>>16027872
>First playthrough
>Remember seeing the cat everywhere
>Cat guides you safely inside the golden pyramid
>The first time you get a hint of who the final boss is is when Wario falls down the hole and there are two kabuki mask reliefs in the walls to the sides
>Soon realize the Hall of Hieroglyphs tutorials were drawn created by the shopkeep
>Sometimes you see the cat run into the shop
>Shopkeep also pops up in the sound room, you can see him working the turntables on the screen
>Kabuki symbols on all of the golden chests throughout the levels
>Frogs have some sort of magic power in the kingdom, given the portals are opened with the frog switches and you need to give the shopkeep frog coins for him to use transformations
>Beat all of the bosses and watch the jewelry float into the golden pyramid in the center of the hub
>Get to final boss
>Realize that I never saw the cat and the shopkeep in the same place at once
>Use shopkeep power up during the Golden Diva fight, Diva reverts shopkeep back into the cat and seals it in her lips
>Now you aren't just fighting for treasure anymore, but to save the cat that's been guiding you all this time, and was apparently the shopkeep as well
>Defeat Golden Diva, guided by cat out of crumbling pyramid
>Have a nice, relieved laugh with the cat that we made it out alive while Sunny Side Up plays
>Jewelry reverts cat back into Princess Shokora, realize she was guiding you throughout the whole game as both the cat and shopkeep
>The "Thank You" kiss was really a "Farewell" kiss
>Suddenly realize she had been dead the whole time and took a different form under Golden Diva's curse
>The golden pyramid in the center of the hub was Shokora's crypt
>Thanks to you, she can finally rest in peace
>The treasure you collected along the way mean more than just gold in the end, as they now contain memories within them
>Slowed version of Monsoon Jungle plays as you ride off into the sunset
>A few days later, you gorge on steaks to celebrate a job well done
My young mind was blown. Fucking incredible. WL4 had a nice take on the usual save the princess formula and did it all through visual storytelling and music. I always considered the ending to be bittersweet. With Wario standing there shocked before leaving with his treasure, the first credits song being about making peace with your sense of loss, and Monsoon Jungle accompanying the memories for the final bit. All of that, and Wario still got his treasure and was able to eat his fat ass to death.