Terra and Setzer (Day 303)

After some training in the veldt we travel back to Narshe, the town that started it all. One of the things you notice is the detail that goes into everything for square's last 2-D Final Fantasy. The towns, houses, people, and battles; they all have been upgraded from Final Fantasy V. We see steam coming out of houses and propellors spinning in Figaro castle. There's also that scene in the Phantom forest; that scene that they raved about (was it the first scene in videogames that had 256 colors at once or something). FF6 is an achievement, and it's kind of odd to think how far we've come in the last ten years.

Back at Narshe you confront the empire after all your guys reunite after the waterfall split. New friends are introduced, like Gau, Cyan, and Celes. Here's one of FF6's specialities, you're allowed to split into three parties; it kind of reminds me of Suikoden. But yes, with this many party members, you can do that. It brings a level of strategy into the RPG. So I select my members and defend the town from Kefka, not a tough ordeal.

This of course triggers something else, the bizarre contact between Terra and the frozen esper stowed away at the cape. A bizarre connection can be made between this scene and the scene in FF12 where Fran goes berserk after being in contact with the magicite on the airship. But anyway, now I have to find Terra. It's also a sign from the developers that says, "Ok, now the world opens up to you."

Traveling south we find new towns, and new characters. One that is of significance is Setzer, the smooth-talking rake that owns an airship. Through some cajolery and slapstick antics at the opera house, we gain access to his airship. And yes, the opera scene; I'm not too sure why Square added that, but they did; and some people must have liked it, but not me. It's the beginning of "long cut scenes" for roleplaying games I guess. More story, less game play can we say?

This leads you to the next big continent, where Vector and the Empire resides. Does empires have to be bad in Final Fantasy games? Usually you're the resisitance, but why can't it be the other way around - as in you're a great kingdom trying to quelch a rebellion force? Not as interesting I guess. Root for the little guy. Next update in a few weeks I hope. No gameovers yet, hurrah!









Yes: She used magic.

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• Game Time: 18 Hours and 12 Mins

Gau (Day 263)

It's no surprise that magic is a big part of Final Fantasy VI. One of the characters that I find fascinating is Gau. Perhaps it's because he's really one that I barely used the last two times I played, or perhaps it's just that his story isn't too enticing for me. I guess it might be a plight by the developers to show that Japanese kids are thrown out to the world a bit unprepared and needs a bit more attention. I don't know, but playing this again, I realize that he's one of the most powerful characters there are in the beginning of the game.

You don't get Gau until you go on Sabin's quest after the split up at the Lethe river. His powers is that he can LEAP into the Veldt and learn characteristics (skills and spells) from enemies that your party meets. He will learn one enemy's art that he leaped into and also the enemy that you meet in which he returns to you on. It's essentially Blue Magic from Final Fantasy V, but on a mass scale. You can learn all of the skills in Final Fantasy VI, save the bosses'.

I've been dominating the bosses with Aspiran (Gigavolt), Stray Cat (Cat Scratch), and Aquiform (Aquabreath).

More to come later on.

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• Game Time: 15 Hours and 22 Mins

Final Fantasy VI begins (days 253)

So one game ends and another begins. We begin with three characters on a mountain, two soldiers and a woman. How do we know it's Final Fantasy VI? They're all in Magiteck Walking Armors, yes, welcome to the fusion of machines and magi. The outer world music is so nostalgic, just ten minutes into the game and I'm reminded of the hundreds of hours I spent on it. I played this one only twice, once to complete and once to get everything, and the second time cost me 100 hours plus. It was a waste of a teenage month, but they were good times of course.

Terra begins the story for us here, marking the first Final Fantasy game to start with a female lead (besides FF1, where you could've chosen a white mage). It might be an important step. The logo does have her riding a machine. I'm assuming that's her, as most of the story revolves around her. Most, but not all, as this is story includes a huge ensemble cast, with entertaining stories for each character. My favorite being Locke and Cellis, but I tend to put my name on Gogo; which I will do so again on this run.

The new thing here is the notion of Espers instead of summons. They are summons, but they are the essence of magic, and it takes about six hours in to acquire the first four.

