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Thanks to Vinic for implementing chain articles, so I don't have to link back to earlier articles myself now.



Didn't do any level crunching between chapters this time, since we've got a pretty good sized force and our general level is high enough to carry us through most of the main game anyway. Before we move on to the intro, though, let's take a look at the headlines.



You can bet we'll be hearing more about this later.



Oh, this should be good.



Probably because there were demons running around.



Man, they're just going to blame us for everything.

Come on Saffron, I know you had to take credit for defeating them and all, but you could have at least put in a good word for us!

Examination of the mail just reveals some gameplay tips and a new hate letter, so we'll skip those.



Another rich guy wants to hire us, it appears.



Heading back to Vapor Island.



Malt's a Scrabbit, though he doesn't speak like one.



Even if we do end up being framed as responsible for demon appearances!



There's that name again.



The stuff of legends, our mysterious Scarlet.



Perhaps... ceremony means nothing to him?



Time to do some investigation.



Earth, Wind and Fire, back to the Shire!



Every great hero has a great birthmark.



But to get through his castle you'll need to buy a feather from a duck in a Hawaiian shirt.

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So we make our way across the island.



Not quite what I had in mind, but whatever.



John Wayne's real name was "Marion", if I recall correctly.



Do I detect a hint of jealousy?



Cue fight scene.



Yeah, it's another high-bonus board. Just with Saber Kitties this time.



This is a bit more challenging, though. There's a good twenty of them on this map, as well as two tougher ones on the far edge.



Yes, they are getting their protections, from a phonograph. No, that's not the weirdest object you'll find on a battlefield in this game.

Next board!



Well, finally a protection that might pose a threat. All the enemies near us have 7 times their normal defense beamed out by this rock.



There's also a neutral Behemoth on the far end, but as he's twice the recommended level of the board you may not want to mess with him just yet. Just let him finish off the Saber Kitties nearest him and deal with the rest yourself.

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Milon's a... Zombie?



I hope not!



Alright, our first encounter with slippery terrain. Most of this field is taken up by a slope that'll send you sliding around if you try moving on it. This can actually work somewhat to your advantage, though - if you just move in short bursts, you'll slide between each move, so you can cover much more ground than you'd be able to move walking normally. Also, don't forget that if you slide too far (or not far enough), you can hit Circle to cancel back to the start of your move and try again.

Also, you can negate sliding to an extent by utilizing targeting - for an area effect spell that allows you to move via the Square button, just hold down the Square button to move and you won't slide around at all. For single-target moves, just target a nearby enemy - you'll walk right over to them, stop and then attack as usual.

There's also bouncy terrain, which is more annoying since your character can waste a lot of their movement trying to stop on a specific place, unable to because they're bouncing around so much. Fortunately you don't run into really bouncy terrain too much outside of random dungeons.



Really bad name pun. Lady Zombies are basically the same as plain Zombies statwise. They also bear an odd resemblance to Rem from Death Note.



Unlike most "bosses" you've faced so far, Milon's really not much tougher than your average zombie. Just come into the fight with an average party level of 12 or so and you should be fine.

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Time to report back.



Hah! They brought Milon with them!



I'm not sure what's funnier, that they brought him all the way here or that Ash didn't raise any objections about it.



Well, at least we got paid this time.



For now, anyway.

"Alright, let's head home and work on cleaning the smell of decay out of our ship."
"What about Milon?"
"Just dump him in the sewer."



Oh hey, we've got the Saber Kitty class available too.



Too bad they're just a slight variation on Scrabbits.

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Next time: Chapter 6, where business is serious.

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- Spoony Spoonicus <- 1:52:16 am, saturday, march 29th, 2008 pdt <- (updated 2:11:46 am, sat, mar 29th, 2008 pdt)