Light spoilers for Blackmoon Prophecy and a few heavier spoilers for various mainline Final Fantasy games
Remember how I said Naddaha Pyramid was like the narrow, winding path dungeons with high encounter rates like in IV?
After you charge a lightening rod for him, Dr. Cid will teleport you across the next leg of the journey to the Wind Shrine. Except his laboratory at the other end of the teleportation device is filled with his malfunctioning, aggressive robots. With a long and winding slog over catwalks and through narrow corridors.
It is as close to the goddamn Tower of Babil from IV as I ever want to encounter outside of IV.
Not long after, we gather more party members far more quickly than in most 2D FFs. Out of the mainline games, the only one that felt like this was IV. Yet IV didn’t always make the difference between a permanent PC and an NPC obvious, which added credibility to a few scripted deaths (other deaths and resurrections were batshit random). VI had a relatively large playable cast of characters but gathering party members itself was not frequent.
After Ami and Nobumasa, we soon encounter the Blackmoon Prophecy version of a recurring FF character called Siegfried.
Siegfried is typically a bit player. So is his frequent friend and rival Gilgamesh. The one I remember best was from VI. I think the first time I saw him was on the Phantom Train? Dodging traps and being kind of random amid the transmigrating souls? Shows up later at the coliseum in the World of Ruin?
Things get going once we encounter a bridge locked down by the slightly-familiar General Leonardo. Many Gaia nation states possess magical, historical weapons of both heraldic and military value. Cornelia’s own sacred treasure- the sword Excalibur -was lately stolen by the infamous thief Gilgamesh. We learn, from the Cornelian King at his Nideen palace, that the trail leads through the verdant cave system known as Bragg’s Folly. We get Excalibur back, Leonardo lets us cross.
Bragg’s Folly was the first dungeon that felt like it was applying specific pressure to MP management. Every fight requires some sort of massive damage, multiple target attack which means Vera gets to flex a little with the summoning. Storm Breath blue magic is also an asset. To date, ethers (MP restoratives) are only occasionally available at item shops, which is another reason why Laka’s ability to steal comes in handy.
The use of ‘Amarant’s Theme’ (IX) here felt perfect. So did ‘Battle at the Big Bridge’ (V) during the Gilgamesh fight, what with the hammy dialogue and the horns, electric guitars and keyboards gave it a fun seventies grindhousiness (Something with katanas and Kurosawa-like spurting blood? You can steal an Atlas Armlet from Gilgamesh, btw).
Come to think of it, this version of Siegfried feels more deserving of ‘Amarant’s Theme’ than Amarant himself. Amarant himself was not one of the better-written parts of IX.
Siegfried, Nobumasa and Vahn take equal thirds of something comparable to red magic. One way in which Siegfried is distinguished is his ability to learn and use some of Cyan’s Sword Art skills like Dispatch (VI). Siegfried has also- thus far – not been able to recover MP from Ami’s Cheer command.
In the Nightmare Cave, we face the Dreamweaver, who assumes various shapes to exploit mental and emotional weak points. Vahn’s mother Elise is one illusion, who says cryptic things about his father. Another illusion is a man named Davon whose apparition is visibly distressing to Siegfried.
Rather like IV, our foes remain one step ahead of us while we seek the crystals. Having escaped from the Branch dungeons, General Braak of Ivalice beats us to the Wind Crystal.
Now…Vera was one of the other three generals of Ivalice, whom were sent to Mysidia to intercept Darius. Vera is attempting rational interrogation when the other two spontaneously flip shit and decide to start beating confessions out of everyone.
(Local embodiment of Celes, from VI? Both Vera and Celes are generals but Celes was incarcerated and brutalized for speaking out against Kefka’s poisoning of the water supply at Doma. Vera is rescued like Celes but instead we find Vera attempting to exert her own authority to prevent mob tactics in her ranks. This feels significant)
Vera draws the line, the other two turn on her and Vahn and company fly to her aid.
Back in our relative present…
At the Wind Shrine, Braak attacks Vera for desertion and a boss fight ensues. While this is happening, Malacore appears directly in front of the Wind Crystal. Braak leaves, as though deferring to him.
