The island suddenly appeared in the sky. Let's Play Lufia & the Fortress of Doom!

So it occurs to me I haven't really discussed the world map yet. So here it is!



You can see Alekia way up there in the upper right corner. Elfrea is off on the right, in the center of that ring of islands. Lufia games are in love with rings of islands, let me tell you. In fact, Lufia II has a very important ring of islands, and in the center of it was an undersea shrine where the Dual Blade was hidden, despite how little sense that makes in the game's lore. Gee, I wonder where they got that idea?

Of course, we're heading to another ring-shaped island right now, in fact it's called Ring island, and you can see it in the center of the south sea, which is our next destination. You'll also see various Shaia labs are scattered on islands throughout the sea, including one that isn't even labeled.

You might note there's a whole continent up in the northwest we haven't visited yet. Despite its relative size compared to the eastern continents, there's not a whole lot over there, but we'll make sure to check it all out before this game is over.


Field

So, Ring Island.



As you might expect of the island where the Fortress of Doom plummeted to earth, Ring Island is inhabited by some of the nastiest creatures in the game. Some of these are actually monsters that inhabited the Fortress back in Maxim's era. You know you're getting near the end of the game when these guys show up. In fact, these very monsters also hang out on the northwest continent I mentioned earlier. Seeing enemies you recognize from the end of the game is useful shorthand for “you're not supposed to be here yet” if a player happens upon that continent while sailing across the world. It's pretty clever.


Village

The only settlement on the island is Soshette, a sleepy little town that actually sells really nice equipment, but we already have the best stuff we can afford.



The main gossip of Soshette is how much it sucks to live in Soshette. That's depressing.



The local all-knowing old man is so all-knowing that he somehow knows that the lagoon is linked to the outer sea by various caves, despite the fact that no one has ever explored under the ocean before. That's pretty impressive.

Anyway, Soshette is boring. Let's go to Doom Island already.


Sailing

We see here an eddy, presumably caused by the disturbances in ocean currents caused by Doom Island's movements. There are three of them around Ring Island, and each leads to one of the three caves linked to the central lagoon, where The fortress of Doom sleeps restlessly.


The Ocean

You can pick which of the three caverns to enter, they all actually lead to the same dungeon. The southern is the shortest path to the Fortress. There are multiple rooms, however, so we'll explore them all.



You see that? That's the fortress of Doom. Kind of gives you chills, doesn't it? I mean, we're seriously doing this. The fortress is right there and we're going there right now. Man. This game.

Of course, the lagoon is a host to slew of new undersea foes.



Like these horrible fish creatures who can do an absurd amount of damage, and...



Wha-what are you doing down here!? I'm almost positive this is no place for you!



Anyway, as before, Fire magic torches everything in sight. It's this part of the game that I feel like Jerin needs the extra MP from Spell Potions for.



You can also encounter fire Plates down here, which gives you another place to hunt for Might Armor if you so chose.



Here, Lufia finally learns the top Flash spell; “Thunder.” This is bar-none the hardest hitting attack in the game. Equipping the Flash Ring makes it even stronger. This will be Lufia's boss killer for the rest of the game, there's no excuse for ever having her spend a turn doing anything else.



The Lagoon Caves are filled with the usual slew of treasure despite

A) the impracticality of anyone ever coming to leave it here,
B) The impracticality of the Falcon being able to open treasure chests.

But I actually have explanations for both of these! It's definitely possible the Falcon has some sort of hook or winch for salvaging undersea objects. It's probably a very unwieldy process though.

As for how the treasure chests got here, well, mermaids exist in the Estpolis universe, although none appear in this game.



This Zircon Wrist is the best bracelet Jerin can equip. Sadly, Lufia cannot wear zircon equipment, for reasons forever lost to science.



Jerin picks up the Champion spell which is great for spot healing during intense boss fights, although really the bosses between here and the end game are really nothing special.



The lagoon cavern is full of swift-flowing currents that will sweep you along like you're on a conveyor belt if you move over one. This can both help and hurt you, depending on where you're trying to go.

And by taking this whirlpool...



We emerge in the central lagoon, very near the fortress. There are actually multiple paths through the lagoon cavern and I didn't show all of it, and it can actually be pretty confusing to navigate. But all lead to the fortress eventually, you may want to circle the lagoon a few times if you're a completionist.


Triumph

Whoa, did you see that?! They dropped a Might Armor! This is a very rare find! I didn't expect to find this without an absurd amount of grinding on those damn Fire Plates. Anyway, Might Armor is the strongest armor in the game. With this, we now have a full set of Might Armor, which is pretty cool. Next update, I'll set Medi up with the full set just for fun.




But for now, our destiny awaits. The Fortress of Doom beckons.

Silent Shrine -Listen-

We've arrived in the Fortress of Doom. We are the first people to stand on this threshold in one hundred years. Everything looks just as it did in Maxim's day, though obviously in a much more ruinous state. The music here is ominous and creepy and plays nowhere else in the game, so definitely check it out. It creates a truly foreboding atmosphere. Something is wrong in this place.



