Bahamut Lagoon was released towards the end of the Super Nintendo's active lifespan in 1996. A few months later, the world would usher in the next generation of consoles. The Playstation would emerge as Square's preferred new toy to expand their games, leaving the Nintendo 64 behind. I wondered if this could have been a bit of a swan song for the system, but there were five other games Square released for the SNES, so probably not. Regardless, it was never released on American soil, and the English translation was done by a team of fan creators. I'm not one of those people who claim to know everything about localization, so I'll leave out any tiny qualms I have about the script. Both teams did something that I found to be amazing. I didn't want to stop playing when I ran of time I set aside to play games ended. It's one of the reasons why I wrote two posts on Christmas. There are so many things that I wanted to do, so let's talk about them! After I give my criticism, of course.
What sucks about Bahamut Lagoon?
Why is Byuu the main character? I'm not against silent protagonists, but Byuu doesn't seem to be a Link or a Dragon Quest MC in terms of relevance. It just feels like he's just there. He has connections to other people, being a loyal knight to Kahne and early love interest of Yoyo, but what would happen if he weren't there? Matelite would be leading the forces of Kahne. I'm unsure who the dragon would be following, but Rush feeds them in one chapter, so I assume he'd be the new Dragon Squad Captain? They seemed to follow him well enough. Or maybe Byuu would still be there, just not in the spotlight? And worse still, he gets more irrelevant as the game progresses. Yoyo dumps him for Palpaleos, and Byuu drops off the face of the world. Sure, he's given acting captain duties by a guy who's just fine, but I think it's shoehorned in. Unlike Chrono, he doesn't even get the girl at the end. And his competition died after the final boss, too, so no one gets a happy ending! Poor Byuu. And what happened to Salamundo at the end? Hell, what happened to any of our dragons?
I'm not fond of the music. The OST was composed by Noriko Matsueda. She wrote for the Front Mission games and bits and bobs for other Square titles before retiring in 2004. It's far from bad, but I don't think it's very memorable. The problem could be that there are so few tracks, and we get five or six of them drilled into us through the game. Most of those are the battle songs, which sound too imperial to my ears. I want my chill and mellow tracks, which are rare in BL. Every city has its own piece on the OST, but we never revisit them like we could in conventional RPGs. They're listened to once and then lost to time. I put on a Youtube video of the entire one hour OST, and I liked the location songs. They deserved more attention. This is a major personal qualm, and I hope it doesn't dissuade you from playing the game. An in game jukebox to hear old songs on the ship would have been great.
So there is a large cast of characters in the game. That's really cool, but what's really lame is how bland most of them are. We've got thirty two characters on the ship, but only five of them get any plot relevance: Byuu, Matelite, Sendak, Palpaleos, and Yoyo. This is worse than Chrono Cross. There are a few that have screen time: Taicho, Zora, Truce, Rush, and Bikkebakke, but they're not major parts. A smaller few get one scene: Danfan, Lukia, Jeanne, Melodia, and Mist (an optional character). Meanwhile, the remaining seventeen are just kinda there to be bodies. Some of them are for humor between missions onboard the airship, but a few do even less. The lance-lance-lacers show up, grow apart, and then come together for reasons never stated. Barclay and Anastacia seem to be having a fun love affair despite never talking on screen. Why did my assassins never try to kill Matelite? I get it, it's a SNES game, and games like this need wide casts, but why not try to give them depth? But, I will say, when the devs gave people a reason to be here, they hit it out of the park with them. Matelite is great!
I didn't understand Sauzer. Who he was, his motives, his goal? Was he evil? He killed the King of Kahne, but the game and our characters seemed pretty quick to forgive that. Palpaleos joined the team with no real bite back despite, at the start of the game, clearly being evil. But we, the player, get an idea that he's kinda not. Our characters in the Resistance, though, don't see these scenes. Not that I think they should matter because this guy plunged the planet into war. How many people died, and lives did he upend? He's not a good guy, so why did the plot try to make him out to be? Especially since they didn't give any hard evidence contrary. Why did he want to bring about the new era? Was it for personal gain? And Palpal killed your dad, Yoyo. Stop banging him...
Many of the bosses, or at least those working for the Empire, had to be killed multiple times. We beat them on the battlefield, but they somehow always got away. How many times did we kill Lestat, Irvine, or Goldulf? I don't know anything about the woman general, but at least she knew to die after our first battle in Kahne. It's unrewarding, lazy storytelling, and annoying. Giving us a wall of nameless generals would have been better; that's how low the bar could have been.
Dragon AI can be sketchy at best. I found myself yelling at them, asking why they attacked that guy nowhere near where the actual fighting is happening far too often. And then the opposite happened, where, even on "Go," they'd just nest next to their master. I get not wanting them to be playable, and this is the SNES, which doesn't really have modern computing power to run reliable AI, but it was frustrating. Take you're free EXP, guys. Maybe I should have experimented with the controls more?
Byuu dying shouldn't be an instant game over. This mechanic is widely agreed to be garbage in the modern era, and I'm not letting old timers get away with it. Everyone will be revived after the battle, and there is no permadeath in Bahamut Lagoon, so why do we get a game over when our MC dies? No. Just, no.
So, before I get on with what I think Bahamut Lagoon did great, I'd like to posit a small theory. The story of BL was always secondary. There are so many mechanics in this game that are well throughout, in depth, and fun, that I think it's fine that the story is merely yeoman.
With that in mind, here's why I still found the game to be an absolute must play:
The dragons are addicting. I love feeding them and seeing them, literally, grow. I wanted to keep feeding them any new equipment I found to see how it changed their stats. Maybe it would alter their appearance, as well. Some of the forms are a bit naff, but the cool ones are hella rad. Seeing them learn new attacks and blasting away entire armies was exciting. I left off in the middle of so many chapters because I wanted to feed my friends all the new spoils from the last battle. It can get a lot tedious for some of the less noticeable and hard to raise stats, but I spent millions of gold on mushrooms for a reason, and I have no regrets. It's weird to say this, but once I got Salamondo to the rank of immortal, I kinda lost interest in the game. Not enough to quit, obviously, but I just wanted to feed them more. I hope this didn't awaken anything in me? This is definitely the main point of Bahamut's Lagoon. Not the story. It is this strange mechanic from which the rest of the game is built around.
Along the lines, the way dragons' strength is how our humans learn new moves ties it all together. It's not just the dragons that learn and grow when we feed them, but we do, too. When they gain new magic or techniques, we do too. It's a two-for-one power move, and you hold all the power. Admittedly, when you rush to max stats, you kinda reach the ceiling pretty fast. Gear only helps to make these spells stronger so much, so there's a pretty heavy wall when you near the end.
Which might not actually be that bad. Despite being godlike early on, there's the occasional mini boss around to test you. Alchemic, the dragon, shows up twice. Both times, he's terrifying. Sure, you can let Salamundo do all the work, but that's slow and boring. You want to get in there, but that might be the end of you. You really have to pick and choose when/if you go in. It feels like a war.
The formations screen leaves for a lot of experimentation. Is it possible for six mixed groups to wander the battlefield? It gives you four parties that can heal, rather than one and a mediocre second. Four groups with a mage can take down a wall or freeze a lake faster than one. Should I have split up my cross knights? Yoyo never fought beside her love interests once... Two summoners? C'mon! Maybe it was something I should have done earlier in the game against various monsters. If you're against something weak to fire, I could have put three wizards with Salamundo to make their flame gaze spell stronger. Ditto with Fafnir and ice magic. Not that there's a lot of reason to do this since elemental weaknesses are few and far between. Something to think about, at least. I wonder if assassin techniques are good? Man, can you imagine the mini devil squad fully healing a boss late in the game? Wouldn't that be a thing worth gambling for...
And all of this combines into the battle system. The entire game is a combination of Pokemon, Fire Emblem, and Final Fantasy that works so well and smoothly that you can't help but love it. The new spells that I talked about already, the dragon stats, the up close and personal turn base like portions, the strategy sized battle maps with terrain and obstacles all make the game vibrant and interesting. For reasons I hope to never understand, I loved walking into a side quest and blowing up the entire map. And you can do that for nearly every mission. Sap a wall, freeze a lake, burn a forest: the world is my plaything! We're not on empty fields on grass, but we're in cities with weather. The maps are varied and attractive, and I wonder if there's a secret on a random square somewhere. Usually. Caves are, well, caves, and Rainbow Road is a questionable place for a final boss, though. I wish these could have been utilized more. For example, what could have happened if we destroyed the Temple of Memories in Kahne with thunder gale? I had plans to play a Fire Emblem game early next year, and I will be harshly judging it against this random Square RPG no one's ever heard of.
Bahamut Lagoon is a combination of several RPG genres melded into one. Some parts don't fit right, but they could be salvageable. But what hits slaps hard, and they hold up twenty five years later. I held off on replaying this game because I didn't want to deal with the tedium of dragon feeding. Instead, it became my entire reason to keep playing. The combat kept me going even when I had maxed out my team, and the story works well enough to give it teeth. There are a lot of options in the dialogue that might make the game feel fresh on a second playthrough. Byuu's the loudest silent protag ever. A part of me wants to see if the Hard Dungeon is as hard as RPGClassics said it is, but do I want to play on New Game +? I mean, yeah... Fun is fun, and I might figure out who Sauzer really is. There are also these weird dragon forms I never bothered with...
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Monday, December 27, 2021
The New Era
We're at the Temple of Alexander, the closest thing to a final dungeon this game could have. It's the last act, so let's finish this!
Chapter Twenty Six: Alexander, King of the Holy Dragons
We're all at the door to the Temple of Alexander, the Holy Dragon responsible for Orelus' past, the Holy Dragon's ire, and Yoyo's pain. Without him closing the gate to Orelus, Sauser doesn't conquer the world, and we don't come here. Actions have consequences.
When you're ready to go, speak to Matelite. He'll go tell something to Palpaleous because this may be the last thing both are alive. He asks Byuu if he should say everything or a shorter version of it. I wanted to hear it all, but I don't know if it matters. As Matelite begins, the world starts shaking. Alexander is done waiting.
The battle's goal is to kill Alexander. He's in the back and hard to find because the only square we can target is the same color as the washed out background. We're against more of the ring mages, nine advanced temple knights, and three groups of healers. I went after the mages first because I didn't want them to summon. They're pretty fragile, and they still use Armageddon. I still think they're the worst thing on the board. Go after the middle because the other two will swarm in. This lets you attack with your summons and black magic to attack everyone. The dark scepters can use self destruct, so watch out for that. While all this is going on, Alexander will be in the back, lobbing Heaven's Rage in a wide AoE. Let your dragons do the closeup stuff because Al has a hard time hitting them. At this point, my six attack dragons have max stats and can win any battle alone.
Once it's over, we'll all be happy. It's short lived, though, as the screen begins to shake again. Dragontites are around the Temple, and they're being used as they're supposed to. So it seems there's one last battle!
Final Chapter: We, Who Cannot See into Tomorrow
It's the last time to prepare. At this point, though, you should only need to buy items. Make sure you have 99 magic gins, high drugs, and litancibles. You're gonna need them for this long, drawn out final boss. Speak to Matelite when you're ready. I don't recall if this was optional dialog or not, but Yoyo has a plan to stop Alexander from being revived again.
We're in a strange dimension with a technicolored, kaleidoscopic floor of unicorn vomit. This was the only thing I remembered about the game from my dark ages. The goal is to defeat Alexander, and there's only one target. But where do we hit him? And which head? There are four targets that blend in terribly with the sprite. The head in the upper right is responsible for healing. The upper left one casts dragon attacks that our guys can do. The lower left can do some nasty status, and the middle one is the one we need to slay. This one uses summon magic on us. When you attack it, we'll get a message saying it didn't work. It indicates we need to take out the other heads first. What order you do this in probably doesn't matter, but I took out the lower left one first, which I think was correct. This killed Byuu, stoned a few others, and did some other debuffs to us. It's also where a lot of our characters start, so it just made sense. I finished off the healer boy next before taking on the elemental lad. After that, I let the dragons partake in the traditional RPG style attacks while we lobbed spells from afar. This is why you need to make sure you're full up on items. You will take several thousand points of damage every turn, so hope Alexander spreads his love around. Use the drugs to heal up and the litancibles to get back up because you don't want your dragons wasting their turns to heal. Everyone but Matelite's group ran out of MP twice, hence the need for the magic gins. I ended up using half of my high drugs and a quarter of gins. We've got to take out just under 150000 HP, so be prepared. It doesn't matter, but Yoyo and Leviathan got the final hit.
As he did last time, Alexander will begin his reviving process. But Yoyo starts her plan. She asks Palpaleos, Sendak, Matelite, and Byuu to help her. The others do instantly, but we need some prodding. Yoyo tells us we're still someone important to her, and we get in formation. What else were we gonna do? Fight forever? Yoyo will begin to call out to Alexander and use her dragnar powers to force him into her mind. We'll see the spirit of Alexander plunge into the group, throwing us aside. Palpal wonders if Yoyo is fine, but she quickly gets up to confirm she is. This whole journey has made her strong. With the help of our dragons, comrades outside, Dragonmaster, and the Lucilia crew, she's outgrown her "weak mind," and another Holy Dragon won't harm her further. But what about the rest of the Holy Dragons? Is the war still waging on? At this point, no. Several dragonites step forward, each one being reborn into the Holy Dragons we've met. Alexander, though, does not get one. They're out of usable lizardfolk, and we think it would be trouble anyway. Yoyo, by her own admission, seems fine with having the emotions of this "Holy" Dragon in her mind. With this now settled, it's time to return to Orelus. Palpal and Yoyo walk pass, and Yoyo makes some motion towards us as she goes. It doesn't seem to work, so Matelite has to do it. He knows we're struggling with a broken heart, but he knows that Byuu is special. He thanks us for our work and gives us enough energy to return. He asks how we'll make our return, and I select "laughing." We laugh before our friends as the final cutscenes happen.
We start with our first comrades, the Kahne Dragon Squad of Rush, Truce, and Bikkebakke. The four of us are outside the house that Byuu returned to after the fall of Kahne. Apparently, this was Byuu's house, but we're giving it to these three now. They start to reminisce on everything, but they quickly stop and finish with a simple sentence. "I'm glad we met."
We cut to Lukia, looking for Danfan in Mahal. The new King is to be crowned, and our annoying lancer thinks it's him. Lukia hits him and says that it's Taicho. Taicho is with Gunso in the throne room of Mahal, but he's unsure if he deserves the title. Gunso assures him he's the only one suitable. Jeanne, Lukia, and Donfan rush in and agree.
Palpaleos is around Sauser's still empty bed. He laments that his friend is gone even if the world is at peace. Despite everything, Palpal thinks the Emperor started a war to bring peace. Whatever... We jump to him on the terrace where the two once watched the sky. Two people rush in and demand that Palpal owe up to starting the war. The two thugs pull out knives, and Palpaleos seems to put up no fight. There's no definitive answer if he's dead, but it's sensible.
We jump to Yoyo in her med in Kahne. She gets a sudden chill as Sendak enters the room. Yoyo asks where Matelite is, and Sendak says he's muttering to himself in front of the throne, as is usual. Matelite has a soliloquy about his friends. He's proud that Yoyo has become strong and that Byuu has become a great knight. He's happy to have such good friends and knows Kahne is in good hands.
We get some final narration telling us all the nations of the world, including Granbelos, have made a peace treaty and formed one country. So Souzer wins twice, I guess. Meanwhile, Byuu had been selected to watch over the skies of the new world. "Together with that dragon of legend..."
More narration happens, but I think this is Bikkebakke talking now. He sums up our adventure, the Holy Dragon War, and the new era we've opened. He's unsure what that new era really is, but, since we can't see into tomorrow, it doesn't matter. Life is about dreaming and trying to achieve those dreams. Living is a difficult thing, and we should always be looking towards tomorrow. He then tells us that Alexander has chosen to stay in Orelus to be the guardian dragoon, whatever that means. He finishes by wondering how much time has passed since the world's name was changed to... "Bahamut Lagoon."
The credits roll as we see one last glimpse of some of our characters. Matelite is watching over Kahne, Taicho is standing near to where the Rainbow Bridge was seen, and the mini devils are dancing somewhere. Finally, we see Byuu traveling the skies on a dragon that doesn't look like Salamundo. ...?
The End
Chapter Twenty Six: Alexander, King of the Holy Dragons
We're all at the door to the Temple of Alexander, the Holy Dragon responsible for Orelus' past, the Holy Dragon's ire, and Yoyo's pain. Without him closing the gate to Orelus, Sauser doesn't conquer the world, and we don't come here. Actions have consequences.
When you're ready to go, speak to Matelite. He'll go tell something to Palpaleous because this may be the last thing both are alive. He asks Byuu if he should say everything or a shorter version of it. I wanted to hear it all, but I don't know if it matters. As Matelite begins, the world starts shaking. Alexander is done waiting.
The battle's goal is to kill Alexander. He's in the back and hard to find because the only square we can target is the same color as the washed out background. We're against more of the ring mages, nine advanced temple knights, and three groups of healers. I went after the mages first because I didn't want them to summon. They're pretty fragile, and they still use Armageddon. I still think they're the worst thing on the board. Go after the middle because the other two will swarm in. This lets you attack with your summons and black magic to attack everyone. The dark scepters can use self destruct, so watch out for that. While all this is going on, Alexander will be in the back, lobbing Heaven's Rage in a wide AoE. Let your dragons do the closeup stuff because Al has a hard time hitting them. At this point, my six attack dragons have max stats and can win any battle alone.
Once it's over, we'll all be happy. It's short lived, though, as the screen begins to shake again. Dragontites are around the Temple, and they're being used as they're supposed to. So it seems there's one last battle!
Final Chapter: We, Who Cannot See into Tomorrow
It's the last time to prepare. At this point, though, you should only need to buy items. Make sure you have 99 magic gins, high drugs, and litancibles. You're gonna need them for this long, drawn out final boss. Speak to Matelite when you're ready. I don't recall if this was optional dialog or not, but Yoyo has a plan to stop Alexander from being revived again.
We're in a strange dimension with a technicolored, kaleidoscopic floor of unicorn vomit. This was the only thing I remembered about the game from my dark ages. The goal is to defeat Alexander, and there's only one target. But where do we hit him? And which head? There are four targets that blend in terribly with the sprite. The head in the upper right is responsible for healing. The upper left one casts dragon attacks that our guys can do. The lower left can do some nasty status, and the middle one is the one we need to slay. This one uses summon magic on us. When you attack it, we'll get a message saying it didn't work. It indicates we need to take out the other heads first. What order you do this in probably doesn't matter, but I took out the lower left one first, which I think was correct. This killed Byuu, stoned a few others, and did some other debuffs to us. It's also where a lot of our characters start, so it just made sense. I finished off the healer boy next before taking on the elemental lad. After that, I let the dragons partake in the traditional RPG style attacks while we lobbed spells from afar. This is why you need to make sure you're full up on items. You will take several thousand points of damage every turn, so hope Alexander spreads his love around. Use the drugs to heal up and the litancibles to get back up because you don't want your dragons wasting their turns to heal. Everyone but Matelite's group ran out of MP twice, hence the need for the magic gins. I ended up using half of my high drugs and a quarter of gins. We've got to take out just under 150000 HP, so be prepared. It doesn't matter, but Yoyo and Leviathan got the final hit.
As he did last time, Alexander will begin his reviving process. But Yoyo starts her plan. She asks Palpaleos, Sendak, Matelite, and Byuu to help her. The others do instantly, but we need some prodding. Yoyo tells us we're still someone important to her, and we get in formation. What else were we gonna do? Fight forever? Yoyo will begin to call out to Alexander and use her dragnar powers to force him into her mind. We'll see the spirit of Alexander plunge into the group, throwing us aside. Palpal wonders if Yoyo is fine, but she quickly gets up to confirm she is. This whole journey has made her strong. With the help of our dragons, comrades outside, Dragonmaster, and the Lucilia crew, she's outgrown her "weak mind," and another Holy Dragon won't harm her further. But what about the rest of the Holy Dragons? Is the war still waging on? At this point, no. Several dragonites step forward, each one being reborn into the Holy Dragons we've met. Alexander, though, does not get one. They're out of usable lizardfolk, and we think it would be trouble anyway. Yoyo, by her own admission, seems fine with having the emotions of this "Holy" Dragon in her mind. With this now settled, it's time to return to Orelus. Palpal and Yoyo walk pass, and Yoyo makes some motion towards us as she goes. It doesn't seem to work, so Matelite has to do it. He knows we're struggling with a broken heart, but he knows that Byuu is special. He thanks us for our work and gives us enough energy to return. He asks how we'll make our return, and I select "laughing." We laugh before our friends as the final cutscenes happen.
We start with our first comrades, the Kahne Dragon Squad of Rush, Truce, and Bikkebakke. The four of us are outside the house that Byuu returned to after the fall of Kahne. Apparently, this was Byuu's house, but we're giving it to these three now. They start to reminisce on everything, but they quickly stop and finish with a simple sentence. "I'm glad we met."
We cut to Lukia, looking for Danfan in Mahal. The new King is to be crowned, and our annoying lancer thinks it's him. Lukia hits him and says that it's Taicho. Taicho is with Gunso in the throne room of Mahal, but he's unsure if he deserves the title. Gunso assures him he's the only one suitable. Jeanne, Lukia, and Donfan rush in and agree.
