++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ My Home Town Community Pom Walkthrough by jrattai@home.com ver 1.8 FINAL Last update Nov 29, 1998 Current now as of May 10, 2001 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Table of Contents Section Contents 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction by Jaymes 3 Game Controls 4 Items List 5 The Poms, and their abilities 6 Statistics of Luru and Poms 7 The actual walkthrough ( get a snack... this might take a while ) 8 Thanks ***Introduction*** I recently came upon this Japanese game around 1998, and have found some time to play and enjoy the game. The game was worked on by "Fill in Cafe" and "Witch Switch Team", developed in 1997. Check out http://www.fillincafe.co.jp note: I recently checked the link above, and there is nothing there. :( I highly recommend The 09th MS Platoon: Anime Game Emulation for Anime Game faqs and walkthroughs http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/4578 Make sure you can read japanese, and have a gibberish to japanese converter installed. njwin 1.6 is good. The game itself is *very* cute, and plays between a mix of Zelda, Alundra, and Sim City. I will try my best to translate the game from body language, facial expressions, etc. If I mess up, email me with the correction, as I love constructive critisism, and hints! ;) ***Controls*** "Luru" can run when you press twice in any direction. [] (square) Attack! [] hold for a parry spin, release for super hit [] hold and hit your poms for their abilities [] use in front of tent for save/load and to get poms in party O magic, or item use X Jump /\ ? (triangle) searches? R2 bring up a map R1 Call your poms to battle, or to follow you L1 Bring up your character statistics/INV L2 Bring up your pom statistics Start Pause Select Inventory/Stats ( same as L1 ) /\ Picks up poms, throws them *BUG: you can't attack or use magic in town, unless the pom community is under attack, but never use a summon in the pom community, or it will lock the game. 50/50 chance. I used the sphinx. The Map is *cute*. What more can you say. Checking map shows you in the town. Getting used to the character/item screen takes almost no time. To select the current item for use, choose [] on either magic, item, weapon, Misc, or exit. Note the cute person on the right. ***Items List*** Potions Blue Potions Small heals all your life, creates a small area Large heals all your life, in a large area Green Potions Small heals poisoning in a small area Large heals poisoning in a large area Pills +1,+2,+3 Increase Stats for Poms, consists of many colors Pink ??? I toss it, it goes away Summons Lantern Sphinx for impact damage Fishbowl Healing ( doesn't hurt enemies ) Fire Ring Fire Muscleman for fire damage Flower Healing ( also resurrects dead poms ) Seashell Whirlwind for air damage Misc Food Increases the condition of your sheep Party Toy Breaks rocks / secret walls Magic Dust Allows access to mushroom dungeon Sheep Put them in sheep pen using O Keys Allows you to open doors in dungeons Paint Red Increases stats on housing Blue Increases stats on housing Brown Increases stats on housing Food Ham Steak +1 Love, +1 Like, -2 karma, +iq Ham +1 Love, +1 Like, -2 karma, +iq Shishkabob +1 Love, +1 Like, -2 karma, +iq Chicken Leg +1 Love, +1 Like, -2 karma, +iq Hambone +1 Love, +1 Like, -2 karma, +iq Bread +1 Love, +1 Like, -2 karma, +iq Eggplant +1 Love, +1 Like, -5 karma, +iq Tomatoe +1 Love, +1 Like, -5 karma, +iq Squash +1 Love, +1 Like, -5 karma, +iq Frankfurter +1 Love, +1 Like, -2 karma, +iq Honey Dew +1 Love, +1 Like, -5 karma, +iq Strawberry +1 Love, +1 Like, -5 karma, +iq Blueberry +1 Love, +1 Like, -5 karma, +iq Walnut +1 Love, +1 Like, -5 karma, +iq Cards 1-40+ The cards are used to trade items in the shop Unusable items? Trowel ? Golden Frog Summons other poms when you use the middle option Diamond Ring ? Scissors ? Eyeball ? Dungeon Maps Allows you to see full dungeon map, including staircases Magic Fire Book Fireball attack Ice Book Icering attack/defense Teleport Teleports out of dungeon If on map, teleports to pom town Bomb Large radius explosive damage Invisibility Makes party invisible for short time Heal Heals Luru, takes health temp. from poms Tambourine Make enemies dance. ( bosses too? ) Squeaky Shoes Makes beeping noise as you walk/run ***The Poms*** They look like Rabbits, but with cute hats. They talk too! Here is a listing of the poms I have run across in order, and what they can do to the best of my knowledge. Turban Pom Hammer and Snowman icons, ice breath spin attack Hammer might mean construction can begin Ribbon Pom Pom icon, attracts male pom in water town. Feather Hat Pom Sheep and Fire icon, breathes fire, makes sheep pen Farmer Pom Crops and Fire icon, allows farms, breathes fire Viking Pom Hammer and Sword, allows for bashing of wood barrier Pick him up and throw him at a barrier Needle Pom 1 Pill and balloon icon, allows for hospital and blows leaves ( and whistles... ) Needle Pom 2 Pill and balloon icon. Later creates library, gateway to another town... Scimitar Pom Shuriken and