LEVEL ONE TGSSZ Walk-Through #1: Final Fantasy Legend There are few first-generation GameBoy games I can think of that can truly be said to have aged well. Tetris comes to mind, and maybe Super Mario Land . . . Revenge of the 'Gator (much better than Pinball Dreams) and Gargoyle's Quest (better than its NES sequel), perhaps. And Final Fantasy Legend. Even though it is almost as old as the GB itself, FFL is still one of the most popular RPGs for the system. It is also one of the best, surpassed in depth of play and replay value only by the rest of the GB FF series. In fact, FFL is, in some ways, superior to Final Fantasy, the NES game from which it was derived. Although I don't have specs to bounce around, FFL plays as if it is at least as large as FF--or, rather, the FFL universe seems equally vast. As well, there are more character-types to choose from (FFL's 8 vs. FF's 6) and more types of enemies to confront (FFL's 162 + 4 Arch-Fiends, Ashura, and the Creator vs. FF's 117 + the 4 Fiends and Chaos). To be fair, I should point out that FFL certainly has a few flaws: The inability to exert real control over the changes in Mutant abilities can be very frustrating; don't be surprised if a Mutant decides to evolve right when you've found a set of abilities you really like. As well, while the towns, worlds, and battle animations are impressive for a first-generation GB cart, the intermediate levels of the Tower get pretty tedious to wander through (when you finally have the chance to acquire the Door, it's a very welcome relief!). However, Square Soft corrected all of the flaws of FFL in its sequel, FFL2. What follows is a fairly in-depth walk-through of FFL. It contains a great deal of "spoiler" information, so first-time players should consider themselves warned! I have not provided play-control instruction, as the manual does that rather well. I have, though, gone into considerable detail in explaining the quest in the Base World for the benefit of anyone playing without a manual. It's easier to figure out the play-control (which is actually very intuitive) than to survive a premature trip to the Castle of Sword! I certainly hope FF newbies will find this useful, and I welcome additions and/or corrections from all you FF veterans! Enjoy! Setting up a Party For me, one of the biggest advantages of the Final Fantasy Legend series is the flexibility the games offer for creating parties; FFL3 lost some of that initial flexibility but made up for it in the expansion of the possibilities for character transformation. For a starting party in FFL, I recommend the second party-type provided in the manual: two Humans and two Mutants. In fact, I'll get even more specific: start out with two Human Males (HM1 and HM2 in the walk- through) and two Mutant Females (MF1 and MF2). When you've gotten used to the gameplay and the layout of the first world, you can start playing around with Monsters as party members; new FFL players might find Monsters, and maybe even Mutants, a bit frustrating. Money Can't Buy You Love But for Human characters, it does buy level advancement! In FFL, Humans do not collect experience points and automatically advance in level. You must buy Strength, Agility, and HP upgrades in order to develop your Human characters. Also, I have not found any way to raise the Mana of a Human character (except for the Game Genie!!!), so don't bother buying spells such as Ice, Elec, or Stone for Humans. Save your cash for HPs! Those Pesky Mutants As explained in the instruction manual, Mutants acquire spell-like magic abilities which change as the characters advance in level. What the manual doesn't say is that you have very little control over how these abilities evolve. There are, though, some principles to bear in mind: The more you use the abilities, the more likely they are to change. This is kind of a "catch-22" in that if you don't use the abilities, they will not improve or strengthen; however, it seems that as soon as your Mutant gets a set of abilities you like to use, they change. The manual says that once Mutants reach a certain level, they can no longer use store-bought items. This is simply not true. Mutants always have the option to use armor, weapons, and other items; however, the more you use store-bought weapons, the less-likely your Mutant abilities are to develop and change. In fact, if you use weapons too often, some of your mutant abilities will spontaneously "fizzle out"--they will still be on your Abilities menu, but the number of uses will drop to 0 until you visit an Inn. Mutants are the only characters who can get the most use out of the P-Knife, P-Sword, and Vampic ("vampiric") Sword. The P-Knife and P-Sword do damage as a function of the weilder's Mana; Humans don't have any, so they should not use these weapons. The