Palpaleos is around Sauser's still empty bed. He laments that his friend is gone even if the world is at peace. Despite everything, Palpal thinks the Emperor started a war to bring peace. Whatever... We jump to him on the terrace where the two once watched the sky. Two people rush in and demand that Palpal owe up to starting the war. The two thugs pull out knives, and Palpaleos seems to put up no fight. There's no definitive answer if he's dead, but it's sensible.
We jump to Yoyo in her med in Kahne. She gets a sudden chill as Sendak enters the room. Yoyo asks where Matelite is, and Sendak says he's muttering to himself in front of the throne, as is usual. Matelite has a soliloquy about his friends. He's proud that Yoyo has become strong and that Byuu has become a great knight. He's happy to have such good friends and knows Kahne is in good hands.
We get some final narration telling us all the nations of the world, including Granbelos, have made a peace treaty and formed one country. So Souzer wins twice, I guess. Meanwhile, Byuu had been selected to watch over the skies of the new world. "Together with that dragon of legend..."
More narration happens, but I think this is Bikkebakke talking now. He sums up our adventure, the Holy Dragon War, and the new era we've opened. He's unsure what that new era really is, but, since we can't see into tomorrow, it doesn't matter. Life is about dreaming and trying to achieve those dreams. Living is a difficult thing, and we should always be looking towards tomorrow. He then tells us that Alexander has chosen to stay in Orelus to be the guardian dragoon, whatever that means. He finishes by wondering how much time has passed since the world's name was changed to... "Bahamut Lagoon."
The credits roll as we see one last glimpse of some of our characters. Matelite is watching over Kahne, Taicho is standing near to where the Rainbow Bridge was seen, and the mini devils are dancing somewhere. Finally, we see Byuu traveling the skies on a dragon that doesn't look like Salamundo. ...?
The End
Sunday, December 26, 2021
To Altair
Why do I keep going to places called Altair?
Chapter Twenty Three: Destruction
Finally, a nice and short chapter. After the hell that was the last, it's welcome. The only plot here is the Battlefield Salesman retires from being a merchant. He wants to protect his family now. He gives Rush all of his stuff, thinking he'll be a great peddler. He offers Truce a word of advice. He says nothing to Bikkebakke because he already likes Bikke. Gudolf is in the back, and we have to kill him.
Order the dragons to "Come" until you take out the first group just to make sure they don't get too far ahead. Along the way, you'll notice glowing eyes in the relief paintings on the walls. If you stand in front of them, they will shoot you. The damage can be pretty severe, so avoid stopping in front of them or use a lightning skill to destroy them. Line up your characters at the foot of the stairs and march up together when you're ready. Nothing is that bad, but the boss does have some more massive AoE spells. Because of that, my lancer squad died again. The treasures around the map are pretty good, so try to get them.
Afterwards, Yoyo gives Palpal a hug.
Chapter Twenty Four: To the Homeland...
As soon as we're back in the Lucilia, the hole in the sky opens up. We're sucked in against our control, but we want to go anyway, so it's no big deal. It's another short chapter prep, so we cut right to the fighting. All dialogue is optional, but this was where it's confirmed Zora's Son is named after the planet.
The battles really are getting harder, especially if you're not paying attention. I thought I was going up against a few undead, some mages, another Alchemist dragon, and the boss, Veltim. All we have to do is kill Veltim, but good luck. You see, there are actually two types of mages. One class will summon in zombies every turn, and the other will teleport them behind our front lines. Take out as many as you can in round one, and then rush the mages. They're not much easier when you're near them as they can use apocalypse, a spell you should know well if you're paying attention to your mages. It's not too bad, and you should survive. Just make sure to heal. Remember, using items outside of battle doesn't use your turn. The mages are fragile and need to be eliminated ASAP. When you get close to the boss, you'll need to climb stairs to the south of them. Guarding Veltim is our old pal, Alchemic. He's got the same tricks as before, but even more HP. Even if it's just the two of them, their massive HP pools and AoE range are still likely to kill several members of your team. The lancer squad AND my wizard team got wiped out in this battle. My wizards got one shooted... But with enough healing and an immortal dragon, I managed to squeak through a victory.
Chapter Twenty Five: Eternal Travelers
As Byuu walks around the room, voices begin to talk to him. But not just to him; Everyone hears them. Something phases into existence, and it's later revealed that this is a dragonite. This game came out before Pokemon, by the way. This dude lets us in on some missing information about the Holy Dragon War. Essentially, the Holy Dragons used Orelus as a playing ground to fight. That we knew, but it turns out they enjoyed it. I assume it was a bit friendly, at least at the start. Bahamut eventually decided to egg it all on and become the bad guy. But then the gateway closed. It was sealed shut by another Holy Dragon, Alexander. Ever since then, Alexander has taken all of the dragonites to make sure the other Holy Dragons can not be revived. You see, a Holy Dragon's spirit is immortal. Their body, though, is not. If the body dies, then the soul travels about until it meets a willing dragonite and becomes real again. The dragonites look humanoid, so this seems weird. Yoyo and the Holy Dragons ask if there are any dragonites for such an event. The man says no because they're all either too old, or too young. A boy joins us for this last part, but I don't remember exactly what he said. "Grandpa" thinks Alexander has some around just in case something happens to him. So it looks like we're hearing to Alexander's Temple soon.
Before we left, I sold all the gear I wasn't using because I'm sick of dragons being low on MP. I bought so many Magic Gins to get their MP to 999. Right now, only Fafnir is under 400, with Minimunu being halfway to max. The dragonite boy is also there, and he can hear the voice of our dragons. He translates what they say, and they all thank me for feeding them. I think they even said they love me. I'm so happy. <3
The battle looks tricky, and it definitely can get there. The goal is to defeat Lucrec, but there are two groups of two of her. I set my dragons to "Go," and they took out the mages. I think those are summoners, so hallelujah! But then the fun begins. Lucrec seems to only have one move, and that's a skill that turns the statues around the field into mobs. These mobs have high HP, but the dragons can keep them at bay. Killing the Lucrecs, though, is a long process. You'll need to kill both in the group at the same time, or else they'll survive to make a copy at max HP. Or, you can do the easy part. Three of the Lucrecs are fake, and you only need to kill the real one. She'll have the most health, and it's pretty clear who has it once you see numbers on the screen. Take her out, and the battle ends. With three maxed out agility light armors, I got to them in quick succession.
We'll enter the chamber of Alexander tomorrow!
We're at the end of the game now. Only two more fights to go, and I feel like this is a perfect length for the game. I'm at that phase where I think I might be bored, but I'm right there. I really should finish this!
By the way, I did the new side quest, Situation Critical. It's nothing special. Decent EXP, I guess, if you need it. Since much of the fighting is out of characters' attack range, you might be able to get your mages to kill steal from your dragons.
Chapter Twenty Three: Destruction
Finally, a nice and short chapter. After the hell that was the last, it's welcome. The only plot here is the Battlefield Salesman retires from being a merchant. He wants to protect his family now. He gives Rush all of his stuff, thinking he'll be a great peddler. He offers Truce a word of advice. He says nothing to Bikkebakke because he already likes Bikke. Gudolf is in the back, and we have to kill him.
Order the dragons to "Come" until you take out the first group just to make sure they don't get too far ahead. Along the way, you'll notice glowing eyes in the relief paintings on the walls. If you stand in front of them, they will shoot you. The damage can be pretty severe, so avoid stopping in front of them or use a lightning skill to destroy them. Line up your characters at the foot of the stairs and march up together when you're ready. Nothing is that bad, but the boss does have some more massive AoE spells. Because of that, my lancer squad died again. The treasures around the map are pretty good, so try to get them.
Afterwards, Yoyo gives Palpal a hug.
Chapter Twenty Four: To the Homeland...
As soon as we're back in the Lucilia, the hole in the sky opens up. We're sucked in against our control, but we want to go anyway, so it's no big deal. It's another short chapter prep, so we cut right to the fighting. All dialogue is optional, but this was where it's confirmed Zora's Son is named after the planet.
The battles really are getting harder, especially if you're not paying attention. I thought I was going up against a few undead, some mages, another Alchemist dragon, and the boss, Veltim. All we have to do is kill Veltim, but good luck. You see, there are actually two types of mages. One class will summon in zombies every turn, and the other will teleport them behind our front lines. Take out as many as you can in round one, and then rush the mages. They're not much easier when you're near them as they can use apocalypse, a spell you should know well if you're paying attention to your mages. It's not too bad, and you should survive. Just make sure to heal. Remember, using items outside of battle doesn't use your turn. The mages are fragile and need to be eliminated ASAP. When you get close to the boss, you'll need to climb stairs to the south of them. Guarding Veltim is our old pal, Alchemic. He's got the same tricks as before, but even more HP. Even if it's just the two of them, their massive HP pools and AoE range are still likely to kill several members of your team. The lancer squad AND my wizard team got wiped out in this battle. My wizards got one shooted... But with enough healing and an immortal dragon, I managed to squeak through a victory.
Chapter Twenty Five: Eternal Travelers
As Byuu walks around the room, voices begin to talk to him. But not just to him; Everyone hears them. Something phases into existence, and it's later revealed that this is a dragonite. This game came out before Pokemon, by the way. This dude lets us in on some missing information about the Holy Dragon War. Essentially, the Holy Dragons used Orelus as a playing ground to fight. That we knew, but it turns out they enjoyed it. I assume it was a bit friendly, at least at the start. Bahamut eventually decided to egg it all on and become the bad guy. But then the gateway closed. It was sealed shut by another Holy Dragon, Alexander. Ever since then, Alexander has taken all of the dragonites to make sure the other Holy Dragons can not be revived. You see, a Holy Dragon's spirit is immortal. Their body, though, is not. If the body dies, then the soul travels about until it meets a willing dragonite and becomes real again. The dragonites look humanoid, so this seems weird. Yoyo and the Holy Dragons ask if there are any dragonites for such an event. The man says no because they're all either too old, or too young. A boy joins us for this last part, but I don't remember exactly what he said. "Grandpa" thinks Alexander has some around just in case something happens to him. So it looks like we're hearing to Alexander's Temple soon.
Before we left, I sold all the gear I wasn't using because I'm sick of dragons being low on MP. I bought so many Magic Gins to get their MP to 999. Right now, only Fafnir is under 400, with Minimunu being halfway to max. The dragonite boy is also there, and he can hear the voice of our dragons. He translates what they say, and they all thank me for feeding them. I think they even said they love me. I'm so happy. <3
The battle looks tricky, and it definitely can get there. The goal is to defeat Lucrec, but there are two groups of two of her. I set my dragons to "Go," and they took out the mages. I think those are summoners, so hallelujah! But then the fun begins. Lucrec seems to only have one move, and that's a skill that turns the statues around the field into mobs. These mobs have high HP, but the dragons can keep them at bay. Killing the Lucrecs, though, is a long process. You'll need to kill both in the group at the same time, or else they'll survive to make a copy at max HP. Or, you can do the easy part. Three of the Lucrecs are fake, and you only need to kill the real one. She'll have the most health, and it's pretty clear who has it once you see numbers on the screen. Take her out, and the battle ends. With three maxed out agility light armors, I got to them in quick succession.
We'll enter the chamber of Alexander tomorrow!
We're at the end of the game now. Only two more fights to go, and I feel like this is a perfect length for the game. I'm at that phase where I think I might be bored, but I'm right there. I really should finish this!
By the way, I did the new side quest, Situation Critical. It's nothing special. Decent EXP, I guess, if you need it. Since much of the fighting is out of characters' attack range, you might be able to get your mages to kill steal from your dragons.
Saturday, December 25, 2021
The End
It's a Christmas double dip.
Chapter Twenty: The Sky of Sadness
It's the morning after the restoration of Kahne, and we're outside the walls. Party hardy? Some kids run up to us and say that this is our spot. But it used to be our spot. Eventually, they reveal that they love the Dragon Squad and even named their dog after Salamundo. Bikkebakke is upset because the eight million pounds of mushrooms I bought off of him didn't yield enough to buy a house with. So if you ever think housing prices are crazy in America, be glad you're not in Kahne. Talk to Minimuni to return to Lucilia.
We're all lined up like we once were at the start of the game in the bridge. Only the original crew are here, and we get a slight glimpse of how much everyone's changed. We're supposed to wait around for Matelite, but you should explore first. A thing I skimmed over in the last update was we get to make a baby dragon. The new dragon takes on the stats of its parents, and since my dragons are maxed, Puppy needs one stat in everything. When you meet him, he poops on you, which you can eat. There's a legend about it; it's weird; Bahamut shows you memories of the future... Feed it to him, and he'll, after a heal, become a seventh Master Dragon. The game only allows for six parties in battle, so he's kinda just there with only 2400 HP, too. Walk to the front of the deck and check the statue. There are two presents, but you can only get one for some reason. I chose the crews because they spent all their money on a wide assortment of stuff. Return to the bridge when you're done.
Matelite speech this time is the best in the game. It doesn't add to the story, but it's peak hilarity. Sendak collapsed last night, so he might be dying soon. He's not dead yet, but he wrote a will, which will now be read. In case Sendak dies, Byuu is to be the captain. Since Sendak is out of commission, for now, this makes Byuu the acting captain. I feel like I've been the guy in charge, so this changed nothing. The scene is funner than I described it, I promise. After this, Matelite asks Papalous to do something, but Taicho tries to do it. He fails, so Palpal does it. He climbs to the ceiling and replaces the flag of Kahne with the new flag of the Orelus Freedom Force! Speak to Hornet, and we'll be off to the Empire's Sky Fortress.
Palpalous will inform us that the ship is powered by a Holy Dragon. Sendak can be used in battle, so he's definitely not dead. As for the battle proper, that's not a treasure, I think. Let your dragons go and avoid the security thingies. The goal is to kill Irvine, who I thought died in the last battle. Let us kill enemies, Bahamut Lagoon!
When we win, we'll enter the lair of Hyperion! Everyone is terrified because the Holy Dragon's anger can be felt by everyone. In the back of the room is the new, de facto Emperor, Golduf. He taunts us before using the secret exit in the floor. Yoyo quickly gets on with the plot, and Hyperion summons her. She enters his room and says some goodbyes to everyone. There are words of encouragement to everyone, but she tells Byuu to do his job... Yoyo speaks to the Holy Dragon and admits she's weak. However, Emperor Sauzeer, somehow, enters, and the two of them talk. They talk of anger, and he asks to be freed from Hyperion's. Hyperion tells them to lead the way "to the land of tranquility." The era lies there: the new era of Holy Dragons once more. Palpal enters the room, and Sauser asks him to take him to the sky...
Chapter Twenty one: The Holy Dragon, Bahamut
It's a long scene where Sauser dies. It's poignant and heartfelt, but I'm with Matelite here. Sauser can speak to the Dragons because he made a deal with monsters. The rest of the story is about The Holy Dragon War that came about when the hole in the sky opened up, and the Dragons went to war against their elder, Bahamut. This war devastated the planet, and even the Dragons themselves didn't do well. It's why the Dragons reside within Yoyo's mind and why they're not in their room after she speaks to them. All the Dragon's anger is directed towards him, and they all want to go home. Is the new era in that other world? Does it involve human causalities? The only way to really know is to speak to Bahamut.
The goal of the battle is to defeat Gryphon. He's flanked by bunnies and a team of healers. I murdered the poor, adorable bunnies, then focused the mages. They're grouped together, so a few AoE spells do it quickly.
We're before Bahamut, and Yoyo does something her father never could: speak to our defender. She asks all the Dragons to talk to each other and even go to war if need be. Yoyo believes she can corral them. Bahamut talks to her and is the first to call her a Dragnar. She's officially ascended because she can keep her mind even when it's filled with the Holy Dragons. He keeps talking about the Holy Dragon Legend, and Yoyo asks about the new era. Bahamut can't see it, so he asks her to combine all the Dragons' minds into one. That's the way to open the door. Yoyo says she will...She returns to reality, and she demands to head to the airship. She wants to get to Altair, the land of the Holy Dragons.
Chapter Twenty two: The Final Battle
We see a scene where Gudolf, still alive, takes charge of the Empire. He gives a farewell speech, blowing off Sauzer at his own funeral. We cut back to the party, and Palaleous asks where the door is. She responds, "Granbelos." We see the door open above the lagoon. Be sure to speak to him at some point to learn a touching memorizing from when Yoyo was a child. The key party members discuss more in depth the legend and history of the planet. It clears up a few things, but I have to wonder how they know that. Yoyo, I can understand, but why Sendak, Palpal, or Truce. Truce does get some jabs in at Palpal for starting a war that killed a bunch of people...including the King. Talk to Hornet when we're ready to go. Before we do anything, we're attacked. Granbelos isn't finished yet, but we're about to do so.
Don't group up in the middle of the field. This is actually a hard battle because of all the cannons, including one massive one that can target most of the field in a giant AoE. Zeigfried can one shot three parties in one blast, so don't group up in the front courtyard. There's also a dragon, Lenderbaffe. Once again, Irvine is here, and our goal is to kill Gudolf. Keep your dragons on "Come" because they're really stupid here. They love flying over the battlefield and going after targets we're not ready for. There's easy EXP right here, moron. Take it! Not only does this waste turns killing near dead mobs, but it's more HP/MP damage, and it draws the boss mobs forward. I kept trying to take out both giant cannons, but that was foolish. Keep all of your characters on one side. I had Byuu and Sal take out the mini cannon in the corner. This may take three rounds and don't be afraid to run back to your healer. Because Siegfried, Lenderbaffe, and Gusolf have massive AoE spells, I was unable to keep everyone alive. My lancer squad and Minumuni are my first team that died in a battle. It's rough, man.
As Gusolf drowned, he yelled that this isn't over yet, so I guess I'll have to kill him for a third time...
...tomorrow.
All I want for Christmas is to kill a boss in Bahamut Lagoon.
Chapter Twenty: The Sky of Sadness
It's the morning after the restoration of Kahne, and we're outside the walls. Party hardy? Some kids run up to us and say that this is our spot. But it used to be our spot. Eventually, they reveal that they love the Dragon Squad and even named their dog after Salamundo. Bikkebakke is upset because the eight million pounds of mushrooms I bought off of him didn't yield enough to buy a house with. So if you ever think housing prices are crazy in America, be glad you're not in Kahne. Talk to Minimuni to return to Lucilia.
We're all lined up like we once were at the start of the game in the bridge. Only the original crew are here, and we get a slight glimpse of how much everyone's changed. We're supposed to wait around for Matelite, but you should explore first. A thing I skimmed over in the last update was we get to make a baby dragon. The new dragon takes on the stats of its parents, and since my dragons are maxed, Puppy needs one stat in everything. When you meet him, he poops on you, which you can eat. There's a legend about it; it's weird; Bahamut shows you memories of the future... Feed it to him, and he'll, after a heal, become a seventh Master Dragon. The game only allows for six parties in battle, so he's kinda just there with only 2400 HP, too. Walk to the front of the deck and check the statue. There are two presents, but you can only get one for some reason. I chose the crews because they spent all their money on a wide assortment of stuff. Return to the bridge when you're done.
Matelite speech this time is the best in the game. It doesn't add to the story, but it's peak hilarity. Sendak collapsed last night, so he might be dying soon. He's not dead yet, but he wrote a will, which will now be read. In case Sendak dies, Byuu is to be the captain. Since Sendak is out of commission, for now, this makes Byuu the acting captain. I feel like I've been the guy in charge, so this changed nothing. The scene is funner than I described it, I promise. After this, Matelite asks Papalous to do something, but Taicho tries to do it. He fails, so Palpal does it. He climbs to the ceiling and replaces the flag of Kahne with the new flag of the Orelus Freedom Force! Speak to Hornet, and we'll be off to the Empire's Sky Fortress.
Palpalous will inform us that the ship is powered by a Holy Dragon. Sendak can be used in battle, so he's definitely not dead. As for the battle proper, that's not a treasure, I think. Let your dragons go and avoid the security thingies. The goal is to kill Irvine, who I thought died in the last battle. Let us kill enemies, Bahamut Lagoon!
When we win, we'll enter the lair of Hyperion! Everyone is terrified because the Holy Dragon's anger can be felt by everyone. In the back of the room is the new, de facto Emperor, Golduf. He taunts us before using the secret exit in the floor. Yoyo quickly gets on with the plot, and Hyperion summons her. She enters his room and says some goodbyes to everyone. There are words of encouragement to everyone, but she tells Byuu to do his job... Yoyo speaks to the Holy Dragon and admits she's weak. However, Emperor Sauzeer, somehow, enters, and the two of them talk. They talk of anger, and he asks to be freed from Hyperion's. Hyperion tells them to lead the way "to the land of tranquility." The era lies there: the new era of Holy Dragons once more. Palpal enters the room, and Sauser asks him to take him to the sky...
Chapter Twenty one: The Holy Dragon, Bahamut
It's a long scene where Sauser dies. It's poignant and heartfelt, but I'm with Matelite here. Sauser can speak to the Dragons because he made a deal with monsters. The rest of the story is about The Holy Dragon War that came about when the hole in the sky opened up, and the Dragons went to war against their elder, Bahamut. This war devastated the planet, and even the Dragons themselves didn't do well. It's why the Dragons reside within Yoyo's mind and why they're not in their room after she speaks to them. All the Dragon's anger is directed towards him, and they all want to go home. Is the new era in that other world? Does it involve human causalities? The only way to really know is to speak to Bahamut.