I remember being utterly terrified the first time I came here. The first time I played through this game, I was nine. I wasn't nearly as good a player as I am today, and while I've been breezing through this game at a fairly leisurely pace, when I was younger, every encounter was a hellish struggle for me, and my characters didn't feel strong or capable. I think it was because I had a bad habit of being really stingy with my MP. But at any rate, the idea of being in the very heart of evil in the Estpolis universe with such a vulnerable party was chilling. I didn't feel ready for this place.



Of course, I'm totally ready for it now. I mean, I have a full set of Might Armor, what the hell do I have to be afraid of?



The treasure chests here are all empty, regardless of whether you got these treasures with Maxim's group or not.



I'm giving Jerin the Frost Ring here because this is one of the few areas of the game where enemies are vulnerable to Ice magic. Let's see if it pays off.



Even though the rest of the Fortress is in ruins, somehow the majestic picture window survived not only the crash to earth, but 100 years of undersea pressure. Not that I'm complaining, the view is pretty breathtaking.


Battle

In a very nice continuity nod, many of the creatures Maxim fought on his quest still reside here, along with a few new additions. Note that the Stone Golems who were a serious problem for us a few updates ago are fodder for Lufia's astounding Thunder magic.





We're so close now....


Battle

The final challenge we must face is this huge pack of Megaturtles. Megaturtles are nasty and have huge defense, but Ice magic is moderately effective against them, as opposed to other types of attacks which barely scratch them.

Silent Shrine

Hey! Is that...?



Yes, in fact, this is indeed the Dual Blade, the mightiest weapon in the Estpolis cosmos. How it came to be in this room is never explained, but the Dual Blade is, if not sentient, at least has a sense of awareness and purpose, and can move under its own power if it wants to.



The Dual Blade has another strange property. Though the Dual Blade's power is nearly limitless, it only has such power in the hands of a capable owner. Only one with truly powerful energy waves can wield it, and the Dual Blade reacts to the presence of such individuals by resonating, like a cosmic, all-powerful tuning fork.

In fact, now that I think about it... that might be why it's called the Dual Blade... I just blew my own mind.

Anyway, according to the most forbidden, secret lore of the gods, a human being powerful enough to cause Dual Blade to resonate was a sign that the age of Gods was coming to an end. Maxim being able to wield the Dual Blade was a Big Deal.



And that power has spanned the generations.



Responding to Medi's strength, spiritual energy, and generically heroic personality, the Dual Blade recognizes Medi as a worthy wielder.



It's just as Artea said.



At long last, the Dual Blade is finally in our possession. The sword of Medi's ancestor, Maxim, the mightiest hero to ever live. The sword that can slay even the gods themselves.

And we even managed to get it back before all four Sinistrals returned! We're actually ahead of the game now. With this sword in our possession, Gades and Amon won't be able to push us around anymore. We finally have a chance to fight back.

Okay, so, you following along have probably noticed that, so far, this has been a pretty charming but ultimately fairly generic quest we've been on. We had some laughs, a little bantering, got us some party members, some fetch quests, a ship, and now we've acquired the magical sword that is the villain's one true weakness.

Surely, this signals that we're going into the end game, right?



If this were any other generic early nineties RPG adventure, sure. But that's not what this game is.

This is where Lufia throws its eleventh hour plot twist at you.



If you're one of those people who's playing the game and is wary of spoilers, this is your last chance. Seriously, there's no turning back after you see this next conversation.

Silent Shrine

Oh snap it's all four Sinistrals!



Oh haha no it's not, fake out. It's just those stone idols we saw back in Maxim's day. I imagine they see even fewer worshipers on the bottom of the ocean.



Well of course it looks just like them, it's just a recolor of their sprites!



Hey, that's true, we can get a sneak peak at the Sinistrals we haven't met yet. That will help us make sure we don't accidentally scold one if we don't recognize them.



I wonder if Aguro is secretly an art critic as well as a food critic? Hidden depths to that man, to be sure.



Hmm, now that you mention it, that one actually doesn't look like Erim at all, though I'm completely at a loss for how Aguro or Medi would know that.



Unless it looked like somebody else instead.




Yeah at this point I'm definitely leaning more towards the 'Jerin doesn't have a very developed “Shut up, idiot!” sense yet' argument.



Well yeah, that would be a pretty wild assumption, I'm pretty sure Sinistrals spend a lot of time murdering people and zero time smelling flowers and baking pies. Still, something weird is going on here.



And of course there's the fact that Medi has known Lufia since she was little and has very vivid and embarrassing childhood memories of them doing very girly things together.



Aguro seizes on the idea that this might be a set up, but before anything can come of it...


Wave of Evil

Oh man, ominous disembodied voices are never good!



With some dreadful rumblings, Amon and Gades appear on the dais, having no doubt watched the last scene with great amusement, if Sinistrals could feel amusement.



But if they're here...





And with an ominous flash of light, the heavens tremble as Daos, God of Chaos Style Terror is reborn onto the world once more.

