Much Games Offical Strategy Guide Kingdom Hearts Written by Ryan Bragg ------------ Legal Notice ------------ This strategy guide is an offical Much Games strategy guide and is legal copyrighted materal of Much Games. This guide may not be reproduced, redistributed or appear on any other website with out the express written consent of Much Games. See http://www.muchgames.ca/index.asp?action=copyright ----------------- Table of Contents ----------------- 1. Introduction 2. Basics 3. Magic 3.1 Magic Types 3.2 Summons 4. Walkthrough 4.1 Sora's Nightmare 4.2 Destiny Islands 4.3 Traverse Town 4.4 Gummi Ship 4.5 Wonderland 4.6 Gummi Ship 2 4.7 Olympus Coliseum 4.8 Deep Jungle 4.9 Traverse Town 2 4.10 Agrabah 4.11 Traverse Town/Hundred Aker Wood 4.12 Monstro 4.13 Halloweentown 4.14 Atlantica 4.15 Neverland 4.16 Traverse Town 3 4.17 Hollow Bastion 4.18 Traverse Town 4 4.19 Hollow Bastion Again 4.20 End of the World 5. Monsters 6. Secrets 6.1 Dalmatian Quest 6.2 Trinity Points 6.3 Weapons 6.4 Torn Pages 6.5 Postcards 6.6 Coliseum Tournaments 6.7 Secret Bosses 6.8 Secret Ending --------------- 1. Introduction --------------- Welcome to the Much Games official strategy guide for Kingdom Hearts. In this guide, you will learn how to finish the game, plus have all the secrets, magic, basics, and know all of the monsters that are in the game. ---------------------- 2. Basics ---------------------- Kingdom Hearts is pretty easy to control, with straightforward action-RPG commands and some handy shortcuts for taking care of common actions. Taking the time to customize a control scheme and set up a few aspects of the character ability system will make a world of difference in the battles to come, however. Attacking Commands in Kingdom Hearts are delivered using the menu to the bottom left. It may seem funny to have a selection menu in an action-RPG, but it actually works quite well. Try using the right analog stick to manipulate the menu while keeping your left thumb on the left analog stick and moving around. To attack, press X, since the default menu setting at the top is Attack. Hit Attack multiple times in succession to deliver a combo attack, and jump up in the air and hit Attack to start an air combo. As Sora progresses through the game, he gains abilities that extend his combo potential for extra hits, so watch out for those. Sometimes, you may see a notation that says "Tech" during a battle. That means you just earned extra experience points for your fine weapon skill. Attacking just as an opponent is about to land his attack can parry that attack, which earns Tech points. Practice your timing, study opponents' patterns, and learn how to exploit this system for faster character development, especially once Sora gains the Guard and Counterattack abilities. Camera Control Kingdom Hearts has a partially automatic camera, in that it follows Sora around, generally sticks behind him, and tries not to get stuck behind walls. Usually, it needs a little help, though. Hit R2 and L2 to rotate the viewpoint around Sora, and move him a little bit if the walls prove intractable. Press them both to center the camera behind Sora's head. To get a close look at something, hit the Select button to activate a stationary first-person view and movie the viewpoint around with the left analog stick. Locking On Say you want to attack something specific -- that's what the lock-on feature is for. In a battle, the game will always identify a nearby target with a "soft lock," an orange indicator of where Sora is aiming his attacks. This soft lock will shift from enemy to enemy, always picking the one closest to Sora. If you want to focus on a particular enemy, hit R1 to convert that soft lock into a hard lock. The camera and Sora's attacks will remain focused on that target until you turn it off, or swap targets. To swap the hard lock around from target to target, which can be very handy in a chaotic fight or a boss battle against multiple targets, hit R2 and L2. Note that the manual camera controls are disabled while Sora is locked onto a target -- "forward" is defined as "towards the target." Something you might not know: hitting triangle while locked onto a target will direct Donald, Goofy, and other party members to take out that target. Use this to kill a particular opponent quickly. Items Unlike some RPGs, Kingdom Hearts doesn't provide unlimited access to the item stock. Instead, items must be shifted from the main stock to a character's limited active inventory to be used in battle. Use the Items sub-menu in the status screen to fill up each character's inventory, and then swap down to the Item selection in the battle menu to use them in times of need. Magic Magic can be activated like items, by going down into the separate Magic option on the menu, but the game provides three shortcuts for vital spells. Set those up in the Customize section of the sub-menu. When you want to cast them in battle, hold down L1 and then hit the face buttontriangle, square, or circle -- that corresponds to the desired spell. Other Maneuvers There's one option on the bottom of the main battle menu that remains open for several different actions. These are conditional, depending on circumstances. Watch that menu for the presence of hot spots where you can perform a special action -- examining an item, opening a chest, climbing a ladder, lifting a barrel, flipping a switch, and so on. Later in the game, when Sora acquires special combo attacks, this menu option lights up when he can perform them. Note that these special maneuvers are unavailable during a battle, when the menu is red. When the menu is blue, that's the cue to look around and explore. Restorative items in the sub-menu can also only be used while the menu is blue. Jumping Kingdom Hearts isn't too heavy on the platforming, but it does require a deft touch on the jump button now and again. Tap circle to jump and hit it harder to jump higher. Acquiring the High Jump ability increases the party's jumping altitude, and the Glide and Superglide abilities let them very nearly fly. In both of those cases, hold circle to glide forward. While underwater, the circle button activates the Mermaid's Kick ability for fast swimming. Save Points Kingdom Hearts uses Save Points to let you save your progress and take care of a few special actions. There are two main kinds. One is a solid circle of glowing green energy, which allows access to all Save Menu options -- the party can save, swap members in and out, and go to the Gummi Ship. The other looks like two small green teardrops, circling around each other. Those more limited save points occasionally deny access to the Gummi Ship, although it's always possible to save the game and change party members there. Character Attributes Each of the characters in the game is defined by five principal attributes, aside from their level and experience (which are the primary determinant of the others). These are affected by abilities, equipment, and spells, as well as Sora's basic decisions at the beginning of the game. Here's how they work. *HP: Hit Points, how much damage a character can take. This directly corresponds to the length of the green HP bar on the main game interface. Use special items to extend HP, and keep it high with spells and healing items. *MP: Magic Points, magical ability. Expend MP to cast spells in and out of combat. It's affected by the same sorts of factors as HP, but you can also gain it back by striking opponents with physical attacks in battle. The blue bar is the main HP bar, while the yellow bar shows howclose you are to gaining another block of MP. *AP: Ability Points, the stocks spent to equip characters with special abilities. Some items can add extra AP, so find those to create more versatile characters. *STR: How much damage a character can deal, roughly speaking. STR is affected by the weapon equipped, certain special items, and experience. Generally, you want this as high as it will go. *DEF: Resistance to damage, affected by level, equipment, and special items. Abilities Abilities are special skills acquired with experience or after completing certain events. Each character can then equip them, if they have enough Ability Points, and utilize those Abilities for an advantage in combat or other purposes. Learn to manage each character's stock of AP depending on the situation -- in many battles, some Abilities will be vital, while others will be useless. Sora's Abilities One-AP Abilities *Air Combo Plus: One extra air combo attack. Equip multiple Air Combo Plus abilities to gain more combo steps. *Berserk: Grants an attack bonus when the health meter is flashing, especially in conjunction with a special combo attack. *Cheer: Grants summoned monsters more MP, and thus more staying power. *Combo Plus: Like Air Combo Plus, but applies to ground combos. *Dodge Roll: Press square and a direction to perform a diving roll, avoiding enemy attack. *Scan: Display the enemy's HP gauge during battle. *Vortex: An extra attack that lets Sora close more distance when starting a combo. Two-AP Abilities *Aerial Sweep: Like Vortex, a more powerful starter for air combos. *Counterattack: After parrying an attack, the "Attack" menu option will flash "Counter." Hit that quickly to strike back with a riposte. *Guard: Press square for a temporary window in which to parry an attack. Works great with Counter. *Jackpot: Increases the amount of power-ups left by beaten enemies. *MP Rage: Recover MP when taking damage. *Second Chance: Stay at 1 HP after taking a lethal blow. *Treasure Magnet: Increases the distance at which you can grab power-ups. Three-AP Abilities *Blitz: A special combo for attacking enemies in front of you. *Critical Plus: Increases the chances of a powerful critical hit. *Lucky Strike: Enemies drop rare items more often. *MP Haste: MP recovers more quickly in battle. *Sonic Blade: Rush through an enemy at medium distance with a hard slash. After executing this attack, a brief window will appear in which to extend the combo -- press X while the menu option is lit. *Strike Raid: Throw the Keyblade in an arc at the target. Extendable, like Sonic Blade. Four-AP Abilities *Ars Arcanum: A powerful close-range combo. Also extendable. *Ragnarok: Hit an enemy with an aerial combo, and then watch for the Ragnarok ability to light up in the menu options. Also extendable. Five-AP Abilities Trinity Limit: A powerful blast that expends the whole party's MP. Donald's Abilities One-AP Abilities *Berserk: Grants an attack bonus when the health meter is flashing, especially in conjunction with a special combo attack. *Cheer: Grants summoned monsters more MP, and thus more staying power. Two-AP Abilities *Jackpot: Increases the amount of power-ups left by beaten enemies. *MP Rage: Recover MP when taking damage. *Second Chance: Stay at 1 HP after taking a lethal blow. *Treasure Magnet: Increases the distance at which you can grab power-ups. Three-AP Abilities *Lucky Strike: Enemies drop rare items more often. *MP Haste: MP recovers more quickly in battle. *Second Wind: A quicker recovery from KO'd status. Goofy's Abilities One-AP Abilities *Berserk: Grants an attack bonus when the health meter is flashing, especially in conjunction with a special combo attack. *Rocket: A jumping shield attack. Two-AP Abilities *Charge: A rushing ground attack with his shield. *Jackpot: Increases the amount of power-ups left by beaten enemies. *MP Rage: Recover MP when taking damage. *Second Chance: Stay at 1 HP after taking a lethal blow. *Tornado: A whirling shield attack. *Treasure Magnet: Increases the distance at which you can grab power-ups. Three-AP Abilities *Lucky Strike: Enemies drop rare items more often. *MP Gift: Lends some of his extra MP to an ally. *MP Haste: MP recovers more quickly in battle. *Second Wind: A quicker recovery from KO'd status. Shared Abilities *High Jump: The party now jumps higher. Earned after clearing Monstro. *Mermaid Kick: Allows for faster swimming underwater. Earned after beating Ursula the first time. *Glide: Hold circle to glide slowly and cover more ground in the air. Earned after defeating Captain Hook in Neverland. *Superglide: Glide even faster. Earned after defeating the Dragon in Hollow Bastion. ---------------------- 3. Magic ---------------------- Magic may not seem like the most vital element of Kingdom Hearts, but as you progress further and further into the game, it becomes a key element of success in nearly every battle. Luckily, the game includes some handy controls for making the most out of your selection of magic spells, so customize your magic usage and make the most of that MP gauge. Magic Shortcuts First things first, learning how to cast spells. It's possible to go the long way around and select a spell from the menu, using the D-pad or the right analog stick, but smart spellcasters use the Customize option in the status menu to create a selection of hotkeyed spells. Three can be available at any time, mapped to the square, triangle, and circle buttons. To cast those spells instantly in combat, hold down L1 and press the appropriate face button. The game may prompt you for another button press to indicate a target in the case of a support spell, but offensive spells will fire off instantly at the locked target. Earning Magic Characters gain new magic spells with experience and after key points in the story -- check the walkthrough and secrets sections for cues regarding when characters acquire new spells. Also, note that Donald gains a spell every time Sora does. ---------------------- 3.1 Magic Types ---------------------- *Fire: Launches a homing blast of fire at the target, and occasionally lights fires on items in the environment. Use it to solve the odd puzzle that way. Fire has three stages: Fire, Fira, and Firaga. *Blizzard: Launches a wide burst of ice at medium range, which can hit multiple enemies at once. It also freezes items for some puzzles. Blizzard has three stages: Blizzard, Blizzara, and Blizzaga. *Thunder: Brings down a shower of lightning bolts from all around the caster, hitting multiple enemies. This works particularly well against airborne enemies. Thunder has three stages: Thunder, Thundara, and Thundaga. *Cure: Restores the health of a