A Tale of Two Scripts: Let's play FF3 US & FF6 RPGOne!

You can also kill the shell and leave the head alive with Degen! This fight is glitched to hell.



A little further in, we find the grave proper. I'm guessing those are artificial flowers on top.



Um, why are you confused, Celes? It's a tombstone. You've seen, like, a dozen of them already in this dungeon alone.



♪♪ Decisive Battle ♪♪

Oh that's why she was confused. There's a boss fight hidden in this tombstone!



Level ? Holy bases its damage on the last digit of your Gil.



This is not good for your HP when you have a 1 in that digit. Also, this boss has insanely good items available for stealing, which is cruel since you cannot possibly have a thief in your party for this fight!



Dullahan hits REALLY hard. He also randomly casts Holy, Blizzaga, and Northern Cross (which can freeze your allies until they're hit by Esuna or a fire-elemental attack). You don't want this fight to last long.



The fight took a long-arse time, but I finally waxed this bone daddy.



Oddly enough, there's a switch on Darryl's tombstone which opens the way forward.



♪♪ Epitaph ♪♪

I sense flashbacks.



*Darryl walks a bit down and left*
Setzer "This is much too great a challenge just to test the limits of your ship!!"

Rivalry, eh?



Will do, chief.



*Setzer laughs as Darryl turns to leave*
Setzer "Foolish words! I'll win the Falcon off you in a speed contest long before that."
Setzer "You can hang onto it for me until then."
Darryl "Hmph, you're always like this."
*Darryl leaves*

Definitely a rivalry.



We get a flyover scene of the world before the end. Fun Fact: you're SUPPOSED to see the Blackjack here, but the developers messed up and forgot to code it so it would appear! Oops!



A strange airship is visible off the bow!

Setzer "So high up in the sky!"

Ahh, so that must be the Falcon that Darryl's flying.



I bet he does. And Darryl zooms off, much to Setzer's irritation.



The same fly-over happens. I mean the exact same. Only this time instead of (not) showing the Blackjack, we see the Falcon flying it.



This is an understatement, oddly enough.

Darryl "I'm going to put on quite a show. I'll break every record ever made! I'll go above the clouds, and be the first woman ever to reach the stars themselves soon!"
*Setzer grabs the controls*
Setzer "Be back by sunset! I'll be waiting at our usual spot!"
*The Falcon flies off*

See what I mean? Silly Darryl, they won't invent space travel until Final Fantasy VII!



Yeah, that's kinda what happens when you try to fly off into space in an AIRSHIP.



Guess we'll be stealing it, then.

*Edgar glances about*
Edgar "This is the Falcon?"



♪♪ Searching for Friends ♪♪

The Falcon."
*Setzer mans the helm and the ship takes off*



The Falcon blasts up out of the sea!



Celes "Let's go and put an end to Kefka, hiding away in his tower."
Edgar "We can't enter the tower from the ground, but if we use the Falcon, we can infiltrate the tower from the air!"
Setzer "Oh, and we should search for our other friends."
*Edgar walks up to Setzer and nods*
Edgar "Of course. We only have our dreams. But we can make those dreams come true!"

Inspiring words!



Yes, Celes, there's a bird still left alive! You shouldn't be shocked at this news, you saw a seagull on the beach before.

Celes "That bird is...!? How odd..."

The bird appears to be heading to... Maranda, I think?



Setzer "Why?"
Celes "I don't know...... But I think that one of our friends might be at that bird's destination..."

And I think you've lost it, Celes.



We'll stop here for this time. Next time, we'll finally get a good look at what has become of the world, and begin the arduous quest of searching for friends!

Which, backwards, meant something like "rot in your grave" if I vaguely recall what I've read on the matter.

...right or hearsay?

Sounds about right, yes.

I prefer this one.

At this rate I'm pretty sure Sky Render's going to be finishing the game at about the time I get Gau =(

Sorry 'bout that. Still, if you show only 10 to 30 minutes of game time per update, it's going to be some time around Christmas when we finally reach the last battle...

Christmas? Ha! The fight against Magi-Master alone is going to take me ten updates!

Have fun! (But I think it would take a miracle for it to work.)

A wizard lunatic who subverted the power of the gods did it.

Out of curiosity, does anyone actually read my transcriptions of the dialogue to compare Woolsey's and Sky Render's translations, or should I quit doing that part?

I do in places, though I'm finding I can still recite about a third of the script after all these years, so I sort of skim them.

I absolutely do.

Aye.

