Say goodbye to Sayonara Wild Hearts’ Zodiac riddles.
The main game may only last around an hour and a half, but I sure did love playing Sayonara Wild Hearts. The gorgeous visuals, addictive score-chasing gameplay, and of course stunning soundtrack come together to make something genuinely special that has stuck with me since finishing the story. But to discount this game as being a short story and then it’s over misses the point somewhat thanks to unlockable content and the mysterious Zodiac riddles. There are 24 challenges in all, split into Side A and Side B, each represented by the twelve signs of the zodiac.
These worded puzzles hide challenges if you can only figure out what they’re telling you to do. Seeing as they are tied to the achievements and trophies in Xbox and PlayStation releases, solving them is even more appealing. So join me as we fall headlong into head-scratching conundrums and expose the trials that await us.
Side A
Aries – There is no place for me on the podium of a starway.
This relates to the very first stage, Clair de Lune, and requires you to fail to get on the podium. This means you simply have to finish the stage without scoring high enough for a bronze rank. Get to the end by scoring less than 5,000 points and this one is yours. This is easy enough, but you have to actively avoid the heart collectibles.
Taurus – I find squares in every corner of the world.
This is fairly obvious, you need to find and acquire all the square objects in the game. There are 68 of these collectibles in all, and the level select screen will show you which you have missed. If you go past one, try to die quickly and you’ll hopefully restart just before it.
Gemini – A magician made three of my wishes come true where one became two.
If you’re an ‘elite pro gamer’ like I am, you may have not even realised there’s a way to skip difficult sections. If you die repeatedly in a single section, you’ll be offered the chance to skip the section. For this riddle, you’ll need to use this feature three times in the level Hearts & Swords, the level where one enemy becomes two.
Cancer – Twenty times I risk my life without failing where a diabolical trinity appears.
The stage where a trinity appears is Doki Doki Rush as the boss appears as three opponents. Two complete this challenge you need to get twenty Risky! bonuses without dying. Get close to cars, walls, and so forth to get these bonuses. It can be tough to get this one as you have to put yourself in danger to score the bonus, but there are plenty of opportunities to do this early on.
Leo – Three are the times goldenly I began again.
Begin Again is the first boss stage, and this challenge wants you to get a gold rank three times in a row. Again, this can be frustrating as it requires multiple replays. Deaths won’t reset your results, but your score may suffer. It’s easy enough once you know your way around the level though.
Virgo – With the smallest of efforts I knock out.
When defeating a boss you need to mash a button before you KO them! This challenge wants you to complete the knockout prompt by pressing the button just once. I got this by making it the last button press.
Libra – Small blood pumps are cursed among snaps and claps.
This was pretty vague, but eventually makes sense. Avoid the hearts (because the small blood pumps are cursed) on Parallel Universes (snaps and claps that change the layout). I found this one pretty tough as the stage changes constantly. You’ll probably need a few attempts at this to learn the best way through the level.
Scorpius – Like a worthless chariot I drift in the night.
The Chariot and drift parts of the riddle give this one away. You’ll need to complete Night Drift without scoring any points. That means no hearts, no Risky!, and no drifting. I found this challenge quite hard as there are so many ways to score points here, especially with the drifting mechanic. A good way of avoiding this is to go off-road 一 assuming there are no obstacles.
Sagittarius – From a golden sun to a silvery star I go to a tower of bronze.
You’ll need to complete Inside, Heartbreak V, and Heartbreak III 一 the levels that feature the sun, star, and tower arcana cards 一 with a gold, silver, and bronze rank respectively. They need to be completed in this order too, so you’ll need to pay attention to your scores. You’ll need 100,000 first, followed by 15,000, and then 2,500. Pay attention on Heartbreak III as it’s easy to score too many points here.
Capricornus – I am the perfect emperor.
Forest Ghost is your destination here, in which you get to ride around on a stag. Success in this challenge means hitting every single jump with a perfectly timed button press. This is another one I found very hard as it’s easy to slip up. The timing of the music can help here, but I found it easier to watch the button prompt and press just as the circle lines up with the prompt.
