The Final Fantasy You Never Played (But Wish You Had) [4 Heroes of Light]

[ConfusedMoogle]

Update #8: I Was Wrong Before, NOW I’ve Been Working Like a Cat Dog

Click for update 8!

A few preparations and it’s time to set out for Urbeth!

YouTube Link: Cave of Wraiths

The first thing of note is this intersection.
That is, the first thing of note is how it’s actually a loop and there’s nothing to see to the left.

Most of the Hunting Cave is, in fact, optional. If we wanted we could just head north and leave and we’d be back on the world map.

Really, where’s the fun in that?

Instead, heading downstairs takes us to a little maze of sorts.


A maze that, of course, leads to treasure.




This axe is the only thing here that’s genuinely noteworthy…




…but the free stuff is still always nice.

With the optional stuff out of the way, there’s really not much to see.


YouTube Link: Walking the Ground
YouTube Link: Walking the Ground (night)

Urbeth is to the north, the tower on the end of the peninsula as seen on the map.



YouTube Link: Urbeth
YouTube Link: Urbeth (night)
And here we are!

We arrive in the first town we see without a king.
The merchant lords in question mean the town is divvied into quarters, based on what the shops sell.

This guy is the first I’d ever heard the phrase “hanging out my shingle,” but apparently it’s a real way to say you’re setting up shop. Educational!
That said, I’m sure we’ll never have a chance to open up shop ourselves and even if we did it certainly wouldn’t be a way to shatter the game’s balance into a trillion tiny pieces.

As an aside, we can walk in the canals. It doesn’t really help very much but it’s funny to see.

: It’s hard to believe now, but Urbeth was once a city of faith, where men treasured their souls more than their gold.
What sort of gods this world has/worships is never really explained. The closest thing we’ve seen to divinity is the crystal that gives us crowns, which is pretty vague itself. Maybe they used to worship the crystal?
Anyway, that shop with the hammer sign is actually new!


They upgrade weapons and armor with gems, not unlike upgrading crowns. What exactly this changes can be seen on the top screen.
It’s not really too useful right now, however. There’s a cap on how many upgrades can be done to one piece of equipment so it’s best to use on gear you expect to be using for a long time.

I got lucky and didn’t see any but Hellhounds can be encountered on the way here and have a pretty good chance of kicking your ass if you’re not expecting it.

So… they sell all the best stuff here, you say?

Bombs aren’t actually anywhere in this game so I guess you gotta get pieces of 'em somehow.

Mylion is in charge of the southeast corner of town. The shop here sells gear for White and Black Mages, as in Liberte, but also Bandit and Bard.

Strangely for the quarter of town controlled by the armor seller, we also have the local magic shop here.

However they don’t open until nighttime.

Anyway, let’s have a look at the southwest quarter.

This quarter is dedicated to potions and such; we can buy hi-potions now, as well as more status healers, although at current it’s a bit much for our wallet.

There’s also the conspicuously locked up shop. Must not have anything worthwhile if they’re always closed!


The shop next to bomb fragment tutorial guy plays host to Bylion here.
Yes, Bylion, after the last guy was Mylion. The first thing you’ll notice about the merchant lords is that their names are all horrible puns.
Like, really, really horrible puns. You’ll see what I mean in a bit.

Oddly enough, the other shop had a better selection.
Anyway, next up is the northeast corner:

I… didn’t say anything about evil spirits, guy, but I guess we can keep this in mind.
Let’s save the sorcerer for later, sounds unsavory to me.

We visit the house on the right here, first.

We’re not actually doing so hot right now, gil-wise, but nobody needs to know that. :V
Also, notice the creepy-ass dummy thing in the lower right corner of this screen; we’ve seen it in other buildings too but this is its most prominent appearance yet. If I were a betting man I’d say that’s the doll the guy outside was talking about.
Ah well, probably nothing to worry about.

Again, we’re not exactly affluent at the moment but these people don’t need to know that.


Why? If you ask me, they’re incredibly creepy.


: The leading merchants of each district more or less rule the city, so we call them the Merchant Lords.
: Which reminds me, have you been to Trylion’s accessory shop? Oh, I can’t wait for her newest collection…
Mylion, Bylion, and Trylion. Fuck me.

…Y’know, he ain’t wrong, but he’s also the only person we’ve ever met with an actual problem with this so I’m not inclined to be concerned.

He’s one of the only places in the world that does, in fact!

Luckily for Trylion, the rich seem a-okay with creepy dolls, otherwise that monstrosity in the upper right would be killing the shit out of her business.


She’s not lying, this is all pretty useful stuff.
It’s also very expensive, but them’s the breaks.
Anyway, there’s one last quarter of the city to check out:

We wouldn’t get to help her even if we were better off, sadly.

And this familiar face here we have why we saved this quarter for last.

: I suppose you don’t want me around, do you? I’ll just slow you down, won’t I?
There’s nothing we can do for Ringo right now, either.

…holy damn is Urbeth not a pleasant place.

I think this may be the first bar we’ve seen in this game, too.

Of course, there’s not much to see in the middle of the day.

The weapon shop here is the biggest building in the town that isn’t the tower.



Apparently to this guy we look like we answer to the name Richie Rich. Must be the Bandit’s face-obscuring mask.
On the plus side, while it’s still a pun, “Thauzand” at least looks like a real name.

The most notable thing here is that apparently encyclopedias count as weapons; surprisingly tough ones at that. Your local library? More lethal than a gun store. Educational!

We were probably supposed to talk to this guy first in this building. Oh well! :V

Welp, that’s a disappointing lack of leads on fixing the princess who isn’t actually with us. I suppose it’s creepy doll sorcerer time. _{Aw, man…}


Oh god it’s even creepier than I thought. Yeah, let’s not.

Yeah, sure, whatever you say, buddy.
Then again, this is the only lead we have at the moment…

Sorcerer: Let me have a look at her…

(Selecting no here is the same as the choice above.)

That is not a small number! That is a big number! Cat un-cursing over, expensive equals very yes!
: Hehehe. I’ll see you again- when you have the money.
Hey, Ringo’s a knight with experiences with douchey magic types, let’s ask her!


Oh, right, John is still very much an enormous prick.
Hey, the weapon shop’s right there, maybe the big guy will make good on what he said about us having problems in town.

Um… if I say yes, will you help me?

In that case, no, we’re here for something else.


: Well, er… why don’t you lend me counter space? Then I can sell some of my stuff.
: You want to open your own shop?
: Hahaha! I like your style. You’ve got chutzpah, that’s for sure.

Oh, fuck to the yes.

Fuck. To. The. Yes.

This may well be one of the most broken things in the entire game.

yeah yeah whatever let me do the thing



There’s not much for me to say right away that the tutorial doesn’t, but things will get more interesting soon enough


We have an over-abundance of phoenix downs at the moment so let’s just put 'em up at their normal price; we still haven’t gotten to the important part anyway.

YouTube Link: Business is Fun
It’s ridiculously broken and has absurdly catchy music.

Still not much to talk about, people just walk in and sometimes buy things. They do this until the timer in the top left has gone all the way from a sun to a moon.


YouTube Link: Victory
We sell everything but that’s to be expected without taking any real risks.

Okay, this line. Pay attention to this line.
This line here? This is where shit gets interesting.

Yes, we’re buying axes a mere handful of feet from where we set up shop.


yeah yeah same rigamarole as before LET ME DO THE THING


Quite the markup, isn’t it? Especially considering we bought them like a foot away.
Still, we’re doing this.

This. This right here. This is what makes this incredibly broken.
While there’s limits, as long as you’re selling based on the trend and only moderately ridiculous instead of obscenely ridiculous in your markup, this minigame is a surefire way to make a whole lotta bank in not a lotta time, absurd economic logic of the whole setup be damned.




what no that’s a terrible idea just let me do the thing
This is actually a viable strategy for getting a certain non-monetary reward from this but that will have to wait.

The pink text on the 5000g group signifies the “hot deal” tag; it means that it’s more likely to sell faster.

…of course, it’s still not a sure thing, since it didn’t help now while I was trying to show it off :V.


By contrast, this time it was the only thing that sold.


When it says that adventuring supplies are in it’s best to just put up one thing and hope for better next time, really.


It’s also possible to just get screwed over by RNG sometimes, but it doesn’t really matter if you’re persistent enough.
Really, that’s enough for you to get the idea. Buy low, sell high, laugh in the face of simple economics, get obscenely rich. Again, it’s kind of fiddly and the RNG doesn’t always necessarily cooperate, but it pretty much annihilates any gil problems you might have with just a degree of persistence.
There’s also a secondary reward to be had should you make 20k in a single game, but that more or less requires selling at a loss and I’d rather have a more comfortable sum of gil to sit on before I start into that.

Worth noting is that, while the timer for the minigame is apparently a day’s worth of sales, the actual day-night cycle doesn’t budge an inch, as per usual in towns. As such, since sometimes magic spells are what people will buy, it’s actually a good idea to wait outside until nighttime so that the magic store is open.

And it is quite the nice magic store, let me tell you. The game (probably) doesn’t really expect you to be able to get Firaga and Waterga at this point, but the minigame can change that handily.

Speaking of nighttime, this is when the bar gains actual patrons.

: But now everyone is so obsessed with money, money, money, that they have no interest in the world above.
The island in question shows up floating in the sky at random; it’s actually snuck into a few of my screenshots already.
Combining this with what the earlier guy said about the tower, there’s a real possibility that the island is home to some gods, which… well, makes sense, all things considered.

Follow your dreams, piano lady. Follow your dreams.