The goal of the battle is to defeat Gryphon. He's flanked by bunnies and a team of healers. I murdered the poor, adorable bunnies, then focused the mages. They're grouped together, so a few AoE spells do it quickly.
We're before Bahamut, and Yoyo does something her father never could: speak to our defender. She asks all the Dragons to talk to each other and even go to war if need be. Yoyo believes she can corral them. Bahamut talks to her and is the first to call her a Dragnar. She's officially ascended because she can keep her mind even when it's filled with the Holy Dragons. He keeps talking about the Holy Dragon Legend, and Yoyo asks about the new era. Bahamut can't see it, so he asks her to combine all the Dragons' minds into one. That's the way to open the door. Yoyo says she will...She returns to reality, and she demands to head to the airship. She wants to get to Altair, the land of the Holy Dragons.
Chapter Twenty two: The Final Battle
We see a scene where Gudolf, still alive, takes charge of the Empire. He gives a farewell speech, blowing off Sauzer at his own funeral. We cut back to the party, and Palaleous asks where the door is. She responds, "Granbelos." We see the door open above the lagoon. Be sure to speak to him at some point to learn a touching memorizing from when Yoyo was a child. The key party members discuss more in depth the legend and history of the planet. It clears up a few things, but I have to wonder how they know that. Yoyo, I can understand, but why Sendak, Palpal, or Truce. Truce does get some jabs in at Palpal for starting a war that killed a bunch of people...including the King. Talk to Hornet when we're ready to go. Before we do anything, we're attacked. Granbelos isn't finished yet, but we're about to do so.
Don't group up in the middle of the field. This is actually a hard battle because of all the cannons, including one massive one that can target most of the field in a giant AoE. Zeigfried can one shot three parties in one blast, so don't group up in the front courtyard. There's also a dragon, Lenderbaffe. Once again, Irvine is here, and our goal is to kill Gudolf. Keep your dragons on "Come" because they're really stupid here. They love flying over the battlefield and going after targets we're not ready for. There's easy EXP right here, moron. Take it! Not only does this waste turns killing near dead mobs, but it's more HP/MP damage, and it draws the boss mobs forward. I kept trying to take out both giant cannons, but that was foolish. Keep all of your characters on one side. I had Byuu and Sal take out the mini cannon in the corner. This may take three rounds and don't be afraid to run back to your healer. Because Siegfried, Lenderbaffe, and Gusolf have massive AoE spells, I was unable to keep everyone alive. My lancer squad and Minumuni are my first team that died in a battle. It's rough, man.
As Gusolf drowned, he yelled that this isn't over yet, so I guess I'll have to kill him for a third time...
...tomorrow.
All I want for Christmas is to kill a boss in Bahamut Lagoon.
Master Dragons
I really enjoy playing the game, but the story is not sticking in my brain. I recall vague happenings from the scenes, but when I go to write them down *poof*. All gone. It's not half bad, either, so I feel bad. I may end up just chunking through the writings because of that. And because I really want to play more.
Chapter Seventeen: A Door to a New Era
We start tonight will all the Holy Dragons we've encountered so far around Yoyo. They talk among each other about Yoyo and worry she may not be the one able to usher in a new era. She can barely handle the Dragons she has now, and there is still Bahamut out there. The screen flashes, and the Dragons are replaced by several party members. The mini devils enter the room to give a message to Matelite from Rush. It seems that being a part of the liberation army of the desert has roused something in him, and now he's staging a bit of a mutiny. Byuu is forced to go along with it for reasons never stated. Rush drags Byuu around the stores for the only chance to buy things this chapter (but not really), and the mini devils stage their own revolution. Several times through this, we can hear Matelite pound on the door outside. He tries to smooth things over with whatever is we're doing, but Rush gives him no ear. We go to feed the dragons outside, which Rush does under our supervision, and then we go to talk to Matelite. Or...so we had hoped.
As we reenter, the skies above us begin to open up. Like, literally. From the hole come monsters that attack the ship. Yoyo and Matelite get through the door, and Yoyo tries to say something. Matelite stops her because we have to defend the ship first. He acts as though the mutiny never happened, and Rush seems remorseful.
Before you do anything, do a side quest. After its completion, we can get to the deck of the ship like we normally would with access to the shops and dragons. It was at this time that I got my first, second, and third Master Dragons. Stats for Ruhk, Molten, and Fafnir are maxed out. The other three are a bit off, but Salamundo is in striking distance. I was able to get Twinhead and Salamundo in the next chapter and Minimuni before chapter nineteen's battle. I've 3/4ths through the game with end game stats, so the battles are going to be pretty easy. This next one, especially.
Thanks to all of the massive AoE magic we've got from the dragons, we can chunk several groups' HP at once. The EXP for doing so reaches 10000. I don't know if it's because my healer squad is so underleveled, but it feels so nice. With 5x5 spells, immortal dragons, and the best gear we can equip, we make short work of Dictory. ...Dictory?
One last ball of light comes out from the hole in the sky and flies off just as it closes. We cut to Sauser and Palpaleos, and the Palpaleos tells his boss what happened with "the disaster in the sky." We cut to a terrace, and Emperor tells his subordinate that he should join the Resistance. Palpal doesn't speak any objections, but it's clear that he doesn't really want to. This order is made because Sauser seems to be having some regrets about his war. What's it doing to children? "Protect the one you care for the most." Sauser then says, "I am darkness."
Chapter Eighteen: The Promised Land
It's a similar scene to last time with the Holy Dragons around Yoyo. They're asking each other about what happened before, blaming Bahamut for it. Yoyo is awake this time and asks if it's because she's "weak minded"?
We finally get to explore the ship again, so you might as well check in our allies. Some of them are interesting, especially if you've been following through on their journey and interactions. A few are a bit bland, though, sadly. Poor Lance-Lance-Lancers! But the target is Yoyo's room. It's blocked by Rush and Truce trying to overhear Matelite talking to Yoyo. She wants Byuu to be here, but he has a suspicion he's listening in and starts. Matelite asks Yoyo what happened in the sky, so she asks him if he knows the legend. He sums it up in his words as being a boon for Kahne. She', however, thinks it much for vague. Suddenly, Matelite remembers the stuff about being "weak minded." He tries to hide it, Taicho almost speaks it, and Matelite throws everyone out of the room save for the two important people. Rush gets the idea that we can crash the rest of the speech by riding a dragon up to the terrace. He gets on Salaundo but sees them already up there. Matelite continues his speech talking about the future. What he'll do when he gets old. Apparently, he's already up there compared to most of the cast. He wants to see Yoyo becomes Queen and rule over Kahne. He offers flattering remarks towards Byuu and the others, saying the kingdom is in good hands with them. He ends it worrying that he's become just like Sendak already since he's rambling. He is, by the way. The scenes in this game can take a while, so that might be why I'm forgetting so much. Matelite leaves Yoyo to be with her thoughts just as Byuu is dropped in. Rush leaves with Salamundo, but I'm sure if this was our human's intent.
Yoyo is upset at herself for making everyone worry but goes to tell Byuu her dream. But then she doesn't because she's afraid speaking it will make it disappear. She then runs off just as Minimuni drops in the scene. He's been scouting ahead for the ball of light that ran off in the last chapter. Apparently, it can speak and says it's in Kahne's Church of Memories. Catching up to Yoyo has her asking us if we remember it, and the game replays the scene from chapter one when we found Matelite's memory. It's the lovey-dovey one where Yoyo and Byuu had an impromptu date there years ago. "But [Yoyo's] changed so much since then"... Grab her ??? and talk to Hornet on the bridge.
We cut back to Yoyo first, though, still on her terrace. She remembers a scene with Palpaleous where the same scene played out almost the exact same way, just with him replacing Byuu. Yoyo dumps on Salamundo, saying Palpal's dragon is faster. Break my heart, fine, but is there a need to break his? Poor, Byuu.
The battle is against a bunch of mobs, and the goal is to defeat Ixett to the northwest. He lets his goonies go ahead and never really gets involved. That makes it a lot easier, but I still died here. You see, while most of the mobs are weak, there is one dragon off to the east that can, and will, mess you up. I tried to fight it with Byuu, but I couldn't survive two rounds against it. I took Salamundo, my wizard team, and my white mages over and let their dragons do the work. An immortal Salamundo will win against Alchemic. Dude can't even hit him! Another thing to worry about is the temple guards will cast self destruct when they're low on HP. This blows them up, robbing you of EXP, items, and gold, but it's also likely to kill a party member. Remember, if Byuu dies, then it's game over. But I didn't mention the fun part: Palpaleous is on this map. His faster-than-Salamando-dragon isn't there, though. It knows. He'll just stand over, what I think is, the Church of Memories and not do much but use Fire moves to burn down our forests.
We'll meet up with Palpal just outside the Church. He's wounded, so Byuu helps him. Everyone leaves except for Byuu, Palpal, and Yoyo. The three of them enter, and Yoyo decides that she's in love with Palpal here. She doesn't say it, but it's pretty clear. How often does our main hero not get the girl in JRPGs? It's neat, but I kinda hate it here. This is the guy who killed your dad, imprisoned you, and conquered your kingdom, Yoyo. I know he wasn't the guy in charge, but "just following orders" doesn't make you innocent. Anyway, I made some choices that gave Byuu a sense of uncertainty and will keep doing so for a while.
Chapter Nineteen: Farewell, Matelite!
This chapter is all about Palpaleous joining the team. No one seems all that against it except this player. Maybe you're fine with it? We start outside the gates of Kahne with an annoying haze filter over it. We can stock on supplies, get our last master Dragon, and upgrade equipment. Afterwards, Palpal tells us all of the Empire's Generals are here, and he suggests a divide-and-conquer strategy to defeat them.
I did this by summoning Leviathan to freeze the lake to our southwest. This created a bridge we could walk across and went up the coast, killing the generals. I forgot Taicho should have gotten the last shot on Lestat, so I'm bad. Taking on the groups one at a time makes this an easy battle. The final group has two cure mobs, so take them out before ganging up on Goldalf. I popped Palpal into Byuu's group, so I'm sorry, Truce fans. I want double powered Cross Knight spells, though.
Afterwards, the crowning of Queen Yoyo will take place. Matelite isn't there, so there's a sense of concern. Despite that, we carry on. Yoyo officially introduces Palpaleos. She talks to Byuu, but I answer inconclusively. I know what it's like to see the woman I love fall for another man, so I can relate to our MC. That night, we all dance in the fields outside the castle. Yoyo and Palpal; Reeve and Frienze; Melodia and a mini devil; I think there was another... In the background, Matelite does some things and reveals he snuck off to make Matelite brand fireworks! Even later, Matelite is dancing with Taicho, asking him questions about Yoyo. It's funny enough, I guess.
We'll see the fallout of the, potential, death of the Empire tomorrow.
Bahamut Lagoon goes back to comedy far too often. That might be another reason why I don't remember what happens much. There's too much useless nonsense intermixed with the important plot. The humor isn't that good or even character developing, and it really breaks up the flow. But we've got all of our characters, maxed out dragons, and enough money to deck us out going forward. All that's left is to find the last Holy Dragons and figure out what's going on in the world of Orelus.
Chapter Seventeen: A Door to a New Era
We start tonight will all the Holy Dragons we've encountered so far around Yoyo. They talk among each other about Yoyo and worry she may not be the one able to usher in a new era. She can barely handle the Dragons she has now, and there is still Bahamut out there. The screen flashes, and the Dragons are replaced by several party members. The mini devils enter the room to give a message to Matelite from Rush. It seems that being a part of the liberation army of the desert has roused something in him, and now he's staging a bit of a mutiny. Byuu is forced to go along with it for reasons never stated. Rush drags Byuu around the stores for the only chance to buy things this chapter (but not really), and the mini devils stage their own revolution. Several times through this, we can hear Matelite pound on the door outside. He tries to smooth things over with whatever is we're doing, but Rush gives him no ear. We go to feed the dragons outside, which Rush does under our supervision, and then we go to talk to Matelite. Or...so we had hoped.
As we reenter, the skies above us begin to open up. Like, literally. From the hole come monsters that attack the ship. Yoyo and Matelite get through the door, and Yoyo tries to say something. Matelite stops her because we have to defend the ship first. He acts as though the mutiny never happened, and Rush seems remorseful.
Before you do anything, do a side quest. After its completion, we can get to the deck of the ship like we normally would with access to the shops and dragons. It was at this time that I got my first, second, and third Master Dragons. Stats for Ruhk, Molten, and Fafnir are maxed out. The other three are a bit off, but Salamundo is in striking distance. I was able to get Twinhead and Salamundo in the next chapter and Minimuni before chapter nineteen's battle. I've 3/4ths through the game with end game stats, so the battles are going to be pretty easy. This next one, especially.
Thanks to all of the massive AoE magic we've got from the dragons, we can chunk several groups' HP at once. The EXP for doing so reaches 10000. I don't know if it's because my healer squad is so underleveled, but it feels so nice. With 5x5 spells, immortal dragons, and the best gear we can equip, we make short work of Dictory. ...Dictory?
One last ball of light comes out from the hole in the sky and flies off just as it closes. We cut to Sauser and Palpaleos, and the Palpaleos tells his boss what happened with "the disaster in the sky." We cut to a terrace, and Emperor tells his subordinate that he should join the Resistance. Palpal doesn't speak any objections, but it's clear that he doesn't really want to. This order is made because Sauser seems to be having some regrets about his war. What's it doing to children? "Protect the one you care for the most." Sauser then says, "I am darkness."
Chapter Eighteen: The Promised Land
It's a similar scene to last time with the Holy Dragons around Yoyo. They're asking each other about what happened before, blaming Bahamut for it. Yoyo is awake this time and asks if it's because she's "weak minded"?
We finally get to explore the ship again, so you might as well check in our allies. Some of them are interesting, especially if you've been following through on their journey and interactions. A few are a bit bland, though, sadly. Poor Lance-Lance-Lancers! But the target is Yoyo's room. It's blocked by Rush and Truce trying to overhear Matelite talking to Yoyo. She wants Byuu to be here, but he has a suspicion he's listening in and starts. Matelite asks Yoyo what happened in the sky, so she asks him if he knows the legend. He sums it up in his words as being a boon for Kahne. She', however, thinks it much for vague. Suddenly, Matelite remembers the stuff about being "weak minded." He tries to hide it, Taicho almost speaks it, and Matelite throws everyone out of the room save for the two important people. Rush gets the idea that we can crash the rest of the speech by riding a dragon up to the terrace. He gets on Salaundo but sees them already up there. Matelite continues his speech talking about the future. What he'll do when he gets old. Apparently, he's already up there compared to most of the cast. He wants to see Yoyo becomes Queen and rule over Kahne. He offers flattering remarks towards Byuu and the others, saying the kingdom is in good hands with them. He ends it worrying that he's become just like Sendak already since he's rambling. He is, by the way. The scenes in this game can take a while, so that might be why I'm forgetting so much. Matelite leaves Yoyo to be with her thoughts just as Byuu is dropped in. Rush leaves with Salamundo, but I'm sure if this was our human's intent.
Yoyo is upset at herself for making everyone worry but goes to tell Byuu her dream. But then she doesn't because she's afraid speaking it will make it disappear. She then runs off just as Minimuni drops in the scene. He's been scouting ahead for the ball of light that ran off in the last chapter. Apparently, it can speak and says it's in Kahne's Church of Memories. Catching up to Yoyo has her asking us if we remember it, and the game replays the scene from chapter one when we found Matelite's memory. It's the lovey-dovey one where Yoyo and Byuu had an impromptu date there years ago. "But [Yoyo's] changed so much since then"... Grab her ??? and talk to Hornet on the bridge.
We cut back to Yoyo first, though, still on her terrace. She remembers a scene with Palpaleous where the same scene played out almost the exact same way, just with him replacing Byuu. Yoyo dumps on Salamundo, saying Palpal's dragon is faster. Break my heart, fine, but is there a need to break his? Poor, Byuu.
The battle is against a bunch of mobs, and the goal is to defeat Ixett to the northwest. He lets his goonies go ahead and never really gets involved. That makes it a lot easier, but I still died here. You see, while most of the mobs are weak, there is one dragon off to the east that can, and will, mess you up. I tried to fight it with Byuu, but I couldn't survive two rounds against it. I took Salamundo, my wizard team, and my white mages over and let their dragons do the work. An immortal Salamundo will win against Alchemic. Dude can't even hit him! Another thing to worry about is the temple guards will cast self destruct when they're low on HP. This blows them up, robbing you of EXP, items, and gold, but it's also likely to kill a party member. Remember, if Byuu dies, then it's game over. But I didn't mention the fun part: Palpaleous is on this map. His faster-than-Salamando-dragon isn't there, though. It knows. He'll just stand over, what I think is, the Church of Memories and not do much but use Fire moves to burn down our forests.
We'll meet up with Palpal just outside the Church. He's wounded, so Byuu helps him. Everyone leaves except for Byuu, Palpal, and Yoyo. The three of them enter, and Yoyo decides that she's in love with Palpal here. She doesn't say it, but it's pretty clear. How often does our main hero not get the girl in JRPGs? It's neat, but I kinda hate it here. This is the guy who killed your dad, imprisoned you, and conquered your kingdom, Yoyo. I know he wasn't the guy in charge, but "just following orders" doesn't make you innocent. Anyway, I made some choices that gave Byuu a sense of uncertainty and will keep doing so for a while.
Chapter Nineteen: Farewell, Matelite!
This chapter is all about Palpaleous joining the team. No one seems all that against it except this player. Maybe you're fine with it? We start outside the gates of Kahne with an annoying haze filter over it. We can stock on supplies, get our last master Dragon, and upgrade equipment. Afterwards, Palpal tells us all of the Empire's Generals are here, and he suggests a divide-and-conquer strategy to defeat them.
I did this by summoning Leviathan to freeze the lake to our southwest. This created a bridge we could walk across and went up the coast, killing the generals. I forgot Taicho should have gotten the last shot on Lestat, so I'm bad. Taking on the groups one at a time makes this an easy battle. The final group has two cure mobs, so take them out before ganging up on Goldalf. I popped Palpal into Byuu's group, so I'm sorry, Truce fans. I want double powered Cross Knight spells, though.
Afterwards, the crowning of Queen Yoyo will take place. Matelite isn't there, so there's a sense of concern. Despite that, we carry on. Yoyo officially introduces Palpaleos. She talks to Byuu, but I answer inconclusively. I know what it's like to see the woman I love fall for another man, so I can relate to our MC. That night, we all dance in the fields outside the castle. Yoyo and Palpal; Reeve and Frienze; Melodia and a mini devil; I think there was another... In the background, Matelite does some things and reveals he snuck off to make Matelite brand fireworks! Even later, Matelite is dancing with Taicho, asking him questions about Yoyo. It's funny enough, I guess.
We'll see the fallout of the, potential, death of the Empire tomorrow.
Bahamut Lagoon goes back to comedy far too often. That might be another reason why I don't remember what happens much. There's too much useless nonsense intermixed with the important plot. The humor isn't that good or even character developing, and it really breaks up the flow. But we've got all of our characters, maxed out dragons, and enough money to deck us out going forward. All that's left is to find the last Holy Dragons and figure out what's going on in the world of Orelus.
Friday, December 24, 2021
Jormungand...r
As I expected, Mist is able to join us here. I threw her with Yoyo, so our summoner/backup healer can move further. Might want to put her with another mage squad, though. It's up to you. I replaced her with Truce, who, in turn, replaced Don Juan. I don't like him, so he's in the reserves with the four mini devils. Yes, four.
On to the battle! We're in a cave, but it's smaller than most of the maps in a while. There's treasure all about, including in a room you need to use earth magic on. But like before, some of them are traps. The middle one in the secret room and the one in the lower right corner damage your party. The goal here is to kill the boss, Giant Moth. Once again, the dragons do everything, and Salamundo makes the best tank. Try to avoid a traditional battle with the deflesh mobs. They can, and will, one shot even the heavy armors. We finally had a casualty in BL, but our priest squad could revive them.
Afterwards, Yoyo tells us the Holy Dragons are excited, and Garuda will call her into his room. It's a very short scene, and Yoyo informs the Dragon that its ilk is here. She'll begin to glow and be rocketed out of the room. She'll wonder how he can be so angry and pass out. We'll all rush back to the Lucilia.
Chapter fifteen: Showdown in the Burning Sands
Hornet tells us the ship is in the middle of a thundercloud en route to the desert lagoon of Dalya. Does this explain why the lighting is so so bad? More importantly, we get a flashback with Hornet. He's in a bar, and Emperor Souzer comes him. The two of them are a long history together, and the Emperor even asks Hornet to join his army. He's a cross knight like Byuu. Hornet, though, is through fighting and never wants to take up the sword again. Sazuer leaves but asks his friend if he can ride on his airship one day? We return to the present, and Hornet reads a letter he's received from Sauser. It told him the location of another Holy Dragon, Jormungand. He'll be waiting for us there...
