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Adventures in Astoltia (Part Four): Ogres Have Layers

Welcome back! It's now week four of my playthrough of Dragon Quest X, and we've finally arrived in the big ogre city! There are plenty of problems going on in this desert kingdom. Even the king seems to have caught a bad case of the “rage.” And by that, I mean he's always raging at every little thing. Apparently, this is because of a super bad headache. Surely there's something on this island that can help him chill out.

One Angry Ogre

Turns out, there is something that can help him. A sage named Eidosu (at least, that's what I'm going with here) wants to help. But raging King Barudo isn't having it. He tosses the sage (and you) into a cell. Seems like he's doing that a lot lately. Maybe this headache has something more to it. It doesn't seem like your garden variety migraine.

Thanks to a guard who's willing to help you out, you and Eidosu are able to leave the jail and plot to help the king out. There are two parts to this little quest: you have to find a chalice, and you have to find a flower. The flower will make juice. The chalice is…a fancy way to drink it??? I don't know. The translation app kinda crapped out on me here. The point is, you have to get those two things if you want to help the king out.

Them Bones, Them Bones, Them Dry Bones

I'm usually not so big on deserts and desert towns in video games. This area is called Glen Rock Castle and (I'm assuming) Glen Rock. After leaving the oceanic vistas of the weddie storyline, it's a bit of a letdown. The zones are beautiful, but they feel extra empty. However, if desert zones is your cup of tea, then you'll probably adore these areas.

Let's start by journeying through the arid desert and a ridiculously long cave to find this first item. There are a lot of skeleton enemies here. You eventually reach the end of the cave and find some of these skeletons up to no good. They summon a guardian to help them pummel you to death. Probably to the surprise of no one, it's a mystical skeleton warrior with some big swords.

This guy has a pretty cool design, and the fight isn't hard at all. Once you take him out and retrieve the chalice, head back into town. Remember that the king is still raging because of his headache. Instead, you'll need to go to the inn to find out what do to next.

Chill Out, Dude

Since the king needs to chill out, we're headed into some chilly areas away from the desert. We have to find that flower, remember? You'll still have to journey across the desert a bit, but this time you'll take a different route and climb into the mountains. This means snow–and lots of it.

The areas here look pretty cool, but I've always been a sucker for some good snowy zones. I wouldn't want to live there, but it's fun to visit. Before you can find the flower, you'll reach an icy lake. Hopefully, you're prepared…because an ice dragon is about to attack!

I actually let my daughter fight this boss. She'd been watching me play Dragon Quest X, and I figured the worst that could happen is that she'd wipe and I'd have to fight it again. No big deal. But she actually managed to beat it! I was pretty over-leveled for it already, and I set the difficulty of the fight to easy. Still, she's not even four yet, and she had no trouble. Yeah, I'm dad-bragging…

It's a fairly quick fight, and the design of the boss is great. It's a beautiful dragon. Too bad you have to kill it. Once the fight is over, you'll find a pretty tree covered in ice. There are blooms on it, though, and you need to grab one if you're going to help the king get rid of that headache.

Once you get back into town, you'll try to give the king his medicine. Thankfully, your guard friend will help force the king to take it–and all in slow motion!

When the king drinks this potion, his headache is cured! Hooray! You'll be rewarded with a Key Emblem, which means you're done with this island for now!

Some Trouble Down the Road

There's also a bit of foreshadowing in this section, as we see a glimpse of a mysterious female mage who bewitches a necklace and gifts it to the king, thus giving him the headache. While this section of the story doesn't address it much, you may recognize the character design. This is an important character later on. We just haven't reached her yet. But keep her in mind! There's something malevolent a-brewin'!

That's it for this week! Next time, we're journeying into the land of the elves! They're pink and have little wings like fairies. And if that doesn't cause you to die from cuteness, there's also a little girl who has reindeer for friends.

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Comments

  1. That dragon didn’t as much give me a hard time as the battle lasted FOREVER (ok, only about 6 minutes, but it seemed forever). Everyone was out of MP. Then again, this was my first island/emblem boss I took on, so I was nowhere the level you were.

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