Xenogears/Operation Aveh

World Map

 * Enemies
 * Sand Man
 * Sand Shark
 * Spear Trooper
 * Neo Tin Robo
 * Hobgob
 * Lil Kobold

You start out this chapter piloting the Yggdrasil. Move the ship with psx: Neutral Dpad, exit the ship (in Gears) with psx: c, enter the ship again with psx: x, and you can revert to your characters inside with psx: s. While in the Yggdrasil, you do not encounter enemies, so if you want to grind levels, you have to leave. This is a good time to level up your characters' Deathblows. Keep one character in their Gear to distract the large enemies.

You can explore the entire desert now, and there are a few places of interest. To the extreme NORTHWEST is Bart's Lair, where you just were, and NORTH of that is a lone tree in the desert. This is the Road to Nisan, which is an underground passage where you can enter the eponymous city, Nisan. There are a few shops that carry some useful (and expensive) accessories. You'll be coming to this city later on, so don't bother coming here yet. To the EAST is the Kislev border, which you cannot enter for story-obvious reasons. Nearby is Dazil, which is exactly the same as it was before. You can even go back to the Blackmoon Forest.

In the center of the desert is Bledavik, the capital of Aveh. This is the next story area, and will take up a good amount of time, so only enter when you're absolutely ready.

Bledavik

 * Items
 * 1) H&S Badge

As is fitting for a capital city, Bledavik is large, even having its own "world map", so to speak. The first place to go is South Bledavik, which is the first green marker. The city is sprawling with overhanging passageways and tunnels, and it's fairly easy to get lost. To the SOUTHWEST is a Gear Shop, and to the SOUTHEAST is a weapon shop. Down the center are merchants who will sell radishes and bananas (available for 10G each), and a merchant who will buy off any Fangs, Eyeballs, and Scales you may have for a reasonable profit. In the middle of the road, there are two staircases going off to the EAST and WEST. Going EAST, you will see two red doors: one to the NORTH (item shop), and one to the SOUTH (armor shop).

Going back down and to the WEST, head to the left of the first building to the blue door of the hotel. There's a save point here. Follow the nun into her room. Time to gather some intel. Head as far EAST as you can, and find the water pump. Examine the sewer grate and go talk to the nun again. Your next destination is Shakhan Square, just NORTH of where you are. But first, there are a few things to finish here.

Talk to the merchant across from the animal part buyer for a short scene. Follow the kid through the tunnel leading to where the hide and seek kid is. Talk to them and give them 1000G; it will help you later in the game. Talk to hide and seek kid, and he'll mention the key to the sewer grate. He'll also head to his first hiding spot (more on that later). Go back to the sewer grate and talk to the old guy there. Answer "Save Margie" and he'll give you the key. You can't enter the waterways right now, but you'll need to later.

If you want the H&S Badge, you'll need to play hide and seek with the kid from the well. The camera angles are tricky, so it's not easy to find him. Find him four times, and the badge is yours. Remember to enter a door or somewhere to reset the main level between each time. The four hiding places:


 * 1) To the NORTH just behind the archway
 * 2) Behind the barrels SOUTHWEST of the Gear Shop
 * 3) In the alley on the WEST side of town heading toward a door (behind the arches)
 * 4) Near the entrance on the EAST side in the blind spot

Upon finding him in all four places, he'll hand over the (1) H&S Badge. Time to go to Shakhan Square.

Shakhan Square
There's not much to do here other than the minigames. You can even get a balloon for free. Head to the NORTH, where Bart will leave the party. Keep going NORTH until you reach Fatima Castle. If you got a balloon, you can see it float away on the city map.

Fatima Castle
Time to register for the tournament. You have to pick a pseudonym, and the game gives you some interesting options. Choose whatever you like. Head back to the hotel, save, and talk to the nun. Talk to Citan and choose "Get some rest" when you're done exploring.