If you install the mod now, you get your own personalized Zodiac Stone! (Limited offer: twelve Stones total, three remaining)
Let's Play Every Final Fantasy Game In Order Of Release [Now Finished: Final Fantasy Tactics]
- Thread starter Omicron
- Start date
- Let's Play
If you install the mod now, you get your own personalized Zodiac Stone! (Limited offer: twelve Stones total, three remaining)
Honestly, I'm only speaking up because I want to say: JOIN US!
I'd also be really curious to see your thoughts on the main character's sister...
- Pronouns
- He/Him
There's one thing that "Ramza has almost all of the Zodiac Stones" can likely lead to:
Ramza being blackmailed into handing them all over.
Ramza being blackmailed into handing them all over.
Do it for self-heal weaponskills. Do it for the sick character art. Do it for old Gaffy-G.
BECOME WHAT YOU MUST.
- Location
- Northern Virginia
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'd be interested to see what he does at the end of chapter 1.
Egleris
Vagrant Dragon
- Location
- Italy
So, I don't know if I'm doing this correctly or not - nobody answered when I asked how to go about putting up an image here, so I'm just clicking on the buttons and, if it doesn't work or I've done something wrong, somebody can tell me tomorrow and I'll fix it. I'll put the image under spoiler, as that seems to be the approved format.
I am not the author of this image, and I cannot identify the author because I can't read the language in which the site where I found the base images was written. Perhaps somebody else can help me find the correct attribution; the images were as simple to find as searching images for Rapha "Final Fantasy Tactics", and then the name of one of the PSX FFT classes. Reverse image search will probably also work, but only if selecting a single class image and searching that - putting them all together was something I did myself, I don't think the full collection as an image exists anywhere.
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to consider what other named characters would look like in job outfits; surely that'd make for interesting conversation, right?
I am not the author of this image, and I cannot identify the author because I can't read the language in which the site where I found the base images was written. Perhaps somebody else can help me find the correct attribution; the images were as simple to find as searching images for Rapha "Final Fantasy Tactics", and then the name of one of the PSX FFT classes. Reverse image search will probably also work, but only if selecting a single class image and searching that - putting them all together was something I did myself, I don't think the full collection as an image exists anywhere.
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to consider what other named characters would look like in job outfits; surely that'd make for interesting conversation, right?
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Nanimani
Probably listening to music
- Pronouns
- She/Her
So we may have moved past mod discussion, but I have been rudely slapped in the face and need to complain about it somewhere.
I've been playing LFT and having a generally positive experience with the mod's changes.
But now I've gotten to Riovanes.
They gave Wiegraf Scream.
I've been playing LFT and having a generally positive experience with the mod's changes.
But now I've gotten to Riovanes.
They gave Wiegraf Scream.
somewhatLazy
Serial Procrastinator
- Location
- lurking
Look, would it truly be Final Fantasy Tactics if Wiegraf didn't absolutely bully you?
Final Fantasy Tactics, Part 21.A: Mullond Cathedral, Nave, & Sanctuary
New
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hear ye, hear ye! 'Tis the year of our Lord 2024, and it has come to pass that the loathsome heretic, Ramza Beoulve, raided the Cathedral of Glabados, and left no survivors, forever securing his legacy as one of terror and treachery.
The Story So Far: The War of the Lions is all but over. Dukes Larg and Goltanna have been slain, House Beoulve is no more, Cidolfus Orlandeau is thought dead. Only Delita Heiral and the Templar Knight conspiracy which he plans to betray remain to make their final move; but while Delita plays his game of war and crowns, Ramza alone understands the true threat of the Lucavi. He hurries now to Mullonde, seat of the Church, to find Lord Commander Folmarv, the only man to know where Ramza's sister Alma is kept.
I. Remedial Math Courses
We start off with the traditional "taking a couple months off to do some Errands" which would hardly be worth mentioning save for this fact:
There's an Errand about helping a boy with his math course. It has abysmal rewards, because, as is evident from the misspellings on the Errand posting, this wasn't a request to hire a tutor by his parents, but a plea for help written and posted by the boy himself. So of course he had no money to pay us and it granted barely any JP at all, only the satisfaction of helping a child in need, and you know what?
It's the most endearing thing I've seen in the entire game.
Actually let me pull up another one.
One thing that's easily lost if you just gloss over the Chronicle entries for past Errands is how much understated comedy gold there is in there, like the story of Count Minimas, who had to hire adventurers because of the solid gold fittings on his door that made it too heavy to open, concluding with a wistful expression of how this philanthropic man is one of the few hopes for a corrupt Ivalice. That's actually the second Count Minimas Errand; in the first one, he had to hire adventurers to open his family vault because he had stuffed it full of so many gil bags that it jammed the opening mechanism, and that one concluded on how his charity work made him a shining example in our corrupt society. Perfect, no note.
II. Assault on the Vatican
Now, we go to Mullonde, where a dire portend of things to come greets us.
Posting two pics here mostly so you can see the absolute spray of blood from Marcel's mouth when Folmarv pulls out his sword; this is genuinely the bloodiest FF game we've ever had.
We are at the very heart of the Church's power, the Mullonde Cathedral (should be a Basillica but w/e), before the Holy See (as in sedes, as in the episcopal throne), and Folmarv, Loffrey, and Cletienne have enacted their final betrayal, slaying all clergy members in attendance, and stabbing High Confessor Marcel himself.
It's interesting that we know, from Folmarv's conversation with Elmdore, that he is by now the only remaining Lucavi; this suggests Cletienne and Loffrey are human, yet are fully part of the inner conspiracy, entirely loyal to Folmarv, and think nothing of betraying the Church. What have they been promised for such treachery against their own kind?
High Confessor Marcel: "I did not… think you capable of such treachery."
[Folmarv pulls out his sword; Marcel falls to his knees, coughing blood.]
Folmarv: "Had you made your confession willingly your life might have been spared. I should have preferred to employ measures less… extreme, but there's no time for that now."
Marcel: "I don't… understand."
Folmarv: "I had hoped to enlist your aid in gathering the auracite. But the boy holds most of the Stones now. Your aid is no longer required."
Marcel: "Help me… please…"
[Marcel reaches out towards Folmarv with a trembling hand.]
Folmarv: "Your wound is deep, but it is not mortal. Treated soon, you will live. But you must earn your life. Tell me: Where is the entrance to the necrohol?"
Marcel: "Orbonne. The vaults beneath the monastery. In the lowest levels, there is a glyph bound by a magicked seal."
Folmarv: "And how does one break this seal?"
Marcel: "I know not. The Scriptures may hold some clue… I cannot say."
[Folmarv slaps Marcel's hand away.]
Folmarv: "At every turn, the boy!" [A pause; Loffrey inches closer behind Marcel.] "Good-bye, Funebris."
[Folmarv and Cletienne leave; Marcel reaches vainly towards them.]
Marcel: "Do not… leave me like this. I beg you…"
Exit High Confessor Marcel Funebris, a man whose shadows has stretched over the whole game, whose conspiring played a large part into setting the events of the War into motion, whose recruiting of Delita to his conspiracy may yet prove one of the more influential events in Ivalice's history; yet a man hopelessly blindsided by those closest to him, whose only on-screen appearance was in his betrayal and defeat. We'll see him again, briefly, towards the end of this update, but even if Folmarv said the truth about his earlier injuries, the sword in his back makes it plain he will not live through it.
It's honestly impressive how thoroughly meaningless anything Folmarv says is. The man is not so much deceitful as nothing he says has ever held any truth value; he makes whatever mouth noises are required to further his goals, but there's nothing behind them. Offers of mercy are meaningless, he'd probably have murdered Alma and still lied to Ramza that he had her alive as a hostage if she wasn't Virgo's chosen one, no offer of exchange of hostages he makes can ever be trusted. The man is devoid not merely of honor or mercy, but of any basic human compulsion towards saying true things. A true demon in human skin.
But now it is Ramza and his company who approach Mullonde Cathedral, and we must make ready for battle - this is a two-squad battle; presumably Ramza is splitting his party on approach to flank the enemy. Because while he will of course try to entreat the Cathedral's guards to let him in for everyone's sake, he probably has little illusion that it'll work.
Templarate Mage: "Halt! None save members of the clergy are permitted within these walls! State your name and title, and let your purpose in coming here be known!"
Ramza: "My name is Ramza Beoulve! I petition the release of Alma Beoulve, whose person is held unlawfully by the lord commander of the Knights Templar!"
Templarate Mage: "Ramza Beoulve!? You are fool enough to present yourself before us? We will carry out your sentence where you stand!"
Well.
To be fair to these guys - I said earlier that at this point anyone who hears about "the Heretic Ramza, last sighted at the location of a massacre that left no survivors or witnesses and hundreds of dead knights" and decides to fight him is a fool, but, like.
