Demon's Crest Walkthrough v.1.0 by TheNintenGenius ------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS 1) Disclaimer 2) Version History 3) General Information A) Spells B) Potions C) Crests D) Talismans 4) Walkthrough 5) Credits ------------------------- 1) DISCLAIMER ------------------------- The following guide contains spoilers for the game, so if you don't want any plot points or items given away, use this guide with caution or refrain from using it in the first place. All text in this guide is the intellectual property of its author. It may not be reproduced in part or whole without his permission. Do not put your name on this guide and pass it off as your own work. Only the following sites may have access to this guide: GameFAQs - http://www.gamefaqs.com Thank you for your time. ------------------------- 2) VERSION HISTORY ------------------------- 18/02/03 - v.1.0 - The first, and hopefully final version of this guide. ------------------------- 3) GENERAL INFORMATION ------------------------- Demon's Crest is something of a semi-sequel to the Gargoyle's Quest games on the NES and GameBoy, and is perhaps the best game of the series. Though it mostly abandons the RPG elements of the previous titles, the action found within the game is extremely well done, along with the atmospheric music and creepy-as-hell graphics. But enough about that, there are several things I've yet to cover. PLOT: The plot of the game is rather simple. In the world, there are two different realms, one ruled by humans and the other by demons. Six magical crests made their way into the Demon Realm from the Human Realm, each containing immeasurable power. As such, the demons fought each other viciously for control of the 6 Crests. One demon, a Red Demon by the name of Firebrand, claimed 5 of the 6 crests for himself, and went to fight the Demon Dragon for the ultimate crest, the Crest of Heaven. Firebrand won, but was injured badly, and soon the demon Phalanx overtook Firebrand and defeated him, claiming all of the crests as his own and setting himself up as the ruler of the Demon Realm, and throwing Firebrand into the Colosseum to fight to the death. But will Firebrand regain his power, and re-obtain all of the crests? ------------- 3A) SPELLS ------------- Firebrand will come across several different spells which he can purchase to aid in his quest. They can be used as long as Firebrand has them equipped, and purchased as long as Firebrand has the money and an empty piece of Vellum. The spells are as follows: NAME: Shadow PRICE: 10 GP EFFECT: A dark shadow enshrouds Firebrand. COMMENTS: To be honest, I have no idea what the hell this spell is supposed to do. According to its description, it's supposed to increase his defense somewhat, but I've noticed no change at all with this spell equipped. Avoid. ---------- NAME: Hold PRICE: 20 GP EFFECT: A circle of runes encircles Firebrand. COMMENTS: Once again, I have no idea what it's really accomplishing. According to the description, it's supposed to hold enemies in place, but I've yet to see it work. Avoid. ---------- NAME: Imp PRICE: 25 GP, plus approximately 1 GP/sec EFFECT: Firebrand summons an imp to fight for him... for a fee. COMMENTS: The imp is only as useful as far as your money supply extends. It deals a fair amount of damage, but many bosses are immune to its attacks, and it has a constant usage cost to boot. It's somewhat useful, but overall it's probably best to avoid using it. ---------- NAME: Shock PRICE: 50 GP EFFECT: Creates an earthquake COMMENTS: It does a little damage to ground-based enemies, but nothing really serious. If you want a real damage spell, stick to Imp or Death. ---------- NAME: Death PRICE: 80 GP EFFECT: Deals massive damage to all enemies onscreen. COMMENTS: Somewhat useful for clearing out large crowds of enemies in a pinch, and is even effective on some bosses. Many of the later bosses are immune to it, though, and for the most part, you probably won't really need this spell. Note that this spell can only be bought at the spell shop in town. ------------- 3B) POTIONS ------------- Firebrand can also use a wide variety of potions. These are also equipped, and are either used on command or automatically. They can be bought with the proper GP count and are stored in empty Urns. The potions are as follows: NAME: Mercury PRICE: 6 GP EFFECT: Teleports Firebrand back to the beginning of a level. COMMENTS: Very useless. The only level where the ability to do this is useful is in Town and the surrounding areas. Otherwise, there's just no point in going back to the beginning of a level you can't exit in the first place. Avoid. ---------- NAME: Sulfur PRICE: 10 GP EFFECT: Teleports Firebrand to the Overworld. COMMENTS: It's a pretty good potion, especially if you're down to your last health in a boss battle and need to run away fast. It might pay to keep one of these on you. ---------- NAME: Herb PRICE: 25 GP EFFECT: Restores 5 health to Firebrand. COMMENTS: Useful as a cost-effective pick-me-up early on in the game, it loses its effectiveness later on when Firebrand's health meter starts to increase dramatically and