To Make a Fan: Let's Play Final Fantasy

[GloatingSwine]

I was well aware that the game had been heavily influenced by D&D

If by "heavily influenced by" you mean "they went through the monster manual from A to Z and stuck it all in there", yeah.

That's why some of the sprites got changed for the US version, because they were things that TSR could legitemately claim copyright on.

[Triaxx]

Presumably why we had IMPs instead of goblins. Well, that and the character limitations.

[danzibr]

Silly old 8-bit theatre has that party.

Of course! Can't believe I didn't think of that. I read so much 8-bit theatre.

[GloatingSwine]

Presumably why we had IMPs instead of goblins. Well, that and the character limitations.

In the Japanese version they were called Goblins (you can spell goblin with 4 characters in Japanese,　ゴブリン). The one that was completely changed was the EYE (Evil Eye in later versions), on the original Japanese version it was a Beholder, and the sprite looks like a classic D&D Beholder. The sprite has since been changed in all subsequent Japanese versions as well (certainly from the Playstation/WSC versions on).

The Beholder is one of the few monsters in D&D which is actually unique and copyright as part of D&D. (Though interestingly one of the few others, Mind Flayers, are in FF as well, they're called WIZARDs in the US version. They probably decided that they could get away with those since they're basically cthulhu anyway.)

[Beige Dragon]

Early final fantasy looks much more fun than later final fantasy. I dont know, maybe its just the art style.

[Triaxx]

It seems to vary from game to game. I love IX, and I, but I don't like either version of II, or III.

[RagingKrikkit]

Alright, guys, confession time. I am five months short of twenty, and my parents have given me an ultimatum: Find out what I'm going to do with my life for at least the next year, or they're going to find out for me. It was a tough decision, but in the end I have determined that I will be joining the United States army, and have already begun speaking with a recruiter. In the short term, that means that I am taking the months before I sign the papers and then get called off to boot camp (which might or might not have a significant delay) to wrap up my life, including my LPs. Long-term, I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen, but I intend to finish this game, and come back for more when I can, even if I have to wait four years to do it.

We now return to your regularly scheduled pre-update banter.

And now, the exciting conclusion to the Marsh Cave Madness!

Chapter 7: Plot Twisted

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(Dungeon: NES GBA)

Welcome back! Last time, I wasted a lot of time fighting monsters that cause status effects while searching for a stairway that didn’t exist. Of course, it would turn out that the way forward is the way I deemed a dead end.



I did, however, take advantage of the chapter break to run back to Elfheim, where I got this beauty.







That’s two new pallete swaps.



I’d scream “Kill it with fire!”, but Roy and Haley already killed it with crits.



Much, much less gimmicky. And weak to lightning to boot.



Turn Undead!



Yay, progress!



That’s the fourth door I’ve run into that has something to do with this “Mystic Key”.



Make that five.



Six.



You know what, heck with it.



That… was a trap. I’ll show you why in a moment.



That’s why that was a trap.



Huh, maybe it was actually the boss fight. Funny, the boss music didn’t play.



Now, most modern RPGs have a secret exit to their dungeons for once you beat the boss and claim the treasure. Heck, even Pokemon either gave you a quick way out or teleported you, unless it was a tunnel. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I really don’t want to spend one more second here than I have to.



A step from the exit, I get ambushed by a group that can’t even hurt me.



Turn Undead!



Finally, I can be rid of that place forever!

Wait… there are Mystic Key doors in there…

Crap…



Oh, well, moping about the future won’t help. Let’s give the king back his crown.



Hey, Mr. King guy, we got your crown back!



Look at him, he’s so happy!



Listen to his laughter of joy!



Huh?



Oh, NOES!!!



We fell right into his cunning trap! Who could possibly have predicted that the nameless king was actually a bad guy?!



And now he’s going to kill us all with his magic spheres of glowing!



No, he’s going to turn into a blue… thing…





NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!