From the (real, not Folmarv-aligned) templarate, the Dread Heretic Ramza has just shown up at the gates of the Mullonde Cathedral, where he probably intends to carry out the same deeds he carried out at Lionel, Riovanes, Besselat and Eagrose. This is a threat to the very seat of the Church. He cannot be allowed to set one foot into the cathedral; resistance to the last is the only option.
Too bad for them.
So what's our tactical situation?
I appreciate how they really did their best to model a full cathedral in FFT's relatively small maps. This is one of the coolest maps we've had by far. It's also a really tactically interesting one; the front gates and towers present a nearly impassable wall, but there's one escalating path to the rooftops guarded by a Geomancer, as well as a path to the back that's a little more circuitous and is overlooked by two Mystics. Like many Church parties, this is a magically-focused one; two Mystics, two Geomancers, one Summoner and one White Mage. An interesting spread - Geomancers aren't very powerful magic-wise, but they have decent physical attack and can instant-cast their Geomancy, which covers one of the primary weaknesses of magic-focused parties.
Hester goes first, making her way towards the back path to the rooftops and throwing a Morning Star at a Mystic's face - good damage, not enough to take him down.
Ganelon, the enemy White Mage and the one who talked to us in the intro, moves towards the front of the rampart and prepares to cast a spell; Ramza makes his way towards the side path to the rooftops, Shouting to empower himself. One of the enemy Geomancers approaches to help cut off his path by supporting the other GEO, firing a Wind Blast at Hadrian and Gillian in the process. The second GEO follows, approaching into close range of Ramza and attempting to hit him with a sword strike, more powerful than her Geomancy - unfortunately, this procs First Strike, dealing severe damage.
The Mystics start moving to intercept Hester and Mustadio at the back, using guns to preserve range while plonking at them from a safe distance.
All in all, a relatively sedate opening, very "classical FFT," like we've had many times in the first half of the game - it's all about positioning, early moves, setting up first spells to tip the scales, low-damage openers, and progressing on the map.
This is about to change.
You see, a lot of those units are currently at the same level of elevation. So let's just quickly check something…
Wow, Richarde the Enemy Mystic, you're at 9h elevation? That's so interesting. And your Geomancer friend? Also 9h? And the White Mage is at 6h? That's so cool.
Gillian?
Height Multiple of 3 Holy hits all units at 9h and 6h elevation, which due to the nature of the terrain is: Most of them. And because these are all Templarate magic units, they all have high Faith, which strengthens all magic used on them. The White Mage, one of the Geomancers, and both Mystics go down. That's 4 units out of a 6-unit enemy party down in a single cast, a total slaughter.
Arithmetician is a little bit busted, folks.
To add insult to injury, Hadrian goes next and I just have him clear the sheer impassable wall that the front of the cathedral presents in one jump. Ramza's Iaido takes down the remaining Geomancer, and Hadrian finishes off the Summoner in a single blow.
Fight over.
Ramza: "Be strong, Alma! It will not be long now!"
Abusing Holy with Arithmetics is really, really funny, people. I probably should stop doing it because it makes a mockery of the game, but also it's just hilarious every time it happens. I just turned this encounter from "powerful enemies in a difficult to assail position are ready to hurl disabling spells at you the whole way" into "a field of dead bodies." Genuienly outstanding performance, Gillian is now officially our strongest character.
Now it's time to enter the Cathedral.
III. The Three Holy Stooges
Wow, I actually had totally overlooked that he and Ramza were literally never in the same room.
Folmarv: "Ramza, at last we meet! Pray forgive me. I ought to have called upon you sooner, but I have been ever so busy of late. I fear I remain so even now, so let us make this brief. If you would see your sister returned alive, you will relinquish the Scriptures and all the auracite you possess. Refuse, and she dies ere the word leaves your lips. Are we of an understanding? My patience is grown thin."
Ramza: "I have what you desire. Where is Alma? I surrender naught until she is brought before me."
Folmarv: "Did you not hear a word I said? I offered no negotiable terms. Forfeit the Scripture and the Stones, or forfeit your sister's life."
And again here - none of what Folmarv says means anything. We know he needs Alma to complete the summoning of the High Seraph, so he has no intention to relinquish her; his threats to kill the hostage if he doesn't get what he wants are completely empty. If Ramza agrees, he takes the items, then kills him. If Ramza refuses, he kills him, then takes the items. Nothing Ramza can do here can affect things in any way.
Ramza, of course, does not know this, and has to navigate this as best he could. He can't refuse Folmarv's ultimatum entirely because of the threat to Alma, but agreeing plainly would be foolish, as Folmarv would have no reason not to immediately (attempt to) kill him. So he tries to thread the needle in a way I find actually fairly clever given his limited information:
Ramza advances to the middle of the room, puts down the Scriptures, says he will keep the stones until Folmarv has fulfilled his end of the bargain, then walks back to his line (and the safety of his cohort of heavily armed units).
This is pretty good! From Ramza's perspective, this is the correct move: The Scriptures can unravel the Church's dark secrets, so they are politically useful, but he doesn't particularly care about this; meanwhile, the Zodiac Stones hold actual supernatural power and the doorway to summon the Lucavi, so they'd be a weapon in his enemy's hands. By giving the Scriptures, he gives an item that's of little importance to him and can't meaningfully tilt the scales of a direct confrontation, while keeping the items that would grant one side a direct power advantage if it comes to a fight and which could decide the entire fate of the War and Ivalice with it.
Unfortunately it's the complete opposite of Folmarv's calculation. All the Lucavi have already been summoned and slain (either permanently killed or temporarily banished) except the High Seraph, whose stone he already possesses; to him, it's the Stones that are a 'nice to have' power boost that he can do without, while the Scriptures are the single most important item in Ivalice because they might contain the key to opening the vaults under Orbonne and reach the 'necrohol.' And Ramza just handed it to him.
Folmarv: "Well…?"
Loffrey: "...It is written here. A surprisingly simple incantation."
[Loffrey closes the book and pulls back closer to his allies.]
Folmarv: "Excellent. Then we have all we need of them. Of course, I suppose propriety dictates that we venge Belias and the others while they're here."
Ramza: "We are deceived!"
Well! Can't say I didn't see that one coming. A 3v5 with us having the numerical advantage is interesting; what does our opposition look like?
Lv 44+, Platinum Gear, Folmarv and Loffrey are both Divine Knights with Crush Gear abilities while Cletienne is still a Sorcerer with a vast array of magics. At this point we've been facing enough Special Knights that there's really not much new to be expecting from them - the game only has so many variations in its skill set, and Folmarv doesn't have any funky stuff like Elmdore's Master Teleport + Iaido. He can just crush gear every turn, and that makes him plenty dangerous on its own. Or at least annoying.
We're going to obey Standard VIP Protocol here - we're probably strong enough to not need to rush the objective, so we'll take out Cletienne first (he's the mage, so the most likely to throw unexpected bullshit our way or raise/buff allies), then Loffrey, then Folmarv. Agrias goes first, as usual.
Hallowed Bolt on Loffrey (I know I said Cletienne first, but he wasn't in her attack range and Loffrey was) for 286 damage, solid start. Ramza goes next, and with it some dialogue.
Ramza: "Why did you not kill Alma?"
Folmarv: "What do you mean?"
Ramza: "You took no pause in slaughtering your own son. Why keep my sister alive?"
Folmarv: "Our affairs are not for you to know!"
Ramza, I appreciate your optimism, and in this case you are correct, Alma is still alive, but… You have no way to know that. Folmarv has given you absolutely zero proof of Alma's condition; he could have killed her days ago and still be leading you by the nose with the promise of her rescue.
Alright, Ramza's turn now. Move up and hit both Loffrey and Cletienne with a Doomed Aspirations…
Loffrey is down, suffering more damage than anticipated, likely due to Zodiac compatibility. All according to-
…
Are you kidding me!?
Stop saying "Objective: Kill the boss" when any enemy KO will immediately result in the end of the battle!
Jesus Christ these jokers haven't even had a single turn. There's nothing to comment on here, there were no tactics, I just deleted one of them turn 1 and they all bailed!
Alright, let me just go back briefly - I thought it would be too much of a burden to fill a team slot with a useless character but let's just reload and bring Meliadoul for her unique dialogue.
…after another reload when it turns out that a single Doomed Aspirations is enough to bring Loffrey into critical range and end the fight. I have to just straight up not touch the controls until Meliadoul gets her turn if I want to see that exchange. This does mean Folmarv gets to Crush Helmet on Hester, destroying a valuable Thief's Cap and taking her out immediately, then Loffrey gets to Crush Armor on Meliadoul, bringing her to critical, but some sacrifices have to be made.
Meliadoul: "Are you truly the father I've always known?"
Folmarv: "Of course I am, child! Why do you fight on their side? When did you turn against your own kin?"
Meliadoul: "When my own kin ceased to be the man he once was."
Folmarv: "Whatever do you mean?"
Meliadoul: "The marquis Elmdore de Limberry was made some sort of fiend when he used a Zodiac Stone. And at Riovanes - the monster who killed Isilud and all the others was you, wasn't it?"
