Part 6: Update -VI- On the road to Viridian Forest

Alright, last time there was talk of going to the Chocolatte Mart to stock up on items, which is something I don't care to do but the game is nudging us there so whatever.



But first, it seems Serafie has picked up something new. Let's swipe it.



Nice. Too bad it will probably be wasted when we run into some battle that only pays out a pittance of EXP.



When we get to North Promenade, something is a little askew. Where is Chocolatte?



And then we get sent to the desert?

Update 6 Highlights - Something weird in North Promenade
What is this place?



Two Lanns? Oh Christ, it's a nightmare come true.

Lann! Are you all right?

Uh, yeah... Did you just see that?

Evil Twin Lann just kinda vanishes with no direct acknowledgement.



A tonberry?


[Tonberry]: Quite so. A tonberry through and through. Now should you children be this far afield?


Far a-what now?

He's asking if we're lost. I guess he's got a point. I have no idea where we are.


[Tonberry]: As I thought. Then you should both come with me at once. It's not safe here.


Just keep that knife pointed away from us. I know your game, Tonberry.




[Tonberry]: I give you... the Coliseum.




Damn. Pretty kick ass.











So there's the breakdown on the Coliseum. We can pop in here whenever to re-fight old Mirages or take on special challenges. This is a great place to go to get some cool Mirages, assuming you are strong enough to actually fight them.



First of all, if we head over to the right we can find another Old Journalist Notes. That's 2 so far.



There's also some weird Mirage standing around that you could see in the background of the last screenshot. This is a Maxima addition.



Choosing to battle it will give you the opportunity to capture 'Mel'. Mel is from the World of Final Fantasy: Meli-Melo mobile game (which was released in Japan in December of 2017 and promptly shut down in December of 2018). The game was basically just a mobile version of World of Final Fantasy's core Mirage mechanics. You got new Mirages, raised them with special items/currency, battled them, all the stuff you can do in basically every fucking mobile game that exists.

Mel was a character in that mobile game that acted as kind of an assistant. That's about it, really. The game was only active for a year before it was shuttered and cleansed from the internet. The official site was redirected to a notice about reimbursement for people who had forked out cash for "Crystal Chips". I don't know if the game was crap or not, but it sure did face plant hard.

Mel will just sit there by the way. If you fail to beat it or capture it, you can just re-fight it.



Moving on, there is a tiny Tonberry next to the guy that lead us here. This is how you access the player versus player online mode. Needless to say, I will not be touching this shit with any length of a pole. My idea of fun is not spending untold lengths of time fine tuning precise combinations and strategies to battle crazy people who have made this their entire gaming life. All for the sake of improving a W-L ratio.

If that is your idea of fun, then here is where you can get it. I'm not going to subject the LP to 6 more tutorial card screenshots of it, though.

The only other highlight of this is that you can also trade Mirages, like Pokemon. You can't trade unique ones (like Tama) and you can only trade ones that are at Lann/Reynn's level or below.



Let's get to the good stuff.



Talking to the big Tonberry will let you get into the Coliseum. From here you can see what challenges are currently available. A lot of them have themes, such as Final Fantasy Mascots or Moogles.

There is also a LOT of DLC included in this edition by default. Most of them involve monsters we haven't encountered yet, so I will only show those off once we run into the regular versions during the course of the story. For now, I will mention two of them just to give you an idea of what to expect.



We haven't got a full-fledged Chocobo yet, but we do have Chocochick. Plus, Chocobos are kind of a hugely recognisable creature from the FF franchise, so it's not really a surprise.



"Chocobo Princess Sakura" will let you battle a group of three White Chocobos, so you'll have a few opportunities to catch one.



Which is nice because these have a "Once Per Battle" capture condition.



The other one I will point out for now is that we could get a Tonberry in a Santa costume. There's also a Blue Pixie (Serafie) and a Pink Tama. Some of these added quests will give you interesting takes on existing monsters. As I mentioned, I'll show them off in detail as we come across the regular versions in our travels.

