Jaw Broken

I did the second tournament before playing tonight. It rewards gear that’s pretty okay, but I preferred the stuff I already have. I like that the NPCs use cheese strats as a player would, but, man, did it suck! I’ve always thought it would be fun to have FFT be an MMO, but I’ve come to my senses. Duel Wielding Gun users attacking every time their ally does, and that ally double casts bleed isn’t fun. Six attacks in one round! Yowie Wowie!

Before reaching the mountain tops, we have to go through the Gailigh Foothills. It contains the final human members of Sigil. They’re readily dispatched. After the skirmish, we wonder if it’s possible to permanently defeat The Maw. Our current plan is status quo, with the Immortals continuing their reign. We’re fine with that, but what if we killed this terrible beast to make sure it’s dark powers no longer infect anything? Maybe the Kawa Elders know?

We travel hack to Gogombob, and Reiner sets up the meeting. The Elders try to tell us a long story, but Reiner knows time is of the essence and manages to get them to speed it up. They inform us that the Hedge Fragment pieces we’ve already collected are the key. It’s the portal from which The Maw came through 1200 years ago. Using a piece of The Maw as a teleporting agent, we can travel to its home dimension and defeat it once and for all. Kairu already being here means we only need a piece of the monster.

Traveling back to Nervanzer takes us through Mount Nervanzer. We see Raulf able to control demons but no word on The Maw. It is here we have our final battle with him. We’ve fought all these guys before, so there’s nothing new. When Raulf dies, he comes to his senses and realizes he never stood a chance of controlling The Maw, let alone bringing about a new governance. Would an immortal monster be better than a long lived human?

The last step is Nevanzet Wellspring. On the world map, we can see purple corruption destroying the landscape in the distance. In the field proper, we see the world begin warp under dark influences. It looks like HR Geiger’s childhood watercolor phase. Mouths do not belong on walls, nor should they have tails! We’ve seen the mobs here but focus on the Harvester ones. They have a skill that functions like Collect Pelt/Receive Bounty that leaves your character permanently dead for the battle, unable to be revived. It’s annoying that it exists, but a good reminder of what to use in the upcoming fight.

The final location is called Teratoma. It’s utterly warped and filled with the demons we know and love. Oddly enough, The Maw is the least of our concerns, as his basic attacks do less than 100 damage, and his only AoE move does even less. Dreadmaw can inflict several status effects, so prepare accordingly. Status effect accuracy seems to be lower than usual, though. The Snake Demon dudes are the worst things, followed by the sexy demonesses. Barrage boys are more annoying than anything. Do take notice of the Wyrm things. They can do a few things: small range damage, burp up new mobs, and explode. When they explode, they do an attack that hits everyone on the field. They’re also the key to the true ending. Don’t kill them normally. Instead, get them low and use Collect Pelt on them. There is a chance they’ll drop what you need on a conventional kill, but I don’t leave things to chance. Using Collect Pelt nets you an Energy Fragment. With this in hand, after you kill The Maw, the whole party goes to Lodestarhendge. We use the Fragment and are teleported into space.

We’re greeted by the spirit of Primus, remorseful for his actions. He’s come to his senses, now that he’s not infected with dark energy. He is, though, still under the control of The Maw. He apologizes for what he’s about to do and requests we end this long nightmare.

We enter a battle with The Maw and the four dead Immortal Members, Primus, Secunda, Sekstus, and Septimus. The goal is to kill The Maw, but he absorbs HP from the Immortals, making him hard to focus. So beat-up on the ghosts and try to keep your HP up. When they die, they do a teamwide spell that can be messy. I had my white mage, Lucy, as a mod class that allowed her to use Healing Wind. It heals everyone based on proximity to the caster and heals about 200 HP. If you're using un-modded jobs, focus on healing one at a time and being defensive. The Maw isn't likely to kill your whole team unless you screw up. She also an accessory that functions like a Ribbon in Final Fantasy, so we didn't need to fear her going to sleep. A Mass Heal II heals more damage and might have been better, but stock your healer with MP. Give her Mana Font and use your Mana Stone on her. The Maw functions exactly as it did in the previous battle, but he does have a move he uses when all the Council members die called Forsaken One. It’s the only attack you need to worry about.

After the battle, with The Maw finally defeated, we all return home. The next scene is in what remains of the Immortal Council Chambers. Quintus and Tertia are discussing what to do next with the four Arbiters on the team. They acknowledge the coming days, weeks, and months are crucial in reorganizing the government. If word got out that The Immortals are finished, chaos would erupt. Corrupt Arbiters, bandits, and miscellaneous riff-raff would go wild. Kyrie promises to help maintain the peace. Outside the chambers, Katja regrets not killing the two remaining Gods. Kyrie reminds her her "the smallest spark can create a fire now". Katja accepts that as fact, and we all wonder what’s to come! The final scene is Yates walking back to his house. He has something that looks like the Energy Fragment and promises that the Immortals will no longer have a monopoly on eternal life, indicating he’s learned nothing from this journey.

The credits roll, we’re asked to save the game for the clear data flag, and I call it a night.

I tried to see Ending B after this but ended up getting the Fragment off a kill. -_- There are also a few extra things to do. There's a post-game dungeon, The Ancient Path, where we fight some of the most challenging fights in the game and see what happened to the forgotten seventh Immortal. There's another fight in Thespiros, where we fight a mirror of ourselves. I'm not sure what that meant, but I did it. All in all, I had so much fun in the game. Moratorium tomorrow!