So the story so far? After being lead to the Returners' hide-out by Locke, we are caught in a three-way split for the city Narshe. Returning there from the Veldt plains we have Sabin, Cyan, and Gau. Edgar, Banon, and Terra awaits at Narshe by foot from the river. And finally Locke rescues Cellis and brings her to the meeting point after infiltrating the empire's besieged city of South Figaro. From there we defend Narshe, but lose Terra to a terrible blast emitted by her and her contact with a frozen esper. We follow them to Jidoor and find that she's been held atop a tower at Zozo. Much of the world is politically claimed by the Gustavian empire, and being a part of the resistance makes it hard for you to travel quickly. Everything seems to be by foot so far, well besides the traveling sand castle of Figaro.

At Zozo we meet Ramuh, who gives us the break-down of magi, espers, and magicite (I'm guessing this was not the original term in FF3's translation). He turns himself into one, essentially killing himself, and we receive four espers: Kirin, Ramuh, Cait Sith, and Siren.

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• Game Time: 10 Hrs and 18mins

Medal of Smiting (Day 242)

Following up on your slaying of Neo Shinryu, I walked into Enuo's court. The last dungeon resembles the crystal palace and contains two uber items: Robe of Lords and Mutsunokami blade (the Sixth God?). Both items they made up just for Final Fantasy V's bonus dungeon. A sub-boss guards Enuo, and naturally his name is Guardian. This replica of the soul canon is not much of a challenge for a couple rounds of !Rapid Fire defeats it easily.

Onwards to Enuo. I won't lie, he beat me the first time because of my carelessness. He attacks with Maelstrom and Almageist, in addition to use constant use of Zombie Powder. I luckily survived because of my holy waters and elixirs. Yes, I had to use elixirs because my mages ran out of MP. With 600 MP and Gold Hairpins (halves MP cost), I still ran out of MP quick because of dual-casting. My word of advice is to not foresake healing at every chance. It shouldn't be too much of a problem if you keep at it with Bahamut and !Rapid Fire. It's going to be a long battle. My reward for defeating him? the last job class, Necromancer. Do I care about this class? Not at all. Why gain another job class when there's nothing left to fight? I have no idea.

I take that back. There is one more dungeon left, the Cloister of the Dead, which sounds like some place you'd find in Diablo II. There are six groups of five monsters here. You have to fight them all consequetively and are only allowed to refresh after defeating a group. This is totally easy after fighting the bosses in the bonus dungeon. Here is my configuration for the final fights:
Bartz (Freelancer) - Set him with !Sword Magic and !Rapid Fire to do damage on elemental bosses. Equip him with Ultima Weapon (from Neo Shinryu), Apocalypse, Ribbon, Maximillian, and a Coral Ring.
Krile (Mime) - Set her with !White, !Time, and !Zeniage so she can heal and do physical damage at the same time. By then you don't need money anwyay. I equip her with the Chickenknife (by now it was doing 250 dmg), Flame Shield, Gold Hairpin (halves MP cost), Robe of Lords, and Coral Ring.
Faris (Freelancer) - She became the tank with !Rapid Fire and !+30% HP. She ended up with 9300 HP at level 75. I equip her with Mutsunokami and Masamune (For some reason these swords do many critical hits). She wears a Ribbon, Vishnu's vest, and a Coral Ring.
Lenna (Mime) - She's set with !White, !Time, and !Summon as the designated mage. The dual-cast Bahamut comes from her. She equips the Gladius Knife, Force Shield (from Omega Mk.II), Gold Hairpin, Black Robe, and Crystal Orb (Guardian).

With this I defeat the monsters in the Cloister of the dead. My prize for this? the Medal of Smiting, or better known as, bragging rights. Or better yet, the right to move on to Final Fantasy VI.

