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

[Lord Raziere]

On Episode 4:
and the weirdest thing about these thieves is that they don't have any crystals with them! how are these thieves still alive?

and here is Goblin Wall, yeah, it is a second year thing. weird. its a wall. of a goblins. not much else to say.

Goblin King......easy boss gets defeated easily.

Good advice Rah Sie! Food, then money then items then other killing enemies for you. Food to live, money to get items, items to use and friends to protect you and everything you own.

oh so they had a compact portable crystal. See Zodi? I told you they have those. Bandits ARE in this world, they just are probably rarer due to the portable crystal barrier to entry.

[DataNinja]

and friends to protect you and everything you own.

As long as they aren't also following this advice.

[Knaight]

In this episode, we begin Year 2. So, let's discuss the whole yearly cycle thing. Every year, the miasma streams change element, locking off some areas and making some areas more easily accessible. It's pretty neat, though definitely annoying after a fashion. After beating a dungeon, it spends two years in a recovery period. You can still grind in it for artifacts, but you cannot get Myrrh from it. After those two years are up, the dungeon is back in working order...and also has upgraded. Each dungeon has two tiers of upgrade it can get to, and each upgrade changes the enemies inside and in some areas, the layout.

It also boosts the bosses a bit. For most of them it's not an issue, but there's a couple that get really nasty. Rebena Te Ra in particular, although Conall Curach holds that second nastiest spot quite effectively.

[AsteriskAmp]

It also boosts the bosses a bit. For most of them it's not an issue, but there's a couple that get really nasty. Rebena Te Ra in particular, although Conall Curach holds that second nastiest spot quite effectively.

I'd swap the difficulty positions, Rebena Te Ra you can run around dodging and the boss practically starts the battle at half health just from the first phase where it doesn't do much at all. Conall Curach you are in a literal plank and the fight starts with a minion on each side of you, and you can't damage the boss (besides pixel wide dinks) until you cast the right spell, which is REALLY hard when you can't exactly run away to start casting.

Selepation Cave, not the boss but the dungeon gets a massive spike on Cycle 2, Demon Court gets a pretty horrendous section if you get too bold as well.

[Knaight]

I'd swap the difficulty positions, Rebena Te Ra you can run around dodging and the boss practically starts the battle at half health just from the first phase where it doesn't do much at all. Conall Curach you are in a literal plank and the fight starts with a minion on each side of you, and you can't damage the boss (besides pixel wide dinks) until you cast the right spell, which is REALLY hard when you can't exactly run away to start casting.

I've played more multiplayer than single recently, so it's possible that I'm thinking of the difficulties there (where in RTR it's really hard to line up a holy because of the saturation Thundaga you have against you, but in CC somebody can usually pop the boss pretty good). In any case it's definitely a case of those two bosses, then basically everything else (excluding spoilery end game stuff).

[AsteriskAmp]

I've played more multiplayer than single recently, so it's possible that I'm thinking of the difficulties there (where in RTR it's really hard to line up a holy because of the saturation Thundaga you have against you, but in CC somebody can usually pop the boss pretty good). In any case it's definitely a case of those two bosses, then basically everything else (excluding spoilery end game stuff).

Oh, in MP I'd absolutely agreed, lining the Holy combo on CC is infinitely easier than RTR. Also those two are above end game spoilery stuff for me (outside of a 5 Year run), the 3rd cycle CC and RTR bosses are, even with Year 3 artifacts and whatnot, a real pain.

[Qwertystop]

...the caravan-pulling torso-beast is called a "papaopampus".

I'm not sure what to think about that.

[AsteriskAmp]

...the caravan-pulling torso-beast is called a "papaopampus".

I'm not sure what to think about that.

You should think ADORABLE!

With some camera hacking we can actually observe the papaopamus on all of its glory.

Spoiler: HAKURING!!

Show

There's a few interesting remarks in that regard. Texture dumping produces some interesting textures for the backgrounds and whatnot. While camera hacking to remove it from the rails reveals little graphically but a lot in terms of how the game renders stuff... mainly, it doesn't. The rendered area is REALLY small and centered in the chalice, while the area loaded IS pretty large, only a small area is ever loaded.

The world map actually exists for the entire world (and the 3d background sphere is a sphere and actually... a full sphere if you zoom out enough, though the fog effect makes it a solid purple circle at that level of zoom). You can actually see areas from much later when you angle the camera correctly and they DO have the same cutouts and text in the right places.

Spoiler: Random Dump

Show

Spoiler: Enemies

Show

[Lord Raziere]

.....all these names of Ayah and Ay'yah keep making my thinking Shampoo from Ranma 1/2 who kept going "Aiyah!" as a form of exclamation to everything, almost like a character tic or a catchphrase.

