March Archipelago 2025 (Complete)

[Explorer of Time]

Those Hat in Time checks got me enough to send a hint, which I used for the Hookshot Badge, which will open up Alpine Skyline. @Alex_Among_Foxes, it is in your LttP's Tower of Hera Map Chest. The only other Progression item I found was a Small Key for your Agahnim's Tower.

 

[Explorer of Time]

Edit: Theoretically receives a single Keg from someone. Believes one is in the pool, anyways. Potentially happens before the farming levels.

Cherrim just got you a Keg.

 

[Devalue]

Cherrim just got you a Keg.

Nods. Saw it. Got you the Shovel Claws.

Dealt with some more hinted stuff, thanks to also getting Ginger Island access. Snagged Alex_Among_Foxes's Hammers. (Technically not hinted, but really useful.)

Cannot reach Cherrim's Card Key at the Farm Obelisk. Forgets the precise requirements to be able to talk to that parrot. Maybe Island Mailbox? Shrugs. (Edit: Yep. Island Mailbox.)

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

Those Hat in Time checks got me enough to send a hint, which I used for the Hookshot Badge, which will open up Alpine Skyline. @Alex_Among_Foxes, it is in your LttP's Tower of Hera Map Chest. The only other Progression item I found was a Small Key for your Agahnim's Tower.

I'll need Mirror or Hookshot to reach that, but once I get one or the other I'll B-line it to Hera.

 

[Cherrim]

Cleared FireRed! I didn't even consider that I could just... get all the badges and go straight to the Elite Four without messing around with Team Rocket anywhere hahaha. I just released everything from it.

I'm BK in KH Chain of Memories until I get some more world cards so I hinted them. Doing some grindy stuff I can do in KH2 but that's still largely blocked too.

 

[Setsuna]

I'm somewhat late updating this, but this is exactly what I needed, I never knew you were able to go north out of Rustboro! Emerald is at 602/952 with that. I'm mostly being gated by the Rock Smash and Strength HMs currently, badges have been going smoothly, thanks to everyone who's been helping me out!

Arc worked very hard to get me Strength and Deva got me the Heat Badge so Emerald is pretty open! I don't have the time to play right now but most of the Hoenn sea should be open so I should be able to get a ton of checks either sometime tonight or tomorrow morning!

 

[Explorer of Time]

@SonicThrust I got the Tea you needed for FireRed.

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

@Cherrim The item I need to access the area I need to clear to get Arc their hinted item is in your KH world somewhere called Heartless Pirate, if that's possible to reach anytime soon.

 

[Setsuna]

Another update! I think my games are in a good spot, I've just updated everything on the Cheesetracker if people want to see specific details or if that's just what you're tending to follow instead. Here's what I've got:

Cave Story is still Soft BK. Thanks to the Machine Gun from Alex a lot of the platforming in Sand Zone was much easier and Omega went down pretty easy. I was able to clean up most of Grasstown, including freeing Kazuma and defeating Balfrog. Cave Story tends to be a game with a lot of small checks that require several items, so most of the key items I get will be helpful. The reason it's still in Soft BK is that I have a good handful of checks in Labyrinth that I could theoretically get, but I'd either require all 5 Puppies to enter the Labyrinth the normal way, or enter at the midpoint and fight one of the hardest bosses in the game. Fighting something that deals 3 damage per hit when you have 7HP and limited weaponry is not fun. If I got a decent amount more Life Capsules I could probably eventually brute force my way through without any progression items. A Booster would also be incredibly helpful if someone happens to get it. I believe Booster 2.0 is required for my goal but I'll take Booster 0.8 just for convenience until then. 32/68

Cave Story has gone from Soft BK to Hard BK! Thanks to a couple Life Capsules and especially the Progressive Polar Star to get the Spur, Monster X went down in a couple tries. Never used the Spur against it, but man does that thing melt anything that breathes, it's great. Most of the game's been cleared out, and most of what I'm looking for is either just handy to unlock a small group of checks (Santa's Key (ArcRoR's Sky Meadow: Item Pickup 33) and Mimiga Mask) (at Alex LtP's Thieves' Town - Attic) or is something I think I'll need but am not entirely sure about, since they're for the best ending and I never go a normal playthrough without them (Cure-All (ExplorerOfDoom's House of Pain (E3M4) - Blue skull key) and Ma Pignon) (STEmerald's Navel Rock Top - Hidden Item Sacred Ash) but the Progressive Booster (Alex OoT's Forest Temple Upper Stalfos Pot 4 (Kakariko Village -> Bottom of the Well)) is required for my goal and should be the last thing I need before I can just beat the game. As always, Life Capsules will continue to be incredibly helpful, but I have the Life Pot and don't require the best ending, so I should be fine. 42/68

