Welcome back to Batman’s Dying Dream after a long three-week hiatus. School really had to come first, so I sincerely apologize for the delay. Last time, learned what
actual world building in a Final Fantasy is, and how to construct side content in a very linear game in an adequate fashion. Oh, and that side content isn’t necessarily repetitive as you will soon see.
Also, Haddock died again or something. Batman refuses to let his friends die in his dreams because he’s an extremely clingy person.
We have two options now: go to the Land of Summons or go to the Sylph Cave. I generally like going to the Sylph Cave first because it’s harder, and you’ll gain slightly more levels there. Plus you get lots of loot. And you have to do it twice. Yaaaaaay.
Let’s go. By the way, imgur’s new layout sucks. I come back after a few weeks and it’s shit.
Illusionary World
Sylvan? Isn’t that a tutoring service?
Now this another map that I can call a decent dungeon map. You’re not necessarily going from Point A to Point B. You’re going from Point A to Point B or C, which is a bit of a departure in a game like this. The entire map is like a maze where you have to look for alternate routes to take. Luckily they’re easy to spot. The design is also completely different from the boring standard-bog cave maps we’ve seen before. And you’re going to need Float to get past the area without getting your HP decreased.
Oh, hey, you know what’s a neat thing? You can’t possibly get through this area without expending tons of potions or running through + running away from battles unless you were at the level that Beer got float. So it’s kind of like a lock on the dungeon, but it’s a very loose lock. What’s annoying about having to cast Float is that you have to cast it on every floor.
So remember how I said this cave is difficult? It really is. It’s similar to the difficulty spike after Baron. The difficulty spike is a little different, though. Monsters don’t just hit harder, they hit you with a bunch of dumb status effects. Basically, enemies in this cave are complete
dicks.
Battle 1 (this isn’t worth me picking a new battle theme)
**** YOU. Seriously. Some of the random encounters in this place boggle my mind because:
a) You cannot equip armour to bypass some of the status effects at this stage in the game.
b) Croak croak croak
c) Breath breath breath
d) Cumulative spells!!!!
e) You need to wait until the spells are finished being cast.
I hate ToadLady #s. I hate them more than the next bizarre little monster around here. You have to sit around while they say “Croak my dearies” and then her frog companions will croak and croak. The ToadLady can’t actually hit you. All she does is have her frogs do her dirty work. And her frogs take for-fucking-
ever to cast things. Sometimes they hit the same person a few times in a row, sometimes they hit different people… and at the end, you’ll have some guys who are frogs and others who are normal. Frog party members suck because they can’t do much; they attack for 1 damage, and they have poor defense. You want to get them out of that condition as fast as possible. Heal spells, toad spells or heal items can heal them, but you want to get a spell off the ground that will kill off the frogs in one blow.
The only good thing about ToadLadys is that they drop a Ribbon. As FF players, you know what Ribbons do other than keep your hair all nice and tidy—they block status effects. Most of them (Slow, Berserk, Paralyze, and Doom are not included). They are valuable assets and whenever you get one, hold onto it and equip it immediately.
Look at all of these paths! This is real map design, folks. We’re going to follow the path that nets us the most treasure first because it’s the longest path, imo.
We’re underground so trees need to be DarkTrees now. Also, am I the only one who constantly forgets that while DarkTrees and Trees in general are weak against fire, Ghosts/Spirits absorb it? I do the most counterproductive thing all the freaking time…
But Clair should be using Mist most of the time anyway. Or Titan.
Oversized Centpede #s should go down in a few physical hits. They aren’t hard.
Another reason why you’d want to go here as early as possible is because of all the crap you can get here. Some of them are decent upgrades (ex: Charm Rod, FullMoon, etc.), and others are rarer potions (Elixirs, Cure 3s). We get a ton of new arrows, but since I don’t have Beer using arrows, they’re pointless for me.
“But Schala,” you say, “You’re forgetting the main attraction of this dungeon!”
Hey man, keep your shirt on. I like to take it nice and slow.
At the end of the dungeon, you come across that black hole up there in the second screen, which takes you to the basement which is covered in those spots that take off HP and you have 6 treasure chests to pick up. This part of the dungeon makes the Sylvan Cave feel like an endurance run. Because you have to put up with a ton of these…
The stupid
MOLBOL #s.
Shadow Hearts II - Glint of Light (Orchestral Arrangement) ~ War of The Hungry Wolf
Molbols are Malboros (モルボル – moruboru). No, they aren’t a brand of cigarettes. That’s
Marlboro. The Molbols will use Breath, which turns you into a tiny frog-pig that’s blind and mute. That is definitely not a place you want to be, but hey at least they don’t poison you? I swear, this condition is the worst in Final Fantasy VIII, but it doesn’t stop it from being super-annoying here. They also have quite a bit of HP, so you’re going to be casting Mist/Titan a few times to get rid of them (4200 HP).