So my headcanon is that Ayah is a real troublemaker in her village, so everyone exclaims "AYAAAAAH!" when she pulls a prank and that it happens so often that its just used an expression of things going wrong, to the point where Ayah herself yells her name when things are going wrong. which fits, because Ayah is form a race of potentially former wandering thieves forced to live in insular communities, bound to be some people trying to rile things up in that! and that they probably sent Ayah away as a Caravaner so that she does something useful instead of just being a prankster or troublemaker.

[AsteriskAmp]

.....all these names of Ayah and Ay'yah keep making my thinking Shampoo from Ranma 1/2 who kept going "Aiyah!" as a form of exclamation to everything, almost like a character tic or a catchphrase.

So my headcanon is that Ayah is a real troublemaker in her village, so everyone exclaims "AYAAAAAH!" when she pulls a prank and that it happens so often that its just used an expression of things going wrong, to the point where Ayah herself yells her name when things are going wrong. which fits, because Ayah is form a race of potentially former wandering thieves forced to live in insular communities, bound to be some people trying to rile things up in that! and that they probably sent Ayah away as a Caravaner so that she does something useful instead of just being a prankster or troublemaker.

Just a colourful sound while I figured out how to also disable the UI elements. The texture dumping run was mainly for that, but the background textures and the character textures were a nice side effect.

In MLaaK Selkies can only have one job... thiefs. So it's probably not far from truth, though in this game they end up as a sort of muscle-mage whatnot with ranged projectile charge attacks that run off melee.

[LaZodiac]

.....all these names of Ayah and Ay'yah keep making my thinking Shampoo from Ranma 1/2 who kept going "Aiyah!" as a form of exclamation to everything, almost like a character tic or a catchphrase.

Aya ya ya.

Just a colourful sound

Hah. Nice.

[LaZodiac]

Onwards, to glory and Myrrh!

Zodi Plays: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles [5] A Brutal Home Invasion

Video Length: 28:51

Starting us off today is the fact that uh...no Myrrh is available in this or the next over area on the map, so we've got a lot of travel to do! I cut through mooost of it, and in the future will probably remove most of the map travel entirely, I'm just curious on what all your opinions on it are. So please make sure to comment on that. At any rate, during our travels we bemoan the fact that the blacksmiths at home are aren't yet upgraded enough to work Master weapons and Mythril armour, meaning we're gonna have some degree of item bloat just kinda floating around in our inventory for awhile as I do my best to hold onto all these materials and blueprints. Aside from that nothing actually HAPPENS during our ride across the world. It's been a pretty uneventful leg in our journey. And so we move on, past the Iron Mine Downs to the Vale of Alfitaria, the homeland of the Lilty race. We make sure to make a quick stop at Alfitaria proper, taking in the sights, looking at all the stores but not buying anything because we're surprisingly broke, finding a moogle friend, and finding an NPC who is apparently Sol Racht's wife. So that's cool. But our time here is short, for we have a dungeon to conquer, and so we head off to Moschet Manor.

Moschet Manor is one of the more interesting dungeons in the game, both in flavor and mechanics. It's not the best dungeon, layout wise it's one large hub with seven rooms branching off of it, each locked by a slooowly rotating switch that only allows you to open it when the switch shows the symbol of your race. There is absolutely no danger to waiting for the switch so it's just tedious, but the idea of us invading this large mansion to loot it for goodies is really cool. It also speaks to the point of...we saw the Orcs and Goblins be organized, but we figured those guys were kinda lesser life forms since they're monsters, they don't talk and don't try to discuss things with us. But Jack, the Gigas lord of this manor and his wife Maggie the Lamia, are both clearly in control of their senses (if Jack has anger issues) and probably could of been persuaded into letting us just go and get their Myrrh and be off. Instead, we've decided to murderer all ten Tonberry Chefs in the place to entice Jack out so we can find the tree that way. How rude.

