Game 18: The Final Fantasy Legend (GB) - From the Depths of the Ocean

Well, it's not yellow, but at least it floats

Whence last we left, I had just arrived in a new town in a new world to explore. I left the town I'd just grown accustomed to and headed into the cave network connecting the islands. I expected a long period of exploration, but that was cut short when I found a floating island. Using this island as a ship, I skipped mapping out the remaining caves, which were so far bare. I do wonder if I missed anything, as I never found the two brothers mentioned in my last post.

Instead I found this cryptic old man

I took the island for a spin, and discovered an old man living on an island who pointed me towards a source for Airseeds. They allowed me to breathe underwater (this is becoming a familiar trope). In a second town (the game has stopped giving names to towns it seems), I learned I should stay away from the old man (too late) and a whirlpool can suck me down to an underwater castle.

My floating island only works on surface water, not underwater water

Sei-Ryu lives underwater, and banished Ryu-O to the surface. Ryu-O is the king of dragons, and Sei-Ryu is an upstart blue dragon. In a third town, this time under the water, the townsfolk were raving about these orbs. Sei-Ryu had a red one, and Ryu-O had a blue.

Which two lines?

The game continues to err on the side of easy. While weapons decrease with each use, and stocking up on extras is cumbersome due to the limited inventory, I have yet to run out at any crucial point (only once due to my mistake). Still the most annoying mechanic is the sudden loss of a mutant ability. And, the award for most useless party member is still held by my monster, Help.

I mean... Veri; seriously thinking of getting a mutant or human next time

Aside from the unfortunate accident Help had (he turned into an Albatross with only 20 HP and died), the castle of Sei-Ryu went smoothly. I found a blue key early on that granted me access to some high level items. I only remember the grenade at this point though. It's the first weapon that attacks a group of monsters. In the lair of Sei-Ryu are a number of orbs lined up on the floor. Grab the wrong one and a battle with a high level monster ensues.

Let's see...

Which one...

Is it stealing if I kill you first? For then whom am I stealing from?

The battle with Sei-Ryu raged on for two whole turns. Once again Tara's Power ability did massive damage, but Jare is coming into his own very quickly. After this battle, I had enough gold to purchase a whole arsenal of equipment. Instead, I invested in getting Jare some strength... well, max strength. Many potions later and he's doing as much as Tara after her Power spell. Good thing too because shortly after this Tara decides she's had enough of the easy life and forgets the ability.

Oh, and Veri turned into a garlic

After recovering the red orb, I wasn't sure what to do with it. It wasn't the sphere I was seeking. I figured I needed to find Ryu-O, but the townspeople were unhelpfully repeating their old spiels. All except the old man on his island. This time he had a riddle for me.

What can I get for the above? Do you mean if I bought and then sold them, or instead of purchasing them?

The answer was obvious after adding up the cost of those items from the shop. Luckily I had one already as I already blew all my cash on juicing up my human. I was surprised to receive the blue orb for my trouble (really no trouble at all). Still no sphere, but I felt I was getting close and confirmed when the old man suggested I could now climb the tower. The missing piece was using one of the orbs, which caused the two to fuse into the sphere.

Enemies were starting to have some nasty status ailments that lingered after battle

Hooray! I stocked up on some healing and climbed the tower once more. Again the monster levels increased, but none were a match for my buffed up boy. Even with a longsword (a world one weapon) he cut each enemy down with a single swipe. The scenery on the way up was a bit less interesting. No people praising paradise, nor seeking solace in their punishment.

This one statue in particular seems out of place

Upon reaching the 10th floor I began to notice a coincidence, soon to be a pattern; every 5th floor has a new world. Here again I met a man in a hat; he was also on the 5th floor, although I think I failed to mention him last time. He offers some insight on each world before I enter: here it was to join the ruler's guards as the quickest way to get close to him.

Strange that he'd be so eager to welcome a stranger when there's a resistance about

Looks like Byak-Ko is the next fiend I have to face off. Someone in the tower mentioned each world was controlled by one of four fiends. I guess this really was made with Final Fantasy lore in mind. This next world appears to be set among the clouds; however, there are still trees growing everywhere.

Your apathy is just what we need!

Well, it was pretty easy to join up with his guards. In fact, I stumbled into one building in the first town I found, fought some of the guards, and joined up without a second thought (or consultation from the man behind the screen). I suppose it's not all bad, I mean I'll get close to the guy and take him out right?

Maybe after this small kidnapping job; I mean I can't mess up my first job

I still need to explore the rest of this world to get my bearings, but Jeanne is definitely a person of interest. Becoming part of the forward guard imparts a flying vehicle, which allows me to quickly skip between the clouds. It's hard to see exactly what it is, but for whatever reason it's blocked by the floating trees.

I guess the vehicle has already reached its flight ceiling

The main pain point so far is the restrictive inventory limit. This is made even stricter with a monster in my party since they can't carry any items, and the two mutants are limited to just equipment. Since item space is at such a premium I've taken to skipping an arsenal of healing and curative items; something that nearly led to my first game over (discounting the blunder of my first Bandit fight).

Acupuncture cures stone

In addition to equipment, and cures for status ailments, item shops also offer utility items and spells. They're currently out of my price range for impulse purchases, but I'm hoping to try out the wand, rod, and others at some point. I've found that spells are only useful to characters with mana, which is not my human. Still, the Cure spell has 10 times the uses of a potion or x-potion, so next time I'll need to consolidate my items.

But which items to choose

Both Veri and Tara were turned to stone by a couple of quick medusas. Luckily it wasn't Jare, or I'd have a tougher time getting to this point. Now on to find Jeanne.

Can I at least get a description or will any ol' Jeanne do?

Session Time: 2h23m (Total Time: 4h25m)