Final Fantasy V Part #42 - Reina vs. Shinryu

Part 42: Reina vs. Shinryu

Welcome to the Void, the last stretch of FF5.

This is where we're sitting. These levels are pretty much final, as no enemies here give EXP. However, they give tons of GP and AP.

BehemothKings don't really attack, though they have nasty counter-attacks.

20AP is about the average gains here. If you haven't leveled all your jobs yet, this is easily the best area to do so.

Crystal Dragons have a painful Air Wing attack, but otherwise are butter between Reina's blades.

And hey, look who it is!

It's Gilgamesh, who's apparently been wandering around the Void the entire time. No theme here, the final dungeon music keeps playing.

He mistakes us for monsters in the other versions, but I actually kinda like him thinking we're ghosts instead. It's certainly goofier.

You can also steal a Genji Shield from him. Nice for the person who doesn't get an Aegis Shield.

Anyway, he attacks for a few rounds but this isn't a real battle.

You're Bartz, right? If you are, then say so!

I can't find the exit...

Where did you come from?

That line above is Bartz telling Gilgamesh how to leave in the other versions. Yeah, I don't know, either.

Let's get outta here!

Y-yeah, you're right... If we make it through... I'm sure we'll meet again.

Hmph, nevermind! Bye!

That exchange was pretty butchered, since in the other versions Bartz actually has dialogue. This version has Gilgamesh doing all the talking. Gilgamesh also doesn't pretend to back out from being the party's friend at the end in the RPGe version.

Either way, that's the end of Gilgamesh. Nothing to do but carry on.

All the areas look similar, except with the occasional root. The treasures are all Shurikens, with one notable exception we'll get to shortly.

This encounter almost killed me since the Necromancr zombified Bartz and Reina, and Krile got KO'd.

The Crystelles are weird little gimmicks, low HP and stuff.

The Mind Flares pretty much do nothing but spam Mind Blast.

This is actually good because it was the last Blue Magic spell I was missing. That's right, I now have all the Blue Magic!

Then there's Movers. They're pretty nice to find.

And that's why. That's no typo, you really get 199AP per fight. Six battles with these guys will let you master Red Mage and breeze through the other jobs. 150k GP's nothing to sneeze at, either. Gives you enough to get some Elixirs!

And then there's this chest, which holds the game's other super-boss.

Meet Shinryu.

I start off stealing and running to get Shinryu's rare steal.

The strongest whip in the game. I actually give it to Krile since I've read that Shinryu absorbs Holy, and I'd really rather not experiment for myself when it's a lengthy trip between this chest and the last save point.

Now let's actually fight Shinryu.

First off, Quick to waste no fucking time. Haste2/Guardian combo is awesome.

Tidal Wave is always Shinryu's first move, and it will kill you unless you block it with the Aegis Shield or have the Coral Ring equipped to absorb it. I got a free one earlier, which I put on Bartz since he's my main healer.

I decide to put Mix on Bartz to mess with Shinryu a bit, but I underestimate just how fast this guy is.

The main problem with Shinryu isn't his massive attacks, it's that he's really fucking fast. He can throw these moves that will kill you so quickly that you can't catch up, even with Redx2.

And he has a lot of ways to kill you.

It takes a few tries before I come up with a good strategy.

Bartz gets the Coral Ring, but gives his Aegis Shield to Krile since he'll survive Tidal Wave. Krile and Reina both get Enhancers so they don't heal him with Holy.

Krile manages to block Tidal Wave, which is nice.

My idea was to try to outspeed him, but it doesn't really work out that well.

Shinryu is suspectible to Berserk, which means he can only wreck one person's shit a turn rather than everybody's. He's still crazy fast, though, which is why I have Golem to soak up hits while Bartz works on reviving everybody.

I also gave Bartz the Mirage Vest so I have just enough leeway to get the party up without an unfortunate hit from Shinryu.

Arise is kinda overkill since any hit from Shinryu will kill someone, but whatever.

After that, it's a matter of keeping Golem up while Reina goes to town on him with Flare Sshot.

Finally, I bring him down. The reward?

Another meaningless item that shows I killed a superboss. Go me.

Oh and also some sword that's the best weapon in the game or something.

Well, best in terms of Attack Power, though the Chicken Knife still does more damage due to taking Speed into account. Still, the Ragnarok is pretty god damn awesome and becomes Reina's other weapon, letting Krile take up the Excalibur.

Here's the text for the two superboss prizes. The Dragon Seal suggests dragon murder leads to better health.

And with that, Bartz masters Mime by learning the job's one ability. Mimic, which I never use, copies the move the last person used. Bartz's too reliant on magic, plus he often goes after Reina, so he has no reason to use it. But hey, it's there if I want to turn him to Bare or whatever.

The penultimate boss of the game is this light, and this one is also optional.

Meet Necrophobe.

my body's invincible! Think you can defeat me?

If you look closely, you can see my stupid mistake here.

Anyway, Necrophobe's not exaggerating. You can't hurt him until you defeat the barriers.

These guys will bounce Flare and Holy off each other. This can be fucking brutal if you don't have Shell layered on you and don't have a team of walking demi-gods to smash these things into submission.

You know, a team like the one I have.

There's no choice! Now taste my power... ...to the full!!

Oh, how scary.

Wow, that much damage from Fire2 of all things.

Anyway, Necrophobe will hit you with hard spells, and blah blah blah. Get him down to low enough HP (I have Reina pull her punches just so she doesn't outright kill the guy), and...

Made it! Leaving me in the lurch... is gonna make me look bad, for all of history!

The GBA changes it to "if I left you in the lurch" so it doesn't sound so weird. At any rate, Gilgamesh is here to help us defeat a guy I was about to crush anyway. It's the thought that counts!

You'll be the first to go!

In case you didn't see my mistake, I forgot to give Faris Steal. You see, this is where you get the last piece of Genji equipment, the Genji Armor. Since I didn't save after beating Shinryu and didn't want to reset, the best I could do was equip the Thief Knife and hope Mug triggers.

Unfortunately, it never did and I missed out on the armor. Oh well. Just enjoy the show instead.