Part 15: Comrades in Arms

Now that Eureka's done, we're going to do Shilx Tower proper. Keep in mind that right outside is the last save point in the game, and this trek is long. So you don't want to die. Also, now that we're doing the tower proper, I want to point out how great the music is. But then, the end game's music is all fantastic.




Crawlers like to summon Doga Clones, whose dickishness can't penetrate my fashionable new Ribbon.




Being a Sage isn't any different than being a Summoner, other than I can heal myself and can spam a lot more summons. Leviathan is overkill for randoms and underkill for bosses, plus he's on the same space as Cure4, so I won't be using him much.



Gomori likes to use Drain attacks but is otherwise pretty wimpy. A good candidate to spam Odin on, though.



Fire Mages just use Blaze, which does pathetic damage to Stalin. They're also probably the only enemies in this dungeon that will die in one hit to Shiva, which is nice.



A lot of the treasure is stupid spell items, which you shouldn't need at this point anyway because you have the actual spells, plus Ninjas will deal much more damage with their blades than these items. It's a waste, really.






The tower itself is rather long. It's not Cave of Darkness long, but it's one of the longer dungeons in the game.



This game peppers a lot of Elixirs and FenixDowns here. I certainly appreciate the Elixirs, at least.



Takes two hits to kill.



Titan wipes them easily.




Kind of scary, except Stalin's so overleveled that they don't phase him. Plus Ifrit scorches them.




Chocobo's nice for stragglers or encounters with just one enemy. I use it more often than you'd think. Not that I really need to, as I have over ten Elixirs anyway.




This section has you going up, then taking a very long path around to go down the other side so you can access the middle area to make it up. Annoying.



Easy pickings.




Remember that ultimate weapon we got when unlocking Ninja and Sage? We just got a second one here. That's another free 5 Int/Wis. If there's one bad thing about Stalin being so awesome, it's that he wipes enemies out so quickly that he doesn't really get to level his Sage job. Compare that to Viking, where I spent so many turns plinking away that I'd gain a job level every other battle.



Level 5 is a neat-looking simple maze.



We also meet dancing golems. Sure, why not?




Once we get near the top, a second set of Crystal equipment pops up.



This is the point of no return. So let's do this.



SILENCE







Dragon: It's been quite a while since we've seen such a tasty-looking meal! Let's cook it nice and slowly!
Stalin: Dammit! Can't... move...!







Doga: The Light Warriors are in trouble! Princess Sara, please come with me. They can only be freed from the magical beasts by people pure of heart. We need such help now!
Sara: What? Not Stalin?! Please, take me there!



Doga: Cid, may I borrow your help?
Cid: Anything for their sake! Take me there!



Doga: Deshu... is he dead?...




Doga: Deshu! You're alive!
Deshu: Hey, haven't seen you before. Of course I'm not dead! I've just finished up my work here at Owen Tower. It was a close call, though...
Doga: The Light Warriors are in trouble...
Deshu: Them?! Well, no help for it, I guess. Let's go help!



Doga: Prince Arus! I need your help!
Arus: What! The Light Warriors in trouble? I'll go to help!



Doga: Please, will one of you come with me to help the Light Warriors?
Leader: Aha, it's our turn now! Well then, I'm off!
Others: Go for it!
Leader: Leave it to me!






Gotta admit, hearing the Shilx Tower music come in right as your comrades come in to help you is pretty badass.






Only typo I've seen in this translation, to its credit, and it's more likely simply something cut off.





Who's ready for the final boss?






He doesn't even get his own final boss music? Lame.

As far as bosses go, Zande has a bit of restraint.




Bahamut is our obvious go-to magic spam, as always.



Zande likes to waste turns with Peep.




That said, he also has Meteo, a very powerful spell that knocks over a third of Stalin's HP out. If I were doing a full team with lower levels, this would be a bit scarier. Not that scary, but kind of.



Since Stalin has close to 7000HP, he can take a few hits. I still decide to use Cure4, which instantly recovers all of Stalin's HP, no matter how low he is. Hell yes.



Zande also has physical attacks and other spells, but Meteo's his only notable one.



Five Bahamuts later, and down he goes. How disappointing.










Of course it wouldn't be a Final Fantasy game without a surprise final boss out of nowhere!




Meet the Final Boss of FF3, Dark Cloud. Hopefully the final boss music is kicking in about now, as it's awesome.

Well, let's try our old standby.




It did nothing. Huh.




Pfft, that's it?

Yeah, you're supposed to lose this one.




I get so impatient that I speed things up by killing myself.




















Stalin: Doga! Une! Thank you!
Doga: Not at all!
Une: Get going! There's more to do!
Doga: Zande's actions have weakened the power of light, and something evil has been created by the darkness.
Une: That something was controlling Zande.
Doga: It's an incredibly powerful evil...
Une: Our spirits will not last much longer. We will become one with the great spirit of the world. We can't offer any more help...
Doga: Only you can do it! Restore the balance of light and darkness! Go! To the Dark World!





Before we do so, we can talk to our comrades one last time.

Sara: Come back safely...!
Deshu: It looks like we both ended up with nasty fates. Hang in there!
Arus: Please return safely!
Old man: Go for it!
Cid: It's up to you now!



This is the only point in the game where your allies are revived automatically by the plot. They've been dead the entire time between the very first battle of the game and now. At least they'll be easy to kill again.








Next time, the actual final dungeon! Watch me as I swear my head off at the level of bullshit this game throws at us!