single target. Cure has three stages: Cure, Cura, and Curaga. *Aero: In the Final Fantasy series, Aero is an attack spell, but in this case it's a defensive shield. Upgrading the spell causes it to counterattack with a little extra damage to the attacking enemy. This can be vital in later boss battles. Aero has three stages: Aero, Aerora, and Aeroga. *Gravity: Gravity, as in the FF games, reduces the target's HP by a fraction of the total, rather than a set constant, and can be more effective against larger enemies. Gravity has three stages: Gravity, Gravira, Graviga. *Stop: Paralyzes the targeted enemy. Hit them while they're Stopped, and then all that damageaccrues at once when the spell wears off. Some enemies are immune to Stop, however. Stop has three stages: Stop, Stopra, and Stopga. ---------------------- 3.2 Summons ---------------------- Every so often, the party acquires a special item called a Summon Gem. Take those to the Fairy Godmother at Merlin's House in Traverse Town, and she'll turn them into a summoned monster. Summon monsters can only be summoned when all three members of the party are conscious, and they replace Donald and Goofy for the duration of their stay, which is marked by their MP gauge up in the right corner of the screen. They can be used only once each per fight. *Simba: After getting the Red Trinity, go to the Secret Waterway in Traverse Town's District 2, where Leon gives you the Earthshine. This is Simba's Summon Gem. When Simba appears, so does the Charge Up option in Sora's menu. Select that option and hold down X to build up the eventual power of Simba's strikes. He costs 2 MP. *Genie: After locking the Agrabah Keyhole, the Genie comes along for the ride. After summoning him, lock onto a target and select the Showtime option, which will unleash a barrage of area-effect magical attacks. He costs 2 MP. *Bambi: Completing the Hunny Tree mini-game in the Hundred Aker Wood earns the Naturespark Summon Gem, which the Godmother turns into Bambi. Summon him to get a huge boost to your power -- he runs around the battlefield dropping MP balls and other items. The more enemies you kill while he's there, the better the items he drops, so swing away. Bambi costs 1 MP. *Dumbo: Down deep in the belly of Monstro, there's an item called Watergleam, which contains the elephant Dumbo. Sora can ride around on Dumbo in combat, where he's protected from attacks and can blast away with water from his trunk. Dumbo costs 3 MP. *Tinker Bell: Tink joins the party automatically after clearing Neverland. She is distinct from the others in that she doesn't replace Donald and Goofy. Instead, she flits around and heals the party, which can be very helpful in tough team boss battles. Tink cost 3 MP. *Mushu: After beating the Dragon in the first trip through Hollow Bastion, the party gets the Fireglow item, Mushu's summon gem. He's a funny one -- just sits on top of Sora breathing fire at the bad guys. He can provide a helpful offensive punch in solo battles, however. Mushu costs 3 MP. ---------------------- 4. Walkthrough ---------------------- ---------------------- 4.1 Sora's Nightmare ---------------------- Nice opening movie, isn't it? It also segues neatly into the first area of the game, a dream world which introduces the basics of gameplay and sets a few variables determining how the game progresses. The first set of choices determines Sora's strengths in combat. There are three areas -- physical attacks, magical attacks, and defense -- represented by the sword, shield, and wand. Choose one to improve, and one to weaken in exchange. After those choice are made, there are a few short combat tutorials, introducing the lock-on system and basic ways of interacting with the environment. Finishing those tutorials brings a white door into being. Go through it to reach another set of choices. Sora finds himself on Destiny Island, with three questions to answer from Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie. Your answers to these determine how fast Sora's levels increase through the game, and how quickly opponents increase in level to match him. Each question has three answers -- picking the first ones results in a fast pace, the third ones correspond to a slow pace, and the second ones result in a medium pace. After choosing your path, the scene shifts back to the dream world, for more battle practice and a final boss encounter. BOSS: Darkside Not that difficult -- this is the beginning of the game. Looks cool, though, doesn't he? Darkside attacks by summoning Heartless (when he plunges a hand into the ground) and firing energy blasts that home in on Sora (when he leans back and creates a ball of energy near his heart). These are easy to dodge, though. His vulnerable points are his two hands and his head, which can be attacked by running up his arms, if you feel like putting forth the effort. Either way, he's easy to defeat. ---------------------- 4.2 Destiny Islands ---------------------- And then Sora wakes up. It was all a dream...maybe. After meeting Kairi and Riku, it's time to collect some odds and ends for Kairi's raft project. Three widgets are required: Cloth: Up in the treehouse, left of the waterfall. Rope: On the far platform, where Tidus is standing. Logs (Two): One on the shore under the bridge, one across the bridge on the island, near Riku. After returning these items to Kairi, some more philosophical discussion ensues. Meanwhile, strange things are afoot in the Disney Castle. Once the cutscene ends, head to the cove on the other side of the island and meet Riku, who's thinking of a name for the raft. Pick one, and then it's time to run the obstacle course. The object is to touch the star at the end and come back. The obvious route is through all the, well, obstacles, but it's actually possible to win by doing an end run around Riku, going to the right and avoiding all the platform-hopping. Not that it matters much, because this only affects the cutscene that follows the race. Once that's over, go to Kairi on the raft for another shopping list. *Seagull Egg: Atop a tree near the bridge on the first part of the island. Climb the thin tree next to it and hop over. *Mushrooms (Three): One is in a hollow behind a rock, right next to Kairi. One is in the bushes on the other side of that same cliff. The last is in the Secret Place, the dark cave on the first side of the island (to the right of the treehouse). A cutscene will play there. *Coconuts (Two): The gold ones, to be precise, from the trees next to Kairi. Hit the trees until the gold coconuts fall. *Fish (Three): They're all in the shallows on the first part of the island. Hit R1 to lock on if they prove hard to spot. *Drinking Water: Stand under the waterfall on the first part of the island. Deliver all these to Kairi, and another long cutscene ensues. Once it ends, bad things will be happening on the Destiny Islands. Go find Riku, out on the island across the bridge, and after talking to him, head for the door that stands at the entrance to the Secret Place. You won't be able to fight the Heartless until you have the Keyblade, so don't bother whacking them with Sora's wooden sword. After going through the door, a familiar boss will appear. BOSS: Darkside He's still more or less the same as before, and not very difficult to beat as a consequence. He has one more attack than before, a rain of energy blobs. That's preceded by a lengthy animation where he pulls out a ball of energy from the ground. Nevertheless, the strategy is the same -- attack his hands, and also his head when it's in range. ---------------------- 4.3 Traverse Town ---------------------- After a long cutscene, Sora wakes up in an alley in Traverse Town, the second game world. There's some room to explore in this area, with two shops and some other notable spots. First, go to the Accessory Shop, run by Cid. Then, head up behind the shop into District 2, where the Heartless are on the prowl. From here, it's possible to explore several areas, including the Hotel, the Factory, and the house where the Dalmatians live. However, to move the plot forward, just head back to the Accessory Shop, enter, and leave again. Hm, who's this fellow? BOSS: Leon Leon is more or less impossible to defeat, but lucky for us, it doesn't matter whether Sora wins or loses. Either way, it's cutscene time, where Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith explain a little more about what's going on in the worlds today. Once that's over, talk to Leon. The Heartless invade, and it's time for a climactic fight. Go to the District 3, which is accessible via a door in one of the alleys connected to District 2's main square. Sora meets Donald and Goofy there, and it's time for the final boss battle. BOSS: Guard Armor Guard Armor follows the several ordinary Heartless soldiers. He has six indepently targetable bits: arms, legs, body, and head. The arms are the most immediately dangerous, so take those out first, then swing for the legs, and finally attack the rest of him to finish him off. His attacks aren't hard to avoid if you stay out of his way with a hit-and-run strategy, and Donald and Goofy have healing items that will make things even easier. After the battle, the party winds up in the main town square. Here, examine the Blue Trinity for a tutorial on the basics of the Trinity system. It's also worthwhile to check out the item shop run by Donald's nephews -- use your new-found Munny to stock up on Potions and Ethers. It's worth going to check out Merlin's House at this point, too. In an alley in District 3, there's a door with a flame on it. Shoot it with Fire magic to open the door to Merlin's house, where he and the Fairy Godmother offer a brief magic tutorial. Hidden items can be found there as well. ---------------------- 4.4 Gummi Ship ---------------------- After clearing out Traverse Town, head for the main exit to explore other worlds. Traveling between worlds is accomplished via the horrors of the Gummi Ship -- trust us, it may be fun to begin with, but it isn't fun for very long. From the World Select screen, pick the one to the upper right, with a Battle LV of one star. That's Wonderland, the next area we'll explore. ---------------------- 4.5 Wonderland ---------------------- Follow the White Rabbit. No, really. Follow him to the door, and talk to the door, which naturally won't let Sora and company through. Instead, push the bed out of the way, and then drink the whatever-it-is on the table to shrink down. Now, enter the side door. Here, Alice is on trial for an attempt on the Queen's life. Sora has to gather evidence to prove her innocence -- most of that is in the Lotus Forest, through the exit on the left side of the Queen's court. Evidence-gathering tips: Footprints: These are in the grove just to the right of the entrance to the forest. Antenna: These are in the far back of the forest, atop a low platform. Stench: Climb the mushroom platforms in the back of the forest, heading left to the tall tree. Enter the door in the trunk, and Sora lands on the stove in the kitchen, where the Stench sits in a treasure chest. Claw Marks: This is the hard part. Go all the way back to the Lotus Forest. On your left, there's a yellow flower -- give it a Potion and Sora will grow bigger. Thus enlarged, jump on the tree stump by the entrance, which raises a platform. Then, turn around and grab the seed that sits high in the tree. Eating it will shrink Sora back down. Go to the grove to the right of the entrance and climb up the mushroom platforms, which leads to a bridge of platforms to the right-hand corner nearest the entrance. This leads to the top of a faucet. Jump from there to a shelf, to Sora's right, and there sit the Claw Marks. Receive your congratulations from the Cheshire Cat, along with the Blizzard spell, and head back to the Queen's court to exonerate Alice. Of course, things don't work out that way... BOSS: Card Soldiers The shell game before this fight determines whether or not Donald or Goofy has to sit out the battle. The more evidence collected, the better the chance of fighting at full strength. Collect all four and there should be no problem. The soldiers here are a mere hindrance. The real target is the tower, which is holding up Alice's cage. Smash the three wheels around the tower, and then the tower itself. Don't overlook the Card Soldiers, but it shouldn't be hard to just let Donald and Goofy deal with those while Sora attacks the real target. After the battle, go to the very back of the Lotus Forest and enter the door towards the right side of the back wall. This leads to the Tea Party Garden. On the way, more powerful Heartless will attack, including a Large Body which must be attacked from behind. From the Tea Party, take the door to the Bizarre Room. Light the two lamps here and take the exit on the right side for the Queen's Castle (grab the Dalmatians on the way). Finally, return to the dining room, talk to the Cheshire Cat on the table, and prepare for a fight. BOSS: Trick Master This guy can be a headache, because his vulnerable points are high off the ground. Target them with Fire magic, and attack when he's dizzied and slumps to the ground. It's also possible to hit him with air combos by jumping off the table. Luckily, his attacks are mostly easy to avoid -- he swings his torches low and close, and occasionally throws a homing fireball. The prize for victory is an Ifrit Horn After this, Sora seals the Wonderland world lock and the party receives a special Gummi piece, the Navi-G piece. Head for the save point and enter the Gummi Ship to proceed to a new world. ---------------------- 4.6 Gummi Ship 2 ---------------------- Now, there are two options. Head back for Traverse Town and Olympus Coliseum on the other side, or go straight to Deep Jungle. The latter is quicker, but the former offers an opportunity to stock up on items. Pick whichever you like -- the walkthroughs for either area are the same at this point. ---------------------- 4.7 Olympus Coliseum ---------------------- This is a simple area -- it's almost all combat. Go inside, talk to Phil, and try to move the stone pedestal as he instructs. Can't do it? Well, talk to Phil and he'll offer other tests of strength. The