10. WALKTHROUGH - CHAPTER 8 - THE HIGHEST OF THE HIGH [1000]

Guide your way through the Forgotten Tower in Child of Light. Solve gear puzzles, rescue imprisoned allies, and face a boss fight to defy the Dark Queen.

Alright, we're heading into Chapter 8 of Child of Light, titled "The Highest of the High." This section is all about escaping the Forgotten Tower and pushing back against the Dark Queen's power. It might seem a bit tricky at first, especially with some items and stardust out of reach without your firefly buddy, but don't worry, we'll get through it!

As you start exploring the tower, you'll notice some item cases and a stardust that you can't grab without your firefly, Igniculus. You'll also find that you can't collect wishes in battle or use Igniculus's abilities to heal or slow enemies. It's a bit of a bummer, but honestly, Oengus is a total powerhouse, and he and Aurora can handle most enemies without too much trouble.

First things first, fly up to find CONFESSION #4. After that, make your way down through the spikey parts of the tower. You'll stumble upon a puzzle involving a locked door that requires shining light on some blue orbs. Keep heading right from there and go through a door to find your party members who have been imprisoned. Flip the switch to free them, and then we'll do a quick backtrack through the tower to grab that MPSTARDUST you probably couldn't reach earlier.

Now, about that gear puzzle: it's not too tough. The idea is that lighting up an orb causes a gear to move, and your goal is to get all the gears to connect and form a working system. To solve it, shine Igniculus's light on the orbs in the upper left and the one on the right. Make sure to skip the middle orb! Once that's done, flip the switch, and the door will open.

Head all the way down from there, and you'll find !Oengus. He's in a bit of a bind, and you'll have a choice to help him out. It's worth considering if abandoning him means missing out on experience, but with autosaves, it's usually safe to go through with his quest. After that, go through the door and enter the labyrinth to rescue the imprisoned KATEGIDA.

Once you're in the labyrinth, send Igniculus into the right wall to find a DODGEDUST. Check the tents nearby for a HP STARDUST and some experience points. The red door at the bottom leads to a 'magic labyrinth.' There's a trick to progressing here, but don't stress – the characters will clue you in if you're on the right track. Basically, look at the statues in the background; they're holding shields with symbols on them. These symbols correspond to the doors you need to go through. You'll have to check the doors for nearby symbols and choose the one that matches. Keep doing this until you reach the captured Kategida and complete the quest, earning yourself a STRDUST.

Back outside the labyrinth, you can head right into the rain for a boss fight. I was around level 33 when I reached this point, and it felt like a pretty good level to tackle it.