Here is transcription of the inner monologue I had when playing Legend of Kalevala, the new adventure-platformer from Dit Dah Games: Huh.... that spaceship on the title screen looks like Samus Aran's. Guess I should hit play... Great... I'm apparently waking up in an unfamiliar place with amnesia... Like THAT'S never been done before. However, those are some pretty sweet VGA retro-jungle graphi- Wait. Am I that purple metallic pterodactyl-wolf? Who talks like an archaeologist? That's new... And I can shoot quills? Okay. I'm in love with this game. Admittedly, you make have different standards for enjoyment, but I think you'll be convinced just as quick.
The pterodactyl-wolf moves with the [arrow] keys, jumps with [X] and, once you've gained the ability, fires with [C]. Scattered around the world are various switches and ability power-ups, activated with the [up] key, as well as the brain icons which grant you a little of your memory back. New abilities are introduced and explained over the course of the game. The game is fairly non-linear and rewards exploration, but should you need a push in the right direction, the [N] key brings up the map with the general location of your next objective. Be prepared to discover every nook and cranny to fully regain your memory and, just maybe, make your way to a place you can call home.
Analysis: Legend of Kalevala has that perfect mix of old and new, alien and human, story and action. Certainly it's not out of place with metroidvania bretheren, but it reminded me most of Another World, with a shade of Flashback: The Quest for Identity. It's easy to make a mysterious world and throw an amnesiac in it. It's much harder to answer those mysteries in a way that is complete, sensical and intriguing, and this game does just that. Likewise, Legend of Kalavela manages the balance of making its player-character unfamiliar but empathize-able. The player shares his sense of surprise as he learns all that he can do and of his role in the world around him. It is cool that he is so definitely an animal. A sentient and intelligent one certainly, but one that approaches the world in a not-quite-human human way. It's quite a departure from the usual no-backstory Space Marine, and just might be my favorite new game character so far this year. He deserves to be in a game with stunning visuals and a catchy soundtrack and this is just that.
Some of the game's strongest points do end up being weaknesses in a way: The graphics are so pretty that they distract from being functional. Some doors are easy to miss in the shadows, and foreground/background elements look like things you should really be able to land on. Eventually I was able to work out what sprites were jump-off-able, but that was only after some missed jumps and a bit of annoying backtracking. Also considering the number of airborne enemies, I found that I kept trying to shoot while jumping, even though my conscious mind told me that it wasn't going to work. Having the ability from the start would have eased a lot of frustration. Finally, and this is going to sound really petty, but using [N] and not [M] to bring up the map goes against everything I hold dear.
If I may digress into a mini-rant, the thing that confused me the most about Legend of Kalevala was its name. I realize that "Legend of X" has been a common game titling scheme ever since Link first realized that it was dangerous to go alone. Likewise when developers use cool sounding non-English words to name in-universe planets, it gives it that little twist of onomastic flair. However, the combination really doesn't work here considering the actual Legend of Kalevala that this game has little to do with, except obliquely near the end. I suppose this is just the influence of Finnish epics, MST3K episodes or Scrooge McDuck comics, but man, if you invoke Kalevala, I darn well expect a Sampo to show up quick!
Mythological quibbling aside, Legend of Kalevala is an excellent game! Its easy enough to jump straight in, but has a ton of hidden secrets for experts to find (especially if you want the best ending)... along with a few locked doors that just beg for further expansion. This game is a perfect antidote to the doldrums of summer.
Thanks to Valerie, Alkalannar, Ray, Felix, Cyberjar88, and Ldog for sending this one in!
Walkthrough Guide
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Walkthrough
(Complete as of v1.7.3. Updates may make this wrong, and the expansion definitely will.)
Main Story (including all memories and soul gems)
Quills
Da Capo
Go right and down the hole in the ground. Follow the tunnel all the way down, dodging the green worm things. You have to pull a switch to get to the bottom, where you find the Quill 1 powerup and a switch that will open the gate up top.
Glide
Da Capo
You can blast the little worms with C now. Climb out of the hole and go right. After the cutscene, keep going.
Alter Ego
Grab Memory 1 from under the ledge and Memory 2 just past there. Notice the blocked tunnel. Continue into the caves.
