west passage. It's a good idea to get some experience for Baby - he should be pitifully weak compared to you at the moment. There's a chest here with a rather naff Crystal Shield, but spin your camera a little to spot another chest - it contains the living toy Hobo Joe - the chest is actually a mimic, but you shouldn't be even breaking a sweat by now. Samurai - Returns LT, joins attack - Powerful, but takes away all other living toys when he appears. What an entrance! Summon him FIRST if you want to use him for battle, but I think 10PP is a little too expensive. Hobo Joe - Steal Items - You can get some pretty good items from stronger monsters later in the game. There's a pretty beam of light at the north passage, but it doesn't do anything other than being pretty at the moment. Return to town and head to the nearest beach. ========================================================= c) Chapter 3 : Wider Worlds --------------------------- You'll meet perhaps the strangest form of sea travel ever in an RPG - say hello to Chester the Water Bug! He's also, unfortunately, the slowest sea travel ever in an RPG - it's really painful especially when you need to travel from one point on the map halfway across the world. You now have the freedom to go to a lot of places. I went to the nearest town of Den Heldar. Check those houses - in one of them, someone will throw a living toy, Insectorfly at you if you try entering his house. Insectorfly - Lowers Defense - Useful on bosses particularly. There's also good weapons and armor here, and you should have enough rubies to get the best stuff - and you will need them too. In one other house, talk to the mayor's daughter and you'll get a quest to save the people trapped in North Tower. Before you actually go to North Tower, go explore a little more. At the island north of Den Heldar, you can find the grandson of Zeppetto, the creator of the living toys. Unfortunately there's no living toys to be found here, but search the cabinet behind him for the obscenely powerful Zeppetto Helmet. You won't need another helmet for a LONG time! Now head to the North Tower. You should be around level 30, baby around level 28. At the first junction, go through the right passage (west) and enter the doorway for a living toy, Douwner. The do the same at the left passage (east) for a crap Crystal Sword. Then follow the passages to locate two more doorways, one with a living toy Toughwall, and the other with a sub-par Devil's Shield. Douwner - Reduces strength and defense of enemy. - I used him a few times, but never really felt the difference, I dunno. Toughwall - Acts like a shield - Defends against most attacks for a few rounds. So powerful it actually makes the game a little too easy - use it on the weaker of the two (usually Baby) to seriously simplify the battle. Proceed up the stairs now to get to the top. Nehani will comment that there's no one here. Before you leave, look around the roof for another sub-par equipment, the Splint Mail, and yet another living toy for your collection, Vegas. On your way back down to the ground floor, you will spot a monster entering a secret passage. Follow it! You'll bump into Ibkee and Darkbeat and have a short chat. Then pick up the toy in the corner, Mossman. Vegas - Causes conditions depending on luck - Never used him much. So are you a gambling man? Mossman - Lowers offensive power - Reduces offensive power. Unlike Douwner, you can actually see it's effects! Now enter and you'll meet two boss monsters. Darkbeat and Ibkee will fight one, then you will fight the other. He's so weak it's not even funny! Just call in Contributor, Pyro, and then attack and he'll go down in two or three rounds. After taking him down and saving the people, you can pick up a Spinach Snack in the cleverly hidden chest at the southeast corner of the room. Enter the next room and take the warp. You'll take on a slightly stronger boss, the Guardian. Just use Contributor, Pyro, Toughwall on Baby, then just fight. Use items to heal if needed; shouldn't take more that five rounds to take him down. You'll pick up a Solomon's Ring, and Nehani will mutter something. The watchmaker you saved will tell you to find him in Trisken. Now you can leave, there's nothing more to find here - use Foreman. Return to Den Helgar, and talk to the Mayor to pick up the living toy, Windmeister. Windmeister - Causes Wind Damage - Another useful toy. Does really big damage on earth-element monsters. Now head to the next continent. Go to the hut southwest of Trisken and open the chest (it's a mimic) for a living toy, Stare. Stare - Gives you a bird's eye view in towns - Just what use could that possibly be? In battle, he fires sight rays which cause average damage. Now