The Longing-ist Playthrough: Day 3 – 03/01/2022 – 398 Days, 7 Hours, 19 Minutes and 21 Seconds to go…

Ugh. Yesterdays playthrough was a bit of a broken one, since I had a busy day. My girlfriend and I had a shopping trip planned, so I took my Switch with me to check in on Monty while we were on the train. (I wasn’t neglecting her for anyone wondering, she was getting stuck into Skyward Sword on her Switch Lite.) I was pretty excited because I knew the [exit of the Palace] doors would be open and I was looking forward to exploring the upper caverns.

“I’m starting to miss my comfortable armchair.”

Monty

Aw, come on, man – don’t guilt trip me. I needed you to sleep on the floor so that you were ready to get exploring…😅 So, shaking off my guilt, I ask Monty to head through the doors and into the upper caverns. I have no idea what the music sounds like here, because my playtime was entirely drowned out by a rowdy group of Wolverhampton football fans sat alongside us on the train 😒, I’ll update you on the music later, I guess.

The caves here looked cold and desolate (in Monty’s words), and extended off in both directions from the doorway. Heading left only led to branching upper and lower paths and sadly both only led to more Disappointment (5x now – doh!), as they were both dead ends. That could be costly – at least if Disappointments mean anything in the long run. Backtracking over to the right, Monty informs me that I’m heading into an old mine that might contain some useful things…

THE MATTOCK. It had better be in here.

Monty found three more pieces of wood and confirmed that he’d be able to build a bed with it so long as he had some moss, much to my enjoyment. I was already looking forward to getting home and seeing if the materials I had were enough. 

Oh you’ve got to be kidding me…

I found the mattock, ladies and gentleman… it was lying on the floor on the level below Monty, and there was no way to get to it from where he was. What a heart breaker 💔. I checked my screenshot map to try and figure out how to get there from the other side, and while it looks like you go up and over before doubling back, I couldn’t be sure. I am not – emphasis on ‘not’ – a happy boy.

I doubled back to check out the last path available to me, and this thankfully seemed to lead somewhere. It again branched out in both directions, and heading right, we ran into an overhang that towered over Monty and offered no way for him to get up.

“I am trying to find solutions to all my problems, but somehow I just keep running into walls.”

Monty

I said that to my therapist, buddy.

Heading left and clambering up a rocky path, we came to another platform that Monty couldn’t reach, but this one at least had a nearby boulder that we could use as a step once Monty had pushed it in place. He wasn’t too keen on the idea, but dutifully moved it across, ’cause he’s a good lad. Clambering up the wall and along the path, something came into view. A piece of something blue on the ground… some kind of gemstone? It turned out to be a piece of lapis lazuli that Monty and me could use to paint in blue. He muttered something about painting a sky that he’ll never see, but I’m not taking his negative BS anymore, so I shrugged it off. Let’s try and be a bit more Tigger and a little less Eeyore, at least now and again, please pal?

Continuing along the path, we ran into another dead end and a further Disappointment, bringing the running total to six. Maybe that’s why he’s saying all this bleak stuff? Well, I can’t see it getting better from here… Wandering around some more, Monty ducked through a little crawlspace and into a gigantic cave that he muses might reach the outside world. I hope not – I don’t want to get you in trouble, mate.

There were some spider webs along the walls in here; that was definitely something new, and it reminded me that I saw a spider in the drawing menu earlier on labelled ‘friend’, which put me at least a little at ease. Another dead end came into sight but this one at least had a piece of flint at the bottom as a consolation. Monty turned on his heel and headed the other way, towards a large spider web that seemed to reach from the floor up to a platform above Monty’s head. ‘Climb the web?’, asked the menu… Ab-so-lutely! Spiders are friends indeed – awesome. Finally some good news. 

Walking along this platform, there was another crawlspace to clamber through and a mess of paths to explore. The most interesting had a tiny, and I mean tiny, little spider in, chilling in a web! Adorable. I couldn’t reach him as he was too high up, but there was a platform alongside him, so I hoped me and Monty could make our way up there to say ‘hi’. 

Monty and I shuffled through another tight space and wandered a few paths and collected nothing more than two more Disappointments. We now had a gleaming collection of eight. I definitely need to figure out how to counteract those otherwise he’s going to do himself in. We got off the train somewhere around here and the Wolverhampton fans set off for a gleeful afternoon beating up my beloved Man United 😡, and Monty was left to his own devices for a while.

Many, many hours later shopping was done and dinner was eaten and we were back on the train to go home – so it was Monty Time again, albeit briefly. It was a short second session but an intriguing one, for sure. I woke Monty from his nap and continued scouring the tunnels, and quickly came across a chunky pink crystal jutting from one of the walls – more treasure to collect, if only I had that mattock! Is it treasure though? I think Monty can use these crystal for something, but I can’t figure out what…

Backtracking for one last time, we made it to our destination – the platform next to our little spider friend! 🕷🎉 I asked Monty to sidle forward in the hopes of introducing himself or something equally sweet, but all he managed to do was tumble off the ledge and tear through the poor little guys web! How embarrassing! But then, just as Monty was picking himself up and dusting himself off, the little spider slowly pattered off and began spinning another web – this time up towards one of the platforms that Monty couldn’t reach earlier! While it’s going to be “days” before it can take Monty’s weight – we now have a direction to continue exploring – hopefully one that will lead to the Lost Mattock of legend.

We finally headed to the [exit of the Palace] again, ready to head home, and just before we set off – we found the last piece of the instrument on the way out! Woop woop! It was just lying there on the ground – I had definitely missed it yesterday – I’m going to have to pay more attention in future…

When we finally got back to [my room] (which I’m going to start calling [our room]), I was a little gutted that there was no bed waiting for Monty 😥 That said, at least I could give him a comfy armchair to sleep in for once. Before turning the Switch off, I suggested Monty do a drawing of our new spider buddy in blue and black (since we sound the lapis lazuli down in the mine, and well, the spider was black), and hung it alongside Monty’s self-portrait above the fireplace. Yes, sickening – I know. Then, since I knew I wouldn’t check in again before bed, I set Monty reading Moby Dick, to see if he could get any further than I ever managed. Good luck, chum, and goodnight.

Continue reading: Day 4