 |
| EarthBound owned by Nintendo. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Magicant
- After a funky, nostalgic intro, Ness appears in the strange, semi-subconscious world of Magicant. While here Ness will have to travel alone, which, in at least one section of the area, can be rather perilous.
- To the right of where you start is what remains of Ness’s living room. Tracy provides the usual item storage services, and Ness’s mom allows you to rest and restore your health. Down and to the right from the family is a shop that ‘specializes in puddings and pendants’, and while the Earth Pendants are ultimately so-so, you may want to buy a lot of Magic Puddings. They’re not sold anywhere else in the game, and they restore PSI. Very handy for the final dungeon. Go back and forth from Tracy, buying the things and storing ‘em for later. If you need more money, look in the next building over from the store.
- Have a look around Magicant. It’s really, really weird, and an interesting trip into Ness’s brain. The only thing you’ll find in the first bit is a PSI Caramel on the far left side of the western island, however, so don’t feel pressured to hunt around.
- Follow the path enough and you’ll eventually find an odd-looking house populated by Flying Men. Speak to them and one will offer to come with you. Unlike most temporary party members Flying Men have limited HP, and will take damage in the same manner as Ness. Whenever a Flying Man dies they’ll wind up as a grave back at this house. Ouch. Flying Men aren’t amazingly helpful, but they’re better than nothing.
- East of the Flying Men and their house is an area populated by a variety of enemies, one new and the rest old:
- Mr. Molecules are as weak as they come. Thwomp.
- Electro Swooshes use Thunder attacks. If Ness was lucky enough to show up here with the Franklin Badge they’ll be pushovers.
- Care Free Bombs hurl bombs that inflict a decent amount of damage. These guys will probably be responsible for killing your Flying Men.
- Near the entrance to this area is an intersection. Go east and you’ll find a duplicate of Ness who will give him a useless Baseball Cap. Also here is a present containing a Bag of Dragonite, much more useful.
- Loaded Dice aren’t very difficult, but they will call up reinforcements which may prove much more challenging. Take them out first or face a mob.
- Head north from the intersection to find another. Along the northern path is a Goddess Band.
- The rest of this path is a straightforward slog through enemies, and along the way you’ll find a Magicant Bat and a Magic Tart. At the centre of the spiral you’ll find an odd tentacle…
- … and, beyond, the Sea of Eden. This place is patrolled by Krakens, just as strong as the one you fought on the sea, though Ness should be more than powerful enough by now to take down a Kraken on his own. If you fear defeat, use the occasional spires in the water as cover, get the Krakens stuck, and make a run for it.
- In the midst of this Sea, to the north, is a Mani-Mani Statue on a small island. Check it out and you’ll face Magicant’s final challenge.
Ness’s Nightmare
Ness’s worst fears made manifest. Ness’s Nightmare is a powerful creature capable of using your own attacks against you, namely PSI Rockin and an attack that’s just like Flash. The latter is ultimately more deadly, as it can incapacitate Ness rather badly. Protection against PSI Flash (such as the Earth Pendant you probably picked up earlier) will do nicely. All you can really do is smack away at this thing with physical attacks, so try to keep your HP high and put Ness’s bat to its head. It mercifully doesn’t have tons of HP, though it can heal itself, and will do so relatively often.
- Defeating Ness’s Nightmare will free Ness from Magicant and return you to the real world. In the process Ness will receive an enormous power boost, learning PSI Rockin Omega and Teleport B. If he wasn’t before, Ness is now easily the most powerful member of your party. Enjoy!
- Upon awakening the Sound Stone will be gone, freeing that slot in Ness’s inventory. You’ll then zip off to Saturn Valley automatically. Speak to Dr. Andonuts, then step into the Phase Distorter, the Mr. Saturn-esque device nearby. It won’t work, and Dr. Andonuts will ask you to fetch a rare material from a recently-fallen meteorite. Guess where you’re going? Check out the local Drugstore for new items on sale, then jump home.
Onett
- This place has changed. Onett is under attack from extraterrestrial invaders, and the people have locked their homes against the threat. Only Ness’s House is still open for business, and it’s exactly here that the new, brutal enemies in the area will start showing up:
- Mechanical Octobots are the least of your worries. They’ll use normal attacks and try to steal items. Meh.
- Evil Eyes are dangerous mainly because they can diamondize your party, a status that’s not easy to dispel. They can also inflict a bunch of other stats ailments. PSI Freeze is tops against ‘em. Prioritize Evil Eyes unless the next foe appears…
- Ghosts of Starmen are one of the worst enemies in EarthBound, as they’ll use Starstorm constantly. One use of Starstorm can kill several team members. Murder them with extreme prejudice. This area is so small that wasting your PSI is perfectly okay. Ghosts of Starmen have a one in 128 chance of dropping Paula’s best piece of equipment, the Goddess Ribbon. (You probably won’t have the patience to die to these things so often.)
- Your destination is simple: the meteorite. Fight your way up the path from the beginning of the game. The enemies are brutal as hell, but you don’t have far to go. Use your strongest PSI attacks (PSI Rockin, Starstorm, PSI Fire) to rip through their ranks. Upon arrival, check the meteorite for a Meteorite Piece.
- Warp back to Saturn Valley with the Piece secured. Give it to Dr. Andonuts, then spend the night at the nearby Hotel. Come back out in the morning and the good guys will be ready for the final phase of the battle against Giygas. Don’t embark yet, though - you have a checklist to read.