THE NOTE (Playstation) Walkthrough v1.00 Started 4 April 2010 Finished 7 April 2010 Sorry, no pretty ASCII text art Sorry, no maps drawn with symbols TABLE OF CONTENTS JUMPTO (ctr-F) ----------------------------------------------------------------- I. First Impressions 0100 II. Characters 0200 III. Prologue 0300 IV. Control and Health The Eyelid System 0401 Game Time 0402 One-Button Action 0403 Button Config 0404 List of Commands 0405 Saving & Resting 0406 V. Items Inventory 0501 Keys 0502 Medals 0503 Other 0504 Sellable Items 0505 Store Prices 0506 VI. Monsters 0600 VII. Levels The Mansion 0701 The Dungeon 0702 The Castle of Spirits 0703 The South Tower 0704 The Sewers 0705 The Final Stage 0706 VIII. How to save Everybody How to Save Toshi 0801 How to Save Dave 0802 How to Save Linda 0803 How to Save Angela 0804 IX. Tips 0900 X. Loose Ends 1001 XI. My Thoughts 1002 XII. Legal 1003 XIII. Contact 1004 ========================= I. FIRST IMPRESSIONS 0100 ========================= As a big survival-horror fan and collector, I knew I had to get The Note in my collection. When I finally tracked down a copy and played it, I was only mildly disappointed in some ways and surprisingly impressed in others. This is a rare game, and there is only one other walkthrough out there that I'm aware of. Despite its rarity and some of its flaws, it deserves to be played through and through. If I were to categorize it, I'd say that it belongs somewhere between horror and adventure. Imagine if King's Field and Echo Night had a baby, and that baby got all its dominant genes from King's Field, then you'd have The Note. The more I played it the more I liked it. But I was also frustrated at times, especially at how much effort I put in only to get the same ending three different times. I'm convinced there's a better ending to this game, but I haven't been able to get it yet. Anyway, let me introduce The Note favorably since it is, after all, a very decent game. ================================= II. CHARACTERS (NO SPOILERS) 0200 ================================= * indicates text taken from The Note's game manual ----------------- Akira: Age 23* ----------------- A freelance occult journalist. He has been reporting on the occult for three years, but has not yet written an article based on actual experience. All his work so far has been selling faked ghost photos and made-up articles to specialist magazines. ----------------- Angela: Age 21 ----------------- Akira's partner. She accompanies him to Europe to help him find the children. ----------------- Linda's Mother ----------------- Linda's mother hired Akira to find her daughter and her two friends after receiving pictures of the abandoned Mansion. ----------------- Paulo: Age 26* ----------------- Akira and Angela first meet Paulo in the Mansion, about which he is very knowledgeable. His actions shrouded in mystery, he may just hold the key to saving the children... ---------------- Linda: Age 18 ---------------- Linda is the leader of the three teenagers who have gone missing in the Mansion. She sent her mother photographs of the Mansion before disappearing. --------------- Dave: Age 18 --------------- Dave is the brave one of the group. ---------------- Toshi: Age 17 ---------------- Toshi is the youngest and least courageous of the group. He blames Linda for everything. --------------- Meda: Age ?? --------------- A mysterious woman in a red dress who seems to know something about the children for whom Akira is searching. In exchange for her information, Akira agrees to find a belonging of hers lost in the Mansion. ---------------------------------------- Necromeda, Mistress of Death: Age ??* ---------------------------------------- The evil spirit Necromeda controls death. She appears wearing a mask with a hideous mocking grin, and harasses and blocks the progress of Akira and his companions at various places throughout the game. ------------------------------------- Hypnos, Master of Terror: Age ??* ------------------------------------- The evil spirit Hypnos controls sleep. He appears wearing a clown's mask, and attacks Akira and his companions using his two arms, which he can also use to fly. ---------------------------------- Tanatos, Lord of Death: Age ?? ---------------------------------- Tanatos is the most ancient of the Spirits and their master. Little is known about him. -------- ???? -------- A fourth Spirit lurks unknown somewhere in the Castle. ================================= III. PROLOGUE (NO SPOILERS)* 0300 ================================= Somewhere beyond the shadows your fate awaits...In January 1997, freelance occult journalist Akira was visited by a woman. her daughter had left on a trip with friends and never returned. She asked Akira to look for her. "These are the last things I received from my daughter..." So saying she produced a stack of photographs of an old run-down mansion and unearthly spirits. Greatly interested, Akira accepted and set off for Europe with his partner Angela. Two weeks after accepting the assignment Akira found himself in a remote European village in front of the very house shown in the photos. =========================== IV. CONTROL AND LIFE SYSTEM =========================== The Eyelid System 0401 ---------------------- The Note uses a unique "eyelid system" to indicate Akira's health. When he is injured, his field of vision narrows. When his eyelid is closed all the way, he has lost all his life and the game is over. When damage is taken, the field of vision becomes smaller automatically. Using Ointments restores health and vision. Because your ability to see is tied directly to your remaining health, it's a good idea to keep lots of Ointments on hand and maintain full life. When your peripheral vision is flashing purple, you've been poisoned. Your life will slowly deplete until your eyelid closes and you die. Use Antidotes to reverse poisoning. Akira blinks normally throughout the game. Bringing up the inventory screen or map also makes him blink. Game Time 0402 --------------------- Time passes in The Note according to your Watch which you can access from the Inventory at any time. Certain puzzles require particular timing. The current time will be displayed on your save files. About 10 minutes of real time equal an hour of game time. The One-Button Action System 0403 --------------------------------- Another unique feature about The Note is the One-Button System. You can assign up to four Commands or Items to the four shoulder buttons. This is done by entering the Inventory Screen and selecting RECORD, then OPERATE or ITEM. This will save your commands for one-button use (as opposed to opening the menu every time you need a command/item). Selecting EXECUTE will allow you to perform a command or use an item only once - useful when you don't want to reassign your buttons but need to use an item. The SAVE feature in the Inventory Menu will be greyed out most of the time. It is only available in the Mansion when 12 "game hours" have gone by since your last save. In a pinch, you can use the STANDBY command to force a 12-hour span to go by and save anywhere in the game. Be careful when using STANDBY, though. Lamps only last for 6 hours before extinguishing. When the lights have gone out in a room that had Monsters in it, they'll come back. Configuration (default) 0404 ---------------------------- BUTTON FUNCTION DPAD Movement TRIANGLE Look Up CROSS Look Down, Make Selection SQUARE Strafe Left CIRCLE Strafe Right, Canel Selection SELECT MAP START INVENTORY MENU L1 Assign Command/Item L2 Assign Command/Item R1 Assign Command/Item R2 Assign Command/Item Commands 0405 ------------------- NAME FUNCTION FREE Erases a button's assignment, makes it useless OPEN Opens doors and curtains CLOSE Closes curtains CHECK Examines objects, picks up items STANDBY Brings up the Watch and lets you force time to pass instantly PUSH Pushes switches/buttons PULL Pulls levers TURN Turns dials ERASE Blows out lamps, puts out fires The Game World & Saving 0406 -------------------------------- The adventure in The Note takes place in an abandoned Mansion and in other gloomy settings. However, at any time during the game, Akira and Angela can leave the Mansion through one of its two exits. Outside the Mansion, you're given the option to visit the Store, stay at the Hotel or Save your game. You can