Then Darius shows up, furious at having been subjected to mind control. Even with our newly-sane party member, though, Malacore is still able to swipe the Wind Crystal. Only the Earth Crystal at Mount Koltz remains.
I also had my first honest-to-goodness glitch encounter of the play-through at the camp site between the bridge outside of Nideen and Cornelia. I checked out the ability list next to that lil one, then turned the music box beside the moogle on and off. Then I couldn’t leave. The screen would fade to black like the normal transition and then I’d be standing in the central path as though I just entered. I slept in a tent- hoping it might move the game past whatever was going on -but it didn’t work. Had to close out and reload a save. It’s the only glitch I’ve found so far, though, so I’m not worried yet.
Nobumasa learns Mokusatsu at level 14 and Katon at level 15 which will make him way more useful. Both of those hit everyone in the opposing party. Katon is fire-aligned while Mokusatsu does non-elemental damage and may inflict blind and / or confuse. So far, blindness has turned out to be the most useful status effect and- with the monsters in the coming dungeons -you want them landing as few hits as possible.
The nation of Lindblum is the historic custodian of the Earth Shrine and its crystal. The journey is, of course, fraught.
Lindblum is beleaguered on two fronts. On one, the Earth Crystal has been taken to the Underworld by the Fey, behind an impermeable magic barrier. On the other, civil war has broken out. When Regent Gran decided to open avenues of trade and cultural exchange, a rash of militant xenophobia finds its voice in a courtier named Baram. They have, of late, began taking villages and checkpoints and have destroyed multiple bridges (Lindblum resembles a cluster of islands off the southern coast of the southeast continent so bridges are a big deal).
This group- known simply as ‘the rebels’ -appear to be a typical monster-of-the-week at first. Between Cornelia and the Lindblum borders, we attempt to slip through a heavily occupied checkpoint on chocobos.
The sprites of the Narshe guerrillas (VI) now ironically embody fratricidal isolationists. Our first confrontation consists of rushing through them as quickly as possible. The chocobo is constantly running at full speed while we dodge obstructions. Objects in the way deal damage and running into a rebel triggers a fight with some mid-level damage sponges. The obstacle course ends with the apparition of Gylfi and another boss fight with mind-controlled Hans.
Our path to Lindblum Castle takes us through the Arcane Academy, which rests on an islet in the center of a rare intact bridge. Elina and Oalston are ecstatic.
The Kirin magicite can be purchased from a scholar for 10,000 gil. Vera now has healing utility- Kirin gives everyone a big heal and casts Regen on them. I’ve been grinding Elina rather hard, putting her at level 18 at that point (with the average being around level 15), and she was still yet to learn Regen.
A scholar elsewhere in the Arcane Library will hand you the Remora nethicite which offers magic, spirit and MP leveling bonuses. Started off rotating Remora between Vera and Ami but Nobumasa also benefits a lot from Remora since his Ninjutsu abilities are scaled to spirit (the only combative magic that’s spirit-scaled so far).
One may also encounter an interesting lil dude called Laudo, who came to the Arcane Library to make a profit selling ethers. This has not worked out the way he planned and- for a thousand gil -will follow us around. If you elect to hire him, he will sell you cheap ethers anywhere you make camp, mitigating the prior ether scarcity. In the long run, Laudo’s wares will include more diverse and potent ethers.
Before sharing the latest breakthroughs in black and white magic with Oalston and Elina, the master of the Arcane Library wants to test their proficiency.
The two front-row spirits can be beaten according to the elemental affinities and antipathies that their colors suggest. For the one in the back row, you want Elina to spam Dia.
Upon surviving the test, Oalston is permitted to learn Comet and Elina is entrusted with Libra.
Thus far, trial, error and context has served me well with determining things like elemental weaknesses and generalized estimates of HP limits. The acquisition of Libra makes me wonder if this may be less feasible, going forward. Oalston has also acquired a powerful non-elemental attack. With the optional nethicite and magicite in the Arcane Library and the chance to have cheap ethers on hand…this section feels like one big proficiency benchmark. Makes you wonder what’s coming.
Vahn learns Purify at level 15 but I’ve been finding that the majority of non-white magic healing abilities can only be used on the specific character with that ability. Elina remains the most dynamic healer. Vera with Kirin can function fine as a healer so long as you supplement her with Ami’s Cheer ability.