go and visit the incredibly huge city of Trisken - try fighting a monster called Bobodragon along the way there - it's very strong, but if you beat it with Baby intact, Baby might learn its powerful transformation. In the front gates of Trisken, you can fight a guard to get a living toy, Dr. Snooze. In the item shop nearby you can search the crates for yet another bug. Then, head to the bell tower to the direct north of the city and climb up. Along the way up you will find Sacribat, another living toy. Dr. Snooze - Sends all enemies to sleep - A little more useful that Freud. Sacribat - Sacrifices one Living Toy to attack - At least you've found some use of the living toys like Mr. O'Neil, Miner, Mapster, etc.. in battle. Summon one weak living toy, then call in Sacribat, and then keep sending out weak living toys (that stick around) for some big damage. By the way, the type of toys sacrificed alters the damage - stronger toys that drain more PP to summon causes more damage when sacrificed. And don't worry, you don't permanently lose any toy. There's a monster training center here that let's you pit Baby against a monster - some monsters are tough, but you should be able to learn transformations from most of them. Search one of the dummies for a hamburger (there's a hamburger in the stuffings?). There's a house with just one boy - go up to the second floor and keep searching the barrel in the corner for lot's of bugs. Why would you want them I'm not sure. There's someone around town who will give you a wallet, and another who will tell you he has lost his. Do the connection, and you'll get 1000Rb. At the house west of the Bell Tower is the grateful watchmaker who will reward you with a living toy Tarantula. Don't go into the cafe unless you want to get conned 3000Rb. Also, BE SURE to buy the very expensive Calm Ring - you'll understand once you get to God's Tower. Tarantula - Spits poison at enemy - Isn't it obvious? Now that you've done all the exploration of Trisken, enter the castle. Talk to the couple in the courtyard twice for 1500Rb. Talk to them one more time and you'll lose it, so don't! At the castle, you'll end up catching a thief, and pick up a water ring from the noblewoman. Baby would have also ran off. Go out of town through the east exit and follow the path and you'll find him. Then, the king will let you pass. Now you're in real monster territory! Monsters here are unlike what you've ever seen - they will chase you down the moment they lay eyes on you. You'll usually meet giant turtles here, Windmeister will make a short work of them. You'll eventually arrive in the town of Garam. Chat with the man on the east side of town to find out about a Giant kidnapping. Sounds like a job for Knight and Baby! Explore the rest of the town before you embark - the people at the item store claim they are no super store, but they've got stuff that blows away anything found before - buy buy buy... if you've got the cash, that is. There's nothing really major in the town, so you can proceed to the cave at the east exit. First, check to see if you are level 31 or 32 - should be enough to tackle what comes next. On entry, straight away rotate your camera for a living toy, Sumode. Sumode - Whacks all enemies hard - Knocks away enemies - like a full party version of Minicar. You can imagine the chances of knocking them all away are pretty slim. Doesn't work on bosses. Search the giant white statue and be prepared to take on Ruval, the said giant. Similar tactics work - use Toughwall to protect one of you (Baby is usually weaker), then call in Contributor and Windmeister. Attack, and use items to heal. Shouldn't be too difficult. After the battle, you find out the truth about Ruval, then Kalkanor and co. will come in and destroy it. You'll then have to fight Kalkanor. Don't bother putting up a fight this time - it's a typical RPG "must lose for story to continue" situation. Return to town. You can now enter the Temple of Artema - but there's nothing here except for a treasure chest that doesn't open. There's something amiss here... Anyway, there's nothing you can do about that, so proceed north to Denvadro. You'll meet some monsters along the way that shouldn't be too tough - but try to fight as many as possible for the experience. In town, you can speak to a person named Shawn for a nice view of the tower. You'll find out a little about Saint Aruvin, the healer. Also, listen to the musician and buy his record to get a living toy as a freebie. Hornet - Poisons one enemy - Why would you want this if you have Tarantula? Nothing else of interest in town, so it's time to go on. Get prepared for a long journey - the Holy Shrine is VERY far away - and you'll meet at least 8 or 9 