This is tentative, but having more cash for bigger, badder spells makes John quite the killboy.
While I’ve made more than enough on the shop minigame to pay the sorcerer for his nonsense, we should maybe see if the other lords are as willing to help as Thauzand.

I mean, not really.

Then again, the lady drives a hard bargain.



The rings take up inventory space and are useless. This is as simple as talking to all the randos in town until someone willing to buy actually does.


We can technically say no, but…

…honestly the rings are useless otherwise…


…so it’s better just to part with 'em and be done with it.



I don’t know if you can even find this guy during the daytime so here he is in the bar.



And this last rich asshole is on the top floor of the inn.


: Then I must pay you, musn’t I? Here you are…
Not gonna lie, the fact that you even question that fact is kind of a red flag, lady.

This is chump change compared to mini game money but it’s next to no effort at all so I don’t mind too much.

I mean, that’s honestly a terrible idea, but I can humor you for half a second I suppose.

…fair enough, I guess.
Should we refuse outright:

…rich people are such pricks.

There are still two more lords, of course. The correct answer here is, again, to say no.
: Ah, I get it. If you’re not here to spend, you must be here to earn! Am I right?
: …Come to think of it, I just might have a job for you. You see, there’s a Chimera lurking around in the Hunting Caves.
: It’s playing havoc with our supply chain. Do you fancy going to the Hunting Caves and getting rid of it?
: Great. The sooner you finish the job, the better!

And the last of the lords.
: Then you’re looking for a job, perhaps?
: Hm. I do need people to collect materials for me.
: At the moment, we’re very short of Bomb Fragments, the kind that certain local monsters carry.
: I’ll give you a very good price for any you can bring me.
So. A Chimera and bomb fragments, you say?

I wonder what Ringo thinks about odd jobs.


: No you won’t. Come on, you want to help save George, don’t you?
: Th-the princess? Where is she?

Lower-key prickishness is progress, at least.
: …Never mind. If you’re going to help the princess, then I’m coming, too!

To the surprise of no one, hopefully.
This is honestly kind of a dick move of the game. She’ll join up if you talk to her after completing one of the side quests -not the minigame- given by the merchant lords. It’s entirely possible for you to make enough cash with the minigame, use that money to make progress, then get your ass kicked in the next segment because you went forward with a solo Jusqua/John, none the wiser as to how you actually get Yunita/Ringo in your team.

Anyway, more tentative gearing up. I do want to get my Bandit and Bard on, hence the tentativeness of my current setup, but the excellent selection at the magic shop here makes the mage crowns that much more tempting.

: I’ve been cheated and conned by so many people in Urbeth I can’t stand to think about it any more!(sic)
And they do it all so they can buy those weird, creepy dolls.
Pricks.

That we do, John, that we do.

[ConfusedMoogle]

Update #9: If You Play It Backwards You Can Hear Satanic Messages

Click for update 9!

YouTube Link: Urbeth (night)
YouTube Link: Urbeth
So, the highest possible sum of gil that can be made in the shopkeeping minigame is 20,000.

The best way to reach this sum is to sell magic at its market price. (Well, the easiest would be to do so at a loss, but I’d rather not if I can avoid it.)

This will almost certainly involve save scumming.

YouTube Link: Business is Fun
3 Firagas or Watergas at 5000, three Shells or Protects at 1000, and four Fire or Water at 500. This comes up to 20,000 gil with no loss on our part.
(If you’re willing to sell at a loss, Raise, Fira, or Watera cost 1500 each and as such are more likely to sell at 1000 and 500. If you’re really desperate for that high score, all Firaga or Waterga can be used but that’s probably not worth it even if you’re willing to sell at a loss.)

Of course, the RNG is still the RNG.

Save scumming away!


Hrm.


In the end it takes me about five tries.

YouTube Link: Victory
If it had taken too many tries I was willing to start losing money for it, but it luckily never came to that.

Ain’t that the truth.

Suddenly, a familiar light.

…what an odd thing to take interest in.
: How mighty you have grown.
: Long, so long have we waited for this blessed day to come.
…I guess it’s impressed with our ability to completely defy basic economics? I mean, all we did was resell some books at full price…

I’m not gonna complain about this, however.

Or maybe I am, given the circumstances.


A bizarre crown for a bizarre turn of events, I suppose ; seamstress is an odd one.

Basically, it uses equipment as consumables.



The defense of the armor used in the ability is added to that of what you have equipped.
Both your equipped armor and armor used with the ability need to have not been upgraded with gems, which limits its use.

And the other black robe is gone.
I suppose it’s possible to get some use out of seamstress with proper preparation but all in all it’s honestly kind of a letdown for being an optional Crown that takes the work it does to get.

Anyway, last time we got ourselves a task to obtain a Bomb Fragment.

Doing so, of course, will require some banditry.


Bomb fragments can only be obtained by stealing them from hellhounds outside town.

The RNG is as helpful as always, of course.

It’s best to equip fire-reduction gear for this as hellhounds are a bitch to fight otherwise.


It takes some doing but we get our prize in the end.


Honestly, after making us deal with stealing RNG I’m inclined to withhold it from him out of spite.

That is, if his “yeah sure whatever” attitude didn’t take the fun out of it.


: Here’s your money. Don’t spend it all at once!

Chump change, again.
Honestly, I’d recommend just skipping Mylion’s quest since only one of the lords’ quests is needed to get your full party and it isn’t necessarily worth it to deal with the RNG.


Of course, there’s still one last quest to do before dealing with the sorcerer, so now’s a good time to get kitted out for that.

(and since we’re in the neighborhood we can get our greed on)

Black Mage and Bard make for a sort of high-risk-high-reward setup.

Our target is only a short walk into the cave.

YouTube Link: Battle With Demons
This guy doesn’t even get the boss music.


Its attacks cause status effects…

…and it actually gets two actions per turn…

…but Magic Mojo and the Bard’s Ditty stack, with results that speak for themselves.

Kind of a joke, really.

On another note, we get these gems on the way back to town…


…allowing us to enhance the Black Mage crown…


…giving us access to the Spell Focus ability.
It’s basically just Magic Mojo 2.0, but there’s something important about it we’ll get to later.

Not that you know of.

okay okay jeez

: Here’s your reward then. Make sure you buy something nice with it!


Before we deal with the sorcerer, let’s take a moment to attempt to satiate our insatiable greed. (By which I mean make a comfortable sum of gil for use on the more expensive gear in later towns.)

Also, the records screen appears to be bugging out here; it’s impossible both to make an amount that’s not a multiple of 50 and to make more than 20,000.
Not important, just strange.

In any case, we’re more than good to go now.

Oh buddy you have no idea.


: Hang in there. Not much longer now…


Well, if you say so. Not suspicious at all.


Plot-mandated inn rest time!

YouTube Link: Crisis by a Hair
…and it goes the only way it possibly could have.

Welp.

Helpful!


I mean I’m not sure what anyone expected from them, they were already creepy as all hell.

All the shops have monsters blocking them.

Luckily most of the monsters are just random encounter grade.

Although this does give an opportunity to show off our new toy.


It’s Magic Mojo 2.0; this is helped by the two effects stacking.


Notice that the save point is gone. There’s a reason for this which we’ll get to soon enough.

Oops, looks like somebody is saying some dialog too early.
Note that the Lords’ side quests are now unavailable, meaning that if you got enough money and paid the sorcerer without doing any of them then re-recruiting Ringo/Yunita is now impossible, hence the save point being gone.


This fight here is actually a cut above random encounter territory.


Especially if you’re caught off guard like I was.

Luckily things worked out better the second time.

…did any of you people actually look at the dummies you shelled out cash for?

Also I fucked up getting a screenshot and had to reload as a result; this dropped from re-fighting the golem, which is good as we’ll be needing it later.


…Quelle surprise.

Again, did none of you people actually look at the things? They were already both ugly and monstrous!

The chimera has the same gimmicks it did before and the succubus can confuse but this is still random encounter material.

Man, not you too.



YouTube Link: Strong Enemy
YouTube Link: A Desperate Situation
The monster in blocking off the weapon shop is decidedly not random encounter material.

I’m actually really poorly equipped for this fight.

It’s weak to light; we have access to light-elemental weapons but not spells.
If I’d been smart I’d have made John a Bandit and equipped him with one of the light-elemental weapons they sell here. Too bad I hadn’t been smart.

If I’d been smart, I’d have equipped everyone with dark-reducing shields they sell here. Too bad I hadn’t been smart.

Its attacks cause curse, which blocks off crown abilities.

_{Embarrassingly I never actually figure out what opening and closing its eyes do.}


In spite of my own horrible preparation the boss goes down soon enough.



We see a familiar light after defeating the demon.
: Eek!


: The darkness encroaches even into the souls of men.
: Those who succumb to desire lose all faith.
: Shine the light on their hearts and drive the darkness away!


Three in one update, nice!

There’s a few things to see around town post-crisis, albeit not much:




I mean, the boss was blocking off Thauzand’s place…

Never change, guy.

: You worked so hard to make that money, and this is the reward you get.
: But you musn’t let that Sorcerer get away with his ill-gotten gains!
: Listen. If you want to follow the Sorcerer, I can help. Go to the inn and sleep.
: Tomorrow I will have a ship ready for you, so you can sail after the scoundrel.
Another plot-mandated rest!? It’s like the Urbeth people want their town to be prone to calamities.


Luckily, this one is important for the other reason.
: (I’m so sorry, Ringo…)

That is, allowing us to reinforce the tenacity of John’s prickishness.
: (I’m going to have to find that Sorcerer and bring back George myself!)


