Is that it?

"I dink you look real fancy-like now Roan! You have grown up! You're almost as impressive as da boss!" - "As Gonzola?! Whoooah! That's sooo impressive. Roan, you should stand proud at such an insul-- er, compliment!"
After a while, we arrive at the Core. I remembered that Valmar's Core was a nasty one, but in this mode it took me a very long time to defeat it (fortunately, its magic isn't deadly so it's quite possible to hold on). Fortunately, the next enemy whom you have to fight just after you've spent all of your SP and MP on the Core is an easy one. It wouldn't be possible otherwise.
Now, time to save the world! We'll have to fight all the parts again, but I really hope the Body's not there. I don't remember it, at least. But I'm prepared for anything (twice as many Revival Gems as needed).
Indeed, we're on level 57 while usually it was 55 at this very moment. Special stage perhaps? I hadn't discovered it until last time, but last time I tried to level up as much as possible and eventually reached 60.

Despair and Hope

Well, of course, it's "Cold" that drops action, not "Freeze". I keep forgetting, and the description says otherwise...
Zera can fly... well, nothing unusual for a JRPG :)
One of my favourite scenes. It would be very sad if... no, I don't want to spoil it.
And another sad scene. I'll miss those wise statements and comparisons to nature...
We're back in Cyrum Kingdom, and from now on the mood changes, it's all misery and despair.
Look who's here again! Only Risotto, though, lost and worried about Gonzola and others.
"Calm down! Why assume they are dead? You know as well as I, they would not die so easily! They are too stubborn!"
Here you have something called Raul Hills special stage. It is special due to several things. I was writing everything down and did it so hastily that now it's difficult to understand, but I won't need all of it anyway.
It's fairly easy at the start and there you can find weapon for your party which is practically useless. I wonder why it is there...
Hard mode certainly did some changes to the second part of the level because I hardly escaped and had to evade enemies for the first time in this game. I underestimated them at first, but now I see they're called Devils for a reason >_> The items there are very useful, though, I'd suggest at least trying to get them.
Those Devils wouldn't be so bad if they didn't cast "Ba-Boom" because it's instant death for my whole party. I had to use two Revival Gems, but I think it was worth the items.
Level 53 already? I usually reached it near the end of the game. It is near the end of the game, though.
They kissed eventually x)
It was probably a bit too high to jump from that, Elena... but it's a JRPG, so never mind, haha! And now Ryudo's falling down the rabbit hole.
I know it's hard to understand what's happening from my description. That's because I don't want to give spoilers in case someone decides to play Grandia II.
 "Look at yourself! Behold your new form with your own eyes!" - You call that being a god? Hmph, Melfice looked far more impressive :D
The mood changes again. Now it's rather optimistic and uplifting.

Now that's what I call "hard mode"...

"Demon's Law", what a weird name for, er... what exactly is it?
These vein and arteria passages are a bit tricky, I wouldn't get lost here but I want to collect everything there is, and that requires more remembering. Now... where did I come from?
Aaah! Valmar's Body sure was much easier to defeat before. I could hardly keep my party alive and its HP were still question marks when it finished me. It's like the only place where hard mode justifies its name. Man, now I'm not so confident... It might have been because I temporarily had no control over Millenia and there was less opportunity for healing, however someone had to use attacks, too. I have a plan, I wanted to do it last time but forgot: casting "Freeze" repeatedly to slow those things down so we have a chance for more action.
Fortunately, if my following attempts fail, I can return to the previous locations and level up, and so until I'm able to withstand the Body's attacks.
That didn't help much... but now I know what to do - to stay away. I started running about with only Ryudo left, and I should say if more characters were alive, we might have won. And "Freeze" wouldn't hurt, too, when there's a chance.
Oh no, I can't come back T_T I'll have to try again and again, no hope...
Alright then, I'll try to both stay away, cast "Freeze" and take them out one by one.
And what if I mainly attack the Body, not Tentacles?.. It seems more vulnerable...
Nooo! I almost won! T_T
(after another n tries)
Got to save now, save, save... yes! Phew, I'm past that now xD Even my hands got sweaty.
It turned out much more difficult than I thought. So, here's the strategy that helped me:
1) I've backed my party up with Revival Gems and tried to avoid using them for as long as possible (surprisingly, I didn't need to use them at all).
2) I still can't understand if "Freeze" drops action, I thought it did, but it wouldn't make much difference here anyway, so I stopped wasting magic on it.
3) I kept using "Spellbinding Eye" on the Body, when Millenia's SP ran out, I gave her a potion that restored them. All this time I tried to keep everyone away from the Tentacles (they do no harm that way) and mainly attacked from a distance. As the Body was paralysed, it couldn't use magic and draw us closer which is really annoying.
I actually could go back by loading my older save file, but then I'd have to explore a half of the level again.
Now I'll come back for more enemies to defeat whenever I get a chance. Better easy than... this.
Defeating the Heart was a pleasure, not at all like the previous boss. It has always been fairly easy: slower, does little damage, uses weaker magic and mostly debuffs. As for the Body, I don't remember it being so strong, they must have messed something up.

