mitsguy2001 posted...1. I read about a glitch where you can try to enter the Moon Palace early, but Karon will be "out to lunch". As far as I know, there is no way to legitimately reach the "out to lunch" message. Obviously there was originally intended to be some legitimate way to get the ferry before you were supposed to, and Karon would have been out to lunch.
By running vertically you can reach the ferry early by the time right after the events on the sand ship. However, you can land on the screen south of the ferry as soon as you have the drum. Yet the Gold Palace must be cleared in order to enter Moon Palace. The exact trigger is sealing the light seed. Before that, Karon is still absent.
2. If I remember right, after returning the Mana seed to the Fire Palace, there is no story reason to go to the Empire, other than a woman saying she wants to move there, and the fact that Cannon Travel now offers it as a destination, and you've been everywhere else that you could go. Maybe there was intended to be some story that would have sent you to the Empire?
Lets assume this game would have a quest log. At this point, you would still have two "main quests" and one "side quest":
Main Quests:
1. Finding and sealing all the Mana seeds.
2. Looking for Sage Joch in the Upperland.
Side Quest:
3. Looking for the Sea Hare Tail.
1. This one is out of the question due to absolutely no hints about a seed being at the Empire.
2. The search for Sage Joch on the other hand fizzles out during the events in Matango. Your route to the Four Seasons certainly serves finding the Upperland. While the Lofty Mountains are in the vicinity of Matango, you soon realized there is no path within walking distance from there. So you are kind of distracted looking for the white dragon and then King Truffle tells you about the Fire Seed. After that, the search for Joch isn't mentioned again until the King presents you the drum at North Town.
3. Although there is the request looking for the Sea Hare Tail, this is rather a side note than an actual quest. Without any advice where to look for it, it could be in the Empire just as well as anywhere else.
So another reason to travel to the Empire could be attacking them rather then waiting for their next assault. Technically, you are dealing with the empire, especially Geshtar, in the recent past anyway. However, neither the party ever talks about landing a preemptive strike nor they roughly have the strength to do so. Just imagine a battle with Sheex, Geshtar and Fanha simultaneously.
So, this is truly an argument for the golden thread being lost at this point. Not that this in untypical for RPGs, though. But I've always wondered how these things could have lined up in the first place.
"We'd rule the world if we had the Mana Fortress!"
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