We're in the middle of a sandstorm, but it's inconsequential. Occasionally, it'll blow and damage our party, but it's only for 250 damage. Get in a structure if you don't want to take it. Shockingly, the dragons did most of the work here. But being able to actually invest in our characters will let us do something. The win condition is to defeat Emperor Sauzer. General Palpaleos is here, but he's tertiary. But he is fragile... Before the fighting begins, they'll both wonder where Yoyo is. She's got the same illness that Sauzer had and is recuperating in her room. Because she's not unable to be here, Sendak will be a squad leader again. There are sandpits in the area, and a good water/ice spell will freeze them. Neither Palpal nor Sauzer pose much of a threat to us. Maybe if one of them came down from his city and double teamed us...
We'll rejoin under the impression that the war is over! With one thing in our path done, we go to look for the whereabouts of the Holy Dragon. Everyone leaves this to us. I don't know if this was an Empire town, but it's a sketchy place. The local leader has old school Muslim vibes and is forcing women to join his harem. Some join willingly because they're poor, but I'm not a fan of what's going on. But I'm not the only one. There's a Freedom Resistance group. Talk to "sketchy person" who joins our party, and he'll give you the secret password. Explore around town and get the mountain of dragon food/money, then head to the southeast house. Speak the password, and we'll enter the resistance front. There are two assassins behind the crates that we can get to join our party if you want. I paid them 3000 gold to kill Matelite, and I'm sure that's a good use of funds. But talk to the leader in the back.
Wait until dark, and his plan comes to fruition. I don't think you can fail this. Rush, Truce, and Bikkebakke join the group that infiltrates the castle while we guard the town's exit. Everyone chases the King out of his house, and we have to catch him. He runs fast, so spam select. The King strips off his clothes and gets away, but we win anyway. That night we have a party, during which "Rush becomes a man," "Truce becomes a man," "Bikkebakke was already a man." Cool? We wake up the next morning, and the city seems like a normal place, but we don't get to explore.
Chapter sixteen: The Holy Dragon Jormungand
Everyone is crowding around Yoyo's bed. Suddenly, she goes Super Saiyan and jolts out of bed. A Holy Dragon is calling her... She's feeling better, but not fully, so we try to stabilize her. Matelite informs her that we defeated Sauser and Palpaleos because he thinks it'll make her feel better. it kinda does, but then she falls again into a dreamlike state. She sees Palaleos over her shoulder, and the two talk for a moment. It's interrupted by him turning into Garuda, wondering if this is her desire? It's a very simple thing for a dragon. Garuda says that he senses Sauser and Palpaleos are still alive. He finally warns again about the future, their powers, and their goals before she returns to reality.
We cut to Byuu back in town. Matelite informs us, rudely, that the location of the next Dragon has been found. Do what you will in this short area, but try to return to town to get the Battlefield Merchant, his wife, and the resistance leader on screen. Yoyo's back, as are the two assassins. The newbies aren't in a group, so maybe I shouldn't have paid them 3000 to kill Matelite? Regardless, let's get to battle.
It's filled with mobs weak to dragons and healing. Defeat the boss, Soul Cage, to advance.
We're before the lair of Jormungand, who might be the biggest plot dump yet. He lets us know that the Holy Dragons used to be just like humans. They were filled with emotions and reasons to live until they started to fight against each other. This was when the current era began, and we can no longer get off the course. What's left is the brains of the Holy Dragons. He says that Yoyo is a better fit than "the other one" that can speak to Dragons before the scene ends. Yoyo exists from the empty room, and we're asked to save.
Chapter seventeen is tomorrow!
Seriously, just let us kill a boss, Bahamut Lagoon devs!
On to the battle! We're in a cave, but it's smaller than most of the maps in a while. There's treasure all about, including in a room you need to use earth magic on. But like before, some of them are traps. The middle one in the secret room and the one in the lower right corner damage your party. The goal here is to kill the boss, Giant Moth. Once again, the dragons do everything, and Salamundo makes the best tank. Try to avoid a traditional battle with the deflesh mobs. They can, and will, one shot even the heavy armors. We finally had a casualty in BL, but our priest squad could revive them.
Afterwards, Yoyo tells us the Holy Dragons are excited, and Garuda will call her into his room. It's a very short scene, and Yoyo informs the Dragon that its ilk is here. She'll begin to glow and be rocketed out of the room. She'll wonder how he can be so angry and pass out. We'll all rush back to the Lucilia.
Chapter fifteen: Showdown in the Burning Sands
Hornet tells us the ship is in the middle of a thundercloud en route to the desert lagoon of Dalya. Does this explain why the lighting is so so bad? More importantly, we get a flashback with Hornet. He's in a bar, and Emperor Souzer comes him. The two of them are a long history together, and the Emperor even asks Hornet to join his army. He's a cross knight like Byuu. Hornet, though, is through fighting and never wants to take up the sword again. Sazuer leaves but asks his friend if he can ride on his airship one day? We return to the present, and Hornet reads a letter he's received from Sauser. It told him the location of another Holy Dragon, Jormungand. He'll be waiting for us there...
We're in the middle of a sandstorm, but it's inconsequential. Occasionally, it'll blow and damage our party, but it's only for 250 damage. Get in a structure if you don't want to take it. Shockingly, the dragons did most of the work here. But being able to actually invest in our characters will let us do something. The win condition is to defeat Emperor Sauzer. General Palpaleos is here, but he's tertiary. But he is fragile... Before the fighting begins, they'll both wonder where Yoyo is. She's got the same illness that Sauzer had and is recuperating in her room. Because she's not unable to be here, Sendak will be a squad leader again. There are sandpits in the area, and a good water/ice spell will freeze them. Neither Palpal nor Sauzer pose much of a threat to us. Maybe if one of them came down from his city and double teamed us...
We'll rejoin under the impression that the war is over! With one thing in our path done, we go to look for the whereabouts of the Holy Dragon. Everyone leaves this to us. I don't know if this was an Empire town, but it's a sketchy place. The local leader has old school Muslim vibes and is forcing women to join his harem. Some join willingly because they're poor, but I'm not a fan of what's going on. But I'm not the only one. There's a Freedom Resistance group. Talk to "sketchy person" who joins our party, and he'll give you the secret password. Explore around town and get the mountain of dragon food/money, then head to the southeast house. Speak the password, and we'll enter the resistance front. There are two assassins behind the crates that we can get to join our party if you want. I paid them 3000 gold to kill Matelite, and I'm sure that's a good use of funds. But talk to the leader in the back.
Wait until dark, and his plan comes to fruition. I don't think you can fail this. Rush, Truce, and Bikkebakke join the group that infiltrates the castle while we guard the town's exit. Everyone chases the King out of his house, and we have to catch him. He runs fast, so spam select. The King strips off his clothes and gets away, but we win anyway. That night we have a party, during which "Rush becomes a man," "Truce becomes a man," "Bikkebakke was already a man." Cool? We wake up the next morning, and the city seems like a normal place, but we don't get to explore.
Chapter sixteen: The Holy Dragon Jormungand
Everyone is crowding around Yoyo's bed. Suddenly, she goes Super Saiyan and jolts out of bed. A Holy Dragon is calling her... She's feeling better, but not fully, so we try to stabilize her. Matelite informs her that we defeated Sauser and Palpaleos because he thinks it'll make her feel better. it kinda does, but then she falls again into a dreamlike state. She sees Palaleos over her shoulder, and the two talk for a moment. It's interrupted by him turning into Garuda, wondering if this is her desire? It's a very simple thing for a dragon. Garuda says that he senses Sauser and Palpaleos are still alive. He finally warns again about the future, their powers, and their goals before she returns to reality.
We cut to Byuu back in town. Matelite informs us, rudely, that the location of the next Dragon has been found. Do what you will in this short area, but try to return to town to get the Battlefield Merchant, his wife, and the resistance leader on screen. Yoyo's back, as are the two assassins. The newbies aren't in a group, so maybe I shouldn't have paid them 3000 to kill Matelite? Regardless, let's get to battle.
It's filled with mobs weak to dragons and healing. Defeat the boss, Soul Cage, to advance.
We're before the lair of Jormungand, who might be the biggest plot dump yet. He lets us know that the Holy Dragons used to be just like humans. They were filled with emotions and reasons to live until they started to fight against each other. This was when the current era began, and we can no longer get off the course. What's left is the brains of the Holy Dragons. He says that Yoyo is a better fit than "the other one" that can speak to Dragons before the scene ends. Yoyo exists from the empty room, and we're asked to save.
Chapter seventeen is tomorrow!
Seriously, just let us kill a boss, Bahamut Lagoon devs!
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Onward to Godland: Home of Devils
I got off to a late start, but I wanted something special to do first. I did a few side quests to get enough weapons and armor. I fed them to all six of my dragons, and I now have six of the most powerful dragons forms in the game. Everyone is either a holy dragon or a dark dragon, and I feel strong. Really need more MP, though.
So let's start a fight. We're in a poisoned cave that's perfect for our new draconic powers. It's a real slow trek for our human characters, but no problem if you can fly. We need to either walk through a poisoned swamp, one step at a time, or through a narrow hallway that closes every other turn. And then we need to do it again before the final room. Just set the dragons to "Go," and cast magic on the poison puddles to get EXP. Many of the monsters are undead, so a wise dragon can do damage and heal at the same time. The goal is to defeat Persona, who has no backstory.
Afterwards, Taicho will take us to Yoyo's room in the middle of the night. Seems sus, but okay. We'll wake up Yoyo, and she'll tell us to leave. As we do, she'll ask us to wait, and we'll go to the deck and talk about the sky. Once that's over, we'll return to her room, and Taicho will tell us he had some other information that he couldn't tell anyone else. After the scene with Goldolf, he continued deeper into the Imperial Capital. He ended up stumbling into Palpaleos. Taicho pretended to be a merchant, and the two men had a conversation. They talked about their love, but the main point of it was that Palpal had a message he wanted to tell Yoyo. "I'll forget about you." Yoyo will run out to the terrace again, but Taicho won't let us follow after her. He saw the emotions in her eyes. At this point, you can grab Yoyo's ??? from her bed. It has a function in dragon feeding if you find all five of them, but I missed one. You should get it anyway because it sells for 30000 gold. As we leave her room, many of our comrades will be outside the door. I don't know why, but the scene fades to black.
Chapter Thirteen: The Magic City of Godland
One of our young wizards, Melodia, and the mini devil squad will be on the bridge. Hornet wants them out because they're annoying, but they're excited to be going home to Gotland. That's pretty much the entire plot for this chapter, so let's get to the battle.
It's a massive city guarded by the boss, Radia, his army of undead, his backup army of annoying humans, and several incubators. I'll tell you know now that these incubators have some great treasures in them. I'm glad I finished feeding my dragons for now because I can actually use these new weapons and armor. However, many are traps, and additional mobs will exit from them. Don't cross the bridge over the water, and you'll have plenty of time to get the treasure. Once you smash the incubators far to the sides and in front of the river, the battle gets tough. The humanoid mobs each have an immunity to one type of damage, physical or magical. Dragons love to spam magic moves on the guys immune to magic, so good luck. And since I haven't been decking out my characters that well, our DPS isn't that great. While the blade guards and magic guards tanks, they can do some high damage with a move called nightmare, as well. I don't think it can kill, but it sure as hefl can chunk an entire parties HP. Even dragons aren't fond of it. Fortunately, a Holy Form Salamundo has infinite HP and makes for a great tank. Once they're dead, you can get the stuff in front of Radia. But be warned. There's a superboss in one of them that has over 9000 HP. It's very undead and weak to holy, so try to save some MP for this. I used my first item in the game, an elixir on Yoyo, to make sure no one died. Radia, himself, can do a stronger version of nightmare, so it's worth keeping your white mages supplied. But without any additional targets, Radia, who starts the battle with over 9999 HP, doesn't put up that much of a fight.
Chapter Fourteen: When the Bird Dragon Awakes
We get to explore the city of Gotland, so I hope no one is too upset we just blew large portions of it up. Matelite wonders why Gotland didn't put up much of a fight against the Empire, and Taicho reminds him that only half of the nations we've encountered so far have. They put us in charge of whatever it is we're here for, so let's go looking for the Holy Dragon. Find the various sundries in castes, boxes, and drawers around town. Yoyo won't let us into the house in the bottom right because Melodia is talking to her family. Head to the top left. A man won't let us in now, so head to the top right. Donfan hits on a woman until Lukia drags him out. Speak to the woman in front of the tree, and Donfan will hit on her, too. I hate characters like this... Eventually, he'll let her know that she's standing next to Byuu of Kahne. This causes the woman to ask us to follow her. She leads us past the guard, and we'll see a woman lying in bed. We know this person! This is Mist, one of the guards of Kahne in the prologue. She's not well and hasn't been since the fall of her kingdom. Matelite will come in, and the two will get to talking. Someone's gotta, and Byuu ain't gonna do it. She'll tell us that she's only alive because an enemy general saved her and brought her here to recuperate. That general was Susua Palpaleos. Yoyo will enter to request he speak to Melodia in her house.
Two more mini devils will smash us against the wall, apparently joining the crew. But, as Yoyo said, we see Melodia and her grandpa. He's thrilled to see his granddaughter again after she left randomly in the night. She responds that he's known for doing that as well, and he laughs about this odd genetic trait in his family. He has a strange conversation with himself that I didn't get, but Matelite, Sendak, and Yoyo eventually join us. When they get here, grandpa tells us a story about the could be Holy Dragon of Gotland. Everyone thinks this could be Garuda, and Yoyo gets a sense that he's angry. Grandpa gives us a clue about Garuda's whereabouts, so we all head to the center of town. Mist is there, I think, but we'll figure out the rest...
...tomorrow!
This is a good time to let my dragons starve. I'm in desperate need of character upgrades, and the shop in town is selling new wares. I planned this perfectly!
So let's start a fight. We're in a poisoned cave that's perfect for our new draconic powers. It's a real slow trek for our human characters, but no problem if you can fly. We need to either walk through a poisoned swamp, one step at a time, or through a narrow hallway that closes every other turn. And then we need to do it again before the final room. Just set the dragons to "Go," and cast magic on the poison puddles to get EXP. Many of the monsters are undead, so a wise dragon can do damage and heal at the same time. The goal is to defeat Persona, who has no backstory.
Afterwards, Taicho will take us to Yoyo's room in the middle of the night. Seems sus, but okay. We'll wake up Yoyo, and she'll tell us to leave. As we do, she'll ask us to wait, and we'll go to the deck and talk about the sky. Once that's over, we'll return to her room, and Taicho will tell us he had some other information that he couldn't tell anyone else. After the scene with Goldolf, he continued deeper into the Imperial Capital. He ended up stumbling into Palpaleos. Taicho pretended to be a merchant, and the two men had a conversation. They talked about their love, but the main point of it was that Palpal had a message he wanted to tell Yoyo. "I'll forget about you." Yoyo will run out to the terrace again, but Taicho won't let us follow after her. He saw the emotions in her eyes. At this point, you can grab Yoyo's ??? from her bed. It has a function in dragon feeding if you find all five of them, but I missed one. You should get it anyway because it sells for 30000 gold. As we leave her room, many of our comrades will be outside the door. I don't know why, but the scene fades to black.
Chapter Thirteen: The Magic City of Godland
One of our young wizards, Melodia, and the mini devil squad will be on the bridge. Hornet wants them out because they're annoying, but they're excited to be going home to Gotland. That's pretty much the entire plot for this chapter, so let's get to the battle.
It's a massive city guarded by the boss, Radia, his army of undead, his backup army of annoying humans, and several incubators. I'll tell you know now that these incubators have some great treasures in them. I'm glad I finished feeding my dragons for now because I can actually use these new weapons and armor. However, many are traps, and additional mobs will exit from them. Don't cross the bridge over the water, and you'll have plenty of time to get the treasure. Once you smash the incubators far to the sides and in front of the river, the battle gets tough. The humanoid mobs each have an immunity to one type of damage, physical or magical. Dragons love to spam magic moves on the guys immune to magic, so good luck. And since I haven't been decking out my characters that well, our DPS isn't that great. While the blade guards and magic guards tanks, they can do some high damage with a move called nightmare, as well. I don't think it can kill, but it sure as hefl can chunk an entire parties HP. Even dragons aren't fond of it. Fortunately, a Holy Form Salamundo has infinite HP and makes for a great tank. Once they're dead, you can get the stuff in front of Radia. But be warned. There's a superboss in one of them that has over 9000 HP. It's very undead and weak to holy, so try to save some MP for this. I used my first item in the game, an elixir on Yoyo, to make sure no one died. Radia, himself, can do a stronger version of nightmare, so it's worth keeping your white mages supplied. But without any additional targets, Radia, who starts the battle with over 9999 HP, doesn't put up that much of a fight.
Chapter Fourteen: When the Bird Dragon Awakes
We get to explore the city of Gotland, so I hope no one is too upset we just blew large portions of it up. Matelite wonders why Gotland didn't put up much of a fight against the Empire, and Taicho reminds him that only half of the nations we've encountered so far have. They put us in charge of whatever it is we're here for, so let's go looking for the Holy Dragon. Find the various sundries in castes, boxes, and drawers around town. Yoyo won't let us into the house in the bottom right because Melodia is talking to her family. Head to the top left. A man won't let us in now, so head to the top right. Donfan hits on a woman until Lukia drags him out. Speak to the woman in front of the tree, and Donfan will hit on her, too. I hate characters like this... Eventually, he'll let her know that she's standing next to Byuu of Kahne. This causes the woman to ask us to follow her. She leads us past the guard, and we'll see a woman lying in bed. We know this person! This is Mist, one of the guards of Kahne in the prologue. She's not well and hasn't been since the fall of her kingdom. Matelite will come in, and the two will get to talking. Someone's gotta, and Byuu ain't gonna do it. She'll tell us that she's only alive because an enemy general saved her and brought her here to recuperate. That general was Susua Palpaleos. Yoyo will enter to request he speak to Melodia in her house.
Two more mini devils will smash us against the wall, apparently joining the crew. But, as Yoyo said, we see Melodia and her grandpa. He's thrilled to see his granddaughter again after she left randomly in the night. She responds that he's known for doing that as well, and he laughs about this odd genetic trait in his family. He has a strange conversation with himself that I didn't get, but Matelite, Sendak, and Yoyo eventually join us. When they get here, grandpa tells us a story about the could be Holy Dragon of Gotland. Everyone thinks this could be Garuda, and Yoyo gets a sense that he's angry. Grandpa gives us a clue about Garuda's whereabouts, so we all head to the center of town. Mist is there, I think, but we'll figure out the rest...
...tomorrow!
This is a good time to let my dragons starve. I'm in desperate need of character upgrades, and the shop in town is selling new wares. I planned this perfectly!
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
A Second Holy Dragon
Tacho's story isn't over yet.
Chapter Ten: Rainbow Bridge
Tonight, we start with a little story about Mahal. It's called the land of miracles, but no one knows how it got such a title. There is, though, a legend about a rainbow bridge. It is said that anyone who witnesses the Rainbow Bridge form will have their wish granted. Various areas around the lagoon have become a date spot or tourist attraction as people often go searching for the Rainbow Bridge. But nobody has ever seen it...
We cut to our party in a rainy Mahal village. Taicho went to talk to his late wife without telling anyone, but he's not the only one not around. Every citizen is gone, and Matelite curses the Empire for their actions here. Half of our group goes to look for him, but Byuu and Lukia, the light armor, hang around. Lukia is acting kinda strange. From here, we can search the town. There are a few items to pick up but head to the house in the southeast. Out will come a fourth lancer, Donfan. He'll get an overly dramatic spotlight on him as he says some poetic nonsense. His name could be translated as Don Juan, an opera. And if you know anything about said opera, then you know it's about a serial womanizer. He hits on Lukia here until another woman, Jeanne, shows up. Then he hits on her. It goes on forever, which might be said about the opera... Anyway, Donfan and Jeanne join the squad, but Donfan might be optional. Sendak brings all the dragons into town, and we can get ready for the next battle.
The next fight is in, presumably, the castle of Mahal. It's filled with soldiers who are weak to dragons. Lestat is here, and he's the target. Along the way, there are four treasure chests that we can find. The bottom right is trapped, but the other three are worth getting. They're probably not, but dragon food is dragon food. Taicho did get the final blow on Lestat this time, but despite seeing him die, I'll tell ya know he's still alive. Let us kill a boss, Bahamut Lagoon!
Despite that, we cut to Taicho one more time. He's standing on a natural sky bridge talking to Celine again. It's much the same as last time. But then light billows through the clouds as it stops raining. Out of that light comes the spirit of Celine. She says how happy she is that Taicho kept his promise, and the two reconnect a bit. They each say that they miss each other, and then Celine tells her husband she was pregnant when Lestat killed her. She didn't want to inform him because she didn't know how he'd act. But I feel uncomfortable. Maybe if we had killed Lestat... Rainbows appear all around Taicho, and they two will reminisce that they would often come to his spot in search of the Rainbow Bridge. Celine's wish was for the people of Mahal to be happy and live in a world without war. Celine disappears, and Taicho promises to make it come true.
Chapter Eleven: Leviathan
We get to explore again, and there are new items. Bikkekakke is trying to expand his mushroom business and is fishing for octopus. You can try to catch one, but I'm not sure it's possible. If you turn him down, though, a scene with Donfan happens. He was hitting on Yoyo, but I won't go into details. After, we can return to the front of the town and prepare for the battle. It was at this point I bought as many of the 160 priced shrooms as I could. That one ups the Life (not HP) stat of dragons. All of my dragons now have maxed poison or life stats. All I need now are to max our elementals and physical.
