Jack's Quest through Final Fantasy

The Blog is Dead (A.K.A. Last Thoughts)

2005-12-24T04:45:00.000-08:00

Well, you may not have noticed this, but I haven't posted on this thing in more than six months. The reason is that the blog is basically dead. It is so dead that you probably won't even ever read this post, because you've gone on with your merry lives and have moved on to some other, brighter pasture in this realm known as cyberspace. Heck, this blog is so dead, advertisers are starting to take over the comment sections. I mean, really, what's up with that?

Just so you all know, starting in June I did go back and play through Final Fantasies V-X2. I no longer had any interest in writing down all my thoughts, so I just played straight through them all. I did experience several interesting things.

+ Final Fantasy VI is still one of the best games ever made.

+ Not only is FFVIII my favorite of the PSOne Final Fantasies, I'm beginning to think it could be my favorite in the series.

+ A second playthrough has not changed my low opinion of FFIX (and believe me, I did come in with an open mind and with hope that I would see why people are so wild about the game), but it did change my opinion of Tetra Master. I don't think the mini-game is as good as Triple Triad; mostly because at least the cards in Triple Triad could be redeemed for useful items, making playing the game worthwhile. I did enjoy Tetra Master more this time around, however, and actually took the time to get all the cards in this playthrough.

+ I FINALLY got Kimahri's Spirit Lance in FFX! Bloody stupid butterfly game....

+ It is *&#$ %^#@(!# impossible to get 100% completion on X-2 in one playthrough!!!

I had fun. I apologize that I was not ale to finish the blog. If anything, I just had a good time reliving the memories. Thanks for your support, and thanks for reading this last message, even though the blog is beyond dead.

So.. Uh... Yeah, Boco!

2005-05-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

So, as you may have noticed, it's May 19th, and I haven't updated the blog yet. Uh... heh, heh, yeah. Don't worry, I am close to re-opening the blog. And this time, I can fully promise to go through the remaining 5.5 games without stopping. The trick will be starting and, honestly, Final Fantasy V is kind of boring, so starting again has been difficult. It will be done, however, that I can guarantee. Furthermore, I pledge that by June 15th, I'll have begun FFVI, which will be good, because once I get into the games I truly like the speed will pick up considerably. I will definitely advertise the blog's return once it actually does return - don't be surprised if I rush through V though...

So, again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

To Be Continued... Soon.

2005-03-09T09:14:00.000-08:00

Just to let you all know, the Blog WILL soon be updated. In fact, I plan on not only continuing the quest, but following it through to its conclusion. The target date for the next update is around May 12th. Starting in May, however, I will regularly update the blog through at least August, and possibly longer.

Blogging Once More... Kind Of.

2004-11-15T06:27:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody. Yes, I am still alive, and I have not given up this project. I had some medical issues towards the end of the summer, causing me to be away from my PlayStation for awhile. When I got back, school started up again, and since then, life has severely cut into my videogame playing time. Frickin life. I will eventually continue the quest and the blog, but that might not be for awhile. Heck, it might not even be until next summer. We shall see. Thanks for all the encouragment to continue, however. It means a lot to know that people out there have been enjoying this.

New Faces, Familiar Surroundings

2004-08-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Although it may not appear so at first glance, many of the innovations that led to the series arriving at the point it is at today began with Final Fantasy V. The game may appear to be nothing more than a rehash of old ideas, but those who look closely can see the early creation of some very familiar occurences.

The fifth installment of the classic role playing series starts off a tad more slowly than its predecessors. Until you reach the Wind Crystal, the game is nothing more than following simple instructions to move along the story. For example, even though there is a town to visit after acquiring a boat, it is of little use to veteran players at this point of the quest.

Speaking of veteran players, after playing through the past four Final Fantasies, FFV has lost much of its former lustre. Seeing the same ideas being put into place over and over again (i.e., Surprise! You acquired a boat from Pirates!) is beginning to get a little old, and I could care less if I never see another crystal again at this point.

There are some concepts, however, that do somewhat vary the gaming experience. The biggest example of this is the Job system, which essentially set the standard for how every ability since this installment would be acquired. Although this Job system does get its roots from III's original system, I would consider the two to be very, very different from each other. The Job system in III was unimaginative, and most of the jobs were useless. This changes in Final Fantasy V. Every character can change jobs at a whim, making it easier for every character to become adept at each occupation. And this time around, the game makes it worthwhile for the characters to try out each job with the biggest innovation by far in the series, Ability Points.

Ability Points have shown up in some form or another in every Final Fantasy since FFV. In their original appearance, they were used to raise the skill level each character had with each job. When a job level is raised, that character learns some kind of an ability, which can then be transferred from job to job. In other words, after gaining a level or so of White Magic, the character could switch to being a thief with the ability to cast Cure. If anything, there is not an RPG fan alive who would disagree with the fact that gaining these abilities for each character is a heck of a lot of fun.

The artwork is also different. The monster designs, for example, were done by Nomura, who later went on to draw much of the artwork for the post-SNES installments.

And, unfortunately, this is where I will have to stop for a short while. I realize that it may seem as if I have been distracted these past couple days. Unfortunately, something has come up, and I have been busier than expected the last few days. It also means that I have to go out of town through next Saturday, meaning the Blog will not be updated again until a week from Sunday.

Boco, The Wonder Chocobo!

2004-08-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

Final Fantasy V begins with a lengthy sequence that does its best to insinuate that the game will actually have a story. Little does the player know that they are in for some disappointment.

The epic tale of valiance and honor in the face of danger begins with the King of Tycoon heading off on his dragon to figure out why the wind stopped. Apparently, he believes that this is the result of something happening to the Wind Crystal, meaning that, for the fourth time in five games, the plot once again revolves around finding these magical objects. Oddly enough, while the other people in the world notice that the wind has stopped, nobody other than the King of Tycoon really seems to concerned about this happening.

The opening sequence introduces some of the game's main characters. We see that Reina, Tycoon's princess, is rather worried about her father. In the original emulated version of the game, Reina's name was Lenna. I actually prefer Lenna to Reina, and I am a little sad that they changed the name. We also see an androgynous pirate captain (heck, all the characters were androgynous in those days. Edge was the only member of FFIV's final party whose hair did not go down to his shoulders or beyond. And then we also see some random old guy who, with orangish/brownish hair, has to be labelled "old guy" so that we know he is old.