monsters along the way. Buy lots of Spinach Snacks before you go or you'll regret it. By the end of your journey you should be at around level 34. Save at the Holy Shrine, then proceed to the tower. You'll encounter Kalkanor and co. again and find out the truth behind the gathering of holy stones. You'll also see the villain of the game, Karmine, for the first time. Gwinladin then reveals his true form (isn't it obvious? He's the bad guy), and wipes out Kalkanor and Ramal. Your turn! As usual, use Toughwall to protect one of you, Contributor (he should be doing massive damage by now) and another toy of your choice, using Spinach to heal. He's tough - but as long as he only injures one of you, it shouldn't be too difficult. Once you've won, return to the Holy Shrine to get help from Aruvin. You'll pick up a very important living toy from him, Gabriel. Gabriel - Fully heals entire party - 50 PP !? - use only as the last resort. ========================================================= d) Chapter 4 : The Destiny -------------------------- Before entering the tower, I suggest fighting some of the fierce monsters that roam the swamps around the tower - you'll pick up some decent experience, and Baby might learn a transformation or two. As you might expect, The God's Tower hold's some seriously powerful monsters. At the entrance, go through the three outer doorways to find some excellent Miracle Armaments - Sword, Shield and Armor. Then go to the main area with the pretty swirling lights and go up the west staircase for a Spinach, then the right staircase to continue. For most of the monsters here, use the usual - Toughwall on one character, Contributor, and attack. Oh, you should feed Baby with some of your old armor and weapons to boost its HP, defense and offence. You won't be able to avoid battles here - just keep going, and keep killing those monsters - you'll pick up a Snoozeweed and a Fire Ring before challenging yet another boss, Anzo. Remember your Calm Ring? Equip it - you'll find out that just how vital it is now! Use the same tactics as with all the other bosses - shouldn't be too tough if you're around level 36. You'll pick up a living toy, Dark Cross, after battle. Dark Cross - Eliminates everyone's Light - Reduces everyone's defense against Light element attacks. Past the boss, there's another few floors up to go. Along the way, you'll grab a Peach Potion and a Spinach Snack - use the Peach Potion - you should be pretty low on PP by now. You'll encounter the next boss, Lanzo, after that. And, appropriately enough, you'll pick up the living toy Holy Cross after battle. Holy Cross - Eliminates everyone's Darkness - Reduces everyone's defense against Dark element attacks. After this, you will reach the tower top and uncover the truth about Baby. Then you'll witness Darkbeat and Ibkee fighting Karmine, and losing. Then, it's your turn - and you'll have to fight him without Baby's help! Well, at first, Karmine is so freaking powerful I though you had to lose - but apparently it is possible to beat him. First, set up a Timeout/Da Bomb Combo, use Mossman to soften the blows, then block. After Da Bomb goes off, switch to Toughwall, then Contributor and Windmeister. Now pray that your toys can outlast him! After that, you'll see the resurrection of Xizan. And see pig fly! Once the impressive scene is over, you can then figure your way through the little maze (hint - climb up) to get the living toy, Verseus. Once you've picked it up, it's time to explore Picard. Verseus - Everyone suffers double damage - That goes for you too, unfortunately. To find Nehani and Baby, go through the green doorway. Behind the red doorway you can find a Full Plate, which is just marginally better than your current armor. You can feed Baby your old armor to see a shocking increase in max HP. To see probably the most impressive CG scene of the entire game, go through the pink door - you'll have to find and read four books before you can leave. The one on the staircase will show you how Xizan was sealed before. Impressive, yes? Now go to the purple door next to the library and talk to Darkbeat. He'll ask for your help in locating the Holy Armor - if you remembered what you read in the library, you should know where to go now. You also get a warp key from him. Go up the staircase at the center of Picard and explore to pick up the marginally more powerful Great Sword and Steel Shield. Now go through the orange doorway. You'll be in the warp gate core, where you will find warp gates leading to various parts of the world. Here are various warp doors you can enter, and where they take you - North Door - Back to Picard Northeast Door - Galik's House East Door - West of Denvrado Southeast Door - West of