Lufia II: Judgment

Of course, the fact that the very first thing he sees is Maxim's descendant holding the Dual Blade can't be making him happy, but he makes no attempt to run.



Instead, Daos happily introduces himself to Medi, and begins gloating about how the Sinistrals are finally reunited at last, and that soon the world will feel his vengeance.




But you know what? He's too late. We already have the Dual Blade! For all Daos' bluster, it's clear we have the upper hand in this scenario. We may not be as strong as Maxim's team was, but, the hell with it. We're going to take these guys down right now.

Yeah, we can do it! We've got everything we need. We've got the Dual Blade. Lufia knows her Thunder spell. Jerin knows Mirror. We have the wind Flute. We have a full set of Might Armor. There's four of us, and only three of-

...Why are there only three of you?




Look man, don't be trying to fool Medi on no history lessons. There are definitely four Sinistrals.



That's silly, if there's been a Sinistral wandering around for a decade and a half, someone definitely would have noticed by now. I mean, how hard is it to spot a phenomenally powerful blue-haired woman who annihilates her enemies with a wave of her hand and drops lightning bolts on pe-



Huh.



Did I mention I hate awkward family reunions?

Th-that doesn't mean anything! Just because she doesn't remember her parents doesn't mean she never had any! Argument from fallacy! What else ya got? How are you going to explain how Medi knew Lufia as a little girl, huh?



...well you just know everything, don't you?



You tell 'em, Medi!



Because your brothers are incompetent buffoons?



Or there's that, I guess. I mean, it does seem like Gades and Amon were going out of their way to not kill us.



And that is what the Sinistral of Death does....the evidence is mounting.



Medi, however, isn't quite prepared to accept that his little pie-making, flower-loving BFF was secretly the Goddess of Death all along. I mean, would you?



Did he just say “Search your feelings, you will know it to be true?”



I swear, sometimes this game just gives them to me.



No thanks, I'm pretty sure I still want to kill you, and we'll figure all this nonsense out after you're dead.



Hey! What are you doing!? Stop doing things!!

Lufia II: Judgment

Hey, what did you do, you big omnipotent jerk!?



Typically for humans to deal with memory loss requires quite a bit of therapy, but Daos doesn't have time for that, and resorts to simply ripping the memories out by force.



Amon chimes in to remind us that he and Gades are still part of this scene. Really, whenever Daos is on screen, the other Sinistrals might as well be sock puppets. In addition to Terror, Daos has been known to moonlight as the God of Monologues. There's a reason he has more lines than the other Sinistrals combined.

Well, except Erim I guess.



Daos recognizes that his fourth party member is still suffering from delusions that she's an innkeeper who likes flowers, and perhaps acknowledges that making the descendant of Maxim who is holding the Dual Blade really, really angry with him maybe isn't a good position to be in.



With that, Daos, Amon and Gades withdraw for parts unknown.



So...uh...this is a little awkward.



But there's no time to contemplate! With all four Sinistrals revived, the Fortress rumbles to life for the first time in a century!



Whatever Daos did to Lufia took her completely out of commission, and getting stranded on Doom Island as it ascends into the sky isn't a very good game plan, so Medi opts to escape so the team can regroup and figure out how to deal with the latest revelations.



So...that went well!

As Medi and crew flee aboard the Falcon, the world is forced to watch in horror as Doom Island once again ascends into the sky, heralding a return to the age of darkness and terror of a mere century ago.


Field

But while nightmare flying islands inhabited by mad gods bent on the annihilation of humanity are indeed a problem, Medi is a little preoccupied at the moment.


Village

Apparently, Lufia fainted after getting her head tampered with by Daos and learning she was actually the ancient enemy of all mankind. Kind of a lot to deal with, you know? I mean, teenagers have enough problems as it is.



Aguro is eager to discuss events with Medi, but apparently the wind got taken out of his sails. He may have found the Dual Blade, but he probably doesn't feel very victorious right now.







Maybe he'll wake up tomorrow and this will all have just been a bad dream.

who could have ever seen this plot twist coming

I guess the takeaway is "don't trust women with blue hair," but once you start saying that they'll probably start dying their hair green or something. It's an endless cycle.

No, it's don't trust goddesses masquerading as women with blue hair.

Oh come now, I'm sure there are plenty of NES-PSX era RPGs with blue-haired heroines that don't turn out to be goddesses/monsters/a villain.

I just.. can't think of any off the top of my head.

Since I believe Ys started that trend, I don't think you're going to find much because everyone copied Ys there for a while when they weren't busy copying DQ.

deis or blue or whatever snake goddess lady's name is in breath of fire seems to be a p. ok person

Well, she did kinda stand by as Tyr(ia) fucked over the world several times, so maybe not?

Sure, we can all laugh about how obvious this twist was with twenty years of RPG retrospection, but at the time, the game was pretty good about keeping it a secret. It's a very understated element throughout the entire game, with the hints only really being noticeable on a second playthrough.



First of all, Erim is given zero plot amplification in the introductory sequence of the game. Daos does all the talking, as is his wont, and Erim is just kind of there, and there's no reason to believe at this point that Erim is unique or special or has any particular relevance to the plot beyond what Gades or Amon would have. She's just one of the four fairly generic evil villains.