the damage dealt by enemies gets more severe. ---------- NAME: Elixir PRICE: 100 GP EFFECT: Used when Firebrand dies, resurrecting him with 4 health. COMMENTS: A lot less useful than it sounds, mostly due to the pitiful amount of health you come back from the dead with. Stick to Herb, Sulfur, and Ginseng for effective health regeneration or running away. ---------- NAME: Ginseng PRICE: 140 GP EFFECT: Grants full health to Firebrand. COMMENTS: Though not very useful at the beginning of the game, it's a lifesaver later on, and as such Firebrand should always keep at least one of this potion on his person. Note that this potion can only be bought at the potion shop in town. ------------- 3C) CRESTS ------------- Throughout the game, Firebrand will attempt to regain the crests he worked so hard to obtain at the beginning. Each crest grants Firebrand new abilities, and are split into two groups; the Crests of Fire and the Crests of Transformation. The list of all of the crests is as follows: CRESTS OF FIRE -------------- NAME: Fire FOUND: Beginning of game EFFECT: Deals a small amount of damage, and can light torches. Firebrand can also headbutt, an ability shared by all of the Fire Crests. COMMENTS: Not much can be said about this crest. It's fairly weak in terms of attack, and slow to use. You'll soon find yourself using other crests over this one. ---------- NAME: Buster FOUND: Ovununu's Lair, after defeating Ovununu. (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Deals a moderate amount of damage, and can break bricks. COMMENTS: Firebrand's staple fireball move, the Buster is fast to fire and more powerful than its predecessor. You'll find yourself using this crest quite a bit. ---------- NAME: Tornado FOUND: Forest, after defeating the Flame Lord. (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Can create temporary platforms for Firebrand to jump on. COMMENTS: Fairly useless, as the Crest of Air quickly replaces any need for this crest. ---------- NAME: Claw FOUND: Tower, after defeating the Flier (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Deals moderate damage, and allows Firebrand to climb up spiked walls. COMMENTS: Its climbing ability is quickly negated by the Crest of Air, and when it comes to damage, it's about the same as the Buster Crest. Not much else can really be said of it. ---------- NAME: Demon FOUND: Mountain, after defeating Grewon (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Deals heavy damage. COMMENTS: Only somewhat useful, as the Crest of Time negates this crest's usefulness. TRANSFORMATION CRESTS --------------------- NAME: Crest of Earth FOUND: Outside the Colosseum, after defeating Arma (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Transforms Firebrand into the Ground Gargoyle, which can charge into statues to break them. COMMENTS: A fairly powerful transformation, its shortcomings are its relatively low range for its attacks and its lack of an ability to hover or fly. Still highly useful however. ---------- NAME: Crest of Air FOUND: Hidden Tower, after defeating Arma (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Transforms Firebrand into the Aerial Gargoyle, which can fly to new heights and sever vines. COMMENTS: It replaces the Tornado and Claw crests, to give you an idea as to its usefulness. The ability to fly is excellent. The only real shortcoming to this transformation is that some enemies/bosses are immune to its attacks. ---------- NAME: Crest of Water FOUND: Atlantis, after defeating the Crawler (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Transforms Firebrand into the Tidal Gargoyle, which can swim. COMMENTS: As it's one of only two transformations that allows Firebrand to swim underwater without taking damage, it's very useful, if a bit on the weak side. ---------- NAME: Crest of Time FOUND: Ice Palace, after defeating Arma (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Transforms Firebrand into the Legendary Gargoyle. COMMENTS: The second best transformation in the game, the Legendary Gargoyle sports a beefed-up attack, and skin which takes half the damage that Firebrand's normal transformations take. Exceptional, and only beaten out by one other transformation. ---------- NAME: Crest of Heaven FOUND: Special password (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Transforms Firebrand into the Ultimate Gargoyle. COMMENTS: An all-in-one powerhouse, the Ultimate Gargoyle can swim, fly, headbutt, AND charge, as well as shoot out powerful flames that double as Buster shots. Also taking less damage than Firebrand's normal iterations, the Ultimate Gargoyle definitely lives up to its name. ------------- 3D) TALISMANS ------------- Firebrand will also come across Talismans which alter the game about him. There are five in total, and they are as follows: NAME: Crown FOUND: Hidden Tower (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Increases the chance of enemies and pots dropping GP. COMMENTS: A pretty useful talisman. In fact, when equipped in town and breaking windows, you can make hundreds of GP. ---------- NAME: Skull FOUND: Forest (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Increases