The main enemy of the dungeon is the Tonberry Chef. Unlike Tonberries in regular Final Fantasy, these guys aren't capable of using any vengeful, monster-killer hater moves to one shot you into oblivion. Being a chef is stressful enough for them to let out all their anger during that, I imagine. So instead all these guys do is stab. To be fair it IS a lot of damage, and apparently they can cast slow to make it harder to escape their knife, but really given their speed they're barely even a threat. In contrast to that, the other enemies in this area are REAL dangerous. There are Coeurls, tentacle cats that can cast all the elemental damage spells, and unless my eyes are mistaken in this video, can do spell fusion with each other if they're smart and lucky enough timing wise! We also have to contend with gargoyles, buff stone monsters that need to be knocked out of the sky using gravity, and take quite a beating even after they've been dropped too. They have a physical swipe and also spit out elemental blasts. There's also a random gremlin but it's as dangerous as the ones in Mushroom forest. Which is to say, "surprisingly" because it has Tonberries near it so if it hits you you might get comboed. Also, while I say healing is not available in this dungeon, I am in fact wrong. There are two treasure chests in the south west corner of the hub that I just DID NOT see, because my screen is too dark. So in the future I'm going to...change that, definitely, because that would of made a lot of things a lot easier here.

With all the chefs slain, Jack Moschet finally takes note of the fact that dinner isn't happening any time soon. In his rage he attacks us, and once we bop him Maggie comes out to assist her husband in expelling the jerk Selkie that snuck into their home, murdered their staff, killed their pets, and raided their treasure chests (me). Maggie can smack at you with her fans for some weak damage, but her support spells are far more dangerous. She can fully heal Jack with her love, and she can cast Slowga to make it harder for you to avoid Jack's attacks. Given Jack is surprisingly fast, this is really dangerous. More dangerous, once she gets to low health she'll start trying to cast STOP instead of Slowga, which will leave you utterly vulnerable for a few seconds, potentially spelling your doom. Once you hit her enough she'll go hide in a corner and cry, though. Jack in the meanwhile is pretty brutal, attacking with powerful punches, a ground pound that covers a fairly wide area around him, and ice breath that'll freeze you in place if it hits (though if you have a Water element on your chalice you'll be fine). Once you take out Jack the fight is over, the couple running from their home. Likely to call the monster police on us. We get our Myrrh, and muse about how perhaps we should of knocked.

And that's our video today. See you guys next time for the end of Year Two, and for another of the coolest dungeons in the game from a pure flavor standpoint. And also, let's say, some fun cables.

[DataNinja]

I really don't mind the streams being left in. They look cool, and, realistically, they don't take up that much time.

I guess the implication is that the port may be bigger, or something?

...Black Knights killing fathers? Nah, doesn't sound familiar at all.

Geez. Mythril is expensive. Almost as though it's rare, or something.

Not murder everyone? But then what kind of adventurers would we be?

I find it interesting that the Crystal radius actually reduces the light here. Does that mean that the miasma is helping to spread the light here? (Upon further examination, it seems so, since the sparkles are only in the miasma'd area.)

Oh, really? I figured that passive regen was why you never bothered to cast Cure after getting the extra hearts from Artifacts.

Huh. I'm learning a lot about the way FF enemies are usually portrayed. Because, as mentioned, I only played Revenant Wings, so, for instance Tonberries were just a mid-high tier standard Non-Elemental enemy to me.

Yep, I did absolutely notice how many you killed.

So, the element of your chalice helps block certain attacks? Huh.

"They all look the same." How astute.

Enemies Defeated (Zodipedia version):
Ahriman: 3
Bomb: 5
Coeurl: 2
Electric Jellyfish: 5
Flan: 5
Gargoyle: 4
Gremlin: 5
Goblin: 26
Goblin, Blue: 5
Goblin, Giant: 8
Hedgehog: 9
Hell Plant: 15
Humble Bat: 5
Ogre: 2
Orc: 23
Squirrel: 10
Tiny Worm: 3
Tonberry Chef: 10

Bosses Defeated:
Crab, Giant
Mini-Malboro, Giant
Orc, King
Goblin, King
Jack Moschet, Gigas
Maggie Moschet, Lamia

[Lord Raziere]

On Episode 5:
Welcome to the Vale of Alfitaria.... and the city itself! its crystal is ENORMOUS and so is the town around it!

Moschet Manor......hm.....maybe your the bad guy, but then again: these people are living without a crystal around. and you don't know whats for dinner. Since they're monsters the dinner is probably.....PEOPLE.

oh and a study room with books that implies Jack Moschet killed the previous occupants and took over. After all, for the books to be written about how things were before then compared to afterwards, people had to have lived here that weren't Jack when the Miasma was around, which means there must've been a crystal here and Jack had to shatter it. Either that, or he stole those book cases, with Jack's big size, he probably killed people in the process.

So yeah, I'd say your pretty justified in raiding this dungeon actually.

as for someplace fun next.... AHA. AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAHHAAAAHAAAAHAH AHAAA!!!
*deep breath* Prepare to be surprised.

[LaZodiac]

It's time to get in.