Compare this to Lufia II where the game can't wait more than fifteen seconds into the opening credits to hammer you over the head with the idea that Erim is special and has some unique role to play in the coming conflict.



There's nothing special about Lufia, either. She's an orphan, but those are a dime a dozen in RPGs. If this was a modern game I'm sure the game would have gone to great lengths to talk about how Lufia was considered strange or different or mysterious and at plot-significant times she would unleash heretofore unheard of mysterious powers to resolve conflicts, and everyone around her would wonder what her deal was. Here, she's a perfectly normal young woman who no one seems to think there's anything even remotely strange about. She likes to shop and look at flowers and do ordinary teenage girl things.




I mean, okay, sure, she can open the magical door that Not Just Anyone is supposed to be able to open. But there's nothing particularly strange about this. It has long since been established that humans in the Estpolis universe are perfectly capable of being extraordinarily powerful magicians. We've already seen one in the introduction in the form of Selan.

Of course, once you know the truth, the hints in the game start to become rather obvious.


For one thing, Lufia looks a hell of a lot like Erim. Erim has a different hairstyle and angry eyebrows, but they have the same general appearance and the same color palette. Even that weird ring of red pixels around Lufia's neck that's been driving us mad didn't end up there by accident; it was placed there deliberately, with sinister purpose, because Erim's sprite has red in it.

Note that while the Erim statue looks a lot like Lufia, it doesn't look much like Erim. My suspicion is that in earlier versions of the game, Erim looked even more like Lufia than she does now, and her sprite was changed later to avoid giving away the twist, but the statue was not accordingly updated because of its relevance to the later plot scene.



The game's narrative teases you with it, too. The narration explicitly cites the "nine years ago" phase, when Medi and Lufia were little, as when all of this started.

On a first viewing, there's no indication that anything bad has happened yet in this time period, but in retrospect, Lufia meeting Medi is the beginning of the game's conflict.



Lufia and Erim both have monstrous magic defense, and share the iconic “Thunder” spell. I always felt like they missed the boat here by not making Erim's spell list include Lufia's other high end magic like Sunder. One of Erim's spells, Mirror, is one that Lufia can't even learn.



Then of course there's the Sinistrals' various reactions to Lufia when they meet her. Gades doesn't run from her here because he's afraid of a 5 foot nothing girl with a frying pan, he retreats because he recognizes her.



Amon does too.



Even Guy clearly realized there was something familiar about her, though he keeled over before putting the pieces together. I don't believe for a second that it was a coincidence that he died fourteen seconds after the Goddess of Death walked into his house, either.

There is one notable exception, however.



Artea, the final survivor of Doom Island, does not seem to react to Lufia at all. Lufia says a few things during this scene with him, but he does not acknowledge her, as Guy did. Note that at the beginning of this scene, he immediately remarks that Medi's energy is so similar to Maxim's that he mistook him for his ancestor. So it's more than a little strange that he didn't also recognize that there was a Sinistral on his doorstep. Or, that if he did, he didn't mention it.

I have come up with three possible explanations for why Artea didn't say anything.

1. Artea didn't recognize Lufia because he's blind.

This is the most obvious explanation, but at the same time its the most lacking. It's clearly established, especially in later games, that elves have greatly heightened senses compared to humans. Even Jerin has these. This extends to the ability to sense energy, which Artea is very good at. He recognizes Medi right away, so there's no excuse why he couldn't also recognize one of his most feared enemies.

2. Artea did recognize her, but chose not to make an issue of it.

This is a strange explanation, but its possible that he sensed Lufia, no matter who she really was, had a good heart and was Medi's strongest supporter and ally in the coming conflict. Or maybe he just didn't think Medi was ready to know the truth. It's a strange idea, but its the kind of thing you might expect from an inscrutably wise mentor.

3. Artea is kind of a prick.

Well, he is an elf. I think I'm going with this one.

4. Lufia's energy waves are subconsciously suppressed and aren't released until Daos unlocks her memories.

I dunno. In A Different Lufia Game, A Different Blue-Haired Chick has to suppress her waves so she doesn't get recognized by a character of Even Less Plot Importance Than Artea, so.

On the other hand, Adol is so much closer to what Medi looks like in my head than that godawful cell phone art.

Chapter 11: The Winds of Glasdar





Ugh, I had the worst dream. There was this obnoxious half-elf who kept saying annoying things. She made me so mad I wanted to kill everyone in the world...wait, was that a dream?


Lufia II: Parting





Medi and Aguro are already awake and discussing the latest eleventh hour plot twist. Medi, of course, is not enthusiastic about where this conversation is going.



Aguro, being a military man, assesses the situation in cold, hard facts. If Lufia is truly the Sinistral of Death, then the other Sinistrals can never be slain...as long as she lives.

The question hits Medi pretty hard. The idea of having to harm his dearest companion is not a pleasant one. Even Aguro can't stand the thought of it.



