![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Beyond the Beyond: Update 109: Act 5 wrap-up and Bonus Material, pt. 1
This update and those that follow will cover not only extras from the game's fifth and final act. Since the game's plot has concluded there's no longer any worries about spoiling anything and thus longer-spanning issues can be broached.. First though I must, like all previous wrap-ups, go through the act recap. I didn't include many summaries at the end of updates because there aren't a whole lot of events in act 5 to summarize.
The Act 5 recap!
The first thing that happened was discovering the fate of Steiner. At the end of act 4 he'd been shot by Dagoot and fallen into the sea in what the game wants the player to think was his death. That wasn't the case. Steiner somehow teleported without his knowledge (or even conscious participation) into an underground shrine staffed by some of Arawn's priests. There he was found by the team leading to him recovering from his wounds in short order.
A pity his ability to fly was already obsolete thanks to the Flying Palace.
With the high-flying power of the Flying Palace the team was finally able to reach the remote village of Zeal nestled in the mountains of Aridia. They found the town's water supply and surrounding land had been poisoned leaving Zeal's residents facing the prospect of slow deaths. With no way to address that situation they headed south to the game's most headache-inducing dungeon: the Sand Cave. Why? Because there was an even more intimidating range of mountains deeper in Aridia that the Flying Palace couldn't fly over.
Raising the Flying Palace did come with another perk: traversing some mountains in Gebergheim housing an icy mine hiding some mithril. Sidequest! Sidequest that was worth it because it meant being able to buy mithril gear in Mistrall!
Then came the Sand Cave and its many hidden pits. Waiting at the end was the Black Knight having been dispatched by Ramue to form a momentary speedbump for Finn's group. The Black Knight (who was definitely not Percy) attacked the party at Ramue's command and the party, realizing something was fishy, stood around absorbing his attacks until the magic brainwashing the Black Knight ran out. His mask shattered to reveal what everyone already knew: the Black Knight was Percy all along.
After a heartfelt reunion Percy rejoined the team who then pushed onward to Quamdar. Quamdar turned out to be a quiet village in the valley where people spoke of Shutat as a once-kind soul who had no desire to conquer the world. After much hiking the team reached the gate to the Abyss in the valley but although there were two people inside the shrine the actual door to the Abyss was locked. Thus it was off to the lonely shrine in the middle of the ocean to pick up the Final Tablet. Dagoot appeared and tried to stop the team with a boss battle but was himself killed. Final Tablet in hand the team repeated the hike to the Abyssal gateway only to find the magician Yeon waiting for them. He too tried to stop the team with a boss battle and lost his life.
After much running around, some getting lost, and multiple iterations of backtracking the team at last opened the door in the Abyss depths beyond which was the rift between the Common World and the Underworld. There they found Shutat and Ramue finishing up a rewrite of the agreement between the worlds that would give Shutat a big excuse for restarting his campaign to conquer the Common World. Also there was an offer to rule the world that made little sense and was interrupted by Lord Kevins suddenly talking from some place far off screen. When Finn and company refused to go along with Shutat's schemes he and Ramue attacked. After much magic flying about both Vicious Ones were defeated.
Then as Shutat lay dying the real final boss showed up: an alien being from the same species as Arawn who called themselves Akkadias. Having been sealed in the Underworld by Arawn Akkadias was in no mood to be denied a chance to escape. He gloated. He fought the team. He lost and per Arawn's suddenly interjected instructions was exploded by Finn's Light Orb being thrown in his face. Victory achieved the team celebrated what they'd just accomplished mere moments before the structure under their feet began fading away. Finn began to freefall towards the Underworld when Steiner flew in from nowhere to save the day.
One jump cut later the team was in Arawn's Tower to get a "thanks for all that hard work" from the old immortal being before being sent on their ways to their various homes. Another jump cut to Isla and Finn was ready for a long flight into the Underworld to try to rescue Lord Kevins which, after the credit roll, was where the game ended. Huzzah!
End of recap.
A New Perspective On The World
Before I get into the meat of this update I present this recording? memorial? testament? to the plot of Beyond the Beyond.
Up above is an annotated map. I've marked every location that wasn't originally included and added a bunch of X's. The blue ones are part of the tablet quests (either the four tablets needed to raise the Flying Palace or the Final Tablet needed to open the door to the Abyss) while the green ones are where other events in the game's plot ran their course. I include dungeons in that category, even the optional Ice Mine, because dungeons are filled with monsters and puzzles and I felt such was sufficient to qualify as events. Some of the X's are approximations. Finally, the beanstalk dungeon and Arawn's Tower aren't marked because they're really extensions of and only accessible from Arawn's Palace - that structure northwest of Ophera Village. I slapped a blue X on the palace because Arawn coughs up the first of the four Ancient Tablets right along gifting the team Light Orbs.
One reason I wanted to put this together is to point out how desolate the western half of the world map really is. Greenheim is in places packed to the rafters (or at least dense enough to make my labeling efforts a struggle to find space for everything). In southern Greenheim the density drops noticeably with some long stretches between sites. Over on Gebergheim and Aridia there are large chunks of continent that have nothing but wilderness and random monsters.
Here's a scan of the first two pages of items from the manual. I'm immediately struck by how random it seems. Basic consumables like herbs and antidotes are there but also a smattering of weapons in no particular order and several key items chosen for who knows what reason. Below I've listed the transcribed text and my comments about each.
HERB
"Restore energy and enable VP to recover slightly. They are used frequently in the early stages of the adventure."
More like "used frequently through most of the adventure so prepare to drop a small fortune on them" but I suppose that would be entirely too long and snarky to squeeze into the manual.
ANTIDOTE
"Enable a character to return to normal after being poisoned. Each character should carry at least one antidote."
The only thing I have to say about this entry is that it's only necessary to carry a bunch of antidotes if the team is in an area where poison attacks are common. Otherwise that just hogs room better spent on more herbs.
GUIDING BRANCH
"Empowered with return spells. Useful only in dungeons, they will return you to the exit."
This one says exactly what it does and the fact that it only works in dungeons.
JEWEL
"Endowed with magic powers. Different jewels have different effects such as recovery and temporary ability enhancement."
This is the vaguest of all the descriptions and actually covers a variety of items with the word jewel in their names. It's also not entirely accurate because Resist Jewels permanently set the magic resist flags for characters they're used on. Fortunately the fact that Beyond the Beyond lacks item descriptions in game doesn't work against any of the various jewels. Most state what they do in their names and for those a bit more obtuse the in-battle message upon using them sums up the effect rather well.
