Part 86: DS Not this shit again!
Update 29: Not this shit again!Hello viewers! Today, we're doing a portion of the game that I'm not particularly fond of, so let's just knock it out and get back to the fun stuff!
When we left off last time, we had just braved the Passage of the Eidolons to add
Leviathan is going to be very helpful in the battles ahead. Mark my words! The MP cost is pretty steep, but I have plenty of Ethers now.
Now, to leave the Feymarch, all I have to do is take this teleporter that I ignored before.
*Teleportation sound effect*
And, voila! We're back outside.
We've ignored the plot for long enough, methinks. Time to go to the Sealed Cave!
Besides, we've done just about all we can do without going back to the surface!
Here be our next dungeon. I'm not particularly fond of it. Not for the dungeon itself, mind. That's pretty straightforward. More for what happens here. More on that later!
Here's the door, which is locked, like King Giott said.
He was nice enough to give us his daughter's necklace last time we met, which opens the door.
Our heroes hold the necklace high, the screen glows green and shakes violently, and,
presto! The door is open. We can explore the dungeon at our leisure. Oh, goodie.
Aye. Let's get this over with.
Again, the Indiana Jones question. Do we know for sure that Golbez would have been able to get in here eventually?
Yeah, I'm not feeling too good about this either, Kain.
Well, I admire your resolve, at least.
And therein lies the problem with this "clever" plan. We didn't know for sure that Golbez could get in here on his own. Now he definitely can.
Anyway, here's our dungeon.
It looks pretty cool, at least. Lots of lava. Lava is nice to look at.
And it has new enemies too, of course. That's par for the course by now!
Vampire Bats are relatives of the asshole Cave Bats, but they're not nearly as annoying as their cousins.
They're still up to their family's usual tricks. They can drain your HP and inflict Sap, and their regular physical attack is nothing to be concerned about.
They're not as bad for three reasons. 1) They only appear in groups of two of three, not in huge swarms. 2) They're still fast, but not "get two moves for every one of yours" fast. 3) They have an easily-exploitable weakness. Fire, in this case. Oh, and they have 6,824 HP. All around, boring. They're just cannon fodder.
Oh, and at this point, I remembered that I probably don't need the Mage Masher anymore. I give Edge the second "sword-I-can't-even-begin-to-spell" for the extra attack power.
Now, the Sealed Cave has a couple gimmicks, one of which are these.
These ropes lead to different levels of the dungeon. Not necessarily different floors, mind you. Sometimes you take them to different areas within the same floor. It's a little bit annoying, because they can be hard to spot, and the climbing animation is unskippable. Gets obnoxious if you walk too close to one by accident. The background while Cecil shimmies his way down looks kind of nifty, in any case.
That particular rope takes us further into the dungeon. Let's move along, then.
And right away, we get ambushed by some new enemies!
The Medusa palette-swap is a Lesser Marilith, packing 9,190 HP and a lightning weakness.
The lady hanging from the ceiling is a Vampiress, a relative of the Succubus, with 10,831 HP and fire and holy weaknesses.
The green thing in the back is the one you have to keep an eye on. That's a new and improved Chimera: the Chimera Brain. They're the nastiest monster in this dungeon. Not quite as bad as the Flamehounds, more on par with the Frostbeasts. Do not take them lightly! They only have 4,780 HP, but no elemental weakness. To boot, they absorb fire, ice, and lightning!
However, I didn't see water listed among the things it absorbs, did you? I think it's time to try out our new Summon!
Polsy version
Mmm hmm. That is some nice damage right there. I think Leviathan and I are going to get along just swimmingly.
Rydia is pleased, as well.
Learned Death
Death? Interesting. Sadly, Death has one major problem: anything it does work on, you can probably just outright kill anyway. And anything you can't murder outright (like bosses) is going to be immune to it! Pass.
Continuing on to the east, there's a door. But this is no ordinary door.
This is the other gimmick of the Sealed Cave. Every door in this place is actually:
one of these things! We kind of saw one of these already, back in the Developer's room in the Dwarven Castle. But that one didn't really count.
