Earthbound: Welcome to Happy Happy Village
My weekend goal in Earthbound was to finally rescue Paula from Happy Happy Village. I started this by erasing that weird pencil that stood in my way.
Turns out, the pencil statue was the least of my worries. On the other side of the bridge, between me and Happy Happy Village, were all kinds of enemies that made my progress a painful journey. I managed to snag some of the treasures that were out there, including a new piece of headware, but eventually I fell to the onslaught. Some of those areas were really dense in enemy spawn, even when I tried the refreshing screen trick.
I did gain a level for my efforts, so this time, before I went back out there, I spent some time beating up on random enemies in Twoson. I remembered there was a piece of protective gear I didn’t have enough money to buy yet, so I saved up and bought that before gathering the gear to go back out in the field again.
I also found out that there’s a place on the menu where I can read about what items and spells do. Including one of my spells that cures the cold. That… would have made my life a lot easier if I’d known that sooner. That’s what I get for not fully investigating game menus.
So, I fought my way through and finally got to Happy Happy Village.
This place is a little whacked. It’s run by a cult leader who has brainwashed everyone into believing that the color blue is the answer to all happiness in life. So they paint everything in the town blue, and there’s random cultists who attack you with paintbrushes.
I mean, I like the color blue, but…
They even painted the cow blue.
To get in and see the head honcho, you have to move through a maze of cultists. Most of them are friendly, but a few will attack you.
I remembered this part being a whole lot harder that it was this time around. I’m not sure if all those years ago, we just weren’t leveled for this area or hadn’t stocked up and saved. But these guys were a pushover compared to the monsters I fought between the two towns.
I finally made it to the leader of the cult. I had earlier found Paula locked in a cabin and she’d given me a badge that protected me from his lightning attacks.
He was very easy to beat. Once I defeated him, he came to his senses and and apologized for everything. He noted that it was the statue behind him that influenced him, and he gave me the key to rescue Paula.
Leaving his room, it seems that all the other cultists have come to their senses, too.
Outside, the town is now back to some semblance of normalcy. Seeing this, I went to free Paula.
She and her teddy bear joined my party. Then, my goal was to get her home.
It was a somewhat rocky ride seeing Paula started at level 1. A few fights earned her a lot of experience, which was a good thing. Until we ran into one of those trees that does an almost insta-kill move when you defeat it. Paula couldn’t withstand that, but I got her back to Twoson and revived. I also took her back to her family, and they gave her leave to come with Ness on his trip.
All in a day’s work.