: I’m sure the other Merchant Lords will want to thank you, too. Good luck, my friend!
Really? Boy howdy, more rewards!



…some thanks, Thauzand. _{Also, fuck off, Tryllion.}
Before we shove off, however, we have new crowns to get a look at:

Merchant is all about the gems.


Great for getting yourself more gems… and very little else.
Which still makes it useful, mind you, only not for actual combat.

Salve-maker, on the other hand, is all about item usage.
It has its uses but White Mage is just more versatile all-around.


Anyway, now’s a fine time to shove off!

This was probably a bad decision on John’s part.




YouTube Link: Arbor
: He looks just like a tree or bush or something…
: What should I do?
: Maybe the people of Arbor will know how to fix him.

Quite the pickle Paul’s in, eh?

New Crowns
Not the best of hauls, regrettably.

Click for new crowns!

Seamstress

A very strange crown centered around using equipment as consumable items to improve defense or attack power. The first optional crown, it is unfortunately not very good as its use will be rendered obsolete.

Merchant

The most useful crown we’ve received this update, but not for its combat prowess. Its primary use is for farming gems.

Salve-Maker

A crown that’s all about enhancing and changing the use of healing items. It has its uses, particularly when it gets the ability to reverse item effects and use them on enemies, but White Mage is still more versatile.

Notice: See next post for crown poll!

[ConfusedMoogle]

So, now we’re with George in Arbor, and soon enough we’ll be picking up another frie- okay I’m not even going to try to do the whole mystery friend bit this time. Very obviously, we will also soon be rescuing Paul and getting him as a party member again. As such, we’re going to need to distribute our crowns. Luckily, while crown distribution will go beyond the scope of a mere couple of polls soon enough, we have not yet reached that point:

(Note: Merchant has been left out of polls because it’ll really only see use during gem farming in which case it’s likely the entire party will be using it. Also I don’t want to have to distribute an odd number of crowns between two characters so there’s that.)

George:

• White Mage
• Black Mage
• Bandit
• Bard
• Salve-Maker
• Seamstress

Paul:

• White Mage
• Black Mage
• Bandit
• Bard
• Salve-Maker
• Seamstress

[Slimezilla]

I’ve played this game twice and I don’t think I’ve ever used any of the optional crowns. They’re just so awkward.

[ConfusedMoogle]

Yeah, I can believe that. With the optional crowns you have either a) not very useful or b) useful but locked behind a needlessly tedious task (not to mention a handful of things locked behind the now-defunct multiplayer mode).

Speaking of crowns, we now have our votes in!
George will be using Bandit and Black Mage while Paul will be using Bard and Salve-Maker due to winning the vote.
White Mage and Seamstress are tied for votes on both characters. Using my own judgment, George will get White Mage due to Salve-Maker, our other healing crown, being with Paul, giving Paul Seamstress by default.

[ConfusedMoogle]

Update #10: Tangerine Trees and Marmalade Skies
Light sexist stereotyping

Click here for update 10!

YouTube Link: Arbor
When we last left our heroes, George and Paul had just arrived in Arbor. Arbor’s magical security system had just transformed Paul into a plant statue, while George was still under her cat curse from Liberte’s horrible gut dungeon.
Luckily, we had just gotten free reign to explore Arbor for clues.

Arbor is inhabited by a combination of faeries, wood elves, and critters. The text box is blocking it but we’re actually talking to some sort of ferret here.



You know, I’ve been finding that, more and more, I relate to the whole “your entire species is genetically pre-disposed to be shit” attitude that aliens and elves tend to have in sci-fi/fantasy settings. Not entirely, of course, but my typical response is still less “what a bunch of xenophobic pricks” and more “oh, like you’re any better.”
That being said, what a bunch of xenophobic pricks!

The majority of Arbor is – shockingly, I know – inside of the big tree.
Can’t say I blame them, it’s a good-lookin’ tree.

Arbor folks are mighty helpful about that whole “circumventing their security system” thing.

”Old magic,” you say? We’ll have to check that out after getting a look at the rest of the town.

The gear shop reinforces my decision to binge a little on the shopping minigame back in Urbeth. (Plus it makes me grateful for the time-and-space-defying inventory, but that’s a given.)
I don’t show it but I pick up that dagger and make George a Bandit.

The item shop is nothing special but it does offer Raise tomes.

Not especially, it’s a very fancy tree and that name is a pretty big hint.

And yet you sell fire-based bows and arrows in the shops.
Fortunately, we also have some fire-based magic leftover from Urbeth in both our storage and our inventory.

This first screen of the tree is a big loop; going behind the item shop like this will bring us back to the entrance.


Well, I’m sure it’s just a phase Arbaroc is doing just dandy.

Dude’s long gone, no doubt.

Really? Well, we can’t be having that; magic is borderline overpowered in this game.

Maybe the royalty or whoever is in charge will be able to clue us in on our little predicament.


No need to tell me twice, friend. A treetop dungeon sounds awful.
It is quite awful.

Xenophobic. Pricks.

Well, that was the entire town and we still have no leads. Better check out that “old magic” they said was at the tree’s roots.

YouTube Link: Cave of Wraiths
The tree’s roots are another quick little dungeon.
No doubt to make up for the next dungeon being annoying and bad.
Incidentally, bring antidotes, the things here absolutely love poison.

The first thing we see is… a mouse wearing a cape?


…I’m sorry folks, I thought the game wouldn’t do this sort of thing again after the awkwardness at the beginning of Liberte. Looks like I stand corrected.
: …Hm? I must say, it’s a rare cat that is afraid of a mouse.
: My name is Torte, madam. Mouse maestro of magic, at your service.
I suppose the cape should have been a tip-off.

I mean, not exactly; we’re mostly just wandering about hoping that a lead to solving our little problem just happens to show up.

Oh come on, George, that’s not what I meant.
: Typical cat. No matters at all!
Anyway, now that I think about it, I guess you could call what we’re doing quest-like.

: I see, I see. Hence, you find yourself in these dark and deadly burrows…
: Well, you are in the right place. The Animal Staff that lies beyond is a sure cure for the vegetative curse.
: With it, you can turn your friend into an animal and presto, your problem is solved! I shall help you seek it out…

And with that we’ve met our second-ever guest character.

Much like Krinjh before him, Torte comes wearing a crown that we have yet to receive ourselves, in this case the Sage crown. Let’s take a look!



(After resting at the inn and seeing party dialog, of course.)


Spell Again, in this case, allows Torte to cast as many spells in a single turn as his AP allows.


While I used his Blizzards for this demonstration its best use is in healing magic.

Anyway, back to the dungeon itself, we quickly come up on an intersection.


The left path takes us to a Bard weapon…


…while the right takes us to progress…

…and another intersection.


Once again, treasure to the left and progress to the right.



There are a few offshoots of the path along the way but they don’t lead to anything.

Well, will you look at that.

Here goes nothin’.


There’s a flash of light…

…and Paul… barks?

And Paul is now a pupper.


Now the question is: are George and Paul hypoallergenic?
: Ahem. The name, sir, is Torte. Magic user extraordinaire and resident of fair Arbor.
: At least he can move again.
: But we can’t stay like this forever. We’re humans, not animals.

Well, she wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of helpfulness before, but if you say so.



Chasing cars, barking loudly for no real reason, digging holes wherever strikes your fancy… Yeah, I can imagine Paul enjoying dog things.


: I inspected the roots of the Great Tree, and the tree is indeed growing weak.
: That is grave news. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, Torte.
Ah, so he was working for her. I guess it stands to reason she’d be more receptive of him than of us.

I mean, I don’t think she’s the kind of person we want knowing that…

: …Stop lying, you fool. You cannot pull the wool over the eyes of Queen Arbor!
I guess you have a point. Let’s be more honest:

(Both continue the same way from here.)
: Ahem. Apparently, they wish to return to human form.
: Although I can’t imagine why anyone would WANT to be human, they are most insistent.
C’mon Torte, the answer to xenophobic prickishness is not more xenophobic prickishness!
: Will Your Majesty be able to help them?


(Not when you’re all gonna be such jerks!)

There’s no doubt Paul’s wanted an excuse to let his tongue just hang out of his mouth for years.

: I dunno…
: Just tell us what you want us to do.
If we say yes:

(Again, both options continue the same way from here. But thou must and all that.)

: An evil demon has somehow taken possession of Arbaroc and is making him run amok.
: If this continues much longer, the Great Tree will be damaged. Please find Arbaroc and bring him back to his senses!
Man, demons again. We could make a career out of demon extermination at this rate!
Anyway, if you’ll recall:


Don’t go saying that sort of thing around any of them, Paul, especially not Torte; that seems like something that’s really none of our business.


A legitimate question!
One which we can look into next time.

[ConfusedMoogle]

Update #11: All That I Can See is Just Another Lemon Tree

Click here for update 11!

Last time, we were tasked by the queen of Arbor to navigate the Great Tree so that we may investigate suspicious goings-on regarding the tree’s guardian, Arbaroc.
Naturally, we begin this task by heading in the exact incorrect direction:

YouTube Link: Arbor

It’s just some NPC chatter we missed last time.




We’ll head up this way soon enough.

Anyway, off to Arbaroc’s place.





Surely we are in for a nice breezy stroll through the treetops.

YouTube Link: Cave of Wraiths
Hoo doggie, it’s time for this dungeon.

