Mesa Town

**Current Stage: Mesa Town**

*Previous Stage: Glass Caverns | Next Stage: Fairy Forest*

3. Swing Across the Scaffolding

4. Reach the Top of the Hideout

5. Defeat Cesar

**Mesa Town** is the third world of Grapple Force Rena. It consists of a huge desert with large sand mounds. It also contains both the small village of Mesa Town and a large casino-styled tower that is home to Cesar.

In the story of Grapple Force Rena, Rena and Pine show up in Mesa Town to find that it has been taken over by Cesar, who forces the residents of the town to pay "protection fees". The heroines liberate the town, and Pine volunteers to stay behind at the area to defend it from a future hollow invasion while Rena takes on Cesar directly. Rena and Cesar fight with Rena winning the tussle, so Lueh breaks his contract with Cesar and tries to kill him, but Rena saves Cesar at the last minute.

## Course 3-1

Course 3-1 starts on the outskirts of a large desert. There are some palm trees and cactuses scattering around in the background, and occasionally the player will stumble into an abandoned house. There are a lot of sandy hills that Rena must travel over on her way to Mesa Town, but this can be made easier by taking Aether Bikes from the Aether Biker enemies. When riding on the bikes, Rena becomes far faster when moving horizontally and can kill enemies simply by running into them. Riding on the bikes also provides the ability to move on top of spikes, which are a new hazard that shows up in this level. If the player finishes the level without ever using a bike, then they are given the "Hoofin' it" achievement. There are many points in which the player will have to abandon their bike in order to progress the level, however, as the bike is not capable of moving vertically beyond simple jumps.

### Miniboss

At the end of the stage, there is a miniboss fight against the Desert Delver. The area in which Rena fights the Desert Delver has a quicksand pit that sucks her into the center, where there are spinning blades. At the top of the arena, there is a giant rock that can be pulled out of the ceiling via a grapple to crush the miniboss, killing it instantly, which is what the player must do the defeat it. When the player is clinging to the ceiling, the Delver will occasionally shoot at the player. From there on, the player just walks to the right and the level ends.

## Course 3-2

Course 3-2 takes place directly in Mesa Town. There are many houses all over the place (though none of them can be entered), and there are many NPCs that the player can talk to as well. The whole level is very similar to Course 1-2 in the goal: just defeat all the enemies and liberate the town. There is always a counter on-screen to show how many enemies are left in the level and an arrow that points to the nearest enemy. During the course, Rena will be aided by Pine, who can use all of her abilities from her boss fight. If the player manages beat the level without Pine taking any damage, then they will be given the "I Got Your Back!" achievement.

## Course 3-3

The third level of Mesa Town has Rena making her way to Cesar's tower. The level takes place late at night, with the desert suddenly cooled down. The level itself has multiple paths to get to the end. If the player is especially good at platforming and swinging, then they can travel along the top of the level and finish it relatively quickly. If the player is not very good at this, however, then they will fall to the bottom of the stage and have to fight the numerous enemies waiting for them. Some obstacles that a player may run into are doors that open up at a 90-degree angle upon being grappled, metal balls with hazard signs that fall if the player is hanging from them for too long, and minecarts that allow the player to travel along minecart tracks. There is also a return of the spikes from 3-1.

## Course 3-4

The fourth level is set inside Cesar's tower. The tower is styled after a casino, with numerous references to gambling machines, pool tables, and playing cards. The nearly every part of the stage is flashy to some extent, and theatre curtains can be seen in the background. The level is filled to the brim with enemies who serve as bodyguards for Cesar. Rena must climb up the tower and fight her way through each room of it. Most of the rooms involve the player pulling down levers in order to open up a door to the next room, with each new room containing more levers to pull. There are a few unique rooms, however. One of these unique rooms gives the player two dice, which they have to roll until the combined number of dots is seven while fighting of enemies. Another unique room has Rena throwing a white ball a various colored balls into holes in the corners of the room, much like a game of pool. If the player sinks two of these balls in one throw, they get the "Pool Shark" achievement.

## Course 3-5

Like the previous final courses, this level is a boss fight, this time against Cesar. It takes place at the very top of Cesar's tower, in the throne room. During the boss fight, Cesar will spawn a Hollow Soldier and two portals, which he will go through the closest one to reach his new position. Simply throwing the Hollow Soldier at Cesar will result in him redirecting it back at the player wherever possible—which encourages the player to instead throw the Hollow Soldier through the portal to reach and hit Cesar. However, in the situation that the player is hit, throwing the Hollow Soldier back into the portal whence it came from will launch it directly into Cesar. When Cesar reaches his last two hitpoints, he begins spawning Cool Bombs instead of Hollow Soldiers, and will begin to dodge them if they end up near him. Throwing the bomb into his path, but not directly at him as he attempts to escape from it, or utilizing the portals as per before, will help get in the final two hits. If at any moment the player attacks Cesar head-on, then Cesar slashes at them with his cane. If the player beats Cesar without taking damage, then they are given the "Cesar Folded" achievement.

## Enemies

### Regular Enemies

* **Aether Biker**: Aether Bikers ride on bikes and try to ram into the player. When they are stripped of their bikes, they behave just like Hollow Soldiers.
* **Cool Bomb**: Cool Bombs stroll up to the player and explode, killing themselves in the process.
* **Hanging Sentry**: Hanging Sentries hang from the ceiling and fire on the player from above.
* **Hollow Fencer**: Hollow Fencers wield swords with great efficiency. They are very quick to attack.
* **Hollow Soldier**: Hollow Soldiers are the default enemy in Grapple Force Rena. They walk up to the player and damage them by punching them.
* **Hollow Vanguard**: Hollow Vanguards are like the Hollow Soldiers, but they carry a shield with them that blocks objects from being thrown at them. When they are stripped of their shields, they behave just like Hollow Soldiers.
* **Propella Fella**: Propella Fellas fly around the screen and home in on players in their vicinity. When held by Rena, they allow her to jump up higher than normal and fall down slowly.
* **Scoops**: Scoops pick up objects and other enemies and chuck them at the player.

### Minibosses

* **Desert Delver**: The Desert Delver sits at the bottom of a sand pit and fires shots at the player.