But on to the battle! It takes place in a cave that only Yoyo could find. It's not said how, but I assume she followed the Holy Dragon. A few others are with her, but it's not important. The battle is against a number of new monsters, and the goal is to kill the boss, Scylla. My strategy continues to work, and the dragons do everything while the humans try to find EXP. As for formations, I added Jeanne to Byuu's squad, so now he cruises around the battlefield. I have a four man lancer squad, so the mini-devils are out of my party. Yoyo and Sendek and now flanked by a heavy armor and the guy I replaced Jeanne with. Truce, I think. Scylla laments that we have a Holy Dragon and dies even if you don't summon on her.
Byuu, Matelie, Taicho, Sendak, and Yoyo are outside a locked gate. Nothing seems to open it, and even our heavy armors can't budge it. Sendak thinks that only those with the power of a Dragnar can open it. Yoyo does her thing, and the gate opens with ease. Not wanting Yoyo to go in unguarded, Matelite tells Byuu that he should scout ahead. He only gets so far as an invisible wall blocks us. Or, I should say, we get thrown out of the room. Yoyo goes in untested, and Matelite tries to follow in. He fails. Yoyo and the Holy Dragon, Leviathan, are alone, and a dreamlike sequence happens. Leviathan wonders if Yoyo can heal the Dragon's wounds. "Our sadness... our anger..." The screen shakes as we snap back to reality, and Leviathan is no longer in the room. Yoyo tells us what she saw, and Matelite is glad that Dragons are just like humans, having emotions and whatnot. But we're all still confused.
Chapter Twelve: The Spy Operation
We start back on Emperor Sauzer. He apologizes to Palpaleous, who's not in the room, and accepts that hearing the Dragons will change him. He goes off to talk to the Dragons. Along the way, he sees monsters. "Or guards of the Holy Dragons." They ask if he's the one chosen to bring peace to their minds. They continue by acknowledging him as such because he knows his titles mean nothing. He knows the pain of fighting. And they remind us that the door to a new era can't be opened by weak minded people. Sauser collapses again, and Palpal rushes into the empty room.
We cut back to our party on the Lucilia. Matelite says that we need more information on the Empire and suggests sending a spy. He runs off to find a few suitable candidates, and we get to choose the one. He comes back with a willing Donfan, who thinks he'll check out the ladies. There's also a random, unwilling crew member. Matelite then drags Sendak in to be the third. I, however, think Matelite would be perfect! He remarks he's too famous, so he tells Taicho to do it. Taicho accepts and runs off to the dragons. We see him and Minimuni flaying away.
Sometime later...
"The perilous mission was a complete success."
Can you fail this? Donfan gets the same statement, too. But Taicho says that the Empire is in complete disarray because Sauser's illness has everyone confused. This allowed him to sneak into the crowd during a speech by Palpaleous. It's nothing to write home about, but he did see another general, Goldolf, questions Sauzer's leadership. This is also when we find out Lestat is somehow still alive... Taicho is a little annoyed that Matelite is so business first, but he takes his leave after. Our party then tries to figure out what it means. How can Sauser hear the Dragons? But don't get an answer, but we do decide our next attack. Before the Emperor gets better, we should find the Holy Dragons first. Sendak also thinks battles will be harder from here on out, so I'm actually looking forward to that. Maybe someone'll die? As we prepare, an alarm goes off, and our heavy armors jump out of the bridge. The Empire's secret weapons, Minimuni (not to be confused with our Minimuni) is about to attack us. Sendek and Hornet make us jump out the window, too, and we land on the deck of the Lucilia. Talk to Tiacho first, and he'll ask us to speak to him later in Yoyo's room. But we'll do all of that...
...tomorrow!
To the surprise of no one, I fed my dragons again. Pretty much all of them now have their elemental stats at 100, which is max. Their physical stats can go to 250, so there's a lot of work still to be done. A few are close but not enough to get off the pedal. My healer dragon is still missing some max spells, and I may have sold my fire gear a bit too soon. But we're already within striking distance of the ultimate dragon forms! I know what I want and am ready for the grind!
Chapter Ten: Rainbow Bridge
Tonight, we start with a little story about Mahal. It's called the land of miracles, but no one knows how it got such a title. There is, though, a legend about a rainbow bridge. It is said that anyone who witnesses the Rainbow Bridge form will have their wish granted. Various areas around the lagoon have become a date spot or tourist attraction as people often go searching for the Rainbow Bridge. But nobody has ever seen it...
We cut to our party in a rainy Mahal village. Taicho went to talk to his late wife without telling anyone, but he's not the only one not around. Every citizen is gone, and Matelite curses the Empire for their actions here. Half of our group goes to look for him, but Byuu and Lukia, the light armor, hang around. Lukia is acting kinda strange. From here, we can search the town. There are a few items to pick up but head to the house in the southeast. Out will come a fourth lancer, Donfan. He'll get an overly dramatic spotlight on him as he says some poetic nonsense. His name could be translated as Don Juan, an opera. And if you know anything about said opera, then you know it's about a serial womanizer. He hits on Lukia here until another woman, Jeanne, shows up. Then he hits on her. It goes on forever, which might be said about the opera... Anyway, Donfan and Jeanne join the squad, but Donfan might be optional. Sendak brings all the dragons into town, and we can get ready for the next battle.
The next fight is in, presumably, the castle of Mahal. It's filled with soldiers who are weak to dragons. Lestat is here, and he's the target. Along the way, there are four treasure chests that we can find. The bottom right is trapped, but the other three are worth getting. They're probably not, but dragon food is dragon food. Taicho did get the final blow on Lestat this time, but despite seeing him die, I'll tell ya know he's still alive. Let us kill a boss, Bahamut Lagoon!
Despite that, we cut to Taicho one more time. He's standing on a natural sky bridge talking to Celine again. It's much the same as last time. But then light billows through the clouds as it stops raining. Out of that light comes the spirit of Celine. She says how happy she is that Taicho kept his promise, and the two reconnect a bit. They each say that they miss each other, and then Celine tells her husband she was pregnant when Lestat killed her. She didn't want to inform him because she didn't know how he'd act. But I feel uncomfortable. Maybe if we had killed Lestat... Rainbows appear all around Taicho, and they two will reminisce that they would often come to his spot in search of the Rainbow Bridge. Celine's wish was for the people of Mahal to be happy and live in a world without war. Celine disappears, and Taicho promises to make it come true.
Chapter Eleven: Leviathan
We get to explore again, and there are new items. Bikkekakke is trying to expand his mushroom business and is fishing for octopus. You can try to catch one, but I'm not sure it's possible. If you turn him down, though, a scene with Donfan happens. He was hitting on Yoyo, but I won't go into details. After, we can return to the front of the town and prepare for the battle. It was at this point I bought as many of the 160 priced shrooms as I could. That one ups the Life (not HP) stat of dragons. All of my dragons now have maxed poison or life stats. All I need now are to max our elementals and physical.
But on to the battle! It takes place in a cave that only Yoyo could find. It's not said how, but I assume she followed the Holy Dragon. A few others are with her, but it's not important. The battle is against a number of new monsters, and the goal is to kill the boss, Scylla. My strategy continues to work, and the dragons do everything while the humans try to find EXP. As for formations, I added Jeanne to Byuu's squad, so now he cruises around the battlefield. I have a four man lancer squad, so the mini-devils are out of my party. Yoyo and Sendek and now flanked by a heavy armor and the guy I replaced Jeanne with. Truce, I think. Scylla laments that we have a Holy Dragon and dies even if you don't summon on her.
Byuu, Matelie, Taicho, Sendak, and Yoyo are outside a locked gate. Nothing seems to open it, and even our heavy armors can't budge it. Sendak thinks that only those with the power of a Dragnar can open it. Yoyo does her thing, and the gate opens with ease. Not wanting Yoyo to go in unguarded, Matelite tells Byuu that he should scout ahead. He only gets so far as an invisible wall blocks us. Or, I should say, we get thrown out of the room. Yoyo goes in untested, and Matelite tries to follow in. He fails. Yoyo and the Holy Dragon, Leviathan, are alone, and a dreamlike sequence happens. Leviathan wonders if Yoyo can heal the Dragon's wounds. "Our sadness... our anger..." The screen shakes as we snap back to reality, and Leviathan is no longer in the room. Yoyo tells us what she saw, and Matelite is glad that Dragons are just like humans, having emotions and whatnot. But we're all still confused.
Chapter Twelve: The Spy Operation
We start back on Emperor Sauzer. He apologizes to Palpaleous, who's not in the room, and accepts that hearing the Dragons will change him. He goes off to talk to the Dragons. Along the way, he sees monsters. "Or guards of the Holy Dragons." They ask if he's the one chosen to bring peace to their minds. They continue by acknowledging him as such because he knows his titles mean nothing. He knows the pain of fighting. And they remind us that the door to a new era can't be opened by weak minded people. Sauser collapses again, and Palpal rushes into the empty room.
We cut back to our party on the Lucilia. Matelite says that we need more information on the Empire and suggests sending a spy. He runs off to find a few suitable candidates, and we get to choose the one. He comes back with a willing Donfan, who thinks he'll check out the ladies. There's also a random, unwilling crew member. Matelite then drags Sendak in to be the third. I, however, think Matelite would be perfect! He remarks he's too famous, so he tells Taicho to do it. Taicho accepts and runs off to the dragons. We see him and Minimuni flaying away.
Sometime later...
"The perilous mission was a complete success."
Can you fail this? Donfan gets the same statement, too. But Taicho says that the Empire is in complete disarray because Sauser's illness has everyone confused. This allowed him to sneak into the crowd during a speech by Palpaleous. It's nothing to write home about, but he did see another general, Goldolf, questions Sauzer's leadership. This is also when we find out Lestat is somehow still alive... Taicho is a little annoyed that Matelite is so business first, but he takes his leave after. Our party then tries to figure out what it means. How can Sauser hear the Dragons? But don't get an answer, but we do decide our next attack. Before the Emperor gets better, we should find the Holy Dragons first. Sendak also thinks battles will be harder from here on out, so I'm actually looking forward to that. Maybe someone'll die? As we prepare, an alarm goes off, and our heavy armors jump out of the bridge. The Empire's secret weapons, Minimuni (not to be confused with our Minimuni) is about to attack us. Sendek and Hornet make us jump out the window, too, and we land on the deck of the Lucilia. Talk to Tiacho first, and he'll ask us to speak to him later in Yoyo's room. But we'll do all of that...
...tomorrow!
To the surprise of no one, I fed my dragons again. Pretty much all of them now have their elemental stats at 100, which is max. Their physical stats can go to 250, so there's a lot of work still to be done. A few are close but not enough to get off the pedal. My healer dragon is still missing some max spells, and I may have sold my fire gear a bit too soon. But we're already within striking distance of the ultimate dragon forms! I know what I want and am ready for the grind!
Tuesday, December 21, 2021
Stop burning everything!
I want other types of elemental stuff that isn't fire!
Chapter Eight: Mid Air Dragon Battle
We start with Queen Campbell remembering her first conversation with Sauzer. She tells him of the Holy Dragon myth but says he could never bring it about. He says otherwise.
We then cut to Sauzer in the present. He's in bed, and Palpaleos is near him. Sauzer asks about the dragon, and Palpal reminds him that Yoyo used her power. Palpal suggests Sauzer should remain in bed even though the Resistance is reclaiming lands. Sauzer does, and Palpal promises to stop the bleeding.
We cut again to the party en route to Mahal, home of another Holy Dragon. It's also the birthplace of Taicho. He's on watch guard duty with Matelite, daydreaming about the past. Alas, Matelite is bored and goes to plan with Sendek. He throws his job onto us, so now we have to look out for the Empire.
This sends us to a strange mini game of sorts. We have the option to wait 1-3 hours at a time. After we select the time, an event happens before we can choose again. I waited an hour every time because I'm about character. The first two hours are Taicho lamented that this is boring. But he remains resolute in guarding.
The third hour has Yoyo enter the bridge because she wants to see the sky, too. I think we accidentally sexually assault her, but she gives us a bunch of cookies regardless.
The fourth hour has Sendek trying to mimic the prior event. You can also get cookies from him.
The fifth hour is when our waiting ends. We're attacked by the Empire and their dragons!
The battle takes place outside Lucilia. We can only fight on the deck, but our dragons can take to the skies. The goal is to take out the leader, Brandung. The dragons from the characters in the back kept the enemy in the upper right at bay, while everyone took out the closest mobs in the front. By the time the boss got to us, he was practically alone, so he was easy pickings. My dragons are too strong, but so are their fire moves!
Chapter Nine: Mahal, the Continent of Miracles
We get some backstory on Taicho here. We cut to when the Empire was laying siege to Mahal. It's not totally clear why, but our hero is prepared to fight the enemy all alone. He knows this will result in his death, but it's the noble act the best warrior in Mahal should do. His underlings don't think it's wise, nor does his wife, Celine. She tries to talk Taicho out of it, but he's resolute. In response, Celine casts a spell to put him asleep. She wants him to survive, for the day is coming when Taicho will be needed to fight. Celine leads the charge against Lestat of the Empire. Lestat is annoyed Taicho isn't here and makes short work of Celine and her soldiers.
We're on the deck again, preparing to take back Mahal. Truce suggests a strategy to take out the upcoming enemy. There's a dam upriver from where the fighting will happen. If someone ends their turn on it, it'll flood the area. It's an option, I'll say that.
What I did was let my dragons do all the work. Or as much as they could with the cure sorcerers on the field. I also took Byuu and our white mage outfit north. They took out the cannons and mobs up there. By the time Byuu got to the dam, the fighting had started long ago. Somehow, all the cure sorcerers survived, and I wish my dragons were a bit less annoying with this. They never focus the things they should, so the mages kept getting away with it! The floodwaters only do 500 damage to anyone in the dark area. This hits enemies, allies, and dragons alike, so be careful. I think it's a high risk, low reward play. I timed the final battle right. Taicho didn't get the last attack, but he was in the party for it. Lestat says he's got a whole deck of cards, so maybe he didn't die?
We see Taicho at Celine's grave. He tells her that he misses her, but he's fulfilled his promise and liberated their home. He calls himself a coward because warriors shouldn't cry. But, for today, he doesn't want to be a warrior.
We'll see what Mahal has in store for us tomorrow.
I'm loving this game. Feeding dragons is oddly fun. Maybe it's because there's a chance to see them evolve, but I get a kick out of seeing new skills and old ones grow to level 40. I've done the bare minimum of character upgrades and gone all the way into making my own Holy Dragons. I just wish I could get them other spells but fire. I have enough flame gear, fellas.
Chapter Eight: Mid Air Dragon Battle
We start with Queen Campbell remembering her first conversation with Sauzer. She tells him of the Holy Dragon myth but says he could never bring it about. He says otherwise.
We then cut to Sauzer in the present. He's in bed, and Palpaleos is near him. Sauzer asks about the dragon, and Palpal reminds him that Yoyo used her power. Palpal suggests Sauzer should remain in bed even though the Resistance is reclaiming lands. Sauzer does, and Palpal promises to stop the bleeding.
We cut again to the party en route to Mahal, home of another Holy Dragon. It's also the birthplace of Taicho. He's on watch guard duty with Matelite, daydreaming about the past. Alas, Matelite is bored and goes to plan with Sendek. He throws his job onto us, so now we have to look out for the Empire.
This sends us to a strange mini game of sorts. We have the option to wait 1-3 hours at a time. After we select the time, an event happens before we can choose again. I waited an hour every time because I'm about character. The first two hours are Taicho lamented that this is boring. But he remains resolute in guarding.
The third hour has Yoyo enter the bridge because she wants to see the sky, too. I think we accidentally sexually assault her, but she gives us a bunch of cookies regardless.
The fourth hour has Sendek trying to mimic the prior event. You can also get cookies from him.
The fifth hour is when our waiting ends. We're attacked by the Empire and their dragons!
The battle takes place outside Lucilia. We can only fight on the deck, but our dragons can take to the skies. The goal is to take out the leader, Brandung. The dragons from the characters in the back kept the enemy in the upper right at bay, while everyone took out the closest mobs in the front. By the time the boss got to us, he was practically alone, so he was easy pickings. My dragons are too strong, but so are their fire moves!
Chapter Nine: Mahal, the Continent of Miracles
We get some backstory on Taicho here. We cut to when the Empire was laying siege to Mahal. It's not totally clear why, but our hero is prepared to fight the enemy all alone. He knows this will result in his death, but it's the noble act the best warrior in Mahal should do. His underlings don't think it's wise, nor does his wife, Celine. She tries to talk Taicho out of it, but he's resolute. In response, Celine casts a spell to put him asleep. She wants him to survive, for the day is coming when Taicho will be needed to fight. Celine leads the charge against Lestat of the Empire. Lestat is annoyed Taicho isn't here and makes short work of Celine and her soldiers.
We're on the deck again, preparing to take back Mahal. Truce suggests a strategy to take out the upcoming enemy. There's a dam upriver from where the fighting will happen. If someone ends their turn on it, it'll flood the area. It's an option, I'll say that.
What I did was let my dragons do all the work. Or as much as they could with the cure sorcerers on the field. I also took Byuu and our white mage outfit north. They took out the cannons and mobs up there. By the time Byuu got to the dam, the fighting had started long ago. Somehow, all the cure sorcerers survived, and I wish my dragons were a bit less annoying with this. They never focus the things they should, so the mages kept getting away with it! The floodwaters only do 500 damage to anyone in the dark area. This hits enemies, allies, and dragons alike, so be careful. I think it's a high risk, low reward play. I timed the final battle right. Taicho didn't get the last attack, but he was in the party for it. Lestat says he's got a whole deck of cards, so maybe he didn't die?
We see Taicho at Celine's grave. He tells her that he misses her, but he's fulfilled his promise and liberated their home. He calls himself a coward because warriors shouldn't cry. But, for today, he doesn't want to be a warrior.
We'll see what Mahal has in store for us tomorrow.
I'm loving this game. Feeding dragons is oddly fun. Maybe it's because there's a chance to see them evolve, but I get a kick out of seeing new skills and old ones grow to level 40. I've done the bare minimum of character upgrades and gone all the way into making my own Holy Dragons. I just wish I could get them other spells but fire. I have enough flame gear, fellas.
Monday, December 20, 2021
The plot starts.
We're doing some monster hunting. And by we, I mean the dragons.
We've got six groups of enemies with varying elemental weaknesses. I know the plants don't like fire, but I'm unsure what everything else was vulnerable to. I had the dragons set to "Go," and they did all the work. I've largely been neglecting my characters and feeding everything to the dragons, and their stats show. High wisdom, primary elements, defense, and access to several magic spells. I managed to reach the chimera, the de facto boss of this map, just in time to get the final blow. MP is the only limiting factor for dragon dominance!
After the battle, we'll see Sauzer, Palpaleos, and two guards keeping Yoyo captive. Matelite and his heavy armor squad will run forward to save her, but it goes poorly for them. Things slow down when Byuu gets there, and Palpal recognizes us. He says that Yoyo speaks of us often. Matelite demands that Saizer frees Yoyo, but he states she's here of her own will. He then asks her to listen to the dragon before them, Valitora. Yoyo tries, but she never had the ability to do so. The skill her father had did not pass on. Upset but undeterred, Sauzer says that Yoyo is free to return to her friends. She walks towards us, and Palpaleous rushes forward, grabs her arm, and pulls her away from Sauzer's attack.
A boss battle begins, and we're without our dragons. Not only that, but Byuu is the only person with more than 10 HP. Sauzer makes short work of us. I did 1600 damage, so beat that! In an attempt to save us, Yoyo tells us she lied. She can hear the voice of the dragons and does so now. Something happens, and she summons Valitora to attack Sauzer. This wounds him, and Palpal takes him away on his dragon.
Chapter Six: It's not a dream, is it...
We return to Lucilia. Everyone is excited that Yoyo is back, but she's sleeping in her room. When we talk to her, we get the impression she's scared. The dragon powers shook her, and she doesn't know what she wants. She wants us here one second but tells us to leave the next. We learn of a dream she had last night. Yoyo was speaking to Palpal, setting up a romance between the two. She asks about military strategy, but he begins to blink in and out of reality. He's replaced by Valitora, who tells her something about the legend of the holy dragons. Dragnars can hear the voice of dragons and are used to bring about a new era. Weak minded people, though, will bring about the end of the world. Vali keeps calling Yoyo "a weak minded girl."
Yoyo keeps giving mixed messages, and it annoys her caretaker, Zora. Zora hits the Princess and knocks her against the bed. Zora informs her that she's not the only one suffering in this war. Everyone on the ship is fighting for her, so Yoyo needs to make up her mind about what she wants. It works, and Yoyo gets more determined. She's now able to be put into formations.
Return to the bridge, and we'll learn that Bikkebakke has started a mushroom shop. They raise poison, but it seems painfully low. We all gather to discuss the next plan. Sendak says he understands Yoyo because he can summon too. And then we turn to Sauzer's goals. Everyone thinks he wants to use Yoyo to bring about the end of the world, so there's our early antagonist goal. But there are still holes in our knowledge... Can the King's sister teach us? Yoyo plots the liberation of Campbell with the knowledge Palpal taught her, and we head out.
