I've got a Job for you! - Let's Play Final Fantasy V!

♪♪ Battle 2 ♪♪

Fun Fact: Archeoaevis is a royal bitch normally thanks to his elemental defense shifting, but can be defeated in 2 moves as long as you have the skills to pay the bills!



Step 1: Dark Spark.



Step 2: Level 5 Death. Victory!



Except not. See, you're not supposed to do that, so the game kinda glitches out if you do and the boss just switches to another form instead of properly dying. So we'll restart the battle and do this the right way.



Fortunately, Shurikens ignore defense, so Archeoaevis' high resillience does it no favors as a result. That hefty damage output ensures that Archeoaevis never gets a turn: every time it takes 1500 or so damage, it switches forms and its turn order gauge resets.



That's kinda annoying.

King Tycoon: Oh! Look at it! Such energy! This is the true power of the crystals...!

More like the true power of irritation.



Unfortunately for Archeoaevis, his revived form is not Level 5 Death immune. Hooray for cheap shots!

♪♪ Victory Fanfare ♪♪



Mwa-hahahahaha...
*King Tycoon shoves his own daughter aside and runs off!*
*Lenna follows, and the party fans out*
Lenna: Father!
Faris: Papa!
*Everyone faces each other*
Bartz: The earth crystal should be just ahead...

Alright, time to do this thing!



Here we are!



♪♪ Deception ♪♪

And more talking ensues!

Faris: Papa!
Galuf: This is bad! Something's gotta be controlling him!
*King Tycoon hops off the dais*
*Bartz and Galuf get ready to fight, but Lenna and Faris stop them!*
Lenna: Bartz, stop!
Faris: Don't even try it!
Bartz: Step aside!
*Faris and Lenna shake their heads*
*King Tycoon steps down*
King Tycoon: Heh... With the four of you gathered like this, it will be easier to destroy you all!
*The party lines up for some reason*

This is gonna end badly.



♪♪ Run! ♪♪

Oho, contrivance from above!



Oof! Meteorites crashing hurt!



What the hell?

Hey, it's that girl!



She totally just waxed King Tycoon!



Krile!



Oh right, he still has amnesia. Hmm...



Can he overcome it?



He can!



Comically, of course. He just tossed his ? bubble aside, and it bounced across the screen and everything.



♪♪ Fanfare 2 ♪♪

Galuf's memory returned!

Woot! And Krile runs circles around Galuf.



♪♪ Lenna's Theme ♪♪

*Faris and Lenna get up and walk over to their pops*
Lenna: Father!
Faris: Papa!
*Bartz walks closer and Krile notices too*
Krile: Oh, don't owrry. I just hit him with a little strike of Thunder! He should be okay.
*King Tycoon stands up*
King Tycoon: Ughhh... Where... Lenna...Sarisa? Sarisa-is that you!?
*The girls look at their father and nod*
King Tycoon: It really is you... Sarisa! I can't believe it! You're alive!
Faris: Papa...Papa!
*Lenna runs over to King Tycoon's side*
*Bartz notices the crystal is kinda... not okay at all*
*The screen turns blue*
Bartz: Oh-



-SHIT!

♪♪ The Evil Lord Exdeath ♪♪



I'm guessing this is not a good thing at all.



Crappity crap-crap!



Will this end well? Yes/No (Spoiler: No)

He's making the crystal shards surround us! That's... odd.



Smite these vermin!!!

That would be bad, so no. Um, please no? Yeah, I'll just be over here...

*Bartz steps forward*
Bartz: You think we're gonna just sit back and let you do whatever you want!?



Exdeath makes a compelling argument for his case.



Oh Bartz, when will you learn not to mess with evil wizards?

Lenna: Bartz!
*Exdeath converts into light as Bartz gets up*
Exdeath: Hah! Now the crystals have been destroyed. Next shall be your world, Galuf!!!
*Exdeath warps off with a YOINK sound*
*King Tycoon steps forward*
Lenna: Father!
Faris: Papa!
*King Tycoon ponders briefly, then faces the party*
King Tycoon: Sarisa...Lenna... Bartz, and you, warriors from another world. I fear your work is still unfinished. You must not allow the world to disappear into nothingness...
*Tycoon casts some kind of spell*
King Tycoon: Light of earth! Come forth and reclaim your essence from me!
*The screen flashes red a few times and the shards attack Tycoon like they did Bartz earlier!*
*Everyone is knocked back!*
*Tycoon walks in again and gets zapped again*
Lenna: Father!
Faris: Papa!
King Tycoon: Get back! The crystal...must be saved...
*King Tycoon gets up and steps forward again*
*The shards surround him and spin around!*
*Tycoon summons them to him and dispels their magic!*
*The shards land, harmless*