Folmarv: "Monster? You think us monsters!?"
Meliadoul: "Then it's true! You are not my father."
It's kinda funny that Folmarv tries to preserve his facade of bland deceit long past the point where it's believable (Ramza just accused him of killing his own son in front of Meliadoul and his answer wasn't a denial, it was just 'none of your business'), only to crack in anger or outrage the moment Meliadoul suggests that the terrible and grandiose Lucavi may be monsters, rather than the 'gods' they consistently describe themselves as being.
Anyway, starting the fight a turn late with a critical Meliadoul and Hester down is pretty rough but, like, again, Ramza literally just has to use Doomed Aspirations on Loffrey to end it at any time, so it's just a question of how long we drag it out. Dragging it out does allow us to see some of their cooler moves that they otherwise don't have time to use:
Cletienne knows the spell Unholy Darkness, which is like the evil, negative version of Holy and has an appropriately reversed animation which turns the screen black and everything. It's really cool (and takes Gillian in one hit) but frankly keeping that fight going is just an exercise in wasting money to Crush Gear abilities so let's just reload, win instantly and move on. Honestly? It's getting hard to take the threat of our opponents seriously when all these divine knights, ark knights, sorcerers and whatnot keep talking a big game, getting smacked in the mouth once, going "tch, I don't have time to waste playing with you" and running away immediately. Ramza put it best: "They are more craven than I'd thought!" Folmarv had his two best men with him, the three highest Knights Templar most likely, and a boy with 10 out of 12 Zodiac Stones in front of him, and he still reacts to the slightest pushback by peacing out.
Elmdore was the better fight, zero doubt on this front.
Cut for image count.
The Story So Far: The War of the Lions is all but over. Dukes Larg and Goltanna have been slain, House Beoulve is no more, Cidolfus Orlandeau is thought dead. Only Delita Heiral and the Templar Knight conspiracy which he plans to betray remain to make their final move; but while Delita plays his game of war and crowns, Ramza alone understands the true threat of the Lucavi. He hurries now to Mullonde, seat of the Church, to find Lord Commander Folmarv, the only man to know where Ramza's sister Alma is kept.
I. Remedial Math Courses
We start off with the traditional "taking a couple months off to do some Errands" which would hardly be worth mentioning save for this fact:
There's an Errand about helping a boy with his math course. It has abysmal rewards, because, as is evident from the misspellings on the Errand posting, this wasn't a request to hire a tutor by his parents, but a plea for help written and posted by the boy himself. So of course he had no money to pay us and it granted barely any JP at all, only the satisfaction of helping a child in need, and you know what?
It's the most endearing thing I've seen in the entire game.
Actually let me pull up another one.
One thing that's easily lost if you just gloss over the Chronicle entries for past Errands is how much understated comedy gold there is in there, like the story of Count Minimas, who had to hire adventurers because of the solid gold fittings on his door that made it too heavy to open, concluding with a wistful expression of how this philanthropic man is one of the few hopes for a corrupt Ivalice. That's actually the second Count Minimas Errand; in the first one, he had to hire adventurers to open his family vault because he had stuffed it full of so many gil bags that it jammed the opening mechanism, and that one concluded on how his charity work made him a shining example in our corrupt society. Perfect, no note.
II. Assault on the Vatican
Now, we go to Mullonde, where a dire portend of things to come greets us.
Posting two pics here mostly so you can see the absolute spray of blood from Marcel's mouth when Folmarv pulls out his sword; this is genuinely the bloodiest FF game we've ever had.
We are at the very heart of the Church's power, the Mullonde Cathedral (should be a Basillica but w/e), before the Holy See (as in sedes, as in the episcopal throne), and Folmarv, Loffrey, and Cletienne have enacted their final betrayal, slaying all clergy members in attendance, and stabbing High Confessor Marcel himself.
It's interesting that we know, from Folmarv's conversation with Elmdore, that he is by now the only remaining Lucavi; this suggests Cletienne and Loffrey are human, yet are fully part of the inner conspiracy, entirely loyal to Folmarv, and think nothing of betraying the Church. What have they been promised for such treachery against their own kind?
High Confessor Marcel: "I did not… think you capable of such treachery."
[Folmarv pulls out his sword; Marcel falls to his knees, coughing blood.]
Folmarv: "Had you made your confession willingly your life might have been spared. I should have preferred to employ measures less… extreme, but there's no time for that now."
Marcel: "I don't… understand."
Folmarv: "I had hoped to enlist your aid in gathering the auracite. But the boy holds most of the Stones now. Your aid is no longer required."
Marcel: "Help me… please…"
[Marcel reaches out towards Folmarv with a trembling hand.]
Folmarv: "Your wound is deep, but it is not mortal. Treated soon, you will live. But you must earn your life. Tell me: Where is the entrance to the necrohol?"
Marcel: "Orbonne. The vaults beneath the monastery. In the lowest levels, there is a glyph bound by a magicked seal."
Folmarv: "And how does one break this seal?"
Marcel: "I know not. The Scriptures may hold some clue… I cannot say."
[Folmarv slaps Marcel's hand away.]
Folmarv: "At every turn, the boy!" [A pause; Loffrey inches closer behind Marcel.] "Good-bye, Funebris."
[Folmarv and Cletienne leave; Marcel reaches vainly towards them.]
Marcel: "Do not… leave me like this. I beg you…"
Exit High Confessor Marcel Funebris, a man whose shadows has stretched over the whole game, whose conspiring played a large part into setting the events of the War into motion, whose recruiting of Delita to his conspiracy may yet prove one of the more influential events in Ivalice's history; yet a man hopelessly blindsided by those closest to him, whose only on-screen appearance was in his betrayal and defeat. We'll see him again, briefly, towards the end of this update, but even if Folmarv said the truth about his earlier injuries, the sword in his back makes it plain he will not live through it.
It's honestly impressive how thoroughly meaningless anything Folmarv says is. The man is not so much deceitful as nothing he says has ever held any truth value; he makes whatever mouth noises are required to further his goals, but there's nothing behind them. Offers of mercy are meaningless, he'd probably have murdered Alma and still lied to Ramza that he had her alive as a hostage if she wasn't Virgo's chosen one, no offer of exchange of hostages he makes can ever be trusted. The man is devoid not merely of honor or mercy, but of any basic human compulsion towards saying true things. A true demon in human skin.
But now it is Ramza and his company who approach Mullonde Cathedral, and we must make ready for battle - this is a two-squad battle; presumably Ramza is splitting his party on approach to flank the enemy. Because while he will of course try to entreat the Cathedral's guards to let him in for everyone's sake, he probably has little illusion that it'll work.
Templarate Mage: "Halt! None save members of the clergy are permitted within these walls! State your name and title, and let your purpose in coming here be known!"
Ramza: "My name is Ramza Beoulve! I petition the release of Alma Beoulve, whose person is held unlawfully by the lord commander of the Knights Templar!"
Templarate Mage: "Ramza Beoulve!? You are fool enough to present yourself before us? We will carry out your sentence where you stand!"
Well.
To be fair to these guys - I said earlier that at this point anyone who hears about "the Heretic Ramza, last sighted at the location of a massacre that left no survivors or witnesses and hundreds of dead knights" and decides to fight him is a fool, but, like.
From the (real, not Folmarv-aligned) templarate, the Dread Heretic Ramza has just shown up at the gates of the Mullonde Cathedral, where he probably intends to carry out the same deeds he carried out at Lionel, Riovanes, Besselat and Eagrose. This is a threat to the very seat of the Church. He cannot be allowed to set one foot into the cathedral; resistance to the last is the only option.
Too bad for them.
So what's our tactical situation?
I appreciate how they really did their best to model a full cathedral in FFT's relatively small maps. This is one of the coolest maps we've had by far. It's also a really tactically interesting one; the front gates and towers present a nearly impassable wall, but there's one escalating path to the rooftops guarded by a Geomancer, as well as a path to the back that's a little more circuitous and is overlooked by two Mystics. Like many Church parties, this is a magically-focused one; two Mystics, two Geomancers, one Summoner and one White Mage. An interesting spread - Geomancers aren't very powerful magic-wise, but they have decent physical attack and can instant-cast their Geomancy, which covers one of the primary weaknesses of magic-focused parties.
Hester goes first, making her way towards the back path to the rooftops and throwing a Morning Star at a Mystic's face - good damage, not enough to take him down.
Ganelon, the enemy White Mage and the one who talked to us in the intro, moves towards the front of the rampart and prepares to cast a spell; Ramza makes his way towards the side path to the rooftops, Shouting to empower himself. One of the enemy Geomancers approaches to help cut off his path by supporting the other GEO, firing a Wind Blast at Hadrian and Gillian in the process. The second GEO follows, approaching into close range of Ramza and attempting to hit him with a sword strike, more powerful than her Geomancy - unfortunately, this procs First Strike, dealing severe damage.
The Mystics start moving to intercept Hester and Mustadio at the back, using guns to preserve range while plonking at them from a safe distance.
