Part 84: DS The Feymarch part 1

DS Update 27: The Feymarch part 1


Hello, everyone! We're back again. What are we doing today? Fun stuff, that's what!

But before I get to that, I have one small thing to take care of.


I didn't precisely forget to do this. I just uh... put it off until later.


Well, I guess it's "later," so let's finish training What.!


Now that we have all 5 of our final party members, all the bullshit training minigames are available! Only Edge's is left.


Edge's minigame is a bit different than the rest.


Different, in that it's actually pretty fun!


It's basically a shooting gallery. Touch the enemies with you stylus (or mouse cursor, in my case),


and Edge hucks a Shiriken at 'em!


The tree monsters take two hits to kill, while the flowers only take one.


Obviously, that means the tree monsters are worth more points.


Beware, for enemies can also throw things at you!


They hurt. Plus, get hit 3 times and it's game over for you!


To avoid that, touch and hold the stylus on Edge, and he transforms into... a log? Uh... sure. Why not? Anyway, he's invulerable while pretending to be firewood.


Towards the end of the game, if you're still alive, this guy pops up, complete with boss music. I'm sad to say I don't know how many points he's worth, because I didn't manage to kill him.


Edge does a little backflip when the game ends.


I mean... that's not bad, right? Especially going into it blind. That's more than a third of the maximum!


Of course, you have to do it more than once. Seen here, the flowers can attack you too, by spewing green clouds of pollen(?) at you.


Unlike the other characters' minigames, Edge's Ninjablade Glade is very low on bullshit. It's much more skill-based than the others.


I think it's entirely possible that, given enough practice, I could get maximum score without cheating!


Of course, that would take far more time than I'd be willing to invest, so let's just cut to the chase.




And again...


And once more!


Well, there you have it, folks! All of What.'s stats, completely maxed out! You saw it here first!


Once again, for getting a perfect score, we get a special prize: a new outfit for What.!


That looks... absolutely ridiculous. I'm keeping it!


Anyway, that's enough pointless bullshit for one day. Let's move on to our next objective.




Today, we'll be heading through the Passage of the Eidolons! Just what is that? Well, in case you forgot from Leave's update, Rydia is happy to explain:




Leviathan? The same Leviathan that fucked up our boat so long ago? Ohhh, yes. Let's indeed go ask Leviathan for his "aid." By that, of course, I mean "Kick his ass into next week!"




So, there you have it. We're going to the Feymarch, the legendary Land of Summoned Monsters! We've heard about it from various people throughout the world, and now we finally get to see it!




Of course, getting there is no simple matter (what else is new?), as Edge and Rosa hint.


But Rydia's just excited to visit all her friends.


I hope you really liked the Sylph Cave, because the Passage of the Eidolons has the same gimmick!

...Joy.


That means you'll have to cast float on every floor, again, so you'll be seeing this screen a lot more!

Hey, if I have to suffer through this, so do you! Just be thankful you don't have to sit through all the random battles as well.


Speaking of counting your blessings,


The Passage of the Eidolons looks really cool in this version!

And on the plus side, I suppose it's a bit easier to remember to cast Float than it is back in the Sylph Cave. Lava registers "Danger!" a lot more readily than "slightly greener floor."

Aww, who am I kidding? I'm still going to forget...


Let's talk about new enemies, instead! This place has another big batch of 'em.


These fellows are Blood Eyes, a cousin of the Floating Eye. They have 4,090 HP, no particular weaknesses, and they just love to cast Death.


Death looks pretty cool.


But fortunately for us, it has shit for accuracy!




Kain, with his Avenger Sword, starts laying into the bastards with extreme prejudice. I approve.


Interestingly, these things do have a normal attack, which drains 10% of the damage they inflict.

Sadly for him, Cecil is Mr. Tanky, so that attack hardly dents him. Plus...


He still has Counter. Too bad for you, buddy!


There's plenty of treasure here, too, but not as much as Sylph Cave had.

On the flipside, it's also shorter than Sylph Cave, and much more straightforward.


There are secret passages too, but again, they're not nearly as prevalent as they were in Sylph Cave.


In fact, aside from the lava floor, this place is a bog standard dungeon. You go from floor to floor, picking up loot and fighting random encounters, with no doubling back to other floors.