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• Game Time: 49 Hrs and 32 mins (+70 mins lost time)
  
• Days: 242
  
• 14 Gameovers
• Charred by Lasers from the "Soul Cannon"
• Killed by Gil turtle
• Killed by Gil turtle's quake
• Killed by Possessed Crystals
• Killed by Possessed Crystals again!
• Nuked by Bahamut's Mega-flare
• Bashed by Twintania in the Castle within the Rift
• Poisoned by Shin-Ryu in the Crystal Palace
• Drowned by Shin-Ryu in the Crystal Palace
• Nuked by Shin-Ryu in the Crystal Palace
• Burned by Dark Elementals in the Sealed Temple
• Defeated by Grand Aevis in Sealed Temple
• Burned by Omega in Tomb of Memory
• Crushed by Omega in Tomb of Memory
• Zombified by Enuo
  

Hall of Tranquility (Day 241)

It's really a feat to still be playing Final Fantasy V after two months, but I do have one excuse: Final Fantasy XII. I played and was thrilled by the gambit system and killer graphics. Yes, it was a big contrast. I beat it in about 70 hours, but I know there are a lot of items left in Ivalice for me to find. But back to the task at hand.

The road to the Bonus Dungeon is long, as expected. I know now that these things are just as long as the game itself. I got in there at level 67 and was highly under-leveled for the area. After hours of leveling, I reached level 70.

The first boss, the Grand Aevis killed me three times. Turning my guys into zombies really bugged me. Finally, after getting my guys up to 9000 HP, I was able to survive long enough to beat him at level 71.

The second boss, Archeodemon, is a push-over. Casting Bahamut on him while sending guys with !Rapid Fire will quickly finish him off.

The third boss, Omega Mk.II, was actually not so bad. I was pretty well leveled, and I had two guys with !Rapid Fire and !Sword Magic. By now I have designated characters: two swordsmen, and two mages. The mages are Mimes equipped with !White, !Time, and !Summon. Dual-casting with the Quick spell is a must! Omega Mk. II is tough because he has changing barriers, but all you need is that one hit with !Rapid Fire (either Thundaga, Firaga, or Blizzaga). Eight hits of 9999 will surely kill it.

The fourth boss, Neo Shinryu, is a monster of a boss. His evasion is the highest in the game. You will barely hit him, he dodges the Meteor spell, and on some cases, he will dodge Bahamut's Megaflare. What can he do in return? Everything that Shinryu has and Almageist, a spell that does 7500+ damage to everyone; this means you better have a dragoon in the air when you are about to defeat it. How did I do it? I had four guys with over 9000 HP. I had two guys that jumped, but without any Dragon Whispers. I had the Spear of Longinus and the Holy Lance, but I ended up with using just swords. Holy Lance was useless because it actually heals Neo Shinryu. My strategy? My mages kept at it with Bahamut and occasionally Golem for defense. I used three elixirs because they ran out of MP, but in the end I got it done; at level 76. My reward, Ultima Weapon. So long dragon god. By the way, Shinryu means "true dragon" or "new dragon"... so New true dragon? Odd.

Enuo is next, the one that started it all.

the Deaths Continue (day 222)

As the defeat of Shin-Ryu marks the end of the most difficult boss in Final Fantasy 5, I had nothing left to do but beat the game. Yes, I fought Ex-Death. He was attached to a giant tree and turned into something with with four body parts. It was a hell of an easier fight than dealing with Shin-Ryu. For one thing, Ex-Death didn't have any attacks that can wipe out all four of you. Next it's evasion was not impossibly high. I beat him by summoning Bahamut over and over, while healing and using Quick to do double casts. He dies, we return to the earth, and see a long cut-scene. The crystals' strength is restored and the elements return to the earth. The girls become princesses, our lonely hero wanders off, Krile visits his grandfather grave. We see them all get back together and well, it ends.








No, it doesn't end. I'm still stuck in a rut. There is an earthquake undersea and another "Sealed Temple" surfaces. I am definitely under-leveled here. I beat the Gil Turtle the second time, but the fact that there aren't many consecrated save spots around makes it really hard. Until the finishing of the end game, I'll be fighting.