first challenge is twofold, in a way. First, smash all the barrels. Second, smash all the barrels again. The second one is harder, because it requires that you aim carefully when launching certain barrels to hit the ones on the far platform. Even so, it's not that difficult. After Phil continues to deny Sora a shot in the games (but does give him the Thunder magic), go outside, where Hades gives him a ticket to enter. Next comes the tough bit, a series of seven progressively more difficult battles. Fight One: Four Soldiers, three blue mages. Should be a piece of cake at this point. Fight Two: Ten Shadows, three blue mages. The numbers here may seem threatening, but the shadows are easy to take out in swathes at this point. Focus on the mages and let the shadows take care of themselves. Fight Three: Five red mages, five blue mages. This is the first difficult one. Blizzard and Thunder magic are helpful here for hitting multiple enemies at once, however -- you just got Thunder magic after completing Phil's barrel-smashing challenge. Fight Four: Three red mages, three blue mages, two Shadows, two Soldiers. This is actually easier than round three, since it's the mages that are the hard part. Again, try and use the Thunder magic to cook crowds of enemies around you. Fight Five: Nine blue mages. This one is just obnoxious. The key is to keep moving and cherry-pick mages that have halted to charge up their spells. Never hold still for too long, or you'll be pelted with blizzard blasts. After this fight, there's another intermission, where it appears as if Hades and that strange warrior are in cahoots somehow. More to follow? Well, more fights to follow, anyway. Fight Six: Four red mages, four blue mages, Large Body. The Large Body is the big fat guy you encountered in Wonderland. He has to be taken out from behind. More important, however, is keeping the mages off your back -- the strategy here should be similar to round three, with the added factor of the Large Body. He's slow, though, so it shouldn't be hard to stay out of his way until he's alone and vulnerable. Fight Seven: For the championship, it's you against the Cloud-alike fellow. This is a very difficult battle, but the nice part is, you don't necessarily have to win. If you're in it to win it, stay on the move and attack with fire from a distance. It's possible to parry his attacks, particularly his leaping slash -- a quick uppercut of your own will counter that neatly -- but taking even a few hits from his sword can be deadly, and you'll probably be low on potions at this point. Either way, once this battle concludes, the real enemy appears, as Hades unleashes Cerberus. BOSS: Cerberus Cerberus is strong, but not impossible to beat at this level. Dodging his jaws is actually not so hard at close range. His dangerous attacks are at long range, especially his homing fireballs and pillars of darkness. When he stomps and unleashes a wave of dark energy, start running in a wide arc around him to stay one step ahead of the pillars that jump out of the ground. Those do serious damage. Sora's Dodge Roll maneuver can be very useful for avoiding all of those attacks. Attack at long range with magic or at close range when he lowers his heads. It's even possible to leap up onto his back and smack the heads from behind, which is a very advantageous position if you can make it. Beat him and win an Inferno Band. After the fight is over, chat with Cloud a bit (he gives Sora the Sonic Blade skill) and then head out to the Gummi Ship. The last available destination is Deep Jungle. ---------------------- 4.8 Deep Jungle ---------------------- Separated from Donald and Goofy, Sora lands in the empty treehouse, where he's attacked by Sabor. BOSS: Sabor Not much worth mentioning here, to tell the truth. Sabor is easy to beat. Just dodge his springing leaps and strike back with combos until Tarzan shows up. After some spectacular failures of communication, hop off the tree and head through the large hollow tree trunk. This leads to a neat little tree-surfing mini-game. Use the directional controls and the jump button to avoid the obstacles. After landing in Jane's encampment, go into the main tent. The next task is to collect six slides from around the campsite. Slide 1: On top of the tent Slide 2: On a dark green chest of drawers under the canvas awning. Slide 3: By the blackboard easel Slide 4: Atop the stacked crates Slide 5: Atop the canvas awning -- jump there from the top of the tent Slide 6: On some suitcases by the main tent entrance Gather those and return them to Jane's camera. Then, it's time to go visit the gorillas. BOSS: Sabor He's outside the main tent, and even easier to defeat than before. After he's taken care of, go to the treehouse by way of the Hippo's Lagoon. Hop across the pools to the other side of the Lagoon and climb up the vine. After the brief cutscene with Kerchak, climb up the ivy on the nearby tree trunk to reach the Climbing Trees area, and go through the exit there to reach the Tree House. After the cutscene with Clayton's antics, go back to the camp the way you first came. Head into the tent to see Jane again. Now, it's time for a fight. Kill the band of Monkey Heartless to rescue the gorilla (this also earns a Protect-G Gummi Block). Then, proceed to the Bamboo Thicket for another fight. After that, go to the Cliff, where a similar battle awaits. The Cliff has only one exit, so backtrack to the Climbing Trees area for another fight to save a gorilla. Then head to the Tree House, where the last of this series of battles awaits. Finally, head back to camp and see Jane. After talking to Jane, a gunshot sounds from the Bamboo Thicket. Head over there, where Sabor attacks for the last time. BOSS: Sabor The big cat is a little tougher in his final incarnation, but he's still no trouble to defeat when it's three on one. Watch out for his little teleporting trick, though. He can jump into one side of the thicket and reappear from the other. Item: White Fang While all this is going on, the Heartless kidnap Jane and Terk. Go all the way back to the Climbing Trees area to save them. BOSS: Big Purple Fruit Not exactly a boss, because it doesn't fight back. It just sits there on the tree trunk until Sora whacks it to death. It's surrounded by Monkey Heartless, though, so be careful. From here, head back to camp and thence to the Cliff. BOSS: Clayton This battle has two phases. First, it's Clayton and a few Monkey Heartless. This is dead easy -- just target Clayton and attack him until he goes down, which goes pretty quickly. Then the real bad guy appears, the Stealth Chameleon. The Chameleon will be invisible until attacked a few times. Watch out for a green glow, which is the sign to pull back and dodge its claw attack. Once it appears, continue to attack until Clayton is knocked off his mount. Then, focus the attack on Clayton until he's defeated. Thunder magic works well here, since it damages both main targets. It's also very wise to include Tarzan in the party for this fight, usually in the place of Goofy, since his fighting ability and special skills make him very powerful for this point in the game. Once the battle is over, Kerchak tosses the party up to the top of a cliff, in front of the entrance to a cavern. Enter the Waterfall Cavern and hop up to the top of the falls, clearing the treasure chests along the way. At the top, Sora locks the Deep Jungle Keyhole and discovers another Navi-G piece, as well as the Jungle King keychain. Meanwhile, back at Maleficent's ranch, what's all this about princesses? After completing the worlds on this ring, the party now has the ability to use Red Trinity points. Now, it's back to Traverse Town. ---------------------- 4.9 Traverse Town 2 ---------------------- Donald mentioned finding Leon. He's training in the waterway hidden in District 2. To get there, use the Red Trinity behind the Hotel in District 2 -- it's by the iron bars on the far end. Inside are Aerith and Leon. Talk to Leon, who provides a little background on the Keyholes and new Gummi Blocks. He'll also offer the Earthshine item, the first summon gem. The next person to talk to is Cid, back at the Accessory Shop in District 1. He explains the use of the Navigation Gummi, and gives the party a book to deliver to Merlin. Note that there's now a quick route to District 3 in the District 1 main square, across from the main gate. Go to Merlin's house, where Merlin will put the Old Book in a place for future reference, and the Fairy Godmother will explain the Earthshine -- it's a summon gem, containing Simba. Now, head back to the Small House in District 3, as Cid advised. On the way, an old friend appears... After talking to Cid and company in the Small House, head to the Second District and the Gizmo Shop. Go in the entrance by the Hotel and out the other end, where there's a ladder to the top of the roof. Pulling the bellrope turns the mural behind the fountain -- do that three times to reveal the Traverse Town Keyhole. Hey, it's another familiar face... BOSS: Guard Armor 2 Another two-stage battle. After fighting in his original guise, where he's extremely weak, he changes form and acquires some new attacks. In his new form, he mainly uses powerful charging attacks, leaping across the field in dangerous bounds. He can also divide into two sections that fight independently. Again, though, the strategy for defeating him is similar. Pick a limb and stick to it, gradually wearing down his attack capability. Make sure to use more magic as well, since Sora has a more effective complement of spells at this point. Once he's down to just his torso, no legs, he'll fire a powerful homing energy blast. Avoid that by dodging at long distance or pulling in very close, where it can't home in on Sora. Talk to Cid in District 1 to get a Comet-G Gummi, and then head for the Gummi Ship. At this point, it's possible to go back to the Coliseum and enter the Games, but the real story lies in the Warp Hole. Now that the Warp Drive is activated, it's possible to skip the Gummi Ship shooting mini-game and go straight from world to world on this ring. Warp to the Coliseum and then fly to the Warp Hole. Where does this lead? ---------------------- 4.10 Agrabah ---------------------- Jafar and Maleficent's conversation introduces a little more backstory, as well as the cute new Heartless in this level. Once the party touches down, head through the passageway to the Main Street area. There's a climbing pole in one spot here that leads to Aladdin's hideout, but the large passageway to the Alley is where you want to go now. Here, the party finds Princess Jasmine in her hiding place. Unfortunately, the bad guys find her as well. Jafar summons some Heartless to attack, but they're easy to take care of. Now, things get a little complicated. Climb up the crates to where Jafar was standing. See the keyhole? Use that to unlock one of the town gates. Then, turn right and jump across the open window shutters to get to the high point on the other side of the Alley. A little more climbing leads to the passageway Sora just opened, and thence to the awnings above Main Street. Now, you want to get to the blue-green awning kitty-corner from where you are. Step down to the pink one, hop over to the yellow one, and then jump across to the goal. Climb the pole, and there you are at Aladdin's place. At Aladdin's house, the Magic Carpet sits in a corner next to a chest of drawers. Talk to the Carpet -- he flies away -- and then head back to Main Street via any number of exits. Next stop, the Desert (reachable from the Main Street or the connected Plaza area), where it's time for a magic carpet ride. Out in the desert, Aladdin's beset by the Heartless. There's an awful lot of them, and their defensive abilities can be a pain, but Sora shouldn't have a hard time taking them out. Subsequently, we meet Aladdin and the Genie -- take a moment to appreciate the animation work and Dan Castellaneta's fine performance. Then it's back to Agrabah. Climb the pair of stacked crates, located to the right of the entrance, to reach the second level of this area. Then, jump across to the awning opposite and go through the nearby passageway. As before, jump across the window shutters to get to the Alley and Aladdin's House. After the cutscene, go back down the pole to the Alley and follow the awnings around the corner. From the red one at the end, hop over to the passageway and into the Bazaar. On the corner platform in the Bazaar, jump across the two open shutters to the platform with two crates. Jump up those crates to the high platform and hop from there to the opposite wall, where there's a chest sitting at the right end. On the left, there's another keyhole, which unlocks the door to the Palace Gates. Specifically, it's the gate above the yellow awning in Main Street. Here, Jafar has captured Jasmine, and even the Genie's best efforts fail. Now, time for another fight. BOSS: Pot Centipede This is a bit of a tricky boss, since he can regenerate himself by gathering new segments from around the area. Attack the segments to break him up, and then hit the head and tail to finish him off, while avoiding his dangerous antennae. However, when he curls up into a tight ball, only the head is vulnerable, so whack away at that point until he uncurls. Follow Aladdin's advice and head back out to the Desert via the Plaza -- first, though, hit a save point and swap Aladdin into the party if you haven't already done so. Here lies the entrance to the Cave of Wonders, which isn't even as friendly as it looks. BOSS: Cave Mouth Speaking of tricky bosses... His two vulnerable points are his eyes, which are usually high out of reach. Fire magic jump attacks can hit them when he leans his head forward, but to attack physically otherwise, Sora has to climb up around his neck, over his head, and deftly hop down onto his nose. Meanwhile, of course, the head is sending out Heartless, breathing blasts of fire, and launching homing energy beams from its eyes. Tall order, isn't it? Be patient, and try to concentrate on one eye at a time, since killing one first will reduce the burden of the homing blasts. Once that's taken care of, enter the Cave of Wonders. Some tough fights lie