Anyway, it's called a Trap Door. They have 14,000 HP, no elemental weaknesses, and a very... specific attack pattern. They always open up with this.
Which, thanks to Draw Attacks, will always Target Cecil.
What does that do? Oh, you'll see in a bit.
In the meantime, just whale on it with whatever you like. It's not terribly important.
What is important is this. Cast Reflect on whoever got Target-ed. (Always Cecil, if you have Draw Attacks.)
After a period of time, the Trap Door will follow up with this attack, always on the Target character.
Which can be Reflected.
Which is a good thing, because it's an instant Death spell!
Cecil approves.
Yeah. So, stick to that pattern, and there is no way you can lose against those things. Ever.
And behind the door it was guarding? Treasure!
First, a new weapon for Edge!
It... sucks! I suppose if you didn't go through either of the optional dungeons yet and just trucked right along with the plot, this would be an upgrade. But who does that? I'll be keeping his current weaponry, thank you very much!
In the other chest... something not nearly so exciting. Useful, sort of, but not exciting. I guess this means I can just burn through Rydia's MP as much as I like!
Oh... oh dear. This is the encounter you have to watch out for! Two Chimera Brains! It's no three Flamehounds, but...
that doesn't mean you should get complacent!
This attack of theirs? It hurts. It hurts a lot. A couple of those, and Edge takes a dirt nap, and Cecil is only going to be able to tank it if he's at full health. No joke.
So, clearly this is a good time to show off Rydia's other new Summon, right?
Have a look:
Polsy version
That... was actually really helpful! Don't expect that every time, though. Asura randomly casts either Curaga, Protect, or Raise on your whole party, depending on which face ends up facing front during her Summon animation.
Could be really helpful, if you get lucky. But I don't like relying on luck!
Anyway, know what else the Chimera Brains don't absorb? If you guessed wind, you're correct!
Ehhhh... I'd stick to tossing Shurikens if I were you, Edgie boy. You're good at that!
Chimera Brains drop a decent amount of EXP and various fire-elemental things, if you're curious.
Good job, Kain. Way to remind us that you're still here!
Last treasure on this half of the floor. Meh. I'll just add it to the pile.
Making my way back west, Rosa leveled up! And this one is actually significant because:
Learned Arise
She learned her full-life spell!
Arise is super-useful, especially if you aren't abusing the shit out of Dualcast, like I am. It revives an ally with full HP. None of that "revive someone and desperately hope they don't get KO'd again before you can heal them" nonsense. It saves a lot of headache.
I'm putting that puppy right near the top.
Oh boy. Here we go again. Just in case you didn't believe me before about the Chimera Brains:
There's one...
Oh look, the other one's doing it too!
There! See? It is no joke, no joke at all! Come into this place underleveled, and these things will wreck you!
As annoying as the Sylph Cave and Passage of the Eidolons are, at least they vomit level ups at you like they're going out of style. Going through this place, you need 'em! Hell, even if you are properly leveled, these things can still wreck you if you don't watch your HP like a hawk!
As usual, Rosa is a godsend. We would be dead so many times over without her around!
Let's see if Asura can help us out again...
The animation is the same every time except,
right at the end. As I mentioned, the forward face determines what spell effect you get. In this case:
Protect. Thanks, lady. It's not like I couldn't cast that on my whole party for 10 whole MP every time I wanted, or anything.
Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me!
It's a damn good thing I healed! Yeesh...
And thank you, Kain!
Time to get everyone healed up.
And now we can move on. This rope to the far west leads forward.
At the top-
More random battles, of course!
Leviathan is not amused!
Man, that feels good!
Evidently, Edge agrees!
Lastly, we reveal the last bit of the map, and
Obtained 3 Gaia Drums
claim our prize!
I miss the Soma Drops and Gold/Silver Apples...
Over here,
we find the usual.
And we do the usual.
Next!
More treasure to plunder! Let's see what we get.
Bah!
Oh, friendly reminder. You don't have to drop Leviathan on everything! Dragon still does quite a lot of damage, and costs less than half as much MP!
Now, there is one annoying, giant dick move concerning the Trap Doors.
