EB trilogy summaries: Earthbound Zero
Feb. 5th, 2013 05:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmxratedLast night, I used the word "diversion" in a rather loose sense. Jake pointed out the reasons why the main characters in each game were doing the things I specified during a conversation about the entry in general and what his friend Zerodius had to say about it. I relayed the convo to Chelle after we were done chatting, and managed to speak to her through MSN this morning, but she said she didn't really understand the actual context surrounding each thing. I told her I'd list everything from each game in the Earthbound trilogy, and started listing them this morning, before realizing that I might as well just describe the entire plots to all three games (also so that she would understand what I'm talking about each time I refer to the events of those games, and wouldn't have to watch gameplay videos full of random battles and other meaningless stuff).
Anyway, by "diversion", what I meant was stuff that the main characters do that isn't directly related to finding their respective plot coupons or contending with the enemy armies. Really, though, I suppose that "sidestops" and "sidequests" would have been better terms of choice. In other words, stuff that Chelle could not have taken into account in her proposed outline for Starbound:
1. Introduction chapter + info chapter = set up.
2. First location. Keep this one relatively simple and focus on them getting a hang of their power. Also have them be spotted by someone since they're bad at hiding, so [Davì] can learn about them and will recognize them.
3. Second location. This one needs to be a little tougher, and their lack of knowledge of the area should cost them something (it took them hours to find it cause they could not ask for directions, for example).
4. Interim. They've been very conspicuous, and are sought out by one of the generals, let them fight them. This chapter can be used to elaborate a bit of the invaders as well intentioned extremists and give hints that they're not out for global destruction.
5. Third location. Now they've got attention from the generals, things are a lot tougher. Also, they're spotted a second time. They barely succeed and flee.
6. Fourth location. They have to stay hidden, still can't speak the local language and are now being targeted. Cue [Davì] and his connections.
7. Interim. Another set up where [Davì] explains what he can do for them and they reorganize their approach.
8. Fifth location. Introduce Bosspider. Cue your first Cerebus Knight, since he will be a contrast to the previous general by being sadistic.
9. Sixth location. Personal challenge. Focus on a character growing stronger.
10. Interim. Possibly find out something relevant or have the last party member join. Possibly set up internal group discord over who would be best leader.
11. Seventh location. Have the problem from the prior chapter tense up.
12. Eight location. Have it resolved.
13. Interim. They're reaching the final parts, and are now closer as a group. However, they're also starting to show psychological signs of the pressure. Use this to slowly edge in the darker atmosphere that is to follow, possibly by showing how the situation in the world deteriorates (it's becoming costlier to buy food, for example).
14. Ninth location. Average challenge chapter to show they're really good as a team now.
15. Tenth location. Nasty chapter that shows that no matter how good they are, they're still just one group. Have some surrounding people die during the fight and them unable to protect everyone properly. The location should be something not remote.
16. Interim. Have them try to cope with it, and possible have them meet the military when both zone in on enemies (not spot related, but they are essentially heroes so they'd help people in trouble), who are also working to help the citizens and explain they can't just save everyone and come to therms with it.
17. Eleventh location. By this point, have another general, possibly the one they met first, as adversary. That way, the character who bothers to explain later what the aliens want won't come out of the blue.
18. Twelfth location. This can be a triumphant chapter, to give the reader a bit of a "yay success" thing before shit really hits the fan.
The final Magicant chapter, endgame, and epilogue aren't included because I already had those planned out before she read my entire outline and came up with everything above. Also, even putting aside that Davì (the only established secondary member at the time, besides Rokuna) is set to debut between the second and third mana spots, the party has to defeat the guardians of each spot they come across. While they might fail initially with some of them, they will usually get second chances with them. Outright losses elsewhere without any second chances are viable, though.
If you read the above cut, notice that everything she's written is about how they grow, whether they win or lose against each mana guardian, and the alien generals' involvement in things. That would seem to suggest that it's all about fighting the enemy armies, like in such other works as Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), Suikoden, Mega Man Zero, The Lord of the Rings, or Ancient Ways, Ancient Evils. It isn't. True, we do see plenty of the Pigmasks' activities in Mother 3, but not nearly so much of those of the aliens' in the first two games.
