Zodi Plays: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (Road Trip to Save The World!)

[AsteriskAmp]

What's the expected time until end-of-game? I want to finish up the map before the game ends but I don't know how much rushing that would require.

If Zodi is not reading a guide for endgame. Heat death of the universe probably.

[DataNinja]

If Zodi is not reading a guide for endgame. Heat death of the universe probably.

...that, uh, seems like it'd be a mite too long.

[LaZodiac]

...that, uh, seems like it'd be a mite too long.

Pinkhair is overstating my genuine inability to smart properly for comedic effect.

[LaZodiac]

It's time to go even further beyond.

Zodi Plays: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles [11] A Deadly Swamp

Video Length: 44:05

Starting us off today, after a somewhat dramatic event, is a brief return to the Fields of Fum. Every so often an event is held there, and it just so happens that it is available now! It's time for COW RACING! After that thrilling bit of media we then head off to our next destination, past an even further Miasma stream. Say hello to the Rebena Plains, home to our last two dungeons for the year. Our first destination, the swamp known as Conall Curach. Conall Curach can mean a lot of things. Conall Curach (usually Cernach) is a gaelic hero, part of the Ulster cycle, but that doesn't really mesh with anything here except "I guess swamps are in celtic stuff too". Curach is a type of irish boat, and if you look at some of the boats later in the stage they look like what a curach looks like. And as I write this I realize, this is a place that was tried to be settled by the Selkie, another vaguely gaelic routed word. Given Conall Cernach's epithet means something like "Victorious" according to most linguistic scholars, it might actually be more intentional than I originally thought. This was to be the Selkie's great victory. Given it's a dungeon, you can see how well that worked out.

The Conall Curach is a vast dungeon spanning three areas of load zones. The first area is more open, the second far more constrained, and the third a nice mixture of the two. A deadly swamp oozing with Miasma, it's full of pretty powerful enemies. We've got Snow Mu, which as far as I can tell are not different in any way beyond colouration. We have the Magic Plant, a regular ole flower capable of spitting orbs like normal, but also very adept at casting magical spells, having a seemingly halved casting time. Potentially very dangerous as a support enemy. We've got Grenades, otherwise known as Ice Bombs, which are...what you'd expect. Bombs but they cast blizzard and explode into Freeze instead of Burn. There's also Thunder Bombs that do the same but with Stun. We've got regular ole Sahagin, as well as Stone Sahagin who are rather tanky, though a well placed Gravity can rip them down to being killed easily enough. Gigan-Toad's and Flans are back, as well as DARK FLANS which must be hit with Holy to make damagable by more than one point a hit. We've also got Ghosts, who likewise need to be revealed with Holy, and who have a small AOE ice attack. Of course, the piece de resistance of this dungeon is the BEHEMOTH, a brutal beast with huge AOE attacks fueled by one of the three elements, a vicious gore attack, and a brutal claw swipe. These guys are DECIDEDLY dangerous, but thankfully are weak to Thunder and thus can be stunned with Thundara or higher. We even get to show off Thundaga this run!

Enemies aside, there isn't much to really discuss in this dungeon. There's no puzzles, beyond the puzzle that may not even exist in the sense that Daemon's Court can send logs down here if you blow them up allegedly. It's just a straight, if twisted, path to the end of the dungeon. Once there we meet our boss, the Dragon Zombie. For some reason you need Holy to reveal this boss too, even though it's a ZOMBIE and not a ghost. Weird. The Dragon Zombie is one of if not the hardest boss in the entire game, with a single Stone Sahagin as it's ad. The play area here is severely limited, and the dragon's attacks are fairly wide spread. A laser breath attack, a lunge forward to bite at you (which puts the boss in a more feasible melee range for a brief period of time), a wing flap that causes a tornado to blow forward, and a wide spreading Bio Breath that poisons and does a ton of damage. The only real way to beat this boss is by jamming Holy spells into it. Once that's finally been taken care of, the zombie re-dies and we get our drop of Myrrh. The single green tree in a field of dead and dying swamp land. Poignant.

Hope you all enjoyed, I'll see you all next time...for the end of Year Four.

[Lord Raziere]

On Episode 11:
...........wow, I think this is a parody of racing minigames rather than a real one. SO ZETTA SLOW!

you brought this upon yourself Zodi, you brought this upon yourself

Race Announcer (Speaking INCREDIBLY FAST): Black Betty takes the lead, but Spotted Bella will not give up without a fight! But wait, there is Ol' Trusty managing out from the rear, my god folks, this is the greatest most fastest I've ever seen, these cows are zooming forward like never before, wait! Is that THE Congorious Dolgan catching up to Black Betty!? But OH NO! Superfluous Simon overtakes Spotted Bella! I cannot predict it folks, its all happening so fast, OH NO BLACK BETTY WINS! WHO COULD'VE EVER PREDICTED THIS!? The action was just blurry for me to keep up!

Conall Curach, the downfall of a Selkie colony. not much to say.

wow did game suddenly go at normal speed all of the sudden!? no wait thats just Zodi speeding things up.

