Legend of Legaia - Part 3 - Noa's Arc

 

Last time, on Legend of Legaia Z- *smack*

Welcome back to the Legend of Legaia playthrough.  Last time, we stepped foot into the world outside Rim Elm, and ventured deep into the mist infested Drake Castle, seeking a nearby Genesis Tree.  Today, we head to Mt. Rikuroa, where we are told the next Genesis Tree lies.

 

That mountain looks weird from a bird's eye view

From the north exit of Drake Castle – where we left off – it’s a short hike to the mountain.  I haven’t encountered any enemies in between, but I’d assume they’d be the same as we’ve fought in the overworld.

 

We reach Mt. Rikuroa, but before we can head forward, Meta stops Vahn, saying he senses another Ra-seru like him nearby.

And now, we change perspective!  To the north of Mt. Rikuroa…

We are greeted by a new character.  Much like Vahn, I’ll leave this girl’s name as Noa.

Welcome to BlackSpace.  You don't recall ever being here...

 

In this nondescript blackspace, Noa hears a voice, calling out to her.  The voice appears to be coming from her mother.  Noa tries to run towards the voice, until…

 

Ever had those days where you woke up to a talking wolf?

Noa awakens from a dream.  A wolf by the name of Terra wakes her up.  She comforts Noa, and asks her to follow her.  Notice that this wolf is speaking to a human.  Also, you may note the green gem-like object on the wolf’s head.  Hmm…

Anyways, now we’re playing as Noa!  There’s not much to do around here, so let’s do what Terra says and follow her through this cave.  As we follow the wolf, she quizzes us about stuff we’ve learned so far about the plot.

"Have you been paying attention to the plot, Noa?"

 

You don’t get anything special by selecting all the right answers the first time, from what I can remember, so feel free to mess up if you want, and watch Noa act all bashful.  If you’re really struggling with the questions, the answers are, in this order: Seru and human, a Genesis Tree, and Mt. Rikuroa.

 

Terra explains to Noa that they’ve been trapped in this cave, but one day, they’ll escape and reach Mt. Rikuroa.

There are a couple of Healing Shrooms along the way, so don’t forget to pick those up.  They’re basically Healing Leaves under a different name – restores 200 HP.

Wolf mom teaching her kid how to fight

 

We follow Terra to this spot for training.  We can fight these Piuras for some EXP as well as learn some new arts for Noa.  As Terra hints, the Red Piura is weaker, while the black ones are stronger.  And with that, let’s do some fighting!

4 attacks - wow!

 

As we enter battle, you’ll notice something about Noa: she can attack 4 times!  She’s also pretty fast, even while starting at lvl 1, as she often gets the first attack.  Anyways, this is a good time to try out new arts.  A lot of what I’ve got learned up to this point, I’ll be honest: I’ve remembered from past playthroughs.  But I certainly don’t remember every art.  What I plan to do in this playthrough is to try to figure out new arts either by myself or from what the game teaches me.  Apparently, the auto-attack command is another way to learn new arts, or at least that’s one statue back in the hunter’s spring explains.  I’ve tried it multiple times and haven’t had much luck with it, so I feel I’m better off inputting the moves myself. (Easy mode 4 scrubs – Manual all the way)

Wolf mom also cares for human child

 

After defeating a Piura, you can come back to Terra, and she will heal your wounds.  After sparring with a couple of piuras (about 3 will do), we can return back to camp.  From a strategy guide I read a long time ago (or some other source), you can apparently learn a new art from Terra during this training session, but I don’t think I’ve ever had that happen.  Either that, or I’ve already learned the art that Terra would teach me.

As we head back to camp, Terra talks about how she wants to explain everything to Noa when the time is right.  But before we head further, the cave starts rumbling.  That was quite an earthquake.