Tongue, may allow for espionage?, allows crossing of drops by sticking out tongue when bonked Indiana Pom Axe and Mallet, once again, allows barrier crossing. Axe ??? more to come... Teleport Pom Hidden in maze in lego town, bang him on head to teleport to a specific area. Wizard Pom Hitting him will send a giant bolt of lightning across the screen, stunning all opponents. ***Statistics*** Luru's Statistics Strength Constitution IQ Life Max Life Level Exp Pom Statistics Strength Max Life Life IQ Like Love Luck Karma Hungry Tech Town Statistics Mey Mey Happy Level Number Ranking Tech Life Pom Strength The more the better, allows you to hit harder Constitution May influence how much life you have IQ How smart you are at you tasks Life How much health you have 'right now!' Max Life How much life you can have in total Level Your level of experience Exp How much experience you currently have Exp to next level Just like it sounds Like How much your poms like you Love How much your poms love you Karma Raises when your poms kill things. Higher=bad? Hungry If more than 1, feed your poms Tech Beats me. Guess they know how to reinstall dial up networking... Mey Mey Number of sheep in the town Pom Number of poms collected so far ***Introduction*** The game begins with a cute introduction, of a number of skulls floating down from a moon, and landing in the general vicinity of the "community", or the first village ( might be the only village ). After landing, there are a number of screens which show a boy being brainwashed by the skull, and shown some dark magic, as well, he reqruits three girls to help him. Next to these, are screens of a cute girl playing with 2 poms, who reveal to her a magic staff. Then some really catchy music comes on, showing "Luru" walking with the staff down a path. *cute* ***Start of Game*** A farmer comes rushing into town, huffing and puffing, and tells the villagers that he has been attacked by a large watermelon. The villagers laugh at him, then the screen scrolls to the home of the hero, let's call her "Luru". "Luru's" grandpa tells her that she's the only hope for the village, or some other RPG cliche. Then she leaves the house. ***Town*** The first town consists of a hospital in the northeast corner, where the doctor will heal you, and the nurse will save your game. There is a church in the center of the North end of town, which will allow you to resurrect your poms if they die. ( This is assumed only, as I have not had any die, yet... ) There is a shop in the Northwest corner, where you can buy healing potions, magic dust, and a green potion. You can also sell "meat", which you find aplenty, as you defeat monsters outside of town. There is a house in the southeast corner which will reward you with a "card" if you snoop around. A house in the Southwest corner has a large healing potion in it. Just north of that house is a house with a lady who yaks with you, but does little else. ***People in Town*** There is a wino in the northwest, living under a cardboard box or hiding under a poncho. I have no idea what he does, but you meet him in the second dungeon. Let's call him the "wino". In the center of town, there are 3 girls sitting next to "Luru's" house, a gaffer, a kid with a butterfly net, a kid, and a lady. Talking to any of them does a whole lot of nothing. Next to the town square is the house with the card in it, just to the right. I know its vague right now, but any help is better than no help. Peter is by the house with sheep. ***Watermelon Mission *** First thing to do is to talk to the 3 girls hanging out next to your place. They yak for a while, then disappear! Seems they might be the some of the witches that you saw during the intro. After they disappear, go and talk to the shopkeeper in the NW corner of town, and see if you have enough money for magic dust, or a small healing potion. Saying no to the shopkeeper will result in "Yada Yada", meaning 'no'. *cute* Nevertheless, you don't have the cash, so leave. Talk to the "wino", he looks like me after a really good social. Go to the house with the chest, grab the healing potion. Before leaving town, be sure to head into the house in the SE corner of town. You can't miss it, it is the one with the sign and the sheep pen. Snoop around the shelves, and take the "card". Talk to Peter. After procuring the card, leave town. Just head south. Outside of town, there are 3 types of monsters. There are bats, which move in swirls, melons which roll left and right, and pumpkins, which roll, and walk around. After beating up 3 or 4 monsters, "Luru" will level up. *cute* To the south, there is a gate, and a sign which likely says, closed until you defeat the bat boss. Anyway, from the sheep pens, head west, and there are two chests on a rise you can't jump up to. *get them much later* Head north now, bashing the sparse monsters you come across. Note that many monsters will drop 'meat'. Don't sell the meat to the store owner, as it comes in really handy later. You can feed your poms. Heading West, you head into a big area, with the same monsters. Beat them up, then go North. You will come to a really big tree, and a vampire that looks like an egg, or vice versa. Your attacks on the 'egg vampire' are fruitless, so head into the tree. ***Tree*** In the tree, head north. There are two pits you can jump over, the left pit blocks your access to a chest containing a potion of healing. The right pit blocks your access to the basement. In the basement, beat up a few monsters, then grab the chest. It will contain a magic book of fire. Do yourself a favor and equip it. Power it up. Power up the magic book, by holding down the O button. After it is fully charged, you will hear her exclaim 'fire!'