the chance of enemies and pots dropping health. COMMENTS: Not quite as useful as its GP counterpart, it's useful when your health is very low and you've run out of potions. ---------- NAME: Armour FOUND: Ice Palace (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Cuts the amount of damage Firebrand takes. COMMENTS: Invaluable in later parts of the game, the Armour Talisman helps quite a bit in ensuring that Firebrand's health doesn't drain as quickly, and when used in conjunction with the Crest of Time or Crest of Heaven can give you an obscene amount of defense. ---------- NAME: Fang FOUND: Phalanx's Tower (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Increases the damage Firebrand deals out. COMMENTS: Not quite as useful as its defense counterpart, the Fang Talisman can still cut a swath through enemies, especially when paired with powerful crests, such as the ones for Earth, Time, and Heaven. ---------- NAME: Hand FOUND: Reservoir (see walkthrough) EFFECT: Increases Firebrand's rate of fire. COMMENTS: Fairly useful early in the game, but once you've obtained the Armour and Fang Talismans, you're better off using those. ------------------------- 4) WALKTHROUGH ------------------------- Note that this walkthrough only contains what I believe to be the best way to go through the game. There are actually several ways to beat the game. (as well as three endings total) COLOSSEUM: Firebrand begins inside the Colosseum, and right from the start, you'll have to put up a fight against the game's first boss, the dragon Somulo. Somulo is actually very easy to defeat. Once you've run over to the right side of the Colosseum, stand in place until Somulo ducks down his head to shoot a fireball at you. At this, jump up and shoot Somulo in the head. It'll only take a few hits before Somulo gives up. After breaking out of the Colusseum, Somulo will peek his head through the opening you created, and attempt to defeat you again. This second part of the battle is even easier than the first. Just hover so you're level with Somulo's head, and keep firing until he's defeated. After he's finally dead, you can step forward and claim your first Life Extension to complete the area. OUTSIDE THE COLOSSEUM: This area of the game is split up into three seperate areas, all of which are rather straight-forward. In the first area, just press onward, making sure to destroy all of the statues using your Headbutt move, as one of these statues contains your first Vellum. Once you reach the end of this small area, you'll encounter a miniboss, the Hippogriff. The Hippogriff, like Somulo, is actually very easy to defeat. It only has two moves worth mentioning. The first is where the Hippogriff will charge at Firebrand. Depending at the height at which the Hippogriff charges, your strategy for dodging it will either be hovering or just standing on the ground. The second move is slightly more difficult to dodge, but not very, that being where the Hippogriff shoots three of his feathers at you. After you defeat this pansy, you'll recieve another Life Extension, and continue onward. OUTSIDE, PART 2: This area is full of crumbling pillars standing in spiky plant matter. It sounds much more difficult than it actually is, though, as the best strategy for this level is literally hovering over both the pillars and gaps. Near the end of the level, where there is a floating platform suspended over a seemingly bottomless gorge, drop down, and you'll discover an alcove containing your first Urn. After obtaining this, continue on. OUTSIDE, PART 3: A vertical climbing/jumping area which is just as straight-forward as the previous two areas. Just continue straight up, ignoring the wall with the Spiders completely, and you'll face your first major boss, the Demon General Arma. ARMA: Arma has a couple of moves up his sleeves. The first is a blast of electric energy that he spits out of his mouth, which is fairly easy to avoid. His second move is a bit trickier to avoid being hit by, where he swoops down to hit Firebrand. If you jump and hover properly, however, you should be able to get through this fight with no real problems, and after taking enough hits, Arma will flee, and drop your first Crest, the Crest of Earth. After this, the Colusseum area ends, and you're taken to the main world. OVERWORLD: There are several areas you can go to on the map, including a potion shop, a spell shop, three seperate games of chance, 4 main levels, and Phalanx's Tower. For now, go to the area directly to the left of the Colusseum, which should look like a town, and land. TOWN: Here, you can practice your headbutting ability on the various windows in town. You can also break the water fountain by charging with your newfound Ground Gargoyle ability, but it's not really necessary. Here you'll find the house of an old man (who will identify Talismans for you later), a spell shop, and a potion shop which is, at the moment, blocked off. After doing what you like here, continue onward to the next area. RESERVOIR: Fairly straightforward. Using your newfound Ground Gargoyle ability, you'll notice that you'll be able to