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2016-06-24

Dark Illusions Puzzles & Secrets

"Dark Illusions" is a western remake of Japanese visual novel "Nocturnal Illusion". The game introduces adventure game elements, some of whom can be quite tricky to solve. For this end I'll give hints and answers to some of the more difficult puzzles.

Note, that the game has many secrets and Easter Eggs. I definitely did not find them all. Namely, I failed to find the secret character Love Slave and never got the Mistress' Ending, due to missing the Golden Helmet. I speculate that you get the Golden Helmet from the statue in the Underwater Cave, but I cannot check that, as I couldn't enter the Cave after my first playthrough anymore.

Locations of Clues

Clue 1 - Basement / Food Storage / trash bin
Clue 2 - 2nd Floor / Study / in one of the books
Clue 3 - Attic / red basket
Clue 4 - 1st Floor / right hallway / bottom room / dresser
Clue 7 - 1st Floor / right vase by the stairs to the basement
Clue 8 - 2nd Floor / left vase by the stairs to the attic
Clue 12 - 2nd Floor / Misao's room dresser / during the endgame
Clue 13 - 2nd Floor / Mary's room / nightstand / during the endgame
As you can see, I'm missing a lot of those.

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Mermaid's Passage

1. Check the East side of the toolshed. Enter the passage.
2. Examine the water basin you encounter on your way. Take the Green Pill.
3. Solve a simple box puzzle.
4. Solve another simple box puzzle.
5. The path across the chasm:
6. Another very simple box puzzle.
7. Put the Sun in the top slot, the Moon in the bottom slot and the Star in the Northwest slot (top slot on the left).

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Misao's Quests

Dungeon

1. After finishing hide & seek with Misao you are shown a way to a dungeon area.
2. Floor 1 (maze):
3. Floor 2 (traps): Cross the floor without falling into the pitfalls (savestates help a lot).
4. Floor 3 (riddles):
a) Nothing
b) Sand
c) Iron ore
5. Put the two orbs in North and East positions.

Battleship

1. It really doesn't matter where you put your ships or even where you shoot. The game decides if you win or lose way before even starting the mini-game. I can only speculate that the decision point might even be the start of "New Game". In other words, this mini-game is so unfair, that it might as well be called a bug.
2. Note, that you must win Battleship not only to unlock the Underwater Cave and the Sandwich mini-game, but also in order to be able to get Misao's ending.

Underwater Cave

1. From my memory (I could only beat Battleship once), the Cave is pretty straightforward and there are no hard puzzles, except for one. It is hard, because it is flawed.
2. There is a timed riddle in the Cave that reads:
"This puzzle has three numbers. Multiplied together, they equal 10. The first is a small number. The second is a big number. The third one is left."
It is actually incorrect. It should say: Multiplied together, they equal 30.
The answer is: 253, in that order.
3. There is a statue in the cave, which apparently needs an item to activate. I speculate that the Golden Helmet is acquired there, but I don't know which item activates the statue.

Misao's Sandwich

1. Essentially you have to make Misao a sandwitch she will like. Maybe there are more ways to get Misao satisfied with your sandwich-making skills, but one solution that worked for me is:
White Bread / Ham / Swiss Cheese / Mayonnaise

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Quest for the Magical Sword

After going down the hole in the Bath, you will encounter a lengthy puzzle course.
1. Answers to riddles:
(You have to have the correct item in your inventory, while being asked the riddle. This creates lots of backtracking)
Coffin
Wine
Heart
Ship
2. Light torches in a correct order: 1432.
3. Darkroom. You can easily get permanently lost here, so try to follow the path correctly. An approximation of the path looks like this (light switches marked in red):
4. At the liar doors take left.
5. Now, the patch splits into two forks that will eventually merge back together. While the left path is easier, I suggest taking the right one, as it contains a secret item.
6. Left path:
a) Avoid the flames while running across the room.
b) Light torches in a correct order: 4312.
7. Right path:
a) There are six switches in the room (note that switch 6 is already in ON position):
b) When the switch handle is down, it's ON, when the handle is up, it's OFF.
c) To open the secret room, turn the switches 3 and 6 ON. Take Silver Shoe from the secret room.
d) Now set the switches 2, 4 and 6 to ON, to proceed further.
8. The next room has a numerical puzzle similar to the one in the Slave Card course. This time the passcode only has three numbers: 685.
9. The paths have merged now, there are three plaques in this room. The leftmost has a secret switch, which opens the fortunetelling room. It doesn't appear to serve any important purpose.
10. An easy block puzzle.
11.You reach a room with a musical puzzle. Press the switches in a correct order:
12. Eventually you'll reach the room with the magical sword.