FLASK
"Galahad's gift to you at the beginning of the adventure. Your first adventure is to fill this flask with Spirit Water."
This is the mystical flask that Galahad takes from the invisible shelf seen waaaaaay back in Update 2. I kind of miss it, actually. If Finn and Annie had any idea that Spirit Water is capable of burning Vicious Ones on contact this would have made a nifty weapon in the game's final boss rush. Alas, it was not to be. The Flask and whatever Spirit Water it contained vanished forever as soon as the team returned to Isla.
Now why Sir Galahad didn't put the Spirit Water delivered to him to good use is another mystery. Then again I suppose there's nothing in the game to suggest he didn't...
KEY
"Unlock closed doors or chests. There are many different keys, but only a matching key will open a particular door or chest."
A generic entry to tell the reader there are locked things in this game. Keys aren't all that important to the plot, to be honest, with the few that are mission critical dropped into the player's lap. Now that Skeleton Key on the other hand is a bit of a pain to find without a walkthrough or a lot of wandering around. Of course the Dragon Blade, unlike the Chaos Breaker or Sword of Hajya, isn't mission-critical so it sort of balances out.
MOON CRESCENT
"A shining object made from a mysterious material. It supposedly has energies from the moon within it, but its powers are unknown."
I do like the fact that the Moon Crescent is actually a crystal crescent. Or at least it looks like a crystal to me. Just don't ask how it's been glued to someone's hand in that picture because I'm drawing a blank.
STATUE OF GAEA
"A stone statue, just the perfect size for a table decoration. It may be a clue to a certain location."
Two things: I have no idea why anyone would want the Statue of Gaea for a table decoration being a powerful magical artifact, and two I'm a bit mystified how Easter Island Head translates to commanding a corridor of water to open. I guess it's just the pop culture association between Moai statues and magical, ancient powers.
Now when video games start including the entire statues and not just the heads I expect some nifty magical golems.
SHORT SWORD
"A one-handed sword that the main character acquires at the start of the quest. It is a popular weapon among swordsmen and knights."
It's a basic sword and by listing it the game's just pointing out that the swordsboy depicted on the cover and mentioned earlier in the manual does indeed use swords.
TEMPEST SWORD
"A mysterious sword that enhances swiftness when equipped. It is lightweight and easy to use."
This one comes with a hint about the special (and extremely useful) Speed-boosting powers of Tempest equipment. Given how powerful +Speed is in Beyond the Beyond including this sword in the manual is actually a bit merciful.
RUNE SWORD
"A long sword that is heaviest at its tip. Even the weakest warrior can attack effectively just by swinging it."
I honestly have no idea why this one is even mentioned. While the artwork for it looks nice, if a bit too spiky on the hilt to actually be practical on a weapon, it does feel like it's just there to take up space because the designer couldn't think of something better to do with the spot. Also, I have to wonder about that "even the weakest warrior" part because it's not like the Rune Sword can be equipped by mages and there are no hybrid classes like some RPGs have.
BATTLE AXE
"A heavy two-bladed axe made of steel. Only the strongest warriors can lift it. Samson can equip himself with this."
Beyond the Beyond has a huge issue of Gameplay and Story Segregation in the Strength levels of team members. Anyone who has ever played it (or just read this LP all the way through) knows that Strength is given out almost like candy to most of the cast. This is because Strength is the root stat for Attack Power (Strength + Attack power of equipped weapon = Attack Power). I mention this because the Battle Axe's description includes Samson who, in the game's plot, has super strength.
I mean it would be nice if the game bothered to actually remember that little fact post-Zalagoon but, alas. Instead it promptly develops amnesia as soon as that pillar scene is complete. A bit of a waste if you ask me.
By the game's end everyone had more raw Strength as Samson had when he first appeared. Finn, Samson, and Annie had twice as much. Compare the final stats presented in Update 105 with those back in Update 8 when Samson first joined up as a temp. If the Strength stat determines who can equip Battle Axes then by the end everyone could have used one! But the equipment system doesn't actually work like that. It runs entirely off of class.
SERAPHIC CANE
"A short stick with an angel decoration at the tip. It is said to hold the power of the gods and supposedly brings forth happiness."
This is the only cane (priest-only weapon) of the lot and the only end-game item mentioned in the manual. It just strikes me as odd that this, of all possible priest weapons to choose from, went in. It's not as if the description mentions that it can only be wielded by an experienced cleric or clarifies how high a tier it is. It just talks about gods the game never mentions (it's all Arawn, all the time for the Common World) and bringing forth happiness. I'm pretty sure none of the monsters Annie wacked with her Seraphic Cane are happy about it!
WOODEN ROD
"A long stick that is heaviest at its tip. Even the weakest fighters can attack effectively when swinging it."
Here's the nod to the mages. Also, that "weakest fighters" sentence is almost a copy-paste from the Rune Sword's description but actually makes sense for this weapon. Wooden Rods are the weakest weapons mages can use but due to harsh MP limits mages do need weapon upgrades. They can't rely entirely on their magic without spending a fortune on Mage's Potions.
BRASS KNUCKLES
"A knuckle guard designed to damage your enemy while protecting your knuckles. Only a fighting monk is allowed to use this weapon."
While not name-dropping Lorele - who isn't mentioned in the manual at all - this description hints that there's a monk character somewhere. It seems to be a decent compromise on how to hint about a hidden character. Anyone who has played the Shining Force games wouldn't be surprised to have to search around for hidden characters.
DARTS
"Throwing darts that have been modified for combat. They can be used only after you acquire certain expertise."
Not only is the item rather generic sounding but the line "can be used only after you acquire certain expertise" makes it sound like a prestige class weapon. Domino is a required character however so nothing is really lost by the vagueness.
There are three pages of items and here's the third.
LEATHER PLATE
"Thick leather armor that will protect your shoulders and chest. It can protect you from attacks by a weak enemy."
This is just basic armor for melee fighters of which there are several in the party. It would be nice if the game bothered to mentioned the fact that Finn and Percy equip one type of body armor and Samson a different type though. That would be helpful for planning purchases.
BRONZE PLATE
"Bronze armor that covers down to the hips and is a more reliable armor than the Leather Plate."
This is a spot in the list that would have been better spent with a piece of armor that not only belongs to Samson but also explains the two different armor sets. Missed opportunity there.
WIND CLOAK
"Mysterious attire that enhances swiftness when worn. Only those with knowledge in magic can bring out its effects."