replenish Matches, Antidotes, Ointments, Ammo and Oil at the Store. You can also sell items you've collected from defeating Monsters there. At the Hotel, you can pay 800g to rest for a period of time that you specify. You replenish your vitality when you rest, and resting can also be done to pass the time in the game. (There are times when the Standby command can't be used.) And when you return from a Save, you'll always be at the Main Room. This can be inconvenient when you start exploring the deeper parts of the Castle and don't want to use STANDBY, but Paulo eventually gives you an item called the Marker which you can use to warp between any two points instantly. ================= V. ITEMS ================= INVENTORY 0501 ---------------------------------- 1. Matches (Store in the Country Town) 2. Lighter (Firewood Room in the Mansion) 3. Firewood (Firewood Room in the Mansion) 4. Rope # 1 (Storage Room in the Mansion) 5. Rope # 2 (Storehouse in the South Tower) 6. Marker (Paulo gives it to you after defeating Hypnos) 7. Ointment (Store in the Country Town) 8. Antidote (Store in the Country Town) 9. Ammo (Store in the Country Town) 10. Oil (Store in the Country Town) 11. Watch (you start the game with this item) 12. Shotgun (Fireplace Room in the Mansion) KEYS 0502 ---------------------------------- 13. Mansion Key # 1 (Altar Room in the Mansion) 14. Cottage Key (Paulo gives it after you lose the Red Stone) 15. Mansion Key # 2 (Paulo gives it after Angela is kidnapped) 16. Storage Key (floor on the Western Corridor in the Mansion) 17. Guard Key (found on Slave in the corridor outside Watchroom) 18. X-Key (found on Slave in the Watchroom) 19. V-Key (Castle of Spirits) 20. S-Key (South Tower) 21. Sun Key (Castle of Spirits) 22. Z-Key (Sewers) 23. Armor Key (found on Animated Armor) 24. Watercourse Key (found on Amphibian outside Sewer Dungeon) 25. Water Prison Key (found on Amphibian outside Sewer DUngeon) 26. Dungeon Key (found in Trap Room 3) MEDALS 0503 ---------------------------------- 27. Soul Medal # 1 (Room with broken sideboard, 1st Floor Mansion) 28. Soul Medal # 2 (Room with sideboard, 2d Floor Mansion) 29. Soul Medal # 3 (behind door in one of the Dungeon Corridors) 30. Clock Medal (in lower Dungeon beneath the Red Carpet Room) 31. Sleep Medal (Castle of the Spirits) 32. Fate Medal (D.E.A.T.H. Room) 33. Death Medal (South Tower, long rectangular room) 34. Dream Medal (??) OTHER 0504 ---------------------------------- 35. Mask Mold (Library in Castle of the Spirits) 36. Mask (Incinerator at the Mansion) 37. Mirror Fragment (Dark Mirror Room in the South Tower) SELLABLE ITEMS (monster) 0505 ---------------------------------- 38. Old Ring - 5000g (Slave) 39. Silver Chain - 5500g (Slave) 40. Old Coin - 6000g (Chimera) 41. Silver Necklace - 7000g (Slave, Night Gaunt) 42. Silver Bracelet - 7500g (Night Gaunt) 43. Gold Tooth - 9000g (Acrobatic Slave) 44. Rainbow Fish Scales - ????g (Amphibious Man) STORE PRICES 0506 -------------------------------- Ammo 800g 16 MAX Oil 1000g 5 MAX Match 200g 10 MAX Ointment 600g 25 MAX Antidote 700g 10 MAX ================= VI. MONSTERS 0600 ================= ------------------ Large Rat HP: 1 ------------------ -Scurries across the floor and attacks quickly in succession but is weak. -Loc: The Mansion and some rooms in the Castle of Spirits and South Tower -Weak: Fast but frequently gets stuck running into walls. -Itms: None. ------------ Bat HP: 1 ------------ -Flaps through the air and is very difficult to keep sighted for a shot. -Loc: The Mansion, The Castle of the Spirits, The Sewers -Weak: Makes a cry before attacking. Easy to bypass. -Itms: None. ------------- Wolf HP: 3 ------------- -Lunges forward and sideways. -Loc: The Mansion, The Execution Room, The South Tower -Weak: Slow. Once it has lunged, it's vulnerable to at least two shots. -Itms: None. --------------------- Poison Snake HP: 2 --------------------- -Slithers on the floor and hinders your motion. Weak but poisonous. -Loc: The South Tower -Weak: Defenseless from behind. -Itms: None. -------------- Slave HP: 4 -------------- -Meanders down large areas. Attacks with a dagger and is poisonous. -Loc: The Dungeon, Castle of Spirits, South Tower -Weak: Slow. -Itms: Silver Coin, Silver Chain ------------------------ Acrobatic Slave HP: 4 ------------------------ -Quick, strong kicks and punches. Can attack after being knocked down. -Loc: South Tower -Weak: Two hits knock it down and two more kill it. -Itms: Gold Tooth -------------------- Night Gaunt HP: 4 -------------------- -Haunts dark rooms. A quick flying attack which is difficult to avoid. -Loc: Castle of Spirits, South Tower -Weak: Light. It will try to put out lamps, leaving it open to attack. -Itms: Silver Necklace, Silver Bracelet ------------------ Amphibian HP: 5 ------------------ -Powerful lunging and pummeling attacks. It is poisonous. -Loc: Sewers (S. Tower Dungeon) -Weak: Light. It will try to put out lamps, leaving it open to attack. -Itms: Rainbow Fish Scales ---------------- Chimera HP: 3 ---------------- -Powerful diving attack. Hard to avoid. -Loc: Castle of Spirits rooftops -Weak: Cries before each dive. Rises slowly to prepare for its attacks. -Itms: Old Coin -------------------------- Animated Armor HP: N/A -------------------------- -Broad sword attacks. Very powerful. Impervious to shotgun attacks. -Loc: Castle of Spirits Armor Room -Weak: None -Itms: Armor Key ------------------ Stheno HP: N/A ------------------ -A Gorgon that turns you into stone at first sight. -Loc: Castle of Spirits (Snake Room) -Weak: Fragment from the Dark Mirror -Itms: None -------------------- Minotaurus HP: 7 -------------------- -Powerful overhead axe attack. Rush attack. Swing attack. -Loc: Execution Room, Necromeda's Chamber, Tanatos' Chamber -Weak: Shoot it from behind or right before it swings the axe. -Itms: None -------------------- Dark Self HP: ?? -------------------- -Very powerful shotgun attack. -Loc: South Tower (Mirror Room) -Weak: Shatter the Dark Mirror with the shotgun -Itms: None ----------------- Hypnos HP: ?? ----------------- -Orb attack. Flying attack. -Loc: Execution Room -Weak: None -Itms: None -------------------- Necromeda HP: ?? -------------------- -Red lightning attacks. -Loc: Final Stage -Weak: Shoot Red Stone. Shoot her between her "Final Blow" attacks. -Itms: None =========== VII. LEVELS =========== There are roughly six levels in The Note: The Mansion, The Dungeon, The Spirits' Castle, the South Tower, the Sewers and the Final Boss. "THE MANSION" ------------------------------- -finding the Red Stone- 0701 Akira and Angela enter the Mansion unarmed with only a handful of supplies. First, you'll need to get a weapon to fight off monsters. From the Main Room, take the door on the right, next to the broken grandfather clock, and you'll be in the the room with the fireplace. Behind the mantle, you'll see a shotgun. Before picking it up, you'll need to light the room. Open the two curtains behind you. Then CHECK the shotgun to take it. You'll only have one box of ammo which is 6 shots to start with. Explore the Mansion carefully since there are lots of Bats, Big Rats and Wolves. You can go to the Store at any time by leaving through the large double-doors you came in at the beginning. There you can buy more Ammo, Ointment, Antidote, Matches and Oil. I suggest maxing out on all of these items and keeping your inventory full throughout the whole game. You start with 50,000g which is enough to do this. Return to the Main Room. Now would be a good time to configure your shoulder buttons if you haven't already. Put the Shotgun on one and the Ammo on another. You can only reload when you have fired all 6 rounds, which means you can run out of ammo in the middle of a fight. This will happen a lot, so it's a good idea to have the ammo ready at the push of a button. From the Main Room, try to OPEN the door to the left of the grandfather clock. It's locked and has to be opened from the other side. Skip this and take the only other door in the room, which is on the western wall. Kill the Wolf. To light lamps, use the Match in front of them. One unit of oil will be depleted for each lamp you light. When you run out of oil, you won't be able to light your way. Open the curtains to keep the hall lit. This prevents Monsters from re-spawning in areas you've cleared. Enter the door at the