Part 83

Chapter 69





Alright, enough with the bands. Let's explore further and see how many more ways this game can disappoint us.



In this area, we start running into the Proto Deathmask. It casts Death and can heal itself a decent amount, but otherwise it's the same gimmick as the Deathmask.



Hey, I actually found a use for Double Pressure, as it bypasses Reflect. I still hate it.




I also learned the Fiend Dragon counters magic with Dark Breath, which ruins my day.



The Seraphim Mace is awesome in that it gives a 15 point Spirit boost, but a free Esuna isn't bad either. Granted, I'm making so much money they I have 99 Remedies and it's trivial to gain more, but this saves me a few gil.



The Lunar equipment is the next level from the Crystal equipment, and is pretty much the best heavy armor outside of Adamant and the ones from rare tails. It also prevents status effects, which is cool.



The FF5 floor is a tad different than the first three. Once again, we have Omega and Shinyru, and like FF5 they're completely optional. You actually have to initiate combat with Omega yourself. And yes, he's pretty damn hard.

We won't be fighting Omega at this time.



The next floor is the same as the other floors, except with buildings.




The crystal here is guarding the save point. It doesn't matter since we have a teleporter to another save point, but we must unlock whatever shitty cutscene we have next!





Alright. First order of business:

Don't click that song link there. Click this much better one instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgZsvJZ_ivg






Gilgamesh mainly sticks to physicals, and he often likes to scream out before attacking.



He also didn't like me Hasting Rosa, apparently, so he countered that.




I actually went all-out with the Ultima Spark band, since it's much better than their physicals. Too bad it costs them 50MP each. Then again, I've got 50 Dry Ethers and can afford 50 more, so it's not a big deal at all.












Oh Gilgamesh, you trickster, you.

As soon as you beat him up enough, he becomes a whole different beast. He'll buff the hell up, he'll start jumping, and he'll attack four times a turn, which is enough to get through Blink sometimes.



He'll also use shit like Penetrating Laser to screw you up.




...What the fucking hell is the point of this god damn spell if I can't use it to dispell buffs?



Zantetsuken causes Gilgamesh to fly forward, instantly killing a character.




And of course, it wouldn't be a Gilgamesh battle if Excalipar didn't make an appearance.





So there you go. As punishment for killing the awesome Gilgamesh, we now know that Bartz exists in the same universe as the FF4 world. Thanks a lot, game.



Though we do get Excalipar as a reward, which... Eh.



He looked hideous...and yet I wasn't scared, for some reason.
That man was no monster...
I felt a sense of warmth from him, somehow.
(Who could that have been?)

I really wish this game had Bartz now.



Oh well, now for our "reward."





Damn you guys and your fanfiction talk.

Kain...
Doesn't having Cecil back make you happy at all?
O-of course! I'm overjoyed! It's just that, well...
...
Just that...




At least the writers are consistent with Ceodore.



The dragoons of Baron once formed the most prestigious of all armed divisions... Until the Red Wings were formed, that is. I've idolized the dragoons since childhood, but I hated my father... He was always so cold, so strict.
...
Do you hate Cecil, Ceodore?
N-no...
Good. That means you too will come to understand, eventually.
What happened to your father, Kain?
He's gone. He died when I was about the same age you are, actually.
...



Yes!



...Hold on a minute. Did that cutscene just have actual character development?

There's a lot to say about this particular cutscene, and most of it is surprisingly good. I really like how despite being the son of Cecil, it's actually Ceodore and Kain that have a strong mentor/pupil relationship. It was Kain that taught Ceodore to survive, and who drove Ceodore to become a competent soldier. And though I'm sure this was unintentional, Golbez and Cecil didn't really give a shit when Kain talked to them, yet Ceodore listened intently because of their bond.

Once again, if this game had good writers, there could actually be something to this. Golbez might hate the sight of Kain as Kain is a reminder of what Golbez used to be, and perhaps how Golbez could never truly redeem himself for his wrongs the way Kain did. Cecil may harbor secret resentment for Kain, for the wrongs he did in the past, for his continued lust for Rosa, or maybe how Kain bonds with Ceodore more than Cecil ever could.

Another thing I have to give the game props for is actually being subtle about something. Ceodore didn't have any interest in following his father's footsteps. He focuses on speed, he's trained in the art of spears, and as the final piece of the puzzle...



Yeah, Ceodore wants to grow up to be a dragoon. In fact, this is probably what he wanted to do even before meeting Kain. It's no wonder then that Ceodore secretly resented his parents, as he felt the pressure to be a Paladin or whatever when he had no desire to be one.

And of course, we actually learn a bit more about Kain's backstory, which is something I wish these little scenes did with the rest of the characters. It helps Kain further relate to Ceodore, and to show him that Cecil isn't a bad father at all. Ceodore doesn't hate him, but he still resents him a bit, and Kain's story gives Ceodore some much-needed perspective.

The main thing I didn't like was Rosa at the end, suggesting Kain talked to Ceodore more out of obligation than because Kain actually liked Ceodore as a pupil and friend. Remove Rosa, and that scene would've been as good as it possibly could've been in a game like this.

But yeah, new Band and all that. At this point, I give Golbez the Triton Dagger to boost his Intellect and switch him with Ceodore.



Got the Lunar Shield.



We definitely do not want to go left here, as it leads to the other superboss.



Instead, let's go to this area.




It's one of those areas where everything loops around and you have to wander randomly until you find the right door. You'll know it's the right door if it looks like a sarlacc pit.





At the end of this section is Atmos.




His gimmick in FF5 was casting Meteor until someone died, then slowly sucking them in. He doesn't do the latter here, but you want somebody to die.




Once you get down to three people, he'll just start throwing out status effects.



The ideal number is four characters, as he'll just spam Firaga, which Rosa can easily outheal.



I end up having Golbez kill himself just because he needed EXP the least.









The final band of this group. Ceodore needs to work on his jumping, as he doesn't leap nearly as high as Kain.



But hey, it works decently enough.



Was that monster the one blocking our way?
A monster that controls space itself...
The magical wall... It's gone.
(I've never seen a creature capable of controlling the dimensions themselves!)



Our reward is the Robe of Lords, which boosts Spirit and Stamina by ten points.



Before we end the update, let me show you just how threatening the two superbosses are.



Meet Omega.





Omega's pretty tough to damage physically. Thundaga will hurt him, but he has counters to that.

To be fair, I didn't run into all of Omega's tricks, nor do I remember all of them. I will beat him up later with my own party.




Omega's signature move is Surge Cannon, which deals Sap and hurts.



Omeguard nullifies pretty much all attacks until you break it.




He also likes to cast Black Hole, nullifying all buffs.




Toxic inflicted Silence and I guess Sleep, since Ceodore stopped moving. ER is just a fancy way of inflicting Stop.



I didn't really last very long.

I did actually beat Omega the first time I played this game. I was going through the second half of the game as Team Final Fantasy (Cecil, Kain, Rosa, Rydia, Edge), and worked out a strategy of having Rydia casting Thundaga and having everyone else do nothing or whatever due to Omega's counters. I don't really remember, though I do remember he has a final attack that caused me to switch Cecil out with Edward, who just hid until the battle was over.




The other superboss is Lord Dragon.




Needless to say, I've never beat Lord Dragon. Yet.

We're almost done with the rehashes! Which also means we'll soon be getting into the original content. Oh dear.