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Friday, June 18, 2021

Ring Fit Adventure Fitness Log Week 44: The Journey BACK to Hades... an Extra Time

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - This being a filler world means the most interesting part is that I did it during E3.

I hope you didn't just expect that I'd be using E3 Weeks 2021 just to sit around and watch gaming announcement streams. No, I put in some actual physical activity throughout that week—and today, on KoopaTV Fitness Friday, I'll prove it! Here's what I did in Ring Fit Adventure!

I'm still playing on difficulty level 30 of 30. Last week in World 43, we... went face-to-face with Dragaux consumption strategies. We need to prepare ourselves for that, and thus we're in World 44: Extra Fitness Lv. 269. This is based on World 21: Between Land.

I started on Sunday, after the two E3 presentations from that day left me feeling grumpy. Hopefully exercising helps relieve that. I inspected the Zircon stone that Dragaux gave us before Dragaux went and began emotionally eating everything (and everyone). It's the last item in the ingredients Catalog, though we are still missing things from it. I'm just now noticing that the new stones we got in Extra Fitness are just palette swaps of the old stones we got in the main adventure. Hmph. As for the story, it's totally a filler. We're looking for the entrance to Hades (at the end of this world), and Honey is back as well, looking to talk with her grandma. But it's very foggy.


Ring Fit Adventure view catalog Zircon stone last ingredient
Zircon is just a yellow Diamond, while Garnet is just a pinkish Sapphire.


The first course is Jog-on Bog. To my knowledge, there has never been a fun videogame level with bog in the name. If you disagree with me, let me know in the comments section.

Ring Fit Adventure Jog-on Bog pulley zip line
Okay, let's settle this once and for all, because I brought up in the Microsoft E3 2021 log how I keep calling this a pulley even though it's actually a zip line.
According to Wikipedia, “A zip-line [...] is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope.”
So while calling this a zip line is more precise, calling it a pulley isn't wrong!


After getting through the bog, I went to the Town, which was completely deserted except for Honey and Hubby's General Store Number 40. There, they were selling the Blue Aurora II for one Zircon and significant investments of money, as well as the Green Aurora II, which requires three Zircon and has a useless Set Bonus of preventing money from being dropped on a course. I actually have more than enough money for the rest of the game thanks to my wise money management throughout Extra Fitness, but I used my one Zircon on the Blue Aurora II and have to find others for the green version.

South of the Town is a warp zone giving me access to two Game Gyms and an overworld Treasure Chest. In one Game Gym is Squattery Wheel (Advanced) that also is giving a Zircon away. Fortunately, I barely completed it on my first try. The second Game Gym is Robo-Wrecker (Advanced), with a prize of 475 coins. I have way more than enough practice to easily get an A rank. Lastly, the overworld Treasure Chest has one Strength Drink.


With the first third of the warp area complete, I went back to the normal area to tackle Ribcage Peak. It's foggy, but it's a foggy version of a World 1 level, so... not a struggle to actually get through. Annoyingly, the last enemy formation dropped one Rose Quartz... which I don't need any more of in World 44. Completing Ribcage Peak gives me a fork in the road, as well as the second warp zone. This second warp zone I'll get back to another day, because it has the hardest part of World 44 by far. As for this fork, the top half has a Rare Hoplin guarding a normal level, and the bottom half has a Gold Hoplin guarding a Battle Gym. They then converge into another level. ...I'll have to do both paths to 100% clear the world, so I went with the south path first because it makes sense, from a day-to-day progress standpoint, to knock off the Battle Gym here. There were actually four Gold Hoplins; and five waves to the Battle Gym, which I cleared in ten turns and was awarded three (unnecessary and unhelpful) Super Kale Smoothies. That's all for Sunday!