Hm, undead dragon. I got nothing, this place didn't seem to even get off the ground as a colony, they just started laying the foundations but never actually got to making buildings part. guess the dragon just showed up out of nowhere? I don't know.

[DataNinja]

Pinkhair is overstating my genuine inability to smart properly for comedic effect.

Oh. I thought the intent was that it was some labyrinthine super-convoluted thing that nobody would ever logically get. And thus would probably be a little long for an LP.

...do you suppose they'd notice if we caste a Haste spell on the race?

I guess that's one way to keep people from gambling.

Enemies Defeated (Zodipedia version):
Ahriman: 3
Ahriman, Lava: 10
Behemoth: 5
Blazer Beetle: 9
Bomb: 10
Bomb, Ice: 5
Bomb, Thunder: 5
Cockatrice: 10
Coeurl: 17
Electric Jellyfish: 23
Flan, Dark: 4
Flan, Water: 9
Flan, Yellow: 13
Gargoyle: 4
Ghost: 6
Gigan Toad: 13
Gigas: 7
Gremlin: 9
Goblin: 29
Goblin, Blue: 5
Goblin, Giant: 8
Gryphon: 3
Hedgehog: 9
Killer Bee: 9
Plant, Carrion: 5
Plant, Hell: 15
Plant, Magic: 24
Humble Bat: 5
Lamia: 1
Lizardfolk: 13
Lizardfolk, Blue: 18
Lizardfolk, Giant: 3
Lizardfolk, Giant Blue: 6
Lizard Wizard: 5
Lizard Wizard, Blue: 3
Ogre: 13
Orc: 23
Sauhagin: 33
Sauhagan, Stone: 7
Skeleton, Soldier: 6
Skeleton, Wizard: 13
Squirrel: 10
Squirrel, Lava: 3
Squirrel, Wild: 4
Tonberry Chef: 10
Worm, Carrion: 13
Worm, Tiny: 3
Wraith: 4

Bosses Defeated:
Crab, Giant
Mini-Malboro, Giant
Orc, King
Goblin, King
Jack Moschet, Gigas
Maggie Moschet, Lamia
Armstrong, Living House
Golem, Sluice
Lizardfolk, King
Worm, Cave
Giant, Iron
Dragon, Zombie

[AsteriskAmp]

Oh. I thought the intent was that it was some labyrinthine super-convoluted thing that nobody would ever logically get. And thus would probably be a little long for an LP.

If you don't know about how this game works, namely that the plot just doesn't auto-advance from completing dungeons. That there is an apparently random event that's actually scripted and required for progression. And the combination of all of the above in advancing the plot. It can take A LONG WHILE. Considering each dungeon has 3 different cycles, it means the designers expected it to take around 12 years or more, specially when one considers all of the alchemist father drops.

I guess that's one way to keep people from gambling.

With the magic of save states we can actually find out that ... nope, not going to even try to figure how the RNG works for this, even at 200% speed, heck, even at 800% when manually uncapping the rate to beyond the emulator with memory editing, this minigame takes to long to even bother sciencing it.

Hm, undead dragon. I got nothing, this place didn't seem to even get off the ground as a colony, they just started laying the foundations but never actually got to making buildings part. guess the dragon just showed up out of nowhere? I don't know.

It appears they tried to get SOMEWHERE, but in the world map it's clear the delta is rather big. They may have tried to cross this region by building bridges and leaving markers in case they had to go back or for a second wave and they just never got anywhere due to the size of it, eventually dying on the way to some promised land. The dragon settling in much later because of the myrrh tree.

Spoiler: Myrrh Tree Origin Spoilers

Show

Which grew here because of the memories of pain and suffering in the area.

[DataNinja]

If you don't know about how this game works, namely that the plot just doesn't auto-advance from completing dungeons. That there is an apparently random event that's actually scripted and required for progression.

Ah, okay, I know Zodi said that it didn't auto-advance, but I didn't know exactly how it worked in that regard.

(Also, quoting while trying to avoid reading spoilers is annoying. )

[AsteriskAmp]

Ah, okay, I know Zodi said that it didn't auto-advance, but I didn't know exactly how it worked in that regard.

It's not labyrinthian levels of effort, but it requires you to be paying attention to all the details and what appears to be a sidequest or even just filler but very much is not. The main thing is KNOWING that you actually gotta do that and whatnot. It almost feels like an ARPG and you'd expect SOMETHING to kick in somewhere and somewhen which obviously doesn't just happen.

(Also, quoting while trying to avoid reading spoilers is annoying. )

ROT-13 all the spoilers for added layers of spoiler protection!

[DataNinja]

It's not labyrinthian levels of effort, but it requires you to be paying attention to all the details and what appears to be a sidequest or even just filler but very much is not. The main thing is KNOWING that you actually gotta do that and whatnot. It almost feels like an ARPG and you'd expect SOMETHING to kick in somewhere and somewhen which obviously doesn't just happen.

Ah, I see. So, the game doesn't tell you that you need to something other than the staged goal of "go out, gather myrrh".