♪♪ Nostalgia ~ Sorrows of Parting ♪♪

Faris: You can't die!
King Tycoon: Sarissa... Forgive me... I wasn't...much of a father...
*Faris and Lenna look down*
King Tycoon: Lenna...Sarissa... Please, stay together... Become each other's strength...
*Faris nods*
King Tycoon: Bartz...take care of them...as I cannot...
*Bartz nods*
Lenna: Wait-Father! You can't-
Faris: Don't-don't leave us!
*King Tycoon blinks out of existence as Lenna grabs for him*
*Bartz, Lenna, and Faris are all sad*
*The shards glimmer and circle about, closing in on Lenna as the screen flashes blue*
Resting within the shard, a warrior's spirit...
Samurai
Dragoon
Dancer
Chemist



Nothing good, I bet...

Galuf: It's the ruins-they're falling!
Bartz: We've gotta get out of here! Everybody to the airship!
♪♪ Run! ♪♪
*Everyone starts to leave as explosions trigger!*
*Faris goes back since Lenna hasn't moved*
Faris: Lenna... Come on!
*Finally Lenna follows*



Ronka is falling down, falling down, falling down...



Even the docks are blowing up!



And how!



Out the exploding maw! BOOM!



So now Gohn is... gone.



♪♪ Reminiscence ♪♪

*Lenna just looks down*
Lenna: Father... He's gone, isn't he...
*Bartz walks up from belowdecks and down to the foremast where Galuf is standing at the end*
Bartz: Galuf... Something wrong?
Galuf: Yeah... We've got to get moving, and now!
Bartz: Huh? What's going on?
*Galuf looks down*
Galuf: It's all come back to me-I remember everything.
*Galuf looks at Bartz*
Galuf: Exdeath is an evil warlock from my world... Thirty years ago, he came here to destroy this world's crystals. I and three others-the Dawn Warriors-sealed him with the power of the crystals. Everything was fine for thirty years...we thought it was all over.
*Galuf walks back onto deck and looks over the side*
Galuf: But something bad was happening to the crystals. Once we figured that out, we took the meteors and came back here...
*Galuf nods*
Galuf: But I was too late... Exdeath's not only been freed, but has returned to our world...
*Galuf and Bartz both look down, then Bartz checks out the other rail*
Bartz: That's because we used too much of the crystals' power, right?
*Galuf shakes his head and walks over to Bartz*
Galuf: No... We were the ones who left Exdeath on this world in the first place. Back then, we should have dragged him back to our world, like he said...



*Galuf nods*
Galuf: Yup. We've got to seal Exdeath again. Krile's meteorite should still have some juice left... Probably only enough for one more trip, though. Bartz, Lenna, Faris... Thank you so much for everything. I'll miss you guys.
*Krile jumps down and Galuf starts to walk away*
Bartz: What kinda nonsense is that? We're going with you!
*Galuf looks down*
Galuf: No, you're not. This is the last meteorite. That means if you went to my world, you'd never be able to come back here.
*Galuf looks to the side*
Galuf: Farewell!
*Galuf enters the meteorite and Krile steps forward to nod to the party*
Krile: Goodbye!
*Krile spins about and enters the meteorite too*
Bartz: Galuf! Krile!



And there they go...

♪♪ The Airship ♪♪

Well that was kinda a downer ending for this update, huh? On the bright side, we have our last Job mix! Let's see what's on the menu.



Samurai - Master swordsmen whose keen reflexes allow them to intercept and deflect enemy attacks.
Pros - Randomly blocks physical attacks entirely, powerful warriors, can throw money to do massive damage
Cons - Throwing money is expensive (duh), they're kinda boring... and that's about it
Equipment: Daggers, Katanas, Heavy Armor, Shields
Native Skills: !Zeninage, Shirahadori
Learns: !Mineuchi (10), !Zeninage (30), Shirahadori (60), Equip Katanas (180), !Iainuki (540)



Dragoon - Dragoon knights who specialize in jumping and lance attacks.
Pros - Awesomely good warriors for evasive combat, learns an ability that lets you steal HP and MP from enemies
Cons - I guess their MP is a bit low...
Equipment: Daggers, Spears/Lances, Heavy Armor, Shields
Native Skills: !Jump
Learns: !Jump (50), !Lance (150), Equip Lances (400)



