For the record, the titan in the Japanese version is just called a giant (巨人). "Titan" is a perfectly acceptable synonym for "giant," but it's not Titan, the summon monster who begins appearing in Final Fantasy III.
I like how most bosses in FFI are highly dangerous but also don't stand up to much. It makes every round feel like life or death. Even the good remake saw this as a problem and doubled the Fiends' HP, but I guess there it gives you more time to look at the very good graphics.
Thanks for the info. I guess that makes Bahamut the only monster that later gets changed into a summon. I'm actually surprised that there is no Leviathan in this game. Would seem like a good D&D monster, just for the name alone.
Totally agree on the boss fights. They are short and intense, up to the very end. I found them pretty fun.
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So, I used the last few days to play through the rest of the game. Just beat the final dungeon, and enjoyed how Chaos SLOWLY desintegrates into nothingness.
Mt. Gulg was part super easy, part horrifying. There is this big part in the second floor, that is full of treasure chests, but also completely optional. It is also the hardest part of the dungeon, because there are no lava tiles in there. And there are two enemies that are really terrifying, at least with the equipment I had at this point. There were Really Horrible Birds, who could do some awful instant death spell. Thankfully, my White Mage alread had Life (at least I think? I'm already a bit fuzzy on the details), so he could revive whoever got killed. The other horrible monsters were the Red Gargoyles, who know FIR2. I encountered a group of five, got surprised and lost three characters. Got lucky, and was able to flee with the last one. I made it out alive, because I was near the entrance, and then got back to town with whatever stuff I had gotten.
Getting all the loot from this big room took two trips on their own, just because of these two monsters. The rest of the dungeon was easy, just because the lava tiles make sure you don't encounter anything. I had very few encounters through the rest of the volcano, and most other monsters weren't a big deal. Kary, too, was easily beaten.
The Ice Cave was not too bad either, until I was met by two not-Astoses, who decided to instant-kill one of my guys. Thankfully, I could flee from them too, and was lucky enough to be already near the boss that protected the Floater. The other encountes weren't too bad, even though they were annoying. But nothing that my mages couldn't handle. I don't remember the boss posing much of a problem, too. I think, on the whole, I got pretty lucky in there.
I vaguely remembered that the manual showed the place, where you can find the airship. Which is good. After this playthrough, I found the hints from the NPCs to be very useful and fair, and that they provide you with nearly all the directions and hints that you need to play through the game. The position of the airship is, I think, the only part that is too obscure. I think there is someone, who gives a hint, but I don't think I would have thought of actually USING the Floater.
The open-world part of the game was fun. I'm not sure how much it helped, that I had already played through the game once, but it's not like a lot had stuck. I remembered the Fairy, and that she would make it possible for me to breathe underwater, but that's it, I think. Here are the hints, that I wrote down:
Mystic Key → Prince of Elfland has it
Treasure in Conelia, after getting Mystic Key
Treasure in Garlands place, after getting Mystic Key (both chests right)
Treasure in Elfland Castle, after getting Mystic Key
Treasure at Dwarf Cave, after getting Mystic Key
Treasure at Astos Palace, after getting Mystic Key
Treasure in Marsh Cave, after getting Mystic Key (untere Räume)
Crystal to Matoya in Cave, north of Conelia
Matoyas HERB will wake the Elf prince
Astos stole CRYSTAL from Matoya
A dwarf needs TNT
Cave of Dwarf is at the west end of the Aldi Sea
Titan loves RUBIES
Trouble in Melmond (west)
Sarda does not fear the evils of the cave, he lives past Titans Tunnel, than south
Lukahn (the prophet) left for Crescent Lake
Fairy at Spring was kidnapped (Gaia, city inside mountains) → Sold to Caravan → Fairy can get OXYALE from Spring
A FLOATER can make everything float (according to a dwarf)
Proof of Courage for Bahamut is in Castle of Ordeal
Shining object flying east from Gaia → Fell down (robot at waterfall?)
Castle to the west is a place of courage (from Gaia, city inside mountains)
Dr. Unne lives in destroyed town → can teach Lefeinish with SLAB
The lute can break the evil gate
Smith the Dwarf needs ADAMANT to create a powerful sword
Tower in Desert is no mirage → use musical tone (CHIME) to unlock
Cube to get to Castle in the Sky
That was also vaguely the part, where money stopped being a problem at all. Quite a difference, compared to the beginning, and specifically Elfland, where you need money to buy potions and antidots, which are somewhat expensive, at this point. It's also around this time, that my guys started to feel like Shonen heroes. I just couldn't help picture my BB punching every enemy to death, and got Luffy from One Piece into my head. Most monsters died from a single hit, no matter if it was FI or BB who attacked.
