Part 67: DS Off the Rails part 1

DS Update 12: Off the Rails part 1

Hello everyone! It's time, time for the best part of any Final Fantasy game.


What part is that? Well, thus far, we've been completely on rails. We've been shuffled from one plot point to the next, constrained mostly by geography. Now, that's no longer the case. We have a flying boat of our very own, and a badass pilot to take us anywhere we want to go.

We could just go right to Troia Castle, our next destination. Or, we can tool around and see what the world has to offer us! I think we should do that. I like exploring. I hope you do too.

First, a small bit of admin.


Our newest party member, Cid, defaults to the back row. This is not the best place for him.


Cid should be up front with the big boys. Tellah can hang around all by his lonesome in the back. He's good for it.

All right. Let's get this party started. Our first stop:


the place we just left, actually.


Specifically, the Ancient Waterway.


Even more specifically, the second floor, where we find a shiny!


Shiny! This is the attack Cagnazzo used on us. I'm going to save it for now. I'm sure we'll pick up someone down the road who can make use of this!


Next, a quick rest stop at the inn. No one's MP was refilled after the Cagnazzo fight... notably Tellah's. I didn't realize this until I was deep into the Ancient Waterway. Fortunately, Yang rips apart all the monsters down there without the need for any fancy MP, so I was fine.

But still. It was a blunder, and one I don't mean to repeat. Plus, the inn here is dirt cheap.


Next stop, Baron Castle. We can just walk right through the front door now.




The guards are understandably disturbed about that whole king being deposed and replaced with an imposter business.

...Speaking of that, whatever happened to the real king? That was never resolved after the Cagnazzo fight and... the stuff that happened afterwards.

NO. I will not cry. I promised myself I would not cry. I am moving on with this game. _sniff


And I know just the thing to take my mind off sad things. Treasure!


To get to said treasure, we need to go through this doorway. You may recall it was blocked off at the beginning of the game.


We slip once more into the void and,


into a hidden corridor.


And, we get looting. Our total haul is:

2x Ether
2x Unicorn Horn
2x Phoenix Down

Not bad, if I do say so myself!


And that's not all. There's more stuff to collect in the east tower, which was also blocked off at the beginning of the game.


Sweet, sweet loot!

These chests contain 2x Hermes Sandals and 2x Bacchus' Wine.


The stairs to the right lead to the second floor, and more goodies. (Two Hi-Potions, to be specific.)


And the third floor...


Each of the other two chests contained a Tent.


Back down to the first floor so we can check the basement.


There's a hallway lined with suits of armor.


And another one of those hidden items that are impossible to find without a guide. Whatever. Into the pile it goes!


Down these stairs, things start getting a little weird.


When we venture down the corridor, a mysterious voice calls out Cecil's name and the screen turns yellow.


Looks like Cecil's just as confused as we are.


Holy shit, it's a ghost!


Cecil runs over, and as a nice touch, kneels down before his king.

Your Majesty!?



My liege!

With these cryptic words, the king vanishes.

I bet Cecil has something to say about that!


Yes, but sadly he's dead. I suppose that's better than having your liege lord warped beyond recognition until you're no longer able to serve him...


This sort of stuff is outside of Yang's area of expertise. You can't punch ghosts to death!


Cid is similarly impressed.


Nothing more than a ghost. It's kind of sad...

Out in the courtyard...




Cid puts the fear of god back into his workers!


I believe this is the only clue the game gives you about the king's whereabouts. Just in case you're not.... you know, exploring every inch of a place like you should be doing anyway!




We're done with this area. We hop in the Enterprise and head to the southeast.


To Mysidia. We really ought to tell the elder that we got his two star pupils turned to stone... I've a feeling he won't be pleased. I know I sure as hell am not!


The Mysdian Elder is up these stairs in the Hall of Prayer.


We were up here once before. Remember this door, and how I didn't notice it until I was writing the update?


Well, this is where it leads.


What'choo guys looking at?

Our elder has been praying here ever since he last spoke to you.

We pray as well, for all life on this planet.

Oh, well that explains that. Time to drop the bombshell, I guess...


Look, I'm sorry!

Let a piece of them go with you?

Eh? What's this now?



Obtained Cry Augment

Obtained Bluff Augment

Obtained Twincast Augment (x2)

Oooooooh, shinies!


So, now we have a small pile of Augments to play with. I'll use one of them now.


One of the Twincast Augments will go to Cecil.


I'll sit on the other one for now. The guide I'm following suggests giving the other one to Tellah, but I'm not sure I agree.

Augments I said I'd talk more about them when it became relevant. It just did. In the DS version, when a character leaves the party permanently, you receive their unique abilities in the form of Augments. However, you don't always get all of them. The number of Augments you get depends on the number of Augments you used on that character. Since we gave Palom and Porom 3 Augments between them, we got all of their abilities, plus Dualcast. Had I used fewer Augments on the twins, I would have received fewer from the elder.

Augments also affect characters' stat growths, but this only matters if 1) you're playing through the game multiple times and 2) you are a gigantic sperglord. If you're curious about that, look it up on Gamefaqs, because that's waaaay beyond the scope of this playthrough.


For our next stop, we take the Enterprise over the mountains northeast of Baron.


To the village of Mist!


No need to faff around with that awful dungeon anymore! We can just fly directly here!


I stopped here briefly a couple updates ago. This time, we're going to clean this place out.


Starting with this house. I notice a distinct lack of fire in this fireplace. Highly suspicious!


I knew it! A secret passage!


Treasure!


One chest contains a very nice piece of headgear that no one in the party can use. Yet.

