On day 35 of my Final Fantasy Marathon, I finished Kain’s and the Lunarian’s Tales. Today, I’m starting The Crystals Tale.

Crystals Tale: Prologue

The start screen for the Crystals Tale says Rydia and Edge fly the Falcon in search of their old friends, while King Cecil turns on Kain, Rosa, and Ceodore inside his castle. Meteors are laying waste to the Earth.

Can anything stop the approaching moon? It then gives you the option to load data from a previous Tale.

Catch a falling star

The tale opens with Edge questioning The Man in Black on the Falcon. The scene shifts to Corio spotting meteors falling from the moon.

Soldiers report the meteors to Harley in Eblan. Corio sees the moon falling toward Earth.

The Man in Black says they don’t have the luxury of time. Edge demands he tell everything he knows right now.

However, with meteors falling, they decided to focus on getting out of Dodge. Golbez pushes Luca out of the way and takes the wheel of the Falcon, steering it toward Baron Castle.

Purple Haze

Luca instructs Calca and Brina to stay with the ship and sets out with Rydia, Edge, and the Man in Black. We enter Baron Castle, only to find it protected by a purple glow that prevents us from entering.

Rydia says it is the same glow as the one coming from the Tower of Babil. The Man in Black walks away, saying we must find another way in.

Tails and other stuff

Many locations around the world are no longer accessible, but there are a few new ones that contain treasure chests and hidden small tails. As I travel the world, I stop off at these locations to collect the loot.

Some of the treasure chests contain semi-difficult monster-in-a-box fights. I defeat a Marlboro-type monster to get the Black Belt Gi for Edge.

I take down three priestesses to get a Mage Masher for Edge. I find an Ice Whip in a treasure chest, but don’t equip it.

I find the Chocobo summon and Faerie Rod and equip them on Rydia. I find a Luminous Robe for Rydia.

I battle a giant robot to get a Ribbon for Luca. I take out a dark knight and a pair of devils to get some Diamond Armor for the Man in Black.

Damcyan Castle

We find Damcyan Castle largely deserted, other than a pack of crazed antlions. Rydia pleads with the group to leave them be, because it isn’t their fault they are acting crazy.

I loot the castle, doing my best to avoid the antlions. I find a Diamond Shield that goes to the Man in Black and a small tail.

The guards challenge us at the throne room, but Harley recognizes us and tells them to back off. She tells us that Edward took a ship to Baron with Rosa and Ceodore.

Harley asks to go with us, and to her surprise, the Chancellor endorses the idea. Edge resists the idea of bringing a mere secretary into full-on battle.

He eventually gives in, saying she can come, but only until we meet Edward again. Harley joins, but she just hangs out on the ship, she isn’t in the party.

Yang and Ursula

We find Yang and Ursula in Kaipo, having washed up on shore after Leviathan attacked their ship. Fortunately, we don’t have to go find another fucking Sand Pearl, but we do have to fetch something else to wake them.

We fly to Fabul and find the Sylphs laying siege to the castle. We make our way to Sheila.

She gives us a Frying Pan for Yang and a Ladle for Ursula. No knife this time. We fly back to Kaipo and Edge whacks Yang with the Frying Pan, reviving him.

He then gets Rydia to whack Ursula with the Ladle. The pair join us on the Falcon to recover.

Reviving Yang fixes whatever was wrong with the Slyphs, and they return to Rydia. She can now summon them in combat again.

Rydia resolves to bring all of the Eidolons back. Yang asks if we are going to Baron and we tell him that the castle is protected by the purple glow.

Castle Baron

The scene shifts to Baron. The Mysterious Girl takes the crystals back from Rosa.

Mist

We fly to mist and find the town protected by Rydia’s mother. She tells Rydia to leave at once and return once she has freed all the Eidolons.

Troia

We find Troia completely frozen over. Rydia recognizes it as the work of Shiva. Luca worries for Palom.

Rydia and Luca remember they saw him riding a Black Chocobo north. We decide to fly there looking for him.

Magnetic Cave

We fly over to the Magnetic Cave to look for Palom. I find a Recovery Rod in a chest for Rydia and a Diamond Helm for the Man in Black.

We also find a small tail and some Diamond Gloves for the Man in Black. We discover Palom and Leonora frozen in ice.

Shiva appears and attacks. To get her back, we must battle her to the point where she comes to her senses, but not kill her.

As a result, I open with a powerful band attack but then use less powerful attacks and avoid issuing multiple commands to prevent accidentally killing her. Shiva rejoins Rydia.

This unfreezes Palom and Leonora. Palom checks on Leonora and then collapses.

We move both of them to the Falcon to rest. Palom introduces Leonora as his partner. He then asks after Porom, saying he heard her calling for him.

Palom and Leonora decide to join the group. We agree, but tell them they must stay on the Falcon to rest.

Kain vs. Cecil

The scene shifts back to Baron. Cecil questions whether Kain really intends to cross swords with him. Kain says, “if you wish for it.”

Kain and Cecil fight, with Cecil mostly just standing there. Eventually, Cecil asks if Kain is being serious and then whacks him with his giant sword.

Mysidia

The scene shifts back to Rydia and company. We find Ramuh in Mysidia. We battle him the same as we did Shiva. He rejoins Rydia after taking enough damage.

