Part 24: Update Twenty Four: Babelling Away
Update Twenty Four: Babelling AwayWelcome back! Last time, on Final Fantasy IV, Edge, the controversial ninja, joined our party. We also met Rubicante, the final Elemental Lord and today, we're going to re-enter the Tower of Babel, so let's mosey.
Goemon was my favorite name in the voting, so I decided to go with that. Plus, Alien Arcana made a good point; this is Final Fantasy, not Final Mundane Name.
Here's a quick shot of Goemon's stats. You might notice that he comes at level 25; no matter the other levels of the party, Goemon comes at level 25, so there's no way you can cheese his levels up.
This is part of why Goemon is going to seem so Goddamned lackluster in combat, when compared to Cecil and Bowser. He's eight levels below Cecil and nine below Bowser, so they've got one hell of a leg up on him. However, his Agility is only three points below Bowser's. Goemon is fast as hell and that's one of his best strengths.
Another good point in his favor is that he can equip Boomerangs, which give him a long range option. His health and defense are kind of low, but you can stick him in the back row; with the Boomerang equipped, that'll deal regular damage from the back row and his Kunai will act the same way. So, yeah, Goemon can deal regular damage from the back row, which will help keep him safer.
He also gets access to some fabulous equipment as well, in addition to some decent magical options in his Ninjutsu. I think the biggest thing people hold against him is that he replaces Leave; don't think of it like that. He's not Leave's replacement. He is just a new party member who fulfills a different role. Goemon is more of a jack of all trades character and he does that very well.
Anyways, on my way back to where we met Goemon (as I had to go back to the Eblan cave to visit Namingway), I find this chest that I missed. I still wish I had missed it.
We're back in the Tower of Babel, starting at the very bottom. We've got to work our way to the top, but it's not that long of a journey, so let's get inside.
...Or we would go in, but how the hell are we getting past a solid wall?
Excellent question, Cecil.
I really hope he has some ninja bombs or something. Because that'd be awesome.
Goemon actually takes the lead here, which I think is a nice touch. It's him who's doing this, so it makes sense that he's gotta be in front.
Well, that was pretty sweet. I expected explosives, but he just straight up ninja'd us through the wall. Well played, Goemon.
And because of that, he's going to be our lead for the rest of the Tower of Babel.
There are also some new enemies around here.
Well, kind of new. We encountered Mad Ogres way back when in the Castle of Eblan and they're no different here.
Since Goemon has two weapons, he'll attack twice, just as Leave did. I like the way the Boomerang looks, too.
You'll notice that Goemon's swords look just like Dark Knight Cecil's did, including the half-moon strike animation. Unfortunately, as far as I know, Goemon cannot use any of the Dark Knight swords. They'd be useless for him, yes, but it'd be kind of neat for them to have some other use.
And Goemon's damage is a touch lackluster, yes.
But, he outdamaged Bowser, so for those of you who were bitching about Goemon, look at this picture and suck on it.
Okay, it's more likely that Bowser just had a shitty hit there, but c'mon, who saw that coming?
This is also the only spell I've found that actually deals good damage to Mad Ogres. I don't know why it does, as they aren't weak to Holy (or anything, actually).
Bio only does 1 damage, just so you know. I don't know what the hell Mist Dragon has that they don't, but I won't complain.
Anyways, in that chest was a Unicorn Horn; I throw it in the pile.
Heading down, we spy another chest, but we'll have to swing around to get a hold of it.
The only thing I'm cutting out of this trip around is the two or three Mad Ogre groups I fought. That door there is the door to the next floor, but we've got that one chest to grab first.
Well, it's better than a sharp stick in the eye, I suppose.
So, onto the next floor.
We see a chest to our left and that chest is very worth our while to open.
But first, as could expected, more enemies to fight.
Sorcerers have 1,000 HP and are like the Puppeteers from the Tower of Zot.
Ghost Knights are also just a palette swap, with 1,050 HP. They're weak to Holy, but when I was recording this section, I believed that they were also weak to Fire, which was totally wrong.