Zodi Plays: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles [6] A Peaceful Village

Video Length: 36:03

Starting us off today, we're actually NOT going straight to the dungeon. For you see, I have obtained, finally, the GBA to Gamecube link cable! So now I can make use of that mechanic in single player, as well as show off the minigames in multiplayer! In order to get this footage, I needed to set up my Gamecube, hook the GBA to Gamecube cable to the Game Boy Player attachment, connect the Gamecube side of the cord to the Wii, plug the Wii into the TV so I could actually play the game proper for navigation purposes, then hook the Gamecube (serving as the GBA) to the capture card to then connect to my computer and the TV so I could record it. Suffice to say, my room is already a tangle of cords but this is getting ridiculous. But, I can now show off the GBA screen, and I will do so here, now!

In single player, the GBA is connected to Slot 2, and serves as a simple radar. It tells you what the bonus objective is, and shows you a simple map layout of the dungeon you're in, localized to your area. However, if you PAINT your Moogle, the map changes form. If you paint your Moogle red, you get a monster radar. Given this also removes the layout map entirely, this isn't really all that good an option since it's not REALLY that useful to know the location of enemies when you can't really tell where they are in the world in relation to you. And really once you're close enough for the radar to pick them up, you know they're there. If you paint your Moogle blue, you get the Treasure Radar. Has some flaws similar to the Monster Radar, but is more useful since there are cases (cough Moschet manor has cure and life I just missed then chests they're in the bottom left and right corners) where say, your screen brightness makes it hard to see treasure chests. My favorite however, is if you paint your Moogle green. You get the Monster Data screen! It shows you the name of the monster, plus it's HP. The HP is less important since health is super abstract in this game, but it also shows you any elemental weaknesses or defenses they have, as well as if they are Flying or not, which would honestly be self evident but hey, it coould help. It also shows what loot item they drop, which...I can see being useful in Multiplayer mode, where radar is determined by controller port slot, letting you slip in to take a specific drop from an enemy you really want. Overall, given the GBA's screen is as black as Canada in winter none of the radars are all THAT useful, especially in single player when you're holding the Gamecube controller to play instead of the GBA controller.

In Multiplayer, the same radar stuff exists except since you must be played 1 you're stuck with the Map radar when playing solo multiplayer, which is a thing you can do. However, if you're doing this, you can go to any Moogle who's given you a stamp that you have the full set of to play a minigame. Which is to say, you play Blazin' Caravans. Blazin' Caravans is a racing gamae where there are eight caravans aside from you but as far as I can tell only three of them are actually designed to be difficult opponents. You hold A to drive faster, press B to slow down, steer with the D Pad and fire off Magicite you pick up with the L or R button. If you touch food your character in FFCC likes, you get a speed boost, if they don't like it it's a speed down, and if it's middle of the road...you get a dinging sound that doesn't mean anything. To put it bluntly, Blazin' Caravans is one of the worst things I've ever played. It's worse than the GBA Mario Kart game, and that's PRETTY BAD. The music has kind of grown on me by this point, but it's still got this clear bad touch to it. The animations and sprite work are...passable, but imagining this on an actual GBA screen instead of the Gamecube's Gameboy Player is giving me shivers. Mechanically, you pick the D class cart so you have good handling and then you win unless you understeer and end up in the grass for roughly a minute in which case all the other caravans pass you and then you lose. Or, god forbid, you're using the Gameboy Player and accidently hit X or Y, changing which Caravan you're looking at FOR NO REASON AT ALL, making you drive into a wall for the full race. And your reward, even if you win? Big ole goose egg. Nothin'. You don't get anything but the opportunity to play more of it. I would not recommend it. I find the fact that Blazin' Caravans is so immediately bad fascinating, because not a lot of people played FFCC, and an even smaller number of those people have ever seen seen this, let alone played it. So this is some rare stuff on screen right now. But it's SO BAD, so it's like...yeah, I got to show off this fairly rare thing. Too bad it sucks!

Anyway, back to the episode proper. We head off to Alfitaria to sell some stuff (meeting the Alfitaria caravan in the process, gaining what is one oef the simplest, weirdest events in the game) and then head off to our next destination. I'm sure you spotted it last time, there's a village in the top right hand corner of this part of the hub world. It's called Tida! Let's go give em a visit. Except when we arrive...things are not quite what they seem. Tida is a necropolis, a dead village. A village who's Caravan never returned with Myrrh. The people stayed, till the very end. None tried to leave for the distant Alfitaria in hopes of somehow surviving. They all remained, as the crystal slowly shrunk down it's radius as it died. This is why Roland said we must return. This blighted wasteland of death and decay. The game doesn't force you to go here last on Year 2, you can in fact avoid it for the most part. But it felt important to the themes and feelings of the game to do it here and now, in the end of Year 2. It goes without saying that, if we had kept the default town name, this village would be one upside down letter away from being identical to ours...and really, that's just it isn't it? Every village we've seen in the game. Malta nee Tipa, Marr's Pass, Alfitaria, Sheela (though we've only heard of it), they all have a crystal, all have a Caravan. And every single one can end up a dead zone of monsters. It's honestly scary in the real way, crawling up your back. I love this place, and I also hate it.

