Part 7: Reina vs. Poison

Our current stats. Everyone's at L9 and progressing nicely in their jobs.



Our next destination is North Mountain to rescue the Dragon. Hey, guess which direction it's in.





Gatlings can counter physicals with a Needle attack, like Needlerats in FF4. There's also these Tattoo things (what) that are a bit evasive.



All said, nothing too interesting, so let's get to today's dungeon.





Neat effects and music.



You'll be alternating between outdoor and indoor areas, with the outdoor ones obviously being the more visually appealing places.



Ghilacats are kind of a pain to hit but otherwise no big deal. They do have an obscure use later on, but we'll get to that if necessary.



RockCutters are the slugs, while Stones are the Stones. Yep.





Stones will attempt to cast Flash, but lack the MP to do so. Considering it's a crappy spell anyway, meh. It's a Blue Magic spell that Faris could've learned and never used, though.



Also stole a pair of SilvrGlasses, though they have no description so I don't know if the damn things even do anything beyond minor stat boosts.



Yeah, I much prefer the outdoor areas.



Along the way, Galuf picks up L2 Black Magic. Unfortunately, this is the only ability I learned this update.



There's also...Cockataur? Really? Obviously, this is series staple the Cockatrice, rather than an alternate name for a Cactaur that's just horrifying to imagine.



An NPC told us these flowers are poisonous. Walking over them inflicts the entire party with poison, which is kinda annoying.



Except there's a save point immediately after that room, so a Tent nullifies all of that.

Of course, save point means shit's about to happen, so let's get to it.









Reina!







even better!
Dragons?
Yeah, I can sell their horns for a fortune... Ah, ha, ha!



She'll make a wonderful souvenir ...heh, heh, heh...

In the other two versions, she says Lenna will make a nice gift for her husband, which...uh, yeah.



Sorry, but that's no match for "you addle-pated foul-complexioned scofflaw!" (GBA, of course)





Faris!



...What? Interestingly, Magissa refers to Faris as a woman in RPGe, and as a man in GBA. Also, she actually makes sense in those versions. At least the GBA translation was intentionally goofy.





OK, that's pretty badass.

Just hang on, Reina!











As a nice touch, Reina is poisoned. Nothing Antdot can't cure, though.



Magissa likes to use a variety of magic, though it's nothing too powerful, doing around 40-50 damage or so.



Here's the thing about Galuf. His physical attacks are usually going to do more than his black magic, so except for elemental weaknesses or physically resistant/Protected foes, he's better off fighting with his fists. Not that his magic doesn't do shabby damage, of course.





I have Bartz fulfill his White Mage role well, casting Protes on the party to weaken any physical damage that comes their way.

Speaking of which...





Meet her husband, Faltzer. Eh, whatever.



He's pretty brutish, as you'd expect. High attack and defense.



This doesn't help either, though I only saw him restore 4HP from Regen.



Aero's a Blue Magic spell, one I actually could've gotten earlier. Sadly, it doesn't hit Faris.



I actually end up using a Tonic on Bartz just so he can keep focused on his White Magic.



Eventually I wear him down and he goes down. From there, it's just clean-up.



Luckily, Magissa does me a favor and casts Aero on Faris, so I can just skip to the part where I kill her.



Like so.



Aero's a bit stronger than the Black Magic elements, and it also has three strength levels. Pretty handy spell for your Blue Mage.



Also win some shit I can't use.



That was pretty badass of Faris.

Anyway, one more screen and...





The Dragon!
Tis a terrible wound!
It's all right, Dragon, we're here to help you.







It's all right! Stay back! He needs these...







Please get well...



Hey, looks like it worked!



One of Reina's character traits, as you may have noticed, is "Being reckless as shit when it comes to dragons." It's not the last time she'll do something stupid for a dragon.







Fortunately, the Dragon can heal Poison as well! Now Reina won't lose a few HP per step! Hooray!

Thank you, Dragon.
She's healed! So let's go!!





Bartz admits to having a fear of heights, so of course the party's proper response is to laugh at him for having a phobia.



Come on! We're flyin' outta here! Yee haw!





Alright, now we get to one of my favorite songs in the game!







And now we have access to the Dragon, who essentially serves as an airship.



Problem is, this guy can't fly over mountains, which limits his range.



As a matter of fact, the only new area we can reach is the Walz realm, which we'll look into next update.

However, there's another place we can go check out now that we have the Dragon.





With the Dragon, we can fly over the meteor and actually access Tycoon Castle. Let's give it a look-over, shall we?







I don't think we're ever required to come here until much later in the game, though there are benefits for doing so early. There's also some optional plot stuff to go over, so let's do that.



Princess Reina!
I'm sorry to have worried everyone.



The battle with the monsters took most of our best soldiers. With you here, we finally can begin to rebuild!
But I must leave again...
Then what will become of the kingdom?
Not only this kingdom... But the entire world is in danger...



I see. We will defend the kingdom while you're gone!
I promise I will return with the king.

A bit awkwardly translated, but it works. Also, this is one of those rare times where the Chancellor isn't evil and is cool with us going on a world-saving adventure.



Anyway, free nap and all that.

-----









Faris?
Reina?



I also laughed at this one. Faris's speak works when she spits this stuff out during completely inappropriate times.

You ARE my older sister, aren't you?
Nay...I...er...ye...
But...











Again, a "twist" that the game pretty much outright tells you.

-----





...snork ...nhya?!





Pssst...psst... What's the matter with you? Ya some kinda weirdo, or something?



...I don't get it.





All in due time.





If we take this passage...



We end up right where the game begins. Nice view.



Salsa?
Her older sister. She was lost at sea as a child when a storm sunk the ship.

You know, it'd have been nice to know this before throwing the "Faris is Reina's long-lost sister" twist at us.

Also...Princess Salsa. This is one of the more, if not the most infamous translation gaffes of this version. In the other versions, she's the much-more sensible "Sarisa." Here, she's...Princess Salsa. Jesus Christ.

Enough plot, let's get to the main event.



No, not him.



The loot, of course.







Of course, we can't actually use any of this stuff yet. Let's see what the chancellor has to say before I skipped him for the bell.



I'm certain it will be of use to you.
Thank you!



Though the game doesn't tell you, we now have a Healing Staff, a weapon with the gimmick that it heals the person it hits. Thus Bartz would ideally be hitting his allies with it. I guess I can just switch to it when I need it. Depends on the situation, really.



So next time, we go to Walz and try to protect the Water Crystal.