Unlocked: Reach Harbourtown
Unlocks: Land of Confusion, Take Me On, Acting On Your Best Behaviour
Unlocks: Land of Confusion, Take Me On, Acting On Your Best Behaviour
After a bit of character creation your avatar is set loose in a strange, new world, and dumped unceremoniously on the shore of said world. You'll receive a quick rundown on the controls - which vary based on your system - and then be allowed to explore. Head west along the beach and you'll find a ramshackle bridge. A bizarre creature will attack as you try to cross the bridge, and a helpful someone will rush to the rescue.
Combat Basics
Combat in Cassette Beasts is turn-based. Each character assumes the form of a Cassette Beast, weird, cuddly creatures with their own movesets, strengths, and weaknesses. As soon as you enter your first battle the stranger will ask you a question. How you respond will determine which Cassette Beast you receive as your starter:
- If you choose 'Spooky' you'll receive a Bansheep, a gothic, spectral sheep
- If you choose 'Sweet' you'll receive a Candevil, a candy-esque little creature
Both Cassette Beasts are well-rounded, and you won't go wrong with either one. (And if you wind up not liking the one you got, well, either restart the game - you've been playing for maybe three minutes - or just wait a bit, as you'll have more transformation options in no time.)
In combat you need to choose moves for your player characters to use against any opponents you encounter. Each move in your Cassette Beasts' moveset has an Action Point (AP) cost, and using higher-power moves will eat up AP. Your active Cassette Beast receives 2 AP per turn. In most situations you'll want to use basic moves for a turn or two, then unleash your more powerful moves to end the battle.
Whenever you strike an enemy Cassette Beast it will take damage. Similarly, if your Cassette Beast gets hit they will take damage. In both cases the beast's health is represented as a bar under their name in the upper corners of the screen. If you manage to reduce an enemy's health to zero they will be removed from combat. If, however, one of your Cassette Beasts is reduced to zero, the tape will be 'broken' and you'll need to take it back to Harbourtown for repairs. Each Cassette Beast form has its own health bar. Your character has their own health bar, as well, and if it gets reduced to zero you'll be forced back to Harbourtown for a rest.
Each Cassette Beast in your team - and the ones you battle - has a type. The two you can choose from are Beast-types, for example, while the stranger's is an Air-type. Specific move types are more effective against certain Cassette Beast types, and will generate interesting results in some cases (using a Fire-type move on a Plastic-Type Cassette Beast, for example, will turn it into a Poison-type for a while). This isn't a distinction you have to worry about yet, but as you progress further into the game you'll find it advantageous to use moves that are more effective. Your party can hold six Casette Beasts at a time, and it's usually wise to have a wide variety of different skillsets on hand so you can tackle many different situations.
Whenever you defeat wild Cassette Beasts your character will receive experience. Earn enough experience from combat and your characters will go up in levels. This will make your Cassette Beasts more powerful, and they will learn additional moves to boot. Make your Cassette Beasts strong enough and they can also attain new forms, though you won't run into this for a little while. If you find enemies are too strong in one area then you should backtrack to an earlier area and level up a bit.
At the moment your team consists of your avatar and the stranger, who has transformed into a Sirenade. The two of you are up against a Traffikrab, and you need to use attacks to drive it off. A simple Smack from either character will get rid of the Traffikrab. Most battles will not be this simple, but we'll get into the complexities of the combat system later.
After the battle the stranger will introduce herself as Kayleigh, and she'll lead you into Harbourtown, where your character will promptly collapse. Moments later you'll wake up inside a house, and a woman named Doctor Pensby will help Kayleigh sorta explain the situation. Once they leave you'll receive a Ranger Handbook, and if you check the book you'll find an Elemental Type Chart inside that covers type weaknesses. You can dress up your character (and completely change them, if you like) by inspecting the brown cabinet on your right.
Leave the house (you can as long as you've changed out of your PJs) and, if you like, poke around Harbourtown a bit. There are a few helpful NPCs who can explain things to you. A chunk of the town is currently blocked off, however, forcing you to head back towards Harbourfront Beach. You'll find Kayleigh over here, waiting to begin her patrol. Before you approach her, check east along the grass and you'll find a red chest containing 100 Wood at the base of a tree.
Head over to Hayleigh. She'll explain the situation - check an apparent quake to the north of town - and give you a Harbourtown Gate Key. You can use this to open the gate she's guarding and enter your first combat zone.
Harbourtown Outskirts
Cassette Beasts
- Carniviper - Poison-type - Common
- Dandylion - Plant-type - Rare (Upper Path only, I think)
- Dominoth - Air-type - One only
- Pombomb - Fire-type - Common
- Springheel - Beast-type - Uncommon
- Squirey - Beast-type - Rare
- Traffikrab - Plastic-type
Head north of the gate and you'll see a dirt pit on your right. Here you'll find a Springheel, another type of Cassette Beast, and between your avatar and Kayleigh's you'll have no trouble bringing it down. This battle will explain more combat basics, if you skimmed over the explanation earlier in the guide.