. *cute* Go back up. Press the L2 button, and it might show you a map of the current dungeon. Exit the map. Now, head up the stairs to the left. Upstairs, beat up the pumpkins and wolves, then grab the other chest. It should contain a potion. Exit the upstairs level by walking out onto a branch. Grab the chest. There will be a cool item, which will summon a powerful syphinx to drop meteors on your enemies. Save it for much later. Now, jump down off the branch. Smash the egg/vampire with the magic fire attack, and continue West. There are a number of chests lying around, make sure to take their contents. Note that there are some steppes that you can't jump up to. Head through the exit to the West. ***Watermelon*** This has to be one of the goofiest bosses I've ever seen, on any console. A worm jumps down, and bites eyes and a mouth for the watermelon, which then animates, and attacks you. Using a comination of the fire attack ( which will NEVER run out, just keep powering up by holding 0 ), and fast staff attacks, you can quickly beat the watermelon. The worm will fall out, then you can quickly finish the watermelon. The watermelon will spit a seed at you from time to time, but just walk out of the way. As soon as the worm appears peeking out from the top of the melon, attack as much as you can. After the watermelon withers into nothing, step on the worm on your way North. You will come to a small mushroom, so you will want to throw some magic dust on it. After it grows, head on into the mushroom. ***Mushroom*** You may want to head back to town before tackling this level. Save the game. Okay. Now, note that there is a pom imprisoned within a stone brigade here. Watch out for faux mushrooms, which will grow and attack you. They look just a little bigger than normal mushrooms. Mushrooms, bats, and wolves are the only monsters around here. Grab the chest contents first, food and ??????. Then head East. To the east, you will need to north. There are some stairs, and further north, there is a staircase down. Go up the stairs. Cross the bridge, and go into the door in the west area. Go down the staircase ( or go south to grab the two chests on the ledge of the first room. ) Keep heading down the stairs, grab the key in the chest. Now go back across the bridge, and down the staircase on the far east screen. After heading right down, open the door with the key, and jump ( note the hint written on the floor ) across, get the second spell book, and the second key. Now head back to the middle area. To the extreme North, you should see 2 doors, one to the left, one to the right. The one on the right should be the only accessible door. Once inside, grab what you need, then talk to the "wino". Leave. Then go into the left door. Defeat a few monsters, then push the statue into the middle of the room. You might have to attack the statue to push it. Go downstairs. Get the final key, then head back to the brigade. Now, back into the right door, and go into the final area. There will be a door to the north, and a bridge next to the door. Cross the bridge, then talk to the scared sheep. It will join you. You will collect many sheep as you go along. You will enter into a room, playing neat boss music. The boss is a bat which seems to love eating sheep whole. It spits out their skeletons like Sol spits out chicken bones. ( Come to Kum Koon Garden and see! ) The boss has a dive bomb attack which is easy to avoid, just watch his shadow and run around the room. Once on the ground, hit him with fire really quickly. ( The boss keeps his distance, so stand still until you get a chance to hit him ) The other attacks consist of a fast sweep to the left or right, which is pretty difficult to avoid. Watch your health meter. If low on health, use a potion. You will toss it, and it will form a pool. You need to run into this pool asap, as you are only healed when standing in the pool, which doesn't last long. If in doubt, use the Syphinx magic. COOL! Okay, after defeating the boss, you gain a pom member to your party. You can even name him. He wears a turban, and has good tech skill. ( See later section, on Construction. ) Leave the area, and step on a pentagram to exit the dungeon really fast. Go back in, and allow the next pom to join you. The stockade opens as soon as you push the statue into the middle or the room earlier. ***Back to Grandpa*** Head back to town, then talk to your grandpa. He will talk with you for a while, and the scene will switch to the area south of the