Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - WON!

Indiana Jones Journal Entry #6: I've now used the same ladder three times. It's starting to rival my ship rib for usefulness. Oh, and I also discovered Atlantis and threw a god in a fire.

This WON! post has been a while coming, so let's get right into it.

When we last left the game I'd explored most of the Atlantean canal section. The one place I hadn't explored yet was a doorway that presumably leads to the inner circle of Atlantis.

I bet there's something particularly exciting beyond this doorway.

Or perhaps, it just leads to a different doorway.

The door to the next section is broken (what a surprise). There are two bronze loops, one connected to a statue arm and the other connected to the door and a broken part of the statue's other arm.

I can attach the chain to one of the bronze loops, but it won't reach the other loop. Because of this, I suspect I'll need to have the statue's left arm go 'down' somehow.

I use my ladder (which I retrieved from the statue room in the previous area) to get to the statue's chest mechanism, which I open.

The chest mechanism screen shows me the chest mechanism as well as some items I've collected around Atlantis which somewhat resemble the picture on the canal room cupboard. The objects I've collected from Atlantis that I can use are a statue part, a bronze gear and a crescent shaped gear, as well as an orichalcum bead. I can place these object in various places on the mechanism.

Remembering the picture on the canal room cupboard (or in my case, reviewing my screenshots) I set the items up to somewhat resemble the picture that shows the statue's left arm in the 'down' position, then put an orichalcum bead in the centre.

Damn, I really thought that was going to work.

I tried matching all of the possible pictures on the cupboard, but none of them worked. I also tried moving the centre piece to various other pegs, but that didn't work.

After I while I gave up - I then removed all the items and noticed something that had passed my notice before.

Note the gap between the silver piece and the crescent-shaped piece.

It looked like there was a piece missing. After facepalming at my lack of seeing the obvious, I set about solving the problem.

I was stuck here for a while and went back to ALL rooms I'd been to previously and tried ALL dialogue options with Sophia in case she had the missing piece and I needed to rescue her first. Eventually I had an idea similar to one I had earlier with the ladder – an item I've used before might have multiple uses. I went back to the machine room where I'd made a plethora of orichalcum beads and took back the bronze wheel I'd placed there earlier. Then I went back to the door past the canal.

Ah, I've never heard a sweeter KLIK in my life.

Now that the statue's arm was closer, I could attach the chain to both loops, then activate the statue again to move the arm back up to its original position.

The chain pulls the door off its hinges, creating a new opening, and something new fell to the floor.

When we last saw Sophia, I'd left her stuck in a dungeon because I didn't have any object she could use to brace the cell door after I opened it.

I take my new hinge pin back to Sophia's cage and give it to her. As I've finally found an object she trusts more than me, she uses it to prop open the cage and comes with me.

She tells me off, and Indy and Sophia argue for a while before, in typical Indy fashion, they kiss.

Fun fact: Indiana Jones has never kissed a woman without arguing with her first?

Having learned my lesson with the ladder and the bronze wheel, I try to take the hinge pin with me, but Indy just says “I can't. It's wedged in too tight.”

I take Sophia back to where I'd opened the door and we enter together. In a hallway in the next section, Sophia senses Nur-Ab-Sal's presence, and she directs us to a room with a lava pit. When we arrive, her voice alternates between her own, and a creepy demony voice. For those who are playing without voice acting on, Nur-Ab-Sal speaks in all caps.

You don't sound very humble, Mr. Sal.

I'll be sure to add that to my resume.

I can ask Sal to let me talk to the mortal woman, and he agrees. Even as Sophia she's not very helpful though, seemingly happy to serve her Atlantean master. She does let me look at her necklace though.

When I put an orichalcum bead in the necklace it gets hot and looks angry/happy. Sophia takes the necklace off. I can't touch the necklace, and it cools down after a few turns, which makes Sophia put it back on again.

After a few conversations and a few more attempts at putting orichalcum in the necklace, I get the idea to use my orichalcum-hiding gold box with the necklace after Sophia takes it off.