in here, especially with the new fire-breathing Large Bodies. There's also a nasty little trap in the first area, where a boulder rolls along the central track -- don't let that hit Sora, or it will cause serious damage. Break through the bad guys and go through the far passageway to the Hall. This area is plenty confusing, yes? Compounding its size are the pits, which drop the party down into the Dark Chamber (although a Torn Page can be found down there, among other things). There are a couple of ways down into the Chamber besides (the stairs between the two torches work), but in any event, that's where we want to go. Swim into the waterfall by the save point to enter the Silent Chamber, and go down the next waterfall to the right to continue from there. See that statue of a monkey? Activate that to open a doorway. Now, swim back up to the Silent Chamber and go up the first bit of stairs. Then jump over the landing and swim to the far passageway, which leads to the Hidden Room and a mysterious pillar. Zap the pillar with Fire magic, and another cutscene ensues... Aha, there's the Keyhole. Now, swim back to the Silent Chamber and go up the stairs, which lead back to the Hall. Now we want to go to the big door tucked in the far right corner, which leads to the Bottomless Hall. Mind the gap, and the water jets, to make it to the passageway on the far side, into the Treasure Room. In this room, use the little pedestals at the bottom of the treasure heaps to hop up to the chests. Saving would also be wise before proceeding to the Lamp Chamber. Well, things are not looking good for our heroes, are they? BOSS: Jafar and Genie The Genie is actually not that dangerous here, perhaps because he's a bit reticent about offing his friends. He moves around slowly and attacks with punches, but he's easy to avoid. Meanwhile, Jafar gradually drifts from platform to platform, pausing to launch fiery beams. Dodge those with continual movement, and hop off the platforms to smack him with aerial combos while he hovers. Spell: Blizzara After the battle, go see Jasmine at the World Lock. Jafar isn't quite out of it yet, though. Hop down the hole after him. BOSS: Genie Jafar Jafar, despite his imposing appearance, is not the target here. The object is to take out Iago, who flies around the shifting floors holding Jafar's lamp. Avoid Jafar's massive lava bombs, which isn't too tough, and follow Iago around. He has a pre-set pattern, so it's possible to save some time by waiting for him to come to you rather than following him to the platforms on the far sides of the arena. It's also easy to attack from long range with Fire magic. Once Iago goes down, well, you saw the movie, didn't you? Winning nets the Fira spell, the Three Wishes keychain, and Ansem's Report 1. All is still not well -- the bad guys make off with Jasmine while Sora locks the Keyhole. Fly out of the Cave in the neat little flying-carpet mini-game, which is no big challenge, and that's the end of Agrabah. After the cutscenes, return to the Gummi Ship. Now you can open Green Trinity points, and you've got the Genie summon. ---------------------- 4.11 Traverse Town/Hundred Aker Wood ---------------------- Donald and Goofy suggest taking the Torn Page from the Cave of Wonders and returning it to Merlin's book. Warp back to Traverse Town and do just that -- as it turns out, this is a copy of Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh. Returning pages restores missing locations to the Hundred Aker Wood, and adds corresponding encounters with its various Inhabitants. This one adds a meadow on the right side, where Sora has a chat with Pooh. Thus, a side-quest arises. Find the missing pages to restore the missing pieces of Pooh's world -- to begin with, there's just that meadow, the Hunny Tree, and Pooh's House. We'll revisit this area a few times in the future. For now, you can go to the Hunny Tree and help get Pooh some hunny, which earns the Naturespark item. Give that to the Fairy Godmother to snag the Bambi summon. While in Traverse Town, head back to Cid's Accessory Shop, now that the party can use Green Trinity points. Using the Trinity Ladder effect reveals a path up to the attic, where the moogles will teach the party about item synthesis. ---------------------- 4.12 Monstro ---------------------- After taking care of business in Traverse Town, it's time to get rolling again. Fly to the point east of Agrabah on the map, the lower arm of the new ring, with a Battle LV of five stars. The Gummi Ship won't make it there, though -- partway through the flight, a massive whale appears. This, of course, is Monstro, of Pinocchio fame. After being swallowed, Sora goes through a short flashback to his childhood. The crew comes to in Monstro's throat, with some unexpected company. Swim towards the back of the area to meet Geppetto, who appears to have his hands full keeping his young charge in line. And hey, is there some other wayward youth around here? Hmm... It's time to play follow-the-puppet. Follow Pinocchio through the triangular door to Chamber 1. Next, jump up to the platform on the left and, after the cutscene, enter Chamber 2. Battle the Heartless inside and proceed through the door to Chamber 3. Next, bear to the immediate left for the Chamber 2 entrance. Then, we want the passageway on the right, to Chamber 5. The next path is easy -- straight to the end, into Chamber 6. From there, drop down and head up the steps, a little to the right, into Chamber 5 (watch out, though, because down the steps, there's another entrance to Chamber 5 that dead-ends). Finally, go straight through past the barrels to Chamber 4. Whew! Had enough yet? Luckily, we're done with the maze-chasing for this level. Follow Riku through the passageway to the Bowels. BOSS: Cage Parasite This guy's most vulnerable point is his high head, but that's difficult to target with anything except jumping Fira magic. Attacking him down low is a risky proposition, since his flailing arms are very hard to dodge. A good strategy is to use physical attacks when his arms are briefly at rest, and then back off to expend the MP thus gathered on Fira shots to his head. Every so often, he'll be knocked dormant, too, which is the sign to go in and swing hard. Riku will help out in this battle, so it's actually not one of the tougher ones. When Pinocchio falls down the hole, well, what's to do but dive after him? Note that the dropping water level in this cutscene means that some platforms and Trinity points have been uncovered in this first area. Climb high up to get the Watergleam item, which can be converted to a Summon back in Traverse Town. Also, open the chest by the save point to get the High Jump shared ability. With that, Sora can leap from Geppetto's platform over to the L-shaped bit of flotsam that was previously unreachable. That leads to the Tornado-G in the chest to the left, and more importantly, to the passageway above the one that leads to the Chambers. Go through it to enter the Throat. In here, jump and battle up the spiraling platforms to reach the Stomach (climbing up the Throat to the Stomach? Oh, well...). After the cutscene, it's time for one more battle. BOSS: Cage Parasite He behaves mostly as before, with a couple of differences -- for example, when dormant, he now leans his head back instead of forward, and he has a new attack where he spews a ball of poison gas at Sora, so watch out when his head is pointed right toward him. The environment also makes things harder, since falling in Monstro's stomach acid will harm Sora. In any event, follow the same strategy as before, sticking and moving with physical attacks, while pulling back to open fire with magic when Sora builds up his MP. The new High Jump ability also makes it much easier to leap up and whack him in the head. After more nefarious doings from Maleficent, Monstro spits the party back out near Agrabah. At this point, it's possible to head back to Olympus for another tournament, but to continue the quest, go back around to the other world on the second ring, away from Monstro. This path leads to a tougher area, but it spares a bit of Gummi flight. ---------------------- 4.13 Halloweentown ---------------------- Easily the niftiest visuals in the game, and check out the keen Danny Elfman remixes. Go forward through the gate into Guillotine Square, where the scary Heartless await. Not much fight in them, though. In the Square, bear right to meet the Mayor, who in turn introduces us to the inimitable Jack Skellington. Follow Jack around to the left and go through the door marked Lab Entryway -- from there, keep going to the Research Lab. Here, the Doctor and Jack offer some assistance and a quest. The crew needs to find the Doctor's assistant, Sally. Add Jack to the party and head back outside, where the Heartless are causing trouble on top of everything else. Go out to Guillotine Square and around to its left side, through the small door that leads to a steep flight of stairs. There are actually two of these -- we want the one that's a little farther around to the left. It bends up to the doorway leading to the Graveyard. The Graveyard area is infested with Heartless. Take them out and Zero will appear, in turn introducing Sally. She provides the item necessary to complete the Doctor's experiment, so go back to the Lab and see what's cooking. Whoops, he needs another ingredient, and meanwhile, Oogie Boogie and company are up to no good. Go back to the Graveyard, defeat the Heartless there, and examine the coffin at the far end. This opens the passage to the Boneyard, where we find the Mayor. He introduces a bit of a memory puzzle -- you have to examine the tombstones in the order that the ghosts appear from them. That's not so hard, though. When that's done, go open the chest where the giant pumpkin once was. This is the next item that the Doctor requires, so take it back to the Lab. Uh-oh. The experiment may be finished, but the quest is far from over. Follow that heart! Luckily, Zero points the way. Go out to the Boneyard via the Graveyard, and take the passage on the left (a big grinning statue, next to the burst pumpkin) to reach the Moonlight Hill area. This area is crowded with some very resilient Heartless, so be careful when fighting them and don't be afraid to use magic. On the hill in the center, opposite the little curling top, is a small gravestone, just on the other side of a low stone wall. Examine that gravestone to open up a path to Oogie's Manor. Walk across the bridge and through the gate in the next area to get there. Pretty impressive house, isn't it? To get in, cross the rickety suspension bridge, destroying Heartless along the way. Examine the double doors to enter, and once inside, shoot the little platform with Fire magic to create a floating platform. Jump from there to the wooden bridge, and run all the way up the long, spiraling wooden platform. Be careful not to fall off! If you do, jump in the wandering bathtub down there to be transported back to the double doors. At the very top, enter the doorway to the Evil Playroom. BOSS: Lock, Shock, and Barrel Not really a boss, particularly because they aren't very tough. They take a lot of damage, and they jump around a fair bit, but their offensive capabilities are minimal. Just focus on them one at a time with physical attacks to put them away in short order. See the big lever over there? Whack that to open a hidden door. It's back out on the exterior of Oogie's Manor. Climb down a ways until you see a big green door that looks like Oogie's face -- the path is complex, but the door itself is pretty hard to miss. Enter that door to discover the Torture Chamber. BOSS: Oogie Boogie This is one complicated boss fight. The party is down on the sectioned roulette wheel, being attacked by flying Heartless. Meanwhile, Oogie occasionally tosses down exploding dice, one segment of the pit is covered by toy soldiers which attack with their rifles, and rotating knives occasionally swirl around the pit, which Sora must jump to avoid damage. When the buttons in the middle of the wheel glow, step on the one near where Oogie is currently standing -- that segment will be enclosed by a fence and rise up to the outer rim, where the party can jump across to Oogie's level and attack him directly. Stay up there and swing away at Oogie as long as possible, although his explosive attack can knock Sora back down into the wheel. If that happens, just wait for another opportunity to climb up. This fight can grow tedious, but once you learn the pattern, it's not too hard to complete. After Oogie goes down, in one of the game's nastier cutscenes, it seems as if the battle is over. The party gets a Holy Circlet here. However, though he is down, he's not out. Now, his entire Manor transforms to attack. BOSS: Oogie's Manor As Jack points out in the cutscene, the targets to attack are the globs of dark energy attached to the house at various points. Climb up the roots of the Manor and attack them one by one, dodging the swirling tongues of flame that orbit the house. Higher up, flying Heartless also attack, but don't let them distract from the real target or knock the party back down to the ground. There are seven globs in all, so it may take a little backtracking to get every one, but this isn't actually a very tough encounter. Nifty design, though, isn't it? With Oogie defeated, Sora locks the Halloweentown Keyhole, and it's off to another area. Sora gets an upgrade to his Gravity magic, as well as the Pumpkinhead keychain. ---------------------- 4.14 Atlantica ---------------------- Now, Monstro has taken a brief respite from wandering the warp, so warp down to his location for a short Gummi Ship jaunt to the Atlantica area. This should be a lead-pipe cinch after knocking off Halloweentown. Thanks to Donald's magic, the crew is now transformed into forms suitable for underwater exploration. However, it takes a little doing to figure out how to move in the three-dimensional underwater realm, so pay attention to Sebastian's brief tutorial on swimming. It's easy enough -- just use the circle and square buttons to maneuver on the Z-axis, and use the analog stick to point the way as usual. The party gets some hands-on