Children of the Sun

This guide covers how to save the Olders, enemies in Children of the Sun, and the associated shell system. Olders can be defeated in battle by reducing their health to zero, or saved by using the Talk command and selecting options in the correct order, sometimes with the aid of items. Hints for solving these puzzles are often found in unexpected places. The first crucial step is locating the Older's shell, a cracked, yellowed husk. Inspecting the shell grants a book entry with general information that usually guides you toward the puzzle's solution.

Olders typically appear as random encounters in specific areas marked by a "Beware of Olders" sign. Inspecting an Older's shell guarantees that your next random encounter will be with that Older until you leave the current screen, which is useful for finding a specific Older. Contrary to some information, fighting and defeating Olders (reducing their health to zero) does not permanently remove them from the encounter pool or prevent them from being saved later, though this may differ for fixed encounters at the end of the game. Killing Olders generally does not lock you out of any content.

Saving an Older removes them permanently from the encounter pool, meaning you can no longer gain experience from fighting them. However, the experience gained is generally not essential, and players can compensate for lower levels with good equipment and items like the Barrier Drop, which negates damage for several attacks.

Each Older's talk solution is fixed. While some may have multiple options, this guide provides a single working solution for clarity. After completing an Older's talk solution, you must select the Talk command again and choose "Open Sesame" from the list, which appears only when the solution is complete. Once available, "Open Sesame" remains accessible even if other options are chosen or the Older is attacked. However, deviating from the solution or attacking before it's complete will reset the puzzle. Using items does not reset the solution, allowing for healing or protection mid-puzzle. Upon saving an Older, their book entry updates to show them in human form, serving as a quick verification.

This guide includes all shell locations, hints, and Older solutions, as some puzzles can remain vague and arbitrary despite in-game hints.

When saving Olders (non-player characters), you will typically encounter a "normal" attack intermittently while talking to them. A text cue will be given to indicate if they will attack or not. In the final step of saving an Older, you will instead get a different, harder, "enraged" attack, which is often, but not always, a harder variation of the normal attack. If you go off script (i.e., say something not part of a solution), you may encounter either the normal or enraged attack, and it seems to vary based on the Older's state and the specific dialogue option.

These attacks involve numerous types and patterns, similar to bullet hell minigames. Tips are provided for every attack encountered to help if you are struggling.

Alright, so you've been running into these 'Older' enemies in Children of the Sun, and you've noticed some of them drop chests, right? These aren't just any old loot boxes; they usually pack some pretty valuable stuff. The trick is figuring out how to get them to drop in the first place. You'll often see clues right on their book page, hinting at what you need to do.

A lot of these chests are tied to the Older's 'talk puzzle.' The real challenge comes when they hit their 'Enraged' attack phase. To get the chest, you usually need to survive this tougher phase without taking any hits. This is where the Barrier Drop item becomes your best friend. Seriously, keep a couple of these on hand! Any damage you take while the Barrier Drop is active doesn't count against you for the chest requirement, making these much easier to snag.

Now, a few of these Older chests have some really specific, almost quirky criteria. We're talking about things like having to survive a particular attack multiple times in a row, or needing to grab random items that pop up during an onslaught. Once you've figured out and completed an Older's main talk puzzle, good news: the 'Open Sesame' option stays unlocked forever. This is a super useful strategy for those really stubborn chests. Complete the talk puzzle first, then just keep using random talk options. This will keep triggering their attacks until you've met whatever weird condition is needed for the chest. Once you've done that, you can just select 'Open Sesame' to wrap up the fight and claim your prize.