Gilgamesh is also present in FF14, in a fairly extensive questline, and that game's version of "
Battle on the Big Bridge" is one of my favorites.
This is a really great version of the song. Everytime I see something from FF XIV, I want to play it. I certainly will, at some point.
This connects to an aspect I really appreciate about this game, and all older FFs that do it, in that you can choose who your field map avatar is at any given time, through party formation priority or specific inputs that govern it. I list my party in this game in the Lenna/Bartz/Faris/Galuf or Krile order because that's usually how I end up organizing the lineup, and so Lenna becomes the person through whom I experience most of the game, and that's accounted for in the incidental animations and pantomimed reactions like the shopkeeping escapade--it was Lenna who was the star of that exchange for me. It's not a perfect feature, since certain lines do give preference to Bartz as the assumed default POV, or just plain produce his portrait even if he's otherwise unseen, but the vast majority of the small interactions the game is full of are anonymous and generalized so anyone can enact them if that's who you're playing as. This really helps me to connect with the game more, as I can swap the perspectives around, and takes the edge off of some of the more questionable parts, like the dancing girls who essentially give lap dances to patrons at pubs (this sort of cheeky naughtiness and casual inclusion of euphemistic sex work is part and parcel for FF, at least in the years where the Dragon Quest rivalry ran deep and heated and they did many similar things). It's not really made any "better" for it if Lenna or Faris is the recipient, but at least it reframes the heteronormative titillation into a more queer direction than otherwise possible. And ultimately, I really just appreciate pink and purple hair a lot.
I didn't even think of changing the lead character, to basically choose who does all the goofy stuff. It's nice that you can just choose who is the dork in your party, or the person who just goes up on stage to dance, just for the fun of it. Especially Lenna seems like a good fit for this - she seems to enjoy her bit of goofy fun, and doesn't take herself too seriously. But even as a non-lead, she is a refreshing break from the regular princess character, who is just this well behaved, super nice person. It really helps, that the game shows us that they all have fun, and can make good natured jokes at each others behalf. It's such a lovely cast.
I think Exdeath is supposed to be dozens, if not hundreds, of individual spirits who were bound into the tree to keep them under control, only they melded into a hive-mind with their own singular DID ANYONE ORDER A LAAAARGE HAM personality and broke out. Which makes it weird that he can't get into Moore forest, since technically he is part of Moore Forest.
I guess the Master Tree actively protects the forest against him. I certainly wouldn't want a pompous overlord anywhere near a place I protect.
Also, I thought it was just the spirit of Enuo that was sealed in one of the trees. But I also just checked the Wiki, and appearantly, it is not so. Huh. I guess I'll go with you theory, sounds plausible enough.
------------------------------------------
When I last stopped, I had just beaten the crystals, and watched the great scene were Galuf sacrifices himself for Kryle and his friends. It is certainly among my favourite scenes in the game, and I love how he can give his powers and abilities to Kryle.
I'm actually a bit split on Kryle. During her time in the second world, especially as an NPC, she is kind of a deus ex machina. I do agree somewhat with nosimpleway - she saves us from Exdeath the first time, knocks him out for a bit the second time (granted, she surprised him, which does count for something), and generally seems to know a solution to any problem. And, as she joins relatively late, the game doesn't really give her an arc. She feels like a bit of an extension for Galufs arc. I mean, I do enjoy the bit at the beginning of the merged world, where she and Bartz get out of the castle, and the mock and punch each other. Also, the scene later, where both accuse the other of having the idea of leaving Faris behind is just really funny.
So, I don't have much of a problem with her, she just seems a bit thin, compared to the others. And it's likely that she is a bit of a victim of the fact that there are only few character scenes in the merged world. So, these two scenes give her a surprising amount of character, I find. She fits perfectly into the group, is good friends with Bartz (even to the point, where the can hit each other, pretty hard, I might add, just for fun). The game does try to show, that she is just as much of a goofball as the others.
I do like her sprite, and she looks absurdly adorable in all her costumes. Plus, the ability to talk to animals is always nice, it's one that I always appreciate in characters.
Well, our next goal is Exdeaths castle, as the barrier is gone, and there is nothing else to do but defeat the Evil Overlord (honestly, there has never been an FF antagonist that was such a good fit for the title, considering the pompous behaviour of Exdeath). The castle still looks normal, when we get in, until Kelgar sacrifices himself to break the illusion.