But Medi isn't prepared to give up on Lufia just yet. He still knows the score, and knows Lufia would never do anything to hurt him. As long as she remains on their side, then there's no issue. Aguro doesn't seem very convinced, but it's the best we can do for now.



Uh oh.



Running!!


Village

Medi, being a gentlemanly sort of hero, knows better than to walk into a sleeping girl's bedroom unannounced.



This is another one of my favorite scenes. Medi practically falls over himself with concern for Lufia, while Aguro as good as kicks Jerin out of bed, drill-sergeant style.





Medi has pretty much escalated into full scale denial at this point. As long as we completely ignore this latest plot element, it won't turn out to be true! That's just logic!




I really do have to give Lufia credit, any other RPG character, faced with such a revelation, would undoubtedly devolve into angsting and questioning their own existence for the next 10 hours of game time. Lufia, on the other hand, keeps right on trucking, because all she needs to hear is that Medi still believes in her.

Of course, we do need to upgrade our party composition chart.

62.5% Human
12.5%: Elf
25%: DEATH

That's a pretty good ratio.

Village

Of course, now that Lufia has recovered, we're now faced with the conundrum that Doom Island is flying up in the sky and we can't reach it. But Medi remembers that the Falcon can fly, so hopefully Raile can remodel it again without too much hassle.



At least one good thing came out of that trip. Medi is now equipped with the Dual Blade, which is the most powerful weapon in the entire game, short of the cursed Luck Blade and the ludicrously rare Might Sword. Armed with this sword, even the gods themselves should rightly fear Medi.



I forgot to show this off last time, but Medi also has a set of Might Armor now! This is the mightiest piece of armor in the game, granting huge defense and magic resistance bonuses. With this armor and the Dual Blade, Medi is now more than a match for the Sinistrals.

And this, of course, is the problem that is going to plague Medi for the rest of the game. He's finally prepared to destroy all four Sinistrals. But he can't.


Field

We can see Doom Island floating above the lagoon. But rather than fly off to ravage the world, Daos seems to be biding his time, waiting for something. Since he's a god, he could probably wait for Medi to die of old age if he really wanted to. But we're not going to give him that opportunity.


Shaia Labs

Back at Shaia Lab #3, the scientists are in a buzz over how Doom Island is flying in the sky. The later games delve into explanations of what exactly allows Doom Island to fly, but I always thought “magic” was a perfectly good explanation.



Raile shows uncharacteristic concern for something that isn't his inventions, and is relieved to see that we're alright. He'll gladly upgrade the Falcon for us, but first he needs MORE POWER.



Raile doesn't seem like the kind of person who's scared of much....just what is it that makes this oil so dangerous that even he's afraid of it?



He gives us directions to Epro, which is where We can buy Power Oil, while informs us he'll be moving his base of operations to Lab 4 in Frederia.


Sailing

Epro is north of Marse, past the Fargo Islands, on the northwestern continent we haven't visited yet. There's only two cities on this continent, but it's where most of the game's final act will take place.

Town



Epro's main exports are oil and earthquakes.



The local old man isn't very all-knowing, but he does tell us about the cider of Arubus, which is the only other town on the continent. Though considering how inaccessible Arubus is, one wonders how he got there.



Naturally, the advent of Doom Island has most of the people of the world in an uproar, but don't worry folks, we got this. Medi's on the scene.



Just as soon as we buy this Power Oil that this guy totally has for sale, we'll fly up to Doom Island and-



Why do I do this to myself?



Medi takes this in stride just like everything else. After all, it's not like we have any choice. We need Power Oil, so we'll just have to go get it ourselves.



Unfortunately, the recent earthquake sealed the passage to the cave. Our only hope is a man named Hedge, who was looking for a way through the landslide. We'll have to find him to make any progress.


Battle

The monsters in the Epro region are similar to the ones in the Fortress of Doom, which handily warns low level players to stay away from this region. Of course, we're plenty strong enough to deal with these creatures now.


Field

If you tell me Hedge is in another castle I will Sunder you into oblivion.



Oh thank sweet merciful Arek.



Unfortunately, Hedge had no luck getting through the blocked road. So, ironically, it looks like the only way to get there is to fly.



He hands over the Oil Cave and resigns himself to the fact that he's now unemployed. I mean, Lufia could probably blow the mountain open, but that would take a while. Is there really no other way?



Oh ho. Apparently the latest earthquake opened an underwater passage of some sort. Let's investigate!



I screenshotted this because 400+ damage is kind of an absurd amount of damage for anyone who isn't literally a death goddess to be doing in this game. It can be hard to tell what enemy weaknesses are in this game, but finding them can really pay off.


Sailing

There's the eddy leading to the inner lagoon, caused by the recent earthquake. I suppose the implication is that the movements of Doom Island triggered the earthquake, but that's silly, since later Lufia games reveal that earthquakes in Estpolis are caused by catfish.

The Ocean



The inner sea offers us a few new types of enemies. Those blue dragons can cast Flood, so they're quite annoying.



Hey, maybe one of these hydras will drop a Might Sword!



Awww...



