Part 10: Fierce Battle

Since the Talon can't cross the ocean, we are now reduced to public transportation.



I never noticed this before, but I'm about 99% sure that's the exact same sprite as the ship in the original Final Fantasy. That's a nice touch.



Here in Knaya the welcome and tourist committee are a pair of twins. They're right about shopping, though, this is upgrade central.



Why on earth would you think you could just BUY 4 unique items like Mystic Swords?



We've got a wealth of new weapons here, although the fact that some of them are higher level versions of the same type spoils it. For some reason the Vulcan cannon is a single fire weapon like the ATM. Needless to say, that's not how a Vulcan cannon works. Rune axes are a worthy addition to our arsenal, but after some testing I found that in the hands of our mutants the PSI gun does more damage than the laser.



While you might be tempted to think that Weak functions like it did in Final Fantasy IV, it's actually an upgrade of Aero that can and will kill targets. Lit2 completes our elemental selection for this level, but the real standout here is CureA. This is the first multi-target heal spell, and will restore 30% of everybody's HP when cast. Pure cures the Curse condition in battle, but I've never actually figured out what effect that one has. Wall protects from magic, but it's rather difficult to justify spending time buffing when you could be killing.



The Scarf is another must buy item, as it prevents petrification. I don't think this one will be going anywhere for a while. Mirror equipment provides better physical defense than anything else we've come across, and great magical defense, as well as preventing mute. Looking at my characters none of them had diamond gauntlets, so upgrading to that allows us to keep resistance to thunder.



We should go after him!

Eh.. let's not. He's doing his own thing.



There's two hints about Talon members nearby, which is a good sign.



Somehow the Remote can call the Talon across the rivers and ocean here, even if we can't fly it ourselves. Maybe it can fly better without worrying about squishies?



I came across a rather interesting glitch at this point. If you somehow manage to jump over a person at the top of the escalator at the right time you can end up stuck, with neither of you able to move and no possible way of escaping. I had to restart and redo a bit of this section after this.



As you can imagine a bit of gold farming was necessary. I bought everything I could and then hung around until I had about 200,000 gold, and it was still barely enough. While doing so I noticed this interesting specimen of local wildlife, the rare pincered squid.





Once we're equipped there are three different terrain features to investigate. The first one is the large mountain in the first image, but there's also a shrine and a cave on an icy point. One of those sounds kind of like it might have come up. Obviously you're meant to stop at the mountain first, but let's take a look.



Anything monstrous with an icon is bad news. Skipping this for now.



The ice cave is rather more promising.



Correct.

Please join us on the Talon.

Hmm. Then go get the Tablet from the ruins south-west of here.


those evil beings as masters.

Wait, what's that?


masters. Shar intends to release us from our bonds with Tablet.

This clears things up a bit. When people in Pureland have said that they can't oppose the masters, they mean they quite literally can't. Their minds and bodies are controlled by magic so that they have to obey. Being from another world, our characters aren't covered by this effect.



I know. That's why I want him on the team so badly! I think it's time now to bow to the wishes of the programmers and head for the mountain.



I think this dungeon is rather interesting, in that it appears to be a waterfall that comes from nowhere in particular. It's at least visually interesting.



A couple of worthwhile treasures are located here, with the light stone being always welcome and the Cool Necklace providing protection from flame.



This is a moment right here. The missile is finally an upgrade to the cannon. More about that later.



This scene plays out a bit different than previous confrontations with bosses in that you don't have to initiate it through anything more than walking up to a certain point. I was unprepared and thus went into this fight with a couple people slightly low on HP.


worlds.

It's not an issue that you can decide. It's up to Master Xagor. If you oppose him, I must stop you.



Say what you want about these enemies, but at least some of them are loyal to their master.



More confirmation that they're working some kind of mojo on the population. I guess at this point there really is a good explanation as to why our group is special.


minds!





Boss Fight: Guha

First off, the name Guha most likely refers to a Tamil God of War from Southern India, keeping almost in theme with the whole Maitreya name. In the original Japanese, however, Guha was known as Belial. I imagine that many of you are more familiar with that name. Guha is an absolute beast, who has the added advantage of getting a free turn with an unexpected attack. He likes to use FireX, which can do about 250 damage to our party, and has a vicious Wind Up attack that can do more than 300 damage to a single person. A combination of these puts Lucca out of the fight in the second round. His attacks are unrelenting, and it's one of the toughest battles we've faced thus far. He's got 10,000 HP to wipe out, and if you're lucky you can do this in about 10 rounds. Marle and Chrono spent their time on group healing while Faye and Frog wailed on Guha.



Of the 4 group members, however, Marle was the only one still standing at the end of the fight. That's 3 fights she's survived while others died.



We're from the other world that you mentioned. We're here to save it.



Now that's an attitude I like to see!

Join us on the Talon.

Oh! You save you have Talon? I'll help you. Go visit Shar due north Cape of Frost. Check that box before you go.

We'll be back.

I'll wait inside.



One down, three to go.




Our team has come a long way, but I'm a bit worried about Lucca's survivability. Marle is now definitely my strongest character. As a result, she's going to get the goodies. Might as well use the advantage I have.



Durend is short for Durendal, a legendary sword that was wielded by Roland who was one of the paladins of Charlemagne. Roland supposedly died guarding the rear of Charlemagne's army from the Saracens, and attempted to destroy his sword to keep it from being captured. Durendal proved to be indestructible, however, and legend says that it still exists hidden in France to this day. Stories say that the attempt to destroy the sword created a gap in the Pyrenees mountains that was 40 meters wide.



Buzi is now running a shop on the Talon, which sells some of the best recovery items in the game. There's three empty slots beside him, so I'm sure you all can guess what's coming.



The Missile Unit does about 350 damage to all enemies on the field when the Talon encounters them. That leaves most enemies we're seeing right now about half dead, greatly simplifying the task of killing them.

We already know where to go next, so on to the next boss fight!



Let me through.

Then defeat me!

He almost seems an honorable sort, in his own way.



Boss Fight: Dahak

Dahak is another badass in the same mold as Guha. Continuing the mythological stew we've been served up, it's likely that Dahak is based on Zahhak, a figure of evil from Iranian mythology. His name in that tradition is Azi Dahaka, The name itself might be read as stinging, burning, or manlike dragon. He's got 16,000 HP, but is vulnerable to Durendal. Like Guha he gets a free turn on you, and he likes to use the Fire/Earth lost magic Shake to hit for about 250+ damage on everyone. He's also got a Nail attack that can do more than 300 damage easily. You can use Mute to make him a bit easier, but he's still no picnic. Lucca goes down again, and I'm tempted to use her as a mutant healer at this point just to give her some additional survivability. Durend does about 890 damage per attack, and between them Faye and Frog add another 800 or so to each round. While enemy HPs start to sore at this point in the game, in some ways the fights do get a bit easier.


due to Xagor's powers. Only a sage can remove me.




Wait, what?



Sage Buzi!


Klatu... bara ... something.. oh yeah! garzagun, there!

Finally! Buzi, appreciate it. Hey, kid! Close off the three water gates to enter the Jorgandr desert. Don't underestimate the powers of the masters!

We might be friends, if we weren't enemies.



Hooray! Lost magic, here I come!


it. You should go to Talonburg due north across the Jorgandr desert while I do so. You'll need Talon to get there...

Oh sonuva...

Next time: Skeletal dungeons, boulder puzzles, and yet another boss fight.