Day 3

Game - Final Fantasy, Day 3

Hours Played/Hours Total - 4-1/2 hrs / 10 hrs

Starting Point - Outside the city of Melmond.
Current Goal - Figure out what I'm supposed to do next.

What Happened - Well, this was almost a very unproductive day...
     I started off near the city of Melmond. Before I quit the other day, I bought what I could from the city and upgraded my group again. The problem with this was that I can't use the expensive level 5 spells offered, so I skipped getting them. Then there were a few items that I didn't have enough for everybody, so I had to leave without them. After that, I started travelling the world. Starting with the continent Melmond was on, I searched all around for caves or anything else. I managed to find one cave called Giant's Cave, but it had some sort of giant in it that talked about wanting jewels or gems. I decided this was a dead end for now and headed back to Melmond and the port with my ship.
     Thankfully, the PSP version allows you to access a world map by pressing the Select + Circle buttons. All the ports are marked on the map, so I was looking to find any port I hadn't been to yet. I went to a few of them, but they all lead me to dead ends. They either lead to nothing, or it required I have something extra on hand to get anywhere. Upon further inspection of the map, I noticed a location I had missed when exploring earlier. Turns out I passed by a cave when exploring the continent that Melmond was on! I went down and there I found was the Cavern of Earth! With it being the Cavern of Earth, I figured this might be the home to the Earth Crystal, and so began my descent downward...
     Now keep in mind, the remake of Final Fantasy 1 is fairly easier and faster than the original version on the NES. Regardless of that, this dungeon is just unfun in many ways. It has a lot of random branching exploration to be found, but many of the things you find are useless and/or not worth the effort. Your first trip there (spoiler?) consists of 3 floors down to fight a boss. The boss is a vampire claiming you can't stop the earth's rotting and something about the inability to slay the undead. We proved rather quickly he was far from 'unslayable.' He drops an item called the Star Ruby, and then your path to the next door is cleared. You go through the next door to find...a dead end. How fun is that? Considering the giant wanting jewels/gems earlier and the current "Star Ruby" I now have in my possession, I figure I'm going to have to backtrack aaaaaall the way back up the dungeon and to the continent with Melmond on it.
     One unfun trip back to the surface and to Melmond later, I find myself in the cave handing the Star Ruby over to the giant. He immediately eats it and walks away...Personally, I don't get it. All that work for a gem to feed a giant so he'll move his fat ass. Why can't I just kill him? Is that wrong? Would he just stomp me into the ground? I dunno, but I guess there is no point arguing over it. You go out the exit of the cave to find yourself on the other side of the mountains. Heading southward briefly, you run into a cave. Upon entering the cave, known as Sage's Cave, you find yourself face-to-face with the all powerful sage known as Sadda. He claims something about being able to kill the vampire and then gives you an item called the Earth Rod. Says you can use it to clear the path behind that cave where the vampire was. Yaaaay! Backtracking yet again!
     Skipping forward through my trip to and through the Cavern of Earth. I find myself behind the vampire's room and use the Earth Rod to open the path. This allows you to continue down 2 more floors and then you finally find the first crystal. However, as the RPG must go, you run into a boss guarding/infesting the crystal. The evil, infamous, undead superbeing known as Lich, also known as the Fiend of Earth. Apparently he's been sapping the energy of the earth to make himself more powerful or something. Can't be TOO powerful considering I beat him with what felt like very little effort. Sure he got off a good Blizzara in the beginning, but that was all he really accomplished. I just lashed at him with plain ol' attacks with casting Haste on my best warriors. After that, you approach the non-glowing Earth Crystal, hold up your own crystal shards (that apparently they all have) and reactivate/recharge/turn on the Earth Crystal to its former glory! With it back online, the earth stops rotting and begins to recover. Woo! 1 Crystal down, 4 more to go...
     After restoring the Earth Crystal, you are shown a small scene with a previous place opening up to you, the Earthgift Shrine! For those who don't know, when they remade Final Fantasy for the GBA, they added in a few new super dungeons where you can go to level up, get some new items, and overall just challenge yourself. Not knowing where to go next, I headed in that direction. The first thing I discovered in there is that once you go in, you can't climb back up. You simply have to keep going forward until you beat the dungeon. About an hour later, I came to a large cave with 4 rooms in it. I entered one of the closest ones and came face-to-face with a hideous boss monster! The first thing it did was cast Earthquake which killed everybody except my Black Mage. Somehow he survives another several rounds without being hit by any of the magic attacks the monster threw at him. He eventually is taken down by some lame physical attacks. I thought it was game over, but then I respawned at the beginning of Earthgift Shrine. Thankful for this break, I ran back to the nearest Inn, healed up, and set back out into the world.
     With my newfound monies, I went back to Melmond (as well as other places) to stock up on items, new equipment, and a few new spells I was missing. However, I was now stuck with the giant question of "Where do I go next!?!" I looked all around for at least 30 minutes before giving in. I was avoiding using a guide for any of this, but I hit the guide up so I could find out what to do next. I glimpsed long enough to find out I almost went there earlier on. Told me I needed to go to Crescent Lake, which is a town surrounded by a moon-shaped lake. Not exactly the best named town, but I have heard much worse.
     Earlier on, I had ran into this location and thought there was no way to get to it. Turns out I went the wrong direction and that the entrance was on the opposite side of the lake I went to. Upon entering the town, I immediately spot that is most definitely the smallest and most compact of the towns so far. I went by the armor and weapon shop to upgrade my characters where I could. Jumped into the magic shops to find out...I couldn't even get the spells for any of my characters yet. I get to make the fun trip back here after I get them upgraded. Walked all around the town and finally spotted a back pathway which leads to a circle of old men (sages). After talking to all of them, the last one I talked to (of course I talked to him last) gave me a canoe and told me to go after the Fiend of Fire, who is only active because I killed the Earth one. Deciding I put in enough time for the day, I saved my game outside of Lake Crescent city and quit there.

Ending Point - Right beside Lake Crescent and its city.

Levels Achieved - 9 levels earned. Currently level 25.
Goals Accomplished - A lot of pointless searching. Found the Cavern of Earth. Defeated the Vampire. Fed a giant a Star Ruby. Got the Earth Rod from Sadda. Went back into the Cavern of Earth. Fought and Defeated the Fiend of Earth, Lich. Restored the Earth Crystal. Got lost and had to resort to a guide. Got to Lake Crescent and received a canoe! (So exciting!)
Next Goals - Get to a volcano and kill a giant fire demon known only as the Fiend of Fire!

~May the Crystals Guide Me~