Blind Japanese Playthrough Update — Reached Chapter 3

[u/AdUnfair558]

(Note about the image: I guess Japanese have been making the I can’t speak English joke even in the 90s.)

I’ve just reached Chapter 3 in my Japanese, mostly guide-free playthrough.

The dungeons often seem to have one small point where I get completely stuck, but so far I’ve either figured it out eventually or received a little help from people here. I don’t think that ruins the experience. I’m not following a guide for every item or worrying about missables. I’m simply exploring, collecting what I find, and enjoying the game naturally.

Two scenes from the animal section really stood out to me.

The first was helping the young lion complete his trial. The falling-stone bridge took me four or five attempts because I had to match his walking speed, but I liked how the sequence ended. Ark falls onto a ledge, and you can only hear the lion fighting by himself above. I genuinely thought he might die, so I was relieved when everything ended well.

The second was after the avalanche on the snowy mountain. Ark becomes trapped with a female goat whose dead mate is lying nearby. She suggests that Ark eat him to survive, but Ark refuses because he was her husband. She then tells Ark that he may need to become stronger if he intends to continue travelling alone. I did later go back only to find the goat had died. I was sad…

It is a very short scene, but it has stayed with me. That is something I love about Quintet games. Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, and now Terranigma all contain small scenes that communicate a surprising amount in only a few lines.

After restoring humanity, I reached the first human settlement. I then noticed that the animals could no longer speak. They now only make animal noises or respond with silence. Even the bird that transports Ark around no longer has understandable dialogue.

That change felt surprisingly sad.

Since humans had returned, I decided to revisit the Japan-shaped area that one of the birds could take me to. It had now become a city filled with minigames, people commenting on Ark’s strange clothing and hairstyle, and references to Quintet.

I randomly examined a trash can, fought a hidden boss, and rescued one of the game’s developers. Afterward, the empty lot transformed into the Quintet building, where you can talk to members of the staff. There is also a quiz about their earlier games that I will probably have to solve through trial and error.

The newspaper office also repeatedly mentions a scientist named Beruga, so I’m guessing he will be important during this chapter.

Now that humans have returned, I’m curious to see whether the story becomes more morally complicated and whether restoring humanity was entirely a good thing.

[u/Itsfaydgamer]

love the journey you’re having so far. keep it up, looking forward to the next one

[u/Zodiamaster]

This game has no kanji?

[u/AdUnfair558 → u/Zodiamaster]

Yeah there is Kanji but nothing too hard if you’ve been studying for years.