All in all, a relatively sedate opening, very "classical FFT," like we've had many times in the first half of the game - it's all about positioning, early moves, setting up first spells to tip the scales, low-damage openers, and progressing on the map.
This is about to change.
You see, a lot of those units are currently at the same level of elevation. So let's just quickly check something…
Wow, Richarde the Enemy Mystic, you're at 9h elevation? That's so interesting. And your Geomancer friend? Also 9h? And the White Mage is at 6h? That's so cool.
Gillian?
Height Multiple of 3 Holy hits all units at 9h and 6h elevation, which due to the nature of the terrain is: Most of them. And because these are all Templarate magic units, they all have high Faith, which strengthens all magic used on them. The White Mage, one of the Geomancers, and both Mystics go down. That's 4 units out of a 6-unit enemy party down in a single cast, a total slaughter.
Arithmetician is a little bit busted, folks.
To add insult to injury, Hadrian goes next and I just have him clear the sheer impassable wall that the front of the cathedral presents in one jump. Ramza's Iaido takes down the remaining Geomancer, and Hadrian finishes off the Summoner in a single blow.
Fight over.
Ramza: "Be strong, Alma! It will not be long now!"
Abusing Holy with Arithmetics is really, really funny, people. I probably should stop doing it because it makes a mockery of the game, but also it's just hilarious every time it happens. I just turned this encounter from "powerful enemies in a difficult to assail position are ready to hurl disabling spells at you the whole way" into "a field of dead bodies." Genuienly outstanding performance, Gillian is now officially our strongest character.
Now it's time to enter the Cathedral.
III. The Three Holy Stooges
Wow, I actually had totally overlooked that he and Ramza were literally never in the same room.
Folmarv: "Ramza, at last we meet! Pray forgive me. I ought to have called upon you sooner, but I have been ever so busy of late. I fear I remain so even now, so let us make this brief. If you would see your sister returned alive, you will relinquish the Scriptures and all the auracite you possess. Refuse, and she dies ere the word leaves your lips. Are we of an understanding? My patience is grown thin."
Ramza: "I have what you desire. Where is Alma? I surrender naught until she is brought before me."
Folmarv: "Did you not hear a word I said? I offered no negotiable terms. Forfeit the Scripture and the Stones, or forfeit your sister's life."
And again here - none of what Folmarv says means anything. We know he needs Alma to complete the summoning of the High Seraph, so he has no intention to relinquish her; his threats to kill the hostage if he doesn't get what he wants are completely empty. If Ramza agrees, he takes the items, then kills him. If Ramza refuses, he kills him, then takes the items. Nothing Ramza can do here can affect things in any way.
Ramza, of course, does not know this, and has to navigate this as best he could. He can't refuse Folmarv's ultimatum entirely because of the threat to Alma, but agreeing plainly would be foolish, as Folmarv would have no reason not to immediately (attempt to) kill him. So he tries to thread the needle in a way I find actually fairly clever given his limited information:
Ramza advances to the middle of the room, puts down the Scriptures, says he will keep the stones until Folmarv has fulfilled his end of the bargain, then walks back to his line (and the safety of his cohort of heavily armed units).
This is pretty good! From Ramza's perspective, this is the correct move: The Scriptures can unravel the Church's dark secrets, so they are politically useful, but he doesn't particularly care about this; meanwhile, the Zodiac Stones hold actual supernatural power and the doorway to summon the Lucavi, so they'd be a weapon in his enemy's hands. By giving the Scriptures, he gives an item that's of little importance to him and can't meaningfully tilt the scales of a direct confrontation, while keeping the items that would grant one side a direct power advantage if it comes to a fight and which could decide the entire fate of the War and Ivalice with it.
Unfortunately it's the complete opposite of Folmarv's calculation. All the Lucavi have already been summoned and slain (either permanently killed or temporarily banished) except the High Seraph, whose stone he already possesses; to him, it's the Stones that are a 'nice to have' power boost that he can do without, while the Scriptures are the single most important item in Ivalice because they might contain the key to opening the vaults under Orbonne and reach the 'necrohol.' And Ramza just handed it to him.
Folmarv: "Well…?"
Loffrey: "...It is written here. A surprisingly simple incantation."
[Loffrey closes the book and pulls back closer to his allies.]
Folmarv: "Excellent. Then we have all we need of them. Of course, I suppose propriety dictates that we venge Belias and the others while they're here."
Ramza: "We are deceived!"
Well! Can't say I didn't see that one coming. A 3v5 with us having the numerical advantage is interesting; what does our opposition look like?
Lv 44+, Platinum Gear, Folmarv and Loffrey are both Divine Knights with Crush Gear abilities while Cletienne is still a Sorcerer with a vast array of magics. At this point we've been facing enough Special Knights that there's really not much new to be expecting from them - the game only has so many variations in its skill set, and Folmarv doesn't have any funky stuff like Elmdore's Master Teleport + Iaido. He can just crush gear every turn, and that makes him plenty dangerous on its own. Or at least annoying.
We're going to obey Standard VIP Protocol here - we're probably strong enough to not need to rush the objective, so we'll take out Cletienne first (he's the mage, so the most likely to throw unexpected bullshit our way or raise/buff allies), then Loffrey, then Folmarv. Agrias goes first, as usual.
Hallowed Bolt on Loffrey (I know I said Cletienne first, but he wasn't in her attack range and Loffrey was) for 286 damage, solid start. Ramza goes next, and with it some dialogue.
Ramza: "Why did you not kill Alma?"
Folmarv: "What do you mean?"
Ramza: "You took no pause in slaughtering your own son. Why keep my sister alive?"
Folmarv: "Our affairs are not for you to know!"
Ramza, I appreciate your optimism, and in this case you are correct, Alma is still alive, but… You have no way to know that. Folmarv has given you absolutely zero proof of Alma's condition; he could have killed her days ago and still be leading you by the nose with the promise of her rescue.
Alright, Ramza's turn now. Move up and hit both Loffrey and Cletienne with a Doomed Aspirations…
Loffrey is down, suffering more damage than anticipated, likely due to Zodiac compatibility. All according to-
…
Are you kidding me!?
Stop saying "Objective: Kill the boss" when any enemy KO will immediately result in the end of the battle!
Jesus Christ these jokers haven't even had a single turn. There's nothing to comment on here, there were no tactics, I just deleted one of them turn 1 and they all bailed!
Alright, let me just go back briefly - I thought it would be too much of a burden to fill a team slot with a useless character but let's just reload and bring Meliadoul for her unique dialogue.
…after another reload when it turns out that a single Doomed Aspirations is enough to bring Loffrey into critical range and end the fight. I have to just straight up not touch the controls until Meliadoul gets her turn if I want to see that exchange. This does mean Folmarv gets to Crush Helmet on Hester, destroying a valuable Thief's Cap and taking her out immediately, then Loffrey gets to Crush Armor on Meliadoul, bringing her to critical, but some sacrifices have to be made.
Meliadoul: "Are you truly the father I've always known?"
Folmarv: "Of course I am, child! Why do you fight on their side? When did you turn against your own kin?"
Meliadoul: "When my own kin ceased to be the man he once was."
Folmarv: "Whatever do you mean?"
Meliadoul: "The marquis Elmdore de Limberry was made some sort of fiend when he used a Zodiac Stone. And at Riovanes - the monster who killed Isilud and all the others was you, wasn't it?"
Folmarv: "Monster? You think us monsters!?"
Meliadoul: "Then it's true! You are not my father."
It's kinda funny that Folmarv tries to preserve his facade of bland deceit long past the point where it's believable (Ramza just accused him of killing his own son in front of Meliadoul and his answer wasn't a denial, it was just 'none of your business'), only to crack in anger or outrage the moment Meliadoul suggests that the terrible and grandiose Lucavi may be monsters, rather than the 'gods' they consistently describe themselves as being.
Anyway, starting the fight a turn late with a critical Meliadoul and Hester down is pretty rough but, like, again, Ramza literally just has to use Doomed Aspirations on Loffrey to end it at any time, so it's just a question of how long we drag it out. Dragging it out does allow us to see some of their cooler moves that they otherwise don't have time to use:
Cletienne knows the spell Unholy Darkness, which is like the evil, negative version of Holy and has an appropriately reversed animation which turns the screen black and everything. It's really cool (and takes Gillian in one hit) but frankly keeping that fight going is just an exercise in wasting money to Crush Gear abilities so let's just reload, win instantly and move on. Honestly? It's getting hard to take the threat of our opponents seriously when all these divine knights, ark knights, sorcerers and whatnot keep talking a big game, getting smacked in the mouth once, going "tch, I don't have time to waste playing with you" and running away immediately. Ramza put it best: "They are more craven than I'd thought!" Folmarv had his two best men with him, the three highest Knights Templar most likely, and a boy with 10 out of 12 Zodiac Stones in front of him, and he still reacts to the slightest pushback by peacing out.