training in underwater combat, though, when the Heartless intrude. Luckily, the lock-on does a lot of work for you here. Knock off all the Jellyfish and hit the big clam to let Sebastian and Flounder know everything's alright. Then, it's time to go rescue the palace. As Ariel directs, follow the yellow tridents on the wall. The first points the way to the Undersea Valley area, where the main title for this area plays. This is a big area, but again, just follow the tridents, which point around the right wall and then down to the entrance to the Calm Depths. Here, enter the running current, but be ready to bear to the right at a fork in the path, where a trident points the way to the next passage. Get past the Heartless in the whirlpool grotto and follow the trident across the way, into the Undersea Cave. In the Undersea Cave, the tridents point up, so rise all the way to the top to enter the Undersea Gorge. Smash through the Heartless here to get to the small passage in the opposite wall (two tridents surround it, pointing from opposite directions) to enter Triton's Palace. In this huge area, swim all the way to the far side to enter Triton's Throne. After receiving a long and boring lecture from King Triton, swim across the Palace to the Undersea Gorge area. Ariel points the way to her hidden Grotto, so swim down to the rock she points out and enter that hidden spot. The Grotto is packed to the ceiling with items, including a Torn Page, so be sure to search from top to bottom, clearing all the chests. Once you're sure you have all the goods, leave the Grotto via the passageway on the bottom. As expected, the Sea Witch has some sinister designs upon our heroes. Worry about her later, though. Go all the way back to the Atlantica area -- just follow the tridents backwards -- and beat up the Heartless in this area until you come upon a wandering dolphin. Grab hold of its fin when there are no bad guys around, and he'll carry the party against the current to an otherwise unreachable spot past the Calm Depths. Go through the passageway right ahead to enter the Sunken Ship. Make your way inside the ship via the open hatch on its deck. Belowdecks, there's a treasure chest, as well as a giant shark trying to bash his way in -- he's all bark at this point, though, so ignore his attempts to bust through and open the chest, which contains a Crystal Trident. Clear that and the other chests in the hold, then go outside. The exit you want is marked by a broken chunk of mast down on the bottom of this area -- it looks like a big cross. Go through that passageway back to a hidden corner of the Undersea Gorge. Whacking the glowing widget there triggers a waterspout, which launches the party back up near the entrance to Ariel's Grotto. See the resemblance in that niche on the wall there? Swim to it to place the Crystal Trident in the niche. Uh-oh. Was that actually such a good idea? Triton seems pretty peeved, anyway. Plenty of drama ensues in the next few cutscenes. Once they're all over, return the party back to the Triton's Palace area, and thence to Triton's Throne. Drama again, and the whole party is mixed up in it. It's time to go all the way back to the Sunken Ship. Lots of backtracking in this area, yes? After the dolphin ride, enter the wreck area. Now, that shark is patrolling around, so KO him to keep him out of the party's hair. Then, swim to the opposite side of the wreck, and find a rock on the floor with a peculiar blue drawing on it. Sebastian opens the way to the Den of Tides. Beat up on the Heartless in here and bear to the left, heading for the passageway that leads to the Tidal Abyss. Down that tunnel lies Ursula's Lair. BOSS: Ursula, Flotsam, and Jetsam As Triton warned back at the palace, the key is to target Ursula's cauldron with magic. Shooting it with magic reflects that magic onto Ursula, damaging her. Use Flotsam and Jetsam as punching-bags to build up more magic points (or just use Ethers), and when a magic attack knocks Ursula senseless, use that opportunity to whale away with physical attacks. Defense isn't so important in this fight, since the eels don't have a lot of bite, but watch out for Ursula's attack when she spins around the area, flailing with her tentacles. Afterward, the party gets the Mermaid Kick ability. After Ursula and company bug out, head back to the Sunken Ship area. Now that the party can equip the Mermaid Kick ability, everyone can swim against heavy current, which makes getting around a lot easier. At the shipwreck, swim into the cave on the opposite side of the ship, which leads to the Calm Depths. Now, of course, it's not necessary to have the dolphin's help to get around in here, although the passages are still a little confusing. Swim to the head of the current and enter the passageway to the right, marked "???" Now it's time for the showdown. BOSS: Ursula Wow, she's big. This one can be rough, because Ursula has massive offensive attacks that are tough to avoid. Use the newfound Mermaid Kick ability to get around to the back of her head and attack from there, which puts Sora out of range of her elemental breath and nasty inhalation attacks. Aero magic also helps here, since it ups the party's defense, and make sure Sora has the Cure spell hotkeyed. Ursula is big, flashy, and dangerous, but a persistent, aggressive strategy can take her out soon enough. Now, it's denouement time. Take the Trident back to Ariel's Grotto, where Sora locks the Atlantica Keyhole. Total schwag for this achievement: the Thundara spell, Ansem's Report 3, and the Crabclaw keychain. Then, go to Triton's throne room and use the save point to leave -- it's hidden in the shell to the one side of his throne. One last Disney world to go. ---------------------- 4.15 Neverland ---------------------- Fly to the world on the far right side of this ring. A short way through the Gummi Ship flight, a pirate ship attacks -- wonder who this could be? Out on the deck of the pirate ship, we meet our old nemesis again, and wind up down in the hold, where we meet a new friend. Peter Pan joins the party, along with Tinker Bell -- swap him in to gain a pretty powerful punch in combat. Outside the door to the heroes' cell, Heartless and a shadowy Sora block the way. These aren't too tough, though, and the shadow in particular leaves behind some excellent power-ups. Hop and jump up to the last platform, and go through the right-hand door, opposite the one with the Yellow Trinity. In this next room, kill the shadow and the Barrel Spiders, then drop down through the hole in the floor. In the deep hold below, cross over to the opposite ladder to enter the Galley. In the Galley, Peter introduces the basic mechanics of flight via pixie dust, while Riku and Captain Hook plot above. After the cutscene, jump up on the shelf at the one end of the room and through the hole in the netting above. Then, enter the door to the immediate left, where there's a save point and a Green Trinity on the other side. Climb up the ladder thus revealed to enter the Captain's Cabin. BOSS: Shadow Sora He can appear and disappear into the ground like the regular Heartless Shadows, but his really nasty tactic is creating doubles of himself, which break Sora's lock-on and confuse the question of who to attack. The doubles go down after one good whack, but they still waste valuable time and attacking power, and towards the end, the shadow teleports almost constantly. Break through that obfuscation as best as you can and hack away at the shadow -- he's also vulnerable to Stop magic. With the whole party pitching in, he'll go down in time. Victory earns the Cura magic. Once the shadow is defeated, examine the faint outline of a trap door in front of the door Riku left by. Drop through there to find Wendy and bid Peter a brief farewell, then go out the main door next to the save point. Now, we're back in a familiar place, and heading for a familiar door -- go through the one with the communication trumpet-thingy next to it, through which lies the ladder up to the Captain's Cabin. Now that Wendy's been saved, go through the door Riku left by and confront Captain Hook. Hook bugs out, but there are still Heartless to take care of. They come in a couple of waves, culminating in an attack by flying Battleships. Those aren't so hard, though -- flying in Neverland is just like swimming back in Atlantica. Destroy them, and then Captain Hook shows out for a final duel. BOSS: Captain Hook Followers of the stories know that Captain Hook is pretty much all talk in comparison to his adversaries. Such is the case here. The Battleships can be annoying as they circle around the battlefield and shell the party, but it's pretty easy to take to the air and take them out. Back on the ground, attack Hook head-on with physical attacks and keep Sora's strength up with the new Cura spell. A determined attack will make short work of Hook, and net some sweet booty: the Ars Arcanum combo for Sora, and another Ansem's Report. One last task remains. Fly up to Big Ben and look for the one clock face that isn't showing midnight. Hit it three times (to knock the minute hand up from quarter-till) and Sora locks the Neverland Keyhole. This earns the party a Navi-G Piece, which means it's time to drop in at Cid's back in Traverse Town. Watch the brief flashback and flash-forward, then warp back to town. The save point on the clock can be a little hard to find -- it's on the corner of a roof just above the level where Wendy's standing. Finish this off to get the Tinker Bell summon, the Fairy Harp keychain, and the Glide skill. This is also a good time to go back to several previous areas and gather extra items. The tournaments at the Coliseum await, and with the party's Glide Trinity abilities, many Dalmatians and Trinity Points that were not yet available are now there for the taking. Consult the Secrets section of this guide for some directions towards interesting sidequests and bonus items. ---------------------- 4.16 Traverse Town 3 ---------------------- Talking to Cid back in District 1 triggers a long flashback, and from thence proceeds to bad news from Cid. Apparently, the Heartless are massing. Head out in the Gummi Ship to the far right area of the map -- the way to go is to warp to Neverland and hop from there to the new area. ---------------------- 4.17 Hollow Bastion ---------------------- Upon entering the Bastion, jump and glide across the platforms to make it to the castle in the distance. Partway there, Riku confronts the Beast, and in turn Sora confronts Riku...with unpleasant results. On the flip side, Beast j oins the party, and he's plenty powerful. After the cutscene, clear the Rising Falls of treasure chests using the Glide ability, and then take the platform that leads to the Castle Gates. Go to the right, down the short steps to the iron gate, and through there to the next platform. Activate the two sensors as they flash, and then descend to the watery depths. There, you can see a couple of air bubbles. Jump in the one that's near and to the right -- it takes Sora underwater to the Waterway. There, examine the iron bars by the save point. That's Beast's cue to smash through and into the next area. Go through the hole and hop in the air bubble. Emerging from the air bubble, proceed to the zig-zagging passage, keeping an eye out for gems on the walls. Examine them in order -- there are four of them. The first three are on the walls to Sora's left as he proceeds, and the last is behind him, on the ground. Don't worry, the cinemas point things out very simply. After releasing the fourth gem, proceed to the next air bubble through the passage that opens. Beyond this bubble, more stones await. First, release the one that's directly to Sora's right as he appears -- this activates an elevator. Go up that, and examine the last gem on the right-hand wall, after Beast takes care of the tough Heartless guarding it. From here, proceed to the castle gates, all the way back where you came from (yes, this necessitates hitting the gems in reverse order). On the way back, stop in the Base Level area and use the other bubble to access some extra treasure chests. Back at the Castle Gates, the large double doors are unlocked now, so go through those. Beyond those doors lies quite the showdown... BOSS: Riku Time to give the little trash-talker what-fer. This is mainly a physical battle, since Riku is immune to most magics. There's an advantage to be found around this arena, though -- smash the pots about the edge to reveal HP power-ups and Hi-Potions. Keep that HP up and slam away at Riku, preferably from behind. His quickness and dodging ability can grow very frustrating, but with the Keyblade back, Sora has the offensive power to take him down. Just be patient, and take shots when he's open. Once Riku goes down, the party gets the White Trinity ability. Time for more maze-chasing around the castle. Go up the stairs in this entry chamber and around to the left, through the door to the Library. Inside, follow the path and grab the red book in the corner: "Khama No. 8." Just a little further down that path, there's a set of red books with gap in it on the shelf -- examine that gap to replace the book and open the path further. Next, go up the stairs beyond there to the second floor, where there's a brown book on a desk, near a save point. That's "Theon No. 6." Just past the desk, on the left wall, there's a shelf where a set of brown books is interrupted by a green one, "Mava No. 5." Examine it to swap in the Theon volume, opening yet another hidden spot. In this case, it's a button on the wall. Hit the button to unlock the door to your right and go through it to the Entrance Hall. Just to the left, there's a small tombstone with a lighting emblem on it. Zap that with Thunder magic to drop a platform that leads to the center of this room (although you can also just Glide there). Before crossing over, though, light all the candles in the sconces on the wall (they're flanking the nasty-looking mouths) to reveal a blue Emblem Piece. Grab that, and then move on to some more random destruction. Next up are the two vases, on either side of a statue of a misshapen face. Do that, and a pink Emblem Piece drops into a fountain down on the