Journey To The Savage Planet

Journey To The Savage Planet

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J2TSP: Finish the Game in Under 4 Hours
By DALCOhstangultion
A guide to finishing Journey to the Savage Planet in under 4 hours. This will get you the "No Refunds" Achievement ("Finish the game in under 4 hours. See you at GDQ!") and possibly (if you're in the right Old Game Minus mode and don't die too many times) "Old Game Master" ("Assert your independence and beat Old Game Minus entirely in singleplayer") and "Old Game Alliance" ("Tolerate another person long enough to beat Old Game Minus entirely in coop").
   
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Introduction
I've produced a series of videos (and a playlist) on Youtube for getting the "No Refunds" Achievement ("Finish the game in under 4 hours. See you at GDQ!"). For this guide, I've created a section for each video, stuck a link to that video at the top, and then included the outline with timestamps that I included in the video. So, hopefully, if you don't want to watch videos, those outline steps will help you do the task.

There are two other Achievements that can probably be done using the same process:
  • "Old Game Master" ("Assert your independence and beat Old Game Minus entirely in singleplayer"), and
  • "Old Game Alliance" ("Tolerate another person long enough to beat Old Game Minus entirely in coop").
Those have to be run in Old Game Minus (OGM) mode (obviously). But, the only difference between that and a regular run is that OGM HAS to be done in under 4 hours and only gives you 3 lives. The videos I recorded do show where an additional 3 lives can be found in OGM mode (via bobbleheads).

I say "probably" up above, because I haven't actually done my OGM run yet. But, I don't see any problems.

And, if you'd rather just see the whole playlist on Youtube instead of seeing it in sections here, here's a link to that:

Playlist for Entire Journey to the Savage Planet "No Refunds" Achievement
Nomad Pistol

  1. SHIP:
    1. Turn off video (starts at 0:04)
    2. Register in Computer (starts at 0:08)
  2. Landing Zone:
    1. Scan and open back ship hatch (starts at 0:37)
    2. Scan 3 other parts of ship (starts at 1:28)
    3. Find and scan missing part of ship (starts at 1:46)
    4. Scan and slap crystal growths (starts at 1:58)
    5. Get carbon from PufferBirds (PBs) (starts at 2:19)
  3. SHIP:
    1. Print Nomad Pistol (10 carbon) (starts at 4:01)
Jump Thrusters ("Jump! Jump!" Mission)

  1. Landing Zone:
    1. Get Grob (starts at 0:05)
  2. Shangtar's Frigid Embrace:
    1. GOO: straight ahead across ice (starts at 0:14)
    2. ALIEN ALLOY: bouncy goo by ice wall and vertebrae to left, bouncy goo to back platform (starts at 1:48)
    3. GOO: drop down, bait PB with Grob and kick it into Meat Vortex (MV) (starts at 3:50)
    4. GOO: in passage leaving area (starts at 5:23)
  3. Jellywaft Basin:
    1. GOO: stay right, break surface, upper back (starts at 5:38)
    2. GOO: drop down towards ice for resources and goo (starts at 6:16)
  4. The Verdant Wilds of Zyl (through tunnel):
    1. GOO: through tunnel, straight back for resources, left in grass for goo (starts at 7:04)
    2. GOO: continue left towards portal for resources and goo just before portal (starts at 7:42)
    3. Scan portal, activate it (starts at 8:56)
    4. Scan grapple (starts at 9:15)
    5. Glimmering Cave of Wonder: Head back to first cave on left, scan and sample Jump Thruster Shrine (starts at 9:22)
  5. SHIP: Jump Thrusters (double-jump) (100 carbon) (starts at 11:07)
Proton Tether ("A Higher Calling" Mission)