Worldly Ruminations
Enemies in here start to have multiple hit points. At the fork, you can go up to get Memory 3 (or grab it later), but you can't go any further that way. Go through the door if you want, but this is just an area for expansion purposes, so you can't get very far in the current version. Continue out of the cave, grabbing Memory 4 on the way.
Serve No More
Get Memory 5, by the big statue. After looking at the statue, you come to the first challenging enemy of the game, some sort of tank thing. Jump over its bullets while you shoot it, then continue right and take Memory 6.
Kuriirit
Climbing up the mountain won't get you anywhere right now, so go in the cave and grab memory 7. Keep going to the green force field thing. Trip the switch, and grab the health powerup (green thing; it gives you another hit point). Leave the cave and go back the way you came.
Serve No More
Go straight through.
Worldly Ruminations
Go straight through.
Alter Ego
When you approach the blocked tunnel this time, it will open. Fall down it and go left. Fall down the second chute and grab Memory 8 from the room to the right, then ride a platform back up. Continue left along the tunnel... it shuts behind you. Continue through the door.
Untapped Potential
Fall down the chute and grab Memory 9. In the next chamber, ride the platforms up, and follow the narrow tunnel for Memory 10. Back in the main tunnel, keep climbing all the way to the door.
Passage
Progress through this area is linear. Grab Memory 11 along the way, and watch out for the hill with mines rolling down it.
Hubris
Ride the platforms right up to the top, and continue left to the end. Memory 12 is at the upper left corner of this dangerous room, but you can always come back if you don't get to it. Drop down to the bottom and grab the Glide powerup.
Doublejump
Hubris
Now you can glide, and more importantly, you can go up the green force fields by holding X. Go up this one here, grab Memory 13, and head left into a big room with the dangerous green goop at the bottom. Try to land on the platform halfway along with Memory 14. You can use the moving platform there to get some altitude and glide all the way back to the entrance, or just platform-hop along the surface.
Passage
Go all the way back to the entrance. On the way, you can ride up the force field and hit a switch that will do nothing for you now, but will be useful later.
Untapped Potential
Retrace your steps here. Ignore the big, spiky wall; you can't get over it yet. At the start, ride up the force field, but get off before you hit the mines. Grab Memory 15, and leave.
Alter Ego
Jump off the platform and glide right, bypassing the locked door. Continue right and ride the platforms back to the surface. Go right.
Worldly Ruminations
You can continue up the top passage now (but by no means have to; there's nothing but memories up here). Grab Memory 16 at the far right and Memory 17 under some shooting orb that's too high to kill. Continue into the top of the next area.
Alter Ego
Follow the platforms across the top, past a health powerup you can't access and a red force field that stops you from jumping too high. Get Memories 18 and 19 from the ledges on the left wall (they're actually kind of creepy), then drop to the ground and go back right.
Worldly Ruminations
Just go straight through this time.
Serve No More
Go straight through.
Kuriirit
Go back into the cave and up the force field. You'll go through a series of rooms where there's nothing to do except glide past the orbs and dodge their bullets, and find Memory 20 at the end. Continue through the tunnels, past a switch (useful only for getting badges) and take Memory 21 from where there's three tunnels with wasps in them. Just past there, a switch opens a door letting you back outside, but don't go out. Ignore the force field, grab Memory 22 by going up the second moving platform, and go through the door at the back of the cave.
Modus Operandi
A very difficult level of gliding. Grab Memory 23 and be sure to save. Glide right along the ceiling avoiding the mines, which are one-hit kills; don't worry so much about the wasps. Follow the arrows down at the shaft of light to another savepoint. Ignore the teleporter; that will just bring you back to the entrance. Glide left to Memory 24, make your way through a particularly difficult patch of mines which will probably take more than one try, and drop down into the large open area. Grab the doublejump powerup from between the statues.
Quills 2
Modus Operandi
Go left and ride the force field all the way back to the entrance, taking Memory 25 on the way.
Kuriirit
Exit the cave and go all the way back down to the bottom of the mountain. There's a big box thing on stilts, but you can't get through the yellow force field. Go left.