I don’t know if I’d say this is the worst dungeon in the game but it sure is close.
It isn’t really particularly complex or maze-like, but the place has one big problem in the form of everyplace looking exactly the same.
I will freely admit to using a map to navigate this place because I would almost certainly end up hopelessly lost otherwise.


Sure, the place is fairly standard at first, short offshoots that lead to treasure and so on.




But then we reach this place.


It’s a route that briefly takes us inside the tree.



It lands us a free phoenix down!



But then it loops back around to the staircase to 2F and the door to inside the tree.
On its own, this wouldn’t really be a problem. However, as I mentioned before, everything in here looks the same, resulting in it being entirely too easy to get turned around.

Real progress is actually to the south here.



Fortunately this floor isn’t too difficult to get lost in; unfortunately it’s still plenty possible.




Our good friend Free Stuff still comes through here, so there’s that.


There’s another entrance to inside the tree…

…but aside from an especially awful random encounter (one that’s entirely too fond of using this group sleep move)…

…there’s nothing to see up here.





The other path takes us inside the tree one last time.





This is in fact the only one of these rooms that’s actually required to make progress in here.


This floor looks kinda mazey but really there’s only two things to see here.


The first is a fairly nice item in this passage to the southwest.


The second is the passage to the boss in the northwest.




Arbaroc is both quite large and quite loud.

Apparently he does not…

YouTube Link: Strong Enemy
…because now we’re in for a boss fight.

Fittingly for this dungeon, Arbaroc is easily the most difficult boss fight up to this point.
(Not so fittingly, he’s actually legitimately challenging and not annoying and bad like the rest of the dungeon.)
First and foremost, he has no weak points to speak of.

Leafra does non-elemental damage to a single target.

Of course Arbaroc gets to take two actions in a single turn.

Meanwhile, the whole lack-of-weaknesses thing is decidedly less than ideal.

After awhile, Arbaroc takes wing.

This is what makes this boss as tough as it is.
Thundaga can cause paralysis, sometimes to the entire party at once, making it far and away the biggest danger Arbaroc has to offer.

Which is not helped by the whole two-actions-in-one-turn thing.

Airstorm is less of a problem than thundaga but not by much. As long as he’s in the air everything Arbaroc does hits the entire party.

I decide to change my approach.
This does me no good in the end but it was worth a shot.


It’s like Healthgiver but better!
I end up not using it at all in this fight!

Strategy re-jiggering complete!
It isn’t nearly good enough!

Arbaroc try, the second!






Making better use of our resources.


The best approach while he’s in the air is to go on the defense.


…not that it does us much good.


Welp.

My biggest mistake in the other attempts was only utilizing a fraction of our healing capabilities.

Things appear to be going better…



…but not by that much.

Damn.


After he takes enough damage he starts using leafaga, which hits the entire party for non-elemental damage.
It means we’re making progress, at least.

Unfortunately, it’s not progress enough.

I try about four more times before doing some party re-adjusting.



It’s more damage output and better healing, but I still lose a few more attempts before deciding to head back to town and resupply.


An increase to defense should do something, at least, if not the trick.

Try, try again!


Better gear made this much less of a hassle, at the very least.

Not that the fight is suddenly a cakewalk.

YouTube Link: A Desperate Situation


Luckily, Paul as a salve-maker gets some pretty great mileage out of them hi-potions.

It takes some doing, but this is finally enough to bring Arbaroc down.

What a way to lose a friend.
Suddenly, there’s a flash:

:mound_fuji:: Now hate and fear grip the world.
:mound_fuji:: Hate breeds fear, and fear, hate. Thus the darkness steals within…
:mound_fuji:: But those who believe in the Light will never knwo terror’s blight.


Sweet deal!



Man, poor Torte.

But enough about that, we have new toys to play with!

Elementalist has a… decidedly awkward design.

Questionable cultural sensitivity aside, however, Elementalist is incredibly useful.



Augment is alright and is helped by stacking with Magic Mojo and the like. The best Elementalist has to offer, however, won’t be available for a little while yet.

Ranger here is nothing to sneeze at either.



Target here is a regular attack that always hits; increased accuracy and the like, as well as hitting distant targets, is basically Ranger’s thing and it’s pretty damn good at it.

Anyway, better tell the queen that we did the thing.

: He didn’t even recognize me! He took one look at us and attacked. So we…
: You did what you had to do. Now, travelers, we are in your debt. The animal curse will be lifted.
: Go on, then. And be careful not to step on me when you return to human form!
: Oh, Torte…

And with that we’re finally back to normal!

The ability to change back and forth at will is neat, I suppose.
: Today, you are our guests. Please, stay at the inn.

It’s been fun, Torte.
Anyway, we’re automatically deposited back at the inn at this point.

Wow, what a mean thing to assume.
: I didn’t dump her! …But it’s true she gets in the way sometimes.
Um, no it isn’t, Paul. She’s just as good at whatever crown she’s wearing as the rest of the party. You were the one feeling insecure after dealing with Guera’s demon problem.
: I figured I’d just check out Arbor on my own and go back for her later.
: Ah-ha! So you DID dump her.
: That’s very selfish of you. She’s completely hopeless without anyone to look after her. You know that!
: Do you think Ringo is still waiting in Guera?
: Beats me. Maybe she tried to come to Arbor on her own.
: We met this guy called Krinjh who said Arbor might hold the key to saving Horne.
Yeah, and he made you feel insecure, Paul, not Ringo.
: Speaking of lost traveling companions, weren’t you with John?
: Oh, him… He said he was sick of me and that I should go and do what I like.
: Haha! That sounds like John, all right! Still, I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s like that to everyone.
John’s history of being a prick is long and varied, it seems.
: Anyway, let’s follow Krinjh’s advice and try to figure out a way to lift the curse on Horne.
: Okay! Maybe Queen Arbor can help us one more time?
This triggers an automatic rest.
The next morning:


Sounds like a plan to me!

…figures.
: However, I know someone who does… Rolan, the great hero of Spelvia, might be able to help.
: If you climb to the very top of the Great Tree, you just might be able to leap across to the floating city.
On the plus side, we now have both a name and an understanding of the inhabitant of the floating island.



The trip to the top is uneventful, it’s just a long, winding corridor.





The island slowly drifts toward the tree.

: WE can’t - but I bet an animal can!
And right when we just got an item to help facilitate that. Handy!
That said, not all animals have equal jumping skill, Paul.



The staff can be used on any members in the party; I can’t think of any point where it’s useful to have some members transformed but not others but it’s doable if you really want to.

: One… two…

George makes the jump…

…but Paul is not so lucky.
: :!?
: D-darn it… I’m s-slipping…

And Paul drops like a rock.

Aw, beans!

New Crowns

Click here for new crowns!

Elementalist

Yes, that’s really the design they went with. For better or for worse, in spite of questionable cultural sensitivity, the Elementalist crown is, well, really really useful. Boosting elemental damage is always a plus, but the most important thing about this crown is that, after a few upgrades, it gains an ability that greatly reduces elemental damage that the party takes, which can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.
Stats:
HP: 1.0
Strength: 1.1
Intellect: 1.4
Spirit: 1.1

Ranger

While not as useful as Elementalist, the Ranger is no slouch either. It specializes in bows, making it useful against enemies that fly, and has abilities that enhance accuracy.
Stats:
HP: 1.3
Strength: 1.4
Intellect: 1.0
Spirit: 1.2

New party, new poll! See next post!

[ConfusedMoogle]

So Paul, in his clumsiness, has gotten himself separated from George. Luckily for him, in his effort to make his way back up to Spelvia, he will soon be reunited with another friend. As such, we have crowns to assign!

Paul:

• White Mage
• Black Mage
• Bandit
• Bard
• Salve-Maker
• Seamstress
• Elementalist
• Ranger

Show results

Friend:

• White Mage
• Black Mage
• Bandit
• Bard
• Salve-Maker
• Seamstress
• Elementalist
• Ranger

Show results

[XainZero]

I recall Arbaroc being as tough as the LP made him out to be. I also recall we’re getting somewhat close to getting the band back together.

[Blackjack]

Arbaroc is the boss that completely shut me down when I played. Excited to see what comes next.

[Slimezilla]

I don’t think I’ve ever finished a play through without liberal use of Elementalist.

[ConfusedMoogle]

I recall Arbaroc being as tough as the LP made him out to be.

Arbaroc is the boss that completely shut me down when I played. Excited to see what comes next.

Yeah, Arbaroc has a tendency to blindside people. He’s kind of like Dorter was in FFT (albeit later in the game), if you aren’t expecting it then you’re just hitting a brick wall.

I also recall we’re getting somewhat close to getting the band back together.

The party gets back together at the midpoint of the game which is indeed coming up. Progress!

Anyway, votes are in:

Elementalist
Bard
Black Mage
Seamstress

Bandit
Ranger
Salve-Maker
White Mage

Update coming later today!

[ConfusedMoogle]

Update #12: Come Together

Click here for update 12!

YouTube Link: Walking the Ground
YouTube Link: Walking the Ground (night)
Last time, George and Paul tried to make their way to the floating continent of Spelvia.
While George made it without any problems, Paul ended up taking a plunge down a tree large enough to house a whole town. Fortunately, he’s made it out miraculously unscathed. Unfortunately, Spelvia has already drifted too far to the north to try the jump again.

Well, since it’s heading north, it’s only logical that we give chase!

That said, the way north is blocked by both mountains and an ocean, so it looks like we’re heading the long way around.



The long way eventually takes us to this big ol’ snowfield.

(I have nothing really to say about this, I just found the name “Borgbear” amusing.)