It all comes to a head when a wandering traveller named Bartz (thankfully changed from the original "Butz") and his chocobo sidekick witness the crashing of a meteor. Think all this sounds discombobulated and unorganized? Yeah, me too, and the game's story really never improves past this point.

The chocobo sidekick, though, is by far one of the coolest characters to grace a Final Fantasy title. He is Boco, the Wonder Chocobo! Able to run faster than the wind (which is easy once the wind has stopped), more clever than any other Chocobo (thus far), and able to leap over randomly appearing pits as if it were no big deal, Boco truly makes Final Fantasy V. If the chocobo were not in this installment, I probably would not have been hooked the first time I played the game.

Boco also happens to be the first Chocobo in the series that is actually owned by anyone. While you do see a couple chocobo stables in III and IV, they appear to be no different from a ranch, where the birds are only being taken care of and nothing more. Boco is more like the average horse, faithfully aiding its master with intelligence and charm. No character before Bartz had a chocobo to roll around on, and this begins a transformation of sorts from the olden days to the more modern worlds of the later installments.

I suppose that Boco is also the first regular chocobo to figure prominently in the series. Sure, you got a prize for riding III's bird around the island. And in IV, the black chocobo was a necessary story feature. For the most part, however, the birds have been optional creatures that had little impact on the story. Even the black chocobo's usefulness ended after leaving the Magnetic Cavern. Boco, right from the very beginning, places the Chocobo in a new light. The beasts are now friendly companions, and Square was pointing out that they could have prominent effects on the game's story. This set in motion all the popular Chocobo mini-games now seen as common place among the series. Boco is also the name that Square has since given all of its major chocobos since Final Fantasy V appeared.

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past week. I have been extremely busy, and have not had much time to sit down and play.

The Series Takes a Step Backwards

2004-08-09T04:53:00.000-07:00

I have heard it said that, in order to take a step forward, sometimes you just have to take a step backwards. While I do agree with this adage in some cases, I would find it to be a pretty pathetic excuse for the reason why Final Fantasy V is so different for the two games that preceeded and follow it. After finally hitting the nail on the head of what a console RPG should be in the fourth installment, Square inexplicably reverted to its old NES days in its programming of Final Fantasy V.

Before I go on, I should say that I do like Final Fantasy V. A lot. It would rank lower on my list of the Final Fantasy games than most of the other installments, but I do think that it is a fun game, and is indeed one worthy of the Final Fantasy moniker.

That said, the story is just plain terrible. The characters, for the most part, are extremely one-dimensional. After doing such an awesome job of building character depth in Final Fantasy IV, it just boggles my mind that in the installment that followed they would step away from this advancement and return to giving players characters about whom they have to reason to care. I cannot see how anybody could ever emotionally invest themselves to any of the game's five playable characters. I do not think that it can be done. The fifth installment's story is so bad that I would put it on par with the story from the very first game. It may be a little better than the original's tale, but not by much. The stories of Final Fantasies II, III, and IV may not have always been great, but they at least followed a clear, logical path that made sense and inspired the player's imagination. Here, the story is basically, "Oh crap. The wind stopped. We better do what those old guys did and go fight Exdeath."

While the story leaves much to be desired, if I had to rank the Final Fantasies based on gameplay, FF5 would be among the top three. The Job system is one of the greatest status building systems I have ever seen. Along the same lines, FFX-2 (another female-dominated game with a Job system) was a lot of fun to play, if only because of the way you developed the main characters' abilities. I have not met very many people who really liked FF5, but just about everyone I have talked with has admitted that the Job system was a pretty good idea. Besides being able to mix and match the various classes (an idea which later led to such systems as those found in FFVII, VIII, and X), the game rewarded you for mastering as many of the classes as you could by letting each character utilize all of the mastered abilities while in Bare mode. In other words, besides building up the characters, the game actually made it worthwhile to have each character gain each skill.

I am not positive, but I think seperate game crews (with a few exceptions) worked on the even and odd-numbered Final Fantasies. Therefore, the crew that created FFII also programmed FFIV, thus accounting for the similarities in the game's styles. The crew that made FFI then went on to do FFIII and FFV, which is why a lot of the graphics and themes are recurrent. I am not positive on this point, but it would make sense. After the lack of success of FFV, then, Square opted to concentrate more on story from here on out. I also think the reason we never got FFV was because it did so poorly in Japan. I am sure it sold well, based on its name alone, but I am also quite confident that the company received pretty poor feedback on this particular outing.

This is the last of the old breed of Final Fantasies, then, in which characters controlled everything regarding the characters, magic had to be purchased, and the game was more about the experience than the story. Thinking about it in those terms, FFV is a great exercise in nostalgia, as it returns to a time when video games were simpler. Even so, I for one am glad that the series moved in a completely different direction after this installment.

The First Real Ending

2004-08-08T09:50:00.000-07:00

Unlike the previous Final Fantasies, the fourth installment of this epic saga rewards players for making their way through the game. While the other three games did have some sort of a conclusion, these so-called endings were hardly worth the effort it took to reach them. They were simple messages, occasionally followed by cheap animation and ideas whose deeper meanings were incoherant to even the wisest player. In the third sequel to Square's "final" fantasy, this all changes.

The ending of this game tries to wrap up some loose ends, and gives the player some information about what will happen in the world they are soon to leave. To give you a cliff-notes version, everyone becomes either a King or a Queen (except for Palom and Porom, who have to go back to school), Cecil and Rydia get married, the second moon starts to drift away, and everyone lives happily ever after. Except for Tellah, of course, who is currently dead. There is even a little exchange between Rydia and Edge that, while unspoken, does lead me to believe that at some point the two will hook up. And then Rydia, naturally will become a queen. The ending is still a little short by today's standards, but I consider it to be one of the better in the series.

Well, I am now 2/5 of the way through the voyage. Huh. Right now, I can't think of anything more to say than that.

He Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Mortal Men. And Women.