  1. Print Live Sample Tool (starts at 0:11)
  2. GOO: Outside ship, through ice passage, turn around and jump up to ledge above ship. (starts at 0:33)
  3. Jump down to ship and teleport to Towering Crystals (starts at 2:12)
  4. Towering Crystals:
    1. ALIEN ALLOY: in 2nd cave opening on left (starts at 2:25)
    2. Cave:
      1. GOO: far right to ice cave by tomatoes, take right branch, it's just above entrance (starts at 3:12)
      2. ALIEN ALLOY: continue to end of path (starts at 5:41)
    3. GOO: out of cave and to the right past tomatoes (starts at 7:41)
    4. GOO: back past cave and across first bridge, across chasm to right (starts at 8:32)
    5. GOO: back across chasm, across a bit, kick PB into MV. (starts at 10:02)
    6. Clockwise around outcrop, double-jump to resources and PBs near Grob. Kick PB in MV. (starts 10:41)
    7. GOO: straight back through Tranquil Crevasse of Tranquility to next PBs and MV (starts at 11:33)
    8. Back and up path to left, kick PB in MV (starts at 12:16)
    9. GOO: in grass before final step (starts at 12:53)
    10. GOO: continue up and through next PB/MV, to left in grass (starts at 13:11)
    11. Continue around to right to Meteor Crater portal and activate it. (starts at 13:33)
    12. Continue to eye monster and poke it in the eye, enter Smoldering Abyss cave (starts at 14:00)
    13. GOO: bomb crack, left across lava (starts at 14:33)
    14. Right to resources and another cave, bomb on right to open crack, through to Proton Tether (grapple) Shrine. Silicon near exit. (starts at 15:52)
  5. SHIP: Proton Tether (grapple - 150 silicon), Improved Damage (100 carbon), Advanced Battery (100 silicon) (starts at 17:45)
Bombegranate Stabilizer ("Kill it with Fire" Mission)

  1. SHIP: Upgrade Weapons since I left loot behind in the previous video and lacked resources there. I start this video having already recovered that loot. At this point, I believe the only needed upgrade for a full runthrough is the Shock Fruit Stabilizer (which I won't get for a while). So, I'm upgrading everything that looks reasonable on the assumption I'll be getting more resources by then: Advanced Battery (100 silicon), Fast Reload (100 aluminum, 1 Alien Alloy), Better Utility Belt (200 aluminum, 200 silicon, 1 Alien Alloy) (starts at 0:05)
  2. Meteor Crater (these first two Alien Alloy quests involve fights, so if you don't want to do them, skip to the Towering Crystals portal at 7:49):
    1. GOO: Meteor Crater shrine, straight across, up path, past monsters to end (starts at 1:07)
    2. ALIEN ALLOY: fight (starts at 1:56)
    3. ALIEN ALLOY: drop down to south and into lava cave (starts at 5:27)
  3. Towering Crystals (the first two quests here are focused around getting an extra life in Old Game Minus - if you're not doing that and don't mind missing an Alien Alloy, a couple of goos and some resources, skip to the third sub-bullet):
    1. EXTRA LIFE 1 (only in Old Game Minus):
      1. before 1st cave, jump on rock, jump on trees, grapple all the way up to dual fighting lizards
      2. GOO right at top in grass (starts at 6:53)
      3. Go around past waterfalls and jump across to island (9:32 - in Old Game Minus, the life-giving-bobble is smack in the middle of that island) (starts at 8:54)
    2. GOO: back near tunnel into the area and at chasm where goo was before, grapple down to another (starts at 10:49)
    3. Way back next to the Towering Crystals portal, grapple all the way up (starts at 11:56)
      1. FUEL #1: on right (starts at 13:28)
      2. ALIEN ALLOY: green cube on right path before fuel (I knocked it down a cliff and didn't want to follow it, so I lost it). (starts at 14:31)
      3. GOO: back across from Fuel #1, past tree to left, grapple to island (starts at 15:08)
      4. Grapple back, grapple up and around to carbon (starts at 15:56)
      5. Turn around, then back and up with grapple seeds to Cliffs of Mt. Gzarfyn portal (starts at 16:44)
      6. SHIP: I headed back to the ship to drop off resources and make sure my weapon is updated. Then back to Cliffs of Mt. Gzarfyn. (18:07)
    4. Cliffs of Mt. Gzarfyn:
      1. GOO: bomb crack in back wall. (starts at 18:38)
      2. GOO: out of cave to left near PBs in grass. (starts at 19:21)
      3. GOO: down path to right at end (starts at 19:43)
      4. ALIEN ALLOY: all the way down right path and drop down to the bottom again. Since there are no bombs handy, can't break crack for goo. So, drop down and teleport back to Cliffs of Mt. Gzarfyn. (starts at 20:06)
      5. Teleport back to the ship to deposit your resources and make sure your weapons are updated. The next step is the Cragclaw Boss battle (starts at 21:41)
      6. Teleport back to Mt. Gzarfyn, go across and grapple up to Cragclaw. (starts at 22:46)
  4. Cragclaw: either launch past him or beat him with purple goo and crouch/jump alternating, shoot antennae. (starts at 23:30)
  5. Through to Bombegranate Shrine, bomb crack behind.(starts at 25:55)
  6. Through Bridge Portal to Itching Fields. Turn around and teleport back to ship. (starts at 26:47)
  7. SHIP: Bombegranate Stabilizer (100 aluminum, 200 silicon) (starts at 27:17)
Launch Boosters ("Up, Up and Away" Mission)

