The Ruler of Time and Space! Let’s Play Final Fantasy Legend 3

Yeah, if you want a character who plays like a Human did in FFL1-2, you run a Robot.

Beowulf,

Have you thought about enlarging the images you have? They're a little small now?

So disagreed. The mutation system is a bit of a roulette wheel, yeah, but for the uneducated newbie, the various abilities you can get just by dicking around in the Beast/Cyborg range can carry you through most of the game.

Wait, humans work differently in those two games. Cyborg works like FFL1 (buy upgrades), I don't think there's a real equivalent to a FFL2 human (since all your stats go up automatically).

I don't get it. So they eat meat, and then transform into a beast?.. Or is something going on behind the scenes here?

There's a spectrum...

Monster < Beastman < Human/Mutant > Cyborg > Robot

Eating meat takes you left one step; installing parts takes you to the right. Only one meat or one part can drop at the end of each encounter.

So my understanding is that there are 2 or 4 different beasts/monsters/cyborgs/robots for every level - one for each element (or two.) Is it possible to change from say, the wind beast to the fire beast without turning into a monster/human along the way?

Yes, if I recall. You won't turn into a monster unless you specifically eat monster meat, nor will turn into a robot without specifically robot parts.

Of course, for beasts, you're changing on all your level-ups too, as seen thus far in yon AP.

Now I can't unsee it!

I should have mentioned that in the posting discussion (because the game manual totally isn't clear about it): Only monster meat turns you into a monster; beast meat leaves you a beast. It's the same with robot vs. cyborg parts. So once I get everyone to their desired class, they'll only be able to eat meat or install parts from that class without causing problems.

Actually, Robots work like FFL1 humans (buying their stat upgrades from stores). The closest equivalent to FFL2 humans (and mutants in both games, who randomly get stat-ups after battles) are the human and mutant classes, who gain levels normally with XP. Basically, they replaced Kawazu's prized SaGa RNG-based levelling with something more standard.

I have, but VisualBoyAdvance seems to only take screenshots in one size, and manually enlarging 40+ shots per update isn't really feasible. Is there an easy way to enlarge them all at once?

Irfanview will let you do that (among other things) and is totally free to boot. It's pretty easy to use, too.

Yeah, irfanview is great. They have a batch editor. I use it to resize, rename, and relocate all the images for my own let's plays

Okay, easy enough. I'll fiddle with that over the next day or two, before I post the next update, and see if I can do something about image sizes.

Part #4: The North Tower and the Past

Welcome back! And a big thank-you to the folks who pointed me towards Ifranview so I could up-size my screencaps with little muss and fuss!

First things first, a little chatting up the townspeople in Dharm:


Both of these are plot points of some importance that will recur later.


Elder: Oh yes, fifteen years ago when I was looking for a place to build a town, I met a group collecting Units. That means there are others hunting Units too, so be careful.
This is a major clue into the nature of time-travel in this world, which I’ll expound upon later.

Note the TV screen in the background—this is not a low-tech world.

This is a shot of Cookie as a Whisper, which I managed to miss last time.


The North Tower is a fairly classic Noob Cave, being the only place accessible besides Dharm and the Palace.


None of the monsters are anything special, though we see a number of standard types here. Virtually everything has 60-70 HP and an attack that will do 10-25 damage if it hits (they miss a lot). I rely on Myron heavily, since he deals 100 damage per hit and can one-shot anything (when he doesn’t miss). Cookie’s Flame does a reliable 60 damage, and BobSap’s Crash talent can match or beat that. (“Magical” talents like Flame can still crit for double damage, incidentally, but they can also be spread across an entire enemy group and divide damage among them.) But the two cyborgs can’t seem to break the 30 damage mark with either their weapons or their talents.


The holes will drop you to the previous floor if you foolishly walk into them. You need to press B to jump over them, and they exist pretty much to force you to acknowledge that mechanic. (Another way in which this game is similar to FF: Mystic Quest, which was made by the same team.)


BobSap gained a level and turned into a Fairy, but her Dive attack only does around 40 damage and her defense is crappy, so I immediately try some meat and she becomes a Witch. (This isn’t really an improvement, as the Witch gains a confusion-causing effect that doesn’t help me. I eventually change her back.) Darth finally found some cyborg parts and turned into an Imposter, which means his Kick talent does more like 40 points of damage.