The first line you read after you defeat Giygas in Earthbound reads, "The war against Giygas is over." In Mother 2, this originated as "Ness's journey has ended." The person who analyzed all the differences between both versions of the game on Earthbound Central even agrees more with M2 than with EB, saying that it felt more like a journey or an adventure, or maybe a mission, than an actual war. However, I do recall Chelle stating that despite what most people think of when they think of a "war", the word technically refers to political violence among nations, and that civilian life does continue normally whenever and wherever possible.
Anyway, here is the lowdown for Earthbound Zero:
Prologue
In the early 1900's, a dark shadow covered a small country town in rural America. At that time, a young married couple vanished mysteriously from their home.
The man's name was George, the woman's name was Maria.
Two years later, as suddenly as he left, George returned. He never told anyone where he had been or what he had done. But, he began an odd study, all by himself.
As for Maria, his wife... She never returned.
80 years have passed since then.
(Thank you, Jake for providing a summary of Part I in all your own words after I showed you this entry.)
Part I: Podunk
You are Ninten, the great grandson of George and Maria. One night/day, all of a sudden, the household objects start attacking you and your family, and you fight back against them; after you defeat the source of the evil, your sister finds a music box inside an abandoned doll, which had been one of the things, you destroyed; this music box plays a melody you memorize with the help of your psychic powers.
You manage to contact your father, who explains your potential as a psychic and about your grandpa's diary in the locked up basement. When you get there, the diary is open on a specific page.
Once getting out of the house, your neighbor asks you to look for her daughter, who disappeared because of the plot, and you accept this task. Going around town, there's a pathway where you can find the Canary Village hidden away, but it's not easy to find. You learn that there's a pet shop at the Podunk Department Store where all the animals have been released, except for a canary chick, which is for sale; however, if you refuse to pay the price, the clerk will give it away for free. Bringing it back to its mother in the Canary Village lets you hear the second melody, and
a man who takes care of the Canaries tells you that this melody, and the one from before, have magical power.
Finally, you manage to talk to the mayor of Podunk, who reveals Pippi's whereabouts: she's lost in the nearby cemetery, trapped within one of four caskets underground. Bringing her back, the mayor then asks you to go to the zoo to the north, where problems are happening. Of course, you'll first escort Pippi back home, which rewards you with a Franklin Badge - a major item in the series.
The problem at the zoo is that some alarm is driving the animals wild, coming from the superintendent's office. Fighting your way in, you encounter the Starman Jr., who is responsible for this, and defeating him stops the alarm. Now that everything's calm, you go back to the zoo and check out the animals, including a monkey that sings the third melody.
Having solved the problems of Podunk for now, the mayor grants you permission to check out the cave leading out of town, which was guarded by the police beforehand. There, you find a magical shell that takes you to your next destination...
Part II: Magicant, first visit
Since not as many people here are familiar with this game as with Earthbound, I'd like to mention that this version of Magicant is not only vastly different from EB's version, but is also a physical manifestation of Maria's mind, and that I find this version a lot more interesting than what EB's version had to offer.
Anyway, north of the village in this magical landscape is a castle guarded by three men trying to think of a riddle. Ninten uses PK Telepathy on them, and finds out what the answer is to it, even though they haven't thought of the riddle itself. Inside the castle, Queen Mary tells you about the world around you. You ask her to sing for you, but she isn't feeling well enough to do so and asks you to find the remaining melodies.
After doing everything there is to do around here and visiting Queen Mary for the first time, you're supposed to leave via the Crystal Caverns to the east. Inside are two bosses along the way. The Fish guards the Onyx Hook, with which to return to Magicant at will, and is entirely optional but recommended. The Dragon knows the sixth melody in the game, but can't be fought until Ninten's level is 25 or higher.
At the end of the cavern is a man who whines and complains about being all alone and forgotten. You're supposed to answer no when he asks if you're also a forgotten man, and then yes when he says "Go ahead, ignore me, like everyone else", in order to pass through and emerge in a small cave south of Merrysville.
Part III: Merrysville
Nothing prompts you to do anything around here, but you can't take the train anywhere because there's a large boulder blocking the train tracks.
You're supposed to pay a visit to Twinkle Elementary. Among other things, the kids here talk about a geeky boy named Loyd, who hides inside a garbage can on the roof to avoid being bullied. The door to the rooftop is locked, you ask the janitor about it, and end up having a small chat with him before he leads you up and unlocks it for you.