Now this is a description done right. It states what it does and who can equip it. While it doesn't drop any names, "knowledge in magic" points straight at mages.
SPIKED SHIELD
"A small shield with extremely sharp spikes on the front that make it possible to raise the level of attack."
This awkwardly-phrased description includes the hint that it raises Attack Power when equipped.
GAUNTLET
"A strong steel glove that protects from the elbow down. Since it is so heavy only certain people have the ability to use it."
This one is just saying that wimpy mages can't equip it and does so in an awkward way. Equipping it doesn't involve ability in any sense of that word. It's more a matter of raw strength (something Edward has plenty of by the endgame) and need. If casting spells requires intricate hand movements then gauntlets are a hindrance.
TRAVEL HAT
"A wide-brimmed hat with feather decorations that is sturdier than it looks. It protects a magician's head."
Protection from rain and sun? Sure thing! Protection from an ork trying to smash you with a huge club? Uh, well it does increase Defense but let's just admit that any mage depending on their hat to save them will soon be a dapper corpse.
SILK RIBBON
"Being just a ribbon, it does not protect from much. It is fashionable, however, and can be equipped on Annie."
Hey, look! One of these items actually bothered to mention which character can use it! It also admits that ribbons, being ribbons, don't offer much protection. Every ribbon gives Annie +Defense though so the game just sort of shrugs at the contradiction. Raising Defense is just a bit of Video Game Logic the player is supposed to go along with.
For completeness here's the various character pages. Tont and Lorele aren't listed at all. Since I've already included transcripts of these as bonus content elsewhere I won't repeat them here. Here are Finn, Steiner, Annie, and Percy.
Page three has Samson and Edward while page four has Domino and Galahad.
Page five has Lord Kevins (listed only as Kevins) and the Emperor of Bandore. Over on page six are Shutat and Ramue.
Bringing up the rear on page seven are Dagoot and Yeon.
Making An Offer Only A Fool Accepts
The first thing major thing from within the game that I'm going to tackle is a Yes/No branch in the final conversation with Shutat as seen in Update 105.
That's the branch I'm talking about! In the midst of his rambling Shutat suddenly asks Finn to switch sides and join the Vicious Ones. Now in Update 105 I chose NO and didn't show the YES branch because, unlike every other Yes/No question in the game, this one is actually somewhat long and involved.
You have great strength to have made it so far. Join us and we will rule the world together.
YES
I knew you would see reason. I will give you control over Bandore. Will that be sufficient?
Selecting Yes quickly brings the conversation to another Yes/No option. In order to continue I choose the NO option.
I guess one kingdom is not enough... Then what about Marion and Zalagoon? Will two kingdoms do?
NO again
Not satisfied... Then why don't you take the whole Greenheim continent. How about that?
NO a third time (keep up that greed!)
Not satisfied... then I'll let you take the whole Common World. How about that?
Suddenly Lord Kevins breaks in. He'll also do this if any YES option is chosen after the first question. That is, if you accept what Shutat's offering rather than saying you want more.
Finn, listen carefully.
The player team looks around for Lord Kevins, his voice having boomed from somewhere offscreen.
Don't be fooled. Shutat has been possessed by the Vicious Ones. They want sole control over the entire world. Don't forget that.
Shutat turns to face the rolling clouds of the Abyss.
SILENCE!!! So you want to intervene, ehh Kevins? Then you can watch as I dispose of Finn once and for all! Then I'll take care of you and any other loose ends!
Shutat turns back to face Finn.
Come on, Finn!
Then the battle against Ramue and Shutat begins but... minus a few party members. There's absolutely ZERO warning about any of this - no dialogue from the other party members or their even leaving the screen (look at the screenshot before this one to see them still clustered behind Finn) - but by saying YES to Shutat that you will join the Vicious Ones one team member is silently removed from the player party. For every NO that follows another team member is removed until only Finn remains.
Beyond the Beyond isn't the first JRPG to have a villain make an underhanded deal for power when the player comes calling. The first Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior does it with the Dragonlord who then promptly murders the player if they accept.
As shown in the screenshot above, what with Finn having 999 VP, I opted to use a cheat code to set Finn's health high rather than spend a lot of time grinding levels for health. I did not opt to raise his Attack Power in the same way in order to get a more honest impression of what this sort of two on one fight is like. I did have Finn concentrate on Ramue first. My reasoning goes that Ramue is a subordinate to Shutat so it feels appropriate to take her down first. Shutat has more dangerous attack magic however so there is nothing unreasonable about concentrating on him first.
With so few combatants I got some rather nice frames of various animations and figured I might as well show them off. Here's Firedrake 1 dealing a mere 8 damage to Finn. Oh and enjoy the mirror effect with this battlefield's floor. It looks pretty spiffy.
And here's Firedrake 2 about to deal 17 damage to Finn. Without magic resistance that would be 34 or 35 damage. I find I don't like the coloration in this animation. The firedrake's body is too bright. It looks like someone went overboard with the whites and yellows drowning out the detailing that can be seen in the Firedrake 1 animation. It can be hard to tell in game because the animation isn't that long and the head is obscured at times but in screenshots like this the contrast between the head and body really comes through. The head is finely detailed while the body trailing behind it looks oversaturated or like an overexposed photo.
Here's a screenshot just seconds later to illustrate what I mean by that. I suppose they were going for trying to make it seem as if the second firedrake was burning hotter but that could have preserved the detailing by using blues rather than just going to overblown levels of white.
Oh and Shutat is able to cast the Silence level 2 spell. He seems to prefer dealing damage but over the course of several tests I did see some Silence 2 spam. It could be quite nasty against a full player team if Shutat flips into spam mode early on. That would make keeping up with the barrage of incoming summon spells trickier. In that case using the Silence Orb would immediately level the playing field but Angel Ocarinas could keep up with the damage intake.
Or the player could just lean on their LP pools and soak the damage while waiting for Silence to fade. That's another option.
Another reason to focus on Ramue first: she'll cast Defense 2 on Shutat. This seems entirely random since Finn here has only been attacking Ramue. Shutat himself is in no danger at this point in the fight and hasn't suffered any damage. He spammed summons, attacking only a few times with no counter attacks from Finn. Since Shutat was still at full health Ramue couldn't have responded to an AI trigger based on Shutat's health. Regardless it does little to help Shutat. Because these timers are based on actions rather than rounds and Shutat gets two actions per round he burns through the duration almost immediately.