This is a typical jumping “puzzle”. (Though there are a handful of rock-pushing puzzles that incorporate it well later in the game.)


There are only a few chests in the tower: A Shell spell, which is also available for purchase in town; a Leather glove, which goes on Darth; and the Float spell. This is a “lost” magic spell that costs 0 MP (so it could still be used by an all-robot party or if you’re tapped out) that allows you to fly on the world map.

In an insanely frustrating moment, a robot Orb Rat finally dropped parts…in a battle where a lucky crit killed Kilroy again. I grind for a while longer, and on level-up BobSap becomes a Warrior, another Spider-Man type. It’s a shame I can’t hold on to Warrior past BobSap’s next level-up, because he has the awesome 2-Swords talent, which can match Myron’s damage output if it hits twice. I find some more Cyborg parts for Darth, turning him into a Busybody, which doesn’t have any attack talents and is forced to rely on weapons (it has Remedy, though, which is a free Cure1 usable in battle). Out of frustration, I eventually give Kilroy some cyborg parts and turn him into a Brigand (who can steal, but that only gets a little GP), and head out to upgrade my equipment.


We can Float (on a magic flying cloud, I guess?) to the underground city of Elan.


I decide to experiment with given Darth a Psi knife, which supposedly has good stats for cyborgs despite being mutant-specific. (It does a respectable 60 damage, but the Battle sword Kilroy gets only does slightly less.) Everyone but Cookie gets upgraded to bronze helmets, gloves and boots, which is extra-nice for the cyborgs. The item store stocks Robot upgrade tabs, which hopefully I’ll need soon.


This is the first we hear about Sol, who seems to be important.

An interesting observation in the early game is that everyone in the home world is human, but they don’t react at all to a party of monsters and robots marching in to town and saying hi.


You need to walk into that black wall to get to the inn, a fact that I missed the first time I played this (I actually guessed the hot spring down those stairs was supposed to be the inn.) This lead to an interesting bit of error-trapping that I’ll talk about later (that prevented the game from being unwinnable).


You need to take a secret exit from the hot spring to get to the magic shop, which is in that eye/waterfall thing. Granny works there:


Granny: You found me.
Kilroy: Tell me about the future.
Granny: Unless the water from Water Entity is stopped, the world will perish.

…yeah, I think we’d pretty much gathered that part, already. Given my theories about time travel in this game, I think Granny’s being deliberately obtuse, especially since there’s no reason to believe she’s ever time-traveled or knows anything more about the future than the Elder did.


Then we go to see Chronos, the guy we’re actually supposed to find.

Kilroy: Dharm’s Elder sent me here with this.
Chronos: Elder, huh? It brings back mem...Hey!
Kilroy: What?
Chronos: The Radar detects Units. What is your intention?
Kilroy: To return to the future, where I came from.
Chronos: I see. Monsters seek Units too. Prepared?
Kilroy: Yes!
Chronos: Then take this uPast. I’ll look for uFuture. Seek past now, and I will see you back here when you return.
Kilroy: It’s a plan!
Received uPast.


A guy in Chronos’ house tells us this, and it’s either a blatant breaking of the fourth wall, or you need to fanwank in an explanation for how he knows about it. Once we’ve seen a bit more of the plot unfold, I’m going to talk at length about my theories on Borgin’s travels and what the folks in the past have been working with.


When we return to the palace, our first boss monster has gotten in the way.

Monster: You are not meant to challenge the will of the masters. Perish!


He’s got a hit-all attack called Storm and a couple of single-hit moves (that can do 50 points of damage if they connect) but he’s still a warmup boss. Even with my less-than-optimal-team, I’m overleveled and wipe the floor with him.

This monster’s single line is the first indication that there’s actually an intelligence behind the Water Entity, rather than just a natural occurrence or mindless swarm.


This is what we look like now. Cookie is going to need an upgrade soon, as we finally have Kilroy and Darth dealing respectable amounts of damage (despite Kilroy still not having successfully turned into a Robot).

Next time: The past!

I always saw this as a floating island.

That's how I always interpreted it; dudes just straight up lifted a chunk of dirt into the sky.