  1. Itching Fields (Planetary Flotsam):
    1. GOO: Out, across, to left. At silicon, turn right, across to amber island, dissolve all to free pump and get one goo inside.(starts at 0:11)
    2. Continue back to another amber island, acid to dissolve amber on pump is on islet to left. (starts at 2:43)
    3. GOO: Another amber island to right, acid on islet behind, one goo in amber and one in grass. (starts at 4:50)
    4. Launch Booster Shrine: drop down to the Launch Booster shrine clockwise of goo in grass.
    5. GOO: Kick PB into MV behind shrine (starts at 6:33)
    6. Jump back across islands to silicon island, go right (towards eye monster), then left to Gaseous Underbelly cave (away from eye monster). Resources at entrance (starts at 8:08)
    7. GOO: just past entrance, drop down on left to cave mouth (starts at 9:04)
    8. GOO: back up and past 2 pink crystals to left, drop down to cave mouth on bottom left of shrine (starts at 9:29)
    9. GOO: up above behind bottom-most single waterfall left of PB shrine. NOTE: I got lost coming out of that cave and deleted a chunk of thrashing - after the discontinuity I'm right outside that cave looking up at the same waterfall. (starts at 10:41)
    10. GOO: two waterfalls up behind the waterfall (starts at 11:07)
    11. At top, head back away from cliffs to Fungi of Si'ned portal and activate it (starts at 11:36)
    12. SHIP: Launch Boosters upgrade (100 aluminum, 200 carbon) (starts at 13:22)
Advanced Proton Tether ("4th Best Detective" Mission)

  1. Fungi of Si'ned:
    1. Head north from the portal to the Ruinous Altar of Yun'Ji shrine and scan it. You'll see three glowing trails to the three pieces you have to gather (starts at 0:05)
      1. Piece 1: go left and into a gap between building wings, in the grass (starts at 0:47)
      2. Piece 2: from the shrine, go straight back and drop down onto a mushroom cap to the left of the ledge, grab the piece, turn around and grapple back up. Head back to the shrine. (starts at 1:19)
      3. Piece 3 and GOO: go right from the shrine and to the base of the two waterfalls, enter the cave behind them and use acid to dissolve acid. Grab the third piece and the goo (starts at 1:57)
    2. ALIEN ALLOY: leave the waterfall cave and head straight back to the end of the path. Fight some octopus things to get access to the alloy (starts at 4:32)
    3. Head back to shrine, activate it to complete the mission, head back to the portal and then the ship. (starts at 5:29)
    4. SHIP: Advanced Proton Tether upgrade (100 aluminum, 200 silicon) (starts at 7:00).
Blight Bomb Stabilizer ("Fun with Corrosives" Mission)