Next goal was the Castle of Ordeals, just because I wanted the Exit and Warp spells. Was a bit annoying, but not too bad, and it provided me with the great Zeus gauntlet. I'm not sure anymore, if the Heal Staff was also in there, but I found it soon afterwards. I had completely forgotten about the Heal equipment, and was unsure how I was supposed to even make it through later dungeons, considering how fast you use up the 99 potions you have. The Heal equiptment, of course, helps tremendously with that problem. And the Zeus gauntlet, together with the Black Shirt, Thors Hammer and that stuff that casts FIR2, made it so that my mages finally could actually really contribute in every fight.
Honestly, I like having a WM, just because I like having the ability to instantly get out of a dungeon, and because he is the only source of reviving inside a dungeon. But he seems, on the whole, pretty useless. Healing inside of battles is only rarely relevant, because either you or the enemy dies so fast. And the heal options that there are, before the Heal Staff anyway, aren't that great. Also, Life has a chance of failing inside battles, which makes it just so much more frustrating. On the whole, considering that everyone can use the Heal equipment, I don't find the WM that useful. It's nice to have the Harm spells, for one or two dungeons, though.
The BM is similar. The level two spells are pretty useful for killing groups of enemies, especially around Elfland, but there just aren't enough charges there, and, because of the bug, the spells soon are too weak. An item that has infinite charges of level 2 spells is great, but another class could have used that too. Haste is a great spell (without it, the remaches with the Fiends and the fight with Chaos seem incredibly hard, the damage just wasn't there, for me), but elsewise, it seems like another class would be more useful for most of the game.
The Ocean Shrine was pretty easy. Both the monsters, as the navigation. I liked that the mermaids lived basically inside the dungeon, it was a nice touch to have someone live inside this monser infested area. Unfortunately, I forgot to pick up the Ribbon in there, and had to come back, because my BM was way too vulnerable without it, in the last dungeon. Not much else to say here, Kraken wasn't much of a challenge either.
The Caravan seems to be another place that might be too well hidden. But there is a hint, and the place looks like its special, so I don't think it's too unfair. That you need 50k for the bottle was a different thing. Not too bad, you can likely do other stuff, and just a bit of wandering around should give you 50k soon enough. I had just bought some spells, and needed a bit more money. Not a big deal, two fights were enough.
From then on, I just got stronger and stronger, and nothing seemed to be able to stand in my way. The game had become really easy at this point. The Flying Fortress (I think that's the name, Tiamats dungeon) and the Waterfall both were pretty easy. Except for meeting Warmech, who decided to just kill one of my guys. Thankfully, it wasn't the WM, so that was easily fixed, but still. I never liked that this jerk is just a random encounter, who will, if you are unlucky, appear and kill someone, just for fun. Tiamat himself was kind of challenging, because he finally was a boss that took a few rounds, but I was never in any real danger.
And then, I got the Excalibur and went to the final dungeon. I still like that it is at the very start, and that the bats are just the poor warriors who had lost, and were now cursed for way too long.
I still find the decision weird, that you can't get out of this dungeon. The idea behind most of the game seems to be, that you go into a dungeon, learn about it's layout, get some treasure, and just learn the shortest way to the next floor. But here, without magic, you are stuck. Maybe the game expects you to have someone who can get you out. But, considering that FF III does the same thing (I think), being stuck in the final dungeon seems intentional. Can't say that I like this decision, just because it makes grinding harder, which you might still need, but it does give the whole thing an epic feel. You are completely in now, stuck in the past at some horrible place. Either you or the enemy dies.
And here, I cheated a bit. I knew about the rematches, and I knew that Nuke arbitrarily decides to randomly kill characters, or not, because the variance in damage is so absurd. My characters were around level 25, so maybe that was just too low, but the regular monsters died pretty, so it felt correct. For that reason, I made a savestate before the battle, and reloaded, when that stupid spell decided that it had to kill just my WM. The only character who could have revived the others. The second time, my BB died, which was fine. I could revive him, so no big deal. Lich didn't get a second attack in. Kary nearly killed my BM (he had exactly 1 HP left, after her attack), but fell pretty easily, too. With Kraken, it started to get tough. My FI and my BB both did way less damage than I expected, and here, I started to use my six charges of Fast to make them stronger. Just enough for the last three bosses. Kraken hit hard, but was relatively easily beaten. Tiamat was not challenge at all. I mean, he survived a few rounds, but mainly used elemental spells, which didn't do too much damage.
For the record, I didn't use savestates at any other point. The rest of the dungeon worked out fine, and I would have accepted defeat, had I died. It is really just NUKE, which I just find too much of a coin toss.
And then, I was already at the end. I didn't spend time, getting any treasure. I just assumed that the Excalibur was the best weapon, my BB only needed his fists, and my mages weren't supposed to attack anyway. I also had Prorings and three Ribbons, so I just assumed that I was ready. Chaos wasn't too bad, as he, too, just attacked with spells. I was afraid that my damage wasn't enough, and he would heal himself, but I think he died in the fourth round.
And with that, it was done. As I said, his death felt pretty epic. The way he slowly vanishes really makes it feel like the end of an epic journey.
I'll probably write a bit more later, some final thought and stuff. But for now, the post is already long enough.
