Part 204: Final Boss

Welcome back!



Like most villains, Baal here refuses to accept defeat.

: No one surpasses me!



And he flees upwards.



The only way to go is to follow him.





And here we are, at the core of the beast. We've got a couple of potions to help top us off after Baal, including a Spirit Potion, two Gold Potions, and a Crimson Potion. Since the final battle is up next, there's no point in hording them.



Nor anything else you might have laying around in the Stashing Place.

Also, Gaia apparently has a picture of itself in its own floor. I'm not even going to pretend to understand how that works.



Even without using the save points, the game throws more than enough consumables at them that you can still have a bunch sitting around uselessly by the end of the game.



Whoops, forgot to feed this to Feena before fighting Baal.

All right. We've got our prep out of the way, so let's take one last look at the gang before we finish this off.



I probably should have tried to even Justin's weapon levels out a little, but stashing places have been few and far between and I needed all that inventory space for potions. Which I then had to chug to make room for more potions.

Magic-wise, he's doing pretty well. Earth level is a little lower than usual for endgame, but there's only so much you can do when you're not spamming Dragon Cut all the time.

Amusingly, he's exactly equal in strength and wit, and he's one SP shy of being able to pop off his ultimate skill twice in a row. Oh well.



Feena is as lopsided as ever. She'll almost always have way more whip levels than dagger ones, owing both to the fact that whips boost wit, the god stat, and that there's nobody to compete with her for them, unlike daggers.

Magic-wise... well, Time Gate kinda threw things for a loop there, but I'd imagine that without it, her wind and water levels would be in the low to mid 20's.

Oh, and with that Fruit of Magic, she finally has enough MP to cast End of the World twice.



Much like Feena, Rapp's weapon levels are dominated by the one he has no competition for. His naturally high wit keeps him speedy enough that he can afford to focus on boosting his strength, and he gets good weapon options.

He's a single point behind Justin in strength, though, which is really amusing to me.

Magically... Well, anyone who gets Fireburner is going to have a lot of Fire levels, on top of Fireball being a good way to gain fire XP.



Finally, Liete. She's easily the most balanced in terms of levels, owing to, y'know, only one weapon type.

Her MP is also pretty fairly split, which helps when she needs to bust out the big guns.









I could probably give Feena's spare Revival Stone to Liete, and dig the other Bonds of Trust out of the Stashing Place, but eh. I should be fine like this.



That looks like a place for something important.







This big pulsating thing just kinda grows up in front of us.



And, for the first time, we hear Gaia's voice.

: We know that all humans

: were born to hate what is richer than ourselves

: and strive to TAKE it.

It also has some pauses when it prints out the text which make it seem a bit creepier. A nice, subtle touch.



: if you

: were to

: take all

: the riches that are

: left in

: the world your greed will

: NEVER

: be

: satisfied.



But Justin isn't having any of that.



And, without any further banter, the final battle begins.

But before that, let's discuss some of the themes of the game. We'll begin with the obvious "humans are selfish, greedy assholes" message.

If the game were darker, I'd probably point out that it's been using loot as the carrot to entice the player, appealing to the player's desire for more stuff and how that proves the point. But the game's tone, as well as Justin's speech there, contradict that.

While greed certainly motivates Baal, note that none of his plans really kicked anything off until halfway through disc 2. Until we were at Alent's doorstep, and Justin's original quest was about to end.

Also note that Baal's ultimate fate was to turn into a worm, the very thing he called everyone he looked down on.

Greed also indirectly motivated Mullen, in that "I watched a lot of Captain Planet and realized my dad was literally Hoggish Greedly" way. In a different story, Mullen may have been the hero, but here he's pretty much just there to get in Justin's way. Why is that?

Because he's afraid to do anything new. Think about it. Whenever you bump into him before Gaia awakens, he always draws his sword, threatens Justin, and demands the Spirit Stone. He never thinks to try a new path. Similarly, once the Spirit Stone is complete and Gaia needs to be stopped, his only plan is to use the ancient Angelounian Steam Cannon and re-enact the myths of how the ancients sealed Gaia.

Even after Leen mucks up his plans, he still travels down the same roads as before. Even when trying to convince Feena to go along with him, he makes the same "it's your duty as an Icarian" argument that he did with Leen.

And how does he get in Justin's way? What does he do that makes him an antagonist, instead of an incompetent hero?

He tries to restrict the group's ability to explore. Whether by keeping them out of an area, throwing them in jail, or pursuing them so that they have no time to explore, Mullen's actions always take the form of "you can't go where you want until you deal with me".

Which brings us to Justin and why he's the hero. Justin has no history with Baal or Mullen. He's not some destined hero, or the greatest fighter from the village of swordsmen, or any of the other clichés. He's just some kid. And yet we're told that he's the one who embodies truth, from the Spirits' point of view.