We’re DOOMED!



He’s going to kill us ALL!

Elan, shut up and fight!



(Boss Fight: NES GBA))



Astos opens with a very hard-hitting physical attack.



Which Haley almost gives back to the hit point.



Elves use magic, right?







Then let’s shut him up.



Elan, meanwhile…







…will buff Roy with Haste, giving him two moves per turn.



Again?





Ouch.



On second thought, I think Haste doubles the number of hits they land.



Protect at its most useful.



And Roy finishing him off.



(Victory Fanfare: NES GBA)

LEVEL UP!
Roy: +6 HP, +Str, +Agl
Haley: +4 HP, +Agl, +Int
Elan: +4 HP, +5 MP, +Str, +Int
Durkon: +4 HP, +17 MP, +Str, +Sta

Nice to see Durkon put some meat on. Not that you guys will see him using it.



I know where this goes!

[TheStranger]

You seem higher-level than I remember being at this point. Is that a function of the GBA version (I only played NES), or did you spend an ungodly amount of time grinding?

And good luck with your military service!

[RagingKrikkit]

The GBA features the easy mode created for the PlayStation re-release, which reduces the amount of EXP needed to level up.

[tyckspoon]

Huh. I didn't know Silence could work on Astos.. you might have gotten very lucky landing that one, there. Astos's most obnoxious ability is an instant death spell that he will usually cast round about the third or fourth round, plus a few other somewhat irritating things.. IIRC, he Hastes himself and likes to Slow your lead damage dealer. Much easier fight if you manage to restrict him to just basic attacks.

or did you spend an ungodly amount of time grinding?

He's got the -a level spells, which are not cheap at that point in time - I usually pick them up with the proceeds from selling the unneeded loot you get access to from the Mystic Key. 'tho I also just run away from every fight in Marsh Cave except the Piscodemons, so YMMV.. but I'mma say a significant amount of grinding (possibly unintentional from the extra time spent wandering around Marsh Cave.)

Edit: An honest spoilery tip for YakYak regarding those locked doors in Marsh Cave:

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Nothing in the Marsh Cave doors is worth going back for. One of them even leads to nothing but another Pisco fight blocking off an empty chest. Make sure to get all the other Key-locked treasures - there are some in places you might not suspect - but you don't have to go back to Marsh Cave unless you're a completionist or a masochist.

[Triaxx]

IIRC, and I might not, I think there's one with some good stuff in Astos Castle. That said, my first trip after this is always to get the Canoe, which makes the castle much easier to get to.

[RagingKrikkit]

Alright, time to stop stalling and get back to work. I'm shipping out on the 13th of January, so I've got exactly two months to finish this. Illven, if you see me on Xbox live, beat me up and tell me to get back to this. Also: I forgot to add the last update to my signature, so apologies if you missed it because of that.

tyckspoon: I have not yet deliberately ground for levels, but I haven't run from a fight yet, either, so I suppose that could mean something, especially considering getting lost in Marsh Cave there. Can't comment on how lucky I got with Astos, but that sounds like I skipped some nasty things. I refuse to comment on that spoiler.

Triaxx: I found nothing in Astos' castle, but I suppose I can take another look for a hidden room or something.

Chapter 8: In Which I Want to Blow Something Up, and Blow Something Else Up Instead

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Welcome back! When last we left, we killed a nameless king who wasn’t actually a king but really an evil blue elf who cursed the elf prince and then tricked us into finding a crown so that he could rule the world. Or something like that. Anyway, killing him netted us the Crystal Eye, which when placed over the sleeping prince’s eye, will break the spell and cause him to awaken.



Or not.



We actually have to backtrack all the way back here and deliver it to the witch who couldn’t see.



Don’t worry, I have something to give you in exchange. Take this potion

A potion?! You give me a stinking-





Well, it played the “key item get” jingle, so I guess we broke even there.