I just realized no one's talking about this. For shame. The Falcon bursting out of the water was probably the first "Oh hell yes" moment I ever had in gaming. Here you are in a hostile, post-apocalyptic wasteland (post an apocalypse you were forced to helplessly watch happen because you just weren't awesome enough to stop it, no less), surrounded by maimed NPCs and with oppressive music banging away at you as if to remind you this is all your fault. You've just finished walking through the tomb of Setzer's rival/closest friend/lover. The game is depressing right now.

And heck, why would you expect a big reveal? There wasn't even a real reveal for the Blackjack, just "Oh, this is Setzer. He's at the wheel of the Blackjack because that's his thing, he's the dude with the airship." When you get the Blackjack, you cut from "in the Opera House" to "aboard the airship". Whoop-de-do. The first time you play the game, you probably figure the new airship will just appear from some landing pad that wasn't on the map before or something.

No, instead, you get inspiring music as the camera speedily pans along the ocean, something disturbing the water. Then the Falcon bursts out from below the sea, its bow wave blasting high into the air. When it cuts to the deck you don't even pay attention to whatever those dudes are talking about, some bird or something, because you're too busy going "Aaaawww yeeeeah. Who's the badass now, World of Ruin?"

None of the characters even get a moment nearly as dramatic as this when you find them. They're all "oh, you found me here at the back of the dungeon/behind this boss/right before this boss/right in front of the dungeon, guess I'll wander around with you, sure." This isn't the only scene in the WoR that can be emotionally affecting, but it's one of the few to get you pumped.

This is definitely one of my favorite moments of the game, up there with the first time you see Figaro Castle submerge (but just the first time, when you're escaping from Kefka and it's new and awesome, not later times when you're just going from point A to point B).

I didn't mention it because it was discussed in a music thread a while ago, but yeah, "Searching for Friends" is one of the best damn pieces of 16-bit music, especially in context, and the first time you hear it is fucking epic.

Sorry for failing you.

Totally, totally correct. This scene, and "Searching for Friends," are moving and hopeful.

The only video game song that has made one of parents say "That sounds good. What CD are you listening to?"

Yeah, it's pretty awesome. A pity they play it so damn much after that scene, though. Just about anyone who's spent much time level-grinding on the World of Ruin world map gets pretty sick of hearing it after a while.

Between me being up later than I should be and my schedule tomorrow being kind of... off, it feels like the perfect time to make a slightly early, un-proofread update!

Last week we freed Figaro Castle from the Tentacle Menace, picked up Setzer, and recovered the Falcon from Darill’s Tomb. What? Yes, we did that last part. No, you don’t have to go back and check for yourself, we totally did it. Here, look, if you don’t remember it for some reason I can just repeat the highlights for you here.


Sabin hits level 30 and learns a new Blitz.


Then the next fight he gets Zombified after I put in the command for the new Blitz and uses it on his friends instead.


Sometimes I just cruise the Tomb with one or two guys protected from Zombie and the others Zombied so I don’t have to worry about keeping them alive. The Zombie party members usually hit the monsters or each other, after all....


Once again, I remember that the password is “THE WORLD IS SQUARE” backwards, but forget I have to put it in right to left.


The Presenter and Dullahan are where things are starting to get tricky for me. There’s no way for dinky little Potions to keep up with attacks that hit everyone for 300+ damage and my only multitarget heals right now are, in order of effectiveness, Celes’ Cure, Sabin’s Mantra, and Setzer’s Lagomorph. And Cure only edges out Mantra because Mantra doesn’t affect Sabin himself. This makes Presenter something of a slog and Dullahan a dicey proposition until a lucky Debilitator shot gives him a weakness to Pearl that lets Sabin Aurabolt him back to wherever it is not-undead skeleton charioteers come from.

So, with that little flashback out of the way, what’s the first thing you do when you’ve got a new form of transportation? Not go to the first place the game tells you, that’s for sure. First stop: getting Sabin an even flashier Blitz. Back in South Figaro Duncan’s Wife told us her husband, Sabin’s karate master, was still alive and hanging out north of Narshe. With the Falcon and directions from a woman in Maranda, we find Narshe and, a little northeast of the mining town, this suspicious bunch of trees. When we walk over the center tree...


How did this house go from east of Figaro Cave to north of Narshe in one little apocalypse? Maybe Duncan only knows how to build the one house/dojo, right down to the well and massive... radish? Is that a radish next to the house?
DUNCAN: Wa, ha, ha... Why the surprised face? Did you think I’d...gone?
Sabin: Duncan... I’m so glad you’re safe!!!
[DUNCAN circles around SABIN.]
DUNCAN: Whoa?! Sabin, this can’t be... Tears??


DUNCAN: Wa, ha, ha... Nothing happened to me! The earth yawned right open to take me but I scrambled to safety! Sabin!! It is now time to complete your training. Use these new skills to smash Kefka! Put’em up!