I feel like I need to point out, that Kelgar still lies in bed from his battle with Bartz. And then dies there. So, I guess Bartz killed Kelgar. Which, uh, honestly fits this game, in a weird way. Plus, the Warriors of Dawn are partly here to help the new generation of heroes prosper and get stronger. They all they, before the end of the game, except that this is a world where spirits don't vanish. They will never be gone.
I love this world. I love this game.
The castle, when showing it's true looks, seems right out of DOOM. Seriously, this is one thing that always stuck with me. The walls seem like flesh, there are pulsing skulls, stuff like that, and it reminds me of the third set of levels in DOOM. It looks really great, and horrifying.
Gilgamesh had some fun, and put an empty chest into an otherwise empty room. I imagine he hid behind a pillar, looking forward for hours whenever we would show up, open the chest, and find nothing in there. And Gilgamesh just waited in anticipation, giggling about his goofy joke. He is such a beautiful character.
We fight him another time, and it has become easier again. Like, aside from Galufs solo battle, the fights against Gilgamesh seem to become easier every time. On the bridge, he becomes a monster at the end. On the ship, the battle was easier, but that might have been because I trivialized Enkidou. Anyway, in this battle he is mainly annoying, and transforms us into mini-people or frogs. Until he decides to SHOW HIS TRUE FORM, which, granted, looks pretty badass.
I think it's here, when he says these lines: "And now we fight like men! And ladies! And ladies who dress like men!" Which isn't an ideal line, but there is no joke about women being less capable of fighting. He knows that all four of our party are capable fighters, and tries hard to include everyone. He already has a lot of respect for us, and also just likes us.
Which is made clear even more, when he talks about Galuf, the "jolly old man". He isn't quite there, being friends with us, but he clearly considers us his anime rivals, who he has interesting fights with, but does also respect and like. It's obvious, that he is shocked to see Galuf gone. I fell in love with Gilgamesh here.
That he tries to attack us with Excalibur, only to realize that something is wrong, is just better. And then he is sent into the Void. I guess, Exdeath has a bit of leeway, but losing so often probably doesn't sit well with him.
Before I forget, Carbuncle also was here in the castle. He never looks that dangerous again, does he? Here, he just looks like a dangerous beast, but I think in every future game he is just this adorable, cute creature. And, like with the Bard song that hurts undead monsters, it's just in time - Exdeath gets way easier, if you can just cast Reflect on everyone.
I remembered the battle against Exdeath being hard, but it really wasn't. I was lucky enough that he cast Condemn on Bartz, my Blue Mage, so that I just learned that spell as well. In general, I felt like four characters are just too much for Exdeath, who simply didn't attack often enough. He could have been dangerous, had he been faster, but as it was, the battle was over soon enough. But then, Summoners and Blue Mages are just really powerful.
We also learned before the fight, that Exdeath was just working on giving the world it's true form back. The crystals shatter, and we get back to the first world. Except that, if you look a bit, you see pretty soon that the geometry has been changed. I assume that, if you play this game for the first time, you will not realize that - it was a bit of time, since we left for Galufs world. But if you know what happens, it's pretty clear.
But for now, we assume that Exdeath is dead, and we bring Lenna and Faris back to castle Tycoon, where the chancellor is very rude to Faris (he makes her put on a dress - I guess I sound sarcastic here, I'm not. I really think this is a jerk move). And we see a scene, that's bascially right out of FF II. The game seems over, and people start dancing in pairs, while the royalty sits in their thrones. I do find it funny, that you can't even reach Faris and Lenna, because you get always pushed away by the dancing couples.
Kryle and Bartz go outside, because they realize that something is still wrong. As they think that their friends will be happier in their lifes as royalty, they go on without them. But before that, we have the funny scene, where Kryle jokes about Bartz problems with flying, he punches her (honestly, I like that they can get rough with each other), and Kryle punches him back so hard, that he goes down. As I said, I find this scene really important.
So, we go on adventure again. For this, we go to the pirate cave, where we meet Boko! We see the big love story of this game play out, as we are introduced to his lovely, female chocobo companion, who is pregnant. And who is also very understanding, that Boko has to go, help us save the world.