Vampic Sword does damage by absorbing HP from the enemy struck by the sword; these HP are added to the weilder's HP, but only if the weilder's HP are not at the weilder's current maximum. If the weilder's HP are at maximum, the sword will absorb HP from the enemy but will not pass the HP to the weilder. The absorption power of the Vampic Sword may be linked to Mana, since it seems to always absorb 0 HP when weilded by a Human. Monsters: They are What They Eat As the manual explains, Monsters advance in level/abilities by eating the Meat of other Monsters; most of the time, this will cause the Monster to transform into another type of monster, but sometimes all that will happen is a recharge of HP and abilities. The _Nintendo GameBoy Players Guide_ includes a comprehensive "Transformation Table" which will indicate what any given monster-type will change to when it eats any given type of monster meat. The only problem is that the table is not completely correct. I have used the table to try to direct quite a few transformations, only to have something completely different result. Your best bet is to compile your own table by keeping track of the changes your Monsters undergo. Bear in mind that the transformations are not always upgrades! It's very depressing to have a nice hefty Oni eat the wrong meat and end up a Fly. Bummer. World One: Continent Now that you've got your party sorted out, you're ready to start adventuring. Here's a quick outline of the places you need to go in the order in which you need to visit them. The map below provides a general idea of where each place is located on the overall world map. You will find that there are many obstacles to negotiate between the various locations; terrain will limit "straight-line" travel. Similar outlines and maps will be provided for each world. In the walk-through, directions will be given as single or paired letters--N for north, W for west, SE for southeast, etc. 1. The Tower: Base Town 2. Hero 3. The Castle of Shield 4. The Castle of Armor 5. South Town 6. Bandit's Lair 7. The Castle of Armor 8. The Castle of Sword 9. The Castle of Shield 10. Hero 11. Base Town * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * T:1,11 * * 4,7 * * * * * * * * * * 2,10 3,9 * * * * * * * * 8 * * 5 * * * * * * 6 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1. The Tower: Base Town Once you have organized your party, head out into the great wide-open and do some exploring. The Tower sits on an island surrounded by a moat-like river. I suggest staying on this island and fighting the monsters you encounter there until you accumulate at least 500 GP. This will take about fifteen or twenty battles, since you will only encounter single monsters worth 40 GP each, and you will need to return to the Inn rather often to replenish your HP. A note about using the Inns: You are charged GP for your stays at the Inns based on the amount of HP your party members need to regain. If your party members still have all their HP, staying at an Inn is free! Bear in mind that staying at an Inn replenishes your HP and recharges your Mutant abilities, so even though a stay costs no money, your Mutants can still benefit. You will find this a very useful thing when one or more of your Mutants gains the Cure ability; you can use the Mutant's ability to replenish your party's HP, then stay at an Inn for free to recharge the Cure! Once you've collected the cash, go to the Weapons/Armor shop and buy a suit of Gold Armor and a set of Gold Gauntlets. Equip your HM1 with the Gold Armor and Bronze Gauntlets; equip HM2 with the Gold Gauntlets. At this point, your FMs will not need armor as long as they stay in the back of the marching order. You're certainly free to wander the island long enough to equip your whole party with Gold Armor, but what I've suggested is a minimum requirement for a reasonable chance of survival. At this point in the game, you want to do as much fighting as you can while following this principle: Make money, don't spend it. The enemies on the island are, for the most part, easy to beat. You will face Goblins, Albatrosses, Lizards and Zombies, which I've just listed in order from easiest to hardest to beat. Because of the relative weakness of the enemies in the first world, don't waste your money on magic and magic items; you don't really need them yet. It's possible to rush through the first world fairly quickly, but I believe that the best style for RPGs like FFL is to move slowly and think carefully about how you equip and prepare your characters. More than likely, if you rush through the first world, you will get killed before you reach the third floor of the Tower. It gets really nasty really quickly in there. Remember to check the abilities of your Mutants after each battle. For their first few