God's Tower South Door - Island of Jungo Southwest Door - East of Den Heldar West Door - West of Trisken Northwest Door - Kell Underground For now, you can pick which place to go, remember what you read in the library? You can go to Nord Temple, Kerple, Castle Ryan and Denime Cave. Take your pick! I've listed them in order of difficulty. =Kerple= The easiest armor piece to pick up. Warp to Den Heldar, then fly to Kerple island. Go back into the Yugonga cave, back to the spot with the pretty light beam. You'll be warped deeper into the hero's shrine, and meet a Guardian. Use the tried-and-true boss fighting method - Toughwall, Contributor, Windmeister, fight. For all your efforts, the Holy Helmet is actually weaker than your Zeppetto Helm! =Denime Cave= Fly to your old haunt, Olgo, to save, then fly east of it to find Denime Cave... or Denime Tree, whatever you want to call it. You should be around level 36 or 37. At the entrance, go west. What's this? A tree inside a tree? Swirl your camera to get a Quilted Armor. Feed it to Baby; it's worthless any other way. Now return and proceed to the south passage for a living toy Resetter. Resetter - Resets the battle - If you feel you've screwed up in battle, this is better than hitting the reset button. Return and go through the only other passage in the northeast. At the north-south junction go north for a Spinach Snack, then proceed South. After a while, you'll reach an exit. Don't go through it yet; look around this room for a Twisted Shield, which is also junk. Go in and nab the chest for a Twisted Sword, then jump into the swirling light. A guardian battle awaits! As usual, use the same old tactics. Should not be even remotely hard. =Castle Ryan= As far as I know, you can only get here by flying on Baby. It's a good idea to keep to level 38 or 39 here - the monsters aren't all that tough, but they are a lot of them! At the starting bit, head west - you should eventually spot a treasure chest with a few fierce monsters and a doorway near it. The chest itself only contains a really crummy dark sword. Go through the door nearest to it to enter a large room containing yet another crummy dark armor. Go south from the large room and you'll find a stuck door. Forget about it for the moment. Leave those staircases in each corner alone, too. Proceed through the east doorway. Grab the chest for a crummy dark shield, then follow the south passage. You'll eventually reach a chest with a Spinach Snack. Going west takes you back to where you picked up your first dark armament, so go north down the stairs. It's monsters and treasures galore! Explore each of the rooms and you'll find a sickweed, an Earth Ring, a Cheeseburger, a Toadstool, another Toadstool, a Spinach Snack, and then a staircase going further down. Pass the monster-infested passage, you'll meet Know Owl. Talk to him to find out about the switches, then grab the very cool Assassin living toy nearby. Assassin - Attacks after 3 rounds - Hey, isn't that Mr. O'Neil with a machine gun? He takes three rounds to prepare himself, but after that he goes into a machine gun frenzy. Useful if you use it with Timeout. Go back to the large room. Now go through the southeast staircase for a switch and a chest. The chest contains a living toy, Classique. Go back to the big room and go up the southwest staircase for a similar room and another living toy, Freakz. And, would you believe that the northwest staircase has a chest and a switch too? This time with a living toy Dr. Gas? It isn't hard to imagine that the northeast staircase would lead to a switch and a living toy, Confuso. Remember to switch on all four switches while your at it. Classique - Puts everyone to sleep - Equip a Wake Ring before you use this. Freakz - Terrorizes everyone - Equip a Brave Ring before you use this. Dr. Gas - Poisons everyone - Keep an Angel Tear handy. Confuso - Can't you guess? - Equip a Mind Ring before you use this. Now you can proceed through the once-sealed doorway to challenge the guardian for another piece of the holy armor. The old technique works fine, but you can try out a new one - Use Timeout, Assassin and then Contributor. Once Timeout is used up, use Toughwall to protect one of your characters. That way, you've got both Contributor and Assassin hitting the enemy hard without much lag time for the powerful Assassin. It helps to be level 39 or 40 for Knight. Once the battle is over, grab that Holy Sword. You're done for Castle Ryan; proceed north all the way to leave. =Nord Temple= First, fly to Penguii (there's a spot just north of town where you can land). Talk to the blue penguin and say yes to get a living toy, Mermaid. Then, search the large snowman for a living toy, Frooze. Mermaid - Does