Brain Lord/The Tower of Light

Road to the Tower

Once you're outside town, head North and kill any of the Red Demons you see along the way. It takes three hits to kill one of them but they can do a number on you so be careful and don't get hit whatever you do. However, it's a good idea to kill as many as you can find along the way so you can get some extra cash. You'll eventually reach a hill. Jump up the hill and you should see a log cabin on the top. Enter it, head down the stairs to the right and kill the three Red Demons you meet in the basement. Grab the treasure and exit the cabin. The game will ask you to name the fairy you found (the default name is Ifrie, if you just cancel without naming it). Now use the Heart and the Crimson Jade you found for a nice little surprise: for one, your life meter will increase by one and the fairy you found will come out of its jewel. It will attack any enemy the moment it sees it, which is very helpful later on. Jump down the cliff to the right and head southeast. You'll meet a new enemy type here but it's almost as weak as the Red Demons. A little further ahead you'll be on the right path, as they've all merged into one leading east then north. Follow it and you'll find the Tower of Light.

The Tower of Light

Floor 1

Map of the first floor (Yellow = main path stairs. Red = detours and secrets. Pale grey = rooms that cannot be accessed).

Head left first and talk to Kasian. She'll tell you about the weird statue beside here. It allows you to save your game; you can usually find them on each floor of any dungeon you visit. After you've saved head to the right. The first enemy you'll see is a Skull. They're simple to kill but you'll want to keep your distance because they'll jump at you. Once the Skulls are gone and you start going upwards, you'll run into another enemy, the Skeleton. Again, these guys are easily killed but you'll have to wait for it to collect itself each time you hit it. After it's disposed of, continue around the path until you reach the stairs to the second floor. There's nothing else of importance to note, just more of the same enemies you've been fighting so far.

Floor 2

Map of the second floor (Yellow = main path stairs. Red = detours and secrets. Pale grey = rooms that cannot be accessed).

The key to the Seal

Click to enlarge

Go left and talk to Ferris, then look at the tablet above. This is the first puzzle in the game, but it's very easy to figure out. Once you've finished reading it, head to the right side of the rock. Push it left twice, then down all the way, then to the left until it's lined up with that panel on the floor. Now all you have to do is push the rock onto the panel and the door above will stay open so you can get inside of it. Save and then head around the path until you reach the next room. Once you're in the next room head through the door the left. Ferris has a bit of a problem - she hates mice. Go kill the mice for her and she'll tell you about the contents of the chest. After she's done open the chest for the Magic Shot and then leave. Now head right and follow the path around. It's worth noting that the Magic Shot you have is a lot stronger than any weapon you have access to at the moment, so use it to kill the Skeletons in one shot instead of waiting around. Also, don't bother attacking the eyes in the wall. They'll simply jump out and start attacking you.

Click to enlarge

The next room is ahead, but it's easy enough to find since this place is so linear. Don't bother the steel balls in the next room, instead go down and push the rock up towards the panel closest to the door. After that, push one of the steel balls up or down, it doesn't matter which, then push the other steel ball toward the rock to the right. Both panels should now be depressed and the door near the rock should be open. Inside the adjoining room is a curious Metroid look-alike. Don't attack it with your sword, use your Magic Shot instead. Grab the treasure, use the well to regain your health if you got hit, then equip the Reviving Mirror and use the Heart. Now exit the room and go down and talk to Barness. He'll give you a few tips. Enter the next room but don't move forward yet. Look at the floor carefully. Notice the difference between some of the tiles. The ones with the square in the middle of them are traps: DON'T STEP ON THEM. Go right, up four times, left twice, up three times, right twice, up four times, left once, then up and into the next room.

Watch out for these trap tiles because more of them will appear later on too. Once you're in the next room, go right to get an Apple. Now head left and kill the Metroid, then continue on until you reach the trippy section as I call it. Jump to the closest platform, then walk down (don't jump) onto the platform below it. You don't need to go down the left or upper paths right now, so don't worry about it. Step off the platform when you reach solid ground again. Below, step onto the closest platform and ride it down until you see the other platforms. Walk onto the right platform and ride it until it stops, then jump up to get it moving again. Now walk onto the right plaform next to the wall, then when it stops, walk onto the platform below it and you'll reach solid ground. Head down and kill the Archer walking around but try not to get hit by its arrows. After that, go to the right and enter the door at the end. Your Magic Shot will come in handy here, use it at a distance to kill each of the three Archers in the room.