Enemy wise, we've got a few Gremlins again, plus Carrion Worms, far larger versions of the giant worms from the Mushroom Forest. Carrion Worm's can cast thunder magic, and can spew out an AOE poison attack, which is pretty dangerous if you don't get clear or cure soon, which we thankfully do. There's also a new type of plant enemy, which I misidentify as a Hell Plant. If you pay attention you'll see one spit out a bit of poison, which shows they're actually just a reskinned enemy. I'mma call them Carrion Plants because all my sources say it's the same enemy even though it's blatantly not. There's also Bomb's to contend with, and they're used a bit more effectively here since there are other caster enemies, and some bulkier boys to serve as interesting encounters. Speaking of, there's Skeleton Soldiers and Skeleton Mages here as well, and they're fairly basic for what they are. Bop em in the face to beat em, try not to get stabbed or styled on by magic.

The dungeon itself starts out simple, but swiftly develops into this fairly elaborate maze of sticky web plants that a single Fira (or if you're bad at aiming like me, two Fira's) can permanently remove. It's honestly kind of annoying a mechanic, but it does give the place a more oppressive feel, which I feel works to a degree. This is one instance where I'd of liked to be able to actually pay attention to the Treasure Radar, I had it set up for this dungeon and I missed a treasure chest. Ah well. Finally, after pushing our way through the annoying plants, we find ourselves at the boss of this dungeon, Armstrong.

Armstrong is a fascinating boss. An animated house, covered in dark pustules and nasty mushrooms. It scuttled around on it's foundation quickly, zipping too and fro. It's attacks are fairly brutal, an AOE slow mist it shakes out, a poison breath attack, shooting cactus like needles out at you, swinging with it's massive fence arm, and of course using that chimney to fire a cannonball at us for massive damage. On top of the attacks and the speed, Armstrong is fairly tanky. Thankfully, he is weak to fire magic, so a quick cast of Fira will set him on fire, halving his defenses so I can focus attack him down. With this strategy we're easily able to dispatch Armstrong, and gain our final drop of Myrrh for the year. The only big of greenery in this area, a glowing tree of translucent blue. A reminder of what they could not achieve. We Myrrh and new artifact in hand, we return home for the ritual and the celebration. Another year put to rest. Another year out in the world. Three more dungeons drained for two years, meaning we'll have to go even further beyond to get the Myrrh. I wonder what we'll encounter on our adventures. All I know is that we won't become like Tida.

I hope you all enjoyed, I'll see you all next time.

[Knaight]

On the GBA - the GBA SP or whatever it's called (the one which flips open) also works, and they're actually cheaper than most controllers these days. That might still be excessive given the somewhat limited use case, but being able to actually see the screen is helpful.

[LaZodiac]

On the GBA - the GBA SP or whatever it's called (the one which flips open) also works, and they're actually cheaper than most controllers these days. That might still be excessive given the somewhat limited use case, but being able to actually see the screen is helpful.

I have an SP somewhere around here. The back lightning of the SP certainly helps, but fun fact the GBA to Gamecube link cable presses down both L and R buttons on the SP. I don't think that matters with FFCC, but it's a thing to keep in mind.

[Qwertystop]

Hm. I think I prefer the music watching at x1.5 speed.

EDIT: Hang on. This village that lost its crystal... is directly adjacent to a Myrrh tree? Never mind, they explained it at the end.

[Lord Raziere]

Episode 6:
well that was an uneventful event! whats next, a sword that doesn't have an edge? a hollow shield?

oh not that bad of a place! Yeah, not bad at all. Totally. Its complete sunshine and bunnies!

Yeah, isn't this fun Zodi? Tida Village! Isn't it fun seeing the results of a failed caravaner who didn't come back? Is it not fun to be reminded of your eternal quest to stave off the gradual erosion of miasma upon the world every year? Knowing that you do all this just to make sure the village lives just one more year? That you will soon have to go back out to replenish once again? Isn't it fun to know your barely holding the line? That all your hard work amounts to maintaining a post-apocalyptic status quo? A village that isn't inhabited! A caravaner that didn't get enough Myrrh. A day for things that fail at being themselves

and MOOD WHIPLASH! Moogles. Enjoying the fruits of your destruction, you little weird flying rabbits? do you enjoy waking up to see the ruin your kind is most assuredly engineering across the globe? I know of your conspiracy, why else would be LIVING in this village?