end. Go down the long corridor and enter the door on the right, across the lit lantern. Watch the cutscene with the woman in red. Time to find the red stone, but before you leave the meeting room, use the Watch and make a note of the time. The woman wants to meet you at the exact same time tomorrow. For now, go back to the room with the fireplace. Take the door to the right of the fireplace and enter the Kitchen. There's a Big Rat running wild. Take it out. You can light the Kitchen if you want, but this Big Rat likes to come back. Open the door on the western wall of the Kitchen. Once in that room, open the curtain and check the broken sideboard. You'll obtain Soul Medal # 1. Exit this room through the southern door. Now you're in the main corridor. First kill that annoying Bat. Like the Big Rat in the Kitchen, this Bat and the one upstairs like to respawn so lighting the corridor is more or less optional. Go down the red carpet and open the door on your left. This was locked from the Main Room. Unlocking it, you'll automatically enter the Main Room. But go back into the main corridor. We're not done there yet. The door facing the one you unlocked leads to a room with another sideboard. There's nothing in this room. The door at the end of the corridor, however, leads to the Altar. Go in and put down the Wolf. You'll notice a key on the Altar, but you won't be able to pick it up until you light the room. I'm sure you're beginning to notice a trend with the lighting. You can light the two tall torch holders on either side of the Altar. Pick up Mansion Key # 1 and return to the main corridor. Let's go upstairs. Up here, you'll have to kill or skillfully avoid another annoying Bat. After taking care of that, you'll see four doors. If you count them from left to right, you'll see that doors 1, 2 and 4 are locked. Go into Door 3, light the room and check the sideboard to collect Soul Medal # 2. Leave and open door 4 with the key you picked up at the Altar. This room's got a lot going on. There's a grandfather clock, a bookshelf, a desk with a lantern and an oil painting. If you look closely, you'll see the bookshelf is covering a secret door. You want to get in there. First, enjoy the painting. Light the lantern if you wish. Then go the grandfather clock. To start the puzzle, use the TURN command. You'll be asked what hour you wish to set the clock to. To solve this puzzle, you'll need to know how to set the clock. The answer is in the painting. To see the answer, the room must be dark. If you lit the lantern, blow out the flame with the ERASE command. If the curtain is open, CLOSE it. With all the lights off, view the picture again. It now displays the sequence. After TURNing the clock three times, the bookshelf slides out of the way. Go into the room and kill the Wolf guarding the Red Stone. This is the item you need to take to the woman you met, but before proceeding, you can finish exploring the Mansion as long as you don't go past the time you're supposed to meet the woman. So return to the Kitchen. This time take the southern door you haven't gone in yet. This leads to a hall in the shape of an upside-down "L". The door all the way down the hall, on the southern end, is the Mansion's second exit. If you leave this door, you'll be able to visit the Store, Hotel or Save your game. When you return, you'll come back through the Main Room. Okay, the door to the left of the exit has the word "Bathroom" written on the door. Inside you'll find a toilet and bathtub and a disgusting Big Rat. There's nothing in this room. Kill the Big Rat for fun then open up your Map. You'll see another door right next to the one you came through. Leave the Bathroom and go through it. This is the eastern corridor. There are three doors along the eastern wall and one at the opposite end of the door you walked through. You'll see that the first room is locked. This is the Storage Room. The second room is open but it's empty. And the third room is where the firewood is stored. Light the torch and check the pile of wood to grab a firelog. You can carry only one at a time. Leave the firewood room and head out the nothern door. Now you're outside. In front of you is the Incinerator, and that white clumpy pile of stuff next to it is clay. Keep this in mind. You can burn firewood in the Incinerator or in Fireplaces. To do this, first put in the Firewood and then strike a match. You don't have to do this now, but just so you know. Okay, onto the last room in the Mansion. Go back to the western corridor, the one leading to the meeting room where you saw the woman in red. Take the northern door and you'll be outside again. On this side of the Mansion, there's a Cottage, but it's locked for now. That's okay. Go back into the corridor and stand outside the Meeting Room. Did you make a note of the time? Use the STANDBY command to force exactly 24 hours from that time to elapse. It's important that you don't go over, or else you'll be late. Enter the Meeting Room at the right time and another cutscene follows in which you meet Necromeda and Paulo. If you're late, a different cutscene occurs. And yet another cutscene occurs if you preemptively retrieve the Red Stone and enter the Meeting Room before being asked to find it. But you don't want to be early or late. However you solve this task, Paulo gives you the Cottage Key at the end of the cutscene. And that's it for "The Mansion" level. THE DUNGEON" ---------------------------------------- -find the missing kids- 0702 Use the key Paulo gave you to open the Cottage. You'll find yourself in an empty wooden room. There's a strange glow coming from the opposite wall. Walk into it and voila! You've been transported to a new area. This is the Dungeon, where Paulo thinks the children may be held prisoner. You can return to the Mansion at any time by walking into the warp spot again. Alright, open the door and leave the Warp Room. A short cutscene with Angela occurs in the next room. We'll call this the Winged Face Room. There's also a pretty stained glass ceiling. Okay, go through the opposite door and you'll come to a flight of stairs. You'll hear footsteps and moaning. There's a Slave in the hall down the stairs, so make sure you've got your shotgun/ammo ready. Go down, kill the Slave and CHECK its remains for an Old Ring. Keep this hallway lit or else the Slave returns. There are two torches in the hall, but only one needs to be lit to keep it from respawning. It's useful to keep them alternating, since each lamp only lasts for 6 game hours. There are two doors in this hall, one with a red "X" painted on it and one with a circular hollow in it. The X-Door is locked for now, but you can open the door with the hollow in it by using one of your Soul Medals. Before you do, make sure your shotgun is loaded. Kill the two Slaves in this room and collect their metal. You can light this room if you wish, but once you've taken out the Slaves, they don't respawn. There is a door on the room's eastern wall and one on its southern wall. (Directions are according to the map.) Let's skip the eastern door for the time being. You can take it first if you wish, but you will come to a deadend unless you do something else first. So let's do that something else first. Take the southern door. Again make sure your shotgun is loaded. Right when you open this door you'll see a Slave. Strafe right and take it out. At the end of this hall are two doors both with hollows in them. The door facing south leads to a large room full of boxes and barrels. There's also a Slave marauding around in it. This is another useless room and is only good if you want to kill the Slave and collect more metal. Go back into the hall and retrieve the Soul Medal you placed into the door by CHECKing it. Now place it in the door facing east. There is a Slave in this little hallway hiding behind the corner. Kill that sneaky bastard. Now you see yet another door with a hollow. You need another Soul Medal to get through, but you've already used up the two you had. So you have to find another one. Go back to the previous hall. Walk to the door you first came through, the one facing north. Wait a minute! There's a Soul Medal in that door. You didn't put that there! Okay, so grab that and go back to the door in the little hallway. Load your shotgun and set the Soul Medal in. You're in another big room