floor. After that, use the floating platforms to make it up to the second level again. In front of a bull's-head bust on the inner edge of the balcony, there's a Red Trinity point. Use the save point back in the Library if you need to re-order your party, and activate that point. Smashing open the statue drops a green Emblem Piece down to the floor. Finally, up on the second floor, there's a tusked statue standing against the outer wall with an empty square on the floor just to its left. Push it over to that empty square, and a chest appears down on the first floor with one last Emblem Piece. To finish off this puzzle, go through the central door on the first floor and put the Emblem Pieces into the big Heartless seal. Meanwhile, Riku meets something...less than pleasant. No good can come of this. Back in the Entrance Hall, go through the Heartless door to the Lift Stop. Follow the balcony around to the left and go through the passageway to the Castle Gates. Take the path up and to the right and activate the blue crystal on the left, taking the platform up. Flying enemies beset you here, but be careful not to fall off the edge -- that drops the party way down to the Base Level, and it's a long trudge back up through strong enemies. The next step is to go up the stairs to the right. Hit the orange crystal to activate the large platform there, which slowly transports the party to a battle with Heartless wizards. After they're taken down, examine the crystal that appears in the middle of the ring. The platform then lets the party off in front of a Blue Trinity and a chest. Clear those and head down the stairs to the left, back to the Lift Stop area. Now, examine the blue crystal and take the lift up to the higher part of the Great Crest area -- take the stairs to the right after getting off the lift. Examine the blue crystal there to summon another lift. That takes you to an area filled with Heartless, where there's an orange crystal tucked in a corner. Activate that to lower one-half of a large block bridge. To get the other half, turn around and enter the dark passageway nearby. Another area full of Heartless -- take these out and cross over to the other side, which leads to the High Tower. In this, and a couple of other areas, you may see chests high out of reach. Cast Gravity magic on the pedestals holding those to lower them. This one, for example, contains Dalmatians. After battling the waves of Heartless up here on the tower, activate the orange crystal to lower the other half of the bridge, or perhaps it would be better to call it a staircase. Climb up and around to the dark passageway on the left, back into the Lift Stop. From there, cross the hall into the entrance to the Castle Chapel. After the cutscene, enter the Chapel proper. BOSS: Maleficent. Baaaad juju up in here. Maleficent flies about on a floating platform, which can be targeted independently. Whack at that to begin with until she falls down into a more convenient position, or achieve the same effect by casting Gravity magic on it. Be careful when attacking the platform, though, since she occasionally sweeps its edge with a lightning blast. When she's in range, swing away, but do so cautiously -- if you hear her yellinabout meteors, run like hell. That's the cue for her deadly Dark Meteor attack, which pelts anyone near her with serious damage. Avoid that by sticking to the sides of the circular area. She also summons Heartless to aid her, so use those to restore MP. Ranged magic attacks are perhaps the safest way to target Maleficent, but a judicious melee attack will get the battle over quicker, especially with Sora's new combo attacks like Ars Arcanum in the mix. Win and get the Cheer ability for Donald, plus Ansem's Report 5. After beating Maleficent, hit the Save Point and swap Beast in the party if he isn't already there. His brute strength will be very useful in the coming battle. Equip items and abilities, making sure to have Sora's combo attacks ready, and enter the void... BOSS: Dragon Very, very tough one, this. The Dragon is deadly from head-on, with powerful area-effect attacks that'll knock the party flat. The best trick is to get behind him, climb up in back, and whack him in the head with ranged attacks like spells and Strike Raid -- it's a little like what you might have tried to do with Cerberus early in the game. Attacking from the fore can deal big damage, but likely as not he'll fry Sora with his acid breath and stomp attacks well before the end of the battle. Use Aero for defense here, and in fact in just about every other boss battle subsequent, and if you're going to swing from the front, stick to an aerial attack and glide away frequently to use recovery items and magic. Winning earns the Fireglow summon gem, containing Mushu. Once that nightmare is over, go back out to the Chapel through the void. A new entrance shows itself just beyond the save point, which looks like as good an invitation as any. This leads to another part of the Lift Stop area, and around there through to the entrance to the Grand Hall. Go through the large double doors there for another showdown. BOSS: Riku Little punk just won't stay down. Like the last fight with Riku, this is another slow, methodical physical encounter. Good fencing skills can make it much easier, if you're deft with Sora's sword abilities like Guard and Counterattack. Stick and move, landing combo attacks when Riku is at rest. When he attacks, it's generally best to get out of his way, using Dodge Roll or Glide to avoid his strikes when he charges up for a running slash or his whim-whamming circuit around the arena. The most effective attack is landing Ars Arcanum while he's vulnerable, but that expends MP and often misses. This battle can grow very frustrating towards the end, as Riku shows fewer and fewer holes in his defense, but take advantage of the opportunity to earn Tech points with guards and counterattacks. After a hard-won victory, Sora learns the Ragnarok special combo. After the theatrics following Riku's defeat (pretty sweet, huh?), Sora takes the form of a Shadow for a little while. Head back out to the High Tower area through the Castle Chapel, from whence you came, and go for a long fall down to the Castle Gates. Seriously, just jump off a ledge when you see one, and eventually you'll get there. From the Castle Gates, go back into the Entrance Hall through the big double doors and run to the rest of the party. Now, it's time to return to Traverse Town and prepare for more battles. ---------------------- 4.18 Traverse Town 4 ---------------------- First, talk to Cid in District 1. Then, head to the Secret Waterway in District 2, where there's one more Navigation Gummi to acquire. Examine the sun mural on the wall (where the moon used to be) to snag that. Then, talk to Kairi for a lengthy cutscene, as well as the Oathkeeper keychain. After talking to Cid once more in District 1, leave Traverse Town and head back to the Hollow Bastion. Beforehand, though, it's easy to do a little leveling up in Traverse Town, since it's now packed with the same enemies you fought in the Bastion. ---------------------- 4.19 Hollow Bastion Again ---------------------- To get here, enter the new warp point that's appeared on the map near Traverse Town. Thankfully, the route through the Bastion is just a little simpler this time around. Enter the double doors at the main gate and bear left up the stairs to the Library, just like before. Then, go up the stairs to the second floor. Be careful of the enemies in this area -- they look old and weak, but most, like the Large Bodies, now have new abilities and more HP. Aww, ain't reunions sweet? Now, go back out to the Entrance Hall and up the back stairs. It's time to slog ALL the way back to the Castle Chapel, where Sora has a date with some princesses. On the way, though, be sure to stop in the Grand Hall (where you fought Riku) to clear the area of chests, including what should be the very last set of three Dalmatians. Anyway, we were talking about princesses -- five of them in all, to be precise. Talk to each one, and then get ready for a fight before entering the Keyhole to the Dark Depths. BOSS: Behemoth Behemoths are generally bad. Compared to what Sora's been through and what's to come, though, this one rates as only fair. Jump up on his back and whack away at his horn with powerful combos -- he sure takes a while to go down, with more HP than the Dragon even, but he does collapse eventually. If he stings Sora off his back with a lightning blast, just hop back up. Also, remember that like the Behemoths in the Final Fantasy games, he's vulnerable to Gravity magic. Winning this battle earns an Omega Arts from the Behemoth and the Firaga spell from the princesses. Thank goodness, it's all over with the Hollow Bastion now. Sora locks the world's Keyhole and proceeds to the genuine endgame on the Gummi Ship. This is the last chance to do anything before committing to the endgame, so if you want to hit some sidequests, go do so now. In particular, it's worth going to the library in Hollow Bastion one more time to talk to Aerith, Beast, and Belle -- that will net some Ansem's Reports, more healing magic, and Sora's Divine Rose keychain. Otherwise... ---------------------- 4.20 End of the World ---------------------- Talking numbers just for a moment, it's best to hit End of the World around Level 50, or just a bit more. If the party needs some toughening up, go fight in Traverse Town or the Coliseum, where the Hades Cup is now underway. If you think you're ready, fly to the warp point beyond Hollow Bastion and get ready for some long, long battles. After the brief bit of reminiscing from Sora, go through the rocks here in Gate to the Dark and kill Heartless on the way -- these guys are unmercifully tough, so be very careful. Doesn't look like there's anything to walk on, but the nothingness is in fact quite substantial. The floating islands are your pointers here -- they're aimed in the right direction to follow. Clear the chests along the way if you want, since while some contain battles, others have vital items. If you can believe it, there's actually a Behemoth in a chest over here, although it's easier to kill than the last one. Continue going forward to the glowing crater, which is surrounded by six rocks, Stonehenge style. Battle another Behemoth to gain entry, and then stop to take stock. In this next area, the Giant Crevasse, there are items and enemies everywhere. Use Glide to drop down from ledge to ledge, clearing chests and killing Heartless, until you reach the bottom, which is veined with glowing light. See the big crater over there? Hop in. Now you're in what looks like a big mouth. Go to the blue light on the other side, to be transported to another mouth. Yes, you guessed it, this is one of those old fight-every- boss-again things. Each level has a treasure chest, so find those before exiting. The first step is Traverse Town, full of Soldiers and Large Bodies. Whack the bad guys and leave by the exit. The next blue light leads to Wonderland, with Heartless wizards. Then, we're off to the Coliseum, with Defenders and gargoyles. Last on the first ring of worlds is Deep Jungle, with lots of monkeys. Next up is Agrabah, Fat Bandits and swordsmen. Incidentally, none of these battles should be much of a challenge, which is part of what makes this little sequence so annoying. Brush up your swimming skills for another trip to Atlantica, where there are lots of Jellyfish to kill. Third to last is a trip back to Oogie's roulette wheel, which if nothing else is a cool showcase of the Halloweentown character designs once more. Second to last is Neverland, down in that confusing hold again. Go up the ladder and into the open doors to explore and fight, but the exit is down on the bottom of the hold, a door with a small slit in it. Last of all, with an oddly green column of light, is the Hundred Aker Wood, with one last save point. No fighting here. The very last column, fiery in color, leads to a dark hallway full of Heartless. Whack them and go through the door, where there stands an infernal machine. Examine it, then go back out through the void, being prepared for a fight. Drop down the hole to do battle. BOSS: Gargoyle The party is flying here, a la Wonderland or Atlantica. The strategy here is a lot like Ursula -- fly around to the back of his head and slam away. When he rears back or leans forward, those are signs of his big attacks, so pull out of range when that happens. The worst is when leans forward and the mountain erupts. Avoid that by pulling out to very long range. Knock his health into the green and he'll launch some homing energy balls, but the strategy remains the same at that point -- it's surprising how easy his attacks are to avoid from back behind his head. After this fight, the party gets the Superglide ability. After taking out the Gargoyle, fly into the Crater and work your way downward to a spot where a light shines from the ground. Keep going forward through the passageways, following each lighted spot. More nasty enemies await here, including the umpteenth Behemoth, so slug through that in an attempt to reach the Heartless symbol at the far end of the passage. Enemies will continuously spawn here, but you may notice that the symbol breaks down as more and more of the Heartless die. Thus, keep slamming at the Heartless until the symbol collapses entirely. Ready for some miserable boss fights? Then enter the Heartless symbol, and proceed from there to the door to the Secret Place. The final battle with Ansem is here. BOSS: Ansem This first fight is a basic physical encounter. Slug away at Ansem while he's relatively dormant in the early going. The tricky part is when he sends his familiar to latch onto Sora. When that happens, don't try to hit Attack while the menu says Freeze -- that will damage Sora considerably. Instead, cure Sora while the familiar leeches his HP and keep bashing away at Ansem. BOSS: Darkside Same old, same old. He's tougher now, but not by a substantial margin. Again, bash away at his hands and head to take him down. Before this battle, use the respite to re-equip items and abilities if necessary, since Sora will be going it