Welp, this cave is about all we have to go on, so in we go!

YouTube Link: Cave of Wraiths

Not too far in, we see the beginning of this dungeon’s gimmick.

Grab a candle…

…put it next to a block of ice…

…and apparently it’s hot enough to melt that big-ass chunk of ice.

This path to the south of the entrance nets us a free hi-potion.


We then use the other candle to go down the other path.




The first candle on this floor is to the southwest of the entrance.


This makes this floor kind of a pain but it’s no big deal.

This hallway here is blocked by no less than three ice blocks…





…so we end up using three of this floor’s candles on it.

The last block is optional…



…but it lands us a fairly sweet reward, so why not?

This prompts a slight change in strategies.



(Also in this dungeon is Trollud, a boss from way, way back, now reduced to random encounter duty.)


At the end, there is a passage with nothing in it but this small hole.

Which means it’s dog time, apparently.



In the hole, we Paul finds a scene transition.


Along with a perspective change!


We now rejoin John, sailing along in Thauzand’s ship.

Best to get kitted out before we keep moving, of course.

Worth noting is that the ship can’t go into waters that are too deep. We may have saved Thauzand’s entire town from a demon attack, but cheapskates will still be cheapskates.

As we land at this beach, I would like to point out that the map still uses a picture of Paul/Brandt to indicate your current location regardless of who’s actually in your party.
Not really important, I just thought it was strange.

Another snowfield, another cave. At least John’s walk was significantly shorter than Paul’s was!


We meet the save point man almost immediately. Just in case you didn’t want to stop in Urbeth after the perspective switch, I guess.

John’s segment opens up in much the same way Paul’s does.



…Albeit with a different item.





Much like with Paul, this floor has a collection of candles and ice blocks. Unlike his, not all of the blocks need to be melted.


This block, for example, leads only to a dead end, albeit one with a consolation candle at the end.

This, meanwhile, only leads to a dead end.

This block is the correct choice.


This block’s candle is a mere few feet away from it; how nice of them!


After a few close calls, I decide to upgrade John’s Ranger crown to give myself better chances. Snipe will come in handy thanks to something we’ll be seeing in a bit.

We backtrack a little for another candle…


…so that we may obtain this spear! Unfortunately for the spear, our fire bow is doing us just fine.




More candling in the next room.


(This is what snipe looks like, by the way.)


Eventually we come upon a narrow room with four doors in it; we entered through the second door from the left.


The leftmost door is a treasure room…

…while the rightmost door is a dead end.

All that’s left is the second door from the right.

…which shows us that the save point duo are apparently better dungeon crawlers than us. We didn’t even see 'em pass us!



We’ve finally caught up to our quarry!
(Or what John thinks is our quarry, at any rate.)

: Ah-ha, caught you at last! Give me back the cat, or I’ll make you pay for what you did to Urbeth!

YouTube Link: Battle With Demons
This guy’s such a chump he doesn’t even get the games boss music.

The only thing he even does is cast poison and confusion magic.
The poison cancels out the confusion, incidentally.



Thanks to John’s new moves, the fight doesn’t last long!

Note that the standard random encounter theme is still playing here.
: You leave me no choice- let’s see how you like this!


The sorcerer, being the chump that he is, decides that his toothy friend is more our style.
Can’t say I disagree, really.

If anything, it’s considerably more durable.

Getting real for a sec, this fight should really just be boosted through…


…because, before too long, in storms this puppy!


A puppy who, to John’s surprise and our lack thereof, transforms into our good buddy Paul!
: Since when could you turn into a dog?
: I’ll explain later. Right now, it looks like you need some help!

Now, time for an actual fight!

Well, sort of. The Behugemoth is no Arbaroc, that’s for sure.
It’s a much sillier portmanteau, for starters.

It also doesn’t do much to stand up to John’s snipe, as enhanced by Paul’s ditty.
(Also, the random encounter music has still been playing this entire time.)

After awhile, its horn breaks and it gets all electrical.

After which it tries to pull an Arbaroc.
This seems worse than it is.


Ditty and snipe, ditty and snipe.

Like I said, the Behugemoth is just trying to be a cut-rate Arbaroc at this point.

It’s still a fairly brief fight.

: I’ll give you your money back!

Even after spending a fair amount of cash in Arbor, this is chump change.
Still nice to have back, though.

Aww. John may be on completely the wrong track, but it looks like he may finally be growing past his prickishness after all!


…and the cat promptly bolts after the sorcerer lets it go.

You’d think John would take this as a hint, but I guess not.
: Er, John…
: I didn’t realize you liked cats so much.
: I guess we both have some explaining to do. But first, we have to catch that cat!
: * shrug * Okay, if you want your pet back that badly. We’re heading the same way anyway…
Uh oh, it looks like we have a wacky misunderstanding on our hands! We’d better be on the lookout… for hilarity!
Okay, okay, it’s definitely more understandable than this sort of situation usually is, considering John is genuinely concerned with the John’s well-being and neither John nor Paul can read the other’s mind. It’s still incredibly goofy.

I guess this goes here, since they can’t show it mid-fight.

This guy has nothing to do but cower; serves him right, quite frankly.
If we leave the room and come back (for saving purposes, in this case), we can see some party dialog:


Old habits die hard, I suppose.


Luckily, there’s not much cave left.

Time to see what the great white north has to offer!

[ConfusedMoogle]

Update #13: Here Comes the Sun

Click here for update 13!

YouTube Link: Walking the Ground
YouTube Link: Walking the Ground (Night)
We rejoin our heroes giving chase to John’s cat!

The next town is just a stone’s throw away from the cave exit.

YouTube Link: Invidia
That sure is a big ol’ egg in the middle of town. Of course, since cats are more important than eggs, we have more pressing matters to deal with.

Aha, another reclusive town inhabited by non-humans. That’s two in a row, three more and we get a free one.

Oh so it’s a drago- HOLY CRAP IS THAT A POLAR BEAR

Gotta talk to the polar bear!

(Perhaps appropriately, John’s animal form is a big cock.)

Polar bear!

: We Dragoniers have always raised dragons and watched over the world from high above in the sky, but now…

Something about Invidia: all the buildings are, in fact, a single, large building.


The weapon shop primarily sells fire- and dark-element weapons.


All the rooms are connected in a chain, eventually looping around to the entrance opposite the one we came in from.

Well yeah, we’re basically at the goddamn north pole. Cats aren’t built for this climate!
(For the record the lighting change is because I rested at the inn.)


Remember that the queen of Arbor mentioned a hero named Rolan. Apparently he was originally from here!



Another polar bear!
: Bear with me because I know it sounds tough, but you have to add and multiply numbers to get ten.
: If your attempts bear fruit and you get a high score, you’ll even get items!
Thanks for the mini-game information Mr. Bear! I’ll let the puns slide since you’re a polar bear!

: It’s very cold here, isn’t it? I suppose that’s why we enjoy indoor games so much!

As the instruction manual polar bear explained, this is a minigame based around mathematics. I’ll be showing it next update for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that it’s nowhere near as interesting as the shopkeeping game back in Urbeth.

The most important thing at the armor shop is actually the shield that protects from water.


That’s the whole loop…

…except for this staircase I deliberately left for last.

We’ve found our cat!
And a decidedly non-generic girl.

I suppose we should talk to the girl about the cat first.
: Can you just give me that cat?
: What? After we’ve become such good friends?
: PLEASE! You HAVE to return her! She’s special, more special than you can imagine!
Aw, and after I’ve already called you a huge cock, too.
: Sheesh, John, relax. It’s just a cat. …Speaking of which, I wonder of George made it to Spelvia okay.
One honestly wonders if Paul has this better figured out than he lets on.
: Huh!? Did you say George?
: Yeah. I was wondering how she got on after Arbor. You know she was a cat for a while? Cool, huh?
See what I mean?
: Y-you MET her? WHEN?
: Just before I came here. I helped her get rid of the curse that made her a cat.
: After that, we were heading for Spelvia to find a way to lift the curse of Horne, but we got split up.

I chose to leave this line in screenshot form because quite frankly it’s just that perfect.
: Are you okay John? You look kinda pale.
: Why didn’t you tell me that George was in Spelvia earlier!? We’ve got to go there, right now!

Well, Paul learned about it in Arbor…

…while this is the first John’s ever heard of it.

: Well, the best way I know to get to Spelvia is to fly- by dragon. Have you tried hatching the dragon egg outside?
And here we are without a princess of Tycoon to help us.
: Hatch the egg? How?

: Come on, let’s check out that egg!

And Rekoteh here is our third guest member! (And all without any proper introductions at all.)
This gives us some small bits of new dialog in town:



Oh come on, Paul, John is much less of a cock than he was earlier in the game, cut him some slack.


Like all guests, Rekoteh comes using a crown not yet available to the party proper; in this case, it’s Dancer.

YouTube Link: Battle With Demons
Dancer is all about the AP recovery; the Dance ability here makes Rekoteh gain two at the end of each turn rather than one.


Unfortunately, it only works for Rekoteh herself. Now, dancer does get abilities that help other party members, but since Rekoteh is a guest character she doesn’t get access to those, making her kinda not that great of dancer. That said, she comes with her own set of recovery magic and her ability does at least negate the cost of that, so she’ll be fine on healer duty for now.
Anyway, back to business:

: So if we can make it hatch, we’ll be able to fly to Spelvia.
: Cool! John, let’s have a contest to see who can do it first!
: Does EVERYTHING have to be a game? …Now, I’ve heard that dragons are born in fire.
: Maybe if we cast some powerful fire magic on it, like Firaga, that’ll warm it up enough?
: Naw, you don’t need fire. You just need to hit it with something hard to wake it up. Like, say, a Mythril Hammer!