Elmdore was the better fight, zero doubt on this front.
Cut for image count.
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Final Fantasy Tactics, Part 21.B: Mullond Cathedral, Nave, & Sanctuary
New
- Location
- Brittany, France
- Pronouns
- He/Him
IV. Where There Will Be Weeping And Gnashing Of Teeth
And so our group pursues Folmarv deeper into the Cathedral where he escaped (we can surmise here that his teleport was diegetically a physical escape that the characters could follow), down into the crypts.
…is that the tomb of Saint Ajora?
Folmarv: "I fear I've no more time to waste on you. Would that I could bid you farewell here, but I suspect you'd not part ways so easily. I suppose you must be returned to the Father after all. My thralls will delight to guide you in His keeping. This sanctuary even holds a sarcophagus. It's as though Fate lends her hand!"
You know, at this stage, I'm genuinely unsure whether Folmarv-Hashmal actually believes in a Father in whose keeping mortal souls return after death (he's a demon, he might know!) or whether he's just using rote phrases in the same way a real life atheist might say "Go to hell."
Folmarv summons three of the now-familiar demon sprites around him, but just as it might seem like he intends to actually fight us with that demonic backup, he reveals a new twist.
Folmarv: "Of course, death is sooner served by steel. I shall let this one be your foeman as well."
…well, shit.
I guess we're getting that fateful duel against Zalbaag after all, huh.
Folmarv: "Once he was your brother, but he is reborn unto us now. You're a heretic already. Why not a kinslayer? *chuckle*"
[He teleports away.]
Ramza: "Ever the coward!"
Folmarv's Voice: "Zalbaag! Deliver me the head of that young man before you! He must not leave this cathedral alive!"
[OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT ZALBAAG!]
It's kind of a wild swerve for Folmarv to bring Zalbaag from the dead when we saw him get disintegrated by Adrammelech in front of our eyes (I don't think the implication was that Zalbaag was teleported away then stabbed by Loffrey and Cletienne at his landing site and processed into a zombie, the coordination required is highly implausible), but I think that's where the WotL addition of the Deathknight Argath fight fits in - it's there to establish precedent and build up the idea that whatever the Lucavi do to bring people back from the dead, they don't need anything so pedestrian as bodies; whether you were turned to atoms by a demon's orbital beam or exploded and buried under snow years ago at Ziekden, they can somehow pull back your spirit to animate a shell under their command.
The Ultima Demon and Archaeodemons are whatever. What's up with Zalbaag?
Ooooh, he's… He's definitely known better days… God, and undeath tanked his Bravery (but somehow raised his Faith), are you serious? 33? He's still got his Blade of Ruin Ability, but now he's a Vampire like Elmdore before him, and he's perpetually regenerating through Lifefont. Plus, lv 47; pretty scary overall.
Hester goes first, so I move her up to take out the Ultima Demon - unfortunately it dodges one of her attacks, avoiding death, and Zalbaag immediately steps in with the infectious vampire bite.
Hester is now a vampire. This is mildly problematic, but nothing too serious. Ramza is next, and with his turn comes a desperate plea to his brother's animated shell.
Ramza: "Lord Brother, it's I! Do you not know your own blood?"
Zalbaag: "...Ramza? Is that you? What… what is this place? It is so dark, and I… I cannot see. Am I - what am I doing? Do I stand? Sit? I have no… no sensation. It's as though I… had no limbs."
Ramza: "You are being controlled by Lord Folmarv - by a Lucavi!"
Zalbaag: "Am I… fighting you? Why… why would I do such a thing? Ramza… flee. Flee, or… or I may strike you down."
Ramza: "Lord Brother! Heed not the false feelings in your mind!"
Jesus, chalk that one up for some horror. The idea that Zalbaag's mind feels trapped in some great, insensate darkness, but his body is still going through the motions of his combat abilities fused with undead hunger is, yeesh.
We have to save him. And by save him I mean put him down for good.
Ramza, no doubt filled with anger at the sight of his brother's fallen state, channels it into a Shout. I advance Mustadio a little distance behind him, unfortunately the broken lines of sight in this map make it very difficult to line up a shot and he ends up wasting his turn. Then I quickly check Gillian…
543 damage out of a 550 HP pool, and Zalbaag is only on CT count 32. If Gillian doesn't get sniped by a demon, this should be fine.
Speaking of sniping by demons, the Ultima Demons have a notable ability that I haven't commented on yet - Almagest, one of Exdeath's special moves from FFV. It's, uh, a little hard to capture in screenshots:
Yeah baby, we're in the psychedelic Jefferson Airplane zone with this. Almagest hits Gillian and Hadrian for 144 damage with no status effect, which is okay, and then, of course, the predictable thing that I forgot to predict happens:
Just as Agrias with Elmdore before her, Hester turns on her Sire, hitting Zalbaag with a Vampire of her own, dealing 138 damage and healing herself for the same. Which is unfortunate, because there's a Holy incoming-
…that was supposed to hit for just 7 HP short of killing Zalbaag so I could clear out the demons and check for additional dialogue.
Let's just pretend that didn't happen and do a quick reload.
With a slightly different positioning at the start, Ramza is able to take out the Ultima Demon and one Archaeodemon with a single Doomed Aspirations on his first turn, considerably simplifying the battlefield. For her part, Hester immediately walks up to Zalbaag and unleashes her sword combo but, true to his knightly prowess, he parries and dodges them both. However, positioning Mustadio correctly lets us take potshots at Zalbaag while Gillian Protects Mustadio and Hadrian rather than obliterating the encounter in one turn. That lets Hester clear out the last Archaeodemon with her dual-wielding attacks.
It's Hadrian who gets the Vampire's kiss this time, but Mustadio is quick to toss a Holy Water at him, curing the effect, and our party closes in, cornering Zalbaag on all sides and getting us the second part of the dialogue.
Zalbaag: "I… I beg you, Ramza - kill… kill me. The pain - it's blinding. I cannot feel my arms or… or my legs, and yet - and yet somehow they burn! And my memories - they turn to smoke. I… I am afraid, Ramza, as I… as I have never been before."
Ramza: "Do not give in! There must be a way for you to overcome this! We will find it! Please, do not abandon hope!"
Zalbaag: "Hope abandons me. I ask only for… for mercy, Ramza… Someone whispers… in my ear. Whispers, beckons… cries, and taunts… Oh, gods, end it… please! Grant… grant me swift mercy."
Ramza: "Damn you, Folmarv!"
Alright. I think that's enough.
Zalbaag: "F-forgive me, Ramza. I have… have caused you pain. Alma… Please… save Alma. You are her… only hope. F-farewell, my brother. And… thank you."
Rest in peace, Zalbaag Beoulve.
There's a cruel irony in how Dycedarg, the patricide, the warmonger, who died at his brother's sword, got to rise again with the power of a demon and smite the brother he'd already betrayed before turning on Ramza with a second chance at victory (though of course he lost his soul in the process), whereas Zalbaag, the one who found at last his virtue and made a stand for his family's honor was smote in an instant without recourse, only to be brought back to a horrific facsimile of existence, a suffering of every instant in which he was made to try and kill the last of his brothers. No good deed goes unpunished.
But that suffering, that curse, had perhaps a redemptive aspect. For being brought back in this way, he had, in his last moment, a chance to ask for Ramza's forgiveness. For all that it made Ramza a fratricide twice over - though in both cases, what he killed was no longer his brother - it was perhaps the most sincere moment of love shared between two of the Beoulve brothers in this story. One of them asking for forgiveness, the other granting him peace.
I only wish he'd remembered and spoken Tietra's name in that last moment.
Thus the tale of House Beoulve reaches its true conclusion, and with it, our raid on the Mullonde Cathedral. Only one thing remains. Ramza and his party scour the building for traces of Alma or the Knights Templar, and find…
On the ground of the throne room, High Confessor Marcel feebly tries to crawl, reach out, beg for help. At last, Ramza enters; at first he simply takes in the room and the sight of all the dead bodies, but then he notices Marcel moving and hurries to his side.
Ramza: "Gods have mercy!"
Marcel: "Help me! Father help me… please!"
Ramza: "Be strong, Your Holiness!"
Marcel: "The knights… of th-the t-templarate…"
Ramza: "You know where they've gone? Tell me - you must tell me where!"
Marcel: "Or… Orbonne…"
[Marcel's head falls; he no longer moves. Ramza stands.]
Ramza: "Orbonne Monastery."
[He turns, and leaves the room.]
It really tells us something about Ramza's character, I think, that after all this, after dealing with all the horrors of war, with all the scheming and manipulations of the mundane side of the Church's conspiracy, after being deemed a heretic and hunted by all faithful men across road and mountain, after having to carve a bloody path into the Cathedral, Ramza arrives here, in front of a dying High Confessor, the man who set all these events into motion before the Lucavi cut his feet out from underneath, and his first instinct is still to rush to his aid, express horror at his injury, and tell him to be strong. There is an instinct of kindness, of mercy in Ramza, even for those that have injured him.