Of course, you can't tell an earthquake happened from a still image like this

 

Danger approaches

But things start to get worse; the mist starts crawling in.  Terra takes this as an opportunity to escape from the cave, as there should be an opening from where the mist is coming.  But we should be careful, as the monsters now run rampant here.

I don't think you wanna eat this mushroom...

 

We’ll encounter a Mushroom.  Unlike the healing shrooms we’ve been collecting, this mushroom hurts.  Fortunately, it’s not too strong, and you should be able to take it out.  High attacks will do no damage, as it’s a bit low on the ground.  This monster may drop a healing shroom.

The middle child of the Piura family, and therefore, the most neglected

 

Blue Piura is much like the other piuras we’ve fought.  It doesn’t seem to be as strong as black piura, but be careful of its drill attack.

Don't kid with this squid, ya dig?

 

Theeder – as you may notice its element like Gimard – is a seru.  Unfortunately, Noa doesn’t have a Ra-seru to capture it, so we’ll just have to fight it as is.  It’s a bit stronger than the other monsters we’ve encountered in this cave, so be careful.  As usual with flying monsters, low attacks will do no good.

We catch up with Terra back at camp, and notice a new crack in the wall.  At this point, Terra will join our party!  Use the save point, and let’s head onward.

Wolf mom joins our party

 

With Terra in our party, battles will be a lot safer.  While she doesn’t do a lot of damage, or even do much in battle (she may do nothing for a turn), Terra gives the enemies another target to go after, and with seemingly infinite HP (?), she’s great as a damage sponge (as mean as that sounds).  But the main draw with this wolf is that she can heal Noa.  Whenever Noa reaches around half HP (or when her HP turns yellow), Terra will restore Noa’s HP, meaning we don’t need to waste our healing resources.

…I wish I knew that earlier when I used up a healing shroom and Terra healed me on the same turn.

We follow the narrow tunnel to see light at the end.  We finally reached the outside world!

 

Now, our next destination is obviously Mt. Rikuroa to the south, but let’s explore a bit.  There’s another path to the east we should check out.

 

The Mist is too thick

As we head to the path eastward, the mist gets more and more dense.  Terra explains that there is a Mist Generator that’s been the source of the mist in this land.  As the mist grows thicker, Terra grows weak, so it would be a good idea to leave this place for now.  But before we do that… check the treasure chest to the right.

Missable item!  Don't miss this one out.

 

It’s a Nail Glove for Noa!  As far as I know, this equipment is missable, and it’s the only weapon we can give Noa for a while, so make sure you go out of your way to get this one!

 

Now entering: Mt. Rikuroa

Now, let’s get back on track; head south to Mt. Rikuroa.  Our goal is the Genesis Tree at the top of the mountain.  As you’d expect, the mountain is crawling with monsters.  But with Terra by your side, it shouldn’t be too bad.

This cave seems to be unstable...

 

We enter a cave, and find some treasure chests.  Scarlet Jewel raises upper defense by 20% - a decent accessory for Noa, as she’s got nothing equipped for defense.  Power water’s an excellent item, as it permanently raises the user’s attack power.  I’m gonna save this one until we get our full party.  Yeah spoilers: we’re gonna get at least one more party member.  Just in case the cover art didn’t make it any more obvious 😛

We reach the end of the cave, only to get blocked by a golem.

"Look at my sweet polygons!"

 

We’re gonna have to fight our way if we wanna get through.

Dude's got a pretty symmetrical look on him

 

Fortunately, this monster isn’t too hard.  Again; Terra will heal Noa’s wounds should her HP gets too low.  Just focus on hitting golem with your best moves.  You also win a guardian water for winning the battle.

After the battle, the cave starts crumbling, so Noa and Terra rush out to the exit before the cave caves in.  Terra, exhausted, asks Noa to wait for a bit.

