Part 11: Monkey’s Delivery Service
When Fassad enters the Yado inn, he asks Jackie, “How much is the lodging fee, good man?” Jackie is confused. His wife, Betsy, explains that anybody can stay at the inn for free. Even though they didn’t charge anything, Fassad gives Jackie a sack of money, which Betsy innocently remarks could be used as a good doorstop. Fassad, as you can see, is putting up his “façade.” Before going to his room, he politely asks Salsa to say “thank you” with a little dance. Everybody loves it. Curiously, Fassad goes into his room, but he doesn’t force Salsa to immediately follow him. If you try to escape the inn or enter anybody else’s room, though, he will get shocked. Fassad is only pretending to give Salsa freedom; he wants the villagers to believe Salsa follows him around on his own will. Once you figure out that the only place you’re able to go is Fassad’s room, Fassad sleeps on the bed and Salsa sleeps on the floor.
In the middle of the night, when everyone is asleep, Fassad goes outside for a business call. Unbeknownst to him, Salsa leaves the inn as well and listens in. Fassad tells the Pigmasks to storm Osohe castle in the morning. They tell him that they saw a bum-looking, smelly-breathing, limp-walking man inside – Fassad says he’s of no concern. He then hangs up the phone and takes Butch’s money out from the well.
If you try to make a run for it, Fassad catches Salsa, saying,
“Did you think…! [shocks Salsa] …you could run away from me?! [shocks Salsa] That’s why…! [shocks Salsa] …you’re such a stupid monkey!! Don’t make me say it anymore… Go back to the room and sleep! Don’t bother me anymore! What’s with that look…? Laugh! [Salsa laughs] But, you know, if you were going to run away, I’m sure there were some more intelligent ways you could have done it. Like trying to disguise yourself, or trying to walk without making any sound… But I guess monkeys just aren’t intelligent enough for things like that! Nwehehehehe!”
That night, Salsa dreams about when he was left in the desert with Fassad the day before. When Fassad wakes up, he shocks Salsa, saying, “How long are you going to sleep?! You stupid monkey!”
He then instructs Salsa to continue charming the villagers, offering to finally set him free and reunite him with his girlfriend if he does a good job. It seems like this endeavor is almost over for Salsa. When you go outside, Fassad gathers a crowd and speaks to the townsfolk about a thing called “happiness.” When Fassad prompts Salsa to dance, he makes a gesture that suggests which direction the player should input on their Game Boy Advance to make Salsa do the right move.
All different kinds of people come to the town square to listen to Fassad. Tazmily is a pretty nice place, but is there a chance that it could be even better? Just look at Salsa! He’s always dancing because he has happiness! As he talks, his audience gradually trickles out, but he continues. Times are changing! All sorts of mysterious things are happening to Tazmily! In fact, he heard that powerful lightning will soon be regularly striking the land! Lisa laughs at this notion, but Fassad tries to reassure her that it is the truth. All but seven people remain in his audience, and all but four of them want to obtain happiness. None of them are totally convinced about it, but they don’t see any harm in trying it out.
Shogo Sakai nailed the song that plays when Fassad speaks. It sounds like what you’d hear at a circus, before the accordion goes on a crazy solo. This is what happiness sounds like! The bass bounces up and down like you’re jumping on a trampoline, and the flute goes up and down like you’re at a carnival. Everything that makes you happy is included in this song; it’s all so much fun!
Of course, whatever this happiness that Fassad is preaching about can’t be any good. From the way he talks about it, happiness is a quantifiable object. Certain things and activities grant specific amounts of it. If you don’t have a lot of happiness producers in your life, you must be sad. Happiness comes in the form of comfort and entertainment, which Tazmily is lacking. The “head start on happiness” that Salsa has is completely fake. He dances because he’s been beaten into submission. This “happiness” is an illusion. However, Salsa must grant the people their wishes.