[SABIN and DUNCAN spar at even higher speeds, eventually jumping into the air and slowly coming down.]


DUNCAN: Go! Give Kefka the boot!


Pose as a team!

So, Bum Rush. I kind of skipped over explaining Air Blade, but that is basically Fire Dance with the Wind element and a little more power. Upgrading from Aurabolt to Bum Rush for my default single target Blitz is a much bigger difference in damage abilities – without any bonuses, Bum Rush can easily be doing three times as much damage as Aurabolt, ignoring defense and dealing non-elemental damage.

With a single Earring boosting its damage, Bum Rush will be topping six thousand damage against random encounters. Assuming you don’t have trouble pulling off whatever Blitz you choose, there’s pretty much no reason to go back to Aurabolt unless you’re fighting something with no magic defense and a weakness to Pearl attacks. Or you just miss the attack; Aurabolt has always been my favorite Blitz.

With Bum Rush learned, we now have 7/8 Blitzes, with the last one being learned when Sabin hits level 42 (Bum Rush itself would be devised if Sabin ever got to 70 without visiting Duncan).

Now, the game wanted us to go somewhere right after getting the Falcon, even automatically landing us there right after we emerged from the sea.


Yeah, that’s it. Alright, since the fans demanded it, time for talking!
Vagabond: I’m a former thief. My old accomplice used to mumble this in his sleep, “To the right of the treasure chest...”
Ruffian: I used to be a thief. But one day I uncovered a secret so awesome, I had to run and hide!
Brigand: I used to be a thief. I climbed the tower of Kefka’s followers, in spite of the danger. But I got hurt, and had to turn back after the first treasure room...
Old man: A Knight came through here recently... He was amazing! But his heart was full of chaos... When he can cope with his pain, he’ll be the mightiest warrior alive.
Townsman: A spell ago, some oddball came strolling through here. Kept callin’ people “thou.”
Old woman: I’ve learned a lot about our new world from the thieves and travelers that have come through here. What shall I talk about? (This lady can show you where Narshe, the Veldt, and Doma Castle are now. She’s useful for cutting down on the aimlessness of a new player’s explorations.)
Fellow: You know that guy in Zozo who says, “This place is dangerous!”? He’s the only guy in that town who tells the truth. Maybe he can help you.
Overalls: Your own past can be your worst enemy. Friends...family...gotta let’em all go...
Blonde: Recently Lola has been receiving a lot of letters. Must be from that guy in Mobliz...?


“Silk flowers... Beautifully made, too...”
LOLA: Look! My boyfriend in Mobliz sent me all these flowers! They’re all hand-made of silk. And these are the letters he has written to me...
“??? But wasn’t Mobliz demolished by Kefka? Somebody else must have written these...”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Letter to Lola My beloved Lola, We’re still busy trying to rebuild this town... If all goes well I’ll be able to come home to you soon...

“...this handwriting... It looks a lot like Cyan’s... But where is he mailing them from?”
LOLA: Could you please attach this reply to a carrier pigeon? Thank you.


And thus begins the creepiest quest to get one of our party members back. Or maybe it’s the quest to get our creepiest party member back. Semantics!

As we follow the bird into Zozo, it flies off over the rusted-shut door we ran into so long ago. There are still random battles here, but they’re also still the same ones as in the World of Balance, so not really a huge threat. We take a moment to find the one honest man in Zozo...


“With this Rust-Rid you can open that door. Yours for 1000 GP!”
“Purchased Rust-Rid!”
We were told he was honest, not a philanthropist.


This cave is mostly populated by palette swaps of old monsters, an issue we’ll be running into often now that we’re in the back half of the game. Ursus up there is the most interesting of them, as he likes to pull the old “steal some GP and Escape” shenanigans. Heck, if you can Vanish your entire party, there’s only a single, non-random monster here that can hit you – all the random encounters use purely physical attacks.

On the plus side, we get some sweet loot: a Gold Hairpin, which halves the MP cost of Magic (and which we could have gotten if we’d forsaken Mog), an Aegis Shld, which has the second-highest magic evasion of all shields; a Red Cap, which has decent stat boosts and increases the wearer’s max HP by 25% (both this and the Aegis can only be found here and in the final dungeon, nowhere else); and Ice and Thunder Shlds, which absorb their respective element and cast the third tier spell of their element when used as an item but made Setzer’s arm feel all weird and tingly when he tried one on so the party is avoiding them.


See that switch up there? It is the Demon switch. It unleashes the Demon.

Well, it unleashes the Storm Dragon anyway, one of the eight dragons that were released when Kefka burned the world, but close enough. The thing flies around the room at stupid speeds and starts a battle if you bump into it.

