Part 2: Update Two: I'm Burnin' For You

Update Two: I'm Burnin' For You

Welcome back! Last time, on Final Fantasy IV, Cecil was stripped of his command of the Red Wings, and was ordered by the King of Baron to deliver a Bomb Ring to the village of Mist. Bowser, his Dragoon buddy, tried to stick up for him and got shafted, so now he has to join Cecil; today, we're going to see their journey to Mist, so let's mosey.





The town of Baron surrounds the castle, but there's nothing really interesting in there. Yet.



So, let's get a move on.



I don't know much about geography, but should a desert that size be there? Granted, it's tiny, so they might have different rules, but grassland->desert->grassland doesn't seem right to me.



We also have to use these bridges to cross the water; Cecil doesn't want to get his armor wet.



Sweet Jesus, Cecil has disappeared into the forest!



Oh, wait, never mind. This is just the outside battle transition.





How scary, a pair of Floating Eyes. They still have 20 HP.



Bowser is left-handed, but that's not reflected in his battle sprite's attacking animation.



Cecil is right handed, and that's shown here. Also, that flash of yellow is because Cecil hit this enemy with a critical hit, which greatly increases damage dealt.



Damn, Cecil, I think you got him.



After all enemies are killed, our rewards are displayed at the top of the screen.



If we receive any items, they'll show up after the battle.



Let's compare our two heroes, shall we?



Cecil is stronger, more defensive, tougher and slightly more evasive than Bowser. But, Bowser is a lot more precise (accuracy, with another name), faster, and a lot more spirited than Cecil is.



He also just has some generic iron armor and a generic spear; no specialized equipment for the Master Dragoon.



Anyways, let's move on. Both of our characters also have a special ability, so let's see to those, shall we?



Cecil's is called Dark. As he is a Dark Knight and they don't have time for creativity.



When selected, Cecil props his sword up like that...



...Aims that son of a bitch...



...And Hadokens off some Dark Knight energy at the entire enemy party.



Their regular attacks do more, yes, but this hits the entire party and is good for weak mobs of enemies.



But, for the downside, you'll see that Cecil's health has dropped. Dark costs him his life-force to use, to the tune of 1/8th increments, so it can be dangerous to use.



For Bowser, he has the Jump ability that Dragoons usually do in these games.



When selected, he just wings off into the lower atmosphere.



After about a turn or so, Bowser will come back down.



And just fucking body-slam whatever poor SOB is in his way.



And it deals a shitload of damage. Bowser is a fucking boss and is great for pumping out a ton of damage. When he is up in the air, he cannot be targeted by anything (including beneficial magic), so he's effectively invincible. With proper use of Jump, Bowser can be an immortal badass, capable of crushing skulls into a fine powder.



Oh, yeah, we also get an item after this battle; Eye Drops cure Blindness.





This here is the cave that will take us to the Village of Mist and there's no other way to get there from here, so let's roll.





It's got a very non-indicative name, too.





It's a misty cave. There's not a lot to say here.



However, we're back to that battle transition.



I only encountered two new enemies in here, but Goblins are the most popular enemy in here.



There's also some treasure scattered about here. All in all, this dungeon is a nice introduction to Final Fantasy IV dungeons.



Encounters aren't super common. There will be enough, though, to where you know they're there, but they're not going to be a nuisance.



The Sword Rat is new and slightly tougher than the Goblins.



He survived the Dark blast, for instance.



They have a physical counter that deals some good damage, but they also go down pretty easily to our two warriors.





Over to the right, you can see a treasure chest. There are four chests in here and they all hold something nice for this stage of the game.



These staircases also seem pretty well-maintained. I just now imagined the Imps wearing hardhats and holding hammers, but with their same sprite.



Great Odin's Raven! Voices from nowhere!



Cecil is caught off-guard, too. But, he doesn't seem scared.



And, uh, that's all for that right now.



Potions are low level restorative items; they restore a nice bit of HP for right now, but Cecil and Bowser won't be needing them.



On our way down, we encounter a new enemy.



The Insectus has the defense to usually survive a single strike from either of our heroes, but they're fairly slow. Cecil and Bowser should easily outspeed them.



After the fight, Cecil gains his first level. In this game, unlike the other games I've LP'd, we don't get to see what stats raise right as the level comes, so it's kind of a mystery for now. Either way, .



And after the fight, we receive a Hi-Potion, which restores a hi amount of health.





I'd reckon that treasure chest down there holds probably the best treasure in this place.





Tents, when used on either a save point or out on the field, restore HP/MP to their full levels. However, they do have a cap, but there are upgraded Tents later on, so it's not a big deal.







Over here, we have our almost-final bit of treasure for this cave.



I can barely remember that Blind is an actual status ailment in this game. I already have about twice as many Eye Drops as I'm going to need.



It was also at this point that I realized that none of the monsters I've fought have taken a turn in battle. Any damage done to my party was through Cecil using Dark, so I crank everything up.





There's the final chest for this cave.



It's just another potion, but, hey, I'll take it, as neither Cecil or Bowser have any other way of restoring their HP.