This underwater cavern is fairly unremarkable otherwise. It's fairly short.



Jerin snares the “Glacier” spell, which is the highest tier of Ice magic. We might get some use out of this in the next cave, but I doubt it.



Oddly, both Medi and Lufia learn the Succumb spell at level 43/44. This is Lufia's final spell, and it makes perfect sense for her to learn it, but it's so weird for Medi to learn it that I'm not convinced him learning it isn't some kind of bug. Medi has been learning spells all game, but most of them are uninteresting status healing spells so I haven't been diligent in recording them. He does learn the “Fright” spell as well, though I can't imagine any reason for him to use it.



Anyhow, Succumb targets a group of monsters for instant death. It's not a bad spell, (one of these hydras died from it) it would be worth using if Sunder wasn't so completely overpowering.



Anyway, time to leave the underwater cave behind. This will be the last time we make use of the Falcon's submarine ability.



Upon surfacing, we'll find ourselves beyond the collapsed mountain pass, with the Oil Cave nearby.

Field



The Epro region is also home to the Mad Knights, one of the game's toughest enemies, since they can heal themselves if left alone too long. Nothing we can't handle now, though.




Cave

The Oil Cave is actually a fairly straightforward dungeon, it's essentially just two-floors stacked on each other, with multiple access points between the two levels. The only challenge is picking up all the treasure.



The Oil Cave cannot be accessed without talking to Hedge first, which seems like a pointless and arbitrary barrier, but what can you do?



Ha, a Dragon Arrow. Frist time we've ever seen these. I think Dragon Arrows have a chance of instantly killing foes, but I'm not certain.



A lot of enemies here are weak to Ice, so let's see if Frost magic can finally redeem itself.



Haha, a Dragon Tooth, that's funny. There sure is a lot of dragon stuff here...



The Oil Cave is home to the Efreet, who can cast the deadly Blaze spell and really ruin your day. They're very powerful and dangerous, but Water Magic is effective against them.



And Ice magic is very effective against Mega Frogs.

Huh, okay, that's pretty good. Yeah, we'll go ahead and say Glacier is a fairly decent spell. It's too bad you get it too late in the game to really put it to good use.



Okay, this is starting to become fairly alarming....




Battle

It's fair to say the Oil Cave is the most treacherous dungeon so far in terms of your opposition. The nastiest critters in the game are out in full force, and if you've been lax in your leveling, you're going to have problems here. Of course, as long as you don't run from every encounter, you'll be perfectly fine by the time you reach this point.



Okay, by this point I think we can pretty well guess what the boss of this place is going to be.



Bearing in mind that this is boosted by the Ice Ring, this is fairly respectable damage, but Lufia can still put out more with Sunder. Still, it's not like Jerin has better offensive options.



Would you look at that? That giant leathery jackass has parked his scaly rear right on top of my Power Oil. Now what? I mean, attacking fire-breathing dragons in caverns filled with oil doesn't seem like a winning strategy.

On the other hand, I do have the Dual Blade, the Might Armor, and the Goddess of Death on my team, so if anyone can take down a dragon, it's me.



Like the last few bosses, the Oil Dragon is not vulnerable to the expected ring, due to a bug in the game's programming. He is not considered a dragon, which renders this ring completely worthless, since there are very few other dragons in the game. I mean, there's only a few dungeons left.



Anyway, let's take this guy down, I'm sure Lufia would adore a dragonskin handbag and accessories. It's exactly the kind of apparel you'd expect from today's fashion-conscious goddess on the go.

Boss

The Oil Dragon would have been a tough boss if we'd encountered him about ten levels ago.



His main attack is Fire Air, which seems to suggest that a different team localized the game's battle commands than the main dialogue, since this should obviously be fire breath. He also has Oily Air, which is an agility debuff.



Lufia's Protect spell should offer us some protection from the heat, leaving her free to drop lightning bolts on the Dragon from now until doomsday.



KRA-KOW!



Jerin's Glacier spell can put out respectable damage as well.



As the fight drags on, the Dragon turns up the heat, unleashing progressively stronger versions of Fire Breath that do far more damage.



The Dragon has a lot of health, but in the end he just has nothing on Lufia's magic, and the combined strength of our team puts him away for good.






Now that we have our Power Oil, we can finally upgrade the Falcon to flight mode! Unlike the submarine upgrade, the game doesn't force us to do a whole series of quests this time, just the one.


Town

Checking back at Epro, we see that Hedge made it back home safely, and is pleased that we acquired some Power Oil.



But now, back to Frederia.


Shaia Labs

I say back to Frederia because we've been here before, but I didn't show much of it off. Frederia is sort of like a college town for Shaia's researchers to live and study. The study of flight, in particular, seems popular here.



However, seems this little girl has set her sights even higher. Here's hoping she's Estpolis' first astronaut, although seems that's a ways off, since the state of the world's astronomical studies seem to be completely primitive, considering no one seems to understand the idea of there being planets or stars yet.



Also possible; the people of Frederia are a cult.