Water Damage - Fire monsters beware! Frooze - Turns enemy into popsicle - Relatively useful. Now go rest and save the game, and prepare to go ice trekking to the Nord Temple. You should be around level 40 by now. First, go north for a crappy Obro armor (why are the armors you find lately so junk?). I would suggest equipping Wake Ring if you have one when fighting the monsters here. Baby can learn some neat transformations while you're fighting too. Further north you'll find a wind ring. You'll eventually reach a dead end with a junk Obro Shield. Return back to the start, then go west, into the doorway. Go up the stairs and into the room for the living toy Draken. Draken - Halves everyone's HP - It's a good trade if you have bosses with ridiculously high HP - just make sure you heal after that. Return and head east. Once you reach the slide, slide down. Then take the east slide and enter the cave for an Aztec Sword (yes, it does suck). Then choose the east slide again. You get all the way to the bottom and enter the cave there. You'll encounter a penguin and you can sleep and rest with him. After that you'll find yourself back at the slides area. Take the east, then west slide and follow it down to a cave with a living toy Frostall. Frostall - Freezes everyone - Even more useful. Now go back up one more time. Take the middle slide down twice, then the longer west slide. Down again, and then enter the cave. Get ready for the last guardian! Usual tactics will work. Now go back to Picard and talk to Darkbeat. ========================================================= e) Chapter 5 : Last Battle -------------------------- Finally, a new look for Knight! After wearing them and proving that you're the legendary hero instead of Darkbeat, you'll be warped away to fight Darwin. He is probably the strongest boss you've fought since Karmine, but don't let it bother you - the Toughwall technique still works here. Be sure you're level 40 and above. Once you're done, you can re-equip your better equipment (hey, shouldn't your looks change back too?). When Darwin offers to send you to the storm cloud, refuse. You now can travel the world and pick up any living toy you might have missed along the way, get some new transformations for Baby, and buy some supplies. - You can go back to the Coastal Inn and check the first floor for a hidden chest containing the living toy Whyme. Whyme - All the enemies will want to attack Whyme - Hilarious! And very useful too, I might add. - Bonik's shop at Jungo is now open. Search the barrel for a Spinach Snack, then check the shop for the best armaments in the game. And damn, they're expensive! Buy what you can. Incidentally, if you talk to the people around Jungo, you'll find out that they are out of work because no ships are coming. - At Zed Harbor, monsters will start attacking when you enter. Fight the four wimpy gargoyles (you shouldn't even need to use any living toys) and then go for the leader Bosmie. This guy is tough - use Samurai, then Toughwall on Baby, then toss in Mermaid (he's weak against water attacks) and Contributor for maximum damage. Use Angel or Gabriel to heal. Now talk to the governor for a living toy Cheergirl. Cheergirl - Boosts offensive power. - Useful indeed. By the way, this toy is mistakenly named Cheerleader in the manual. - If you visit old man Rogo again, he'll tell you he has found a living toy, Avalanche. Similarly, return to Carmarthen Mines and talk to a miner for Voodoodoll. Avalanche - Causes Earth Damage - Does big damage on wind-element monsters Voodoodoll - Kills enemy once every four times - Too bad it doesn't work on bosses. - At Den Heldar, talk to detective Longnose to pick up a living toy, Sermone. This is a very important toy! Sermone - Revives one if knocked out - Wonder why there isn't anything like this sooner? - If you return to Isten, you'll find out that several people, including Marco (the guy you "help" elect as mayor, remember?) have disappeared. Go to his house and talk to Carmen, then go to the temple - you'll spot a gargoyle straight away and fight. After the battle, Marco and Carmen will get married. And you'll get drunk too... After waking up, you can talk to everyone to find out about Bonik's rising fame. Talk to Carmen to get a living toy, Marilyn. Marilyn - Fully restores one's HP - Hell yeah, it's about time! - After rescuing Marco, you can go to the temple at Garam. Talk to the priest there and you'll end up in another Gargoyle fight. After the battle, you can search the chest (that can't be open earlier, remember?) for a living toy, Champiano. Champiano - Kills all enemies for half your PP - Sadly, it doesn't work on bosses, but useful if you don't mind the PP loss. - If you visit Trisken, you'll