Alright, here we go. We're almost out of this cave.



Those rocks are oddly arranged. Then again, I guess they just found a stone dick on Mars, so I'm not going to question nature.



Gah, fuck!



It could just be some asshole with a tape recorder, Bowser.



And hey, look, that's all of that.



YES THEY ARE



You might think these consequences are bad, or maybe even dire, but no.



I'm not worried about them and neither is Bowser.



Well, since I don't want to do a two update LP, I'd like to continue, yes.



Cecil would, too.





Oh, God, no, you'll become slightly chilly!



Actually, folks, let's get to our first boss fight of the game.





The Mist Dragon.



It has the honor of dealing damage to Cecil. It also has 465 HP, but is boring in nearly every other aspect.



There's only one gimmick to this fight and it's pretty much impossible to avoid.



A strategy here is easy to think of; hit it as much as you can with Cecil and Bowser, with Bowser using Jump liberally.



This is the gimmick of the fight. Every so often, the Mist Dragon will turn into mist.



It's impossible to hit it when it is in this form, as every attack is going to just completely miss.



If you try and attack it, it has a counter-attack.



It deals a bit of damage, but it isn't a really dangerous attack. During this time, you can use potions to heal your guys up or maybe finally start that book you've been meaning to read.



There's also a message for trying to attack it, letting you know that's a bad idea.



After a few turns, the Mist Dragon will reform and then keep attacking.



After a while, it'll go down without much fanfare. It's a good starting boss, really, as it lets you get a good idea of how a boss fight will go and introduces you to the idea that bosses might have a counterattack.



Bowser gains himself a level from the fight, and that's about all there is to say here. Oh, yeah, also



With that, we're free to leave the cave.



Ta-da! Welcome to Mist Valley.



Over there is the village of Mist, which is right where we need to go.



It's not a bad looking little village, huh?



Stepping further into the village...





...We find that something called the Bomb Ring isn't a nice item.











Cecil, Bowser, it was called a BOMB RING. Did you expect it to fart confetti and rainbows!?



I, uh, wouldn't say that's true, Bowser. All the buildings are still standing.



And the Inn looks fine to me, too.





...Oh, I don't like where this is going.







A dragon, you say? Well, uh, I might have some bad news for you.





And I suppose there is no way to tell a summoned monster apart from the regular variety.



Wait a minute here, Bowser. You're telling me that Summoners can actually summon monsters?



Cecil, she's standing right there! Have some tact, man!



Oh, look at that, she's trying to run away.



To be fair, the dragon started it.



In all fairness, Cecil does have a good defense here. It doesn't change what has happened, but at least it wasn't done out of some malicious intent.



It's now official folks: the King of Baron is a douchebag.



I think it can be, Cecil! We just lit this entire village on fire!



...Bowser, there are plenty of things I'm willing to do for the sweet XP rewards, but even I'm not willing to murder a little girl.



: We have to obey the king's orders.

: But she's just a child!




: You intend to defy the king?

: I refuse to continue any more slaughter in the king's name!



Cecil pushes Bowser back; he's not going to let him kill this little girl.



But, hey, Bowser ain't no asshole. He's not down for killing children either.



C'mon, Cecil, you two are bros. Are you really surprised?



Good man, Bowser. The Dragoons don't play that shit.



: Yes. But we will need allies if we are to oppose the mightiest kingdom in the land.



This seems more like Cecil's line, Bowser...





Hmm...Bowser, you're a curious fellow.





Bowser doesn't let Cecil reflect on that for too long, though. Which is good, as the village is on-fuck-fire!



She's still just standing there, guys. You might want to tell her of your plan.





However, the little girl, understandably, isn't exactly down with this plan.



I can't imagine anything but a look of surprise on their faces.



I can't say yelling at her is the best strategy, Bowser, but in all fairness, the three of you are in immediate danger of being burned to death.





The little girl still isn't going to take it, though. We just indirectly killed her mom, so I can understand why she doesn't trust them.



Plus, y'know, she's just a child. She's not going to think rationally like an adult would. Right now, to her, her mother's death is the most important thing in the world.





Well, now we have to fight her. I don't like where this is going.







I'd love to, but the game is making me do this!







She summoned Goddamned Titan to kill us!





With a mighty flex...



Titan rips the ground open beneath Cecil's feet.



Thank God Bowser was off in low orbit; he'll have to continue this fight.



As Cecil is down for the count.





We suddenly switch to an outdoor view and something begins to happen.



Something decidedly not good.



Cecil wakes up in an empty field, with the little girl laying not far from him.



He's in rough shape, as indicated by the wavy view.







He takes a quick look around, but only the little girl is around.





He yells for Bowser, but I'd reckon he hasn't landed yet. Or maybe that earthquake was more powerful than I originally thought...



Either way, he's not around here.





The little girl's summoning of Titan really fucked things up over here. We can't get past that mountain to get back to Mist, so we have no choice but to keep moving on.



But, that's for next time. We're stopping here for now.

Next time, on Final Fantasy IV, let's see what we can do to help this little girl. Stay tuned!