Part 198: Ancient City

Suddenly Grandia 2 makes a lot more sense.

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Welcome back!

Last time....



Thank you, Liete.

: If nothing is done to stop it, it will be a matter of time before Gaia rules the world!

: We CAN'T let that happen! Come on Rapp, Liete! The underground passages of J Base should lead us to Gaia!

Thankfully, we don't have to re-tread the Underground Railway station.



Unfortunately, although we can go to the world map, we can't actually go anywhere else. Before we head into the base, though, we got something quite important at the end of the last update.



The Spirit Sword! Sadly, the Warrior's Helmet, Legendary Armor, and Shield of Light won't be making an appearance. Still, it's the most powerful weapon in the game, attack-wise, and makes each hit restore 6 SP instead of 1. In short, it's by far Justin's best weapon and so Rapp'll be holding onto it just long enough to chuck it into a Stashing Place.



: There is a crack in the building. Gaia is growing! There must be a place deep inside that leads to the heart of Gaia!



J Base has seen better days.



This crack in the wall is the way forward.

: There is no doubt it leads to Gaia.

: Juss! Hey Juss! What are you waiting for!? Let's GO!



We've got a brief interstitial area here with some interesting scenery.



I mean, it's recognizable enough as the pillared area from FMV land, which is neat.



It's also got some treasures.



And some gold. That we still can't spend.



Anyway, the way forward is pretty obvious. I guess Mullen and his troops went this way.





So here we are in the Ancient City proper. We've got a large central staircase that connects four levels of ancient ruins.



Ancient ruins that really aren't much to look at.



Well, the hallways aren't, but the rooms are pretty swanky.



With the occasional gimmick. Usually one that turns an open room into something resembling a maze.



Like so. Still, this room in particular is important for one specific reason:



Our next piece of Spirit gear! The +4 status resist is pretty good if you don't wanna give up your accessory slot for the Talisman's complete status immunity. And even if you keep the Talisman equipped, +45 defense is nothing to scoff at.

Anyway, there's some monsters in that shot, so let's talk about the enemies.



Skeletons, being undead, are immune to a lot of statuses but weak to fire. Magic Block Cut causes Magic Block, and Magic Cut insta-kills. So try to avoid that.

Dragonoids can cause Poison and are immune to Confusion.

Coelacanths are very weak to fire and immune to earth, so at least that's somewhat interesting.

... Hang on, there's one that I'm missing.



I will purge your kind from existence, you fu-

... Oh, wait, they don't have a full-party Block skill? Nevermind. Crazy Dance buffs all the enemies' attack by 2, but that's usually not too bad.



Because I stocked up on way too many healing items, I wind up having to chug potions every so often to free up inventory space for loot.



Loot like yet another piece of Spirit armor. Strictly speaking, it's better to have instant death immunity than lack it, but there's quite a few other effects I'd rather have.



Normal room.



Indoor garden!



Eventually we get to this... thing that brings us to the end of the dungeon. More importantly than that, though, it also leads us to a stashing place, so I can finally free up some inventory space so I can pick up more more loot.



Like this. Rapp very much enjoys this.



Restores 2% HP at set intervals, which makes it slightly weaker than the Angel Hat, which restores 3%. Plus, it competes for the body armor slot with the Devil Robe.



Eh? It's a boot.



Oh, and don't let the ceiling fall on you. It hurts.



Oh hey, another Gauntlet of Light.



One of the most annoying parts of this dungeon, though, is the lower floors which have this gimmick. The orb will rapidly flash between three colors, and you'll be sent off on whichever path corresponds to the color of the orb when you press X.

I am not good at timing minigames.

Anyway, it's time to end this. Let's see who we've got guarding the ex-



Oh, fuck you, another one?!



It's another Gaia Battler. It's slightly weaker than the last one because we only have three people. Despite only having three people, we're way stronger than we were last time due to gear.

I suppose you could make the argument that it's supposed to be a good demo on how powerful the Spirit Sword is, but eh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CU4wRgHlJw. (Polsy link)

There, it's dead.

See you next time!