Tuesday, December 13, 2011

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #05: Just Fabulin' Around


I didn't use the title I hinted at last issue, but that's for the best.

In this case, we're just looking at trying to defend the nation of Fabul and its Crystal of Air. There's no boss fight here, per se, but there are a few plot points that happen here, so it's as good a place to break for a moment as any.

Needless to say, this doesn't go well from the start. The first sign of just how badly things are going to go comes when the king asks Rydia and Rosa to take refuge with the women and children and they accept.

And, sure, the first bunch of ground forces that Baron throws at you are more of the same soldiers that we kicked the shit out of in Kaipo to protect Rydia. It's no problem for Cecil, Yang and Edward to hand them their asses here, either. But then they send in the Red Wings to drop bombs on the place. The party retreats a short ways into the castle. This time, it's an encounter with actual monsters. Again, not too terribly difficult, but enough to cause another retreat, at least in part because Edward's still a pussy.

This second retreat leads to an area guarded by some of Fabul's soldiers, who get killed almost instantly. After fighting the guys off in a more fair fight, Cecil and crew retreat to the throne room this time, where Yang says where the crystal is. Turns out the guard who's been coming along with our heroes is a traitor, who opens the door for the monsters. At least there's more than one round of fighting to be had here. Edward takes a hit in a cutscene between fights. Keep that in mind. It's gonna be important at a couple points in the future.

After all the fighting's done in the throne room, the party retreats to the castle's crystal room. Instead of more fighting, our good buddy Kain shows up after having gone missing after the quake at Mist. Thing is, he's not here to join the party again because he's working for Golbez. Kain kicks Cecil's ass in a one-on-one duel, after which the ladies come in to show a little concern for Cecil. Right behind them is the man himself, Golbez.

In true Final Fantasy villain fashion, Golbez is kind of a dick. Right here, he casts a lightning spell on Yang and Edward, kidnaps Rosa, and orders Kain to hork the crystal the way Cecil did in Mysidia.

Cecil gets pouty about it, but not as badly or unnecessarily as some heroes in later games do. He gets over it and the team decides they should head off to Baron to get their own airship so they can fight on something almost like equal terms. The king gives the remaining team a ship to go to Baron with. He also gives Cecil the last weapon upgrade as a Black Knight: the Black Sword. Also available in Fabul's shops and chests are the remaining Black items to round out the set.

Seeing how all of this works out will be a matter for next issue. See you then, folks!

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