We're against Zomberd again, and it seems too easy. As we approach, though, the trap is sprung! More boss type mobs show up, but our OP dragons are ready. They've given us high level magic, so our mages can contribute. This map is also huge, so everyone gets a chance.
I don't remember the next plot advancement, and I think I combined the two chapters.
Chapter Seven: The Legend of the Holy Dragons
This map has a million walls, and a new gimmick: autocannons. They automatically attack everything that ends their turn nearby, even multiple times a round. There's also a lot of cannons, so be careful. Remember to kill the cure mages before focusing Zomberd IIi.
The people of Campbell don't seem happy we freed them. All the doors are locked, so we head to the keep to speak with Queen Campbell, Yoyo's aunt. We see a few NPCs show concern that we're here. Campbell was peaceful before we showed up, and the Queen even put herself in prison to show support for the Empire. This annoys Matelite to no end, so Taicho takes him to get some air. Yoyo and Sendek come down, and we leave the royals to be alone. Explore the town to find some dragon food. We can save Bikke from a conman, meet the battlefield merchant, and buy decent gear from Matelite. Head to the inn to have a convenient with Sendak that goes nowhere because he's a strange old man. We fan also meet Zora's Son, Zora's Son, upstairs. He's the Dragon Squad leader of Campbell, but he's the only member, and his dragon doesn't listen. Wake him up, and Zora will ask if he can join the team to learn a thing or two. I say yes, and we get another dragon and lancer. With nothing else to do, return to Lucilia.
Queen Campbell will stop us and apologize for her actions. She'll tell us more about the legend, but it sounded the same to me. Her two attendants will join our team, Joy and Nelbu. One is a mage, and the other is a priest. When we leave, she'll soliloquy about how she didn't tell us everything...
But she did suggest going to the Holy Dragon of Mahal, so we'll head to Taicho's home...
... tomorrow!
I really like the combat of the game. I thought I'd hate feeding dragons, but it's all I want to do!
We've got six groups of enemies with varying elemental weaknesses. I know the plants don't like fire, but I'm unsure what everything else was vulnerable to. I had the dragons set to "Go," and they did all the work. I've largely been neglecting my characters and feeding everything to the dragons, and their stats show. High wisdom, primary elements, defense, and access to several magic spells. I managed to reach the chimera, the de facto boss of this map, just in time to get the final blow. MP is the only limiting factor for dragon dominance!
After the battle, we'll see Sauzer, Palpaleos, and two guards keeping Yoyo captive. Matelite and his heavy armor squad will run forward to save her, but it goes poorly for them. Things slow down when Byuu gets there, and Palpal recognizes us. He says that Yoyo speaks of us often. Matelite demands that Saizer frees Yoyo, but he states she's here of her own will. He then asks her to listen to the dragon before them, Valitora. Yoyo tries, but she never had the ability to do so. The skill her father had did not pass on. Upset but undeterred, Sauzer says that Yoyo is free to return to her friends. She walks towards us, and Palpaleous rushes forward, grabs her arm, and pulls her away from Sauzer's attack.
A boss battle begins, and we're without our dragons. Not only that, but Byuu is the only person with more than 10 HP. Sauzer makes short work of us. I did 1600 damage, so beat that! In an attempt to save us, Yoyo tells us she lied. She can hear the voice of the dragons and does so now. Something happens, and she summons Valitora to attack Sauzer. This wounds him, and Palpal takes him away on his dragon.
Chapter Six: It's not a dream, is it...
We return to Lucilia. Everyone is excited that Yoyo is back, but she's sleeping in her room. When we talk to her, we get the impression she's scared. The dragon powers shook her, and she doesn't know what she wants. She wants us here one second but tells us to leave the next. We learn of a dream she had last night. Yoyo was speaking to Palpal, setting up a romance between the two. She asks about military strategy, but he begins to blink in and out of reality. He's replaced by Valitora, who tells her something about the legend of the holy dragons. Dragnars can hear the voice of dragons and are used to bring about a new era. Weak minded people, though, will bring about the end of the world. Vali keeps calling Yoyo "a weak minded girl."
Yoyo keeps giving mixed messages, and it annoys her caretaker, Zora. Zora hits the Princess and knocks her against the bed. Zora informs her that she's not the only one suffering in this war. Everyone on the ship is fighting for her, so Yoyo needs to make up her mind about what she wants. It works, and Yoyo gets more determined. She's now able to be put into formations.
Return to the bridge, and we'll learn that Bikkebakke has started a mushroom shop. They raise poison, but it seems painfully low. We all gather to discuss the next plan. Sendak says he understands Yoyo because he can summon too. And then we turn to Sauzer's goals. Everyone thinks he wants to use Yoyo to bring about the end of the world, so there's our early antagonist goal. But there are still holes in our knowledge... Can the King's sister teach us? Yoyo plots the liberation of Campbell with the knowledge Palpal taught her, and we head out.
We're against Zomberd again, and it seems too easy. As we approach, though, the trap is sprung! More boss type mobs show up, but our OP dragons are ready. They've given us high level magic, so our mages can contribute. This map is also huge, so everyone gets a chance.
I don't remember the next plot advancement, and I think I combined the two chapters.
Chapter Seven: The Legend of the Holy Dragons
This map has a million walls, and a new gimmick: autocannons. They automatically attack everything that ends their turn nearby, even multiple times a round. There's also a lot of cannons, so be careful. Remember to kill the cure mages before focusing Zomberd IIi.
The people of Campbell don't seem happy we freed them. All the doors are locked, so we head to the keep to speak with Queen Campbell, Yoyo's aunt. We see a few NPCs show concern that we're here. Campbell was peaceful before we showed up, and the Queen even put herself in prison to show support for the Empire. This annoys Matelite to no end, so Taicho takes him to get some air. Yoyo and Sendek come down, and we leave the royals to be alone. Explore the town to find some dragon food. We can save Bikke from a conman, meet the battlefield merchant, and buy decent gear from Matelite. Head to the inn to have a convenient with Sendak that goes nowhere because he's a strange old man. We fan also meet Zora's Son, Zora's Son, upstairs. He's the Dragon Squad leader of Campbell, but he's the only member, and his dragon doesn't listen. Wake him up, and Zora will ask if he can join the team to learn a thing or two. I say yes, and we get another dragon and lancer. With nothing else to do, return to Lucilia.
Queen Campbell will stop us and apologize for her actions. She'll tell us more about the legend, but it sounded the same to me. Her two attendants will join our team, Joy and Nelbu. One is a mage, and the other is a priest. When we leave, she'll soliloquy about how she didn't tell us everything...
But she did suggest going to the Holy Dragon of Mahal, so we'll head to Taicho's home...
... tomorrow!
I really like the combat of the game. I thought I'd hate feeding dragons, but it's all I want to do!
Sunday, December 19, 2021
The quest to save Yoyo continues!
Remind me to get chapter titles later.
Chapter Two: The Legend we Dreamed of...
We think we know where our soon-to-be Queen is being held captive by the evil General Sauzer, so it's off to Campbell. I broke sequence and talked about the plot last night, so I'll skip to the battle. We're all walking north with the goal of killing the boss. But defeating his lackeys gets more exp and money. Guess what I try to do? We have to trudge through a million soldiers, and the boss is flanked by ice mages. There are also a few werebusters, which can throw a spear at you from range. More importantly, be careful of the forest in the middle. Using a fire spell will burn the whole thing down. It feels really cool, but it's hella not good for the environment. I've been doing a decent job of feeding the dragons, or at least Salamandi, so he did a lot of the heavy lifting here. As the boss is defeated, he'll tell someone else that they're the last line of defense now.
Chapter Three: The Green Continent of Campbell
There's no plot here, but there is an opportunity to feed the dragons and buy gear. It's nothing new, but it's there. The battle is very similar but with a few new things. Firstly, there are buildings all about, and many are defended by walls. We're fighting in a castle, so it makes sense. The walls stop everyone from passing, but they can be destroyed with a lightning spell. All magic spells doing something on the field besides damage is really neat. I point out the buildings/structures because they heal any unit that ends their turn on it regardless of enemy or ally. Do what you will with these. Secondly, on either side of us are two giant cannons. These guys are defended by two warebusters and 2000 HP. Most of my party went up the middle, so that weird fifth party had to try to take one out. They failed! It's partially because the dragons heavily focus on the mission target, so I wound up running out of turns. Once again, my dragons carried.
Chapter Four: Full of Regret
Matelite and his cohorts run into the castle in search of Yoyo. They stomp through the halls and bust into the jail cell, but she's not here. Instead, there is a soldier from the empire sleeping in her bed. Byuu and Rush wake him up and attempt to get information from him. Matelite and the heavy armor squad come in to see what's going on, and Rush tells them Byuu is about to torture the soldier. Everyone is really nonchalant about this. Sadly, the soldier climbs the walls and slinks his way past everyone. He manages to escape the keep, and our other characters tell us he's informed reinforcements. We're now surrounded! We have the chance to feed our dragons, and I made Salamando too strong. His fire stat is already maxed, and the upcoming battle will have him spamming 1000 Hellfires. I also got a few other stats up for everyone and saw our first dragon transformations. Our poison dragon, Twinhead, is an unkillable tank, and Fafnir is an ugly blob. Some of these sprites could do with a remodel.
We're surrounded! Don't let your dragons get too far from you. I had my first game over here, and my second attempt ended with two dead dragons. There are a number of cure mages on the field, and they're very good at their job. If you can't one shot 'em, they'll undo all of your damage. I took Matelite and group five to take care of the group to the south. The rest of my squad took out the group to the northwest. We then regrouped around the castle to take out the approaching soldiers and prepare for the boss rush. Every other enemy on the field are boss models from prior maps. It means they hit hard and have a lot of HP. My dragons ran in, and it didn't go well. They were out of MP and were down to basic attacks. But a group of cure mages just undid it. This left them as sitting ducks, and Zomberd easily defeated them. By the time I got my team through the forests, we were running out of steam. Bahamut Lagoon ends if Byuu dies, so don't let him fall! I ended up needing to focus Zomboid, leaving some good exp and items on the board. But I won. Playtime is over.
We're in a dark forest now, wondering how the empire could have taken Yoyo here. Sendek informs us there's a holy dragon nearby. So somethings coming to a point...
... tomorrow!
I wonder what happens if you can kill Papaleos before he leaves in turn three?
Chapter Two: The Legend we Dreamed of...
We think we know where our soon-to-be Queen is being held captive by the evil General Sauzer, so it's off to Campbell. I broke sequence and talked about the plot last night, so I'll skip to the battle. We're all walking north with the goal of killing the boss. But defeating his lackeys gets more exp and money. Guess what I try to do? We have to trudge through a million soldiers, and the boss is flanked by ice mages. There are also a few werebusters, which can throw a spear at you from range. More importantly, be careful of the forest in the middle. Using a fire spell will burn the whole thing down. It feels really cool, but it's hella not good for the environment. I've been doing a decent job of feeding the dragons, or at least Salamandi, so he did a lot of the heavy lifting here. As the boss is defeated, he'll tell someone else that they're the last line of defense now.
Chapter Three: The Green Continent of Campbell
There's no plot here, but there is an opportunity to feed the dragons and buy gear. It's nothing new, but it's there. The battle is very similar but with a few new things. Firstly, there are buildings all about, and many are defended by walls. We're fighting in a castle, so it makes sense. The walls stop everyone from passing, but they can be destroyed with a lightning spell. All magic spells doing something on the field besides damage is really neat. I point out the buildings/structures because they heal any unit that ends their turn on it regardless of enemy or ally. Do what you will with these. Secondly, on either side of us are two giant cannons. These guys are defended by two warebusters and 2000 HP. Most of my party went up the middle, so that weird fifth party had to try to take one out. They failed! It's partially because the dragons heavily focus on the mission target, so I wound up running out of turns. Once again, my dragons carried.
Chapter Four: Full of Regret
Matelite and his cohorts run into the castle in search of Yoyo. They stomp through the halls and bust into the jail cell, but she's not here. Instead, there is a soldier from the empire sleeping in her bed. Byuu and Rush wake him up and attempt to get information from him. Matelite and the heavy armor squad come in to see what's going on, and Rush tells them Byuu is about to torture the soldier. Everyone is really nonchalant about this. Sadly, the soldier climbs the walls and slinks his way past everyone. He manages to escape the keep, and our other characters tell us he's informed reinforcements. We're now surrounded! We have the chance to feed our dragons, and I made Salamando too strong. His fire stat is already maxed, and the upcoming battle will have him spamming 1000 Hellfires. I also got a few other stats up for everyone and saw our first dragon transformations. Our poison dragon, Twinhead, is an unkillable tank, and Fafnir is an ugly blob. Some of these sprites could do with a remodel.
We're surrounded! Don't let your dragons get too far from you. I had my first game over here, and my second attempt ended with two dead dragons. There are a number of cure mages on the field, and they're very good at their job. If you can't one shot 'em, they'll undo all of your damage. I took Matelite and group five to take care of the group to the south. The rest of my squad took out the group to the northwest. We then regrouped around the castle to take out the approaching soldiers and prepare for the boss rush. Every other enemy on the field are boss models from prior maps. It means they hit hard and have a lot of HP. My dragons ran in, and it didn't go well. They were out of MP and were down to basic attacks. But a group of cure mages just undid it. This left them as sitting ducks, and Zomberd easily defeated them. By the time I got my team through the forests, we were running out of steam. Bahamut Lagoon ends if Byuu dies, so don't let him fall! I ended up needing to focus Zomboid, leaving some good exp and items on the board. But I won. Playtime is over.
We're in a dark forest now, wondering how the empire could have taken Yoyo here. Sendek informs us there's a holy dragon nearby. So somethings coming to a point...
... tomorrow!
I wonder what happens if you can kill Papaleos before he leaves in turn three?
Saturday, December 18, 2021
Bahamut Lagoon
The last game, that I can remember, of my dark aged experiences, Bahamut Lagoon. I'm going to call it Bahamut's Lagoon a lot, so get used to it. It's a seldom spoken of Squaresoft tactical RPG for the SNES. No one talks about it because it was only released in Japan and, to my knowledge, still hasn't received an official English translation. The only thing I remember about it is the final boss map is a technicolor vomit. Is it good? Let's find out.
The opening cutscene has various creatures that could be construed as dragons flying around, showcasing various locations until we get to the main menu. I don't know what temporary play is, and I have no old save data, so I select New Game!
Prologue: The Downfall of Kahne Castle
The King of Kahne speaks to Bahamut, who's off screen. He says that the enemy, the Granbelos Empire, is quickly approaching. But Bahamut remains silent. Two people enter the room, but the screen swaps away to a floating sky fortress. These are the party members, Kahne's Dragon Squad! We start the game with the ability to name our MC. The game suggests Byuu, so I go with it. We're on the verge of an attack, and we need to help defend the castle. Several of our dragons fly off to join the defense, but three stay behind. We meet some of our party members, Bikkebakke and Rush, and we get to name our dragons. I only renamed IceDrake because it's lame. IceDrake is now Fafnir. Salamundo and Molten are perfectly fine names, so I kept them. Rush can give us a small tutorial on commanding dragons. The gist is they work on AI, but we can provide vague directions like "Go," "Stay," and "Defend." We can also ask him about the "Stained Sky." It's a flashback that explains why the Granbelos Empire attacked. Ever since they conquered the sky, it's changed to the color of sadness. When we're done, we can talk to Salamando, our dragon, again and get to the battle.
We cut back to Kahne King talking to the two people who entered as the screen shifted. One is his daughter, Yoyo. The other isn't mentioned here, but it's a commander of Kahne, Sendek. We can name Yoyo, so she's important. She has the power of "Dragnar," whatever that means. Bahamut remains silent. We cut to the throne room, and a bunch of people are mad because Byuu hasn't shown up to defend the castle. And just like that, we storm in with an explanation. We attacked a sky fortress, apparently, but it was a decoy. But we're here now and just in time. Enemy soldiers are across the bridge outside the castle, so the first battle in the game starts.
A soldier from the castle, Matelite, destroys the bridge. This makes it impossible for enemies to cross, but we can't do anything, either, unless the river gets frozen. It doesn't mean much, but it's a fun way to introduce terrain, dragon combat, and field skills. Bahamut's Lagoon is a strategy RPG not unlike Fire Emblem. Players have a go, and then the enemy gets their round. The difference is, our characters travel in a squad of up to four people. When we begin a battle, it becomes a more traditional turn based RPG. But that only happens if we start (or defend) with a physical attack. Many units have access to field skills, which can harm enemies without starting a fight. We seem to do less damage in them, but there is no risk of a counterattack. The skills function similar to magic, so I'll probably be calling them that for the rest of the game. Dragons, meanwhile, attack of their own accord. Sometimes they'll strike with a physical attack, but they can also perform a magic move. Magic moves always hit an entire group, and normal attacks only strike one. It's a lot of fun! But this first battle can be finished just by having the three dragons do everything. You can, and should, lob a few spells across the river if you can, but they carried. As we finish the fight, we'll learn it meant nothing.
A soldier will exit from behind us and tell us another group of enemies has breached the throne room. We'll all rush in and see members of the Granbelos Empire around the room. General Sauzer will tell the King that he'll become the prophesied hero about the legend of the Holy Dragons. This shocks our King because 1.), this isn't heroic, and 2.) how could Sauser even know about the legend? Sauzer kidnaps Princess Yoyo, and another General, Palpaleos, will look at us. The King will be killed, the screen will turn grey, and the chapter ends. "One era ends, but another will begin."
Chapter One: The Beginning
"Several winters have passed since [Byuu] left." Time skips ahead several years, and we see several people running around, trying to survive the winter. As they do, the dragons fly overhead. The man who wrote the letter, Sendek, will remark that this means Byuu has returned with the dragons. It seems that many of our dragons ran off after the fight, but our friend, Salamando, stayed loyal. All the ones we named before appear, along with a new one. I renamed Thinderhawk to Ruhk because I like legends. I think I misspelled his name, and I'm afraid to check, though. Regardless, a few of the soldiers around are excited. This means that we can begin to retake Kahne and save the world. Mateilite is here, as is his second in command, Taicho. Taicho is from another kingdom brought to ruin by Granbelos. Along with a few mages, everyone joins our party. We just got home, but we're already sent off to another mission. We can look around the house for a few items, as well as a memory that Matelite had stored away somehow. It's a scene that he wasn't in about a blossoming love affair between Yoyo and Byuu. After you've searched the area, speak to our dragon, and we'll fly off to our next battle.
We'll fly to where we started the game and see that it's an earth covered battleship. It's currently occupied by enemies led by a guy who won his job for being the best in the javelin throw. The gameplay is pretty simple, but there's more opportunity to do some real fighting this time. The dragons can be overwhelmed, so we'll need to lead the charge. Keep the mages at the back, and led Byuu and Matelite get in the face of the boss. When the dust settles, we'll enter our home again. We'll meet a few soldiers who are on our side. I'll only name our pilot, Hornet, because there's a lot of characters in this game. We'll rejoice that the Resistance is up and running again, and Medelite will give us a rousing speech. It's about the chain command, but no one buys it. Everyone behind us knows that Byuu is the leader, even Hornet and Commander Sendek. As leader, Medelite and Taicho will have a prominent role, I promise. The Kahne flag is put up in the cockpit, and Matelite hopes to add to it soon, pointing out Taicho's home of Mahal. There's some more tutorial about formations and feeding dragons. We can buy gear for our massive army, but they're pretty bad. I'm sure they'll make good dragon food, though. But something is missing... We really need Princess Yoya!
We cut to a scene with General Sauzer and Palpaleous, bromancing out in Yoyo's cell while she sleeps. I'm not sure what was said because I found it really weird. Why are they talking about this here of all places? But our party thinks they know where she is: The Green Continent of Cambell. So we set off there. But I'll do that...
...tomorrow!
A few world building things: there are no continents in this game. Everything is a landmass in the sky called lagoons. The main thing about BL is the dragons. If we feed them items, they grow. They can even change appearance and evolve. I'm a bit worried about how micromanagey this'll be, but I'm curious how I'll do without a guide. So far, I've fed Salamando a few fire grasses because that's the reward for killing people with fire. Elemental attacks add to the chance of getting a rare item, so save a few MPs for a final push. Finally, we got a chance to name our ship. I went with Lucilia because I love you, Lucy. Also, how pervy is Sendek going to be? He's not that much a lecherous old man, gay or otherwise, right?
The opening cutscene has various creatures that could be construed as dragons flying around, showcasing various locations until we get to the main menu. I don't know what temporary play is, and I have no old save data, so I select New Game!
Prologue: The Downfall of Kahne Castle
The King of Kahne speaks to Bahamut, who's off screen. He says that the enemy, the Granbelos Empire, is quickly approaching. But Bahamut remains silent. Two people enter the room, but the screen swaps away to a floating sky fortress. These are the party members, Kahne's Dragon Squad! We start the game with the ability to name our MC. The game suggests Byuu, so I go with it. We're on the verge of an attack, and we need to help defend the castle. Several of our dragons fly off to join the defense, but three stay behind. We meet some of our party members, Bikkebakke and Rush, and we get to name our dragons. I only renamed IceDrake because it's lame. IceDrake is now Fafnir. Salamundo and Molten are perfectly fine names, so I kept them. Rush can give us a small tutorial on commanding dragons. The gist is they work on AI, but we can provide vague directions like "Go," "Stay," and "Defend." We can also ask him about the "Stained Sky." It's a flashback that explains why the Granbelos Empire attacked. Ever since they conquered the sky, it's changed to the color of sadness. When we're done, we can talk to Salamando, our dragon, again and get to the battle.
