... Huh. Time to do some post-crash-spaceship spelunkering, methinks.



Stage 6, then, is the innards of this gigantic husk of metal. The game never tells you anything about this place except what you can glean from the details yourself. It clearly crashed from the sky because the insides are heavily damaged and, more pertinent, at an angle that suggests it's dug into the ground from the impact. It shows technology far beyond anything Alisia has seen with the scattered munitions and dormant robots that wake up when approached. Later on, there's hints to suggest a connection between this and Baldour's followers, but we'll get to that. It's all very mysterious, and a lovely bit of 'show, don't tell', but it's also probably the most difficult stage in the game, for a lot of reasons. For a start, it's bloody massive, a sprawling area with lots of dead ends and corners, and it's tricky to navigate because everything's at an angle. Not just that, but there's also some drops you just have to take on faith- this game has no death pits but you will frequently fall on top of robots or munitions which is a little unfair. It's difficult to give you a proper walkthrough on this one without just making a map, but you'll know you're on the right track when you reach the area in the screenshot to the right (from there you just need to follow the path to move on).

There's also those aforementioned enemies, as they're rough to deal with. The munitions are positioned in various tricky spots and explode either when attacked or you get too close, have explosions that travel across the screen, and do half a block of damage. The robots are part of the background at first but awaken when you get too close, have powerful guns and rockets, and also explode, doing big damage to you, when destroyed. Combined with the sprawl of the place, you have an area that's probably going to take a life from you the first time you visit. The key is to be very careful- coax robots into waking up then hit 'em with a Rolling Bolt and walk away, and either attack the munitions from far away (generally their blast trajectory can be guessed by the way they're facing / laying down) or use the Thunder Raven to blow them up. There's not much you can do about the blind jumps, though, beyond learning what's there and maybe having a Rolling Bolt charged up for it.



The second part of the stage, preceded by a fade to black, is much different, and the tone's set immediately with the slow-paced, somewhat languid music of before being replaced by something far more chaotic and cacophonous. This area's a bit more linear but the robots and munitions are replaced with... Zombie astronauts?! These blue-faced ghouls teleport in and try to shoot at Alisia with their pistols, and she's also hassled by mysterious blue fog clouds that turn into tiny snake people? This is getting weird. Honestly, you're best just pegging it, destroying anything in your way but not hanging around- you need as much health as possible for the next boss. An area in the bottom-right has a Red Fairy that might be helpful (although you'll inevitably waste time getting back on track) but otherwise, try and head up and to the right when you can, that'll lead you to the boss.



As the turbine in the background starts to go into overdrive, a sorcerer of great power appears, summoning the high-tech weapons of the crashed spaceship to do his bidding. He'll appear and call forth two giant rifles (!) that track Alisia's movements and fire three-shot bursts at her, as the sorcerer teleports around. Fortunately you can take down the guns by damaging them enough (a Rolling Bolt combined with the Thunder Raven's attack should be just the ticket) and while the sorcerer can fire a small spread of bullets at you, he's mostly just a moving target until he summons more guns. This fight is probably one of my favourites in the game- there's a nice rhythm to it, and the absolute visual and audio chaos here, with the wild background and the frantic boss theme, make it pretty memorable. Just keep up and the sorcerer goes down in flames soon enough.



Afterwards, there's a very short section (with another new piece of music!) where you just need to escape on this flying machine.



The floating castle looms in the distance... Alisia will soon be facing her final battle.



Stage 7 is the last proper stage of the game and it dials things back a little from Stage 6, being considerably shorter and more linear. The floating castle's first few floors are mostly populated with gigantic slimes- they fire a spread of bullets and spawn the smaller slimes you've seen previously and take a bit of a beating, so break out Dragon Fyre for them, and watch out as you ascend the stairs as they'll try and drop slimes on your head. Further up, you'll find some enhanced versions of the spear guards who also appeared earlier in the game- they teleport in and out and take a lot more punishment, but they're also the only enemies in the entire game you have to kill before being allowed to move on- a set of stairs won't move down for you until you do. There's a couple of item cachets around here, but unless you really need them, save them- you might need them later.



Ascend the stairs and it's time for a surprise boss fight! Judging from the attire and their assistants, this must be one of Ornah's most trusted acolytes... It's also my least favourite boss fight in the game. It's not that it's too difficult or unfair, it's just really long and drawn out, with a very short pattern you'll be repeating a lot before the boss gives up. The boss teleports in and fires two spreads of bullets at you, then summons four servants (looking very similar to the boss of Stage 6-2) that surround you and fire a single bullet each that's roughly aimed at you. The boss then teleports back in, and repeats the pattern. There's a knack to avoiding his spread fire- as he teleports in, be sure you're to his right, then powerwalk to the left under him as he fires. The bullets will usually sail past you, if your timing is right, then you can pelt him with thunder magic and get in the centre for the four mooks (you may even have a Rolling Bolt charged up in time for them), repeat until dead. The problem with this fight is your window of opportunity to strike back is short, the boss has a lot of health, and the process of the mooks teleporting in, taking aim at you, then disappearing takes so long. It's a shame because most of the other bosses in the game are fine and don't suffer from this problem. Still, persevere, you've almost completed your vengeance.



