Day 36

Game - Final Fantasy 5, Day 36
Hours Played/Hours Total - 6-1/2 hrs / 25-1/2 hrs
Starting Point - Nearby Val Castle.
Current Goal - Locate Zeza's Fleet and join up with him. Defeat Exdeath and save the world!

What Happened - Hooo boy! As you've realized by the last couple of posts, I've been referring to a guide to help me get some of the extra bits. And from what I've seen, I'm maybe at the halfway point of the game. With that in mind, I'm looking at around 20 hours to get through the rest of it. Best get started!
     Starting from Val Castle, I made my way eastward and located Zeza's fleet. There were quite a few ships out there, but I was able to land on the biggest ship with my dragon. Upon landing, I was greeted by King Zeza (he prefers just Zeza like Galuf). The two chatted briefly and then the group rested. However, we were awaken mid-sleep by a battle up above. Exdeath's forces had come to attack the ships. After dealing with a handful of enemies, I came face to face with...Gilgamesh again. BOSS BATTLE TIME! It seems that Gilgamesh is going to be the recurring boss for the game. So far, he's never been much of a challenge and seems like more of a joke fight.  This battle didn't prove very different until he summoned a little help. Just as he was about to go down, he brought in a friend who was turning the sides for the battle. It was starting to go slowly and downhill, but I finished the battle in one stroke with the Samurai's $toss skill. It throws a huge pile of your money at the enemy for massive damage. I don't know how much I lost, but I figure the price was right to end the battle.
     Gilgamesh attempted to grab the group and bring them into the ocean with himself, but he failed at that and drifted away. The group recovered from this and took the next action. Zeza had already made a full plan. First, they dug a hole under the ocean directly to one of the Barrier Towers. Once said tunnel was done, they were going to use it to infiltrate and destroy the tower. This would lower the barrier and allow a direct approach to Exdeath's castle. Zeza showed the group the submarine and left the fleet behind. Once underneath the tower, Zeza blew a hole inside and gave us instructions. He was heading to the basement to destroy the power room while we would head to the top and destroy the antenna.
     One tower climb later (trying to cut down), I found myself at the top. Just as the group was about to destroy the antenna, BOSS BATTLE TIME! This was actually a really difficult and highly unusual boss battle. The boss was a giant monstrosity with a huge mouth. According to the guide, his name is Atomos. I recognize the name from a different Final Fantasy (he's a summon in 9). Anyways, the entire battle consisted of Atomos casting Comet on select people and then dragging them forward. His strategy was to kill people and pull them towards himself. Once they reached him, those people were "sucked into another dimension" as the game put it. However, he could only pull downed party members into the warp (or whatever). In all reality, the best strategy would be to let him take one out and unleash my attacks on him as he focused on that person. I believe he wouldn't kill another one until he had sucked in that person. Instead, I kept reviving people here and there so he kept killing off someone. Sometimes he'd kill off two people, and then I had to waste all my turns reviving. Before it was all said and done, I actually lost Bartz and Galuf to him. I barely managed to kill him as he was about to get Faris too. With Atomos defeated, the antenna was finally starting to go. However...tragedy strikes (as always).
     As the group starts trying to escape the tower, Zeza reports in that the engine room is beginning to blow. And then the game takes off into a cutscene. Basically, Zeza is stuck down there, and he knew this was going to happen. Galuf wants to go after him, but Zeza pleads the group to leave him behind so they can face Exdeath. He promises to meet them back by the submarine (An obvious lie of course). A short time later, the group is waiting at the submarine when Galuf finally gives in. Faris suggests that we use the sub to reach Gill's cave, and I'm off to the next location.
     The inside of Gill's Cave was just a big damn puzzle. I cheated with guide help and used it to get myself to Gill a bit faster. Nothing super special inside the cave outside of the puzzle and random monsters. The group finally encounters Gill and discovers that he...is a turtle. Gill reveals some of Exdeath's back story to the group as well as what his next plan is. It seems that Exdeath was created when an evil spirit in a tree turned a tree into a monster. The monster was Exdeath. He had been kept sealed for 500 years until the incident 30 years ago. The Dawn Warriors managed to seal him using the crystals of the other planet, but then he broke loose. After that, Gill instructs the group to go to Moore Forest. Exdeath is currently looking for something there, and the group needs to go and protect it. The forest is alive, and it is impossible to directly enter it. Gill handed over something called the Elder Branch. He said it would allow us to enter the forest. Well now...off to Moore Forest!