with two Slaves. Kill them dead. Like the other big room with two Slaves in it, this room won't respawn the Slaves once you've eliminated them. This room is very similar to the other big room. The door to your left when you enter (facing north) is locked from your side. Unlock it by using the OPEN command. You'll walk through, but don't go any farther for now. Just turn back around and go back into the big room. Head for the far door (facing east) and you'll see that you need another Soul Medal to get through. This time you won't need to find a new one. You'll just have to use the two free ones you have (the ones you used earlier) carefully. Leave the big room the way you came in. Back in the short hallway, turn around to face the door and take back the Soul Medal. Continue retracing your steps back to the long hall. This is the one that has the door to the useless room. Take the Soul Medal back from the door you walked through. You should now have two Soul Medals in your possession. Retrace some more until you come to that door that had the third Soul Medal in it. Put it back and go through. You're back in the first big room. This time you are going to take the door facing east. Go through the empty hall then up a flight of stairs. The door at the top of the stairs leads to the Execution Room. Load your shotgun before going in. Go in and watch the cutscene with Angela. Suddenly two Wolves somehow sneak up on you. Send them to the next dimension with your boomstick. You can light the Execution Room if you wish. You can also look at the skeleton chained to the southern wall for a spook. Alright, leave through the door facing west. Go down the stairs, turn the corner and open the door. This was the door that was locked from the other side. You now find yourself in the second big room with a Soul Medal in your possession. Use it on the door you couldn't open before. You won't have to meddle with the Medals again. So pass through the door to enter the Prison. On the lower floor of the Prison are two cells. The first one (left one) is empty right now. Go to the second cell, light the lantern and watch the cutscene with Dave. When that's done, go up to the upper floor where there are two more cells. Before doing anything, light the lanterns in the hallway. After that, open the first door in the hall, light the cell and watch the cutscene with Toshi, that wuss. Leave and open the next door for a cutscene with Linda. When you leave Linda's cell, a Slave appears in front of you. Take it out and pick up the Watchroom Key from it. Use this key to open the door at the end of the hall. Inside the Watchroom, there's a Slave. Annihilate it and check its body. You'll get the X-Key. Light the room and try to leave. A cutscene with Angela interrupts you. She wants to stay behind and keep an eye on the kids, which is good except Angela doesn't have her own Oil. She needs you to bring it to her in the Watchroom. And that's a pain in the ass. Akira leaves the room. To give Angela oil, first make sure you have at least one spare can in your inventory. Angela will use this oil to keep the Watchroom lit. When she runs out of oil, the Watchroom's lamps will die. Okay, to give her oil simply enter the room with at least one spare can. A short cutscene will always play, showing Akira handing over a canister to Angela and asking if anything happened. Of course, nothing ever does as long as the room is kept lit. If the room is dark when you go in, you didn't make it back in time. You can only give Angela one can at a time. Leaving and re-entering the room multiple times (to give her multiple cans) doesn't increase the time she can go without another visit. And you'll know when you need to go back to the Watchroom when Akira says "The oil in the Watchroom is going to run out soon." This is your queue to stop doing whatever you're doing and rush back to the Prison to give Angela a can of oil. As long as you go straight there, you can reach the Watchroom from anywhere in the game before time is up. Of course, you can still beat the game without performing this task but you won't be able to save all 3 kids if you fail it. After ensuring that Angela has a can of oil, leave the Prison. You're back in the second big room. There are two ways to get back to the X-Door. One is through the halls where you had to use the Soul Medals a few times. The other is through the Execution Room. The path of least resistance is definitely through the Execution Room. The only Monster you'll encounter on this route is the Slave in the hallway where the X-Door is. And it only appears when the lamps have gone out. Remember, I mentioned keeping one lantern lit at a time and alternating. This is because you'll be coming in and out of the Dungeon a lot to give Angela oil. This is also why you should kill the Monsters instead of skipping them. If you want to take the other path out of the Dungeon, be prepared to encounter lots of Slaves. They'll stop giving you items too, so it's pretty useless to even kill them as fun as that is. Angela's oil lasts for about 6 game hours, which is how long lamps last, which is also the time it takes for Monsters to re-spawn in dark areas. Well, it's up to you. From the second big room, the Execution Room is through the northern door (or the one on the right). Once back in the hall with the X-Door, I recommend saving. If it's been 12 game hours since your last save, you can do it right there on the spot. But I would suggest going back to the Mansion, so you can visit the Store. You want to replenish your Oil and Ammo. Remember, to keep the Watchroom lit you need to have spare Oil. Also, before leaving the Mansion go to the room with the firewood and pick up a log if you don't already have one in your inventory. When you're ready, unlock the X-Door, go up the stairs and leave the Dungeon. "The Castle of Spirits" ---------------------------------------- -finding the Dungeon Key- 0703 The Castle of Spirits level is difficult if you're trying to make sure all three kids are saved. You'll have to find the Dungeon Key while making periodic trips to the Watchroom to give Angela oil. Of course, you can always forget about Angela if you want, but if you do, you'll screw Dave over. (Dave dies if you fail the Watchroom task.) If you follow this guide, you'll be able to get the Dungeon Key and save Dave. So let's begin. First, you'll be at different points in the Castle than I was when Akira gives you the warning message about the Watchroom. Wherever you are in the guide, simply stop what you're doing and go back to Angela. Then pick up where you left off. Okay, onto the Castle! You start out in an L-shaped hallway. (On the map it looks backwards and upside-down.) Go through the southern door. You'll enter a short corridor with curtains and a Bat. You can kill the Bat if you want, but it's easier just to ignore it. Go through the next door. Now you're in a big square room with a red carpet. We'll call this the Red Carpet Room. You'll see a red door and a wooden door. Go through the wooden door. You'll be in another corridor and there'll be another Bat. Again, just ignore it. At the end of this short hall, you'll see a wooden door and a red door. Load your shotgun and go through the red door. To defeat the Night Gaunt, you can either use brute force and shoot it four times or light a lamp. It will move toward the lamp to put it out, and you can attack it then. If you went back and got Firewood, throw it in the fireplace and light it. This will save you from fighting several Chimera on the rooftop. The adjoining room is empty and useless. Go back into the hall. Now go through the wooden door and make your way down the hall. There will be a door to your right at the end. Enter this room to get a look at the Animated Armor. Don't bother trying to defeat him. You can't hurt him with your shotgun or insults. Notice, however, the X-shape on the floor. "X" marks the spot, right? You can also try to run by him and open the door in the back, but you'll see that it's locked. So, for now just leave the room. (You don't have to actually see the Animated Armor. I just thought it would be cool to see it before you kill it.) Go back into the Red Carpet Room and take the red door. Go past the empty L-shaped corridor. Now you're in an area with two new doors and stairs that lead to another new door. The door