Dancer - Fighters whose smooth moves confuse enemies, leaving blood on the dance floor.
Pros - Some dances are particularly useful, only Job besides unmasked that can equip Ribbons
Cons - Much like Bards, they're so weak that mages call them pathetic
Equipment: Daggers, Light Armor
Native Skills: !Dance
Learns: !Flirt (25), !Dance (50), Equip Ribbons (325)



Chemist - Apothecaries who can mix powerful brews, and gain twice the benefit when drinking Potions and Ethers.
Pros - Item deities who can make pretty much anything into a deadly weapon or super-healing tonic
Cons - Expensive to keep powerful, fairly mage-like stats
Equipment: Daggers, Staves, Light Armor
Native Skills: !Drink, Pharmacology
Learns: Pharmacology (15), !Mix (30), !Drink (45), !Recover (135), !Revive (405)

Again, I'm sure I'm inevitably going to be playing host to at least one Dancer soon. HOWEVER! I'm making a slight exception here: no telling me what to use for Jobs next time. We'll get to that when we're inevitably reunited with Galuf, but for now, the party's all Freelancer. Don't despair, it'll only be for one update! It's high time we see what Freelancers can do with a decent skillset at their disposal anyway.

Current Stats
Bartz: Level 27
Jobs: Knight L3 (1/100), Thief L4 (0/75), Ninja L4 (89/450), Mystic Knight L3 (21/50), White Mage L2 (0/30), Black Mage L2 (2/30), Blue Mage L2 (9/70), Bard L1 (8/50)
Abilities: !Guard, !Flee, !Steal, !Smoke, !Image, !Throw, !Check, !Hide, !Spellblade L2, !White L2, !Black L2, Two-Handed, Cover, Learning, Magic Shell, First Strike, Find Passages, Sprint

Lenna: Level 27
Jobs: Monk L4 (88/100), Thief L2 (0/30), Ninja L1 (8/30), Berserker L1 (5/400), Ranger L2 (15/135), White Mage L4 (53/70), Red Mage L1 (3/40), Geomancer L2 (1/100)
Abilities: !Focus, !Chakra, !Flee, !Smoke, !Animals, !Aim, !Check, !Gaia, !White L4, !Red L1, Barehanded, Counter, Berserk, Find Passages, Find Pits

Galuf: Level 27
Jobs: Knight L3 (2/100), Monk L3 (2/60), Thief L1 (8/20), Berserker L1 (0/400), Blue Mage L3 (44/250), Red Mage L2 (87/100), Beastmaster L2 (17/100), Bard L2 (0/100)
Abilities: !Guard, !Focus, !Chakra, !Check, !Calm, !Control, !Hide, !Red L2, !Blue, Equip Harps, Barehanded, Two-Handed, Cover, Learning, Berserk, Find Passages

Faris: Level 27
Jobs: Knight L1 (29/30), Thief L2 (16/30), Ranger L1 (18/45), Black Mage L3 (3/50), Time Mage L4 (1/70), Summoner L3 (2/60), Blue Mage L2 (2/70), Beastmaster L3 (92/300), Geomancer L2 (2/100)
Abilities: !Flee, !Animals, !Check, !Calm, !Control, !Gaia, !Black L3, !Time L4, !Summon L3, Equip Whips, Cover, Learning, Find Passages, Find Pits

Next time: The other world awaits us!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXDxYIWAT7Y

That insta-kill on the Archeoaevis was pretty cool. I had no idea that was possible. I really should do some more experimentation along those lines the next time I play this.

That Level Five Death 'glitch' you mentioned isn't really a glitch. If I remember right, the fight has actually four forms, but only tells you about the last one. The first three he is alive, but with different resistances. The last one he is undead and way stronger. I only know this because that dungeon is a blue mage's dream, so I always have one in there. The first form is weak to wind, but no others are. When my spells stopped doing real damage, the mechanic was revealed.

So you level five death'd the first quarter of the fight (and then the last quarter), which is still useful.

Actually, I didn't keep that start of the fight; I loaded state after it and started the battle over from scratch. Instead I exploited Archeoaevis' form shifts resetting its ATB gauge by killing a form per round (aided greatly by Shurikens being death-dealers extraordinaire). I tried to explain that in the update, but I guess it wasn't all that clear. So I edited to clarify on those points.