fights, use their Rapiers, but as soon as their mutant abilities begin to appear, use those abilities as much as possible! The more you use the abilities, the more rapid they will change and increase in power; as well, using the mutant abilities will cause increases in Mana, which will be useful when you start buying spells for the Mutants. With careful play, you can increase your MFs' Mana to 99 before you reach World Two! 2. Hero If you followed the instructions above, you've armored your Humans, powered-up your mutants, and developed a feel for the battle techniques. You are now ready to leave the "sanctuary" of the Tower and have some serious adventures. Your first destination is the Town of Hero, which you will find to the SE of the tower island. Cross the bridge and immediately head S until you hit mountains; go W until the town appears. You now know the location of two Inns, so you can run around and kill things to gain GP and experience, safe in the knowledge that there are nearby places to which you can flee. A word of warning: For now, stay away from the little forest path to the SW of the tower island; it is a quick route to/from the Castle of Sword, and if you go there now your entire party will be killed. In Hero, you will learn the story of the naked statue and the items it formerly wore. You must retrieve the three items from the kings who have "borrowed" them in order to unlock the door at the base of the Tower. Start you quest with the Castle of Shield, in the forest directly E of Hero. 3. The Castle of Shield The Castle of Shield is not a very hospitable place. If you try to talk to the guards, they'll throw you out, and if you avoid them and try to speak to the King and his Steward, they'll just be rude. You cannot get the shield at this point, so don't wear yourself out trying. Actually, you can skip both the Castle of Shield and the Castle of Armor and go directly to 5 and 6, but you won't be able to really appreciate the evolution of the story. 4. The Castle of Armor The guards are more friendly here, but you still won't come out of your first visit with anything but information. See the King and he'll tell you of his sad romance with a young girl of South Town--which gives you a good reason to head south. 5. South Town Here you will learn of Bandit, who lives in a cave to the SW of South Town. He has been using threats to prevent the girl from marrying the King of Armor. Hmmm . . . maybe you should go and smack him around. But before you do, here's some advice: Bandit may look like a Lizard, but he is actually one level up. He's a P-Frog (as in "poisonous frog") and can be a challenging opponent. His biggest threat is his poisonous skin; if he is struck with a handheld weapon, the poison will carry through the weapon and harm the wielder! The least expensive solution is to have all of your characters, or at least the HMs, purchase Bows; for much more cash, you can equip your MFs with spells like Ice or Elec (Electricity). The basic idea here is to use weapons that let you attack from a distance. 6. Bandit Cave Here are directions for a quick trip through the cave: At the bottom of the stairs, go W, then follow the passages N, E all the way, then S; turn E, then take the stairs S. At the bottom of those stairs is a rather large cave; go W to the wall, then follow the wall S to a W turn; at the end of a very short passageway, you'll find a door. Go through the door and go W, then follow the passageway N to your confrontation with Bandit. Show no mercy. After defeating him, go back to through the door into the large cave. In the NE corner of the cave is a door which will remain locked until you defeat Bandit. Once he's dead, it will unlock, and you can raid the riches within. You will find these items in the chests: Potion, Strong, and a Bronze Shield. Return to South Town to freshen up at the Inn, then head back to the Castle of Armor. 7. The Castle of Armor Having defeated Bandit, you've earned the eternal gratitude of the lusty King of Armor. Of course, he knows that gratitude can't be cashed in for GP, so he gives you the King Armor, as well his thanks. Now . . . here's your first big decision: What do you do with the Armor? Do you take it back to Hero and put it the statue? Or do you put it on yourself? C'mon . . . who's gonna know? Equip HM1 with the King Armor and equip HM2 with the Gold Armor from HM1. Hey, if the Kings could "borrow" this stuff, so can you. 8. The Castle of Sword Although you're welcome to go and ask (and pick up some GP on the way), the King of Shield is still not ready to part with his Shield, so your next destination is the Castle of Sword. However, this is a very dangerous place; the monsters therein are the most powerful in the first world, and they attack in groups. To prepare yourself, go to