Namely, some of them lead to dead ends. No prizes, no nothing! The two north doors in this room are an example of this. The only way you could possibly know this, of course, is to fight them. Or use a guide. If you're after all the treasure, I recommend doing one of those things. Just use a guide, seriously.
Moving on!
Right away, we have these two ropes here.
The one on the left...
leads to a little separate chunk of the floor.
This is the only thing of import down here. And I use that term very loosely. Bah.
Annoyingly, the right-hand rope just leads to a dead end. This isn't the only time this happens, either. It's extra annoying because, not only is there no way to tell ahead of time which ropes lead to a dead end, then you have to sit through that unskippable climbing animation twice.
More "treasure" to the east.
Now, to the north, there are a series of doors. Only some of them contain anything worthwhile. To that end, skip the first one.
Proceed directly to the second, heading east to west.
Deal with the Trap Door in the usual fashion.
Make Rydia even more murderous...
And claim your prize!
... Again. It's like the game doesn't expect you to go through those side dungeons right away... Although, it would also be obnoxious if the stuff you picked up there was made immediately obsolete in the very next dungeon. So, I don't know. I do know that I'm keeping the Defender, though!
Who's ready to see me get my ass kicked some more?
I just know you guys love seeing that!
You know, before I came here, I was actually afraid I was over-leveled. I'm starting to think that's not the case!
THANK YOU ROSA, THAT'S VERY HELPFUL.
So is that.
Well. I do believe I may be in trouble now...
Let's see what Asura can do for us.
... OK well, that'll keep us alive a little longer, at least.
Up you get, Rosa! We need you!
Oh fuck me!
I'm starting to think running wouldn't be such a bad idea!
Or Leviathan will just slaughter them both!
Yeah. That was... uncomfortably close. Yikes...
Time to pick everyone back up!
And we can deal with the next door.
Seriously. You can practically kill these things in your sleep once you know the trick.
And behind door number three, we find more treasure!
Useful if I'm fighting a Trap Door and... Rosa can't cast Reflect, for some reason? I got nothing.
Ooh! This is a nice thing! It's a much more powerful throwing weapon for Edge! For comparison, Shurikens have an attack power of 50, while Fuma Shurikens have 200! I'm pretty sure Edge could match Rydia for damage with that! Toss it if you want a thing dead, in a hurry. However, for now, that's the only one I get, so I'll save it for a rainy day.
Can't really complain about more of these. It occurs to me that at this point, I probably have enough of these to use them to keep Rydia's MP topped off, instead of relying on Ethers. I'll have to bear that in mind!
I got double level ups on the way out of here!
Our main tank keeps on getting tankier.
And Kain keeps on... being Kain, I guess.
Now, see this door? Skip this door.
Instead, go to the next door (the fifth, if you're following along).
Interestingly, this time I killed the Trap Door before it got a chance to kill itself. Hmm. This calls for some experimentation!
Healers gettin' healy-er and Ninjas getting... eh, you get the point!
Behind that door is a welcome sight.
I never turn down the opportunity to heal up and save! (Nor should you!)
Outside of that door is a rope.
It leads to a dead end, so don't even bother! Bah.
On to the last door!
Again, killed before it could cast Ninth Dimension. I wonder if I need to bother with the Reflect thing anymore?
More prizes!
If I were using these, I'd now have a matching set!
Oh, that sounds interesting!
You're kidding, right? Edge needs to do one thing: hit things. Hard. Pass!
Have some cool scenery that I capped because I thought it was cool.
What else am I gonna do while running around to complete the map?
Obtained 3 Red Fangs
Yawn. Into the pile they go!
Another Trap Door just to the north.
Slaughtered effortlessly. I didn't even bother with Reflect that time. I'm living on the edge!
There's treasure behind it, and more lava.
I think the game is trying to tell me something. And that something sounds like "Go crazy with Rydia's spells!" Can do, game!
More cool lava. I like lava, OK?
Down the stairs to a new floor, and more loot.
These really aren't cutting it anymore, game!
These are still useful, I guess. I haven't had to buy any for a really long time...
Rydia devotes herself to getting even more ridiculous.
That door leads to another dead end, so we proceed down the stairs to the south instead.
Ta-da! Time to get exploring.