Regent Gran (who is embodied in Edgar’s sprite from VI with a reddish palette swap) fills us in on the situation with the rebels and the Earth Crystal. If the Fey are keeping it in the Underworld…I’m tempted to wonder if something like the Feymarch- my favorite dungeon from IV -is around the corner.
With Lindblum caught between the Fey and the rebels, Regent Gran is in no position to divide his attention. Vahn and Ami mention the possibility of taking territory back from the rebels and Gran is thrilled. There seems to be a certain amount of local sympathy for the rebel isolationists and the Regent is slow to move against them openly. He directs us to Kaipo to meet with his trusted commander Baigan.
Toward these ends, Regent Gran lends us a Chocobo Whistle, allowing us to summon his personal chocobo Bluebell. Being a blue chocobo, Bluebell is capable of crossing rivers and reef-like bridges between landmasses.
As we enter Kaipo, Siegfried balks: he absolutely refuses to publicly set foot there. We of course have to anyway and- should one’s party rest at the inn -a conversation can be overheard.
This is another one of those moments that convinces me that the references have a function, thematic and / or otherwise. We have both a town (Kaipo) and a character (Baigan) from IV. Kaipo even looks the same. Siegfried is a perpetually masked background character swordsman. Another masked warrior from VI, Shadow, will sometimes relive moments from his past while dreaming when the party stops at an inn.
Shadow’s recall-dreams begin with his past as a professional thief. These dreams dovetail with the eventual revelation of Shadow’s estranged family: the father of his dead lover (Strago) and his daughter (Relm). What happens next in Blackmoon Prophecy is also reminiscent of Barret’s return to North Corel in VII.
Now this may have been a glitch.
As the party is about to settle down and rest, voices are audible outside. I wasn’t sure if this was a glitch or not, since the party was rather still. I suppose they could have been shocked into silence at the full-blown lovers’ quarrel outside.
Even though Siegfried did not want to be seen in Kaipo, he evidently couldn’t stay out, either. He seeks out his lover Davon, whose appearance was used by the Dreamweaver. Davon is shocked to see Siegfried after two years of absence. The couple’s fortunes took a turn once Siegfried attracted a degree of political prestige. Siegfried seemed to think that this visibility would not be safe for his relationship. Afterward, Siegfried disappeared on an ascetic quest.
He passionately apologizes for disappearing and admits that he is also suffering in Davon’s absence and continues to desire him. Davon admits that two years of abrupt silence is not easy to forgive. In spite of Siegfried’s pained avoidance of the topic among the party, Davon himself seems to have warmed up. If you visit him at his home (minus Siegfried, who won’t go anywhere near there with the party at this point), he says that he intends to wait for him.
Our local version of Baigan needs us to reclaim the town of Dawnmarch. We can set out with our newly empowered black and white mages or we can clear the village with the blue mage and the summoner. For the other two party spaces, you want some people who can both give and take some physical hits. The rebel boss there has a maul that can be stolen.
Baigan then requires several thousand gil to station soldiers in Dawnmarch, to hold it against the rebels. Luckily, there is a nearby forest inhabited by juvenile dragons with gil hoards of a manageable size.
I started this next task the way I did because Ami left the Arcane Academy fuming about how they don’t have anything for a blue mage. I agreed; especially since I had not learned any blue magic since Goblin Punch. It felt like a missed beat and then Baigan sends us on a monster hunt. It seemed to add up.
I managed to steal from three out of four baby dragons. The one that got away was the white one and I never saw them again. I encountered the red fairly quickly and I encountered the blue twice. Between those two was my only encounter with the white and lastly the black. It seems possible that the dragon encounter rate in the forest starts off high, because it’s a mainline story event, then goes down a little each time.
Since the baby dragons are roughly boss-tier, this is a convenient time to mention just how useful Ami’s Cheer ability has been. I haven’t even thought of the Cheer ability since I played X for the first time as a tween…and I’ve replayed X multiple times since. Was it always this useful? It helps when you have someone like Vera, with a single strong healing ability that also casts Regen on everyone. If you’ve been giving her the vigor shards, keeping her close to the Valefor nethicite and buying her current weapons and armor, you won’t need her to do anything for the Regen duration except her standard physical attack.