Oh, they’re not so bad once you get to know them.
Luckily for us, we already have the items needed for this particular quest. Since we already have our Firaga tome on us, let’s start with that.

: You really think this will work?
: Firaga!

: Wow, that’s hot!
: See? Nothing’s happening. I told you it wouldn’t work.
: All you’re going to get is a giant boiled egg!
: Yeah! Dragons sure make their egg shells thick, don’t they?
: Oh, wait. I just remembered something…
: What?
: A long time ago, we used to have a town festival here, and everyone sang songs together.
: Oh-kay…
: Well, there was this one song that supposedly could wake up dragons. My brother used to sing it.
: A song to awaken dragons…?
: We just need the Dragon Harp to play it properly.
: So let’s got get it!
: The thing is, I don’t know where it is. Father might know, though…
That sounds like a lot of work! Let’s reload and try Paul’s idea first.

Good thing we got this from that golem back in Urbeth! We’re gonna want to take this to the weapons seller:



If you didn’t get any mythril (or a Firaga tome) back in Urbeth, you’ll need to do as this guy says. (Even if you did, it’s smart to get another one anyway because there’s another use for mythril later; I do that offscreen.)




It’s actually a weapon and not just a key item! (I give it to Rekoteh after our egg hijinks are over.)

: Do it gently…
Paul gives it a decidedly non-gentle smack with the hammer and doesn’t affect it in the slightest.

: I think you felt that more than whatever’s inside that egg.

And the conversation is the same as the Firaga version from here.

: Hmmm. Of course, you wouldn’t be able to. Not without the Dragon Harp…
: The Dragon Harp lies somewhere deep in the caverns below the town.
: They are blocked with ice and crawling with monsters. No one has returned from them alive in years.
: But if you insist on going, you will need this…

: That key will open doors that would otherwise be locked tight.

Well, it’s a good thing there’s such a locked door mere feet away.
Keep the appearance of that lock in mind for later, by the way.

Of course, before we go into the monster-infested caverns, it’s best to be prepared. At minimum, everyone will require an ice shield.



YouTube Link: Cave of Wraiths

We start by heading to the right.

Twice.

This is available at the item store but it’s nice to get for free, I guess.

Now to the path to the left of the entrance!




This floor is more straightforward, we just head right…

…and down.

South from here is the next floor, left gets us another weapon:.




Right ahead of us is a puzzle, we head left and right before we actually solve it.

: Four dragons there be. Turn two of the dragons thrice, and turn two of the dragons once.
Way to give up the game, statue.

It seems they assumed we’d be heading down the right path first. Oh well!

Anyway, the actual puzzle works the way the right dragon says. When you check a statue, it and the two adjacent to it rotate 90 degrees clockwise.

Solving the puzzle is like the dragon on the left says, move two of the dragons three times each and the other two once each. Quite silly of it to just tell us that, really, but there you go.




The puzzle is solved when the dragons on the left and right face each other.



Past the save room is this delightful fellow here.

: The guardian of the harp!
: …And it’s coming at us!

YouTube Link: Strong Enemy
This fight is absolutely no problem, for one simple reason.

All of its attacks are ice-based. (Well, water-based, but whatever.)

Attacking twice in a turn is pretty much all it has going for it. It still doesn’t matter, the party still has gear that resists all things water-elemental.


YouTube Link: A Desperate Situation
Meanwhile, we have no shortage of fire damage with which to attack its weakness.


Rekoteh can heal past any damage we take no problem.

It can hit the entire party with its breath but that don’t mean a thing.

Just equip ice shields and hit it with fire attacks and there won’t be any trouble.


: Yes… the Dragon Harp!

The instant we lay our hands on the harp, there is a sudden flash:

: The hearts of humankind grow cold.
: In icy souls are sealed the hopes of the morrow.
: O warm their souls, warm them with the light!



A dragon harp and some new toys? Merry Christmas, everybody!

This is one of the few bosses where you can’t talk to your party members afterwards…

…giving us no reason to stick around.
Anyway, now that that’s over, new crown time!

Scholar is all about debuffing enemies…

While Fighter is all about bare-fisted kung fu.
(”Monk” is something else altogether, but we’ll get to that.)


Scholar starts with the Quell ability, reducing enemy attack…

…but its greatest asset at the moment is its impressive intellect.

Monk hits hardest when not equipped with a weapon…



…and starts with the critical-enhancing Combat ability.

And now, with our new crowns out of the way, it’s dragon time!

Click here for new crowns!

Scholar

Scholar’s abilities are all about debuffs, starting with the Suppression of enemy attack and gaining more versatility as they’re upgraded. They have excellent stats for casting magic, but since they lack White and Black Mages’ passive AP-reduction they’re not the best for magic that’s too high-tier.
Stats:
HP: 1.0
Strength: 0.8
Intellect: 1.5
Spirit: 1.3

Fighter

Other Final Fantasy games, know them as monks, fighters are all about the fistfighting. They do extra damage when not equipped with a weapon and have abilities for enhancing their critical hits (plus one that boosts max HP for the fight). Also one of the few crowns that’s actually worth upgrading to the highest level.
Stats:
HP: 1.5
Strength: 1.4
Intellect: 0.9
Spirit: 1.3

[XainZero]

Finally, the punch class/crown. I enjoy punchy classes.

[ConfusedMoogle]

Update #14: Flying

Click here for update 14!

YouTube Link: Invidia
Dragon hatching, for real this time!
Also, forgetting to show the math minigame. Hahahahaha whoops.

That is, now that we have the harp:
YouTube Link: The Dragon Egg
The dragon has good taste, this is the second-best track in the game.


The egg cracks, and…


YouTube Link: Riding on the Dragon
…our dragon’s kinda dopey lookin’.
What isn’t dopey, however, is its theme song, which just so happens to be the best track in the game and is an extremely underrated example of how to do faux-chiptunes well.

: Hehe. What a cute little feller!
: Look at those magnificent wings! He’s still young, but he’ll be able to fly us to Spelvia.
: Okay, than. Let’s do it!
: Please take me with you. I have to see if my brother is still safe and sound!


And away we go!
It’s not a very good minigame anyway.
: Fly like the wind!

Together, the adventurers flew on the back of the dragon to the floating city of Spelvia.

Ringo was still in Urbeth,
having been left behind by John.

: …What’s going on? Why did Paul and John both just take off on me like that?
: * sigh * Oh, well. I suppose I’ll just have to do everything myself.
: Now, let’s see. First job is to try and find a way to lift the curse from Horne.

YouTube Link: Urbeth
And here we have Ringo, ditched a second time and still hanging around Urbeth.
No poll this time, for two reasons: firstly, this is a particularly stressful solo segment if you don’t have the exact correct setup, and secondly (and more importantly), I’ve been feeling that the polls have been happening a bit too close together lately so I thought now would be a good time to give 'em a rest.
Anyway:

Ringo appears to have spotted something.


Something that just so happens to be none other than Spelvia, floating conveniently close to Urbeth’s tower. Lucky break!

First and foremost, of course, is getting prepared. Elementalist has a passive resistance to all elemental attacks, while our shield and cape protect us from fire damage and confusion, respectively.
We’ll get to why this (and also the Mythril that is now in our inventory) is important in a bit.
Anywho, since Thauzand’s our biggest benefactor in this town, we ought to pay him a visit regarding our whole being-ditched-again situation:

It would help for Ringo to know where he’s gone, yeah.

: I’m afraid I don’t have any spare ships. Which makes it a wee bit hard for you to follow him.
Somewhere that Ringo can’t easily follow him, eh? Well, let’s explore our other options:

: You should go to Spelvia then.
: You’ve seen it, right? The giant island, floating in the air?
: The people there could help, I bet.
: Why don’t you talk to some of the other merchants and find out more?
Well then, how serendipitous that good ol’ Spelvia just so happens to be passing by!


This is… nothing special, just an otherwise-ordinary steel sword enhanced with gems. Its attack power is nice, I suppose, but the lack of capacity to exploit elemental weaknesses renders it fairly meh.

Unfortunately, because John is no longer present, we’ve lost access to the shopkeeping minigame.
I mean, we’re still loaded after the first time, but it’s the principle of the thing.
Anyway, the Thauzand recommended we talk to the other rich folks:

Well, that’s awful presumptuous of you, lady.



This boosts defense by a not-very-impressive amount.


: But it’s a long, hard climb to the top, and the place is full of beasties. You better be prepared!

…wow. Thauzand sure hit the nail on the head about these folks being helpful, eh?

On the plus side, this place is a mere few feet from Bylion’s place…

…and our magic key was placed in the bag that defies time and space.

How… how long have you been…

…and she just does shop things for us as if nothing was weird at all. Huh.
Incidentally, she sells the items that do elemental damage when used in battle… including the bomb fragments that were apparently really hard to get one’s hands on not too long ago. Looks like they were just locked up all along!
Truly, the magic key has brought about a miracle this day.

Alright Mylion, you’d better impress me.

: The Tower to the Sky was meant to reach Spelvia, but I wonder if they really built it high enough.
: I bet these Rainbow Boots of mine will help a million.
…tell me more.
: I’ll let you have them… in exchange for some Mythril.
Luckily, I stole some extra Mythril back around Invidia and deposited it in storage.
Also luckily, storage runs on the same principle of space and time defiance as the key item bag.