In-between the awful feeling from the Monday Verizon E3 conference and the next (great) conference, I vacuum-cleaned the carpet I play Ring Fit Adventure on and started playing it. I went to that middle warp zone I said I'd get back to and went to the right overworld icon first—this is the Core Set Fitness Gym. And it's long and tough:
  1. Bow Pull (x40)—Yes, there's the Bow Pull for the third world's Fitness Gym in a row. First Upper Arms, then Trapezius, now Core. I'm probably doing this wrong because I don't know how it benefits your Core muscles. “Hold the Ring-Con like a bow!” as if the average player has held a bow before...
  2. Overhead Lunge Twist (x40)—Hold the Ring-Con above your head, lunge with your leg forward (20 reps per leg), and twist your upper body 90 degrees while keeping your lower body stationary. You're supposed to breathe out while twisting. Much easier and also the best Fit Skill in Extra Fitness in terms of damage output.
  3. Pendulum Bend (x30)—This definitely isn't overhead. Bend forward at your hips and hold the Ring-Con below you...and then swing it left and right (and by swing I mean holding it for several seconds at the left-most or right-most point) 30 times.
  4. Seated Ring Raise (x60)—If Seated Ring Raise didn't have such bad stats for an attack in the RPG part of the game, I'd definitely use it, since it's pretty fun and incredibly easy. It's basically sixty free 100-point repetitions, which segues to...
  5. Plank (x30)—...Yeah, Bow Pull isn't the most difficult thing in this set. This is why I vacuumed the carpet, because I don't want to be breathing in a bunch of dust since one's face is gonna be on the floor the whole time. You gotta be on your elbows and your toes on the floor with your legs extended backwards, and then raise and lower your butt (and the leg with the Joy-Con attached to it). ...And for some reason, my left knee locks up and it huurts. Fortunately, if your Ring-Con is nearby, you can pause in-between repetitions, take a break and massage the knee, and then unpause and continue where you left off. (Unlike, say, the 60-second Overhead Squats forced upon you during boss fights.)
  6. Warrior III Pose (x28)—Warrior III Pose isn't normally an issue, except when your knees hurt from doing Planks.

As a reward for surviving this (and actually doing pretty well points-wise), we got five Black Tea Leaves, or the equivalent of one Black Tea (which doubles money).

The other half of this second area in the warp zone is yet ANOTHER Battle Gym, with this one offering five Persimmons—equivalent to 1.25 Persimmon Smoothies, which double EXP gain in a battle. I actually ate one of my existing Persimmon Smoothies during the battle and leveled up TWICE afterward, getting to level 316. And even more importantly, one of the enemies dropped a much-needed Garnet stone! I opened the overworld Treasure Chest that had one Defense Drink, and rushed to the General Store and purchased the Coral Snake II top clothing item. Then I realised... I haven't been needing three Garnet the whole time to buy out the store... I've been needing four. NOW I need three. UGH. Frustrated, I stopped playing and took a shower. Besides, the four remaining levels require a lot of running anyway, and my left knee ain't in a good condition for lots of that.


Ring Fit Adventure Battle Gym enemy drop Garnet money World 44
The droppable Garnets really do exist...


On Wednesday (Tuesday was... EXTREMELY busy), we returned to the main map of the world, and the top half of the fork with the Rare Hoplin. There's five of them. That means you're guaranteed a level up if you drink an EXP-doubling smoothie and beat them all before they flee, which you can do by using a smoothie like the Banana Shake that gives you an extra turn. Behind them is the Whirling Halls course, with wild Vanilla Ice Cream and Black Tea Leaves growing there—useful ingredients for the aforementioned Banana Shake and Black Tea (doubles money gain in a battle), respectively. I can't speak much about the course itself because it's just covered in fog and it's hard to see much, but both the first and second enemy fights dropped one Zircon. There was also a Treasure Chaser that dropped 100 coins. All of that helps in shopping, and I bought out the rest of the Green Aurora II set.

Ring Fit Adventure World 44 Soaring Valley Honey 180 or fewer steps
What if I kept quiet but made it through the course in 200 steps?
How would that be more problematic than 180?