Nanan Village

"A first WHAT? Oh man... Mareg, you guys don't have some strange, eat-the-new-people custom, do you? Are we being served up?"
"Master"? Mareg, is that what you make her call you?" - "No. I have asked her repeatedly to address me as Mareg, but she insists still on calling me "master."
"I don't hug enough trees to be Mareg's disciple... He may be wise, but sometimes he just sounds crazy... Ah, nevermind, kid."
"Hmm... You know who the face on this pillar looks like? Elena..." - "What? Ryudo, what has gotten into you? Stop embarrassing me..." - "Holy...! Oh my goodness! It does look like you!" - "Stop talking nonsense, Ryudo! This is not the least bit funny!"
(Ryudo and Elena have been asked to enter a mysterious hut) "This place is empty... Look, just in case you didn't know, we're not a band of travelling interior decorators."
It's nice to have textures in this place x) In Grandia II I had, there were none for some reason, everything was plain white.
"'Bring here the Walnuts of Light and the Door of Blessings shall open.' ...Walnuts of Light... No comment."
"Ugh. This moss reeks... It smells like Skye when he opens that beak of his."
Wordplay - the smell of the sap saps the desire to come out.
"You two are really close, huh? It's so fun to watch you two together." That's for sure. I've been having fun watching Ryudo and Elena the entire game.
"Sheesh... As refined as Mareg is, he eats the same way..." - "We eat heartily to show our gratitude to the game that sacrificed itself so that we may live. ... [munch][munch] [cough][cough] [gag]" - "Whoa! Slow down! You'll choke and die before you get any benefit from that food."
Lights in the huts and no one there... what a waste x)
"Hey, everyone! Hiccup! Shtop shpinning around and around! You're making' me dizzy..."
"For bugs, these Miya worms have the life... they eat better than I do, and get treated MUCH better than I do..."
"The color of their silk changes depending on the mood they're in? Ha! Sounds like someone I know... She changes color too..." I bet I know who it is.
One of my favourite cutscenes now ^_^ Near the Spring.
"These berries taste like whatever food you remember most dearly. Therefore, they tend to taste different to different people." I wonder what they'd taste like to me...
Phew... collecting nuts for the fifth time was difficult. All that for a Baobab Fruit which you can buy in the store. I won't torture myself next time >_>
There's one more level?! No, no, no, that's it, I'm leaving. Finally, fighting again :D 

