Final Fantasy Part 11: Graduation and Expedition to the North

Cracking the Code

Unsure of what to do with my mysterious new prize, I return to Crescent Lake to heal, restore my hefty potion supply, and save before consulting my favorite circle of old people. While at the item shop, I lament being able to only purchase one item at a time, but at least I can have up to 99 of it. Then I step into the weapon and armor shops to clear up my inventory of equipment that Arek doesn’t use.

A little better, but I bet I'll be back to sell more soon. Is Arek an equipment hoarder, or is it the player behind the fighter?

My favorite circle of old people loses its appeal when I show them the FLOATER and get no reaction at all, like they’ve all seen it before. Instead, they give me the same old, same old info.

You've already told me this! I wish you updated more often!

Ha ha! What took you ten years to probe took me an hour to get!

I head south and find a wide open desert that I haven’t visited yet. If memory serves me correctly,  my next goal is in this desert. Out of options, I take out the FLOATER and hold it up in the air.

I hope there's no sand stuck in the propellers after being buried all that time!

Ta-da! The airship comes out of the ground, ready to take flight! I can thank my memory for that as I hop in and head to the northern continents. The music is automatically stuck in my head while I fly around.

If only it were an AIR-SHIP, if you know what I mean! Thanks, I’ll be here all week!

What Are In Those Holes?

As I fly around the northern continents, I see a town covered in forest, a gigantic desert with a tower, a town accessible by canoe, and a river that leads to a waterfall. I decide to return to those odd holes in the ground, starting with the one at the northwest spot. I land my airship, save my game with a tent, and enter the first hole.

Inside the hole, I find dragons, except that they talk to me instead of fight me!  One of them tells me that courageous ones bring back proof of courage (I get the feeling he’s talking about the TAIL). I also find a cabin, 575G, and soft.

Excited about what the other holes will bring me, I head to the marsh-covered hole to the east. I have to land on the grass next to the marsh and hoof it, just one disadvantage of the airship. In this hole, another dragon tells me something that I already did.

I totally broke sequence! I wonder if I could have gotten the FLOATER in the Ice Cave and had an AIRSHIP before I even fought Kary? Think of the possibilities!

In this hole, I take a house, 500G, and 10G right under the noses of some innocent, helpful dragons and then head to the hole north of this one. On this island, there are two holes, where I meet some more dragons.

I hope Bahamut doesn’t mind that I’m taking his dragons’ goods.

 Speaking of which, where are the shops?

Disappointed I find no goods in this hole, I travel to the other hole on this island, where I have to walk down a long chasm leading to another staircase. Am I about to meet Bahamut? Worse yet, am I about to FIGHT Bahamut like in later Final Fantasy games?

Wow, not even a hello or I'll kill you, you thieving adventurers? Right to business.

Holy moly! He made my party reach puberty!

I take a minute to take in what just happened. By bringing him a TAIL, he helped me graduate and become true warriors. It reminds me of later Final Fantasy games when certain characters would change class due to story reasons, except this time, it’s everybody!

After admiring my new party, I continue exploring the holes. I put Vic on point because I think he has the best-looking character sprite out of battle. I hope it doesn’t mean that enemies will attack him more.

Come on, don't you agree?

Then I move the airship to a lonely hole on the northeast corner of the region. I speak to a dragon who tells me that if I am courageous, Bahamut will reward me (too late!), and I move on to the last hole all the way to the east, where I find 2750G, 2000G, 1455G, 160G, 9500G, 2750G, and 1520G. Being able to fly really pays off, doesn’t it!

Afraid of you? Please, I just took 20135G from you and your neighbor!

Exploration of the North

After become the true LIGHT WARRIORS and raiding the Den of Peaceful Dragons, I land my airship at the edge of the forest of the northeast continent and hoof it to the town surrounded in woods. When I make it to town, I get a feeling I won’t be learning much about this town just yet.

Uh oh...Where is Google Translate?

When I return to my airship, I return to Crescent Lake to buy EXIT for Jule and Melmond to buy WARP for Vic. Both spells should be helpful when navigating dungeons and for emergencies. I’m excited to see that many of the townspeople of Melmond are doing better. They thank me for helping the Earth revive and compliment my appearance. 

Then I return to the north continent, but this time I go to the town accessible by canoe. I suspect there is something in the waterfall, so I enter the town to gather information. For example, there is a man named Underhill, the caravan manager, who has something strange. I think I should pay this Underhill a visit in the oasis, where he is having a closeout sale. There is a lot of talk about mermaids, which makes me wonder if I am close to the fiend of water’s domain. I learn that the mermaids were driven away, and to save them, I need OXYALE to travel deep in a submarine (Everybody got that?). I also learn there is a robot in the waterfall and that Dr. Unne can translate the townspeople to the east with a slab that sank with the water shrine.

Not to mention you need them to walk.

Watch yerself, mate! Last time I spoke to a pirate, I got a free ship! 

Why is everyone here obsessed with legs? 

In the black magic shop, I find SABR (This supposedly raises attack power but the guide I use claims it doesn’t work as advertised, so I will stay away.) and BLND (blinds an enemy), so I purchase BLND and move to the white magic shop. There I find ARUB (protects from instant kill spells so YES PLEASE!) and HEL3. I buy ARUB right off the bat and wait to see what other level 7 magic I can find. Oddly enough, each store only has two level 7 spells, so I wait to see if I can find the others before making my other magic purchases.

A robot in a RPG? Get out of here, you lunatic! 

You mean Dr. Unne really IS somebody? I better find this SLAB so everything makes sense in the other town!

After my shopping spree, I search for the caravan to see what Underhill has that’s so special. When I reach the oasis, I find he has a bottle for 50000G. Since I obviously have to purchase it, I cave in and spend it. I open the bottle, and a fairy flies out. It’s gone! Having wasted my money, I reset the game and buy the bottle again, this time not opening it until I reach town. When the girl doesn’t react to my owning the bottle, I decide to save and visit the waterfall to see what’s going on with this robot.

Coming next time! Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto, and Other Wild Watery Adventures!

Thanks for reading, and leave your comments below!