Gasp what a revelation

 

 

 

Terra decides to explain everything to Noa at this point.  As you may have guessed: Terra is actually a Ra-seru, and she’s been using this wolf’s body to care for Noa this whole time.  Unfortunately, this wolf has grown old, and Terra will die if she stays attached to it.  The reason why Terra wanted to reach the Genesis Tree is so that she can transfer herself onto Noa, so she can be by her side until Noa finds her real parents.

A small detail I’d like to point out: I feel the wolf’s old age is also represented by how Terra tends to skip a turn during battle, or how she does so little damage: because she’s too fatigued to fight.  I love it when games translate plot elements to actual gameplay mechanics, and this is a small detail I like.

Now, at this point, you’d be asking: “What about the fact that Terra has infinite HP?  That doesn’t coincide with your explanation!”

 

 

With her explanation out of the way, Terra is fully rested, and we continue on our journey.  We head into this short cave, and find a save point inside.  I should warn you: past this cave is a boss, so if you want to do some level grinding, don’t go out yet.  I went out of my way to go up to level 7.  Because of wolf mom Terra’s healing, I can do some grinding here.  And while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about the monsters here:

 

Those are some pretty cool wings, ngl

Vera is another seru Noa cannot capture unfortunately.  While this seru isn’t too powerful with its regular attacks, it’s bloodsucker move is pretty dangerous.  It can do 2x damage if you’re spirited up, so be careful of that!  Also, it’s a flying monster, so low attacks do no damage.

The oversized Worm isn’t particularly dangerous.  Just beat it with your moves, and it should be down in no time.

A pumpkin bat!  What the heck?

 

Pump Bat’s a pretty tough monster.  Generally, it hits pretty hard with its regular attacks.  A spirited attack should be able to take it down in 1 turn (given you learned some good arts).  Also, it’s a flying monster, so low attacks ain’t gonna work.  No, the wings on the ground don’t count!  It also tends to run away if it’s alone.

6 moves!  That's pretty great

 

Speaking of spirit: look what I can do when I spirit up Noa – she can fit 6 attacks!  Also, I can’t believe I still remember tempest break after all these years.  Muscle memory hasn’t failed me yet!

With the grinding session satisfied (or you just wanna progress the plot), let’s head outside.  We’ve finally reached the Genesis Tree!

 

Terra reminisces about how she met Noa.  While sleeping in the tree, Terra heard a baby’s cry – Noa’s cry.  She couldn’t attach to Noa, as she was too small, so she chose to attach to this wolf.

It's the rare middle text box

 

But before we could get closer to the tree, the two hear a voice.  Zeto has come to ruin the fun and explains that he was responsible for the recent earthquake, in the hopes of drowning the 2 in the mist.  It turned out to be a blessing in disguise for us, but Zeto has a plan B: summon Caruban, a seru monster that takes the form of a winged lion.

 

Not exactly the smartest move here, wolf mom

Ouchie ouch

Terra tries to fight off Caruban, but to no avail.  Terra’s life, along with the wolf, seems to be nearing their end.  Things are looking dire for Noa and Terra…

Hey guys, remember us?

 

And so we cut back to Vahn!  Meta senses the presence of another Ra-seru, so it’s up to us to rescue Noa and Terra.  A side note: I’d like to think that Noa’s part of the story happened sometime before Vahn reaches Mt. Rikuroa (probably during Drake Castle), so when Vahn steps foot onto the mountain base.  That way, by the time Vahn enters the mountain area, Noa and Terra are already trying to fight off Caruban.

That, or Vahn sits there for like an hour like a dummy while Noa goes through her journey from Snowdrift Cave to Mt. Rikuroa.  That situation is probably funnier to think.

Anyways, we gotta climb up the mountain.  The enemies here are the same as what we fought from Noa’s side.  That means the Vera seru is there to capture.  And by all means, GET THIS SERU! 

It's a healing spell!  You know how good those are

 

Vera’s magic is a healing spell, and it is invaluable at the beginning of the game.  Also, it’s gonna be real helpful in an upcoming boss fight.