We cut back to Kahne King talking to the two people who entered as the screen shifted. One is his daughter, Yoyo. The other isn't mentioned here, but it's a commander of Kahne, Sendek. We can name Yoyo, so she's important. She has the power of "Dragnar," whatever that means. Bahamut remains silent. We cut to the throne room, and a bunch of people are mad because Byuu hasn't shown up to defend the castle. And just like that, we storm in with an explanation. We attacked a sky fortress, apparently, but it was a decoy. But we're here now and just in time. Enemy soldiers are across the bridge outside the castle, so the first battle in the game starts.
A soldier from the castle, Matelite, destroys the bridge. This makes it impossible for enemies to cross, but we can't do anything, either, unless the river gets frozen. It doesn't mean much, but it's a fun way to introduce terrain, dragon combat, and field skills. Bahamut's Lagoon is a strategy RPG not unlike Fire Emblem. Players have a go, and then the enemy gets their round. The difference is, our characters travel in a squad of up to four people. When we begin a battle, it becomes a more traditional turn based RPG. But that only happens if we start (or defend) with a physical attack. Many units have access to field skills, which can harm enemies without starting a fight. We seem to do less damage in them, but there is no risk of a counterattack. The skills function similar to magic, so I'll probably be calling them that for the rest of the game. Dragons, meanwhile, attack of their own accord. Sometimes they'll strike with a physical attack, but they can also perform a magic move. Magic moves always hit an entire group, and normal attacks only strike one. It's a lot of fun! But this first battle can be finished just by having the three dragons do everything. You can, and should, lob a few spells across the river if you can, but they carried. As we finish the fight, we'll learn it meant nothing.
A soldier will exit from behind us and tell us another group of enemies has breached the throne room. We'll all rush in and see members of the Granbelos Empire around the room. General Sauzer will tell the King that he'll become the prophesied hero about the legend of the Holy Dragons. This shocks our King because 1.), this isn't heroic, and 2.) how could Sauser even know about the legend? Sauzer kidnaps Princess Yoyo, and another General, Palpaleos, will look at us. The King will be killed, the screen will turn grey, and the chapter ends. "One era ends, but another will begin."
Chapter One: The Beginning
"Several winters have passed since [Byuu] left." Time skips ahead several years, and we see several people running around, trying to survive the winter. As they do, the dragons fly overhead. The man who wrote the letter, Sendek, will remark that this means Byuu has returned with the dragons. It seems that many of our dragons ran off after the fight, but our friend, Salamando, stayed loyal. All the ones we named before appear, along with a new one. I renamed Thinderhawk to Ruhk because I like legends. I think I misspelled his name, and I'm afraid to check, though. Regardless, a few of the soldiers around are excited. This means that we can begin to retake Kahne and save the world. Mateilite is here, as is his second in command, Taicho. Taicho is from another kingdom brought to ruin by Granbelos. Along with a few mages, everyone joins our party. We just got home, but we're already sent off to another mission. We can look around the house for a few items, as well as a memory that Matelite had stored away somehow. It's a scene that he wasn't in about a blossoming love affair between Yoyo and Byuu. After you've searched the area, speak to our dragon, and we'll fly off to our next battle.
We'll fly to where we started the game and see that it's an earth covered battleship. It's currently occupied by enemies led by a guy who won his job for being the best in the javelin throw. The gameplay is pretty simple, but there's more opportunity to do some real fighting this time. The dragons can be overwhelmed, so we'll need to lead the charge. Keep the mages at the back, and led Byuu and Matelite get in the face of the boss. When the dust settles, we'll enter our home again. We'll meet a few soldiers who are on our side. I'll only name our pilot, Hornet, because there's a lot of characters in this game. We'll rejoice that the Resistance is up and running again, and Medelite will give us a rousing speech. It's about the chain command, but no one buys it. Everyone behind us knows that Byuu is the leader, even Hornet and Commander Sendek. As leader, Medelite and Taicho will have a prominent role, I promise. The Kahne flag is put up in the cockpit, and Matelite hopes to add to it soon, pointing out Taicho's home of Mahal. There's some more tutorial about formations and feeding dragons. We can buy gear for our massive army, but they're pretty bad. I'm sure they'll make good dragon food, though. But something is missing... We really need Princess Yoya!
We cut to a scene with General Sauzer and Palpaleous, bromancing out in Yoyo's cell while she sleeps. I'm not sure what was said because I found it really weird. Why are they talking about this here of all places? But our party thinks they know where she is: The Green Continent of Cambell. So we set off there. But I'll do that...
...tomorrow!
A few world building things: there are no continents in this game. Everything is a landmass in the sky called lagoons. The main thing about BL is the dragons. If we feed them items, they grow. They can even change appearance and evolve. I'm a bit worried about how micromanagey this'll be, but I'm curious how I'll do without a guide. So far, I've fed Salamando a few fire grasses because that's the reward for killing people with fire. Elemental attacks add to the chance of getting a rare item, so save a few MPs for a final push. Finally, we got a chance to name our ship. I went with Lucilia because I love you, Lucy. Also, how pervy is Sendek going to be? He's not that much a lecherous old man, gay or otherwise, right?
Thursday, December 16, 2021
Best Final Fantasy (and others) Bosses
We've discussed the best playable characters and their friends, so there's one more thing to talk about. Everyone loves to hate these guys, and some even use them to define their childhood personalities. Just don't let them dictate your adult life, or you're the weirdo. My friends and I love playing these guys in Super Smash Bros (although only one of them is on this list), and so, without further ado... What makes a great video game villain?
Every good hero needs a greater than or equal villain. Their counterweight makes readers, players, or watchers get invested in a plot. Without them, there is no game, story, or fun. Even playful platformers have basic evil bad guys. The antagonists are where most of the drama stems from, and it's an easy place to start. They often have a simple goal of world destruction or domination, but others have something higher in mind. Either they've been programmed with or a singular nature that drives them. Sometimes they're not even evil, to begin with. The last is a bit rarer than others, and it's usually a bit of a deep thinking exercise to realize it. But they still need to be stopped. They want us dead, enslaved, or worse. Can you imagine Cloud or Cecil's journey being all about catching butterflies? I'm sure that would have sold well. Regardless of if they're internal or external, localized or global, evil or not, every good story needs a bad guy. Hey yo!
But there's a million boss battles in games, so how do I put a limit on what I grade?
1.) You have to have an impact. Whether it's because you have a McGuffin or teach the players something. I don't care how, but you can't be a one off dude guarding a cave exit for no explainable reason. There may be a few exceptions for funzies down the line.
2.) I have to remember who you are. I'm sorry if the above rule works for you, but I don't recall your name, meaning, or face, so...
3.) Optional bosses are not here, even those with story value. Ruby and Emerald Weapon and rad and all, but do they matter?
As of right now, that's all I've got. I like to think it's simple and to the point. So let's the to the meat of our potatoes: the criteria.
All bosses, villains, and antagonists collect points for the following ten factors.
Are you the final boss? This makes sense since you're usually the driving force of the game. Either from the shadows or as public as you can be, it is you who everyone will remember when they finish the game. Even if it isn't deserved. (1)
Should you be the final boss? There are more than a few games where the last fight comes from out of nowhere, and they leave us confused. I'm down for cool concepts of stuff, but I want the connections that I've been making for the last 40+ hours to be there. If you've been the primary bad guy for a while, congrats. (2)
Can you, at any point, be considered the primary antagonist? It's a long game, so it's fine to not be the final boss. You can be the guy working for the guy, and there's nothing wrong with that. If we're chasing after you for a good chunk of the game, you get a point. But should random final fights get it? (3)
Can your actions be justified in some way? Were you bullied, experimented on, programmed, or brainwashed? Is what you did just your nature, and our planet had bad luck? If yes, congrats! I mostly just want to penalize evil for the sake of evil antagonists. They're fine for a basic plot, but I want to reward those who have depth to them. (4)
How relevant are you? If it seems like I hate random bosses, it's because I do. Even if you're not the first bad guy we met, there should be some foreshadowing of your coming. And the flip side, if you're an early game BBG, do people still speak your name after we've killed you? (5)
Do you have connections to a character? Any character: playable, secondary, or other bosses? This should be before the game starts to add backstory to them and our cast; however, flashback scenes will work here. The point of this tally is to connect the playable characters to the villain and not have them disjointed and seemingly random. Why would I find the need to get involved in a gang that I have no connections to? (6)
Do you have a personality? Are you charismatic and bombastic? Colorful, funny, witty, or the center of attention when you're on screen, making people want to like you? Or are you a single note, edgelord teenagers who can't get laid try to emulate? One of those will get the point. (7)
I keep talking about this, but do you participate in an iconic scene? Something that drastically tips the scale in your favor or hits differently than anything else gets you a point. If it's a scene people talk about twenty years later with the same reverence they did the day it was released, it's gotta mean something. {8)
While this seems like the two go hand-in-hand, do you get an advantage over our cast at any point? We spend the whole game chasing you, but what if you chase us for a while? What if you drastically alter our goals at some point and make us rue ever considering you our equal? Even if it's just more of a reason to murder you, you did something good. Well, not good, but you get it. (9)
Did you win? Despite all of our efforts, sometimes our best isn't good enough? It's a rare thing to have the good guys fail, so here's something that you deserve. Sometimes, though, villains change over the course of the game. If your goal does too, and it's accomplished, you get the point. There's no reason to penalize someone strong enough to break free of their mind control. (10)
Ten points across every game that have ever been played (or ones that I've played)! So who's getting judged?
Final Fantasy I is filled with seemingly small fry bosses. A few of them end up being of importance, but I'm not gonna forget some of the smaller ones. Even if I probably should...
Bikke is the second boss in the entire game. He and his pirate crew have taken over Provaka, and we have to keelhaul them. We kill his underlings, so he gives us his ship. He lives, but he doesn't do anything else for the rest of the game, but that ship is super rad!
Astos is a dark elf who cursed the elf prince to sleep forever. He disguises himself as an old man in a ruined keep, and we give him a crown for some reason. This causes him to attack us, and we defeat him. He's never seen again.
The Four Fiends are a series of reoccurring bosses secretly working alongside the true villain. For most of the game, we believe them to be the ones ruining the planet until the shocking surprise of Garland. They make further appearances in later installments of the franchise.
Chaos is the final fight of the game. He's technically the first boss of the game, as well, because of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.
Final Fantasy II takes the opposite approach. There's one bad guy, and he's our target until the very end. There's a small break for one dungeon, but we never actually fight the new guy.
Borghen is first mentioned pretty early on, and he stays around for a while, even getting one over on us. He's a bit of a reoccurring mob because his zombie guards a chest in the final dungeon, and he's in the Souls of Rebirth story.
The Dark Knight is portrayed as menacing and terrifying. We don't have many interactions with him, though. As I said, he becomes a primary antagonist for a dungeon, but there is no climax.
The Emperor is our unnamed final boss from start to finish. He doesn't get much screen time, though, which puts a damper on what he could do to the story. But we hear and see the fallout of his actions.
Final Fantasy III is the first to have that surprise final boss. Fortunately, it has a callback to the four fiends as a reoccurring battle, all of which work under one guy.
Not called so in the game, the Four Fiends (Djinn, Medusa, Kraken, Hein) all work under Xande and count as one. They seem to be four random mobs who just so happen to be doing the same thing, but each calls out to their master around the time we kill them, foreshadowing Xande.
Xande is the should be final boss of FFIII. He's the one who froze the world years ago, and he commands the guys above. He has connections to Doga, Unei, and their master, Noah. He could have been the final boss, but his actions caused something worse to show up.
The Cloud of Darkness appears because Xande messed everything up. The story could have ended when we beat him up. But the devs wanted one big push to make a connection to a concept, Hope, rather than everything being about beating up an evil person. It works, but she still appears out of nowhere and has nothing to add.
Final Fantasy IV has a lot of the same things III has, except the switch to the SNES made everything bigger and cooler.
We learn of Golbez just as we reach Damncyan and see Anna die. Edward tells us about him, and Golbez ends up being a constant thorn in our side for the rest of the game. It's later revealed that he has a major connection to Cecil.
The Four Fiends are a definite callback to FFI. Scarmigleone, Kraken, Barbreccia, and Rubicante are underlings to Golbez. Only one of them has what I would call a personality, and the rest are a bit more shallow. Regardless, they show up a few times, even have death, and play a big enough part in the world and plot.
Zeromus is the guy behind Golbez. It is he who brainwashes our man in black for the purpose of Lunarian supremacy. Unlike Cloud of Darkness, he has a role in the plot, but he still shows up very late. Zeromus is in one scene and beats everyone up, but thanks to the power of friendship, we're able to defeat him.
Final Fantasy V has the smallest cast on the list. We start the game wandering from crystal to crystal, looking for King Tycoon. There is no singular boss during this time. But once we learn about ExDeath, he becomes the guy, and no one else comes close to him. No one even tries. It is his show.
Gilgamesh, though, is beloved by the fans. He's more of a rival than a villain. He annoys us early on, but we always get the advantage over him. This leads to him helping us out in a boss fight towards the end. He drips personality and keeps appearing in future games in the franchise.
As I said, FFV is Exdeath's game. That allows him to hit most of the points that his ilk are graded on. It seems a bit lame that he's an evil tree, but it's still explained well enough for 1992.
Final Fantasy VI has one main villain, but he isn't The Guy early on. It's a nice twist for the franchise, and I don't think it's been done much better since.
The first part of the game has us chasing around the Geshtal Empire. It is he whom the Returners fight against and brings fear to every nation on the planet. They're set up to something Exdeathesq, but then something happens...
Kefka takes control, and the entire game revolves around him. He gets the accolades of the fans, the memorable scenes, and the final boss fight. He was the experiment by his former boss, but when he's on screen, he has the spotlight. To make him even more memorable, he's the only final boss (thus far) to have a win.
Final Fantasy VII has a similar thing to VI. We met an early candidate for the final boss, but they get outshined for the "true" antagonist. That guy actually causes us to work together for a while.
Shinra Electric Power Company is the enemy we chose. Our relationship starts off with a bang, we have a fallout, but then the true villain shows up and does what we couldn't. There are so many moving parts to them that we experience throughout the rest of the game, and they never feel forced or annoying, except for when they're supposed to be.
Jenova, The Calamity from the Sky, Mother. She's the impetus of an extinction event, the cause of our current problems, and a reoccurring boss from beginning to penultimate end. There's a fan theory that she's the true BBG, controlling everyone infected with her cells, including the next guy.
Sephiroth is why everyone was really into goths in the late '90s. His long hair, sword, and plot relevance makes him the most iconic boss in JRPGs. He's connected to so many things.
Final Fantasy VIII has a straight but not simple ladder of main villains. There's only one reoccurring boss, and he's of utmost value to the plot.
Seifer, the Sorceress' Knight, almost willingly chose to be mind controlled. I'm pretty sure he does break free, actually, just in time for his duel against Odin. He's a rival through and through, from childhood to the end.
Edea is the target for the first half of the game. She ends up being a vital ally once we figure out the truth of this entire game. Longevity is key to a lot of points.
Adel seems to come from nowhere, but she's cleverly foreshadowed in Timber. Her actual screen time is pretty low, though, and is immediately overshadowed.
Ultimecia comes from nowhere and adds weight to the plot, but only through nonsensical time spoofing.
Final Fantasy IX has the most amount of entries on this list. Despite that, there are a few I'm blowing off.
Queen Brahne is the mother of Garnet. We "kidnap" her daughter, and she tries to blow us up. She's then the primary antagonist until the very end of disk two, and another takes her place.
Four Fiends are underlings of Kuja. They're mostly a callback to FFI, but the way they're handled is pretty fun. You split the party, and they all interact in a great way.
Garland is the man behind the scenes. He's the cause of the fall of Maiden Sari, which really kickstarts the engine for one of our characters. The watcher doesn't always watch.
Kuja was supposed to be the angel of death, but his master found him wanting. This led to his replacement and downfall. He's the guy behind Brahne and becomes the primary villain until the very end. Alas, he's screwed out of points by a random concept.
Necron shows up, quotes Yoda, and ignores status defenses. Of all the random final bosses, he's the worst.
Final Fantasy X has one guy, and only one guy, that we're chasing after. However, Sin's got a few fun twists to keep him from being a Mateus.
Birane/Yenke are here for funzies. They're Kimarhi's backstory and only have one fight with no bearing on the rest of the plot.
Sin, the Destroyer, the Cycle. He's the physical embodiment of all that's evil in Spira. Everything revolves around him. He is eternal but has my favorite twist in the franchise.
Yu Yevon is a cockroach who wants us to kill him. He's technically the final boss, but we can't lose, so I'm not giving him the point.
Final Fantasy XII is straightforward with its bosses. There's only the one, a quasi underling, and a side quest.
Ba'gammnon and crew is the side quest. He's got a link to Balthier, somehow, but forgotten once we get out of jail.
Cid seems like a lackey or sidekick to Vayne until we learn why he talks to himself. And then it gets confusing. He's the father of one of our playable cast members, but the whole occuria thing confuses me.
Vayne had so much potential. His first time on screen, where he calms the people of Dalmasca down, is such a cool scene. It makes you think he's not actually the bad guy; however, nothing comes from it. He ends up being evil for the sake of evil, killing his family. But then again, not really. He's not the one who started the final confrontation over Rabinastre, so the game can't even keep his alignment straight.
Final Fantasy XIII has had some lacking characters and sidequests. But maybe the bosses can redeem the compilation?
Fal/I'Cie are a confusing mess. They start the game by branding us with their mark for reasons never explained. If we fail, we become crystal. If we succeed, we become crystal. But we don't know what our mission is... What do they want from us?
Cid Raines is the resident Cid of XIII, and that's the only reason he's here. He's a high ranking grunt of the main villain and doesn't bring much to the table.
Barthandelus has a deep backstory about trying to kill everyone for reasons I don't remember. He's worth his screen time as he's the arbiter of everything.
Orphan is the final boss of game one. He merges with Barthandelus because he wants us to kill him, I think. I don't know why he puts up such a fight, though. Like everything in this series, I'm left wondering why...
Caius is the main boss of XIII-2 and plays a vital role there. He's an immortal being with a deep backstory connected to Noel and Yeol. He then becomes intertwined with the gods and the afterlife. He's a fun and interesting boss with a lot going on.
Bhunivelze is the god of creation. He's Lightning's boss for the final game until she kills him dressed as a catgirl.
Final Fantasy Tactics never really had one clear villain until we go to Hell. There's a number leading up to her, with some even being in the world's backstory. St. Ajora will not be discussed here, though. Many of the ones listed are intertwined, with many characters linked in two or more groups.
The Corpse Brigade is the terrorist group we fight in chapter one. They're led by Wiegraf to bring about equality between the peasants and the nobles. We kill his sister, and then everything starts a path to destruction.
The Temple Knights are also led by Wiegraf. They start by working for the Church of Glabados, but they're actually just another gang with goals higher than their station. It's about bringing a dead god back to life or something.
The Lucavi are demons from aeons past. They fought the creators of mankind before history began, but that story is never really told in the Ivalice Alliance. The people who turn into Luvaci are from all walks of life, and we have to slay them all. Or, at least, as many who misuse the stones.
Ultima is the final boss of the game. She's the reincarnation of the anti occura forces from FFXII's backstory. She also has something to do with St. Ajora. The whole religion of the game is "what if the Antichrist was worshiped unbeknownst to the general populace." It's a story not told often, and I want more Ivalice games!
Wiegraf was a name I left off at first because he's in all of the groups already listed, but he deserves his own judgement. He's the primary antagonist in chapter one and stays around near the top of the list, right up until the very end. He works and commands everyone, including us, from the shadows, but I never felt like he was the top guy. But he's pretty far up there, nonetheless. Because of his longevity, role, and reoccurring fights, Wiegraf deserves his one row.
There are, of course, more games I'll bring up in the findings, but those are the ones I'm pointing out and writing about. I hated writing all of that as is, so I'm not gonna double it with every game I've played, Square or otherwise. And so, let's get to those findings!
There are only four perfect scores this time:
Kefka from VI, Sin from X, Caius Ballad from XIII, and Seraph Lamington from Disgaea. Everyone knows about Kefka and his world destroying actions. But Sin's complicated backstory with being Jecht adds layers to him. Carius was a bit of a shock, but all he wanted to do was to save Yeol. He brings about the end of time in Lightning Returns, so I'm giving him that. Meanwhile, the Seraph wanted to unite demons and angels, which he did with Laharl and Flonne, ending permitting.
We have nine near perfects.
Exdeath (V), Sephiroth (VII), Edea (VIII), Karelian (Xenogears), Wilhelm (Xenosaga), Lavos (Chrono Trigger), Sydney (Vagrant Story), Doll Master (Threads of Fate), and Zeig (Legend of Dragoon) all missed on one point. Most missed the final boss tally, and a few didn't win (four each). Lavos missed it because he's just a space bug with no personality; however, he's not innately evil. He simply is, which I think is a novel idea.
