Sylviana: Ai Ippai no Boukensha/Light World - West half

(A) Your home
You will begin the game at location (A), your home. At any time throughout the game, you may enter your home and talk with your mother (who is laid up in bed) to fully restore your health.

All of the nearby screens are occupied by the two weakest outdoor enemies in the game. However, you should not underestimate them; though weak, they can still reduce your health fairly quickly and put you in danger if you are not close to a source of health.

Every time you arrive in a screen, whether you've previously defeated the monsters or not, the screen will contain four of one particular monster. Their location is random, and if a screen is split by something like mountains or a river, it is possible for all four to be on your side, on the opposite side, or to be split up between the sides. For this reason, you should always exit and return to a screen until the configuration of the enemies is to your advantage (i.e. more of them start away from you if you are trying to avoid combat).

Your two closest destinations are the cave closest to your home (2), and the town along the north coast (B). Although the nearby cave is closer, you should visit the town first, as well as the cave that lies beyond the town.

(B) The first town
This town is representative of all three towns in the game. There is a tea house where you may go to fully restore your health (like an inn in any traditional RPG). There is a weapon shop where you may buy more powerful swords. In this case, you must save up 990 gold to purchase your first upgrade. There is a shield shop where you can purchase better protective gear. However, the only shield for sale here is the same as the one you start the game with, so save your 10 gold for something else.

Lastly, there is an item shop that sells the same four items that are sold in every town's item shop. Bread will restore some of your health, so it's very wise to carry as much of this as possible, especially when you are exploring new regions. Poppy is the antidote to thorn poisoning, which causes you to walk very slowly. Having one or two of these at the very least is always a good idea. The 3rd Eye can be used to detect traps in treasure sacks or chests. However, antidotes are cheaper, and developing a habit of saving before investigating treasure chests will help you save your money. Finally, you shouldn't need to purchase a key until much later in the game. Early on, you will find plenty of them in treasure chests.

Unlike a traditional RPG, the one thing you can't get at this town, or any town in the game, is advice. This town will be your base of operations for some time. Before you head off to any cave, it would be a good idea to try and gather enough money for a supply of five or six loaves of bread. If you have the patience, you can try to save up for the Bronze Sword, but you should be alright for now without one. When you feel you are ready, exit the town, head to the west, and then up to the cave in the north west corner of the land.

(1) Dr. Doppler's cave
Despite the change in scenery, exploring a dungeon is just like exploring the outdoors. Each room will contain four of the same monster, although the distribution of those monsters throughout the room will be random. Therefore, you should try to exit and return to a room as many times as necessary until the arrangement of those monsters presents the level of threat you are prepared to deal with.

In this initial cave, start by walking east to the next screen on the right. You can follow this path to a small chamber containing a few open treasure chests, and one closed one. In fact, every closed treasure chest that you find will be surrounded by a few open chests, so don't be concerned about the number of empty chests you encounter. The one closed chest contains a Tulip. You can use this flower to instantly warp back to your mother's home. There are only a few of these, and you can only carry one, so save it for a good occasion.

Return back to the entrance of the cave, and head south to the room below. You will see another closed chest. Examine this one to find a Key, which you will need momentarily. Take either of the paths that lead up and to the right, and follow the path to the lower portion of the room with the Tulip. Continue along the path to the room below. Walk up to the door to automatically unlock it with the key you found.

Inside the small room is Dr. Doppler. He knows that you have come seeking medicine, but he is unable (or unwilling) to help you until someone manages to return his eight treasures that the demons have stolen from him. Thus you must embark on a quest to retrieve those items for him in order to obtain his help. Head back out of the dungeon to return to the Light World.

(2) Home cave
Now that you have received Dr. Doppler's orders, you'll need to start exploring other dungeons to find his treasures. The cave closest to your home doesn't have a treasure, but it does have a valuable item, and the enemies aren't too tough.

There are seven rooms in this dungeon. Your ultimate goal here is to collect the first Heart, which will double your hit points from 24 to 48. If you have the Bronze Sword, and plenty of bread, you can take your time exploring. Otherwise, you may wish to get to the Heart as quickly as possible, and then worry about exploring the rest of the dungeon afterward.

