LBA: Prelude Forest

Prelude Forest

Prelude Forest is the first location Url comes across. These wolf-haunted woods serve as a tutorial area.

Walkthrough

Upon being dropped off by the Bus Driver, immediately head to the left. You'll find a treasure chest containing a Healing Brew inside.

Head north to meet with Whiskey, a friendly spider guide. She will ask to be your friend, then direct you toward the Academy on the other side of the woods and gift you a Tree Branch to defend yourself with. Before you go, she'll offer to teach you to fight in a tutorial battle, giving you three Healing Brews in the process. Whether or not you win the battle, she'll wish you the best and send you on your way. Head north, dealing with any Mouse you encounter.

Concept art by Pastel Cherry

The next area is the home of a sparkling pink flower bush. Speaking to it, you'll be told to explore further, searching for the bush's cousin. Head west to find another chest containing a Healing Brew, then east for a Beret. Equip it for a defensive boost, then return to the save point in Whiskey's area to heal up. Until you've leveled up a bit, try not to explore without full health.

Head north of the talking bush. The next area you see has a secret passage just north of the entrance; look for a break in the trees and walk through it to find a small chamber with a Healing Potion in a chest. Head west of the break to activate a cutscene in which Url is attacked by a small pack of Wolves. Defeat them, grab the nearby Healing Brew treasure chest, then return to the save point once more to heal. If you have not yet reached level 3, fight random encounters until you're there. The additional HP and defense will make dealing with Wolves much more survivable.

Return to the area you encountered the Wolves, and you'll find a fork in the road. The area that follows is a maze of forest trails, almost all of which eventually begin looping the same two empty trails until you decide to turn back, but the guide out of the forest is easy enough to find. Take the right path to find the first talking bush's cousin. He'll tell you that the key to escaping the forest is to "follow the mushrooms." Exploring the many paths of the woods will net you several Healing Brews and Hurt-me-not Creams, as well as a Nothing if you're very lucky (Or you can go left, left and middle path, but that'd be cheating, right?). Taking the mushroom path will lead to Fermata Spring, a resting point in the woods just before the boss battle.

Whiskey will meet you there and teach you your first special technique (Strong Attack) before giving you your first Relic (Fake Red Shoes). Search the area for chests in order to acquire a Healing Brew and a Healing Potion, then save. When you're ready, go north.

After one more cutscene, the Wolves of the forest will come out in force, and Url will need to use his new Relic to outrun his pursuers. Hold Shift to run, dodging obstacles and keeping away from the Wolves as best as you can. Failure to do so will result in a Bad Ending. Success leads to Overture Clifftop, the end of the road. Fight off another three Wolves, then take on the boss - the Moonlit Wolf.

Monsters

• Mice
• Wolf

Boss

• Moonlit Wolf

Treasures

• Tree Branch, gifted at the start by Whiskey
• Beret, in a chest on the right from the sparkling flower bush
• Healing Brew x3 gifted at the start by Whiskey
• Healing Brew, in a chest on the left from the sparkling flower bush
• Healing Brew, in the south-west corner of the first crossroad
• Healing Brew, in a chest in in the wrong path
• Healing Potion, in a chest on the left before leaving Fermata Spring
• Hurt-me-not Cream, wrong path: third screen, chest on top
• Hurt-me-not Cream, right path, chest next to the lamppost
• Nothing, wrong path

Relics

While traversing the map, Whiskey will gift the player the Fake Red Shoes which grant the ability to run while holding SHIFT

Bad endings

When visiting the map for the first time:

• 01: The Boi and the Beast - Lose to the first wolf ambush, or fail to escape from the wolves at the end of Prelude Forest.

Trivia

• In the very first release of LBA, the wolf-escape segment was much harder, requiring near perfect button presses to survive. This was changed in the first patch to its current version.
• Prelude Forest takes its name from a musical term (and so do some of its areas, such as Fermata Spring and Overture Clifftop) that hints that this location is just a prologue.