We’re done here.



And one trek across the world later, we’re back!



I will try it at once!



Fade to white and a suspiciously familiar sound effect, but I can’t remember where I heard it. It’s one of those “pling” sounds associated with magic.











Alright, lootin’ time! First up, the treasure room in the castle.



Interestingly enough, there was no special indicator that the key opened the door. Even more interestingly, that could mean that from now on whenever we find a new door with treasure behind it, it could be a key room, and I’d never know. Anyway, the other three chests net us 800 gil, 700 gil, and bronze gloves, making the rest significantly less awesome than our first silvermythril item.



Honestly, I’ve always preferred the deliberate misspellings such as mythril or fenix. It manages to still use common fantasy terminology, but with a slight twist that makes it stand out as its own thing.



Aaand it does almost no extra damage, although it does turn the attacks a lovely shade of blue.



Next stop, mash cave, where I proceed to cleanse the place with fire, and find an interesting bit of code. Apparently, these guys are programmed to attack every time I step in front of the treasure chest that the crown was hiding in.



They also spawn in front of a chest in the key room, so I decide to try this puppy out.









Oh, come on!



Oh, for crying out…





[insert rageface]









So that’s what happens when you use a phoenix down.



Jeez, that was nuts.



…I literally got more money from the fight than I did from the chest.



Huh, maybe silver is still a thing.



Then again, Mithril is typically thought of as armor, while Adamantine is the weapon material.



Oh, this is interesting.



Anyway, that was Marsh Cave Redux, and I still want to pour gasoline down that hole and burn everything in there.



Back at the castle, this elf here gives us our next step on the journey of plot!



But before heading out there, I decide to raid the key stash in Cornelia, and I come across a key item, as well as some useless things.



Sushi!



We find a dock in the northwest corner of the sea, and set out west.



Hey, a cave, I bet there are dwarves inside!



(Music: 404)

Welcome, one and all to Mount Duergar, home of the dwarves!





It doesn’t show up that well in screenshots, but this guy just jumped and spun 360 degrees in midair. I didn’t know dwarves were so agile.



Wait…



Durkon is better at dodging than Elan… Everything I know is lies!



Sidequest get!



Roy.



Hmm?



I think this was the “Dragon Sword” in the original. Now, just what defines a dragon in this game?



Elan.



What, this?



I get the feeling we should have come here a long time ago.



Uh… all in a day’s work?



Ooh, cutscene time!





That pouder’s set tae blaw! Unless ye plan on goin wi it, ye’d better gie oot whilst ye can!

And of course I miss getting a shot of the quadruple exclamation marks.



Oh, well, at least we can watch the team run the heck away.



Once again, screenshots fail to do rapid movements justice. In this case, a violent shaking of the screen and jumping characters. We then fade to black.



Hey, I didn’t know this game had pretty mid-res landscapes!













Well, so much for that.



On the other hand, we now have new places to explore! See you then!

[Magentawolf]

Ooh. Wyrmkiller. Let's hope that in the remade game, they fixed the bug that kept all of the 'special' weapons from actually doing anything. :)

[Wookieetank]

Not that its important, but you did forget to go back to one spot to look for locked doors:

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The first dungeon

[erikun]

Well, good luck with the gaming, and good luck with the army.

Next stop, mash cave, where I proceed to cleanse the place with fire, and find an interesting bit of code. Apparently, these guys are programmed to attack every time I step in front of the treasure chest that the crown was hiding in.

This happens in a lot of places, and a lot of encounters are set to trigger upon stepping onto a specific spot. You forgot...

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...about the first dungeon, and I believe there is a room in the dark elf's castle, that have locked doors - along with more of those constant-spawn points. The one in the dark elf's castle has mummies, if the GBA game is similar to the NES one, which you can wipe out easily with Fire/Holy magic.

