With fewer than ten missions left to go, it looks like it’s time to wrap up Mario Party Advance. But of course, we can’t start by playing with all of the toys we’ve recovered over this journey. We’ve got to do the last missions first, and only once we beat Bowser can we mess around with the numerous distractions that Professor E. Gadd has provided us.
Last time we arrived at Fungi Mine, but this time around we do a little more than just stare into the pit. There’s a lot to explore down there, including several ruins that are best explored as a slime. And along the way, we might just pick up a fun new badge. By which I mean that’s exactly what we do, because I wouldn’t have brought it up if it weren’t relevant.
I swear, any time I do one Wroth mission it’s always followed up by other Wroth missions. But we’re not just helping a Wrothian blacksmith, telling a friend he’s turned into a random encounter and nearly aiding a son eloping. We also deal with the Prone and the conflict between tribes that could very well get someone killed if they stay stubborn. And uh… we’ll be calling a mulligan on the results of that one, actually.
Wouldn’t you know it, I happen to be in a Star Force mood not long after the Mega Man Star Force collection dropped. We now return to the adventures of Geo Stelar, who saved the world by forging a bond of trust with a child king who had once been driven to paranoia by the turbulent lust for power surrounding his position. But that was then. Today, Geo’s getting very excited about his new cell phone. But not all is well in the world, as an advertisement zeppelin is struck by a virus attack and needs immediate attention before everyone in the neighborhood goes deaf. Oh, and elsewhere someone plans on taking over the world. But we don’t have to worry about that today.
The lava magma world has come early this time, but considering Bowser can currently contain several levels within himself, I suppose it only makes sense. While Bowser Jr. isn’t too deep into the world himself, we’ll need a few Wonder Seeds before we can actually face him and prevent him from… causing an eruption? Woof, that child really has no sense of severity.
So it turns out I can’t mulligan that last mission, so we move on with one Prone definitely dead. Oh well. The good news is we can do other things, like… help out an atheist, or… sabotage a local election??? I mean I guess the alternative is a pizza-based economy, which is probably a lot worse than it sounds.
Geo and his friends head to Wilshire Hills for a movie. Did anyone else assume this place would be a bit pastoral because of the name, or was that just me? Because it turns out that Wilshire Hills is a high-flying city that’s even more advanced than what we’ve seen of Echo Ridge. So we get to see things in the big city, and then get around to the theater. But of course, it would figure that the kids’ nice day out coincides with someone’s villainous plot.
We’ve finally entered Bowser… er, Castle!Bowser to be specific. He’s got several events planned out for us, and all of them involve sending his minions at us. But the closing act of the night, Bowser’s Rage Stage, promises to be a grand finale. Provided we can even get to it.
There was a bit of time left after (mostly) finishing Mario Wonder, and since the Final Final Trial hit me over the head with a 2x4, I decided to do something more low-key and do another favorites picker thing. But since I still don’t want to do the Fire Emblem one just yet because of The Incident, I decided to do a Pokemon one instead.
This is it, the last 2/3s of the Final Final Test. The spring ability may be a pain, but it won’t be the biggest roadblock to our progress this time. We’ve got four more sections to learn after it, including the rudest possible badge to end a stage with.
We’re halfway up the IFL Tower, and who else could be waiting at the top but that weirdo we met earlier? Surprising nobody outside of the story itself, this Dark Phantom character was actually Hyde. Which, to be fair, the fact that somebody can Wave Change without an FM-ian is certainly unexpected. But even if his method is different, we can take him down the same as anybody else we fought in the first game. Overwhelming violence tends to be universally applicable.
This might seem a little familiar since I played the demo a little while back, but today we begin Dungeon Gals! The Sky Isles need someone to investigate their ruins before they crash into the earth, and this polycule is the cheapest best choice for the job! Rosa, Izzy and Wendy venture to their employer, and after a brief crash they’re ready for adventure! Their first destination is an old monastery, which has certainly seen better days. And probably fewer monsters than there are now, if I had to guess.
It’s time to continue the chart! This time, we get through Gens III and IV. You can, uh, probably guess which set I like more based on how much I deliberate on the choices.
Good news! It took a lot of material, but the crew now has an Ares 90! And as it turns out, it means Elma can now just cleave things in half in the middle of a fight. How will that help us as we finish up the last regular missions and move on to affinities? Well, you can probably guess that most fights wind up a lot shorter because of it.
It’s time for a nice, early summertime ski trip. Or at least it would be, but the resort’s in serious trouble. Rumors of an abominable snowman are abound, but what’s more concrete is the fact that snowslides have been injuring visitors, and now business is dangerously slow on account of nobody wanting to be crushed by snow. Worse off, it seems there’s some rich jerk who’s primed and ready to buy the resort. So it looks like Geo’s first resort trip has turned into a resort investigation as he and the rest of the crew try to solve the mystery before Grizzly Peak is sold to the worst person you know.
The gals have cleared out the monastery of all but the guardian dragon. Why it’s been attacking everyone, nobody is quite sure. But for the time being, the crew moves on to the Great Library. Getting in will be a feat, and getting to the basement will be another. And all the while it seems some sort of terrible, worm-resembling guy is also scheming to break in. I’d hope for him to not be a problem, but I’m trying to be realistic here.
More Pokemon shall be picked! Today’s VoDs include the usual pre-stream one and and extra because I needed to buy my joycons time to charge before Xenoblade. So, that’s four generations of Pokemon to sift through. There’s still the type favorites, miscellaneous categories and team section to complete, but otherwise we’ve got a pretty good scope of things now.
We’re on to affinity missions now, starting with the character I’m least enthused about seeing! I mean, Murderess is fine, especially now that we’ve reached the end of her character arc, but things are bound to get better once we move on to… L? Who we haven’t talked to in forever? Eh, I’m sure it’ll be fine.
Seems like the Yeti problem hasn’t been solved yet! After a completely different issue arises at the eating contest, our initial foe ups his game and puts the resort in danger from a freak blizzard. Geo must ascend the mountain, save his friends (and several Hertzes,) and stop a rampaging rich man.
We’ve unlocked the lower floors of the library, and it turns out what was hidden down below is an unexpected secret. Someone wanted a mall, but things didn’t turn out quite right with the renovation project. Just how wrong remains to be seen, but the gals have to search every inch of the place so we’re bound to get more clues before too long.