There's a Long Bow weapon in the chest at the top, but don't equip it. Exit the room and enter the next one behind it. Walk up but keep on your toes. You'll should see three red steel balls near the top of the room. These things will roll at you when you cross in front of them. The best way to do this part is to walk along one of the walls so that you'll only activate one of them, then walk toward the center so the middle one starts at you. There should be a decent sized gap between the two red steel balls that you activated, so you can get past them without getting hurt. Don't walk up past whichever red steel is still inactive, instead go to the right or left of it to get it moving then get the treasure and exit. Now enter the last room. This one is really easy compared to the others. Just walk along one of the walls and grab the treasure when you're close to it. There's a tile trap two tiles in front of the treasure so watch out. You should be able to spot it easily though. Exit the room and go back up but stay on the left side. Use the platforms there to get to the other side easily, then walk onto the platform closest to you to take a ride up.

Walk onto the left platform and let it take you up. Jump again and it'll take you back down. Now head to the left and use the key on the locked door.

The third floor key

Enter the next room then go through the other door you see above. Step onto the platform, then jump right, then down. Let the platform take you down, then jump again to make it take you back up. Now walk onto the platform to the left then jump up, then up again, then finally right to reach the chest. Equip the Chain Mail then jump left again, then all the way down until you reach the South wall of the room. All you have to do now is jump to the left and you'll be on your way. Exit and follow the path around. When start down, hug the right wall and enter the room below. This room is filled with tile traps. Go left, up twice, right three times, up five times, left twice, up twice and the treasure is yours. Use the Drop of Protect (that sounds a lot like Engrish) to raise your Defence then backtrack to the other room and continue on. Watch out for more tile traps on the way down. they're a little harder to see here since there's so much area to cover. Most of them are concentrated around the nook where the door was but there's a few along way to the door at the bottom.

If you get hurt by the tiles or the enemies, just use an Apple. When you reach the next room, don't jump to the other side just yet, instead stand on the ornate tile then use your Magic Shot to hit the Statue above. It'll take quite a few hits to destroy it but you'll get some extra money for your troubles. When it's gone, head up and grab the key inside the chest. I bet you know where that goes.

Now do some backtracking all the way back to the main room with the platforms, then head down again and open the locked door at the bottom.

The X-ray glasses

Whew, finally. There's a fairly hard puzzle awaiting you in the next room. It looks very simple but it can be deceiving. The idea here is to "sacrifice" two of the objects, actually two steel balls, so that you can get the other three onto the panels and open the door. Here's how you do it. This diagram should help out.

1. Move one rock to the left switch.
2. Move the other rock to the right switch.
3. Shove the middle steel ball either left or right (doesn't matter which).
4. Shove the top steel ball up (it will block the door).
5. Shove the bottom steel ball up (it will run into the other one).
6. The door is now open, just shove the ball blocking it to one side.

In the next room, go and talk to Kasian and she'll give you the X-Ray Glasses. Before heading up the stairs to the next floor, look for the secret passages.

Secret rooms

Investigate every room of the 2nd floor to detect differences between what you see and what the X-ray map shows you. Alternatively, just keep reading.

Remember where you first met the nasty red steel balls? The room to the left of that one has one secret passage. The last panel behind the treasure contains a secret door, just push upwards against the wall to reveal it. In the secret rea you can find a Magic wallet that slowly fills up with money. Save that money for later in the game.

Back on the second floor, look for the other secret area. In the room with the magic statue, look at the upper right hand part of the room near the treasure chest. See those two pillars? Stand between them and walk into the wall. You will find a staircase that leads to treasure, specifically the Foundation jade (which raises defense) and other stuff.

Secret passage.

Secret passage.

Floor 3

Map of the third floor (Yellow = main path stairs. Red = detours and secrets. Pale grey = rooms that cannot be accessed).

The Detour key

Save first then talk to Rein if you want. He'll give you some advice. Now, head through the door closest to the Save Statue. Kill the Skeleton in your way and then jump to the platform when it gets close. Do the same thing with the next platform you see. Now head to the top then right until you see another platform. Step aboard and wait until you see the next platform come in contact with the one you're on. Now quickly step onto the other platform while it's close to get taken to the treasure. Equip the Iron Sword and the Round Shield and use the platforms to get back to the previous room. Head to the far right and enter the room there. Wait for a second before you move so you know what to do here. Yup, the ground will disappear and if you're standing on it, you'll fall into the void. Wait until the moment the ground reappears then jump (don't walk) to the left wall. Now stand at the edge of the tile closest to the next patch of solid ground, wait until the ground appears again then jump to it as fast as possible. You'll have a smaller margin of error here so be careful.