move the flame-shooting statues by charging into them. For the most part, though, try not to do this until right near the end of the area, where you'll see one of the statues standing in front of a piece of broken wall. Move it, and you'll discover the hidden entrance to the Catecombs. CATECOMBS: Very straightforward, once again. Just work your way down through. Remember to stay in Ground Gargoyle form for most of this first area, as the enemies here are particularly weak to the Ground Gargoyle attacks. Soon, you'll find a pillar which, after being broken by charging into it, leads to Level 2 of the Catecombs. CATECOMBS, LEVEL 2: Here, you'll notice that the torches on the wall can be lit by Firebrand's normal fire attacks. You'll also notice that if they burn out, or are eaten by the flame-eating ghosts, the area gets very dark very quickly. Just make sure to keep the area as well-lit as you can. After going down, then working your way back up, you'll find the entrance to Ovununu's Lair. OVUNUNU'S LAIR: After scrambing up the pit that you start out in, you'll have to fight the many-eyed boss Ovununu. To be honest, Ovununu really isn't all that difficult, as it is exceptionally weak to the Ground Gargoyle's attacks. The fight takes place in two parts. First, Ovununu will send its little eyeballs after you, which only take a few hits each to kill with the Ground Gargoyle. After that, the main eye attacks. It's slightly more difficult, and can fire acid at you, but after a few more hits, the eye should be destroyed, and will drop your first Crest of Fire upgrade, the Buster. After recieving this, you'll be back in the Overworld. Before going back into town, head back to the Colosseum for a minute. OUTSIDE THE COLOSSEUM, PART 3: In the wall with the spiders, you may have noticed an area composed of several blocks. Using your new-found Buster, you can break the blocks, and reveal an area containing another Life Extension. After picking this up, head back to town. TOWN: Using the buster again, you'll find that the potion shop is now accessable. After stocking up on whatever you'd like, go back into the Catecombs. CATECOMBS: Here, use the Buster to destroy another wall to reveal a pot containing another Vellum. After obtaining this, drop down to the Catecombs' second level. CATECOMBS, LEVEL 2: At the bottom of the area to the left, there's another breakable wall. Bust it down to reveal a pot containing another Life Extension. After leaving the Catecombs for the second time, re-enter town, then pass through on to the Boneyard. BONEYARD: Another fairly straightforward area. You can use the Ground Gargoyle to destroy skullpiles and tombstones, and I recommend doing so, as one of the skullpiles in the level contains yet another Life Extension. Once you reach the end of the level, you come across the sword-wielding skeleton Belth. BELTH: Belth is the first seriously hard boss you'll encounter, and if you bought the Ginseng, you'll be much better off. Just use the Ground Gargoyle's ground-creeping flames as much as possible, and attempt to avoid Belth's hard-to-avoid moves (which include him jumping at you, charging, and swiping his sword in a fairly wide arc). If you manage to defeat him, he'll drop another Life Extension, and the area will be complete. Once back on the Overworld, fly over to the small area in the middle of the forest to begin your next area. FOREST: This area is very straightforward. Just head to the right and press onward. You'll notice a blocked doorway and an urn on your way through this area, but I recommend leaving those for later. FOREST, PART 2: There's not much you can do here at the moment. Just try to make it over the pond in one piece and press on. FOREST, PART 3: As soon as you enter the area, some fiery birds will set the boughs above you aflame, making this area exceptionally difficult. Try to avoid hitting your head on the blazing branches and avoid the vines and spikes on the ground. Flames will also periodically drop from the boughs, so watch out. Partway through the area, you'll come across a door sealed off by bricks. Break the bricks with the Buster crest, and headbutt to open up a small cave. Inside is your first Talisman, the Skull Talisman. Pick it up, leave, and continue on to the boss of the forest, the Flame Lord. FLAME LORD: There are two different parts to the Flame Lord battle. His first form is very easy to defeat. He will send the flaming birds either flying at you (which can be dispatched with a few Buster-charged shots), or up into the boughs, where they'll turn into flames and drop. He'll also charge at you, but it's very easy to jump over. Once you've dealt him enough damage, he'll go into his second form, a bouncing, flaming skull. His skull form is much more difficult to deal with. It will try to swoop to hit you, weave up and down, and drop flames to defeat you. Just keep firing at it, using Ginseng to keep your health up, and you'll eventually defeat the Flame Lord for the second piece of the Crest of Fire, the Tornado Crest. Though you can re-enter the forest after defeating the Flame Lord for the cave and a Life Extension, I