Wrapping around to the northeast, I spy another rope. I ignore it for now.
And I get jumped by a new enemy!
Nagarajas are relatives of the Cave Naga. They have 4,490 HP and no particular weaknesses. They're kind of boring, to be honest.
I take a minute to refill Rydia's MP somewhat with Pray. See that? Pray will be refilling as much MP as an Ether before too long!
Ramuh makes short work of the Lesser Marilith, and we move on.
There's this door to the southeast, for one.
Dealt with.
Edge gets even better at killing things. He's coming along well!
But... this door leads to a dead end?! Ah, fuck.
Whatever! I still completed the floor.
Obtained 3 Blue Fangs
After brutalizing another Lesser Marilith,
a triple level up!
one
two
and three!
Inflicts Silence. I think I've already mentioned that. What an odd prize...
All right, now I can climb this rope.
Hmm. Which way? East or west?
The answer is east. West is the way forward.
Uh oh. This time I wasn't able to kill it before it did this, and Cecil doesn't have a Reflect on him!
Uh... turns out Cecil is just straight up immune to that shit. Huh... So all those Reflect shenanigans weren't even necessary and these things are even more of a joke than I thought they were. Good to know!
(Cecil is just amazing.)
Lots of lava in this room, and some treasure!
Ah hah! Now, this is more like it! More of this kind of loot and less Hi-Potions/Phoenix Downs/Ethers please, game. Thanks!
The exit is that little passageway to the northwest, but you have to go all the way around if you want to complete the floor.
Obtained 2 Blue Fangs
Uh huh... it's not even trying anymore, is it?
Through that passageway is another save point! So, you know what that means?
Well, that, and we're also close to the end!
I'm going to just plow ahead, if that's OK. I want to be done with this place...
I mean, it looks cool and all.
It's just kind of boring.
And the constant fake-outs and dead ends don't help at all! This one totally looks like it leads somewhere, too, but nope!
Whatever! That was quick.
Obtained 3 White Fangs
I think we've gotten a full set of Fangs. I haven't been paying much attention...
There's also that rope over there... I'm betting it's a dead end, too.
One last level up for the road, I guess!
Learned Tornado
Ooh! That sounds fun. Let's see what it does!
What? Lame. This spell suffers from the same problem as Death, only it's even worse, because it doesn't even actually kill anything. Pass, pass so hard!
This is the last floor!
It's a short one.
Obtained Megalixir
What? A Megalixir?! OK that... that's some decent swag right there. Yep. I'll hang onto that one! I'm sure it'll come in handy eventually!
One last Trap Door,
and it dies like a chump.
Behind that door...
The Crystal Chamber! We made it!
Is there an ambush?
There's gotta be an ambush...
No booby trap this time? It can't be that-
I guess it is that easy! Huh...
What's the crew have to say about this?
Good question!
Sure seems like we did, but I don't trust it!
The feeling that we're about to get horribly screwed over again? I'm right there with you, Kain!
Too easy, in fact.
Anybody wanna take bets on how long we get to keep this thing?
I'm guessing, an hour. Tops.
Now, we have the Crystal, so we should be able to just Teleport out of here, right? Nope! Our asses are walking back.
To that end, I make some preparations. I have a feeling I'll need it...
Welp. Let's get going.
The party stops just short of the bridge, as the screen begins to shake wildly. Something is amiss!
So they are!
Capital idea!
And here's our boss! What, you didn't think we were getting out of here without a boss fight, did you?
This asshole is Demon Wall. He has 99,999 HP, and only one attack.
Every turn, he will move a little closer to us. When he reaches us, he busts out with his one attack: Crush. Crush deals a flat 9,999 damage. No questions asked. Instant KO. Oh, and he can counter magic with Petrification (the gradual kind, thank god).
Needless to say, you want to beat this jerk quickly! Hence, the Avenger. We don't need to bother with Shell/Protect, or any of that nonsense. More turns, more damage!
However, that doesn't mean you don't need any buffs at all.
Slowing the Demon Wall will help immensely, so that should be Rosa's first action.
Then, she needs to get started Hasting everyone!