They'll also counter physical attacks with Bio and magical ones with Reflect, so I find it best just to defeat them with physicals, as their Bio isn't very powerful. Though, it'd be a better option just to use the Mist Dragon.
Instead, I used Ifrit.
Which, hell, is pretty damned effective, too.
But, now, let's go grab that chest.
You might not have expected a monster chest here.
And you certainly may not have expected four Mad Ogres inside of it. But, there's not much point in showing you this fight, so I'll skip to the end.
The Ogrekiller is a pretty awesome weapon.
It's a slight power boost over the Ice Brand. It offers no stat boosts, and it's accuracy is a touch lower, but it's super-effective against Giant type enemies, such as the Mad Ogre.
Moving along, not only do I encounter a "new" enemy, but a good chance to show off the Ogrekiller. Coeurl's still counter with Blaster, which is why Goemon is paralyzed in the next shot.
Being an axe, there's a new weapon sprite for it, and it's just a single, simple line through the enemy.
Yeah, the Ogrekiller is pretty awesome. It's too bad that not more enemies are Giant type, but it's certainly nice for those that are.
And here, we're ready to hit the next floor. Like I said, it's not a very long trip to the top.
We came right down from that path there, and the door to the next floor is right there.
Before we go through, though, let's hit this chest.
This item, when used in battle, acts as the spell Osmose does. I can't see Kim getting any use out of this, since Osmose costs 0 MP, but I suppose if Rosa or Goemon needed a quick boost, it'd be kind of useful for them.
And now we go up.
I don't know why the Tower of Babel is so small. I can't really think of a good reason for it, plus it's a pretty major place in the game.
Heading to the left, we find another treasure chest we can loot.
But, we can't reach it going this way.
So, instead, we head back the way we came, we head to the right this time.
We can't reach those two doors over there, so we have to come down this way.
The Ahura is a new weapon for Goemon.
No stat boosts on this, but the description leads me to believe this should be the Ashura, as Ahura is an entirely different being, as the Lord of Light and Wisdom in Zoroastrianism, I believe.
Also, in the SNES version, Goemon's first weapon was called the "Short", as in a short ninja sword. When you found this sword, it was called the "Middle", which let the kid in me know that it was, logically, the next sword for Goemon. As much as I like the new names they give some of the ninja blades and katanas in newer Final Fantasy games, sometimes, I miss the simplicity of just knowing that I wanted the Middle sword over the Short sword.
The Ahura is the most interesting thing on this floor, too, so let's move on up.
I don't remember taking that path to the left, but I'm sure there's nothing there. It still bothers me that I didn't explore it, though.
If you'll recall the little teleporter that Rubicante took when we encountered him and Dr. Loogie speaking, it looked just like that one.
I'll finish that thought in a minute.
After this ambush (which isn't very dangerous) and telling you about the new Balloons.
Balloons have 697 HP and are weak to the Throw element, which Goemon's Boomerang and Bowser's spear cover. Balloons are also the first enemy that can drop one of Kim's hidden summons, the "Bomb" summon. I won't be going out of my way to get it, but if I do, I'll show it off.
So, those two are best suited to kicking the assess of those Balloons.
While Cecil is suited to destroying that Mad Ogre.
Anyways, about this teleporter. We can't interact with it in anyway, but it's good to know that they just didn't include that as a one-off type of thing.
The first door leads to a save point, while the second moves us further through the Tower.
I rest and save up; I could end the update here, but I just don't feel like that's enough content for an update. Maybe it's just me.
Also, take a quick look at Rosa and Kim's MP. You'll notice that it isn't full. This is around the point where Tents will starting dropping rapidly in their usefulness, as they no longer restore full MP. Cabins are the way to go from here.
Oh, and for those of you who never use Ethers or anything, take a look at what item I'm using. Come back and finish the update when you're done shitting yourself.
Through the next door, we come to the last floor we're visiting today.
