Part 11: Lunar DS Fucked Up the Dragon Caves Too

Chapter 11: Lunar DS Fucked Up the Dragon Caves Too



Hello again Lunar Dragon Song. I missed you. I didn't miss you.



To the west of where you start there's this chest, and a cave entrance.



Oh goodie. It's got spikes forming an annoying maze where it's often difficult to tell where you can pass and can't.



Of course.



You know, poison is really starting to get on my tits. Poison isn't that bad in this game, but the damage it does builds up over time, and battles do take forever. Moreover, my party just kept getting poisoned, and while the status restoring spell is one of the cheaper ones, it's still 8 MP and I got to keep pulling it out. Then I have to heal to patch up the damage, and god forbid I want to use a spell for that. I guess I shouldn't be that annoyed, since at least antidotes are still cheap, but poison in a lot RPGs just ends up being annoying rather than challenging and-



Well, thanks for putting that prior complaint into perspective, game.



The outside area is sprawling, so of course they put a blue chest out here too.



It's not that hard to clear out, though, and this is a really good reward. The Dragon Coat is a pretty big upgrade for Jian's armor, and it gives resistance to fire. Hm, perhaps that will be useful.



I hate you Lunar Dragon Song. Reload.



Oh, and the blue chest on the inside has an awesome piece of armor for Flora. No fire resistance, though.



But say, wasn't this dungeon supposed to have a gimmick?



Indeed, there are a bunch of holes scattered around in the outside section. I had thought that stepping on these holes might trigger a fight, since there are supposed to be antlion holes.



Nope, it just brings you to the cave section. Oddly enough, the first hole I fell down brought me to treasure that I couldn't reach any other way. Believe it or not, that was luck.



Protects against all status ailments. Obviously not 100% because why would I expect that?

To get out of this little, you just go down.



And there's a sand flow here... looks weird.



Near as I can tell, that's one chest is the only reason the antlion traps are here. The rest of the antlion traps don't lead to anywhere special. I mean, they're there to trick you, but... I fell down twice, and I'm using fast forward all the time. At regular speed, even if you're running, I can't imagine it'll trick you that often.



And there's one more screen. No more antlion traps, though.



To replace antlion traps, they added... nothing, absolutely nothing.

Well, there's a blue chest. I guess that's... a thing.



...you know, it really occurs to me that this is a double whammy of bad design. During this game's battles, it's really hard to distinguish various enemies because everything just blurs together. You will, however, remember what enemies break equipment. But once you do realize what enemies break equipment... what can you do about it? Break out Gale Cut, but that's it. If Gale Cut doesn't kill them all in a hit, all you can do is pray to the RNG. And I wasted all of my RNG luck on FF2.

Thankfully I've been getting better at saving more frequently.



At least this is also well worth getting. This is for Gabryel, and it also protects against fire. Good deal.



In any case, there's nothing else to the Barrel Desert. Let's go meet a dragon!

EDIT: Curious on what this game looks like in action? I made a bonus video!


Which means... This is the place to meet the Red Dragon.
I certainly hope so, or somebody's going to have some answering to do. Well, let's go!

It's kind of weird that we're doing the Red Dragon first, when traditionally it's always the White Dragon. Not like it really matters, mind you.



So the cave.



It's hot. You know it's hot because there are wavy heat lines everywhere. Also, you lose HP every couple of seconds just by being in the cave.

...frankly, I can't even get angry. By this point, what else would I expect? I mean, let's ignore that in Lunar SSSC, the characters go out of their way to mention that the Red Dragon Cave isn't super hot because of the power of the Red Dragon. Or hell, if we're going from the original, your party is smart enough to get an item, the rain spirit, to ensure that the cave is cool enough to enter.

Now, in all fairness, while it didn't perpetually drain your HP, Lunar SSSC's Red Dragon Cave had a somewhat similar gimmick. In order to pass the trial of the Red Dragon, you had to walk through pillars of flame, injuring yourself. (It's not hot but it has pillars of flame everywhere... just roll with it) Just losing HP every few seconds is actually less annoying, although it's still a bad idea. I swear whenever this game takes any ideas from the old games it's always the bad ones.



Oh, and speaking of bad ideas, I did mention that usually you don't remember specific enemies unless they're really annoying. Well, these are annoying. They cast a earth elemental spell, and it hurts. They'll also cast it every damn turn. Add that to the over-long battles, and they really rip you up. Fun.



The HP/MP restore you get from clearing a room on Virtue only goes so far.