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• Game Time: 36 Hrs and 4 mins (+55 mins lost time)
• Days: 212
• 11 Gameovers
• Charred by Lasers from the "Soul Cannon"
• Killed by Gil turtle
• Killed by Gil turtle's quake
• Killed by Possessed Crystals
• Killed by Possessed Crystals again!
• Nuked by Bahamut's Mega-flare
• Bashed by Twintania in the Castle within the Rift
• Poisoned by Shin-Ryu in the Crystal Palace
• Drowned by Shin-Ryu in the Crystal Palace
  


• Nuked by Shin-Ryu in the Crystal Palace
  


• Burned by Dark Elementals in the sealed Temple
  

Shin-Ryu the Dragon God (Day 212)

It's been a long time since I returned to this blog, and it's not without reason that I left for so long. The truth is, I got to the end of Final Fantasy V awhile ago, but I had to defeat Shin-Ryu in the crystal palace - and that's not easy. This is definitely the hardest boss in the game, and one of the hardest bosses in all of Final Fantasy. Let's not forget his return in Final Fantasy 10. But anyway, the strategy begins.

Firstly, I don't have four coral rings, I have two. This makes it really hard because his Tidal Wave attack hits 8000 damage. Surviving the first wave meant I had to do reviving for two of my other characters. His other attacks include Poison cloud that does 800 - 1500 damage, Ice Storm that does 2 - 3000 damage, Heat Ray that does 3 - 4000, and Lightning, which causes 1 - 2000 damage on all. In addition to all that, he does Mighty Guard on himself and hits from 2500 - 4000. His evasion is only second to Omega Weapon, but still it isn't impossible.

Now I was level 46 when I first fought him, and I realize that it can not be done at that level. I had all the spells, but there just weren't enough HP. Sooner or later he'd hit you and you'd die flat. I read some strategies, but they all involved four Coral rings and having Dragon Whisker spears; which was a no go. My recourse? Back to leveling up. After dying a couple of times, yes it was humbling and agonizing, I decided that I had to go back to the castle and level up. I powered up my Canoneer job so that I can get the "EXP UP" for two of my characters. It wasn't that hard with Iron Giants walking around giving 2500 exp each (Use Odin and slice him up). I decided to stop when all my characters were level 50. It wasn't enough, but it was a difference.

The new fight against him meant a new strategy. I turned off the active battle configuration and set it on wait. It's a bit of cheating, but I really couldn't think fast enough to fight this boss. Next I set my characters to Gladiator (!Finisher, !Throw), Knight (!Cover, !Throw), Summoner (!Summon, !Time), and Mime (!White, !Black, !Time). I took off my Genji gear and put on Ice Shields and Diamond armor to fend off ice and lightning.

Now the one thing that really helped me out was the "Berserk" spell. Place it on him and he will not use spells for a couple of rounds. Next every time my mages' turns were up I'd use "Quick" so that I can use two spells. The warriors just threw Fuma Shurikens, which I used 10 of. It was a tough battle, but I defeated him after all the healing, reviving, and ninja stars.

Next update: the End Game.

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• Game Time: 33 Hrs and 6 mins (+30 mins lost time)
  


• Days: 212
  

the Humor of Final Fantasy V (Day 162)

When I talk about funny moments in Final Fantasy V I don't really mean laugh-out-loud moments, but just some scenes and lines that I find myself chuckling at. It adds to the game and I'm not sure if I should credit this to the original writers of the game or the translators for it in the American English version.

I decided to add some snapshots for you guys, as I love taking pictures.

The first one is of Gilgamesh. His story is funny, as he is a lackey for Ex-Death, and he finds himself crossing swords with you more than once. One thing that you notice is that he wears some pretty neat gear (Genji Armor set), so every time you battle him, you should start stealing. This picture shows him at the end of the bridge that leads to Ex-Death's castle; as you escape he guards the final exit. His quote, "Ha ha! Guess who's been waiting behind this door the whole time? Yes, it's me!" Just seemed funny for a video-game to me. He will live on in the Final Fantasy world as he is given a re-appearance in Final Fantasy I (remade for GBA) and Final Fantasy 10 as a summon. I guess thats what happens when the fans like a character, they get promoted to be a summon.