Hero and buy enough HP200 to boost the HP of your HMs over 100; if you have the cash, you can give buy some Strong for them, as well, but that stuff is expensive--and you can beat the King of Sword without it! If you are using your MFs well, their HP and abilities should be increasing rather nicely; don't forget that Mutant HP and stats increase on their own--store-bought HP, Strong, and Agility DO NOT work on Mutants! When you enter the Castle of Sword, AVOID the guards! Unlike the guards in the Castle of Shield, they will attack you, and you will not be able to run away. Enter the castle and head straight for stairs. On the second level, make your way to the southern stairway; the northern stairway leads to a dead-end, and the monsters you will likely face on the way will try to make it a one-way trip! The key is to lose as few HP as possible on your way to King Sword. Find him, beat him, and get the King Sword. Once you get the Sword, give it to HM1 and pass whatever weapon he's been using to HM2. Unlike the weapons you buy, the King Sword has unlimited uses. As well, it is the most powerful weapon available in the first world. Nifty! To complete your ensemble, you will be heading to the Castle of Shield. But first, stop at an Inn and recover from your experience in Castle Sword. Even with the King Armor, it's not a pleasant place . . . but you will be back! 9. The Castle of Shield After powdering your nose in the Inn of your choice, head to the Castle of Shield. The King is ready to give up his Shield now, mainly 'cause he's dead. Pursue the treacherous Steward through the secret door in the N wall of the King's chambers and wreak some serious vengeance upon his cowering form. Then you'll get the King Shield. Now, here's a tip: Don't equip HM1 with the King Shield. Using a shield in battle means he cannot attack, and you don't want to lose the power of the King Sword. Equip one of the MFs with the King Shield, either the weakest MF or the one with the fewest defensive mutant abilities. When used, the King Shield throws a force field over your ENTIRE party, which makes it a handy defense, especially since, like the King Sword, it has unlimited uses! 10. Hero Okay. If you want to be a good little adventurer, the thing to do now is to head to Hero and give back those wonderful toys. Put them on your Item list, then go up to the statue; press A twice with the hand on each item and they will be returned to the statue. If you want to make sure that you'll survive the next few floors of the Tower with relative ease, don't be so hasty! Instead of heading to Hero, go back to the Castle of Sword and repeatedly attack one of the Guards. As a precaution, you might first want to buy a Rod and equip one of your MFs with it to make sure that you can heal any damage your weaker characters might take while you are upping your bank balance. So how do you know when you've had enough? Well, here are some goals to attain before returning the items to the statue: Raise the HP of your HMs to 200+. As you'll learn, HP upgrades are labelled according to their effectiveness. HP200 will work until your character's HP pass 200; at that point, an effective upgrade can only be provided by HP400. Likewise, HP400 only works until your character's HP reach 400, and so on. You cannot buy HP400 in the first world, so you might as well get what you can get while you can get it. Raise the Strength and Agility of your HMs at least into the teens. Equip your strongest characters with Axes (probably your HMs) before returning the items to the statue. The Axe is the most powerful strength-based handheld weapon which can be purchased in the first world. You'll need them. Before you return the items to the statue, equip all four of the party members with Gold Armor; if you can, equip the HMs with Gold Gauntlets, as well (remember that Mutants can only carry four items; if you load them with armor, they won't be able to carry weapons and/or spells). Now . . . return the items to the statue. As soon as you turn to leave the pedestal, you will be attacked by Gen-Bu, a long-necked Gamera lookalike who has a serious problem with adventurers. But you're ready. 