Secret of Mana - Part 18: The Witch's Castle
Written on Monday, January 29th, 2018
Posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2018
3 min read
Aside: I always imagine the ominous noise when the SQUARESOFT logo appears to sound like it came from the wind whistling from a deep cave of sorts. It adds a lot of depth to the game before it starts.
After saving at the inn and recovering, we make our long, hard trek back to the castle...
Now at the main hall again, and I've used up almost all of my recovery items so far making it back.
Round 2 with the Eye Spy and his Chobin Hood minions!
With care and ease, we quickly take care of them!
Let's see what's behind the door here...
Inside, there's a wide staircase at the end of the room, a table, and a set of chairs. The chairs come to life and attack Hero and the party!
So the chairs, or Polter Chairs, are what they're called. Once they're finished, they make a high-pitched noise, indicating the ghosts haunting those chairs are gone.
We're now in the second floor, where there's two sets of stairs...
And at the top, more Eye Spies!
I have Hero prevent the west Eye Spy from spawning reinforcements by taking care of him asap.
After both Eye Spies are gone, I have Hero press on a switch, opening the passage forward to an empty room with a clock on the wall, a long table, and three Polter Chairs, who overpower us immediately!
And I get my first real Game Over...
I take no chances. I restock on Cups of Wishes at the Dwarf Village, and level grind a bit before taking on the castle.
On the way to the castle, I notice the Werewolf's using Lunar Boost to boost his attack power!
At the entrance, I take control of Pidge to take care of the sentries there...
We're almost exhausted...we decide to head back...
More monsters to fend off!
I use Pidge again since she's equipped with the Bow.
These enemies just keep respawning!
After tons of battling, I'm now back at the Dwarf Village, where I rest the party and save the game before restocking items, getting new armor, and taking on the castle once more!
Like the Sword, Watts's Axe can also chop down shrubs and roses in the way...
After Pidge and Max level up, I have them swap weapons.
The Axe's attack speed is way more slower than the Sword's, so I have Hero switch to using the Spear this time...
So it's the Werewolf who's been casting those Cure Water spells on random enemies...
I'm now back at the second floor of the castle. After taking care of the Eye Spies and their minions again, I have the party open the west gate this time.
In the next hall, there's two more black belt Werewolves guarding the way to the witch!
That battle was very exhausting...
We cross forward in the hallway and make our way west, where another switchpad is. Pressing it did nothing here. We head down the stairs...
..into the cells where Major Dyluck's soldiers are imprisoned!
Hero unlocks the gates, saying that they've come to rescue them!
Pidge asks where the Major is. The soldier, still puzzled, guesses that he's with Elinee...
Hero points out it's useless, since the soldiers are already zombie-like. Pidge knows that Elinee's sapped their energy too...
The soldier, with the last of his active energy, gives us more hints on how to reach the witch's lair.
She's on the upper floor. To activate the switchpad, all three of the party need to press on it at the same time to open the bridge to the other side, and to get to the stairs there.
Neko got caught by the witch's minions too. We get some more supplies from him and save here.