Some of them are kind of too powerful to pick up at the moment as well. I'm not sure how I will decide on when to show those off.



Anyway, that's all there is to this place. Simple, but it opens up a lot of cool possibilities. There's a Save Crystal and an Exit Gate here as well, so we'll use the gate to get out of here and back to our journey.

Update 6 Highlights - 'Off the clock' Chocolatte


Back in Nine Wood Hills, I check in with Chocolatte just in case something new has turned up, and she greets us with this.

I'm not really a fan of Chocolina, but her appearance in this game is much more lovable. Something about Julie Nathanson's infectiously cheery performance combined with the Lilikin aesthetic just works, especially when you randomly get lines like the one above where Chocolatte will say "Oh. What's up?" like she's off the clock and doesn't need to do the "voice". Check out the highlights video link to hear what I mean.



Nothing new in the shop, so let's get back to Cornelia instead. You can see that the Coliseum is now a gate destination as well, listed under "Towns".



Chapter 5, here we go. The chapters are getting just long enough that I can start reasonably splitting them up into two parts.

Update 6 Highlights - Chapter 5 Opening






Everything in Cornelia looks good. What's happening with the Princess and our newly introduced FFI protag?



At least they'll leave Cornelia alone for a while, now that we've gotten rid of the soldier controlling them.



And wild Mirages are something you just... learn to get used to in Grymoire.

That's why you've got Mr. Warrior here.

Yes, indeed.



He's all embarrassed.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility of another Bahamut attack. What we need... is an alliance with another country. Some sort of mutual agreement to come to each other's defence.

Actually, word has been spreading of such an organisation: an anti-Federation group as large as a nation. Perhaps the time has come to formally introduce ourselves. They call themselves the League of S.

"League of S"? Do you know of any way to reach them?

The thane of Saronia to the north has been in contact with them. I believe one of the merchants mentioned it.

Saronia, yes. They have been resisting Federation annexation.

Yes. Highness, allow me to journey there, and learn what I can about the League of S.



Slow your roll there Warrior of Light. You just got your protagonist legs. You're not ready to go charging off into the wilderness on your own. Actually, I guess that sort of is how it works in JRPGs... regardless, this is a job for us.

Hey, maybe we could go instead.

Yeah! Mr. Warrior here, he and the brigade should stick around and keep the goblins in line.

There's someone else Mr. Warrior and the brigade need to keep in line, too. Namely a certain Princess that apparently can't be trusted to keep out of trouble.

That's right. Cornelia's legendary Champion belongs right here in Cornelia. We're the best fit for this. We've got tons of Mirages to collect and could start just about anywhere. So, you know, it wouldn't be any trouble.

What a kind offer. You would really do that?

Sure! You're doing us a favor by pointing me and Lann in a new direction. We're glad to help.

I thank you. We are in your debt. Here. All Cornelian emissaries are given these letters, as proof of their authority. It should help you on your way.

Thanks!

Well, there's no sense in hanging around. So long! Take care!

Bye-bye!

Your Highness.

Reynn does a little curtsy here. For some reason her's and Tama's lines aren't subtitled.



Yay! Cactaur Conductor time!

Right. Tickets, please!

Off we go. To Saronia!

Go on then, all aboard.







This is not Saronia. This is a forest. RPG forests suck ass.

Holy amaze. I could stare for days... at this place.

Looks like we're gonna have to find a way through.



Right away we're slapped in the face with another tutorial card. Thank you, game. I fully understand how field abilities work. You don't need to tell me about every single icon variation.

This doesn't see a lot of use in this area, but Black Nakk gets very early access to Sizzle (and by 'early' I mean it's the first ability on the Mirage Board), so we might as well pick up that skill and grab what we can on our first trip through here. Lord knows I am looking forward to putting this place behind me.

If things get the-dangerous or you need a break, don't forget that you can use the Gates to return to Nine Wood Hills and take a time out.