....wait where did the crystal go? Did it shatter or fall to dust when no Myrrh came?

yeah, I didn't really get past year 3 either. this game is kind of hard and a bit of a slog. what I'm curious about is that it takes days to travel right? and it takes a year to refill myrrh right? So what happens if you intentionally try to shoot for 365 days without gathering any Myrrh? do you get a game over?

Yes definitely a day for things that fail at being themselves, like Zodi being an adventurer who is unable find her way!

and now for the boss!.....this.....weird.....house-fungi-mutant looking abomination of nature that one can't quite name. with a big red eye. yeah, they were really going for scary with this one. and it has a cannon to! but Zodi easily defeats this one despite claiming its a hard boss.

and its the end of year three, with the hopes of Tida's villagers giving birth to both the myrrh tree and Armstrong at the same time.

and yeah, it does kinda raise the question of how the other villages are doing with their Myrrh supplies and the fact that your actually competing with at least two other towns for this Myrrh even though they try to act friendly towards each other. you'd need nine Myrrh Trees to supply the current ones.....but thats assuming the Myrrh Trees all regain their drops every year, they don't. they need TWO YEARS to resupply. So you'd actually need 27 Myrrh Trees for three towns to supply them all with sufficient Myrrh to keep going every year. and thats not including any lands that are across the river from Marrs Pass, which might include a fourth town, which brings the total needed number of Myrrh Trees to 36. add in Tida, and you need 45 Myrrh Trees, so if Tida only had two drops as you say, then......there would have to be 44 Myrrh trees and 44 total dungeons total, at least until Tida died and gave birth to the 45th one. assuming only four towns exist now.

how many dungeons have we seen so far? six, including Tida. for there to be 45 dungeons, the game would have to span 15 in game years. If its less years than that, there are clearly dungeons that are not shown and if there are more years than that, then Tida being destroyed doesn't make sense.

[Qwertystop]

and yeah, it does kinda raise the question of how the other villages are doing with their Myrrh supplies and the fact that your actually competing with at least two other towns for this Myrrh even though they try to act friendly towards each other. you'd need nine Myrrh Trees to supply the current ones.....but thats assuming the Myrrh Trees all regain their drops every year, they don't. they need TWO YEARS to resupply. So you'd actually need 27 Myrrh Trees for three towns to supply them all with sufficient Myrrh to keep going every year. and thats not including any lands that are across the river from Marrs Pass, which might include a fourth town, which brings the total needed number of Myrrh Trees to 36. add in Tida, and you need 45 Myrrh Trees, so if Tida only had two drops as you say, then......there would have to be 44 Myrrh trees and 44 total dungeons total, at least until Tida died and gave birth to the 45th one. assuming only four towns exist now.

how many dungeons have we seen so far? six, including Tida. for there to be 45 dungeons, the game would have to span 15 in game years. If its less years than that, there are clearly dungeons that are not shown and if there are more years than that, then Tida being destroyed doesn't make sense.

Theory: Inter-village agreements. The other villages get their Myrrh from places you aren't allowed in (thus, not on the map), and they aren't allowed where you get yours from.

This is, of course, doomed to fall apart whenever one village decides not to honor it, thereby destroying another village and increasing their number of sources. Except that, since you presumably can't preserve Myrrh (otherwise it would make sense to send out multiple caravans to different sites as a safety, potentially getting extra), they wouldn't benefit from that.

[DataNinja]

Aah... after a long day, finally have time for this.

Ooh, a map. That's handy.

And paint to change radar? Huh. That's a sentence I never thought I'd type.

...I actually like that minigame music.

So this is the fate of our town if you fail...

It took me until just now to realize the glowing dots underneath your active command are your command bar indicators. And multiple will glow when it's a merged spell, indicating how many are fused...

At least the worms aren't wyrms?

Meat? From a Skeleton? ...best not to ask what it's of.

Ooh. cool boss design.

It just seems like insult to injury. They have a tree, right in their backyard. And yet they could do nothing about it.

I mean, considering the number of dungeons, and number of towns... It seems like it would just be best to all cluster up in a single town. Conserve resources.

Oh, I see. It grew after. I wonder what causes them to grow? Clearly we just need to sacrifice a bunch more towns.

Oh, uh, thanks for telling me about the not-Hell Plants after the video.