recommend waiting and instead pressing onward to the next area, which lies on an island to the southeast at an area that looks like a few towers sticking up. TOWER: Here, your hovering skills will be put to the test, as there are a lot of spikes on the ground and ceiling, as well as pillars rising up from the ground and down from the ceiling. Just make sure to be careful, and be sure to avoid the invincible snake heads that pop out of the walls. Also make sure to enter the block-protected area for your second Urn. TOWER, PART 2: In this area, you'll have to hover with only a few pillars to land on and several enemies to enounter. Make sure you have the Buster equipped, and fly headlong into the fray. Note that it'll be hard to double back in this area, as a strong wind's blowing at your back. Near the end of this area, you'll encounter a swirling blue vortex at the bottom of the screen. Rather than continue onward to the boss, drop into the vortex, and to the hidden towers. HIDDEN TOWER: You'll first encounter another Hippogriff. The only differences between this one and the one you first encountered outside the Colosseum are that this one's been palette-swapped and has more stamina. It's still a push-over, though, and you'll soon be heading to the next area. HIDDEN TOWER, PART 2: In here, you'll find platforms rotating around a central pillar, and some spikes on the ground. You'll also notice that the walls are made up of a purple organic substance unremarkable except for the fact that you can't latch onto it. Just head up to the first door you find, and exit. HIDDEN TOWER, PART 3: Here, you'll notice there's a wind blowing upward, so that if Firebrand has his wings flapping, he'll fly upward. First, though, drop all the way to the bottom of the stage and you'll encounter a door. In there is a small area containing three statues, the one on the far left containing your second Talisman, the Crown Talisman. Pick this up, and head back outside to catch a lift on the air currents. For all practical purposes, you can ignore the rest of the doors leading back into the tower, save the top one. It also pays to fly all the way to the top of this area, as there's another Vellum not-so-cunningly hidden in a corner. HIDDEN TOWER, PART 2: After re-entering this tower from the topmost door in the previous area, just use the platforms to make your way to the top, and exit back into the 3rd area where, after crossing the bridge, you'll come across Arma again. ARMA, PART 2: This time, Arma's a bit trickier, and has a new move up his sleeves, where he summons a whirlwind to sweep Firebrand up, and subsequently flies into it to attempt to ram into Firebrand. This move is actually quite worthless, and easy to dodge, so just use more or less the same strategy you used the first time you encountered him. After he loses enough health, he'll flee again, and drop the Crest of Air, ending the area. Back on the Overworld, you can return to the Forest to pick up a few odds and ends. FOREST: Using your new Aerial Gargoyle, you'll notice that the vertical vines that used to block your path can be cut. Use this to sever the vines that previously prevented you from getting an Urn. Still ignore the blocked door for now. Fly through the second area, and continue on to the third. FOREST, PART 3: All of the burning boughs have now vanished, and using your newfound flight, you can reach a Life Extension that would've previously been unattainable by normal means. (save the Tornado Crest) After leaving the Forest, head back to the Towers. TOWERS: You'll notice that both areas will go much quicker and easier with your newfound Aerial Gargoyle abilities, and after blowing through, you'll encounter your next boss, the Flier. The Flier is very easy to defeat using your new abilities, both in avoiding its attacks (which are charging at you and shooting its claw arms at you), and defeating it in general. (the Flier is apparently very weak to Aerial Gargoyle attacks) After defeating this push-over, you'll recieve the next part of the Crest of Fire, the Claw Crest. (which is fairly useless, since you have the Crest of Air) After you've made it through this area, you'll notice a new area has opened up in a nearby lake. Go here to enter the next level. ATLANTIS: In this first area, just use the Aerial Gargoyle to fly through, avoiding the water and mer-men at all costs. You'll be able to do more here later, but for now, just focus on getting to the end. ATLANTIS, PART 2: Alternate between the Aerial and Ground Gargoyles to fly and smash your way upwards. On the second level, note that there is a Life Exension in one of the statues, as well as a hidden hole in the floor, so after smashing the statues down, switch to Aerial Gargoyle to fly to safety. Once you reach the third floor, the next boss, Crawler, will break through the ceiling, so concentrate on getting through the statue-choked hallway as quickly as you can, then switch to Firebrand's Buster Crest to prepare for the battle with the Crawler. CRAWLER: The Crawler is actually quite difficult, and you'll probably go through some Ginseng when fighting him. His two main attacks