Upon meeting him, Loyd refuses to come out, but tells you that he stole some explosives in hopes that you'll keep it a secret. You promise that to him, and he comes out and asks you to show him one of those bottle rockets that Sweet Little's Factory produces.
Nothing particularly plot-related happens as you head south and search said factory to find one for him. You come back to the school with one, and he joins you. With it in hand, the two of you go into an empty classroom, and he begins to experiment with what he had stolen, only for it to explode and create a mess of things.
-----
Once again, no direct prompt, but your next stop is Duncan's Factory. (You could walk through the train tunnels instead, but they are full of monsters.) Here, you're supposed to find a room with launch ramps for bottle rockets. One of the ramps has a rocket already ready for take off, which then launches out through the roof... and onto the rock, as you'll find out once you leave the factory and come back to where it was.
Part IV: The Paradise Line
You take a train to Reindeer, and meet someone at the station there who asks you if you're on your way to Snowman, and then gives you a hat to deliver to a girl named Ana. You take another train the rest of the way there, and meet her at the local church. She tells you that she saw you in a dream of hers. You give her the hat, and she joins you in pursuit of her lost mother.
You backtrack to Spookane, which you passed on your way to Snowman. Your next main stop is Rosemary Manor, and you get the key to it from one of the town's residents. Inside the mansion, you eventually find a piano, which plays the fourth melody on its own.
Part V: Yucca Desert (optional, except for getting the fifth melody)
You go back all the way to Union Station past Duncan's Factory. The train can't go any further back than that, because the bridge over one of the gaps is out. Instead, you have to walk from the station into Yucca Desert.
Along the way, you meet a war veteran who now runs a business giving people rides in his old fighter plane. He offers three flight plans, during one of which you'll notice a cactus that stands out among the rest in the desert. That one sings the fifth melody you're looking for. Also importantly, he gives you three ticket stubs for each ride you go on with him. You need ten of these in order to be able to rent his tank, which you need in order to defeat R7037, which guards the entrance to Monkey Grotto. The tank is destroyed when you battle it, and you'll have to pay for it when you meet him again later on, if you don't come back to his camp site and take care of it beforehand.
Nothing particularly noteworthy happens as you explore the Monkey Grotto. At the end, though, is another seashell-shaped rock leading to Magicant. Same deal there as between Podunk and Merrysville, except that this time, you'll emerge north of Youngtown.
Part VI: Youngtown, the swamp, and Ellay
When you enter Youngtown, you find that there are no adults around. They were all abducted to Mt. Itoi, while all children have been left behind. Not a whole lot to around here except to learn PK Teleport from a baby via Telepathy.
From here, you take the winding road through the swamp all the way to Ellay, and along the way, come across a small house. Loyd's father is hiding inside a trash can, and will ask you for the player's name if you speak to him. Pippi is here as well, and will let you spend the night here for free.
When you get to Ellay, the streets are crawling with members of the local Bla Bla Gang. Your main stop here is the Live House, where people go to karaoke. You go there, and the three of you sing a number on stage, before Teddy, leader of the B.B. Gang, confronts you for supposedly beating up his flunkies. He and Ninten face it off one-to-one, and things end in a draw. Seeking to avenge his parents, who were killed by the aliens, he joins you but tells Loyd to get lost, considering him too incompetent to bother helping out.
(Optionally, you can also stop by at the view tower in the northwest part of town. If you take the elevator there to the rooftop and look through the leftmost set of binoculars, you'll see a rocket headed your way from a distant island, which you can then ride back to said island. There, there are three people who like strawberry tofu; two of these will give you Words of Love and Swear Words in exchange for some, while the remaining one will tell you about a certain robot on Mt. Itoi.)
Part VII: Mt. Itoi
You fight your way east to Mt. Itoi, the source of everything going on in the world, and then up through the caves leading to a plateau. Moving on, you eventually find a house where you spend the night.
Here, Ninten and Ana will have a cutscene where they will dance together, before she asks him whether or not he loves her. Afterwards, Teddy will alert you about something going on.
Outside, you are approached by R7038, which proceeds to own each of you in one shot. Just then, Loyd arrives in a tank and proceeds to take it down. Unfortunately, you end up caught in the blast of his shot, and Teddy is critically injured.