I did run several test fights against the pair, including the one shown above where Finn concentrated solely on Shutat. I wanted to know if Shutat would Healing Rain himself but our resident horned villain never did. Ramue healed him several times though. Shutat spent the first half of the battle obsessed with Silencing Finn with Silence 2. Yeah I'm sure that'll really help against the guy who does nothing but attack with his sword.
Oh and here's Finn summoning Steiner with a nice shot of Steiner's open maw although the dragon's neck is clipping through the battlefield floor. I suppose it could be written off as "it's the Abyss and weird things happen there."
Oh and I suppose enjoy the blood-red mountains off in the distance. Towering peaks of the Underworld or just some weird interdimensional feature of the Abyss?
As the fight rolled on and Ramue's health continued to drop she started healing herself, even going so far as to use both her turns in a round for Healing Rain 2. Then out of the blue she used a Healing Potion. That 30 point heal is just a drop in the bucket compared to her max health. That was a blinking red light though that she had run out of MP.
Having a summoner on the player team I know well just how expensive those spells are and how fast they drain a mana pool. Given the relative ease of running the pair dry it strikes me that one strategy for clearing this battle without cheats would be to have Finn chain defend to tank through the summon spam (with magic resistance on Finn, of course). That would still require quite the high max VP. Ramue and Shutat act twice per round and cumulative damage adds up fast when one character is being hit four times a round with magic damage. And that's not even getting into how Finn would heal himself throughout what is ultimately a long fight. I've pointed out numerous times the tight max-MP issues with the game and Finn isn't exactly swimming in inventory space.
Here's Shutat's block animation as seen from the front.
Unable to die Finn's victory was assured so long as my patience held. To dispel any questions of possible script differences from winning this battle I've included a transcript below. After the fight ends and the game returns to that platform in the Abyss Shutat is, as seen in Update 105, not doing so well. His body violently shudders as a shadow slips away off screen.
Finn...
Shutat collapses.
Finn, I'm sorry. I did not realize what I was doing. I was confused by anger and greed... Uhha... You must save our world from further suffering. You must save us from... Ugh.
As Shutat dies the screen darkens and shakes. A voice we now know is Akkadias calls out from somewhere in the beyond.
Ahh... It seems you managed to defeat my little pet. I now realize why Arawn doesn't treat you like the mere animals that you are. Oh, did you think that Arawn was the only being of his kind to visit your world?
Akkadias appears in a flash of light.
Arawn has grown weak in his trust and compassion for you creatures. I will no longer let him hide me within this earth. This world is mine now.
Thus did Finn square off alone against Akkadias.
Now I need to quote myself from Update 106:
"Soul Blast is unique to Akkadias but actually doesn't do that much damage. With magic resistance each team member takes 11 or 12 damage. The danger comes from the fact that 90% percent of the time (if not more) Akkadias will ONLY use this one ability. Like every other boss in the game he gets two turns per round so keeping an eye on the team's VP is a must."
I'm quoting this under a screenshot of Akkadias attacking because a curious thing happens if Finn loses all of his allies to those Yes/No questions and defeats Ramue and Shutat and I think it is due to a little something I noticed when dumping ASCII text from files on the game disc. (For those who are curious no, none of the game's actual script is in ASCII. I assume it uses the same compression as the Shining Force games.)
| Kobold | Mold | Tumble Rabbit | Killer Frog | Goblin | Killer Bee | Kobold Lord | Bat | Green Slime |
| Ork | Giant Scorpion | Poisonous Frog | Hobgoblin | Demon Hornet | Zombie | Spinning Tail | Amazon | Thief |
| Warlock | Flying Mouse | High Ork | Elf | Dark Priest | Skeleton | Mantrap | Worm | Ghost |
| Amazon Priestess | Blood Pudding | Summoner | Devil Scorpion | Harpy Ghoul | Lizard Man | Ork Lord | Roper | Sylph |
| Skeleton Warrior | Dire Wolf | Bug Bear | Gargoyle | Evil Summoner | Lizard Warrior | Assassin | Sand Worm | Ice Warrior |
| Imp | Cockatrice | Living Armor | Yeti | Yeti Child | Siren Harpy | Ogre | Water Leaper | Clay Golem |
| Illusionist | Raise | Dark Bishop | Naga | Fire Giant | High Elf | Mystic Fungus | Hell Hound | Phantom Armor |
| Huge Gel | Razor Demon | Ice Giant | Hydra | Wyvern | Minotaur | Vampire Bat | Giant Goblin | Venom Giant |
| Succubus | Wight | Griffin | Dark Elf | Black Aerial | Basilisk | Evil Shaman | Undead Knight | Undead Lector |
| Poltergeist | Vampire Worm | Manticore | Pyro-Hydra | Stone Golem | Hippogriff | Ice Dragon | Fenril | Minataur Lord |
| Demon's Pet | Green Dragon | Ekidona | Lich | Demon | Manticore Elder | Dead Armor | Young Dragon | Mirage Dragon |
| Greater Demon | Burial | Red Dragon | Metal Golem | Devil Insect | Royal Guard | Hydra Warrior | Nightmare Queen | Shadow Dragon |
| Barrog | Bat | Demon Bat | Bandore Soldier | Bandore Soldier | Bandore Soldier | Bandore Soldier | Small Bat | Slime |
| Snow Wolf | Snow Bear | Water Demon | Glade | Dagoot | Yeon | Ramue | Shutat | Akkadias |
| Necromancer | Bandore Soldier | Bandore Soldier | Black Knight | Ramue | Akkadias |
I know this is a digression but I have colored some of the cells based on what I feel are logical groupings based on that enemy's function within the game. Now I don't have enemy stats to match these to so unfortunately I can't match each instance of Bandore Soldier to what has been seen in game. I've marked the two between the Necromancer and the Black Knight because throughout the game's development it is of course logical to append new names/stats to the list and table as needed rather than shifting things around to insert new data in the middle.
If that doesn't make sense start at Kobold and read left to right through each row. That's the order these names were listed. The general progression is that it goes from weaker monster that appears earlier in the game to stronger monster that appears later. The Small Bat and Slime I marked are monsters in the Cave of Spirits and their addition might have come so late because the Cave of Spirits (or at least the details of its contents) came fairly late in the development process. The Snow Wolf and Snow Bear are both encountered in the Ice Mine which is an optional area that might have been added late. Both are ice themed unlike most of the other monsters of the Ice Mine. It seems likely to me they were made to flesh out the encounter tables in the Ice Mine.
Once I saw Necromancer so far down in the list among the bosses I understood why Necromancers are all over the place in the late game. They're a mix of space fillers and a way to prop up difficulty in some areas. If that sounds dismissive it's because I'm thoroughly sick of fighting Necromancers. A player can run into them as soon as they have Domino's ship and they're common encounters in the late game.