I sometimes feel like this game makes fun of the conventions of the genre. I'm only half joking, when I call this the big love story of the game. That there is no romance between any of the main cast is great, I feel (I don't care much for love stories, that are just there because). No, we have one for a (intelligent) bird, who is the heroes best friend. It's lovely.
On Bokos back, we travel a long way, before falling into a hole. In there, we meet antlion (I think?). It's not a hard fight, though it wasn't exactly easy - without a heavy hitter and our summoner not here, it was actually not completely trivial.
We get the fun scene, where Faris comes to help us, but only after making us promise not to leave her in the castle. Bartz and Kryle laugh at her, for just being not made out for a royal life. This would be mean, but not anymore than laughing at Bartz problems with flying, and Faris herself joins in - she knows that it's true. And even if I critizised that she had to wear a dress, it does make sense in that world, and she was just new here. The game made it clear, that Faris could make her own decision here, and never judges her for it, except for the playful ribing of her friends.
We only realize what happened, after finding Guido in his cave. He tells us about the backstory - a 1000 years ago, there was a powerful mage called Enuo, who could control the Void. There was an epic battle, where 12 warriors fought him with 12 legendary weapons. The Void was there, though, and had to be sealed in the Cleft of Dimensions, which made it necessary to split the world (including the Crystals) into two.
At this moment, the "splinter" that Kryle caught, became Exdeath, who had just changed forms. This is really super dumb and great, I just love the idea of this powerful wizard using it's nature of a tree to hide itself. It's such an absurd plan, it's a thing of beauty.
We also learn that, with the worlds being one again, the Cleft of Dimension gets closed, and the Void escapes. Which is what Exdeath wanted, as he wanted to control its power.
Feel free to correct me here. I always get fuzzy on the details, but I think they aren't too important. But still, if anything is incorrect here, feel free to mention it.
There is a great, but short, fight between Guido and Exdeath. The turtle puts up a fair fight, and shows that he is pretty powerful himself. But still, Exdeath wins and throws us to a far away place. Oh, and Exdeath already showed his power over the Void, by letting it absorb Castle Tycoon. It's probably a big shock at the time. Here, you likely assume that Lenna is lost.
We find ourselves near the Ancient Library. The scholars there recognize Guido, and together, they work out how to get the 12 legendary weapons. We also learn about the most powerful summons, Bahamut and Leviathan, and the most powerful White, Black and Time Magic. Basically, we have hints for our sidequests.
But we still have to start the sidequests, before getting an airship, and have to retrieve the first of four tablets from the pyramid. In a nice bit of world building, the shifting sands of the desert stopped moving, as the Earth Crystal has no power anymore. If I had something to critizise about the game, it would be that I'd have liked to see a few more effects of the Crystals power vanishing. But that's really a minor gripe, I like that we see it a bit here.
The fight against the Gargoyles here was one of the hardest, and it took me forever. Faris and Kryle were basically useless, and I couldn't summon, because Lenna wasn't there. So, I only had Bartz' blue magic. Which should have been enough, if I just had used Aero 3. But, oh well, I think I did it with Level 2 Old? Dunno, it was hard.
The pyramid is annoying, but at least I had Requiem. Not much else to say here - it still looked great, and I appreciate the ideas for the design, but having every chest trapped was annoying. The one nice thing here was the minotaur monster, that talked about his brother in the Fork Tower. I didn't remember that FF VIIIs Brothers were a reference. Also, when we get the tablet, a piece of land blasts away, and frees Bahamut, King of the Dragons, who tells us he will wait for us at North Mountain. Pretty great entrance, I have to say.
When finally getting out again, we get to the piece of Woods with the Master Tree, where the Hiryuu brings Lenna to us. Except, she is possessed by one of the monsters of the Void, Merugene. That was another battle that was really hard, and I was a bit afraid I couldn't do it. I'll explain later why the chemist wasn't the immediate solution here. With a summoner, it would have been easy, but most stuff I had didn't hurt her much. I think I could confuse her, but that would only make her heal herself.