In this second screen-shot we see the guys all jump away from Ghido. I don't blame them, who wouldn't be startled at a talking turtle. Yes, that's what the great sage Ghido appears to be. The long search for him in the underwater cave brought you strife, but you finally meet, and the pleasure is all his. Bartz says, "Sweet Christmas, it's a talking turtle!"





This last picture shows our main character having completed his piano training. Here's another aspect of the game that has never been reproduced: piano training. In every major town of Final Fantasy V, a piano is hiding somewhere. Your mission is to play them all to improve your own piano skills. It's silly, but only takes an extra few seconds to find. Upon playing the last one, you get to call yourself a piano master, and get the last song of the game. The song enables you to gain levels, so it's not a bad thing to have. The quote says, "You have mastered the piano!!!! All others quake in fear at your superhuman keyboard manipulation skill!" I doubt this kind of writing will ever appear in later Final Fantasies, but can you blame me for finding it funny?

I have continued on my quest of completing FFV. I finally got all the magics, all the summons, and all the songs. Next up would be a lazy trip to cleaning up the blue magics, then onward to the last boss.

Next update: the end is near, again.

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• Game Time: 30 Hrs and 6 mins (+30 mins lost time)
  
• Days: 162
  
• 6 Gameovers
• Charred by Lasers from the "Soul Cannon"
• Killed by Gil turtle
• Killed by Gil turtle's quake
• Killed by Possessed Crystals
• Killed by Possessed Crystals again!
• Nuked by Bahamut's Mega-flare

Phoenix, I summon thee... (Day 149)

So the second world came and went. When Galuf is plunged in without you guys, you realize that the only way to defeat ExDeath is to plunge in with him. The story of the previous four lightwarriors is revealed, and we find out that Galuf is one of them from before. We find out that Ex-Death's castle is shielded by a barrier that prevents the good guys from getting in. To break the barrier I had to climb up the barrier tower and defeat the boss that guarded it. Of course it was Atmos, his first appearance in Final Fantasy. A giant mirror that sucks your party members in. Not only does that character die, but he can't be used anymore during the battle; pretty gruesome.

After that battle the worlds collide and you find yourself returning to your world, only that remnants of the other world exist. The worlds have collided, but whats more intriguing is that it was altogether one from long ago, but the split was done to prevent Ex-Death from reviving. The story continues as you go back to Lenna's castle. Faris is greeted to be as the princess. After a brief departure from the gathering, Bartz finds himself with a conversation with Krile. They

After the worlds unite and I have retrieved Lenna, there's a bit of free time for the foursome to roam around. With airship in hand, I finished the piano quests and became a piano master. Playing that last song to the bard in Crescent gave me the Hero's song. I visited the Phantom town and purchased some remaining level 7 magics: Arise, Hastega, and Doom.

From there I fought Bahamut. Not an easy fight, but I managed to cheat him by using Hastega and healing faster than he can do Maelstrom. I was defeated, once again. Making it the fifth death in this game. After defeating him on my second run I had to show Odin's who's boss. After acquiring these two old souls, a new quest appeared, the phoenix tower. The quest was to treck up 28 floors to find Hiryu. The dragon jumps, burns, and is reborn as the Phoenix summon. One of the most useful summons of Final Fantasy 7, I guess it first appears here. That's enough talk for now.

Next update will talk about some of the humor of Final Fantasy V, and there is plenty.

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• Game Time: 21 Hrs 10 mins (+30 mins lost time)
  
• Days: 149
  
• 6 Gameover
• Charred by Lasers from the "Soul Cannon"
• Killed by Gil turtle
• Killed by Gil turtle's quake
• Killed by Possessed Crystals
• Killed by Possessed Crystals again!
• Nuked by Bahamut's Mega-flare
  

Some geography lessons...

I did this in my spare time. I hope people will give it a shot, it's kinda fun, and you can play it at work without worrying about the site being blocked by your IT department :) Now back to Final Fantasy.