In the basement of the lab, we find Raile milling about with two of his assistants. These two ladies seem to be aerospace engineers, and will help Raile make the Falcon fly. One comments that 'Frederia' is the name of Raile's wife, but no one has ever seen her, which is probably the most intriguing bit of lore in the game. Sadly, we'll never know more than that.

It does bring into question what Lou will grow up to be like, though. Lufia III indicates that the Shaia family will continue to produce scientists, but Lou doesn't seem like he has much appreciation for his father's profession. I wonder what he'll do?




You know what, kid, you're alright.

Shaia Labs



I think it's obvious that the other engineer in the room is named “Thelma.” Which is hilariously ironic since they're about to make my vehicle fly.





A few moments of humorous clanking later...



Obviously, the “A” button is on the Falcon's Dasboard, and it stands for “Ascend.” Which makes perfect sense.


Parting

And with that, we must bid our farewell to Raile, who can do nothing more for us. He has given us wings, it is up to us to use them.





Medi assures the Professor that he won't get any dents in the Falcon, and promises that he and all his companions will come back from this alive. I'm sure he believes it, too.



But in the middle of this heartfelt scene, one of Raile's staff informs us that Doom Island is on the move!



We haven't heard of Glasdar Tower before, but Raile sure doesn't like the sound of it. Apparently, Mt. Glasdar is a dark place of turbulent winds, and the Falcon can't approach Doom Island as long as it's situated there.

Those cheaters! Daos knows we have wings now, so he's hiding where we can't reach him. Seems that despite his previous confidence, Daos is still very afraid of Medi.



Luckily, Raile offers us one last piece of advice, and tells us how to reach the tower. From its roof, we can still get to Doom Island.



So that's where we must go. Glasdar Tower; the game's final dungeon.

The Sky

Now that the Falcon is fueled up, we can fly! Now we can reach any location in Westland, save Glasdar Tower itself.

Glasdar Tower is immediately west of Frederia, along with the game's final city.



This is Arubus, the last remaining city in Westland that we haven't been to yet.



And further west of there, we find...uh...Mordor apparently.

Attempting to approach the tower with the Falcon just sends us spinning and flings us away, so we'll have to approach on foot.

As far as I know, no hidden items can be found in that morass of toxic sludge, but man, that would have been a cool place to hide something, huh?


Town

As has been mentioned, Arubus' primary industry is “cider.” They have the finest anywhere.



The innkeeper also has a pretty good marketing strategy by forcing anyone who enters the city to walk through his lobby.






Some of the locals are really smart and helpful, and tell us that we'll need a key to open the final door to Glasdar Tower.



Other people in town are... less smart.



Arubus has the finest equipment you can buy. It's really expensive though....


Shopping

That's better!



Jerin can upgrade to Zircon-flavored equipment, but Lufia cannot, for reasons I'm not entirely clear on.

We'll go ahead and take the Might Helmet from Jerin now. The days of her offensive magic being useful are mostly behind us.



Now, we'll clad Medi in the entire set of Might Armor! Hell yeah! It's overkill, but it's also awesome. Let's see those Sinistrals take him down now, huh?!


Town

I remember thinking this was pretty funny back when I was a kid.



There's no All-knowing old man in Arubus to guide us, so we're forced to make a deal with this shifty fellow to find out where the key to Glasdar cave is.



Ummm.....no....



That isn't Plum Cider! False advertising.



After we hand over some cider to this shifty guy, he tells us that the key can be found north of Glasdar Tower, in a cave. Really though, if you just looked around the continent, you'd have found it eventually. There's only a few places to go.

It's a pretty short cave, but it does contain one important treasure. There's still a few pieces missing from our final party setup.

Battle

As usual, the cave is full of a whole new breed of monster. In fact, we're coming up on the final few types of encounters in the game!

Barients are the enemy that I've heard have a chance to drop Might Helmets, but I don't know if it is true or not. What is a Barient anyway? Did they maybe mis-translate “valiant?”



Guys, I think maybe Barients are weak to Thunder. What do you guys think?



Jerin is coming up on her final set of spells, now. Trick is a very powerful attack buff that will be of great use against the Sinistrals.


Cave

What's this?! A Zircon Sword? This is a Medi-exclusive weapon; Aguro can't even equip them, and even if he could, Zircon Axes are better. And Medi is already guaranteed to have the Dual Blade by the time you get here, which is stronger anyway! What possible use could this sword have!? Ridiculous!



These dinosaurs cast ice magic because they're blue. It makes perfect sense.



The most important treasure of the Cave is the White Ring. It's one of the strongest rings in the game, and it's also the ring Guy wore during the battle of Doom Island. It gives a huge boost to attack and defense, making it a great ring for Medi. But he has enough defense, so I'll give it to Jerin.



As usual, the key to solving the cave is to move a switch, which changes the target of the nearby warp point.





Now that we have the Glasdar Key, we can proceed to Glasdar Tower. This requires going through Glasdar Cave, and up Glasdar Mountain.

Huh. This is it. There's no barriers left, and nowhere left to go but the last dungeon.


Town

Ain't nothing left for it, friends. Time to head on to the final battle.