11. The Tower After defeating Gen-Bu, you will receive the Black Sphere, which will unlock the door at the base of the Tower. Stand in front of the door, choose Sphere on your Item menu, and press A twice with the hand on the Black Sphere. The door to the Tower now stands open. Travelling Up the Tower The tower contains over twenty floors separated by a series of stairs. When you press SELECT, you will see the number of your present floor, as well as the highest floor you have reached. The four worlds contained within the tower are located at 1F, 5F, 10F, and 16F. The intermediary floors contain mazes of varying complexity, as well as sub-worlds in which you will find information or have to perform some small task. To the left of each stair is a small room, some of which will contain chests of items; nearly all will contain some sort of enemy, either in the room or on the stair itself. Upon entering the tower, you will notice that the enemies get really nasty really quickly. Luckily, you can move back down the Tower to floors and worlds visited previously if you need to get an Inn, Shop, or House of Life. As well, you will occasionally come across small pools of healing water which will recover HP, but will not replenish Mutant abilities; only a stay at an Inn will do that. Intermediary Floors: 2-4 Stair 1: No item. 2F: Head S, W, N, then through the door. Stair 2: No item. 3F: Head W and you'll find a door to a false Paradise. Your other option is to head W, N, W, then through the door. Stair 3: No item. 4F: Head N, then W to the second pair of N/S stairways, then S and through the door; you'll end up in a sort of Purgatory-like place. Talk to all the characters EXCEPT the gargoyles, unless you're in the mood for a fight. Don't spent too much time here because, as you walk through the place, you take damage from the "spiked" floor! Luckily, N of this nasty place you will find a helpful Healing Pool. Your other option when you enter this floor is to head N, W to the second pair of N/S stairways, then N and through the door. Stair 4: The chest contains a Colt. 5F: In the SW corner of this floor, you will find another Healing Pool; in the NW corner, you will find the door to World Two. In the center of this floor is a door which you will not be able to unlock until you find the Blue Sphere. Take note of the "Guy With the Hat" who stands just S of the door to Ocean. Heed his words now, and expect to meet him again. World Two: Ocean 1. Tower Island Town 2. Island Tunnels: Floating Island 3. Northeast Island Town 4. The Old Man's Island 5. Palm Tree Island: Airseed 6. The Whirlpool 7. Undersea Town 8. Undersea Castle 9. The Old Man's Island 10. The Tower * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 3 * * 6:7,8 * * * * * * * * FI 4,9 * * * * 2c * * * * 2b2 * * * * 2b1 * * * * 2a * * T 5:A * * 1 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1. Tower Island Town When you enter Ocean from the Tower, you will find yourself on the largest of this world's islands; your first destination is a town located in the SE corner of the island. If you talk to everyone, you will learn of the next two destinations in your tour of the world of Ocean, and you will also learn of the means of travel that will get you there. Pirates have made travel by ship quite dangerous, so instead of a ship, you must seek out a mysterious floating island--which gets attacked, anyway, even though it isn't a ship. Go figure. Before you try looking for it, though, hit the local shops and get yourself ready for adventure! A Few Words About Weapons In case you haven't noticed by now, certain weapons are best-weilded by certain types of characters. For example, the P-Knife, P-Sword, and Vampic Sword should be reserved for use by Mutants. But it actually gets more complicated than that. As previously suggested, most weapons do damage as a function of the weilder's Strength, Agility, or Mana. All Sword damage (with the exception of the P-Sword) is based on Strength, for example, as is the damage done by the Hammer, Axe and Rock. Agility determines the damage inflicted by the Rapier, Saber, L-Saber, and Catcraw. With some weapons, however, damage does not seem to be based on abilities, but the weilder's chance of successfully hitting an enemy is. This seems true of firearms such as the Colt and Musket, as well as all Bows. Also, it seems that Mutant Strength and Agility can be affected by the successful use of weapons which depend on those abilities. For example, if a Mutant frequently uses a Rapier, the Mutant's Agility will increase; if a Mutant frequently uses a Sword, the Mutant's Strength will increase. Don't forget, though, that use of store-bought weapons will hinder the development of Mutant special abilities. While on the surface of Ocean, your weapons of choice should be the Katana for strong characters and the Saber for agile characters. You will find that the Coral Sword, apparently the strongest sword in world one, is available in the Weapons/Armor shop in the Undersea Town, but you don't really need it. This weapon is particularly effective against sea creatures, but, surprisingly, it is not really necessary in Ocean. If your sword-weilding characters have 20+ Strength or so, you'll get by just fine with a Katana or even a Battle Sword. The Coral Sword is far too expensive for me to really recommend it. Buy one and play around with it if you have the cash, but I wouldn't waste money that could otherwise be spent on ability upgrades! 