Part 16: The Gang's Back Together

First, I'd like to mention the overworld theme has now changed to something a little more reflective of our new quest.



Like I said, we could have used the Dragon's Wings as soon as Luna was kidnapped, but Burg did seem to be the higher priority. So let's finally use these things.



The Dragon Wings let us teleport to any town we've already been to. And that does include that big Althena's Shrine east of Meribia. Those of you who only played the remake may not understand how nice that is. If you recall, in the original places that restore your HP and MP are scattered across the world map, and they get more and more sparse as the game goes on. Especially MP shrines and Althena's Shrine. So being able to instantly access a healing shrine is so very nice. And yes, I could have warped there before taking on the parental impostors. And if you choose to play this game, I would recommend it.

We could go to any of the other towns, but there's not much going on in Nanza or Lann right now, and Saith gives us heavy hints to go to Meribia, so let's head over there.




That's... not the music of a happy town.



And that's not a happy person. What the hell happened here?



No, seriously, what happened?



No, I don't! What. Happened.


"The Vile Tribe is wicked to the core! Althena should have destroyed them when she had the chance..."

Actually, several townsfolk do mention that the Vile Tribe attacked Meribia off-camera. Kind of odd that the invasion of such a large city happened so quickly and off-screen at that...

In the remake, you actually do see the attack. Meribia is under siege, and Jessica joins you as you fight your way through the street to the mansion. And once you reach the mansion you find Xenobia confronting Master Mel.


"But she was actually the sorceress Xenobia! After she left, the Vile Tribe attacked Meribia. It was not a coincidence!"

The original and the remake's timelines vary a bit, but what happens is more or less the same. How did Mel's battle with Xenobia go?



Not well, I'd say.


: <sob>, <sob>, <sob>… This can’t be happening… <sob>

Understandably, she's not taking it well. But one can never say she's the type to mope...

: <sob>... what?! You guys are going after Xenobia and Ghaleon?! …You’re right! I have to be strong. We can fight back and win this! I’ve made up my mind! I’m going along to fight Ghaleon and Xenobia! Please, don’t try to talk me out of it, either… This is my vendetta now!


With that, Jessica has joined our party for good this time.


"If she turned you to stone also, my heart would break. It's just too dangerous!"
: I must go! Xenobia has to be stopped and I want my father alive again...
"Oh you sweet child! What will I tell your father if you don't return?"
: Tell him I did it for him... with love! But don't worry! I'll return unscathed... cross your toes!

I wouldn't worry mister. I don't think that tacky-tattooed bitch stands a chance.

So now we have our priestess in our party. Let's head to Vane and see if we can't convince the others to join in our fight.


"Mia told me to tell you to meet her at the guild mansion..."

Mia seems to have the same idea, I think. Let's head on over then.



Hey, I recognize that lady! That must be Lemia... this really fortunate, actually. Considering that Dyne is dead and Mel is stone, she's the only non-evil one of the Four Heroes still functioning.


“All I remember is that I’m terrified of a man named Ghaleon!”

Well... functioning might have been a strong word to use.


: This was all Ghaleon’s doing! I can see his vile fingerprints all over this!
: Mia, it was Xenobia that turned my father to stone! Xenobia and the Vile Tribe are working for Ghaleon, who must be the Magic Emperor!
: Oh Jessica, I didn’t know Mel had been turned to stone! I’m so sorry…

Now, in the remakes you have to go and recruit Jessica first. You can go to Vane, but Mia and Nash won't join you until you've gone to Meribia. Once you've gotten Jessica, coming to Vane triggers a boss fight with a giant lobster boss. He's annoying.

In the original, though, you can go to Vane first, but Mia and Jessica won't have that conversation then.

: I don’t understand how Master Ghaleon became such a terrible fiend! Even if I use the best magic known to the guild of Vane, I can’t even help mother remember her name! The only way to break the curse is for Ghaleon to remove it or be killed. Alex, you’re going to fight Xenobia and Ghaleon, aren’t you? …Well then, it’s settled! I’m going with you! Besides, it’s my duty to stop Ghaleon’s ruthless advance! I am, after all, heir to the leadership of the Vane magic guild!

