Game 12: Final Fantasy (NES) - Finally Finished!

One of the best NES landscapes I've seen

I didn't think it'd take quite this long, but I'm done with Final Fantasy. I considered an interim post between this and the previous. In the end, I couldn't really come up with anything to say. Even at this point I'm not sure I have enough coherency in me for this post, but I want to get it out tonight because of a plug at the end.
I ended the previous post just before the class change. Taking the rat's tail to Bahamut turns my mages into wizards, and my black belt into a Grand Master. To all who voted for a Black Belt, you have my thanks, he really shined throughout this this last portion of the game.

Before heading back to the Volcano (yes that long ago), I visited the town that leads to the water temple. Here I picked up some level seven spells before stopping by the Oasis for a dip in the pool. Lacking a pool, I took stock of a caravan with all sorts of trinkets, but the merchant would only sell me a bottle.

I feel like you're only here for my benefit

Inside the bottle was a fairy, which I remembered gives Oxyale. This allows me to breath underwater. Now I can enter the water temple. Before we get to that though, it's about time to take care of the Fire Fiend.

Heal everyone all the time!

The only way the Volcano is now manageable is with the help of magic items. These unlimited-use items are invaluable, especially the Heal Staff. Using this every round I still had single digit healing potions by the time I reached the Fire Fiend, Kary.

Kary was much more difficult than the Lich. Even with the extra levels, class advance, and magic items, she nearly killed a single party member. Well, I guess she wasn't all that difficult, but she doesn't seem to have the weakness to ice I thought she would.

Come on Kili, are you sure you're casting that right?

Kary went down and with two orbs filled with light, I felt pretty good. I jet off to the Water Temple and things go swimmingly until I run into some of the hardest hitting regular enemies yet, Ghosts. I came to fear a group larger than four as they could quickly take out one of my party in a single round.

Here I fought five, Tont just took one out before biting the dust

In the fight above, I'm lucky enough to have Harm3 and Fire3 take them out. An earlier battle with six ghosts quickly ended one venture. I came across some good equipment in this place though, including my first Ribbon. This single piece of equipment seems to raise a lot of hidden stats such as magic defense and certain immunities to status changes. It's too bad I never found one for Kili.

The Water Fiend is a giant squid called the Kraken. As fearsome as he sounds, he was quite the pushover when I encountered him. Seriously, he basically just sat there for three rounds as Tont pummeled him into submission. Third orb lit, and we're making great progress.

Know any other tricks?

At this point I knew the rest of the game fairly well by rote. Find the slab with the mermaids, learn an ancient language by giving said slab to a professor, and get the chime from an ancient people. Heading back into the Water Temple, I quickly found them cowering on the top floor. I guess news of the Fiend's demise hadn't reached them yet, as they continued to implore me to act with haste lest they turn into bubbles.

Wait for it... LIGHT WARRIORS! Oh yeah...

I remembered to stop by the waterfall nearby to retrieve a Cube, and another Ribbon to protect Gioz as well as Tont. The Slab is passed to Dr. Unne, language learned, chime gained, and I use the chime to intone a melody that allows entrance to the Mirage Tower in the middle of the desert. I ran into some trouble... seriously, does Tont have to pull the team out of every bind?

How did this happen? Gioz had a Ribbon on!

I learned something from this fight though. Soft, the spell to cure stone status, does not work in battle. Well I won't be relying on that going forward. I'm not sure why Tont was more immune than everyone else, but it seems he's touched by the divine.

Kili on the other hand...

I make good use of that Cube retrieved earlier, and find myself teleporting up floors of the floating Air Temple. Nearing the top I can peer out a window to see the four elemental forces flowing forth to the Temple of Fiends!

Which one was the Temple of Fiends again?

The temple isn't too much trouble. I collected a number of armor pieces that kept filling my inventory, and I found myself offloading what I could. I reached a point though where I had to start making hard decisions. First to go was the Zeus Gauntlet, which let me cast a lightning spell I'm assuming. In its place I managed to get a Black Shirt, which does... some kind of damage.

Combat is still challenging at this point, with many fights that teeter on the edge of uncertainty. My only complaint here is the tides can shift in a single turn and without warning.

No damage... no spells... just death

I didn't quite know that sorcerers could kill in a single hit. I knew they could paralyze, which is bad enough. It's not even a spell that I could block. Pipi steps up in this fight and pulls the party through with her Hammer of Thor. I take this as a sign to exit and save my game before continuing on.