2004-08-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

The quest through the Lunar Subteranne eventually leads Cecil and his friends to the central core of the artificial moon, where an epic battle is being waged between Zemus and FuSoYa and Golbez. The stage is thus set for the boss battle. After a long sequence in which Zemus is killed, but then reborn again as Zeromus, Cecil and his friends enter the battle nearly annihilated.

Much like in Final Fantasy III, many of the characters from the past return to help the characters out. Another sequence involving many of your past allies, some living some dead, leads to the restoration of the party and the chance to take on what some would call the toughest boss in all 10 of the games. Even though I find him rather easy to beat even on level 60, I would have to agree that he does do the most damage and can be the most difficult of all the Final Fantasy end-of-game bosses. The Chronicles version of the game attempts to make him even more of a challenge, almost requiring that players steal a new item called Dark Matter to bring him down. I did steal the Dark Matter, mostly to be able to say that I got it. When you have all your characters on Level 99, however, it does not make too much sense to cause a fight to become any easier, so I took down Zeromus without the Dark Matter's assistance.

Speaking of which, as this is the only time I plan on ever raising my characters to Level 99 (with the exception of FFVIII, where it is so easy to do that I will probably go ahead and do it), this would be a perfect time to talk about the lack of challenge of the End-Of-Game Bosses when characters are at the maximum level. Personally, this makes sense to me, as not everyone is willing to take the time to build their characters up as much as possbile. I think the first time I ever waited to beat a game before my characters were as maxed-out as I could make them was in Final Fantasy VIII, and I have since done it in IX and X as well. Before then, though, I saved the level-maxing for my second playthroughs of these classics, and thus would have been upset were the fight to prove too challenging. Even so, I do hear people complaining about how weak the final bosses are compared to super-characters. Well, that's just tough. If you are maxing out the characters, you should know from the start that you are only doing so for your own personal sense of achievement. The only time I have can think of where it would be almost required for players to max their stats to bring down a boss would be for some of the optional fights in FFX. Painless and boring fights are in themselves a reward for players who take the time to build their characters. So quit the hating, alright?

Anyway, after defeating Zeromus Square includes a message for all of the players out there - don't let darkness overcome your heart. In an attempt to include a tangible message of some sort, the fight on the moon concludes with the idea that Zeromus will survive as long as evil resides in the hearts of human beings. Cecil breaks down his own hatred by forgiving his brother. Kain embarks on a quest to purify his own self. The Summons talk at length about the goodness and love within Rydia. This is one of the first times that I can remember where a video game tried to spread such a deep message, and this no doubt led to some of the more serious themes found in the later installments.

Think Pink

2004-08-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

Of all the treasures found in the depths of the Lunar Subteranne, none is as special or rewarding as the elusive Pink Tail. This item can be traded to the tail collector for more Adamant rock, which in turn will provide the player the chance to obtain Adamant Armor, the best armor in the game. Besides having an incredibly high defensive value, the Adamant Armor can be equipped by all five characters. Of course, getting the armor requires getting some tail(s) and that, my friends, is another story altogether...

The Pink Tail is not found in any treasure chest, nor can it be located by randomly pressing the search button while walking around the final dungeon. The tail must be won, and its bearers are few. The only beasts that will drop the Pink Tail are Pink Puffs, little slime-like creatures that are among the rarest and oddest monsters of the game. They are only found in one small, otherwise unimportant room in the Subteranne. In the Super Nintendo version of the game, players had only a 1/64 chance of meeting and fighting a Pink Puff. In the Chronicles version, the odds have been decreased even further, as proven by the fact that I have twice gone more than 120 encounters between running into the petulant pink pests. What has stayed the same between the two versions is that they will randomly drop a tail at least once every 64 encounters, but getting those 64 encounters can be quite a hassle for even the most enthusiastic gamer.

There is a trick to overcoming these odds. If a player uses an Alarm item inside this room, 99% of the the time he or she will fight a Pink Puff. By using 64 Alarms in a row, the players is all but guaranteed that they will eventually acquire a Pink Tail. The key to this equation, however, is remembering to bring along enough Alarms to make this trick work. Alarms cannot be bought; unfortunately, they must be won from either Alerts or Searchers inside one of the Babil dungeons. Even more unfortunate is the fact that I completely forgot about this fact and did not steal 64+ Alarms while I had the chance. The game creatively prevents you from re-entering the Tower, making it inaccessible from the Underground, and sticking an Elban citizen right in front of the Overworld's entrance.

Fear not, I did get extremely lucky and managed to win a Pink Tail on my 11th try with the beasts. I did manage to get a set of the armor, which I equipped on Edge, as it seemed like his defense was much lower than it should have been at this stage of the game. Wandering around and attempting to encounter the Pink Puffs is a trying experience, but it is also very rewarding in terms of gaining experience. Even at the later levels, my characters still managed to level up two or three times in under 64 encounters. This is a good way to build levels while still focusing on a single goal.

One other thing about the Pink Puffs. When you fight these creatures, a message saying "Let's Dance!" appears, most of your characters become Berserk, and various Chocobo themes begin to play in the background. For the life of me I cannot remember this ever happening in the Super Nintendo version. While I am not insinuating that it did not occur, as I will be the first to admit my memory is occasionally faulty in terms of games I have not played in almost four years, but I really think that this would be something that would stick with me. I personally believe that the Pink Puffs were no different in the first American version, but were meant to be something special in the original version. I personally prefer this version, as it makes the fight a little more interesting and causes the Pink Puffs to be even more exciting to encounter than the other humdrum enemies of their chamber.

Nobody's Perfect

2004-08-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

While wandering around, searching for the elusive Pink Puff and fighting what seems like an endless supply of Trickers, I finally did receive the Imp summon as a reward. This means that my earlier statement about such hidden summons being merely the work of rumor-mongers was incorrect, and thus I am offering a retraction. It does seem rather odd to me that after years of searching for such objects, I finally stumbled across one. The odds of getting them must be extremely small, possibly less than 1/255. If I were Square, I would have made the Imp summon the best summon in the game. I mean, come on, the thing is nearly impossible to find, and who would expect that something as unthreatening as an Imp could pack such a wallop? If anything it would have been humorous. As it is, the Imp summon is worthless, as are (from what I have seen on the internet) all of the other hidden summons in the game. As players would have to spend hours upon hours attempting to obtain any one of these spells, the fact that they are so underwhelming is rather disappointing. I suppose that Square can be forgiven for its lack of foresight regarding making the installment's rarest objects less than spectacular, but even at this early stage in their development careers the makers should have realized that the rarer an object is, the more useful it ought to be for the player. In Final Fantasy IV, however, this is not the case, which is rather unfortunate.