Back at a house that you passed on your way to Mt. Itoi, Teddy lies in a bed to heal, and tells the others how he realizes that it takes more than just brawn to defeat the aliens. Loyd then rejoins you.
After you fight your way again all the way through, you'll come across a lake on the plateau. There's a motorboat with a broken engine attached to a dock, which Loyd proceeds to fix up. You take it across the lake, but then get caught in a whirlpool leading to a secret laboratory once owned by George. Here, after you explore for a bit, you find the robot Eve, who was built to protect you on your way.
Suddenly, the walls cave in, and the lab gets flooded. You return to the plateau, near the surface of the lake, and continue your way up the peak, until being confronted by R7038xx. Even Eve, who had been able to simply pawn off each enemy standing in your way, is unable to stand up to it. Upon defeat, she then releases a secret weapon that takes it with her, before playing the seventh melody for you.
Just before you reach Giegue's lair, you find a tombstone marked "XX". From this, a crystal appears, which contains George's spirit, who then tells you about Maria's love before singing the final melody for you.
With all eight melodies now, you return to Magicant, and meet Queen Mary inside the throne room in her castle. She reveals that she is, in fact, George's deceased wife Maria, and that she used to love Giegue as her child after having been abducted.
Outside the castle, Magicant fades into a wasteland, and then you end up back where you were on Mt. Itoi.
Once inside the lair, you find a room with many glass cells containing everyone who's been abducted. Moving along, you meet Giegue himself. Initially, nothing you do has any effect on him while he rants at you and attacks with a mysterious power. Soon enough, though, it occurs to you to sing Maria's Lullaby to him. He interrupts you each time, begging you to stop, but each attempt gets further and further through the song, until you finally get to sing it all the way through.
Defeated, Giegue retreats in his mothership and takes off. The credits roll as everything returns to normal and Ninten takes a well-deserved rest from his entire journey. But then...
I know that boy is at home. Come on son and answer the phone. Something new has come up and...
(Well, there you have it. No generals or full-scale battles to speak of, and most of the time, if you're not using the player's guide or a walkthrough, you're just kinda supposed to figure out what to do or where to go on your own or by talking to random people. That's right, you visit random places or try random things as you go along, and they actually work towards your overall goal. Some of the things that go on are pure coincidences, such as you entering a factory to send a rocket off, which just so happens to land right where you want it to to do just what you hope it'll do.)
(Earthbound will have its own entry next, followed by Mother 3.)
Anyway, by "diversion", what I meant was stuff that the main characters do that isn't directly related to finding their respective plot coupons or contending with the enemy armies. Really, though, I suppose that "sidestops" and "sidequests" would have been better terms of choice. In other words, stuff that Chelle could not have taken into account in her proposed outline for Starbound:
1. Introduction chapter + info chapter = set up.
2. First location. Keep this one relatively simple and focus on them getting a hang of their power. Also have them be spotted by someone since they're bad at hiding, so [Davì] can learn about them and will recognize them.
3. Second location. This one needs to be a little tougher, and their lack of knowledge of the area should cost them something (it took them hours to find it cause they could not ask for directions, for example).
4. Interim. They've been very conspicuous, and are sought out by one of the generals, let them fight them. This chapter can be used to elaborate a bit of the invaders as well intentioned extremists and give hints that they're not out for global destruction.
5. Third location. Now they've got attention from the generals, things are a lot tougher. Also, they're spotted a second time. They barely succeed and flee.
6. Fourth location. They have to stay hidden, still can't speak the local language and are now being targeted. Cue [Davì] and his connections.
7. Interim. Another set up where [Davì] explains what he can do for them and they reorganize their approach.
8. Fifth location. Introduce Bosspider. Cue your first Cerebus Knight, since he will be a contrast to the previous general by being sadistic.
9. Sixth location. Personal challenge. Focus on a character growing stronger.
10. Interim. Possibly find out something relevant or have the last party member join. Possibly set up internal group discord over who would be best leader.
11. Seventh location. Have the problem from the prior chapter tense up.
12. Eight location. Have it resolved.
13. Interim. They're reaching the final parts, and are now closer as a group. However, they're also starting to show psychological signs of the pressure. Use this to slowly edge in the darker atmosphere that is to follow, possibly by showing how the situation in the world deteriorates (it's becoming costlier to buy food, for example).