Emerald has gone from 93/952 to 477/952. The big things now are going to be something like Magma Emblem (Magma Emblem is at ArcSA2B's Final Rush - Item Box 5 (Gate 1)) which I believe opens up most of the Hoenn sea, and Rock Smash (HM06 Rock Smash is at ExplorerOfCrime's Tagged 350 Graffiti Spots). I'm going into Soft BK currrently because my tracker is still showing me there's stuff I can grab north of Mauville wrapping around the northwestern path of Hoenn around to Meteor Falls and back down to Rustboro, but without having Rock Smash and the Go-Goggles (Go-Goggles is at SetsunaEmerald's Magma Hideout 2F - Team Magma Grunt 7) I'm not sure how I'm supposed to get to areas like Route 113 and Fallarbor? If there's some method I'm not aware of, please let me know and I'll eagerly get all my remaining possible checks.
HM02 Fly and the Feather Badge would also be incredibly convenient to have, though not required. I've looped through the entire region on foot multiple times and will continue to do so if necessary.

Arc worked very hard to get me Strength and Deva got me the Heat Badge so Emerald is pretty open! I don't have the time to play right now but most of the Hoenn sea should be open so I should be able to get a ton of checks either sometime tonight or tomorrow morning!

Emerald has a few available checks, but is basically BK, very close to Go Mode. I've been smashing through it thanks to some determination and getting very helpful items from people! I'm currently able to access Victory Road but actually getting through Victory Road will still require HM06 Rock Smash, and since I set the badge requirement to 8, I'll still require the Knuckle Badge, Feather Badge, and Mind Badge (ArcSonic's Past two upper spikes (Labyrinth 3 Monitor #11)) to enter the League. Hints are very expensive in Emerald and I've thrown a few away, but I still wanted to hint for HM08 Dive (ArcRoR's Hive Cluster: Item Pickup 45) since it'd help grab a lot of checks. I... did not intend to ask for another 40+ item pickup from RoR though...
Emerald has gone down so much so quickly. 789/952

Final Fantasy V is walled as far as I'm aware. A couple of the checks my tracker is saying are available to me are in areas I can go to, but I don't have whatever pre-requisites I need to actually obtain them. A lot of time today was spent either fighting bosses by tossing an extreme amount of money at them (whoever got me the Samurai crystal is fantastic, thank you!) or grinding for gil and EXP to take on said bosses. A lot got done today and I'm unsure exactly on how progression is going to work for me since I've just never played Career Day before, but the key for the Steamship is going to get me a good amount of checks, and whatever gets me into the endgame world will be when the game really breaks open. 173/249

Final Fantasy V continues to be walled for now. The only thing I think I can pick up currently is more of the Legendary Weapons, and those checks aren't giving useful items. I mainly just wanted to do some research and I found the big things necessary for progression are going to be the Anti-Barrier (Alex OoT's DMT Storms Grotto Chest (Graveyard -> Graveyard Royal Familys Tomb)) and likely also the Bracelet (DevalueStardew's Calico Bundle) since those are going to unlock an entire chunk of the game. I think after that point most things will be open and it's just a matter of collecting what's there and then I assume I'll just be on the lookout for smaller items to unlock a few specific checks. The Steamship Key (ArcLG's Route 16 - Hidden Item Under Snorlax) will also just be a collection of checks that'll be nice to have if they become available. I'm unsure exactly what else is going to be required for me right now, but any equipment, ability, job crystal, or payment of gil I can get will at least benefit me somewhat. 160/360

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

Another day, another update lol.

Z1: Walled yet again, though I only need 2 items for GO mode. Just the Flute and the Silver Arrow, though the Raft would also let me do Level 4 in the event the Flute's super gated. I'll hint for it tomorrow sometime if no one finds it by then.

SM: In a very weird state. I'm actually completely trapped and am relying on a savestate so I don't lose a bunch of progress. What I need to get out is either the Speed Booster or the Wave Beam, both of which I'll hint for tomorrow sometime if no one finds them before then.

