Well, it's about time to get moving on, I think.
Since all my characters were at a point where level grinding was going to take awhile, I figured I may as well get on with the plot, as it seems getting all this stuff seems to go a little quicker when we're doing that sort of thing. One thing that helps with that in the Sealed Cave is that all the doors are monsters called Trap Door. In the SNES version, the text indicating when fight was initiated was Trap Door!, which is where I got the title for this issue. In the version I'm playing now, it says “The door was a monster”, if I recall correctly. For as often as I've played the SNES version, one might think I'd remember what the text for opening the Sealed Cave was, but I don't. This time around, it says that the key to the cave opens the path to the crystal of darkness.
Like I keep mentioning, the monsters are faster in this version than they are in the one I'm used to. The Trap Doors are the same. In this case, though, what got me in trouble initially is that I had Yang's claws equipped to Edge when I went in. It was a good idea when I was going for levels on the map, but it really wasn't in the actual cave. The swords I got for him in the caves I did last time were better than the Kotetsu I got here, but I did still get some useful stuff the first session in the cave. I got some StarVeils, which casts Wall on the user, if not the party. I'll have to hold onto those for when I go to the moon and try to go after Bahamut later.
Since it was really late when I did the first session of this, I saved when I got to the first save point in the cave so I could rest and come back later.
I started the second session for this one a little later than I probably should have, too, but I got through the boss portion of the Sealed Cave, at least. Granted, there was a bit of a detour along the way, but there were a few interesting details as well.
After a few failed attempts at the boss, called the EvilWall, I decided it was time for a bit of a change from the tactics I usually use on the SNES version. Usually, I could just push on through with whatever I had equipped on my party and using whatever I had on hand for Edge's Throw ability. That usually worked because things are slower on the SNES and generally have less HP as well. Plus, I usually take better advantage of a glitch in the game where if you unequip a character's weapon durring battle and then reequip it on the map, it'll say you've got two of said weapon on that character. I built up a fairly substantial number of things I could use on my way back out of the cave, and then went to the Dwarf Castle to get a few things out of storage with the Fat Chocobo. One of those was the Defense Sword, which is the strongest sword I've got right now, plus it raises defense for whoever uses it, as well. Better yet, both Cecil and Kain can equip it, and Edge can throw it, too.
Along the way, I took some time to do a little grinding on the map while I continued to take advantage of the glitch, just to make sure I had plenty to use with Edge's Throw ability. While I was doing that, I won something called the Gorgon Sword from a BlackLiz. I'm assuming it's a rare drop that wasn't in the original US release of the game, because this is the first time I remember getting one. Once again, both Cecil and Kain can equip it, and Edge can throw it. It also can cause a slow-petrify status on targets.
Once I got all that together, I went to have one last shot at the EvilWall before giving it a rest. The dialog before the fight is that the trap must have been triggered by taking the crystal and there went their smooth exit. Between the grinding, using the best weapons I had available, and, quite frankly, a little luck, I managed to get the job done, thanks to one last attack from Kain after everybody else had been killed. I was so relieved that I missed what the party said once the fight was over before going to save and give it a rest for the night. The third and final session of this issue is going to be a little short, because I kind of want to get this up as soon as I can.
The third part of this took a little longer than I had intended, in part because I did something stupid on the way out. It wasn't as far as I had thought, but also a little farther, so I took all Kain's equipment off a little early and got the party killed as a result. Of course, that's in part because I thought I'd take out the last two trap doors in spite of the foolish thing I'd already done. Fortunately, I did use a memo file at the first save point going it, so that was a help. Once I got past that first goof, I left Kain with just a Mithril Knife, since he was going to be leaving the party on account of Golbez's influence again. The biggest change I noticed from the SNES version here is the manner in which Golbez makes is influence known: saying that Kain is his. Otherwise, he still jacks the crystal and runs off.
Back in the Dwarf Castle, everything plays out pretty much as it does in the SNES version. The only thing I think is different here is how Cid announces himself, suggesting that they dig out before they see him there, when he suggests putting a drill on the ship we got awhile back. Once that's taken care of, it's back to the surface, where we're supposed to go to Mysidia to advance the plot. I'm not going to do that just yet, of course. There are a few side quests I want to at least have a shot at before I get on with it.
In fact, I even got started with a couple of them. I got the Adamant from the guy in the mine by Silveira and the pan from Yang's wife I'm going to need to whack him with so I can get the Sylph summon later. I was going to farm up some more stuff to throw at enemies going forward, but after doing another stupid thing by doing a soft reset after some of that farming, I decided to just save and quit for the night. I'll aso get to that side quest stuff next time, and maybe even make it it's own post.
Until next time, stay safe, have fun, keep gaming, and DFTBA. See you soon, folks!
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