It was the first dragon I ran into when I was a kid, and I got curbstomped by it pretty badly. I could barely get out of Mt. Zozo because, even though it’s really not that hard to avoid it, for some reason I kept getting hit by the damned thing. I got killed, reloaded, got killed trying to advance, got killed coming back after getting Cyan but before getting to the save point, got Cyan again and saved and got killed trying to leave... I can’t even remember how I managed to get into the fight so many times, just that it was horrible and I couldn’t play for a while. To this day I leave this dragon for one of the last I beat, even when I have better healing than Cure.


Past the horrible, horrible dragon’s lair, we find a room filled with the same silk bouquets as Lola’s house, a locked treasure chest, and a letter on the desk.
So there we have it. Cyan’s been sitting on top of a monster-infested mountain, hand-crafting silk roses and writing love letters for a young woman, posing as the boyfriend she doesn’t know is dead, and presumably receiving, reading, and thoughtfully replying to her love letters to the dead man. Out of everything anyone’s doing when you find them in the World of Ruin, Cyan’s story is by far the creepiest.


“The world before the fall...
Delightful is the light of dawn...
Noble is the heart of man...”
“Cyan!” “We just read your letter revealing everything to Lola. It’s on the desk behind us. What the hell did you send to Lola just now?”
Cyan: Hey!! You’re alive!?
“Cyan...”
Cyan: I shall go with you! I shan’t leave the world as it is! But how did you find me? W...wait! Tell me you didn’t read my letters...!!


Cyan runs back into his little caveroom and starts grabbing up everything he left sitting around, the flowers and the letter breaking up with Lola, comically jumping to grab the roses sitting up on the shelf. The party comes back in before he can grab the last bouquet.
Cyan: These... they’re... um... Merely a diversion of mine...
[SABIN jumps up on the chest to examine the flower.]
“Cyan. These flowers are gorgeous!”
Cyan: Mm...m...!? This is an outrage...! Seriously?
[SABIN and CYAN share a laugh.]
Cyan: I learned of that poor girl when I passed through Maranda. When I heard that she sent a letter each day, but never received any replies... Something inside me snapped... As I wrote to that girl, I realized I was very much like her. I was looking behind...full of despair. My eyes were closed... And then something changed...
So Cyan decided the best way to work through his own issues after losing his family and witnessing the end of the world was to toy with the heart of a girl half his age by pretending to be her boyfriend. I hope if I ever need a therapist I find one with better advice than that.


“He probably returned to the Veldt.”
Hrm. There are things I want to say about this, but I think they should wait until we’ve assembled the entire party.

Now that we have a spare party member to sit on board the Falcon, have a quick tour of the ship’s interior. Despite having a longer deck than the Blackjack, our new airship has a smaller interior with much fewer spaces for gambling. Maybe that’s how Daryl got her ship to go faster – a sleeker, more economical and aerodynamic design with no casinos.


Following Cyan’s tip, we head off to the Veldt. There’s still far more Balance encounters here than Ruin, so don’t expect any serious threats to pop up for a while. And if you just asked yourself “Why does he have a party of four on the Veldt if he’s trying to recruit Gau?” then congrats! You’re quicker on the uptake than I was while recording this part.

Uh, I mean, I wanted to see if Gau would appear to me and head straight back to the airship. Totally.


“Uwao, aooh! I’m Gau! I’m your friend! Let’s travel together!”
Sweet. We’re up to six dudes now. Very important number for something I’ll be doing soon. But not immediately.


“You’re...coming with us?”
We got Interceptor back!


Scoundrel: For some reason he never came near when all 4 of us were together.
Hunter: In a forest north of the Veldt dwells a frightful dragon. I suppose no human could ever defeat it...but oh, how free we would be if someone could...
Vagabond: Reduce the number of people in your party if you want him to approach you.
This advice would have been more helpful if I’d come here before getting Gau back (who’s in the party while I’m listening to these people talk about him). If you ask the woman in Maranda for the location of the Veldt she shows you the entrance to this cave, so it's not unlikely this is the first part of the Veldt a first time player will check out.

An unlucky random encounter chases me out of the Cave to go heal. The closest place is the house of the crazy old guy on the edge of the Veldt, who lets the party sleep in his bed. He’s alright standing in the middle of the room all night and watching us sleep, he’s crazy.


AGED MAN: Quick! Fix that chair! Then you can use it to reach the roof.
[The PARTY retreats to the front yard and gathers in a circle.]
Sabin: You don’t suppose... Gau, could this be your father?
Gau: Uooo...
Sabin: Come on, Gau. It’s true, right?
Gau: ...fffatherrr...?
Sabin: Yes. This is definitely your father.
Gau: ... ...??? ...Gau’s...father?! Oooogauooooo!
Sabin: Right!! Let’s go tell your father the news! He needs to know you’re his son! Just a minute... We can’t just go there with you looking like this. I know! Let’s go to Jidoor and give you a make-over!