But he doesn't embody truth as humans see it. Sure, aside from Lilly, he doesn't go around lying all the time, but his truthfulness is never really tested. There's no trial where lying would be the easier path. No, all of the difficulties Justin faces test two virtues in particular: his desire to explore, and his generosity.

The exploration one is obvious, it's been Justin's main motivation since the very beginning. He wants to explore, to see new places, to try new things, to discover and have all sorts of new experiences. This is tested by the nature of exploring itself, the physical obstacles and how much easier it is to just stay home, and comes to a head in the Spirit Sanctuary where, not only does he get to explore a place that hasn't been seen since the beginning of time, but he also rejects the creation of a new Spirit Stone, charging headlong into an unknown, and unknowable, future.

His generosity isn't as obvious at first glance, but there's hints of it early on, especially on the Steamer when he becomes a sailor to help out Sue. But all throughout the game, Justin is putting himself through hardships to either discover something new, or to help someone in need.

And that is the truth, according to Spirits. Not honesty, but kindness. Not knowledge, but discovery. Justin isn't the Chosen One because of some prophecy, but because of his actions over the course of the game. He isn't just granted the title of hero, but he earns it. By being open to new paths and discoveries, unlike Mullen. By helping others instead of himself, unlike Baal.

So yeah. Long, messy red hair, and a penchant for exploring never-before-seen areas with a small group. Justin is basically Ms. Frizzle with a sword.

... Oh, right, I was in the middle of something, wasn't I?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDc2AF1gqWE


(It's the final boss music! You really should give this one a listen.)





HP aside, the main boss doesn't look too threatening. But that's just because his spells aren't listed. He can toss out some powerful spells, including Fireburner, BOOM-POW!, Crackling, and Howlslash, so keep an eye out to avoid getting caught by surprise. He can also pop off an Alhealer+ to cure 500 HP

Like most other bosses, he can also pull out Vanish if you start playing with stat levels. Still, he's pretty slow and his damage spells pack a whallop, so busting out Star Symphony every so often goes a long way towards making this fight more managable.

Sadly, Liete can only get +2 magic power, which isn't enough to boost Star Symphony's effect, even at max level.



The Mega Gaias are a little more interesting. To start with, the only skill they can use is Multiply.



Which summons up one of these guys.



Practically immune to magic, but very weak to physical attacks. Which is good, because the more of these guys there are on the field, the more dangerous the Mega Gaias (Mega Gaiae?) become.

With just one tentacle, each Mega Gaia gains the ability to use Tentacle Attack, which causes the tentacle to go attack someone. It's this boss's version of a basic physical.

Two tentacles enables Spin Strike, which hits a radius around the target.

Three allows Death Tornado, which is a powerful attack on one ally.

Finally, with four tentacles on the field, the Mega Gaias can unleash Ray of Ruin, which hits all party members.

In theory, this battle is a strategic affiar where you mow down the Tentacles and chip away at the Mega Gaias while the Gaia Core blasts you with magic.

In practice, you can usually just go nutso on the core and end it quickly. Maybe save a charge of Neo Demonball or some other non-elemental wide-area attack in case there's too many tentacles around.



Of course, this is probably the best time to bust out Feena's Icarian magic. End of the World doesn't care about elemental resistances, and that 999 damage is nothing to sneeze at, especially on the tentacles.



And the world is safe.



Or is it?





Of course not! You can't have a JRPG without a multi-part final boss!



This is it! The final enemy of the game. The big boss. Defeating this will end Gaia for good.

... And you're just putting the poor thing out of its misery. Evil Gaia can do a few things: cast Cold, cast Snooze, cast Poizn, cast Stram, cast Freeze, and wobble about every time you smack him.

It can also toss out Burn! and Howl, but if you got past the first form, the occasional 20-damage hit really shouldn't be an issue for you.

His debuffs don't even lengthen the fight any. Whether by glitch or intentionally, they have a power of 0, meaning they'll never connect.

Also, he loses access to Vanish, so if you had any buffs up when you finished off the last form, they'll stay in effect all throughout this one.



But all things must come to an end, and I've been meaning to end this one with a bang.



A Big Bang.



Heaven and Earth Cut is Justin's final skill. Non-elemental, strength-based and with a whopping 500 power, this is the skill to use if you absolutely, positively must annihilate every last motherfucker in the room. It costs 90 SP, though, so unless you're just using it to end a battle in style, it'll probably need the Energy Charm.



And keep in mind that this 1500 damage is after a single WOW!, while armed with the Wooden Sword.



And what would a final boss be without an overly elaborate death animation?

See you next time, for the ending!


... Of course, you all knew I wouldn't just leave it at that, didn't you? So let's try something else.

Think back, way back to Disc 1, on the Steamer. Back to when Feena was the competent, talented, legendary great adventurer.

.... Oh, fuck it, you all know where I'm going with this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0e4RbHckss (Polsy link)

Huh. Twenty minutes? I think I can do better than that. In fact....


I thought so, too.

Which is why I have.... corrected that oversight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvz7VkJLYnE (Polsy link)