Moving on up the path, the first encounter here is a pair of Mu with a Reaver variant. These things will be pissing me off for a good portion of this area.

The capture chance is triggered by hitting it with fire attacks. Unfortunately...



My current ability set is not suited for taking advantage of that.



So I do a little shake up in terms of Reynn's stack. Lann's also gets a small change. User Leraika really likes the Mandragora and wanted me to use one at some point, so a Mandragora will be walking tall through Pyreglow Forest.

As for Reynn, she gets Black Nakk replacing Zapt in case that Reaver Mu makes another appearance.



There's a treasure chest which should be impossible to miss just a little ways to the left of the first plateau area we come to. It has 2 rememb herbs, which is pretty handy. Status curatives all welcome at this early stage since they are pretty expensive to buy (and we don't have Esuna).

Rememb Herbs will cure Oblivion, which is what this game calls the 'Silence' ailment. Oblivion stops you from using abilities in battle, but it also stops you from using the 'Imprism' command. Not fun.



Up at the next plateau, you will see an area transition to the north. Going further to the left of this screen will lead you to a chest with a phoenix down in it. This screenshot is after I collected it, which is why Lann and Reynn are currently running away from where it's located.



The next area has a lot of little offshoots and such. The map also doesn't shift with your current direction, so while it looks like we just need to go left from here to go down an (apparent) dead-end, in practice...



we need to go South.



Here's where our first use of Sizzle is. There's a treasure chest behind it, but thankfully we already have Black Nakk for Sizzle so we won't need to come back here at a later time.

That's one of Enna Kros's the-patented Sizzle symbols!

She got it patented?

That's your cue to the-bring along a Mirage that's learned the Sizzle ability. And if you don't have a Mirage with the Sizzle ability just the-yet, you're sure to find one close-the by, so keep looking.

Please, World of Final Fantasy, please stop explaining gameplay functions in this manner. You can't be like "Oh, Enna Kros put a magic floating symbol that you guys can see which hints at you using a special ability!" in order to explain GUI elements, but then not say a word about certain things like the minimap that's floating in the upper right corner. Don't half-ass it.



Anyway, Black Nakk lights up the vines and we grab the chest containing a Thunder Seed. Now we can teach Thunder to a Mirage when they get a Blank Space on their Mirage Boards.

Thunder is one of the better elements in this game, which is (one of the reasons) why Zapt was the best choice back in the Nether Nebula. It's a common weakness in this game, not many things are outright resistant to it, and everything else is mostly neutral. It's a really versatile element.

For those who are curious, Earth is one of (if not the) weakest. There's only a few enemies weak to Earth, but there are a bunch that resist it. It also has a quirk where some Earth Element attacks (Quake, for example) can't hit flying enemies, even if they are weak to Earth.



The next battle we hit coughs up multiple new Mirages, including the most commonly used franchise Mascot.

Dualizard needs to have its HP reduced to create a capture chance (only one chance per battle). Moogles need to be healed.



They also have Poison Bite. I hate RPG forests. There's always some shit that has to be constantly poisoning you. Thankfully this disappears when the battle ends, but it's still a huge nuisance for this area/dungeon. If a battle with these guys drags for too long (and it can, because Moogles can team heal), it can really eat into your HP. Antidotes aren't super expensive, but we still have little money and we'll be needing expensive items for a few Mirage captures later on (one of which is in this area).



You are my shining light of joy, Mirage Description person.

I believe Dualizard is based on the twin-headed Hydra from Final Fantasy Adventure. Hydras are a common enemy in the FF series. They first appear in the original Final Fantasy and make regular appearances throughout the franchise. They used to be snake-like (like the Mythological Hydra), but Final Fantasy Adventure made them look more dragon-like.