What I did, was to use Magic Hammer, to reduce her MP to very low amounts. She doesn't have that much, so this worked fine. I also learned that she actually has four different forms, one for each element, and each has it's own pool of MP. But Magic Hammer is cheap, and with that trick, she was soon incapable of doing much. Which, finally, gave me back my last party member, who could also really throw damage around and help me get Blue Magic.
But before doing anything, Exdeath draws multiple places (including the Moogles and their forest!) into the Void. Bartz gets extremely angry, when he see his hometown as a victim here too, and rushes around on the airship. He calms down soon, but it's clear that we need to act.
And with that, the final part of the game starts.
This actually seems really similar to the second part of FF VI. Exdeath hasn't won, the same way Kefka does, but he still destroys the world as he sees fit (and, as I already mentioned, it is clear how we get from one to the other). The World itself has a ton of sidequests, but you don't have to do any of them - if you want, you can just immediately enter the Void. It's probably not a good idea, but the possibility is there.
As always with open world stuff, it feels somewhat overwhelming. Not too much, because it is still restricted, and you have a clear guide for most stuff that you can find here. In general, I really love the open world parts of JRPGs (including DQ II and III). They give you a lot of freedom, but aren't as directionless as WRPGs tend to be. As mentioned, many of the things we can find are told to us, and can be repeated, as often as needed.
It's still not quite open. You still need the submarine for some parts, and for that you have to do a little quest chain. First, there is a temple with another tablet. The dungeon wasn't too exciting, but the Stalker fight at the end was really obnoxious. I think hitting the wrong one triggers a counter? God, this fight felt like random chance. At least it felt like Stalker could switch all the time, so it felt really hard to find the right one without dying.
After beating the dungeon, a barrier in Fork Tower vanishes, and I still don't understand the point of gating that tower. It feels kind of counter to the idea of this open-world part.
Anyway, the tower wasn't too hard. I sent Bartz (Blue Mage / Dancer) and Lenna (Summoner / Beastmaster) left, to kill Omniscient, and Kryle (Bard / Geomancer) and Faris (Thief / Chemist) to the left, to kill Minotaur. The encounter rate was low, so not much of a problem inside the towers. I think Kryle and Faris didn't even face a single random encounter?
I don't really remember the boss battles, except that they weren't particularly hard. The Minotaur took some time, and I needed a ton of Hi-Potions, but elsewise, it wasn't bad. Just took some time. It did end funny, as Minotaur tried to use Holy, but had no MP. I think I used Carbuncle for Omniscient, which made him really easy. But I don't quite remember. Summoners are really powerful. Oh, and I used Level 2 Old, which, together with the spell that halves levels, can be used on a ton of bosses.
With that done, Fork Tower explodes, and we can help Cid get out from the wheel he is stuck to. He and Mid give the airship the ability to dive, which finally gave us access to the whole world.
Last time I played this game, I felt like this was a missstep, and that the game should give you access to the submarine as soon as you get to the Ancient Library, and just not gate off anything. I still don't get why it is done that way, but it's not a big deal either. Maybe it is done, so we see the nice scene where Kryle and Mid talk, and Mid says that Cid still feels responsible for Karnak, and he wants to do something useful. Similar to how Galuf had a connection to Cid, as both have grandchildren, Kryle and Mid have a bit of a connection too.
First, I got back to the Pirate Cave, where we say our final goodbye to Syldra, whose spirit was still there. Except that, no, spirits are a thing in this world - your loved ones never really vanish, as long as they aren't forgotten. It feels quite literal in this world. And Syldra joins us forever, as the most useful summon. Together with that legendary staff that increases all(?) elemental magic, Syldra did around 3000 damage with each casting, which is quite powerful, and, with the Gold Hairpin, way cheaper than Bahamut and Leviathan, who were only slightly stronger. Syldra would be my go-to summon for the rest of the game.
Next, I found the town that was sucked up by the Void a thousand years ago, with the people only slowly realizing that they are back in the real world. It's a cool town, with a bunch of secrets, like the last piano (I got all songs, by the way), and a hidden shop keeper in every shop. Also, shoes that gave you permanent Haste status, which I got for two people now, and for everyone in the end.
There is also a Black Chocobo here, which I used to go to the desert in the North, that can only be accessed this way. North Mountain awaits there, where we fight Bahamut. He is quite a bit trickier here than in FF IV, as he does more than just Flare us, and he also doesn't announce it. It was a short, intense fight, that I nearly lost.