on the wall across from you is useless. There's noting but an empty table and a Night Gaunt. The door facing the east leads to a big, dark room with a Night Gaunt in it. Send it to hell and go into the adjoining room. Light it and pick up the Sleep Medal on top of the sideboard. Go back to the hall with the stairs. Take the door at the top of the stairs and turn to your left. Go through that door. You should be in a hall with a suit of black armor to your right. Go down this hall and take the door. You'll be in an outdoor hallway now. Go through this one too. In the next walkway, you can see a chimney with a nest on top of it. A family of Chimera were living there until you lit a fire in the fireplace. You could've tried to skip by them or to fight them, but killing them through lighting the fireplace is easier. Go through the door at the end. Here you see stained glass roofed by a slab of stone supported by three pillars. The slab isn't resting on the fourth pillar. You want that pillar to fall through the glass. To do this, go up to it and use the PUSH command. You'll hear a crash, like something was crushed down below. Go back to the room with the Animated Armor and you'll see that you got a bullseye! Now search the armor to get the Armor Key, which opens that door in the back. Go through and up the stairs. You'll see another black armor rendering a left-handed salute. The wooden door to the left opens up to a walkway overlooking a garden. Go through and have a look. Notice that the handrail does not go around the entire perimeter. When you've finished admiring the great outdoors, go back to the hall. You'll come back to the walkway soon. Now go through the red door. You're in another L-shaped hall. The first two doors you come across are unlocked. Make sure you have lots of ointments before trying these rooms. If you're ready, go into the door on the right, the one facing east. We'll call this Trap Room 1. It has two giant swinging maces ready to mince you into dust. If you look, you can see something on the far wall opposite you. You've got to get to that wall and check what it is. But to check it, you first need to light all three lanterns in the room. Carefully time your movements to reach and light the lamps. It helps to have a Match set to one of the shoulder buttons. Once all the lanterns are lit, you can pick up the key with the "sun" symbol on it hanging on the back wall. We'll call this the Sun Key and the door it unlocks the Sun Door. Leave Trap Room 1 and enter the next room, Trap Room 2. This one is much easier. First light the three lamps without touching the red/blue tiles. Next read the placard on the wall. It's legend reads "DEATH IS THE ONLY FUTURE" or "Death is your destiny" (according to Akira). The keyword in the inscription is "death." You can trace a path on the tiles which spells out this word. Only step on the tiles and in that order: D-E-A-T-H. You'll pick up the Fate Medal on the table. Backtrack along the same tiles: H-T-A-E-D. Leave the room. Go down the hall and check Trap Room 3. It's locked. The hollow in the door is in the shape of a face. You will need a special item to unlock this door. This will come later. Now, it's time to go back to the Red Carpet room. You have the Sun Key, so now we need to find the Sun Door. From the Red Carpet room go through the red door and past the L-shaped corridor. Go up the stairs again and you'll be in the hallway with the door that led outside. You won't need that door anymore. To get to the Sun Door go straight down this hall, to the door facing east. Go down the stairs. The door to the right is another useless room with a Night Gaunt in it. The door to the other side of the hall is the Sun Door. Load your shotgun. Unlock the Sun Door and go through. Go down the corridor and enter the next room. You'll have to teach two Night Gaunts the meaning of pain. When you're finished with your lesson, make sure you light the room before entering the adjoining one so that when you come back, the Night Gaunts are still dead. The next room has suits of armor. Between the two silver armors is a key with a "V" shaped symbol engraved on it. Take the V-Key and leave the Castle of Spirits for the Mansion. This part is a bit random, in my opinion. Once back in the Mansion, go into the western corridor. Search the floor and you'll find the Storage Key. This unlocks the Storage Room, which is the first door in the eastern corridor. You could have actually come to get this key after getting the Armor Key and going into the outdoor walkway overlooking the garden. You didn't have to do the part with the Sun Door first. Anyway, I guess it might make sense to come back to the Mansion since you need supplies. Whatever the case, you'll hit a deadend in the Castle of Spirits if you don't come back and pick up the Storage Key. Okay, so you've got the Storage Key. Go to the Storage Room and get Rope # 1. You'll have to put a Big Rag out of its misery first. Remember that outdoor walkway in the Castle, the one over the garden? You'll need to use this rope there. But before leaving the Mansion, you should restock at the Store and Save. Once you're done, go back to the Castle of Spirits. Make your way back to that outside walkway. Go to the part where the guardrail is missing, aim down and use the Rope. Then CHECK it and, in the blink of an eye, Akira rappels into the garden like a badass. Go through the only door down there, then up the stairs. There's the V-Door. Unlock it and go through. In this hall, there's another obnoxious Bat. This one is a little harder to ignore. If you kill, make sure to light the hallway so it stays dead, the way we like it. Stay on the upper floor and go through the door facing north. Go through the L-shaped corridor into the next room. This room contains a Night Gaunt, so I think you know what to do there. We'll call this room the Moosehead Room. It's not important and you won't come back here when you're done in this section of the Castle, but it's a cool name. The room to the east of the Moosehead Room is perhaps the most useless room in the game. It's a big, dark room with two Night Gaunts. You can go in there and bust shit up if you want, but unless you need metal to sell, it's a waste of time. Leave that room and go back into the Moosehead Room. Take the western door now. Follow the bending corridor and you'll enter another room with a Night Gaunt. End him. Light the room before proceeding through the northern door. You've found the Library. Light the torches and search behind the bookcases to find the Mold. There's nothing else in the room so you can leave this area. Go back to the hall that had the Bat in it. There are some stairs you can go down. Go into the room at the bottom of the stairs and light it up. You'll see an opening in the floor and what looks like another level of the castle beneath. You can't do anything here right now, so just open up your map and try to remember the relative position of this room. It's near the bottom, right? At the southern end? Keep that fact in mind. Okay, now that you have the Mold, what do you do with it? Remember Trap Door 3, the one with the face-shaped hollow in it? You have to make a mask out of the mold you just got to fit that hollow. But to make the mask, you'll need to once again go back to the Mansion. It's very important that you visit Angela to give her oil before trying to make the mask. Go see her first, then go to the Incinerator. The recipe for making the mask is as follows. Use the Mold on the pile of clay. Place the mold and clay in the Incinerator. Add firewood. Cook it for exactly 3 hours. Well, you can't control the temperature but you can control the time by using the STANDBY command. Set your watch to force three hours to elapse. Any less and the clay breaks to pieces. Any more and you burn the mask to a crisp. Three hours is the magic number. When the three hours have gone by, ERASE the fire in the Incerator and CHECK it to get your perfectly crafted Mask. At this point, Akira warns you about Angela's oil. So make sure to take care of that too. When you're done with all that, go to Trap Room 3. You'll want lots of spare ointments for this. This room works on the same concept as Trap Room 1. Light all three lanterns, get by the swinging blades and pick up the key hanging on the opposite wall. Heal to full life if