Sabin: No, Gau! Don’t eat with your fingers!
Gau: Yaoooo...
Sabin: Don’t say “Yaoooo” when you mean “Yes!”
Gau [raising one arm]: Ho!
Sabin: ... ...


“Well...”
Celes: What?!
“...Nothing...”
Cyan: What a jaunty hat!
“Not at...”
Cyan: Wait a minute! Where’s the hat?
“... ...”


“I don’t think...”

Sabin: Sir... You...had a son, right? You with me!?
AGED MAN: ...son?
Sabin: Right. The truth is, he’s alive! Come here, Gau!
Gau [doesn’t move]: Fffatherrr...
AGED MAN: What is this?! What’s with this “son” business? I never had a son!


AGED MAN: I grabbed the creature, and rushed off to the Veldt with it... It was crying like crazy when I arrived on the Veldt.
Sabin: But, Sir...!
AGED MAN: I left the child there... And without looking back, I turned and started to run.
Sabin: I’m trying to tell you...
AGED MAN: Suddenly the crying stopped. I turned around and saw a frightful monster... Hideos! Still gives me the shakes.
Sabin [turning and hanging his head]: I give up...
AGED MAN: But you, young man, your parents must be proud of you! I still have dreams of that demon child... Frightening...
Sabin: Why! You old... He’s completely lost his mind! Gau, I’m gonna clobber him!! [He raises his fist.]
Gau [jumping between SABIN and the AGED MAN]: Uwaooo...ooooo...
[The PARTY leaves the house.]


Gau: Fffatherrr...alive... H... a... p... p... y...
That scene gets to me every time. Anyway, we have six characters, and that means it’s relatively safe to do something that will just break the game open.


Yadda yadda yadda... I'll cover this conversation in more detail when we inevitably return.


Welcome to the final dungeon! Not that I’m planning to beat the game right now or anything. The thing is, the Fixed Dice - Setzer’s ultimate weapon - is about three screens in and has the potential for more damage than almost anything else in the game.


This is my third attempt to get the Dice, the earlier two having been stopped by encounters like this – the Vectaurs aren’t a thing (though sometimes you get an encounter with four of them shown one on top of another, so it looks like one you have kill four times) but the GtBehemoth hits hard physically, uses Meteor almost on a whim, and doesn’t let you run.

I probably could have done this earlier if I hadn’t insisted on taking Setzer in the team to get the Dice and done the run with just the twins and Celes, who provide far more damage and staying power at this point than anyone else. Oh well.


And we have our prize!


To the skyhook, Gau! Get us out of here!

So what’s so special about the Fixed Dice and why am I so excited about 19 Battle Power?


Setzer rolls three dice, multiplies the numbers together, multiplies it by his level, doubles it, and then doubles it again if he rolled triples. That’s the damage. None of this nonsense about rows, or defenses, or Genji Glove damage penalties, nothing. The damage is random, and it is weighted towards the low end (5s and 6s have a lower chance of appearing than 1-4), but in theory Setzer averages around 42 times his level in damage with these. With lucky triples 6s however, he could hit the damage cap when he’s as low as level 12, according to my handy-dandy Excel spreadsheet of Fixed Dice damage I made a few years back.

For the moment, Setzer’s not quite as powerful as Sabin with Bum Rush, but we’ll fix that soon enough.

Anyway, we have just a little business left for the week. Back at the cave on the Veldt, we find a monster-in-a-box.


This guy can lead off and counter attacks with Doom, and hits you with repeated Atomic Rays if the fight goes longer than a minute, but the Tiger Fangs he drops is Sabin’s strongest weapon (until the GBA version of this game). It has some stat boosts and 27 more points of battle power than the Dragon Claw – use Genji Glove to get easily Sabin over 450 Bat.Pwr!

Bum Rush is still doing roughly three times the damage of Sabin’s Fight command, though.


A little further we find a powerful weapon for Shadow, and then...


Speak of the devil! Let’s circle around.


Yeah, no, sorry. I have Bum Rush, Fixed Dice, and Drill and you only have 19K HP so I’m not scared of your Meteor, Pearl, Ice2, Ice3, or ability to remove my Reflect status I don’t even have! Have fun only getting off a single attack!