It works! Having hidden the necklace, Nur-Ab-Sal's hold over Sophia is broken. I then throw the box into the lava.

Put your hands in the air like you just don't care

Nur-Ab-Sal's bedroom, which is where I assume we are, also contains a sceptre, which I've taken.

In another room of this part of Atlantis we also find a macro-microtaur statue, which is much like a larger version of the one I used to burrow to Atlantis in the WITS path.

It's controlled by an open-mouthed head and three slots. I can use the sceptre in one of the slots, but the machine won't move – I suspect I need at least one more lever-like object. There are two pictures that I expect are instructions for the machine - one is on the wall in a hallway and the other is next to the microtaur itself. They both contain two darkened spots, which I deduce are lever locations.

Sophia, you're standing on the instructions. Would you mind moving a little to the right?

Apart from the sceptre, none of my items worked as a makeshift lever (I'm disappointed in you, ship rib) and at this point I was stuck again and did some more exploring/backtracking.

Because I'd run out of orichalcum by trying to make the microtaur work, I went all the way back to the machine room (then realised I'd need the bronze wheel and went back to the canal to retrieve the wheel then all the way back to the machine room again) and made some more orichalcum.

I asked Sophia if she had any ideas and she did tell me something interesting.

That doesn't help me solve the puzzle, but it tells me how close I am to finishing the game, so thanks, I guess.

Stuck again, I went back to re-explore Atlantis. After previously trying to 'pick up' the hinge pin I'd left in Sophia's cage, I went back there and tried to 'pull' or 'push' it, but neither of those options worked.

Damn. That hinge pin was the perfect size for a lever too.

Sophia's only assistance is to tell me we need to find the inner ring somehow. I explore a bit more, and try everything I have in the lever slots (I'm not surprised that my magazine didn't work as a lever, but I was trying everything at this point.)

Eventually the solution hits me. I go back to Sophia's cage and this time pull the cage itself, rather than the hinge pin. Eureka! The hinge pin drops to the floor, so I let go of the cage and take the hinge pin.

Back at the microtaur, I now have two levers and use the two sets of instructions both from the microtaur room, and in the hallway to control the machine.

How did Sophia and Indy get off the microtaur before it crashed over the ledge? An off-screen heroic leap I expect.

The microtaur drives around until I make it spin and crash into the wall, leaving us on a walkway above a pit of lava.

We walk down the path and end up in a maze of doors. You know the kind, where you enter one door and exit another, and if you pay attention eventually work out through trial and error which path takes us to the exit.

After all Sophia's been through so far you choose THIS moment to be condescending?

Some doors can't be re-entered as we'd slid down them.

Eventually (6 minutes according to my screenshot timestamps) I make it through and am faced with a section that reminds me of the 'Word of God' section of the Last Crusade. As I step on a hex, another hex will often disappear beneath the lava. If I go the wrong way, I can go back to the start, the puzzle resets and all removed hexes are back where they started. This section isn't hard and only took me about a minute to navigate.

I'm not an expert, but I'd have thought the heat itself would kill Indy by now.

After Indy gets across, Sophia follows quickly. They arrive at the shining city itself.

An art style consisting of statues with open mouths. I expected nothing different at this point.

Entering the main building, we find a spindle for my stone disks and a stone frog statue.

Aren't we all, Indy. Aren't we all.

I use my stones on the spindle and adjust them to try to open... whatever it is in this room that will open. I try combinations that have worked before but nothing works here. After a few attempts, Indy gives me a clue.

It means... aligned well???

This clue makes me re-read the Lost Dialogue, figuring there might be a clue in there that I'd ignored previously.

So what exactly DOES “well aligned” mean?

I try aligning the full moon, noon sun and city with each of the four directions, hoping one of those might work. No luck. I even try taking off the Worldstone, thinking perhaps that the Atlanteans aren't counting the world as a 'celestial sphere'.