Once you've made it jump to the long section of safe ground ahead. You can see where it is because of the black crud on the left wall. When you're there, stand directly toward the next patch of real ground. It's only one tile long so you have to be accurate and careful. Wait on this tile so that your fairy can kill the Skeleton on the next section. When it's gone, make the jump to it. You're in the clear for now, so jump to the left and you'll be on solid ground for awhile. Go down until you reach the pile of black crud on the ground. There's more phantom floor yet! Look for the smaller pile of black crud and jump onto that tile when the floor ahead is substantial. At this point, let your fairy kill the Skeleton ahead, then jump to the cross-shaped section of ground it was on. The next patch of ground is fairly far away, so you'll have to really time yourself to get to it before the phantom floor disappears. If you don't see it, it's near the right wall, probably at the bottom of your TV screen. Wait for the ground to appear then make a break for it.

Don't bother going to the tile-wide sections of ground to the left, it's better to aim for the right side. Jump to the next patch of ground and kill the Archer there. You're finally done with the phantom floor. Yay! Enter the next room and head right. Talk to the guy next to the chest and get rid of your excess equipment except the Bow. Now head up and grab the Detour Key inside the chest, then head left and through the door. You'll be back at the beginning of floor 3. Before you kick yourself for ending up back here, use the Detour Key on the door, then save your game before you head back.

The Crossroads key

You can open this chest later.

When you're back in the room with the merchant, head down and to the right, then push the rock to the right so that it sits on the panel on the far right. In order to get inside the left door, you'll need to enter and then exit the right door, then push the rock to the left onto the panel there. Inside that room is a well, drink the water to replenish your health. Now go back into the other room and head up and talk to Rein if you want. Keep going until you reach another room with huge void in the center.

Follow the walls to the right and enter the room there. Once you're in the next room, jump onto the platform to the left, then jump diagonally to the platform near the left wall. You can make it, it's not that hard to do. Get the contents of the chest and use it to raise your Power. Now make your way back to the other side then walk onto the right platform, then jump to the next platform to get taken to the far right. Head through the next door. In the adjoining room, head down but watch out for two red steel balls that'll come up from the bottom. Do the same thing that you did the last time - stay near the one of the walls so that only one of the red steel balls will activate a time. It's best to stay near the left wall because the door is on the right and you can avoid getting hit easier that way. Once you reach the next room, you'll have another puzzle on your hands, but this one is more annoying than hard. Before you try your hand at it, go down into the room at the bottom to get another Heart.

Now, back to the problem at hand. First off, to open the right door, use these directions.

     1   2   3   4   5   6
   -------------------------
A | [pa][  ][pa][pa][  ][pa]  pa = panel
B | [  ][pa][  ][  ][pa][  ]  ro = rock
C | [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]  sb = steel ball
D | [  ][  ][sb][sb][  ][  ]
E | [  ][ro][  ][  ][ro][  ]
F | [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]
G | [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]
H | [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]
I | [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]

• Push the steel ball at D4 up to A4. Now push it right to A6.
• Push the steel ball at D3 up to A3. Leave it there.
• Finally move the rock at E5 to A4. The door on the right should now be open.

Go inside and quickly grab the contents of the chest, the Magic Missile! Avoid the Fireballs and exit the room. Now in order to open the door to the left you'll need to follow these directions.

     1   2   3   4   5   6
   -------------------------
A | [pa][  ][pa][pa][  ][pa]  pa = panel
B | [  ][pa][  ][  ][pa][  ]  ro = rock
C | [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]  sb = steel ball
D | [  ][  ][sb][sb][  ][  ]
E | [  ][ro][  ][  ][ro][  ]
F | [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]
G | [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]
H | [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]
I | [  ][  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]

• Push the steel ball at D3 up to A3. Now push it left to A1.
• Push the steel ball at D4 up to A4. Now push it right to A6.
• Move the rock at E2 up to B2. Leave it there.
• Finally move the rock at E5 up to B5. The door on the left should be open.

Now that the door is open, backtrack to the room with the void in the center and head to the left side and go through the door there. Meh. Another puzzle. It seems hard but it's really not.

     1   2   3
   -------------
A | [  ][  ][  ]  pa = panel
B | [  ][sb][  ]  ro = rock
C | [  ][sb][  ]  sb = steel ball
D | [  ][  ][  ]
E | [  ][  ][  ]
F | [  ][  ][  ]
G | [  ][  ][  ]
H | [  ][  ][  ]
I | [sb][sb][sb]
J | [  ][  ][  ]

Solved puzzle

• Push the steel ball at I2 up to D2. Leave it there for now.
• Push the steel ball at C2 left to C1.
• Now finally push the steel ball at D2 back down to J1, then push the steel ball at B1 down to I2. The door at the top should be open now.