From the entrance, you must walk east, and follow the path as it heads down and back to the west. You'll end up in a room with a chest and a locked door. The chest has a key, but you should not waste it on this door, as it is possible to walk north and reach the other side of the door, as long as you are willing to put up with a few more battles to get there.

Follow the north path as it wraps around to the east and deposits you in room with a second chest. This chest contains another Tulip. If you still have the Tulip from the first dungeon, you may wish to hold off collecting this one until you've used the first. Whether you grab it or not, head south into the central room. From here, you can go in any direction.

If you wish to get to the Heart quickly, head south and follow the snaking path until you arrive at the end of the path, where you can explore the chest on the left. This chest will contain the first Heart, and expand your health meter as well as replenish it. From here, you can either backtrack the way you came, or explore the room to the east, which contains a chest with some gold in it. Above that room is another chest with a loaf of bread. Use the Tulip if you feel you are in danger of dying.

(3) West tower
Your next destination is far to the west, where the enemies you encounter are slightly stronger. Before you cross the bridge to the west, you should make sure that you have the Bronze Sword, the first Heart, and plenty of bread. If you find the journey difficult, do not hesitate to turn around and return to town to buy more bread.

When you enter the tower, the bottom floor only have two rooms. Stay along the top as you move to the east in order to find the only chest on this floor, which contains a key. Then return to the entrance and take the lower path to the east so that you can access the stairs to the second floor.

The second floor is twice as large as the first. Follow the upper path to the west, and stop at the chest. This chest contains a Tulip, so decide if you want to collect it now, or save it for when you really need it. Before you double back to explore the lower path, stay on the outer path and go south. You will arrive at a dead end with a chest behind a door, which you will need a key to open. This chest contains the Gold Key, an important item needed to open the doors to all of the boss lairs.

Grab this gold key, and return to the first chest, and follow the lower path back to the east. This path will wrap around until it deposits you in the lower right corner. Nearby is a chest that contains a Doll, which will temporarily increase Sylviana's offensive power. Like the Tulip, you may only hold one at a time. Continue following the path back up, and you will arrive at another chest, which contains a loaf of bread.

Follow the path back down to the previous room and ignore the early branch to the left, since it only leads to a dead end. Instead, take the path all the way down to the bottom and then head up the middle of the following room to reach another set of stairs in the room above.

After you climb the stairs, you will be at the bottom of a quiet room. Nothing will happen until you open the door at the end of the corridor, which will only open if you have collected the Gold Key. Assuming you have, fill up your health with bread before you open the door, because you may not use any to save yourself once the boss battle starts. It's also a very wise idea to perform a Quick Save before proceeding any further.

After you pass through the door, the boss will appear near the middle of the screen. It will start to run left and right, back and forth, continuously. Meanwhile, the four statues in the corners will launch orbs in your direction. Touching either the boss or the orbs will damage Sylviana. Since you must touch the boss to defeat it, you must avoid touching any of the orbs as much as possible.

The bosses are generally only vulnerable from the right side. If they hit Sylviana from the left side, she will fail to do any damage to them, so be sure to attack on the right side of the boss. As you do, push it up into the upper left corner, which will force the boss to bounce back and forth more rapidly, speeding up the rate at which Sylviana and boss exchange damage. If you don't get hit by too many orbs, you should be able to damage the boss faster than the boss can damage you. Provided you started the battle with enough health, you should be able to defeat the boss before it beats you. Upon defeating the boss, you will obtain Dr. Doppler's first treasure, and all of your health will be restored. Then make your way out of the tower and back outside.

(4) River cave
There is a great distance between the first town and the second town. Although it would be great if you could find refuge in a closer location, you are forced to backtrack to the first town for a little while longer. The cave located at the corner of some land surrounded by rivers contains the second heart, which will greatly increase your chances of reaching the second town in tact.

Though only contained on one floor, the river cave is the biggest dungeon yet. It contains the greatest number of chests, but one of those chests contains quite a dangerous trap; a Scythe, which instantly drains Sylviana of all her health. For this reason, you should be very cautious and Quick Save frequently, preferably before you open each and every treasure chest.

