Part 9: Further Proof That Communism > Monarchy

Now that the world's back to normal and we're untethered, we're finally free to explore the world.



This is an odd mountain formation that in no way will lead to one of the most nightmarish dungeons imaginable.



On the northern end of this continent are four statues.



If we try to fly through them, we're pushed back. Let's try walking through there on foot.







Oh, that kills us. We need all four fangs to pass. It pisses me off because I really want to get rid of these two fangs taking up space in my inventory.






There are a couple of towns we can access now whose sole purpose is to let us outfit certain classes. Dastar specializes with Bards and Geomancers.



And our airship can't currently fight those winds.



Dark Swords are wielded by the M.Knight class we have. We'll probably be dealing with that one later.



The guy in the spiffy clothes is a Geomancer. I kind of like Geomancers since they get special effects depending on their terrain. They also wield bells. That said, this solo game is all about the physical offense, at least for now, so we won't be seeing them.







These are Bards. In my experience, Bards suck, but for all I know they're great if used properly. Probably not worth it for a solo game, though.

One of the (very few) things I liked about the DS version was them changing Bard from a crappy class to a fucking buff machine. Full-party Haste every battle? Yes, please! Switching out harps every round was a pain, but considering how brutal encounters could be you kind of need to do it.

When you talk to these guys, they play the Lute of Noa, because they like to sing their dialogue, even though their dialogue is nothing special. I'll explain who Noa is shortly.




The bards mainly talk about prophecies and future summons.



And some are just batshit insane.




And of course we can outfit Bards and Geomancers if we wanted.



On the other continent, there's this cave. There's not much we can do here now, though.






On the northern continent is another mysterious town.




This is the village of Callers, another interesting class I won't really get into here.



They love talking about Leviathan and Bahamut, the two summon staples. They also are enamored with Noa, who's a really awesome mage who managed to tame the above summons to do his bidding. He can also play a mean lute. Also, he's probably dead now. For someone who never actually shows up in the game, Noa's a pretty big deal.



The Summoning mechanic is interesting. Instead of the usual "Summon monster for huge fuck-all damage," Callers randomly choose between one of two effects for each monster. These effects usually kind of suck and it's not really worth using them because of it. Summoners, the upgraded version of Callers, don't have to deal with that bullshit, and instead summon monsters for huge fuck-all damage. Unfortunatly, we won't get Summoner for awhile.

Spoilers, there's more jobs.



You can walk on this roof and talk to that old man through the chimney, but he just tells you about yet another location we can't access yet.



Gurugan: Just like the flood of light in ages past, the darkness is growing in strength now... Someone must be bringing it here. But he does not know the truth... No matter how far the power of darkness grows, the worlds of light and darkness will both be destroyed in the end.

Are you lost or something, why are you in the bushes in the middle of nowhere spouting prophecies at whoever happens to pass by you're crazy old man



Each tier can only have one summon. Chocobo's L1, and so on. The three that aren't available are Odin, Leviathan, and Bahamut, as you may expect. This game pretty much set the standard for summon monsters, as all these guys are staples throughout the series.





There's some cave we can only access through canoe. I think I know what's there, but no point going there now.



How odd, a town next to a pool of water that we can't access.



This is where those strong winds are blowing. Our airship's too weak to reach this area.



There's treasure under this island.



Our final destination is one of the largest kingdoms I've ever seen.





Well, fuck.





Welcome to Saronia! This place can be brutal if you're not prepared. To start with, considering we just blew up another airship and the place is sealed off, we can't actually leave this city.





Also, the king is a fucking lunatic and chaos roams the kingdom.

Funny that the monarchies we've encountered have had people abusing power, usually by usurping the throne or whatnot, while the smaller, self-governed towns have no problems and are peaceful. Even the ruined town had an elder. Hmmm...



Saronia is huge. There are four separate cities we can explore here.







With large towns come many people to say stuff. There's so many people that you have several people saying the same things. Anyway, this area's only attraction is a monster-infested tower filled with Dragoon equipment. Also, there's a monster that can only be defeated by Dragoons.





Oh, and someone in the castle resembles the boss that can only be defeated by Dragoons, of which we can obtain the equipment of in this very nation.




This shop even sells spears for the Dragoon class to use. No need to buy any, as there's a ton of this stuff just lying around.



That shop is special in that it's the only shop that's actually open right now. Every other non-item shop is closed because the king's a nut.




Free Big Chocobo! This guy's a lifesaver, because inventory management is a bitch when you have to be prepared for anything.



Also I steal this guy's massive carrot collection.







This ends as well for the punks as you'd expect.




Arus: My father suddenly started making our soldiers fight each other. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen, and he threw me out of the castle for trying. Please help me get back into the castle... I want to find out why my father is doing this.
Stalin: I understand. We'll help.
Arus: Thank you!



So we've recruited the exiled prince of Saronia. Let's see what he has to say.

Arus: Father seems to have become a different person, with the things he has been doing. Something must have happened to him...
Arus: I have been barred from the castle. My father told me to never come back...





Unlike the king, Arus isn't crazy so people feel compelled to give him things. I'm not complaining.




The only interesting thing in the Northwest section is the library, which we can't access.



Have you seen a more adorable eight-bit sprite?



Back to the southeast to try that tower.



The stairs don't go anywhere, so you have to loop around secret passages to reach the exit.

Have I mentioned this game fucking loves secret passages? Because if it's not clear yet, it will be soon.





