Part 27: The Diamond and the Holy Sword

So, the PSN version's coming out on the 12th for $5.99. That's sooner than I thought.

Last time, lots of words happened, Ronan transformed into a giant monster and was killed. It tried to segueway into even more words afterwards but that's what we'll be going through now.



: Our power to create was taken from us by Melzas. So, we developed the power to control our dreams... that is our secret weapon. We can use that power to control the power that Melzas exerts over Alundra. We are going to join hands and relax until we drift into sleep. And then, we shall dream the exact same dream.
Kisha: You mean...we are going to combine our dreams? Turn our "weak" dreams into a single "strong" one? We will arrive in the same nightmare as...dream...warriors?



Yuri: To tell the truth, I can't picture what a "hero" would look like. I think we should dream of someone we all know well... one we can easily conjure up...
Naomi: I agree. If even one of us has a different mental image...



: I think we are all very familiar with his appearance... and I cannot imagine anyone more heroic. Does anyone disagree?
Gustav: Not a bad idea.
Lutas: Yes... I can dream of Alundra.
Rumi: I think we all can.
: All right. The choice has been made.



: Alundra is about to risk his life facing Melzas. Don't you think there is something we can do for him?
Fein: What do you mean? Oh! Now I know!
Lutas: So do I, Meia.
: Do we all understand? Excellent.



How everyone here is aware of what they're about to do is beyond me. None of them (aside from Meia, who mentioned it a while ago, and maybe Septimus) should even know that it could have existed at once point. Yes, I'm referring to none other than the final weapon upgrade... though I'm not even sure if that is what they're talking about or not. This isn't even the whole "dreaming of Alundra" thing.



Not that I'm complaining about this. The Holy Sword is, by far, the strongest weapon you're just casually given. It's miles stronger than the Fiend Blade, making it a definite upgrade, more powerful than the Steel Flail and faster to boot... and it doesn't have the drawback of having an irritating sound effect when you use it. It's even got a charge attack as per the Sword and Fiend Blade.



: We give you all of our faith... our heart... our strength.

You can either leave or talk to people at this point. No one tells you anything of interest, but one person does tell you where the final dungeon is located if you couldn't figure it out already.



Beaumont also tells you what to do now, but so does someone else shortly hereafter... more specifically, once you exit the Sanctuary.



: I have the most sickening feeling within the pit of my soul. The feeling that Melzas is more powerful than any of us dare to believe. I don't know what has come over me, Alundra. I feel so strange. I don't understand it... Be careful, Alundra.



: But you probably don't realise how different. We are Zolist... A race of humans with tremendus lifespans. We were ordered by the guardians to watch over Melzas. To make sure he would never return, and to stop him if he tried. Today, we follow through on our promise. When Melzas surfaces, we shall enter his palace and we will destroy him.



From this point on, you cannot re-enter the Sanctuary. The door is locked, naturally, and there's no way to re-access the broken window at the back. If you try to enter the Sanctuary...



There's no need for Nava's Charm right now anyway, so this isn't much of a problem. But, hey, Naomi's in the Sanctuary now right? That can only mean one thing!



The final piece of armor is now ours! You can get this during the minor lull in scenes that go on for way too long, before the fight Ronan as well, but there's not much point to doing so since you don't have much use for it. It just adds even more dialogue unnecessarily.

With this, there's nothing left to do now but go see Nava for the final crest. Only, there's a bit of a problem with that...



He's not here. He's probably just checking something in his basement, which is weird. At every point before now he's blocking those stairs... and for a good reason. It's more than because the final crest is down there. No, the stairs lead to the penultimate dungeon.


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For the second to last dungeon, Nava's Keep is strangely easy. It's short, it's not got anything that's truly difficult in it and it's pretty much impossible to miss the Gilded Falcon unless you intentionally do so. It's not particularly well designed considering what comes before it and what comes after it. It's not a bad dungeon, but it's not great. I don't hate it like the Ancient Shrine or Torla Mountain but it's not got much going for it either.



Once you come out of the keep, you're on a little island out in the middle of nowhere. That seemingly unobtainable chest just above the cave entrance contains the penultimate Life Vessel. Remember the last time we had to visit Nava and he gave us the Spring Bean?



You have to use that on the dish hidden in the bushes to get to the Life Vessel. Only one more to go.



Nava's in this house, but see that chest to the left of it? That chest contains the easiest to miss one time item... or, at least the easiest to miss one that doesn't require prior knowledge of its existence at any rate. For the longest time I kept thinking you needed to access it from somewhere within the Keep, but no you do it right here. See that gap next to the stone pillar? Walk down there, and follow the path to reach the chest.



The Wind Book is pretty powerful, but it's not as useful as the Scroll oddly. I'll probably never use it because the Fire Book is insanely overpowered (as is the Water Book for granting near immortality), so...