The point of this digression however is that Akkadias is actually listed twice. Now I can't definitely say both are used but one reason why I was adamant on getting through Ramue and Shutat was to see if the Akkadias fight was any different. VP (4,000~ish), Attack Power, and Defense Power seem to be the same but there are definite differences in what attacks the AI prefers. When doing this test battle I actually forgot that Akkadias has Soul Blast because he? she? it? they? never used it. Not even once. If you don't think that's odd I refer you not only to where I quoted myself above but also back to update 106 where Akkadias LOVED to spam Soul Blast. It's as if the AI did a total 180 reversal.
Ramue is also listed twice. One of those is definitely when fighting her in the Border Church. I tried the fight with an immortal, Attack Power boosted Finn and well... I'll have more to say on that later. Just know that it is quite a different beast then the Ramue the game pairs with Shutat. I suspect the variant Ramue is the second one, amended as it is at the end there. If she was added late in the development cycle (not that unlikely given she's a hopeless boss fight meant to slaughter a player who tries to leave that sliding puzzle) then anything amended after her came even later and given how odd and out of place those choices Shutat offers feels I suspect it was tacked on at the proverbial last minute.
Shining Force 2 actually structures its enemies in much the same way: melee monsters weakest to strongest, flying monsters weakest to strongest, archers weakest to strongest, mages weakest to strongest, clerics weakest to strongest, then a mix of bosses weakest to strongest and extra monsters such as Prism Flowers, Jaro as a devil, Master Mages, Necromancers (there's the necros again way at the end!), and the stronger version of Blue Shaman.
Anyway, let us return to that battle against Akkadias that I put on pause! Against solo Finn, the rest of the team having mysteriously vanished, Akkadias split most of their time between physical attacks and Summon level 4. Given how heavily Summon 4 is weighted towards calling Ekidonas that meant Finn saw many a snake lady and received plenty a Thunder 2. Getting punched by one was actually a welcome change of pace.
Oh and every now and then a Nightmare Queen appeared to spread a little icy love.
Akkadias is able to hit hard enough (20~ish damage per attack with that hit from Akkadias pictured above a critical hit) to be worrisome for solo-Finn but since I'm cheating that isn't a concern. Trying to get through Akkadias's 4,000 VP lifebar is a bit tedious though.
Both of the above attacks from Finn are critical hits but the first was for 120 damage and the second for 66 damage. Quite the variance there! I don't know why either. Just above Finn dished out a regular hit for 66 damage so a critical for that amount is a critical in name only. This is what made the fight such a slog. Fortunately Akkadias's propensity to run up and try to smack Finn made it a little faster (in the context that Finn never had to stop to heal) because then Finn had a chance to counterattack. A critical hit counter attack seemed to have a better chance to roll high damage so I wanted as many as possible for him!
Starting when Akkadias is down about 50% of their health Healing Rain 3 starts appearing but it isn't until the villain's health is critically low that Akkadias will spam cast it. That can make for a frustrating end when Akkadias is down to one or two attacks left and Finn gets blocked.
Thus with 4056 damage dealt, minus heals via Healing Rain 3, Akkadias falls. I'm a little disappointed that there wasn't something unique for this version of the fight but as I've already said I feel this was tacked on to the game. There really isn't any character reason for Shutat to so suddenly and completely change his tune and offer a partnership with Finn - especially not after all that talk of crushing all resistance to the Underworld rising up to rule the Common World. I suppose an argument could be made that the developers were trying to implement something that would recall how the Agreement originally came about but it falls flat for me.
If the party members expressed disgust with Finn's actions that would go a long way with making this seem like it should be present. They don't though. They're completely silent and just sort of stand around with a collective thumb up their butts while Finn fights for his life twice over.
Wondering if doing all this produces a change in the game's ending? If it does I didn't see it. There is one small difference.
After the battle concludes Finn's companions aren't standing behind him. That's it. The rest of the ending is the same. (And yes I did wait on the last screen until the game rebooted itself.)
Let's Not Quibble Over Who Shot Who...
There's still plenty of things to test, weirdness to see, and alternate dialogue trees to collect.
Before doing anything else I should quickly go over the fact that extensive cheating was used. At times it is absolutely necessary - walk-through-walls for example - while other instances are just a matter of expediting the process. Up above is a screenshot of the cheat codes menu in ePSXe 2.0.5. I find I don't like the way the emulator handles this because editing codes requires editing a file in the emulator's cheat folder in a text editor. Each game apparently gets its own cheat file which is handy I suppose if you need to use codes in a variety of games. It's a bit awkward and as anyone can see there's no message in the cheat codes menu to tell a user where or how to input codes. I had to go to the project forum to find it.
Doing codes in an external file also has another problem: the emulator loads such files either when the emulator starts or an ISO is loaded. I'm not sure exactly. This means codes can't be edited on the fly while playing. Any edits won't be loaded until a restart which is a giant pain in the rear when using codes to edit spell lists or inventory - anything where the values in one memory address need to be changed multiple times in one session. For codes that are just On/Off it works fine.
I prefer PEC though and thus had to go through all the trouble of getting it working in ePSXe 2.0.5. PEC just does everything I need it to do on the fly without any fuss. Here is the source of the codes I've been using. I can turn random encounters on and off for most locations (doesn't work in Marion or Bandore castles). There's also walk-through-walls, a code I use a lot in these bonus updates, and the ability to set the VP, LP, and condition flags of some of the characters in the roster. I only bothered with the spells and inventory of a couple of characters. There's no reason to give Samson spells, for example.
Don't worry about the fact that I have a spell code highlighted in the shot above. We won't be getting to that for some time.
One quibble I do have is that the address for Domino's LP as given in that database I linked above is wrong. It's not hard to calculate the real address. Here's the corrected value: 80114CFC ????.
Beginning Act 5 was the task of finding Steiner after the dragon was shot by Dagoot and fell into the ocean. There's some dialogue in that scene that's character-dependent so I swapped characters around to a party of Finn, Tont, Samson, Domino, and Edward. Here's how the script shakes out with this particular party configuration.
Finn! You found me! I didn't know if I would ever see you again! When I was shot by that arrow, I thought I was done for. But, when I woke up, I was here. I've been resting, but I should be all right now.
Steiner... Anyhow, I'm glad you're OK.
Steiner, I knew you would be all right.
I'm glad to see you again, noble beast.
