Ｆｉｎａｌ　Ｆａｎｔａｓｙ　Ｖ

Faris and the other pirates head into the pub. When shopping for equipment, Faris drops by long enough to join in.

Since equipment is restricted by Job, make sure to get at least basic supplies for each one, and don't forget to buy magic if you want your mages to have spells! As is often the case, boxes, pots, and other things around the town contain free items and money. Take everything that isn't nailed down.

Anyway, the destination is the large house on the north end of the village. The old man inside is shocked to see Lenna.

Lenna looks at the others, sees no objection, and nods in acceptance.

Zokk leads them to a side room.

Scene change to night. Butz, Lenna, and Galuf are asleep. Butz wakes up and walks outside.

Scene change to Butz's childhood home. He's in bed, and his parents are talking.

Scene change back to the present. Butz walks back inside. Zokk stands by Lenna's bedside.

Zokk walks out of the room and sees Butz.

Scene change to morning. Butz, Lenna, and Galuf get up.

There's also a tutorial house in town, which I probably ought to add eventually.

Some townspeople have more information relevant to the upcoming journey.

More looking around finds someone with long purple hair asleep in one of the rooms upstairs in the pub.

The others nod. Butz approaches the bed, and the person rolls partway over, looking distinctly feminine. After recovering from the initial shock, Butz gets a little heart over his head, then walks out of the room.

Galuf pushes past Butz and into the room. His reaction to the person in the bed is much the same. Galuf returns to the hallway, where he and Butz nod to each other, then blink their eyes as though trying to clear their heads.

They blink a few more times. Lenna walks over.

Meanwhile, Faris gets out of bed.

Faris stretches and walks out into the hall, then notices Butz and Galuf.

Faris walks to Butz and Lenna to Galuf, and... well, I'm not quite sure what exactly they do, but the hearts clear up, Butz and Galuf shake their heads rapidly, then scratch their heads as though in confusion. Faris walks back into the room.

Faris locks the door and sits at a table, apparently deep in thought.

Make sure to play the piano while you visit the pub, even though it sounds terrible at this point. You'll need to watch the dancers first to get them to move.

As the rest of the party reaches the edge of town, Faris walks out of the pub.

The other pirates file out of the pub.

Lenna stands on deck, looking downcast. Butz walks up to her.

Galuf walks onto deck.

The canal might take its name from a town or county in Hungary, or that could just be a coincidence.

Butz unlocks the canal gate.

As reported, the canal is full of monsters.

I wouldn't have realized if TV Tropes hadn't pointed it out (somehow I never noticed the NPC that talks about this), but the monsters here, all of which are of the tentacled variety, only attack Lenna and Faris, ignoring Butz and Galuf completely even if they're the only ones left standing. Given what tentacle monsters are known for in less family-friendly contexts, that certainly could count as Getting Crap Past the Radar, but maybe there's more to it than that...

Farther into the canal, a whirlpool appears ahead of the ship.

This must be that monster that was sealed in the canal. It's weak against Thunder, so Black Mages can do plenty of damage. Other attacks also work, of course. The boss can inflict 'paralysis', and also has an attack that drops a character's HP to single digits.

After the battle, the boat drifts out of the whirlpool, but Syldra's still stuck!

Butz and Galuf restrain Faris, who looks about ready to dive in.

Syldra is sucked down into the whirlpool...

Scene change to night on deck. Butz and Galuf stand by the railing.

The screen pans up to show Lenna and Faris standing together.

The ship continues to drift...

...and eventually lands in a mess of shipwrecks.

Head down after leaving the ship and wait for stepping stones to appear to reach a chest with a Flail.

Continuing on, the party comes to a flooded ship before long.

A little while later, they reach a dry cabin.

Lenna heads for a nearby room.

Butz gathers some material and starts a fire.

Butz and Galuf try to drag Faris closer to the fire.

Faris goes ballistic and flings them away. Lenna comes out.

With all the clues the game has been dropping, from how Faris's outfits tend to resemble Lenna's considerably more than Butz's or Galuf's (not going bare-chested as a Monk being the most telling at this point, though certain later jobs are rather more blatant about it), to the scene in the inn, to the tentacle monsters ignoring Butz and Galuf but not Faris, this really shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

The game never really delves into the concept more deeply, but overall I get the impression that Faris has never considered herself a man, and is more of a tomboyish woman who got into the habit of presenting as male for perceived reasons of safety and respect.

He should see Fushigi Yuugi (to name one series). Hotohori prides himself on being as beautiful as any woman, and then there's Nuriko.

Faris hops into a nearby bed.

Scene change to later. Everyone is in bed. Faris gets up energetically.

Galuf falls out of bed.

One of the ships ahead has a map of the world, invaluable for navigating outside. There's reportedly another one available later in the game if you skip this one.

A final set of stepping stones leads to a small beach. The screen gets dark...

...and a green-haired woman appears in a sparkle of light. She looks like Butz's mother from his earlier flashback.

Butz looks kind of dazed and drifts over toward her. King Tycoon appears in a second sparkle.