     Moore Forest was located in land in an area that I couldn't fly into. I had to find a spot under the ocean with the submarine and go up into the Moore area. Before heading to Moore Forest, I checked out the nearby village of...Moore Village. They had some new and really good equipment and spells, but I didn't have enough money for it all. I had to spend the next hour or so farming up some money so that I could buy everything out. I gained some extra levels also, so it didn't feel like a huge waste of time. After that, I used the Elder Branch to open and finally enter the forest. About halfway into the forest, it started catching fire. It seems that Exdeath was incredibly determined to find what he wanted. The group managed to escape the fire when a Moogle came up and helped them. After the fire passed, I continued further into the forest until we came face to face with the Master Tree. The Elder Branch opened the way, and I stepped inside. The next thing I knew, I was in ...BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     I had to fight off a group of four giant crystals. It doesn't sound like much of a battle, but it was fairly tough. It killed me on my first attempt. Anyways, each crystal had its own type so I couldn't use any group spells or summons against them. On top of that, once a crystal reached critical health, it started casting super damaging spells. My first attempt went okay until they started the super spells. The second time, I used the ultimate strategy! I used the Samurai's $toss ability twice, and that killed off all the crystals. Sure, I put a bit more effort into it than that, but that was the basic idea of what happened. After defeating the crystals, it seemed like that was a huge mistake. Exdeath walks in and thanks the group for breaking the seal so that he could claim the power of the crystals. With the crystals in hand, he started slaughtering the party. Just as it looked grim, Krile came in and blasted Exdeath. However, she soon was captured as well. Galuf used all his strength to save Krile and then charged at Exdeath for STORY BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     Galuf was actually killed in the first attack, but as per story battle, he kept going. He attacked and attacked Exdeath until he was defeated. Exdeath fled the scene with the crystals. The group runs up to Galuf, but it was too late. He was already horribly injured, and it seemed his time had come. They all did their best to try and save him, but it was over. Galuf passed on. The group mourned for his death, and Krile received his powers and abilities. (Thank god, I was NOT looking forward to retraining an entire character.) With Exdeath in possession of those crystals, the group had to hurry and get him. I made my way to Exdeath's Castle and prepared for a final battle. The last thing I did before going to Exdeath's Castle was locate another summon monster. This time, it was some weird looking thing named Shoat. It looked like some sort of one-eyed cat goat monster. I defeated it with little trouble and had a new summon in hand. Off to Exdeath's Castle!
     Finally back to his castle. If you remember, I was shortly here when the group first arrived on this planet. This time though...we are here to face Exdeath himself! The group infiltrates the castle. They don't make it too far inside when they hit a dead end. Krile looks over it and knows it isn't a dead end. As she's looking at the wall, something speaks to her. The game changes places, and I see a glimpse of the Dawn Warrior Kelga. He realizes that he is the last surviving Dawn Warrior, and that he is going to pass soon. Using the last of his power, he breaks the illusion over the castle. With the illusion gone, I'm able to continue onward. There wasn't any necessarily hard puzzles along the way, but the enemies easily made up for this. Many of them weren't really hard on their own, but they had stupidly powerful combos that easily doubled or tripled their difficulty. Even further on, I started running into dragons. They were all a pain in the ass. Along the way, I ran into another summon monster...Carbuncle! He wanted me to prove my worth in BOSS BATTLE TIME!
     Lucky for me, I already had a hot tip for beating Carbuncle. Apparently, my newly acquired summon, Shoat, is perfect for this. All Shoat can do is petrify an opponent turning them to stone, but it seems to work on Carbuncle for some reason. The first attempted Shoat missed, but the second one hit right on and defeated Carbuncle. Woo! Got another summon! Just shortly after the encounter with Carbuncle, I was met with an old friend...Gilgamesh. He attacked the group for the FOURTH time! Another BOSS BATTLE! This was one was just like the rest however. He didn't put up much of a challenge, and it seemed to be more of a "story battle" than anything. He talked to the group and asked about the "old man." Krile and party answered that Exdeath had killed him. Funny enough, Gilgamesh seemed to show a sadness towards this. After fighting for a while, he morphed into a larger and more powerful looking form. Since we last saw him, he had obtained the mythical Excalibur! Despite its mythical super ability, it wasn't doing anything to the group. Eventually, Exdeath stepped in and killed Gilgamesh. Victory...I guess? Found out shortly after the battle that what Gilgamesh actually had was the "Excalipur," which is a famous knockoff version of Excalibur.