After defeating the boss, you'll need to attack the roof for another set of stairs to descend for you, and a little gauntlet of magic-users await you. It's a Stage 1 reunion here, as it's those magicians again, but this time, as they teleport in, they'll split in two and surround you. Honestly, your best bet here is to just book it- even if you defeat them, they'll come back if you have to climb up here again (and you just might). Just hoof it up the stairs and...



... What the...?



Not much time to process what's going on in the back there, Alisia has some platforming to do. Before you start, there's a set of Beef and Potions to the right (and a triangle platform you can't reach- take note of where it is in relation to the background) in case you're worn-down from fighting your way up here. To the left there's a triangle platform to hop on to, which will s l o w l y move upwards. You're hassled by weird mechanical beings as you ascend, though (easiest way to deal with them is to have a Rolling Bolt charged up and Thunder Raven ready to attack) and you need to jump to the next triangle platform, otherwise you'll be sent back down and it'll spin and give way under your feet, sending you all the way back. On the plus side, if you left those item cachets alone earlier, they'll still be here so you can grab them if you're really weak. Make your way across the platforms and once you're all the way to the right, you'll need to drop down to that platform you couldn't reach earlier- hope you remember where it was, otherwise you'll have to start again! Making it to the platform at the end automatically ends the stage, though. You can take a lot of damage from the mechanical objects around here, but don't give up!



Finally... Stage 8 has no prelude, just straight to the final battle with Ornah and Baldour.

What do they have to say for themselves?



Sure did. Nothing can put a stop to Alisia's justice!



Sadly, Alisia's amazing powerwalk animation means it takes her longer to get places, but...

H-hey! He said we were late the first time too! Cheeky sod!



What a pity. Thirteen years Baldour's been asleep, and the second he wakes up, Alisia's gonna fry him to bits.



It's not animated, but please imagine Alisia doing a 'hurry up' motion with her hands.



Enough talk, Alisia grows weary of it. Time to send these two off to the big sleep.



First you have to deal with Ornah, and you can finally get your payback after what he did to you in the first stage. He's got a consistent pattern but you need to be light on your feet to get out unscathed. First, he'll throw some ground waves your way- two at first, sometimes mixing it up with three in a row later- and this pattern highlights an odd quirk of the game's controls. Jumping high enough and not holding a direction before you land will make Alisia stop for a split-second. Normally this isn't a problem, but here that momentary pause can get you hit by the ground wave. When he's done, he'll float up, move to the other side, and repeat. When he's bored of those, he'll float up higher and summon the fire dragon from earlier in the game! It'll home in on you, so the trick is to get it behind you when Ornah first summons it, then jump over as it lunges for you. It'll try and get you again but you can walk under it, then turn around and jump over it when it comes back for you. When it clumps itself together though, back off! It'll fire off in a spreadshot, so be sure to give yourself plenty of space. Ornah's a big target, so Dragon Fyre is a good choice for this fight. In any case, keep blasting him and he'll eventually start exploding... And then get right back up. He'll launch a spreadshot of dragon heads, but then repeat his pattern from there. Just keep it up and keep your health as high as possible, you're gonna need it, because once Ornah's defeated...



Uh-oh.

Baldour, the embodiment of all evil, is finally awake, and he's mad.

... He was probably a bit more menacing when he was in the egg, to be honest. Alisia does not fear Baldour!



Baldour starts by flying to the left and cycling between three attacks- launching a worm from his head (destroy it as it heads towards you or jump over it), firing red spears from his right hand (back off or jump when they start firing) and launching a spread of explosive bullets from his mouth (try and fit between them and watch out for the explosions they leave behind). Fortunately he mostly stays still during this, so you can just pummel him with lightning from afar (you'll probably want to keep most of him off-screen to give you time to react to his attacks), and if Dragon Fyre is still alive from the last fight, it's the best choice for piling on extra damage... Just don't be surprised if it carks it shortly into this fight. Don't worry- Dragon Fyre'll be fine, you'll see.



After enough damage, Baldour's right arm and part of his head will explode, and he'll then move to the centre of the screen. From here, he'll start firing very small white bullets (you'll probably take these out without realising it, but they increase in number as the fight continues), fast-moving yellow bullets (jump over them, they home in on you!) and a spread of fireballs that fly off the top of the screen (move- they'll bombard the ground where you once was). That last attack in particular forces you to move, as does the fact Baldour will now start trying to crash into you and move across the screen. Try to stay on the left side of him, as his left arm, left armpit (full of bulging flesh- ew!) and, uh, bottom part are his weakpoints here. Feel free to use any animal buddies that are still alive, as this is the final fight- stick at it and stay on top of the bullets heading your way, and you'll persevere!



Baldour is no more. The land is saved!

Alisia's vengeance is complete.