  1. EXTRA LIFE 2 (only in Old Game Minus, if you don't need this, skip to the 2nd major bullet, below)
    1. ALIEN ALLOY: Teleport back to Fungi of Si'ned. If you don't want this alloy, skip to the 4th minor bullet, below. Otherwise, head southeastish (away from shrine) to the end of the "bee tunnel" (The Infested Husk) Grapple all the way up to another tunnel on the west wall, go outside and grapple all the way up (starts at 0:05, sorry about the accidental drop out to Settings at 1:46, I forgot to edit that out)
    2. GOO: Once you have the alloy, turn left and grapple across, dissolve the amber with acid (starts at 2:27)
    3. GOO: walk along back path to end and jump down to mushroom top with goo on it. Turn back around and grapple up to where you jumped down. Jump back down to base (starts at 2:55)
    4. BOBBLE #2: Back at the Fungi of Si'ned teleporter, head back past waterfalls to the southwest, down twice to cliff overlooking eye monsters, bobble is at edge (again, it doesn't show up if you're not in Old Game Minus mode) (starts at 4:46)
    5. GOO: tether across to cave (starts at 5:18)
    6. GOO: tether back and drop down to next platform down. Drop all the way down and continue with regular game (starts at 5:35)
  2. Planetery Flotsam:
    1. FUEL #2: If coming from the extra life bobble, jump across the islands to the right until you get to the tether. If coming from the portal, jump across to the left. Ride tether to fuel #2 (starts at 6:14)
    2. GOO: Out and back to the right, in grass (starts at 6:55)
    3. GOO: Jump up pinnacle on the left (starts at 7:44)
    4. Continue all the way around to Festering Chasm.
  3. Festering Chasm:
    1. ALIEN ALLOY: Jump down and kill three flying bird things to access the alloy (starts at 8:45)
    2. Head over to damaged portal, activate it and run away (explosive and spawning things). Kill arriving PBs, octopuses and lizard thing. Activate portal again (starts at 9:38)
    3. FUEL #3: Toss bomb up to crack in cavern mouth above jump pedestal thing, jump up and get fuel #3 (starts at 11:34—I don't get a successful jump until 13:00—looks like you have to be just barely on the corner)
    4. GOO: jump up in arch to right of jump pedestal thing (in the video, I do this before jumping up for the fuel—starts at 11:57).
    5. Transport back to the ship to deposit resources, then come right back (starts at 13:28)
    6. GOO: Continue around counterclockwise, goo in center of area by jump pedestal (starts at 14:04)
    7. GOO: Jump up by jump pedestal, goo in grass to right (starts at 14:59)
    8. Tether around, drop down and get resources in central area (starts at 15:25)
    9. GOO: clear grass near base of jump up and get goo underneath (starts at 15:54)
    10. Jump up to jump pedestal to rear and continue (starts at 16:13)
    11. GOO: tether outward to goo (starts 16:34)
    12. GOO: tether back to other tether and goo will be at base in grass (starts at 16:55)
    13. Parkour tether all the way around to matriarch portal. Activate it. Head back to ship to deposit materials and double-check weapon status (starts at 17:13)
    14. Festering Overhang: Back to 2nd boss fight (Floopsnoot Matriarch starts at 18:42).
  4. Floopsnoot Matriarch:
    1. Shoot yellow eye, shoot yellow holes; repeat with acid on amber coated holes (dull brown/yellow); repeat again with all amber coated holes (I've sped the fight up in the video since I'm so bad at it and it takes so long - it starts at 18:58 and ends at 24:28 if you want to skip it).
    2. Down to Caustic Alter for Blight Bomb Stabilizer
  5. SHIP: Blight Bomb Stabilizer (200 carbon, 150 silicon—starts at 25:15)
Remaining Fuel