Serve No More
Go straight through.
Worldly Ruminations
Go straight through.
Alter Ego
Fall down the hole again, go down the second shaft, but go left this time. The doublejump should just let you clear the wall. Take the Quill 2 powerup.
Run
Alter Ego
The new powerup also means it takes less hits to kill enemies. Go back up the second shaft and climb up, out of the cave. Go right.
Worldly Ruminations
Go straight through.
Serve No More
Go to where the force field is blocked by two green walls. Blast through one of these with your powerful Lvl2 quills and ride it up to the top. Follow the platforms along to the Ancestor's hand and get the Run powerup.
Crystal Podiums
Serve No More
Keep going left to get Memory 26, then drop back to the ground and go right.
Kuriirit
Go back to the box on stilts. You can pass through the force field when you're glowing blue. Activate the Crystal Podium and find out you need to find two more. Go back the way you came.
Serve No More
Go straight through.
Worldly Ruminations
Go straight through.
Alter Ego
Go straight through.
Da Capo
Jump on the black block, and then to the ledge on the right. The switch here allows access to a gem. Following the moving platforms will get you memories 27 and 28, while going up the force field will let you walk along the top to Crystal Podium 2. Drop down to the ground and head right.
Alter Ego
Go down the hole and head left, deeper down.
Untapped Potential
Go straight through.
Passage
Hit the switch above the force field if you haven't already. Keep going to the door and shoot through it. Climb up the new area. It's the last crystal podium. Hit it.
Soul Gems
These are only necessary to get the good ending. Otherwise, just head back to Kuriirit (the mountain). Shown in recommended order.
Gem 2
In Hubris (the end of the cave). Behind a breakable wall in the far left room, there is a tunnel that leads to this one.
Gem 1
In Da Capo (first area). Jump off the black brick and hit the switch. A hole will open up in the far left of the area. Drop down this and take the gem, then jump in the teleporter.
Gem 4
In Serve No More (place with big statue). Shoot the bricks at the bottom of the statue and go down a hidden passage to find this gem.
Gem 3
Just past the wall at the top of the mountain, in Skim The Sky, there is a big pit. Drop down this, and land on the ledge on the left side. Shoot through the bricks into the room. There is a creature that shoots quills on the first ledge; you are going to lose some hit points getting past it. Afterward, you'll have to drop down the pit, and you'll come out in Modus Operandi. Glide right along the ceiling or drop down to the teleporter to escape.
Towards the end...
Skim the Sky
Jump across the big pit, then make it by the force field obstacle by running straight at it. While you're blue, you'll bounce off the enemies and pass right through the force field. Go down the mountain into the cave.
Human Dreams
Get the switch right above the entrance, then head right. Watch out; the ice is quite slippery. Ignore the slope with the mines and climb up. Two new enemies to worry about: a little blob that jumps out of the snow and shoots at you, and more spike beasts. Follow the rather difficult path and when you reach the top and can choose a direction, go left for Memory 29, double back and go right. This should take you right to:
Boss 1
The big face just follows you around the playing area. Get it to run into the four big mines, and it will die. Be careful not to land; the ground hurts you right now.
Closer to the end...
Human Dreams
You can stand on the ground now, so grab Memory 30 and drop downward. The switch opens the door back to the start of the level. Head down the hill and talk to the strange alien; he'll explain everything. Go right.
Purpose
A linear but very difficult dungeon. Watch out for the room that locks you in with a bunch of enemies. Press the switch at the end, then, if you're ready, head right through the teleporter.
Boss 2
To kill this boss, you have to jump up and hit a bomb while you're going up. If you hit it while you're going down, you might not be blue and it could hurt you. Any bombs that hit the ground make a huge fireball you can't always jump over, so try to stay ahead of them. Oh, and dodge the bullets. When you get a bomb to hit the boss, it falls to the ground. Hammer away at it with your quills until it gets back up. Repeat (about 4x) until it dies. This may take more than one try.
The final area
Temple
Grab Memory 31 (yes, that's right, 31 out of 30) and head right. Climb all the way up to the temple at the top. Activate it.
Bad Ending
Temple
Just step into the light and press Up.