town ( south of the gate you couldn't open earlier. You will talk to the two poms, which will then appear on the map as white dots. Now, you will finally have a use for all that food you've been saving up. ***The Food*** Equip some food, doesn't matter what right now, as I haven't logged what does what. I'll make a list, and tell you what each does. Some food will make a pom farm, plant seeds and water the farm, build a house, build a well, etc. Note that the poms are not equal.. Turban pom is okay for building right now, but jungle hat pom is better. Cute ribbon pom is not good at much now, except love. There is hope! Feeding poms certain foods, will make them increase their stats. I know that Ham slices will do this, squash will do this, and so will chicken. Anyway, make them create a farm, as it has a high durability factor. 999 in all stats ( Shock resistance, Fire resistance, Rain resistance, and cold resistance I believe ). Houses run from 15 - 40 in all ranges, that's why you should wait, and only let jungle hat pom make houses. You get him later in the first castle, in the mountain in the far NW. Train them too. Once finished, head out the west gate. ***Western Crags*** Time never stops for this game. The date should be April 12, or higher if you've been leaving the game run when you go to the fridge, or whatever. Make sure to PAUSE the game, whenever you can. I'm guessing you have a year limit to finish the game. Anyway, some new monsters are located to the west. Cute fairies which are pretty slow, little guys with tridents, which are also slow, and gargoyles. The fairies and little guys will offer little resistance, however, the gargoyles are fairly fast. As soon as they see you, they rise up in the air and divebomb the direction you are coming from. I find that a tactic of running at them, and bashing them with the staff to be very effective. As well, use fire attacks when the gargoyles are at the periphery of your screen vision. There are some chests that are protected by some stumps. I don't know how to break them yet, but I'm sure that the stone face in the west area here has something to do with it. Now, if he'd only open his mouth to a dungeon or something... Head north from the "Stone Elemental" and you will encounter the mountain. There might be a chest lying around, and some sheep. Grab the sheep. There are 2 caves which you can't get to by jumping, but you can get into the far left cave by falling off a ledge just above it. Go into that cave. There are 2 doors, left and right. First go into the left cave by flipping the switches in the proper order. Don't ask me how, there are only 2 switches! There should be another pom in this area. I call him speedy, as he looks confused. Try picking the second option, I would like to know what happens. If he either joins you fighting, or if he comes with you to the village, and lives there... ( Just got confirmation that 2nd option will make him walk around with you, but he won't fight yet... maybe some well fed poms will ) Grab the chest(s) in the room, and the sheep. Now go back, and grab the chests from the right room. You will need a lot of potions in the castle up above. Now go back to the switch room, and bash the ice wall with fire attack, then head through the simple rooms, and you will exit out the right cave, back into the crag area. Head east down the path, then grab those 2 chests you couldn't get at the beginning of the game. Go back to crag area, and jump down. Head up, up, up. Go into cave at the top of the mountain, and encounter the second town, "Dwarf Village". ***Dwarf Village*** This place is a lot of fun. You can buy some summoning magic, potions, save the game, go to the church ( I still have no use for it ), etc etc. There is a guy in the north end of town who will wager that he can mine more gold than you. Take his bet, and by quickly pressing [] and X, you will mine more gold than him. He rewards you with +10 stamina. If you fail, try again. After resting at the doctors, you have a *cute* dream about poms dancing around you in a circle, then they give you the staff. If you rest again, you might also see yourself ( or another forest protector ) grown up with the staff. ***Mountain Castle*** The mountain castle is easy. When inside, you will see a cut-scene of the head Warlock talking to the witches. The skull talks too! After the scene, head north, grab all chests in the first huge area, which consists of ramps, stairs, and an exit to the north,and east. Take the east exit first. It will take you to a room with a button on the floor, and a switch. I haven't figured this one out. You might need a pom in your party to assist you. Now how do I get a pom to come with me? Head back into the huge area, and exit through the north exit. Now, it's been about 48 hours since I finished it, so my memory is a little foggy. There will be an area where you need to ride some moving tiles over long drops. Ride them, but keep riding them until they cycle back to the start. This will let you find chests hidden out of view. Of course, you need to ride more than one tile... Also, higher