We win an Avenger sword. The Avenger sword isn’t passed down to FF4 from The Avengers. Rather, it auto-berserks the user. This is useful in regular battles where Batman isn’t doing anything. It’s a 2H weapon so you’re going to lose your shield if you equip it.
And that’s Round 1 of the Sylvan Cave.
Oh, and Beer learns Cure 4. I’ve always loved the animation for that.
Round 2… we’re just going to skip right to the main event.
what genius put a roomy house down in this hellhole
I just stepped into The Legend of Zelda except the fairies here are really mean. Don’t throw Tatl and Tael at me right now.
They also have Claws in their treasure chests for some reason… I wouldn’t equip them on Edge right now because he’s doing better with his Ninja weapons than he is with his Karate weapons and…
WHAT THE FFFFF—
Batman, let this man die. Oh God let him die in peace. Holy shit, keeping him living like this is kind of inhumane at this point… I know you’re trying to atone for your sins, but this isn’t good either!
How the crap did he get here after the Cannon Explosion? How is he not healed yet because of his Karate? Why is Haddock, who’s also supposed to be dead, walking around and fixing airships even though he exploded and his guts splattered all over the place while Donnie’s—a KARATE—laying around in bed?
As an aside, I like that they kept the claws in the chest consistent with what the player would usually have Donnie equipped with before he leaves (even if you strip him of everything).
I wouldn’t take him either. Batman might make him do more stupid shit and then he’d have to go on living without limbs. I can’t help but to feel like Batman’s being selfish. He’s not doing anything to benefit the people who he likes to call his friends. He’s just trying to surround himself with people so that he could feel better about himself.
Even if those people are supposed to die.
So I guess we’re supposed to fix Donnie, then. We’ll do that later.
Right now, we’re going to do the next sidequest. I’m also going to once again complain about imgur.
Our next sidequest takes place on this tiny little island in the middle of nowhere.
Final Fantasy VI – Another World of Beasts
To this very day, I still call it that. I don’t call it the Land of Summons or the Path to whatever they call it in newer translations. Is it an ambiguous name that could reference anything? Sure. But isn’t Clair a monster tamer anyway? Of course. Also if she came from the Land of Summon Monsters through here, how the heck did she even reach the castle? Forget that, why isn’t she at a higher level? This game doesn’t like to entertain logic, does it?
This dungeon is fucking awesome because the fact that you can see the floor below it. It scrolls the next floor’s map as you’re walking around so you can see what’s coming next. So you’re taking the dungeon on layer-by-layer.
Also, you need to cast float in here to step over the goopy oozy things that hurt you.
Gosh, even the hidden pathways have that layer effect going on for it. It’s sooo good.
As for monsters, I like the monsters here than in the Sylvan Cave. But they’re easier.
SaGa Frontier II – Feldschlacht III
While we were busting our butts in the Sylvan Cave defeating monsters who spewed crap and turned us into frogs, we have a much easier time in the Land of Monsters.
First we have the Conjurer. This is the guy who you want to farm those Summons from (additionally, you can farm XP from him). Just keep defeating the enemies he calls, and you can have a shiny new Imp summon… which sucks, btw. Conjurers can summon a lot of stuff including Imps, Nagas, Clappers (dragons that use Lightning on you), etc.
Hooligans and Red Eyes were not encountered on this runthrough, but they don’t pose much threat. You can make short work of them. Red Eyes like using Vampire. Kill them quick.
Warriors resist physical attacks, but you can easily get rid of them with a summon or with Virus. Fiends are annoying because they cast Charm, but at least it’s only one status effect instead of a million including things that turn you into useless Frogs.
Arachnes are rendered harmless because you’ve cast Float already. All they do is try to cast Quake, but it won’t affect you at all.
No problem at all. We get a Defense Sword for defeating these guys, and it boosts Vitality, and can cast protect if you use it as an item (I can’t remember if it’s possible in this version or not; probably not… I’ll check in the next entry). It’s one of the strongest weapons in the game and I won’t hesitate to equip it.
This is different. We don’t see this tile often so that means we’re going to be warped to somewhere else. Hold onto your butts! We can see something that isn’t a cave below us!
Illusionary World
What’s cool about this initial floor is that while the Monsters are friendly, you can still see another layer of stuff beneath you. And it’s a town.
The Monsters are very happy to see Clair again.
Oh, I neglected to cap the fact that I got a Rat’s Tail. Hmm, I wonder what’s that for? Who would want something so
icky?
Here’s the second-last town in Final Fantasy IV. But technically, it’s the last town-town. It’s so strange! You can also see that there’s another layer of map, so you’re left guessing where you need to go to get the stuff in the treasure chests below. We’ll do that later.