As Lenna drifts toward him, Faris moves as if to stop her, then also loses it. A girl with blonde hair in a ponytail appears in a third sparkle.

Galuf shakes his head rapidly as if trying to clear it.

Butz, Lenna, and Faris collapse, and blue flames (souls) rise from their bodies and drift toward the phantoms. A tall woman appears behind them.

Galuf picks up and slaps Butz, Lenna, and Faris. The illusions vanish, and the three recover.

Another boss. At first, she uses magic, and physical attacks work well against her, but magic poorly if at all. After several rounds, Siren will turn Undead, use physical attacks instead of magic, and gain resistance to physical attacks, but become vulnerable to magic (especially Flame) and take damage from curatives ( Cure and healing items like Potions). If the battle drags on, she'll keep changing between the two forms periodically.

Anyone attempting a low-level game should note that she's level 2, so characters at that level can use Goblin Punch for (relatively) high damage.

She drops a Bronze Armor if beaten when in living mode, or a Bronze Shield when undead.

The others laugh before moving on.

Karkurser (カルキュルスル ) here has Fusion to learn, but will only use it when confused or controlled, and you can't cause either of those yet, unless I'm overlooking something. And by the time you can, there are more convenient options, so these hardly matter.

The name is up to debate, but Googling gives Curwen more often than Carwen. Googling that in English finds several historical figures of some note.

This town on the coastline south from the ship graveyard has the usual shops and numerous villagers and such, but the important one is the woman by the port.

Faris looks upset.

Another woman appears in front of the pub.

As it turns out, he has useful information.

But first, play the piano. Well, at least that wasn't quite so awful as last time...

Blocks (ブロックス) has a 33% chance to use Flash each turn, but doesn't start with enough MP to do so. Give one an Ether if you want to learn the spell somewhat earlier than it would otherwise be available. It attempts to inflict 'darkness' status on all enemies.

The mountain starts off fairly uneventful except for the poisonous flowers. Eventually, though, Lenna spots a helmet along a cliffside.

An arrow flies in from offscreen and hits Lenna.

Just to make things worse, part of the path collapses, between Lenna and the others. A woman approaches Lenna.

Faris gets a running start and hops over the gap, only for more of the path to collapse.

Faris climbs back up the cliff and tosses a rope over to Butz. They secure the ends, and Butz and Galuf cross to confront Magisa.

A boss battle begins. Lenna starts with 'poison' status.

Magisa likes using magic attacks. Use 'silence' status to disable all but Aero (Blue Magic is unaffected for whatever reason). After her health drops to about 300 (out of 650), she summons help in the form of a hulking brute.

Forza is a purely physical fighter, and strong enough to complicate matters, but he's vulnerable to 'sleep'. It's also possible to keep her from summoning him by taking off her last 300 or so HP all at once (the Monk's !Charge helps with this). Win for 6 ABP, a Whip, and (if Forza appeared) a Strength Drink.

As noted above, Magisa may cast Aero (33% chance every other turn), so you can learn it here if you haven't already.

The wyvern lies at the summit, ringed by poisonous flowers.

Lenna walks through the poisonous flowers toward a plant by the cliff edge.

Lenna collects the plant, crosses back, and reaches toward Faris.

Faris takes the plant and feeds it to the wyvern as Lenna collapses.

The wyvern stretches and cries out. Galuf walks up to Lenna.

The wyvern flies over to Lenna and prods at her, or something. She gets up, looking energetic.

Butz walks a few steps away, looking embarrassed.

The others look at each other, and laugh.

Lenna and Faris get on the wyvern, and Galuf pushes Butz on too. It spreads its wings and flies off.

The wyvern can cross land and sea, but doesn't fly high enough to pass over mountains. This gives access to several new areas, but let's start with Lenna's home, on the far side of the meteorite...

This trip is entirely optional, and what happens during the visit varies after certain events later on...

A soldier stands watch at the castle gate. He spots Lenna.

The soldier opens the gates.

The chancellor is shocked to see Lenna, and so are the guards inside.

The chancellor and soldiers present show their agreement.

Fade out, and scene change to Lenna lying awake in bed. She gets up and walks outside, and finds Faris standing on a balcony.

Faris laughs anyway, then leaves rather hastily.

Fade out and scene change to a guest room. Butz is asleep in one of the beds, and there's no sign of the others.

Butz half-jumps, half-falls out of bed. He starts stretching, or something, then gets a big question mark over his head. The lights come on, showing Lenna, Galuf, and Faris all standing around, apparently watching him.

Based on how they talk (not to mention the order), the first line is Lenna's, the second Galuf's, and the third Faris's.

Butz looks around as if annoyed, then scratches his head in embarrassment.

The chancellor is found in a storage room off of the castle courtyard.

Though the game doesn't say so, he gives Lenna a Healing Staff. Chests in the room itself contain a Glasscraft Bell, a Shuriken, and an Asura, and pots all over the castle contain various other items, as usual.