up, there will be ghosts to fight. Your staff is ineffective. Use fire. After much running about, you will face a huge ape boss. Kick his butt! He will be very fast, and does many fast horizontal attacks, left and right. Keep using fire, just don't get close. You may need some potions. Summoning a spirit for help is a good idea, as they prove ineffective on the next boss. Just when you are about to finish him off, he will grab you ( you have no choice ), and throw you through the left wall. Look at the imprint you leave. *cute* Grab the key in the chest after flipping the switch, then step on the teleporter pentagram. There will be a series of teleporters, you're on your own here. Grab the chests of course. Once completing the series, you will be back in that switch room I had problems with. Go back back back, to the door you see just before the ape boss, and open it. There are some captives here, a sheep, a pom ( Jungle Hat pom! ), and a baby ape. Free all three, then go back up. The huge ape will be very happy, and apologize to you. He smashes the north door open, allowing you acess to the next area. ***Witch Sisters*** These girls can be tough. The first witch has a good fire attack, but is easy to beat in retrospect. Just run up to her and bash her with staff quickly, or use fire. If you need to power up the staff, do so well away from her. Note that you can only attack when a witch attacks, otherwise a barrier will protect her. The second boss is the toughest. She fires arcing lighting which takes up 1/2 the screen, so watch it. Rush in and attack like before. Don't be afraid to use a summoning spirit for help. Health is cheap, use it! Finally, the third boss. She teleports around, firing a homing laser, and her skull friend will nibble on your bum. The summoning spirit is not worthwhile using on her. Tough it out. I have no advice, other than the tried and true rush in and attack. Once defeated, they will go back and get an earful from their Warlock boss ( reminds me so much of Sailormoon, always returning empty handed ). As a reward, you will get the magic book of teleport. Use it to exit the dungeon, and also to teleport back to the tent ( when outside ). ***Tent Area*** Sol mentioned to me that the tent has options of its own. You can recruit poms to join you in battle as you run around, or you can remove them from the party. You can also save/load. ***Bridge to East*** Now head east of the town, through the gate which is now open. There is an area with a chest you cannot get yet, and a sign which has some music on it. I don't know how to break the rock yet, so I'll move on. If you try to leave to the North, you will be faced with a mean looking guy. You can't blow him up like egg/vampire man, so head back south, then East again. In this area, talk to the gatekeeper, and say yes to whatever he asks. He will lower the drawbridge, allowing you access to the next area. ***Caverns*** In the caverns, you will encounter the first monster you can't beat, a floating jellyfish monster with an electric defense. Loose the poms on them to beat them. Grab all the chests in sight. There is one you cannot grab yet, until you get the viking hat pom. Talk to a lost man in the caverns, and he will walk away to the east. I have no idea of what happens if you say no to him while talking to him. There is a pom in the lower level area, in the SouthEast, as well as a new sheep. After a long chat, he will join your group. I can't remember if it was viking pom, but if it was, head back to town and get him to join you before going any further. Now head back out, and head north to the Water Town. ***Water Town*** As you enter, a small group of people form around the king/queen. After a short dialogue, you can continue. Water town is pretty big. The graphics are great. In the Southeast is an area to save your game, and in the Southwest is an area to buy potions. To the far East is a game where you have to bang rats on the head, for a prize. The rat bonking game has a time limit of 60 seconds. You have to hit a rat once every 1.5 seconds, and if you hit a rat with a bomb on his back, you lose a point. If you bash a bomb you also lose a point. Take your time when playing it, or drink about 2 liters of coffee. It's not too hard. I forget what the prize was, but who cares! The game is kawaii! To the NorthEast is the church, and to the NorthWest is the bar. Check out the jukebox and booze price list in the bar. Too pricey for booze. The coolest thing in town is the center of town, where you first meet the band and their groupie. Also, there is a pom hanging out with the groupie. Talk to her when you have ribbon pom with you, and doc pom will join you, for a price. 