Fetch Quest

You come upon a building with two doors. The one on the left has a half dozen random townsfolk waiting at it in a single file line. The one on the right has nobody standing around it. You're curious what all those people are waiting in line for, aren't you? So you walk in the right door to see what the hubbub is. As quickly as you walk in you are shoved back out, scolded for trying to sneak in the back rather than waiting in line like everyone else.

So, what do you do now? You know there's something in there, and it's probably something good. Perhaps you'll search around a bit, see if there's another way in. Or you could chat up a few of those standing in line, try to extract a tidbit of information out of them. Eventually, something will happen: the line will move. The person in front will enter the building, and everyone else will move forward a step. A few seconds later, another villager may join the back of the line. At this point, it becomes clear: if you want to get inside the building, you'll have to wait in the line.

Depending on whether you get in the back or sneakily cut into the middle after someone enters the building, you're going to be twiddling your thumbs for three to five minutes while you wait for it to be your turn. Absolutely do not step out of line for any reason, because the people behind you have no qualms about hastily nabbing your spot - there is no "save my place" in Illusion of Gaia. After you've put the controller down, taken a bathroom break, and made yourself a snack, it'll finally be your turn to enter the building. Your reward? A sampling of two potions: the first upgrades your maximum hit points, the second powers up your special Dark Friar attack. You then step out through the same exit door you tried entering earlier, and continue with your game.

Okay, nothing too world-shattering. But you know, I find the whole sequence kind of neat. I mean, how many games make you wait - quite literally - in a line to enter a store? It's actually fairly exciting the first time you do it. I mean, who knows what's back there? All you know is that the townsfolk are really excited about the place, and that if you're patient enough, you can see what's inside. The reason it works so well is because the wait time is not unreasonably long, the reward is actually fairly nice for the time invested, and, most importantly, it's entirely optional. If you don't feel like taking a five minute break when you reach this part of the game, then by all means skip it. Illusion of Gaia isn't so difficult that you'll really miss the one HP boost, the Dark Friar power up isn't exclusive to the location. Overall, just a very interesting, unique part of the game.