Part 22: Tanetane Island
Having landed on Tazmily’s beach, a crab with an arrow-shaped claw points in the direction of our next destination: Tanetane Island. If you talk to the crab, he’ll mention that no ship will ever sail there, and that you’ll have to swim all the way. I don’t know why they can’t just use a canoe of their own, but the plot insists that they swim.
You don’t exactly swim to Tanetane Island, either. Instead, Lucas and friends walk underwater, holding their breath. To get more oxygen, they need to walk over to an Oxygen Supply Machine. This machine is designed in a very… interesting way. It looks like a man with a fish tail, and to get more oxygen, it practices CPR on you. It’s Mother 3 – that’s just how it rolls. Also underwater, you have to fight against Navy SQUEALs and fish.
As you walk across the ocean floor, a sea monster named Master Eddy blocks the way. When you do enough damage to him, he will wipe out the entire team and wash away all the items they had. The Oxygen Supply Machines bring everybody to the shore of Tanetane Island.
When everyone regains consciousness, they notice that they are extremely weak. If you try to venture into the inland, a Zombieshroom blocks your way, and is unbeatable. The only way to regain energy is by eating the “energizing mushrooms” beside him.
The game describes the mushrooms as “funky-looking,” and asks you twice if you really want to eat them. When Lucas and company (except Boney) eat the mushrooms, everything gets weird.
The green, lush trees have turned pink! And instead of the Zombieshroom blocking their way, it’s Flint? What’s he doing here? When you walk up to him, he says, as Boney barks aggressively, “Oh, Lucas. What are you doing here? Are you lost? You seem pretty lost to me!” and starts to fight you. In-battle, the enemy takes the form of an Eerie Smile, before it’s revealed that it is still the Zombieshroom. Something’s not right about those mushrooms they just ate…
Further in, you find Wess, who says, “Duster… It was my fault you lost full use of your left leg. I’m sorry… Don’t leave me again. Come with me. Let’s leave this place together.” If the player responds with “no,” he says, “You ungrateful child. You’re enough to make anyone cry.”
There is a mailbox with lots of postcards inside. If you take a peek, they will read,
“The boy named Lucas is crying at a grave. The boy named Lucas and his dog are loitering in the forest. The boy named Lucas is making trouble in the mountains. The boy named Lucas stole nuts from our garden. The boy named Lucas is bullying animals. The boy named Lucas learned some bad magic. The boy named Lucas… The boy named Lucas… The boy named Lucas…”
The mailbox then lets out a tremendous scream. Whatever was in those mushrooms is revealing everybody’s darkest thoughts.
More mailboxes are found up ahead. They contain countless screams, sheer, never-ending darkness, the sound of yourself crying, rotten, putrid Omelets, and nothing after nothing bursting out. In one of them, lots of pretty butterflies come out; that’s nice.
After the mailboxes, you encounter “Violet,” Kumatora from the Club. She says, “Go to sleep. In the absolute darkness. Don’t do aaaanything. Don’t see anyone. Just sleep. It’ll be oh, so much fun…! Ohohohoho!”
A lady says, “Your mommy’s waiting for you. She’s waiting for you with fresh-made omelets. She’s waiting. SHE’S WAITING FOR YOU!”
A grown-up Claus says, “Everyone’s waiting for you. Everyone’s waiting to throw rocks at you, spit on you, and make your life hell. Who’s ‘everyone’…? Everyone you love.”
Another Claus says, “Let’s switch places. Let’s switch places. Lucas. Lucas. Let’s switch places. You’re more… You’re more…”
Another Flint says, “It’s almost suppertime. Hinawa should be back soon. What? She’s not coming back? Why, did you do something to her? Huh? I did it to her? Hinawa isn’t coming back? Who are you? What did you do? It’s time for supper. It’s time for supper.”
A third Flint says, “I’m gonna beat you. I’m gonna beat you, boy. Daddy’s gonna beat you.”
Salsa says, “Of course I can talk. I can talk forever and ever about how it was Lucas’s fault I wound up in trouble. Lucas did it. Lucas did it. Lucas did it. Lucas did it.”
Later on, you come across a beautiful hot spring to rejuvenate yourself. For some reason, though, Boney doesn’t want to go in.
A fourth Flint, along with a little Claus, says, “What? Pulling a Needle? And where is this thing? There is no such thing. Let’s hurry home now. Needle? A Needle, you say? Are you the Needle? Don’t be stupid! I oughta pull you!” Claus says, “Lucas! We finally meet again! It’s me. Claus. Touch my heart. See how it beats in and out? Lucas! There’s noooothing to worry about now. It’s me! Claus!”
Alec says, “Princess Kumatora isn’t a princess. Princess Kumatora isn’t a princess. She’s like a stick no one loves.”
A second Alec says, “Nothing but lies, nothing but lies. You’re nothing more than nothing but lies. Truths are lies, and lies are truths. You, you’re all lies.”
After all that, you find a green Magypsy house. Inside is a handsome man named Ocho, as well as a pretty woman named Mixolydia. She notices that Lucas and the gang are all hopped up on mushrooms, remarking multiple times how smelly they all are. She says that those mushrooms can induce “Powerful hallucinations that tear at your weaknesses and the scars in your heart.” She gets a stick, and knocks everyone upside the head to get them back to normal. Mixolydia actually looks like every other Magypsy so far, and Ocho is an octopus. Ocho found everybody’s lost items and gives them back.
What just happened?! In the last article, I mentioned the mental struggles that Lucas fights to be as strong as he is. At Tanetane Island, we get to see the struggles full-force. Everyone’s deepest fears are personified in the people they love most. They relentlessly blame our heroes for things they are innocent of. There wasn’t an ounce of truth in any of the claims they made, but our heroes must have believed in them to some extent, or else they wouldn’t have been confronted with such things. Did you notice how most people’s statements were concerned with Lucas? He is the most emotionally vulnerable one in the group. He’s still maturing, and hasn’t learned how to deal with such doubts as much as Duster or Kumatora have. Lucas has also been very meek in the past, and the remnants of his old self can still be found in him.
As you experience this game from your own perspective, you know that it’s not Lucas’s fault Hinawa is gone; it should be quite obvious that he did nothing wrong. But from Lucas’s point of view, it very well could have been his fault. We tend to be our own worst critics, and this is especially true for him. Have you ever beaten yourself up for something that was out of your control? Remember this portion of the game, and recognize that things aren’t as bad as they may appear to you. The awful doubts you may have about yourself could just be hallucinations.
Past Mixolydia’s house, you find the next Needle, which is being protected by the Barrier Trio, three giant statue-like creatures that pose in such ways that protect themselves from certain attacks. Watch what happens after Lucas and his team defeat the Barrier Trio:
A flurry of airships dot the sky. One lands nearby, and out come several high-ranking Pigmasks. One rolls out a red carpet, as the Masked Man swoops down to pull Lucas’s Needle. The two once again feel a psychic sensation. Nevertheless, the Masked Man brings out a sword that strikes Lucas down with lightning. With no one to stop him, the Masked Man pulls the Needle. The earth quakes. The sky shifts in color. A strong burst of smoke blows out from the ground. The Masked Man has pulled his third Needle. If he pulls one more, the fate of the world rests in his heart.
After the Pigmasks leave for their fourth Needle, Mixolydia arrives to talk to Lucas. He says that he felt nothing coming from the Masked Man’s heart, which is peculiar. He urges Lucas to find Ionia’s Needle before the Pigmasks do, as well as giving him a jar of pickles to give to Ionia. With that, Mixolydia fades away, leaving Ionia as the final known Magypsy alive.
This concludes part 22 of the Analysis.