ROT-13 all the spoilers for added layers of spoiler protection!

I don't think this forum has an option for that. And doing it in the quote box kinda defeats the purpose.

[AsteriskAmp]

Ah, I see. So, the game doesn't tell you that you need to something other than the staged goal of "go out, gather myrrh".

The game at one point slightly hints that there is something to do, and there is an attempt at making you go somewhere in the most obtuse "something is wrong but I say it's fine while fuming about it because you should read my mind, figure out what's wrong and solve it yourself" way.

I don't think this forum has an option for that. And doing it in the quote box kinda defeats the purpose.

Spoiler: Proof of Concept

Show

V zrna, yvxr guvf

[DataNinja]

Spoiler: Proof of Concept

Show

V zrna, yvxr guvf

Ah, okay. I thought when you were saying it, you were implying I should encrypt the spoilers so I didn't accidentally read them.

[LaZodiac]

Delay in post today due to accidently staying up until 4 playing Nier.

Zodi Plays: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronciles [12] A Hallow Necropolis

Video Length: 50:48

Starting us off this year, we head a little bit to the left of our destination to see it. The final Miasma Stream. Glowing and crackling with an unknown energy that I will likely dub Holy for simplicities sake. There's nothing we can do here, so it's best to wander off back to the dungeon and get it done. For today we're doing Rebena Te Ra, the former capital of the world, now turned necropolis by age and miasma. It's full of nasty creatures, devious puzzles, and one of the most frustrating single player things you can see: a puzzle designed for two players. Let's detail the enemies first.

There are quite a handful of returning and semi-returning enemies here. Old friends include the Skeleton Warriors and Wizards, though they've gotten upgrades in terms of what they can do. The warriors can shield and have their own focus attack like thing, and the Wizard gets a level 2 version of Blizzard or Thunder. Gargoyles are back unchanged, though I feel like design wise they might look different? I cannot be sure. The Ghost is back, as is the Wraith to really send the point home that this is a dead place full of dead things. And while it's actually completely different, the bat is back in the form of the Sonic Bat, which I never let do anything more than flutter around and the wiki is dead on information at this point! We're a bit lacking on new enemies, but the enemies that ARE new are pretty cool. We have the Night Mare, a ghostly half-horse that can spew out elemental blasts and kick at you. Finally we have Cerberus, with a long ranged wind attack, fire breath, and probably some manner of ice and lightning attack too. Just a hunch.

Puzzle wise, Rebena Te Ra is the most loaded up with them. There's key doors, switches we need to stand on, switches that require us to leave the safety of the chalice, switches that move the stage around, and more! Of primary note are the orb switches and blood sacrifice squares. The orb switches must be hit with a spell that matches the colour of the orb, and then struck with a physical attack. This is all well and good, and in the case of the white version can just be magiced in general. But the crux here comes from one singular puzzle that is the bane of many people's existences. There is one puzzle where you must break and then hit two of the orb switches, within a time limit due to the shield and the orb switch itself respawning. This is a stupidly hard thing to do, involving either using Mog and having near perfect timing to get the switches free and hit the orb before they respawn, or using Haste (and or being a Yuke due to decreased casting time) to try and get the near frame perfect window to open the door these switches hold. Or, you can do what I did, a method that as far as I can tell has not been seen before (at least according to my scientist). Blizzaga, and the other -aga level spells, have a delay in when the spell actually "goes off". So if you time it right, which is far easier than timing the other methods, you can cast -aga, cast the proper level 1 spell on the other switch, and then hit both with just a few seconds to spare. Our reward is mostly in how it affects our Bonus points at the end more than any material gain, but still!

The second noteworthy puzzle are the blood sacrifice switches, which I only really bring up because they're a fascinating design choice. This game's really only had two solutions to puzzles; put thing on thing, or hit thing with stick. This one involves having YOU get hit, which while it isn't a dramatic change up in how the systems work, is at least unique. Of course they have an issue, in that the white glowing squares don't "turn off" when they've accepted input like the other squares, being a little confusing in that regard, but nothing can be perfect and I can't imagine how difficult this kind of thing is to program. Regardless, after the long and brutal fight across the ruined grounds of this city have concluded, we open up the Necropolis proper and go to meet our boss for today.

The boss for today is the Lich, a Yuke who's bound her soul to a phylactery (probably the mirror in the boss room) and I must say I absolutely love this boss design. It looks cool, clearly evoking that sense of being a Lich while also still clearly being a former Yuke. I especially love how her skull has the face holes of her helmet. This of course raises a lot more questions about how Yuke work as a species, but still! If there was any race that could become Lich's it would be the race that might just be living souls in armour that excell at magic. The Lich is a bit of a gimmick boss, not having much health by setting up two orb switches around the arena. You only have to hit each once with any spell to break them, but until you do she can't be hurt, and she has an expanded spell list. The left side switch gives her Meteor, and it's quick-casted to the degree that it might as well just be a "hit you from anywhere physical attack" though she doesn't use it much. The right hand orb gives her a massive Chain Thunder spell that covers almost the whole arena and can hit multiple times, stunning for each hit. It's brutal! Her basic spell she always has is Flare, which is actually super weak and easy to avoid. Since I, again, have a physical focus attack, hitting her is a little difficult even after I Holy her, but I realized that if I center in on her shadow it does for the most part work out fine.