  1. Teleport to The Enigmatic Spire (starts at 0:05)
    1. Across to spire, scan statues and door (that'll unlock Static Panic quest for Shock Fruit Stabilizer—starts at 0:12)
    2. EXTRA LIFE 3 (only in Old Game Minus): go right all the way to jump pedestal area. Final bobble is on top of rock before that pedestal. I shoot the rock where the bobble will be in Old Game Minus (starts at 0:34)
    3. Go back to first ledge to right of door and tether across to Xerophilous Landing. Activate portal (starts at 1:17)
  2. Xerophilous Landing:
    1. Head back to tether by big arches, across to island, off to the right across tether to the island where the broken portal is. But ignore it—starts at 1:57).
  3. Broken Portal Island: instead of going to the portal, go left to picnic tables and grapple up to the Pillars of Xzorgana area, grapple up some more, across to island, grapple up even more to the portal, activate it and teleport back to the ship to deposit your resources. Turn around and head right back to Pillars of Xzorgana. (starts at 2:56)
  4. Pillars of Xzorgana:
    1. FUEL #4 is on top of tall pillar by jump pedestal thing (starts at 5:15)
    2. FUEL #5 and ALIEN ALLOY: Drop down, go to west bridge and drop down to cavern underneath. Grapple to final fuel and Alien Alloy. It doesn't matter if you die here since all you care about is that final unit of fuel (and it saves the trouble of getting back to the ship—starts at 6:42)
  5. SHIP: I'm ending this before launching for the "bad ending" since I want to continue this video series to the "good ending." I'm not sure what would happen to the good ending if I came back to finish after getting the bad ending. See the next video for the actual launch and "No Refunds" Achievement.
Bad Ending

Bad Ending: For those not in Old Game Minus, you can get the bad ending to get the "No Refunds" Achievement. That's what this video shows. If you ARE in Old Game Minus mode, then you'll have to go all the way to the good ending and kill Teratomo. The remainder of this video series will show that.
Shock Fruit Stabilizer ("Static Panic" Mission)

  1. Pillars of Xzorgana: Since I died gathering my last fuel, the game kindly put my loot by the portal (which I picked up). If you didn't die there, you won't have this. Anyway, just tether across from south side of island and unlock the "Crackling Pedestal" portal. Note that there's an Alien Alloy beyond the portal that you can get by killing the whaac-a-mole critters around it. Since I have more Alien Alloy than I can use, I'm not bothering (starts at 0:06)
  2. Crackling Pedestal:
    1. Jump across to the south to the actual "The Crackling Pedestal" island (starts at 0:56)
    2. At the far end of the island, scan the "Shock Fruit Stabilizer Shrine" (starts at 1:04)
    3. Protect the shrine from the waves of PBs by using shock fruit from the two trees on either side of the shrine. "Toss" the fruit at the PBs to shock and immobilize them (so their tails are up) and shoot the yellow balls at the end of their tails. "Shrine Stability" will show in the upper-right of your HUD so you'll know how you're doing (starts at 2:14)
    4. When the PB waves stop, extract a sample from the shrine and head back to the ship (starts at 4:30)
  3. SHIP: Shock Fruit Stabilizer upgrade (100 aluminum, 200 carbon) (starts at 5:14)
Achieve Rank: 2 - Field Explorer

  1. I didn't do this earlier since, with the bad ending, the upgrades weren't necessary. Going for the good ending, those upgrades will make life easier. In retrospect, I should have kept the tasks in mind throughout the game and done them as I went along. Skip if time is tight. This will unlock:
    1. Bounce Shot,
    2. Advanced Battery 2 (200 silicon, 1 alien alloy),
    3. Improved Damage 2 (100 carbon, 1 alien alloy),
    4. Bombegranate Booster (100 silicon, 1 alien alloy),
    5. Precious Stuff Magnet (250 carbon, 1 alien alloy),
    6. Triple Thrusters (200 carbon, 1 alien alloy),
    7. Orange Goo Detector (100 aluminum, 100 silicon, 1 alien alloy),
    8. Alien Alloy Detector (250 aluminum, 250 silicon, 2 alien alloys).
  2. Live Samples (Approach the following live creatures and tag them using the Live Sampler):
    1. Pufferbird: cave right outside Landing Site portal (at 0:30)
    2. Babouushka: two-headed chicken in Towering Crystals area (at 3:34)
    3. Pikemander: big, spinning lizards. One up path from Meteor Crater portal (starts at 5:24)
  3. Nuke It (Kill four creatures with an Alpha Pufferbird explosion): group in left side of ice fields by big skeleton. Bait them all, then shoot alpha (at 2:09)
  4. Safety First (Fall 50 meters and save yourself with the Thrusters): Pillars of Xzorgana, and jumping off of the southwestern edge, but any big drop will do. Make sure you hit your thrusters just at the last second. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember a better way to get to a portal, so there's a lot of running through the wilderness (starts at 7:28)
  5. Flight Risk (Kill 5 ground creatures while they are airborne): kick PBs and shoot them while in air
    1. 1:30
    2. 1:34
    3. 4:00
    4. 6:32
    5. 6:49
  6. Scanning (Use your scanner to document at least 25% of the planet’s ecosystem): should have this by now.
  7. SHIP: Print various upgrades (starts at 9:21)
Stomp Boosters ("Ground and Pound" Mission)