Class is in Session (Day 125)

In many ways, Final Fantasy V is the root of many of the magic and technique aspects in all of the Final Fantasies. Here we have a game that decided to throw in every interns' ideas and see where it goes. I'm talking about the job classes, all twenty of them. In Final Fantasy I, we have 5 classes (10 if you include the 5 promoted classes after visiting Bahamut), but now we have enough to confuse the average player. A lot of these are marginal, like Chemist, Dancer, Berserker, or Geomancer; but a lot of them have also been inducted into the Final Fantasy lore, like Ninja, Knight, Dragoon, and the Mages. Now even before starting the game, one has to think, what combination of classes should I use?

The game begins with Bartz (who I named Stabz) setting out on an adventure with his newly acquired mates: Lenna is a princess from a wealthy kingdom, Faris is the captain of a pirate ship, and Galuf is an jolly old geezer with amnesia. I have to say that I REALLY LIKE this game. It's a shame that they did not introduce this to America until years after its release. The translation is quite funny, and although I know it's heavily obscured, I think it totally works. It's like the comic relief of all the other Final Fantasies; almost making fun of itself. I mean, they have their eyes pop out like cartoons.

The quests are the same, as you are designated as the light warriors to recover the power of the crystals. The new aspect is that every crystal you save grants you new jobs, ok, not totally new, as it was used in Final Fantasy III. Another new idea is to put "meteor", one of the key spells in Final Fantasy, into the plot of the game. These meteorites are like space-shuttles that go between worlds. It was the vehicle that Galuf came in. Having seeing these meteorites arrive, the villagers deem you as monsters, and a lot more explaining and fighting occur.

Similar to Final Fantasy IV, some summon spells have to be acquired through battle. You have to be battle-tested, as the summon says. The first one is Shiva, then Ifrit, then Ramuh, and Titan. I guess they are the four elemental summons anyways. It's going to be a long ways before Bahamut, but never too late to prepare.

One of the hardest aspects of the game is getting blue magic. These are magic and techniques used by monsters that you can learn. The problem with this is finding out who has them, and how to get them to use the spells on you. I remember I got them all once, but I'm not sure if I have the patience for them again. But since it's the first and last appearance for a Blue Mage, I will give it my best. It'd also help for a 100% completion.

One last thing, Cid returns, and he comes back with his grandson; who's appropriately named Mid. They're both engineering geniuses and they help you greatly in the plot. Cid seems to get older every time eh? Recall in Final Fantasy 2 he was a grog-loving air-ship pilot in his 30's, and in Final Fantasy IV he's a bearded engineer working for the Baron kingdom. Now he's a very old man working on a fire-powered ship in Karnak. Will he reappear? Hell YES! But Mid? well, he will only have his moment in Final Fantasy V.

That's it for now. I've gotten as far as the second world, but constantly in fear of losing opportunities for blue magic. It's driving me nuts. It's the hardest Final Fantasy game that I've never played.

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• Game Time: 10 Hrs 14 mins (+5 mins lost time)
  
• Days: 125
• 1 Gameover
• Charred by Lasers from the "Soul Cannon"
  

Final Fantasy V (Day 122)

Happy New Year! and boy is it going to be a big year. Presidential elections, an extra day in February, and a lot more Final Fantasy to go through. I got a copy of Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings, but I will play it after Final Fantasy 12.

So Final Fantasy V, the logo is a dragon; not unusual for Final Fantasy. This is arguably the hardest Final Fantasy to complete 100% in. With over 30 classes to level up, and 8 sorts of magic, it would take 100 hours to get everything. I remember playing through it twice, both in Japanese, the snes versions. The first time in 60 hours, but I barely scratched the surface on getting things. The second time took about 100 hours and I still missed some items and spells. And so I will try once more, this time for the first time, in English.

The story is different from FF4 in that the hero is a loner, that adventures with a Chocobo. He doesn't have a kingdom to defend or friends to aid. He meets his friends along the way. But similar to the previous Final Fantasies, he is a descendant of a previous acknowledged warrior.

You get acquainted with the other three characters within 30 minutes of the game, and that's it, they're there for the rest of the game. For every Crystal you save, you get 5 or 6 new classes, and so it goes on.
f the game that I've never played.

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• Game Time: 8 Hrs and 51 mins
  
• Days: 122