The main part of the game consists of exploring the forests. Your objectives in the forests are to collect cakes, get to the exit, and find as much loot as possible. In order to get through each forest, you need to find several cakes in order to remove the magical barriers that block your progress. Along the way, defeat a lot of enemies to earn all colors of Sparks.
Entrance Area
When you first enter a forest you are in an entrance area. There is a sidekick outfitter here in case you want to make any last-minute equipment changes, plus there are doors for throwing your sidekick into and Spark capsules lying about. Look around this area and get some goodies while you wait for the level to be created.
The entrance area can be explored for some Sparks while you are waiting to begin.
Exploration Areas
Each of the eight forests is divided into several parts or areas. While some of these areas are constant each time you play that forest, there are also randomly generated exploration areas. It is in these exploration areas that you can find doors located in wells and trees into which you can throw your sidekick. Inside, your sidekick can find Spark capsules, loot, and even an enemy! The exploration areas also contain loot chests. Open these up with a melee attack. Most contain some sidekick loot. However, occasionally you get some Sparks instead. It is not necessary to explore these exploration areas. While you do have to move through them to advance through the forest, there is a direct route to the areas where the cakes are located.
Look for loot chests. Hit them with a melee attack to open them and then collect some sidekick loot or other goodies.
Doors can be located in the sides of trees or in wells. Throw your sidekick inside to find Spark capsules or on occasion even some sidekick loot. Your sidekicks cannot enter some doors if their search stat is not high enough. The sidekick will let you know which doors he or she can enter.
A yellow hexagonal icon appears on the screen showing you the direction of your next objective. When you first leave the entrance area, your first objective is to get to area A of the forest. You can follow the objective icon or spend some time exploring and getting not only loot for your sidekicks, but also gaining Sparks. The exploration areas are filled with opportunities for all colors of Sparks. As you defeat enemies, orange Sparks can be collected—along with other colors as well. The orange Sparks provide experience for your characters. Therefore, if you want to level up your characters so you can purchase some new skills for them, be sure to explore and defeat enemies. Blue Sparks also come in handy since you need them for toys in the Toy Store. In addition to finding goodies inside doors, your sidekick can also find Spark capsules throughout the forests. He or she will let you know they might have found something; follow your sidekick and they will take you to a place where a Spark capsule then appears. The higher the sidekick’s search level, the more likely they are to find hidden capsules.
Collect all the Sparks you find by defeating enemies.
Sidekicks can find hidden Spark capsules throughout the forests. Be sure to follow them when they tell you they found something.
Enemies
The Witch has sent her wooden bear carvings and other creatures out into the forests. Even though you might be trying to help the Witch by searching for the cakes, these enemies still attack you. They are not roaming around the forest. Instead, as you move through the forests, they magically appear. Look for greenish lights, which signify that enemies are spawning into the area. There are several different types of enemies. The Marsh Muck look like green fireballs. They are easily defeated, but often attack in groups. Try to destroy them with ranged attacks from a distance before they get in close to swarm your characters. The rest of the enemies are all the wooden bear carvings. The Pine Bear is the smallest and weakest. However, they usually spawn in groups of three or four. Bear Catapults are stationary turrets that launch projectiles at you that inflict damage. They are weak and easily destroyed, but can really hurt your characters if they are not destroyed quickly. The Oak Bear is the next most powerful enemy. It carries a wooden spear and a shield and has a rushing attack. A block breaker attack is useful when fighting this enemy because it likes to block your attacks with its shield. Next is the Swamp Bear. It has a jumping ground pound attack that sends out a green shockwave that damages any characters or sidekicks within its radius. Finally, the Mahogany Bear is the largest and most powerful. It has a ranged attack and can take a lot of damage.
When you see these greenish lights appear, get ready for an attack.
The forests are crawling with the wooden bears created by the Witch.
Sidekicks
Sidekicks are a great help. Not only can they help you find hidden capsules or go into doors too small for your character to fit through, they can also help you fight off enemies. In the sidekick outfitter, you can provide them with a weapon that increases the number next to the sword icon and allows them to inflict more damage. Sometimes a sidekick can take care of some of the weaker enemies such as the Marsh Mucks and leave the Sparks behind for you to collect. They can also help distract more powerful enemies. Sidekicks can also help heal you. That same number next to the sword icon represents their healing ability as well as their ability to cause damage. Unless your character has an ability or skill that allows them to heal themselves, keep your sidekick next to you to heal you and be sure to collect all the green Sparks you can.
Your sidekick often rushes forward to attack the enemies.
As you fight off enemies, if your sidekick’s health bar is depleted, your sidekick will pass out. Don’t worry, your sidekick is not dead. You just need to revive your sidekick. Walk over to them and press the button that appears on the screen to bring your sidekick back into the fight. While reviving takes some time, it also has another cost—your character’s health. After reviving a sidekick, your character’s health bar will decrease. However, no matter how low your health, you can always revive a sidekick and still have some health remaining. A good tactic to keep your character from losing health in order to revive a sidekick is to swap in a weaker character for the sole purpose of reviving the sidekick. Once the sidekick is back in action, swap back to the original character and continue the exploration.
