A VERY solid start to this epilogue!
I should say first off that I’m confused as fuck. The Lunar Ruins seem
to initially be constructed like a maze where I can’t backtrack. I’ll
go through a door and be dropped into the middle of a new map, so it
makes it really hard for me to keep an internal picture of the zone.
Just gotta keep checking for side passages and keep pushing forward.
The monster packs are tough again, but (mostly) doable. The only pack
that I started running from was the golden dragon and deathmask.
Deathmasks are brutal – they cast reflect on me and reflect on
themselves, meaning that I can’t regularly heal my group. Adding a
golden dragon to it is especially nasty because they temporarily
paralyze many of my party members, but since I have reflect on me, I
can’t Esuna the paralyzed members.
As soon as I hit Yang’s area, I knew it because they actually used the
martial sounds of Kabul for that cave’s music. His cave is blessedly
clear of random trash, leaving only a steady stream of monks, super
monks, and monk instructors who we clear out.
The army of monks is portrayed in a really cool way. Each unit is
graphically composed of three different units, that (like Octomamm)
gradually disappear as their HP drops. It gives the sense that in each
fight, I’m really taking on 24 monks. This makes Yang’s test remind me
of the scene in “Kill Bill: Vol. I,” where the Bride takes on the C***y
88. Bad-fucking-ass!!!!
After fighting through the hordes of Moon Monks (HEE HEE HEE MOON MONKS I
LOVE THIS GAME), we find their king, the Lunar Titan. It hit me just
before he cast Earthquake that he was using the same model as Rydia’s
Eidolon, Titan, and cast “Float” on my party just in the nick of time.
It was a tough fight, but succeeded. He gave Yang a nice armband, and
gave me a Lunar Titan book which makes me wish I had Rydia with me to
summon the guy.
I reiterate: a very promising start to the Lunar Ruins!
--------
“His deep, dark eyes
Keep watch on his kingdom
And the mysteries that sleeps safe inside.
His hall, his towers of stone,
Shall not be overthrown for eternity.
It is guarded by the king!”
-Savatage, “Hall of the Mountain King”
(warning: includes ableist slurs)