you're hit at all, because more than one hit will kill you. You now have the Dungeon Key. But the level's not over yet!! On your way back to the Dungeon to free the kids, Necromeda stops you in the Red Carpet Room. And...wham! You fall through the trap floor and into the Castle's lower dungeon. Stuck down here, time is of the essence since you can't just go give Angela oil freely anymore. It's time to think quick and get out. You land in a big dark room. First, light the lantern behind you and pick up the Clock Medal. Then go through the door and through the passage with the Bat. Recall the room in the Castle with the hole in the floor. It was in the southern part of the map, remember? In the next area, you'll have the option of going to the "Dungeon of the Past" or continuing south. Go south. You'll face the same choice in the next area. Either go to the "Dungeon of the Future" or continue south. Keep going south. In the last area, you have to enter the "Dungeon of the Present". Now you are as south as you can go. Enter the "Dungeon of the Present". Light the room and you'll see a large clock on the ground. Across it is a locked door. You'll need to place the Clock Medal on one of the hours in order to unlock the door. Since it's the Dungeon of the Present, put it on whatever hour your Watch says it is. The door unlocks. Go through it and all the next doors until you get to a room without any more doors. Look up to the opening in the ceiling. This will trigger a short cutscene. Paulo is above you and he can help. He drops the Marker down to you. He has the other end, which means you can warp up to him. When you regain control of Akira, use the Marker from your inventory and you'll escape the dungeon. (Paulo hasn't actually given you the Market yet. So when you leave the dungeon, you won't have it in your inventory anymore.) Another cutscene with Paulo follows. You're in the room that had the hole in the floor again. From here, go back to the Prison. You'll notice that everyone's missing, including Angela. Check the first cell, the one that was empty at first. Watch the cutscene with Angela. Angela did a great job keeping an eye on the kids, didn't she? Unfortunately, there's no option to let her rot in the cell. Akira uses the Dungeon Key to free her. Angela mentioned that the kids were taken just a moment ago, which means they must still be somewhere in the Dungeon. You can also tell this by the music, which seems to say "Hurry, run to the Execution Room." Anyway, that's where you need to go next. Load your shotgun before leaving the Prison because... Necromeda suddenly appears to block your way and laugh at you yet again. This time she brought a friend with her. Watch the cutscene and listen as Toshi calls out for help. He's being held in the Execution Room, but before you can get to him, you're going to have to turn the Minotaurus into ground beef. But that's alright, because there's plenty of space in this room for a slaughter. Heal if you took any damage and now go up to the Execution Room, where you'll have to fight another Minotaurus. Put that one down too and watch the cutscene with Toshi, who acts like a total ingrate after being saved. Paulo comes in, tells you where you should go next and gives you the Marker. Angela takes Toshi to a safe place somewhere in the Town outside the Mansion. To meet back up with her, go to the Winged Face Room. Toshi's picture will now appear in the Town Menu, signifying that he has been rescued. And that's the end of the Castle of Spirits level. No more having to give stupid Angela her stupid oil. "South Tower" -------------------------------- -get into the dungeon below- 0704 In the next part of the adventure, Akira and Angela have to get into the South Tower and find a way into the dungeon beneath it. The South Tower is just a different part of the Castle of Spirits, but it gets to be it's own level. Okay then, to start out with, Save your game and restock. It's time for the South Tower! Make sure you've got Antidotes x 10 for this level. Also, since the South Tower is really far from the Mansion, you can use the Marker to jump between them whenever you run low on supplies. Go back into the Castle of Spirits through the X-Door. Once you're back into that first L-shaped hall, turn to the right (west) and go through the door at the end of the hall. Ignore the Bat in the next hall and go through the door at the end. Now you're in a strange-shaped room. Open the curtains there. You can see there's a door in there. That area is the Courtyard. It's been inaccessible up to this point. Try the door across the one you entered. It's locked from the other side. Nothing you can do about that from there. So go back to the L-shaped hall. Now go into the door with the circle painted on it. That circle represents a spiral, as in spiral staircase. Travel up the stairs and load your shotgun before going outside. There's Chimera in this part of the castle. Kill the one that appears in the roof walkway. Go through the door at the end there. Now you're where you need to be. In the center of this part of the walkway, there's an opening. Look down and CHECK it. You notice the Courtyard is directly below that hole. Hmm, if only there was some way to get down there. The hole is too small for Akira, but it's just the right size for the Marker. You can drop the Marker into the Courtyard and warp to it. (In case you're wondering where the door at the end of the walkway leads, it's nothing special. There's another walkway with a Chimera. It leads to a broken door. That's it.) Once in the Courtyard, go to the eastern door and unlock it. Now you can get to the Courtyard without going to the roof. Go back into the Courtyard and through the western door. Ignore the stupid Bat and enter another L-shaped hall. This one is exactly like the first one but a mirror. The door to the spiral staircase is broken. (They didn't want to give you easy access from the roof.) So that leaves the door facing south. Take that door. Go up the stairs and down the hall. The door at the end is locked from the other side. Take the other door. Now you're in a hallway with a few different doors. To start, go down and turn right to the door facing south. You'll be in another hallway. This one has two doors. The one at the end has an "S" shaped symbol scrawled on it. To open that door, you'll need the S-Key. This is the door that leads to the Sewers, where you ultimately need to get into. For now, go into the other door in that hall and put an end to that Slave. There's nothing in this room except that, so you don't actually have to do this but what the heck. Okay go back to the hallway with the doors you haven't tried yet. The one facing north directly in front of you is locked on the other side. Go into the only other door you haven't tried yet. This room has two Acrobatic Slaves in it. These guys are like ninjas. Be careful and take them out with four shots each. They carry the Gold Tooth which is worth a lot at the Store. Light the room after killing them and go out the door. Look at your map and you'll see this hallway connects to the last one through that door that was locked. You can unlock it now. Go back into the hall and follow it to the northernmost door. You're in an outdoor passageway. You'll pass a wooden door on your right. Go into that room. Kill the two Big Rats running around in there and take Rope # 2. You're done there. Leave and finish going down the passageway. You'll come to a long east-west corridor. Go all the way down that too. Kill the Poisonous Snake in the next hallway. There are two doors at the end, one going north and one going east. Do not go into the east room yet. That's the Snake Room but you won't be able to get past it now. Take the north door instead. You'll be in another east-west hallway with four doors. The two doors on the northern wall lead to the same outdoor area. The other door on the southern wall leads to a staircase. The door at the top of the stairs is locked from the other side. Go to the outside area through the door on the eastern side, that's the one opposite the side you came in. If you go outside through the door on the western side, you'll get a Chimera all up in your shit. Go through the other door so you can attack it before it can attack you. You need to get higher in the tower but all the doors are either