alone (without Donald's curative ability in particular). BOSS: Ansem Again Like before, except Sora has to go this one alone. Curative items are therefore a must -- Elixirs in particular. While the last Ansem fight was a slugfest, this one requires patience, like the second Riku battle. Go on the defensive when Ansem's familiar guards him or latches onto Sora, and use the Glide ability to stay out of harm's way when Ansem hurtles around the arena. When the familiar starts leeching Sora, Ansem will protect himself with a force field, but it's actually possible to bust through that with the Ragnarok combo attack. Try that for big damage. Late in the battle, the familiar will separate again and burst out of the ground with blasts of dark energy. As when fighting Cerberus' similar attack, use Dodge Roll to escape those attacks. BOSS: Ansem Part III Holy cow. Sora is still alone here, and the opposition is still plenty stiff. This is a more complex version of the Ursula or Gargoyle battles. The core strategy is still the same fly around and swing from behind -- but Ansem moves around a lot more, and has a nastier close-in attack. Pull away a bit when he twirls his blades around, and change altitude to avoid the occasional strikes from his orbiting lasers. Occasionally, HP globs will appear to heal Sora if you kill the small orbiting nasties, so this is one of the only battles where Treasure Magnet is a useful skill. BOSS: Nowhere Place Sora appears in a small void full of Shadows. Kill those guys to grab HP globs and the odd extra item. Once they're beaten, a glowing ball will appear. Kill that to escape. BOSS: Cannons Back on Ansem's giant ship, the next targets acn be discerned with the lock-on. Sora has to kill the large and small energy cannons on the ribs of the ship -- the little blue- purple things. These drop HP and MP globs as they go, so it shouldn't be hard to keep Sora in shape during this battle. Avoid the orbiting lasers the same as in the Endless Abyss battle. Now, fly into the Portal of Darkness, the swirling mass of colors in front of the head of the ship. BOSS: Nowhere Place II The enemies are tougher here, but otherwise, it's the same as in the last battle of this sort, and you have Goofy to help. Use the lock-on to find a target if it's invisible against the dark background. In the end, kill the symbol that appears to escape. BOSS: Big Ugly Face This guy has a lot of attacks, but truth be told he's not actually that difficult. He offers enough opportunity to bash away at his face that Sora can hammer him for some damage, fly to the periphery, heal up with Curaga, and go back for some more. Use Aero for defense, and spend an item on MP if it's absolutely necessary. Just keep a close eye on Sora's HP and keep him healed up at all times. Once he's beaten, fly into his mouth to rescue Donald. BOSS: Nowhere Place III This is the last of these battles in the void, and the toughest. Donald is back, though, and his curative abilities should be much appreciated. Once again, whack all the enemies and destroy the symbol to escape. BOSS: Ship's Core The shields are down, so now it's time to finish this one by smashing the core. This battle can be an awful lot easier, however, if you destroy the cannons located at various points around the ship. Use the lock-on to find them and take them out methodically. Then smash the blobby core with combos -- shouldn't be any trouble at all. BOSS: Ansem Part 4, The Revenge This one is almost exactly like the last battle with Ansem, but now you have Donald and Goofy to help out. Most of Ansem's attacks are the same, so employ a similar strategy to avoid his hand-to-hand attacks and orbiting lasers. He can curse Sora with an effect similar to the familiar's strike in the second battle. If that happens, retire to the periphery and heal up. Once Ansem goes down, enjoy the ending. Pretty stiff challenge for a Disney game, huh? You should find the reward worth the effort, though. In particular, watch the credits for some cute reunion scenes. Now, hit the Secrets section to see everything you've missed! ---------------------- 5. Monsters ---------------------- The Heartless take many forms from world to world, adapting to their surroundings and drawing particular skills from what's around them. Or maybe they just do it to blend in a little better -- heaven knows the nasty little buggers tend to stick out a bit. Here's the near-complete roster of bad guys that will plague our heroes from the beginning of the quest to its end. Air Pirate In Neverland, a class of flying Heartless with resilient defense. Their attack is weak, however, so fly close to them to smash them down. Air Soldier These arise in Traverse Town the second time through, flitting around on their mechanical bat-like wings. Bring them down with air combos. Angel Star The most powerful spellcasting Heartless, although they're not as annoying as Wizards. These lurk in End of the World, and enfold themselves in their wings to become immune to physical attacks for a time. Wait them out and attack with air combos. Aquatank These look like big, round anglerfish, and sail into battle carrying three Screwdivers by their belly. They can attack with Thunder magic, but only do so when provoked, so leaving them alone may be a good idea at times. Bandit The sword-wielding, turban-bedecked soldiers in Agrabah. These have decent fencing abilities, letting them block the party's attacks and swing back with their long swords. Barrel Spider Like the Pot Spiders in Agrabah, except full of gunpowder. Hit them or blast them with Fire near other enemies to set off a chain reaction! Battleship Half Heartless, half flying pirate ship, found in the later parts of Neverland. These attack with cannon, and occasionally soar high for a vertical bombing run. Sora has to take them down from the air. Behemoth A massive boss-like monster in End of the World and Hollow Bastion. Climb up on his back to bash away at the horn on his forehead, and watch for his nasty frontal attacks. Black Fungus Poisonous mushrooms. Can they be manipulated in some way? Blue Rhapsody The first spellcasting Heartless you meet. They flit around, swing their heads to attack, and launch blasts of Blizzard magic. Blizzard heals them, so attack with Fire. Darkball Chaotic and potentially dangerous, but low on HP, these Hollow Bastion staples are more bark than bite. Take them down to make way for more important enemies. Darkside Like a bad penny, he keeps turning up, the massive phantom of Sora's dream turned real. Smash his hands, or climb up his arms to whack at his head. Defender Some of the most resilient Heartless in the game, these guards of the Hollow Bastion block attacks with their massive shields and strike with Fire and Blizzard magic. Sneak up behind them to hit their vulnerable spots. Fat Bandit Agrabah's answer to a Large Body, upgraded with more HP and a nasty fire breath attack. Just as with the Bodies, jump around behind him to knock him out. Gargoyle The flying Heartless of Halloweentown, especially in the vicinity of Oogie's Mansion. These can be a costly distraction, since leaping after them with air combos can cause a nasty spill. Green Requiem The most vulnerable of the small Heartless spellcasters, since they only have supportive Cure magic. Smack them down at will. Guard Armor The first boss in Traverse Town, six pieces of nasty armor and attacks. Smash him piece by piece to put him away. Invisible The meanest non-boss Heartless in the game, flying demons in End of the World with substantial maneuverability and powerful swords. They can also disappear and haunt one of the party members with a curse attack, gradually sapping their HP. Strike back with a nonstop aerial attack. Large Body Tough denizens of the earlier movements of the game, these massive blobs have to be attacked from behind. Knock them on their fat bellies to temporarily immobilize them. Opposite Armor The alternate form of Guard Armor, found during the second trip to Traverse Town. He looks different, but he goes down the same way. Parasite Cage A flailing boss inside Monstro, with nasty tentacles and poison breath attacks. His vulnerable point is...well, it's not really a head, but it's the bit at the top, so go ahead and call it that. Pirate The basic foe in Neverland, like a more powerful version of the Bandits in Agrabah. They can counterattack and block with their swords, but the Keyblade is generally more effective. Pot Centipede A sub-boss in Agrabah made up of Pot Spiders. His head and tail have to be bashed in, or he'll just keep powering up with more pots. Pot Spiders Unexpected enemies that pop up in Agrabah. These pots sprout legs and stomp around attacking the party. Smash them to shards and the legs will go away. Powerwild AKA Monkey Heartless, they're Heartless turned into monkeys. Or the other way around. Anyway, admire their cute little animations and then whack them away, although their jumping combos can be tough to avoid. Rare Truffle A mushroom that likes to be bounced around. How many times can you knock one back up in the air? Red Nocturne Fiery Heartless spellcasters with a nasty close-in attack. The trick with these is to hit them while they're charging up their spells, and don't heal them with their own type of magic. Screwdiver Soldiers of the Heartless adapted for swimming around Atlantica, they have spears and sail into battle on the Aquatank fish. Don't hit them with Thunder, since that can heal them. Sea Neon Atlantican Heartless shaped like little jellyfish, and as weak as they look. Hit them quickly and don't pay them much mind. Search Ghost A curious denizen of Atlantica, these Heartless (which resemble others seen in Halloweentown) have searchlights on their heads to illuminate the sea floor. However, they don't have a strong offense, although their teleport maneuver can grow aggravating. Shadow The most common Heartless, little buggers that shamble about and attack with their claws. They can melt into the floor and move around while immune to attack, but that doesn't mean they won't go down in swathes eventually. Sheltering Zone Like a Sea Neon, only much, much bigger. Killing one of these causes it to break into three Sea Neons, which have to be taken out individually. Soldier Armored Heartless, one step up from Shadows. They lack the Shadows' evasion abilities, but make up for that with slightly better offense, including counterattacking abilities. Even so, they still go down plenty fast. Stealth Sneak The giant, chameleon-like beast that serves as Clayton's mount in the Deep Jungle. How did a Heartless turn into a big old lizard like that? The world may never know. Trickmaster The juggling boss of Wonderland, and a very tricky enemy indeed for that stage in the game. He has to be brought down with magic and attacked while he lies low -- meanwhile, keep an eye out for his flaming batons. White Mushroom Completely harmless and very curious. They seem to want to be the recipients of magic, whenever they appear in random spots. See a future update to the Secrets section for the full explanation. Wight Knight Shambling mummies in Halloweentown that deal massive damage with their flailing claws. Wait for them to finish off one of their grandiose attacks and then close in with a riposte. Wizard The toughest Heartless spellcasters, thanks to their nasty teleport attack. In Hollow Bastion and End of the World, these appear, take some damage, and then teleport around the battlefield. They also become temporarily invulnerable with a shield of lightning. Wyvern Large, dragon-like Heartless that fly around the Hollow Bastion. They can lure the unwary attacker over an edge for a long fall, and deal big damage with their spinning dive-bomb attacks. Back them into a corner and slam away with heavy air combos. Yellow Opera The fourth of the basic spellcasting Heartless, these guys use Thunder magic, and tend to be a little more tenacious when picking and following a target. As usual, be careful not to heal them by accident. ---------------------- 6. Secrets ---------------------- ---------------------- 6.1 Dalmatian Quest ---------------------- Pongo and Perdy's 99 puppies are lost throughout the various worlds, and Sora can earn some valuable rewards by finding all of them. The Dalmatians are located in sets of 3, 33 sets in all, mostly in treasure chests located throughout every world. When hunting for Dalmatians, remember that some of them require abilities that the party hasn't acquired yet. The quest backtracks through areas like Traverse Town multiple times, so don't go crazy looking for Dalmatians that it seem to be impossible to reach. Chances are, the game will bring Sora back there with the tools necessary to grab those Dalmatians later on. Traverse Town 1, 2, 3: The seemingly unreachable island across from Merlin's House. Come here after acquiring the Glide ability in Neverland, well into the game. Then it's easy to fly to the island. 4, 5, 6: Behind the Red Trinity in the District 1 alley. Come here after acquiring the Red Trinity ability, once all of the first ring of worlds is cleared. 7, 8, 9: In the Item Workshop, above Cid's Accessory Shop. Reach this by using the Green Trinity in the Shop.10, 11, 12: Hidden in the Secret Waterway, again blocked by a Red Trinity. Wonderland 13, 14, 15: On a high platform in the Queen's Castle, reachable via a hidden exit in the Lotus Forest -- above and to the right of the main entrance to the Forest. 16, 17, 18: On one of the high platforms in the Lotus Forest. 19, 20, 21: In the Tea Party Garden. Sora needs the High Jump ability to get here, so come back after completing the Monstro area. 58, 59, 60: In another nook in the Queen's Castle -- turn the faucet in the Bizarre Room and jump in the pot. Olympus Colosseum 22, 23, 24: In the Blue Trinity to the right of the main gate. Deep Jungle 25, 26, 27: On the far end of the Hippo Lagoon, easy to reach. 28, 29, 30: In the Vines 2 area, reachable by climbing the ivy in the Hippos' Lagoon and swinging over to the far platform. 31, 32, 33: In the Blue Trinity in the Climbing Trees area. 34, 35, 36: In the Blue Trinity in the Camp area. Agrabah 37, 38, 39: In a chest in Aladdin's House. 