There is one treasure chest in this room that I'm going to grab before the boss (spoilers, there's a boss fight here).
Heading up that staircase is what will trigger the next cutscene, so you've just gotta walk on by.
And find the chest with nearly 100,000 gil in it. What the fuck, game?
I've got a shitload of gil, now, though. Well, I have a shitload before, but now I have a bigger shitload. Not quite up to a fuckload yet, but we'll get there.
Alright, cutscene time.
The screen flashes and these two appear. Why the hell is the King of Fabul here?
Well, I can see it making sense that the Monks know the Ninjas.
...Oh, man, I was waaaay off.
The party splits and Goemon approaches his parents.
Thanks to Cecil and the others, ma'am. If not for them, Goemon's ass would be worm food by now.
Err, ma'am, if you were dead, why would you want Goemon to come with you?
And why do you two sound so damned creepy about it?
You're kind of a fuckin--
Ah, there we go. I think we all had it figured out up to this point, so Goemon is, as I said before, kind of dumb. Golbez probably would have been confused, too, so it's okay.
So, now, we're fighting Edge's parents. His dead parents. What the hell, Squa---
SWEET CINNAMON TITTY JESUS
They can still speak, though. I imagine their dialog is all deep, guttural roars.
Well, Cecil and Bowser will be fine. Their armor resists Fire.
All these two do is use Fire spells; the King has Fira and the Queen has plain ol' Fire.
It's less than impressive...
Anyways, as you might have guessed, this isn't a real boss fight.
But, you can still wail on the King and Queen of Eblan. You've just got to wait it out for a while, so you may as well beat on them.
This just about sums up the fight before the event happens. So let's skip ahead.
Goemon also has occasional dialog. As you might expect, he's a touch apprehensive about beating the shit out of his parents, even though they've been turned into horrible monsters.
Rosa's Power Staff is a pretty decent weapon, too.
I just wanted to be sure I showed that off before I forgot. It was pretty handy against the Bloody Bats, as it always Berserked them, which stopped their annoying-ass Vampire attack. Plus, it did enough damage that Kim could finish them off.
And I'm going to take this opportunity to talk about Steal.
For many of you, this may very well be the first time you've ever seen Steal actually work. If so, it's okay, because Steal absolutely fucking blows. There's also not many things worth stealing; more often that not, Goemon will actually fail the steal. And, every so often, Goemon will be "Detected by the enemy", which means that he'll fail the steal and take a couple points of damage.
In short, don't use Steal.
As far as I know, there's just a set time limit you have to go through to get the next part of the fight to trigger. I don't think it's a damage limit, but, if I remember right, these two have 65,000 HP a piece and if you whittle that down, you can kill them. I think.
Don't quote me on that and if someone knows, feel free to enlighten me.
Titan is still awesome, too.
Oh, since you can see Throw there, too, I should take my time to talk about that, too. Goemon has the ability to throw Shurikens and some old weapons, usually for a good amount of damage. That's about it.
And then he steals a Potion from his mother.
Anyways, this is the final hit of stage one.
When stage two begins, the screen darkens and they change color.
And they break free of the spell they were under.
From here on out, I have everyone use Defend.
They're having a heart-to-heart conversation with their son, for Christ's sake.
I mean, that hasn't stopped me from wailing on them during this before, but for the purposes of this LP, let's try and keep this as classy as we can.
Yeah, good thing that the old Chancellor is still around.
Well, hell, he's doing that already.
Goemon, you didn't even think they were alive before this. Do you really want your horrific monster parents sticking around?
But, his father dies first.
His mother speaks one final sentence to him.
: Don't go!
But, she, too, dies.
After the fight, Goemon is oddly quiet.
Rosa is the first to speak to him; out of everyone here, she is easily the most compassionate, fitting with her job as the White Mage.
Before anything can be said, however, the screen darkens to red.
And Rubicante appears before us. Has he come to gloat about Goemon's parents? Is he going to try and finish us off here?
Find out next time, on Final Fantasy IV. Stay tuned!