This place is short, sweet, and simple. Just the way I like it.

Aside from the Float gimmick, but eh...


I think we're already past the point where these things are useful, and we still can't buy them anywhere! It's a little weird...


Speaking of weird (kind of), here's a new enemy!


Kain takes a big chunk out of it right away, naturally. Kain. Anyway, this is a Belphegor. Sure looks like a gargoyle to me, but whatever! I didn't make this game. Belphegors have 3,740 HP and they're weak to holy. (Read: Dragon Summon)


They have some interesting attacks, if you get to see them. Like this thing.




I'm not sure what it does, but it looks cool!


Know what else is cool? Level ups!


Pfft. Lame. That hardly qualifies as treasure. Come on, game!


Oh, the Blood Eyes have another attack that they didn't get to use before, so here.


It surrounds the victim in a red mist,


and inflicts sleep.


However, the next one whacks Cecil and wakes him right back up. Good job, guys! Excellent teamwork there.


Edge also profits from the experience, so I'm not about to complain! I'd say he's coming along nicely, wouldn't you?


And so is our progress through this dungeon! First floor complete already!

Obtained Soma Drop

Ooh, nice! Very nice, in fact! Being an optional dungeon, like the Sylph Cave, Passage of the Eidolons gives you better-than-average rewards for map completion. Soma Drops are the counterpart to Silver/Gold Apples: they increase your maximum MP. Rydia or Rosa would love a few of these things!


Well, let's move on to the next floor, shall we?


Wow. That was fast. Apparently the Blood Eyes can drop Cursed Rings? Good to know, I suppose...


Yeah, the Avenger looks damn scary. Cool, but scary.


Oh for the love of-


In my defense, that battle distracted me. OK?! I was distracted!


Speaking of disctractions, oh look some new enemies!


First, we have the Fell Knight, a pallette swap of the Black Knight we fought in the Tower of Zot. They're packing 4,930 HP and, bizarrely, no elemental weaknesses. Not even a token holy.


Their parners in crime for this battle are Imps. Imps have 5,910 and a weakness to holy.


Cecil takes quite a beating here.


He dishes out as good as he gets, but


The Imps are pretty fast. Death by a thousand cuts, I guess.


The Imps can also do this.


It would be an issue, if the girls weren't packing Gold Hairpins.


For best results, apply Dragon liberally!


Level up for Rosa! She seems unconcerned by her boyfriend's lifeless body just behind her...


Maybe she has a point. A Raise and a couple Curas puts Cecil right back on his feet!


Oh goddammit lousy stupid Float gimmick dungeons!


*mumble*


This doesn't make me feel any better, game!


And guess who took a dirt nap again!

And I was just about to heal him, too! These guys are pretty fast. Watch out!


On your feet, Cecil. We still have a dungeon to go through!


This time, I remembered to re-cast Float on him. I'm getting better!


Ooh, another new enemy!


These guys are Thunder Dragons. They have a massive 12,920 and no elemental weaknesses to help you burn through it.


This is a slight problem, because




their attacks sting quite a bit!


Oh, yeah. As you might expect, they absorb lightning attacks, so keep Ramuh and the like far away from 'em!


You're better off fighting dragon with Dragon, as it were.


Oh dammit, not again!




Hah! It worked that time.


There! Dragon still has the highest base damage of all of Rydia's Summons. (That she currently knows, that is). When facing enemies with no particular weakness, you can't go wrong dropping a Dragon (or two) on them!


I guess these things can drop Gold Hairpins. I don't need any more, but I guess I can sell this one!


All right. That's a slight improvement. Those things are expensive and I use them quite often. Freebies are always appreciated!


Make it good, game, or I swear-

Obtained Soma Drop

Never mind. I'll take it!


On to the third floor! We're breezing through this place.


Ffffff!


It's not even funny anymore! Cut it out, past self!


Here, have a new enemy! These lovely ladies are called Arachne. They have 6,205 and a crippling weakness to ice.


Arachne are probably the most threatening enemy in this whole dungeon, mostly because of this attack.


It does massive damage and hits the whole party. There's one problem with it, though.


It's earth-based, and Float completely negates it!