Wow. That was... a lot of backbone all of a sudden. Not complaining, but it's a bit of a shock.


"I'm afraid that with your limited power, he'll tear you to shreds!"
: Like it or not, it's my job as heir to the guild leadership to fight Ghaleon head on! I must fight for Vane... and for Mother!
"Mia, I understand your point of view, but you must see how hopeless this is..."
: As long as I breathe, there is hope, for I will not stop trying until my dying breath, bet on it!

Now all that's left is to recruit Nash. Yeah, sorry, we gotta. He's part of the package.


And Luna’s been… what? Oh no! Master Ghaleon is the Magic Emperor, and I helped further his wicked plan! What are we going to do, Alex?! Ghaleon must be invincible by now!

Oh yeah... if you recall, Nash was in Saith under Ghaleon's orders. Which means...

: Alex, you must believe me! I didn’t know what Ghaleon was up to! Yes, I told him of the White Dragon’s whereabouts, and yes, I did tell him about, Luna’s singing… but I… Alex!

Nash was on a mission of reconnaissance. He... kind of fucked us over. Unintentionally, mind you, and it's not as though Ghaleon wouldn't found out eventually, but this information does not reflect kindly on him.

: You’ve got to let me come with you to help fix this mess I’ve created! I won’t take no for an answer! I’m coming along!

And Nash, surprisingly, agrees with this assessment and decides to man the fuck up.

Now that we've gotten our old friends back together, we can embark on our new quest. But there's one more thing, You may not remember, but Ghaleon's room had a big old book on his desk.


"I still won't believe that he planned this whole incident with Lemia..."

Now that we don't care about his privacy, we can read it.


“Lemia has refused to work with me. I must neutralize her influence on the guild. I will seal her memory and magic ability, then have her thrown in the prison. I’m sure Xenobia can change to Lemia’s likeness and fool these simpletons… I’ll call her over tomorrow. Once this is in place, Vane will be under my control. But, I must keep an eye on Mel, … and Quark. The goddess living as a human could also pose a threat…"

It's a bit chilling to see him discuss treason with such cold frankness. Although he apparently didn't write any of his other plans down. That would have been helpful... but we can't count on Ghaleon being a complete idiot.

Now that we've gotten the posse together, it's time to head out. There's not too many leads at the moment, but since we've never been beyond Nanza Pass, it'd make sense to head for unexplored territory. To Nanza we go, hopefully to convince Kyle that this is a true emergency.


"Ha, ha, ha,... uh, ahem.. Anyways... the boss is, uh, right over there..."

Oh. Right. Jessica had an altercation with him earlier. This might make convincing Kyle a wee bit harder. Or easier.




: ...Jessica?!! What Jessica? They did what?! How did they get in? Master Mel’s what?!!! So you’re on your way to duke it out with Xenobia with these wimps? C’mon… You can’t be serious!
: Look, Kyle, it’s the only shot I’ve got to get my father back! So just command your toady little followers to let us pass!
: Jessica, you’ve got to be totally rabid! You expect to defeat Xenobia and her thousands of minions with this ragtag party?!! That’s impossible… no, worse… it’s suicide! I’m going with you!

Wait, what? That conversation just gave me whiplash! "What the fuck are you doing here?" "Let us pass." "No, that's stupid. I'm going with you."

: Oh Kyle, you chauvinistic pig! I knew I could count on you when things got rough!

On second thought, maybe it's best not to exert that much thought into their warped relationship.

So, Kyle! He kind came out of nowhere, didn't he? Not to mention that for many players, this might be the first time you ever talk to him. Now, in the remake you actually see him the first time you make the journey to Lann (in the remake you have to go through Nanza to reach Lann) and find out that he's the Oz of alcoholism. Furthermore, Kyle get his own little scene when you finally have everyone at Nanza Pass. It involves terrible cross-dressing. That might be all you need to know...

