Final Fantasy IV Ultima (Rerun) #10 - Returning to the Castle

Final Fantasy IV: Ultima is a hack by 8-bit fan that aims to present a more expansive version of the classic. New weapons, spells, bosses, and a modified overworld are just a few of the changes on tap. The latest version of the patch can always be found here: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4134/ Version being played: 10.2 Time to take an underground tour to the back door of Baron Castle. Before heading down the stairs though, there's a hidden passage to the east with a nice weapon, the Power Staff. Boosts strength by 10 and has good attack power. You could very well make someone like Porom or, hell, even Tellah into a frontline physical attacker if you wanted. Cecil takes this for now though. The enemies here do step up their physical game a bit. Cecil & Yang shouldn't have to worry much and Tellah can take some punishment himself, but the twins might need to be careful here. Then again, you can leave them in critical because there's only one enemy with an attack that Cover won't help critical party members...and to be frank, the twins could be freshly revived from a Life and tank a hit from said move just fine, to give you an idea how weak it is. All that being said, I knock out everybody besides Cecil & Yang. It does result in needing to healing every so often, but Cecil has the mp pool for it plus I have Hi-Potions in reserve if needed. Nothing real special item wise in the tunnel besides an X-Potion located past a hidden passage east of the save point so we'll just go ahead and see what Baron Castle has...and have everyone alive, just to be on the safe side. Upon looking around the castle, the team runs into Baigan. He says he hasn't sided with Golbez and decides to join the party...or would have backstabbed everyone had Palom & Porom's BS signals not gone off and called him out because he really is a monster. Capital work on trying to cover your ass Baigan! Speaking of the man turned monster, Baigan has two arms that he can bring back if both go down. Maybe he can also do so if only one is taken out, but he never had the chance to do so here. His main body also counters with Wall on itself if it's struck by an offensive spell. While all three parts are mainly physical based with a random Vampire cast here or there, the damage is not to be taken lightly. Cecil & Yang may need Hi-Potions and the twins will definitely get walloped if they are so much as looked at funny. Finally, if only the arms are left, they can self destruct, killing themselves to do damage equal to their remaining hp to a target. This honestly probably could have been done with just Cecil, Yang, and Tellah to be honest. At the very least the fight ended in the best way so my two main physical brutes soak up even more exp. Once the fight's over with, make sure to unequip the twins. If Tellah's KO'd, revive him. He is going to completely decimate the upcoming boss due to his new magical might. Before that, you can explore the eastern wing of the castle for a bunch of assorted consumables...and a rather curious staircase that seems to repel when you get close. As for the main boss? The king of Baron...or Golbez's fiend of water Cagnazzo in disguise, that too. Cagnazzo's main gimmick revolves around surrounding itself with water. On its next turn, it'll use Tidal Wave to hit everyone. Hits for ~150 or so while he's at or close to full health. The water can be dispelled with a good 'ol thunder spell. Just so happens that Tellah has Lit 3 which does the trick...oh, and can do over 3000 damage in the process too. Besides some flimsy physicals, Cagnazzo can go into his shell at low hp and heal up by 700 points every use of Vitalize. Too bad a Lit 3 from Tellah zapped him for almost 2k damage and deleted him! After the battle, someone comes barging in, but it's someone Cecil's glad to see, Cid. Turns out the fake king locked him up, but fat lot of good that did. Luckily he's got his super special airship in stock for everyone to hitch a ride on. However, there's one problem. Cagnazzo thinks he can pull a fast one and try to make everyone much thinner by sealing them in a room and making the walls close in. Too bad the twins one up him by turning themselves into stone statues to stop that silly ploy. That's good, but it does mean the twins are out of the party now. On the plus side? Cid joins the party...and the first thing that happens with him in the party is a meeting with Kain in the air. Evidently the last crystal is going to be a pain for Golbez to collect so Kain tells him the girl will be returned for the crystal. That crystal just so happens to be located in Troia. Next time, we'll see how Cid fares in combat as I get some item collection done with a new fangled airship on hand.