And there it is.
Where it all begun, it has to end.
Even if I hadn't been warned about it it's extremely obvious that Orbonne Monastery will be our point of no return. The symbolism is too strong.
It's funny, in a way - the anachronistic opening, where we open post-Zeikden Fortress and then flash back to the past, is a very good construction narratively, it creates intrigue and tension and foreshadowing and so on, makes us wonder about Delita, all of that good stuff. But it also serves to place the very opening of the game in Orbonne Monastery, so that when the game ends there, it will book end the game - it ends where it all started. Even if it 'really' started in Gariland, long before Orbonne, the story does a little sleight of hand to enable this twist.
It's good. It's good stuff.
It's interesting how, rather than a typical escalation, the endgame of Tactics is following a kind of deflatory motion. On the supernatural side, the Knights Templar are now down to a single Lucavi and his two presumably human (though possibly possessed by lesser demons) henchmen scrambling to reach Orbonne and finish their plan. On the mundane side, the entire leadership of the Larg-Beoulve faction has been wiped out, the Church's worldly conspiracy to seize the crown has been defeated through the Lucavi murdering the High Confessor and his closest allies, while all possible challenges to Delita's control over the Goltanna faction have been pushed aside, leaving him to sweep the board and claim control of Ivalice. But this sweep seems like it will not come with a grand final battle; the War of the Lions appears instead like it will peter out with the death or removal of all its major players, leaving Delita the victor by default.
Of course, it seems unlikely that Delita will simply sit out the endgame in his castle and find out about what happened in Orbonne afterwards. Surely, he will involve himself in these final moves somehow. The question of how, however, remains unclear to me.
We likely won't find out with the next update. Before we head to the final confrontation in the vaults behind Orbonne, we'll have to tend to the last remaining side quests - perhaps not necessarily all of them, we'll see how it goes. But we are approaching the very end of this adventure.
Thank you for reading.
Next Time: Side quests!
Main Story Battle Count: 50
Side Quest Battle Count: 8
Random Encounter Count: 69
And so our group pursues Folmarv deeper into the Cathedral where he escaped (we can surmise here that his teleport was diegetically a physical escape that the characters could follow), down into the crypts.
…is that the tomb of Saint Ajora?
You know, at this stage, I'm genuinely unsure whether Folmarv-Hashmal actually believes in a Father in whose keeping mortal souls return after death (he's a demon, he might know!) or whether he's just using rote phrases in the same way a real life atheist might say "Go to hell."
Folmarv summons three of the now-familiar demon sprites around him, but just as it might seem like he intends to actually fight us with that demonic backup, he reveals a new twist.
Folmarv: "Of course, death is sooner served by steel. I shall let this one be your foeman as well."
…well, shit.
I guess we're getting that fateful duel against Zalbaag after all, huh.
Folmarv: "Once he was your brother, but he is reborn unto us now. You're a heretic already. Why not a kinslayer? *chuckle*"
[He teleports away.]
Ramza: "Ever the coward!"
Folmarv's Voice: "Zalbaag! Deliver me the head of that young man before you! He must not leave this cathedral alive!"
[OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT ZALBAAG!]
It's kind of a wild swerve for Folmarv to bring Zalbaag from the dead when we saw him get disintegrated by Adrammelech in front of our eyes (I don't think the implication was that Zalbaag was teleported away then stabbed by Loffrey and Cletienne at his landing site and processed into a zombie, the coordination required is highly implausible), but I think that's where the WotL addition of the Deathknight Argath fight fits in - it's there to establish precedent and build up the idea that whatever the Lucavi do to bring people back from the dead, they don't need anything so pedestrian as bodies; whether you were turned to atoms by a demon's orbital beam or exploded and buried under snow years ago at Ziekden, they can somehow pull back your spirit to animate a shell under their command.
The Ultima Demon and Archaeodemons are whatever. What's up with Zalbaag?
Ooooh, he's… He's definitely known better days… God, and undeath tanked his Bravery (but somehow raised his Faith), are you serious? 33? He's still got his Blade of Ruin Ability, but now he's a Vampire like Elmdore before him, and he's perpetually regenerating through Lifefont. Plus, lv 47; pretty scary overall.
Hester goes first, so I move her up to take out the Ultima Demon - unfortunately it dodges one of her attacks, avoiding death, and Zalbaag immediately steps in with the infectious vampire bite.
Hester is now a vampire. This is mildly problematic, but nothing too serious. Ramza is next, and with his turn comes a desperate plea to his brother's animated shell.
Ramza: "Lord Brother, it's I! Do you not know your own blood?"
Zalbaag: "...Ramza? Is that you? What… what is this place? It is so dark, and I… I cannot see. Am I - what am I doing? Do I stand? Sit? I have no… no sensation. It's as though I… had no limbs."
Ramza: "You are being controlled by Lord Folmarv - by a Lucavi!"
Zalbaag: "Am I… fighting you? Why… why would I do such a thing? Ramza… flee. Flee, or… or I may strike you down."
Ramza: "Lord Brother! Heed not the false feelings in your mind!"
Jesus, chalk that one up for some horror. The idea that Zalbaag's mind feels trapped in some great, insensate darkness, but his body is still going through the motions of his combat abilities fused with undead hunger is, yeesh.
We have to save him. And by save him I mean put him down for good.
Ramza, no doubt filled with anger at the sight of his brother's fallen state, channels it into a Shout. I advance Mustadio a little distance behind him, unfortunately the broken lines of sight in this map make it very difficult to line up a shot and he ends up wasting his turn. Then I quickly check Gillian…
543 damage out of a 550 HP pool, and Zalbaag is only on CT count 32. If Gillian doesn't get sniped by a demon, this should be fine.
Speaking of sniping by demons, the Ultima Demons have a notable ability that I haven't commented on yet - Almagest, one of Exdeath's special moves from FFV. It's, uh, a little hard to capture in screenshots:
Yeah baby, we're in the psychedelic Jefferson Airplane zone with this. Almagest hits Gillian and Hadrian for 144 damage with no status effect, which is okay, and then, of course, the predictable thing that I forgot to predict happens:
Just as Agrias with Elmdore before her, Hester turns on her Sire, hitting Zalbaag with a Vampire of her own, dealing 138 damage and healing herself for the same. Which is unfortunate, because there's a Holy incoming-
…that was supposed to hit for just 7 HP short of killing Zalbaag so I could clear out the demons and check for additional dialogue.
Let's just pretend that didn't happen and do a quick reload.
With a slightly different positioning at the start, Ramza is able to take out the Ultima Demon and one Archaeodemon with a single Doomed Aspirations on his first turn, considerably simplifying the battlefield. For her part, Hester immediately walks up to Zalbaag and unleashes her sword combo but, true to his knightly prowess, he parries and dodges them both. However, positioning Mustadio correctly lets us take potshots at Zalbaag while Gillian Protects Mustadio and Hadrian rather than obliterating the encounter in one turn. That lets Hester clear out the last Archaeodemon with her dual-wielding attacks.
It's Hadrian who gets the Vampire's kiss this time, but Mustadio is quick to toss a Holy Water at him, curing the effect, and our party closes in, cornering Zalbaag on all sides and getting us the second part of the dialogue.
Zalbaag: "I… I beg you, Ramza - kill… kill me. The pain - it's blinding. I cannot feel my arms or… or my legs, and yet - and yet somehow they burn! And my memories - they turn to smoke. I… I am afraid, Ramza, as I… as I have never been before."
Ramza: "Do not give in! There must be a way for you to overcome this! We will find it! Please, do not abandon hope!"
Zalbaag: "Hope abandons me. I ask only for… for mercy, Ramza… Someone whispers… in my ear. Whispers, beckons… cries, and taunts… Oh, gods, end it… please! Grant… grant me swift mercy."
Ramza: "Damn you, Folmarv!"
Alright. I think that's enough.
Zalbaag: "F-forgive me, Ramza. I have… have caused you pain. Alma… Please… save Alma. You are her… only hope. F-farewell, my brother. And… thank you."
Rest in peace, Zalbaag Beoulve.
There's a cruel irony in how Dycedarg, the patricide, the warmonger, who died at his brother's sword, got to rise again with the power of a demon and smite the brother he'd already betrayed before turning on Ramza with a second chance at victory (though of course he lost his soul in the process), whereas Zalbaag, the one who found at last his virtue and made a stand for his family's honor was smote in an instant without recourse, only to be brought back to a horrific facsimile of existence, a suffering of every instant in which he was made to try and kill the last of his brothers. No good deed goes unpunished.
But that suffering, that curse, had perhaps a redemptive aspect. For being brought back in this way, he had, in his last moment, a chance to ask for Ramza's forgiveness. For all that it made Ramza a fratricide twice over - though in both cases, what he killed was no longer his brother - it was perhaps the most sincere moment of love shared between two of the Beoulve brothers in this story. One of them asking for forgiveness, the other granting him peace.