     Shortly after Gilgamesh's battle, the group came face to face with the bad guy himself...time for BOSS BATTLE! Exdeath put up quite a fight here. Even with summoning Golem (for physical defense) and Carbuncle (for Reflect status), I still had quite a fight on my hands. I put a lot of Blue Magic to use during this battle, and after several rounds of mostly healing, the group defeated Exdeath...maybe. After the battle, there was a sudden flash and the group passed out. They awakened to find themselves back nearby Castle Tycoon. I went inside and Faris and Reina were welcomed back as Princesses of the kingdom. A party started and the two Princesses (Faris/Salsa and Reina) were sitting at their thrones. Bartz and Krile had a bad feeling that something was off and left to find out what all had happened. Along the way, I re-encountered my old friend Boko. He was doing quite well, and he even had a wife chocobo named Koko! Boko agreed to help the two, and I began my travels back on the original planet.
     I didn't make it too far when all of a sudden a hole opened up in the ground! Everybody was okay...but then a monster attacked Bartz and Krile! I quickly put him down, but the two were stuck in the hole. I had to wait around for a bit. Eventually, a small rope appeared near the top of the cave. It lowered down and helped the group get back up. Turns out that Faris was the one at the top. She was mad at the two for abandoning her at the party. She joined the group, and I quickly made my way further on. Eventually, I found a small cave that turned out to be Gill's Cave! Gill talked to the group and told them about what was happening. Apparently, the two planets had merged back together! A long time ago, the two planets were actually one planet. The planet was split into two planets back then to seal off The Void. Back when the planet was one, a powerful evil known as Enuo had the power to control the Void. The fight with Enuo raged for quite some time, but it was finally defeated with the use of 12 legendary weapons. Unfortunately, they were unable to get rid of the Void that Enuo had brought about. The worlds split the crystals all in two, and that separated the world into two planets. The space between the two worlds, called the N-Zone, was where they sealed away The Void.
     Exdeath had known all this and brought the planets back together as one in order to obtain power over The Void. Just as Gill was finished talking, Exdeath made his appearance. He had hidden himself on Krila as a splinter. His plan was to take control of the power of the Void. Just as he started saying that, the N-Zone appears over Tycoon Castle and swallows it up. The group tries to fight Exdeath, but they all fail. Eventually, Gill steps up and fights on almost even ground with Exdeath. Before the battle concludes, the group is sent flying off by Exdeath. They awaken near the Library of Ancients with Gill. The group informs him that it is the Library of Ancients, and they head there next. The scholars at the library had hooked up with those from Surgate Castle. They each had half of an ancient book. The book, known as the Sealed Book, contained the information necessary to defeat Exdeath. The book told of the location where the 12 Legendary Weapons were sealed. However, to get to those weapons, I would have to hunt down 4 Lithographs located all over the world. Each lithograph was protected by guardians. Gill told the group that they needed to hurry and find the weapons before Exdeath gained full control of the Void.
     Seeing as I have accomplished quite a bit, I've decided to end it here for now. I saved up my game, and I'm ready for another post hopefully before Sunday evening.

Ending Point - Nearby the Library of Ancients.
Current Party -

• Bartz Level 35 - Berserker Lvl 1 with Two Handed ability.
• Reina - Currently Missing in Action.
• Krile Level 35 - Blue Mage Lvl 3 with White Magic.
• Faris Level 35 - Samurai Lvl 3 with Two Swords ability.

Goals Accomplished -Located Zeza's Fleet and joined up with him. Helped fight off an enemy attack on Zeza's ship. Climbed up and destroyed the Barrier Tower. Used the Submarine to enter Gill's Cave. Located and Entered Moore Forest. Helped Exdeath by breaking the seal (great job) and letting him gain the crystals. Defeated and obtained the Shoat summon. Defeated and obtained the Carbuncle summon. Explored Exdeath's Castle and defeated Exdeath. Explored the new merged world and found Gill. Learned from the Sealed Book about the 12 Legendary Weapons.
Next Goals - Obtain the 12 Legendary Weapons. Stop Exdeath from controlling The Void. Save the world.

~May the Crystals Guide Me~