  1. Pillars of Xzorgana (start at 0:05)
    1. Scan stomp circle behind pillar to unlock mission (start at 0:15)
    2. Grapple to island above and to east (start at 0:36)
  2. Eternal Tears of T'bo:
    1. Crawl into cave directly in front (start at 0:53)
    2. All the way to top and activate Tears of T'bo portal (start at 1:02)
    3. To east, enter orange covered "arena" area (Depths of Fnndddkkertt), scan and beat Slamphibian (start at 2:09)
    4. Afterward, ground will break and you'll have to fight some more. That will open the door to the Stomp Booster Shrine (start at 4:38)
    5. Get sample, activate Slamphibian Pit portal to your right and go back to ship to print it. I was short of carbon, so I had to go out and farm it from the PBs (start at 5:37)
  3. SHIP: Stomp Booster upgrade (200 carbon, 100 silicon) (start at 6:31)
Sychi's Trial

  1. Start from the Enigmatic Spire (starts at 0:04)
  2. From the jump pedestal near the rear, grapple around between the islands to the left to reach the spire (starts at 0:46)
  3. Go in, shock the central section and dodge/fight your way to the top (starts at 1:23)
  4. Activate the palm button (starts at 4:58)
  5. Head back to the ship (optional—I did this just for a convenient save for the video) (starts at 5:11)
Fixtau's Trial

  1. Start from the Enigmatic Spire (starts at 0:04)
  2. From the jump pedestal near the rear, grapple around to the right (starts at 0:12)
  3. Enter the spire, stomp the broken panel at the base, and jump/dodge your way to the top (starts at 0:49)
  4. Activate the palm button (starts at 2:29)
  5. GOO: Jump up to upper level for goo at west end (if you don't pick this one up now, later, if you want it, you'll have to either climb the outside of the tower or drop down from the Tears of T'bo—starts at 3:01)
  6. Head back to ship (optional—I did this just for a convenient save for the video—starts at 4:11)
Down the Spire, Defeat Teratomo and the Good Ending

  1. Enigmatic Spire: enter central spire and activate it (I don't know if scanning all those tablets on the bottom floor is necessary, but I did it just to be sure). Head back to the portal (starts at 0:05)
  2. The Broken Bridge: teleport in, grapple across, through door, activate the portal. I checked my supplies and found I needed some items, so I transported out to get some and came back. Head forward and activate the elevator down (starts at 1:18)
  3. Heading down the Spire: the elevator will make three stops on the way down. At each stop, you'll have to shoot three glowing, yellow orbs to get the elevator to continue to the next level (start at 4:13)
    1. Stop 1: this level's not too bad, just miscellaneous foes:
      1. Root Orb 1: southeast side of the bottom level, behind root (the yellow glow should help spot it—starts at 4:25)
      2. Root Orb 2: head to north wall and grapple one level up, on the north wall. Activates electric bugs, so it might be worth doing the third orb before this one. But, you can mostly ignore the bugs since they stay on that level
      3. Root Orb 3: On the south wall, up several levels, behind an electric door. I just leaned in and shot it instead of entering since the door activates and requires an electric shock to get out (starts at 5:07)
      4. Activate elevator to next level down (starts at 5:49)
    2. Stop 2: this level adds dripping lava, so watch out for that (starts at 6:11)
      1. Root Orb 1: face the northeast wall, one level up, you can see a root entering a glass pod. The orb is two pods to the left. There's a health plant one clump of pods to the right(starts at 6:43)
      2. Root Orb 2: on the west wall, there's a cave behind a block (you can see it, along with the blue grapple points, at 6:59 in the upper-left). Grapple in, quickly bomb the crack and jump up to kill the orb. Otherwise you'll have to fight the monsters that come out of the floor.
      3. Root Orb 3: on the south wall of the bottom level, behind some pods. You should be able to see the yellow glow to help locate it (starts at 8:21)
      4. Activate the elevator to next level down (starts at 9:30)
    3. Stop 3: this level adds in some pus shooters (do NOT shoot the big, obvious orb on the southeast wall as that activates them—starts at 9:49)
      1. Root Orb 1: on the southeast wall of the bottom level, behind some pipes (yellow glow should help find it), through stomp block (starts at 10:07)
      2. Root Orb 2: on the west wall up in cave. To avoid my thrashing looking for them, from the main level facing the "bad" orb on the southeast wall, the cave is about 1/3 of the way around clockwise. It's bracketed by health plants in pods (the one on the left is below the cave and the one on the right is on the same level as the cave—there's also a bombegranate plant there). Fight Slamphibian and enter his back cave for orb.