From the entrance, head south to the room below, where you will find a chest containing a key. If you wish to explore the contents of every chest, you will need to double back along the upper right path, which will lead you to a room with a chest that contains a 3rd Eye. Otherwise, if you are content to ignore that chest, proceed along the bottom path to the next room.

From either direction, you must head south to the room below. To access the chest on the other side of the wall, you should take the right path heading south, and then come back up. The chest you find will contain another key. However, the chest in the room to the east is the one which contains the deadly Scythe. You should avoid that chest at all costs.

Instead, head back down. You will see another chest locked away behind a door. The chest contains another Doll. If you already have one from the West Tower, you may want to skip that chest and hang on to your key instead. Return to the room above, and now take the left southern path. Follow it into the next room beyond.

In this new room, you will be able to collect a new item from the chest; a puppet, which instantly destroys all enemies present on the current screen. From here, there are two western paths to follow. The southerly path leads to a chest containing a Poppy, a useful antidote to thorn poison, but which is easily obtainable in towns. The northern path, however, leads to your ultimate goal in this cave: the Heart. This will boost your health meter another 24 points to a maximum of 72. Now exit back out of the cave to continue your journey.

(C) Second town
You'll find the second town by heading south from the river cave as far as you can go, and then following the southern coastline to the east. Nestled in a pocket of mountains and trees, you will find that it bares a big resemblance to the first town. It has the same four shops. The tea house will only set you back three more gold for full health restoration.

The weapon and shield shops have expanded their selection to three choices each. The two new weapons and shields are all upgrades to your current equipment. Since the steel shield is approximately five times as expensive as the silver shield, it's not a bad idea to obtain the silver shield as early as you can afford it, and then save up for the steel shield. Both of these shields are also available in the third town as well.

The light axe is certainly expensive, and it will take some time to save up for it. The long spear is twice as expensive, and only gives you a small upgrade in strength over the light axe. You should consider purchasing the light axe, but passing on the long spear in order to save up for the ice sword that you can purchase once you reach the third town.

Before you proceed to the south cave, it is advised that you at least purchase the silver shield if nothing else, although the light axe will help if you can afford it. Don't forget to stock up on bread and some poppies as well.

(5) South cave
To reach the south cave from the second town, you must essentially follow the coast line back to the west, as it snakes around and down to the south. Make your way back to the east until you find the cave. Like the river cave, it's labyrinthine, but manageable. In addition to taking on the second boss of the game, you'll want to plunder this cave for the massive amounts of wealth it contains.

From the start, hug the right wall and follow it south two screens until you reach a chest that has a key in it. Then come back up a screen, and make your way up and over to the west exit. This will start you on a path that will eventually lead you back to the locked door that was visible when you entered the cave. Along the way, you will pass a chest, but avoid it since it's trapped with a Thorn. Instead, pass it by and continue on the path until you reach a door. Unlock it with a key and proceed to the chest beyond, which contains 2580 gold.

Make your way back to the room below the entrance, and head down the middle path. In the next room, start hugging the right wall again to end up in a small chamber with a chest that contains another key. Return to the left and up. From here, you could go down the center path to find a chest with a small amount of gold in it, but it's locked behind a door, and the key is worth more than the gold behind it.

Instead, take the far left path. Follow it down and to the left until you end up in a room with a chest off to the left that contains a 3rd Eye. Then return to the path and follow it along the bottom. You will loop all the way around the bottom room, and on to the east side of the dungeon. You will be able to head up to a room where you can see a set of stairs that lead to the boss. Before you challenge the boss, collect the key from the chest in the room, and then explore the right path to the room below, where you can find yet another chest with 2580 gold in it. If you have not purchased either the light axe or the long spear from the second town yet, you may wish to consider returning to town to buy one of them before proceeding to fight the boss.

Unfortunately for players of this game, the bosses don't require any different strategy from one another. Once you know how to defeat the first boss, you know how to defeat every boss. The only difference is the amount of health they have and the amount of damage they can do you to. Provided you at least have the silver shield and the light axe, you should be able to defeat this boss before it can defeat you. Then carefully exit the dungeon and return to the second town before embarking on the next portion of your quest.