are throwing pieces of himself at you, which turn into zombies on the ground, and pounding the ground to cause pieces of the ceiling to fall. Floating zombies also come out of his back, so be prepared. The best strategy is to float at eye level with the Crawler (as his opened eye is his only weak point), and concentrate on avoiding the thrown globs, floating zombies, and ceiling debris (floating at the edge of the screen is a sure-fire way to avoid the falling chunks). If Crawler backs you up into a corner, use the Aerial Gargoyle to fly over and behind him, then switch back to your Buster Eventually, Crawler will be destroyed, and drop the Crest of Water to end the level. Back on the Overworld, head to Town, and to the reservoir. RESERVOIR: Here, you can pick up two new items with your newfound Tidal Gargoyle abilities. First, drop down into the water at about the third gap, and swim down. At the far right of this small area, you'll find the fourth Urn. Exit this little area, and drop down into the next gap. There's a hidden passage in the right wall, which leads to the third talisman, the Hand Talisman After picking these two items up, leave through the Boneyard and re-enter the forest. FOREST: You can finally enter the blocked door that I've mentioned a few times previously. Once in the caverns, you'll understand why I asked you to wait before entering. TIDAL CAVERNS: Yes, there is quite a bit of water in these caves. You could've avoided the water previously, but it's much easier to just go through the area with the Tidal Gargoyle ability. You won't want to focus too much on the water in this first area, however, as there's a pot in a sealed-off alcove near the ceiling in one part of the area. Breaking through with the Buster Crest and opening the pot will reveal the fourth Vellum. After picking this up, continue onward. TIDAL CAVERNS, PART 2: Here, there are several pots you can break underwater with the Tidal Gargoyle, which contain quite a bit of money. While underwater, you can also break open a sealed-off door, revealing a hidden area. HIDDEN TIDAL CAVERN: In here, you'll find a pot containing a Life Extension. There's also another door which leads out to the Forest pond. Just ignore it, and go back to the Tidal Caverns. Once back inside, head up to your next boss, Scula. SCULA: Scula is comprised of two parts, Toss and Roll. For the first part of the fight, use the Ground Gargoyle and concentrate on the larger part, Toss, as he deals out more damage with his attacks, which consist of jumping into Firebrand, charging into him, and tossing Roll. After Toss has been defeated, Roll will attack solo. However, Roll is a huge pansy, and if you keep hitting it relentlessly with the Ground Gargoyle's attack, it'll never even have a chance to hit you. After it dies, it will drop another Life Extension. Once back at the Overworld, head back to Atlantis. ATLANTIS: Use the Tidal Gargoyle ability to blow through this area. At the end, you'll find a breakable wall, but don't worry about this for now, and instead take the conventional entrance. ATLANTIS, PART 2: Use the Aerial Gargoyle to fly up into the area that Crawler emerged from, and you'll discover a few pots and a statue. Break open the statue to obtain yet another Life Extension. Once you've obtained this, go back to the bottom of the level, and use the Tidal Gargoyle to enter the small pool. SUBMERGED ATLANTIS: There's no reason to backtrack, so just continue onward through the area. At one point, you'll come across a fork in the path, one leading upward and the other leading left. Take the upward fork first to obtain another Life Extension, then double back and take the other path. Work your way down until you reach the next area. SUBMERGED ATLANTIS, PART 2: This area is straightforward, if somewhat tricky. Just try to swim through the spikes without getting hurt, and defeat the mer-men as you see them. Eventually, you'll come across the next area, and the next boss, Holothurion. HOLOTHURION: I'd hate to say it, but after bosses like the Crawler and Belth, Holothurion is entirely too easy. Its only attacks are sucking Firebrand toward him, and blowing Firebrand away from him, neither one being terribly effective. He also generates globs of brown goo, but you'll probably never be hit by them even once. Just hang out at the bottom of the screen and fire like mad at his head. (it helps to have the Hand Talisman equipped) Eventually, he'll cave in and give up another Life Extension. Back at the Overworld, head to the mountains, where another area has opened up. MOUNTAINS: Right at the start of the level, fly straight up with the Aerial Gargoyle to obtain the fifth and final Urn. From here, fly straight forward and you'll encounter the hidden Ice Palace. ICE PALACE: Fly up through this area until you come across two doors blocked by ice. Break into the left one to pick up another Life Extension, then double back to enter the right door. ICE PALACE, PART 2: Break through the statues, then use your Aerial Gargoyle ability to go through the rest of this area. Once through here, you'll go across a bridge and encounter an old