There's a small maze, and I remember something about down two, left two, or was it up two, right two... yes, I think I went right around the exit twice and found the entrance three times before getting it right. No WarMechs to speak of, although I would like to meet one sometime.

Gioz: "Oh my god! They killed Kili!" Tont: "You bastards!"

Tiamat has the ability to cast all the elements plus a poison gas cloud. Not sure what to defend against, I focus on punching the stuffing out of the multi-headed dragon with Tont. Magic seems ineffective once again.

I head back for some advice from the 12 sages, and I'm at a loss to describe this plot twist. I have a vague memory of going to the past, but 2000 years? This time loop is a little confusing...

So, he travels back, and waits, then travels back, then... what's the point?

I prepare for the final confrontation by buying up level eight spells and paring down my inventory. Wait a minute! Where's Life 2 and Nuke? I'm missing two of the most powerful spells in my arsenal. I actually didn't find them. This is as close as I came to them. I checked up and down, but failed to continue to the right.

Hmmm... I have a feeling it's around here somewhere, but I'm not stopping to ask directions

In any case I didn't really need them. I mean, I managed all the other dungeons without them. How hard could the Temple of Fiends be?

That ended badly

The above fight is really the worst of it. I tried to run to save time. Had I stuck it out to fight I may have survived. There were some tough fights, but Tont made quick work of any single enemy while the others constantly healed the party with the Heal Staff and two Heal Helms.

Each floor of the Temple of Fiends has an elemental theme, and at the end of each Earth, Fire, Water, and Air floor is a re-fight with the associated Fiend. They appear in a slightly more powerful form, although that maybe that's just how I perceived them. They seem to have the same amount of HP.

Yes! Nuke! Kili wants... no, not like that

The other three fiends actually go a little smoother. Of course, Kili still dies to Tiamat. I made it through the entire temple, right up to the final level, but chickened out because I exhausted my healing spells. Had I at least Heal 3 I would have pressed on, but another 20 minutes later I was right back in front of Chaos with nearly a full reserve.

Garland? Can't say I remember... oh wait, aren't you the guy we offed at the beginning?

I'm not sure how this constitutes a time loop. I could have stayed in the future with all the orbs full of light, right? I suppose it's explained that if I had stayed in the present, then 2000 years past that point the fiends would have reappeared. Does that make sense? How exactly does Garland survive for 2000, 4000, 6000+ years?

No wait, that doesn't make sense. How is this a Time-Loop?

Gah! Forget this, time for you to die! Then I don't have to worry about this alleged time loop. About the only useful item I picked up in this final temple was the Masamune. An all powerful sword that can be equipped by anyone, including Kili. I ended up giving it to Pipi though; she needs her time to shine, plus I was afraid Kili would die again. Gioz turned out to be useless with the Sun Sword, doing only a single hit point per hit.

Leave some for Tont!

Chaos as a final boss was a bit of a let down. Maybe I got lucky again, but I received no major damaging attacks, no status effects, and one instant death spell that missed everyone. He didn't even kill Kili! I do like how the entire sprite fills the battle area, if only his menacing was as big as his menace.

Tont comes in with the killing blow

And, with that ends the reign of Chaos. As his visage slowly fades, we reflect on the journey we've taken. Peace has returned to this nameless land, and the four warriors of light return to their time and the welcoming arms of the princess. Of course, here's a problem. We have a party of adventurers and only one princess.

I'm crumbling... crumbling... crumbling

I'm happy to be done with this game. There's a nice epilogue that explains how the player is a true warrior of light, but I had a hard time getting into the story when my mind was already jumping to the next plot point without having to consider what I was experiencing. I'm looking forward to a game I've never played, like Super Hydlide, even if the series isn't remembered in a flattering light.

Session Time: 7h00m (Total Time: 18h00m)

For those interested, I ended at level 30. I remember once I played with a party of four fighters and to even stand a chance against Chaos without the Fast spell to double my damage, I had to reach max level. I'd guess this is about average party level.

Since it's Final Fantasy related, there's a charity marathon going on right now called Crystals for Life where they're playing through a number of Final Fantasy games in speedrun fashion. It ends tomorrow, but right now they're playing through Final Fantasy X and the finale is Final Fantasy VI. Please help them reach their goal of $30K to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Speaking of speedrunning, I'm often most amazed at the level of planning that goes into one for an RPG. You'd think such a thing would consist of constant saving and luck manipulation, but some are just crazy enough to get it done in one go. There's such a run of Final Fantasy in under 4 hours. Enjoy, and I hope to get the rating post out tomorrow.