        EDIT: I just completed another run through the game. It turns out you can bypass the fight with the Slamphibian. When he breaks through the wall and jumps down to fight, just run past him, jump up into his entry hole, shoot the orb and run out. (starts at 10:46)

      3. Root Orb 3: On the southeast wall on the main level. Shooting it kicks off the pus shooters (starts at 20:10)
      4. Active elevator to descend to final boss fight (starts at 21:14)
    4. Stop 4 (Teratomo): when he shoots fire on all the back ledges, jump to the middle ledge and continue shooting him there (I didn't do that and died).
      1. Phase 1:Shoot yellow orbs on jaw and tentacles. When enough gone, will roll out tongue. Walk up and grab the seed pod (first try starts at 21:26, second at 24:40)
      2. Phase 2: ditto (first try starts at 23:26, second at 26:28)
      3. Phase 3: ditto (starts at 28:37)
      4. After you "leave" the area, head back to the ship. Note that I officially died in this fight (that makes three, but I had the three extra-life bobbles, so I'd still be good in Old Game Minus mode) (starts at 30:47)
    5. Back to ship: I quit the game here so I could re-enter and include the run duration in the video: 3 hours and 42 minutes. A bit closer to the four hour limit than I'd like, but still good. The "No Refunds" Achievement didn't pop here since I'm in a regular mode game and got the Achievement with the bad ending a way back. I believe it should pop when the credits start to run after the good ending movie (starts at 31:41)
Conclusion
In regular game mode, getting to the bad ending took only 2 hours and 24 minutes. So, there's no problem with getting the "No Refunds" Achievement that way.

If you're trying it in OGM, the whole video series (defeating Teratomo and getting the good ending) took me 3 hours and 42 minutes. A bit tight, but still adequate. If you're in OGM, and manage this, you should also get the OGM co-op or single-player version of the Achievement as well.

EDIT: I've now completed an actual OGM run of the game. The only significant difference is:
  1. I moved the Field Explorer 2 activity up to the beginning of the game (well, as close to the beginning as possible). In OGM, since I HAVE to fight Teratomo, I'd HAVE to upgrade my weapons more. Plus, doing that up-front would shorten any fights along the way and save time.
  2. In the Remaining Fuel section, instead of getting the last fuel from under the Pillars of Xzorgana island, I got it from the Festering Chasm location. That's MUCH easier to do and saves me a life (since I kept dying trying to get the other one).
If you want to follow that playlist instead of the one for this Guide, it's here:
Journey to the Savage Planet: "Old Game Master" Achievement Playlist
1 Comments
Lord Of War 13 Feb, 2023 @ 12:01pm 
Achievement is a lot easier, than it looks. I ran entire OGM solo and invited a friend for the final fight. Took me 2hrs 40mins and then 15-ish mins to descend and kill the boss. Plenty of time to manuevre :)