With the Lich summarily sent back to whatever soul realm she put her soul into, we move on and collect our final bit of Myrrh for the year. We return home and have our celebration, as we prepare for the next year. This one is...going to be a doozy. I'll see you guys then.

[Lord Raziere]

On 12:
The former capital of all things and the miasma Stream to rule them all......hmm.....sounds like we're getting nrar end game stuff.

or its just that everyone has already looted the capital. After all, would not the capital be the first place for tomb robbers to take from, given how famous it must be? the more famous the ruins, he more likely a lot of people are going to come by and screw it up, thus destroying its value.

Wait WHAT!? a puzzle that you need multiple people to do.....in a game that ALLOWS you to play the whole in single player!? This....this just bad design.

and puzzle doors that require blood sacrifice. great. This capital was not a good capital.

.....that boss looks like the freaky love child of a Yuke, a ghost and a giant honert, what the freck.

So yeah, how get Super Holy element for finishing? and what lies beyond that final miasma stream?

[Knaight]

Wait WHAT!? a puzzle that you need multiple people to do.....in a game that ALLOWS you to play the whole in single player!? This....this just bad design.

There's a few ways around it, and nothing critical is behind it anyways. It's still BS, but not to the extent it could be.

So yeah, how get Super Holy element for finishing? and what lies beyond that final miasma stream?

GameFAQs, and mystery. That last element is one of the things contained within the ridiculously cryptic instructions we've been talking about upthread.

[AsteriskAmp]

There's a few ways around it, and nothing critical is behind it anyways. It's still BS, but not to the extent it could be.

The BS DOES compound however.

The bonus objective is capped at 100 points per player. In SP some levels have score requirements that are higher than what you'd get from opening every single chest and killing every single enemy AND the 100 points. The only way to get the Forest highest artifact tier in SP Cycle 1 is by farming the boss adds. The score requirements in multiplayer are higher but for 4 player it's always less than 50 points per capita, meaning with 2 players you already have a MASSIVE boost (in certain levels, just enough to even be able to naturally get some of the highest tiers).

While it's not possible to really miss artifacts (if you are doing an all artifact run), some of the cycle 1 artifacts become stupidly hard to get on cycle 3.

The game was VERY clearly designed for MP. It just happens the way it was implemented was a horrible, horrible experiment. Much like... the entirety of the WiiU lifespan.

That gate up there, if you don't know it's not really worth opening is (outside of Zodi's innovative method) hell. You have around 5 frames of Haste timing to get it right... I know... because I counted them. The moogle is much less reliable and involves luck... and lots of patience.

GameFAQs, and mystery. That last element is one of the things contained within the ridiculously cryptic instructions we've been talking about upthread.

And just knowing there are instructions and whatnot is already a leap ahead from what an unspoilt first timer would experience. The hints about this appear before you actually find out you need hints about anything, so you likely were ignoring them. This can compound and make the game VERY VERY long. Since it may take a while before you figure out: HEY I PROBABLY SHOULD BE DOING SOMETHING BESIDES MYRH COLLECTION!

[LaZodiac]

Oh hey look at that it's a new A Taste Of.

A Taste Of: Nier

Video Length: 18:26

Now, I've heard many a good thing about Nier (though no spoilers, and I'd like to keep it that way) so I finally got around to actually...you know, getting it, and playing it. And here it is! It's a rather simple beat em up, at least at the start, and while I don't really show off much more than the briefest taste of this game, I think that's really all you need to get drawn into it.

[DataNinja]

...man, I am really just out of this. Hopefully, though, with midterms done, I should be able to get back to watching these when they're released, instead of being days behind. Operative word being 'should'.

I really like the design of those Mimics, I must say.

Hmm... that puzzle seems a tad poorly designed for single player, I concur. I wonder how much single player playtesting they did.

Wait... being in miasma prevents you from picking things up? Huh.

Nice. Cool boss room, cool looking boss. One thing I can say about this game is that it really does have good aesthetic design in general. Some repetitive dungeons aside.

Enemies Defeated (Zodipedia version):
Ahriman: 3
Ahriman, Lava: 10
Bat, Humble: 5
Bat, Sonic: 6
Behemoth: 5
Blazer Beetle: 9
Bomb: 10
Bomb, Ice: 5
Bomb, Thunder: 5
Cerberus: 5
Cockatrice: 10
Coeurl: 17
Electric Jellyfish: 23
Flan, Dark: 4
Flan, Water: 9
Flan, Yellow: 13
Gargoyle: 18
Ghost: 12
Gigan Toad: 13
Gigas: 7
Gremlin: 9
Goblin: 29
Goblin, Blue: 5
Goblin, Giant: 8
Gryphon: 3
Hedgehog: 9
Killer Bee: 9
Plant, Carrion: 5
Plant, Hell: 15
Plant, Magic: 24
Lamia: 1
Lizardfolk: 13
Lizardfolk, Blue: 18
Lizardfolk, Giant: 3
Lizardfolk, Giant Blue: 6
Lizard Wizard: 5
Lizard Wizard, Blue: 3
Mimic: 7
Night Mare: 4
Ogre: 13
Orc: 23
Sauhagin: 33
Sauhagan, Stone: 7
Skeleton, Soldier: 20
Skeleton, Wizard: 30
Squirrel: 10
Squirrel, Lava: 3
Squirrel, Wild: 4
Tonberry Chef: 10
Worm, Carrion: 13
Worm, Tiny: 3
Wraith: 11