Oh yeah, another blue chest.



And another awesome piece of armor. This is for Jian.



There's a treasure chest in this screenshot. Can you see it? If you can, you've got better eyes than me, since I only later found it by complete accident. (It's a Mental Drop. Not bad.)



There's another room, and another blue chest. And this odd... hole thing here.



I looked it up, and it's supposed to give you a thing called an Insulation Crust, which is supposed to stop the HP drain. But... the game wouldn't give me the damn thing. What the hell? Well, apparently, I had to talk to an NPC called Aaron, who would tell me about the Insulation Crust, otherwise I can't get the item. Forget to talk to him? Too bad buddy, you're not getting it.

Except... I did talk to Aaron. However, I talked to him before Titus, and it seems like the dialogue that triggers the Insulation Crust is after talking to Titus. Fantastic.



Other than that bit of bullshit, this room is nothing special. The Force Ring increases damage done, although it doesn't increase stats. Okay. I didn't actually wear it, though, but I might later.



Oh, and there's a blue chest. It's not as great as the others in this update, but more counters is never bad.



And... that's it for the Red Dragon Cave. All that's left is to meet the Dragon itself. Wow, that was short.





And it's not surprising that the Red Dragon is generic looking. (And looks nothing like the Red Dragon of prior games.)



Oh yes, and the Red Dragon is usually female, so they got that right at least. Although if she starts macking on Jian I am out of here.

And so formal! Fear not, for though I could pluck you up and eat you, I am not about to do so!

That's... comforting?

Instead... I am wondering what has brought you here?
Of course... I have come to undertake the Dragon's Trial.
Well, well! And you think yourself up to my challenge?
...I believe so.
Regrettably, that is not going to be possible.
But why...? If I may be so bold... Am I unworthy?


I do... And that is why I must become a Dragonmaster, the same as Ignatius! In order to defeat him!


Even if he is the leader of a rebellion against the Goddess, the Dragonmaster means everything to us dragons.

The main problem I have with this evil Dragonmaster plot point is that, as I've talked about before, we have no background on Iggy. You see, for Iggy to be an evil Dragonmaster, one of two things had to happen. One, he was a good, righteous Dragonmaster that eventually turned. I'm guessing this is where the game is going. However, how is it that no one has heard of him? I don't mean the name "Ignatius" specifically, maybe he changed it once he went evil, I mean that there was a Dragonmaster at all. No one has ever mentioned "hey there used to be a Dragonmaster I wonder what happened to him?" As I've said, Dragonmasters are a big goddamn deal. You can't really be an anonymous Dragonmaster. In Lunar 1, when someone faked being a Dragonmaster, word spread. You'd think out of everyone, the Cathedral would know there was a missing Dragonmaster.

The other possibility is that once Iggy did the trials, he immediately went "fooled you, I was evil the whole time!" This makes the Dragons look like idiots for not recognizing an obviously evil dude when they see one. Dragons are supposed to be ancient, wise, and mystical creatures. They should be able to see into people's souls; I think this is said in one of the Lunar games, but I can't pull up an example. Either way, I would think they'd be good judges of character.

Hold on a moment! So you're saying that you don't care what happens to this world?!
I am not the one who decides such things. My role is merely... To serve the Dragonmaster, the master of us dragons.

Although I have to wonder if this evil Dragonmaster plot point is to handwave why the Dragons can't just solve the Iggy problem themselves. Both Lunar 1 and 2 kind of have to incapacitate the Dragons to make the plot work.

Please, leave this place.
Oh, well, that's very high and mighty of you! Jian, forget this jumped up lizard! Let's get out of here!
No, Flora, we can't just leave! I have to defeat Ignatius and rescue Lucia. I have to! Which means I have to pass the Dragon's Trial. I can't leave here until I have!
Oh, Jian...
Red Dragon... You leave me no choice! I shall defeat you!
Well said! But remember what I said about being able to eat you! And my Black Magic is quite something too! Do you still want to fight me?


What do you think? Come on!



I have to admit, I like how small your party looks here. You know, other than the Black Dragon in Lunar 1, you never fight the Dragons. You do fight something called Fiends in Lunar 2, and they look a bit like the Dragons, but they're not.





The Red Dragon has a pretty nasty flame attack. Obviously, I throw out the usual cards, poison and attack buffing and all that.



And the weirdest thing happened. Once I had the party attacking, the Dragon laid down, and did nothing. Occasionally she would rise back up, and wouldn't do anything.