The Imp summon, by the way, uses an attack called "Imp Punch." Now, if Square wanted this to be almost exactly like its Japanese counterpart (therefore the switch of the name Crystal Sword to Ragnorak, and so on), then why did the company not revert the name "Imp" back to its original "Goblin?" Why keep the American name, when it has called the beasts "Goblins" in all of its other American releases? Had the name been kept, this attack would clearly have been termed "Goblin Punch." In any event, it is the birth of what would later become a regularly used (and occasionally learnable) attack used by these otherwise inept fiends.

While I am on the subject of correcting myself, I realize now that there was one other statement I made earlier that was not quite accurate. I essentially said that Edge eventually had the best attack power in the game. That is incorrect, as I had forgotten how much of a stat bonus is given by Ragnorak. Cecil has the best straight out attack in the game. Edge does the most damage when he throws the Fumas, but when it comes to simply using the 'Fight' command, Cecil has the Ninja beat.

Best of the Best, From the Best

2004-08-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

Littered around the vast corridors of the Lunar Subteranne are a variety of treasures to be had by those brae enough to test their strengths. As in Final Fantasy III, there are a number of ultimate weapons identifiable by unusual graphics found on various pedestals throughout the depths of the artificial moon's surface.

These weapons are legendary, both within the context of the game and within the paradigm of Final Fantasy. The Holy Lance, often found as the best spear in several of the Final Fantasy games, is found on one of these pedestals. The Masamune is another common FF weapon that can be obtained while wandering the Subteranne. Players who search hard enough can discover a passageway leading to the Ragnorak, the best sword in the game for Cecil. While I have heard some people complain about the fact that the sword was changed from its American name to "better accommodate Final Fantasy VIII fans," I don't buy into this criticism. First, the name of the sword was originally Ragnorak in the Japanese version, making perfect sense for the classic name to be restored. The Ragnorak was the best sword of FFIII, so it makes sense for it to return as the best sword of FFIV. While I do agree that the Crystal Sword's title has more to do with the game's story, the Ragnorak has more to do with the series in general, making it a better fit in my opinion. I do, however, agree that its name should never have been changed in the first place.

Although not found on pedestals, there are also a number of treasure chests yielding better equipment for each of the characters. Kain can acquire some Dragon armor, Cecil can gain some Crystal armor, and there is also a few other items to boost the defenses of the other three party members. The Minerva Armor, for example, lowers magic defense but will boost physical D and attack, making it ideal for Rydia. There are also two Ribbons to be found, making this magical status-preventing object, Excalibur, and the Masamune the only three significant objects to have made the jump from 8-bit graphics to 16-bit.

With these great items, however, comes a catch. Or, more specifically, a dangerous monster or two bent on preventing you from successfully acquiring the most powerful equipment in the game. Most of the treasure chests and all of the special weapons in the Lunar Subteranne are guarded by the best monsters in the game. A Bahamut clone - the Wyvern - and a Leviathan clone - whose name is unpronouncable and difficult to remember - guard the Ragnorak and Masamune respectively. Even more difficult than these powerful beasts, though, is Plague, another floating eye type with a dangerous trick up his, er, eye. Plague immediately starts the battle by casting Doom on each party member. This means that you have until the timer counts down to 10 to kill the fiend before your entire party is wiped out. To make matters worse, after casting Doom, Plague tries to speed up the process by casting Haste on your characters. Fortunately, the speed of the countdown varies slightly from character to character, so while you will not have enough time to revive any of your fallen comrades, you can still have the survivors get in a few licks before they succumb to the reaper. I think I had three characters remaining when I finally brought Plague down. If you have been saving Shurikens or Fumas (both of which can be purchased from the blacksmith in the underground after the Babil Giant has been stopped - and to tell you the truth, after wandering around the Subteranne for a while, there is no reason why you would not have enough Gil to buy 99 of each) now is the time to use them en masse.

To the Moon and Back

2004-08-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

The destruction of the Babil Giant leads to the spilling of the second big secret of the Final Fantasy series: That Cecil and Golbez are brothers. To tell you the truth, after playing through Final Fantasy II and seeing what happens with Maria's brother, this really is not that big of a shocker anymore. Most Americans had not played II before they played IV (including myself), however, so this announcement was even more gasp invoking than the revelation that Cecil is part little-green-martian.

Kain, finally free from Zemus' control, then joins the party to get his revenge. This leads to a small but dramatic cutscene where we see Rosa and Cecil get sappy and Rosa gain a 'tude with Edge. The characters then blast off to the man-made moon and the dungeon underneath its surface.

The Lunar Subteranne is one of the cooler end-of-game dungeons in the series. There are a variety of hidden passages to explore and side areas to discover, and the background is particularly cool considering the time period in which it was drawn. Visually, it is quite similar to the end dungeon of Final Fantasy II, adding fuel to my theory that the same design team programmed both games.

The Subteranne also yields a bevy of crazy new monsters to challenge the players. The Veteran, a flying eye who probably gets its name from the fact that it has appeared in so many other areas of this installment, is one of the more bothersome foes the characters encounter. It immediately casts Doom on a party member, giving you to the count of 10 to kill the Veteran before the affected character falls unconscious. Sometimes you can get lucky and have him cast Doom on the same character multiple times, resetting the countdown each time. For the most part, though, the fight requires players to be quick and deadly in dealing with this floating cycloptic adversary.

Another beast that is found around here is the Ging-Ryu, often accompanied by its brother, King-Ryu. Ging-Ryus are weaker, but can cast Flame, a spell that usually does a sizable amount of damage to each party member. The King-Ryus, which will occasionally only use Blitz on one character, are the more difficult of the two to take down. King-Ryus also counterattack with Entangle, which, when successful, paralyzes a party member.