14. Ninth location. Average challenge chapter to show they're really good as a team now.
15. Tenth location. Nasty chapter that shows that no matter how good they are, they're still just one group. Have some surrounding people die during the fight and them unable to protect everyone properly. The location should be something not remote.
16. Interim. Have them try to cope with it, and possible have them meet the military when both zone in on enemies (not spot related, but they are essentially heroes so they'd help people in trouble), who are also working to help the citizens and explain they can't just save everyone and come to therms with it.
17. Eleventh location. By this point, have another general, possibly the one they met first, as adversary. That way, the character who bothers to explain later what the aliens want won't come out of the blue.
18. Twelfth location. This can be a triumphant chapter, to give the reader a bit of a "yay success" thing before shit really hits the fan.
The final Magicant chapter, endgame, and epilogue aren't included because I already had those planned out before she read my entire outline and came up with everything above. Also, even putting aside that Davì (the only established secondary member at the time, besides Rokuna) is set to debut between the second and third mana spots, the party has to defeat the guardians of each spot they come across. While they might fail initially with some of them, they will usually get second chances with them. Outright losses elsewhere without any second chances are viable, though.
If you read the above cut, notice that everything she's written is about how they grow, whether they win or lose against each mana guardian, and the alien generals' involvement in things. That would seem to suggest that it's all about fighting the enemy armies, like in such other works as Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), Suikoden, Mega Man Zero, The Lord of the Rings, or Ancient Ways, Ancient Evils. It isn't. True, we do see plenty of the Pigmasks' activities in Mother 3, but not nearly so much of those of the aliens' in the first two games.
The first line you read after you defeat Giygas in Earthbound reads, "The war against Giygas is over." In Mother 2, this originated as "Ness's journey has ended." The person who analyzed all the differences between both versions of the game on Earthbound Central even agrees more with M2 than with EB, saying that it felt more like a journey or an adventure, or maybe a mission, than an actual war. However, I do recall Chelle stating that despite what most people think of when they think of a "war", the word technically refers to political violence among nations, and that civilian life does continue normally whenever and wherever possible.
Anyway, here is the lowdown for Earthbound Zero:
Prologue
In the early 1900's, a dark shadow covered a small country town in rural America. At that time, a young married couple vanished mysteriously from their home.
The man's name was George, the woman's name was Maria.
Two years later, as suddenly as he left, George returned. He never told anyone where he had been or what he had done. But, he began an odd study, all by himself.
As for Maria, his wife... She never returned.
80 years have passed since then.
(Thank you, Jake for providing a summary of Part I in all your own words after I showed you this entry.)
Part I: Podunk
You are Ninten, the great grandson of George and Maria. One night/day, all of a sudden, the household objects start attacking you and your family, and you fight back against them; after you defeat the source of the evil, your sister finds a music box inside an abandoned doll, which had been one of the things, you destroyed; this music box plays a melody you memorize with the help of your psychic powers.
You manage to contact your father, who explains your potential as a psychic and about your grandpa's diary in the locked up basement. When you get there, the diary is open on a specific page.
Once getting out of the house, your neighbor asks you to look for her daughter, who disappeared because of the plot, and you accept this task. Going around town, there's a pathway where you can find the Canary Village hidden away, but it's not easy to find. You learn that there's a pet shop at the Podunk Department Store where all the animals have been released, except for a canary chick, which is for sale; however, if you refuse to pay the price, the clerk will give it away for free. Bringing it back to its mother in the Canary Village lets you hear the second melody, and
a man who takes care of the Canaries tells you that this melody, and the one from before, have magical power.
Finally, you manage to talk to the mayor of Podunk, who reveals Pippi's whereabouts: she's lost in the nearby cemetery, trapped within one of four caskets underground. Bringing her back, the mayor then asks you to go to the zoo to the north, where problems are happening. Of course, you'll first escort Pippi back home, which rewards you with a Franklin Badge - a major item in the series.
The problem at the zoo is that some alarm is driving the animals wild, coming from the superintendent's office. Fighting your way in, you encounter the Starman Jr., who is responsible for this, and defeating him stops the alarm. Now that everything's calm, you go back to the zoo and check out the animals, including a monkey that sings the third melody.