Next up was Istory Falls. I think I first got the Magic Lamp, and also did the side-quest of running around the world on the back of a Chocobo (nice callback to FF III, here it was actually a bit challenging, because the geography of this world is just more complex. And the price is better, even though I never put it on.
Istory Falls was another dungeon that wasn't too interesting, but still pretty cool looking. The main thing here, aside from the tablet, was the first appearance of the horrifying Tonberry (or Dingleberry, in the bizarre PSX translation - it's also worth mentioning here, that Wyvern was translated to "Y Burn". Just, what?). It never reached me, but damn, this thing has a ton of HP. Not too hard, with the abilities to confuse and control it.
It's a bit of a shame, that the Void monster will never be seen, as it is immediately killed by Leviathan. Who wasn't particularly hard to kill, even without Coral Rings (which I even had one of).
Next, I went for that timed tower with Gogo inside. It's such a goofy "fight", and Gogo is fascinating to me. He fits perfectly into this bizarre world, not taking the fight serious at all, and then ending the "fight" by casting X-Zone on himself.
The Deep Drench was too long, for my taste (and I was really glad to have a Geomancer here, like I was in Exdeaths Castle). I did find it interesting, that there were still Dwarves here, just hidden away deep underground. It feels a bit like the team said good bye to them, there being only five left. Together with the shattering of the Crystals, this feels like an era of FF is ending - considering the next game, this doesn't seem too far-fetched either.
The whole dungeon was made easier, by having only undead monsters. The bard really destroys them, including the boss.
Oh, I think I got the Chicken Knife at some point too, often running from battles now to power it up. It started out pretty weak, but you get nearly one point of strength for every time you flee (not quite, maybe for every 1.5 times you flee? Anyway, it powered up fast). So, Bartz became a pretty strong character, with his Dance doing more and more damage as time went on.
The last thing I did was Pheonix Tower, which was really, really annoying. Doesn't help, that it is an extremely boring dungeon to look at. At least you get a nice scene of Lenna, saying Good-Bye to the Hiryuu, who hadn't much longer to live. We see a flashback, where we learn that Lennas mother could have been cured, if she had killed the Hiryuu and cut out his tongue. She even had the knive and was near the dragon, but couldn't bring herself to do it. It was a powerful scene, and made the lame dungeon worth it. Like Syldra, Hiryuus spirit will never leave us.
At some point, I also defeated Odin, which I don't remember much about, except that I died a few times. I think it only worked out, if I got two sword dances in a row. Pretty brutal fight.
I always got the new legendary weapons, of course, whenever I got a tablet. Apollos Harp was pretty nice, as was the Assassins Dagger. Elsewise, I think I didn't find anything else that was useful. Oh, right, that staff for my summoner.
And with that, I got everything, I think. So, on to the Cleft of Dimensions.
It's a really cool final dungeon, maybe my favourite of the series? I love how you revisit different places of the game, because part of them have been drawn into the void. We start in the desert, where Exdeath gives a fun villain talk to his minions. Next are the Ancient Ruins, the frozen Mirage Village and the Woods, where the Master Tree lived. In there, we fight our first fight against Calofisteri. I don't remember much about the fight, except that she tried Drain a few times and failed. She died pretty easily.
Next up was a cave, where Omega wanders around. I did ignore him - many people probably die here, when seeing the thing and talking to it.
In the Ancient Libray, we find Apanda, who is basically Biblos 2.0. Nothing much to say about him. We continue to a bit of Castle Architecture in the sky, with invisible floor parts, until we get to a real castle. I'll just assume this is the Voids version of castle Tycoon, even if it looks quite different. In there, Iron Giants make their first appearance, and are hard to kill as always.
The castle is interesting, as it has a boss that you don't have to fight, but should, because he offers a save point. It's Apocalypse, a boss that has all(?) the Blue Mage spells. He died pretty easily, but I guess you can get pretty unlucky, if he uses bad stuff.
I find the castle interesting, as it has some stuff going on. Not quite a story, but it felt a bit that way? With the old man trapped in cells, except they are horrible jerk monsters, a princess who is trapped by a monsters, and than you realize that the princess herself is a monster too.
