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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