One of the more unusual enemies is the Tricker, a floating orange incarnation of the classic Goblin foe. Trickers at first only cast Scan on themselves, letting players know that their weakness is Bolt. There is a catch to this seemingly helpful opponent. If Bolt is used on the beast, it does do massive damage to the monster, but also results in the fiend constantly using extremely powerful magic back on the characters. Fortunately, Square does try to subtly warn the player that this is the case by giving him the name, "Tricker." These are actually almost as annoying as the TinyToads, as the only thing they do is repeatedly cast Scan on themselves, and Scan does take a few seconds to cast.

In the later areas of the game Dragons, EvilMasks, and Behemoths become more common, signaling to the player that the end is nigh. Until then, however, there is plenty to keep the player busy as they work through the wonderful Lunar Subteranne.

Boostin' the Ol' Stats

2004-08-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

One of the innovations to be born in Final Fantasy IV was the opportunity to boost characters' HP and MP. Although this is not necessary, it is the only way to ever get Rydia up to 9999HP and Cecil and Edge to 9999MP. This is done by using rare items such as the Gold and Silver Apples and the SumaDrops found hidden around the various locales of the game. The Apples boost HP, and the Drop boosts the MP. They can be randomly won from a few of the game's enemies, making a lot of fighting neccessary for those hoping to achieve the ultimate stats. I have never personally been one of those players; getting everyone to Level 99 is enough for me. Rest assured, this will probably be the only game during these playthroughs in which I take the time to get the characters to Level 99. The only reason I am choosing to do so in this game is because it is the first time I have ever actually owned Final Fantasy IV, and the glitches in the battle sound are annoying enough that I do not want to come back and play the title for some time.

Although Final Fantasy IV is one of the only games in the series in which players can use items to boost stats, the concept was quite common among Super Nintendo RPGs. One of the reasons to play through Chrono Trigger multiple times, for example, is to acquire as many of the tabs as possible to boost each of the playable characters' stats to their maximum level. Although I cannot think of any other RPG off the top of my head that used this idea, I do know for a fact that was a very common idea that I remember seeing very often during the 16-bit glory days of video gaming.

Wandering the Giant

2004-08-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned earlier, upon returning from the moon the characters immediately enter a cutscene that ends with them being required to enter the Babil Giant. The sequence is actually kind of cool, and is of much better quality than the similar scene towards the end of Final Fantasy III. Again, many of the characters from the past return to help the party out. The dwarves, Yang and his Slyph guardians, Cid, Edward, and even the Mysidians with a newly restored Palom and Porom in tow come to assist in the defense against the evil giant.

The Babil Giant is one of the most linear dungeons in the game, with several chests containing nothing too terribly useful. Although they are inside a giant, the map is also rather short, with the characters quickly finding the Save Point and the Core Room.

There are two main battles the characters have to win before shutting down the giant. The first is against the Four Fiends, who have all been revived by Zemus for one last crack at Cecil and his friends. Yes, this idea is being rehashed from Final Fantasy I, and no, it is not as much of a pain because all four are actually fought in succession. Though, I suppose, to some players that could make this battle more of a pain than the seperate fights of the original game. All of the Fiends are considerably easier this time around.

The second battle is with the CPU unit controlling the robot. The very first time I played this game, this battle took me several tries and finally over an hour to win, mainly because I did not pay attention to FuSoYa's message before entering the fight. The CPU has an attacker and a defender that fight alongside it. If both of these units are destroyed, the CPU kills off two of your characters and then revives them. If, by chance, you are not someone who took the time to get all of the characters up to Level 60 before entering the fight, this battle can be a rather tough one to fight using the conventional hack-and-slash strategy. The first time I played, this battle was ridiculously tough. Once I realized that the game essentially told you how to win on each of my other playthroughs, however, the battle became a piece of cake. The key is to destroy only the Defender unit at first, as it revives the CPU. Then, ignore the Attacker and go straight for the giant CPU. After that is destroyed, the Attacker can be easily eliminated. This prevents the use of Globe99, the attack that will always successfully kill any of your characters. Then again, if you are someone who decided to get all the characters up to Level 60 before this fight, it is pretty much a safe bet that you can just hack-and-slash and rely on your healers to quickly revive any fallen comrades.

Practical Magic

2004-08-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

For most of the three NES Final Fantasies, magic was not very useful and players rarely casted it if there was a better available option. The elemental spells were decent for the earlier parts of the first three installments, but by a certain point in each quest the monsters started shaking off these spells, leaving characters to their physical attacks. Even the more powerful spells in each adventure did barely enough damage to be worthy of any note against the later enemies. The lone exceptions may have been FFIII's summons, although none of them were quite the force of a fully equipped Onion Knight.

Square clearly realized the error of this formula, and opted to improve it for Final Fantasy IV. Their work was so successful that, for the most part, the spells were now more powerful than the physical attacks. This would only last for a short period of Video Game history, although it is one that is fondly remember by those who lived it.

The Summoned Monsters are by far the most useful spells in the game. Even so, the regular magic can and does hold its own in a comparison challenge. Rosa learns Holy on Level 55. This spell, the lone attack incantation on the White Mage's roster, packs a very powerful punch and is extremely useful even late in the game. The previous versions of Holy were nowhere near as effective as this bad boy, and it is refreshing to play a game where the ultimate spell actually is an ultimate spell. The only downside to Holy is that it can only target one enemy. The upside to this is that, most of the time, you are only going to use it on bosses anyway.

The other spell of note is Meteo, the ultimate spell of the game. While it is overlooked thanks to the cheaper and more effective Bahamut, Meteo is considered the game's best spell due to the incident with Tellah earlier on in the adventure. FuSoYa and Rydia are the only two characters able to cast this spell in a normal battle, but like I said earlier, Rydia has Bahamut so it is only an effective spell for FuSoYa. Rydia learns Meteo on Level 60, and by that point, you are ready to take on the boss of the game. Meteo is a very strong spell, and will usually do as much damage as Bahamut. The only difference is that Bahamut costs 39 less MP to cast, making it a tad more useful in the long run.

Need EXP? Search No Further!