Having solved the problems of Podunk for now, the mayor grants you permission to check out the cave leading out of town, which was guarded by the police beforehand. There, you find a magical shell that takes you to your next destination...
Part II: Magicant, first visit
Since not as many people here are familiar with this game as with Earthbound, I'd like to mention that this version of Magicant is not only vastly different from EB's version, but is also a physical manifestation of Maria's mind, and that I find this version a lot more interesting than what EB's version had to offer.
Anyway, north of the village in this magical landscape is a castle guarded by three men trying to think of a riddle. Ninten uses PK Telepathy on them, and finds out what the answer is to it, even though they haven't thought of the riddle itself. Inside the castle, Queen Mary tells you about the world around you. You ask her to sing for you, but she isn't feeling well enough to do so and asks you to find the remaining melodies.
After doing everything there is to do around here and visiting Queen Mary for the first time, you're supposed to leave via the Crystal Caverns to the east. Inside are two bosses along the way. The Fish guards the Onyx Hook, with which to return to Magicant at will, and is entirely optional but recommended. The Dragon knows the sixth melody in the game, but can't be fought until Ninten's level is 25 or higher.
At the end of the cavern is a man who whines and complains about being all alone and forgotten. You're supposed to answer no when he asks if you're also a forgotten man, and then yes when he says "Go ahead, ignore me, like everyone else", in order to pass through and emerge in a small cave south of Merrysville.
Part III: Merrysville
Nothing prompts you to do anything around here, but you can't take the train anywhere because there's a large boulder blocking the train tracks.
You're supposed to pay a visit to Twinkle Elementary. Among other things, the kids here talk about a geeky boy named Loyd, who hides inside a garbage can on the roof to avoid being bullied. The door to the rooftop is locked, you ask the janitor about it, and end up having a small chat with him before he leads you up and unlocks it for you.
Upon meeting him, Loyd refuses to come out, but tells you that he stole some explosives in hopes that you'll keep it a secret. You promise that to him, and he comes out and asks you to show him one of those bottle rockets that Sweet Little's Factory produces.
Nothing particularly plot-related happens as you head south and search said factory to find one for him. You come back to the school with one, and he joins you. With it in hand, the two of you go into an empty classroom, and he begins to experiment with what he had stolen, only for it to explode and create a mess of things.
-----
Once again, no direct prompt, but your next stop is Duncan's Factory. (You could walk through the train tunnels instead, but they are full of monsters.) Here, you're supposed to find a room with launch ramps for bottle rockets. One of the ramps has a rocket already ready for take off, which then launches out through the roof... and onto the rock, as you'll find out once you leave the factory and come back to where it was.
Part IV: The Paradise Line
You take a train to Reindeer, and meet someone at the station there who asks you if you're on your way to Snowman, and then gives you a hat to deliver to a girl named Ana. You take another train the rest of the way there, and meet her at the local church. She tells you that she saw you in a dream of hers. You give her the hat, and she joins you in pursuit of her lost mother.
You backtrack to Spookane, which you passed on your way to Snowman. Your next main stop is Rosemary Manor, and you get the key to it from one of the town's residents. Inside the mansion, you eventually find a piano, which plays the fourth melody on its own.
Part V: Yucca Desert (optional, except for getting the fifth melody)
You go back all the way to Union Station past Duncan's Factory. The train can't go any further back than that, because the bridge over one of the gaps is out. Instead, you have to walk from the station into Yucca Desert.
Along the way, you meet a war veteran who now runs a business giving people rides in his old fighter plane. He offers three flight plans, during one of which you'll notice a cactus that stands out among the rest in the desert. That one sings the fifth melody you're looking for. Also importantly, he gives you three ticket stubs for each ride you go on with him. You need ten of these in order to be able to rent his tank, which you need in order to defeat R7037, which guards the entrance to Monkey Grotto. The tank is destroyed when you battle it, and you'll have to pay for it when you meet him again later on, if you don't come back to his camp site and take care of it beforehand.
Nothing particularly noteworthy happens as you explore the Monkey Grotto. At the end, though, is another seashell-shaped rock leading to Magicant. Same deal there as between Podunk and Merrysville, except that this time, you'll emerge north of Youngtown.