We had six bosses get zero points. Astos from the first Final Fantasy is the only non Dragon Quest down here. He puts a curse on the Elf Prince but is otherwise a nonentity in the game. No one speaks of him after, and they didn't bring him up much before, either. He's just kinda there... From DQV, we have Kon and Slon. Both of them are lackeys for a lackey. From VI, Jamirus, Grecos, and Dhuran get nothing. They, like Mudo, could have been something, but the devs didn't bother to build them up. You don't learn that they actually have links to each other or the final boss until the very end. And by then, you don't care. What's the difference between them and Aps, Don Corneo's sewer pet?
Bikke, Ba'gammnon, Blood and Smokey, and Maderas just got one point. I felt like Maderas could have gotten more, but he's a one note vampire that doesn't bring much to the table once we beat him. Great party member, though.
The lowest final boss is a three way tie. Necton for FFIX, Profound Darkness from Phantasy Star IV, and the Kupier Belt from Wild Arms II all got three points. They're all random bosses with no personality, so my plan to ruin them worked. But, by getting only three points, there a number of reasons they're not well regarded.
In the battle of the Four Fiends, IX and III are the worst, getting only two points. One was a stretch, and the others were just bit players. The ones from Final Fantasy I got four points!
The worst Cid, between the two of them, is Cid Raines. He also got two points, while Cid from XII got four.
The best non primary antagonist was Mid-boss/Vyers from Disgaea, who got seven points. He's linked to Laharl and the Seraph and even has a great fan theory that makes him of utmost importance to the plot.
Ninzo (Dragon Quest V) and Guildenstern (Vagrant Story) are the best of the evil for the sake of evil bosses. They got seven points!
Emperor Geshtal got seven points despite not being relevant in the second half of the game. If only there was a sidequest about him somewhere... No, he isn't Gogo.
From Star Ocean, the Ten Wize men got eight points, despite not having a link to other characters.
Personally, I think the biggest surprise is how high all of the Star Ocean entries ranked. Their playable cast and side characters were a bit wanting, but many of the bosses graded got pretty good scores. Ignoring Star Ocean 1 and bland Grigori for 4, there are three eights out of the four here. Luther got a seven, making him the worst of the three games. And it could be argued he deserves another point or two!
I didn't average out the scores for every game, but Xenogears has the most of the ones I did. Six bosses got a 7.17 score. With that many entries getting that high of a score must mean something. Keep in mind, some games got more than that, but they have fewer entries. It's a very flawed system, which is I didn't do it for all of them.
The grand total of every game ranked (as of pass one on December 16th, 2021) is 5.39 across ~139 entries. The Final Fantasy series got a score of 5.52 from ~59. The final bosses total 6.86 from fifteen entries.
The graph can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qMgayDkUkRJsF7ImSNbqFW51H8ZNCztG/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103909396598242866758&rtpof=true&sd=true
Every good hero needs a greater than or equal villain. Their counterweight makes readers, players, or watchers get invested in a plot. Without them, there is no game, story, or fun. Even playful platformers have basic evil bad guys. The antagonists are where most of the drama stems from, and it's an easy place to start. They often have a simple goal of world destruction or domination, but others have something higher in mind. Either they've been programmed with or a singular nature that drives them. Sometimes they're not even evil, to begin with. The last is a bit rarer than others, and it's usually a bit of a deep thinking exercise to realize it. But they still need to be stopped. They want us dead, enslaved, or worse. Can you imagine Cloud or Cecil's journey being all about catching butterflies? I'm sure that would have sold well. Regardless of if they're internal or external, localized or global, evil or not, every good story needs a bad guy. Hey yo!
But there's a million boss battles in games, so how do I put a limit on what I grade?
1.) You have to have an impact. Whether it's because you have a McGuffin or teach the players something. I don't care how, but you can't be a one off dude guarding a cave exit for no explainable reason. There may be a few exceptions for funzies down the line.
2.) I have to remember who you are. I'm sorry if the above rule works for you, but I don't recall your name, meaning, or face, so...
3.) Optional bosses are not here, even those with story value. Ruby and Emerald Weapon and rad and all, but do they matter?
As of right now, that's all I've got. I like to think it's simple and to the point. So let's the to the meat of our potatoes: the criteria.
All bosses, villains, and antagonists collect points for the following ten factors.
Are you the final boss? This makes sense since you're usually the driving force of the game. Either from the shadows or as public as you can be, it is you who everyone will remember when they finish the game. Even if it isn't deserved. (1)
Should you be the final boss? There are more than a few games where the last fight comes from out of nowhere, and they leave us confused. I'm down for cool concepts of stuff, but I want the connections that I've been making for the last 40+ hours to be there. If you've been the primary bad guy for a while, congrats. (2)
Can you, at any point, be considered the primary antagonist? It's a long game, so it's fine to not be the final boss. You can be the guy working for the guy, and there's nothing wrong with that. If we're chasing after you for a good chunk of the game, you get a point. But should random final fights get it? (3)
Can your actions be justified in some way? Were you bullied, experimented on, programmed, or brainwashed? Is what you did just your nature, and our planet had bad luck? If yes, congrats! I mostly just want to penalize evil for the sake of evil antagonists. They're fine for a basic plot, but I want to reward those who have depth to them. (4)
How relevant are you? If it seems like I hate random bosses, it's because I do. Even if you're not the first bad guy we met, there should be some foreshadowing of your coming. And the flip side, if you're an early game BBG, do people still speak your name after we've killed you? (5)
Do you have connections to a character? Any character: playable, secondary, or other bosses? This should be before the game starts to add backstory to them and our cast; however, flashback scenes will work here. The point of this tally is to connect the playable characters to the villain and not have them disjointed and seemingly random. Why would I find the need to get involved in a gang that I have no connections to? (6)
Do you have a personality? Are you charismatic and bombastic? Colorful, funny, witty, or the center of attention when you're on screen, making people want to like you? Or are you a single note, edgelord teenagers who can't get laid try to emulate? One of those will get the point. (7)
I keep talking about this, but do you participate in an iconic scene? Something that drastically tips the scale in your favor or hits differently than anything else gets you a point. If it's a scene people talk about twenty years later with the same reverence they did the day it was released, it's gotta mean something. {8)
While this seems like the two go hand-in-hand, do you get an advantage over our cast at any point? We spend the whole game chasing you, but what if you chase us for a while? What if you drastically alter our goals at some point and make us rue ever considering you our equal? Even if it's just more of a reason to murder you, you did something good. Well, not good, but you get it. (9)
Did you win? Despite all of our efforts, sometimes our best isn't good enough? It's a rare thing to have the good guys fail, so here's something that you deserve. Sometimes, though, villains change over the course of the game. If your goal does too, and it's accomplished, you get the point. There's no reason to penalize someone strong enough to break free of their mind control. (10)
Ten points across every game that have ever been played (or ones that I've played)! So who's getting judged?
Final Fantasy I is filled with seemingly small fry bosses. A few of them end up being of importance, but I'm not gonna forget some of the smaller ones. Even if I probably should...
Bikke is the second boss in the entire game. He and his pirate crew have taken over Provaka, and we have to keelhaul them. We kill his underlings, so he gives us his ship. He lives, but he doesn't do anything else for the rest of the game, but that ship is super rad!
Astos is a dark elf who cursed the elf prince to sleep forever. He disguises himself as an old man in a ruined keep, and we give him a crown for some reason. This causes him to attack us, and we defeat him. He's never seen again.
The Four Fiends are a series of reoccurring bosses secretly working alongside the true villain. For most of the game, we believe them to be the ones ruining the planet until the shocking surprise of Garland. They make further appearances in later installments of the franchise.
Chaos is the final fight of the game. He's technically the first boss of the game, as well, because of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.
Final Fantasy II takes the opposite approach. There's one bad guy, and he's our target until the very end. There's a small break for one dungeon, but we never actually fight the new guy.
Borghen is first mentioned pretty early on, and he stays around for a while, even getting one over on us. He's a bit of a reoccurring mob because his zombie guards a chest in the final dungeon, and he's in the Souls of Rebirth story.
The Dark Knight is portrayed as menacing and terrifying. We don't have many interactions with him, though. As I said, he becomes a primary antagonist for a dungeon, but there is no climax.
The Emperor is our unnamed final boss from start to finish. He doesn't get much screen time, though, which puts a damper on what he could do to the story. But we hear and see the fallout of his actions.
Final Fantasy III is the first to have that surprise final boss. Fortunately, it has a callback to the four fiends as a reoccurring battle, all of which work under one guy.
Not called so in the game, the Four Fiends (Djinn, Medusa, Kraken, Hein) all work under Xande and count as one. They seem to be four random mobs who just so happen to be doing the same thing, but each calls out to their master around the time we kill them, foreshadowing Xande.
Xande is the should be final boss of FFIII. He's the one who froze the world years ago, and he commands the guys above. He has connections to Doga, Unei, and their master, Noah. He could have been the final boss, but his actions caused something worse to show up.
The Cloud of Darkness appears because Xande messed everything up. The story could have ended when we beat him up. But the devs wanted one big push to make a connection to a concept, Hope, rather than everything being about beating up an evil person. It works, but she still appears out of nowhere and has nothing to add.
Final Fantasy IV has a lot of the same things III has, except the switch to the SNES made everything bigger and cooler.
We learn of Golbez just as we reach Damncyan and see Anna die. Edward tells us about him, and Golbez ends up being a constant thorn in our side for the rest of the game. It's later revealed that he has a major connection to Cecil.
The Four Fiends are a definite callback to FFI. Scarmigleone, Kraken, Barbreccia, and Rubicante are underlings to Golbez. Only one of them has what I would call a personality, and the rest are a bit more shallow. Regardless, they show up a few times, even have death, and play a big enough part in the world and plot.
Zeromus is the guy behind Golbez. It is he who brainwashes our man in black for the purpose of Lunarian supremacy. Unlike Cloud of Darkness, he has a role in the plot, but he still shows up very late. Zeromus is in one scene and beats everyone up, but thanks to the power of friendship, we're able to defeat him.
Final Fantasy V has the smallest cast on the list. We start the game wandering from crystal to crystal, looking for King Tycoon. There is no singular boss during this time. But once we learn about ExDeath, he becomes the guy, and no one else comes close to him. No one even tries. It is his show.
Gilgamesh, though, is beloved by the fans. He's more of a rival than a villain. He annoys us early on, but we always get the advantage over him. This leads to him helping us out in a boss fight towards the end. He drips personality and keeps appearing in future games in the franchise.
As I said, FFV is Exdeath's game. That allows him to hit most of the points that his ilk are graded on. It seems a bit lame that he's an evil tree, but it's still explained well enough for 1992.
Final Fantasy VI has one main villain, but he isn't The Guy early on. It's a nice twist for the franchise, and I don't think it's been done much better since.
The first part of the game has us chasing around the Geshtal Empire. It is he whom the Returners fight against and brings fear to every nation on the planet. They're set up to something Exdeathesq, but then something happens...
Kefka takes control, and the entire game revolves around him. He gets the accolades of the fans, the memorable scenes, and the final boss fight. He was the experiment by his former boss, but when he's on screen, he has the spotlight. To make him even more memorable, he's the only final boss (thus far) to have a win.
Final Fantasy VII has a similar thing to VI. We met an early candidate for the final boss, but they get outshined for the "true" antagonist. That guy actually causes us to work together for a while.
Shinra Electric Power Company is the enemy we chose. Our relationship starts off with a bang, we have a fallout, but then the true villain shows up and does what we couldn't. There are so many moving parts to them that we experience throughout the rest of the game, and they never feel forced or annoying, except for when they're supposed to be.
Jenova, The Calamity from the Sky, Mother. She's the impetus of an extinction event, the cause of our current problems, and a reoccurring boss from beginning to penultimate end. There's a fan theory that she's the true BBG, controlling everyone infected with her cells, including the next guy.
Sephiroth is why everyone was really into goths in the late '90s. His long hair, sword, and plot relevance makes him the most iconic boss in JRPGs. He's connected to so many things.
Final Fantasy VIII has a straight but not simple ladder of main villains. There's only one reoccurring boss, and he's of utmost value to the plot.
Seifer, the Sorceress' Knight, almost willingly chose to be mind controlled. I'm pretty sure he does break free, actually, just in time for his duel against Odin. He's a rival through and through, from childhood to the end.
Edea is the target for the first half of the game. She ends up being a vital ally once we figure out the truth of this entire game. Longevity is key to a lot of points.
Adel seems to come from nowhere, but she's cleverly foreshadowed in Timber. Her actual screen time is pretty low, though, and is immediately overshadowed.
Ultimecia comes from nowhere and adds weight to the plot, but only through nonsensical time spoofing.
Final Fantasy IX has the most amount of entries on this list. Despite that, there are a few I'm blowing off.
Queen Brahne is the mother of Garnet. We "kidnap" her daughter, and she tries to blow us up. She's then the primary antagonist until the very end of disk two, and another takes her place.
Four Fiends are underlings of Kuja. They're mostly a callback to FFI, but the way they're handled is pretty fun. You split the party, and they all interact in a great way.
Garland is the man behind the scenes. He's the cause of the fall of Maiden Sari, which really kickstarts the engine for one of our characters. The watcher doesn't always watch.
Kuja was supposed to be the angel of death, but his master found him wanting. This led to his replacement and downfall. He's the guy behind Brahne and becomes the primary villain until the very end. Alas, he's screwed out of points by a random concept.
Necron shows up, quotes Yoda, and ignores status defenses. Of all the random final bosses, he's the worst.
Final Fantasy X has one guy, and only one guy, that we're chasing after. However, Sin's got a few fun twists to keep him from being a Mateus.
Birane/Yenke are here for funzies. They're Kimarhi's backstory and only have one fight with no bearing on the rest of the plot.
Sin, the Destroyer, the Cycle. He's the physical embodiment of all that's evil in Spira. Everything revolves around him. He is eternal but has my favorite twist in the franchise.
Yu Yevon is a cockroach who wants us to kill him. He's technically the final boss, but we can't lose, so I'm not giving him the point.
Final Fantasy XII is straightforward with its bosses. There's only the one, a quasi underling, and a side quest.
Ba'gammnon and crew is the side quest. He's got a link to Balthier, somehow, but forgotten once we get out of jail.
Cid seems like a lackey or sidekick to Vayne until we learn why he talks to himself. And then it gets confusing. He's the father of one of our playable cast members, but the whole occuria thing confuses me.
Vayne had so much potential. His first time on screen, where he calms the people of Dalmasca down, is such a cool scene. It makes you think he's not actually the bad guy; however, nothing comes from it. He ends up being evil for the sake of evil, killing his family. But then again, not really. He's not the one who started the final confrontation over Rabinastre, so the game can't even keep his alignment straight.
Final Fantasy XIII has had some lacking characters and sidequests. But maybe the bosses can redeem the compilation?
Fal/I'Cie are a confusing mess. They start the game by branding us with their mark for reasons never explained. If we fail, we become crystal. If we succeed, we become crystal. But we don't know what our mission is... What do they want from us?
Cid Raines is the resident Cid of XIII, and that's the only reason he's here. He's a high ranking grunt of the main villain and doesn't bring much to the table.
Barthandelus has a deep backstory about trying to kill everyone for reasons I don't remember. He's worth his screen time as he's the arbiter of everything.
Orphan is the final boss of game one. He merges with Barthandelus because he wants us to kill him, I think. I don't know why he puts up such a fight, though. Like everything in this series, I'm left wondering why...
Caius is the main boss of XIII-2 and plays a vital role there. He's an immortal being with a deep backstory connected to Noel and Yeol. He then becomes intertwined with the gods and the afterlife. He's a fun and interesting boss with a lot going on.
Bhunivelze is the god of creation. He's Lightning's boss for the final game until she kills him dressed as a catgirl.
Final Fantasy Tactics never really had one clear villain until we go to Hell. There's a number leading up to her, with some even being in the world's backstory. St. Ajora will not be discussed here, though. Many of the ones listed are intertwined, with many characters linked in two or more groups.
The Corpse Brigade is the terrorist group we fight in chapter one. They're led by Wiegraf to bring about equality between the peasants and the nobles. We kill his sister, and then everything starts a path to destruction.
The Temple Knights are also led by Wiegraf. They start by working for the Church of Glabados, but they're actually just another gang with goals higher than their station. It's about bringing a dead god back to life or something.
The Lucavi are demons from aeons past. They fought the creators of mankind before history began, but that story is never really told in the Ivalice Alliance. The people who turn into Luvaci are from all walks of life, and we have to slay them all. Or, at least, as many who misuse the stones.
Ultima is the final boss of the game. She's the reincarnation of the anti occura forces from FFXII's backstory. She also has something to do with St. Ajora. The whole religion of the game is "what if the Antichrist was worshiped unbeknownst to the general populace." It's a story not told often, and I want more Ivalice games!
Wiegraf was a name I left off at first because he's in all of the groups already listed, but he deserves his own judgement. He's the primary antagonist in chapter one and stays around near the top of the list, right up until the very end. He works and commands everyone, including us, from the shadows, but I never felt like he was the top guy. But he's pretty far up there, nonetheless. Because of his longevity, role, and reoccurring fights, Wiegraf deserves his one row.
There are, of course, more games I'll bring up in the findings, but those are the ones I'm pointing out and writing about. I hated writing all of that as is, so I'm not gonna double it with every game I've played, Square or otherwise. And so, let's get to those findings!
There are only four perfect scores this time:
Kefka from VI, Sin from X, Caius Ballad from XIII, and Seraph Lamington from Disgaea. Everyone knows about Kefka and his world destroying actions. But Sin's complicated backstory with being Jecht adds layers to him. Carius was a bit of a shock, but all he wanted to do was to save Yeol. He brings about the end of time in Lightning Returns, so I'm giving him that. Meanwhile, the Seraph wanted to unite demons and angels, which he did with Laharl and Flonne, ending permitting.
We have nine near perfects.
Exdeath (V), Sephiroth (VII), Edea (VIII), Karelian (Xenogears), Wilhelm (Xenosaga), Lavos (Chrono Trigger), Sydney (Vagrant Story), Doll Master (Threads of Fate), and Zeig (Legend of Dragoon) all missed on one point. Most missed the final boss tally, and a few didn't win (four each). Lavos missed it because he's just a space bug with no personality; however, he's not innately evil. He simply is, which I think is a novel idea.
We had six bosses get zero points. Astos from the first Final Fantasy is the only non Dragon Quest down here. He puts a curse on the Elf Prince but is otherwise a nonentity in the game. No one speaks of him after, and they didn't bring him up much before, either. He's just kinda there... From DQV, we have Kon and Slon. Both of them are lackeys for a lackey. From VI, Jamirus, Grecos, and Dhuran get nothing. They, like Mudo, could have been something, but the devs didn't bother to build them up. You don't learn that they actually have links to each other or the final boss until the very end. And by then, you don't care. What's the difference between them and Aps, Don Corneo's sewer pet?
Bikke, Ba'gammnon, Blood and Smokey, and Maderas just got one point. I felt like Maderas could have gotten more, but he's a one note vampire that doesn't bring much to the table once we beat him. Great party member, though.
The lowest final boss is a three way tie. Necton for FFIX, Profound Darkness from Phantasy Star IV, and the Kupier Belt from Wild Arms II all got three points. They're all random bosses with no personality, so my plan to ruin them worked. But, by getting only three points, there a number of reasons they're not well regarded.
In the battle of the Four Fiends, IX and III are the worst, getting only two points. One was a stretch, and the others were just bit players. The ones from Final Fantasy I got four points!
The worst Cid, between the two of them, is Cid Raines. He also got two points, while Cid from XII got four.
The best non primary antagonist was Mid-boss/Vyers from Disgaea, who got seven points. He's linked to Laharl and the Seraph and even has a great fan theory that makes him of utmost importance to the plot.
Ninzo (Dragon Quest V) and Guildenstern (Vagrant Story) are the best of the evil for the sake of evil bosses. They got seven points!
Emperor Geshtal got seven points despite not being relevant in the second half of the game. If only there was a sidequest about him somewhere... No, he isn't Gogo.
From Star Ocean, the Ten Wize men got eight points, despite not having a link to other characters.
Personally, I think the biggest surprise is how high all of the Star Ocean entries ranked. Their playable cast and side characters were a bit wanting, but many of the bosses graded got pretty good scores. Ignoring Star Ocean 1 and bland Grigori for 4, there are three eights out of the four here. Luther got a seven, making him the worst of the three games. And it could be argued he deserves another point or two!
I didn't average out the scores for every game, but Xenogears has the most of the ones I did. Six bosses got a 7.17 score. With that many entries getting that high of a score must mean something. Keep in mind, some games got more than that, but they have fewer entries. It's a very flawed system, which is I didn't do it for all of them.
The grand total of every game ranked (as of pass one on December 16th, 2021) is 5.39 across ~139 entries. The Final Fantasy series got a score of 5.52 from ~59. The final bosses total 6.86 from fifteen entries.
The graph can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qMgayDkUkRJsF7ImSNbqFW51H8ZNCztG/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103909396598242866758&rtpof=true&sd=true
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