There is also a rather famous place in the next dungeon (earth dungeon) that has an entire section full of those spawn points. On the first floor, just to the left, there is a path that just loops on itself, going nowhere. The far end of that loop has an entire section of constant spawn points. You can either head there to check it out, or just ignore it completely - like I said, it just loops on itself, and goes nowhere else.

[MonarchAnarch]

What an undertaking Yak-Yak! I applaud your efforts. I've beaten all of the FF's up through ps2 (ff12), as I do do not have a ps3. Good luck and have fun with it!

I have always enjoyed Square's sense of adventure and their ability to always be looking for the best system. Almost each FF has a new mechanic that was not in a prior version.

[Triaxx]

The locked door should have been on the left hand side of the castle. Unless I'm over-remembering the quality of the loot.

[erikun]

The locked door should have been on the left hand side of the castle. Unless I'm over-remembering the quality of the loot.

I seem to recall that the dark elf castle had one of the staffs that you could use in battle as an item. Rather handy, although without a Black Mage in the party it probably isn't all that necessary.

[RagingKrikkit]

Replies:

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Magentawolf: That sounds... painful.
Wookietank: Yeah, caught that while I prepping for this part.
erikun: I really need to stop reading these spoilers after I play the chapter.
MonarchAnarch: Always good to get a new fan!
Triaxx: Yeah, I still need to go back and check that out. Next chaper, I guess.

I really hope that not all dungeons in this game will be like this.

Chapter 9: Not As Bad As Marsh Cave, But Close.

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Welcome back! Last time, we blew up this tile of land here, and now we have a passage for our ship to explore the rest of the world.



But first, we head back to the tutorial dungeon, because there was treasure there hidden behind a mystic key door.



?



Duh. Weird name, though.





I swear, this game is just throwing specialized weapons at us left and right. Haley gets the Rune Sword, and Elan gets the Werebuster.



Alright, here we go!



Common sense says not to go into the whirlpool. Common sense can go take a flying leap.



I spent a half an hour searching for the music here before I figured that this must be one of the bonus dungeons.





I’m guessing that this will be locked until we fix the water.



Anyway, blowing the canal open has opened the rest of the game world to us, but I’m going to explore this area before I set out for the northern continent.



(Town: NES GBA)

Well, this is… not a pretty sight.





Back before phoenix downs, this meant if somebody went down, you had to backtrack to Elfheim.





So, yeah, I think you all know what’s going on here.



Well, I guess we’re holding off on armor upgrades for a while.





See that orange dot? That’s the ship. The white dot is where we are now…



(Cavern of Earth/Gurgu Volcano: NES [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9MGnYkh3bE&list=PL7B4642E32DC5FD8D[/url]

Welcome to the Cavern of Earth, where it appears that this whole thing about crystals is going to become relevant again.



And enter the latest in enemy types.



He doesn’t hit that hard, and we can one-round him, so I’m not going to try any magic on these guys right now.



I take that back. This is the third time in a row I’ve taken one step and run into exactly this group.



I am killing them with fire!



…One second…



I know I haven’t really kept you guys up to date on the bestiary, but honestly, that’s because I’ve paid little to no attention to it thus far. Anyway, no weaknesses there, just a lot of magic resistance. Darn.



EVERY

DAMN

STEP!



Recolors.



More recolors.



And the discovery that the whole damn corridor was just a loop. I just fell for a 25-year old troll.



Alright, let’s kill something new to take my mind off of that.



One shot.



That’s just pathetic.



Random encounter #142, and my official declaration of “screw this”



You know, I don’t think I’ve introduced all of you to the black widow. It’s a little tougher than the tarantula, but not enough for me to notice the difference at this point.



Now this… this is something that looks like it can actually fight.



One round. Can I please get something that doesn’t just stand in my way and wait to die?



Anyway, after a lot of bumbling around and wandering into fifteen million random encounters, I finally find the way down.



I don’t think I ever mentioned that we can talk to bats.