Everyone in this town wears cloaks for some reason. Except the Bombs and Chocobos. They don’t care. These Monsters like to gossip a lot too. “Did you hear about Shiva? I heard… *whisperwhisperwhisper*” “ohmigosh no waaaaaayyyyyyyy”
And yes, Chocobo. It
is weird that you’re talking. All you have to do is come, peck the enemy once or twice, and leave. I don’t need you to gossip about Summon Monsters Celebrities too.
The weapon/armour shops have lots of stuff. We only need to purchase one weapon and the armour, though. We’re buying the Lunar Staff, some Aegis Shields, and two Sorcerer clothes. I’m going to keep the Charm Rod on Clair because she gets a Wis boost from it. The Lunar Staff gives Beer a Will boost. It’s not like she’s attacking anything anyway.
Oh, son, you haven’t heard the half of it. First there were these Zubats who wouldn’t stop sucking our blood, and then there was this ToadLady…
I think this guy is a little slow. Clair’s a human and you seem perfectly fine with her presence.
I’m pretty sure that he’d be mad if we built a cabin in here, but who cares. He doesn’t seem to care that we’re raiding his goods and are building campfires so we could eat marshmallows to heal up while writing in our LiveJournals about our grand adventures in a Dying Dream.
Anyway, the Town of Monsters was one of my favourite locations in the game when I was younger just because of the Library.
You learn quite a bit about Callers and Summoned Beasts. The Datalog here is nonessential info for comprehension of the story, and it’s just a little extra that the player doesn’t need to know. It’s much like FF8’s and FF12’s way of worldbuilding in that regard (ex: Selphie’s Diary entries, FF12’s bestiary). Much like FF8 and FF12, the FF4 “datalog” marries extra info with gameplay. You’ve been able to read most of the bookshelves for most of the game. The player here is allowed to explore the game’s library for a smidge of information. The Datalog here isn’t just information or separated from the game. It’s woven very nicely with one aspect of a town.
That is how you Datalog correctly if you need it.
When I was little, I… copied these down in a notebook of mine and I could probably recall them word-for-word if you asked me to. Actually, I wrote a lot of FF4 stuff down in a notebook. Before I did some cleaning this summer, I had binders/notebooks full of notes and minifaqs I wrote up for myself growing up for many games I’d played in the past, including the levels that you acquire spells and stuff. But since most of that info is memorized in general now (and because I’d taken the time to type them up in some cases), I figured I could just throw them out. I’m a little sad I did that, but it was taking up valuable space.
This book instantly updated in the past few weeks.
A literal whale? It’s not Willzyx, is it? Because, um, I hate to break it to you, but…
I wasn’t accusing you of working for Burger King and scaring the everliving hell out of people!
I don’t understand. If Asura and Leviatan ended up raising Clair after Leviatan decided to get some eats, wouldn’t she trust Clair enough to summon her to save the world? Or is she just testing Batman because Batman sucks? I like to believe it’s the latter.
No Wisdom? *tsk*
That’s not even a sentence.
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom – Battle #2
This is Boss #1 of the Land of Monsters:
Godo Asura. Asura generally casts White Magic spells on herself. So what do you do in situations like that? Cast Wall on her, obviously. She counters attacks with a physical attack but that doesn’t do much. Keep hitting her and summoning things and throwing them at her to take her down.
She behaves differently from the Advance version onwards (ex: she’ll cast Protect (and maybe Shell, I can’t remember) on herself, but again, Reflect will work against her).
Asura is a summon that you probably won’t use often, as she costs 50 MP to summon. Rosa’s spells are cheaper plus she knows Cure 4 already. When you summon Asura, she’ll randomly use Life 1, Cure 2 or Cure 3. Clair is best used offensively.
Next.
I don’t know what this man is saying. But let’s fight. You ate my allies and killed Batman! I’ll make you suffer, Burger King! How dare you make this game worse!
Mystic Ark – Hey, Let’s Fight!
Holy shit he turned into a freaking Dragon.
Ummmmm....
Wasn’t he bigger than this? Way bigger than a ship? How long was he? Whatever, he was big, GAF. He was the size of a darn island. This guy must be an impostor or Batman’s freaking out again and figured that he should tweak the fight to make it seem like he has a chance in hell of winning.
Leviatan isn’t even that hard. He has two forms. Curled and Uncurled. Curled means that he’s going to cast Ice 2 and physically attack people. When he’s uncurled, he’ll use Big Wave on your whole party. You could cast Slow on him if you want, but the fight will end faster this way. And I’m low on MP because I didn’t use a tent after getting through the dungeon.
Summon Indra, use Blitz, use Jump, make Batman attack, and Beer should heal things because that’s what Beer is for. Repeat for a few turns.
It sure is. (Who wrote this...) So basically they were trying to test Batman. Because in Batman’s Dying Dream everything revolves around Batman even though he’s a terrible character.
We find a passage on the first floor of this town with new equipment and some stuff, but it's a fast exit.
Next time: WALLS ARE EVIL.