No it's obviously a cloud. Look how rocky and craggy it is!

It's a bird!

I don't know what you guys are seeing...

It's clearly

Superman!

Part #5: Time Travelling

When we last left our heroes, they’d learned to fly and acquired the chunk of their fancy space fighter that will allow them to travel to the past. (Though it makes you wonder, if Chronos had that Unit and the Talon has been obviously accessible in the palace here, why haven’t people been going back and forth in time already?)


One my way to the palace, an F-Drake drops some monster meat, so I take the opportunity to upgrade Cookie into a Fireball; basically a more badass version of her previous form. She gets to keep Flame, but adds Burning, which automatically counterattacks physical attacks.


Myron: Hold on!
Kilroy: What?
Myron: I’m going back to the city. I’m worried about Elder.
Kilroy: Okay. We’ll miss you, but the city’s in good hands now.
Myron: Good luck!
Kilroy: You too!

And with that, the training wheels are off.


The uPast automatically installs in the Talon, and activating it makes the screen go flashback-wavy. When we emerge, there’s a lot more dry land.


Elder: Are you looking for something?
Kilroy: We are looking for Units of Talon. And you?
Elder: I am looking for a place to build a new town.
Kilroy: How about east of the Palace?
Elder: Thank you. Come and see my town when you pass by. I will name the town Dharm.
Kilroy: Sure... That must be our Elder!


Elan in the past is full of children (apparently Granny’s called that for a reason).


The selection in the weapon and armor stores is the same, though the item store has the other set of robot tabs.


Little boy Chronos gives us the details: Granny went to rescue someone named Lara from a cave. Apparently Dogra also lives in a cave. I’m going to bet my next destination is that cave!

South of Elan is Lae, a town that doesn’t exist in the present because of the rising tides.


Lae is ravaged by a Lovecraft-inspired disease: The people are turning into monsters.


WaterHag: I heard this turns you back into a human, but it can’t cure the illness. It's a unit called Flushex. Please take it. Received uFlushex.

This Unit, when installed in the Talon, will change your lead character one step back towards Human/Mutant with each use. I don’t ever plan to use it.


Darth gets a Fire Staff, Kilroy gets a Razor Whip (which can hit twice, like 2-Swords), and BobSap get his first Technique, Punch. Beasts get a damage bonus with Techs, so I’ll be keeping him equipped with them until nearly the very end of the game. The three equipment-using characters also get upgraded to Bronze Shields, Silver Helmets and Silver Armor.


I’ve fought all of two battles, and this is the benefit of upgrading equipment for cyborgs and one multi-level transformation on a monster.


A selection of overworld enemies in the past. Everything has consistently over 100 HP at this point. Seamonks are weak to fire, which means Cookie can one-shot them. As a note: Float doesn’t protect you from random battles, though I think it reduces them. The upgraded equipment from Lae doesn’t actually make much impact on my damage output, which is still 60-70 for the cyborgs, 80 from Flame, and 100 if 2-Swords hits twice. Most enemies need two hits to kill.


This last group is annoying: Amprex’s can blind you and Nymphs know Cure1, so they can drag out the fight if you don’t kill them quickly.


Amusingly, the cyborg Strangers here use Psi Knives to attack us. Apparently equipping them on cyborgs was a decent idea for me to have, after all!


We’re headed for this cave in the southern part of the world.

I love the design for cave doors in this game.


There’s Granny.

Kilroy: What happened?
Granny: Lara was taken by Dogra. I came to rescue her.
Kilroy: Wait! Leave it to us.
Granny: But...
Kilroy: You have to live longer. Your help is needed in the future.
Granny: What…..You came from the future?
Kilroy: Exactly. The Elder of Dharm raised us.
Granny: I trust you. I’ll be waiting in Elan!


The Iron Nunchuck is not actually useful to my current party. I Cure2 potion might be useful, but I rarely use items in general.



Headless are irritating because they have Riddle, which can cause classic “attack your allies randomly” confusion. (We’re generally seeing a lot of creatures our characters have recently been, here.) Landworms are weak against fire, so they’re not a big threat with Cookie around. Most of the cave enemies are in the 150 HP range, which now means 2-3 successful hits.