Particularly well hidden is a tower on the far right that contains two Cottages. The passage to it doesn't show up even with the Thief's Secret Passages ability, but you can see part of the walkway to it, and the unseen part lines up with that, so just go through the wall directly to the left of it.

The town by this castle has new equipment and spells, though the spells are Timespace and Summon magics that aren't usable just yet.

Water flows all over the outside of the castle. Lenna proceeds to the throne room to see the king.

As if in response to Butz's words, the screen turns red and rumbles...

A meteor falls from the sky and lands near the tower to the north. A soldier rushes into the throne room shortly after.

The king looks out the window.

The soldier rushes out, and the king turns to Lenna.

The king heads out of the room, and several soldiers join him along the way.

There are some interesting spots in the castle, particularly the tower behind the waterfall in the back, and the dark basement below the main castle, but it's probably best to avoid them for now, the basement especially—the monster ガルキマセラ (romanized as "Garchimacera" in appearances from FF12 on) lurks there and will likely kill you with ease. Even later on, they're nearly impossible to kill... by most methods, anyway. You could always flee, but the game keeps track of that, and there's a reason you might want to avoid doing it...

The castle's tower, on the other hand, isn't nearly so bad, and may be worth visiting long enough to steal a few Mithril Swords from the Ice Soldiers, though they also appear on the higher floors of Worus Tower.

The castle also has a handful of scholars.

Also, there's a dungeon with several prisoners, including the sneak thief Lone Wolf, who looks like a werewolf and asks you to release him. Don't. There's no benefit to it, and he'll steal several treasures elsewhere.

Garchimacera also uses Moon Flute as a counterattack whenever it takes damage. This gives all allies 'berserk' status, making it only questionably useful. Many enemies, this one included, target player characters instead of their own allies. Note, though, that you must win the battle to learn Blue Magic.

In both the castle's tower and the Worus Tower not far to the north where the king went, Elf Toad (エルフトード) has a 33% chance to use Frog Song each turn when it's the only living monster. This can give a single target 'toad' status, and may come in handy soon...

As might be expected of the tower housing the Water Crystal, there's quite a lot of water here. Two soldiers also lie collapsed by the entrance.

Incidentally, Garulas can be found in battles near the tower, and he's right. They literally do not ever attack.

The king is collapsed several floors up.

The Wyvern monsters around here (not to be confused with King Tycoon's wyvern, which uses a different term in Japanese) have Mithril Knives to steal.

In the Crystal room, a soldier in an unfamiliar uniform stands between a Garula and the Crystal.

Incidentally, the player !Control command, gained later, will not work on a Garula. Something powerful is at work here...

He tries to fend it off, but is knocked out of the way, and doesn't get up. The Garula turns toward the party.

The Garula is physically powerful and starts counterattacking after some damage, but that's about it. No variety here. It helps to use physically sturdy classes and 'protect' status to halve damage taken. Maximizing damage per hit also helps, since it minimizes the counterattacks.

One useful tactic is combining the Knight's !Guard with the Monk's Counter. If you'd rather cheese the fight completely, equip someone with the Whip (you'll need to change to Normal) for a good chance of 'paralysis'. Another cheap tactic is to learn Frog Song from an Elf Toad here or in the Worus Castle water tower and use that to influct 'toad' (this cripples its attack power), then cast  Silence as needed to keep it from casting  Toad to heal itself. Low-level players should note that the Garula is level 3, and use Goblin Punch with any characters at a matching level.

The Crystal looks odd after the battle.

And it shatters as the Wind Crystal did.

The soldier gets up long enough to drag himself to the entrance, then collapses again, blocking the way out. Jerk.

The Crystal shards shine as if to remind everyone they're there. Unlike in the Wind Temple, though, the shards stay where they are this time instead of conveniently converging on the party, and one is out of reach entirely.

And as for the unidentified soldier...

As before, picking up the shards grants new jobs.

Each starts with the above line before identifying the job. These are, clockwise from top right:

After the party collects the five reachable shards, the tower starts shaking.

A door opens in the back of the chamber, and with no other way out, the party exits through there. Soon after, the tower sinks into the ocean, and so does the end of the peninsula that it sits on. The meteorite landed far enough away to remain unaffected, but the party gets dunked.

Just then, a familiar sea monster approaches.

Syldra takes Galuf and Butz, the closest two, into his mouth. They appear to be unconcious.

Lenna, also apparently unconcious, begins to drift away, but Faris grabs her and swims into Syldra's mouth. Soon after, Syldra arrives at a beach, presumably nearby, and spits the party out on land. Butz, Lenna, and Galuf collapse.

Lenna gets up and walks to Faris's side.

Syldra lets out another cry. Butz and Galuf get up, though they still seem disoriented.

Syldra drifts out to sea... Faris starts to run out into the ocean, but is held back by Lenna.

After one last sad cry from Syldra, the four find themselves on the shore near the meteorite. The wyvern awaits nearby, having had the sense to move if it had been on the piece of land that sunk. We should probably report in at Worus...