Bosses Defeated:
Crab, Giant
Mini-Malboro, Giant
Orc, King
Goblin, King
Jack Moschet, Gigas
Maggie Moschet, Lamia
Armstrong, Living House
Golem, Sluice
Lizardfolk, King
Worm, Cave
Giant, Iron
Dragon, Zombie
The Lich

[Qwertystop]

I like the enemy design of those first things in Nier. Just a touch more coherent than total fog-monsters. Bit like mummy-wrappings without the mummies?

[LaZodiac]

It's time for more of this!

Zodi Plays: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles [13] An Enigmatic Desert

Video Length: 36:31

And so begins Year Five. As we leave town, Roland basically outright tells us, even if he doesn't realize it, that Gurdy is the sage from Malta who was hunting the Holy element. The poems make it PRETTY clear, and is meant to be your note to pay close attention to what he says. We also learn that the Jegon River has dried up, so we can't access that chunk of the game...and while I'd love to go to Shella to figure out what's wrong the layout of then Miasma streams means that we can't go past Marr's Pass. Well then. Luckily, the boatman has moved to Malta, so we've still at least got access to his boat. So let's get a move on! Of course, we have events to encounter first...both of which are rather fascinating. We finally meet the Black Knight, and he's...definitely not doing to well. Raging at an invisible creature that may not even be there, violently flailing about talking about how he's definitely not going Hollow. I can't tell if this is more or less funny due to Dark Souls being a thing. After leaving the crazed man to wander the roads alone, we come across Gurdy...selling bread to the Yuke caravan as a "modal of the world". Complete with natural decay and death action! He swindles them out of 5000 gil and then gives us a lecture about how things aren't always as they seem. Fascinating, and super rude.

Once we arrive at Port Malta, the boatman tells us we can sail off to Lynari Island, where the Selkie home city of Leude is located. I've always wanted to check out my ancestral home, so sure! I've never played into Year 5 by the way, so everything I see here will be completely new. And what we see in Leude is a bunch of well lived in nomads hanging out at the one oasis in this vast desert...who will steal gil from you every time you talk to them, as long as you're a non-Selkie. What jerks! And there's a jumping minigame that is absolutely AWFUL, taking 500 points to get even the most base reward, and FOUR THOUSAND to get an Orichalcum! The only thing I like about Leude is the art (the angel carvings are fascinating) and the emo Selkie talking about how their legends say they will one day return to the sea...and how he's pretty sure this is just the other races hoping they'll die. Jesus. After that, and some eaves dropping on the princess of the world, we leave the city and head to Lynari Desert, the final dungeon. Before the actual final dungeon, I mean.

Lynari Desert is...to put it mildly, kind of a hot mess. It's a massive area with basically no defining landmarks sans a few scattered here or there, full of enemies that I think might respawn but I cannot be sure. And like, it's all intentional because it's this massive desert wasteland. It's meant to be a place where you can get horribly lost. And let me tell you, I do get pretty dang lost here. But importantly, I do find some vital things. Specifically...I discover some standing rocks, and a prickly cactus, both with examine prompts. This must be where Gurdy's poem leads to. Once I'm confident we have all the pieces of that...I think we'll know where to go to get the Holy element! For now though, we must simply explore the desert. Eventually I realized that if you jump into one of the quicksand pits, you'll find progress, and I do so, leading us to an area that actually has some clear idea of progression. let's just talk about the enemies in this place now. The Scorpion is the most basic enemy here, able to poison with it's tail and hurt with it's claws. It's design is fascinating, two giant tails growing out of two giant claws. We've got the Lamia returning, and later in the stage we find Sand Sahagin that may as well just be regular ones. We've got Zu, which are horrible flying death kite birds that spew elemental magic, and the nasty Chimera, with it's fire breath, ice breath, and electro shock AOE attack. And of course, my good boy the Cactuar, an intentionally poorly animated Cactus that knows kung fu, lightning magic, and can spew a thousand needles at you (give or take a couple, since this does a flat thousand damage in regular FFs). All in all, a good set of enemies.

