Monday, February 20, 2012

TEXT PLAY: Final Fantasy 4 (SNES, 1991): Issue #25: Paper Moon


Let's finish this, shall we?

Actually did it right this time and saved after I got the Murasame. It's a real slog getting back down to the end of the game. Having all the ultimate weapons and such isn't as big a help as one might think. And this is all leading up to the final battle.

So, where I ended last time, FuSoYa and Golbez had put the smack down on Zemus's first form, but as I said, that wasn't the end of him. Instead, Zemus turns into this big, hairy thing called Zeromus. FuSoYa and Golbez go at him again, this time trying to use something called the White Crystal to reveal Zeromus's true form, which they can kill. Why this third form is vulnerable when the second is not, I'm at a loss to explain, but at this point it doesn't really matter, because in Golbez's hands, the White Crystal is essentially the pack of jelly babies in this scene from Doctor Who, as Golbez was the main villain until just this last chapter, rendering the holy powers useless to him.

One of the few times I can say it feels like there was something missing from the games comes here, at the end. Granted, this game does a lot, especially for one of its era, and all 16-bit consoles had limits like this one. And this game in particular did quite a lot for one that came out in 1991. All the same, though, this ending scene feels like it's lacking something. For me, that something is a scene like the one in Star Trek II where Khan explains what happened to Ceti Alpha Five, only in reference to the Lunarians' home planet.

But anyway, once Zeromus, in full hate mode, tells FuSoYa and Golbez that the White Crystal is useless to them because Golbez had been the instrument of Zemus's evil for most of the game, he renders them unable to fight further. Golbez then turns the crystal over to Cecil, since he had accepted the power of good on Mt. Ordeals.

Let me tell you, folks, this thing's a slog, too. It's a long, slow fight, though not entirely for lack of excitement. This is the only fight in the game, as I recall, where the background is moving. It really taxed the processor of the Super Nintendo, even when it was new, and caused a good deal of lag.

On top of that, you kind of need to have your levels a little high, so that everybody's still alive after the big attacks that Zeromus does as the fight progresses and can simply be healed instead of revived. This is what got me, and I tried to level up a little before I got back. Still, this is a real pain in the ass.

That leveling up did really help in the end, but it still took me two shots at it to beat Zeromus. After Golbez and FuSoYa take their shot at Zeromus, there's a cutscene where Cecil and the active party members get their strength restored by the other party members they encountered along the way, including Tellah, who died maybe halfway through the game, and Golbez, who wasn't even really a good guy until the very end.

Once the fight actually begins, the first thing that needs to happen is for Cecil to use the Holy Crystal on Zeromus. This makes Zeromus go from what looks like an insane tribble with arms and legs to a really hideous monster that's all parts of other things and eyeballs. If you don't do that, I don't think Zeromus can be killed. I've never tried, and it turns out I'm so out of practice at it that I'm glad I didn't this time, either.

One thing I am glad of is that I had that Spoon from Yang's wife. That thing does max damage against whatever it hits, and trust me, this is just the place for that. And you know what else is a good thing for Edge to throw at Zeromus? The Excalibur. I'm glad I cloned up so many of those. They don't do max damage, but close enough to be a real help. Chances are, I'd have been screwed both times if I hadn't had them.

But anyway, have Edge throw as much as he can at Zeromus, have Rydia use her Nuke spell, Rosa use Life 2 as needed (read: lots), Cecil attack, and Kain jump. That jump attack of Kain has the added bonus of shielding him from the Big Bang attack that Zeromus does so there's at least half a chance he'll not need to be revived.

After quite a long fight, Zeromus finally goes down. With his dieing breath, he says that he'll never truly die so long as there's evil in the hearts of men. After he fizzles, FuSoYa reminds the party that everything has its opposite, and as long as there's evil, there's also good, which can beat it so long as people keep the good in their hearts.

Cecil and gang head back to Earth to get on with their lives. Most of them wind up as royalty of one sort or another, even if they're like Edge and not really cut out for it. The surviving party members, as well as the Elder from Mysidia and King Giott and Luca from the underground go to Cecil's coronation as king of Baron and his wedding to Rosa.

Meanwhile, FuSoYa and Golbez, who stayed on the moon because he wanted to atone for his evil and meet the other Lunarians, go into stasis. While the others are preparing for the wedding, lunar researcher Doctor Kory looks in his telescope and sees the red moon break orbit of Earth and head into the Cosmos to find the Lunarians their own place to live.

Once Cecil and Rosa are married and installed as the King and Queen of Baron, with Cid as an adviser, the credits roll over a star field presented as coming at the screen.

Of all the games I've beaten in my time, this is probably my favorite ending. There are undoubtedly a lot of reasons for that, and I'll get into a few of them in the epilog, which will be coming shortly. Until then, see you soon and keep playing!

Next game in Text Play: Legend of Mana!

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