I then try all possible combinations using the Sunstone and Moonstone, but none of them work. I really had no idea and considered asking you readers for assistance, but figured I'd brute force the problem and systematically tried EVERY SINGLE combination, using all three stones. I didn't bother with any of the diagonal combinations as that wouldn't be able to align well with the Worldstone, which was the only stone without diagonal options. I actually tried this a few times because I felt I probably lost concentration somewhere along the line and missed an option or two. If I'm remembering high school maths correctly, that means I tried 64 combinations multiple times. Including the times I tried specific combinations, I spent 47 minutes in this room playing with my spindle.

Not having any better ideas, I left the room, thinking perhaps I missed an object or clue somewhere else and should backtrack again. Almost as soon as I left the room I noticed something.

Why, oh why didn't I think of backtracking 47 minutes earlier?

The wall mural was the clue I needed. The Sun on the bottom, volcano facing right and a full moon in the diagonal northwest. And I'd discounted the diagonals before my brute-force attempts! (And yes, I HAVE noticed that one of my earlier screenshots in this post shows a good view of this mural.)

I went back and used my newfound clue to “well align” the stones, which turned on some kind of machine. As the machine turned on we found some old friends had come to join us.

Kerner and Ubermann came around to the stone frog to gloat while Kerner and the generic background Nazis kept their guns trained on us. I have a talk with Ubermann where he tells me his evil plan.

Um... Ubermann... when Kerner took out his gun and said "put up your hands" I'm pretty sure he was talking to Indy and Sophia.

Ubermann tells us that while I've been solving puzzles the Nazis have been stockpiling orichalcum. He continues to rant about how powerful he'll become, and his companion interjects.

Not wanting to be left out, I offer my own services.

This encourages Kerner to demand he gets to go first. I point out that Ubermann's suggested ten beads of orichalcum might be wrong.

I suggest he try one bead. Ubermann does so, and the machine turns Kerner into some kind of creature with a very bad sense of balance.

Ubermann then decides it's my turn. He lets me decide how man beads he uses. I go for the obvious answer.

This is another occasion where I love the voice acting. This line is delivered with exactly the appropriate emotion.

With Ubermann not taking no beads for an answer, I suggest he use 100 beads. This goes... poorly.

At least the Nazis are dead. That's at least some measure of success.

I'd been hoping to get Ubermann to test on himself instead of me, but couldn't get the proper dialogue options to show up. I eventually got the dialogue options I wanted. I'm not sure, but I think it was by continuing to agree with Ubermann, but then suggest he use no beads. Anyway, I finally got to threaten him with my godlike powers, which makes him reconsider and test on himself instead.

I like how the falling rubble aims straight for the Nazis first – Atlantean buildings have taste!

Sophia and I run through Atlantis as it collapses around us, which is something I'm sure Indy's used to doing by now.

Thus Indiana Jones was the perpetrator of the most unnecessary use of the word 'hurry' in human history.

We get back onto the Nazi sub, and if there are any sailors still onboard I assume we overpower them because Sophia and I seem to be alone, or at least in charge. (NOTE: The Nazi sub wasn't at the Atlantean airlock when we arrived in the WITS and FISTS paths, but it makes sense to assume that's how some of the Nazis ended up getting to Atlantis after I'd arrived.)

Indy's pleased that for the first time he has proof that he discovered something amazing.

Then, as the sun sets, Sophia and Indy kiss, and we get the credits.

As the credits roll, the sunset gradually becomes a night sky, which was quite a nice visual treat.

Which did not end up happening :(

Session time: 3 hours 45 minutes (I wasn't kidding when I said I did a lot of backtracking)
Total time: 10 hours 20 minutes
IQ Points: 598 of 939 (I still haven't checked out the alternate solutions I missed - I want to get onto that before getting to the final rating)

And that's the end of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. I really had a great time playing this, and it didn't get old even doing all three paths! I enjoyed it enough that I'm still intent on seeing the alternate solutions I've missed along the way before giving the game my final rating.

Next week we'll find out what PISSED rating I end up giving the game. I'm expecting it to get some high scores, but will it hit our top 10?