At the boss room, we find that he's a little shy, and we must beat up his scorpion friends to get him out. After the scorpions comes Electro Scorpions, who are like regular ones but can stun you, and after them are Stone Scorpions, who are like regular Scorpions but take a thousand hits. Once they're all dead, the boss appears! The Antlion, probably the worst boss in the game. He's too massive for too small an arena, and too fast. The camera is weird in this fight too. The Antlion has four attacks, a petrifying breath that's easy to dodge, a chomp attack with it's mandibles which is fairly hard to dodge if you're pushing to hard, an AOE smash with it's claws which is deceptively hard to dodge and doesn't actually physically affect you, sometimes concealing you've been hit in general, and once he gets low on health he can fire a charged up lightning beam, which is so easy to dodge it's basically a non issue. I really don't like this boss, something about it rubs me the wrong way and it's WAY too beefy in terms of health. But once we hit it enough, it falls down and we have access to the first Myrrh tree of this year! And with that...it's time for some groundwork.

So, I've now shown off every unique dungeon in the game. We still don't yet know how to get the Holy Element, and Gurdy only pops up once per year. From this point onward, beyond showing off how you fix the Jegon River problem early and any memories we encounter, I don't really have any more content to show you. So! Don't expect a video Monday, work stuff has made that basically impossible. I'll be putting up a Throwback Thursday video instead, if you can tolerate that. Instead, I'll be working on...let's say "the preconclusion" of FFCC. If everything goes well it'll be up for next Friday, but that depends on a few things. So yeah, for now, you can bid farewell to FFCC. As for me, Monday is going to be "and then I recorded for 9 hours" day. Hoo boy. Hope you all enjoyed, I'll see you guys next time.

[Lord Raziere]

On 13:
Black Knight....hmm? seems important.

As for Hurdy.....dude look at Ayah, she ain't dressed normally, she got fur all over and beautiful in it.

to Leuda! real home of the Selkies.

THE LYNARI DESERT!! home of various things nasty, dangerous and the Cactuar.

A sinkhole that leads to progress? maybe....

and your back at the Earth source thing. CONGRATULATIONS!! You went in a complete circle.

kay, cya when you get the FFCC stuff done. will be ncie to finally get closure on what this FFCC nonsense is suppsoed to be about.

[DataNinja]

Heeeeey.... I'm back to being able to do this on the day of release.

Oh dear. Cutting off half the game, and the other half of the game, seems... uh, in a bit poor design. Is the stream changing random, or set per year?

And yet more to do with memories... the colour of "Holy", too.

...where was Gurdy planning on going? Seeing as how that particular group was walking off with their crystal.

Why is there some Phoenix Down that you could sell, but one you couldn't?

I only see 3 stamp spaces left on the card. Yes, there's a spot that looks like it's big enough for a stamp, it's not a darker brown square like the other spaces.

...that's a horrifying boss, design wise.

Hmmm... we have verses dealing with thunder and fire pertaining to the desert... next is frost, I'm sure.

Also, uh, six in game years? Geez.
I'll just put "+n" next to all the enemies, shall I?
Or maybe just asterisk it with "*First runs through only" since it hasn't included your grinding runs either. That way you can cut out any battles you don't want to bother showing.
Yeah, going by what you're saying, I'll probably just do that. The Zodipedia will just count first runs through areas.

Either way, you're doing an impressive amount of work here...

Enemies Defeated (Zodipedia version):
Ahriman: 3
Ahriman, Lava: 10
Bat, Humble: 5
Bat, Sonic: 6
Behemoth: 5
Blazer Beetle: 9
Bomb: 10
Bomb, Ice: 5
Bomb, Thunder: 5
Cactaur: 9
Cerberus: 5
Chimera: 4
Cockatrice: 10
Coeurl: 17
Electric Jellyfish: 23
Flan, Dark: 4
Flan, Water: 9
Flan, Yellow: 13
Gargoyle: 18
Ghost: 12
Gigan Toad: 13
Gigas: 7
Gremlin: 9
Goblin: 29
Goblin, Blue: 5
Goblin, Giant: 8
Gryphon: 3
Hedgehog: 9
Killer Bee: 9
Plant, Carrion: 5
Plant, Hell: 15
Plant, Magic: 24
Lamia: 13
Lizardfolk: 13
Lizardfolk, Blue: 18
Lizardfolk, Giant: 3
Lizardfolk, Giant Blue: 6
Lizard Wizard: 5
Lizard Wizard, Blue: 3
Mimic: 7
Night Mare: 4
Ogre: 13
Orc: 23
Sauhagin: 33
Sauhagin, Sand: 6
Sauhagan, Stone: 7
Scorpion: 13
Scorpion, Electro: 3
Scorpion, Stone: 3
Skeleton, Soldier: 20
Skeleton, Wizard: 30
Squirrel: 10
Squirrel, Lava: 3
Squirrel, Wild: 4
Tonberry Chef: 10
Worm, Carrion: 13
Worm, Tiny: 3
Wraith: 11
Zu: 7

Bosses Defeated:
Crab, Giant
Mini-Malboro, Giant
Orc, King
Goblin, King
Jack Moschet, Gigas
Maggie Moschet, Lamia
Armstrong, Living House
Golem, Sluice
Lizardfolk, King
Worm, Cave
Giant, Iron
Dragon, Zombie
The Lich
Antlion, Giant

[AsteriskAmp]

to Leuda! real home of the Selkies.