46, 47, 48: On a high point in the Palace Gates area, reachable with the High Jump ability. 49, 50, 51: In the entrance area to the Cave of Wonders. 52, 53, 54: Accessible by bouncing up atop a treasure pile in the Treasure Room -- Aladdin must be in the party. Halloweentown 40, 41, 42: In the Bridge area, just before the entrance to Oogie's Manor. 64, 65, 66: In a treasure chest in the Graveyard, which remains hidden until after Oogie is destroyed and Sora seals the Keyhole. 67, 68, 69: In Guillotine Square -- pull the bellrope at Jack's front door and look below the front stairs. 70, 71, 72: In Guillotine Square, atop the gray pumpkin. You need the Glide ability to float there. Monstro 55, 56, 57: In Chamber 3. 73, 74, 75: Atop a stack of jetsam in the Mouth, reachable after the water level drops. 76, 77, 78: In another part of Chamber 3 -- try all the possible entrances. 79, 80, 81: In Chamber 5. Neverland 43, 44, 45: In a corner of the Clock Tower. 82, 83, 84: On a beam in the Ship's Hold -- fly there after gaining the flight power. 85, 86, 87: Yellow Trinity in the Ship's Hold. 88, 89, 90: Chest in the Captain's Cabin, after Shadow Sora battle. Hollow Bastion 61, 62, 63: In the Grand Hall, accessible the second time you visit here. 91, 92, 93: Bottom of the Rising Falls. 94, 95, 96: Castle Gates, cast Gravity on the floating chest. 97, 98, 99: High Tower, cast Gravity on the floating chest. As the party gathers Dalmatians, go back to Pongo and Perdy's house in Traverse Town to periodically receive rewards. It's also cute to check out the Dalmatians at play, as the house gradually fills up. Here's the reward structure for snagging all the Dalmatians: 12 puppies: Curaga-G Gummi Block 21 puppies: Firaga-G Gummi Block 30 puppies: Thundara-G Gummi Block 42 puppies: Mythril Shard (weak!) 51 puppies: Torn Page, Mythril (sweet!) 60 puppies: Megalixir 72 puppies: Orichalcum 81 puppies: Ultima-G Gummi Block 90 puppies: Ribbon (what is this, Forgotten Worlds?) 9 puppies: One of every Gummi, and an improved Aero spell ---------------------- 6.2 Trinity Points ---------------------- Trinity Points are special spots where the three main party members -- Sora, Donald, and Goofy -- can make strange things happen. There are five main types : Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, and White, acquired in that order. As with Dalmatians, Trinity Points gradually become accessible as the game goes on. Revisit old areas with these new abilities to pick up hidden items. Blue: Trinity Jump -- the party hops up somewhere, or calls down an item. Earned after clearing Traverse Town the first time. Red: Trinity Smash -- the party breaks through a barrier. Earned after clearing the first ring of four worlds. Green: Trinity Ladder -- the party climbs up to a high place. Earned after clearing Agrabah. Yellow: Trinity Push -- the party shoves something out of the way. Earned after defeating Hercules in the Colosseum tournament. White: Trinity Touch -- the party touches weapons, and something appears. Earned after the first battle with Riku in the Hollow Bastion. Traverse Town Blue: First District, by the cafe; First District, by the world exit; Third District, up in the corner behind the fountain; Merlin's House, by the save point. Red: First District, alleyway; Second District, by the grate to the Secret Waterway; Second District, atop the Gizmo Shop. Green: Cid's Accessory Shop. Yellow: Behind Merlin's House. White: In the Secret Waterway, by Leon. Wonderland Blue: Lotus Forest, in the grove near the entrance; Lotus Forest, farther toward the back. Green: Rabbit Hole, near the save point; Bizarre Room, in the empty fireplace. White: Lotus Forest, on the other side of the picture in the Bizarre Room. Olympus Coliseum Blue: By the gates, on the left side; By the gates, on the right side. Green: In front of the Coliseum gates. Yellow: In the lobby, by the stone block. White: In front of the Coliseum gates. Deep Jungle Blue: In Jane's Camp; On a high platform in Climbing Trees. Green: In a hidden spot in the Treehouse -- hunt around carefully. White: In the Waterfall Cavern, in front of the Keyhole. Agrabah Blue: Bazaar, atop a platform; Cave of Wonders, in the Silent Chamber. Red: Cave of Wonders, in the Treasure Room. Green: Storage Room, off the Plaza. Yellow: Cave of Wonders, in the Hall. White: Cave of Wonders, in the main entrance. Monstro Blue: Mouth, atop a platform; Throat, on one of the spiral platforms; Chamber 5. Green: Mouth, on the roof of Geppetto's shelter. White: Chamber 6. Halloweentown Red: In the entrance to Oogie's Manor, only available before defeating Oogie. White: Moonlight Hill. Atlantica White: Triton's Palace, in the center beneath the purple shell. Neverland Green: Ship's Cabin, at the entrance to Hook's cabin. Yellow: Ship's Hold, on a platform halfway up to the top. White: Up on the deck of the ship. Hollow Bastion Blue: Great Crest, after the large platform battle; hidden in the Dungeon. Green: On the second floor of the Library. Red: Entrance Hall, second level, in front of the statue. White: Halfway to the top of the Rising Falls. ---------------------- 6.3 Weapons ---------------------- Sora, Donald, and Goofy acquire new weapons as they go through the game -- Keychains for Sora, Shields for Goofy, and Rods for Donald. Some are acquired as a matter of course, while others are rare and require a little wandering out of the way. Also, periodically go back to the Item Shop in Traverse Town to see the nephews' new stock. Here's where to find what: Sora -- Keychains Kingdom Key: Default. Jungle King: Clear Deep Jungle. Three Wishes: Clear Agrabah. Crabclaw: Clear Atlantica. Pumpkinhead: Clear Halloweentown. Fairy Harp: Clear Neverland. Wishing Star: Go back to Traverse Town after clearing Monstro and see Geppetto at his shop in District 1. Spellbinder: See Merlin after acquiring Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard. Metal Chocobo: Beat Cloud in the Hercules Cup. Olympia: Beat Phil, Pegasus, and Hercules Cups. Divine Rose: Seal Hollow Bastion and see Belle in the Library. Oathkeeper: Talk to Kairi in the Secret Waterway after the first trip to Hollow Bastion. Oblivion: In the Grand Hall in Hollow Bastion, during the second trip. Lionheart: Beat Leon and Cloud in the Hades Cups. Ultima Weapon: Synthesize at the Item Shop. Goofy -- Shields Knight's Shield: Default. Stout Shield: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Smasher: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Mythril Shield: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Gigas Fist: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Golem Shield: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Onyx Shield: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Adamant Shield: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Herc's Shield: Beat the Hercules Cup. Genji Shield: Beat Yuffie in the Hades Cup. Defender: A rare item dropped by Defenders in Hollow Bastion. Save the King: Beat the Hades Cup time attack. Donald -- Rods Mage's Staff: Default Morning Star: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Warhammer: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Shooting Star: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Magus Staff: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Silver Mallet: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Grand Mallet: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Wisdom Staff: For sale at the Item Shop in Traverse Town. Lord Fortune: Get every summon and visit the Fairy Godmother. Violetta: White Trinity in Olympus Coliseum. Wizard's Relic: A rare item dropped by Wizards in Hollow Bastion. Dream Rod: Acquire every spell and visit Merlin. Save the Queen: Beat the Hades Cup solo. ---------------------- 6.4 Torn Pages ---------------------- Torn Pages After completing the second Traverse Town quest, an old book appears in Merlin's House. Specifically, it's a copy of Winnie-the- Pooh, although it's missing a few pages. To restore the different locations to Pooh's world, and in the process unlock a wide selection of mini-games and hidden items, find the following Torn Pages: Traverse Town: Rescue 51 Dalmatians. Agrabah: Dark Chamber in the Cave of Wonders. Monstro: Chamber 6. Halloweentown: The bookcase in the Doctor's Lab. Atlantica: Ariel's Grotto. Note that you can find the pages in any order -- the sections of the Wood are unlocked in the same order regardless of which pages you bring back when. ---------------------- 6.5 Postcards ---------------------- Postcards There are 10 Postcards in Traverse Town. Collect them all and toss them in the mailbox in District 1 to earn items. Here's where they are: 1. Climb to the roof of the Accessory Shop. 2. Hit the fan in the Item Shop. 3. Blue Trinity near the Item Shop in District 1. 4. Crack open the blue safe in District 1 after finishing the area the first time. 5. Jump up to the awning of the shoe store in District 2. 6. After locking the Traverse Town Keyhole, look at the paper on the wall in the Item Workshop. 7/8. Cast Thunder on the wires in District 3, then step on the three buttons in the Gizmo Shop to set it in motion. Examine the clock on the wall to get two cards. 9. Also after locking the Keyhole, climb to the top of the Gizmo Shop, follow the path from roof to roof, and take the secret entrance to District 3. There's a postcard in the corner there. 10. After clearing Monstro, Geppetto sets up shop in District 1. Go look in a pot on his shelf for the last card. The rewards from card to card go like this: 1. Cottage 2. Mythril Shard 3. Mega-Potion 4. Mega-Ether 5. Mythril 6. Elixir 7. Megalixir 8. Orichalcum 9. Defense Up 10. Power Up ---------------------- 6.6 Coliseum Tournaments ---------------------- Coliseum Tournaments After clearing the Olympus Coliseum area, Sora and company can periodically go back to test their skills in the games and earn fabulous prizes. Keep an eye out for announcements from Chip and Dale after completing major areas -- they'll pipe up and mention when a new tournament has ensued. When first entering a tournament, the whole party goes. After beating it the first time as a team, Sora can then enter solo, in either an ordinary progression or a high-speed time attack battle. All three of these methods net different prizes, so try all of them to rack up the most goods. Here's the complete listing of tournaments and competitors (and since we're using the proper names for the monsters here, refer to the Monsters section to figure out what's what -- for example, a "Powerwild" is one of the Monkey Heartless from Deep Jungle). Phil Cup This is the first tournament, which begins after Sora locks the Traverse Town Keyhole. It's also the easiest, by a long shot. 1. 4 Powerwilds, 3 Soldiers 2. 1 Powerwild, 2 Green Requiems, 2 Red Nocturnes, 5 Yellow Operas 3. 1 Hammerlegs, 4 Powerwilds 4. 5 Red Nocturnes, 5 Yellow Operas 5. 1 Large Body, 5 Powerwilds 6. 1 Gauntlets, 3 Blue Rhapsodies, 4 Shadows 7. 2 Large Bodies, 6 Green Requiems 8. 1 Gauntlets, 1 Hammerlegs, 4 Powerwilds 9. 1 Armored Torso, 4 Yellow Operas, 4 Blue Rhapsodies. Beat the Phil Cup to earn an upgrade to Sora's command of the Gravity spell. Pegasus Cup The second tournament is tougher, and features some familiar faces at the very end. This tournament becomes available after the party completes the Monstro area. 1. 2 Search Ghosts, 1 Bandit, 3 Air Soldiers 2. 4 Shadows, 3 Barrel Spiders, 2 Bandits 3. 2 Large Bodies, 1 Pot Spider, 1 Barrel Spider, 1 Fat Bandit 4. 5 Pot Spiders, 3 Yellow Operas, 2 Green Requiems 5. 4 Search Ghosts, 2 Fat Bandits 6. 3 Black Fungi 7. 5 Pot Spiders, 5 Barrel Spiders 8. 3 Fat Bandits, 3 Large Bodies 9. Leon and Yuffie Yep, the bosses of this tournament are our friendly bounty hunters from Traverse Town. Yuffie is the one to smack first, since she possesses healing abilities, and the clever fighter can knock her shuriken back at her. Against Leon, get well out of the way when he charges up his Gunblade for a running slash. Victory earns the Strike Raid ability for Sora. Hercules Cup Finish out the second ring of areas, including sealing off Halloweentown and Neverland, to unlock the third Cup. This one is quite tough, and features the return of Cloud in the middle of the ladder. However, the party wins some great extras for completing this tournament. 1. 5 Gargoyles, 3 Shadows 2. 4 Wight Knights, 2 Barrel Spiders, 1 Air Pirate 3. 4 Pirates, 1 Battleship 4. 4 Gargoyles, 3 Wight Knights 5. 1 Rare Truffle (cast Gravity to beat him) 6. Cloud 7. 2 Air Pirates, 2 Pirates, 2 Gargoyles, 1 Wight Knight 8. 2 Pirates, 2 Battleships, 1 Air Pirate 9. Hercules Hercules himself is pretty tough, although perhaps not quite as tough as Cloud, who is as annoying as Riku. Herc is invulnerable at times, though, while he's glowing yellow. To kill that invulnerability, bean him with a barrel (especially when he says "Hey, give up yet?" and poses), then attack while he's briefly vulnerable. Finishing the Hercules Cup nets all kinds of stuff. Goofy gets Herc's Shield, Sora gets the Metal Chocobo keychain after beating Cloud and the Olympia keychain for finishing the first three tournaments, and beating the tournament also opens up the potential to use Yellow Trinity points. The first Yellow Trinity to hit is in the lobby of the Coliseum, where Sora can lock the Coliseum Keyhole. Hades Cup To be continued... ---------------------- 6.7 Secret Bosses ---------------------- Secret Bosses The game includes a few secret battles that may be worth the trouble, especially a couple of new ones that have been added to the American version. All of these are insanely hard, though, and for experts only. Sephiroth: The Platinum Match at the Coliseum becomes available after locking the Hollow Bastion Keyhole. Ice Titan: The Gold Match at the Coliseum shows up after beating the Hades Cup. Phantom: Visit the Clock Tower in Neverland after locking the Hollow Bastion Keyhole. Kurt Zisa: Talk to the Carpet in Aladdin's House after locking the Hollow Bastion Keyhole. ---------------------- 6.8 Secret Ending ---------------------- To get a secret ending movie, beat the game with 99 Dalmatians, all Keyholes locked including the Hundred Aker Wood, and the Hades Cup completed.