LtP: I did a bit of work on it today, but not a ton. The great news is I found my Mirror in M&L, so now I can do a ton of checks in it tomorrow! Hard to really give an update when the game is in the state it's currently in lol. I'll have a much better one for it tomorrow. As for items, Hookshot is always needed for sure.

M&L/OoT Both of these games I did a ton of work on today and got both of them to just over 50% completion. With exception to a few Key items I'm pretty much already in GO mode for M&L, I'm just tidying up all the stuff I missed before while I wait for those items to show up. OoT is also going quite well, with the biggest missing items being my Hookshot/s and Iron Boots. Though I still somehow have none of the elemental arrows, nor any of the magic items like Din's. Both of these still have plenty to do, though. So I'm not too worried about getting walled anytime soon.

Anyway, until tomorrow!

 

[Vendily]

On this session, I did not die in any way that would send a deathlink, though that is more due to luck than skill, because I am full of hubris and slam into Giant's Deep at full speed, narrowly missing an island on two separate occasions.

Giant's Deep was nearly completed with all the progression items I've received yesterday, and I see that I got the last one I needed to finish all checks for that planet (Thanks Setsuna).

I also have my autopilot (Thanks Alex). Expect more Sun related deaths now because of it.

Since I spent a decent amount of my session time BK'd, I took the time to collect 3 achievements for Outer Wilds I didn't have before. (They're all marked as Secret on Steam, so I won't be describing them here.)

Next session, I'm clearing Giant's Deep, as well as going to explore Dark Bramble (Thanks Arc) and one or two checks elsewhere.

 

[Arcaneum]

Risk of Rain

I finally tore off the band-aid as I needed to get Setsuna's HM04 in one of the levels here. Thankfully it has been so long, that I was kitted out pretty nicely from the start. As a result, I was able to at least make it past the usual barriers that were stopping me before. Yay!

The normal gameplay loop for RoR is: defeat enemies to earn money > unlock chests etc. to get more items to defeat enemies quicker > activate teleporter > defeat boss and survive 90 seconds of huge waves of enemies > repeat until Stage 5 where you can choose to repeat this entire cycle from Stage 1 (more items, but gets even harder) or go to the final stage. Also the difficulty increases the longer you are in your run. As this game seems to lose all of your items when you quit a run via any means, this has meant I have had to keep looping through the stages I have available, until this happened (yes, that is 247 minutes aka just over 4 hours)...

I am now at a point that bosses spawn as regular enemies (almost a 50/50 ratio to normal enemies at this point), which is hectic but also really good for this, as it speeds up my ability to get checks by a LOT. For reference - every other item I pick up will complete a check, and I have 62 checks per level meaning I have to pick up 124 items in every level to get every check. Items can be picked up via:

1. Interacting with chests/vendors if you have enough money to do so
2. Defeating bosses
3. Defeating Elite enemies (i.e. they have some form of enhancement and are a lot tougher) if you have the 56 Leaf Clover item (this is only a % chance to do so though)

These are all quite slow methods at the early stage of the run, as there are not many chests etc. in each level; bosses generally only spawn from the teleporter and Elite enemies take a while to spawn AND you need an item to get any drops anyway.

This means that the higher the difficulty, the more enemies that satisfy criteria 2 and 3 spawn! With all the items I've been getting as well, I have turned into a bit of a killing machine. As it stands, this is what my inventory is looking like:

Now there is a reason I said killing machine and not unkillable. As much as I can kill very quickly and have a lot of sustain, if something happens like say your controller stops registering (MIGHT have happened to me just maybe mhm) then I die pretty quickly. Luckily I did have the item that revives me otherwise the run would've been over and I may have just cried and deleted my PC from this universe.

I have now finally after said 247 minutes completed every check I can currently do (everyone has been notified on Discord if I got anything of importance) and am as a result BK'd. I have checked for the remaining levels and they are located:

1. Sunken Tombs - located in @Alex_Among_Foxes Super Metroid at Missile (above Crocomire). I will say Alex this is probably the least important out of the 3, to a point it's not even critical (as it stands anyway). I only need Stage 5 and the last Stage which Sunken Tombs is neither of, I only have it here in case somehow I can't get either of the other two unlocked and need this.
2. Temple of the Elders - located in my Leaf Green at Route 10 - Hidden Item behind Cuttable Tree
3. Risk of Rain - located in my SA2B at Mission Street - Mission 3

To get the checks in my games I will need:

1. HM01 -> located at Hidden Base upgrade in my SA2B (requires Booster only as I already have Bazooka) -> Booster is located at Chucklehuck Woods Cave Room 1 Coin Block in Alex's Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga -> Currently gated
2. Mystic Melody (Tails) -> located at Crazy Gadget - Mission 3 (requires Mystic Melody for Sonic AND unlocking Crazy Gadget) -> Sonic's Mystic Melody is located at [will update once i hint for it, i only need 3 checks which i am about to go and do]

 

[Arcaneum]

Sonic 1

All the main stages and bosses are now complete! I only need the Special Stage keys and Emeralds now, the keys are located:

1. Special Stage 1 Key is at Eternal Engine - Omochao 4 in ExplorerOfSpeed's World at Gate 2.
2. Special Stage 2 Key is at Old Master Cannoli in DevalueStardew's World.
3. Special Stage 3 Key is at Memorial Pillar - Tall Grass South Hidden Item (Right) in STFireRed's World.
4. Special Stage 6 Key is at Temple of the Elders: Item Pickup 57 in ArcRoR's World.

Leaf Green

A few checks have unlocked here thanks to getting the Bicycle (thank you Alex!). Outside of what I've added to the lists in Discord, there wasn't really that much of note. I did get my Strength HM which allows me to clear out Victory Road now, which I have done! Currently BK'd and very low on HMs.

 

[Alex_Among_Foxes]

You now have your Hookshot Badge @Explorer of Time!

 

[Explorer of Time]

You now have your Hookshot Badge @Explorer of Time!

And with that, I now have @SonicThrust's Dynamo Badge.

 

[Explorer of Time]

@Devalue I did a lot of Hat in Time today since I had all of Dead Bird Studio open up as well as half of Alpine Skyline, and most of the rest of Subcon Forest.

To progress further, I'll need both my remaining hats, and I hinted for both of them in your games. The Ice Hat is obtained from Clint's Attempt in your Stardew Valley. The Dweller Mask is obtained from Monkey Caves - East West 3F Right Chest #1 in your Earthbound.

I have three hinted items from other people that I can get if I obtain both of these. Even getting just one should unlock a few checks, though, if you can't get them both now.

 

[Explorer of Time]

@Arcaneum I got the Booster, and used it to get the Silph Scope and Special Stage 1 Key you hinted for.

 

[Devalue]

@Devalue I did a lot of Hat in Time today since I had all of Dead Bird Studio open up as well as half of Alpine Skyline, and most of the rest of Subcon Forest.

To progress further, I'll need both my remaining hats, and I hinted for both of them in your games. The Ice Hat is obtained from Clint's Attempt in your Stardew Valley. The Dweller Mask is obtained from Monkey Caves - East West 3F Right Chest #1 in your Earthbound.

I have three hinted items from other people that I can get if I obtain both of these. Even getting just one should unlock a few checks, though, if you can't get them both now.

Got the Ice Hat. Obtains that quest in Winter, funnily enough. Stopped right at Winter 1 to progress in other games. Was a pretty quick check, at least.

Cannot get the Dweller Mask yet.

Thanks for Foragery Mastery, also. Needed that for one of the bundles.

 

[Setsuna]

Cave Story has gone from Soft BK to Hard BK! Thanks to a couple Life Capsules and especially the Progressive Polar Star to get the Spur, Monster X went down in a couple tries. Never used the Spur against it, but man does that thing melt anything that breathes, it's great. Most of the game's been cleared out, and most of what I'm looking for is either just handy to unlock a small group of checks (Santa's Key (ArcRoR's Sky Meadow: Item Pickup 33) and Mimiga Mask) (at Alex LtP's Thieves' Town - Attic) or is something I think I'll need but am not entirely sure about, since they're for the best ending and I never go a normal playthrough without them (Cure-All (ExplorerOfDoom's House of Pain (E3M4) - Blue skull key) and Ma Pignon) (STEmerald's Navel Rock Top - Hidden Item Sacred Ash) but the Progressive Booster (Alex OoT's Forest Temple Upper Stalfos Pot 4 (Kakariko Village -> Bottom of the Well)) is required for my goal and should be the last thing I need before I can just beat the game. As always, Life Capsules will continue to be incredibly helpful, but I have the Life Pot and don't require the best ending, so I should be fine. 42/68