Current temporal. They were expelled from their ancestral home, a group of them went to die to Connal Curach, and some went to die more slowly at Leuda.

THE LYNARI DESERT!! home of various things nasty, dangerous and the Cactuar.

The lamia enemy gets stop in Cycle 2 and onwards. There is a zone with 2 of them. You can potentially be in this level forever and if anything sees you, you are pretty much dead.

Oh dear. Cutting off half the game, and the other half of the game, seems... uh, in a bit poor design. Is the stream changing random, or set per year?

It's a cycle, in fact they change at map level by clockwise rotations which results in each area having the same cycle, just being at different points on every year (and each having a different element each year).

...where was Gurdy planning on going? Seeing as how that particular group was walking off with their crystal.

Maybe he's half moogle?

Why is there some Phoenix Down that you could sell, but one you couldn't?

That one was slotted on the action menu.

I only see 3 stamp spaces left on the card. Yes, there's a spot that looks like it's big enough for a stamp, it's not a darker brown square like the other spaces.

That is correct. There are only two more areas with a moogle nest.

...that's a horrifying boss, design wise.

Zodi is sadly not showing Cycle 3 Zombie Dragon. Antlion is one of the VERY VERY few bosses that's not only vulnerable but actually weak to stop, you can absolutely wreck him on cycle 1 and 2 by keeping him pretty much stunlocked.

Also, uh, six in game years? Geez.

On top of that, the last area has content that takes 6 more years (from when you first find it) of myrrh collection and periodical visits.

Either way, you're doing an impressive amount of work here...

And she's not even doing a full artifact run.

[DataNinja]

It's a cycle, in fact they change at map level by clockwise rotations which results in each area having the same cycle, just being at different points on every year (and each having a different element each year).

Ah, okay, I hadn't noticed the specifically clockwise rotation. Wasn't sure whether it was random shifting, or a specific pattern. Is the initial stream position the same in every game?

Maybe he's half moogle?

In retrospect, the Black Knight didn't have a crystal neither. So, perhaps whatever happened to them made them immune to the miasma.

That one was slotted on the action menu.

Ah, okay, makes sense.

Zodi is sadly not showing Cycle 3 Zombie Dragon. Antlion is one of the VERY VERY few bosses that's not only vulnerable but actually weak to stop, you can absolutely wreck him on cycle 1 and 2 by keeping him pretty much stunlocked.

Oh, uh, I meant actual appearance design-wise, not fight design-wise.

On top of that, the last area has content that takes 6 more years (from when you first find it) of myrrh collection and periodical visits.

Well, uh, at least you get your time's worth with this game? (Debatably.)

[AsteriskAmp]

Ah, okay, I hadn't noticed the specifically clockwise rotation. Wasn't sure whether it was random shifting, or a specific pattern. Is the initial stream position the same in every game?

Yes. Northernmost Stream (Shella/Veo Lu Sluice) starts at Wind, Alfitaria-Marr's Pass at Earth, Tipa at Water and Fields of Fum at Fire.

NS:W-E-Wa-F
AM:E-Wa-F-W
Tp:Wa-F-W-E
FF:F-W-E-Wa

This has a number of clockwork like consequences. The first year you HAVE to do exactly those 3 dungeons. In Year 2 you can go to the wall, get the element and then go out and never finish it for contrarianism sake. Year 2 allows any combination of Moschet Manor, Tida, Veo Lu and Goblin Wall (since none of the year 1 dungeons have yet to replenish). On year 3 the Jegon river ferry opens up. On year 4 Mount Kilanda. On year 5 the Jegon River dries up and you get access to Lynari Desert.

The Jegon River starts in a cycle of droughts which you can investigate or it fixes itself in 3 years.

The game is timed so you HAVE to watch an event in year 6. Which will greet Zodi as soon as she leaves Malta on Monday morning.

In retrospect, the Black Knight didn't have a crystal neither. So, perhaps whatever happened to them made them immune to the miasma.

Not the best example of "unaffected by the miasma" though.

Well, uh, at least you get your time's worth with this game? (Debatably.)

Considering the game is already REALLY slow with the slog like movement pace, the overworld travel taking forever and being riddled with unnecessary map transitions (the streams are cool the first time or two, having to walk through them for 18 or so years of gameplay is inhumane).

Not helped by the fact that the narrations are kept the same and most maps getting sponges and stun-lockers. You get a ton of time in this game, just not worth it.

A lot of the gameplay issues are related to how the game had to go around doing things to even run on the cube. For example, Zodi's camera complaint is because the game uses the camera HEAVILY to not have to render stuff. The camera is always centered on the chalice whose move-speed is capped by the moogle move speed. Nothing outside a very very limited region is rendered outside of view. Enemies can't even trigger unless the chalice is close enough (really easy to notice even without free camera in Rebena Te Ra).

If you have a ton of free time and want to chill around, this game might be serviceable for a while. But trying to steadily complete it, or god forbid collect all of the artifacts? It's a test of patience and sanity. Specially since cycle 3 is not exactly something doable in auto-pilot in most dungeons.

