The party walks out of the ruined Hoax, which has an updated world map sprite, and we walk toward the Marshland. Here we come to a fork in the road. Right goes to the fort we’re to protect, and left leads us to the dragon’s nest. For some reason, I didn’t try to go to the fort and just went the correct way. Here we come to a boat puzzle. It’s straightforward, and we simply guide the boat from outcrop to outcrop to pick up the random assortment of treasure. We return to the start and carry on the path until Shana hurts her ankle in the mud. Dart gives her a piggyback ride to her mild embarrassment. The ride lasts twenty feet, and she regains her strength to carry on. We leave the marsh and come to the ranging volcano, Vilude.
Right, they mentioned this was here... As the party of four walks the convenient path on a semi-active volcano, the Fire Bird launches into the sky. The party laments their predicament, as the bird and dragon now exist in the same world until the bird spots us. Rather than run away, everyone makes the wise decision to run deeper into the volcano. Down here are various mobs with various bits on fire. Having fully mastered Dart’s first Addition, Double Slash, I change to the aptly named Volcano Addition. While here, we gain more knowledge of the Dragon Campaign as we run across, what Rose called, a Virage. The Virage were the Winglies answer to the human's Dragons. Shana claims it called out to her. Riding on 11000 years of hate and resentment, it guided Shana here to attack us.
The Virage has three attackable parts: head, body, and arm. The arm is easy to destroy, but I don’t think you should. Not only can it be regrown, but when it’s down, the monster uses its head laser for massive damage. If the arm is still alive, it’ll attack with a more manageable physical blow. The head is the only thing that needs to be destroyed. At least, it was the last part I defeated before Dart final blew the guy into the lava.
Carrying on, we save a local merchant here to find a rare gem. He gives us an item that I couldn’t find in my pack as a reward for saving him. Further down the path, we meet back-up with Fire Bird.
I still wasn’t fully recovered from the Virage fight, and now this guy shows up. He’s quick, does heavy damage to the whole party, and has more than enough HP. I’m beginning to realize how important magic attack items are in this game as they do significantly more damage than regular attacks. Even Dragoon attacks and magic can’t compare. Maybe if I were good at the timing on the attacks, but I’m bad. I understand the 32 item limit. I don’t like it, but I understand it now. My right arm is gonna be hella strong in 80 hours. Hella!
After the Fire Bird falls, we see the merchant again. Why is he fine? I replenish my potions and continue to the outside world. This was all just a means to reach the destination.
The Nest of the Dragon is located in a forest that surfers from dragon’s poison. Shana is the only person who seems to be affected by it, as she nearly collapses before running off to safer air. She quickly regains her composure, while Dart teases her. Rose says they act like brother and sister, and Lavitz says they always do. The party goes deeper into the wood until they step on a giant cobweb. It’s not very sturdy, and the group falls through into a strange world. This dungeon looks more daunting than it actually is. For starters, there's a full heal spring right next to where they fell if you ever get into trouble. To advance, simply walk/climb through the various paths that are straightforward when you pay attention. There are three mushroom looking things you need to knock over to open the way. The game seems to indicate the healing water allows you to knock the plants out, but I didn't try without touching the pool. At the end of the path is a man whom Lavitz is familiar with.
Greham, a traitor to both Basil and Lavitz’ dad, Servi, stands before us. It is revealed that Greham killed his best friend, Servi, for power when he transforms into the Green Dragoon. The jewel was given to him by Emperor Dole, and he quickly uses it to summon Feyrbrand as a boss battle commences.
Not only do we stand before an ancient dragon, but a legendary Dragoon, as well. Attacking Greham, seemingly, causes him to counter attack. You still need to remove him first as he likes to use teamwide magic damage, which chunks large portions of HP from everyone. He can also perform a tandem attack with Ferybrand that is a physical teamwide attack. Dart died here, and I had to use my first revive. The dragon is a little more manageable, having only single target attacks. Those attacks can cause Fear, which is an ailment that seems to so nothing. The dragon has terrible magic defense, so use earth-based magic items on it to quickly kill it. I only brought one with me, so who knows what would have happened had I killed the dragon first.
The wyrm felled, and the Dragoon dying, Grham feels remorseful for his actions. He apologizes before dying. The Green Dragoon Gem begins to resonate and, in Rose’s words, “chooses its new master.” That new master being the green armor-clad Lavitz. I start to wonder if characters choose their attire based on what gem they want, or if it’s some Assassins Creed style genetic memory thing. Will we find out everyone is descended from a Dragon Campaign hero like I think Dart is? Calling it now, Shana is the white Dragoon. Also, Albert sure did wear a lot of green...
Anyway, with the mission complete, Shana begins to feel ill once more. This time, however, she cannot power through it and collapses on the floor. Not wanting to risk something happening to them on the way back to Hoax, the party decides to go to the nearby city of Lohan.
...Which I’ll do tomorrow! My headache seems to have finally subsided, but I still feel odd. I upped the FPS limit on PCSX to 60, so I’m going 15% faster. You wouldn't think that’s not a big change, but yowie wowie is it ever. It’s also way unstable, so QTEs are gonna be fun. Lohan is in enemy territory, so I can’t wait to find out how we get home after saving Dart's totally not girlfriend.
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