Good Ending
Temple
Go back down to the bottom. Watch out; there's a lot more enemies now. Go into the little hole.
Ancestor Shield
Do not jump on the rising platforms; this will bring you back to the temple. Go down. You'll find four large statues, with a gem stand at the base of each. Activate them all. Climb back up to the top. The platform doesn't work now, so go back out the door.
Temple
Climb back up to the temple, step into the light, and press Up. Congratulations.
Health Powerups
There are 4 health powerups to be found in the game.
Found just inside the bottom cave in Kuriirit. Can't see how you'd miss this one.
In Untapped Potential, you can clear the big spiked wall with doublejump. This one's just on the other side.
In Hubris, just off the dangerous room on the left, behind a Quill 2 breakable wall.
Above Alter Ego, and you need Quills 2 to get it. Access from Da Capo or Worldly Ruminations.
Badges
Push the button, Frank!
Push the button by the Quill 1 powerup at the very start.
Recover X memories to unlock this.
Just find the memories. The locations of all memories are in the main story walkthrough.
Complete the game at least once to unlock this.
Finish the game with either ending.
Beat the game with the most difficult ending to unlock this.
Finish the game with the Good ending.
Be careful, I animate!
Beat the first boss.
Emo-spike didn't save you, after all.
Beat the final boss.
You need to find X gems to unlock this.
Find the gems. This is a necessary part of the good ending, and is detailed in the main story walkthrough.
Complete the game in 50 minutes to unlock this.
Exactly what it says in the name. A way to finish faster:
After getting the glide powerup and the other memories in that room, hit ESC and return to the beginning, then continue right as if you just climbed out of the hole. Then, when you get the Quill II powerup, keep going down and grab the memory you missed, the crystal podium, the soul gem (and the two health powerups). Escape by the same way, grab the soul gem, crystal podium and memories in the first area. Now head right, grabbing the health powerup at the top of Alter Ego, the speed powerup, memory and soul gem in Serve No More, and then the final crystal podium.
Boing boing boing boing!
Bounce off 20 enemies in a row. You need the Speed powerup to bounce off enemies. A good place to do this is:
the forcefield/bouncing obstacle in Skim The Sky, but make sure you keep moving back and forth, or you won't stay blue.
Them Kalevala defenses, they ain't too smart...
Get an enemy to kill itself. Enemies are not hurt by spikes, green ooze or their own bullets. Although mines do kill them, that doesn't count for some reason. The only way to do this is:
lava. There's some at the bottom of the Passage area, along with one of those things that always hops at you. You figure it out.
Glide over the lava and let it jump at you.
Eat your Wheaties! Find all the health powerups.
Find all 4 health powerups, detailed above.
It's a secret!
No really, it's a secret.
You want to find this on your own...
Fine. There's a secret passage in the upper right of the room where you fought the first boss. Go in there and talk to the penguin.
Ouch! Make it stop! Well, okay, maybe just one more time...
Finish the game without taking any health powerups (with max hit points 2)
I think the Ancestors are just mess'n with my head, now.
Flip the switch mentioned earlier in Kuriirit. Drop into the bouncing-on-enemies trap in Skim the Sky. Go down the newly-revealed secret passage. First room: huge multi-enemy trap! Second room: Same! Fight your way through them somehow. Hint: you have to kill all enemies to progress, including the grey orb things. Find out what you came down here for to get the badge.
Secrets (Fun Facts)
I recommend you try and find these for yourself...
In the cave in Da Capo, there is a secret passage up on the back wall behind the switch that opens the big white gate.
In Worldly Ruminations, there is an area right by the upper door with a stationary shooting robot over a platform with a memory, over spikes. Land on the spikes directly below the platform, and you'll fall through.
In Modus Operandi, land on the big floating platform at the end of the level.
At the top of the mountain in Kuriirit; you'll need doublejump to get here.
Right after the bouncing force field trap in Skim the Sky, jump up on the overhanging ledge.
At the start of Purpose, jump over the pit and climb up the other side.
Jump over the teleporter at the end of Purpose. A long secret passage leads to the final secret.
Posted by: chaos39
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July 17, 2011 7:53 PM