“Another monster appeared!”
This is the undead SrBehemoth. It has the same HP, a vulnerability to healing abilities, and a lot fewer attacks. It still has Meteor from its first form, and adds in Doom and Sleeping Gas. If any party members are put to sleep, the undead SrBehemoth can hit them with physicals four times in a single action. That avails him not, however, and he quickly is reduced to dust. We find a BehemothSuit and ThunderBlade in the remains before turning back to Shadow.


“Let’s take her back to Thamasa using the airship.”
Oops. If you allow Shadow to die, you’ll find Relm here instead, in which case this dialogue doesn't nearly as gender-confused.


Clyde is leaving Strago’s house when Interceptor... intercepts him. Clyde won’t be dissuaded, however, and walks past the dog. Interceptor looks back at the house for a moment, then runs after Clyde.


Party [to Shadow]: Are you okay?
Shadow: No need to worry. It’s just a scratch. Also, he’s gonna stand guard, so you just relax.

Well, this is our first trip to Thamasa since the end of the world, so you know what that means.
Little boy: All the fun places are gone now.
Townswoman: For the first time in 50 years, Ebot’s Rock is above water! Head north of town if you want to see it.
MAYOR: It’s only been a year since the world changed... But it feels like forever.
Scoundrel: After the end of the world, I awoke all alone in Doma Castle. When I would try to sleep there, demons would come for me... Oh! I don’t want to remember that!
Fellow: I saw a monster floating in the sky! It looked just like a fish.

Alright, I think that’s everyone. Now for the classic RPG time-progression technique...

We step outside town and immediately reenter, only to discover that Shadow got tired of lazing about waiting for us and took off. So, the Colosseum, eh? Time to head north of Kohlingen.


Here we go, the Dragon’s Neck Colosseum. Let’s look around, chat with the locals, and see if we can find any hints to Shadow. Hey, who’s that manning the desk?
ULTROS: Look at me! I’m a receptionist! G’fa, ha, ha! Now, you’d better watch what ya bet, or master Chupon’ll just come and take it from ya!
Vagabond: The more precious the item wagered, the better your prize will be!
Guard: This is Dragon’s Neck Colosseum. Champions from all over the world come here to fight for prizes.
Scoundrel: Battles at the colosseum are one-on-one.
Imperial Trooper: I’m an Imperial Trooper! Probably the last of ‘em... I have some valuable information for you! “Talk to the Emperor twice.” Use this when you’ve found the place where the Emperor hid a secret treasure.
SIGFRIED: Someone’s been pretending to be me! Don’t be fooled!
Owner: This is my colosseum. Finally, the whole world is at war! I’m so happy! And I owe it all to Kefka!
Bartender: Creatures from all over the world come here to compete.
Ruffian: There’s some guy here who’s dressed all in black! He’s looking for a blade known as the Striker...
Eyepatch McGee: Get a load of the crowds!


Party: Explanation, please!
“We fight for items, etc. here. First choose the thing you want to wager. Next, your opponent will appear. Choose someone from your party to fight this opponent. A one-on-one auto-battle will then take place. The item you wagered covers your participation fee. If you win, you’ll be rewarded with an even better item! That’s all there is to it!”

The guard covered most of it, but I will add a couple notes. First of all, I’m not planning to provide any Colosseum trading chains; they can be complicated as all heck, and for once I’m willing to say simply “You can find that shit on the interwebs, yo. I don’t need to provide it here.” Second, you really, really should check the interwebs for trading chains and make sure you save before you jump into the arena; it’s a horrible idea to go risk your valuable loot without knowing what you’re getting into (and if you risk your non-valuable loot you’ll be put up against Chupon, who will just sneeze you out of the ring before you can do anything).


Even if there’s no way to control what Sabin does (I once had him use Mantra three times in a row in a Colosseum fight, and I swear I’ve seen “Incorrect Blitz input” here), he’s fully equipped and Shadow is naked.


That’s the entire fight. Scratch, slap, Air Blade. We get the Striker back and have a little heart-to-heart with Shadow in the Colosseum lobby.


“Why not come with us?”
Shadow: Well... First I need to see how far I can get here...
And since we’ve already shown him how far he’ll get at the Colosseum without all the fancy magic equipment we’ve got on hand, he immediately hops on the airship.

Well, unlike Mr. Bungle my typing fingers actually did fall off, so I need to call it here for the week. Next week: more new old characters!

Part XXV - Searching for Friends in All the Right Places

Last time there was deception, suffocation, tentacles, a self-propelled castle, a pep talk, a tomb raiding, and a new airship. This time promises to be nearly as action-packed, too! Team Hope has arrived in the airspace over Maranda, and is about to find out what was up with that damn pigeon.



But first, a small detour back to check up on Cid.



He's doing well! May as well check the beach too, see if that seagull is still around.



It is, and so is this!