2004-08-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

Inside the Babil Giant, a poorly animated robot bent on destroying the planet, there are certain enemies known as Searchers. These robots provide some of the best opportunities for EXP that players will come across in the game. The key is to know how to get the most from these fights. Like the Alerts before them, the Searchers will call forth a new monster only as a counterattack. This means that you have until the Searcher is destroyed to keep pumping it for EXP. The way to turn a normally short rout of an opponent into an all-you-can-eat EXP buffet, then, is to simply make the fight last as long as possible. There are several ways to accomplish this feat.

The obvious method to provoking a counterattack without hurting the machine too much is to use an attack that will do the least amount of damage as possible. Fortunately, the Searchers are strong against magic. Venom is a spell that only costs two MP to use, and will do exactly 1HP damage to the robot. This means that Rydia and FuSoYa can continue to cast the spell every time that the Searcher is alone for a long, long time. Unfortunately, Venom has the potential to poison the Searcher occasionally, making it kind of a gamble to use regularly. Being poisoned does a whopping 600HP worth of damage to the machine every so often, meaning one of your three healers will have to waste 20MP on Esuna to keep the fight going. For this reason, it is better to find another alternative to Venom to use on the menacing summoner.

Enter Ice1. Or Fire1 or Bolt1, for that matter. All three cost only 5MP, and will do 1HP damage to the Searcher. Rydia and FuSoYa again have plenty of MP to cast these basic spells, making the fight last a very long time. Using Rosa as your healer will keep the fighters alive, and you probably won't even need to use skills that often, making it wiser to just have her defend and not waste any arrows. The best possible scenario for this strategy pits you against a Searcher that constantly calls forth Horsemen. These beasts can be brought down in only one hit apiece by Cecil and Edge, making the process go quicker and then assuring that Rosa will not have to heal as often. In fact, it is better to not even attempt this trick unless you are facing Horsemen, as the amount of time you would otherwise be spending healing will eventually wear on Rosa and FuSoYa a little too quickly.

But wait, there's more! What happens when FuSoYa and Rydia have run out of MP? No need to end the fight just yet! If Rosa has been able to save most of her MP up to this point, then the fun has only just begun! With FuSoYa in the back row, he will usually do less than 100HP worth of damage to a Searcher. Considering that each Searcher has 5500HP, this is another way to ensure your time with the Searcher can last much, much longer than usual. Furthermore, whenever you are worried about the machine's HP, Rosa is there to heal it! The fight can literally go on as long as you want it to go on. When the battle is nearing completion, go ahead an kill FuSoYa - yes, kill your own party member - and let Rydia handle the rest of the load. Her attacks will probably do a little more damage than Fu's, but she will still cause the fight to gradually meander on. This will earn the four living characters (all of whom are with you until the end of the game) a boatload of EXP. For example, I spent a little under 45 minutes on one fight with a Searcher, and when the battle ended, Rosa and Rydia both went up two levels each, and Cecil and Edge went up three apiece. Not too bad for the time it took. While I would only do this until all four are on level 60, as there is plenty of good EXP to be had while completing the Moon's other objectives, it will put you in good position to beat the rest of the bosses in the game.

So THAT'S Where They Came From!

2004-07-31T17:25:00.000-07:00

One other non-descript cave offers something for players on the moon. Within lie the Hummingways, brethren of the various Namingways seen wandering around the planet. One of the Hummingways even tries to justify this by suggesting that one of them had left for planet sometime ago to practice his art of naming. This Namingway must have spawned some offspring down there, as the planet is filled with these renamers.

As you might expect, if the Namingways get their title from their ability to name, the Hummingways get theirs from their ability to hum. Most of the Hummingways with whom you speak will hum a short tune for the characters. Nothing special, but nothing too annoying, either. There are three Hummingways in the back that will give you a little more detailed information about their people, but again, nothing special. There is also an actual Namingway in here as well, though finding him is like playing a game of Where's Waldo.

The big reason to come to this cave is that one of the Hummingways is a merchant that will sell some of the rarest items in the game to the characters. This includes Ether1s and Ether2s, Whistles (which summon Fat Chocobos to wherever you are standing), and Elixers. Needless to say, these items all cost a pretty penny, but are worth every cent.

There's Something ...Different... About Rydia....

2004-07-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

There is one more summon to be gained before moving on with the adventure. Rumor has it that there are actually a number of other summons, none of which are too particularly useful, that can be won from various random monsters. I personally believe this is a load of hogwash, but there are enough FAQs and Walkthroughs out there that say otherwise that lead me to have my doubts. One of these summons, for example, is Imp. You have a 1/64 chance of winning the summon from battling Imps or Imp-like enemies. I personally have tried to obtain these summons every time I've played through this game, both on the SNES and right now. Earlier today, in fact, after gaining Leviathan I spent close to an hour and a half and fought over 100 battles with Imp enemies outside of Baron and never got this supposed item. Because I have tried so many different times on different playthroughs on different copies of the game, I find it hard to believe that any of them actually exist without the use of a Game Genie or Game Shark.

At any rate, the final summon that I know actually does exist is Bahamut, found in an isolated cave on the moon. Before reaching Bahamut, the party must battle through a cave that contains the Genji equipment for Cecil, marking the second appearance for this storied armor. The items are only a small upgrade over the Diamond equipment, but the difference is notable in battle. This cave also contains three Behemoths that appear as random encounters, but are always encountered at the same three places. The Behemoths are pretty tough, as they counterattack everything directed at them, but can be brought down without too much difficulty.

Bahamut, on the other hand, is a different matter. The King of Dragons and leader of the Summons is also more difficult than FFIV's final boss, though not as hard as the moving wall. Bahamut only has one attack, but it is a whopper. He counts down from five and then unleashes MegaFlare, the strongest attack in the game. The only way to dodge this is by casting Wall spells on the characters. This reflects the damage back on to Bahamut. If two characters are Walled, he will sustain 9999 damage. A couple rounds of this brings the beast down and earns you the best spell in the game. What makes the fight difficult is that the Walls wear out pretty quickly, and the game gives you no indication they are gone until you get hit with a spell. The walls also last longer on some characters than others, making it hard to predict when it will dissipate. Even so, careful attention to detail will win the fight in the end. To give you an idea how close it can be, on this playthrough Rosa was the only one still standing when Bahamut died.