After the battle, a level-up causes BobSap to become Pixie, losing her lovely 2-Swords. I swapped her into a Magician, which at least had the strength to do 95-damage hits with Punch. I eventually got her back to being a Warrior.

Incidentally, as far as I can tell, weapons don’t have an elemental affiliation: The Fire Staff doesn’t seem to do fire damage, for example.


Lara: GRRR….
Kilroy: Lara? We came to save you.
Lara: GRRRR….EGRRRR
Kilroy: Something’s wrong with her.
Kilroy: We have to wake her up!


Lara is not terribly difficult, as minibosses go. She uses most of the first-tier elemental spells, has decent physical defense, and is strong to fire (irritatingly) and ice. I ended up having Cookie fling magic at her, and the fight was made easier because she kept casting Fire1 on Cookie.


Kilroy: You all right?
Lara: Mmm... hm... Where am I?
Kilroy: You've just had a bad dream. Let’s go.
Lara: Yes.
Lara joined!


Then she joins my party. She’s a much more luckluster partner than Myron was.

Just after, everyone gains a level and BobSap becomes a Fiend. His new Thunder Talent does a respectable 100+ damage.


Kilroy: Monster! Go back to your realm!
Dogra: You must be Borgin!
Kilroy: Huh!?


Dogra is one of the Water Entity monsters, the “four fiends” of this game. He’s your “wake-up call” boss, the first one likely to give you real trouble if you’re coasting through without strategy or are under-leveled. He comes flanked by two Witches. His WindUp totals Cookie early in the battle, and he can use D-Beam to deal 90+ damage or Stench to reduce a character’s defense. I ended up having Darth play healer, while BobSap and Lara poured Thunder damage onto him and Kilroy tried vainly to be helpful. Then lucky crits took out both Kilroy and BobSap, leaving Darth and Lara to squeak out a victory.


Kilroy: You know Borgin! Where is he!?
Dogra: GRRR…
Received uRover.

So Darth gained a level, and fortunately BobSap was swimming in enough MP to get everyone’s HP back up. Phew! I nearly didn’t make it!

Next time: What do you do with a mind-controlled mutant? Take her to the future!

The singlemost distinct memory I have of this game is how long I had to stop and grind for to fight Dogra. Ridiculously huge difficulty spike.



Also, shame on you for not pointing out that the flushex is literally just a toilet you install in your ship's bathroom for uh... "removing meat." Sound effect and all.

I really like the enemy art in this game. It's very cartoony! Also I like how they are packed in together to take all the available space.

I was excited for this Let's Play but it's a Let's ???? This is really hard to understand and really hard to follow. Please don't post non-consecutive script screenshots and then the script because it is confusing. It took me a few updates to realize that you were saving screenshots for lines that were important to the story, but that's really not necessary. My suggestion is either screenshot the conversation as it flows, or put down the first one and the transcription after that.

Given how... let's say "efficient" the games dialogue is, I think a summary would be more in order.

Also, man, i forgot how great some of the monster designs are. Look at Dogra. LOOK AT HIM! That is one cool-looking Terror-From-Beyond, that is!

The previous FFL games "stacked" enemies of the same type together, so you'd see a goblin and the dialogue box would tell you there were six of them. Though it occasionally makes for odd images (cyborgs that appear to be standing on each others' shoulders, for instance), I like this method better.

I've been trying to strike a balance between people who wanted only important dialogue in screenshots, people who wanted transcriptions, a desire to be throrough and an attempt not to overwhelm myself with work and you guys with unimportant stuff. (I actually have typed-up transcripts of every townsperson's lines in the first few towns; I left them out because I got the impression they wouldn't be appreciated.) I'm still ironing out the kinks.

In a perfect world I'd be knitting together the big speeches into single images (like I did for the intro), but that nearly doubles the time it takes to put an update together and requires replaying sections to get every word screencapped. Which greatly reduces my desire to put together an update at all, but that's my problem, not yours.

If anyone else has feedback on things they'd like me to do differently, please let me know. Only the class restrictions on this play-through are for me; the rest of this exercise is for you guys.

I do find the non-consecutive dialog confusing. Knitting the dialog together looks cool but most of the dialog in this game seems to be... not worth the effort. First shot or two of dialog followed by transcription is generally the easiest to follow, though the images can end up being dull ones.