The next course is Soaring Valley, but it's actually an event course—Honey is getting lost and ends up getting to the same place over and over again, Lost Woods-style, so Ring thinks we need to quietly slip past her (so she doesn't follow us into Hades itself, which is a dangerous place) in 180 steps or less. ...How does that limit make sense in the context of sneaking past someone? I have no idea. But I made it through in 108 steps and we didn't hear a word out of Honey, so I guess it worked. (It's a flight level, so there's not many steps to take!) To be clear, this Lost Woods-style getting lost in the same place is not a gameplay mechanic. Clearing the level gives us access to the third part of the warp zone, with another two levels and an overworld Treasure Chest.

The level on top is Rear Byway. This can be best described as another level with Fit Skill-powered railcarts (with Robbin birds making a guest appearance), particularly the Back Press (hence “Rear” Byway, because the Ring-Con is held in back of your head... or the rear of it). The second level, at the bottom, is Inner Byway—with many squat-powered jump pads and stuff, ending with a zip line/pulley, the difference between them haunting the “Inner” part of my mind. The overworld Treasure Chest had a Zircon that right now I don't need, but I'm sure I'll need it in the next world. And that's everything but the boss fight taken care of!


Ring Fit Adventure World 44 Extra Fitness Lv. 269 Monster Dragaux Statue boss fight balanced Fitness Skills monster dialogue
You know, the whole point of “please” is that I'm still supposed to be able to reject it.
...But I was forced to by the Dragaux Statue, who balances just as poorly as fleshy Dragaux.


On Friday, before starting, I went for a walk outside. Lovely day, and also because my left butt is in pain, so I wanted to try to... help it by moving about. It didn't actually work. Regardless, it's time to fight the boss. And on the overworld, it's a Monster icon saying that Dragaux isn't ready to fight me yet, so the Monster will fight instead. (Yeah, it can talk.) While the Monster doesn't think it can actually win against me, it hopes it can help train me and delay my entrance into Hades, I guess, and it also is forcing me to only use Fit Skills of its choosing. The level, Entrance to Hades, also happens to have two you-cannot-jump-over-this generic monster fights (with Mini Dragaux Statues) before the world boss at the end. I recommend eating Kefir Yogurt (removes monster fights from the course) so we don't have to deal with the terrible list of Fit Skills for more than just that end-level fight, which is a Dragaux Statue (presumably the Monster that talks) with two Dark Matta Ray+s and two Dark Megaphauna+s.
  1. Overhead Press Lv.3—1-range, 3-turn recharge, 655 base power; Arms Fit Skill
  2. Front Press Lv.3—3-range, 3-turn recharge, 390 base power; Arms Fit Skill
  3. Overhead Arm Spin Lv.3—5-range, 5-turn recharge, 490 base power; Arms Fit Skill
  4. Squat Lv.3—1-range, 3-turn recharge, 655 base power; Legs Fit Skill
  5. Overhead Squat Lv.3—5-range, 3-turn recharge, 325 base power; Legs Fit Skill
  6. Thigh Press Lv.3—1-range, 3-turn recharge, 615 base power; Legs Fit Skill
  7. Russian Twist Lv.3—5-range, 4-turn recharge, 455 base power; Abs Fit Skill
  8. Plank Lv.3—3-range, 4-turn recharge, 485 base power; Abs Fit Skill
  9. Open & Close Leg Raise Lv.3—4-turn recharge, 17-heart recovery; Abs Fit Skill

This is the exact same Fit Skill list as the miniboss fight with the Matta Slay in World 34 that Dragaux picked out for us, claiming it to also be balanced. ...It's really not.

What I did was drink smoothies so I'd convert all of my Fit Skills to any given colour, and then to boost that colour's power by ↑↑. The colour doesn't matter, since the enemies don't have their own elemental affinity anyway. Meanwhile, Dragaux Statue's minions will heal him and boost the enemy party's attack and defence. Dragaux Statue can also lower my defence directly, resulting in its laser beams knocking off a third of my health bar.


