HSUP B TCELES - Let's Play FF1! Again!

They should have gone with the dragons or something.

The Hey, Listen screenshot, however, is easily the crown of this update.

They got the boss that I think of most often when recalling FFVI (the train), so I'm not going to complain about the earlier selections.

They probably would've gotten away with some random espers, so I'm happy they went in a more amusing direction. I just wish Black Belt would learn to throw some suplexes....

Phantom. Train.

Phantom Train, you say???

PHANTOM TRAIN.

What?

Phantom Train?

Too bad Black Belt can't do a suplex.

Alternatively: I was bored.

For those interested, a legit single-segment run of the original game (as in...the NES version) is up at Speed Demos Archive. It's nearly four hours of random bad (and occasionally good) luck, attempts at RNG manipulation, interesting routes (Temple of Ordeals after Lich, then Ice Cave), lots of running and neat uses of items/equipment.

...well, at least Brickroad might be interested.

That isn't so much "interesting" as "bog standard" around these parts.

Well, for a twist - this runner does Kary THEN Air Castle! Whoa!

...but yeah, I suppose you are right. I've never been the adventurous type though - as NES-era Marsh Cave and Ice Cave are basically "Grab and get the hell out before you are poisoned/stoned/basically really dead" affairs.

Kary's more of a "whenever you have the chance" thing, since the dungeon's so uneventful if you've already hit the Castle of Ordeals. The other dungeons have a bit of a visit order enforced - Kary is just show up whenever you like, except for the fact that you can't get to her without the Canoe.

I might try a sequence break sometime, but no matter what route you choose fighting the quartet, Lich always has to die first. I know for plot reasons it's because Kali Curly Corey Curry Kelly Kary Marilith doesn't awaken until you off the D&D cadaver, but for gameplay reasons it's because you can't get the canoe until Lich is dead.

It really would've been nice to have awesome toys and better jobs before double-dipping the Earth Cave.

I remember when I thought just getting the airship and job change before going to the volcano was adventurous. Then Brick showed me how to really live.

Well, you CAN visit Crescent Lake before killing Lich. It's not much of a sequence break, and all the gear there is likely too expensive to buy at first, but it's still a thing you can do.

Yep, I've visited Crescent Lake before Lich. That's how I found out his death is the event trigger for your canoe getting.

I would have been really pleased if DoS had tweaked things so you could immediately get the canoe and at long last make all the fiends non-linear. The Earth Cave is such a slog... It's probably the original game's biggest flaw once you set aside all the things that sane people* would complain about.

*Meaning people who haven't been brainwashed since childhood to expect the game to work in its own particular broken way.

THE GOAL: Finish this LP before I'm scheduled to start my next one, 'round Christmastime.

There are three (??) updates left, but with my blog and NaNoWriMo, I'm going to have to be SUPER DISCIPLINED to buckle down and get 'er done. I think, pound for pound, this has been the most time-consuming LP I've done.

Thanks for reading and sticking with me, peoples. You know I'm good for it!

We <3 you Brick! Except when you're a goddamn mafia.

Lookin' forward to it!

Incidentally, am I the only one who sees a pair of closed eyes where the moustache is on Brick's new avatar?

Which makes the monocle look like it's in the middle of popping off?

Which would make sense if the crab realizes it's eating crab?

Layers, man.

That's a mustache?

Maybe I'm too used to the Pokemon Gulpin, but I thought they were eyes.

Yeah, I saw a Gulpin face, too, until I noticed the monocle wasn't popping off but was in fact attached to an eyestalk. Then the rabbit suddenly became a duck and the old woman turned into a young girl.

So on a whim I decided to try the FUKT challenge. I hacked Imps to give ridiculous experience, (I'm not that crazy).

The Wizards were a stopping point, but I managed to beat Astos on my first try at level 22, avoiding Rub. I did get hit with Slo2, but I managed three criticals.

I'll see how much of a stopping point Lich really is.

- Eddie

EDIT: Lich Down (Thief level = 28)

Eddie, just to let you know, if you manage to beat this FUKT-only challenge I'm expecting screenshots of Chaos dissolving.

I'm pretty sure that if you beat a FUKT-challenge then Chaos doesn't dissolve, he just morphs into a screenshot of Nasir giving you a thumbs up and calling you a bad dude.

It's true!

Disclaimer: This was done in an evening with an emulator at as maximum a speed I could get nestopia to emulate. Unlike Brick's FUKT adventure, I was not restarting from a save point each time, and I was manipulating the battles to a small degree (to get myself out of unwinnable save states). Everything Brick has said about Solo Thief runs being ridiculously difficult is true; without save scumming you're basically going to be playing for hours upon hours leveling up to beat Astos and then rolling dice to see if you can crit him enough before he kills you.

That said...

I think it's possible to do this in real life.

Lich is about the same size barrier than Astos is. At the levels you'd need to beat Astos, you'll have the HP to absorb a few of his attacks, and you'll have a Dragon Sword for extra damage. But you still need to be extremely lucky. Also, unlike Astos getting to Lich is not a simple reload away.

The Ice Cave is a pain as always, but I don't think it's any more difficult for a Thief than it is for most solo characters. Blue ZOIDBERGS will murder you, Mages will RUB you, etc. The Eye is really the least of your worries.

The only real obstacle after the eye is getting the Rat Tail; those Zombie Dragons were a real pain to try and beat. Getting the Defense Sword from the waterfall would likely make them cake tho.

And really, with the Defense Sword and promotion it's all downhill from there.





Honestly, I think it'd be a great fundraiser thing for something like Child's Play. Like Desert Bus except more interesting. But you'd probably need a couple of days to do this.

- Eddie

Nice work. So it takes save scumming, RNG luck, and your class upgrade to prevail? I'd suspect such a task would drive a non-emulating player to tears.

If you wanted to put the work into it, you could totally figure out the enemy list to get through the Ice Cave (check out this single-segment FF1 speedrun for an example that counts away all Mage and Blue ZOIDBERG groups).

I mean, that doesn't really help you kill Lich, but anyway.

- Eddie

So... VYUOKITE code next Brick? Maybe?