Once the Springheel is out of the way you'll need to activate a nearby lift. Look north and to your right from where you fought the Springheel. There's a small, mostly-hidden alcove in the cliff where you'll find a switch to activate the lift. This will officially unlock Kayleigh as your partner, and you'l keep her around for the long haul. (Though there will be opportunities to unlock other partners, as well.)
Hop on the lift. You'll find a bonfire on your right when you reach the top. You can use bonfires to restore health to your Cassette Beasts and party members, change your equipped Cassette Beasts, check your Cassette Beast collection, and inspect your inventory. Resting will also change night back into day, if you decided to camp out at night, or day to night, if you rested during the day.
A whirlwind will stop you from heading east on the other side of the bridge, so head northwest instead. You'll find a clearing, and on the north end of the clearing is a lamp with a switch. Ignore it for a moment and check to the northeast, where you'll find a guy in a pit near a chest. The guy will give you a Respool, and the chest contains Wheat, Wood, and Pulp.
Backtrack to the switch and use it to activate the lamp, drawing in a nearby Cassette Beast for a battle. This will introduce you to a vital battle command: Record.
Record
As you likely guessed, you can 'catch' new Cassette Beast forms as you explore New Wirral. This is done via Blank Tapes. When you begin your battle against your next opponent, a Dominoth, you'll receive five Basic Tapes from Kayleigh. If one of your characters uses the Record option during combat they will transform back into their human forms and attempt to create a copy of their target. If successful you'll capture the Cassette Beast's form as a Tape that you can equip on one of your characters.
There are a few caveats to successfully Recording Cassette Beasts:
- There's a greater chance of Recording a Cassette Beast if they have less health. Damage the beast before you begin Recording, or make sure your other team member is ready to dish out pain.
- While Recording the character is vulnerable to attack, which lowers the chances of Recording their target. Ideally you want to isolate and debuff your target Cassette Beast before you try to Record it.
- Target Cassette Beasts can't get knocked out while you're trying to Record them. Handy.
- Cassette Beasts aren't caught when Recorded - you just absorb knowledge of their form and attacks. You'll need to finish the battle after Recording a Cassette Beast.
Kayleigh's Sirenade form is quite handy for catching your first batch of Cassette Beasts thanks to its Provoke attack. This will pull negative attention away from your character as they try to Record, eliminating the chance that they will get hit and increasing the odds of successfully snagging the Cassette Beast.
Once you have a Recording of a Cassette Beast you can use the Switch command to turn your character into that Cassette Beast. Each Cassette Beast in your inventory has its own health bar. Your characters can access any of the four backup Cassette Beasts in your party via this command, though keep in mind that they won't get to act until the character's next turn.
During this fight you'll also be introduced to the concept of Stickers, which represent the moves a Cassette Beast can use in battle. Stickers can be applied and removed via the menu. You'll come across many Stickers as you explore New Wirral, and experimenting with them on different Cassette Beasts can lead to some potent combinations.
In short, Record and defeat the Dominoth. Once you end the fight your character will be caught in an updraft. From this point on you case use updrafts to glide via the Mothwing Glide field ability. Hit the jump button again once you're in the air - generally when you're over a pit - and you'll glide slowly to the other side. Very handy. Gliding uses up Stamina, similar to running, so you can't glide forever. Keep this in mind if you try to sail over a particularly large pit.
Check the west side of the clearing to find a pit. There's a small ledge beside the pit that you can use to jump and glide your way to the other side. There's another clearing in the west, and you'll find a block with stairs beside it. Climb onto the block and jump onto the conspicuous stone on its left side to reveal a chest containing a Plastic Resistance Sticker and a Basic Tape.
Head south of the clearing. On your right is a switch that will create a hefty gust of wind. If you drop off the cliff here you'll find the dirt pit where you started, and you can return to the bonfire and heal your party. Do this, then head west. The ground will rumble...
... and the entrance to a place called Harbourtown Station - a train stop of some kind - will burst out of the ground. Head inside and walk northeast, until you come to turnstiles. Take a left at the turnstiles and you'll find a hidden chest containing a Bite Sticker. Heal up, save, and head right of the turnstiles to find...
Morgante (Fusion)
Eesh. Morgante is representative of a much stronger class of enemy, but this first boss fight isn't that difficult. Morgante uses Discordant Thrash to inflict heavy damage, and will come close to knocking your party out... at which point your two characters will merge into a single, more powerful creature. This is known as Fusion, and the resulting beast (regardless of which two creatures combined) will be more than strong enough to defeat Morgante.
Fusions gain four AP per turn rather than two. That said, you're reduced to a single move per round, so choose your moves carefully in future battles, as Fusion isn't a sure-fire path to success. Fusions become more powerful as your character grows closer to their current combat partner.
You'll receive a fistful of stuff for defeating Morgante, and it... she... will agree to help you leave New Wirral - though not until you've done a great deal of exploring. You'll discuss what happened with Kayleigh back in Harbourfront, and your relationship with her will rise to the first level. This will also unlock three quests:
- Land of Confusion, the game's main questline
- Take Me On, which will teach you how to become a Ranger of Harbourfront
- Acting On Your Best Behaviour, which introduces you to Eugene, another partner like Kayleigh
Which you pursue first is up to you. Welcome to Cassette Beasts.