Aquarius – With the card of the solitary one I appear oppositely forty times.
On Heartbreak IV you can teleport from one side of the screen to the other. Do this forty times for the achievement. It’s very easy as you can just go back and forth repeatedly. Just make sure it’s safe to do so.
Pisces – In the flat space I slip between two bullets quadruple times.
The flat space is the VR headset in The World We Knew. You’ll need to fly between pairs of bullets fired by enemy ships four times. Watch for ships firing down the screen as these are easier to get through.
Side B
Aries – I was consecutively in a hurry in ten different places.
In a hurry? Skip a cutscene! On ten different levels in a row, press start and skip the cutscene. You can skip the cutscene, quit out, and load up another level if you’d like to speed this up.
Taurus – I took a dozen quick breaks.
I’m sure you know what to do when you need to take a break in a game 一 you press pause. You’ll need to do this twelve times in a level. Just press pause over and over until it pops.
Gemini – You only live once yet I risk my life ten times.
This requires Yolo Arcade to be unlocked by getting a gold rank in every stage, which is no mean feat in itself! You’ll need to get Risky! ten times in this mode in which you only have one life.
Cancer – Reborn in a daydream my secret is in the left eye four times.
This one is a bit more convoluted than most riddles. You’ll need to play Reverie, and during one section you’ll fly through appearing and disappearing blocks. One set looks like a face and you’ll have to fly through the left eye of it four times. You can get this by flying through, crashing, and then repeating until you’ve done it four times.
Leo – Up is down and down is up where I slid twenty-five times.
The Slide! bonus is one you may not have seen. If you swing left and then right you should get this bonus. Do it twenty-five times on Transonic Gravity (where up becomes down) to get this riddle done. This can be tough because you can crash if you’re careless.
Virgo – I heard her sing goodbye before my journey to the sky began.
Another convoluted one, you’ll need to listen to the whole of the song on the main menu, then start the game and play Hearts & Swords as this is a stage in which you go to the sky. Don’t worry if you finish the song and it goes to the game intro, just press B to go back to the menu and start the game.
Libra – Just from here I traveled ten years back in time.
Libra B is a bit silly, but I quite like it. Navigate to Libra on Side B and then rotate the Zodiac wheel to the left until the achievement pops after the tenth rotation. It’s fine if you overshoot as you’ll still get the credit!
Scorpius – In a devilish fight I am only good.
Fighting Hearts is your destination for this task. You’ll have a few button prompts to complete and you can only get a Good rating. No Perfect, no OK, only Good. Honestly, this was an easier one for me as my timing seemed to be a touch out most of the time anyway!
Sagittarius – Inside I spin a thousand and eighty degrees.
This one felt quite obvious to me, as 1080 degrees is three full rotations. On Inside you go through tunnels in which you can get a Spinny! bonus by rotating all the way around the tunnel. You can do this as soon as you enter the first tunnel.
Capricornus – My secret is a majority of squares where all music play.
All music plays in Album Arcade, the bonus mode that unlocks when you finish the main game. If you play through this mode and collect more than half of the squares in the stages then you’ll complete this riddle.
Aquarius – With only one attempt I stand on the podium.
This is Yolo Arcade again, so you know it’s pretty tough. Thankfully, you don’t have to finish the whole mode, just get a bronze, silver, or gold before you die. You’ll need 250,000 points for this, which is still not easy. Good luck!
Pisces – Hope is a quintet of squares where one journey ends.
This was the first one I completed, and it was purely by chance. The journey ends on the final stage, Wild Hearts Never Die, and you need to get all five squares in a single run. As with other ones like this, if you miss one you can die and respawn before it.
Twenty-four challenges complete, assuming you’re willing to put the effort in to get them. Some are significantly harder to get than others, but if this game teaches you anything, it’s that you can become a more complete person if you persist and fight on. Sayonara, Wild Heart.
Sayonara Wild Hearts is available now on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One and Apple Arcade.
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