More new stuff that dies in one round.





I foresee this being of use.



Do I need to say it?



Oh, hey, it’s these guys again.



Man, these guys are pathetic now.



I know where this is going.



Called it.



Oh, really?



That wasn’t nearly as dramatic a transformation as Astos’.

You cannot alter destiny. Mere mortals cannot kill the undying!



(Boss Fight: NES GBA)

I beg to differ.



Well, this is going to be a lot messier than Astos.



Vampires are weak to fire, right?



Maybe not.



Let’s try this, then.



Hit him for 103. That’s… better…



Oh, crap.



Wait… we just killed this guy in four hits?



Screw this dungeon.



Key item jingle, which is too bad, considering I could probably make a heap of cash from selling it. There is something out back, though.



Can’t do much about this. Interesting thing, though…



Notice that the slab turns into stairs when I trigger a battle. It doesn’t show up until the warping effect appears, so it’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. Spoilers, I guess.

[Wookieetank]

Yeah earth cave is probably the 2nd crappiest dungeon in the game. Good news though, once you get past the earth cave, you should be able to get through any other dungeon in one go (particularly since none of them have obligatory sidequesting just to get past the halfway point )

[Triaxx]

Before you do Astos castle, head to the next part of the world and snag the canoe. It makes getting back to the castle infinitely easier, since you can 'dock' at the streams.

[Wookieetank]

Before you do Astos castle, head to the next part of the world and snag the canoe. It makes getting back to the castle infinitely easier, since you can 'dock' at the streams.

I'm pretty sure you can't get the canoe until after you beat the earth cave though IIRC.

[Triaxx]

I think you're right. I read next chapter as after the Earth cave, not, next posted chapter. Been so long, I don't recall where to find the rod.

[tyckspoon]

Also if you want to, doing fights in the Hall of Giants is a really good way to powerlevel and gather cash at this point of the game. Although I generally run from everything in the Earth Cave too, the place is annoying enough without slogging through the fights as well.. (although I usually am trying to do a low-level game up until the point of class-change, so I'm running away from most everything regardless. But even doing that there are a couple of enemy formations that are worth fleeing.)

[Thrudd]

If you are one-shotting everything in the earth cave on your first visit, it seems like you must have done some serious grinding that you didn't mention, or this new version of the game is giving out levels much faster than the original. Those earth elementals used to be seriously hard to beat at first, and giants were no joke, either. Also lots of enemies in there which can poison you or do other annoying status effects. I remember mummies that can put you to sleep and other hard enemies on the level where the Vampire is, too. The giant hallway is a good place to go back to later when you want to grind, however, as has been mentioned.
I guess we'll see when you get down to the lower levels of the cave and the first real boss if you are really over leveled, or if they just made the first part of the cave a lot easier.

[Gnoman]

The GBA port is vastly easier than the NES original.

[Wookieetank]

The GBA port is vastly easier than the NES original.

Indeed. I was able to pull off a full whitemage party on the GBA port without too much hassle. Got a bit hairy at times, but was still easier than a standard party on the original NES.

[Tylorious]

I'm just going to bump this because I want it to survive.

[erikun]

Also if you want to, doing fights in the Hall of Giants is a really good way to powerlevel and gather cash at this point of the game. Although I generally run from everything in the Earth Cave too, the place is annoying enough without slogging through the fights as well.. (although I usually am trying to do a low-level game up until the point of class-change, so I'm running away from most everything regardless. But even doing that there are a couple of enemy formations that are worth fleeing.)

I didn't much care for the Hall of Giants, especially when everything running around outside the cave is undead. A few quick shots of fire/holy can wipe out whole groups, and the worst they really do is blind characters. Maybe the GBA version is different, but I found it far faster and more efficient to just smash through those groups quickly, step back into town to heal, and repeat.

[Triaxx]

You mean the Paralysis inducing Ghasts and Ghouls? Thank you, no.