Part 29: Tidal Caves and Cliff

Main Walkthrough

Thanks to the mystery sorcerer Deis, Ryu has unlocked prana, a guiding light that will take the group to God. It turns out that God lives on the other side of the world, however, and the group needs a boat to take them there. They only know one group that owns a boat, but... the vessel is an ongoing source of contention.

If you visit Shadis in Rhapala she'll tell you that Beyd, who is now more or less in charge of the Porter's Guild, has gone to Junk Town to see about the boat. In the south of Junk Town you'll find Beyd with some members of his guild, though they will leave quickly. This will grant you access to the areas south of Junk Town.

Head down to the Dock, southwest of Junk Town. Aside from a pair of sea lice that hint at a torturous relationship, all you'll find here are mechanics at work at the Porter's Guild in a state of frustration. The boat is here, but it sits docked in a sit of disrepair, lacking the necessary parts to make it run. Beyd hints that someone with greater knowhow of machines might expedite matters.

Put Momo in your party and speak to Beyd with her in the lead. She'll eagerly set about repairing the vessel, though there's only so much Momo can do without the proper parts. She'll give the rest of the team a Memo with a diagram of the things she needs. Momo will remain inside the boat until the repairs are complete, so she's not available for the next section of the game.

A member of the Machine Guild will tell you to discuss finding parts with his chief. Reenter Junk Town and look in the first larger home to the north of the town's southern entrance, on the lower level. The chief is here, and he'll tell you to go to Steel Beach. It's located northwest of Junk Town. Before you do, though, there are a few things you should do first:

  • Put Garr in your party. He'll need to perform some manual labor before you can gather any parts.
  • Unequip any weapons with the Electric property. Junk Town sells a few such weapons, and they won't help much in the coming battle.
  • Equip the Thunder Ring on one of your active party members. It's found in the Tidal Caves, a location we visited in the previous section of the walkthrough.
  • Head west of the entrance to Steel Beach. At the end of a cape you'll find a fishing hut. Check inside the hut and you'll find the ??? Gene behind the white curtain at the rear of the hut. You can also find a Swallow Eye in the hut's lone dresser. The ??? Gene allows for a few unique dragon transformations.
  • Fish, if you feel up to it. There are two Fishing Spots to the west of Steel Beach, and the spot near the hut were you found the ??? Gene has a Manillo merchant. You can trade for the Demonsbane and the Aries Spear with this fellow.

Head to Steel Beach once you're done prepping and looking around. It appears on the map as a small cave, a short walk northwest of Junk Town.

Steel Beach

Assuming you've gotten permission from the Machine Guild's chief, you'll be granted access to Steel Beach upon arrival - though you can only look around, not search for parts. You need to convince someone else before you can go scrouging... though you don't need permission to collect the Mutant Gene that's sitting in the north of Steel Beach, right by the water. The Mutant Gene will randomize your dragon, to an extent.

Head northeast along the beach until you see the bovine foreman of the site, standing near the water. He doesn't think the team is tough enough to search for parts on the beach, which includes a Freighter full of monsters. Put Garr in the lead and the foreman will be more impressed... though he still wants to test Garr's strength before he'll give permission. Minigame time!

This minigame seems more complicated than it is. Garr and the foreman need to work together to haul junk in from the sea by pulling on ropes. Without getting too complicated, you need to do the following:

  • Tap the X button whenever the nearby chimp raises the red flag
  • Stop tapping and do nothing when the chimp raises the white flag
  • Keep a distance of less than two meters between Garr's count, at the top-left of the screen, and the foreman's count, at the top-right - you'll know you're getting close to the limit when the numbers turn red

As long as you don't jump the gun pulling the rope when it isn't Garr's turn you shouldn't have too much trouble with this minigame. Tap at a steady pace, then move your finger away from the button when the red flag isn't in the air. You'll likely need to tap a bit harder to keep up with the foreman a bit later in the game, and in general it's better to have the foreman lagging behind than you.

Once you reach a little less than five meters the minigame will abruptly end. Time for something a little more exciting.