No, looking back, you did. I just saw the word 'glitch' and instantly thought "I know why that seems glitchy! I can be helpful!," and promptly responded without really internalizing what you had written.

One thing about the Krile's meteorite always bugged me.

Did she jump off when the meteorite collided with Gohn? The fact that the metorite is on the world map after the explosion, unscathed, implies it punctured the flying fortress and didn't get exploded. Yet she appears right in the crystal room afterward.

Or was the meteorite caught on the Gohn ruins, and somehow remained intact after the whole thing went kerblooie?

And how did she find the crystal room almost immediately? Homing Grandpa-sense?

THERE ARE MASSIVE HOLES IN THE PLOT ABOUT AN EVIL WARLOCK NAMED EXDEATH SEALED AWAY BY FOUR CRYSTALS.

(Also am I the only one who thought the game should've began with the Crystal of Earth and the Crystal of Wind should've been at Gohn? It seems the only rationale for the Crystal of Earth being in a flying fortress in the sky is that, uh, it was buried at first. Granted that totally screws up the whole 'the wind stopped' scenario at the start of the game....)

Krile knew how to use meteor technology, including the transporter system. So she scanned for Galuf and transported into the next room over (Prime Directive y'know).

Then how did she resolve the issue of blasting King Tycoon?

Rerouting the forward phaser array through main auxiliary via multi-modal reflection sorting.

It's pretty obvious that the people of Galuf's world know generally where the crystals are supposed to be. The fire, water, and wind crystals were probably relocated during the 30 years since Exdeath's seal, but the earth crystal? Gohn's been untouched for a thousand years. Pinpointing it with a meteorite is no problem.

As for how Krile managed to get into Gohn without landing first, I like to picture her surfing the space rock and doing a slick 180 ollie off of it as she chucked a Bomb Fragment at the wall.



(Artist's rendition, not to scale)

Yeah, that makes me want to go "Earth crystals do not work that way!"

I'm no engineer but I don't see how that would work.

Her Thunder spell was set to stun.

It takes a bunch of earth and makes it hover.

Exactly! Not unlike the Earthbenders in Avatar: TLA.

Simple: mounting stress on the frame, due to decreased air pressure, as the airship goes higher, thereby imposing an altitude restriction. Adamantite raises that restriction to a point where the heroes can go high enough to infiltrate the sky fortress.

As for the increased weight factor, the classic mythological adamantium is an ultra-light metal, on par in weight with styrofoam despite its incredible elasticity and strength (thus the extra weight would be negligible). As well, the airship was likely over-engineered to begin with to handle higher elevations. It was built by the same people who made the flying fortress, after all.

Or if you prefer, you can just say a wizard did it.

Since that little chunk of admantite Galuf brought is far from enough to cover an airship with, let's just say it was magic.

Science Magic is all around us.

Unless, of course, it's secretly gray matter that operates only on wood and is itself wood-coloured.

It's definitely possible I didn't pay enough attention when I played through this, but I didn't understand how those meteors worked at all. Did they launch off the other world? And what was the point of having transporters in them except as a plot contrivance? Contrivance?

They never really explain exactly how the worlds of FF5 are related to one another. It's sort of implied that they're at least in the same solar system (launching meteors between them would be horribly inefficient otherwise), but that's about it. Nothing on the level of development that the world in Tales of Eternia/Tales of Destiny II has going for it. The whole transporter thing does seem to exist solely for contrivance purposes, though.

Personally, I like to think of it as being a world split in twain prior to the Ronkan civilization's downfall. Also, notice how each meteor corresponds directly to one located in that isolated forest near the Wind Shrine? Makes me think World 2 folks teleported to World 1 and took control of the meteorites. Doesn't explain how everyone seems to enjoy crash-landing them, though.

I always thought that they don't actually travel via the meteors, but they need the teleporter to be sent to World 1 in order to travel there from World 2. So, they launch the meteors, the meteors land, then people warp from W2 to W1 and exit the meteor.

This makes sense, except then what happened to Galuf's memory if he didn't crash land?

He warped too soon and ended up inside the meteorite just as it was about to collide into the earth, thus causing massive cranial trauma upon impact?

F*cking meteors, how do they work?

The stones at the corners of that forest don't use the same sprite as the meteors. Rather, the stones correspond to the number of reminaing crystals; every time one shatters, a stone disappears, symbolizing the status of the seal on Exdeath.