I suggest starting with Cecil, if he has the Avenger. Have her do herself first if he doesn't.
Ack, he's getting closer!
More turns, more damage! Therefore, have Kain Cry his crocodile tears.
I don't know how convincing it is, but it still lowers the Demon Wall's defense!
Edge is on Shuriken-hucking duty, and he's not stopping for anything!
He's still dealing pretty good damage with those things!
Not as much as Cecil, but Cecil is Berserked, after all.
Rydia is busting out her most powerful Summons. Leviathan, in my case. If you don't have him yet (whyyyyy?!) Dragon will do.
Next, Rosa casts Haste on Kain,
followed by Berserk. Jump is too slow for this battle. Having both my frontliners Berserked will save me some command inputs, and boost their damage at the same time!
The crew whales on him for another round, and he inches closer...
Next,
Haste on Rydia,
followed by Edge.
Now my biggest damage-dealer and my fastest character will both get more turns!
Closer...
Lastly, Rosa Hastes herself.
Now we have everyone Hasted, Cecil and Kain Berserked, and we're ready to rain the pain!
Of course, I've been raining it all along.
Even Rosa gets in on the action. No healing necessary here!
Argh, he's almost on top of us!
The boss slowly inching forward, combined with the music, makes this a very tense, frantic fight. I like it!
One last whack from Kain and-
the fucker goes down!
Holy mother of- That is... a lot of EXP!
Level for Rosa!
And Cecil!
Kain as well!
And two for Edge!
The walls retreat to their original position.
I'm sure it... won't, Edge.
Indeed, but let's not dawdle, either!
I know! What's next, ceilings?
Kain? You doing all right there, buddy?
Devious!
Yes, it's all very clever. Now let's get the hell out!
Cecil gets his Defender back. Typically I need him to do other stuff than blindly attack.
And on the way out, Rydia joins the leveling party!
By the way, that other rope I pointed out on the way in? Yeah. It leads to a dead end, like I thought.
Did I mention how fucking annoying it is to have to hoof it all the way out of this fucking dungeon?!
Seriously, these random encounters can fuck right off. Edge, get us out of here!
Oh this is just lovely.
Yay.
Thank you so much, game, I really appreciate this shit!
Seriously. Go away!
Level up for Rosa while Edge is passed out.
After way too much time and way, way too many random battles, we make it out!
And since it seems Kain isn't feeling too well, I'll hold onto his equipment for now.
Just take a break, buddy. Sleep it off.
The party strolls blithely along...
when suddenly, the screen flashes blue and sinister music begins to play!
Deliver me the Crystal.Oh no. Not this shit again!
Golbez!
No!
You get right the fuck back up, mister! You are not pulling this shit!
Don't listen! Resist him!Rosa was able to snap Kain out of Golbez's thrall before! Maybe it'll work this time!
I... I'm back in control of myself.Oh, good, because I am so not in the mood for-
You're a fucking liar, Kain!
Ugh!
Who's surprised? Certainly not me!
Kain! What are you doing?
With this final Crystal, the Tower of Babil will be made complete. Come, Kain! Kain! Don't listen to him!
Kain!Maybe with the Power of Friendship-
Hahaha, nope!
And he runs off. Well, damn it.
When has that ever worked, like... ever, Edge?
Ha ha ha! Kain...
I know! Shocking how a character named Kain could stab you in the back. AGAIN!
The savior of the world, folks!
How about you just ditch the rest of these assholes and solo the rest of the game, Rydia? I bet you could totally do it!
Shock and awe!
That's... actually a really good question!
Yeah. Glad that shit's over with. Next time, we're back to the fun stuff. Ugh.
The update is over, but maybe you'll permit me to rant a little bit? I hate this part. I really hate it. You finally assemble your final party, and the game takes one member away for a fucking bullshit arbitrary reason. Leaving you one character short, AGAIN.
This shit got old ages ago. Fucking stop it! Plus, Kain. Oh bluh bluh he betrayed us a-fucking-gain. How is anybody expected to like the guy now?! Way to ruin his big redemption. Yep.
Just... argh! I hate it.
OK, I feel better now. Fun times ahead. See you next time, folks!