When they return to the inn, Fassad gets on the phone again. He’s been informed that there are more unexpected people in the castle and that they are too strong to defeat. Because Fassad judged Duster from a first impression, his whole operation is in jeopardy. When he hangs up the phone, he orders Salsa to deliver Happy Boxes to the people who requested them. He must do it in under 22 minutes, or he will be severely punished. If they are all delivered under 22 minutes, Salsa will be allowed to eat, since he hasn’t been fed yet.
Now, you’re truly able to explore the village. Because it’s your job to figure out where people live, and because Fassad is still in his room, you won’t be restricted from talking to anybody. Many people will adore how cute he is, but some will mention the sad expression on Salsa’s face. Others will yell at you to get out of their house (you are a monkey, after all).
Thomas says “Happiness, huh… for some reason, I’m not sure what that word means.” Jonel, the one who made Flint pray in the sanctuary before he went into the fiery forest, says, “Hey there, monkey. It sort of seems to me like you’re being forced around like a bad guy. I can tell these things.” Scamp, the old man with a parrot that speaks in coarse language, also recognizes Salsa’s situation. If you go to Butch’s farm and talk to one of the pigs, it says, “Do you know the secret about Mother 3? ‘Cause I do. I’m not telling, though.” Pigs have always been keeping secrets about this game. I think this secret is becoming increasingly more apparent as it goes on…
When you deliver the Happy Boxes to Isaac, Butch, Abbot, and Abbey, you walk very slowly. It is a real pain to play this part of the game, but it was an intentional decision on Itoi’s part. This helps you better understand the labor that Salsa has to endure. Another cool design choice that Itoi made is that you only really have to deliver three happy boxes, since Abbot and Abbey share the same house. This makes the burden of slowly walking all over town a little less overwhelming.
The song that plays when Salsa delivers the Happy Boxes is one of my favorites in the game. The accordion is at play once more; I think it symbolizes the events of Chapter 3. There’s nothing too special about the song; I just think the structure of the song is done very well. I think they knew this one was good, because it used to be the song that played in Tazmily all the time back when Mother 3 was being made for the Nintendo 64. The melody is strong, the chords are strong, the bass is strong, I don’t have much more to say about it than that without getting too in-depth.
When you return to Fassad, you see him eating the banana that he said he’d reward you with. He says you took 25 minutes no matter how long you actually took, and that you would have gotten a reward if you had done it all in 3 minutes, which isn’t actually possible. He then proceeds to shock Salsa.
Their next task is to see what’s going on in Osohe Castle. Fassad comes with you this time. Curiously, though, you don’t get shocked for exploring the village. Some of the townsfolk have special dialogue when Fassad is in your party. The most interesting piece comes from Mayor Pusher, who is one of the only ones to refer to Fassad by name, even adding “Mr.” to his title. He wants to learn more about money sometime soon. If you remember from earlier, Pusher was the one who said he’d talked to an associate about building a retirement home. Could Fassad be him?
When you enter the castle, Fassad catches two Pigmasks resting at the entrance after being defeated by Duster. He sharply scolds them and tells them to make sure to find him. One runs into the main hall, and the other runs into the wall, falls to the ground, gets back up, and runs into the main hall. As you search the castle, you can talk to the Pigmasks who are investigating. A funny line that I found was “This castle used to be filled with ghosts, but we kicked ‘em all out using the power of science!” If you go into the kitchen where all the ghosts are crammed in, one will say, “I’ve found a new interest in the power of science. Never mind that I’m a ghost.”
Eventually, Fassad is informed that Duster and his crew have fled to the basement. He and Salsa follow suit. When they enter the basement, they are blocked by a peculiar door that can’t be opened by normal means. But thanks to Salsa’s dancing skills, they open it.
The basement is dark and dusty. The only company Salsa has beside Fassad are skeletons.
The only other thing of interest in the basement is a peculiar lever. When Fassad orders Salsa to pull it, Wess, Kumatora, Duster are washed away right in front of their eyes! The Pigmasks inform Fassad that Duster has the important item they were looking for. Fassad hurriedly commands them to chase after Duster and his crew. Fassad and Salsa get on their way back to the Yado Inn.
This concludes part 11 of the analysis.