find out that monsters are attacking this city too. Fight off the seven gargoyles, then talk to the old man in green by the entrance of the castle to fight him. The wizard Org will summon a huge bird Velmine into battle. Use the Toughwall technique, transform Baby into an earth-based monster, and it shouldn't be too difficult. Calling in your newly-found Avalanche works too. After the battle, go to the castle and talk to the king for a living toy, Generosity. Generosity - Gives you a gift when you win - Usually you get Rubies, sometimes some assorted items. - North of Trisken, in the mountains, there is a small area with a lot of rare monsters which Baby might learn transformations from. Killing them also sometimes net you some rare armor and weapons, not to mention lots of experience points. There's another one of these spots northeast of Orgo. - There's an extra dungeon called Kisa Canyon northwest of God's Tower. Most of the monsters here run like the blazes just spotting you, so exploring the place isn't too tough. However, do be careful when you do fight them - they can be tough! First, go north - you'll eventually see a branch holding a nest with some eggs. No idea what it is there for though. Rotate your camera here for a next-to-impossible to spot chest containing a cheeseburger. Now, head west and through the passage. In the next area, immediately look around for a VERY hard to spot chest containing an Attack Sword. Unfortunately it doesn't live up to it's name, so pop it into Baby's mouth instead for a healthy boost of offence. In the next area, go north all the way to get a Spinach Snack. Then enter the nearest passage and then head further west. You can immediately spot a chest here containing the living toy Ninja. Ninja - Use secret ninja moves - All its attacks have various effects. He's still somewhat crap, though. Further in, you'll meet the Holy Dragon. This guy is dangerous because of his tendency to freeze both of you in one blow. Stick to using Toughwall to protect at least one of you, then toss in your best toys. After the battle, you'll pick up a living toy, D'Artagnan. D'Artagnan - Attacks enemy with spear - The second strongest attacking toy of the game. But for 20PP?! - You should now have all 68 living toys. Go back to Zeppetto's place to claim the last and most powerful living toy, Legend. And you'll also find out the truth about Zeppetto. Legend - Zeppetto's final masterpiece - Is this the Knights of Round of Guardian's Crusade? It costs 50PP to summon, but dishes out damage that make your eyes pop! 500+ points of damage per round?! Build your levels until they hit 47-50. Now that you are really ready, return to the Throne of the Holy Warrior and talk to Darwin. You'll be flying up into the air to take on Xizan - but be prepared for a familiar face - it's Karmine! You'll then see another familiar face - it's Darkbeat and Ibkee! You friend will help take on Karmine, so you can proceed to challenge Xizan. There'll be a very touching scene... and then the final battle begins. Time to dish out your best boys! Spare no PP - launch Toughwall to protect you or Baby, then summon Contributor and D'Artagnan. After one or two rounds, Baby will try and say something. In the very next turn, talk to Baby and you'll see a new option - Guardian. Use it and behold Baby's adult form! After a while, Xizan might wipe away your toys. Now use Legend and watch it and Baby double team to crush Xizan. But the battle is not over... After a seeming victory, Xizan breaks the seal again! This time, you'll be sent to sleep. Then... I won't spoil this bit for you. You finally take on Xizan one last time in his third form. He only has one attack, the Hellwind. Even if it misses often, it still packs a massive wallop when hit. Three whacks of it will knock away all your living toys! And by then you'd almost be dead anyway. Be thankful you start the battle with full HP and PP. Use Toughwall initially to block one character's damage, then launch Contributor and fight. Heal when needed using Marilyn. If you lose all your toys or run out of PP, use Timeout, then Assassin, then spend the next two rounds healing with items and restoring PP, or summoning another strong toy of your choice. When you've lost Toughwall, use Angel to heal (Gabriel is too expensive on the PP). Now bring in the big boys, Legend and D'Artagnan (or just one of them if you don't have the PP) - you should be moping him up pretty soon. Still got problems? Try using Draken to halve his HP first, then heal yourself (he usually misses his first few attacks). Congratulations, you've won Guardian's Crusade! Incidentally, as far as I know, there are no extra endings whatsoever if you find all the living toys.