The other chest contains a much less useful piece of Clothing.


That's not all! This secret passage has more to offer.


Ooooohoooo. Somebody pinch me!


This is a nice weapon for a spellcaster. Maybe I'll toss it to Tellah later... Maybe. With is tiny MP pool, I prefer to give him weapons he can attack with, like the elemental Rods.

There was a Ruby Ring in the other chest.

Continuing our rampage:


On the east side of town, one of these is hidden near where we met Rydia. There are quite a few of these thing scattered throughout Mist. It's a bit creepy, to be honest.


Really? The only thing we found beneath Baron Castle was the king's ghost...


I bet Cecil really feels like an ass right about now...


We've already seen what the shops here have to offer. They're inventory is unchanged. The only noteworthy thing was the Dancing Dagger, which only Cecil can equip now.


Old Man: It is said to lie deep beneath the surface of the earth, though I cannot claim to know where.

I'm sure this will never become relevant in any way whatsoever. Nope.


Next, we head through these bushes in the southeast.


This little clearing contains two hidden Bomb Fragments. Just run around mashing A until you find them.


From here, we can see the mountain range Rydia raised when she summoned Titan.


But I've had enough of dwelling in the past. Let's go somewhere new.


Directly northwest of Baron is,


the kingdom of Troia! Now, don't panic! To advance the plot, we have to go to Troia Castle; the town is fair game!


The citizens of Troia are all friendly folk.


First, I pop across this bridge to the west.


There's a super-hidden Hi-Potion behind the weapon/armor shop.


Right next to the Armor Shop is a Tent. I was pressing A too fast to get a cap of the item text. Yes, I'm recording video for this. There literally wasn't a single frame where "Found Tent" appeared. Just trust me; it's a Tent.


Another Hi Potion west of the first one!


On the east end of town, there's a stairway from which you can enter the waterway.


She has a point, Cecil. Maybe you should wait for the rest of the party on the shore?


Treasure hunting, actually! Don't mind me.


That stairway over there leads to a secret area. I'll go there in just a second.


More items that you would never know were here without a guide.

Up those stairs I bypassed earlier.


Interesting factoid. I'm sure it's not important.

There are a lot of hidden items in this clearing. After running around mashing A, here's what I found:


These cast Blink. Handy!




This one was a Dry Ether. Again, I was mashing A too fast, my apologies.


More funds are always welcome!

Now to check out the shops!


The Armorer sells absolutely nothing of interest.


The Weaponsmith is a (slightly) different story. I don't see where I'd need another Wooden Hammer, considering Cid comes equipped with one, however...


These are interesting. They are fire, ice, and lightning flavored, respectively, and they all have the same stats. Statistically, they're utter shit, but they just might come in handy sometime soon! I'll hold off on buying any for now. They'll still be there later.


Old Man: Gah!


OK OK, jeez. I'm sorry!


A night at the inn costs darn near as much as a Cottage! There's not much point, considering Baron is a short airship ride away and charges 1/8 the price!


Here are the item shop's offerings. Again, nothing special.

Now to explore the north end of town.


Oh no, I think she's dead!


Screw you, lady. Don't come crying to me when you get skin cancer!


Man: The iron strongbox I carried jumped right out of my hands and stuck to the cavern floor. Couldn't budge it for all I tried!

A foretaste of things to come. I can't decide if I'm dreading it or looking forward to it...

And of course, an old friend is here, as well!


Although, I think he needs to get his eyes checked...

Are you waiting for someone here, too?


You see, I have a date today- or rather, two. I promised two different ladies I'd go out with them.

On, -ingway, you player, you.

Having abandoned my music for other pursuits, I suppose I can remain Jammingway no more.




Please, Cecil, you have to help me!

I dunno, maybe you should ask Cid instead, considering he's the one standing right in front of you!


Talk to the lady who works at the bar there and buy me a little time. While you keep her there, I'll take my first date someplace else! Please, I'm counting on you.

With that, -ingway disappears, presumably to fetch his date. I suppose we'd better help our bro out...


The pub is in this building here.


This woman sitting in the front table here,


is not the lady we're looking for, but she does have some good items!

I buy a few Gysahl Greens. They're used to summon Fat Chocobo.


There's also this thing, which I cannot begin to even dream of affording.


When I'm able to get one, I guess I'll have to bring it to this guy. How mysterious! We'll just have to keep it in mind for later.

I am not transcribing the following dialog, else I'm afraid you won't believe it's actually in the game:








Very bizarre! And who is this mysterious Stellah?


Why, it's this lady(?) right over here! I have no idea what's going on here...


Old Woman: Come now, don't give me that face!

Er, what? What kind of place is this?!


Huh?


Uh...


Members only? Oh, dear lord...




So... I see FF7 wasn't the first Final Fantasy to feature a brothel...




I find this rather amusing, though!

Enough. This place leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Let's go find -ingway's other date.


This must be her.



Could I trouble you for some milk?




She walks off to get Cecil's order. To her credit, she doesn't comment about it, unlike a certain barkeep in FFT. Cecil and Ramza could be drinking buddies!

This isn't the first reference to FFT we've run across. I'm sure it's intentional!



...



N-no! Not really.

Smooth, Cecil, real smooth.




Oh thank god. What took you so long?!




I gave a music box with all my songs to my friend in the chocobo forest. I hope you'll consider that my way of saying thanks. If you ever want to listen to it, just talk to him!

Translation: we can access the sound test from the Fat Chocobo menu, now.



Well then, until we meet again!

And away he goes. I think that will do for today.


Next time, we'll poke around the world map some more. See you then!