foe, the Flier. FLIER, PART 2: The Flier fight is only slightly more difficult this time, given the slick surface of the bridge, and the fact that it now has more stamina. Otherwise, this fight should go by fairly quickly, and the same tactics used in the previous Flier battle should be used., and you'll continue on to the next area of the Palace. ICE PALACE, PART 3: Use both your Fire Crest and Aerial Gargoyle abilities in this area to both fly through and keep the candelabras lit. Also be on the lookout for a statue, as when broken it will reveal the highly useful Armour Talisman. After going through this area, you'll find out exactly whose palace this is; none other than Arma's! ARMA, PART 3: Arma is through messing around this time, and has another new move at his disposal, an energy blast which can be dispelled with a few shots, but it's much better to avoid it, as it can cause a large amount of damage if it connects. The best strategy for this fight is to equip the newly-found Armour Talisman to minimize damage, and use the Aerial Gargoyle to most easily dodge his attacks and fight him. After you've dealt him enough damage, he'll finally give up the ghost, and drop the Crest of Time to give you Firebrand's most powerful form up to this point, the Legendary Gargoyle. After this, re-enter the mountain. MOUNTAIN: You'll notice that with the Legendary Gargoyle, all the enemies here can be defeated with one hit. Just go through here and continue to the next area. MOUNTAIN, PART 2: Just blow through here with the Legendary Gargoyle. Note that the last skullpile in the level (which is on a platform suspended in midair) contains the fifth and final Vellum in the game. After this, you'll encounter the wolf Grewon. GREWON: Even with the combination of the Legendary Gargoyle and the Armour Talisman, Grewon can put up a bit of a fight, as he'll constantly lunge toward you. Note that sometimes Grewon will turn green, making him invincible to attacks. As well, he'll breathe out ice which, while it doesn't freeze Firebrand, does deal a nice amount of damage. After he's defeated he'll drop the last piece of the Crest of Fire, the Demon Crest. After this, you should go back to town and stock up on Ginsengs to prepare for the final stage. As well, you should check out a shop hidden in a small pond before you leave... TRIO THE PAGO'S SHOP: If you bothered to go into any of the game houses beforehand, you'll know what you'll have to do in here, which is break skulls using your headbutt ability. However, this is the Level 3 shop, and as such it's quite difficult. If you manage to break 25 skulls within the time limit (and I recommend trying to do so), another Life Extension will be yours. Back on the overworld, you can now head to Phalanx's Tower. PHALANX'S TOWER: If you had tried entering previously, you'll would have ended up right at Phalanx's Chamber. Now, however, there's an actual level here. For the first area, just blow through using the Legendary Gargoyle, making sure to watch out for the crossbow bolts coming from the ceiling and the Jesters that will break through the stained glass windows. After this area, you'll come across your third and final Hippogriff. Why they even bothered to include a third Hippogriff is anybody's guess. Just pound away at him and he'll be dead in no time. PHALANX'S TOWER, PART 2: Just fly straight up with the Aerial Gargoyle, avoiding the enemies you come across, until you reach the top. Here, headbutt the bell, and wait a few moments. After the bell stops ringing, it will drop the 16th and final Life Extension. Now leave. PHALANX'S TOWER, PART 3: Here, fly through with the Aerial Gargoyle again, trying to avoid the spiked towers and flying enemies. Note that one of the few areas of the ground that isn't covered with spikes conceals a hidden area that contains the last Talisman, the Fang Talisman. After picking this last treasure up, continue onward to the next area. PHALANX'S TOWER, PART 4: Ringing the bell will uncover a full health. After that, though, just drop to the bottom as quickly as possible, ignoring any enemies you might come across. PHALANX'S TOWER, PART 5: This area is full of Iron Maidens which contain enemies. The enemies are pathetically easy to beat, though, and don't make much of an effort to attack, so you can just ignore them for the most part, and continue on to encounter Grewon yet again. GREWON, PART 2: Grewon is much stronger since you last encountered him, and as such is a force to be reckoned with. Just use the same tactics you used previously, and use Ginseng only if necessary. After it's defeated, you can pick up the full health it drops, and head straight into Phalanx's Chamber and to Phalanx himself. PHALANX'S CHAMBER: Here begins what's probably the most difficult fight in the game. Make sure you have the Legendary Gargoyle Crest and Armour Talisman equipped, as it's going to be one bumpy ride. The first part of the battle is deceptively easy. Just attack Phalanx as he swoops down or shoots a lighting ball at you. The hardest attack to dodge, a series of bouncing electric balls, is still very easy to dodge, and after Phalanx has