[Lord Raziere]

If you have a ton of free time and want to chill around, this game might be serviceable for a while. But trying to steadily complete it, or god forbid collect all of the artifacts? It's a test of patience and sanity. Specially since cycle 3 is not exactly something doable in auto-pilot in most dungeons.

Cycle 3? I tried cycle 2 of the very first dungeon you go to, couldn't even get through the first few minions, just a big step up in difficulty that I was NOT prepared for and couldn't adjust for. Can't even imagine how difficult going through a cycle 3 dungeon would be.

now lets see, given all the information we have, there are 13 normal dungeons. given Malta, Marrs Pass, Alfitaria, Yuke Village, Fields of Fum (3 crystals), Leuda and that River Crystal.....There should NOT be enough Myrrh to sustain them all if this the last normal dungeon. They'd need 89 dungeons for all this to work, 13 is nowhere near cutting it. Everyone but Malta should be dead by now. Which means there are are at least 76 Myrrh trees unaccounted for. Enough to fill up this game five times over, with 11 near a sixth.

[DataNinja]

Yes. Northernmost Stream (Shella/Veo Lu Sluice) starts at Wind, Alfitaria-Marr's Pass at Earth, Tipa at Water and Fields of Fum at Fire.

NS:W-E-Wa-F
AM:E-Wa-F-W
Tp:Wa-F-W-E
FF:F-W-E-Wa

This has a number of clockwork like consequences. The first year you HAVE to do exactly those 3 dungeons. In Year 2 you can go to the wall, get the element and then go out and never finish it for contrarianism sake. Year 2 allows any combination of Moschet Manor, Tida, Veo Lu and Goblin Wall (since none of the year 1 dungeons have yet to replenish). On year 3 the Jegon river ferry opens up. On year 4 Mount Kilanda. On year 5 the Jegon River dries up and you get access to Lynari Desert.

The Jegon River starts in a cycle of droughts which you can investigate or it fixes itself in 3 years.

The game is timed so you HAVE to watch an event in year 6. Which will greet Zodi as soon as she leaves Malta on Monday morning.

Okay, cool. Good to know. Not that I'll probably ever have the chance to play it, but, curiosity quenched.

Not the best example of "unaffected by the miasma" though.

I mean, 'not dead' is at least a step up from most?

[AsteriskAmp]

Cycle 3? I tried cycle 2 of the very first dungeon you go to, couldn't even get through the first few minions, just a big step up in difficulty that I was NOT prepared for and couldn't adjust for. Can't even imagine how difficult going through a cycle 3 dungeon would be.

It heavily depends on at least re-running each dungeons at least 2 or 3 times with decent scores when they are down on myrrh. If you haven't grinded or gotten great blueprint and material drops (or farming) it's a considerable step-up.

now lets see, given all the information we have, there are 13 normal dungeons. given Malta, Marrs Pass, Alfitaria, Yuke Village, Fields of Fum (3 crystals), Leuda and that River Crystal.....There should NOT be enough Myrrh to sustain them all if this the last normal dungeon. They'd need 89 dungeons for all this to work, 13 is nowhere near cutting it. Everyone but Malta should be dead by now. Which means there are are at least 76 Myrrh trees unaccounted for. Enough to fill up this game five times over, with 11 near a sixth.

There are at least 63 more dungeons from My Life as a King which follows RIGHT from the ending of this game and are within a days walk (though probably just for mechanics purposes) from that game's hub. This suggests myrrh tree are not extremely rare at the very least and that the events you get with other caravans are just meeting them before they take the routes out of the region. Alfitara and Fum probably have the resources to pack for expeditions MUCH farther, if only to allow the villages that depend on them to take the easier less resource intensive trees. Not a good idea to starve your client states after all.

I mean, 'not dead' is at least a step up from most?

Considering the main character can in theory clear the entire game in the miasma (though you'd need to memorize the entire layout and periodically cast cure on yourself (ideally get the miasma damage reducing accessory)) and anyone with Cure can do the same it's not much of a feat. Lida mentions the main issue of the miasma is that monsters have a much easier time in the miasma, suggesting while the toxic air IS a problem, the real issue is monsters just swarming you the moment it starts covering your village.

[Qwertystop]

Considering the main character can in theory clear the entire game in the miasma (though you'd need to memorize the entire layout and periodically cast cure on yourself (ideally get the miasma damage reducing accessory)) and anyone with Cure can do the same it's not much of a feat. Lida mentions the main issue of the miasma is that monsters have a much easier time in the miasma, suggesting while the toxic air IS a problem, the real issue is monsters just swarming you the moment it starts covering your village.

I think the need to stop what you're doing to cast a healing spell, which would take up a significant fraction of your time and prevent sleep, is a bit of a problem.

[DataNinja]

I think the need to stop what you're doing to cast a healing spell, which would take up a significant fraction of your time and prevent sleep, is a bit of a problem.

To be fair, you can always cast the spell on others. Life would just need to become, uh, very regimented.