Side Quest: The Golden Statue

I'm not sure how else to describe this. You don't take up any quest along the way, you just do some stuff. Despite the lack of a discrete start, it does have an ending: the golden statue. There's nothing about a golden statue anywhere in the overworld, so no need to pore through the overworld and dungeon maps looking for it. Nobody anywhere tells you anything about a golden statue, but at least the first part of it is obvious.

Step 1: Save the Day

You'll get the Magic Boomerang in the last part of level 2. You need it to cross the river to the west, next to the level 1 dungeon in the future. You can flick your boomerang to the side while facing down for an easy hit. You can easily throw it diagonally, but you have a higher chance of hitting an enemy instead. Either way, as soon as you cross the river, go north into the town. There's nothing but a sob story, and some monsters running the north part of town. If you go to the cave at the center of this, somebody just says the wizards moved on to the next town. More importantly, somebody notes the class dungeon area just outside of town where you select your class. You should at least select your class to get the first item, even if you don't want to spend the time in the class dungeons yet. I recommend the class dungeons, because one of the items for each class will be very useful.

Next, we need to go back in time. Head towards level 3, which is in the far southwest of the overworld. You can head straight south from the town until the path west opens up. Just past the entrance to level 3 is the time warp.

This next part isn't required, but it progresses the plot, and might be your only chance to see something there. The town in the present is the best version of the town, and the path is clear. Along the way, you can step on a switch to permanently create a bridge across the river. When you get to town, most of the people are frightened of the cave in the northwest of town. If you go in there, you can't actually get anywhere, but you will be taunted by the wizards mentioned in the future that they've become too powerful to face after sapping life out of the town for so long. At least there are no monsters. There are some shops in town with new items including superbombs, but don't buy yet. Once you're done exploring, head back to the time warp in the southwest.

We need to go to the past. You'll probably want to get the blue armor in the first optional dungeon (The Screaming Skull), which is along this side of the river at the south. Next go north into the town. Again people are scared of the cave, and definitely explore, but again don't buy anything. But now the evil wizards are fairly new to town, and they're vulnerable. I'm not saying whether it will be easy, but you need to go to the cave in the northwest of town, and slay them. If you can't kill the wizards, you can always stop here and come back later. Just keep in mind, the wizards do get a power boost twice in the progression of the game, so if you wait too long you might come back to a more dangerous situation than you expected. If you manage to kill them, you'll get a heart container piece and you can proceed with the walkthrough.

Horray, the best part of the side quest is over. Most likely, this is the only obvious part of the quest. But completing this does open up some new possibilities. You'll notice pretty soon that the town is already celebrating. People are actually out, and they've torn down that evil looking statue. The shop in town now gives you a nice discount, although there is one hidden shop later on that sells shields for slightly cheaper.

Shopping poses a dilema. The next part of the side quest requires both a lot of money and at least the bracelet to move heavy rocks. If you came back to complete this later in the game, this might not be a burden. But if you got this far soon after crossing the river, there are some thing you can buy. The remainder of the side quest only has a single heart container piece left, so I think it's not worth considering until you've bought everything you can. Just remember, if you've chosen the knight, do not buy anything here.
Now the fun part of the side quest. You've destroyed the main problem the town had, and the town you knew was dealing with them. Causality should be maintained, right? The town in the present is doing better, and again it's the best version of the town out of the three time periods. This is the only time where they've expanded east across the river, and the knight should be reporting on the second floor of somewhere before they buy anything. Unless you've gotten the flippers and could cross the river before killing the wizards, this is also the first access to the town time warp you'll have.

I'm guessing people assume the whole thing ends there. It doesn't. Before I end this long first step of the side quest, there are some things to get: heart container pieces and the only magic not found in a main dungeon container. There are four heart container pieces, but two of them require flippers. The magic container can be gotten right away though, although it's a two step process.

Step 2: And quietly pay

Here's the expensive part. In the past, there's a second cave in town you might have seen. If you visited before you killed the wizards, the person says the wizards won't let them use it for anything (person in the present says almost the same thing). Well, now there's nothing stopping the town from making use of the cave. Job well done. You can (don't) go to the cave in the present, and it's still an empty cave, but this time the person complains about money. So not quite done.

Visit the cave in the past. You'll come across the only money or life room in the game, and you are blocked from selecting life. You have to pay 500 rupees, or you can't proceed. So what? You become an investor. No idea how you'll claim your investment if nobody would believe you're the same person after you come back centuries later. Whatever, continue through the cave, and you'll find somebody happy about the new cash. Now the town has what it needs.

Step 3: So you'll find your way

Well now we let our money do the work. Head to the town in the present. Skip the centuries of waiting, and see the end result. And so for the first time, you enter the arena. It's the same cave, other than some fixing up and a side door that won't open. The arena is still closed, gyp, but somebody is waiting there. They explain that the arena isn't normally open during the day. They won't let you leave empty handed, though. They'll tell a friend in a purple hat to help.

You might or might not have explored the whole town in the present. One unusal-shaped house in the southest of town has two rooms, but the way to get to the second is blocked by some guy. That's the guy who's hat is somewhere between purple and indigo, but close enough. Now, he will step aside for you. Go into the next room, and there's a bed with the covers pulled back. You need to push a heavy block with the bracelet to get to the bed, and then into the bed and nighty night.

You wake up, still in the bed you fell asleep in, which to be fair hasn't always been the case. You can go back to sleep at any time to return to the daytime. Well, time to go outside. The town's a little different. In fact, the house with the bed is the only house open during the day that is also open at night. If you were disappointed at not being able to enter the big hotel, now's your chance. There are no items or anything to find, so exploring is just for entertainment. The only prize at night is the fourth and final part of the side quest.

Step 4: To the Arena to play

In the Arena, challengers will enter a room, and have to fight wave after wave of monsters. There are three difficulty levels: easy, medium, and hard. Beat easy to unlock medium, and that to unlock hard. You can exit after completing a difficulty level and you won't have to beat it again, but quitting part way through a difficulty level doesn't get saved. The room to the right is open this time, but somebody just tells you that tickets for observers have sold out.

When you beat a level, they drop a little money (you probably got more from the monsters) and tell you the music will change when they get done setting up the next level. All you need to do is go to the exit, and the music will change before you reach the door. After you beat the third level, you have to again head back out, and when the music changes go back into the arena. You'll be awarded the final prize, a heart container piece. Now the music is a bit funky, and you can see the patrons and even go to the observation deck. If this string of battles was disappointingly easy, don't worry, just continue with the game and you'll find what you're looking for.

Epilogue: The Golden Statue.

Yes, that heart container piece wasn't quite what you were promised early on. Go back to sleep. In the daytime, go to that statue they erected of the town hero. The statue is suddenly gold. Complete. I hope that's sufficiently intricate to count as a side quest.

Epilogue 2: This Might Be Impossible.

Fine, technically you're almost complete. The last last part of this town thing is only possible after you've beaten the game. Yes, there is actually a bit more to do after you beat the game. Once you beat the game, the Help Cave will point you to the next steps. After completing four tasks, there's one last dungeon that will deal with the town in the future. It's likely that a puzzle at one of the tasks is too difficult to solve for many, but I hope not. It's the only way to get a gold statue in the future town.

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