I only wish he'd remembered and spoken Tietra's name in that last moment.
Thus the tale of House Beoulve reaches its true conclusion, and with it, our raid on the Mullonde Cathedral. Only one thing remains. Ramza and his party scour the building for traces of Alma or the Knights Templar, and find…
On the ground of the throne room, High Confessor Marcel feebly tries to crawl, reach out, beg for help. At last, Ramza enters; at first he simply takes in the room and the sight of all the dead bodies, but then he notices Marcel moving and hurries to his side.
Ramza: "Gods have mercy!"
Marcel: "Help me! Father help me… please!"
Ramza: "Be strong, Your Holiness!"
Marcel: "The knights… of th-the t-templarate…"
Ramza: "You know where they've gone? Tell me - you must tell me where!"
Marcel: "Or… Orbonne…"
[Marcel's head falls; he no longer moves. Ramza stands.]
Ramza: "Orbonne Monastery."
[He turns, and leaves the room.]
It really tells us something about Ramza's character, I think, that after all this, after dealing with all the horrors of war, with all the scheming and manipulations of the mundane side of the Church's conspiracy, after being deemed a heretic and hunted by all faithful men across road and mountain, after having to carve a bloody path into the Cathedral, Ramza arrives here, in front of a dying High Confessor, the man who set all these events into motion before the Lucavi cut his feet out from underneath, and his first instinct is still to rush to his aid, express horror at his injury, and tell him to be strong. There is an instinct of kindness, of mercy in Ramza, even for those that have injured him.
And there it is.
Where it all begun, it has to end.
Even if I hadn't been warned about it it's extremely obvious that Orbonne Monastery will be our point of no return. The symbolism is too strong.
It's funny, in a way - the anachronistic opening, where we open post-Zeikden Fortress and then flash back to the past, is a very good construction narratively, it creates intrigue and tension and foreshadowing and so on, makes us wonder about Delita, all of that good stuff. But it also serves to place the very opening of the game in Orbonne Monastery, so that when the game ends there, it will book end the game - it ends where it all started. Even if it 'really' started in Gariland, long before Orbonne, the story does a little sleight of hand to enable this twist.
It's good. It's good stuff.
It's interesting how, rather than a typical escalation, the endgame of Tactics is following a kind of deflatory motion. On the supernatural side, the Knights Templar are now down to a single Lucavi and his two presumably human (though possibly possessed by lesser demons) henchmen scrambling to reach Orbonne and finish their plan. On the mundane side, the entire leadership of the Larg-Beoulve faction has been wiped out, the Church's worldly conspiracy to seize the crown has been defeated through the Lucavi murdering the High Confessor and his closest allies, while all possible challenges to Delita's control over the Goltanna faction have been pushed aside, leaving him to sweep the board and claim control of Ivalice. But this sweep seems like it will not come with a grand final battle; the War of the Lions appears instead like it will peter out with the death or removal of all its major players, leaving Delita the victor by default.
Of course, it seems unlikely that Delita will simply sit out the endgame in his castle and find out about what happened in Orbonne afterwards. Surely, he will involve himself in these final moves somehow. The question of how, however, remains unclear to me.
We likely won't find out with the next update. Before we head to the final confrontation in the vaults behind Orbonne, we'll have to tend to the last remaining side quests - perhaps not necessarily all of them, we'll see how it goes. But we are approaching the very end of this adventure.
Thank you for reading.
Next Time: Side quests!
Main Story Battle Count: 50
Side Quest Battle Count: 8
Random Encounter Count: 69
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ZerbanDaGreat
Daemon Noble of D E M O G R A P H I C S
- Pronouns
- They/them
Wow, Richarde the Enemy Mystic, you're at 9h elevation? That's so interesting. And your Geomancer friend? Also 9h? And the White Mage is at 6h? That's so cool.
Gillian?
Height Multiple of 3 Holy hits all units at 9h and 6h elevation, which due to the nature of the terrain is: Most of them. And because these are all Templarate magic units, they all have high Faith, which strengthens all magic used on them. The White Mage, one of the Geomancers, and both Mystics go down. That's 4 units out of a 6-unit enemy party down in a single cast, a total slaughter.
Arithmetician is a little bit busted, folks.
[...]
Abusing Holy with Arithmetics is really, really funny, people. I probably should stop doing it because it makes a mockery of the game, but also it's just hilarious every time it happens. I just turned this encounter from "powerful enemies in a difficult to assail position are ready to hurl disabling spells at you the whole way" into "a field of dead bodies." Genuienly outstanding performance, Gillian is now officially our strongest character.
Gillian got a taste for firepower from that gun she found, and she simply escalated from there until she got a PhD and started designing weapons for Lockheed Martin.
Ramza, of course, does not know this, and has to navigate this as best he could. He can't refuse Folmarv's ultimatum entirely because of the threat to Alma, but agreeing plainly would be foolish, as Folmarv would have no reason not to immediately (attempt to) kill him. So he tries to thread the needle in a way I find actually fairly clever given his limited information:
Ramza advances to the middle of the room, puts down the Scriptures, says he will keep the stones until Folmarv has fulfilled his end of the bargain, then walks back to his line (and the safety of his cohort of heavily armed units).
This is pretty good! From Ramza's perspective, this is the correct move: The Scriptures can unravel the Church's dark secrets, so they are politically useful, but he doesn't particularly care about this; meanwhile, the Zodiac Stones hold actual supernatural power and the doorway to summon the Lucavi, so they'd be a weapon in his enemy's hands. By giving the Scriptures, he gives an item that's of little importance to him and can't meaningfully tilt the scales of a direct confrontation, while keeping the items that would grant one side a direct power advantage if it comes to a fight and which could decide the entire fate of the War and Ivalice with it.
Unfortunately it's the complete opposite of Folmarv's calculation. All the Lucavi have already been summoned and slain (either permanently killed or temporarily banished) except the High Seraph, whose stone he already possesses; to him, it's the Stones that are a 'nice to have' power boost that he can do without, while the Scriptures are the single most important item in Ivalice because they might contain the key to opening the vaults under Orbonne and reach the 'necrohol.' And Ramza just handed it to him.
God this is so frustrating but in a way that's actually genius. They did it! They found a way to have Ramza hand a critical macguffin over to the enemy in a way that didn't make him look like he's got CTE! It turns out you can write stories in which characters try to do the best they can with the hand they've been dealt and lose anyway!
Alright, Ramza's turn now. Move up and hit both Loffrey and Cletienne with a Doomed Aspirations…
Loffrey is down, suffering more damage than anticipated, likely due to Zodiac compatibility. All according to-
…
Are you kidding me!?
Stop saying "Objective: Kill the boss" when any enemy KO will immediately result in the end of the battle!
Jesus Christ these jokers haven't even had a single turn. There's nothing to comment on here, there were no tactics, I just deleted one of them turn 1 and they all bailed!
UGH, I'VE BEEN DEFEATED. BUT I CAN'T FALL HERE. I MUST WITHDRAW.
Honestly, remembering what you said about the act of running away being such a coward-coded thing that jumping off a balcony or using a smokebomb or teleporting were invented to try and maintain threat for the villain, this constant teleport spam is reminding me of Mass Effect 3 of all things. You encounter Kai Leng three times and in the first two of those appearances he's clearly meant to look like the biggest scariest ninja badass in history with thirty goddamn dicks, killing a beloved character (or the salarian councillor) on the Citadel and absconding with a critical macguffin on Thessia both times acting like he won... then fast-forward to the encounter on Kronos Station where the tone has completely flipped and Shepard starts talking mad shit like "[I'm slow] 'cause I'm not always running! You ran on the Citadel, you ran on Thessia!" to which Leng can only scream at them to shut up like a loser baby pissboy.
It's like for a brief moment I saw that same energy here, where some trickle of frustration that game design dictates Folmarv must become the 96th in the cavalcade of bosses teleporting away the moment they stub their toe leaks through the levee enough for Ramza to exclaim "Lucavi more like Losercavi" while Folmarv starts crying and sobbing and shaking and throwing up behind a corner in the undercroft.
Ramza is next, and with his turn comes a desperate plea to his brother's animated shell.
Ramza: "Lord Brother, it's I! Do you not know your own blood?"
Zalbaag: "...Ramza? Is that you? What… what is this place? It is so dark, and I… I cannot see. Am I - what am I doing? Do I stand? Sit? I have no… no sensation. It's as though I… had no limbs."
Ramza: "You are being controlled by Lord Folmarv - by a Lucavi!"
Zalbaag: "Am I… fighting you? Why… why would I do such a thing? Ramza… flee. Flee, or… or I may strike you down."
Ramza: "Lord Brother! Heed not the false feelings in your mind!"
Jesus, chalk that one up for some horror. The idea that Zalbaag's mind feels trapped in some great, insensate darkness, but his body is still going through the motions of his combat abilities fused with undead hunger is, yeesh.