***

Samantha's Puzzle Course

This puzzle course appears at the very end of the game:
1. Answer to the riddle: Having sex with the mother.
2. Press the switches in a correct order:
3. Light the candles in a correct order: 134.

***

Ask Vonwert

During the endgame, once the Mistress proclaims that all the doors in the mansion have been opened, you can enter the room right below yours. There you can ask Vonwert some questions.

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Priss' Secret Ending

Priss is a secret character from Vonwert's first game "Treasure Hunters".
1. Make sure you have the Green Pill in your inventory (found in the Mermaid's Passage).
2. Enter the room right below the stairs to the attic during the endgame, when all the doors in the mansion are unlocked.
3. Answer the riddle: Moon.
4. Talk to Priss.
5. In the next room press all the switches clockwise starting with the bottom one.
6. In the next room there are six switches. Press the left one, then a right one and a left one again, starting from the bottom.
7. Eventually you'll reach the room with orbs that have words written on them. You have to carry three of them into the next room one at a time and place them in slots. Remember one of the books from the study room. "True Power" is Death, Love and Life. These are the orbs you have to use (in any order).
8. Eventually you'll reach the room with the Cup of the Lost Saint.
9. Answer "Yes", when faced with an offer to go with Priss.

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Secret Gifts

1. Teddy Bear can be found in Arisa's room at any point in the story.
2. Locket can be found in the back garden where Sari appears at night. Examine the gound by the clump of grass on the South of the pool. Dig the ground and you'll get the Locket.
3. I have no idea what is the purpose of these gifts. Because in the original game both Arisa and Sari had two endings each, I thought that having those gifts in the inventory will net you the good ending, while otherwise you'll receive the normal one. Nevertheless, I finished the game both having the gifts in my inventory and without them, and I got identical endings each time.

***

Mistress' Love

1. Mistress' ending is secret. There is a trick to getting it.
2. During the endgame, once all the rooms are unlocked, go to the Mistress' Room (right to the South of the stairs to the basement) on the first floor.
3. There is a stone slab by the dresser. Examine and move it. Enter the hole.
4. This room has four slots, where you can put for items you acquired during the course of the game:
a) Slot 1 - Red Scarf (acquired from Mary if you win the memorisation game when she stays the night with you);
b) Slot 2 - Silver Shoe (acquired in a secret passage during the Quest for the Magical Sword);
c) Slot 3 - Golden Helmet (???);
d) Slot 4 - Old Coin (acquired from Maya, upon successfully completing her cooking mini-game).
5. I have never finished this puzzle, as I have never found the Golden Helmet.

***

The Room of Secrets

1. During the endgame go to the room South of the Mistress' Room.
2. Talk with Nigel. Take the Ancient Key from the nightstand.
3. Go to the basement and enter the left door.
4. Here you can learn about some of the secrets within the game.

***

Library

1. During the endgame go to the room right to the South of the Bath on the first floor.
2. Move the statues 1, 3 and 5 up.
3. You will enter the library, where you can read trivia about some of the characters.

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Slave Card

(There is an annoying bug, where just entering the Sun Door skips a large chunk of the next girl's scenario. It happens every time in multiple testings.)
1. After finishing Maya's scenario, Maya's room becomes available to you. There is a Sun Coin in a waste basket.
2. Check the West side of the toolshed and enter the crawlspace.
3. Use the Sun Coin on a door with the sun symbol.
4. You'll encounter the numerical puzzle, where you have to enter a four digit passcode. It's: 4190.
(Seems there is another bug where this puzzle stops working altogether in the later parts of the game. My suggestion is to at least complete this puzzle immediately after finishing the Maya's scenario, and if you want, leave the rest of the dungeon for the later... That is if you don't mind missing almost all of Deborah's scenario due to the first bug.)
5. Play Simon Says. After beating the mini-game go South, open the chest and take Key 246. After that go North.
6. Navigate the maze of blindness. It's a very tricky puzzle. Stepping on some stone plates will make you permanently blind and the only way to see again is to step on special plates that heal your blindness. Try to walk on the ground (instead of the stone) as much as possible. Some blindness plates (2) are unavoidable, though, and you'll have to search in the darkness for the healing plates. Yes, this puzzle can be masochistic.
Approximate path through the maze looks like this:

7. Enter the developer's room and talk with Vonwert himself. Acquire the Slave Card
8. Enter the teleporter and return to the beginning of the dungeon.

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Goddess Key

1. Location of Goddess Key - Deborah's room during the endgame. I have no idea what it is for.

***

2 comments:

  1. I am unable to download this game. I can't find a single link to download it. Please help me!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The download link on the RPGMmag is still fully working.
      https://www.rpgmmag.com/rmvault/rm/games/16/dark-illusions

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