Part VI: Youngtown, the swamp, and Ellay
When you enter Youngtown, you find that there are no adults around. They were all abducted to Mt. Itoi, while all children have been left behind. Not a whole lot to around here except to learn PK Teleport from a baby via Telepathy.
From here, you take the winding road through the swamp all the way to Ellay, and along the way, come across a small house. Loyd's father is hiding inside a trash can, and will ask you for the player's name if you speak to him. Pippi is here as well, and will let you spend the night here for free.
When you get to Ellay, the streets are crawling with members of the local Bla Bla Gang. Your main stop here is the Live House, where people go to karaoke. You go there, and the three of you sing a number on stage, before Teddy, leader of the B.B. Gang, confronts you for supposedly beating up his flunkies. He and Ninten face it off one-to-one, and things end in a draw. Seeking to avenge his parents, who were killed by the aliens, he joins you but tells Loyd to get lost, considering him too incompetent to bother helping out.
(Optionally, you can also stop by at the view tower in the northwest part of town. If you take the elevator there to the rooftop and look through the leftmost set of binoculars, you'll see a rocket headed your way from a distant island, which you can then ride back to said island. There, there are three people who like strawberry tofu; two of these will give you Words of Love and Swear Words in exchange for some, while the remaining one will tell you about a certain robot on Mt. Itoi.)
Part VII: Mt. Itoi
You fight your way east to Mt. Itoi, the source of everything going on in the world, and then up through the caves leading to a plateau. Moving on, you eventually find a house where you spend the night.
Here, Ninten and Ana will have a cutscene where they will dance together, before she asks him whether or not he loves her. Afterwards, Teddy will alert you about something going on.
Outside, you are approached by R7038, which proceeds to own each of you in one shot. Just then, Loyd arrives in a tank and proceeds to take it down. Unfortunately, you end up caught in the blast of his shot, and Teddy is critically injured.
Back at a house that you passed on your way to Mt. Itoi, Teddy lies in a bed to heal, and tells the others how he realizes that it takes more than just brawn to defeat the aliens. Loyd then rejoins you.
After you fight your way again all the way through, you'll come across a lake on the plateau. There's a motorboat with a broken engine attached to a dock, which Loyd proceeds to fix up. You take it across the lake, but then get caught in a whirlpool leading to a secret laboratory once owned by George. Here, after you explore for a bit, you find the robot Eve, who was built to protect you on your way.
Suddenly, the walls cave in, and the lab gets flooded. You return to the plateau, near the surface of the lake, and continue your way up the peak, until being confronted by R7038xx. Even Eve, who had been able to simply pawn off each enemy standing in your way, is unable to stand up to it. Upon defeat, she then releases a secret weapon that takes it with her, before playing the seventh melody for you.
Just before you reach Giegue's lair, you find a tombstone marked "XX". From this, a crystal appears, which contains George's spirit, who then tells you about Maria's love before singing the final melody for you.
With all eight melodies now, you return to Magicant, and meet Queen Mary inside the throne room in her castle. She reveals that she is, in fact, George's deceased wife Maria, and that she used to love Giegue as her child after having been abducted.
Outside the castle, Magicant fades into a wasteland, and then you end up back where you were on Mt. Itoi.
Once inside the lair, you find a room with many glass cells containing everyone who's been abducted. Moving along, you meet Giegue himself. Initially, nothing you do has any effect on him while he rants at you and attacks with a mysterious power. Soon enough, though, it occurs to you to sing Maria's Lullaby to him. He interrupts you each time, begging you to stop, but each attempt gets further and further through the song, until you finally get to sing it all the way through.
Defeated, Giegue retreats in his mothership and takes off. The credits roll as everything returns to normal and Ninten takes a well-deserved rest from his entire journey. But then...
I know that boy is at home. Come on son and answer the phone. Something new has come up and...
(Well, there you have it. No generals or full-scale battles to speak of, and most of the time, if you're not using the player's guide or a walkthrough, you're just kinda supposed to figure out what to do or where to go on your own or by talking to random people. That's right, you visit random places or try random things as you go along, and they actually work towards your overall goal. Some of the things that go on are pure coincidences, such as you entering a factory to send a rocket off, which just so happens to land right where you want it to to do just what you hope it'll do.)
(Earthbound will have its own entry next, followed by Mother 3.)