You'll have to face a sub-boss in the next room but he's really easy to kill. Switch to the Magic Missiles and charge it up. Go near the Knight and hit him with them. They'll home in on him so you don't have to aim. You should be able to get in about three Magic Missile shots before he gets close to you. Once he's close, run by him and continue to pummel him with Magic Missiles until he's gone. He'll leave something behind for you (usually a Cheese), so afterwards head down and into the next room. Switch to your Magic Shot here and hit the treasure chest across the void twice. The ground will appear so that you can get the contents, another key. Ignore the rocks and the red steel balls and backtrack to the room with the guy that was selling items. The puzzle from the reverse side is even easier to figure out. Head all the way to the bottom, ignoring the steel balls above, all you need are the three at the bottom. Push the steel balls at the side down and the middle one to the right or left and you'll be free.

Once you're back in the room where the guy was selling things, go left then through the door in the South wall. Head to the right and use the key on the door then enter.

The fourth floor key

Go right and kill any Archers you see along way. Jump across the short gap in the void and go through the door at the top. Another puzzle awaits, but this one is easy. Hug the right wall and make the red steel ball follow you along. Make sure the red steel ball is in the top right corner near the top door, then walk in front of it so that it goes to the left wall. Next walk in front of it again so that it goes in the bottom left corner, then again until it's in that little nook near the bottom door. Now walk up until you're in front of the top door then walk down just enough so that the red steel ball will follow you up. While it's coming up, jump towards the door and hold up so that you'll go through it when the red steel ball passes over the panel.

You'll find Barness in the next room but he has a problem. There are two panels here but no rocks or steel balls. He wants you to go look for someone to stand on the other panel so that he can go through the door. Since you're the only one around, you'll have to go looking. Just go and see Rein and he'll offer to help. Now go back to the room Barness was in and Rein will show up behind you. Barness and Rein will step on the panels and let you into the next room. Head up until you see the rocks and the three red steel balls. Move the rock at the bottom forward twice, then make all three red steel balls follow you down toward the door. Once you've did that you can grab the key in the chest. Now go down toward the red steel balls and walk in front of each one so that they go back up and you'll be free to head through the door. Head back to the room with the locked door and you'll find Ferris waiting there.

She's opted to leave the Tower of Light but that doesn't mean you have to. Instead, open the door and head through it. Follow the path around and kill any of the Red Demons you see until you find the door into the next room. There isn't much more to say other than that. In the adjoining room, head straight up and the stairs to the next floor will be there. Finally.

Floor 4

Map of the fourth floor (Yellow = main path stairs. Red = detours and secrets. Pale grey = rooms that cannot be accessed).

The Sky Room key

Save your game then head through the door. This room is HUGE but very easy to navigate. First off, head all the way down then right until you reach a platform going up. Jump onto it and grab the Heart inside the chest. Secondly, backtrack all the way back to the door where you came in from, then follow the wall to the right and then down to find the Sky Key. Now go back up and there should be a moving platform a little ways to the left. Wait until the first one comes to a stop then jump onto it. The second platform is more difficult. Wait for both of them to line up then jump to the second platform. Now that you made it, go down until you reach another set of moving platforms. This time it's a little easier but you'll still want to be careful. Once you've made it onto the second platform, head left and follow the patches of ground until you see some carpeting. Oh, the boss of the Tower of Light is just ahead. If you're low on health, you should walk along the left side until you see another piece of ground to the left. There's a well over there to refill your health. Once that's taken care of, go to the door and open it.

Boss: Giant Cockroach

Ugh! A cockroach. Time to squash it! Stay on the rug in the center of the room and hit it whenever it comes towards you. The first time you hit it, it'll send out little bugs to bug, er, pester you and afterwards will occasionally send out more as the battle progresses. You should take some time to kill some of them then continue to hit the boss whenever you can. The cockroach itself has an odd way of maneuvering. It'll never be able to hit you if you stay on the rug, but it moves along the sides of the walls until it reaches one of the corners. When you approach it, it'll likely move off again to another corner. It'll do this over and over again until you defeat it or you die. As you continue to hit it, it'll eventually start to move faster and faster as well as change colors to signify the amount of damage done to it. It takes roughly twenty or so hits to kill it so brace yourself for a rather long battle. Don't be afraid to use whatever healing items you have left and the Reviving Mirror you got earlier will be a big help if you're having trouble. That's basically it.

After it's dead, you should go through the door above and check out the room. There's a Dragon Scale near the right wall and a treasure chest with a Warp Gate in the top left corner. There's also a big hole in the wall where Kasian was looking from the other side. They also took most of the Dragon Scales. Bastards. Once you've collected the Dragon Scale, you should use the Warp Gate to get sent back to Arcs.