Final Fantasy Part 14: Look to the Skies

Cracking the Code

With the slab in hand, I rush over to Melmond to hand it over to Dr. Unne. He teaches me the Lefeinish language faster than a copy of Rosetta Stone, and I’m off to Coneria, Pravoka, and Elf Land.

Totally didn’t notice that Arek can use white magic up to level 3 now!

While on my shopping trip, I sell old equipment, and Arek becomes the model for Opal Men’s Wear, wearing only armor and accessories made from opal. I also buy for him the following spells: CURE, FOG, RUSE (even though it doesn’t work according to the magic FAQ, I can’t buy HARM and it’s only 100G), ALIT, MUTE, INVS, CUR2, and AFIR (I get mad at Elf Land because Arek can only learn two of the level 3 spells). After declaring a grudge on Elf Land, he says good bye to the town YET AGAIN to head for the town of the Sky Warriors. Unfortunately, I have to leave my airship far away again as I take the trek to the town.

Remember where we parked!

When I enter the town, Dr. Unne’s research pays off, and I can understand everything the Lefeinish say.

Here, let me refer you to the Coneria Law of Finder’s…

 The townspeople tell me about how they used to control the wind 400 years ago from a castle that still floats among the stars. However, the Lefeinish were exiled from their castle when the fiend Tiamat took the power of wind from them. I also learn that the Mirage Tower in the desert is the entrance to the Floating Castle. That’s great, but how do I get into the Mirage Tower? A resident hands me a chime that I can play to gain access to the Mirage Tower.

If only I could tell him to get to the waterfall, but he’s so far away. 

How morbid…Were these the bats in the Chaos Temple?

Before leaving town, I notice a gap in one of the fences, so I walk through to the right and find a combination black and white magic shop (the next best thing to a combination Taco Bell and Pizza Hut!)! In the white magic shop, I buy LIF2 (restores life with all HP; I do not know if it works in battle yet), and in the black magic shop, I buy NUKE (also known as the non-elemental spell Flare in later entries and harms all enemies in this one)! Before heading back, I take my airship to Gaia to purchase some more level 7 and 8 spells. I buy Jule WALL and FADE, and I buy Vic STOP. I decide to buy Jule HEL3 when I can afford it for when things get tough at the end (After all, I have strong warriors and magic spells, so HRM3 should be as powerful of an anti-undead spell as I need.). It seems that no matter how much money I have, it’s never enough for magic!

Why does one need an inn inside an isolated town? Is it a bed and breakfast?

The Mirage Tower

Inside the Mirage Tower, I am greeted with that terrible noise they call the Marsh Cave song. 

Bat Man?

Wait, so I can walk around the entire room and go to the next floor, or I can go for treasure?

When I walk into the tower, I head right into the treasure room and find a cabin, Aegis shield, 2750G, 18010G, Vorpal sword (which does not raise my attack farther than the Defense sword, do I don’t equip it), 3400G, Heal helmet (sweet!), and 880G.

Darn right, I'm the master!

After raiding the first treasure room, I save with a tent outside and then head to the first staircase. This time, there is a maze along with a room in the middle, so I head towards the room looking for more treasure. When I get to the treasure room, I find 8135G, Thor’s Hammer (He’s going to feel like a dork when he can’t save the day in The Avengers because he didn’t bring his hammer!), 7900G, 12350G, 13000G, house, Sun Sword, 7690G, 10000G, and Dragon Mail. I give Mighty Thor’s hammer to Jule, who needs the attack power boost (and can also use the heal staff when not fighting!), and since it does more attack damage, Arek equips the Sun Sword. Oddly, the Dragon Mail has the same exact defensive properties as the opal armor, so I equip it. Thor’s Hammer also shoots lightning at enemies, and I discover that the mage staff I pooh-poohed earlier seems to have different elements than just fire. When combined, Jule and Vic make a pretty good crowd controlling pair even without using their own MP!

Sweet, even more treasures!

After finding all the treasures on this floor, I speak with a robot who tells me there was a robot with a cube to enter the Floating Castle who fled to the west. Thankfully I already met this robot, but I decide to cast EXIT and leave the tower to sell off my excess equipment and fill out my spell books. I decide to buy HEL3 and ZAP! Here are my complete spell books.

Here is Jule’s. Oddly enough, he/she makes a rather good attack mage too. 

Here is Vic’s. Obviously a powerhouse along with the all-important FAST to power up my attackers.

The Floating Castle

At the top of the tower, I find a robot standing next to a platform. Before I can reach it, I encounter a Blue Dragon, but it’s no threat as Arek and Lee take it down before it can fight. The robot tells me I need the cube, and I walk right by and teleport to the Floating Castle without a word.

Looks rather futuristic!

To the south, I find the Bane Sword (Casts BANE? Yes please!! Since it doesn’t raise Arek’s attack power, I hand it to Vic who will hold onto it for him and cast BANE for free.) To the west, I find another treasure room with 7900G, 4150G, healing potion, and 9900G. As I step out, I find another EYE, and before I can freak out, Lee kills it in one hit before he gets a chance to cast XXXX! He gets another chance two steps over, and he misses hitting Arek with XXXX, but that doesn’t stop Vic from killing him with BANE (thanks, Bane Sword!). To the east, I find a third treasure room with 180G, another heal helmet, 6720G, ProRing, and 5000G.

To the north, I find an elevator that takes me to the next floor, which is laid out in multiple directions. To the northwest, I find a house and a silver helmet. To the west, I find 880G and 13000G. I see the elevator to the next area to the south, and when I reach the southwest, I find an important item.