Angler

Steal: Fish-Head
Drop: None
Learn: Bone Dart

That... is not a heap of junk. Angler specializes in Electric attacks, and won't take a ton of damage from any of your own. It uses the following abilities in battle:
  • A melee body slam
  • Venom Breath, which can Poison the whole party
  • Bone Dart, which can Confuse a single character
  • Thunder Clap, an Electric attack against a single character
Aside from Bone Dart, which can throw a wrench in your plans, this is a straightforward battle. Either batter Angler with your most powerful, non-Electric attacks from the whole party, or transform Ryu into a dragon and use a Claw attack to do most of the damage. A Thunder Dragon will take no damage from Thunder Clap, if you want a slightly longer - but safer - battle.


Defeating the Angler will more than prove the team's strength, and the foreman will allow you to look around to your heart's content. Leave Steel Beach to heal away the damage from the battle, then return and begin your search for Momo's parts. They appear on the map as unique sprites, and are hidden all over the place. Whenever you collect a part Momo's memo will appear, and if you check in with Momo she'll mark off pieces on the memo, giving you a rough idea of how many more parts you still need.

Begin with Steel Beach itself, where you won't need to fight any monsters. You'll find the following parts washed up on the sand:
  • There's a Part A sitting a short distance north of the foreman, and it will appear immediately after you defeat the Angler.
  • You'll find a Part B south of the foreman, sitting on a heap of garbage that's being searched by a blonde guy with a stick.
  • If you check along the cliff's edge running along the northern end of the beach you can find a hidden Part H. Look east of the foreman, twisting the camera as you approach the cliff.
  • You'll find a hidden Part F right beside the entrance to the Freighter. Approach the welder near the entrance and twist the camera around to spot the part.
  • Southeast of the entrance to the Freighter is a Part G, hidden by the southern cliffs. Twist the camera to spot it.
That's everything you'll find on the shore. Time to head into the Freighter, on the west side of Steel Beach.


Freighter

Monsters
  • Bolt - Steal Berries, Drop Royal Dagger
  • Bolt Archer - Steal Berries, Drop Panacea, Learn Blind
  • Bolt Mage - Steal Berries, Drop Robe of Wind
The interior of the Freighter has many more parts to collect, and they're easy to miss if you don't spend a lot of time messing with the camera. Most of what you need to find is on the lower level, though you can also find two parts on the upper level. There's a Part D behind the steel partition running northwest from the entrance, and if you walk northwest to the end of the area you'll find a Part B sitting out in the open.

(If you walk far enough northwest you'll find a locked door. Not even Rei can open this thing. You'll come through here again later, don't worry.)


Climb down into the belly of the Freighter. You'll see several moveable beams down here that you can raise and lower by hitting levers. You'll need to manipulate these beams several times to collect all of the parts. Let's get started:
  • Raise the beam to the right of the ladder you climbed down to reach the bottom. This will allow you to slip under the beam and get at a Part C.
  • Run northwest along the south end of the ship. On the other side of the central beam you'll find a Part D. You can also find a Part H hidden near the central beam, behind the partition near the lever.
  • Lower the central beam as far as it will go, then head northwest. A third beam is over here. Raise it so you can walk underneath.
  • Run to the northwest end of the Freighter. Check behind the shipping crates to the north to find a Part E, as well as a chest containing a Robe of Wind. Check the crates to the south to find a hidden Part C.
  • Return to the ladder leading back to the entrance. You can use the upper platform to walk along the tops of the beams. Along this path you'll find a Part A and a Part C.
  • Head back to the lower level and return the western beam to its lowest position. Walk along the beams again and you can get at a Part F.
And that's that. Head back to the Dock and speak to Momo. Assuming you collected all the parts, she'll finish repairing the boat's engine...


... and you will finally, finally get to ride in the stupid thing. Speak to Nina out on the deck and you'll learn why the boat got wrecked: It ran afoul of the Black Ship, a much larger vessel that operates on its own mysterious agenda. That might be important.

The ship will return to Rhapala, where Beyd will hand it over to the party. The Porter's Guild will also provide its best sailor to pilot it for you: None other than Zig, who you'll learn is less of a jerk than you might have initially thought. Go figure. With the boat in your hands you can now explore the seas, and make an attempt at sailing across the ocean. 


... though it won't go well. Climb aboard and speak to Zig, then everyone in the party, then back to Zig. You can now freely steer the boat. (It controls a bit like a tank. You'll have to get used to that.) Head northwest towards darker waters and it will immediately become clear that you can't cross an ocean in this ship. Zig will mention something about a Legendary Mariner who might be able to help, which means your best bet is trying to track the man down.

Main Walkthrough