2. Island Tunnels North of Port Town you will see a cave entrance. This takes you into a network of tunnels which link a group of islands near the center of the Ocean world. The Floating Island is located offshore of one of the islands. To get to it quickly, follow these directions: Enter the cave N of Port Town Go E and turn N, then head E at the 4-way intersection. Keep going E; pass-by the stairway an take the N turn. Exit up the stairs at the point where the N path turns E. You are now at point 2b1. Enter the cave at the NE corner of the island (2b2). Head W to the N turn; go N to the E turn; head E as far as you can go (there will be a tiny jog S at the halfway point). Turn N and continue to the E turn and exit up the stairs. You are now at point 2c. The Floating Island is the northernmost island on the W coast. Now you can travel freely almost anywhere in the Ocean world. Feel free to explore, although your next destination is in the far NE corner of the world. While in the tunnels, you will often encounter Pirates, sometimes with other types of enemies. When you find yourself facing Pirates, try to direct your attacks such that you kill the Pirates as soon as possible. Pirates will steal your GP during the battle; you will not recover the stolen gold, even if you win the battle. Also, when you face Magicians, try to wipe them out with magic spells launched by high-Mana characters; Magicians can cure themselves, so damage that is not instantly fatal can sometimes be removed in the next round of battle! 3. Northeast Island Town Here you will learn more of the dragon brothers and the mysterious Old Man. To find the geezer, sail the Floating Island directly S of East Island Village. 4. The Old Man's Island You will have to travel through a bit of a maze to get to the Old Man. Go around the table in the center of the maze, but avoid the small patch of stony ground just before you reach the Old Man; if you step onto it, it will "teleport" you back to the Floating Island. The Old Man will tell you of the Airseed, which is not really as well-hidden as he'd like you to think. Just sail the Floating Island directly S of South Island. 5. Palm Tree Island You'll arrive here. Position your lead character so that he is standing just to the S of the palm tree in the center of the island; approach the tree from the S so that he ends up facing N. Press A and you should receive the Airseed--as long as your Item list isn't full! Remember to have a slot for it when you get to the tree! If you prefer, you can float on back to the Old Man and let him tell you more about the Airseed. Or you can just keep reading. You do not need to do anything with the Airseed; just leave it on your Item list. You do not have to Equip any character with it, nor do you have to press any buttons or anything. When the time comes to use it, it'll simply work by itself. If you should happen to accidentally drop it in your Trash or get cocky and sell it, you can just head right back to Palm Tree Island and pick another one. What's it do? Well . . . head to the NW corner of the world and you'll find out. Keep Up With the Joneses, or They'll Kill You No doubt it's occurred to you that, as your party advances through the game, the enemies you encounter get tougher. More or less, the monsters increase in level everytime you move to a new major area of the game. For example, when you leave Continent and enter the Tower, the enemies get tougher; as you advance through the next four floors, the enemies get tougher, and when you enter Ocean, the enemies get tougher again. When you move from Tower Island into the tunnels, the enemies get tougher, and when you start cruising the sea, the enemies get tougher. And when you enter the whirlpool and start wandering the sea floor . . . guess what . . . tougher enemies. It's a good idea to upgrade your HMs Strength, Agility, and HP as you move through the different areas in order to keep up with the monsters! Now's a good time to start thinking about the "Do the Math" rule of level upgrading. There are four major worlds before you hit the bigtime at the top of the Tower. So, divide the maximum you can attain in each of your character abilities by four and you'll get a goal to try and attain (when possible) by the end of each world. If you round up a tad, the figures come out to +25 for Strength, Agility and Mana, and +250 for HP. With HP, your HMs are a bit restricted by what you can purchase: you can't buy HP400 until Ocean, so you should try to leave Continent with 203 HP; you can't buy HP600 until you reach The Ruins, but you should be okay with the 403 HP you can get by the end of Ocean. It's fairly easy to accumulate enough cash to match the +25 rule in Strength and Agility, though. As for