You can cancel that call to Wolverine. We have it covered!

To the southeast, I find a white robe (I guess? Maybe it’s just a t-shirt. In either case, I dropped a silver helmet to pick it up! It casts INV2 on the party.) and a black robe (I guess? Maybe it’s just a t-shirt. In either case, I dropped Vic’s cap to get it. It casts some black magic spell on all enemies). Although they do not increase my defense any, they have good effects, so I keep them without equipping them. In the east room, I find a ribbon and an opal shield. Finally, in the northeast corner, I find an opal bracelet. Pleased with my progress, I cast EXIT to save outside.

Saw these guys on my way back up after saving. I knew that other vampire wasn't one of a kind!

On the third level, I find a green robot who tells me to look out the window and see the world from the Floating Castle. When I look I see a menacing sight.

Something tells me I'll be returning to the Chaos Temple soon.

At this point in the game, I’m starting to dread getting treasure. I strongly dislike having to rearrange my inventory and drop things before I know what’s in the chest!

In the treasure room to the east, I find 6400G, soft, 9500G, cloth (See?!), 8135G, and ProCape (At least I got to drop that useless cloth this time.). I give Jule the ProCape so that he/she is safe. When I move to the west, I find an elevator going up and a treasure room with soft,4150G, 3400G, and a katana (Which none of my characters can equip, so I know what’s going to be sold!). When I walk north, I find 9000G, another healing potion, 5450G, and another ProRing!

On my way to the south end of the screen, I read important information on a slab.

Now which poor Lefeinish had to carve this before being executed?

Now how do you suppose THAT works? Is there a button on top of the helmet?

To lighten the load for the party, I give Vic the other heal helmet so that for easy fights, Jule and Vic can heal the party while Arek and Lee run the show. Up to this point, with the exception of using EXIT to leave, I have used absolutely no MP since entering the Mirage Tower and Floating Castle! Then I reach the far south end of the screen and find another breaking news story:

Oh wait, it’s the same! Tiamat must be very egotistical.

Looking for Trouble, but Trouble's Also Looking for Me!

When I reach the fourth floor, I heal my party. Conventional Final Fantasy lore speaks of the notorious War Mech, and I don’t want to be caught off-guard. When I originally played Final Fantasy, I avoided it, but this time, I’m ready to kick its butt! Read all about War Mech at http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Warmech. Thanks for the great read, guys!

But as I’m roaming the hall searching for War Mech, I encounter several sorcerers who take out Jule in one shot! I guess I don’t have the luxury to search for it now because it’s a race against time before my party is wiped out. I’ll say sayonara to the idea and search for Tiamat so I can leave and save (Oh, if only Arek could learn LIFE!).

When I make it to the top floor, I become freaked out as I walk across a long, narrow bridge. I thought it was the previous floor where I could fight War Mech, but now I remember that THIS is the floor. Things are getting tense, now! And then at the culmination of freak-out, War Mech actually appears right outside Tiamat’s door!

Let’s say right off the bat that this fight would be easier and more beneficial if Jule were alive. With that out of the way, I am one lucky bastard! It casts NUCLEAR on the party before the start of the video, which hurts me but doesn’t take me out, and then it physically attacks Arek and Lee, leaving Vic alone to buff up Lee. Lee’s steroid-induced rampage tears the War Mech apart. What a reward; I know where I will do my final level grinding! Now if I can nurse myself back to health and defeat Tiamat, this will become legendary. By the way, when Jule is dead, doesn’t he/she look similar to Luke from Tales of the Abyss?

Right after defeating War Mech, Tiamat is a screaming joke. I have absolutely no problems taking out the final fiend, and as you can see in the video, the first thing I do is run out and save (Heaven forbid I have to do that again!). With all four fiends defeated, I make my way back to Crescent Lake to revive Jule, heal up, and have another meeting with the Knowledgeable Old People’s Club!

Putting it All Together

Jule: “Hey guys! What did I miss?” Party: “…”

When I reach the circle of sages, I FINALLY learn some new things. The Temple of Fiends is in the middle of the four elemental altars (Again, is this the Temple of Chaos from the beginning of the game?). Then things get really confusing! Here is my understanding of it:

With the power of the four orbs shining once again, I can travel back in time through the Time Gate. Apparently, the true enemy is hiding 2000 years in the past (There’s always another bad guy isn’t there!). To make things even weirder, every 2000 years, time repeats itself, controlled by this mysterious enemy hiding in the past. This villain also sends the four fiends 2000 years into the present day to threaten the world at the same time he travels 2000 years into the past!

I DON'T GET IT!

For one thing, why would the villain want to repeat the cycle over and over again? Does he just want to experience destroying the world over and over again? Also, why would this need to happen more than once? If I’m a repeat scenario of a Time-Loop, that tells me that this plan is continuously not working for the villain. Confused or not, I head to the Temple of Chaos after selling and saving.

When I enter the Temple, I find the bats the Lefeinish spoke of. Since the orbs shine again, they can now speak, even though they are still bats. They are the original Sky Warriors who challenged the Fiend 400 years ago. I learn that the Fiend put the curse on them. To open the Time Gate, I have to place the four shining orbs over the black orb in the center of the room.

Even though I’ve reached the end, I still have some loose ends to tie up. For one thing, I still have to bring the Adamant to the dwarves to get a powerful sword. I also need to return to the Floating Castle to go for the final level up grind. After all, I want my characters to be powerful by the time I reach the Fiend.

 

Eek! Bats!

Coming next time! Final Fantasy: Finale (In Video Let’s Play Format!)

Thanks for reading, and leave your comments below!