taken a certain amount of damage, the fight will switch over to phase two. Phalanx will use the Crest of Heaven to power himself up, and the arena will fill with water. Try to keep your head above water (or switch to the Tidal Gargoyle) and continue to deal damage. After enough damage has been dealt, the water will drain, and Phalanx will try to use the force of his wings to blow you into the spiked walls of the arena. Switch to Aerial Gargoyle when he does this, then when he's finished, switch back to Legendary to pound on him more. Phalanx will also fire black lighting orbs that act as mini-black holes. For these, use the Ground Gargoyle to charge away from them. After dealing more damage, Phalanx will exit, and you'll be transported to the lair of Phalanx's true form. I'll not lie, his final form is extremely hard. It has three attacks, all of which are hard to avoid (a blue laser it fires from its mouth, another homing laser that fires from its back, and black lightning orbs which home in on Firebrand). Added to this are a floor made of lava and moving platforms which can be destroyed and fly right into Phalanx himself. Just try to fire as much as you can at Phalanx's head when it's open, and have your Ginseng ready at all costs. Eventually, Phalanx will be destroyed, and you will witness the ending. ENDINGS: Depending on how you played the game, you'll see one of three endings, the Bad end, the Incomplete end, and the Best end. To get the Bad ending, defeat Phalanx any time before obtaining all of the Crests. For the Incomplete ending, defeat Phalanx with all of the Crests obtained but not all of the other treasures (Vellums, Urns, Talismans, Life Extensions). For the Best ending, complete the game as I described in the walkthrough. ----------- Even with the Best ending, however, the game isn't entirely over. After the credits roll, you'll be given a password. Once you enter this password, you'll restart the game with all of the crests, urns, and other items you collected at your disposal. In addition, you now possess the Crest of Heaven, which grants you your best form, the Ultimate Gargoyle. So what's there to do with this new form? Well, you can defeat most of the bosses you defeated previously with your newfound powers, OR you can stock up on all of the Ginseng you can carry, and explore a new area that's been revealed that showcases the game's TRUE final boss. DARK DEMON'S LAIR: This area is extremely straightforward. Just enter the water, break through the wall, float up, and break down the sealed door to enter the Dark Demon's chamber. If you thought Phalanx's final form was hard, the Dark Demon is nigh-impossible, and switches routinely between its two forms, its Dark Demon form (where it's a floating 3-headed skeleton), and its stationary Dark Angel form. Its attacks are nothing short of brutal. In its Demon form, it will fire out arching bolts of energy in all directions that are nearly impossible to avoid, and you'll be dogged by an unavoidable black lighting ball which homes in on your position. As well, its Demon form will summon a waterfall of blood at times, which can only be dodged by hiding under the Demon itself, and swoop down to hit Firebrand, sometimes pounding the ground to cause pieces of ceiling debris to fall. In its Angel form, it will still shoot the arching bolts of energy, but these are added to by black lightning orbs that take out pieces of the walls and floor and replace them with spikes. Pieces of the ceiling will also routinely fall. As such, this boss is insanely hard, and the best strategy I've found for defeating it is as follows. Use the Ultimate Gargoyle when fighting him for maximum damage and defense. When it's in its Dark Demon form, equip yourself with the Armour Talisman and concentrate on avoiding the demon's attacks. When it morphs into its Dark Angel form, swap to the Fang Talisman to maximize your damage, latch onto the wall to the left of the Angel at about head/chest level, hold the D-pad left to ensure that you'll maintain your grip on the wall if hit, and fire away like there's no tomorrow. Make sure to keep a close eye on your health and a Ginseng equipped at all times, and eventually the Demon will be destroyed, revealing the game's true ending. ------------------------- 5) CREDITS ------------------------- I'd personally like to thank the following individuals and companies. Capcom, for creating such a great game. Nintendo, for creating possibly one of the finest videogame systems of the 16-bit era. Alastair "Happybob" Craig of TheRubberChicken for hosting this travesty. Jeff and J.J. Borgumil for their excellent Demon's Crest Mini-FAQ, from which I obtained some of the information used in this guide. And of course, Karla Phillips, for being caring, supportive, and able to put up with my nerdish habits. =) If you have any questions, comments, or corrections, feel free to email me at tng@schroe.org. Be sure to include "Demon's Crest" or similar in the subject line. No spam, please. I know where you live. This guide is Copyright 2003 Tomas "TheNintenGenius" Sikkema. 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