But enough about that. Let's get a better look our new party member.



He's far lower-leveled than Alex at the moment, but everyone else is as well. As you'd expect, he's a bruiser. He doesn't get spells, but has "skills" instead. He comes with Sprint, which increases his moves (kind of pointless, as he has the most moves in the game) and Fastcut, which attacks at a distance. But you will never use them. Trust me.



His equipment is... less than stellar. Fortunately, there is an upgrade to his armor really soon. You may notice he has no shield. That's because he can't equip shields. At all. Yes, in the original Jessica equips shields and Kyle doesn't. Obviously the remake switches that around, but I always thought that was interesting.

Actually, let's get everyone else's stats up here.









Keep in mind that in other runs I've done, Alex is usually higher leveled and Nash lower leveled. Since you don't use the girls much, they're usually around the same level, and obviously Kyle just joined. So this disparity in level is fully intended.

But that's our party, guys! We finally have a full party. I think we're finally ready to set out and destroy this madman.



Right outside is the entrance to actual pass, but there are a couple people hanging around handing out some vital plot information.


"They've invented things, like flying machines and carriages that move by themselves."

This isn't the first time (I believe) either Myght or Taben have been mentioned, but this might be the first time both are mentioned together. They're not relevant yet, but in due time...


"lives south of the exit to the Nanza Barrier. He must have some great stories to tell!"

Hey guys, guess what our next plot objective is?

Anyway, enough of that. Let's just grab the treasure around here (oh, yeah, there's treasure here) and head on.



See? Treasure! Obviously this goes on Kyle, but I'm not sure why (from either a plot or a design perspective) this is here and not equipped by default, but whatever.



So we're finally in Nanza Pass... ah fuck it's the cave tileset again. Whee.

At least you can always count on the enemies being new.



Count Antula? Those blue things don't really look vampirey or anty to me. I always thought they were over-grown moles, although on close-up they are more incest-like.

Anyway, as you can tell this dungeon also likes its hoards. However, unlike the Crystal Spire, they aren't really threatening as A) they die in one attack from Alex or Kyle and B) we have both Alex and Kyle. So usually it'll only take two rounds to end the fight. They don't hit especially hard either, so it's usually absurdly simple.



If not for the fact that the mole-ants like to cast sleep on your party. A lot. Even if most of your party is asleep, the enemies still don't do much damage (about 25 HP or so) and an attack will wake them, so it's more irritating than anything. But boy, is it irritating.

It doesn't help that the multi-hit magic you have at this point just plain doesn't do much damage. Dragon Bolt is the obvious exception, but it costs waaaay too much MP, and Mia is really the only one who reliably resists the sleep spell. While her strongest all-party spell, Flame Bomb, doesn't do much, her strongest single target spell can kill the Antulas in a hit.



Raining fiery hell on them does nothing, but a spooky mask equals death. Okay. (It's supposed to be an earth elemental spell... I think.)



Oh, and there is another enemy type. The Demon Wolves have more range than the slugs. That is only thing of note I have to say about that.

Uninteresting sums up this dungeon. It doesn't help that it's really linear and pretty much impossible to get lost in.



The treasure is crap too. (It damages you if you consume it).

So, instead, have some chatter from the gallery.


"Say, could we work out a discount on my protection charges this time around?"
: Sorry, if I make exceptions for you, I have to make 'em for everyone. You can try to go without paying, but that carries dangers of it's own!


"He keeps asking for a discount on his protection fee..."
: I'm not giving him any breaks! I only help good people...

Now, you may scoff at Kyle's claim, but...


"You're the best thing to happen to Nanza in a long time!"


"I'm protecting the women and children for free, just like you said."

Evidence bears this out.


"I want to be just like you when I grow up!"

Still wouldn't want him to be the idol of children, though.

Exciting, eh? After that thrill ride, we finally head out the other side.



It's a brand new world to explore. Next time!