Cave Story has been completed! It ended up being a really fun, really unique run. I never ended up getting items like the ingredients for the bomb or the items for the true ending that I'd normally end up with in a typical playthrough. I also completed the game having never entered areas like the Core or the Waterway (despite getting the Air Tank) which I've never done before.
Being able to end the game holding the Spur, Machine Gun, and Nemesis felt incredible and mainly the Spur and Machine Gun were what allowed me to beat the game with under half the maximum HP. Never even had to use the Life Pot either, which I'm proud of. Getting the Machine Gun early on definitely helped me with a lot of my mid-game and it's really fun to have a randomizer for a game I know so well and have beaten so many times because I'm well practiced at it despite its difficulty. I feel super proud about its completion and I'm very thankful for all the help I received from people!
I released every item I had yet to obtain, but there didn't seem to be anything good in there. 68/68

Emerald has a few available checks, but is basically BK, very close to Go Mode. I've been smashing through it thanks to some determination and getting very helpful items from people! I'm currently able to access Victory Road but actually getting through Victory Road will still require HM06 Rock Smash, and since I set the badge requirement to 8, I'll still require the Knuckle Badge, Feather Badge, and Mind Badge (ArcSonic's Past two upper spikes (Labyrinth 3 Monitor #11)) to enter the League. Hints are very expensive in Emerald and I've thrown a few away, but I still wanted to hint for HM08 Dive (ArcRoR's Hive Cluster: Item Pickup 45) since it'd help grab a lot of checks. I... did not intend to ask for another 40+ item pickup from RoR though...
Emerald has gone down so much so quickly. 789/952

Emerald still remains BK but close to Go Mode. I received the Mind Badge and HM08 Dive so a lot of my time with it today has been exploring underwater and grabbing everything I hadn't picked up that either required Waterfall or Dive. In terms of progression, it's all the same. Rock Smash is needed for Victory Road, and the Knuckle and Feather Badges are required to finish the game. 842/952

Final Fantasy V continues to be walled for now. The only thing I think I can pick up currently is more of the Legendary Weapons, and those checks aren't giving useful items. I mainly just wanted to do some research and I found the big things necessary for progression are going to be the Anti-Barrier (Alex OoT's DMT Storms Grotto Chest (Graveyard -> Graveyard Royal Familys Tomb)) and likely also the Bracelet (DevalueStardew's Calico Bundle) since those are going to unlock an entire chunk of the game. I think after that point most things will be open and it's just a matter of collecting what's there and then I assume I'll just be on the lookout for smaller items to unlock a few specific checks. The Steamship Key (ArcLG's Route 16 - Hidden Item Under Snorlax) will also just be a collection of checks that'll be nice to have if they become available. I'm unsure exactly what else is going to be required for me right now, but any equipment, ability, job crystal, or payment of gil I can get will at least benefit me somewhat. 160/360

Final Fantasy V is currently BK but a lot of great progress was made! Thanks to receiving the Anti-Barrier and the Bracelet, I was able to pick up a lot that I'd been waiting on, clear a good chunk more bosses, and loot some high density areas like Istory Falls, Phoenix Tower, and Exdeath's Castle. I did some more research on exactly what I'm looking for, and it looks like the final dungeon unlocks in chunks as you collect each tablet. So while they aren't really useful for unlocking the Legendary Weapons, the 1st Tablet (STEmerald's Route 114 - Item Behind Smashable Rock) and 2nd Tablet (ExplorerOfSpace's Fire in the Sky: Close Zerg Rescue) are required to complete the game. Other than that, the Steamship Key and the Pyramid Page (Alex LtP's Ganons Tower - Randomizer Room - Top Right) are still items of interest that aren't necessary, but allow for other high density areas I can clean out.
I've been getting some really handy Blue and Black Magic that have really been helping me through some troublesome fights, so thanks a bunch for that! FFV should continue to proceed smoothly. 241/360

 

[Vendily]

In this session, I cleaned up almost every Giant's Deep Check, finished all the DLC area checks, and cleared 2/3rds of Dark Bramble. Back to being BK'd!

The only remaining required item I need now is the Shrine Door Code (Not technically a spoiler because it's another item that doesn't actually exist), which is in @SonicThrust's Emerald's Magma Hideout. If I get that, no other item matters, because I would be in Go mode.

I also got one more death.
Death 4: Dream.
The astronaut made a new friend.
Any further elaboration is spoilers. Play Outer Wilds and its DLC!