So, yeah, the scroll is more useful if only because it hits where things are standing.

Time to see Nava!



He's... not really in the best of shape.

: He demanded that I give him the final crest, and when I refused... Here... take this stone and place it in the alcove behind me. Hurry!



The Zolist Stone is probably the item that has the shortest time span between obtaining and getting rid of the darn thing, and yet it too gets the "item received" tune. Sure, it's a key item and all but it's a wee bit ridiculous in this case.

Placing it in the alcove just behind Nava causes an item to descend from the sky... somehow. Probably best to not question things like that, since it happens way too often anyway.



Oh, and it also causes Nava to monologue incessently. Everyone else is at this point.



: It was thought that his beastly form was destroyed by the army of the King. But, that was not the case. He was merely captured, not slain. The King was able to sense the power within Melzas. He thought he could control the power and weild it himself. Melzas sensed the King's lust for power and entered his dreams to give him fantastic visions. The King not only spared Melzas but elevated him to godlike status amongst his subjects! The people worshipped Melzas fervently, becoming intoxicated with the dreams he gave them.



: Fantastic images of him were created, then worshipped fervently. When it was least expected, Melzas revealed his black heart and callous soul. One night, the King had a horrid vision of Melzas ruling the entire world immersed in blood! It disturbed him so much, that he destroyed the images of Melzas and sank the sanctuary.

Y'know, I can't help but think that the King that Nava's talking incessently about is actually King Snow. Not just because he's the only named character referred to as being a king, but also because he's a narcissistic enough bastard to think he could control that much power... and then promptly get pissed when shown that his kingdom was fucked.



: He selected the most heroic in the land to be guardians of the crest fragments.

This raises further questions. One of the guardians said that they were a blacksmith when they were alive... I'd love to see the stuff he got up to to be decreed heroic enough to be a guardian of part of something that could either save or destroy the world. Heck, another one of them said that she was the Queen of Life and Death. How did she earn that title? Honestly, the tales of the lives of the Guardians could make for an awesome prequel. Sure, the ending is probably going to be painfully obvious, but that didn't stop Lufia 2 coming to be, for example. The ending to a prequel like that doesn't even need to end with them all dying or whatever; it could just end with them being given the crest fragments, or taming their respective guardian beasts or whatever.

...It'll never happen, though it would be awesome if it did.

: Once entrusted with the crests, they were scattered to the far corners of the globe. However, Melzas has found others to worship him. Their prayers allow his soul to be fed!

So, basically, Melzas is an alien with a god complex who managed to get elevated to godlike status by tricking people into worshipping him? Huh, that's actually pretty cool for a villain. He's not the first to succeed in his plans or anything, but at least he did it in such an awesome fashion.

Oh, and a certain someone breaks in through the window now.



: How's life been since we saw each other last? I hope you did everything you ever dreamed of doing. I really would rather not send you to your final resting place with any regrets. I just hate doing that. It's SO sad...



: Was it the voyeurism? The thrill of killing for an audience? I don't know. But I intend to find out... So then, Releaser, shall we dance?

The Third Follower: The Demon

Zorgia is one hell of a fight. He's the first actually difficult fight in quite a while, even if you do have the Legend Sword, and he's more than capable of kicking your arse if you're not good at dodging his attacks. Even if you are, he's still not going to go down without a fight. 9 spells aren't enough to beat him (from the Fire Book at least) which says something. In theory, the Wind Book will utterly wreck his shit but that's not something I particularly feel like finding out since Zorgia is one of the most fun fights of the game. And as a fun fact, even if you do somehow get to him in a "minimalist" run you're almost definitely not going to beat him. No one has succeeded at least, and only one person thinks they might be able to... but it'd take too long to find out. It's a shame that he just has the generic boss music as well.



And then he died... along with Nava. Yeah, he just randomly dies before talking some more.



Nava: You were wonderful, Alundra. I've never witnessed such a passionate fight! The time is now upon us! Take the seven crests and inser them into the designated pedestals around the lake. When all the crests have been placed in the proper locations, the seal will be released from the lake. The final battle looms before you, Release. Good luck!



Nava: Think of me as you battle the foul being that is Melzas. The heavens shall cry out when his destruction is complete!

And with that, he kicks you back into his house and gives you one last gift in the process.



He makes it yet another one time only dungeon by blowing up the stairs.

So, there's 15 dungeons, discounting dreams but including the final one and the optional one. For obvious reasons, the final dungeon is a one-time only dungeon in any given playthrough so out of the other 14 dungeons, exactly half aren't repeatable... but the only ones that are repeatable that give much point to going back to them are Magyscar (for the Falcon) and Great Tree Tower (for the second, much easily missed Life Vessel). It feels like more than half aren't repeatable, and it probably is, but I'm being a wee bit lenient with what I class as a dungeon and what counts as multiple dungeons.

Next time: The Lake Shrine.