However, encounter these things when you don't have Float up, and you're in for a world of hurt! In fact, on my previous playthrough, I happened to encounter these things before I'd managed to re-cast Float. Full party wipe. Game over. That was... not pleasant.


Edge starts us off by poking several holes in their hides.


It's rather effective!


And Rydia finishes them off with Shiva. Teamwork!


Appropriately enough, Arachnes can drop Spider Silk.


And Edge is growing steadily more powerful. Keep it up, buddy!


Not funny!


Well, whatever! There's a semi-secret passage thisaway. (I say semi-secret, because you can see it right there on the map.)


Thought so! Let's get loo-


Rude!


Ah. Arachnes can drop Sirens, too. Good to know!


Nice!


Also nice!





Edge already has one of these equipped. I decide to hold on to the Mage Masher awhile longer.


This, however, this is new. It gives a significant damage boost and a slight boost to the stats that matter.


It can also inflict poison on strike. (Looks pretty cool, too, if I do say so myself!)


Now, there's another secret passage here.




But it just leads back here. Bizarre.


Rydia levelled up on the way back through the void.


So did Cecil. He's getting up there, isn't he?


Huh. I guess... this might come in handy? Maybe. I have two people who can cast Libra, though.


In the middle of this floor is this weird-looking contraption.


I'm ignoring it for now. There's a well-hidden secret passage through here.


It contains a worthwhile prize!


Provided you can beat it out of these guys.




Cecil shows off his new toy, poisoning both of the Fell Knights before Rydia finishes them off.


Looks like the Imps can drop Unicorn Horns. Unicorn Horns can come in handy. They act like a full-party Remedy.


Yep, Kain. Enjoying that scary sword, aren't you?


Time to shuffle around some equipment! The Defender is tailor made for Cecil. It boosts all his defensive stats, and his Spirit. He'll take a hit to his damage, but he'll be more tanky in exchange. I fair trade, I say.


Looks pretty cool, too! If you use the Defender as an item, it casts Protect, by the way.


As much fun as it's been playing with the Avenger, it's time to retire it, temporarily. Kain will pick up the Poison Axe instead. In the battles to come, I might need him to do things besides attack blindly. Just a hunch.


That's another floor complete! We're almost done with this place. Can you believe it?

Obtained Soma Drop

Another stat booster for the pile! I'll have to dole these things out soon, I suppose...


Time to see where this thing leads!


Ah, the Feymarch! We made it!


The locals recognize Rydia, it seems.


And there's treasure to be had, too! I've a feeling I'm going to like this place.




More of these. Interestingly, this area still counts as part of the dungeon, but there are no random encounters once you step on that teleporter.


There's another teleporter here. We'll see where it goes in a minute.


A severed rodent's tail? Gross! Who would want something like this?!




Money, on the other hand, is always appreciated. Especially here, as we'll see shortly!


The Eidolon King? I suppose that would be Leviathan? I have an appointment with the guy. Or rather, my boot has an appointment with his arse. Close enough!


Interesting! Is this place so hard to get to? Well, I guess it is on an island in the middle of a sea of magma. Then there's the rivers of lava everywhere... and the dragons... and the spider ladies...

Yeah all right, I see your point!


This unassuming floor tile leads to something very special!


*Teleportation sound effect*


Two things to note here. One, that blue teleporter will take you back to the world map. So, don't step on it until you're done here.

Second thing:


sweet, sweet loot!









That... is a lot of really nice stuff! Wow.


Of particular note is this. It's Rosa's best bow!


And arrows to go with it! If you have a physically-inclined Rosa, you've just met your new best friend!

The Yoichi Bow/Arrow is named after a Samurai archer of the same name, who was kind of like ancient Japanese Robin Hood. He shot down a flag on an enemy ship, said to make the ship invincible. From the shore. While on horseback. Yeah.


Time to see where this one leads!


Welcome to the Land of Summoned Monsters!




What? Is it strange for you to hear me speak?

Clearly, this is a strange place, full of untold wonders! We'll be exploring it properly, next update! For now, I'll leave you with the party's first impressions:


Seems like an interesting place! I can see why she wouldn't want to leave.




Don't it just beat all?


Yeah. It's pretty isn't it?


Better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission, I say. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Anyway, that'll do for now. I'll see you next time!