Steiner! Why didn't you let us know you were okay?
Hey! Don't get mad at me. You must understand I only started moving again recently.
Anyway, I'm glad you're safe Steiner. [sic] Please don't scare us like that again.
Don't worry. We'll always be together. Then, we should be leaving. I'll be waiting in Isla.
Steiner then moves off the dais, rounds the corner, and disappears. I will never cease to be amused by how blatant it is. It's as if the game is fully aware of how absurd trying to get a huge dragon through a human-sized entrance is and doesn't care.
One thing I will note is that Finn has zero lines in any of this! Steiner is supposedly his best friend and the scene with Dagoot really does give the impression that Steiner has died so this genuinely surprises me. As-is everyone else gets a line and Finn is eternally silent. I know he's a Silent Protagonist but Finn could at least have the "jump for joy" type of animation.
He should have some sort of reaction to seeing his best friend alive and well again!
But wait, Finn isn't the only character to have no dialogue for this scene. Percy doesn't have any either. I reloaded a save made just before finishing up the tablet quest, raised the Flying Palace, and cheated my way over to the Sand Cave to grab Percy. There's no time limit on finding Steiner. He won't just poof from the shrine so it is entirely possible to progress through the game, get Percy back, then find Steiner. Apparently no one bothered to write a line for Percy though. Poor guy.
Moving along, we proceed to the battle for the Final Tablet. Dagoot doesn't refer to anyone by name but there is a line from a team member to Dagoot. As seen back in Update 99 I had Edward in the group and he delivered the question depicted in the screenshot above. Curious to know if the line was written specifically for him I swapped him for Tont. The result: the game shifted the line to Annie.
You're the one who shot Steiner?
I'm not sure how the game determines which character should be delivering this line. I did think to bring Percy just in case but of course once Edward was gone Annie stepped up to take the lead.
Owing to my curiosity I had to see if the line was being shifted around (perhaps by just a fungible variable). I thus made arrangements for Annie and Edward to take long naps.
Due to the lack of team members dying over the course of the game I didn't really get to show off what happens with their inventory while they're dead. Thus while doing this particular test I also remembered to take an item from Annie's inventory and swap it over to Lorele's just to show the message. Being able to grab items out a dead team member's inventory is great in case of misfortune. There is the caveat that equipped items can't be unequipped (they can only ever be swapped out by equipping other things) and Light Orbs are effectively glued to a character's inventory once given.
The result of my efforts? Well, behold!
You're the one who shot Steiner?!
So the question asked of Dagoot really does just shift on down the list. Not a big deal, of course, but it does satisfy my curiosity.
Next on the list is a bit of messing with Yeon. Through the use of codes Finn is swiftly disposed of.
The game won't allow dead characters to use things as evidenced by this "Finn is dead!" message which make sense. Dead characters can't fight. They're dead! Thus they shouldn't be able to use things in their inventory. On a side note I'm so used to having Finn's sprite representing the team that seeing anyone else, such as Annie in the shot above, always makes me do a double take.
Fortunately every team member has their own Light Orb - possibly to avoid a situation where Finn is dead and the player needs to teleport. Beyond the Beyond is actually rather good with Defensive Design. Annie is thus able to use her own Light Orb to teleport the party to Quamdar. Technically I could use any character's Light Orb to do this. I usually use the first roster member's because it's faster.
I am NOT walking through the Sand Cave if I don't have to.
Over at Quamdar I flip on the walk-through-walls code to expedite the trip to the Abyssal Gate. The shrine is actually so close that it and the village can be seen on screen simultaneously. That does help explain how the villagers could be familiar enough with Shutat to comment about how he's changed over the years. There might have once been a bridge across the river or Shutat used other means to cross it.
There are two humans in the shrine when the team arrives with no explanation as to why they're there or how they haven't been killed by the roaming hordes of monsters. I guess they're part of the crew tasked with guarding and/or maintaining the structure? Unfortunately no one in Quamdar bothers to mention either of them. They don't even try to stop the player team from heading into the Abyss nor do they join in battle against Yeon. The two of them are just... there.
Oh and just inside a lone Red Dragon tries to start some trouble. Laugh at this foolish dragon's folly!
While Yeon never addresses Finn by name Finn does have a line in this scene. It's just a reaction shot of "!!!" but I count that as a line given how silent a protagonist Finn is. I expected the game to just skip that part (maybe just a copy-paste version with that line deleted) hence the killing Finn part of this test. Since Edward isn't in the active party Domino gets the first line and it's different from Edward's line.
Huh? You're...
For comparison here's Edward's opening the conversation:
Hey! You're supposed to be...
That's not a big difference. It is nice to see Domino get a line. He doesn't have many. Then Yeon responds.
Gah Ha Ha. Thanks for the dip in the volcano. What? You didn't really think that you defeated me, did you? I, the Underworld's Master Magician Yeon, am not defeated that easily. Unfortunately, your friend ended up living too.
What?! You mean Lord Kevins is still alive?
And Finn's reaction has been skipped. Yeon paces back and forth.
Ge He He. That wimp is in the Underworld right now being treated pretty well... being tortured that is... Gah Ha Ha.
Yeon steps forward.
But even if he is still alive, you guys will never see him again. Why? Because you're reached the end of your quest, feeble warriors!
That's what you think!
Oh and Yeon once again got the drop on the team despite standing in front of them monologuing. He's just sneaky like that! A shame he used the ambush round to cast Thunder 2 then Thunder 1 (the Hydra Warrior spammed two Thunder 1 spells). They managed to groggy Lorele but come on! An ambush round against an end game boss when a core member of the player team is dead should result in more carnage. Setting that competence bar so high...
Okay, what I think is happening is that the AI has been programmed to try to better match enemy abilities to the player's strength. I did some additional testing against the Black Knight and was a bit flummoxed to see him casting Fire 1 spells instead of the Fire 3 he prefers. A more exact reason why will come in the next update.
With some further testing I found what each character will say, going down the line. If it's just Finn there are a couple of reaction shots from Finn that are just !! and !!! to show the boy's alarm but our Silent Protagonist remains silent. There are several characters programmed to respond to Yeon's line "Unfortunately, your friend ended up living too." after which Finn has a !!! reaction shot but none of those characters are available and Finn is present it skips to him. To do this testing I just killed off one character in the team, triggered Yeon's spawn, then once I'd seen the dialogue I reloaded the savestate in order to continue. For each successive test I killed each character that had already spoken going down the line. I'll include Yeon's lines for the first iteration but omit them from later ones in the interest of saving space.
