Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight – Lord of Paladin Secrets & Hidden Mechanics

Two endings, and how to earn the full one Verified

The ending scene checks one flag. Without it, Naji congratulates Adeu but tells him to keep working to become Ryu Paladin Lord Zephyr. With it, he proclaims that Adeu has already become Ryu Paladin Lord Zephyr, the Lightspeed Paladin, and the scene goes on to “Then… I’m a Holy Knight?”

The flag is set after the fifth bout (Galden) only if both are true:

• you won all five tournament bouts, and
• over those five bouts you dealt at least 448 more damage than you took. Each hit counts up to the target’s remaining HP; the fights before the tournament don’t count.

Losing a bout doesn’t end the tournament: the story carries on with the next opponent, so the only thing a loss costs you is this ending.

Source: the ending script (block M52) and the tournament code. We confirmed in an emulator that a lost bout moves on to the next; the full ending itself was not played through.

In the walkthrough: Finale

The tournament has no breaks Verified

Once you tell Ballena “Go on ahead!”, the castle flies to Earth’s Blade and the five bouts run back to back: Vice’s gang, Gratches, Bopplin & Bubblin, Sarutobi and Galden, then the Evil Dragon Soldier. Each bout’s script calls the next one directly, so there is no moment to save, heal or shop. Get your gear upgraded and save before Ballena.

In the walkthrough: Episode 12

The World Map is fast travel Verified

X → World Map is more than a map. Press Left/Right to pick any of the 12 episodes and A to warp to its starting area, from the very first field of the game. Three exceptions:

• Episode 8 (Purple Town) only works with the Aqualung equipped (the same check as the lake dive). Otherwise the selector just reopens.
• While you are stuck in Purple Town, every choice leads back to Purple Town, until Lord Gerogero lets you go.
• After “Go on ahead!”, every choice leads to Earth’s Blade.

Tested from the first field and from Westguns. Whether the World Map works indoors was not tested.

In the walkthrough: Prologue

Naji's "last chance" is a bluff Verified

When the party falls, Naji offers another chance. The first time it’s “one more chance”, then “another chance”, then “This is your last chance!” every time after that. There is no counter: continues are unlimited, and you get back up with full HP. Answer “I give up…” and the game resets, losing anything since your last save.

Story Ryu battles work differently: losing one resets the game with no offer at all: the duels with Delias and the Menchi Brothers, Vice’s gang, Bopplin & Bubblin’s Solid, Gratches at his dojo, Galden at Friedel Castle, and the final battle.

In the walkthrough: Prologue

Smiths upgrade by level, not by wear Verified

Tempering or repairing swaps your gear for the next model once the party leader has reached level 11, 21, 31, 41 or 51. Below that, the smith only “fixes” it, and you pay 100 G either way. The catch is the level-51 step: it can happen only once, every smith shares the same record of it, and only two smiths give the best gear at that step. Dradd in Pafuricia Town turns the Great Sword into the Holy Tempest and the Mithril Shuriken into the Ninto Blade; Gladd in Mithril Town turns the Suit Armor into the Sordin Shield and the Chainmail Shirt into the Sordin Gauntlet. Let any other smith do it and you get the Mithril piece, which nobody upgrades.

In the walkthrough: Equipment & Smiths

Border Fort's hidden chests Verified

Two chests in Border Fort (map 76) are invisible until you find their levers. Examine the lever in the alcove of the upper-right room and a chest with the Fern Seed appears in the upper-left room. Examine the lever in the lower hall, just below chest C, and a second chest with 99,990 GG appears in the upper-left room, next to the Fern Seed chest: the biggest pile of money in the game. The map in the walkthrough marks both levers.

In the walkthrough: Episode 10

The way into Border Fort Verified

No door or exit on the Friedel side leads into Border Fort. The only way in is its front yard, from the Kingdom of Pafuricia field: on map 8E, a hop tile by the fence jumps you over it, and the north edge leads to the yard (map AF) and the fort’s gates. The Lantern only lights the dark halls; no door checks for it. Past the gates, the Jump Mats are the only way on, and they work only while someone has the Spring equipped.

In the walkthrough: Episode 10

Dodging the Westguns con Script

The boy who runs off with 100 G only tries it if you carry at least 100 G and haven’t yet talked to the Cactus Factory worker or Foreman Scott. Once he’s done it he is gone, but a World Map warp to Westguns (Episode 1) brings him back, so the trick can happen again. (Read from the script; we didn’t reproduce the talk in an emulator.)

In the walkthrough: Episode 1

"Sold out" means "you already have one" Verified

Two shops look like they have one-off stock. Todo’s Armor Shop in North Hill and the Pirani Item Shop say they have nothing left, but the game only checks whether the party already owns the item (Ashiria Shield and Gauntlet; Mist Tank). Nothing is ever really sold out.