: I just KNOW you’re going to find them very useful indeed. Good luck!
For the record, if you don’t have any Mythril to give him, you have to buy the boots from the shopkeeper downstairs, which can get expensive if you have a less ridiculous sum of gil than we’ve got.

Well, they sound impressive, at any rate. You’re tentatively off my shitlist, Mylion.

With that, it’s about time to scale us a tower!


YouTube Link: The Witch’s Mansion

We start by heading west as the east is merely a dead end.



Unsurprisingly, the Tower to the Sky’s most notable feature is its healthy amount of floors.

The path south here just leads to a dead end.


Before going upstairs…

…we get something extremely boring. Sadly there isn’t much interesting to see here in terms of treasure.



Shortly after ascending a floor, we come face-to-face with the reason we equipped the confuse cape. While it would only be an annoyance if we had more party members, since we’re currently playing Ringo solo right now, confusion is basically certain, smacking-yourself-in-the-face-induced death.

The south is progress, the east…

…is element resistance.

Speaking of element resistance, this is why we have both Elementalist and a fire shield equipped, this absolutely wrecks your shit solo if you don’t prepare for it in some way.

Anyway, back to the task at hand.



Nothing much to this floor, the stairs down are in the southeast and the stairs up are in the northwest.


This is nice to have for free but doesn’t do much good to a solo character.


Anyway, the way up from this floor is the middle south path.



Bah.

This floor is just a hallway with a room in it.


This one, on the other hand, is a hallway with two rooms.



This would be nice, since some of the monsters here have earth-elemental attacks, were it not for the whole confusion-being-lethal thing.


And another hallway with a single room!

This is barely even a pittance at this point, even if we had a more typical sum of gil, but it’s still probably the best chest in the tower.


Oh boy, a save room, that can only mean…

…a wide open space with a rainbow and a single man?

They weren’t kidding when they said they stopped working on the tower.

So we’ve heard! We have a pair, but it’s kind of a hard rumor to believe, you know?

Might as well put it to the test since we have a rainbow right here, though!

Well, will you look at that. That’s a hell of a thing.

The rainbow is…

…a decidedly long walk.

One which deposits us directly into another dungeon.

[XainZero]

I was distinctly not prepared for that tower and got my ass kicked a lot. Including not having Mythril and having to scrounge up the funds to get the Rainbow Boots.

[Slimezilla]

The dragon flying song is real good.

[ConfusedMoogle]

Poorly-conceived April Fool’s Update: The Update For The First of April

Click here for the update for the first of April!

So, it’s April Fool’s day, eh? This one time for April Fools, I told some dudes that the SyFy Channel was going back to calling itself the SciFi Channel. Since this is obviously the pinnacle of April Fools, I frankly don’t see why anyone else bothers anymore, seeing as I’ve already won.

Anyway, we are now onto chapter 4, business as usual.

set foot at last in the kingdom of Aurelis.
However, joining his might to that of the Aurelians would have to wait.
As Marth descended into the vast green lea separating his troops from theirs,
he heard a terrible sound: the galloping of enemy destriers,
far away at first… then closer…
…Then far too close.

Since there was a lot of chatter about this in the thread, I’d like to take a moment to address it here: remember, most people know of Marth through Smash Bros., and the thing about Marth in Smash is that he has, like, animations and voice clips and stuff that makes it seem like he has an actual personality. Yes, we know that Marth comes from a world populated by non-sentient automatons and as such is non-sentient himself, but that doesn’t mean the general population does.

Marth: Grust, Dolhr, Gra… We’re up against their standing armies, and we must brace ourselves for it.

The names of the countries in this game are still a class act.
Also, the placement of the ‘h’ in “Dolhr” will forever throw me off.

Malledus: Sire, I believe it prudent that we start taking time to prepare our troops before each battle.
Malledus: We should select the warriors best suited for the situation and outfit them with the right weapons and items accordingly.

…and Malledus is still making a superpower out of obvious exposition. Never change, Malledus.

Marth: All right, that’s sound advice- I believe I’ll take it.

YouTube Link: Preparations
That said, Malledus has a point; this is the first chapter where we have access to the preparations screen.
All these options are exactly what they say on the tin so I see no reason to spend much time here. That being said:

We have one more unit than the limit on this mission allows; as such, we’ll let Frey sit this one out after last time’s surprise crit landed him slightly ahead of everyone else.

As promised, Draug receives the honor of being our first reclass so as to take advantage of his very un-knight-like growths.
I know there was some skepticism from the thread, and it’ll take awhile, but I assure you this will be a much better setup in the long run.



And here are our sacrifices, all lined up for easy warpage.
Yes, as pointed out numerous times in the thread, deliberately killing off three of our dudes in a single map seems excessive, but remember: unlocking the first side-mission requires that we have 15 units or less by the end of chapter 6, and by that point we can have up to 27. Frankly we’re kind of behind at this point, sacrifice-wise; this will take us to a body count of 5 of the 12 we need dead.

Anyway, here we start in the lower right corner of the map.

These knuckleheads are across the lake to the north…


…while this ass will make a beeline for this village pretty much immediately.


Naturally, we have our goal in the upper left. Yes, it’s another megatank mission; unfortunately, this one will not be as easy as the one in the prologue.

Bentheon: If they think we’ll sit by and let them join forces with the Aurelians, then they have another thing coming.
Bentheon: With my megatank and this ridersbane, I’ll litter the lea with their cavalry!

No bait-and-switch this time, Bentheon here is the actual boss, nobody to show up and tell him to get lost like the megatank guy in the prologue.
Anyway, we now have control:

YouTube Link: The Time to Act
Step one: eliminate this guy, since the village he’s intended to go after is one of the most important in the game.

Meanwhile, Lena gets to work putting our sacrifices in harm’s way, netting her a wet fart of a level.


Castor, while surprisingly tenacious, still gets exactly what he and every other Fire Emblem archer deserves.

Caeda and Abel go after the archer and thief to the northwest of the lake; unfortunately Caeda comes ever-so-slightly short, but I have a(n admittedly risky) plan.

Meanwhile, Lena sends the original Fire Emblem archer to a fate befitting someone who’d start such an irritating archetype…



…while our main force gets to work on the lake brigade, netting Julian a reasonable level…


…while Barst decides to cement kicking-a-surprising-amount-of-ass as his “thing” this playthrough.


Caeda ends up hurting from the aforementioned archer but comes out still kicking with this pegasus-knight-as-fuck level.

Gordin, too, is surprisingly durable, but he still ends up a corpse.
Serves him right, considering we should have already sacrificed him during the prologue for Norne.

Caeda gets parked on this fort to recuperate from her encounter with the archer.

As much as I’ll miss Wrys, there was really no other fate for him.

Especially since he gave Lena a much-needed mag boost.


Darros finishes cleaning up by the lake…

…while the rest of our main force starts pushing for the goal.

But not before stopping off at another tutorial house, of course.

Then there’s ridersbane, which makes short work of cavaliers and paladins- but only knights, cavalry, and megatanks can wield it.
The Rapier is effective against armored units AND cavalry. But you need to be a prince to wield that one!

We get our main force into a reasonable position…

…and start Abel into dealing with the one last chucklefuck from the lake.

Wrys does not have the same durability as Gordin and Castor.

With the lake squad out of commission, the dudes surrounding the castle start making their move.

But then, so do we.


We end this turn, and…

Will you look at that, one of the cavaliers is considerably prettier than the rest. Wonder what it could mean?

Luckily, Ogma chooses not to completely whip his ass.

Not the best, but not the worst either.

These assholes keep marching our way.



But so do we do the same.

… Matthis doesn’t seem to be a particularly bright individual.

But maybe we can do something about that.

YouTube Link: Come, Join Us

Lena: I was attacked by bandits in the Teeth while tending to the sick there, and these people saved me.
Lena: The real question is, what are YOU doing on a battlefield, least of all this one!
Matthis: I’m not here by choice, sister of mine. Since you left, Macedon has only gotten worse and worse.
Matthis: They forced me to enlist- you know I hate warfare, but it was into the army or onto the chopping block.

Lena: Macedon has done terrible things: marrying their might to Dolhr, helping them torment people…
Lena: Brother, it’s not too late. You could join Altea’s forces. They’re good people, you know.
Lena: Prince Marth would welcome you. They all would.

Matthis: You know, Lena, you always were the reliable one.
Lena: And you were always the dumb one. Shut up. Shut up forever.

The last of Wrys’s stupid staff is used on an equally stupid idiot.

Right on cue, Matthis’ recruitment prompts a Bomb squad to come in from the northeast. I warned you all that wasn’t a one-off thing!

Fortunately, just like last time, Caeda is the solution.

Just in time for our main force to make their way west.

See what I mean? Kicking a surprising amount of ass, all the way to the bank.

Ogma, meanwhile, will sit the rest of the map out so as to give other units a chance at EXP.


Draug follows Ogma’s lead.

Also, Matthis can talk to Marth.
I know some of you are insistent that these little conversations added for Shadow Dragon give Marth enough character so as to no longer be non-sentient, but I would like to offer up the counterpoint that they all basically boil down to him acknowledging his army is getting bigger and not much else.
Case in point:

Matthis: Aiee! S-s-stay your rapier, I beg of you!
Marth: …What has gotten into you?
Matthis: You mean… you haven’t come to stick me like a pig for fighting under the Macedon standard?
Marth: Er, no…
Matthis: Really?
Marth: Really and truly.
Matthis: Oh! Uh, right then… Sorry about that little display. I guess Lena was right. Just goes to show not all princes are cut from the same cloth!
Marth: What do you mean?