Zanzarah. Part 3

This is where you get Suane, admire her a bit and... have to give her away -_- Of course, it will be possible to get a light fairy later on, but evolving her into Suane takes forever...
So, no Suane, no Segbuzz (for now), but... now I have a Worgot xD The best exchange ever... the developers kind of played a nasty trick here. But, come to think of it... Segbuzz is more valuable than Suane because it can't be found anywhere else.
This jump on platforms on the way to the Tree is one of the most difficult, I've failed here more than anywhere else. Yay, I did it! Now if I fall on the way back, it's no big deal. I've fallen... as if I clicked, but it didn't work.
Sound of an opening door... where there's no door :P
Yes, it is so! Ice is ineffective against stone, and vice versa. How come I never noticed before? I could easily take out those Greezlocs...
Lasse! How on earth did you get over that gap? I thought I was the only owner of the Card of Air xD
I've decided, I'm getting that Darbue. I'm going to fight metal fairies, and energy is effective against them. I'll need to train him anyway.
I reloaded the location and walked past that tree a few times and no fairy attacked me. And of course, when I didn't need it this time and was just passing by...
No luck again! I damn miss the Fairy Horn... and wild fairies seem to be mocking me today >_>
Just visited the ruins. What a nice catch! Now I'm lucky. I've met and caught all the fairies I needed, and Turnox's among them. He can be helpful in the battle for the Card of Fire. Before that, I can go to the Shadow Realm to get some dark spells.
Those item bags on an islet near the Tree are the only ones I haven't managed to get. They tease me every time I pass by >_> I know there shouldn't be anything special in them, but still...
Akritar, my love! xD I've got you now.
It's hard to believe, but all my fairies were effective against those of my opponent in the very same order as they were! I didn't even need to think, changing them accordingly x)
So many new spells *_* Not only dark, but also ice and fire ones...
Going past that door in the Catacombs for the first time, I was a little nervous... but really the only scary things in this game might be high-level fairies, supposing you're not prepared for an encounter with them.
These skeletons look as if they used to be humans rather than short-heighted dwellers of Zanzarah... so likely it was people who built this dungeon and it was long ago. Or developers just didn't think about such things x)
Here it is, one of the most useful items of a fairy collector! No location reloading anymore :P
Phew! I won, more lucky the second time. Only Glacess survived and got a small amount of experience, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that now I can go to the Lava Caves.
When I saw all those fairies I had to defeat in the battle in front of the Dark Cathedral, I thought I was going to lose. But it turned out that 4 fairies were quite enough for that. Only Laticia died, and in a stupid way: I didn't expect a 50-level Turnox to put her out with one shot, with more than 200 HP, even if dark is effective against air...

Zanzarah. Part 2

Wow, I've caught Beltaur right away in the Dark Caves on the way to the Peaks. Apart from this, I know the place where you can find it anytime.
I remember this shadow elf being a real obstacle when I was younger. But there will be enemies worse than that later on.
Oh no, not Greezloc T_T
I lost just when I started to think the worst was over. They just wore my fairies out...
Oh, great, now there's no Greezloc :D I've won quite easily with only 3 fairies out of 5. It really does depend on the set of your enemy.
I love the Peaks. There was a time when I was tired of constantly training fairies and I was trying to find a way to descend these mountains... and I found it x) Not the easiest way, but possible. It's nothing to do down there, really, but to climb peaks, but I liked it anyway.
I'll catch Glacess as soon as I can, but I won't try now - I haven't got any gold spheres left anyway.
The clouds here are closer than they seem... if you played, you've probably noticed :)
Oh, here's a golden sphere, now I can try to catch Glacess... if I don't run out of potions before it.
These Ice Caves are easy to get lost in at first. But making sure you didn't miss anything is harder. As well as catching that pixie. There's the Rune of the Ice World here, it's not hard to find... if you know which way to go.
Oh, Glacess *_* I managed to catch her, and now, sorry, Lana, your time in the team's over. But I'll come back to evolve you into Liana soon enough.
I'd feel dizzy after using such an "elevator"... and when looking down, too. The Realm of Clouds, another beautiful place and home of the air fairies who are among my favourites.
I wonder if ice's ineffective against stone, even if the table doesn't say so... for some reason Greezloc had problems causing more than little damage to my JumJum. Probably it just didn't wait enough before shooting. I've noticed they do that when low on HP, start firing in bursts, almost. Also I had a spell that recovers HP for as much as you've reduced that of your opponent. Not sure if it's supposed to do so, because the description is vague... but all this helped me defeat two Greezlocs! And I thought I was going to lose.
From now on I can remove the boulders. Where I need to go now is the Arena, but something tells me I have little chances right now. Instead I'll go explore places I haven't been to or where I can go now, probably training some of the fairies at the same time.
I guess it was a bit overcautious of me to take Luria, Glacess and my most powerful ones, because Oceana was more than enough to smash these metal fairies. Well, now I'm prepared for the battle with dark ones.
Now, a death defying act - jumping on moving platforms over an abyss :D Although, even if I had only one chance, I could use a rune while falling. I sometimes do it when I'm bored teleporting the usual way xD
I really love the cave where Monagham is located. It inspired me to write a story partly set in similar environment.
Not sure what these things are called, sparkling areas you can find throughout Zanzarah... I think I've just found one I had never noticed before o_o I might have, but I don't remember...
My Arena battle didn't start well and Oceana's HP quickly got low (probably because of damned Segbuzz whom I hadn't managed to take out earlier because he was hanging about a dark fairy that was getting in the way). I thought that would be it but, to my surprise, eventually I won. Well, at least healing herbs will come in handy now. 