Zalbaag: "I… I beg you, Ramza - kill… kill me. The pain - it's blinding. I cannot feel my arms or… or my legs, and yet - and yet somehow they burn! And my memories - they turn to smoke. I… I am afraid, Ramza, as I… as I have never been before."
Ramza: "Do not give in! There must be a way for you to overcome this! We will find it! Please, do not abandon hope!"
Zalbaag: "Hope abandons me. I ask only for… for mercy, Ramza… Someone whispers… in my ear. Whispers, beckons… cries, and taunts… Oh, gods, end it… please! Grant… grant me swift mercy."
Ramza: "Damn you, Folmarv!"
Alright. I think that's enough.
-snip-Zalbaag: "F-forgive me, Ramza. I have… have caused you pain. Alma… Please… save Alma. You are her… only hope. F-farewell, my brother. And… thank you."
Jesus Christ. Yeah, we've all seen plenty of 'remnant of the original desperately fighting from the inside' in media, but it's much rarer to get the 'and they're a truly helpless passenger in their own body, suffering for every second they persist in this state' variant.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
At the beginning of the game, a prayer for help from above is answered by Ramza revealing himself.
Here at the end, the pope's prayer for help is answered by Ramza revealing himself.
Somebody's been making sure the call gets answered.
Here at the end, the pope's prayer for help is answered by Ramza revealing himself.
Somebody's been making sure the call gets answered.
Muramasa
Best Girl
Up to you Omi but there is in fact one last side quest. Should be available at this point though I don't quite remember how to unlock it.
Edit: Nevermind there's like 2 or 3 left including WoTL additions.
There should also be a scene in Zeltennia if you've kept Agrias and maybe Alicia and Lavian alive.
Edit: Nevermind there's like 2 or 3 left including WoTL additions.
There should also be a scene in Zeltennia if you've kept Agrias and maybe Alicia and Lavian alive.
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- Location
- Canada
3 actually.
I'm not going to describe them, but I'll put the locations in spoiler tags as well as anything someone going in blind should know
Go to Zeltennia, then Gariland and view a rumor there, then finally go to the Brigand's Den for a fight. Equip Agrias, and bring Orlandeau. Also there's some good gear to steal if you care.
Read the rumors, then go to Lionel. Gear Beowulf. Again, there's some good stuff to steal so consider a thief.
Go to Warjilis. Consider reading a guide because it's long and tedious trying to do it blind. Bring a summoner for the finale.
Omni should absolutely do the third one.
Wade Garrett
Just trying to do the right thing
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
Honestly the whole "trapped in your own corpse" is kinda karmically fitting for Zalbag?
He's been the epitome of "Will never be better than the environment he finds himself in", he acts like an honorable knight but it seems like it's less because he has any attachment to chivalry and honor than because society tells him this is how he's supposed to act, and then when his elder brother/family head Dycedarg is playing fast and loose with ethics and morality...well, he is the family head and a younger brother owes an older one loyalty, so with the flow he goes, it takes unveiling Dycedarg as a patricide for Zalbag to stop passively floating where the current takes him and act on his own convictions.
If Formav put any more thought into it than "This is gonna make Ramza so mad I gotta" then resurrecting him the way he did is a pretty deliciously ironic torment "What are you whining about, what's the difference between this and the way you lived your whole life up to this point?"
As a side note I have to give the Original PS version one credit over the Remaster, no one will ever convince me Formav is a better name for Rat Bastard Boss Templar Man than his original English moniker "Vormav".
He's been the epitome of "Will never be better than the environment he finds himself in", he acts like an honorable knight but it seems like it's less because he has any attachment to chivalry and honor than because society tells him this is how he's supposed to act, and then when his elder brother/family head Dycedarg is playing fast and loose with ethics and morality...well, he is the family head and a younger brother owes an older one loyalty, so with the flow he goes, it takes unveiling Dycedarg as a patricide for Zalbag to stop passively floating where the current takes him and act on his own convictions.
If Formav put any more thought into it than "This is gonna make Ramza so mad I gotta" then resurrecting him the way he did is a pretty deliciously ironic torment "What are you whining about, what's the difference between this and the way you lived your whole life up to this point?"
As a side note I have to give the Original PS version one credit over the Remaster, no one will ever convince me Formav is a better name for Rat Bastard Boss Templar Man than his original English moniker "Vormav".
NinetyNineLies
Memento Vivere
- Location
- Dreamland
- Pronouns
- Any
It would be extremely funny if Delita wins everything after doing nothing at all on the super-mega-evil-demon conspiracy front.
At this point, does Delita even know about the existence of the Lucavi? There's no more available Zodiac Stone to possess him, he and Ovelia's plotline had ran parallel to Ramza and the gang since they both peaced out to do their political intrigue thing in Chapter 2, and Agrias, the only other character who's close to Ovelia has been turned into Ramza's undead minion.
On one hand, you have to hand it to him, his gambit to infiltrate and rise high on the Goltanna's faction was all his work.
On the other hand, every defeat of his opponents just kinda happened without his intervention.
Delita "My enemies keep shooting each other in the foot" Heiral, the winner by default.
- Location
- Texas
I will say it's kinda nice that we're going into the endgame with most of the plot coupons zodiac stones in hand. By this point, usually the macguffin has been stolen wholesale by the villains, so it's neat to see that little subplot get subverted. Also, it's interesting that they, kinda don't matter? Like, sure, they're power sources for Atlantis levels of machinery still, but unless we find Construct 8's entire extended family, I don't see us using them for much. Sadly, this also means we probably don't get to see them Voltron together into the hidden thirteenth zodiac super boss, the ophiuchus.
- Location
- Norway
Undeath continues to be a horrifying trope. I think it's nice that Zalbaag got his chance to get forgiveness, even if his complacency allowed a lot of this to happen. It's been an interesting ride for sure, and I'm glad Omi has kept most of blorbos, they're endearing and it's fun to see them tactically nuke a whole map. Orlandeau is cool as hell, but Gillian is OUR super strong legend in the making.
Bizarro Goldor, is that you?
And to think, you just helped a seven year old take a step towards this power.
Most of my memories of FFT are hazy. The one time I managed to hit most of the enemy team in a swamp with a fire3 is probably the clearest on my mind, second only to how much Argath sucked.
Ah so that's how Agrias is cured.
Agrias: "I shall bring a about a new age! A better age where those of character will be blessed immortal and act as shepherd to their mortal flock*Sound of shattering glass and dripping holy water*."
Agris looks behind her.
Gillian: "We are not having an immortal nobility."
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OkayishGatsby
This Titan is Fine
And with that, Ramza has finished his tour of Ivalice's seven territories. Lets look at the state of the realm's rulers since the beginning of the game:
Gallione, Duke Larg + Beouvle siblings.
Status: Dead, Larg assassinated, Beoulves patricided and Lucavi'd, destroyed by Ramza.
Lionel, Cardinal Delacroix.
Status: Dead, Lucavi'd and destroyed by Ramza
Limberry, Marquis Elmdore.
Status: Dead, Lucavi'd and killed by Ramza.
Zeltennia, Duke Goltanna + Count Cid.
Status: Dead, assassinated by Delita and believed dead.
Fovoham, Duke Barrington.
Status: Dead, thrown off a roof by Lede, Lucavi Assasssin.
Lesalia: King Ondoria and Queen Louveria.
Status: Dead, of sickness and Louveria banished to Fort Besselat
Mullonde, High Confessor Funebris.
Status: Dead, slain by Folmarv
Death follows in Ramza's wake. The War of the Lions and the Lucavi plot has seen almost every major power in Ivalice dead, even the war's namesake Lions are dead. At this point Ivalice's ruling class is almost gone. Of them, only Ondoria, Louveria, and Goltanna have never met Ramza onscreen. Larg last met him sometime I believe in chapter 1.
Gallione, Duke Larg + Beouvle siblings.
Status: Dead, Larg assassinated, Beoulves patricided and Lucavi'd, destroyed by Ramza.
Lionel, Cardinal Delacroix.
Status: Dead, Lucavi'd and destroyed by Ramza
Limberry, Marquis Elmdore.
Status: Dead, Lucavi'd and killed by Ramza.
Zeltennia, Duke Goltanna + Count Cid.
Status: Dead, assassinated by Delita and believed dead.
Fovoham, Duke Barrington.
Status: Dead, thrown off a roof by Lede, Lucavi Assasssin.
Lesalia: King Ondoria and Queen Louveria.
Status: Dead, of sickness and Louveria banished to Fort Besselat
Mullonde, High Confessor Funebris.
Status: Dead, slain by Folmarv
Death follows in Ramza's wake. The War of the Lions and the Lucavi plot has seen almost every major power in Ivalice dead, even the war's namesake Lions are dead. At this point Ivalice's ruling class is almost gone. Of them, only Ondoria, Louveria, and Goltanna have never met Ramza onscreen. Larg last met him sometime I believe in chapter 1.
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I think literally the only people who know about it are your party, the demons, and Cid's adopted son? Nobody else has lived to tell the tale