A to B via Z

My journey through every main series Final Fantasy game continues.
Current adventure: Final Fantasy (the original).
Oh and, yeah…SPOILERS!

It’s amazing to me that I’ve played this game twice already and I can’t remember where everything is. Last week I seriously had no idea where to go, but after stumbling north from the Elven castle I remembered the dilapidated castle with the mysterious king. This king wants his crown and even though I’m supposed to be finding a way to wake up the Elven prince from his five year nap I decide finding a king his pretty is far more important.

I don’t hate Final Fantasy. I don’t even dislike it. I think it’s a great game and definitely an important one. But every time I play it I’m reminded of how far the series and RPGs in general have come. This first game at least is very much about getting from point A to point B via point Z. Order of events rarely makes sense and I’m really glad I at least remember enough of the game to make my way around without aimless wandering.

After equipping my team with some decent weapons, my Warrior and Red Mage are seriously kicking butt in battle. I know my Monk will get there eventually, it just takes some time. But my White Mage? I’m kind of regretting her presence at the moment. I’m starting to wish I had gone with a second Red Mage. Then I could have (at the moment) three really great fighters with one that could focus on black magic and another that could focus on white. But I’m assuming there are some high level spells later I’ll be thankful for, so it’ll work out.

My trip this week consisted of heading north to get a quest from the mysterious king and then south to retrieve the object of his desire. I’m not going to lie, there was a lot of me dying and resetting involved. I forgot how brutal this game can be at times (like running into a large group of enemies all with the ability to paralyze and watching them knock my HP down little by little as I just stand there). But I finally managed to get in and out of a dungeon and head north again.

I give the crown I had retrieved to the mysterious king and it turns out he’s the evil king of dark elves because of course he is. Can’t say I’m a huge fan of that one-hit kill thing he’s got going on. Fortunately, at this level, and other than the aforementioned spell, he’s a bit of a pushover. From him I get the Crystal Eye and here’s where I get to the whole A to B via Z thing (though not for the last time I’m sure). First it’s all the way north to visit Matoya who trades me a special potion for the eye but then rather rudely demands I vacate the premises. Jerk. Oh, and another thing I realized irritated me at this point in the game? Being forced to encounter a group of goblins that, at this point, are defeated with a stern look. I mean, easy battle yes, but kind of frustrating too since the experience/gil reward is so little compared to what I need now.

Anyway, time to head south again to use this handy new potion to wake up the Elf prince. Who gives me a key. Um…yay? Now I get to run all over the place unlocking mystic doors. I guess I did get a couple of neat items out of it so far, but nothing really major.

This week I’ve got a few more places to loot and then…I have no idea. It’s been too long. I’m not sure where I’m going next, but I know I have to visit the dwarves at some point. I’m having fun in this game and technically I know I’ve just scratched the surface. I haven’t even activated the first Crystal yet. The adventure will continue.