So starts the final dungeon of the
game.
I'm going to break this into two or
three parts because I'm sure it'll be Roger Moore than I want to put
into one big, long post. Plus, there's a good dividing line or two,
complete with save point, about a third or halfway through this one,
where I'll be stopping.
This is very much the path to the very
core of the moon. It starts in the Lunarians' Castle and goes a
long, long, long way down. Along the way, there are the heroes'
ultimate weapons and best armor that I'll be grabbing. It's really a
necessity to do that because, sure, this may be the “easy”
version of the game, but this last part is not.
The reason I'll be going for the save
point at the halfway mark of this dungeon instead of by the boss
fight is that there are quite a few of the latter, but that's to be
expected, after all. We've gotta work for those ultimate weapons,
right? Especially since they have names like “Masamune” and
“Murasame”.
So, let's get this party started, shall
we? Behind the altar where we met FuSoYa, there's a big crystal room
with the matching versions of the ones we couldn't defend back on
Earth. These ones talk, though, and tell us that they've been
sealing in a great evil and have only opened the path now because
FuSoYa and Golbez have started their trip to the core to stop Zemus.
This place is a real maze, and by the
time I get to that save point I mentioned before, it'll be time for a
break, both for me and for anyone reading this. Down we go.
As I go through this area, I begin to
realize that I'd never really thought about just how big it was, but
there's a ton and a half of stuff in it, and it's the very last area
in the game, too so I guess it makes sense that it's the biggest.
One of the first things I'd forgotten
is that it wasn't the Blitz whip like I said when I bought it in the
Land of Summoned Monsters. Amongst the first chests we find is one
with a Flame whip in it, and it turns out it's Rydia's strongest
weapon. Best yet, there's no monster guarding it.
Another interesting set of chests is
the one that contains Kain's ultimate armor, the aptly named Dragoon
equipment, consisting of a helmet, a shield, some gauntlets, and some
plate armor. Nothing guarding that, either, which is kind of a
surprise, and hardly an indicator of what's to come. Virtually every
other major piece of equipment yet to be found has a monster guarding
it, and in a lot of cases, these are very powerful monsters. Then
again, one of the Lunar Crystals at the start of the dungeon said
that this dungeon had “weapons that once threatened the Lunarians'
very lives”, so the guards are to be expected.
Of course, this tends to apply to
Cecil's ultimate armor, the Crystal Set, with the same components as
Kain's Dragoon Set. Most often, these are guarded by Behemoths, but
there's one piece guarded by a Warlock and a Dragon Fossil.
Along the way, we also find the first
of the Lunarian super weapons. It's the Murasame, a Ninja sword for
Edge. It's guarded by a demon called Pale Dim. This is a boss
fight, but a comparatively easy one for this point in the game, in
part thanks to those swords and knives I farmed up in Magnes last
issue. Kick Pale Dim's ass and the Murasame is yours.
One other thing guarded by a Behemoth
is something called the Stardust Rod, which Rydia can use. I usually
don't put on her, though, because the Flame Whip is a better weapon
in spite of the rod's having the bonus effect of casting the Stardust
spell, which was one of the Twin spells Palom and Porum could use
earlier in the game, when used as an item.
And at this point, I find that going
through even this dungeon is pretty much muscle memory, and I seem to
have forgotten, at least consciously, where a rather major save point
was. As I seem to have stumbled across this one, I'll stop at it
for now. I do believe just beyond this save point is Cecil's
ultimate weapon, the Crystal Sword. But as I said, since there's a
save point here, and this is a longer dungeon than I remember, I
think I'll stop here and divide this last dungeon into at least
thirds now.
I'll see you soon with Issue #23:
Moonraker II!
No comments:
Post a Comment