Mutants, just keep using them, and you'll be surprised at how fast their HP will build, as well as how quickly Mana and Agility can increase (it's actually possible to get them both to 99 before leaving Ocean). As for Defense, I suggest equipping your HMs with Silver Helms, Armor and Gauntlets and your MFs with Silver Gauntlets and Armor as soon as you can, preferably before entering the Undersea Castle. You can't buy Silver Gauntlets until you reach the Undersea Town, but you can buy the Armor and Helms in the Northeast Island Town. If you want to be economical, you only need to buy three suits of Silver Armor before entering the Undersea Castle; as noted below, you will find a suit of Silver Armor in the Castle. 6. The Whirlpool Near the NW corner of the world, you will find a small whirlpool. If you try to enter it without the Airseed, you will be transported to the bottom of the ocean, but you'll immediately come back up again, screaming, "I can't breathe!" The Airseed produces air from water and will allow you to explore the area of the world beneath the sea. So go get it. Got it? Good. 7. Undersea Town After you are flushed down the Whirlpool, you will find that the Airseed has given you the ability to wander around on the floor of the ocean without drowning (or being crushed by the incredible pressure of all that water . . . but let's not get technical). Follow the E edge of the land S, then turn E when it does; keep travelling E and you will find the Undersea Town. Here you will learn four important pieces of information which almost- but-not-quite give you a clear sense of the next few things to do. The whole "dragon brother" thing has, so far, been a bit confusing. First you were told that the brothers live on the NE island, then we find out that Sei-Ryu, the Blue Dragon, lives in an Undersea Castle and that Ryu-O, whom he has banished, is actually the King of Dragons. Once we get underwater, we find out that Ryu-O is actually still somewhere on the surface and that Sei-Ryu has this thing about a Red Orb. Why does the Blue Dragon want the Red Orb? What's any of that have to do with Ryu-O? I wonder if something wasn't lost in the translation. Anyway, you might as well go see Sei-Ryu. 8. Undersea Castle If you travel due S of the Undersea town, you will soon see the entrance to a stairway come into view in the lower-left of the screen. This takes you into a fairly simple tunnel system that leads to another undersea land mass. To keep the trip short and sweet, follow these directions: Head E at the bottom of the stairs until you reach a branch that goes S. Follow the S branch and take its E turn, then head S again, then W to another stairway. Head W at the bottom of the stairs and count to the 4th N branch; it will take you to the other land mass. The 7th N branch takes you to an area that seems covered in some sort of sandstorm. It's a good place to wander around and kill things, but I have found no items there. Head directly S when you exit the stair and you will see the Undersea Castle come into view to your right. Like the Castle of Armor, the Undersea Castle is full of guards (octupi, actually) which don't go away when killed. Unless you're in the mood for a fight, avoid them as you move through the floors of the castle; this will, at times, require that you wait for them to move out of your way. Floor 1:Head E immediately, then continue N past the stairway (don't enter it yet). Work your way to the NE area of the floor and enter the door. At the end of the hallway is a chest that contains the Bluekey, which is essential to getting through the Castle. Now head back to the stairway and go up. Floor 2:Work your way counterclockwise to the stairs in the SE corner. Ignore the door in the NW corner; it's an empty room. Floor 3:Work your way to the door in the NE corner, and you'll be rewarded with Silver Armor, a Cure spell, and a handy Grenade. Now follow the paths to the stairs in the SW corner. Floor 4:Travel clockwise around the floor to the door. Floor 5:As you travel N, take a good look at the two rows of orbs you will pass, but don't try to pick up any of them. Continue N and you will arrive in a room full of orbs. Now is the time to apply some info given to you earlier by a townsperson: "Remember where the two lines cross." If you want to figure to figure out the meaning on your own, stop reading. If not . . . study the chart below. The 0s are orbs; the x is the one you want, and the ^ indicates where you need to stand and which direction to face in order to pick it up. Press the A button and deal with it! