145. The Final Showdown (TA2)
'Power is all I am. Power shaped me. Power sought me, and I sought it. Always...I feel it coming. Time...time is over.'
The third and most recent instalment of the Final Fantasy Tactics franchise, Tactics A2: Grimoire Of The Rift (rivalling 012 Duodecim and Treasures Of Aht Urhgan in the ridiculous subtitle stakes), is one of the weakest games in the entire series storyline-wise, though at its core are a handful of likable characters. One such character is the game's lead, Luso, who is transported from the supposed real world to the fantasy land of Jylland after writing his name in a mystical book. In his new surroundings, he is encumbered with a magical journal that automatically fills itself after the occurrence of specific events and will supposedly allow him to return home when it is completed. He joins a clan led by an individual named Cid to engage in adventures and pursue this goal, becoming drawn into a simple yet lengthy plot that encompasses both a thief named Adelle and a dastardly organisation named Khamja, which Cid was formerly a member of. Cid is shot by the group during one of the many encounters that the player has with them, the final of which takes place in a Jagd (lawless location). Here, the organisation's leader, Illua, has forged a pact with Zomala, the God of Time and is intent on opening a rift to both absorb its power and release a demon named Neukhia. She is opposed by the leading trio and their allies, who manage to beat both her and the otherworldly being summoned by her actions in battle to ensure her ultimate defeat, witnessing her ask for pity in her dying moments before Luso, his quest complete, is able to bid goodbye to his friends and return to reality. It wasn't one of the series most memorable endings, but it was a satisfying way to wrap the game up nonetheless.
144. Saved By The Harp (IV)
'I am the only one...the only one who can save them!'
Edward is something of a joke character in Final Fantasy IV, particularly in battle, where his lack of offensive or support abilities renders him all but useless. After his nation's Crystal is taken and his love Anna is during the nation of Baron's attack on Damcyan, Edward teams with Cecil, the former commander of Baron's Red Wings air force, to journey to the castle of Fabul and thwart Baron's plans to steal their Crystal as well, though they are unsuccessful in this pursuit when Golbez (Cecil's replacement) leads an assault. Cecil forms a team (including Edward) to travel to Baron and confront this new foe head on, but the group's ship is capsized by the appearance of a being called Leviathan, knocking everybody overboard and separating them. This forces Cecil to create a new group of companions when Golbez has Cecil's former friend Kain (under mind control) kidnap his love interest Rosa in order to have him acquire the Crystal from the country of Troia, where a bedridden Edward is met once again. This Crystal has been stolen from its home by a Dark Elf, however, who utilises an anti-magnetic field in his cavern home to bring Cecil and company (who use metal weapons and armour) to their knees, at his mercy and powerless to oppose him. At this point, Edward struggles out of bed to play his harp, which echoes around the cavern as a result of an item gifted to Cecil, weakening the Dark Elf and dispelling his anti-magnetic field, which allows him to be defeated. It's the only remotely useful thing that the 'spoony bard' does all game, but it allows him to greatly redeem himself for being such a liability earlier on.
143. A Sister's Sacrifice (DoC)
'I'm sorry I wasn't a better sister'
Vincent Valentine is an optional character in Final Fantasy VII, meaning that players can progress all the way through the game without encountering him and acquiring his services, though it's difficult to imagine why Square made it this way, given his importance to the overall plot. His story is expanded in Dirge of Cerberus, a third-person shooting game set three years after the events of Final Fantasy VII that features him as the main character. Though Vincent is the game's main focus, much of its plot revolves around Deepground; an elite battalion of individuals trapped underground for three years that seek to use Vincent to lead them to Omega, a being with the potential to destroy the planet in its entirety. Unwilling to go along quietly with this, Vincent finds himself in conflict with the Tsviets, Deepground's leaders. One of their members is Shelke, an emotionless nineteen year old girl with the appearance of a nine year old because of experimentation. Her sister is Shalua, a scientist (though she dresses more like a streetwalker, for some reason) affiliated to the same organisation as Vincent that has been searching for her missing sibling for several years. Naturally, the events of the game bring them together, but after Shelke is sedated in combat and imprisoned, she is deemed more of a liability than an her asset by her fellow Tsviets, who send another of their number, Azul, to eliminate her. This prompts Shalua to make a sisterly sacrifice. Guilt-ridden at not being able to rescue her sibling from her hellish existence sooner, she holds off Azul long enough for Shelke to escape with Vincent and later join his fight against Deepground when her blank state is reversed somewhat.
142. An Audience With Bahamut (I)
'I am Bahamut, King of the Dragons'
Summons are a trademark of the Final Fantasy series, having appeared in almost every iteration of the franchise. Frequently recurring members of their ranks include:
Ramuh A lightning-elemental and staff-wielding old man. Leviathan A water-elemental sea serpent. Ifrit A fire-elemental demon. Shiva A scantily-clad ice-elemental lady. Titan A giant with earth-rendering capabilities. Phoenix A bird with the power to bring the fallen back to life. Carbuncle A rabbit-like creature with a red gemstone attached to its forehead. Alexander A robotic being with holy powers. Odin A mounted warrior whose Zanetsuken attack has a nasty habit of killing every enemy on the screen. Perhaps the most prominent of them all, however, is the King of Dragons, Bahamut, whose Mega Flare can usually be utilised to devastating offensive effect. Despite not being summonable until Final Fantasy III, where he serves as an optional boss, he appears in the first Final Fantasy as a character that can be interacted with, giving the game's four heroes a quest when they visit him. Upon its completion, their character classes are upgraded into more powerful versions (warrior to knight, thief to ninja, etc), but much more rewarding to players is the knowledge that they have borne witness to the original introduction of a true icon whose popularity even led to him being given his own game, Bahamut Lagoon, in Japan.
141. Mist Rage (XII)
'I always knew Fran didn't take well to being tied up. I just didn't know how much. How about you?'
Final Fantasy XII was a departure from its predecessors in that players were permitted to control just one character at a time in battle, as opposed to being able to dictate the actions of every party member in turn. It didn't really work, but people who could at least learn to tolerate it were rewarded with a decent storyline, albeit one hampered by the presence of bland main character Vaan, who along with his friend Penelo adds literally nothing to proceedings, which are dominated by their companions Basch, Ashe, Balthier and Fran. The latter is a member of the rabbit-like and predominantly solitary Viera race that inhabits woodland areas, though she has been outcast from her tribe and plies her living as a sky pirate alongside Balthier. The two of them join Vaan when they attempt to steal a treasure that he is also trying to get his hands on, before encountering the resistance movement of the Dalmascan nation led by the country's Princess, Ashe. Seeking to overturn the conquest of her homeland by the Archadian Empire, an action that is depicted in the game's opening scenes (and results in the death of Vaan's brother Reks), Ashe recruits the trio into joining her search for a shard of Nethicite (a powerful source of magical energy), though the group are captured by the Empire after finding it, having been betrayed by their ally Vossler. Held captive on an airborne fleet commanded by a Judge Magister (a high ranking military commander) named Ghis, the party are made to bear witness to their captor getting delusions of grandeur about what he could accomplish with the shard's power and attempting to use it, releasing its energy (called Mist) in the process. Unfortunately for him, the Viera's biology makes them react with uncontrolled rage when exposed directly to this, prompting Fran to enter a frenzy and attack both Ghis' and Vossler's men indiscriminately, leaving them powerless to react as the Mist decimates their armada of airships in a visually impressive spectacle.