After defeating the dragon king, the Master Summon offers his services to Rydia. This, in my mind, confirms that there must be something different about Rydia that sets her apart from the other characters. I mean physically. Bahamut immediately saw she was a summoner, Odin immediately saw she was a summoner, the Slyphs immediately recognized her as a summoner. And this is without even going into the other NPCs that knew she was a summoner. How is this possible, if Rydia looks like the other characters? There must be something physically different about summoners that is impossible to see in 16-bit graphics. Whatever it is, it must be pretty obvious, and Edge obviously does not mind it. Heck, he's probably attracted to it!

Man on the Moon

2004-07-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

There are several places to go on the moon, but a couple of those locales can wait until you get a fifth character. For that reason, I opted to go to the Lunar Palace first and move the story along. There is no direct road to the Lunar Palace, so you have to go through a series of caves to reach your destination.

Inside, Cecil and company find FuSoYa, the weirdest-named character in the entire series. (Though I will admit, Yang is pretty bad as well.) FuSoYa shares the story behind the goings-on of FFIV, explaining that Golbez is really under the control of a man named Zemus, who years ago had tried to destroy the Earth. FuSoYa also drops the first big secret of the series: that Cecil's father was a Lunarian, making Cecil half a person.

The story of the Lunarians is that the planet they lived on was destroyed, forcing a handful of the planet's denizens to flee to the Blue Planet. Realizing that humans did not match their intellect (unfortunately, they are a fairly arrogant race of people), the Lunarians created a second moon and decided to live there for a while. Great. We've just gone from Star Wars to Superman.

FuSoYa joins the party after giving his spiel, finally giving you a replacement for Kain. FuSoYa's job is titled "Lunarian," though his classification would probably be closer to Red Wizard. He can use every spell in the game, though his MP is rather low in comparison to Rydia and Rosa. FuSoYa is essentially an upgraded Tellah. His other ability is Regen, which slowly regenerates each character's HP. If FuSoYa dies, the Regen effect wears off. At this stage of the game, recovering 10HP every 30 seconds really is not that helpful.

Flying a Free Willy

2004-07-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

After accomplishing all the side quests on the overworld and underground, it is time to head for the mystical, magical moon. To do this, a trip to Mysidia is first required. The legend about the hero is read again, and after a small cutscene a space ship flies out of the ocean. This is another event that can be linked to Final Fantasy III, as yet again the ultimate airship is found sealed under the ground.

Like Invincible, its FFIII predecessor, this ship has a subscreen where players can sleep, talk to a Fat Chocobo that somehow survived being under the water with no supplies (and that without losing any weight!), and choose when to take off. The ship is called the Lunar Whale, mostly because it looks kind of like a whale and can take Cecil and his friends to the moon.

One thing to note - This is the first Final Fantasy in which the characters do not go under the water for any reason at all. This is also the first Final Fantasy that sent characters into Outer Space.

The True King of Baron

2004-07-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

To Cecil's dismay, a walk down to the lower throne room of Baron Castle reveals the ghost of the real Baron King. The spirit will have nothing to do with the party until after the gang has visited the Land of Summoned Monsters, but afterwards will reveal himself to Cecil.

It turns out that after he died, the King of Baron somehow was turned into the summon Odin. This is never fully explained, although this does continue the tradition from FFIII of placing Odin in the basement of a castle. Before giving his powers to Rydia, the King requires the party to prove their strength in a fight against him. The proper wording probably should have been test their speed, as this is another battle with an unseen time limit that requires players to quickly kill a boss. Odin, fortunately, is easier to bring down than the moving wall. Which is a good thing, as you have even less time to defeat Baron's former King.

There is a (mostly) foolproof way to bring down Odin in four hits. Which is good, because I still only have four characters in my party. I am still kicking myself for that decision. The first step is to return to Fabul and show the dented frying pan to Yang's wife. She is grateful for what you have done, and hands over a knife. The knife is a thrown object that deals a guaranteed 9999 damage to whomever it hits. Place the knife at the start of your inventory, and then return to Baron. When the battle starts, have Edge throw the knife, have Rydia use Bolt3, and then have Rosa and Cecil attack. Bolt3 and the Knife should both deal 9999 damage, and then Cecil and Rosa's attacks are good enough to put him away.

As in just about every other Final Fantasy, Odin's summon attempts to destroy every monster on the screen instantly.

Underground Town

2004-07-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

The Cave of Summoned Monsters leads - Surprise! - into the Land of Summoned Monsters, a town filled with the various summons in the game. Players meet talking Chocobos, friendly Bombs, and other less-than-fearsome denizens of this polite neighborhood.

The town has all the conveniences of every other town in the game, and then some. There is an Inn, two item shops, an armor shop that sells Aegis Shields, a Weapon Shop with upgrades for Rydia and Rosa, and the first library in the series since Final Fantasy II. One of the houses even contains a save point.

There are also a number of items scattered around for the taking. One of the chests in the village contains the Rat Tail, an odd item that has not been seen since the original Final Fantasy. The tail can later be traded for a piece of Adamant, which in turn provides players with this game's Excalibur. Also found in the lower levels of the town is another Yoichi Bow.

At the bottom of the town there are two boss fights for characters to attempt. The first is with Asura, Queen of the Summoned Monsters. She was definitely a lot tougher to beat in the original SNES version of the game. In the previous American release, she cured herself almost every round, making it all but impossible to bring her down without casting Wall on her first. Asura has been seriously downgraded for the Chronicles rerelease. Instead of spending most of her rounds curing, she instead attacks. Her cure spells seem to have also lost some power, meaning that players could bring her down without needing the Wall spell. After defeating her, Rydia learns the Asura summon. This magic cures everyone in the party (although it randomly attempts to annoy players by shielding them instead) and is by far the best curative spell in the game.

The second boss battle is with Leviathan, marking the second time in the series players get the chance to fight the water dragon. If my memory serves me correctly, this is also the last time, although I could be mistaken. Leviathan uses his trademark Tidal Wave every so often, but constantly casting Bolt3 and Blitz bring him down very quickly. Rydia then earns the Leviathan summon, which is a powerful attack summon, though there is one that is better.