Moogles are one of the main Final Fantasy mascots. They showed up in FFIII, skipped IV, then appeared in all the following games (although sometimes their appearance is as reference, in the form of a doll or something). In games where they talk, they have a vocal tic kind of like Tama. They say "Kupo", usually at the end of a sentence. How frequently they say "Kupo" varies from game to game. Sometimes it's to an unbearable level, and sometimes it's just an occasional utterance.

Moving on from that, there's another impossible to miss treasure chest further up the path. It contains 3 gold hourglasses, which will cure "Slow".



Hey, why don't you find out?

Go on, we're the-waiting.

Do it. Do it, Lann.

Uhhh, I'll pass.



Wimp. Anyway, when we arrive at the next clearing, we find a Murkrift waiting for us. Approaching it when you know Libra will scan it and lets us know that we're about to fight Level 13 monsters. Level 13 is way more manageable than the level 26 Behemoth from Wellspring. We can totally handle this one.





Sharquals need to be hit with Fire to create a capture chance. Black Nakk can deliver that for us.

I will advise caution on this one. These guys all have 800+ HP when you fight them and there are four of the bastards. They also have a tendency to gang up on one target (at least, that's what they preferred to do in this battle).



Sharks are a less common enemy in the Final Fantasy series. They appeared in oceans a lot in the original game, but I don't recall them cropping up too often after that. They may have been a bit too pedestrian for a fantasy world, so they were replaced by other, weirder, water creatures.

Also, our little Turbine Shark has a new field ability we can get. He needs some SP first, though. We'll need to let him build up some experience.



Meanwhile, Black Nakk now has enough SP to reach the Transfig spot that will allow it to transform into a White Nakk, should we wish. The requirement is that it needs to be Level 10, which it has already met.



Once Moogle has a little SP under its belt, we can quickly get a Cure mirajewel from its board. This is a nice thing to grab early, since you can just pop it onto Lann or Reynn and not have to worry about using Cure Seeds or stacking certain Mirages. Our mirajewels are limited at the moment, so we might as well toss it on someone for lack of anything else.



In the next area, Reynn spots some kind of light. That's all that is said about it, however.

The path off to the upper right has nothing, so we'll keep going along the main path.



Another battle with a new Mirage. Also, another chance at the Reaver Mu. Spoiler alert: This chance will not result in a capture either.



Cockatrice just needs a good smack. Simple. Not so simple is the fact that it hits Lann with an attack that causes Oblivion and breaks out of Reynn's attempt to catch it.

Attempt #2 does the trick, so I then turn my attention to the remaining Reaver Mu. Black Nakk now has a Fire attack called Red Fang. All I have to do is hit it with that and I can catch--





Son of a schmup! Looks like my current teams are too strong, and also Reaver Mu is weak to fire. This is a problem.

Later on, I try using a stack with Lilikin Reynn and Black Nakk that just has the basic Fire spell. It still kills that damn thing. I make four attempts to catch this little rat/squirrel thing, and kill it every single time. They also don't show up very commonly, so I spent close to half an hour on this (granted, I was trying to track down other Mirages as well, but still).

So fuck it. Time to think outside the box.



I go to regular Mu's Mirage Board, the one I've had since Wellspring, and just buy up the skills to get it to the Transfig space.





There. The 'other game' mistranslation it's talking about is Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. You fight them in a place called River Belle, but the translators apparently decided that the enemies must be called 'Reaver Mu' instead of, you know, 'River Mu'. I know translators don't have all the context when they are doing their work, but even still, that kind of thing is something that should be caught. On the other hand, Reaver Mu sounds way more badass than River Mu.



Oh, right. Cockatrice. We caught that, too.

Cockatrices have been around since the original game. They are irritating. They are almost always irritating. Why? They are enemies that usually cause BS status ailments with their attacks. Petrify is a common one. For those that don't know, Petrify is a status ailment that turns party members to stone and removes them from battle. If you don't have a way to cure it (either with items or spells) and your whole party gets petrified? Game over. You're done. One party member is petrified but the others get KO'd? Done.