Finn + Annie + Samson + Edward + Lorele (Annie dead)
Hey! You're supposed to be...
Gah Ha Ha. Thanks for the dip in the volcano. What? You didn't really think that you defeated me, did you? I, the Underworld's Master Magician Yeon, am not defeated that easily. Unfortunately, your friend ended up living too.
!!!
What?! Lord Kevins is still alive?
Ge He He. That wimp is in the Underworld right now being treated pretty well... being tortured that is... Gah Ha Ha. But even if he is still alive, you guys will never see him again. Why? Because you're reached the end of your quest, feeble warriors!
Not if I can help it!
Finn + Annie + Samson + Edward + Lorele (Annie & Samson dead)
Hey! You're supposed to be...
No way!
Finn + Annie + Samson + Edward + Lorele (Annie, Samson, & Edward dead)
Oh! You are?!
That's what you think!
Finn + Annie + Percy + Domino + Tont (Annie dead)
Hey! You're supposed to be...
No way!
Finn + Annie + Percy + Domino + Tont (Annie & Percy dead)
Huh? You're...
Not if I can help it!
Finn + Annie + Percy + Domino + Tont (Annie, Percy, & Domino dead)
Hey! You're supposed to be...
No way!
There's some repeats in there and slight variations on the same line but given how little screen time Yeon gets in game I can't bring myself to anything more than a shrug. Nobody really has dialogue that I would categorize as "personalized" for Yeon. No one complains about the trap in Bandore. Yeon brings that up himself. I am a little disappointed that Percy doesn't have something unique to say. He did mess up Yeon's plans at the volcano by releasing Lord Kevins.
To expand on the solo-Finn option mentioned before the game just skips the two response lines from one of his team mates but Yeon's script isn't altered in the slightest. Thus he ends up using plurals in his taunt while talking to just Finn. It is rather bluntly awkward. Yeon doesn't have the excuse that Steiner's fluttering around, invincible, to explain why he's trying to talk to just one person as if they were a group.
Speaking of Percy, in a quick aside from the task at hand, the savefile I was using was made just after class changing over on Discipline Island so to get Percy's variant I had to go through the battle with the Black Knight again. This time though I thought to try out Domino's Confuse 1 spell. What do ya know? It actually worked!
Seeing as how the only enemy is the Black Knight I figured the game would do what it usually does and bug out to repeatedly skip giving the enemy turns. It did... for one round. Then the Black Knight used the joke action Troll level 4 followed in the next round by this "Black Knight just stands there!" action. That was enough to break the spell's effect.
I guess, in short, if you're trying to wait out the Black Knight so you can get Percy back and you're taking a lot of damage in the process try confusing the poor gent. He's already severely confused thanks to that cursed mask so it's not like you'll make things worse. The only issue would be the game not giving him a turn to run away but based on further tests that doesn't seem likely.
While I'm on the subject of Yeon another question bugged me. What is the exact trigger for Yeon to appear at the Abyssal Gate? Is it having the Final Tablet or is it killing Dagoot? Now I could always kill Dagoot, leave the Final Tablet in its resting place, and cheat over to the Gate to check but I figured cheating in a Final Tablet was faster and thus was a better place to start.
Why cheat in the tablet? Because as seen back in Update 89 Finn won't actually take the tablet until after the battle with Dagoot. I wanted to have a look out of bounds around the gate though so I ended up walking around the spot where Yeon's scene first starts. Lo and behold the giant green mage wasn't waiting by the depression in the floor.
And there's that Final Tablet I cheated in. Now I did wonder what using it would do but figured I should hold off because... well, I was running a test that wasn't complete and a reset under these conditions wouldn't take long.
When I walked Finn down next to the statues highlighted shown in the screenshot above (the screenshot itself is from a later test and was chosen because it is a good reference point) the kid suddenly flipped around and the camera started to pan up. I've marked the line of tiles with a box to make it a bit more clear. This seems to be the point where the game runs a check which is key to spawning Yeon. No, Finn and company can't walk around either statue to try to avoid it. I tried that. While the game is a little laggy in initiating the event and I was frequently able to get a couple of tiles past I'm certain that's the line. If I had Finn stop on any of those tiles a second later the game grabbed him and moved him into position.
Well hello there Yeon! You're a sneaky mage aren't ya? So let me recap. Yeon spawns
- Not because I've killed Dagoot. (That was skipped in this test.)
- Not because I picked up the Final Tablet. (That was also skipped by using a code to add a tablet directly to Finn's inventory.)
- But because the game performs a check when I step on a particular spot and sees the Final Tablet in Finn's inventory.
Well that certainly narrowed things down.
An astute question to ask would be "If one were to get around those trigger tiles to reach the groove in the floor can they place the Final Tablet and open the gate?" With walk-through-walls it is trivially easy to avoid those few tiles so I did indeed check. Lo and behold the game is again being extremely picky about which direction I have to approach the tile I want to use an item on. The other one to spring immediately to mind is the old mage in Simone who takes the Magic Emerald.
To answer the question fully killing Yeon is not needed to unlock the door to the Abyss, only the Final Tablet. Not only that but once the tablet is placed Yeon won't appear at all! Now obviously I cheated my way around that line of tiles but if someone could find a glitch to do the same they could skip Yeon completely.
Alright, time to get to work on alternate versions of Shutat and Ramue's dialogue. Akkadias has nothing variable to say. They address the team as a group. Besides, I get the impression that they don't care about any human in particular. Such empathy would be beneath our villain.
Ahh there's that awkward variation, Finn's Friends! Here's the script up until Shutat levies his question. In the interest of saving space I'll omit the between-line actions the sprites are taking and just present the script itself.
You've finally come! The Chosen Ones! Lord Shutat has been waiting for you.
I knew you would come, Finn's Friends.
I was just writing a new contract which states that my New Order will dominate the Common World. At this location chosen representatives of Arawn and the Vicious Ones can write a new agreement and destroy the previous agreement to establish a new order.
I can't let you do that.
Ha Ha Ha. You will sign this agreement or I will destroy you. Then I will have the power to enforce it as the remaining representative.
Everything is up to me now.
How can you do this? Do you know how many people have been hurt by your actions? I heard there was once kindness in your heart. Surely you can't...
What are you saying?! Do you know how much we have suffered in our exile? Famine and disease are rampant in the Underworld.
I am trying to bring a better life to my people.
Do you think only the people of the Common World have suffered? Arawn does not belong on this world. This world belongs to us, not that alien outcast.