Matthis: he’s strong, and proud… and an utter tyrant.
Matthis: They say he puts the soldiers who look the most scared in the front lines on purpose.
Marth: Hmm… Prince Michalis of Macedon…
Matthis: Don’t worry, sire, I won’t make mistake him for you again! Altean princes I can trust!

You know, I’m beginning to think Matthis might make some mighty fine sacrifice fodder later on down the line.

This rando of a cavalier gives us a surprising amount of trouble.

While Caeda just does her thing.

…a surprising amount of trouble indeed.
And I’d forgotten to use the save point, too.
Luckily, there wasn’t much to see on the return trip to this point.


Hell, it might have been a blessing in disguise, these are way better than the levels we got the first time through.

Although this asshole gives us a bit more trouble this run. I guess it’s no big deal, all things considered.

It doesn’t really take long for us to get to where we were.

Unfortunately, being flustered from the restart made me forget to get screenshots of the Bombs self-destructing on Caeda.
It was still the same as last time, though; self-destruct’s damage is blocked by res, but at an exaggerated level, so just a tiny amount of res means shrugging it off completely. Remember, pegasus knight.

Looks like the level luck from the reset is wearing off, regrettably.

Still, we can only push forward.

Eh.



Makin’ progress, makin’ progress.


And now for this village!

YouTube Link: Come, Join Us

Merric: Yo yo yo, it’s Merric in the hizzouse!

Hoo boy, Merric

Merric: Yo, I was studying magic in Khadein, you dig, and I heard you was at war all up in this beef. So I figured I’d get my help on!
Marth: I see… Thank you, then. I need friends like you on the battlefield. You will fight with us, of course?
Merric: Well, duh! My magic kicks to much butt for you to miss, dawg!
Merric: Stop! Excalibur time!

Merric, while he does need to shut up forever, isn’t just talk.

We’ll need to get him more tomes so he doesn’t wear Excalibur down on just randos, but that won’t be particularly difficult.

As expected, another new recruit means a quartet of Goombas spawns around this map’s arena. They’re actually surprisingly important, but we’ll get to that later.

Meh.

Pushing forward as usual.

Not bad, not bad.

So, actually fighting a megatank

The attack screen makes it look like a normal fight.

It even makes it look like its weak to the same things all other armored units are weak to.

YouTube Link: Megatank Boss
Actually fighting it, however, is another story altogether.
For one, it completely disarms anyone who tries to take it on head-on, regardless of what they actually had equipped.

And for two, no matter what the menus say it hits for, it’s actually a guaranteed kill on anyone attacking it.
No, the megatank, at least at this early point in the game, is actually a puzzle boss, and it’s a long, long puzzle at that. (Although I’m sure you were able to piece it together yourselves considering the timing and location of the Goomba spawns.) While, luckily, we’ll be able to just fight these things as the game goes on, it’s just not viable to do so at this point.
It’s such a long puzzle, in fact, it’s practically a chapter in and of itself, meaning it’ll have to wait until next time!

My apologies, just a bad idea I had a month ago. Something more real tomorrow, I promise.

[ConfusedMoogle]

You: That joke post yesterday was incredibly dopey and fell really flat.
Me: I ain’t got nothin’ to apologize for!
You: You already apo-
Me:

Look, the whole affair was funnier in my head when I came up with it a month ago at like 2 AM one night, alright?

ANYway:
Update #15: Helter Skelter

Click here for update 15!

YouTube Link: Cave of Wraiths
We rejoin Ringo, who has just reached the floating land of Spelvia.
Rather, she’s just arrived at the very bottom of Spelvia.

Luckily, the Spelvia dungeon is merciful enough to provide a free heal right away.


The very first thing we come across is a very familiar cat.



A cat who provides us with a very-much-overdue reunion.
: * sob * * sniffle *
: Wh-what’s wrong!? Why are you crying, Ringo?
: Forgive me, Your Highness. It’s just that… I’m so happy to see you.
All together now: Awwwwww.
: You see, I always thought I was better off alone, that I didn’t need anybody else.
: B-but now…
: Oh, I’m so glad you’re still willing to confide in me like this!
: I know I’ve been very selfish and bossy to you, and I regret it very much!
: I hope you can accept my apologies, I really do. And… I was wondering… well…
: Would you be so good as to travel with me from now on? As my companion… and friend?
: B-but of course! It would be an honor, my lady… that is to say, my friend.
This is actually one of my favorite scenes in the game; it shows that, despite the deliberately minimal faux-NES personalities, the cast really are growing as people.

Again, no crown distribution poll because I’d been feeling like we’d been having them a bit too close together recently. (Plus our current setup is already good for the rest of the Spelvia Dungeon anyway.)

We’re given another save point almost immediately after the last one due to the change in party members.

This is a fairly brief dungeon, almost certainly due to coming immediately after the tower.





This pheonix down is all there really is to see on this first floor, for instance.



On the next floor, there are two other staircases.


The exit to the southeast leads to a floor with this axe waiting at its northwest corner.


Meanwhile, the north stairs bring us to progress.

This floor is perfectly symmetrical.

The hallways on each side lead to another floor…

…with a mimic.

(Which provides us with extra Mythril, but that’s neither here nor there.)

…and corresponding treasure.


Two mimics, two pieces of light-elemental gear.

With that out of the way, the hall to the south…

YouTube Link: Spelvia
YouTube Link: Spelvia (night)
…brings us, at long last, to Spelvia proper.

Our party members are more concerned with the events of their previous exchange, of course.

Oh, just tell her you love her already.

The town is pretty sparsely populated, the only other human here being this palette swap of the asshole who attacked Urbeth Witch of the Sky.

That… doesn’t bode well, considering why we’re here.

You can make out the words “Mother Dragon,” but not much else.

Recall how the Invidians implied that a “mother dragon” was basically the only friend Rolan actually had.

While human presence is definitely lacking, there’s plenty of non-humans here.

…which gives us the opportunity to show off Ringo’s animal form; the transform staff turns her into a rabbit.

I’m sure that won’t be important in any way.

With nothing much left to see outside, it’s time to check out the most prominent feature of Spelvia, its enormous palace.

The first room inside contains a multitude of shops staffed by what appear to be wind-up robots.

They’ll need to be interacted with in animal form.

Talking to them while transformed just leads to business as usual.

However, changing to a human (and changing our gear setup while we’re at it)…

…and talking to one of the 'bots…

…leads to a fight.

They aren’t particularly hard fights; these can be found as random encounters in the dungeons below.

Still, it’s best to keep in mind that you can’t do any shopping as a human here.

Up past the shops…

Is this hallway filled with goats and golems.



Not a good sign for Horne’s curse.



Still, no choice for us but to go see the big man himself.

Something you’ll also remember from Invidia is that they’re much more long-lived than humans.


That’s… ominous.


We finally meet Rolan in his big ol’ throne room.


: That’s right. My name is Rolan… Rolan the Play Hero…

Well, it’s just one town’s curse, I dunno if I’d call that “big”…

: Oh, yes you have. You want me to help save Horne, don’t you?
Alright, I guess calling it a “big favor” is more honest:

: I know about Horne.
(Both options continue the same way from here.)
: I never see you humans until you need help, then you come crying to me with your sob stories. Boo-hoo for you, I don’t care!

Well, shit.

C’mon man, be a pal.

: He thinks he can do everything on his own and refuses everybody’s help.
Well, I don’t know if I’d say that was Ringo’s problem in particular; pretty much the entire party was like that for awhile.
Rolan is kind of a dark mirror for the party in that way; where the main characters are at the point where they’re finally starting to get their shit together, Rolan has apparently been at a low point for centuries now.

Well, there’s only one other (apparent) human here in Spelvia, maybe she’ll have some idea.

: His soul has been swallowed by darkness and sealed tight away.
: If you wish to make his heart free again, then you must enter this, the Fountain of Hope.

Well, okay.

We step into the fountain and there’s a flash…

…and, suddenly, we’re deposited right inside Rolan’s brain.
Appropriately, there he is right here in front of us.

I mean, we have nothing else to go on.

: I am all that is left of Rolan’s goodness, a mere shadow of what once was a kind young man. Alone, I am powerless.
: Yes, powerless… But with your courage and dedication, who knows? Perhaps united we can drive back the darkness.
So we’re very literally confronting Rolan’s inner demons. Well, we’ve already got an enormous demon body count under our belts, what’s a few more?

The last bit of Rolan’s good side, incidentally, is our fourth and last guest party member.

He’s also freely able to walk outside the fountain with the rest of the group.
: I am the last piece of goodness left in Rolan’s soul, but alone, I am powerless to change him.

I mean, you’re asking that of the dude whose soul it is you’re exploring, and he seems perfectly okay with the whole setup…


Worth noting is that the golems are willing to talk to Rolan without the need for the transformation staff.

Also, the “other” Rolan we spoke to earlier is now nowhere to be found.


(For the record Rolan can also be transformed with the staff and he turns into this dog.)

Rolan, like all guest characters, comes with a crown that we do not yet have access to ourselves.

In this case, it’s the Hero crown, which is based around the usage of swords.
(Unusually for a Final Fantasy game, this is the first character we have that actually specializes in them, considering we’re nearing the halfway point of the game.)

This gives Rolan the Reckless ability, which reduces Rolan’s defense when he uses it…

…but allows him to hit extra hard in exchange.
Granted, it helps that the sword he comes with is light-elemental and there’s plenty of monsters that are weak to light coming up.

With that out of the way, time’s coming up for Rolan to finally face his darkness.