I love my new summons, yes I do. Let's find out what this bad boy does!

Quetzali

Yep, it's really a tropical bird and not the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. Though Quetzal are often associated with said god-bird! Anyway, the coloring on this guy definitely captures the "exotic" look.



Sonic Dive makes all of your characters perform a Jump attack on the enemy party. It's kinda cool, but impractical as all-get-out too. Still, it's a good way to evade a coming full-party attack.



If you use it on the Peeping Bears and Earth Protectors on Solitary Island, you can experience this rare delight, a victory with nobody on-screen!

Spells Taught
Haste x20
Slow x20
Hastega x2
Slowga x2
Levitate x5

Level-Up Bonus: None

Oh hell yes. Quetzali teaches Hastega, which is pretty much the best thing ever. That's all you really need to know about him.



♪♪ Searching for Friends ♪♪

And of course, we'll be taking the advice of a mad old crone in South Figaro and checking for Bannan's palette-swap Duncan in the mountains north of Narche.



Sure enough, we found him.



He's happy to see us, too!

*Matias and Duncan face one another at the door, and Duncan laughs*
Duncan "Fwahahaha!!! Why the long face!? What, did you think I died or something!?"
*Matias looks down*
Matias "Master... I'm glad you're safe......"
*Duncan jumps around Matias a bit, making silly poses and even making a "sproing" noise with each hop*
Duncan "Tears? Matias, are you... actually crying???"
*Duncan hops onto the roof of all places, then laughs*
Duncan "Fwahaha! I didn't die! Even if you threw me into a crevasse, I'd find my way back out alive!"

Guess we know where Matias' odd statement from before in Tsen came from now.



♪♪ Edgar and Matias' Theme ♪♪

*Matias nods*
"Let's go!"

Awesome!

And so our favorite musclehead goes toe-to-toe with his mentor, until...!



Wow, kinda wordy. Couldn't you pick something a bit less of a mouthful, like "Bum Rush"? Oh right, Japanese naming conventions require that every attack be ridiculously complex in naming. Nevermind.



It will be my pleasure, really.



Go! Slaughter Kefka!"

Will do. Also, shame on me for not doing the "Duncan jumps through the wall" glitch first! Now I can't, of course. Ah well...



Our next stop is actually this desert outside of Maranda instead of the town proper. Why, you ask? Well, let's see the enemy list first.

Maranda Area
Enemies: Crawler, Leech Frog, Basilisk, Lycaon, Sprinter, Grand Insect, Sabotender, Slug Crawler

(Yes, "Sabotender" has 3, count 'em, 3 meanings mixed into one portmanteau! Saboteur, saboten, and pretender. Saboten is Japanese for cactus. So they're saboteur cacti pretending to be... well, cacti. Complicated!)

There's two enemies of interest on there, which only appear in this desert.



The first is the Slug Crawler, which gives 1500 exp, 5 magic exp, and 10,000 Gil. Great for powering up your allies! They're not immune to death, which is good since they hit hard as hell.



The second is the series favorite the Cactuar, or Sabotender as they're called here. No exp, but 10 magic exp and 10,000 Gil per fight! This desert is a magic leveler's favorite place to be. Those little bastards require piercing attacks to kill them, for the most part, however: Drill, Power Rush, or a few other attacks of this sort will do the trick.



♪♪ The Day After ♪♪

Anyway, now we can finally get around to visiting Maranda and talking talking talking the night away.

Walking Around
Thief "I was once a thief. But one day I uncovered a terrible secret so great that I fled in terror!"
Old Man "Not too long ago, a swordsman passed this way... He was quite a skilled warrior. But his heart was adrift in sorrow. If he was able to overcome his problems, he could become the strongest swordsman ever born!"
Man "A strange man came to our village recently... He kept saying... Slur...? Soar...? Spur...? ... ... Spore???" {Ahahahaha oh you silly townsperson. That must've been Cayenne.}
Old Woman "Even thoguh I'm a thief, I've done a lot of traveling since the world was torn apart. Where do you want to know about?"
> (Narche)
*world map pan over Narche*
> (Beast Plains)
*world map pan over Veldt*
> (Doma Castle)
*world map pan over Doma Castle*
> (No thanks) {This old woman's services are mostly just to let you know where these spots are now. The world's kinda different, ya?}
Dancer "Things which you held dear before will only hinder you now. Lovers, family, home towns... You have to just forget them all."
Man "Do you know the man who says 'It's dangerous here' in Zozo? He's the only honest person in that entire town. He might be able to help you out in some way."
Woman "Many love letters have beena rriving for Lola lately. Maybe they're from that man in Mobriz?"
Thief "I was once a thief. Desperately seeking treasure, I tried to storm the tower of those Kefka fanatics. But I was almost killed, and retreated before I even reached the first treasure room."