We find Porom desperately trying to protect Mysidia after the Elder was injured fighting against Ramuh and the monsters. She collapses, and we move her to the Falcon.

She asks where Palom is, and we tell her he’s in the bed next to her snoring like there is no tomorrow. Porom tells us that Kain took the Water Crystal to Baron, saying he intended to kill Cecil.

Everyone is shocked. The scene shifts back to the throne room.

All the best cowboys…

Kain is on his knees in front of Cecil, who is pointing his giant sword at his head. Rosa and Ceodore tell him to stop and Ceodore pulls his sword.

Cecil is pissed and points his giant sword at Ceodore. The scene shifts back to Rydia and company.

Agart

We encounter the Mysterious Girl in Agart. She summons Titan. We battle Titan for awhile, until he unleashes a powerful attack.

Porom shows up and casts float on the party to help us survive Titan’s Earthquake attacks. We finish the fight and Titan rejoins Rydia.

We then enter the well in the center of town to access the Agart Underground. I find a Diamond Armlet for Rydia and an Ogrekiller for Luca. We also get a Golden Apple, which I save for later.

Eblan

We fly to Eblan Castle and find the place on fire. As we make our way through the castle, we must occasionally run from Ifrit, because we can’t damage him at this point.

We also have to defeat some giant fire golems to clear the flames from the castle. When we reach the throne room, Edge decides to confront Ifrit alone.

Ifrit kicks his ass. However, Rubicante shows up to save him. Edge battles Rubicante and Rydia joins the fight.

Rubicante teaches them the inferno band. Edge and Rydia realize they can make Ifrit vulnerable by using that band.

We confront Ifrit again and use the band. The rest of the party joins us and we fight him the same as the other Eidolons until he rejoins Rydia.

Showdown in the throne room

The scene shifts back to the throne room where Cecil is still confronting Ceodore. The rest of the party joins Ceodore, even Edward.

Cecil summons Odin. The scene shifts again.

Looting Eblan

Now that the flames are gone, I can finish looting Eblan. I get a boltslicer for Edge.

Cave of Eblan

We head into the Cave of Eblan and find one last tail and the tail collector. I trade the 14 tails I have collected for a Rainbow tail, which I’ll be able to swap for some gear later in the game.

We reach the end of the cave and find the purple glow preventing us from entering the Tower of Babil. The Main in Black says it is the interdimensional elevator.

Luca concludes that the Mysterious Girl plans to use it to transport the Crystals to the moon. A Marquis Marlboro attacks.

The key to defeating this monster is to get my bands off before it can inflict status effects on my party members. Once I do that, I win easily.

I get the Kiku-ichimonji for Edge. I use an emergency exit to leave the cave.

Return to Mist

Now that I have all the Eidolons, except for the King, Queen, and Bahamut, I return to Mist. The village chief and some children greet me.

The Chief tells us that the village’s children protected the Mist Dragon from being taken like the other Eidolons. The Mist Dragon returns to Rydia.

No more glow

We return to Baron Castle and find the glow gone. Luca worries that it may be a trap. Cecil and Odin are still squaring off against Ceodore and friends.

I battle them for a while, until Odin abandons Cecil, knocking him out for good measure. Odin reveals himself as the former King of Baron.

He tells my party to save Cecil and their homeland. Cecil collapses.

The Man in Black and the rest of my party arrives. Cecil recognizes him as Golbez.

The Mysterious Girl is surprised to find Golbez alive, but says it doesn’t matter, because they have all outlived their usefulness.

She attacks. She summons Leviathan and Bahamut during the battle, but we defeat her. Edge thinks we have won.

Golbez knows we haven’t. Four more Mysterious Girls arrive. They say they are off to collect the Crystals and that the Earth serves no purpose any longer.

The Mysterious Girls disappear. Cecil is still passed out on the floor.

Edward worries that the Mysterious Girls intend to destroy the Earth with their moon. Edge tells Golbez to stop it, but he says that it isn’t the Lunarians’ Moon.

The Lunar Whale

Luca decides she and Cid should fix up the airship to travel to the moon, but Cid says the airship could never escape the Earth’s gravitational pull. Golbez summons the Lunar Whale.

We see some flashbacks to Cecil’s dealings with his friends and family while under the control of the Mysterious Girl and his internal struggles. The scene shifts to a catatonic Cecil lying in one of the pods on a the Lunar Whale.

Kain says Cecil is nothing but an empty shell. Edward checks in with his people on the Earth via the whisperweed.

Things are not going well. Cid says that not only is the moon on a collision course with the Earth, but it will likely swallow it whole, given enough time.

He says we have to get the Crystals back and change the moon’s path. The Lunar Whale starts to shake and we realize it is trapped in the gravitational pull of the moon.

As we approach the moon, Cecil starts tripping balls. We crash land.

Party formation

The various party members are strewn about the floor of the Lunar Whale. Ceodore is the first to wake.

Talking to other characters allows me to change my party members. I start by putting everyone into a party and removing all their gear.

I then choose the party I want to start with: Kain, Rosa, Edge, Rydia, and Golbez. I equip them with the best of the available gear and give them the apples and soma drops I have collected.

I then use the save point on the ship and save the game. I quit at six hours and 10 minutes into the final Tale.