Enemies Defeated (Zodipedia version):
Ahriman: 3
Bomb: 9
Coeurl: 2
Electric Jellyfish: 5
Flan: 5
Gargoyle: 4
Gremlin: 9
Goblin: 27
Goblin, Blue: 5
Goblin, Giant: 8
Hedgehog: 9
Plant, Carrion: 5
Plant, Hell: 15
Humble Bat: 5
Ogre: 2
Orc: 23
Skeleton, Soldier: 6
Skeleton, Wizard: 13
Squirrel: 10
Tonberry Chef: 10
Worm, Carrion: 13
Worm, Tiny: 3

Bosses Defeated:
Crab, Giant
Mini-Malboro, Giant
Orc, King
Goblin, King
Jack Moschet, Gigas
Maggie Moschet, Lamia
Armstrong, Living House

[Knaight]

I have an SP somewhere around here. The back lightning of the SP certainly helps, but fun fact the GBA to Gamecube link cable presses down both L and R buttons on the SP. I don't think that matters with FFCC, but it's a thing to keep in mind.

It doesn't, or at least it never did for the people I played multiplayer with or me.

[LaZodiac]

And so we begin year 3

Zodi Plays: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles [7] A Serene Sluice

Video Length: 31:57

Today's episode is quite an eventful one! After preparing in Malta and leaving home (learning about an apparently mysterious element that can control them all) we encounter a TON of caravan events. We meet the Striped Bandits again, questioning them about their willingness to murder and then running over their Moogle when they try to rob us. We see the Marr's Caravan at it's best, being given random weapons and crafting items because we're nearby, and also at it's worse as it literally tries to murder a man for telling make believe stories. The man in question is Gurdy, and he tells us of how cactis don't like getting hit by lightning. Good to know. We also meet the last two caravans of the world, the Selkie caravan from Luam or something I don't know I've never seen it, and the caravan from Sheela where all the Yukes live. The Selkie caravan just kinda encourage us to be cool, while the Yuke charge us 10 gil to hear some in universe information about monsters, which is pretty cool. Also, we discover that the princess of Alfitoria is missing! That's kind of a big deal so uh...we'll keep an eye out for her just in case.

After a veritable smorgasbord of events, it's time to...you know, actually do the new dungeon. Say hello to the Veo Lu Sluice! A pretty large area, a bunch of ringed pathways around a bunch of lake like things that ensure that the Jegon River is nice and full of water. It's pretty stylish and cool, though I wonder how they constructed it. Given Yuke's are responsible for it's creation, that explains why it looks kind of "natural" I guess, is that makes sense. Regardless, it's a pretty cool dungeon. It's infested with lizardmen, generic melee enemies (with a thunder wizard variant) who are quite annoying given our newest weapon has a different, non ranged Focus Attack. They've got Gigan Toad's with them, massive lumbering frogs that can lash out with their tongue, or cast ice magic. And of course we have the gryphons, massive birds that have a variety of strong physical attacks, and can shoot out a gust of wind. The weakest enemy here is the Water Flan, a jelly that can headbutt and do a slow breath attack. All in all, the enemies that are here are pretty strong, but nothing we can't handle. Artifact wise we don't get much, but we DO pick up a Blizzard Ring. Magicite Rings like this allow us to use Magic whenever, and it doesn't even take up an inventory slot. They're pretty good!

After fighting our way through the Sluice, solving some interesting timing based puzzles, we find ourselves at the boss. It's a shame the Myrrh tree sprouted up so close to the Golem guarding the Sluice, because now we've got to destroy it! It doesn't seem to like us, either because of Mog or because of our crystal chalice (probably the later) and it goes into a super battle mode. And what a battle mode it is, Golem is a pretty dangerous boss! A powerful right hook, rocket fists (which are thankfully easy to avoid), a slow gas like every other boss, a laser beam that freezes you solid in addition to causing damage, and an AOE death laser that sets everything on fire with an explosion. This is a pretty hectic boss fight, and the two Water Flan additions aren't helping matters. But, we're able to push our way through, beating the Golem to death with our fancy stick that makes giant explosions when we touch it to things, and we get our first drop of Myrrh this year. Two remain.

I hope you all enjoyed, I'll see you guys next time. Be sure to take in the sights of the Sluice before you go.

[Lord Raziere]

On 7:
so there is an element that rules above all others.... and it could be key to save the world......hmm.....IINNNNteresting.

yeah, ogres are like onions: they hang around donkeys and don't like people in their swamp.

but yeah that is a ridiculous amount of events. I don't think I ever encountered that many in a single year.

a town? so there are at least four towns, maybe five given the region west of Marrs Pass.

