Our first encounter with the second (major) boss of the Lava Zone in Ys: The Oath in Felghana didn’t go so hot…or rather, it did? In any case, we got killed pretty quickly, but I thought part of this could be solved by investing a little time in leveling up a bit.

Well, this time around, I do just that, and gaining that edge on the boss actually makes it hit a heck of a lot less hard. But, what also makes a difference in the fight with Gyalva is learning that you can stand on either the far left or far right of the bridge and avoid the vast majority of its attacks. Of course, you do have to go after it and attack it, but once you learn the best times to do, so the fight really isn’t that bad.

With Gyalva gone, we get to return back to the surface and can use our new spin-attack ability to explore a couple areas we couldn’t get to before. In one case (the Abandoned Mine), we get a lost pendant that we bring back to an old woman in town, and she gives us a special item that allows us to see in very dark areas (which is necessary in the next part of the game). After a cutscene tells us that there might be something special hidden in a closed part of the mine, we end up heading back there. But what lies in the mine itself, you’ll just have to watch to find out. Still, the rest of the exploration will have to wait.

As always, I hope you are enjoying this game! Stick around – more fun stuff is on the way!