Part X - A Whole New World

Last time the party went to save the earth crystal and ended up failing miserably. Now the evil wizard Exdeath has returned and is off to destroy Galuf's homeworld. Galuf has left as well, and the rest of the party is now left to fend for themselves.



The party is feeling kinda bummed about the loss of the old man. "Never thought I'd miss him," Bartz said morosely as he took off his outfit and armed himself with !Steal and !Throw.

"I just don't feel like grinding," Lenna added as she took off her monk's outfit and stuck her !White and !Gaia commands on.

"I guess I don't need these now," Faris said as she took off her earmuffs and put on her !Summon and !Time.

(Today's update is in Melancholy Green, because yeah, Galuf's gone and all that.)



As you can see, Freelancers are very much middle-of-the-road stats-wise. The ability to equip two commands makes them very useful in a difficult fight, as does their ability to equip anything. Since we don't have any mastered classes, our heroes are still genuinely jack-of-all-trades characters with no meaningful advantages besides their diversity.



♪♪ Four Valiant Hearts ♪♪

In the skies over Crescent, a frank discussion is had about the situation.

*Bartz faces Lenna*
Bartz: Yeah?
Faris: So, we've been talking...

"You really need to find a better spot for your Chocobo breeding magazines." "Hey, a guy's gotta have a hobby, okay!?"



I'm sure you can see where this is going.

Faris: We've got to avenge Papa!
Lenna: Yes! What's more...
Faris: Galuf... He's...

"Old?" "Well, yes, but..." "Smelly?" "Damn it, Bartz, this is serious!"



Yay go team!

Lenna: Bartz!
Faris: We knew you'd get it!
*Bartz walks up the nearby steps and raises his arm to the ladies*
Bartz: Let's go then-to the other world!
*Lenna walks in front of Bartz*
Lenna: ...But how do we do that?
*Faris steps forward too*
Faris: The meteorites don't have enough power to warp anywhere...
*Bartz ponders for a moment*
Bartz: Well, when I think meteorites, I think Cid! He'll probably know something!

Alright then, off to the Catapult Deck!



♪♪ Musica Machina ♪♪

The party tries to corner Cid and Mid to ask them about how to get to the other world, but nobody's home! Fortunately, they left a note.

'...adamantite left over from the airship renovations is dangerous... Went to return it...'
*Bartz and Lenna face one another*
Lenna: I hope nothing has happened to Cid...
Bartz: Return the adamantite? That means...

It means we have to play Chase the Plot Point! Fortunately, we know where to go.



♪♪ Four Valiant Hearts ♪♪

Wow, it's been a long time. Wait, no it hasn't, we were here an update or two ago too. Disregard that.



Bartz: Huh? What's the black chocobo doing here?

...Yyyyeah, Bartz isn't exactly the brain trust of Lix.



And apparently the Tycoon royal family has a few problems too if they're genuinely surprised to see Cid and Mid here.

Bartz: Cid! Mid! What're you guys-
Cid: Bartz, stay back! It's dangerous!
*Mid steps in front of Bartz*
Mid: A huge wave of power just started flowing from the adamantite!
Cid: We just thought to put it back where it came from... Hold on...!
*Cid pulls out the adamantite and shoves it on the teleporter*



Yow! Wouldn't have called THAT one! Also, hooray for anachronisms!

*Lenna walks around topside*
Lenna: Say...do you think the meteorite could be recharging? Perhaps it would be enough for us to travel to Galuf's world!
*Cid faces Bartz, who raises his arm*
Bartz: That's as good an idea as any.
Cid: What? What are you going on about?
*Lenna walks over and silently confers to Cid what's up*
Cid: Hmm, so that's your plan!
Mid: But this piece of adamantite is too small. There's not enough power for this meteorite to get you to the other world. But, maybe if all four meteorites' powers were combined...
*Bartz walks around to Cid's free side*
Bartz: ...it'd be enough to warp to Galuf's world!
*Cid nods*



Mid: Yeah!
*Cid and Mid board the Black Chocobo, which flies off*

Indeed, celebrating science-dudes, indeed. Let's see, next would be... Walse!



Damn, those guys don't miss a beat, do they?

Mid: Leave it to us!
*Cid and Mid enter the meteorite*
*Bartz rubs his head as he waits for them to return, which they finally do*
Cid: That's that!
Mid: Okay, let's hurry!

Well that was easy.