100 gold ( could be 100 a day, cheap! ). Make sure he joins you, or you might regret it later. Note: If someone could translate the song for me, I would happily add it to the walkthrough. I give credit where due. Sol and I mimic the guys while driving, heh. You should see other drivers reactions... Make sure you searched all the houses. There is a house in the North- East with a hentai book for sale, a radio, and a playstation. Wish I knew what she said regarding the book and playstation... After the song, head North into the Castle. ***Water Castle*** The castle consists of 3 main areas, and subsequent rooms. Talk to everyone. Search everywhere, and you will be sure to find a few more trading cards. I have heard there are about 41 in total. Talking to the King's chancellor will begin a scene in the dining room. Looks like a Sherlock Holmes scene. Apparantly, the maid that Sherlock talks to is about as smart as Mihoshi from Tenchi-Muyo. Talking to the chancellor again provides the only real clue. Someone has gone missing, and it's up to you to play detective. After talking to ALL the maids, talk to the king and his chancellor again, then talk to the guard in front of the single doorway you could not get to. He will step away, allowing you to enter the Water Dungeon. ***Water Dungeon*** This dungeon isn't too big. But it's big enough. Start by heading south down the narrow area, jump the gap, and then open the chest for the first key. Then jump back over the gap, and head through the east door. There will be an area with moving water with currents. Beat up the fish men ( good xp ) and exit from the SouthEast corner. This will take you to a huge area, with 2 chests located on islands you can jump to at the far south, and three exits at the far North. You come out the NW exit. Beat up the fish men, grab the chests, then head down the middle exit. This will take you to the main dungeon. The main dungeon is divided into 4 large rooms, containing monsters you saw in the Caverns south of Water Town. There is a flowing causeway, which if you use, will quickly take you through the corners of all 4 main areas. Each of which has at least 2 chests lying around. In the NorthEast area is a staircase, which will lead you to the ice area of the map. You can get the East chest you saw when walking up to Water town ( it's just a large blue potion, what a ripoff ). There is an area in the NorthEast section where you finally get the bomb book. You'll need to get on the upper paths, and flip a switch or two in order to get that book. After you get the bomb book, look for the second key. I'm sorry, I forgot where it is. Gomen! Then head through a doorway in the NorthEast area. This is a puzzle room. You can read the sign, which hints at what you must do, or you could just use viking pom to bash the barrier to the left with his forehead. Head into the room to the west. You will fight a huge miniboss. The boss looks like a large jello octopus. After beating the boss ( requires no special skill. He's a wimp. ) head through the North door with key in hand. ( your reward for beating the miniboss. ) This new room is just a moving platform room. Ride the platforms to the Northeast door, and exit. You will eventually come into a room containing the boss, a huge squid woman, who was either going to eat the kidnapped guy in the cage, or make him watch a Walt Disney flick. ( Same deal ). Use your new bomb book on this boss. It's very effective. Dodge the smoke attacks without fail. The attacks will consist of a wide range spray of smoke, and a deadly stream of smoke. You can always exit battles with the bosses if you really need to, just walk out the door. However, any damage to the boss is lost. If hit by smoke, you will become poisoned. Make sure to use a small or large green potion, as you cannot heal until you get your health meter back to green instead of sickly blue. After beating the boss, it shrinks to a small octopus, and falls into the pool. Cross the newly formed bridge, and hit the switch. You will save the prisoner. Head back to the king and his chancellor via teleport, and get a pat on the back. No cash, no bonus. Sounds like AT&T. Anyway, back to the pom town. ***Back in Town*** Feed the poms, and switch the current poms you have for Feather Hat, Farmer, and Needle pom. You will need the ability to blow air. Your town may have been attacked by now, and it's your job to defend it when this happens. Rush up to monsters on the map, and bash them before they destroy your houses. Sometimes, if you don't have a balanced town, let monsters destroy the houses you have in excess, then build other houses later. Wood houses for life statistics, Stone houses for Strength, and Brick houses for Tech. Anyway, head south through the newly opened gate. ***Woods*** The woods here consist of a dungeon to the far West, and the Tree elemental to the far East. Talk to the Tree elemental, as you cannot get in the West dungeon. After this, head south into the second large town. ***Middletown*** As you walk into town, you will watch a little cut-scene. Okay. This town is bigger than Water town. In the Northeast corner, is a warehouse with a single trading card in it. Next to it is the palace. East of the palace is a house containing a huge square table, and east of that is a church. South of the church is a music school. Not much in here, but search for cards anyway. Next to the music school is the town square. West of this is a dancing school. South of the dancing school is a house