Field

Alright, time to assess our strength! If you've had a hard time following just how strong anyone who isn't a blue-haired death goddess is, I apologize. It's hard to screenshot Medi or Aguro doing damage.



Armed with the Dual Blade, a full set of Might Armor, and the Wave Ring, Medi is about as powerful and well-equipped as a legendary hero could be. He's nearly completed his spell list, with Champion, a full healing spell, and Rally, a full revival spell, being his two most important magical assets. He also has his two unique buffs, Courage and Fake, ready for use if need be. With a physical hit, he generally does between 180-250 damage.



Aguro is clad in full Zircon gear, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at. The Zircon Axe is too heavy for anyone but Aguro to wield, but with it, his attack power far exceeds even the Dual Blade-wielding Medi, due to Aguro's innately superior strength. There's one more treasure on the way to Glasdar Tower that he'll be able to make use of, however. Damage-wise, he fares a bit better than Medi, generally dealing in the neighborhood of 230-280 damage. He can break 300 easily if his attack is buffed.



Jerin has come a long way since we first met her in Belgen, and armed with Artea's Bow and the White Ring, she's achieved formidable strength. She's still missing a few crucial spells from her spell list, but we'll fill those in as we continue. This is the equipment loadout she'll be wearing for the rest of the game, and we won't be getting much more use out of her offensive magic, but her support magic is going to be invaluable.

There's a weapon called the Zircon Rod in Arubus, which has the highest attack power of anything Jerin can equip, but it means giving up her bow attacks, which I don't think is worth the trade off.



Lufia, sadly, has the most suboptimal equipment options in the end game. Hell, nothing she's wearing even matches! She can't use any of the gear for sale in Arubus, leaving her by far the most fragile member of our party. She still has her enormous magic defense, however, and her spell list speaks for itself. Thunder is pretty much an instant kill for anything between here and the credits that doesn't call itself a Sinistral.

I've equipped her with the Flash Ring, and she'll wear it for the rest of the game; it's very important to make sure Lufia has the Flash Ring for the game's final battles, since Thunder is much more effective against bosses than Sunder is.



Finally, having no more use for gold, I splurged on every healing item in Arubus, giving us a collection of Ex-Potions and Ex-Magics that surpasses even what Maxim had. We're now about as well-prepared for the coming conflict as we could be.



So begins our final journey. Next stop; Glasdar Tower. Then; Doom Island.

Of course, Medi is still ignoring the elephant in the room as to what we're going to do about Lufia. I guess he's planning on crossing that bridge when we come to it.


Triumph

Our quest is off to a good start. Medi has learned “Valor,” a spell to full heal the entire party. This is Medi's final spell.


Cave

Glasdar Cave is the largest cave in the entire game, and potentially the most complex.



It's nice enough to lead with some healing tiles, though, and one of the first rooms holds the game's final ring; the Black Ring. This powerful ring bestows enormous magical defense on the wearer, so we'll give it to Aguro. This actually means Jerin has the worst Resistance in the party now!

The Black Ring also gives an appreciable attack and Speed boost. You could give Aguro the White Ring and Jerin the Black Ring and either would be totally fine for both characters. Really, any combination of the Wave, White, and Black Rings would probably work for your final party, as long as Lufia has her Flash Ring.


Battle

Okay, this is officially ridiculous. Not only is there already a physical personification of death, but she's standing right there. You're officially stepping on toes now, reaper man.



Mt. Glasdar is home to some of the most frightening enemies in the game, such as these honest to goodness Dragons who have monstrous damage potential. Even Thunder can't kill them.



Jerin did learn Rally though, so she can now full heal anyone who dies. She still has to learn Valor, but it's actually possible we might finish the game before she learns it.

Cave



Mt. Glasdar is arranged mostly vertically to actually give the impression that you're climbing the mountain. It's webbed with many caves, but your goal is to reach the top.



The game still pleases to give us Miracles, being one of the few worthwhile treasures our party can still pick up. But we're mostly set for life in terms of recovery items.





And at long last...


Field

We stand before Glasdar Tower, the final tower of the game. Just above us is Doom Island. But the winds of Glasdar mountain can no longer protect Daos from us. Once we climb this tower, we'll reach Doom Island, and we can take the fight back to the Sinistrals.


Lufia II: Sealed Tower

Being the game's penultimate dungeon, Glasdar Tower has a unique tileset not found in any other dungeon. It still has the normal tower music though, so I picked something a little more apropos for the final tower of a Lufia game.



Glasdar Tower has a really unique aesthetic, it's almost futuristic, like it's from another time. There's no other location like it anywhere in the Lufia universe, that I'm aware of. I'm sure the history of it must be interesting, if such a history existed.



Each level of the tower is ringed by a hallway such as this that sort of “wraps” around the tower. This can make it really complex to navigate the tower, but going up is always the right way to go.



Scattered throughout the tower are strange grey circles that are the exits to one way teleporters. This is all part of the worst puzzle in the game.





The enemies in Glasdar Tower are among the mightiest in the game, and we haven't met the worst of them yet.