locked or broken. To proceed any further, you have to look up to the ledge of the upper level. Use the rope here. Climb up and go inside. Go down the long hallway. Enter the next hallway, which is L-shaped. Kill the two Wolves. From here, take the door facing east. It opens to a big room with an Acrobatic Slave just itchin for a fight. So kill him. Go into the adjoining room, which is a big rectangular room. There's another Acrobatic Slave that needs to be taught some manners. After taking care of that, go to the far end of the room and check the floor to get the Death Medal. Make sure you light the rooms as you go through them since you have to backtrack. When you're back in the L-shaped hall, take the other door. You have two choices in this room. Go east or go west. We'll go west first to get the Mirror Fragment. This leads us to a hallway with two doors. The one going north opens to an outdoor ledge, like the one you climbed up on. It's useless unless you feel like killing another Chimera. Back in the hallway, go through the door facing the west. This is the Mirror Room. Light all the lanterns in the room and check the mirror. It doesn't reflect anything. It's a dark mirror. The lights go out and you're not alone anymore. The Dark Self is in the room with you. The Dark Self is you, but evil. It's attacks are very powerful. You'll die quick unless you break the source of its power, the mirror. Shoot the mirror to kill evil Akira. Then re-light the room and check the mirror again. Check the shards on the ground and you'll get the Mirror Fragment. Now go backtrack to the big room with the door we didn't check. Take that door (the one going east). You'll go through a short corridor, a big room with suits of armor and another short corridor. Then you'll be in another big rectangular room with an Acrobatic Slave. Destroy it and continue down to the next corridor. Unlock the door at the end. And go down the stairs and you're in a hall you've already explored. Check your map if you need to get your bearings. Return to the hall with the door that goes to the Snake Room. This room is full of Poisonous Snakes. Go into it now and kill them all. Killing all the snakes awakens the Stheno, who lives in the adjoining room. She comes out to look at you, but if you look back you'll die instantly. A little cutscene shows her coming out. When you see Akira blink, you have a very short window to open your inventory and use the Mirror Fragment. This defeats her by turning her own gaze against her. She's petrified and the Bedroom is now unlocked. Go in and snag the S-Key. Unlock the S-Door and go through the next hall. Now you can unlock that first door you couldn't open. After you've done that, follow all the corridors until you go down the spiral staircase and are facing a dingy wooden door. This is the door to the South Tower Dungeon or the Sewers. Before beginning the next level, it's a good idea to restock. Set the Marker down in front of this door and make your way back to the Mansion. Warp back after you've restocked and saved. "The Sewers" -------------------------------------- -finding the other two kids- 0705 Watch the cutscene once you enter the Sewers. An Amphibian jumps out so show him what it means to be the dominant species. Amphibians have the Rainbow Scales, very valuable at the Store. In the next area, you see two doors in front of you. One is locked from the other side and the other needs the Z-Key. Go down the stairs and follow the path until you come to a room with a switch on the wall. PUSH the switch. The path opens. Go through the door at the end and kill another Amphibian. Grab the Z-Key and head back for the Z-Door. Unlock it and keep going until you reach a room with water flowing through the middle of it. Watch the cutscene with Angela. Go back to the hallway with the switches. If you look up, you can see that there's something above the floor you're on. You have to ride one of the moving blocks up there. To do that, place the Marker on the moving block on the north. PUSH the switch on that side then warp to the top. Go through the door upstairs and put an end to the Amphibian in there. Then go to the lever built into the barrel, which looks like a keg with a tap at first. PULL the lever and listen to Angela some more. Go back to the room that had the water in it. (Once you finish this part of the game, the Marker is essentially useless. If you try to use it later, it will break and disappear from your inventory.) Once you get across that room, you'll hear Linda's voice. Angela tells you to hurry. There's no time to waste here. Rush through the door at the end of the hall with a loaded shotgun. There are two Amphibians in the next room, but they are distracted by the lit lantern. Kill them quickly before they put out the light and focus their attention on you. When they're dead, search their remains for the Water Prison Key and the Watercourse Key. There are two other doors in the room, but go to the one facing south first. Use the Watercourse Key to get in. Now you're in the dungeon proper. You'll see a row of lamps on the right, but only the one at the end is lit. That's your clue to check the room across it first. Go there and save Dave. Dave tells you that Linda was just taken away. It's on to the Execution Room once again! Important: if you need to stock up any items, do this before talking to Dave. Take the door you didn't try in the room before the prison area. This goes back to that door next to the Z-Door that was previously locked. Leave the Sewers and head straight for the Execution Room. If you try to meet up with Angela or go back to the Mansion, Necromeda appears and kidnaps Angela in the Winged Face Room. If that happens, you fail to get to Linda in time and she dies in the Execution Room. In the Execution Room, you meet Hypnos. Don't try to beat him because you can't. Just let him attack you until you lose all your life. Watch the cutscene that follows. Paulo shows up and kills Hypnos. Take a look at Hypnos' mask. It's like Necromeda's except with a different expression. The four Spirits each have their own mask. Paulo mentions taking out the remaining two Spirits. Akira and the others just want to go home, but Akira's in no shape to make it on his own after that ass-whoopin from Hypnos. So Paulo tags along to make sure he's okay. Now try to go to the Mansion. But...Necromeda! She steals Angela and threatens to do the same thing to her that she did to Paulo's wife. Fill in the blank. Now it's time to save Angela. Paulo tells you that she was taken to the Room of Death, or Tanatos' Room. He gives you Mansion Key # 2, saying that the key to the Room of Death should be in there. You can go back to the Mansion now. Head upstairs and use the key, but you'll see that the room is empty. (*See the Loose Ends Section) Let's wrap this game up by killing Necromeda. "Final Stage" -------------------------------- -defeat Necromeda- 0706 You can save prior to what you have to do next if you wish. Once you're set, we're going to go to the one room I haven't mentioned in the guide yet. It was in the Castle of Spirits. Go to the Red Carpet Room. Go through the red door and the L-shaped hall. Go up the stairs and turn left down the next hall. Go up another set of stairs and you'll be in a hall with four pictures hanging on the wall. These represent the four Spirits who haunt the Castle. The one on the far left has been torn out. Next to that one is Hypnos, then Necromeda and then Tanatos, who is the ruler of the Spirits. On the opposite wall, in front of each portrait are hollows for the medals you've been collecting throughout the game. Notice that the one in front of the torn picture is there now. Put the medals in their correct places and the door to the Spirits' Chambers opens. The progression here is pretty straightforward. Just keep moving along. Also, stop to look at the big masks hanging in one of the rooms you pass through. These are the Spirits' faces. Go into the First Spirit's Chamber. It's empty and the lights are out. Keep going and you'll find that Hypnos' Chamber is locked. The next Chamber is Necromeda's and it's guarded by a Minotaurus. You don't have to kill it to go in. Take her Soul Stone, the Red Stone that you unwittingly gave her in the beginning of the game. Leave Necromeda's Chamber and move onto Tanatos' Chamber, which