The Other Underground Cave

2004-07-31T12:56:00.000-07:00

The Cave of Summoned Monsters is constantly referred to as the best place in the game to gain levels. I highly disagree with this idea. Even though there is good experience to be gained by some of the battles in this otherwise linear dungeon, the final labyrinth in the game will build your levels a little more quickly.

The reason for the Cave of Summoned Monsters receiving such acclaim is that it is home to the Conjurers, a similar breed of monster to the Marions the characters have already fought. The Conjurers choose a monster at random and bring it forth each round. One of these foes, the Arachne, is the key to building levels down here. The only attack the Arachne will ever use is GaiaRage, the earthquake more commonly produced by the Titan summon. As the flooring in the cave is poisonous, chances are good that the party is in Float mode. If this is the case, then GaiaRage will do... absolutely nothing. The Arachne is also relatively weak, as Edge can usually bring them down with one hit. The Conjurer's attacks are so weak that they are of no immediate concern. Fighting these Arachnes for a couple hours will eventually boost your characters' levels astronomically.

It is getting these Arachne battles that is a challenge. Conjurers are able to summon forth a variety of other monsters, including RockMoths, Clappers, and Imps. The Clappers give good experience, but take a while to bring down and can do significant damage when their attacks find their mark. The RockMoths and Imps are worth ignoring.

There are also other monsters in the cave besides the Conjurers, none of which give nearly enough experience to quickly build levels. The enemies in the final dungeon are at least capable of giving you enough EXP to raise levels at a tolerable pace. By the time you get that far, you will also be capable of killing them in only one or two hits, which is always a plus. The monsters that reside in the Cave of Summoned Monsters are mostly harmless, although there a couple with the annoying ability to confuse a character. When you only have four characters in your party, this can frustrating.

The Land of Annoying Status Ailments

2004-07-31T06:46:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, I decided to skip two of the optional dungeons until after I had completed the Sealed Cave. I am still wondering what in the world I was thinking.

The first dungeon I traversed was the Slyph Cave, located in the northwest of the Underground. Of all the dungeons in the game, this is by far the most frustrating. The entire dungeon is based on the central goal to annoy the crap out of anyone who enters. The monsters in this cave are not the most difficult in Final Fantasy IV, but they are the most aggravating.

Much of the floor of the Slyph Cave is covered in poision flooring, a'la several of the previous installments in the series. Unlike in the past, however, stepping on these panels does more than 1HP damage. This means that players must cast Float on the party in order to avoid sustaining large amounts of damage outside of battle. While it may not at first appear to be so, Float is one of the status effects that make this dungeon incredibly annoying. While the characters are hovering, Cecil's Cover ability is nowhere near as automatic as usual. This means that if you are in the middle of a fight, and one of your characters is low on HP, the chances of Cecil helping the character are dramatically decreased. You would be surprised at how often this can be a problem.

Overlooking the very act of wandering around, the cave harbors some of the most frustrating foes in the game. The Ghosts and DarkTree monsters each attack at an unrealistically quick rate, considering one of them is undead and one is a piece of wood. The damage is nothing major, but can add up in time. Your weaker characters, most notably Rydia, are then in danger as Cecil will not always jump in front while the party is floating. The Ghosts are also able to cast a Fire spell, which does not do a whole lot of damage, but is unavoidable. Under no circumstances will Cecil ever jump in front of a spell.

This cave also reintroduces the Malboro to the series. I do not remember the Malboro being in the American release, but I do vaguely recall this monster being there under a different alias. This marks the second appearance of the Malboro, the second appearance of BadBreath, and the first time that the one ever used the other. The Rhyos enemy in FFII was the first to ever use BadBreath, but it was not like the attack we have all come to know and despise. BadBreath, here just called Breath, causes every status ailment possible (except Stone) to the character it targets. This attack also has the unfortunate side effect of working 90% of the time. In other words, your character becomes a confused midget toad/pig that is also blind and mute. This also means that in one or two attacks, the character will probably die, as they no longer have any defense at all. The Malboro can be brought down in three or four physical attacks, but when you consider the fact that you have to manage these blows while handicapped, this becomes significantly harder to manage. To make things even more fun, there are encounters with as many as three Malboros at a time. One treasure chest contains a fight with four Malboros, making it one of the hardest fights in the game. Not surprisingly, the weapon you get from this fight is not very useful.

One other random encounter in the Slyph Cave is with ToadLadies and their TinyToads. The ToadLady causes all of the frogs she brings to cast Toad on your various party members. This is the only attack any of them ever use. If you kill the frogs, ToadLady turns herself into a Toad, and then tries to turn your party into Toads. There is almost no point in healing from the condition until after the fight, as the chances are good that the Toads themselves will restore you from the condition before the fight is over. It is impossible to die in this encounter. These fights may take a while, as the characters are incapable of doing more than 100HP worth of damage while in their froggy state, but they will never be damaged in anyway. Near as I can figure, the only possible reason why Square would ever have thought to include such a battle was to royally annoy the game's players. That is the only thing this fight accomplishes. There is no threat of death from anything other than boredom, as the player must wait until one of the characters is well enough to bring down the frogs.

When you finally reach the Slyph's Home, the party finds Yang alive, but not well. He appears to be in some sort of a coma, and the Slyphs are untrusting of the party. The plan now is to leave the cave, find Cid, attach the drill on to the Falcon (one of the funnier cutscenes in the game), and then head back to the overworld and return to Fabul. Yang's wife gives Cecil a Frying Pan, telling him to wake up Yang's lazy behind. Then guess what? The party gets to go back to the Slyph Cave and wander through it to the Slyph's House all over again! Using the Pan wakes up Yang, but he finds himself too injured to continue fighting. Bowing up a Super Cannon using only one's bare hands will do that to a man. Instead, the Slyphs offer to help the party by giving Rydia the Slyph summon.

The Slyphs use a Wind attack that damages a monster and distributes its HP among the party. This is not a very useful summon. It does have its moments, but there are better ways to heal in the game, and there are better attacks as well. For only 25MP it does have some advantages, but not nearly enough to justify all the pain that players had to endure to get the spell. Then again, 85% of all my problems in the cave stemmed from my decision to undertake it with only four party members. Even with fivem however, the Slyph Cave is extremely annoying and is the first section of any Final Fantasy game that I can honestly say I do not want to go through again for quite some time.