Ring Fit Adventure Open and Close Leg Raise healing Fit Skill
Both Ring and the user interface are ordering me to hurry it up, but...
...You see those floating malformed hearts? Since they're not big and pink, it means I screwed up.
(Regardless, I was fully healed by the end anyway, despite doing a bad job...)


My strategy was using a boosted Russian Twist and Overhead Arm Spin to try to take care of the minions—which had to be supplemented with a Front Press. Thigh Press and Overhead Press are the real damage dealers—I'm not going to ever use Squat. (Or Overhead Squat. And I already wrote in this how I feel of Planks.) I could've used a smoothie to heal my health/recharge my Fit Skills instantly, but I figured, hey, I haven't done the Open & Close Leg Raise since 2019. Maybe I should try it out again... And that was a mistake, because I just don't know what the heck the game expects of me. You don't use the Ring-Con, and it looks easy... just sit down and move your legs apart from one another and back. But... it's a lot harder than it looks, simply because the game isn't satisfied. Or at least, wasn't with me.

Still, after struggling with that, I could smash in the Dragaux Statue and I sent it crumpling. Despite this, it could still talk afterwards:


Ring Fit Adventure Dragaux Statue monster held down the fort dialogue World 44 boss
I guess that means Dragaux + Four Masters are ready for me?
But how is the Dragaux Statue talking after it crumbled? Eh, maybe it's like Skelter Helter from No More Heroes 2.


That's all it had to say. Then the world ended. So I guess we can now enter Hades (for a second time). We never learned about if Honey remained lost forever. Maybe we'll find out. ...Maybe.

Ring Fit Adventure Exercise Fitness Log Week 44 World Extra Fitness Lv. 269
Friday's would've been longer if I didn't eat the Kefir Yogurt at the Entrance to Hades.



The next world (World 45) is the longest one in the entire game. Ludwig isn't looking forward to it in terms of gameplay, although he is wondering what twists Extra Fitness will bring. Much more on that when Week 45 is released!


Week 45 wasn't released in the calendar week after due to Ludwig's second vaccine shot.
But after THAT is the World 45 write-up! You definitely don't want to miss this.
Ludwig didn't find another Garnet until World 61, but he got more than enough there to resolve his backlog.
How about journeying to Hades for a third time? Now treated as more filler than ever before.

17 comments :

  1. I feel kinda bad for the little statue, poor guy just wanted to hold down the fort. It probably isn’t that easy with joy con grip constantly moving up. Have you ever had that problem, I’ve got it now.

    I can’t think of any video game levels with bog in it, but good job on your fitness. Especially on those rare hopping critters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The other videogame level with bog in the name that I have mind is Torvus Bog in Metroid Prime: Echoes, which I consider sooo awful and it's packed with the disgusting Grenchlers.

      I don't use my Joy-Cons for anything but Ring Fit Adventure!

      Delete
  2. Whats the highest amount of damage of a skill you have

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Overhead Lunge Twist Lv.3 has 840 base power, which is the most of any Lv.3 Fit Skill.

      Delete
    2. mine is 795 its over head bend

      Delete
  3. Wii sports resort remastered should be announced at next possible opportunity

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes, I finally finished the game(plus the extras)! But I still have to get all the titles to 100% it. By the way, what level are you and which monster do you like the most?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I finished World 44, I was level 320.

      My favourite monster is (Mini) Dragaux Statue; not because I like that it's an HP sponge, but because I get excited over laser eye beams. >.>;

      Delete
  5. Wow, level 320? I was level 292 when I finished World 44.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm thankful for being significantly above the level recommendation 'cause it makes things go a lot faster...!

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. ...Yeah.

      You should reply to comments in the same comment chain. >_>

      Delete

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