At the Inn
Thief "I was once a thief. My partner often still mutters 'to the right of the treasure chest...' in his sleep." {Thanks, partner. Now we'll be obsessively checking the right side of every treasure chest we find for the rest of the game.}



And look, they're all hand-made artificial flowers. I guess building flowers is really the only way to send them now, since they won't grow in the devastated soil... Oh, and he sent this letter..."

More "plants won't grow" schtick. Didn't you people watch Nausicaa? The plants will still grow, they just become toxic and spawn giant insects to defend them! Honestly, what's the world coming to when RPG developers aren't even ripping off Miyazaki any more?



Maybe somebody else is sending these letters?"

Suddenly Celes and crew spot a hole in this woman's story! Let's find out what the letter says, shall we?

I'll leve this place and return to you soon, madam...
*Celes turns around and blinks*
"...There's something about this writing style......"
"It looks like Cayene's...... But, where is he sending these letters from?"
*Lola jumps and Celes turns to face her*
Lola "Could you send this reply letter to him via courier pigeon outside?"
Will you send Lola's letter for her via courier pigeon? > Yes / No

It's time to get to the bottom of this mystery! Let's help her out!



You're welcome. Now then, bird time.



The bird's eager enough. Let's see where it goes.



...Zozo. You think you know a guy, and then this...



Oh well, may as well follow.



♪♪ Slam Shuffle ♪♪

The bird flies off towards the mountains! Well bugger.



Hmm...... I'd stay away if I were you......"

Don't really have a choice here, dude. Help us out!

"With this rust solvent, you could probably get that door I mentioned open. How about buying it for 1,000?" > Yes / No

Deal!

You purchased Rust Trial!

Ah, it's a sample size. Who cares, it'll do the trick!



Alright, we're adventurin' awesome.



♪♪ Mt. Colts ♪♪

Mt. Zozo
Enemies: Glasyalabolas, Stolen Bear, Punisher, Luridan, Orient Devil

This should be a plotless slog. Yeah yeah, annoying, everything has insane evasion, yadda yadda yadda. Fast forward powers, activate!



I do at least get the chance to try out Illusion Battle Dance. It's pretty awesome.



This switch is a bad thing to hit.



So I hit it.



And got my just reward.



♪♪ Rest in Peace ~ Game Over ♪♪

We held our own for a bit, but it's just not going to happen right now. Load state!

Further in, we find evidence of human habitation!



Like you, I was looking back at the past, and letting the present simply slip past me. The young man wyo was sending you letters from Mobriz is no longer alive. I have been writing in his stead. I'm sorry... I know how easy it can be to hide in the shadows of the past because the present is harsh. But, nothing is gained by doing this. You can't move forward if you're always looking back. I want you to be able to look forward again. I want you to remember how to love again...
Cayene

What we've learned from this letter:

1. Cayene is long-winded.
2. He's been in denial about his family.
3. He's also probably not far from here.



Looks like he's busy reading Lola's latest letter.



♪♪ Cayene's Theme ♪♪

That pretty much sums up Cayene. And yes, that is a reverse haiku (7,5,7 instead of 5,7,5).



Oh snap!*Cayene is shocked!*
Cayene "Everybody!! You're all safe!!!"
*Cayene walks down to the party as they all fan out*
"Cayene..."
*Cayene nods*
Cayene "I shall come along as well, sirs! I cannot simply give up on the world, sirs! But, how did you...? T, tell me you didn't find me by reading my letter, sirs!?"
*Cayene is shocked again, and runs back to his cave!*



A little late to be hiding your frilly silk flowers, Cayene.



Oh yeah, there's 3 up there, too.



Busted.



Yes indeed.



Flattery will get you nowhere, Celes.



Hahahaha someone's insecure.



Oh my. What a pose.



Everyone has a good laugh, at least.

Cayene "When I passed through Maranda, I met a young woman who waited anxiously every day for a letter. She still wrote a letter every day, even though she knew that no reply would come back... When I saw her like that..."
*Cayene walks towards the desk and Celes hops off the chest*
Cayene "Before I knew it, I was writing a letter to her myself. I came to realize that we were both looking backwards... But, my eyes cannot remain blinded. Even after what has happened......"
*Celes walks down to Cayene, they face each other, and nod to one another*
"I ran into sir Gau in Maranda, sirs. He said 'Gau become stronger so he can help'... He probably went to the Veldt, sirs."

Alright, more party powah! Time to make like a tree and Teleport!



Cayene's return means we can finally adjust our party! Let's see...



This looks like a proper Gau-hunting team to me.