with a man hard of hearing, and east of that is a fortune teller's tent. I have no idea of what she does, but she may offer advice to our japanese readers. East of the fortune teller is a potion shop, and to the east of that, a painter's house. South of the painter's house is a sculptor, and west of this house is a shipmaker or modellers house. Finally, in the Northwest corner of town is a place to save your game. Do so. Talk to everyone in town, and be sure to nose around for the trading cards. Enjoy the scene in the middle of the town, in the town square. Talk to the princess in the castle, and grab the trading card from her room. I agreed to whatever she said during a dialogue. Saying no results in the same dialogue, so choose yes. Not much else to do in town ( let me know if anyone has found a way into the west dungeon, just Northwest of the town ). Now, make sure you have some good summon spells, and those poms I mentioned earlier, and head south of town. ***Steppes*** The main enemies here are turtles, which you cannot beat up. Use the poms to beat them up, or just run around them. If you take to the walkways, you can rescue a single sheep, and talk to a guy blocking the path to the West. Now, go East. There are a number of holes in the ground here, so be sure to jump over them, and head due East. ***Graveyard*** Beat up the zombies which rise up from the ground for good xp. Luru should be at level 13 or better now. Bang the gravestones, and one of them will slide up, opening the door to the catacombs. Attempting to get into the house will prove fruitless. Looks like you have to complete another mission first. Head into the catacombs. ***Catacombs*** Inside the catacombs, grab any chest you see, and watch out for the bats. Keep moving, and the bats can't hurt you. Grab any chest you can, and you should end up finding a pair of scissors. Exit the catacombs, and you should now be able to enter the Haunted House. Note that you will have to go back to the Catacombs later, with Scimitar pom, as there was a large gap you could not cross, leading to ??? ***Haunted House*** This dungeon is a lot of fun. As you walk in, you'll note that all the doors are locked. Go North. The warlock will appear, and show you a trapped sheep and Scimitar pom. There is a barrier preventing you from talking to them, so head North, up the stairs. Upstairs, all the doors are open. Almost every room is a trap, but enter each room anyway. A room in the NorthEast needs you to light up the candles to exit, just use the fire book. A room in the SouthEast contains a large mirror, which will make about 15 ghost Luru's to fight, just beat them up. There is a long hallway full of statue heads, beat up the third head from the left, to make it stick in place, then walk all the way to the east. All the heads will stick in position, and the door near the book will open. Get the chest. It should contain the key to the lower levels. A room in the Northwest area will contain some knights, use the bomb spell on them, or beat them up. Poms are ineffective. Go into the room with the huge whistle, and use needle pom to blow the whistle over to the left. Get the book of invisibility. After cleaning up the entire upper area, head onto them main floor, and clean up all the rooms here. East rooms: There is a kitchen containing a number of pumpkins which breathe fire. There is a dining room where silverware and cups will attack you. Beat up the silverware, then exit. ( come back here later with Scimitar pom ). A room whose chandeliers drop, and the room fills with fire clouds. Use bombs or poms. Oooh, that rhymes. West rooms: A large dining hall containing dancing ghosts. The ghosts turn to floating fire clouds like before. Use poms on them, and bomb attacks. There is a room which will give you the key to the door east of the statue heads. Go up there, and get the key to the basement. Basement: Zombies in the West room, full of coffins. And two chests in the rooms to the west of all the coffins. There is a tough miniboss in the east room. It's a totem pole. Beating him will free the barrier, so you can rescue the sheep and pom. Place your poms stragetically. Put the fire poms near the top of the screen, facing inward. When the totem pole begins running around, bonk the fire poms. You have to hit them, facing the direction you want them to breathe fire. Also, the bomb attack is useful. After beating him, you will get a new key. You may need to use health once or twice. I was lucky and didn't have to. By now, you should be level 15 or better. Go back to the main floor, and find the warlock. He will spirit the pom and sheep away. Go back to the third floor, the far southwest room containing all the pipes, then go into the north door. Make sure your bomb magic is fully powered, and that you have 8 healing potions, and 8 anti poison potions. The boss will appear after you defeat the zombie wave 3 times. This boss is tough. Strategies include picking up the two fire poms, and placing them facing inward toward the boss, near the top of the screen. ------------------- ----------------- pom1> boss