While the enemies are the same, you’ll notice they won’t be doing as much damage to Vahn as they did to Noa, given that you’re properly equipped.  That, and Noa is generally rather frail.

As you reach a fork in the road, head left for some more treasure.  Follow the path to find a Vahn Fist, a new weapon for Vahn.

The almighty VAHN FIST TM

 

Yes, it is called Vahn Fist.  Yes, if you changed Vahn’s name, this weapon will also change its name to whatever you named Vahn.  Yes, you could name Vahn “Butt” and get the “Butt Fist”.

Backtrack to the split path, and now let’s take the right side.  We’ll eventually cross through this tunnel, and we should find the boss on the other side.  If you need a full restore, you can head back to the safe room in Drake Castle.  It’s kind of a hike back, but it’s the closest one we got, unfortunately.

This tunnel kinda stuck out to me, for some reason

 

Once you’re ready, go through the tunnel, and we’ll find a save point.  Along with Noa trying to fight off the boss.  Step forward, and get ready to fight our first boss!

 

 

Not gonna lie: when I heard the opening notes for the boss theme, I winced a bit as memories of struggle after struggle with boss fights came back to my head.  We face off against Caruban with Vahn and Noa, and even as a first boss, Caruban is no pushover.  Caruban’s regular attacks can do almost 200 damage on Noa, so keep an eye on her HP.  It also has a fire breath attack that does about 130-150 HP damage to everyone.  It doesn’t use this attack too often, but keep everyone’s HP up in case it decides to use that move.

Ouchie ouch

 

I was playing around a bit in this fight, but if you want some tips, I suggest having Noa spirit, then attack on the next turn.  This at least gives a chance to mitigate damage done on Noa, should Caruban decide to attack her.  If you’ve learned tempest break for Noa, use it; it’s Noa’s best regular art and will probably be your best damaging move against this boss.  Noa should be able to outspeed Caruban, so if you need some emergency healing, get Noa to toss out a healing item.

For Vahn, he’ll be able to tank a bit more damage than Noa, thanks to him actually having armor.  If you got Vera, you can use that as your main source of healing.  Lvl 1 Vera should restore about 250 HP – a bit more than a healing leaf.  Vahn’s tornado flame won’t do as much as Noa’s tempest break, but it is your best 3-hit move you’ve got.  Gimard can do a good amount of damage, given that it’s leveled up well.

A quick note on using magic on bosses: you may come across a message that says “no effect”, despite doing damage onto the boss.  The “no effect” does not refer to the fact that you did no damage – it refers to the debuff not working!  For a long time when I first played this game, I thought that magic was ineffective against bosses, but no; that’s just really bad conveyance.  Magic does work against bosses; you just can’t debuff them normally.

With enough damage done (and with enough persistence), Caruban finally falls.  A tired Terra asks Vahn to bring her closer to the Genesis Tree.  Vahn does exactly that, and with the help of Meta, he awakens the Genesis Tree.

 

MORE RADIATING TREES

The tree shines a brilliant light, its aura pushing the mist away from the mountain, and away from Drake Castle.

 

Oops, the tree missed one

 

Don't worry about the last guy - he also turns back to normal.

Inside the castle, we see the Genesis Tree affecting the possessed humans, separating them from the seru.  We also see King Drake return to normal.  At last, Drake Castle is free from the mist. 

Back at Mt. Rikuroa, we see Terra rejuvenated, and the Ra-seru detaches herself from the wolf, and places herself onto Noa’s arm.  She asks Noa to go with Vahn on his journey to revive the Genesis Trees.

 

With that done, Meta levels up!

 

Goodbye, wolf mom :(

Noa notices the wolf leaving, and tries to follow her, but Terra urges her not to do so.  Just a small scene I thought was worth mentioning.  Noa decides to join with Vahn, and now we have a new party member!

Alright, I think this is a good place to stop.  Next time: we head back to Drake Castle, and see where that will lead us!