Before we get going:
| Playable Character: Hooded Man |
 Maybe it's better without the voice acting. If you played FFIVDS (or Dissidia 012) and heard this guy's voice, you would know who he's supposed to be in 2 seconds flat. Don't act like you don't know who this guy is though, I mean, really? He carries a spear, he's blonde, and he's... well... pretty damn sexy? Screw those Cloud/Sephiroth/Auron fanboys, this dude is the best lookin' of the bunch - No apologies. But every male in Final Fantasy is pretty feminine, so could you blame me? The Hooded Man is Ceo's superior in many ways when it comes to battle worthiness. He's stronger, better equipped, faster, has better HP, and is just... better! His presence here makes the rest of the chapter a breeze, I'm telling you. Because the Hooded Man isn't acting to his full potential, he doesn't have any abilities to use in the thick of fighting. He also has low MP and magical stats, which centres his Raison d'être on jabbing and slicing. He doesn't have any Band abilities, but these will come later during the chapter. I'd enjoy this little gem of a character for the period of time you have him - he is beyond awesome. |
To Mysidia, and Beyond![]
The Red Wing airship crash landed on the southeast continent, halfway between the City of Mages and the Mountain of Trials. Fun fact, if you try to enter Mt. Ordeals in the east, the Hooded Man will walk in front of you and pretty much scold you for going the wrong way. All the enemies out here area feeble lot, so don't bother fighting them. Plus, you don't want to level up the Hooded Man too much - Later on in the game, when he becomes his true self once again, his stats will rise quickly with each level gained. He doesn't gain as many stat boosts when he's here with Ceodore, so you'll probably want to save all that for later. There is nothing to do out here except leave for Mysidia, so head west from the wreckage until you find a walled in city.
Our goal here is to access the Devil's Road, a magically-bound means of transport between Mysidia and Baron. It's protect by a powerful spell, however, and we need the Elder's permission to lift it. Before all of that, we should do some shopping (and scavenging), since this is the first place to really allow such luxuries. The weapon and armour shops aren't exactly useful at the present time, and you probably don't need to rest at the inn. The Item Shop has potions, phoenix down and tents for sale, which may make a good investment. Nothing else to do in this boring town, so walk north from the entrance until you enter the Hall of Prayer. Walk up to the hot Red haired woman here, who is none other than... Porom?! She was such a little harpy though!
Porom is updated about the situation, including the crash, the journey here, and the disaster at Baron. She agrees to open the Devil's Road, but is clearly too 'busy' to come with us. Instead, we get a generic White Mage+Black Mage combo unloaded on us. It could be worse, I suppose.
| Playable Characters: Black Mage & White Mage |
 I don't even know why I gave these two a character template. They're even less story-significant than Biggs and Wedge! They enter our awesome party (least it was awesome) at level 10, can't (or WON'T) level up, don't know any band abilities (and never will), and have poor physical stats. One might assume that magic is their claim to fame, and one would be dead on the money. Whitey has Slow, Cure, Protect, Cura, Raise and Esuna (The rest suck), while Blackey has Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, and their Ra upgrades (the rest blow). But that's all, I'm afraid. WHY do we get stuck with lame party members that don't have a name, let alone a personality? They're good cannon fodder, though. Don't be afraid to have them expend all their MP quickly, because they won't be here forever. By the way, their equipment sucks ass. We don't need these guys to survive - they just help the ride along become a little less bumpy. |
Wok on over to the building just north of the inn, and examine the door. Whitey will perform her only useful talent in the game and open that door for us. Thank you my dear, no close your mouth and never speak to me again. Enter the room and step on the small circular sigil to be teleported away to the Kingdom of Baron...
Satan's Street[]
...Or maybe not. A lot has happened in 17 years, apparently. In FFIV, we were just treated to a scene where we transferred from one place to another, but in TAY it seems we'll have to take the more interesting option of dungeon crawling through the place.
The entire dungeon is a straightforward maze filled to the brim with teleportation pads, whizzing you around the room at high speed. The enemies here are all undead, and beating them is a simple matter of casting healing spells and fire on them. The Black Mage can use Fira, the White Mage can use Cura, and Ceodore can alternate depending on the moon's phase. Step on the first circle of light, then get the Bomb Fragment in the chest to your left by walking through the hidden passage just above you and to the left. Step on the teleporter to your right, then follow the path it leads you to to find yet another. The next three-four rooms are very linear, so just keep on taking the first pad you see until you get to an area in the very north. Take the Sage's Surplice from the chest, then walk around the four-pillared stone south of you, into a hidden passage, which leads to a chest containing a Silver Apple. These useful fruit can upgrade your HP by 50HP, but it's best to wait until the end game before you start using them.
Take the eastern transporter, walk east then north to another, and collect the three items present in the room before moving on again. They are a Hi-Potion, Echo Herbs, and an Ether. Head south to the penultimate circle of light, then east to the final one. This takes you to a small room with a Save Point, and another teleporter that takes you to the latter half of the level. I'll bring this to your attention now; it seems that you can't walk back to the start of the Devil's Road because there are no teleporter's extant that take you back there. I may be wrong, but I'll need to study this later.