Next up was Catastrophe, who always cancelled my Float through Mighty Guard, which meant that the others had to attack. Thankfully, he doesn't have much HP, elsewise he would have destroyed me very soon.
Halikarnassos was next, but by now, I had the dress that made Bartz get Sword Dances 50 % of the time. Together with them doing >9000 damage, bosses really didn't last long.
Twin Tania is positioned as a big deal, and can take a lot of punishment, plus hit you really hard. I think I reflected one of her brutal spells? Or maybe I just tanked it? Still, she fell soon enough to Syldra and Sword dances.
And with that, we got to the last part, which looked like it was inside the Crystals? Maybe? It certainly looked really cool. Here, we find Gilgamesh, who does attack us, but only because he is scared out of his mind, because there are so many monsters around. Which sounds really funny, considering how terrifying he looks himself. But then, there are King Behemots here, which are real jerks and killed me one time. But soon, he recognizes Bartz, and is just happy to see us. He also stops his attacks. He goes, but promises that, when we meet each other next time, we will be friends.
And with that, there was just a little way left. I ignored the chest with Shinryu (another trap that will definitely kill many new players) and made my way to Nekrophobia. Who would have been dangerous, if I hadn't been very easily able to destroy his barrier with Syldra and than hurt him horribly with Sword Dances. Thankfully, because he hits very hard (and also looks very cool). But in the middle of the fight, Gilgamesh appears, saying nice things to everyone (well, he is quite a jerk to Faris, even if he doesn't mean to) and then shows that the Power of Friendship is stronger than the Power of Death.
The last savepoint, directly before Exdeath. He gives another Evil Villain speech, and starts sucking everything (including us) into the Void, which he thinks he controls now. But, in another callback to FF III, we are saved by the last generation, this time the Warriors of Dawn. Like the Heroes of Darkness, they hold back the Void, so we can attack the evil tree.
The battle was, again, pretty easy. I honestly can't tell you much about either part, because Syldra, Sword Dances and Regen + Leveling up constantly through the Bard Songs made us pretty much invincible. One or two times someone died against Neo Exdeath, but nothing that couldn't be easily corrected, as Farris as a Chemist is a pretty good healer too, for single characters at least. Faris did die at the end, though.
End so it ends
In the beginning, there was Void...
Then four Spirits came
Together in this Void...
The Crystals were born.
And the world was created...
Thus,
Hope gives the Earth blessings,
Courage lights the flame,
Kindness makes water the Source of life,
And
Pursuit lets wisdom ride the wind.
When the day comes that Void
Shall again envelop the world...
If within people live the four spirits,
Light shall again be born...
Four Spritis,
Wandering through Void,
Shall once again.
Give Birth to Light...
And
Pursuit lets wisdom ride the wind.
When the day comes that Void
Shall again envelop the world...
If within people live the four spirits,
Light shall again be born.
We end up in the Void, as the Crystals that made the world actually exist, aren't there anymore. So, we give back the pieces, and new Crystals are formed. One forms in the Pyramid, one in Istory Falls, one in the Deep Trench and one in that Sea Temple, where the tablets rested.
And so, the Void vanishes, and the world is reborn, just like it was in FF III. The spirits of the Warriors of Dawn form a Hiryuu, and take us outside, into the real world. Except Faris, who is too weak, and gets left behind. For now.
Did you know that FF V has different endings? It changes slightly, depending on who left the final battle alive, and who was dead at the end.
We get a very nice ending, where Bartz (or someone else) writes a letter, and talks about where everyone is now. It's very sweet, and we see a montage of Faris (and probably of anyone who is dead). We also see how Bokos and Cocos children are born, who are as cute as their parents. Probably even cuter. Until later, where we meet the Master Tree again, as a group, and it gives us back our dead friends.
The world of FF V is one of hope, where good deeds are rewarded. We saved the world. And so, the world saves us.
And, in a sweet ending, we see all of our heroes ride Chocobos through a field of flowers, in what seems to be a nice spring day. In the light, that they helped saving. I like to think of it as a callback to the very beginning, where we see Bartz ride through a field on Boko, but alone. He has friends now, maybe even a new family.
And with that, it ends.
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As always, I'll write a summary post, maybe tomorrow. I feel like I have a few other things to say, like about the jobs I used. We'll see.