A few Baron townsfolk suggest something fishy is at the bar, and Tellah tells us he needs a rest after the Devil Road in his menu thought, so we head there.
Yang!?
The monk of Fabol is accompanied by two Baron knights. Thanks to Cecil's new look, Yang fails to recognize who we are. But the moment Cecil tells his friend, a fight breaks out. I don't know what the two soldiers do, but we're against Yang all alone. He's mad at Cecil for some reason, but Cecil tries to talk his way out of the fight. A tiny attack knocks Yang out of his stupor. There's some script stuff involved, so it might not be a one-hit KO. After the brawl, Yang gets the idea that he was mind controlled. Cecil asks where everyone else is. Yang responds that he saw Rydia get eaten by Leviathan and has no idea what happened to Edward. The rest of the team gets their introductions out, and we're reminded we need to get into the castle. Yang was given a key as he was head of the Baron Guard, which should grant us access to secret stuff.
The first place you should go is the weapon and armor shop. How long have these people been locked in here? There's nothing too good in here but buy two Ice and Lightning Claws for Yang. We can also find Campingway in here. He recently discovered he has a talent for music and wants to share that with everyone. He now gives us access to the games Juke Box and changes his name to Jammingway. Just south of Cid's house is where we need to go.
This is The Ancient Waterway. Inside are three map completion bonuses, and it's a somewhat straightforward dungeon. There's a number of secret passages, however, that you'll need to discover to progress. The second map, especially, focuses on this mechanic. The zoomed-in camera for the remake makes this kinda annoying, but it's manageable. And think of all the EXP you're getting! Most of the enemies are weak to lightning, but some of the fish absorb it. Use Ice magic against them. Towards the end is a fork. The left path takes you to the save point (and a hidden chest you can find on the map), while the right one takes you out to Castle Baron.
We're in the moat around the keep, but there's an open door near the dungeons and Cecil's tower. Both of those locations are devoid of anything alive. The Red Wings quarters is similarly lacking. As we walk to the main foyer, Baigan shows up. He's still loyal to the King and Baron and not Golbez, so Cecil trusts him. Baigan says he came to do battle with the usurper's forces, but he is the only survivor. He joins the party, and our six-some walks to the throne room. But Polom and Porom smell something. They inform the group that Baigan smells like a monster. He disregards this and acts surprised, but the kids keep confronting him. He gives us the act and turns into a monster, so we enter a boss fight.
We're against Baigan and his two arms. That sounds stupid and obvious, but you're gonna have to trust me on this. The power of Golbez has turned the captain of the guard into a purple lizard man. We can target the body or either of his arms. The arms are pretty easy to kill, but they will regenerate in time. The trick here is dealing with the debuffs the arms cast while getting past Reflect. Once struck with a magic spell, Baigan will cast Reflect on himself. Equip Yang with the Ice Fists to exploit his weakness and bypass the wall. From here, you can have Tellah cast Reflect on someone and use them to bounce stuff off of, but that makes healing a potential issue. Make sure to get rid of the arms before you kill the body, otherwise, they explode, and they will kill one character. Cecil missed out on so much exp...
With Baigan dead, we can proceed on our own. However, explore the right side of the castle. The treasure house is open for some reason. There's not much here, but I want it anyway. In hindsight, these items are actually good for the next boss... This side is also empty, so head to the King.
The King is sitting on his throne and doesn't play the game Baigan played. Almost instantly, he reveals himself as Cognazzo, the Archfiend of Water. He killed the King and has been pretending to him for some time al under the guise of Golbez. The battle against him is the hardest in the game. He counters everything with debuffs. Physical attacks result in Hold (paralysis), and magic blows get a character silenced. Silence needs to be removed post haste. His weakness also changes often, and it signals an upcoming attack that I hate. You'll know Tsunami is imminent when he puts up a water shield. Lightning knocks it off of him, but he liked to spam that against me. Lightning also heals him when the barrier is down. Normally, he is weak to Ice, so try to get that out. To complicate timing even further, Cog can cast Slow and Sleep on the whole party. I think Cecil was blinded early on, too, but I only saw that once. I had Yang in Ice Claws for the entire battle. Cecil should heal, and someone should be ready for a Zeus' Wraith, which functions as a lightning spell. I tried to spam Twincast, which worked pretty well. I think Thundera/Cura would have been more efficient, but Comet is too cool. Eventually, Cognazzo will retreat into his shell. He heals when this happens, so use what he's weak against to bring him out. He is vulnerable to slow, though, which should be used early on to even things up. He's the first guy with over 10000 HP, so it takes a while to kill him.
After the fighting is over, Cid enters the room to alleviate the tension. He and Tellah have an old man squabble while the kids get on with the show. Cecil asks Cid if we can have the new airship. Cid says yes, and he escorts us. In the waiting room before the throne, Cognazzo pulls a Scar. The voice of the Drowned King tells us that even in death, he's an evil, evil creature. The walls of the room begin to move and threaten to smash the whole party. The old men can't open the locked doors, and the young men can't stop the wall's advancement. Polom and Porom look at each other and say some words of encouragement. They ask Tellah to look over Cecil, who they call a big brother. They then cast Break on themselves, turning both of them to stone. The whole party is upset and stunned, but it worked. Tellah states that it should have been him and tries to cast Esuna on them. It doesn't work since they willingly choose this path. Defeated after all, the party heads to the Enterprise airship. It's hidden just beneath the castle, which is a terrible hiding place. How do you secretly build an airship and airship dock? Regardless, it takes its maiden voyage to the sky, and the camera cuts to Golbez, Kain, and Rosa.
Golbez is concerned about Cecil's power and wonders about the last crystal. Something is going on with it, and they can't just take it. Kain then suggests testing Cecil. If he talks to him, he'll convince his old friend to get the crystal and turn it over to them. Rosa will be the perfect ploy and be bait for this exchange. The dark one then says they can kill Cecil then. Kain takes his airship and meets up over Baron. He tells Cecil the deal, he agrees, and Kain returns home. Our next destination is to see what's happening in Troia...
...tomorrow.
I never really liked this sacrifice. Not only is it the first of many, all takeouts (spoilers), but it's the easiest to fix. Once everyone's out of the room, cast Esuna again! There are several ways I can think of to get the whole group out of here with hammers, rope, or basic athleticism. Polom and Porom could have been interesting characters, but they're with Cecil for such a short time, no one cares. They both get some interesting story in The After Years (I'm not playing that), but that's a sequel that came out twenty-seven years later! They meant nothing now.
No comments:
Post a Comment