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ^ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Yes, you've found the Red Orb, and now you must face the wrath of Sei-Ryu. But if you prepared well, it will be a brief and rewarding battle. With Orb in hand, you can now return to the surface and figure out what to do with it. Although the text as translated for the English-language version of FFL doesn't make it perfectly clear, the place to go now is back to the Old Man. 9. The Old Man's Island This time, when you visit the Old Man, he will present you with this riddle: "What can you get for 2 Longswords, 3 Gold Helms, and 4 Potions?" The answer can be found by pricing the items and buying the single item available for a price equalling their total, as below: Longsword 2 x 132 GP = 264 GP Gold Helm 3 x 164 GP = 525 GP Potion 4 x 50 GP = 200 GP Total: 989 GP = Battlesword Buy one in Northeast Island Town and take it to the Old Man; note that if, after receiving the riddle, you go and see him without a Battlesword, he'll smite you mightily and will actually cause damage! The misers among you will appreciate the fact that he does not take the weapon; you get to keep it, and he'll even accept one that has been used. In return for simply showing him the Battlesword, thus proving you can add, he gives you the Blue Orb. Being able to add is actually quite important, in a way, since you must "add" the two Orbs in order to produce the Blue Sphere: Put both Orbs in your Item menu, then double-click the A button with the hand on one Orb and repeat with the other Orb. If you do this correctly, you will receive the Blue Sphere, which will unlock the door into the next floor of the Tower. 10. The Tower At this point, you have accomplished the tasks necessary to leave Ocean. It wasn't the most clearly explained of quests (I suppose you knew all along that the Old Man was really Ryu-O, right? Sure.), but it did get you the next Sphere. If you feel you're ready, you can re-enter the Tower and advance to the next floor. However, if you want to ensure that, once you get to the next world, you can rapidly equip your party with the most effective weapons, armor, and items available, you might want to take a quick trip down the Whirlpool again. If you followed the "Do the Math" rule, your characters are now as advanced as you can get them with respect to items and abilities--that is, if you could afford it. To get the cash to max-out your stats and/or to be able to afford "the good stuff" when you hit the next world, try this money-making technique. Equip your HMs with fresh weapons--Katanas are nice; either equip your MFs with fresh Sabers or try to make sure they have fully-charged ESP as a mutant ability. Ride the Whirlpool again and head to the Undersea Castle. As in the Castle of Armor, you can repeatedly attack the guards at will; however, you can make more money even faster if you head back to one of the orb rooms and repeatedly attack the same orb over and over. If your HMs are strong enough, you can kill an Atom Crab with a single blow, picking up an easy 400 GP each time! When you've gotten about 70,000 GP hoarded away, which is not as difficult as it may seem, return to the surface and max-out your stats; if you are ready to move on, just take your cash (AT LEAST 60,000 GP) and head for the Tower. Intermediary Floors: 6-9 Stair 5: No item. 6F: Head E, S, then W to the door. Stair 6: No items. 7F: Take either of the stairs N and you'll find a door leading to a small water-filled floor. "Swim" N to the row of fish statues. Stand ON the first statue and press A for a little message; stand on the second statue and press A three times to receive three X-Potions (if press over and above three will result in a battle); stand on the sixth statue and press A to receive another little message. Re-enter the Tower and head S as far as you can go, then W and N to the door. Stair 7: The chest contains a Musket. 8F: Head E into the room. In the NE corner is a Healing Pool, just in case you need it. At the top of the stairway in the NW corner is another pool, but it is a fake. Continue E, then S to the SECOND E corridor, where you will find the next door. Stair 8: No item. 9F: Head W, then N and up the short stairway. The door leads to a sort of "clinic" in which you'll find a House of Life (SW corner) and a place to refresh your HP and Mutant abilities (SE corner). Most of the bed-ridden adventurers are comatose, but the gargolye in the NW corner will tell you something of interest. When you leave the clinic, head S down the same stairway and continue S until you must turn W; head W to the N turn, then continue E, N, and W to the door. Stair 9: The chest contains a P-Knife. 10F: Head S past the fish statues, then follow the S border to the E. Talk to the lil' dude you'll see as you move E; his advice is important! Continue E through the short narrow corridor, then turn N and head up the stairway. You now stand before the door to the World of Sky! Ooooh . . . feel the chills?