That flame attack? All the Dragon ever did. Never hit me again.

I was confused as hell, as you'd imagine. What happened? Well, apparently, you can stagger this boss if you do enough damage a round. As far as I can tell, stunning her will knock her out for two rounds. That's... so dumb. It took next to no effort to stun this boss, and keep stunning them! But you know what, it's about time this game was broken in my favor for a change.


You mean... this was the Trial?!

Oh, uh... okay. You know, in Lunar SSSC the Dragon trials were "get a ring" or "pass through flames" or "hey you got here that's good enough for me." They weren't really into mind games.

That is correct. A Dragonmaster requires unwavering willpower in the face of all adversity. You have overcome the Trial of the Red Dragon and proven yourself worthy to receive my powers. I acknowledge your strength and shall bestow my Black Magic upon you.
Black Magic...?
Magic that can drain the very life from weakened or injured creatures. If used for evil, as Ignatius is now doing, it has the potential to dominate the world. A very dangerous branch of magic, but then that depends upon the intent of the one who wields it.
So that's what Black Magic is...

Okay, yeah no, this is wrong too. Dragonmasters get, well, Dragon spells. In the original Lunar 1, they were straight-up attack spells, but in every Lunar game after Lunar Eternal Blue Dragon spells are an assortment of different spells, with the effects ranging from a full party heal, to completely nullifying one attack, to insta-killing random encounters. Black magic, as in Fireball and shit like that, isn't a rarity in Lunar games. And make no mistake, that's what Jian is getting.

By the way, he's also supposed to get a shield.



But we're not getting that. We will not be getting any piece of the Dragonmaster armor. But hey it's not like the Dragonmaster armor is an iconic image for this series or anything.

Finally... one more thing... Why do you wish to become a Dragonmaster? Why do you offer yourself up for the role of protector of the Goddess and this world?



C'mon game. we're being coy about this now?

I want to... protect...
Protect...? What? This world? Or perhaps... the Goddess Althena?
Lucia... I want to become a Dragonmaster to protect Lucia! That is the reason why I must succeed!
And you need strength to do this?
...I believe so.
Well, remember this, child of man... A reliance upon strength, upon battle, shall always create a winner and a loser. You have won, and thus I have lost. And, just as I am on the verge of doing now, the loser shall vanish forever from this world.

The problem I have when games have a message about the pointlessness of conflict is when you have an obviously one-dimensional evil bad guy this message doesn't make any sen- wait, disappear?

Can you continue to fight, bearing this knowledge?





Re... Red Dragon!!
Oh, Jian...
I can! I shall! I must! I will fight on, and save Lucia! Tell me, what's so wrong with that?! Answer me, Red Dragon!

So... why does the dragon has to disappear? Yeah, that didn't happen in the original game. And it had to reappear at some point, for Jian to be able to take the trial. This is dumb.


And we have to do three more of them?! I'm not sure if I'll make it...
Of all the things to hear now... honestly! This is only the beginning, bow girl! So no more jawing! Off we go to meet the White Dragon!

What personality are you supposed to have, Flora? Why are you even here?



But, uh, hey, we've got a fancy new spell. Let's try it out!



Uh, why the hell not?



You see, we got this ring when we defeated the Red Dragon. In order to use Jian's fancy new magic, he has to equip this ring.

Game, you really are missing the point, aren't you? In no version of Lunar 1 does Alex have to equip anything to use his Dragon spells. Now, in Lunar 2 you do have to equip an accessory, namely the Dragon crests, to use the special Dragon magic. But in Lunar 2 you're not actually seeking to be Dragonmaster, so that makes more sense. Also, everyone can equip those crests, and everyone gets two accessory slots instead of one (in the remake, they get two accessory slots plus two crests.) Only Jian can equip the Blazing Ring, and it takes up his sole accessory slot.

All right, fine, let's equip the damn thing. What's this spell like?



You know, this is the very first time in this entire game that I've ever ended a battle, any battle, in one round. It's 10 MP, so it's not like Jian can use it that much, but fucking finally.



By the way, I wasn't kidding about the Insulation Crust stuff. Even though I have no use for it anymore, Aaron here is more than happy to tell me about it.





Oh and because Jian did some things he's apparently changed the mind of all this beastmen overnight because that's how racism works.





Ma'am, please see a doctor.



Even the NPCs are bemoaning their shitty dialogue.

Enough of this silly business. We're going straight to the next Dragon Cave, which is the White Dragon Cave. And you know what that means?



Yay