is also guarded by a Minotaurus that you can bypass. Watch the cutscene with Paulo. Now, it's time to go back to the Winged Face Room for the final showdown with Necromeda. Watch the cutscene where Paulo talks about dying with the Castle. Angela's okay with that. Regardless, Necromeda appears and decides to kill you as a sort of appetizer before killing Paulo. So it's on. Remember how Paulo Killed Hypnos by shooting his Soul Stone? You've got to do the same to Necromeda. Use the Red Stone right when the battle starts. She'll say something and grow a tail(?) and the Red Stone will start floating around the level. You have to blast it with your shotgun. You'll know you hit it when it shatters and disappears. Once you've done that you can hurt Necromeda between her attacks. She's not hard to beat, but her attacks are strong. Strafing will help you get in position for good shots. You'll warp back to the Winged Face Room. That's it. You did it. Enjoy the fantastic non-ending. =========================== VIII. HOW TO SAVE EVERYBODY =========================== --------------------- How to save Dave 0801 --------------------- In the Castle of the Spirits level, don't let Angela run out of oil. If she does run out of oil, Dave will be dead when you come back with the Dungeon Key and Angela will have already been kidnapped by Necromeda. Once you've gotten past the Castle of the Spirits level and kept the Watchroom lit, Dave will be imprisoned in the South Tower Dungeon (the Sewers). Refer to the guide on how to get him out. ---------------------- How to save Toshi 0802 ---------------------- Toshi is the easiest to save. Whether or not you save Dave and/or Linda, Toshi will always be in the Execution Room. Simply defeat the Minotaurus there and Toshi's saved. ---------------------- How to save Linda 0803 ---------------------- If you let the Watchroom light go out, then she is rescued alongside Angela.** If you keep the Watchroom lit, then Linda is saved at the Execution Room. Don't let Angela get caught in the Winged Face Room, and Linda won't die. Refer to the guide. ----------------------- How to save Angela 0804 ----------------------- If the Watchroom was kept lit, she'll stay with you throughout the game. Free her with the Dungeon Key. She'll be captured again anyway. Paulo saves her. If you fail the Watchroom task, Paulo saves her at the end of the game in the Room of Death. **Note: The first time I beat the game, Dave died and I saved Linda and Toshi. I can't remember exactly how I saved Linda so this information might be inaccurate. ============= IX. TIPS 0900 ============= 1. Light any room that had a Monster in it. 2. To go up/down stairs, you have to aim up or down slightly. 3. Keep Ammo on one button and Shotgun on another. 4. Keep the MAX amount of Ointment, Ammo and Oil at all times. 5. Check Monster's you've killed for precious metal. 6. Use the Marker as much as possible before it breaks. 7. The ending is the same whether you save all three kids or not. (*See Loose Ends Section) ============================= X. LOOSE ENDS (SPOILERS) 1001 ============================= There were a few things in the game I can't explain or didn't achieve. Here's a list of them: 1. Lighter - the Lighter is located in the pile of firewood in the Mansion. Sometimes it's there and sometimes it appears after using so many logs. Or it may be tied to the time of day, as some things only occur during certain times. Regardless, the Lighter only saves you on Matches. It still takes Oil to light lanterns. 2. Linda's Shirt - "DOES PP2 EXIST" I don't know wtf this means. 3. The locked door on the 2nd Floor Mansion - I have no idea where the key for this room is. 4. Hypnos' Chamber - I don't know if there's a way to unlock this room. 5. The room Paulo gives you a key for - This is the room that Mansion Key # 2 opens. Again, I don't know if this is a puzzle tied to time, but every time I go into this room, it's completely empty. I suppose it might be intentionally that way, since Paulo might just want to distract you while he puts in the Dream Medal. That would be cool, but damnit, I want to know what's supposed to be in there. 6. A few of the useless roms - I wonder if some of the rooms that had "nothing" in them have something during certain hours. I'm thinking particularly of the room in the Castle with the Night Gaunt and the draped table. 7. Can Paulo be saved? - Probably not, but I don't know how else this game could end. I mean, he is the Fourth Spirit, the Dream Master. Was the whole game simply an illusion, an adventure that takes place in a dream? - that's what I asked myself. Following the credits, Paulo reveals that he was the Fourth Spirit so maybe. Still, he was a cool character and I hope there's a better ending. =============================== XI. MY THOUGHTS (SPOILERS) 1002 =============================== ------------------ ANGELA (LISA HART) ------------------ Okay, who was smoking what when they cast Lisa Hart as Angela. Seriously, I've heard some bad voice acting, but Angela is the worst. Lisa Hart almost single-handedly ruined this game. Anybody could have done a better job. The other actors were okay, but damn me if I didn't want to shoot Angela in the head everytime I had to give her some effin oil. --------- THE MUSIC --------- All the good music is saved for the last level in the game. And the worst track is saved for the first level. I really hate that jazzy elevator track in the Mansion. Sadly, this game would probably be more enjoyable played on mute. And I'd recommend to do that except for the fact that it helps to hear the Monsters. --------------------- THE SIDE STORY EFFECT --------------------- Once you've beaten the game and you let the story sink in, you kind of see that Akira's story is a sort of sidestory to Paulo's. Akira never even fights Tanatos, the main boss. He doesn't kill Hypnos, either, because he can't. Paulo is behind the scenes doing greater things, while we're stuck babysitting three stupid Japanese tourists. =============== XII. LEGAL 1003 =============== Walkthrough for The Note (Playstation) v1.00 Playstation is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. The Note [and the game manual] are (c) 1997 Sunsoft. Sunsoft is a trademark of Sun Corporation. (c) 1997 N.K. System. This walkthrough is Copyright (c) 2010 Paul Otero all rights reserved by the author. You may disseminate, share or link to this file without the author's consent but you may not claim it as your original work or remove this legal section, or any section, from copies of the file. You may not use this copyrighted walkthrough in any buying or selling activity nor trade it for something of value. You may not include it in a body of work that can be sold. In other words, any commercial use of this copyrighted work is prohibited. You're not authorized to put it in magazines, blogs, newsletters or any form of transmission that requires membership fees or subscription dues. Please do not pirate software. Somebody worked very hard to bring you The Note and other great games like it. Show your support by obtaining physical copies of the games you love, especially the classics. It is the right thing to do even if it doesn't change the rampant trend of ROM sharing over the Internet. Be responsible. And if you print this walkthrough, please be kind to the Earth and recycle it when you're finished. Thank you! ================== XIII. CONTACT 1004 ================== As this is my first foray into the world of walkthroughs, I'm sure I've made more than a few mistakes along the way. I apologize to (and thank) the reviewers at GameFAQs for any formatting problems in this walkthrough which they may have had to correct. Hopefully this will help at least one other person trying to get through The Note. It's not a very easy game. Take a look at the Loose Ends Section again and see if you can fill in the blanks. I'm closing the book on this game for now, so I won't be trying new things on it. You can contact me at [email protected] with new information. If I get enough new info to warrant an update, I'll give you credit for your contributions in the walkthrough's update. Well, that about wraps things up. I'll leave you with this wonderful moment of Zen straight from the horse's mouth. Angela: "It feels like something is throbbing inside of it." Copyright (c) 2010 Paul Otero