The Water Ring can be stolen from the blue juvenile dragon. Flame Sabres can be stolen from the red. Black dragons with yellow underbellies drop Miracle Fruits (large and permanent HP and MP increase).
Oh and I also stole a Flame Sabre from an Allosaurus in the area? And I’m pretty sure all I got from them in the past were Earth Drums (a disposable item that causes Earth damage)? So far this is the first time I managed to steal two different items from one monster. If I’m remembering the Earth Drum correctly, then do the same monsters carry different stuff in different areas? Or has this always been possible and I only just now pulled it off? Even though I’ve been trying to steal from as many things as possible?
Speaking of: in the grassy periphery of the forest, there are ogres whom you can steal Life Shards from.
While Baigan’s soldiers are now financially situated, the rebels have not been idle. According to Regent Gran, they have penetrated the Dragon King’s Roost south of the gil-farming forest. It appears they want to capture and tame some dragons to use as airborne super weapons.
The corpses of the rebels are strewn about the Roost and the survivors panic and attack you if you go near them. As we approach the summit, two pissed off dragons wait for us. The first is Vedrfolnir, who has a Survival Vest you can steal.
Now…whom should we find in the Dragon King’s Roost but Bahamut? The totem / embodied deity of Ivalice?
After Bahamut vaporizes the three rebels, he goes for the party, Megaflares everyone and breaks through the ceiling of the cave.
Some Lindblum soldiers investigate in our wake and bring us back to Regent Gran’s castle. As we’re catching him up, the subject turns once more to the Earth Crystal, which is still in the Underworld with the Fey. A nearby bodyguard is suddenly possessed by Malacore, announcing that the Fey originally secured it for him. Yet the magical barrier has kept Malacore out as surely as it has the human pursuers.
Malacore also passively refers to Vahn as the son of a “tyrant king” while talking about something else. A little question mark balloon shows us that Vahn has no idea what he’s talking about. Before relinquishing the unsuspecting bodyguard, Malacore says “After all, it is your duty as the son of King Branch to allow me this power, is it not?”
Vahn panics and flees from the party as soon as Darius, Vera and Regent Gran attempt to ask him about this. Local chatter in Tzen suggests that Vahn has likely ended up in the Temple of Visions.
Oh- first blue magic since Goblin Punch! The Vibrant Plumage ability item can be stolen from a Zemzelett, outside of Tzen. From this, Ami learns White Wind. Blue magic was one of my original motivations for keeping Laka as close as I have been.
Being a massive VII fan girl, the use of the ‘Listen To The Cries Of The Planet’ music was a pleasant surprise. This dungeon branches off into a left and right path. Both of them end with a treasure chest that contains half of the Crystal Half Moon Key, which is required to unlock the central door.
The shurikens and the Yoshimitsu treasure chests suggest that Nobumasa may have some reason to be here. Sure enough, the Hadesgigas go down fast when you throw shurikens at them (hopefully not before you steal their Spiked Gloves). With Ami having learned White Wind, she can now heal the whole party while Cheering for gradual MP restoration. With Ami’s Storm Breath and Nobumasa having learned Mokusatsu and Katon, you should be alright.
You also might want to fight the monster-in-a-box Almagest, since it drops an Arondight: Darius’ best weapon so far.
With both halves of the key in hand, it is apparent that the party can’t just slide them together. Then I remembered: someone in a village mentioned both the Temple of Visions and the divided key.
I can’t remember what they said though.
No one in the village of Tzen is able to help out with this but they do mention a gambling engineer of renown named Jack. A townsperson says that he lives north of Tzen, so off I went astride Bluebell.
This place…has an almost dream-like quality. The music is your basic video-gamey-casino loop. Tinny, synthesized, brass instrument sounds. It’s not annoying but it’s not dissimilar to annoyance. Reminiscent of insomnia, somehow. Like a casino-themed Sonic level only drunk and just about to start tilting from horny to crying.
Eventually, though…somewhere north of Tzen…I found the suspiciously-named Crescent Rivulet.
Until next time, TBC
Here’s the sauce
The next post will be here when it’s ready
AilixChaerea 