In the walkthrough: Episode 2

Who lets you into the Magic School Verified

Ikuru won’t move until one particular girl in Friedel Town has told you “Try asking Ikuru.” Likewise, Lazania’s grandson Gesshin (and with him Sarutobi) only comes home after a man in Rain Town tells you about the “Samurai Granny”.

In the walkthrough: Episode 5, Episode 11

The Hidden Item makes you invincible on foot Verified

The Lucky Goblin’s gift means what its help text says: “You’re invincible!!”. Every frame the game checks each character’s Item slot, and whoever wears the Hidden Item takes no damage on foot (the check covers Adeu and Sarutobi). In our tests with it equipped, Adeu placed on an enemy lost no HP in 900 frames (without it he died in two of four tests), a lava floor that empties his HP in about four seconds did nothing, poison and the Poison Mud Apple curse stopped draining him, and confusion and stone no longer took hold. Carrying it in the bag does nothing, and it has no effect in Ryu battles: Zephyr took exactly the same damage, hit for hit, with and without it.

Getting it is the game’s most hidden trap. The Lucky Goblin lives in the Lava Cave (map 6F), but he is only placed there if you walk onto a certain spot north of Westguns (map 06) before your first talk with Rina: Adeu then remembers that gear needs upkeep. After Rina’s warning the same spot only triggers the Delias ambush, and the goblin can never appear. Even when he has appeared, a World Map warp to Episodes 2-7 or 10-12 before you meet him removes him for good (warps to Episodes 1, 8 and 9 are safe). Read from the script; the whole chain was not played through.

In the walkthrough: Episode 9

Key items only work when equipped Verified

Many key items do nothing in your bag. When you put an item in the Item slot of Adeu or Sarutobi (X → Status → the character → the 4th slot), the game raises a flag for it, and the gates in the script check those flags, not your bag. Tested in the emulator:

• Fire Orb: the gate on the Friedel field (map 77) opens into the Friedel strongholds. Without it: “No good… it’s shut tight.”
• Aqualung: the lake dive to Purple Town, and the World Map’s Episode 8.
• Goblem’s Eye: the Lava Cave door (the Eye is used up).
• Lantern: light in Border Fort.
• Hidden Item: no damage on foot (see above).

Checked in the code (same mechanism, not played through): every hand-over works the same way. Equip the Banana for the hungry beast in Ice Town, Mary’s Letter for Jinny, the Fern Herb for the Elf chief, the Mithril Ring for the mayor, each Orb for its socket in Chamber’s Fort, and Jada’s Wood Box for the Ruins of Lemuriad. Without it they just repeat their request.

Swap the item out and its flag goes down again. This is easy to miss, because the game never says so: an unequipped Aqualung just gives you “If I jumped down from here… bad news.”

In the walkthrough: How the game works

Moving the tombstone Verified

The tombstone in front of Madora Castle (Friedel field, map D7) is a pushable object, not a script event. It only moves when two things are true at once: Floi’s Stone Glove is equipped and Zephyr is out (SELECT). Walk Zephyr into it and it slides west. Leave the screen and come back, and it’s back in place.

In the walkthrough: Episode 5

The Banana that isn't there yet Verified

The Banana the beasts of Ice Town want lies by the river on map 35, but the game hides it at the start. It appears only after three things: you have the Fire Orb, you have sprung the water trap in Chamber’s Fort, and you have returned the Mithril Ring. Until then the river bank is empty, however often you look.

In the walkthrough: Episode 4

A place named after an episode Verified

The Westguns desert where the game starts has no place name of its own. Its place number points one slot past the last place name, into the list of episode titles, so if you save there the save screen names the place “Back!? Delias & the Menchi Brothers!”, the title of Episode 1.

In the walkthrough: Episode 1

Left on the cutting-room floor Unconfirmed

• Map C9: a desert map nothing points to, a recolored copy of the field outside Border Fort.
• A door to nowhere in Chamber’s Fort (map E7) points to a map number that doesn’t exist.

Fan cameos Script

V-Jan Village is full of named fans with their age over their lines: talking cats and dogs, would-be shopkeepers, kids who want a Ryu, and Ken Fukaki, the “Sonic Game Designer”. He offers you an herb, takes it back because it would “wreck the game balance”, and after enough pestering hands over an Ashiria Shield or Gauntlet instead.

In the walkthrough: Episode 6

What older FAQs get wrong Script

• Names: Derias is Delias, Herr Lied is Hellreet, Garden is Galden, Gobrem is Goblem; Bopplin and Bubblin are two different goblins.
• There is no boss called “Bias” in Onion Town; the fight there is the Brat Kid Gang and the fake sheriff.
• Sarutobi joins in Rain Town, at Lazania’s house.