Ｆｉｎａｌ　Ｆａｎｔａｓｙ　Ｖ

The party lands on a small island in the middle of the ocean. Getting up first, Butz helps Lenna and Faris to their feet.

There's no music here, and nothing to see except a weak monster that always drops a Tent. Could this mean something? Let's just wander around a little longer.

She'll repeat this every so often until you actually use a Tent, so go ahead and use one right away unless you'd rather stock up.

Lenna and Faris stand by a fire in a clearing in the woods, while Butz dozes nearby.

The fire suddenly goes out. Lenna and Faris look confused, until dramatic music starts playing and a monster swoops down to grab Lenna. Even Butz wakes up.

Before anyone can react, it grabs Faris, too, and flies off with both of them.

Then it comes back for Butz. He's ready for it, and gets to fight back. Unfortunately, the Abductor (アブダクター) overpowers him, and the whole group is taken.

Same result, except that winning the battle nets an Ether and 1 ABP. The Wyrmknight's !Jump seems to work well for doing this, inflicting significant amounts of damage while usually avoiding most of the enemy's attacks, which include an HP-to-single-digits spell. This version of Abductor also has Earth Garb to steal, but it's in the rare slot, so expect stealing to take quite a few tries.

The party wakes in a dungeon cell. This does not look good for them.

They look around in confusion.

The dramatic evil music starts, and who else walks up but...

The monster runs off, and Exdeath turns back to the cell.

The monster returns and sets a large mirror in front of the cell.

Meanwhile, on what must be the Big Bridge...

Galuf, Karulu, and the soldiers with them retreat. Meanwhile, back in the castle...

What looks to be a warrior in fancy red and silver armor approaches.

The name Gilgamesh comes from Mesopotamian mythology, in which he was a demigod hero king.

Exdeath toses some magic at him.

Back on the Big Bridge, the music fades as Galuf turns to Karulu.

More determined music starts now. The wyvern takes off, Galuf hops on, and they fly to Exdeath's castle, where Galuf jumps down to a low roof.

He heads inside, dropping to a lower floor near an obvious treasure chest.

Though neither should be necessary at this point, a door to the north leads to a save point and healing springs.

Galuf continues toward the dungeons. Although he may get in a few battles along the way, the monsters here pose surprisingly little threat, considering that this ought to be the enemy stronghold. Nothing interesting happens until Galuf approaches the cell.

Gilgamesh attacks. Luckily for Galuf, he doesn't have any interesting attacks, unless yelling every time he strikes counts.

He doesn't have much staying power, either.

And Gilgamesh runs away.

This fight shouldn't cause any trouble, unless Galuf lacks any real offense. Combine the Knight's !Guard with the Monk's Counter to make it effortless. If you manage to kill Gilgamesh before he runs away (he's not immune to Death Claw, for one thing), he'll drop an Elixir.

Nothing much happens during their escape, either, except when passing an apparent guard post that Galuf completely ignored on his way in.

While passing the grating, the lead party member uses the "dead" field sprite, which for Butz sort of looks like he's crawling on his belly. Faris almost does, too (if facing the wrong way, and wow, that's a lot of hair). Lenna (lying on her side) and especially Galuf (flat on his back), however, absolutely do not. Try switching the lead member around for a bit of silliness.

Outside, heading back to the west, where Galuf flew in from, soon brings us to the Big Bridge.

Several Blue Magic skills are available from the monsters near the castle, in case you missed them earlier.

!Control a Rock Brain (ロックブレイン) to make it use Death Claw. Alternately, Treant (トレント) uses it 67% of the time every second turn.

Rock Brain also has Black Shock, and can use it on any turn with 33% probability.

!Control a Water Buzz (ウォーターバズ) to make it use Fusion. They'll also use it when released after successfully using !Capture.

The music immediately sets the tone, so it should come as no surprise when monsters attack every so often as the party heads for the other side.

In a small structure in the middle of the bridge, Gilgamesh bursts through the door on the other side as the party tries to leave, startling them.

On that note, the music playing here, though frequently called "Battle on the Big Bridge", also commonly goes by the names "Battle with Gilgamesh" and simply "Gilgamesh's Theme".

Ths time, besides attacking, Gilgamesh may also use some Blue Magic skills, as well as a version of Wind Scythe with power comparable to Aerora

Specifically, Gilgamesh may use Aerora on the third turn and Goblin Punch on the fourth turn of his four-turn cycle, each with a 33% chance. Note that he's level 28, so Goblin Punch will be unusually devestating to anyone who happens to be that same level.

Additionally, he'll change tactics after losing 4,000 of his 6,500 hit points:

Gilgamesh casts Haste...

...Gilgamesh casts Protect...

...Gilgamesh casts Shell...

...Gilgamesh uses a Jump attack.

Well-timed use of the Monk's !Charge skill after he's softened up may be able to knock off the last of his health before he gets a chance to do all this.

From here on, Gilgamesh loses his earlier attacks, but continues to have Jump as an option, and may also use Electric Shock (a bit stronger than a Thunder spell). The buffs he cast also remain in effect, making him harder to take down, even as he attacks more frequently.

You can Steal for a (common) Hero Drink or a (rare) Trident. Nothing fancy. He would drop a Triangle Hat, if he didn't escape after that little speech.

Having lost, Gilgamesh runs off again. After a few more battles, Karulu approaches from the far side of the bridge.

With a rumbling sound, an ominous-looking dome of energy expands from Exdeath's Castle. Karulu makes it to shelter in time, but the other four are flung high into the air in the shockwave.

She looks around a little...

...but soon realizes what must have happened.

Fortunately, the four land together and apparently unharmed, on top of a raised bit of land. But...

Spelling open to debate. The name doesn't seem to have any particular significance.

Faris and Lenna hop down, leaving Butz alone with Galuf.

Butz hops down too, leaving Galuf to finish with an aside.