We cannot forgive the people who outcast us... You've betrayed your own race. I made an oath to take revenge on all of you... and now the time has come.
The people of the Underworld will rise back up to where they belong, and we will force Arawn and his followers to submit to our rule!
In the beginning, the world was whole... It was a mistake to divide it. I must right this wrong.
And after that the questions. I go along with the offer just to see what Shutat says. Remember, turning it down at any point makes the game jump to Kevins interrupting.
You have great strength to have made it so far. Join us and we will rule the world together.
YES branch
I knew you would see reason. I will give you control over Bandore. Will that be sufficient?
NO branch
I guess one kingdom is not enough... Then what about Marion and Zalagoon? Will two kingdoms do?
NO branch
Ha Ha... I've said some foolish things to you who've come all the way to Quamdar. Let me see... You can rule the entire Common World. Satisfied?
Kevins interrupts at this point from offscreen.
Finn's Friend, listen carefully. Don't be fooled. Shutat has been possessed by the Vicious Ones. They want sole control over the entire world. Don't forget that.
SILENCE!!! So you want to intervene, ehh Kevins? Then you can watch as I dispose of Finn's Friend once and for all! Then I'll take care of you and any other loose ends!
Come on, Finn's Friend!
So not much change overall. Finn's Friend is substituted for every instance where Finn would be. I do find it interesting that at the end of those NO branches Shutat tells the party "I've said some foolish things to you who've come all the way to Quamdar." He doesn't elaborate on what he thinks is foolish to say and without the "Not satisfied..." quips he makes to Finn it's hard to suss out a possible motivation. One might think he's genuinely scared of fighting friends of the Great Light but then he yells "SILENCE!!!" at Kevins and boasts about killing Finn's group which is completely the opposite of being so terrified of them as to buy them off.
Shutat skips the offer to rule the entire Greenheim continent because these questions are tied to removing characters from the player party. It is critical that the game keep a close eye on how many characters there are because if it doesn't bad things could happen - like trying to yank a character that doesn't exist or dumping the player into the Ramue + Shutat fight with an empty party. That would almost certainly cause the game to crash.
Ultimately that fight becomes a dead Finn and a living Annie against Ramue and Shutat. Hmm, a living Annie. Can she revive Finn?
Yes she can. Suddenly the battle has become two on two while being as greedy as the game would allow. I didn't go ahead with the battle though. Instead there was a rewind where I turned Shutat down flat.
After the battle the dying Shutat approaches.
Finn's Friends...
Finn's Friends, I'm sorry. I did not realize what I was doing. I was consumed by anger and greed... Uhha... You must save our world from further suffering. You must save us from... Ugh.
What?! What's happening now?
Ahh... It seems you managed to defeat my little pet. I now realize why Arawn doesn't treat you like the mere animals that you are. Oh, did you think that Arawn was the only being of his kind to visit your world?
Arawn has grown weak in his trust and compassion for you creatures. I will no longer let him hide me within this earth. This world is mine now.
If the party manages to defeat Akkadias with Finn having kicked the bucket then Annie gets to throw her Light Orb at Akkadias. See, now there's a good plot reason why every team member gets their own Light Orb!
Okay, one more variant. It's time for Finn to approach the dynamic duo having already lost all of his friends.
Ramue of course refers to Chosen Ones as a plural but can ya blame her? She didn't bother to wait for Finn to get up the stairs where she would be able to see he was alone so of course she just assumes the rest of the group is with him. Silly Ramue!
You've finally come! The Chosen Ones! Lord Shutat has been waiting for you.
I knew you would come, Finn.
I was just writing a new contract which states that my New Order will dominate the Common World. At this location chosen representatives of Arawn and the Vicious Ones can write a new agreement and destroy the previous agreement to establish a new order.
!!!
Ha Ha Ha. You will sign this agreement or I will destroy you. Then I will have the power to enforce it as the remaining representative. Everything is up to me now.
...
Shutat rushes down off the dais (even though he no longer has anything to actually react to). He then skips his reaction dialogue, paces back and forth,
stops, faces the dais, and finally turns back to the player.
Do you think only the people of the Common World have suffered? Arawn does not belong on this world. This world belongs to us, not that alien outcast.
We cannot forgive the people who outcast us... You've betrayed your own race. I made an oath to take revenge on all of you... and now the time has come.
The people of the Underworld will rise back up to where they belong, and we will force Arawn and his followers to submit to our rule!
In the beginning, the world was whole... It was a mistake to divide it. I must right this wrong.
You have great strength to have made it so far. Join us and we will rule the world together.
The screen pans down to Finn but the Yes/No prompt is skipped entirely. Kevins interrupts at this point from offscreen.
Finn, listen carefully. Don't be fooled. Shutat has been possessed by the Vicious Ones. They want sole control over the entire world. Don't forget that.
SILENCE!!! So you want to intervene, ehh Kevins? Then you can watch as I dispose of Finn once and for all! Then I'll take care of you and any other loose ends!
Come on, Finn!
I suppose a player who wants Finn to fight solo in the two final battles of the game might do better against Akkadias if the alien is stuck on Soul Blast spam. That both hits for less damage (if Finn has magic resistance) and has no chance for critical hits. No chance for Finn to counterattack though.
In fact I had plenty of time to ponder that question while I was trying to get solo-Finn killed after agreeing to work with Shutat. It took quite a long time for Ramue and Shutat to get Finn down to critical LP. I could have made it easy for them but I was curious how well Finn could weather the magic storm. First Finn spammed his Mystery spell for the heck of it then after a long period of hitting Defend over and over again I started having Finn attack. He actually managed to kill Ramue and Shutat up there was probably out of MP. Can never be 100% certain but Shutat finished Finn off with physical attacks.
Not only was I not even trying to actually fight I wasn't using the APS at all. When you have a character getting groggied a lot the difference between 50% VP restores and 100% VP restores is nothing to scoff at. Both cost Finn 5 LP. That's a lot of healing I left sitting on the table.
And here's Finn dying to Shutat as well as dying to Akkadias. I was curious to know if either encounter resulted in them commenting on how Finn was fighting alone. Alas, neither had anything to say.
Instead the team was punted to Isla Village, the place where I had last saved the game, minus half their gold. As always with a total party wipe Finn was restored to full health but the rest of the team was just as they were when they walked into the final room. I guess they just watched Finn perish, grabbed his corpse, and skedaddled on out of the Abyss.
Next time on Beyond the Beyond - I couldn't fit all the bonus material in just one update so we're going into overtime.
Update One hundred and eight | Index | Update One hundred and ten