Things get a teensy bit tricky here, so listen (or read, rather) carefully. First, the enemies. Flans can and will appear in this area, and they're nigh immune to physical attacks. Have your Black Mage cast Fira and they'll die easily. Second, the path. Walking into a circle of light will result in walking off in another direction, followed by it becoming non-traversable. Take the first one up, then head east to the outside wall. Go north, then west past another transporter, then go south the first chance you get. Cross another light, then walk east to find and surpass another. As you go up, walk left, then up again to another portal, and then go left and down to another. This repetitive typing is starting to get irritating, so let me spoon-feed you the remaining directions. South, west, north, west as soon as you can, south, west, then north to the exit portal in the top left corner. That was bloody annoying - maybe in the future I'll make a map for it. Or maybe you don't need directions and can take any course you want. Whateva! Leave this horrid place. It sickens me.
Baron Town[]
What with the invasion of monsters and the defeat of the bloody King, you'd think that everyone would be hiding in fear of what they've saw. Lol, nope. Everyone here just carries on as though nothing bad ever happened just a few hours ago. I don't get it. Head east and north to the weapons/armour shop, with their unobtainable chest behind the counter. Buy a Iron Sword for Ceodore, then leave. Cross the bridge to your immediate right, walk up the stairs, past the random woman lying down, and wade into the water. Follow the stream down to a southeastern pool of water, which contains an Arctic Wind and Spider Silk. Return to the weapons shop, and get a Hi-Potion from the nearby cart-thingy. Get another one in the bush by the bottom corner of the inn, then enter it. At the top floor, press the yellow button and purloin the Dry Ether, White Fang and Unicorn Horn inside. Now's as good a time as any to tell you not to use items like Dry Ethers at the present moment: they'll come in handy much later in the game when you fight difficult bosses and are in desperate need of an MP boost. Finally, get yourself over to the doorway in the northeast side of town. It looks like just another way to get to the world map, but if you hug the left wall and shimmy over to a patch of dirt left of Cid's House, you can find 500 gil lying around. The shrub just west of it has a Mallet to collect, and the shrub just east of it (next to the wall), has a Phoenix Down.
Now you may leave the town. Yeah, that's all there is to this place (which is still more than Mysidia, might I add), but you can still pay a visit to the local Sundry Shop for a short stock up, or visit some of the random houses around town (Like Cid's and Rosa's. But wouldn't they live in the castle? Do Rosa and Cecil no longer share the marital bed? Never mind, considering the lack of a bed in Rosa's house, I don't think she sleeps anywhere). Just leave this hole - It sickens me worse than the place that lead to it.
Super Swell Sewer Explorers[]
Presuming that you've rested yourself, get yourself to the Castle Gates. The soldiers bar you passage into the citadel, but we don't even beat 'em up a little! Ka.... The Hooded Man walks off, claiming that they're getting nowhere through this frivolous exercise. But Mr. Mystery has a better idea than forcing our way in: He knows of a secret passage into the castle that can only be accessed with a certain key. Goddamnit... Back to the town. Walk over to Cid's house, which is in the northwest of town, up a flight of stairs. Speak to the red haired woman for the Baron Key, then leave. Head down the steps, then inspect the wooden door just to the west of it. Enter the room here, feel around the right wall to find a hidden passage, and take the 2000 gil at the end of it before walking down the steps.
The Ancient Waterway is home to many lightning-weak creatures, so Thundara is the best offensive choice here. The only exception are the red fish, which absorb the element, so don't use it on them. The Flood Worm looks intimidating and threatening, but it's so etiolated that you couldn't lose even if you tried. In fact, one thundara will dispatch it easily. Head south across the bridge, continue past the first route leading right, and touch the bottom wall. Now just head east, take the unicorn from the chest, then the 600 gil, and then the phoenix down, and walk in a big circle until you find a wooden bridge. Range over that, then cross over another. Red the map very carefully and follow it directly so that you don't deviate from the unbranching line you have to travel. B3 is a shit of a floor, because it introduces hidden passages. Walk along the path until you reach water: when you do, you'll see an obvious passage heading right - make a note of it. Continue south into a different hidden path, and walk left through the darkness to a bright section of the floor, which holds a Hi-Potion in a chest. Walk south again, then east to a second sector. This last one has a Coral Sword in it (great against the aquatic enemies in this demesne), but is guarded by a Black Lizard. This monster is rather hard to defeat if you didn't heal beforehand because of its inclination to use Stone Gaze to counter every physical attack. Heal frequently, cast Blizzara to do high damage, and you'll prevail.
Return to the beginning of B3 (where you first entered the water), and go straight east through the wall (twice), then wade south to a raised pedestal with a Remedy on it. Tread south, then east through one last hidden passage, then head north, up the steps to B2. This is a small map, but there's still an item to be found. CLimb the steps in front of you, but before entering the next screen, walk left through the secret path to a Soma Drop. This item is similar to the Silver Apple, except it raises MP by 10. Head back through and enter the cave to reach B1 of the Ancient Waterway. Alright, last place. Northwest of you is a save point, and that room also has a walk-through wall in the right of it that leads to a Silver Hourglass. After you save/heal yourself, exit the room, then walk up the stairs to the east.