Zanzarah: The Hidden Portal

I guess I've been jumping from one game to another way too much lately... but I'll finish them all, sooner or later. It's just that recently I'm done with my second term paper and I'm full of energy (but still a little lazy >_>) to get back to my favourite activities, and I feel like playing this or that. Also, this summer I'm going to play some old games I still haven't since I first played them long ago (like The Gift and Rayman series).
For now it's Zanzarah. I guess it's a bit too early, but I find myself coming back to it once in a while before I start to really miss it.
In the last few years I played it several times, starting with a different set of fairies every time to bring some diversity. But just following the plot isn't really interesting, especially if you've already learnt it by heart, so this time I'll be collecting the fairies, all of them :D It will be my second or third collection, because I don't remember for sure if I completed the first one...
So, the game is a curious mix of fantasy adventure, Pokemon-like gameplay and a shooter. I played it a lot as a child (with a friend, too), it's got nice music, beautiful locations and views (even though the graphics are quite old) and many different kinds of creatures, most of them are fairies, not all of which even look like ones, and some are really beautiful, in my opinion ^_^ There's not a corner left in this game that I haven't explored.
This time I chose Tadana because I haven't played with Oceana (Tadana's ultimate evolutionary form) for quite long.
(hearing of thorny bushes and boulders blocking the way) Why did it happen? Well, I guess developers didn't want players to go to certain locations before time :D (I'm being Captain Obvious)
Poor owl, the one that has been sent to the Catacombs...
What this game lacks is the ability to sell items. On the other hand, what'd I do with such an amount of money? xD To complete a collection, you need to train fairies a lot, and I end up with hell lots of medicine, healing herbs and money...
For now my collection consists of four fairies: Tadana, Worgot (I love Blumella, but right now I'm focusing on training fairies that evolve), Lana and Rasrow.
Quite many things have happened, but there wouldn't be much sense in describing them. I don't really do it here, anyway, only things in the plot that evoke some feeling in me or that I can somehow comment on. So, right now I'm in Lucius' basement (that's one marvellous basement... imagine if there was a Shadow Realm in yours xD). Manox to my collection ^_^ It could as well be Akritar (my fav, and even I don't know why, lol), but I caught him (it?) here last time. It's nice to have a dark fairy, but I once started with Manox and it wasn't particularly easy, as he has little HP, takes very long to evolve and you don't have access to dark spells until the end of the game. That's a shame...
The collection is actively growing :D I don't at all regret buying gold spheres. And here's Viteria *_* It wasn't particularly easy to catch her, but with Corgot it's quite possible at this state.
In the Fairy Garden there's a dwarf who can sell Darbue for 400 coins, while this fairy can be caught later with a Crystal Sphere that costs 300. So, 100 is the price of the effort of catching it. Or if you don't want to wait.
And now I'm going to one of the most beautiful places here - the Mountain World. And also here start the first harsh battles, or at least so it has always been for me. The nastiest fairies here, in my view, are the ice and nature ones, because they've got a lot of HP and by now you're unlikely to have fairies that are effective against them.
Either I've trained my fairies well or I've been lucky this time with my opponent's set :D (it changes every time you re-enter or load)
Tadana has evolved into Aquana, I'm happy ^^
The view from here is magnificent! Just as several years ago, I wish I could go there... but it's only a picture -_- Something similar with the background in stone fairies' astral plane: makes me want to go towards that horizon line.
Lucky again! However, I could still lose, especially if Clum used the spell that reflects damage on you.
I used to use Healing Herbs a lot, but now I rarely need to, as I try to keep all my fairies alive until the end of the battle (otherwise they won't gain experience, and the more serious the battle is, the more experience you get, so losing it is undesirable).