That being said, I add this guy to Reynn's stack for a while because I was still naive enough to think I could grab a Reaver Mu and this thing has the Fire spell.

The rest of this area is largely devoid of hidden treasure chests. Right at the end there is a fork in the road, however. Left is where we are supposed to go, but right will eventually lead to a small clearing with a chest containing a Remedy. Remedy is a cure-all status ailments item. Very valuable, especially early game, and especially in games where status ailments can stack or against a certain enemy...



...Someday. Not today, but someday.

Anyway, when we move to the next area Lann and Reynn will complain about having to walk everywhere.

Wouldn't it be great if the Mirages in our stacks could just carry us around?

Oh come on, it's not that simple--

You can the-hitch a ride on your Mirages, as long as they've learned the Joyride ability.

We can?!

Dude, YESSS!





Oh boy! Now we can enslave these creatures to do battle for us AND carry us around like pack mules!



It just so happens that our new friend, Turbine Shark, gets access to Joyride almost immediately.



I love you Turbine Shark.



That's enough of that for now. We're in the final zone of this area. Our destination is off to the right where you see that star on the map. There's also a save point right next to it.

But there are two other paths we can take as well, one of which seems to lead to a new place.

First of all, following that dead end path off to the left will lead to a treasure chest with an HP+ Seed in it. Nice. I'll have to start using these seeds once we get a proper stack in order.



The new area way up near the top of the screen is blocked by some vines, so you'll need Sizzle. There are a bunch of directions to go in, so let's just pick one at random and--



...Oh. It's gonna be like that is it? God forbid we get through a forest zone without a damn 'every path leads to an identical place' maze.

Fortunately, we have an easy way through this. I believe that copy of Occult Fan we picked up back in Cornelia mentioned something about a forest.



There we are. We just need to look for some luminous bubbles.



Which would be these little things right here, the ones Lann is currently running towards. If you've ever done these kinds of puzzles before, then you'll likely pick up on what you need to do the moment you step foot in here. The floaty lights will always be next to one of routes and they move, so it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out.



After running about and following the guide lights, we'll eventually reach this little grove with... uh... something?



Approaching it will trigger a battle. The Magic Jar has a lot of defence, but its HP is low enough that you could still beat it. Beating it isn't what we want though, we want to catch this thing. Unfortunately, we need to give it an Elixer to create a capture chance. We... do not have Elixers yet. We'll have to return for Magic Jar at some point in the future.

Thankfully, you are able to escape from this battle and it will still be here. In fact, I triggered this battle multiple times while trying to slip in and grab that nearby treasure chest.



It contains the second entry of Girl's Diary. This one is from the 3rd of Lazulith? Mythril V? Such a weird calendar.



On the way back to where the story progress is, we run into another new friend.



And of course this guy has a weird capture condition as well. Little did I know that this would be another pain in my ass.

I didn't have any Oblivion inflicting skills or items at the time. Chocolatte does sell items that can inflict various ailments, although they can be really expensive. Nonetheless, I went out and bought a few just in case any more ailment capture Mirages show up.

I then spent roughly half an hour roaming around this damn place trying to get this thing to appear a second time. Just as I was about to give up and continue with the story, it finally showed itself again.



Lethean Chime is the item that inflicts Oblivion by the way. It cost 800 Gil for just one of the friggin things. I haven't spent a single gil in roughly 5 hours of play time and I only have 4332. I even have Chocochick with an ability that increases Gil received after battle.

Chocolatte is a highway robber, is what I'm trying to say.

Anyway, Deathskull is (I think) a new enemy for this game. There are skull enemies within the FF series, but I don't recall any that look like this (none that have a body/scythe/shield I mean). If anyone in the thread has spotted enemies that resemble this then I'll update when they let me know.



In the last major section of Pyreglow Forest (beyond that save point), there's a Gate just before an obvious story segment. We're going to go ahead and take advantage of that real quick so we can return to Nine Wood. We'll find out why that's a good idea in the next update.