I think the golem got angry at the Moogle, recognizing it as the miasma monster it truly is. But seriously, why would a golem be angry at a crystal chalice? was its programming corrupted by the miasma?

bandits? good people? hah lolno.

ah so those two were from Leuda.

....you just....had a feeling the moogle would survive? whatever. maybe its because MOOGLES ARE MIASMA ROACHES! they can survive anything......wait.....I just realized, this is like the fantasy version of a world filled with radiation or something...combined with the streams hm......the streams are constant so there must be a source right?
there was clearly a time before the miasma, so there must be something that changed.....

[DataNinja]

Huh. That is an interesting puzzle, requiring one to leave the chalice's safety.

I'm gonna go with chalice, yeah. Especially if it's instinctively defending the tree. Alternatively, it could possibly not recognize the crystal on the chalice, or whatever magic is in it seems like a threat for some reason.

My question is... why can't the towns just make something like this to go out and get myrrh for them? Seems like it would be so much easier.

Why didn't you keep your other weapon, so that you could switch back to range if you needed to?

Enemies Defeated (Zodipedia version):
Ahriman: 3
Bomb: 9
Coeurl: 2
Electric Jellyfish: 5
Flan, Water: 9
Flan, Yellow: 5
Gargoyle: 4
Gigan Toad: 4
Gremlin: 9
Goblin: 27
Goblin, Blue: 5
Goblin, Giant: 8
Gryphon: 3
Hedgehog: 9
Plant, Carrion: 5
Plant, Hell: 15
Humble Bat: 5
Lizardfolk: 7
Lizard Wizard: 2
Ogre: 2
Orc: 23
Skeleton, Soldier: 6
Skeleton, Wizard: 13
Squirrel: 10
Tonberry Chef: 10
Worm, Carrion: 13
Worm, Tiny: 3

Bosses Defeated:
Crab, Giant
Mini-Malboro, Giant
Orc, King
Goblin, King
Jack Moschet, Gigas
Maggie Moschet, Lamia
Armstrong, Living House
Golem, Sluice

[Qwertystop]

...hang on. The Striped Bandits are basically just Team Rocket, aren't they?

the streams are constant so there must be a source right?

No. See also: Wind. There's no source of additional air causing breezes - local conditions just get air moving differently in different places.

[AsteriskAmp]

a town? so there are at least four towns, maybe five given the region west of Marrs Pass.

Also south, and east, and more north. (The sequels show the map is actually much bigger than what's shown in this game).

....you just....had a feeling the moogle would survive? whatever. maybe its because MOOGLES ARE MIASMA ROACHES! they can survive anything......wait.....I just realized, this is like the fantasy version of a world filled with radiation or something...combined with the streams hm......the streams are constant so there must be a source right?
there was clearly a time before the miasma, so there must be something that changed.....

Also note Moogles can freely cross the streams on their own, which even if you have a challice is not a given unless you get the correct element.

Huh. That is an interesting puzzle, requiring one to leave the chalice's safety.

For some reason, there is armour that reduces the rate you take damage when outside the chalice radius. I have no idea why it exists given that the camera follows the chalice and that there is almost no benefit to venturing outof the radius just because outside of this sort of puzzle.

My question is... why can't the towns just make something like this to go out and get myrrh for them? Seems like it would be so much easier.

The golem and the sluice are much older, they likely are from the fallen Lilty Empire mentioned in the Carthagina opening sequence.

...hang on. The Striped Bandits are basically just Team Rocket, aren't they?

In a nicer universe? Maybe. In this one? Nope.

No. See also: Wind. There's no source of additional air causing breezes - local conditions just get air moving differently in different places.

The logic is faulty but the conclussion is correct. The streams DO have a source, good luck finding it, and finding a way of closing it though. The sequel... which most people who have played it, would MUCH RATHER NOT TALK ABOUT, goes into this.

[LaZodiac]

Why didn't you keep your other weapon, so that you could switch back to range if you needed to?

I'm not very smart sometimes

[Coidzor]

...hang on. The Striped Bandits are basically just Team Rocket, aren't they?

Primarily motivated by food, sleep, and booze; not very effective, go blasting off at the speed of light, and manage to survive on the fringes of society when clearly they should not be able to do so?

Yeah, that sounds pretty much spot on.

[Qwertystop]

Primarily motivated by food, sleep, and booze; not very effective, go blasting off at the speed of light, and manage to survive on the fringes of society when clearly they should not be able to do so?

Yeah, that sounds pretty much spot on.

Also: one man, one woman, one fuzzball.