Helkan Mages and Sorcerers are the worst encounter you can face here, as they all love firing off damaging spells that hurt.




Black Bulls and Needlers are much less threatening.



There's a ton of Dragoon equipment here. Enough for maybe four of them?



On the first turn, a Helkan Mage managed to cast Stop on me.



Things went about as well as expected.

Now that we've got some loot, let's go ahead and advance the plot.






Guard: What?... The King says to let him in?
Second guard: Yes.
Guard: Prince Arus, please excuse me. You may enter the castle.



A neat little detail is diminuative Arus trying to keep up with Stalin.





Trtsky: He still cares for you, Prince. There is no father who does not love his children, don't you agree?
Arus: But why would such a father throw his own son out of his home?
Trtsky: He must have a reason for what he has done. Don't worry, Prince. We'll talk to him tomorrow and clear everything up. Right now we should get some rest.
Arus: I hope so. I just can't help feeling worried...

Yeah, I don't have much to say about this one, considering we just breeze through this entire plotline quickly.








Gilgamesh: Shit! How the hell did you escape my control?!
King: You would have me kill my own child... my own dear son... I will take my own life first!
Gilgamesh: Damn it all! I'll take care of you both myself! DIE!







Garuda is another of those bosses who can be a massive roadblock, especially if you're blindsided about losing your airship.




Garuda loves to spam Thunder every round, hitting everyone for huge damage.



It's pretty easy to die here. Of course, the game pretty much screams at you, "USE DRAGOONS YOU FUCKING IDIOT."



So let's do that.



Though there was a Dragoon in FF2, FF3 also comes up with the idea of Dragoons jumping into the air and ramming stuff with spears.






Like so. That's right, we're hitting four digits here. Garuda must be weak to my Thunder and/or Wind lance.



I was disappointed in this. At the rate I was going, I was hoping to go the entire battle without getting hit once.



I'll take receiving only one hit, though.

Even with four Dragoons, this guy can be a nightmare. There's a forest and that tower you can grind in, but Garuda can be tough as hell and you can't leave Saronia until you jam enough spears in his throat.








The King sacrificed himself to save his son. It's implied that Garuda had some kind of control on the king, but maybe the king was a coward who only valued his own life until he had to choose between himself and his son. Either way, it makes sense for the king to banish his own son to save his life.







So Arus is now the king of Saronia. Yeah, because monarchy has been working so well recently.



Stalin: Arus!
Arus: There are likely things you will find useful in Saronia. Please take whatever you need!

Though he doesn't give us anything, he is allowing us to loot the shit out of the castle.



And his soldiers are all to happy to tell us where all the treasure is.





Lots of neat stuff and useless Rusted Armors. They don't even sell for much. Golem Staves inflict gradual petrification, which can actually be somewhat useful if you have two mages using them.




But we still don't have an airship. You bastards blew it up.





This treasure room sucks. We can't get to that weirdly-dressed weirdo right now.





Oh yeah, and we have a new airship.



Here's what you need to know about the Nautilus.



It's fucking fast. It moves at maybe three times the speed of the Enterprise. Certainly fast enough to bypass those winds! Plus it will land on the ground rather than on the sea.





Now that the kingdom's saved, all the shops are open again. The spell shops also sell L3 and L4 magic, meh. As for L5 magic, Erase seems to act as Dispel. Kill is one of many instant-death spells in the game. Life is one of the few ways to revive someone from the dead, which makes it awesome in different circumstances. I hear good things about Safe, but I never played with it. Overall a solid magic tier.

There's also mage equips to awe over.



We also gain access to the library. I'll spare you the screenshots here and just transcribe everything.

Owen -- Book 1

I finally succeeded in lifting the continent into the air. To the machine which keeps it there, I will give my name... the Owen Tower.

Owen -- Book 2

I can't believe what's happening... the power of light has become unstable. I am sending my son Deshu into hibernation; if something should happen to the tower, he will wake so that he can correct it. Forgive me, my son...

I can already tell Owen was a huge dick. Arrogant enough to name the tower after himself, choosing to put his son in charge of this tower rather than taking the burden himself... Fuck Owen.

The Ancients -- Book 1

The four statues... they protect the crystals, and prevent anyone from passing through. The keys are the four Fangs. We are the only ones who can pass through freely.

The Ancients -- Book 2

The Floating Continent is complete. It will be located directly west of the Dalgu peninsula.

The Ancients -- Book 3

We used the power of the light too greatly. Now it is acting on its own, and not even we can stop it. If this continues, the world will be destroyed...

The Ancients -- Book 4

The four soldiers from the world of darkness stopped the flood of the power of light. Who were they? Where did they come from? In any case, they have saved the world...

This is pretty much the same stuff we've heard before. Ancients built the floating continent, too much light, dark warriors stopped it. The statues that we saw at the beginning of the update are explained here, but I already explained those away. So yeah.

Book of the Dark Sword

To master the Sword of Darkness, first wake Falgabard... he dwells in the Village of the Dark Sword in the mountains west of Saronia.

Which we can't get to yet because the Nautilus still can't pass mountains.

Technical Manual

The principle of the Time Wheel... the Engine of Eternity... The antimatter must be perfectly balanced with...




Really? The Nautilus over the Invincible? I call bullshit.

Also, the Nautilus can't go underwater. But it's probably clear by now we'll be upgrading it into a submarine soon enough.

Next time, we'll zip around the world and stuff.